Arabella Read online

“I’m honestly not in the mood for this today, Freakshow. So just give me the hard-drive, and we’ll call it even.”

  “And if I may ask, what do you think is on that hard-drive?”

  Cole zoomed in front of me, putting himself in between me and the Horde freak. “And what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “You don’t want to know what’s on that hard-drive, trust me, Bell.”

  “Yeah see, I’m pretty sure you don’t get to speak for me on that matter.”

  “If I were you, I’d listen to the boy.”

  I shot a stern glance at the Horde member before turning my attention back to Cole. “Uh, can someone please explain to me what’s going on?”

  Cole didn’t answer, which was cause enough for concern. When Cole wouldn’t talk? It was safe to say something was wrong. The blabbermouth was never one to stay quiet.

  “The hard-drive, Arabella, it contains the records of every experimentation you’ve undergone along with every other Super at Bilson Corporations.”

  The wall that I’d built to block the bit of fear from overpowering me earlier had come crashing down within an instant. “Well, I kind of always assumed that, so I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised.”

  A curious look overcame the Horde member’s face as he stared at me as though lost in thought. “That isn’t all that the hard-drive contains.”

  “Well then, please, enlighten me. What else is there?”

  “The genetic make-up of every cloned Super birthed through your father’s research.”

  “Clones? You seriously expect me to buy this shit?” Okay, so granted I was a superhuman, which pretty much proved that anything was possible, but clones? I’d grown up inside of Bilson Corporations. I would have known if my father had been creating clones of us Supers. At least, I liked to believe that I would have figure it out.

  “Arabella, you are not the only one of your kind.”

  “Well, no shit, Sherlock. That’s kinda obvious.” I made it a point to motion towards Cole. “I’m well aware that I’m not the only Super out there.”

  The Horde member laughed. “A Super. I always found it quite amusing that he’d given you all that tile, especially you.”

  I crossed my arms and bit my tongue, knowing that if I so much as opened my mouth, there was a damn good chance I would say something that would only make matters worse than they already were.

  “You are nothing more than a machine, a product that can be replaced at any given time. You are not a Super, Arabella. You are no hero. You are nothing more than a weapon, and we will see to it that you serve out your purpose.”

  Convenience

  One week ago...

  There were few things that made living inside of Bilson Corporations bearable.

  Maggie had been one of them.

  “Where’s your watcher Cole?” Maggie slid onto the couch beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. “Did he finally get a life, or did your father send him out on another mission?”

  “Yeah, we both know that would never happen,” I grumbled. The idea that my father would have sent him out on a mission on his own was doubtful. Especially since Cole and I were essentially linked together – he relied on my powers as much as I relied on him for back-up. “He’s in his room. I told him I needed some space.”

  “And he listened to that?”

  “I wouldn’t so much say he listened as I threatened to hurt him if he tried to bother me tonight.”

  “Ah, I should have figured as much,” she teased. “Always so violent.”

  “And yet, you seem to have no problem with that.”

  She shrugged her shoulders as she slid her arm around my shoulders. “What can I say? I like ‘em feisty.”

  Maggie was one of the good things about Bilson Corporations, but she had always wanted more than I’d been willing to give her. For Maggie, I was more than a getaway. But for me? Our relationship had never been anything other than a small bit of sanity. And while there was a small part of me that felt bad for that, I had made it clear from the start what I had wanted. And even though I knew she had agreed to my terms – friends with benefits and nothing more – I knew that she had never been as comfortable with the arrangement as I had.

  That was the only downside to closing yourself off to the rest of the world. I had become too used to being numb that I often found it easy to forget that the rest of the world wasn’t a cold-hearted asshole like me.

  “I should probably get going before your father sends Cole to check up on you,” Maggie said, easing herself off of the couch.

  “You don’t have to leave because of Cole,” I responded. “We’re not children, Mags. He doesn’t get to dictate what I do.”

  “Yes, but he does have to report everything you do back to your father, and your father already dislikes that we spend so much time together.”

  I leaned back against the couch, turning my attention towards the ceiling, because I knew that I had no way to respond to that. I was a grown woman, more than capable of making my own decisions, but I was also my father’s project.

  And since I was his project, I had little say over my life.

  Was it pathetic? Yes. Did I stand a chance at changing it? Nope. And I knew that. Both Cole and Maggie knew that. I tried; I tried like hell to escape his strings, and failed each and every time.

  “I’ll see you around then,” I said, slipping off of the couch and heading towards my bed. I could feel Maggie’s eyes locked on me, waiting for me to turn around and walk back to her, to say goodbye, to tell her that I’d miss her. But I didn’t, and there was a small part of me that hated myself for that, because I knew she deserved better.

  I was not the person she deserved, but I was the person that she wanted, all while I treated her as nothing more than a convenience.

  I seriously need to get out of here more, I reminded myself, before this place wears me down; before I allowed myself to feel sorry for those around me, and for my actions.

  “Goodnight, Bell. I guess I’ll call you next week.”

  And with that, the door to my living quarters slammed shut, leaving me to drown in the silence around me. It was a welcome peace that would surely be short lived. I knew that it soon enough, my father would call for me and Cole to head out on another mission – to locate another hard-drive, to keep watch over the world that we had been excluded from – and I would have had no choice but to follow his orders.

  Because that was my life, and that was the world that I lived in.

  I was a project, a product, a mission that had never been designed to have a sense of self-identity.

  Poor Choices, Deadly Consequences

  Back at the Horde facility...

  It was pretty sad that it had taken being tricked into breaking into a Horde facility to figure out what the hard-drives had contained, but hey, at least I finally knew. That was a plus. Er, that was the only plus, really.

  Because after being told what the hard-drives had contained, the Horde had managed to capture both Cole and myself. And I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to escape.

  “You just had to play hero, didn’t you?” Cole groaned, trying to break the heavy cuffs binding his wrists. The downside to the Horde having one of the hard-drives in their possession? Other than having full access to the research conducted at Bilson Corporations? The downside was that they knew every bit of information about us.

  They knew our strengths, our weaknesses. They knew our fighting patterns and what abilities we had. They knew every single detail about us, and we hardly knew a thing about them.

  “In my defense, I didn’t think there would be this many of the freaks inside,” I countered. “And besides, in a strange way, I actually prefer dealing with them to dealing with my father.”

  “You’re insane, Bell. You know this, right?”

  I shrugged and leaned against the wall. I was worried, sure, but I’d had enough practice to know that panicking wouldn’t do a damn thing to make the situation
any better.

  “I’m well aware of this, although I’m quite surprised that you’re just now realizing this. I mean, you’ve only been following me around for how many years now?”

  “How about instead of joking, we try and figure out a way to get out of here?”

  I turned to look at Cole, taking note of the frustration that lined his face, and arched a brow in surprise. “You should know better than to think I’m not already working on that.”

  My natural response was to be a sarcastic ass. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t alert and that I hadn't made it a point to study my captors. My eyes had been following the Horde members since they’d thrown us inside of an oversized cage, eager to uncover some sort of pattern.

  That was the most important thing I’d learned during my training when I was younger – that, we as people, had a tendency to develop patterns without even realizing it. We were predictable beings, and apparently I’d been no different.

  I really needed to think before I acted, I reminded myself, only to have Cole break out into laughter beside me. “I can agree with that,” he answered.

  “Oh, shush.”

  “Assuming we get out of here, your father’s going to have my head.”

  “I highly doubt that,” I countered. The fact of the matter was that my father had favored Cole. If he were to have anyone’s head, it would have been mine for getting Cole into trouble. “You know very well that you’re his golden child. When I get us out of here – and I do mean when, not if – he’s never going to let me live this down.”

  In fact, I was willing to bet he was going to make it a point to keep his eyes locked on me more so than usual; which, as much as I wanted to blame Cole, was entirely my fault.

  I could have turned around and left when Cole told me to. But I allowed my stubbornness to lead me directly into a trap, just as the Horde had hoped. Yeah, even I had my what-the-hell-were-you-thinking moments.

  “What about Maggie?”

  “What about her?” I asked curiously.

  “You’re crazy if you don’t think she’ll be hounding you for the next couple of months – at least – after this stunt.”

  “It’s not like that, Cole, and you know it.”

  He let out an amused laughed. “It may not be like that for you, but it certainly is for her, Bell.”

  Knowing where he was headed, I decided to change topics. The last thing I wanted to do was receive relationship advice regarding a non-existing relationship, especially from Cole.

  “Do you know what I think is more interesting?” I started, careful not to meet Cole’s stare. “How there are so many hard-drives out in the world with the research from Bilson Corporations.”

  Cole fell back against the wall beside me, the tension in his shoulders seeming to fade away almost immediately.

  Having spent much of my life with Cole by my side, I’d come to know him well enough to tell how he was feeling without him having to say a word. Cole had, other than Gwen, probably been the only person to truly know me and not just the cold-hearted girl I presented to the rest of the world. He was a good guy, and I knew that I gave him far too much shit at times, especially considering he had only done as ordered by my father.

  I knew that I should have been easier on him. But giving him a hard time made it easier for me to maintain some distance between us. Like with Maggie, I’d made it a point to not get too attached because attachment only made it harder to let go. And as a Super, death was a constant companion.

  I knew the pain that loss brought with it, and I knew that it was a distraction I could not afford. Emotions could get someone killed, I reminded myself. All it would take was one moment of weakness, and that would be enough to end it all.

  I closed my eyes for a brief moment, trying my best to collect my thoughts. I had a plan, not a very good one, but it was still a plan and that was better than waiting to be tortured by the Horde.

  The plus side to having a sidekick that could read minds? It made it easier to conjure up a plan without my opponent having a clue. Er, at least, I hoped he wouldn’t be able to tell.

  I’m going to try and pry more information out of him, as soon as there’s an opening, I need you to run. Do you understand me?

  “Do you have a damn death wish?” he whispered, leaning in closer towards me. I shrugged him off. I needed to remain calm to ensure the Horde bought my emotionless act. If they knew just how much I cared about Cole and his safety, they would have made it a point to go after him first. “Don’t think I’m not going to use that against you once we get out of here,” he commented.

  I rolled my eyes. “You were only supposed to listen to the first part.”

  A friendly grin spread upon his lips, and he pressed his shoulder against mine gently. “Let’s get this show on the road then, shall we?”

  “Agreed.”

  Using the wall for support, I eased myself back onto my feet and moved to the front of the cage. “Hey, Horde freaks, are you planning on letting us out of here anytime soon? Believe it or not, I do happen to have a life that I’d like to return to.”

  “I’ve told you already, Arabella, you will not be leaving here.”

  “Except I don’t recall ever agreeing to that,” I responded.

  Cole moved in beside me, his body tense as he fought to keep from taking over. He’d become so used to taking over when I made things worse by opening my mouth, but in this case, he was going to have to remain quiet. I knew what I was doing. I just needed him to trust that.

  “You can fight all you like, but if you do not do as ordered, we will bring in the clones. You will serve your true purpose, Arabella. You will become the face of the Horde.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t creepy or anything, I thought to myself.

  “I don’t follow orders from crazed murderers,” I countered.

  “You are not the only one of your kind, Arabella.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m a clone, a science experiment. You’ve said that,” I answered. “But what do you intend to do with the clones? Make them your killing machines? Force them to kill innocent people? I’m failing to understand the point of all of this.”

  “That’s because you’re unable to see the world for what it truly is,” head Horde jackass answered. “You’re all living in a world driven by greed, by selfishness, by arrogance, and you’re too damn blind to see it. You’re willing to kill one another for possessions, to allow your needs to be someone of worth to destroy someone else for no good reason. I mean to render all of this, to give the world a chance at peace.”

  See, that was the problem with crazed psychopaths such as the Horde. They liked to convince themselves that they were doing something good for the world, when in reality, they were doing nothing more than convincing themselves they were decent people.

  “Let me get this straight, you believe that by using the clones as your personal weapons, you’ll be able to rid the world of corruption and discord?”

  “How else would one go about fighting back against discord?”

  At that, I let out a laugh. Cole shot me a look, warning me to pull it together. But at that moment, I didn’t give a shit. I knew that the Horde was bat-shit, but their plan was on a completely new level of idiotic. “I think you’ve been reading too many comic books, bud. You can’t fight discord with chaos. And more importantly, there’s no way in hell you can cleanse the entire world.”

  “We shall see about that.”

  Monster

  Eight days earlier...

  “Mara tells me you’ve been acting out again, Arabella.” My father’s voice picked up as he grabbed a glass of whiskey from the bar counter behind his desk. The frustration and anger in his voice were clear, but I stopped caring what he thought of me long ago.

  “So, let me see if I understand this correctly, stating that I’m tired of being treated as a product and that I want more out of my life is now considered acting out? Huh. That’s news to me.” I lowered myself into the seat across fro
m him and lifted my ankles atop his desk, ignoring the glare he shot in my direction.

  “You have a very good life here, Arabella. I don’t see why you feel the need for something else, especially considering what that very desire ended up costing us the last time.”

  Gwen. As if he needed to remind me of what I’d lost, and how it had been my fault. Her death was something I would never be able to forgive myself for because she hadn’t deserved to die. But in my father’s eyes, I had not shown enough remorse.

  “Is this why you had Cole bring me here? To remind me how much I screwed up? Because if that’s the case, consider this conversation over.”

  He slammed the glass down on his desk as he fought to control his emotions.

  I’d never had a great relationship with my father, although, I guessed that was normal considering what he’d done to Gwen and I. It was hard to have respect for a man that decided to turn his daughters into weapons after his wife left him.

  It didn’t help that he only saw me as a subject of Project X.

  I might have been his flesh and blood, but he sure as heck never seemed to treat me as such. Gwen, however, he adored her. And I’d taken her from him.

  I understood why he’d been so cold towards me, but I no longer wanted to be his project – his weapon.

  “I brought you here because I fear that you have forgotten what your duty is as Super.”

  “To retrieve your precious hard-drives and watch over innocent civilians. I haven’t forgotten, Father.”

  He opened his mouth to speak as he leaned back in his office chair with his hands cupped on his desk. “Your duty is to protect civilians while also hiding your identity.”

  I was rather sure that had been what I’d said, but having decided that arguing would get me nowhere, I chose to remain quiet. There was no reasoning with my father and I knew that.

  “You’ve made far too many impulse decisions, Arabella, decisions that have nearly ended our work here at Bilson Corporations, and for what? For freedom? The world outside of here doesn’t know what you are, and I highly doubt they are ready to find out.”