The Elements Trilogy: The Secondaries

Chapter 52: Ice

This chapter is late. And short. And its mostly a filler chapter, but the end is important and I got a kick out of writing it.

"David!" It was the first word out of my mouth, as I rounded the corner and saw him hugging Evie. The word was mixed with anger and relief, unsure of what I'm feeling at the moment.

Then, when I saw Evalynn's body lying on the ground behind them, and the horror-stricken Hastings clones, my stomach plummeted.

"Parker?" I asked.

"What?" Evie snapped despite the fact that she was sobbing.

"No, I mean...the other Parker. What? How?" I looked around helplessly at everyone. "Is she..." I couldn't bring myself to finish the question, but the silence answered it for me.

"Okay, come on guys, let's get out of here. We don't need to keep looking at her."

"We can't leave her here!" Skylar protested.

"No, no, I'll take care of her." I said, not looking at my friend's dead body.

"I can help you," Kyler said quietly, and I shot her a grateful look.

"C'mon Skylar, let's go," Kyler tugged gently on Skylar's arm and Skylar obediently followed her.

David and Evie left the hallway behind them, and I knelt down next to Evalynn's body. "You saved my life, Evalynn. I'm so sorry I couldn't save yours."

"Aww, Harry. I had no idea you cared so much." A voice said mockingly.

My head snapped up so fast my neck hurt. "Evalynn! Oh, thank God!"

I rushed over to her, grabbed her head, and gave her a hard, quick kiss on the mouth. "Sonofabitch, Parker, you scared the shit out of me! And sorry, Derek." I added hastily.

Derek shrugged. "Naw, it's cool. I mean, I slept with Skylar last year, so whatever."

I did a double take. "Wait, what?"

Evalynn made a disgusted face and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Does Evie still think I'm dead?"

"Yeah, go find her," I dismissed Evalynn with a wave of my hand and turned back to Derek. "You slept with my girlfriend? When?"

"Dude, you told him? The fuck, Derek?" Skylar's voice echoed through the room. "Oh my god, Evalynn!"

"You're not gonna kiss me too, are you?" Evalynn asked, wrinkling her nose.

"When did you sleep with my girlfriend?" I asked again.

"The beginning of the school year, you weren't even together then. Where's Evie?" Derek asked Skylar.

"Back there with Kyler and David-"

"You're all a bunch of idiots, this is a clone!" Evalynn snapped, holding up a tattooed hand.

"Am I the only one who doesn't have a clue about what's going on?" Tony spoke up.

"Somebody go get my sister!" Evalynn demanded.

"Go get her yourself, she's down that hallway with David and Kyler!" Skylar pointed to her left.

"David's back?!" Derek asked excitedly.

"Okay, I just said that like a minute ago." Skylar rolled her eyes. "Derek, why did you tell Harry we had sex?"

"He kissed Evalynn!"

"You kissed Evalynn?" Skylar threw up her hands.

"I was excited she was alive!" I said defensively.

"So was I, but you don't see me kissing her!"

"No, you'll just fuck her boyfriend."

"Oh my god, we weren't even together then!"

"You could've told me!"

"Hey! Hey! We've got more important things to worry about than who kissed who or who has hooked up in the past!" Diamond stepped in between everyone.

"Like what?" I asked, momentarily forgetting what we were supposed to be doing.

"You know, saving the world, stopping Bryner and the clones?" Diamond rolled her eyes.

"And the clone at the end of the hallway, watching us with a scared and slightly amused expression..." Tony said quietly.

In a flash, I spun and whipped a razor sharp icicle at the clone. She squeaked in terror and flattened herself against the wall, the icicle zooming past her.

"It's okay! I'm not a clone!" She called out. "I'm one of the doctors daughters! I just live here over the summer!"

"Oh yeah?" Skylar asked, muscles tensed. "What's your name?"

"Oh! Right!" The girl grinned cheekily. Something about her smile seemed familiar, and her eyes gave my stomach a funny feeling. "My name is Pip. Pip Shay. My mother is a doctor here in the cloning unit. I can't seem to find her though. Do you know where she might be?"