Taken By Choice (Taken Trilogy Book 3)

by Jessica Frances

  Harold comes in soon after Doctor Pratt has left, barking questions at me about my dreams. I answer him truthfully, not having anything to hide. They know everything about my dreams already, and I have no new ones waiting to come true. He asks about the frequency and if I notice any pattern on what causes dreams to come to me. I haven’t ever thought about that, but now I do. Lately, they’ve been more frequent, especially since I’ve been with Charlie. Either he’s helping me to have them—perhaps due to the safety I feel being with him—or it’s just because I have a lot more happening in my life now, and therefore, a lot more dangerous moments to foresee. I just give him the Charlie answer, though, hoping they’ll want me to dream and perhaps be forced into allowing me to see Charlie.

  I ignore the uneasy feeling I have as he attaches wires to my chest, arms and head. He tells me I must leave these untouched while I sleep, that I’ll be monitored. When he says this, he points to a camera I hadn’t noticed set up in the corner of the room against the wall. This creeps me out, however I bite down on my complaints.

  He injects me with a clear liquid while ignoring my questions on what he is giving me. I might have pushed the issue if I didn’t instantly become drowsy from it.

  I’m pulled into a fuzzy world where I can’t make out anything I see. I don’t feel asleep, but I know I’m not quite awake, either. I’m aware enough that, when I do wake up, I don’t feel like I’ve slept at all. In fact, I feel ill and don’t make it to the small bathroom attached to the room before I bring back up the soup and water I consumed earlier.

  Doctor Pratt is by my side instantly, helping me into the bathroom to clean up.

  Over what I assume is the next three more days, they try this three more times. I have no real concept of time in here, though. None of the attempts are successful, and each time I wake, I feel more exhausted and I can’t keep my food down. After the third day, Harold tells me that they’re going to stop to let my body rest, and to try to figure out why my body is rejecting the medication they’re injecting.

  When they then take enough blood from me that I fear I won’t have any left, I realize that I’ve become somewhat numb to the fact that they’re using needles on me; or at least, I have in this exhausted state.

  Thankful for the fact that I’m being given a night off from the drugs and non-sleep, I fall into a deep exhaustion that I know I’ll settle into for a long while. Of course, that’s before I’m brought closer to the surface by a real future dream.

  I open my eyes, my vision blurry as if I’ve been asleep for a long time. I’m surrounded by trees and rough terrain in a forest, seeing the beginning of light making its way through the treetops. I don’t recognize the area, and wonder briefly if I’m near the cabin back in Arkansas.

  I glance around myself, wondering why I’m dreaming about this place, if this is a fake dream. Maybe fake me and Charlie are camping?

  Then I notice I’m lying down next to someone, my head resting on their chest. Charlie. I sigh in my dream, allowing the presence of his chest moving up and then down to soothe me. Finally, a dream where I am me and I’m with Charlie. If we’re together and we’re out in a forest, then we must escape. So maybe we’re on the run, completely off the grid. Perhaps that should scare me, since I don’t have a handy bone in my body, yet I don’t feel scared. I’m simply relieved that we make it out of there. There must be a way.

  I smile, moving my head slightly, and then I realize the person I’m with has dark skin.

  Not Charlie.

  Why am I cuddling up to someone who isn’t Charlie?

  I try to force my arms away from this stranger, but I have no control of what I’m doing. My arms stubbornly stay where they are and I begin to panic. Why am I here? What is happening? Where is Charlie? Is this a real future dream?

  “Holls?” The stranger slurs the words, and I thankfully move away from him. I hate the excited feeling and relief that rushes my body looking down at this stranger. My mouth moves and forms words that I have no control over. This is definitely a future dream.

  “Ethan, you’re awake! Are you okay? What the hell did you do back there?” Who is Ethan? Why did he call me Holls?

  I feel fear and concern flood me, and I embrace them. Yes, be afraid of this person, get away from him. I need Charlie, not this man. I try to force myself away from him, but instead, my hand rests over his arm.

  I growl in frustration, or at least I try to.

  “Head… hurts,” he cries. I realize for the first time how bad this man looks. Sure, I have no idea what he normally looks like, but I can hardly miss the blood down his shirt and the sweat beading his forehead.

  “Your nose was gushing blood so badly. Were you hit? Are you okay now?” I ask him, crouching down lower to his face. In a panic I think I might be about to kiss him.

  I jolt myself away from the scene, losing the vision instantly.

  Chapter 6 – The First Time

  February 26th

  I wake up from that dream and notice my breathing is heavy; that I’m on the verge of a panic attack. Why was I dreaming about that man? What is he to me? Where is Charlie? Why are we out in the woods?

  So many questions bombard me and I don’t have a single answer to any of them. I feel betrayed by my own body, hating how I reacted to him in my dream. It’s not possible, there is no way I could ever feel anything more than what I feel for Charlie.

  I wish I knew how far into the future I was seeing. Is it because Charlie has changed? Because he doesn’t want me anymore after they brainwashed him? Do I move on?

  The idea of moving on from him makes me feel ill and I groan because I feel as though I’m going to be sick, again.

  I’m stuck with my thoughts for what feels like hours. This time I don’t have the aftereffects of the drugs to make the time go quickly, either. Every second that passes feels like it takes ten seconds and my fear is only replaced by boredom. I’m still not restrained to the bed, but in an effort to ensure Martha can’t accuse me of causing problems, I stay in my room.

  I think of Charlie and that mystery man, Ethan, until I’m tempted to punch a wall. Then my mind tortures me with memories of Dana dying in my arms, of Joel being shot in the head by Martha, and then of Charlie being shot with the dart, losing consciousness in front of me before being taken away. I hate that I’m not strong enough to do as Charlie has suggested and would tell me to do now; to overlap these images with happier ones. So instead, I count the small squares along the ceiling, twice. There are three hundred and sixty-eight.

  When my door finally opens, I glance over at it, expecting to see either Doctor Pratt or Harold. Instead I see Martha and immediately go on edge. I sit up straight in bed, fisting the sheets under me.

  “How are you feeling?” Martha asks, moving a chair from the side wall over to my bed and sitting down carefully, staring at me the entire time. She speaks kindly, but her death stare chills her words.

  “Fine. I’ve not caused any problems; when can I see the others?” I try to sound respectful, but I’m sure she can easily see my hatred for her.

  “Doc has informed me that you have not responded to the medication as we had hoped. It would seem they are back to the drawing board, however that isn’t a surprise; we knew it would be hit or miss to begin with.”

  “It’s not my fault, though, that it hasn’t worked. I couldn’t help it.” I fear she might be about to use this as a reason that I’ve disobeyed her.

  “I am aware of that. Doctor Pratt has informed me that you’ve been a model patient. I’m glad you’re finally able to listen to orders.”

  “Does that mean I can see Charlie now?” I sound pathetically hopeful.

  “Harold said that you are permitted to begin training with the others. There is not much use to keeping you here until they run more tests on their end.”

  “I’m leaving here?” Again, I’m hopeful. I swear these walls are retractable, they move them towards me just to make me feel claustrophobic and mess with me.<
br />
  “It depends. The monitors showed that you had an elevated heart rate at five this morning, however you were still sleep. You were obviously dreaming. If you can tell me what you saw, and don’t lie to me, then I can’t see why I should keep you from the others any longer.”

  I feel her eyes boring into me. I don’t have time to think of a believable lie. Besides, what I saw wasn’t important anyway, and I don’t want to risk lying and being kept from the others. So I tell her about Ethan, and that we appeared close.

  “Interesting.” Her gaze leaves me and then she pulls out a small tablet from her jacket and taps away at it quickly.

  “Who is Ethan?” I ask, trying not to sound so demanding, even though I’m scared of her answer.

  “He is a soldier training here and I believe he is scheduled to be your training partner.”

  “Partner? Why can’t I have one of the others?” I quickly ask, my heart beating faster now.

  “You are all assigned someone you don’t know. Right now, I think it’s best you train away from each other. Besides, Ethan is one of our best. You will learn a lot from him.”

  “Is he like us?” I wonder if he, too, has strange abilities.

  “No, until we can trust you again, we are keeping you separated from the others.”

  “Is that because you’re afraid we’ll tell them the truth about what you guys really are?” I snap, unable to stop myself.

  “You have no idea what you’re speaking of, and if you want to remain with the others, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself.” She glares at me, sending chills down my spine.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am.” I again try to sound respectful as I send up silent prayers that I haven’t ruined my chance to see Charlie.

  “Right now the others are just finishing up dinner, so I will take you to your room, which you share with Charlie.”

  “Charlie and I get our own room?” I gasp, a smile breaking out on my face.

  “Yes. We’re aware that regardless of whether we give you separate rooms, you would not adhere to that. So to prevent unhappy roommates, we’ve placed you together.”

  I nod, already imagining seeing Charlie again, and soon.

  “When we get to your room, I want you to stay there until tomorrow morning. You can see the others then. I don’t want any trouble. At the slightest hint that you are going to cause any, I will remove you from this place and you won’t ever see the others again. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good. Keep up.” She stands, already moving to my opened door.

  I rush out of bed, feeling sore at the sudden bout of exercise as I try to keep up with her. We move down a corridor full of closed doors and then out into an open medical area full of empty beds surrounded by medical equipment. She slams through the double doors and I only just avoid them slamming in my face.

  I see guards waiting right outside the doors, and more around the corner that we round to begin up a narrow staircase. She keeps a steady quick pace, and I’m breathing heavily by the time we make it up just the first flight. I had managed to work up my fitness back at the cabin when we trained for The Core and then maintained it for our mission to break in there. I couldn’t afford to be weak, not when Will and Charlie’s location was needed. Now though, I’ve just spent days in bed doing nothing except being fed drugs. I feel weak and back at square one.

  We pass two levels before Martha opens a solid steel door that opens up to stark white walls. The area is well lit and gives off the impression of being part of a hospital. It creeps me out, but I ignore my uneasy feeling, focusing instead on the fact that I’m even closer to seeing Charlie. After almost a month apart, I’m anxious to see him.

  Several shut doors lead from here, but Martha walks straight passed them and turns down a new hallway while I quickly follow behind her.

  “This facility is called The Mansion. You do not need to know where it is situated. You will be training with soldiers and you will cooperate. Behind all the doors on this hallway are bedrooms and you each share a room with one other person. Usually you have bunk beds, but we have arranged something more suitable for Charlie and yourself.”

  As Martha pauses outside of a closed door, I see it has the number eighteen written on it. “This hallway is mostly for men’s bedrooms; the other hall we passed is where the women reside. At the end of this hall are the male toilets and showers, however you will be expected to use the female area at the end of the opposite hallway. I trust Charlie can give you a guided tour of the areas tomorrow morning. There is a strict rule of no one out of their rooms past midnight and breakfast is served at six sharp. Failure to attend it is subject to punishment by your trainer.”

  I try to take everything Martha is saying in, but I can’t seem to process anything passed the knowledge that this will be my room with Charlie.

  “You will be required to talk to a psychiatrist regularly, and for now that will be me until I feel it is no longer needed. That is nonnegotiable. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I nod.

  Martha opens the door and allows me to enter before she closes it behind me. I look around the room; other than a bed and a dresser it’s incredibly plain and small. A small, square window is situated next to the bed where I see the darkening sky illuminating the room. If the sun rises from this direction I imagine it’s a good wakeup call in the morning. I gaze out the small window to see we’re three floors up, and there isn’t anything to break a fall if we tried escaping through it. Besides, I see a guard on duty outside, and it appears that he doesn’t move. He is most likely there to guard the area below our window.

  I push aside the dread at how we’re ever going to manage to get out of this place. Sitting on the bed, I allow myself to feel both nervous and excited to see Charlie. My legs bounce up and down while my hands tap my thighs. I try to sit still, but no matter how hard I try I go back to bouncing my legs. The last time I saw Charlie he looked like he was on P.A.G.E.’s side. Should I worry about his reaction to me? Will he even want me here?

  It must be at least an hour later that the door opens. I only need to catch a glimpse of Charlie before my legs take over. I spring into the air and rush over to him.

  “Charlie!” I gasp and then stop breathing as his arms encompass me so tightly it feels like my lungs give out.

  We stay like this for a while, not moving an inch from our embrace. Finally, he begins to pull back, but only enough to move my face into his hands. He’s careful not to touch my sore cheek, though.

  “You’re here, you’re really here! I’ve been so worried. When I saw what Stan did to you…” His voice hitches and my heart breaks at hearing his fear. “I didn’t know if you were okay and they wouldn’t let me see you. Are you okay?” His eyes linger on my face, anger flaring in his eyes. His jaw sets and I know it looks bad, but after days in medical, it finally looks worse than it feels. I can touch it now without it sending agony throughout my face.

  “I’m fine,” I try to assure him.

  “They didn’t hurt you anywhere else?” His eyes move down from my face, and even though he’s not looking at me with anything other than worry and anger, I feel like wherever his gaze lands it heats that part of my body.

  “No, they’ve just been running tests.”

  “Tests?”

  “They gave me a bunch of drugs to see if they’d help me dream of the future. They didn’t work, and they made me feel really sick. So they gave up. Well, for now.” I cringe when I realize that I’m sure I’ll have many more tests like that in my future until they master it.

  “They’ve been running tests on all of us, mostly just blood work and brain scans for now.”

  “They—they didn’t do anything else to you?” I ask, suddenly very afraid of his answer. What if he’s not aware of being brainwashed?

  “Just the tracking device, the fuckers,” he growls, moving his arm back to turn on the light and then showing me his mostly healed scar over his fo
rearm.

  My eyes blink at the sudden brightness of the room, but I see the small scar in the same place my own fresher scar is along my arm. I run my fingers over it, watching as goosebumps trail behind my touch.

  “It’ll make getting away from here impossible,” I state sadly.

  “Not impossible, just harder. We’ll find a way, I promise.” He gently wipes away the tears falling down my face, ones I didn’t even notice were there.

  “Are you sure you want to leave here?” I voice my fear, my heart sputtering as I wait to hear his response.

  “What do you mean? Of course I do.”

  I try to swallow over the lump situated in my throat. “It’s just, I heard what you were saying to those guys and…” I trail off, not sure if I want to hear the answer.

  “That was all a lie. I was just trying to gain their trust. I would never willingly join P.A.G.E., not for any reason. Will and I knew you’d be coming and we were trying to get out of here before you guys got the chance to try. I thought you’d rush it and end up getting caught, too. You shouldn’t have come for us.”

  “Are you kidding? We had to come for you. I missed you so badly that part of me doesn’t even care that we’re stuck here because I get to be with you,” I admit, hating myself a little for feeling that way. There shouldn’t be a single piece of me that is happy to be here.

  “I missed you, too.” He wraps his arms securely around me again, and I lean my head over his rapidly beating heart. It might be the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. “But you risked too much coming for us. I heard about The Core, Rose filled me in on it. That was too dangerous. You could have been killed.” His arms squeeze around me tighter.

  “But we weren’t. You’ve seen Rose? What about Blake?” I lean away from him, my legs too tired to hold me up, and I move over to our bed, sitting down on the edge. Charlie follows me and sits close enough that our sides meld together and his arm wraps across my back and rests over my hip, keeping me in place.