I gasped. Covered my face with my hands. Then shook uncontrollably.
Moments later, the door opened again.
A white coat entered, holding a syringe. He approached me warily, one eyebrow raised.
I met his eye. Extended my arm.
What else could I do?
I awoke to a thousand pinpricks of light.
Blink.
Blink blink blink.
A soft breeze stirred my hair. My limbs felt weirdly disjointed, as if they didn’t belong to me and I was merely borrowing them from someone else.
I was lying on my back. On grass, I realized, bolting upright in shock.
The tiny lights resolved into stars as my vision came into focus. Night sounds surrounded me. Frogs. Crickets. Rustling leaves.
Someone groaned to my left. I spun, spotted a lime-green polo shirt a dozen yards away.
“Shelton!” I scrambled to my friend’s side. “You okay?”
He smacked his lips, hands absently searching for his glasses. I found them in his pocket and slipped them onto his nose. I abruptly realized I was wearing my own clothes again, as well.
I shivered, remembering the needle. Picturing those dead-eyed scientists dressing me.
The feeling of violation was total.
“My mouth tastes like death.” Shelton sat up and rubbed his head. Then his eyes widened. “Where are we? How long since . . .” He trailed off, no doubt remembering his own white-walled cell.
“I don’t know.” I scanned the clearing, but nothing seemed familiar. “But we’re alone and outside, not strapped to hospital beds. That’s an improvement.”
Shelton rose on shaky legs. “Where’s Ben and Hi? Chance?”
“Here,” someone croaked. I ran toward the voice, found Hi slumped against a tree with his head in his hands. “Are we dead? Because if heaven’s just a gloomy forest with you guys, I’m gonna be pretty let down.”
“We’re alive.” I whirled, searching for any sign of the others. “I’ll take it.”
Chance stumbled into the clearing, hair a mess, one hand holding his side. He pointed back in the direction from which he’d appeared. “Ben’s over there. He hasn’t come to yet. I think they pounded him pretty good.”
I fired in the direction Chance indicated, found Ben motionless beside a honeysuckle bush. Chance must’ve dragged him there from somewhere else, then folded his hands on his chest. Ben looked like a body lying in state, which twisted my stomach into knots.
“Ben!” I dropped to my knees.
His chest rose and fell. My heart resumed beating.
“I told you,” Chance muttered behind me. “He’s just been knocked around a bit.”
Ben’s left eye was swollen shut. He must’ve fought to the end. Of course.
“Stupid,” I sniveled, cradling his head in my lap. I tucked his long black hair behind his ears. “Brave and stupid.”
Ben stirred, murmuring words I couldn’t understand. Then he whispered, “Tory.”
Something melted inside me.
Hi and Shelton stumbled over as Ben began to wake. One eye opened, uncomprehending. Then Ben vaulted to his feet with a snarl.
“Easy!” I called. “We’re alone.”
Ben spun a ragged 360, stumbling on his feet. “Where are we?”
“Woods.” Chance had been watching me. He shook his head, then pointed to a small trail to our right. “I saw something down there, but had to deal with Ben first.”
Ben wobbled, dropping his hands to his knees. “What happened? Where’s that fat jackass doctor?”
“I don’t know.” The memory sent a shiver down my spine. “But we shouldn’t waste time finding out. Let’s get out of here.”
“I hear that!” Shelton bounded to the trailhead. “This way?”
I nodded. As good a choice as any.
The path led downhill and turned sharply a dozen yards ahead. The trees broke.
My breath caught, though I knew instantly where we were.
“Holy smokes.” Hi stared, wide-eyed. “Is this the same place?”
Before us was the low-slung military building we’d been forced inside who knew how many hours before. We’d come up behind it, approaching the structure from the rear.
Except, it was barely a building anymore.
The windows and doors were gone. Every sign and fixture had been removed, every camera taken down. Even from the outside, the interior was obviously empty. No lights. Exposed girders. Abandoned hallways. Nothing but a windswept shell, its concrete bones crumbling and covered with graffiti.
“It’s a ghost town.” Shelton grabbed an earlobe. “Like the facility never existed!”
“They’re gone,” Chance said grimly. “Were never here at all.”
The scale of the cover-up took my breath away. “No one here for us to accuse. Nothing to see. Zero evidence that a project ever existed.”
“Assuming we were that stupid,” Hi added. “Telling anyone, I mean.”
I nodded, remembering Buzz Cut’s final warning.
Not that it matters. They got what they wanted in the end.
Voices carried on the wind. I crouched, feeling a jolt of adrenaline as I prepared to flee into the woods. Then I heard a name I recognized.
“Ella!” I took off around the building.
“Tory, wait!” Ben hissed.
But I didn’t, rounding the corner and sprinting up the gravel drive. I spotted the Trinity huddled beside a parked vehicle, trying to jimmy the door with a coat hanger. Impossibly, it was Ben’s Explorer. Someone had moved it here.
I skidded to a stop. Cole spotted me and tapped Speckman’s shoulder. The taller boy turned, then straightened abruptly, a wary look on his face.
Ella stood a few paces away. Recognizing me, she squealed in delight. We met in the middle of the driveway and wrapped each other in a hug.
“I was so worried,” Ella blurted. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yes.” I nodded to the others as they hurried into view. “You guys?”
“We’re fine, too.” Ella wiped her cheeks. “That bearded douchebag hammered us with questions, but no one talked. They took blood and I guess we passed.” Her eyes found Chance, who was just then emerging from the woods. “Your cure must’ve worked. Thank you.”
Chance smiled as he approached. “I pretended to be unhinged. Said I made everything up. Forged records to impress Tory. The doctor didn’t believe a word of it, but I think the agents may have bought the act.” He rubbed his jaw, grimacing slightly. “When they couldn’t compel me to flare, the mood changed.”
I looked away. Didn’t want to tell Chance how wrong he was.
Not yet, anyway. Not there.
Ben stormed across the gravel. “Get the hell away from my car.”
Cole raised his hands and backed off. “Just trying to get gone, man. This has been, like, the worst day of my life.”
“Hope you’re happy, Claybourne.” Speckman tossed the coat hanger aside, bile dripping from his voice. “You killed off our powers. Ended a species.”
“That’s the only reason we’re free right now,” Ella scolded. “Show some respect.”
I kept my mouth shut. Didn’t want to think about not being Viral. Not yet.
Ben went face-to-face with Speckman. “You’ve got three seconds. Starting now.”
The older boy glared at Ben. Didn’t budge. Cole glanced at his companion uneasily.
Chance moved to Ben’s side, followed quickly by Hi and Shelton.
Cole backed up another step. “Hey, dudes, I was just looking for a ride. But I can totally hike it out of here. No worries.” He turned, began loping up the road toward the highway.
Ben spoke quietly. “No more flares, Willie. Just me and you.”
“And me,” Chance said.
>
“Ditto,” Shelton and Hi said in unison.
Speckman’s eyes slid down the line. Then he turned and spat. “Not worth the trouble.” Moving slowly to show he wasn’t intimidated, he followed after his roommate.
“Will?” I called.
He half turned. “What?”
“It goes without saying that we can’t talk about this. Any of it. To anyone.”
Speckman spat again. Nodded. Then he sauntered up the driveway.
“That gentleman has anger issues,” Hi pronounced. “His mom didn’t hug him enough. Or spank him enough. One or the other.”
Shelton jiggled the Explorer’s handle. “How are we going to get home?”
With a wince, I remembered Kit. Whitney.
What time was it? What day was it?
Out of habit, my fingers dipped into my pocket. Found my iPhone nestled inside.
“No way.” I tapped the home button, bringing up the display. Saturday. Ten fifteen p.m. We’d been imprisoned for roughly nine hours.
“I don’t believe it.” Ben was staring at his car keys. “Right in my pocket.”
One text message waited. Kit. I opened it with dread—how could I explain this one?
“‘Okay, have fun,’” I read aloud. “Wait. What?”
I checked my outgoing messages. The phone claimed I’d texted my father three hours earlier.
Hi grunted, scratching his head. “Why does my mother think I’m at a movie?”
“They gave us a cover story,” I breathed, incredulous.
“The spooks don’t want us to get caught!” Shelton said excitedly. “Or anyone to know about this. Which means they’re gonna leave us alone, right?”
Buzz Cut’s words floated through my brain. Can you keep a secret, Tory Brennan?
“If we keep our mouths shut, I think it’s over.” I waved a hand at the ravaged building behind me. “What would we say anyway? We’d sound like those crazy people claiming to be alien abductees.”
Hi froze. “You don’t think they were aliens, do you?”
Ben smacked the back of his head. “Come on, dummy. Let’s get home.”
I smiled, bouncing across the gravel toward the Explorer. Then I stopped dead.
A thought I’d been avoiding broke through.
Cooper.
I spun and scanned the tree line. Then I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Cooper! Here, boy!”
My panicked voice shattered the evening calm.
I waited, holding my breath, hoping for a miracle. Then I shouted again.
“Coop! Come on, boy!”
Ella reached for me, but I dodged her embrace. I ignored Ben’s grimace, and how Chance looked away. Pretended not to see Hi and Shelton staring at the ground.
No. You’re all wrong. You have to be.
I stuck fingers in my mouth and whistled. “Cooper! Coop! Let’s go, boy!”
Seconds ticked past. Then minutes.
A voice inside my head began speaking calmly, telling me things I refused to hear.
He was a good dog. I gave him a better life. He was lucky to have met me.
I shoved the thoughts away like poison. Stepping closer to the forest, I cupped my hands to my mouth. “Cooper! Let’s go, dog face!”
My voice broke. My chin dropped to my chest.
Then a bark echoed in the trees. My head jerked up as something crashed through the undergrowth.
A gray streak launched from the woods.
Coop’s shaggy body bowled me to the ground.
Shouts of joy exploded around me. I heard high-fives and exhaled breaths. One person choked back a sob—pretty sure it was Hiram.
But I only had eyes for my wolfdog.
Tears spilled from my cheeks as I wrapped Coop in my arms.
His rough pink tongue skidded across my face.
For one moment, at least, everything was okay again.
I awoke from a turbulent dream I couldn’t remember.
Sat up in bed. Stared at my bedroom wall while my brain tried to process the day before.
Back home. Unharmed. Buried in my comforter like every other morning.
It didn’t seem real.
Coop eyed me reproachfully from the floor.
I was startled by a snore to my left.
Ella. She hadn’t wanted to be alone, even in her own house. I understood.
“Lost your spot, eh, dog face?” I tapped the blanket and Coop vaulted up, shoving his furry head into my arms. He sighed contentedly, stretching his legs and rolling over for a belly scratch. I complied.
Ella muttered something, but didn’t wake. I knew she was exhausted.
As my head came fully online, conflicting emotions coursed through me.
Joyous relief.
I was alive. My friends and family were safe. Against all odds, we’d escaped a deadly trap. The target was off our backs.
Bone-deep sadness.
My powers gone. I’d never flare again.
The Virals were no more.
Ben had driven everyone back to Morris the night before, including Ella and Chance. With an eighty-pound canine in the mix, the ride had been a tight fit.
Kit and Whitney hadn’t blinked when Ella and I stumbled through the door.
My father asked about the movie. Where Coop had been all day. Whitney wanted to know if we were hungry. Boring, mundane questions, offered with no understanding of what had just happened. The ordeal we’d survived. The loss I was nursing.
But that’s how it had to be.
We’d mumbled sufficient responses, then trudged upstairs, wolfdog in tow. I’d lent Ella pajamas, both of us too tired to talk, even if we’d known how to put the last few days into words.
How do you apologize for something so massive?
How do you accept such an apology?
Instead, we’d simply shared another hug, then crawled under the covers. Sleep took me before my head hit the pillow.
Today’s the first day.
Ella finally stirred. Her eyes slid open, green irises glinting in the morning sun. Then she tensed as the full weight of memory crushed down upon her.
I grabbed her arm. “It’s okay! You’re safe.”
Recognition dawned in her eyes, followed swiftly by a tinge of guilt.
I plastered on a smile I didn’t truly feel. Ella had betrayed me, but I’d experienced worse. She’d been badly used. Had experienced a second kidnapping horror to match the first. I couldn’t hold a grudge.
Frankly, the idea seemed ridiculous. Everything was different now.
I just wanted my friend back.
Ella blew out a breath, wisps of her long black hair spinning skyward. “It’s really gone, isn’t it?” She didn’t have to say what.
“I think so.” Though I hadn’t attempted another flare. Didn’t want to try.
Ella winced, but her jaw hardened. “We should be thankful. That’s what saved us, right?”
I nodded. “They let us go because we were useless. No virus. No proof. Nothing to possess.”
Her eyes grew troubled. “Do you think they’ll come back?”
I remembered a glance between the two agents. How Mustache had all but pushed the flustered doctor from my white-walled cell. The fear in Keegan’s eyes. A hint of panic in his voice.
“They’re done with us.” I spoke with certainty. “Whoever those agents were, they closed up shop and blew town. They’re gone. The bastards didn’t find what they were after.”
Lie.
Ella relaxed a fraction. “Thanks to Chance.” I noted the warmth in her tone.
Another thought winged into my brain.
“My God!” Both hands found my face. “Chance is sleeping at Ben’s place right now.”
Ella g
iggled. “How did that happen?”
“It was the only way.” I hopped out of bed. “Shelton’s parents ask a lot of questions, and Mrs. Stolowitski can be a nightmare. But Mr. Blue barely knows when Ben is home, much less a guest. He’s pretty hands off.”
Ella snorted. “Let’s hope Ben was hands off as well. Of Chance, I mean.”
My stomach roiled. “We should hurry.”
• • •
Fifteen minutes later, Ella and I were standing on the blacktop behind my town house, waiting for the others. Coop hung by my side for a minute, but couldn’t resist chasing a group of squirrels into the dunes.
At the driveway’s edge he looked back, tilting his head in a way I understood. I waved permission. Coop yapped once, then fired into the sand hills. He seemed unperturbed by the loss of my powers, wagging his tail as he raced across the sand, content as ever, as though nothing had changed between us.
Could he not feel their lack, as I did?
Perhaps that’s best. Maybe we all should start to forget.
“You live in such a weird place.” Ella watched Coop weave through the cattails and scrub grass. We both had on soccer shorts and Bolton Prep tees, but she wore them better. “This neighborhood feels like another world.”
I smiled, shaking out my hair in the mild ocean breeze. “I love my island.”
I did. Where others saw isolation, I saw . . . freedom. Room to breathe.
Once, living here had been a shock to the system. Some kind of sick cosmic joke.
Now, it was the only thing I wanted.
My life is good. It can still be great.
A door opened down the row and Hiram stepped outside. He stretched extravagantly, expanding his yellow smiley face tee and sweat shorts to their physical limits. “Hello, ladies!”
A moment later, Shelton emerged in a white polo and blue shorts. The boys bumped fists as they strolled over to join Ella and me. They seemed relaxed for the first time in days.
I peered down at the end unit. “Anyone seen Ben and Chance?”
“The BFFs?” Hi shrugged, then winced, one hand reaching to massage the opposite shoulder. I knew without asking that a needle prick hid beneath his sleeve. “They’re probably making weave bracelets for each other. Or building a slam book.”
Shelton shook his head, boxy black specs bouncing on his nose. “You won’t be cracking jokes if they start throwing haymakers again. Next time, I say we just let them slug it out.”