Fate

10

Chapter 10

"Julia, are you awake?"

I blinked my eyes opened and brushed the hair out of my face.

Andreas tapped my hand twice and I heard him move the chair closer to side of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." I mumbled, flexing my hand to wake it up. I had a bad habit of sleeping on one side then waking with aches and pains.

"I don't want you to do any simulations today."

"Why?"

"You need to rest."

I rolled my eyes and I didn't care if he saw.

"You've done such a good job so far. Soon, you'll be able to work alongside us."

"How can I do that if I can't see anything?"

"Andreas?"

"I'm busy right now. What do you need?"

"We have a problem with the electricity in the building."

Andreas cursed under his breath. He got to his feet and I heard him leave the room.

I sat up and leaned my head against the pillow. Was there really a problem with the electricity? It seemed weird that there would be any problem with it in a building so big. Especially a building run by Andreas.

The door opened again but closed abruptly. Someone didn't want to be seen. It couldn't be Andreas...

"Julia, come on. We're getting out of here." No. It couldn't be...

"Aryan?"

"We don't have much time."

My mind wasn't functioning. Aryan was standing in my room and he wanted to leave. I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

"Aryan, we... we can't leave."

"Julia, we only have one chance to get out of here."

My mind was frozen and wouldn't work up any words to say. So I blurted out the only thing I could think of. "I can't see."

He picked me up off the bed and left the room. He took several turns, obviously knowing which way to go.

"How do you know where to go?"

"I've been scoping the place out since I got here. They gave me access to more places than they should have."

"How are we getting out of here?"

"Same place we got out of the hospital."

"Aryan, they have an electric fence around the place. Even in the sky." I said, my voice shaking. The thought of running into it a third time scared me. But the thought of Aryan doing it...

"Not anymore."

"What?"

"I turned it off."

"How?"

"I cut the power."

"To the whole building?"

"Yes."

"How were you not caught?"

"Have you forgotten how good of a spy I am?"

"Apparently. But I still know how full of it you are."

Without any warning, Aryan opened his wings and jumped. I gripped his shirt tightly, afraid I'd fall and wouldn't be able to protect myself. Or that he'd drop me.

"You didn't know who I was." I said.

"When?"

"I saw you in the hallway. Right after I got there. You looked at me and it was like you were looking through me."

He stayed quiet for a few seconds before he spoke. "They wanted me to forget you. If I looked like I knew you, they would have hurt you."

"What did they do to you?"

"They injected me with some stuff but most of it was trust serums. Nothing I haven't had before. But you can tell they're doctors by their use of needles."

"I got more there than my time at the hospital."

"Just wait till Lucy finds out."

"She'll be happier to see you than anything."

"You don't think she'd be worried about you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"She loves you, Julia. We all do."

I blinked away tears. "Why didn't they come for us?"

"Julia, did you know where to find me?"

"No. But I was close to finding out."

"Lucy has no leads other than her dad and even that isn't much."

"But-"

"She's working as hard as she can. You have no idea how scared she was when you were born. She did everything she could to keep you safe."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Julia-"

I sighed. "Typical."

Aryan stayed quiet and I couldn't tell how much time was passing. I didn't know we were or how long it would take us to get home. It felt like forever.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We just passed Greenville. We still have a ways to go."

I groaned.

"We'll be home soon."

"I'm so hungry."

"I'm not surprised. You look... thinner."

"Thanks." I mumbled.

"Julia, why are you mad at me? I thought you'd be happy to see me. Especially since I got you out of there."

"I thought I would be too. But he told me-" I cursed and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. "He made me do these stupid simulations and..."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Aryan said softly.

"I'm so stupid. How could I ever think that he was telling the truth?"

"He knows how to manipulate people into believing what he wants them to."

"I'm so sorry." I said.

"You don't have anything to apologize for." He said, pulling one hand from under me and brushing the hair from my face.

My breath caught and I gripped onto his shirt tightly. "Don't let go of me."

"Julia,it's okay. I won't let you fall."