I unceremoniously dropped the capped pregnancy test into Dimitri's lap while he leaned back against the headboard. He looked down from his book and to the test before looking up at me with raised brows.
"Congrats Daddy, you've got super swimmers," I said while crawling over him, pulling the blanket back so I could crawl under it. Dimitri chuckled and picked up the test, turning it so he could read it. He looked down at it before laughing.
"Super swimmer, eh?"
I nodded and tied my hair up in a bun. "Yeah. We were back together for all of a few weeks and got me pregnant. Super swimmers," I said reaching over and pulling my hand cream out of my nightstand and putting some into my palm.
Dimitri smirked at me and leaned over, pressing his lips against my cheek just shy of the corner of my mouth. I smiled at him as I rubbed the cream into my hand. I had taken Lissa to pick up more prenatal vitamins and picked up a few tests, and a bottle of vitamins for myself just in case. I waited until before bed to take the test. If I was as far as I figured, it wouldn't matter what time I took it.
"I want to see if I can get an actual scan before we go. I want to know for sure," I said slipping my hand into his. Dimitri rubbed his thumb over my hand and nodded, lifting out intertwined hands to his lips.
"We can see what we can do," he said, "I think your dad will have a contact."
I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. "Three days," I sighed while wiggling my toes under the blanket.
Dimitri nodded and rested his forehead against the side of my head. "Three days and the hard part will be over."
"Will it though? What's to stop someone else from doing the same thing?"
"We don't know that. But I want to think that this won't repeat. Once these people are free, they'll know the difference."
I huffed and nodded, smiling at him when he lifted his head. "I hope so."
Dimitri gave me a heart-warming smile and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me gently to his chest. I sighed in contentment and cuddle into him, resting my head against his shoulder.
"We'll be in a better world, Roza. Just think about that. A world where we won't need to hide. A world where we don't need to worry about our child being hunted," Dimitri whispered into my hair.
A world with less fear sounded better than this one.
When I climbed down the stairs the next morning I was surprised with guests. Something I wish I had known about before coming downstairs. I would have brushed my hair before coming down.
"Hello?" I said slowly, looking from Mom to the woman standing in the front hall with her.
"Morning petal," Mom said with a smile. "This is my old friend, Alberta. She is a doctor. I asked her to come to check you over.
"I think this is excessive," I said pointedly.
"I'm not playing around," Mom said crossing her arms, her brows raised in a challenge. I sighed and looked at the woman standing beside her.
"I will be quick," Alberta said politely with a smile, "Just want to make sure everything looks good in there."
I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest. "Where are we doing this?"
"Anywhere you feel most comfortable," she explained. I nodded and looked at my mom before sighing.
"Fine, we can do this in the living room. But Dimitri has to be there."
Mom rolled her eyes and gestured for us to go into the living room. I called up the stairs for Dimitri before heading into the living room. I had seen portable ultrasound machines before, but looking at this one now made my chest feel tight.
Dimitri came down the stairs and came to stand beside me, his hand resting on my shoulder. "What's going on?"
"My mother has decided that I need a scan," I said with an eye roll. Dimitri smirked and kissed the side of my head.
"I wouldn't mind seeing that," he said slipping his hand into mine and pulling me towards the couch. I smirked at him and watched Alberta get everything set up. Alberta moved some pillows around and pointed to the couch for me to lay down on.
I laid down with a sigh and pulled my shirt up and tucked my hands under my head.
"I didn't have time to warm this up," Alberta said shaking the bottle of gel and then squirting it onto my stomach. I flinched and groaned when she pressed the wand to my abdomen.
"I guess it's a good thing you didn't go to the bathroom when you got up," Dimitri chuckled in my ear, making me smirk when he kissed the shell of my ear.
"Hey, you said you were dying for a coffee. I was being a dutiful girlfriend. I know better to put anything before coffee," I said turning to look at him. Dimitri laughed and kissed the tip of my nose. I hissed when Alberta's pressure got too much.
"Easy! Or I'll end up pissing myself."
"Sorry, but it's worth it now," Alberta said adjusting the monitor screen. Dimitri leaned forwards and I stretched my neck up. It didn't look like much, but I knew what I was looking at. I smiled to myself as Alberta pointed out the yolk sac and the baby itself.
"Can you see a heartbeat yet?" Dimitri asked.
"Not yet. But I would put Rose closer to six weeks. I'll come back in two weeks to do another scan. But what I see looks fine," Alberta said with a smile, clicking the machine off.
"What are the chances of having another miscarriage?" I asked as she wiped the gel off my stomach. Alberta's flicked up at me.
"Another?"
I nodded. "Bleeders," I said, "I had to deliver my stillborn daughter. What are the chances it'll happen again?"
Alberta continued to wipe my stomach. "There is a slight risk. But I don't want you to worry too much."
"How did you know Alberta was psychic?" Mom asked.
I shrugged. "She's a dreamer," I said, "I could tell when she touched me."
'Dreamers' or Astral Projectors could project their mental body out of their physical body. It was described as an 'out of body' experience, but for them, they did it willingly. They were skilled, and they could see things around us that we couldn't see in our physical bodies.
Alberta chuckled and started packing her things. "That drug did a real number on you. You're showing empathic abilities."
"You know that I had the drug?"
Alberta and Mom looked at each other and Alberta sighed. "I know that you had it because I helped create it."
I could feel Dimitri stiffen behind me and breathed in a sharp breath. Alberta held her hand up and gave us a friendly smile.
"I also made the immunosuppressants. The drug is designed to expand your abilities, it happens that sometimes you can sense others. There were a few subjects that survived for a short period during the original trials. All were able to sense other psychics. That is a 'normal' side effect," she explained, zipping the case shut.
"Will it go away?" I asked.
"No. I don't think so. But give it time. You'll learn how to block it out. When this is done, I'll help you."
I nodded and sat up on the couch, rubbing my hands over my face. I was thrilled to add another thing to the list of things to become accustomed to.
We had split up into different groups and vehicles. Partly so we could all leave as soon as our parts were done and so we had room in case there were others we needed to break out. We went over everything before we left the house but I was still going over every step as we drove.
It felt weird doing something like this without Lissa, but everyone agreed that she needed to stay behind. She was too far along for it to be safe. Not that she wanted to stay behind, but it was all of us against her.
We split up when we got to Division and if this building wasn't the home of the horror I had lived for years, I would have been impressed. The building was a stunning skyrise that I would have thought that this building was a corporate building. But instead, it was a mask for the terrors that lie within. A pretty face so to speak.
Sneaking in was a lot easier than expected, given that we had two Division agents and that my parents had already broken in and out just a few weeks earlier. Through a maze of back staircases and hidden doors, we were able to make it into the heart of the building, after the help of a big diversion.
I wasn't sure what my father had planned to distract everyone, and I didn't want to know. But when we got to the heart of Division, I knew we were exactly where we needed to be. The hair on my neck stood up on my neck. I hadn't been here before, but I had an uncanny feeling. It felt like impending doom.
I shivered when Dimitri rested his hand on my shoulder, his other hand doing the same on other shoulder and squeezed gently.
"You can do this," he whispered, "I believe in you."
I nodded. "I know I can. I just haven't had to push someone this hard."
I could tell that Dimitri nodded his head behind me, his hands slipping from my shoulders and to my arms.
"You can do this."
I nodded and walked down the hall, the sound of my shoes clocking against the floor echoing through the halls. The floors were white and so were the walls, making the hallway appear longer than it was. As I walked I could feel this power resonating inside of me, almost like it was reaching out to something.
A like mind.
When we came to the end of the hall it just stopped, no doors or windows. But I could feel that power pulsing out towards me. I ran my hand over the wall, looking for a seam, but came up empty.
"Can you feel anything?" I asked Dimitri, turning my head to look at him. Dimitri frowned but his eyes moved over the wall. There was a subtle 'clank' noise and one of the panels pulled back and slid to the side.
"How?" I asked.
"Psychedelic latch. Only the ones who know where to look can find it. Thanks to Abe," Dimitri said stepping through the space in the wall, pulling the flashlight out of his pocket and clicked it on. I stepped in behind him, turning to find Cassie lingering outside the door.
"I'll be out here. If anything happens, I'll let you know," she said with a nod.
"Be careful," I said and Cassie gave me a weak smile.
"Always am. Be quick."
I nodded and stepped further into the hall and the panel slid shut. I turned around and found Dimitri waiting for me, flashlight held up so I could see. I reached out for him and took his other hand, holding it tight as we walked. The hall here felt shorter, but I was starting to feel overwhelmed.
"They're so strong," I whispered, clutching his hand tighter, "I don't think I can do this."
Dimitri didn't say anything but as we got closer but I could tell that they could feel it too. Every so often he would give a sharp jerk of his head like he was trying to focus.
"That tea your father made works well. I can feel the push trying to take hold, but I can fight it off."
"You can feel the push?"
Dimitri nodded. "You can't?"
I shook my head and slowed as we came to the end of this hall. There wasn't so much a door but another glass panel where I could see someone sitting in a chair. I squeezed Dimitri's hand and let go of it.
"You should stay out here," I whispered. "If you're feeling the push out here, I don't know how strong it will be in there."
Dimitri nodded and cupped my cheek, pressing his lips hard against mine. He didn't need to tell me to be careful, he knew I would be. But this was unknown. I pressed my lips against his again quickly when he pulled back and then let go.
I pushed the panel opened and walked carefully towards the person sitting there. As I approached I felt the weight of a lead ball in my stomach. The closer I got, the easier it was to tell that it wasn't just a person sitting in that chair; but a child.
CASSIE
It felt like hours since my friends walked into a space that didn't exist on the blueprints. It really could have been hours, but I was starting to get antsy. I leaned against the wall and huffed, blowing my hair out of my face.
My fingers twitched and I tried to keep my mind from travelling, trying to keep myself from thinking about how much I wanted a drink. But Rose was right, this wasn't what my mom would have wanted for me.
I thought my time of waiting was over when I heard voices, but I realized that it was actually agents instead. I tried to lighten the heaviness of my steps, but it didn't make any difference. These halls were empty and made the slightest noise bounce. I took the first door to get out of the hall when I heard voices travel. I closed the door behind me and moved further into the room. I walked through the room to try and find another door when I froze. I had seen it so many times.
I could feel ice setting into my veins. In front of me was a wall of tigers. Large, vivid tigers starring back at me.
I heard a distinct click behind me and I stilled. It was a sound you couldn't confuse. It was the tell-tale sound of a gun locking a bullet into the chamber. My hair swayed the slightest bit as I turned, my breath coming out of my nose loudly but slow.
I came to a stop and found myself staring into a pair of ice-blue eyes.
Tasha was vibrating as she stood in front of me, her gun aimed perfectly between my brows.
"You made me look like a fool in front of everyone!" She exclaimed and I watched her finger move from the side of the gun and onto the trigger. I took a slow breath, expecting the gun to go off when a set of hands gripped onto Tasha's head and she shrieked.
I jumped back from her as she dropped the floor unconscious. I took a moment to let my heart stop beating out of my chest.
"Don't worry, you won't remember anything," I said quietly. I pulled my sketchpad out of my purse and flipped the last page. A woman with dark hair laying under a tiger. Maybe I was losing my touch. It wasn't me I was seeing, but Tasha instead. I looked up from the paper to find a cocky smirk and green eyes.
"Didn't I tell you that you were wrong?" Adrian quipped. I let a dry laugh slip through my lips.
"Yeah, I guess you did," I said with a smile, "Thanks. What did you do to her?"
"Just knocked her out. There happen to be two people who deserve to deal with her," Adrian said bending down and tossing her onto his shoulder. I nodded and leaned around him to pull the gun out of the back of his pants.
"Hey! Buy me dinner first," he joked, wagging his brows at me. I rolled my eyes and went to the door, cracking it open. I listened and waited but there was nothing, so I opened it further.
"I'm going to put her somewhere and I'll be back to help," Adrian said and slipped down the hall. My eyes travelled back to where I last saw my friends and chewed on my lip. This was taking too long.
There was a low hum in the air before the hall went black, all sound ceasing to exist. A moment later the lights along the walls started to flash and an alarm went off. A hissing noise was barely audible over the alarm, and I turned to find Rose and Dimitri bolting from the space in the wall.
Dimitri latched onto my arm as he passed, dragging me along with him. I couldn't even hear our feet on the floor as we ran, the alarm ringing in my ears. It blared in perfect sequence with the lights, strobing in the dark. We turned down the corridor and felt panic rise in my chest as the door started to close. It was the door we were warned about, the door that sealed and didn't open until the power came back on.
"Rose!" Dimitri yelled as he shoved me forwards. Rose shot forward as the door met the frame. I could hear a quiet grinding noise as the door fought against an invisible force as I slammed into it. Rose wedged her fingers between the door and the frame and pulled, sighing when the door released.
Rose pushed it open and held it open long enough for me and Dimitri to slip out. When she let go it slammed shut, leaving the three Division agents stuck on the other side. Agents that I didn't even know were there. I gasped a few times before running after Rose and Dimitri, pulling the gun I stole from Adrian out and turning off the safety. Just in case.
"What happened?" I yelled, climbing down the stairs behind them when we got into the stairwell.
"I'll explain later! We just got to get out of here. The whole place is going to go!"
I clambered behind them and let them lead me out of the building, coming to a stop when I saw Janine. She waved us over before climbing into the car behind her, starting it and throwing it into gear as we climbed in.
"Everyone else is out," she said before slamming the gear into reverse. I gasped for breath as we drove and turned to look out the back window in time to see the building implode on itself. I blinked and looked at Dimitri beside me.
"What the fuck just happened?!"
Dimitri shook his head. "I don't really know."
Let me know what you think!
