Lost in Amber

by Esther Rabbit

  Emma returned to her senses with a choke and swallowed hard.

  “I’m so sorry, Emma.” Zoey dropped to her knees to catch her. “I am too selfish to do this without you.” She eyed Jasper next. “What did you do to her?”

  “I showed her what happened last night. She saw what I saw from the second I met you,” he replied, helping Emma up with one hand.

  “No more interruptions, Zoey. This is one more life that I have to worry about and that makes one too many. This phone call is by far the best thing that could have happened today. At least now we know where he’ll be, and he’s given us more than enough time to prepare.”

  γ

  Mia was back to the purgatory that was her room, located just below the study Sam was being held captive in.

  Tomorrow everything should be over. She pulled the ribbon out of her hair and the sweater over her head.

  She walked toward the shower, leaving a trail of clothes, shoes and in no time, she turned the water on and rested her hands on the sink, waiting for the water to warm. Her body wore as many bruises as tattoos, so much so that they blended into each other.

  Stepping into the shower, she found the water was not warm enough. Nothing had ever been warm enough here. She took the pins out of her hive and dropped them one by one in the shower—she didn’t care they would rust. Not anymore.

  “Can I join you?” Beck’s voice came from inside her bedroom.

  “Sure.” Mia closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to the tiles. There was no way out.

  He soon walked in and stepped into the shower with her.

  “I’m going to find it harder than I imagined,” all she could feel was the way Beck pressed his naked body to hers, “letting you go.” He cupped her breast and tore his way inside her.

  A short moan erupted as she felt him thrust in, her fingers arching against the tiles, her face slowly sliding up and down, pressed in the rush of his movements. He groaned and pulled himself out only to cup her with his fingers, sliding them in, plunging at her insides deep and hard and fast. Then he spun her around to look at her.

  “Your body responds just fine.” He brushed his thumb over her nipple and circled it. It got harder. He got harder.

  She grabbed him and shoved him inside as he slammed her into the tiles, lifting her thighs. Again and again, fast and hard, until her body made way to new bruises against his pressure.

  He then watched her collapse against the shower floor. This time, she didn’t try to cover herself. She gave up.

  “We must get Rufus today. Whatever it takes.” He threatened and stepped out of the shower, running his fingers over his scalp and wrapping a towel around the waist.

  He didn’t stop to look at her. Not even once.

  Mia’s voice was barely audible. “I found him. He’s in Geneva.” She pulled her knees to her chest before he took her words as an invitation.

  “Excellent. Without further ado, I shall begin the preparations.” There was an eagerness in his voice she had already anticipated.

  γ

  Zoey needed a minute to herself, so she took the floor of her walk-in closet after showering. Jasper was still talking to Emma in the living room and, contrary to what she had initially expected, Emma pulled herself through like a champion in less than fifteen minutes. There was no shock big enough to knock Emma down. Zoey pressed her knees to her chest and draped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. She promised herself she was not going to lose Emma nor Sam tomorrow. Whatever life meant, they made it count and she was prepared to fight back. She’d made her decision, and if life was ever going to get back to normal, she’d have her say in it.

  In a second, she was up grabbing a pair of black jeans and a green-and-yellow striped sweater. She pulled the sweater over her head and looked at herself in the mirror. Everything happened for a reason, but no reason was good enough to jeopardize the lives of the people she loved. Sure, she was missing puzzle pieces of Jasper’s story, but she could only bring herself to tackle one thing at a time.

  There was a knock and Emma’s slender figure made its way into the closet.

  “It’s going to be ok, Zoey. We’re going to be ok. All of us,” she stressed as she hurried to comfort Zoey, whose eyes were still teary. “I’m going to get this smudged makeup off my face and when I come back, you’d better have some war shoes ready for me.”

  “I love you.” Zoey buried her head in Emma’s neck.

  “I’m portalling the team from Geneva to your living room, Zoey.” Jasper announced, making his way to the closet.

  “Right. I’ll be ready in a sec,” Emma said and sprinted to the bathroom.

  Bending to strap her boots on, Zoey lifted her head to see Jasper all geared up and stepping into her private space. He wore dark jeans with a sort of unusual glow and an intricate, translucent belt made of what looked like flexible glass beaming in bits and places.

  The same translucent glass matched the soles of his black Chelsea boots. She watched him button his black waistcoat, which came together under the same glow, and work his fingers to straighten the collar of the white shirt.

  What other battle gear would he need considering that he could fight wars without getting his fingers dirty?

  Even his hair looked perfect.

  Of all the ways she could have been altered and all the powers she would have liked to have, not being able to forget was like a meaningless side effect by comparison.

  “What are you thinking?” He caught her eye in the mirror.

  “I’m thinking I have no fighting skills, no gear, nothing.” She sighed. “What are you thinking?”

  He crossed his arms, looking serious. “I didn’t imagine humans had such an avid interest in socks. Is that why this massive walk-in closet is nearly empty—are you hoping to fill it all with more socks?” He spun on his heels to face her.

  “I was dumped, Jasper! The empty shelves were his.” The word “dumped” stained her lips with a bitter taste. It was maybe the fifth time she’d said it out loud, yet couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

  “Oh, sorry about that…I didn’t mean to go there. Makes me wonder if I ever bumped into him in the elevator. Would’ve liked to see the inspiration behind such terrible music.” A smile escaped his lips as he further examined the shelves.

  “I’m sorry—how exactly would you deal with heartbreak?” Zoey felt defensive from her little spot on the floor. She didn’t have the energy to stand up and have an eye to eye conversation at this particular time.

  “I wouldn’t get my heart broken in the first place.” He was smug about it, too. “Statistically speaking, humankind is unfit for monogamy. Only 3 to 5 % of species found on Earth are monogamous.”

  “How is this relevant? The effort of going against your polygamous nature out of commitment to your partner is what makes us better human beings.” She scowled.

  “If it comes with such great effort, it means going against your nature. Wouldn’t it be easier to accept a relationship with a due date and save yourself the heartache?”

  “Because that’s probably how you do it on your planet, and therefore how they do it anywhere else feels wrong to you!”

  He was beginning to get used to her comebacks. “I never said that. Look, I’m trying to help here.” He raised his arms defensively.

  “So you did get your heart broken, huh?” She scanned his features to get a better read. For the briefest of moments, his eyes were lost in thought. He caught her gaze and crouched next to her, shoulder to shoulder.

  “Only once.” Jasper stared at the empty shelves in front of them. “In my defense, I was seventeen. You have no excuse at your old age.” A mischievous grin later, he could feel she was half-smiling, too.

  “How did you get over it?”

  “Training.” This was the last answer Zoey expected to hear. “She had enhanced strength and athletic skills. I just pushed myself to be better and finally defeated her in combat a year later.”

 
; She found herself struck by optan logic. “Wow,” she managed to blurt out. Joining a gym in order to kick James’s ass a year later did not sound like the remedy fit for her heart. Forgetting he ever existed on the other hand…

  “There’s more to who you are than you give yourself credit for…despite your awful, awful taste in music.” She almost felt the vibration of his laughter echoing in his chest as he gave her an encouraging shoulder bump.

  There was a lingering sense of safety in his presence, a sense of calm before the storm, and calm was all she ached for. She didn’t feel ready to unglue her limbs from the floor and pull herself up. But she just had to.

  “Let’s get you back to portalling people here.” She pulled at her sleeves, bouncing up in an over-confident move. Fake it till you make it.

  They made their way to the living room. It looked spotless.

  Emma’s doing. Only Emma would be more disturbed by mess than by an alien presence.

  “Ready?” Jasper’s eyes landed on Zoey’s one more time.

  She nodded.

  Two days ago she would have fainted at the thought. Two days ago, heck, even yesterday, life had a normality about it, the sort of predictable charm and sense she’d always known. This was not your average day nor your average neighbor, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of total loss of control. She had to push herself for who mattered most—Sam.

  Jasper pressed his hands together close to his chest. What initially looked like a praying position shifted as his hands were now parallel, holding a ball of pulsing blue light. It got bigger and bigger as his hands parted, swirling like a blue whirlpool until it reached the size of something round and slightly smaller than a door. Zoey watched the growing portal in awe as she felt Emma sneaking behind her, grabbing her shoulder, and sinking her fingers in. The pressure in the room changed as they felt their guts spiking and plummeting like on a rollercoaster. Emma couldn’t believe her eyes. This couldn’t have been a product of her imagination; this was as real as it got, and she silently swallowed her fear.

  There was another woosh and three people jumped through the portal, swift as ninjas.

  Zoey instantly recognized Rufus in khaki pants and white shirt, sleeves pushed up to reveal a thick translucent band around his wrist. His red beard was groomed in a ducktail style—a tapered chin and extended point at the bottom. Despite his statement beard, he held the innocence of a child in those plump cheeks and beady, hazelnut eyes. With a particular goofy gracefulness he moved forward, registering Zoey’s stare.

  Shit. She knew who he was, alright. He was the one who had offered to “take care of her,” the uninvited guest to their getting-cat-out-of-stomach rendezvous. And she was still staring.

  The other two guests wore gear similar to Jasper, same glass belts over what looked like dark blue coveralls. Optans.

  “I’d like you to meet Alexandre and Lilou, head strategists and colleagues from our base in Geneva. Zoey, you remember Rufus.” Jasper raised his eyebrows as he watched Rufus with the corner of his eye. “And this is her non-altered friend, Emma.”

  Zoey and Emma nodded, watching Rufus tittering awkwardly, rubbing his palms against his pants. While he went through different shades of embarrassment, the other two optans were seemingly unmoved. Only their aloof expressions gave away their nature. And just like Jasper, they looked perfectly human.

  “Where’s the rest of the team?” For one reason or another, Zoey’s definition of “team” encompassed a little more than two optans.

  “Six at the lab on Opt, another two tracking Beck, and the cream of the crop in your very living room,” he replied and made himself comfy on the couch.

  Alexandre was holding a remote made of the same glasslike material, working his fingers on it. He didn’t look older than thirty, yet there was something too serious about his face, too stern in his obviously tense jawline. Despite the pale complexion and dark ruffled hair, even despite his height, he did not look intimidating, possibly just displeased.

  In the midst of everything, Emma noticed his coveralls were much neater than Lilou’s, and he held his tall frame with a certain grace she couldn’t explain. Just like Jasper.

  Lilou, on the other hand, was small, delicate, her Asian features flawlessly complimenting her porcelain face.

  Optans can be Asian? Zoey didn’t voice the question; instead she took a closer look at Lilou’s ponytail and the glass earpiece sparkling in her left ear.

  She smiled back at Zoey while taking off her earpiece to give Jasper a nod, then quickly turned to the girls.

  “This is all a bit much for you at the moment, but unlike this one,” she teased, pointing to Jasper, “I have fought bigger wars and nastier beings.” She slapped his back jokingly, like your average-looking human. Except she wasn’t. Human Asians were not known to have blue eyes. And human blue eyes were nothing like Lilou’s.

  “Very uplifting.” Zoey sighed and hurried to extend a hand, wearing the best smile she could muster given the situation. Lilou shook her hand and pulled her over to kiss her cheeks playfully. She repeated the custom with Emma, who leaned over with a certain stiffness to return the greeting.

  “Alex, they will think you’re rude!” Lilou slapped Alexandre’s shoulder and he stiffened in return.

  “Good!” He threw Emma a death stare as he turned to Jasper, unable to keep his mouth shut a second longer. “What is a non-altered human doing here? Are you out of your damn mind?”

  “Feeling rebellious, Alex?” Jasper folded his arms and met him with a half-smirk. Emma swallowed. “They don’t get a lot of human contact at the lab, they’re both excited and terrified to meet you, Emma. The field experts are more accustomed to humankind, but they’re off tracking.” He threw an apologetic glance her way.

  Alex frowned, utterly displeased by the current display of events. “Excited?! I’d be excited to be where I belong and do things I’m supposed to instead of having to babysit an underdeveloped species for your entertainment! Do you even have clearance for this?”

  “Priorities have shifted, princess. And yes, the Chancellor approves.”

  Alex clenched his jaw, a visible vein throbbing at his neck as he exhaled. “I don’t approve of this! If anything happens to her, it’s on us!” That sentence alone made Emma cringe. Of course she was scared. She was downright horrified to have two aliens chit-chatting about dangers she hadn’t even stopped to consider.

  “You should at least get to know me before you alienate me, don’t you think? Pun intended, by the way!” The words condescendingly escaped her mouth, making Lilou flash her teeth and crinkle her eyes in laughter.

  “I like her! I really like her!” Lilou clapped, then waved a dismissive hand at Alexandre a mere second later as if saying, “don’t mind him.” They may have not been the same, but it was an absolute joy to finally get to know humans up close.

  “From what Jasper tells me, and Alexandre now confirms, we’re a primitive version of you.” Zoey eyed Lilou inquisitively.

  “No, that is so not true, you have all the freedom to develop who you really are without interference. You’re the real deal as far as I’m concerned and we screwed up so bad lately, but I promise we will do everything we can. It’s the reason we’re all here, to fix what can be fixed and get your friend and the others to safety.” Emma noticed Lilou was nothing but giddy and friendly despite her size, quite the opposite of Alex the Grinch. “Look, we’re all here because former ambassador Etienne messed up in the name of science and made colossal mistakes. We can’t bring back the people he’s killed as a consequence of his experiments, but we can save the remaining two and, hopefully, what’s left of his team.” Lilou took the lead as she placed her earpiece back on.

  Emma interfered, stepping out from behind Zoey. “So let’s say you manage to save Zoey and Rufus and the other two experiments—sorry Zoey—along with Sam, they will still have powers that do not belong to this planet. They will still be hybrids. What’s going to happen to them?” In Zoey
’s eyes, Emma was a natural-born leader—her perfect blonde bun, the way her torso came forward when she spoke, and how she didn’t seem one bit terrified to address aliens in person.

  Alex moved closer to Lilou and rested a hand on her shoulder. “We focus on one task at a time. How much do they know about Etienne’s mess?” Alex glanced back at Jasper and finally slid the glass device in his pocket.

  “Let’s see…” Zoey began. “Crazy alien ambassador slash scientist who felt he was destined to do greater things than observing the slow evolution of earthlings, so he started sneaking in foreign matter and experimenting on humans for his enhancement research, causing the death of over forty-two subjects out of whom five survived and are now human hybrids with optan DNA enhancements, and one by the name of Trenton Beck has become his assistant.”

  Jasper never took his eyes off her. She was unquestionably more assertive than he’d anticipated. He found himself staring at her fingers and the peculiar way she intertwined them while she spoke. She did that a lot.

  Alex ran a hand through his tapered hair before he spoke. “From the studies we performed on Rufus, his enhancements show traces of matter foreign to our own mixed with optan genome. We don’t really know yet if our own DNA sequencing reacted differently to humans, if it was otherwise altered in Etienne’s lab here before being implanted into you, or if we have a third problem.” He pursed his lips together in introspection.

  “What kind of third problem?” Emma frowned at the thought.

  “I’m certainly not about to discuss this with you, you lack the knowledge to follow this conversation.”

  “What would have been Etienne’s ultimate purpose?” Zoey pressed her fist to her mouth in anticipation, hearing Emma muttering under her breath.

  “That’s just it, the full answer stands with Beck now.” Jasper tensed. He clearly wasn’t satisfied with the lack of progress. “I’ll need a sample of your blood too, Zoey. We have a team working twenty-four seven on figuring this out. It’s been two weeks of testing Rufus’s blood and we got nothing.”