I start to walk out of the room, but pause as my phone buzzes from inside my pocket. I fish it out and open the message from Ridge.
Ridge: I managed to access the Shadow Files and found the list of test subjects that were rescued when the Drug Tunnel Experiment Facilities were raided.
Me: Was Zhara’s name on there?
Ridge: No. But there’s a couple of girls that would be around her age right now. The look pretty young in the photos, though, so I can’t tell for sure if any of them are Zhara. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m wondering if her real name isn’t listed in the files.
Me: Can you send me the photos? I’m going to stop by Zhara’s house today and there’s some photos hanging on the wall in the foyer. Maybe I can see if any of them match.
“Who is it?” Xavier asks, stepping up beside me.
“It’s Ridge,” I answer as another message pings through.
Ridge: Give me about an hour and I’ll text them to you. Just make sure to run a delete scan on your phone afterward so there won’t be a trail leading back to us.
Me: You know I always do.
Ridge: Yeah, I know, but I want to be extra careful. The Shadow Files are in the Locked Section and I could get kicked out of the organization for hacking into them.
Me: I promise I’ll delete all traces of the photos as soon as I’m done with them.
Ridge: Okay. But are you sure it wouldn’t be easier just to show Zhara the photos and see if she recognizes any of them?
Me: That might be easier in theory, but then I’ll have to explain to her that she might be a test subject from the facility. And until I know for sure, I don’t want to put her through that.
Ridge: But aren’t we kind of lying to her?
Me: You know as well as I do that sometimes we have to tell lies in order to protect people.
Ridge: Okay, but I think I need to tell you about something else I found in the files. It’s a list of side effects the subjects experienced after they were removed from the facilities. Constant low body temperature is one, along with rarely bruising and hardly getting sick. Those are just a few, but Zhara definitely has a constant low body temperature. And she told me she’s been that way for a while.
I force down the lump crammed in my throat and glance up at Xavier, who’s been reading the messages too. His worried expression probably mirrors mine.
“Shit, this is bad,” I tell him. “I was hoping Ridge would give me better news than this. But with everything he just told me…”
He nods, understanding where my thoughts are going. That I’m fairly sure Zhara was a test subject in the facility.
But the real questions are, how did she get there and why on earth can she function normally when almost all the other test subjects either died o
r went crazy?
You Can Always Eat My Cereal if You Really Want to
Zhara
I’m sitting in front of the television with a bowl of cereal on my lap, still wearing the black t-shirt that belongs to Benton and the cut off shorts I wore the night before, when Axel injected me with devil’s poison. I feel exhausted, confused, and worried. Worried about myself, the guys, who, except for Benton and Xavier, are out on missions. But most of all I’m worried about Alexis.
Benton said she was okay, that West and two other guys from the organization are keeping an eye on her. I still can’t believe she’s been dragged into this world and has hackers after her. Although, ever since my parents passed away, Alexis has been awfully secretive about where she goes when she leaves the house. Could she have known about this world the entire time? Did she do something to piss these Hackers off?
I frown, knowing the answer could be yes.
But that’s not the only thing that took me off guard about the situation. I can’t believe West is involved in the organization. Alexis has been friends with West for years. I’ve known West for years.
This is so weird.
How did I not know this?
My mind continues to linger in holy-heck-how-did-I-not-see-this-coming world when the door to Benton’s bedroom swings open and Benton strolls out.
He greets me with a smile. “Hey. You about ready to go?”
I absentmindedly stir the cereal. “To the training pit?”
Benton nods, moving to the side as Xavier exits the bedroom. They’ve been in the room for about ten minutes, preparing to go to the training pit and going through files, whatever that means. Nothing appears different from when they first went into the bedroom. Benton is still wearing the same jeans and black t-shirt he had on, but he does have on a hooded jacket now. Since the temperature is at least eighty something degrees outside, I’m betting he has a gun hidden underneath the jacket.