Archaic (24 page)

It was at the end of lunch as Jared walked me out of the cafeteria that I pulled him to the side.

"What happened?" I asked, wanting to know what had been said.

"Nothing, we just sorted out a misunderstanding," he explained vaguely.

"What misunderstanding?" I questioned further. I was getting annoyed because all I wanted was a straight answer.

"He told me there was nothing going on between the two of you and that he just considered you a good friend. I must admit I was angry this morning when I found out from Tyler that you got a lift with Andrew this morning. After what we'd discussed this weekend, I thought we were clear about where we stood with each other. Clearly I was wrong," he further explained.

"You hadn't made it clear at all. I didn't get a lift with Andrew this morning to make you jealous or anything like that."

He studied me for a moment.

"Okay, but in the future I'll be the one picking you up and dropping you off for school. It's my duty as your boyfriend," he stated in a teasing tone. Just the sound of the word boyfriend on his lips pulled at that part of me that felt more than I probably should. He took my hand and started to walk me to my next class.

"He also warned me," he added with a slight shake of his head, like what he was about to tell me he found slightly amusing.

"What did he say?"

"He told me that if I hurt you, he would beat the shit out of me." His smile grew.

"Oh. Why are you smiling?"

"Because, firstly, I won't hurt you and, secondly, I wouldn't lose a fight to him," he whispered to me confidently.

I hoped he was right about the not hurting me part. I didn't know if I'd survive emotionally if he hurt me. This love thing was great when everything was going well, but I had a feeling it could drag me down to the depths of despair if it didn't. Time would tell.

Surprisingly I managed to stay emotional for most of the school day. It was only in my last period of the day when the emotionless state crept in. I didn't have any of the Archaic in this class. Realizing there was only twenty minutes left of the lesson, I decided I had to move quickly if I was going to have a chance to escape.

I felt the familiar need to find Mason. I couldn't wait till the end of the lesson, because someone would be waiting for me outside my class. It would either be Jared or one of the other Archaic. I raised my hand.

"Yes, Ava?" my teacher asked.

"I'm not feeling well. Can I go to the bathroom?" I asked calmly. She nodded her head and I walked out of the classroom. A quick scan of the hallway told me that I was alone, so I hurried to the bathroom.

I didn't want to walk out the front door of the school. I also couldn't be sure that Jared hadn't posted someone outside.

Luckily I was on the ground floor, so when I entered the girls' restroom, I went straight to the window. With a bit of force I managed to open the window. It probably hadn't been opened in a while. I turned the trashcan upside down and stood on it. I peered outside but I didn't see anyone there. Now was my chance. I climbed through the window.

I dropped softly on the grass outside the bathroom window. I walked quickly toward the road closest to me, my eyes scanning for any sign of the person that every cell in my body hummed for.

Mason.

Suddenly he was there in front of me. His pale blue eyes connected with mine. There was no fear as he reached for my hand and took it into his, pulling me along with him. The moment our fingers touched, I felt a completeness engulf me.

Although we were calm, there was a certain urgency to escape before the Archaic realized I was missing. In my mind, I remembered the pain he'd inflicted on me. I should have felt fear but didn't.

He pulled me toward a white SUV. I wasn't sure what type it was because I didn't know much about cars. He opened the passenger side and pushed me in. He quickly climbed into the driver's side and pulled away so fast that the wheels squealed. I didn't look back; I was where I belonged.

We didn't say a word to each other as he drove away from the school. There were no words needed. The burning need was gone and in its place was a feeling of belonging. I looked straight ahead as I watched the scenery around us. He wasn't leaving the town. I wasn't exactly sure where we were, but it didn't matter--as long as I was with him, I was content.

Jared was forgotten.

Mason pulled up in front of a house. I got out of the car and waited for him. He took my hand in his; his hand was cool yet comforting. He walked me inside. It wasn't big. It was probably the same size as my house.

Inside the living room were two other Hue, which I could tell by their coloring. One of them looked like the one from the clearing. Mason pointed at the one who looked familiar and said, "Dylan," and then he pointed at the other one and said, "Caleb."

Both stood up and nodded at me. I didn't say anything. It had been the first time I'd heard Mason speak. He sounded exactly like Jared. If I hadn't been looking at him and watching him open his mouth and speak, I would have been convinced that that voice only belonged to Jared. We didn't linger in the living room.

Mason led me firmly by the hold on my hand upstairs to a bedroom. As I entered, I noticed it was very plain. There was only a single bed with white linen and a simple wooden desk with a matching chair. There were no posters or any kind of personal items. Maybe it was a guest bedroom. Then I realized that the Hue didn't have emotions, so they didn't form attachment to things like the human or Archaic did. Therefore they didn't need personal items.

He led me to the bed and indicated for me to take a seat on it. I did as he commanded. He didn't sit next to me. Instead he stood a couple of feet in front of me.

"There isn't long to go," he said as he watched me. He let his eyes run across my features. There was no emotion in his face and no depth to his pale eyes. I didn't need to ask what he was talking about because I knew he was talking about the change. There were only a few days left before the change would be complete and I would be like him.

He took my hand into his. He opened it gently and so my palm faced upward. His positioned his hand over mine. His eyes lifted and energy from his hand pulled at mine. Our energy, both white, joined in the small space between our hands.

The completeness I felt in his company intensified for the few moments our energies mixed. Then he lifted his hand from mine and broke the connection.

"Perfect," he murmured.

"We'll stay here until it's complete," he explained calmly. He said
we
and I was comforted by the thought. I couldn't explain why I felt that way. When I felt like a Hue, emotionless, I gravitated toward Mason. And when I was human, normal, I wanted Jared. It didn't make any sense. It was like I had two different personalities stuck in the same body. I knew when the emotionless state ended I would be horrified and scared. He would have to keep me locked up to keep me here.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked as he studied me closely. I nodded my head. He turned and left the room. As he walked out of the door, I felt the burning need for him return. I looked around the room. The walls were painted white; there was no color in the room at all and even the carpets were plain beige. The only glimpse of color I saw came from the view outside the window. I stood up and walked toward the window.

A few minutes later Mason returned with a glass of water. He held it out for me. I took it from him and drank half of it. I handed the half-empty glass back to him and he put it down on the desk.

I stood silently in front of him, watching him. He walked toward me. He was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. I wanted to touch his blond hair. I reached out to touch him. He held his hand out and my fingers reached for it. The feeling when he touched me was indescribable. The burning need disappeared and I felt like I was where I belonged. I was comforted by that thought.

"The energy in you gravitates to me because it belongs to me," he explained as if he sensed my thoughts and my need to be near him and to touch him. It made sense. He held my hand.

"Is that how you were able to find me?" I asked. It was uncanny how he was always around when the energy of the Hue took hold of my body and I became emotionless.

"Yes, the Hue energy in you is like a signal to me. It's stronger and easier to detect when you are Hue-like. When you're human, it is weak and very difficult to detect."

So only when I was in the emotionless state was he able to find me.

He watched me process his answer.

"What happens when the change completes?" I asked, feeling curious.

"You'll become a synthetic Hue," he explained.

"Synthetic?" I questioned.

"You weren't born a Hue; you were made."

I nodded, understanding his explanation.

"Up until the change completes, it can be altered but can't be reversed. Once the it completes, it will last forever."

The thought made me feel peaceful.

"I don't want it to be altered," I insisted. I wanted to become a Hue and to be with him to feel complete.

"I know, that's why I need to keep you with me until you complete the change. I don't want to give Jared a chance to figure out how to alter you."

He smiled. It was a cold smile. He'd beaten his brother at a game and he was winning.

"How do you know how to alter it?" I asked him. It was a need for knowledge and nothing else.

"We've been experimenting for a while. It isn't in the Archaic nature to hurt humans, unlike ours. A few humans have survived the initial attack and become synthetic Hues."

I nodded my head at the information.

"Through further experimenting we figured out how to alter the change."

I took in the information.

"The altering isn't complicated," he added. Even if it wasn't complicated, the Archaic had no idea how to do that.

"How did you figure out how to alter the change?" I asked.

"Simple, we were curious to see if it could be done, so we experimented."

I should have been horrified by what I was hearing, but I wasn't.

"Is the altering painful?" I asked. I was curious because I remembered how much the initial attack had hurt.

"Yes. It's worse than the initial surge of energy that initiates the change."

Even as a Hue, I could remember the pain. I didn't think there could be anything more painful than that, but apparently there could.

"Why is that?" I asked and he cocked his head to the side.

"Because it has to be replaced. It's like ripping every cell in your body and replacing it. You can't survive without the energy once you have been exposed to it. If I drain your energy, you will die."

"Why do some humans die and others change when we get a surge of your energy?" I continued with the questions.

"All humans are different. Some human bodies are able to adjust to the foreign mutation and can then contain the energy and survive. The humans that die can't adjust."

I nodded my head. I understood. No energy meant death for me. Simple.

"Are you hungry?" he asked as an afterthought. I nodded my head. He let go of my hand.

"I'll be back soon." He must have understood the burning need that affected me when he wasn't around.

I walked back to the bed and sat down. I was starting to feel a little strange. The rush of emotions flooding back over me like a tidal wave made it take all the self-control I had not to scream in horror. I was with Mason.

Oh no!

I was petrified. I glanced at the closed bedroom door. I couldn't get out that way because Mason and the other two Hue would stop me. Rushing over to the window I looked out. There was no one outside. My hands began to shake as the fear took hold of me. I had never been so scared before. I glanced back to the bedroom door.

That wasn't even an option. If I went out the bedroom door, the only way out was past three Hues, which for me would be impossible. Needing to slow him down to give me enough time to escape, I put the wooden chair under the handle of the door and angled it in such a way that it would help keep Mason out. Although, I was sure that with one zap he could blast the door open.

Then I realized I had my phone in the pocket of my jeans. I took it out but realized with horror that my battery was dead. I couldn't call Jared.

The tracker.

Jared would be able to find me. All I needed to do was escape and stay somewhere safe until Jared found me, but first I needed to get out of the house.

CHAPTER TWENTY

From what I could remember, I'd left my last class twenty minutes before the end of school and it was now fifteen minutes after school had finished. I'd been missing for about thirty-five minutes. I was sure Jared would be looking for me. Needing to get out of the room before Mason returned, I shoved my phone back into the front pocket of my jeans.

I peered out of the window and I gulped. I was petrified of heights, but I didn't have time to be scared. Slowly, I climbed out of the bedroom window. Luckily there was some sort of wooden vine climber attached to the side of the house. It was flimsy, but I didn't weigh much, so I managed to use it as a ladder to get down the side of the house safely.