Remainder (6 page)

“You can punish her if you like, but you will have to answer to Killian. I don’t think he will be happy knowing that you have already damaged his precious daughter’s birthday present. In fact, I’m pretty sure he will be livid. Maybe even have your job for it. But, be my guest.” Alec waves his hand out in front of Roderick giving him a “go ahead” gesture. Feeling as though I am submerged in a power struggle, I hold my breath as I wait to see which one comes out on top. Roderick pauses for a long time, apparently weighing his options. Finally and forcefully, he shoves me in Alec’s direction. I would have gone down on the ground, but Alec catches me in his arms. With my heart pounding, I stand there, frozen, clutching Alec's jacket, not wanting to look back at Roderick. However, I force myself to stand straight. I push myself off of Alec and turn to face Roderick.

“Watch yourself, clone. You won’t always have a soft Enforcer protecting you,” Roderick spits, disdain dripping from his lips. Alec makes no effort to respond as Roderick walks away. Without saying a word, Alec continues walking towards the exit. Since our ordeal with Roderick, the majority of the crowd has dispersed and we are able to get out the door easily. I am hit by a rush of cool air that is refreshing and inviting. I pause for a minute and take a deep breath. I try to process everything that has happened today. Tears well up in my eyes again with the memory of the man in the Reddix. Again, I stifle them back into the shallow depths of my lids.

We ride back to the great house in silence. I stare out the window. I can’t bear to look at Alec, or any other pure blood for that matter. I think about my encounter with Roderick. Would Alec have really let him hurt me? He practically invited him to do so. Or was he calling Roderick’s bluff? I think about Alec’s cold indifference after the whole ordeal. I feel like I am surrounded by people who do not care about me. The corporal punishment is just a standard practice for the pure bloods and I am just another piece of property. No one really cares about my well-being.

I think about the old man and how he stared into my eyes as the life was literally sucked out of him. In that moment, I felt helpless. I scold myself for feeling that way. How could I be so stupid? There he was, dying right in front of me and I felt helpless? I was sitting outside of the Reddix, safe. I have no right to feel helpless when I see so much suffering occurring before me. Is this what my life will always be like? Will I always live in fear? I wish they never woke me up. I wish I was never born....no, not born...I was not born, I was created. I wish I was never created.

When we arrive at the big house, I sprint out of the MR2 and through the front doors.

"656..." I hear Alec call out. But I do not stop. I want to be alone. I go through the maze of a house, running so fast that everything I see is a blur, bumping into people and furniture as I go, and by some miracle, I do not know how, I find my room. I break through the door, shut it, and throw myself on my bed. This is not how I want to live my life. But it isn’t even my life.  It is Bailey’s life.  I have no control.  I don’t have a life.  I have a function, like a tool or a machine.

All of a sudden, my pity party is interrupted by an orb-like noise. I look up and what looks like a hologram has appeared in my room. It is coming out of the clock on my nightstand. In a see through state, I see Bailey.

"Oh good, you’re back. Come to my room. We have a lot of work to do for the party tonight," she demands. Then she disappears.

I get up and go into the bathroom. I look in the mirror at the girl staring back at me. I barely recognize her.  She is pale and half of her hair has escaped the braid that bound it together. I decide to wash my face and put my hair up in a ponytail.  

Cautiously, I peek my head out of my door, not completely sure that Alec won’t be there waiting for me, angry for ignoring him. When I see that the coast is clear, I begin to make my way to find Bailey's room. I knock on her door softly and hear her yell something that vaguely sounds like consent for me to enter. She is seated at her vanity applying her makeup and wearing the pink dress she wanted to wear to Percy's party the night before. She stops and looks at me with a scowl on her face. She looks me up and down.

"Is that what you are wearing?" she asks with a disgusted look on her face.

I look down at my red shirt and red pants. "I don't have anything else," I whisper. She gets up, goes into her closet and returns with a red dress. She throws it on the bed.

"Wear that," she demands. "You are my clone and you have to look the part. You can change in my bathroom." She goes back to applying her makeup.

I scoop up the dress and pause by her closet on my way to the bathroom. Her closet is filled to the brim with clothes and shoes, all different colors. I stare at the beautiful array of colors that I will never be permitted to wear. I look down at the red dress in my hands and wonder why Bailey even has this color in her closet. Why would she want to wear the color when she doesn’t have to? I guess she will never understand the luxury of wearing whatever you want, of not being controlled in every way. In the bathroom, I undress and put the dress on. It is a tight fitting spaghetti strap dress. Even though it shows off my figure nicely, I would never wear something so tight. I walk back into the room and stand beside the vanity awaiting Bailey’s inspection.

"That looks good. You need some shoes." She goes back into her closet and comes out with red pumps. "Here, put these on." I take the shoes and put them on, stumbling as I do.

Bailey inspects me again. "If you are not going to wear makeup, at least put on some mascara and lip-gloss," she commands. She hands me a tube of mascara and lip-gloss. I watch her as she applies her mascara. I bend down in front of the mirror of the vanity and open the tube of mascara. The lash wand is smothered with the black gooey substance. Clumsily, I place the wand under my lashes and pull it up. My lashes feel heavy from the thickness of the mascara. I apply the same treatment to the lashes on my other eye. I examine my handiwork in the mirror. Although it is a strange feeling to have the mascara on, it does help to make the green color of my eyes pop. I apply the lip-gloss to my lips and instinctively rub my lips together. The result gives them a shiny pink color. I look at Bailey and see that she has been very generous in her makeup usage. Her pretty face looks like it has been painted on with thick paint, giving her face the appearance of shattering if someone was to be so bold and touch her.

"Take your hair down." I pull the tie out of my hair so that my hair falls around my shoulders and down to my breasts. Bailey looks me up and down. "There, that's better," she exclaims with a small smile on her face. I can’t figure out if she is smiling at my appearance or because she is pleased with herself. I gaze at myself in her vanity mirror. If I didn’t recognize myself a few moments ago in my bathroom mirror, I certainly don’t recognize myself now.

"Okay, let's go downstairs and finish the preparations," Bailey says excitedly. I, for one, am not excited. I don’t feel like going to a party. I especially don’t feel like being paraded around as Bailey's new prized possession.

We go downstairs, and I am expecting to be put to work, but Bailey's idea of "finishing preparations" is to yell at the people she has hired to prepare for the party. Once Bailey is satisfied with everything inside, we walk outside to the back yard. The sun is setting behind the mountains and the view is absolutely breathtaking. The entire sky is a wash of deep oranges, soft reds, and glittering yellows, with the most beautiful shades of purple and blue that lead out into sky beyond my view.  All of the trees are covered with little twinkling lights that blink in different colors that seem to match the sky. There are gorgeous round paper lanterns strung up attached to the house and the trees. Their light is so soft and warm that it seems as if they are floating in the sky and could fly away at any moment. There is a DJ booth and tables covered with all kinds of snacks and platters of food with tons of bottles laid out for beverages. There is even a bonfire raging. All the lights and colors beautifully reflect off the water of the lake, making the lake look more like glass than water.  I realize that in this one moment, I feel at peace, almost as if I am in some other life, but it ends as swiftly as it began.

People begin to arrive and before we know it, the entire back yard is filled with people drinking and having a good time. I stand in the corner watching everyone have fun. Alec and the rest of the Enforcers are spread all over the place and staring steely-eyed at the young people, making sure no one gets too rowdy. I see Alec standing on the other side of the crowd. He looks just as thrilled to be here as I am. He looks in my direction. I can’t tell if he is looking at me or right past me. Whatever he sees seems to have shocked him, judging by the look on his face. He looks almost uncomfortable, the way he looked during his unpleasant discourse with Killian yesterday. I smirk to myself. It brings me joy to see him uncomfortable. Maybe more joy than it should.

The party is lively. There are so many people, I wonder how Bailey can know that many people. I stand in the corner of the yard near the house. After the events today, I don’t feel like talking to anyone. I don’t feel comfortable in this too-tight dress, high-heeled shoes, and little bit of makeup. Bailey is nowhere in sight and I am thankful she is not making me do something else even more awkward that I do not want to do.

I am engrossed in people-watching when I hear a shy "hi." I turn and see a happy familiar face. "Alden," I say surprised. I have not seen him since my first day in the Research Center.

"How are you, Enforcer-656?" He smiles sweetly and his question is full of concern.

"I am okay, all things considered." I give him a small smile in return. He nods his head as if he understands my feelings.

"This is quite a party," he exclaims as he waves his hand and looks around. I am thankful for the change in topic. I do not want to talk about the events from today or my feelings.

"Yes it is. I am surprised to see you here."

"My brother asked me to help him with the food. Milo. He works in the kitchen here. You may have met him."

"Yes. I have met him. He is very nice." I think back to the other day when I met Milo for the first time. I knew there was something familiar about him. It all makes sense now. I take notice of Alden’s black backpack and decide to ask him about it. “What’s that?” I ask, pointing to his bag. 

“Oh, it’s my laptop. I always have it with me, except at work, of course. I guess you can call me a computer nerd.” He beams his contagious smile at me and I can’t help but smile back. “Enforcer, I really hope you are okay here." He looks around to see if anyone is in earshot and then steps closer. "Milo and I, we’re not like other pure bloods. If you ever need anything, Milo knows how to get in touch with me. You have to be careful. There's a lot of people, especially pure bloods, who you cannot trust."

I give him a puzzled look.

He nods his head in agreement like he understands the reason for the look on my face. "I know, I know. I just told you to be careful of who you trust, but then told you that you can trust me and Milo. I hope in time, you will see that you can trust us."

"Thank you," is all I can manage to say. I want to trust him. I feel in my gut that I can trust him. However, I am guarded. Training Day and the draining today have shown me that pure bloods don’t care about people like me. Alden is right. I have to be careful. It is up to me to protect myself. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Alden responds with a smile.

“Why were you in the auditorium during Training Day? I saw you...on the last row...at the top.” I look at him intently, waiting for his response.

Alden looks uncomfortable, almost embarrassed. For a moment I consider breaking the silence and telling him that he does not have to answer or changing the subject completely. I push the thought from my mind. No. I want to know why he was there.  If I am going to trust him, I need to know why he was there.

“I go to the Training Days whenever I get the opportunity. They reinforce what I believe is right….and wrong. I am a friend to you, Enforcer-656, and people like you. Clones have friends everywhere. You just have to look.”

Alden looks out into the crowd and a frown crosses his face. I look to see what has changed his mood and I see Alec staring at us with a disapproving look. What's his problem?

Alden looks back at me and smiles weakly. "I should go find my brother," he says. "It was good to see you, Enforcer.” Alden starts to walk away, but then turns back to face me. “Be careful," he warns and turns back in the direction he was heading.

I look back at Alec and he has a more placid look on his face. I guess it gives him pleasure to see me alone. If that is true, he is going to make it his mission to ensure I have no friends. Everything about that man infuriates me. I turn away from him since I can’t bear to look at him.

I hear a squeal and see Bailey stumbling towards me while holding on to an attractive guy, while another guy follows them. She is obviously drunk.

"There you are! Why...why aren't you drinking?" she asks me. She places a hand on the guy's chest as he holds her up. "This is my boyfriend, Percy. He is going to be an Enforcer." She beams a smile at him. He is attractive with black hair and a dark tan. He is tall and muscular. The other guy who was following them steps up beside Bailey. "And this is Felix. He is going to be a Researcher." She introduces Felix with annoyance in her voice. Felix is skinny with sandy blond hair. He is cute, but not as attractive as Percy. He has a light skin tone and looks a little pale. His smile is warm, though, as he greets me.

"The resemblance is remarkable. You both could be twins," exclaims Percy with fascination. "I like twins," he exclaims as he pulls Bailey closer to him, making her squeal in delight.

"You should be drinking!" Bailey demands. "Felix, go get her a drink." Felix hurries away and returns, handing me a cup of red liquid that looks like fruit punch. I put the cup to my lips and taste the liquid. It tastes like fruit punch too. I dispel the contents quickly, not realizing how thirsty I was.

"Want another?" asks Felix. I nod and he disappears. A moment later, he hands me another glass of the red fruit punch. Again, I quickly empty the contents of the cup. Percy pulls Bailey to him and looks into her eyes. "Come on, baby. Let's go!" Bailey smiles and giggles. "See you later," she exclaims, without taking her eyes off Percy. They stumble away, leaving me and Felix. He walks away and then returns with another drink for me and one for himself.

"How are you adjusting?" Felix asks. I don't really want to talk, so I take long gulps of the liquid, hoping he will give up. When he continues looking at me, waiting for an answer, I finally respond. "Fine." I say.

"Did you go to the draining today?"

"Yes," I reply and drink more.

"I think it's awful. What they do....to the clones, I mean. There has to be another way."

Surprised, I turn and look at him. His eyes are kind. "Yeah," is all I can think to say. I thought that Felix bringing up the draining would bring back all the emotions from earlier today, but to my astonishment, it doesn’t. I feel good. Really good. Relaxed, carefree, and a little bit numb.

"You look lovely, Enforcer,” he says and his eyes light up.

"Thank you!" I reply with a shy smile, not exactly sure how to take his compliment. The DJ puts on some fast-paced music and I start moving. "I wanna dance!" I yell excitedly.

"Okay. Come on!" Felix takes my hand and leads me to the crowd of people dancing on the lawn. I jump around and move my whole body. I have never had the urge to move my body so much. I feel the music deep down in my body and I just have to move to it. I laugh a genuine laugh, and it feels so good to laugh, to have fun, to be happy.

All of a sudden, everything starts to spin.  Colors, faces, and shapes are becoming a huge blur, so I stop dancing and put my hand on my head. Felix wraps his arm around my waist and leads me away from the music and people. He stands me against a tree. He still has his arm around my waist and he runs his other hand through my hair. I close my eyes in hopes of stopping the spinning.