The Enhanced Ones (paused)

Ch. 21 Beau

I jolt awake with a sweet taste on my lips. Cringing I reach to wipe my mouth. A cold sensation against my wrists is my reward.

"Beau, you awake?" The voice is familiar, but I can't place it. "Beau, we are in trouble." At my continued silence I hear a sigh. "I'm not certain where we are. There are no doors that I can feel and Mercy is still unconscious. I'm not sure how we got here. You were already here when we arrived. The only good news I can come up with is that we made it inside."

I smile in recognition. "So, Faith, tell me this, do you have a plan?"

"No, but I'm working on it." She says, her voice tired. I nod and look about the room. With little to no light it's tough to pick out shapes.

"May I ask, Faith, why a telekinetic with your prowess cannot free us?" I can hear her slow intake of breath. Is she mentally counting or peeling my skin off. I ponder. Counting. If she truly wanted to skin me, I would already be flayed.

"Our shackles and the very room we are in are controlled by one extremely powerful and brainwashed person."

"Surely no match for you?" I ask in all earnestness.

"Her name is Orelia. She was adopted by Mr. White. Just like me and my sister were." That last part was barely more than a whisper.

Horror stories of Mr. White's brainwashed children have been making the rounds in my circles. Enhanced children, not old enough to kill outright, are taken and trained in special facilities to track and destroy others of our kind. There are few to no stories of escapees surviving long. Faith, always the ultimate exception it seems.

"How did you escape?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Me and others were able to get out. We all swore to secrecy to protect each other." Her voice was emotional but firm so I nod my head. Silence fills the space the only break is Mercy's peaceful sleeping. A gentler snore I have never heard.

"Don't wake her." Faith's whispers.

"I would never think of such a thing!" I whisper vehemently back.

"Good. She won't wake till Sleeper wakes her."

"Sleeper?"

"That's what he wanted to be called."

"He?"

Faith sighs and I can hear her shift in discomfort. "I don't know his given name. Mr. White let us all choose what we wanted to be called when he found us."

"Oh. Did you choose your name?" I ask.

"No. Me and Celeste kept our given names."

She may have kept talking. But I could not hear her. In my mind's eye an image of Celeste is held up to what I remember of Faith from earlier. Tall. Pale. Purple eyes. "Twins?" I ask nervously.

"Huh? Yeah. It's not that much of a leap."

"I uh, am an acquaintance of hers."

"How?" She moves to get closer to me. "What do you know of my sister?"

Blushing I try to think of an inoffensive beginning. Not coming close I gulp air for strength and then blurt, "She tried to kill me a long time ago. She failed. And we dated for a period of time. It wasn't until she tried to recruit me that I even knew she was someone's pawn. She is actually the delightful reason that I am in this room."

"She's here?" Faith's voice is quiet.

"Yeah, she saw me in the lobby and knocked me out."

"Oh."

"Faith, why is she still in this if you'd escaped?"

"She'd refused to join me. I'd had no choice but to leave her."

Her voice sounds so pained. Wishing I could comfort her I scoot across the small space towards where her voice had been coming from. "Your sister is not in her right mind. Just as brainwashed as this Orelia I'm sure."

She leans her head on my shoulder. "When it had been just us we had been so close." Her voice cracks on the memories. None of us had escaped childhood unscathed. My own scars run deep. I put my arm around her and squeeze her shoulder.

"After we got here something changed. It was like we were suddenly competing for something. Then when the missions started. I felt sick after my first kill." She sneers the last word like it's poisonous. "She reveled in it. She talked about it for days with relish like his death had been a delicious treat." I feel her head shake on my shoulder. "I wanted out after that. My sister had been so gentle before Mr. White had found us. He turned her into a monster."

Mercy makes mewling sounds as she tosses in her sleep. Rolling over her knees makes contact with a wall. "Ah!" She gasps. Faith straightens and shifts in a way that makes me think she is wiping away tears. I lean towards Mercy.

"Morning Sunshine. Don't move too quickly we are in a small space."

"Yes, moving might just get you killed." A man's voice says as a sudden light blinds me.