Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  “How long will that take?”

  “Difficult to say, Miss.”

  Great. So we would be spending our Saturday cooped up in some sterile safe house instead of enjoying the beach. And I would be doing it with a grumpy best friend. Perhaps last night was just an omen of what was to come for the weekend.

  Although, maybe it could work in my favor. “Do you think we’ll have to stay there overnight and into tomorrow?” I thought about my meeting with Lochie. Being put into safe custody would be a valid excuse for ditching him, right?

  “Possibly,” Frank replied. “But we’ll know more when our team have finished their assessment.”

  I silently gave myself a high five. It was only delaying the inevitable but I didn’t care. If I could avoid seeing Lochie for even a day, I would. At least then I wouldn’t be at risk of running into his centerfold girlfriend.

  We drove in silence for the remainder of the journey. Lola was shooting me daggers the entire way, wanting an answer. I tried to think of what I was going to say to her. It was against every rule the Department had to tell her the truth. I would risk getting kicked out of the program or, worse, Lola being inducted into the program. I wasn’t sure how they dealt with people knowing, perhaps nobody else had broken the rules before?

  The house we pulled up outside was just like every other one in the street – which was probably the point. Hiding something in plain sight was effective, they had hidden us for seventeen years after all.

  “We’ll monitor the doors but you will be safe here. Try to relax while we sort everything out,” Drew said before he and Frank went to work. They immediately got on their phones, calling around to see what their backup unit was doing.

  Lola flopped onto the lounge suite, I sat in the armchair in the living room. The house was decorated just like a normal house, except nothing was personalized. The rooms could have belonged to anyone they were so simply decorated. It was functional more than homely.

  “I’m really sorry about this, Lola,” I started, not knowing what to say to her. How could I possibly make her and the Department happy at the same time? It wasn’t like I was a magical wizard with all the answers or anything.

  “Tell me what’s going on.” She sat straight up, staring me down. “I’m not going to tell anyone, you can trust me. We’ve been best friends for five years.”

  “I know, but I’m not allowed to tell anyone.”

  “Considering I’m being kept hostage in a house by two weirdo men, I think you owe me an explanation. I trusted you to get into that car when God only knows where they were taking us. I trusted you, so why can’t you trust me?”

  She had a point, but my hands were tied. Not only tied, but practically handcuffed. “I do trust you but I’m not allowed to tell a soul. I’ll get in huge trouble if I do.”

  “You’ll lose your best friend if you don’t.” She crossed her arms, signaling an end to the conversation. Unless I did what she said, anyway. I desperately wanted to tell her everything but I was scared to. Not only of the Department, but her reaction. She might be afraid of me. She might hate me. Our friendship could be over even if I told her the truth. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place was not fun.

  I knew what my parents would say if they were there: the project was the most important thing. Regardless of the consequences, I should put the project before everything else. That was what I was supposed to do. That was how I was raised. That was how everyone expected me to act.

  But I was tired of doing what everyone told me to. For once in my life, I was going to follow my heart. I couldn’t lose my best friend over this, she deserved to know the truth.

  CHAPTER 11

  “I’m an alien.” There, it was out in the open. She could run away in fear, she could try to hurt me and sell me off to the highest bidder on the black market. I couldn’t take it back now.

  “Excuse me?” Lola said, uncrossing her arms. At least I had her full attention.

  “I’m an alien. I was sent here from the planet of Trucon when I was a baby. Thousands of us were as part of a project to integrate into the human race. We were placed into homes and raised by human parents. We have been monitored closely by the FBI. We were supposed to be revealed when we were twenty-five so humans could accept our kind. Unfortunately, some people want to kill us before that happens.”

  If we were in a cartoon, crickets would have sounded. Unfortunately, all I could hear was the deafening silence in the room. Lola just stared at me. I knew it sounded crazy, but that was my life. I didn’t know how to convince her everything I said was the absolute truth.

  “Lola, say something.”

  “You’re seriously an alien?” Her face was scrunching into confusion. “You’re not making this up?”

  I shook my head slowly and sadly. I wished I was making it up. “It’s all true. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before, I wanted to, but the Department have really strict rules that I have to live by. If I do something wrong, they can take me away.”

  I don’t think I had ever seen Lola so quiet and inside her own mind before. She seemed to be thinking it over, but she could have been shutting down for all I could tell. I didn’t want to push her into being okay with it, but it was killing me not knowing too. I wanted to lunge across the room and beg her not to give up on our friendship. I refrained myself, it would probably just be weird, right?

  “Say something, Lola, please?”

  “This is the coolest thing ever,” she said, a wide grin spreading across her face. Now it was my turn to be confused.

  “You’re okay with it?”

  “Of course I am. I know a real alien. From, like, outer space. There aren’t cameras here, right? You’re not punking me?” She looked around the room, trying to find the hidden cameras that didn’t exist.

  I laughed, I couldn’t help it. Perhaps my life wasn’t about to fall apart after all. At least one person was cool with my status. “It’s not a practical joke, I can assure you. There are no hidden cameras, or at least I don’t think there is. This is an FBI safe house so anything could be here.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I hoped there really weren’t any cameras. If the Department found out about the fact I had just told Lola everything, they wouldn’t hesitate in coming down on me.

  Lola grew serious. “Thanks for telling me what you are. I guess it’s probably hard to pretend you’re like everyone else.”

  “I can’t believe you’re okay with it.”

  She crossed the room to sit next to me in the armchair. We both easily fit. “To be honest, I always thought there was something a little different about you. I always assumed you would tell me about it when you were ready.”

  And here I thought I was pretending to be normal so well. It concerned me to think someone had noticed. If Lola had, who else had their doubts about me? It wouldn’t bode well in three months time. “Was it really that noticeable?”

  “No.”

  “Then how could you tell I was different?”

  “Because I know you better than anyone else,” Lola said, putting her arm around me. “It was no one thing, just a lot of tiny things over the last five years since we met. I thought you might have been adopted or something.”

  “I guess you were right.”

  “I guess I was,” she grinned, making me do the same thing. We hugged until everything was alright again. Only then did we let each other go.

  “I don’t think I have to say it, but you can’t tell anyone about this,” I started. I was sure it didn’t need to be said, but I couldn’t risk not saying it. “If anyone find out before the Department announces it, we could all be in serious danger.”

  “Of course I’m not going to tell anyone. I’ll keep your secret, just like all the other ones.”

  I hugged her again, she was the perfect best friend. I couldn’t believe how good it felt to be able to be my absolute self around her. There were going to be no more secrets between us, I wouldn’t have to pretend anymore. It was go
ing to be so good being able to relax.

  “Miss Jones,” Drew addressed me as he stepped into the living room. “We have had word from our backup team and you are safe to go. The threat has been assessed as low.”

  “Low? What does that mean?” Were they kind of likely to kill me, or only sort of likely?

  “It means they won’t be hurting you. Come on, I’ll drop you home. Your parents have been notified and they want to see you.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just headed toward the door. He wasn’t exactly a small talking kind of guy. We followed after him like little puppy dogs.

  Drew and Frank dropped off Lola at her house first. She understood why I couldn’t spend the rest of the day with her. There were only a few hours left of daylight we would be missing out on. I couldn’t believe the majority of our day had gone by waiting around in a stranger’s house.

  When I got home, I was kind of done with the whole day. Being an alien was starting to interfere with my normal life and I didn’t like it. I was supposed to have three months left to enjoy being a usual human being. The people that were trying to harm me were robbing me of that time. I hated them for it.

  “Frank said Lola was with you,” Dad started when we were eating dinner in front of the television. None of us felt like setting the table for something more formal. “What did you tell her when they picked you up?”

  “I told her I would explain later.” It technically wasn’t a lie, I did say that. Leaving out the part about telling her everything when we arrived at the safe house wasn’t lying. It was being forgetful.

  “And she was okay with that?” Mom asked, disbelieving. I really needed to be better at lying to them.

  “I guess.” I shrugged, hoping they would change the subject. I grappled for a new topic that I could raise, perhaps deflect some attention from myself. Any topic would have been good, yet my mind was blank. It always was when I panicked.

  Mom wasn’t having any of it. I knew she would be the one to make me come unstuck. “Lola isn’t the type of girl that lets things go. Surely she must have had questions?”

  “I don’t know, I guess she did.”

  “So what did you say?”

  I wished she wasn’t trained in interrogation. “I said it’s a long story.”

  “And then she said?” Mom stared at me, her eyes wide open and expecting an answer. “Amery, what did she say?”

  “She wanted to know everything,” I finally replied. It was at that point I knew I was done for.

  “And then you said?”

  I looked between them, silently begging for them not to make me say it. If someone was planning on hurting me, I wished they would do it right then and there. At least that would change the topic of conversation.

  Yet nothing happened. My parents just waited for an answer. Full disclosure, that was supposed to be the deal. Ugh, why did I not learn to lie when I was younger? I could have had years of practice by now.

  “Amery, what did you tell her?” Dad asked sternly. I was pretty sure he already knew the answer at that point.

  “Fine. I told her.” The words were out there, let the consequences begin. “But she won’t tell anyone, I trust her and she’s only going to find out in three months anyway. Better it come directly from me than from some official broadcast on all channels.”

  “How did she react?” Mom asked. I could tell she was fuming under her cool exterior. It was going to take a lot of convincing to get back into her good books.

  “She thought it was cool. I told you, she isn’t going to tell anyone, she oddly likes the fact I’m an alien.”

  They exchanged a glance, I hated it when they did that. It was like they could read each other’s minds or something and I was left out of the conversation. Considering I was the one from another planet, you’d think I was the one that should have super powers.

  Finally, Mom spoke. “We’re going to have to talk to her about it. We need to tell Lola how important her silence is. Keeping a secret like that from everyone you know will be difficult for her. She might slip up at any time. She has to know what’s at stake.”

  “I told her all that.”

  “Well she’ll be told it again, won’t she?” Poor Lola, I would have to warn her before she got the talk. She had never encountered my parents in their official Special Agent capacity, it was going to be something new for sure. She would probably never look at them the same again.

  I couldn’t stand the way my parents were acting like telling Lola was something I chose to do. Had it just been an ordinary day at the beach, it never would have happened. I wanted to remind them of that fact before they started to dish out any punishment. “You know, none of this would have happened if I wasn’t being pursued by people who want to kill me. It wasn’t my fault I had to be removed from the beach this morning. If that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have had to explain to Lola in the first place.”

  “I know it must be hard for you,” Mom said, at least her tone was now a bit sympathetic. “It’s a dangerous time but it will all be over soon. Once the announcement is made, they won’t have a reason for harming you. Until then, it’s not safe anywhere, even the beach.”

  “Do you guys get worried about what might happen?” I asked, fearing an honest answer.

  “We worry about you, yes.”

  “But if I wasn’t here with you, you’d be perfectly safe. I’m the one putting you both in danger.”

  Dad leaned across the coffee table, placing a comforting hand on my arm. “We’re all in this together, there is no you and us. We’re a family.”

  My heart swelled with love for them but I knew it must be difficult. If anything happened to them…

  “You are our daughter, Amery,” Mom started. “Whatever happens, you remember that. We knew the consequences of signing up for this project and we would do it all again in a heartbeat. Our main concern is keeping you safe. That’s why we have to be so strict with what information you give away.”

  I nodded, understanding. Still, I promised myself I would do everything I could to make sure they weren’t harmed in any way. If something happened to me, then it happened. But I couldn’t live with myself knowing I had hurt them too.

  CHAPTER 12

  Perhaps one of those bad guys in suits would take me out right here and now. They could kidnap me, torture me for hours. Perhaps even kill me. Was it wrong to wish for that? Surely it had to be better than spending my Sunday at Lochie Mercury’s house?

  I took one last look at Drew and Frank parked discreetly down the road and knocked on the door. We would just have to get the project finished quickly and not drag it out. I should just agree with whatever Lochie wanted to do so we could get the damn thing done. Arguing with him would only prolong the torture. Getting a bad grade I could handle, spending more time with Lochie was questionable. I might harm him in a way I couldn’t reverse. Rob wouldn’t like that.

  “Amery, so nice to see you,” Lochie greeted me, holding the door firm. His voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Isn’t it a bit early in the morning to be patronizing me?” I shoved the door open to get inside. I was already tired of dealing with him and it had only been eighteen seconds. “Let’s just get this done so I can be as far away from you as possible.”

  “That’s the spirit.” How was he so chirpy on a Sunday morning? We were teenagers, we should have been sleeping in until lunchtime, not doing school projects.

  Lochie led me through to his bedroom. The house actually looked quite nice – and normal. I’m not sure what I was expecting, perhaps some cave somewhere, but it was the opposite of whatever I thought. Perhaps Lochie wasn’t the spawn of some ancient cave dwellers after all. I wondered what his excuse was for being like he was, it couldn’t have been his upbringing.

  “Take a seat.” He pointed to the chairs around his coffee table. That’s right, he actually had a lounge area in his bedroom. The entire room had to be double the size of mine. His king size bed was on one end and a study area at the ot
her. The lounge suite and coffee table stood in the middle, underneath a huge bay window. He had a sweet set up.

  I sat at the end of the lounge, watching to see where he would choose to sit. First he had to pull out our project from a draw in his desk and then he sat – in the middle of the lounge. At least he was in choking distance if I felt the uncontrollable urge.

  “How do you want to approach this?” He asked, looking at me expectantly. Of course, I was supposed to be the one with all the answers. He obviously couldn’t think for himself.

  “My part is done, have you finished yours?” I asked, completely expecting a negative answer.

  “Yeah, it’s done. Do you want to swap and we can check each other’s work?” Okay, that wasn’t what I was expecting to hear. Apparently Lochie was just full of surprises that morning.

  “Fine.” I pulled out my notes and handed them over, accepting his in return. I got out my red pen, ready and poised to start fixing his shoddy work.

  As I read through, my red pen stayed capped. Lochie’s work was good, excellent even. He had included things I wouldn’t have even thought of. By the end of it, I was certain he must have paid someone else to do it for him. I couldn’t have done a better job myself.

  I waited until he was finished with my part, pretending to read it again and again. Finally, he put down the pages. “It’s good. I like your arguments and facts. The references are clear and not overused. Good work, Jones.” I hated it when he referred to me by my last name, like I was one of his football buddies. Ugh. “What do you think of mine?”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Just okay? I slaved over that thing for days. I missed practice because of it.”

  “Fine, it’s good,” I relented. “I think once we put them together, we’re going to get a great grade.”

  He held his hand up in the air, expecting a high five. He didn’t look like he was going to take it down anytime soon. I rolled my eyes and hit it. He seemed deliriously happy about finishing our project. I was too, I just wasn’t going to be an idiot about it like he was.