The Awakening

Eight

WE HAD SPAGHETTI AND meatballs for dinner. Rae’s favorite. I couldn’t eat, only sipping at a glass of flat Coke, but she didn’t notice my loss of appetite. She was like a kid on her first day back from camp, with so much to tell that it burbled out in one endless stream.

She’d had a training session, a demonology lecture, and a long talk with Dr. Davidoff, who told her all about her mother and their hopes of contacting her. And as she talked, all I could think was, We’ve been genetically modified. We’re Frankenstein monsters—failed Frankenstein monsters. And I have no idea how I’m going to break it to you.

“I saw Brady today,” I finally blurted.

Rae stopped, fork raised, dangling spaghetti strands swaying. “Brady? Seriously? He’s here. Oh my God, that is so cool.” Her grin blazed. “And you know what the first words out of that boy’s mouth are gonna be? ‘I told you so.’ He kept saying there was nothing wrong with him, that something weird was going on—”

“He’s dead Rae. I contacted his ghost.”

She blinked. One slow blink, and then it was like someone paralyzed every muscle in her face, and it went completely still, her eyes empty, expressionless.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blurt it out like—”

“Why would you make up such a”—she seemed to chew over her words, searching for the best, before spitting out—“vicious lie.”

“Lie? No! I’d never—”

“Why are you doing this, Chloe?”

“Because we’re in danger. We’ve been genetically modified and it didn’t work. The Edison Group killed Liz and Brady and—”

“And it’s only a matter of time before they kill us all. Mwah-ha-ha! You really do watch too many movies, don’t you? And now those boys have brainwashed you with their conspiracy theory crap.”

“Conspiracy theory?”

“All their talk about Lyle House and the evil people Simon’s dad worked for. Those guys have you so brainwashed, you need to make the Edison Group into the bad guys. So don’t tell me stories about Liz and Brady being dead.”

My voice went as cold as hers. “You don’t believe me? Fine. I’ll summon Liz and you can ask her a question only she could answer.”

“Don’t bother.”

I stood. “No, really. I insist. It’ll only take a sec.”

When I closed my eyes, her chair squealed. Fingers clamped around my forearm. I opened my eyes to see her face, inches away.

“Don’t play games, Chloe. I’m sure you can make me think Liz is here.”

I looked into her eyes and saw a glimmer of fear. Rae wouldn’t let me summon Liz because she didn’t want to know the truth.

“Just let me—” I began.

“No.”

She gripped my arm tighter, her fingers scorching hot. I gasped and yanked back. She let go quickly and a stricken look crossed her face. She started to apologize, then stopped herself, marched across the room, called reception, and said we were done with dinner.

I was actually glad to get back to my cell. I needed to figure out how I could convince Rae that we needed to escape…and what I’d do if I couldn’t.

I had to get out. Those question marks beside Derek’s name meant they hadn’t decided what to do with him, and I’d already known that. Now I’d seen the same marks beside my name.

I needed to come up with an escape plan fast. But the moment I stretched out on my bed to start thinking, I discovered that my Coke at dinner hadn’t been just flat. It had been drugged.

I fell into a dreamless sleep and didn’t wake until someone touched my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Sue, the gray-haired woman who’d chased us at the factory yard. She stood there, smiling down at me like a kindly nurse. My stomach twisted and I had to glance away.

“Time to get up, honey,” she said. “Dr. Davidoff let you sleep in today, but we have a full afternoon of lessons that I’m sure you don’t want to miss.”

“A-afternoon?” I said, sitting up. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven thirty. Rachelle and Victoria are finishing up their morning lessons and they’ll meet you in the dining room for lunch.”