Blood Ties (21 page)

I frowned. All this amazing technology – just to protect Elijah? There must be more to it than that. I wondered uneasily who was paying for the compound. Elijah had mentioned powerful friends. Who were they?

He stopped beside a door marked
Private
.

‘Mel will take you to a room,’ he said, without looking at me.

He stood in front of a small pad and a light beam scanned his eye. The
Private
door opened and he disappeared.

I stood there for a second, not quite sure what had just happened.

Mel touched my arm. ‘He didn’t exactly graduate charm school,’ she said. ‘Though he can turn it on when he wants.’

I nodded. I still had no idea why Elijah had brought me here. Okay, so he wanted to keep me safe from RAGE. But this was clearly a working compound – a place designed for scientific developments. How did I fit in with that? In fact, so long as he couldn’t show me off as a scientific achievement, why was he protecting me at all? No way did he see me as a son. I was pretty sure all I was was a successful genetics experiment to him. Nothing more.

Mel led me through more doors and corridors. At last we reached a long line of apartments.

‘You’ve got your own studio,’ she said, pushing a door open. ‘I’ll show you the main dining area later.’

It was a large room with a bed at one end, a tiny bathroom off to the side and a sofa and little kitchen area nearer the door. Everything was smart and clean – like a hotel room.

I looked around, my mouth dry, then wandered across the wood floor towards the sofa. The whole room was actually bigger than the living area Mum and I shared in our house. I had a flashback to my messy bedroom at home. I missed it all desperately. Not just Mum herself, but my whole life – school, my friends, even Roy. I couldn’t get my head around the fact that they were all in another country. Another life.

I sat down on the sofa, a lump in my throat.

Mel perched next to me and put her arm round my shoulders. ‘You’ll get used to it,’ she said.

‘I don’t want to.’ I gritted my teeth. ‘I don’t understand why I’m here. Why can’t I be relocated, like Rachel?’

‘For some reason Elijah wants you here.’ Mel squeezed my arm. ‘Like he wants me here. And what Elijah wants, he always gets.’

‘So I’m a prisoner?’

Mel sighed. ‘My best guess is that he wants to train you up to take over from him. I mean, he had this really bad virus last year. Left him with some godawful heart condition that he’s on loads of meds for. Don’t get me wrong, he’s fine now, but I think being ill like that showed him he wasn’t going to live forever. I think he likes the idea of someone, literally in his own image, taking over from him.’

I stared at her. ‘But there’s no way I could do any of the stuff he does here. He was probably dissecting dogs when he was ten.’

Mel laughed.

‘Are there even any other people my age here?’ I said.

She shook her head. ‘There are some younger kids. But for high school most families send their children away during term time. Blindfolded, of course. Hardly anyone knows where we actually are. Somewhere underneath D.C., obviously. But I don’t know exactly where. I get blindfolded too.’

‘He doesn’t trust you?’ I said.

‘Not about that.’ Mel shook her head. ‘Especially not now.’

I wondered what she meant. Something to do with why he’d hit her, I guessed.

‘Get some sleep, babe.’ She stood up. ‘The door’s automatically programmed to lock when I shut it. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about that, but I’ll come back in an hour or so . . . and Theo?’

I looked up.

‘You’re going to be okay. He’s actually nicer with you than I’ve ever seen him with anyone.’

And, with that, she gave me a sad smile and slipped away, leaving me feeling more alone than ever.

Lewis’s condition for going ahead with my plan was that we should both be fully prepared before we contacted RAGE. And part of being prepared, he said, was being physically fit.

‘If you are going to come with me to the RAGE headquarters and Elijah’s complex in D.C., you must be able to look after yourself . . .’ he said, ‘. . . for when I can’t look after you.’

This meant several days of workouts. They were far tougher than the couple of hours Theo and I had spent with Mel on our first morning. Lewis made me row on the rowing machine until the sweat was pouring off me, and my arms and legs ached. Then he showed me some martial arts moves.

‘It’s not about brute strength,’ he said. ‘It’s about balance and using your bodyweight.’

He showed me how to pivot on one foot, thrusting the other leg into a kick. We did the same move over and over until I was completely exhausted.

Then he stood over me while I did a hundred curl-ups, grinning down at me and yelling encouragement.

After I was done, he cooked steaks while I soaked in a bath.

‘I can’t do anything fancy,’ he smiled as I sat down at the little kitchen table half an hour later. ‘But when you’ve worked hard you need good food.’

My arms were so tired I could barely lift my knife and fork, but the steak and potatoes and salad tasted great.

‘This is great,’ I grinned. ‘Easily as good as Mel’s veggie curry.’

As soon as I’d said her name I wished I hadn’t.

Lewis’s face darkened. He pushed his plate away.

‘Sorry,’ I said awkwardly.

‘It’s okay,’ Lewis sighed. ‘I just can’t bear thinking about him hurting her again.’

I nodded, to show that I understood. It was funny – no one as grown up as Lewis had ever talked to me so openly before, like an equal. I mean, he wasn’t exactly in the same age bracket as my parents. But he was still a good few years older than me.

‘Do you love her – Mel?’ I said timidly. Two days ago I would never have dared ask anyone such a question. But now, well, now I wanted to know. And there didn’t seem to be any reason not to ask.

Lewis looked across the room. ‘I think about her all the time. How amazing she is. I remember when I saw her the first time in D.C., I just stared and stared. I couldn’t believe how she looked.’ He laughed. ‘I was terrified of talking to her. She was so out of my league, she was practically orbiting another planet. Plus, she was Elijah’s girlfriend. But I had to talk to her.
Had
to. And then when I did, it was so easy. We got on really well. She’s like this really strong person, but really shy too . . . Anyway, we had to be careful because of Elijah, so we didn’t have much chance to . . . to spend time together before I had to go undercover with RAGE for six months.’ He smiled at me. ‘I’ve never felt like this about anyone. It’s kind of awesome and awful at the same time. You’ll see when it happens to you.’

I stared down at the last piece of steak on my plate and said nothing.

After we’d eaten, Lewis sketched an outline of the Washington complex on a piece of paper.

‘Recreational areas across the front, then staff quarters and Elijah’s private rooms behind to the west. The labs are in the block to the east. No one ever goes into them except Elijah and the scientists. There’s some hardcore security built into the doors, but that’s where we direct RAGE. Keep them away from the staff quarters as much as possible, yeah?’

He looked at me as if he was expecting me to make some kind of intelligent comment on his plan.

I attempted a smile. I was starting to feel rather overwhelmed by what we’d agreed to do.

‘Are you sure about this, Rachel?’ Lewis said. ‘I have to get Mel anyway. But there are other—’

‘Of course I’m sure,’ I said fiercely. ‘It was my idea, wasn’t it?’

The truth was I was scared. More scared than I wanted to admit. But Elijah had Theo. He wasn’t giving him up.

Which meant I couldn’t either.

And I decided another thing too. Maybe Theo was never going to feel about me like I did about him. But I had to find out – one way or the other.

Lewis and I talked for a little longer about the best way to contact Max. Lewis was sure RAGE would still be tapping her phone and monitoring her emails.

‘Why don’t we send her a postcard?’ I said. ‘Snail mail. We could tell her to meet us somewhere.’

Lewis frowned. ‘Where? She’s probably being followed by RAGE. They know how close she is to Theo, they’ll be expecting some kind of contact attempt. Where could she go that wouldn’t look suspicious?’

I grinned at him. ‘I have the perfect place in mind,’ I said. ‘It’s crowded, it’s full of teenagers and we’ll be able to talk to each other without anyone noticing.’

I explored my room while I was waiting for Mel to come back. It contained some pretty cool stuff – computer, games console, big plasma screen TV, music station.

I went online and tried to send Mum an email. But the computer blocked my attempt to log onto my account. Then I tried to access the chat rooms Max and I often used. Also blocked. After half an hour I had to accept that I had absolutely no way of contacting anyone.

Rage and fear paced round my head like wild cats trapped in a cage. I couldn’t see a way out. Couldn’t see any way back to any part of my old life. At least I knew Mum and Rachel were okay – or safe from RAGE anyway. My thoughts turned to Max and Jake. Mel had said she was sure they were fine – but what if RAGE had caught up with them?

‘D’you know if they’re really all right?’ I said to Mel when she turned up an hour or so later.

She nodded. ‘Elijah reckoned RAGE would pick them up, interrogate them, discover they knew nothing of any importance and let them go. And, as usual, he was right. He’s been monitoring them.’

‘Monitoring?’ I said. ‘Why not protecting? Elijah sent Lewis for me and Rachel. Why didn’t he send someone to rescue them?’

Mel sighed. ‘Elijah took a calculated gamble that RAGE wouldn’t harm them.’

‘But—’

‘RAGE have a specific agenda which doesn’t include murdering innocent kids. They want you and Rachel because of what you are. You in particular, because in their eyes you are a replica of Elijah. There’s no reason for them to hurt your friends.’

‘But Elijah couldn’t have known that for sure,’ I said, my temper rising. I couldn’t believe it. Max and Jake had nothing to do with the argument between Elijah and RAGE, and yet Elijah wouldn’t lift a finger to help them.

‘Despite what you see here, he doesn’t have unlimited resources,’ Mel said. ‘And to be fair, it wasn’t his fault they got involved. Listen, buddy, Elijah doesn’t want you to leave this room yet, but you’ve got to eat. So I’m going to take you to the dining hall.’ She handed me a baseball cap. ‘Put this on and pull it over your face. It’s not likely to happen, but we don’t want anyone connecting you and Elijah. Don’t look at anyone directly and keep your mouth shut when you’re there. Okay?’

I pulled on the cap and followed her down the long corridor. Was she saying it was
my
fault Max and Jake were at risk now? I thought about it. I had involved both of them. But I hadn’t known how dangerous it would be. Then it hit me. I
had
known. Mum had told me the first night we talked about my dad being alive still. And yet, thoughtlessly, I’d led both of them – and Rachel – into terrible danger.

The dining hall was at the end of my corridor – a cafeteria full of people and long rows of trestle tables. A weird mix of pale, middle-aged men and women, who I guessed must be Elijah’s scientific staff, and some seriously beefy guys in security-guard uniforms. A few small kids trailed by bored-looking younger women wandered around a little play area in the corner.

We ladled portions of macaroni cheese onto our plates. A couple of the security guards wandered over as we found a table.

‘Remember,’ Mel hissed, ‘keep your head down and your mouth shut.’

As it turned out, the security guards weren’t interested in me in the slightest. They barely glanced in my direction as they tried to get Mel to chat to them. She kept her head bowed, so you couldn’t see that bruise round her eye, and answered in monosyllables. They soon drifted off.

Mel and I ate in silence.

I started thinking about Jake and Max again. How I’d involved them without thinking. I had been very hungry, but suddenly I couldn’t eat any more. How could I when I didn’t know if my friends were still safe?

I saw Lewis in my mind’s eye, slumped over that armchair in the cottage. Elijah had done that.

And I was Elijah.

I couldn’t bear it.

‘I’m going back to my room,’ I muttered.

Mel nodded. ‘I’ll call in on you later,’ she said. ‘Don’t talk to anyone on the way.’

I stumbled back along the corridor. A lump lodged in my throat. Nothing made sense any more. A week ago I’d been Theo Glassman. A popular, powerful fifteen-year-old boy with a home and a mum and friends and no real worries at all. And now I had been stripped of everything that made up the life I knew. I didn’t even know who I was. There was absolutely nothing to hold on to. Nothing real. And nobody who could understand how it felt.

Except Rachel, maybe. She was like me. A clone. She would understand.

I suddenly missed home so hard it was like a physical pain in my chest. I stopped in the corridor and leaned against the wall, my eyes closed against the terrible ache of it. Holding Rachel had been real. Less than twenty-four hours ago I had stood outside the cottage and hugged her. To comfort her. To comfort myself. And she had hugged me back. That was real. That was genuine. I had to remember it.

‘Theodore?’ Elijah’s voice snapped my eyes open.

He was towering in front of me, a frown on his face.

‘Do you feel all right?’ he said. For the first time since I’d met him I heard real concern in his voice. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘And it’s
Theo
.’

Elijah’s eyes narrowed. ‘Well, I want you to have a full medical examination tomorrow, anyway. It’s standard procedure for newcomers to the compound.’

I stared at him. ‘Tell me why I’m here.’ Maybe I could get him to talk. To tell me his plans.

‘You’re here because this is where you belong, Theodore.’ Elijah smiled and leaned back against the wall. ‘I was always going to send for you, once you’d finished school. You might have forced me into moving faster than I was planning, but I always wanted you here to . . . to help me.’