Gate Deadlock (33 page)

Tex spoke again, his voice deep, slow, like
announcing my sentence. ‘You’re coming with us.’

‘What do you mean come with you? Where?’ I
shouted following Susan’s directions as I recalled our rehearsals.
Tex nodded to his men and they both grabbed my arms and dragged me
towards the black jeep that had mysteriously appeared next to a
cluster of trees a second before. I tried to free myself but their
grip was too strong for me and they seemed totally indifferent to
my screams of pain.

I could not see Christopher anymore and that
made me even more worried. One of the men pushed me in the back
seat of the car and Tex sat next to me. Another van stopped in
front of us and two of his men got on. Christopher was coming our
way and one of the men in black who was about to sit next to me,
walked around the car. I thought of making my arrest a little more
dramatic by adding a more realistic reaction. In a fraction of a
moment, when the man on my right was distracted whispering
something to his companions in the van, I suddenly ejected from my
seat attempting a ridiculous escape. I would have managed to run a
few meters further, hadn’t Christopher’s hand grabbed my arm and
pulled me back. For the first time I felt him hurt me and the
surprise on my face was instantly replaced by fear when I turned to
see his cold, cruel face. It was a stranger’s face and it horrified
me more than Tex’s did.

Tex was out of the car now, watching me with a
syringe in his hand. ‘Now you’ve really pissed me off.’ His voice
however low, revealed his rage. ‘Roll up her sleeve!’ he ordered
Christopher.

‘No!’ I cried. This was not in the plan. Plato
hadn’t mentioned anything about injections.

‘Let me go!’ I shouted. ‘Christopher, please!
Don’t let him hurt me!’ I regretted begging him in the next second.
I shouldn’t put him in that position. Christopher remained calm.
With steady movements he rolled up my sleeve and pulled me abruptly
on him, holding both my arms down, forcing me to stand still.

‘I’m sorry.’ he whispered in my ear,
but there was no sign of regret in that cold, ironic voice, a
stranger’s voice. I did not fight anymore. I knew it was pointless
to resist from the moment he had come close to me, the moment he
had touched me. I closed my eyes and surrendered to the feeling I
had longed for so many months. The last thing I remember before
sinking into a dark, dreamless sleep was Tex’s horrible laughter as
he pressed the needle into the muscles of my forearm.

Christopher was staring at
the dirt road in front of him without really seeing anything at
all. He was clenching his fists so hard he could feel his nails cut
the skin of his palms. He had to control himself. Too much depended
on this. He had to forget that the young woman lying unconscious
behind him, next to her worst enemy, was Emma. He should convince
himself she was a stranger, someone he didn’t care about,
that
it
wasn’t his only desire to take
her in his arms and run away. Then he wouldn’t experience the
strong urge to kill Tex just for sitting so close to her or, even
worse, for the gross way he had treated her a few minutes ago and
flagrantly enjoying it.

He closed his eyes. He was
so worn out. He had needed all his strength the first minute he’d
recognized her. She was bending inside the car, hiding her face,
but he would have recognized her anyway. He would have recognized a
tiny toe of hers or just a curl of her hair, the hair he had
smelled so many times when he held her in his arms. Although he was
totally unprepared to see her, he had done really well. Tex’s
expression, the moment he had announced Christopher they were going
on a mission, had alarmed him. This was no ordinary mission,
Christopher’s instinct had warned him. It was making Tex happy, in
other words it had to be bad news for Christopher. Tex had kept his
disgusting smirk until he dialed the numbers for the year they were
traveling back, casting glances at Christopher
with
the corner of his eye. By then, Christopher was certain it was all
about Emma.

Should he take a look at the
back seat, make sure she’s okay, make sure he’s not touching her
with his murderous hands or would his face give him away and offer
Tex the opportunity to revenge on him by hurting her again?
Protecting her would have a high cost this time. But this was what
he lived for, he had made it the mission of his life ever since her
father had asked him so, a few hours before the Squad killed him.
Protect her. This is what he was doing now. Only she didn’t know,
she couldn’t have known. If only he could tell her. But no. It
would be too risky. The only way to go on was to pretend he didn’t
care about her. Emma, his love, his life, the reason he was still
alive, was nothing to him.

Anger. Being angry with
her made it easier for him. Why on Earth didn’t she follow his
advice and not make the Squad come for her again? She should have
learnt by now how dangerous they were. Or wasn’t this her fault but
a test of the League for him in order to make him give them the
rationale for violating their agreement? Besides, this was
the first time since he had rejoined the Squad that their
Commander, Denzel, had decided to send him to Emma’s world. Tex
would fill him up on Christopher’s reaction later, in every detail.
That was certain. But he had done really well. He had fooled
everyone, even Emma. He had seen the horror in her eyes when he
grabbed her arm to bring her back to Tex. He couldn’t let her run.
He knew what Tex’s next move would be. By attempting to run away
she offered him the perfect excuse to hurt her. Christopher thought
of how dreadful he must have looked in her eyes, standing totally
expressionless in front of her, irresponsive to her entreaties. But
he hadn’t fooled his heart. Because the way she had looked at him
hurt so much.

Denzel would be the hardest to
fool. When he had been alone with Denzel after the League had
ordered Christopher’s re-enlistment to the Squad, he had stared at
him for a few moments before speaking.

‘This woman must be very
important to you. I’ve used any possible means to make you come
back to us to no effect. And finally, you’re coming by your own
will because you want to save her life.’ Denzel had tried to see
through Christopher’s rigid
mask but Christopher
couldn’t allow that.

‘Isn’t it better to spare a life
instead of wasting it? That must be a change for you…sir.’
Christopher had said coldly. Denzel had pretended not to notice the
sarcasm in his words. Only Christopher would have the courage to
talk to him like this. Christopher was not afraid of him, Denzel
knew this well.

‘They’ve made you soft.
They’ve turned you into a negotiator. You! One of the most
effective weapons in the League’s armory.’ He had said after the
Board Hearing. He had put his hand on Christopher’s shoulder and
added, ‘You belong here. With us. You know you do.’ His lips
twisted in his usual cold sneer and he went on. ‘Of course, we
won’t take you back in open arms. You’re going through a trial
period of a year, as everyone else. And you’ll be under Tex’s
command.’
He’d scrutinized Christopher’s face looking
for a reaction of protest or discontent but not even tracing a hint
of fret.

‘Does this bother you?’ he’d
persisted.

‘No.’ Christopher had replied
coldly. As much as he despised Tex, nothing seemed important to him
anymore. A little before leaving the room, Denzel had spoken
again.

‘Christopher, I trust you will
keep your part of the deal and cut off any kind of contact with the
Crusaders and that girl. Especially the girl. Take her out of your
mind for good. Otherwise, I’ll do it for you.’

Christopher hadn’t said
anything. Denzel had meant every word, he was sure about that. He
knew what he had to do. Emma would not be in any more danger
because of him.

The car bounced on the rocky
surface of the country road.

‘Slowly Garret. You don’t want
to wake up our princess, do you? Then I’ll have to drug her again.
And who knows, I might not be very careful with the dose this
time.’

Christopher’s temples
throbbed with pain as his nails cut his palms
deeper
.

16.

DENZEL

I must have been
sleeping for hours. I wanted to wake up but it seemed awfully hard.
I felt warmth coming from some kind of radiator that must have been
close to me. Suddenly I realized I was very cold, I was shivering.
I wished I could go closer to the source of heat, but my body felt
unbelievably stiff. I guessed I had crushed the living room sofa
the previous night and the heat I felt was probably coming from the
fireplace in front of me. My mother often found me sleeping there
with a book next to me if I hadn’t dropped it on the floor. She
would always bring me breakfast and then we… But if I was at home
why did I have the feeling that I was in danger? Why was everything
so wrong, the smells, the sounds, the voices… Voices?

‘Well? Is she stable?’ an impatient voice was
asking, certainly not my mother’s.

‘No, not yet. She’ll be in shock if we don’t
sedate her again.’ another worried voice replied.

If only I could open my eyes.
Wait
, I thought
. Is this dejavou? No! No! I’m still in hospital. I never woke
up after the crash. It’s all been a dream. A hallucination. I never
got out of hospital, I never walked!

‘She’s waking up.’ The same worried voice
said.

‘Rise and shine sleepyhead!’ someone else was
addressing to me.

‘Well?’ the same cold voice asked. I
sensed it was full of menace. It sounded like a pin scratching
against a smooth surface, making your spine
shudder
.

I’ve heard it again in my
nightmares. If I try hard I can recall the face it’s coming
from,
I thought.

‘She wouldn’t be in this state if you had
injected her the right dose.’

‘I brought her back in one piece, didn’t I?
Those had been my orders.’

‘You do realize you could have killed her, don’t
you?’

‘You don’t know what she’s capable of. I had to
be sure she wouldn’t pull something off with him.’

I had to find my strength. My instinct of
self-preservation warned me that I was in danger. I had to protect
myself. Now it was the time to wake up. I was perfectly aware of
whose the voice was and where I was. But a strong wave of
convulsions overwhelmed me.

‘That’s it. I’m sedating her again. When she
calms down take her to her room.’

My last actions performed in full
consciousness started coming back to me. I had probably overdone it
back there, on that mountain. I should have known better not to
bandy words with Tex as he was very unpredictable and really
dangerous. For a long time I’d been number one in his hit-list. He
had always exhibited his eagerness to harm me. And he had obviously
done it with the drug he had given me.

A strange noise made my ears buzz. Grrrr…It
sounded like a hurt animal. An animal in a hospital room? That
can’t be. No, of course not, because the strange noise was coming
from me.

The convulsions had stopped as abruptly as they
had started. I could feel the heat again but I couldn’t hear the
voices anymore. The only thing I could hear was my breath as it
slowed down and then… nothing.

‘How do you feel?’

A young woman with very short black hair and
Asian features was asking me the same question, over and over
again.

‘Dizzy.’ I said eventually.

‘Do you know where you are?’

‘I think so.’

‘You will be feeling much better in a few
minutes.’ she said. In the meantime, you can wash and change. I’ll
be back again in an hour to take you to the headquarters. In case
you need something just speak loudly and I’ll be with you within a
second.’ Her tone was dry, but still polite and her accent was
strange, a foreigner’s accent.

‘Okay.’

She turned around. ‘She’s awake.’ she said,
making me wonder who she was talking to. I looked around but there
was nobody else. My mind was trying hard to adjust to the new
environment and I remembered Susan telling me that once I would be
in the Squad premises, Denzel’s eyes would be on me the whole
time.

The room looked exactly like Susan had described
it to me. It was a replica of a hotel room of my era that the
League used for those who had to travel to their time. The traveler
shouldn’t see any of the developments of the future so that future
could be protected, she had told me. The replica was very
convincing. A simple, modest room with all the essential
facilities. Only the minimal, white uniforms in the wardrobe were
not matching the context. That, and the fact that there were no
windows on the white walls.

The shower was refreshing and my head had
stopped spinning after a few minutes. I put on the clothes they had
left for me and sat on a comfortable armchair to wait for my Asian
maid, this is how I wanted to think of her instead of my warder, to
come. The elastic fabric made the tight uniform fit on my body
perfectly, but it also made me feel uncomfortable. Kate would say I
look sexy and Christopher wouldn’t find it hard to make me blush
dressed like this. I wondered if the Squad guys could see me
through transparent walls or tiny, invisible cameras and I couldn’t
help feeling like I was a museum sample behind a glass wall on the
other side of which scientists were watching me, keeping notes of
my every move.

I recalled everything that had happened in front
of the ancient cave on the sacred mountain, trying not to jump to
conclusions about Christopher’s attitude. Still, the possibility
that he might now be a different man was poisoning my thoughts. His
image showed up in my mind, the image of a man who belonged to the
Squad. Nothing more, nothing less.