Resilient (28 page)

“What about the other one?” Adam asks. “The one you raised?”

“After I found out they had taken Alexis, I came home and told Dan, the other one, everything. Like the both of you, he was kept away from the truth, but he always wondered why he was special. He believed that there were others like him, and he wanted to submit himself to scientists’ hands to be studied. I was able to prevent that from happening. But once I told him the truth, he wanted to find those like him, so he left to search for you and the others.”

“How did he know where to find us?”

“I had a good idea where you all were taken to. I mapped out where he should look.”

“Have you heard from him?” Adam presses. “Where is he now?”

“He never contacted me since he left. I’m afraid they have him, too.”

Adam gets up and walks to the window. He slides the curtains out of the way and peeks outside. 

“What is it?” Henry asks. “Did you hear something?”

“I heard a car pull up, but it’s not them,” Adam says. He sneaks a glance at my uncle. “So have you always known about me?”

“No,” Henry says. “You weren’t supposed to be here. Your destination was Alaska. I was suspicious when Livia told me she couldn’t empathize with you, but you weren’t adopted, so I didn’t look into it. The day I saw Stevens at the store parking lot, that’s when I knew. Stevens was one of the doctors who worked with us at the compound. We worked together on the rescue mission—he took the biggest risks of us all, and was almost captured after leaving with two of the eight babies. The agency got one, but Stevens was able to flee with the other baby.”

“Adam?” I say.

“That’s right.”

“Then why am I not able to empathize with him?”

“It seems to me that Adam may have the ability to block others out so no one can use their abilities on him.” Henry looks at me. “But I don’t know how far your talents have developed. They get stronger as you figure out how to use them. Your empathic ability is unique to you alone, despite what the assassin and Aaron might have told you. It’s one thing to read thoughts, but another to understand the emotion behind them. Since you’ve accepted that as a part of you, you’ve started to develop it deeper. Now you can see more than just inside of someone’s feelings—you can see what they were feeling at any point in their lives. That’s why you have been seeing those pictures when you touch people.”

Adam walks up to stand next to me and I rest my head on his shoulder. “At least we aren’t siblings,” he says.

I can’t help but laugh. “At least.”

But Henry plows on. “Now, we don’t have much time. What exactly did Aaron tell you?”

“You know him?” I ask in surprise.

“He was just a kid when I first came to the compound. He belongs to the first batch of genetically enhanced humans made. The agency did the first experiment six years before you were born, and the babies had some defects. They lack any type of emotion and they had to undergo intense training before they could pass for normal in society; even then, some of them still cannot. They are mostly presented as soldiers, spies, made to do the dirty work.”

“How many of them are there?”

“Four of them and eight of you,” Emily says. “You’ve met Aaron and Camilla.”

“Camilla? You mean Ms. Johnson?”

“Didn’t you notice there’s something odd about her?”

I shift uncomfortably. “Yes, but I wasn’t sure. She shields her emotions very well.” 

“It’s because she doesn’t have any,” Emily explains. “She has a shield, but there’s nothing behind it.”

“Aaron also said they will send someone for us Sunday morning,” Adam inserts.

I feel my uncle’s emotions in turmoil. He fears for me and for my family, but he doesn’t want to see me go—and he knows he has no choice. 

“I’m glad you took care of me,” I say, reaching out to grasp his hand. “Otherwise, I would have never known what it’s like to have a family and be loved. But if the ends justify the means, only you can know that. You’re the one who has to live with what you’ve done, but I can only thank God for putting you in my life.” I push myself forward and give him a hug and squeeze my eyes shut so I won’t cry.

“Henry has been planning for this day all your life. He has a plan and it’s the only way for you to be safe,” Emily says, though I’m hardly paying attention to her. 

My uncle takes my shoulders and holds me, steadying me at arm’s length; his shaking resolve says that I should listen.

I pull back and look at him and Emily. “And what do you propose we do?”

“There’s so much more you need to know,” he begins quickly, “but we don’t have time. I’ll write you a letter tonight explaining everything I know about you and your abilities—for now, you need to do exactly what I tell you to do and trust that it will work.” 

“We have everything planned out,” Emily says. “I have new passports for both of you. We’ll say that Adam had an argument with his father and he moved out. You, Livia, couldn’t let your beloved go by himself, so you followed him.”

“So my parents are going to think I eloped?” I ask, incredulous. “That’s not fair to them.”

“Livia, that’s the way it has to be. Your parents might even guess the truth—they know you’re special,” Uncle says. “You’re stronger than you think, and you can do this.” 

“You both are going home to write goodbye letters to your parents and hide them where they can’t be discovered beforehand,” Emily says, her tone all business. “We need to keep everything looking normal until then. The agency can’t think that you are planning an escape, so you have to act like nothing is going on. Go to the homecoming dance tomorrow, and at 10 p.m., that’s when you’ll leave.”

“Where are we even going to go?” Adam asks.

Uncle Henry retrieves a paper from Emily’s bag and spreads it across the desk in the room. It’s a map with red pen marks over it, and I lean in closer to look at it. “Are we heading to Alaska?” I ask, frowning at the scale of the map, the national borders, the arrows north.

“I have a cabin secluded in the middle of the wilderness,” Henry says. “It’s right outside Noatak National Preserve, and the only way for you to get there is by plane. I’ll have someone I trust to fly you. He’s already expecting you.”

Adam eyes the map with a guarded stare. “And how long are we supposed to stay there?”

“For as long as it takes for you to master your abilities. You’ll need to train to fight and to survive. It shouldn’t take long—read the books and notes I’ll be giving to you. They will help you understand what your abilities are designed to mature into, what the first batch of subjects are able to do, and how you can defend yourselves against them. After that, you must find the other kids. Together, you’re stronger.”

“How are we supposed to find them?” Adam asks.

“With Emily’s map; there are four others, and we have a pretty good idea where they might be.”

“Hopefully my son will cross your path,” Emily says. “If he is still out there, then he might still be searching, too.” 

Uncle Henry nods his agreement and sits up on the desk. “This is how everything is going to play out.”

Adam leans next to him, his eyes still fixed on the map as my uncle explains to us what we’ll need to do. I try to focus on what he’s saying, but my mind keeps taking me to my parents and my brothers. This past month, all I wanted was to find out about my past, my biological parents—but today, I would give my life to go back in time to the day in the vision, the day that my parents held me in their arms and their tears were tears of happiness. 

The quote dancing in my head right now is so common that it needs no source: “be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it”.

I left the barn an hour ago and my chest is still tight with pain. Last night, the idea of leaving town was almost appealing. I didn’t have time to consider all that I was going to leave behind. Saying goodbye to Bader was harder than I could have imagined.

I get out of the shower and dress myself up for the dance. I have half an hour until I have to leave to pick up Livia and only a little longer until we’re gone. I didn’t sleep much last night and I’m exhausted. This morning I woke up early and went to the school to help out with the decorations for the dance. I’m keeping to my routine as Emily advised us to, but I didn’t see Livia at the school. I wonder how she’s doing; she didn’t look very good when I dropped her off at her home last night. 

I’m trying to ignore my feelings; it will be easier that way. I tried to spend some quality time with my brothers today—we played Wii together, and I didn’t pick on them like I normally do. I’ll miss out on so much of their lives and I won’t see what kind of men they’ll become. I wish I had given them more attention while I could. 

“Hey, look at you!” Mom says, walking into my bedroom. “Do you need help with that tie?”

“Please,” I tell her, even though I can do it perfectly without help. Little moments like this are what I will need to remember when I’ve left.

“I just talked to Laura on the phone. She said Livia is almost ready.” She looks at me and her eyes are filled with tears. “Please take pictures for me while you’re there.”

“I will, Mom.” I hug her and she kisses my forehead. “I love you.”

“Oh, Adam, stop or you’ll make me cry!” she says, smiling. Her eyes sparkle. 

Before I leave, she snaps a couple of pictures and I give her one last hug before heading to the Jeep. I’ve already packed my backpack with as many as clothes I could fit, as Henry instructed us to, and I stowed it in the back seat under a blanket this morning so Mom wouldn’t see it. But just as I’m about to pull out of my driveway for the last time, Dad pulls in. 

“Adam, wait,” he calls. “You look sharp!”

I get out of the car and lean on his open window. “Thanks. Uh, look, I wanted you to know I understand why you did what you did, and I’m not mad at you.”

He drags his hand down his face and gets out of the car. “Adam, what I did was wrong and I should never have—”

“Things happen for a reason, Dad, and I think what you did may not have been the right thing, but it saved my life.” 

I give him a hug before heading back to the Jeep. Mom walks outside and stands next to my dad. He puts his arms around her as I drive away.

I arrive at Livia’s house and her dad answers the door. “Hi, Mr. Berwick, I’m here to pick up Livia.”

“Hey, Adam, come on in. She’ll be down in a second!”

“Hello, Adam,” her uncle says as I walk into the living room. “How’s everything going?”

“As planned,” I say. I hear Livia coming down the stairs, and the sight of her makes my heart skip a beat. She’s in a long red dress, her hair loose in curls that cascade down on her shoulders. She looks more beautiful than she already is, if that is even possible. She smiles at me, but behind her smile, I see sadness.

This is not how today was supposed to go. I wanted it be special. I wanted us to be carefree and happy, and I wanted to walk into that dance and make her night magical. Now, I just want us to get out of there alive.

She walks up to me and I realize I was frozen in place, staring at her. I give her the corsage I bought her this morning, a tiny thing made with red and white roses. “It means you and I are one—we stand united.” I place it around her wrist and hold her close. After all, united is what we’ll have to be.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “It’s beautiful.”

I smile. “Not as beautiful as you.”

“Livia, let us take a picture of you two!” her mom says, holding a camera. We pose for a few pictures and I can feel Livia shaking a bit. I hold her hand in mine. She looks at me, and I can almost see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. 

When Mrs. Berwick’s camera has run out of room for any more photos, my face is sore from holding up a convincing fake smile. Livia walks closer to her Mom and gives her a lingering hug. “I love you, Mom.” Her mom smiles into her daughter’s hair, but only I can see Livia’s face—she looks heartbroken.

“I love you too, honey. Have fun tonight!” 

When her Dad approaches, Livia can’t contain her tears, and she hugs him hard. 

“It’s just a dance, Livia,” Henry jokes. The joke stings.

“Thanks, Dad, for everything you have done for me,” she says, and I look at Henry, who’s staring at Livia in disapproval—she sounds like she’s saying goodbye.

“Livia! Don’t cry, or you’ll ruin your makeup,” her mom fusses, approaching her with a tissue. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just, you guys are great.” Livia barely gets the words out; she can barely keep her smile up, too.

“Well, we love you, too!” Her dad kisses her forehead, still seeming baffled, and she slips away from them to walk to the door. I follow her outside.

We get in the Jeep and she waves goodbye to her family. As I drive away, Livia is no longer holding her tears in. She’s sobbing like a lost child. I pull up on the side of the road and hold her in my arms. 

“It’s going to be okay. I know it’s hard, but it’s for their own good.”

“I know,” she gasps.

I hold her until she gains control of herself. She pulls away, looking at me. I stroke my hand down her cheek and she leans into my palm. She puts her hand around my neck and draws me closer and kisses me. It feels like a kiss goodbye. Her breathing gets heavier as her grip on my shoulder tightens. I pull back from her and hold her steady. She holds my gaze and, for a moment, we don’t say anything. In her eyes, I see she fears the same thing I do. 

“I won’t let anything happen to us,” I say. “I promise we are staying together.”

“My uncle said that if they catch us, they’ll take our memories away.” She has no guard up anymore. I can see it: she’s absolutely terrified.

“They won’t take us. We will run and hide like he told us to do. We’ll train and get stronger, and one day we’ll take them down, one by one. I promise.”

We enter the school cafeteria. It doesn’t look like the place I eat every day. Tonight is meant to be a romantic homecoming dance, and the dance committee did a great job decorating the place. Instead of the plain white floor of the cafeteria, I’m standing on metallic paper. The walls are covered in dark blue with purple curtains hanging from the ceiling. As we walk in, we pass through a pair of arches where pictures are being taken. Above the arches is a sign that reads, “A Night to Remember”.