The Changed

Chapter 31- Edward

My bones were healed. Just like that I could stand up and move around. Nothing hurt. Nothing at all. Except maybe my head. Dr Brand was still attacking me, showing me visions of my worst nightmares. It was scary how he could manipulate my vision.

That morning, Nick came to see me. I was talking to him like normal and then he suddenly changed into Dr Brand. Of course I knew that it was all fake but even then it scared me to death. After that fiasco, Nick decided that he should take me to the front lines where he could keep an eye on me, as he said.

As I left my room, the girl that I had been watching last night looked up at me in astonishment. "You were ill, they told us!" She cried. "They said you had broken bones. How are you walking?" Nick glanced at me like 'this is your department' .  I shook my head at him and motioned for him to go on. I bent down the girl's height stiffly as I still had some brutal bruises.

"They gave me some special medicine that fixed them really quickly," I explained. "I'm still not that well but they thought that I should be able to walk."

"How can that medicine heal broken bones?" The girl asked. I looked over at Nick who was tapping his foot impatiently.

"I don't know," I said. "But I've got to go now." As I turned the girl caught my wrist. I winced a bit but didn't let her see.

"Can you find out if my parents are OK?" She asked, her face full of tension. "They're names are Selena and Jacob Mars." I nodded slowly. The girls face relaxed a bit.

"Here," she said. A cool sensation spread over me like a calm wave on a beach. The pain from the bruises and the stiffness disappeared. "There," the girl said. "That should last about six hours."

"Your power is like a painkiller?" I said, rolling my shoulders in disbelief.

"Yeah," the girl said. "Come back when it wears off." She walked away and left me. I went over to Nick as if I was in a trance. I asked him who she was.

"That's Emily," Nick replied. "She can take pain away from anyone."

"Useful," I pointed out.

"But she's only fourteen. I'm not going to put her out in the front line hospitals. I'm not going to do that to any of the kids," Nick said.

"Tess and I are out there," I said. "Tess is even younger than her."

"But you're different," Nick shouted. "You're the reason we're in this war!" I stared at him in disbelief. I couldn't believe Nick's outburst. "I'm sorry, Edward," Nick sighed. "I'm a bit tired and stressed. I know its not your fault. In fact, you gave us this chance of freedom. I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's fine, your under a lot of stress," I said in a gentle and forgiving tone. "How about we got to the Commander, yeah?" Nick lead me out of the bunker and to a truck waiting outside. We hopped inside and it drove us to the front lines, about two miles out.

"Oh God," I breathed as we drove up the dirt road and came in sight of the Changed's front lines. There were lines of tents packed up against each other on the grass that was quickly turning to mud. About six hundred metres down the valley was the golden dome where the government hid. The truck stopped with a screech and me and Nick got out the back. Many of the adults were sitting on wooden stools outside their tents. Some of them eyed me cautiously, some angrily while the rest just looked sad. "Nick," I whispered as we walked. "Jacob and Selena Mars, are they alive?" Nick hesitated.