Hope (Book 2, Harvester of Light Trilogy; Young Adult Science Fiction) (16 page)

“Now I’m a
reformed harvester,” Ian reminded me.  “Do you remember asking me what it was I
missed about being human after I became a harvester?”

“Yes.  You said
you didn’t know me well enough to answer the question at the time.”

“I missed being
able to feel what it was like to love people.  When I was a harvester, I didn’t
give a rat’s ass about my family or friends.  They could have been strangers to
me and I couldn’t have cared about them any less than I did.  And because of
that, do you know what I have inside of me?”  Ian pointed to his chest but
didn’t wait for my response.  “I have my brother’s heart beating inside my
chest.  I stood there and watched them butcher him and harvest his organs for
me to use.  And you know what I did?  Nothing.  I didn’t care enough to stop
them.  All I cared about was myself.  If anything like that happens to you
while you’re still a harvester, I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to recover
from it once we figure out how to make you human again.”

“Well the solution
to that is simple: don’t make me into a weak human again.”

Ian looked at the
others in the room.  “So any of you know how to help her?  I’m assuming we
can’t use the Cain virus since she’s the cure to it.”

“I may have a
way,” Michael said.  His relaxed stance seemed to indicate Ian’s heartfelt confession
made him trust Ian a touch more.

“Good,” Ian looked
at me.  “The sooner we get you back to normal the less regrets you’ll have
later on.”

While Wilford was
taking a sample of my blood, Michael, Jace and Ian went upstairs to speak
privately.  Even with my advanced hearing, I couldn’t hear them which seemed to
be the point of their departure.

“You know, ever
since Michael found out about that boy he hasn’t been able to think about
anything but finding him,” Wilford told me.

“Why did it take
him so long to find out about Jace?”

“Lucena kept him a
secret from Michael.  It took him a while to figure out where Lucena was
keeping the boy.  But when he did, he didn’t let his people rest until they got
him out. Guess God was smiling on us when he sent you there too.”

“So you could use
me as your own personal lab rat?”

“Were you this
ornery before the conversion?”  Wilford asked.

“Sometimes.  Every
little thing seems to be aggravating me now,” I admitted reluctantly.

“Hope I like you
better when you become human again,” Wilford grumbled.

“Ditto.”

Wilford chuckled.

“Got what you
need?” Michael asked as the trio walked off the elevator.

“Yeah, should be
enough to work with.  If it’s not, I know where to find her while you’re gone.”

“What’s that
supposed to mean?” I asked.

“You’ll have to
stay here while we go get your friends,” Michael told me.  “Wilford will keep
an eye on you.”

“It’s safer this
way Skye,” Jace said.

“So you’re just
going to leave me with Mr. Poke and Prod over here?  I thought you were
supposed to love me?  What if he tries to dissect me while you’re gone?”

“Now wait just a
damn minute little lady…”

“Wilford, she
doesn’t know what she’s saying,” Michael said.  “It’s just the chip making her
this way.”

“Well, the sooner
we get her human again the better,” Wilford grumbled, looking even grumpier
than usual.

“You people act
like I want to be human again,” I said.  “Well I have news for you: I don’t.”

“You do,” Jace
countered.  “You’re just not thinking straight right now.”

The more they
insisted they knew what was best for me the angrier I felt.  How dare they tell
me what I should want?  They couldn’t read my mind.  I was thinking clearer now
than I had ever in my whole entire life!  Unburdened by emotions like guilt and
love made me realize exactly what a great gift the Queen had bestowed upon me. 
I no longer had to abide by the rules of right and wrong.  I could live by my
own set of standards and take what I wanted.  I wasn’t about to let them change
me.  I was perfect.

Chapter 15

The men decided it
would be in everyone’s best interest to lock me up in a specially designed
prison cell while they went off to play hero.  They didn’t talk about the
details of the mission to rescue Ash and Zoe in front of me but I didn’t care. 
Whether they found them or not wasn’t my concern.  All I wanted to do was find
my way back to the Queen and take my rightful place by her side.

The prison was
housed in the basement of a building adjacent to Wilford’s lab.  It was the
proverbial dark and dank dungeon with four prison cells, no windows and a
singular thick metal door being the only way in or out of the room. 

“The bars and door
are made of titanium,” Michael told me as he opened my cell.  “So don’t waste
your time in trying to escape.”

I looked around
the room and then at Jace.  “Are you really going to let them cage me like an
animal?”

“It’s for your own
safety,” he replied, though I could read the guilt on his face like the lines
of a book.  “Wilford will watch over you while we’re away.”

“And you trust
that quack to protect me?”

“Unlike most of
the other men on this compound,” Michael said, “Wilford is immune to your
charms, such as they are.”

Before I could
protest further, Michael grabbed my arm and threw me into the cell, shutting
the door before I had time to react.

“You’ll regret
doing this to me,” I warned them. 

“And you’ll regret
it if we don’t,” Ian said.  “Just chill your heels in there until we get back. 
Maybe seeing Zoe and Ash again will help you.”

“I don’t need any
help!  Why can’t you people get that through your thick human skulls!  I want
to be sent back to my Queen!  I want you people to leave me the hell alone!”

“I love you.”

Jace’s simple
declaration brought me up short, unexpectedly diffusing my wrath.  I closed my
eyes and turned my back to him.  I couldn’t look at his face, filled with so
much love for a person who didn’t exist anymore.

“Skye, I love you.”

“Shut up,” I said
through clenched teeth.  “You’re wasting your breath and your time.  I don’t
want your love.”

“You need it now
more than ever,” he insisted.  “And I know deep down you still love me.  That’s
why you can’t look at me right now.”

I forced myself to
turn around and face him to prove his theory wrong.  His eyes were filled with so
much hope it made me want to rip his face off.

“I never really
loved you,” I said with false conviction, knowing the old me had loved him very
much.  “I just let you believe I did because I felt sorry for you.  I always
loved Ash, not you.”

The muscles of Jace’s
jaw clenched.

I smiled.

“Don’t listen to
her.  She’s lying her ass off,” Ian said to Jace before looking at me.  “Or
don’t you remember crying like a little baby over Jace in the orchard the other
day?”

I felt the muscles
of my jaw tighten.

Ian grinned. 
“Yeah, don’t try to play like you don’t know what I’m talking about.  I know
what it’s like to be a harvester, remember that.  And right now you’re using everything
you can to build a wall against Jace so he doesn’t reach the real you.  I know
the tricks, used them myself a few times.”

“I’m sorry,” I
said to Ian.  “Do I look like someone who really wants to hear your woe is me
stories?  You don’t know me, so stop pretending you do.”

“I know you,
sister.  Probably better than you do at the moment.”

I crossed my arms
over my chest.  “Don’t you people have somewhere better to be right now?  I’d
much rather be alone than have to deal with all these heart to heart
conversations you insist on having.”

“She’s right,”
Michael said.  “We need to get going.  The sooner we rescue your friends the
better.  I don’t know what Lucena’s plans were for them but I’m sure they
weren’t pleasant.”

Jace looked at
me.  “No matter what you say or how hard you try to push me away, I won’t stop
loving you.  And just remember, I know your future.  You won’t always be like
this.  I know you’ll find a way to come back to me.”

I turned my back
to them and heard them leave, finally granting me some peace and quiet.

The cell was
sparse with only a small cot tucked away in the corner with a thin dark blue
wool blanket and a small pillow.  I lay down on the bed and stared at the
ceiling trying to think of ways to escape my solitary confinement.

A few hours later
I heard the door to the room open and stood to see who it was.  Unfortunately,
it was Wilford.

“Come to gloat?” I
asked him sitting up on the cot.

Wilford shuffled
towards the door to my cell and drew out a key from his pant pocket.

“No, I came to
help you escape.”

Before I knew it,
the door to my cell stood wide open with only Wilford standing in the way of my
freedom and the Queen.

“Why are you
helping me?  Is this some sort of trick?” I asked, sure Wilford was trying to
get me to stick my head in a trap.

“I’m helping you
because that godforsaken mother of yours will kill my granddaughter if I
don’t.”

“You’re
granddaughter?”

“Couple of years
ago, Lucena grabbed my daughter.  She was pregnant at the time and Lucena still
has the baby.”

“What about your
daughter?

“The first time
Lucena tried to blackmail me by using them I called her bluff.  She killed my
daughter and sent me her head in a box.  She told me if I ever tried to do it
again she’d kill my granddaughter.”

“So she knows
about this place?”

“Of course she
does.  What doesn’t that woman know about?”

“Then why hasn’t
she destroyed it?”

“Cause she’s got
me by the balls, doing what she wants.  Didn’t I just say that?”

“What does she
have you doing for her?”

“She gave me the
Cain virus to pass off as something I invented.  The damn fools here actually
thought I was smart enough to make it.”

“Why would she do
that?”

“Hell, if I know. 
Why don’t you ask her yourself?  She’s waiting for you out past the guard
post.”

I stepped out of
the cell filled with a new sense of purpose.  “Which way?”

“You’re gonna have
to do something for me first.  I can’t keep my cover here if it looks like I
let you out without a fight.  I already destroyed your blood samples but you
need to hit me a couple of times in the face to make it look good to the others
when they get back.  Just don’t get too carried away.  You still need me to
show you how to get out of this joint.”

My first hit
clipped Wilford’s jaw.  For a moment, I thought I might have broken it, but Wilford
was sturdier than he looked.  The second hit was square on his nose causing
blood to gush out but it was more for effect than destruction.

Wilford turned out
to be extremely helpful guiding me through to the back of the compound where a
solitary guard post was stationed.  He wobbled up to the two guards and told of
my escape ordering them to search for me in the opposite direction I needed to
go.

“Make sure your
mother knows how much I helped you,” Wilford said to me.

“I shouldn’t have
been captured in the first place if you had been doing your job,” I replied
tersely.  “Why didn’t you warn the Queen about Michael’s attack?”

“He knows someone
has been tipping Lucena off about his missions.  He only tells the people he
takes with him what’s going on and only after they get to where they’re going. 
I didn’t find out about it in time to warn her. Now,” Wilford pointed to the
north through a patch of woods, “head that way.  There’s a clearing a couple of
miles out.  She’ll be waiting for you there.”

I turned and ran
towards the woods without a second look back.  My heart raced when I realized I
would soon be with the Queen again.  I could physically feel her presence
drawing me closer to her like a piece of metal to a magnet.   Within a matter
of minutes, I found the clearing and my Queen.  She was standing with two
guards by a small black helicopter emblazoned on the side with her sliver
infinity symbol.  The Queen was dressed in a white cashmere coat and seemed to
glow like an angel amongst the dingy world around her.  She smiled when she saw
me, making me feel as though the sun itself was wrapping its warm rays of light
against my skin.  I ran to her and knelt down on one knee with my head bowed in
complete reverence.

With a gentle
caress, she cupped my chin in the palm of one hand and raised my head until our
eyes met.

“You never have to
kneel before me, Skye.  You are my daughter.  You kneel to no one,” she said
gently.

I stood and felt
humbled by her kind words.

“As you wish, my Queen.”

“Call me mother,” she
said as she caressed the side of my face.  “You don’t know how long I’ve waited
to have you at my side, Skye.  I almost thought I had lost you.”

“I will always be
by your side, mother.  I will never leave you.”

My mother held her
hand out to me and I joyfully accepted it.

“Now, first things
first,” she told me.  “I need to get back to one of my experiments.  Are you
still interested in knowing what I am doing with Ash and Zoe?”

“Yes but Michael
and Jace are on their way there,” I told her.

“Ahh, yes.  Wilford
mentioned they were trying to rescue them with Ian’s help, but I have no idea
why they think I would keep them in the old breeding camp Ian used to run for
me.  Either way it doesn’t really matter.  They won’t find anything there. 
That camp was destroyed by one of the south’s bombs months ago.”

“You’re sure about
that?”

My mother nodded. 
“Oh yes, quite sure.”

“Is there any way
Ian could guess where you have them?”

“I don’t see how. 
He wasn’t important enough to know about all of my installations.  Don’t worry,
they won’t be taking you away from me again.  They’ll have to kill me first and
that’s something Michael would never let happen.”