"Are you seeing this?" I whispered to Dimitri. Dimitri didn't say anything but I felt his hand on my wrist, not tight but there. Cautious.
I took a slow breath and pulled out of his grip, walking towards the kid. She was sitting in a chair and I understood why Mom said it looked like the machine from the X-Men. The chair she was in was wide, her arms resting on them and looked straight ahead. She had electrodes attached to her bald head. It was hard to tell just how old she was but being close to her gave me a chill.
I stepped closer and her glazed look left her eyes and the focused on me. I shifted my gaze just enough so I was looking at her but didn't make direct eye contact. I may be strong, but I had no idea just how strong she was.
"I've been waiting for you," the child said, her voice sounding older than I expected it to.
"You have?" I asked.
Her head tilted to the side. "Yes. I've been waiting for you to come. It's been so long."
"Why?"
Her lips pursed before pulling into a smile that made me shiver. "Because you are the only one."
"For what?" I pressed, standing directly in front of her. I could see her eyes clearly and I boldly looked into them. For a girl so young, she had old eyes, wise and aged. They were blue with veins of ice through them, the colour almost mesmerizing.
"To end it all. To see us free. You aren't the only visitor I've had. Sarah told me years ago that a woman would come, and she'd save us all," the girl said, her eyes glazing over a little as she spoke. I spared a glance back at Dimitri and then back at her.
"What's your name?"
"Mildred."
I nodded but thought the name seemed a little old for a child that looked like they were twelve years old. I walked around her and assessed the device. It seemed like everything was connected to the hood over her and then up into the ceiling.
"How does this thing work?" I asked her.
"Why, want to take it for a spin?" she asked, amusement clear in her voice. I eyed her dubiously and she chuckled.
"These sticky things are like an amplifier. I didn't meet the criteria for the drug, so this is like a megaphone. I'm not really sure how it works with the tattoos; they didn't tell me that much. It was rare I saw anyone other than Carver."
I nodded and came back around to face her. "Do you know how to safely get you out? This thing isn't going to explode if I touch it right?"
Mildred shook her head, the wires clacking together. "There is no getting me out safely. It won't explode if you touch it, but if it's deactivated it will."
I crossed my arms over my stomach and chewed on my lip. "How do I get you out then?"
Mildred clicked her tongue and gave me a sympathetic look. "You don't, dear."
"I can't kill a kid."
Mildred smiled at me again. "I'm much older than you think."
"How old?"
"Older than you, that's for sure. The previous link was powerful, they managed to push so hard and so deep it altered my genetics. The link will hold as long as I live. And that may be for a very long time," Mildred said sadly.
"You don't want to do this," I stated sadly. I couldn't imagine being bound to do one thing until the day I die.
"Why would I? Now that I am out of the influence and bound, I hate this. I hate what they do to people, us. They're monsters," Mildred bit out, her eyes flaring.
"How do I stop all of this? Is it just a push?"
"It is, but it will have to be a powerful one. More powerful than you've had to do before."
I nodded and stepped closer, rubbing my clammy palms over my shirt.
"Is it safe for her to push that hard? What about her?" Dimitri called out, I could hear his shoes shuffle against the floor. Mildred looked over my shoulder and nodded.
"She's strong. It will drain her for a while, but your wife and child will be fine," Mildred said. I stood up straighter and cocked my head to the side.
"How did you know?"
Mildred beckoned me closer with her hand and I leaned in. "Sarah. She told me that your child would be fine, healthy. She said that the future holds great things for them. They won't be burdened," she whispered in my ear.
I closed my eyes and sighed a breath of relief. Not just because I knew that the future for my unborn child was certain, but that they won't know my struggle. If our child was born gifted we could live with that, but to know that they won't be born gifted lifted a weight off my chest I didn't realize I carried. I wanted them to have the life I dreamed of having.
A life of not having to wonder if they can control it. If they would be sought out.
"Okay," I said. She tilted her head up and looked at me with eyes that said the truth. There was relief in her eyes.
"How old are you? I need to know."
Mildred frowned. "Early seventies. I was sixty when Division found me."
I grimaced to think someone was strong enough to modify someone's genetics. Hopefully, this wouldn't happen again. I nodded and stepped closer, carefully stepping over the wires that laid around her. I rested my hands on either side of her head for good measure and took a deep breath.
"You must be powerful if they sought you out," I said quietly.
Mildred nodded. "You're almost as strong. They didn't want to replace me; they wanted to have both of us. Two minds are even more powerful. There was talk once of a push so complex that they wouldn't need the tattoos. They would just need our minds and we could touch every other like mind."
"Once the push is removed, you'll only have a few minutes to get out. Once the push breaks and the connection is severed, the entire system will collapse. It was designed as a security feature, but it will be useful for you."
I nodded and closed my eyes, concentrating carefully on her mind. I could feel something pushing back against me as I probed her mind, but it gave way easily. She was willingly letting me in, and I could see everything.
God, her mind was magnificent. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope, memories and colours flitting by.
The push started as a whisper, and it grew. Let go. Let go. Let go.
I expected there to be more resistance with pushing her, but if she willingly let me into her head, she was willingly letting me push her. I knew the push had worked when she gasped and my eyes open.
I looked at Mildred and watched a smile cross her face and a tear roll down her cheek.
"Thank you," she whispered, and I watched in wonder as she aged before my eyes. Gone was the twelve-year-old child and in front of me was an aged woman. "Run," she whispered as the lights went out around us.
"What's going to happen to you?"
"I'll slip away at peace. I'll get to see my Howie again," she said squeezing my hand. "Go," she urged and looked over my shoulder. I nodded and turned, latching onto Dimitri's outstretched hand. With how hard he tugged me down the hall, I would have expected my hand to pop out of the socket. I glanced back at Mildred only to find her slumped back in the chair, her eyes closed and a ghost of a smile on her face. But how still she was told me everything.
She was gone.
I felt like my body was made of lead when I came too. I could feel someone running their fingers through my hair while something lightly pressed against my stomach. I peeled my eyes open slowly and saw Dimitri sitting on the floor beside me, holding a small box like object in his hand.
It made a weird noise and I looked down at my stomach, finding his hand pressing a small wand to it. It was much smaller than what Alberta used, and from here I could see that there was no video to it. The noise almost sounded like wind. I winced against the wand.
"Too much pressure," I said quietly, shifting on the couch. Dimitri looked up and gave me an apologetic look and lessened the pressure. "How long have I been asleep?"
"A little over eighteen hours," Mom said, making me tilt m head up in her lap, "We all figured that you needed sleep after what happened. Dimitri was starting to worry so Alberta dropped off a doppler."
I nodded and sighed, rolling so I was more on my back. It was a little more comfortable for laying down and for Dimitri to use the doppler. He pulled the wand away and set the machine down beside him, then leaned towards me and kissed my stomach. I smiled and ran my fingers through his hair, smiling at him when he looked up at me.
"How are you feeling?"
I stretched as much as I could on the couch with a grunt and a groan. "Stiff, sore. But mostly worn out. I mean, she let me in willingly but I still feel drained."
"I think that even with her letting you in, it still took a lot to push her. You did well," Mom said softly, her fingers still running through my hair. I hummed and closed my eyes again when her fingers rubbed against my scalp.
"That feels so good," I whispered, basking in the feeling. Mom smiled at me and continued what she was doing while Dimitri pulled my shirt back down and rose to his knees, leaning over me and kissing my lips.
"I told everyone what happened," Dimitri said and I gave him a thankful look. I didn't have the energy to go through it all again. Dimitri whispered something about food and stood up, stroking my cheek before leaving. I moaned and rolled onto my other side, my face brushing against my mother's stomach. She chuckled and sighed, rubbing her thumb over my hair.
"I remember when you were wee and you would do this," she reminisced and I smiled, remembering it myself.
"Sunday mornings before you'd drag me to church," I grumbled making her laugh.
"Yeah," she said, "I missed it?"
"Church?"
"No, cuddling you. You grew up and then I was gone. I missed so many important things. I'm sorry I wasn't here."
I rolled back enough to look up at her with a frown. She had no reason to apologize; she didn't choose to leave.
"Don't be. You didn't choose that. Nobody did," I said giving her a small smile. She nodded and stroked my cheek, her green eyes looking tired.
"Everything sounded fine on the doppler. Good placental sounds," she said. I raised my brows at her. She chuckled. "The whooshing-wind-like sound. It means you have good blood flow to the placenta."
"That's all I can ask for right now. I just need to take this one day at a time," I said quietly, my hand moving to my stomach. I really could think too far ahead, I was scared to. I didn't want to get my hopes up. I was about to confide in her just how scared I was when Dimitri came back in with a plate in his hand.
I sat up and took it, crossing my legs on the couch. I eyeballed the sandwich for a moment before digging in, sighing happily as I chewed. It tasted so good and I hadn't realized how ravenous I was. But it was to be expected after sleeping for almost a day.
Dimitri came and sat beside me, a comforting smile on his face. I leaned into his arm and smiled at him while I munched on my sandwich.
"Where is everyone?"
"Most of them are asleep," Dimitri said, "Adrian went out to get some more groceries with Christian. Cassie is upstairs with her mother. Sarah is going through some intense withdrawals. Alberta came by with something to help her through it."
I nodded and swallowed. "How bad are the withdrawals?"
"They're rough," Mom answered. "We can't take her off the drugs completely. We need to wean her off."
I frowned but understood. She had been on them for years on end, never getting a break from them. I could imagine it would be difficult to go through, and even more difficult for Cassie to watch.
"And Cass?"
Mom sighed and shook her head. "She shouldn't be watching that, but she won't leave her. Stubborn, that one."
I snorted a laugh as I took another bite. I knew how stubborn she could be, but I was more concerned about how watching that would affect her. She had just laid off the booze, and watching something like that would be heartbreaking. I didn't want it to push her over the edge and she then look for a release.
I looked up from my sandwich when the front door closed and footsteps headed towards us. I found Adrian lingering in the doorway with his hands tucked into his pockets, an awkward look on his face.
"What's up?"
"Can I speak to the two of you? Alone?"
I looked at Mom and she nodded, stroking the back of my head as she stood up. She gave Dimitri a look and then walked out of the room. I raised my brows at Dimitri but he shook his head and gave me a look. Later.
"What's up?" I asked.
Adrian pushed off from the frame and came into the living room, sinking down to sit on the bench in front of the piano.
"Ugh, so I ran into someone while you two were fucking shit up," he said rubbing his hand over his mouth.
"Oh?" I asked.
"Yeah. Turns out the tiger drawing Cass and you were drawing weren't of you. You were seeing Tasha."
I knitted my brows together and took another bite of my sandwich.
"I don't understand," Dimitri said.
"I mean that when I stumbled into a storage room, I found Tasha holding a gun to Cassie's face. So I stitched her mind," he said, "She was the one you kept seeing on the floor. Not Cassie."
I stopped chewing and froze, lifting my eyes back up to him. "Wow."
"Did you kill her?" Dimitri asked.
Adrian shook his head. "No. She's gonna have a nasty headache when she wakes up. I figured one of you would want questions answered."
Or her blood on the floor, I thought to myself. "Where is she?"
"Downstairs."
I nodded and set my plate on the coffee table in front of me. I could feel heat roll through me. She was only feet away, and all I could think about was how much I wanted her to hurt. How much I wanted her to suffer. Not only did you try to kill Cassie, but she took my baby from me. She helped Division take Dimitri from me, she stole from Dimitri. She single-handed ruined parts of our lives.
And it was time for her to pay the price for that mistake.
