by Elodie Colt
When the hole was deep enough, I walked back to pick up Ricky’s body, lowered it, and gave it one last goodbye before refilling it with earth. Looking down at the makeshift grave, I wondered for the millionth time why God hated me so much as to take not one but two brothers from me.
I fell to my knees in defeat and screamed into the night, filling it with all my sorrow and grief until my voice couldn’t carry the weight anymore.
Three days had gone by since Ricky’s death. I hadn’t talked to any of the others, not one word. I avoided any social interaction, training only outside the compound, running around the cemetery until my lungs burst and uprooting probably a quarter of the forest in my endless rage. When I passed one of the others, they didn’t talk to me either but lowered their heads and kept their distance.
I sensed their fear—fear I’d lose control, get lost in my rage, go on a killing spree. Fear I’d transform into what I once was—a killer, a prisoner, a goner.
I was on the edge. It would be so damn easy to let go and to give into that need to set my rage free, but I held back for Ricky. He wouldn’t have wanted me to become that man again. Ricky suffered the consequences of it last time.
Training the last few days had helped me clear my mind. I’d let go of my aggressions in every way possible. Now, it was time to get answers.
Storming into the control room, I announced my entrance with heavy footsteps and caused shocked faces to shoot in my direction. Chris, Sarah, Phil, Josh, and Cassie were currently discussing some strategy in front of a flip chart. They all stared at me open-mouthed waiting for my reaction.
“Where’s Jimmy?” I growled. Keeping my voice low made it easier to hold my emotions at bay.
They exchanged uncertain glances before Sarah answered. “He’ll return soon. He’s currently—”
I cut her off. I wasn’t interested in what he was doing at the moment. “I’ll wait.”
I took a seat in an office chair in front of the monitors and stared absently at the ones showing the main area filled with students. The others kept silent unsure what to do in my presence. Discussing strategy without me had never happened before. Jimmy must have told them to continue work without me to give me the time I needed, which I was grateful for. I wanted to get a few things straight before troubling my thoughts with other things.
When Jimmy returned, he stopped short in his tracks as he spotted me. He didn’t say anything, though, just waited for me to make the first move.
I stood up and closed the distance between us stopping a foot in front of him. Jimmy’s dark-skinned cheek had turned blue and green, his lips split. He wouldn’t let Sarah heal him for which he earned my respect.
“I want to know what happened,” I demanded, and Jimmy nodded before closing the door behind him.
“Okay, maybe you should sit down,” he suggested with a wipe through his scruff of black hair.
“I’d rather stand,” I snapped back, figuring I needed space in case my control, which hung on a thin thread right now, snapped.
“Okay, maybe we should just go…” Chris mumbled uncertainly, but I put up a hand to stop him.
“No. I want to hear everything. From every one of you. Start from the beginning.” They glanced at each other again, and then at Jimmy who nodded in agreement.
“All right…” Jimmy started and perched on his desk crossing his arms and ankles. The others took their seats.
I watched my crew intently. Chris stared a hole into the ground, face troubled. Sarah was nervously clenching and unclenching her fists. Cassie was biting nonchalantly on her fingernails, but I wasn’t fooled, I sensed her distress. She didn’t take it lightly that I made her responsible. Josh looked as if he’d rather be somewhere else, and Phil was silent for the first time since I met him, staring at nothing in particular.
They were right to fear me. I was a ticking time bomb.
“We’d been guarding the area a few hours without any disturbances,” Jimmy started. “At about four a.m., Ricky heard movement coming from a park nearby. The Hunters were attacking a girl.”
“Why didn’t Ricky hear them before? He can… could hear a mouse from a mile away,” I corrected myself, the words burning like acid on my tongue.
“They came from underground.”
Damn them. There were too many noises down in the tunnels—water, rats, steaming pipes. Ricky couldn’t have heard them, not if they’d kept quiet. Seemed like they’d prepared for meeting resistance. They knew we wouldn’t go out there without a Catcher present.
“We made our move as soon as Ricky told us where to go. We distracted them before all of them could come for the girl at once.”
I gritted my teeth. That damn girl again. “Who is she? Is she one of us?”
“Yes,” Jimmy replied hesitantly, as if there was more to it he wasn’t telling me. He exhaled slowly after a quick glance at the ceiling. “Yes, she’s one of us and currently in safe hands.”
I didn’t give a fuck about the girl being safe or not. “How many were there?”
“We think about eight,” Chris interjected. “After Phil came running to me with a knocked-out Josh in his arms, three Hunters were attacking us. I took them with help from Phil, but other than that, I also had to protect Paul. And two of the Hunters turned out to be Fighters, too, so I was busy until Jimmy and the others finally came to help.”
“Yeah, and we had to face four. At least that was what we thought…” Sarah trailed off, and Jimmy concluded for her.
“They split up. They knew about our guarding posts and sent three of them to distract Chris. The other four tried to get to the girl, and the last one was invisible to us until Cassie found him.”
I frowned. Why would the Hunters send four of their own to get to one girl? I was close to voicing the question, but something else piqued my interest. “The last one? You mean the one with the bolts?” They all nodded.
“It was a weapon,” Jimmy confessed, confirming my suspicions.
“Do we know who he is?”
It was Cassie who answered. “Dorian.”
The revelation didn’t surprise me. That man knew no boundaries when it came to getting what he wanted.
“Is he their leader now?”
“We can’t be sure. We still don’t know what his ability is. Maybe there’s someone in the background who’s pulling the strings,” Jimmy mused.
“The girl helped me,” Sarah threw in, and all eyes landed on her in question. Apparently, this was news to everyone. Sarah continued to play with her fingers as she explained. “She got to me just in time as a Hunter pushed me to the ground. She tackled him and got caught up in a fight herself.”
“What happened then?” I wanted to know.
“She fought him. Clumsily, yes, but she managed to stab a knife through his hand. I killed him with it, and that was when I saw that… she was one of us.” I didn’t miss a strange emotion crossing her features. Fear? Uncertainty?
“Any idea what her ability is?”
“No. Not yet.” She cleared her throat. Her uneasiness was practically visible. I nearly felt bad for her. I’d scared her more than I’d intended to. “But I think I saw something strange. One of the Hunters flew through the air, and I mean he flew really far. He hit a tree and was knocked out instantly.”
“Was it the girl doing that?”
“I don’t know. It seemed like it, but I can’t be sure,” Sarah conceded. “It was none of us, and I doubt it was one of the Hunters. Otherwise, they should look for a better sniper who hits the right target and not one of their own.”
“A Fighter?” I suggested, although I hoped I was wrong. I wasn’t fond of female Fighters. They tended to be unpredictable and rather testosterone-driven—a bad combination.
“It wouldn’t fit. She can’t be a Fighter,” Jimmy corrected in a clipped tone, leaving me baffled.
“What makes you so sure? And why didn’t we get a signal from the cameras? If she’s not registered in our system, the cameras
would have captured her by now.”
Everyone stayed silent until Cassie shot up, pushing her chair back in her fury. “Jesus, don’t you want to drag it out a little longer?” she bellowed before addressing me. “She’s a Natural,” she dropped the bomb blatantly.
Now it was silent. I was sure everyone could hear my heart beating frantically in my chest. I must have misunderstood, right?
“Wow, thanks, Cassie, smooth as always. Do you wanna get us all killed?” Chris hissed at her, but Cassie just shrugged and sat down again. That was an extremely sensitive subject for me. Everyone knew that. Cassie didn’t give a shit about it, of course.
“You’re… you’re sure?” My voice faltered as I stared at Jimmy who gave a short nod of confirmation. The air left my lungs all at once. “So, Dorian found one. I can’t believe it.” My hands fisted in my hair as I prowled restlessly. Shit. That changed things completely.
After they had given me a few minutes to process the news, Cassie seemed to get impatient. “That’s ridiculous,” she blurted, rolling her eyes. Sarah whipped her head around to stare daggers at her. Cassie seemed surprised by her reaction. “What? Don’t look at me like that. I can’t understand why all of you are so wrought up about it. I mean, Naturals are dangerous! And the girl already proved that. It was her fault Ricky died after all!”
“What?” I boomed, feeling my carefully caged-in fury break through like a wrecking ball.
“Fuck, Cassie, what’s wrong with you?” Chris was furious.
“Shit, you can be such a bitch!” Sarah scolded her.
“Cassie, that’s enough!” Jimmy commanded, and everyone fell silent. Jimmy never raised his voice, and when he did, the power and authority he emanated were practically touchable in the air. Cassie shrunk back like a reprimanded dog.
“What the fuck do you mean ‘it was her fault?’” I demanded to know. If that were the case, I’d be out that door the next second, chasing her down and killing her with my own hands—Natural or not. I’d gladly risk going back to jail again.
“It was not her fault,” Jimmy protested.
“Then please explain,” I practically growled at him. Jimmy nodded to Sarah who took the cue to go on with the story.
“I tried to keep her safe as no one else was available. Jimmy, Ricky, and Cassie were busy being shot at by the enemy, but Dorian was still behind us hiding in the shadows. I wanted to get her to Jimmy, but we didn’t have a clear shot. She suggested sending one of us back to get Dorian. It was a good plan, so I whispered to Ricky to send Cassie, but the plan didn’t work out.”
“At first, I couldn’t find the bastard.” Cassie continued with her view of the story only in a much sharper and less depressed tone. “When I finally did, I managed to distract him enough to get his weapon out of line, but the asshole was damn strong and still managed to shoot,” Cassie explained. “Anyway, I was still fighting him when the others returned, after Ricky… you know. We fought him together, but he fled when he realized there was no one left to help him. And Jimmy was too drained from the fight to follow him.”
Jimmy continued with the story. “Sarah hid the girl behind a bush and came over to help us. Another bolt was shot, and it would have hit Ricky if it hadn’t been for the girl saving him.”
“What?” I was completely befuddled. First, Cassie blamed the girl for killing Ricky, and now Jimmy was convinced she’d saved him?
“She saw the bolt coming and knew it would strike Ricky. She ran off and tackled him.”
“You’re sure it happened that way?” I asked skeptically. Why should the girl risk her life for someone she didn’t even know?
“I saw it with my own eyes,” Jimmy confirmed. “However, their luck was short lived. Another bolt came seconds later. It would have struck her, but Ricky pushed her out of the way, knowing it would hit him instead.”
No fucking way. “Ricky? You’re telling me that Ricky, my brother, risked his life for hers?” I huffed a dry laugh, but Jimmy nodded. “You can’t be serious. This is Ricky we’re talking about. Ricky, who was still more teenager than adult…”
“He knew what she was. He knew what it meant to lose another one.” I shook my head, unconvinced. “And maybe he also did it for you. Maybe he didn’t want for you to lose another one.”
Shit. Had Ricky done this on purpose? To save a Natural for me? I refused to believe it. “He was a Catcher. He would have been able to hear the bolt coming his way,” I argued.
“With the thunderstorm rumbling above?” Chris threw in. “Not very likely.”
He was right, but I didn’t acknowledge it. “And that’s the end of the story?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so if I get this correctly, Ricky wouldn’t have survived if the girl hadn’t interfered, but he would also die for sure after the girl interfered?” Jimmy nodded in defeat. Jesus, fate was such a bitch.
“See, it wasn’t her fault,” Sarah pointed out, and I whipped my head around to face her.
“Oh, I don’t know if I can look at it that way. If she hadn’t been there in the first place, Ricky would still be alive!” I snapped, and Sarah gasped in surprise. I immediately regretted yelling at her. Sarah was the only one who never got to feel my temper because she was dear to me.
“You can’t be serious, man,” Chris protested in utter disbelief, pushing out of his chair.
“It wasn’t her fault, Dylan,” Jimmy repeated. “We all prepared a plan for that night. We knew there was a possibility they were after something or someone. And we knew, if that were the case, then we would have to protect whoever was under attack. Ricky knew that, too, and did what he thought was right.”
“Dylan, we are all devastated by what happened to Ricky. He was a friend to all of us, and we miss him so much, but he saved a Natural. We’ve been waiting for this chance for so long,” Chris tried to reason with me with pleading eyes.
“She’s the reason Ricky died,” I retorted stubbornly.
“We could have all kicked the bucket out there, Dylan.”
I knew that. I also knew that I was looking for a reason to hate her. And God, did I hate her for taking the only person I loved, for representing the other two I failed to protect. Still, Naturals were dangerous. If they lost control, they could destroy everything within the blink of an eye—I’d already witnessed it once. That was the only flaw in nature’s great creation. The power was too much for one person to hold alone.
So, what was I about to do? Jimmy would bring her to the compound to keep her safe and train her, that was for sure. The reason Ricky was buried six feet under would be living practically next to me for the next few months, maybe even years. Chances were high I’d kill her myself. Ha, what an irony. For years, it had been my only purpose to save them, and now one of them could die at my own hands.
“What happened after that? Did she… did she run away?” My voice faltered at imagining her making a run for it after letting Ricky’s body get cold on the ground. It must have been the case. Otherwise, Jimmy would have already brought her here. He wouldn’t leave her unprotected.
“She didn’t leave Ricky’s side. She called Sarah for help. He was still alive by then, but it was already too late to heal him. I told her to run, but she refused. I would have escorted her myself, but we still had to fight Dorian and help Chris. In the end, she accepted that any help for Ricky came too late and escaped.” Good. At least she knew she was responsible for the mess she’d made.
“She has a special talent for moving,” Jimmy added as an afterthought and was met with perplexed faces. “She didn’t take the streets home, she took the buildings. She climbed one in a few seconds. I never saw anyone move like that.”
“Maybe that’s her ability?” Chris asked, but Jimmy shook his head.
“No, she just seems to be very agile. Her power will certainly lie somewhere else. The funny thing is, I think I saw her only hours before.”
“When?” Sarah asked curiously.
“On our way there.
I saw a girl jumping over rooftops, but I couldn’t see her face behind her hood. She stumbled over an edge and nearly fell. I was about to catch her, but she pulled herself up at last. She hurt her knee in the process. If she’s hiding her face with a hood all the time, it would also explain why the cameras were never able to make a full scan of her eyes.”
A gasp escaped Sarah. “Yes, that must have been her! She told me she couldn’t run because she hurt her knee, so I healed her before we joined you.”
“You healed her?” Cassie shrieked in disbelief.
“What was I supposed to do?” Sarah retorted.
“I don’t know, but you can’t just heal someone who doesn’t know about us! She could have collapsed or worse, run berserk,” Cassie argued.
“She is one of us, and she will learn that sooner or later. She saw Jimmy running, and she saw me talking to Ricky from a distance. It didn’t make a difference anymore.”
“How did she react?” Jimmy cut Cassie off before she could open her mouth a second time.
The process of recruiting Roes was a difficult one. How would you react if someone told you you were different than the rest of the population, that evolution gifted you with powers you didn’t even know existed? It was like finding out you have a rare illness no one can heal. Usually, they went crazy, and it was a long procedure to calm them down. There once was a boy who lost control, so Jimmy and I had to chain him to a bed. Three days later, he was too exhausted to fight anymore, but he needed two more months to accept what he was. That boy was Josh who was now part of Cassie’s Intermediates.
“Better than I expected. She hyperventilated for a second, but I could calm her down. After that, she stayed completely focused,” Sarah answered Jimmy’s question.
“Hang on,” I interrupted their conversation, a memory invading my mind. “You said she had a wounded knee?” I asked Sarah to be sure.
“Yes, why?” Sarah frowned, not knowing where I was going with this.
“I think I saw her on the monitors. I saw a girl wearing a hoodie limping and entering Joey’s. There were bloodstains on her jeans. Later, she left the bar with Lauren, the bartender. She had a key to the door, so I figured she was a bartender, too. And Lauren said her name was…”
