30
Julia
Itry to keep my voice calm as I ask, “Where are you taking me?”
William remains silent. His face is serene as he drives up the winding road, like we are taking a happy road trip. A few times he even smiles and waves at a local. It makes me want to scream. Maybe Icanscream for help? Or jump out of the car.
Or I can use my powers and end his control once and for all.
I will wait until we are higher up the mountain. There are too many people down here. But when we get closer … If I blast him just right, maybe he will crash and I can get away. Whatever happens, it will be worth it to stop him. Heat starts to gather in my palms. I let the bright sun streaming through the dashboard fill me up. I discreetly glance at my hands growing white with my anger. I double-check that my seatbelt is secure.
He laughs a quick huff. “Before you try anything you may regret, you should know I brought a backup plan to ensure your cooperation.” He nods his chin toward the back seat.
Fear grips me as I turn expecting the man from the Quickstop. I could take this whole car down. Burn them both to the ground.
But what I find is much worse. Despair sets deep into my bones.
Lincoln, all of his almost six feet, is curled behind the driver’s seat, tucked awkwardly, covered by a blanket. But he isn’t the eight-year-old boy that tried to run away with Nathaniel anymore. His long limbs hardly fit and in his haste, he barely covered himself. Unconscious, his head lolls back and he’s pale.
“No,” I gasp.
“I found him trying to sneak on base with me this morning. Must have been suspicious when I wanted to take his car. Nosy little shit. Listen, I don’t want to have to do these things, but I also understand sacrifices must be made.”
I unbuckle to reach around for Lincoln. I’m relieved to find him warm, a steady pulse on his neck.
“Get your filthy hands off him.” There’s a vehemence in William’s voice that I’ve never heard.
I’m slammed back into the passenger seat. I gape at the man whose hatred goes deeper than we ever thought. I can’t tell if I’m more surprised by his random hatred of me or the fact that he must care about his son on some level to show such protectiveness.
“You really are a monster,” I say.
He glances over at me and then the road ahead, his lip curled in disgust. “People like you are weak and predictable. The truth is you want the choice taken away from you. You would rather play the victim than have to make hard choices.”
He doesn’t try to hide his disgust for me anymore. I grind my teeth. Nothing about the choice I made today was weakness. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. But people like him will never understand that.
Wherever I’m being taken, I may never return. I just pray that Lincoln does.
He turns off a familiar hidden road. “The abandoned factory?” I ask in surprise.
“You think your little trips up the mountain went unnoticed?”
The tips of my fingers go icy. I brought all this on myself. Before Nathaniel and the Lite-Brite machine, before I was even moved to his team. I have been coming up here since I moved to El Lugar.
“You’ve been watching me?”
“You aren’t exactly subtle.”
“So the mines aren’t abandoned? The ones the old factory ran off,” I ask casually.
“The mines are abandoned but they’re connected to the labs that are built into the side of the mountain.”
I’m surprised at how easily he tells me these things. In his mind, he’s already won.
“I always thought those labs in the mountain were urban legend.”
“Nope. They make for good bunkers. A place for people like you.”
My head shoots to him. “What?”
