Into the Shadows (7 page)

I stuff my hands into my pockets and walk up and down the street. Occasionally I’ll listen in on Scott and Derek only to hear them talking about a head gasket or some nonsense. I walk from fence to fence, and the more I think, the more I start to doubt myself. The more I start to doubt myself, the more I feel like a jerk for acting the way I did. Maybe Gabe is right. Maybe I should apologize. I guess the only reason I wasn’t as inquisitive as Scott and Derek had been is because I was semi-unconscious for the first few days. Maybe these guys were only asking so many questions because they were considering staying here if the people of Orick would have them. But I’m not so sure that would be allowed. Honestly, I don’t even know if Gabe and I are welcome here forever. Technically, I’m still on the mend, but I’ve been more badly injured than this. I’m not ready to be told to leave, but I don’t exactly want to stay here either.

If what Scott said was true, then there are still people in Elkhorn. If there are still people there, then Waverly could be among them. She could still be alive. The thought is just too good pass up. So, I guess that’s where Gabe and I will be headed next. If Gabe will even go with me, that is. He seems burned out. But aren’t we all? No one wants to live the way we do, but we do so out of necessity not choice. I’m sure Gabe would love to live the way Nancy and Ray do, but surely he sees the flaws in it—that they are just lucky. No. Gabe will go with me. He has already declared his love for me, though I haven’t reciprocated. I don’t know what he could see in me. I’m hard and cold. I mean, I choose to be. I don’t feel the desire to be compassionate. I don’t care to love anyone. I just want to survive. I used to want to settle into a safe place, but those places have always turned on me. For three months I was in Crestwood thinking I would live and die there. Now it’s just history. I know I can’t look at any place with a sense of certainty anymore. I have learned my lesson in that regard.
 

I pace back and forth, up and down the street until it starts to get too cold. I listen for Scott and Derek’s conversation, but it ended at some point and they must have gone back to the house. By the time I get back to the porch, Gabe has already left it and gone to bed. Scott and Derek sit in the living room in front of a lit fireplace talking to Nancy about the leadership here in Orick while Ray sleeps with his mouth hanging open and a book resting on his belly.

I shut the door quickly and hold my coat tighter to my chest as the others look up at me. My fingers feel numb and my nose is running from the windy, cold air.
 

Nancy lets out a shiver. “You brought the cold with you,” she says, motioning me forward. “Come sit by the fire for a bit.”

My eyes travel to Scott and Derek, both of them choosing not to look at me. “No,” I say. “I think I’m going to bed.”

“Are you sure?” she asks. She raises a steaming mug into the air. “I’ve made hot chocolate.”

I glance at Scott and Derek’s untouched mugs on the coffee table in front of them. I already know it’s less hot chocolate and more hot water with a hint of chocolate flavoring.
 

“No,” I say. “Thank you. I’m really tired. I will see you in the morning.”

I make my way down the hallway to my room. When I close the door behind me, I know I won’t be sleeping—not with Scott and Derek in the house. With every sound, every creak, I will be wondering what they might be up to.

The piece of metal that Amber gave me was a symbol. It meant that she understands that we are in this together. Though I don’t face the same physical tortures as she, I am here against my will too. Having to look into Amber’s future and see the pain she must endure for the sake of honing my ability is its own kind of torture, and I think Amber understands that.
 

Our relationship is unlike any I’ve ever experienced. For a month, she and I have been together and have experienced the hardships of Shadowface’s wrath. But the two of us have never had a chance to talk to each other without someone listening to us, or without the forced conversation typed out on a card at breakfast. But I have seen into her eyes, and she has seen into mine. There is a pain there that both of us can feel. There is an understanding.

The door to my room finally opens and Peter comes in as he usually does, but this time he doesn’t take a seat or pull out a notepad and pencil. This time he stays at the door, a guard behind him. His stalling makes me nervous, and my mind instantly goes to the metal piece that keeps the latch from closing completely. Did he or one of the guards notice it? Did he see Amber pass it to me?

“We will not be having the normal evaluation today,” Peter says.
 

“Why not?”

“Someone wants to meet with you.”

“Who?” I ask, standing.
 

Peter pauses for a moment and smiles. “Frankly, I’m quite jealous. Shadowface wants to meet you. I haven’t even had the opportunity to speak with Shadowface in person.”

Though Peter looks at it as a happy moment that I should be proud of, I can feel my stomach sink. It’s dread mixed with fear. I don’t want to meet with her. What does she want with me anyway?

I decide to keep the questions to myself as I follow behind Peter and the guard falls in after me. We go through more winding hallways, but we eventually come to a door that I’ve never seen before. Peter pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and opens it. The next set of hallways are very unlike the ship-like, dark, metal corridors that I have grown accustomed to for the past month. These feel more like a hospital, but with the smell of a hotel. The floors are made of polished granite tiles, and the walls are decorated with paintings set above potted plants that have been situated every ten feet or so. I try to count the number of turns we make, but by about seven or eight, I start to question myself. I then think that finding my way back here would not be a priority. Tonight, I’m escaping and I’m never coming back so it doesn’t matter.
 

The three of us reach an elevator. Once inside, I’m surprised to see Peter punch a lower level button. I had figured we would be going up toward the surface, but instead we go three more floors underground. I was unconscious when I was brought here, so I don’t remember any of the lavish hallways or even an elevator. Seeing all of it and having walked so far, it feels like this building has to be huge. I can’t help but wonder where we are. Perhaps it
is
a converted hospital. That would certainly explain the size.

When the elevator opens again, we are greeted by a hall that is dark and bare. It’s nothing like the hallways that lead to the area where Amber and I are forced to have breakfast every morning. We step out onto carpet, the color impossible to determine because of the lack of light. Every ten or fifteen feet there is a soft, dim light hanging from the ceiling. It’s just enough to know where we need to go, but not really enough to feel comfortable with the surroundings. I get the sense that someone or something could pop out at us at any second. It brings up old feelings of being in places where a greyskin could come at me and I wouldn’t have time to react. It’s a place I would normally avoid.
 

Scattered throughout the hallway are a few doors, offices or rooms for what, I cannot imagine. We make a few more turns until we come to the end of one of the hallways. There is a set of double doors with a guard standing in front. He carries an automatic rifle and stares us down as we approach. When I look at Peter’s face, I can tell that even he seems a bit nervous.
 

The three of us stop a few feet away from the guard and Peter becomes my spokesperson.
 

“Hello Taylor,” Peter says. “Shadowface has requested the presence of Waverly. Here she is.”

The guard looks me up and down and then nods at Peter. “I’ll take her from here,” the guard on the left says.

My escorts take a couple of steps back, leaving me standing by myself in front of Taylor. I glance back at Peter who remains motionless. The expression on his face is one of eagerness and curiosity. He wants to see Shadowface. He wants to know her. I bet he has no idea that I know more about Shadowface than he does, though it’s not much. The thought gives me a sense of power over him, but it is a false sense. If anyone here is powerless, it is me.

“You can go inside,” the guard says.
 

I take a deep breath and try not to let my hands shake. I’m not exactly sure why I’m nervous. It’s not like she’s going to do anything to me, right? I’ve seen a vision of tonight and I’m in it. That means Shadowface intends no harm for me in this meeting. I find little relief in my rationalizations as I reach for one of the doorknobs and twist. I walk through the first door and find myself in a foyer. Another set of double doors stand in front of me, this time without a guard to hinder me. I have to take another deep breath and reach out for the next doorknob and twist. This time when I open the door, the light within blinds me.
 

I’m forced to squint as it feels like the light engulfs me completely.
Why is it so bright in here?
The squinting doesn’t seem to be enough and I can feel a headache coming on. But as my eyes become accustomed to the light, my headache fades and soon I even feel comfortable.
 

“Not a bad trick, is it?” a voice calls out from my right.

My head snaps toward it, but I don’t see the source at first. The room I’m in is huge. It’s not unlike the room I’ve been in for the past month, though the furniture is much more luxurious. Black leather sofas and chairs are positioned in various places, and there is even a fountain made to look like a waterfall over rocks on the opposite side of the room. The ceiling must be at least twelve feet tall and the fountain is half that. To my right, I search for the source of the voice and find a woman leaning against a large, white-metal desk. She wears a black trench coat as if she’s about to leave for a stroll, but she seems to have been waiting for me.
 

“What trick?” I ask, taking a short step forward.
 

“The light,” she says. “You make the way here very dark, and the moment a person steps into the room, I’m the one with the first look. With the lights so bright, I was able to see you for a good ten seconds before you even realized I was here.”

“Sounds like you’re afraid someone’s going to kill you,” I say.
 

She slides off her desk and begins walking toward me, her hands in her coat pockets. “When you’re in a position such as mine, you’re always afraid someone will try to kill you.”

As she comes closer, I can see her face more clearly. Apparently, this is the same face my sister saw that day she hid away in Elkhorn three years ago—the face that was with a mysterious man. Her blue eyes are piercing. Her hair is straight and blonde and is cut off at her cheeks just like my sister described her.
 

“My name is Olivia,” she says. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“I know who you are,” I say.
 

Olivia lifts an eyebrow. “Are you about to say Shadowface?” Her grin flashes her straight, white teeth. “Come, have a seat.” She motions toward the desk to the right.
 

I take in the room around me, my eyes finally able to comprehend all that is here. The lights actually aren’t so harsh now that I’ve been in here a minute or two. The entire place is spotless and almost everything is pristine white. There are a few doors in the giant room, no doubt leading to personal quarters or bathrooms. Olivia walks around to the other side of the desk and sits. I sit across from her, looking for something out of place, something that might give me an insight to who this woman really is, but there is nothing. No photos, no books to take her mind off things. But I don’t really need to know what kind of person she is. I already know that she works with scum raiders—people like Scarecrow who killed my Lucas. I know what my sister saw, and how this Olivia might have had something to do with the greyskin virus. This is why I don’t want to be here. This is why I feel dread.
 

“I’m sure I already know what you think about me,” she says. “You have your opinions set in stone, but I wish that you would hear me out before you make me an enemy.”

“Nothing you say can change what you’ve done,” I say. The words that pass by my lips surprises me. I’m not sure where the confidence comes from. The worst thing she could do would be to kill me, but I already know that isn’t going to happen. I’ve seen the future—at least until tonight.
 

“But you don’t know what I’ve done,” Olivia says. “You only know by what other people have told you.”

“I know that you’ve employed raiders. And because of those raiders, the person I cared about most in the world was killed in cold blood. I know that you tracked us down to Elkhorn because we had some Starborn blood that you wanted, and that you didn’t care who died as long as you got it. I know that you’ve kept me here against my will, forcing me to watch as grown men torture Amber day after day.” I take another deep breath. “I know that you have something to do with the greyskin outbreak. I don’t know to what extent, but I would say having any association with its beginning is bad enough.”

Olivia’s eyes never leave mine and as I finish my little speech, her lips curl into a smile. “Sounds like you’ve been spending too much time with Jeremiah Adams. He tends to talk too much.”

“None of the information I just told you came from Jeremiah,” I say.
 

Olivia’s eyes narrow and then go back to normal—the movement so quick that I barely notice it. “Interesting.” She taps a finger on her desk and finally smiles again. “I wish you knew the whole truth of it all, but coming from me it will not mean much to you.”

“Probably not.”

“I want to gain your trust, Waverly,” she says.
 

“You expect to do that by keeping me here against my will?”

“I keep you here because the solution to some problems is worth the sacrifice of your comfort. Your Starborn power has the potential to help the world.”