Chapter Nine
A/N: I don't own the incredibles. Enjoy!
I let my eyes flutter open as I heard birds singing. I groaned and rolled onto my side when a ray of sunshine blinded me. Violet was looking at me. That's when I remembered.
"Jade…" I gave a sharp gasp as I struggled into a sitting position. I felt stiff and sore.
"Who's Jade?" my sister gave me a puzzled look as she helped me lean against the tree behind me. I looked around and saw that we were just outside the lagoon we had first landed in.
"She… the girl I rescued…" I mumbled, still trying to piece together everything that had happened.
"What happened to her anyway? Did you find out anything from her?" Violet asked as she handed me what was left of one of her water bottles. I gulped the water down before explaining anything.
"She… this island, they're using it to create… experiments out of people, some form of supers that they're going to use to wipe out the real supers." I told her, trying to remember what Jade had told me.
"But that's insane!" Jade cried as she stood.
"That's what I said! But Jade…" all of a sudden a wave of realization washed over me and my eyes glazed over. Violet glanced at me before kneeling down next to me, worry in her big eyes.
"What about her?" my sister asked.
"She's one of them, she's an experiment. That's why everything…" I trailed off again, my brain working faster than my mouth. This whole time I had thought that… I don't even know what I thought about Jade. How else could she have lived on this island her whole life? It's not like she was held captive for seventeen or eighteen years. She had been brought here and experimented on. I had been too stupid to see that before; and now it was too late.
I woke up in a pool of dried blood. I blinked, trying to remember. Most of the time I couldn't remember what had gone on during the time of my power-surges, but this time a few details remained. Dash, he was scared, he was trying to get away… I had plunged my talons into his shoulder and he had screamed in pain as I tasted his blood, weaker than most super's but still full of life.
I gasped as I found myself thinking about the taste of his blood. What was wrong with me? How could I have done that to him? What had happened to him? Was he even alive?
That last thought jerked me awake and I sat up, running a blood-stained hand through my rat's nest of hair. Surely I couldn't have… killed him?! I felt warmth on my face and realized that tears were running down my cheeks, gently washing away the blood. I looked down at myself and only felt more helpless. My clothes were tattered and torn and I was covered in blood. Fur and leaves stuck to my body and my hair and there was a nasty bruise that was blossoming on my thigh.
I don't know how long I sat still, crying in the blood and the dirt. Then, after a long while, I mechanically stood and started to limp off. I don't know how far or how long I walked; I just knew that I eventually brought myself to a river or lagoon. Standing at the shore, I stared at the horizon and let the small waves lap at my feet before giving a sigh.
I kicked off my boots before peeling off my ripped shirt and socks and shimmying out of my shorts. Tossing all my clothes in a pile, I slowly walked into the water, giving a small twitch of a smile as the water washed over my ragged body. I sat down, going all the way underneath the surface for a moment. Then, I re-emerged scrubbing my hair and trying to rid my head of the memories.
"Lindy, Lindy wake up." I heard Duke whisper into my ear.
"Mmhmm…?" I murmured as I stretched, trying to coax my eyes open. I was wrapped up in Duke's arms, his warmth comforting. I still had on only the thin leggings and tank top from the day before. We had walked all day and well into the night. Then we had collapsed and gone immediately to sleep, exhausted.
As I opened my eyes, I saw Duke staring intently off into the nearby bushes. I stayed quiet, nervous at how he looked. Then I heard a branch snap and saw a flash of black as something moved in the distant brush. My eyes grew large as I tensed.
Duke slowly unwound his arm from around me and helped me stand slowly. He leaned down to my ear.
"We were followed." He told me quietly. I gulped as I heard another crack. "There's six, but we can still get away." he whispered, sneaking backwards silently. I moved after him, holding my breath. Then, I stepped on a twig.
We both froze. For a second, nothing happened.
Then two men erupted out of the trees. I screamed and ducked as Duke held up his hand, releasing a burst of fire at them. One howled as he fell down, on fire. The other rolled out of the way. The trees and bushes behind them caught on fire as another henchman ran out after us. Duke pushed me out of the way as he threw a punch at the man.
I turned to find another behind me. Without thinking I lunged my leg out at him and kicked him square in the chest. He groaned as he hit the ground. I gave a smile and kicked him once more before someone grabbed me from behind. I grabbed onto his muscular arm, struggling against his hold on my neck. Leaning down towards it, I sunk my teeth into his forearm. He yelled, and released me as he jumped back.
Duke hit him over the head with a tree branch, and the man collapsed to the ground along with the one Duke had been fighting with. Duke and I smiled at each other briefly before the last three men jumped out at us. Getting some leverage, I threw the man behind me into a tree, then picked him up telekinetically and tossed him up into the air. He came down and remained still. Duke tossed another unconscious henchman on top of him.
"That all?" I asked, trying to catch my breath. Duke counted the men on the ground before throwing me a panicked look.
"No, there's still one more…" before he could end his sentence he was knocked on the jaw with a fist. I jumped on top of the man and distracted him as Duke picked himself back up. The henchman threw me off and I crawled behind a tree as I saw Duke run into the bushes for cover.
I pressed my sticky back against the rough trunk of the tree, trying to control my breathing as I heard the man sneak around the forest, looking for us. Then, everything got quiet. All I could hear was the sound of morning jungle birds. Peeking my head around the trunk, I scanned the trees for any sign of the man.
Someone jumped up in front of me and I gasped in surprise as the henchman smiled at me. Then, there was a rushing sound and I turned my head back around the trunk just before a rush of fire shot out of the forest. I heard the man give a scream before he fell to the ground. I turned back around to see him smoldering on the ground at my feet.
"Hey," Someone whispered from behind me. I jumped, inhaling sharply. I spun to find Duke standing there. "Calm down, it's just me." He told me, wrapping his arms around me protectively. I let my breathing slow as he hugged me, finally relaxing.
"That's all of them, right?" I asked with a smirk. Duke looked down at me with a smile.
"That's all, I promise." He gave a small laugh, "Now let's go find Violet and Dash."
Violet had gone off to find something to eat, seeing as how we were running low on our food supply. I had told her that I was going to go soak in the lagoon, after persuading her that I was perfectly fine and would be perfectly safe. I was actually kind of glad that she had left for a while; she had started getting on my nerves. I was healing a lot faster now than when Sundew had gotten me a month or two ago.
Stripping off my clothes and leaving them hanging on the branches of a small tree, I slowly sank to a sitting position in the shallow water, grimacing as the cold salt water touched my wounds. I relaxed as I sat, splashing around for a few moments until I got used to the water. Then, I stood and started wading our farther, making sure I stayed where I could touch. I didn't want to meet a shark out in deeper water.
Deciding to explore the shoreline, I swam around the edge of the lagoon. For awhile the only sounds were the animals and birds of the island and my quiet splashing. And then, there was a different sound; one of something else swimming nearby.
I stayed still, listening for a moment. Suddenly, I saw something swim around the corner of the beach and pop up in front of me, only a few feet away. My mouth dropped open. Jade and I were standing face to face.
At first both of our faces were shocked, seeing each other so soon after last night had seemed impossible. And then both of us grew beet red as we realized that we were standing in knee-length water and our clothes were back on the beach.
My knees gave out and I splashed down into the water. Jade sunk almost to her chin, her face as bright red as my sunburn had been. For a moment we were both quiet and we avoided each other's gaze. Then, our eyes met and we gave nervous smiles.
"You didn't see…" she started.
"No! No, nothing at all," I shook my head, "You?"
"No, didn't see anything." She told me, her voice strained.
We stayed still for another moment, the awkwardness overcoming us. Then Jade gave a heavy sigh.
"I… didn't hurt you too bad?" she asked quietly, her eyes downcast.
"No, I'm fine." I told her.
"I… I don't know what to say." She told me and I could hear the shame in her voice. I took a breath.
"How about telling me what the people on this island were doing to you?" I asked her. She glanced up at me in panic, but I stared unflinchingly into her weak eyes.
"So… you figured out that I was an experiment." She said, eyes falling down again. The sadness in her voice got to me this time.
"Jade, why didn't you tell me?" I asked softly, reaching a hand out to her chin. She jerked away, still not meeting my gaze.
"I don't know; it was almost as if I was deciding which side to take. I mean, my whole life I've been trained to hate supers, then you come and save me. I didn't know how to tell you, not without scaring you."
"So you decided to wait and scare me with your… your 'superpowers'?!" I asked harshly. Jade cringed.
"I-I don't have control over them; sometimes I can manipulate my power, but it's like… it overpowers me at times and then I'm not… me." She tried to explain. I didn't say anything. She moved through the water and reached out for my hand. I grabbed it away. She stared at me for a moment before sighing.
"You want to know what they did to me? They didn't start until I was twelve; then the surgeries took place. I don't remember anything but the excruciating pain, and the changes. It used to be only on the full moon, and it used to take me much longer to change. Now it takes barely half a minute. When I'm in my animal form, I can't remember who I am or what I'm doing, and… Dash, I thought I had killed you." She finished quietly. I looked over at her and found her gazing down into the murky lagoon water. I gave a weak smile as I reached out and took her hand. She glanced up at me quickly.
"Jade… what were they going to do to you before I rescued you?" I asked her. She gave a sigh.
"It was my final surgery, the mind control one. They were going to place a chip into my neck and after that they would be able to control my power. I was actually happy about it, because then my power would be under at least a little control." She told me. I reached out and brushed her hair out of her face, making her smile up at me.
And then someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me out of the water roughly by my shoulders. As they pinned my arms behind my back, I heard Jade scream. I looked over and saw that there were two men wrestling her out of the water. They pinned her arms like mine, and she stopped struggling. And then a tall, rather thin man stepped out of the jungle and started pacing in the water between us.
"Well, well, well…" He gave an icy smile at me as Jade's face paled, "Speed Demon, it seems as if you've tamed our wild beast here. Pity, and after she almost succeeded in killing you."
He slowly waded over to Jade, stroking the side of her face with a bony finger. She struggled, trying to get away from him. I narrowed my eyes.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked. He looked back over at me.
"Oh, I forgot. You're the only one I've yet to meet. I'm Gerald Ripper, head of the Agents Against Supers. Your friends all met me a few days ago in my dungeon. However, two escaped and one drowned. It was a shame none of them were used for our experiments. Maybe you could prove a suitable substitute."
A/N: Ohhh... what's going to happen? I sure don't know. Come on, what do you expect? I'm just the author. How should I know what's going to happen next? Alright, alright, so maybe I do know what's going to happen. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to tell you! Although it could involve some lava (hint, hint)!Keep reviewing! And reading, that's good too!
