Unremarkable (Anything But) (6 page)

Biting back a grin, he said, “Oh, I think we’re clear.”

“And stop calling me Honor. You can’t do that—you can’t keep going back and forth between my first and last name. It’s confusing. It makes me think maybe you actually like me a little bit, as a—a friend,
nothing more
,” she quickly added, “and then you’re snapping at me again or whatever. So let’s just keep it simple. I’m Rochester. You’re Nealon.
Forever.
” She drew the last word out, her eyes flashing with anger and indignation.

Without meaning to, Isaac laughed at the look she aimed at him.

Honor drew herself up, her features twisted in surprise. “You know how to laugh?”

The laughter cut off. “Shut up, Rochester.”

She tried to hide a smirk as she turned away, but he saw it. “Showering now.”

“
Finally
she listens.”

Isaac changed into a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt and boots, his eyes going to the closed bathroom door across the hall as he left the bedroom; the sound of spraying water evidence that Honor was heeding his words for once. He didn’t know what was going on with her, or what she even was anymore, but fear for her was predominant over any other thought or emotion.

He couldn’t let them get her again—Isaac couldn’t lose the brave girl with the Snow White beauty, not another time. He’d barely survived the last six months; he
wouldn’t
survive it a second time. Part of him thought if he kept her safe, maybe the good deed would cross out all the bad he’d committed, even unintentional as they had been.

Talley showed up while he paced the length of the small living room. He’d changed into his police uniform and carried a weariness Isaac knew he did as well. “Where is she?”

“Showering. Any problems?”

Rubbing a hand through his short brown hair, Talley shook his head. “No. They practically let us walk out of there. I think the resistance effort was more for show than anything. And why isn’t anyone looking for her? The place has been quiet, too quiet. No one’s mentioned anything, not according to my source. It is as if she was never there and she never left. I don’t like it. And the way she moved—” He got a helpless look on his face. “I can’t explain it. It wasn’t natural. None of it makes sense.”

“I agree. It’s not adding up.” He felt into his back pocket and pulled out the baggie. “This was in her neck. I’m going to have James check it out, see if he can make sense of it. Can you stay while I’m gone?”

He took the baggie from Isaac and held it near his face, frowning as he gazed at the small, bloodied tracking device. “She had a GPS on her?” His hand lowered. “Did you notice her eyes?”

“Of course I did,” Isaac muttered, expelling a noisy breath. “And now they’re blue again.”

Talley’s eyebrows lifted.

“I removed the chip and her eyes went back to blue. That tracking device isn’t just a tracking device. That’s why I want James to look at it. I’m assuming it still works, so why haven’t they shown up here with their guns cocked?”

“
Maybe it only activates when it has a host.”

“
Maybe.” Isaac rubbed his eyes, wanting to slip into a coma for a couple days, or maybe years. “You’re good to wait here until I get back?”

“
Yeah, my shift isn’t for another three hours.” Talley raised his wrist to his face, a gleam of metal catching the light. “If I don’t get a text from you in an hour, we’ll move on.”

Isaac nodded. “One hour.”

He grabbed his pistol from the top of a shelf and the baggie, camouflaging each within his clothes. Pausing at the door, he looked over his shoulder at the one man he trusted in the mess that was their reality. Talley stared back, his face impassive. He’d learned that expression from Isaac.

“
Only one hour, Talley, I mean it. After that, you go.” 

“
We’ll go,” he promised.

Hesitating, Isaac finally left the apartment, disquiet trailing behind him.

No one ever woke up
and thought:
Today is the day I’m going to die
. Honor was thinking maybe they should, maybe she should have—because she was some kind of dead. Or at least, whatever she was, she wasn’t completely alive. Maybe that gunshot had killed her and she was dead and no one knew it; except for her—she knew it. Her skin was cold, not ice cold, but it certainly wasn’t warm. Her heartbeats were slow, like her heart wasn’t, or didn’t need to be, working as hard as it used to.

An urge to laugh hysterically or go on a screaming rampage was bubbling up inside her. What was wrong with her? She sat on the toilet seat in the pink and cream bathroom and stared unseeingly at a framed photograph of a white rose. Hunger and thirst had abandoned her, along with the part of herself she knew. The new Honor was a mystery, like August had said, and also like him, she wasn’t crazy about puzzles, especially ones involving her.

If she’d known her life was going to be so drastically altered that last day she went to school, she wouldn’t have gone. Honor would have cuddled at home with Scarlet and watched her draw her animal pictures. She would have told her mother she loved her, that no matter what, she would always love her. Spending the day with her mother and sister, simply existing—that’s what Honor would have done. All the things she’d previously thought trivial and had taken for granted, she would have welcomingly embraced and kept close to her heart, for as long as she was allowed.

“
Honor?” She jumped at the voice and knock on the door, a moment spent searching for recognition raising alarm within her. “You okay in there?”

“
Yeah,” she lied, moving to stand.

The clothes were loose and long on her, but she wasn’t going to be picky. Clothes were clothes, and anything was better than white shirts and pants. She’d worn enough of those in recent months. Honor wondered at the person the clothes belonged to. Who was she? Where was she? What was she to Nealon? That thought and why she was thinking it didn’t give her a good feeling, so she quickly shoved it away as she went to the mirror.

Talley’s voice caused her to jump again when he asked, “Need anything?”

“
No.” She swiped a hand across the fogged up mirror and stared at her reflection. She’d aged six months while she’d slept. How was that even
possible
? Honor’s body should have atrophied. She should be weak, skeletal.

When she felt Talley hovering beyond the barrier of the door, she said, “I’ll be right out.” It was a long moment before he finally walked away, his tread methodic and precise.

Honor leaned in close to her image, searching for the inward changes to somehow show through into her exterior features. The face looking back at her was the same; the only change she could see was more definition to her features, as though her face had somehow slimmed down. She leaned closer, frowning, angling her head in different directions. It almost looked like her eyes were reflective when the light caught them just right, a ring of silver around the blue. She backed away from the mirror and her eyes were simply blue again.

Unsatisfied with the normalness of the reflection looking back at her, she lifted up the shirt and felt the smooth skin of her stomach. It was taut, unblemished. It wasn’t right and that bothered her, made her fearful. Honor took a deep breath, letting the fabric drop down to cover her abdomen, and left the bathroom. She wouldn’t be finding any answers hanging out in a restroom and she was not one to cower and chew off fingernails in worriment.

She hadn’t even taken a step when Talley careened around the corner and rushed at her, his eyes bulging. “Hide. Now.
Hide
.”

“
What? What’s going on? What are you talking about?” She winced as he squeezed her arm and dragged her toward the bedroom, stumbling behind him.

“
They’re here. Outside the door. Don’t hide.
Shit.
Take my gun.
Take it.
I have another. Go out the window.”

Talley grabbed her face so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. His expression was tight-lipped, his eyes fierce. “You
run
, Honor. You understand me? You run like you’ve never run before. There are tunnels under the town, going into other towns. Down by the old rock quarry, there’s an opening into them. Do you know where that is?”

Honor nodded roughly. The unused rock quarry was two miles outside of town. She used to run to it and back almost every day. 

“Go there. It’ll be harder for them to find you underground. But be careful. They all lead to UD facilities. Go.
Now.
Go out the window and
you run
.” His fingers dug into the flesh of her skin.

She wordlessly nodded, shaken and scared, but not for herself, for Talley. “I will. I’ll run,” she promised in a whisper.

His grip slackened on her face just as the front door banged open. Talley shoved her behind him, reaching for his gun. “
Run.
”

Honor wanted to tell him to take care of himself, but there was no time. So she ran, through the hall, jumping from the open window of the bedroom and down two stories to the hard ground, the jolt of impact barely registering in her mind. Shouts rang out behind her, the firing of a weapon momentarily freezing her, and then she sprinted—her mind set and focused on the quarry and nothing else.

Trees and houses faded away, the earth around her became silent.
Run, Honor. Just run.
The fact that she was wearing flip-flops was a deterrent for speed so she kicked them off, the rocks and gravel of the road digging into the soles of her feet nonsensical.

It was strange—her strides were longer, faster, and the usual burn was nonexistent. Her lungs easily accepted and released air, her arms pumping to speed her up even more. It took half the time it used to take her to reach the quarry. Thirst didn’t hit her, weariness stayed away. Honor felt more like a machine than a human.

She swallowed, shaking her head as she searched for an opening that led to underground. She didn’t want to think about what she was. The gun remained cool in her grip, no sweat making it slippery. Honor looked at the firearm made out of dark metal, unaware of what kind or caliber it was. She hadn’t really had a lot of training on weaponry before everything went from bad to worse.

The mountain of pale orange rock and sand loomed above her, tall and unapologetic. She almost missed the opening. It was behind an area of jutting rock, undetectable to anyone not looking for it. Sliding around it, Honor kept the weapon raised. She knew where the safety was and she knew it was on, she knew how to aim and fire; that would have to be enough. Her arm scraped against the rough rock wall and she winced, staring as the cut immediately healed. Honor’s breaths became shaky.

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

Instant darkness formed around her as she entered the cavern. Water dripped down the walls in gentle pings, the temperature cooling immensely without the heat of the sun. She shivered out of habit since the cold air didn’t bother her anymore.

Almost immediately, the ground beneath her changed, became slippery and smooth. Honor bent down, feeling the metal grate. With a deep breath, she lifted it up, surprised by how light it was.

“
Nowhere to go but down,” she muttered, keeping her grip on the grate as she slipped through the hole, careful to put it back in its place above her. She didn’t know what direction she should be moving, so Honor picked a tunnel on the right and began to walk.

The thoughts that kept her company as she journeyed were unwanted. Memories once happy now filled her with sorrow. The one that hit her the hardest was the last time her family had been whole. Why she was thinking of it now, when she’d been able to keep it buried for so long, irritated Honor. She didn’t want to remember the past because it was gone forever and she would never get it back. She would never see her dad again and she didn’t really know if she’d ever see her mom and sister again either.

Realizing and accepting that hollowed out a part of her and filled it with despair. So many things had been kept from her, information she clearly would have benefited from knowing; like the knowledge of what she had the potential to be and had inevitably become.

It hadn’t been anything significant—that last day spent together. They’d had a picnic at Junction Park. It was a warm day in August, a constant breeze adding a hint of fall to the air. The sun shone and nature, peaceful and plentiful, made it close to perfect. Scarlet, then ten, pushed Honor on the swings and later Honor braided her hair as her mother braided hers. Her father watched with a content smile on his face. He was going on a trip that night to an out-of-state tool convention. He said he wanted to do some remodeling at the barber shop and was told there would be good deals on do-it-yourself tools.

Later, she remembered him turning at the door, his brown hair forever in disarray, suitcase in hand, and his gray eyes shining with love. “Love you, baby girl,” he said, winking.

Honor was always the last to see him off when he went on trips, the bond between them strong. She missed her father the second he was gone and that time was no different.

“Love you, Dad,” she whispered to a closed door.

His airplane had crashed somewhere in Nevada. It was a private plane, flown by a local man her dad had known for years. She couldn’t remember his name or if she’d ever been told it. Honor had never met him. She now wondered if her mom ever had. Had he even really gotten into a plane? Had he ever really taken trips in the name of his business? Maybe it had all been a hoax, like almost everything else Honor had thought to be true. Her breathing quickened and a sick feeling swirled in her stomach. She pushed on through the dark and drafty tunnels, trying not to think of all the things she
didn’t
know.

She used to imagine she heard his voice in her head, telling her to be strong, to never give up. But Honor hadn’t heard his voice in a long time and now the silence of it was blaringly loud. Over two years had come and gone since she’d last seen her father. His death had changed her; it had woven a fissure that never healed through all of them.

Honor lowered her head, the loss hitting her fiercely, taking her breath away. Usually she was okay, but today, now, with all that had come to pass recently, the barriers that kept her functional were removed and it was unbearable. The pain was in her head, her throat, her chest, and it was growing, tightening.

Keep moving. Think about something else. Keep going.
Although it was her own voice telling her that, Honor liked to imagine it was her father's. She couldn't remember the exact timbre of his voice, but she knew it sounded a lot like Nealon's and Honor was able to take strength from that to continue on. Nealon would find her. She knew that too. Somehow, he would. 

Hours passed and still she walked, not seeing or hearing anything but rodents scurrying around her and the sound of dripping water, her feet wading through inches of liquid she was thinking she probably didn’t want to know the details of. Periodically, light filtered down on her from an unknown source.

She turned a corner and paused, straining her ears. Three pairs of footsteps came from the left, a good distance away yet. Honor caught certain words, such as “Ryder” and “UDs”. His name was like a punch to her chest and her breath left her in a painful gasp.

Honor shoved the last image she remembered of him and his grief-stricken eyes from her mind. She had to think, to stay focused. Calm again, she determined it had to be UDKs.

Instinctively knowing she would not receive a welcome reception from them, she hurried her pace, intent on putting as much space between her and them as quickly as she could. It didn’t matter that she used to be one; what mattered that whatever she was, Honor knew it was no longer a UDK. At least, that wasn’t
all
she was.

She heard him, felt him, before she saw him. The air around her crackled with awareness, with the faint scent of cinnamon.

Honor whirled around. It took a minute for her to realize who was staring at her so intently. He looked the same, but different in a way. His face was harder, his stance edgy. Ryder’s dark blond hair was shorter than she remembered him having it, his green eyes shining in the pale light. He seemed bulkier, his muscles carved and toned with more definition.

Shock froze her in place and her stomach rolled over and over. Hatred should have been boiling through her veins and Honor couldn’t comprehend why it wasn’t. Maybe because the last time she’d seen his face, it had been filled with devastation, the pain in his eyes unbearable to look at.

He inhaled sharply and whispered in a ragged, choked voice, “Are you a ghost?”