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Invidia FORTY-SIX
"Gross, Cameron," Madison jumped back."If you really believe that, does that mean you hate our government?" Cameron asked after wiping his mouth."I don't really feel comfortable answering that, considering who I'm speaking to," Dr. Jackson spoke carefully.Cameron stared, "Do you really think I'm a fan of my stepfather?" He chuckled. "The man beats me. I want to see him in the ground."Dr. Jackson's eyes widened. "Yes, I despise everything about them.""Good," Cameron's face sparkled. A new potential ally amongst all the other enemies in this wretched, fucked up world was exactly what they needed. "We may need your help.""How so?" Dr. Jackson asked hesitantly."I need you to befriend my stepfather," even Madison's head turned when Cameron said that."Why?" Dr. Jackson was infinitely more suspicious than he already was."Because we think he's up to something he shouldn't be, and we have reasonable evidence or whatever it is you say we need in class for a theory, but I can't tell you
Invidia FORTY-SEVEN
Rock, plaster, and dust covered everything in a thick layer of ick. Justin coughed and spit on the floor, and Carly snapped at him for being gross.During the ceiling falling, and their chests becoming engulfed in choking clouds of dust, neither of them noticed the giant man that fell with the ceiling. The man was gargantuan, with a hooked nose and a scruffy beard, no hair on his head, and his breath was the scent of spoiled milk. He landed softly on the ground, noiselessly, and stalked away down the corridor. The only thing he left behind were footprints settled on the sooty ground."God, what was up with that?" Justin finally finished coughing."I don't know, but look," Carly pointed to the footprints of what had to have been at least a size 14 foot."Geez, who is that? Bigfoot?" Justin followed them, walking carefully so his own footprints did not disturb them.It didn't take long for them to catch up with the beast. He was large, but what he made up for in size, he lacked in speed
Invidia FORTY-EIGHT
"Kill my father? No way." Cameron said. "Not happening." "Cameron, it's the only way," Dr. Jackson defended. "Besides, that's the only thing now that would truly free him, wouldn't it?" "No!" Cameron argued. "Cam," Madison put a hand on his shoulder, "can you imagine what your father is like now? After being in captivity by the one man who has beaten you foryears? He's been jailed by the man forfifteen years.We have to set him free, in the most humane way possible." "But that doesn't mean we have to fucking murder him!" "Cameron, I know this must be hard to understand, and that's okay, but I need you to listen to me. Even if we do somehow free your father from the government's hands, don't you think he would still be plagued by those 15 years? Think a decade and a half of post-traumatic stress disorder, on top of the amount he already had in response to the oxygen shortage. Wouldn't you want to be truly set
Invidia FORTY-NINE
Justin forgot where they even were. He knew they were in the Keegan building, but between the ceiling falling, walking through a holographic wall, and having a mission of death assigned to them, he couldn't remember where in the building they were. The lack of labeling and entirely white walls all over the place didn't help ground him either. It was an endless maze, and the only way he knew to get out of it was to wait for himself to stop being able to breathe.Great,he thought. "Do you have any idea where we are?" He asked Carly, who shook her head no.They had just turned a corner and finally saw something different.Stairs. Justin ran to them and although they were white like the rest of the building, at least he might have foreseen something changing in the near future. He never thought he'd be so happy to see stairs."Up or down?" He asked Carly, beaming."Justin, we're at the bottom. The only way we can go is up."
Invidia FIFTY
“Whythe hell are you doing this?” Cameron mumbled. The gag dried out his mouth and made his tongue feel sandy, which made moving it to get the gag out all that more difficult. “You know why,” his stepfather answered, bent over the table Cameron was strapped to. The restraints sliced into his skin and bent his wrists at unnatural angles. “You’ve deceived me. You’ve lied. You’ve done everything in your power to overthrow me.” “Whatpower?” He finally spit the gag out. “You’re the freaking president. Ihaveno power. I d
Invidia FIFTY-ONE
Her world was blurry, and she was finding it difficult to stay conscious. The harder she fought, the harder it became. She was going to have to let it happen. With as deep of an inhale as she could, she swallowed her breath and let herself fall into it.*****Everything was wavy; the beach, the sand, the clouds. Even the way Madison's hair whipped in the wind. Everything was also distorted, wrong, like she didn't belong there.Someone was out in front of her. They were tall, slender, and dark complected. As far as Madison could tell, the person had a kind face. They reached out a hand towards her, beckoning her to come closer. She took a step, but it was slow. The air was heavy, like she was standing on the moon. Everything was in slow motion, and she couldn't tell how far away the person was. Each step she took, the person always seemed the same distance away, but they weren't moving."Come, child," the person said. It sounded like a woman's voice, but it was nearly impossible to tel
Invidia PROLOGUE
“Why the hell are you doing this?” Cameron mumbled. The gag dried out his mouth and made his tongue feel sandy, which made moving it to get the gag out all that more difficult. “You know why,” his stepfather answered, bent over the table Cameron was strapped to. The restraints sliced into his skin and bent his wrists at unnatural angles. “You’ve deceived me. You’ve lied. You’ve done everything in your power to overthrow me.” “What power?” He finally spit the gag out. “You’re the freaking president. I have no power. I don’t know why you think I can overthrow you.” After his stepfather slapped him, his face stung for a moment before fading into a mild burn, “That’s what I’m trying to figure out! I knew from the start that when I married Christy that you were going to be a pain in my ass. Now she’s dead, and it’s your fault.” “How is it my fault?” “Because she died to save your ungrateful little ass,” Hendrickson spat. “And you don’t even know why. Now you’re not going
Invidia ONE
NINE MONTHS EARLIER Cameron stood there, mouth agape in a perfect, little “O.” His best friend waved his hand in front of Cameron’s face. “Cameron, you good, man?” Justin asked. “What?” he said, breaking out of his stupor. “Oh, yeah, yeah. I’m good.” He could feel his cheeks flush. He had been too distracted by the sight of Gabriella Clearwater—the most beautiful girl in the eleventh grade. Justin grabbed Cameron’s arm, “Come on, dude. We’ve got to get to physics class,” he finished with an eye roll. “Because that’s what I wanna learn about in 2163.” Heading down the hall towards biomechanical physics, Cameron envisioned Gabriella. — her curly brown hair cascading down her lean, muscular back; her eyes the color of the sky on a warm summer day; her plump lips untouched by bright red lipstick unlike all the other girls. “Oh, keep it in your pants, Cam,” Justin rolled his eyes. “Come on,” he had to yank Cameron’s arm hard enough to wrest him from his daydream. “Think a
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- Invidia
FIFTY-ONE
Her world was blurry, and she was finding it difficult to stay conscious. The harder she fought, the harder it became. She was going to have to let it happen. With as deep of an inhale as she could, she swallowed her breath and let herself fall into it.*****Everything was wavy; the beach, the sand, the clouds. Even the way Madison's hair whipped in the wind. Everything was also distorted, wrong, like she didn't belong there.Someone was out in front of her. They were tall, slender, and dark complected. As far as Madison could tell, the person had a kind face. They reached out a hand towards her, beckoning her to come closer. She took a step, but it was slow. The air was heavy, like she was standing on the moon. Everything was in slow motion, and she couldn't tell how far away the person was. Each step she took, the person always seemed the same distance away, but they weren't moving."Come, child," the person said. It sounded like a woman's voice, but it was nearly impossible to tel
- Invidia
FIFTY
“Whythe hell are you doing this?” Cameron mumbled. The gag dried out his mouth and made his tongue feel sandy, which made moving it to get the gag out all that more difficult. “You know why,” his stepfather answered, bent over the table Cameron was strapped to. The restraints sliced into his skin and bent his wrists at unnatural angles. “You’ve deceived me. You’ve lied. You’ve done everything in your power to overthrow me.” “Whatpower?” He finally spit the gag out. “You’re the freaking president. Ihaveno power. I d
- Invidia
FORTY-NINE
Justin forgot where they even were. He knew they were in the Keegan building, but between the ceiling falling, walking through a holographic wall, and having a mission of death assigned to them, he couldn't remember where in the building they were. The lack of labeling and entirely white walls all over the place didn't help ground him either. It was an endless maze, and the only way he knew to get out of it was to wait for himself to stop being able to breathe.Great,he thought. "Do you have any idea where we are?" He asked Carly, who shook her head no.They had just turned a corner and finally saw something different.Stairs. Justin ran to them and although they were white like the rest of the building, at least he might have foreseen something changing in the near future. He never thought he'd be so happy to see stairs."Up or down?" He asked Carly, beaming."Justin, we're at the bottom. The only way we can go is up."
- Invidia
FORTY-EIGHT
"Kill my father? No way." Cameron said. "Not happening." "Cameron, it's the only way," Dr. Jackson defended. "Besides, that's the only thing now that would truly free him, wouldn't it?" "No!" Cameron argued. "Cam," Madison put a hand on his shoulder, "can you imagine what your father is like now? After being in captivity by the one man who has beaten you foryears? He's been jailed by the man forfifteen years.We have to set him free, in the most humane way possible." "But that doesn't mean we have to fucking murder him!" "Cameron, I know this must be hard to understand, and that's okay, but I need you to listen to me. Even if we do somehow free your father from the government's hands, don't you think he would still be plagued by those 15 years? Think a decade and a half of post-traumatic stress disorder, on top of the amount he already had in response to the oxygen shortage. Wouldn't you want to be truly set
- Invidia
FORTY-SEVEN
Rock, plaster, and dust covered everything in a thick layer of ick. Justin coughed and spit on the floor, and Carly snapped at him for being gross.During the ceiling falling, and their chests becoming engulfed in choking clouds of dust, neither of them noticed the giant man that fell with the ceiling. The man was gargantuan, with a hooked nose and a scruffy beard, no hair on his head, and his breath was the scent of spoiled milk. He landed softly on the ground, noiselessly, and stalked away down the corridor. The only thing he left behind were footprints settled on the sooty ground."God, what was up with that?" Justin finally finished coughing."I don't know, but look," Carly pointed to the footprints of what had to have been at least a size 14 foot."Geez, who is that? Bigfoot?" Justin followed them, walking carefully so his own footprints did not disturb them.It didn't take long for them to catch up with the beast. He was large, but what he made up for in size, he lacked in speed
- Invidia
FORTY-SIX
"Gross, Cameron," Madison jumped back."If you really believe that, does that mean you hate our government?" Cameron asked after wiping his mouth."I don't really feel comfortable answering that, considering who I'm speaking to," Dr. Jackson spoke carefully.Cameron stared, "Do you really think I'm a fan of my stepfather?" He chuckled. "The man beats me. I want to see him in the ground."Dr. Jackson's eyes widened. "Yes, I despise everything about them.""Good," Cameron's face sparkled. A new potential ally amongst all the other enemies in this wretched, fucked up world was exactly what they needed. "We may need your help.""How so?" Dr. Jackson asked hesitantly."I need you to befriend my stepfather," even Madison's head turned when Cameron said that."Why?" Dr. Jackson was infinitely more suspicious than he already was."Because we think he's up to something he shouldn't be, and we have reasonable evidence or whatever it is you say we need in class for a theory, but I can't tell you
- Invidia
FORTY-FIVE
"Wait, wait, wait." Madison said. "Hold on. How does he steal all of their oxygen? And how does he know that what he's doing works?""I don't know, but I have an idea who might." Cameron said."Who would that be?""My professor at San Vanjay's, the one who was writing about biomolecular physics.""And how do we know we can trust him?" Madison asked.Cameron gulped, "We don't, but what other choice do we have?"*****"How exactly did they wipe themselves out?" Carly asked the little girl."They made themselves known too quickly.""In what way?"Adalia gave a smile, "Have you ever heard of the Beginning?"Justin worked hard to keep his face as straight as possible. "I think I might have heard it somewhere. Why?""They were the ones who put me here, gave me a chance at becoming a part of the Project."Carly piped up this time, "And was that your choice, to leave?"She smiled sadly at the ground, "Not at first, no. I did not want to leave my mother and my father, but they understood. The
- Invidia
FORTY-FOUR
"What the hell makes you say that?" Madison asked."God, that's so like him," he muttered to himself. He walked over to a man. The man was strapped to a table with tubes attached to his chest. He also had a mask over his face, one that looked like an older mask, the kind they used to put over asthmatic patients when they needed help breathing."Cameron," Madison yanked his arm. "Look at me." He turned around slowly. "Why do you say that he's stealing their oxygen?"He gestured at the man's feet. "Do you see that giant metal tank? I can tell that the masks on their face are collecting it. Those tanks used to give oxygen, so what makes you think they can't take it as well?""Except for the fact those people aren't breathing out oxygen. They're breathing out carbon dioxide.""They're not though. I think he's stealing it from their lungs.""How?""Do you see these tubes here?" He pointed to the tubes suctioned onto the man's chest. "I think those are filtering out the stuff Hendrickson do
- Invidia
FORTY-THREE
"Madison! Please come back with me. They don't need Carly and Justin, which means we do." Cameron pointed out the obvious. "Clearly, them being here would mess up the project, otherwise they wouldn't have even bothered. Would they? They'd have just killed them and gotten it over with."Madison turned around, eyes wider than he'd ever seen them. "They're needed for something else.""Is there something bigger than Project Invidia?" Cameron pinched his nose. "Damn," he muttered."There has to be, otherwise like you said, they'd have just killed them off already.""Shit, you're right. We need to find them." Cameron started backtracking."Cam, we fell through the floor. How exactly do you expect us to find them?" Madison put her hands on her hips."Good point. Madison van Buren," he put his hands on her shoulders, steadying them both at the same time, "you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I want you to know that. I want you to know if it weren't for you, I probably woul
