Tomorrow Lost

Three: Cold Air

Outside had a taste. I had forgotten that. I didn’t quite know how to describe it because I was not good with words, but it tasted like something I had missed very much. Despite the dust from the collapsing billowing in the air and the subsequent pollution it caused, I still took in a deep breath and allowed the outdoor air to fill my lungs before expelling it.

It was winter.

The cold bit at my bare legs and arms, but I ignored it and stretched my limbs out to their fullest, laughing a little. Snow was coming down from the grey skies and only bits of the sun were shining through...

Despite the chaos that surrounded me, I felt myself at peace. I spun in circles, my bare feet kicking up more debris, but I ignored it. Laughter bubbled up and spilled out of me as I danced around.

The only memory I had of the snow was old and had grown fuzzy long ago, but it involved me, my sister, and my father. There were snowballs. Happiness. I remembered how red my cheeks were afterwards and the crystalline tears that had formed at the edges of my eyes.

But I was happy.

“Thea.” Reed’s bland voice brought me back to reality.

That crushing feeling hit me once again. The snow no longer felt like a revel, and the memories dulled into grey.

I deflated, my arms falling limply to my sides. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” His eyes reflected an apology. I was not used to seeing people be apologetic towards me, so it took me a minute to understand that’s what his look meant. Also strange. “I know you haven’t been out in so long. I’m sorry to rush you.”

My shoulders shrugged. I didn’t want my disappointment to be evident. They probably thought I was weird. Maybe not Reed, but Ricki definitely did. Her purple eyes were appraising me coldly. I shivered and looked away from her.

“We’ll be leaving soon,” Reed explained. “Myra and Thomas are on their way.”

I blinked upon hearing the names. I knew that Myra was here--she had used her geokinesis to collapse the facility--but it was odd to think that I was going to be meeting her right now. Within the span of one day, I had doubled the amount of people that I knew by name. Two had become four. I had not decided whether this was good or bad for me yet.

“Who is Thomas?”

“Myra’s fiancé,” Ricki was the one that answered. “The two of them do all of their missions together.”

“Why?” Mission? I was a mission? I thought about it for a second. Huh.

“That way they’ll never be left in the dark.”

I didn’t understand what Ricki’s words meant, but I still nodded as if I did.

At the sound of a car horn, all three of our heads turned in the direction that it came in. I stared down the vehicle as it approached, peering into the tinted windows. There were two people sitting in the front of the van and I assumed that they were Myra and Thomas.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Myra vaguely reminded me of Laura; they didn’t look anything alike, but I felt that they were similar. Her hair was dark and long, braided to one side. There was a gnarly scar that ran down her face, cutting a straight line from her temple, through her right eye, and down to her chin. Because of it, she had a fierce appearance and I felt a bit afraid of her… maybe that was why she reminded me of Laura.

To my surprise, Thomas looked exactly like Reed. His hair was significantly shorter, and his face was more angular and rugged, but the similarities were still evident. They had the same pale, green eyes and reddish hair. Were they twins? My heart panged and I couldn’t help but reminded of Stella. I wondered which one of them was older.

The two of them pulled up right next to us and the side door automatically opened.

Myra’s gravelly voice commanded, “Get in. We’re going.”

Ricki pushed slightly on the small of my back, hinting at me to go forward first. I swallowed the dry rock in my throat and quietly pulled myself up into the van, taking the seat directly behind Myra’s. I felt her eyes and Thomas’ come to rest on me. The air in here was warm and heavy. I missed the lightness from the outside. My gaze focused down on my lap, staring at the bloody handprint on the hospital gown I wore and my thin thighs.

The car door closed and clicked when it locked.

Myra pressed down on the gas without any remorse and we shot forward before I could even buckle my seatbelt. “Thea, I know that isn’t really the best introduction, but we didn’t have the luxury to prepare a grand reception for you,” she began to speak while whipping the van.

I turned to look in the window, watching the remnants of the facility collapsing in the distance. It did not look like all that much from the distance. Instead, it appeared to be rather pitiful and insignificant. Plumes of debris rose in the air, the tan-colored smoke contrasting against the grey skies. Did anyone make it out? Laura? The image of her holding the gun and staring at me with hatred in her eyes appeared in my mind. I closed my eyes, forcing the thought to go away. That one instance didn’t matter. She was just shook and scared from the incident. But still… that was weird for me?

“It doesn’t matter to me,” I responded to Myra, remembering that she had spoken to me. I paused, chewing on the inner part of my gums. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you do that? Why did you hurt all of those people?” Our eyes connected through the rearview mirror. Hers were dark brown and lacked any warmth.

“I did what needed to be done. Those people wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me so why should I?”

I picked at the worn edges of my clothing. “I just don’t think that it’s the best option… you didn’t have to do any of that.”

“What do you think I should have done, Thea?”

Her words made me flinch. Even though Myra’s tone stayed light, I couldn’t help but see Laura reflected in her eyes and I found myself shrinking. “I just… killing people… hurting them, I don’t think that it’s right.”

“You’re correct. It isn’t. But it’s all we can do.” She turned her vision back to the roads stretched out ahead. “I’m not strong enough to take them down without killing them. Are you?”

I kept quiet. I did not know how strong I was. Whenever they wanted me to test my powers, things would go haywire. It was always too much or too little. More than likely, if I had been in Myra’s position, there wouldn’t have been any survivors. Just like back then. I stared at my dirt-covered legs once more, gripping the edge of the seat cushion.

Myra said, “It’s fine if you don’t have an answer yet.”

“Still,” I pressed on stubbornly. “There were people--”

“Do you feel sympathy for them?” Thomas spoke suddenly. “You know that none of them even saw you as a real person, right?”

I hesitated. “Lives shouldn’t be looked down upon.”

“Maybe so,” was all he said before growing silent once again.

Nobody talked again after that.

Even though the atmosphere was not awkward, I still felt awkward, so I began to curl myself up even more. We had completely different mindsets. Would I be the same as them if I had not been in the facility? Would I be able to assign worth to life just as they did? From linking with Reed, I was able to understand that they had a deep felt hatred towards non-Strangers. To my kind, they were no different than slaughters.

Was I the weird one for not feeling this way? I didn’t think that there needed to be contempt existing between the two sides. We could live together peacefully. And I did not mind living my life in confinement. Because I knew myself, I was aware that I was better off that way. I hoped that the rebels would come to understand that, too. I was a monster. I needed to be put away… kept under control or whatever.

Maybe I was just naive. Yes, somebody had called me that once.

I truly did not know much about the world. Or what it was like now, at least. Once again, I gazed out the window, interested in how the snow flurries fell and how the sky was completely grey. The sun was not shining. I wondered if it knew that I missed it. To be honest, I didn’t recall what it felt like to have the sun on your skin.

Was that ignorance, too? It was hard to classify these things. A lot was going on for me right now.

“They’re on us,” Reed suddenly spoke.

My head lifted and I turned to look at him. “What?” Who was he talking about?

“We didn’t move fast enough,” Myra spat out. “Ricki and Thomas--you guys handle it.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Ricki laughed, excitement evident on her face. Her eyes slid over to meet with mine and her wide lips pulled into an even wider smile as she stuck out her pierced tongue. “Pay attention.”

She threw open the van door without any hesitation. In a swift movement, she gripped the edge of the car door then swung her body upwards, like a gymnast on bars. A moment after, a dull thud sounded from the roof of the car.

My neck bent upwards. “What’s going on? What’s she doing?”

Myra, not decreasing the speed despite Ricki being on top of the car, laughed carelessly. “The assholes that kept you locked up this entire time are after us already. Listen.”

With my heart jumping in my heart, I asked, “Lara? Lara’s here?”

“Who’s Lara?” Thomas grunted.

I leaned forward in my seat, eyes glowing. Maybe I could speak with her. I had to. There was no way I could leave things between us like that!

“Lara was the facility head,” Reed informed his brother. He turned towards me, his eyes piercing through me. I suppressed a shiver. “Thea, let us handle this. All right?”

I ignored him, not missing how he elected not to answer my question. To rid myself of other distractions, I closed my eyes. With a shaky breath, I lowered my mental barricade and allowed the thoughts of others to flow into my mind. To my surprise, the thoughts of my “comrades” were guarded by another powerful force—Reed, possible—and would require a bit of effort to take down. But I wasn’t concerned about them, so I turned my attention elsewhere.

Since I wasn’t very good at this, I struggled to expand my mental field. I envisioned it as a small ball of clay or whatever in my hand that I was stretching and pulling until it covered the area that I needed. My actions were clumsy and I could feel that I was forcing myself, not doing it as naturally as I should have, but it was the best that I could do. I was too scared to attempt anything else.

Reed was here, too. I could feel his vibe stretched far and wide—in a considerably larger expanse than mine. I was a bit shocked. How far did it expand? Everything within a ten… maybe fifteen mile radius was under his domain. I could only guess. As for me, I was only able to stretch my conscious for another three or so miles before I could tell I wouldn’t be able to control any more.

Feeling inferior, I huffed. But soon enough, I felt others enter my field. Instantly, their unguarded thoughts began to flood into my mind. Their emotions were as clear as day to me, too. I bit down on my lip as I forced myself to stay there and not retreat. This intensity still didn’t compare to when me and Reed had linked.

There were a lot of people, maybe a couple dozen, but I searched desperately for a familiar one. The others didn’t matter to me.

Soon enough, I found the commanding woman’s thoughts. Laura! She was here! And very, very angry. I could feel her potent rage and bloodlust. It was all saying one thing:

I should have killed that b***h when I had the chance.

I wasn’t that much of an i***t, I knew that “b***h” was undoubtedly me. And the very fresh wound of Laura trying to kill me felt like someone had doused it with alcohol.

Not wanting to feel her absolute contempt from me, I ripped my consciousness away and drew back into myself. When I opened my eyes, I knew that tears were forming and I was seconds from bursting into tears.

I felt eyes on me. Reed’s. I glanced over at him, seeing that he was watching me with a blank expression. His all-seeing eyes held a faint light of understanding in them, but he said nothing. We stared at each other for a moment, but I ultimately broke first and turned away. My grip tightened on my clothing. “Do you think I am a fool?” I questioned him lowly.

“No.”

I breathed out a little. “I want to speak with her. With Lara.”

Myra answered, “No. Not happening.”

I blanched. “Why not?”

No one responded to me, not even Reed.

“Why?” I repeated, voice sterner this time.

“You won’t like the answer.” Myra’s voice was devoid of any emotion.

At this, my eyes narrowed. It took me a second to understand what she meant, but once I did, I bristled. “You aren’t going to kill them, are you?”

Silence.

“You can’t do that. You can’t just kill them!”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you do!”

Myra responded sharply, “Then what should we do? Let them follow us to base? Let them bring an army and lose countless lives in between? No. We’re not.”

“You can incapacitate them,” I argued.

Myra simply laughed at this and did not respond. I knew what the laughter meant. She thought I was naive. And I was, but I knew that killing wasn’t the only option. Why didn’t they explore those first?

I realized then that she didn’t care at all. To her, their lives meant nothing. Why would she bother saving them? Killing was easier. Plus, she hated them. All of the rebel Strangers did.

Right.

I racked my brain over how to stop them and how to protect the humans, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know the majority of the abilities I had. Some things happened naturally—like super strength, heightened senses and abilities or telepathy… but others were more illusive like how I had learned today that I could teleport. There were others that had randomly appeared throughout the years, but I had forgotten them since I hadn’t been able to do it again consciously since.

In a moment of desperation, I reached out to Reed using a mental link, Can’t you stop this somehow? I felt his eyes land on me once more and I turned to face him. Please. Help me.

You won’t gain anything from doing this, his voice resounded in my mind. You will regret it.

You don’t know that.

It’s better to let her go, Thea. She is dangerous.

I knew that. I could tell that she wanted me dead. Obviously. But my relationship with Laura was too deep to allow her to be killed so easily. Even if her hatred stung, I didn’t want harm to come to her. I can’t let her die, I responded.

You should.

She’s getting married. Her fiancé will miss her.

That’s not your concern, Thea.

I recalled how Laura slapped me for bringing up her fiancé and assumed that her and Reed would have agreed upon that sentiment. My mouth twisted and I reached out to Reed again, I just want to speak with her. At least that.

I’m sorry but no. It’s dangerous. Thomas and Ricki have the situation under control.

They’re going to kill everyone!

We kill them or they kill us. Pick a side.

I recoiled at the frustration that became evident in his tone. There was no way that he would back down from his stance and help me. With a heavy heart, I severed the link once more and blocked out all outside sources from my mind. I crossed my arms across my chest, wishing that I could be useful in someway.

Something sparked through my mind and my head jerked upwards just as the first gunshot sounded. I whipped around, watching the object hurtling towards us through the back window. To my surprise, the bullet was intercepted by some invisible force field before it reached the car. It shattered into pieces and fell harmlessly onto the road. I wondered which one of the four Strangers I was with had caused this to happen. Myra did not seem likely and I was under the impression that Reed was just a telepath. It left it down to either Thomas or Ricki--the latter was still on top of the car.

My eyes moved on from the phenomenon and focused on the three cars that were now following after us. The windows were tinted completely and none of the black SUVs had plates on them. It felt like something out of a movie. My heart began to pump loudly in my ears. Laura was in one of those cars… if I figured out which one, then maybe I could save her.

I heard Thomas’ question Myra, “You didn’t destroy all their cars?”

“I took out what I could within the time we had. They must have had those hidden somewhere else,” she snapped back. “We’ll handle them.” She banged a hand against the ceiling.

I heard movements on the roof of the car, sounding like someone running across the van. Through the back window, I watched as Ricki launched herself through the air, wielding two batons crackling with electricity in her hands. She raised up her arms as she flew in the direction of the car in the lead then slammed them down, the batons connecting with the hood of the car. The force caused the vehicle to halt as its front was completely caved in, the rest of the car bending upwards at the sudden stop. Ricki endured the brunt of it, though, her feet digging up pavement as she was pushed forward. Once the skidding stopped, Ricki raised her batons and brought them back down once more. Electric currents sparked in the air then surged through the batons and to the car. I watched in awe and horror as the explosion occurred, sending debris and flames everywhere.

Ricki leapt backwards, somersaulting a view times before vaulting herself back on top of our van that was still hurtling forward. The entire exchange had only lasted a few seconds.

My vision shook as I stared at the wreckage. The passengers in that car were dead. There was no way that they could have survived that.

The other two SUVs burst through the flames, not even breaking or bothering to check upon their fallen companions.

My heart pumped wildly in my chest as I stared at the wreckage. Had Laura been in that car? I should have checked more. Now I was too afraid to extend my mental space out again in case… well, what if that was it? What if Ricki had killed her? I felt tears burning at my eyes.

No. She couldn’t be dead. Laura wouldn’t die that easily. There was no way. I had to find out if she was okay. I had to save her.

“Stop the car!” I yelled.

Myra stared at me, the look in her eyes had a dangerous and disapproving glint to it. “Are you being serious?”

“Yes! Stop it right now.”

“No,” Thomas responded instead of Myra. “If we stop, all of our lives are in even greater danger. We have the advantage while moving. We can still fight and they can’t.”

I opened my mouth, ready to scream at him that I did not care, but I quickly clamped it shut once more. Panic was beginning to set in. Thoughts were racing through my mind a mile per minute, and I couldn’t focus on anything other than my concern for Laura.

I just wanted to… I just wanted to see her. That was all that I wanted in that moment.

We hit a bump in the road. It was a hard one that shook the entire car and caused us to be suspended in air momentarily because of the speed we were moving at. A sense of danger filled me.

My body felt as if it was moving through water and my vision grew blurry momentarily. I felt incredibly dizzy and nauseous as my stomach turned dangerously. “Oh God,” I mumbled, leaning forward.

“What the f**k!” someone next to me exclaimed.

I turned at the sound, immediately recognizing that the voice did not belong to Reed. To my great surprise, there was a man dressed in dark, combat attire seated next to me. A human. I blinked. What? How did I get here? Had I teleported again? But why?

He was equally surprised by existence and immediately pulled his gun from its holster, pointing it in my face. My eyes grew wide.

I cried, “Wait—!”

He pulled the trigger.

My body jerked once more, the cold sensation appearing before the sickness overwhelmed me. I doubled over, hurling the contents of my stomach out. “Oh,” I groaned, not enjoying the thick taste of bile that coated my tongue. “Ugh…” My head was pounding. It felt like someone was trying to split my skull open, digging into my brain and squeezing it into mush.

After going through it twice before, and now I third, I realized that I had teleported once more. Where was I now, though? I slowly lifted my head, wiping the nastiness away from my mouth with my arm.

I felt something cold and hard press against my temple. “I wasn’t expecting you to deliver yourself to me,” the raspy, deep voice of a woman said mockingly. “How was your little excursion, Thea?”

Not daring to move, I only slid my eyes to the side, seeing that Laura was seated next to me. “Laura!” I exclaimed. “You’re alive…” Relief filled my body. The injuries that she had before were still there, but they had been wrapped up carefully, even if there was still some blood spotting. She was still in her dirty clothing, too, but she seemed to be fine otherwise.

“Did you wish for me to be dead? Your new friends seem to.”

I didn’t like the way that she was talking to me. She was never nice or whatever, but her voice was full of bitterness and hatred. “No, I would never wish that upon you,” I choked out the words, feeling very hurt. “I want you to be safe.” I paused again before quietly admitting, “I love you.”

She was silent for a moment. Then she spoke very slowly, “Thea, do you know what you have caused?” I felt Laura lowering the gun from my head so I turned to look at her. To my surprise, she raised a hand to touch my cheek. I would have mistaken her touch for affection if it weren’t for the cold light shining in her eyes. “Do you know many people died today? Because of you?”

“Huh?” I shook my head. “No, Laura, it wasn’t me. I didn’t touch any of them,” I informed her. “I didn’t do that.”

“But, you did.” Her grip on my face grew tighter, her fingers pinching down onto my chin. Her nails were sharp and I could feel them scraping against my skin even though they weren’t strong enough to break it. “If you weren’t here, they would all still be alive. They had families. Families that loved them. Do you have that, Thea?”

I shook my head as pricks of agony and grief stabbed at my heart.

“But, because of you, they’re all dead. Again. Do you know why?”

Another headshake. “It wasn’t me. I swear. I didn’t--”

“But would those rebels have come to our facility if you weren’t there?”

I shrugged helplessly. “I don’t--”

“You don’t what, Thea? You don’t see that you’re the problem? That people get hurt because of you? Hm?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but words didn’t come out. Why was she pushing this onto me? I hadn’t done anything. But… her words weren’t completely wrong. Myra and them had come to find me. Ultimately, wasn’t the cause of all of this disaster me?

“Even in the facility, you caused harm to people, Thea. Right? The lab technicians… Skylar.”

At the mention of her name, my entire body jolted. Memories flashed through my mind. Most of them involving her smiling face. Then the blood. It was pouring out of her orifices. There was so much of it. And she was looking at me. Staring me dead in the eye as she collapsed.

I gasped loudly, clutching my chest. “Um…” My vision grew blurry again, but this time, with tears.

Laura released her hold on me and moved back into her seat properly, staring at me curiously. “Do you know what you can do, Thea?”

I shook my head, barely able to manage the pain anymore. It all just… hurt. I was tired of it. Once again, I felt the strong desire to lay to rest. Just be free of it all. “Um…” I repeated. Words were a bit hard.

“Get back in the car, Thea,” Laura’s voice changed when she spoke this time; it was completely flat and devoid of emotion. I glanced back up, seeing that her eyes had glazed over. It wasn’t incredibly obvious, but the focused look that she always had no matter what had vanished.

Something about her felt wrong… but very familiar. “Reed?” Had he taken control over Laura? I didn’t know that he was capable of such a thing.

A smile cracked on Laura’s face, causing me to withdraw in fear. She looked pretty while smiling, but I had never seen her do so, so I was disturbed. “Get back in the car, Thea. It’s dangerous.”

I frowned, pushing back the tears with the backs of my dirty hands. “Give me a minute. I just need a minute.”

“We don’t have a minute.”

Something thumped on top of the car, causing my heart to leap into my chest. Before I could react, the side door was pried off. A hand shot down and grabbed Laura just as the light returned to her eyes. I could only watch in horror as she was yanked out of the car and tossed out.

Ricki jumped into the backseat with me as the two men in front let out confused yells. She reached her arms out to touch both of them and I watched as they began to shake violently as they were electrocuted. I sat there in shock as their bodies slumped. Since no one was driving, the car began to jeer off in the wrong direction. Ricki turned to me and grabbed my arm, her eyes seemingly crackling with electricity. “Do your teleport thing and put us back in the car.”

“What? I can’t put us back in. I can’t control it--”

“Just f*****g do it!” Ricki roared, shocking me some with her power. “Do it!”

I yelped meekly and found that the icky sensation from teleporting was back. I clutched my stomach as it threatened to empty itself again.

“Good girl,” Ricki said from next to me.

I didn’t respond because I couldn’t get my breathing under control. And Laura? What did Ricki do to her! She was a human. Being thrown out of a car moving that fast could easily kill her. I whipped my body around, ignoring everyone’s eyes on me.

We were already far away from the black cars. They were all totaled and my vision didn’t stretch far enough to see Laura.

“I have to—“

“What you’re going to do,” Thomas began, “is sit down and stay still.”

A heavy weight pressed down on me, making my entire body grow rigid. I couldn’t even let out a sentence let alone try to resist the pressure. I opened my mouth wide, a strange noise bubbling in my throat and squeaking out. What was this? Was it Thomas’ power? It was very… oppressive. And I didn’t know how to get out of his clutches. Fear gripped at my heart. I didn’t feel like I would die or anything, but the feeling of being confined so tightly wasn’t pleasant and my anxiety was taking over.

“Thomas!” Myra sharply warned. “Stop it!”

He clicked his tongue, and the weight disappeared.

I drew in a sharp breath, bending over and wrapping my arms around my body. “I…” My head began to pound even harder than before. The migraine was overwhelming and I felt ready to throw up once more. “Oh jeez…”

A warm hand pressed down on my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that it was Reed reaching across Ricki. His eyes were still glassy, but I could sense kindness and warmth in them. “Are you all right?”

I took a moment before nodding my head. Out of all of them, I knew that Reed was the most concerned about my well-being, so I didn’t want to make him worry.

“Thomas, you don’t have to treat her like an outsider,” Ricki suddenly said from next to me.

I peaked at her, surprised to see that the seemingly permanent smile was gone from her face.

“She’s one of us now. And that requires both sides being receptive,” she continued. “And that means we don’t hurt each other.”

Was… she defending me? This was surprising to me. From her behavior thus far, Ricki was the last person I would have expected to back me up. I then thought back on her electrocuting the hell out of me to make me teleport, but I decided to not mention it at this moment.

“I’m just trying to get us back to base safely,” Thomas remarked. His gaze met with mine in the rearview mirror. There was no contempt or whatever in his eyes, so I didn’t believe that he disliked me. Instead, he appeared to be quite stern. “Your actions put all of us in danger. You may just want to make sure Laura’s safe, but she will kill us the moment she gets the chance. Do you understand that, Thea?”

I stayed silent, digging my short nails into my skin and feeling the bite of pain. I felt like crying. That hot, scratchy and sticky feeling appeared in the back of my throat and my eyes were burning. His words were painful, accurately stabbing my already fresh wounds.

“You don’t see that you’re the problem?” Laura’s voice taunted in my mind.

I choked a little, covering my mouth with my hands. My existence and people’s deaths were closely intertwined.

Behind all the sadness… I just felt really, really tired.