Trials

Chapter 17- Mack

          Her sides were heaving. Pain swells all over her body. Breathe. She tried. But every time she did her lungs filled with- with panic. She could breathe. She was going to die. She fell into a pool of endless darkness. She was going to...

           Mack's eyes flickered open. She was still in pain. She could hardly breathe cause there was a gag over her mouth. Her hands and feet were tied. Her torso locked in rope around a wooden chair. Memories started to flow back into her battered head again. Sara. That girl was going to pay. She had to fight her.

            The blurriness of her eyes started to fade when she saw Sara walk into the room. Mack froze. How did she have access to a room? Or even rope, for that matter?

             Mack gazes around at her surroundings. The room was tiny. Her surroundings were dark wood, with a glass panel stretching at the back of the small enclosure. Where was she?

             Then Sara raised a g*n. Mack hadn't seen one like that, with the long barrel, since she was home. A hunting rifle possibly? It made her wary. She wouldn't use that. She couldn't. Sara cautiously pulls off her gag.

            "Where's my brother?" She says, her voice shaky. Her eyes were glossy, on the verge of tears.

           Mack took a deep breath. "You won't use that." Mack hisses back.

          "Where's my brother!" She repeats, louder, stronger.

           This time Mack felt a flash of pain in the back of her brain. She was so glad her father chose powers for them. So mistakes like this didn't happen. How did this happen, couldn't she control animals? Oh wait, humans were in that category. How had she not thought of that?

          "Fine if you won't talk, maybe a bullet in the leg will open your mouth." She says as she inches her finger closer to the trigger.

           "WOAH! Woah!" A girl comes out. A girl with dark hair jumps in front of the firing path. "No need to shoot! Whatever going on we can um- resolve it?"

            "Out of my way, i***t!" She yells.

            "She might be useful if she's not screaming in pain?" The girl offers.

          Sara takes a deep breath. "Of course." She says, putting the g*n away. "But if you interfere again...Ja...Jay-"

            "You'll shoot me in the head." Jay chuckles sarcastically.

            "Precisely." Sara says meeting her gaze, with a neutral darkness that sent a shiver down her spine.

             "Maybe I can help?" Jay offers.

           "Fine." Sara snorts, walking away.

             "You got dangerously close to that girl blowing out your brains." Mack warns.

             "I'm surprised she's making threats like that, but I'm sure she wouldn't shoot me or you."

              Mack doesn't respond. Jay sighs.

            "But perhaps it'd be better for you if you'd speak with me or her?" She offers.

            "I told her all I know." Mack says stiffly.

           Then Mack heard a small tapping sound from outside.

          "Jay!" Sara calls, her voice shaking. "Someone's here. I think Mack called for backup. We have to go! Knock her out and come on!"

          Jay glances back to her warily.

          "Go ahead," Mack says, her gaze just as steady. "But just know I didn't call anyone."

          Jay doesn't say anything as she approaches Mack. Mack braces herself for the impact to her head. But unexpectedly, Jay goes to her binds and undoes them.

                "Go," 

            Mack doesn't take a chance and runs. She finds Sara sprinting for the door and holds out a hand to stop her in her tracks. Then she saw... Jordan. She'd found both Liam and Jordan today. What a reunion. But Jordan was quicker. He threw out a purple with yellow striped flower at her right when she caught him to freeze. The petal brushed her hand softly before falling to the ground. Mack let out a scream of pain, but managed to hold Sara and Jordan. She shook out her hand, trying her best to clear the burning sensation.

            Jay came running out and gasps. "Your hand! The Azora Lily! Jordan didn't-"

          "He did," Mack gasps through gritted teeth.

          "You're like him?" Jay asks, betraying a hint of fear.

          Mack looked back at the frozen expression on Jordan's face. Anger and amusement.

         "No! Not like him... but I mean..."

          There was a loud bang by the entrance. Mack was caught off guard and dropped her connection between Sara and Jordan.

           "i***t!" Sara screams. "Now the Silent are here!"

         Mack begins to rub her hand roughly as the pain turned to an itch spreading at an alarming rate as Jordan and Sara rushed up to the tiny entrance for a fight.

         Then an older girl came through and jumped in surprise when she saw Sara and Jordan. Mack looks up and also saw Noah and Murphy dragging a body with them. Noah looks up and gets the biggest puppy grin.

         "Jay! Mack You're here!!" Noah grins.

        "Stand back!" Sara warns them all.

        Noah glares at her and darts past to go hug them.

        "Who are you?" Jordan asks Murphy.

        "Not happy there are people in my secret hideout I found. Good to see you ditched me for the other girl, Jordan." The girl with the short brown hair snorts.

          "Courtney!" Noah snaps. "Don't be rude!"

           "Y-YOUR hideout!?" Sara shouts.

           "What's going on?" Jay rasps. "Why is Courtney here? Where have you been! And how do you know Mack?" 

         "Someone better start talking before I melt everyone's brain in anger," Sara snaps impatiently.

         "Do it," Challenges Courtney. "And I'll fry your everything with my sun stones."

        Sara grins with calculating delight. "You won't be able to because you'll be dead."

        Noah steps forward between them both. "NO! No one's going to hurt anyone! Let me explain! I'm Noah and I just went through total hell looking for my sister and instead finding Murphy and Courtney and I freed Mack from a frozen capsule and also found Zach who was fatally stabbed by my psychopathic sister and I met Jordan at that party and Jay is my best friend and I'm sorry I don't know you scary girl, but can someone please now help Zach and find a way to drag my sister out here so that we can all get on Mack's jet and fly off and be safe again?" Noah finishes altogether.

           The group all stood in stunned silence for a moment.

            "You still think you can get back?" Jordan finally sneers at Mack.

              "We came this far. I mean, I'm sure she can." Mack turns to Sara.

              "Not until you find my brother," She hisses.

              "I already have a plan," Jordan mutters.

             "This is stupid," Murphy snaps.

                "GUYS!" Noah yells. "We will find Sara's brother and my sister and help Zach and stick to my plan, but we have to work together,"

              "Who put you in charge!" Jordan snaps dangerously. "You're not anymore better than the rest of us. You're still that little kid at the memorial that made a very stupid mistake and nearly cost us our lives! The only reason I haven't killed you is because Commander Houston would like you alive. And no one really likes you because Houston LEFT US HERE because of YOU!"

                 Noah stood in stunned shock, until Jay asks, "Wait... Houston?" and Jordan stomps to the back of Sara's bunker.

                "Jordan wait!" Mack calls as she runs after him.

              Mack felt the weight of the confusion and fear in the cramped wooden space of the "hideout". She was itching for a chance to get away and speak with Jordan. It'd been two years. Jordan may have lost hope but Mack knew her father better.

             "Jordan I know you're upset, and I get it, but if you keep snapping at everyone like that then not one will listen,"

              "No! It's-it's them who won't listen!"

              Mack raises a brow.

              Jordan sighs and turns his back. "Do you know what this is?" He asks as he holds out a grayish liquid.

              Mack takes it and studies it. "No...?"

               "This is what they've used on them," He says.

             "Sara's brother, Ross. This is-" She gulps. "The memory serum?"

             Jordan nods. "I don't know how you know about the brother, but I just need you to listen."

              "Jordan,"

              "Mack?"

           "Back at Thunder Mountain you used to bully me. Call me names. Snap at my best friend, Xeda. Now we're both here. Now my father probably thinks we're dead. Now with one wrong step we probably will be dead. And I found Liam to be a traitor. And I've never been so scared for the future ever."

             "Your point?"

            Mack sighs. "I don't know what else to do. I trust you now, I have no choice. So yes, tell me everything. Because we have to be on the same side now. No matter what."

           Jordan looks down. "No matter... what..." He sighs. "Ok. You'll need to listen close."

            So Jordan explained to her his plan. The memory serum. Everything.

          When he was done all Mack could say was "Wow."

          "So? What do you think? I mean this one can work. Unlike Special Boy back there."

          "I don't know what to think, Jordan. The boy I knew would never come up with something like this. It's just- just-"

          "But it could work," Jordan adds.

          "It could," Mack admits. "But all those people- some are innocent!"

         "How could you say that! After what they did to you?"

          "Jordan you'd be erasing their entire lives! Their families- their friends!

           "I don't care!" He snaps. "Look what they've done to us! They tortured you! They took away our life and our sanity! They've killed us Mack!"

          Mack looked down. "If you go through with this, you're no better than they are. We don't even know what they want from us! My father needed that information! We can use Noah's plan, and elements of yours and we can get out of this nightmare."

       Jordan refuses to meet her eyes. "You're right about one thing. We don't know what they want from us. And maybe you don't, but I can guarantee you every person in this hidden Trial glitch agrees that if we stay here, we will die. Your father will understand. And we can show the people in charge that we are better than them- that we care about human lives. But there is no way I'm going to listen to some kid's desperate plan just because he's "special". He's not even like us Mack! He's not even-"

           "Free?"

           Jordan glares at her and wrinkles his nose. "Don't call me that! Don't call us that, Mack! Because it's not true! That's a stupid word made to taunt us with something we may never have.  Don't you get it? Even when we were at the mountain, we still never had freedom. If you had just went with my plan-"

           "Now listen to yourself Jordan! You can't just shun Noah's plan and have no evidence to back your own!"

           Jordan rolls his eyes and jiggles the memory serum can.

           Mack sighs in anger. "Point is, I've heard both sides and I think Noah's plan is decent, and of course yours in really great too. I would be open to parts of it... with conditions. I'm just not- sure. We should get the memory serum to my father. If he agrees with it, we can maybe use it on COSA, like you said. But there are too many variables in the plan. What if this memory serum doesn't work? How do we know if it's permanent or just temporary?"

           Jordan puts a hand to his mouth, lost in thought.

           "Yes, yes. I hear what you're saying. We'd need... we'd need some kind of test subject,"

            "Only if they were willing," Mack cautions him.

           "Yes. I'm not that heartless. I wouldn't go up to someone in this Trial and just go steal their memory- But..."

            Jordan's eyes flickered with something. "What if it was for a good reason... even if they're not willing."

            Mack raises an eyebrow. "My concern is rising. Whom do you suggest?"

           Jordan looks down. "Noah,"

           "Noah!" Mack gasps. "Jordan I know you're upset with him, but that's just-"

            "No Mack. You need to understand. Just listen."

            Mack narrows her eyes at him in suspicion.

            "Okay. Go on,"

            Jordan sighs. "If we're able to get that jet, and only if, we can't take everyone."

             Mack considers this and frowns.

           Jordan looks at her, serious. "I know you want to, but reality is, Mack, we can't take every Trial on that plane. And if your father is able to send one, there would be a lot of ethical questioning of the ones we've left behind. And you never know, the only room on that plane could be for you, me, Noah, and his sister, as your father originally planned it to be."

            Mack shook her head. "So what's that got to do with-"

           "I'm getting there," Jordan assures her. "Mack, Noah's going to be miserable leaving all his friends back here. And not to mention what we'd have to do to his sister. And maybe not now, but soon, Noah's going to start to wonder what you want of him. And hell, maybe his ego will get the better of him and destroy us all. But he's still going to wonder. What did you tell him?"

           Mack sighs. "That my father wanted something with him and I don't know what,"

            "And he believed it?"

            Mack nods.

            "Good. For now. But what about later? If he goes through Transformation before we leave then he might never go with us. Mack if we used him as the test subject then we'd be saving him the hardship of his friends and also making it easier on us if we leave."

           "We will leave." Mack declares. "And all will be fine and Noah will probably be in Transformation during our trip home."

          "Sara would be on board, right? She has to, she's too dangerous to leave here. She could make Noah tell everyone that he agreed to it."

          "No! I'm not helping with your sick project. Even if it sounds promising, no. You've been gone for two years. Have you really just been "biding your time"? Jordan how'd you find this girl, Sara? And Jordan what else are you not telling me? Because maybe, Jordan, I'd be more open to destroying my friends if you'd be a bit more open to me."

          "Mack. There's no time for that, if you just..."

           "No."

        "Ok fine!" He shouts. "Mack, l gave up, I was a coward. I hid because I didn't know what else to do. I was afraid to leave my safe space. So when Sara found me, I saw her as an opportunity. And we worked together. Harmoniously."

         Mack looked at him. Just stares into his eyes. Expressionless.

          "Okay,"

         "Okay?"

     She gives him her signature grin. Sara may have lied, and she may be dangerous, but even a mention of that brother of hers was her weak point. Jordan though, was a tough nut to c***k, but she finally believes she'd done it.

      "You know that's all I wanted to hear," She says

     Jordan raises a confused dark eyebrow.

      Mack nods truthfully. "Now let's talk for real."