Sabrina
I don’t know what’s going on with my friends, but that’s not what concerns me right now. Levi is the only one on my mind as I’m poked, prodded, and monitored by the team of scientists in the room with me. I almost killed him. I love him, and yet I hurt him. I would’ve hurt—killed—them all if he hadn’t got into my head. Knowing he did it for me, as well as all of them, just makes me feel even worse.
“How are you feeling, Sabrina?” one of the scientists asks me. I think he’s in charge of all of them, but since no one has talked to me until now, I can’t be sure of anything.
I don’t really know how to answer that, but I try. “I feel like the me I was before I literally lost my mind.”
“Do you honestly believe you’re no longer a threat to anyone?” the President of the United States asks, leaning against the door to my room.
Maybe. “I hope so.”
“But you’re not sure.”
“How can I be? I never thought I’d do what I did. I never wanted to do it, and then I hurt them. What if I do it again?”
“I think that’s highly unlikely,” the scientist tells him. “From the samples we’ve taken, and the monitoring we’ve been doing, it appears she’s in complete control of herself now.”
“The others are deciding what they want to do. We’ve given them the option to resume their ‘normal’ teenage lives, work for us, or disappear. What would you like to do, Sabrina?”
It’s hard to say out loud, but I know it’s the truth. “I want to see Levi, and make sure he’s going to be okay, and then I want to disappear.”
“You’re sure?”
“I am.” It’s breaking my heart, but I know it’s the only way. I can’t take the chance that there’s still some part of the Muses left inside of me. I just can’t.
He nods. “Very well. Unhook her, and we’ll go visit the boy.”
They do as he tells them, and he walks over to help me to my feet. He’s not scared of me—or at least he’s pretending not to be—and that makes me feel good. “Thank you,” I tell him as we walk across the large main room together.
“I think you’re making the wrong choice, but it’s your choice to make.”
“I don’t think it’s wrong to want to protect all of them.”
“I agree with the guy back there. You’re not a threat to them.”
“No one can know that for sure.”
“Just like no one can know if they’ll be hit by a bus tomorrow, or have the plane they’re in crash. Living your life afraid of what could happen is not living at all.”
I don’t answer him, because I’m not going to change my mind. Especially not when I walk into Levi’s room, and see him lying there with his eyes still closed. My tears come again as I watch the doctors and scientists moving around him. Without even thinking about it, I’m at his bedside, taking his hand in mine.
“I’m so sorry, Levi. Please wake up. I promise to never hurt you again. I’m…I’m leaving so you and the others will be safe. They need you, so you have to wake up. I love you.”
I squeeze his hand, and let it go. The President puts his arm around my shoulder as we leave the room. I know I’m doing the right thing, but I also feel like I’m shattering inside as my heart breaks in two.
Michaela
I chose school, and my family. I’m not the same girl I was—the leather jacket and wild hair let everyone know that when I came back—but I like to think I’m better. It’s been two weeks now, and they’re getting used to me around here; although, I still get a few nervous looks here and there. I’m not a good girl gone bad. I’m just a good girl gone me.
I still raise my hand to answer questions. Although, I have to hold myself back since I know the answer to every question anyone could possibly ask now. Well, almost every question. I don’t know where Sabrina is. I think her parents know, but they won’t say, no matter how many times Levi goes to their house and begs them.
He’s made a full recovery, at least physically. Emotionally, he’s broken-hearted, and despite all the girls here trying to mend his heart for him, he only wants one girl. If I could help him find her, I would, but I have no clue where to look.
As for me, I’ve started dating a little. It’s funny how guys suddenly notice me now, but I remember how they used to make fun of me, so I ignore most of them. There was nothing wrong with the “old” me, and I’m not interested in being with someone who thought there was, even though they think I will. Seriously, they actually tell me how boring I was before, like it’s going to make me want them. Idiots.
Alejandra is living with me and my parents now, and she’s acclimating pretty well. Having the ability to sense people’s moods is probably helping with that, but she’s a likeable girl even without it.
“Hey, Michaela,” one of the cheerleaders says to me.
“Hi,” I say back, but keep walking.
No one here knows I killed Abigail. The story being circulated is that she ran off with a guy she met online, and he killed her. I can’t fault them for using her death that way, especially when it means I don’t have to answer any questions about my involvement.
“You okay?” Hinton asks, bumping my shoulder as he falls into step next to me.
“Yeah, why?”
“You looked lost in thought.”
“I’m known for thinking, you know.”
“And you know, I don’t stereotype.” None of us do anymore. Not after what we’ve seen and done.
“I was just thinking about everything.”
“I know it’s hard, but you have to try not to. If we dwell on it all the time, we’re never going to be able to move on.”
“You should tell Levi that.”
“I have, trust me. His situation is a little different than ours, though. He loves Sabrina, and he knows she left to protect him.”
“And us. She left for us, too.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Hinton
I know better than anyone what’s going on with Sabrina, because I’ve been in her head. Since I asked if I could both come back to school, and work for the government, I’m in the unique situation of getting to test the limits of my powers. I haven’t tried to communicate with her yet, but I know what she’s feeling and thinking. It’s all guilt, and pain.
I can’t tell anyone this, especially Levi, but soon I’m going to reach out and tell her she needs to come back. I don’t need to be in his head to know that he won’t survive without her. Whatever that bond is they formed, it’s stronger than just some teenage romance—they truly need each other.
“We have to get her back,” Michaela says.
“Who? Sabrina?” Jennifer asks, walking up behind us.
“Yes,” I tell her.
She’s moved in with Coalton’s dad, and is working part-time at the mall. It’s crazy weird to see her fitting in like she’s always been a part of this town, but it pretending to be a typical American teen works for her.
And honestly, Coalton’s dad looks pretty happy when I see him around town. I think it makes him feel good to know he’s helping someone. Now that we all know the Creator had his mom killed, we understand his dad’s behavior and bitterness.
Our parents felt both relief, and guilt, when we came back. I assured mine that I didn’t blame them for how I was born, but they still keep apologizing several times a day. One day, I hope they realize I’m grateful for having people who care about me, when I could’ve ended up with a couple who just wanted the money. I know without a doubt that I’ve always been loved, and I love them, too.
“Lauren hasn’t had any contact with her, and they were the closest,” Michaela says, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“I know that, too, but we have to try.”
“I wish she was here,” Jennifer says, meaning Lauren. She chose to go back to Australia and work with the Prime Minister. He’s letting her do oceanic research, and she’s loving every minute of it.
“At least we can FaceTime
with her, and talk to her online.”
“Lauren?” Levi asks, joining us. “Did you talk to her today?”
“No,” Jennifer answers, not wanting to say anymore.
“Did I interrupt something?”
“We were just talking,” I tell him, hedging as well.
I see his face change when he gets it. “About Sabrina.”
“We’re going to find her,” Michaela tells him.
“She doesn’t want to be found, especially by me.”
There’s a hint of bitterness in his voice, and that needs to go. “Don’t. If the tables were turned, and you’d almost killed her, you would’ve run, too.”
“I know I would’ve. That’s why this is so hard—I understand why she went, and I want to make her realize it’s okay. I don’t blame her for what she did. Hell, I was inside her head so I know how hard she was fighting against them.”
“Like I said, we’ll find her, and then you can tell her,” Michaela says.
No. They won’t find her, but I will. I need some help, but I’m going to do it. With any luck, I’ll still be alive when it’s all over with. If not, well…I can’t think about that now.
Coalton
In the end, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go back to school, pretending like nothing was different. My dad got it, so he signed the papers, letting me work at the facility where I was “created” all those years ago. I’m living at the facility, but I still eat with dad and Michaela at least three times a week. I know this is the right place for me, because the President and my team here are all committed to using my skills for good.
In just a few minutes, we’re going to do just that. Hinton needs to talk to Sabrina, and we need to keep him alive while he does it. He came in two days ago, asking for help, and I didn’t hesitate to give it to him. I’ve been working day and night, looking at things from every angle, doing all I can to make sure he’ll be okay.
“Stop thinking so hard over there,” he tells me from his hospital bed.
“You asked me to think for you.”
“True, but now I need you to chill. You looking so serious is freaking me out a little.”
“Sorry. It is serious though, you know. It took them three days to wake Levi up, and now you’re doing the same thing.”
“Yeah, but I worked up to this. He went in with no planning or preparation. I’ve got this.”
“And I’ve got you. Go ahead when you’re ready.”
He lays back and closes his eyes. I watch his vitals, and brain activity, noticing the change telling me he’s gotten into her mind. It’s not a big change, but then again, he’s been doing this for about a week now. It’s what comes next that we need to monitor closely.
I’ve watched people I thought could be friends die, and I don’t want anyone else to be gone, especially not on my watch. In the line of work I’ve chosen, I’m going to lose people I come to care about. I know that, and on some level, I’ve accepted it.
The eight of us are different, and not just because we’re not human. We’re bound together in ways I never will be with anyone else. No matter where we go, or what we do in life, we’ll always be parts of one whole. There will always be cracks here, and there, but we’re in this together. Even without Levi, I’d be looking for Sabrina to remind her of that.
“Sabrina,” Hinton says out loud, and I look to the monitors in alarm.
His brain levels are spiking, and I grab his hand, because even though we’re prepared for this, there’s not much else I can do right now but give him my support. We’ve got soothing music playing, and we’re keeping his heart rate stable, but his brain is not something we can control.
The minutes feel like hours, and then he’s opening his eyes. It takes him a moment to focus, but when he does, he locks eyes with me. “I did what I could. I don’t know if it’s enough, but I felt myself slipping away, so I got out. I had to get out.”
“You don’t have to convince me, man. I’m not anywhere near prepared to see you lying unconscious for days, and she would’ve known if you’d lost the connection. I don’t think she’d ever come back if she thought she did that to you.”
“She could feel it. She begged me to go, but I held on long enough to get her to promise to come back.”
Holy crap, he did it. “She’s really coming?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t want us to tell Levi, but she’ll be at school tomorrow.”
“I might just need to be there for that.”
Sabrina
I’ve never in my life been nervous or scared to walk into a school lunchroom. I was a confident kid, and a charismatic teenager before everything went to hell, but now I’m just a girl. A girl who’s madly, desperately in love with a boy who’s on the other side of those doors. Doors that I can’t make myself walk through, because I don’t know what I’ll find on the other side.
When Hinton got into my head yesterday, he told me Levi is dying without me. Not literally, but emotionally, he’s a wreck. I can relate since I’ve been a mess since I came to my senses and realized what I’d done, and knew that I had to leave.
I love that boy with a fierceness that I never knew I had inside of me, but can I really just walk inside, and have him accept me? Just because he loves me doesn’t mean he wants to be with me. Or if he wants me, he may also realize he shouldn’t be with me. Is it wrong to hope he hasn’t come to his senses?
“The doors aren’t going to open themselves,” Coalton says from behind me.
“I heard you left school.”
“I wanted to see this.”
“What? Me getting rejected?”
“You’re crazy if you think he’s going to reject you.”
“Lots of people would say I’m crazy if they knew what I’d done.”
“I’m not one of those people, and neither are the others.”
“Is he really a mess?”
“Yeah.”
“I was going to kill you all. I won’t ever sugar-coat it.”
“This is me you’re talking to,” he says, coming to stand in front of me. “I’d never ask you to sugar-coat anything.”
“If he asks me, I can’t lie to him.” It’s my biggest fear—having to tell him I was going to kill him.
“You won’t have to.”
“You seem so sure about that.”
“He was in your head, Sabrina. He knows exactly what you were thinking and feeling. Which means, he knows you were fighting them.”
“I tried.”
“No one doubts that.”
“Will you walk in with me?”
“Of course.”
He opens the door and holds it for me. I walk in and the whispers begin. I don’t know what they’ve said to cover up me being gone for almost a month, but I don’t really care, either. I smile and feel the curiosity in the room ebb and flow as I walk past different tables. When I get to the one where they’re all sitting, I stop and hold my head as high as I can.
“Hi.”
They all look at each other and then at Levi. No one answers me, and Levi hasn’t turned to look at me, so I spin around and walk out of the cafeteria as fast as I can while still trying to look dignified. This was a mistake, and I shouldn’t have come back.
I’m in the courtyard when a hand slips into mine, and I’m pulled to a stop. I don’t turn to him, because I can’t. I can’t bear to see the anger and hatred my presence has brought forth.
“You’re a hard girl to find,” he says softly, moving around to look at me.
I still don’t look at him, just his shoes. They’re black converse, and for some reason it makes me want to smile. But that’s not right. This isn’t right.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have been looking.”
“If you truly don’t want me, I’ll let you go.”
I may not be able to look at him, but I won’t lie. “I will always want you.”
“Good, because I really didn’t want to let you go.”
“But you would have.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t want me.”
“I love you, Sabrina,” he tells me, lifting my chin so I have to look him in the eye.
“I love you, too.”
“That’s all that matters right now.”
“I almost killed you.”
“I know. I also know I wasn’t dreaming when I heard your voice while I was unconscious. You came to me before you left, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I-I had to see you one last time.”
“I could hear the pain in your voice, just like I heard it when they were controlling you. You aren’t some cold-blooded killer.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to stop if you hadn’t come into my mind.”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you did stop. You told me you loved me, and you successfully overcame the control they had over you.”
“Where do we go from here?” I ask, needing to know.
“Well, everyone’s talking about Prom. Will you go there with me? I know it’s lame to just ask and not plan something spectacular, but I needed to ask you.”
“I would love to go to Prom with you. And just for the record, I don’t need ‘spectacular.’”
“But do you want it?”
“What girl doesn’t want it?”
“I’ll think of something. In the meantime, will you all go to dinner with me tonight?”
“Yes.”
“A movie tomorrow night?”
“Yes,” I tell him again, this time with a laugh.
“Dinner, and a movie the night after?”
“Let me just tell you this once. My answer to you asking me on a date—any date—will always be ‘yes.’”
“I’m still going to ask.”
“Who knew you were so romantic?”
I guess I knew that, but now it’s really clear. I never thought I was a girl who would love this kind of thing, but I do. I feel special, and loved.
“Shh. Don’t tell the girls around here. For some reason, they think my accent is hot.”
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