The Elements Trilogy: The Secondaries

Chapter 53: Water

"Shay?" Derek's voice sounded in my ear. "Hey, thats-"

I clenched my fist shut, and his jaw snapped shut beside me. "That's an interesting name."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Pip shrugged. "Can you help me find my mom?"

"Uh, sorry, Pip." Harry said. "But we've kind of got problems of our own."

"Oh, I know." Pip nodded. "But my mom can help you. She's the head of the cloning department."

"So she can shut off the clones?" My voice echoed in my other ear, and I jumped before realizing it was just Kyler standing next to me.

"Well that," Pip nodded again. "But she can also give you some answers."

"Answers to what?" I asked, confused.

"How you guys were made, why you have super powers, and how to defeat Bryner."

Tony snorted. "And why should we trust you?"

Pip gave Tony a sad smile. "Do you have any other options?"

***

"You realize she could ultimately be leading us to our doom, right?" Tony whispered in my ear.

"You mean straight to Bryner or into a herd of clones with machine guns? It crossed my mind, but we're just looking for her mom, who in the long run is just a doctor here, and might be able to help us."

"What did she mean, how you guys were made, anyway? Like, artificial insemination?"

"Wow, Tony, those are some big words." I smirked up at him. "Don't hurt yourself."

"Ahh, shut up, Sky." Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'm only kidding, Sparkplug." I looked down at my blood-stained hands. "And the girls and I...we were test tube babies."

"Ugh!" Tony stopped walking, and I smashed into him, Kyler walking into me.

"Why are we stopping?" Kyler asked.

Ugh!" Tony said again, staring at me in horror. "Test tubes?! Like those things in chemistry?!"

"Yeah, the very same. Well I mean not the exact same..."

"That's weird. Creepy, even. Disgusting. I'll never look at you the same, Hastings." Tony shook his head mockingly.

"Hey, well your girlfriend is a test tube baby, too. The most recent actually."

"What about us?" Derek asked. By now everyone was watching the conversation between Tony and I. "Are we test tube babies?"

"No. No, there were only five. Two sets of twins, and myself." Diamond said, walking side by side with Thomas. "And even Troy was an accident."

"No wonder he was so bitter." Harry grumbled. "But then how do we have the powers? I thought everything was some sort of sciency bullshit with us? There has to be something different about us guys, too."

"Like, I said," Pip interrupted. "My mom is one of the heads of the cloning department. She can help give you guys answers."

"Pip, is your mom Peggy Tennant-Shay?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah, that's her!" Pip said excitedly.

Thomas grinned widely, a smile lighting up his handsome features. "I know just where to find her at a time like this."

"Where would that be?" I asked.

Thomas grabbed Diamond's hand, and motioned for us to start walking the opposite direction. "Why, the chapel, of course."