The Syndicate (22 page)

“Okay. I mean. All right. Where should
I
go?” The silent message in that is
I’m not going with you to your house even if you drag me
.

I agree. “I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“O—I mean, sounds good. Well, I’m just going to dry my hair.”

I nod and lie back down, rehearsing what I’m going to say. It’s real simple. She’s one of us, the Hybrids want her dead, and I’m not going to let that happen. Period.

If Dorina thinks she’s seen a trace of my father in me, just wait. They’re about to see what real leadership looks like, and it isn’t Henri.

Riley comes out, hair dry and body blazing. I try to keep my eyes from her shorts and small tank. I don’t think she’s wearing a bra, but my quick glance can’t confirm. I look away, and she flips the light off and climbs onto the bed with me, nestling into the nook of my arm. We don’t watch TV and we don’t talk. At least not for a while. The silence speaks loudly enough, tossing thoughts and ideas through our heads while we both ponder internally.

After a long time, she speaks up.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“About…?”

“About my mom.”

“What about her?”

“I want to see her.”

“All right.”

“Tomorrow.”

There is a lot on my agenda, but that isn’t one of them.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say as nicely as possible.

She pulls back, pushing off my chest. “I want to. Vasi, you don’t understand. Every day that passes is torture for her. I don’t want another minute to go by with my mom thinking she’s a freak. She left me because she thought she was a danger to me. She missed my whole childhood. She’s in there all alone. I can’t—’

“Okay, okay. We’ll go.”

She instantly relaxes back into me, and again I wonder what it is about this girl that causes me to go against everything rational. Then, mental fatigue takes over as we both fall asleep early.

The following morning we take a sunrise flight back to D.C. and then rent a car for the two-hour trek to the facility where Riley’s mom is.

Now
I’m
feeling nervous, though I’m not sure why. Since I’m confident we’re not being followed, it must be that I want Riley’s mom to like me too, but does it really matter right now? She’s probably so far gone that she won’t even notice me. Still, my palms are sweating.

“You’re nervous,” Riley says.

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are. Don’t worry. My mom has her moments, but she’s the kindest woman you’ll ever meet. At least, when she’s not having visions of monsters.”

Good to know. We arrive at the complex and our roles have oddly changed. This time, she’s leading the way with me in tow, and I’m holding on to her hand for dear life.

We reach the information desk and Riley asks, “Sonya Bennett, please?”

The receptionist peers out over her bifocals. “IDs, please.”

Riley turns to me and it takes a second to register. She’s waiting for guidance on which IDs to give her. Using our true identities here is probably best, so I hand the woman my license. “My name is Vasi.”

Riley hands over hers, and, after making copies, the woman hands us temporary visitor passes and points us down the hall. We ride the elevator to a secure floor, apparently the room location requested by her mother and father. Riley says it’s not that the facility is worried about her mom escaping, but rather that her mom is worried about things coming
in
.

Off the elevator, Riley’s strides have noticeably shortened as we near her mother’s room. For the first time since we arrived, I feel like taking the lead again. Putting my arm around her shoulder, I give her a supportive squeeze and guide her to the door.

“I haven’t seen her in months,” she mumbles.

After a long pause and a deep breath, she hesitantly pushes the heavy door open to reveal a petite woman with long, wavy, blond hair, sitting in a chair with her back to us. Her arms are moving strangely, but from our angle we can’t see why.

Although the room is set up like a standard bedroom, decorated with inviting yellows and greens that match the plush comforter, it still feels like a temporary space. Like maybe a hotel room.

“Mom?” she asks as we walk closer. “Mom? It’s me, Riley.”

We pause for a response, but get silence. Stepping closer, we can follow the movement of her mother’s arms; she’s rigorously knitting something blue.

Riley touches her arm, which finally breaks her mom’s concentration, but she still doesn’t look up. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she says pulling away. “I have to finish this. The baby needs his blanket. He needs to be warm. I have to finish.”

Riley looks around the room and then at me. I don’t see anything, so I shrug. Confused, she moves in front of her chair, kneeling. “What baby, Mom?”

Sonya looks at Riley, wide eyed, and then at me. “Why…well..” She turns back to Riley. “Your baby.”

Riley glances at me. “Mom, I don’t have a baby.”

Next, the unexpected happens. Sonya lunges forward, knocking Riley back. She takes hold of Riley’s shirt and urgently shakes her. “You let the monster get him? Tell me no!! Tell me you didn’t! Not the baby! Not the poor baby!”

Riley’s fighting her off, but she’s too stunned to get a grip on anything, so I step in and pull her mom off. “I told them they were real. I
told
them!” she shouts.

Sonya is almost as tiny as Riley, so lifting her is easy. Once pulled away, she cowers for a moment and then turns on me with her eyes narrowed. “You were supposed to protect them. How could you?!” She starts banging on my chest and scratching at me.

Finally grasping the turn of events, I spin her around easily and hold her arms down.

Riley recovers from the floor. “Mom! Stop it! There is no baby. I don’t have a baby!”

She squirms angrily for another few moments and then finally settles. “No baby?”

Riley shakes her head. “No.”

“No?”

“No, Momma.”

Her wide eyes stare intensely. “But what about the monsters?”

Riley looks at me and then back to her. “Momma, there’s no baby, but you’re right about the monsters.”

I
guide the entranced Sonya over to the small sofa next to her bed, and we all sit, Riley and I positioned on either side of her.

“Mom, this is my friend Vasi.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, looking at me. Her eyes are the color of Riley’s, highlighting the resemblance between them. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I don’t know what happened.”

Riley starts rubbing her back. “Mom, it’s okay.”

“If there’s no baby, then why are you here?”

“Mom, I’m here to tell you that you’re not crazy. Vasi here is a member of an organization called the Syndicate. They hunt down things called Hybrids. Those things you see, they aren’t monsters. They’re humans who are infected by something that makes them turn bad. I see them too.”

“You can see them too?”

“Yes, and we aren’t the only ones.”

Sonya slides to the edge of the sofa. “But, if they’re real, you have to get out of here. Now. They’re coming for you. You can’t be near me.”

Riley grips her mother’s shoulders. “Mom, it’s not you. They’ve already come for me, but I’m fine. Vasi won’t let anything happen.”

Her mom turns my way, making me feel uncomfortably placed in the middle again.

“So you’re the one?” she asks quietly. “Yes…you’re the one I dream about. The one who will protect the baby.”

I’m weirded out again and steal a glance at Riley, who comes to my rescue. “Mom, what are you talking about?”

“My dreams, the monsters, you, the baby, him.” Sonya says it so matter-of-factly that Riley can’t help but play along.

“Tell me more about the dream, Mom.”

“I see monsters, and they’re coming after me, only when they find me, they don’t want me. They want you. And then I see you and the baby. A pretty little baby. And they want him too. The baby. They want to take him. But…but then I see him.” She points to me. “And he makes them go away, but they always come back…for the baby. But I can help the baby. He needs a blanket. I’m making him a blanket.”

I’m wondering whether this facility is helping this woman or making her worse.

Riley’s thinking more figuratively. “Mom, why would monsters want the baby?”

Her mom stands and walks over to pick up the blanket. Rubbing it, she appears as though she’s remembering something. “Because this baby is special,” she says, admiring her creation.

“How so, Mom?”

“Because the baby can kill them all.
All
of them.
If
he’s protected. If he can be kept safe.” She meets my confused gaze, sending a chill up my spine.

Riley stands up and moves in front of Sonya. “You’ve seen a baby kill these monsters?”

“Yes. And then we’ll be safe, and then I can go home.”

“How can he kill them all?” I interject.

“Because he’s special,” she shoots back quickly.

“Special how?” I prod.

“Because he’s gifted. He has the sight to find them all
and
he’s a fighter like you. He’s born with both gifts.”

I think my head is spinning from information overload. I look at Riley, whose gaze is fixed on me as she repeats the question. “Mom, do you mean he can find these monsters with his visions
and
he can fight them?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said…isn’t it?”

“And whose baby is it Mom?”

“Well, it’s yours…and his.”

I feel like a deer in headlights, and Riley is shaking her head in denial. I force myself to get a grip and think rationally. If this really is a Reader, then I should take her visions seriously. Sure, they’re unrefined, but it’s feeling a bit too real to ignore.

I try to measure this vision against Dorina’s, and something occurs to me. “Sonya? What happens after this boy kills all the monsters?”

“They will go away, and so will the dreams, and we can all live in peace. No fighting, no monsters.”

My throat is dry. I look at Riley and murmur “So no Syndicate. Because of you.”

The Reader had it right. Riley
is
the reason for the Syndicate’s fall, but not because she’s bad. “Do you know what this means?” I ask, closing the space between us.

“No,” she says, shaking her head.

“Riley.” I take her face in my hands. “It means that I’m not a traitor and you’re not a threat to my family.”

She stares at me in shock.

“We have to go now,” I say, feeling an immediate need to share this information.

She nods and looks at her mother. “I want to take her with us.”

Sonya is not in a state of mind to travel, but I say okay, and Riley turns to her mother eagerly. “Mom, I want you to come with us. I don’t want you to stay here anymore.”

Sonya doesn’t move an inch. “No, I can’t go with you.”

“Why not?” Riley asks.

“Weren’t you listening? The monsters find you when I’m around. You have to stay away.”

“I’m not leaving you here. Please, come with us.”

“No,” she says firmly, gritting her teeth.

“Mom—”

“I said no! Now get away from here, right now!”

Not wanting to upset Sonya further, Riley finally gives in.

“We’ll come back for her,” I assure her.

***

I’ve thought of a million reasons why I’ve been so confused for the last month, and not one of them included the notion that Riley and I would have a son. A son who is gifted with unprecedented abilities. A Guard and a Reader in
one
? No one has even thought about that. Readers have always been…well, Readers. They’re usually older. And if they’re not, they’re mostly recluses who move to the beat of their own drums.

What are the freakin odds that I’d go find myself a girl who just happens to be a Reader and doesn’t even know it? Madness. No wonder Henri is off his mark. No one would ever think it.

I get worked up just thinking about telling everyone. There’s no way Henri can continue believing she’s a danger. It makes perfect sense. Why the Hybrids are after her. Wait, how would the Hybrids know about her, and how are they organizing premeditated attacks like that? They have definitely evolved more than any of us knew. Something’s going on for sure, but I now have good reason to demand that Riley be deleted from the hit list.

Once I get over the relief of finally having something to support my irrational desire to keep Riley alive, it sinks in. Me and her? A mother and father? I’m not father material. I’m selfish, overconfident, carefree,
young
. I’m not even close to what my father was. Maybe Sonya’s wrong.

For the first time since getting in the car, I glance over at a dazed Riley. She looks almost catatonic. I decide to pull over at a little scenic overlook and let everything sink in. Both of us sit there, mute. After awhile of watching the cloudless sky, a crazy thought crosses my mind.

“Riley?”

She looks at me. “Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. No. I mean…yeah, I guess.”

She looks so afraid and so strong at the same time. Like she’s on the verge of tears again, but holding them in with everything she has. I can’t imagine what she thinks. The Syndicate has been my life. Although this is a surprise to me, I’ve trained for opposition. At least I’m semi-prepared for some of this.

A month ago, she was just a college student learning about making a difference in little kids’ lives. Now, her world has been rocked twice over and she hasn’t asked for any of it. Yet, here we are. I’m looking at her and she’s looking at me, and my body tells me one thing—that I don’t ever want to be away from her.
What is this magnetism?
I don’t even know, but I want it. People don’t feel this way unless they’re supposed to.

And like that, it clicks. Almost instantly I make a decision that is by far the most unexpected. “Riley, do you believe what your mom says?” I ask.

She blinks for what seems like the first time since our gazes met. Then she looks down, playing with her nails. “I don’t know. She’s been in that place for a long time. She could be really messed up.”

“I know. It’s obvious that she needs help, but do you believe her?” She keeps playing with her hands. “Yes or no?” I prod.