The Vanishing Girl (5 page)

Chapter 9

“
Great. Tardy exercises
, and now I failed my first partner module.”

“
—
Eff
—
off,” I wheezed between push-ups. I didn’t know a body could handle this much physical activity in a single day.

“No talking!” Coach Painter yelled. I think he was taking our failure personally.

At least the gun was unloaded.
I still almost peed my pants when the guy aiming the gun at me had pulled the trigger and I heard the click of an empty chamber.

After gym class, Caden and I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon attending Global Relations, followed by Language Acquisition. Apparently those weren’t the only classes I’d be attending; I also had weaponry, etiquette, and professional profiling classes later this week.

The day should’ve been over after Global Relations, but thanks to our tardy attendance this morning we were now working out for the second time today.

My puny arms could no longer push my body up and down. I collapsed onto the mat, my muscles spasming from the exertion.

“Pierce!” Coach had quickly moved from not knowing my name to being on a last-name basis with me. “Why have you stopped?”

“I can’t do any more push-ups.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” I could tell Coach was a wily one from the lilt of his voice. “Let’s switch to some stadiums.”

I wanted to cry as I scraped my body off of the track and walked towards the cement stairs built into the stadium that surrounded the track. My tour had not included this football stadium, probably because it sat deep in the woods behind the facility. 

“Pierce!” he yelled behind me. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Do five sets of four, and then you’ll be done for the day.”

“You want me to do twenty stadiums? All the way up?” There had to be at least forty stairs. Forty. Who even used this stupid stadium? All the forest creatures? There weren’t enough people in the surrounding fifty miles to fill these bleachers up. 

“No Pierce,” Coach Painter said, “I only want you to run the first two sets
—
and only halfway up.”

“Really?” I asked, hopeful.

“No. Now get moving! And Hawthorne, get up off the ground and join her. That’s five sets of eight for you.”

“Coach
—
” Caden began.

“Listen guys, this isn’t Rhetoric. I don’t care about your diction or your arguments. Now get moving, I want to go home before the sun rises.”

Forget prison, I’d been recruited into hell.

That evening, after
I’d loaded my plate with food, I walked past the rows of occupied tables and made a beeline for an empty one towards the back of the room. My skin felt hot as several pairs of eyes tracked my progress. One pair in particular caught mine.

I briefly met Caden’s gaze. He sat in the middle of a crowded table
—
next to Desiree
—
the center of attention. Despite my talent for understanding body language, his eyes were unreadable. I looked away, too tired to attempt to be social.

I collapsed into an empty chair at the back of the room, my legs still weak from stadiums. I’d managed to do all twenty of them, but it took an hour and a whole lot of will power. I thought I was in shape. Trying to survive for ten minutes each night was incentive enough to work out. But this was different. I already knew I was going to be sore for days.

I slid the food in front of me around, glum that my life had been taken from me and angry that I was powerless to stop it from happening. Only now did it hit me that I was stuck here for two years.

Plastic clattered against the table. “Hey. Glad to see you snagged us an empty table.” I glanced up from my food to find Caden sitting across from me.

“Do you ever go away?” I asked, annoyed. He was the last person I wanted to see.

“Sorry princess,” he didn’t look sorry at all, “but we’re partners, which means we’re stuck together.”

Fantastic.

“Have you met some of the other teleporters here?” he asked, nodding his head to indicate the rest of the dining hall.

“I’ve seen some of them in class.”

“
Seen
and
met
are two very different things. Here, I’ll call my buddies over.”

“Caden, no
—
”

He turned to the table he was previously sitting at and whistled, waving his friends over and conveniently ignoring me. At least a half dozen students got up and began to move our way.

My blood pounded and my muscles tensed. All I wanted was to eat alone. I grabbed my tray and stood up. Caden’s hand shot out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back into my seat.

“What do you think you’re
—
?”

He leaned in and whispered gruffly. “They’re watching us all the time, studying our behavior. If you want to go unnoticed, then you have to blend in. Being a loner will convince them you’re maladaptive. And you do not want that.”

I stared at him for a long moment, taking in this tactical side of Caden. His friends, my classmates, were almost to the table.

“If you’re so concerned about it, then why have you made yourself stand out?” I asked, thinking about the way he moved about the facility, acting like he owned the place.

“You mistake acting the part for standing out.”

The logic behind his words sounded eerily familiar. Hadn’t I done the same thing by covering up my markings with a tattoo? Plus, I had been hiding myself in plain sight for the last five years up until I’d arrived here.

“We all have roles to play,” Caden continued. “Hadn’t I just about convinced you of who I was?”

Yes. I’d assumed Caden was arrogant, egotistical, and charmed the staff and faculty into getting what he wanted. Now I wasn’t so sure that was all there was to him.

His friends began to sit down around us. “Find your role and fit in,” Caden finished, smoothly transitioning from our conversation into fist-pounding one of his buddies and laughing at something he said.

His words gave me the chills. We were being watched.

A guy with
skin the color of caramel was the first to introduce himself. “Jeff,” he said, reaching a hand out from across the table to shake mine.

I’d done this often in my old life
—
made introductions. That was what came with moving around a lot. I’d also learned to keep my distance, to make only a few superficial friends
—
Ava excepted
—
because when you moved a lot, goodbyes inevitably followed a short while later.

“Ember,” I said, taking his hand.

His striking green eyes flashed with interest. “It’s nice to meet you, and a damn shame that you’re not single.”

I pulled my hand from his. “I’m not in a relationship, if that’s what you’re talking about,” I said. My gaze flicked to Caden.

Caden’s eyes glittered mischeviously, and again I saw a challenge in them.

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Oh really?” A smile played on his lips, but he didn’t say anything more.

On Caden’s other side Desiree watched me. When I met her gaze, she held it long enough to let me know she didn’t care that I caught her staring, before turning and asking Caden a question.

“Ignore her,” a blonde girl to my right said.

I glanced over at her. “Serena,” she said, introducing herself, “and that’s my pair, Eric.” She indicated the blonde guy on my other side, and he nodded to me.

“Ember,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you both.” I plastered a pleasant expression on my face, even though making friends was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Nice to meet you too,” Serena said. Her eyes flicked across the table and she lowered her voice. “I’m sorry about Desiree,” she said, leaning in. “She’s a great person, but she’s got issues, especially when it comes to Caden.”

“I picked up on that.” I smiled. Not that I cared. I had no plans to get involved with the guy. No, I might be stuck here at the facility for the moment, but I didn’t plan on staying.

I found myself
in a hotel room, a queen bed sat to my right, the thin comforter a tacky maroon and green floral design. Thick drapes hid the window, and the only source of light came from the bathroom behind me and the large bedside lamps perched on either side of the bed.

Wherever I was, it was outside the facility.

In front of me a guy shoved clothing into a suitcase. I held my breath. He hadn’t seen me yet, but my odds of going undetected for ten minutes were slim.

He turned to grab another clothing item when he saw me. Adrian.

“Fuck!” He jumped at the sight of me. I tried to hide my own surprise.

He clutched at his heart and swore. “Stop following me!”

“I don’t exactly want to be here.” I subtly glanced down at my own clothing to see if I came here on my own or if I’d been directed here. I wore a plain T-shirt and jeans. I think I must’ve sought Adrian out on my own. That, or the government now knew my taste in clothing.

He gave me a disbelieving look. “You know, I’m on the run because of you,” he said, throwing another clothing item in his bag.

I raised my eyebrows. “Really?”

“As if you don’t know.”

I walked towards the window, and as I passed him he recoiled. “You might not believe me,” I said, “but I’ll say it anyway: I probably understand less about what’s going on than you do.” His eyes flashed, and he opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “In fact, I think that my ignorance might’ve saved your life
—
twice.”

“You call this saving my life?” he said. “My life’s gone.”

“I’ve never had someone control my ability to teleport until the night I met you.”

“Control your ability to teleport … ?” Adrian repeated. He rubbed his eyes.

I continued as though he hadn’t interrupted. “Someone was definitely directing me to that party of yours with instructions to kill you. And again that night I opened your safe
—
”

“My father’s,” he interrupted. “It was my father’s safe.”

“Yeah, whatever. My point is, I’m not trying to kill you, someone else is. They’re just using me to get to you.”

Adrian watched me suspiciously. “You know I can’t trust you or anything that you’ve told me.”

I pulled the drapes aside and peered outside. It was dark out, so I was in a part of the world where it was still nighttime, but I had no idea what city we were in. “I don’t exactly trust you either,” I said. “For all I know, you’re some bad guy who deserves to be hunted down. But I also don’t trust my newest boss
—
the government.”

Adrian stopped packing to cross the room and remove my hand from the drapes. “Don’t do that; you’re going to get me killed.”

I stared at the hand that held my wrist and let my eyes make their way up to Adrian’s face.

Square jaw, sensual lips, high cheekbones, and sculpted eyebrows. He was just as beautiful as the teleporters I trained alongside.

The hard look in his dark green eyes flickered just for a moment when our eyes met. And then it was back in place. “You work for the government?” he asked.

“Unwillingly. They didn’t really give me choice.”

“Guess that answers that.” He yanked on the wrist he still held and began dragging me across the room.

“Hey!” He gave my arm a hard tug when I resisted, and I tripped over my feet as I was forced to follow him. “Ow! Hey asshole, that hurts.”

“I don’t really care,” Adrian said, not bothering to look back at me.

He opened his door and, giving my arm a final, hard jerk, threw me out of his room.

A moment later the door slammed shut, and I could hear a click and jangle as Adrian locked the door.

I rubbed my backside and glared at the shut door. Adrian had become a pain in my ass
—
literally. “I don’t like you!” I yelled at the door.

“Feeling’s mutual,” a muffled voice responded.

This is what I get for not shooting him when I had the chance. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

Chapter 10

“
Ember, wake up
.” I felt the mattress dip slightly and a hand brush away hair from my face.

“No,” I murmured.

“Geez, is this going to be a habit?”

“Mhm.”

My comforter was yanked away. For the second day in a row I found myself naked and exposed.

“Caden!” I shouted as my eyes shot open and I went to grab my blanket. Only as soon as I moved, my entire body screamed in pain.

I yelped at the sharp burn that coursed through my muscles, and slumped back onto the bed.

“Are you okay?” Caden asked, touching my shoulder, his eyes concerned.

“Fine,” I rubbed my eyes. “Wait, why are you still in my room? Get out!”

Caden backed away, a sinful smile on his lips. “Let me know if you need help getting dressed.” He slipped out the door before I had the chance to yell at him again. I guess even he knew when he’d pushed me too far.

Ten minutes later I hobbled out the door, every movement painful. Outside my room Caden leaned against the wall, waiting for me. He eyed me up and down. I could tell from his expression that he was vividly remembering exactly how I looked without my clothes.

“Why won’t you leave me alone?” I asked, exasperated.

“We’re partners,” he said as though that explained everything.

“Okay, then let’s get something straight: do not ever wake me up that way again.”

He pushed off the wall and invaded my personal space. “Or else?” he asked, gazing down at me.

“Are you seriously kidding me?” I said. “Or else I will end you.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners; he wasn’t taking me seriously at all. “Relax, princess. I won’t do it again.”

I ignored his annoying nickname; he only said it to rile me up. “I swear if you do, I will spend all my free time thinking of the most creative ways to embarrass you.”

His grin widened as if me taking more interest in him was exactly what he wanted.

We grabbed breakfast
, and then I followed Caden out the back doors. A few other students streamed out with us. I watched as they broke out into a trot along the dirt path that wound its way up the mountain. It was different from the one we took yesterday, and it made me wonder just how much property was contained within the facility. Within a few seconds they’d disappeared through the trees.

“Weaponry is outside as well?” I asked, wild grass crunching beneath my feet.

He stretched. “Today it is.” He eyed me up and down. “Hope you’re not too sore, princess; we’ve got quite the run ahead of us.”

Cocky, as usual. It annoyed me that his smug attitude was already starting to grow on me.

Rather than responding, I began jogging, using the path I’d seen the other students take. I bit my cheek to keep from cursing at the pain shooting through my muscles. It was going to take days for it to go away.

I heard light footfalls as Caden fell into step next to me. It was eerie how quiet he could be for someone so large. I’d have to learn how he did that.

He turned to look at me while we ran.

“What?” I said.

He shook his head, grinning. “Nothing.”

But it wasn’t nothing. He’d let his guard down and I saw something there, something that made my heart trip over itself. Wonder.

The emotion was so uncalled for, so out of place, that I wasn’t sure what to make of it. So I pushed it out of my thoughts.

We ran in silence the rest of way to the shooting range, though I never forgot just who ran right next to me. Caden had a presence that couldn’t easily be ignored.

The outdoor shooting range was located on a stretch of the mountainside that had been flattened out. On all sides, large dirt mounds prevented stray bullets from finding their way out, and in the distance, images of gun wielding individuals had been set up as targets.

“Lucky you,” Caden said, “today Lieutenant Newman decided to have us practice on stationary targets.”

“Oh goody,” I said joylessly.

Day two of my humiliation was officially about to begin.

Twenty minutes later
I stood at the edge of the shooting range with Caden. Just like Close Combat yesterday, my weaponry instructor, Charles Newman, had divided us into pairs and singles to practice our technique with ourselves.

I stood, feet shoulder width apart, handgun in my hand. It was loaded with oh-so-frightening paintballs, not that I blamed the facility. Arming imprisoned teenagers with loaded guns would be just plain stupid.

Caden studied my form. He bent and adjusted one of my legs. I couldn’t ignore the way his hands lingered. “Does that feel good?” he asked.

I blinked a few times at him before I realized he was referring to my center of gravity and not his hands on my leg.

I nodded, not trusting my voice at the moment.

He stood up. “Now raise the gun and grip it with both hands.”

I did as he said. He studied my form, lifting and straightening my arms further. I watched him, fascinated by this serious side of him. In his concentration, he’d let down his guard again, and I could see in his eyes how scary intelligent he was.

Altered intelligence. That was one of the mutations that Debbie had mentioned when she told me about the scientists who developed us. I wondered just how extensively they’d warped our genes.

“You know, I’m still angry with you,” I said casually as Caden adjusted my grip.

The seconds ticked by, and I almost thought Caden had missed what I said. Then he walked around me and leaned into my ear. “Only because you finally met someone who’s your match.”

His low voice brought goose bumps to my skin, and the hand that had been positioning my grip now skimmed along my arm. He knew exactly what he did to me.

“You prevented me from escaping,” I said.

He came around to face me. “No, the government did that the moment they made you. I just caught you a bit sooner than they might. But
—
” He leaned in conspiratorially. “I considered letting you slip through my fingers.”

I scowled at him. “What changed your mind?”

He lowered my arms, never taking his eyes off me. “The moment I saw you …” Something flickered behind Caden’s eyes. “You were real. Up until then you were just a phantom.”

“You talk about me as though you knew about me even before we met,” I said. I shifted my weight uncomfortably.

Caden’s eyes glittered. “That’s because I did. Ember Elizabeth Pierce, born on February twenty-eighth to Lila and Gordon Pierce in Buffalo, New York.”

Caught off guard, I stumbled back at his words. My grip on my paint gun tightened. Paintballs weren’t bullets, but at such close range they could do a whole lot of damage.

As if sensing where my thoughts were going, Caden twisted my wrist back and disarmed me.

“Hey
—
”

“We all have files, Ember,” he said, emptying the paintball gun of its ammunition and setting the colored balls on the table next to us. “I’ve memorized more than just yours, so you can stop feeling special.”

But mine meant something to him. That much I could tell.

“You were a teleporter who really had disappeared,” he said, getting back on topic. “At least on paper. A trail gone cold.”

I shook my head slightly. He’d known about me, thought about me, before he’d met me. And, judging by his voice and his mannerisms, I mattered to him, though I wasn’t sure why.

“And then the project found you, and I got to see you in the flesh. And now here we are, princess.”

“Can I have my gun back, stalker?”

His lips quirked at the name. “Not yet. You still look like you want to shoot me.”

“Stop that.”

He crossed his arms. “Stop what?” he said, tilting his head. “Reading you?”

I said nothing, which was answer enough.

He leaned in again. “I’m right, aren’t I?” he said, his voice rough.

I pulled away to look at him. “What?”

“It pisses you off that I’m your equal.” God he sounded so smug. And he was right. He’d bested me over and over again. That hadn’t happened in awhile, and it infuriated me.

I stared back at him. “You have me all figured out, don’t you?”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Not even close,” he said, “but I am making headway.”

And damn him, he was.

“
That was a
good start, but you can do better,” Caden said as we entered the main building of the facility.

“Shut up.” He was referring to my poor aim in Weaponry.

“You have superior eyesight and coordination; you know you can do better.”

I hid my reaction to his words. Now that I knew our genes were altered, I figured the project was to blame for the edge I’d always had growing up. Still, it was strange hearing Caden reaffirm my suspicions.

“You assume I care,” I said.

He watched me for a beat. “Eventually, you’ll have to.”

A shiver snaked up my spine as I read between the lines. At some point in the future I’d be in a situation where my aim would be the only thing that kept me alive. I hoped to get out of here before they made me into a killer.

Caden held the door open for me, and I walked in. The classroom didn’t look much different than any at my old high school
—
same fake wood desks and plastic chairs. Only the walls in this room were covered with posters and diagrams dedicated to the psychology of profiling people.

At the front of the room Debbie sat on top of her desk, watching students file in. Her gaze was distant, and when her eyes rested on me, she frowned.

“Here, sit by me,” Caden said, dropping his bag beneath his desk and tapping the seat next to him.

“What would you do if I said no?” I said, challenging him.

Caden’s eyes dropped to my mouth, and the corners of his lips tilted upwards. “Then I’d try harder to convince you.”

“Oh really?” I said, arching an eyebrow and moving away from him. “Because I’m not sure I want to sit next to you. I think I want to sit …” I looked around and grabbed the nearest desk
—
there were plenty open ones to choose from. “Here.” I plopped down at an empty desk and smiled at him.

We’d caught the attention of the few other students that had trickled in, most sitting in pairs. All were sequestered into male-female units.

Caden picked up his bag and moved to the desk next to mine.

I clicked my tongue. “
That’s
your attempt at convincing me?”

“You know, persistence goes a long way. After the fourth time you switch desks and I follow you, you’ll be convinced
—
or at least tired of moving.” He gave me a smoldering grin, and those adorable dimples of his deepened.

I caught myself staring at his dimpled smile. “Fair enough. I guess you can sit next to me.”

“As if that was ever really in question,” Caden said, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms behind his head.

I couldn’t smother my smile. Cocky.

I took in the room once more, now filling up. Again I noticed the strange pairs of students. Goosebumps broke out along my arms. An idea niggled at the edge of my mind, but I pushed it down. It was too twisted to think about.

Debbie began class a few minutes later. She flipped on a projector and an image of a person with flared nostrils and furrowed brows came on the screen. “Can anyone tell me what this person’s expression is?”

A teleporter raised his hand, and she called on him. “The individual is enraged,” the teleporter said.

I studied the image. “Not enraged.” The words just slipped out. Caden’s head swiveled to watch me, amusement and something strangely like pride on his face.

I hadn’t meant to talk; the more I shared, the more the project knew about me. But now I had to finish what I started. “Enraged is too strong an emotion,” I said. “This person is not out of control
—
yet. I’d say he was incensed.”

I felt Caden’s eyes on me. Appraising me. And again, I felt the same sense of pride coming from him.

Debbie nodded. “Good job Ember, and I’d have to agree with your analysis. Can anyone tell me what aspects of the individual’s expression give this away?”

The room opened to a discussion, and it wasn’t until five minutes later that another individual’s face was projected onto the screen.

Hooded eyes, dilated pupils, a small smile. I’d seen that expression before.

“Dude’s baked out of his mind,” Jeff said, and the class snickered.

No. Drugs didn’t create that expression, though something just as heady did.

Lust. That was the look of intense, unfulfilled desire.

“Nice try, Jeff,” Debbie said.

I held back from answering, despite desperately wanting to throw in my opinion. I’d never gotten to show off this knowledge. Some of my old friends used to joke that I was psychic; in reality I was just really good at reading these subtle physical features.

Someone else answered. “Desire.”

“What type?” Debbie asked.

“Sexual desire.”

The teleporter’s answer barely scratched the surface of the expression. This wasn’t
just
sexual desire, the desperate physical longing of another. The features lacked the lazy satiation or bright happiness that might indicate that some of that desire had been fulfilled.

“Very good,” Debbie said. “What are the signs?” The discussion took off again, and I forced myself to keep quiet.

Caden kicked the edge of my desk. “Why didn’t you answer that?”

I glanced at him. “What?”

“You knew the expression,” he accused.

“Were you watching me?” I whispered.

“Don’t turn this around on me. Why didn’t you answer?”

Like I was going to tell the very guy that captured me my reasons for staying quiet.

I smiled sweetly, but I’m sure the smile never reached my eyes. “I guess that’s just one more thing you’re going to have to figure out about me.”

He narrowed his eyes, and it took everything I had not to squirm. Caden knew I was holding back information, just not what. And thank God for that. If he knew my motives, knew my desire to escape, then I might not ever get the chance.

Caden might be my partner, but he was also the enemy.

Once our profiling
class ended, Caden and I walked out of the room together.

“Ember!” Debbie called out my name.