Chapter 65 - Eleanor

Blood doesn't make you family.

R iot and I flew back to the lobby and into the elevator. I jammed my thumb against the button for level 23 and stood impatiently, clutching Riot's hand as we rode up. He squeezed my hand tightly.

"It's okay. We're going to figure out what's going on."

The door opened and we were greeted by a warm, unnatural heat. The air was humid and dampened my skin as we stepped onto the floor.

The sound of someone vomiting caused our heads to turn. Someone was on the ground in the corner of the room. I dropped Riot's hand and ran to them.

"Are you okay?" I asked, realizing it was a silly question. The person turned their head and I leaped back with a scream.

It was Soda, only he was different. His skin was green, his lips a bright pink. His hair had been replaced with ivy leaves, and his fingers were thick vines, going up his arms in twists and tangles. He was turning into a plant.

He turned back miserably to the pot he'd been throwing up in to go again.

Riot pulled me back.

"Atlas Adam," he swore. "What is going on here?"

"Riot?" A woman's voice called excitedly from behind us. We turned and I blinked rapidly.

I was looking at…

The woman who looked eerily similar to me stepped into the light. Her smile fell when she set her eyes on me.

"Eleanor. Hello."

I stepped forward.

"Who are you? Why are you dressed like a Young Lady?"

She laughed. "Oh, sugar, I was a Young Lady long before you were. I was better at the damn job than you too." She rolled her eyes. I stared blankly at her. There were too many similarities for this to be a coincidence.

"Eleanor," Riot's words came out slow. "This is Myrtle."

"Who is she?" Tears filled my eyes. I was confused and scared and panic was beginning to fill me.

"She's—"

"I'm your mother."

It was as if thunder had clapped down on my world. I shook my head. That wasn't possible.

"I was an orphan. I don't have parents. And you're?—"

"Young? Yes, well, that was one of the perks of being chosen. I'll be a Young Lady forever. So will you. You've got two more years before you stop aging altogether."

Two years?

Tears slid down my cheeks as I backed away from Myrtle. None of this made sense. Myrtle didn't seem to care about my reaction. She focused her attention on Riot.

"I am so glad you're here! I knew you'd come eventually." She ran forward, throwing her arms around him. Riot didn't move. His arms stayed at his sides.

"Myrtle. What are you doing here? I thought you were dead."

She stepped back and let out a fake giggle. "Oh, I had to do that. It was all part of my plan. All of this was one long plan to get you here. And it's such a relief that it's all finally happening. I was worried you'd get too old, but now, were almost the same age."

"You're my mother?" I snapped out of my trance. "How? Who is my father then?"

Myrtle looked irritated that I was speaking to her.

"We don't get to know that information. I'm assuming it was a Daddy they deemed worthy enough to pass genes on. You weren't created with love. You were created by a lab. I was just the egg and womb donor." She returned to Riot, tugging on his hands. "Come, I want to show you what I have planned for us."

Riot yanked his hands away.

"This isn't right. Why is Soda turning into a plant?" He waved to the man I'd completely forgotten about in the chaos. "Why aren't you interested in seeing your daughter? You begged me to get her out of that bunker. What is going on?"

"Riot, please." Myrtle's face fell. "Come with me. None of that matters."

"All of it matters! Tell me what the fuck is going on right now!" Riot demanded.

"Riot," Soda gasped. "Run."

I turned my head to the elevator, and Myrtle saw, her eyes turning into slits.

"I wouldn't try. You won't get far." She went to the elevator and pulled a key from her pocket. She slid it into a lock and the lights in the elevator powered down. She waved her finger at me. "And I wouldn't give me too much attitude, missy, or you might end up like Soda."

She tucked away the key and motioned for us to sit on the couch against the wall. We didn't move, which only served to irritate her further. I stepped to Riot and took his hand. She glared at us.

"What do you mean, this was your plan?" Riot asked.

Myrtle's face lit up at Riot giving her attention. "Yes! My plan. Well, it's a long one. It started with my initial escape from the bunker. You found me Riot, and took me into Heathen Heights. I don't think either of us meant it to happen, but we fell in love."

I looked up at Riot. His face contorted into a look of confusion. He shook his head. "No, Myrtle, I— that isn't what happened at all."

Myrtle didn't seem to be listening. "You never said it out loud, but I knew. I had to figure out a way to get you to admit it. And it started by telling you my secret."

"Eleanor," Riot whispered. Myrtle nodded eagerly, barely glancing my way. She wasn't seeing me. She only saw Riot.

"Eleanor. Yes. I told you about my kidnapped daughter, and I begged you to find her for me. Then, I ran away, and faked my death. It gave you more motivation to honor my last request. But, I realized that it was going to be harder than you just taking her. She needed to escape on her own. She needed a reason to leave."

I took in everything she was saying, trying to process it all. She kept going, as if she hadn't just dropped an atomic bomb's worth of information on us.

"The Daddy she was assigned to was very by the book. I knew him from when I was in school. It didn't take a lot of manipulation to convince him to pick Eleanor as the Young Lady they gang up on."

"What?" I stepped back. She'd been the one to orchestrate my almost gang rape and murder? She ignored my word.

"But I hadn't planned for the boyfriend, the DIT. The asshole? So that took a little extra work, but in doing that, I learned about his best friend Callahan: the one that had a crush on sweet Eleanor, but she never gave him a second look. It was so simple to get things in motion then. Callahan was easily the most handsome one in the bunch, and if I got Milton out of the way, my plan would work. He saved her from the orchestrated attack, replaced her original Daddy, and just as I'd expected, they fell in love and needed to get away from the bunker. And they did, with your help. It worked out so perfectly, I couldn't have planned it any better."

"You used me to— I'm so confused." Riot rubbed his eyes. "What exactly was your plan? Why involve Eleanor at all?"

Myrtle was deranged, I realized. She was in another realm of existence. She didn't see what was real, but what she wanted to be real. She was trapped in a fantasy world.

"It was the only way for you to get you out of Heathen Heights. You wouldn't leave without having a good reason. And you loved me so much to do that for me. You'd get her out. She'd want to know about the bunkers, and you wouldn't be able to let her go alone, because of your duty to me. Riot, I knew you loved me. I knew you'd come for me."

"I didn't come for you, Myrtle. I thought you were dead. I've come for my friends. I… I don't love you. I'm sorry."

The room fell silent, except for a weeping, vomiting half-plant, half-man in the corner.

"You don't love me?" Myrtle's voice cracked. "Of course you do."

"I don't." Riot stepped back and clutched me closer to him. "I love your daughter."

Myrtle's eyes darkened; she seemed to shrink and then suddenly grow taller. She dug into her dress, and before we could move, she ripped her hand out and plunged a needle deep into Riot's belly. He gasped and dropped to the ground.

"I guess I had to use the serum after all." She looked at me, hatred in her eyes. I put my hands up and backed away. She dug her hand back into her pocket for another syringe. I did the same, removing my pistol. I aimed it at her and she paused. Her eyebrow rose, and a slow, chilling smile slid onto her face.

"Well, this is interesting."