Matt's vision tilted as he beheld Wallace Lynn, her expression hard and dangerous. He tried to think of some escape plan, of anything that would help him, but his mind seemed stuck. His heart was pounding in his ears. A cold chill ran down his spine, but he cheeks were burning like the midday sun.
Wallace took a step forward, the gravel crunching far too loudly in the still night. Matt swallowed. He had no idea what he was even facing, what her alterations were. He had no idea the threat she posed or if she was perhaps somebody he could try and defend himself against. Dizziness threatened to overwhelm him as his panic rose and the realisation of just how helpless he was sunk in. He could do nothing against an altered soldier. What could anybody do against them?
"I know what you are," he breathed, breaking the silence.
"Then you know it's better to do what I want," she replied scrutinising him. Her smiles and charm from the bar had vanished, her demeanour one of cool indifference.
"Why did you come here? Who sent you?" Matt stepped back against the front door as she took another step forward.
She shrugged, tilting her head and watching him. "I needed to talk to you," she offered.
"Who sent you?" Matt repeated, the cold air and the threat the girl posed sobering him.
"Nobody sent me," she said. Her movements forward were fluent, smooth and graceful. She had the tell-tale litheness of the students of Kingston, her muscles hard and brutal even if they seemed unassuming at first.
"If this is some sort of threat..." he whispered.
"It's not a threat," she replied, glancing up at the house before meeting his gaze again and flashing him a dangerous, crooked smile. It didn't reassure him, only irritate him more, the smug indifference behind it reminding him who was in control of the situation.
"Why are you here?" he pressed again.
"I told you – I came to talk to you. It's urgent," she said. She placed one foot on the lowest step to the house, testing out his reaction. Matt rubbed his chin, but found at a loss of what else to do. Nothing he could do was going to stop her anyway.
"Do I look like I want to talk?" he snapped. "I know what was bred on that island. I know what threats you pose". He was glad of the shadow of night, hoping the moon didn't reveal his cringing cheeks at those words. He sounded just like his father, a thought that made him sick to his core.
To his surprise Wallace grinned dangerously, moving further up along the steps.
He knew if he had said something like that to Charlotte, she would have been furious with him, but not this elite student of Kingston.
"Sweetie, you have no idea the threat I pose, and if you have any sense you will trust me. The next altered you meet will not be as helpful as I am willing to be".
"I can't trust you," he said incredulously. She is bred to deceive, they all are. Matt ignored the guilty clench of his stomach at his own words. He knew better than that, but at that moment, he could see little else than the danger he was in.
"You trusted her," she shrugged.
"Well, you're not her," he whispered, his brow furrowing.
"No I'm not. While she's on television playing the perfect daughter, being the spokesperson of the found, the rest of us, those who didn't have the luck to avoid sale are trying to preserve our lives, and yours for that matter".
"Mine?" he breathed.
"You have no idea what this has done," she breathed. "You have no idea what is happening out there".
YOU ARE READING
Feared
Научная фантастика'Play the game, she thought, remembering the only three words that had helped her to survive at Kingston. Only back then she had known the game, she had known what they wanted her to be, what they had wanted her to do - this man was different. She d...
