The Forbidden Trilogy (16 page)

But, regretting my behavior in the bathroom so long ago, I
tried to play nice too. "Yes, it'll be quite an adventure."

"Well, be sure to keep in touch." She walked away
before I could reply that I would. Her shallow mind mused about the hottest
boys in school.
'Gotta get my hands on Luke... how can he resist me?'

I chuckled at that.

Lucy pulled me away and demanded my attention. She stole the
night in an electric blue gown that wrapped itself around her slim figure like
saran wrap. Luke had matched his bowtie to her gown, completing the look. They
made an unforgettable pair.

"Looks like Mary finally learned her lesson after the
cafeteria and bathroom scenes. It's about time."

Before I could reply, an achingly familiar voice interrupted
my thoughts.

'Sam, can you hear me?'

"Drake! Oh, my God, I've missed you. What happened?
Where are you?"

'In another hospital. I don't know where. I've been
trying to talk to you, but you haven't replied.'

In my hospital, they'd given me an IV. Could it have been
something to control my powers? I could still read Dr. Sato's mind, and kids on
campus, but maybe it prevented me from linking long distance.

"I think they did something to me so I couldn't talk
to you. I'm out of the hospital now, but I'm at my going-away party. I'm
supposed to be leaving for New York tomorrow."

'You were in the hospital? What happened? Are you okay?'

He had no idea about what I'd been through or that I was
pregnant. What to tell him? Ahh... I so did not want to have this conversation.

My hand went to my stomach again.

"Sam, you okay? You look pale. Come sit down."
Luke guided me to a chair and Lucy brought me some punch. Gar hovered nearby,
trying without success to blend in.

"Hey. I have to talk to my friends for a
minute."

'Sure.'

I spoke in our language. "Drake's okay. He's in some
hospital. But I... I have to tell him about the baby."

They nodded sympathetically and watched over me while I
linked back to Drake.
"I need to talk to you about something, but I
don't know how to say it."

'What's wrong? Are you okay?'

What could I do? I just blurted it out.
"I'm
pregnant. And it looks like you're the father."

And that is how I turned the whole world quiet for a moment.
Drake sat in mental silence. Luke and Lucy looked heartbroken. And the rest of
the world disappeared.

Drake broke the silence first.

'I believe you. And I think you're right. I think
they're... um... harvesting me for reproductive purposes.'

Despite how horrible everything seemed, I couldn't help but
laugh out loud at his choice of words, at how proper he was trying to be. Lucy
and Luke eyed me curiously. I explained what Drake had said. Lucy smirked, and
Luke laughed.

I sobered up pretty quickly, though. How could he be so
certain?
"What did they do to you?"

'I can just tell that things were done to... parts of me.
I didn't know what to make of it until now. How do you know you're pregnant
though? They didn't tell you, did they?'

"No, but I overheard some of the doctor's thoughts.
And Luke saw the records. That's why they took you. You have incredibly strong
and rare para-powers. And I can tell. My body is different."

Luke and Lucy interrupted our conversation with a glance
over my shoulder. I turned to look.

My bodyguard headed our way. "Is everything okay?"

I smiled as sweetly as I could. "Of course! Just tired
from all the partying."

Gar nodded and walked back to stand in my shadow.

He may have been committed to protecting me, but he still
worked for them.

***

The night crawled on. After the formal dancing, the music
picked up and included songs our age group actually knew. I declined all offers
to dance, instead spending my time with Lucy, Luke and Drake. His presence was
like finding a fresh water lake in the middle of the desert. I couldn't get
enough of his voice, his thoughts, the weight of his mind in mine.

My headaches had become less severe the more I practiced
remote linking. My powers were getting stronger, more controlled. Before,
everyone's thoughts inundated me, but now I could tune out people selectively.
Such a relief from all the inane clattering. Most people didn't understand,
bombarded with their own thoughts, unable to find peace in even that. To have
that multiplied by everyone around me was hell. And people generally weren't
very interesting. Most of their thoughts were recycled, replaying on an endless
loop.

My appetite improved halfway through the party, and I ate a
little bit of everything on the table, finally satiating my craving for
chocolate.

The party wound down after 1 AM. All of our friends said
their goodbyes and wished me luck. Envy and hope surfaced in their eyes.
Everyone yearned for the time when they could be free to live the life of their
choosing.

For a moment, I longed for the false peace that accompanied
their ignorance. They all had such hope—the hope I tore from my closest
friends, who now had to stay here knowing that their future would not be the
one promised. I pushed away the twinge of guilt that crept into my heart. They
needed to know. I needed to know. We couldn't escape the truth by remaining
blind to it. Now that the truth had been forced on us, maybe we could find a way
out of this mess.

What would they do to me once the baby was born? Would they
keep using my body for more and more pregnancies, until I became a useless
shell? Then what? Kill me? Being a Rent-A-Kid prisoner seemed a much better
life compared to a future as a baby factory, all the while knowing that my
children were here, rented out like property, awaiting the same fate as me.

I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let that happen.

'Neither will I,'
Drake said.

We arrived at my room with Gar right behind us. Would I be
locked in tonight to keep me from trying to escape?

Where would I go? How would I save Drake? I had too many
questions, no answers, and no idea what to do.

Lucy and Luke came in, and we all sat on my bed, with me in
the middle. I lived in the manner in which my many personas would have expected
to live: in luxury. No doubt, my new quarters would not be this fine. After
all, my new role didn't require me to be comfortable and at ease in wealth, did
it? I just had to ovulate properly.

"What do we do?" I spoke out loud in our made-up
language, but English in my mind. Confusing, but I didn't know who might be
spying on us.

"You should try to escape tonight," Luke said.
"We could help you get out. There's a fence by the north field that had a
short last night. We could get through that."

"You don't think they're monitoring those too? And what
about the brick walls past the fence? And whatever is beyond that? And the
guards, and the trackers in our arms?"

Lucy fought tears. "You can't let them take you,
Sam."

My body numbed. "What else can I do right now? We can't
escape with so many people watching. And I can't leave Drake, wherever he is.
They'll probably put us in the same facility, right? I mean, if they're using
him to breed, then we should be able to find each other. Maybe we can escape
from there, and then we can get help for you guys."

'I will do everything I can to get us out of here, Sam. I
swear it. I need to get off these drugs, and I think I know a way. If you're
brought here, you can help. We can do this. But if there's any way for you to
escape before getting here, you have to take it!'

"I'm not leaving you alone there. I'll find a way to
get us both out, and we'll find a way to save the rest."

"I have to go. I have to get evidence of what's
happening here." I scooted off the bed and went to my backpack. Inside,
hidden in a secret pouch, lay a tiny camera. I'd kept it out of impulse, though
it was against rules.

I palmed it and brought it back to the bed with me.
"Look discreetly at my hand. I have a camera that I stole from my last
job."

Luke's eyes widened. "You stole a camera?"

I nodded. "It has pictures of me and Tommy on it. I
gave him the pictures I had, and I just wanted to keep these."

"How were you ever planning on developing them?"
Lucy asked.

"I wasn't thinking about all of that. I just had to
have something to prove I knew him."

Lucy sighed. "So you want us to take pictures of this
place?"

"Yes, I have artwork depicting everything and everyone
here, but I doubt that will count as hard evidence. Especially get pictures of
the kids with obvious para-powers."

Luke scratched his head. "Assuming we can get those
pictures without getting caught, what would we do with them?"

"We need to find a way of getting this to Drake's
friend." I gave them Brad's email and phone number, and handed Luke the
camera. "Get this to him. Tell him everything we've told you and
everything you've experienced. At least someone on the outside will know that
we exist and need help."

A knock at the door startled us all. Luke slipped the camera
into his pocket.

The door opened. "It's time to go," Gar said to
me.

"I thought I was leaving in the morning?" Panic
rose in my chest. This was too real, too fast.

'Relax, we'll find a way to get out.'

I wondered what it would be like to meet Drake in person. He
filled my imagination—his voice, his scent, the feel of his skin. He'd taken up
residence inside my body, somehow. Would that change when we really could
touch, when I could actually smell him and feel him for real?

"Plans changed. Get your stuff and say goodbye."
He grabbed two of my biggest bags. I picked up my backpack and a small
suitcase—all of my worldly belongings. Apparently, they'd packed everything
while I was in the hospital. How thoughtful.

I checked my backpack to make sure my sketch pad and the box
from Mr. K were still there. I'd kept the cash I'd earned from assignments in
Mr. K's secret compartment. That would come in handy if we found a way to
escape.

Lucy's tears finally fell. Even Luke's eyes watered. From
the time we were little, we'd only been apart during assignments. Now we might
never see each other again.

I hugged them both, then threw on my jean jacket and
backpack, and walked out of my room for what would likely be the last time.

Gar closed the door behind us, leaving Luke and Lucy in the
room alone.

I turned to him as we walked down the hall. "Don't I
even get a chance to change my clothes?" I wiped my eyes carefully to
avoid the makeup raccoon look.

"You can change when you get to your new home. Your
flight was changed. We leave now."

Could Gar know what fate he was leading me to? I slipped
into his mind.

'She'll be safe in New York... will make sure she's
looked after... finally out of here....'

He had no idea. At least my own guard hadn't betrayed me on
purpose.

No one from the school administration came to give me a
final farewell. Strange. Usually they made a big showing, but I guess at 3 AM
it didn't matter. And I suspected no one wanted me that close to their thoughts
right now, even if they didn't know the whole truth.

"Drake?"

'I'm here,'
he said in a gentle voice.

"I'm scared. What if they don't put us in the same
hospital? What if we can't escape?"

Even my mental voice wavered from unshed tears. We risked so
much, banking all our hopes on an untested possibility. We could be wrong. So
very wrong.

'I'm scared too, but we have to believe this will work
out. What choice do we have?'

He was right. Even if this plan—hell, it wasn't even a plan,
really, more like a pipe dream inspired by desperation—but even if we knew for
a fact that it wouldn't work, what else could I do? We had no way to escape,
nowhere to go, no one to call. This had to work.

Gar loaded my luggage into the limo, ushered me into the
back seat, and hopped into the driver's seat. As usual, we headed to our
private airstrip.

'Sam, he doesn't know what's going to happen to you. You
have to tell him. He might be able to help you escape.'

"But I need to find you first. I can't go now."

'You must take this opportunity. There might not be
another one. Once you and the baby are safe, I'll find a way to get to you.
Please, Sam, you have to try.'

"He has a little girl. What if we get caught? It
could ruin his career."

'Let him decide what he's willing to do. Don't make him
complicit in your fate without giving him a choice.'

My hands shook in fear. He had a point. If Gar really was
trying to keep me safe, shouldn't he know the truth, even if that knowledge
placed a heavy burden on his soul? More than my life was at stake.

We had maybe ten minutes before we'd reach the plane. Once
there, I'd lose my chance.

"Gar, I need to tell you something."

The car slowed to a stop by the side of the road. Gar hadn't
said a word while I told him everything—about Mr. K, Higgins's lies, the evil
doctor... my pregnancy.

As hard as it had been to talk to Luke, Lucy and Drake about
the baby, telling Gar had been one hundred times harder. He could report me,
turn me in, betray me. But then, would I really be any worse off?

No.

So I waited for him to speak.

"Gar?"

He turned to face me, his hazel eyes and hard face revealing
nothing. "What do you want to do?"

What did that mean? "Do you believe me? Did you already
know?"