Portrait of a Donor: A Starters Story (5 page)

She looked as pretty as ever, in a short print dress and silver pumps with little
heels. I dodged the shoppers to get closer to her. She was about ten feet ahead of
me when she stopped and turned.

“I’m Callie,” I said as shoppers weaved between us. “You don’t know me. But I know
you.”

She gave me the strangest look, an expression I’d never seen on her. The corner of
her mouth turned up in a half smile, but it wasn’t a fluid move. It was more—mechanical.

Something was wrong.

She quickly turned and walked off.

“Wait,” I called out.

But she kept going. An Ender walked behind her. I wouldn’t have noticed him, but he
had a large silvery tattoo on the side of his neck. The head of some animal. I could
barely make it out. A leopard, maybe.

“It was Reece, wasn’t it? You wanted me to see her?”

I can always count on you, Callie
.

Did Reece know the leopard-tattooed Ender was following her? I wasn’t sure. She darted
into a shop. He moved
to the next one and pretended to be interested in the pearl chokers in the window.

I took a step toward the shop.

No. Leave her alone
.

She came out moments later and the leopard-tattooed man resumed following her. I kept
walking, staying behind, watching them both.

“She’s in danger,” I said to the Old Man.

You’ll see
.

A horrible sense of dread washed over me. “Is somebody inside her?”

The body bank had been destroyed. But the Old Man was accessing me. He could have
someone inside Reece’s body as well. The idea was putting my stomach in knots. His
electronic voice. The leopard tattoo. Reece’s body being used.

I saw the shoe store ahead, past Reece. Tyler and Michael were just entering it.

“Michael!” I shouted across the mall, hoping he could hear me over the shoppers and
the music. He was maybe six or seven shops away. He stopped and looked around but
didn’t see me. He went inside.

Reece must have heard, though, because she turned and stared at me. I didn’t mean
for that to happen. That gave the tattooed man a chance to catch up to her. He said
something in her ear, and she shook her head with an unnatural movement. He touched
her arm and she—or whoever was inside her—pulled it away.

“What’s going on?” I was frozen there, struggling to solve this dark puzzle. “Tell
me.”

Just because you destroyed Prime doesn’t mean you destroyed me. It wasn’t my only
facility. I can still access any chip
.

Reece backed away from the man and ran toward the shoe store.

And I can turn it into a weapon
.

“No,” I said to him, to myself, to anyone around.

Time stopped as I held my breath. It all happened so fast. The crowd around me became
a frozen blur as I started to run toward the shop. It felt like running through water—I
couldn’t move fast enough.

I was two doors away when, like a bullet, a dark-haired Starter wearing a puffy metallic
airjacket came at me. I just got a flash of his face—strong jaw, piercing eyes. He
threw himself against me, wrapped his arms around my body, and dragged me backward
as fast as he could.

Before I could react, there was a horrible, heart-splitting explosion. It came from
where Reece had been standing. As we went sailing through the air, I could only see
a blinding white flash.

LISSA PRICE
is an award-winning, internationally best-selling author whose debut,
Starters
, has been published in over thirty countries. She lives with her husband in Southern
California. Follow
@Lissa_Price
on Twitter or visit her online at
LissaPrice.com
.