Page 84 of Mimic

“We don’t know. I assume you were instructed not to speak. So putting you under again won’t give us the answers we’re looking for if you won’t speak,” King explained.

“You have something else in mind,” Indie said, her eyes locked with King’s.

“The poem. If the entire poem is read, it undoes the hypnosis. You’ll remember everything. All your training, your classes, everything you’ve done while you were hypnotized.”

“They did this on purpose. Knowing if we were ever brought out, it would destroy us.” There was no emotion in her voice.She was almost robotic, and if I hadn’t heard Jack utter the deactivation phrase myself, I would swear she was still under.

“Maybe. Once the poem is read, if you can withstand the onslaught of memories you’ll be subjected to, you’ll also be useless to them. You won’t be able to be activated anymore.”

“But I will still have my skills?” she asked, and my mouth hung open. She was insane. That was the only viable answer.

“You can’t go through that. You have no idea what’s locked inside your head,” I told her.

She glared at me. “This isn’t your choice.”

“At least talk to Haizley first. See what she says,” I pleaded.

“I want to be free, Mimic. If I’m to have any hope of a future, I have to know.”

Gunner stood from his seat and left the room. Indie slammed her elbows onto the table and held her head in her hands. It didn’t take long for him to return with Haizley. She sat beside Indie and placed her arm around her shoulders.

“I have to do this, Haizley. I have to know the truth. It’s the only way to help the others.”

“I know. Let me help you through this.”

Haizley looked up at King. “I want everyone out except Jack.”

“Why?” King asked.

“Because this is going to be traumatic and emotional, and you all don’t need to be here. When she’s ready, she can tell you what you need to know. But for now, get the fuck out.”

My jaw dropped open when King nodded and stood, ushering the others out the door.

“You too, Mimic.”

“No, he can stay.” Indie looked into my eyes. I’d never seen her truly afraid, not since the night of the break-in. When she woke from hertrance, after I pushed her away from between my legs.

“I’ve got you.” I held onto her hand as she looked up at Jack.

“I’m ready.” She nodded, and Jack picked up the paper with the poem written on it.

As he said the words, Indie squeezed my hand. Haizley whispered in her ear things I couldn’t hear. But knowing Haizley, they were words of affirmation.

I imagined they were words similar to what my mother used to say to Rose and I when we got hurt, or when we were angry we didn’t have friends to play with. Well, I was angry. Not having friends didn’t seem to bother Rose as much as it did me.

When Jack uttered the final words, Indie broke out in a sob. Her body crumbled forward, and I had never felt more helpless in my entire fucking life.

Jack quietly left the room, his job done. He squeezed my shoulder as he walked by, letting me know my brothers had my back. The brothers I had lied to. The brothers I was still fucking lying to.

I didn’t know what to do, so I rubbed Indie’s back as Haizley held her while she cried. Loud sobs echoed through the room. I didn’t know how long we sat there just holding Indie as her memories came flooding back.

Haizley looked up at me. “She needs rest before she can talk to the others.”

I stood up and gathered Indie in my arms. Her arms went around my neck, and she buried her face in my chest. No one spoke as I walked out of church and down the hallway. I carried her up the stairs to my room. I kicked the door closed and laid her on my bed.

“Don’t leave,” she cried when I pulled away.

“I’m just locking the door.”