X-Marks: Rising Shadows

Donors

"Dimitri," I said from the corner of his crowded office, "I'm finished."

I placed the last piece of his scribbled notes back into its folder in the filing cabinet against the wall. I was more than just finished scanning his papers. I was finished with being here, alone, separated from all the other people and working after hours in the dark like one of their lab mice.

Dimitri looked up, his hooded eyes barely reached over the slate pressed close to his nose.

"And did you remember to log your work hours this time?" Dimitri said from behind his desk.

"Yes," I said sharply.

Dimitri's eyes floated towards the frosted glass of his door.

"Then you may leave," he said and continued to read from his slate.

I grabbed my water bottle and stuffed my slate into my backpack with my hand clenched on a pen I borrowed from Dimitri. I walked toward Dimitri's desk and rolled the pen across his desk.

"And I didn't forget this either," I said and turned away.

"What a surprise," Dimitri said flat.

"Whatever," I said and tucked my hands into my lab coat pockets.

"Excuse me," Dimitri said and stood from his chair, "Did I hear that correctly?"

"If you can't hear," I said and opened the door, "Why don't get your ears enhanced."

Dimitri walked towards the door of his office and loomed his tall body close to mine.

"See me outside, Ms. Shadow, now," he said.

I picked up my feet and walked out the door with sharp steps, as Dimitri slammed his office door behind us. It's echo carried into the empty space of the dimly lit lab.

We walked beside each other between the rows where strips of light illuminating the tops of the desks under the dark blue light. With each step towards the exit gate, the need to burst grew and grew until all I could do was shout.

"Look!" I turned to Dimitri, "I don't care what you think! I'd say it again! They called my sister a rotter! Do you know what that means?"

Dimitri halted, cornering me into a wall with his long stride.

"They said they'd rather them all be, dead and rotting," I continued, "So, I don't care what you have to say. And if you think that way too - you're just as rotten as they are."

"Who said I ever agreed with them," Dimitri said and looked down at me with a soft glance.

"What - what are you talking about?"

"Evee," Dimitri whispered, barely above the whirl of freezer beside us, "What would you say, if I told you I could help your family and all the other people in the lower city?"

"I would say, why? What makes you so -"

"Always speak so quiet?" Dimitri said and glanced back at the flat wall of the freezer, "It's not just the people who are enhanced in the Union. Some say even the walls have been given new eyes."

I leaned back away from Dimitri and his hunched stance.

"Even if you could do something," I said, now whispering too, "Why should I trust you?"

"Because you have an expertise in making your thoughts known and a talent for making enemies. You need me more than anyone else in this union."

He wasn't wrong, and I wanted more than anything to curse at him for being so right.

"Okay, then what do you need me from me?"

"I need you to do what you do best."

"And that is?"

"Distract them, have them forget all about the lower city for a night."

"Why? What good would that do?"

"While the rest of the upper city are so caught up in the spectacle of the Evergreen Gala, we'll be evacuating the lower city right under their noses before they ever notice they are missing."

"How could you even do that?"

"We've been excavating the tunnels that pass through the lower city for years. It was used to carry freights between the union and the allies. Most had forgotten they were there, but we found them. I'm afraid now we have no time left to prepare. If those in the upper city become aware they will most likely try to put a stop to it."

I saw the gravity in his heavy black brows and steel gray stare. There was something more to this, but he wasn't telling.

"There's a heaviness in the upper city air," Dimitri said, and leaned closer, "A hysteria that's burrowing through the cities like wildfire as of late. You've felt it too, haven't you?"

I nodded to Dimitri.

"I've learned to never trust a promise from a resentful hand," Dimitri said, "They have no use for those in the lower city without the need for donors. Now there is nothing to stop them from taking the lives of those they once protected."

"So what you're saying is -"

"Yes," Dimitri said and, "the lower city and everyone in it they are in danger."

"I still don't see why you need me though."

"Once we are back in Allied territory, we will need you and your friend's guidance to navigate ourselves back into safety."

A prickly veil washed over my cold skin.

"No," I said, tears welling up under my eyes, "I can't. I just - I don't want to go back."

"Evee, you can never end what you don't face," Dimitri said and touched my hand, "We will make a home, where you can stay for good, wherever we may land. I will make sure of that. But of all places, this will never be a home for someone like you."

Someone like me. There really was more to everything Dimitri was telling me, I knew for certain now. Which meant there were many reasons for me not to trust what he was saying, but the unspoken wildfire he spoke of, there was the truth I was looking for. The plain truth I knew better than any fear.

"What do I need to do then?" I asked.

"Keep your eyes and ears open but your lips never apart," he said and clenched my hand tight, "You cannot tell anyone of these plans. If anyone finds out, we may not get another chance."

The floor rush beneath me like I had stepped onto a moving train. I wanted it to stop, if just for a moment so I could gather my thoughts.

There was no time to think about what to do, not when I was being marked all over again.