Unmarked

Part XII

We woke up to Lance hitting his head on the doorway as he was coming in. Asher and Corin started giggling and I joined them. Lance glared and we laughed even harder. I saw Jaime cover his mouth with his hand; it was really just too funny.

Fifteen minutes later we were still laughing. Maybe this whole situation had finally made us crack, because we just kept laughing harder and harder. Jaime, who had quit laughing a while ago, was now looking at us with a mixed look of concern and terror.

He finally decided to speak. "Asher? Corin? Malone? Are you guys alright? Did that lady gas you?"

Our laughter, which was finally dying down, started again with renewed vigor. We looked at each other; we had a lot of explaining to do. Asher, in between giggles, started in on our crazy visit, "You two won't believe what Daneel had to say..."

^%$&%&(*)$&$^!#*&^(

With dumbstruck expressions, Jaime and Lance just stared at us. They looked like two lost boys seeing Neverland for the first time, but to be fair, their whole world has just been turned upside down. I understood some of what they were feeling, learning that the person you were supposed to love unconditionally was matched to you with science by the government for reasons we didn't understand yet was a lot to take in. It wasn't the same as learning you didn't have a Blaze, and the eventual soulmate, because you weren't susceptible to what we assumed was an injection, but equally horrible in its own rights.

This whole thing was insane. The worst part of this whole reality, or nightmare, was the fact that we didn't know what we, five teenagers, were supposed to do with this knowledge. Maybe living with it without telling another living soul was the best option? Even if we did want to spread the word, how would we do it? No one is going to believe us. Not even our parents. It's not like we had confessions and a complete understanding of the science. All we have is a dirty hideout, some blankets, a few cookies, and a whole lot of fear. I roll my eyes. We are living like true celebrities now.

With a unanimous vote, it is agreed that we were not going to stay quiet. We were going to do anything we could to make this public. The people had to know. Maybe if we could convince someone important, we could live the rest of our lives without being run down by the police. Who knows? The possibilities are endless!

I'm snapped out of the endless images of me lying by a pool tanning when Corin claps her hands about an inch from my face. I scowl at her and she scowls back, "Were you listening to anything we were saying?"

I sit up and fold my arms into my chest. "Of course I was."

Asher smiled, "Well, if you were, you would know that Jaime said he told my parents that he knew where we were and they decided to sue the government for lying about our health."

I almost fell out of my chair, "Really?"

"Of course not! I knew you weren't paying attention!" Corin cackled.

I felt my cheeks get red. I tried to defend myself. "Okay, so maybe I wasn't, but you can't blame me. I've had a long week and none of my family is here for me!"

They all got quiet after that. Jaime and Lance looked guilty, and Corin and Asher gave me pity looks. I kept my head down. Well, that is one way to make a situation awkward really fast. Lance finally spoke, "That's true, and they aren't here, so tell us about them."

I sorted my thoughts, "Well, I have my mom, my dad, my brother Dustin, and his fiancee Adelaide. Dustin is six years older than me, but we have always been super close; I was devastated when he went away to college. We both love Hershey's Cookies n Creme bars and cute cat videos on the Internet. He met Adeline in his second year of college. They always like telling me the story. On his first day in a new course, he sat down next to a pretty girl and couldn't quit itching his collar bone. After realizing it was his Blaze, he introduced himself. He couldn't quit itching and she started giggling as the professor was beginning his lecture and couldn't stop. The professor got so tired of them that he threw them out of the classroom and they got a coffee together. The rest is history."

Corin snorted. "That would be how anyone related to you would find their soulmate. Awkward must run in your family."

"Hey that was rude!"

"But it's true!

"Just because it's true doesn't mean you should say it!" This only made her laugh harder. Way to go, Malone.

"Okay, Corin, stop laughing at Malone's hopelessly awkward brother and listen." Lance ordered and she sat up. "Fine."

"My dad is a math teacher at Renwick Middle School and my mom is the Director of Security at some laboratory on the west side. We don't always see eye to eye, but most of the time we were fine."

I took a breath to continue when Jaime sat up suddenly, "Malone, did you say that your mom was the Director of Security at a laboratory?"

When I nodded, he continues, "What kind of science do they focus on at that lab? Do you know?"

I started to see where he was going with this, "Um, well, I know that they had a mouse escape its cage once and she had to shut down that part of the lab until it was found."

Asher sighed, "Almost all of the labs in the country use some sort of test animal. Do you know the name of it?"

"I remember it was really weird. Let me think." I search my memory for anything that my mother had ever said about her work. She never talked about it, and when she did, it was usually negative. Ah-hah! Got it. "The name of her work is Jambeaux Laboratories."

Corin groaned, "Is it spelled J-A-M-B-E-A-U-X?"

Lance, sarcastically chipper, says, "Of course that's the way it's spelled, Corin. Evil scientists have to have flair!"

Jaime whipped out his smartphone and searched "jambeaux laboratories." He clicked a link and began to read with Lance looking over his shoulder. His eyebrows almost shot into his hairline and he muttered something to Lance. Lance just shook his head and sighed, "You won't believe what the Jambeaux Lab motto is."

Asher's eyebrows knit together, "What is it?"

Jaime just turned the phone around, and underneath the web address in the search bar there was an italicized and bolded mantra that read "enhancing the biological and instinctual foundation of mankind."

I passed the phone off to Asher whose face went pale as she handed the phone to Corin. They were all waiting for my reaction. I just shrugged and said, "I guess this is why my mom had such an easy time ignoring me while I was screaming for help."

They all shared not-so-subtle worried glances at each other and I just sighed. "So the next step of our plan would be to steal her keycard and do a bit of snooping around the labs."

Lance started to walk towards me, "Yes, that is definitely a good plan, but you guys need some rest. You all look like someone has taken a baseball bat and a personal vendetta to your faces." He was right, and I was feeling a little dizzy. The ground was starting to swirl.

"Oh, no," I whispered. Then I fainted.