Blind the Stars (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 3) Page 10

  “I’m going with you,” Pike states. A shadow passes the window, shifting my gaze away from Pike. He notices and follows my look.

  “No one else is here,” Hara says, though she, too, looks around.

  Ezekiel throws water from the kitchen onto the fire. Smoke wafts up the chimney. “Let’s get into the barn,” Ezekiel states.

  “Is it safer in there?” Leland asks.

  “No, but there may be more we can use to fight with if we need to,” Ezekiel leads the way.

  No one disagrees and with the fire out, we file out of the cabin and across the grounds. What little grass remains is low and worn, and mostly dirt. The barn is much larger than the cabin about fifty feet away. Ahead of me, Pike glances around. Hara is right behind him. Ezekiel opens one of the double doors. It creaks as it swings open.

  We step inside and the air is humid. Nothing is here but wooden corrals and hay. About a dozen of them, their vertical planks are waist-high and their rungs go from the top of the boards to the ceiling. The roof of each corral is the underside of a hay loft. Along the opposite edge of the barn are plants. All kinds of tropical plants create moisture that seeps into our pores. This barn must act as a greenhouse. Light streams in from a tiny rectangular window at the top. There is another on the far end, but the sun doesn’t reach that side of the barn at this time. It must be nightfall. It’s gotten so dark.

  Ezekiel flips a switch and little light bulbs on strings illuminate. They are strung all around the barn and drape off of whatever they can. If they can’t drape over something, they are wound around it, like the poles holding the barn up. There must be hundreds of lights.

  I breathe in. It doesn’t smell bad, though with the lack of fresh, circulating air, it is stale and heavy. Dusty, a haze hangs in the open space.

  I stand in the doorway and look around. There is a calm presence here and this barn reminds me of Aegis in its philosophical simplicity. Nothing like Aegis in complexity.

  Pike moves across the open space and grabs a pitchfork. Ezekiel stands by the door while Leland pulls over a rolled-up sleeping bag. Christophe stands, too. Delia and Hara sit beside him on crates.

  Leland pats the sleeping bag, and I approach him, looking around for something else to use as a weapon.

  “I’ll unroll it for you if you like, Roz,” Leland says.

  “No. No thanks, it’s fine,” I answer. I’m going back to The Hollow. My mind races with the thought and my vision starts to blur. I have to overcome this.

  “I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if we stay together,” Pike says. His hands are on his hips and he commands the attention of the group.

  “I agree,” Ezekiel adds. “There’s no reason why we can’t get Rose’s parents and sisters together. We’ve had enough problems already.”

  “So the question is,” Christophe steps forward, his arms crossed over his chest. “Who do we get first? Rose’s parents or her sisters?”

  No one answers.

  “I can do this alone. You get my sisters. I can go back to The Hollow.” The more I say it, the more I believe it, even if the thought still terrifies me.

  “Parents first. Sisters second,” Ezekiel’s statement surprises me. It’s like they’re not even listening “If Dory gets to Evie, she’ll make sure to keep her safe.”

  “Why are you all helping me? You’d be better off without me. You’d be safe. I can’t help you with any cause anymore. Aegis is gone and I’m just trouble.”

  I don’t think I want the guilt if anything happens to anyone here. I care for them a little too much now. “Christophe, you can go back to your farm. Delia, you’ve got your son back and Pike-” I look from Pike to Hara, envisioning them together. I look the other way. “Leland-”

  Leland shakes his head.

  “No. Don’t go on, Roz. I’ve got nothing out there. The only thing I had was left in that dreaded Hollow. And now the people I care about are here.”

  He looks at Christophe and Delia.

  “And that includes you, Roz. You’re part of my family, too.” He grips my hand and squeezes. It takes a second before I squeeze back. I didn’t expect this.

  “And I don’t have a farm anymore.” Christophe looks at me through broken glasses. “I don’t know what I have left and I’m not quite ready to find out. I’m here to help.”

  Delia looks over at me. “We know what’s right and wrong. It isn’t right that your family has been kidnapped or forced to run away. It isn’t right that your organs and genetic code are sought for commercial gain. We all agree on that. We’ve got nothing else to fight for. It could be any one of us back in The Hollow.”

  Pike gets up.

  “We know that you are special, Rose,” Delia says, her hand on her son’s wrist stops him from leaving the barn, but he doesn’t turn back around.

  “Whatever it is about your genetic code that makes you who you are doesn’t serve anyone or help anyone if you are harvested or hidden. If there is a way for you to help others naturally, safely, we’d want you to be able to do that. You’d want to do that, right Rose?” Hara asks.

  I nod. I can’t argue with her even though I want to.

  “You need to invest it, Rose,” Hara continues. “You need to make the difference. You are the difference.”

  Pike turns back around. “You are as powerful as you believe you can be. Tithonus said you were.”

  “And if you’re going to chase after your family,” Leland stands on a hay bale, raising a stick into the air. “We’re the family that’s going to help you do that.” He hops down and runs over to me. His arms envelop me, squeezing me tight. He isn’t daunted by my cold, almost lifeless limb, or the fact that it doesn’t respond to his touch. I allow him to linger in the embrace and I glance at Pike. He holds my stare.

  “Maybe we should split up into teams,” Ezekiel reconsiders, regaining the conversation, moving it forward.

  Leland lets me go and we sit beside one another again. He holds both of my hands in his. Every so often, I look at Pike who now just stares at me. Friends, I tell myself.

  Just friends.

  “What’s the plan?” Delia asks.

  A glance on the ground in front of Ezekiel shows some scribbles etched into dirt with the stick Leland was waving around.

  “Delia, Leland, and I go back to The Hollow,” Ezekiel says. “They know their way in and out and through the network of underground tunnels. Even if that Dr. Flint closed them off, we should try that way first.”

  “And if that doesn’t work?” Delia asks.

  “We get creative!” Leland is excited and I can’t imagine why. I shake my head.

  “No. I won’t let the three of you go instead of me. This is my problem. I’m going in.”

  Leland pats my thigh.

  Ezekiel addresses me, “If you go in and get caught, neither you nor your parents are getting out. You have to get to your sisters and keep yourself safe. We’ll try for your parents. If it doesn’t work, well then, we’ll think of something.”

  I try to smile, but I’m not amused. Even if I do get caught and they don’t let my parents out, then everyone here would be safe. And they would find Dory and Evie and -

  “You’re going to Mine Fire City,” Ezekiel orders.

  “But I don’t know the way.” My voice whines and I wish it sounded stronger.

  “I’ll go with you,” Pike offers. “I know the way.”

  “I’ll go, too.” Christophe follows Pike’s lead and Pike tips his head to him.

  “Hara, you should stay here,” Ezekiel directs and Hara nods in confirmation. “Even if we can’t get here easily, we need the safe house as a home base. Let’s all just be mindful of the tides,” Ezekiel adds and everyone agrees.

  “This will give us a chance to find Dory and get word back to Hara. Once you have her parents get back here. If we don’t hear from you within the next week, we’ll know you’re still in The Hollow and we’ll come save your asses,” Pike says.

  Ez
ekiel scratches some more letters and numbers in the dirt.

  “I should be going with you. Back into The Hollow,” I say once again. Ezekiel shakes his head. “But–” I stop when Ezekiel’s hand goes up. His head-shake is subtle.

  “It will take longer for you to get to the mine fires than it will take for us to get into The Hollow. Once you get there, you just have to find a satellite connection and transmit to Hara here in the safe house. She’ll be able to tell you what’s going on inside The Hollow.” He hands me a thin piece of Plexiglas with a code etched into it. “If we leave tomorrow at sunrise,” Ezekiel mentally calculates. His eyes look up and his lips move. “Then we should be back here by week’s end.”

  “That soon?” I ask.

  “It gives us a solid nine or ten days,” Pike adds. “If we can get to another town we may be able to hitch a ride.”

  Again everyone voices their agreement except me.

  Leland gets up to talk to Ezekiel. Christophe walks over to me and helps me up. His hands are soft and gentle. He touches my cheek. I look up at his face and hope he isn’t in too much pain.

  “Thank you,” I say. I stare up into his face. “You don’t look too bad.”

  He smiles. “Thanks.”

  “Does it hurt?” I ask.

  “A bit,” he answers.

  “Your glasses need to be fixed,” I observe and he touches the frames.

  “It should only take a second to replace. I just don’t have a spare lens. Delia and Hara have been really careful about dressing the wounds.”

  “That was nice of them. They care about you. You look good,” I kick the dirt with my boot tip. “Why did they do this to you, Christophe? Just to give me a message. They didn’t have to hurt you to do that.”

  “I’m glad we’re going together,” he ignores my question. “I mean, I’m glad I’m going with you. You can keep me safe.” Christophe picks up my hands and holds them. He smiles and I try to smile back.

  “We’ll keep her safe together,” Pike overhears. My hand drops from Christophe’s and he smiles, un-phased by Pike’s blatant block.

  “Rose, I really want to talk to you,” Pike looks at Christophe. “Alone.”

  Before I am able to answer, the barn door opens. Two silhouettes stand in the doorway. Leland gasps.

  I turn my head from Leland to the door. Two boys stand side by side wearing the same attire. They even have the same face. Clones.

  “Well if it isn’t Archer and Alex,” Leland states.

  “And Vane.” Stepping out from behind the twins is a girl. Small, her hair is jet black and her skin is ashen, but the color of very light toffee. I can almost see blood vessels beneath her paper-fine skin. Her eyes are shaped like almonds and her lashes are the blackest lashes I’ve ever seen. She’s stunning.

  “Who’s Vane?” I whisper.

  “She’s one of the Disappeared,” Christophe whispers back. I stare at her. Her hair is short and pokes out in all directions. Some coil like a wire, others stick out straight like tiny feathers from the back of her head. Her body is muscular and her posture is perfectly straight.

  “The Disappeared?” I ask. I have no idea what he is talking about. Pike moves closer to me not to hear what Christophe is going to tell me, but to stay away from Vane. There is something about her that makes my heart beat faster. Something frightening.

  Vane speaks, her teeth sharpened to fangs. “We’ve come for Rose, the regenerative one.”

  Christophe pushes me behind him and I see it unbalances Pike. He looks past me to Christophe, but doesn’t say a thing. Leland does all of the talking.

  “Well, Vane, you can’t have her,” Leland steps closer to the girl who’s stature is so strong she appears bigger than him.

  “You don’t have a choice, Leland,” Vane says. Alex or Archer brandishes a gun, directing it toward Leland. It’s small and black. It has a barrel and a trigger. All it needs.

  “That’s my gun!” Ezekiel exclaims, stepping forward. Delia steps in front of Leland. “Where’d you get that?”

  “I thought you two got out with us? Why did you go back inside? Why would you go back inside?” Delia asks. Her voice is comforting, that of a mother. She isn’t afraid of this girl or the weapon now pointing at her.

  “They tried to stay away,” Vane answers for them. The brother holding the gun looks like he’s losing his grip on it and it droops under the weight. “But they couldn’t. They were drawn back as if some magnet kept them close.”

  The other brother pushes the hand holding the gun up and it is righted.

  “They knew they had something to do. We’re going to take Rose back into The Hollow. They’re going to find their parents,” Vane adds with amusement.

  “Your parents aren’t in The Hollow.” Leland looks from one twin to the other. “They’re dead. You both know that as well as I do,” Leland says.

  “So you’re going to use Rose to help you get in. And then give her up. How’s that going to solve anything?” Pike addresses the boys. He doesn’t look at Vane.

  “We’re going to use Rose as a trade. To get us what we want,” Vane says.

  Vane takes the gun from a twin. Her grip is steadier than his.

  “And what do you want exactly?” Leland presses. She doesn’t answer.

  Ezekiel steps forward. His lips form a strict frown and his eyes narrow. He spits on the dusty ground. “We’re going into The Hollow, but without Rose. She’s not coming with us. You are more than welcome to come, but she stays behind.”

  “We are going to go in,” Vane says. “It would be so much easier if we had Rose to lead the way.” The lilt of her voice is high, and her voice is saccharine-sweet. She steps toward me and Ezekiel blocks her. He and Christophe make a human shield.

  “But you’re not going to have Rose. You can come in with me, Leland, and Delia. With Archer and Alex we can only hope to get into The Hollow unnoticed. What you do once you’re inside is up to you. But Rose is not going.” Ezekiel crosses his arms.

  “So she is as valuable as I’ve heard,” Vane sneers.

  “I haven’t heard a thing about you,” I snap back, stepping out from behind Christophe. “I’m not going with you.”

  I don’t care if she has the only weapon.

  “What stake do you have in all of this, Vane? You’ve been disappeared for ages. You went missing even before I got to The Hollow.” Leland moves his hands to his hips. “Where have you been all this time?”

  “I’ve been underground as you have. You know that, Leland,” Vane lashes out. The gun is still surprisingly steady. “Before you and Rose, here, I was the only one to officially escape Dr. Flint.”

  “But not The Hollow.” Leland returns. “You went the wrong way, Vane. You went deeper underground. Was this the first time you saw light? How long was that? A decade?”

  “Shut up! I could’ve stayed underground forever. I had to come up. One of my members was sick and in need of remediation.” Vane switches the gun from one hand to the other.

  “You mean you had to dispose of them.” Leland shakes his head. “Why didn’t you work on getting out? You didn’t need to disappear.”

  “There were too many of us underground. We weren’t leaving unless we all could leave together. I don’t regret a single moment of my decision. I wouldn’t stay inside to let them turn me into another experiment. It may not have been fun, but we were free from the torture. The experimentation.” Vane stands as still and straight as ever.

  “But you weren’t free under The Hollow. This is free.” Leland looks around. He’s stalling. Pike has made his way into one of the corrals and is heading slowly around the perimeter of the room. Vane isn’t paying attention to anyone except for Leland. His arms are now outstretched. He’s distracting her.

  “How did you get wrapped up with her, Archer? Alex? You could’ve left with us and you would’ve been free,” Leland redirects their attention to him. Pike moves closer to Vane.

  “They were coming back in
and I saw they needed some help. You did a nice job on that tunnel. A little too late, though,” Vane answers for the twins. “They got your parents anyway.” She directs her comment to me.

  “Quite the diplomat, Vane. For a Disappeared. What are you in this for then?” Leland steps closer as Pike jumps behind her, wrapping his arms around her chest.

  She screams and squawks like a wild bird. The gun goes off. Once, twice, three times and then drops to the floor. Someone screams. More than one person screams. I scream and then drop to the ground. Smoke drifts up from the barrel. Christophe covers my head with his hand. Pike still holds Vane as Ezekiel rushes to the gun, sliding across the floor to grab it. He doesn’t get there in time.

  Archer, or Alex, grabs the gun and with both hands points it at Ezekiel. Ezekiel puts his hands up from his position lying on the ground. Vane wrestles herself free from Pike and retakes the gun from the twin.

  “Get up!” she orders. “All of you! Get up!”

  We stand.

  “We’re going back to The Hollow tomorrow when the tide goes out. And that includes you, Rose,” Vane states. I don’t respond as I watch Pike run across the room and fall to the floor. Delia hasn’t gotten up. A pool of dark-red blood has formed around her waist. She lies on her back.

  “Delia, Delia, get up. Wake up. C’mon, Mom. Don’t close your eyes. Do not fall asleep.” Pike cradles his mother’s head in his hands. Her skin doesn’t make her look a day older than me, translucent white and wrinkle-free. Her hair is so soft and still moves as if blown by a breeze. Her eyes open, close slowly, and then open again. Pike sobs, holding her head to his chest.

  “You’re going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.” He presses a hand to somewhere on her side. She flinches. The place where she was shot. Someone must do something. Someone has to do something.

  “Hara?” I look beyond Pike and Delia.

  Pike’s hand, covered in blood, wipes his eyes. A soft burp and blood spurts from Delia’s lip. Her body goes limp and her eyes close. She’s gone.

  Hara rushes over to Delia, checks for a pulse, then stands, arms wrapped around her waist. She shakes her head. I know. There’s nothing she could do.