Defect (Anomaly Book 4) Read online

  Defect

  Book 4

  Jessica Gilliland

  For my Mama,

  You’re the reason I strive to be kind and generous. You’re the reason I know unconditional love. You’re also the reason I find myself rooting for the charismatic bag guys in movies. I can only hope to be as strong and as loving a mother as you have been to me.

  A Note From Jessica

  Thank you so much for taking a chance on Anomaly! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  If you like what you read, please consider writing a review on Amazon for me. I am a new author navigating the rough waters of self-publishing. It’s been a very scary experience for me to have strangers reading my stories and opening myself up to criticism, as I’m sure it is for all authors.

  Before embarking on this journey, I didn’t realize the immense weight a review can have. I have a new respect for authors and artists who put themselves out there, and I appreciate every single person that takes the time out of their day to spread a little joy and share their experience in a review.

  As scary as it can be, it’s also very exciting when someone tells me how much they liked my writing, and it totally makes up for any negativity that comes my way.

  If you have any thoughts about the series or just want to chat with me, I’d love to hear from you.

  Email me at [email protected] or send me a personal message on my social media accounts:

  Http://www.twitter.com/jessicasreverie

  Http://www.facebook.com/jessicasreverie

  Http://www.instagram.com/jessicasreverie

  Http://www.pinterest.com/jessicasreverie

  Visit my website www.jessicasreverie.com to join my email list. Each new subscriber gets a free ebook of an Anomaly volume of their choosing and stays in the loop for more freebies and special releases.

  Amazon Author Page:

  Http://www.amazon.com/author/jessicagilliland

  Links to each book in the series:

  Anomaly (Book 1)

  https://www.amazon.com/Anomaly-Jessica-Gilliland-ebook/dp/B07NQJ8NPC

  Shift (Book 2)

  https://www.amazon.com/Shift-Anomaly-Book-Jessica-Gilliland-ebook/dp/B07NQ3T7QX

  Collide (Book 3)

  https://www.amazon.com/Collide-Anomaly-Book-Jessica-Gilliland-ebook/dp/B07NQ2JV8L

  Defect (Book 4)

  https://www.amazon.com/Defect-Anomaly-Book-Jessica-Gilliland-ebook/dp/B07NQ3M6V6

  Rise (Book 5)

  https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Anomaly-Book-Jessica-Gilliland-ebook/dp/B07NQ4FZL8

  Chapter One

  My vision blurred in and out as I studied the metal restraints that held me to the chair. My body was numb. The slowly accelerating beep of the heart monitors alerted a man in surgical mask. He stood over me and shined a small flashlight in my eyes. I was awake but unable to move. This was likely due to the blue liquid being pumped into the vein in my right arm.

  “He's lucid. Give him a minute, though.” The nurse was talking to someone just beyond my field of vision.

  “The other three are secured. We can proceed with this one.” A voice, followed by heavy footsteps, entered the room.

  My head was held still and upright in a sturdy vice. This felt familiar to me. I started to panic. My heart jumped wildly around in my chest, but I was still unable to move.

  The nurse nodded to the hidden person and removed the injection of blue liquid from my arm. My groggy head became clearer and I felt my fingertips coming back to life, but I hadn’t the strength to move just yet.

  After a moment I felt the heat of a light on the back of my head. The spot at the base of my skull was throbbing and then my heart jumped again. I was not at Hawthorn, but this was definitely an extraction. I willed my arms to move and pulled at the restraints, but I was still too weak to make a difference.

  “Where am I?” I managed to say with a scratchy ache in my throat.

  Then something else hit me; something far more important than my own well-being. I recalled electric shocks and the cries of the children at Hawthorn. I could see Stone’s lifeless body draped over her desk. The mad rush of pain and heat that surged through me as it was all taken from me again.

  “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.” The man stepped into the light.

  “Devereaux.” My teeth clenched. "What are you doing to me?”

  “Thanks to all the diligent research provided by Bethany, we've taken over where she left off."

  “How am I alive?”

  “The Genesis serum. You’ve died two more times on this table since we pulled you out of the water, but the Genesis allowed that echo you collected from that little girl to take root in your brain. You're body stops working, but your brain never does. Once we fix you up, you click back on.” Devereaux smirked.

  “Where is she?” I growled.

  “You see, the funny thing about all that research y’all were doing. You seem to have missed a crucial detail. It was right there in front of you. And with your help and the help of Ms. Law, Mr. Dillinger and Miss Rivera we can perfect our own serum.”

  “Where is Bebe?” I lunged forward, tugging on the straps and twisting wildly to no avail.

  Devereaux pushed a button on the IV pump and the blue liquid started to push again. I felt the numbness creep back into my limbs. My eyelids started to feel heavy again. The furious blips of my heartbeat on the monitors began to slow, sedation taking hold of me again.

  "Where's Liv?" I tried to ask, but my tongue felt heavy and swollen.

  Devereaux’s face blurred and began to fade.

  “All in due time, Mr. Stone.”

  Chapter Two

  Sharp pain shot through my head from temple to temple while the usual dull roar of a headache thundered in the back of my skull. I opened my eyes to find they’d moved me from the medical lab. My limbs still felt sluggish and my joints creaked as I struggled to sit upright on the cement slab in my cell.

  The walls were solid, gray concrete. One whole wall was a glass window, reinforced with a thick steel band welded in place. A subtle wave of relief came over me. It was nothing I couldn’t handle. One punch and it would shatter.

  I stood slowly, letting my equilibrium adjust to the sudden movement, and went for the window. I ran my hands over the glass. It was cold to the touch. I took a moment to lean my blazing forehead against it. It temporarily relieved the fever that had stuck with me the last few days, but did nothing for the headache. I took a deep breath and got back to the matter at hand. I placed both hands on the glass and started to push.

  Nothing.

  I forced my weight harder, but the window only warped with the pressure and seemed to get stronger, the more force I used. It was probably some experimental, military grade glass. I reached back and pounded my fist against it. I felt the bones in my hand splinter, and a new pain shot through me. With a grunt, I recoiled from the glass and surveyed the damage to my knuckles. The skin was unbroken, but the bones beneath were definitely fractured. There was still no sign of my attack on the clear surface.

  I felt the cool breeze coming from the vent above me and knew it wasn’t just oxygen they were flooding into my cell. ACT must have vaporized the chemical that inhibits our power.

  It was dark in the hallway outside my cell. I could vaguely make out the other glass containment units across from me in the dim yellow lighting. All I could see was my own reflection; the idiot cradling his hand stared back at me angrily.

  I looked back at the vent. It was the only opening in the cell, and way too small to fit through. I’d have to wait until someone opened the glass door. I doubt that would ever happen while I was conscious. That vent made sure they could pump whatever chem
ical they needed into the cell and knock me out again.

  “Damn it!” I yelled, squeezing my fist and stopping myself before it hit the cement wall.

  I lay back down. It was all I could do; just lay there and wallow in self-pity and the memory of my failures. I tried to recall anything about that night. The last thing I remember was Liv pleading for me to get up, but I couldn’t move. I was bleeding out. I’d conditioned for the electricity of the tazers, but that did nothing to save me from the three bullets imbedded in my chest.

  I closed my eyes and prayed that Liv had also made it out. Even if she was stuck in this place with me, at least she’d escaped the water. I could still feel it rising, sloshing against us as Hawthorn tumbled down on top of us. Devereaux had eluded that she was in the facility too, but I could never trust his word for what it was. The mind reader knew exactly what to say to get what he needed out of me.

  I heard heavy door slam and the sound of footsteps shuffling my way. I went to the window and peered out, trying to see anything.

  That’s when I saw her. She came out of the darkness like a ghost, escorted by three men. She didn’t look dangerous. She looked like a damn Victoria’s Secret model. She was tall with a curvy frame, long black hair and blue eyes that penetrated the darkness. Her arms crossed in front of her with her hands resting on her shoulders and bound to her by some sort of rubber material. She had a rubber collar attached to her neck and waist that connected to a three foot pole held by a man at her back, pushing her forward. The other two men walked behind them with their rifles trained on her. Even with this heavily armed entourage, she walked down the hall like it was a catwalk. I stepped back from the glass as they passed. She couldn’t move her neck but her eyes darted to mine, pinning me with their icy stare. They walked by quickly, but I swore I saw a smile pulling at her lips.

  As soon as they passed, I noticed that there were others standing at the windows in the cells opposite me. It was dark, but I could see Mars in the cell across and to my left. I recognized his build and the familiar way his dark hair was slicked back from his forehead. The cell directly across from me appeared empty, but even in the darkness, I could sense that it wasn’t. As soon as the guards passed, it was confirmed. The vague outline that was Lexa's body, revealed itself. I guessed they weren’t pumping the same chemical into her cell. It didn’t matter that she could go invisible in there.

  She breathed onto the glass and traced her fingers in the condensation, writing, Liv? I swallowed hard and shook my head. Lexa and Mars hadn’t seen her either. My heart sunk lower in my body, and I willed myself to keep breathing, to keep hope alive.

  I went back to my slab and rested my head in my hands. I tried to sleep, but there would be no rest for me anymore. All I could think about when I closed my eyes was Liv, soaking wet, covered in my blood and terrified. Her eyes stared into mine, pleading. I couldn’t stay awake for her. I couldn’t even move to protect her…again.

  We carried on in this fashion for the next few days. Each day I’d wake up in the lab, being prodded and poked. Then it was goodnight, and I’d be back in my cell with a migraine and hot flashes.

  My hands started to shake. I felt the involuntary tremble of my fingers, one by one. The muscles in my arms began to twitch and the pain in my head throbbed on. I looked down at my arms. The veins began to swell and the muscle spasms intensified. I took in deep breaths, holding them for a few moments each time, willing my body to calm down. After a few minutes, the tremors stopped, but my head was reeling again and the fever flared.

  “What the hell was that?” I gasped for breath and scanned my body again. Aside from the sweat that bled from my pores, I was normal again.

  The lights came back on. I opened my eyes to find four men in the usual black military garb standing outside Lexa’s cell. I saw her back into the corner and go invisible. The glass slid open and the men huddled together to block her escape. They flooded into the cell, scanning for her. They were each wearing thermo goggles. Her heat signature gave her away.

  I ran to the window and slammed my fist into the glass repeatedly, screaming at them. “Stop! Stop it! Don’t touch her!”

  Mars had seen me, and knew it was Lexa I was screaming for. He hurled himself against the window over and over. His body weight did nothing to tamper the glass and his super speed was useless in the cell, but he still punched and kicked to free himself.

  Two men grabbed Lexa. Their gloves emitted an electric pulse. With each sting, her invisibility faltered, revealing her shaking body. I could see the terror and pain in her twisted features. They didn’t need to shock her. They could see her as clear as day with those goggles. They did it to torture her, to break the fight out of her, but they didn’t know Lexa like I did.

  She continued to scream while Mars and I continued to beat futilely at our windows. Lexa grabbed onto the glass, clawing at anything to keep them from taking her. One man yanked her by her hair and the others grabbed her arms and legs, pulling her violently from her cell.

  Lexa twisted her head around and sank her teeth into the exposed flesh of one of their arms. The guard groaned and let her go, but the others had too firm a grip. Her victim looked down at his forearm. Blood pooled to the surface of his skin and dripped down his arms. Lexa's mouth was smeared with it. She cackled madly, spiting it back at him. The guard she’d bitten reached back and clocked her in the head. Her body went limp.

  They carried her unconscious body out of sight. Mars was still furiously throwing himself against his cell, until finally, he slid to the ground. Breathing heavily, I backed away from the glass and sat with my head in my hands.

  Again, all we could do was wait.

  A few hours later, I saw the guards escorting the model back to her cell. She looked tired, drained, and her eyes weren’t as vibrant as they had been the night before. Her steps were sluggish and her head was bowed down as she walked by. They’d done an extraction on her. I knew it without a doubt. The side effects were easy to spot. It was what they’d been doing to me every time I’d found myself back in my room with a headache and fever. These extractions were not like the ones at Hawthorn. They were rough. Back at Hawthorn, you’d get the symptoms of a common cold and the temporary loss of power. These extractions made me feel like I was dying for a good day and half. I had a feeling ACT had been testing injections on me too. Alongside the normal side effects, I was experiencing involuntary muscle spasms and blinding migraines like the ones I'd get when Stone and I were experimenting with the synthetic Genesis that allows me to adapt a foreign power.

  I looked at the model with sympathy, but was caught off guard when her eyes flitted up to mine, finding me easily. This time, I was certain of the smile that pulled at her full pink lips. She winked at me, and averted her attention ahead. I pressed myself against the glass to watch where they were taking her, but the guard behind her slammed the butt of his gun against the window, warning me to step away. I glared at him and backed off, still wary that they hadn’t returned Lexa. I didn’t put it past Devereaux to take my misbehavior out on her.

  They brought Lexa back the next night. This time it only took two men to return her. They dragged her down the hall, her feet hardly touching the floor. The whole left side of her face was blackened. The men shoved her into her cell and closed the glass behind her. I watched them punch a key code into the control box at the end of the hall. What I wouldn’t have given for super sight right about then.

  Once they were gone, I looked back at Lexa. Her eyes were fixed open, staring back at me, but I could tell she couldn’t see me as she lay on the bench in her cell. I went to the glass to offer her any kind of support I could through the windows. She made eye contact for only a moment. She had that familiar coldness in her eyes. Those were the moments at Hawthorn when we knew to leave Lexa alone. She slowly turned away from me, curled into a ball, and disappeared.

  Mars couldn’t see her from where he was. He looked to me for answers. I nodded to give him some relief, but I
was worried. I knew he could see it on my face. Mars raked his fingers through his hair and pulled at it in frustration, turning away from me. Now I was even more worried about Liv. If she was in the facility too, what was she going through? Why hadn’t they brought her to the cells? I’d seen dozens of Anomalies shuffled through this hallway. Was Devereaux just keeping her from us so I’d behave?

  Or worse...maybe she hadn’t made it out of Hawthorn after all.

  Chapter Three

  A flash of electric blue light pulsed through the hallway, rattling the walls. It felt like an earthquake had rolled through my cell. The lights in the hallway flickered and shut off.

  I stood slowly, inching my way to the glass. It was calm for only a moment before the sirens began to wail and the barrage of footsteps echoed through the hall. A dozen soldiers flooded in from the security door at the end of the hallway and rushed by my cell, but they didn’t make it far before another electric pulse shot through them. Blue veins of electricity crawled along the walls toward the soldiers and came down on them. The men dropped their weapons and fell to the floor, sputtering blood from their mouths, ears and eyes while they convulsed on the floor.

  Another set of footsteps came rushing from where the electricity had come from. It was one person. They were lighter and faster that the soldiers. Suddenly, she was at my window. The model smiled at me again and held up her hand to the control panel on the side of the wall. Her eyes glowed electric blue as currents of energy shot from her fingertips and into the control panel. It exploded and burst into flames. A moment later, the glass to my containment unit, and every other unit on the cellblock, slid open. I breathed in the burst of cool air, but was suddenly hit by the stench of burning flesh. I looked down at the still smoking men, and then back at the model.