Embers & Ice (Rouge) (4 page)

Doe
brown eyes trapped her and she felt a sudden shock in her chest. He was so
unnaturally pale. Dark, purple rings circled his eyes. He slumped as though he
had no energy in his body. But his gaze was strong and dark and tormented and
full of unspeakable pain. It was a different pain to that of the others. Hunter
had to look away or she might be sick.

“He
came out early,” Zac muttered to Chantal.

“I
know,” she replied. “Ryo told me this morning that they want to drag him out
for breakfast or he faints during procedure too quickly.”

“That’s
what happens when you don’t eat.”

“Who-”
Hunter began, but it was then that someone squeezed themselves opposite her on
the very edge of the bench, shoving Zac aside. She looked at the boy with silky
black hair, eyes the same color and a clear thirst for a fight and instantly
wanted to be as far from him as possible. His very presence made her
uncomfortable.

“Hello,”
he said cheerfully. “I’m Jet.”

“Jet,
piss off,” Chantal glared. “No one wants you here.”

Jet
winced. “Oo, someone has their period.”

Two
more people had joined Jet. One was a girl of her age with long brown hair,
tanned skin and beautiful features. But her face was a permanent scowl and she
stood behind Jet as though she wanted to claim him as her territory. The other
addition was a shorter, stockier boy with the same eyes as Jet, only not as
wicked.

“If
it’s okay with you,” continued Jet, “my brother Marcus, my girlfriend Mikayla
and myself wanted to ask: has anyone like us … ‘come out’ yet?”

“What?”

Jet
glanced around at the Men in White guarding the door. They were too far away to
hear their conversation, but they were watching.

“Does
the world know about our powers? Or is that why you were brought in? Did you
try to save the world?”

Hunter
crossed her arms, trying to think of anything but the fire in the restaurant
and the explosion it caused in her life. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

Zac
was peering at her, looking eager. “Come on Red, tell us!”

“Stop
calling me that!”

Zac
put his hands up and his jaw quivered at the effort it took him to hold back
laughter. At the same time, Mikayla bent down and whispered in Jet’s ear.

“We’re
cut off, Hunter,” Jet continued. “We just want to know if there’s any hope. I
mean, no one knows we’re here. Even our parents haven’t come looking for us. If
there’s more like us, maybe there’s a chance we can get a message to them and…”
he leaned closer, whispering. “And
escape.
”

Hunter’s
stomach squirmed. She remembered the warning given to her by the guard with the
tattoos. She couldn’t afford to say anything, not when she didn’t know what the
punishment might be.

“So?”
he pressed. “Is that how you got here? Or did things just get
steamy
with your boyfriend?”

Hunter’s
heart jolted in her chest, the words hinting that he knew exactly what her
power was. But how? They’d never met before. In a mix of fear and anger at his
words, the fire roared up inside her as if lit with gasoline. Hunter stood so
fast that the table shook and her plate of goo toppled over. The fire raged,
emotionally unstable and eager for a fight.

So,
it seemed, was Jet.

“Oh,
I hit a nerve did I?”

“Jet,”
Mikayla warned. “Don’t start-”

“Shut
up.”

Hunter
wanted more than anything in the world to sock Jet in the face, but she needed
to be smarter than that. As much as it killed her, Hunter unclenched her fists
and stepped out of the bench.

“Speak
to me again,” she growled threateningly, “and I’ll introduce your head to the
floor.”

Benji,
Zac, Mikayla, Chantal and Jet’s brother Marcus were all gaping, open mouthed.
Jet was thoroughly enjoying himself, but Hunter had had enough. She made to
walk away when his words stopped her dead.

“I
bet he likes it,” Jet sneered. “I bet it’s
warm
down there. What does it
taste like, Hunter? Cherries? Or how about-”

Jet
didn’t get to finish his sentence, because Hunter spun and threw her clenched
fist at his face. The sick crunch was louder than Mikayla’s scream as blood
spurted from his nose onto their trays of breakfast. Jet staggered back and Hunter
went to jump on him, to keep smashing in his stupid, grinning face, but the Men
in White caught her just in time. One of them snatched her arms and pulled them
so tightly behind her back that she was afraid he was going to rip them off.
The other threw his hand across her cheek in a slap that left her vision
dancing for at least five seconds. But the sight of Jet’s face dripping with
blood was well worth it.

And
it started something in her.

Suddenly,
Hunter couldn’t control herself. Her mind switched off and she started to go
mad. All she wanted was more of Jet’s blood on her hands, to cause someone else
pain and not herself. She wanted to stop feeling so sick and so lost and start
feeling the heat of an angry flame again.

With
hidden strength, Hunter wrenched her arms from the guard that tried to pull her
away and managed to grasp Jet’s collar. His face went white as she drew him
closer, her fingers closing around his throat, squeezing as he gasped.

But
before Hunter could go any further, a sharp pain burst inside her hip. She knew
that pain; it was the last thing she remembered the night the Agents collected
her. Jet slipped from her grasp and before she knew it, her body was limp.

Then
Hunter fell instantly into an empty sleep.

SIX

The
strong smell of antibacterial ointment crept into Hunter’s mind as she slept,
and suddenly she was waking up shivering and clammy.

She
lay on an adjustable bed covered in plastic, slick with her own sweat. Her
hands and feet were strapped to the bed like a mental patient in an asylum. She
began to panic. A bright light beamed down on her. The rest of the room was
dimly lit and lined with cupboards and tools and machinery.

There
was a man standing beside her. Hunter had never seen someone so unearthly and
sick-looking in all her life. It appeared as though he’d been on a long journey
battling Leukemia. His cheekbones were hollow and his eyes glinted like slimy
oysters. His bald head shone brighter than the florescent lights around her,
dotted with age spots. Blood splattered his coat and he wore black gloves over
his hands. When his eyes fell upon her, they brightened instantly and Hunter
was hit with déjà vu.

Oh
God. I know him from somewhere.

“Hunter
Harrison,” he said with a grin as though she was someone he hadn’t seen in a
long time. “I am so delighted to have you here.”

Too
afraid and uncomfortable to move, Hunter stared at him with her lips pursed
shut. She knew she had made a huge mistake when she attacked Jet. Her moment of
satisfaction would surely not be worth the punishment, not after all she’d
heard that morning.

“I
apologize,” said the doctor, “that I could not meet with you sooner. I have a
morning appointment that I hate to miss, and I wanted you to have something to
eat before we were introduced. Though I didn’t expect it until later in the
morning, and was quite disappointed to hear of the attack in the breakfast
hall.”

Hunter’s
throat went suddenly dry. She wanted to defend herself, but the very presence
of the doctor made the fire cower so deep inside her, she could feel no warmth
whatsoever. Beads of sweat dripped down the side of her head and she squirmed
uncomfortably on the table, clenching her fists.

“Never
mind that for now,” he continued and pushed himself away from the desk, walking
closer to her. “I suppose you’re wondering who I am?”

Hunter
managed to nod.

He
rolled back on his heels and clasped his hands behind his back. “My name is Dr.
Winston Elroy Wolfe. I was born in the wonderful countryside of Northern
Ireland, just outside of Belfast. I moved to England when I was a lad and
travelled around with my father and three brothers. I studied well at the
University of Oxford, surrounded by great writers and minds and dreamt of
becoming a chief surgeon at a hospital in America. When I graduated with an
Advanced Diploma in Surgical Anatomy and Medical Science, I worked for many
companies but mostly hospitals and laboratories. I soon stumbled upon unique
DNA and genetics in a very select few, and set about researching them. I became
aware that I needed a place to study their biology in private, where no other
doctor or scientist would be able to discover what I was doing. This
institution was my starting point. From the very bottom, I built it up until it
became this, what it is now-” He spread his arms out, gesturing to ICE as a
figurative whole. “I have done many great things for this company, and my
research into genetics such as yours has opened a door to a world no one knew
existed. I plan to document the life and genetics of every mutated being in
this institution, and those who are still trapped in the wild. For you, my
dear, are the future of science. Does that answer your question?”

Hunter’s
mouth hung agape. This man was possibly more insane than Joshua. Dr. Wolfe
talked about experimentation and imprisonment as though he were explaining the
itinerary of his next vacation.

“I
presume your answer is yes,” he said. “Now. I’ve reviewed the information we
had
on you here in our system, and Joshua’s files as well, and it seems-”

“Wait,”
she croaked, finally finding her voice. “What files? How did you get
information on us?”

Dr.
Wolfe had his back to hers and she could hear him fiddling with instruments on
a tray. “He never told you? Well, I suppose you were only young.”

“Told
me what?” she pushed, pulling on the restraints.

Dr.
Wolfe’s face was shadowed from the lamp when he turned to smile wickedly at
her.

“Why,
you’ve been here before Hunter,” he said. “You and Joshua.”

SEVEN

It
suddenly felt as if the small surgery room Hunter lay in was shrinking around
her. Hunter gazed up at the doctor with the knowing smile and felt like
laughing and crying at once. It couldn’t be true. Even at a young age, she
would remember being in such a horrific place. Joshua always warned her about
institutions like this, but never did he confess that she’d actually been
imprisoned in one.

“Allow
me to explain.” Dr. Wolfe started to circle the bed she lay on. “It was a long
time ago, but I still remember it clearly. Joshua Harrison was young and
somewhat naïve, though he was clever enough to create a formula for your
powers. Joshua miscalculated and… well you know what happened next, right?”

“He
gave himself the power to manipulate ice rather than fire,” she said.

“Ah,
so he has told you? What a shock that must have been.”

“You
have no idea.”

“After
your birth,” the doctor continued, “he was sloppy in covering his tracks. We
were soon aware of his gifts and asked if he might let us study him, and you as
well. He refused.”

“Well
it’s not exactly a picnic in the park here,” said Hunter bitterly.

Dr.
Wolfe chuckled as he rolled up the sleeves of his white coat.

“You
were only a few years old, Hunter, when you were brought here. I can’t imagine
you remember anything. Joshua certainly did. It’s a shame, because he could
have been one of the greatest scientists we’ve ever employed. But he refused to
cooperate. All he wanted to do was protect you. So he took you and escaped.”

Hunter’s
heart dropped and she felt the cold steel beneath the plastic cover grow
colder. Even that long ago, Joshua still put her safety before his own. All
along she thought his obsessive nature was just a figment of his schizophrenic
imagination, but he had been the same since her birth. He had always put her
life above his own, and she never truly appreciated that.

Was
he really crazy, or did he kill Eli to protect her? For love?

Hunter
didn’t want to feel anything for the man who took away her best friend, but
against her will a small amount of guilt leaked from her heart.

“Yes,
Joshua was a true man of courage, but he was always an unstable soul,” said the
doctor as he removed his gloves and sat down on the swivel stool beside her
bed. “I’m sure you’ve experienced the possessive nature of your powers already.
Joshua certainly struggled with it for many years. Tell me; when you first
discovered the truth about your powers, was it difficult for you to keep
control of them?”

Pursing
her lips, Hunter didn’t answer.

Dr.
Wolfe clicked his tongue in disappointment and his bony, icy hand closed around
her wrist where the bracelet was bound. “You will need to cooperate Hunter, or
I will gather what information I need through other means. And those means will
be far more painful than harmless chatter.”

The
very tone of his voice made fear bubble up inside her. She’d never before been
so afraid in her life, and when she was afraid, she would turn to Joshua. But
Joshua was miles away, alone and broken, just like she was.

“I’m
not afraid of you,” she blurted out. But her tone was lying, and Dr. Wolfe knew
it.

He
released her wrist. “You might want to talk to some of the other subjects, if
you’re so confident. They will have some thrilling stories about me I’m sure.”

As
Dr. Wolfe turned away and busied himself with clinking metal tools, Hunter took
deep breaths to get her confidence back. The fire argued with her, telling her
it was pointless to be brave when she was strapped to a medical bed about to be
operated on by a mad scientist. But she needed to distract herself.

“Why
are you doing this to us?” she whispered.

Dr.
Wolfe looked down upon her and his bushy eyebrows furrowed. “I just want to
understand how you work. I’m doing this for science, Hunter. For the future. Do
you know what this world will come to if children like them, like
you,
are
allowed to roam the earth? Can you imagine the chaos, the domination, the wars?
Not only are we discovering incredible genetic information in our research
here, but we are protecting the public from menaces like you. And we’re
protecting
you
from the judgment the public will rain down upon you if
your secret gets out.”

“You’re
imprisoning us against our will.”

“So
you don’t disagree that you’re dangerous? Tell me, have you ever killed a man
Hunter?”

She
sucked in a breath.

“Just
as I suspected. You couldn’t control the raw power within you any more than
Joshua could.”

Wrong
, she
thought. He might have been right about her power in the beginning, but Hunter
had stood the ultimate test. As much as she wished she could strangle Joshua,
she had his life in her hands and she walked away in that warehouse. She said
no to the flames, and they listened.

“But
that is irrelevant now. I have some follow up questions I’d like to ask you.”
He sat down once more and faced her. “The formula for your ability is one of a
kind. Where exactly did its ingredients originate?”

Hunter
frowned up at him. “You don’t know?”

For
the first time, there was the smallest of sneers on the doctor’s pompous
expression.

“Wow,”
she smiled, the fire flaring up in triumph, finding its confidence again. “The all-knowing
Dr. Wolfe doesn’t have all the answers.”

Dr.
Wolfe smirked, and although it was definitely a grimace, it was still
threatening. “You don’t want me as your enemy, Miss Harrison. Joshua made that
mistake when he wouldn’t give up the location of the formula, and I won’t let
you slip out of here as quickly as he did. We have far more security now and I
have all the time in the world to wheedle it out of you.”

“What
do you mean?” she asked, and instantly wished she hadn’t.

“Oh
you’ll find out very soon, unless you tell me what I want to know. Now-” Dr.
Wolfe wheeled the tray of glimmering silver instruments over to her bed,
placing them right by her shoulder in plain sight. “-Are you going to
cooperate, or will things be getting messy?”

Hunter
swallowed hard, but did not break eye contact with Dr. Wolfe. As much as he
frightened her, as much as her entire body shook in fear, the fire still blazed
through her blood. It was protective and it didn’t want this maniac to break
her. Hunter thought of the boy from the breakfast hall dragged in by the
guards, of his drained body and anguished, fierce eyes. Had Dr. Wolfe tortured
him to get information as well? Was that the purpose of this institution, or
was it to experiment on the weak like Fearne, who was barely sane?

Hunter
had never hated anyone as much as the man leering down at her. Even Joshua
couldn’t compare, and he set the standards pretty high when he killed the love
of her life. For the first time in… well, ever, Hunter knew without a shadow of
a doubt that if she didn’t have the bracelet on her wrist, the fire would have
burnt Dr. Wolfe to crispy black bones, and she wouldn’t have suffered a shred
of guilt over it.

Which
was why Hunter didn’t give in to his threats. If Joshua could resist his
torture, she certainly could as well.

“I’ll
cooperate,” she replied. “If you take that tray of utensils and stick them up
your ass.”

Dr.
Wolfe sighed deeply. “I thought it might come to that. Well, Miss Harrison, I
gave you a choice but you wouldn’t listen. No matter.” Dr. Wolfe pulled a clean
pair of rubber gloves out of the drawer and slowly slipped them over his hands,
releasing the elastic with a sharp
thwack.
“Tomorrow,” he said, “we will
begin your check in procedures; things like genetics tests and DNA sampling.
Tonight we will monitor your sleep so we have all your updated details on file.
If the sleeping pattern is anything like what I just witnessed before you woke
up, I’d say you’ve been through a very terrible ordeal recently, which will
certainly have an effect on your testing.”

“And
what is this appointment for?” Hunter muttered, ashamed at the panic in her
tone.

The
light from above cast shadows across the doctor’s dented cheeks, making him
look like a skeleton whose skin was melting away. He gently pushed Hunter’s
stray curls away from her eyes, lifted a strap that hung down beside her head
and secured it tightly across her forehead so she couldn’t even look away. “Oh,
I am always the first to evaluate a new – or in your case, old – patient. Rules
are rules, and here we follow rules adamantly.” He bent down so that his face
was just inches from hers. Hunter managed to move her head just an inch back.
The stench of his breath was enough to make her throw up, but her stomach was
empty. “And I was so looking forward to seeing you again. Let’s begin.”

Hunter
tried not to regret her decision to keep quiet.
You’re tough, Hunter,
said
the voice of her mother or the fire, she wasn’t sure which.
You can resist.
If not to protect the secret of the stone, then at least do it to make this
bastard squirm.

But
Dr. Wolfe wasn’t the one strapped to a table with a mad scientist bending over
him, holding a syringe in one hand and a metal rod in the other.

Nope,
she
thought.
That unfortunate sucker is me.