Endgame (Book 3)

Chapter 21

I raised my hand, hoping my powers were still available for me to use as I suspected. To my chagrin, they worked perfectly.

Leveling the flat of my palm at the grate, electricity sparked in the air as I used my power to simultaneously twist all four screws out of their places. The grate remained in place, but now it was only held in place by my electricity alone.

I grinned and gently set it down on the floor.

In the same hand, I summoned a tiny sphere of light energy using the unknown reserves I had shored up inside me.

Ashley helped me unlock my total use of this ability, and for some reason, that annoyed me. She didn't even have powers, and yet, she seemed to know more about them than anyone I knew.

With nothing left to hold me back, I crawled inside the metal tunnel. I found my way by sliding along without bumping into anything in fear of disturbing anyone that was still here.

I was forced to travel forward with brief pockets of light seeping in from hand-sized grates on my left. Every time, I looked through in case someone was coming, then pulled out my paper to mark it on my attempt at a map. I was traveling parallel to the hallway, and I was waiting for a turn or intersection that might help me move closer to Zero's location.

I got just what I asked for. Soon, the path ahead of me ended, and I had to choose to go left or right.

I marked this place by putting a horizontal mark on my map.

To my left, a slight downward slope seemed to form direct after another smaller grate in the hallway, which formed at a corner. That's why my path broke off here; there was nothing ahead of me.

I should have gone left, but I was also tempted to go in the opposite direction. A brighter light glowed from there, and it ended after just fifteen feet. Someone was staying in there. I wanted to mark who was in there on my map.

I traveled the rest of the distance on the right with new vigor. I was curious.

When the sound of hushed voices reached my ears, I slowed my pace to a crawl until I could see through the grate. This one was large, and I could get out of I wanted. The problem, however, was that I could clearly be seen.

I backed up so only my eyes were visible behind the grate and took a look inside the room.

I immediately withdrew my eyes. Ashley was changing clothes inside. While that would have convinced me leave, I also saw Ben with her, and my nosy self wouldn't let me leave. Were they sleeping together?

I put both their names and a slash between them, followed by a question mark, on my map. Even if I didn't find Zero's cell, this was good information.

I tuned into their conversation.

"You should give him a chance," Ashley said.

They were talking about me again? Was Ashley still pushing this?

"I don't need to, and I definitely don't want to," Ben argued in his normal voice. "Not after what he did."

"You had your chance to get him back for what he did, and you took it," she said. "He was hospitalized because you couldn't control your emotions. How is that any different from what he did?"

"He's mentally insane," Ben said incredulously. "That's what's different."

"I'm telling you, not anymore. He's different now." I heard the sound of silk against skin, and chose to look again. Ashley was wearing clothes now, so I could watch. They were sitting face to face on the bed.

"His D-I-D could still be present," Ben said, continuing to be stubborn.

"Look, if it was, then why would he attack himself? Zero is no more a part of Jay than Metagor is a part of you."

"We share the same memories," he said gruffly. "Which is the problem, if Jay and Zero are in the same situation."

Ashley leaned closer to Ben. I sensed romantic tension rising. It was almost time to split.

I made a note to look up DID the next time I had access to a computer.

On another note, why were Ashley and Ben in the same room after curfew? My jealously sparked at the thought, but only for a moment before I pushed it down.

I'm jealous because of what they have, not because of Ashley, I told myself.

As I began to pull out, a last word about me from Ashley halted my movements.

"Ben, even though it didn't go as planned, Project Ares ended up working itself out," Ashley finally said.

"What?" I said aloud. Way too loudly.

"What was that?" I heard Ashley spring out of bed. I think Ben did, too.

"Who's there?" he asked.

Crap.

I'd been caught.