Chapter One #4
He sent the email and closed his laptop.
He put it on the passenger seat and looked up at the facility again.
As much as he wanted to storm in right this minute and get Garrett out of there, along with every single person who was being hurt, he couldn’t.
That would end in disaster for everyone, which wasn’t what he wanted.
No, what he wanted was for the people in there to be safe and healthy, and that would take a little more work.
Luckily, he wasn’t afraid of hard work. What he was afraid of was what the mutants would do to him once they found out what he’d done.
But he’d tell them. He wasn’t going to put people in danger just because he was afraid. If what it took to redeem himself was getting beaten, or worse, he’d do it.
He just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
His fingers drummed against the steering wheel as he watched the facility.
How many people were trapped in there right now?
How many were being subjected to the same experiments that had accidentally changed him and had turned him into something he’d never asked to become? The thought made his stomach turn.
None of them had asked to become mutants. As it was, Reed had been luckier than most. He hadn’t had to live through countless experiments. He’d become a mutant by accident, and while he’d been used after, he hadn’t been hurt before.
Reed had memorized every entrance, every guard rotation, and the position of every camera.
He knew where the emergency exits were, which doors required keycards, and which hallways had the weakest security.
He’d worked there, then had been a prisoner.
He’d managed to escape, thanks partially to this knowledge.
But knowledge wasn’t enough. He needed allies. He needed power, and the very people who would probably want to kill him once they learned the truth about him.
The irony wasn’t lost on him. He’d spent months working alongside the scientists.
He hadn’t been one of them, but as a technician, he’d helped them perfect their techniques and make their procedures more efficient.
He’d told himself he was just following orders, and he had.
Once he’d realized what they were doing, he’d wanted out, but it had been too late at that point.
He hadn’t had a choice anymore. But there had been moments when he could’ve done something different, like sabotaging an experiment, warning a subject, or simply refusing.
He hadn’t, and now Garrett and countless others were paying the price.
Whatever happened at that meeting and whatever the mutants decided to do with Reed, at least he could say he’d tried to do something right.
There was nothing more for him to do here, and since he was planning on meeting the mutants, he had to put his things in order.
He didn’t know if he’d ever come back, and he didn’t want to leave a lot of work for the people who would come after him.
That was why he drove back to his apartment, his heart in his throat, wondering if he’d ever see it again.
He didn’t really care. This place wasn’t home.
It was just a place for him to get some sleep, a shower, and sometimes eat food.
He didn’t care about it, but it did hold all he had.
Not for long. He didn’t have a lot. He couldn’t afford to since he was on the run.
It didn’t take him long to pack everything up and put it in his car.
He was renting by the month, so he wouldn’t be losing a lot of money.
He wouldn’t be losing a lot of anything, but he still paused before leaving the place for the last time and looked around.
Everything around him was generic. There were no signs of him left, and the apartment looked like Reed had never been there, as if he possibly never existed.
It was sad, but what could Reed do about it?
He was still on the run, even though he didn’t know if the company was looking for him.
He was definitely in hiding since he was spying on them.
Maybe one day, he’d have a real apartment or a house, where he could spread his wings and allow his personality to come out.
Maybe then, he’d have art on the walls and pictures of the people he loved.
But not today. Today, he was leaving a place that had never truly been his, and he didn’t feel any sadness.
No, what he felt was fear because he didn’t know what was going to happen to him.
He didn’t know what the mutants would do to him.
He was a mutant, too, and just like them, he hadn’t become one because he’d wanted to be.
As soon as the company had realized what was going on after the accident, they’d taken advantage of it.
They had until he’d managed to escape, but it had been his own fault.
He deserved everything they’d done to him.
He was sure the mutants would think the same way.
After looking around one last time, he stepped into the hallway and closed the door. He sucked in a breath, then another. The hallway was empty and smelled faintly of cabbage. It made him wonder when the last time he’d eaten a real meal was. He couldn’t remember.
It didn’t matter.
As he walked down the hallway, he realized that he didn’t know what he was walking toward.
He might find help at this meeting, but he might also find pain, or maybe even death.
He wasn’t sure he was ready for that, but he didn’t think he’d have a choice.
He’d made his decision a while ago, and there was no going back.