by Erin Rickman
“Is this where I give the line from every romance movie ever and say ‘so are you.’”
I laughed. “Only if you mean it.”
He smiled. “Of course I do.”
At that, he leant over, placing a soft kiss on my lips. I didn’t pull away; in fact, I kissed him back harder. The kiss soon became passionate, lustful. Atlas pushed me backwards onto the soft towel, his hand travelling up my thigh. I let out a small gasp, which egged him on further. My hands gave a slight tug of his hair, and a light groan left his lips. I pulled his top over his head, exposing his nicely toned torso.
“Blaire,” the voice was soft. “Blaire,” but it became harsher. I looked at him, confused. “Blaire, wake up, I don’t need to see this.” I recognised the voice, it was Kenji’s.
At that, I shot up in my bed, confused and horrified. I looked around once my eyes could focus. Atlas was staring at me, a mischievous grin on his face. My eyes glanced over to Kenji and soon followed his thoughts.
‘Can you keep your personal porn, you know, personal?’ he was stern, uncomfortable.
‘Actually, I was enjoying it,’ Atlas retorted back.
‘Oh for god sake, I really need to get a grip on shutting you out,’ I groaned, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks.
‘I would much rather not experience Atlas’ almost-naked body. It’s fine for you to picture it, but what does that make me? The weird pervy friend,’ Kenji was not amused.
‘What was this I experienced? Is this how your kind mate? You appeared to possess some sort of close emotional association. In my realm, we do not go back to the same mate more than once. Anything more than a single night is excessive and indicative of a failed ritual.’
I glanced over to Atlas, who was now grinning. He knew full well that A-jax was referring to a one night stand, something he was all too familiar with, much to my distaste.
‘Well A-jax, in our culture we call that a ‘one night stand’, which indicates you’re something called a ‘fuck boy’. Fuck boys are known for ripping out the hearts of the female and using them for his own sexual gain,’ I explained, watching the smile on Atlas’ face turn into a smirk.
‘You typix have always been so over-sentimental. Just pick a mate with the most desirable characteristics and move on; anything else would be inefficient.’
‘Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.’ Atlas raised his hands in the air, thankful that someone finally agreed with him.
‘I am a male, please do not call me a ma’am.’
‘Atlas, if your only supporter is someone who thinks Mr Fiesta is a dear friend of mine, I wouldn’t count that as much of a win.’ I let out a small laugh, across the room, A-jax was staring at me with intense confusion while Atlas wore an amused smile.
It was nice for us to have a communication ring finally. My powers were coming a long way—I still hadn’t quite mastered shutting others out, but everything else had made decent segway. Atlas’ ability would often take him by surprise; the wolf had made a few more appearances, accompanied by a pigeon, snail and—on one notable occasion—a naked-mole rat. Kenji had informed us that during one of his trials with Van Wick, he was able to manipulate fire successfully, but he was yet to experiment with air and earth.
Maze was still unreachable. We tried many things. At first, we thought it might be because she didn’t know me. Although A-jax debunked the theory the day he spoke to me; however, he was much more powerful, and telepathy was second nature to him. Atlas, Kenji and Hector had told me many more stories with Maze in an attempt to build a connection, but it was useless. It was almost like she had completely shut down. A-jax, the expert on all things human (more precisely, their emotions), had made a good point in that she was probably so traumatized she had put her emotional walls up, walls that neither of us could break through.
Our time here was starting to tick and as it was running short. Over the last few days, Hector had massively deteriorated, so much so that he would slip from my thoughts, his energy fading. The connection we had when we were able to communicate was weak. I had explained to Atlas and Kenji that soon we would have to make our move if we wanted to get our friend out alive.
We were all worried. Hector was irreplaceable and the idea that one day we may be sitting in all black, recalling our fondest memories was awful. I refused to lose anyone else to the man I once held as my idol, who I now saw as nothing short of a monster. The hate I had for him was rapidly growing, and I feared it would lead me down a dangerous path of revenge and self-destruction. Regardless, if it did, I could not see how it would be an overall regrettable experience. Luckily, I was pulled from my thoughts before they became too dark.
‘So A-jax, you yap on about realms all the time, what exactly are they?’ Atlas asked.
‘A realm is an area inhabited by life. They exist as separate entities from the one in which you are situated but exist in the same space-time continuum. They can only be accessed through a portal. If, like typix, you do not have the means to access portals, then you will never visit another realm.’
‘So it’s like a different universe?’ Atlas questioned, ‘Like the multiverse Marvel created?’
‘No, a universe is defined by all realms as ‘all existing matter and space considered as a whole’, therefore, there is only one universe. You cannot have multiple everythings. I am unsure of this multiverse you speak of; please enlighten me.’
I let out an ample grunt. ‘Oh for goodness sake you two, please just stop talking nonsense. Letting you two communicate was a bad idea. A-jax, do not egg him on.’
At that, I closed the communication ring. I enjoyed listening to them but not when A-jax and Atlas were encouraging each other’s fantasy worlds. If this was a conversation they wanted to have, they could do it through A-jax’s own skills without zapping my energy supply. A-jax had mentioned that the more I allow the communication ring, the less it would tire me out, but I hadn’t yet reaped those benefits. I couldn’t wait for the day telepathy was innate as breathing. I decided to see how Hector was doing.
‘Hey, how are you feeling?’
‘Not...it...me...dark,’ Hector’s thoughts were weak; it was like going through a tunnel on the phone. I couldn’t string his sentences together.
‘Hector? You’re breaking up.’
‘Sorry...it...drained.’ Again, I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
‘Hector, c’mon, you’re scaring me.’
‘Macey…home...love.’
My insides went cold. It was as if the blood drained from my body, and my stomach became a pit full of dread.
‘Can someone tell me what’s going on with Hector? His thoughts are static and disconnected, and I can’t make any sense of them,’ I announced to the communication circle.
‘He’s really pale. Kenji, can you see that?’ Atlas asked, sounding worried.
‘Of course, I can,’ he replied, stern.
I watched as Kenji stared across opposite him, his eyes sad and Atlas got up from his bed, slowly walking to the glass.
‘I mean this with seriousness; he looks like he’s dying,’ Atlas announced. ‘The veins have spread, he’s covered in them. He wasn’t like this earlier.’
‘Ah, I would say your companion has around fifteen minutes left. This form he is exhibiting resembles a similar state to an exohuman in my realm when they die of natural means.’
My head snapped to A-jax. ‘What on earth are you insinuating? He can’t have fifteen minutes left.’
‘It is just an estimate.’
‘We need to get out of here.’ My anger was growing at the situation.
At that, I closed the communication ring. I rushed to the side of my pod, getting as close to Hector as I could. I hoped this would allow for a more reliable connection to enable us to communicate; I wasn’t willing to admit that distance wasn’t the issue here.
‘Hector, what do you need?’
He didn’t reply, though I knew my thoughts had reached him. I could feel it. However, I r
eceived the same static from Hector as I would when I attempted to contact Maze. I yelled his name and hammered on the wall. The static was deafening, and all of a sudden, it stopped. A solemn silence filled my head. I slowly turned to Atlas; I watched as he pivoted and walked away from the glass. Kenji stood banging, screaming out the boy’s name. I attempted to connect again, but there was nothing, he was empty, unreachable. I knew, from the gut-wrenching feeling that fell upon me, Hector was dead.
I dropped to my knees, a sob rattling my body. I could feel it—Atlas’ hurt, Kenji’s anger and my loss. I screamed an unholy, blood-curdling scream. I had lost someone else in the hands of Van Wick. My telepathy meant I felt everyones pain, it hit me like a truck. The unescapable wave was agonising.
My head snapped towards the different pods, as I watched my friends' grief unravel. I observed as Kenji’s sink flew from the wall, the water collecting on the floor of his pod rapidly, boiling behind him. Atlas’ eyes flashed purple; he was going to shift. They knew from Hector’s appearance he was gone, I knew from the deep silence. I couldn’t explain the emptiness; to me, it wasn’t just the loss of a close friend. Even when someone was not communicating with you, you could feel them like a distant hum, every hum unique to them, but there was no hum produced by Hector. I felt alone, for the first time in weeks. Hector’s hum had helped me avoid loneliness when I had no one, but now his absence had left me empty. I grew angry at myself; to think I had been annoyed at him for being in my personal thoughts, when now I would give anything for one more interruption.
I was so overcome by the sobs that rattled my body for Hector and my mother. Though, I felt everyones anguish. It was too much. Where I was trying hard to process all the emotions, I hadn’t noticed Lawrence had entered my pod until he threw a gag around my mouth. His timing was inconvenient if not deliberate; I wanted to mourn. I screamed, muffled by the rag as he quickly slapped on the cuffs. He pulled me from my knees, but I fought back, digging my heels into the ground. I had no desire to partake in one of Van Wick’s trials; I wanted to be with those I held dearest. I fought, but Lawrence could undoubtedly overpower me on a good day, let alone moments after a harrowing revelation. He had decided he was also not in the mood to deal with my defiance and threw me over his shoulder. As he walked me through the middle aisle, I watched the lights in the pod room starting to flicker.
A gut-wrenching sob left my body as we went past Hector’s pod. The image I saw was lurid. He was a deep shade of grey; the blue veins stood out starkly. Hector was curled up on his bed, his eyes open and a blank stare. He was hollow. Kenji was against the glass, pain contorted over his every feature, deep thick steam behind him. Atlas sat, in wolf form, a howl driven by loss erupting from his lips. A-jax was in deep thought staring across at Maze, trying to reach her, to inform her.
I was carried up the stairs by Lawrence, my body was weak, and my tears were falling freely. I felt everyones sorrow, despondency and despair, it was crippling. The death of our friend had affected all of us; the scenes below were testimony to this. I wanted to fight back, I wanted to try to get myself away from this situation, but the grief had drained me. Since being in this hell hole, I felt nothing but pain and loss, and frankly, I was done with it.
We entered Van Wick’s lab where Lawrence threw me onto the table, applying the restraints. It was a standard procedure for my trails. I couldn’t scream or shout, I couldn't do a single thing; I was done with anything and everything centred around Van Wick.
“No fighting back today? You’ve finally cracked,” Lawrence chuckled in an attempt to rile me.
It didn’t work; he couldn’t rile me. I wasn’t sure how or what to feel. I knew what I should feel—the grief and anger—but I had bypassed it, and now it had diminished. I felt nothing. I simply asked myself, what was the point?
Lawrence left the room, and Van Wick entered, thanking him. The man pushed his glasses up his nose, looking deeply at me. Van Wick’s eyebrows were furrowed as he almost looked… hurt.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
At that, the emotions hit me, all at once. I felt everything, the loss of my mother, the loss of Hector, the loss of my freedom, privacy and humanity.
“You’re sorry for my loss?” I said slowly. “You, you caused my loss. You drove every damn ounce of my loss. Hector, my mother—”
“It was in the name of science, Blaire—needs must.”
“Fuck science and fuck you. If I ever get out of here, I am going to hunt you down and kill you, even if it is the last thing I ever do,” I seethed through gritted teeth, pulling at my restraints.
I wanted to hurt him, gut him, make him feel every ounce of pain I had felt. I wanted to ensure he never did it again and put him down like a mutt. He revolted me, every ounce of him rattled me with disgust.
“Hector was a dear friend—”
“Don’t you even dare say his name,” I snapped, my body shaking with anger. “Don’t you even dare say Hector was a dear friend. If he were a dear friend, you wouldn’t have tested on him, knowing too well this was a possibility. How dare you claim something like that when you murdered him.”
“Blaire, you are so melodramatic,” he said, waving it off.
In my anger, I had not noticed that he had prepared another IV sample with A-jax’s DNA. Quickly, he shoved it into my arm and set it trickling.
“You need not get attached,” he started, “attachment is a weakness. Treat every subject as invaluable in success but meaningless in failure.”
“Hector was not a subject, he was a human being! Hector was not meaningless, and he most certainly was not a failure. You are the failure; you failed him.”
The lights in the building started to flicker; the walls began to shake. I looked around, large crashes coming from above. I was taken back at the situation, we didn’t get earthquakes in England, so whatever was occurring was not natural.
“Blaire, you need to calm down—”
“It’s not me,” I snapped, panic filling my pores as the shaking intensified, the sound of the metal structure creaking.
I was not causing the shaking of the building, the crashes above and the flickering of the lights. Suddenly, as if it was a chain reaction, each light blew, sending out sparks. Van Wick ducked, and I turned my head to the side. Lawrence burst into the room, almost losing his footing.
“Lighting just hit the building, obliterating the top floors. The foundations are cracking, and the building is going to collapse. One of your lab rats has freaked—we need to get out of here.”
Loud crashes sounded, and I heard screams in the distance. To the right, a ceiling tile hurdled towards the floor, smashing, sending shards across the lab.
“Round them up,” Van Wick demanded.
“We don’t have time—”
“Round them up, I said,” the old scientist shrieked.
“I’ll get the dead one; he won’t put up a fight. Time is too precious to fight with one of the ones alive.”
“Fine,” Van Wick snapped. “He will have to do—we can extract everything we need from his DNA. Leave the others.”
Lawrence quickly scampered away to collect Hector. Van Wick looked down at me, stroking my face. “You know I can’t let you go, you’ll fight me and try to save your friends. It’s a shame, Blaire. You have such potential; one day you would have been marvellous.”
More tiles rapidly fell, while the countertops shook. I watched as vial after vial of Van Wick’s research fell to the floor spilling the contents across the ground. He darted past, heading for the door.
“Let me go!” I yelled, furiously tugging at the restraints. “It doesn’t have to be like this!”
He paused at the door frame, turning to look at me. “Oh Blaire, but it does.” At that, the older man rushed away, out of sight, leaving me to my death.
Chapter Nineteen
Continued
“Blaire!” There was a soft voice, familiar but faltering, floating away with the range between myself and
the one calling.
“Atlas, hurry, we don’t have much time—if you can’t find the girl in the next two minutes then we have to leave her behind, so I recommend if you want to find her, you get a move on,” a second voice roared, it was much hasher and sterner than the first; it did not inspire the same homely feeling.
“Fuck you, Kenji,” the familiar voice was discordant; the words laced with determination.
I wanted to call out. I wanted to scream as a small part of me realised the male voices were here for me, although I couldn’t. I was trapped, my brain alive, and my body dead, so screaming was not a possibility.
“Holy shit,” the voice was loud and close. “Kenji, I found her, I have her!”
I heard the shuffle of footsteps, followed by a gust of air as the body approached. A loud sigh of relief sounded as I felt arms lifting me. The smell of comfort came like it was familiar, yet I wouldn’t know. I remembered nothing; it was all a blur except what happened, what they did.
