The Alpha Drive

by Kristen Martin

  “Good work. Please keep me informed of any setbacks.”

  “Roger that, sir.”

  Torin finished listening to the conversation, wishing that it had revealed more, especially since he was still no closer to reading the information in Emery’s file. He watched in defeat as the girl shut the system down, then walked out of view.

  Torin threw his hands over his head and leaned back in his chair.

  I have to know what’s in that file.

  He could try to hack into the particular database where Emery’s file was stored, but given the time it took for him to hack into the mainframe alone, he couldn’t even imagine how long that would take. Pinpointing and decoding the location of one single file seemed impossible. That would have to be his next project. In the meantime, Torin knew what he had to do.

  He had to get in touch with Emery.

  16

  Rhea slammed her history textbook shut. Two months into school and she was already close to failing the majority of her classes. She sighed impatiently, tapping her pen on the cover of her textbook, eyeing Emery as she typed away on her laptop. She was probably writing some paper for her Latin class.

  How was it that Emery was able to stay on top of her classwork and she wasn’t? Sure, Rhea attended some of her classes, but not all of them. She figured her time was better spent doing other things, like socializing. Not to mention, Emery didn’t have as much to worry about as she did; Rhea had more pressing issues to deal with.

  It was Friday afternoon and Rhea was in dire need of some retail therapy. She stood in front of her closet, combing through the piles of clothes that lay helplessly in plastic bins on the floor. Just as she was about to ask Emery if she wanted to sneak off campus to the nearest mall, her phone buzzed.

  The noise caught her roommate’s attention as well. “Who is it?” Emery asked as she closed her laptop.

  Rhea hesitated before answering. The text was from Mason, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to share that. The truth was that Mason had reached out to her multiple times over the past couple of weekends, wanting to hang out with them. She hadn’t told Emery, simply because a better option always seemed to surface. Why make it difficult by having her roommate weigh in, when Rhea could make the decision for the both of them? It was just easier that way.

  Unfortunately, Rhea was beginning to realize she couldn’t continue lying to her roommate every time Mason texted her. She’d gotten to know Emery pretty well in the past two months, and an eye for suspicious behavior seemed to top her list of ingenious qualities. Emery consistently sensed when Rhea was lying or when information was being withheld. But if Rhea told her roommate the truth, she could risk damaging their friendship, and she wasn’t quite ready to take that fall just yet.

  “Oh, weird,” Rhea said, trying to sound surprised. “It’s Mason.” She looked up at her roommate, trying to assess whether her acting skills were as good as she’d made them out to be. After all, she had spent the majority of her adolescence in Hollywood.

  “What do you mean weird?”

  Rhea shrugged. “I just haven’t heard from him since we all went out.”

  “You mean he hasn’t texted you for two months? Since that first night we went out on Alpha Drive?” Emery asked, suspicion lining her voice.

  Rhea’s eyes flitted at the mention of Alpha Drive. Oddly enough, she noticed how Emery’s body language shifted at the exact same moment. Was that just a coincidence?

  Ignoring her better judgment, Rhea decided to lie. Again. “Yeah, I haven’t heard from him in a really long time.”

  “Well, what did he want?” Emery pressed.

  “He actually invited us to hang out at Sychem. They’re throwing a black-and-white social and he needs a date.”

  “A date? As in singular?”

  “No, not singular. He invited both of us. Obviously, the more girls he brings, the better he’ll look.”

  Emery considered this, then turned back to her laptop. “Nah, you go ahead. I should probably stay in and work on some homework. Maybe give Anthony a call.”

  Rhea could tell by the look on her face that talking to Anthony was the last thing Emery wanted to do. It was obvious they’d been having trouble as of late.

  Anthony had only come over a few times since school started and every time he called offering to take Emery to dinner or hang out, she’d make up some excuse as to why she couldn’t go. Rhea could see that their relationship was spiraling downwards quickly, and she couldn’t help but think that maybe she’d influenced Emery’s behavior for the worse. Her roommate wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, but the more time the two of them spent together, the more Emery had come out of her shell. Rhea had seen this as a positive shift in behavior, and it was nice having someone to go out with for a change. She just hoped that it wasn’t negatively affecting any of Emery’s other relationships.

  With this thought in mind, Rhea opened her mouth to agree with her roommate’s plan to stay in, but was quickly interrupted.

  “You know what? Screw it,” Emery said as she popped up from her chair. “Let’s go to Sychem. It’ll be fun.”

  + + +

  Emery and Rhea walked into Sychem fashionably late, precisely as planned. Rhea led the way, noticing that Emery was a few paces behind her. She squeezed her roommate’s arm reassuringly, then searched the courtyard for Mason, spotting him in the far corner with a group of friends.

  “Mason!” she yelled as she pulled Emery across the lawn.

  Mason approached them and extended his arms to give them both a hug. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “What? I texted you,” Rhea said as she pulled out her phone. The message she’d sent flashed across the screen.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, I guess my phone died.”

  “Well, don’t look so happy to see us,” Emery teased, punching him in the arm.

  The corners of his mouth curled into a sheepish grin. “No, it’s not that. Trust me, I’m happy to see you. Over the moon, actually. I guess I’m just a little surprised.”

  “Surprised? Why would you be surprised?” Emery asked.

  Mason looked from Rhea to Emery, then back at Rhea. Just as he was about to answer, Rhea changed the subject. “Where’s the beer? My lovely roommate and I just walked a long way.”

  Mason flashed a toothy grin. “Be right back.” He turned on his heel and started walking toward the common area.

  Emery tugged on her roommate’s arm. “I don’t want a drink. I think I’m okay—”

  Rhea ignored her. She called out to Mason as an idea occurred to her. “Bring back twenty-two cups, two ping pong balls, a table, and your friend . . .” She drifted off as her eyes focused on an attractive guy from across the courtyard. Mason followed her gaze, realizing that the “friend” she was referring to was none other than Warren Bradley.

  “You mean Warren?”

  Rhea grinned. “Uh huh. You two are going down.”

  Unable to help himself, Mason smiled back. “Don’t toot your own horn just yet.”

  Rhea watched as he walked inside the common room, then turned her attention to Emery. “Have you ever played beer pong before?”

  Emery pursed her lips. “Is that a rhetorical question? Obviously I haven’t.”

  Rhea explained the rules in detail, despite the short amount of time it took for Mason to return with supplies. Rhea had Emery repeat a few of the rules back to her, just to make sure she understood.

  Mason and Warren appeared at the doorway, carrying a worn, wooden table. They set it down with a grunt, tossing the cups and ping pong balls on top.

  “You girls set up. We’ll get the beer,” Mason said, making his way back toward the common area.

  Rhea skipped after him and, when she got close enough, motioned for him to lean in. “Emery doesn’t have much experience with this sort of thing,” she whispered. “So is it alright if we divide up the teams? Maybe I can be your partner, and she can play with Warren?”

&
nbsp; Mason smiled. “I don’t see why that would be a problem.”

  “Great, I’ll let them know.” Rhea strutted back across the courtyard, noticing that Warren was already busy chatting with Emery.

  The game started off rather uneventful for both teams. Rhea figured Mason and Warren had already been drinking prior to their arrival and, judging from their poor aim, her assessment was correct. In the middle of Mason’s turn, Rhea scampered over to the opposite side of the table, stumbling over empty cans along the way.

  “Hey,” she giggled, poking her roommate in the side. “How are you feeling?”

  “You girls need a moment?” Mason teased.

  “Yeah, this game doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast,” Rhea joked. She watched as Warren made his way over to Mason’s side of the table, then pulled Emery around so their backs were to them. “So, how are you feeling?” she asked again.

  “Well, I feel like I’m terrible at this game,” Emery responded.

  “Maybe you’d be better if you actually drank. Here,” Rhea offered as she pulled out a beer, snapping the top back. “Drink this. Fast.”

  Emery eyed the foaming can. “No, I’m okay. Really. But thanks anyway.”

  Rhea was about to pressure her some more when she felt something vibrate near her feet. She set the can down and knelt toward the ground, searching for the source of the buzzing, then picked Emery’s bag up off the pavement. “Your phone’s ringing.”

  Emery pulled out her phone, a look of pure disgust crossing her face. “It’s Anthony,” she scoffed.

  “Aren’t you going to answer it?” Rhea couldn’t help but feel confused by her roommate’s reaction. She knew things weren’t going well between them, but she didn’t understand how things could have plummeted so quickly in such a short amount of time.

  “Nah, I don’t feel like talking to him. I’m just going to let it go to voicemail. He never leaves voicemails.” As soon as she said the words, her phone chimed. Emery let out a long sigh. “He left a voicemail.” She shot Rhea an apologetic glance, then turned her back to listen to it.

  Rhea waited anxiously for Emery to turn back around. She’d sensed from the beginning that Emery wasn’t happy with Anthony, and while she’d done her best to be supportive, there was only so much she could say without feeling like she was overstepping.

  Emery clicked her phone off, then whirled around to face Rhea. “No, no, no,” she muttered, shaking her head angrily. She slammed her fists onto the table, the impact shaking the partially full cups.

  “What? What is it?” She’d never seen Emery so angry—so hostile—before. To be honest, it was slightly alarming and was definitely new territory on the roommate front.

  A soft groan escaped Emery’s lips. “Anthony’s here.”

  Before Rhea could get a word in, Emery was halfway across the lawn, marching toward the front of the building.

  “This is not good,” Rhea muttered as she jogged to catch up. She followed Emery to the front door, her curiosity peaking as they shuffled through a crowd of people.

  Emery swung the door open dramatically, her gaze landing on a scene in the middle of the street, where a shouting match seemed to be escalating. In the middle of it all was Anthony, who appeared to be throwing an immature temper tantrum.

  Rhea couldn’t help but roll her eyes. How did he know we were even here?

  Out of nowhere, Emery’s voice echoed throughout the parking lot. “Anthony!” She crossed her arms as she waited for him to turn around.

  Anthony paused with his mouth agape, then sullenly walked toward his girlfriend. Emery yanked his arm, giving him no choice but to follow her to the side of the house, away from the budding crowd of people.

  Rhea tiptoed behind her, wanting to keep a safe distance, yet remain close enough to hear their conversation.

  “What are you doing here?” Emery scolded, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “I wanted to see you. We’ve hardly hung out since you started school and you don’t exactly answer my texts or my calls. I didn’t have a choice.”

  Emery glared at him. “How did you even know I was here?”

  “Well, I . . . I checked your status online.” A flush of embarrassment spread across his cheeks.

  Emery clenched her jaw, her hands curling into fists. “Get out,” she hissed.

  “Excuse me?” Anthony asked in disbelief as Emery turned to walk away.

  She ignored him and stomped back toward the building without a hint of remorse, her head held high as she pushed her way through the masses.

  “Emery, don’t you dare walk away from me!”

  But she kept walking.

  After a minute of pointless shouting and pleading for her to come back, Anthony retreated to his car and roared his engine, the tires screeching as he sped off.

  Rhea expected her roommate to be in a frenzy of tears, but Emery seemed perfectly fine. She was back at the table, casually chatting with Warren as if nothing had happened. Rhea decided it was best to let it go so they could try to enjoy what remained of their evening.

  As the night carried on, she noticed Emery becoming

  more and more flirtatious with Warren. Her attraction to him was so obvious that at one point, she even considered pulling her roommate aside, but decided against it.

  “I thought she had a boyfriend,” Mason thought aloud.

  Rhea glared at the back of Mason’s head. “She does. But after that fiasco a couple of hours ago, who really knows?”

  Mason realigned the cups, whistling at Emery and Warren to get their attention. As soon as Emery looked up, Rhea slid her arm through Mason’s and rested her head against his shoulder. She could have sworn she saw a tinge of jealousy flicker across Emery’s face, but it was probably just her imagination. Why should Emery get to have all the fun? I’m the one who’s single.

  Rhea tugged playfully at Mason’s hair, grabbing a ping pong ball with her free hand. “Ready to win?”

  “You bet,” Mason affirmed, unfazed by her sudden shift in behavior.

  Every time she and Mason scored, Rhea made sure to squeeze his arm or give him a hug. It was when they won the game that she decided to make a bold move. Without the slightest hesitation, she turned toward Mason, pulled his body against hers, and kissed him. His lips moved in sync with hers, the short breaths in between fogging up the small space between them. When Rhea pulled back, she looked into his eyes, searching his face for a reaction. She wanted his approval. She needed it.

  Mason took a deep breath, interlocking his fingers with hers. He squeezed her hand and smiled, his eyes focused solely on her. Breaking eye contact was the last thing she wanted to do, but eventually, Rhea shifted her attention to the stillness at the other end of table.

  Emery and Warren were nowhere in sight.

  Rhea knelt to the ground, rifling through her bag for her phone.

  No missed calls. No unread texts.

  Feeling uneasy, she punched in Emery’s number, waiting impatiently for her to pick up.

  No answer.

  “Looks like they left,” Mason observed as he leaned against the table.

  Rhea finished keying in a text message, then looked up at him. “Yeah, I’m not sure where they went.” She looked around the courtyard one last time. It was unlike Emery to just leave without saying anything.

  “Do you want another drink?” Mason offered.

  She weighed her options and, for once in her life, decided to be semi-responsible. “Actually, it’s getting pretty late. I think I’m just going to head home.”

  Disappointment clouded his face. “Okay, no problem. I’ll walk with you.”

  “That’s okay. I’m actually pretty wiped. Some peace and quiet is just what I need,” she assured as she headed toward the door.

  Mason insisted, but finally gave up after Rhea declined his third offer. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked away from Sychem and down the street. Not too far from her, two figures, hand in hand, could be made ou
t in the distance. She tried to discern whether Emery was one of them. Although she couldn’t be sure, there was one thing Rhea would soon find out.

  Emery never returned home that night.

  17

  A patch of sunlight peeked through a gap in the curtains, the light hovering over the left side of Emery’s face. She blinked a few times to try and rid the feeling of dryness from her eyes, realizing she’d left her contacts in overnight. Glancing up at the curtains, she waited for her eyes to shift into focus. It only took her a few seconds to realize that she wasn’t in her dorm room.

  Concerned, she lifted her body up off the bed, her eyes drifting to the shirtless figure sleeping peacefully on the couch a few feet away. Emery dropped her head into her hands, a quiet sigh escaping from her mouth.

  She had stayed the night. At Warren’s.

  For a moment she considered waking him, then thought better of it. A wave of guilt washed over her as she recalled the dramatic ordeal with Anthony. Worst girlfriend ever. Are we even still dating?

  Emery recalled the same vivid dream that haunted her as of late. She’d crept down the hallway in uniform, gun in hand, but this time, she’d worn the ring her mother had given her. In the distance, a reflection of some sort caught her attention. She drew closer to the shimmering sight and pulled an item that was lodged in the wall: a horseshoe-shaped pendant. She’d tucked the pendant into her pocket when a scream filled the hallway, followed by a gunshot.

  And then she woke up.

  The rate of occurrence in which she had these dreams was starting to worry her. Each dream contained new information, a new piece of a puzzle. The only problem was she had no idea what puzzle these pieces belonged to.

  Emery inched closer to the edge of the bed and swung her legs gently toward the floor. Her purse sat on the other side of the room. She tiptoed as feline-like as she could, hoping that the hardwood floors would keep their creaking to themselves.

  Her shoes sat next to the couch, so she put them on first, then gathered the rest of the items that had spilled from her bag, taking extra caution as she picked up her jangling keys. Slinking over toward the door, she put her hand on the knob, glancing back at Warren who was snoring in a deep slumber. It was rude to leave without saying goodbye, but her priority at that moment was getting back to her dorm room before Rhea woke up.