The White Rabbit Chronicles

by Gena Showalter

  He gave my shoulder a comforting pat. “I know you’re scared, and I’m sorry for that, but you can rest assured that what happens in here is for a very worthy cause. My daughter is dying, Miss Bell, and I must find a cure.”

  Ethan’s sister. Leukemia. “Exactly how do you think I can help?”

  “Unless you slayers use your fire to ash, the zombies possess the ability to live forever. It is my hope to harness that ability for humans.”

  “That’s ridiculous. The zombies live, in their way, but they never stop rotting.”

  “And even that, in itself, is a miracle, Miss Bell. Think about the possibilities. If we can figure out how, and why, the rotting occurs, then we can figure out how to eliminate it as a side effect and save human beings from death.”

  “Zombies are death, in every sense of the word. Those tendencies you mentioned make me want to kill people.”

  “A small price to pay for eternal life.” He held up an empty syringe and waved the needle in front of my face, making sure he had my attention. “Just think. Your actions in this laboratory will help save countless lives.”

  Maybe. One day. But what about the countless lives lost in the meantime?

  He wanted to save his daughter. I got that. I did. I’d want to help Nana, Cole, Kat and all of my friends if the situation were reversed. I’d be desperate to help, actually—I already was. Watching Kat’s decline was a true horror. But this wasn’t the right way.

  “You love your daughter,” I said, “and I’m betting she loves you. Would she want you to do this? To hurt people in order to help her?”

  His lips compressed into a thin line. “This is going to sting, but I’ll be as gentle as I can.” Leaning over me, he wound a tourniquet around my upper arm and stuck the needle in the soft tissue of my inner elbow.

  I cringed, watching as crimson filled the belly of the tube.

  “We’re going to figure out what caused your body to embrace the zombie toxin, and yet not actually kill you or even cause you to rot.” He removed the tourniquet and bandaged the puncture wound.

  He’s too determined. You’re not going to talk any sense into him. Gotta work with what you’ve got. “You don’t need the girls for this. Let them go. They have nothing to do with our war.”

  “Your concern is admirable, but we actually do need the girls. We want to keep you malleable, and they are our insurance card.”

  I knew that wasn’t all Kat and Reeve were to him. They were witnesses.

  I had to get them out of here.

  “I’ll promise malleability if you let them go.”

  “You’ll give it anyway. Now, are you light-headed?” he asked. “I’ve got a cookie with your name on it if so.”

  I would have preferred evil straight-up, with no dash of kindness.

  “Very well. We’ll move on. What comes next is going to be far more painful for you, and I’m sorry for that, but I need to know what your body can take...and what it can’t. Your strengths and your weaknesses, if you will. I also need to know what happens to the zombie toxin when your body is placed under tremendous stress.” He held up another syringe; this one had a thick green liquid swirling inside the tube.

  My bonds stretched taut as I tried to scramble away. “What’s that?” I demanded, unable to mask my tremble.

  “An isotope of adrenaline and other goodies meant to speed your body into a fight-or-flight response, to put you under that tremendous stress I mentioned. My hope is that you’ll recover swiftly, and the toxin won’t be able to overtake you and harm you.”

  I had nowhere to go, no way to twist, as he jabbed the needle in my arm and injected me with fire. Molten lava spread through me, burning me up, melting all of my organs. Sweat suddenly poured from me. Maybe blood. I couldn’t tell—my vision hazed. Muscles I hadn’t known I possessed jerked painfully, and both of my hearts kicked into a dangerously swift rhythm. Boom, boom, boom, boom, no pausing, no slowing, just pound after pound against my ribs. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

  “Stop it,” I gasped out, my lungs squeezing tight. “Stop it right now.”

  “Don’t worry. It won’t last long. Just a few minutes.” He smoothed a hand over my brow. “I’m not a terrible person, and I don’t like to see you worked up. But I’m also a determined person. I have to save my daughter, Miss Bell, and if that means destroying the world and everyone in it to do so, I will.”

  “Criminal,” I managed. “Deserve...prison.”

  “That’s the pain talking. I take no offense.” He stood and taped electrodes to my temples, neck, wrists, belly and ankles. “We’re going to keep track of what happens to your spirit, too.”

  He grabbed another syringe of green liquid. Before I could protest, he’d injected me a second time. Another stream of lava blazed through me.

  My back bowed of its own accord. This time, my heart thumped with so much force I expected to hear my ribs crack. I couldn’t stop my screams. They came, one after the other, scraping along my throat, until fists seemed to wrap around my neck and squeeze.

  “Interesting,” Kelly said, pressing his fingers into my carotid. “Your body and spirit are weakening at a rapid rate, and yet there’s something inside you that’s strengthening.”

  My eyesight blurred, but I think I saw Zombie Ali standing in the corner of the room, watching me.

  “Why won’t you die?” she snapped.

  Yes. She was here. Was she the thing that was strengthening?

  One step, two, she approached me. Floated, really. Pale hair tangled around a face now completely smudged. She grinned, revealing teeth still stained with blood. “It’s just a matter of time now.”

  I closed my eyes to block her image.

  “There, there,” Kelly said. “That’s enough. We’ll take a break.”

  I felt another sharp sting in my neck, though this one was accompanied by ice rather than fire. My heartbeat slowed, and I sagged into the chair, a wet, soggy mess.

  “I must admit,” Kelly said, as he made a notation in a notebook, “I was hoping to see the red fire. I was told it hurt the slayers and the zombies, yet not you. And that makes me wonder...what did it do to you?”

  Z.A. stood just behind him, and I was careful not to meet her gaze.

  “What would you have done if you’d seen it, huh?” I panted. “I would have burned the chair and, fingers crossed, you.”

  “There’s an extinguisher in the ceiling, directly above you.” He motioned to it with the tip of his pen. “With the press of a button, I would have you doused.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Definitely.” He tapped the pen against his chin. “I know. We’ll see if the red fire makes an appearance when I introduce more zombie toxin to your system.” He set the notebook aside and held up another syringe, this one filled with black goo.

  What? “No!” I struggled against the leather straps. They tore into my wrists and ankles—held steady. Blood dripped onto the chair, the floor.

  Z.A. clapped. “You’ll never be able to stop me now!”

  “You’ll kill me,” I said, snubbing her, “and you won’t learn anything new. Won’t help your daughter.”

  Kelly shook his head. “I’ve done this to others, Miss Bell. I know what I can give, and what I can’t, and still keep a person alive.”

  He didn’t understand. The words rushed from me, desperate. “I’m different. Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this.”

  “Calm down. This is an engineered version of the toxin, made not to infect you permanently but to burn through you in about half an hour. You won’t even need the antidote to improve.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I—”

  He stuck me with the needle.

  Chapter 26

  All the Monsters Want to Play

  Many times, as a little girl, I’d looked at the home my father had built and considered it a prison. Only twice had I fought my forced incarceration, screaming and yelling at my parents about the unfairness of it all. Not ju
st for me, but for Emma. She had no life, no friends.

  And maybe that was why the two of us had been so close. We’d only ever had each other. We understood each other, because we’d been trapped in the same boat, in the middle of the same storm.

  Then my dad had begun to train me in the art of self-defense, and I’d discovered I had a talent for it. It had given me something to do, something to think about, something to look forward to. But when it had come to the zombies, he hadn’t known many tricks.

  Those I’d learned from Cole. Under his tutelage, I’d begun to feel confident, maybe, at times even undefeatable. But none of that training helped me now.

  Though I struggled with all my might against the hold of the guards, they managed to drag me back to the cage.

  HUNGRY!

  NEED!

  SOON!

  MINE!

  No longer whispering, the zombie thoughts now shouted through my mind—an echo of my own thoughts. I could smell the sweetest, purest perfume in the air...wafting from the guards, from Kat and Reeve, from Jaclyn.

  Mmm...so good...

  Z.A. had stepped back inside me, and I could feel her hunger. Why she hadn’t attacked Kelly while she was out of my body, I didn’t know. Unless she couldn’t. She hadn’t gone after Cole or Gavin, either. Maybe, as long as she was tethered to me, she was bound somewhat to my will.

  “Stand at the back wall,” one of the guards yelled. Kat and Reeve had rushed to the bars upon spotting me. “Now!”

  The girls obeyed, probably desperate and willing to do anything to get to me, and the door was opened. I was thrust inside, the door slammed behind me. Strength had long since abandoned me, and I fell to my hands and knees.

  The girls rushed to my side, the sweetness of their scents so strong I had to be drooling.

  “Get away,” I croaked. “You have to get away.”

  “Do what she says,” I heard Jaclyn demand. “It’s for your own good.”

  What would one taste hurt?

  “What did they do to you?” Kat demanded.

  “Oh, Ali,” Reeve breathed.

  “Now!” I crawled away from the girls and huddled in the far corner of the cell. I wrapped my arms around my middle, my entire body trembling from residual pain. From cold and weakness and fear and dread and hunger...oh, the hunger...

  I banged my head into the brick. Can’t think about the girls. Can’t think about how easy it would be to overpower them, to hold them down and work my teeth past skin and muscle and into—

  No! Can’t think.

  I banged harder, faster. So much harder. Black spots appeared behind my eyelids, and I smiled with my first wave of relief. The end of my torment was coming, sneaking in...would soon arrive... I sighed happily as I sank into blissful unconsciousness.

  * * *

  When I woke up, the world was, strangely enough, a much brighter place. I hadn’t hurt my friends. I’d been at my worst, hunger-ravaged and desperate, but I’d kept to myself.

  Some part of me—my love for Kat and Reeve, maybe—was stronger than Z.A.

  I could do this, win this. I could fight and overcome.

  This time, I actually believed it.

  I put together a new to-do list. Do whatever’s necessary to escape with Kat, Reeve and Jaclyn. Come back with Cole and the other slayers. Destroy Anima—start with Kelly.

  To escape, I needed strength.

  For strength, I needed food.

  We were each given a small, dry sandwich and told to make it last—it was supposed to be our breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  Amendment. First convince someone to feed us.

  A little while later, I was escorted to Kelly’s chamber of horrors and strapped to the chair, electrodes taped all over me.

  Kelly sat beside me. “See. I told you the toxin wouldn’t kill you.” Grinning proudly, he patted my hand like Pops used to do. “Now, let’s talk before we begin today’s testing.”

  “Let’s not. I’m too hungry.”

  He ignored me, saying, “We know where each of your friends lives, but what we don’t know is if they possess any unusual abilities, like you. More specifically, I’d like to know if any of them are able to heal supernaturally fast.”

  “I’ll trade answers for food.” False answers.

  His expression hardened. “I admire your spirit, Miss Bell, but it’s going to get you into trouble. I told you I would do whatever was necessary to help my daughter and I meant it.”

  “Cheeseburger. Fries. Chocolate shake.”

  He stickered me with more electrodes, these attached to the funny-looking machine, and flipped a switch. Volts of electricity shot through me, sharp and hot and carnivorous. I opened my mouth to scream.

  The pain stopped as swiftly as it had begun.

  Desperately trying to suck oxygen into deflated lungs, I glared up at my tormentor.

  “Now, I’m sorry I had to do that, but you brought it on yourself. Thankfully for you, I’m willing to try again. Do any of your friends possess the ability to heal supernaturally fast?”

  “Pizza,” I rasped.

  Frowning, Kelly flipped the switch.

  The pain lasted longer this time, my heart actually stopping in my chest before restarting on its own.

  On and on we continued. He would ask a question about the slayers and their abilities, and I would name a food—if I could speak. I was pretty sure my brain had turned into a cherry Slushie.

  “Pay attention, Miss Bell.”

  My head rolled in Kelly’s direction. He thought to break me, and with my body, he was succeeding, but he was only strengthening my resolve.

  “If you don’t want to talk about the slayers right now, we won’t, but we’re not quite done with today’s session. You see, I sent a man to capture you. He shot Halim Bendari, and someone else shot his driver. I haven’t seen or heard from him since. Do you happen to know where he is?”

  “Try looking...up your butt.”

  He popped his jaw—and flipped the switch.

  The chair shook with the force of my shudders, the pain acute, gut-wrenching and soul-zapping. Kelly was going to kill me. How could he not? After a while, even my skin began to vibrate, and it didn’t stop when he turned off the machine. My bones felt brittle, as if they would break at any second. My lungs had to be filled with glass rather than air. Every breath was agony.

  I...came to as Kelly tapped my cheek. I must have passed out.

  “That’s enough for today,” he said with a sigh. “We’ll pick this up again tomorrow. I hope you’ll be in a more agreeable mood.”

  I think he’d pushed me harder than he’d intended.

  “Lasagna. Spaghetti. Garlic bread.”

  He scowled. “I don’t want to do it, but I’ll strap your friend Kat to the table. I’ll make you watch as I infect her. Will you talk before I inject the first needle?”

  Monster! I bared my teeth at him, wishing so badly I could do more.

  He smoothed the soaked hair from my forehead, knowing he’d reached me on a level the machine hadn’t. “Tomorrow we’ll have another chat. If you fail me as you’ve done today, I’ll use the already sick Katherine Parker.”

  He knew. He knew she was sick, and he was still going to use her.

  I was unable to support a single pound of my own weight and had to be carted back to the cage. I wanted to assure Kat and Reeve I was okay, but the moment the guards dumped me on the floor, darkness swallowed me.

  * * *

  “—so sorry,” a male was saying. I recognized his voice. It made me angry. Angry enough to force myself out of my deep sleep, the only thing preventing me from feeling the pain still lingering in my body.

  I blinked, looked through eyes glassy from the strain they’d endured. Ethan stood at the bars of our cage, pleading with Reeve to forgive him for the part he’d played in our capture.

  The anger magnified, giving me strength. Snarling like the very animal I might be becoming, I launched myself at the bars. I reached
for Ethan, intending to choke the life out of him—and laugh while doing it.

  He reared backward, out of reach.

  Two of the lab coats rushed toward him, to protect and shield him, most likely, but he held up his hand and they stopped, quickly returning to their stations. He tugged at the collar of his sweater, keeping enough distance between us to prevent a repeat of what had just happened.

  “You did this,” I shouted, surprised at the sound of my voice. I’d shouted, but only a whisper could be heard. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you so dead.”

  “Let me explain,” he said, expression as tormented as his tone. “Please.”

  “Save your words. There’s no explanation good enough.”

  His gaze slid to Reeve for a second, as if seeking some kind of softness. “The man who runs this place is my father. He’s worked for Anima for two decades and was finally promoted to one of the top positions.”

  A family legacy. How sweet. “I’m going to cut out your eyes, stop you from ever doing this again! You were the one in the forest that night, spying on Trina and Lucas.”

  Ethan’s head dropped. With shame? He nodded. “My dad and I can’t afford failure, not if my sister is going to survive. So we wanted all the bases covered. That’s why he sent me to Reeve and why I agreed. That’s why he sent Justin to the slayers.”

  “You used me,” Reeve said quietly. “And you expect me to forgive and forget?”

  Reminded of her presence, I turned to her. I waited for the scent of her to hit me, to unnerve and obsess me, but encountered only a soft waft of the expensive perfume probably embedded in her skin. The darker urges were at bay.

  I squeezed her hand in reassurance, and she offered me a small smile of thanks.

  “I didn’t use you,” Ethan said with a shake of his head. “I mean, at first, yes, I did, but even then I was attracted to you. The more time I spent with you, the harder I fell. You were never supposed to get hurt.”

  “With your dad, everyone is expendable,” I said hotly. “You should have known that.”

  Ethan popped his jaw. Ignoring me, he said, “I love you, Reeve. I never lied about that.”