MAXIM: A New Type of Human (Oddily Series #2) (13 page)

Maxim released Zaylyn’s throat, but kept her pinned to the ground.
What did you do with her?

I won’t tell you. Not until you leave her to be with me.

Never!

Paul glanced at the shovel still caked with dirt.
Oh, shit. I think she may have buried Oddily somewhere in the cemetery!

Both Paul and Maxim abandoned Zaylyn and immediately began to hunt through the graveyard for freshly turned up dirt.

The energy field mounting around Maxim was growing stronger when his attempts to find her failed.
Do you see anything, Paul?

Nothing yet, but I know she’s here. She has to be.

Wait a minute. I think I found something!
Maxim dropped to his knees and began to dig with his hands.
Get the shovel!

When Paul came back with the shovel, Maxim grabbed it from him and started to dig deeper until he hit upon something. Maxim hollered his frustration when he stared at the carcass of an animal—probably a once loved pet.

You won’t find her,
Zaylyn’s voice rang through his mind.

Maxim dropped to his knees in defeat, tears stinging his eyes.
All right—you win.

Finally!
Zaylyn showed up and stood over him.
Are you ready to leave this horrid place?

No! Not until I know Oddily is safe!

Fine, but if you try to pull one over on me, your little sweetheart will die.

Paul joined Maxim’s side as the two followed Zaylyn inside the old church. He had been trying to come up with a plan to overpower this mysterious girl, but she had a hawk’s eye on them both. It was obvious that despite her youthful appearance, he and Maxim were not dealing with a typical teenager.

Where is she?
Maxim demanded as he glanced around the room.

Go ahead…search for her.

Maxim began to hurry down the center aisle, but stopped short next to one of the pews. He had found Oddily, and she was sprawled out on the bench.

What have you done to her?!
With one giant stride, Maxim was bending over Oddily’s unconscious body feeling the side of her neck. The slight beating of her pulse against his fingertips assured him that she was still alive.

“Hey, wake up!”
He patted her on the cheek.
“Can you hear me?”

Oddily’s body remained motionless.

See, she is perfectly fine
. Zaylyn became agitated when Maxim cradled the redhead in his arms.

You call this fine?
Maxim shot Zaylyn a look of contempt.

Calm down. After I give her the antidote, she will wake up and be her typical pathetic self again.

Do it now!

How do I now you’ll still come with me?

Because you won’t stop pursuing me until I do.

All right, but only as long as you understand that…!
Before Zaylyn could finish her warning, a plank of wood came crashing down on her head knocking her to the ground.

“Take that you bitch!” Nexa tossed the rotten two by four to the side.

“Oh crap!” Paul ran over to Zaylyn’s body to see if she was still breathing.

“What’s wrong?” Nexa stepped forward. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

Paul stared into Nexa’s sky blue eyes and said, “She’s dead!”

“She can’t be!” Nexa fell to her knees and searched for Zaylyn’s pulse.

Maxim’s anxiety was at its peak as he watched the look of horror in his sister’s eyes after her hand dropped away from the body.

Paul seemed to be the only one with a clear head. He began to search Zaylyn’s pockets until he pulled out a vial of liquid. “Let’s hope that this is the antidote for Oddily because if it’s not…!”

“No, I won’t risk giving it to her unless I know for sure that it’s safe.” Maxim held Oddily’s body closer as he once again feared for her life.
Damn it Nexa! Why did you have to show up and ruin everything?

I was only trying to help!

If I had needed your assistance, I would have asked for it. When are you going to stop butting into my business?

Paul took the vial and placed it in Maxim’s shirt pocket. “Go! Do what you can for Oddily while I clean up around here.”

Maxim took Oddily and fled the chapel while Paul threw Zaylyn’s body over his shoulder. The visibly shaken Nexa followed Paul as he headed back into the graveyard.

“I can’t believe I killed her.”

“Relax, because in theory…you didn’t. According to this timeline, the girl doesn’t even exist.”

Oh, that’s right!” Suddenly, Nexa felt a mixture of relief and suspicion. “How come you know so much? Who are you?”

My real name is Paulsen.

Nexa was stunned when Paul’s voice rang through her head.
You just spoke to me telepathically!

Paul began to struggle with Zaylyn’s body.
Hey, do you mind if we talk about this later?

14

Maxim carried Oddily into Nero’s lab in the cavern and laid Oddily down on one of the tables. He then removed the vial from his pocket to examine the contents. Rushing over to one of the display cases, he peered inside and tried to read the labels on the bottles. Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand most of the codes his father had used to identify the contents. Obviously, it was another one of Nero’s security measures.

“Damn it!” Maxim shouted when his frustration tried to overwhelm him. Now with Zaylyn dead, would he ever be able to find out if this substance was safe to give Oddily? There was only one way to find out. He would try some of it out on himself.

Maxim opened the vial and placed a droplet on his tongue. It had a pleasant sweet taste, but nothing more. Ten minutes had passed with no adverse reaction, so he swallowed a few droplets and waited. Still…nothing happened. Apparently the substance was safe, so now the question was, would it awaken Oddily?

Hovering over Oddily, he gently lifted her head and brought the vial to her lips.

“Wait!” A robotic female rushed out from the depths of the cavern and approached Maxim. “Please, show me what you are going to place in this girl’s mouth.”

In a state of shock, Maxim held up the vial so the unfamiliar android could scan the substance.

“It is poison!” the artificial voice echoed throughout the cavern.

Maxim gasped. “It can’t be. I tested it on myself and I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry, but I must ask you to step away from the girl.”

“No!” Maxim’s protective nature kicked in as he stepped between Oddily’s body and the advancing non-human.

“Maxim, move your butt out of the way!”

There was only one android that spoke to him in that manner. It was his former nanny. “Willa…is that you?”

“Believe it or not…yes!”

Maxim refused to allow Willa’s new and advanced body to distract him from Oddily; so he asked her, “Are you familiar with this lab?”

“Like the back of my hand,” she smiled, showing real teeth, “and I need to give you the antidote before you start reacting to the poison.”

Maxim allowed Willa to prick his arm with a needle, injecting something into his system to counteract the poison.

“That should do it,” she patted his arm. “Now, let me take a look at the girl.”

Willa turned to Oddily and checked her vital signs. Then, using her x-ray vision, Willa scanned Oddily’s body for any abnormalities.

Maxim nervously ran his hand through his hair. “Did you find anything?”

“Just some traces of Chloroform around her mouth!”

“That’s all?!” A sudden chill ran up Maxim’s spine when he realized what had almost happened. He came close to poisoning Oddily! Zaylyn’s plan was for him to administer what he thought was an antidote for Oddily to wake up, when in truth, the so-called antidote would have killed her.

“Willa, answer me. Do you see anything else?”

Willa had detected something more going on inside Oddily’s petite body, but there was nothing in her data base to identify what was happening. She decided to keep this information to herself because Maxim was already too overwhelmed with concern. “Don’t worry. She’ll be waking up soon.”

Willa watched Maxim stroke Oddily’s red hair—the same color red her own hair had been before the accident that destroyed her physical body. “Who is this girl Maxim?”

Maxim needed a few minutes to collect his thoughts. Previously, before he found Willa’s original metal body in a heap with other mechanical parts, he had planned to tell her the truth. But then, after finding Willa’s remains, he assumed that her data had been destroyed as well. The remembrance of his former nanny caused him pain, so he blocked her from his mind. Now that he found her still alive, he didn’t know what to do.

“Whoever she is, she’s adorable.” Willa’s synthetic voice caught Maxim’s attention.

“Willa, there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?” Willa turned to him.

“Oddily…is your daughter.”

“Lily Rose?”

“Yes,” Maxim smiled when he found out Oddily’s real name, “but she goes by the name Oddily.”

Willa turned back to the redhead. After all these years of living with only the memories of her infant daughter, she felt strangely detached from this unconscious girl. “What is your connection with her?”

“I love her.” Maxim’s simplistic statement was full of passion. “And I think it best that I take her home before she wakes up. The familiarity of my bedroom will be less shocking than opening her eyes to a laboratory inside a giant cavern.”

“And rest her eyes upon me, a half organic monster!” Willa added.

“Don’t talk that way Willa. I promise that we will work something out.”

Willa watched Maxim lift Oddily’s body into his arms. “May I at least walk with you to the house?”

“That would be perfect because I just thought of something…if the idea is agreeable with you.”

“What do you have in mind?” Willa left the cavern with Maxim and began to walk by his side through the underground tunnel while he shared his thoughts.

“What would you think if I asked you to come back and stay with us? You could act as our housekeeper, giving Oddily the chance to meet you in a more relaxed environment.”

“I like that idea because I’ll have a chance to know her as well.”

“There’s just one thing. You need to act more like an android with artificial intelligence. She can’t know the truth about you yet.”