The Vanishing Girl

  Two years. Two whole years—some of the best of my life—would be spent cooped up here. My throat worked when I thought about what my future should have been. I’d already applied to colleges, and the acceptances were trickling in. Now I’d never get to go.

  My shoes squeaked against the cheap linoleum floor as Debbie showed me to my room. It was one of many that lined the hall.

  “This section of the facility is the dormitory, and it’s where you and the other teleporters will stay during your downtime. It’s mixed gender, so don’t be surprised if you see men in the halls.”

  As if on cue, one of the doors down the hall opened, and a boy exited his room. When he noticed us, he waved at Debbie, a spark of interest flashing in his eyes as they passed over me. Debbie waved back, and we watched as he then walked away from us.

  Debbie opened the door to my room, and we stepped inside. The first thing I noticed were the two familiar duffle bags resting next to my bed. One of them normally held my family’s camping equipment. Pierce had long ago been written along the brown canvas straps that crisscrossed it. I smiled sadly at my mom’s handwriting.

  The other was my purple suitcase, what I normally took when my family went on trips. They’d packed my things for me, probably while I ran.

  My eyes drifted from the luggage to the rest of the room. White walls, brown threadbare carpet—the kind that portable classrooms came with—and a bed fitted with white sheets and a rough wool blanket.

  Forlorn. That was the word I’d use to describe my room. It looked like it was made to fit multiple occupants, but only my single, lonely bed sat in the corner, along with a single desk and dresser.

  On the wall that ran to my left, a narrow door opened into a bathroom. At least I got my own shower.

  “Ready for a brief tour of the facility?” Debbie asked from the doorway.

  I shrugged. “Sure.” I didn’t have much else to do.

  “Now, what kind of attitude is that?” Debbie smiled as she said it.

  I just stared at her.

  She coughed. “Okay, right this way.”

  We left the dormitory and walked to the dining hall. It looked nearly identical to my school’s cafeteria with its linoleum floors and faux wooden tables. Dismal.

  “Here’s the dining hall. Meals are at seven a.m., noon, and five p.m. Miss them and you’ll go hungry. We make announcements during mealtime, so it’s important to get here on time.

  “Your parents packed your laptop and gave us your email address earlier today, so as soon as we enter it into our roster, you’ll start receiving emails.”

  My throat constricted at the reminder that I was now far away from my family.

  “Your class schedule and any assignments your instructors give you will be emailed to that account, so make sure to check it regularly. Until it’s entered in, you’ll have to rely on your partner for that information.”

  “Partner?” I kept the budding panic out of my voice. I didn’t want a partner. I didn’t want friends period. I may have to be here, but that didn’t mean I’d have to enjoy it.

  Debbie smiled, and although she had been kind to me since we meet, this was the first time genuine warmth filled her face. “I believe you’ve already met him.”

  “Caden?” I asked, jumping to the only other teleporter I’d ever met.

  She nodded.

  No. No, no, no. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “’Fraid not.” She sounded way too cheerful about that. As though there wasn’t a conflict of interest here, such as him being the guy who cuffed me and dragged me into this whole mess. If not for him, I’d be on my way to Mexico right now.

  “And what, exactly, does a partner do?”

  Now she gave me a look that told me I should’ve already figured that one out. “They help each other out with classes, training, and eventually, missions.”

  “Missions? What are we, spies?”

  Debbie didn’t say anything to that, which made me think that was exactly what I was here for.

  “C’mon,” she said, “we have more to see.”

  We left the dining hall, and Debbie took me down another hallway lined with doors labeled numerically.

  “These are the classrooms and labs. This is where you’ll spend most of your day. All your classmates have the same abilities as you, but you each have particular talents. Your studies will be tailored to you and your classmates’ unique genetic makeup. Just like at your last school, you’ll be grouped in classes based on your age group, as opposed to your skill level.

  “Make sure you arrive to your classes on time. Each instructor has their own personal punishment for tardy students, and I can promise you it’s never fun.”

  I was becoming increasingly downtrodden. By the looks of this place, I was going to have to spend my college years reliving high school.

  It also didn’t escape my notice that the halls were empty. I may not be the only one with the ability to teleport, but by the looks of it, there weren’t many of us.

  Next we walked to the library and study hall, where students lounged in recliners, highlighting notes or typing away on laptops.

  I hadn’t noticed the students before, but now that I did, I couldn’t look away. A few looked unremarkable, but there was a sharpness about them that made me think of the phrase “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

  And the rest—they were perfect. They had beautiful faces, sculpted bodies, and stylish outfits. Some looked younger than me, but most looked my age. I didn’t see anyone who appeared much older than me.

  Debbie patted my arm. “I’ll save the introductions for tomorrow. C’mon, I’ll show you the gym, and then I’ll let you get settled in.”

  The term “gym” was a bit of a misnomer. Connected to the main facility by a hallway, one of the satellite buildings was full of nothing but rooms equipped for a plethora of activities. We began on the third floor, which contained basketball and volleyball courts as well as a dance studio.

  On the second floor were two weight rooms—one with machines and the other full of benches and free weights. But most of this floor was taken up by an open room covered in mats.

  When we arrived on the ground floor, the air tasted musty. I could hear splashing before Debbie held the door open for me. Inside was an Olympic sized pool, and in it was a single occupant swimming up and down the length of it.

  Like all the other rooms, I assumed I’d take a cursory look and then we’d move on. So it surprised me when Debbie left my side and approached the edge of the pool. She dipped her hand into the water and waved it back and forth. By the looks of it, she was trying to get the swimmer’s attention.

  As soon as the swimmer began to slow down, she stepped back. He swam to the wall and placed his hands on the concrete lip of the pool.

  I tried not to stare as he pushed himself out, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunching and straining. Water slicked back his golden hair and dripped down his torso.

  Caden Hawthorne. It was a shock to see him here.

  He pushed himself out of the pool in one fluid movement, every bit of exposed skin just as tanned and toned as I thought it might be. “Deb-bie!” He scooped her into a wet hug and she squealed. “I didn’t know that was you.”

  “Caden, stop it,” she said, but even from here I could hear the laughter in her voice. “I brought your pair here to meet you—again.”

  I was moving before she’d even finished the words. My shock had morphed to anger. This was the cocky prick who’d foiled my escape and rubbed it in my face.

  Caden broke off the hug and turned to face me just as I closed the distance between the two of us.

  I threw my arms in front of me and shoved him hard. His eyes widened for a split second. And then he caught my wrists as he fell.

>   I yelped and tried to pull away, but Caden’s hold on my wrists didn’t ease up. I felt my body propel forward along with his.

  Cuffed, groped, and now dunked underwater. This guy knew exactly how to humiliate me.

  Together we hit the water, and only then did he release my wrists. Chilly water enveloped me and I kicked away from him, gasping up for air and swimming to the wall.

  Above us Debbie called out, “It looks like you two are going to get along just fine. Caden take care of Ember; this is going to be a tough time for her.” She spoke as though I weren’t in the room.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Caden said.

  “I’ll see you two in Professional Profiling later this week,” she said, and then the sound of her footfalls gradually quieted.

  “Hi princess,” he said, turning to me in the water, his hazel eyes intense.

  “Screw you.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “Feisty as ever, I see.”

  “Don’t pretend you know me,” I said, struggling to pull myself out of the water.

  Caden swam to the wall, and easily lifted himself out of the water.

  He turned to face me, and this close to him, I caught sight of crisscrossing white lines and pea-sized craters speckled along his arms and torso. Scars. Whoever this guy was, he led a violent life.

  He bent down, reaching out a hand for me. Reluctantly I took it and let him pull me out of the water. “You’re right,” he said, still holding my hand. “I don’t know you—yet.” His eyes glittered. “I have every intention of figuring you out.”

  Chapter 7

  That night I tried to call Ava, but out here in the middle of buttfuck nowhere I couldn’t get reception. So instead I sat down and wrote her an email explaining what had happened. I seriously doubted that she’d believe me—I wouldn’t. I then typed up a brief email to my parents to let them know I was alive and made it here safely.

  When I finally unpacked my meager belongings and made it to bed, the day replayed itself over and over in my head. I felt no sadness, no grief over the loss of my former life. I think this is what shock must feel like. The magnitude of my situation had yet to knock the breath out of me. I was still reeling from how quickly my life had changed within a few hours.

  Finally, sleep crept up on me, and—thankful for once—I gave myself over to it.

  I stood on a white sand beach. It was just after sunset, and the sky was a deep blue-green. Other than a cluster of palm trees and a hammock, this was it. Paradise.

  And I knew I hadn’t sent myself here.

  So this was what the government could do. They harnessed my ability, and directed it to a destination of their choice.

  Debbie hadn’t mentioned the project being able to control where people teleported, but I mean, c’mon. I didn’t think it was a coincidence that the Prometheus Project happened to find me the day after I broke into Adrian’s safe. Somehow they were sending people like me out.

  Now came the hard questions, like how they found me and what their interest was in Adrian.

  I sat down and dug my feet into the still-warm sand and hummed my mother’s lullaby quietly to myself. I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful place to go. And yet all the sandy shores in the world couldn’t bring back what I’d lost.

  This demonstration proved something much more frightening than the loss of my previous life. My future freedom was potentially at stake.

  As I glanced around this quaint island, with its hammock rocking gently in the evening breeze, I knew this was the best I was going to get from the government. But what would happen if I ever decided not to cooperate? Where did they send the delinquent teleporters?

  “Wake up.”

  “Go away,” I murmured.

  “Wake up.” Someone was shaking my shoulder. “Man, I knew this was going to happen.”

  I groaned and flipped over onto my other side.

  “Listen Sleeping Beauty, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

  I snuggled down deeper into my pillow.

  “Hard way it is.” Suddenly the sheets were gone and my bare skin was exposed to the chilly morning air.

  I gasped and grabbed for my blankets, trying to cover my naked body. When I looked up, Caden was grinning, a look that clearly expressed just how much he enjoyed the peep show.

  “You asshole!” When I teleported, I came back to the exact place I fell asleep. My clothes however, never managed to make it back on me.

  “I wish I could say that I didn’t enjoy that,” he paused, “but the truth is, I’ve been waiting to do that ever since I arrived here.”

  And that’s when I punched him in the face.

  I could hear him moaning as I moved around my room, blanket covering me, and picked out some clothes from my suitcase. I walked into my private bathroom and began to change.

  When I came out of the bathroom, Caden was leaning against the door. In spite of pinching his now-swollen nose, he managed to look like a kid on Christmas.

  “Damn, you throw a mean right hook,” he said, grinning.

  I gave him a dark look as he opened the door for me.

  “I’m sorry. Really, I am.” He stifled his smile, but the telltale dimples were still visible. “I should’ve given you more warning. But we were going to be late, and your first day of workouts is going to kill you enough without adding on tardy exercises.”

  I looked over at him in disbelief. “Wow, how selfless of you. Your kindness knows no bounds,” I said, following him into the hallway.

  He shrugged, flashing a cheeky grin as we rounded the corner of the hallway. “What can I say? I’m a good guy.”

  Was he for real?

  When we got to the dining hall, it was empty.

  Caden swore. “Looks like we’re going to be doing tardy exercises after all.”

  I looked around the empty room. “So how do I know what classes to go to?” I asked.

  He pulled a severely crumpled piece of paper out of his back pocket. “We’re partners, and I’ve got our week’s itinerary.”

  I took the paper from him and smoothed it out. The names were barely legible.

  “How did you manage to inflict this much damage to a single piece of paper?” I asked as I scanned the paper. I noticed the date and time printed in the upper right corner. It was today’s date and beneath it the time indicated it was 6:54 a.m. when the page had been printed.

  “Wait a sec,” I said, looking up at him. “You were awake! On time! Did you purposefully wait to wake me?”

  He backed away. “Right now what’s most important is getting you some breakfast, now that the kitchen’s closed.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Funny how thoughtful you are when it suits you.” But I let it go. After all, not only had dozens of random people seen me naked when I teleported, but also—and more importantly—I was really hungry, and Caden was my meal ticket. I wasn’t going to forget this, though. Caden would receive payback when he least expected it.

  He pulled out a key from behind a series of stacked crates, unlocked the kitchen door, and slipped into the area normally reserved for cooks.

  A few minutes later he came out carrying a banana and a couple of energy bars.

  “That’s breakfast?” I didn’t attempt to hide my disappointment.

  He raised an eyebrow. “They don’t serve snacks between meals unless it’s a special occasion, so there’s slim pickings where food is concerned.” Caden handed me the banana and the protein bar, keeping another for himself. “C’mon, let’s get going—we’ve got a bit of a hike.”

  “Where are we going? I thought all our classes were within the building?”

  “Not always. Sometimes our close combat training course is outside. Same goes for our weaponry class.”

  “I’m sorr
y, I don’t think I heard you correctly. It sounded like you said ‘close combat.’” And weaponry. I suppressed a shudder.

  He smiled mischievously. “Time to get dirty, princess.”

  Chapter 8

  It took us about twenty minutes to trek up the hill the facility was located on. Throughout our hike up, I inhaled deeply, unused to the woodsy, wild smell of the place.

  Maybe I could get used to this. The way the sun slanted through the trees, the chirp of birds waking up, the way Caden turned every so often to smile at me—even if he wasn’t completely forgiven yet.

  But when we arrived at the training course, my optimism crashed down around me.

  A semicircle of men and women my age crowded around our coach, most looking effortlessly beautiful and all looking lethal.

  “Well Caden, nice of you to join,” our coach called out. He was the crusty type—the kind of man who never lost his hard edge. These types usually had soft spots too.

  “I had to help the new girl out,” he said, indicating me.

  Everyone who hadn’t already been staring swiveled to stare at us.

  “Ah, yes. Well, bring her up here and introduce her.” The coach motioned for us.

  I followed Caden, threading my way through the crowd until we stood next to our instructor.

  “This is my pair, Ember Pierce,” Caden said to the group. I heard a few gasps from the cluster of students and noticed a couple people craning their heads to get a good look at me.

  What was going on?

  Our coach cleared his throat. “I’m Coach Painter. I’m the head instructor of your physical conditioning.” I nodded to him. “I’m sorry that I’m going to have to issue you and Caden tardy exercises on your first day, but rules are rules. Hopefully your partner will be better about informing you of our schedule in the future.” He gave Caden a hard look.