Dax lifts his helmet mask. “What did he do?”
“He left me!”
“He thought you were right behind him. He lost you, give the guy a break,” Dax says.
The other guard lifts his helmet; my heart skips a beat. It’s Lowell. “I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”
Lowell smiles, “Not letting you get away from me for a second time. Come on, let’s get out of here.” Lowell grabs hold of my hand, making me feel safe.
“Skylier!” Calista screams out. She is standing in Xander's doorway, with tears rolling down her face. Xander has a gun to her head, the blue light beams shining along the gun's barrel, as he drags her forward.
“Well hello, little brother. You should have told me we would be having a family get-together. I know Father would love to see you.” Xander stands in front of his giant quarters, with its own private dome. Flowers surround the marble staircase that leads up to his rotten home.
“Leave her out of this! It's me you want!” I release my hand from Lowell's grip, and I step forward to the staircase.
“Ahh... very good, Skylier.” Xander waves his hand to usher me up the stairs.
“Skylier, don't go with him,” Lowell pleads.
“I have to.”
“Xander, leave them alone. Don't bring Skylier into your cruel games. She didn't volunteer. She's my sister... she's your sister,” Dax says bluntly.
“Guards!” Xander yells out. Instantly there is a sea of white helmets behind him.
“Come peacefully, and this little one will not get hurt,” Xander adds as he swings the gun around.
Dax still has his gun up toward Xander. “Dax, we are outnumbered,” I tell him.
Hayden lowers his gun. “She's right, mate.”
Anger and guilt wash over Dax's face as he lowers his gun. Lowell reluctantly follows.
“Very good, finally listening to orders,” Xander smiles.
The guards sprint down the stairs, before the boys can change their minds.
“Be careful with that one, she's mine,” Xander says to one of the guards, as he takes hold of my arm, squeezing it tightly.
“She's ours,” a female voice orders. It's Xander's wife, Shristi. She is standing with her arms crossed and a smile on her face next to her husband as he rounds us up. “What are you going to do with the others?”
“I will let Father decide about Dax, and the other two—well, what do you think?” Xander asks her.
“Life for a life?” she says, giddy.
Xander shrugs. “Sure, why not?”
“May I present it? I have the most beautiful outfit... it's crimson red, with gems along the bust—”
“Yeah... yeah,” Xander cuts her off mid-sentence, but she doesn't notice, and walks back into the house.
They're going to kill Lowell and Hayden live, so everyone can see.
I glance over at Lowell. He begins to force the guards off him, once he realizes what they are going to do to him. More guards come running down the stairs, knocking him over.
“You want me, and not them!” I shout. “Leave them alone!”
“Now... now, ladies, this is fun, but some of us have work to do.” Xander laughs. “Guards, take them both to my father. I think he will have questions for them.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“My sweet Host, what have they done to you?” Xander asks, almost concerned, as he takes me into his office. “Please take a seat; I will get someone to tend to you shortly.”
This office is one of the grandest rooms I've ever seen, with its high ceilings and beautiful chandeliers. There is a huge desk in the middle and it looks like a wooden, hand-carved table.
“My mother designed this room. It's a little over-the-top for me,” Xander says casually. “Can I get you some food or water?”
“Water,” I mumble. My throat feels as dry as the desert. Xander smiles as he pours me a glass. I drink it almost too quickly. It's hard to catch my breath.
“Better?” Xander asks.
I just nod.
“So... now, what is this Dax was saying about you being his sister?” Xander leans towards me.
I stay silent.
“Do you prefer mind games? We can do that instead?”
Come out; come out, wherever you are, Skylier... His haunting voice jumps into my mind.
Block.
“Now… now, Skylier, that is not very nice. Two can play that game,” Xander says. “Guards, bring the old one in!”
“Leave her out of this. She's sick,” I plead.
“Oh, so you do have a voice?” The office door opens, and my mother walks in with a guard. I leap out of my chair and hug her.
“How lovely, mother and daughter reunited once again.” Xander laughs. “Now ladies, please take a seat.”
Mother walks over and sits down.
“I'm starting to lose my patience, and your daughter is not being helpful,” he says.
Mother shoots me a concerned look.
“Were you Dax's Host?” Xander asks her.
Mother nods.
“And... Dax and Skylier are twins?”
Mother just nods again.
“Were you my Host?”
Mother moves closer to Xander.
What do you think...? Mother's voice rings through my mind. Xander jumps back—he hears her as well.
“Guards, take her away!”
“No, Mother!” I yell out as the guard drags her away. “Leave her alone!” With all my force I run at Xander. He sees me coming and raises his arm, knocking me to the ground.
“You are no son of mine!” Mother yells as the guard drags her out of the office.
“She is right. I will never be her son. People can never know about her.” He smiles, “I have the perfect place for her. So, little sister, are you ready to be a good little girl, keep the bloodline pure? Be our Host?”
I shake my head. The thought repulses me.
“Guard, bring the Outsider in!” Xander yells.
The door flies open once again, and Madam Enid walks in with a guard by her side, shadowing her tiny frame.
She stops for a moment and the guard shoves her in the back, knocking her to the stone floor.
“Perfect. Stay there,” Xander orders, as he gets up from his chair and walks toward her.
Madam Enid's eyes fill with fear, and she wraps her arms around her body as if she's trying to make herself smaller.
“Now then, Outsider, I hear you were helping Skylier escape,” Xander says as he pulls his gun from his holster. He starts stroking the glowing blue light with his hand, as if it's his pet.
“Skylier, do you understand what you have done to this Outsider?” Xander asks.
“She didn't help me escape, I ran into her. Leave her out of this! It's between me and you, no one else!” I yell.
“Oh, a bit of fire in you... I like it. Maybe you should be my Bazi.” Xander laughs again. “Anyway, the time for games is over. Her life, for our new life,” Xander points the gun directly at Madam Enid's head. Her body begins to tremble.
“You cannot take her life from her! It's against the law!” I cry out.
“Skylier, you are a dumb Cueva. I make the rules. This is my Sanction. One... two...”
Madam Enid's eyes bulge, and sweat begins to pour down her face.
Surely, you cannot do this...
Play time is over... Xander's voice rings in my mind.
“Three.”
Pop...!
Crimson blood appears at the edge of her mouth, as Madam Enid’s lifeless body falls backwards onto the ground. A circle of blood forms on her forehead, as her blue eyes bulge.
“Such a waste... oh well, on to the next one. Shall it be the little one, or Mother Dearest?” I cover my eyes with my trembling hands as I try to control myself.
“I think the little one next,” Xander adds. “Guard!”
“I will do it... I will do it!” I blurt out.
Xander's face lights up.
“Yes, Xander?” ask the guard as he enters the room.
“Clean the mess up,” he says, pointing to Madam Enid. The guard just nods and does as he's told, no questions asked.
Xander tilts his head sideways as he stares at me, and then he smiles. “Okay, let's get you cleaned up and over to the compound,” he says with excitement in his voice.
“What... about my family?” I mumble, still in shock.
“We will hold them until your Hosting duties are over. We cannot let you back out, now can we?”
My stomach clenches.
My brother, Rian...
“I want him to be selected for the Games,” I blurt.
“Ha. Why not? He’s the only chance I have of winning the games, and it will annoy my father.” Xander pauses, “Our father.”
“What will happen to Lowell and Hayden?” I almost don't want to know the answer.
“Who? Oh, the other guards with Dax—sorry, life for life. I will make sure you get a good seat for the ceremony. Cannot disappoint the wife,” he adds as he shrugs his shoulders.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I am here in the compound. I am going to be my brother's Host.
“Oh, dear, let's get you cleaned up,” a nurse in the compound murmurs to me. I can hear her, but my mind is not registering. I'm here.
“Please remove your dress—well, what's left of it.”
I unbutton my dress, and it drops to the ground, revealing my underwear.
“Ouch!” the nurse winces as she stares at my body, covered in cuts and bruises.
My legs buckle beneath me and I collapse in a heap.
Emotion pours out of me, as I begin to cry uncontrollably. My mind cannot take anymore.
“There there, child... it will be okay, we will take care of you,” the nurse says as she kneels down next to me, hugging me like my mother would.
I sent messages out for my mother and Calista, but I received no reply. Will I ever get to see them again?
“Let me tend to those wounds,” the nurse says softly as she lets go of me.
She carefully wipes my arm, cleaning the blood and grit away from my open wounds. Then she stops, confused. “You've been shot!”
I don't even have the energy to agree.
She carries on, cleaning me up. My arm burns in agony each time she touches it, but the pain will never be close to what I felt when I saw Madam Enid's body fall to the ground.
“Okay, I understand this is hard. We are on a tight schedule. Xander would like you with the other girls as quickly as possible. He asked us to take good care of you, how sweet is that?” She smiles.
“Please remove your underwear. And step into the shower. We need to remove any possible germs.”
I do as requested, like a robot following orders.
The cold drops of water hit my naked body. “Soap,” the nurse says as she passes me a bar. I take it from her and clean myself, washing my old life away from me.
Like a mindless guard, I follow the nurse's orders. Wash myself. Dry myself. Dress myself in my new, crisp, white uniform. I take a seat on the chair in the middle of the room.
A door swings open. “On time as always Frances, I will take it from here,” a flamboyant man announces.
“Good luck,” the nurse says as she leaves the room.
“Haircut time, your color is perfect. People would die for this shade,” he states, as he begins to comb my hair.
“The Chancellor likes his Hosts to all look the same, united in the Purenet family. You already look like family. Oh, how rude of me... what is your name?”
“Skylier.”
“Don't worry, Skylier, everyone is nice here... as long as you follow the rules,” he whispers into my ear.
“Three years will go fast... It always does.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dax
Purenet soldiers march me into my father's quarters. “Wait for the Chancellor,” one of them says as he leaves the room. All I can do is think … and wait.
I look around my father’s place; I never realized how big and over-the-top it was. Nothing like the way the Grounders live.
The way I used to live ... with my real family.
I can’t stand here doing nothing! I head toward the door and reach out for the silver knob. Then my body freezes—I want to leave here and help the Grounders, but it’s pointless … half my father’s army is waiting outside the door for me.
What will happen to me now? Father banished me once before, he could do it again … hopefully that’s what he’ll do this time. At least then I'll know what’s in store for me.
Pacing back and forth, I hate the feeling of helplessness. My father’s room looks different. Something is missing … but what? I suppose it has been years since I’ve been here—things are bound to change.
I stand in front of Father’s handcrafted wooden chest of drawers. The family photos are neatly placed on top … everything in order, as always. I move one of the frames just a fraction, as I would when I was a child. It always made him cross.
One of the pictures catches my eye. It’s in a golden frame, I’m guessing a gift from the Aurum Sanction. It’s the last family picture taken before I was banished—before I found out the truth about what was killing the Cueva community.
Staring at the picture, I realize how different I look now … my hair is shorter and lighter. It's my hazel-green eyes that look the most different, though. They have lost the youthful, carefree sparkle they once had—even though when I was here, I wasn’t exactly care-free. But I had other things to distract me, taking me away from what my family was really doing.
Now they have my sister, Skylier. The thought of what Xander will do to her makes me sick. How can he select his own sister to be his Host?
I’m ashamed of my behavior. I slam my fist down on the drawers, knocking all the other photos over with the blow. Pulling my hands over my face, I look into the mirror in disgust.
I can hear a soft whimpering sound coming from beside my father’s bed, and I turn around, surprised. “Who’s there?”
It's a girl, with my father’s grey satin bed sheet draped over her body.
Her deep brown eyes widen as she stares at me, unblinking. “Help me,” she pleads, as she wipes the tears away from her high cheekbones and full lips.
As her hand trails across her face, I can see her painfully raw, red wrists … she’s been chained up.
She is one of my father’s Bazi.
“Please help me,” she continues to beg, as she reaches out to me.
“Dax!” my father yells. The doors fly open as he enters his quarters.
In the years that have passed he hasn’t aged … in fact, he looks younger. He must’ve had a lot of visits to the lab. He doesn’t look real, more like a plastic mold of himself. I can only guess what Mother will look like. I smile at the thought.
“Do you think this is funny?” he asks, as he walks toward me without taking his eyes off me. That is the only part of him that has aged … his pupils look as though they have eaten up all of the color.
“No, Father,” I reply. Even now I feel as though he controls me. But now is not the time to be weak.
“How have you been?” he asks me, like I’ve just come back from dinner.
“Great, considering you left me to die,” I snap.
He waves his hands in the air. “You have always been so dramatic. You know it was just a test … I cannot have a weak son.” He reaches out to pat me on my shoulder. My body twitches out of the way, leaving his arm hovering in midair.
His breath gets louder, and he grits his teeth in frustration. I need him on my side, I remind myself.
“One of your Bazis?” I say, looking at the girl on the floor.
“Yes.” He leers down at her. “She used to be one of my best Bazis, but not anymore,” he continues silently. “Her body’s not pure like it used to be. Now she’s more interested in getting high. Think it's time to banish her and get a new Bazi.”
/>
My father’s voice floats through my head, sending a shiver up my spine. It's been a long time since I heard his thoughts … but not long enough.
If he banishes her, he’s sending her to her death. She will not be able to survive out there alone.
I stare at him and shake my head. He hasn’t changed a bit.
“Does our way disgust you?” his mind questions me.
I know the only way I will survive, and for Skylier to have any chance, is for me to make him believe I have changed.
I glance at Father and shake my head in a confused way. He looks deeply into my eyes, as though he’s trying to read my mind—as he has tried to do since I was a child.
“Or do you want her for yourself?” he adds softly.
The Bazi whimpers as he asks … as though anyone would be better than him.
“Come on, Father!” I roll my eyes in disgust. As if I want someone who’s been his sexual slave!
An evil roar of laughter comes from his mouth, as he shakes his head.
“Did you have Bazi when you lived with the Grounders?” he asks me. He brushes his hand across his shiny skin. It’s so weird that it looks younger than mine.
“No, they don’t have Bazis,” I reply.
“Really?” Father looks confused. “What else is different about the Grounders?”
I know this is probably my only chance.
“I can tell you what I have learned, Father. I’m sorry for disobeying you. You were right to banish me.” I lower my head toward the marbled floor as a sign of asking for forgiveness.
He steps toward me, but I keep my head down.
“Are you lying to me, Son?” his mind asks me.
I shake my head.
“Look at me,” he says powerfully.
I do as requested.
Our eyes meet; his are darker … hollow … lifeless. The man supposedly has everything. But really he has nothing.
We stare silently at each other, and I block out the sound of the Bazi weeping in the corner.
“Are you lying?” he repeats.
Unblinking, I hold my stare.
Wasteland: Age of Sanctions (A Invasion Survivor Series) Page 12
