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  She doesn’t get it right away. When she does, she’s surprised beyond belief. “Really? So private that I can’t be a part of it?”

  “Well, it’s up to Damian, he can fill you in later if he wishes,” Finn says. “But for now all I can say is that I’m following Daphne’s instructions.”

  Zoe springs up to her feet. I know she’s curious and she’d give anything to participate in the conversation but Daphne’s name being brought up is enough to get her out of the room, albeit it reluctantly.

  Damian has a hard time processing this. As soon as Zoe leaves, he grabs Finn’s shoulder. “Daphne? What’s Daphne got to do with all this?” he growls.

  “Daphne wanted you to have something after she was gone,” I say. “She left Finn in charge of it. We had to go get it for you before the drones arrive.”

  I was right. He’s too flabbergasted to focus on the fact that we slipped out of the base in secret. He lets go of Finn’s shoulder and concentrates on me.

  “What did she want me to have and why?” he asks me.

  “You know about her premonitions. She wanted Finn to give you a box if they came out to be true. If she—if she died.”

  “We don’t know what’s in the box,” Finn says as he takes it out of his pocket and hands it over to Damian.

  Damian holds it with the tips of his fingers as if it could be deadly.

  “Let’s go,” Finn says but I can’t move. I need to know what’s in that box. It wasn’t part of my plan but now I feel like I can’t leave Damian alone with this burden. I need to be a witness.

  “Let’s give him some privacy,” Finn insists and takes my left hand. I let out an agonizing cry as the pain shoots through my elbow again.

  “What’s wrong?” Damian says.

  “It’s nothing. I hurt my elbow when we were out. I fell off a tree,” I say.

  “What were you doing on a tree?”

  “Long story,” I say. “Can I stay?”

  “Freya!” Finn reprimands me.

  “It’s okay,” Damian says. “You can both stay.”

  It crosses my mind that he’s scared to be alone with the box. I remember Finn saying something to that effect. It’s probably memories he’s afraid of.

  He sits at his desk and inspects the small, black box before opening the lid. He takes out a lock of blond hair, Daphne’s no doubt. He puts the lock of hair on the desk and then takes out what seems to be a touchpad. It looks older and smaller than the touchpads we use now, probably one of those that Theo discarded when we took over the alien facilities. All three of us look to each other pensively.

  Damian turns the touchpad on. It works. We hear the usual sounds that a touchpad makes when it searches frequencies. Then the screen lights up and a message icon appears on it. A message from Daphne.

  “We can go now if you want,” Finn offers. Damian pays no attention. Instead, he touches the screen. Daphne’s face appears on it and soon afterwards her melodic voice fills the room and our hearts.

  Hi Damian.

  If you’re listening to this, it means that my premonition has come true and that I have died in a flood. It also means you’re freaking out right now which you deserve in a way.

  If my premonition about dying has been true, then a lot more things that I have sensed might be true as well. I owe you this after all the confusion I’ve put you through lately.

  Where do I start? Let me see, do you remember the night we had to spend in a cave because of the apes? Well, we didn’t know it was apes just yet and we weren’t sure about the future. My senses and intuition always sharpen in situations of uncertainty.

  At dawn you went out with Freya and I followed you. I had already had the premonition of my death and although I didn’t want to believe it, it created such intense feelings in me that I was seeing life differently. I started to open up to my psychic skills and let them take over. I was in pain and had a million questions that required answers but the answers were nowhere to be found.

  So I followed you. I don’t know what I expected to see but it was when you stopped walking and locked eyes with Freya that I sensed it. You two are drawn to each other for reasons that I cannot fathom, reasons that go beyond your personal choices or desires. I felt it as clearly as anything I have ever felt. You were born to be placed together somehow. But being together will also bring an incredible amount of grief and disaster for you and everyone around you.

  What I foresaw is so grave, so dark that I don’t even want to think about it, let alone repeat it. It will be the end of everything you know, everything you have fought for. I know your heart and it is a true heart. But there are things out of your control. You hate the very idea of not being in charge but you can’t do anything about it this time.

  Damian, this is not me trying to keep you away from her from the grave, this is me giving you a warning that might save humanity. Stay away from Freya, she’s better off with Finn. She probably doesn’t even know it yet, but she will come to you. And when she does, you will have to be the one who’s strong and send her away. Don’t doubt what I am telling you. For you, for her, for the Saviors, for the Earth, you two have to fight against your fate and stay away from each other.

  Tomorrow is the day of the big battle against the aliens. I don’t want to visualize it, I don’t want to know if it’s the day that I will die, but know that whatever I do, I do out of love for you.

  I have asked Finn to help me and he’s doing whatever he can, the perfect knight that he is. I’ve told him everything except for the part where your destiny is intertwined with that of Freya’s. You know that Finn and Freya love each other. Let them be. Let circumstance win over fate. Let the human prevail over the alien. For, somehow, I think the aliens have something to do with all this. I can’t explain it otherwise.

  I have always loved you, Damian. And though I have faded now into the shadows, I love you still.

  We all watch as Daphne, our fierce friend, becomes as sweet and vulnerable as a small girl on the screen of the touchpad. I quickly wipe a tear from my cheek before Finn or Damian notice.

  After her moment of reflection, Daphne has one more thing to add.

  Oh, I should have said this earlier, listen to this message alone.

  The screen goes black and Damian breaks out in laughter. “Typical Daphne,” he says. “Saving the most important part for last. When it’s useless.”

  His attempt to evade his broken heart isn’t working. His eyes have turned red. His body is shivering. Daphne has always meant a lot to him and to hear her voice like that must have shaken him to the core. I fear the shadows now will always haunt him.

  I am frozen. My limbs feel heavy, my head is spinning. I don’t dare to look at Finn, I don’t want to try and guess what goes through his mind. This is the last thing any of us expected to hear and it is impossible to digest all the implications of Daphne’s message.

  Damian holds his face with both hands. I’m sorry I had to do this to him but he left me no choice. Maybe, just maybe one good thing will come out of this. Maybe he will remember it was Daphne he wanted to be with. Maybe her words will encourage him to stay away from me.

  “What do you make of this?” Finn asks in a whisper.

  Damian looks at both of us. “She always had a tendency to exaggerate,” he says. “She had a vivid imagination. A flare for drama. She believed in her delusions to the point where they killed her.” He spews out those last words with indignation and sarcasm. His last line of defense, I think.

  But I have had the same thoughts. That Daphne forced her destiny onto herself the way she imagined it. That she acted in a reckless manner because of her faith in her visions. That the tragic result could have been avoided if she hadn’t convinced herself she was destined to die.

  I don’t want to go and leave Damian by himself but what choice do I have? Choices are taken away from me every time I choose Finn and I always choose Finn. Tonight is no different.

  I try to get up. My legs feel as if they
were made of lead. The pain in my elbow returns with extra viciousness. A well-deserved punishment for my insolence, my arrogance, my manipulations.

  When I glance at Finn, I get scared. He looks devastated. His eyes have sunken deeper in their sockets. His beautiful lips, lips as beautiful as any girl’s, are dry and chapped. Most alarmingly, his sunny Finn essence has vanished.

  I help him up. I squeeze Damian’s hand before I go but he doesn’t respond to my touch in any way. There’s more of him in my mind now than ever before. How am I going to juggle all those sentiments? How am I going to face what’s coming next for the Saviors when I’m a mess inside?

  Finn walks me back to my room and I want to ask him to stay with me but I figure it’s not fair to him. I’ve caused him enough trouble and pain for one night.

  I feel his hand on mine as I turn the door handle. He wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my ear. “I love you, Freya,” he says, “whichever way the world turns, I love you.”

  “Finn, it’s not the time—” I start to say but he hushes me.

  He slips away to his room and I have to enter mine alone.

  I lie down on my bed. I seem to float there in a chaotic buzz of abstract thoughts and uncertain pangs of mad love and confusion. One last thought rises before sleep takes my exhausted, worn-out body.

  What was Zoe doing in Damian’s room so late?

  That doesn’t matter. Not tonight. Tonight the only girl that matters lives in the shadows.

  13

  It’s impossible to distinguish between day and night in the tunnels, but something tells me that it’s late morning, maybe even noon. When I look in the mirror, I grow alarmed. I don’t know how I will show my face today.

  A big bruise covers most of my right cheek. I have small scratches across my forehead, my nose and upper lip. My lower lip is swollen and there are broken capillaries in my eyes. Not to mention how filthy I look.

  It’s as if I’ve been baked in mud. I go to the sink and turn the water on when I realize I can barely move my left elbow. I should go straight to Doc about that. He’ll fix it. He can fix anything.

  I wash my face and arms but it will take a lot more than that to get the filth off of me. I strip down as quickly as my useless left arm allows me. I discover multiple bruises and lacerations all over my body, including what seems to be a deep cut on my right thigh. I have no idea how that happened but it’s still bleeding a bit. I wash the blood away and put several band-aids across the cut. My last supply of them.

  I put my last clean clothes on but they are old and look tattered. I’ll have to ask Wudak about how laundry can be done in this place. Wudak won’t be pleased with Finn and me when he finds out what we’ve done, but I think I can handle him. He keeps calling me a queen, doesn’t he? Damian is a different story. I don’t even want to think about what will come out of his mouth once he has had enough time to fully comprehend what transpired last night.

  I walk over to Doc’s room hoping he will be able to patch me up before anybody else sees me. It’s a long shot and after a few seconds of knocking on his door, I realize he’s not there.

  When I enter the big cavern with the long tables, I’m amazed to find everyone there. It feels as if they have been waiting for me because they stop talking the moment they see me.

  “You are in worse condition than Finn,” Doc says. He turns to Finn. “I thought you said she practiced with the receptor? It looks like she’s been involved in hand-to-hand combat.”

  Before Finn can answer, Pip runs over to hug me. “Does it hurt?”

  “Just a little bit,” I say doing my best not to let her see my left arm.

  “What happened, Freya?” Tilly asks. “Why did you two go out last night?”

  I have no idea what Finn has told them already so I look to him for guidance with pleading eyes. Doc has put some kind of powder on the cuts and bruises on his face and Finn looks like a ghost.

  “We just snuck out to practice like I told you,” Finn says. “Just for old times’ sake. Before the drones make that impossible.”

  “And then what?” Rabbit asks.

  “Then they attacked a whole Sliman Regiment,” Wudak announces as he steps in the cavern armed to the teeth. He’s got two shock-bows on his back, two guns and two swords around his waist. He must have just returned from Plantation-15.

  “They did what?” Damian says. I’m surprised he hasn’t figured it out on his own yet. It’s pretty hard to hide anything from him.

  Wudak looks at me. “How could you, Freya? Has my trust in you been misguided?” he says. “Have you not heard a word of what I have said to you?”

  “It’s not Freya’s fault,” Finn says. “I put this whole thing in motion. It was my idea.”

  “You are supposed to protect her,” Wudak says looking straight into Finn’s eyes. He is angry and frustrated. I haven’t seen this part of him yet.

  “I’m not a child, I’m responsible for my own actions,” I say.

  “Clearly, you’re not,” Wudak says. “Neither of you has a sense of responsibility.”

  “They won, didn’t they?” Damian comes to our defense. This shocks me more than Wudak’s reaction. “Two against an entire regiment and they both made it back? I’d say that’s pretty impressive.”

  Wudak is not pleased with any of this. “They have informed the aliens of your position. They now know you are still in the district. How is this an impressive development?”

  Damian shrugs his shoulders. “They’ve known,” he says. “How could they not after we attacked that convoy? They know we haven’t left the district. That would be next to impossible with all the toxic fumes at the borders. You’re angry because your buddies got axed.”

  Wudak grinds his teeth so loud that the whole cave reverberates. For a moment I think he and Damian are going to attack each other. Doc intervenes just in the nick of time. “I need to take care of Freya. That arm of hers seems to be in bad shape. You can argue all you want later.”

  He leads me to the Labs where he has set his own little office. Pip goes with us holding on to my right hand. The Labs combine all the things that you would regularly find in Doc’s lab and Theo’s tech lair. It is equipped with all kinds of screens, monitors, test tubes and microscopes.

  Doc sits me down on a cot and picks up his handheld ultrasonic scanner. He scans me from head to toe for signs of serious injuries.

  “Where did you get that?” I ask. “I thought you left the one you had back in the camp.”

  “The Sliman are well equipped,” he says as he puts pressure on my elbow.

  “Ouch,” I protest.

  “They have everything I could possibly need here. That elbow’s been badly abused but it’s not fractured,” he concludes. “You will have to rest it for a few days.”

  “I don’t know if I have a few days,” I say. “I have to practice using the receptor. I can’t focus enough yet. And it’s exhausting me. Hence the injuries.”

  Doc cleans the cuts on my face and applies the same ghost powder that he put on Finn.

  “You look so funny,” Pip says.

  “Thanks, Pip, that really helps my confidence.”

  “Well, you’re welcome,” she says smiling.

  Doc eyes me now. “Freya, do you mind if I draw some blood? I’d like to run some tests.”

  “Do you think there’s any left?” I joke, but Doc doesn’t smile. “Blood, I mean.” Doc tries again not to smile, but he does, a little. “Doc?”

  “I get it, Freya. It’s not that funny.”

  “Is what funny?” Pip asks.

  “See?” Doc says.

  Okay, maybe I’m not a barrel of laughs.

  “It was pretty foolish of you,” Doc says, “going out there and for what?”

  “We didn’t plan on running into any Sliman. And we wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the wolf trap,” I say.

  “Speaking of Sliman, I might as well tell you. It was decided this morning that Theo and I will try to
analyze and reproduce Omicron 5. If we succeed, and that’s a huge if, it will be up to you to bind it with the receptor. If you think it wise and if these thirty Sliman here truly turn out to be our friends.”

  “What did Damian have to say about it?”

  “He agreed. For the time being anyway. He said we can’t let the Sliman know if we’re successful, not until you’re in complete control of your receptor.”

  There is a lot of trust between Doc and Damian. I know that if I drill him enough, he’ll give me information about Damian’s current state of mind. Information that might be useful to me.

  “I’ll need to take a look at that cut on your thigh, too,” Doc says as he prepares the syringe he will use to draw blood. He points to a gown and he turns the other way so I can change.

  A moment later, he has the needle inside my vein.

  “What are you hoping to find?” I ask.

  “I’m not sure. Anything that might give me a clue as to why you are the way you are. Hopefully, I’ll understand more about the aliens.”

  Doc pulls the band-aids off the wound on my thigh in one quick motion. “I don’t see any signs of infection,” he says and covers it with his powder before bandaging it up.

  I’m about to ask him a few more questions about Damian when Theo walks in with Zoe and Nya close behind.

  “I should have sent you and Finn straight to Doc last night,” Zoe says.

  “You saw them last night?” Theo asks. “I thought they returned at dawn. How did you see them?”

  Lucky for me, it doesn’t seem like Zoe wants to expand on that. She turns to Doc instead. “Is she going to be alright?”

  Doc nods.

  “There’s two of us now with bandaged thighs,” Nya says.

  “You had it a lot worse than me,” I say.

  “Finn just told us everything. How was it?” she says.

  “How was what?”

  “The fight,” she says with a voice tinged with excitement and expectation.

  “I thought Finn told you all about it,” I say while picking up my clothes. I figure I can go to my room and change.

  “Those are in bad shape,” Zoe says as she snatches away my clothes. “Come with me, I’ll give you some of mine.”