Sleeper Cells
Page 11
Kat watched as he advanced, the look on his face alarming her. Getting his footing, he came toward them, then screamed out as he dropped to his knees again. Kat struggled to sit up but her mother pressed her against the floor painfully.
“I am not hurting her!” Her mother shouted, which Kat would have disagreed with if her lungs weren’t being crushed against the floor. “Get on the bed. I’ll step away from her.” Julianne continued to hold out the one hand she held toward Jason. It was almost as if she was the reason he was bent over in agony.
Jason groaned and sprang at her. Julianne stood and held both hands toward him. He screamed out as he collapsed onto the floor and convulsed. Her mother dropped down next to Kat long enough to pick up another syringe, then ran to Jason, and plunged it into his neck. Kat watched as her mother knelt by him and heard him cry out in agony when Julianne placed both of her hands onto his chest.
Kat scrambled on to her hands and knees but could only stay upright for a moment before her body gave out, and she fell to the floor. The coolness of the hardwood floor was so nice against her body. She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she and Jason were in their bed. Her mother pulled the blanket over her. Kat looked at Jason, he was sleeping soundly. She looked back at her mother and tried to formulate a sentence but couldn’t.
“Sleep. I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up.” Julianne stroked the wet hair from her face. “I’m going to disable your teleporter and lock the house down. Kat,” she shook her awake. “Do not talk to anyone until you talk to me first. Kat,” she shouted so she would open her eyes. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mother,” she nodded.
“Good.” She wiped sweat from her forehead, “Get some sleep.”
Kat’s eyes closed, and when they reopened, her mother was gone and the lights were off. She reached out and Jason’s hand grabbed hers, almost as if they had awoken at the same time. They scooted toward each other and somehow managed to meet in the middle despite their lack of strength.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“I’m just…” He whispered. “So weak…and I feel funny...I think I attacked your mom and she…I don’t know what she did...” he finally got out, “You?”
“No,” her voice shook. “I don’t know what happened…”
“Neither do I,” he pulled her snuggly against him.
“Jason?” She called out after her eyes opened, a few moments having gone by because they had both drifted off again.
“Yeah, babe?” He whispered.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he kissed the back of her head.
Kat tried to fight the drowsiness so she could sort out everything that happened. What was that feeling? And how had she managed to harness it? And how could she have possibly shared it with Jason, then her mother? Most importantly, why had her mother interfered?
She could only hope that her mother wasn’t going to report what happened to Council, because the thought of something happening to Jason caused her a level of distress she had never known. She cuddled further into his embrace, and not being able to help it, fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter Seven Mother Knows Best
Kat pushed off the hand that shook her and rolled onto her side. She felt the jarring again, and then heard someone saying her name, but when she would start to wake open her eyes, the pain in her head became evident. The throbbing in her temples was so painful that all she wanted was to go back to that dark place in her mind so that it would go away. She shrugged the hand off of her shoulder. The light that filtered in through the window made the pain worse.
“Kat,” Lauren shook her violently.
“What?” She nuzzled her face against Jason’s arm, “Please leave me alone, please, my head...”
“Is killing you, I know.” Lauren shook her again. “Sit up and drink this, it’ll help,” she pulled on her arm.
“What is it?” Kat took the drink after sitting up.
“It’s a smoothie. It has extra vitamins and antioxidants. And these are pain meds,” she handed her several pills. Lauren studied Kat as she slurped the beverage as ordered, her eyes drooping. “Kat, do you think you can wake Jason up? We have to talk about what happened last night before your mom gets here or else its lights out for both of you.”
“Lights out?” Kat asked. The drowsiness disappeared as her heart rate accelerated.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Wake him up so he can drink his smoothie,” she pointed to a second drink. “I know you both feel like crap and after analyzing your blood it’s no wonder—”
“Last night?” Kat rubbed her head. The throbbing was intense and the lack of any memories from the previous evening was disturbing.
“I need you to remember,” Lauren walked around the bed and started shaking Jason. “More to save your ass, but partly because I really want to know what that felt like,” she motioned for Kat to join in with trying to rouse Jason.
They shook him and he moaned. He pulled a pillow over his face. When they pulled it away, he rolled over and pulled the covers over his head, which nearly knocked the drink from Kat’s hand. She reached over, dropped it onto the nightstand, and then snuggled next to him.
“Hey,” she whispered. “We have to get up. We have to remember what happened last night—”
“Later, can we just go back to sleep?” He pulled her against him and nuzzled his face against her hair. “I just need ten more hours...”
“Jason,” she sat up and shook him, amazed that he had fallen back to sleep so quickly. “Come on, babe. Lauren’s here and we’re in danger. Something happened and we need to get up and remember…” She looked at Lauren as a hazy memory stirred. “We were at our engagement party, right?” She sat up when Lauren nodded. Kat stood and experienced a moment of vertigo. A strange familiarity overcame her as the feeling subsided. She looked around the room.
“Yes,” Lauren pulled Jason into a seated position. “We were all there having a good time, well, you were trying—”
“Yeah, but the stupid bodyguards…” Her eyes latched onto a pile of debris on the floor. “Vanessa,” tears filled her eyes. “Vanessa slept with Roger,” her voice trembled as the memory of it came back to her.
“I’m so sorry, Hardy,” Lauren said. “I think that’s how it happened. It must have been what triggered it.”
“Triggered what?” Kat looked at her trembling hands then back at Lauren. “Something happened…like this void filled my chest and now it’s hollow,” she rubbed the spot.
“You tapped into our powers, Kat. You somehow overrode all the meds they give us to suppress it. Look at how you destroyed the wall, that’s telekinesis—”
“Powers?” Kat interrupted.
“Yeah, which is amazing considering you didn’t even know you had them! But it must have happened when you got so angry. That feeling of betrayal must have been so overbearing that it somehow overloaded your system.”
“Jason,” Kat whipped around and saw him sleeping soundly again. She rushed over to him. “Jason,” she shook him and he woke up. “Are you okay?”
“My head hurts,” he dropped his head onto the mattress.
“We’ve got to get him up,” Lauren said kneeling beside her. “I’m pretty sure your mom won’t be here for another couple of hours—hell, I’m not even sure if it was your mother but—”
“Yes,” Kat touched her neck, the pain immense when she ran her finger over it. “Mother came. I almost hit her...”
“Go on,” Lauren insisted.
“I almost hit her, Lauren,” she shook her head. “She pulled me away from Jason and that infuriated me. It made me even angrier than Vanessa and Roger.”
“It hurt,” Jason whispered. His head was still on the mattress but his eyes were open. “Hurt at first, but not really, it was like a shock, but magnified by a billion.” He sat up and pulled her onto the mattress and into his lap. “But then you grabbed me and even though it was so weird at firs
t…afterward it was...”
“Amazing,” she put her hand over his heart. “And you somehow started making that energy too,” she looked up at him. “It came from your heart, I felt it pulse…” She stared at him.
“You two suck,” Lauren stood and stared at them.
“What?” they asked.
“That’s just great,” Lauren got their drinks and handed them over. “I get stuck with old square peg and you two not only love each other, but you both tapped into your powers, and it was amazing.” She mimicked as she dropped on to the mattress and stared at the ceiling. She sighed. “Don’t mind me. I’m just seething with envy. And not even enough to make what happened to you, happen to me.”
“You wouldn’t want it.” Kat looked at the destroyed photo, the hollowness in her chest a reminder of how horrible it was to see that, to feel the betrayal that came from walking in on them.
“I’m sorry, Kat,” Lauren took her hand. “I shouldn’t have said that, I know how much you love her.”
“Do you know what happened to us, Lauren?” Jason asked.
“I’m guessing,” Lauren stood and retrieved the pills she had earlier. “That the emotional surge that came on when Kat saw Vanessa caused her to override all the meds they give us—”
“What meds?” Kat asked.
“The injection we get once a week—”
“Our multi-vitamin?” Kat asked.
“Yeah, it’s not a multi-vitamin,” Lauren snorted. “I analyzed it a few weeks ago. It’s a cocktail. The main ingredients are progesterone and GABA, with a few other things in much lower concentrations. There’s another ingredient that none of the instruments on this planet can identify, so I’m guessing it’s the Colonel’s secret recipe.”
“Why would they do that?” Jason asked after dropping the pills she handed him into his mouth and swallowing them down with his smoothie.
“To sterilize us, and suppress urges, and probably inhibit our powers,” she retrieved her laptop then came back to the bed and sat beside them as she navigated through the Internet. “I’m assuming that’s why you had such high levels of oxytocin and glutamate in your system. Sorry, I took the liberty of a blood sample when you wouldn’t wake up. When I found the empty syringes on the floor I got worried...”
“Oh,” Kat looked down at her arm and understood why the dried blood was there. “How did you…Lauren…you’ve never told me any of this…”
“I’m not supposed to know any of it. The only reason I do is because I was trying to get a better sense of what happened to Elizabeth,” she said cryptically. “Of course, I still have no clue what happened to her, but I’ve learned a lot of interesting stuff along the way,” she pointed to the laptop. “Anyway, after you guys disappeared, I knew something happened and when your parents,” she nodded toward Jason, “Announced that you had to leave early because you received word that your sister had become ill, I knew something was off.”
“Is that what they told everyone?” Jason asked. “Did they find out about last night?”
“No way,” Lauren shook her head. “Kat’s mom has to be like us because if she showed up last night and injected you, and then locked the house down, then I’m assuming she’s trying to cover for you or else you’d be dead.”
“So how did you get here? I mean, if the teleporters and the house are locked up?” He asked.
“Too easy, I always install a fourth conduit as a backup. Just because the three that are registered are locked out for triangulation doesn’t keep you from using two of the three and a fourth to triangulate coordinates—”
“That’s brilliant,” Jason said staring at her. “So you’ve done this everywhere?”
“Nah, just here and a few other places we use as a backup. I’m glad I did because after watching this I knew it was more than Vanessa being sick.” She hit the play button and an entertainment news piece came on.
The anchor that was covering the story had been at their engagement party. Kat met her and several other journalists that had been invited. The piece began by showing Jason and Kat dancing, then went on to explain how romantic the setting had been. After going over their whirlwind romance, and details on the upcoming nuptials, the reporter stated that they had left early because her sister became ill.
Of course, she had to dramatically emphasize that several hours after the party a taxi driver released a video he had taken of them on his phone as he had driven them home, which they played. The journalist talked about Kat’s relationship with Vanessa then Roger, whom they assumed was the aforementioned he that Jason had asked her about. The anchor was nothing but sympathetic to Kat and was appalled by Vanessa’s and Roger’s behavior.
She then went on to say that the video showed how very much in love Kat and Jason were. And despite speculation that the relationship was a ploy for her father to win his election, or was based on something purely physical that would fizzle long before the big day, the video disproved that. The anchor ended the news piece wishing them the best and saying she couldn’t wait to attend the wedding.
“On the bright side, the humans are convinced, now more than ever, that you two are the real deal,” Lauren closed her laptop. “Unfortunately, it shows that you two look like you’re really in love, which isn’t a good thing, especially with the footage contradicting what Council came up with.”
“We can come up with something—” Jason started.
“I already did,” Lauren tossed a box of tea into Kat’s lap. “When your mom gets here, offer her a cup of that stuff, say it’s this delicious tea that a girl in one of your classes suggested. Make sure to leave the box in front of her.”
“Cool,” Kat read the label. “The St. John’s Wort is a decent enough reason to have my hormones a bit out of whack—”
“Right, and since we don’t know they’re force-feeding us meds then you wouldn’t have known not to take it,” Jason added.
“It’s cheesy, but it’s good enough on such short notice.” Lauren said. “Now we have to get you to your room. Just tell her mom you woke up in the middle of the night and saw that you were in here, and couldn’t remember why, so you made it back to your room…” She stared at them. “What?”
“This is my room,” Jason said slowly.
“Oh, okay, well then Kat, you make sure,” she took in their faces and sighed. “Are you telling me that you share this room? Like a couple?” She groaned. “And I got the squarest damn peg of them all and you two are just lovey-dovey,” she mumbled as she shoved her laptop back into her bag.
“I really wish things were different with Wyatt,” Kat whispered.
“I know.” Lauren sighed.
“How’s about,” her mother said from the doorway, which caused them to startled, “You tell me the truth, finally, and not be scared that you’ll be punished for it,” Julianne said as she made her way across the room.
“Mom!” Kat exclaimed as she and Jason scrambled off the bed.
“How did you get here?” Lauren asked.
“I drove a car and opened the door with a key,” Julianne smiled. “Not everything has to be complicated by our technology.”
“Mother, I never meant to lie, I was just so—”
“Scared? I know. I was too. I didn’t know if you were pure or if you were like me, so I could never just ask outright, baby. But I knew, in my heart of hearts, that you were like me and you were just too scared to admit it.”
“Do you know why?” Jason finally asked to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the room.
“Why we feel?” Julianne asked.
“Yeah,” the three of them asked eagerly.
“I don’t. I never did…feel that is. Not when we were at home and not when we underwent the change to become Hybrids. Or even when you were created,” Julianne brushed Kat’s hair gently with her fingers. “But when they put you in my arms, I felt something when I looked at you.”
“Are you the only one?” Kat asked. “Are there others?”
“Did he feel?” Kat asked.
“He never admitted it but I know he did. He had finally started letting his guard down a little just before the accident.”
“Did you love him?”
“Yeah,” Julianne brushed the hair over her shoulder. “I didn’t know it then but looking back I did. I wish it hadn’t taken that horrible car accident for me to embrace it. I wish I had told him before he died. I lost my chance to tell him, Kat, so I couldn’t let you slip away too, not when I still had the opportunity to save you. The doctor wasn’t hopeful that you would survive, so when he left the room, I teleported you to the house and healed you.”
“And lied to me ever since?” Kat asked, not accusing, just curious.
“I had too. I didn’t know if you were pure, but you seemed to be as you developed. Even after the accident, there was no reaction, no emotion. But when you started kindergarten, I would see glimpses, these tiny moments that thrilled me. But I didn’t know for sure, not until you got into high school.”
“Do you think my parents know about me?” Jason asked.
“They don’t,” Julianne assured him. “But they might be suspicious now, so let’s do a quick briefing,” she walked to the door and lifted a bag that she had dropped just outside of the room. She handed each of them a blue booklet. “This is your next assignment. Kat, you’ll be doing recon in disguise. Jason, you’re on comm—”
“Do I get to shoot somebody?” Lauren asked.
“I’m afraid not. But I think you’ll like the plan. We have a mandatory briefing that we’ll tell everyone started at eight at my house, so we’ll leave together.” She looked toward Kat and Jason, “You two need to separate. You’ve been using the excuse that you sleep together because of our human family, but after last night we need to play by the books, just in case anyone wants to snoop around—”