Chapter 8: Spilling the Beans

Eve sat her tray down on the table in front of Mouse and Brodie and slid into her spot. Kade sat down next to her and immediately started to eat.

“Who’s this?” Brodie asked, nodding at him.

“Kade,” Eve answered. ’He’s not a Convert, just a friend of TRAKKER.”

“Is he immune?”

“Yes,” she took a bite of mashed potatoes.

“Don’t you have to make a donation to TRAKKER to get the antidote?” he continued to press her for information. “And I think I’d know this guy if he was a friend of TRAKKER.”

“I’m a really close friend,” Kade added. “But I’m not around a lot.”

Brodie dropped it and changed the subject to something else. “Did you talk to Aswynn, Eve.”

“Yeah,” she relayed everything that Aswynn had told her.

“Elimination Rounds?” Mouse questioned. “They didn’t put me through those.”

“How big of a donation did you dad make?” Kade asked, looking up at her.

“About two times the suggest,” she said.

“Go figure,” Eve rolled her eyes and Kade smirked.

Mouse didn’t say anything but went back to eating.

“So they arrive tomorrow?” Brodie double-checked.

Eve nodded. “I wouldn’t get too attached to them though because three-fourths of them will be leaving after three days.”

Mouse tucked her hair behind her ear before speaking. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Practically all these kids are going to be spoiled brats.”

They all stopped eating and looked at her.

“What?” she asked nervously.

“You’re one of those kids,” Brodie pointed out.

“My dad may be on the richer side of the spectrum but trust me when I say I’m not like them,” she defended herself. She pointed at Brodie. “He’ll tell you. I’m not stuck up and snotty.”

“That’s true,” he nodded. “I don’t think she’s that type of person.” She smiled at him.

“Emphasis on the word ‘think’,” Eve said. “He doesn’t even have a brain to do that with.

“Really?” he laughed light-heartedly. “Not cool cuz.”

She set her fork down carefully and stood up. Her eyes were wide.

“Did I say something?” Brodie asked, confused.

Kade, I need to talk to you. Right now. Eve said telepathically.

“We’ll be right back,” Kade stood up, nodded at Brodie and Mouse, and then guided Eve out.

Once they were outside she spoke. “Do you know anything about Brodie?”

“Why?” he asked, confused.

“He’s my cousin,” she said rubbing the back of her neck. “I didn’t even know I had a family, Kade, and then I find out I have an aunt and three cousins.” she stopped and took a deep breath. “Brodie and I look alike.”

“You’re cousins,” he shrugged.

“Aswynn and I look nothing alike. Nothing!” she emphasized.

A grin slowly grew on Kade’s face like he was trying to keep something back.

“You know something,” Eve stopped rubbing her neck and let her hand drop.

“What, no, I don’t,” he said, suppressing a smile.

“To quote you, ‘I’m an Elite Predictor, Eve,’” she did the air-quotes. “And I can tell by the way you’re smiling.”

“Eve,” he said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re related to Brodie, that you already know. You also know how and right now that’s all you need to know.”

“Why can’t you just tell me?”

“I can’t because of time lines and such. It’s the same reason why Dee couldn’t tell you things. Like a great person once said, ’It’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff,” he smiled.

She looked at him, confused.

“Just ask the British Boy, he’ll get it,” he removed his hand from her shoulder and turned to walk back into the cafeteria. “Trust me, please, just this once, Eve. You have to trust me.”

She thought a minute. “I trust you.”

“Good to know,” he held the door open for her as she walked through and they joined the others.

*****

Eve lay in bed that night listening to Mouse breathing. She wasn’t tired so she got up and quietly left the room. The bright lights hurt her eyes but she wandered down the hall to the elevator. Recalling what Zion had said earlier about a gym lower down in the building, she pushed the button for the basement. As it took made its descent, she began to think. She wondered how Peter and the others were getting on. She wondered about Brodie, about Kade. She thought about Peter.

It was weird not having his heart beat in her ear. It made everything sound louder and made her feel smaller.

The doors opened and she stepped out. She surveyed the area around her. It was like any other gym only it was completely deserted. Weights lined a mirror wall, a squat machine, and a few other things that she didn’t have a clue about were all out on the floor. Over in the far left corner she was a boxing ring. She walked over and slid under the bungee ropes that served as a fence. She sat down in the corner closest to her. She crossed her legs at the ankle and folded her hands in her lap. She didn’t know why she came down here in the first place.

She heard voices coming from the room on the left, the lounge room. It was obviously a girl and boy but she couldn’t make anything out. She froze when the door opened and two people walked out -- Kade and Zero. Kade instantly saw her sitting in the ring but didn’t stop talking but instead looked her in the eyes. Zero looked up and saw her and froze.

“Spying on us?” she snarled, eyes instantly turning cold.

“No,” Eve shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Zero narrowed her eyes at her but then headed for the elevator, glaring one more time at her as the doors closed.

“How do you know her?” she asked once Zero was gone.

“I’m in and out of TRAKKER a lot,” he answered as he ducked under the ropes to join her. He sat down next to her and pulled one leg up, the other stretched out. “I know a lot of the people here.”

“You also made up a whole story about Maple,” she pointed out.

“Brit told you a while ago that I had a reason for coming back and helping TRAKKER,” he said, his voice distant. “Zero is my reason.”

“Oh, so you like her?” a grin spread on Eve’s face.

“No, that’s disgusting!” he exclaimed. “She’s my sister but she doesn’t exactly know that.”

Eve jaw dropped. She could see it know. They had the same jaw and eye.

“You should see your face,” he laughed.

“If she doesn’t know you’re her brother, who does she think you are then?” she was having trouble grasping the fact.

“A really close friend,” he shrugged.

Eve swallowed. “How did she end up in TRAKKER?”

“You just want all the beans to spill, don’t you?” he said, looking at her.

“You’re the one who brought the subject up!” she defended herself.

“I use to be like you, Eve,” he licked his lips and continued. “I was second in command for the second group of Hybrids and Zero was the commander. As you already know, the first group of Hybrids was completely killed off by Aswynn but some of the second got away. Zero didn’t though. They said they saw potential in her. They took her, wiped her memory everything, and planted false ones that said she was a test tube baby, raised by the TRAKKER facility.

“She forgot all about me, about the Hybrids, about everything,” his voice cracked. “She didn’t use to be a cold hearted girl. She use to be so kind but yet so brave, like you.”

He couldn’t keep his composure anymore. He cracked, tears sliding down his face and sobs racking his body. At first, she didn’t know what to do but then her instincts kicked in and she pulled him into a hug. He hugged her so hard she had troubled breathing. She didn’t understand why but then she did. He needed someone to be there for him like he’d

been there for so many people for so long.

“I’m sorry,” she said, still hugging him. He regained his composure and pulled away, trying his eyes as he did so. “Are you alright, Kade.”

“My real name isn’t Kade,” he admitted. “It was Keaton.”

“Keaton? Why’d ya change it?”

“Because the name carried terrible memories,” he looked away. He gave a little laugh. “Well, I guess I spilled about every bean in the pot.”

She smiled. “But doesn’t it just feel so good that someone else knows your secret?”

He nodded.

***

Peter’s mind reeled, trying to figure out what had happened to Eve that her heartbeat was gone. His stomach still ached but when he looked at where he’d been stabbed he only saw a scar about an inch wide. He ran his finger over it, wiping away the dried, crusty blood. He heard footsteps and looked up to see Sparrow walking towards him.

“Hey,” he dropped his shirt and she sat down next to him. “Who healed me?”

“I did,” she said softly. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and looked him in the eye. “A few hours ago you asked me about how I knew what I was doing.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want too,” he said when he saw her eyes brimming with tears.

“No. If we want to survive, we have to be a team and that mean no secrets,” she sniffed. She took a deep breath and began. “Before this whole thing with TRAKKER and Aswynn, we had a different life. It was way different and way worse than anyone could imagine.

“Our parents died when their plane crashed over the Pacific Ocean. The next morning, people came to take us to foster care. They allowed us time to grab things from the house and while we did so, we escaped through a window. We were on the run for a month and half until we found a place we could sorta call home. It was known as the Warrior Force.”

Peter had heard of it many times. It was compound on the outskirts on New York -- similar to the area that surrounded the Resistance -- and was known for its brutal rules and regulations. Ex fighters would go there to make a career.

“You’ve heard of them by the look on your face,” she said. “And you probably know the rules. You have to fight someone at least one time every two weeks and your out. If you lose so many time, you were out also. I was twelve when we got there and being the protective younger sister that I was, I would fight my sisters fights. Nobody knew the difference because we all look alike. I learned how to take care of myself through each fight. I learned everybody's weaknesses by watching every fight. I would watch as bones were broken and as lives were sometimes ended just so I could learn how to survive.

“And then there were the Cages,” she bit her lip to keep from crying. “That’s where the fights went down. The blue mats would be stained with dried blood and after every fight, they would get dirtier and dirtier until they didn’t even resemble blue mats.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “One day, a boy came. He was around my age so I was instantly put in the Cage to fight him. He knew the rules of the place, he’d been in and out several times. He told me to go ahead and beat him up, he’d take it easy on me. He knew I couldn’t afford to lose one more fight or we’d all be out. Oh my, I love that kid. But I did what he said. I beat him up until he tapped out.”

She stopped talking. Peter didn’t say anything but let her sit in silence, tears rolling down her face. She finally started again. “He could heal fast, he had some healing ability or something because a week after our fight, he was ready to go. Anyway,” she brushed the tears away. “He taught me everything he knew about fighting. How to dodge people’s punches, how to find their weak spot. He taught me how to be fast and how to be smart during each fight. He was awesome. But then one day, he just disappeared. A few weeks later, Aswynn came strutting in and took us away for her little experiments. And it wasn’t like we could do anything to stop her, just did it.”

Peter clenched his jaw. “That’s not fair.”

“Peter, life's never fair. I think we all know that,” she sighed.

“What was his name, the boy?” he asked out of curiosity.

“Keaton,” she answered. “I owe my life to him.”