Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set

by Taylor Hondos

  He didn’t look away for a while, and I felt my heart quicken. He cleared his throat and looked away. “No, he made it this way so if someone got this far, they couldn’t get past this.” He made a tired sound as he stretched his back. “Go ahead. Walk to the doorway at the end of the couch.” He groaned out in frustration.

  “This is ridiculous, Jared.” I shook my head, and he nudged me to go on.

  “Lena, I don’t care. I already know what’s behind it. I just wanted to let you know. You should probably hurry. They’ll realize that you aren’t dead yet.” He made a spooky face while throwing his hands up into the air like a ghost. I smirked at him.

  I walked briskly to the side of the sofa. “Name please.” I jumped back. My heart took a leap and I stared gape mouthed at the sound of the strange voice.

  “Uh, Lena Alona,” I said with a shaky voice. I looked back at Jared, and he shook with laughter. He rolled his eyes as if it was an obvious solution and mouthed the words, full name.

  So, I scowled, and I tried again with full confidence. “Lena Elizabeth Alona.”

  “Activate,” the voice said.

  The wall disappeared completely, and we walked into the room. Jared stood aside so I could explore.

  The room with the blue couch seemed to disappear, and was replaced by a room full of bright lights. About sixteen computers lined the walls, and in the center of the room was a giant globe-shaped hologram computer system. Along the wall were many shelves containing bottles of mixtures. I was right about there being potions. I smiled to myself. A large television hung on the right wall.

  “What is all this, Jared?” He just nodded at me briskly to continue looking.

  I looked at the globe in the center of the room. I peeked in and it was like a crystal ball. There was only a light gray cloudiness in the giant circle. “I don’t see anything through this.”

  He walked over to it. “You tell it what you want to see,” he spoke softly. My heart was beating at how sweet he sounded. “This system is under your control now. Your father left this to you. But you know what the funny thing is?” I didn’t answer, much to his annoyance, so he continued. “If he really wanted you to have it, how come he never let you know anything?” He smiled in satisfaction as he let that sink in and walked away. “I’m going to guard the door and make sure it’s locked.” He disappeared from my sight, and I was left feeling useless. He was right, if this was mine then why did I know nothing about it.

  I called to him as he walked away. “Where is that note supposed to be anyway, Jared?” He froze, and I smiled. “Ah. There isn’t a note, is there?”

  “He told me that he left it on the chair, but I didn’t see it,” he said without facing me.

  “Oh, how convenient. You’re a liar,” I said, and he just smirked.

  “How would I know all that I know if I wasn’t his friend, his ally?”

  I looked at him for a long time. My dad did a terrible job at assigning someone to protect me. Maybe that was what he wanted, someone tough to protect me.

  “We can stay here for tonight or we can go. You decide what to do. I’m sure someone will be waiting for us either way. In this room, we can be safe for the night.”

  “Let me sleep in here. This is where my father was,” I told Jared.

  “Okay,” he said while nodding.

  That night I watched Jared. He made me a little nervous. I needed to trust him. It would be hard for me to do that, but I had to get over it. I saw that he was asleep, and once I heard soft snores, I eventually let my eyes shut. I dreamed of my dad and all the things he tried to cure there.

  Chapter Four: The Chase

  I FOUND MYSELF lying on the floor with a pillow under my head and a blanket over me when I woke up. I didn’t have them before and I smiled as I saw Jared had moved slightly from his original resting area. I was unsure if it was morning or night, but I was sure that I had slept a while because I was sore from the floor.

  I remembered that we had to leave fast because people might or might not be waiting for us. Who was waiting for us, I didn’t know. All I knew was that whoever killed my father was probably out there looking for me. I was still at a loss as to who tried to attack me last night. Jared saved me, even though he didn’t seem to like me very much. I didn’t understand Jared’s motives, because now he got himself in a situation that didn’t concern him.

  I heard movement on the ground and watched as Jared’s eyes popped open as he eyed the TV. His face fell slightly.

  I didn’t want to turn toward the TV, but I did. What I saw was worse than anything I had seen in my life. In the center of what once was the square, was a huge hole in the ground, where many had been dancing last night. It was as if the entire square simply fell into a huge black hole. The shops by the square were dissolved into dust all around the edges. But that wasn’t what took me by surprise. Instead of a death toll on the screen, there was a missing toll. I gasped in shock as I read that seventy-eight people were missing. The entire square was demolished, so the reporters probably couldn’t tell if citizens were killed or just missing. The events of last night were too weird. Who caused the square to blow up like that?

  Faces popped up all over the screen in a matter of seconds—my neighbors, my classmates, my old friends who were all missing because of me. I knew this was my entire fault, but I couldn’t bring myself to accept the fact that someone really wanted me dead. Did they really kill others to get to me, or took them away to bring me to the surface? I was glad to see that Kaley was not on the list, so I gave a sigh of relief. Maybe I should have just turned myself in to whoever wanted me. I didn’t bother bringing this up to Jared because he wouldn’t have allowed it. After all, he risked his life for mine.

  I thought of the green light that surrounded me last night and couldn’t shake the feeling that whoever came down to chase me took my friends, too. I remembered the way I felt and the red eyes I saw. A chill ran down my spine. What did they want from my friends or me? I looked to Jared, and he didn’t look in the least bit surprised anymore. He stared blankly at the screen and his lips were pressed in a hard-pressed line. He looked so angry that I shuddered when his gaze meet mine briefly.

  “We have to get out of here, Lena. They are killing people and taking others,” Jared said quickly as he got up.

  “Jared, maybe it would be best if I was gone. Then people wouldn’t be taken away because of me,” I said to him.

  “Lena, they would have taken them with or without you. You don’t determine the fate of others,” he said without looking at me, as if he wanted to hide his face from mine. He shook his head in disapproval. “You should trust me,” he said calmly. “I have proven myself to be valuable, so trust me.”

  “I can’t trust you.” I sighed softly. “This is very scary for me. Can’t you understand that? I’m afraid because I have lost everyone. I don’t want to lose myself as well because I trusted you.” I hesitated. “How did you know my father?”

  He looked annoyed. “I can’t tell you here, but be smart and trust me. You’re going to understand soon enough. And if you don’t want to trust me because I’m tough on you, then you’re a coward.”

  I just shrugged as he stood up. After counting to three, I followed him out. We entered my dad’s room again, and before I knew it, Jared dragged me furiously to the floor. Just when I was about to scream in protest, he slapped a hand over my mouth and put a finger to his lips, pointing to the window. There were two shadows that I could see through the curtain. I started to panic, but Jared remained calm. Somehow this made me feel a little less scared.

  He crawled on the floor toward the curtain, and I wanted to shout to him to not go near the window, but decided against it because I didn’t want to draw attention to him. Jared pulled from his pocket what looked like a giant magnifying glass. In the center of his gadget was something that looked like a mirror. Wires were coming out of the mirror on the back. He held it up toward the window and instantly the glass disappeared. I coul
d see outside and beyond the curtains now. When it finally adjusted, two faces appeared. The first was Joseph Jacobs, the boy with the first cure, and the second was my neighbor, Max Schrubs, the boy who was always afraid.

  I sighed and smiled at Jared. He looked at me with a crazy look on his face. I started to get up off the floor, but he slammed me down onto the floor. I gasped for air.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered frantically.

  “Lena.” He shook his head, and I looked in his eyes, confused.

  “What is it?” I asked slowly, still whispering.

  “I don’t think they’re here to see if you survived.” He looked at me with a meaningful look, but I still was lost.

  “Jared, but Max is out there.” I searched his eyes for him to agree with me, but he just looked at me in a sad way. It was as if he were feeling sorry for me for believing there was an ounce of goodness in someone.

  He looked into my eyes once more and put a finger up to shush me. I took a gulp and laid my head against the cold ground again.

  So these were the people after me, but why? They weren’t exactly scary in my eyes. Maybe Joseph for his cold demeanor, but Max was not scary in the least. Max tricked me into thinking he was scared, when he was probably watching me from his house. What got me was how belittled I felt by Max wanting to capture me for whatever reason. If you so much as sneezed around him, he ran for cover. Jared looked passively to me and out the window again, but this time, he pulled out what looked like a gun, and I almost screamed.

  I had never been within miles of a gun before, but he looked at me with a look so severe I didn’t make a sound. Jared pulled the trigger, and I covered my ears. No sound. The boys outside did not move, but instead looked as if they were frozen in place. Jared got up, pulling me with him. He broke into a run.

  “I don’t understand!” I shouted to him as we ran, and he looked back to silence me before finally answering.

  “I froze them into shock. They will stay that way thirty seconds, tops.” I was terrified. “We need a car. Now. We have to break out of here before they break the trance,” he told me. I led the way to the garage where my dad’s black Audi R8 sat.

  I slipped into the passenger’s seat as he got behind the wheel. The keys were on the dashboard, and as the car roared to life, I began to panic. He looked to me and chuckled when he saw my hands shaking tremendously. “Don’t panic,” he said softly.

  He opened the garage door, and as it rose, I saw three figures blocking our exit. We were trapped. Jared pulled his “gun” out again, and they all froze. With a quick sideways flick of his wrist the three figures flew into the air as if they were statues, out of our way.

  He floored it out of the garage, and I caught sight of the house behind us as they moved from their stances. I faced forward and told Jared that they all seemed to have moved. He just laughed, and said, “I know. They will come after us for a little while. They won’t go against orders.”

  “They will still come after us?” I asked in horror. “Who is giving them orders? They aren’t working on their own?”

  He just chuckled under his breath. “You are the real deal. You have all the answers whether you think so or not. They know that you know. They want to eliminate the threat, and that is you.” He laughed. “And no. No one moves on their own anymore.”

  “Turn around!” I said in disbelief. “Let me tell them that I know nothing, because I don’t even know what’s going on. They have the wrong girl.” A new thought came to my mind. “Take me to who wants me so badly at least.”

  He didn’t as much as slow down as he turned to me slowly, and said, “You are Sebastian Alona’s daughter, right?” He didn’t want an answer so he continued. “Start acting like it. You’re a real wimp.” He turned back to the road, and I sat in silence. “As for going to the source, what good is that? You’re the only hope.” I let that sink in, and I felt a weak happiness, but I let it subside. This meant I was going to have to fight for my life and maybe even save others. I felt fear, but I let that feeling go as well and continued my questionnaire.

  “Why is Max with them? He was such a weenie. I can’t believe any of this,” I said to myself mindlessly. Jared snickered, and I looked over angrily. “This isn’t funny!”

  He searched the road as he grinned. “You said weenie, kid.”

  I scowled to the mirror. It was morning. The sun slowly came up, and I relaxed a little because this was my favorite view. I always watched it from my window at home. I found a tiny shred of comfort in that moment, but then I shivered at the thought of what would have happened to me if Jared hadn’t come along.

  ***

  A few hours later, I continued to stare out the window. Jared was still driving. I didn’t know how he wasn’t tired, but he didn’t seem to be affected by driving for three hours. No one came after us yet. I was relieved, but I wondered if that meant soon they would.

  I stared at him and felt the warmth of the sun on my face. I cleared my throat as he turned to me with full attention. “So, where are you taking me?” I asked.

  “Can’t tell you. I would have to kill you.” He glanced over with a sinister look, and I was unsure if he was kidding or not.

  “Oh, funny,” I said. When he didn’t respond I sat in silence.

  What if this was a trick? And what was worse was that I let him trick me. I turned quickly from him. I was such an idiot. He was bad, and I trusted him to come into my house. That was why he didn’t kill them; he just put them in a trance. No, that was morbid. Maybe he just really didn’t want to kill anyone because, who would want to do that?

  “Why can’t you tell me?” I questioned defiantly.

  “Well, say they had bugged the car? They would know where to go.”

  “But if they bugged the car, they’ve probably installed a GPS, too,” I told him, but he ignored me and acted as if I didn’t speak. I was frightened, and I didn’t want to be killed. This boy, the boy who hurt me before, was so mysterious. I couldn’t stand the way he made me feel as if I wasn’t important and important in the same breath. I was caught up in my thoughts when a huge bang came from the top of the car, breaking the silence.

  “What was that?” I turned to Jared, and he twisted to me slowly. His eyes were wide and his face paled noticeably as he panicked. His cool demeanor had fallen.

  “They found us. I didn’t think they would this soon,” he told me quickly and sped the car up to at least 105 miles per hour. He moved the wheel in jagged movements until there was another thud outside.

  “What are you doing?” I shrieked. I looked out the window to see a figure on the ground. “Oh, my god. Jared, did you just kill him?”

  “Not even close. He’s coming back,” he said through gritted teeth.

  I checked the side mirror and the figure was no longer on the ground. He wasn’t even in sight of the mirror anymore. I sighed because we didn’t hurt him, but then I saw him. I really saw him. He was standing on the hood of the car. How could anyone ever do this? Jared sped up again, but the boy did not even jolt with the speed increased. Jared slammed on the brakes and quickly sped the car back up, but he didn’t budge. He walked slowly toward me on the car. No human could ever do this. Jared tried to get his gun out, but it was too late.

  Joseph kicked the window out of the car while it plunged to a stop in the middle of the road. I screamed at the top of my lungs. The window shattered as I shielded my eyes. I felt a sharp pain on my forehead. I uncovered my eyes and opened them to redness. The blood gushing into them blinded me. Suddenly, I felt a hand close around my neck. I felt as if my head would snap off if it were squeezed any harder. I tried to gasp for air, but it was hopeless. I would never be able to take a breath again. I threw my hands to my neck. I clawed at his cold skin as I tried to get his hands off my neck. I could feel myself blacking out, and I didn’t know what to do. I started throwing my hands around, attempting to stab him with my nails. I grabbed a piece of glass that landed on my lap to hurt him. Throug
h blinded eyes, I slashed around, but my weapon was quickly ripped from my hands. I couldn’t go out without a fight.

  Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm, and I felt a stabbing pain. I felt warmth pour down it. Where was Jared? Maybe he made a run for it because he didn’t want to lose his life or maybe he joined in? I would die not knowing who killed me. I thrashed and tried to fight the people attacking me. The hand around my neck released me suddenly, and I felt myself drifting off. My eyes went from red to black in a matter of seconds.

  Chapter Five: The Treatment

  WHEN I RECOVERED consciousness, we were sitting on the side of the road in the car. I looked above me to see Jared holding his shirt over my head. His jacket was still on and zipped up so he wasn’t exposed. He must be bashful, I thought to myself. He looked panicked, but I didn’t think he wanted me to know. I wanted to get up, but I felt as if I were being held to the seat by a block of cement.

  “How did you get them to stop?” I asked, dazed.

  “I took care of it. Don’t worry about it.” He looked grimly down at me.

  “What’s wrong? I feel so dizzy and weak. I can’t even get up,” I told him.

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he gazed out the window to the sky and took a deep breath. “Lena, we are going to have to take you to the hospital. Your head is gushing blood, and look at your arm. It’s bleeding so profusely I’m surprised you haven’t died from blood loss. I hope nobody sees us.” He started the engine and drove down the road. The roar of the car countered the drums that were beating inside my head.

  “Who would hurt me at a hospital? Do I really need a hospital, anyway?” I tried to lift myself, but Jared put a hand up to block me. I slouched back down. “Just take me to a hospital around here. I’m sure we’ll find one.” He didn’t look at me or answer, so I sat there in silence. “How far away are we from town?” I asked weakly, my eyes began to shut slightly.