Chapter Thirteen: Finally.
So sorry for the wait! I had to have three girls stay in my room, prospective students for next year at my boarding school, and I've been way to freaking busy with school, work, exams coming up, and I do like to maintain a social life lol. I'm sorry I'm not a frequent-updater :( Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers, you guys are completely amazing, even with your threats to stop reading and reviewing if I don't update lol, I love you guys, too. Haha, ANYWAYS! Here's the chapter! And get ready for lots of twists, surprises, and revelations in these upcoming chapters!
Tally POV
My heart was beating wildly. I hoped they couldn't see the rapidly moving flash tattoo under my fake skin. Cause that would just blow the whole plan.
Damn, this plan! It was risky, too trusting, but it just might work. David went through countless extremities for me, the least I could do was follow through with a risky plan to save him.
I regretted waiting so long, procrastinating. David would have hoverboarded day and night to save me, barely stopping. Even if we did all make it out unscathed, Dasha, Fausto, David, Zane, and I, I would still have failed him. I let so many things come before him. Sex, love, distractions, new friends, old enemies, (well, enemies regaining their friendship), and just waisting time in general.
Here we go, entering Diego's Special Circumstances Headquarters. I really hoped this would go smoothly.
My heartbeats were accelerating. I tried to calm myself by reminding myself that Zane was right underneath me, but that just made me more anxious. I didn't want to lose him again—not to the same place, especially—not at all.
Damn it, I was a Special. I Shouldn't be nervous about a mission, I shouldn't have emotional ties to anything or anyone, especially not ties that could distract me so well, and I shouldn't be losing focus like this. What was wrong with me? With my brain? Obviously, something was up. Way back when I was a Littlie, I was always had little adventures with Peris, spending more time with him than my own parents, doing things kids our age wouldn't usually be doing. Nothing bad, just... different. But here Peris was, Pretty and normal. As and Ugly, I wanted to stay in the wild instead of becoming beautiful, and reunited and happy with all my city friends. Sure, I wanted to be Pretty at first, but then I changed my mind. Then I ended up giving myself up for a risky, untested pill and turning Pretty. Then, as a Pretty, I rewired my brain, ran away thinking the pill had cured me, got in fights with my best friend, lived in an uncivilized village, stole a Special hovercar, and then I ran back to the wild where I wanted to be when I was an Ugly. And when I turned Special, I kept stupid Pretty, hell, I even kept Ugly ties with me. I was supposed to let go of my past, forget about everything before life as a Special, but I didn't. I still kept a grudge against my best friend, I still had feelings of regret and jealously when seeing the first guy I really liked, I still had feelings for my brain damaged Pretty boyfriend, and I helped him and the other Crims escape their happy, bubbly lives. Then I became repulsed by my boyfriend, then cried over his death. And Specials weren't even supposed to cry. And here I am, nervous about a mission to save my best friend.
But... maybe I really was never any of those things. I was never what I was supposed to be. Never Ugly, never Pretty, never Special, only externally was I any of those things. I've always just been... Tally. That's really the only way to describe myself. Tally. I was just me. And no brain surgery could change that, apparently.
By the time I had finished my internal ranting, we were at the doors of Diego Special Circumstances.
I forced myself to start paying attention as we neared the building. This was not just my life on the line, but Zane, Dasha, Fausto, and David's, too. No time to fuck things up. I couldn't just be Tally right now, I had to be Special. I could do it, I knew I could, just not as naturally as most. But I was Tally Youngblood. And I was Special.
There were only a few guards throughout the entire building, mostly it was protected with lasers and other machines. No humans were really necessary.
There were eye-scanners and fingerprint analyzers at the front doors, but that was no problem, Fausto could get into the basic rooms, like the front doors, most places Fauntlen was in charge of, things like that.
He hopped down off of his hoverboard, yanking me into the building. I followed, pretending to put up a tiny bit of a fight. "Traitor!" I hissed, just for the dramatic effect. I knew the Specials heard me.
"Guess who?" Fausto asked in an arrogant tone.
I growled in an almost feral way to Fausto. I was an untamed Special living in the wild with a never-operated-on-Ugly. I doubt they expected me to show up with perfect manners, asking politely where David was being held so I could bust him out with only a small amount of damage.
Fausto clawed his fingers down the side of my face, revealing tanner skin with rapidly swirling designs on it, sharper features, the face of Tally Youngblood. I squeezed my eyes shut harshly, popping out the contacts, and grinding my teeth together to rid my mouth of the vile caps.
"I'm back," I said, my voice not exactly the same, but close enough. Intimidating.
"Fausto, my brother," a disgustingly familiar voice said, making me internally cringe. "Look what we have here. Well done. I, myself, couldn't even catch this one."
He sauntered over to me, placing a filthy hand on my cheek. I jerked my head away, only for his hand to move down to my neck. I whipped my head back around and bit his hand. It tasted like metal.
"Argghh!!!" he shouted, pulling his hand back. "You broke my fucking hand! You'll pay for this!"
I glared at him in response, shaking my head. I imagined David would have put up some kind of fight, even one that was impossible to win. I wanted to be as close to David as possible. Damn it, I just wanted to know where he was! Was he Ugly, Pretty,... dead?
I knew Zane was close by. I took comfort in that. But I also wanted him as far away from this place as possible. He would do anything to save me, like revealing himself and getting himself put back in here. And I doubted they would make it as easy to escape... if they let him live.
I shook those thoughts out of my head, reminding myself that Zane was smart, and yes, he would save me at any cost, but not in such a stupid way. He'd get us both out... if he could. He always was so self-sacrificial.
No! I couldn't risk thinking that way. I was Special on a mission. All I can afford to focus on is the right way to carry through. I had to focus on this. On David. I had to use what Dr. Cable gave me. What I learned.
The next thing I knew, I was being dragged away, Fausto and Fauntlen jerking me down the hallway.
The led me into a room labeled interrogation, where they would interrogate me, I assumed.
"Let me handle this one," Fausto said firmly, sticking to the plan.
"Sorry, brother, she's mine," Fauntlen said, as if he was even in on the plan, too.
Fausto clenched his jaw and curled his hands into fists. "Fine, then let me have her partner," he insisted.
"Too late. He's being prepped for surgery right now. Quite the risky operation, never been done before, but hopefully, all will go smoothly. If not... oh, well."
I clenched my jaw, fighting back the urge to bust my way out of here, kill all the Specials, and rescue David. But that's what an irrational Ugly would do. A Special would stick to the plan, if that's what was needed to be done. Lives were on the line, and if I didn't stick with the plan, all could be in danger.
But now what? Do I just wait and be interrogated by Fauntlen while David is being prepped for the unthinkable?
Fauntlen turned around to face me, a wicked smile on his face, but I wasn't looking at him,my eyes were on Fausto.
And I didn't miss it when he winked at me and mouthed, "I got this."
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Dasha POV
I put my hand on the scanner, knowing that I wouldn't get it. I widened my eyes for the eye scanner, knowing it would deny me.
But when the doors opened, and a gust of cool air hit me, I was in shock.
Welcome, Hessa Scorten, the screen read. Um... that was my last name...but not me.
I limped in, looking around at all the different. These faces weren't your standard Pretty face at all, but after being with with two real Specials and one extra special Special, they didn't look frightening at all to me.
Then, I realized that I had already broken my cover. No regular Pretty would come in confidently, the doors opening for them, and not say anything.
But... they didn't think I was just any Pretty,it seemed.
"Back so soon, Hessa?" one asked.
I froze for a moment, but getting back into character. "Guess so. Damn it, I hate these voice pills."
"Me too. What happened to your ankle?" the man inquired.
"My board went haywire. I'm gonna have to get that fixed," I said nonchalantly. I had no clue who this Hessa person was, but apparently I was doing an okay job at being her.
"Why do you still have your Pretty skin on?" he asked.
"What is this, twenty questions?" I snapped in a non-Pretty way. "I have my reasons, okay?"
"Sorry, Hess. Bad mission?" the man inquired, even after I snapped. That must be pretty normal for her, I guessed.
"I'm going to let you answer that one for yourself, okay?" I asked, limping down the hallway.
"Aren't you going to get that fixed?" the man asked. Would he ever leave me, (her?), alone?
"Soon enough," I said mysteriously.
"Oh, get your butt over here so I can fix your ankle. You can't stay mad forever, Hess."
"Fine," I said limping over to him.
He swooped me up and took me to some random room down another wing.
"When did you break it?" he inquired. He was a very... inquisitive man. And not in the good way.
"A few minutes ago," I lied, hoping that was the right answer.
"That explains it. Well, it's healing kinda funny, probably from walking on it, so I'm just going to readjust it and put it back together."
After a few minutes, I was able to walk again.
"Thanks, I owe you one," I said, before leaving.
"Oh, Fauntlen is in the interrogation room, but I wouldn't bother him. You'd never believe who we captured.
"Tally Youngblood?" I asked, knowing very well who.
"Yeah, how did you know?" he asked.
"The Wild Boy has been caught, and no one else is worth the enthusiasm," I said.
I turned around, going back down the hall I was on before, thankful that the man had no more to say.
Why would this Hessa person care about Fauntlen... Fausto's brother.
I decided not to press my luck any further by going in the interrogation room, so I popped into a random, dark, abandoned-looking room.
"Hello?" I asked quietly, hoping I was alone.
"Whose there?" a voice asked. No such luck, apparently.
I couldn't see anything, but the voice didn't sound Special.
"You tell me," I said, not wanting to say the wrong thing.
"No, you first," the stranger insisted.
"You don't know me. My name is Dasha."
"Can I trust you Dasha?" the voice said, pleadingly.
"Of course," I said. "I've already trusted you."
"I'm David."
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Zane POV
There was nothing I hated more than watching Tally go through with this plan while I had to sit there, watching Fauntlen put his filthy hands on her.
I wanted to rip his throat out, but I had to stick to the plan, I couldn't reveal myself unless Tally was in real danger that she couldn't handle herself. But Tally could handle anything, so my best bet was to remain still and silent until it was time to do otherwise.
"How did he get you, Tally?" Fauntlen asked, leaning towards her, like he would always do with me. "Did he tell you Zane was here? Did he outsmart you? Fool you?"
Tally glared at him, refusing to speak.
"Zane's not here, Tally. He's dead. Granted, he was here, but he was getting out of hand. We had to do something about him."
"Liar," Tally whispered. I froze, but relaxed again. She knew what she was doing. "I watched him die, I was there."
"You were wrong. See, even superior Specials, such as yourself, make he stupidest mistakes. And worse than that, you cant accept it when you do."
This went on and on. I knew all Tally wanted to do was get out and get David, but she remained in her seat, playing her part very well. She really did amaze me. And Fauntlen really was stupid sometimes.
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Fausto POV
He wasn't in the surgery room. Not one of them. He wasn't anywhere to be found. I had figured Fauntlen was lying about David to Tally, now I knew he was. I checked every other room, too, but he was nowhere.
I couldn't concentrate on finding him, though. All I could think about was Dasha. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she still hurt? Was she scared? Was she okay? Did she blow her cover? Did they have her captive? And damn it, was she okay?!
I began to look for Dasha subconsciously, rather than David, but where to find her?
Every room I searched was empty of either of them.
Maybe she chickened out. Maybe she couldn't do it...
Although that would make me feel a lot better, the chances were slim.
No, actually, the chances were none.
I started looking in every room I passed, needing to find Dasha.
Finally, I head whispering in one room, and the whispering sounded very familiar.
I opened the door, being faced with none other than Dasha and David, alone in an empty storage closet with all the lights out.
"Fausto!" Dasha hissed, pulling me into the closet with her and David. I was confused, but I couldn't deny the feelings I had due to the fact that Dasha and I were in such close quarters, alone...
"Eh-hem," David cleared his throat. Well, we were almost alone.
"David, good to see you haven't gone under the knife," I said. I really couldn't think of anything better to say.
Before he could respond, Dasha's small cool hands were on either side of my face, pulling me down to face her.
My heart rate sped up and I hoped she couldn't hear it. Was she going to... make a move? I leaned in a little, urging her to, but she kept my face steady in her hands.
"Who the hell is Hessa?" she asked.
"Hessa?" I asked incredulously. How would she know about Hessa, and why would she need to?
"Yes, Hessa, the girl who has the same eye and hand prints and the same last name!"
Wait... what?! Dasha was the one who... but that was impossible.
"But... how are you alive, then?"
"What the fuck do you mean, Fausto?" she asked, bringing my face even closer to hers, as if she wasn't tempting enough.
"Hessa killed her sister almost a decade ago in order to come to Diego. She got a surge to give her the same prints, too. Dasha Scorten?"
"Yeah...," she said softly. "That's me."
"Guess even Hessa has enough of a heart to kill her sister," I said, thankful she didn't.
"But... wouldn't the cities notice? That we had the same prints and stuff?" she asked, taking it all in very well.
"I have no idea, Dasha Scorten, but right now let's just focus on getting out alive, shall we?"
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A/N: OOOH.... twists! Haha, and this is only the beginning of them! But I do have some questions for you guys to answer. Now in my story plot line, the story branches out like a nice little tributary of choices and decisions I need to make. So I need you guys to help me decide.
Whose POV do you guys prefer? I've been switching around a lot and I want to stick with one or two mostly.
I'm adding one or two more Scott Westerfeld characters in my fic, who do you want them to be? From Uglies series only... and if you want someone from Extras I have a few ideas for that too.
What coupling do you want, doesn't have to include just the characters in my fics, *see no. 2* you can choose someone from my fic and someone from Scott's books, or two from Scott's books, up to you. :)
Thank you guys for being so awesome! I'm always open to suggestions and critique :)