Awakened

by C. Steven Manley

  “I don’t know that they’re out and out lying to us,” Israel said, “but they’re sure not telling us everything, and a lie of omission is still a lie. Allison was way too relieved when you accepted her story about keeping us safe.”

  Erin said, “Girlfriend does not have much of a poker face.”

  “True. I keep coming back to what Stone said to me, though. ‘Awakened.’ That doesn’t sound like something someone else did to us. For something to awaken, it has to be there and sleeping in the first place. Allison, though, talked about things being put into us. Doesn’t really track for me.” Israel looked up at the sky as thoughts filtered through his mind. Again, there were too many questions.

  “What?” Erin said after a minute.

  “People lie because they fear the consequences of the truth,” Israel said. “They’re either afraid that they aren’t going to get what they want or are going to get something they don’t want- punished, judged, whatever. Why in the world does a billionairess with a strong enough tie to the government that she feels secure kidnapping people possibly feel the need to hide things from a couple of regular joes like us? No, there is something much bigger going on here and, even though we’ve been pulled into it, they’re trying to keep us at arm’s length.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t care,” Erin said. “I’m ready to bounce.”

  Israel considered that. He could see her point. Whatever was going on, it was a game that was being played between governments and billionaires and secret societies. It was the kind of thing that would roll over and crush workaday people like Erin and Israel. Still, though, all those questions nagged at him.

  “I get that,” he said. “I just don’t know if I’m ready to go yet.”

  “Oh,” Erin said, “so the whole watching each other’s backs thing was bullshit?”

  “No,” he said. “If you really want to leave, I’ll back you up all the way. Hell, I’ll drive you home, wherever that is. It’s just… there’s something going on here and I want to know what. It’s one of the reasons I’m a journalist. I hate not knowing. Unanswered questions irritate me.”

  “What? Like the whole ‘people’s right to know’ and all that?”

  Israel laughed. “No, no. That’s an old-fashioned ideal that corporate media is slowly grinding under its heel. This is more about me personally.”

  “Why? What does it matter? These guys are going to do what they do no matter what you and I know.”

  “I realize that, it’s just…” Israel studied her for a second and made a decision. “Look, when I was eleven I came home from school one day and found a bunch of people at my house. My mom had died. I found out after the fact that she had been sick for a long time, but my parents had kept it a secret. They thought they were protecting me, I guess, but all I know is that if I’d known the truth I would’ve spent more time with her, just done things differently, you know? Ever since then, I’ve hated secrets. Any secrets. It’s not entirely rational, I know, but there it is.”

  Erin was silent for a time and seemed to be considering Israel’s words. “Well, sorry about your mom, but that’s not a thing for me. I’m just ready for all this weird shit to be over. I’m ready to go home, which is Las Vegas, by the way.”

  “I get that,” Israel said. “Really, I do. I think I need to hang around a while longer, though. I really want to know what they’re hiding from us.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” Erin said.

  “But satisfaction brought him back,” Israel said with a practiced smile.

  Erin was quiet for another moment and then took a slow step toward him. “Speaking of satisfaction,” she said in a low voice, “I’ve been trying to think of a way to properly thank you for watching my back the last couple of days.” She stepped close enough that Israel could feel the heat of her body through the thin fabric of his shirt. Erin put her fingertips gently at the base of his throat and traced them slowly down his chest. “I mean, it’s the least I could do.”

  Part of him- mostly below the belt -was insisting he take this alluring young woman with the gray-green eyes up on her offer. A lot. Like, the rest of the night a lot. She was obviously up for it and it would be a great stress reliever, so why not?

  Israel took a deep, shaky breath and let it out in a resigned sigh. Why not? Because stress relief was all it would be. He didn’t have anything against casual sex- he’d had more than his share back in college -but it always seemed to complicate things with women he was friends with or saw after the fact on any kind of regular basis. Despite Erin’s apparent intention to leave Silversky, Israel’s gut was telling him that his partnership with Erin Simms was far from over.

  He gently took the hand that was on his chest and squeezed it. “That sounds like a lot of fun,” he said. “Not a good idea, though. Especially not here. They could be filming us, for all we know.”

  “Are you sure?” Erin said. “Camera won’t bother me.”

  Israel gave her a strained smile. “Seriously tempting,” he said. “I guess I’m kind of old-fashioned.”

  Erin sighed in dramatic disappointment and stepped back. “Okay, Izzy. Your loss.”

  “About that ‘Izzy’ thing-”

  Erin held up a hand to interrupt him. “I just offered to fuck you and you turned me down. I get to call you what I want.”

  Israel thought about that and said, “Fair enough. How about we go see Warburton about getting you home?”

  They found her after asking a member of the security staff where she might be. A quick radio call and the woman guided them through the massive house to a spacious office with a large desk, walls of books shelved low for easy access by the wheelchair-bound, a very large LED television on one wall, and a black grand piano opposite the desk in front of a large set of windows. Mr. Stone was in the room and Allison’s face filled the television.

  Stone stood as they entered and faced Israel casually. There was a slightly curious smile beneath the neatly trimmed beard on the smaller man’s face. Stone looked Israel over and said, “Hello again, lad. Must say you look none the worse for wear.”

  Israel approached the man and stopped just out of arm’s reach. He made a show of subtly studying Stone.

  “Can I help you with something?” Stone said.

  “No,” Israel said, “just checking you for tasers.”

  Stone actually laughed at this. “Ah, mate, there was nothing personal to that. Just doing my job, yeah? Tell ya what, I’ll show you where we keep the good brew around here and buy the first round? We can call it even, yeah? We’ll drink a toast to Matthew.”

  Israel considered it and then said, “You’re on.”

  “Mr. Trent, Miss Simms,” Warburton said, “I’m glad you’re here. Allison was just filling us in on the preliminary assessment of your blood samples. This will save me the trouble of trying to relay the scientific jargon.”

  Israel looked at the monitor. “Hi, Allison,” he said.

  “Hi, Israel. Hi, Erin.”

  “You look good on television,” he said, “I think you might have missed your calling.”

  He did not miss the smile that crossed Allison’s face or the eye roll that Erin directed at him.

  Warburton gestured toward a pair of comfortable looking chairs that were facing the monitor and said, “Go ahead, Allison.”

  “Again, this is all very preliminary, but I am seeing some unusual activity in Erin’s blood sample.”

  “What do you mean ‘unusual’?” Erin said quickly.

  Allison shook her head. “No, nothing to get alarmed about. There are some protein variations that could- maybe -indicate some genetic tampering, but it could also be a number of other things. I won’t know positively for a few days.”

  “Days?” Erin said.

  Allison shrugged. “Olivia keeps me in the best equipment money can buy, but it still takes time. Sorry, I don’t mean to freak you out.”

  “I think that ‘freaked’ is pretty much where we live now,” Israel
said. He felt a chill, but tried to keep himself from showing it. The ache in his neck seemed to grow deeper by the minute. “What about mine?”

  “Yeah, about that,” Allison said. “I’m not sure what happened, maybe a bad lot of sample tubes or something, but your sample seems to be contaminated. The slides are just bizarre.”

  Israel stared at the monitor. “Allison, if you don’t want to freak people out, try to avoid using the words ‘your blood’ and ‘bizarre’ in the same sentence.” He rolled his head slightly, trying to stretch the muscles in his neck and shoulders.

  The doctor smiled again. Israel thought it lit up the video screen. “I guess so,” she said. “The thing is, you and Erin got tubes from the same lot so I’m not sure what happened, but it must be some kind of contamination.”

  “So, I’m not going to die or grow an eye between my tits or anything?” Erin said.

  Allison laughed at that. Israel thought it sounded like something that should be coming from the mouth of a young girl rather than an accomplished woman. “Not as far as I can tell. Like I said, a couple of days and we’ll know more.”

  Erin looked at Israel and he shrugged in response to her unspoken question. “They could always e-mail you the results or something.”

  “What’s that?” Warburton said. She hadn’t seemed to be paying much attention to the bulk of the conversation, but now she was focused on Israel and Erin.

  “I’ve decided I want to go home,” Erin said, standing. “I really appreciate what you did for me back at that place, but I don’t like it here and I don’t want to be a part of whatever it is you guys have going on. So, if I could get a ride to a bus station or something, I’d appreciate that.”

  Allison and Warburton spoke at one time then, but only for a second before growing silent. Allison gave Warburton a quick nod.

  “That would be a terrible idea, Erin,” she said.

  The ache in Israel’s neck was spreading slowly to his shoulders and back, but it didn’t stop him from laughing. “Oh, so it’s Erin now?” he said, rising to stand next to her and face Warburton. “What happened to ‘Miss Simms’? And why is her going home such a bad idea? You just said that she wasn’t in any immediate danger and it’s not like she’s going into hiding. You’ll give a forwarding address, right Erin?”

  “Just as soon as I have one,” she said with a slight smirk.

  “There you go,” Israel said.

  “There are other things to consider, Mr. Trent,” Warburton said. “Largely the fact that we don’t know exactly the nature of what was done to you.”

  “Sure you do,” Israel said. “We were ‘Awakened.’ ”

  For the first time, Israel saw a look of surprise on the older woman’s face. She recovered quickly though, and said, “Where did you hear that?”

  Israel nodded toward Stone and said, “From him, back in California. Right after he electrocuted me.” Israel took a deep breath. He felt his heart beginning to race, but he knew that losing his temper now wouldn’t accomplish anything. “Tell us, Mrs. Warburton, what exactly did the Progeny wake up in us?”

  Warburton shot a withering glance at Stone. The bald man just shrugged. “I didn’t think he heard me.”

  “Okay,” Erin said, “before anyone says anything else, I’m going to go. The less I know about this shit, the better off I am, I think.”

  Warburton turned her hard look from Stone to Erin. “You can’t run away this time, Miss Simms.”

  Erin’s eyes grew wide. “What did you say?”

  “You can’t run away. I’ve read your file. You always run from your troubles: foster homes, responsibilities, legal tangles. Even if you leave here, where are you going to go? Back to the strip clubs? The brothels? You’ll carry this with you no matter what. You. Can’t. Run.”

  Erin’s face contorted into a mask of anger and humiliation. Her complexion grew red with rage and she started toward Warburton saying, “You fucking crippled cunt! Who do you think-”

  Stone intercepted her long before she could reach Warburton. “Let’s all just calm down now,” he said. “You too, Olivia.”

  Erin slapped at Stone’s hand, but he seemed to hardly notice. “Get your fucking hands off me you-”

  The rest if Erin's words were dulled by a rushing sound in Israel’s ears. His heart was racing and he could feel sweat beading on his brow and the back of his neck. Dimly, he saw Erin screaming into Stone’s face. Under that he was aware of Allison’s voice. Was she saying his name? He thought so.

  He moved to help Erin- calm her down -but his limbs were so heavy. Suddenly, Stone grabbed Erin and pushed her backwards. Israel thought she would fall, but two dark-suited men were there to catch her, one on each side holding her arms while she struggled. They were big guys. There was no way Erin was getting away from them, but that did not keep her from fighting them like a trapped wildcat

  He managed to raise his hand. He thought he was telling them to let her go, but he could only hear a dull smattering of his own voice under the static rush in his ears.

  The finger he was pointing swayed drunkenly.

  Erin started biting at one of the guard’s hands. He shook her hard.

  Stone tried to grab one of Israel’s arms. Not an attack, but more for support. Israel shrugged it off and tried to move toward the guard who was shaking Erin. The room swayed a little around him.

  Erin screamed in rage, so loud that it pierced the rush of sound in Israel’s head.

  Then, in the space between heartbeats, Erin was gone.

  The man who had been shaking her continued the motion for a second more before he realized he wasn’t holding onto anything anymore. The other guard staggered off balance with the sudden loss of Erin’s weight to fight against. Everyone else was still and silent. Israel staggered drunkenly and nearly fell over one of the overstuffed chairs.

  That seemed to snap everyone into motion. Israel could see both Warburton and Stone shouting, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Arms swept under his and supported him as he staggered . Even as his vision started to blur, he kept staring at the empty space where Erin had been.

  The room shifted and spun around him as he was lowered to the floor. He tried to speak, but wasn’t sure his mouth was moving. Stone and the guards knelt over him, one with two fingers at his neck and a grave look on his face. Beyond them, he saw Allison’s face on the monitor staring wide eyed at what was happening. He thought he saw a tear in her eye.

  Then, Israel Trent died.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Erin was still screaming when she stumbled forward and fell onto her knees into hard dirt and dry grass. Her head spun and she felt like she had just shotgunned a six-pack. Her stomach rolled over and she vomited hard. It splattered against the ground and the thin grass and left tiny droplets on her pants. Her fingers clawed at the dirt as the stomach spasms eased.

  Dirt. There was dirt.

  Erin opened her eyes. Around her, the sky was barely lit by the setting sun. Desert scrub grass and Joshua trees were scattered across a shadowed landscape that stretched for miles to a skyline she knew all too well. It was Las Vegas. She was home.

  How the fuck was she home?

  She got to her feet and turned in a slow circle. Despite the rapidly cooling desert air that touched her skin and the expanse of the Nevada desert around her, she knew this couldn’t be right. She was just in Silversky, in fucking Georgia. There was no way she could be in Nevada. It wasn’t possible. Erin closed her eyes and took long, deep breaths until she felt her heart stop hammering.

  Stone. She had been arguing with that short shit. He probably did something to her and now she was hallucinating or something. She shook her head. She’d dropped a couple of tabs over the years; she knew hallucinations and this didn’t feel that way.

  She opened her eyes slowly. The desert was still there. Erin heard her teeth grinding together more than felt it. She took a deep breath to scream in frustration, but instead let it hiss through her
clenched teeth in anger. This, the dungeon, Warburton- she shouldn’t be surprised. It was all part of the shit-storm of a life she had been gifted with from the day she was born. Or at least from the first time Tiko had…

  She cursed at her own thoughts and pushed the memories away. Thinking about her brother was never useful. She closed her eyes again, her sense of calm warring with the need to panic at the insanity of the moment. It was the dungeon all over again.

  A memory of Israel came to her then. He’d told her to stay cool and stay focused on getting out. Freaking out would only make it worse. This wasn’t a dungeon, but it sure as shit qualified as some place she needed to get out of. Erin latched on to that memory.

  She hadn’t had anything on her when she’d gone with Israel to see that Warburton bitch. So that meant no money and, more importantly, no phone, which probably wouldn’t get a signal this far out anyway. The city was starting to light up in the distance, but that was a hike of miles across open desert in the dark to even reach the outlying suburbs of Las Vegas. That thought stuck in her mind. It was strange but she could see the distance between her and the tiny silhouettes of houses to a degree that she had never experienced before. It was the clearest thing in the world to her, as though the space between her and the closest house was something she could feel.

  The sound of a car speeding over asphalt distracted her. She looked up just in time to catch the fading glow of what had to be headlights. She hadn’t noticed before, but she was at the bottom of a small, steep hill. She had no interest in climbing through the dirt to get to the top of that hill. If there was a road on the other side of it, though, that could make things easier for her. She gritted her teeth and looked up at the incline.