Broken - Afflictions of the Evolved (The Evolved Trilogy) Read online

  I followed Taylor’s lead as he effortlessly climbed down the rocks. He reached the bottom in no time while I struggled on the wet spots. Numerous times I lost my footing but somehow managed to make it down. I wasn’t the most graceful person in the world.

  Our pants became soaked by the stream below. Taylor pulled my arm to assist me in climbing up the other side of the ravine and onto the ledge. I followed him through the cool rushing water of the falls and into a damp tunnel. My wet clothes clung to me like latex.

  I was flabbergasted by what I saw on the other side of the tunnel. A field bloomed with an array of colorful flowers and the sky was a perfect blue. The sun hid behind white fluffy clouds but the temperature was perfect. It was a landscape I had never experienced in my life.

  “Did we die and go to heaven or something?” I asked Taylor only half jokingly as I followed his lead through the field.

  “This is the outskirts of Serenity. You can’t see it, but there’s an energy field that acts as a protective dome. It keeps all outsiders from discovering this place.”

  “What about planes flying overhead?” I asked walking through the deep grass into the woods.

  “Nobody can see it. The dark spirits can’t track it – the energy blocks them out,” Taylor explained. “A scientist created it. A small black box does all the work. Don’t ask me how it works – it just does.”

  He was always so patient with my questions. I couldn’t help it, I was so curious about the mysterious ways of the evolved, so curious about his time period. Plus it kept my mind off my old life, my family and my friends I left behind. Taylor kept me grounded. If anything ever happened to him I would die of a broken heart.

  Before venturing any further, we changed into a dry set of clothes. Although I wasn’t cold anymore, the damp clothes were chafing my body as I hiked. I looked down at my rug burned knees. They were scabbing over nicely. We threw our clothes into our bags and were off again. I definitely had to work on my teleportation skills, this was getting ridiculous.

  “We’re almost there,” said Taylor excitedly. He picked up the pace and I followed closely behind him.

  As we continued through the trees, I could see a small village of log cabins in a clearing. My excitement was short lived when I felt something jab my lower back just under my bag.

  A deep voice said, “Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”

  Instinctively, I put my hands in the air.

  BOOK TITLE

  3.

  THE TEACHER

  I expected Taylor to be afraid like I was with a gun pointed in my back. Instead, when I looked at him for support he was laughing. I should have known it was an evolved member by that almost like a déjà-vu feeling but not quite; the “time bump” Taylor had explained happened when someone from the present was introduced to someone not from their time period.

  “Hey man, long time no see,” he greeted with his hand in the air waiting for a high five.

  The pressure disappeared when a brawny dark haired male moved towards Taylor to slap his hand and give a quick man hug. Relief swept over me when I realized that they knew each other and that we really were safe. I didn’t know how much more my heart could take with all of these sneak attacks. This guy was lucky he caught me by surprise or I may have severely injured him. May was the operative word. I frowned upon injuring people unless my life was in danger. I blocked those memories out. This was not the time or the place to rehash those terrible flashbacks. I was moving on with my new life. I came for answers and the sooner we got through with the introductions, then the sooner I would get those answers.

  “Lacey, this is Nitro,” introduced Taylor.

  Before I could even say anything, Nitro grabbed me by my waist and twirled me in the air, gently dropping me back to the ground. Hello Mr. Friendly. We would have to talk about a little thing called personal space later.

  “Sorry about that, Lacey. We weren’t expecting you guys just yet,” said Nitro. I found it quite interesting that they were expecting us. I was positive Taylor did not contact anyone to let them know of our arrival.

  Taylor grabbed a stick from the ground. “What would you have done if we were intruders? Shoot us with this?” he laughed before dropping the stick.

  “I would have improvised,” replied Nitro flexing his bulky muscles. He really did look like an American Gladiator. Maybe that’s where he got his nickname. It couldn’t possibly be his real name.

  “You have super strength?” I asked intrigued. I more than likely would never survive the receiving end of one of his punches.

  “I am naturally stronger than the average person but my true gift is speed. I sensed movement in the woods and ran up behind you two,” he smiled slyly.

  I was amazed his large stature didn’t give him away. We didn’t hear anything, any twigs snapping or leaves rustling. That ability could come in very handy. I shouldn’t be envious. After all, I did teleport once and I’m fairly certain I controlled that bouncer’s thoughts. If only I could fine tune those abilities.

  The three of us walked out of the trees to the clearing of the village. A grey haired woman with tiny framed glasses came out of a small cabin. She walked with a slight limp.

  “Taylor!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad to see you,” she said moving in for a hug.

  “Hi, Sherry, we would have called only….” greeted Taylor. He smiled playfully.

  She patted his arm and shook her head. “You’re such a jokester.” I looked around at the layout of the village. There were two rows of cabins across from one another, mostly square shaped in varying sizes but at the end was the largest rectangular shaped cabin with a sign etched in wood that read “Mess Hall.” Off to the side was a small generator, the only cabin that had one. There were no overhead wires which meant there was no electricity or phones. Since Serenity was protected by an energy dome, cell phones wouldn’t work here either. I rolled my eyes when I realized that was the joke.

  “Nitro, take their bags to the cabins while I have tea with Taylor and Lacey,” ordered Sherry. “Oh, and be sure to hang up their wet clothes.” How could she have possibly known that?

  She lightly grabbed my arm and led me through the front door of her quaint cabin. She guided me to a wooden chair beside a small round table. Taylor stood in the small living room that housed a worn out sofa chair, a coffee table and two bookshelves. One shelf had books and the other had crystals and stones of various colors and sizes, some smooth and some rough.

  “How did you know about the wet clothes?” I asked, wondering if she somehow saw our every move.

  “The only way to get here is to go through water. A natural deterrence,” she answered placing three cups on the table. Then she walked back to the small counter and grabbed a metal pot. She poured hot water into the three cups. The pot had black charred marks on the bottom, most likely from being boiled over an opened fire.

  “Only the mess hall has electricity for the stove and fridge,” said Sherry. “I use a small propane stove for little things like making tea and soup. I keep it out back,” she explained.

  She was definitely reading my mind and that made me very uncomfortable. I would have to be careful about my thoughts as I doubted imagining a red X would have any effect here surrounded by advanced psychic students and evolved members. The whole mind invasion thing still freaked me out.

  “It’s okay, child. I only dwell inside when I need an update on things.” She dropped a tea bag into each cup. Taylor joined us in the cramped kitchen and blew into his mug before taking a sip.

  “I know we shouldn’t have come here but there was no other choice,” he said pursing his lips from the hot tea.

  Sherry sat in a chair across from me. “I trust your judgment. I’m actually glad you’re both here. It gives me a chance to figure out how they keep catching up to you so quickly.”

  I sipped my tea carefully so not to burn my mouth. Sherry went into the living room and after careful consideration grabbed a translucent stone from
her shelf. Smiling, she brought it to me and placed it gently in my hand.

  “This is apophyllite. This is one of the most powerful protective and healing stones. I want you to have it.” Sherry stared into my eyes, waiting for my reaction or perhaps trying to read my mind.

  “Thank you,” I replied, hoping the acknowledgment was what she was waiting for. I smiled and placed it in my pocket.

  She nodded slightly then turned her gaze towards Taylor. “Well, I must tend to my class. You two stay here and finish your tea. Taylor, you know your way around; please show Lacey and introduce her to the others.”

  Sherry limped to the door and turned her head to us before leaving. She smiled at me then walked out the door but her smile appeared fake or rather forced. It wasn’t anger that I sensed but more like a deep concern. Our sudden arrival at Serenity was definitely more troubling to her than she let on even if she was somehow expecting us. Maybe she didn’t expect us so soon but she did know we would come. It was unsettling to me as well.

  Taylor and I sat in silence as we drank the remaining tea. I did not dare utter a word about Sherry in fear that she was listening to me. I tried not to think about her either. So far Serenity was not the place I had imagined. I wasn’t expecting to be welcomed with open arms and creating a scrapbook or anything. But I felt displaced. A deep dark feeling sat in the pit of my stomach. Was my body warning me about something? I thought back to the piece of paper I had found at the safe house after the first mission; things are not always what they seem. I didn’t know who wrote it or if it was even intended for me but I took that piece of paper and put it in my pocket. It’s now long gone as it was in my luggage back at the hotel in Las Vegas.

  I realized that I had no sense of belonging or belongings. Material items were a thing of the past. Hopefully my memory box, the only thing I had left of my old life was still safe at the storage unit. Knowing my luck, the unit would flood or burn in a fire. I shook my head. I had to purge those ideas out of my thoughts. If I continued to think about it, it would happen. As Taylor told me on more than one occasion; “The mind is a very powerful tool.”

  Sensing my desire to escape the stuffy cabin, Taylor took me outside and showed me the rows of cabins where the boys slept and where the girls slept. He explained that we would be bunking in separate cabins – Sherry’s rules. She was not from the future but from the present day and was one of the most gifted psychics Taylor had ever encountered. She was one of the first people to befriend Taylor when he arrived in my time period. It was obvious that she cared for him deeply. I was curious of what she thought about me.

  We continued to walk down a dirt path until we came upon a clearing with a wooden stage surrounded by wooden benches. “And this is the learning circle,” said Taylor as he hopped on a bench and jumped from one to another.

  I walked along the ground beside him kicking at small stones in the dirt, “The learning circle?”

  “This is where the children practice their skills,” still jumping around like a child.

  “Speaking of the children, don’t they miss their parents? Can their parents come to visit?” I asked twirling a strand of stray hair with my fingers.

  Taylor jumped down with a serious look on his face. He placed his hands on my shoulders and rubbed gently. He was no doubt trying to use his mood control through magic fingers on me before he delivered some bad news. He insisted that he didn’t have mood controlling abilities but I didn’t believe that. Maybe it didn’t work on other people, but it definitely worked on me.

  “Most of the parents have been killed in various ‘accidents.’ Modern day dark spirits and other agencies desperately want to get their hands on these kids to use their gifts for their own selfish reasons,” he explained shaking his head as if the whole thing disgusted him.

  “That’s terrible,” I replied. I knew he was referring to using them as weapons. Why try to create a bomb or disease when you can use innocent children on an unsuspecting population to do your dirty work?

  We continued to walk around the learning circle hand in hand. “Those whose parents are still alive have gone into hiding. They can never know about this place,” added Taylor.

  “Is that why Sherry isn’t exactly overjoyed by us being here?” I asked taking a seat on one of the benches.

  Taylor sat beside me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. He gently stroked my hair. “I only brought you here as a last resort. Promise me you will never bring anyone here under any circumstances.”

  The way he said it sounded like he was anticipating us to be separated from one another. I thought back to the time he abandoned me in the woods as one of my life lessons. When I did manage to find my way back to our cabin after a miserable night alone in an old hunting cabin to shelter me from a severe storm, he told me then that he would not always be around to protect me. Did Taylor know more than he was letting on?

  “Promise me, Lacey,” he said in a serious tone.

  I sat up and peered into his beautiful green eyes. “I promise,” I said raising my hand up as if to swear on a bible. These psychics were quite complicated. Nitro let it slip that they were expecting us later than sooner but Taylor made it sound like he had never intended to bring me here at any time.

  I let out a huge breath to build up the courage to ask him if there was something more he needed to tell me but we were interrupted by a high pitched female voice.

  “There you guys are!” she exclaimed.

  I turned in the direction of the excited voice. A girl with purple strands throughout her long dark hair rushed towards us. She sported tight ripped blue jeans, a pink tank top and numerous colorful bracelets on each wrist. Her face lit up as she tightly hugged Taylor. With one arm on her back, Taylor introduced the girl as Jade.

  “Hi,” I said with a small forced smile. I couldn’t explain it but I had the feeling I should keep an eye on her. Maybe I was just being paranoid. After all, people were trying to kill me at every turn.

  “Nice to meet you,” she replied. Jade hooked her arm in Taylor’s and forced him to walk with her. “I was soooo excited when I heard you were here.”

  Like an idiot I stood there and watched them walk in front of me towards the main camp. I finally forced my legs to move.

  “She’s like a kid in a candy store isn’t she?” asked a familiar voice but still startling.

  I put my hand over my heart as if that was going to stop it from beating so rapidly. “If you keep sneaking up like that I’m going to have a heart attack.”

  “Sorry,” Nitro laughed, “it’s what I do.” He winked at me, reminding me slightly of Zed. I hoped he wouldn’t hit on me like Zed. That was the last thing I needed right now.

  Together we followed Taylor and Jade up the path making fake conversation about the weather, the beautiful landscape and other mundane things. I smiled and let out small laughs here and there to hide the jealousy I felt as Taylor and Jade chatted and laughed – mostly by Jade – ahead of me.

  “They’re just friends,” said Nitro. “My sister knows Taylor is off limits.” Damned psychics – stay out of my mind!

  After taking a calming breath, I thought about his second statement. Why would Nitro say Jade knew Taylor was off limits if she didn’t have feelings for him? Since Taylor’s life lesson of ditching me in the woods was still fresh in my memory, I was more aware of my surroundings. I was paying closer attention to people and their comments, suspicious of everyone and everything.

  “You and Jade are siblings?” I asked, refusing to let on that I really was suspicious of Jade and how bothered I was by her.

  “Yep, we grew up with Taylor in the bunkers.” The evolved from the future nicknamed the titanium encased cities “the bunkers.” It was easy to say and anyone listening in on their conversations in the present time wouldn’t have a clue about its meaning. Oh, those clever evolved.

  I nodded my head to say I knew they were from the future. “So, what is Jade’s gift?” I asked trying not to sound too eag
er. But I needed any information I could gather about her, like the saying “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” I didn’t consider Jade an actual enemy since we were both on the same page of protecting the future, but I would never consider her a friend either. I knew this in my heart even though I had just met her. My intuition was working overtime.

  “Jade has many gifts,” he replied stretching his large arms above his head. He better be careful not to drop them on his head and knock himself unconscious. How could he possibly remain so bulky around here with no gym equipment?

  Nitro wasn’t going to give me a straight answer. I would ask Taylor when we were alone. I didn’t know when that would be since we wouldn’t be sharing the same cabin. I guessed that I would have to figure something out.

  Taylor and Jade had stopped outside the mess hall. She continued to hang onto his arm as she smiled and nodded. Deep breaths. Just breathe so I don’t rip her arm from her body. Oh my God! What was wrong with me? Why was I acting this way?

  “Jade, take Lacey with you to help with supper. I’ll take Taylor to the barn to feed the animals,” ordered Nitro. I didn’t want to go with Jade but at the same time I didn’t want her around Taylor either. This way I could at least keep my eye on her.

  “Animals?” I asked. Obviously they didn’t free roam around the living quarters and mess hall as there was no evidence of animals. Actually, there was no evidence of children either, no toys are anything else that would suggest kids lived here.

  “We’re very self sufficient,” explained Nitro. He patted Taylor on the back to hurry him along. Taylor winked at me before they both walked down the trail.

  Jade looked disappointed that Taylor wasn’t coming with us but she quickly put on a happy face and led me into the mess hall. Once inside, I saw a few teenagers and dozens of children sitting on benches at wooden tables. Some were writing on paper while others were building modeling clay creations. Others were reading books. A few of the children waved at us. I returned the greeting as I followed Jade to the back area where the kitchen was.