SS14

Tears are rolling down my face as I head down the side of the mountain. By the time I get to Syx’s body I’m sick to my stomach. There is blood everywhere. The rocks have pierced him from the side. Sevyn helps me drag his body out of the water and onto the shore. I’m crying so much that I can’t even see. The tears are filling up my eyes. I’m beyond pissed and upset that I didn’t see this coming.

“Why would he do this?” I ask.

It doesn’t make sense to me. Anger was one thing. Sadness was understandable. I didn’t get the act of trying to commit suicide though. I gather his limp lifeless body in my hands and hold it close.

“It was just hard for him. It’s hard for all of us,” Sevyn explains.

“Suicide though?”

She takes a few deep breaths. She’s giving me my space with him. I’m being greedier than I should. This girl is tearing up too. She’s just as sad as I am. I’m hogging his body close to mine. I won’t let him up. This emotion that I’m feeling right now is real. It’s valid.

She hugs herself and stands off to the side.

“Imagine. Put yourself in his shoes. He’s not human. He felt so alone.”

“He wasn’t alone!”

“Yes he was…” she argues.

I don’t know why she argues the point right then but I let her have it. Maybe Sevyn has a point. I can pretend like I knew what Syx was going through but I really didn’t. I saw the emotion in his eyes when those people attacked him back at the camp. He was run off by the clones and he was run off by humans too. He had nowhere to turn. He was completely alone.

“I’m sorry Syx---Syx…”

I realize at that moment Syx is making some sort of coughing noise. His eyes open slightly. He’s coughing up blood.

“Holy shit. He’s still alive…”

“Syx can you hear me?”

“He’s alive. We don’t have much time. Grab him. Put him on your back.”

“Why?”

“We can still save him.”

When she looks over at me I can feel this hope rise up. Sevyn telling me that it’s not too late for Syx is probably the best news I have ever gotten. I just feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulder. I can help him. I just needed one more chance to prove to Syx that he wasn’t alone. I just needed one more chance to prove that to him.

Sevyn hesitates, “You’re not going to like this…”

“I’ll do anything to save him.”

I don’t think about it. There’s not a doubt in my mind. I was in love with Syx. I would cross oceans to save him if I had to. I was willing to do anything.

“We need to get moving. Back to the Institution.”

I’ve never moved so fast in my life then when I’m carrying Syx’s body through the woods. Sevyn can hardly keep up with me. It begins to rain but I’m sweating so much that I can’t tell if it’s sweat or the rain that is blinding me. Sevyn lags behind attempting to slow me down every chance that she gets. It never really works. I keep moving. I move until I damn near collapse.

I pull Syx’s body underneath a hollowed out tree. It protects us from the rain. It takes Sevyn about 5 minutes to catch up and find me in the tree.

“You can’t keep pushing yourself like this…”

I look over at Syx. He’s bleeding. Sevyn attempted to wrap his wounds but it’s still coming out. It looks a mess. My heart is racing looking at him. Syx doesn’t have that much more time. I have to do anything I can to save him.

“We’ll make it.”

“We should rest for the day. We’ve been walking for hours. We’ll take him the rest of the way tomorrow…”

“He won’t make it until tomorrow.”

“Yes he will. Syx is the perfect specimen,” she explains to me, “He’s hard to kill. You are just a regular person. It’s you I worry about. You won’t make it if you keep moving the way you are.”

I think about it. My muscles ache. I’m blinded by sweat and I haven’t stopped for water or picked any of the fruit from around the trees on the island to eat. I was feeling a little dizzy. I honestly was but I knew that I had to keep going. Syx was depending on me.

“One hour.”

She shakes her head.

“You love him don’t you?” Sevyn asks.

I look down at Syx’s body. Even bleeding he is the most perfect person I ever met. It’s not just physical though. There is a soul in there that is the deepest soul I had ever encountered in my entire life. Looking at him I feel nothing but love. Looking back, I could never understand how I doubted the feelings I have now. Seeing him jump off that cliff was devastating.

I nod, “Yeah.”

“I think he loves you too. I’ve never seen my brother be so insecure. When we were walking before he talked to me. He talked about how he didn’t think he could make you happy. Could you imagine? Someone who was designed to be perfect didn’t think he was good enough. I used to sit around and wonder every once in a while. What makes someone perfect? Is it their body mass? The amount of muscles they have? Is it how symmetric their face is? Is it their personality. I wonder what my inventor used as his criteria.”

I look down at Syx.

“Whatever his criteria were he attained it with Syx.”

She smiles.

“I have a feeling that even if he didn’t look the way he did that you would think he’s perfect anyway. When you’re in love all those imperfections don’t matter.”

She smiles for a minute.

She was a sweetheart. It is hard to realize that I’m sitting here having this civil conversation with Sevyn. Everything she says is just the nicest thing. She leans over to me and gives me a kiss on my forehead. I don’t expect it when she does.

“What was that for?”

“For my brother…if I can even still consider him that. He would want me to give you that. He’d want me to tell you to rest as well. So stay here. I’m going to go gather some water and food for you. I’ll be back. Look after him.”

Sevyn gives me a slight smile and leaves out of the hollow tree. I pull Syx’s body close to me. He’s breathing slowly. As soon as Sevyn leaves his eyes open. He’s staring up at me. He doesn’t move but his eyes pierce at me.

“I heard everything you said,” Syx tells me.

I get embarrassed at that moment. I think about pulling away but he looks so comfortable resting on my leg. I wonder why he doesn’t scream in pain. Maybe he can’t walk anymore. Maybe he’s paralyzed. Maybe he doesn’t feel the pain. I want to ask him the questions to these thing but then I think maybe I don’t want to know the answer to them.

Instead of all that I try to give him hope, “I think they can fix you.”

“The clones?”

“Yeah. I think they have the technology back there to really fix you. The same technology that Dr. Valentine used to create you in the first place.”

He sighs a little bit.

“It’s not safe back there. I don’t want you near those clones. You know what they want to do to you Jurnee.”

He has a point. I try not to look him in the eyes. I shrug. I wipe away the sweat. I have to rest while I can. There was no way I was spending the night here. Syx’s voice was faint and failing. He didn’t have much longer. I had to keep going as soon as Sevyn got back. I couldn’t stop. I had to save him.

“I don’t care,” I explain to him.

“Yes you do. You’ll die. They said your sister didn’t survive being cloned.”

I shrug.

“I’ll take that risk to save you.”

“I’m not even human.”

“Yes you are,” I explain to him, “You’re more human than me. You’re more human than those people back at camp. You’re one of the most human people I know. I can see your heart. What you did back there…when you tried to kill yourself. That shit tore me the fuck apart yo---“

I’m crying.

I don’t mean to cry. Honestly I feel stupid tearing up like that. The tears don’t stop though. I’m wailing like a fucking baby looking at Syx’s body below me. Why would he do something so stupid to himself?

Syx just stares at me. Slowly he moves his arm. He’s using all his strength to move it. He wipes the tears away from my face. I notice that he’s crying too when I look down. He bites his lower lip and looks up at me.

“I didn’t think anyone would care,” he explains, “Not after my father abandoned me. You have Stoney. You have Billy. I just assumed…”

“You assumed wrong,” I respond, “Don’t ever try to do that shit again. Say it.”

“Say what?”

“That you won’t try to do that shit again,” he responds quickly.

He looks away at that moment.

“What happens if we ever get off this island?” he asks me.

“What the hell do you mean?”

It’s the same question that I was trying to get Billy to answer. The fact that Syx was asking me this question right now kind of blew my mind.

What he says next seems even weirder?

“Would you want to be with me? This connection that we had on this island…if we ever get off would you ever want to be with me for real? Like I’m not really Valentine’s son. That means we aren’t really related. Maybe that means we could, you know. Be together. But I’d understand if that’s not what you want now that you know who I am. I mean, now that you know WHAT I am.”

He hesitates. He’s unsure of himself. I can’t help but to start laughing at this moment.

The laughter rolls out of my chest hard, “This is crazy.”

“I’m a joke?”

“No. You’re just so unaware. I’m sitting here worried that you don’t feel the same way about me. You heard what I told your sister. I’m in love with you Syx. You understand what that means right?”

He smiles, “That you’d consider it.”

“We’ll make it work out. I promise. As long as you promise me something.”

“What?”

“Promise you’ll survive.”

There is a pause.

He nods, “I’ll survive. I’ll survive for you.”

Syx keeps his promise. Somehow he makes it into the night. He’s struggling. I can tell on his face even though he doesn’t whine or scream like normal people would. He silently suffers probably not wanting to bother me with the pain that he’s caused.

By the next day we walk up to the institution. I damn near collapse on the front lawn of the place. Within a matter of minutes, we see the clones walk out. Eight and Five take the lead. The others follow close behind. Watching them walk out at that moment seems to be causing physical strain to Syx. I hear him shaking his head at me probably trying to get me to turn back. There is no turning back at this point though. If they can save him I’d do anything.

“You came back,” Eight says, “How convenient? We don’t have to go attacking your camp after all.”

The girl who looks like my sister stands even in front of Five. Five is looking down at Syx. She’s the only one who seems to even notice how bad of a condition that he is in. She’s the only one that seems to care. Five may be a psychopath but I knew she had love for her brother. That was our way in. Five grew up with Syx. She loved him. She had a connection with him that the other clones didn’t have. Right now regardless of how much of a bitch Five was she was currently in pain seeing her brother like this.

“What did they do to him?” Five asks.

“Nothing…”

“YOU’RE FUCKING LYING!” Five screams.

Sevyn steps in front of Five. She steps between me and Five. It’s clear she is trying to protect me. I

“Let me do the talking,” Sevyn tells me.

“You’re a traitor…” Five tells her.

The two square off. They look more alike than the other clones. They are so similar. The only thing that separates them is that Sevyn has more gray hair than Five.

“We can sit here and argue about what is right or wrong but now isn’t the time. Syx is dying.”

“So what?” Eight asks, “He’s not one of us.”

“Yes he is,” Sevyn argues.

The other clones seem to be more on Eight’s side. They don’t have any reaction to Syx dying. They could care less if he does or not. They aren’t really concerned about him. He’s no real use to them now that he isn’t going to inherit Valentine’s money. They didn’t just want to get off this island. It was more than that. They wanted the money. That was their main concern. That was what they were interested in.

“Can you save him or not?” I ask.

The clones stare at me. I’m the one they really want. I can tell by the desire in their eyes. If they cloned me they would be able to get Valentine’s money and get off of this island.

“What do we get?” Five asks.

“You get me.”

I hear Syx squirm and let out a faint “No.” It’s so low that it barely registers. They hear what he says though. None of them seem to care at all that he doesn’t want this to happen. I don’t care either. I’m willing to give myself up for him.

“We have you already. You walked right up to us?” Eight asks.

“I’ll run…”

“We’ll stop you.”

“I’ll kill myself before you stop me. For some reason I don’t think you guys have the knowledge to clone the dead. Maybe Valentine is the only one who figured that out. I see you have all of his equipment here. Maybe you have a lot of his knowledge too but I think you would have killed me a long time ago if that was the case. Five had the opportunity multiple times.”

The clones look at me. They are uncomfortable because they know that I’m onto something. The one that looks like my sister is the one that seems to be the most uncomfortable with this.

Five is the one who responds, “We have the technology to save Syx. We can duplicate cells. Specific cells that will help heal him. We’ll do it.”

“You’re just going to trade with a human?” Eight spits out.

Five looks her up and down, “That’s exactly what we’re doing. Don’t forget whose plan this was Eight. You’re new here. You haven’t suffered like everyone else. Syx is the perfect clone. It’s good to keep him alive. We save Syx. We clone Jurnee. That’s what is going to happen.”

Five shuts Eight up. I’m actually happy that Five is such a bitch at this moment. Eight just stares at me. For some reason she seems to be angry. Maybe they made some flaws with her personality when they tried to clone her.

The other clones aren’t arguing. They fall in line after Five. They just stare.

“Will I die?”

“We were sloppy with your sister. We’ll take our time with this,” one of the clones explains to me, “We’ll make sure you survive. Once your clone comes back to save us you’ll be on board. We’ll all get out of here together.”

“That simple?”

“That simple.”

“Fine,” I state, “You have a deal. But you heal Syx first.”

They agree. I look over at Sevyn. They help carry Syx into the Institution. Then they tie me up and take me in as well.

I’m tied to a chair. The person who is doing the cloning is named One. She’s been around the longest. She was the first clone. She’s seen Valentine do the surgery on all the others. She is frail and sickly looking but it’s clear that she knows what she is doing when she starts prepping me. I’m beyond nervous honestly. My heart is racing.

“This won’t hurt a bit,” she says filling my arm with drugs in a needle.

“What is it?”

She doesn’t answer me. I doubt she cares what I have to say right now. I just look over at the tubes full of water next to me. My heart is racing. I’m beyond scared about what is going to happen.

“Is Syx OK?”

She doesn’t answer me.

She starts prepping me some more taking measurements of me and doing weird things like that. I watch. The more I’m in this room the more nervous I become.

In 30 minutes someone comes to the door. I realize it’s Five. Five looks like she is a bit in a fray or something.

“Valentine is here. Valentine’s just arrived to the island…”

My heart starts racing. The doctor had come to the island. He was here. He was here to find me and my sister. I can see the look of panic in the clones face. They must not have been expecting for him to show up. They must have not been expecting him.

“Now? I need more time…” One says.

“Speed this up.”

“It won’t work.”

“MAKE it work.”

My heart is racing. Shit. What the fuck? Five leaves the room. She turns to One. I watch how much faster she starts working. She walks over to me. She has a tube. It looks like gas. She seems to be moving so much faster. I watch her knocking things over to get to me. She seemed like she was going to do all this other prep work. That is all pushed to side.

My heart is racing, “What does that do?”

She looks a little uneasy.

“It’ll put you to sleep.”

Her face says it all. The fact that she is answering my questions right now says it all.

“I’m not going to survive this am I?” I ask One.

She doesn’t answer at first. There is an awkwardness in the room. It’s so thick. It’s so scary. I’ve never experienced this before. I’m tied up on this table and I feel death coming my way. I feel how sick and scary I feel at this moment.

“No,” she answers me.

At least she’s being truthful.

“Syx. Is he OK?” I ask her.

“He’s fine. The operation worked on him. He’s completely healed.”

That’s all that mattered. Syx was OK.

I look over at the gas. I am strapped down. There is no running now. I know I’m going to die but I feel like I’m going to die for a good reason. I’m going to die for the man that I love. That was OK with me. That would be fine. Maybe that’s why I smile. I’m happy. This isn’t so bad after all.

I nod at her.

“Tell him I said goodbye. Tell him I said I love him.”

One nods. She doesn’t smile. She doesn’t say anything else as straps the gas mask over my face and I fall into the deepest sleep.

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com