Glistening Haven: A Shape Shifting Dystopian Boxset

by Jill Cooper

  He felt so guilty and knew it was wrong. Jake should be happy, but wasn’t. He wished he had never left New Haven.

  When he returned to the lobby with his bucket of solution and sponges, Sally came down the steps. “How’s Wendy?”

  “Conscious, resting. But tired. Not herself.”

  “Will she be all right?”

  Sally looked away, fear in her face but avoidance in her voice. “I think so. With time. What happened here?” She gestured to the rug.

  “Jack had an accident.”

  Her eyes became livid. “Where is he? Where’s Crane?”

  Jake pointed out the back, and Sally grabbed the small pistol off the counter and charged after him. “Wait here.” She ordered.

  He wondered if he should still clean up the blood. There was no one around to ask, so Jake got on his hands and knees and began to clean. When Wendy started screaming, he wasn’t sure what to do, but knew screaming people weren’t calm, so he went to her.

  She stood by the window when he entered the room. Her T-shirt was pushed out wide and low. Her eyes were blood shot and her hair a bird’s nest of knots. “What’s wrong?” Seeing her like that jarred something awake inside him. He felt a stirring, like his eyes were fogged and now they began to clear after a storm.

  She was sick. Wendy needed help. This was not her, this was not the girl he fell in love with in study class from afar. The way she smiled and laughed, twirling her hair around her fingers.

  Her eyes were void of happiness. Instead all he saw was fury and she gnashed her teeth at him. “Just frustrated. Angry. Didn’t you care I had a seizure?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. “Sometimes I wonder if you care about us at all.”

  “I want to marry you. I told you.”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do.” Wendy huffed and waddled past him.

  “There’s nothing wrong with doing the right thing.”

  “If that were the case, you never would have got me pregnant at all. Now, I might die, but hey, as long as we do the right thing.”

  “Wendy—” Jake started.

  She brushed him off. Her lips were caked with dry spit and her eyes were manic. “I’m going down to get some juice. He’s thirsty.”

  “Let me help you,” Jake rushed after her. She shuffled down the steps with one hand on the rail, while the other massaged her lower back. “I think you’re supposed to stay in bed.”

  Wendy showed him the pouch in her hand. “I still have my steroids. Don’t worry. Sally said she was going to bring me lunch, but didn’t. Big surprise, no one around here does what they say they’re going to.”

  Seldom had Jake ever seen her so angry. She tore open the fridge as if it offended her and the door whipped against the wall. She took out the bottle of organ juice and sipped some from the container. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she chugged some more.

  “It’s good,” Wendy said and put it back in the fridge. “I can see why you like it so much.” Her eyes were clearing, her rosy complexion returning.

  Vomit rose in Jake’s throat and guilt crushed him like a rock. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I did this to you. And that the baby is changing you so much. That it’s putting you through all this.”

  “I’m sorry too.” Wendy snorted and pushed past him. “My parents died. And for what? Who knows if our baby will even be born at this rate? All we have are a nurse and a grumpy bastard to help us. Any week now I could be in labor and I can’t even go to the hospital. Do you have any idea how scared I am?”Frustrated, Wendy shook her head. “I wish...God, I wish I had aborted this thing and hadn’t told anyone. But that’s not possible in New Haven, is it? Because of guys just like you.”

  Jake had never felt so hurt, insulted. He didn’t know Wendy could say such horrible things but he felt like it wasn’t her fault. It was because she was sick. She was far angrier than he had ever seen anyone and he thought it might have been his fault. “Just come lay down and we’ll talk about it.”

  “It? Talk about the baby? About how I don’t want it? I don’t want any of this. I want to go home. I want to study. I want to curl up in my room and be asked to take out the trash. I didn’t think—didn’t think being pregnant would be so hard. But it sucks, Jake, it really does.”

  Her eyes squeezed shut and as she sobbed, her chin quivered. Her mouth drew in a thin line, but a sob of grief and pain escaped out of the side of her lips.

  “I’m sorry.” Tears glistened in his eyes. “I wish I hadn’t done it to you.”

  “I wish Rebecca were here.” Wendy sighed. “She always made me feel better. It’s like now that she has us on the outside—”

  “That she doesn’t like us anymore.”

  Wendy nodded in agreement. “Totally, yeah. Like she got her way. Now she just needs us quiet until I have our baby and then she can have her press conference. Parade us on display.”

  “I didn’t know you felt this way.”

  “Well, I didn’t know you did, either,” Wendy huffed, crossing her arms above her belly.

  “Then let’s leave.” Jake took Wendy by the shoulders. Every fiber in his being told him what he just said was wrong. He needed to stay put and he needed to listen to Thomas Crane, but he didn’t want to. When he saw how sick Wendy looked and how upset she was, he just wanted to make it better. He wanted her to be healthy and happy, neither of which could happen in that stupid cabin.

  “We can’t leave.” Wendy said. “Do you really think we could?” Her voice was renewed with hope, a light came on in her eyes.

  Jake thought he’d do anything to keep it shining. “I saw where Thomas put the keys. We could take the truck. Get down the mountain and head to a hospital. No one can hurt us if we’re out in the open.”

  Her eyes showed relief, but were filled with sorrow. “If you tell people who you are, they’ll hurt you.”

  “Then I won’t tell them.” Jake said simply. “But you need a real doctor. Just come with me, please. Let’s go have our baby somewhere safe, and then we can decide what we want to do.”

  “Oh Jake, I didn’t mean what I said. I didn’t really want to abort our baby.” She cried and Jake kissed away her tears.

  “Let’s just go. You with me?” Jake grabbed the car keys off the table while Wendy took his free hand. He afforded her a small smile, but saw how tired she looked.

  As they stepped onto the porch, gunshots rang somewhere off in the distance.

  “Jake.” Wendy whispered, filled with fear. But he said nothing, he just pulled her hand toward the pickup truck, urging her inside.

  He started the truck and was aware of moving shadows through the rustling leaves. With the truck started, he swerved toward the main road and saw high-beam headlights gaining on them. His gripped Wendy’s fingers. “You better put on your seat belt.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six Jeff

  Jeff opened the fridge, grabbed the organ juice that was lovingly supplied to his family by the government, and washed it down the sink. He didn’t know for sure, but he suspected there was something in it to keep him docile and controlled. Something he didn’t want any more. And neither did his friends.

  Behind him came footsteps and a playful voice. “Hey, Pop.” Marie never called him that before. “Are you taking the day off?” She nodded at his relaxed attire. “I know with Mom and all...but maybe our routine is important?”

  “Yeah. We have arrangements that need to be made. I’m going to take you to Megan’s for the day.”

  “What about school?” Marie asked with a frown. “I have tests.”

  “You can make up the tests.”

  “But, Dad,” she whined.

  “Enough!” Jeff snapped and then covered his mouth to keep himself from screaming. “Marie, I just need you to listen to your old man. Do you think you can do that?”

  Marie nodded. “Sure, Daddy. If that’s what you need.”

  “It is.” He picked up her book bag. “C’mon, I’ll drive you.”

 
Jeff locked the front door, wondering if he’d ever see the old place again, and then drove Marie a few streets away to Megan’s home. He noted the bruises on Megan’s face, but she smiled, a smile that no longer reached her eyes.

  “Well, Jeff,” Megan’s voice was strained. “I do hope you have a good day.”

  “You too. We’ll see you soon.”

  “Come inside for a few minutes,” Megan said as she escorted Marie inside. “You can help Timothy find the sedan’s keys. We’re going to pick up a few more kids.”

  Jeff looked at the scribbling on the palm of his hand. Only a few more things to do. God help him, but he was nervous and scared. Did he really have the balls to do what he was planning?

  “God forgive me,” Jeff whispered, “if I’m wrong.”

  Dirk watched Jenna morph right before his eyes.

  He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Could barely even process everything she had just said about their wedding and their baby. Baby? Dirk’s stomach rolled at the idea that he had been a father for a short while and never knew. All those months they worked together—hell, slept together—how could she never tell him, even just in angry grief, about what had happened?

  When did Jenna Morgan get so good at keeping secrets?

  She acted as though she were damaged goods, but Dirk didn’t believe that. Never had. He saw a caring, sweet woman who put on a tough-as-nails charade, and time after time she proved she could do anything when her mind was set. But Dirk knew, underneath all that, that the anger wasn’t her. Maybe it came from the glistening part of her, or maybe she was just angry now because she was glistening.

  Jameson continued to drag Jenna down the hall. Her body dragged like a bag of potatoes. Except for her shimmering hands pulling at the collar clasped tight around her throat, as she struggled her breath. Parts of her were blue, but her hands and delicate fingernails were human.

  He remembered kissing those fingers and slipping a diamond ring on them. Alert and wake, Dirk pulled his gun, released the safety and aimed it at the back of Jameson’s head. Before he even spoke, his colleague, his old friend, stopped moving. “Stop right there or I blow your fucking head off.”

  With precise steps, Jameson turned, holding the chain taught. “You see what she is? How can you stop me? This is our job. This is what we do.”

  Dirk didn’t have an answer. He didn’t. Jameson was right. They did turn in glistenings, but Jenna was different. She was their leader, and she was human most of the time. Hell, so were glistenings. Suddenly the lines were blurring together and he hated it. He didn’t know what to do or think, but knew for a certainty that he could not, nor would not, allow Jenna to be turned in like an animal. “Is this how you got the van out so easily? Made our escape? You made a friggin’ deal with Outpost?”

  Jameson wore a smug expression that made Dirk want to blow it straight off. “Damn straight I did. Laurel came to me, told me what she was. What she threatened to expose. New Haven would be in jeopardy if the world knew glistenings could breed with humans. Like we’re somehow the same. Do you want to live in a world where glistenings are citizens and have the same rights as we do?”

  Dirk didn’t. He never did. “Did Laurel kill the chief?”

  “For her part, she might as well have, but no. She didn’t do it, but knows who did. Hell, we all do. Order came straight from the top. Mr. New Haven Initiative himself.”

  “And you’re okay with this? The chief—”

  “So a few eggs need to be broken to keep the system working. Make an omelet, right?” Jameson laughed. “I was supposed to tag her and bring her back here.”

  “And Wendy?” Dirk demanded to know. “Were you going to betray us there too?”

  Jameson winked at him. “Bang-bang, brother.”

  “Laurel and the others were never after us, were they? They just sent you. Planted you by our side.”

  “Naturally.”

  Dirk’s face raged with fire. “How could you, Jameson? We were a team. The three of us. We’ve been through hell and back. You were my best man.”

  “At least I didn’t let the bride eat you on your wedding night. C’mon, Dirk, you’re just shocked. But this isn’t a woman. This is a beast. Like we’ve locked up a hundred times before. Look at her. Human’s don’t sparkle, they don’t turn blue before your eyes.”

  Dirk shook his head, but he couldn’t argue. He couldn’t.

  “Join me and we’ll do it together. I know you already have the intel. You know where they went. I scanned it off your computer into mine. We’ll leave here, locked Jenna in the back, and take out the teens. When Laurel meets up with us, we’ll turn Jenna over. She’ll be tried for killing the chief, and we go back to our lives, a little bit richer.”

  Dirk couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He shook his head as if to clear Jameson’s words away. “She’s our boss. Our friend.”

  “Yeah and she held a gun to my head just a few days ago. Call this payback, crazy-ass bitch.” Jameson spat down on her. “What do you say, pal?”

  Dirk surprised himself by thinking about it. He really was an asshole. “I can’t let you take her, Jameson. If you try...”

  “What, you’re going to shoot me?” Jameson rolled his eyes. “You won’t do it, I know you won’t.” He turned around, headed toward the stairs, Jenna dragging behind him. She strained her head to look back at Dirk. Her eyes shined their normal brown, lovely and deep. They were manic and begging for help.

  “Sorry, brother.” Dirk gritted his teeth and aimed. He fired off a round into Jameson’s arm.

  Jameson’s footing was lost. Dirk charged him, kicking him in the back of the kneecap to force him into the stair railing. He groaned, and when he tried to regain his feet, Dirk bashed his forearm against the back of his head. His nose cracked into the banister.

  “Damn you, Dirk. Can’t believe you would pick a damn monster over me.”

  “You betrayed us too. Jenna would have given her life for you before she’d frame you for murder.” Dirk punched Jameson twice square in the face.

  The analyst was never tough, never could take a punch. Jameson went unconscious and slid to the floor, but Dirk wasn’t sure how long it would last. He made quick work of handcuffing him to the stairwell, and unsnapped the collar from around Jenna’s throat.

  She morphed back into her beautiful form, but her face looked more fragile, delicate, and there was only vulnerability in her eyes.

  “Jenna,” he said softly and put his hand on her shoulder.

  She cried and did something he never expected Jenna Morgan to do. Rolling away from him, Jenna laid on her side in a fetal position, and her body trembled with huge sobs, crying into the carpet.

  “It’ll be okay,” he whispered. “We’re in this together. We just need to figure out what to do.”

  Jenna shook her head, but didn’t speak.

  ****

  Jameson was awake and handcuffed to the railing by the time Jenna composed herself enough to go through his pockets. He bitched at her, which wasn’t exactly different than usual, but she couldn’t meet his eyes. Didn’t want to make a connection and see his contempt and anger. No matter what he did, Jameson was her friend. Jenna relied on him more times than she could count. It just reinforced why she kept her secrets and why being half glistening was like wearing a scarlet letter.

  “You guys are going to get me medical attention, right?”

  Jenna grabbed his PDA from his pocket and stood, making sure she leaned on his bullet wound as she did it. Jameson howled at her, but his discomfort was ignored. “Here it is,” Jenna said.

  “What is it?” Dirk asked.

  “Memos, records. See, Jameson,” she said, waving the PDA at him, “I knew you’d want information on Laurel, and the New Haven council, just in case they tried to shaft you out of your reward. And you left it on our cloud server. Pretty easy to find for someone that has the passcodes.” Jenna smirked.

  “How incriminating is it?” Dirk asked.


  “Oh, very. A order direct from Humphrey’s desk to Laurel. Memos back and forth between them, and angry voice mails.” Jenna pushed a button the phone and the voice mail played via speaker.

  The chief is dead, but the daughter got away, but don’t worry, I have the perfect scapegoat in mind so I can get the quarantine lifted.

  Dirk raised his eyebrows. “That’s enough to clear us.”

  “And put Alistar in the unemployment line.”

  Jameson’s eyes widened and he thrashed around. “Damn it, you can’t do this, Jenna! If you go public with this, who knows what Congress will do? You’ll be betraying the system. The system you’ve fought for your entire life.”

  “I didn’t realize that system would frame us, me, and kill the Chief. Go after a teenage girl because they are scared of what she represents.” Jenna shook her head. “I get it. You know I hate what I am, Jameson. It’s disgusting. It’s gross. If I could scrub off my skin, I would. But I’m not going to lay down and die. And I guess, well, I guess I don’t expect them to either.”

  Jameson’s eyes threw darts. “And if I had been a glistening? If I was half a monster, what’d you do?”

  Jenna thought about it. “I don’t know. But I’d like to think, after all your years of service, everything you did for me would mean more to me than that. Maybe the human half of you would mean more than the monster.”

  Jameson sneered at her. “You give yourself too much credit.”

  “And you gave yourself not enough. Goodbye, Jameson. Hopefully you’ll be smart enough to cut a deal when they offer you one.” The sorrow in her voice was thick as Jenna bolted down the stairs and investigated what Jameson was working on last. She found the real name for Thomas Crane, his bio, and a satellite location of a truck. She flashed the phone to “Dirk. “Find out where this is and bring it up on our GPS.”

  Dirk nodded. “Got it.”

  Jenna put the phone to her ear to make a call. “Rebecca, I’m going to send you some information on how to access my private cloud server. There’s documents and files there. I need you to make them public immediately. Can you get a press conference?”