Chapter Fifteen: Aspen

Chapter Fifteen
~ Aspen ~

My body was stiff, each step taking more effort than the last. We were almost at the tree line now. The journey to get here had been rough due to the stubborn guy at my side.
“Can you please just cooperate?” I gasped out, giving Will a pointed look.
It was weird seeing him outside that cell. Good, but weird. He was a real person now, not just a caged stranger I’d been keeping alive for a few weeks. He seemed to be doing better somehow, with more energy than I’d ever seen.
“Not a chance.” He quipped back, sounding just as pained as I was.
He hadn’t wanted to go. They opened his cage, letting him walk free, but instead of taking his escape gratefully he was horrified. He didn’t want to leave E. I didn’t blame him, but clearly, she had some kind of plan going on and it was probably in his best interest to follow it. I was using my ability to, for lack of a better word, force him to walk with me. When he wasn’t leaving, dad started to get angry. I didn’t know what would happen if he refused, but I didn’t want to find out either, so I had no other choice.
Finally, we reached the trees. I looked at him expectantly, but he didn’t move an inch.
“Come on, Will.” I sighed, exhausted from the effort of controlling him. “I don’t like this any more than you do.”
“I find that hard to believe.” He raised one of his eyebrows suspiciously.
Although he and I had developed a weird kind of friendship during his time behind bars, it was clear that he didn’t trust me yet. I couldn’t really blame him. I didn’t know who to trust anymore, either. I knew he wasn’t going to leave on his own, so I put the intention in his mind to keep walking until he found either Grey or Jax underground. Hopefully, they could talk some sense into him.
“You know we’re going to come back for her, right?” He called over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” My heart sank at the thought. “I know.”

…..
I moved dad's wheeled chair around, taking turns pushing each foot out every so often. I’d been waiting for him to get out of his meetings all morning, my anxiety rising by the minute. He woke me this morning with the promise to show me something important. I had no idea what that entailed, but it probably wasn’t good. He suddenly appeared in the doorway without warning. I sat up a little straighter.
“You don’t look half bad in that chair.” He cast me a smile and leaned against the entry to his office.
I couldn’t help but cringe as he referred to the future where I was supposed to one day fill his shoes. It wasn’t too long ago that I wanted that. I had wanted it badly. Now, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew I couldn’t stay here and run this initiative. I wanted no part in it at all.
“What did you need to show me today?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“Ah, yes.” He pushed himself upright and rigid once again. “Come.”
I quickly bounced to my feet and followed him out of the office. We passed by the front desk where Judy, his secretary, sat typing away at her computer. I bet not even she was innocent in this. I must’ve been the last to know. We continued walking until we reached a door at the end of a hallway. I watched as Dad lifted his key card to the sensor and it granted us access. This process continued on and on. We must’ve gone through ten doors before the last one finally opened up to a lab.
I was confused as to why this is what he wanted to show me, since I’d seen the labs many times before. We learned about them in school. Hell, it was practically every kid’s dream to come work in them. This is where the cure was developed and refined. Only the best of the best could work in the labs. Dad nodded at the doctors working diligently as we moved around them. I glanced at their stations, seeing nothing but test tubes filled with different colored liquids.
Dad scanned us through another door, but when it swung open, I hesitated in following him. My feet were stuck in place. I couldn’t move them, even if I’d wanted to. Because E was in this room, strapped down in a chair. There were leather belts around her wrists and ankles, and another over her forehead. She looked awful. She sat in the middle of the room, nothing else present aside from a small metal table to her right. Her skin was as pale as ever, making the dark circles beneath her eyes stand out. She was still wearing the same clothes she’d come here in, and they were filthy. She was a stark contrast to the sterile, white room.
“Aspen, come.” Dad ordered. “And shut the door behind you.”
I did as I was told. E didn’t meet my eyes. She only stared straight ahead.
“What’s going on here?” My voice cracked with emotion. I had to look away from E.
“I think it’s time you learned our processes.” Dad started rolling the sleeves of his button up shirt until they passed his elbows. “You made me very proud when you brought this one in.”
“Why is she...like that?” I couldn’t form the words. It was bad enough to have to see it.
“They don’t happen to like this part very much.” His voice had shifted slightly. It was deeper, darker.
“What part?”
He ignored me and moved toward the table. Resting on top of it was a tiny bottle containing a bright blue liquid and a single, prepackaged needle and syringe. He began filling the syringe while I stared E down, hoping she would at least glance my way.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that we aren’t in this to help the sick.” He said matter-of-factly as he lifted the syringe toward one of the lights above us. Yeah, no shit. “Our true purpose is much higher, much more important. You see, power is strength, Aspen. And the sick just so happen to be born with skills that make them powerful. They aren’t prepared, however, to put that power to good use. Can you imagine how much further along we would all be if the individuals in charge had such power? Are you following, Aspen?”
My fists clenched at my sides. I was following just fine. But I needed to hear him say it himself.
“No, not really.”
He sighed.
“We are, and have been, developing a serum that will transfer powers from one individual to another.”
And just like that, I felt my entire world crash to the ground. Of all the things I thought they could possibly be doing, this is the most sinister by far. They’d taken people, children, held them as captives, abused, and then killed them. For years. All to gain their powers for themselves. I felt my limbs begin to shake as my shock morphed into anger. I looked to E, but her face gave nothing away. Dad took a step toward me and extended the syringe in my direction expectantly.
“What?” My surprise was clear. “You want me to…?”
“Consider it the first assignment of your new role.” His eyes shined with pride, while I just felt sick. Of course, the only time he cares enough to feel proud is when he thinks that I’m going along with his insane plan. I felt eyes on me and glanced toward E. She was exhausted, and scared, but still gave me a nod of approval.
“What will it do?” I played with the needle, tilting it back and forth to watch the liquid move inside.
“I’m not entirely sure.” I was shocked at his honesty. “It’s just another variation of the formula. All we can do is try them until one works.”
I felt nothing but disgust for him at this point. Working for the initiative had worn away his humanity until he became comfortable running experiments on living, breathing people. It was all so crazy, and horrible, and unbelievable. But it was all true. And I was living in the middle of it all. I wondered, if he knew that I was sick too, would he do this to me?
“Go on.” He urged, and I took a staggering step forward.
My stomach twisted and clenched. My heart crashed in my chest painfully. I was shaking like a leaf, and I hadn’t even done it yet. I was so conflicted. E’s eyes told me that it was okay, that it needed to be done. But how could I give her this shot? What if it killed her? Oh, God. I took a step back, looking away from her.
“Aspen.” Dad’s voice was stern. “I need to know that you are committed to our cause.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. He’d said the same thing after locking me in one of those cages. He wanted me to prove myself. He wanted to see that I was loyal to him and not to the sick. He wanted to get rid of my weak spot.
My eyes fluttered open, already feeling heavy from the unshed tears that now filled them. I had no idea what to do. If I didn’t give her the shot, there was no telling what dad would do. And if I did, she might die. It would be my fault. I made a snap decision and took a large step forward. I didn’t even look at E’s face. I couldn’t.
I pressed the needle into her bicep and pushed the end of the syringe to release the liquid. I felt dad at my back watching. Once about a fourth of the mixture was inside her body, I made a show of sneezing. I lurched to the side, pushing the metal table over in the process. Dad jumped back to avoid being hit by it, and I pulled the needle from E’s skin. I shoved the syringe in the pocket of my sweatshirt and released the remaining liquid.
“What was that?” Dad asked angrily. “Did you finish?”
I coughed to hide the white-hot fear coursing through me. The liquid was beginning to seep into the fabric against my skin. I held the now empty syringe out toward him as proof of what I’d done.
“Sorry,” I tried to force a smile. “Sometimes I sneeze when I’m nervous.”
He eyed me warily but took it from my hands and nodded approvingly. He moved toward the door and motioned for me to follow. I allowed myself a quick peak at E, but it did little to ease my conscience. She wasn’t dead, at least, so there’s that. Dad and I walked until we reached the front desk of his building once again. I made some excuse about having schoolwork to finish and bolted out the back door.
Once I was outside, I collapsed onto the ground. My chest heaved as I finally let the tears that had been building fall from my eyes. I placed a hand on my heart in an attempt to slow it down, but it was no use. I was potentially a murderer. Never mind the fact that it was actually someone I cared about. I may have killed a person, period. I ripped my sweater from my body, hating the fact that it was stained with whatever I’d just injected E with. All I could do was hope that she’d be okay, and that dad hadn’t noticed what I’d done. The cool afternoon air didn’t even phase me as I sat there, and I hardly noticed when afternoon turned to night. At this point, I was just completely absorbed in my regrets.