Uprising (34 page)

Philip arrived just as I was starting to believe he would never come.

“Are you ready?”

I scrambled to my feet, startled by his sudden appearance. “Yes,” I said, flipping my flashlight on so I could see him. I could feel his urgency, everything that was at stake. “But you need to let them take the fluid from me before killing Stephan.”

His eyes squinted away from my light. “Why?”

“Agree or we have no deal.”

His brow wrinkled, but he nodded. “All right. I’ll wait.”

I extended my arm and handed him the light. “Okay,” I said. “Take it.” He held the small light between his teeth as he examined the crook of my elbow. I looked away as he stuck my arm. It wasn’t the pain or the blood that bothered me; it was the needle.

“They’ll set out a chair for you like they normally do.” He clutched the syringe of blood in his hand. “This will be taped underneath it when you’re ready, on the left side. There’ll be a knife on the right if you need it.”

“Okay,” I said. It was all I could manage.

“I’ll see you soon.”

Soon felt like hours. I had no way to tell time in my prison, no more light to click on and off nervously. I paced back and forth in the dark, my mind playing tricks on me. It focused on every sound as I waited, every creak or tick that might mean it was time.

When the door to the basement opened, my feet stumbled backward, and I cowered against the wall. No matter how necessary this was, I couldn’t bring myself to step forward. It would be too suspicious if I were anything other than unwilling anyway, so I let myself feel the fear. I egged on my nervous heart. I closed my eyes and looked away.

A rough hand grabbed hold of my wrist and yanked me forward. I let the tears come and fall down my cheeks, scowling at the floor as I was dragged toward the door.

“I see you’ve accepted there’s no use resisting,” Christoph spoke as Stephan thrust me in front of him.

I glanced at the chair in the middle of the room, then spit into his face. He stared at me with disgust, wiping his cheek with a clean white handkerchief. I stared into his dead eyes hoping it was the last time I’d ever have to.

“Get on with it,” Christoph snapped at Stephan.

I searched the room for any sign of Philip. He was nowhere, and my heart began to slam. Stephan pulled me by the arm, forcing me to sit in the chair. I grabbed the sides of the wooden frame, curling my fingers underneath before I felt my body lock up. They were there just within reach, the syringe and the knife.

Christoph glared at me with tight frowning lips before he took the needle out. I closed my eyes not wanting to watch, but listened to his words, hoping for an update on what was happening outside these walls. “I suppose you’ll enjoy knowing that things aren’t going quite as planned with this,” he said, and I could hear the aggravation in his voice. “Another dead.” I felt his hand on my right arm, and my eyes snapped open. This time he drew blood from my vein, not from my belly. Though in that moment I felt nothing but relief, my mind was quick to remind me. I needed that fluid. I watched as the blood swirled into the tube, waiting for his next move.

He was so close I could see his imperfections, the wrinkles and dark circles that made his face look sunken like he was a corpse. “This should help,” he continued. “We are very close.” His eyebrows lifted as though I was supposed to share in the excitement. “The last woman saw her death after the injection. She knew it was coming before it happened. We’re getting there.”

I waited, hoping for another needle as he capped the syringe and placed it in his coat. When he removed a larger one from the same pocket, my lids closed. Somewhere in me I was feeling relief, but I still shook inside, dreading what was next.

“I’m sorry to put you through this,” Christoph said, his voice soft and genuine. If I hadn’t known any better, I might have believed him, but apologies didn’t make up for the wrongs he’d done.

I forced my eyes open, willing myself to face this fear so that he had to look at me while my child squirmed inside. Tears streaked my cheeks. My body shivered with distress. Still, nothing in his eyes said he was sorry. He stared into me while he took what he wanted, what wasn’t his. When it was time, I’d take it back.

As he pulled out the needle, I exhaled with relief and tightened my fingers around the knife under my chair. In that moment I realized I was regaining mobility. I tried not to move.

“Stephan,” Christoph said as he rose to his feet.

Now
, I thought. I grasped the syringe of my blood and plunged it into Christoph’s thigh. It wasn’t the perfect place, but it was unexpected.

He screamed with fury, his eyes narrow and enraged. I ducked out of the way of his angry hands, but he didn’t need to touch me to hurt me. He kicked the chair to the ground as I fell to my knees in agony.

“What is this?” he demanded, but I couldn’t manage a response. Every nerve seared with sharp unrelenting pain. My bones felt like they were splitting and splintering inside my body. I went into shock. I couldn’t stand or fall or breathe or cry. He glared into me, breaking me with his stare as he used a Descendant power that wasn’t his own. Then he staggered, blinking, trying to catch himself on the table. In that moment of relief, just as I thought I might die from it all, I sank to the floor, and so did he. With my head against the kitchen tile, I heard the sound of him collapsing, but couldn’t move my head. My body shook with painful tremors.

I knew the blood I’d injected wouldn’t be enough to kill him, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. The aching lingered even after he’d fallen.

Though I was still, my baby girl moved inside me, as though she were encouraging me to finish what I’d started. I wouldn’t have another chance. I tilted my head so I could see across the floor. His lids were closed. Out, but not dead. With all my will I dug my fingers into the grooves of the tile and dragged my heavy body toward him. Our faces were inches apart. I reached for the chair, grasping at the knife with my fingertips until I had it in my hand.

I slid the blade across my left wrist, hardly noticing the feel of the cut. It was so dull in comparison to what I’d just endured. When I looked back at him, his eyes were open, watching me. His cold stare locked me in my place, and I waited for the pain to come again, but it didn’t.

“Don’t be a fool,” he whispered, too weak to retaliate.

Scarlet dripped from his nose. “You’ll never win.”

I looked down at my wrist, puddling and dripping with blood.
Do it
, I told myself, but I hesitated. What about Lilia? Was she far enough away?

“Kill him, Elyse, please,” Philip’s voice came from behind me. I turned my head, dropped my guard. I felt the knife leave my hand and watched it fly into Philip’s chest. Something had compelled me to do it. Some urge that didn’t belong to me. Christoph’s eyes gave him away.

“No,” I cried, as Philip grasped the blade and fell to his knees.
What did I do?

“Kill him,” Philip pleaded.

Christoph smiled up at me, weak but defiant. I forced my wrist to his lips, holding him down as best I could despite my still-aching bones.

He choked and sputtered on the blood, but I didn’t let up until well after he’d stopped moving. I pried the syringe from his hand and rushed to Philip’s side.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, pressing the knife to my right wrist, but he stopped me. “Just let me—” He lifted his shirt revealing a deep gash that cut into his abdomen. His chest fought for breath.

“Got him with a sedative and left him in the Sahara,” Philip sputtered, wincing and coughing up blood. “Wasn’t quite fast enough though.” Our eyes met, knowing it was too deep to be healed in the moment. “We need to get to Lilia. Others will be coming.”

He wrapped his bloody palm around my left wrist, sealing up the cut without meaning to. My body tensed, still feeling jolts of the pain, as the white washed everything away.

I fell hard onto the ground but found soft dirt under my hands and knees.

An open valley stretched out in front of us covered in tall grass and shrubs. Trees were scattered across the land providing shade for hawks and field animals. A distant ranch was the only sign of civilization, and a single highway not too far off ran straight across the land. The sky was clear, a brilliant blue. I smiled. We were free.

“Where are we?” I asked, making my way to Philip. He was lying feet away from me. “Philip?” I touched his face, eyes closed. I was too late. I stayed sitting next to him, holding his hand in mine.

“We need to go,” Lilia said, touching my shoulder. Her eyes flickered toward the ranch. “Away from here.”

“Why?” I asked, getting the sense we still weren’t safe. “The ranch,” she answered. “He wasn’t able to get us far.”

She looked back at it nervously. “That’s where we were.”

I stood, trying to figure out what we could do, where we could run. “Okay,” I said, still flustered by the thought of a dead Christoph a little more than a mile away. There was nothing around, only the road. And what about Philip? I looked back at him. “We can’t just leave him.”

“We have to,” she answered quietly.

I dropped to my knees next to him, folding his hands across his chest. I straightened his legs, his clothes, and brushed his dark gray hair back. “Thank you,” I whispered as I kissed his cheek. “We’ll find Alex.” I took a breath before I uttered his full name. “Alaximandrios.”

I waited.

“Alaximandrios,” I said again, more forcefully. When he didn’t show, I began to panic. What if it didn’t work?

Lilia shook her head at me. “We don’t have time to wait.” We headed for the road. It was the only place we could go. We walked along the abandoned pavement until I could see the only car on the highway coming from a long way off. I pressed my hand to my back and jutted my belly out. Lilia stood next to me, tired, scared and weak.

My face was already desperate, and my clothes and hands a bloody mess. I didn’t have to act. I truly needed this person to stop. As the truck approached I waved my right arm in the air, pleading for help. It worked. I tucked the syringe and the knife in my back pocket before it rolled to a stop.

“What y’all doin’?” said a lone woman from the window of a pickup truck. She combed her walnut-colored hair behind her ear with a look of concern. “Hitchhiking ’round here’s not too safe for us ladies.”

“We know, it’s just—”

“No need to explain,” she interrupted. “You’re a mess. Hop in.”

“Thank you for stopping,” I said as I scooted my awkward body over the bench seat. Lilia stayed quiet.

“It’s no problem.” As soon as she started driving, I breathed with relief. The distant ranch grew smaller and smaller behind us. Ahead, the sun sank below the horizon, setting the sky alight with orange fire like the end of the world, dangerous and beautiful. “So where y’all headed?”

“Anywhere,” I said at first. Then I realized, I didn’t know where to go from here.

“I’m Trisha,” I offered, just in case. I wasn’t willing to trust anyone at this point. “This is Janet.”

The woman nodded. “Name’s Jeanie,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

“This might sound like a strange question,” I continued, “but where exactly are we?” I looked around at the vacant land. There was nothing for miles.

“Good ol’ state o’ Texas,” she answered without hesitating. “Home sweet home.”

West
, I thought. I checked for signs. We were headed the right way. I just hoped we wouldn’t have to drive all the way back to California.

“How far do you think you’ll be able to take us?” I asked.

She switched on the radio, and her words were lost a little to the sound of a country guitar. “Well, given the fact ya’ll are runnin’, as far as you like I guess.”

I looked at her. “I never said we were running.”

Her eyes drifted to my blood stained wrist. “Aren’t you though?”

Something about her tone gave her away. A secret. Her lips pulled at the edges, like she knew I was on to her.

“Listen, we don’t—”

I started choking on my words. I couldn’t get them out. Something was wrong. I tried to take a breath, but there was no air. Before I could react, the woman plunged a needle into Lilia’s neck, and her eyes closed.

“I believe you killed my cousin,” the woman said, remaining calm, almost pleased to see me struggle. I was suffocating. I needed air.

I leaned over Lilia and tugged at the door handle. I tried to roll down the window, unlock the door. Nothing worked. We were stuck.

“Don’t bother,” the woman said, and her needle found me next.

With my last ounce of breath I uttered one last word. “Alaximandrios.”

30.

I FELT AIR IN MY LUNGS. I drank it in, grateful, but didn’t dare open my eyes. My head rested against Lilia’s side, her body rising and falling beneath me. My arm draped over my hip, and I felt something hard beneath my palm. The knife in my pocket. I’d have to be quick if I were to get to it.

I kept still as I opened my right eye enough to peer through my lashes, trying to get a sense of my surroundings. We were in the same truck, still driving. I couldn’t make out the woman, but I could feel her presence next to me. Without hesitating, I ripped the knife from my jeans, flipped it open and sat up with the blade drawn, ready to attack.

“Holy—” Alex blurted out before he disappeared from the driver’s seat. My eyes widened in surprise.

“Shoot!” I yelled, grabbing the wheel as the truck drifted off the road.

Gravel popped against the tires, and Lilia woke to my screaming. We fishtailed, and the car jerked back onto the pavement. Then Alex was there again, like he’d never left.

I shoved his shoulder. “Why’d you do that? We almost crashed.”

“
Me?
You had a knife.” His eyebrows pulled together as I caught my breath.

We stared at each other for a moment before we laughed.

“What about the woman? Did you kill her?”

He shrugged. “No, but I left her in the middle of the road.” Both of us looked out at the desert landscape ahead of us. “The walk might kill her.”