The Executioner at the Institute for Contaminated Children (20 page)

“Fancy meeting you here,” I mumbled through my torn lip and slurped up some blood. Tasty. “How’d you find me?”

“Followed my instinct, how else? When the trial ended and I couldn’t find you, I ran out to the woods. My ‘inner compass’ did the rest.” She helped me take the first tentative step, and it felt like my leg split in two. Donna reaffirmed her hold on me.

“You were right to not take me with you,” she said.

“Ha-ha.”

“I’m serious. Who then would carry us back?”

I looked at her and she grinned. Despite the damage to my abdomen, I breathed easy. Is this what it felt like…to get rescued instead of always rescuing yourself?

For a moment, I forgot I was the Executioner. I forgot we were at LeJeune. Instead, I thought of the time my elementary school bully beat me up, the first time I found out about my abilities when I ordered him to punch himself in the face, and pretended we were eight years old, in an ideal school where you could tell the teachers if someone pushed you around, and they would always take your side.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR—Evening

T
he pain hit me like a heart attack the moment my crazed mind decided to regain consciousness. After I’d popped two Advils and gotten a few hours of rest, it had subsided. Minimally. It still felt like someone had gone at me with an iron hammer. At least I was in my own bed. But then why did I feel a warmth in my left hand?

I opened one eye slowly, my breaths even, partially because I didn’t want her to see I was awake, and partially because I wasn’t so sure my other eye
could
open.

Donna’s back rose and fell, her hand linked to mine, as she slept in the chair next to my bed, her head rested on the side of the mattress. I had to suppress the smile that tried to stretch my mouth, because I’d likely tear a healing wound.

She stirred and I closed my eye again. The warmth of her hand left mine too quickly as she awoke and yawned.

“What time is it?” she whispered. “Oh, damn.”

I had to open my eyes now, because if I held my breath in any longer, I’d burst out laughing.

“Dan?” My eyes unglued and I tried to appear a bit more dazed.

“You been here long?” I said, smirking.

She reddened immediately. “N-No! I just came to check on you. Just now.” She looked away and tucked her hair behind her ear. I couldn’t take it anymore and shook with laughter. Each quake of my chest felt like another punch.

“What are you laughing about? Stop laughing, I bet that hurts!”

“You know everything, don’t you?” I said, the laughs finally dying out, thankfully, because otherwise I might have died with them. “What are you doing here anyway? If someone catches you, they could put you on trial.” My voice was more serious this time, but I didn’t worry too much about Donna. She could take care of herself.

“I’m careful, not stupid.”

Somehow it seemed those words had double meaning, I just wasn’t sure what. “Todd could walk in any moment. You could afford to think twice.”

“Todd’s bunking with his squad members. He told me he hasn’t been in your room since you guys fought.”

“Ah. That explains why he hasn’t come around.”

“You should really make up with him.”

“No.” My jaw tightened. Donna was about to protest when I added, “And not just because I’m stubborn. The less people are close to me, the better for them. I couldn’t do what I do to someone I care about.”

My eyes lingered on hers for a moment, her breaths small and sporadic.

I broke away and said, “Speaking of trials, how’d it go?”

Her lips shrank into such a small frown they almost disappeared from her face. “Don’t think about that now. Rest.” She placed a hand on my chest as if to keep me there and I placed mine over hers. She instinctively pulled back, her eyes startled, but I secured it against me.

“Hey, thanks. I would have been pretty screwed out there without you. Not that…I wasn’t.” I sucked air through my aching mouth. “You know what I mean.”

She smiled and let her hand relax.

“You know, when I said I didn’t completely trust you…I wasn’t being completely honest.”

My eyebrow rose. “So how complete is your complete trust?”

She grinned. “I trust you now, and I’ll trust you always.”

It felt like I had just swallowed liquor. My cheeks burned. I had no idea why her words had that effect, but I struggled to look her in the eye and my eyes bounced around the room until they bravely settled back on hers and my breaths picked up. At least the burn in my face subsided.

“I…uh…I guess you’ll just have to work on getting me to trust you.”

She scoffed and slapped my arm.

“Ow! Don’t hit the injured,” I joked. It really hadn’t hurt at all. In fact, I didn’t care how she touched me. She could do whatever she liked.

Donna smiled back and froze in the moment. The warm evening sunlight accented her features with shadows as it invaded the room from the window to my left. I never thought much about it, but I loved this time of day, when the sun wasn’t too strong or gone completely, just sort of hanging there, bathing everything in orange, slow and peaceful. The very opposite of my life.

“You want to tell me now?” I broke the silence and she scowled.

“You call that rest?” Her hand pulled out of mine and I already missed it. Cold replaced the spot over my chest where it had pressed and it felt like she took a piece of me with her. Did all girls do that? I couldn’t remember.

“There was…trouble at the court.” Her hands came across her torso and slightly hugged her as she looked away.

My brow folded. “What kind of trouble?”

She chewed on her bottom lip and then her eyes met mine again. “Someone tried to tamper with the recordings. You know, how the Executioner communicates with us. I think it was one of the kids that are good with technology, kind of like Todd, but more computer savvy. They did an entire second recording. It pretty much denied everything the Executioner said about the final judgment.”

“Those morons…” No way he could have been happy with that. I could only suspect what came next. “And? What happened?”

Donna swallowed. “Well, you can imagine, he didn’t like that at all…so he said he’d judge him on his own. Dan…what does that mean? Do they tell you who to take out?”

I breathed in deeply. “Yeah. They send me letters. They tell me exactly who to take care of and when.”

“That’s horrible.” She clutched her hands together, her knuckles white. Her face then settled in resolve. “Then we have to be extra careful.”

My eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

Donna gave me an intense look. “Dan…I’ve had some time to think about it, and I think I know how we can get ourselves out of here. How we can find out where they take them, and maybe do something about it…”

Her head lowered to mine, her voice faded to a whisper, and my head turned slightly, the sore muscle in my neck constricting my throat. I could see every crease in her lips. The warm glow of the sun retreated now and night fell.

“We stage our deaths.”

I laughed; she didn’t.

“Yeah, okay,” I said with sarcasm. “And what happens if they kill us?”

Her expression didn’t change as she leaned back on her hand. “That’s just another guess I’ll have to take.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE—Red Handed

S
omehow I managed to fall asleep again, but not long after my aches gave me a nasty wake up call at three in the morning. This time, my eyes opened to an empty room.

“Donna?” I croaked. Maybe she’d gone to the bathroom. Who was I kidding? I didn’t expect her to spend the entire night in my room. She had already done enough. Still, it felt so lonely. Todd and I had never argued before, at least not enough to get him to move out. And I could always call on Hailie…

Emptiness settled in my stomach and I glanced at the curtains. She liked to come in the morning and open the window to let the fresh air in. Then she’d stand there and it would flow through her hair, while she watched the sunrise, and I would watch her in turn.

But those good memories were tarnished now. Even as I tried to focus on that side of her, something wrenched my gut. Was it at all possible for us to go back to how we used to be? It’s not like I wasn’t willing to forgive her, especially given everything I’d done. I’d be a hypocrite not to. Yet I couldn’t see it. Us again. And I didn’t want to.

I groaned as I sat up in bed. No way I could fall back asleep right now. Blood rushed from my brain and the room dizzied. My vision still wasn’t up to par, one of my eyes more than swollen. My head moved about the room until I spotted something that wasn’t there before. A note on my dressing table. What my eye muscles could widen, they did, and I shot up without regard for the pain that ravaged my back. I limped over to it and grabbed it in my hand. Hot fury shot through me. The letter must have arrived while I was asleep…and Donna had opened it. The letter that stated which students were to be executed tonight. No…she wouldn’t have. She
couldn’t.

How stupid could she be? I cursed and ran out of my room. And by ran I meant moved my legs in some fashion as fast as I could onto the dark corridor. I had to pause before I got to the stairs and leaned against the wall to rest. I still hadn’t recuperated yet. Damn.

“Dan?”

I froze at the voice behind me. Not that I could move.

Hailie walked around to look at me. “Holy crap, you look like hell. What happened to you?”

She placed a hand on my shoulder. I jerked it away. She swallowed and stood tall.

“Not now, Hailie.” I didn’t meet her gaze, ashamed by my appearance, and stared at the floor.

“I have something to tell you,” she spoke as though she hadn’t heard what I said. “I was just coming to talk to you, actually—”

My head lifted slightly. “I thought I told you—”

“I’m pregnant.”

My face turned to stone.

What she said next came out in a frenzy. “You’re the only one who knows… I haven’t told Todd. I mean I don’t even think he knows what happened between us. Please. Help me. If anyone finds out…I…I could go on trial.”

I shoved past her. “Not my problem.” Cold, I know. But I couldn’t handle this. I was the Executioner! His tool, at least. What did she expect me to do?

“What if I told you it’s yours?”

I paused. She came before me again.

“You’re lying,” I said. My chest shook. She had to be. There was no way that happened between us. I would have known.

She shook her head. “I’m not.” Her face broke out into a manic smile, her eyes filled with tears. I had no time for her bull! “It’s yours.”

“Get out of my way, Hailie!” I growled. Donna…I had to get to Donna. If she was dumb enough to try to do the execution in my stead…she could get killed…

“I’m telling the truth!”

“So then you’re saying you forced yourself on me, is that what you did?” I snapped. I couldn’t even believe the rage that burst out of me as I walked forward. I could barely see, the pain through my body escalated, I had to get to Donna, and Hailie lied straight to my face because she was desperate!

She shook her head and tears spilled from her eyes. Her manic smile faded and she backed away from me as I advanced, growing small.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I snarled. Maybe this time she’d stay away from me for good. I couldn’t help her. Only hurt her. I hurt everything I touched, didn’t she get that? And I’d end up hurting her baby in the long run too, even if she wanted me to protect it. For goodness sake, after it was born, everyone would know it wasn’t mine. And Todd would hate me. “So unless you want
me
to turn you in, I suggest you quit lying, you slut!”

The instant those words left my mouth, I regretted them. I regretted everything, my entire life. Because as they echoed through the hall, Hailie stepped back on nothing but air, missed the top step, and tumbled back…nonstop…until friction slowed her down, and she lay sprawled on the staircase.

All the pain I felt in my body then couldn’t compare to the horror that came over me, and the shock that tore through my throat as I cried out, “HAILIE!”

I ran to her side, my vision suddenly clear, my strength momentarily back, just enough to get me there, to her disfigured body, and take her in my arms. Tears welled in my eyes as I turned her over and searched for a heartbeat, pressing my head to her chest. She was alive! Dear God, she was still alive…but her bones…her arms and legs… Oh, God…the baby…

I let out a wail and sobbed, stroking her cheek. What had I done?… What had I done?!

I heard the slam of doors and scramble of footsteps and looked up to see a hoard gathered and staring down at me. There was Donna too, her eyes wide with shock, her face white as snow. Next to her stood the very students I was supposed to “execute.” And in front of them all was that nasty buzz-haired kid I ran into before in the hallway. This time he caught me red handed. They all did.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX—Trust

I
deserve to die.

Donna thumped on my door for the third time. “Dan, open up! I know it wasn’t your fault, please!”

She had no idea what I’d done. What a monster I was.

I sucked in air through my teeth as my clasped hands hung between my knees. I hunched over, my eyes sore with tears.

I deserve to die.

She knocked again. “Dan, talk to me. Please let me in. I can help you!”

Why couldn’t none of them get how much I could hurt them? Hadn’t I made it clear?

“Go away!” I groaned, but with my voice muffled through the door, it would hardly have any affect. It had to be crisp, clear, and demanding.

There was a pause. Maybe it had worked after all. “I’m not going anywhere,” Donna said.

I shut my eyes. This was all wrong. Why couldn’t she just leave me here in the dark? Hailie… Oh, Hailie… How could I have ever said those things to her? How could I have hurt her, killed her child…

I deserve to die.

The knocking stopped. For several minutes I set there in the dark, my face cold and wet as the night air entered the window and chilled me. Then came the sound of a key entering the lock and the doorknob turned. I sped to the door in time to slam it in her face before she came in, but the person who stood on the other side wasn’t just Donna. Todd was there too.