Chapter Nineteen: The Message
Lena
My body was immobile. I heard the shouts. I heard the screams. I was out of control of my own body once more. This shit was getting old. I wanted to scream to them that I was still here; I was just trapped and controlled once more. How many times could a girl go under?
Jared was screaming my name over and over again. He was all I could hear now. I didn’t hear commands; nor could I hear Gabe in my head, or Dr. Ravana. I just saw blankness. It was as if my eyesight had disappeared.
The necklace was gone, and everything about me seemed to have disappeared without it around my neck. I could hear the fight continue. Jared was no longer shouting for me. He was distracted. I heard the smacks of punches, the breaking of robotic parts. No one bothers with me. They just left me in my corner. I was a robot, forgotten. I waited for someone to dust me off and use me against me friends, my family, and worst of all, my love.
I could hear Jared’s grunts as he was fighting something I couldn’t see. I wanted to protect him, but I couldn’t now. I was stiff armed, while I waited for control to reenter my body.
“Lena.” Something whispered around my head. I couldn’t see anything. Just darkness. “Lena, open your eyes.” It whispered. I heard a snap and opened my eyes at the sound.
When I opened my eyes, I was facing my mother.
“Lena.” She said humbly, but it was enough to bring tears to my eyes. She seems to be in a daze, and I blinked franticly.
“Mom? Is that you?” She simply nodded and I felt my heart swell. “How are you here?”
“I am here to show you the truth.” She willed me to follow her. I did. I would go wherever she went.
“You have been so brave. I can’t tell you enough.” She turned to smile at me but I didn’t feel up to smiling. “You’re upset. It will be okay.” She turned back and hurried on her path.
“Your father will be happy to see you. He didn’t know if you would make it to this point.”
“Father? Where is he? Where are we? What is the point of this?” The questions were pouring out but she kept walking, and ignored most of what I was saying.
“Mom?” I said irritated as she kept walking down the long hallway.
“We’re here.” She said simply and pointed to a long table, urging me to take a seat.
She sat across from me, and then he appeared.
“Dad?” I smiled bigger than I ever had before. “It’s really you. Why are you here?” He just looked at me.
“Mom wouldn’t tell me either, but it is good to see you. Finally see you again.” I added quickly.
“Lena, you are doing so well. I couldn’t be more proud of you.” He was beaming at me.
“Dad, I got controlled, yet again.” I said sadly.
“You did what I wanted you to do. I want them to think they’re winning. You have opened the necklace. You have unlocked the full potential of the necklace. It answers to only you, and those you love. It is in the possession of someone you hate. That necklace is smarter than you think. It knows when someone wants to use it for ill intentions. It can feel heart. It can feel fear. It can feel everything a human can feel. I created it to only answer to those who have good intentions, good heart and kind motives.”
“So what does this all mean?” I asked confused.
“It means that Dr. Ravana, Gabe, Joseph, Max, the list goes on. None of them can use that necklace. It will not answer to them. We have to find a way to get that necklace back on your neck.”
“I thought I finally gained control. Even if we win at this war, I will be on lock down without the necklace on.”
“That isn’t true. The necklace will become a part of you if everything runs smoothly.” He said deep in thought.
“Is this part of the plan? Have me controlled?”
“Yes. It was the plan. You had to be controlled, to control those robots. They’re still yours. They are floating idly in the air, just waiting for your command.” I rolled my eyes in disbelief.
“Don’t believe me, see for yourself.” Instantly there was a vision of the battle I had just been a part of. I stood foolishly alone, and above my head were my robots. They were just hovering in the air behind me.
It disappeared just as quickly. “Lena.” My mother said quickly. I reached for her hand. “I love you.” She said rushed and then her hand disappeared from mine.
“Mom?” I said panicked, but my father reached for my hand where my mother’s just were.
“Lena there isn’t time. Listen to me. Your mother has disappeared, that means I don’t have much time to tell you everything I needed to.” He said frantic.
“What does this mean? Is this even real?” I asked.
“There isn’t any time for that.” He said frustrated. “Don’t interrupt me while I say this.”
“Dad just tell me what to do to defeat them, please.” I begged but he held up a hand.
“I can not mess with fate. I can’t tell you all the secrets, but I can tell you this. Without control, there is no control.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dad that make absolutely no sense at all.”
“Listen to me, Lena.” He shouted. “You must die for the true antidote to work. You did die. I knew you would die. I knew you would be diseased, cured, and killed. Now you are ready to be reborn. I made it this way so you could fail, without really failing.” He was talking fast and desperate, but he continued on.
“There isn’t much time, I am fading, I feel it.” And he was. His body was starting to disappear. “What shape is your necklace, it is a key shape. The key will set you free from the confines of the necklace. It will be a part of you forever. She knows what to do when the time must come. Lena.” He said it all in a blur of a sentence. I saw the light fading. I wanted to call out to him. He was gone. They were both gone and I was alone again. I was more lost now than I was before.
I jerked out of the daze. I could see again. There wasn’t darkness, but I could not move still. As soon as my eyes focused, I had to blink to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.
Ahead of me, I saw myself walking. If I could do a double take, I would. Instead, all I could do was watch on. Everyone was engaged in their fights, and did not pay any mind to two Lena’s on the battlefield. One frozen in place, and the other walking through the carnage as if nothing was happening at all.
There were dead bodies all around, dead robots, all who would be forgotten. Perhaps Gabe would raise them from the dead to continue his reign. Where was Dr. Ravana? Why wasn’t he watching his prisoner?
Suddenly, I watched as the second Lena turned into someone else entirely. He was now a beautiful man. The man I dreamed of so often when I could dream. Square severe jaw, with soft eyes. Jared. Only this Jared had the rot all along his arms. He was sick again.
I wanted to gasp. I wanted to shout. Then without a moment’s hesitation, Jared turned into someone I hated. He brought bile to my mouth. The man who tried to take me from his brother, but could not succeed. Aiden.
There was only one explanation for who this was. It was Clementine. She has cloned herself into me while I was under. It didn’t hit me when I saw Jared on the battlefield unharmed, when he had just been injected with the disease moments before. Clementine had cloned into not only Jared, but Aiden too. I wanted to scream. I didn’t know whose side she was on, and it was killing me not to know.
“Dad.” Clem/Aiden called out to Dr. Ravana, and I felt my breath intake. What was she up to?
Dr. Ravana turned quickly with a sigh of relief. “Aiden. Thank god. I was so worried about you.” He took his left hand, and cupped Aiden’s face.
“Here. I’ll go destroy the necklace.” Clementine said in Aiden’s husky voice.
Dr. Ravana smiled in astonishment. “Yes, that would be wise. Do it with any means possible.” He turned away as soon as the necklace entered Clementine’s hand. Aiden/Clementine walked briskly in my direction, gripping the necklace in her hand.
Before I could even think, Clementine approached me. I wanted to jerk away but I couldn’t. She placed the necklace around my neck. When I felt the metal touch my neck, I felt the surge of power. I could move again.
Clementine switched from Aiden back into me and I looked shocked as she took my place, standing still as a statue. She was pretending to be me as I was under control.
The necklace began glowing. I quickly looked to see where Dr. Ravana’s attention was, but it was not with me, it was with the battle before us. Clem raised her eyebrows at me in annoyance. “Hide.” She whispered quickly.
“What are you doing?” I asked shocked.
“Being you. Go.” She said frustrated.
My heart quickened. She was letting me escape. She was on my side.
“Now. Before I change my mind.” She whispered heatedly. I didn’t hesitate, I ran. I blended in with the fight behind Dr. Ravana, who never knew the Lena behind him, wasn’t me at all.
Chapter Twenty: You Can Try
Dr. Ravana
My son was looking at me like he wanted me dead. He was being held by many of my minions. Yes, I was a batty old man who called them minions. They remind me of hopeless creatures. They listen without thought. They think in their twisted heads that I have something to offer them. They think they can get something in return for doing my biddings.
My minions were promised a lot, but I would never give it to them. I was sure they knew it deep down. The fact was I had secret weapons all around me. Gabe. Max. Holland. Most of all, Lena. She was the most important weapon to have. Whatever side she was on, was the winning side. I knew that.
I looked back at her. She was really a beautiful girl, even more so now. Her wavy brown hair was blowing in the wind. She was standing like a solider; her arms were by her side, her back straightened in attention. Waiting for a command. I caught sight of her bare neck, and smiled. Her necklace would finally be destroyed. The Antidote, as her father put it. It was laughable. There was no antidote. There was no cure. There was only poison in this world.
I wasn’t very protected at the moment. My right hand man, Joseph, was murdered just moments before by Lena. It was a brutal murder, one he truly deserved after what he put Lena through. My other son, Aiden, was off to destroy the necklace that Lena wore all the time. I was out in the open. Anyone who hated me could get me. It was unnerving, but I had my robots to shield me.
His hunch back and limp step walking towards me made me inhale deeply. Gabe. He finally joined my side. He wasn’t much, but he was something. I wasn’t alone. They could attack him first.
Before I could even speak to him, a hand wrapped around the back of my neck and whispered softly. “Dr. Ravana.” I quickly exhaled when I saw Clementine. My heart pattered at the sight of her. Clementine was so beautiful. She had such dark features, but her eyes always seemed to light up when she smiled at me. Like now, she was beaming serenely at me. I almost forgot that her hand was wrapped around my throat now, in a not so friendly way.
“What’s going on?” I asked as her grip tightened. I took a deep gulp of breath.
She playfully squeezed my neck, and released me. “Nothing.” She was hiding something. I could feel it.
I peeked around, and panic rose in my throat. “Where is Lena?” I shouted over the clanking of metal that was the fight above us.
Clementine laughed as I looked over in shock. “Calm down. I moved her downstairs. She was just standing there, and they almost pushed her off the building. I swear old man, you never pay attention.” My heart warmed at the sound of her voice. Clementine. She made my heart swell.
“Stay safe, my love.” I said softly into her ear. She just looked at me hesitantly. She didn’t kiss me as she often would. She knew we had to stay secretive, or others would know my weakness. Her.
At that, I heard a crash beside me. I turned to see him on the ground. Jared. My heart took a leap. My son.
No, I stopped myself because I couldn’t afford to think this way. We were on different sides of the spectrum. We were two different people. We wanted different things. Love ruled him. Rage ruled me. With us, it was love for the world against rage for the world. It was a fight to the death. It was a fight only one of us could win.
I moved from Clementine’s side to Jared’s. “Did you think you could truly win, Jared? Did you think this would end with my death or yours? Clearly, I have won already.” I hoped my voice didn’t crack. I didn’t want anyone to see weakness in me.
He didn’t respond to my threats. He was a man who was so beaten down now. I hated to see it. He was my son. We weren’t weak men.
I heard Gabe rustle behind me, his shoes beating on the ground. Gabe reached Jared, and without a moment’s hesitation, he kicked Jared in the side. All that came out of Jared was a moan. I sucked in my breath. Gabe kicked again. This time, Jared let out a howl. He was hurt. This time, I had enough. I sternly shouted. “Gabe. He’s mine to finish.”
Gabe jerked his head towards me and rolled his eyes, but he backed away quickly, and I felt relief as soon as he stepped away from him.
Jared rolled around on the ground. “We need to kill him while he’s down. I will do it.” Gabe said simply. He took the gun from his pocket and pointed it to Jared’s face.
It was instant. The shot caused a ringing in my ears. Shock. Gabe just shot my son. My son. Yes, we were not on the same page. Yes, we had our differences, but that was my son. Blood began pooling from the wound in his chest. His eyes stared up, unseeing. My son was dead.
Lena came out of nowhere. She fell to the ground at Jared’s head. Sobs erupted from her body. Her power was so strong, that the entire ground was shaking in her wake.
He was dead. I knew from her sobs and how powerful they were. He had to be dead. I willed myself to not feel anything. He hated me. I hated him. That was how it was. That was how it would have to stay. Now I had a new dilemma at hand. Lena.
“How is she no longer under control?” I bellowed to Gabe’s dumbfounded face. He was fumbling with his device.
“Do something, you useless man.” I screamed. He didn’t. He just stared ahead, speechless.
“Clementine,” I turned to face her again. She was gone. Where had she gone? She hated fights, and confrontation. She probably left the scene as soon as a gun was fired.
I sprang into action since everyone else was hopeless. “Lena.” I spoke through the sound of metals clanking, and crushing sounds. “I command you to stop.”
That was when she raised her head to meet mine. She was going to kill me. I could feel the rage all over her body. I was still a part of her. I was still capable of controlling her someway or another. I had to be.
“I am here to kill you. I have nothing to lose, Master.” She said the last words as if they were venom on her tongue.
“Gabe.” I bawled again. He stared at the magnificence of her. The sheer marvelousness of a girl who broke control one too many times.
“I think Gabe is too tongue tied to help you out.” She spoke as if she were hissing now.
“As your master, I command you to stay.” I tried once more. She laughed her villainous laugh.
“Did you really think that would work?” she laughed bitterly. “I think your time is up.”
“Don’t you want to know the secret of how you keep breaking the spell every time?” I tried.
This got her attention. She stopped moving towards me, and looked deep in thought. “I don’t want anything from you. The truth is a lie when it comes out of your mouth.” She jumped up into the air, and landed right in front of my face. “I think I have had enough of you altogether.”
She raised her hand and slammed it down onto my head. I fell instantly. I was an old man, after all, and I had no fight in me. I couldn’t take her on. She knew it. I knew it.
I was on the ground, holding my head. I thought I was seeing stars. She kneeled down to my eye level. She was smiling viciously. She was just getting started. I heard a smack, and cringed at the so
und. It was a dreadful sound. A sound I never wanted to here again. Her smile began to fade until the light seemed to go out of her eyes.
Her villainous smile was gone now. Her eyes were dimming. A knife was sticking out of her arm. Deep into where the cure or the robotic insertion was placed in Lena. I looked to see who stabbed her.
Gabe stood triumphal beside her. A stab to the cure’s central area killed them if a gunshot wound to the head would not. I hadn’t told him, but he figured it out. H didn’t stop there. Gabe brought the knife down into her head. Her heart. Her neck. He was a butcher, a mad man, and a villain to the core.
Lena stumbled back until she was beside Jared. She collapsed down until her hand was touching his. She was struggling to breathe. She couldn’t be saved. Even her abilities couldn’t heal her wounds because of the damage to the central cure area.
The fatal wound to her arm would never heal. Lena’s robotic abilities were destroyed when Gabe stabbed and destroyed her central line to being a robot. The cure was ruined in Lena forever.
They lay together. Two despaired souls who depended too much on love. The sight was unbearable for me. Love had killed them. Love had shattered me so many years ago, I knew love was useless, but they had not learned that yet.
“You killed our main source, Gabe. You gave our biggest secret away as well. Now they will know how to defeat the robots.” I growled to Gabe.
“Who? Who is left? Our last “defenders of the world,” are dead on the floor.” He said sarcastically, using air quotes and all, which I hated.
There was still clinging in the air, none of them caring of the destruction happening on the ground. By the looks of it, as Lena’s breathe became even quieter, her robots stopped their fights. She was truly fading away.
She gripped her necklace in her hands. I froze. She was going to do something with that necklace. Did she somehow have another trick up her sleeve? I watched with eagerness. What was she capable of in her final moments? It was fascinating.
Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set Page 43
