Chapter 359
Back in my room, I sat on my bed and tuned out the sound of my mom vacuuming the living room floor for the hundredth time. It occurred to me that she needed to make some friends and get out of the apartment more, but I didn’t know who to suggest. Age is such a weird thing here. There was no way to tell if people were three hundred or eighteen unless you just knew their story. I couldn’t imagine my mom hanging out with Aurora or Meagan, but maybe someone like Hannah would be a good match for her. The thought of my mom drinking a latte with Ashley had me cracking up. She might look like Jamie’s other girlfriend, Ellie, but she wasn’t vintage. I felt sorry for my mom that she was here all day long, but then, that was her choice, I supposed. At least she got to decide whether she stayed or went.
I leaned back against the headboard, a pillow behind my back, and closed my eyes. Normally, for something this important, I’d go up on the roof, but it wasn’t night yet anyway, and if I waited until then, my information probably wouldn’t be that helpful. I had a feeling I could get Cadence the info she needed even without the solace of the rooftop, even over the whir of the vacuum.
Spittle was easy to find. He hadn’t moved much since he’d arrived in Lexington, and I’d already found him there once. I could see him easily enough. He was in the basement of what appeared to be the same old house I’d located him in days before. It would be getting a good count that would be more difficult. I’d have to dig around in his mind a little to find the information I needed, and as soon as I stepped in, he made it clear he didn’t want me there. Getting what I wanted and getting out without alerting him that his hours were numbered was also tricky.
I sat in his thoughts for a few moments, just absorbing what he was consciously dealing with. Thoughts like what he was going to do if another tourist didn’t come by soon and give them some nourishment were helpful because it let me know this was some sort of historical site. I remembered how Gibbon had done something similar, hiding in the shadows of Eastern State Penitentiary, and thought Spittle should’ve learned from his mistake.
The longer I stayed, the more he seemed to forget I was there. I looked around the best I could using his eyes, though that’s hard when a subject won’t turn their head. I got the impression this basement didn’t take up the full space of the house above it, maybe half or a quarter. There was at least one other being down here with him, possibly two. Movement out of the corner of Spittle’s eye confirmed a tall woman with nasty black hair. I went through the pictures of the escapees in my IAC and recognized her as Misty Meadows. I hoped she’d chosen that name after she’d been turned.
Since this seemed to be getting me nowhere fast, I decided to dig around in Spittle’s box of memories for a bit. He was reluctant to let me take the lid off, but there wasn’t too much he could do about it, and once I was able to sift through where he’d been recently, I got a pretty good look at the house he was hiding in. It was definitely an historical landmark, some place called the Anderson House. And it looked like he took nine others with him when they’d snuck in. If it had been tourist season, it might’ve been more difficult, but this place was off the beaten path and not exactly a place every historian in the country was clamoring to visit from what I could tell. As much as I enjoyed history myself, I’d never heard of it. I got the impression it had been important during the Civil War and decided to look it up as soon as I was done with my recon.
Before I left him, I planted the idea in Spittle’s mind that we were thinking about going after his associates who’d split from him a few weeks ago first. He seemed to buy it, and I felt him settle back into the comfort of knowing he was safe for a while longer, even though he clearly wasn’t. He’d find out soon enough.
I didn’t open my eyes yet, though. Instead, I dropped in on Holland. She was definitely in Europe now. Once again, she was fighting me, trying to push me out, and she was so much stronger than me it really was disconcerting. I got the feeling her baby had grown exponentially even since the last time I was there, and certainly since I’d discovered she was pregnant. She seemed concerned that the child was getting too big too fast. I also got the impression she was using a lot of her energy on another project, but I couldn’t tell what it was, and there was no way I was getting into her trunk of secrets. Frustrated, I gave up and switched to Hines.
He was in the same place as Holland now. In fact, he’d gotten there first. He was proud of himself for abducting Sam and Laura, though I still couldn’t quite get a grip on his intentions with the pair. I also felt a sense of worry relating to his project with the Guardians. He was anxious that the process he’d come up with wouldn’t work—which was alarming to me. I had no idea he’d gotten that far. The fact that he thought it was a possibility, though, didn’t sit well with me. If he had a serum to test, he might actually try to get some subjects.
I wasn’t sure what to do with that information. Aaron wasn’t an option, and Cadence had her hands full. The thought that I should warn my cousin Paul seemed like a good one, though I thought Cadence might not appreciate me interfering. I decided to go ahead and let my sister handle it. I’d tell her Hines thought he had something when I handed off the information I had about Spittle.
I took a deep breath, thinking I’d pretty much worn myself out poking and prodding, but I had it in my mind to try to see what I could do with one more person. I might end up regretting it if he figured out I was there, and he likely would, but I needed to try. Something wasn’t right with my soon-to-be brother-in-law, and I needed to see if I could find a reason, especially after what Elliott had said earlier about him seeming normal for a bit.
With all of the energy I had left, I focused in on the office my sister shared with Aaron, thinking that’s probably where he’d be. I honed in on him, concentrating on moments we’d shared together as a common bond to slip into his thoughts without giving myself away. I have been able to access his mind before, though the first time I did it, in wasn’t on purpose; I’d meant to use my IAC. But something was definitely different this time.
I felt like I was walking through thick, black tar. No images entered my mind at all—only darkness, and every time I tried to move forward, it felt like I got further entangled in tentacles of the sticky substance. A feeling of unease settled over me, and for a moment, I felt helpless, like I may as well curl up in a ball and die. Would anyone even care? Would I even be missed? The feeling of dread was overwhelming, and I had to remind myself these were not my thoughts. In fact, they didn’t even necessarily seem to belong to Aaron, but I had no idea where they were coming from. The entire experience was so unsettling, I did my best to pull myself out of there as quickly as I could, and once my eyes were open, and I found myself sitting cross legged on my own bed, I breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever was going on with the Guardian Leader, it was both unsettling and indescribable.
Thinking about my sister and what she was about to embark on gave me pause. If I told her right now, hours before she went after Spittle, it would only worry her. I decided not to mention Aaron’s disposition to her right away but rather to save it for once she’d returned. I also didn’t know if she’d be mad that I went poking around in his thoughts without her permission—or his, for that matter.
After a few deep breaths, I sent a message to Cadence, asking her to come over so I could tell her what I’d found out about Spittle. She said she’d be there in a few, and I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again, only seeking rest this time.
