Cameron let that slide. She was goading him, either because she could or because she had seen him mope all evening since dinner and was trying to break his malaise. Cameron’s heart just wasn’t into it today.
Your father experienced something similar after a tragic event.
“Did his dad die, too?”
No, he killed someone.
“What? I did that when I was eleven when those Genjix were after Mom and Dad in Vancouver.”
You and Roen are of a different mettle. Remember, you have been trained for this since you were four. At the time, your father was just into his first year as a host.
“How did he handle it?”
Very much like you are now. He moped.
“I am not moping!”
Then get your ass up.
Intent on proving Tao wrong, Cameron got up and brushed the dirt off his pants. He looked up at the still-setting sun and figured he had maybe an hour until nightfall. He held his hand out to Alex. “Want to go to the forest?”
She didn’t take his hand but nodded. “Lead the way, capitalist pig.”
“Says the billionaire’s daughter.”
“My father is only a multi-millionaire,” she sniffed. “My mother married down.”
“Funny, Tao says the same thing about my mom.”
“That is another similarity we share.”
The two walked away from the house, down to the tree line and into the forest. There was a small grove of large trees a hundred meters in that had several intertwining branches. At some point, these trees had grown close together. However, instead of the larger trees pushing out the weaker ones, they had learned to grow harmoniously.
The result of this outgrowth was a network of large branches that Cameron discovered made a very natural tree house. Last summer, he had hauled up some wooden planks and made it his own personal safe house when he needed time alone. It was his fortress of solitude.
His parents knew about this hiding place, though they pretended not to. Cameron knew they knew, and they knew he knew they knew. However, everyone pretended to not know, so whenever he needed some time alone and came here, they would know where he was, but wouldn’t bother him just to keep up pretenses. This arrangement suited everyone fine.
“Did you build this?” she asked as he grandiosely gestured at the primitive structure.
He nodded and pointed to the small wooden stick nailed to the trunk as a step. “You start there and climb that way.” He pointed to a winding path that went from the trunk they were climbing over to the one on the right. “And then once you get to that branch…”
Without another word, Alex was scaling the branches as easily as he ever did. Impressed, Cameron followed her up, noticing that even though this was her first time climbing this tree, she looked comfortable moving among the branches.
They do have trees in Russia, you know.
“I was just surprised. Most girls I know don’t climb trees.”
That is because you do not know any girls.
Within a few minutes, they were cradled in a little nook of branches two stories up. Cameron had moved several large pieces of plywood here and stolen some of the deck furniture pillows. He pulled out two bottles of water from the emergency pack he hid here and handed one to her.
The family had several of these emergency packs all over the place. One was at his school, another nestled between a couple of large boulders at the south end of town, and two more on each end of the safe house tunnels. He had enough experience early in his childhood to know these survival packs were often the difference between life and death. This one had a 9mm pistol, several magazines, flashlights, water, and dried rations.
“So how do you like your Quasing?” he asked. “I hear you’re a new host. I’m sorry about your mom.”
Alex shrugged. “She was a vessel to a Holy One. It was a great honor.” She paused. “It is a great honor now.”
“How are you adjusting to someone talking in your head? I’ve been a host for as long as I can remember. If you have any questions, I can help.”
Stop trying to show how smart you are.
Alex rolled her eyes, and then she took on a thoughtful expression. “Is there really no privacy anymore? Ever?”
Cameron shook his head. “Tao can hear everything I think. I can’t keep a secret from him. He can tell when I’m lying.”
It is because you are as bad at it as your father. However, I think you hit a nerve.
Though Alex had attempted to seem like the perfect host for her Quasing, she looked troubled. “I had only had Tabs for a few weeks before we had to run, but my friends… the ones I used to have before I became a vessel… Everything is different now. I do not see the world the same way they do. Not anymore.”
Cameron leaned forward, his head bobbing up and down. “Yeah. I get the same way at school. All the kids my age, it seems like they just don’t know anything. But I’m not allowed to say anything either. It’s like, they’re so…”
“Stupid,” Alex said.
“… sheltered,” Cameron finished.
They both laughed nervously and settled into several seconds of awkward silence. On one hand, they had just formed a connection, no matter how minute. Whatever this bond was sent tingles down his spine and scared him stiff. After all, she was just like him and understood what he was talking about, but she was also Genjix. Cameron didn’t seem to know what to make of such an awkward relationship. After all, all their lives, they’d been told the other side was the enemy. It was all very confusing, but exciting.
Something is off. I think Tabs is trying to play us.
Cameron wasn’t listening to Tao at all, though. They both blushed. Then he noticed her face for the first time, really studied her face, with her blonde hair, startling blue eyes, sharp nose and chin. She looked like a doll, with perfect features, as if she were etched out of marble. She was hard and soft at the same time, and for a second he wondered if she was from the missing Romanov bloodline or some other Russian royalty. Or something. His face felt hot, his palms sweaty. By this time, he had no idea what was going through his head right now. The words he was thinking didn’t even make sense.
Really? I think it is time you two head back to the house.
“Why? I like it here.”
Just do it. Now.
“Tao thinks we should head back,” he said, hating every word that came out of his mouth. He began to get up.
Alex leaned forward and put her hand on his wrist. “A few minutes more. It’s nice here. Tell me, do your parents treat you differently? I feel like I have this weight on my shoulders and Papa treats me like a glass figurine.”
And just like that, Tao lost control of his host for the rest of the night. The dam between the kids had sprung a leak, and suddenly they were sharing their feelings, fears. They spoke about being hosts, but it was more than that. While Cameron had experienced loneliness all his life, he also knew nothing else but Tao and this loneliness. For Alex, it had come as an even greater shock. She had been popular with the other children in the Russian upper social circles before becoming a vessel. Now she had no one.
The sudden collapse of everything she knew in life was so oppressive, it hurt her physically. Yet, as a young Adonis, she knew that it was her destiny to become a host, or a vessel, as they called it. The only reason she had not gone to the Hatchery years ago was because of the Council Power Struggle. Her father had elected to train her closer to home as opposed to at the Hatchery, which fell under Councilman Enzo’s control.