Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Kill him!
Kill her! Which I assume is referring to Olive.
My head is a maelstrom of confusion.
There’s no chance of me killing anyone. There are at least a dozen Edge guys all around me. So I just let them push me out in front of Olive and shuffle me across the front of the church. I am directed through a door, and down some steps, and find myself standing in a familiar place.
I turn to Collin. His face is angry and tight, his eyes flashing like he wants to kill me.
But past all that emotion I see something else. Something stronger than his emotions. I see why everyone respects him.
I see his control and his wisdom.
And when he says, “It’s OK, Shep. You’re gonna be OK,” I believe him.
Then the door in front of me swings open and I’m pushed through.
30 - Olive
Brose is gone. I feel his absence.
But in his place is someone else. Someone who is no longer hiding. An old man, that I know for sure. But who he is, I have no idea. All I know is that he’s inside me. He’s telling me what to do.
Kill him, Olive.
Kill him right now!
At first, I think he’s talking about Shep. But he’s not the target here. The old man is talking about Collin and Collin is staring right at me.
I think for you, you act for me. Kill him!
I’m just about to reach for his weapon when I realize he’s no longer carrying. He smiles at me, grabs me by the shoulders and shoves me through the open door of the room. I go crashing into Shep as Collin and his men follow us unto the room.
Something interesting happens next—the voice in my head becomes distorted and distant. Like someone is talking underwater.
“It’s gonna be OK,” Collin says.
But it’s not. Nothing is ever going to be OK again.
Amon and another man are standing behind him, pointing rifles at Shep and me. “This is a SCIF,” Collin says. “You’re being targeted by a low-frequency weapon, but the walls of this room block out all incoming electromagnetic waves.” He grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “Do you understand me, Olive? You’re being attacked by signals. Whatever is happening inside your brain, it’s not real!”
I turn and look at Shep. The room is not that big so he’s leaning against the back wall, about ten feet away. He’s holding his hands up to his head, like he’s got a headache.
“Olive,” Collin says, shaking me again.
“Yes,” I say. “I understand.”
My brother lets out a loud sigh. Amon and the other guy remain on high alert with rifles ready. Shep takes a few steps away from the wall. He turns to me with squinted eyes. “What the fuck was that?”
I don’t know what to say. I know what it was. I was inside him. I was controlling him. Except it wasn’t me. Because I wasn’t myself I was… Brose?
But I have a sick feeling that if Brose was here with us, in real life, I mean, that he would be saying the same thing. It wasn’t me. There was someone inside me.
It was an old man, of that I’m sure. This old man was controlling both of us.
I want to tell Collin but I can’t seem to get these words out.
Collin takes over, turning to question Shep. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know. Someone was inside me. A woman. She was making me do stuff.” He’s looking at me when these words come out.
“It was me,” I tell Collin. “I was inside him.”
“No, Olive,” Shep insists. “It wasn’t you. It was my handler.” He shakes his head. “I can’t… I don’t remember her, but I know it wasn’t you.”
“How is that possible?” Collin asks. He’s looking between the both of us now. “Who was controlling Olive then?”
“It was Ambrose,” Shep says.
“It wasn’t,” I say. “The first time—” I know how this sounds. I’m listening to myself. But what else can I do but try and explain? “The first time, it probably was. But just now? That wasn’t Brose, Shep.” I look at him, begging him to believe me. “It wasn’t him. It was someone else. An old man was inside me! And then I was inside you. And that’s how they got inside you.” And then the words I’m looking for come spilling out. “It was a chain reaction.”
Because this is what the old man told me. Welcome to Chain Reaction, puppet. We think for you, you act for us.
“She’s right,” Shep says. “It wasn’t her. This old man, he was inside me too. He kept calling me his puppet.”
No one knows what to say now, so we just stand there for several long seconds trying to process things. My eyes lock with Collin’s and for a moment, I see him the way he was that night, when he shot the kidnapper. I remember looking into his eyes—and he’s got some crazy eyes, so I got lost in them. Time slowed down for me. I remember that the man smelled weird. It was… filth. And alcohol. And fear, I think. And part of it was my fear because you hear about people who break into the bedrooms of little girls, but you never think it could happen to you.