Contained (Evolution Series Book 5) (3 page)

We transported back to the room where Chelsea was sitting on the edge of Harry’s desk, looking at footage of kids pleading for me to not let their mummy die.

Fearing I would disappear again, Harry stopped the video and turned off the screen. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”

Standing in front of Aiden, I brought one of his arms over my chest in what I knew looked, to Harry, to be a defence mechanism, but I didn’t care. Chelsea, on the other hand, thought I was just loving my man.

I shrugged. “I can’t keep running away forever.”

Harry nodded. “I think you were right in saying we can’t just go ahead and give them your blood without testing what your blood will actually do to them.”

Chelsea shuddered. “Yeah, I’m sure Nathan looked like an angel when he was a baby, and we all know how he turned out to be.”

I hated to think about what would happen if I were ever to have a child. I was sure I’d always fear that whatever Nathan did to me that he hadn’t done to the others, could or would affect my offspring.

“So…” Harry looked at me, hope filling his eyes. He had enough of my blood to do him awhile with his research on Marie, Grandma and Chelsea, but since I’d agreed to help with the babies, he needed more.

My face slumped. “You want more blood.”

He smiled tight-lipped. “I’m afraid it’s the only way.”

I sighed. “Righty ’O.” I hopped up on the stainless steel bench and held out my arm. “Let’s get this over with.”

“That a girl,” Chelsea said. “Sacrificing yourself in the name of science.”

I forced a smile, all the while feeling sick to my stomach. “I’m all for the people.”

Harry carried his tray of goodies over. “I hope you still have your enthusiasm when you find out that I’ll need a sample every day until we find the answers we need.”

I froze.

Harry Laughed. “I’m kidding. I’ll take enough to last me a while.”

Relief washed over me but it was short lived. I almost passed out the moment Harry picked up the rubbery thing to tie around my arm. Closing my eyes I focused on releasing calming endorphins through my body. Within seconds I couldn’t care less what he was going to stick me with. All I wanted was Aiden by my side, his arms wrapped around me and to be anywhere but there.

Harry chuckled as he injected the needle into me. “You gave yourself a bit much there didn’t you?”

I bit my lip to suppress a grin.

“I guess we all know what you and Aiden will be up to when we get out of here,” Chelsea said.

I knew that if I didn’t have those endorphins running through me, I’d want to slap my hand over her mouth but the truth was, I didn’t care.

A minute later Harry withdrew the needle. “All done for today.” He went to put a cotton ball over my puncture wound to soak up the little blood that was usually there but there was none. “Huh.”

Lifting my arm I inspected the area. There was no evidence that I’d been stabbed only seconds ago.

“I’m changing aren’t I?” To Harry and the others my question would’ve sounded as if I was talking about my healing abilities but that wasn’t what I really cared about. If Harry said yes, that meant other parts of me were changing as well, which could potentially bring my visions to life.

Harry grinned. “Yes, you are. And whatever it is Nathan has done to you, we’re only seeing the beginning.” Harry was beaming with excitement and wonder. The possibilities running through his mind ranged from me taking on Aiden’s new ability of moving things with my mind, but on a much grander scale, to being the one capable of ending war, starvation, pain and suffering. Harry had a good heart and didn’t once consider there was a negative alternative to my powers. The world he hoped I’d save would live in fear of what I may become. If Harry was right, and I was changing, maybe I was going to make what Nathan did seem like child’s play.

“And hopefully, I have gained some of your abilities through your blood,” Chelsea said, hoping to God she was right. She thought it would be awesome if she could teleport like the rest of us next gens but that wasn’t her biggest wish. What Chelsea wanted more than anything else was to live forever, because even after everything Lucas had said to her, she still believed they would never have a future if she continued to age. And even if Lucas was okay about dating a much older woman, there was no way Chelsea wanted to be seen as a cougar—especially if she was grey and wrinkly and Lucas still looked to be in his mid twenties. That kind of relationship could never work. So, Chelsea was pinning her hopes and dreams on my blood changing her for good.

Harry put his hand on her shoulder. “Well, I think it’s safe to assume Jade’s blood has changed you. To what degree your genes have been modified is yet to be seen.”

“And until then you can pretend you’re one of us,” I said, trying to give her some hope. “If it turns out that you’re going to grow old and die, I’ll give you daily transfusions to keep you young.” I wished I could’ve said the same about all the sick people in the world but I couldn’t trust them like I could Chelsea. She had a heart of gold and would never betray my trust. I, on the other hand, may one day betray hers. But I was going to do everything in my power to stop that from coming true.

Chelsea put her hand on my knee. “Aww, I think that’s one of the nicest things you’ve ever said to me.”

Forcing a smile, I said, “What can I say? I’m all heart.”

Aiden squeezed my side as he kissed my cheek. “That you are.”

Chelsea pushed us apart. “Okay, kids. Enough PDA for one day.”

“You’re just jealous,” I said.

“Yep,” she said unashamedly. “Which means I think we should wrap things up here.” Chelsea looked to Harry. “Are we all done?”

He chuckled then dropped his smile when he turned to me. “I’ll be in touch soon.” Harry then added silently,
“You know we’re going to have to act on this as soon as possible. With that kind of thing showing up on the media every day, the world’s going to go on a witch hunt for you.”

“I know,”
is all I could say in return. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Do you know if Gemma’s home? I promised I’d come see her after school.”

Harry checked his watch. “Yep. She should be home by now.”

“Great.” I hopped off the bench. “Do you two want to come with me?” I asked Chelsea and Aiden.

Chelsea was torn between wanting to do the right thing as a friend and come with me, and the need to be back by Lucas’s side.

Thinking back to how I was when I first met Aiden, I decided I’d make it easier on her. “On second thought, I think I should probably spend some one-on-one time with her.”

“You sure?”
Aiden asked.

“Look at the girl. Like I could keep her away from Lucas any longer.”

Aiden chuckled internally. He cupped my cheeks in his hands and brought his lips down to mine.
“Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t.”

Aiden put his hand on Chelsea’s shoulder. “Let’s get you back so I can experience what it’s like to be the third wheel for a change.” He winked at me before disappearing, leaving me alone with Harry.

“I guess I’ll see you soon?”

He nodded then a nervous expression followed.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

He sat down on the edge of his desk. “I’ll be running some test on Nathan’s blood this evening.”

“What? Why?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“When we injected Nathan, we didn’t know if the effects would be permanent or if we had to continue to administer the drug. So, today will be the first chance we’ll get to see what we’re up against.”

I nodded slowly. “And why didn’t anyone tell me you’d gone to see him?”

“I’m telling you.”

I glared at him.

“Okay, fine.” He scratched his forehead. “Your mum wants us to leave you out of everything that’s going on. She didn’t even want me showing you those videos of the babies.”

“She’s trying to keep me in the dark again.” I said shaking my head. “Unbelievable.” I was so sick of her thinking I didn’t need to know about everything that was going on, when everything was happening because of me.

“Don’t be angry with her. The Scotts were in agreement with your mother. They wanted to give you time to recuperate from what happened with Nathan.”

“And you don’t?”

Harry shook his head. “I think you can handle it.” He stood and came over to me. “I think you’re stronger than what they give you credit for.” Harry studied me for a moment without saying anything, but then he didn’t have to. I knew exactly what he was thinking and he knew that I knew. Harry guessed something was going on inside me that I hadn’t told anyone. He suspected I was hiding something, but he thought it was to do with my abilities and possibly things that I’d heard from others thoughts, and was having a hard time dealing with them. But he never considered the truth. Eventually he said, “Do you want me to keep you updated.”

I nodded.

“Right, then,” he said walking over to the tubes filled with Chelsea’s and my blood. “I’ll give you a call as soon as I have any new information.”

“Thanks.” I started to phase out but reappeared. “Just one thing before I go.”

“Hmm?”

“How’s Nathan coping in there?”

Harry grinned. “He isn’t.”

Transporting into Mum’s lounge room, I found Gemma sitting on the couch watching TV, bored out of her brains. “Hi,” I said.

Gemma’s eyes lit up. She practically bounced out of her seat then threw her arms around me.

I laughed as I returned her hug. It was less than a week ago that we weren’t so much as on speaking terms as hating terms. But we were now in a good place and I intended on keeping us that way. “Miss me that much?”

She pulled back. “You have no idea what I’ve had to put up with around here.”

“Oh?”

Gemma took my hand and pulled me to sit beside her on the couch. “Mum and Dad have been obsessed with what Nathan’s done, way more than before.”

I drew my eyebrows together. “But he’s locked away.”

“Yep, but now Nathan’s revealed us to the world.”

My shoulders slumped. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen the normal’s wanting my help have you?”

She barked out a laugh. “That’s all I’ve seen. It’s all everyone’s talking about.” She edged closer. “They—” Gemma’s head jolted up. Mum was there.

“They don’t know you know about this do they?”

Grinning slyly, she said,
“Not a clue.”

The moment mum realised I was in the house, she came rushing into the lounge room. “Hi, honey. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

“Geez, thanks. Nice to see you, too,” I said.

She looked aghast. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’re always welcome here. I just thought you kids wanted some time out.” She sat next to me on the couch.

Gemma scoffed internally. She wanted time out, too, but instead she’d basically been grounded, thanks to everything that was going down around her.

I scratched my head, trying to focus on Mum rather than Gemma’s totally deserved little pity party. “We do, but Harry needed to run some tests on Chelsea’s blood and I came along.”

Mum looked around the room. “Where is she?”

“Aiden took her back so I could spend some time with this one,” I said scruffing Gemma’s hair.

“Hey.” She swatted my hand away. “Don’t mess with the ’do.”

I laughed. “You’ve got bed head, not a style.”

Gemma huffed. “I haven’t had the need to brush it since I’m on house arrest.” She glared at Mum.

Mum rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Like you want to go out there,” she said pointing to the front door. “All your friends saw you in that video. You can’t hide what you are, anymore.”

“No.” She stamped her foot like a typical teenager not getting her own way. “We just have to move houses. Break away. Go into hiding. Pretend we don’t exist. Hope everyone will forget about us, and just put it down to a crazy stunt a group of people were trying to pull as the joke of the century.”

“Gemma,” Mum pleaded. “None of us asked for this but we all have to deal with it. There’s no alternative.”

“Except maybe coming out.”

Mum’s eyes widened.

“What? Do you think I haven’t seen what’s going on?” Gemma pointed to me. “Jade may have been living in ignorance the last few days but I haven’t. I’ve been stuck here with nothing better to do than troll the net for some entertainment. Except it’s not really fun. The world is turning into a shit heap and you just think it’ll all blow over.”

“Wow,” I mouthed.

Mum choked on a laugh as she looked at me. “See, I told you that you and Gemma have a lot in common.” She returned her gaze to Gemma. “And what do you suggest? We come out. Take whatever it is that the world will want to do to us?”

“They can’t touch us Mum,” I said what Gemma was thinking then turned to Gemma. “But the normal’s are not ready for us. We can’t give them what they want and there are already too many evil humans in the world. We do not want to give them more power.”

Gemma slumped back. “I know. It’s just I’m bored. I’m so bored staying here all by myself.”

Mum rolled her eyes. “It’s only been four days Gemma. Four days!”

“Exactly. Four days of hell.”

Mum shook her head. “You’re being overly dramatic.”

I put my hand over Gemma’s. “Come back with me for a bit.”

“Seriously?” she asked. “I won’t be getting in the way?”

Hearing her thoughts I chuckled. “Contrary to what you may think, Aiden and I are capable of keeping ourselves off one another for more than five minutes.”

Gemma’s cheeks flushed.

“Oh, please.” Mum covered her eyes with her hand. “Too much info.”

The corner of Gemma’s lip turned up on one side.

I quickly pulled Gemma to her feet before she had a chance to say what was on her mind. I did not want Aiden’s and my sex life being the topic of discussion. Gemma always thought it was unfair that I was allowed to have sleepovers with my boyfriend but Mum and Jack forbade her from doing the same.
“One, I am older than you. Two, I don’t want to discuss sex with my mum. And three, you don’t have a psychotic killer after you.”

Her face slumped. “Fine.”

Mum looked between us, trying to figure out what Gemma was responding to but quickly gave up. “Well, girls, give me a call when you want to drop Gemma back so I can let you know where I am.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You do remember I don’t need to know where you are.”

She raised an eyebrow as a smirk crept over her face. “But I’m sure you want to know it’s safe for you to drop on by.”

I screwed up my face. “
That
is too much information.”

Mum winked as I disappeared, taking Gemma with me.

When our feet landed on solid ground, Gemma did a quick scope. “Yes!” She clapped her hands together. “I knew you guys were having way more fun than I was.”

“Hey, Gemma,” Chelsea called out from behind the wheel. She was sitting on Lucas’s lap as he taught her how to steer a boat. Funny thing was, Chelsea didn’t give a crap about learning. All she cared about was spending time with Lucas. And learning how to drive a boat was going to take some time. After all, she’d failed her driver’s test three times before she finally passed. Lucas, of course, knew that, too, but he was happy to have her all to himself for however long it would take.

Gemma waved back then turned to me, practically bouncing like a kid hyped up on red cordial. “Please tell me we’re staying out here for the rest of the day?”

“And the next.”

Her eyes widened. She was about to ask if she could stay the night but thought we may not want a fifteen year old around to ruin the fun. I couldn’t send her back to lock-up as she put it, so I said, “We probably should’ve brought your pjs, huh?”

“Seriously? I can stay the night?”

Looking into her wide eyes, pleading for an escape, I laughed. “Yes. You can stay.”

“Yes!” She actually jumped a little.

I laughed. “You are so not the girl I thought you were.”

She grinned. “I’m so much better, aren’t I?”

My mum was spot on when she said Gemma was a lot like Chelsea, and I was glad that my abilities had grown enough to see the real Gemma.

She looked around then headed in the direction of the deck. “Now for some rays.” She lifted her shirt over her head revealing her bra.

I rushed to her side. “What are you doing?”

She paused with her shorts halfway down her legs. “Ah, getting undressed.”

“You don’t think you should change into your swimmers?”

Gemma took off her shorts. “We kind of forgot to bring anything with us so…” She shrugged. “Unless you think you need to keep me dressed to stop your boyfriend’s eyes from wandering, then I can’t see what the problem is.”

She kind of had a point. What Gemma was wearing probably revealed less than what her bikini would’ve. “Fine. Just don’t think about going skinny dipping if you feel like a swim.”

She saluted me. “Yes, Mum.”

Biting down on a smile, I went in search of Aiden. I found him at the back of the boat with a fishing rod in hand. “Caught anything good?” I asked.

He put his rod into the holder then opened the side of the boat, which was actually an ice chest of sorts.

I peeped inside and saw a fish staring up at me, it’s mouth moving slowly in the shallow water as it gasped for another breath of air. I’d never thought much of the life or death of a fish before the whole Nathan thing, but I realised, in a way, we were just like him. Ending the life of another for our own satisfaction. The thing that scared me the most was, I didn’t care. I wanted to eat the fish and I wondered if that was how Nathan had felt. And more importantly, if what I was realising was actually the beginning of my desensitisation to the world and the humans within.

“Want to grab a rod?” Aiden asked.

For a second I thought about joining him, but in the end, I was willing to avoid anything to keep my visions from coming true. Stepping closer to him, I ran my hand down his chest and latched onto his pants.
“I have a better idea.”

Laughing, he encircled me in his arms and squeezed tightly.
“Why are your ideas always so much better?”

I shrugged under the heavy weight of his arms.
“Just naturally talented, I guess.”

“In more ways then one.”

Grinning, he transported us back to our home to fulfil my brilliant idea.