Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
EMERY
A week.
Seven days, five hours, three minutes.
That’s how long we’ve been separated. How long Eve has been gone and I don’t know where. How long she hasn’t been in my arms, been mine entirely.
It’s enough to make me wanna kill someone.
In a way, she is here. Yet, in the back of my skull I know she isn’t, just like my sister.
Eve is starting to appear more than her, starting to overtake my mind until nothing else can. No other thoughts, no other dreams. Just her.
Just her.
Where are you, Eve?
I tried to stay silent as they kept me boxed in the little room underneath a church. That’s where they’ve brought me. The irony isn’t lost to me. Micheal bought it when it lay abandoned. Now we can all atone for our sins.
I tried to be calm, to bide my time. Andrea brought me clothes—black pants and a black T-shirt; food; dressed my wounds, examining them to make sure they were healing right. I complied with most of what she asked, or at least tried. She gave me something to read, offered something to help me sleep which I wouldn’t take. As nice and helpful as she was, I was indifferent at best and cold at worst to her, having to steady myself from snapping into a bad episode whenever she touched me. Because she was still the nurse from the warehouse no matter how she tried to make up for it.
Most of the time she stayed away and I was stuck in the bed so there was nothing much I could do anyway. Eventually, when they decided I wouldn’t go losing it again, they unchained me. Cassidy kept an eye on me and I knew the others were armed just in case.
I knew I needed to take the time to recover. The faster I did, the quicker I could get to Eve. But after several days of lying in bed, I thought I’d somehow go more insane. I took to pacing, restless like a goddamn tiger. I could feel the tension in the others as I stalked the halls and corridors of this place they deemed a sanctuary. They didn’t try to stop me because they knew it would only make things worse. Andrea tried to make me rest, to be patient, but I wouldn’t.
I didn’t speak much. Sometimes I listened. If I wasn’t pacing, I was watching Dom work at his computer station. The several monitors showed the Martel building along with other places I didn’t recognize, watching those who came and went. There were maps and records of people they were following. Those who might have had a hand in what had been done to us.
Cassidy went on patrol while she investigated these people, mostly doctors and staff named by Andrea. A police scanner and radio monitored her whereabouts. Leslie disappeared most of the day. I found him looking after an armory of weapons they had stashed. He let me stay and sometimes help clean guns as long as I didn’t talk to my hallucinations.
He and Dom knew people involved in certain gangs and in black market trade. Leslie kept his eyes and ears out for those who worked with unsavory clients, trafficking specific people, waiting to see if any of the buyers matched those they were monitoring.
They’d reached a dead end there but I knew they had their sights on specific clients involved with Martel. They wouldn’t tell me who yet, not till Micheal said it was time.
I didn’t want to wait any longer, I couldn't stay silent. I needed to know.
Problem was Dom wouldn’t speak. And Micheal had been gone a lot. He came sparingly after they’d found me. He’d check on us, talk to a few in private, then head out again.
Now I was chomping at the bit for his return. Because I was done being kept in the dark.
They don’t trust you , smiling Nina whispered.
They think you’re a loose cannon.
They think you're too dangerous.
Too unstable.
Too pathetic.
You are. You should've stayed on that beach. Your story was done there.
My head throbbed as she talked to me. I ignored her, though the urge to take a knife and jam it into the wall where her shadow lingered was hard to suppress.
The tension was palpable as I sat with Dom and Leslie at a table in what they called the meeting room playing a few rounds of poker while we waited. Cassidy was still out on patrol, and Andrea wouldn’t be back from her shift at the city hospital for a while. Micheal was supposed to join us soon, and then we’d have our talk. He was going to tell me everything I needed to know, and we’d finally start making plans.
And he would tell me where Eve was whether he wanted to or not.
After two games and a clear win by Dom (not that I had any money to give him anyway in exchange for the chips), Cassidy waltzed inside.
She gave me a fiery look, and I returned with an icy one of my own. Her hand settled on her holster as she circled around the table.
Andrea came in a minute later with a bag of groceries. She gave me a look too. One of disappointment. She had begged me to stay in bed but I refused. I’d played nice after she’d redressed my wounds. I’d gotten maybe a few hours of sleep, I attempted to stay in bed, but by the fourth day, I was done. My wounds still hurt like hell since I refused to take pain meds but it was nothing new.
“Micheal not shown up yet?” Cassidy asked.
“Nope,” Leslie answered, shuffling the deck.
“Did Dom get that last recording I sent?”
“Yep.”
“You chucklefucks play games all day?”
“Nope.”
“Are you going to say anything else besides those two words, asshole?”
“Maybe.”
Cassidy groaned and stomped away, flipping us off. Andrea went to the kitchen to put her groceries away. She came back a moment later and set a paper bag in front of Leslie.
“Your refill,” she said.
Leslie set the cards down and grabbed the bag. He took out the little pill bottle, shaking it. He set it down, then crumpled the bag and threw it over his shoulder. Andrea rolled her eyes, then looked at me.
I could see she wanted to say something, but she scowled and walked off.
I turned my eyes back to the bottle. “What’s that?”
“Meds.”
“For what?”
“What do you think?”
I stared at him. “You take that shit without getting sick?”
“Yeah.”
I studied his expression, trying to see if he was just being funny. “I don’t believe you.”
Dom took out his phone and typed something, then showed it to me. He used to.
“Shut up, Dom,” Leslie snapped even though he didn’t see the message. Dom shrugged.
“So you got used to it?” I asked.
“You have to in the end if you want to function in this society. I needed to get my head clear so I could do my job.”
“How long did it take you?”
“Months. I went off it after a couple years, hoping I didn’t need it. I was wrong,” he said bitterly.
Another kind of pain tugged at me. It would never go away, the damage that was done.
“So now you take it to manage the…symptoms.”
“Basically,” he said. “Better sleep at least, fewer hallucinations, less panic attacks, less paranoia. Just have to get past the fact that you need a drug to lessen the damage another drug did to you. Sick world, ain't it?”
I nodded.
“You ever try to medicate?” he asked.
I clenched and unclenched my hands. “Yes…”
He leaned forward. “Didn’t work out, huh?”
“No.”
He shrugged. “Everyone has a different way of handling it. You're not the only one who refuses. Dom won’t touch anything. But he doesn’t get the symptoms as bad as you and me.” He looked over to the passage Cassidy had gone down and turned back to me. “Cassidy has a hard time too,” he whispered. “She wouldn’t want you knowing it. She’s got bad health anxiety ever since…” He gestured to his eye. “Obsessive compulsive, sometimes dissociates...”
“Don’t we all,” I said.
“But she’s better at hiding it than the rest of us, I think. Except for the temper.”
I tilted my head. “And what about Micheal?”
Leslie snorted. “That guy is barely one of us. Mr. Golden Boy. No, he doesn’t take what I take. He just pops xannies when no one is looking.”
For a brief moment, jealousy wormed its way into my heart. A lot of us were suffering in our own ways, but I still felt like I got the shit end of the stick. Leslie had the same issues as me and he was somehow able to overcome his fear. I tried to, but I’d done it for Eve, not myself. Before her, I had refused to even try.
Loser , Nina whispered.
Fucking garbage .
My hands itched to find a knife again when Micheal stepped out of the hallway a moment later. He wore a dark suit, looking like a lawyer. He saw me and dipped his head.
“You’re looking better for only getting shot a few days ago,” he said.
“I’m a quick healer,” I responded flatly.
He nodded, then looked at Dom and Leslie. “Let’s get started. Where are the others?”
Leslie turned his head and whistled toward the joining rooms down the other passage. “Andrea, Cassidy, Micheal's here,” he called.
“Don’t whistle at me like I’m a dog, Lez, or I’ll kick your stupid ass!” Cassidy yelled back.
“They’re coming,” Leslie said to Micheal.
We put down our game and moved over to Dom’s station. I took a seat on one of the tables close by, while Dom took his seat at the computer, Micheal stood over him and Leslie leaned against a table opposite. The girls came in not long after and sat beside each other on the couch.
“First, I just want to congratulate you all on your hard work with this,” Micheal said. “It’s been a long road, I know, but we're finally seeing an end.”
“Get on with it, Micheal,” Cassidy groaned.
Micheal smiled and winked at her before turning to the monitors. “We know Martel was responsible for the experiments. There were clients funding these experiments. We’d narrowed it down to a select few until we found one company connecting them all.
One we now know not only funded but also oversaw these experiments, which they called Project Redbird. After Cassidy’s and my investigations, we discovered they’re conducting new experiments—similar to what we went through—but this time under a different, unknown name. The company that funded it all was once called Merkov Industries. It started as a biotech company, working in tech, military applications, pharmaceuticals, and neurology. Now, it operates as Kennedy & Co after a bastard son took over."
On the largest screen, a grainy image appeared: a man with gray eyes and dark hair, dressed in a sharp suit. He was caught mid-action, getting into his car with what appeared to be a bodyguard—a photo clearly taken in secret.
“This man,” Micheal continued, “is Tyler Kennedy, the son of Mr. Merkov. Merkov himself hasn’t been seen in years, disappearing from the spotlight after his son took over.”
“How do you know he’s doing experiments again?” I asked.
Micheal gestured to Cassidy. “We’ve been monitoring his company ever since we learned they were tied to Martel. We searched for any studies they may be conducting. Their most recent is on pregnant women. Specifically those with no families and either trafficked or from the streets. We don’t know what exactly they are doing but Cassidy managed to find a report on one woman named Tonya who came from one of their facilities and died not long after. Based on Andrea’s assessment of the medical report, the symptoms the mother had were not unlike our own. Her child was also deformed…” He looked to Cassidy. “Specifically with the eyes.”
She glared at him with. “Pieces of shit,” she muttered.
“Funny they can’t seem to fix that symptom,” Leslie said.
“It’s the chemicals used,” Andrea explained. “It's a huge factor in the enhancement of the brain function and the natural hormones made. But it tends to affect the eyes and they couldn’t figure out why.”
“They failed to get their little experiment to work on kids, so they moved to pregnant woman,” I said absently, glaring at the man on the screen.
“The enhancement process needs to take place at the earliest development stage,” Andrea said. “For better results.”
We all knew that was a load of shit. They were just desperate. They’d gotten close with us kids but not quite there and now this was their final sick attempt.
“So when do we go after him?” I asked.
“Soon,” Micheal said. “But it’s not just him. We want to take down everything they built. The family's oldest facility, Severfalls, is now where they run their newest medical center. We just need to be sure we make our move at the right time.”
“I've been itching to burn down something,” Leslie said.
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
Dom knocked frantically at his desk to get Micheal’s attention. Micheal turned and leaned in, blocking the small monitor screen in front of Dom. They stared at something, then Micheal whispered quickly and Dom nodded.
They turned and looked at me.
“What is it?” I said.
Micheal’s mouth was set in a hard frown. “Emery, that Martel girl you had…what was your plan for her exactly?”
“Why?”
“Were you planning on killing her?”
I clenched my hands. Why the fuck did he want to know that?
I didn’t want to tell him the truth. Because the truth was complicated. And because I still didn't trust them fully.
“Were you, Emery?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Do you still mean to?”
I clenched my jaw. I rose off the table, glaring at him. “Why are you asking?”
He kept his gaze locked with mine. “Pull it up, Dom.”
On the larger monitor appeared a video. It looked like a news clip. Crowds of people were swarming some federal building. There was a pair coming out of the building with a couple of bodyguards trying to keep people away.
I got closer, brushing past Micheal’s shoulder. As I stepped toward the monitor, my heart rate spiked and for a second the world around me went black except for the screen in front of me.
Tunnel vision.
There she was.
My Eve.
My baby looked so tired, her eyes glazed over, dark circles under them, her skin paler than I remembered.
Then that mutinous little laugh came from over my shoulder.
Look who she’s with, Emery .” Nina giggled. I tried to tell you, didn’t I? But you never listen.
The gray-eyed man, Tyler Kennedy, was next to her. He had a protective arm over her shoulder which swiftly fell across her back as they were led into a vehicle parked on the street.
You lost and now he’s got her. Damn, that must sting, poor baby. I bet he’s fucking her now as you stand there gaping.
“Emery…you all right?”
I turned to Micheal and the others who were watching me, looking disturbed. Probably because I looked ready to kill.
“I want out,” I said in a guttural voice, a voice even I hardly recognized.
It was their turn to gape at me like they didn’t know I was crazy.
“You can’t,” Andrea said. “Emery, you’re wounded.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“You really got it bad, don’t you?” Leslie laughed. “A little obsessed, huh?”
“He has to get that final girl who got away,” Cassidy said, tilting her head.
“This isn’t a horror movie,” Micheal said.
“You sure? Feels like it,” she said.
“So you're going after her, right?” Leslie asked me. From somewhere, a hunter's knife appeared in his hand. He flipped it out, then back in. “Can I come with?”
“We are not going after her,” Micheal argued. “Kennedy is what matters.”
“Says you. She’s clearly in on it.” Cassidy gestured at the screen. “Look at them all snug together.”
“We don’t know that.”
“She’s a Martel. I think it’s obvious.”
Micheal swiped a hand through his hair. “If she’s with him, we can make a decision after.”
“No one is touching her but me!” I snarled, my fist connecting with one of the tables.
Silence ensued.
“No. One,” I repeated, then turned to Micheal. “Here’s how it’s going to be. I help you get Kennedy and bring it all down. In exchange I get Eve. And I want her first, understand? I want her here, not there with that oily piece of shit or anywhere else. Right here.”
Micheal looked at me as if I was insane. “No.”
I blinked and his white collared shirt was twisted in my fist.
“I don’t think you get it. I don’t work for you,” I said, bringing his face close to mine. “You think I owe you one because you saved me from prison? Get fucking real. I want Eve, and I’m going to get her whether you like it or not. I’m only offering this because I don’t want to have to kill you all and go after her myself. I’m aware you have resources that could benefit me. But if you don’t help me, I will leave your ass high and dry.”
Micheal looked ready to fight me, but I didn’t flinch.
“Let him have her, Micheal,” Cassidy chimed in. “He went to a lot of lengths already, don't you think?”
He pulled away and I let him go. “You go out there and get caught, it's on you. I won’t come saving you again,” he warned. “We aren’t moving in on Severfalls until we know it’s safe. But…if she comes out of her little nest, then by all means, take her. I won’t stop you. But I’m not helping you either.”
He turned to the monitor and continued on about their plans for Kennedy and Merkov. All I could do was watch the clip. Watch her.
Help me, Emery.
I looked over into the dark side of the room and saw Eve standing there.
Help me , she cried.
I will, sweetheart , I mouthed, trying to soothe her. I’m coming for you. I’m coming.
You can’t. You can’t, s he cried.
Why? I asked.
You're broken.
I’ll heal. And the pain won’t stop me, nothing will.
She smiled—a solemn smile. No, baby , she said. You're broken . She pointed to Leslie’s bottle of pills still sitting on the table. You gotta help yourself first. Or you’ll never save me.
I stared at the pills, horrified.
“Tomorrow, we look over the maps of Severfalls so we can memorize the layout.” Micheal’s sharp voice rang clear in my ears. “We get to work on the final stage.”
They dispersed, and I was left alone. Micheal didn’t say goodbye as he left the building for the night. Cassidy and Leslie went out too. Dom stuck to his computer, and Andrea disappeared into another room.
I stared at the pills. All that time I suffered. I never considered myself a coward but here, I was. Because of what had happened.
You’ll never change, Emery , Nina whispered. You’ll always be unstable. You hurt everyone you touch.
I couldn’t afford to be afraid any longer.
If not for my own benefit than for Eve’s.
Andrea was restocking her medical supplies in the little exam room. When she saw me, she flinched. I came toward her, showing her Leslie’s bottle.
“Can you get some of this for me?”
She took the bottle and studied it, then glanced at me wide-eyed. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah. I am.”
She pursed her lips and then nodded. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.” I turned for the door.
“Emery?”
I looked at her.
“Are you…are you really going to hurt that girl?” she asked. “I know she’s Roman Martel’s daughter but…don’t you think she’s paid enough? She looked dead inside in that video. Don’t you think you killed her already? Why not just let her go?”
I locked eyes with hers and saw her go red in the face.
“I can’t.” And for once, I spoke the truth.