Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set

by Taylor Hondos

  “Back to why I have powers that the robots have. I had to understand what I was asking them to do. I had to understand the power they felt, and I do. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I can look at you, and burn you to ash. I can fly through the night’s sky without anything to help me. I have unnatural strength, energy. I don’t need sleep, I don’t need to breathe. I don’t need anything, but I want. I want to control. I want to destroy. I want to ruin everything.” His voice was rising with each moment.

  “But the world will be gone soon. There won’t be anyone left to turn into a mindless robot, and then what will you do?” I asked.

  “I will rule.”

  “Won’t that get boring?”

  “To feel the power I feel. To feel that no one will ever disobey me. It is unlike anything I have ever felt. I had nothing before this. I have the world at my fingertips. I will never grow tired of pushing them down, after years of being pushed down by the world. Finally the world answers to me, and I don’t answer to it.”

  “You said so yourself that the world was full of hate, all you did was add to it.” I pointed out.

  “Again, do you join the world in the fall, or do you create the fall? It’s simple. You pick the winning side. Now enough of this.” He took a new knife in his hands. “Next question.”

  “Are we really still on this? Are you just going to play, “Which knife will land in Jared’s head?”

  “Until I see fit for the game to stop, we will keep playing.” He scowled. I rolled my eyes. “Why is Lena so hard to control? You must know. Dr. Alona probably told you why.” I wanted to laugh at him. I didn’t know anything, but he didn’t have to know that.

  “See Jared, I have been kind. I have purposely not hit you twice now. That will not last for long. I will hit you, until you are begging for mercy, or for death, and I will not give you either.”

  I just stared at him, as menacingly as I could muster in my predicament. He was fuming from my continued silence. His red eyes seemed to match his red face.

  The knife came flying at me. There was nothing I could do to stop it from plunging into my skin. It pierced my hand as I howled in pain. I looked over to see the damage and almost retched at the sight. The knife handle was hanging out the front of my hand, while the blade was completely through the palm of my hand on the other side. Blood poured down and splashed onto the floor.

  “Have you had enough of not answering? Or do you want to start giving me the answers that I so nicely asked of you?” He watched me with curious eyes. He approached me quickly, and jerked the knife out of my hand. There was both relief and pain from the loss of the knife. Blood was pouring, and I felt even dizzier than before. I didn’t cry out this time. I wouldn’t let him have the pleasure.

  Gabe was right in my face, shouting more questions. “What does that necklace of hers mean? Any time someone tries to take it, it reacts.” I felt my eyes widening. The necklace her father gave to her? The necklace reacts? How? That sounded ridiculous. How can a necklace have a mind of it’s own? I refused to say where she got it.

  “I don’t know what you mean by that. Lena has always had the necklace. There is no significance behind it.” What if there was significance behind it? After all, her dad gave it to her, the day he died at that. The wheels were turning in my head. What could it mean?

  “Are you lying to me, Jared?” Gabe asked suspiciously.

  “Why would I lie?”

  “Why wouldn’t you lie to me, Jared? Why wouldn’t you? To protect her, to protect yourself.” He laughed humorlessly.

  “How about I just take the necklace from her, and see what is in it?” Gabe said frantically. He was staring at me so intensely.

  “You said yourself, it reacts if someone tries to take it from her.”

  “Hmm.” He was thinking, and I let him. He snapped his fingers close to his ears. “Yes. Of course. I’ve got it.” He pointed to me. “What if you tried to take it from her? She trusts you. The necklace won’t react to you.”

  “She is under your control. She has nothing but callous feelings towards me.” I said simply.

  “You’re right. This will go one of two ways. One, she will let you take the necklace, and that’s good news for me. Second scenario, you try to take the necklace, and she kills you. Again, good news for me.” He laughed his choked laugh.

  “All I have to do now, is simply think of the robot I need. I shout to them through my mind, and then they come running to me. They listen to me, they would never betray me. They wouldn’t dream of it.” He was so sure of himself. He was so foolish. Lena had fought against his control so many times, and yet, he still thought she wouldn’t betray him. When had he become so stupid?

  “Those robots were once human, and humans turn on each other every chance they get.” I stated his ideas back to him. He scowled at me. “Those humans that you hate so much are callous and evil, remember? They won’t stand to be controlled forever.” I knew it wasn’t wise to warn him, but it felt so good to

  “My technology won’t let that happen.” He was furious at my questioning of him.

  “So science triumphs humanity? I don’t think so.” He was shaking at this point. I was mocking his religion. His life. His prophesy of the world.

  “You won’t be alive to see if that is true or not though. So don’t worry about what will happen to me.” Gabe said through gritted teeth. “Let’s put it to the test, shall we? Let’s see if she will disobey me ever again.” He said cruelly.

  This wouldn’t end well for me at all. I held my breath before speaking. “Bring her in.”

  Chapter Ten: Whose Side Am I On Anyways?

  Lena

  THE DOOR OPENED and I saw him. The most beautiful man; he was here to save me. The devil was within him but I let him pick me up. I let him whisk me down the hall. I let him pull my body out of the skeleton that held me. Then I realized he didn’t love the skeleton around me, and I got angry.

  I jerked slightly. I had been daydreaming of Jared coming to save me. The truth was I didn’t need to be saved. I could save my own self. I was alone. Jared was gone. He had to be. There was no reason for them to keep him alive any longer. As it dawned at me, that he could be gone forever, I felt the emptiness swim over me again. It felt like waves were crashing over me, repeatedly, but I couldn’t die, I was just drowning. I was swallowing the water, feeling the pressure of my lungs failing me, but instead of the relief of death, I was imperishable, I couldn’t be killed.

  I wanted to get up and find him, but that would give me away. I had to keep staring into this mirror, choked inside at the unchangeable. The loss of Jared.

  In an instant, my eyes began to glow. The voices are back. Although my mind was my own, I could hear them shouting to me. I had a new power. I had a new force behind me but their voices remained. There was one voice above the rest, Gabe. He screamed for me to get up and to come forward. So I did, and quickly. I was eager to see what he wanted from me now.

  His voice went from a scream, to a whisper, and I knew he was gone from my mind. His job was done. He commanded me to come, and he knew I would come because I could only obey.

  Or so he thought.

  As I proceeded to walk away, I saw my necklace glowing brightly in the mirror. My eyes were glued to the mirror, captivated and yet, blinded by the glow.

  “You decide whose side you are one Lena.” A voice whispered to me. Father. It was father again. Whose side am I on? I knew whose side I was on. It was the side of humanity. Humanity. What an easy concept to blur. Humanity was innately good, but the people in it weren’t.

  I was on the other side of the wicked. It was on the side of the good people. I wasn’t with Gabe. I wasn’t evil. I was kind; I was good.

  I smiled victoriously at myself in the mirror. My father was here with me always. I shook my head. I had been standing too long staring at myself. I knew I had to hurry before Gabe would be suspicious of where I was. I normally came to him without a moment’s hesitation, b
ut this was important. I had to listen to what my father wanted of me.

  “Pick up the necklace, Lena.” He said to me softly. I felt invincibility the moment it met my skin. It glowed into my palms. He spoke once more. “Open it now, and quickly. You won’t be alone in your mind much longer. He is wondering where you are.”

  I tilted the key to the side. Open it, but how?

  “Lift the first diamond on the key.” I located the first diamond at the top of the key, and I lifted it with care. The glowing intensified further and he spoke once more, “I love you. The key has great power, and it only answers to you. The truth is within you. I cannot tell you more. Your mind is open to too many evildoers. Goodbye, Lena.” It felt like these were his final words, and they probably were. I would never hear him again on earth.

  The key opened further, and inside was a small red button. I pushed it. Nothing happened. Oh no, it’s broken. I looked into the mirror and gasped out loud. My eyes were not burning red. They were hazel. What was happening?

  In no time, I felt it. Something I didn’t know I could ever feel again. A faint beating of blood entered my ears. I could hear it too. My heartbeat. I pushed my hand against my breast. There it was, a steady beat. I was human once more. But how?

  I panicked for a moment. I was happy to feel human, but how was I to walk into the room and convince Gabe I was under his control. I pushed the button once more.

  There it was. The button could reverse itself too. Red eyes. I pressed my palm to my chest again. Heartbeat was gone. I was a hybrid then. I wanted to giggle at the thought. I could turn from human to robot in seconds. All this power came from a necklace. A necklace I had worn for years before this moment.

  I marched on as if I were a solider. I had to pretend to be, and play the part. To my surprise, I willed my eyes to see through the walls ahead of me, and I did. I could see within every closed door still. I still possessed my robotic powers. I would need them. I had to use them to my advantage. They weren’t a curse to me anymore; they were a blessing in disguise.

  My father must have known that I would need these powers still, until it was safe to become a human once more. If I could so easily turn back into a human, it meant that the others could too. Didn’t it? I could change everything if I knew how to transfer my necklace’s power to the world.

  My father must have known what would happen to me, and what was to come. Did he want me to become a robot, to use these weapons against them? To defeat them? My father was a smart man, and this had to have been his plan. He was four steps ahead of Dr. Ravana and Gabe, when they thought my father was three paces behind.

  As I searched through the walls, I knew what I was looking for. I quickened my pace, but not before grabbing a gun from the gunroom. I tucked it into my jeans. My shirt was big enough, that no one would ever see it. No one would suspect me to have a weapon because Gabe never told me to grab one. He only asked me to join him in the room down the hall.

  I almost laughed when I heard Gabe barking another order to hurry. I could hear him, but he didn’t control me. I moved at my own will. Just let me get out of this alive. I wanted to save the others. It was my duty to save the others now. I had the power now; I had the answers. I had the most important weapon. The antidote. I was the antidote.

  Chapter Eleven: Got You, Count To Three

  Jared

  I FELT HER presence before I even looked up. The chill that ran down my back was still filled with so much love. I felt my heart quicken as soon as she entered the room. I met her eyes for the first time in what felt like forever. Although they were red, they had warmth. Her presence was the resolution of my being.

  She was not a monster to me. She was Lena. She was the girl I loved, and for a moment, I forgot that she was under control. She didn’t appear to be at all. That was the love I felt for her talking, and I was letting my guard down. I couldn’t afford to do that, ever again.

  Lena walked towards me as Gabe watched her every move with power hungry eyes. She was different but I didn’t know how. She walked as stiff as ever. She used to walk as if she were on air. I couldn’t understand, because her eyes were red, giving away that she wasn’t the Lena I knew. Appearance wise, she looked under Gabe’s control, but I couldn’t get that nagging feeling out of me; that she was there somehow.

  If I hadn’t been watching her so intently, I would have missed it. Her eyes. There was a flutter in her eyes when she looked into mine. I felt my breath take in deeply. There was no way. It must have been a trick of the light because there was no way that this was true. Was she still in there?

  When she reached me, I watched her ever so closely, willing her eyes to flutter again. She leaned forward and began to squeeze the blood from my arm. Pain shot through me, but I wouldn’t scream. I wouldn’t shout or thrash about in pain anymore. They wouldn’t make me look weak anymore.

  She looked me dead in the eyes, with almost a grimace. Before I knew it, she had lifted her hand high in the air, and slammed it quickly down on my head. Spots filled my vision.

  I heard the snickers behind us from Gabe, and I felt my blood boiling. Yup, she’s gone. It was a trick of the light. When I regained my eyesight, I saw Gabe and Holland laughing like they had heard the funniest joke. When the hell did Holland get here?

  I spit out blood on the ground right by Lena’s feet. “Shut the fuck up. The pair of you sounds like gagging hyenas.” Gabe was beginning to turn red in the face at my words. He didn’t even speak, but he didn’t have to. Lena was ready for me. This time, she kicked me right in the stomach. I gasped for air, and if I could hunch over I would, but the chains held me up.

  That was when her fist met my nose with a faint crunch. I would never look the same after all the times I had been beaten in this single night. That was appearance wise. The truth was, I would never be the same because I had lost so much.

  “You know Jared. This is all self inflicted.” Gabe finally spoke. “If you would just shut the hell up instead of telling us to shut the fuck up, then maybe this wouldn’t be happening to you.” He hesitated. “Learn from your mistakes.” I was so over learning and failing, so I would make it my mission to ruin his ego instead.

  “Gabe, oh Gabe.” I laughed hysterically as if I had heard the greatest joke of all time. I was losing it. I wasn’t in my right frame of mind to mock a man who hated me more than I hated myself. I had lost too much blood, which was the only way to explain it. “You are so weak. You only feel power when you’re behind a robot. Be a man. Beat me yourself.” His face was pure rage. “Oh wait. You won’t beat me, because you know I would kick your ass in a fight. You wouldn’t last two seconds.” I wasn’t finished speaking, but Lena cut me off with a slap to the face.

  My cheek burned but I wasn’t done. I would never be done. “You won’t ever face off with me, will you? You’ve been afraid of me your whole life.” He didn’t answer but Holland was red in the face now.

  “Jared, calm down.” Holland yelled to me.

  “Calm down? Calm down?” I shouted. “How can I calm down when my backstabbing, gagging hyena best friends have betrayed me?” Holland began to speak but I shouted over her, drowning out whatever she tried to say. “No, Holland. Shut up. You are the worst of them all. Gabe has always been a bitch from hell, but I didn’t know you were one as well.” I shouted. That was enough for Gabe.

  Lena did a roundhouse kick. The crack against my head was insufferable, and I felt like my head was spinning in double time. My brain was feeling as if it had just been juggled around in my head.

  “Fuck.” I shouted. Lena moved from in front of me, and Gabe took her place. He took a grip full of my hair and jerked up, possibly drawing blood from my scalp.

  “Have you had enough, Jared? Have you finally had enough?” Gabe shouted. He let go, and I let my head droop.

  Lena was in front of me once more. I saw her shoes in my periphery, and I felt fear for the first time around her. She had beaten me to a pulp, and this was just the beginning. So w
hen I saw her hand reach for me, I cringed away.

  She reached over to where my hands were and caressed softly. The movement was quick and brisk. By some grace above, Lena rubbed her hand against mine and I felt warmth in my soul. I knew it was on purpose and deliberate because Gabe wouldn’t want her to touch me affectionately. My heart quickened in response. She squeezed down lightly on my hands and I couldn’t contain my smile. That was definitely on purpose.

  She was hidden from Holland and Gabe. And I kept my head pulled down. As I continued to look, Lena slightly lifted her shirt. And as she did, I noticed a bulge on her right hip. I didn’t know what it was until she made a signal with her hands as if she were holding a gun.

  Lena had a gun.

  “Come here, Lena.” Holland barked to Lena. I jerked my head up quickly. Did they just see our exchange?

  Gabe’s red eyes bored into her. “I see you have disobeyed me.” he said softly. And I listened with heightened ears, as my eyes closed.

  “Give me the gun.” There was silence, and I peeked my eyes open.

  “Lena.” He said as he reached his hand out to her. I held my breath. “Give me-“ Before he could finish, Lena grabbed Holland and pushed the gun against her forehead. Lena didn’t speak. She didn’t have to.

  Gabe threw his hands up in defeat. “Let her go.” He said quickly.

  Lena still didn’t speak. It was as if she were struggling a little. “You know what?” He said with a malicious smile. “I don’t care what you do.” He put his hands back down, and turned away. Holland’s face was pure betrayal, but Lena faltered in the slightest bit, but it was enough time. Don’t kill Lena, Holland. Please. I pleaded internally.

  Holland pushed Lena down while grabbing the gun from her hands. Holland turned the gun towards Gabe. He didn’t even as much as turn around from the altercation.

  “Holland.” he said simply without looking at her.

  Holland’s grip loosened on the gun in defeat, but she gripped it once more after a split second. “You were going to let her kill me?” she said through gritted teeth. Her anger was terrifying to everyone but Gabe.