The Unknown

xxiv.

I listened tensely as Doc and Van continued speaking.

Van's back was turned to me, vulnerable and unsuspecting, which made the gears in my head begin to turn.

Before, he'd revealed that they had turned down the shock that threatened me if I moved too fast. He'd also mentioned it was past midnight, which usually meant fewer people were working.

Meaning this would be the most ideal time to attempt an escape.

I stared past Van at Doc. He and I were not on good terms, but he was certainly less of an enemy now. I was sure he preferred me over the government.

My eyes flickered to his son behind me. Jason's mouth was set in a frown. I noticed that he had a bruise on his inner elbow from a blood draw and a bandage on his head. So they'd poked and prodded him, too, against his will. I guessed he didn't like being here as much as I did. That meant he might not stop me when I did what I was planning to do.

I studied Doc again. He looked so fragile, practically incapacitated in his bed. On the off chance he'd want to stop me, I doubted he would be able to.

I tightened my grip on the scissors, feeling the unyielding metal dig into my palm. I'd be using them much sooner than I initially thought.

Van knelt down at Doc's bedside to adjust one of his IVs. Doc's eyes were closed. They were making it too easy. I stepped forward, mere inches behind Van. He was oblivious.

I shot one last glance at Jason. He stared at me intently and curiously, probably trying to figure out what I was doing. I uncrossed my arms, revealing the scissors. Jason didn't say a word. His eyes widened, then tightened in anticipation. I saw him scoot to the edge of his seat, the beginnings of a smile twitching on his lips.

Then I turned and hovered my hand over Van, hesitating. As I said before, I really didn't want to fight him. But I never imagined that there didn't need to be a fight at all.

I sucked in a breath, swallowed my nervousness, and grabbed Van by his hair, careful not to move too fast and trigger a shock. I tore his head back and held the sharp edge of the scissors to his neck. He froze.

Doc's eyes were open now. This situation mirrored what I had done to him not so long ago. He sat up in bed, outstretching one hand as if he wanted to stop me. Then he appeared to change his mind, dropping his arm and relaxing limply into his pillows. His eyes closed again.

Van slowly raised both arms as if in surrender. To my surprise, Jason stood and grabbed his hands, forcing them together behind his back. He was helping me, I realized. He pushed Van to the ground, prone on his stomach. I held the scissors steady against the rapidly pulsing blood vessels in his neck.

The situation felt surreal. I wanted to rejoice, but my mission was far from over. I had no idea what to do next; I was entirely playing it by ear.

"That was amazing," Jason said, looking down at me. "I always knew you were something special."

I did my best to ignore him, but my spine tingled with distrust and unease at his praise.

Before me, Van panted heavily against the cold tiled floor. Our power dynamic had shifted so drastically in only a matter of seconds. It felt good to have some control again. I thought I might feel guilty for my actions, but my mind was blazing with a single desire: to escape.

I knelt down until my lips were inches from Van's ear. "Don't move or make a sound," I said softly, trying to calm him down, "and you won't be hurt." He nodded, staring at the floor. "We need your keycard. And we need to know about security. Are there cameras?"

"Yes."

"Are there guards here now?"

"Yes."

"We need details, Van."

He didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if he was being defiant or if he was just too stunned to speak in full sentences. Regardless, we didn't have time to waste; I applied more pressure with the scissors. He gasped. "I-I don't know. I pass two security workers on my way out every night. There. . . I think there might be another monitoring the cameras."

Van seemed to be paralyzed, so Jason leaned down and tugged the keycard from his pocket.

Meanwhile, I spotted another cylindrical shape in his lab coat and fished it out. It was a capped syringe labeled 20 mg diazepam. That was what Van had called Valium, I recalled. He'd given me 10mg, which Doc had said was too much. So this amount could probably take down someone larger fairly quickly. I shoved the tube into my own pocket for safekeeping.

"Tess, go. I'll keep him quiet," Jason said suddenly, kneeling next to me. "Save your friends."

I looked at him, feeling my face twist into a scowl. "Aren't they your friends too?"

"I have a feeling they'll resent me if they find out what I did." He shot me a meaningful glance. My earlier eruption of anger at him flashed in my memory.

"How can I possibly trust you?"

"Because we have a mutual enemy," he said, staring at the back of Van's head.

I thought for a second, then gestured for him to take hold of the scissors while I plucked the keycard from his fingers. I felt a strong magnetic pull toward my family. It hadn't occurred to me that many of them were so close to me this entire time, going through the very same things I was going through. Now I had the opportunity to save them—if I played my cards right.

Jason was no longer one of us. I didn't turn my back to him until I shut the door behind me and saw the card scanner indicate that it was locked. Then I took off running at full sprint.

Big mistake.

Once again, I was floored by the electricity coursing along my nerves. I twitched on the floor in excruciating agony until, finally, the current subsided. The pain warped my sense of time, so I wasn't sure if I'd wasted several minutes or only seconds. Luckily, no workers walked by.

Stupid, I thought, mentally castigating myself. I'd forgotten the most important part of my plan. I scratched at the implant again, soon realizing I'd need to go back for the scissors, as much as I hated spending even a second with Jason.

I speed-walked back to Doc's room. As I scanned the keycard, I was anticipating how painful extracting the implant from my neck might be. That's when I spotted the puddle of blood seeping out underneath the door, expanding toward me.