Keary Taylor - The Human

“You put the beacon in one of our soldiers?!” Royce bellowed, rushing at one of the other men, knocking him to the ground, his fist crushing his cheekbone. Within half a second everyone was yelling, fists flying.

I had just knocked one of the men out who rushed me when I saw movement from behind us.

There were more of them.

Another ten soldiers, men and women, rushed from behind other buildings, guns drawn.

This was about to turn into a blood bath.

We didn’t have to wait for the Bane to swarm the city in the next few hours. We were going to kill each other off first.

Graye chased after two soldiers who fled down an alley.

Tristan stood with one of our soldiers, trying to keep them out of the hospital, guns drawn.

Elijah radioed for back up as he fought off another man.

I had to find Margaret. If I could find Margaret, maybe I could keep this from turning into a death match. I could convince her to call off her people.

Because I had no doubt that Margaret was here.

Tristan was right. They had staged my escape. They’d wanted me to get back to New Eden and quickly.

Because when they didn’t find the answer to curing TorBane, they planted their beacon inside of my head and waited for me to return. And then they set it off.

Looking one last time back at my family, I set off down the street.

Margaret would be waiting somewhere she could see all the action. I just had to find her vantage point.

I checked the street level, anywhere she would be able to see from. But she wasn’t a stupid woman and being out on the road would be too obvious. She was hiding inside a building.

I was just about to duck inside one when a familiar voice called my name.

I turned left and found West jogging up to my side. His entire body was bruised.

“We’re going to kill each other off out there,” he said, his eyes wild and fearful. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of view of the battle.

I hadn’t considered how I would react to West when I came face to face with him again after what he’d done, after what Avian had done. Especially since Addie had turned my humanity down.

I should have expected the hatred and the burning that consumed me.

And he saw it all there in my face.

“I am so sorry,” he said, his eyes filling with regret. “I never meant to betray you. I was hurt and I was angry and I was pissed. But I didn’t mean to tell them about you. I thought you were safe back here with Avian when I went with them. I couldn’t stay here anymore. I didn’t think it would matter if I told them what you were capable of. I wasn’t all that sure I’d ever see you again.”

I wasn’t even breathing as I listened to West apologize. The back of my eyes burned and my throat felt as if it had totally closed off.

“Yell at me,” he said, his eyes desperate. “Hit me. Do whatever it takes to make you feel better. I think it will make me feel a bit better if you break a couple bones or knock me unconscious.”

From past experience, I knew I was unpredictable when my emotions got away with me around West.

So I did the only smart, reasonable thing I could do in that moment.

I turned and walked away.

“Holy shit,” West breathed as I took two steps away from him.

And the way he said it, the way the very air changed around us with his words, made me freeze in place.

I turned to look back at him and found his face stark white. His eyes had reddened and moisture pooled in them.

“What?” I demanded, my tone unsure.

He held a hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes closed for a moment. A tear streaked down his cheek.

“I have something important to do right now, so if you have something to say, you’d better say it quick.”

West finally opened his eyes, wide and disbelieving.

“Now, West!” I demanded, debating just running into the building to complete my task. We could talk later, if we lived through the day.

“You know all those stories I told you? About how we used to play together when we were kids? The notes I left you?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“Is this important right now , West?” I said, my tone dripping acid.

He nodded his head.

“Fine, yes.”

He paused for a moment. He took a deep, quivering breath. “None of them were true.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my brow furrowing.

“It was your sister, Eve,” he said, more tears streaking down his cheeks. His eyes rose to the heavens and he shook his head. “It was your identical twin sister that I did all that stuff with. Not you.”

I tried to ask what? but the words stuck in my mouth like it had been filled with cotton. My thoughts swirled. I’d seen myself talking to me in those fractured memories and nightmares in Seattle. I’d been crazy, they’d broken my mind. This couldn’t be true.

“That tattoo on the back of your head?” he said, his voice shaking nearly beyond control now. “The roman numeral two? You were Eve Two. Your sister was Eve one.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head, my insides quickly going numb. “No. That can’t be…”

West nodded his head. “We hated each other as kids, Eve. Some people just don’t get along. You and I, we couldn’t stand to be around one another. It…it kind of explains a lot about us now.” His brow furrowed, as if reevaluating every moment we had spent together.

“You lied to me,” I said, my voice very controlled and very quiet. “Again? About something like this? ”

Tears started leaking down West’s face again and he gave a slight shake of his head. “I thought you were her, Eve one. Because Eve Two was supposed to be dead . My father was supposed to dispose of her. Because she had been compromised. Because she killed over fifty people. Because Eve Two did this!” He pulled on the collar of his shirt, exposing the claw marks on his neck.

“That was supposed to be me?” I breathed, not believing a word he said.

West nodded, coming one step closer.

“I never said anything about the twin sister because she was supposed to be dead. You didn’t remember anything, and I thought that was for the best. What was the good of bringing up a sister who had tried to kill me and was supposed to be dead? I was going to let the past stay dead.”

I punched West in the face. Hard enough he collapsed to the ground.

“I can’t take any more of your secrets,” I said, my voice shaking with rage. “I hate you West Evans, and if we all live through this day, I never want to see you again.”

And I left him there on the ground. I slipped inside the building and let the door close behind me.

The interior of the building shifted with lines of black. My hands shook and my stomach rolled in an emotional hurricane.

There was coughing somewhere above me and a quick shh . I shut out my personal garbage and took the stairs two at a time.

I was catching a break for the first time in what felt like a very long time. I’d found them in the first building I tried.

Hushed voices came from behind a closed door. Slipping my handgun from my belt, I leaned against the door.

“Do you really think it will work?” a young voice whispered. “Do you really think it can kill them?”

“I don’t know baby,” a motherly voice said. “We can only hope so.”

I pushed the door open, my gun poised ahead of me.

Margaret stood by a large window, overlooking the fight below her.

“I should shoot you right now,” I said loudly. Every eye turned on me, including Margaret’s There were muffled screams and whimpers.

“Then why don’t you?” Margaret asked. There was just the faintest trace of fear in her eyes. But not enough. Not enough to classify her as human in my eyes any longer.