Chapter 4
I awake with a jolt. My bad dreams seem to follow me wherever I go. They haven’t left me since my last encounter with Jason. I sit up and feel myself drenched in sweat. I check on Tyler, but he didn’t notice. He’s still sleeping. I don’t know what time it is or how long I’ve been asleep. It’s hard to tell what time it could be without a window or a clock in his room. I wipe the sweat from my face with the back of my hand and slide out of bed slowly, hoping not to wake Tyler. He needs his rest.
I tiptoe to the door of his room and slip out. The floor is cold on my bare feet, but it feels good. I start around the corner down a hallway I haven’t yet explored, searching for a bathroom so I can cool myself off. Sarah walks around the far corner of the hall and spots me. A smile stretched across her face. The closer she gets to me, the more concerned her expression becomes. I hope she won’t ask too many questions. Like why I am all wet, for instance. Maybe she will just think Tyler and I have a crazy love life and will leave it at that.
“Hey, Kris. What are you doing?” she asks. “Where are your shoes?”
“Oh, well, I woke up and needed to go to the bathroom really bad and forgot to slip them on. I’ve been in search of it.” I lie, hoping she doesn’t ask about my sweaty clothes.
“It’s just around the corner there.” She points down the hall. “Where I came from.” The unsure look on her face tells me she doesn’t believe my story. “Get some more sleep. Your eyes are puffy and they must hurt.”
“I will.” I give her a thumbs up and hurry on down the hall before she can ask any more questions.
I turn the corner and enter the bathroom. It’s all white. There is metal on the walls, ceiling, stalls, and sinks. I shield my eyes with my hand and enter. I squint, trying to get my eyes used to the brightness. “What is it with these people and these bright lights?”
I said the same thing when I was at the inn in Illinois this past summer. It had windows that lined the entire front of the building. Every morning I would go down the stairs to the main lobby and I felt like I was being blinded by the sun.
I go to the sink and run cold water onto my hands. I splash it on my face. The sudden coolness makes me shiver. Sarah is right. My eyes are puffy with bags under them. My hair still feels like straw from all the dirt and grime of the gravel road we traveled on. I need a shower.
I turn on the water in one of the shower stalls to warm while I remove my clothes. I untie my hair from the ponytail and laugh at it still standing where it was with the tie around it. I get into the shower and stand still, letting the hot water run over me. It’s calming and helps relieve some of my stress. I dispense soap into my hand and wash up. The soap smells of cucumber and honey. It sits in containers secured to the tile wall of the shower. I press the button and dispense more into my hands for my hair. I rinse off and dry. I open the curtain to the shower and in the stall above my dirty clothes on the floor lies black pants and a black tank top. Sarah must’ve put them there. I’m going to guess that Tyler told Sarah I didn’t bring clothes with me through their mind-reading ability. She could’ve also noticed I didn’t have a bag when we got here. Either way, I’m happy she found some clothes for me. I usually only wear black when I’m paintballing with my brothers, back home in Kentucky, but at this point, I’m happy to have a change of clean clothes. I slip them on and gather up my dirty clothes to take back to Tyler’s room. I leave my hair down. It feels good to just let it hang.
I slide into bed next to Tyler. I can’t exactly snuggle with him. He’s sprawled out on his stomach. Still, I watch his every breath. The tattoo on his left shoulder, done in black ink, is a sun with an eagle flying in the middle. I remember the first time I saw it. He was outside his house, splitting firewood. At the time, however, my attention got diverted from the tattoo to his muscles that were rippling muscles with his every swing. This time I’m more interested in what the tattoo might mean. I had noticed the same tattoo on the back of Sarah’s shoulder when we first met. I didn’t feel it was right for me to pry about it then so I had kept the questions to myself.
I pull the blankets up by my chin and lay on my side with my arms around me, hugging myself. I close my eyes and hope my bad dreams don’t come back. I could use some good sleep.
X X X X
“Kris! Kris! Where are you?” Tyler’s worried scream wakes me. I turn to him and see his eyes are still closed. His chest and forehead glisten with sweat. His hands shake with fear of not being able to find me. Just as they did when he had the nightmare the first time. I grab ahold of one of his hands and put my other hand on his chest.
“I’m here. Tyler, open your eyes. It’s just a dream!” I say, trying to comfort him. Instead of overpowering me as he did when he was recovering from his stab wounds, he opens his eyes. They are wide with fear. It makes me feel uneasy.
Tyler squeezes my hand and pulls me closer to him with the other. I lay my head on his shoulder and watch as his breathing begins to slow. The relief of knowing I am okay must be calming him. “I’m sorry I woke you.” He sighs. “This dream has been haunting me.”
“I’m okay, Tyler. I’m right here by your side.” I look up at him and try to give a reassuring smile. “It’s just a bad dream.”
The tears in his eyes threaten to escape but he holds them back. I don’t know if this dream has a meaning or if it is just something that has resurfaced from the stress he has been under. It makes me uncomfortable but I know he won’t talk to me about it. At least not right now. I draw invisible lines along his collarbone and down his chest. Over and over again until I hear him begin to snore. I stay still to be sure he has fallen back to sleep. I do my best to calm my own mind again. The warmth from Tyler being beside me and the rhythm of his breathing begin to lull me to sleep.
X X X X
I awake to Tyler playing with my hair and raise up to face him. He’s bright-eyed and looks to be well-rested. He smiles. “Sleep well?”
“For the most part,” I say, rubbing sleep from my eyes. “How often do you have that dream?” Tyler’s face tightens.
“I’ve had it off and on since the incident with Jason.” He shrugs his shoulders. “It will go away eventually, just as all bad dreams do.” I feel unsure about the dream. I know it truly bothers him but I don’t understand why it keeps coming back. Then again, I’m no dream expert. I can’t even get my bad dream to go away.
“I see you got up,” Tyler says, running his fingers through my smooth, wavy hair once more. I know he is just looking to change the subject.
“I needed to take a shower.” I scoot closer to him putting my head on his chest. “What time is it?” I decide to not press him more about the dream. He clearly isn’t wanting to talk about it.
“I’m not sure, but it’s morning,” he says, pressing his lips to mine. I kiss him back, but I don’t have the same feeling I usually do when I kiss him. My mind is on other things. I push on his chest slightly and he backs off. Tyler rubs my arm with an understanding grin. I know he had other things in mind, but he doesn’t push me.
“When were you going to tell me about this place?” I ask, sitting up. I pull my knees to my chest.
“I wasn’t going to unless I needed to. I’m a part of this and have been since I was sixteen.” He sits up and turns to face me. I see the scars from the last time he tried protecting me. My ex, Jason, did a good job of trying to kill him. I’ve caused Tyler so much pain and yet he still wants to be around me. “Stop thinking that.” Tyler lifts my chin up to meet his eyes. “You didn’t cause this. I told you that already.” He knows me too well. He can’t read my mind but, I guess I’m not all that hard to figure out because he always seems to know what is on my mind anyway.
“Didn’t I though? If I hadn’t got involved with you then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” I argue. My voice catches and my sight starts to blur from tears. I cover my eyes with my hands to try to hide the evidence.
He puts his arm around me and I lay my head on his shoulder. “Kris. It wouldn’t have made a difference. There’s no way to know for sure if I would’ve been attacked or not.” His voice is understanding but has a hint of frustration in it. I know he wants me to let it go but I can’t. He can’t protect me from everything no matter how much he wants to. I know this and so does he, but I keep my thoughts to myself. I don’t want to fight with him.
“There are some things you’re going to have to learn.” He entwines his fingers in mine. “Such as defending yourself. You’re strongminded which will serve you well, but you’ll need to learn how to react in face to face combat.”
“Comforting.” I sigh. “What is the purpose of Arrowhead Headquarters?”
“I’ll give you a shortened version of the story. Our head president, Angela Frost, has been watching the government’s movements lately. For over a hundred years there’s been talk about a foreign government that has been planning a war on us, the United States. They’ve been creating something that will help them destroy many of us. Many will die. Leaving only a quarter of the whole U.S. population. With that quarter of the population, the foreign government plans to alter their minds to control them. In reality, the victims wouldn’t be human anymore. They would be more like robots.” Tyler rubs his head with his free hand. “As for you, I knew I had to get you out while I could. They’ve been watching you. Jason was just one of their informers. He’d do whatever they asked. He was the perfect person for the job. He knew you well and didn’t have an issue with deceiving you. With him dead, they had no one else they trusted so they started watching from afar. Angela told me to go get you and bring you back here. She strongly believes you are our key, our key to saving a lot of people.”
“I wish I knew what they know. I don’t feel as though I possess any such power,” I say, standing in front of him. “When do we start?”
“Soon,” he says. “After breakfast.”
Tyler slips on a white t-shirt; his tattoo glows through the back of it. I don’t ask about it. If he wants me to know he will bring it up. I braid my hair to the side and slip on my combat boots. They are standard issue here at Arrowhead Headquarters or so it appears. All the members I’ve seen have them. I follow him down to the dining hall. The lights aren’t bothering me so much now. I don’t have to shield my eyes. I sit at the table we sat at yesterday. Beau, Neiamiah, Sarah, Sam, Alex, and Kyle are already there eating oatmeal sprinkled with brown sugar, accompanied by coffee.
Eyeing my best friend from childhood, I run to embrace Kyle. He smiles. I take my seat between him and Tyler. My two protectors. I know Kyle loves me as a sister and maybe a little more. He tried to tell me once but I don’t look at him that way. He just let it go after that and is a firm believer in my relationship with Tyler. I don’t know what I would do without either one of these guys in my life.
Kyle is a shapeshifter just like Tyler and Sarah. He had come to stay with my family after his father kicked him out for being different. I didn’t know what he had meant until last summer when I got slapped with the reality my best friend was a shapeshifter, as well. He kept it a secret from everyone for years. I can’t imagine keeping that big of a secret for so long.
“I see you found the clothes I left for you,” Sarah says, taking a sip of coffee.
“I’m glad you had some to give me. I wasn’t able to get anything before I left.” I scrape the side of my bowl of oatmeal with my spoon. “Where are my parents?”
“They are in a secure room for now,” Sam says, looking at Alex. Their expression makes me nervous.
“A secure room? Why?” I ask.
“We have reason to suspect them of not being completely honest about things,” Sarah says, looking above my head at someone. I turn to find a tall, thin, muscular woman with short brown hair spiked up. “Angela this is-” Angela raises her hand.
“I know who she is. Kristina. I’m Angela.” She holds out her hand and I shake it. Her grasp is firm. I feel like my hand may be crushed. “I’m so glad you could join us. I hope you will find your time here useful and worthwhile.” She releases her grip, but her spiteful voice holds my attention. “We will be watching you.” My eyes follow her as she walks out of the room.
I rub my hand. “She seems nice,” I say, returning to my bowl of oatmeal.
“What she says goes,” Neiamiah says, covering a scar on his arm that stretches from his elbow to his wrist. The tension at our table continues to elevate. I’m beginning to wonder about this place.
“Anyone up to fight Kris?” Tyler asks, trying to lighten the mood.
“Wouldn’t take much to knock me out,” I say.
“I’ll do it.” A voice comes from the table to the right of us. My stomach drops when I see who my competitor is. He’s taller than I am and covered with tattoos. His black hair is shaved close to his head. I thought this was a joke. I didn’t really believe I would be fighting someone.
“No thanks, Jack. I think you’re a little advanced,” Tyler says, waving him off.
“She will have to learn sometime. Better now than later. The more pain she experiences, the faster she will learn.” Angela’s voice echoes in the now quiet room. “She’ll fight Jack. In an hour.” Great. So I can tell what kind of a teacher Angela is. Pain is her secret to fast learners which means I’m about to endure a lot of it.
Chapter 25
Kyle joins the others to finish organizing the weapons. I take a bow from the pile and run my fingers over the polished wood. Smooth. Turning it over, my thumb feels something rough. I look closer; a heart has been engraved into the wood. I inspect the five other bows; all have the same symbol on them. “What’s this?”
“It’s our symbol.” Vi picks up a bow. “We are your army now.”
“My army?” I hold my bow by my side. “I’m far from being a warrior, let alone a commander in chief.”
“This army, your army, isn’t just an army. We are the only hope for mankind. You were chosen, Kris. We know what this mission entails and we will gladly stand by your side,” Kyle says.
“Are you able to shoot that now?” Beau asks, concern in his voice. After my many failed attempts at headquarters, I can understand his doubts.
“Don’t have a choice,” I say.
I don’t know if I can or not, but I’m not going to let them see the doubt I feel. A warrior doesn’t show doubt or fear, only confidence, and bravery. In the line of danger, I hope I can keep myself together and remember my training. I know if I don’t I will die. Our mission must succeed. I’m hoping I can use my bow, but if I can’t, Tyler trained me to use other fighting techniques. I won’t let everyone down.
Looking at my reflection in the creek, I see a strong, toned woman. She carries scars and pain in her eyes, but, looking closer, behind all of that, there is still that glimmer of hope. My new reflection still surprises me. I’m not used to seeing myself strong. I press my thumb to the heart symbol engraved in my bow. I lift my shirt up enough to see the heart-shaped birthmark on my hip. I remember what it felt like when Tyler ran his fingers over it for the first time. Warm. Safe. Protected. He has seen all my imperfections, yet only sees me as beautiful and perfect. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he dies. Dies for me.
Alex puts his arm around my shoulders. “Are you okay, sis?”
“After we get everyone out and safe, I will be.”
“Sam would be proud of you.”
“I hope so.”
Alex leads me to the group. They look lethal. I wouldn’t want to mess with them. Vi hands me a tomahawk and I slip a knife into its case, placing the belt around my waist. I put the tomahawk in its place on my belt, followed by a gun. Last, I pick up the quiver full of arrows and place it on my back. I hope I can be as lethal as my friends when the time comes.
“Kris, when we arrive back at headquarters, your job is to cause a distraction. I don’t care what you do, just draw them away from the office and use your head. If we have to come to your rescue it will defeat the mission’s purpose,” Nehemiah explains.
“Understood,” I reply.
A half-smile curves up the side of his face. “Vi, watch her.”
Vi nods and winks to me.
I don’t feel I need a babysitter to distract the robot deputies and the awful inhuman leader Angela, but at least it’s Vi. She won’t interfere unless need be.
“The rest of you are with me. After we shut down the robots, we have to move fast to get Kris’s parents, Janet, Tyler, Sarah, and the rest of the members out.”
“I’ll get Tyler out,” I say.
Nehemiah lets out a sigh. “Okay.”
I know the gist of the plan. My mind starts to wander off. I know what my job is. The others have their own duties. What if I can’t get him out? What if he’s already gone? No. I won’t think like that. I will get him out. I will.
Nehemiah waves us forward. “Let’s go.”
We form a single file line. Nehemiah, Beau, Kyle, Alex, Vi, and me. He takes us to the wood line.
I can see my family’s house. I wish I could see it one more time and pretend this wasn’t happening. That my family and Tyler’s lives didn’t lay in my hands.
Nehemiah presses his palm to the trunk of a big oak tree. The silver keypad slides out. “Remember your goals.” He looks to me. “Don’t let your feelings consume you.”
I nod.
The four-digit code is entered and accepted. A part of me is surprised Angela hasn’t changed the code but the other isn’t. Allowing us back in would make it easier to create a trap to get us all at once. The bark of the tree slides to the side. Instead of bright lights, the room we enter is full of darkness. My heart beats fast and my palms are sweaty. Kyle’s voice fills my head, you have to learn to use your senses, even if they are altered. The first night Tyler and Kyle began training me. I would’ve liked more practice with this.
Vi takes my arm and leads me through the darkness. “Hope you have a plan,” she whispers.
Once inside a room, she releases her grip on my arm. I recognize the room; it’s where Tyler confronted Jack. “I’ll stay here until you get them to come to you. Then, I’ll follow behind to keep an eye on you,” Vi says.
I nod. Now’s the time. The time to be brave. Peering down the hall from behind the door, I look for Angela’s robots. Nothing. The hall is clear. My fighting and hunting instincts take over. I tiptoe down the hall, my back pressed against the wall. I go to the gym where we would all be usually. The room is quiet. No one is around. It could be the trap I was worried about. Still, I press on. If it is a trap, at least it will cause a diversion.
The lights aren’t on in the gym. Perfect, more darkness. I pull an arrow from my quiver and aim. I’m not afraid. If someone comes after me, I’ll shoot them.
A familiar, sarcastic sounding voice comes from above. “What do you plan to do with that?”
“Jack?”
“You can’t kill them with that. They are robots.”
“I can kill you,” I say, pointing my arrow at him.
I let my fingers slip from the bowstring, letting the arrow fly. Jack jumps out of the way just in time to avoid it. A bright orange and red flash follows, shoving me back against the back wall of the gym. My ears ring. The diversion has been created.
I try to focus on the debris lying in front of me. Smoke begins to build in the room. I cough and cover my mouth and nose with my shirt. A hand helps me up. I turn to see Jack pulling me from the room.
“Don’t fight me.” He pushes me to the side. “He’s in the library. Run!”
A gunshot fires and Jack falls to his knees. I can’t save him. I run as fast as I can down the hall and almost miss my turn to head up the ten flights of stairs to the library. It used to be my getaway, now it holds Tyler. My body shakes and my legs and lungs burn. Still, I push on.
I reach the top of the stairs and the door to the library stands wide open. The room is no longer filled with books; instead, a single-pole stands in the middle of the room. Tyler’s bruised and bloodied body make my heart stop. He sits on the floor. His hands are bound behind him around the pole. Blood has pooled around him. His head hangs down and I worry he’s unconscious. I enter cautiously, afraid this is another trap.
Kneeling by his side, I press my finger to his neck to check for a pulse. He has one but it’s weak. “Tyler. Tyler look at me. I’m here.” My heart sinks even more. “Tyler wake up, look at me!” I yell.
He flinches at my words.
I lift his head up gently with my hand to meet his eye. “Tyler.”
He smiles. “Kris.”
The light in his eyes has almost drained away. His face is swollen and bruised; it matches the rest of his body. Behind the pole, I see his hands have blood streaming down them. The infamous Angela cuffs are positioned on his wrists. “How do I get these off?”
“Tomahawk,” he says.
I take the tomahawk from my belt and stand a few feet away from the pole. I know that Tyler’s life is in my hands. I put all my strength behind the throw. The tomahawk connects and snaps the chain in two. My body’s shaking, more from determination than fear. “Come on, we have to get you out of here.”
“Kris, I can’t stand.”
“I’m not leaving you here again. We’re going together.” I place my lips to his. “That’s what I promised and I don’t break my promises.”
He puts an arm around my shoulders and I help him to his feet. Most of his weight rests on me. My adrenaline kicks in and I hardly notice I’m carrying his weight. The stairs come into the picture and I know they will be another obstacle.
Explosions fill the halls and I know my fellow warriors are taking care of their part of the operation. I hope they are all right. I hear footsteps pounding up the stairs. I lean Tyler against the wall and position an arrow in my bow.
“Kris, where are you?”
“Vi, up here! Can you help me get him out of here?”
“He doesn’t look well.”
“I’m not dead yet. I can hear you,” Tyler says.
“Come on, country boy,” I say.
He wraps an arm around Vi and the other around me. We are off again. With his weight evenly distributed between the two of us, we cover twice the ground. We descend from the last five flights of stairs in no time.
“My room,” Tyler says.
Vi and I take him to his room. She kicks open the door, the painted stars on the ceiling still gleam.
“Kris!” Vi yells. “Cabinet! Key! Handcuffs!”
Tyler leans on Vi and I run to the cabinet.
I pull open a small, hidden drawer underneath all of his healing ingredients. Inside is a skeleton key. “This?”
Tyler nods.
I slip it into each cuff, unlocking them. They fall to the ground. I wrap gauze tightly around his wrists to stop the bleeding. He scrunches his face but doesn’t yell. Smoke begins to fill the room and I know we have to go.
We move Tyler to the bed. He holds his palm to the bedpost. A keypad appears from it. He enters a four-digit code. This time there isn’t a portal, just time passing like a blur. We stop suddenly. We’re in the woods. Somewhere.