Chapter 10: Regret

The statement caught Eve off guard but she nodded and Kade walked up to her. She sat down in one of the chairs and he followed suit.

“What about?” she asked.

“You need to keep your eye on Adam,” he said softly.

“Dude, can you please get over the whole Adam and Eve thing?” she asked, spinning around once.

“No,” he shook his head. “I’m being serious.”

“And why do I need to watch him?”

“He has a lot of potential but something is telling me he isn’t going to show it right away,” he said. “He’s going to use a little bit of it to get him in the top couple and then back off.”

“How do you know?” she narrowed her eyes at him. “I know you’re a Predictor and all but this doesn’t seem like that kind of thing right now.”

“Educated guess,” he shrugged. “I think you already figured that all out about him.”

“Nah,” she shook her head. “I figure he’ll do good though.”

Kade nodded and they lapsed into silence.

“Anything else you need to ask me?” she broke the silence.

He sat thinking for a moment before answering. “Have you talked to Peter recently?”

“You mean since the whole stomach thing?” she asked. He nodded. “No.”

“Maybe you should just to check in on him,” he suggested as he stood up and headed for the door.

Eve removed her feet from the table and leaned forward. “Why?”

“You two are close and you won't remain that way if you don't talk,” he called behind him. He shut the door behind him.

She decided to do what he suggested.

Peter? She reached out tentatively. Can you hear me?

Eve! Peter’s response came. She could hear relief in his voice. Are you alright?

Yeah, are you? She asked.

Basically. Some subject stabbed me but Sparrow was able to heal me. He said casually.

You make it sound like you get stabbed in the stomach every day. She absentmindedly chewed on her fingernails. I figured that’s what happened to you.

Whatcha mean?

I was practically dying when it happened. I was curled up on the floor of an elevator screaming like I’d been shot. She laughed. Stabbed actually. Kade found me and blocked the connection so I didn’t have to feel your pain.

But we just have a mental connection, how would you be able to feel my pain? He had questions that needed answers.

Kade said it was a mental connection that had sort of evolved into a tiny bit of a physical connection so whenever you have major pain I can feel it and vice versa.

Wait, hold up… Kade’s with you? There was something in his voice -- a mix of disbelief tinged by hate.

Yeah. she answered slowly.

You know he works for TRAKKER right? He might help the Resistance every now and again but the majority of his time he helps them! He raised his voice.

Peter, I can’t hate him for helping them. One, I’d be a hypocrite for hating him when I’m doing the same thing he’s doing and second, he has his reasons. She yelled. Something inside of her wanted to stand up for Kade and a part of her wanted to agree with Peter.

He’s dangerous, Eve. Peters voice was low.

I don’t care! She yelled into his head. She stood up and paced a few steps before

continuing. Right now, he’s the only one I can relatively trust. You’re not here, Dee’s dead, and

Drew is a crazy person!

Drew is our friend.

He’s basically dead! A tear slipped down her cheek and she couldn’t stop the others from following. Am I terrible person for saying the truth, Peter? Am I a terrible person for just wanting a friend for once? Am I a terrible person for wanting a better world? AM I A TERRIBLE PERSON?

No. he said in a small voice. We all want those things but sometimes we aren’t supposed to have them. Life isn’t fair.

Stop telling me life isn’t fair. She growled. And don’t talk to me again.

Eve cut the connection. She crouched down and pressed her palms to her eyes to stop the tears. She took a deep breath, stood up, wiped the remaining tears away, and walked out, closing the door behind her.

She headed to her room, getting a few strange looks from guards.

What are you staring at? She felt like yelling at them. Never seen anyone cry before?

Anger and hurt welled up inside her, swiftly turning into despair and sadness. She pushed her door open but stopped.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, her voice menacing and dripping with hatred.

The person turned around and looked at her for a moment without answering. “I need answers.”

“Zero, you can leave,” Eve stepped to the side, holding the door open and motioning for her to leave. “Because I don’t have any answers.”

“I think you do.” Zero ripped the door away from her and slammed it shut. “Who is Kade?”

“Why do you care?” she asked, leaning back and folding her arms over her chest. “And what makes you so sure I’ll tell you the truth?”

“You and Kade have been hanging out a lot lately,” her voice had softened and was no longer angry. It sounded more confused and desperate. “Like you know him.”

“Jealous?” Eve smirked.

“No,” she shook her head. “I never looked at him that way and hopefully never will. I always looked at him as an older brother, ya know? The one that would protect you with his life.”

“Maybe you should talk to him?” she suggested.

“I need to know somethings first,” Zero grabbed her hair and twisted it around her fingers, pulling as she did so. She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at Eve.

“How did you meet him?”

Eve narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, wondering if she should tell her. “He teleported us to Resistance Headquarters.”

Zero looked more frustrated. “That’s just one more question I have. Why does he work for both of us? Why does he help the Resistance and then us?”

“He has a reason,” she hinted.

“Like what?” she asked. Her eyes glimmered with hope.

“Ask him yourself,” Eve shut her mouth and refused to say anything else.

“Fine,” Zero turned and walked briskly to the door. She opened the door and without looking back said, “Thanks for sorta helping me.”

Eve breathed deeply and dropped onto her bed, bouncing a little as she hit. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t believe she had exploded on Peter and yelled at him the way she had but she also did want to apologize for some reason.

I’m so stupid! She smacked herself in the head. He’s gonna hate me now.”

****

Eve sat down at the table next to Mouse with Kade and Brodie on the opposite side. She rested her chin in her hands.

“Where’s your food?” Mouse asked, a little concerned.

“Not hungry,” she muttered.

Kade looked up at her and she glared back at him.

Someone’s in a bad mood. He muttered in her head.

She ignored him. She looked at what Brodie was eating -- a hotdog with potato salad and a can of soda-- none of which looked very appeasing at the moment.

“Are you feeling okay?” Mouse put her fork down and looked at Eve.

“I’m fine,” she answered sternly. Mouse wasn’t buying it. “Look, I’ve gone days without eating anything, skipping one meal isn’t gonna kill me.”

“Days?”

“Yeah, so what?” she asked defensively. “Just leave me alone, okay?”

“Fine!” Brodie threw up his hands in mock surrender making Eve want to punch. If she wasn’t careful, she might just do so.

What’s got you so on edge? Kade asked her after a few minutes.

If I wanted you to know I would have already told you. She answered coldly.

I know when I’m not wanted and now seems like one of those times. He left her alone and the others continued to eat in silence.

After they were done, Kade pulled Eve aside. “Did I do something?”

“No, I did,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I was stupid and now I’m regretting it.”

“What happened?”

“I talked to Peter like you suggested but,” she hesitated.

“But…?” he pressed.

“I yelled at him and told him to never talk to me again.” she flinched as the fresh memory popped to mind.

“Why’d ya get mad at him in the first place?” he leaned back on his heels.

She just shook her head.

“You can tell me,” he assured her.

“He said you were dangerous. He said you were terrible because you’re a traitor to both sides,” she finally spit it out. “And I sorta stood up for you.”

“Why? Why would you stand up for me?” his eyes softened.

“Because we’re in the same boat and it’d be wrong of me not to,” she shrugged. “We both have something tying us back to TRAKKER, tying us back to people who have a special place in our hearts.”

“What’s tying you back to TRAKKER?” he asked, confusion hinting in his voice.

“I stayed behind so the others could get out safely,” she answered. She cracked her fingers nervously, the memory popping back into her head. “And then I find out I’m related to Aswynn and Brodie.”

“But you hate Aswynn.”

“Yes, I do. But Brodie doesn’t know what she’s done or is doing. He’s blind to the fact that his mom is a terrible person because like everyone else, he thinks she’s doing great things for the world,” she explained. “He doesn’t know better and I feel like it’s my duty to protect him from Aswynn if that makes sense.”

Kade nodded. “Yeah, it does.” He scratches his neck before speaking again. “I’m sorry about Peter. I seriously had no clue that was gonna happen.”

“How could you not? You’re an Elite Predictor,” she exclaimed.

“Predictors guess, Eve. The Elite part on the beginning just means that I’m really good at it,” he said.

Eve chewed on her fingernails thoughtfully. “Zero was trying to find you earlier.”

“Yeah, I’ve been avoiding her,” he looked out the window.

“Why? She wants to talk to you about some pretty important stuff.”

“Cause right now isn’t… the right time,” he hesitated. “We don’t need her finding out

that I’m related to her and causing confusion in the ranks, ya know?” he laughed nervously.

“You just don’t want to talk to her,” Eve realised.

“Yeah, you’re right! How to I explain to her what TRAKKER did to her when she’s Aswynn’s left hand person?” He rubbed his temples.

She thought for a moment. “I get it.”

He headed for the door. “I’ll talk to ya later.”

****

Peter cradled his head in his hands. The strange quiet in his ears was deafening to him. There had always been a heartbeat alongside his. Her heartbeat.

You’re acting like she’s dead. Get it together. He chided himself.

He looked up, wiping his hands on his pants leg, and looked around. The setting sunlight was streaming through the last few remaining glass windows, broken edges cutting into the blinding light. He heard someone walking towards him and looked up to see Raven.

“Hey,” she said, sitting down next to him. She crossed her legs at the ankles and leaned back up against the brick wall. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” he answered but as much as he tried, he couldn’t keep the sadness out of his voice.

“You’re a bad liar,” she said softly. They sat in the quiet for a moment. “What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing I didn’t bring on myself,” he told her with a little laugh. “I made someone mad.”

“It happens,” she shrugged. “They’ll get over it eventually. Everyone does.”

“Maybe.” There was a bud of hope blooming inside him.

“Who’d ya make made?” she pressed.

“Eve,” he answered. “She’s the leader of the Hybrids. Or was. I don't know anymore.”

“Oh.”

Peter laughed. “I hope she forgives me.”

“Tell her you’re sorry. No girl wants to admit she was wrong,” she suggested.

“She told me to never talk to her again,” he conveyed.

“Egh, that’s just a suggested.”

He smiled.

****

Eve swallowed. She knew she should have been in bed hours ago but like last night, she couldn’t sleep. And now she found herself standing on the roof of the building, arms wrapped around herself to keep warm from the biting cold. She exhaled, her breath forming a perfect white cloud in the air and vanishing.

She walked closer to the edge and sat down, feet dangling over the edge. She relished the feeling of the air tangling it’s way through her hair. On the building opposite her, she saw the bright white neon letters that spelled TRAKKER Hospital. She rolled her eyes.

They even have a hospital. People must really buy their story. She thought.

She looked at the other roof, a American flag flapping in the wind. She watched it snap back and forth, and her heart sank. She was almost positive that a flag like that wouldn’t fly for a long time after this ‘apocalypse’ was over.

Eve let her mind wander and found herself thinking about how different her life would be if she actually had a mom and dad. If she wasn’t in this situation. She was disgusted at herself. She couldn’t change those facts and dwelling on them wasn’t helping her with anything.

She stood up and walked back inside, winding her way through the maze or hallways until she reached her room. She slowly and as quietly as possible opened the door. She sat down on the bottom mattress and began to untie her shoes.

“You’re up late.” a voice said. Scared, Eve flexed her hand and a long, sharp knife that

almost shown in the dark appeared.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” it was Mouse.

“No,” Eve lied. The blade vanished and she went back to taking her shoes off. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Nervous about tomorrow,” she answered. “Aswynn told me I have to go through the Elimination Rounds to make sure I’m worth the antidote. She didn’t say it in those words but that’s what she was implying.”

“You’ll do fine,” she assured her. Both shoes sat next to the bed as Eve pulled the covers up to her shoulders and closed her eyes.

“Do you believe in God?” Mouse asked. The question came out of nowhere, startling her for a moment.

“I don’t know,” Eve answered truthfully after a moment. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curiosity,” she imagine Mouse shrugging. “I guess because you seem a little mad at everything and…” she hesitated. “Bitter at the world.”

“When the world single handedly rips everything you love away from you, tearing you into a million pieces and leaving you there, broken, how would you react?” she was aware of the anger in her voice.

“I’d be upset too.” There was silence for a moment. “Aswynn told me when I got here that you were a foster kid before all of this. Did any of the homes you stayed in believe in God?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I once stayed with a pastor and his family for a little over a year before family issues came up.”

“So you’re familiar with the idea of God then,” Mouse noted.

“You can say that. I believed in God once,” she thought back to the days when it seemed she had nothing to worry about. “But that changed. I saw families fall apart over their moral rules and standards. One person in the family wanted this rule to be more lenient and this person didn’t want it to move. I even saw a church split because of some petty argument about the color of the carpet. No joke.”

“So… God and church have a bit of a bad connotation,” Mouse said slowly.

Eve nodded and then realized she couldn’t see her. “Yeah.”

“Yes or no, do you believe in God?”

“I person I once knew put it this way; ‘God gives the choice to believe He exists or to not believe, but He is never going to force you to believe. Some people never see the good in life and only the bad and those are the people who are most likely to never believe in a God.’” she swallowed. “And I think he was right. In my life, I have seen more bad things then good and it’s hard to see how a God who’s supposed to be loving and kind can let all

that happen.”

“So you don’t believe in God then.”

“No.” Sleep was pulling her eyelids closed and she yawned. “Goodnight, Mouse.”

“Who told you that God gives you a choice?” Mouse asked, curiosity getting the better of her. “Cause he was right.”

“Some kid named Jordan,” she answered groggily. That’s when she realized something, something very important but her brain was too tired to process what she had just said.

With a sigh, she slipped into a peaceful sleep.