“Hey,” I said lamely. I still wasn’t comfortable with astral conversations.
Elisha smiled warmly, which put me more at ease. “I just wanted you to see the rendezvous point. When I get out with the boys we’ll meet here. See the odd tree there?” She pointed to one of the maples next to me and it had a large crack in the bark making it stand out from the rest.
“Yeah,” I said and tried to memorize where I was standing.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to me. “Where am I going to take you?” I was so focused on planning out the escape that I’d completely forgot about what I was going to do with them once they were in my custody. It’s not like I could stash them at Nancy’s. Maybe Bill’s? Turner would never think to look there and Bill’s parents had a lot of social clout.
“Don’t worry about that,” Elisha said with authority. “Someone you know will meet us here and take us to safety. I just need you to get me out of the building.” It still creeped me out, the contrast between how old she sounded with how young she looked.
Wait a minute.
“Someone I know?” I asked.
“Oh my,” a woman’s voice sounded from behind me and my heart sung.
“Doris?” I whirled around to see Doris Hornbacher standing in front of me looking frazzled as usual. Her face was round with freckles dotting her button nose and her dark hair lay in sleepy tangles on her shoulders. She was in her pajamas and quite frankly had a confused kind of expression on her face. Somehow I doubted she knew what was going on and assumed she was having a very odd dream. I didn’t care either way, she was a friendly face in an awkward situation, so I immediately gave her a welcoming hug.
“Chelsan, dear, it’s been way too long. I haven’t seen you since that horrible night with Brady. Is this real?” Doris spoke almost too fast to understand.
“Yes, it’s real. She brought you here.” I nodded toward Elisha, who was standing next to the marked tree silently watching us with her violet eyes. I felt so bad being so freaked out by a little girl, but I couldn’t help it. She was just weird in that Make me uncomfortable kind of way. And she wasn’t a little girl, I had to keep reminding myself.
“Oh my,” Doris repeated herself and looked over at Elisha with motherly worry. She turned back to me, “Roland is just beside himself with worry.”
I flinched instinctively. “Roland Light?”
“Now don’t look at me like that. Roland is just doing what he thinks is right.”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing this from Doris. I thought when she found out he kidnapped thousands of pregnant women she’d be done with him for sure. But I guess she wouldn’t be here in my head if that were true. I just couldn’t accept it. I needed to know why.
“Doris, those children will grow up without ever meeting their parents. You have to know that’s wrong.” I tried not to sound condescending.
Doris’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears. “Now, you just don’t know a thing about it, do you?” She turned away with a sniff.
I couldn’t figure out why she’d be so emotional about it, so I pushed a little further. “I’m just calling it like I see it. Doris, Roland isn’t right in the head. Empty or not he blew up that building.”
Doris whirled back to face me. I was shocked to see the anger raging in her eyes. “I blew it up!”
I turned to Elisha, angry now myself. “This isn’t Doris.” Not the Doris I knew anyway. “Why are you showing me this?”
Elisha stared at me with her penetrating purple eyes. “I promise you: this is Doris Hornbacher.”
I felt the fake Doris put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m afraid so, dear.”
I turned back to Doris, not wanting to believe it was true. “No. You wouldn’t do something like that.” But I could tell from the tears in her eyes that not only was she the real Doris, but that she had truly blown up the Baby Center.
“Why?” I could barely croak out.
Doris took her hand away. “Chelsan, this isn’t easy to explain.”
“Well, try,” I said a little more abrasively than I intended.
“I was a surrogate, Chelsan.” Doris’s eyes filled with tears again.
Oh man.
I had never met a surrogate before.
“Okay,” I said not sure of what to say.
Doris reached over and took my hands in hers. “You have no idea what it’s like to give birth to six babies and have them taken away from you. I know, I volunteered, and yes, I know it was out of vanity so I could take Age-pro at twenty-three but, Chelsan, it doesn’t make a lick of difference. I still had six children, they may not have been technically mine, but I carried them for nine months! I gave birth to them! They felt like mine. They were mine,” she trailed off, holding back emotion. She regained her composure and squeezed my hands tighter. “Having so many children… There were complications in my last pregnancy. The baby came early and I barely survived… I can no longer have children.”
Doris looked me in the eye with an intensity that made me physically shiver. “Do you know what it’s like to have six children and never see them again? They’re it. They’re all I’m ever going to have and I can never see them! Chelsan, it’s just torture. I didn’t even take Age-pro after I left the Baby Center. I didn’t care about anything except my four girls and two boys that I’d never see. And I’m not the only one. Over half of the girls can never have children after their term of service. We’re not meant to have that many children that fast. A third of the girls commit suicide because they can’t handle the separation. Chelsan, Baby Centers are evil. I made sure it was empty, but you’re damn right I blew up that Baby Center. It was the place that nearly destroyed me. And I promise you, I intend to destroy every last one of them.” Doris finished with her eyes aflame with renewed anger.
I never thought about Baby Centers like that before. I never thought about them period. It was just normal. Nancy and Ryan were born at that Center. It made me wonder. What if Doris was one of their surrogates? What if she was the one who carried either of the two people I love the most to term? It made my head spin. Being poor, Baby Centers weren’t even an option. I was born the old-fashioned way. But if I had been born in a Baby Center would I ever wonder who my surrogate was? Did Nancy? Did Ryan?
Doris let go of my hands and waited for my response.
“I’m still not sure about blowing up buildings. You could have killed someone walking by, did you ever think about that?” I wasn’t going to let Doris off the hook for basically being a terrorist.
“I made sure the area was clear. The whole area. You know I’d never kill anyone.” She thought a moment. “Except for Brady that is, but I think we can both agree he deserved the clocking I gave him.”
I gave her a small reassuring smile. “Yes, Brady definitely needed the golf club to the head, but you didn’t kill him.”
“I know. I’m still working on sending him to prison for life without Age-pro,” Doris replied.
“Oh no, Doris; he’s dead. You just didn’t kill him,” I said.
Doris’s face scrunched in confusion.
And it suddenly occurred to me.
Doris had no idea about my power.
“Doris, I’m the one who is going to break Elisha and the boys out. Now it’s your turn to listen.”
Then I told her I could control the dead and how I escaped Brady’s clutches. I couldn’t tell her Geoffrey Turner was my grandfather, though. My gut was screaming at me not to, so I listened. It’s not that I didn’t trust Doris, it was just that the less she knew the better. But I did tell her that Turner could control the dead like me. That he, in fact, controlled Brady, and that he had him killed already.
“Well, my, my…” Doris looked flustered. “You used his victims to escape?” she repeated as if trying to understand what I told her.
“Yeah.”
Doris hugged me spontaneously. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
“She’s coming,” Elisha spoke.
“Who’s coming?” I asked.
Elisha was trying to hide her fear. “Roberta.”
Grandma. Of course. Who else had the super power of slamming into other people’s brains?!
Elisha said quickly, “I’m sending the both of you back. It’s going to hurt, but she can’t know who I’m talking to. This is the place. We’ll rendezvous here. We good?” Elisha waited until the both of us nodded. “See you in a few hours.”
I awoke and grabbed my throat. I felt like I had swallowed a bucket of ice cubes. I couldn’t breathe at first, all the air sucked out of my lungs. Elisha wasn’t kidding, that freakin’ hurt!
Ryan’s arms were immediately wrapped around me to try and calm me down. “Chelsan! What’s wrong?!” his voice was wracked with concern. I so loved that! I also loved the fact that George and Vianne had no arguments about Ryan staying in my bed. Apparently, breaking out I.Q. kids afforded special privileges.
I took a few moments to steady myself. Eventually I started to feel normal again. “I’m okay,” I said finally and was surprised to hear the gravel in my voice. It sounded as if I had been screaming for hours. “Was I screaming?” I asked out of curiosity.
“No, you just woke up gasping. What happened? Was it that Elisha girl?” Ryan moved the hair out of my eyes with his hand in an agonizingly gentle way. I wish he wouldn’t do that! Wait a minute. Scratch that. More please.
I told him everything.
He leaned in and kissed me. “Are you sure you still want to go through with this?”
“Ryan, Elisha will be executed if I don’t. Do you really want to live with that on your conscience when you know we can save her?”
“You know I want to save all of them. It could have been me in there. I just care about you more than I care about saving Elisha. I’m sorry, but it’s true,” Ryan said, kissing me again.
I lay down on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me.
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “I wouldn’t have been able to survive the last two months of my life without you.” And that was the truth. Ryan stuck by me when most boys would have run screaming. He had been willing to be Turner and Roberta’s slave pet just so I wouldn’t have to see my mother in zombie form. I’d never forget that. Not ever. He was definitely a keeper. I just worried about putting him in danger. And the more I thought about it… “I’m going alone.”
Ryan shifted himself so we could make eye contact. “No. Nancy and Bill can stay home or at school or whatever, but not me. I’m not letting you out of my sight again. I mean it.”
And the thing is, I knew he meant it, and I knew he wanted to come, but that stubborn part of me didn’t want to let him. I was always walking around with this constant rock of guilt smashing me to the ground. And a part of that guilt was continuously putting my loved ones in danger. I had such a knack for it I could literally make it a career.
“Ryan,” I said and couldn’t find the words to let him down.
“You can say whatever you want. I’m coming. If you try and give me the slip I’ll follow you, so don’t even think about finishing that sentence.” Ryan had serious face and I knew I couldn’t argue. Then he nailed me in the coffin of acceptance. “You know this is personal for me.”
“All right, but just you, and I’m going to need your help convincing Bill and Nancy to stay at school. They’re not going to take it very well.” I snuggled back into Ryan’s firm chest and I suddenly realized how exhausted I was. “What time is it anyway?”
“It’s 2:00AM. You should get some rest.” Ryan kissed my forehead and we both sank into the comfiness of the bed.
I couldn’t wait to for this whole Elisha debacle to be over and done with so I could get a solid eight hours of sleep. This whole astral projection thing was tiring and I was glad I wouldn’t have to put up with it for much longer. I closed my eyes, exhausted. The last thing I remember was Ryan’s arms pulling me in tight against him.
WHACK!
I felt the poof of a pillow hitting my face.
“Get up, sleepy, we only have an hour before Turner’s headquarters opens to the public, so we have to move.” Nancy’s voice cut through my dazed state of sleepiness.
“Nancy, you and Bill aren’t coming,” I said groggily.
“WHAT?! Nuh, uh! You have no say in the matter. Now get up. We’re all going. Bill’s downstairs.” And with a very audible huff, Nancy was out of the room.
“That went well.” Ryan scratched his head as he rolled out of bed. In just a t-shirt and boxers that boy was gorgeous.
“The pillow threw me off.” I got out of bed and quickly dressed. Ryan did the same until we were both ready to go.
Ryan opened the door for me. “Shall we?”
I nodded. “Get ready for a blow out.”
Ryan smiled at me and we both headed downstairs.
It wasn’t a complete blow out, but it was pretty close. After a good twenty minutes of grade school arguing Nancy and Bill were finally convinced to go to school. It was actually Jason who made them see the light. He said he’d monitor the news channels while Nancy and Bill would play the decoys. It would be pretty suspicious if all four of us didn’t show up to school, but if just Ryan and I ditched, no one would even flinch. It was pretty common for couples to skip school together for… well… for obvious reasons. Bill stopped arguing somewhere in the middle of Jason’s reasoning and was in serious pout mode, not to mention the daggers he was throwing with his eyes at Ryan. It really did seem like he was jealous and it made me feel like crap. Nancy picked up on it and tried to veer the conversation in a different way by suggesting that Bill keep an eye on Jill to make sure she didn’t poke her nose where it didn’t belong. Jill was definitely suspicious and today was not the day we needed her calling any attention to our absence. Bill seemed to perk up at that. I hoped that his anger and frustration was just about not feeling useful and not about me. Fingers crossed.
“It’s time,” Jason said with a finality like death itself.
George and Vianne saw us to the door. Nancy and Bill reluctantly left in Bill’s hover to school. Jason took off to the news station and was going to do his best to steer the news clear from Turner’s headquarters. Ryan and I said goodbye to George and Vianne, then made our way to the Hover-Shuttle waiting area. We figured if we took the shuttle there would be no way Turner could catch us on satellite. This way we could hand over Elisha and the twins to Doris and take the shuttle back. No one would ever be the wiser. At least I hoped so.
There was no one else waiting for the shuttle when we arrived so we sat on the bench and waited.
“I never thought I’d be taking a Hover-Shuttle to break someone out of a high security prison,” Ryan said with a slight laugh.
“I never thought I’d be breaking someone out of a high security prison period.” I marveled at the strangeness my life had become.
“True, but a part of me always hoped I would help the I.Q. Farm kids escape.” Ryan leaned forward and rubbed his hands over his face. “Listen to me. Kids. Most of them are over a hundred. It’s just weird, you know? It’s hard not to think that it could have been me.”
I knew he was holding in some emotion to stay strong. I took his hand and kissed the back of it. “Maybe helping Elisha will finally bring an end to I.Q. Farms,” I said trying to make him feel better.
“Yeah,” Ryan responded, though his voice was distant. I didn’t want to interrupt his thoughts so I just held his hand so he’d know I was there for him.
The whirling of fans greeted us as the Hover-Shuttle landed at the waiting area. Being at an upper middle class station this shuttle was about a million times nicer than the one I used to take to school from the trailer park. It was essentially a large shiny silver box with rounded windows framed in black trim. The small set of metal stairs lowered in front of us and we walked up and entered inside. Ryan had placed a fake thumbprint on his thumb so we could pay
with a false identity. It was one of his little inventions that he perfected since the last time we used them. The first time was when we broke into Turner’s headquarters and unfortunately Turner had seen right through them. But, Ryan said he had figured out the problem and this was the perfect time to try it out.
Ryan placed his thumb on the credit machine: it flashed green indicating that the Hover-Shuttle was happy to welcome “Fred Tilly and friend.” Ryan gave me a quick smile and I smiled back. Inside, there were two rows of two seaters lining each wall. They were plush red vinyl and were ridiculously comfortable as we plopped down on the nearest seats. The shuttle was empty except for the driver, which made me a little nervous. I hoped we’d pick up more passengers as we went. It would be much easier to remember two kids all alone than a shuttle full of people.
As we drove closer to our destination, more passengers filled up the shuttle and I started to relax a little. Ryan was quiet. I guess I was, too. There really wasn’t much to say. We were both just trying to get through it. I was so grateful Ryan had convinced me to let him come. Doing this alone would have been torture. Besides, Jason had the winning argument in favor of Ryan coming: Ryan knew the blueprints. I was going to need that information if this plan was going to work.
“Next stop, National Red Forest,” the driver announced in a monotone voice.
I squeezed Ryan’s hand.
The hover landed at the entrance to the maple forest surrounding Turner’s headquarters. It was surreal exiting the shuttle and seeing the forest again, this time fully awake. I somehow knew exactly how to get to the marked tree as if Elisha had planted the directions in my head. I suddenly shuddered as I realized she probably did.
The Riser Saga Page 39
