| Chapter 17

There were parts of Chicago too old to use. Underground subways had been replaced by trains built above the city, elevating areas of Chicago's blue line transportation. I wasn't sure exactly when the change had occurred, but it was before I was born.

The decision was made to decrease the need to repair the tracks. But removing the trains didn't mean they'd remove the old tunnels. Miles and miles of open space, disconnected from the city, left unmonitored by police officials.

It was where David's group led us.

Down an old blue line entrance, through a door long broken but reading "sealed from the public," was their base. And what had been just six people saving Vera and me from a cell in the back of Chicago's center building, turned into at least a hundred. Men and women, computers of every type and size. Even music played, not loud, but just enough for them to enjoy. An echo of old tunes traveling through their abandoned railways.

"Are you guys thirsty?" David asked us once the door closed behind us.

Looking at him, I wasn't sure if I was thirsty. Vera's silence meant she wasn't either. But her lack of response could have just been the shock of what we had walked into. Her eyes were wide as she looked at everything in front of us.

"All right, not thirsty." David scratched the back of his head. "We got water if you are."

Water. I didn't want water.

Turning, I looked at David. "What is this place?" I asked him, eyeing the ceiling above us. There were old pipes that rattled from the city traffic above. I could hear car horns echo through the wall.

"This 'place' is a lot of things." David held his chin as he looked around. "It's been around for over thirty years, I think. Maybe even longer, who knows." David chuckled before shaking his head. "We don't got a name or anything, but our idea is simple—protect the human race."

I slowly nodded, trying to understand it all. When David moved into the crowd, Vera and I followed.

"So, you save people?" Vera asked, moving between the two of us as we walked.

David shrugged. "Sometimes." The honesty in his voice rang so hard, he had to lift his hands up defensively right after. "We don't kill people; thought I'd clear that up. At least not intentionally." His voice trailed off.

I stopped and looked at him curiously, listening to the chatter around us. The overlapping conversations didn't sound like murderers, criminals. Though, hiding down here and working against the city was a crime. And in the eyes of today's laws and Chicago's police force, they'd be no different.

"You've killed people?" I hissed.

"Fuck. Shit. No." David growled before he turned, motioning us to follow him once more. "We never aim to kill people. We want to help. It was the whole reason why this was created." David bit his lip as he stopped in between lines of computers. On the screens were security footage, monitoring the city streets. "Why we're working hard these days..."

"I think I've seen this movie before," I said, noting the helpful fight. At least, all I could think of was a rebellion. Against whom? I wasn't sure.

The city didn't make sense. Holmes was the farthest from understandable. But this, standing next to David as people typed away at keyboards, was something straight out of a movie scene.

Fight the power.

"This is a movie?" Vera whispered, standing behind those hovering over the keys in front of their computer screens. "I've never seen it. I've watched a lot of movies."

David couldn't help but laugh at Vera's comment. "He doesn't mean a real movie, though. He just means." He spun around in a circle.

"Elaborate on not killing." I pressed my hands into my pockets. "You sort of passed over it."

"I did." David shrugged and licked his lip. He gave the group a passing glance before he motioned us to follow him once more.

I didn't mind the walking, really. Got to see more of the ancient railways. Even kneeled and touched the metal no longer powered with electricity. It was cool to see. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Just curious.

But when we walked past all the people and into an area with more space, I had to slow. It was a train stop, still equipped with old chairs for those who would've waited for their arrival time. Monitors hung on the wall, dead and without advertisement. What was on the platform was advertised enough.

Sapphire. Bags and bags of it were sitting there. People with guns stood around them. Rifles in fact. They eyed the stairs that went up to the streets above, as though someone could run down.

Gulping, I glanced at them before looking at David for more of an explanation.

David pulled himself up onto the platform. He extended his arms down to us, so we'd follow him.

"We sell Sapphire," he said, wiping the dirt from his hands. "We sell it at an affordable price, within reach for people who really need it."

"Like drug dealers?" Vera whispered.

I shrugged, noting the bags filled with an ether that normally required a prescription. "Drug dealers."

David didn't argue with us. "Sure," he said. "You can call it that."

Both Vera and I let out a quiet, "ah."

"As you know Sapphire isn't really there for everyone. It sucks, because we grew up on it, our bodies practically need it. And yet, unless you're dying or have the best insurance, you're not getting it." David pursed his lips as he spoke. "And, really, okay—"

Both Vera and I looked at David as he stopped in front of us, hands up above his head. Why is he being so defensive?

"—I joined the group for cash." He cocked a brow at the two of us. "Anything I sell, I get a cut. The Pylons who get this to us get the other cut. Business, you know?"

"So, you aren't noble. Figures," I muttered.

"Fuck no. At least, not really." He sighed. "I only joined because I found out my pops had letters from this place. Handwritten notes from when he was young. They were from your dad."

When David looked at me, I held my breath.

"Our dads had a plan and pulled in a lot of people with them. It was to help Sapphire get in the hands of the poor. Pylons were wrapped around the Government's fingers, they needed to find a way to get the product to those who needed it most."

"Our dads." My dad? "Sold illegal Sapphire?"

"If you mean illegal in a sense that he hadn't gone through the proper channels to retrieve it, sure."

"But you'd need someone inside." Vera walked up to the bags. Her fingers brushed over them, feeling the contents. She glanced back at David. "These are straight off the ship. How did you get these?"

"Now that I have no fucking idea. I know there are some Pylons inside who help," David laughed, placing his hand over his chest. "Sometimes I'll do pick-ups for small loads, but this shit? I'm not a leader, man. Just a distributor. I got one job. Just one."

"Then how'd you get us out of there?" Vera approached him. "Doesn't sound like much of a distributor job."

"Fuck the dealing part." I moved up, standing next to her, but my eyes were focused on David. "You said our dads did this? They sold the drug. But why?"

"I told you why." David slid his hand over the back of his neck.

My mom said my dad had a plan to help everyone. Was this it?

"Is this why my dad is dead? He sold this?" I pointed at the Sapphire. "Did Holmes know about this? Is that why he probably plans to kill me, too?"

"Kill you?"

"What?" Vera shook her head.

"You know I didn't know Holmes was the guy we've been fighting against. When I saw his face on the computer, I freaked. He wanted something out of this, yes, I won't lie to you. That's why I knew we had to save you."

David put his hands on my shoulders. "Apparently my dad couldn't deal with the pressure and took the blame for a lot of shit. We continue this organization going to keep their names alive, to prove that the Pylons are there to help people. But Holmes?"

I watched as emotion glazed over David's eyes as he sucked in a breath.

"Holmes wants to kill everyone. And wants the Pylons to take the blame."

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I held one of the vials of blue liquid in my hands. Watching it bubble, I remembered what David had told me.

"Holmes is lacing the ether and has done that for years, man. It was all to lower the reputation of the Pylons. Get them banished from the planet. He's blackmailing them, Gus. And it's supposed to end with that ship's piece falling from the sky."

I dropped the ether at my side, tears in my eyes.

"I stayed because I wanted to keep this alive, keep doing the good our dads started. I think you're going after Holmes and fightin' back, it's just as good, too. We need to stop them. He's trying to kill us all down here to prove a point that doesn't exist."

"Gus." Vera came to my side and sat beside me. Our legs hung off the sides of the train's platform. With hers shorter, they kicked a lot higher than mine. "Are you okay?"

"Define okay," I whispered, looking ahead. Old posters still covered the walls. They were tattered. Half of the people's faces were exposed. On one of them, I saw an ad for Sapphire promising lasting health. How can you have lasting health if you can't get the drug?

I sucked in a breath.

"You've been sitting here for a while." Vera grabbed the vial of Sapphire I'd tossed aside. "Your cousin has been trying to track Holmes, but it's a no go. He isn't on any city cameras. Like a ghost."

I looked down at the dead railroad tracks. "Has to be a ghost or how else would he be able to do the things he's doing. Lacing a drug? Killing people? All to blackmail aliens?" I shrugged. "But for what?"

When I glanced at Vera's face, she pursed her lips. Her eyes, as bright as always, failed to have their usual effect. I wasn't sure if anything could fix the mood. "You know, it was my mother who wanted me to come to the fair. I didn't want to come to Chicago. Not once."

I could hear Vera gulp. Her hand touched my shoulder.

"After my dad died, I developed this mindset that leaving the house was a bad thing. He left every week to head into the city, and then after one trip too many, he died." I looked up at the dark ceiling. Lights flickered within dying bulbs. Shadows moved around us from the people guarding the drugs.

Sighing, I closed my eyes. "I labeled Chicago as a bad thing. Staying in my small town kept me alive, safe. I was able to help my mom. Cared for the house. Be the man of the family because he wasn't around."

"But you heard David," Vera gave me a small shake, "your dads were doing good. Sure, they went about it the wrong way, but they did it. I can appreciate their dedication."

I shook my head as I looked at her. "But Holmes was in on it, right? He framed them. My uncle got away, but my dad?" I bit my lip. "This is just too much to understand, you know?"

"Not really." Vera shrugged, smiling. "I'm sure this has happened before in our history—different years, different events, same effect. Remember, at one point, Pylons and humans were at war. Then, we loved each other, but how?"

I lifted my brow, thinking about it. She was right. There was a lot of Pylon-Human history never added into our history books. Missing dates. Inconsistencies. But when you're alive in the present, you have no choice but to take what's around at face value.

"It's obvious Holmes is trying to make us look bad. And since we're the last of our kind on Earth," Vera kicked her legs once more before looking up at me, "it's kind of working. And after years of it, it's really taking effect."

"Okay, I get it." Nodding slowly, I looked at her shoes next to mine. "But what can we do?"

"Well, what your dad would've done." Vera nudged me so I'd look into her eyes. "Remember how I said everything sort of happens for a reason? A trickle effect of events?" She looked around the platform. "This was written in the stars and guided by light."

"Are you saying it's fate?"

Vera smiled. "I'm saying we only have to follow the steppingstones. Your dad and uncle lay them out for us. Now we just have to follow the path."

"To what?" I watched Vera stand and walk towards the bags of Sapphire. She lifted one, motioning for me to take it. I was hesitant to grab it.

"Stop the bad. Bring the good." Vera laughed as she pushed the bag in my hands. "Isn't that the thing to do?"

My jaw dropped.

It is.