Contained (Evolution Series Book 5) (15 page)

A cool breeze blew against my face sending a chill down my spine as I woke from my sleep. I froze, instantly fearing that Nathan had somehow escaped and had come back for a showdown.

Opening my eyes I prepared to see the arsehole once more but came face to face with the barrel of a gun instead. It was the first time I’d seen one in real life and I just about crapped my pants. I could deal with a human, I could take on a next gen, but a bullet I couldn’t control. I was not Superman.

Slowly I diverted my eyes up and was met by a man dressed in an army uniform.

“Put your hands behind your back,” the man shouted as if I was hearing impaired.

I looked to the side and clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to hold back the bile that was rising in my throat.

“Put your hands behind your back,” the man shouted again.

Another five men had their weapons drawn and aimed at me, but that wasn’t what had started my upchuck reflex. I rolled onto my knees and hurled my guts up as memories of when I first got Tyson as a puppy came flooding back. He’d been such a cute little thing and didn’t deserve to die like that. My vision had come true. Tyson was dead. Blood seeped out from his monstrous jaws and lying dead next to him was Mrs. Carson.

The men didn’t know what to do. They feared what I was capable of but they couldn’t exactly do anything while I was vomiting. When I finally emptied my stomach contents, I collapsed to the ground and stared at my first two senseless murders. I didn’t remember killing them but there was no other explanation. I had seen myself end their lives in my vision and by the looks of both Mrs. Carson and Tyson, my vision had played out.

I could faintly hear the men yelling at me but I couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying. My mind was numb.

The next thing I knew, my body was going into fits, and it took me a few seconds to realise that it wasn’t an internal reaction to what I’d done. Someone had shot me with a Taser and somehow my mind was able to block the pain.

Looking up, I focused on the man holding the Taser gun, pushed into his mind and made him fall asleep. He dropped to the ground with a thud, spiking a new bout of fear in his colleagues.

Before they had time to react, I phased out and reappeared in our bedroom, expecting, or more so hoping, to find Aiden still in bed none the wiser to what I’d done. But my hopes of having time to think were shattered when I realised he was no longer in the house.

Down the hall I felt Lucas’s mind spike with knowledge that I was back. A second later he was knocking on the door, not waiting for me to tell him he could enter before he opened it. “Where have you—” He looked me up and down, fearing what had me so freaked and why I was crying.

Chelsea pushed him out of the way and drew me into a hug. “What’s wrong?” she whispered into my ear.

I gripped her and let my tears run. She had been with me when my mother had brought Tyson home for me, and in a way, he was as much her dog as mine. She was going to be devastated when I told her and she would blame me.

Pushing her away I asked, “Where’s Aiden?”

Chelsea narrowed her eyes at me. “Looking for you.”

“You weren’t here when he woke up and he’s been going out of his mind trying to find you since,” Lucas said.

“Our connection’s gone,” I mumbled, realising he wasn’t able to call out to me even though I hadn’t blocked him out. “Where did he go?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“He went—”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said then phased out.

Reappearing inches from Aiden’s back, I breathed in deeply, taking comfort in his close proximity. His body tensed momentarily before he relaxed and turned around to face me. Taking one look at the expression on my face, all his questions were forgotten. He drew me into his arms and held me tight as my floodgates opened and I cried once more for the innocent lives I’d taken.

Anna, Dave, Kai and Georgia sat in the background not knowing what to say. Everyone wanted to know where I’d gone but no one wanted to ask. Doubts about my sanity were already creeping into their minds, and even Georgia was starting to pity me. She was glad that I hadn’t ended up taking away her love for Aiden, because at that moment, she was sure I had done something horrible and it was only a matter of time before I was out of the picture and Aiden was hers again.

Rage built inside of me. I pushed off Aiden and shouted at Georgia, “He is not yours and he will never be! Even if I am a murderer I will never let you have him!” I pushed into her mind, removed all traces of her love for him and made sure she’d known what I’d done.

Georgia’s eyes widened in horror. “You fucking bitch!”

“What did you do?” Anna asked me. When I didn’t answer, she turned to Georgia. “What did she do?”

Georgia was furious. She stood up and pointed at me. “She did it. Jade invaded my rights. She made me stop loving your son.”

Aiden pulled my back against him, and draped his arms over me, locking me in his embrace. He was subconsciously telling his mum that he stood by me—no matter what. I could feel his heart hammering in his chest but it wasn’t because he feared me.

The hairs on the back of Anna’s neck stood up.

Georgia looked at Aiden. “How can you trust her? For all you know she’s made you stay with her. Hell, Jade could be manipulating every single one of us and none of us would know the difference.”

“I don’t think we need to go to those extremes,” Dave said.

“Don’t we?” Georgia asked. “I mean, what do we really know about her and what my father did to her? For all we know she could’ve made all that shit up about him.”

“I don’t think she would’ve made Nathan try to kill her in order to end up getting Aiden.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Nathan could be innocent in all of this and Jade had all of us believe that she was the victim. She could’ve made Nathan attack her and Aiden.” Georgia took a deep breath. “We don’t know shit about her.”

Aiden gripped tighter when he felt me trying to pull away. “If she was controlling you all so much then she would’ve shut you up by now.”

“Not if she wants you to believe that you have a voice of your own.”

Anna looked at me not wanting to believe, but doubts niggled at her mind. What did they really know about me other than I was far superior to all of them? My mother had made sure Aiden was there to protect me and she had lied to them since they first met.

“You know what?” Aiden said. “Maybe you’re just pissed at Jade for finally getting jack of your infatuation over me, and she had to act on it for her own sanity.”

“Aiden,” Anna said.

“You’re seriously going to try to get me to shut up, but you’re happy for Georgia to say all that shit about Jade?”

Anna didn’t answer.

“No, we’re not saying that,” Dave said, trying to keep the peace.

Aiden shook his head. “Fine. But if you want to be like that, don’t expect to see us around you guys any time soon.”

Anna jumped to her feet. “Don’t say that.” She put her hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “How about we just sit down and talk about this all.”

Georgia scoffed. “Yeah, fat lot of good that will do with Jade here. She’ll just make you believe what she wants.”

“I have not screwed with anyone’s mind,” I said softly.

“What do you call what you just did to me?” Georgia asked, pointing to her head.

“Shut up, Georgia,” Aiden said. “None of this would’ve happened if you’d just accepted that we will never get back together.”

“None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t brought her into our lives.” Georgia gestured to me.

Anna’s chest tightened as she sensed that Aiden was about to be gone for good. She felt sick to her stomach but she didn’t know what to do.

“Then we’re gone,” Aiden said. “I hope you three live happily ever after together.”

“Aiden.” Anna reached for him but he twisted away and she got me instead. She sucked in a sharp breath as she was cast into another vision and so was I.

Aiden was pinned against the wall with nothing holding him up. He couldn’t move and the fear in his eyes reminded me of the moment he’d thrown himself in front of me, taking the knife that was intended for me. Only this time, Aiden was looking at me. I was standing no more than a foot in front of him, a sadistic look on my face as my vision self stepped forward with a syringe in hand. Leaning closer I pressed a kiss on his lips, the revulsion in Aiden’s eyes made me feel sick.

Vision me slowly raised the needle to Aiden’s throat, pressing it against his skin. “We could’ve been happy,” I whispered in a false, pouty tone.

Before I saw anymore, I was ripped out of Anna’s vision.

Anna stood in front of me, her chest heaving as she tried desperately to fill her lungs with air but continued to feel as if she were suffocating. Anna shook her head, not wanting to believe what she’d just seen. That the girl standing before her, that she believed would one day be her daughter-in-law, could do something so horrific to her son.

“No,” I said shaking my head in disbelief. “That can’t be right.”

“What did you see?” Georgia asked.

“I wouldn’t do that,” I pleaded to Anna to believe me.

She stepped back. “Aiden. Please trust me as your mother and know that I wouldn’t ask this if I wasn’t serious. You need to step away from Jade now!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Aiden said.

“Aiden,” Anna pleaded. “Please. For your own sake.”

Dave got to his feet and put his hands on Anna’s arms. “What’s wrong?”

“What did you see her do?” Georgia asked, her smartass tone no longer there.

Anna looked at me. “Go.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I love him.”

“If you love him then you’ll leave him,” she said.

“Anna. What’s going on?” Dave asked again.

Aiden pulled me tighter against him. “I’m not going anywhere and you are not going to ask her to leave me.”

Anna looked at Aiden, tears welling in her eyes. “You didn’t see what Jade’s going to do.”

“Then show us,” Dave said.

“I don’t care what you saw. I trust Jade. I trust her with my life.”

A tear escaped Anna’s eyes, rolling down her cheek. “And that very well could be the last mistake you make.”

“Show us,” Dave said again.

Anna looked to me again. “Please. Please leave him. He deserves better.”

“Okay, that’s it,” Aiden said. “Call me when you get over this bull shit and—”

She reached for him. “Aiden. Please!”

He transported to the other side of the room. “Good bye, Mum, Dad…”

“No!” she rushed forward but it was too late.

Aiden transported us away without doubting me or us for a second.

We landed in the lounge room of my Grandma and Marie’s little house in Italy. It was pitch black and they were both sound asleep. He put his hands on my arms. “Stay here. I’m going to find us somewhere to spend the night and then come back for you, okay?”

I nodded, knowing I may not be there when he got back.

He tilted my head up with his finger and kissed me. “I won’t be long.” He phased out and I was about to do the same when he reappeared. “I love you. And nothing that you say or any vision will change that, okay?”

I nodded, fearing my voice would betray me. I knew that I was never going to do anything to him because I knew it was time. I had to stop myself before it was too late. I couldn’t let myself do that to him or anyone else again. I had to be stopped and the second he was gone, I was going to take control and end my future reign of terror once and for all.

Cupping my face in his hands he kissed me again then phased out.

Taking a deep breath, I transported to the room. The lights were on but thankfully Harry wasn’t there. I hurried over to the fridge where I’d seen Harry get out Nathan’s concoction. Opening the door, I rummaged through the contents until I found the vial that would stop me becoming a monster.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Harry said, making my blood run cold.

I whipped around and almost had my breath knocked out of me when I heard his reason why.

I shook my head. “That can’t be possible.” My thoughts were a mixture of fear and something I’d never felt before.

Harry held out his hand. “It is. I’ve run the tests over and over again, each time getting the same result.”

I looked at the vial in my hands trying desperately to work out what to do. I loved Aiden more than anything but the decision to make myself human was no longer an option. Placing the vial in his palm, I asked, “How long?”

Harry put the vial back in the fridge. “You’re ten weeks.”

My hand instantly went to my tummy as everything started making sense. The tears, the vomiting. I was pregnant. I looked up at Harry. “Who else knows?”

“No one. This is your news to tell, not mine.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell anyone. Yeah, Aiden had a right to know, but I didn’t want him to feel obligated to stay with me. I also wasn’t sure what his parents reaction would be if they found out. Anna already thought I was endangering her son’s life. If she found out about the baby, she’d probably try to take it away from me, too.

Harry gently led me over to the chair in front of his desk and eased me down, then went behind and sat in his own chair. “Now I’m going to assume you weren’t trying to get pregnant?”

“God, no,” I spat the words from my mouth. Getting pregnant was the last thing on my mind. Hell, all I wanted to do was have a normal teenage relationship with the man I loved, and from what I heard, babies only made things that much harder. I had to face it; my life was already hard enough as it was, without throwing a defenceless, dependant baby into the equation. My breathing was ragged as I thought about what, exactly, the baby would mean. Gone were the days of thinking about myself, time alone with Aiden and then there was the sleep or lack there of. I glanced down at my belly and saw my boobs. My boobs were going to get huge and they were going to be used for breastfeeding. “Oh, my God. I can’t do this,” I said. “This can’t be real.” I stuck out my arm. “Take another sample. Do another test.”

Harry shook his head. “It’s the truth.”

“Take another test,” I said and added a bit of mind screwing to the equation.

“Fine.” Harry stood.

I quickly jumped up and sat on the bench.

Harry got the needle from the cupboard and for the first time in my life, I watched to make sure he was doing it right. I saw the needle go into my veins and I saw the blood coming out.

Withdrawing the needle he went to place a cotton ball on the puncture wound but it had already healed. “I’ll never get used to that,” he said with a smile. “Now, I should have the results within an hour, so if you want to come back—”

“No. I’ll stay here.”

“Sure.” He went over to some equipment and began to do his work. “I guess we’ll use this time to discuss your pregnancy further.”

“We don’t know for sure I’m pregnant,” I said knowing how stupid I was being.

“If you say so,” he said, not taking his eyes away from his work. “But we’ll just pretend you are for now.”

“What ever.” I needed to calm myself down. Taking a few deep breaths I closed my eyes and made myself calmer. Seconds later I was back to my normal state of mind and I knew I was being foolish by making Harry run more tests but he was already working on them. I was pregnant and there was no mistaking the five tests he had already done to confirm it.

“Did you ever miss your pill or not use contraception?” Harry mistakenly took my silence for me not wanting to discuss my pregnancy with him when I was really trying to make certain that I hadn’t done anything foolish. “I know it’s a little weird for you to be discussing this with me but I can assure you that I’m not going to judge you and everything you say will be confidential.”

I shook my head. “I don’t mind discussing this with you, I was just making sure I did everything right and I did. I never once forgot—even with all the shit Nathan did.”

“Jade! Where are you?”
Aiden’s voice tore through my mind.

“Shit.”

“What?” Harry asked.

“Aiden. I didn’t tell him I was coming here.”

“Well, bring him over. Or better yet, why don’t you go back to him, tell him the news and meet me back here in an hour to give you the same news I’ve already given you.”

“Jade!”
Aiden said again.

“I’m with Harry. I’ll be back shortly.”

“Are you okay?”

Not really but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“I’m fine. I just need to discuss some things about Grandma and Chels.”

“Do you want me to come there?”

“No,”
I said a little too quickly.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,”
I said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
“Harry just wants some more of my blood and you know how I get but it’s over with so no need to come to my rescue.”
I laughed nervously.

“I’m coming over.”

“No. It’s fine, really. You go back to the place you found for us to stay and I’ll be there shortly.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. I’m sure.”

“Okay, then,”
Aiden conceded.
“I love you.”

“Love you, too.”
I hated lying to anyone, especially Aiden. He deserved to know the truth but I wasn’t ready to tell him yet. I wanted, or more so needed, to get my head together about the little one growing inside my belly and then I would tell him. I needed that because even though Aiden was a dream come true, telling a teenage guy he was going to be a father could see Aiden’s personality do a complete one-eighty and make him want to run. The memory of Aiden and me standing in a bedroom with a baby in my arms flashed through my mind making my heart skip a beat. What if that wasn’t just a daydream and it was a snippet of a vision? If so then, that would mean Aiden would eventually be okay with it but in all honesty I wasn’t sure it was a vision, which had my heart sinking all over again.

“Everything okay?” Harry asked when he saw I was no longer talking with Aiden.

“Yep. Everything’s fine,” I said. “So what was it you were saying?”

“Contraception. I asked you about contraception.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Of course we used contraception. I was on the pill and I can assure you that I
never
missed a pill. This is not something I wanted.”

“Either way, it’s happening. And you need to find a way to accept it.”

Looking down I nodded. “I know.”

“So, does this mean I can stop running these pointless extra tests?”

I sighed. “Yeah. I guess it does.”

“Good.” He turned around and studied my face. “I’m not going to lie and tell you this is all going to be easy, because believe me, I’ve seen how hard it was for Jack even with the help of your mum. But you have a much bigger support network. You have Aiden, and I don’t see him as the kind of guy who would run for the hills at news of a baby.”

“I hope.”

He exhaled loudly then sat next to me on the bench. “You need to tell him. This will all be so much easier for you.”

“And if he doesn’t react the way you think he will?”

“Then you have us. And I’m sure the Scotts would give anything to be involved in their grandchild’s life, even if their son doesn’t want anything to do with the baby.”

I choked on a laugh garnering a curious look from Harry. “I’m not so sure about that.”

He drew his eyebrows together. “What makes you say that?”

I never planned on telling Harry anything about Anna’s vision but there was now a baby and I was going to need all the help I could get. Harry had already proven himself trustworthy, and I was going to need to take a gamble on him again.

For the next ten minutes I told him everything I’d seen in Anna’s vision and her reaction to it. I also told him about what I’d done to Georgia and lastly, what I’d done to Tyson and Mrs. Carson.

“You don’t remember killing them, do you?” Harry asked.

“Well, no, but—”

“No. No buts,” he said. “Anything could’ve happened. I mean, for all you know, it could’ve been the police who killed them as a way to detain you. Or make you feel so devastated for what you’d done that you would willingly go with them and agree to undergo any testing so you wouldn’t do that again.”

I raised an eyebrow. “But that doesn’t explain why or how I was there.”

“No, it doesn’t. But you say you also don’t have any memory of killing them, and I’m pretty sure that mind of yours wouldn’t forget.”

I smiled sadly. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I think we have to face facts. I killed them and we need to work out a way to stop it from happening again.”

“Which is why you wanted to make yourself a normal human?”

I nodded. “But now I’m pregnant.”

“And now you’re pregnant.” He stayed silent for a minute while ideas raced through his mind. “I think we’re just going to have to take this one day at a time and try to work out what happened back there.”

I wanted to tell him about all the other visions I’d had and the things I’d seen myself do, but speaking them aloud almost felt as if I were admitting there was a real possibility that they were going to come true. I still wanted to keep my head in the sand and pray that something would go right. For a second, I hoped the baby was going to alter my future, but then I realised that I had the visions while I was pregnant. What if every vision I’d seen was of me protecting my baby. Maybe that guy whose head I ripped off had done something to my baby and I was seeking revenge. Mothers were known to do whatever it took to keep their children safe, and God help anyone who got in the way of a mother with the abilities I had.

For the first time in days the future didn’t seem so bleak. There was hope, and I was going to hold on to it and fight for it with everything I had. What part Anna’s vision played in my future I didn’t know, but there was no way on earth that I would do anything to harm Aiden; that I was sure about. And, if worst comes to worst, I would make myself human after the baby was born.

I put my hand on his arm. “I think you’re right. One day at a time.”

He smiled. “That was a quick change.”

I shrugged. “I’ve got to have hope.”

“That we do,” he said.

“Okay, well, I guess I should get back to Aiden before he sends a search party.”

He nodded. “We’re going to have to do some more tests soon.” When he saw the fear in my eyes he quickly added, “But don’t worry, no more injections for now. We just need to see how the baby’s doing.”

“I get to see it?” I wanted to slap myself as soon as I asked him. Of course there was technology that enabled us to see the baby.

Smiling, Harry said, “Just let me know when you and Aiden want to see your baby and I’ll get a machine in for us.”

“Thanks.” I hopped off the bench. “And remember, I don’t want anyone knowing, and that includes Aiden at this stage.”

He shook his head. “You should tell him.”

“I will. But I don’t think telling him right after he walked out on his family is the best time.”

Harry nodded slowly. “I guess it might be best to wait—but not for too long.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell him.”

“Good.” Just as I was about to leave, Harry said, “You know your mum’s going to kill me when she finds out that I knew about this and didn’t tell her.”

Stepping closer I kissed him on his cheek. “Lucky for me that you don’t care for your balls then, hey?”

Harry chuckled.

“Thanks,” I said again. “I owe you one.”

“I think it’s twenty by now.”

“Let’s just say I’ll be forever indebted to you.”