Chapter 63 The Wannabe

The past cannot be cured.

-Queen Elizabeth I

 

Emma

 

I stare at the girl that made my life miserable. Rachel Field. Best friend of Cynthia Meers. Is she here as well?

“How… how are you here?”  Rachel stutters.

“She came last night with ‘one of those aliens’,” Blake answers for me, “we found them last night when we were looking for Nate.”

Rachel stares at me horrified. “You are with them? I always knew you were a freak.”

“Emma is not a freak,” Blake says coldly.

“Of course you would defend her,” Rachel hisses, “have you forgotten what those… those things have done? To our families? Our friends?” Her hands tremble. She seems terrified.

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Blake says, “but you can’t blame Emma for that. She has lost her family too.”

“She sided with one of them!”

“Burns is a good person,” I say.

“That thing is not a person,” Rachel’s lip trembles and tears fill her eyes, “I was there when they killed Cynthia and stole her body. They are monsters!”

So Cynthia isn’t here. Horrible as it may sound, I can’t help but feel relieved. After everything, I really don’t want to deal with that kind of vindictive behavior. “I’m sorry,” I say. I may not have liked Cynthia, but she was still Rachel’s friend. I know how she feels. I still miss Ashely.

“No you’re not,” Rachel says hoarsely, “you didn’t even like her.”

“No,” I say, “but I have lost my family too and my friends. I know how it feels. But they aren’t monsters.”

“How can you say that?!” Rachel cries.

Bake puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shakes it off.

I bite my lip. “I hated them too at first,”  I admit, “ and I was afraid of them. But then I got to know Burns. He is someone I trust. He won’t betray us.”

Rachel shakes her head in disbelieve.

“Maybe she’s right, Rach,” Blake says, “he saved Nate and when Emma was shot, he was the one that healed her.”

Rachel looks bewildered. “You were shot?”

“It was an accident,” I say embarrassed, “I think.”

“Of course it was an accident,” Blake says, “Rob didn’t mean to shoot you. You got in his line of fire.”

“He would have shot Burns!” I growl.

“Yeah,” Blake nods, “but you’re both still alive.”

Rachel is still looking confused. I can’t really blame her. I probably would have reacted the same. “I have to go find him,” I mutter. I should never have gone with Blake in the first place. I should have stayed with Burns. I don’t know these people and I haven’t seen Blake in two years. Who knows what kind of person he’s become?

“You shouldn’t wander around on your own,” Blake says.

I narrow my eyes at him. “I thought you said we had nothing to worry about.”

Blake sighs. “I wasn’t talking about that. Nate won’t let your friend get hurt, but you can easily get lost in the tunnels. You’ve only been here for one night. Some of the passages are dangerous.”

I look away now, ashamed. Have I really become like this? Thinking the worst of people? I sigh. “Sorry,” I mutter.

Blake shakes his head. “Come. I’ll take you.”

“But Blake…”  Rachel says in a high-pitched voice.

“It will be fine Rachel,” Blake says while walking away, “what’s he gonna do anyway? He’s only one against twenty.” He places a hand on my back to guide me away and I cast a sad look at Rachel, though she doesn’t see.

I wonder how she ended up here with Blake, on the other side of the country. Maybe I’ll find out. Right now I’m afraid to ask.

Blake’s hand slides away from my back to grab my hand. When I tense, he gives me a wicked grin. “Don’t be scared, squirky. It’s gonna be dark in the next tunnel. I just don’t want you to fall.”

“You’re enjoying this,” I say in a flat tone.

“I sure am,” he grins.

I grit my teeth and decide to ignore him. It’s true, the tunnel is dark.

We take a turn somewhere and we’re back at the tunnel where we slept last night.

“There you go,” Blake says as soon as we spot Nate and Burns. It seems they’re busy moving our things.

I turn back to Blake just in time to see him leave. “Where are you going?”

“I have more to do than babysit you, squirky.” He winks at my annoyed expression and walks away smirking.

I glare at his back. I was wrong before. He hasn’t changed one bit.

“Ah there you are,” Nate says when he spots me, “See kid? I told you, nothing to worry about.”

“You’re okay,” I breathe when I see Burns.

He nods at me. “So are you.” He glances at a retreating Blake.

“I’m sorry I stayed away so long,” I say.

“Its okay,” he says, “I was helping Nate.” He pauses. “So,” he says, “you and Blake are friends?”

I shrug. “Our parents moved in the same social circles. Blake’s father owned a company that developed technical equipment for scientific research. They worked together with the Investigation Center where my father worked. They used to drag us along to these charity events and parties. Neither of us really wanted to be there. We may have talked on occasion by lack of better company, shared dance or two. But we weren’t friends.”  I sigh. “We were just condemned to each other. We didn’t have much in common. We ran in different crowds.”

Burns nods absentmindedly. There’s a strange look in his eyes and I blink confused. “Are you… are you jealous?”

He flinches. “Souls aren’t jealous,” he says stiffly.

“Right,” I say slowly.

Nate watches us amused. “Don’t quarrel now children,” he says, “or we’ll have to find two sleeping spaces instead of one.”

I blink at him. “Sorry what?”

“Nate is helping us set up,” Burns explains. He points at the small curved space. Our matrasses and sleeping bags are already there. On one of the matrasses are our bags with clothes and personal belongings.

“We can borrow what we don’t have,” Burns continues, “and we’ll share what the others don’t have. We only need something to use as a door.”

I look at him uncertain. He wants to stay here?  On the other hand, where else can we go? Out there, I’ll be in constant danger. But down here… I bit my lip. It’s not like they’ll let us go. Not now that Burns knows about this place.

Nate seems to understand my unease. “It’s gonna be alright, girl. There are rules here. No one will get hurt under this roof. We need to stick together.” He looks at Burns. “That incudes you.”

“We have something to say about that,” a gruff voice says behind us.

I’m still standing inside the curve, with Burns and Nate obscuring my view, but I know this means trouble.

“James. Philip,” Nate says cautiously.

“We came to make sure you’re still you,” one of them says.

“You want to look at my eyes, James? Have a go. I’m still human. You have nothing to fear.”

“So you keep saying,” James says, “how can you be sure? We all know they’re good at deceiving.”

“We can’t take the risk, Nate,” Philip says, “we have to kill it.”

“No!” The scream breaks free from my throat before I even realize and I push past Burns to shield him from whatever they have planned, even if it kills me.