“How long do we have?” I asked.
“Fifteen, twenty minutes? Who the fuck knows? All I know is I am under strict orders to bring you back with me,” he said.
“And then what?”
He was silent. They would arrest me, skip the trial, and throw me in solitary. Just another loon to silence. It would have been such an easy sell.
“Just come with me,” he said, refusing to answer the question.
I inched forward. I knew the right thing to do, but I couldn’t make up my mind. If I stayed here, would I lose myself to insanity as they said? I was positive I would. However, what was going to happen once I stepped through the gateway with Zane on my back?
Despite his worried cries to get me to stop, I walked toward the glowing monument. It started to hum and shake, causing my vision to skew in front of me. I ran my hand in front of my face and watched my fingers trail through a swath of color. I was getting closer, and everything was starting to fall apart. The flames rose higher but nothing mattered anymore. The obelisk’s appearance felt like a warning. It was untamable.
Slowly, the hum and violent vibration rose in volume and intensity, piercing my eardrums. I fell to the ground, clutching my ears and screaming, though I could not hear anything except for what the slab of stone broadcast. Suddenly, I could hear the sounds of my home, the lively chirping of birds on a spring day, the warmth of the sunlight against my naked body. I was so close. All I had to do was keep moving forward.
But I wouldn’t pass through. Not without them, the people I had fallen in love with. I stood, arms outstretched, bowing to the power of it all. I couldn’t understand it. I wasn’t made to, and that was okay. This place was a reflection of all of us, and if it had to be destroyed, I would be the one to give my life to that cause.
A severe roar rang out behind us. Mag, Cadmar, Donovan. They were searching for me now, and their primal instincts must have kicked in. They would find me, and everything would finally come to an end.
I reached into my bag and pulled out something I had nearly forgotten about until that moment, a small detonation device, made with metal scraps, enough gunpowder, and a limited knowledge of bomb making. I didn’t even know if it worked, but I might have soon found out.
“Don’t come any closer,” I said. “I’ll blow the gate and trap us here forever.”
“No!” Zane lunged and threw his body on top of mine. He grabbed my hair and pulled back, jamming his kneecap into the center of my back as I kicked to break free. I winced in pain, but I did not cry or give up the detonation device. I held it close to my heart and suffered his abuse, knowing my men would come for me.
Pinning me to the floor, Zane leaned over me, repulsing me to no end. His teeth ground together with absolute rage. “Your father was right,” he groaned. “You are nothing but a worthless whore.”
I kept my hands around the device. “My father knew nothing. He died with no achievements. He was fired from his position, lost my mother, and, in the end, he never got to say goodbye to me.”
“Did you ever stop to think he didn’t give a damn about you? That, maybe I was the only one who ever did?” he asked.
I couldn’t hold myself back. I spat in his face and managed to get a leg up and kick him directly in the jaw. He fell to the dirt, startled but not knocked out. I could have run into the portal, leaving Zane to a life of insanity and darkness forever, but I ran in the other direction, through the rows of flames and demolished buildings.
Progress, destroyed. My sense of self, completely gone. This place was a ticking time bomb.
I still had Mag’s blade, so when I got to the back of the area, I ran into one of the buildings and took it from my pocket, stalling to catch my breath. I could hear their footsteps in the distance, running to find me, but I had considerable miles on them, and Zane was more cunning than I had ever imagined. I moved toward the back of the greenhouse. The fires were spreading, and I knew it wasn’t the smartest place to end up in, but I had no other choice. The mountain nearby was bare
and provided very little cover. I just had to wait it out. They would be here. They had to come.
I found it easy to hide within the thick shrubby plants, and the air seemed to rejuvenate me. As I huddled within the plants, the greenery looked and even felt familiar, oddly enough. I took the leaf of the thick plant and rubbed a piece on the back of my hand, waiting to see if an allergic reaction would do me in. When there was no inflammation or sting, I held it to my nose and smelled it. Somehow, I recognized it almost instantly. It was the plant Mag gave me in the bath. It healed my cuts and bruises pretty darn fast.
Without thinking, I pocketed some of the plant and hastily glanced through the dense leaves. I could hear them searching for me. They were gaining ground. Unfortunately, Zane was even closer.
“Addie. Darling.” His voice carried unusual gravel as he stepped around the building. This journey had weakened him more than I had. This fact gave me some hope, but it didn’t mean I would get out in time. At this point, the fire had spread around the entire area. I tried to glance through the loose foundation, but all I could see was a bright orange. My pores began to sweat from the surrounding heat.
Please. Don’t let him find me.
“C’mon. Do you really think I’m going to give up after all of this time?” he laughed. “Story time. Remember the first time you told me we belonged together? You were right. We do. We belong together. Forever. Till death do us part, eh, Addie? Remember? All of our plans?”
He was insane. Beyond fucking mental. I closed my eyes and placed my head against my kneecaps, sucking in quiet breaths of air. I hoped he couldn’t hear me.
“We were so in love,” he continued, a wildly self-obsessed monologue I am sure he had been waiting to give for years. “So in love. The only love, right, Addie?” He jumped forward, in front of some plants. I wasn’t sitting there, but I was close by.
“The funny part about it was I actually believed in you,” he said, a rare admission, despite his malicious intent. “I thought you could change the world. Hell, I thought we both could. Together.”
The boy in the facility, the one I saw after my visit. I remembered smiling. Our first introduction was in a simple room with a purple rug. My father sat and took notes. “Someday, Addie. Someday, you will understand what it was like to be held down. To be used,” he sneered, voice faltering with emotion. “You were always the favored one.”
I didn’t want to know. Not anymore. But there was no choice.