Destruction - The Oasis Project Book 2 (Complete)

Sixteen - Linkin

It turned out they were telepathic. That was another discussion that lasted for almost an hour as I tried to understand how the twins could communicate and send messages to each other no matter the distance apart. They made sure to point out that the Oasis Project sent them to opposite sides of the world and it did nothing to their ability.

It was impressive, terrifying, but impressive. Emma chimed in every so often with quips about the twins, like the helpful warning against playing charades with them when they're on the same team. A thought that never crossed my mind, but seemed extremely obvious once it was said out loud.

Once I started laughing, I couldn't stop. The bad memory slowly fell away. The void in my heart was still there, I didn't know if it would ever go away, but it wasn't plaguing my every waking thought anymore. These people, they brought some relief to my seemingly endless misery.

Sure enough, after we got to know each other a bit better, Emma asked what movie we wanted to watch. What I never expected was that she had her own Netflix account. They had ended up putting on some superhero movie, mocking it as they said how they "could do better". It seemed, despite understanding the situation we were all in, the three of them still had a sense of humour with them.

It was an alarm going off, two quick alarms which felt like knives assaulting my inner ear, that made them tense. Emma quickly had the movie paused, glancing to me and chewing her lip. "That's for you," she said, making me frown. "They're looking for you," Emma added in as if it explained anything.

"I..." I didn't know what to say and I felt my entire body tense. My first thought was to run.

"It's okay, I'll just..." She trailed off and sighed and stood up, "I'll take care of it. Don't move." She motioned for me to relax as she headed to her front door. I heard the buzz on an intercom, the twins staring at me before glancing to each other. They were obviously discussing something and not wanting me to know.

I sighed, ready to go when I heard Emma speaking with someone over the intercom. Instantly the buzzing stopped and I heard the sound of her door unlocking before she came back over to us. "They're coming here, they have a... file for you?"

Tensing more, I was quickly sitting upright. "A file or a file?"

Emma blinked, glancing to the others in confusion, "Is there a difference?"

She had no idea.

There was a soft knock on the door after a few minutes, the room a bit more tense as the door opened. A woman walked in, wearing a pantsuit and had a green file in her hand. "Two, I am General Hewett. I have an incident report for you." She said, reaching out the folder for me to take.

The woman was overly formal and detached. Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun as if she was trying to take away from her beauty. I took it and sighed, "Do you need another report while you're here?" I asked as I started to quickly flip through it, scanning the documents. It was something boring, Project 3-1 had acted out against a Project 3-2 and 3-6 in an act of violence. There was some boring talk about potential "rehabilitation" needed for Project 3-1 and I knew it meant that whoever this was, was in big trouble. They'd probably be sent back for another round of torture.

As awful and horrific as the file was, I was barely affected by it. I felt detached from the words on the paper and handed it back to her. "Done. You burning it?"

The General nodded, pulling a lighter from her hand. "Are you confident you have it?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't question me, General. It's annoying. If I say something is done, it is done." I said seriously before standing up. The woman was taller than me by around half a foot but didn't make it stop me. I pushed up my sleeves to reveal my tattoos. "I bet you thought it was a privilege to be assigned to me, but you're wrong."

"Two-"

I raised a hand and cut her off, Mato covered her mouth to muffle a laugh. "Don't interrupt me, it's rude." My glare silenced her. "You're my bitch, I say the word and you're gone. You know why they give me folders? It's because I already have the entire Dell Island Project in my brain and there is no point in pretending that I couldn't end everything you do if I was ever wanted to escape again." I paused to smirk, "Because that's what it would be for me. An interesting task for me to leave this place. So, you don't question me, you don't send up an alarm and summon me like a lap dog or the next thing I'll read it to you."

"Two..."

"Do you know how many people ask to be put down after spending five minutes with me?" I chuckled and rolled my eyes, sitting back down. "I do. So go on, burn the file and report back to your bosses. Next time you need me to absorb a folder, you wait outside my room, patiently, like a good dog. Got it?"

She went quiet, staring at me like she didn't know what to say. "I think you-"

"It's a yes or no question. I'm not actually interested in your opinion, General Amelia Hewett from South Carolina." I paused and smirked, "How're your kids? Are they enjoying Texas with your husband? He did tak-"

"Enough!" She raised her voice before exhaling sharply. "Yes, I understand."

I nodded, "Good, now get the fuck out." I said, leaning forward to press play on the movie as I settled back.

On the inside, I was trembling, felt like I was going to be sick, but my exterior was as numb as the rest of my body. "Holy shit Linkin!" Mato was saying as he laughed.

"You're a badass!" Anaba chimed in.

I shrugged, "Everyone has a nerve and working with the army is easy compared to mobsters. Talk about egos." I rolled my eyes.

"I want to be you," Mato breathed with a grin.