Her Cyborg (13 page)

CHAPTER 19

“I'm going!” Faye yelled at Wind. “Phoebe is my friend. There is no chance in hell I'm staying here to sit around and wait for you and Shade to come back.”

Shade saw irritation in Wind's eyes, but he remained calm. “We have already discussed this, Faye. You can't go,” Wind said. “You will only be in the way. Besides, what can you do to help? The Fighters are huge and mean cyborgs. To them, you are an easy prey.”

Faye glared at Wind with her hands on her hips. “I don't give a damn what you think. It's not your call.”

“Yes, it is. Only Shade and I are going. We are the ones who have a chance against the Fighters. They took Phoebe for a reason, and that reason is to get Shade to come to them, meaning, it will be dangerous. Too dangerous for a human girl. You don't have the strength to fight off a Fighter.”

Shade and Wind were ready to leave. They stood packed and ready in the hallway to his and Phoebe's house together with Faye, Celise, and Diane. They had the location of Nightmare and his Fighters thanks to Celise. They were hiding somewhere outside of town in the wastelands. Shade had no idea what awaited them, but he was prepared to face whatever came his way. He had to get Phoebe back.

Faye turned her head and looked at Diane with anger. “Are you just going to let him go?”

There was sadness in Diane's eyes, but a gentle smile played on her lips. “Yes.”

She didn't say anything else, making Faye turn to Wind again. “Isn't Diane your priority? Are you just going to leave her?”

“I'm not leaving her. Diane is safe here, but Phoebe is not safe. Shade needs my help. I'm sure he would do the same for me if it had been the other way around.”

Shade grew tired of all of this. Anger stirred up within him. “Enough!” he yelled with his strong voice, making everyone in the room jump. “We are wasting time.”

He grabbed the bag that stood on the floor and headed for the door with irritated steps. The bag was packed with food, clothing, and other things, like a flashlight, that might come in handy. Phoebe could be hurt, and here he was, watching Wind arguing with Faye. Arguing with Faye was pointless because she was stubborn like few others. Telling her to shut up would only make her start yelling more. She just didn't listen and he had no interest in remaining here one minute longer.

Shade had no memory of how he had ended up in the house, but he assumed he had been taken here by car. Some cyborgs must have helped Wind to place him inside of Wind's car. Phoebe was several hours away and he and Wind were going by car to get there. It would be a new experience for him, but right now, he didn't care much for it. He was too irritated at Faye to think about anything else but getting to Phoebe as fast as possible.

He jerked the front door open to storm out but came to a halt.

On the other side of the door stood a man Shade had never seen before. The man was almost a head shorter than him. He was fit with short, light brown hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb for weeks, and judging by how the man smelled, he hadn't set a foot inside of a shower for some time either. He had handsome facial features, but he was in a desperate need of some cleaning up. His eyes were half-closed as if he was tired. Not only that, he swayed from one foot to the other. Shade's gaze narrowed. The man's strange behavior told him there was something wrong with the man.

The man eyed him from the bottom up. “Who are you?”

“Shade.”

Shade found the man's voice to be strange as well. It was slow, unclear, and just didn't sound normal.

Diane approached the door. “Scott? What the heck are you doing here?”

Scott ignored both her and Shade and pushed himself through the front door. Shade watched him enter the house with suspicion. Was this man a friend of Phoebe's too? He didn't know what to think of the man's weird behavior, but something told him to be on his guard. He slowly went inside again, watching the man as a cat watching its prey. If this man weren't a friend, he would make him regret interrupting him from trying to save Phoebe.

Shade gazed at Diane. She didn't seem happy to see the man. Neither was Wind, Faye, or Celise.

The man stormed around inside the one-floor house with an angry expression. Phoebe had a beautiful house with wide and open spaces. Everything was in bright colors, making it appealing to be in there, but the man's presence spread an unnerving atmosphere. The big hallway was connected with the living room on one side and the kitchen on the other. Shade watched the man disappear into the kitchen and come back a few seconds later.

“Where is the bitch?” the man yelled as he ran from one room to the other, or tried to run from one room to the other. He swayed around most of the time. It was a miracle that he hadn't lost his balance yet.

Shade dropped the bag. He found the man unpleasant and he didn't like having him around. Filled with determination and irritation, Shade placed himself in Scott's way. The man didn't see it coming and collided with Shade, running straight into him without the chance of stopping before it was too late. Scott groaned and grimaced with pain from the impact before he fell to the floor. Shade didn't even twitch a muscle. The man seemed strong because of his fit body, but compared to Shade, he was weak.

No one came running to help Scott up. Shade didn't have any patience to wait for him to get up on his feet. The last thing Shade needed was for someone to stand in the way of him reaching Phoebe, and right now, this man was a huge obstacle. He leaned down and grabbed Scott's shirt before he pulled him roughly up to his feet.

“What bitch are you talking about?” Shade asked with a threatening voice.

The man ignored the question. “Let go of me, you big gorilla! Do you know who I am? I can have you arrested! If I don't find that little bitch soon, there will be hell to pay.”

Shade raised an eyebrow. The man was obviously not afraid.

Wind approached with his usually calm expression. “This is Scott, Shade. He is Phoebe's ex-boyfriend, and he is looking for Phoebe.”

Shade's gaze jerked to Wind as pain surged through him upon hearing Wind's words. He remembered Phoebe talking on the phone with Faye a few weeks ago, mentioning someone named Scott, but he hadn't registered it at the time. He had not been fully functional then, but he was now. The pain of knowing that he was in front of a man Phoebe had slept with before him hurt like hell.

“I see what goes through your mind,” Wind said, “but don't worry. Phoebe will never take him back. I promise you that. She is all yours.”

Shade took a deep breath. He should know that. Phoebe was his, but she also had a history before him, and this man with his weird behavior was a part of it.

“He did nothing but hurt her when they were together. He mistreated her, constantly calling her names and pushing her down.”

His anger for the man grew. “Does she still care for him?”

“No. If she had been here, she would have told you to get him out of the house.”

Scott tried to get free from Shade's grip without success. Now, when Shade knew what Phoebe thought about the man, he knew what he could do to him. He would never allow Scott to hurt Phoebe again.

With a roar, he pressed Scott against the wall next to the front door. Scott groaned from the impact, immediately making him sober up somewhat. He locked gazes with Shade and his eyes grew bigger as fear grabbed him. Out of the corner of his eye, Shade saw that neither Diane, Wind, nor Celise moved a muscle to stop him from teaching Scott a lesson. That told him a lot. He noticed that Faye wasn't in the room. He had no idea where she had gone, but it didn't matter right now.

“You are a cyborg,” Scott said with a gasp.

Shade snorted. “You notice that first now?”

“He is drunk,” Wind said.

“What does that mean?” Shade gave Wind a questioning look.

“I will tell you later.”

Shade nodded and turned his focus back to Scott, pressing the man harder against the wall. “You listen to me now, you little shit. I am Phoebe's, I am bound to her, meaning she is under my protection. You better leave and never come back. If I see your ugly face here again, I promise you that your life will turn into a living hell. Am I making myself clear?”

Disbelief filled Scott's face. “I can't believe she got herself a machine when she could have had a real man instead.”

Shade had had enough. The anger within him grew into rage. Phoebe was in danger, and here he was, arguing with an idiot that did nothing but stand in his way. Without hesitation, he threw Scott out of the house through the door. The man landed on his side on the ground, screaming as if something broke. Shade didn't care if Scott hurt himself. It wasn't his problem, but he couldn't leave him here while he and Wind were gone. That would only give Scott the chance to harass the women during their absence.

He grabbed the bag from the floor and turned to Wind. “Is there somewhere we can leave him?”

Wind nodded. “There is a police station where a few cyborgs work here in Glaswell. They will take care of him.”

“Good. Where does he live?”

“On the other side of Glaswell, but if we tell the police what happened here today, they will make sure he moves away from Glaswell. He has been warned before and was told he would not get a second warning.”

“Even better.” He placed the bag on his back. “We are leaving.”

Wind nodded and turned to Diane. Diane approached him and put her thin arms around him. She tried to smile, but her lips shook and a tear ran down her cheek. There was no missing the worry that emanated from her.

“Come back to me,” she said in a low voice, but loud enough for Shade to hear her.

Shade turned his head to Celise. She stood silently next to Diane with her lips pressed together. She wrung her hands and had her gaze fixed onto the floor. Not until Wind turned to her did she look up at him with huge eyes. Wind grabbed her hands and gave her a gentle smile.

“You did something amazing today, Celise. Thanks to you, we have a chance at saving Phoebe,” Wind said and leaned forward.

When he kissed Celise on the cheek, Shade heard her gasp. Her chin started to tremble and it looked like she wanted to cry, but she managed to hold back her tears. Wind was affecting her badly. Why he had kissed her in the first place confused Shade. He belonged to Diane, and yet, he was intimate with another woman in front of her, but judging by Diane's neutral expression, she didn't seem to mind. Maybe she wanted Wind to be near Celise. Shade didn't know, and in the end, it wasn't his business.

Shade approached Celise. “Thank you. I appreciate all your help. If you ever need my help with something, don't be afraid to ask.”

She gave him a shy smile. “I will.”

“Please contact Jade and tell her where we are going. We are going to need all the help we can get.”

Celise nodded. “Of course. Diane and I will take care of that as soon as you leave.”

Diane looked around in the hallway. “Where did Faye go?”

The others also looked around.

Wind wrinkled his forehead. “I don't know. I didn't notice her leave. I was too focused on Shade and Scott.”

“Me too,” Celise said and looked down at the floor again.

“Maybe, she got angry at us for not being allowed to come along,” Shade believed.

“Yeah, she probably went home. She lives on the other side of the street,” Diane said. “But that is just not like her to give up on an argument.”

Shade didn't say anything about that. He hadn't been fond of Faye from the start and he was glad that she was gone. They needed to get to Phoebe as soon as possible, and he had had enough as it was with Scott right now. They had to stop by the police station to leave him there. They could leave a statement later. He was in a hurry like he had never been in a hurry before.

Shade walked out through the door and went straight for Scott. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up to his feet. He screamed one insult after another at Shade.

“You broke my arm, you bastard!”

“I will break the other if you don't shut up.”

He walked around the corner of the house with Scott in tow and stopped in front of the big, white car that stood parked there. He watched the vehicle as Wind approached it and opened the doors.

“She is in love with you,” Shade told Wind as they drove along the country road.

The city and Scott were far behind them. They had left him at the police station, and the cyborg that worked there had promised to take care of the situation. The further they came, the fewer trees there were. The green grass fields on both sides of the road slowly turned into sand and rocks, looking more and more like the wasteland that they were heading for. They had been driving for almost two hours, and Shade had gotten used to being inside of a car. At first, the speed had bothered him. Wind had suggested slowing down, but that would only take them longer to reach Phoebe. Each minute counted, so Shade sucked it up. At least, they weren't flying like he had seen some cars do.

Wind wrinkled his forehead. “Who?”

“Celise.”

Wind relaxed and smiled. “Oh. Yes, I know. She has been in love with me for years.”

Shade raised an eyebrow. “You know?”

“Of course. I'm not blind. Diane knows too. I think everyone knows, but no one ever talks about it. Celise never says anything. I think she is trying to keep it a secret, but she is like an open book.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means she is easy to read. Every time I come close to her, her heartbeat increases. She breathes faster and her body temperature rises. She avoids looking into my eyes, but I know she watches me when she thinks I don't see. Everything in her body language tells me that she wants me.”

Shade's gaze hardened. “I watched you before we left. You touched her. Why would you do that in front of your bound one? Why would you do that in the first place?”

“Because Diane told me to be kind to her. When Diane was younger, she was deeply in love with a man, and he knew it. Instead of being gentle with her, he ignored her. He treated her like she didn't exist whenever she was near him instead of approaching her and talking to her about it. Diane told me it would have been more kind of him to turn her down with gentle words instead of showing her his back.”

Shade nodded to himself. “Diane doesn't want Celise to experience the same pain.”

“Exactly. Besides, Celise is our friend and her talents are amazing. She knows more about cyborgs than anyone I have ever encountered. Sometimes, I even think she knows more than Jade.” Wind's lips twitched into a smile. “She comes by from time to time and examines me, making sure everything is working, that none of my programming or cybernetics are malfunctioning.”

Shade went silent for a short moment. He remembered the times when Jade had come by to examine him. He hadn't liked it one bit and it had taken a while for him to accept her touch. He had cringed on the inside the first few times, but after a while, it had become easier. With Phoebe's encouragement, he had finally gotten used to it. Wind probably didn't even blink when Celise examined him.

“Why don't you turn her down?” Shade asked. “Celise should know that you will never be hers.”

Shade saw Wind's face tense. “Celise knows.”

“Have you spoken to her about it?”

Wind slowed the car and turned onto a smaller road. It seemed to be leading them straight out into the wastelands. The trees were replaced by huge rocks. Shade knew they were getting closer to Phoebe. He felt it in his whole body.

“A few years ago,” Wind answered, “but she never stopped loving me. She told me that she has tried, but her heart just refuses to let me go.”

Imagining what Celise went through wasn't difficult. He just had to imagine what it would be like if Phoebe decided to turn him down, and he could immediately feel the pain build up inside of him. The difference between him and Celise was that he would die if Phoebe told him that she didn't want him anymore.

“And what do you think of it all?” Shade asked.

Wind thought for a while. “I like her. She is kind and intelligent, but like you said, she and I can never be. As a bound cyborg, I'm not capable of evolving such feelings for anyone else but my bound one.”

“One day, you will have to talk to her about it again. You can't let it go on. It hurts her and will, sooner or later, affect your friendship.”

Wind snorted. “You know, for being a newborn cyborg, you know a lot about life.”

“I learn fast. Besides, it's not that hard to imagine what she is going through.”

Wind took a deep breath. “No, it's not.” He placed his right hand on his chest while he held the steering wheel with the other. “I feel the bond every minute of the day. My thoughts are always on Diane. Whenever I am away from her, I miss her. It hurts to be apart from her.”

Shade couldn't have agreed more. He didn't show it, but on the inside, it felt like he was being torn apart. He was nothing without his Phoebe. She was the reason he was breathing. If the Fighters did anything to her ...

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it. Not now when they were so close. They needed to change the subject. This ride would become too long otherwise.

“Explain to me what drunk means,” he said with a harsh voice.

Wind gave him a quick glance before he turned his focus back onto the road. “Do you know what alcohol is?”

“No.” He couldn't recall every hearing anything about it during his month at MedAct. The Internet hadn't interested him enough yet to find out more about the world that way. He had touched it with his mind a few times, but all the chaos online always overwhelmed him. He didn't want to go back on there yet. He understood the benefits of the Internet, but right now, he didn't want much to do with it.

“It's something the humans drink. It can be turned into many different drinks, like beer, vodka, liqueur, and so on. Each drink tastes different, but they all have the same effect on the body.”

“What effect?”

“You saw it on Scott's behavior. It can literally turn a person into a rambling idiot who is unaware of what they are doing. And if you drink too much, you might even wake up the following day with no memory of what you have done. And on top of that, you will have a major headache.”

Shade stared at Wind. He had a hard time believing what he was hearing.

“Alcohol can't affect us cyborgs, but the humans often react to it in bad ways. I've seen it a few times and I don't recommend it. Thankfully, most humans drink it with moderation.”

Shade wrinkled his nose. “Why drink it at all?”

Wind shrugged. “You tell me. Most of it don't even smell nice, but you have nothing to worry about. One of the demands placed on the humans that sign up for a cyborg is that they don't drink alcohol. Another one is that they don't smoke. MedAct has a long list of things that the humans can't do, ever, if they want to apply for a cyborg.”

Shade became confused again. “Smoke?”

Wind grinned. “I'll explain another time.” He slowed down the car and turned onto a narrow, unpaved road. “We are almost there.”

Shade looked out through the window. Wasteland surrounded them. A few dried trees stood here and there on each side of the road. The beige and brown ground was filled with sand and rocks instead of healthy grass.

Shade tensed. Neither he nor Wind knew what awaited them, but they knew they would arrive at a house that stood in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but sand would surround the house. That was what Celise had told them. That also meant that there was no way of surprising the Fighters who were inside it. Besides, Shade was sure they were expecting them. Also, he wouldn't be surprised if they knew that someone had messed with the signal that linked all cyborgs. Things like that weren't held secret from cyborgs for long, especially when all cyborgs felt it at the same time.

“Did you hear that?” Wind said and wrinkled his forehead.

“Hear what?”

“Something is moving inside the car.”

Shade had been too deep into his thoughts to hear anything. Now, he listened, though. He focused and tried to pick up what Wind had heard. At first, he didn't hear anything but the sounds coming from the engine and the wheels that rolled along the road. But then it came. A loud thud from behind, probably the trunk. Wind and Shade looked at it each other.

“What was that?” Shade asked.

“I have no idea, but we better find out.”

Wind slowed down the car and parked it along the side of the road. There were no cars going by in either direction. The chance of them encountering another car became smaller and smaller with each mile they put behind them. It had already been over ten minutes since they had last seen a car.

They exited the car and approached the trunk. Wind's face bore a serious expression and Shade felt tense. Shade had a bad feeling about this.

Wind put his hand against the trunk and closed his eyes. “Please, let it not be what I think it is,” he said to himself.

Then he opened the trunk.

First, Shade saw a leg, then a t-shirt before he looked higher and stared right into the eyes of Faye. Time seemed to freeze over as she stared back at them with huge eyes. At first, he couldn't believe his own eyes that she had pulled a stunt like this. There really were no limits when it came to her.

Wind's eyes narrowed. “Why am I not surprised?”

Faye sat up in the trunk. She gave them a grin and an expression that said she didn't regret a thing. “It was about time you opened the trunk. Do you know you can't open it from the inside? I sure do now.” She reached out her hand to Wind. “Help me out, will you?”

He didn't move as anger flashed in his eyes. He grabbed Faye's arm and pulled her roughly out of the car.

“What do you think you are doing?” he growled.

Faye fixed her clothes. “I'm going with you. I told you that.” She pulled out her long, blonde hair from her golden ponytail holder and started to put it up again. Her hair had been turned into a mess from lying in the car.

“I knew you were stubborn,” Wind said, “but I never expected you to be stupid.”

She glared at him. “I'm not stupid for trying to help my friend. You boys are going to need me whether you are aware of it or not.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Remember Silver? He will be there. You two did a good job pissing him off. He might listen to me.”

“What makes you so sure?” Shade asked. “The last time you two met was more like he was making fun of you.”

She shrugged. “I just have a feeling, and I have always listened to my feelings. You'd be surprised how much they can tell you. Do what feels right. Have you heard of that before? Well, I have, and it's a motto I follow. It has helped me through a lot in life, and that is also what I'm doing right now. So suck it up, boys. I'm not going anywhere.”