Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(78)
We need to remove your tracker.
We will. At the right time. I can’t chance Sandra figuring out that we’ve discovered how. She hasn’t noticed Addison’s tracker missing yet, but she will. And when she does…” His voice trailed off. He didn’t need to take that thought further.
So, Ty? I asked. Were you close to him?
There were several seconds of silence before Jonas mindspoke. He was my brother. Sandra carried us both. My DNA was altered, much like yours and Jack’s. Ty’s DNA wasn’t changed from the original. He was given a tracker soon after birth that artificially altered his DNA, giving him almost identical mind-controlling capabilities to mine. The idea was to see if the scientists could manufacture the trackers with the mental powers.
By placing the special abilities inside an electronic tracker, they could have complete control over any human being, I clarified.
Right. What you witnessed yesterday was Sandra realizing that I was stronger than Ty. In other words, the genetically engineered clone—me—was stronger than the manufactured form of the same person—Ty. And Sandra wanted to prove a point.
Which was?
That we are expendable when we’re no longer necessary to her experiment. Ty let her down, and she killed him—to show you, and probably me, what she’s capable of.
I shivered. Either someone had just turned on the A/C or the memory of Sandra’s action cut right to my heart, freezing the blood being pumped through my body. And Sandra needs me because she can’t get the medical healing part correct.
Exactly.
I sat up straighter. Seemed to me she couldn’t get the mind-control part right either, or Ty wouldn’t be dead. I knew what Sandra was after: the most important thing Dad gave me before he died. I reached for the starfish and key hanging around my neck underneath my T-shirt. She wanted the information Dad had encrypted on the website—the DNA mapping that could be translated into what Sandra needed to create her army of healers. So, did Sandra need me, or information she was sure I had access to? At what point would Sandra decide I was no longer necessary?
The door clicked, and in walked a woman in a white lab coat. Beneath the coat she wore a short black skirt and a dark purple silk blouse. Her jet black hair was slicked back into a tight ponytail, and she had an air of snootiness. She had to be a doctor of some sort. “Come with me.”
I wiped my hands on my jeans, stood, and followed her. “Could I possibly use a restroom?” I mean, did they really expect me to hold it forever?
“Yes.”
“That’s it? Just yes?”
We didn’t walk long before she ushered me into another room. This one was quite different. Very much like a dorm room and like Jonas’s room he had shown us the night before, except this one was decorated for a girl. A bed decorated with a lavender comforter was pushed into the corner of the room. There was a desk and a small dresser.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“This is your room, Sarah.”
“Since my friends call me Lexi, I’m going to assume you and I aren’t friends.” We stood just inside the small room—a room much more decorated than the last one I was in. I fiddled with the ring on my finger and studied the lady in front of me. “So, are you a nurse or something?”
“I am a clinical neurophysiologist.” She enunciated each syllable. I could have sworn her nose rose further into the air as she spoke.
“Well, that must have taken quite a bit of education. You must not have done very well in school.”
She pursed her lips, and inhaled through her way-too-pointy nose. “Why do you say that, Sarah?” She said Sarah like it was a bad word.
“Well, I just assumed that only the bottom students, or maybe doctors that were fired from hospitals that helped people, would end up at a research facility that experimented on innocent children. I didn’t mean anything by it.” I shrugged and walked farther into the room.
“Mmmm-hmmm.”
She closed the door and left me in this room that had a much more homey feel to it. And a more permanent feel. A chill galloped down my spine. Nothing about my situation would be permanent. I promised myself that. Thankfully, it did have a bathroom.
After I took care of my needs, I explored the room. Opening the top drawer of the dresser, I discovered clothes exactly like the ones Dia had worn the first time I visited this facility. Gray scrubs were not my thing. I slammed the drawer closed.
What on earth did a clinical neurophysiologist actually do? I wondered. Whatever it was, she wouldn’t be doing it to me.
Chapter Thirty-One
I stared up at the plain white ceiling tiles. The more bored I got, the madder I became at Jonas.
My stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten since early the day before. And it was past ten a.m. I hadn’t heard from Jonas in more than an hour. At this point I didn’t even know what Jonas’s mission was. Were we forever trapped inside this prison of a facility? Would I be forced to submit to my psycho twin of a DNA donor?
Well, twin except for the wrinkles. And Sandra was heavier than me.
I made a mental note to continue swimming later in life and wear good anti-aging cream. Or do the opposite—refuse sunscreen and eat fast food every day. Either way, I would not look like that evil woman as I aged.
I also planned to dye my hair as soon as possible and get purple contacts. Or something.