"Alright! You can ease up on your grip. It hurts like hell!" I yelled at the Guardian that was currently pushing me down a long white hallway. I'd been successfully "caught" by the Guardians and they immediately delivered me to The Academy nearest them. I'd been informed that Victor wanted to have a personal chat with me, but until that happened I was to be kept isolated.
The Guardian that was cutting off the circulation to my arm finally released me, pushing me into a large room with other people.
'So much for keeping me isolated.' I thought smugly.
I looked around at the people in the room with me. Most were sitting at the provided tables, staring off into space. From the crazed look in their eyes, I could tell the "downsizing" hadn't started here, of course, this seemed to be a larger compound than the one in Pennsylvania. I guess they were starting with the smaller ones and working up to the larger ones.
Those that weren't completely out of it were chatting quietly in small groups. I didn't think anyone had noticed my arrival until I felt someone watching me. I quickly scanned the room once more before my eyes landed on a short figure with auburn curls. I froze where I stood, unable to comprehend the sight before me.
She stared back at me not looking surprised in the slightest.
"I've been waiting for you, Rosemarie." Her sweet voice reached me and I felt tears well in the corners of my eyes.
"Mom?" I asked hesitantly, slowly walking over to where she stood. "Mom, is that really you?" When she nodded and opened her arms to me, I threw myself at her, weeping.
"Hush, darling. I'm here now, but you've still got a job to do." She whispered in my ear. I pulled back to look at her. She had a knowing smirk on her face as she used the pad of her thumbs to wipe the tears off my face. "I know you never realized it, but I am Spirited. Clairvoyance is my gift, I knew what needed to be done. I know you have questions, and I promise after all of this is said and done, I will answer all of them, but you need to listen to me. They're going to come back for you soon, and you're going to meet Victor, but you cannot leave immediately after you meet him. You must wait until he comes back the second time. After that, you need to get out as quickly as possible."
I nodded, still in shock that my mother, who I believed to be dead for almost three years, was standing in front of me. She looked the same, maybe a little thinner, but she looked happy.
"I must say, I'm impressed that Dimitri let you go. I didn't expect him to give in so easily." I laughed, getting Dimitri to leave me alone long enough for the Guardians to find me had been the most difficult part of this mission so far. Though if that was the hardest part, the rest should be a piece of cake. I hugged her close to me again.
"It's good to see you again, Mom. I missed you." I mumbled into her hair. I felt her squeeze me harder before releasing me just before the door to the room slammed open. Three Guardians came rushing in, eyes alert and looking for me.
To save them the trouble of looking like idiots any longer, though it was funny, I stepped forward with a little wave of my hand. I resigned myself and let them lead me out the door, but not before looking back at my mother. She gave me a firm nod and a small smile as I was escorted out.
"Again, with the harsh grip? Really?" I grumbled to the Guardians on either side of me. I was going to have so many bruises up and down my arms after this was all said and done.
Neither of them responded to me, but instead, tightened their grip, pushing me faster down the long corridor. I tried to keep track of the different hallways we turned down in case I needed to get back to my mother so we could leave quickly, but there were too many to keep them all straight. I was pretty sure that we looped back through some hallways and then I finally realized they were trying to mess with my brain.
Ten minutes later, the Guardian on my right unlocked a door, and both of them practically threw me inside. Inside the room was a large steel table with a metal chair on either side. There was a mirror on one wall that, if I had to guess, was two-way glass. It's exactly what you would picture when thinking of an interrogation room. I rolled my eyes as the Guardians, very loudly, closed the door and locked it.
Seeing as I was stuck here for a bit longer, I sat in the chair facing the mirror, placing a bored look on my face. I pushed the chair away from the table and rested my boot-clad feet up on the surface, leaning back in my chair, causing it to tilt backwards. I perched in this precarious position studying my nails for a few minutes before I heard the door unlock.
I lowered my hands from where they were raised to my face for closer inspection and turned my head slightly in the direction of the door, unconcerned. A Guardian stepped through the threshold, looking around observing any potential dangers, but there was only me. I lifted two fingers to my forehead in a mock salute to him, but he astutely ignored me as he leant back into the hallway giving the all clear.
I plastered an angelic smile on my face as a man in his late forties entered the room. He returned my smile, though his was less angelic and more demonic. My revulsion toward this man grew in the pit of my stomach as I lowered my feet from the table and stood to greet him. I stuck out my hand, which he took in between his cold clammy ones.
"Rose Hathaway, sir. It's a pleasure." His demonic smile turned into a demonic smirk, equally as unsettling.
"Ms. Hathaway, I've heard so much about you. I'm Victor Dashkov. I'm the director of the Guardians and am in charge of the Project Program." I nodded just to keep myself from punching him. The man in front of me was the cause of so much strife and broken families. He truly believed in his cause, and was using it to further his agenda.
I could see where a government might mistake his demeanor as dedicated and intelligent, but all I saw was a power-hungry, evil man. I tried to quell the growing sinister feeling I was having as he continued to hold my hand in his. He just stared at me with his demonic smirk and I couldn't fight off the sneer that crept its way onto my face. He chuckled at my expression but soon released my hand.
"How may I help you today, Mr. Dashkov?" I asked a little uneasy, the silence that filled the room as he just stared at me was almost deafening.
"Please, call me Victor." He said in a sickly-sweet tone. "I just have a few questions that I'm hoping you can answer. If you wouldn't mind."
'Like I have a choice.' I tried my best to smile, but I don't think my face did it right. I nodded, encouraging him to continue.
"I'd like to know your gifts. All your gifts." He added the last part, letting his smile drop. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave any of them out, like you did at your last Academy."
"I understand." I said with a smirk, to which his eyes narrowed. "I can pretty much do anything, if I put my mind to it, but I'm particularly gifted with duplication and telekinesis."
"Would you mind demonstrating?" He asked with a little too much interest, but I complied.
I brought out Rosie and Rosemarie, and they stood quietly on either side of me.
"Can you only do two?" He seemed kind of disappointed that I'd only produced two copies of myself so I brought out six more of me. His eyebrows rose in surprise before the smirk returned to his face. "And the telekinesis?"
Watching him intently, he eyes were fixed on my duplications but widened in shock as I raised them all at once. Rosie and Rosemarie were expecting it and didn't even seem fazed, but the rest of them flailed a little before shooting me a small glare.
"Fascinating." He whispered mostly to himself. I quickly recombined myself, and as soon as I did, his eyes snapped back to the original me. "You said you could do anything?"
"If I put my mind to it." I amended.
"Could you be forced?" He asked evilly and I narrowed my eyes at him, calculating my answer. "Hypothetically, of course."
"Of course. I doubt that I could be forced to do anything that I didn't want to do." I stated plainly. There was no way he was going to be able to force me into anything, especially if it was to help him.
"We'll have to see about that." His smirk stayed firmly in place as he stood from the table and moved toward the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes with a few things I'll need to do further evaluations. Please, wait here."
I nodded silently and watched him exit the room. Once he was out, the door was closed and locked. I let out a loud sigh, thankful that Victor wasn't in the same room with me anymore. I could see that he would thrive in a political setting, but as a person, he was just plain creepy.
I shivered as my body recalled what his hands felt like on mine. They were cold to the touch and the skin felt lifeless, almost as if he himself were dead.
The original plan was for me to leave as soon as I had my first meeting with Victor, but Mom said to wait until he had come for the second time. I didn't know the reason behind it, but I decided to listen to my mother. Plus, I'd hoped to see her again, but if I was locked in this room until he came back, that wasn't going to happen.
Dimitri wasn't going to be happy with me, but I was curious to see what Victor wanted and what he was going to bring back with him. My heart rate increased as my mind ran through all the possibilities, but settled on the most disturbing, like torture devices. I tried to tell myself I was being ridiculous, but my mind would hear nothing of it, and continued to feed me grisly images of my impending doom.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that Victor was back until he sat right in front of me. I kept the shock off my face and looked around the room. There were a few men, most of them looked like walls of muscle, but the one that caught my eye was backed into a corner. The crazed look in his eyes alerted me to his potential, and I knew he was the most dangerous one in the room.
As I stared at him, his eyes became focused and his gaze locked with mine. The steely look in his eyes soften a bit as he took in my appearance.
"You're like me." He said quietly. I gave him a small smile and nodded. Suddenly his look turned panicked. "You're not going to use her, are you, brother?"
Victor's eyes flashed in annoyance before he masked it and turned to his brother.
"Of course not, Robert. I just want to know what she can do, that's all. I'm not going to do anything untoward to her." While it shouldn't have, the statement made me feel a little bit better about his reasons for being here. Robert's face softened again and his gaze turned back to me. I turned my attention back to Victor, looking at him expectantly.
"As you may have guessed, this is my brother, Robert. He, too, is Spirited and has been helping me locate a Spirit user with a particular gift." Robert shifted uncomfortable in his corner, but didn't say anything, probably in fear of retribution from his brother. "I do believe that you are the lucky individual that possesses my required gift."
"And what makes you think that, even if I do have what you're looking for, that I'm going to help you?" I asked smugly, but turned anxious as the devious smirk grew into a chilling smile.
"I have my ways." He said, nodding to the Guardian near the door. Upon opening the door, a woman entered.
She was beautiful, if you ignore the large burn scars that covered half of her body, but she wore them proudly. She, too, wore a demonic smile as she let her eyes rest on me. She had a lighter in her hands and was swirling it around her fingers, the flame dancing with the movement.
"Hi. I'm Tasha."