Escape to Eden (7 page)

Her eyes narrow in the mirror. “I think you know more than you’re saying.”

“Leave her alone,” Anthony says staring out the window. “She’s had a difficult day.”

That is one way to put it, I guess. I ignore Jenna and ask him, “How did you smash through that box?”

He keeps his back to me as he speaks. “All of us with gold eyes have some kind of genetically enhanced ability, some more than others. I can exert great strength but only in short bursts. Any longer back there and my arm would’ve given out.”

“What about you?” I ask Jenna.

Her jaw tightens then relaxes. “Let’s just say that when they were handing out special abilities from the DNA pot, I got the crud on the bottom that has to be scraped off.”

“That’s not true,” Anthony says. “Your ability has helped us many times.”

“Whatever.” Jenna’s quiet after this.

I stare at the back of their heads, wondering what it would be like to have a special gift, something that sets you apart from others. “What about Colt?”

Jenna chuckles. “Colt’s a real freak, a one-of-a-kind. Where is he anyway?”

“He’s meeting us there,” Anthony says.

“But doesn’t he have the code to get us in?” Jenna asks.

“Yes.”

Although they didn’t answer my question, I stay quiet, listening to their conversation.

“And you trust him to show up?” Jenna asks again.

“He’ll be there.”

Jenna snorts. “You have too much faith in him.”

“Some would say I put too much faith in you.”

She laughs like it’s the dumbest thing she’s ever heard.

“Why don’t you like him?” I ask.

“He betrayed us,” she says.

“What did he do?”

“Enough,” Anthony says. “It doesn’t matter. He’s different now.”

“Sure he is. If you ask me, he’s just a typical Noc. Not even their own mothers trust them.”

I lean forward. “What’s a Noc?”

Jenna glances back at me. “A Nocturnal. Their DNA has been mixed with—”

“Turn here!” Anthony says, startling Jenna. She turns the wheel hard, and I slide sideways along the leather backseat.

“Park in that alleyway,” Anthony points to her left.

She pulls in and turns off the lights. We sit in the darkness. The only sound is my breathing, which begins to quicken. I focus on my sore muscles to provide a distraction from what feels like a heavy blanket wrapping around my chest and smothering my face.

“So how long do we wait?” Jenna asks.

“He’ll be here,” Anthony says.

Just then a crashing sound rattles the top of the car, and I lay flat, afraid the roof might collapse.

“What the?” Jenna says and peers upward out the window. She moans loudly. “I’m going to kill him!”

Jenna exits the car. I’m slower to go out, since I’m trying to catch my breath.

Colt jumps from the roof of her car onto the ground while he pushes his arm through the sleeve of his long jacket and pulls it the rest of the way around him.

“You are so dead,” Jenna says, storming over to him. “Look at my car!”

Colt glances at a dent in her roof. He doesn’t grin, but there’s a twinkle in his eye. “Did I do that?”

I look at the crumpled metal then look up. The building next to us is at least twenty stories high. Where did he come from?

“I hate you,” Jenna says. She reaches into her car and presses a button near the ceiling. I back away at a sudden humming sound. The metal on the top of the car vibrates for a few seconds before the roof smooths itself back to normal. I stare in awe.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Colt asks. His tone is light, but he still wears a serious expression like he’s expecting a fight at any moment. I wonder if he knows how to smile.

“Over here,” Anthony calls. While I wasn’t watching, he’d moved to the end of the alleyway.

I follow after him. It’s dark, but I don’t have to worry about tripping over anything. The alley is also freakishly spotless, making me uncomfortable.

Behind me Jenna says to Colt, “Just give us the slip of paper so you can leave. I know you don’t want to be here.”

“You don’t know what I want,” Colt says. “You never have.”

“Oh please. As if you’ve ever wanted anything beyond food and money. You’re the shallowest person I’ve ever met.”

“Better shallow than a narcissistic drama queen.”

“Be quiet, you two,” Anthony says, over his shoulder. “We’re here.”

I look around, searching for our destination. A quiet street lies in front of us, and on each side are more of the same tall rectangular buildings. Perfectly neat and orderly. In some of these, faint light of those still awake shines out tinted windows.

“Where?” Jenna asks.

Anthony walks around the corner and stops at the shiny side of a smooth metal building.

“There’s no door,” Jenna says.

“The symbol,” Colt says behind us. “Eden.”

I follow Colt’s gaze. Just above my line of sight there’s a small drawing etched into the metal: a wide tree with full branches, twisting and curling. Two of the branches make a complete circle around the tree. Anthony runs his finger over the symbol. A blue light appears at the ground and races up to make the shape of a door. Beneath the circle a keypad appears.

“Read the numbers,” Anthony says.

Colt reaches into his pocket and removes the slip of paper Bram had given him. While he reads, Anthony punches in the numbers. “33, 14, 74, 21, 16.”

The door opens.

I
nside, hurry,” Anthony says and glances around.

I walk in first to the darkened entryway. A smell reminds me of cranberries.

Jenna elbows me out of the way and says, “Move it, Patch.”

Anthony’s voice sounds through the darkness when the others have come in and the door has closed behind us. “Lights on.”

The room lights up. It’s spacious, more so than I expected. The walls are a pale green. Simple, square-shaped furniture fill a large living room. The others walk past me.

An office is to my left. I glance in, careful to inspect the place that is to protect me from the Institute. A lone brown desk sits in front of a giant picture hanging behind it. It’s of a man with dark hair, light brown, normal-to-me eyes, and a smile. He is an Original, like me. Something about his smile draws me in. While the others explore the rest of the apartment, I continue to stare at the portrait. The painting is encased by a heavy silver frame. At the bottom a plaque reads “Howard P. O. Edmonds.” I grimace. The name feels off. He doesn’t look like a Howard. I move closer and reach up, my fingers tracing the lines on the man’s face.

“What are you doing?”

I turn around. Colt is standing in the doorway. He removes his long jacket and tosses it into an empty chair. In this faint light, his black hair shows a hint of red.

“This man,” I say. “Do you know him?”

He’s quiet for a moment before answering. “He’s an Original and a brilliant scientist. He’s been trying to find a cure for us for years.”

“He looks familiar.” I keep looking at the man, waiting for my memory to unfold itself and reveal my life, but it remains locked.

“So you really don’t remember anything?” Colt walks into the room.

His powerful presence sends a chill up my spine the same way it did at the Rapture. I admit, it frightens me a little so I subtly step away from him.

“I feel memories floating around,” I say, “but there’s a fog preventing me from seeing them. Does that make sense?”

“It’s the drug.” His eyes flicker to my arm, then move to my hands, which are still raw from gripping the cables. “You must be exhausted. Why don’t you get some rest?”

“So what are we supposed to do here?” Jenna says from the hallway.

“Wait,” Anthony responds. “Go find a book to read.”

He walks into the office with Colt and me. Jenna lets out an exaggerated sigh as she follows after him.

“Hey, Colt,” she says when she sees us by the painting. “Feeling guilty?”

“Shut up,” he says to her.

I turn to Colt. “Have you met him?”

The muscles around his jaw bulge. “No.”

“How about you, Anthony?”

He’s quiet for a few seconds then says, “I met him once.”

Colt tilts his head then points at the bottom of the painting. “Look at his name.”

“Howard O. P. Edmonds,” Jenna reads, looking over our shoulders. “So? It’s a dumb name.”

“Read it again,” he says.

I say it in my mind. And then I get it. “Hope,” I say.

Anthony turns to me. “What did you say?”

“The first letter in each name spells ‘hope.’ Is that what you’re talking about?” I glance at each one of them. By their silence and the way their eyes are connecting, I feel like I’m missing something.

“This is stupid,” Jenna says. “I’m getting something to eat.”

Anthony calls over his shoulder, “Do it quick. We may have to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“Patch needs to rest,” Colt says. The name Jenna gave me sounds so wrong on his lips.

Anthony looks at me as if waiting for me to agree with Colt, but I don’t say anything. I want nothing more than to sleep, but if it isn’t safe, I won’t complain.

When I don’t answer, Anthony leaves the room saying, “We’ll rest until dawn, but then we’ve got to go.”

From the kitchen Jenna says, “We can’t just leave, Anthony. Our lives are here, our jobs.”

“You don’t have to come, but this is what I’ve devoted what little life I have left to. You know that.”

Colt leaves me to join them, but I stay back, lingering in the doorway of the office, unsure if I should be listening to what feels like a personal conversation. The three of them stand together, looking like a small family.

“But you can’t just leave me!” Jenna says. “What will I do?”

Anthony smiles. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else to irritate.”

“But I want to irritate you.”

“Then you’ll have to make a decision. What about you, Colt? I could use your help.”

He shrugs. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Oh great,” Jenna says. “Now I have to go. Someone has to protect you from him. He might betray you.”

“Stop that,” Anthony says, scolding her like a father would.

I leave the man in the portrait and join the others in the living room.

“What about the boy?” I ask, remembering the way he had screamed when the Institute took him away.

“Who?” Jenna asks.

“There was a boy in the hospital with me. Just a child.”

“Don’t worry,” Anthony says. “Bram will figure it out, but my responsibility is to you. We’ll get you to Eden where you’ll be safe.”

He disappears into a doorway, which I assume leads to a bedroom.

I think of the boy, how scared he must be feeling right now. I hope he’s okay.

Jenna returns to the kitchen. “There’s pizza. You hungry?”

“Cook two, I’m starving,” Colt says.

“I wasn’t asking you,” she says. “Patch, you, hungry?”

I nod, my stomach tight with hunger pains.

Anthony returns carrying blankets. “There’s two beds in the bedroom. Jenna and Patch can sleep in there. Colt and I can sleep on the couches.”

“Actually,” I say, “can I sleep in the office?” For some reason I want to be near the man in the painting.

“Are you sure?”

I nod. Out of the corner of my eye I sense Colt watching me. I resist the urge to look over and instead go into the kitchen to help Jenna.

“Here,” she says and hands me a long, metal tube. “You can cook it.”

I turn the device over in my hands, trying to figure out what I am holding.

Jenna removes a pizza from a refrigerator and places it on the counter. “Get to it,” she says. “I’m starving.”

“Right.” I look at the rod again, pushing all around it, but nothing happens. I try touching the end of it to the edge of the pizza, thinking maybe it will sense the dough or something. Really, I have no idea what I’m doing.

Jenna laughs. “Serious? You can break out of the most secure place in the country, but you can’t cook a pizza?” She takes it from me. “What is wrong with you?”

I step back, too hurt to think of a comeback. I wish I knew what was wrong with me.

Jenna raises the rod horizontally above the pizza and tightens her hand. A blue light appears along the length of the metal. She scans it across the thick layer of dough and cheese three times. By the time she’s done, the pizza is cooked. She glances back at me. “Was that so hard?”

Colt walks into the kitchen and pushes past her to cut a slice of pizza. “Why do you have to be such a conker, Jenna?”

I’m not familiar with the term, but by Jenna’s reddening face, I know it’s an insult.

“Don’t call me that,” she says.

Colt takes a bite. “Then stop acting like one.”

Anthony looks up from an electronic device in his hands. “Hurry and eat and then get to bed. You’re going to need all the rest you can get.”

“Better do what he says and eat,” Colt says to me. “And fast before Jenna wolfs the whole pizza. In addition to being a conker, she’s a huge porker.”

Before I can respond, both Colt and I are ducking from a flying cup. It hits the wall behind us.

“Jenna!” Anthony says.

“Did you hear what he just called me?” she says, another cup gripped tightly in her hand.