The ARC 02: Talented Read online

  ‘Oh, I see how it is. You know, I was worried sick. I waited for you after the raid for ages and tried a million times to comm you, but the signal was blocked. You could’ve told me if you wanted to leave with him.’

  ‘No, no, no! It was nothing like that. I was pushed over during the raid and I think I hit my head and passed out. Then Hunter found me and, since he didn’t know who I was there with, he was kind enough to bring me here.’ I can feel his eyes watching me, making me conscious of how much I say to Lara.

  ‘You passed out?’ she asks.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Shit, Elle, that’s horrible. I hope you’re okay.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I reassure her again.

  ‘I feel so bad. I was the one who took us there and you ended up hurt. I can’t believe it! On the upside, I guess we’ll know to be more careful next time.’

  I scoff, but then cover it with a cough. I’m pretty certain there won’t be a next time.

  Lara continues, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t manage to find M, what with the raid and all—’

  ‘I’ll come by your place to get my stuff on the way home,’ I say, talking over her and hoping she’ll get the hint. Hunter’s not even trying to be subtle about listening in.

  ‘Oh yeah. I’ll be around all day, so swing by whenever. Have fun with Hunter,’ she croons.

  I can feel myself blushing and I keep my eyes looking determinedly away from him. ‘Okay, I’ll see you soon. Bye.’ I say the words quickly and disconnect our comm without waiting for her response. She’s already embarrassed me enough and I’m not willing to see what else she can add to mortify me further.

  ‘What are we going to do for fun then? You weren’t much fun last night,’ Hunter says.

  ‘I, uh…’

  ‘I’m kidding Elle. I’m making us some breakfast. How about you change and meet me out in the kitchen?’

  My tummy growls as he says it and I laugh at it. ‘That would be great.’

  Squeezing back into the dress from last night is a feat. It feels even shorter in the daylight. The heels are on the floor next to the chair, but my feet are still throbbing from last night, so I decide to leave them off.

  I cautiously make my way out into the bright open plan living and kitchen area. The decor is sleek and white, very modern, with huge windows that give the room an airy, light feeling. I look around to see if there’s anyone else home but only see Hunter behind the kitchen counter.

  ‘Something smells good,’ I say.

  ‘I hope you like eggs.’

  ‘I do.’ I take a seat at the counter.

  ‘Why were you looking for M last night?’ he asks.

  ‘No idea, I think he’s a friend of Lara’s. Who else lives here?’ I ask, attempting to avoid all talk of M.

  ‘It’s just me.’

  ‘You weren’t fostered out?’

  ‘I was originally. But I decided to move out on my own.’

  ‘They let you do that?’ I ask.

  ‘Not really, but I didn’t like living with some strange family and I didn’t want to get moved into the East Dorms. There are so many empty apartment buildings, I just decided to pick one and make the most of it.’

  ‘You just moved in?’

  ‘Yep.’ He pulls out some toast from the toaster, juggling the hot pieces and tossing them down on a plate.

  ‘Where’s your own family?’

  ‘Still in the ARC,’ he replies. I’m not surprised; the ARC was filled with torn families, so obviously the same would be true of the surface.

  ‘Voila.’ He places the plate in front of me.

  ‘This looks delicious.’ It smells even better. He brings his plate around to sit next to me. We both sit in silence as we munch away at our breakfast.

  ‘Who’s Sebastian?’ he asks. A piece of food gets caught in my throat and I cough uncomfortably, trying to clear it.

  ‘A friend of mine,’ I say quickly. I take several deep gulps of water. ‘Why?’

  ‘You were just talking about him last night is all.’

  ‘I was?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he says. I push my food around my plate, waiting for him to continue, but he doesn’t say anything.

  ‘What did I say?’ I finally ask.

  ‘Just random things, nonsense mostly.’ We go back to eating in silence. He doesn’t stop there though. ‘Are you looking for him?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I thought you might be.’ He nods to himself. The silence has turned uneasy in the room. I quickly heap the last few bites of my breakfast into my mouth.

  ‘I should go. Do you need any help cleaning up?’ I ask, as I take my plate into the kitchen. It’s taking a lot of effort to act casual and hide the mounting anxiety I feel to leave the apartment. The whole place has become repellent to me and my body craves some fresh air. It’s probably just because I’ve been feeling a bit sick this morning.

  ‘No, I’m happy to do it,’ he replies, following me with his own plate.

  My shoulders noticeably sag in relief and I quickly move towards the front door. Hunter pulls it back for me.

  ‘I’ll see you at school on Monday,’ I say, when I get to the entrance.

  ‘Yeah, see you then,’ he says, watching me as I leave. It’s only when I’m several feet down the corridor that I hear the click of the door shutting behind me.

  In my hurry to get out, it’s not until I reach the lift that I realise how dingy the hallway is. None of the lights are on, and the only source of light is from a window at the other end of the corridor. The floor is covered with a frayed carpet runner and the walls are dirty, with sections of panelling missing in places. It reminds me of the dilapidated entrance to the building we were in last night. The elevator looks just as old and creaky. I repeatedly push the button to call for the lift.

  ‘C’mon, c’mon,’ I grumble under my breath. The lift doesn’t come though and I have to take the stairs. Once I’m in the stairwell I begin to relax. I feel foolish for being so desperate to leave Hunter’s apartment, especially after everything he did for me last night. By the time I reach the lobby I feel like an absolute idiot.

  The lobby is similar to the hallway upstairs in that it’s completely run-down. There’s even a fallen chandelier by the entranceway. No wonder no one else wants to live here. Hunter’s done an amazing job on his place.

  ‘Ouch,’ I squeal. I look down and realise I’ve stepped on some broken glass. I hop backwards on one foot. I’ve forgotten my heels. Shit. I look back towards the stairwell. I really can’t be bothered going back up, but there’s no way I’m walking home barefoot. How did I manage to get all the way down here without noticing?

  When I get back to Hunter’s apartment I politely knock on the door. He doesn’t answer. I stand and wait for a moment before I knock again.

  ‘Hunter?’ I call through the door. Again there’s no reply. I look up and down the hallway. Is it darker up here than before? I try the door.

  Nervously I twist the doorknob and it turns. I feel bad barging in, but it’s creepy in the hallway and I really don’t want to wait for him out here. He’s probably only doing the dishes anyway.

  ‘Sorry Hunter—’ I say as I enter, but I stop abruptly, frozen to the spot. I must have the wrong apartment.

  I slowly take a few steps forward. The apartment has the same layout as Hunter’s but it’s completely neglected, just like the rest of the building. I shake my head. I definitely have the wrong apartment. The windows that I remember letting in streams of light are covered in dust and grime. Long dark shadows cover the room. The shiny modern surfaces I had admired just a few minutes ago look tired and broken. The wooden floors are scratched and cracking and, in one place where I could’ve sworn a couch sat, the boards have rotted away to leave a massive gaping hole. As I go to leave I spot plates on the kitchen bench. Our plates on the kitchen bench. They are the only things in this place that look exactly as I remember.

  I turn and creep further into the apartment.
<
br />   ‘Hunter?’ I call again.

  ‘Elle!’ He jumps, spotting me as he walks out of the bathroom from the other side of the kitchen. He’s dripping wet and only wearing a towel. He grabs a shirt off one of the chairs and rushes over to me.

  I’m officially going crazy. Maybe I’m really sick and hallucinating? Or maybe I’m still dreaming? I pinch my arm—Ouch. No, definitely not a dream.

  ’What is this?’ I mutter to myself.

  ‘I can explain,’ he says, pulling the shirt down over his dripping wet chest. Yeah, I’m definitely in a dream, or maybe I’m being used on some weird episode of Talented?

  ‘Wait, Talented,’ I stutter. ‘You’re talented.’

  ‘Yes,’ he replies.

  ‘And you made me see that writing,’ I say, slowly.

  ‘Yes.’ He looks nervous.

  I pause, watching him, allowing the cogs in my brain to slowly turn. ‘It was never there. Was it?’

  ‘No,’ he says.

  ‘Your perfect apartment was never there?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘How…’

  He pulls his hand up through his wet hair, his face troubled. ‘I can do things with people’s minds…’

  I involuntarily take a step back. ‘What kind of things?’

  ‘Ah geez Elle…’ He looks away from me, searching for the words to explain.

  ‘What kind of things?’ I repeat more forcefully. He turns back to me and takes a deep breath before he continues.

  ‘Like reading people’s minds,’ he says, his eyes looking down to his feet. I take another step back towards the door. ‘Like being able to manipulate minds and change what people see.’

  ‘You’ve read my mind?’

  His eyes dart back up to my face. ‘Yes,’ he breathes.

  I look at him with horror and disgust. How dare he? Doesn’t he realise it’s a total invasion of privacy?

  ‘I know,’ he says.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I know it’s an invasion of privacy,’ he replies.

  You’re reading my thoughts now? I think. Despite everything I’ve seen and heard, I’m still unable to comprehend it’s even possible.

  ‘Yes.’ He looks anxious as he admits this. Like he’s uncomfortable confirming the reality of what he can do.

  ‘Could you not?’ I reply, folding my arms against my chest.

  ‘Would it make a difference?’ There’s a sadness to his voice, like he already knows he’s condemned.

  ‘Yes!’ I exclaim, surprised he even has to ask.

  We stand in awkward silence. Neither one of us is sure of what to say. This is all too much.

  My stomach plummets. What if he knows the truth about me? I look up at him cautiously. Would he tell anyone if he knew? If he doesn’t know, I can’t risk him finding out. I have to get out of here.

  ‘Elle. Not many people know the extent of what I can do. This is why—it freaks people out,’ he says, finally breaking the silence.

  ‘I’m not freaked out,’ I retort.

  He lifts his eyebrows up at me. ‘Really?’

  ‘Maybe a little,’ I admit. I sigh as his eyebrows rise higher with disbelief. ‘Maybe a lot.’

  He turns and begins pacing, his stance rigid and his steps abrupt. He folds his arms over his chest and stares down at the floor.

  ‘Why go to all the effort of showing me a place that doesn’t exist?’ I ask.

  He stops pacing and turns to me, pain evident on his face. ‘Because I didn’t want you to wake up in this horrible apartment and be scared,’ he responds, obviously embarrassed. ‘Then when you’d been here for a while I found it was too much to keep holding the illusion. I had to give you a push to leave.’

  ‘You did that?’ He nods seriously in response. ‘That’s why I left so suddenly?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why aren’t you on the northern side of the river then?’ I ask.

  He takes a moment and considers the question before he replies. ‘Because I don’t want to be,’ he says. ‘They got my test wrong and when I started developing this talent I decided to mask it from the recruiters.’

  ‘But why?’ I ask.

  ‘Because I refuse to be what this supposedly perfect society wants me to be. I was forced to leave my mum. I didn’t get a choice. I didn’t even get a goodbye. They drugged me when I wouldn’t come quietly, then forced me into a new family, a new school, and a whole fucking new life. It’s just one more decision I’ve decided they’re not going to make for me.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. I know how he feels but, unlike him, I did have a choice.

  ‘I don’t need your pity.’ We stand in silence. I can almost feel the tension rolling off his skin.

  ‘I should go.’ I don’t wait for his response. I hurry into his room, pick up my shoes and go to the front door. As I pull it open he comes to stand behind me.

  ‘Elle, you’re limping. Are you okay?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I respond, despite the pain in my foot. He doesn’t want my pity and I can’t stand the idea of his sympathy right now.

  Hunter sighs. ‘You’ll know where you are when you get outside. I live on the same route to school as you.’

  ‘Okay,’ I respond, bluntly.

  It’s not until I’m out on the street that I consider just how careful I will need to be around him now. I can’t risk him reading my thoughts and discovering that I am not even talentless, and that I plotted my escape from the ARC.

  I hug my arms around my body and sigh loudly. I don’t know how to act around him now or if I can believe that he won’t read my mind. If there’s one thing this has shown me, it’s that maybe Sophie was right—he can’t be trusted.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘Hunter’s watching you again…’ Sophie says. She nods her head towards one of the tables behind me, but I shrug and focus back down on my food. I become acutely aware of the back of my neck. I can practically feel Hunter’s stare boring into it from the other side of the cafeteria.

  ‘You can’t ignore him forever,’ Lara adds. We haven’t spoken since Hunter told me the truth about himself—not for a lack of attempts on his part.

  ‘I can try,’ I mutter into my food. I glance up at Lara, who’s looking at me disapprovingly.

  ‘What?’ I ask, innocently.

  ‘Elle, we get there can be a lot to get used to up here. But he can’t help his talent. Just as much as you can’t help being untalented,’ Lara says.

  ‘So…’

  ‘He did the right thing by you. Looked after you when you needed it. He made you see things that weren’t there because he didn’t want to scare you,’ she says, lowering her voice.

  I gulp down an oversized chunk of food, which sits uneasily in my stomach. It’s getting harder and harder to pretend that I can’t accept his talent. I can’t risk him finding out about me, but I can’t exactly give that explanation to Lara and Sophie. How much longer can I keep this up?

  ‘The problem is that I didn’t give him permission to do that,’ I say, pushing the food around my plate with my fork. ‘I don’t know how to be friends with someone who can do things I can’t, especially when he’s happy to use them against me.’

  Sophie clears her throat and excuses herself from the table. She directs her words towards Lara and refuses to look at me as she leaves. I’ve clearly pissed her off with what I’ve just said.

  ‘I didn’t mean her talent, or yours for that matter,’ I add, when Lara raises an eyebrow at me. ‘I just don’t know how to cope with Hunter’s talent.’

  ‘I find it hard to believe you struggle so much with his talent and yet you’re fine with mine. I could just as easily manipulate you with my talent,’ she says, being careful not to let her words carry to the kids who sit at the table next to us.

  I think back to the night I’d learnt what Lara could do. Empathy, she’d called it the following day. It had been an accident she’d used it on me that night, and she’d been so upset about what she’d
done after.

  ‘Elle?’ Lara says, waiting for my response.

  ‘You wouldn’t do that on purpose,’ I say.

  ‘Wouldn’t I?’

  ‘No,’ I say, sounding less certain.

  ‘Elle, I’m making you feel unsure as we speak,’ Lara whispers.

  ‘Why would you do that?’

  ‘And Sophie uses her talent every time she touches someone, whether she wants to or not.’ Which is exactly the reason I’ve avoided touching her, she’s pretty much a human lie detector.

  ‘You need to understand that what we can do is a part of who we are. I use my talent all the time. Sometimes I don’t even realise I’m doing it. It’s only natural, and that doesn’t make me a bad person.’

  ‘But he’s using his talent to change things about people they may not want changed. He’s reading people’s thoughts, whether they want him to or not. He’s abusing his talent.’ I don’t know what else I can say to get her off my back about this, and I can’t understand why she feels so strongly about me freezing Hunter out.

  Lara stands up and considers me, with a look of concern in her eyes. ‘The world is different up here, people are different, and you need to come to terms with that if you want to adjust to living on the surface.’

  She doesn’t wait for my response. Instead, she turns and strides away, heading for the cafeteria’s exit. I call out her name, hoping she’ll give me the chance to explain, but she ignores it, disappearing outside.

  Lara mustn’t think very much of me right now. I as good as told her I couldn’t accept talented people, which isn’t really true. I can accept people’s talents, I just can’t risk being near anyone who can find out the truth about me.

  I sigh and lay my head down against my arms on the table. I scrunch my eyes up and pray the act will make me disappear.

  ‘Penny for your thoughts?’ Hunter asks, from behind me. I try not to jump in surprise. I’d assumed everyone had left the cafeteria by now.

  ‘Go away Hunter,’ I grumble back. Like he doesn’t already know what I’m thinking. The chair next to me scrapes against the concrete floor. I slowly sit up, opening my eyes.

  ‘Don’t pretend you didn’t already check what’s going on up here.’ I drum my fingers against my forehead.