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2024-10-29 19:42:56“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 to.” He opened a new update on his HoloComm, and a mask came down over Cameron’s face. He didn’t know what was happening until a colorless gas made him choke on his own saliva. The last thing he saw through the blurriness was the image of his stepfather’s sick smile bearing down over him as the world faded into black.
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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
Invidia TWO
“What’s going on? Is she alright?” “We don’t know what’s wrong,” Justin answered. “She’s had her proper dosage of oxygen for the day, so we don’t know why she’d be shaking like this. She was fine and then after we got back from school, she started feeling bad and then a few minutes before I texted you, she collapsed. She’s been laying here on the floor ever since,” he gestured. Cameron’s heart was hurting for Carly. When Cameron and Justin had met in the third grade, Carly was nine, and she’d been close with them too. He knelt down on the floor beside her and held her hand—it was ice cold. “Does she have any other kinds of health problems?” Cameron asked. He didn’t know a whole lot about this sort of thing, but he knew enough that maybe he could help his friend figure out what was wrong with his little sister. “Not that I know of,” Justin said, sighing and sitting on the couch. The exhaustion was obvious on his face, and I broke Cameron inside because he didn’t know how to
Invidia THREE
When Cameron woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring, he groaned and dragged himself out of bed. Hey, how is everything going? He shot to Justin. Carly and Justin never left his mind. Hey, you up? He saw he had a text—not from Justin, but from Madison. Hmm, he thought to himself. That’s weird. He typed back; I am now. Sorry. I had a late night last night. She responded Yeah me too. Are you able to talk on the phone before school? Cameron didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he said he’d talk for a few minutes. Pulling her up on videochat, he saw where she looked like she’d just woken up too. “Hey,” he said while yawning. “Hi,” she said awkwardly. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he said, “Sooo, did you need something?” “Uh,” she said, then threw her hand up like she was brushing it off, “You know what? Never mind. I shouldn’t have called. I’m sorry to bother you.” “No, it’s okay. Really. What is it?” Cameron insisted. “Well,” she said ne
Invidia FOUR
He found Justin, holding a to-go box, just outside the elevators. “Come on. Let’s go see my sister.” Cameron followed Justin down the hallway. “Justin, why were you gone so long?” His mother scolded him. Cameron had always thought Justin and his mom looked just alike, but it was even more prominent today with them being dressed so similarly—from the gray t-shirts and jeans to the straight dark hair to the black Converse sneakers. “Because the cafeteria is on the other damn side of the hospital?” Justin sassily questioned. “And then I met Cameron on my way back up, so I walked back with him.” “You, sir,” she pointed at Cameron. “Yes, Ms. Nelson?” Cameron looked up at her innocently. “I missed you, kid,” she smiled, pulling him into a hug. He hugged her tightly and responded, “I missed you too, ma’am.” “Thank you for being here with us. Even though she’s still sleeping, I know Carly would be apprec
Invidia FIVE
The next morning, Cameron pulled out his HoloComm and shot a text to Justin: Hey, man. Can I ask a favor? If I ever start acting like my stepdad, will you promise to bust my ass? Then he hit send with no context whatsoever. He could already envision Justin’s brow crinkling with confusion. It’s a Saturday. It’ll be three hours before Justin even responds, he thought to himself. He probably went to stay with Carly all day. Cameron wished he could too, but his stepdad definitely wouldn’t let him after all the shit he’d pulled the night before. Figuring out how he was going to spend the day, he pried himself off the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Scuffing his feet all the way to the bathroom, he groaned. He’d decided to spend his Saturday cleaning. He kept the room quiet and smelling nice with the wax warmer he had by the window. It was his mother’s favorite scent—rosemary and frankincense. She always said those scents always helped clear her mind when she was
Invidia SIX
When he awoke the next morning, he groaned with a throbbing pain in his head, ribs, and stomach. He immediately regretted sitting up, but there wasn’t really any other option. He supposed he should go to school that day. He hadn’t coughed up any more blood, but he’d vomited during the night. “Oh, yay. Another lovely start to a gorgeous day,” he grumbled. You coming in today? Madison texted. Yeah, probably, he answered. I’m a little sore, but nothing like yesterday. I’ll see you in Lit class. Alright, cool, she replied, and Cameron got dressed as quickly as he could muster. ***** “Dude, where were you?” Madison asked when he came in late with a note. “I was late, and I had to talk to Mr. Leonard,” he whispered to her. “It’s fine. I’m not in trouble.” Madison looked incredulous, “You really got away with missing twenty minutes of class?” “Apparentl
Invidia SEVEN
Later that evening, Cameron, Justin, and Eli rode to the manor together. The tension in the car was high enough as is, but the silence they sat in made the hairs on Cameron's neck stand on end. It lasted for several minutes that felt like hours, each boy exchanging awkward glances with each other."Someone speak," Justin threw his hands up, and all three boys audibly sighed."Thank you for breaking the silence," Eli said. "Now, can we go over the plan one more time, or should we wait?" He cut a glance up towards Frank."No, we can trust him," Cameron caught his drift. "He's the closest thing to a father I've ever had.""If you say so," Eli sat back in the seat, clearly not trusting him just yet. Cameron sat back as well, reiterating the plan one last time, "So, we wait until my stepfather goes into his meeting, wait approximately ten minutes, then we sneak in. That should give us enough time to make sure the coast is clear." He took a deep breath and adjusted his seatbelt, "after we'
Invidia EIGHT
"Where is his meeting?" Eli asked."I don't know," Cameron dejectedly admitted. "They don't tell me things."Justin rolled his eyes, "Looks like it's time to hit up Shane again." Cameron sighed his agreement. "I can ask him if you want."Cameron shook his head, "He'll likely only talk to me if anyone. He doesn't like to think about the fact that he could be betraying his father.""Hendrickson deserves it," Justin grumbled."I know, but Shane won't see it the same way." He led them out of the office, back down the hallway and into his room to regroup. "Here, let me see if he's home." He pulled up his HoloComm, clicked on the display of the manor layout. Shane was pacing in his room. "He's pacing." "That's odd," Justin observed."Why?" Eli asked.Cameron kept forgetting all of the things Eli didn't know. "Here's the rundown of President Hendrickson and his darling son, Shane: Hendrickson abuses me; verbally and physically." He lifted up the edge of his shirt where the bruise showed. It
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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."
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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