Chapter 7: The Safe House

     Rowan

      Watching the skyline as the sun rises. It's a beautiful color of oranges, reds, and a few purples. Looking up at such a beautiful thing makes everything in life seem so simple, so worth living.  Like the bad things are just that, a bad thing one that can be overcome. Harper and I can overcome this, and when we do, we will be stronger in the end. They won't kill her. They need her. She is the eldest. I do not know when she was born precisely; she hates to talk about her past. She says it doesn't matter, and I never forced it. Because she is correct, the past doesn't matter. The only thing that truly matters is the present because the future doesn't exist either. I won't fail her. I can't forget her. I am scared, but I won't let that fear stop me. When I was younger, I always go by the saying that F.E.A.R. had two meanings:

F.ace E.verything A.nd R.un 

Or

F.ace E.verything A.nd R.ise

     So today, I begin my journey and Rise to get her back at all costs. But first things first. I'll need to travel. I could walk, but I am too far, and it would take days to get to the safe house, and Harper doesn't have days. When they held me captive, they use electrical rods on me daily, and those things are not fun, and over time, they get worse. 

    I go back into the abandoned house on the living room floor; at least, I think it's the living room. Hard to tell, honestly. This place is condemned. I lay on my back, using my backpack as a pillow. I never carry anything of importance on me. The most critical piece of this is a blindfold. It would help if you had total darkness and silence. Opening your vector can take seconds, minutes, or even hours. It all depends on your level of skill and concentration. I have been all over the place since losing Harper, so it's a roll of the dice if I can travel today. I will try to open my Vector and travel into Lily, I've journeyed to her before, and we are bounded, and we have a deal. I never stay too long. In exchange, I am teaching her how to do what we do. She lives near our safe house. She knows the signs of when I am trying to travel to her. The hairs on her arm will start to stand up, her body will begin to feel a tingling sensation, euphoria, and relaxation begin to set in, and she knows she needs to sit or lay down quickly. Not long after, she will get exhausted; drowsiness sets in, and she will pass out. That's when I Vector in, and my subconsciousness enters in and takes over. She is still there, well here, I mean. But she is asleep. She is not hurt in any way. She is just in a deep sleep until I leave. And when I go, she wakes up none the wiser that I was even there, but of course, I tell her I was there, and she has cameras in her home for proof. 

    It takes me a whole thirty-seven minutes to reach a relaxed state, even to see the white light to call my Vector. The white light is only the beginning of the meditation. Signaling you're entering the trance-like state of relaxation and concentration. That's when your can will see the white light towards you. As it draws nearer, it begins to transform into a cloud-like mass of numbers we call the Vector. At the moment, you must focus all your energy on where you wish to go. Hold the imagine hard in your mind, the face, the location, the longitude and latitude of the exact location you want to travel, then bring the Vector into you and let go of yourself. Let the Vector take you and be free.  

    I wake up in eyes that are not mine, in a petite body that feels familiar. I am lying in a queen-sized bed with floral bedding, in cute pink Victoria secret sweat pants, and a pink tank top. Damn, I look great. Lily is the best.  She spoils me because she already has a suitcase packed and a cute punk rock outfit on the dresser with motorcycle boots on the floor... she DIDN'T!  She finally got a motorcycle. I grab everything, rush downstairs; I figure I should eat something. And sure enough, she has dinner leftovers in the fridge. She is buttering me up. It is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I swallow it all basically whole.  Down three glasses of water, and I am off to the safe house but not before waving at the camera at her front door and patting my stomach, signaling how full I am. 

   I jump on a sweet ass Red Yamaha Street MT07 with a black and red helmet, and I am in heaven. Damn Rowan, you're not supposed to be happy when Harper is in misery. Get your head in the game! As I approach the safe house, I realize everyone will realize I've escaped the black building and have to explain how. Ugh. I got off this sweet crotch rocket and decided it is now or never. Type the pin to the safehouse and enter slowly. I am first seen by Tyler the Douch. Why are guys name Tyler usually dicks? As soon as I see Tyler's fugly face, he says something snarky like, "look who they let out of the looney bin," to which my response was justified and quick-witted and was, "do you not have something better to do like get hit by a bus, Tyler dear?" He stalks off like an ugly ogre.

Then Cecilia enters the room; I freeze because this was the one person I was scared to see and talk to. She was the safe house leader and was eldest here and very close to Harper. Many say Harper rescued Cecilia, but no one knows the actual story. The thing is, we all have secrets, I mean, which in this world doesn't? We have one significant rule amongst us all, and that secrets that can harm others must be shared. Cecilia asks me what happened and where it Harper and I explain everything. How I was let go by the black suits in exchange for Harper. How I knew nothing about it until they already had her, and I was thrown out of the building like trash. It is at this point I throw myself down at the feet and begin to cry. I let it all out. Cry at the world for taking her away from me. Cry in anger at me for why she is in the black building hell hole going through unimaginable tortures. I cry because I had Cecilia's best friend taken away. I gush tears of pain and shame at my failures as a partner and protector. I have failed you, Harper, my love, and I know I am no longer worthy of you. Cecilia grabs me up from the floor and looks deep into my eyes, and explains that she does not doubt my love for Harper but does question Harper's love for me. That it is a crazy and dangerous love, one she has never seen Harper in before and that this scares her. Because she would give herself up for you is not just a danger for herself but us all, and those like us. Harper's Vector is powerful because her kind is unlocked in ways not even I understand. We can not allow the black suits to have or know about any of this. Especially about Harper's abilities. They cannot know she is not like the rest of us. They must think she is just a simple jumper with a standard vector. Cecilia continued to explain that we will need to get her back and that it is her fear they will try to break down her mind, befriend her and try to get her to use it in front of them, and then teach them how it is done. We cannot have this. The last thing anyone needs is for the government to have such a gift, and she is entirely correct. Harper is exceptional, and the government does not deserve anything special.