by Laura Winter
30
Clara
I jolted awake, chains rattling as my legs twitched. A bright white light blinded me as I opened my eyes. I groaned and rolled over, my face resting on something soft. Everything around me was blank, and for a moment I thought my vision was still blinded, but I realized everything was just a bright white. A padded floor, white padded walls, and no visible exit. I went to push off the ground but couldn’t move my arms.
“Are you shitting me right now?” I said to myself, my voice still raspy from being choked.
A white straitjacket was tightly wrapped around me. They had changed my clothes. I couldn’t tell what kind of long sleeve I had on under the bindings, but I could see the white sweatpants and white socks they had put on me. I wanted to pull my legs into my chest, but the metal fought back against my ankles.
I was able to sit up after rolling around for a minute. My head was pounding, and my heart was racing. The cuff was still on my wrist. I could feel it digging into my skin. So, I didn’t have powers and I had no clues as to how I could get out of this mess.
I heard a noise and found the small gap in the padded walls. Somehow there was a door there that I couldn’t see before. I tried to think of something, anything, that I could do to help my situation, but I was helpless. The door opened and Jackson walked in, chuckling as I sat wriggling in my restraints.
I bared my teeth at him. “Bit of overkill, don’t you think?” I shifted my shoulders slightly in the straitjacket, just enough to keep the cuff from cutting my skin. I could already feel the blood dripping into my palms.
“If you had any idea what you could do, you would understand my precautions,” he said, walking around the edges of the room with his eyes locked on me.
“You keep saying that,” I replied. “How do you know everything I’m capable of?” I gave up fighting my chains. I needed to start conserving energy in case I found a new chance to escape.
He shook his head. “I’ve been doing my research on you. Ever since you came in and disrupted the order in my Imperium—”
“Your Imperium? I thought you didn’t want to sound conceited,” I hissed, spitting. I regretted it immediately as Jackson swung his leg, connecting with my side as he knocked me over.
“You are a waste of talent,” he said, his voice level. “No wonder the Cold Soul wanted you. You’re weak, just like Kinsie was.” He held his head close to mine, but just out of reach where I couldn’t hit or bite him.
“How would you know what Kinsie went through? You weren’t there. You don’t know what it’s like to have those voices in your head,” I said, forcing out the words. It was hard to not let him see the pain I felt still radiating through my body.
“No, but my grandfather saw what she became when the Cold Soul destroyed the Complex,” Jackson answered, standing up. He continued to walk in a circle around me as I struggled to lean up again.
“It tricked her, but that doesn’t make her weak. He ran away while Kinsie and Isaac stopped the Cold Soul.” I rolled to my side, out of energy. Kinsie couldn’t be weak, because if she was, so was I. I couldn’t be weak. I just couldn’t.
Jackson smiled, unsettling me as he stopped walking. “Who do you think my grandfather was?”
“How would I know? I don’t know anyone from the Original Complex, just Kinsie and…” I froze, my eyes widening. “But…”
“That’s right. You assumed they both died, but my grandfather, Isaac, survived. The only person at the Original Complex to make it out alive,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “My grandfather and my father shared the same gift, you know. And it was passed to me. Every single one of us born with the same power.”
I felt my breath catch, but the words never came out of my mouth. I couldn’t handle the truth.
“That’s right, darling,” he hissed, making my heart stop as he said the one word that my dad used to torture me. “Your father is my idiot half brother. Yeah, I was just as disgusted as you are.”
He gestured at me, but I didn’t care anymore. It couldn’t be true. This couldn’t be happening again. Jackson was enjoying this too much as he knelt down in front of me.
“My father had a child he didn’t know about, all before he met my mother. Idiot Richard didn’t have powers, but he clearly still carried the gift because here you are, with the same family power running through you. How pathetic.” His voice went cold.
“How does Nate… how can he be related to Kinsie if she died?” I asked, doing my best to avoid looking at him.
“Did you think Kinsie didn’t have a family?” He asked, making me feel even more dumb. “How are we related if you’re this stupid? Kinsie was the youngest of eight. Clearly not all of them were present when the Original Complex was destroyed.” Jackson stood up to leave, turning his back to me.
“Where’s Nate?” I called after him. “What are you going to do with us?” I leaned forward, trying to see outside the door. I had to know where I was.
Jackson turned and laughed. “Your boyfriend is fine, for now. I know where the Cold Soul is. I dug through your friends’ minds before we left. I’m going to destroy it so it can’t ever be released again. You two are too powerful and untrustworthy to be allowed back into the world. Together, you are a danger, and I will hold you accountable for the lives of your Complex and the Original one.”
He spun on his heels and left, closing the door before I got the chance to see anything.
31
Nate
I started counting the days based on how many meals they gave me. Breakfast, a small lunch, and dinner. I had eighteen so far which meant I had been in here six days.
Or wait, did I count wrong? What if I missed a meal? What if they were trying to mess with me? Between the windowless padded walls and the sleeping, I couldn’t keep track anymore. I played with the cuff on my arm, unable to get it to even shift on my wrist. And no matter how hard I tugged on the chains around my ankles, I couldn’t break free.
I hadn’t seen Clara or Jackson since getting here. I didn’t even know if she was here or if she was okay. It was hard not to be able to reach out to her mind. I just kept hoping that when the door opened, Clara would come running in to save the day. She always did. She was always resourceful and finding her way out of these things. But every time, it was only an arm that would push in a tray of food, barely within my reach so I could eat.
I counted thirty-six white padded panels on the ceiling and the floor. Forty on the two side walls, all different sizes, and twenty on the back wall. The front wall, the one with the door and food, only had six massive panels. Holy crap, this room was torture enough. What more did I have left to try?
“Clara!” I sat up and shouted toward the door. I had tried this the first two days until my voice went hoarse. My throat was still sore, but I had to keep trying. “Clara!”
I yanked on the chains again but didn’t do any damage. The more I yanked, the more panicked and hopeless I got. Every day I went through the same routine, but no one would come.
I couldn’t imagine what they were doing to Clara, if they still had her, and I was going crazy. I hoped with all my heart she had escaped. Yeah, that’s what happened. She escaped, went to get help, and would be back any minute. But I also hoped she wouldn’t come back for me. If Jackson could use his powers to choke her just for his amusement, I don’t know what he could do if he actually wanted to torture her. Why did he even want us? Why were we here? Was anyone ever going to come get us? Would they even find us?
“Clara!” My voice faded into the padded walls as I heard the door click. I felt my breath catch. I was either going to be saved or I’d be getting another tray of food. But not enough time had passed since breakfast… something was different.
My heart dropped as Jackson walked in, two large men behind him; the same two men that had come down the stairs back at the cabin.
“Where’s Clara? What did you do to her?” I asked, sitting up straighter and curling my fists.
; “Clara?” Jackson smirked, pretending to be confused. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
The two men with him exchanged a glance and laughed.
“Please,” I begged. “Tell me she’s okay. I’ll do whatever you want, just please don’t hurt her.” I sank back down into myself. I was helpless and losing my mind in here. I just wanted to see her. I just wanted to help her somehow.
“That’s why we’re here, though. To let you see her. But I’m afraid you can’t help her now,” Jackson said, his voice cold. His smile grew as I realized what he had just replied to.
“You just…”
“I just read your mind, yes. It’s quite easy when you don’t have any power to keep me out,” he replied, tapping on his wrist to remind me I was powerless. “I explained all of this to my niece a few days ago… or was it weeks ago? Time gets so confusing in here, doesn’t it?”
My mind spun. Jackson had just said Clara was his niece. He was related to her? But how? No, he was lying. I growled and clawed forward to try to grab Jackson, but he stood just outside my reach. He laughed as the wrestler kicked me straight in the chest, knocking me back as I coughed and tried to catch my breath. As I wriggled, helpless and gasping for air, the two men fit a straitjacket around me, locking my arms tight against my body.
“You’re lying. Where is she?” I coughed.
Jackson rolled his eyes as I struggled to regain control. “I should have just explained this when you were both together. Saves me time,” he mumbled. “I’m her uncle, Richard was my half-brother, Isaac is my grandfather, and Kinsie was your great, great aunt or something. Our powers were passed down through the family tree.” He leaned down and unlocked the chains at my ankles. “Now, I thought you wanted to see your darling girlfriend?”
I didn’t fight as the two men lifted me off the ground. I hadn’t been able to move far in my prison so my legs were weak. But it didn’t matter because the guards weren’t going to let go of me anyway. The two men were planted firmly on either side of me, gripping my upper arms tightly as they dragged me a few steps behind Jackson.
He pushed through another room, vaguely set up like a padded interrogation room. Two chairs sat on either side of a metal table with a TV screen set up on the wall opposite the door. The guards threw me down in a chair and took their places behind me. Jackson sat down in front of me.
I tried to hide my nervousness. “I thought you were taking me to Clara.”
“I said I’d let you see her, and I’m a man of my word,” he replied, nodding his head toward the TV as it flicked on.
I hesitated, keeping my eye on Jackson. He had the same powers as Clara, but even though she had half of the Blue Soul, Jackson was significantly stronger and better at controlling his powers than she was. I turned my head away as Jackson’s lips curled into a wicked smile, probably in response to my thoughts telling him he was better than Clara.
The black and white picture on the TV looked like security footage. People shuffled along the floor, not paying attention to anything in particular. They were all dressed in the same gray long sleeves and white sweats and socks I was in. There was a couch in the middle of the room where a thin, slender man sat, rocking back and forth between the cushions. Three more people sat at a table, playing cards, but it almost looked like they were each playing a different game because their moves didn’t make sense.
“I don’t get it,” I said, looking back at Jackson who had his eyes locked on the screen, the same evil smile plastered on his face. “Who are these people?”
“Oh, don’t turn away now,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “This is my favorite part.”
My head snapped back to the screen as I heard her voice come through the speakers. Clara was shouting, running in circles around the table and couch. Her hair was down, but pieces of it were sticking out in a clustered knot on the side of her head. For a second, her shrieks were incoherent, but she dropped in front of the frail man sitting on the couch and screamed.
“Where are the voices? Did you take them out of my head? I need them back. Give them back to me!” Clara grabbed the man by the shoulders and started shaking him as his eyes got wide. He started screaming at her, but she wouldn’t let go.
A woman in a nurse’s outfit ran over, but Clara saw her coming. Her hand shot out and gripped the woman’s neck, picking her up off the ground before slamming her up against the pillar in the room.
“You took them,” she hissed. I could almost see her spit in the tape. “You took the voices with your needles and pills and poison. Give them back! My head is empty, I need the voices, I need my friends back,” Clara shrieked again, hysterical. Her noises started to cut in and out as she began to cry.
“Finnley!”
My heart dropped as two men came running from the right side of the screen to rescue the nurse, calling out to Clara.
“Finnley, let her go,” one said as he slowed his approach.
Clara spun to face the men, letting go of the nurse’s neck. She dropped to the ground and clutched at her throat. “Please give them back,” Clara pleaded. “The voices are supposed to protect me. My dad is going to kill me. Aidan is going to kill me. Please, give me my voices.”
Clara didn’t see the nurse regain her footing. The nurse wound up and plunged a needle into Clara’s neck. Her knees wobbled as she fell forward to the ground in a crumpled mess. I could barely hear her last words before she passed out.
“No, don’t let me sleep. I don’t want to die.”
The TV screen shut off and I felt the tears rolling down my face. My voice was trembling. “What did you do to her?”
Jackson leaned back in his chair, smiling. “She was dangerous, knowing what she knew about the Cold Soul. So I removed it.”
“You removed it?” I stared back at him, losing feeling and the last shred of hope I had left.
“I removed the memories. I erased her. Everything about the Cold Soul, Blue Soul, and… the Blue Star. To put it in terms you might understand, Clara, everything she was, no longer exists. Though, she never did, did she?” Jackson’s smile grew as the tears rolled harder down my face. “I found the part of her mind that was closed off. I brought back Finnley. That version was so much smarter than Clara. I wanted to use Finnley, but it looks like she couldn’t handle it. She looks a little insane, doesn’t she?”
“If she doesn’t remember becoming Clara, she doesn’t remember me,” I whispered to myself. “The last thing she remembers is…”
Her mom dying. The voices convincing her to steal the Cold Soul, to steal itself. She just woke up with nothing left to live for.
I thought back to the words she had said so many times in the last few months. She was afraid of what she would become if I wasn’t around to keep her sane. Now she didn’t know me at all and was right back in the middle of her nightmare. This is what she became without Clara to keep her stable.
Jackson pulled me out of my trance. “Our powers should never be combined with a black hole. She’s weak because you hold her back,” he said, glaring at me with a disgusted snarl.
“If we weren’t together, the Cold Soul would still be out there!” I tried to stand up, but the men pushed me back down in my seat. I don’t know what I was going to do anyway, I couldn’t use my arms.
“You two together is the reason the Cold Soul escaped in the first place. It used her, and you were foolish enough to fall for the idiot. That’s why I’m taking her away from you too.” Jackson stood up, pressing his hands onto the table to lean toward me.
“What?” I started struggling, but the two men were back at my side, holding me still. “No, you can’t take her. Please, I love her! Don’t take her away from me!”
I felt a tingling in the back of my head. It started at the base of my neck and crawled toward the top of my head. Jackson narrowed his eyes and leaned closer as the feeling turned into a sharp pain. He was erasing her, I could feel it. I fought as hard as I could, but I didn’t have any powers
. I couldn’t hold a wall against him if I couldn’t create one in the first place.
Images flashed across my vision before vanishing. Every piece of Clara fell away from me. I tried to reach out, to hold on to something, anything, but it was happening too fast. It all slipped away. The pain was searing and I tasted blood. It was rolling out of the corner of my mouth and my nose the more I lost her. I was losing the girl I loved.
I watched the last flash of her, a girl with purple hair and a long sleeve on. She was walking to the back of the classroom, trying to hide from the stares everyone was giving her. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. She was beautiful, and she had no idea.
The teacher spoke, startling everyone, but I couldn’t look away from the girl. What was her name? Who was she? Why was she here?
