A certain darkness shaded Jonas’s eyes, and his shoulders slumped forward. I couldn’t be sure, and I definitely didn’t understand it, but I thought a part of him had to be feeling betrayed by the woman who’d raised him.
Chapter Twenty-One
It didn’t take long for parents to learn of the small explosion on campus. But since few students were hurt, and even fewer witnessed IIA agents with guns, Dean Fisher and President Wellington were able to minimize the level of hysteria.
Parents who lived nearby showed up that day to remove their children. Cathy, Dean Fisher, and Dr. Wellington spent the afternoon on the phone. I began to suspect a trend. Armed with my computer and knowing no parent was coming to get me, I escaped to a spot on the top floor of the library. I scooted a club chair close to a window overlooking the main loading zone between the two dorms. Tucking my legs beneath my body, I curled up with my computer and began comparing Dad’s list of human clones with the parents who were arriving at Wellington that day.
Just as I suspected. The kids whose parents had arrived so far were not on Dad’s list. Just how many clones were at Wellington? I wondered. I scanned Dad’s records. He had noted names, aliases, and known locations. By my count, there would be about fifty students left when “regular” students were gone.
“Lexi.”
I turned in my seat at the sound of Jack’s voice. He looked dejected, tired. His face drooped, his shoulders hung forward. Shifting my computer to the chair, I stood. “What’s happened?”
“You need to come with me.”
“Where?”
“The infirmary.”
My heart sank. “Who?”
He didn’t answer. Just stared at the spot on the floor in front of him.
I packed up my computer and followed him wordlessly out of the library. His silence was all the proof I needed that something devastating had happened, and I knew not to ask questions.
The upstairs of the infirmary was equipped with twenty beds, all separated by curtains. About a dozen students injured by flying debris from the bombing were being treated by Wellington nurses and Midland EMTs. The murmurs of students recounting what had happened to them sounded like nothing more than a low hum.
“You’re scaring me,” I said to Jack as he led me past the injured.
He squeezed my hand and pulled me to the last bed on the left. Jonas stood off to the side and out of the way. Kyle leaned over someone in the bed, but I couldn’t see who.
“Kyle. Lexi is here,” Jack said.
Only when Kyle turned did I see the person in the bed.
“Dani?” I rushed to her side, opposite where Kyle sat. Her face was tear-stained. She glanced from Kyle to Jonas to me. “What happened?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, Lex.” A tear ran down her face.
“What are you sorry about? Are you hurt? Have they called your parents?”
“Show her,” Jack said.
I glanced back at Jack. Jonas stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Show me what?” I asked, confused. Danielle wiped the tears from her face with her bare hand.
Kyle helped her lean forward. She turned her head to face him. Slowly, Kyle lifted her hair to reveal the back of her neck.
There, at the base of her hairline, was a small incision. My heart jumped into my throat. My hand flew to my mouth to smother my gasp. Reaching out my other hand, my fingers hovered just above what looked like two stitches. I looked at Jonas.
They inserted a tracker inside her,
he said.
The air was knocked from me by that punch to the gut. “Who did this to you? When did it happen?”
“I found her unconscious on a bench outside the aquatics center after the meet was over.” Kyle rubbed Danielle’s hand while he talked. “She was on the side leading to the boys’ dorm. I carried her here. A few minutes later I heard the explosion.”
Jonas, who did this?
Had to be Sandra.
We can remove it, right?
He shook his head.
Removing it will kill her instantly. I’m sure Sandra counted on me informing you of that.
“There’s more,” Danielle whispered. She reached into her pocket and handed me a folded piece of paper. “It’s addressed to you.”
Jack took three steps forward. “You didn’t tell me they gave you something.” He tried to snatch it from my hands, but I quickly shielded it.
After glaring at him, I unfolded the piece of paper and read the contents to myself.
“I found it in my pocket when I woke up,” Danielle said. “What does it mean, Lexi? I didn’t understand it.”
What does it say?
Jack demanded.
I raised my head and stared at him through a waterfall of tears.
They’ll kill Dani if I don’t turn myself over.
~~~~~
I raced down the stairs to the basement of the infirmary like I was running from another bomb. Only this time, the bomb was embedded at the base of my best friend’s skull, and I didn’t know how long the timer was set for.
Down here was The Program. And I wanted to know everything. About my true identity and purpose. About the other cloned humans. And about the adults calling the shots.
If I was going to turn myself over to Sandra Whitmeyer, I would go armed with the information that had been hidden from me most of my life.
I ran from door to door, attempting to open each one. When I tried the fifth door and it was locked, I kicked and pounded on the hard steel. I stepped back and looked up at the ceiling. When I saw the small camera above me, I began waving. “Hello. You wanted me? Well, here I am. So open the doors.” I wanted inside these rooms. I wanted to know—no, I
needed
to know— what The Program was all about. Why did everything come back to me learning about my creation? Why did Sandra want me so badly? Why had Seth insisted I be a part of The Program?
Unable to contain my rage, I screamed, then pounded on the door in front of me again until I could do nothing but sob.
After one last weak punch, I leaned my head against the cold metal, my hand still fisted against the door. Tears ran like a river down my face. My body convulsed. Arms circled my body and pulled me backwards. “Shhh. It’s going to be okay.”
I crumbled into Jack. He didn’t let go as he sank to the ground with me, pulling me into his lap. I shook my head adamantly. “No, it’s not going to be okay.”
He held tighter, burying his face into my neck. “I promise, it will be.”
“I just lied to my best friend, Jack.” I sobbed, turning into his chest. He rubbed my back and let me cry. “I told my best friend that everything was going to be fine. But it’s not going to be fine.” How could it be? She had no idea what had just been done to her.
I pushed back and stared into his eyes. “They’re going to kill my best friend. And they’re going to kill Addison.” I sucked in the shakiest of breaths. “Unless I hand myself over.”
Jack ran his hand over my hair, smoothing loose strands behind my left ear. “They won’t. And no, you absolutely are not turning yourself over to them. Don’t even go there.”
“They will, Jack. They will kill them.”
“We’re not going to let them. Do you hear me?” He brushed his lips across mine. “Now, listen to me. I wish we had all the time in the world to be angry and talk about how unfair this all is, but—”
“But we don’t.” I swiped at my drenched face. He was right. My tears would not help Danielle. She needed help reaching her eighteenth birthday and beyond, and I was the only one who could get her there.
I pulled back and stared up into Jack’s eyes. “We have to fight.”
“Yes.”
“All of us.”
“I know.”
“We have to decide who we can trust. Who’s on our side. And then we have to trust them. And we have to fight.” I was repeating everything, maybe in an effort to convince myself more than Jack.
Jack placed his hands on both sides of my face and kissed me hard on the lips. He pulled back, locking eyes with me. “I know.”
“You know.”
“Yes.” He was as calm as I’d ever seen him. That calmness transferred to me in a wave. He was my rock. We’d face this together. This was what love was. When you’re faced with your deepest despair, a hole you’re scared you’ll never climb back out of, the one who loved you most would lift you out and be your strength.
I stared into Jack’s eyes, each one a raging sea being rocked by a hurricane. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he whispered, running fingers along the strands of hair framing my face.
“For coming to Wellington. For not running. I wouldn’t have survived everything that’s happened had you not been here with me.”
He kissed me lightly on the lips, which felt funny, soft after a hard cry. “You’re strong.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “We’ll face this head on, together.”
“Well,” Jonas clapped his hands together behind me. “Glad that’s all cleared up. What’s the plan?”
I spun around and faced Jonas. Jack stayed close to me. Protective, while I regained my bearings.
“Let’s find a place to sit,” Jack said. He reached down, grabbed my hand, and led me two doors down. When he turned the knob, it opened immediately. Of course it did. I rolled my eyes.
“Tell us about the trackers,” Jack said, entering the room and pulling a couple of chairs together.
Jonas followed us in. I wasn’t used to him looking nervous, but in that moment I knew he had bad news. “Like I told you before, Sandra inserted a tracker into the base of my brain mainly to track my whereabouts. I couldn’t live my life trapped in The Farm. And she allowed me some liberty to leave The Farm as long as I didn’t fight the tracker.” He walked over and leaned against a table, crossing his arms and one leg in front of the other.
“Why do you think she’s allowed you to live?” I asked. “I mean, didn’t you say she could kill you with a couple of keystrokes on the computer?”
Jonas shifted and rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “I don’t know why. Unless it’s because she thinks they actually have control of me. Through Ty. Or by programming the tracker in my own head.”
“Did you know back then that the tracker was permanent?” I walked over and slid into the seat next to Jonas. Jack sat beside me. He propped his elbows against his knees and clasped his hands together. His leg brushed against mine, keeping constant contact.
“No, I had no idea. And I didn’t understand how much power that tiny device gave the IIA. More specifically… Sandra.”
“What kind of power?” Jack asked.
“Initially, the tracker was used for knowing where the human clones were inside the IIA. It gave the clones a way to walk around the facility. A little more freedom.”
“And then?” I prompted.
“Then, as with anything Moth… Sandra did, the device became another way for her to manipulate whatever it was she wanted control of. In this case, she wanted more mind control.”
“And you
knew
this?” Jack asked. “Why would you let her put one of these inside your brain?”
Jonas’s face hardened. “Because, Jack, I had to get out of that prison. And I didn’t have a choice.”
A shiver moved through me. I thought about what Jonas had said when he’d laid the gun in my hand and explained what it was like to grow up with Sandra as a mother. I touched Jonas’s arm. “Go on. So, what happened?” Jack stiffened beside me.
“I already knew I had pretty intense mind control of my own. I constantly practiced getting inside the heads of others—inside the non-cloned when I didn’t want to be detected, then, as I got stronger, inside the clones. Before long I could tell any time Sandra’s machines altered my tracker, and I knew any time another clone entered my mind.” Jonas narrowed his gaze on me. “I made one mistake, though.”
“Ty.”
He nodded. “That’s right.”
“What do you mean? Why was Ty your mistake?” Jack asked.
Jonas shifted his gaze to Jack. “Ty is my DNA twin. By practicing, I became stronger. Ty picked up on this. And he followed in my footsteps. He became just as good, if not better, at the mind tricks.”
“But Ty seems so different from you most of the time.”
“Ty became distant from me. I caught Sandra whispering to him in corners over the past few months.” Jonas stopped, stared intently at me. “I knew, that morning when I had the most intense panic attack I’d ever experienced, right after having just had an unexplained panic attack the night before: Ty had learned to get inside my head, undetected.”
“Ty was controlling you the night you forced Kyle’s hand into the fire,” Jack confirmed.
“And, of course, the next morning when you practically forced me to stab Jack.” I glanced regretfully at Jack.
“The good news? I’m already another step ahead of Ty.”
“How?” I asked.
“Once I had Sandra’s trust, I was able to leave the facility. She was too busy in her own little scientific world to monitor everything I did, so when no one paid attention, I worked to strengthen other areas. And for some reason, she hadn’t made me return by the time she fell into a coma.”
I remembered how Jonas pinned Ty to the wall by his neck. “You built up your physical strength.”
“And I studied. I got into many forms of self-defense: guns, knives, martial arts.”
“Which is why you wanted Georgia, Fred, and me to take those classes.” Jack’s leg shook next to mine.
Jonas nodded. “At the same time, I borrowed your books and studied biology, DNA mapping, genetic engineering and manipulation… you name it.”
“And when Seth came along and started The Program…” Jack looked like he was understanding everything Jonas was saying.
“I jumped at the chance to find out what he knew and grow closer to you, Georgia, and Fred. I thought we could help each other. And I no longer trusted my mother.” Jonas said the word “mother” with more than a hint of disgust.
“And I led us straight here. To Wellington. To Lexi.”
I stared at a spot on the floor in front of me, trying to make sense of Jonas’s reasons for being at Wellington and for telling us everything now.
“I want you to know I’m on your side. You can trust me.”