(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting

Chapter Twelve - Corn Harvest

RILEY

MY BODY WORKED THROUGH the crops as they spaced out, but I was barely progressing. I had diverged enough from the highway and now plodded near the forest, though. I couldn't hear the hunters anymore. My head turned in every direction whenever a branch or a stem snapped to make sure nothing followed me. I kept moving. It was the only thing to focus on.

Everything around me was obscure and glacial. All color had drained from the late sky, which looked like someone tipped over a bowl of ink and it pooled around the stars, expanding. Misty slivers of moonbeams shone down, casting a pale glow over the harvest that guided me through.

As my veins thrummed from my resonating heart, pressure clamped down on my wrist, spinning me around. I opened my mouth to scream when a hand closed over it.

"Do not make a sound," Luc murmured in my ear.

My chest heaved and he released me. His glowing mutant-ish eyes explored me up and down like I might have been injured. We stood still for a moment, measuring our breaths. For once, I was insanely glad to see him.

He craned his neck above the corn stalks, giving the field an extensive, circular glance. He was just as agitated as I was, maybe even afraid, not that it showed if it were the case.

But he could act tough all he wanted, he was an eighteen-year-old boy. I didn't know why it suddenly dawned on me, but it did.

We started off toward the woods again, hand-in-hand without arguing, like we both shared the fear of losing sight of each other. He was warm. Burning, even.

There was a click like that of a weapon near us.

"Stop right there."

Luc maneuvered himself in front of me. His grip tightened briefly.

A dark-skinned man with an aviator hat pointed at us with some kind of gun—a heavy one. It was black and sleek, almost as large as the man's arm and twice as thick. The nozzle was wide and round unlike any other gun I'd seen when I peeked at Dad's old stuff as a child.

He sneered at me. "Like our new baby? Trust me, you don't want to know what it feels like if I shoot."

"Let her go," Luc said and raised his free hand. "You can try me if you leave her."

No, no, no, hell no.

What, he thought I'd agree to this? No way he would let himself get killed and no way I was letting that happen.

The hunter didn't believe him, either. "Oh, please. That's not a very good lie, pretty boy. Your kind is always so arrogant. You think you could take us on your own." He chuckled and shifted the rifle to his other arm. "But no can do. We need the girl."

"Fine." I yanked my hand away from Luc's and stepped forward, ignoring the soft breath he sucked in. I never should have brought him here in the first place. I never should have put him in danger. "Take me. I'm right here."

The hunter considered us both, eyebrows shooting up on his forehead. He exhaled through his nose, smirking. "You two are adorable. But we don't negotiate, darling." His smirk grew wide and cruel. "Lucas Montgomery is the catch of the year—the only known mutant able to heal. We don't pass such an opportunity."

"Finally figured out my full name?"

"Been a long time coming, since your sister actually," the man replied. "The exact same eyes. Oh, that one was quite difficult to manage. They had to hold her down the entire time..."