On and on the recording droned, listing out basic facts of my life I’d long taken for granted—but never would again. The asswipes apparently didn’t leave anything to chance. There were even comments about how much I enjoyed keeping up my physical fitness and eating my freaking vegetables. Was my love of brussels sprouts and lima beans all just another lie? I mean, seriously? What the actual fuck was wrong with these people?
Few facts differed from what I remembered—and I had no way to tell whether or not those were true memories. Jackie didn’t mention our time at the lab at all. I had no way of knowing what scintillating tidbits of programming I’d missed out on while she and Jude discussed deceiving us as if it were any ol’ ordinary part of their job.
I was coming to realize it was.
They were indeed superspies, ones with a fully outfitted laboratory primed for all sorts of evils, plus unlimited funding. A winning combination.
From what I was gathering from the partial hypnosis, we weren’t to remember any of our time here at the facility, but would experience a new enthusiasm for attending the Institute for the Advancement of the Gifted, a new school soon opening in Ridgemore.How lucky we were!They were already planning how to get us back right where we were, just with a different backstory.
Before today, I hadn’t believed I could grow any more shocked by our circumstances. How very,verywrong I’d been.
With minor—yet crucial—deviations, we were to proceed with life as normal. Unless ourparentsand Magnum had even more devastating secrets stuffed up their sleeves, we’d likely simply be biding our time until they killed us again. Only we were supposed to believe we were dying for the first time, and to experience that terrifying panic at the possibility of losing one of our dear friends forever.
These weren’t scientists. They were monsters.
In the headphones, Jackie rambled on with a final litany of thoughts:
“I only practice safe sex and am very careful to avoid pregnancy.” (If my mom’s previous theatrics were to be believed, that was probably her addition.)
“I accept my parents’ regular checkups as a normal part of my care.”
“I never enter my parents’ office when they aren’t present.”
“Ridgemore High School is lucky to have a newly built gymnasium for us to use. Magnum Chase is a generous donor and we appreciate all he does for our community. We’re very fortunate he moved here years ago to share time with our families.”
“When I wake, I will feel well rested. I will believe I went to sleep in my bed last night in my bedroom at home, as always. I will get up and go to school for the day. I will greet my friends as if no time has passed and everything is as it always has been.”
I was in the middle of wondering how thefuckthey were going to pull off this kind of production when no one in town was likely to forget the resurrection of the “Miracle Kids” anytime soon when, without warning, the blanket was pushed back to expose my arm and immediately something wet and cold swiped my arm. Another alcohol swab, I guessed too late, after I’d already flinched at the touch before instantly relaxing again. A stool swiveled with a soft whir of metal against metal as I focused on not holding my breath, on not doing anything else to indicate I was alert when I shouldn’t be.
The whir came again, and then a pinch that told me I was getting another injection.
No one said anything, allowing me to hope that Jackie had already been mid-turn away from me to reach for the syringe when I jerked. If she was the only one in here with us, and it seemed like she was, and no one was reviewing the footage of us to catch my tell, I might’ve just gotten away with the first real advantage any of my crew had ever had.
Jackie’s footsteps scuffed along the floor as she presumably injected my friends as well. My need to pretend ended as the second shot she gave me pulled me completely under, at the mercy of the devils we apparently didn’t know at all.
22
No Drugged Bait-and-Switch Going on Here
Iawoke to someone gently shaking me. In a groggy haze I wasn’t feigning, I blinked open my heavy eyelids to find Jude’s face close to mine.
He smiled at me like he had a million times before when I’d believed him to be my plain ol’ loving dad. His hair was damp, his cheeks ruddy, like he’d recently returned from his morning run. Just an ordinary day at the Bryson household. No drugged bait-and-switching going on here …
Fuck. I had no idea how I was going to pull this off. At the best of times, I wasn’t one to bite my tongue. And this was most definitelynotthe best of times.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, as smooth as honey. “You overslept. It’s time to get ready for school.”
I realized I was gaping at him and hurried to rub my eyes and groan. “I don’t wanna go.” That, at least, was an easy truth.
He chuckled, so naturally that I questioned whether all of it had been a dream. Had I made up Brady’s death at the Fischer House party and everything since? It was possible, wasn’t it?
He rose from where he’d been sitting on my bed. “You say that practically every day. But Griffin’ll be here to pick you up for school soon. You don’t want to make him wait, especially not today.” He gave me a meaningful look I had no idea how to interpret.
Especially not today, meaning the day after our “parents”fucked us in the ass and then tried to pass it off as familial bonding?
“What’s up with you today?” he asked, putting me on alert that I needed to get my shit together and fast. “You never forget the anniversary of the day Mitzi skipped out on them.”
Ohhhhh. The fake anniversary of the fake abandonment of Griffin’s fake mother.Gotcha.
