Anywhere But Here (The Starborn Ascension) (28 page)

“You can't take her anywhere,” Stephen says.
 

“If you didn’t want me to take her, then why did you show her to me?” I ask. “Why did you bring me here instead of just sending me on my way?”
 

“Because you made it to the maternity ward all by yourself and back to the entrance without a scratch,” he says. “That takes talent.”

“I’ve been on the road a lot,” I say.
 

“We could use a person like you here,” he says. “I want to be open and honest with you. No, Jessi is not here, but her daughter is.”

“Then I should tell Robert Paxton about her,” I say.
 

“I don’t know who this man is, or what Crestwood is like, but I can promise you that we offer protection,” Stephen says. “I brought you to Lydia and Evie because I want you to know that I’m not lying to you. You’ve got an honest bunch here that really cares about one another. You can offer us your skills and we can offer you protection.”

“But you don’t even know me,” I say. “You don’t know what kind of person I am.”

“I know you are skilled,” he says. “I know that you’re willing and able to go on missions.”

I look down at Evelyn and she smiles back at me. What if
this
is the new start that I need? What if I
don’t
take Evelyn back to Paxton? What if I stay with these people? It seems secure enough, though not nearly as comfortable and nice as Crestwood.

“Am I allowed to have a gun?” I ask.
 

Stephen laughs at me with an eyebrow raised. “Everyone carries a gun if they are old enough. Of course you will be allowed to carry a gun.”

Elkhorn is not the ideal location. There are so many things that can go wrong. It seems that most of their protection consists of a flimsy wall and the hope that most raiders won’t come near the Epicenter because of its past. These are weaknesses that will be their undoing someday.
 

But not today.

I look into Evelyn’s smiling eyes. Her true grandfather is waiting for her even though he doesn’t know of her existence.
 

My thoughts are broken when we hear a crackling from the radio headset. “Unplug the headset,” Stephen says. Lydia does as he commands and a muffled voice says something unintelligible.
 

“Can…hear…? …is …, ov…”

“Red Falcon, this is Home Base, do you read?” Stephen says over the radio.
 

There is a long static noise before a voice calls out from the other end. It’s such a low tone, I can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman.
 

“Is this Home Base?”
the voice asks clearly.
 

“Yes,” Stephen says, seemingly not recognizing the voice.
 

Lydia stands next to Evelyn and holds her close to her side, staring me in the eyes as if to dare me to try and take her away. Evelyn still stares up at me, smiling brightly.
 

“Home Base,”
the voice says,
“Red Falcon has been compromised. They are my prisoners, but I am willing to make a deal.”

Stephen swears loudly, raising his hand to throw the radio in frustration, but thinks better of it. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Where are my scouts? What kind of deal are you talking about? Who is this?”

There is a long silence from the other side of the radio, but finally it crackles to life.
 

“There will be plenty of time for discussion. For now, keep the transmission open.”

“Who is this?” Stephen repeats.
 

Another pause.
 

“You can call me Shadowface.”

I sit on the floor against the wall while Scarecrow stares at me down his sharp nose and reveals his crooked, yellow teeth as he smiles. I want to kill him. He took the one I loved away from me forever. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel fear. I want him to die.

He and the other raiders got to me before I could get up. I don’t know what happened to the others, but I hope that they got away in time. I guess, I
know
that they did because what happened in the vision hasn’t happened yet. But this is the warehouse. I recognized it on the way in before Scarecrow’s men threw me into this small room. I can hear the storm raging outside, a sign of things to come.
 

I stare up at Scarecrow as he paces the floor in front of me.

“You have something I want,” he says. “You stole it from the SUV.”

“I don’t have it,” I say. “Your men already searched me.”

Left to right, right to left he paces. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette and lights it, puffs of smoke clouding up the room. “Which means one of your people has it then. Isn’t that right, Waverly?”

Hearing him say my name sends shivers down my spine. How does he know it?

“Sorry about killing your boyfriend,” he says with a grin. The ashy glow of his cigarette illuminates his eyes like a demon as he sucks in the poisonous air. “He should’ve kept his mouth shut.”

“You didn’t have to kill him,” I say, feeling for the chain and diamond ring under my shirt. “All we wanted was to pass through.”

“Wrong place, wrong time,” he says. “We wouldn’t be in this situation right now if we hadn’t met that day. Personally, I’d rather not have to chase you all over the country just for a dinky little thing.”

“How do you know my name?” I ask.
 

“Heh. I was wondering when you were going to ask. I got a call from my good friend Mr. Paxton. Told me you were on the way. He also told me something very interesting about you.” He sucks in more smoke and blows it toward me. “He told me that you can see the future. Just by a simple touch.”

My insides turn to ice and I look away, cursing Gilbert in my mind.

He laughs a greedy, sinful laugh that gives me cold chills. “So, it’s true then. You
can
see the future. I’ve heard of things like this. My boss…Paxton’s boss…told us to keep a watch out for people like you. Calls you the Starborn or some craziness like that.”

My face contorts into a confused stare, but I don’t look up at him. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction that I acknowledge him any longer.
 

“I’ll figure out a way to get that cylinder from your friends soon enough,” he says. “Right now, I want to test something out with you.” He opens the door and shouts. “Joe, get in here!” He lets it close as he walks closer to me, laughing. He sucks on the cigarette one last time before tossing it to the floor. In a second, Joe opens the door.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Get on your knees, and give your hand to Waverly here,” he says. “I’m trying to test something out.”

I think I’m getting sick. I don’t need the ability of foresight to know what Scarecrow is about to do. Joe looks at him with a confused look, but does as he says. He reaches his hand out to me but I keep my hands to myself, looking up at Scarecrow.
 

“Touch his hand,” Scarecrow says.

“No.”

He takes a deep breath and rolls his eyes. “Touch his hand, or I’ll make you.” He slowly reaches behind his belt and pulls out a handgun. “I don’t have to threaten your life to make you. A kneecap. A shoulder. It doesn’t matter. Touch his hand.”

Joe seems to look as nervous as I feel, but he holds his hand out steadily. I swallow hard and press my hand against his palm. A white light flashes before my eyes.
 

I see myself, the Waverly of the future, crying, holding her sides she’s sobbing so hard. There is Scarecrow, and then there is Joe.

“What did you see?” Scarecrow shouts.
 

“You’re going to shoot him,” she whispers.
 

Boom!

Joe falls to the floor, blood oozing from his head wound.
 

The white light flashes again and I feel the tears form in my eyes.
 

“What did you see?” Scarecrow whispers.
 

I can’t stop the tears. I don’t know Joe from anyone, but I don’t want to see him murdered right in front of me. The tears flow quickly and I start to heave. The heaves turn into sobs and I start to hold my sides. I know this is what I just saw, and I want to change something but I can’t.

“What did you see?” Scarecrow shouts.
 

“You’re going to shoot him,” I say softly.
 

Boom!

I close my eyes tightly, having already seen what Joe looks like with a bullet hole in his head.
 

“So it works,” Scarecrow says. “Do it to me. I want you to tell me my future.”

“No,” I say.
 

“You will do it,” he says. “Don’t make me repeat myself.” He holds out his hand to me, waiting for me to grab it.
 

“What if it’s bad?” I say. “You will be angry with me if I give you bad news.”

“You are giving me the power to know what I need to change,” he says. “If I can know the future, I am the master of it.”

If only that were true
, I think to myself.
 

I bite the bullet and reach out to touch Scarecrow’s hand. He pulls back briefly. “The truth, now. You hear me?”

“I understand.”

I think it’s the vilest thing to touch Scarecrow’s hand. I want to bite off his finger or grab his gun away and start shooting, but I know such an act would just get me killed.
 

My hand touches his and the light returns.
 

I see my future self standing on a metal walkway on the second floor of the warehouse, a railing on both sides of her to keep her from falling into the crowd of hungry greyskins below. She’s holding a crowbar, walking toward Scarecrow at the end of the walkway.
 

He smiles at her bitterly. He holds up his gun, points it at her and pulls the trigger. The click tells her that it’s empty. Scarecrow holds the gun in the air and shrugs. “I guess you have me cornered.”
 

He runs at Waverly and tackles her to the floor. The greyskins seem to be screaming for their blood. She tries to shove him off with the crowbar but he hits her, grabs at her. Somehow, he snaps her chain off her neck and he jumps back laughing.
 

“Did your pitiful boyfriend give you this?” Scarecrow shouts, the ring dangling in front of his face.

“Give it back,” Waverly says.
 

He now holds the chain over the side of the walkway, threatening to let the ring fall into the mass of greyskins. She stands for a moment, breathing heavily.
 

“Give me the crowbar,” he says.
 

She drops it to the floor and charges after him. In a fury, she reaches for the chained ring. She claws at his face, neck, and eyes until they both fall to the floor. She rips the chain from his hands and clutches it tightly. Scarecrow gives her a swift kick in the gut and she goes tumbling over the side. In the last second, she’s able to grab onto the side of the walkway. One hand holds her above the greyskins below and the other clasps the ring in her palm. When he grabbed the ring, Scarecrow was trying to take Lucas away from her again, but she didn’t let him.
 

Scarecrow pushes himself up from the walkway and starts hitting her fingers.
 

“No!” she shouts out.
 

“Waverly!” the voice is Ethan’s. He runs toward Scarecrow from the other side of the walkway and tackles him. He lifts a knife into the air and stabs Scarecrow through the neck and chest, over and over.
 

And just as Ethan is about to pull her up, she feels something grab onto her ankle. She looks down and sees a greyskin pull on her and sink its teeth into her leg, ripping away muscle and flesh. She screams out in horror.
 

I can’t become one of them.
 

The light flashes and I feel too stunned to say anything as Scarecrow stares at me. I can’t help but feel for the chain around my neck. Am I really going to be so stupid? Am I going to let him affect me like that? I think back to the vision of Gilbert’s future and remember that I was in it. He talked to me. I was alive! Unless…unless the vision of Gilbert was to happen before what I just saw with Scarecrow. Or, perhaps in Gilbert’s vision, I’m dying and that’s why I’m standing so close to Ethan. He’s supporting me.
 

Either way, I have so far been unable to change the future and that thought sobers me. Perhaps I am about to join with Lucas in the afterlife. If today is the end, then so be it. At least Scarecrow is going down with me.
 

“What did you see?” he asks.
 

“I can’t control what I see,” I say.
 

“I don’t care. What did you see?”

“I saw you as an old man,” I lie. “You were on your deathbed. People surrounded you.” I looked at the cigarette butt on the floor. “You were coughing. Wheezing. Cancer, I think.”

“Heh,” Scarecrow seems amused by this. “Better cancer than one of those greyskins, I guess. How do I know you aren’t lying?”

“You don’t.”

He chews the inside of his lip as if he’s thinking about something. I can’t tell if he wants to try to kill me or keep me around, but a frantic knock at the door interrupts his thoughts.
 

“Sir,” a man says, “we’ve got greyskins getting into the warehouse.”

“Greyskins, how?”

“We think it’s the others that got away,” he says. “They’re opening doors and making all kinds of noise to draw them in.”

“Why didn’t you stop it?” Scarecrow says angrily.
 

“There’s only a few of us, sir,” the man says. “But they’re coming in fast. We’ve got to get to higher ground.”

Scarecrow lets out a curse and grabs my arm, dragging me to my feet. We run out of the room and into a narrow hallway. At the end of the hallway we go up a flight of metal stairs to a door. On the other side of the door I see a giant open room. I look at the metal walkways that spread out all over the room, wondering which one I will dangle from. As the greyskins crawl in like bugs, I wonder which one will sink its teeth into my leg, setting me up for an illness that will destroy me in the next twenty-four hours. I feel numb at the thought. In this world, there was always a possibility that my life would end like this. I just never wanted it to be this way.