Embers & Ice (Rouge) (14 page)

TWENTY-FIVE

“I’M
GOING TO
MURDER
HIM!”

“Joshua
calm down.” Jenny sat on the edge of the stiff bed in their hotel room,
watching Joshua storm around and drop icicles on the carpet. “He’s not running
away, he’s just getting some fresh air. What do you expect, he’s been sitting
in a car all day and now he has to sit in a hotel room.”

“I
told him,” Joshua growled, “not to leave my
sight
. And you were
distracting me, weren’t you?”

“What?
I didn’t-”

“You
two planned this, didn’t you?” He marched over to her and snatched the collar
of her sweater. She fell back on the bed, frozen in shock. “Didn’t you!”

Jenny
had never seen Joshua so furious, his pale eyes hard and menacing, his fingers
shooting cold vibes through her chest as he gripped her tight. But she knew the
ice inside his heart was only abusing his anger, using Eli as an excuse to release
rage. She’d spent enough time with him to know that much.

“Let
me go Joshua,” she said slowly. “Please.”

His
eyes flinched, looking back and forth between hers, the room so silent she
could hear the cars in the street twenty floors down. Then he unclenched his
fingers and Jenny flopped on the mattress.

“I’m
sorry. I… I just can’t do this.” He ran a hand through his slick black hair. “I
can’t worry about Hunter and worry about
him
too.”

Jenny
didn’t know quite what to say. Yes, Joshua was over reacting. Eli had been gone
for only an hour now, and Joshua freaked out as though he should call the
authorities. Jenny knew Eli only wanted to get away from the both of them, to
explore after being cooped up in a laboratory like a prisoner. The hotel they’d
stopped in smelt terrible, and it made her nervous to sleep in her bed, so to
be honest, Jenny didn’t blame him for running away.

But
after nearly being killed by the Agents, she didn’t want to leave Joshua’s side
for even a second. Perhaps she just wasn’t as brave.

“Worrying
about Hunter doesn’t bring her back,” she finally said, “and Eli can take care
of himself.”

“You
don’t get it. It’s been me and her since the beginning. I’ve fought to protect
Hunter since the day I promised her mother I would, and now she’s gone and I’m
stuck with you two. I just don’t know how to… how to
be.
”

Jenny
nodded, even though she wasn’t sure what he meant. But she could see the strain
in his eyes. She knew even before he admitted it that Hunter meant the world to
Joshua and every day she was out there in the unknown killed him a little more
inside. Her heart ached for him, and she wanted to find Hunter just as much as
he did. But there was nothing they could do.

“Joshua
listen to me.” She stood up and walked to him as he leant on the small
refrigerator. “I know you want to find Hunter. But there are more important
things to do first, like fix your mistakes. Eli needs his memory back. If
Hunter finds out what you did, she’ll hate you even more.”

“No.
She thinks he’s dead, Jenny. She’ll forgive me once she knows what really
happened.”

Jenny
longed to put a hand on Joshua’s shoulder, to comfort him, but she wasn’t sure
he was ready for that. “Forgiveness is a difficult and fragile thing. It takes
time. If she and Eli are reunited and he actually remembers who he is and what
they shared together, then there’s a chance she
will
forgive you. But it
will traumatize her when she finds out he doesn’t love her.”

“He
has to love her,” said Joshua. “It has to be there somewhere.”

So
he does see the love, but only when the ice isn’t warping his mind.
Jenny
watched Joshua with pity and fascination. A desire to fix things and make
amends was painted across his sharp features.
He truly has faith in Hunter’s
love for Eli, but when he loses control and the ice takes over, love does not
exist anymore. If only he could find some way to block out this split
personality from hell, none of this would be happening.

“It
is
there Joshua,” she said. “But right now his mind is fragile. That’s
why we need to fix his memory. In the meantime, Hunter will just have to wait
to be rescued.”

Joshua
bit his lip. There were tears brewing in his eyes that he tried desperately to
hold back. “I just want to know if she’s safe. I
need
to know.”

Jenny
reached out with a shaking hand, very slowly, as though she were about to touch
a frightened animal, and placed her hand gently over his. As she expected, it
was colder than an icepack. The friction of their grip shocked him and he
yanked his hand away, turning his back on her.

“Joshua,
I-”

“Thank
you, Jenny, for your… advice.” He started walking to the door. “I’ll let you
know when Eli returns.”

Jenny
wanted to let him go, but her heart wouldn’t allow it. She ran after him,
grabbed his shoulder and yanked him around to face her. Something in her mind
was screaming warning signals, and every muscle in her body was tensing, afraid
of where her heart was taking her. But everything, all her thoughts and morals
and fears and emotions, blew away in a breath of air. She grabbed him by the
collar – just as he’d done moments ago – shoved him against the door and kissed
him.

It
was by far the strangest kiss she’d ever had – and Jenny had kissed a
lot
of
men. None of them had a power like Joshua, and none of them were in such an
emotionally traumatic state, but none of them had a heart like she knew he
possessed. Why she had these urges so suddenly was a mystery to her, but it
just felt… right.

Joshua
didn’t move at all. He stood stock-still against the door as she kissed him,
completely taken aback. But once the surprise was over, he still didn’t move.
She wondered with her hands drifting down over his chest if this was the first
time he’d ever kissed a woman, because he was either still completely
flabbergasted or he just didn’t know what to do with his hands, or his tongue.
It was like pressing her lips against a dead fish.

The
moment that thought occurred to her, she broke away and stepped back in such a
hurry that she nearly tripped over his pack lying against the wall.

Joshua’s
mouth was still hanging half open. 

Oh
my God, what did I do?

“Uh…
I think you’d better leave,” was all she managed to say. Not ‘sorry Joshua, I
shouldn’t have been so forward’ or ‘why didn’t you kiss me back?’ Just a harsh
kick in the butt.
No wonder you’re not married Jenny,
the new and
inferior voice in her mind sighed
.

But
Joshua was all too happy to oblige. Shock plastered across his pale face, he
fumbled with the door and then hurried awkwardly away, leaving Jenny alone in
the room to wallow in her embarrassment and hope she could find something that
would suffice as a noose.

TWENTY-SIX

Another
three weeks passed, and Hunter and Will continued to meet in secret, sometimes
late at night and sometimes in the middle of the day. It didn’t matter down
below, because there were no windows and it was always dark. Nor did security
ever pick up, and many of the others were starting to wonder what had happened.
Apparently there was ‘some sort of shortage of men with no souls in the world’,
as Zac had said.

She
and Will went down to the old quarters whenever they could, and there they
smoked and talked in the candlelight about life and their future and where
they’d rather be. Most of it was light hearted. Eventually Hunter told Will her
story. Will said not a word about Eli and Joshua, but the fury in his eyes was
greater than the rage that stirred in her own. He asked a lot of questions
about Joshua. Those hours spent in the cold, dark room were what Hunter looked
forward to most.

Second
in the running was her afternoon gym sessions with Mosi and Marcus that had,
since that day, turned into a sort of amateur fight club. Most of the others
came to watch as she and Marcus practiced the skills that Mosi taught them –
Hunter having covered the basics with Joshua. Mosi never told them where he
learned to fight so cleanly when all they knew of him was his work in the mines
as a child. But he was a patient teacher, and sometimes other volunteers joined
in for a lesson. They were caught several times by a passing guard, but since
the numbers grew, he could only close the fitness room and give them a warning
rather than send them all to Solitary. The fight club started out of boredom,
but became – for Hunter and some others – like a sort of silver lining; if they
learnt to fight, then their chances of escaping Death Cave were greater. It
gave them all hope, and especially the younger ones who observed with careful
attention.

The
constant nightmares she’d been having about Eli and Joshua and Dr. Wolfe slowly
drifted away the more her friendships grew. Despite still being locked up in a
prison from hell, Hunter learned to grasp the positives. After the fight club,
she no longer feared an attack from the guards. She grew closer with Fearne and
Will and all the others, and found she actually enjoyed getting to know them.
Hunter had never really had close friends, particularly in the past few years
of her high school life. At ICE, everyone was the same. Sure, they all had
different powers and some were a little nuttier than others, but they could get
along – minus Jet, who was an asshole to everyone – and soon she was part of
the family.

At
breakfast, she always sat beside Will at a table with the others. Hunter
noticed everyone come together – Marcus and Mosi joined Zac and Chantal, Benji
and Ryo sat with them, and Will and Fearne were no longer alone. It made the
institution feel much smaller now that they were all good friends, and Hunter
knew everyone by name and power. She often smiled and laughed with the others at
Zac’s hilarious jokes and goofy nature, greedily consuming plates of food after
early morning workouts. She and Will decided to start exercising more often to
gather their strength back. It was more for his benefit. The weights, boxing
and strength training were much harder when Will didn’t have enough energy in
his system from the surgery he still undertook in the evenings. Often when they
spent time together in the secret room, Will was so weak that they would just
lie there in silence. She didn’t mind though. Helping him recover his energy
kept her mind off of other things.

Like
Fearne, for instance.

Ever
since she saw the young girl interrogating a scientist, Hunter knew it had
something to do with the lack of security. The guards were either being fired
or killed, and no one had any idea why. Fearne could never remember anything
about what Dr. Wolfe was forcing her to do. Hunter was almost afraid to get
involved. If she knew Dr. Wolfe, and by now she had a pretty good inkling, he
was most certainly up to something sick and twisted.

Dr.
Rosenthal was no help on the matter. He was quite good at not giving anything
away when Hunter saw him every once in a while for a consultation, but it was
obvious he wanted to tell her. She often didn’t understand why he couldn’t help
her escape again when he’d already done it. But above all else, Hunter trusted
Dr. Rosenthal. He was kind to her and there was an aura of knowledge about him,
as if he knew everything that was going on now and in the future at ICE. He was
never afraid of anything. Not even Dr. Wolfe could control him.

Over
the past weeks, Hunter’s desire to stand up and turn things around tripled. She
wanted to escape with Will, to show him the world the right way, to let him
live his life. She wanted to get the children away from so much pain and harsh
treatment to a loving home with real parents and a life to live. She wanted,
especially, for Fearne to be free of the mind controlling device that
restricted her powers and turned her insane. Maybe Will was right; maybe she
did have a hero tendency, and every day she trained in the fitness room or
fought with Mosi or spent time with Dr. Rosenthal or even lay on the operating
table in complete agony with Dr. Wolfe leering over her was a day that
strengthened her need for some serious payback. Hunter was waiting, waiting for
the day when she and the rest of the special kids she now called her family
would be free and could inflict their own batch of pain on the guards and the
scientists who treated them like aliens.

Then,
when she was free, what Hunter wanted most of all was to find Joshua. She
wasn’t sure why exactly, because the fire hadn’t had a chance to really react
to her emotions since she’d been bound by the bracelet. It could still be
hungry for revenge. Sometimes, when she thought about Joshua before she went to
sleep at night, Hunter could feel the dark power of her fire stirring. It
longed to burn him until he melted. But Hunter was confident she had control
over it. Her
love
had control over it.

But
did love still exist? Every day away from Eli was a reminder of how she missed
his love. Every day she spent in ICE with the neglected, unloved children with
no purpose was a reminder of the parents and families who simply gave them up
for being different. Hunter struggled to find love in such a cold place, but
she knew it was there. It was in those times she spent with Benji and Ryo
playing chess in the common room. It was there when she read
Peter Pan
to the younger children after dinner. It was there when she laughed with Zac
and Fearne as Marcus wrestled with Mosi who was unbeatable. It was definitely
there when she lay close to Will in the silence of the old quarters amidst a
cloud of smoke and burning candlelight. And although there was so much anguish
and rage and terror biting down on her heart, Hunter stayed strong. She focused
on getting the others out, on the bright sunny skies that lay beyond, of
freedom. Of starting life over and forgetting her dark past.

Maybe,
even, of saving the world.

“This
is bullshit. I’m sick of this food!” Zac threw down his fork in frustration,
splatting a large clump of gray goo in Chantal’s face. He immediately put his
hands up in apologetic surrender. “Oops.”

“You
son of a bitch,” she growled. “I
just
showered.”

“Go
ask Cook for a cloth to wipe it off,” said Marcus in his easy-going manner. The
more time he spent with Hunter and the others, the more she realized how
completely different he was from his brother.

Chantal
stormed off towards the door and the rest of them went back to eating their
dinner. Hunter was now used to eating the same food day in and day out, but
God, she would kill for a thick, cheesy pizza. Even just a cup of coffee for a
bit of variety.

Will
nudged her with his knee and she looked up. His lips were pressed together in
that way that said something was amiss, and then his doe eyes locked on the
door. Hunter turned and saw about six or seven Men in White stalk into the room
and take their posts around the perimeter. It was the most she’d seen in one
place in weeks.

The
others noticed it as well.

“Think
the brute squad is back?” asked Marcus.

One
of the guards marched straight past their table, and Zac gave him a nod and a
smile. The guard rolled his eyes.

“Hey
Ryan,” he said. “Did you get a haircut?”

The
guard didn’t answer.

“I
will say this,” Zac said to the group, “they’re touchier than before.”

“So
what, they were just on break or something?” asked Marcus.

“God
knows,” Zac scoffed and picked at his dinner.

As
they watched the door, two more Men in White entered the room. This time, they
were not alone.

Hunter
remembered her very first day at ICE like it was yesterday. The first time she
entered the breakfast hall, every eye stared her down as though she were a new
toy at the toy store. So as the newest member of their mutant crew stumbled
into the hall, Hunter stared along with the rest of them and wondered if her
face looked just as terrified as his.

“Ooo,”
said Zac, glee plastered across his face. “Now it’s getting interesting! A new
person already?!”

“He
needs seven Men in White to escort him in?” said Marcus unbelievingly. “What
kind of power does this kid have?”

“Shh!”
hissed Hunter, for at that moment, the boy passed their table.

The
first thing Hunter noticed was his eyes. They were so red and bloodshot, she
couldn’t even tell if they were blue or green. His blond hair was greasy and
stuck up in all directions. He was lanky and tall, about Zac’s age, and he
walked with heavy feet, his back slightly arched. He stared them down, too exhausted
to look away, and made it to the cafeteria line after his guards split off.

“He
looks rough,” said Ryo. “We should make some room for him.”

“He
might already be making friends,” Hunter said, and they watched as Mikayla and
Jet slid in the line right behind the boy and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oh
no,” said Marcus. “That poor kid.”

The
rest of them ate their breakfast and tried to read the conversation between the
two snakes of the institution and the very vulnerable new addition. Hunter saw
the boy’s face pale after Jet slapped him across the back. The word ‘faggot’
spilled out of Mikayla’s mouth. The boy paled even more-so, and Jet and Mikayla
laughed.

“I
can’t watch this,” she muttered to Will and got to her feet. There were many
things Hunter missed about the real world, but bullying was not one of them.
She would not allow the poor boy’s first day at ICE to begin with Jet opening
his mouth.

“Hunter,
don’t-”

Ignoring
Will as he reached out to grab her, Hunter stormed through the tables towards
the cafeteria line.

“So
then, you must be one of those quietly sensitive gays, am I right?” Jet asked
in a mock-serious tone. “Because I wouldn’t have guessed it by the youthful
sound of your voice.”

Mikayla
chuckled behind Jet, but the boy said nothing as he collected food on his plate
and moved along.

“Where
did you say you were from again Alfie?” he asked. “Sweden? Is gay marriage even
legal in-”

“Hey!”

Jet
and Mikayla turned as Hunter approached them. Alfie’s eyes flicked up and met
hers. Instead of throwing her fist into Jet’s face, Hunter decided to pretend
they didn’t exist.

“Hi,
I’m Hunter,” she said and held out her hand to the young boy. He looked up at
her in shock and shook her hand. “Welcome to ICE Institution. Do you want to
come sit with us?”

“Uh,
thanks?” He picked up his tray and followed her towards the others.

“Hunter,”
said Jet from behind her. “He’s not interested, okay? He only likes
booyyss.
”

Hunter
spun and glared at Jet’s smug face. “I know that you enjoy a little sexual
banter as much as the next person,” she said with a forced smile. “And maybe
one day you’ll figure out exactly which team
you
bat for – no offence
Mikayla.” The girl scoffed. Hunter let her smile fall away as she turned back
to Jet. “But I swear to God, you slimy little leech: if you say one more word
to him, I’ll…”

She
trailed off instantly when Jet’s face started to fall. And it wasn’t because of
her threat. His eyes were still on Alfie. There was a crash and a squeal from
Mikayla, and Hunter turned to see what exactly had wiped the smirk right off
Jet’s face.

Alfie
was quivering. He stared down at his hands, his chest heaving, his tray of food
splattered over his feet. Whatever Jet had said triggered something inside him,
and now he was starting to change.

“Alfie?”
asked Hunter. “Are you okay?”

“He’s
changing,” said Mikayla from behind her.

“Into
what?” asked Zac, who was sitting up on the table only feet from them. “What is
he?”

Alfie
was breathing hard through his teeth.

“You’re
about to find out,” said Jet.

And
then, right in front of the entire table, Alfie seized up and let out a shrill
scream like the cry of a banshee that deepened instantly into a roar.