-Worlds Apart- Ruination

by Amanda Thome

  “What if we get caught?” I’m in shock.

  “Who’s going to recognize you? You’ve already been transformed.” Clint sneers as he walks back toward the hole.

  Ty and I run home. The cool air constricts my breath. My sides split as I pound my way towards Jon’s loft. Ty’s faster than me and it’s obvious he’s slowing his pace to stay next to me. I should tell him to go on but right now I want his company.

  Chapter 40

  “Nessa time to get up, Clint’s gonna kill us if we’re late.” Ty says nudging my shoulders. I turn to my side feeling my ribs instantly protest. I pull at the hem of my tank exposing my bruised ribcage. “Ouch. That looks pretty grisly. I got some nasty ones too.” Ty grins drawing up his pant leg. The entire side of his calf is black and blue, marks I left during yesterday’s training.

  I turn to my back lowering my shirt. “I feel like death.”

  “Dead or not I don’t think Clint cares. We gotta head out soon, he’s already gonna annihilate us today since it’s our last session.”

  The thought of training ending today is the only thing that motivates me out of bed. My body aches from the past six days of relentless drills. Clint took the second and third days to teach us grappling and engaging multiple targets. Ty was a better grappler than me but I beat him at shooting. The last three days Clint’s virtually been killing us by setting us up in two versus one combat scenarios. Yesterday we learned how to disarm our attacker and turn the weapon against them. Intense doesn’t come close to describing the level of training we’ve had. I roll out of bed letting my ribs scream as I push into standing.

  Ty pulls my sweats from the closet and tosses them to me. “Catch,” he warns. I reach my arms out snatching the pants midair. My shirt drops to the floor. I crouch to gather it but my beaten ribs catch me and I wince in pain.

  “I got it.” Ty scoops the shirt off the floor reaching under my arm he hoists me up.

  “Thanks.” I smile weakly.

  “Let’s get outta here.” He says before moving into the hallway to give me privacy.

  I change and join him, grabbing my lunch on the way out. It’s still dark as we round the first corner towards the hole. We run, my legs reach forward trying to keep pace with his. My breath finally steadies a mile out from the hole. My body warms and the tension eases in my ribs. We run together until we make it to the broken-down building. Ty pushes the door open. The hole’s in absolute darkness.

  “Clint?” Ty shouts.

  We circle around the hole haphazardly knocking into debris as we go. My ears pick up breathing, it’s shallow and steady. I make my way to Ty squeezing his forearm. Our eyes can’t adjust to the darkness, it’s simply too black. I lead him across the room toward the breathing. I tap his ears signaling him to listen. He follows my cues picking up on the sound. He directs me to approach from the right. We separate, Ty closes in from the left. Ty makes his way around when I hear the sudden exhale of air as someone drives a punch in Ty’s direction. Ty’s arm deflects the punch just like we’ve been taught.

  I hurtle forward toward the fight. I focus my concentration and make my way into the brawl. Ty gets taken down and just as the attacker pounces on top of him I lunge forward, kicking him square in the face.

  Ty launches to his feet and wraps his arms around the assailant, pinning his arms behind him. I step forward ready to attack. My stomach heaves as the man drives his foot straight into my gut. He vaults Ty over his back. We both recover just as we hear the gun slide into firing position.

  The first morning rays begin casting a dull glow into the hole, shining a light on the pistol pointed at Ty. Without thinking Ty reacts, hitting the man above his elbow, disarming him. Ty points the gun at the man just as I feel my body wrapped in powerful arms pinning me down.

  “Drop it,” Clint demands. Ty turns seeing me held down. Clint’s gun’s pressed to my temple. Ty drops his gun and Clint releases me. “What did you do wrong?” Clint barks. We both hesitate. Clint cocks the weapon pointing it back at me. “Answer me!”

  “We didn’t identify all the threats.” My voice resonates as I stare down the barrel of the gun. Clint lowers the weapon as the second assailant pulls off his night vision goggles.

  “This is Liam. He’s one of my men, a graduate.” Ty and I nod at our attacker, both of us ashamed we were overpowered.

  The rest of our day’s spent reviewing everything we’ve learned this past week. At days end my body trembles with exhaustion. I sit on one of the red benches gulping water from my green jug. Clint walks towards me.

  “This is the end of the line,” he barks. I stand, half waiting for him to punch me. He reaches forward awkwardly patting me on the back. “You did fine. It’s vital you two practice while you’re in the wild. Never let your guard down. Not even for a minute.”

  “Okay, got it.” I half smile as I begin gathering my things.

  Ty bends forward packing his bags, “Nessa, I’m gonna head back on my own. I gotta do something first.”

  “Sounds good.” I hoist my bag over my shoulder and look back at the dingy hole, somehow I know I’ll miss the blood, sweat, and tears we shed here.

  I push through the door into the cold night. The dull streetlights hardly illuminate my path. I pump forward, pushing through the first mile with ease. I take the right turn onto Vance Ave when I hear a call from behind me.

  It’s an unfamiliar voice but it’s human I know. I keep running forward moving out of the light into the half-a-block stretch of darkness. A call sounds again, this time in front of me. It’s close and my instincts tell me to prepare. I sprint forward.

  I hear a man approaching from my left before I see him. I drop my bag, it will only slow me down. He looks barely older than me. His dark eyes dig into me as he runs straight at me. He leans forward ready to tackle me. I dance to the side shoving him forward toward the pavement.

  “You little bitch.” He gets up, coming back at me. I ready myself for his attack.

  He slams into me, his hands shove my shoulders in reverse. I let him drive me against the wall before I prop my foot against his gut and kick him backwards. He stumbles briefly, just enough for me to tie-up his legs and lift him off the ground. I hear his head crack as it slams into the pavement. My hand winds up as I throw my fist straight for his nose. I hear the bones crack.

  Today’s lesson resonates as my body picks-up another assailant from my right. I stand ready for the next attack. This man’s bigger than the first, stronger too. He runs towards me and I remember his face. I’ve seen him before, sitting on the stoop to the brownstone building just up the street. He was watching me run with Ty. His eyes pierced me, my heart skipped uncomfortably hard in my chest. It must have been my intuition. I must have sensed the bad inside him.

  He hits me across the face, my vision bursts like a bright light’s blasting directly into my eyes. His second shot is straight to my gut, I double over and roll missing his third strike.

  I push to my feet, kicking him square in the sternum. He staggers forward but recovers before I get my next hit off. The dark-eyed boy rolls to his side with blood dripping against the pavement.

  “Let’s teach this bitch a lesson,” he snarls as the two surround me.

  My first attacker launches at me and I do my best to fight him off. I get one hit in before the second attacker pins me down dragging me into an alley. I try screaming but the first kicks me in my bruised ribs taking my breath away. They take turns savagely kicking my ribs, I do my best to block their blows.

  The first’s breathless voice brings me back to the present, “Where’s your boyfriend? We’ve been watching you all week. Running past us, teasing us.” He grins. “You thinkin’ what I am Drew?”

  “What’s that?” The other asks.

  I open my eyes as the first smiles and undoes the belt of his jeans. I try pushing to my feet but the second attacker pins me down, forcing my jaw closed. The first one wrestles with my pants trying to tug them off my waist. I squir
m and buck trying to fight them off. His belt clangs as he rips the top of my pants.

  Their hands are rough and heavy. I want them off of me, I want to break each finger in two. My pants rip and I imagine this is all a dream. I imagine that any second now I’ll wake up and Ty will be here telling me I’m safe. My eyes burst with light as I’m hit across the head, I don’t know what they used but it was hard and effective. It feels like my brains being slammed inside my skull, over and over it slams. It’s pavement, that’s what they’re hitting me with. How didn’t I figure that out sooner? Blood rolls down my face and across my eyes. I wish it was their blood. I need it to be theirs not mine.

  My stomach wads and spins as they roll me on my back. Out of nowhere I hear a loud crack. The jangling belt falls silent as my attacker crashes to the side, blood gushes from his head. I focus my eyes and make out the bloodied rock that cracked his head open. Just as my eyes adjust I feel the second attacker pried off me. Ty drags him by his grey sweatshirt pulling him away from me.

  “Get up!” Ty shouts. The man sits for a moment before he jumps to his feet ready to fight.

  His grey sweatshirt is a blur as he barrels toward Ty. Ty meets him head-on. Both their bodies slam together as they wrestle. They dance in a circle, arms tied together. Ty throws his hip into the man tossing him like a ragdoll onto his back. The man frees a hand and swings to punch Ty but he isn’t fast enough. Ty blocks the punch as he pins the attackers’ arms to his side. I hear the man’s bones cracking as Ty slams him over and over in the face. By now the man’s unconscious, maybe even dead, but Ty props him up punching him ruthlessly.

  “Ty,” I whisper but he doesn’t hear. “Ty!” I shout, my ribs jab with pain as I yell.

  He drops the man, blood covering his fists. I let him hoist me into his arms. These are the arms and hands that I need to feel. The only ones that I can trust out here. His jaws clenched as he bites down hard. I know what he’s thinking because I’m thinking it too. We should have killed them. He carries me back to the loft cradling me in his arms like Papa did the night of the banquet. I feel his heart pound the entire way. He carries me past the kitchen, artfully avoiding Jon along the way. He lowers me into the bed and turns to leave without saying a word. I hear him run a bath as I lay in shock. Ty comes back into the room.

  “I’m gonna help ya up, okay?” I nod as he scoops me up, carrying me to the bathroom. “Bath’s for you. You should take one, it’ll make ya feel a little better.” I nod again. “I’ll be right outside the door. I won’t leave.”

  I nod as he steps out. I peel the torn pants off and assess the damage. My bruises are already more prominent than earlier. I lower myself into the bath and soak, instead of crying I think about what I did wrong. That’s what Clint would have wanted and it’s the only way I’ll get stronger.

  Chapter 41

  I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d been two blinks later. Those two animals coulda killed her. I keep replaying it over and over in my mind. Seeing her on the ground like that made me ballistic. Like something snapped inside me and all I saw was red.

  I’ve known for a while that I’ve got a special connection to Nessa. Every night before her dream terrors hit I know it’s coming, even before she wakes. I can sense the building anxiety inside her. It reaches out to me, waking me. I’ve been trying to find a way to tell her but the right time just hasn’t found us. I talked to Kara about it a couple weeks ago. She said she’d read that Prems can be hyper-sensitive to other Prems.

  Basically I’ve tapped into Nessa’s emotions and I can’t find a way to turn it off. Thankfully it’s really only the extremes that I feel. I pick-up her fear, excitement, and sometimes rage. The in-between times I’m free from her emotions.

  Right now I can’t tell exactly what she’s feeling, I know there’s some rage, I can feel that for sure, but there’s something else in there too. I prop my back to the door, the blood covering my hands has dried into a rusted red color. I reach into my pocket and feel the box wrapping around the necklace. Somehow it managed to stay in my pocket though all the crazy.

  Jon has been letting me do odd jobs around the loft to save up money. I saw an advertisement a while back selling a silver locket. I liked the idea of a necklace that could hold someone’s pictures or memories. It seals em up tight, keeping em safe. We don’t have jewelry in our nation so it’s pretty safe to assume Nessa doesn’t have one yet. It’s nothing special but I figure she deserves something nice from me. It’s because of me she’s in this mess. The night we got our new identities I had Zane hack into Centrals records to get her parents and sisters name. I was picking up the locket from the engraver tonight when I felt her terror.

  I grabbed it and ran outta the building towards where I felt her. That’s how I found her tonight. If it wasn’t for being a Prem I wouldn’t have been there to save her. I rest my head against the door just as the tub starts draining.

  Chapter 42

  I towel off, my skin’s been sheared from my calf, probably from when they dragged me into the alley. I wrap the damp white towel around me and step into the hall. Ty’s propped against the door.

  “Hey,” I say as I step past him.

  “Hey. I’m gonna shower. You’ll be alright?”

  “I’m fine. Thanks for saving me tonight.”

  He smiles, “Don’t mention it. We’re partners now, we get each other’s backs.”

  I walk into our room closing the door behind me as he runs the shower. He laid my pajamas on the bed for me. I crawl into them and lower myself into bed. My head touches down and I hear a crackling sound from under my pillow. I’m confused, like maybe the attackers dislodged something in my ear that’s making the rustling sound. I sit up fishing my hand underneath my pillow, hoping to find the source. My fingers wrap around a box. I pull it out, the blue paper has two smears of dried blood that frame the bright yellow bow.

  I clumsily untie the ribbon letting it drop to my lap. I’ve never opened a present before and I try saving the paper as I carefully unwrap it. Ty steps through the door with his towel around his waist. I set the blue paper aside and open the box.

  “What is it?” I stare at the silver object in my hand.

  “It’s a necklace. A locket to be exact.” He sits down next to me taking the locket from my hand.

  “I’ve seen people wearing these on the streets. How’s it work?” I ask. He grins opening the oval charm. I gasp, “Don, Emma, and Emilia…” I say them as I trace my finger across their names.

  “I had Zane get their names for me. As long as you’ve got this, you’ve got a piece of them with you forever.”

  “Ty I don’t know what to say?” He stands drawing his towel around his hips.

  “Thanks is usually standard.” He smirks grabbing his clothes from the closet. He turns to leave but stops at the door. “Nessa, there’s somethin’ I’ve been meaning to tell ya.” I look up, the locket still in my palm. “I didn’t just get lucky and come across you tonight.” He pauses.

  “Did you have another vision?”

  He turns to face me, “No. It’s somethin’ different… I can sense your feelings.” My face screws-up in confusion. “I know, it sounds crazy even to me. It started durin’ your night terrors. At first I thought it was a coincidence but then I realized I could actually feel you gettin’ scared. That’s why I was always by your side in less than a blink.”

  “That sounds crazy.”

  “Yeah, I know. I talked to Kara about it. She said Prems can do that. We can sorta attach ourselves to another Prem and tap into their emotions.”

  I don’t really know how to feel about this. I keep my eyes locked with his as I squeeze the necklace tight.

  “So you feel what I feel?”

  “Not all the time. Just the extremes. I tried makin’ it stop but I can’t. Kara says it just happens to some people. I’m sorry.”

  “And the necklace?”

  “What do you mean?” He looks confused. “Nessa the necklace
was a gift. It had nothing to do with me feelin’ anything for you other than sorry for puttin’ you in the situation you’re in. It’s a gift.”

  “Thanks,” I say as I release my grip slightly.

  He turns towards the door grabbing the frame with his hand. “There’s a cure ya know.” He wheels back to face me. “They’ve got a cure out here to counter the conciliate-serum. It might cure us from being Prems.” My eyes meet his, I’d never thought of curing my visions before. I didn’t imagine it was possible. “I’ll take it if you want.” He hesitates. “I’ll never have another vision with you again and I’ll stop feelin’ your emotions. It’s the best thing I can come up with.”

  I freeze as the possibilities prattle in my head. I’m mad that someone’s able to meddle in my brain and feel my emotions but at the same time it gives me some comfort. If it wasn’t for that I could’ve been killed tonight.

  “It’s okay. We’ve just found out we’re Prems. We’re starting to learn what that means, let’s not break that yet.” I answer.

  “Deal.” He smirks as he turns to leave the room. I clasp the locket around my neck and fall into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 43

  Jon knocks on our door waking us well before first light. “Time to get up you two. Bags are packed and Jake’s waiting.” He fidgets with his watch as he opens and closes the door three times before he shakes his head walking away.

  “Why’s he acting so weird?” I ask Ty. I’ve never seen him like this.

  “Don’t mind him. He gets this way before a big mission. He’ll be alright.”

  I roll out of bed pulling on the long elastic outfit Kara gave me. It’s insulated but light-weight. The next few months leading up to January are going to be brutally cold. Thankfully Jon and Kara packed provisions to take us through until the mission.

  “Morning, Jon.” I yawn as I greet him.