Found in Amber

by Esther Rabbit

  “You’re not my equal Zoey. You’re so much better than I’ll ever be.” His palms crashed against the plasin as if he meant to get closer.

  “It’s not about saints or sinners. It’s not even about being from different worlds. It’s about inclusion. Love should make you worry enough to have that person on board with everything! You sit, you talk, you make choices… together.”

  “We already established that was wrong of me. I had to act fast if I wanted a standing chance for us. There was no time.”

  “There were six months between your killing slash altering spree and the day you left me! Six. Months. And you know what I did?” She thrust her fingers in her hair in a mad move. “I projected all those feelings onto the next savior.” An incredulous, hysterical laugh followed. “I fell in love with Jasper in a matter of days! Days!” And her knuckles hit the plasin again. “It’s not an excuse, but our foundation was broken to begin with. I was infatuated with you, James. And I look at you now and recognize every line on your face, but the way I see you today has nothing to do with how I did before. We’re all sinners here! How can I judge you when I too hid everything from you? It’s like a case of bad Karma—I tried to play you, and I too got played!” Every movement in her body was hysterical; she twitched and sniggered in a way that was not hers.

  “The difference here Zoey, is that I knew. I knew I’d doomed us to failure when I decided for the both of us and I knew how you felt about Jasper.” He propped his forearm against the glass above his head. “Players always get played, don’t they?” The question was directed at himself more than at Zoey, but she responded by folding her arms across the chest.

  “So you see why I can’t look you in the eye and lie anymore.” She took a steady breath aligning her frame with his. “I believe in your intentions—”

  “The road to hell is paved with them, right?” It was his turn to pull the bitter card.

  “It is. But I’m done with the lies. And I so mean it this time. I don’t do politics, James. I’m sorry if at any point in time I led you on or gave you the impression we were going to get back together. And I still care about you, but…”

  “You talk too much.” A soft smile took over his lips. “And you don’t owe me an explanation. We’re on the same side, Zoey… well, maybe not in this particular setting.” His fingers fanned the air, pointing to the current layout as he turned to the side. “It’s true it all started with you, but even for me it has evolved to more than a gracefully enhanced hybrid and Benedict Arnold incarnate.” James’s tone came charged with the same British charm she was so familiar with, the same playfulness toying on the edge of truth disguised as a joke.

  Tears stung her eyes for a reason still unknown. Maybe he just wanted to ease her guilt, or make her last days cushy, but against all odds, the trust she had in James didn’t falter. There was something noble underneath all that conceited façade he pulled off in front of an audience. And he did have one. She swallowed her truth and nodded. There were still plenty of things she wanted to tell him, but he was right—she talked too much. All teachers did, it was a professional flaw and in this case, a weapon to fight against the crazy jitters sweeping over her in uncontrollable waves.

  γ

  On the other side of the universe, in a time loop big enough to hold her inner turmoil, Sam hugged her knees to her chest and listened to the sound of that darn unpractical tub filling. Emma was in the bathroom, not feeling much like having a conversation either. So she waited patiently behind closed doors. Not that Sam could ever blame Emma for the silent treatment. If anything, these unexpected extraterrestrial encounters only made Sam think more of Vince and how she treasured having the world’s greatest dad. He was his own person, he knew what to do even when life had turned against him. It was hard feeling like her father’s daughter right now, so she squeezed her eyes shut and thought about the next best thing: the smell of freshly cooked bacon. Some people had yoga, others recited mantras—Sam brought herself to a state of bliss by relishing in the memory of smell.

  Bacon... She inhaled the vapors of the sizzling image materializing in her head. Crispy bacon... Her shoulders straightened instinctively and her eyes opened wide in response. She bolted off the bed and out of the room, taking the five necessary steps until Alex’s door. And then she knocked as if she was purposefully trying to take the door down.

  “What can you possibly want now?” It only took that split second to burst in through the cracked door and invade what Alex loved more—his privacy. “Look, it’s been a very long day, I just need a few hours of sleep and then whatever it is, we’ll discuss it extensively in the morning.” Bleary-eyed, he failed to notice Sam had no intention of leaving. “You have my word.”

  “I don’t need your word right now.” Before he could make sense of anything, she threw herself at his lips as if they held the answer. Even on her tiptoes, she barely reached so she locked arms around his neck. He froze, eyes wide, unsure how to react. Her hands were everywhere. She came in dressed in a tank top and underwear. He should have known there was no such thing as polite distance with Sam.

  “Stop!” His fingers took ahold of her shoulders in a desperate attempt to unglue her from his body. This was going to be a hard one, seeing how her eyes sparkled with the type of unholy intentions he feared. He studied her intently, gathering his words as he brushed a hand over his still baffled face. “Look, this is not what you want.” Alex exhaled loudly, unsure where to go from here.

  “Trust me, I just need to blow off some steam, it’s not personal.” Watching her take off her socks in under a second numbed the words in his mouth. She thrust her hands underneath his shirt, surprised at the hardness of his abs. Alexandre’s sleepy eyes and messy wild hair only added to the attractive factor. He just needed to stay quiet and follow his instincts for a change. “Desperate times, desperate measures, right?” She pushed him onto the bed and came atop like something fierce.

  Somehow, this nonsense felt nice and when her lips came on his this time around, he gave in and it felt hot and soft, right and wrong. “Sam…” he panted as he released her lips “this is reckless.” He brought himself into a sitting position with Sam still in his lap. “And I know necessity is the mother of all appetites but we need to keep our heads in the game. What you really want is comfort, not sex. Mezin’s arriving tomorrow morning and we have to decide where to go from there.” He propped his arms behind his back in case she’d push him down again.

  “You wanna know what I think?” She spoke against his lips, digging for another kiss. “I think you’re scared because I’m not made of wires.” All he felt was the pull of her thighs, her fingers running cold and going places under his shirt. He closed his eyes and felt her closer for a second before snapping out of it.

  “Look… I said no…” he pulled back from her lips “and I’m sure tomorrow morning you’ll thank me for not allowing this to happen, you’ll see.”

  An exasperated sigh later, she untangled herself from him. There was a good reason she didn’t get involved with anyone from work at The D.C. Why should June feel any different? “For the record, this doesn’t make us pals!” Hopping off, she gave him a full view of her behind, just to confirm what he was missing out on.

  “Oh, I know.” A shy smile followed. “And for the record, I will regret this later.”

  She smiled too on the way to the door. “Good.” What was I thinking? She’d never admit it, but somewhere in the deepest, darkest corner of her ego, she found herself more hurt than pleased by the outcome.

  γ

  Plasin units were a lot more complex than Rufus had imagined. Lilou and Etienne had trained the hybrids into using them properly, so they wouldn’t starve to death or shit their own pants whilst in captivity. Tapping any side of the box twice rendered the surface matte. Tapping it three times made a stainless steel looking toilet emerge from the floor. A smart one too, as it took butt hygiene to a whole new level. Three more taps and off it went where it came from.
Four taps brought food and water from yet another hidden compartment, and so on.

  “You’re awake.” Zoey’s voice startled him. He could barely make out Mia’s outline given the many layers of plasin between his unit, Zoey’s and hers. “James wants to speak to us.”

  “Riveting.” Rufus imitated his British accent and rolled his eyes mockingly. Whatever the bastard had to say, it couldn’t be good. He couldn’t get any shut eye either, but kept his eyes closed and pretended for Mia’s sake. He wouldn’t be the one giving her yet another thing to worry about. Jasper had Rufus’s thoughts tangled in a sorry-ass mess. So far, optans were in their largest proportion sneaky, treasonous asshats except for Alex and Lilou. Of course, Alex was now a million miles away and Lilou barely spoke the minimum to make sure they had some piffling insight on the use of the alien shit-throne. Who was to say she wouldn’t give in to the dark side if the Alliance pushed the right buttons? After all, pretty blue eyes aside, she wasn’t one of theirs. She’d never be one of theirs. It was then and there when he made a mental note not to trust another optan ever again. If Jasper’s plan had been to lock them together so they could turn against each other, it sure had potential.

  He didn’t buy Etienne’s change of heart nor his melodramatic speech about knowing what was going on between Zoey and Jasper. If anything, he still had Mia. Zoey on the other hand, had been served enough bullshit by two back-stabbing assholes.

  Jasper. The petty weasel had looked him in the eye and promised everything was going to be okay. Then he knocked him out of his socks.

  Before his thoughts wandered any farther, Rufus heard Etienne’s voice loud and clear. “Plasin units are imprisonment methods for a maximum of two days according to optan law.” Rufus fixed his eyes on him, frowning. “I bet no authority except for the Minister, Chancellor and a few assigned soldiers even know we’re down here, so this may take a while longer.” He concluded.

  Rufus heard Zoey loud and clear when she said Jasper and crew probably debated on how they were going to use them to their advantage, so death was not imminent at least. “Why haven’t they made any contact?” he asked, glancing from Etienne to Lilou.

  Again, it was Etienne who answered. “Rufus, I need you to listen to me! I don’t know how much time we have, but the plasin is blocking out our enhancements which means I cannot shatter the glass, Lilou can’t portal out of here, neither can Mia. They also have ears and eyes on us, so listen to me carefully. Zoey just confirmed the glass is immune to her rays.” Rufus was not one to await an invitation, so he watched how under his mental command Etienne headbutted the plasin.

  “You were saying?” Rufus rubbed his palms together. He’d gladly watch Etienne headbutting the glass into oblivion, but he had a point.

  When Etienne’s fingers reached his head, there was a nicely sized bump adorning his forehead. He spoke under his breath, eyeing Rufus like the seventh wonder. “Plasin is not a dime a dozen, so they can’t patch the whole area with it. But they do have to interrogate us sooner rather than later, so they’re bound to make contact.”

  Rufus was quick to catch on and shook his head as he spoke. “You’re well aware I can only take over one mind alone outside of this box and Jasper knows this.” Rufus broke. “If he had the brains to orchestrate this, he’s not going to stumble over such details.”

  “If there’s a chance, no matter how small, you have to be quick enough to seize it, and that goes for all of you. Whatever chance you get out of the box, wield your enhancements, fight back. You never know when it’s going to be your lucky shot and if that moment comes, make sure whatever you do, you concentrate all your efforts on getting Mia out. She’s the one who can go back and alert the others. We need to keep them out of here.” Etienne switched his glance to Lilou. “And you should know better, you weren’t trained to mope around like this!”

  “Either you’ve been around humans for too long or you’re deliberately leading them on.” Lilou slammed her boot against the glass. It thumped under the pressure of her foot enough for the rest to jump at the noise. “Mia can’t portal into the time loop, she’s not authorized to. Only Jasper, Alex and myself have access to it. It’s over! We’re over, can’t you see?”

  “Mia can portal to Earth. All she needs to do is send a message to Zoey’s phone, Alex still has it. With all the conundrum going on, Lilou missed that vital piece of information—the phone. She didn’t dare hope, though. Escaping plasin was impossible and they were running out of time.

  Zoey dared a peek at Lilou. Crouched on the floor to Etienne’s left, she was either processing the information or staring blankly at nothing. “Please, Lilou,” Zoey spoke. “Please come back to us.” They all needed her more than ever. If there was anyone to trust in a war such as this one, it was Lilou, but not this gloomy, lackadaisical version of her. Seeing this unrecognizable version of a warrior was alarming. Pressing her forehead against the glassy surface, Zoey sighed. “I think I have an idea.” She said, thrusting a fist against the plasin. It had worked the first time around. She pulled at her sleeves to bare her forearms and launched against the glass like a rabid animal. Mia bounced up with all the terror her face could muster. James caught on, pressing a finger against his lips in Mia’s direction.

  In a matter of seconds, Zoey’s blood stained the glass. His lips twisted in a painful grimace. Jaw clenched, he threw a side punch at the glass. Watching Zoey hurt herself like that brought out the worst in him. Her face wasn’t even visible now, just the shadow of her bloody arms staining the surface of the box with every beastly snarl. Mia cupped her mouth in horror. Rufus had already covered his eyes. He was probably crying. Zoey’s screams only got louder.

  He shifted his attention to Lilou, recognizing guilt in her stare. Impotence witnessing the grimness of the act itself. Hurt every time Zoey clawed at the glass. Locking eyes with Rufus, Etienne spoke without words. They both prayed for someone to open the door to the other side. Anyone.

  An impervious silence fell as everyone’s eyes moved to Zoey’s plasin unit. Both hands were propped on the glass in front of Etienne and he could see her legs. She was shaking. He brushed his fingers over his mouth, fighting the urge to tell her to stop. If Jasper came through yesterday, maybe he would today as well and since Rufus’s enhancement still worked, he could get ahold of him. If only it worked. But something felt wrong. Etienne squeezed his eyes shut, shaking a weird feeling of numbness away. On the other side, he watched Rufus crumple to the floor. Then Mia. Then everything went black.

  “If you wanted to get my attention, you could’ve just called, you know.” Jasper’s voice came from behind. She turned on unsteady heels, lightheaded. She wanted to punch him so bad, her fists were itching. On second thought, she couldn’t really feel her fingers anymore, so she glanced at her hands. Her fingers were twitching in a dance of their own. The blood that was still in her, pounded at her neck and temples with a rage she thought she was incapable of. The bastard looked so well rested, with his perfect man-bun in an annoyingly flawless blonde swirl atop his head. No dark circles under his amber eyes, no guilt eating at him for the horrors he’d done. She’d gladly peel his eyelids off given the chance.

  The chance! Looking over her shoulder at Rufus’s cell, she gasped seeing him unconscious. Her eyes widened in dismay. On the other side, Mia looked like she was in a deep sleep, so she turned around, rubbing a dripping sleeve against the plasin. Damn fucking blood! She cussed, seeing how difficult it was to actually wipe it. James was down too. Shit! Panic rose in her chest. She swallowed hard and turned to face him.

  What came out of her throat was an inhuman scream as she launched herself for his neck. Never in her twenty-four years had she felt capable of hurting another being. Until now. Of course, Jasper made sure she’d collapse in yet another unceremonious pose at his feet. Frozen. Because that’s exactly the kind of coward he was. This time though, half of her body was on the other side of the wall. She hit her chin and bit her tongue a little in the fall, just t
o complete the macabre zombie image.

  Just perfect. #instagood

  Because real life was exactly this fair, and all the bullies got a front seat to the end of the world. Her world, with everyone she loved in it.

  “I’m only going to say this once and I hope you get through that thick head of yours, this is the last time I’m going to be healing you.” She felt the warmth spreading through her fingers and forearms. “If you want to go back in there and slit your own throat after this conversation, be my guest, but you should think twice if you value your friends.” Jasper’s tone was abrupt as he pulled her body into the bigger room. She heard his footsteps and the sound of the door sliding behind her. The coolness of the floor felt good against her face, so good she’d close her eyes if she had any control over her eyelids. Aside from the high definition view of the floor, she was still able to smell, hear and feel… her shoes being removed. Jasper’s hands lifted her off the floor and pointed her to another plasin unit. A bigger one. “This is a shower.” His mouth was pressed to her ear. “It’s where convicted optans wash before being terminated, so your enhancements are useless in it and I’m wearing my uniform.” He carried her to the shower as if she was made of air and dumped her in. As soon as the door closed, she crumbled against the floor. “Water’s going to run in seconds, so I suggest you take your clothes off and scrub that blood off.”

  As if the whole situation hadn’t been humiliating enough. This sure felt like her own walk of atonement. Sure, she was no Cersei Lannister and these were certainly not the streets of King’s Landing. Her hair hadn’t been shorn and she wasn’t about to go buck naked in front of a kingdom. Just the one she would have followed to the end of every single world in this forsaken universe. And just like Cersei, she’d show no more weakness.