Chapter Thirty-One:
ESME
The tunnel was long and dark, but then gradually lamps appeared along the roof and I entered a huge cavern. Apate's warnings rung in my head. Dolus' deal ached in my chest.
A day, a day that I desperately needed help, I would get none. I would probably die.
And with a prophecy predicting a war, led by my conflict-shy brother, that day would most certainly come within a short while.
There were some narrow stairs made of concrete, and an iron gate stood at the top. I peered through the bars. Inside was a small cell, identical to the one I'd been imprisoned in, and in it were two people.
One I recognised as Nero, my twin, snoring away in the corner. He wasn't even shackled - was that because the guards didn't think he was a danger, or because Dolus intervened to help me? - and he looked relatively fine, apart from a circular purple bruise on his temple that looked like something had been pressed hard onto his head.
Opposite was someone I most certainly did not recognise; a boy, maybe my age, with ash-blonde scruffy hair. His eyes were closed in his unconsciousness, his face a mass of scars. A long jagged welt ran along his cheek to his lips, which were scratched and chipped. His arms were dotted with scabs and more scars. His clothes were torn and dirty and, although I hoped to the gods I was wrong, maybe soiled. I could tell the vile smell was him - had he not showered for days, even weeks?
Then I saw, to his left, was a cap. A red Yankees baseball cap, scrunched up and crumpled onto the floor.
"Adam," I whispered. I was surprised by the tears that stung painfully in my eyes.
How... how had this happened? I knew, despite my being taken over temporarily, that I'd only seen Adam three or four days ago. He'd been his normal black-haired, green-eyed self - before I crazily tried to transform him into a heartless mind-controlled zombie like me. Then I'd broken free from my trance and I wasn't able to revert back to it, so I was sentenced for execution. I hadn't seen Adam since.
How, in just 72 hours, had the cheeky chappy with the irritating smirk become this battered and lonely broken figure?
The gate was locked shut. I felt around, looking for a loose bar, until my pocket jangled. An iron key was there.
Dolus, I thought almost angrily. He really was helping me.
I jammed the key into the lock and the gate silently swung open. I didn't enter immediately; I wasn't sure who to go to first. Then Nero jolted awake.
"Adam!" he cried, his eyes still half-shut. He gazed around the room. "Where am I?"
His eyes landed on me and I ran to my brother, hugging him tight. He smelt of charcoal - god knows why - and a soft scent of pine.
"Have you been in the woods recently?" I asked, eyebrows raised.
Nero pulled away. "Long story," he said. "We have to get to Adam."
He took in Adam's disheveled appearance; the hair, the clothes, the state of him. "Oh, gods." he muttered. "I hoped I'd never see him like this again."
"What do you mean?"
Sadly, Nero explained. Before Adam knew of his heritage and Camp Half-Blood, he was physically abused by both of his demigod parents. Nero told me that Adam was naturally a blonde with startling blue eyes, and that maybe he'd changed his appearance to forget his former self, though he wasn't sure how.
I crawled over to Adam and lifted his head. He stirred.
"Adam." I cupped his face and pressed my forehead to his. "It's me, Esme."
"Ezzy..." The nickname made my heart stop. He'd never called me that before. That was Uncle Leo's name for me. When had Adam ever heard Leo say that?
"Yeah," I said, my throat dry. "I'm here."
Unlike Nero, Adam was chained up. Fortunately, the iron key unlocked those too. Adam rubbed his wrists and noticed a cut on his palm. His eyes - blue like sapphires, sharp and pained - widened with fear as he gazed at me. He covered his face with his hands and sobs racked his body.
I didn't know what to do. Nero came over and put a hand reassuringly on Adam's shoulder.
"It's okay," he said comfortingly. "You're safe with us. We're gonna get out of here, mate, and we're gonna stop Zarah and these people."
Why could Nero, after everything he'd been through, cope with this and not me? Was it because my brother had delved into Adam's past and seen things I hadn't? Or was it because Nero had a heart and I really didn't?
But I knew what it was. It was because I felt guilty. I had tortured Adam like this when I fell under Chadwick's drugs. And when I accepted Dolus' offer, maybe Dolus had changed Adam back like this.
I didn't like the gods much, I decided.
Suddenly, an urge overcame me and I took hold of Adam's hand. He looked up, his eyes wet with tears.
"Whatever your past," I said firmly, "I will not judge you. I will never judge you. Come on. Get up."
"Why?" Adam snapped. "I'm a mess, I'm an ugly mess, you know that."
"Were," Nero corrected. "We're Bornes. We're family."
He looked at me. "Esme?"
With my other hand, I took Nero's. Nero took Adam's. We were linked.
"Family," I agreed.
Letting go of our hands, Adam wiped his eyes and stood up. Nero clapped a hand on his best friend's back. I was about to get up when I noticed something and picked it up.
"Here." I unflattened the cap and stuck it firmly on Adam's hair. We were just centimetres apart, my sea-green eyes meeting his sorrowful blue ones. "Be strong."
Adam was about to say something when footsteps could be heard.
"Time to go," I said, and led the boys back down the stairs.
With a little hesitation, they followed.
***
The tunnels took a while but we ended up out of another gate - the key worked again - and in the main facility. I recognised it as the canteen, where Chadwick and Verenspik used to dine with Zarah, Kheo and I.
The big wall clock said it was half past four in the afternoon. Thirty minutes until Chadwick's scheduled dinner. Nobody had followed us, but they'd at least know we were all missing. Yet the last place they'd look would be the canteen.
"They'll be along soon," I told the boys. "We might as well pick up some food."
"We can't," Nero interjected. "Neither can you, if you're up for execution."
"How do you -"
He felt his pockets and pulled out a black iPhone. "Zarah's," he told me. "She dropped it before I left." He felt in his pockets again and took out an earpierce. "I forgot about this!"
He clipped it onto his ear. "Lucas?"
A slow smile spread across his face as his ear buzzed slightly. "Yes! Oh my gods, I forgot, sorry mate! Er... we're trying to get some food from the canteen. We've got about half an hour."
He listened and then unhooked it for a moment.
"Lucas says he can hijack the system," he explained. "If two of us head down to an operations room and turn off the power, Lucas could set off the fire alarms and override the power and uncover the location to send rescue teams. The third person will take the food and meet outside here just before four."
"That's brilliant!" I exclaimed. Adam stayed silent.
"Esme, you'd better go to the operations room, you must know the way." Nero looked at Adam and back at me. I felt his voice loud and clear in my head. Take him with you, I don't want to leave him alone. "I'll stay and get the food. You two go together."
Adam's head snapped up. "You okay?" I asked him.
He nodded shakily. "Twenty-seven minutes," I told my brother. "Be careful."
Nero handed me the earpiece. "You too."
We left him behind and I tried to remember the room. Zarah had given me a guided tour when I first arrived. It was somewhere near the cells, which meant it was risky going along there, but we had to try. The earpiece vibrated, making me jump.
"Esme?" Lucas' calm firm voice.
"Hey, Lucas," I said quietly, Adam trudging along behind me. "What's up?"
"You've missed a lot," Lucas replied. I wondered how he knew what I was saying, seeing as he was deaf. Maybe he had this on speakerphone and somebody was translating, I don't know. "Zarah left a trap that electrocuted a daughter of Athena - your mother's half-sister."
"Great," I muttered. "What do I do once I get to the operations room?"
Lucas paused. "Tell me what screams BIG CONTROL THING at you once you arrive."
"What?"
"Seriously, trust me. When you get there, do whatever. Now, pass me over to Adam."
I glanced behind me. "Not sure that's a good idea, Lucas."
"Now, Esme."
I did as I was told. Adam barely reacted to whatever Lucas was saying. He just said "Yeah" every so often and then passed it back. It was silent.
"Let's go," he said.
"But -"
"Let's. Go."
We found the operations room. Another big wall-clock. 4:47.
"Crap," I murmured. "Come on, we've only got a little time left."
The operations room was unoccupied, which seemed a little strange. It was a mass of cables and buttons and screens, all different colours and gadgets and wires jumping from here and there. Thick black cables writhed like snakes and coiled around the floor, dangerously inviting you to trip over them. I picked my way over to the control panels and looked at the millions of buttons.
"Which one?" I demanded furiously. None of them screamed BIG CONTROL THING. They all looked the flaming same.
"There."
I followed Adam's finger to a big handel marked with yellow and red tape. It was surrounded by smaller white buttons, all hovered over by a large silver screen. The screen played several clips in succession, security cameras watching over certain areas.
Nero darted across the screen in one. I cursed inside my head, realising he's an idiot.
He suddenly shot back, I'll take out the camera in here. Hurry up, will you, and stop calling me an idiot - I can see past and present. Hurry!
Grunting, I pulled the lever - and the whole room went black.
"Adam!" I whisper-called, terrified. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd never been a fan of the dark. My voice sounded panicked. "Oh gods, Adam?"
His hand found mine, and he held it tight. He moved his hands up my arms to my jaw, cupped my face, and kissed me.
Yeah. He kissed me.
His lips were warm and felt sweet and gentle on mine, as he leant closer and moved his hands back down to mine, gripping them tight. I felt him towering over me just slightly, and I pressed myself even closer. I was completely stunned.
It lasted just a few seconds, and then he pulled away, still holding my hand. It was still pitch-black.
"I... I don't like the dark," I said softly.
Adam chuckled, sounding a little like his old self. "Glad I could distract you then."
I knew he was joking, but maybe that was really why he kissed me? Seeming to read my mind, he added, "That was nice, though. We should do it again sometimes."
"I can't tell when you're kidding or not, Grimshaw," I said.
He laughed again. "Believe it or not, neither can I."
We stumbled about in the dark, tripping over the wires as we tried to find the exit. My lips still tingled with warmth. I tried to make sense of it in my head, and I hoped to the gods Nero wasn't intruding.
An emergency light system had been activated but I knew Lucas would already be inflitrating the security system as we ran. We were back in the canteen in minutes.
Nero was waiting for us with a plastic bag and raised his eyebrow. "What happened? You were a while!"
I blushed furiously as Nero narrowed his eyes on Adam. I knew what he was doing.
"Get out," Adam said with a roll of his eyes. "And leave Esme alone, too."
Nero scowled and looked at me. I felt him trying to get in my mind but this was one thing he could not touch. I tried putting up a forcefield but my powers were still weak.
"We've got bigger issues," I said. "Chadwick and Verenspik will have realised we're missing and they'll have shut down the facility. We've got no way of getting out and we can't hide for the next three or so hours until Chiron's rescue team get here."
"What are you saying?" Nero asked.
"I'm saying," I replied, trying to make my voice sound harder, "I'm saying we need to go to war."
_____
AAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAH
WE HAVE SOME ADME ROMANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sorry. BREEEAAATHE. And I hate to do this to you guys but that basically means NOTHING right now :( there's still so much to go on and if I want to make a second book I can't have Adam and Esme getting together at the end of this book.
There could be a future, or they could remain friends... you'll have to wait and see. But I hope their sweet kiss has satisfied you... I couldn't help smiling when I wrote it!
Just to clarify, Adam has now been transformed (presumably by Dolus) back to how he used to look - blonde-haired, blue-eyed, battered. I hope none of this upsets you but I appreciate you're all plenty old enough to understand that this is purely fictional.
And I promise you, whether or not he hooks up with Esme, Adam WILL have a happy ending. He WILL be okay again. But he needs help. And that's got to come from Esme - except she's not really the kind of person to be totally selfless and support everyone when she needs her own kind of support.
My little cherub Nero... I hope he gets his happy ending, too. But he's a Borne. Anything could happen.
Also I just want to add something - some people (not just one person) have commented or inboxed me with confusion over the looks of the twins and I can understand I haven't made that totally clear. I did reply to one comment on an early chapter but not very well... so I want to thank the person who made the comment (AshleyTan558) because they've raised an issue I didn't realise was there.
Nero looks like his father an awful lot - hair, physique, general appearance - but has his mother's stormy-grey eyes. Esme looks like her mother incredibly - hair, beauty, general appearance - but has her father's sea-green eyes.
Shoutout to AshleyTan558 and please go look at her page. Thank you :)
Shoutout to -HereComesTheSun- because you're always commenting and voting which I really am grateful for in a fan! :)
Shoutout to celebrity1 who commented on my author's note and really boosted my confidence because I felt awful for letting you guys down :)
Shoutout to Jean_Weasley who was originally booknerd1234567890 but has changed the username :)
Shoutout to panda58148 who reads and comments a lot! :)
And finally, a big shoutout to spottyandme who commented a few weeks ago on The Jacksons - Prologue asking if I had drawn the title page, which made me laugh so much! So thank you for that, my lovely :)
Want a shoutout? Comment. And. VOTE!
- Lauren xx