Flawed (Perfection)

by J. L. Spelbring

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Perfect.

  “So part of your duties is to keep the Commandant informed of any unusual activity?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Please continue” she urged.

  “Yes, ma’am. Since the camp is under your command, I should report to you. No unusual activity reported.”

  “What of the prisoners?”

  “There are a total of fifty-six prisoners. Forty-one males and fifteen females. Two females perished today,” Sergeant Gersten said, smugly.

  “I do not care about the number. How have they been treated?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  An impulse to send the sergeant to the floor reared in Aalexis. To watch him writhe. So inferior, even if she wanted to use him as part of her select team. “It has come to my attention they seem well-treated here. Do you understand now?” Aalexis asked, keeping her voice steady.

  “Yes, ma’am. Their food intake has increased by fifty percent and they were recently assigned new uniforms and coats.”

  “Why?”

  “It was my understanding the Commandant ordered the improvements due to the new Recreation Center.”

  “How nice of him.”

  “May I speak freely?”

  “If there is more.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Please,” she invited.

  “One prisoner has been lifted above the others. The name he goes by is Doc. He has had several meetings with the previous Commandant of the camp.”

  Aalexis didn’t respond, her expression remaining blank, but the mention of Doc’s name both piqued her interest and stirred her anger. Why would the Commandant seek meetings with a lowly prisoner, even if she wanted him kept alive? Unless an agreement had been reached between the two.

  Apparently, the Commandant hadn’t been truthful with her. Not entirely. If the former commander had withheld information about Ellyssa, he would pay.

  With her hands behind her back, Aalexis started to move around the sergeant again. Melted snow puddled under his black boots. He remained rigid, as if her presence didn’t bother him. His stoicism was rather impressive for someone of his standing. Plus, he seemed to remain loyal to those over him.

  Pausing behind the sergeant, she looked at Xaver. Her brother’s gaze flicked to her, then back at the male named Lukas.

  Lukas continued. “His treatment was the first to improve. The only reason I was given was that Commandant Baer had been ordered to do so.”

  She continued circling the male, then stopped in front, a lot closer. The top of her head reached a little below his chin. She stared at him, hard. He didn’t blink.

  Impressive.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-seven.”

  “How many years’ experience?”

  “My promotion came into effect six years ago.”

  “Your record?”

  “Exemplary. I graduated at the top of my class and have received leadership commendations and service medals.”

  “Your experience?”

  Even under his thick coat she noticed his chest puff out in pride. “I have been at Amarufoss for five years. Recommended by Colonel Fiedler and requested by Commandant Baer. I am the best of the best, ma’am.”

  The Sergeant’s conceit was laughable. He had no idea of what the best of the best consisted of. But Aalexis was impressed with his attitude and his loyalty. He would serve as a perfect test subject that, hopefully, would lead to a spot on her own elite security team if he survived.

  Aalexis flicked a glance over her shoulder. “What do you think, Xaver? Should we offer?”

  “I think he will do.”

  Aalexis faced the Sergeant, and his first real show of emotion etched two vertical lines over the bridge of his nose.

  37

  A deep sense of foreboding made a home in Ellyssa’s psyche as she stood in the steel corridor. Harsh fluorescent light sputtered menacingly, casting eerie flickering shadows. The low hum of electricity sizzled in the air.

  She looked around.

  Something was amiss. Familiarity surrounded her, but at the same time, The Pit held an alien ambiance.

  Ellyssa cast a glance over her shoulder to confirm that she was right. Sure enough her room was behind her, the door closed. Frowning, she looked straight ahead and took a step. The tap of her shoe echoed loudly, bouncing down the metal hallway. Then she understood what was wrong. Besides the fading ring of her step, emptiness filled the entire facility.

  Someone had to be there. Rein wouldn’t have left her alone. Neither would the rest of her family.

  Sliding her eyelids closed, Ellyssa opened her mind to Rein. She couldn’t find him. Maybe he was too far away? She shifted her concentration to locate Woody. Nothing.

  She lowered her entire wall. Like a fisherman, she cast the mental net to latch onto anyone’s signature. Nobody. She was alone.

  Her pulse elevated as anxiety poured in her veins. Ellyssa’s heart responded in her chest cavity.

  How could she be alone? Not including Ellyssa’s group, there were two hundred fifty inhabitants. They couldn’t have all slipped away without her knowing.

  Ellyssa opened her eyes to a changed scene. She still stood in the same corridor, but now the hall ended at a large grey door. Yellow light seeped through the crack at the bottom.

  She felt foolish.

  Nothing more than a dream.

  Silently laughing at herself, Ellyssa started toward the door, her footsteps echoing with a lonely, hollow tone. With each step closer to the door, the ominous premonition returned and burrowed into her stomach. She tried to brush it off—it’s just a dream—but it haunted her.

  The door loomed ahead like a presence in itself, large and dominant in the dreamscape. The sides seemed to inflate and deflate as if breathing. Cool air brushed by, catching strands of her hair in its breezy grasp, and carried with it a whisper. She stilled, the beat of her heart in her ears and the hairs on the back of her neck standing erect, and sent her mind outward.

  Silence.

  Fear flowered in the pit of her stomach and incapacitated her muscles.

  She had to get a grip. This was just a dream. A dream and nothing else. Clinging to that knowledge, Ellyssa willed her feet to move, and with a flash-forward moment, she suddenly stood at the beckoning entrance. She reached for the knob.

  A shadow disrupted the flow of light, followed by the familiar voice of her father. “Come in, Ellyssa.”

  “Thump, thump, thump,” her heart responded.

  Ellyssa fought the urge to retract her outstretched hand and retreat back down the hall. How could her father’s ethereal voice bring such anxiety? She swallowed the fear, the flight instinct, and unleashed anger. Her skipping heart slowed to its normal patter. Without another thought, she put her hand on the doorknob and twisted. The latch slid back and door swung inward.

  She stepped into her father’s office. The same white walls and tile shone clean, no designs or pictures to mar the purity. On the other side of the room, she could see Lake Michigan’s grey waters through the picture windows. The only difference was that the room was completely empty of furnishings.

  Ellyssa’s father stood where the furniture should have been, wearing his white lab coat, his silver hair combed neatly back. Delight showed on his face. His hands were hidden behind his back.

  “Der Vater,” Ellyssa said. Her voice held no inflection. Her face felt hard and smooth like polished stone. Familiar hatred joined the anger. Together, the two sensations twisted and folded into each other, becoming one.

  His blue eyes twinkled with amusement as he regarded her.

  Father never could hide his emotions as well as he wished he could.

  “You have returned to the fold,” he said.

  “No. I have not.”

  “But you will.”

  “No. I will not.”

  “You must join your siblings,” he said, raising his arms o
utward as if about to present a magnificent show.

  Her father didn’t disappoint.

  From behind him Aalexis and Xaver stepped out, flanking Father. Behind them, farther away, Ahron and Micah appeared out of thin air, like ghosts.

  Ellyssa felt her muscles’ desire to recoil at the sight. She refused and raised her chin. “You are all dead,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  Her father paused, bringing his index finger to his mouth as if in thought. A slight frown produced two lines between his eyes. He considered for a moment before he spoke. “Are we?”

  “Yes. My family and I exterminated you.” Although her voice remained robotic, she accentuated “my family” to grind the point home.

  He arched his eyebrows. “Did you?”

  “Yes.”

  Tucking his chin in slightly, an unsettling grin pulled her father’s lips. “Are you sure?”

  His menacing smile evoked nothing in Ellyssa. The doctor was dead, as he should be. “I am.”

  “Yet, here I am.” He moved his hand from his head downward in presentation of the obvious. “As I always will be. You are my daughter, my creation. I will always be a part of you.”

  A small string of resolve snapped. Ellyssa tied it back together. “No.”

  “Always. As your sister and brother are.”

  He didn’t reference Micah or Ahron farther behind him. Neither had moved, but they seemed to be floating instead of standing on two feet, their images wavering and unclear.

  Ellyssa’s father moved out from between Xaver and Aalexis and stood a little off to the side, examining them. His chest inflated with self-importance. “Are they not beautiful? Just look at them.”

  Ellyssa did. Both her siblings stared at her with deadpan eyes. Somehow, Aalexis seemed taller and older than when Ellyssa had fought her back when she’d rescued Rein a few months ago. Xaver definitely was bigger; his boyish stature had filled out with defined adult male muscles and length.

  The doctor studied them for a second longer before he returned his attention to Ellyssa. “As are you,” he said, gliding toward her.

  Ellyssa wanted to move, her feet twitching with the anticipation of backing away, but she couldn’t. They were glued to the floor.

  Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, she commanded.

  Dr. Hirch stood before her, his blue eyes boring into hers. She could feel his warm breath against her skin.

  “You almost killed my old associate.” Ellyssa’s eyes widened at the revelation. How could he know? “The satisfying feel of his flesh beneath your fingers—it must have been hard to stop.” The doctor’s white teeth gleamed between his smiling lips. “You cannot fight who you truly are, Ellyssa. That is why you lost control. First and foremost, you are a killer of those beneath you. That is what you were bred to be.”

  Ellyssa shook her head. “No.”

  “It is, and you will join your brother and sister.”

  “I am not dead.”

  “Neither are they.”

  Ellyssa’s eyes popped open.

  Rein had felt the soft shudder of Ellyssa’s shoulders, but it’d taken awhile for the meaning to sink into his sleeping mind. He opened his eyes to darkness and a whispering sob.

  “Ellyssa?” he said.

  She didn’t answer.

  “Baby?” Rein reached over and flipped the light on. A bright white washed the black away. He lifted up on his elbow and touched her arm. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Ellyssa answered, wiping away the tears she didn’t want him to see.

  “Look at me.”

  Rolling over, she stared at him; her eyes were red and a little swollen. She blinked, trying to keep the moisture trapped behind her lids. He touched a tear she’d missed glistening on her cheek.

  “Don’t tell me nothing’s wrong.”

  “It’s silly,” Ellyssa said, looking away. “I just had a nightmare.”

  “A nightmare. It must’ve been one hell of a nightmare, then.”

  She rolled over, her back facing him. “It was, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Rein’s lips parted, words of comfort teasing his tongue. He closed his mouth instead. When she wanted to talk about it, she would. Slipping his arm around her waist, he pulled her close to him, letting her know he was there—that he would always be there. Her body was warm and soft against his, and the scent of her hair tantalized his nose. They lay like that for a few minutes, her chest rising and falling.

  Finally, Ellyssa shifted onto her back so she could look into his eyes. Even with swollen lids, she was so beautiful. Her platinum hair spread across the pillow like spun silk, her flawless skin glowed, her full lips pouted. Rein smiled down at her, his lips preparing to brush against hers.

  “Do you think I’m a monster?”

  The smile faltered, then fell. Rein frowned at the question. “Of course not.”

  “But I am.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  “I almost killed Dr. Loki. I could have easily killed him. Just a twist of my wrist.” Ashamed, she glanced away.

  “Is that what your nightmare was about?”

  “No.” Ellyssa paused. “Sort of. It’s complicated.”

  Rein shifted so she was forced to look at him. Misery and irresoluteness clouded the clear sky-blue color of her irises. “You are the most loving, caring person I’ve ever met. What you experienced was nothing more than a normal human emotion. You felt betrayed and angry.”

  “I lost control.”

  Rein pulled his fingers through his hair. “Do you think I’m a monster?”

  A scoffing laugh burst from her mouth.

  “Yet, if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve beat a hole through Tim and Sarah’s wall using Dyllon’s head as a battering ram.”

  Lips pursing together thoughtfully, Ellyssa sat up. The sadness started to melt away. “True.”

  “You are who you are, Ellyssa. Nothing more, and nothing less.” He cupped her face in the palm of his hand and stared into her eyes. “I love who you are, exactly the way you are, and everything that has made you the amazing person that you are.”

  Leaning against his touch, Ellyssa uttered, “Thank you.”

  Rein dipped his head and put his lips against hers, softly. He lingered there for a moment, inhaling her scent, memorizing the feel of her mouth, before he pulled away. “Now, what about the dream?”

  The lifting sorrow sank right back onto her face. A light shudder trembled through her body. “I had a dream about my father. About all my old family. They were alive.” She stopped for a moment, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “Well, my father, Aalexis and Xaver were alive. Ahron and Micah were in the background, floating like spirits.” Her lids slid closed. “He told me that I was a killer and that I couldn’t deny who I was.”

  Rein traced his thumb along the curve of her cheekbone. “It was just a dream.”

  “It just seemed so real,” she breathed. Ellyssa opened her eyes and moisture shimmered. Rein leaned over and kissed her.

  “But it wasn’t. He can’t touch you, can’t hurt you. He has no hold over you. He never did. You’re free. And you’re with me,” Rein said, followed by a kiss. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

  Reaching up, she folded her fingers around his hand. A small smile surfaced. “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  Ellyssa leaned over and placed her mouth against his. Her kiss was warm and sweet…and electrifying. As he parted his lips to slide his tongue to hers, tingles swept through him, and warmth hummed in his veins. What she could do to him with a mere look, touch, kiss still amazed him—the expansion in his heart, the stirring within his lower midsection. He wrapped his hand around the back of Ellyssa’s neck, locking her in place.

  “Can I try something?” she asked against his lips.

  “Anything,” Rein whispered, hoping whatever it was would be quick.

  Hesitantly, Ellyssa placed her hand against his face. “Tell me what you feel.”
>
  Rein gazed at her for a moment, wondering what she was trying to do.

  “Please.”

  Nodding, he closed his eyes. At first, he felt nothing but the excitement of her touch. Then gradually, his heart slowed, and he felt…calm. “I feel relaxed,” he said. “I feel very relaxed.”

  “What about now?”

  Tension flowed from Ellyssa’s palm. He felt it. Not just from knowing her, like the uncomfortable tension when things got weird, but really felt it in his heart, his muscles, his bones. He felt frustrated and wanted to throw things and punch something. “I feel angry,” Rein said, his teeth clenched together. His eyes snapped open to her surprised face.

  “It works,” she muttered. “And what about now?”

  The anger released from Rein’s jaw, and once again, he felt calm. Ellyssa dropped her hand. At the release of her gift, Rein felt normal. Not calm, not angry, just normal.

  “Wow,” he said, astonishment coloring his tone. “What did you do?”

  “At first, I thought about relaxing things, like being safe in your arms. Then I thought about my father and Aalexis and the things they did to you.”

  Rein flinched at the reminder. Even now, he remembered the pain that had flowed through his mind with nothing more than Ellyssa’s sister wanting it to be so.

  “I’m sorry. But it was the only thing that I could think about that really evoked anger in me.”

  “I understand. Besides, that’s all over with now.” He smiled at her. “We were right about your ability to influence our emotions.”

  “Yes, it seems that you were.”

  His lips upturned into an sly grin. “I can think of other things I’d rather feel.”

  “Such as?” Ellyssa blinked innocently.

  Rein wasn’t sure if she was flirting, Trista’s influence or not. Ellyssa was innocent in so many ways.

  “Shall I demonstrate?”

  Before Ellyssa had a chance to answer, Rein brushed his arm under her knees and flipped her onto her back. She squealed. Settling over her, he propped up on one elbow and slid a finger down the side of her face to her parted lips. She was so beautiful, flawless skin blushing with want, azure eyes shimmering with love.

  He brushed his lips against hers once, twice, then deepened the kiss. Afterward, Rein broke away from Ellyssa’s inviting lips and worked his way down her jaw. She lifted her chin, giving access to the hollow of her neck, her breaths coming in short pants.