Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set

by Taylor Hondos

  “We have to get on that bridge to leave. The one Gabe was on. He said something about a bridge. Where is it? If he was on it then it has to be important.” I said to her.

  “Simple enough. That is a piece of cake. It is just around the building. Stay close to me and we can make it. I’ll burn a little but who cares? We can escape.” She said excited and my heart warmed at the thought. Only for a second because we weren’t free yet but we would be as free as we could be at this point.

  “Let’s go.” I smiled and leaned in as I kissed her cheek. As we started to make our ascent around the building, an unseen force lurched us against the wall. We were trapped tight on the ledge. All of the sudden, as though we were puppets on lassos, we were being pulled towards the window. They had found us. We had taken too much time to make our move.

  We froze as we entered the room again. There wasn’t just Dr. Ravana waiting for us but an entire army. Lena gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth. Some unknown force tied us up together. We didn’t care who it was that touched us and kicked us around because what we saw made us both fall flat on our ass.

  Chapter Twenty-One: Cruel World

  I COULDN’T BELIEVE what I was seeing. Lena just looked startled but most of all she looked angry. She grabbed my hand and squeezed. Her grip on me was so tight that I flinched away slightly. I didn’t know if I would have any feeling left in it when her grip would loosen. I didn’t care too much because what stood before me was the most frightening thing I had ever seen.

  I looked ahead into his eyes and couldn’t believe what I saw. His eyes were bloodshot red as if he had popped every last blood vessel in his eyes. The strange thing was, his pupils were the color of red as well. “Gabe? Is that you? You look awful.” I said questionably.

  I whispered slowly to Lena. I was afraid to make any sudden movements because they would probably attack us. “They’ve got Gabe now.” I said to her and she shook her head all while looking completely unsurprised. She stared to him unchanging and with little sympathy, which I didn’t understand.

  She didn’t turn to me but she spoke quietly. “No they didn’t.” Gabe twisted into a sickening smile. His teeth were brighter than normal. They shined whiter and were completely straight. Lena let go of my hand in the slightest bit. I think she let go from the shock of how repulsive he looked.

  “Well, Jared.” Gabe spoke in an angelic tone like Lena’s voice had changed to when her eyes tended to glow. “Lena knows all about this. I paid her a few visits when she was under control. She didn’t tell you?” he smiled, and it was malicious. It was not Gabe. It couldn’t be him really.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked in shock. Lena froze beside me, I could feel her shaking and I couldn’t tell if it were tears that couldn’t be spilt building up or wrath beyond her control.

  “We need to leave now.” She said through her tight lip line. “Burns and all.” Before I knew it she was lunching us both into the air. Even though we were tied together, she still somehow got us off the ground. She flew towards the window but when we both stepped foot onto the ledge, still tied together, we were jerked back again just like before.

  The force was so strong; it jerked my head back too fast, making me extremely dizzy. I lost my balance and fell to the ground hard, hitting my chin on a piece of glass. I had no idea where it came from until I looked to Lena who had shards of glass all over her. She had busted through the window during her flight to get me out of there and I hadn’t even noticed.

  I got up quickly to see that I had glass sticking out of my arm. I felt my vision waver as I stood up. I felt jolted for a second before regaining some of my glassy vision back. Holding myself up was a challenge. I was about to reach down to help Lena, but then I saw that Lena was no longer beside me.

  That was when she began to scream. Not just any scream, an earth shattering scream. Every single person in the room fell backwards. She tugged my hand, and I was lurched into the air. But then I was being pulled back. Joseph had me in a headlock.

  Lena stayed floating in the air. “Go without me.” I shouted to her. But she didn’t. She dropped instantly to the ground and then Gabe jerked Lena to his body. She didn’t even fight it.

  Gabe had his arm around Lena’s neck, holding Lena in place as he sneered at me. I was taken aback by how angry he looked. “Ah good, you’re watching.” Before I had time to even take a breath, he took Lena’s neck between his hands and twisted. The twist was so powerful that it was all it took. The delicate crunch made me know that it was too late to help her.

  It was as if time stood still as Lena fell lifelessly to the ground. She slammed on the ground with a loud thud. I could not move because I didn’t want to believe it was real. I fell to the floor uselessly. Joseph let me go with ease. I crawled to her. I felt my heart breaking with each crawl. When I reached her, I covered my mouth. I reached down and held her head up and knew that she was gone.

  She was really gone. Her eyes were wide open. They were hazel, which comforted me in a way. She died herself; they weren’t fluttering as they were before and they never would again. Her head was lying limp in my heads. I didn’t feel sad. I felt rage. “Now, do you see the difference between me and my friends?” he spoke again.

  “They did this to you.” I said through my teeth. “You killed her. You really just killed her.” I couldn’t bare the words. I couldn’t face the fact that I would be without her. I stared down at her in shock.

  “Did this to me?” he laughed cruelly and without feeling. “Oh, Jared, come on. Would I really ever be captured?” I looked up quickly to meet his bloodcurdling eyes. “Ah, agreeing with me.” he smirked and I felt a scowl come on my face. He continued without a moment’s hesitation. “Did this to me? No, I did this to myself.”

  “Yourself? Why would you do this to yourself? I have known you my whole life. You would never do this.” I turned to my father and his crowd who were all looking pretty satisfied. “Stop making him lie to me.” I shouted to my father, but he only watched on. He turned his head as if he were a curious dog hearing a strange noise. He did not say a word to me.

  “You are so naïve. Your dad, with no special characteristics other than being a surgeon, could create and mediate a robotic arm?” I felt the truth registering in my brain.

  He continued on. “Your dad, with no special skills could find a way to control centrally every human being on the planet. Jared, please. We both know that there is only one person in this room who could do all of these things. Do you really think your dad could come up with this? Get the codes to get into Lena’s pathetic dad’s computer?” He turned to Dr. Ravana and I looked on with disgust. “No offense.”

  Lena’s head suddenly weighed fifty more pounds. I froze. I don’t think I even took a breath. I sat Lena’s head down gently on the ground, leaving a last kiss upon her cheek. I got to my feet slowly. Gabe followed my eyes all the way up. I looked between my father and Gabe as they looked pleased with one another as they nodded heads. “You guys act like you’re such good friends, but did you forget that he turned you into one of them so he could control you.” I said challengingly.

  “You still don’t get it, do you?” Gabe said after a long silence. “I control them now. I control all of them.” He laughed menacingly. He stepped a little closer to me, but not close enough for me to reach him. “Look in my eyes. I am the main controller now.” I looked into his red eyes. They were shockingly demon like. It seemed that my friend, Gabe, was no longer in there. Or maybe he was this way all along?

  “Why would he give you that power?” I asked reproachfully.

  “I created the robotic arm.” He screeched loudly before focusing again. He looked like a manic and a man who was losing his mind. “I am the creator of this “cure.” Her father created the disease, your father spread it around and I created the cure to control everyone. Come on now. Get smart. You are so pathetic. Just like her father.” He nodded towards Lena on the ground.

  He circled me and
kicked Lena to the side as he approached me. She slammed against the wall. Nothing was between Gabe and I now. I wanted to kill him, in the most painful way. “I let him have his fun but this was my show from the very beginning.” He menacingly moved closer to my face. “Aren’t you afraid now? I can snap you in two like Lena.”

  I didn’t move away from him. “Why did you do this? We were friends.” I said simply, trying hard to keep my hurt under control. It was all I could say. He was my friend.

  “No hard feelings, but I want to be the ruler of the world and I will be with this. I will destroy everything and rule all that remains.” He looked down at Lena against the wall. “But enough of this, Lena is of vital importance and she is under my control now.”

  I blinked twice in confusion. “Lena is dead. You just killed her.” Somehow I felt a strike of hope. Even if Lena was controlled, it meant she was alive.

  “Ha. Not quite.” He said simply and lifted his hand up as if he were commanding a symphony. “Rise.” Lena swiftly picked up her head as if she were just in a mere sleep this whole time. She looked up to me and I gasped. Her eyes glowed red just as Gabe’s did. She sneered an evil smile to me and joined her master’s side.

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Never Enough

  I WILLED MYSELF to believe that my eyes were deceiving me. I couldn’t decide if I were thrilled to see her alive or disgusted to see that she would never be the same.

  “To be controlled by me, they have to merely die.” Gabe smiled to me menacingly. “It’s simple really. They don’t even have to die by my hands. As long as they have “the cure,” they are sent to my control. Their bodies had to be completely vulnerable. So, Lena is under my control now. Forever.”

  He spoke the last word and I felt shivers running through my body as he faced me. His inflamed eyes were shinning at me and I didn’t look away even though I wanted to.

  My father stepped forward and for the first time, he wasn’t the person I hated the most. He placed his hand on Gabe’s shoulder as he whispered into his ear. I looked away to catch another look at Lena.

  She was staring at me but this time there was no longing or confusion in her eyes. She glared me down, and I felt sick as I realized she might hate me as much as everyone else in the room. The whites of her eyes were nonexistent and they seemed to have blood in them. Gabe spoke up, and I jumped from the bitterness in his voice. “Dr. Ravana and I have your life to discuss. Don’t mind us.”

  “Should we keep him alive? To make sure she really is fully controlled?” Gabe said as quietly as he could. If Gabe was evil, what did that mean about Holland? Did she know or was she in on this? I shivered at the thought.

  I didn’t listen to their hushed voices any longer because I didn’t really care about my fate. I knew I had to find a way out to get Lena out of this. She had to be in there still. She’d gotten out from their control before and she could do it again. I had to believe that.

  I searched the faces of the new members around Gabe. Their eyes were still emerald green. I noticed with a pit of sadness in my stomach that Lena’s eyes were the only ones glowing a bright red. I looked into each of their faces and jumped a little when I saw one staring at me directly. All the other members’ faces were erected to the front except for him. I turned my head curiously while frowning deeply.

  He had green hair. I remembered him from earlier, and he now looked questionably at me, turning his head to mimic me. He nodded his head slightly to show me that he was aware and awake. I looked at him and he turned his head to the side, nodding towards Gabe.

  I had to speak to him. He continued to nod towards Gabe, and I was about to mouth to him “what?” But before I knew it, he was lunging for Gabe.

  Gabe tumbled to the ground and the green haired boy nailed Gabe in the nose. There was no blood spilt from Gabe, and his eyes fumed. His nose was broken, it lurched over to the side but he did not bleed. It didn’t seem to faze him. The only reaction from Gabe was a grunt of frustration before he slammed his hand into the boy’s nose. The green haired boy did not give up because he reached around and locked Gabe in a chokehold before smashing his head into the wall beside them.

  I was ready to grab Lena and whisk us away but she suddenly reacted as Gabe’s head hit the wall. She reached out with a speed that was completely otherworldly and slammed the boy into the same wall that Gabe had just picked himself up from. Gabe regained his composure as he straightened out his collar. I watched as he took his hands and cracked his nose back into place. He let out a strangled cough as he recovered his breath.

  Meanwhile, the boy was struggling to break free from Lena’s death grip around his shirt. Lena picked him off the ground as soon as she saw that he had his fist ready to punch her, but he dropped it and tried to pry her off of him. “Lena, please.” He struggled to speak. “Remember yourself. I know I thought we were angels but we are weapons. We are not protectors; look at all we have destroyed. They are ruining us. Don’t be like them.” He cried to her. She reached for his neck to shut him up. I was startled by his words. She jerked him away from her quickly as if a command were spoken. I was sure there was.

  She released his neck. Red handprints remained on his neck where she had held him. He held his hand to his throat and let out jagged breaths. I caught sight of Gabe looking intently to the scene before him, and realized he was not even breaking contact from them. No doubt, controlling the entire situation.

  I watched Lena’s eyes the entire time and saw that the color never faded. She was lost. Lena grabbed the boy once more around the neck and the boy went limp in her arms. Dr. Ravana seemed to have had enough because he jerked the green haired boy away from her, tossing him on the ground behind him. He snapped a finger to Lena and pointed down at the boy. I watched as Lena picked him up from the ground and she dragged him from the room unconscious.

  Gabe turned to Dr. Ravana. His eyes were wide. “Where are they taking him?” his eyes faltered for a second, as if he were trying to find his feelings again but I knew he couldn’t find them because of all the pain he caused without another thought.

  “Oh, where everyone who disobeys goes.” He dismissed him with a look. “You’ll see that room soon.” My father waved his hand to Gabe to tell him to not worry about it. Gabe nodded and took a deep breath. His chest rose and fell before he faced forwards, his eyes boring into mine.

  “Now,” Dr. Ravana demanded, it came out as a whisper around the room, “tell Lena to keep Jared under control.” Gabe obeyed because in a blink of an eye, Lena was at my side again at once. She jerked my arm and I tumbled to the ground. She lay right on top of me, pinning me to the ground. I felt the coldness on the floor and looked up to Gabe, only to have my face slapped down to the floor by Lena. She was so strong that I could not move even if I wanted to. I had imagined Lena so close to me but in a much different way.

  “Well, that is just too easy.” Dr. Ravana spoke with humor in his tone as he glided past me, kicking my nose a little when he passed. My nose was broken from Aiden. I knew it had to be. All I could move was my eyes and the blood built on the floor. Maybe I would get lucky and die from too much loss of blood.

  “I need to see Holland.” I said loudly with little feeling into the floor. I had to know if she were in on this too. Gabe glanced up with wide eyes. With the creepy red eyes, he looked scarier than anything else.

  “Holland?” he asked with a tad bit of panic coloring his voice. He regained composure by even brushing back his hair. “Holland was escorted out of the building to safety.” Gabe said. Dr. Ravana shushed him. I could feel the pressure building in the room.

  “Wasn’t she?” he said softly.

  “I don’t know! They took her away.” I said loudly with annoyance, Lena finally let me look up. “Now, where is she? I want to be with her and make sure she is okay.” Gabe turned slowly to Dr. Ravana, who was grinning widely.

  “She was not a part of this. I thought I made that clear before we transferred networks.” Gabe said angrily, I felt th
e hairs on my back standing up.

  “Oh. Holland is a little preoccupied. If you’d like to see her, I will gladly get her in here.” He said serenely and Gabe looked unfazed.

  “I want to see her. Bring her here.” I said as if he were speaking to me. Lena picked up my head lightly from the floor and slammed it down. I felt my lip busting open and licked my lip to feel the blood from it. I spat out the blood that was filling my mouth from the impact.

  Dr. Ravana walked to his desk and picked up a phone. He spoke into his phone and as soon as his lips left the phone, the doors burst open. He put his phone back on the receiver and sat down in his chair. He lifted his feet up to the desk and crossed them with satisfaction.

  Max walked in jerking a limping girl behind him. He finally put her in front of us and I gasped out loud. This couldn’t be Holland because Holland never would look so out of order. Her hair was ratty and tangled in a mess. Her head hung low and it looked as if she were never going to be able to lift her head again.

  She appeared weak because Max was the only thing holding her up at all, and she was crying. I had never seen her cry in my entire life. She looked up to me as the tears gathered into her eyes. I couldn’t see her as clearly as I could without Lena holding my head down. From what I could see I knew something wasn’t right. She had a hand covering her face and I thought it was to continue to wipe her eyes, but that wasn’t it.

  That was when I smelt it. The smell wasn’t something you could forget. Lena reeked of it for days at the safe house, near the very end. It was a smell of blood mixed with the smell of decay of a body. Holland had Dermadecatis. I looked as much as I could. The bullet hole wound was black. She moved her hand away from her face, and I saw her whole cheek had started to rot. I put my head down and let out a whimper. I heard Holland sob louder as soon as my head faced the floor. I knew I was probably soaking myself in blood but I didn’t care anymore. “I’m sorry.” She shouted to me.