PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “What?” Hayden asks. He shakes his head, confused or maybe angry because he thinks I’m lying to him.

  I am, but I can’t help it. The only idea I can come up with rolls off my tongue with abandon.

  “The guy from the park, he attacked me again, at my house this time. He must have followed me home, or maybe he was following me from the beginning, I don’t know. He knocked on the door and I was stupid and didn’t look to see who it was first. I thought maybe it was Robin because she said she might come by. He pushed the door into me and grabbed me. I couldn’t get away. I don’t know what he was planning to do, but my mom pulled into the driveway and he ran out the back.”

  “Did you call the police? Are they watching your house? No wonder your parents were so freaked about you going out tonight and leaving Evie at home.” Hayden’s grip on my arms becomes less restraining and more of a caress. He steps closer to me and looks down at me worriedly. “What did the police say? Do they have any idea who this guy is?”

  “I . . . didn’t call the police.”

  I’m not sure why I admit that to him. When his eyes fly wide, I wish I could take it back.

  “What? Why not?”

  “Because, he said he’d hurt my family if I did,” I say quietly. While not exactly what happened, the threat is there all the same. I reach up and touch Hayden’s shoulder softly. “I don’t know who this guy is, or what he wants, but he knows my name, knows where I live, and I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t know how to get him to leave me alone, but I’m scared he’ll come back.”

  Hayden draws me against his chest. His heavy breaths pulse against my cheek. “Olivia, I’m so sorry. I know you’re scared, but you have to tell the police. They can have someone watch your house. You won’t be able to watch for him every second.”

  “He meant it when he said he’d hurt them, Hayden. I can’t tell anyone.”

  Pain etches his features. I can tell he wants to argue with me until I give in, but I won’t. To be honest, I don’t know if we can trust the police now that we know Caretakers are hiding out in their ranks, loyal to Caretaker law over anything else. What if they find out about the second attack and decide Mason is in too much danger? They’ll take him away from me.

  My shoulders start to shake. I can’t let them take him away. I can’t lose Mason. I just can’t. Hayden’s arms tighten around me painfully. He isn’t the one I want to have his arms around me right now, but I just want this all to be over. I want my life back, my friend back. I want to stop living under a cloud of fear. I want to be with Mason always.

  “Olivia,” Hayden croons as he sweeps tears from my cheeks, “everything is going to be okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you, okay? We’ll figure this out.”

  I pull out of thoughts of Mason and feel the weight of guilt settle on my shoulders. I shouldn’t be dumping this on him. It will only put him in danger if the Sentinels think he has some idea of who they are. I try to shake my head at him, but he won’t have anything to do with it. His hands press against my cheeks to stop my head from shaking away his promise.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, Olivia.”

  Before I can change his mind, his mouth presses against mine. Without warning, every thought drains from my head. The gentle pressure of his lips eases away my fear. I start to respond, moving my mouth with his, but reality slaps me in the face a moment later and I pull away from him wide eyed.

  Hayden stands back, startled and breathing heavy. The question in his eyes haunts me.

  “I’m sorry,” I blurt out.

  His hands fall to his side. “I didn’t . . . I mean.” Seemingly at a loss, he scrubs his hands through his hair and groans. “Olivia, I’m so sorry. I thought . . . I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “You didn’t,” I start. No. I start over. “It’s not that, Hayden. I’m not mad or anything. You’re an amazing guy . . . ”

  “But?”

  “But,” I say, feeling sick to my stomach, “I should tell you why I ended up at the basketball park that day.”

  Hayden leans against the wall. The way his body sags against the bricks makes it obvious he knows this won’t be good news. I feel horrible for making him feel like this, but I know what I want, who I want. I won’t string him along and hurt him like that.

  “I have this friend,” I begin. Hayden grimaces. I struggle to continue. “We’ve been friends almost all our lives, and things had started to change between us lately. Well, I guess things changed for him a while ago, but I didn’t realize it at first. I waited too long, and when he told me how he felt, I freaked out. I didn’t understand how much I cared about him in time. Not until . . . not until I saw him with another girl and realized I was in love with him. I ran away, and that’s how I ended up at the park.”

  “And you’re still in love with him,” Hayden finishes, sounding defeated.

  I nod quietly. “I’m so sorry, Hayden. I never meant to lead you on or use you. I just needed a friend, and I didn’t have anyone else.” I bite my bottom lip as tears start to threaten. “For a while, I thought maybe I could . . . maybe moving on was possible, but I can’t. Not yet. I’m so sorry.”

  “Who is he?” Hayden asks. “I’ve never even seen you eat with anyone at lunch before Robin showed up.” His eyebrows inch up slowly. Something seems to click in his mind, but I can’t imagine what it is. “Is your friend, is it Robin?”

  My eyes widen. “What? No! You think I’m into girls?”

  Hayden looks trapped. “No, I mean, I didn’t . . . no. It’s just that she’s the only person I’ve ever seen you hang out with. I didn’t mean to suggest . . . I’m just a little lost right now.”

  “Robin has nothing to do with this. We’re not even that good of friends, for crying out loud. The guy I’m talking about, he doesn’t live here,” I lie. “His parents are good friends with mine, but they’re a military family. They live overseas right now. They came to visit, and all of this just kind of blew up in my face. I’m so sorry you got caught in the middle of it.”

  “So, the guy who attacked you, does he have something to do with this guy you like?” Hayden pinches the bridge of his nose.

  I nearly choke on his question. “No,” I lie again. “Too completely separate pieces of insanity.”

  A pained expression squeezes his features as he tries to piece together the lies and bits of truth I have just dumped on him. I say nothing as he attempts to process everything, not entirely sure how he’s going to come out of it at the end.

  “So, some lunatic stalker has attacked you twice, and your best friend turned almost boyfriend broke your heart?” he says. “Is that the main gist of all this?”

  “Uh, basically.”

  Hayden pushes away from the wall and stares at me looking oddly determined. He takes a deep breath. “Okay. The stalker first. I still think you should go to the police, but regardless, I’m glued to your side for the foreseeable future at school and any other time I can manage. You have to tell your parents so they can watch for him, maybe get a security system if you don’t already have one. Don’t go anywhere by yourself,” he demands.

  “Secondly, whoever this guy is that chose someone else over you, he’s an idiot. I get that you’re not ready to start dating someone else, but that doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere. You need a friend right now, and it’s going to be awfully hard to stop me from being one.”

  Evidently out of words, he stares at me and waits for a response. My lips part, but I fear he may be standing there for a long while. It seems to take hours for my brain to kick start itself to life.

  Finally, I say, “Hayden, I don’t know what to say. None of this is your problem.”

  “I want it to be my problem,” he says. “I want to know you’re safe, and hopefully happy again.”

  How do I say no to that? I have no idea how to deal with this situation. Nothing comes to me before Hayden gently guides me back toward his truck. Before I know it, we’re pulling into my driveway. I re
ach for the door handle, desperate for some quiet so I can think. Hayden is at my door by the time my feet touch the driveway. He walks me to the front door as his eyes scan the street for anything suspicious.

  I unlock the door on autopilot and turn the handle. Before I step inside, I turn to Hayden.

  “Hayden, I, um, thank you.” It’s all I can think to say.

  He squeezes my shoulder gently. “I’m here, whatever you need.”

  I nod, because it’s all I can manage, and step inside. I watch him turn away through the window and sigh. Maybe Evie can help me figure out what to do. I reach for the light switch, wondering for the first time why it’s so dark. No way Evie went with Mom and Dad instead of staying here with Mason. She can’t stand Ava Harper. I flick it up, but nothing happens. I start to call out for Evie and Mason, but something collides with the back of my head and everything winks out.

  Chapter 33

  Shatters

  (Olivia)

  The sound of a familiar, yet repulsive voice echoes in my ears as I struggle to open my eyes. It’s hard to focus with the awful pain pounding through my head. I try to reach up and touch the spot on the back of my head that seems to be the source of the pain, but my hand won’t move. I try again, my head lolling to the side when the small, unsuccessful movement causes another wave of pain.

  “The longer you wait, the worse their punishment will be,” taunts the voice.

  That voice. It isn’t just familiar, I know it.

  My eyes snap open to the sight of Alex the Sentinel pacing in front of me with a knife in his hand and a gun tucked into the waistband of his black cargo pants. Rage outweighs the fear and I lurch at him.

  Except I don’t leave the chair.

  Ropes dig into my skin as I strain against them. My eyes burn as I take in his slinking form, walking back and forth with the knife held out menacingly.

  “I know you’re here, Mason. Come out and play or your friends are going to regret ever meeting you.”

  My body goes cold. He knows Mason’s name! Weakness slides under my skin and wraps itself around my insides. They know who he is. They know he escaped them last time. I know they will not let him get away a second time. My eyes sweep the room for Mason, sure he is somewhere nearby.

  Halfway through my sweep, I see Evie next to me. Seeing her trussed up next to me makes me want to cry. The thin stream of dried blood running down from behind her ear makes me furious. She had to have been attacked before I was, but she isn’t awake yet. Why? I search her face desperately, trying to evaluate her coloring, see her chest rising and falling. Panic rises from the pit of my stomach because I’m not sure. I don’t know.

  I can’t stand the idea of looking away from her, but I need to know where Mason is. I need to know he is safe. Maybe he can get to Evie and check to see if she’s okay without the Sentinel knowing. The way my chest pulses in and out so rapidly brings black to the edges of my vision, but I can’t slow it down.

  “This is your last chance to save them,” the Sentinel says. “I won’t make the same mistake my predecessors made, Mason. You will die here tonight. That is already decided. What is still to be seen is whether or not your pretty little girlfriend and her sister will die too.”

  It’s so dark, it’s nearly impossible to see anything more than three feet away, but the Sentinel’s words do the trick. Mason stands up from behind the couch. The expression on his face is murderous. I can see it in his eyes that he has every intention of attacking the man holding Evie and me hostage.

  My head starts shaking frantically, silently. He can’t! The Sentinel will kill him if he reveals himself! I shake my head harder, trying to catch his attention, but the Sentinel is all he can see. I don’t want to draw the Sentinel’s attention to me and Evie any more than I want it drawn to Mason, but I have no choice.

  “What do you want from us?” I scream at the Sentinel.

  The quick turn he executes to face me is startling. I press myself into the chair, but refuse to look away. I have to keep his attention on me. I can’t let him realize Mason is in the room. He stalks over to me. The knife stays held out in front of his body. It stops inches away from my throat as he towers over me. His amused expression makes me hate him even more than I already do, something I thought was impossible.

  “Olivia, you’re awake. How nice. It’ll be more effective this way.”

  I only get a second to wonder what will be more effective before the knife digs into my arm. I don’t want to cry out, but I have never felt pain like this. A scream tears out of my mouth. I can’t smother it. I can’t be strong and brave and silent even though it might mean keeping Mason safe. Tears pour down my cheeks as he yanks the blade from my shoulder. I bite my lip, drawing blood, and groan in agony.

  Gulping in air, I try to fend off the pain and show Mason I can handle it. When I look up, Mason is barreling toward the Sentinel. The look in his eyes is utter chaos.

  “No!” I scream at him.

  But he doesn’t hear me.

  I watch as Mason’s hands clamp onto the Sentinel’s shoulders. There is no look of surprise in the Sentinel’s eyes, only the triumph of success. Everything is stolen from me—air, speech, hearing—as the Sentinel’s blade arcs through the air toward Mason. I am helpless, forced to watch the silent tableau, tied to a chair with no hope of saving him.

  Evie’s eyes flutter open slowly. The scene before her snaps her out of her haze. We both stare in horror as the blade jerks downward. Mason doesn’t even seem to see it. His hands clamp around the Sentinel’s neck as the knife touches his skin. I gasp in a breath, and everything happens at once.

  Mason’s body turns in the blink of an eye, wedging his elbow under the Sentinel’s ribcage as the blade slides across his collar bone, drawing blood along its way. Another blink and the Sentinel’s body launches into the air. I am stunned by Mason’s strength as he flips the Sentinel over his shoulder and slams his back into the ground. The Sentinel wheezes out a painful breath, but Mason does not give him even half a second’s break before he spins and rams his knees into the Sentinel’s chest.

  “Nothing is decided,” Mason growls, “except that you will be the one to die tonight.”

  The world inside the living room changes into something unfamiliar, something frightening and beautiful at the same time. There is no sound as the air in the room changes. What felt close and hot a moment ago now feels icy and swift, like air is being swept into the room at amazing speeds. But nothing moves. Not a single hair on my head is disturbed as the air compacts itself around Mason.

  Evie whispers something to me, or maybe it just sounds like a whisper because I can’t spare even a tiny portion of my attention to listen. I don’t know what she says. All I can do is watch in amazement as the air solidifies around Mason’s hand. It turns cloudy, then a brilliant white, flaring and becoming like glass.

  What is even more startling is the shape it takes. A terrible mixture of fear and excitement rushes through me at the sight of a glassy dagger in Mason’s hand. It points at the ceiling. Mason turns, his eyes drawn up to the blade. I expect surprise, unease, something, but he doesn’t seem shaken at all to see what he has created. I watch in fascination as his fingers loosen and the knife begins to fall. For a moment, I think the shock has set in and he’s going to drop the knife.

  Then the tip of the blade spins downward. Mason’s fingers tighten around the hilt when it is pointing at the Sentinel. His hand plunges down with the knife. It slams into the Sentinel’s chest, sinking in to the hilt. Light flares as the blade shatters and throws everyone to the ground.

  Chapter 34

  The Line

  (Mason)

  Exhaustion fills my body. My mind stirs, telling me to wake up, but my body has no intention of doing as it says. Underneath my exhaustion is a sense of satisfaction, of rightness. Something feels different, like I have discovered something important. I can’t pinpoint what it is, though, and my thoughts transfer to something more concrete. To O
livia.

  The memory of her pressing herself against me in a desperate, apologetic hug before she left tonight stirs more memories. I remember Hayden then, and her leaving with him . . . her asking me to wait for her. The delight that request brings to mind is shoved away as images of what happened next assaults me.

  Sitting with Evie on the couch, watching a movie, I should have known the volume was too loud to let me hear anyone approaching. We were too absorbed in the show to notice the quiet shuffle of his steps. I saw the butt of the gun too late to do anything to stop it.

  Instinct I am not proud of sent me jumping away from her, protecting myself from being discovered instead of catching her as she slumped sideways to the cushions of the couch. I did no better in preventing Olivia from being hurt. The curtains were closed, opening one to signal her would have revealed myself to the Sentinel. Pain wells up inside my chest, tightening it nearly to the point of breaking as I relive my selfish actions.

  “Olivia! I think he’s waking up!” Evie yells.

  I feel hands press on my face and arms, but I don’t want to open my eyes. I don’t know how to face them after failing them so blatantly.

  “Mason,” Olivia whispers, “please wake up. Please wake up.”

  It’s her sob that finally pulls my eyes open. The pain in her eyes is overwhelming as she hovers over me. She is all I can see, all I can feel as her fingertips press gently against my cheek.

  “Are you okay?”

  I just stare up at her. No. My chest constricts as I bring my failure to the surface. “I didn’t protect you,” I say through the pain. “I’m so sorry, Olivia.”

  Her face scrunches as if she’s confused about something. “What are you talking about? You saved me and Evie. We would be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

  My head starts shaking back and forth. No, I let them both get hurt. I wasn’t careful enough and he snuck up on Evie. I wasn’t selfless enough to warn Olivia. I stood by and watched them both be attacked. My eyes dart over to Evie and see the evidence of my betrayal, a trail of blood running own the side of her neck. I push myself up to sitting and shove Olivia’s hands away from me.