Designed to Love (26 page)

"Cat, I've found you.
I'm here with you. Can you hear me?"
I want desperate to
reach out and pull her into my arms.

She looks up and glances around the empty
yard.

"Ronan? Ronan, I can
hear you. Are you really here with me?"
she asks,
abruptly getting up from the bench, startling the girl sitting next
to her. She grabs her head in her hands and I can see her breathing
speed up with the condensation of each exhaled breath.

"Ronan, they have our
family, just like Bernie said. They showed me a video tape. They
said they sent one to you guys too. My mom and brother, and your
parents too..."
Her voice cracks, and she brushes a
trail of tears away from her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Cat, I'll come for you
and we'll find them too. Don't worry. We know you're being held at
an abandoned Air Force Base. Brandon is already researching it. It
won't be long before we find you,"
I try my best to
reassure her.

"Even if you find me,
they have everyone else scattered in different locations. You'll
never be able to find all of them in time, and they won't hesitate
to hurt or even kill any one of us,"
she says in
despair.

The girl calls Cat's name and holds up two
fingers.

"I only have two minutes
left Ronan. Please whatever you do, don't give them Claire. He
thinks that she's the Golden GEM, but she's not. Lawrence says me
and my brother are. We're the last to be..."

"Who's
Lawrence?"
I interrupt.

"I'm not
sure,"
she says hesitantly.
"I hear
him telepathically too. He says that he worked with Dr. Kappel.
He's teaching me how to use my abilities."

"What abilities, Cat.
Tell me what you can do,"
I say urgently trying to gleam
as much information from her as I can. The other girl gets up and
walks towards the house, stopping to open a door adjacent to it,
revealing a staircase leading beneath the earth. She looks over at
Cat and beckons her to follow.

"I can see energy
fields and I've learned how to move objects just like Claire.
Lawrence is teaching me how to influence people, but I haven't
fully mastered the skill yet,"
she replies, slowly
following the girl toward the house.

"Can you tell me anything
about the people holding...?"

My brain becomes fuzzy, and I'm unable to
finish the question. Cat glances around the yard anxiously.

"Ronan, something's
wrong. I can feel it. Are you okay? Ronan are you okay?
Ronan!"
her screams echo inside my mind.

I want to reassure her that I am, but she
fades slowly away and then everything goes completely black.

CAT

The northern bald eagle circling overhead
has a wing span of almost six feet, and it glides effortlessly
along the air thermals with minimal wing flapping. The occasional
shrill, high pitched sound it makes gives life to the otherwise
dead silence of the early morning. Today, for the first time, I sit
on the bench by myself enjoying the sense of freedom I have without
Sophia watching over me. No matter how many times Lawrence
reassures me that I was pre-designed with the abilities I'm
currently capable of performing, I fear they'll vanish at any
moment. Now, my confidence soars as I sit alone in the backyard,
holding my breath, watching the eagle glide lower and lower until
it lands on the fence post, thirty feet away.

"As long as your own
vibrational frequency is higher than that of the object you are
trying to manipulate, you will always be successful. Just project
your energy with a single thought onto any living thing and hold it
there long enough, it will accept the thought as its
own,"
Lawrence proclaimed, sounding more like a new
age-y guru than a scientist. He assured me that if given the
opportunity, he would scientifically prove the link between the
subconscious mind of humans and electromagnetic energy fields of
the universe. Learning to influence the energy fields of another
human was Dr. Kappel's highest purpose for genetically modifying my
brother and me, says Lawrence, who warned me that this gift alone,
above all the others, wherein the power to influence world events
lies.

It was surprisingly easy to convince Sophia
to let me go outside alone this morning, by following Lawrence's
instructions to increase my own vibrational energy. I prepared for
the exercise by thinking mostly of Ronan and Claire. I pictured
seeing them again, holding them in my arms, feeling the excitement
and relief I would have once I was home. By the time I walked out
of my room and approached Sophia, who was in the kitchen making
pancakes, I was already feeling lighter, like a cork bobbing on top
of the water. Once I got the hang of letting my energy flow away
from my body, I sat back watching with fascination as the white
cloud settled around her, mixing with her own dark yellow hues. At
first her color darkened as if detecting and protesting against the
invasion of faster moving particles, but just as Lawrence
predicted, the longer I held my focus on her, the more blended the
two energy fields became. Then it was just a matter of introducing
a single thought that she would agree to let me go outside without
an escort.

"Sophia, I would like to spend some time
outside alone this morning if you don't mind," I said over
breakfast. She hesitated for just a moment and furrowed her brows
as if trying to think of a valid reason why I shouldn't, then
shrugged her shoulder and said, "Sure why not."

It was so easy, that I almost laughed out
loud, as I put on my coat and waited for her to unlock the
door.

The eagle took far more effort and time. By
the time my energy field reached the flying bird, it was nothing
more than a stream of faint light. I wasn't sure how human thoughts
could be translated into meaning by other species, so I kept it as
simple as possible.
Come closer,
was the single thought I kept repeating to myself over and over
again. Now the brilliant bird is staring at me, cocking its head to
one side, as if waiting for further instructions, which I am about
to give, when Sophia bursts through the bunker door.

"Cat you need to come in now!" she yells,
breaking my focus on the eagle who immediately takes off in flight.
Her eyes are full of fear, and she half sobs as she grabs my arm,
pulling me to the door.

"Sophia, what's wrong?"

"Mr. Z found out that I let you out on your
own," she says, her voice trembling.

"But nothing happened. All I did was sit
there on the bench," I say instantly becoming defensive. "Look,
I'll talk to him and explain..."

"You'll do no such thing!" she hisses,
turning around to face me in the crowded stairwell. "You don't make
excuses with Mr. Z and you don't break his rules. Don't think that
because he was nice, and sent you a gift, that he won't change on a
dime. He is a Jekyll and Hyde. Besides, it was my fault. I don't
know what got into me," she mumbles shaking her head as she pushes
me through the open door and locks it behind us.

***

Sophia left the apartment almost immediately
after getting me inside, not even taking time to braid her long
dark hair like she usually does. It's the only time that she is
considered off-duty from guarding me, and it's the loneliest time
of the day for me. She barely spoke a word to me after my morning
outing, and muttered a quick, "I'll see you later," before walking
out the door. I noticed this time, that she jiggled the handle
making sure it was locked, before ascending the stairs, and letting
the second hatch door slam shut behind her.

I spend the first few hours by myself,
working on the lyrics and melody to a new song and barely notice
the passing time. When Sophia still hasn't returned, I move to the
bedroom and practice my telekinetic skills, first moving small
objects in the room, progressing to larger, until I successfully
levitate the dresser six inches off the floor. It's only out of
boredom and a growing uneasiness that my eyes happen to settle on
the exit door with its deadbolt lock. Ronan told me that Claire was
able to unlock security doors in Area 51, so why not me? Ten
minutes of focused energy is all it takes and the audible click of
the deadbolt startles me out of my trance like state. My pulse
quickens when I turn the handle, and the door creaks open against
the weight of my body.
Now what?
I
think as I look up the stairwell, trying to recall if I'd ever seen
or heard Sophia lock the door leading outside. I slowly inch my way
up, barely breathing as a million thoughts run through my mind. I
have no escape plan, and Sophia's return is way overdue. However,
she did say the punishment for trying to escape was solitary
confinement. The threat that terrified me before wasn't looking
half bad. In fact, two weeks solitary confinement could work out
quite nicely for me now. I reach the second door and crack it open
just enough that I feel the rush of cold air sting my face. I try
to connect with Ronan first and when there's no response I
hurriedly move on.

"Lawrence, are you
there?"
I mentally call, peeking my head out just enough
to get a good connection. He responds right away.

"I wasn't expecting you
to be out of the bunker until later this evening,"
he
says observantly.

"Me neither until I
realized I had the ability to open the lock,"
I say
proudly, expecting accolades from him as well.

"Cataryn, you must be very
careful with Zane. You are not strong enough to face him yet. He
has a dark, but powerful mind."

"Is Zane Mr. Z, and do
you know him?"
I ask suddenly suspicious.

"Yes and
yes,"
he responds quietly.

"How...?"

"It's best I don't say and
you must never mention my name in front of anyone. Believe me—I'm
on your side. Aside from Dr. Kappel; who is no longer with us, I am
the only one who knows about you and your brother and I'll take
that knowledge to my grave. Zane Harrington isn't quite as
dangerous as the others, but you're not ready to go to battle with
him yet."

"What do you mean by go
to battle with him?"
I ask cautiously.

A long silent pause precedes his answer, and
I have a sinking feeling that I probably don't want to know.

"Cataryn, I'm going to
give you a four hour lesson on quantum biophysics condensed into a
five minute synopsis. You now know about energy. You can see it,
and you've started to manipulate it with your mind. As I said
before, Dr. Kappel genetically modified you with a synthetic DNA
strand that once activated, opens a network of channels or pathways
between your conscious and subconscious brain. In doing so, he's
given you a powerful tool that if applied correctly, could change
the course of humanity."

"Here we go, more save
the world stuff. Wasn't that Jesus' job?"
I ask
sarcastically, almost immediately regretting it. He laughs much to
my relief.

"This isn't religion.
It's science and it's all about energy and vibration. Because of
your specific DNA strand, you automatically have the highest
vibrational quality possible, as do most of the Designers. That's
why Claire color screens them white. You however, have a specific
pathway that gives you the ability to influence the vibrational
frequency of other humans. To be blunt, you can influence a
blue/gray to become a yellow, maybe even a white. Consider a world
without blues and grays, or even oranges. It would be a world
without hate, greed, jealousy, poverty and murder. The entire
earth, including plants and animals would rise on a vibrational
scale,"
he says, and I can picture the faceless man
actually smiling.

"Lawrence, I'm one person
and there are millions of blues and grays in the world...
Seriously?"

"You'll start with Zane
and other people with power and wealth. By changing a few key
people, you start a chain reaction that will take on a life of its
own,"
he says with a level of enthusiasm that I'm about
to dismantle.

"Lawrence, all I want
is to be reunited with my family, and if Zane gets in my way, the
only thing I will use my newly acquired gifts for is to kill him.
Besides wouldn't it be better to just rid the earth of the blues
and grays permanently?"
I ask, suddenly feeling powerful
enough to do the job. The thought cheers me and not wanting to hear
otherwise from Lawrence on the matter, I purposefully retreat to
the underground bunker, taking care to lock the door behind me.

***

When Sophia isn't home by three o'clock, I
find myself becoming a little anxious. When she still isn't home by
five, I start to panic. I occupy my time by fixing dinner, even
though I know it'll end up in the garbage untouched. My mind is
racing with all kinds of scenarios as to why she hasn't returned
from her time off, and not one eases my growing tension. I happen
to glance at the clock just as it turns eleven minutes past seven,
and it triggers an emotional response that I am helpless to
contain. While sitting at the table staring numbly at the plate of
cold food, the first set of tears begins to trickle down my cheeks.
My earlier fearlessness of being left alone has dwindled as I look
around the empty apartment. The realization that she isn't coming
back, causes my heart to sink like the Titanic, and I slowly make
my way down the hall to my bedroom, crawling between the ice cold
sheets on the bed. I close my eyes and picture the only thing that
can bring me comfort—Ronan; tall, strong and beautiful, always
confident, always in control. I can almost feel his arms tighten
around me, and the warmth of his love engulfing me. For a brief
moment, I feel okay again.