Hope (Book 2, Harvester of Light Trilogy; Young Adult Science Fiction) (23 page)

“How does he do
it?” I asked.  “How can he walk through things?”

“On a molecular
level everything has small spaces between their molecules.  Lawrence is able to
temporarily disassemble his body at a molecular level and squeeze through those
spaces in objects.”

“What happened to
the other two people you had at the castle, Jackson and Ava?”

“They’re here with
me.  Apparently Michael was only concerned about rescuing you and Jace.  At
least that’s what Wilford told me.”

 “Wilford told me
you have his granddaughter,” I said.  “That’s the reason he still helps you.”

“Poor deluded
fool.  I don’t know why he trusts what I say.”

“So you don’t have
her?”

“She was placed in
the warehouse years ago, but he still thinks I would keep my word to him and
protect her as long as he does what I ask.”

“Have you spoken
to him lately?  Has he said anything about what was happening over there?”

“If you’re asking
whether or not the wild goose chase Jace and the others went on to find Ash and
Zoe is over, no they hadn’t returned to Michael’s camp the last time I spoke
with him.  But I’m sure they’re back by now.  Is there anything you want to
know?  I’ll be speaking with Wilford again this evening.”

“No,” I said half
heartedly, even though Jace’s face seemed determined to haunt me.  “I don’t
need to know anything.”

“Do you want me to
bring Jace to you?” My mother asked, knowing full well what, or in this case
who, I wanted.  “I could have him here by tonight if that would make you happy.”

The temptation to
accept my mother’s offer almost overwhelmed me.  I felt a physical need to have
Jace by my side again but knew it might not be the best thing for me at the
moment.  If he found out what my mother was doing with Ash and Zoe, he would
feel honor bound to rescue them.   His hero complex would kick in and I might
end up having to kill him.

“No.  I don’t want
him here yet,” I said.  “I’m still getting used to being a harvester.  I think
having him here would just upset me more than anything.”

“Probably a wise
decision,” my mother said.  “Humans always feel entitled to act on their
emotions, most of the time without thinking things through.”

As we approached
the demonstration, I saw a line of harvester guards pushing the humans back
from the Queen’s convoy.  Lawrence had said there were only a couple of hundred
demonstrators but from what I could see the crowd must have quadrupled in size
since that time.

We stepped out of
the car and walked up to the steps leading to the entrance of the harvesting
facility.  Behind me I could her jeers and cries of outrage clearly, but one
voice stood out among the others.  When my mother and I reached the head of the
stairs, I looked out into the crowd and found the owner of that voice.

The little girl
whose life I saved that morning was staring straight at me screaming at the top
of her lungs about how much she hated me and how she wished I was dead.  She
kept eye contact with me until I finally broke it off, unable to meet her gaze
any longer for some reason.  Deep within my subconscious the part of my mind
which still held the last shred of my humanity wept over the child’s loss.  I
firmly shut the door on my weakness, choosing to ignore its cries of despair.

As the Queen
calmly surveyed the crowd of discontented humans, she slowly lifted her right
hand and snapped her fingers.  The guards who had escorted us to the facility quickly
dispersed into the crowd grabbing people at random and bringing them back
through to stand in front of me and my mother at the base of the steps.  The
harvesters used their stun batons to force their chosen humans to their knees. 
The noise of the crowd lessened as they warily watched to see what fate my
mother had in store for those in front of her.

“Do any of you honestly
think this little demonstration will change anything?” My mother asked.

“We just want
Eliza back,” a man said from the front of the crowd.  I instantly recognized
him as Gavin, the woman’s husband.  “She didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Are you her
husband?” My mother asked.

The man nodded. 
“Yes.  Please show pity on her, Queen Lucena.  She’s been a good breeder for
you.  She doesn’t deserve to be harvested yet.”

“From what I
understand, your wife chose to be harvested in order to save your daughter’s
life.”

“She had no
choice,” the man said bitterly, pointing straight at me accusingly.  “Your
daughter knew Eliza would rather die than see her own flesh and blood butchered.”

“Then what’s the
problem?” My mother asked.  “Your daughter broke the rules.  By all rights she
should be dead now.  Yet, my daughter showed leniency in giving your wife a
choice which is a lot more than I would have done if I had been there.  As it
is, your little demonstration has just cost the lives of these people in front
of me.”

Screams of ‘no’
and outrage could be heard coming from the crowd while whimpers of hopelessness
came from the twenty people on their knees in front of us.

“Take them,” my
mother instructed in a low voice but loud enough for the harvesters to hear.

The twenty
sacrifices were drug up the stairs and into the hospital within a matter of
seconds.

“You’ll burn in
hell for this!” Gavin screamed.  “You’re both going to hell!”

My mother smiled.

“Would you like to
be next?” she asked the man.  “Perhaps we should just make this a family affair
and be done with it.” 

My mother turned
to Walsh and seemed to give him a silent command with just her eyes.  Walsh
walked over to the man and grabbed him and his daughter dragging them forward
to stand directly in front of us.

“Please,” the man
begged.  “Leave my daughter alone.  This was all my fault not hers.”

“I know it was,”
my mother said looking him up and down in disgust.  “And now you’ve made your
wife’s sacrifice for nothing.  Take them in.”

The crowd grew
silent as the man and his daughter were drug into the harvesting facility
crying for mercy.  My mother’s gaze returned to the crowd.

“If any of you
would like to join them, please stay where you are and my harvesters will gladly
escort you inside as well.”

It was like
someone had thrown a bomb into the crowd.  Within a matter of seconds the
demonstrators scattered, none of them having the conviction to stand up for
what they had whole heartedly believed in only moments before. 

“And that’s how
you handle humans,” my mother said, satisfaction in her voice.  “Threatening
their mortality and playing on their fear of death lets you win every single time.”

My mother decided
to stay at the harvesting facility to make sure there were no more
disturbances.

“Skye, I need you
to go back to my house and keep an eye on Zoe for me,” she said.  “She should
have her babies at any moment.  If she goes into labor before I get back, tell
Walsh and he’ll get in touch with me immediately.  It won’t take me long to get
back to the house.”

“If that’s what
you want, I’ll do it,” I said.

“I know it’s hard
to be around them because they remind you of your old life.  And as soon as the
babies are born I’ll move them somewhere else so you never have to see them
again.  But you know how important these babies might be.”

“Yes, I know. 
I’ll be fine.”

And then my mother
did something completely unexpected.  She leaned in towards me and kissed my
cheek.  The look in her eyes as she pulled away confused me.  It was almost as
if she let the mask she showed to the world fall for a split second showing me
the love she felt for me.

She turned away
from me quickly before I had any more time to contemplate her odd behavior.  I
knew she cared for me.  That was obvious the first time I met her.  But could
the Queen of the Eastern Kingdom truly love someone?  How was that even
possible after being a harvester for all these years?

As Walsh and I
drove back to my mother’s home, I contemplated my own feelings.  Was my
mother’s momentary lapse proof that harvesters were doomed to retain a portion
of their humanity?  Would I always be forced to fight against my true nature,
that small voice within who yearned to be released and allowed to feel again?

I didn’t know any
of the answers to my own questions and I had a feeling even if I asked my
mother to provide them for me she wouldn’t be able to.  Either that or she
would lie and say her humanity died the moment she became a harvester.  I felt
sure there wouldn’t be a simple answer either way. 

After we returned
to the house, I asked Walsh, “Is there a way I can keep an eye on Ash and Zoe
without actually having to be in the same room as them?  I don’t think I could
stand that.”

“Yes, your mother
has been observing them from her study.  I can show you how to activate the
holographic surveillance system in there.”

Once we were back
in my mother’s study, Walsh showed me the control panel inlaid in her desk. 
With a few quick codes, a holographic image of the sitting room Ash and Zoe
were still in came to life in front of me.  It was remarkably detailed with
only a hint of transparency.  If I didn’t know better I would have thought I
had been transported to the room below me as a silent observer.

They were playing
a game of checkers which seemed to bore Walsh to tears.  He quickly made an
excuse about needing to see to something else in the house.  I sat in my
mother’s chair and watched the two play for a while before becoming bored my
self.  After a while I stood and tried to find something on the book shelf to
while away the time.

“Ash,” the image
of Zoe said behind me as I browsed my mother’s selection of classical novels. 
“Would you do something for me?”

“Sure, squirt. 
What do you need?”

There was a long
pause and I began to wonder if Zoe was going to answer.

“Would you…kiss
me?”

My attention was
immediately drawn back to the hologram.

Ash looked shocked
and Zoe looked extremely embarrassed.  Zoe raised her hands to her eyes
covering them in shame.

“I know.  I know.
It’s a stupid thing to ask,” she admitted.

“No it’s not
stupid,” Ash said clearing his throat in an attempt to hide his own discomfort. 
“But why do you want me to?”

“It’s just that…”
Zoe let her hands fall back into her lap as she seemed to search for the right
words to better explain her request.

“It’s just that it
seems really weird that I’m having your babies and we’ve never even kissed.  I
mean look at me,” she said with her arms stretched wide.  “I’m as big as a
house, about to have three babies, and I haven’t even kissed a boy for goodness
sake.”

Ash grinned.  “Do
you really want me to be your first kiss?  Wouldn’t you rather share something
like that with a boy you love?”

“That’s just it,”
Zoe said, an earnest yearning transcribed on her face.  “I’ve had a crush on
you since we met.  I just couldn’t tell you because when you met me I looked
like a child.  But I’m not a little girl, Ash.  I’m a woman.  A woman who wants
to be kissed by someone she loves.”

“Oh,” Ash’s voice
faltered, suddenly failing to know what to say.

Zoe looked
despondent.  “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have said anything.  Now I’ve embarrassed
you.”

Ash stood from his
chair and went to kneel by Zoe.  He placed a comforting hand on her back.

“You didn’t
embarrass me,” he told her.  “I’m actually flattered, Zoe.”

Zoe lifted her
head and looked down Ash.

“I know you love
Skye,” she said.  “And I’m not asking you to fall madly, deeply in love with
me.  I just want to know what it feels like to kiss someone.”

“I don’t think
that’s asking too much,” Ash said, full of understanding.  “Do you think you
can stand up?”

Zoe eagerly
nodded.

Ash stood back up
and helped Zoe to her feet.  I walked closer to the holograms watching them
carefully; scrutinizing every look exchanged and nervous twitch of their lips. 
The scene looked vaguely familiar and then I remembered why.  Ash was my first
kiss.  Now he would be Zoe’s too.

Ash cupped Zoe’s
face with both hands and slowly brought his lips into contact with hers.  The
kiss was slow at first, gentle and tender like Ash was afraid he might break
Zoe if he pressed her lips too hard.  Zoe wrapped her arms around Ash’s neck
and deepened the kiss letting him know she was anything but breakable.

I slowly walked
around the two virtual figures instantly feeling my blood begin to boil.  This
was nothing like the first kiss I experienced with Ash; a kiss which haunted me
for two long years.  That kiss was filled with awkwardness and an unyielding
posture on Ash’s part.  I always thought it was because Ash wasn’t attracted to
me in a romantic way until he professed to have always been in love with me. 
And here he was kissing another girl like there was no tomorrow.  Meeting each
passionate moan from her with one of his own. 

I stormed over to
my mother’s desk determined to shut the hologram off when I felt the floor
beneath my feet tremble.

Ash and Zoe pulled
away from each with an audible smack as their lips separated.

“Did you just feel
the earth move?” Zoe asked out of breath.

Before Ash could
answer, the hologram dissolved, the lights went out and the floor beneath my
feet heaved before giving way.  The last thing I remembered was falling through
the air and hitting my head against something hard enough to knock a harvester unconscious.

Chapter 23

Two angry voices
surrounded me.  I couldn’t make out what they were saying at first because of
the ringing in my ears but their words slowly filtered through.

“We should cut her
damn head off!” I heard one man say.