Page 54 of Dangerous Deviance
I could have objected. Should have said ‘no.’ Should have gotten the hell out. But I was tired. All I wanted was a tangerine, a glass of milk, a roll of bread, my bed, Julie. The tattoo gun hissed, muffling the constant ringing. I could sleep.
Those four hills, or a double M, the same logo that had been on Dr. Bates’s ties, was now on my neck. If I looked hard enough, I could see it on every woman’s neck. At least, those who had earned it.
***
Right before the one year mark, a knock sounded on my door just past midnight. I put on my uniform and tried the door, expecting it to be locked, as always, but for once it wasn’t. My heart sped up, thinking it might be Julie, but instead, it was a man, dressed in a button-up shirt and pants. That grayish-brown curly hair was unmistakable.
“Dr. Bates,” I said. “Come in.”
I was happy to see him. He was my only connection, and though I exchanged facial expressions with other students when no one was looking, Dr. Bates was the only person who I conversed with regularly. Edward wasn’t a person Iwantedto know, but Dr. Bates was like a father to me, guiding me until I became a better, stronger soldier.
“Your contract is almost up,” he said. I blinked, waiting for him to continue. “Are you ready to return to the outside world with your new perspective?”
“Absolutely, sir,” I said. “I will enjoy my flight toward the horizon.”
He sat on the bed next to me. “I have one more task for you,” he said. His fingertips touched my shoulder, his warmth penetrating the fabric. His eyes lingered on my lips, and it was clear to me then, that he wanted me. But during this whole year, he had never touched me. Looked at me, yes. Authorized my beating, yes. But he had never done it himself.
It was almost as if he could protect me.
My heart clenched, thinking of the words he had said. One more task? Sweat gathered on my brow.
“But I—”
He held up a hand, and I immediately fell silent. “I promised you your sister. I won’t change that. But I need you to do one last assignment for me. One last contract,” he sighed. “She would have wanted it.”
Would have? I stared at him, trying to read what he meant, what he wanted me to endure, but I couldn’t understand his expression. It never changed.
So I thought about his words:would have.
Like she didn’t exist anymore.
But that couldn’t be true.
“Anything for Julie,” I said. And for the Skyline Shift,” I added quickly.
“Good.”
Without his lab coat on, he looked almost like a university professor. He was kind that way, maybe even gentle. He put a hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s go see your sister.”
At the back of the campus, the trees stretched up, so much higher than the buildings. Sometimes, we heard noises coming from the forest, but we never questioned it because we couldn’t speak. My heart swelled with excitement, but I kept it all in. Dr. Bates led me to a garden, but there was no one there. I wrinkled my brows, but I trusted Dr. Bates. His methods were unique, but he always knew what was best for us.
The stench of rotten eggs and fertilizer filled my nose. I pinched my nostrils shut, but Dr. Bates seemed undisturbed, like he was used to the stench.
“She’s just past these trees,” he said.
I followed him, but once my eyes settled on a head, lying on the ground, I recognized her immediately. The soft cheeks. The blond hair, tangled and brown with dirt. Her nostrils stuffed with clumps of earth, as if she had been suffocated with it. Her body sliced into pieces. The blood pooling in her skin, making her cheeks purple. Her eyes still open, yellowed, blotched with thick, red vessels, looking up and seeing nothing.
Julie.
I don’t know what happened, exactly. I blacked out. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like my soul was being crushed from within. And when I finally came back to my senses, it was still nightfall. I was sitting on a bench in the garden, facing the campus. Dr. Bates was beside me.
“I hate to do that to you, you know,” he said. “Julie was a good girl. One of our best students. But even she fell victim to the Adlers. And she deserves to be avenged, doesn’t she?”
I blinked back the tears. “Of course, Dr. Bates,” I said.
He put a hand on my back, rubbing my scarred skin, his eyes studying me.
