Escape from Eden (Original Series book 2) by Rachel McClellan Read Free Book Online Page B

too much to believe.
    “You’d be so impressed,” Tank says. “Sometimes I even want to kiss him.”
    I laugh, an honest to goodness feel-good, make-my-heart-smile (and belly ache) laugh. After wiping a tear from my eye, I say, “I miss you guys so much. I can’t wait to get off this island.”
    Tank’s expression turns serious. “You can’t. That was one of Colt’s conditions of me coming here: not taking you back. He wants you here where you’ll be safe. Anthony also insisted upon this.”
    I fold my arms. “Too bad I can make that decision for myself.”
    “They thought you’d say that, too, but that doesn’t change things. I didn’t come here for you.”
    “Then who?”
    “A woman named Stella.”
    “Stella? But why would you want her?”
    Tank lowers his feet to the ground and sits up. “Because she is the only Original to escape Enfield. We need to know everything she knows about that place, specifically its location.”
    I lean back, shocked. Stella was in Enfield? I don’t know much about the place, other than what the Institute told the public. According to them, Enfield was a place Originals could go to for protection from Primes who might’ve sold them on the black market. The Institute vowed their safety in exchange for periodic bone marrow samples, which they claimed would be used to help create a cure for The Kiss.
    In the beginning, many Originals flocked to Enfield to escape their poor treatment from Primes on the outside. They were promised many things, namely their own community with modest homes for everyone and schools for their children. The Institute touted it as the perfect place to live. They televised the lives of the first inhabitants for all to see. I found an old recording of it in my father’s belongings. It was of normal looking people playing at the park, walking their dogs, eating supper as a family. I was envious. It was the kind of life I had always wanted.
    When I asked my father about it, he took it from me and told me it was all lies. Originals who went to Enfield were never heard from again. About twenty years after the video and rumors of deplorable conditions, Originals stopped going there. Because of public pressure, government officials demanded to inspect Enfield to ensure humane conditions, but the Institute rejected their request, claiming they couldn’t compromise the secret location of Enfield. Instead they provided more video and testimonies from Originals, but many felt those videos had been faked and the testimony coerced.
    That was over a hundred years ago. No one cares what happens in Enfield now.
    “If Stella has known this whole time where Enfield’s located, why hasn’t anyone done anything about it sooner?” I ask.
    “Who would’ve done something? HOPE didn’t have enough manpower to make a difference until recently. Besides, when Stella was brought to your father years ago, she was in no condition to talk about Enfield, mentally speaking. He sent her to Eden where she could heal so that one day, when HOPE was better prepared, she could tell us everything she knew about the place.”
    “Do you think she will?” I ask.
    Tank purses his lips together. “I can’t imagine what she went through, but I’d think she’d want that place shut down for all that they did to her and others.”
    “I could talk to her. She’s my roommate.”
    “If you think it would help.”
    I sit up. “When do you plan on leaving?”
    “As soon as possible, but you’re not—”
    “I know, I know. I may not be going back with you, but I will get off this island one way or the other. I can help.”
    The corners of his mouth turn up. “I think you could. You’d make a great PR manager for the cause. Colt does okay but he’s not as easy on the eyes.”
    I smack his shoulder. “How’s Ash?”
    His face lights up. “She’s doing really well. I asked her to marry me.”
    “That’s wonderful! Congratulations!”
    “Thank you, but she hasn’t said yes