Alicia L. McCalla
Heart Ally Books
Camano Island, Washington
Breaking Free
Copyright © 2012, 2016 by Alicia L. McCalla
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Contact the author at: www.aliciamccalla.com
Smashwords Edition
Cover by Eithne O’Hanlon
Published by:
Heart Ally Books
26910 92nd Ave NW C5-406, Stanwood, WA 98292
Published on Camano Island, WA, USA
www.heartallybooks.com
ISBN-13 (epub): 978-0-9835133-8-4
ISBN-13 (paperback): 978-1-6310701-0-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011945345
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Dedication
To my grandfather,
Marshall Teague,
the inspiration behind Breaking Free’s holographic “granddad.”
Acknowledgments
First of all, I’d like to thank God for giving my life purpose and a mission. I truly am humbled, grateful and I appreciate all that has been given to me. Next, I’d like to thank my great friend and publisher: Lisa Norman. Thank you Lisa, for being so helpful, caring, and supportive. Without you, I never would have been able to launch my writing career or publish Breaking Free.
I’d also like to thank my graphic designer, Eithne O’Hanlon, for creating such an awesome book cover. And I’d like to thank my marvelous editor, Valjeanne Jeffers, for her fabulous and fantastic content editing. I’d also like to thank the two men in my life: Howard and Asante McCalla. You two have endured more than any spouse and child should have to. I love you both, and sincerely appreciate your love, support, and help. You both are amazing!
I’m so grateful to my family members and friends who listened to me rattle on about publishing Breaking Free. I’d like to say thank you to: Connie Campbell, Lynda Cunningham, Valerie Nunn, Valerie Cunningham, Samara Etheridge, Kristina Nunn, Vershawn Young, Regina Hackett, Amber Jones, Margie Lawson, Sharon Cooper, and Delaney Diamond; for taking the time to help me make critical decisions.
I must also say thank you, to my wonderful writing community. There are so many of you that have helped me along the way; especially the members of the Georgia Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Without your nurturing support and kindness, I would not have had the courage to finish Breaking Free or publish it. I’d also like to thank the members of the Black Science Fiction Society, for their support and kindness.
Thanks so much, to everyone, who has supported and helped me further my writing career. I’m very grateful that you’re a part of my life. Muah!
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Author's Note
Biography
Prologue
“Genetically Enhanced Persons or GEPs are dangerous. As Humans United, we have to control these dangerous abominations. Every GEP must have the power reducing chip infused within their DNA. I just hope they never figure out the code to disabling the chip. For now, the Coalition to Assimilate Genetically Enhanced Persons—CAGE—can use it to keep them from taking over our world….”
—News Conference with the President of Humans United, June 2000
The betrayal …
As Red Death jammed the IV needle into his arm, betrayal pierced his soul. Dr. Gary Leonard Kates, founder of the Revolution against CAGE, was tied to a chair. He thought about his three little granddaughters as the lethal serum pulsed through his veins. He refused to tell Red Death the code. He’d take the secret to his death.
The poisoned taste ignited inside his mouth, as her rose perfume suffocated him.
Everything about her disgusted him.
He hated the way she pranced around in her skin-tight, vinyl, red suit and spike heels. He could tell that she enjoyed torturing him, her former mentor. But what pissed him off more was that Brockman was watching.
“Dr. Kates, CAGE needs those codes,” Red Death hissed, “more than your Revolution!”
His lungs burned. “How could I have selected you as my protégée?”
He turned from her as his voice trailed away. She’d been like a daughter to him, and Brockman like a son. Their betrayal only hastened the need for his martyrdom.
He refused to look at her and she grabbed his face, forcing him to meet her eyes. ”I’m always saving your butt! Just like now!”
“You think mind-swiping me is the answer?” He hiccuped and coughed up mucus. “You think making me a puppet is worth the freedom of your own kind?”
Dr. Kates’s veins caught fire—the flames spread from the bottom of his spirit to the top of his soul. Perspiration rolled down his graying beard, and he screeched out a spasm-distressed yell.
“Something’s wrong!” Brockman shouted.
Red Death’s spiked heels made panicked, clicking noises across the lab floor. She shook him. “What have you done, you old fool?”
“Double crosser! I hope your new CAGE job was worth it!” His voice scratchy with finality. “You Judas!” He watched Brockman shrink with the knowledge of his impending death.
Dr. Kates knew that he’d done the right thing. But regret washed over him. Chemicals from the mind-swipe procedure, intermingled with the suicide cocktail that he’d injected himself with. He’d done this before copying his consciousness into his computer.
Before tonight, the doctor would’ve trusted them with his secrets. But no more. He would leave most of them to his daughter, Dorothy, to pass on to his granddaughters. He’d told her about Red Death, but not about Brockman. She’d have to figure him
out on her own.
Dr. Kates let out another seizure-filled scream. The lab chair crackled and crunched from his thrashing, the seat dark with his torrential sweating. His body doubled over with the effects of the lethal drugs. The restraints held him tight—so much so that he’d almost ripped himself free.
Red Death slapped him. “Calm down and tell me what you did so I can save you!”
He laughed, triumphant.
She slapped him again.”Tell me!”
“I’ll never reveal my secrets to you!” the doctor spat. And he had so many.
He rolled his head from side to side. He saw Brockman sprint towards the door. Dr. Kates yelled behind him, “Come back here! Come back! Don’t leave before….”
His genetically-enhanced abilities became feral, as the ache of his brain caving in continued. An uncontrollable whirlwind of objects and sounds crashed around him. Blood oozed from his eyes, nose and ears.
Red Death gazed into his eyes. She tried to use her touch telekinetic, GEP abilities to stop the reaction.
It was too late.
Her white face grew paler and sat in stark contrast to his dark skin. He smiled as her usually perfect blond hair swirled around her face in a maddened frenzy. She’d lost control. He watched a thin stream of blood dribble from her nose. It felt good to make her squirm.
“You stupid old man!” She shrank back from him, as objects banged and cracked around them from the wildness of his abilities.
Dr. Kates felt his consciousness slipping away. But he knew that the code was safe and tucked away … later to be passed on to his super-enhanced granddaughters. They would become the weapons to avenge his untimely death.
He gave her an eerie, clairvoyant smile. With his last breath came a bloody, gurgled premonition, “My Revolution will destroy CAGE and crush you….”
Chapter 1
15 years later …
“We take people in for questioning who are undeniably guilty. With our monitoring technology we know immediately that they’ve broken the law. GEPs must be dealt with severely.”
—Dr. Herman Geiger, CAGE News Conference
I got to get to Mom! XJ Patterson made it to the open clearing in front of her home. She turned back to see her classmates on the school bus gawking at the backed-up traffic, and CAGE cars in front of her home.
They’d have more to gossip about now. XJ took a deep cleansing breath and shook off her aggravation. From her peripheral vision, she saw a CAGE officer the size of a football player barreling towards her. She didn’t have time for this!
She gathered up her braids into a makeshift ponytail, and pulled out her audio stun gun. It was illegal for GEPs to use their abilities without CAGE permission, but not to carry weapons. They couldn’t arrest her for having it.
The stench of burned flesh filled her nostrils. Her mother’s bluish, electric light danced across the clearing ahead of her.
The burly, CAGE officer was nearly on top of her. “Offspring of Dorothy Kates-Patterson, cease or be reduced!”
XJ wanted to fight back to save time, but knew that using her abilities would get her in more trouble. So instead she shot him. He fell back and his body shuddered.
“I just wanna see my mom! Is that too much to ask?” She yelled at the other officers and rolled under a downed log for cover.
XJ felt a surge inside her mind. They were trying to activate the power-reducing mechanism but it wasn’t working on her. The officers probably couldn’t figure out why her abilities weren’t diminished. They didn’t know that her grandfather had embedded the code inside her DNA.
This was why everyone treated her so special, and why she detested her life. She closed her eyes and re-opened them. Broad shoulders came into view. She took a shot and stunned a blond, CAGE officer.
Her telekinetic abilities shuddered throughout her body. She was ready to fight! This was taking too long! Forget them finding out that their stupid, power-reducer didn’t work on her. Now, her unhampered ability pushed adrenalin through her body and her world woke up.
“Launch the power reducer again!” XJ heard a Slavic accent through a nearby headset.
Behind him, she saw a branch wrapped in kudzu hanging from a tree. She focused her mind, and forced the branch to swing and smash into the CAGE officer’s wide neck. It hit his kill switch. His brown eyes looked shocked as he buckled under the limb like a fallen giant.
Three down … finally!
XJ raced across the clearing to where burned, aquatic-ability CAGE officers were fighting her pyrokinectic mother. Watching the battle, she started to worry.
Her mother was strong, but she couldn’t hold out against them and their power reducer for much longer. XJ didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to disturb mom’s concentration but she had to do something.
I got to help her! She telepathically opened her side of the parent-child mind link, creating a safe time bubble for them to talk.
Mom, what’s going on?
Her mother turned to focus on her, and fully opened the link. XJ!
Time froze. Wind, sound, trees, CAGE officers—all danced to a slow motion beat. Her heart thumped weirdly until she gazed into the face of her mother. Her mom embraced her and XJ felt a sense of warmth, belonging and comfort.
Dorothy looked battle-fatigued and dirty. But XJ could still see her beautiful brick-tone red and brown sugar complexion peaking through the grime. Her mother’s wine colored dreadlocks hung down her back in a spiral-curled pattern.
Looking at her, dressed only in cargo Capri pants, yellow tee-shirt and flowered flip flops; it was hard for XJ to imagine her as anything but a normal mom. She certainly didn’t look like a die-hard revolutionary. Her mother’s height made her look more like a retired super model with a generous, earthy beauty.
“Mom, what’s happening?! Why are you fighting them?”
Dorothy pushed her braids out of her eyes. “I broke the law and they’re here to take me away.”
“What? Why? What did you do?” Worry framed XJ’s words.
Her mother cleared her throat. “Our family made sacrifices for the freedom of all GEPs. This time, to protect us all, I’m sacrificing myself. It’s the only way.”
XJ’s stomach squeezed with pain. “No! Mom—no! Why do you have to sacrifice yourself to this stupid war! I need you! Why can’t we live a normal life? Can you take back what you’ve done?”
Time swirled faster.
Her mother’s stare felt distant.
“You must fulfill your grandfather’s mission. You must become a revolutionary. You’re our last hope. Your generation must carry on where ours ends.”
Tears burst from XJ’s eyes as she gripped her mother. “Will you stop with the babble? All my life you talked about my destiny and our family’s legacy! I’m only 17 years old! I need you!”
Her mother breathed deeply and cupped XJ’s face. “Oh, child, you are so much more! You’re our reason, hope, and joy! You stand on the backs of many! You must take up the fight, and save our people from their oppression. It’s up to you now.”
XJ tried to push through confusion and chaos in her soul. She wanted all of this to go away. She wanted a normal, teenage life.
“Bull!” she shouted. “It’s crap trying to live up to the legacy of dead people! I’m sorry granddad was murdered! I’m sorry that GEPs are second-class citizens. I’m sorry Daddy left you for that blond, black widow and her stepford daughter! I’m sorry—!”
“I can’t hold the time bubble. You must work with the Revolution. Find Brockman … here….” Her mom thrust something into her hand.
“Brockman? I don’t trust him. I don’t know why you do. What’s this?” XJ fumbled with the odd shaped ruby ring Dorothy pushed in her hand. It had a platinum band and was encrusted with diamonds.
“It’s a family heirloom. I didn’t want them to take me away until I gave it to you. When everyone leaves, go inside the house and put it on. I have to go. I love you.”
Her mother
kissed her forehead and time sucked her back into the electric firefight.
“No! Mom! No!” XJ screamed until it felt her lungs would explode.
Suddenly, her mother was embroiled in battle again. XJ slipped the ring into her jacket pocket and looked on in horror.
Chapter 2
“Brandon Miller and Heather Stillwater are perfect together. They have the pedigree, complimentary GEP abilities and perfect looks. They’re on the rise together.”
—GEP Network’s Teen Sensation, Talk Show Host
“What the hell?” Brandon Miller stumbled back from the opening of the men’s room door. He was trying to escape Heather, and the rest of his father’s butt kissers at the GEP Network Banquet.
“What’s more important than me?” Heather swung her blond hair, and screamed as she barged in; locking the door behind her. “Is there someone else?”
Brandon let out a heavy, irritated breath. “Of course, there’s someone much better than you,” he said sarcastically.
Heather walked up to him until they were eye-to-eye, then stopped. She smelled like roses. Brandon had to admit, the girl was hot. She had blue eyes, gorgeous blond curls and a curvy body. His eyes roamed over her frame and settled on her breasts.
He took a deep breath. None of it was worth dealing with her freaky, stalker personality.
He watched her eyes linger on his chest. “Let’s get back together,” she breathed. “I know what you like.”
Brandon felt his temperature rise, as Heather grabbed his hand and guided him towards the men’s stall.
He remembered how well she did that thing with her mouth, in the boy’s bathroom at school. It had been worth the three days of In-School Suspension.
Two years ago, he would’ve given anything for her tongue on his manhood. But now, he was sick of her theatrics.
Undeterred, she pushed closer. “I know you want me.” Heather pulled his hand up towards her lips, then rubbed it against her tanned breasts.
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