The Similars (The Similars #1)(62)

At the very end of the hall is a massive room, a loftlike space with exposed beams and steel panels on the walls. I try scanning my key over the doorknob. It remains locked. Absentmindedly, I finger my key and run it through my hands, rubbing it like a talisman of sorts. Hoping it will offer some kind of answer. Something, anything.

I nearly gasp when a figure appears on the other side of the glass.

I am looking at myself.

I’m flummoxed as I stare at my mirror image. The figure has the same harsh bangs that need trimming, the same small frame and gray hoodie. For half a second, I think this girl must be my clone—my DNA twin, my other—but after a second, I realize she’s not real.

She’s a hologram.

I can tell by her feathery appearance, by the way she stands, eerily still, yet waves a little back and forth, like a reed in the breeze. Her eyes don’t focus on anything. She smiles vaguely, but her expression stays constant. I’m certain that if I were standing in front of this virtual Emma, I’d be able to swipe my hand right through her.

I pull on the doorknob. Where did this Emma hologram come from? I grab my key. That’s what made the hologram appear; I’m sure of it. And now I wonder if there’s a hologram for every single student at Darkwood. I don’t have access to this room, and I don’t know how to get it either. From what I can tell, Madison is the only one with clearance to this building, because she’s working directly with Ransom and Fleischer…

That’s when it hits me. Madison’s key is my best shot at getting into this room. If she has access to the front door, she likely has access to this room too. I need to steal her key. And then I need Maude and her identical DNA…

Then I remember: the new keys have been fixed to solve that loophole. Maude won’t be able to make Madison’s key work. I’ll have to think of another solution.

I race down the hall, toward the stairs next to the elevator bank, down the few flights to the first floor, and out the back door of the building. I don’t spot Madison or the others on my way out. I hustle to the main campus, back through the brush, and up to Cypress. It’s late now, ten o’clock. But an idea is forming.

The next morning at breakfast, I walk straight to the Similars’ table.

“Hi,” I say. I meet all their eyes—Maude’s, Ansel’s, Jago’s, Theodora’s, Pippa’s, and Levi’s—feigning a confidence I don’t really feel.

“Can we help you?” Theodora smiles at me diplomatically. I push thoughts of her and Levi out of my head.

“I need to talk to Maude,” I blurt.

Maude looks surprised but shrugs and scoots her chair back. She follows me to a quiet corner where I begin my pitch. I start from the beginning—overhearing Madison, Tessa, and Jake that day at the library and Madison’s missed “blood work” appointment. I tell her my suspicions about Madison. I tell her about Oliver’s note and how he left me his key. I conclude with my latest stunt—sneaking into the research building and confronting my own hologram.

“I’m not sure why you’re telling me all this,” Maude says finally. “The only logical conclusion I can draw is that you need my help.”

“I don’t know what it’s all about,” I admit. “But I think if we can get into that room, it could help Levi. Maybe even prove Madison attacked Pru, not him.”

“Then I’m in,” she says simply, before walking back to join her friends.

*

The next week flies by as we set our plan in motion. What Maude and I are about to do is extreme, but we don’t have any other options. I have to know what’s going on in that research building and what that hologram of me is for. Maude’s programming skills are sure to be useful. I don’t know what other expertise might be necessary when we get into that room, but I want Maude with me when I face it. The truth is, I don’t even know how much I trust her or the other Similars, not since Pippa and I stopped hanging out together, and Levi and I…well, kissed. But I’m willing to take that gamble.

I fake a migraine and visit the Darkwood infirmary. When the nurse leaves the exam room to tend to another patient, I open the cabinet behind me and grab three syringes. They’re labeled First Class E, which means they’re stronger than an over-the-counter pain reliever but not strong enough to warrant being properly locked up. I’ve heard my dad talk about these before, and I’m pretty sure these are the same injectives Madison and the other senior Ten members used on us. I’ve done my research with Dash’s help. I know they make the user especially forthcoming, as well as lethargic and compliant. I sneak the needles into my pocket, and the nurse is none the wiser. Then I lie back on the cot and pretend to rest.

*

Maude and I wait for Madison by the track at dawn. There’s a reason she was offered all those running scholarships. She’s dedicated. When Madison approaches the bleachers in her running gear and bends down to stretch her legs, I slide from the shadows and inject her. She screams, wheeling on me, but Maude grabs her arms before she can hurt me.

Within moments, the injective starts to take effect. Maude gingerly lets go of Madison’s arms, and she doesn’t make a move to run or fight us. She stands perfectly still, looking confused.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asks. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Madison like this—not in control.