The Dark at the End Read online

  I think I may have to tell him.

  He grabs the pinkie he just snapped, full force, and yanks it back and forth viciously. I scream, and scream and scream.

  45

  MYKA

  Brother by NEEDTOBREATHE

  I think Jake might be dying.

  They came and got me and Mom a while ago. They didn’t tell us anything at first, of course—so we were just happy to see each other. I didn’t let go of her hand all the way through the hallways. Then I started to get a bubble of hope that maybe Jake had done something, since he’s here, and they were going to let us out. Why else would they come get us like this and bring us somewhere together? That must be what’s happening. We’re going to walk right out the doors into those pine trees.

  And then they opened a door, and Jake was in a hospital bed, moaning and thrashing around. His face was bright red, and there was sweat rolling off him. The bed was wet with it.

  And Dad was standing there in the corner, his fist to his mouth, staring at Jake. His eyes wild. “Abby,” he said, soft. “It’s that damn serum of Grigory’s he took. We can’t get his fever down.”

  Mom made a little noise and jumped to the bed. She wiped off his face, barked at Dad that they needed to get a nurse in to change the sheets, and then started interrogating him about what had been done already.

  But it’s been two hours, and he’s still not any better.

  Mom and Dad are fighting in the corner, low, while I hold Jake’s hand. He’s not thrashing right now, but he’s not sleeping either. He keeps saying crazy stuff about bugs and walls closing in. My tears drip onto his hand, and I’m surprised they don’t make steam, he’s so hot.

  I don’t want him to die.

  Ever since I can remember, it’s been the two of us, together. He always protected me, took care of me. And when I needed it, when I was upset about something, he’d tunnel to me. I always knew it was him, this voice in my head that told me it would be okay. It took a long time before I realized all brothers didn’t do that.

  Jake is in all of my first memories. Playing with me in the yard of one of our houses, balancing me on his knees. Watching endless cartoons with me on Saturday mornings. Dancing with me in thunderstorms.

  I lay my head on our hands, tears coming faster. I didn’t accept it when they told us he was dead last time. I’d know, I thought. If he was dead, I’d know. Part of me would be gone. But if he dies here, now, I will know. And what will I do? I wish Dedushka and Rachel hadn’t even found that serum. Maybe it stopped something important. Maybe Jake’s body needs the tunneling, to keep it working.

  I lift my head, look at Jake closely. It could be true. It could work.

  “Give him the green serum,” I say, hoarse.

  “What?” Mom says. “No! You’re not messing with him any—”

  But Dad holds up a hand, his eyes fixed on me. “Why?”

  “He needs it. The other one, it stopped the tunneling, but the tunneling was part of him.” I talk fast, trying to keep up with my thoughts. “It hurt him when it got taken away. You said you had a version of this other serum using Jake’s stem cells, right? Who would it work on better than him? And he needs it.” I clasp his hand. “I think he needs it to stay alive.”

  Mom stares at me, her hand over her mouth. Dad nods, once. “I’ll get it. I’ll do it myself.”

  When he leaves, Mom comes slowly to the bed. She brushes Jake’s hair back, gently. “Are you sure?”

  “No. It’s just a guess. But he’s going to die without it,” I say, my voice breaking. “It’s worth trying.”

  Still. I wonder if Jake’s going to kill me if it works. When he wakes up, and he has his power back.

  46

  JAKE

  Back Against the Wall by Cage the Elephant

  I open my eyes, blink. Blink again, and there’s Myka. She looks a little bedraggled, but okay. We’re alone, the room cleared out, the one door shut.

  I must be hallucinating again.

  Myka smiles, a sweet smile like she used to give me when she was little, and I smile back even though it’s not really her. Then she pinches my arm, hard, and I slap at it. “Ow!”

  She smiles again. “I keep telling you I’m real. Are you really awake this time, Goofy?”

  Oh my God, she’s really here.

  I grab her hand like she’s going to slip away again. My hand feels strange—there’s an IV in it, taped to the back. I’m in a hospital gown. What the hell?

  Myka squeezes hard, and touches my cheek with her other hand.

  “Are you all right? How long have I been in here? Out of it?”

  “In or out?” Myk snorts. Gently she lets go of my hand and leans on the bed. “I’m fine. And I don’t know. They let me and Mom come in about four hours ago, but I bet you were sick a while before that.” She squints. “You had a terrible reaction to the serum you took. Your fever was 104. You were going to die.”

  “But I didn’t.” I tap one finger against the back of her hand. I don’t feel hot, and I’m not seeing things anymore. “I’m fine.”

  “You didn’t.” She takes a deep breath, looks away, then back. “Because I told Dad to give you his activation serum. It worked right away.”

  I inhale, sharp. No. The whole point was to be without the power, to make everyone safe. I was only without it for what, two days?

  “You can’t live without it,” she says. She lets go of my hand. “I know you didn’t want it anymore, and I don’t know why it’s like that. But it was killing you not to have it.”

  I shake my head. I’m stuck with it? For the rest of my life? “It’ll never end now. They’ll be after me forever.”

  “Well,” she says, eyebrows raised. “We don’t know that. It made you better. But does it work? Can you tunnel?”

  I frown. “Are my clothes still in here somewhere?”

  “Fortunately,” she says drily, “yes.”

  “Okay. Find my jeans. There should be a ring in the coin pocket.”

  “Find your jeans? I told you your clothes were here. It doesn’t take a lot…okay.” She rummages in the corner. “Got it.”

  “Put it in my hand?”

  I close my hand around it as soon as I feel it. I waste no time. I close my eyes, feel the familiar warmth tingle down my hands, and try.

  It works, instantly. Stronger than before. Sharper. Like I upgraded to HD.

  Rachel’s in a hotel room in Green Bank. She’s staring down at her shoes, her whole body flaring with pain. Her hand…she looks up, just as Smith bends her finger back, so far and so cruelly it’s going to snap. Just like the one flopping at an odd angle next to it. She’s crying, tears and blood streaming down her swollen face.

  Blood. He hit her. He’s breaking her fingers to tell her where I am. My Rachel.

  I come out of it, so furious I can barely form words. “He’s got her. Smith. He’s…torturing her.”

  “Rachel?” Myka squeaks.

  I start breathing fast, clutching the ring. I have to do something. I have to stop it. “To find out where I am.”

  “Then tell him,” Myka says.

  I don’t even answer. I just give her that blank stare she’s probably used to.

  She sighs, then leans in close again. “The only way we’re all going to get out of here is with a distraction, right? And he’s hurting Rachel to find out where you are. So you tell him, through her. And then he leaves Rachel alone, and comes here and makes a big distraction. The biggest.”

  “God,” I say slowly. “You’re right.”

  “I know,” she says, victorious. “We’ll have to get out past him, but it’s better than him hurting her out there while we’re stuck in here.”

  I nod, go back in without another thought of weighing risk or Smith or anything. I have to stop him hurting Rachel, now.

  I fill her completely, and snap my head up. “Stop,” I say, firm. “This is Jake.”

  He stops. He doesn’t let go, but he loosens his grip, tilts hi
s head. “Jacob? Is it really you?”

  “It’s really me, you bastard,” I say, in Rachel’s voice. “You need to let her go, leave her out of this. She doesn’t know where I am. But I’ll tell you, if you leave her alone, safe.”

  He lets go, and Rachel’s hand drops painfully back into her lap. I cringe at the strength of the pain. I don’t know how she can stand it.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Agree,” I say, “or no more. I know you and your deals.”

  “Very well,” he sighs. He brushes a piece of dirt off his sleeve. “I agree.”

  “I’m with my father. But I don’t want to be. He’s far worse than you. But I can’t get out. You can come and get me.”

  He snorts. “While I don’t believe you for an instant, Mr. Lukin, please do tell me where you are anyway. I’ll do my best.”

  I don’t feel like I’m sticking. It’s been so long since I tunneled, and I haven’t done controlling in a long time. It takes practice to push past the suffocating feeling that their skin is closing in on me. But there’s no sense of that, no panic.

  I tell him the location of the base, tell him to come tonight, 1 am, when their guard will be down.

  I tell him to leave Rachel at the hotel with a phone, so she can get help. And that I’ll check on her.

  “And if I don’t?” he says, smiling wickedly.

  “I thought you were a man of your word.” I make Rachel smile, which must look grisly with all the blood. “But if you don’t, you’ll pay for the rest of your life. I swear to that.”

  “Very well,” he says. “She’s useless anyway except for this. I’ll see you again tonight, Mr. Lukin.”

  I stay just a second longer, to whisper something only to Rachel, and then I’m gone.

  When I come out of it again, Dad is standing in the doorway, watching me.

  47

  JAKE

  Glue by Nina Nesbitt

  I curl the ring in my hand so he won’t see it—but I think I’m too late. From the expression on his face, he already saw way more than I wanted.

  Myka stands, and his thundercloud expression shifts to her.

  “What in hell are you still doing in here? They were supposed to send you back to your room.”

  She steps toward him. “I begged, and they let me stay. I didn’t want to leave him alone.”

  “They let you?” Dad says, dangerous. “I’ll deal with them. And what were you doing, Jacob Benjamin?”

  Middle name. I’m thrown right back to school, whenever I’d broken Dad’s rules. Didn’t make my bed the right way. Didn’t finish my chores. Got in trouble for mouthing off at school. Made Myka join me in some illicit adventure.

  I push up, fight a wave of dizziness. I’m weak, wobbly. I guess that kind of fever takes it out of you. But I’ll be damned if I’ll let him see it. “Nothing,” I say innocently.

  He shuts the door behind him. He looks at me, and I see it in his eyes again, the hunger. “You were tunneling. It worked.”

  I swallow. “I told you I can’t do that anymore.”

  “And you were telling the truth. But not anymore.” He waves at me. “You were doing it.” He strides over to me, touches my arm, eager. “How is it? You have to tell me. Is it the same as before?”

  “I don’t have to tell you, actually.” I sit back, which is good since my muscles weren’t going to hold me up much longer. “I didn’t tunnel.”

  His hands go into fists. “You TELL ME!”

  “Stop it!” Myka yells. “Just stop!”

  There’s a moment of silence. Each one of us is breathing hard, furious. For different reasons.

  “Give me the object,” Dad says. “I only want you tunneling when I can see you.”

  He doesn’t know I can tunnel to Dedushka without one. But I shake my head. I need the ring. It’s my only connection to Rachel, to make sure she’s safe.

  Myk moves closer, on my other side, like she’s protecting me. She squeezes my arm, silent support.

  “I’ll tell you whatever you want,” I say, calm, still holding the ring. “I’ll even see if I can tunnel for you. If you let the rest of them go. Now. Give them a car and get them out of here.”

  “Jake,” Myka says. That’s not the plan, her eyes say. Smith. Distraction.

  But if it works, isn’t it a better plan? mine say back. Leave me here to slip out while Dad and Smith fight over me. Less chance of failure, and less casualties if it does fail.

  Her eyes narrow.

  “Absolutely not,” Dad says. “Smith is out there, if you’ve forgotten. I’m not sending them outside when it isn’t safe. Besides…” He looks at Myka. He doesn’t finish the sentence, but we know what he means. “And Lucas. I’m not letting any of you go.”

  Myka and I exchange another glance. We’ll just have to leave you on our own, then.

  “Let us stay together,” I try. “All of us. Please. If we’re going to be kept here, let us at least be a family.”

  So we can escape together.

  He had his mouth open to say ‘no,’ but that word stops him. Family still holds some power. He taps one finger on the bed, then impatiently runs his hand through his hair. He looks like Lucas. “Dr. Miller already started that, I discovered, putting some of you together. I still need to talk to her about that. And…other things. Fine. The rest of them can stay together. You…” His mouth tightens. “You will tell me everything. And we will start some tests. And give me the object. Now.”

  Myka gives me a tiny nod, which means she’ll take care of the rest of them. When the distraction comes, 1 am, they’ll be ready. I won’t be able to tunnel to Rachel, but I guess I’ll just have to trust that she’ll be okay, now that Smith is going to leave her alone. I’m pretty confident he’ll keep his word.

  “You know how I love tests,” I say. I’m losing steam, still wiped out from everything, but I reluctantly drop the ring in his hand. “But right now I need to rest. If you test me now I’ll just fail spectacularly. Or get sick again.” I hold my head, for emphasis. “Nobody wants to see that.”

  “I don’t want to see that,” Myka says, a smile in her voice.

  I smile at her, for real. “Love you, dorkus.”

  “I know.” She beams. Star Wars reference accomplished. She trips to the bed and throws her arms around me, an awkward half-hug. I hug her back as well as I can.

  “That’s enough,” Dad takes out a walkie-talkie and speaks into it. “I need an escort, Room 532. And Dr. Miller, please see me in my office immediately.”

  In seconds the door opens and a soldier comes in, one of the bulky guys. He salutes Dad. It turns my stomach.

  “Take her to the main common room,” Dad says. “And bring the other guests there as well. Give them whatever they need to be comfortable.”

  “See you later, Jake,” Myk says, her voice only a little shaky.

  “In a while, crocodile,” I say back. She gives me one more smile before she goes.

  “You,” Dad says. “Rest, fine. I will be back to talk to you.”

  “You’d think you’d be happy,” I snap. “You’ve got me back. I’m your guinea pig again.”

  He tilts his chin, considers me. “Oh, I’m very happy, Jacob.” It gives me chills, the way he says it. “Very happy indeed.”

  It isn’t until long after he’s gone that I hear a crackle, and find something hidden under the sleeve of my hospital gown. I pull it out carefully, then turn and lean over it, hopefully hiding it from any cameras.

  It’s a small square of paper, neatly creased and folded. I open it carefully.

  A drawing, quickly sketched, of a bottle of glue. Folded inside, a curl of dark brown hair.

  Myka. She left an object for me, under Dad’s nose. So I could tunnel to them when the time comes. So they really can get out of here.

  And maybe, me too.

  I rip out the IV, get up, and put the rest of my clothes on, and stuff Myka’s paper far down in my pocket. Even if I’m going to rest, I’m
not going to be a patient anymore.

  48

  RACHEL

  Setup by Via Audio

  I think I passed out with the pain, or at least went to some happier place. When I come back to consciousness I’m alone, laid out on the lumpy bed, my mangled hand wrapped loosely in a shirt. A cell phone sits on the bedside table next to keys and a note that says “Your car is in the lot. You’re welcome.”

  It takes me a long time to figure out where I am, what’s going on.

  Then I remember Jake speaking through me. Telling Smith where he was, and to leave me alone.

  Damn it, Jake. I was resisting torture to not tell Smith that information. And then you just pop into my body and tell him? I don’t get it. Now they’re just going to go straight to John’s base, and…do what? Have a gunfight? Have a tug of war over Jake? Play chess to decide who gets him?

  No. With Smith and John involved, both desperate to use him, it’s going to be bloody. Brutal.

  I can’t really remember anything else from when he was speaking through me, except the general sense of helplessness, of being shoved aside in my own body. Though it seems like there was something I was supposed to remember. Something at the end. A message, I think. I try to grasp it, but it flits away like a butterfly. It was important, but I can’t access it. I was in too much pain, shock. What with people breaking my fingers. I try to move them, a little wiggle, but the pain of it sucks away my breath. Okay, whatever I’m going to do next, I’m not going to want to move my fingers.

  At least I’m away from that lunatic. Jake accomplished that, and I’m sure that was most of his goal. I’m still here. I’m okay.

  Mostly. I hurt, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get over Smith treating me like that. That feeling of the total loss of control.