The Girl Who Wasn't Read online

  “They injected me with pain medication for a stab wound I didn’t have. I didn’t feel a thing. At least not right away. I managed to keep infection out and eventually it healed.”

  “Then what?” I can’t help being enthralled with his story. With the courage it took to walk away—to deviate, as he calls it.

  “I found my way down here to the outskirts. The people here are poor but they have heart. Not like the people in uptown. Still, I was repeatedly recognized, mistaken for my recovering Authentic. I sought out vacant apartment buildings and warehouses, and I stayed there until something—or someone—made me move on.”

  “How long ago did you leave?” I ask.

  “Five years.”

  “You’ve been hiding down here for five years? Alone?” I am awed and saddened by such long-term loneliness. In my case, it is a lifetime.

  “I haven’t been alone for some time. Although we are always looking for new friends.” He smiles and it is an encouraging sort of smile, though I can’t help but feel he’s searching for something.

  “You want to be friends with me,” I say, my words somewhere between a statement and a question. “Why?”

  “You can help us obtain our freedom.”

  “I don’t see how there’s anything I can do. Titus watches me—”

  “The Creator is evil. He wants to use us and if he cannot, he wants to crush us. Don’t you want to be free of him?”

  “Yes. I want that more than anything.” I stare at the white scar on Morton’s arm.

  “Good, because I don’t think we can do it without you.”

  His words are off. They don’t sound like what I am hoping for. “What is it you want me to do?”

  “Melanie was the last Authentic among us. Now that Titus has her, it’s only a matter of time until he finds out about this place. I know we must move, but I am out of locations large enough to accommodate.”

  “I don’t see how I can help. I’m not Authentic.”

  “True. But they think you are. And we need someone on the outside. Someone who can move freely. Someone with access to the Creator himself.”

  I’m not surprised. Only disappointed. I know what he’s asking of me. He wants me to go back. To play my role. My chest sinks into my stomach. It is not what I’d hoped for in coming here. I realize that now. I’d hoped for instant freedom. I’d even braced myself for the idea of allowing someone to take a blade to my arm. I would happily never go back. But this … this is asking so much more.

  Linc twists his body so he’s facing me. His free hand cups my cheek and he leans in. “I know you want to run, Ven. That you thought this was your chance. I know you don’t want to go back, but …”

  I give myself three more seconds of disappointment before I blink the wetness away and stick my chin out. I look at Morton first, then Linc. “But I want to matter,” I whisper.

  Linc’s jaw tightens and I know it’s determination for what we’re both agreeing to. “I know.”

  I face Morton again. “I’ll do it until I can’t anymore. That’s all I can promise.”

  His tone is a mixture of pleasure and regret. “That’s all I can ask.”

  “How many are there?” Linc asks. I appreciate that he gets right down to logistics. It leaves me less time for hating the fact that I am leaving here with a GPS in my arm and a destination of the one place I hate most in the entire world.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” Morton tells him. “Our numbers have grown so much in the past few weeks. At the end, Daniel brought home a new Imitation every couple of days.”

  “I still can’t believe that asshole is one of the good guys,” Linc mutters, shaking his head.

  “I know what he tried to do to you,” Morton says quietly. “Both of you. And while I don’t condone his actions, I don’t think good and evil are that black and white. The methods always look muddy to bystanders. I would do anything to protect my people. To some, that might paint me as evil. To me, it means standing up for the ones I love.”

  I decide Morton must not know the entire story of Daniel’s actions or he wouldn’t be so quick to defend him. Or if he does, maybe Morton isn’t entirely good, either. It’s something to consider but it doesn’t change my decision. Because he is right about one thing. These are my people. And I will do what I must to protect them.

  “Everyone here has had their GPS removed?” I ask.

  “Yes. Before they are allowed to enter. But yours …”

  “Will have to stay,” I finish, hating the way the words taste on my tongue.

  “For now,” Linc adds. I send him a grateful half smile.

  “Will Titus know you were here?” Morton asks.

  Linc and I both shake our heads. “No, I’ve already redirected the tracker. It will look like she was shopping downtown all morning,” Linc says.

  “Excellent.”

  Someone raps on the door and pushes it open. Anna walks in, a fresh bandage on her arm. “Oh, good, you’re still here,” she says when she sees Linc and me on the loveseat. “So, are you going to help?”

  “I’ll do my best,” I tell her.

  She smiles and I am reminded of our morning interactions back in Twig City. Something in my chest yanks sideways. “Morton,” I begin slowly. I select my words carefully because the question matters just as much as the answer. “Do you think … I mean, when you say freedom, are we speaking only of the Imitations on the outside, or the ones still in the City as well?”

  He regards me very seriously and gives his cheek stubble another long rub before answering. “I am certain that we cannot free one without the other.”

  His words wind through me, a vine leaving seeds of hope planted along the way. I think of Ida and Lonnie and for the first time since leaving, the ache in my chest doesn’t feel terminal. Morton and I share a smile.

  “Can I show them around now?” Anna asks.

  “Please do,” Morton says. “I’ll catch up in a moment.”

  I walk close beside Linc as we follow Anna down a wide hallway with concrete walls. The air here is stale and I try to imagine living cooped inside these damp walls every single day.

  “I’m really glad you stayed,” Anna says as we walk. “I was so afraid you’d leave after Morton told you everything. Especially after what an ass Daniel was to you. And Melanie trying to kill you. That must’ve sucked.”

  Sucked. Yes. “It was difficult,” I say.

  I wonder what she thought would be so scary about Morton’s story. None of it seemed particularly daunting or game-changing. If anything, I feel justified in my own desire to be free. I don’t have time to ask. Up ahead, someone coughs and my nerves jangle.

  We pass through an archway and the space opens around us. The walls on either side extend far enough I can’t make out the graffitied words on either end from where I stand in the center. Weak light filters in through grimy windows two stories above my head. It is enough for me to see that we are no longer alone—and far outnumbered.

  My feet lurch to a stop even as Anna continues into the room. Beside me, I hear Linc’s intake of breath. It matches my own. Whatever number of Imitations I’d expected to see, this is far greater.

  The warehouse is full.

  Many of them are in the process of rolling up blankets that have been laid out on the floor. One by one, they rise and stare, their faces a sea of curiosity and wariness. I don’t have to see their markings to know what they are. The soft expression on their faces, the void in their eyes—absent of exposure to the world—tells me every single one is an Imitation. In this moment, I cannot remember why I ever doubted my purpose. Freedom is the next best thing to being human.

  I become aware of how hard I’m squeezing Linc’s hand.

  “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid,” Linc murmurs.

  “I’m not afraid,” I tell him honestly. “I’m home.”

  *****

  Book 2 coming March 2014

  For more titles by Heather Hildenbrand, visit www.heat
herhildenbrand.blogspot.com

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