Reality feels like a distant memory and dreams seem more real. Things in Sutton's life don't seem to be right. Why does she seem more connected to the five strangers she just met than to her roommate and boyfriend she's known all her life?
Why does...
The inside of the cabin didn't look how she expected it to from viewing the weatherworn, dull slatey wood on the outside. Unstained hickory constructed the floor that flowed throughout four walls. She shut the door behind her, able to see every dwelling in the adobe. She wondered who lived in the cozy little nook, it had to be a person that didn't mind being in the same space for longer than twelve hours. The kitchen, living room, bedroom, and dining were all carved out in the same space.
Along the back wall, was a sink with a window above it and a countertop on each side of it. Next to one of those countertops was a fridge that seemed to be the original model placed in the cabin when its outer walls matched the floors inside. She walked past the living room, which was just a striped loveseat and a television manufactured in the nineties. In three steps she was in the bedroom—if you could call the setup of a twin bed draped in a plain, wool blanket pushed vertical to the wall a bedroom. She wouldn't.
Two more steps and she was in another room altogether. The dining room. Shaka sat by the industrial metal table with two parallel identical chairs then easily lowered his body to the floor. This was where he wanted her to be and she knew why. She focused her eyes on the laptop with a post-it that read 'play' stuck to it.
"Did you learn a new trick while I was MIA?" She teased, trying to ignore the tension that surged within her. "A writing wolf. That's a Disney show in the making."
She settled in the chair as he rested his head down. Free of humor, she tentatively raised the laptop's lid. The screen came to life, bathing the room in bright light. A video popped up and she did as she was instructed, tapped 'play'. A man's face appeared and she immediately placed it. It was him. The doctor at the clinic. The creator of them all.
"Dr. Cummings." She said under her breath teeming with multiple emotions. Anger. Disgust. Fear. Anticipation. The sentiments swirled in her chest as she watched him adjust the rimless glasses on his tired face.
"Four hundred and forty-eight days." He let out a sigh then massaged his temple as if something was building there that he needed to work out.
Four hundred and forty-eight days. How long was that? She didn't know for sure but it was defiantly more than a year.
"Three rounds in Lucid for the programming to succeed. Well...I assume if you're watching this it isn't a success." He glanced off to the side as if he was looking at something with a glint of a smile.
She wondered who or what he was looking at. She down at Shaka, "Where's Leslee?"
His ear went back then he let out a faint whimper.
"Did something happen to her, boy?"
This time her question was met with silence. Shaka's eyes slid closed and she refocused on the screen hoping that the doctor was in the company of her friend.
"The memory stimulation wasn't created with you in mind. People like you. You aren't the typical OXRO. Defect or surrogate is what most females are." He shrugged as if both options didn't have drawbacks. "You survived and activated. Having you with other surrogates wouldn't be allowed. Plus, Kinkaid is quite taken with the idea of a female OXRO...an alpha at that. He had big plans for you." He took in a deep breath, then peered into the camera with sober, hard eyes. "Plans that I don't agree with. That's why I gave you the pills. To wake you up sooner."
"We have to leave." He fiddled with his glasses. "Get as far away from Texas as possible. Maybe even out of North America."
Aisa's eyebrows drew together as her back went straighter than humanly possible. What could Kinkaid possibly have planned for her? What could be worse than fighting and killing?
"But before we can leave, you have to wake up your brother."
"You mean brothers." Aisa quipped as the video played on.
"I can't wait thirteen hours for the pills and sleep to take effect. So, taped under the table is a syringe."
Asia felt under the table and found the hypodermic needle and yanked it away from the tape. The concoction within the syringe wasn't blue like her pills but was neon green.
"It's a rapid dose. He may collapse, might have what seems like a seizure but he'll be fine."
She studied the serum again wondering with made up its properties.
"The injection site must be as close to the neck as possible." He went on. "The shoulder is your best option. Fulfill this task then met us at Vulture's Landing. And stay off the road. Go through Obsidian Forest."
Someone sighed off-screen and he glared at them with rigid eyes. "We don't have time for that." He turned back to the camera. "You and Ethan are my only concern. You are my children and Ares can't have you."
Another emotion was birthed from his words, sadness. How was she going to just wake up Ethan and leave her other brothers?
"You have five hours before the eye of the storm is over us. Be true to your name. Be an OXRO. Be a Xi. Let no man, woman, or thing stop you. This video will self-destruct in ten seconds."
Asia didn't count but after she blinked twice the screen filled with green and blue threes and nines.
"Where is Vulture's Landing?" She inquired out loud.
Shaka growled lowly standing to his feet with his golden eyes trained on the door. His back arched and the hair on his neck rose as the porch creak. Wood doesn't talk, so she knew she was followed.
Will Asia be able to just wake up Ethan and leave her other brothers?
Who do you think is on the porch?
What do you think Kinkaid has planned for her?
How long do you think 448 days is?
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