The Institute (13 page)

“I don’t! I
swear I don’t.” I return his gaze, he has to believe me, I don’t
know what I will do if he doesn’t.

“How about we
leave you two alone so you can sort your story out?” The two men
leave the room but I doubt very much that we are actually alone.
They would most definitely be listening in.

“Drew, what
happened? How did they find you? Where’s—““Shh, not here,” he cuts
me off before I can ask where Shilah is. He gestures to the mirror
on the opposite wall with his eyes, he must know that they are
listening or watching us too.

“Then where,
Drew? It’s too late. There’s no use in trying to hide it anymore is
there?”

“So tell them
the truth. Why are you hiding your defect and why didn’t you come
with us? Not that it mattered obviously, because we all ended up
here anyway,” he sighs. He’s genuinely as confused as I am.
“Allira, you need to tell them or tell me and I can tell them for
you. Look at what they have already done to you.” He leans forward
and kisses my swollen cheek.

“But Drew, I am
telling the truth.”

“Then why did
your blood test came back positive?”

“I don’t know
why. I have never had anything happen in my whole life that would
make me think I am Defective. If I suspected for a second, I would
have come with you. Maybe then we all wouldn’t have ended up here.
How did they find you Drew? Have you seen Shilah since you got
here?”

Drew puts his
hands on my shoulders, “Allira, you need to focus on you right now,
you have to tell them what you know.”

“That’s just
it! I don’t know anything. They mentioned the car accident but I
didn’t do anything that no other normal person could do. I just
don’t understand why they don’t believe me.” Drew gets up and I
hang my head defeated. I pause for a moment when another thought
crosses my mind.

“Drew, how did
you know my test came back positive?”

I hear a static
noise and look up to see Drew on a two way radio. “I think she
needs more motivation boys. Send her brother in.”

Chapter
Nine

I want to ask
him what he just said but before I can find words, Shilah is pushed
into the room. I stand up to rush over to him but Drew slams me
back down in the seat and motions for Shilah to sit in the other
chair. His hands are also cuffed. Drew has a crazed look in his eye
and I am so confused that I’m not seeing straight, it’s like a
switch has flipped and I’m looking at someone I don’t even
know.

“I’m really
disappointed it has come to this, Allira.” Drew crosses the room,
grabs Shilah by the shirt and throws him into the seat opposite me.
“I must be losing my touch.” To say that I am dumbfounded is an
understatement. Why does Drew have a two way radio? Is he
co-operating with them? “I can sense that you are confused, don’t
worry I am too. I have never met anyone like you. You’re a puzzle I
haven’t been able to work out and that means I lost a bet. I’ve had
a 100 per cent arrest record until you.” Arrest record? Drew is
looking at me like he is waiting for me to figure out what he is
talking about. “Oh dear sweet Allira, haven’t you worked it out
yet? This is my job.”

“What?! Since
when? How could you do this?”

“Well I’ve
suspected you ever since you pulled me out of that car. You didn’t
really think you could have got away with a feat like that and not
draw any attention to yourself, did you? It is a shame Jax had to
die that day but to be fair he brought it upon himself. He found
out who I was and that I was investigating him, he reached over and
grabbed the steering wheel, crashing the car on purpose trying to
get away. I was embarrassed to say the least, but I was just lucky
enough to find my next case at the same time: you.” Ugh, he sounds
so conceited; I want to vomit. “Ahh a feeling of disgust, not at
all new to me but entertaining nonetheless. I could never figure
you out though, either you truly don’t know you are Defective or
your over protectiveness for your brother was so strong that you
never worried about yourself, only him, which in turn could never
give me a proper read on you. That’s never happened to me before,
Allira.” He’s looking at me like he can’t believe a girl like me
could fool a guy like him.

“Was it all a
lie? Why didn’t you just turn us in when the blood test was
administered? Why bother putting us through this when you knew
exactly what was going to happen?”

“You mean,
apart from it being fun?” A smirk crosses his face and I’m
beginning to realise just how twisted he is and how deluded I was.
“In all honesty, there’s only one person in this room who knew for
sure how it was going to end.” I give him a confused look. He sighs
at the fact I still haven’t worked it out. “You have been such a
closed book when it comes to Shilah and your defect.”

I look over at
Shilah, who hasn’t uttered a word since being thrown in here. He
meets my eyes, but I quickly look away, ashamed that I fell for
Drew’s lies and put our whole family at risk.

“We had no idea
what you two could do,” Drew says. “We couldn’t try a spontaneous
capture and risk letting you get away. It’s always difficult to
orchestrate an arrest when we are dealing with abilities like
Shilah’s. But then you gave me a brilliant idea. You told me before
we left for our trip to the woods that Shilah can’t stay awake
forever, so all I had to do was wait for him to fall asleep before
I made my move. It worked extremely well as a last minute effort to
bring you both in. Of course, I would have loved the glory of
bringing you in myself, but I guess you’re here now and that’s all
that matters. Although, I am very disappointed you didn’t give it
up to me by the lake that night. That would have made this moment
so much more enjoyable.”

He pauses for a
moment to study my face. He really wants me to break down, get
upset. I refuse to give him what he wants and try to keep as
emotionless as possible but I’m in shock. You would think with
everything that has happened it would be hard to shock me, but
obviously life likes throwing curve balls at me. I am reminded of
my aunt’s words to me.
“This is how strong people are made,
Allira.”
I just need to focus on that right now.

“And now
honey
,” his voice drips with condescension. “We’re going to
play a little game.” He’s looking at me like he’s a kid and I just
told him we’re going to get ice cream. The sarcasm in his voice
when he called me honey and the excitement in his eyes scares me.
“I ask a question and if you answer it honestly, your brother gets
to keep his face intact. I must say though, after spending the last
few days with him, I really hope you lie to me.” I force myself to
look at Shilah, he is just as upset as me. “Okay, let’s start. When
did you become aware that you have a defect? Remember, if you
answer honestly, Shilah doesn’t get hurt.” Okay, answer honestly,
that’s all I have to do.

“About an hour
ago.” Drew turns and punches Shilah right in the nose so hard, his
chair falls backwards and he lands on the ground. I shriek and hear
Shilah curse.

“Oh Allira, I’m
so disappointed in you. How about we start with an easier one. When
did you become aware of your brothers defect?” I look at Shilah on
the ground. I don’t want to answer, I’ve spent nearly my entire
life keeping his secret and the last time I opened up to Drew about
it … well it got us here, but I don’t want Shilah getting hurt
again. It’s my fault we’re here. I sigh and look away from Shilah’s
gaze as I answer, ashamed that I am taking back the promise I gave
him when he was a child that I would never talk about him to
anyone.

“When he was
four years old.”

“Good girl.
That wasn’t so hard was it? Now, why did you think it was okay for
you and your precious little family to break the law and get away
with it for over ten years?” Again I look down at Shilah, blood is
still gushing from his nose; I think Drew has broken it.

“He isn’t
dangerous.”

“He’s still
Defective isn’t he?”

“So are you,” I
reply and then hang my head as soon as I say it; it’s probably not
the best time to point out the obvious. What I would like to know
is how Drew is able to work for them, they drill it into us for
years that the Defective cannot live in our society but they are
planting them in other people’s lives on the outside?

“And you it
would seem. Are you ready to tell me about your defect yet?” Drew
asks.

I feel ashamed.
How can he be like this? How did I never see it before? How did I
ever let that boy kiss me? But even now with his crazy eyes and
sadistic personality I am thinking about those kisses, his tender
touch and loving arms. Why
am
I thinking of this now?

“I’m starting
to get impatient Allira, and just think, the sooner you give us
what we want, the sooner we will be able to start helping you
settle in here.”

The last thing
I want to do is settle in here. I look at Shilah lying awkwardly on
the ground from when Drew punched him and I can see his eyes are
filled with tears; I can’t bear to see him hurt. Fine. I will give
them what they want.

“Okay, I will
tell you what you need to know. Just leave Shilah alone, please.” I
have no idea what I am going to say, I don’t have an ability. I
can’t lie and say that I can do something that I can’t, what if
they ask me to prove it?

“Just tell the
truth Allira, that’s all we’re asking for.” Drew’s tone almost
sounds like the Drew I know. But I am telling the truth and that’s
not good enough for them. I don’t know what to do.

“Don’t do it
Allira, I’ve seen both outcomes. He’ll—“

Shilah’s voice
is cut off by Drew punching him again but repeatedly this time. I
can’t believe what I am witnessing. I jump out of my seat, run over
and try to push Drew up against the wall with my body, to try and
get him to stop wailing on Shilah but he quickly turns and slams me
into the opposite wall, hitting my head and throwing me onto the
floor.

“Stop! Please
stop!” my pleading is being muffled by my sobbing cries. Drew goes
back over to Shilah and starts kicking him in the stomach and ribs.
I can hear shouts of pain coming from the floor between my gasping
for breath and yelling, pleading for him to stop. A voice comes
over the two way radio.

“Agent, that’s
enough,” Drew doesn’t stop kicking. “Agent Jacobs! That is enough!”
The voice is more commanding this time and it makes Drew stop and
stand to attention. But Agent Jacobs? Stanley isn’t even his real
name? Is Drew really his first?

Drew … or
whatever his name is, storms out slamming the door behind him. I
get up and rush over to Shilah’s side. His face is already starting
to swell and is bloody; I think he’s passed out from the pain. I
try to rouse him but it’s hard without the use of my hands. He
makes a protest noise as he comes to and tries to roll over. I tell
him to lay still. I feel so hopeless, I can’t even comfort my own
brother. Tears are still coming and I begin to wonder just how many
more I can shed before I become severely dehydrated, surely I am
running on empty.

Two new men I
haven’t seen before come in in white scrubs. They tell me to step
aside so they can help Shilah and I don’t hesitate to move.
Shilah’s in a bad way, he needs medical attention. They take him
out of the room and I’m alone again. I take this opportunity to
crawl into a ball in the corner of the room and sob.

Memories of all
the times I have spent with Drew flood my thoughts. I think about
that very first day he ever spoke to me and how arrogant he was.
Now I look back and realise it’s because he truly wasn’t interested
in me, I wasn’t his target then. I think of how everything changed
the night I saved him from that car crash, how beaten down he was
when he told me Jax was dead, how sad he looked on the train that
day. Was anything he told me the truth? I don’t understand how he
could do this. Does this mean the Institute have other plants out
there investigating people? How many Defective people are living a
normal life under the watch of the Institute? Why does no one know
about this?

I’m so tired. I
don’t know how much longer they are going to keep me in this room.
I have no idea what time it is but it’s surely well into the early
hours of the morning. I worry about where they have taken Shilah. I
worry about what they are going to do to me if I don’t admit what
my non-existent ability is. I worry about my father, did they take
him too? If they did I assume he wouldn’t have been brought here,
he’s not the Defective one. It feels like I’ve been on this floor
for hours when I hear the door open again. It is two men in black
uniforms, like the ones that the people who arrested me were
wearing. They pick me up off the floor and walk me out. Finally I
am going to get a break. I’m escorted down long hallways that have
security doors at the end of each of them. They buzz as we walk
through them and I recognise the sound from when I first arrived
here. The guards don’t talk to me and I’m thankful that it’s not
the same men from earlier. Their grip on me is more casual, maybe
they know there’s no way anyone would try to escape from inside
these walls. How staff don’t get lost here is beyond me, I’ve lost
count of how many turns and doors I’ve walked through. We walk
through one more door and come to a set of stairs and as they start
walking me down, I see where they are taking me. They have brought
me to my new residence … a jail cell.

Chapter
Ten

So much for
those luxury apartments we see every year on that stupid tour. I
always sensed a prison like feel whenever we visited here and now I
know why – my instincts were right. I knew those apartments were
not as they seemed, but I never imagined this. I guess I won’t be
having that shower after all. My cell is even smaller than the room
I was just in. It’s dark and dank, there’s a mouldy wet smell
coming from somewhere and the coldness of the cement floor bites at
my feet. There’s a tiny cot on the right and a toilet bowl and sink
on the left.
Great, I love peeing in public
. There are some
blue pyjamas on the bed. I can’t even be bothered getting changed –
I’m just going to crash in my clothes. I throw the scrubs on the
floor and crawl under the single thin blanket on my bed.