Shards

chapter 24

Chapter 24:

This time the guard was ready for me, and he easily wrestled me onto my stomach. That was one of the perks of being an adult male. All I could do was watch helplessly as another guard carried a now still Nadia from the room. Well, I guess I wasn't being put on greeter duty again, any time soon.

Nadia's face was almost out of view, but my eyes stayed fixed on it, as the rest of the world around me blurred into nonexistence. I couldn't look away. Time sped by yet her face stayed, unmovingly, in my field of view. I did not spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but she was turning out to be what I'd expected and more. The speeding of time did not stop until the dragging hook that was my emotions stuck onto one memory in particular.

It was a memory that took place after my fourteenth birthday had come and went, and Nadia had blossomed into someone immensely strong who—as the others liked to joke—could have been mine and Ian's child.

“But Jayls!” she whined, rapping her small, muscular arms around one of mine. “You've told me the stories. You were eight the first time you and Ian tried to escape. I'm nine and a half now! If you guys don't let me help I'm going to try something myself. Rick says he thinks I could do it...”

Ian cut her off. “Sure, why not?”

“What?” The word ripped past my lips.

This had to be the first time that I'd actually disagreed with something Ian said. I couldn't let Nadia put herself in danger like that. It was wrong! She was too young!

“But... But...” I struggled for words. “It's different now. The escape attempts we do now, they're on a completely different scale than the ones from when I was eight, plus the security back then was pathetic. I mean, if it wasn't for us they probably wouldn't have upgraded to biometric...” I trailed off.

Ian was giving me a look, the look that told me to listen to the rational side of my brain. It was there, screaming at the top of its lungs, trying to overpower the motherly instincts that were an unfortunate result of my two X chromosomes. I knew Nadia was right. She was smart that way. If Ian and I weren't here she'd probably already be running the Compound, with her own crew. I smiled at the thought of a little Dale and Audrey.

Why did they have to be right?

“Fine,” I muttered, admitting defeat, “next time, you're in.”

I regretted those words more than anything. Why did I regret them? Time was moving forwards again, but at a fraction of its original pace. It was like I was afraid of things to come. I was afraid to see the source of the guilt because, in my heart, I already knew.

Moving down the hallway, I was cold, so cold. My feet made an echoing sound, as I took the same route I always did when I needed to leave the high security wing. Why was I so cold? I knew the pattern of the cameras by heart. I couldn't focus on what my body was doing. Flash after flash made their way across my mind. Cold. Rain. Tears. I knew I was dreaming, I knew this was a memory, and I knew what was coming.