by Silver, Ruth
Margo laughed, “Jaxon, you're in for a world of trouble if Joshua finds out.”
He let out a heavy grunt. “I was training. Quit causing more trouble.” he shot a wicked glance at Margo before turning towards me. “I promise there are no lasting side effects. I was trying to practice compulsion. It's essentially pushing one single thought into another's mind.”
“You were brainwashing me!” I exclaimed. My eyes widened and stomach tensed.
“No.” Jaxon shook his head. “Maybe, I don't know. Brainwashing sounds so cruel,” he frowned. “It isn't a big deal. Think of it as hypnosis. It's not that big of a deal, unless I get it wrong,” he confessed. “It's how I'll be able to help you in Genesis—” Jaxon paused, his eyes looking somber. “I'm sorry if I crossed a line.”
We hadn't kissed. My lips had never touched his, and even if he compelled me to do something, I had to be stronger to stop him. I would vow to study and practice more, but perhaps without Jaxon being the one to train me. “You did cross a line.” My answer was short, curt. “Don't think I can forgive you for this, what you tried to do. It wasn't right.”
Jaxon nodded faintly. “I should have asked your permission.”
“Yes, you should have.” I was angry but with time that anger would fade. I knew what was at stake, the risks we all took for one another. I didn't appreciate what he'd done, trying to make me kiss him to show up Margo, but it hadn't happened and he'd apologized. I'd learn to get over it.
Jaxon shook hands with Joshua, exchanging words and opening the door for Margo. I couldn't tell what was said. I imagined Joshua probably wished them luck as he shut the car door behind them.
I gave the briefest of waves, watching as Jaxon started the vehicle and drove out of the town for Torv and Spade. I tried not to look disappointed that they left and I didn’t. It wasn't as though I was thrilled with the idea of traveling through the Gravelands again; I just wanted to be the one to explore the towns. We were, after all, the ones who told them about Torv and Spade. Standing up, I headed inside our home. The air outside was chilly, but I liked it here. I hadn't seen an ounce of snow this year, something I didn't miss from Genesis.
I pushed open the front door, glancing back to see Joshua heading in the opposite direction, further into town. I didn't ask what he was up to. Instead I shut the door behind me, stoking the fire as I tried to keep warm.
I paused, hearing someone knock on the door, wondering whom it could be. Joshua wouldn't have knocked and most of the others hardly came by to visit. Although it wasn't illegal like it had been back in Genesis, it was uncommon.
I pulled back the door, surprised to see Hazel staring back at me, a fruit platter in her hand. “I thought you might be hungry,” she offered. “I know you missed breakfast this morning so I snuck this out for you.” My stomach rumbled at the sight of food. I knew this morning there had been a farewell breakfast for the three traveling east. I hadn't wanted to go and pretended to sleep in instead. Joshua hadn't bothered to wake me. He knew me well enough to know the truth without words being spoken.
“I overslept,” I lied, giving the faintest smile. There was no sense in hurting anyone's feelings. “Thanks for bringing this, Hazel.” I took the plate from her, bringing it to the worn wooden table. I grabbed some silverware and took a seat. “How was it?”
“Breakfast? It was nice. Everyone missed you though.” She smiled weakly. “But I can understand why you hadn't wanted to go.”
I didn't think she could understand but I didn't say anything. I took a bite of a strawberry, thankful the town had invested in a greenhouse. “This is good,” I mumbled between bites. It had more flavor than anything I had tasted back in Genesis. It was fresh and ripe.
“I wanted to ask you,” she paused, giving me the faintest of smiles, “what it's like to be different.”
“Different?” I didn't understand her question. I took another bite of breakfast and glanced up at her.
“Yeah, you know,” she laughed. “Everyone knows you're special. I mean, of course you're like the rest of us here with the abilities from the Mindonsiphan—but the fact you could get pregnant—doesn't that make you feel different?”
“I don't feel any different,” I offered as best as I could in way of an explanation. “Though every day I wake up and I'm not in Genesis, I remember that I am. All my life I never suspected anything, and then in an instant, it all changed. It wasn't a good day either.”
“Being matched with Joshua wasn't good?” Hazel asked, misunderstanding me.
I laughed. “No, that was nice. It was what came after that frightened me,” I sighed. “Why are you asking about this?” I didn't know where this newfound curiosity came from.
Hazel smiled, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. “I'm jealous. I don't mean to be,” she quickly explained. “But the fact you could have a baby if you wanted to, it seems so unfair.”
I sighed, letting out a heavy breath. It was unfair. Everything about it. It wasn't even a burden I wanted. “Elsa's working hard on a cure.” It was all I could say, all I could offer. My eyes widened, suddenly hearing the loud soaring of a plane overhead. I froze at the table and Hazel's eyes also widened in horror.
“The fire!” She rushed towards the fireplace, closing the damper, directing the smoke back into the house.
“What are you doing?” I asked, appalled, as the town shook with the vibrations of the drones flying low above us.
“They'll see the smoke and know we're alive down here.” She hid beneath the kitchen table. I coughed as the room filled with smoke. I hoped the planes would leave soon or we'd likely die of smoke inhalation. I walked towards the bedroom, opening the door to allow the smoke to penetrate the entire house, not only the kitchen. It was our only option to buy us time. Coughing, I walked towards the window, seeing a fleet of drones circling the town.
“This isn't good,” I muttered, grabbing Hazel's arm as I dragged her from under the table.
“We can't go outside!” She cried and her body shook. I'd been through this before in Haven. It terrified me but I wasn't going to die, not today. I forcefully led her into the bathroom and turned on the water, hoping it would protect us. I shut the bathroom door tight behind us, wet several towels, and shoved them at the bottom of the door, hoping to block the smoke.
Hazel coughed violently and I felt my own lungs grow heavy as I wheezed, doing my best to catch my breath. It felt as though a tank crushed my lungs and I lost the ability to breathe.
I wanted to look outside but the bathroom window was frosted and didn't grant me the opportunity. I couldn't leave the bathroom and I refused to abandon Hazel. I had witnessed Jacqueline die: I wasn't going to allow that to happen again.
The planes circled overhead for several minutes. I didn't know how much time had passed before I felt the ground shake violently and heard a loud sound erupt, once, twice, and again until after the fifth time it stopped. I hoped they weren't bombing the town. I didn't move from the bathroom, sitting down with Hazel on the floor. I held her tight, feeling her body tremble in my arms.
“It'll be okay,” I whispered, trying to reassure her. “You did well,” I reminded her. “You probably saved our lives.” If she hadn't been quick to react with the damper, they would have sensed the smoke from the chimney and destroyed our home if not the entire town. Hazel shook with tears as I held her tight. “It's going to be okay,” I told her once again, realizing I no longer heard the planes overhead. I loosened my grasp. “Stay here, okay?” I told her. “I need to make sure everything is safe before we go outside.”
“Don't leave me in here,” Hazel pleaded with me.
“Fine,” I sighed, grabbing two additional towels and dousing them in water. I held one up to my face, hoping the smoke wouldn't penetrate.
Removing the towels from the bottom of the bathroom door, I slowly pulled it open. A wave of smoke hit us hard. I coughed into the towel, dropping lower to the floor, pulling Hazel down with me. “Crawl!” I commanded. The sm
oke was thicker at the ceiling and I hoped we had done right as we inched through the bedroom for the kitchen.
My eyes burned and blurred from the smoke. I felt Hazel tugging at the bottom of my shirt as she held me, following close behind me. Could she see anything or was that why she held on? My throat was raw as I struggled to breathe.
I crawled over the small bump in the room between the doors, feeling my way across the wood floor in the kitchen. It was too dark and thick with smoke to see anything. I gasped for air and struggled to breathe as I dropped the towel. It hadn't helped, not enough. My hands shook as I slowly moved closer to the door. I didn't know how much further I had to go. Even with the wide panel windows to my right, not an ounce of light could be seen.
I felt Hazel's grip loosen and I reached around, grabbing her hand. I wanted to tell her to keep going, not to give up. The words never found my lips. As I collapsed onto the floor, Josh! was my last conscious thought before I drifted into oblivion.
CHAPTER 4
I awoke with a start, my eyes blurred and my body twitching as I tried to remember where I was and instead felt the freezing cold grass against my back. The last thing I remembered was crawling out of the house with Hazel. I didn’t remember making it to the front door. Someone had found us. I breathed in, taking the oxygen into my lungs from a mask around my mouth.
“You're okay now.” I heard Cate's voice. She normally would have been the last person I wanted to see. My head turned slightly to see her staring back at me. “Lucky for you I came outside and saw all the smoke. What were you thinking?” I didn't answer. I tried to but my throat was parched. “Don't bother.” Cate held up a hand. “I know you were trying to be the hero but you could have gotten yourself killed. You and Hazel.” I glanced around, looking for her. “Don't worry, she'll be okay too,” Cate assured me.
I shifted on the grass, looking for Joshua. He ran towards me. “Olivia? What happened?” He knelt down, his hand stroking my cheek as I attempted to lift the mask from my lips.
“Don't,” Cate warned me. “You need it a little longer.” She turned towards Joshua, gesturing for him to follow her. My eyes still blurred, an effect intensified by distance as I tried to make out what they were saying. Were they talking about me?
Another minute later I felt his warm hand in mine. “You're going to be fine,” he assured me, giving it a squeeze. What happened in there? We didn't often share the telepathic bond anymore. It wasn't that we couldn't, it was more that we hadn't needed to. We were often together and if there had been anything that needed to be said aloud, we both felt comfortable doing so.
The drones, I answered. Even mentally it took a lot out of me. They were flying overhead and Hazel closed the damper. She thought it would keep them from seeing the smoke coming out the chimney. Except it had to back up into the house.
“You could have been killed.” He stared at me, his thumb stroking my cheek covered in dirt. I must have looked a mess.
Is Hazel okay? I asked, still not ready to sit up yet.
Joshua nodded. “Sydney is looking at her right now but she's about in the same condition you're in,” he told me. “I think they're going to transport you to the medical clinic for a few hours. Just to make sure you're okay.”
I didn't want to go but I knew Joshua was probably right. Will you come with me? I wanted even less to be alone.
“Of course.” Joshua nodded, giving my arm a squeeze.
Slowly I was beginning to feel better, and I reached up, wanting to take my mask off. “I did call for you,” I rasped, staring up at Josh.
“I barely heard you,” he admitted. “I was busy.” He looked sheepish in response and my hand moved over his arm.
“What were you doing?” I wanted to know what had been so important. Obviously the drones flying overhead wouldn't have made it possible for him to run back to the house to find me, but still…I didn't understand what he'd been up to.
He glanced at Chancellor Collins and I turned to see what was going on but missed the exchange. Joshua sighed. “Keeping the town safe.”
I wondered precisely what that meant. I didn't ask. I let Joshua put the oxygen mask back over my mouth and nose. I turned my head, seeing Chancellor Collins and Sydney carrying Hazel to the medical center.
I hoped they didn't plan on doing that with me. I could walk there. My legs weren't broken. I just had a horrible headache and terribly sore throat. I'd be okay. I probably didn't even need to go to the medical center. Slowly I moved to sit up and Joshua reacted. “What are you doing?”
“I want to walk on my own.” I pushed myself off the ground, grimacing from the instant headache. Joshua wrapped an arm around my waist as I pushed the oxygen mask off. “I'm okay.” I didn't feel steady on my feet but I hadn't hit my head. I felt capable of walking to the medical center. It wasn't that far away.
“For the record, I'm against this,” Joshua told me but didn't let go. He held one arm around my waist as he walked with me across the street. We had to walk half a block east towards the clinic but I knew I could do it. I swayed a little in his arms but finally Joshua pushed open the doors as we entered. Hazel was already lying on a bed.
Sydney came rushing towards us. “What are you doing walking?” She wrapped another arm around my waist, helping me to a bed.
“My legs aren't broken,” I remarked as I moved to lie down. The headache vanished.
“No, but you've inhaled a lot of smoke. You might be dizzy for a little while.” She grabbed a penlight, checking my pupil reaction.
“I'll be fine,” I rasped hoarsely as I gently tried to push her away.
Joshua sighed. “You don't sound fine,” he reminded me. “Olive, would you let her do her job, please?”
I put my arm down to my side and lay there motionless as she looked me over. She put a small device on my earlobe, glancing at the monitor. “What's that?” I asked, wanting to know what she was doing to me. It didn't hurt.
“Checking how much oxygen is in your blood,” Sydney remarked. She grabbed a vial along with a syringe, antiseptic wipe, and rubber band. I grimaced as she tightened the rubber band on my upper arm, preparing to draw blood. “We want to run a few blood tests,” she told me.
“Why?” I coughed, trying my best to hold still. “I'm fine,” I reiterated. I didn't like when she pierced the needle into my skin. I looked away, glancing at Joshua as he stood there with me the entire time.
“We need to run a CBC, metabolic profile, Carboxyhemoglobin and Methemoglobin. If that's okay with you.” There she was again, sounding like the Sydney I knew. Hating to be questioned and, even more importantly, just hating me.
“Whatever,” I muttered, closing my eyes, glad when she finished and put a small bandage on the broken skin to keep the bleeding at bay. “When can I go home?”
Joshua sighed, glancing at Sydney and then finally at me. “We're going to have to find another place for a few days,” he offered. “There's a lot of smoke damage to the house. We'll probably need to clean what we can and apply a fresh coat of paint to the inside walls.”
It wasn't something I looked forward to. “Where will we stay until the house is cleaned up?” My voice was hoarse but I was sounding a little more like myself.
Joshua smiled. “I'll worry about that. You get some rest, okay?”
I frowned, reaching for his hand. “Are you leaving?” I didn't want to seem like a wimp but I wasn't crazy about staying in the infirmary any longer than necessary.
Joshua leant down, dropping a kiss to my forehead. “For a few hours. You should rest,” he insisted. “I need to take care of a few things. I'll be back with lunch though, okay?”
I nodded, wondering what he needed to do that couldn't wait. I suspected the fact we couldn't stay in our house tonight may have been part of it but I didn't want to think about that at the moment. I closed my eyes, trying to get some rest while I heard Sydney bustling around the medical center, tending to Hazel and a few other patients I wasn't familiar with.
I slept a few hours and when I woke up Sydney was checking my vitals. “Everything okay?” I asked, as she scribbled down some notes. My voice was less raspy.
“Here,” she offered, grabbing an empty cup and filling it with water. I took it from her, sipping it slowly. My throat felt raw but the cool liquid seemed to go down okay.
“Thanks.” I put the cup beside my bed. “Can I go home?” I felt better.
“Yes, your blood work came back fine.” she smiled. I wondered if she was glad to be done with me. I moved to sit up, wanting the wires removed as I was ready to leave. “Olivia.” She stared at me seriously and I paused what I was doing, glancing up at her.
“Hazel wasn't thinking very clearly with what she did today. You both could have been killed. I know she was trying to protect you.” Her voice grew quieter so Hazel couldn't overhear our conversation. “But you're much too important for anything to happen to you.”
I sighed, glancing down at my arms and realizing how dirty I was from the smoke and ash. I chewed on my bottom lip before glancing back up at Sydney. “I wouldn't know what else to do. Hazel was quick on her feet and I know she was right. The smoke would have signaled the drones to attack us.” I defended Hazel. How could anyone suggest otherwise?
“I'm going to talk with the Chancellor but I'd like to put you and Joshua up in different housing.” She stared at me. “We have some facilities that are newer, a little more up-to-date. You wouldn't have the need for a wood-burning stove,” she acknowledged. “I'm just worried about you. If something were to happen…” Her voice trailed off.
“I know.” I didn't need her to spell it out for me. “Listen, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern but unless the drones fly over the town again soon, we're okay.”
Sydney sighed. “That's my point, Olivia. The drones come whenever the government sends them. We have little to no warning at all. If we'd have known we wouldn't have sent Jaxon, Margo, and Mason out to the Gravelands.”
