Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1) (10 page)

“Alik, mom said it took you longer to open up when she first brought us home.” It was my turn to speak. I had been looking at Alik with new eyes since first reading mom’s entries about him.

“You were so traumatized by The Institute and their ‘treatments,’ you would just curl up in a corner and cover your head with blankets for hours at a time. But once you started to trust mom, you would come out and be with us. You would play mom’s assessment games too though you didn’t speak much. She discovered through the nonverbal tests that your memory was phenomenal. Maybe that was why it took you so much longer to open up; because your memory of the traumas was so acute. You could remember every detail of what happened since you were given your first dose of the serum. Your recollection of the facility, the scientists, the smells, sounds, pain was as clear in your memory as if it had just happened.

“Mom wrote about how one night when you were about five, a strong storm hit the ranch. It was that night that you ran to her and curled up against her side, knowing she would protect you.

“From then on, you spoke and played and even laughed. But your memory, mom said it was more than photographic, it was ‘videographic.’ She coined the term just for you because you didn’t just see pictures in your mind, you could replay the whole event with every detail. You could rewind and fast-forward the memory. You were astounding to her.”

Dr. Andrews added, “Then in her later entries she made blanket observations about all of you. You were all highly intelligent and extraordinarily quick to learn any skill, physical or mental. She predicted that your abilities hadn’t finished manifesting, relating you to a caterpillar that lives as such for a while before it goes through metamorphosis and changes into something else. She wasn’t sure what the catalyst of the change would be, or if it were just a matter of time. But she feared that the abilities you’d been given were going to have to be used against the people who forced them on you.”

Chapter 27 Fine Dining

After the first twelve hours on the road, having only stopped twice to use bathrooms and gas up, we were ready for a real break. The first restaurant we found was an all-night truck-stop. I only know that because of its name, “Trudy’s All Nite Truck Stop.” I wondered who Trudy was and did she know she misspelled “night.”

“Well, we’re on I-40 west heading toward Albuquerque. This is just a small…small…town on-route. Population 301, I believe the sign read.”

“I don’t care how small the town is as long as this place has hamburgers and fries on their menu.” Cole declared.

“Hi there dolls, table for five?”

“Yes, please.” Dr. Andrews nodded and then followed as the waitress led the way to the tables. She quickly pulled two together for us.

I was glad we were close enough to the window so I could look out and check on Maze. We had to leave him in the SUV, but I made sure the windows were half open. I could see his nose sticking out of the opening as he sniffed the deliciously greasy smells wafting from the grill. I reminded myself to order an extra piece of meat on my burger for Maze.

We had all placed our orders when Evan mentioned that he’d like to go retrieve the map. Alik looked at him inquisitively, but said nothing. Dr. Andrews passed him the keys and he headed out to the SUV.

I was sipping deliciously sweet iced tea and listening to the boys’ discussion about which was better, a waffle fry or a shoestring fry, when I glanced out the window. Evan’s legs were hanging out of the driver’s side, toes pointing up.

“What in the heck is that boy doing now?” I scowled.

Everyone at the table stopped talking and followed my eyes. We all saw his feet kicking a bit then stop. He sat up and stare at something in his hands for a moment. Then he stood, tucked whatever it was into his pocket and sauntered casually back into the restaurant.

“Have a hard time finding the map?” Alik watched him with one raised brow.

Evan walked up to our waitress and whispered in her ear. She handed him a pen with a wink and a smile. Evan sat and began writing on a napkin.

THE MAP FELL ON THE FLOORBOARD. WHEN I REACHED DOWN TO GET IT, I SAW SOMETHING THAT LOOKED OUT OF PLACE ATTACHED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE DASH. IT LOOKS LIKE AN AUDIO TRANSMITTER AND GPS. SEE FOR YOURSELVES, BUT DON’T SPEAK. SOMEONE IS LISTENING.

Fortunately, the restaurant was pretty quiet. No annoying music playing or crying babies, else I’m sure Evan wouldn’t have brought the small black mechanism in here. He removed it carefully from his pocket and turned it around in his hand so we could all see it from every angle.

Dr. Andrew’s face went white and he looked like he was about to throw up. He took the piece out of Evan’s hand and laid it on the floor gently before lifting the old-fashioned wooden chair he had been sitting on and slamming the leg down on it repeatedly. Pieces flew off as it shattered.

The waitress was standing a few feet away holding a huge tray of our food. The doctor took one look at her and calmly said, “We’ll take it all to go. And this should cover our check and any damages.” He politely slipped a couple hundred-dollar bills on the table, stood and escorted us all back to the SUV. Just a few minutes passed before the waitress came out with bags of food. I’m sure she wanted to get rid of us just as much as we wanted to get out of there.

We were being tracked, and more than that, our SUV had been bugged. They heard everything we said for the last twelve hours. I felt too sick to eat. Instead, I was replaying all our conversations in my head trying to remember what we may have given away. Ugh. We talked about everything. It would be easier to think about what we hadn’t given away.

Chapter 28 Margo’s Stand

A little closer. Come on you psychotic freak. You know you want to. Just step a little closer.

Margo silently willed for Dr. Williams to continue his ranting a little closer to her. She figured four more feet and he’d be within range. She was going to try to take out this monster. Her eyes were on his jugular and she was pretty sure she could do some serious damage. If she were lucky, maybe even strike a fatal blow to his throat. At least, that was the unofficial plan.

Her ankles were still tied, but she didn’t care. Her hands were free. If all she did was kill Dr. Williams over there, then the nightmare would be over for her children. Of course, his thugs would finish her off before they even checked their boss for a pulse, but that didn’t matter. What mattered to Margo was that Williams wouldn’t be alive to hunt her children.

“And all this time you lived on that pathetic little ranch in the middle of nowhere? Amazing. I know you must have watched the children carefully for their metamorphoses. I’m anxious to hear all their developments. I feel like a father who has missed more than a decade of my children’s lives.”

And that was just about all she could stomach. So caught up in his one-sided conversation was he that he moved those last few feet, closing the gap between them.

He didn’t even have time to react beyond making a stupid surprised expression on his greasy face. With all the fierceness of a lioness, Margo sprang and attacked. Her hands, though cut and bleeding, were exact in their movements. Knuckles out, she went for a lethal throat strike. She hit her mark. He went down clutching his throat and gurgling.

That was the last thing she heard before she blacked out. The thugs were on her.

Chapter 29 Anyone For a Plan B?

Evan thoroughly checked the rest of the SUV for any more devices that would be tracking, eavesdropping or exploding.

Nothing.

It was just that one piece. And it wasn’t very professionally planted either. Evan only had to lean down a bit and he saw it. A professional would have hidden the device in a much less conspicuous place. It made us all start to wonder out loud about who put it there. I had my suspicions, but it didn’t seem polite to name names, especially when that person had the same last name as the good doctor. Michelle did this.

We had driven off course a bit hoping to lose whoever was following us. Just after midnight, I knew we needed to find a place to let Dr. Andrews rest. He looked exhausted and he was the only one with a license to drive. (Oh, believe me, Evan, Alik and Cole all offered repeatedly to take over driving duty, but only Cole had a driver’s permit. And apparently his dad didn’t want to permit him to drive during this particular point in our ever complicated adventure.)

We had two choices, as far as I could tell. Either find a place to pull over and settle down to sleep in the SUV, or locate a motel and crash there. Considering we had bad guys following us, I felt a little better about voting for the motel. At this point, I didn’t even care if I had to sleep on the floor. It had been an exhausting day.

A few miles ahead we saw a motel that looked as uninteresting as any of the other hundreds we’d passed so far. Dr. Andrews pulled into the parking lot, walked up to the teller’s desk and checked us in.

He returned to the truck and began driving slowly passed the many identical doors looking for the one to which we had been assigned.

“I’m Mr. Moore, by the way.” We all looked at him through tired, squinted eyes.

“I paid in cash and used an assumed name. If it comes up, thought you should know; we’re the Moore family.”

Alik started to chuckle to himself. He gets giddy when he’s super tired. “The Moore family? Morbid family. Morose family. Monitored, maintained, migrating, metas, mortuary, marred, martyred…tired.”

The last word had him crashing into the first bed he saw. I wasn’t going to bug him about brushing his teeth. I would have felt like a hypocrite, ‘cause little ol’ Meg was skipping the brush, too. I was dog-tired…which reminded me of Maze.

I forced myself to let Maze outside to find a nice patch of grass then we both dragged our weary butts back into the motel. I locked the flimsy door behind me thinking how easy it would be to kick this in. Then I turned around to see that every bed in both adjoining rooms had a boy in it. Four beds, four boys, one girl and her coyote. Stupid men.

I thought about kicking Evan to Alik’s bed, but I was too tired, so I grabbed an extra pillow and a thin towel off the rack and lay down on the floor with Maze curled up beside me. I honestly don’t even remember falling asleep.

Two things happened that night of monumental importance. First, I woke briefly only to realize I was being carried, gently, and placed on a soft bed. Covers were pulled up around me. I snuggled in, just sure I was dreaming.

I didn’t see who carried me, but very early the next morning I found myself in the bed Cole had been sleeping in and he was sprawled out on an uncomfortable looking chair. His head tipped so far back I was sure I could see the pulse in his throat. He was going to wake with a horrible crick in his neck, no doubt about that. It was about 4am and I watched him sleep for a while smiling to myself before I dozed back off.

Chapter 30 Wake-Up Call

At first, I thought maybe someone had the wrong room and they’d find that their key didn’t work, feel foolish and move along. I thought I remembered reading something like that happening in a novel once. But that’s not what happened here.

Instead, barely audible pins clicked into place inside the knob. I was almost mesmerized by what I was seeing—caught between awake and asleep, not sure that this was a dream. Still and silent I remained until…

CRACK!

The silence of the morning was shattered as harshly as the door. The shards of wood and frame didn’t have time to land before I was on my feet, yelling, “You picked the wrong room, buddy!”

“Shut up! Get down on the floor! Everyone! Get down on the floor and put your hands behind your head! Now! MOVE!”

Four dark figures moved like grease into the dark motel room pointing guns directly at our faces and snarling orders.

Fully aware that my brothers were already as poised to fight as I was, I stole a glance at Dr. Andrews and Cole. Even in the dark of the room, their faces shown pale, their eyes wide with fear. They were obeying orders and lying down. Good, they needed to be as out of the way as possible. This was going to get ugly.

“Who the hell are you? What do you want?” Alik growled menacingly at the intruders.

“I said, ‘shut up’ punk,” the huge framed man positioned nearest to him snarled in a low voice. Alik slowly moved into compliance and lay down. Near him, Evan followed his brother’s lead. Only I remained standing in the blackened room, watching the moonlight glint off their guns while trying to anticipate their next move.