I froze.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAwqFU2Vxo0M
However, freezing was quite useless and a waste of time, so I took a 180.
486Please respect copyright.PENANABqSGmxOeBC
Blue; it was the colour that conquered his irises, so dark, it could have mistaken it for black. Yet, the blue in them couldn't be overlooked, they seemed like the result of frostbitten fingers: deadly and dangerous; cold enough to burn. They painted persona.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAzkX0fMHI55
"Should I know you?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAqhlbZLNIYh
My question was ignored. Instead, his icy eyes were set on the folder in between my hands, ringing warning alarms in my head.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMnm2Kr2YyW
In an instant, I lurched behind the sofa and threw the file open, my eyes flying wildly over the page.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAQwsyY8rOez
I had the file in my hands for about the duration of a heartbeat when it was yanked out of my hands and my back collided with the wall, a death grip caging my neck.
Only one word caught my eye during my short read of the file: Everest.
But that was gibberish.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAFKdAfzlzob
"What?" I spoke to myself, despite the hand that choked me. "What the hell is an Everest?" I muttered to myself. "That makes no sense... they're going to take me up a mountain to kill..?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANA1XfoQ1Rvm6
Judging by the way the stranger's eyes, whose hands were still around my neck, narrowed, perhaps he knew something that I didn't.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA4saXrvvZLW
I wondered if he sensed that the whole choking thing didn't affect me yet.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAJ6TOYRSbvN
But Everest? That wasn't a word.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAh4OaJVwRyC
"Name!" I shouted out. He probably thought I was insane by now, but never mind. It was a name! A random name probably belonged to one of the hundreds of people who worked for the Front, maybe abroad, or even someone as insignificant as a cleaner, but a name, nevertheless!
486Please respect copyright.PENANAaxmGuUEUUT
Except this name seemed familiar.
486Please respect copyright.PENANATaxClRrzZb
I needed answers, and fast. But who would I go to? Will? Amanda? Director? Yeah right.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMrvc51qvuN
However, currently, someone was blocking my way – literally, I was trapped between a wall and steel-like flesh. So doing the most logical thing anyone would do in this situation, I head butted him. Peculiar. His skull didn't crack into a million fibers, as it would have done with anyone else - very peculiar indeed - but it did faze him for a split second. That split second was all I needed to pin him to the ground.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAtIX485f6a8
"Who are—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAiagwnBHeJr
I had a feeling he was a fighter when my interrogatory question was stopped midair due to having my body whisked off and impacting a nearby coffee table, which, needless to say, broke. The coffee table, not my body. Anyway, the hell kind of person needed this much furniture in an office?
486Please respect copyright.PENANANFJ3mdXbHL
I got onto my feet quick enough to see the stranger stride towards me. Seriously, what was his deal? He had the file.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAfCKDkuJ0Dx
"Stop it! You–" I attempted a fierce punch, which he blocked. "You–" He attempted a fierce kick, which I blocked. "You– goddamn! Let me speak!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAqW7o6uF9R0
Before he could process it, I grabbed and held both of his hands in an iron grip above my head.
486Please respect copyright.PENANABOzKcY7Lg7
"You have the file, what more do you want?" Again, the bones of his hands didn't break as it would have with anyone else. I glared frustratedly at them. "And why aren't you broken yet?!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAEHmTc9fkD3
My confusion was enough distraction for him to get one of his hands free and drive something into my arm. With the small pierce I felt where it touched my skin, I concluded it was a needle. Soon, the world swayed and I heard two words come out of the stranger's mouth before I fell into darkness.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA6MVNfJBERU
"I'm Everest."
486Please respect copyright.PENANACr8aSWWOR6
•••
486Please respect copyright.PENANAJoD4klzLsm
486Please respect copyright.PENANAJLpeF6kTZd
"Are we allowed in here?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAx92w8Ibh1u
"Who cares?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAaQXGBqqhEk
"We might get into trouble, Evest."
486Please respect copyright.PENANApXIpy8dCZC
"It's Everest, you know like the mountain?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAbLdfwEcuoy
I thought hard.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAtTNgWTSq2C
"The mountain?" Evest face palmed himself in response. "Maybe I should just call you Ev."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAiMbBm8wWPn
"How old are you, Emerald?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANA8rX49yzysR
"Umm," I counted on my fingers. "Three. I think. No wait, five!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAl5WmBgokfH
An innocent smile tugged on his lips.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAbkhoNn5y9B
"What about you?" I asked.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAh8MLykOCDV
"Seven. Come on." Grabbing my hand he ran along the isolated hallways, me working hard to keep up behind him.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAsjiylWhAPQ
Ugh.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAVpC4T6KXYK
Do you what I hated? Having a dream, and then forgetting it. It happens if you wake up during the fourth and fifth stages of sleep, or so I read.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAdEdP4o3uqN
That, and the fact that my head felt as if someone was balancing the Titanic on top of it, with all the water still inside. And the passengers, too.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAyAXEwiVI0S
Squinting at my blurred vision, I sat up to realise that I was chained against something.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA9eTxODEL1g
What the...
486Please respect copyright.PENANAajsk5BI5le
"She's awake," a voice cut frostily through the blur.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAYPifEtWoO0
"Phew! I thought she was never going to wake up!" This, I recognised as Bill the technician's.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAeVlGgFLzJU
"Don't be stupid, the volume of the serum I gave Everest was precise to the nanoliter!" Snapped one other voice. Ah, Anne the chemist. Mutual to her job, she had quite the explosive temper.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA8klHs6Zw5A
Hmm, Everest...
Everrrrest..
Everest.
Ev-
Nope, still got nothing.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAp82y57XwAN
Anyway, on the bright side, my vision was beginning to clear up. Bright side indeed, for I had to squint to see properly through the light.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAd2oWgGgFHh
"Be quiet. Both of you." A stern voice commanded, shooting icicles at Anne and Bill. His eyes then locked with mine. Or at least I think they did, the world kept jerking. Stay still!
486Please respect copyright.PENANAt5U3j86QCy
Wait just a minute! I remembered those eyes! It took me a second for it to click and I gasped. It was him! He was Everest. Those were the last words that's came out of the imbecile's mouth right before I almost won the fight! Almost. But the loathing loser had cheated in the last-
486Please respect copyright.PENANAh661sNXn1Y
Hold on. The file! Something about a termination!
486Please respect copyright.PENANAUHmtcGDGL1
Suddenly my hands grew as cold as his eyes.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAIA22vQfVPq
He crouched in front of me.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAOneA3xnpNH
A storm hid away in his seemingly serene eyes. Chiseled, his cheeks almost engraved into the sides of his face. He possessed hard features and judging by his blade-like jaw, he probably had no nerve endings in his face. An unmoving expression. Arctic, deserted, distant. But again, it was his eyes that caught my attention. Beneath them, was something that was laid out plain and simple, yet I couldn't decipher.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAk3BQGUdVzo
"What was the point of bringing her here for termination if I could've done it in Director's office?" His deadpanned voice rumbled through the air.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAC7MQM5qNcl
There's that word again.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAwO5Jgn8Wwq
I lunged forward. The shackles easily snapped from their hinges and I almost caught hold of him.
Oh, sweet vengeance was right within my grasp and under my nose - literally - when the Titanic began sinking again.
It's always almost with him, isn't it?
486Please respect copyright.PENANAJhin4uwPjJ
"It's always almost with you isn't it?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANARxpgYaW56f
He effortlessly pinned my hands above my head, stealing my very own tactic, not to mention it was a really uncomfortable position, considering my head was swimming, so I kicked him. Hard. Then I charged towards the traitors, using the remaining bit of energy I had left.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMyrCYqPk4p
"You drugged me?!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAlPiWP6sGsg
"Well technically, it was Everest who drugged you," Bill replied.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAbE9TnwDo77
I turned around to face this Everest.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAYQ3TGjSryQ
"That explains everything." My voice was inched with sarcasm. But all I got in return was a glacial stare from him. Charming.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA9kjstm9H3O
Frustratedly realizing that this wasn't working out, I turned back to Bill and Anne.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAUFzC9oFAmC
"Tell me!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANA8oK5L0l761
Bill gave me innocent eyes. "Tell you what?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANALANcGNdQYz
That's it!
486Please respect copyright.PENANAcnYD2WftAe
One moment my hands were hanging innocently by my side, the next they were around Bill's neck.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA20nYlnGytT
"202!" Another voice.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAzTKmAyF6mt
Director.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAGm71YuXNNU
Leaving Bill, coughing and wheezing, I charged up to Director. "What's all this nonsense about some termination?" Where was Amanda? Wherever Director was, she was.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAEtLink1MRU
"You shouldn't have been in my office," he replied calmly.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAvYfc3nJbZZ
"I shouldn't..? Is that all you have to say for yourself? Where am I? Why did you drug me? What's happening?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAR6HhNESyRi
"202—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAWquvr0Qlzy
"Emerald."
486Please respect copyright.PENANApbgVtCYcps
"—you're in the termination unit."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAdzxfbRuUYa
There's that word again.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAAIfjmNjffB
"I saw the file. You're going to terminate me? Terminate? What am I, some sort of pest? And what makes you think you can kill me so easily? Standing there, all vulnerable in your feeble and defenceless body, I'd hardly need to lift a finger to finish you off."
486Please respect copyright.PENANADrz5912MdZ
"Maybe you should sit down," Director offered, rather calmly despite my threat.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAayR5fqeYQF
"No."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAGFpRmRWzAT
"202, stop being difficult."
486Please respect copyright.PENANARC10QC4RAf
I folded my arms in restraint. The name is Emerald, brother!
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMdeEaLUavl
"Oh for the love of— Emerald," Director sighed. "Please sit down."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA2gFEiIUKSk
"If you insist. You know the Titanic still is floating up there. I thought it sank already," I blabbered, mindlessly. This gained me two confused looks from Anne and Bill, a seemingly understanding nod from the Director and an emotionless stare from Mister Mystery. "So, who is he?" I asked, gesturing in this so-called Everest's direction.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAZyDZzfVYKT
"You see, Everest has been our biggest project for twenty-two years, now."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAqOAvuE1iu3
I frowned, confused, until the realisation drawn in on me. That meant, even before me. "What do you mean project?" I glimpsed at Everest. Ah, a stony face to match a stony personality.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAmxJwjLaPCi
"Meaning, he's just like you."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMh8H8ZW92s
I raised an eyebrow. Well, that explained why he didn't exactly break, back in Director's office. "Like me," I repeated.
486Please respect copyright.PENANANboRfZXt40
"Except he's better," Anne chimed in.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAkzfmaK7KJe
The frown returned to my face. "Better? Better how?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANA2XVuEtokO3
"You were the backup if something went wrong with Everest," the Director proceeded.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAyyKji6kdKo
Oh.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAI960ZrRrYf
Wait, what?
486Please respect copyright.PENANALHK16AE3Wt
"Backup?" My heart rate picked up.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAKfdZVGNIVK
"Our whole purpose here at the Front has been to find the cure. And the whole purpose at Reynolds and Co has also been to find the cure, that's why they attacked, right? To prevent competition."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAIRrQ2lySwo
He was telling me things I already knew. This was what I meant when I said, Director liked to spell things out to the last syllable.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAND0vIhh8R9
"I would really appreciate it if you would get to the point."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAf3fBSLxbCe
"With Everest, was when we first discovered the cure."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAZnLzeFibWU
I had to blink a couple of times to ensure I wasn't still dreaming – or rather nightmare-ing. "Huh?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAdpxzKnM3wo
"After him, you came along—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAU0bXOYawcl
"No, repeat the first thing you said."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA00vZlBiQVx
"Everest held the original cure."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAjOb1uEJSBG
"The original cure," I reiterated. "The original cure. The original... what does that mean?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAJWehLXjRxm
Director sighed. "Emerald, we already discovered the cure for cancer, long before you were born."
486Please respect copyright.PENANArbomVSaoi4
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... "What the hell?!" Nice to know, that the breathing helped.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAxrye0dSEzx
"This could come as a shock—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANArrde1Vyfxc
"Since when was there an original cure?!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAiAsWSzHdMZ
"Since Everest was born, two years before you."
486Please respect copyright.PENANALw42Xcb2ug
I closed my eyes. This notion was good, because it provided darkness, and darkness made me realise something...
486Please respect copyright.PENANAaHF8Az8dc7
I looked back at Director. "You told me, that the cure was unintentionally created."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA51x3uJodyF
"It was. Only, not with you."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA5xPHSICw3m
I made a calculated guess. "I'm guessing it was with Everest?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAu0aPyJMr7i
"Yes," Director responded.
486Please respect copyright.PENANArGEnV0jGPB
Oh. So, my entire life had been a lie.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAlhPgstDMLy
"And my mother?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAOejbS0oOBN
"She never experienced the explosion. It was Everest's mother who did. Your parents helped create the cure. But it was not for your mother."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAFUQYBNJNvG
I scratched the back of my head and smiled bitterly, trying to keep my head on. "This might sound like a dumb question. But, where the hell did I come from, then?" My voice was soft and gentle. Like the calm before the storm.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAVEAjNRDQjL
"We made you," he stated it, just like that.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA7F9hmzOEVi
My smile widened into humorless laughter. "That explains the lab rat name. Tell me, does Everest have one too?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAzFSo2VltaX
"202—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAXrxNAypCt8
"You know," I interrupted in a sugary voice. "I feel absolutely privileged that you chose to present me at the launch, over him. But, do you know what utterly just blows my mind?" My tone shifted into pure rage. "Why you introduced me to the world, moments before deciding to kill me, if you had your precious original cure with you all along. Or why you would lie to me about the mere discovery of the cure."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA8zUDLJPDBT
"Would you please let me ex—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAse7jUaMf2K
"I'm not done yet." I put my finger up to halt him. "Do want to know what blows my mind the most?" My voice dropped into a near whisper. "Why you want to kill me in the first place."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAyzBZIcT9Z2
Director pushed his glasses back. "Emerald, you need to understand that we hid Everest because we couldn't lose something of great value–"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAwpmiyMCZWS
"I'm not of great value?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAsfOrTPcr0s
"If news on Everest gets into the wrong hands, like Gemma Reynolds, for example... We simply can't afford that."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA0HkxsLtlAq
"News of me got into the hands of Gemma Reynolds!" I retaliated.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAVKT3gi1Scb
"Which is precisely why we couldn't let the same thing happen with Everest!"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAre35HvaGTE
"But, you let it happen to me."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAeH8YnFaNf7
Silence conquered the room, before I chose to speak again, "Was it because he is of 'greater value' than me?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAtntYprgD7p
He took a deep breath. "I hate to say this, really, I do, but Everest has shown to be abler than you, so, unfortunately, yes."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAr94QNyaVYP
Ouch.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAEw3mnO4BqC
He spoke quickly next, "Believe me, we've run hundreds upon hundreds of tests. All of them signified that Everest had higher capabilities than you."
486Please respect copyright.PENANA8o91YRqfPj
I shook my head. There was no time to mourn; I wanted answers. "How?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAm6YSPyF8Pf
"I can't share that with you."
486Please respect copyright.PENANANWbyvQ8Nr9
I scoffed, pushing down a ball of rage.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAfDIXLNZJa7
"But that's beside the point," his fingers flexed with his words. "There was just too much at stake. We just couldn't allow discovery of Everest to fall into the hands of Gemma Reynolds."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAbIo36cLa7N
"I'm sure Gemma can find a boyfriend somewhere else. I mean she's pretty," I glanced at Everest; his eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch, so obscure, it could have gone unnoticed. "But not that pretty."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAEIOA36MDNy
"I cannot believe you are making jokes in this moment of time," Anne commented.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAVdY2iXSF7s
"I can't believe you just complimented Gemma Reynolds," Bill squeaked somewhere from the back.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAAEeAxyOjXn
Director exhaled the long breath, that he seemed to have held in for a while now. "202, we both know that's not what I'm talking about. Gemma already knows about you, as it is. We can't afford another attack if she discovers even a shred of information about Everest."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAY7dNsxENL6
"So that leaves one more question: why kill me?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANA7g0LEIInyP
"I'm afraid, I cannot share that detail with you."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAzex3NN3bux
I breathed slowly. "I could shatter your entire nervous system, right now."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAEPTrCZLYXQ
"202, I would tell you, if I could," he added, immediately.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAfYTqiVA8l7
"So, what you're telling me, Director," I whispered deadly serious. "Is that after you raise me, make me sacrifice my entire life for this stupid organisation, without the luxury of even living a normal life, you toss aside as soon as you find someone better?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAnbw2sxzTD2
"Emerald. We are not replacing you." Anne cut me off. "All we are saying is that, however special you think you are to us, is exactly how special Everest is to us.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA3exUoSwodo
What?
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMZTYQHIPH2
"That–that's worse! That's like one sided love!" For a smart woman, Anne was really dumb.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAMThfOPpnYb
"I am sorry it came down to this–" Director started.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAizi0QOtoQT
"No, you're not."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAv4xKmrJY2U
He sighed for what seemed like the fiftieth time during this conversation. "But, according to our tests—"
486Please respect copyright.PENANARoBcQ9Higm
"Screw your tests."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAFFXoBIMRcV
"According to our tests, Everest is, in fact, superior to you, as he has something you don't." Director finished.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAiJzj40S5an
"What's that?" I quizzed.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAqe9oUjm3bj
They stayed silent.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAFtiucbHPUG
"Why keep Everest a secret from me? Why have I lived here my whole life and never seen him once?"
486Please respect copyright.PENANAPKOhN9EFge
The second time they remained silent, my hand found its way to an innocent volumetric flask and hurled it across the room. "Answer me!" The flask shattered against the wall on the opposite end of the room, spitting jagged fragments out in various directions. Oh, how I wished that was Director.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAcBpw9hd9rq
Everyone in the room winced, except Everest. After a moment, Director pushed his glasses back. "202, you have shown me in many ways what it feels like to have a daughter."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAkNXRUX9EBQ
I winced at his words.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAHatThZDzNF
"But, unfortunately, it has to be this way," He concluded.
486Please respect copyright.PENANARExVuEnclG
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think, you can kill..." my sentence stopped in mid-air as that satanic drug which I was poisoned with, kicked in, again, and my head began swimming. Not again.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAXSBGHdXFLc
"Oh, go to hell." I made sure to inform both Director and this Everest.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAopClAyxGRg
"Take her to room "TU001."
486Please respect copyright.PENANAnihZZ2ee4u
What the hell is a TU001? That was my last thought before I was enveloped by darkness. Again.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAFkhN1aSNpn
____________________________________________________________________________
486Please respect copyright.PENANAvcXEBFYPeD
486Please respect copyright.PENANAyZDg9kmsia
Author's note:
486Please respect copyright.PENANAivnclA4bxi
Yay! Author's notes are fun. They make me feel all important.
486Please respect copyright.PENANA1uiKpQ3vOn
This chapter has been quite the rollercoaster ride. Jeez, I really wasn't kidding when I said Everest wasn't a man of many words – or facial expressions.
486Please respect copyright.PENANAXHCCfOCdfV
What is your opinion on the Front, now that you have see the back-stabbing, two-faced, maniacal side of theirs?
486Please respect copyright.PENANAyVkvJPQMuD
Also, haha Game of Thrones reference in the title. Who watches Game of Thrones? Valar Morghulis, anyone?
486Please respect copyright.PENANAqYvrK2WKIQ
Please don't forget to vote, like and share. Thank you for reading!