Broken - Afflictions of the Evolved (The Evolved Trilogy) Page 5

  “I think he’s still at the barn doing chores. I’ll take you there if you like,” he offered grabbing my arm gently and pulling me down the path. I hesitated, but followed him as I decided he wasn’t a threat. If he wanted to take me out, he could have done so when I first arrived.

  I hadn’t ventured this far down the path yet. There were numerous canoes stored in a clearing to the side of the trail. As we walked further we came to a lake with a long dock and motorized boat.

  “We use that for supplies…batteries, toilet paper…that sort of thing,” explained Nitro pointing at the boat.

  I walked to the edge of the water and reached in with my hand. It was cold. I had secretly hoped the dome would somehow keep the water warm. But the dome had to end somewhere and it was impossible to keep an entire lake at an ideal temperature. I chuckled to myself and at my selfish reasons for wanting the water to be heated. It would have been nice to push Taylor off the dock and have a midnight swim. Then I had an unsettling thought about the water. Who knew what strange creatures might be lurking in the lake? My imagination was getting the best of me again.

  “Where does the dome end?” I asked searching the water.

  Nitro stood beside me and pointed in the distance. “You can barely see it, but there’s a haze in the middle of the lake.”

  I squinted my eyes. He was right. I could see a blurry wall in the distance. Amazing.

  Nitro and I continued to walk along the water throwing stones in the lake. Eventually we made it to a small barn. I pulled open the red doors but didn’t see Taylor inside. I did see some chickens, pigs and even a couple of sheep. Outside of the barn was a small greenhouse that stored a pretty impressive vegetable garden.

  “Maybe they took the other trail,” said Nitro.

  I arched my brow at his comment. He said “they” as in more than one. I thought back to the learning circle. I didn’t see Jade there either.

  I walked briskly towards the trail. It had become darker and I tripped a few times on clumps of dirt. Nitro appeared a few minutes later with a flashlight. I grabbed it out of his hands more forcefully than I had intended to.

  “Relax, Lacey. Jade isn’t up to anything.”

  “You keep reassuring me that your sister will behave herself which makes me think that I should be worried,” I yelled with my finger pointed in his direction. Then I turned my back to him and marched quickly down the trail.

  Nitro placed his hand on my shoulder to slow me down. “Okay, Jade might have a small crush on Taylor but we both know how he feels about you. He looks at you like someone who is helplessly in love. Jade knows she can’t compete with that.”

  So my feelings were right all along about Jade. She resented me because I was competition to her. I wondered just how close they were in Taylor’s future and if Jade thought their relationship was more serious than being just friends. I bet she didn’t think Taylor would travel back in time and fall in love with a present day girl. Briefly I felt sorry for Jade when I looked at it through her eyes. But that didn’t change the fact that Taylor and I loved one another – that he was my boyfriend and not hers.

  In no time we were at the learning circle. Thankfully everyone had cleared out. I didn’t need an audience watching me stomp along the trail. We continued up the path until we reached the mess hall.

  “I’ll see if they’re inside,” offered Nitro. His expression was optimistic. I wasn’t as hopeful that they would be inside. For all I knew, Jade could have kidnapped him and they could be driving away in the jeep right now with Taylor hogtied in the back.

  I thought it would be best if I took a few minutes to calm myself down. I went to Jade’s cabin to practice some breathing techniques.

  Imagine my shock when I walked in to find Taylor in full make out mode with someone who looked exactly like me!

  BOOK TITLE

  5.

  ENCHANTED

  “What the hell is going on in here?” I screamed. I grabbed a pillow from my cot and threw it at them. I wished I had something harder that would have knocked some sense into Taylor and had at least given Jade a black eye.

  He jumped off the other me with a confused look on his face. His confusion turned to anger after he pieced it all together. “Jade, how could you?”

  Instantly the other me transformed back to her real self, Jade. It was very disturbing to watch someone’s outer appearance blur in front of you and change into something else entirely. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to pull every purple strand of hair from her head. I had to stop myself from lunging forward at her. My body vibrated and my mouth dried up that I couldn’t even swallow. I was so irate that when I opened my mouth to scream no sound came out.

  I stormed out of the cabin unable to stomach looking at Jade or Taylor. Nitro walked towards me but stopped abruptly when I kicked a rock towards him.

  “A transformer? Really?” I yelled. He was the only one around that I could take my anger out on.

  “She didn’t?” he half stated and half asked. His surprise was genuine. Jade was such a master manipulator, she had her own family fooled.

  “Lacey, wait,” called Taylor running after me. “Stop.”

  “Get the fuck away from me,” I screamed just as the counselors and children exited the mess hall. I heard a few gasps and instantly felt bad for causing a scene. This was exactly the sort of thing I was hoping would not happen.

  One small boy grabbed my arm and whispered, “You should say fudge knuckle sandwich instead.” His face was so pure and innocent. This boy surely missed his family and here I was swearing and making a ruckus.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said forcing a fake smile. I felt like a spoiled brat.

  I looked at Taylor as if to say thanks a lot for putting me in this position. My bad behavior was magnified as the counselors ushered the children to their respective cabins, giving me dirty looks as they walked by. Nitro headed to Jade’s cabin though there wasn’t much he could say to her. He couldn’t undo the most despicable act of betrayal I had witnessed.

  I heard a voice in my mind that I recognized as Sherry’s directing me towards her cabin. When I turned around she was standing by the door with her hands on her hips. Great. How did this become my fault?

  I apologized in my mind as I walked towards her. The apology wasn’t quite as sincere as it should have been. I was pissed off.

  “Come inside, child,” she ordered in a soothing voice. She’s being too nice. I should be scared.

  I couldn’t contain my emotions any longer. Once inside I burst into tears somewhat relieved to be out of view of judgmental eyes. Sherry handed me a tissue as I sat in the worn chair.

  “You are a very special girl, Lacey. People are depending on you.” She pulled a chair from the kitchen so she could sit across from me. I was still crying.

  “I will deal with Jade. You two have more in common than you know,” she said handing me a fresh tissue. She should have just given me the whole box since I couldn’t get a grip on myself. The tears were not going to stop any time soon.

  I wiped the moisture from my face and blew my nose into the tissue. I wanted to get up and run away instead of listening to how much I had in common with a girl I now hated – and with good reason.

  “Jade has many abilities – she is elite.”

  “How is this supposed to help?” I asked. Next she would be telling me how super special and elite I was.

  “You are more than elite, Lacey. You are enchanted which is extremely rare. That is why you are the chosen one.” Sensing my confusion she continued her explanation. “The enchanted have more than just the usual psychic abilities and the elite capabilities combined.”

  I recalled Taylor’s brief explanation about the elite but never heard about the enchanted. His explanation about the elite led me to believe that these people were more along the line of super heroes with their super strength, speed and so forth. Nitro said his ability was speed. Maybe genetics played a role in the degrees of
psychic development.

  If Jade was elite, I didn’t feel better. I felt even worse knowing that she had the abilities to take Taylor away from me. After all, she obviously knew how to use her gifts. I had no idea what my gifts were and the ones I knew about were still in the infancy stage.

  “Lacey, are you listening to me? You are way more powerful than Jade will ever be.” By now, her hand was on my knee.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked still dabbing random tears. My eyes felt puffy.

  “It’s true. You got a taste of it when you teleported.”

  “That was unintentional,” I said. “I’ve tried to do it again but I just can’t.”

  Sherry rubbed my knee. “Oh you will child, you will. You are also a transformer – or shape-shifter as we call it in the present day. You just don’t know how to use that gift yet.”

  I didn’t believe that I could shape-shift. I mean, if I had that ability surely it would have manifested at some point in my life prior to this. After all, when I couldn’t control my anger things would spontaneously break. Shape-shifting had to be one of those things your body was aware of.

  “Lacey, you didn’t know you could teleport yourself until you absolutely had to – your senses kicked in at just the right time like instinct. Now that you are aware you can transform, your body will use that gift out of necessity.” She said this matter-of-fact just like someone else I knew.

  My tears had finally stopped. “Does Taylor know?” I asked in a quiet but accusing voice.

  “No, he doesn’t know. I don’t think he knows much about the enchanted. He would have told you otherwise. And I know you’re upset right now at Jade’s little stunt but Taylor truly believed it was you.” She removed her hand from my knee and stood up.

  I didn’t want to talk about Taylor right now. I wanted to know about my abilities. “What other abilities do I have? Super strength or speed?” I asked.

  “You don’t need those abilities if you can move things at will or teleport yourself.” She almost sounded condescending as she said this but it could have been just me.

  That was a perspective I didn’t consider before. I knew I could move small things with my mind. And I had teleported once before. Could I really transform into a completely different person?

  “I know saving the world isn’t what you signed up for but I truly believe we all have a purpose in this life. Mine is here,” she said.

  I felt like there was more to her story. “How do you know for sure?” I asked.

  “Let’s just say I tried to run away from my calling but the world intervened.” She rubbed the leg she limped on. “I was in a bad motorcycle accident. I almost didn’t make it.”

  “Sherry, that’s awful,” I said. I wanted to hear more of the story but she didn’t continue.

  “Enough about me. Somebody would like to talk with you.” Sherry ushered me from her chair and walked me to the door. I stepped towards Taylor who was waiting outside for me. “Taylor, I will bend the rules this one time for you as Lacey needs your support. Go with her to get her things and you can stay in Nitro’s cabin together. He can bunk with the boys.” She shut the door behind me. I imagined she was glad to be done with me for the night. But I was also thankful for her change of heart about her rules.

  I had hoped Jade wouldn’t be in her cabin but of course I wasn’t so lucky. Taylor waited by the door as I grabbed my bag from under the cot. I didn’t know if this was for my benefit or his. I’m sure his ego had been embarrassed by what had transpired. I took a deep breath and glanced angrily in her direction as I packed my stuff.

  “Look. I’m sorry okay,” she said insincerely as she thumbed through her magazine. Under her breath she mumbled, “It’s not like you guys can stay together anyway.”

  “What did you just say?” I asked. Jade kept digging herself in deeper and deeper. She just didn’t know when to stop.

  “Jade,” Taylor called through the doorway in an effort to shut her up. He glared at her with such anger. It was a side of him that I didn’t often see.

  Jade looked at Taylor smugly. “She deserves to know, Taylor,” she said placing her magazine on her chest.

  I bit my lip in anger. “To know what? One of you better start talking,” I demanded. “I am not in the mood to put up with anymore bullshit today.”

  Taylor walked inside and grabbed my bag from me, shaking his head. He got in one last dirty look towards Jade. “Let’s go to Nitro’s cabin and I will tell you everything.”

  The way he said that gave me a pain in the pit of my stomach, like my world was about to come crashing down again.

  BOOK TITLE

  6.

  ANSWERS

  Taylor sat beside me on his cot and placed his hands over mine. I pulled them back but the look in Taylor’s eyes convinced me to let him explain his side of the story. When he realized that I was going to actually allow him to touch me, he reached up with one hand to push a strand of hair behind my ear.

  “First of all, I honestly thought Jade was you,” he started. He sounded sincere.

  I rolled my eyes. How could Taylor be so stupid? If it was the other way around, I would definitely know that it wasn’t the real Taylor. There would be some clue, no matter how subtle, that would make me question things. I was sure of this.

  “I’m serious, Lacey. She even wore your necklace,” he said as if wearing my necklace was ten times worse than magically shape-shifting into my persona in order to make out with MY boyfriend. He pulled it out of his pocket to show me it was safe and sound.

  I touched my bare neck where my necklace usually hung. I put it in my bag for safekeeping before hiking to Serenity at Taylor’s urging. He couldn’t have known this would happen though. After he clasped it around my neck, he went on to explain how Jade, who had already transformed into me, suddenly appeared at the barn. She convinced him that I (she) needed to talk to him at the cabin. One thing led to another and the next thing he knew, there were two Lacey’s.

  “I should have known something was up. She doesn’t kiss nearly as well as you,” he smiled. His dazzling green eyes and brilliant smile made my heart melt.

  I tried to stay angry with Taylor but his dimpled smile made me putty in his hands. I convinced myself that Taylor would have eventually realized Jade was an imposter before it went any further. He would have realized right? The thought of them together intimately made me nauseous. I had to take a deep breath so I didn’t puke everywhere.

  “What did that little bitch mean by us not being able to stay together?” My cheeks blushed with embarrassment at my inability to control my obvious contempt for Jade. I snuggled into the nape of his neck.

  Taylor took a deep breath, preparing to answer the question. He pulled me back onto the bed so we could be more comfortable. “Do you remember how I explained that the dark spirits’ bodies break down faster than mine?” He ran his fingers down my arm over and over. The motion tickled but calmed me at the same time.

  I nodded. I remembered the whole explanation. I always hung onto Taylor’s every word whenever he explained anything involving time travel and psychic abilities.

  “Well, the enzymes in my body are also unstable. While this body will last for years, it too will eventually break down.” He continued to tickle my arm.

  My anger surfaced again. “You should have told me this at the same time you promised to stay in this time.” I sat up and poked his chest.

  “I know, but I was hoping to find a way to stay,” he replied breaking eye contact. “I didn’t want this to be constantly in the back of your mind.”

  “So, how long can your body last here?” I needed to know everything Taylor knew. No more surprises.

  “We think no more than ten years at the most.” Another one of his theories.

  “We?” I asked. Unlike some people around here I actually did not make it a habit of peeking around in other people’s heads.

  “There is a present day scientist named Dr. Hendrick. He has been m
aking great progress in the field of cloning.” His eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Does he know about you? About time travel I mean?” I settled back in beside him.

  “Yes. I’ve met with him a few times.” This time he played with my hair.

  I imagined what that meeting must have been like. Hi, I’m Taylor from the future. My world was destroyed by nuclear war. Is there anyway you can fix my cloned body so I can stay here and live amongst you? I laughed at my ridiculous conversation between Taylor and a scientist I had never met because I knew it didn’t happen that way. I thought back to when I first learned Taylor was from the future when I walked in on him making a chocolate bar float through the air in the basement at Clear Waters. At first I thought he was an alien coming to abduct me or something. After the things that have happened since, I almost wished he was an alien so we could go up to the mother ship and leave this world – and all the evil behind.

  “And he has agreed to help you?” I asked. “And he can be trusted?” I placed his free hand inside of mine.

  “He has and I do. That’s what Sherry and I were arguing – rather discussing – the other night. She doesn’t think I should permanently stay in this time. She thinks it will somehow interfere with what we are trying to accomplish.”

  I couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing things through Sherry’s eyes. As much as I wanted Taylor to stay with me, maybe his presence would disrupt the new future we were trying to make happen. If I insisted Taylor stay with me, that would make me the most selfish person in the world. How would I be able to live with myself? Perhaps Dr. Hendrick had some alternative options available.

  Before I could say anything else, Taylor spoke. “We’re leaving Serenity tomorrow. I’m going to take you to Dr. Hendrick.”

  “Since we’re finally letting it all out, I also have something to tell you.” I had to share with him Sherry’s thought about me being enchanted.