Cage of Glass (Cage of Glass Trilogy Book 1)

by Genevieve Crownson

  I swallowed hard. “I have noticed the extra warmth. Especially tonight, when we were crawling on the ground.” I paused, trying to get the words I wanted to say out without my voice cracking. “Zander. By dirty work do you mean like what they did to my dad?” Zander stared at the screen and I could see his jaw working, clenching in frustration. “Yes, Luna. Exactly like your dad. And more.” He shook his head briefly, pulling his gaze away from the monitors and handed me back the small flashlight he’d taken from me in the hallway. “I better do what I came in here to do, before anyone sees us.”

  Zander knelt down to look at some wires under the dashboard and motioned for me to shine my light down on him.

  Curious now, I obliged without a fuss. Though honestly, I really wanted to scream at him to tell me why we were really here.

  With the help of the small beam of light, Zander pulled a red wire from a thick bundle of cables tucked under the mainframe of the console and disarmed it. It had to be the main security cable.

  “What are you doing?” I hissed. Perhaps Zander was an amateur after all. “They’ll detect the system is down and come running. Are you completely insane?” I crouched next to him, looking at the damage.

  He turned from the equipment to face me, his warm breath on my cheek. My heart skipped a beat—for a minute I forgot where we were—and I stared at him. Sometimes Zander seemed so familiar, and it only added to my confusion. I managed to pull myself together and hastily stood up, eager to create some space between us. The self-imposed pressure I’d put myself under had made me addle-brained. I had placed too much hope in Zander’s ability to get me away from this place, and that wouldn’t do at all.

  Plus, he could be a traitor.

  Zander rose and grabbed my arm, which silenced my incessant mental chatter.

  “It’s okay Luna, I’ve done this before. I’ve bypassed the alarm that lets them discern the cameras are down. They can’t hear or see us until I bring everything back online. They won’t ever learn we were here. We just have to be careful about looking out for guards. Fortunately, there aren’t many on night shift. We should be fine.” His voice sounded low in his throat, almost a whisper, but I had no trouble hearing him in the small room.

  “Tell me why we’re here. You seem pretty familiar with this place.”

  “I’ve been staking out the research center for months; it’s been the main focus of my investigation.”

  I frowned. “Investigation?”

  “Yes. I’ve been sneaking in and out, trying to find out why everything they do is top secret. That’s how I figured out this was the main spy center. I’m sure the answer to uncovering what’s happening to me lies somewhere within these walls…” he trailed off, pausing for a minute before looking me in the eye. “I mean, to both of us. I plan to discover why we still have our memories.”

  I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to contain the bubble of excitement welling up inside me. I needed to be realistic. “What makes you so sure all the answers are here?” I asked.

  “Well, I wasn’t at first, but then I discovered something I couldn’t explain. Come on, follow me. I want to show you.”

  “Wait!” I grabbed Zander’s arm to hold him back. “There’s something we have to do before we go.”

  “What?” Zander stared at me quizzically.

  “I need to find out about Mrs. Lennor.”

  “Mrs. Lennor? Who’s that?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you pay attention? She’s the woman in that picture out there who isn’t Mrs. Lennor at all. But an Elia Watford. She was pretending to be my detention teacher when all along she was one of these scientists. I bet you there is a database or something about employees we can access. I’m good at hacking—and we may find some more answers.”

  I could see Zander warring with himself, his fists clenching. “No, I don’t think so, Luna. We can’t risk being stuck in here.”

  I ignored him and yanked down the dataport. My fingers flew over the keyboard, trying to trace any sign of an Elia Watford. I bypassed a security wall and quickly found myself with a pile of files as long as my arm listed on the screen. “Bingo,” I whispered.

  “Luna, I don’t think—”

  “Quiet. If you’re going to be a baby, then go,” I said, not turning away from the screen. “I plan on getting some answers.”

  I heard a sigh. “Of course I’m not going to leave you here. What are you looking for?”

  “I just did a scan of Elia Watford. And I found a bunch of files. I’m just trying to see…”

  My voice trailed off and Zander came closer looking over my shoulder. “What did you find?”

  “Look at this file. It’s called the watch list.” With trembling fingers, I tapped the screen and a directory of scientists popped up, along with a catalogue of the names of their assignments. These so-called assignments had to be the citizens of P8.

  “My God. This looks like an index of all the people that are under scrutiny right now,” Zander breathed. “There are so many names here.”

  The scientists were recorded in alphabetical order and I scrolled to the W’s. Sure enough Elia Watford was there. And right next to it…was my name.

  “She was assigned to me? Like I was some kind of experiment? What is this place?” I choked. “I can’t do this anymore.”

  “Hey, look at me.”

  I managed to turn my eyes away from the comport to meet Zander’s. He put a hand on my shoulder. “You can do this. I think I’ve found a way out. But we need to leave this security room. We’re running low on time.”

  “But you don’t understand. Mrs. Lennor could be the reason my father is dead. She’s probably the one that figured out I messed with my phone, if she’s the one assigned to me.”

  “Stop it, Luna. You can sit here and feel sorry for yourself or do something about it. Now, are you in?”

  I lifted my chin. “I am not feeling sorry for myself.”

  “Good. Let’s go. I need to show you why we’re here.”

  “Fine,” I muttered. “But this isn’t over.”

  I turned back and closed out the file, even though I was aching to see who else was on the list. Did Zander have a scientist assigned to him? Did Mom? So many questions whirled in my mind as I erased my computer key strokes, leaving no trace I’d been here at all.

  As soon as I was done, Zander took the flashlight from me and turned off the small light, casting the room into darkness. The only sound was Zander’s soft breathing echoing my own.

  He groped for my hand, once secured in his, he carefully opened the door. He scoured the hall, making sure the coast was clear and then stepped out.

  He took me back the way we’d come, only this time there was no reason to hug the wall or lie low. The dark halls and dead cameras gave us new freedom. But we understood the danger all the same, and walked quickly. Zander said there might be guards around, but I’d yet to spot one. Perhaps they were asleep on the job.

  We soon found ourselves back where we started. From this side, it looked to be a delivery entrance, but I knew better. Zander pulled the handle, and it swung open easily on its freshly-oiled hinges. The padlock that had appeared so intimidating before, suddenly seemed to have no purpose, like an ornament on a Christmas tree.

  They were indeed arrogant fools.

  Zander took one last quick glance around to make sure the coast was clear and abruptly pulled me back out into the cool evening air.

  “I thought you brought me into the building to show me something,” I whispered.

  We were both wearing black and blended into the night seamlessly, otherwise we would have been exposed standing out here in the open. As it was, I felt a little uneasy, Zander’s blonde waves shone like a beacon in the moonlight. I wished for the second time that day he’d worn a hat. I was grateful the only other visible parts of Zander were his crystal blue eyes. They looked excited now.

  “I am. I just needed to shut down the security for our protection. No one can wit
ness what I’m about to reveal to you. We can’t be on the live feed. This is huge, Luna.” His voice remained quiet but animated.

  As my eyes readjusted to the outdoor light, I glanced around. Everything appeared normal. Nothing out of place—the same as before. What could he possibly have to show me? Surely the files we discovered inside held more interest. Seriously, what was his plan? Give me a tour of the blue dumpster over in the corner? Because that was the only thing I saw back here.

  Zander must have noticed my dubious expression, but he quickly forged on. “I’ve been sneaking in and out of this place for the last six months. But it wasn’t until you showed up and the government got off my tail and started focusing on you that I made some progress. I conducted my own research without being under anyone’s scrutiny. I began coming here every night. Until one day, by accident, I found this.”

  Zander gripped my hand tighter, and he dragged me towards a non-descript portion of the wall surrounding the building. This was different than the section we’d entered from—perfectly symmetrical, no oddities made it stand out. In fact, if anything, this barrier looked thicker and even more impenetrable. My skin crawled. I felt like a trapped animal.

  Zander released my hand and placed his two palms on the high wall. “I think I always knew there was something strange about this partition. There’s a warmth here, an energy under my fingertips—then, one day, I saw it.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean you saw it? It’s a wall, Zander. There’s nothing special about it,” I said. “Is this why you brought me all the way out here? To look at some barricade?”

  Zander turned from the divider and gazed at me patiently. “It sounds crazy, I know, but trust me on this.” He came up beside me. “I want you to concentrate. Let everything else fall away. Keep your eyes on the perimeter,” he said waving his hand in front of it. “Focus.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes at him and his nonsense, but a gut instinct told me to go along. I crossed my arms to show I wasn’t impressed, but began to zero in on the citadel before us anyway.

  It seemed like ages that I stood there, staring at a bunch of brick like an idiot. But then, just when I was about to give up and call Zander an ass, I saw it. An outline, so faint, I barely made it out at first, but then, the more I concentrated, the more was revealed, until finally I became aware of a makeshift door, completely camouflaged within the barrier. I strained harder to study it more clearly.

  But before I could make out anything else, I heard footsteps approaching from the door we’d just exited.

  Someone was coming.

  We’d been found.

  Chapter 28

  Zander pressed a hand to my shoulder and whispered, “Run!”

  There was no need to tell me twice. We high-tailed it out of there, not stopping until we reached the front gate. Going back the way we came was pointless—the cameras were still off, thanks to Zander’s handiwork. The lamppost ahead burned brightly, so we took a hard left and skirted around it, so as not to be identified, making it to the safety of the trees in the nick of time. Two men emerged from the shadows where we had been standing seconds before.

  I didn’t dare breathe as I stared at them, certain they’d spotted us—but quickly realized we weren’t even on their radar. They leaned casually against the side of the building. One of them laughed into the cool night air, creating puffs of smoke that emanated from his lips and escaped into the darkness.

  I grinned. They truly hadn’t noticed. They were simply on break. Thank God.

  I finally let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding and leaned back, relieved, only to find myself collapsing against Zander’s hard chest. He must have been protectively hovering directly behind me.

  I reveled in his warmth; there was a familiarity here between us I couldn’t place, overwhelming my senses. What was it about Zander that took me so keenly to the past? It’s not like I’d ever known him in W1. I would have remembered him. It occurred to me in that moment I never asked Zander where he was originally from. Before he told me he had memories that didn’t belong to this place, I assumed he always lived here. He’d made it seem that way. I’d been so focused on myself I hadn’t thought to ask where his memories originated.

  “Let’s go,” Zander whispered in my ear, “We only have about five minutes until the system starts up again. We better get out of here before it does.” His voice was gravelly, he was attempting to sound normal, but I knew otherwise. I heard the pounding of his heart against my back. Our close proximity had affected him, too. He reached for my hand and stood, pulling me to my feet alongside him. We didn’t speak as we walked through the woods toward home, both of us caught up in our own thoughts. When I finally looked up again, we were already at the edge of the forest clearing; the church steeple loomed in the distance. Suddenly, Zander stopped short, and I almost plowed into him.

  He shot out an arm to steady me. “Sorry. I thought this would be a good place to talk, before we get out in the open—in case there are spying eyes. It’s late, but you can never be too careful.”

  “Where are you from?” I blurted. Finally getting out the question that had been plaguing me since we left the research center.

  Zander looked at me, puzzled. “What do you mean? I’m from here. This is my home.”

  I pushed him away and glared. “None of this makes sense. You told me you have memories too. You confided in me. At first, I assumed it was a trap, but now you’ve shown me this brick wall, and I’m at a loss as to what to believe.”

  “Hey,” Zander stepped closer, taking my hand. “I explained to you what happened to my friends, how they disappeared. That’s why I want this. They deserve more than an erased memory. Besides, you haven’t exactly revealed any details of your past. I have no idea where you’re from, either. I’m pretty sure it’s not here.”

  We stood so close I smelled the faint scent of his cologne. I wanted to open my mouth and tell him everything. But something held me back. I didn’t want to risk any betrayal. But wasn’t he my only hope?

  I looked down at the ground, helpless, unable to speak.

  Zander released me. “It’s okay. You don’t have to answer that. Everyone has secrets they need to keep.”

  His voice sounded distant, mysterious. What secret did Zander have? Was I reading too much into this? I didn’t dare ask him.

  He scraped a hand over his harried face, and sat down under a big old maple. Even the trees in the forest here were symmetrical, as if someone had planted them in perfect garden rows. It seemed unnatural.

  “You didn’t see what I was trying to show you in the wall did you?” his voice sounded defeated, like a little boy lost.

  “No, Zander I did. It was the door, right? I wasn’t sure if there was anything else there, it took me so long to discover it, and the guards came before I could dig further.”

  Zander grinned, his white teeth shining in the dark night. His exuberance returning, he jumped up and grabbed my arms in excitement.

  “Yes! That’s it, the door! I’m so glad you noticed it too. What a relief. We need to open it, determine what’s there. We can come back—”

  I held out a hand to stop him. “We can’t just open it. What if it’s a trap? I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  Zander’s rubbed his temples. “You can’t mean that. Not after everything that’s happened. Some risks are worth taking. Aren’t you angry that your father is dead? That the government killed him?”

  “Of course I’m angry, but have you ever opened that door? It might go anywhere.”

  “The door’s locked, Luna. I hoped we’d figure out how to break in together.”

  I’d never told Zander about my past. He didn’t realize my skill at picking locks, no matter how complex. But I wasn’t about to offer my services. At least, not yet.

  “What if where that door goes is worse than where we are now?” I asked.

  “What if it’s not?” Zander retorted. “Maybe just maybe, beyond that hi
dden door are answers. Haven’t you been searching for that ever since you arrived here?”

  “I don’t know. I just—”

  It was Zander’s turn to stop me. He took both of my hands in his. “Look Luna, I can’t force you to do something you don’t want to do. I assumed that after your father’s death you would do anything to see what the government is hiding from us. I have a feeling that list we found is only the tip of the iceberg.”

  My resolve slipped a notch. Perhaps Zander was right. But I’d been burned before. And at least here I had a nice mother. One that actually loved me. But what about my siblings? Little Trinity? Their faces swam before my eyes. Could I walk away from her because I was afraid there was nothing better?

  I licked my dry lips and stared into Zander’s eyes. “Give me tonight to consider it. Can you do that?”

  “Of course,” he said hoarsely, his voice chocked full of emotion. “Let’s go home.” Some of his buoyancy returned, but not to the same level. He hesitated for a beat, before wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

  Needing the comfort of another human being—I let him. I allowed myself this one moment of weakness before making such a huge decision. Besides, I didn’t have the energy to shrug him off like I normally would. His presence, warm and comforting, wasn’t something I was quite ready to let go of.

  Near the outskirts of town, we passed by the cemetery where my father would be buried in a few days. He hadn’t been placed in the ground yet, but I still felt his spirit around me. I stopped and gazed at the perfectly aligned gravestones, each one marked with a flawless red rose. Even the poor rose didn’t have the privilege of wilting in this strange place. My stomach contracted into a tight ball—understanding the implications of a single flower.

  “Zander, why don’t you go on ahead of me? I’ll see you tomorrow. I want to stay here and think for a little while.”

  Zander squeezed me tighter for a moment, then released me, peering about wide-eyed, his face muscles twitching nervously. “Are you sure? I hate to leave you out here alone.”