Chapter 121 They Found Us
1627words
I was lying on a bed. A cold, hard bed. At least, that's what I initially thought until I caught my reflection in a wall-sized mirror. I was in my mermaid form, strapped to a steel table.
Besides the other side of me were all kinds of machines. One ticked like a clock, one beeped, and the other hummed in the background.
I didn't know what they were, but I immediately recognized the stickers stuck to them in a bright blue. Property of the AOUB.
They had me.
My eyes widened as panic and realization set in at the same time. Kayn was with me last.
And Belinda.
"No," I wheezed. I tried to move my body, but I couldn't. I was paralyzed from the chest and down. No matter how hard I tried to wiggle my fingers or tail, or any part of my body, it just didn't move.
I was frozen and stuck to that table.
Hot tears blurred my vision. "Kayn," I sucked in a sob, praying by some miracle he could hear me.
Or still alive.
I shoved that thought away immediately, refusing to believe anything had happened to him. If anything, he was probably fighting them and would come for me soon.
We would get out of this place alive, and together. We would run away like we had planned if it ever came to that. This was a good enough reason to.
"She's awake," a familiar woman's voice clipped. The door in the corner pushed open and Janice appeared, carrying a clipboard and a man I didn't recognize followed suit.
Janice placed down her clipboard and reached for something on the table. When she lifted her hand, she held three different syringes filled with clear liquid. One of them had a golden liquid in them.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, watching the man take the syringes from her and rounded the table to my side. "What are you going to do with that? What's in those?"
Janice clicked her tongue, sighing. "It's for the greater good."
"I don't see how keeping us here is for the greater good."
"Really?" Janice rounded the opposite of the bed and stood to peer down at me. "Anything that can outsource or out power a human is a threat. Besides that, we will get paid billions once we have gathered enough tests and evidence to prove your existence."
"Killing people to you is worth billions?" I asked incredulously.
"Your not people," she spat, nodding at the man. "That one first."
"This one?" The man held up the syringe with the golden liquid and Janice nodded. "Of course."
"Where's Kayn?" I asked. "What did you do to him?"
She snorted. "He's taking a little nap."
My heart suddenly pounded inside my chest. "Napping? Elaborate on that? As in actually sleeping?" No, I told myself. Of course he was just sleeping. I refused to allow myself to think…Wait! I realized something and turned my attention on Janice. "You do know that me and him are bound?"
Janice stiffened, her eyes flicking to me. "Come again?"
"Bound," I said. "It's this whole connection thing that links our lives to each other. If one of use dies, the other one dies to. So if you plan on testing further on one of us, I suggest keeping the other one alive."
Janice blinked at me for a moment, before spinning around and grabbing a device from the table below my feet. She returned to my side, and I recognized it as a tape recorder. She clicked it on and her gaze narrowed on to me.
"Talk," she said. "Repeat what you told me."
I reconsidered it. What if she used this against us? She would most likely, but if it meant it would keep us alive long enough until we could find a way to escape…
Surely enough, Kayn's family and my parents would notice if we didn't return home. They would come for us.
Yes. We needed to stay alive. I swallowed, before repeating what I told her before. She asked me to elaborate, how the process worked. How it happened, and tons of other questions relating to the subject.
I answered them all, tweaking some truths to protect us. I'd only tell her what would keep us alive, not all of our truths.
"Does my mom know you have me here?" I asked when we were done. "Is this why you hired her? To get to me? How long have you known about me? Where—"
"Enough," she snapped. "You are not here to ask questions. You will remain quiet, or we will make you be quiet. Starting with that boy you care so much about."
I pursed my lips together, shooting her a venomous look.
"You can start now," Janice waved at the man beside me, who I forgot about. Panic swelled inside my chest as the man pushed away the strap tied to my arm and stabbed the needle into my flesh.
I cried out in pain as a fire swelled inside my veins, and spread throughout my entire body.
Janice smirked down at me. "I'll go visit that boy of yours and see if this bond thing you told me about really works. I was wondering why he kept having random fevers and outbursts of pain. Thought it had to do with the lighting or lack of ocean water. Guess I know now." She peered at the man. "Record everything for me. I'm going to the boy to see how much truth there is in her story."
The clicking of Janice's heels faded as I started to sob, praying this pain would end.
It was the worst kind, like acid eating me from the inside.
Even more worse than the first time I turned, back when Belinda attacked me with toilet water.
If there was a hell, this would be an ideal depiction of it. I gasped for air as the fire spread to my lungs and up my throat. I wanted to lift my hands to press on my throat, in hopes to relieve the tension there, to breathe, but I couldn't.
The man calmly resumed his business beside me, as if nothing was wrong, taking notes as I squirmed in agony.
"Kayn," I cried through gasps of air. "I love you."
I hoped he heard that before the lights faded and darkness came.
***
The next time I woke up my body ached. A normal kind of ache, when you exercise and find your muscles stiff and sore the following day. The horrendous burn, to my relief, was entirely gone. To be honest, I was surprised I was even still alive.
"Carly?" a voice whispered. I felt a hand touch the side of my face, wiping strands of hair from my face. The voice I didn't recognize, uttered my name again. "Carly?"
My eyes flung open to find Ember staring down at me. "Ember?" I croaked. "They've got you too?"
She shook her head. "My name is Aria, but we do look a lot alike."
I gasped, sitting up. "I can move!"
"Yeah, they brought us into this room. Not sure why, I think it's a part of the experiment to see how we ineract."
I peered at her. "What about Kayn? And Belinda?"
"Right here," Belinda's voice sounded from the other side of me. I glanced over to find her hunched in the corner on the floor, her knees pressed to her chest. "We don't know where Kayn is."
"They just brought us in here," Aria said. "Imagine my surprise when they brought you two in here. Belinda told me who you are."
I nodded, peering at her. "They've been looking for you," I said. "Your family."
Her brows furrowed. "They know I'm alive?"
I inclined my head. "Yes. Thanks to a fairy."
"Ember's boyfriend, right?" she asked and smiled slightly. "He's a great guy. Is he taking care of my sister?"
"Uh, it's complicated." I updated Aria on everything. About how Rake got accused of her death, which turned out never happened, and everything else. It also turned out Aria didn't even know about the Martha and Hector situation.
"Great to also be updated on the current situation," Belinda huffed bitterly. "You see me on a daily basis and don't tell me a thing. You know Aria for five seconds and update her on everything, even on your own childhood history. Just freaking amazing."
"It's not as if you went out of your way to treat me like a human being," I retorted.
"Turns out you aren't one," she bit back.
"Stop it," Aria interrupted. "Now isn't time to pick fights. We need to work together so we can get out of here."
"You're right," I nodded, sighing. "We need to work together. But we need to find Kayn first."
"Yes, we're not going anywhere without my brother." Aria glanced at me. "Do you have any idea where they might have him?"
I shook my head. "That Janice woman didn't tell me where she has him. But we know he's alive."
"That's good enough," she squeezed my hand. It was insane how much she reminded me of Ember, and how easy it was to connect with her.
I had the feeling we would be friends too if it were under better circumstances.
"Play along when they come back," Aria said, then looked at me. "Can you distract them?"
I nodded. "Sure. What are you going to do?"
"I have an idea. Just do that while their in here. If it works, we can discuss our next move."
