“Surprise.” He smiled intensely and leaned down to me. “Holland’s with me.” Gabe said as he took the rock from Holland’s hands. “Well, this probably won’t hurt as bad as it does to be alone. You tell me.” He cackled into the air. It was the last thing I heard, that bitter, hateful sound, before he slammed the rock once more into my forehead. Everything went black.
Chapter Four: The Blurriness
ONE MISSISSIPPI. I was coming to. I could finally open my eyes. Only enough to shut them quickly again.
Two Mississippi. I can feel it. I can feel the beats of my heart pounding in my ears. The blood rushing in my veins. I can feel it.
Three Mississippi. The sound of muffled sounds erupted around me. They say things like, “we finally got him.” No, you don’t have me. You don’t have my soul just yet. My will. You don’t have that either.
Four Mississippi. I hear Lena screaming. I hear shouts, and then silence. She is being shut up quickly by her leader. Was she fighting? Was she fighting for me?
Five Mississippi. I realize that I have been betrayed. Twice. Hell, I’ve been betrayed endless times. Once by my father. Then my brother. Gabe. Holland. As for the rest of the people who have betrayed me without my knowledge, that’s to be continued.
Six Mississippi. I am being chained back up. I feel the slicing of the nails on the chains. I feel the bitter coldness of the metal. It makes my teeth chatter. It doesn’t really matter though; nothing really matters at this point. I have given up. My body knows it, my mind knows it, and most of all, my heart knows it.
Seven Mississippi. I hear water dripping from a pipe. That water starts to run down my skin. It causes me pain for some reason. It causes me fear because it is warm water.
Eight Mississippi. I finally realize that it is my blood dripping to the floor, running down my body and splattering on the floor. As my eyes flutter open, I watch as the puddle begins growing. I will die here.
Nine Mississippi. I look up finally. My head barely holding itself up. My two best friends are standing before me with knives in their hands. They kiss slightly, and I see that Holland’s eyes are not red. Yet.
No more Mississippis. I know that my time is almost up. And what did it really matter if it was up or not? At this moment and time, I knew that I was the only person in the entire world, who knew the truth and wanted to stop the madness. The sick injustice of a world where no one’s mind was entirely their own anymore. I knew what to do but had no power behind me. I was only one man. Just as Sebastian Alona was only one man. He tried his best to create an antidote, and he couldn’t do it. There was just so much you could do alone, when the entire world was working against you.
I was the last hope of the entire world, and I was strung up on two poles, with chains colliding together to hold a fragile, beaten down man. I was the man who couldn’t be saved, who couldn’t be anything but hopeless, full of loss. All hope was just that, lost.
My death was fast approaching me. I didn’t want to die. I had too much to do, but as my blood splashed to the ground, it didn’t seem like there was any other way. If I died, the truth died with me. No one would be left to defeat them.
“Kill me already.” I spat to them. Holland winced at the sound of my voice. She faced me, with sadness on her face. I wanted to slap the look off her face, and I felt the anger boil in me. “Holland, don’t act like you are hurt to see me this way. You can blame yourself when your pretty face rots away or when Gabe kills you because you’re worthless to him. Or he can control you. I bet he’d love that.” I shouted in the dark, damp room. Holland flinched away and looked down, I just glared at her before forcing my head back down. It hit me then that I wasn’t chained in my father’s office like before. I was chained in a basement area.
Here I was trapped, again. The hero of the universe (if I could even be labeled as that), trapped for a second time over the course of two nights. I was betrayed twice, and let’s face it, that was my hamartia; I trusted too easily. I let people in too fast. I let my love blind me from the people who wanted to see me hurt. If I had just opened my eyes, and ignored the fact that Holland had been in my life for years, I would have trusted my gut. I would have trusted my instinct that she wasn’t with me.
That was when I felt him approaching, but I didn’t bother to look up at him. “We will kill you when we are given the word. We’re actually waiting on something you may be interested in knowing. But of course, you’ll be dead soon so you’re probably thinking, why should it matter to you? Let me tell you.” He paused for dramatic effect but when I didn’t so much as glance up at him, he continued.
“Well, Lena saw you beaten down and screamed when she saw you.” I was right. She was fighting for me when I was unconscious. It wasn’t a dream. “So that means, she is more challenging to control. We knew this, but I put the ultimate hold on her, and yet, she continues to fight me.”
I could sense the frustration he felt in his tone. “Everyone else is responding quite well to the new technology I am using to control them. You see, when I snap their necks, I kill their human part, and they are reborn as full-blown robots. Lena didn’t seem to respond, as she should have. Her humanity should be mine, and somehow it isn’t.” He began pacing. I could see his feet moving ahead of me.
“With all that being said, we have deemed her useless. She just gets in the way of operations. But first we want to run a test.” This forced me to look up. I met his red eyes. “I made a few adjustments to Lena specifically. I want to see if she will lose it even after those adjustments have been made. We are going to kill her but first, she gets to watch you die.”
I lifted my head finally in anger. I wanted to burn his face of with my stare but I didn’t have the power. “We want to see if you dying would affect her again. See, her scream lasted for a second and that means she got control for no time at all. So that is much better than her getting, say, five minutes of control. What can you do with a few seconds? Not much.” He smiled his sick little smile. I made no face back at him. I kept my face blank. He cleared his throat. He didn’t seem to like it when I didn’t respond to his evil plans. “Anyways, if Lena doesn’t react, then she gets to keep her life.”
“What life?” I asked. “This isn’t life. For anyone. Even you. Aren’t you tired of hurting people? Aren’t you tired of making people your puppets?”
“I’ve never been so happy, Jared.” He said simply. I tried not to be phased by that. “People finally answer to me. I am finally the most important person in the room. I am the most important person in thousands of lives. I control everything.” He smiled. It was a creepy smile and I tried not to cringe away from it. I felt lightheaded, but I wouldn’t break eye contact with him.
At least Lena and I would die the same night. Lena was the last hope for a cure, and she would be dead. I was the last hope to stop this all once and for all, and I would be dead too. I had one job on this earth, and it was to figure out the antidote that Dr. Alona had left for the world, and protect and care for Lena. I had failed on both accounts.
“We will leave you to your thoughts then. My lady and I have business to uphold. First, I am going to get rid of the rot in her body, because I have that power.” He had a true cure for the disease? I was at a loss for words. He had a true cure. This changed everything. “Then, I want to tell her how much I love her, and how happy I am that she joined my side. In such an unexpected way, at that. So if you will excuse us.” He kept rambling on. I fought the urge to vomit from his sappiness. They didn’t share love. Neither of them knew what true love meant because they could so easily betray their friend. Holland smiled deeply and kissed his cheek.
As Gabe turned his back, Holland looked back at me, and winked as fast as she could. It was so quick that I wasn’t sure if she meant to do it until she threw up her hand behind her back in the symbol that she and I had learned together at the age of ten; the trust symbol.
I blinked fast; I wanted to call out to her. What was happening? Gabe turned back to m
e, his red eyes boring into mine, and before I had time to think anymore. I was under. My brain felt like mush, and I was out before I could even comprehend it.
Chapter Five: The Pact
AND I WAS floating. I felt like I was floating through the air. All in all, I was completely lost. There was nothing that made sense to me any longer. The only things that filled my mind and heart lately, was confusion, hopelessness and despair. To complete it all, I didn’t know what side Holland was actually on. What game was she playing? And whose team did she play for?
When Holland and I were in elementary school. We made a pact. It was a great pact. It was a childish pact. One that Gabe wasn’t included on, and that was how we liked it back then. We didn’t trust him well enough at the time. We filled our days with laughter, throwing the sign up behind Gabe’s back all the time. It was a silly memory, one I hadn’t ever forgotten though.
“Shake my hand.” Holland said in a small voice.
“Why?” I said uneasily.
“We have to know that we won’t tell anyone our secret!” she smiled her wicked smile. “Come on. We didn’t include Gabe. He would be just heartbroken if he knew we did this without him!” I shifted uneasily. It didn’t feel right to not share something with Gabe.
Holland smiled and batted her eyes to the best of her ability. “Is that your attempt at flirting? Because it is bloody awful.” I said loudly before she shushed me.
“Give up that fake British accent. You suck at it,” she laughed at me and I rolled my eyes at her. A moment passed before she spoke again. “Well?” she said cautiously. She knew not to continue her taunting game because she didn’t want to risk losing me in our deal.
“Fine.” I extended my hand to meet hers, but it ached with the truth that I was ultimately betraying Gabe. He liked Holland. I knew he did, and I couldn’t believe what I would do.
“Now. Come on.” She smiled again. “This is practice. We both wanted this to happen so we could be experienced when the person we liked actually came along.” She was blushing now, and I felt the warmth reaching my cheeks as well. I nodded.
She leaned in as close as she could, and I closed almost all of the distance. It didn’t feel like anything but how it felt when we were about to hug, until she leaned in more. She kissed me softly on the lips, and I waited for the hurricane to engulf over me. But nothing happened.
She jerked away and stared at me. “I feel.” She paused, my heart started racing and I inhaled deeply. Please tell me you felt nothing too. Oh god, what have I done? “Absolutely nothing.” I released my breath. Thank goodness. It’s not that Holland wasn’t beautiful, but her friendship meant more than anything to me. “What is all that nonsense about fireworks?” she gaped at me stupidly.
“Holland, the general idea of kissing is to do it with someone you actually like.” She looked down to the ground. The blushing was starting again, but she nodded in agreement. “Cheer up. Don’t you go acting different on me, mate.” I tried my lousy British accent again, and that got her giggling but her gaze was still down. I tapped her shoulder until she looked at me again. “At least, we won’t be nervous when the real thing comes along, right?”
“Right. You’re right.” She said while she grinned up at me. I smiled back.
“Holland. Come on. I am sure Gabe is searching for us.” I said.
I turned my back and started to walk across the playground, blushing because I was sure someone had seen us. Or knew what we were up to at the very least. What if Gabe found out?
My thoughts were interrupted when Holland run up beside me. “I am glad that my first kiss was with you, Jared.” She smiled to me and I felt myself worrying a little but she intruded my thoughts quickly. “We are just friends. I think I really like someone else. I just don’t know yet.” Let me guess, it’s Gabe. I wanted to say but decided against it. “You’re the best friend for doing this. Now we both have our experience. Here we need to make a symbol, a pact of some sort.”
“Like what? A code word? Gabe will be suspicious of us.” I said.
“No. Something with our hands.”
“Like a gang symbol?” I giggled furiously as Holland just gaped at me.
“Fine. No symbol. No pact.” She turned grumpily and I reached for her back.
“No. I love it. It’s our secret. Our inside joke. Come on. What is the symbol?” I encouraged her.
“Here is to our pact.” She smiled brightly as she turned away from me. As she did this, she brought up both hands in a crossing motion behind her back. Both fingers were crossed and I smiled brightly as she did this.
“This can be our way of knowing we’re best friends. Always best friends. Us against Gabe, if you will.” She nodded to me to tell me to do it back. I did it the best I could as she giggled loudly. “You look silly doing it. I would practice.” I scowled.
“You look pretty dang silly too, but I would never say that out loud.” I shouted.
“You just did! Last one to the swings is a rotten potato.” She screamed, as she scurried away from me.
I ran after her but as I took my first step, I saw none other than Gabe, watching from afar, a cold look on his face that brought shivers down my spine. He knew. His face told it all.
Yes, the memory was childish; the symbol was childish as well, but it didn’t matter. The pact stood for years. Although we had stopped doing the symbol after the age of fourteen, it meant something to us. The symbol of our very friendship was used before my eyes just after she betrayed me for the first time in my life. It meant she was with me; it had to.
Chapter Six: “I’m Sorry” Just Isn’t the Magic Word Today
“GOOD. YOU’RE AWAKE.” Holland spoke loudly in my ear. I glanced up to see her right in front of my nose. I jerked my face away.
“Get. Away. From. Me.” was all I could get out. Just like that, in between breaths.
“Look. I am here to tell you that Lena is still looking for a way to get out of our control but she won’t try when you’re dead. She won’t have a need to try anymore.” She smiled at me, and finally moved from my face. I could see behind her. Gabe was staring his dark, red eyes at me. It was like he was taunting me, silently. Words weren’t needed to see the hatred he felt for me.
“Gabe and I want to talk to you about what really happened; what exactly happened your whole life.” I didn’t respond, and Holland laughed. “No fight left, dear?” I didn’t answer again, and silence filled the air.
“So I was thinking we could tell you together.” Gabe spoke through the bitter quiet. My head was hung low. It felt so hard to be awake. I longed for the memory of Holland and I when we were kids, just to fall under once more. I felt as if the air from my lungs would give up at any moment. I had so little fight left. My energy was scarce but I wanted to look at them. So I took what I had left and looked them in the eyes.
“We were your friends. We really were your friends, but then we were promised money, control and power. Who could turn down the money and glory? We had to decide what was more important. And what is more important in this world? I can assure you it isn’t friendship and love.”
The way he spoke was sinister, and I shivered ever so slightly. Gabe’s words would have cut deep if I didn’t expect them already. “We just were given the opportunity to make a difference. The world was falling apart, so do you fall with it or do you create the fall?” He was throwing his hands dramatically around to make his point. “We chose our side, and you chose yours, Jared.”
“I unwisely thought you chose my side. You lied to me.” I said.
“It’s not about lies anymore. Don’t be foolish.” He scoffed. “ It’s about the simple fact that the world is dying. The world was dying before the spread of this disease anyways. Dr. Ravana taught me that. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to be invincible. I wanted people to turn to me.” Gabe was shouting now. He was very emotional about his truth.
Holland touched his shoulder to calm him before she stepped forward to face me. “Jar
ed, when you left for the square, we really hoped you would die. We were planning a betrayal that neither of us wanted to do. We were just going to turn you in to your father, but then Lena happened. We didn’t know that you would fall in love. We didn’t know that she would fall in love in return. She stayed locked away in that house, just rotting away.” Her face turned into a smile. “No pun intended. Your love.” She sighed. “That was a plan neither of us could have planned. We had a weapon against you. Lena.”
Gabe stepped in. “I created the cure for your father while you were living with me. I was right under your nose betraying you.” He smiled at the exquisite pain he thought it caused me. It didn’t. Not anymore. “You could have always been on your father’s side, but you wanted to be good. You acted like you owed the world something, when the world should have been paying its dues to you. You just chose the wrong side. That is all.”
Holland took over again. “We put a tracker on you. It is in your leg actually. Gabe made a silent, painless injection while you slept one night. That’s how we knew where you were at all times. You made all those stops, the hospital, and the motel. We saw it all. When we knew you were in route, we followed on our screen. I was at the hospital, injecting all my patients with an immune system booster, also known as the disease.”
My eyes widened in shock. Holland was a part of the nurses who were injecting humans with Dermadecatis. Even if she had thrown the symbol at me, she was a part of the problem. She did an injustice to the world. She was a part of the spread of this disease. Were they ever my friends? I didn’t know but I would kill them if it were the last thing I did. I had a feeling it would be the last thing I ever did.
Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set Page 36
