Soulmates (36 page)

Rain led me down another confusing maze of corridors and I scuttled beside him, trying to grab glimpses of my reflection in the windows. Finally he stopped outside a door and unlocked it.

“Noah’s already inside.” My heart leaped just knowing he was near. “You’ll be watched through mirrored glass.” I opened my mouth to object. “It’s okay. We won’t be able to hear you but we need to keep an eye on you. Now listen carefully. A glass divide will stop you touching. It’s for everybody’s own protection. There’s a small hole, however, that allows you to hold hands. If either of you do ANYTHING to try and break the glass, you’ll be separated immediately and we’ll decide your futures for you. Are we clear?”

I gulped.

“Right, in you go.”

Rain turned the handle and I burst past him and ran inside. And there – looking crumpled but still beautiful – he was.

“Noah,” I yelled, and ran at him.

His face broke into that delicious smile. “Poppy.”

I smacked into the glass, unable to get closer. It was so clean you could barely see it but it spread solidly across the room. When I tapped on it with my hand it was thick and strong.

I burst into tears immediately. “I can’t get to you,” I said, wailing.

“Shh. It’s okay. Sit down at the table and we can hold hands.”

There was a table that cut through the glass with a small narrow gap at the top.

I sat and stretched my hand through. Noah clasped it. Feeling his touch sent shocks all through my body as I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

The lights of the lab flickered.

Noah still had a half-smile on his face. “Careful,” he said, looking up at the lights. “You don’t want to blow the place up. Then we really would be terrorists.”

I couldn’t believe he was making a joke. It made me love him even more. I grabbed at his fingers, squeezing each one hard to check they were real.

“Don’t cry, Poppy. It’s going to be okay.”

I cried harder. “How can it possibly be okay?” I shouted. “They’re splitting us up. Didn’t they tell you? We caused the blackout, and the flooding—”

Noah rolled his eyes. “And the snowstorm and the earthquake, yes I know, I know.”

“But not just that, Noah. People have died. Because of us.” I sobbed harder and Noah shushed me in a soothing parental way.

“Poppy, that wasn’t our fault. We didn’t know. We couldn’t have helped it.”

“It’s just so scary. Everything’s so messed up.”

“I know. I know. Ssh, you’re okay.” He stroked the inside of my thumb with his and the movement calmed me. I looked deep into his dark beautiful eyes and searched his face for answers.

“Did they tell you our options?” I whispered.

Noah looked angry. “I would hardly call them options.”

I squeezed his hand. “We can still be together…if we cooperate with…”

Noah shook his head. “No way, Poppy. I won’t do it. I would rather spend my life without you than have our love morph into some wannabe-God’s science homework.”

I giggled at his description of Dr. Beaumont. She obviously hadn’t made a great impression on Noah either.

“How are you so calm? Aren’t you scared?”

Noah looked to his left. A mirror dominated the whole wall. I could just picture Dr. Beaumont sitting behind it, licking her lips, wondering if we were going to agree to be her pet guinea pigs or whether she could just delight in splitting us up instead.

“I’m sure we can find a way round it.”

His bottom lip jutted out stubbornly. He was serious. He had a plan.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Trust me.” With his left eye he gave me the quickest of winks, so slight that only I would’ve noticed it.

Noah cleared his throat. His voice was different, louder, a little rehearsed.

“I’ve been thinking about it and it makes sense for you to move back to Middletown and for me to be relocated.”

I wasn’t sure if this was part of the plan or not. Either way, his words sliced through me like a hundred blades.

“Noah. Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not. It’s logical. You’ve got your family there, your friends, college…”

A fresh wave of tears appeared. “But I don’t have you!”

“You’ll get used to not having me around.”

He sounded cold and it made me cry harder.

“What about your band?” I wailed.

At this, Noah’s face softened. He pulled my hands under the gap to his side of the partition and kissed them. The lights flickered overhead and he stopped abruptly.

“I’m sure the world can manage without the musical talents of Growing Pains.”

I let out another sob and Noah cocked his head to one side sympathetically.

“Here,” he said, beckoning me to the window. “Don’t cry, come here.” I hiccupped and brought my face up to the hole. Noah reached through and cupped it, wiping away my tears with his thumb. I melted into his hand and closed my eyes, wishing I could stay touching him for ever.

The whisper of his breath tickled my ear. He barely spoke but it was just enough for me to hear. “Follow my lead. Keep crying. I love you.”

Then the warmth of his hand was gone and my eyes opened. Noah had righted himself. His face had changed. I realized he was crying too. Not girl crying, all red and blotchy and dramatic, but two tears lay frozen on his cheeks.

They broke my heart.

He stood up.

“Noah, what are you doing?”

He didn’t look at me – his face was a mixture of grief and anger. He walked over and banged his fists angrily on the mirror.

“We’re done!” he yelled. “We’re not going to be your love guinea pigs.”

The mirror glass stayed intact. You couldn’t tell what was going on behind it.

Noah banged on it again, more aggressively this time.

“I. Said. We’re. Done!” he yelled. “Come on. Time to split us up like naughty children!”

I stood up. “Noah, what are you doing? Once they take us away, that’s it. Don’t you want more time with me?”

He gave me a dirty look, and I hoped, prayed, this was part of the plan, otherwise I might cry for ever.

“What’s the point? We may as well get used to it now.”

I sat on the floor and began sobbing again as Noah continued to bash the glass. The door flung open and Dr. Beaumont burst in. Rain stood nervously behind her.

“What is going on in here?” Her eyes were wide with anger. “You almost damaged our facility.”

“I don’t care,” Noah said. “We’ve had our talk. We’re not going to help you, you horrible little bitch.”

Anita looked like she’d been slapped. She sucked in air, her cheeks puckered, and then slowly blew it out. “If that’s what you’ve agreed, that’s what you’ve agreed.”

I let out another sob and she looked at me, disgusted.

“And does Miss Lawson agree with all this?”

I just continued crying. Noah looked beautiful. His eyes were blazing with anger, his face wet with tears that glistened on his face, highlighting those cheekbones. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I figured if this was the last time I ever saw him, I would remember him like this. Strong, fighting, full of life.

“She agrees.”

“Have you decided who’s going to leave Middletown?”

“Yeah, me. Take me and dump me where you want. I don’t care.”

“It won’t be like that. We’ll build a new life for you.”

Noah shrugged. “Whatever.”

“That’s sorted then.”

Anita did a quick dainty click of her fingers and two guards sprang up behind her like boomerangs. She pointed to us.

“Take the girl back to the cell for now,” she instructed. “We’ll sort out her readjustment later. As for the boy, there’s a helicopter waiting at the top of the building. Please escort us there.”

And then it hit me. This was it. Whatever Noah had planned wouldn’t work. There were guards, armed by the look of them, and we were in some high-security labyrinth.

I began to scream. It wasn’t voluntary. Screeches poured out of my mouth, ear-piercing and terrible. Everyone winced.

“You can’t take him! You can’t! You can’t!”

One of the guards was unlocking the glass door on Noah’s side of the room. I noticed more tears had fallen onto his face. I wanted to touch him so badly. His eyes were locked on mine and I could see desire leaking out of him too. I screamed again.

“No, Noah! I love you. I love you.”

He broke into a sob. “I love you too. So much.”

The other guard was coming towards me.

“Stay away from me!” The ferocity in my voice was so strong he actually halted. Noah’s guard had unlocked the door now and was pulling the handle. Suddenly Noah barged past him, knocked him to the ground and was running straight at me.

“Stop him,” I heard Anita yell.

Then everything went into slow motion.

Noah was speeding towards me, his arms outstretched. His guard was on the floor, struggling to get up, and mine was nearing me. I sprang onto my feet, feeling weightless, and ran to Noah. I could feel the electric current surging from my heart to his heart, pushing me towards him.

“Stop them!”

But it was too late. Noah reached me and I fell into his arms. I went to hug him but he stopped me. He jerked my chin up roughly, lowered his face and kissed me urgently.

I heard a distant scream. The scene went hazy.

All I could focus on was the burning in my mouth, the delicious taste of Noah, the electricity fusing our bodies together. I kissed him hungrily, plunging my tongue back into his, trying to swallow him so I could keep him for ever.

There were noises, and heat.

We broke apart and saw the entire glass wall smash into thousands of pieces. It hung, suspended in mid-air for a second, before careering onto the floor. Noah smiled and dipped to kiss me again.

There was another smash.

The glass coverings on the overhead lights cracked and fell around us like dangerous snowflakes. My security guard toppled to the floor, blood running from his chest. My stomach twisted with guilt.

“Noah, he’s bleeding.”

He shot a look at the guard, who groaned and tried to get up. “He’s okay.” And he kissed me again – we needed to get out.

Then we watched in wonder as the light bulbs burst into flames and mini explosions ripped through the room, setting random things on fire. Anita was screaming, her hands over her head, protecting herself from the carnage falling from the ceiling. Noah squeezed my hand and I knew it was time to go. A burning light fitting came loose and hit Anita directly on the head. We ran past as she fell with a thump. Rain was crouched in the doorway, his face a picture of pure terror. He was blocking our exit.

He looked up at us, eyes wide, and I said only one word to him.

“Please.”

Rain looked from Noah’s face to mine and I could see his inner conflict.

I held my breath.

“Please,” Noah repeated.

Then Rain sighed, and rolled to one side, letting us past.

“Be quick,” he whispered. “You don’t have much time.”

And we stepped over him and ran out into the maze of clinical corridors, hand in hand.

My palms were sweating as we fled down corridor after corridor, looking for an escape.

“Where are we going?” I asked between pants.

Noah didn’t break our pace. “I don’t know. We need to get outside.”

White sterile walls streaked past us. We ducked left, then right, then right again, trying to find a path through the maze.

I tripped over my feet.

“Hurry up, Poppy. The alarm will go off any moment. Then we’re completely screwed.”

I ran like I had small wings attached to my ankles. Raw primal fear pumped adrenalin through my veins. The warmth of Noah’s hand in mine made me feel invincible.

We turned and ran smack into a heavy locked door.

“Shit.” Noah looked up and down. The door was solid metal with no doorknob. It only had a little keypad on the side and a retina scanner.

“What are we going to do?”

I could hear the panic in my own voice. Maybe I didn’t feel so invincible after all. Anita could be coming round at any moment, raising the alarm, summoning guards to punish us.

“I don’t know. Let me think.”

Noah’s face was screwed up. I looked back at the corridor behind us, imagining the sight of Dr. Beaumont appearing at the end. I shivered. When I turned back to Noah, he was smiling. He had a plan.

“What is it?”

“I think I know how to open it.”

“How?”

“It might set off the alarm.”

“Well, then what would we do?”

Noah cupped my face and the lights above fizzled. I looked up at them in dazed wonder before Noah forced me to look at him.

“Listen, Poppy. You’ve got to do as I say. As long as we’re inside this building, I want you to focus on how much you love me, how much you want me. Remember the other night? Remember what was happening before they came? How good it was? I want you to focus on that the whole time we’re inside, okay?”

I nodded, not sure what he meant.

“But the
moment
we get out –
if
we manage to get out – stay with me, follow me, but put me out of your mind. Imagine I don’t exist. Pretend I’m not there and you’re running away alone. Got it?”

I didn’t understand and he saw it in my face.

“You’ve got to trust me, Poppy. I think I’ve worked out how this, us, works. I’ll still be by your side, I promise, but once we’re out of here, imagine I’m not. Promise me?”

I got it then. Noah didn’t want us to get tracked in the highly unlikely event that we escaped. If I was loving him, I would be emitting some kind of traceable current. I hoped it worked. It was all we had.

“I promise.”

Noah smiled, and despite our circumstances, my stomach flip-flopped.

“Right. Let’s do this.”

Then Noah reached for the keypad with one hand and cupped my face with the other. His face bent and met mine. Fire raged through my lips as he kissed me; electricity pinged through my body. I groaned and grabbed at his face with my hand, pulling him closer.

We were interrupted by the most awful noise.

A shrill bell rang out, piercing my ears like a thousand needles. I opened my eyes. The corridor was steeped in the red flashing light of alarm bulbs.

“Poppy, we did it.”

I could hardly hear Noah over the din but followed the direction of his pointed finger. The door had been blown off its hinges. Electrical wires were hanging out of the keypad, emitting a mini firework display of sparks. The blown door led to another corridor but this one had a glass ceiling. I looked up. I could see the sky. It was a deep shade of grey and rain was pelting down, hitting the glass with force.

I pointed upwards. “Did we do that too?”

Noah grinned. “I think so.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”

We began to run again. I was out of breath, but the rhythm of the sirens worked as a drumbeat, spurring me on.

“We need to find a window that leads outside,” Noah yelled.

My feet thudded heavily beneath me. We were in another maze, skidding from one corridor to another, trying to keep the sky in sight. All the corridors looked the same, one set of blank sterile walls after another, all flashing red. Yet Noah acted like he knew the route. I followed, as I would always follow him, wondering where the guards were, why we hadn’t seen them yet.

My feet were getting heavier, my breath more laboured, as we turned another corner. There it was. Our escape. A large glass wall with a small glass door, leading outside, where a storm was raging ferociously. I squeezed Noah’s hand and, at that same moment, lightning spasmed across the sky.

“We’re almost there,” he said.

We broke into a sprint. The glass wall got closer and closer, until I could almost reach out and touch it.

We were going to make it. Only a few more feet…

“FREEZE!”

I spun round and gasped.

The guards had arrived.

Line upon line of them stood and stared at us. They carried batons and all sorts of other weaponry. It was the look in their eyes that terrified me. It was deadened, like emotion had been vacuumed out to ensure whatever disgusting violence was necessary could be used to get the job done.

There were so many of them. The biggest guard, standing in the middle of the front row, grinned to reveal a crooked line of yellowing teeth.

“Stay right where you are,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt now.”

“Noah?” I whispered.

He replied without moving his lips. “Trust me.”

And I felt warm again.

We both instinctively took a step backwards.

“I said don’t move!” The guard raised something that looked like a gun. A taser maybe?

Noah held his hands up. “There’s no need for that.” His voice was steady and calm. “We’ll come.”

The man laughed, revealing his hideous teeth again. “And I’m supposed to believe you, am I? After what you’ve done to our guards? Not to mention Dr. Beaumont.”

“Put the taser down.” Noah’s hands were quivering but his voice didn’t betray him.

Another laugh. “It’s not you in charge, mate. You don’t get to make the rules.”

Noah cocked his head to one side. “Fair enough. Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll just kiss my girlfriend goodbye then…”

He grabbed my hand and the guard’s face transformed.

“Hang on, not so fast.” He looked up nervously at the overhead lights, waiting for them to explode.

“I want all of you to put the taser guns down,” Noah said. “We’ll come, no trouble, I promise. There’s too many of you to outrun. You know that and I know that. But this isn’t how I want things to end with Poppy. Not like this, not at gunpoint. Come on.”

He sounded so genuine I almost believed him.

I felt strangely powerful. There I was, facing armed guards, and yet
they
were scared of
me
. Noah and I, our love, was that powerful. It gave me comfort.

The guard whispered to a man on his right who nodded.

“Okay. We’ll put them down and walk slowly towards you. You are going to let us handcuff you both and take you back to the lab. If there’s any funny business, we will use force. We’re allowed to hurt you and we will if necessary.”

“Agreed.”

One by one the guards put their guns on the floor and slowly began walking towards us. My heart began pounding. How were we ever going to escape?

“Remember what I said, Poppy,” Noah murmured and he pushed me back against the window with a thump and kissed me for all he was worth.

We’d shared many electrically-charged kisses before but this one was, by far, the most powerful. It was full of urgency, both of us well aware it was probably our last. His lust was overwhelming. I responded instinctively to his body. The taste of Noah was intoxicating. Heat spread from in between my legs up through the whole of my body. Noah’s hands were all over me, stroking me under my top. There were yells and shouts from the guards but I didn’t acknowledge them. I’d forgotten them really. Clarity consumed me. It was like the world had stopped pivoting. This was how it was supposed to be.

Me and Noah. Noah and me. Always.

Then the earth began to shake violently.

The kiss interrupted, I looked down and watched my feet move from side to side. The spell was broken for a moment. The guards were nearing us but had stopped still, terror gripping them as, they too, looked to see an invisible force shake their bodies from under them.

They began walking slowly backwards.

“Don’t stop.” Noah began kissing my neck and the clarity returned. I leaned back into the pleasure.

The ground shook harder.

I returned my lips to Noah’s, wanting one last kiss before we were caught. There was a sound of shattering as the glass exploded and smashed behind us. I held onto Noah, trying to keep my balance as the universe shuddered around us. I heard an immense cracking noise. I opened my eyes mid-kiss and glanced sideways. The ground had opened up. A huge crack had erupted between us and the guards, too big for anyone to jump over.

“Noah, look!”

He stopped kissing me. “I knew we could do it.”

The earthquake stopped and reality snapped back.

“They’re coming for us again.”

The guards were charging back to their guns.

“Time to go.”

Noah pulled me in for one last kiss, which created a roar of thunder overhead. Then we clambered quickly through the shattered glass and escaped into the blackness of the storm.