“Don’t sleep,” he shouted. I jumped, but my eyes still felt heavy. “We must be two miles from town. Hold on, Lena.” I felt the car accelerating, but I was too dizzy.
“I wish you weren’t hurt this bad. Holland could easily stich you up, but you’re losing so much blood.” He touched my forehead. A flutter rippled through my stomach. I bit my tongue hard to remind myself Jared wasn’t the guy for me. “They got you good. Didn’t you think to cover your face?” he shouted angrily.
“Well, excuse me. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, so no. I didn’t think to do much of anything. I did cover my face!” I softly told him, and my eyes were shut once more, but I blinked them open. I could tell my vision was getting fuzzy.
“Well, your eye could have been better than you losing blood!” he railed at me. I wanted to yell how stupid and ignorant that was, but I didn’t have the strength. Everything I did was impossibly wrong to him.
We drove down the road until we saw a sign for a hospital. The car was making me woozy. I felt as if I was going to pass out again. We reached the hospital, and he stopped the car far from the entrance. I looked at him as best as I could. How was I going to get there? I would have to crawl for sure. This was a cruel joke.
“How can I get there?” I asked in shock.
“I can’t go in with you. People will recognize me, and it’s too dangerous right now. Tell the nurse that you were driving alone and you hit a tree with your car and walked here. Hurry in; you’re losing too much blood. I wouldn’t send you in if it weren’t serious.”
I didn’t answer, I just got out of the car uneasily. Before I shut the door, I looked to him. “Don’t leave me, if that’s what you’re trying to do.” I tried to slam the door, but fell against it instead. I began to fall forward, but before I landed on the ground, a pair of hands gripped me tightly. I looked up to see Jared staring at me with his hard eyes. If I weren’t so hurt, I could have sworn he had tears building. “Maybe it will be worth the risk,” he said soothingly to me.
He gently picked me up, and I leaned my head against him. He walked so fast I didn’t even know we entered the building until I felt the cool air from the AC. I heard hushed voices and finally felt a chair beneath me. “You’re going to be okay. You have to be.” Jared spoke to me softly.
When I looked up to thank Jared, he was rushing through the front door where we had just come. I slumped down in my chair. The waiting room was completely empty, except for two women speaking in hushed voices.
The lady at the front desk with blue glasses, finally looked in my direction and jumped up from her desk. “Oh my, honey, what happened?” The lady with glasses immediately snapped at the nurse she was just speaking to. The nurse was smaller than anyone I had ever seen before, and she wore black scrubs. She rushed forward with a wheelchair. She helped me off the chair and gently into the seat. “We need to see her right away,” she told the nurse as she began wheeling me forward.
The nurse smiled suspiciously to me as she pushed me around the corner. I looked behind to see the secretary smiling at me, too. I had an odd, uneasy feeling rush through me, but it quickly subsided as I caught sight of a trail of blood beside me. My arm was hanging from the side of the wheelchair and the line of blood was my own. I felt my head drooping down to the side, and my eyes got blurred with red again. The nurse called on her pager, and instantly a man’s voice answered.
“We have another,” she said, and I looked to her about to dispute. Another one? There was a stinging in my right arm, and I saw as she pulled away from me that she had a syringe in her hand.
“What is that for?” I protested weakly. Instantly, I felt tired and I closed my eyes. I felt myself drifting off. In my thoughts, I thought I heard her say, “This is for your own good, Lena.” But that was just my thoughts playing tricks on me, because I never once told her my name.
***
I awoke to a stark white room with many lights and silence. I didn’t feel safe. My forehead tingled, although I wasn’t as dizzy anymore. I wanted to get up, somehow I knew I would fall. I glanced around the bed for a call button to get a nurse. To my surprise, there wasn’t one.
I gripped the side of the bed, and I realized my clothes were still on. Normally at the hospital, they would put a gown on you, but not there. I wished I had a change of clothes, because I was wearing the same black dress with my jean jacket from the night before. I caught sight of a red bloodstain on my jacket, so I pulled it off instantly only to find that there was blood splattered along my dress as well. I forgot to get anything to change into in my haste to leave this morning.
I got up unsteadily and clung to the side of the bed. When I gained my balance, I made my way to the exit door. I needed to find Jared and get out of there, because this place gave me weird vibes. I reached for the handle and pulled as hard as I could manage in my weakened state. Nothing. The door was locked, and I began to shake with fear. They locked me in from the outside, and then it hit me that this was a trap. Probably assembled by Jared. This was a scheme to get me there to kill me. So I ran to the window and pulled it open, thankful that it opened with ease. I was up too high to climb out. There were too many floors between the ground and myself. I began to hyperventilate because my worst fear was falling to my death, but someone murdering me would be worse. If I climbed to the other room beside me, maybe that door wouldn’t be locked.
I stepped over the side of the window and began slowly climbing on the tiny ledge. I sucked in my breath as I felt with my feet that the walkway was slowly getting slimmer. What have I gotten myself into? I stood on my toes while hugging my body to the building. I had white knuckles from how tightly I was grasping the brick wall. I caught sight of my face in the glass portion of the building and saw a large white bandage over my right eyebrow. I looked hideous. There was dried up blood running in streaks all the way down my cheeks. It covered my eyelids. I closed my eyes in horror and recovered fast as a whoosh of wind slightly threw me to the side. I had to keep moving.
I was feeling my heart patter in my ears, but I knew I had to get out of there. The adrenaline coursing through my veins had made my fear of falling seem so petty. I continued until I caught sight of an opening. I pushed on the window, but it didn’t budge. I was careful not to look down. I stayed focused and traveled on the wall to the next window. There had to be one that would open. I kept gliding on the ledge until I reached my next hope. I was not sure how I made it that far without falling. I pushed hard on the glass, and it flew open. I lurched forward into the room. I took a deep breath and said thank you internally.
The room was empty and the door was closed. I prayed it was not locked. I walked toward the door when I heard the window slam behind me. The only sound I heard was the pounding in my chest. I ran to the bed and ducked beneath it. The adrenaline in me had dissipated, and I knew I couldn’t take the pressure now. I peaked from under the bed to the window and saw that it was wide open and a pair of feet appeared from in front of it with a small thud. My stomach hit the floor, and I stopped breathing as I heard heavy footsteps coming toward the bed. I saw black combat boots closing in on my hiding place, but I remained quiet. The boots stopped at the edge of the bed, and the leather squeaked as the owner squatted, and I saw an all too familiar face peeking at me.
“Hmm, I sure am glad it’s just me,” Jared said thoughtfully, and I wanted to slap the patronizing look off his face. “Are you crazy? Everyone could see you scaling the building like you were a rock climber. Say someone wanted to kill you? They would’ve had a clear shot, or you could’ve died on your own accord. I was sitting in the car, saying, what idiot is doing that? Then I said to myself, who else would be so reckless? And I was right. Thought I would come up and save your ass. Let’s go.” He stood with ease, and I scowled. Thanking god the lecture was over.
“How did you get here so fast?” I asked curiously.
He pulled out a metal piece and looked at me as if I knew the answer. “Gabe made this. I ca
n scale any building with it, and voilà. Here I am. Only bad thing is you can’t go back down with it.” He frowned at it and didn’t wait for me to understand. “Let’s go,” he added hastily.
He didn’t lend me a hand as I slid from under the bed and stood. “Wouldn’t have gotten out of the room if I hadn’t done that. Thanks for that lecture though.” I flipped my hair to be rude, and then he stopped me by placing his hand on my stomach. Again with the butterflies and the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. He grabbed my chin and studied my face. His gaze normally piercing and cold was kind and soft, and I was oddly afraid that he would move closer. My heart quickened, and I wanted to look away, but his gaze was so captivating I couldn’t pry my gaze away. Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I got angry with myself again. Don’t let it show, you idiot. Then I remembered that my face was covered with blood and would hide any new color to my cheeks.
“Just checking to see what they did.” He gave a quick arrogant smile. He must have noticed that my breathing had stopped completely in that moment. “Act normal, and when I say run, you need to run. If I tell you to go without me, you need to do that, too. Okay? Don’t try to act strong because, quite frankly, you’re not.”
“I’m not some weak little girl, okay? Get over yourself. You lead people on and stand them up. I’m not worthless, and I sure as hell don’t hurt people.” I felt my heart picking up and I gripped my necklace for confidence. There was a bubble that traveled up in my throat almost choking me, and I felt the unshed tears burning behind my eyes.
He stared in amazement and just nodded swiftly. “I was wrong then.” He didn’t say anything more. He opened the door casually. I wondered if I needed to clean the blood off, but I didn’t ask. Jared searched down the hall, and I followed his gaze. There were three boys standing with their backs to us, and they were trying to get into the room that I was just in.
One boy started beating the door, and I realized it was Max. Joseph pushed Max to the side and slammed the door open with his foot. Then there was chaos. Joseph started hollering, and a new face I had never seen, turned slowly to us. His eyes seemed to be glowing, and he started shouting to the others. It all happened so fast, but all I could concentrate on was Jared screaming, “Run!”
My feet took off before my mind could catch up with me. We ran, and all the nurses stopped in place. They didn’t seem surprised to see me running and they quickly returned to their duties, except a few who ran after us with the three boys. I didn’t recognize any of the nurses, but they seemed to know exactly who I was.
As we approached the elevator doors, Jared pulled out a slingshot and shot a dart to the down button and as we reached it. It opened. Jared frantically hit the first floor button as the others reached the elevator, and just before the door slammed shut, I caught sight of my golden blond-haired enemy. Eric from high school. I gasped for air as we soared down. I stared at Jared, and he didn’t look as shaken as I felt. “Does everyone I have ever known have it out for me?” I asked loudly.
He looked down to me, and for a second, I saw a glimpse of remorse. “I shouldn’t have come in. You could have handled it alone. I’m so sorry.” I stared at him in surprise.
“What are you talking about? I would have died. I wouldn’t have known what to do. I would have taken the stairs and been dead by now.” As I said the words, I wanted to take it back. The lights went out in the elevator as it froze in place.
“Jared, what is going on?” I started to shake, and I moved my hand to my mouth.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly.
The floor began to shake uncontrollably, and I looked down and saw light coming in. “I think the floor is going to bust!” I shouted as I gripped his hand before I could stop myself. To my surprise, he squeezed back. I looked down at it in awe.
Then the lights flickered on and the elevator took a plunge down. I started to scream, and if Jared was screaming, I would never have known. This was the end. I looked at Jared. He looked at me with almost a note of disappointment. It might have been because he had to share death with me, so I closed my eyes. My breathing slowed. I focused on each inhale and exhale as the next one could be my last. I didn’t scream anymore. I listened to the wind blowing as we flew down in the elevator. Time seemed to move slowly. I knew we were going fast down many stories of floors.
Suddenly, the door chimed open, and I was blinded by light when I opened my eyes and saw the opening to the elevator. Before I knew it, Jared was pulling me behind him, our hands interlocked still. The boys were running from the stairwell. Joseph put his hand up to stop them and sneered. They stopped in place. I caught sight of Max. One moment his eyes were a violent emerald. The next second, they were a golden-brown. They all turned and acted like nothing happened.
I stopped in place and stared at them. Lurching, Jared to a stop as well. What was that? They chased us and just stopped. Jared was roaring at me to keep coming. He let go of my hand to my dismay and ran ahead of me. I took off in a sprint again after him.
We ran all the way to the car, and I frantically jerked the car door open and climbed in. My energy felt renewed as we drove off with the Audi screeching. I felt calmer but not relaxed until we were completely out of sight of the hospital.
“Why did they let us go like that?” My voice shook as I asked him.
“They must know something we don’t. Maybe someone else is coming for us,” he told me in an agitated voice. I thought it was because I kept asking useless questions, but I was confused. He must want me to know everything. He expected too much of me, and I couldn’t help wondering why.
I took this in and tried to feel safe, but I didn’t. Since everyone wasn’t who they seemed to be, I didn’t know if it was wise to let my guard down. My head was tingling again. I didn’t want to mention that my body felt as if it were scorching. I looked down and noticed that my arm had turned a pale pink beside the cut that went down my forearm. There were lumps forming all along the cut. I felt my chest tighten in response. I saw my father’s face appear, but shook the thought right out.
“What’s wrong with their eyes?” I asked Jared to distract myself from how weird I felt.
“You saw that too?” he asked. “I’ll have to ask Gabe. He’s a genius. He always knows things before I do, and he can figure things out without even seeing them. You’ll meet him and Holland soon,” he told me with a satisfied smile.
“How will I meet him or her?” I asked puzzled by his smile.
“Well, I’ll tell you now, because they seem to catch us either way. If the car were bugged, they would find out anyway. We’re going to my safe house.”
“Where is it?” I asked in disbelief. I watched the darkness around me and felt drowsy. A safe house, I truly believed I would be safely at one if my family were still together.
“The coast of North Carolina. You can rest. I’m going to find somewhere to sleep because I’m getting tired, too.”
“I can drive,” I told him excitedly through my sleepiness, because I had loved this car and never was able to drive it.
“No, I appreciate you asking, but you’re not in any shape to drive.”
“No, I want answers, and I’m not sleeping until I know the truth,” I stubbornly added. “This is my dad’s car, and if I want to drive it, I will.”
“Lena, you must know that there are things I can’t explain, and there is something coming bigger than both of us. It’s scary, but I will figure this out. Don’t worry about it.” He ignored what I had said about it being my car, so I crossed my arms angrily.
“What does that even mean? You think I have all the answers, but I can’t even help finding things out. I have a right to know. Maybe more than you do since he was my father. I’m not useless, I want to be helpful, so start talking.”
“Lena, just don’t try to act like you can help until you know what I want to know.”
I began biting my nails in exasperation. “So, I’m only useful when you say so. Well, stop the car. I will do this
alone.”
“Don’t be stupid. You’ll be out in the open, and what use will you be then?”
“You get out then,” I said with a smirk.
“That will be super helpful, and while you’re at it, have fun trying to find the safe house.” His stare pointed out how foolish I was being.
I let that sink in and gave a frustrated sigh. I calmed down and slowly said, “I don’t know what’s going on, and you expect me to trust you when I don’t even understand what they want with me or from me. I have no knowledge of what my father did, or what he knew, so why am I so damn important?” Truly, I didn’t trust Jared. I did know a thing or two about my father’s work. But if Jared were really in cahoots with my father, he would know these things, too.
“Maybe this is good. You don’t know anything that would get you killed,” he told me, but it didn’t make me feel any better, but I didn’t interrupt. “This could be really good. But the thing is, you do know. You just won’t know until the time is right. Or if someone forces it out of you. Not me, of course,” he said when a flash of fear crossed my face. “If you’re still confused in a few days, I will tell you. But for now, if they were to take you, it’s best that you know nothing.” I shuddered at the thought of them taking me. But I tried my best not to let it show. “We aren’t far from North Carolina, anyway.”
“Why North Carolina?” I asked. Curiosity seemed to take the best of me. It had been so long since I got to talk to someone other than Kaley. I hadn’t heard from Kaley at all, and I had my cellphone with me. Or rather I did. It was in my jean jacket, which I abandoned.
“My mom’s favorite beach trip was when we went to Wilmington. But she died while I was building the safe house. I didn’t want to finish it after she died, but I’m glad I did. I’ve been protecting two of my best friends there.”
Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set Page 5
