Runaway

by Alycia Linwood

  There were only five people in the whole building, all of various elements. I could probably handle that, so I ordered a coffee and a sandwich, and opened the newspaper in front of me so it hid my face almost completely. But before I could decide to pull the papers out, I looked around for cameras. The light in here was soft and left the light blue walls in shadows, but that didn't mean it was too dark for a camera. A man was sitting three tables away from me, busy checking something on his tablet. The problem was that I couldn't risk him looking up as I slipped the papers into the newspaper.

  Even though the papers have molded to my body already and somehow stayed in their horizontal position, they could still slip down if I wasn't careful. Wait. The restroom! I could just go there when I was finished and no one would find it strange that I carried the newspaper with me since I was leaving. Ok, it would still be ridiculous, but I was planning to come out right away, pretending I'd been only checking on my make-up. Great.

  I called a taxi when I was done, clutching the newspaper carefully in my hand, the papers safely tucked inside. As I got into the yellow car, I realized my father hadn't called to yell at me for disobeying his orders, which meant that he either didn't care where I was or he knew my location perfectly well. Damn it. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Was he usually following my every move or was this an innovation since I'd slept with a magic disease carrier? Not that he knew that for sure.

  Either way, I wasn't thrilled about it. Another thing I wasn't sure about was should I look at the papers alone before showing them to Adrian. Could I trust him with whatever we discovered? My family was involved in this, and if I wasn't a hundred percent sure they knew what kind of bad things happened in laboratories, I wouldn't do anything that could harm them. It wouldn't be the first time the person in charge didn't know a thing about the crimes his workers committed.

  Except my father hated all magic disease carriers, so he would probably turn a blind eye to anything bad happening to them. I sighed. Maybe at least my mother didn't have a clue about this. Yeah, right. Seeing how things were, they probably knew everything, even about my great-grandfather having the disease. I would be surprised if they didn't. If Oliver had found out, there was no reason others couldn't.

  No one tried to stop me as I walked to my room, even though I noticed one of the guards whispered something into his earpiece as I passed by. I had no doubt my father knew exactly where I was. The fact that I didn't know what he was planning unnerved the hell out of me. As I reached for my keycard, I sensed an element inside of my room. I waited for a heartbeat, trying to concentrate. It was fire, and the feeling was indeed coming from my room and not from above or under it. Hesitating, I slowly pulled the card through the slot and opened the door.

  There was a woman standing in front of the window, her back turned to me, and I immediately recognized her shoulder-length dark brown hair.

  "Mom," I said, closing the door with a click and dropping the newspaper with the files as quietly as I could behind the closet. She turned around, her dark red lips spreading into a smile.

  "Sweetie." She came over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "I've missed you."

  "I missed you too." My response was more automatic than truthful, and I broke away from her before I lost control of the disease. Now that she was here, I was even more afraid I'd find out that she knew everything about the magic disease business.

  "I'm really glad that you came here to support your father." She sat on the bed. "But I don't like what people are saying about you. Tell me. Is it true that you had relations with that magic disease carrier? That Liandre boy?"

  "Of course not!" I laughed, shaking my head to show her how silly I considered that idea. "But didn't you tell me he was good-looking or something like that?"

  "Yes." She straightened the invisible wrinkles on her black cocktail dress. "But he is good for Paula, not for you."

  "Why not?" I crossed my arms.

  "For obvious reasons." My mother frowned. "You can't risk getting the disease."

  "Oh, and Paula can?" I raised an eyebrow at her, getting suspicious. If Paula's name was in those files and it had always been the scientists' intention to get Adrian to snap, wouldn't they all want Paula to date him? That would mean my mom knew everything.

  "Don't be stupid, Ria. What does it matter if Paula dates him and gets the disease? She's not you."

  "She's my friend." Anger rose inside of me, my element fighting to get out.

  "I'm sure she'll be fine." My mother must have noticed the tension in my shoulders, so she tried to make it sound better.

  "And what if I had done it?" I eyed her carefully, waiting for her reaction.

  "Done what?" She smiled, but her eyes were wary.

  "You know." I took a step back because I was suddenly feeling cold all over. "Slept with Adrian."

  "But you didn't and you never would. That's the only thing that matters." Her element was all over the place, telling me she wasn't sure what to think anymore.

  "True." I took a deep breath, hoping she'd get in control of her element soon or she'd discover the lie. "I don't understand how girls can do that. They must be suicidal."

  "No." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "They are all lying."

  "Lying?" I was taken aback. It had never occurred to me that Adrian's ex-girlfriends could be lying about having sex with him. That would definitely make them seem cool or crazy - depending on your point of view - but it would be so childish of them to invent such a thing. Did my mother really think that or was she trying to make me believe that?

  "Yes. What did you think?"

  "I don't know." But what if for some reason they really were lying? What if Adrian threatened them? Would Paula lie to me? Or did she even know what happened if she had taken that pill too? I was getting dizzy from all the options.

  "It doesn't matter." My mother got up, going for the door. She stopped in front of me and her eyes darkened as she spoke in a low voice. "If I find out you really did sleep with that boy, you can forget that I'm your mother."

  I gaped at her, unsure what to say to that. The features of my mother's face softened and she smiled pleasantly at me. "See you later, sweetie."

  "Where are you going?" I finally managed to say, trying to act like my mother hadn't said anything unusual.

  "To help your father with some business." She actually waved at me before she closed the door behind her. I sat down on the floor, resting my back on the bed. I could feel my mother's element going farther and farther away until I could no longer tell where she went. Running my hand through my hair, I stared intently at the closet behind which I had hidden the files. Should I go through them alone and try to find answers for what was bothering me? A few moments later, I decided I should.

  Chapter 10

  I looked up from the files, which were now spread all over the floor, and concentrated on the element in the hall. Someone with a water element seemed to stop very close to my room and I wasn't sure whether it was Michael or someone else. I only knew that whoever it was, I couldn't let him or her inside. My eyes fell again on my mother's signature on the file which contained the newest information about Adrian's girlfriends. My father must have been busy when Alan sent the file, so my mother had signed it instead of him. It was impossible that she didn't know what was written in there.

  I picked up the first paper and read once again the details about Adrian's first girlfriend, Vanessa Harlowe. There was even a picture of her, and I couldn't help but think that she could easily be a model with her gorgeous strawberry blond hair and big blue eyes. According to the file, Alan had approached her and offered her a million dollars to start dating Adrian. Vanessa had refused since her family was rich, but a few weeks later she accepted after Alan used something called Protocol 95. I couldn't find anywhere what that meant, but it must have been some form of intimidation because it was unlikely she had changed her mind on such a short notice.

  Apparently, it had all been Alan's idea because
everyone at the university was avoiding Adrian, and without social contact, their plan to get a desired reaction from him wouldn't work. When a girl with lots of friends, such as Vanessa, started hanging out with Adrian and claimed she'd slept with him, other students were less afraid of catching the disease and started to act more casually around him. Of course, the contract with Vanessa expired, but a new one wasn't necessary since other girls started being genuinely interested in Adrian. It stated in the file that Vanessa hadn't slept with him, or at least that was what she'd said to Alan during their conversations.

  I took another paper, which explained in detail how the scientists and psychologists predicted that the more girlfriends Adrian had, the more he would interact with people and show whether he had an element or not. So, they had suspected for a long time that Adrian could have a sub-element, but they couldn't find a way to expose his secret. Alan even thought Adrian might brag about it to one of his girlfriends. I guess they really thought Adrian was stupid.

  Nearly all the accounts of Adrian's girlfriends were the same. They had all talked to Alan under the pretext that he was only worried for their safety and tried to get Adrian to tell them more about the disease, but he managed to avoid giving them any real answers. Soon enough, some people even started thinking Adrian didn't have the disease at all, or he would have already killed someone. Great.

  However, there were only three girls who had actually claimed they were in love with him. One of them was Paula, some girl named Irene, who showed serious signs of a mental disorder, and Amaya, the girl who'd said she loved him more than anything. My name was nowhere to be seen, so either Alan hadn't had the chance to send the file about me yet, or mentioning the president's daughter in such a context was strictly forbidden. Besides, he'd drugged me and threatened my life, and probably knew I could use that against him if he decided to write something.

  Maybe they all still thought I was lying if they believed Adrian's ex-girlfriends had lied about having sex with him, just like my mother insisted. I could only be glad that they didn't believe me. But what if the girls had lied to Alan about other things too? He was way too confident if he believed they'd been telling him everything. I could always ask Adrian because I was sure he knew with whom he'd slept and what he'd done, but what were the chances that he'd tell me the truth? To ask him such a thing would be a huge blow to his ego.

  Collecting the papers back together, I wondered what to tell Adrian. Should I even tell him anything? I doubted he'd be happy to hear his first girlfriend had been forced to be with him and that other girls had basically been spies for Alan at some point. Maybe that was why he couldn't have fallen in love with any of them. I only wished I knew what that damn Protocol thing meant. Maybe then I'd be able to tell how far the scientists would go to get what they wanted from Adrian. It was obviously important for them that Adrian showed the symptoms of the disease or the element, but I wasn't sure why.

  The rest of the papers I'd gotten were about Protocol 34, which was something that was supposed to be executed in a laboratory. As I expected, there was nothing I could use to discover what they were talking about. Fuck them and their protocols! Annoyed, I put the papers back together and hid them behind the closet. I couldn't believe I hadn't found anything even remotely useful. Ok, finding out about Alan's experiment with Adrian was an important thing, but it certainly wasn't going to help us find out what my father was hiding. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if Oliver had sent me to our father's office knowing exactly what kind of files I would find there. Maybe I should ask him. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and dialed my brother's number.

  "What's up, sis?" He answered on the second ring, sounding amused.

  "Do you happen to have a list of protocols which everyone keeps mentioning in every damn file so I can finally know what is everyone talking about?" I tried to sound composed, but I couldn't hide the anger in my voice.

  "Not yet." For some reason, I pictured him grinning at the phone.

  "Well, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I haven't found anything in our father's office."

  "Are you sure about that?" His voice was teasing. I frowned, trying to decipher what kind of game he was playing now.

  "You know what I found, don't you? About Adrian?"

  "I may or may have not overheard someone talking about the files that arrived from Alan. So, they're about Adrian, you say?"

  "Yeah. I was right about the experiment. They let him go to the university just to make things harder for him."

  "Do you know what exactly they were hoping to achieve?"

  "Umm, I think they wanted to see whether he had an element. Maybe they are really researching people like us to check if we can keep an element."

  "Probably. That's why we can't let them catch any of us, so keep an eye on Adrian."

  "Did you forget where I am?" I found the remote and switched on the TV so no one could hear me from the outside when I raised my voice. "I can't be around him all the time!"

  "But he's coming later, isn't he?" My brother sounded too confident, which made me suspicious.

  "Maybe." If he never gave me straightforward answers, I didn't have to either.

  "Good. Just don't expose yourself no matter what. Even if they get Adrian, they can't prove all magic disease carriers can keep an element. If they get you, we'll have a problem."

  "Are you trying to say all those pictures people took of me were for nothing? Would our father really make me disappear?" I started playing with the lock of my hair, becoming more and more aware of the elements in the building.

  "You know how he feels about magic disease carriers."

  "So what are we going to do next?" I said, realizing that our conversation was going nowhere. We must have said the same things over and over again, and that meant we had a problem.

  "I'm trying to get inside of one of the laboratories because there's an unusual number of scientists gathering inside. Some of them might be some secret organization agents only pretending to be scientists, but I'm not sure because I can't come too near or they'll discover me," he said angrily.

  "You mean the EIA?" I had no idea what the Element Intelligence Agency would be doing here, especially if my father wanted to cover up what he was doing. "That doesn't make any sense."

  "Maybe they are investigating our father, but it's more likely he's struck a deal with them. Don't even bother asking what kind of a deal because I don't have a slightest idea."

  "Ok, just call me if you have any news." I sighed.

  "Will do." The line went dead, and I threw my phone on the bed, suddenly feeling like someone was watching me. I knew there weren't any cameras in this building because my father and the Council members wanted to hide what they were doing, but what if they had installed one inside of my room? It was a silly thought, but I still went to check every corner and found nothing. Huh, my brother's paranoia was starting to rub off on me. I wasn't sure how much longer I could stay in the enemy's nest unnoticed, but at least I decided I was going to tell Adrian the truth and show him the files.

  Someone knocked on my door and completely startled me. I was just about to walk to the door when I realized I couldn't feel an element. Adrian had said he'd come tonight, but that didn't mean someone else couldn't be in front of my door, so I decided to stay quiet and wait. The door opened with a click and Adrian came in, taking off his blond wig. I felt so relieved that I slumped to the bed.

  "Aw, did I sweep you off your feet?" He grinned at me, taking a seat on the other side of the bed. I scooted over so we couldn't accidentally touch, and turned on my side to look at him.

  "I have something to tell you," I said, unsure how to break the news. "It's serious."

  "What? You traded me to your father for a new dress?" His gray-blue eyes watched me with amusement.

  "No!" I said, exasperated, but I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I totally should have done that, but not just for a dress. I would agree to a dress and matching shoes."

&nbs
p; "Let me guess. You found something that shocked you." He lay down on the bed, propping himself up on his elbows.

  "Yeah." I looked away, licking my lips. "Something about you, actually."

  "What about me?" His voice was calm and steady, tinted with a bit of curiosity. I got up from the bed and retrieved the files, hoping no one was going to interrupt us. Without a word, I handed him the files, making him frown. I sat down next to him, carefully studying his face as he read. God, he was impossibly gorgeous. His full lips parted and his frown deepened as he finished the first paper. Suddenly he got up and the temperature in the room dropped almost instantly.

  I didn't say anything as he walked toward the window, turning his back to me and running his hand through his dark hair. Just as I was warming the room with my element, my phone vibrated. It was Michael, asking me to meet with him and Paula outside. I glanced at Adrian, who was clutching the papers in his hands like he was trying to rip them in pieces, and replied that I couldn't come because I was busy. Surely Michael and Paula would realize Adrian was with me, but there was nothing I could do about that.

  "That son of a bitch!" Adrian yelled, throwing the papers to the floor. He was completely furious, his hands curled into fists at his sides.

  "Calm down. Someone might hear you." I went to pick up the papers, wishing I could just hug him or something. Stupid bet! Ok, it wasn't just that. I couldn't afford to weaken myself by touching him, so I stored the papers and waited for him to start thinking clearly again.

  "I knew it. I fucking knew it!" He kicked at the empty space, his face contorted with anger.

  "Umm, I'll be... " I pointed awkwardly at the bathroom, sure that he would like to be alone. He looked up at me and nodded, closing his eyes. Shutting the door, I went to the sink and turned on the water to make noise. I couldn't even imagine how Adrian must be feeling. If I were in his situation, I'd probably want to kill every single one of those scientists who came up with such a sick plan.