Chapter Five

 

 

Lena stretched her arms and legs, allowing her tense muscles to wake up and relax. She turned her head to find Marcus sitting in the chair next to the bed. He was sound asleep, but she could barely see his chest rise and fall.

She stared at him for a moment. Wondering who he was. Not his name, or career accomplishments that led him to the Phoenix Team, but she wondered who he was as a person.

“How long are you going to stare at me?”

His sudden question nearly scared her to death. She jumped out of the bed, an instinctive reaction from years of being held captive before the Phoenix Agency had rescued her.

“You’re awake?”

He opened his eyes and grinned. “No, I’m not.”

“So, you’re a smart ass, huh?”

“What’s that they always say? Better than being a dumbass?”

She laughed. “I guess.”

“How’d you sleep?”

She shrugged. “Good I guess. I just woke up.”

“Good.”

“I don’t even remember falling asleep last night.”

“I was only on the phone with Dan for about ten minutes. When I came back inside the room you were already out.”

“Did he have any news? Did they find anything out about Lily?”

He shook his head. “No. Sorry.”

“Would you tell me if they did?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I suppose it depends on what it is I find out.”

“I need you to promise me that you’ll tell me whatever it is, no matter what.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You have to!” she insisted.

“No, I don’t. My job isn’t to be your friend. It’s to keep you safe.”

She sighed. “Please. She’s my sister. She’s all that I have.”

“All I can promise is that I’ll do what’s best for you.”

“Fine.”

She sat down on the bed and pulled her knees into her chest, annoyed with him for not understanding.

“If you want, I can try to see her again.” He offered.

She perked up at his offer. “Would you?”

“Come here.” He held out his hands to her.

As she moved across the bed she got a much better look at him than she had yesterday when Dan had brought him to her.

Anxiety, fear, fatigue, they all played a part in her being physically and emotionally exhausted.

Now, she was able to see the man who was placed in charge with the duty of protecting her. He had broad shoulders, a tattoo of a dagger peeking from underneath his sleeve of the right arm.

He took her hands as she sat in front of him and closed his eyes. She was fascinated by watching him. His eyes tensed underneath the lids, his brows furrowed together, and lines creased his forehead.

She and her sister are the only two people that she’d known to have any type of psychic abilities. She’d heard rumors at G.E.A. that there were others like them. But, when they were rescued and debriefed by The Phoenix Agency, she found out that she and her sister were the only two being held.

It was one of a few things that struck her as odd at the time. Dan and the other agents from Phoenix would never tell Lily or herself how they’d come to rescue them. All they would say was that someone had hired them. No additional information was ever given, and the agents made it clear that they would never know any more than that.

Then there were flashes of times in her life that she couldn’t reconcile with. Back to her early years of childhood, she recalled memories, or what she thought were memories, of other children playing with them.

She couldn’t remember their names, but she could see their faces. They weren’t imaginary. She was certain they’d existed in the underground dungeon that was G.E.A. headquarters.

“Okay, I see her,” Marc said.

“Is she okay?”

“I mean… she isn’t badly hurt, but I can feel that she’s in pain. Her eyes are open, but she looks tired. Almost drained of all of her energy.”

“Bastards! That’s what they do. They wear us down. Take us to our absolute limits until we are barely able to breathe because we’re so overwrought with exhaustion.”

Marc squeezed her hands. “Shh… don’t distract me.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“I think I see something.”

He shook his head, his mouth hung open with a word almost on the tip of his tongue. She waited as patiently as she possibly could while he concentrated on her sister.

“I can’t…”

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“On the wall. There’s something scratched into the wood panels. It looks like… the… no, there.”

“There? What does it mean?”

He sighed in frustration. And with his eyes closed said, “Please, Lena. It’s hard to concentrate when you are talking.”

“Ok. I’ll shut up.”

She sat there with her hands clutched in his. Waiting and hoping that he would say something to give her optimism.

“Okay, I think I see it clearer now.”

“Before there, I see something above it. It says…” He opened his eyes. “Damn it!”

“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” Lena asked, trying to hide her panic, but failing miserably.

“I lost the vision.”

“What? How? Has that ever happened before?”

“Lena, please. Calm down!”

“I can’t! Don’t you understand? She’s my sister! She’s all that I have. Not figuratively. Literally. I have no one, Marcus! No one!”

She pushed away from him and got up from the bed.

Lena closed her eyes, trying desperately to push the tears back down deep where they couldn’t be seen by Marc.

She felt his presence surround her and much to her surprise she didn’t run away. Instead, she opened her eyes and allowed her humanity to show.

“Come here.” He didn’t wait for her to oblige. Wrapping her up in his arms, he pulled her into his body.

With loud sobs and ugly cries, she dropped her head down into his chest and allowed him to comfort her.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

In that moment she felt her resistance begin to fade. She was too tired to fight, too tired to run. She was just too damn tired.