CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

With a contented sigh, the Vice President shifted next to me in the dark. “See? That wasn’t so hard. You just needed the right motivation.”

He pulled me forward and I stumbled to my feet. My bound wrist suddenly felt wet. Something smacked the wall and with a click, light poured in. Blood pooled under my wrist and dripped to the floor. Pain followed.

I held my breath and listened. His younger self had just been here with Mom and I wasn’t sure what would happen if they met. No one was in the hall, though.

“This is odd,” he said quickly, while scanning both directions. “Where’d everything go?”

I sucked air between my teeth as he yanked me further, pushing open doors and looking into empty rooms. His steps slowed, then he stopped. His furious eyes landed on me.

“Why is this like this?”

Because I only travel to the past, moron, is what I wanted to say. Instead I pushed out a meager, “I don’t know.”

“Where’s the lab and the rest of my staff?”

I lifted the cuffs off the raw sores on my wrist. “I don’t think I’ve been born yet.”

His brow puckered as his eyes scoured the dirty floor. “That’s impossible. You’re supposed to take me to Anna!”

I was starting to believe Anna and my Complement weren’t one in the same any longer.

“I can’t!” I yelled back in desperation. “I don’t know how!”

He grabbed my arm and yanked. I let out a squeal in pain. “Then Kaden dies!”

“What are you two doing here?” younger Declan called from down the hall.

The Vice President released me, then his eyes bulged. His younger self marched toward us and slowed. They stared each other down for a long moment. My mother ran up behind the young doctor, then froze in her tracks.

“Declan?” she asked.

“Yes?” they said in unison. Older Declan stepped forward, holding his hand to her as if seeing an angel.

“Maggie?” His voice cracked.

She gasped and clutched younger Declan’s arm, her eyes wildly darting between us. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” the doctor said as he held onto Maggie and eyed his older self with disgust.

“I’m from the future,” the Vice President said quickly and lowered his arm. “I’m here to bring a message.”

“Future?” Mom said aghast.

“Yes.” He straightened his shoulders. “I’m the Oracle.”

The Oracle? I almost burst out laughing when he took my hand as if I was a willing participant in his scheme. I flung it away, forgetting I could only move so far. The chain rattled between us, tethering me painfully back to him.

Mom’s horrified eyes stared at the contraption. “Why are you cuffed to that girl?”

“Wait, Maggie. I think he’s here to bring the cure.” The doctor moved forward, his eyes suddenly vibrant. “Am I right?”

Older Declan’s lips thinned. “Yes.”

“I can’t believe this,” the doctor said, astonished. “Alice was your gift and I’ve been kicking myself for not going with my hunch. She has the antibodies in her blood?”

Older Declan peered over at me, clearly confused. He nodded all the same.

“Oh… I can’t believe this. We can have everything, Maggie. Everything,” the young doctor finished

Maggie pulled away from him. “What do you mean?”

He pointed at me. “She carries the cure to the disease. She’s our ticket to a zombie-free world.”

The Vice President’s voice hitched for a moment as his brows creased. He knew just as well as I did, zombies didn’t exist in our timeline, but they did here. Neither the doctor nor Mom noticed his reaction.

“Then why the cuffs?” Mom asked.

“She kept trying to get away,” the Vice President said.

Mom’s eyes saddened and I shook my head to alert her otherwise. Her chin lifted and a clever smile formed on her lips.

“You won’t run, will you?”

Her motherly tone hit hard and my voice quivered again, betraying me. “No.”

“Great,” the doctor said, voice giddy. He pulled a syringe from his pocket. “I happened to have what I need right here.”

“We should take off the cuffs first.” Maggie stayed Declan’s arm.

“Sure, after I get her blood.”

I hid my free arm behind my back and turned to the older of the two, shoving my bloodied wrist toward him. “Take them off.”

He frowned, but pulled the key from his pocket anyway. He purposefully fumbled when trying to insert it into the lock, his fingers slipping. The doctor moved to help.

“Just get her blood. I’ll do this,” the Vice President barked.

“I’ve got it.” The doctor went to grab the key and Declan pushed him away. Then he recoiled as if younger Declan’s body had burned his hand and he groaned in horror.

Something crackled as older Declan’s body stretched and pulled into a sparkling rift in the air, eventually fading from sight with a pop, only I was tethered to him. With a huge tug, my arm was yanked into the sparkles. Everything faded to black and my body tumbled over itself.

I reemerged in the hall in my own time screaming in agony. Onlookers stood around me and watched on in horror as they tried to figure out what had happened. Vice President Declan’s limp body lay next to mine, his arm at an unnatural angle and his shoulder drenched in blood. The key, though, still protruded from the cuffs. I reached over, twisted it, and broke free of his bloodied appendage. Rolling over, I felt a snap in my shoulder, like the joint slid into place, and the excruciating pain quickly subsided. People swarmed his body, edging me out of the way.

“What happened to the Vice President?”

“Call a doctor!”

“Is his arm severed?”

“I don’t feel a pulse.”

I slid over to the wall, favoring my shoulder, and gained my bearings. Voices zoomed around me in a blur. What had just happened? Oddly, everything else hurt but my head. Various people tried to revive the Vice President unsuccessfully as his blood drenched his shirt. Had he triggered something by touching himself? Even still, I knew they’d eventually blame me. Now was the time to escape, but I was too shocked to move.

Run, Abby, run!

I remained dazed, waiting. Waiting for help that wouldn’t come. Waiting to wake up from this nightmare. Waiting for someone to tell me what to do.

Through the opened door across from me, I saw Declan’s journal, then the monitor. Concerns of Kaden’s well-being compelled me to go inside his office. I locked the door behind me and turned on the tiny monitor. Kaden’s body lay lifeless on the floor.

“Kaden?” I called into the intercom. “Kaden!”

His body didn’t move. Sinking to my knees, I succumbed to the knowledge of what might have happened to him. My Complement had warned me not to take him with me. Not to bring him here.

“Why did you follow me? Why?” Tears poured down my cheeks. I’d failed.

Screams filled the hall outside the door and I tried to tune them out, rocking in place. Kaden would disappear from both of our lives. I’d ruined everything.

What sounded like a multitude of feet rushed past the door and within moments, the hall was quiet. Eerily quiet. Then a guttural groan followed by crunching and snapping filled the silence. The hairs on my neck stood on end. Only one thing made that noise and I prayed I was mistaken.

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 565