Perfection

George stopped and pressed replay to make sure it hadn’t been a glitch. When the moment popped up, he hit pause. A disturbance in the air was definitely noticeable.

He clicked the drop-down menu, and pulled up the file containing Aalexis stacking blocks. He watched it over and over, frame by frame clicking along for thirty minutes before he found the disruption. In order for her to manipulate objects, she had to manipulate space.

Astounding.

It would stand to reason that Ahron and Xaver had the same ability. Each was limited separately, but when combined together into one…

Could his soldier be able to blink someone from existence? Could he entrap people within force fields? The possibilities were limitless. Only testing would expose the still-uncreated creature’s capabilities.

Technically, with just the three, he didn’t even need Ellyssa or Micah for the fighting aspect. Aalexis and her two brothers would be indestructible. But the combination of Ellyssa’s and Micah’s talents would greatly enhance the ability to seek out remaining Renegades. The despicable insects could no longer infect the population with their inferior genes, or their thoughts of independence.

After another hour confirming the air disturbance with Xaver and Ahron, Dr. Hirch shut down the computer and went to his apartment. He pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner. The door slid open and admitted him into an environment of grandiosity that matched his achievements. Many antiques furnished the rooms, as well as symbolic artwork, including Hitler’s favorite painting, Isle of the Dead by Arnold Bocklin and its counterpart, The Island of Life. He had won them both in an auction after the Fuhrer’s death.

He paused at the Isle of the Dead, admiring the detail of the brush strokes, the cypress trees in a dense, dark grove, and the precipitous cliffs. It conveyed hopeless desperation, which was Earth before Hitler.

Next to it, The Island of Life, showed a depiction of joy, of a perfect life, with swans and green trees and happy people under a blue sky with puffy white clouds. This was what life was expected to be once all the imperfections were eradicated. Peace and beauty.

When George closed his eyes, he could almost taste the salt of the ocean on his lips and feel the gentle breeze embracing his skin and caressing his hair. Carefully, he touched the frame of the cherished picture, imagining the day when blond, blue-eyed people walked the earth with no threat of inferiors.

The future was within his grasp.

“Where did Davis say he was going tonight?” Angela asked.

Dyllon handed her the receipts from Davis’ account. Several items and dates had been highlighted in yellow. “He requested to visit his family in Kansas City. I checked it out. His mother, father, and two sisters live on Cypress Street. Both parents are highly regarded and teach at the university. One sister is an elementary school teacher, and the other is a secretary.” He placed the file on Davis’ family on top of the receipts.

“What about his friends?” asked Micah, taking the file out from under Angela’s hand. His eyes scanned the paper as he read. Before it was naturally possible, he flipped the page and started the next.

Heat flooded Angela’s cheeks. She snatched the receipts and began tracing the dates and purchases with her finger.

“He doesn’t seem to have a lot. Mostly keeps to himself. I took the liberty of contacting the Kansas City police; they are going to conduct a few interviews with his neighbors.”

Dyllon placed down a green daybook. Before Angela even had a chance to glance at it, Micah was flipping through the pages. DAILY LOG was marked in bold, black print.

Angela hated him.

Returning her attention to the receipts, she found a truck rental dated a little over a year ago. “What’s this?” She flipped the receipt over, with her finger underlining the cost of the rental.

Dyllon opened a small notebook he’d pulled from his pocket and thumbed through some pages. “Here,” he said, turning the book around so Angela could read it. “Apparently, he was helping a friend move.”

“I want you to find out which friend.”

Micah tossed the daybook onto the table. “Do not bother.”

Angela shot Dr. Hirch’s child a look of warning as she stood to face him. “You seem to have forgotten—I am in charge.”

His face blank, void of the expected anger or of any other type of emotion, Micah’s azure eyes leveled on Angela’s. Emotions or not, she knew he was coolly challenging her.

“If you wish, we can call der Vater.”

“Maybe we should,” Angela said, calling his bluff, although, deep down she knew she didn’t stand a chance. She pulled out her phone and flipped it open.

“Go ahead, or you can listen to me, instead.”

Narrowing her lids into a skeptical glare, she closed her phone. “What?”

“There is no point finding the friend he helped. We should follow him.”

“Into town?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he has something planned?”

Micah didn’t bother elaborating any further. He closed the logbook and set it back on the table.

Angela’s eyes landed on the book, then back on him. “Could you see something from the daybook?”

Instead of answering her question, Micah simply repeated what he’d said previously. “We should follow him.”

27

Exhaustion clung to Ellyssa’s body like a needy toddler. The weight of it dragged on her feet as she made her way to the cot. Physical demands didn’t contribute to her weariness, though. Heat and humidity were the culprits. She hadn’t ventured outdoors for weeks, and her body had adjusted to the cool underground living.

Despite the exhaustion, today had been one of the best days Ellyssa had ever experienced. Full of sun, blue skies, tall trees, and fresh air, not to mention the people who were really interested in what she had to say. Even a couple of the mothers and their children had come for the unscheduled lesson.

A ten-year-old female child, with bright dark eyes and wavy hair, had a natural gift for finding roots quickly. Excitement shone in her smile every time she’d brought back a bag full of wild delicacies.

What surprised Ellyssa was that she’d enjoyed watching the children. She’d never given them any thought at all before, never even wondered about them. But interacting with the young Renegades today, as they discovered and learned and explored, holding their mothers’ fingers with chubby little hands, made her appreciate the pleasure they’d brought to their parents.

After class, Ellyssa had returned to the kitchen with Trista and Bertha. She’d shown them how to prepare some menu items, and instructed them on others. If not for their yawns and haggard lids, Ellyssa might’ve kept on talking.

Now, as her body met the cot, she was happy she’d called it quits, too. Yawning, she yanked off her dirty shirt and pants and replaced them with fresh ones. Tomorrow, Trista had promised to show her where to do laundry.

No more guards. People depended on her knowledge now. Being accepted, true happiness lifted her heart.

Ellyssa rolled over and bunched the pillow under her head. For the first time ever, she drifted to sleep grinning.

Ellyssa woke to the sound of a click. In the haze of sleep, she thought she was back in the abandoned store in Deepwater. But the next thing she heard erased anything as hopeful.

“Ellyssa,” said a whispery voice, a tinny note resonating within the syllables of her name. The same voice