Sun Rose (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 1) (9 page)

“I’m
not sure of my purpose here anymore.” I sit beside the fountain once again with
Patience. Another week has gone by. I haven’t seen her in the labcoat since and
I wonder if I imagined it. The sun comes and goes overhead, warmth lingering on
my skin. “Your brother has done all of his tests.”

Patience
is wearing another long skirt. This one is light grey with blue and green
flowers. The blue is bright as the water in the fountain. As bright as Pike’s
eyes.

“So
what’re you thinking of doing about it?” She drips water on her arm and watches
it roll over the side. There is no hair to slow it down. Strange.

“I
don’t know,” I shrug. I do know. I am going to leave. I just haven’t mentioned
it out loud.

“JJ
says once he can figure out how to speed up the regrowth, he will look for
investors,” Patience says without prompting.

“He
told you that?” I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.
Why did he tell
her? Is it because she’s helpful? How much does she know?

“And
he said that once he has some capital, he’ll start to harvest the cells.” She
still hasn’t looked at me. “But he says it will be tricky getting someone to do
the negotiating. He’s got to figure out whom he can trust to do it and then how
to get them in and out of Aegis.”

“He
could trust you,” I offer.

“Of
course he could, but I’m no good at talking and especially not negotiating.”

“What
about the person coming and going with notes from my sister? That person would
probably be very good at it,” I angle. She knows something.

Patience
dips her fingers back in the water. I wonder about her fascination with the
water. What does she see?

“They
probably would be,” she agrees, but doesn’t indicate who it could be.

“Ezekiel,
maybe? Or Pike?”

“Uh-uh,”
she shakes her head. “Too intimidating and too much in his own head. Those two
would never work as good negotiators.”

I
don’t believe this is the same person I saw spinning a centrifuge.

“Hara?
She sure knows her way in and out and around.” I can’t believe I’m already
trying to get rid of her. She hasn’t done anything to me.

“She
could work, I guess. She’d be good at it of course, but she’s already on the
Imperial Bead’s watch list. The Beadledom must be looking for her by now. She
won’t do.”

“How
about that girl visiting JJ the other day. I’m blanking on her name,” and
fishing for information.

“Ha
ha! Oh no– ha ha– she won’t do at all. None of those girls could do it.”

Girls?
What girls?
JJ has more of them?

“Did
he mention how uneasy I am about all of this?” I ask Patience.

“He
did, but he also said you wanted to do it to help people. And you’d be helping
so many people. That’s why you were brought here in the first place. Not
because we wanted to save you, a natural human, but because we all knew there
was something special about you. And everybody would’ve known. Something
potentially universe-altering.” The water falls onto the ground where it makes
a small puddle.

I
have nothing to say. I feel used and unclean. It amazes me how JJ has twisted
our conversation for an audience. I know it’s not about the good I’d be doing,
but rather the profit. He wants to make money. What does Pike know about all of
this? What does he think he was bringing me here for?

“He
wanted me to remind you to not say anything to Pike. He said you wouldn’t.”
Patience breaks my reverie.

I
don’t bother responding. I told JJ I wouldn’t say anything. I guess it’s
natural he told his sister, I just can’t help but feel betrayed.

“I
haven’t committed to anything, Patience. Not yet.”

“He
did mention that, too and–” Patience pauses and smiles to herself. She isn’t
even looking at me. So much like her brother. Now I see it. She stares at the
water.

“And
what?”

“And
he said that if you didn’t come around then he’d figure out a way to make you
see things his way.”

“What’s
that supposed to mean?”

I
want Patience to stop smiling. She’s threatening me.

“He
said you were a smart girl, Rose. And that you’d know what he meant.”

“I
know what he means alright. If I don’t agree to give myself up,” I begin.

“Not
you. Your cells,” Patience corrects.

“Then
he’ll find a way to get them from me. He’ll make sure of it.”

“He
did say you were a smart girl.”

This
isn’t a dumb little girl speaking, but a manipulative one. She knows exactly
what she is saying and how she is saying it. I get up.

“Where’re
you going Rose?” she asks. I want sweet, stupid Patience back.

I
step away from her. She still plays with the water. Her skirt is raised up to
her knees and feet splash in the shallow pool. I get a quick glance up her leg
and see some black etching on the smooth, white skin of her inner thigh. It
looks like a tattoo, but the lines and cross-hatchings are more like a code of
sorts.

It
doesn’t matter.

I
turn and walk away.

“Rose?
Rose!” she calls after me.

I
run across the common area.

It
isn’t until I’m back in my room, door shut and in the dark out of breath that I
notice I forgot my notebook. It doesn’t matter. I’ve got nothing of any
significance in there, it’s just the feeling of loss without it is kind of
intense.

At
least I have my letters.
I walk over to the bed and kneel down, reaching
under the mattress.
Wait, where are they?
My hand moves forward and
backward along rusty springs.

They’re
gone.

I
stand too quickly and get lightheaded. I can’t make my legs move, but I need my
letters. They’re incriminating. They’re personal. They’re mine.

Nothing
feels right here and I realize it never has. Except for my feelings for Pike.
Those were real. They are real. Something about this place is wrong, though.
Like Tithonus, Dory, and Ezekiel said, I can’t trust anyone. I don’t have
anyone. Why did I leave with Pike in the first place? I shouldn’t be here.

That’s
it. It’s settled.
It’s
time to leave. To go home. I can’t worry about being caught. I don’t need to be
here and I will be safe at home.
Or will I?

I
don’t consider this scenario. It may be too late no matter what. I’m going to get
my letters back and leave this place as soon as I can. As soon as everyone goes
to their rooms. I grab four of the five candles and put one in each of my pant
pockets just in case. The matches go into my waterproof boots.

I’m
going home. To my family. To Dory. To my bedroom. I look back at my pillow
still on the cot. It has to stay. I can’t bring it with me.

Without
any sense of time, I crack the door open, getting some light into the room. Pike
and Hara are across the common area among a bunch of other workers. She’s
petting a small, white lamb grazing with two other sheep. The girl from JJ’s
room is spinning wool on a loom. Pike looks on. Everyone seems content. Hara is
smiling.

Pike
notices me and smiles. I look down. My notebook is on the doorstep. My letters
tucked in among the pages. I pick them up and clutch them to my chest. When I
look back at Pike, he’s kneeling beside Hara, petting the lamb, too. They are
the picture of perfection.

It’s
settled. I’m leaving tonight.

“So
you’re planning on leaving, are you?” JJ is in my doorway. I’ve opened it,
ready to go. It’s like he’s read my mind. The common area is deserted. Everyone
has gone to their rooms. Mine is the only one on the ground floor, which gives
JJ more than enough easy access to me.

“It’s
none of your business.” I state.

“That’s
all well and good, but you’ve thought wrong if you think I’m going to let you
leave. For what anyway? So someone else could capture you and do the same
thing? The Beadledom will have you in no time. They are everywhere.”

JJ’s
eyes dart around, spastic. They’re bloodshot and red-rimmed. There are thick
veins bulging in his neck and they pulse. His hair is tousled and he hasn’t
tucked in his shirt. He’s unkempt, but he laughs. He is deranged. Maniacal.

I
have the letters tucked into my waistband. I don’t want to leave them behind. The
candles are still in my pockets. My hoodie is pulled up over my head.

“I’m
leaving, JJ. You can’t stop me.”

“Of
course I can,” he takes my upper arms and pushes me back into the room.

“Pike
said I could go home whenever I wanted to.” I flip his hands off my arms and
with my own, I push him back. I’m a lot stronger than I thought.

“Pike
doesn’t make the rules here,” he snarls. He digs his heels into the dirt just
outside my door and I can’t push him back any farther.

“I’ll
scream if you don’t let me leave,” I open my mouth to follow through with my
threat. He moves in closer, but doesn’t touch me. His breath smells sick, like
vomit. Like curdled milk and it makes my stomach turn.

“If
you scream,” he whispers, “you’ll never get out of this place. I’ve got you.
You need me. I can keep you safe.” JJ rests his hands on my arms giving me
enough leverage to pull back my leg and ram my knee into his groin. The result
isn’t immediate, but within a few seconds, he falls to the ground, doubled over
in pain.

He
gasps and coughs, sputters out an order, and I can feel the spit on my arms
from his mouth.

“I
will get you, Rose! I will get you and your code! You are mine!” He wheezes and
then nothing.

I’m
too far gone to pay attention now.

With
all my strength and a surge of adrenaline, I bolt past the common area, through
the first and second sets of doors into the lobby. I don’t look behind. No one
is around. There isn’t any alarm.
How was that so easy?
I shove myself through
the last set of doors and I’m finally outside.

It’s
still light, but not bright. My eyes need to adjust. My room was so dark. I
don’t know why I needed these candles.

The
air is cool. My body is hot. I’ve got to keep going. Knowing that the fence
isn’t electrified, I get a running start and scale it in no time. My toes
barely touch the metal.

I
land on the ground on the other side with a thud. I get up.
I made it! I’m
out!

Not
bothering to dust off, I sprint now, through the sludge and grass toward the
rails. I’ve got to get as far away as possible.

I
hear the doors slam and now I know I’m being followed. Is Pike behind me or is
it JJ? I don’t know and I don’t really care.

I
make it up to the train rails without looking back.

Which
way? Which way? Think fast, Rose!
My head moves from side to side.

I
don’t know which direction I should go in, but it doesn’t matter. I just have
to get away from here, so I go in the opposite direction I came from. I think I
hear Pike calling behind me, but I can’t risk being wrong and getting caught.

I
run through tall grass. It still smells like rain. Like ozone. Ezekiel was
right. I stomp through mud and it tries to suck my feet down, but my boots and
my determination won’t let me. I have too much to lose if I go back.

I
run and run until I almost cannot catch my breath. I hear a small bang and a
crack echoes in my ears.

I
know what it means. I know what Dory and Tithonus were telling me to do.

Something
hits my back and I fall down.

I
know who they were telling me to trust.

The
grass beneath me is cool.

Trust
no one.

Trust
myself.

Then
cold. I am numb.

I
feel no pain.

I
feel nothing.

End Book 1