Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set

by Taylor Hondos

  “Yes?” I squeaked back but broadened my shoulders and repeated myself to sound braver.

  “Dr. Ravana would like to see you in his office.” I shook my head feverishly as to say, “okay” and followed swiftly behind the dark haired boy that I didn’t know well. My mind darkened as I remembered my bad fear of Joseph. It was like he was a monster that stole my life from me.

  I stopped to watch my crew once more. Their eyes still emerald, and I decided that mine were not because I had full control over myself. The ceiling opened up, and I watched as each of their heads gazed up. I took one last look at the crowd before they all shot in the air to search for their targets. The sad thing was that they had no control over what they were doing.

  Chapter Two: Introductions

  I STROLLED DOWN a tight hallway. Joseph and I had to walk in a line with me tailing behind to fit through the hall. There were not any lights and the only thing that I saw was the back of his yellow shirt. Joseph’s pace was slightly faster in front of me and it reminded me that I couldn’t stay in a daze; I had to keep up. I knew we reached our destination when he stopped swiftly. I almost ran smack into him but stopped myself before it happened. I shivered as to what would be behind it. Light appeared before me as he opened the door slowly. I shielded my eyes from the light bursting from the door. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the miserable light.

  He started smiling widely at me as if I was a child, and he gestured toward the double doors. I paced slowly through them. As I walked through them he stepped backward. I gazed at him curiously. “You must go in alone.” His voice was barely a whisper. He passed me while brushing my shoulder slightly. At the exact moment our shoulders touched, I had a blurred vision appear before my eyes. A slightly leaner Joseph was standing before me on the roof of a car. He appeared angry and he roared out. I shook my head because I couldn’t place if that image was real or not. He shut the door and I was in a dim light.

  In front of me was another door. I gaped at it curiously. I sucked in my breath. I was alone and I had to be getting on with things because someone was waiting for me behind these doors. I thumped loudly on the double doors. I waited for a long while until I realized that no one was coming so I hammered more aggressively. As my knocking dissipated, I saw the imprint of my fist engraved into the door. I jerked back in embarrassment. I had strength running through my veins that I knew was abnormal. The powers the Doctor had given me were unnatural.

  The door opened finally, and my breath caught as a stunning man walked towards me. He had a turquoise button up shirt on, and I could see that the sleeves tightened around his arm muscles. I coughed in embarrassment as I caught myself staring a second too long. This was the boy. The boy I continued to have visions about and dream of for three nights straight. Light shinned on his eyes and my heart faltered. This wasn’t him.

  The boy I dreamed of had eyes that made my knees weak. The boy from my dream’s eyes was not black with a hint of vindictiveness as this boy’s eyes were. They had bitterness to them that my dream boy could never obtain. His hair flowed exactly the same way but his height was off as well. My dream boy had height that towered over me and I didn’t mind in the least bit. This boy was short. He slightly overpassed my height.

  “Hello.” He paused as he looked at the door in shock. I scowled a little because I was making a fool out of my self for almost beating down the door. “Eager to meet us, I presume?” he chuckled lightly. My heart picked up because he so reminded me of the dream.

  “Why, I don’t know why I have been sent here. There was a voice talking in my ear after I had been dreaming. It woke me up. I was dreaming of someone.” I said awkwardly. I stopped talking and looked down. The dashing boy walked to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. It seemed to burn within me, my face flushed but I tried to keep a steady stance to not give me away.

  “My name is Aiden. I do not know your name and I think you are unsure of your name as well. Let us help you.” He threw his hand behind him and towards the man in all white, which just spoke to the crowd. “This is Dr. Ravana. We want to help you discover who you are and what your purpose here will be.” He smiled and it gleamed in the light. I was shocked to see how calm he was in the situation that he was a sending many off to find people. To kill them or to trap them, I was not sure.

  “How do you do?” I said politely to him. I bowed to him, but it felt foreign for me. I did not know who he was but my mind told me to bow, and so I did. If I wouldn’t have bowed, I was sure that some force would have made me to anyways.

  “Perfect. Tell me everything you can remember before today.” I shrugged because that seemed perfectly easy to do but I stopped heavy in my tracks. Yesterday? Yesterday I was- wait. Where was I?

  I walked slowly into the room as Aiden signaled for me to come inside. I quickly began explaining myself. “Dr. Ravana. This seems insane but I do not remember where I was or who I am. I remember waking up to a room. A red room and I remember dreaming of this wondrous man. The thing is, sir, I can remember a dream I have had repeatedly, but I cannot remember anything other than the dream. I do not remember the days revolving around those dreams. I know that I have had the dream at least three times. This man, he seemed close to me. I know he means something. He must.” I grinned deeply to myself. This boy meant something. “I have also had a dream about a red light. I think that was just a random dream. But this boy, the boy I dream of, he is all I can remember of the past.”

  I looked up to Dr. Ravana. The look on his face was pure insanity and rage. He caught my stare and his smooth exterior returned. “Well.” He said acidly. I was confused by his anger and my muscles clenched. “I think this boy is a figment of your imagination. I mean this in the nicest way. Could you describe him?” I closed my eyes so that all my senses could reach the man I dreamed so dearly of.

  “He’s tall and has wavy hair. Just like Aiden.” I looked toward him, and he looked away to meet Dr. Ravana’s glance. I continued on. “He wears combat boots and he just seems so familiar to me. His eyes are brown. Come to think of it, they made my heart flutter.” I felt heat around me when I remembered where I was. I quickly stopped telling them how in love I was with his eyes. I huffed slightly and continued. “They sparkle and his square jaw compliments his eyes because he looks angry all the time but his eyes soften him.”

  Dr. Ravana seemed to shake with anger and I couldn’t understand why. His hands were by his side in fists and I realized that this meeting wasn’t going well so far. “I think that we need to talk about this. This is not okay to dream. My followers do not dream.” He shouted, “Do not” loudly causing me to jump. “There must be something seriously wrong with you, my dear.” I was shocked by his tone. It was menacing and I shivered with fear. I could feel the chill bumps rising within my arms but when I looked down, I found none.

  Dr. Ravana never looked away from me. His eyes bored into mine, and I found myself in a daze. I didn’t move and felt rooted in that spot. He got up slowly and moved towards me. I felt like cowering away, but I didn’t because an unforeseen force held me up right. Chin up, eyes staring wide, and I watched with self-aware eyes as he moved to Aiden and spoke in a hushed tone. His eyes never left mine, and I stood up straighter without hesitation as he lifted his finger in an upward motion.

  My feet moved before I could comprehend anything. On unsteady legs, I walked quickly to the murky brown bookshelf beside the desk. There was nothing on the bookshelf except a globe and an encyclopedia. I spun the globe around. It was as if my body knew what to do before my mind did and before I knew it, the bookshelf shifted to the left. I didn’t know why I knew this would happen, but I stepped through as Aiden followed. The force I felt before was gone and I turned to Aiden. He was smiling in a peculiar way. “What is it?” I asked in a small voice. I felt as if I were in a dream. I couldn’t think straight anymore. The room was small and had a musky smell in it. I didn’t want to be here, I realized in that moment.

  “What am I doing here?” P
anic was rising in my throat but I attempted to keep it down. I was hoping I could get something of a response for once.

  “We are just running a few tests.” He hesitated, but his eyes never left mine. They were so intense but something was off about them. The boy in my dream was different. He made me swoon. Aiden made me feel peculiarly sick. I didn’t like his stares.

  He inhaled deeply and his mood switched from apprehensive to composed. “We are finding out who you are and who your first target should be. You are having dreams, which is something you can not do.” I felt frightened because I didn’t remember much about life before now but I did know that dreaming was something I should do. He continued on as my head swirled with wonder. “We have a number one target and we still haven’t found someone worthy to find him. We have a strong feeling it is you.” His eyes twinkled and his eye twitched ever so slightly.

  This was alarming to me because at that exact moment, I was reminded of someone who was lying. A needless twitch, a sign of lying, an angst in the making, was associated with twitches to me. I didn’t have time to decide if he were a liar or just someone who was naturally nervous because he was coming towards me. I was spooked and tried to shift away from him but I couldn’t. He grabbed my upper arm, hard. It felt as if his fingers were going through my skin. I wanted to shout but he put a hand over my mouth. My breath was ragged and I wanted to bite down on his hand. That was when he pulled his hand away and pulled me fiercely to his face. I could smell his fresh mint breath as he caressed my cheek.

  Bile rose in my throat. I felt as if I were really going to get sick right there. If he tried to kiss me, I would probably deck him right there, or at least try. I felt afraid but my body could not move. He looked deeply into my eyes and I saw from the corner of my eye that he was raising something towards my face. I felt the prick on my forehead a moment too late. He moved me to the chair behind him and I felt myself losing grip. The last thing I saw was the syringe he was holding as he smiled sinisterly in my direction.

  Chapter Three: Captured

  I SHOT UP awake in the gloomy, dim room alone. Different voices screamed in my head, bickering back and forth where to find the target. I placed my hands on my ears to drown out the noise. There was a voice that was calm and serene, and I focused in on his voice and it said, “You are worthy of this target.”

  I shivered as I searched around the room and found that I was only greeted by more darkness. My eyes couldn’t seem to adjust to the dark and I felt frustrated. That was when I heard a door opening. As if by magic, my eyesight returned and light reappeared to me.

  Aiden was smiling at me with a menacing grin, the exact same one he left me with. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit leery of Aiden and it distressed me how daunting he was. “It turns out that you are worthy of the main target.” It was as if he had been the one chanting to me in my head. I didn’t budge as he drew closer to me. I began chewing on the inside of my mouth from my nerves.

  I sighed slightly in frustration, but his stiff stare made me stop short. He continued on as I smacked my lips together in silence. “He is of utmost importance to this entire process. If we were to capture him, then the world would be safe once more.” I felt my forehead screwing up in confusion, and he seemed to notice. “I know you’re confused. It will all make sense to you eventually. The truth is, you probably won’t capture him tonight, but you must try as hard as you can because he is so important to the human race. He is the difference between destruction and restoration.” This was all so confusing. I felt a little out of place. Why was I needed here at all?

  “I am sending you information right now.” He walked swiftly over to the small desk and typed quickly into the laptop that sat across from me. “You might feel a little odd,” he paused as he searched for confirmation as he used that delicate word, “when you get it but do not be afraid. You will experience heightened senses to reach this man.” I raised my eyebrow as he said the word, “heightened,” but he persisted on. “Yes, our target is highly lethal and you must be prepared to destroy him if he tries to hurt you and he will try to hurt you.” He nodded in encouragement and I knew then that my face was showing how frightened I felt.

  I couldn’t be afraid. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me or why I was chosen for this task but I had to be strong. I had to be brave because this appeared to be my life. I didn’t know who I was but that gave me power. Power to start over and be the bravest, strongest person I could be.

  For the first time, I knew that I was going to have to prevail any apprehension that I had. “I’m ready to fight.” I said with confidence. Aiden looked on with captivated eyes.

  He nodded slightly and pressed on with his instructions. “Your target doesn’t need a name. I find it easier to not give them names in case emotions get in the way. Sometimes a name will attach you to a memory of someone else with that name. In this field, it is best to be without emotions and only run on logic or physical attributes.”

  I nodded and showed that I understood him. “You will be given his location and when you finally begin to approach him, you will finally see his face to recognize him. We used to show only coordinates and then some people would grab innocents.” He shook his head lightly as if he were trying to forget a bad memory and spoke with care, “we definitely do not want that to happen again.” For some odd reason, my mind was screaming at me that he wasn’t sincere, but it quickly passed. I shook my head to try to rid myself of such nonsense. “Now, here are his coordinates.” I jumped at the sound of his voice but then my brain became a fuzzy mess as numbers appeared before my eyes. Out in front of me, I saw numbers “37 N, 120 W.”

  “This is very important, you have to find him and locate him using those coordinates. You don’t have to attack tonight. Just find him and watch him from afar. Get familiar with the town he is in. Connect with people if you can.” He stopped typing and turned to face me. He even stepped away from the desk. “If you fail in this task, you will not be allowed to come back. I know we gave you the toughest person and task, but we have to weed out the weak. We just want to get this guy off the streets. So try your best, Miss. Honestly, the big man will probably take it easy on you since it is such a big task.” He looked at me intently, and had a knowing, kind of smile. I couldn’t help but smile back as my lips trembled, when he looked away I felt disgusted. I would be thrown out into the street if I didn’t succeed?

  He walked slowly to me and extended his hand out towards me. “Ready?” He asked tranquilly.

  “For what?” I asked a little too cautious, as I reached for his hand as well.

  As soon as my hand touched his, he grimaced and took a deep breath. “I gave you the coordinates but I was going to try and help out by giving you an extra boost of knowledge. I am going to show you the landscape of the town, just to help out.” Then he pulled my hands slightly as I reached up and I found myself leaning in closely to him.

  He put his mouth to my ear. I felt the heat brushing through my body and burning my ears. “I am helping you out in a bigger way than I have ever helped anyone before,” he whispered so faintly, that if a pen dropped at this exact moment, I would miss it, “you are very special, and I don’t want to lose you being around.” He moved back and I realized in that moment that my ears were pounding in the silence. I reached down to feel my chest and felt my heart pounding beneath my hands. I wanted to smile by being able to feel my heart but I was afraid he would confuse it for flattery. I was glad when he stepped away because he might have heard my heart pound through my ears.

  He spoke loudly once more, “Now, are you prepared to have the rest of my information?” I nodded and I sat back down slowly. I closed my eyes, while taking a big breath in. Before I knew it, my head was tingling in an “odd” way as he termed it before.

  The town was fifty miles from where I sat at this exact moment. There was a quant town and I beheld flashes of a town square. I was startled as my mind narrowed down to a single image. There was a town square
, and it showed me of its destruction. It was demolished, I didn’t know from what, but the townspeople were working to make it whole once more. The small town was familiar in a way but I couldn’t place it in my mind. I felt anger coursing through my body but I couldn’t place the wrath. I believed that it was because these people were hosting my newfound enemy. These people were my enemies too, every last one of them. I would destroy them because I had to. It was my job.

  “Now. This is where you must go. Make friends.” He chuckled lightly and I tried to look up to him but just then, my eyes were blinded once more. A rough hand grabbed me up from the chair I sat and stood me upright. The hand held me tightly as if I were a rag doll, unable to stand on my own, unable to think on my own.

  Aiden spoke quietly, he was close to me but I still could not see. “Now answer me this.” He whispered it and I shivered. “Do you remember a dream anymore?” My dream boy flashed once more in my mind. A laugh on his lips and I felt my stomach flip.

  I decided to lie because I didn’t want him to be taken from my mind. “No. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

  He spoke once more making my head spin. “Do not disappoint the Doctor. He does not give second chances.” I trembled with dread because if I were to disappoint him, I would be alone and afraid. Then a thought erupted and it rang true, the strength I held was coursing through my veins and I could take an old man like him.

  “I won’t disappoint.” I said it before I even thought of saying it, what frightened me was that I didn’t recognize my own voice. I felt heat emitting from my body, and finally could see again. I couldn’t see it but I knew it was happening. I was glowing once more from my body. I knew if I were seeing myself through someone else’s eyes, that I was glowing emerald green. I was ready to discover my target.