His use of the word Norms grates on me, but I let it slide. The E.N.C is known for using the word as a derogatory slur against the Non- EVO, and I can’t forget that seven of the people on this yacht are ex- E.N.C. I don’t know Cooper or Fabian, but I know that just like everyone else, they risked a lot to stand up to Gabe and Isaac.
Fabian’s reasoning makes sense, and even Jude nods in agreement. What doesn’t sit well with me is that Golding and Haydn will be classed as E.N.C members. I can picture their bodies being carried out of the complex in body bags, loaded into the back of a van, and driven to some lab to be tested on like rats.
“Do you know any more about what is going on back home?” Adam asks Jude.
Jude swipes the loose strands of hair out of his face. “Apparently, the riots won’t last much longer. There’s a shoot on sight order for any EVO or Norm involved in the riots. This isn’t a war that will be won overnight. However, the government have announced a register and tracking objective. They’re testing everyone in Britain for what they’re calling the EVO gene, and then chipping them. Italy and the rest of Europe are following suit.”
“They can’t do that. We’re not cattle,” says October, her eyes wide and angry.
She has scraped her purple hair into a bun on the top of her head, and the vine tattoo in the shaved half of her scalp stands out against her pale skin. She hasn’t cried for her Dad since he died at the complex. I heard Jude telling her yesterday that her Dad would tell her to pull herself together. Yes, it could be construed as harsh on Jude’s part, but I met October’s dad and I’d say Jude has it spot on. October is by far weak, but she is more sensitive than she lets on. I admire how well she is handling everything.
Jude shrugs. “They can do what they like. They are holding all the cards. My contact said that some EVO have gone into hiding. There are rumours that the more powerful EVO are going for chipping and are not returning. The government must see them as a threat or—”
“Useful,” I interrupt.
Yana’s head jerks in my direction. Our eyes meet and a mutual memory flits between us.
Adam subconsciously puts his arms around me from behind- a protective gesture. “Towley told the girls that they had to prove themselves useful. I’m guessing Team ORO was just one of many top secret EVO projects that he had on the go.”
The memory of Towley’s face rippling through the orb of water that encased my head during the forced fight with Yana, and the burning pain in my lungs as I fought for air, flashes through my mind. Adam’s body tenses at the same moment. I’ve done it again; I’ve shared a thought telepathically. My lack of control terrifies me. Gripping his arms, I pull them tighter around my chest.
“It’s okay,” he says into my hair. “Memories can’t hurt you.’
“Something more is going on,” adds Jude. “Apparently, they are particularly interested in the under thirteens.”
“Anyone who develops their ability before their mid-teens tend to be high grade EVO. You two were under thirteen I bet,” says Maggie, nonchalantly waving a hand toward Jude and I.
She still can’t make eye contact with Jude, and I can feel the tension anytime he tries to talk to her. She looks to have aged decades in the last few days. She hasn’t used her chromokinesis to change her hair or eye colour and has stuck with a limp blonde since Isaac’s betrayal. It’s not just her hair; everything about her seems dull and lifeless. A little piece of her died when she lost Boyd, but Isaac’s double bluff has snubbed out the small ember she had left.
Jude doesn’t seem as fazed. “I was twelve,” he says, with a smug smile. He looks to me, inviting me to speak.
My throat goes tight as all eyes fall on me. “I started noticing the telekinesis at twelve, but had my first proper episode- as Mum and Dad called them- at thirteen,” I say. Jude winks at me. I should leave it at that, but it is better that they know. “But I was five when I first showed signs of telepathy.”
A hush falls over the room.
Jude bites his lip in confusion. “Five? Are you sure, Princess?”
I know his cynicism, I experienced it myself when Isaac first told me of our meeting when I was five. “Isaac suspected I was Dual- EVO all along. He told me I read his mind when he found us the day before my fifth birthday. Luckily, he still believed I was his daughter back then and he left me with Rob to keep me safe.”
A sudden memory springs to mind; the grainy memory of a bearded man on the doorstep- Isaac. It’s as if I have repressed the minute details until now.
Isaac crouches in front of me whilst my Mum screams at him to leave. She grabs my collar, tugging me behind her and away from Isaac.
“She’s mine too,” Isaac spits. He takes my elbow, pulling me back toward him.
“Mummy?” I cry, fighting to free myself from him.
“No, Isaac, she is Rob’s.”
Isaac scoffs. “How can you know that she is for sure?”
“How can you know she isn’t?” Shana snaps back.
I wail as they argue. “I want my Daddy.”
“I am your Daddy, Theyda,” Isaac says, his anger at Shana still lacing his voice.
“No, he isn’t, Sweetheart,” Shana soothes, and then turns back to Isaac. “You’re scaring her. Leave— now!”
Isaac crouches down to me and removes his sunglasses. “I’m your Daddy, Theyda. Look, I’ve even remembered it’s your birthday tomorrow.” He pulls a green, leather case out of his pocket, the same green case he gave to me on my nineteenth birthday just three days ago.
Shana swats it out of his hand. “Theyda, go inside right now.”
I turn to run, but Isaac grabs the tops of my arms, pulling me to face him. His grip on my flesh is firm to the point of being painful. “Theyda, look at me,” he says, shaking me.
I do- I look right into his hollow eyes. I can hear him telling me that he is my real Daddy and how much he loves me, but I can also hear something else- a voice behind his eyes.
“If she thinks I’ll roll over and let my girl call another man Dad... I’ll kill her before she steals her away again.”
An image fills my vision. I’m looking through Isaac’s eyes, and Shana is running for a door. He grabs her, punching her in the side of the face.
“You’re a Norm?” he screams at her. “You’re a filthy norm?”
She screams and drops to the floor in agony, her arms cradling her baby bump. “Please, I’m sorry I lied to you. I want to be like you, but I’m not. I knew you wouldn’t be interested in me if you thought I wasn’t...special.” She is trying to placate him, to speak to his ego. “Please don’t hurt my baby- our baby.”
I pull back from him, wailing at the top of my lungs. Isaac shakes his head, his mouth gaping.
“You’re a bad man,” I scream. “You think bad things.”
“Theyda, sshhhh,” says Shana, wrapping a hand over my mouth.
Isaac staggers away from us with a look of shock and shame on his face. “Did she just...? But she’s only five?” He runs a hand over his beard. “She’ll not be safe with me. People can’t know about her, Shana.”
He stares at me for a moment more before heading back to his car. I can hear the rumble of his engine as clear as day, and feel my five-year-old self’s relief at seeing him accelerate down the lane.
Shana drops to her knees and vomits.
I lurch out of the memory and into the breakfast bar. My legs have turned to jelly beneath me, and Adam stumbles after me. Many hands right me and help me to the bench. Adam is slick with sweat, but smiles sympathetically and hands me the empty fruit bowl as I gag my guts up.
“What was that?” Jude asks.
“My memories are crazy vivid.” I say, clenching my hands to stop the shaking. “I’ve never recalled that memory in detail before. Why would I just forget something like that?”
Jude shrugs, rubbing his fingers over his lips. “Tess stretched your telepathy. Who knows what changes you’re going to experience?”
“No,
that memory came back to her exactly like mine did after Golding influenced me to remember my manipulated memories,” says Adam. “I think Teddie’s telepathy is unlocking her repressed memories or—”
Jude’s head whips in his direction. “She’s un-manipulating herself?”
Another hush falls over the room.
“But that m-m-means that Teddie h-had her memory manipulated at s-some point,” says Seth.
I’ve never heard Seth stammer as much as I have in these last twenty-four hours. His grey eyes look swamped by heavy lids, and he can’t look at me without welling up. My relationship with Golding was strong. I think Seth sees me as the closest link to his memory, although, I’ve not heard him mention Golding’s name once since the complex. This is all wrong; none of us deserve this.
The conversation is careening down a road I’m not happy to head down right now. Is it too much to ask for a little let up? I’ve been through enough; we’ve all been through enough.
“Or perhaps, I just repressed that memory because it was bloody horrible. I was five years old and I saw inside Isaac Woodman’s mind,” I say, taking a sip of Jude’s coffee to wash the bile taste away.
Jude’s eyes narrow as he surveys me. “You’re probably right. We’ll worry about your telepathy later; right now, I need to work on finding a safe place to dock, and getting you lot out of my hair.” He breezes out of the room and up the stairs.
“He is so rude. I’m not sure if I like him or not,” says Yana.
“Oh, I’m certain that I detest the man,” says Maggie, flatly. “The sooner we’re shot of him the better.”
A pang of anger sparks in my chest to hear them slating him. I know Jude isn’t the easiest person to get along with, and I understand why they think badly of him after Boyd and Norah’s deaths, but they’re forgetting that he risked his life planning to dupe Gabe, and that he was at the complex just like all the others who came back to save those of us left behind.
“I didn’t see anyone refusing his help last night,” I say. Maggie physically bristles at my words. “He followed his orders on that air field to protect me. He didn’t want to draw attention to his connection to me before he found out what Gabe was up to. He’s not the heartless murderer you make him out to be. It wasn’t easy for him.”
Maggie laughs out loud. “You’ve changed your tune about him. Can you hear yourself? Giving the orders to kill Boyd and Norah makes him a murderer and that makes him a monster. No justification needed.”
“Then, I’m a monster too. Only, I actually did the deed and I’d do it again to keep you all safe,” I say.
Emiko places a hand on my shoulder. “That’s different.”
I shrug. “Is it though? The funny thing is that even Isaac said that I wasn’t any better than him. Do you know the last thing I said to him? ‘Maybe it takes a monster to kill a monster.’ I said that to him, and then I drowned him,” I say, walking away.
***
Showering feels like another motion to keep time moving forward, and going through the motions is all I can do right now. The bathroom is also the only place that I can get time alone.
I put my dirty clothes back on and open the door. Adam and Yana sit against the wall waiting for me, playing a silent game of ‘who can throw the balled up sweet wrapper into the cup’. I sit with them and Yana hands me the sweet wrapper. I miss the cup miserably.
Adam slips an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him. “You saved my life, and everyone on this boat is alive because of you. You’re not a monster.”
Yana takes my hand and laces her fingers through mine, resting her head on my shoulder. Adam stretches his arm over, so Yana’s included in our embrace.
“And then there were three,” she says, sighing.
“We’ve been through some shit, haven’t we?” says Adam.
Both Yana and I nod. We share such a horrendous experience of Facility One, and we all fell for Isaac’s charade and lost friends and family because of it- that in itself binds us forever.
“Do you think the others understand the situation back home? I mean really understand it- the way that we do?” I ask.
“How can they?” says Adam.
Part of me wishes that Isaac was still alive to see the mess he has caused. He exposed EVO everywhere and ignited fear in the Non-EVO, but his master plan has monumentally back fired. The thought of EVO kids being tested on and tortured makes me feel sick to my core. All he has done is given Towley an excuse to exploit us all the more.
“I’m sticking with Jude,” I state. “I know he can be a bit of a dick, but Jude is Jude. There is no front with him. I like knowing where I stand and I trust him. That means a lot to me now, especially after Isaac.”
“And Haydn,” Adam adds. “I’m sorry, but he betrayed all of you. If something had happened to you...”
I can’t and won’t think badly of Haydn. He was naive, nothing more, nothing less. “I don’t want to talk about it. I love Haydn and he’s forgiven,” I say. “He was put in an impossible position.”
Adam smiles and his eyes soften. He looks at me like it’s the first time he’s seeing me. I know the look because I look at him like that every time.
“Adam’s right, Teds. I can’t forgive him either,” Yana sobs. She springs to her feet and darts into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
A familiar weight of responsibility falls on my shoulders. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and pull my head out of my ass. The people who have been there for me need me too. I’m not the only one grieving.
CHAPTER THREE
Yana’s small frame is curled under the silk sheets, wracked with sobs. I climb into the bed beside her and wrap an arm over her body. Taking my hand in her own, she pulls me tighter around her. Her cropped hair has grown surprisingly fast in the past fortnight and tickles my face as I sidle up behind her.
“I want to forgive him. I do love him, but I hate what he did,” she says.
“He was trying to do what was best for everyone. Isaac gave him no choice, and Haydn grasped at Isaac’s lies about keeping us all safe.”
“He was just a coward you mean?” she sobs.
“No. He wasn’t a coward. Don’t ever think that. He made a mistake, that’s all.”
“A big mistake.”
“Yes it was, but it wasn’t done in malice. Haydn didn’t have a nasty bone in his body. You’re allowed to grieve for him, Yana. I am.” My own voice betrays my emotion. “And for Golding.”
More sobs send tremors through her body. She rolls around so we’re face to face, both of us crying, and both in unimaginable pain. She snuggles against my chest and I rest my chin on the top of her head.
“I can’t believe how much has changed,” she whispers. “Don’t leave me, Teds. Promise me that I’ll always have you.”
“I promise that I’ll always have your back. We’re family, right?”
I lie holding her until I hear the soft purrs of her snoring, and I finally allow my own eyes to close once more.
***
Yana snores gently beside me, but a hand twirls strands of my hair. It’s Adam. The crackle of electricity I sense anytime he is near is better than any drug. He talks quietly to someone.
Untangling myself from Yana, I push myself up on my elbow. “What’s going on?” I ask.
Adam sits beside me; Jude, Wheeler, and Seth stand at the end of the bed. Adam’s serious face worries me, but his eyes are gentle as he smiles.
“It’s Maggie,” he says, quietly. “I was just coming to wake you.”
Jude’s face is beetroot red and the vein in his forehead pops angrily. “You need to have a word with that Doc, Princess. I just caught her with the satellite phone. She was turning us in.”
“We don’t know that,” Adam says.
“Who else has she got to call?” Wheeler whispers. “Emiko doesn’t feel comfortable around her. She said Maggie was talking to herself yesterday, pacing on the deck like a mad woman, and she has been d
rinking non-stop today.”
Yana stirs and her little face is a mix of surprise and confusion. She looks to me, but I shrug. I can’t process what is happening. Maggie had the phone, Jude is pissed off, and even though he is acting calm, Adam looks as worried as hell.
Jude swings the door open and walks away mumbling about seeing what colour Maggie’s hair will turn when she hits the water.
“Tell me exactly what has happened,” I say, getting to my feet.
Adam looks over his shoulder and closes the door. “The others don’t know, yet. We don’t need Cooper and Fabian jumping the gun. It was hard enough convincing Jude to keep his mouth shut. He’s understandably pissed off.”
“And you are worried,” I say, looking straight into his eyes. “Why would Maggie have the phone?”
Yana’s mouth falls open, but she doesn’t speak.
Adam shrugs. “I don’t know, but Emiko is right, Maggie hasn’t been acting herself. If she was going to call us in—”
“Why would Maggie do that?” Yana gasps.
I shake my head. “She’d be turning herself in too. Let me go and talk to her. I’m guessing this is my fault. I shouldn’t have poked the hornet’s nest earlier. Why’d I open my big mouth?”
I step out of the room and close the door behind me. A knot tightens in my stomach at the thought of talking to Maggie after what I said to her. I won’t backtrack, but I need to sort this mess. What reason would she have for taking the phone?
Adam slips out after me, grabbing my arm. “Why do you do that? Why do you blame yourself every time?”
“Because lately everything has been my fault. Everyone on this yacht, and everyone who died, did so because I’m a dual EVO. Isaac planned everything to use me like a puppet.”
“And I’ll ask you again. Why do you blame yourself?” There is an angry edge to his voice, but I know it stems from love and concern. “None of this is down to you having dual ability. This is down to Isaac being a bloody psychopath. Stop shouldering the weight of the world, Teds. It drives me crazy. You’re expected to look after everyone else, but you need looking after too.”
EVO Shift: EVO Nation Series: Book Two Page 2
