Page 53 of Captured Immune

Victor holding me back while those two women torture Trey until he takes his last breath. What else?“Um, I’ll just say that you people aren’t only scary in real life.”

“I’m sorry.” She offered me a sympathetic look. I couldn’t tell if she meant it or not. Her emotions weren’t coming to me. “What’s that like?”

“Being surrounded by scary people?”

“No, dreaming.”

I tilted my head to the side. “You’ve never had a dream?”

“Zordis don’t dream. For some reason, we can’t. There’s no study that explains why, but there are theories. The one I believe the most is that because we only need to sleep every two days, our brain completely shuts down during that time. Therefore, no dreams.”

“Weird.” But not as weird as how they could go two days without sleeping. That explained why Trey was up all night so often.

“Sooo,” Katie said, “what’s it like?”

“Um, I guess it’s like living real life, but it’s in your head and crazy things can happen.”

She nodded slowly with her mouth partly open, like she was trying really hard to understand the concept of a dream. “Fascinating. I’ve heard that sometimes it feels like a hallucination or like you’re watching a movie.”

“I guess so.”

“I’d like to experience a dream one day. It sounds fun.”

A long silence sat between us. It felt partly awkward and partly calming. Most of my time here had been chaotic. That was the most normal conversation I’d had since being kidnapped.

Katie cleared her throat. “He’s still in the infirmary, in case you’re wondering.”

I was wondering, so I was glad she told me without me having to ask. “Is he okay?”

“The nurse said his vitals look better than yesterday. He still hasn’t woken up though.”

“Like at all?”

“At all.”

The poor guy.Trey must have been in really bad shape if he couldn’t wake up.Wait...I narrowed my eyes at Katie. “How do I know he’s still alive? What if you people have already killed him, and you’re lying to me about it?”

“I guess you’ll just have to trust me. If you don’t, you can trust that Victor won’t get rid of the only person you’ve successfully projected your immunity onto. Anyway”—Katie slapped her thighs with her palms—“are ya hungry? Should I go get you some breakfast?”

“Actually, could you let me into the bathroom first? I’ve had to go for a while.”

“Sure thing.” She released my ankle, and I practically ran to the toilet.

After I did my business, I checked the water. Only yellow, no red. I leaned down to inspect it a little closer, just in case I missed a speck. Still no red. I was sure of it though. I’d been sure since the moment Katie walked into this room and I couldn’t sense her. Maybe I wasn’t bleeding now, but I would eventually.

I braced myself against the sink as the reality of what had happened sunk in. I was sad. Why was I so sad? It was an unplanned pregnancy with a man who turned out to be a mutant with superpowers. Two nights ago, I saw fire come out of his hand. Hishand.Who knew what else he could do?

His baby had the power to sense other people’s emotions. If a Zordi fetus could do that from inside the womb, what else could it do? Would it have thrown fireballs inside me? Would I have had the power to make fire come out of my hands too? How insane! I should have been relieved that the baby was gone, but I wasn’t.

Before I was kidnapped, Trey and I talked over the phone about raising this child together. Stupidly, I believed with all my heart that it was something he wanted. Especially since he still wanted me after I lied about sleeping with “some guy from college.” I figured that once we had patched things up, I could confess that I’d lied and prove he was the father, then everything would be okay.

I didn’t realize how much I wanted to be a mother—until the opportunity was stolen from me. I collapsed to the tile floor and cried into my hands. It wasn’t a silent cry either. It was one of those ugly cries with my mouth fully open as I wailed.

The bathroom door jerked open and hit me. Katie popped her head in. “You okay?”

I shook my head, unable to answer with words.

She gestured for me to move over. I did, scooting closer to the toilet so she could get in. Once she was through the door, she clicked it shut.

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