The Wanted

Este’s house was a tomb. As I approached the door, the soundlessness of it hit me. The place was as empty as a robbed grave.

I didn’t even bother trying the door. I picked up a rock and smashed a window to the right of the giant, wooden entrance. Instantly, alarms squealed like an arrow shot through my ears as I turned to see guards shaking the gate and yelling at me to let them in.

I screamed, “Jump up and down four times and turn in a circle!” Which made them pause for a second, before rattling the great gate again. I slipped into the darkness of a home deserted, avoiding the broken glass, and ran to where I remembered Deshi’s office to be. My hands clapped over my ears, which felt like they must be bleeding.

This was the site of my death, the undoing and breaking of so many things. I drew my breath in small, panicked bursts as I crept across the rug. I had minutes, at best, before they got another set of keys and came after me.

I left the room and entered the hall, my hands ru

I turned again. This house was a maze of halls and doors.

The alarm sound switched from squealing to a low whooping noise.

I moved faster, my head snapping back and forth, searching. And then I caught it—a flash of white snow, brown-grey fur against burdened pines. I ran to it like I could save its life.

The deer in the snow.

I was close.

I couldn’t stop to stare. I cut a sharp corner, my shoulder bumping hard into the stone wall, and was faced with Deshi’s office door. A dead space, echoing voices of the ones who left me behind.

The keypad blinked in front of me. I punched in the only code I knew that would mean something to Deshi—Hessa’s birthday.

The green light gleamed happily, and I felt like laughing hysterically. Pushing inside, I locked the door behind me. I switched on the light and the scene flickered to life. It was an uncomfortable feeling, like the air was not mine to breath. I climbed onto the wheeled stool from his desk and stretched to pull the camera from the wall, though it didn’t look switched on.

I took one very brief moment to be shaky, to miss them and want them and then, I ransacked the office.

I emptied the drawers and tipped them on floor. Papers covered in numbers and symbols I would never understand rained down and covered the entire floor. I pushed at the ceiling squares and pulled down the piping that wound its way between the metal support bars. Reaching my arms, I desperately flapped my hands over the top surface of the bars, hoping he’d taped them up there, but there was nothing. Nothing.

Damn it.

“Damn it!” I screamed and kicked the stool across the room.

It landed on its side, the wheels swinging uselessly back and forth, trying to grip the air. I pulled at my hair in frustration, tears burning. These would be my last tears. Gwen was going to die. I would never see Orry or Joseph again.

I walked over to the stool and picked it up, slamming it down on the floor in anger. Over and over. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” I screamed until my voice felt tiny and wasted.

As I slammed it again weakly, my anger giving in to fear, the wheels cracked. I lifted it up to throw it and one wheel fell out of the leg and onto to floor, a small tuft of plastic protruding from the hollow leg. I teased it out. Little white pills danced before my eyes, and I cackled like a crazy person.

Bang!

“Miss Rosa, open the door immediately!”

Bang!

I took four pills from the plastic bag, shoved the rest back in the leg, and replaced the wheel. Placing the pills in my sock band, I rolled it over, shaking my pant leg down to cover it.

Bang!

I righted the stool, placed it under the desk, took one deep breath, and opened the door.

SUPERIOR GRANT

I suppose I should be nervous. I’m not. There is nothing that can stop what’s about to happen. I’m like the rising moon. Strong, powerful. The controller of the tides.

I rolled out of the bathroom, my hair wet, my robe tied tightly around my waist. Camille sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for me. When our eyes met, her plump lips rose in a sweet smile. There was certainly one thing I was looking forward to when I had my legs and my whole body back. She blushed as my eyes ran over her body. She was beautiful. Perfect for me. Supportive and loyal. I held out my hand, and she took it.

“I’ll help you dress,” she said, standing and making her way over to the closet to find me a shirt.

“Thank you, darling,” I whispered.

“Of course,” she replied dutifully, pulling a shirt out and holding it up for me to approve. I nodded at the second one.

I wheeled closer, grabbed her hand, and pulled her gently down to my level so I could look her in the eyes. “I want to thank you for standing by me,” I said, suddenly not wanting to look in her eyes.

Her eyebrows rose briefly. She seemed surprised but as per usual, she hid it well. She composed herself and unwrapped my robe, placing her soft hands on my chest.

“Soon I’ll be able to do this myself,” I said.

She leaned me forward and put my shirt over my back, doing up the buttons, even though I certainly could do that on my own.

“I don’t mind, dear,” she said, gazing down at a button and rolling it between her delicate fingers.

I put my hand over hers and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I know.”

The door flung open, and Camille jumped back from me.

“What the devil!” I shouted, aiming my voice towards the soldier standing shakily in my doorway. “Even if this isn’t the most important information you’ve ever had to deliver, you’re still going to be repurposed, boy. How dare you barge into my bedroom!”

Camille stood angrily and stormed over to the soldier. “What is your name?” He told her, and she made a note of it. Yes, she was perfect, but then I had made sure she would be exactly what I wanted.

“What is it, soldier?”

“It’s the girl. Miss Rosa,” the soldier began. That name. I was looking forward to deleting that name from the register personally. My finger ached to press the key that would signal her existence terminated. But not yet.

“What about her?” I snapped impatiently.

“She escaped.”

JOSEPH

The nights were blending, bleeding into each other as the alcohol flowed. Distance grew between me and what I should be. But I didn’t mind the sinking. The forgetting. It kept the nightmares away. It kept the feelings from drowning me. I just didn’t care. About anything.

I could be a lonely star in the sky. I could be a leaf, trampled into the dirt. I am as light as air and as heavy as lead.

If I stood in front of an x-ray right now, I wasn’t sure what you’d see. A heart not beating strong, lungs shriveled from lack of real air.

I was afraid of losing her, and I was afraid of finding her.

If I do find you, Rosa, I’m not sure if you’ll be able to find me.

ROSA

Ten minutes ago, I was listening to a conversation.