“When I was going through possible matches for you, I noticed she was a mirror—I thought you’d feel most sympathetic when you realized that they aren’t much different than we are. Plus, she is important—or rather her father used to be.”
“Who was her father?”
Noah points to another picture of a man and woman, I recognize a younger Cherie standing between the couple. This man used to be the head of Pfizer… he was the only one in his family spared—his company was working on a cure at the same time that C-Shapes was formed. He refused to join, stating that more progress could be made if they worked separately, different perspectives and all that. Well, one week after he rejects his wife suddenly goes Aggro and kills him. Cherie escapes—but they set her up in a new city, new place, leaving only her paintings… kind of like a cruel reminder. Remember, C-Shapes is a corporation, they do not want competition—they want power and money. They label Unstables as monsters when they are the ones doing unspeakable evil.”
“So there is no cure?”
“There is no need for a cure—not everyone who is Unstable is going to go Aggro. The best way to have solved this problem from the beginning was to do nothing at all.”
“So how do I help her?”
“Have her stop taking the C-Alysium. I’ve been taking common aspirin for six years… Also, your badge is a microphone and C Shape Sniffers sit at computers and monitor things—I don’t know if you’ll already be in trouble for kissing her…”
“She threw my badge and it landed behind a dresser.”
“That is a stroke of luck then…”
“So she will get better? She won’t go Aggro…”
“There’s never a hundred percent certainty that she will never go Aggro in her lifetime, but if you keep her on C-Alysium, she will for certain.”
“And her condition…?”
“Some things will improve. This thing about Paris will get sorted out—in time without her pill, she’ll become more aware, her memories will return… but she’ll always be a mirror, she’ll always be prone to anxiety… she will always be an Unstable. But then again, if you like her for who she is now, it is something you have to deal with.”
“I understand…” I say as I take another heavy breath of the air in.
“Here,” Noah says as he tosses me a pair of glasses. “People think that these things detect Unstables, well I suppose it does—but when it shows someone as an Unstable it is really picking up the C-Alysium in their system. It might come in handy… test it out now if you like. Then again… I already admitted I haven’t been on my pills in years.”
I nod as I place the glasses in my front pocket. Noah then hands me a metal case.
“Just in case no one on the inside comes through… get this metal case to anyone who will listen,” Noah adds. “Keep it safe, do not open it until you know that there is no chance of you losing any of the info inside—or when you are able to get it to someone.”
“Why me…?” I ask. I know for certainty that I am no one special. None of this makes any sense.
“You were lost and you wanted to make a difference, you wanted to help people—I needed someone else on the outside just in case.”
“I didn’t want this much responsibility.”
“You can handle it,” Noah says as he suddenly looks down to my pocket. “What the hell…”
I look down and see that the red light on my phone is slowly flashing. I pull it from my pocket and look at it, deeply confused. I didn’t hit the button… that could only mean that…. “Hunters?”
“Fuck,” Noah says as he grabs my phone and looks at it. “Has anyone messed with your phone?”
I think for a second and I remember my date, Michelle, messing with it for a brief moment. “I had a C Shape date—she took a pocket knife and did something with the release.”
Noah smashes the phone against the concrete floor,” and shakes his head. “They didn’t trust you—they had her bug your phone… at some point the Sniffers have been listening in.”
“We need to get out of here,” I say, panicked.
“We have about twenty-five minutes. “ Noah says as he rummages through a metal chest. “I did the research… plus it is what I used to scare of my last Sitter. One of the perks of living rural…”
Noah hands me a handgun and two boxes of bullets.
“I’m not a hunter… I don’t know how to use this.”
“It’s pretty straightforward—you point at what you want to kill and you pull the trigger… it’s not rocket science.”
Noah places a second handgun into his pocket. “Give me your car keys… it will throw them off, I’ll get as far away as I can and ditch the car and steal another one.”
“What about me and Cherie?” I ask, as I grow more panicked. I feel like I’m about to hyperventilate.
Noah tosses me a set of keys. “In the garage there is a car that I have not registered—they don’t know it even exists. Get in, tell the GPS to take you ‘home’ and tell it to avoid all major roads.”
“What is home?”
“We don’t have time to be down here talking,” Noah says as he quickly begins to ascend the ladder. “My parents had a place in rural Missouri, like a vacation home. Every Sunday I go down and stock it up with supplies—it’s my second hideout.”
Noah bursts through the door, scaring Cherie and nearly knocking her to the ground. “Fuck, sorry—“
“I I shove the handgun into my pocket, cram the metal case beneath my arm, and take Cherie’s suitcase in one hand and reach for her hand with the other. We start rushing up the stairs.
“Where are we going?” Cherie asks as she is being pulled along.
“We have to leave, it’s not safe for you here,” I say as I round the top of the stairs and begin to head down the hall. I look back and see Noah at the front door. He is talking to his mother.
“I need you to come with me,” Noah says as he attempts to get her up from her chair. “The Hunters are coming for me.”
“Do you need help?” I ask as I stop.
“Just go, remember anyone who will listen…” Noah adds. I look back once more and see that she is refusing to leave. I watch as he bends down and kisses his mother on the forehead.
I enter the garage. I pause for a moment and curiously look at the vehicle—I have not seen one of these in forever… back in the day these were top of the line vehicles. The slim, red, intimidating vehicle sits there like a beast ready to be released from its cage. I open the back seat and place Cherie’s suitcase into the back. I open up her door for her and she crawls into the red Mazda XIII. I fumble with the keys and get the car running. “Open garage door,” I say and the door quickly begins to open.
“GPS take me home—avoid all interstates and highways.”
“Understood,” A female voice answers back, I begin to drive in the direction of transparent display on my windshield. I see a glimpse of my old car heading in the opposite direction. I hope that Noah knows what he is doing. I speed off and into the country.
As I reach a good distance, I lower my speed. I do not want to seem overly suspicious. Then again, on these old roads I have not seen another car since I’ve left Noah’s residence. The road ahead is difficult to discern at times, high grass has grown through large cracks. In some places I have to dodge entire pieces of the road that has been washed away altogether.
“I’m scared…” Cherie whispers. I realize that she hasn’t said anything for nearly an hour. I hope that she is not having any anxiety.
“I know,” I say as reach an open hand and place it on her knee. She places her small hand inside of mine and I squeeze it tightly. “We are going to be alright.”