Escape to Eden (6 page)

The tension breaks when Jenna appears in the doorway. “There you are, Patch! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Anthony grabs her arm. “Why did you leave her? What were you thinking?”

She shakes his hand off. “She told me to. Said she could take care of herself.” She notices Colt. “Maybe I shouldn’t have left. I didn’t realize a snitch was in the house.”

I take a small step back; my stomach churns as I realize that two people now have both said they don’t trust Colt. I need to keep my guard up with him.

Colt moves toward Jenna, but Anthony steps between them. “We have bigger things to worry about, Jenna. Spit saw her.”

Fear replaces her smirk. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s bolt.”

Anthony turns and addresses Colt one last time. “Are you going to help?”

Colt hesitates, probably afraid. They probably all are. I may not know them well, but I know their lives aren’t any more valuable than mine.

I clear my throat before I speak. “It’s okay. He doesn’t have to come. None of you do. You’ve already helped me so much. I don’t want you putting your lives at risk anymore. If you can just give me directions to get out of the city and to this place called Eden, I can make it on my own.”

The room does the whole quiet/loud thing again, and I squirm under their intense stares. Colt’s stare is especially uncomfortable, like he’s seeing beyond my eyes and all the way inside me to a place I don’t even know about.

“Let’s go. Now,” Colt says, making me think he saw something.

A
fter leaving Bram’s office and hurrying down the hall, Anthony pushes open a back door leading into a different alleyway than the one we parked in. It’s as clean as the one before and smells like lilac bushes. I look around for them but see none.

“Wait here,” Anthony says and jogs to the corner of the building.

I stand close to Colt and Jenna, glancing sideways at Colt. He’s looking down the alleyway, opposite of Anthony. His whole body is alert and tense.

“Thanks,” I say to him, my voice low.

“Don’t thank him just yet,” Jenna mutters, and again I wonder what Colt has done to make her hate him so much.

Anthony jogs back. “The Institute is here.”

“How many vehicles?” Colt asks.

“Just two, but more will be coming. Jenna, can you bring your car back here?”

“On it.” She sprints down the long alleyway the way we just came.

My head spins, and I nearly stumble as I realize how close to the truth my earlier statement was—their lives are at risk because of me. “Anthony, I mean it. Just tell me where to go. I can find my own way.”

“Nonsense. You would never make it. At least not until your memory comes back.”

“Where do you think she came from?” Colt asks, his voice low.

Anthony rolls his shoulders back trying to relieve tension in them. “From a raid. Nothing else makes sense.”

“Raid?” I don’t like how the word fits in my mouth.

Colt’s shaking his head. “But they didn’t find anyone at the last one. At least that’s what I was told.”

“When was their last raid?” I ask. My stomach feels rotten and twisted inside. I inhale deeply to smell the lilacs.

“A month ago,” Colt says.

“Do you think—”

“It wasn’t you,” Colt interrupts. “No one was there.” The way he says it, all forceful, makes me think he’s trying to convince himself more than me.

“Then where did I come from? Where did the boy come from?”

“What boy?” Colt asks.

I explain about the boy, remembering how he had held me around the neck. With every word, the sick feeling in my gut spreads until I think I might throw up.

“I talked to Bram about the child,” Anthony says. “He knows someone at the Institute who will find out more.”

“Can I stay in the city until I know he’s safe?” I ask.

“No. It’s best we get you to Eden as soon as possible.”

“Eden,” I say. “You said it before. What is it?”

“The only safe place for Originals. Its location is secret. I don’t even know where it is.”

The sounds of tires squeal from around the corner. I expect to see Jenna’s car, but it isn’t. Not even close.

A
vehicle approaches us fast. It’s a small sports car that looks as liquid as black ink. Beneath a streetlight, the metal shimmers, making me think it can change its shape.

“Run!” Anthony grabs my arm and pulls me forward, but within a few steps I’m already ahead of him, fear overriding my stiff muscles. Colt is faster and leads the way deeper into the alley.

“Where do I go?” Colt calls.

“Ashton Street,” Anthony says.

“See you soon!” Colt turns into an adjacent alley, leaving us alone.

I stay close to Anthony, my heart pounding louder than the sound of my over-sized shoes slapping against the shiny pavement. One of them flies off, almost tripping me, and I quickly abandon the other and run barefoot.

The shimmering vehicle is almost on us when out of nowhere Jenna’s car appears, blocking its path. I expect to hear metal crunching against metal, but when I look back the hood of the ink-colored car looks like it’s buckling even though it hasn’t touched anything. It must be the car’s reaction to stopping suddenly.

“Get in!” Jenna yells.

I barely get the door closed before tires are clawing at the road again. I wonder if they’ll leave a mark against the perfectly constructed pavement. Anthony and I look back at the black car. It’s following behind us dangerously close.

“It’s just a tag,” he says. “I don’t think anyone’s in it.”

“But how do we lose it?” Jenna asks.

Anthony swivels forward in the passenger seat, rubbing the
back of his neck, but doesn’t say anything. I’m still staring at the vehicle; its hood shimmers again as if it knows I’m watching. There’s something familiar about its behavior. I think hard until my brain hurts.

“We need a charging station,” I say. Another instinct.

“What are you spouting?” Jenna asks, eyeing me in the rearview mirror.

“A charging station. You know, for cars. Surely there are some around here.”

Jenna lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Balls, Patch! Of course I know what a charging station is, but what good will that do?”

“If we can reverse the cables and shock the power system in your car—”

“It will reboot the whole system, dropping the tracking,” Anthony finishes, his voice excited.

Jenna turns a corner sharply. “And you say you can’t remember anything. Are you messing with us?”

“I can’t explain it. I don’t have control over the things that come back to me.”

Anthony taps on a lit-up screen on the dashboard. “Talk about it later. Let’s just get to a charging station before a real vehicle with a lot of angry Institute employees shows up.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Jenna says, swerving the car left. She swats at Anthony’s hand. “Quit messing with that thing. I know where I’m going.”

In a matter of minutes she pulls up to what looks like a closed auto repair store. Out front is a metal box that says: “Free Charge.”

Anthony’s out the door before the car comes to a complete stop. I open mine and hesitate. The shimmering black car has followed us into the parking lot. Its headlights bathe us in an accusing glow.

“Hey, Patch!” Anthony calls. “I’m not sure if I know what I’m doing.”

I jog over and inspect the box. It’s a shiny silver with a red button on its side. Only one cord comes out of it, a metal clamp at its end.

“We need to open it,” I say.

“How?” Jenna asks next to me.

Anthony runs his hands all around the box. “It’s solid.”

“So bust it open,” Jenna says. “And hurry. We probably have less than a minute.”

Anthony straightens and sucks air into his lungs in a slow inhale. He holds his breath for a few seconds and then, in a lightning-quick move, smashes his fist into the side of the box. The metal buckles under the pressure.

I jump, startled by the violent action.

“Again,” Jenna says.

Anthony duplicates the process and on his exhale punches a hole right through the metal. He reaches in with his hands and begins to tear at the box until there’s a gaping hole in the back.

He wipes sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and says, “Now what?”

“Impressive,” I say and bend over to peer inside. There are two small metal squares side-by-side with wires attached to each of them. On one of them is a plus sign, and on the other a negative. I need to switch the negative charge with the positive.

“Attach the charging clip to your car,” I say to Jenna while I set to the task of switching the wires. It takes me a few seconds to locate the right ones, a green and yellow wire. They come apart easily, and I reattach them into the other’s location. After double- checking my work, I say, “Press the button.”

Just as Anthony reaches to touch it, I shout, “Wait!”

Inside, at the back of one of the small boxes, I notice a white switch. I flip it up. Had I not done this, I would’ve fried Jenna’s car. “Okay, now!”

Anthony pushes the button but nothing happens. At the same time there’s a humming sound, faint at first, but definitely growing closer.

“They’re coming!” Jenna says. “Why isn’t the car rebooting?”

Anthony rushes over to where the metal clamp is attached to Jenna’s bumper and wiggles it around. “Try it again.”

I hit the button and look up expectantly. The sound beyond the buildings in front of us grows louder, and the ground rumbles beneath my feet. I’m not sure what’s approaching, but my racing pulse tells me I don’t want to find out.

Just then Jenna’s car powers down. A few seconds later, lights flicker and come back to life.

“Get in,” Jenna says.

I’m already halfway into the car. The sound approaching is almost deafening. I expect to see some giant machine on wheels rounding the corner at any second.

“Let’s see if your little stunt worked,” Jenna mumbles as she presses on the gas.

The car darts forward, leaving the parking lot. Anthony and I turn around to watch the tracker car. It doesn’t follow.

Jenna laughs. “I can’t believe that worked! Maybe you’re not the dummy I thought you were.”

“Just drive,” Anthony says before I can say anything. “Fast.” He’s still watching behind us. After a few blocks he turns back around. “That was close.”

I shake my head, bothered by something. “We may have gotten away, but won’t the tracker have already sent information about this vehicle to the Institute? They may have already traced it back to Jenna.”

“Not mine,” she says. “It’s my mom’s and registered to her old boyfriend’s address. We also have different last names.”

Anthony taps his fingers against a center console; they leave prints against a shiny surface. “She’s right, though. It’s only a matter of time before they discover your mother has a child. They’ll start an investigation and discover who you are.”

“Then I’ll report the car stolen. This might surprise you, but I am a wonderful actress.”

“That might work,” Anthony says and lets out a long sigh as if he’s just realizing how complicated getting me out of the city will be. I really hate that I’m so dependent upon them. They’re taking huge risks for me, a perfect stranger. Somehow I need to find a way to repay them.

After a few seconds of silence, I ask, “What was coming toward us? The rumbling?”

Jenna and Anthony exchange glances.

“The Institute,” he says. “They come with one of their massive transport vehicles. It has to be very large to hold their soldiers.”

“The trollmobile,” Jenna says. “Packed with mutants.”

I remember the tall beast in the hospital. “Monstrous chests and small legs?”

“Yes, that sounds right. How did you know?” Anthony asks and swivels around in his seat to look at me.

“There was one at the Institute where they were holding me.”

“And you got away from him?” Jenna asks, her eyes wide in the rearview mirror.

I nod and sink into the seat.

They’re quiet for a minute until Jenna says, “So how’d you know to do that thing with the charger?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, Patch,” she says, “You can tell us. We’re pals now, right?”

I don’t say anything because I’m not sure how I feel about her, but we’re definitely not pals.