Gifted

Chapter 20

Clara's POV

I try to scream as I'm dragged away from the stream of people rushing out of the gym. But the hand over my mouth is too tight.

"Ow!" my capturer shouts when I bite their hand. They loosen their hands for a second and I'm able to squirm free.

"Who the hell are you?!" I shout. I look around for a second. Where did he go? A moment later a feel a shove from behind and then a slam of a door. The air around me gets warm.

"Thanks for the bite," I hear Mark say. The lights flick on and I can see him holding up his hand. There's deep bite mark in his hand.

"Welll..umm..I guess you have 2 marks now," I shrug. He face palms himself.

"Hey. I my defense you could have been dragging me off to some unknown location," I pout

"To what rape you?" he fantasizes sarcastically

"Uh yeah," I argue

"Clara this school is filled with the world's smartest people. Not to mention people with Gifts," he says motioning to a small flame in his hand.

"Who could be trying to rape me," I point out

"Clara no one is-," he is cut off

"Sorry to interrupt your little lover's spat but we're in the middle of a crisis," the Goth girl from earlier steps out of the shadowy area of the closet.

"How long-?" I start. My eyes are bulging out of my head. How long was she in here?

"Doesn't matter. What matters right now is your brother," she says

"My brother? You know where he is?!" I squeal

"Well yes...sort of," she admits

"Really!Whereishe?Ishewell?CanIseehim!Wait,howdoyouknowhim-" I ramble

"Clara calm down," Mark calms me down.

"Sorry," I say "so where is Bret?"

"Somewhere in New York," she says.

"Well that's specific," I huff.

"Sorry I didn't have much option when I wiped his memory," she admits.

"YOU WHAT!" I shout.

"Shhhh," Mark hushes, a finger to his lips.

"I had to wipe his memory so they couldn't kill him. At least not quickly," she whispers

"Again WHAT?!" I whisper

"Ok, so you know that Gifteds are supposed to be a secret right," she explains

"Right," I reply

"Well Bret just happened to stumble upon us. He discovered our Helena base spy, may poor Newton rest quietly. Anyways that's when I was sent in, originally I was supposed to just delete anu traces of Newton but then...," she stops for a second

"They told me I was to escort him here where he would be killed," she says

"Why!" I ask eagerly

"Let her finish," Mark says

"He knew too much for his own good. So they lied. Told him he was getting a new job in New York. He believed it all. That's when I came here. I heard the Governor Glory was coming. He was the person we've been tracking the whole time. Anyways I abandoned your brother, came here but G.G hadn't arrived yet," she explains

"Oh that was the time we met," I say

"Yes, that was the time I visited Jose, Jin, and Mark," she says

"Why them?"

"Because of Miss. R's visions," Mark intervenes. Mason nods.

"What was wrong?"

"Just let me finish with Bret first," she says gently

"Fine," I breathe

"Anyways I ran back through a tunnel to get back to Bret. We got to the Government Building where he was to be killed. Except he showed me his tattoo,"

"He was Marked Choice right?"

"Well in someways. His circle wasn't complete like a true Choice. When I first saw it I thought all of this was a joke. since we conceal our Marks like that. But after ," she explains

"Clara, your brother. He was a Gifted the whole time," she says. My eyes nearly bulge out of my head. Tears now steam down Mason's face.

"You have to rescue him Clara. He's out there wandering aimlessly. It will only be a short period of time before the government finds him," she cries.

I don't quite make out the last words since my head is spinning so much.