Page 152 of Seven
But she knew now. She knew everything. She'd read it off the birth certificate, like it was an incantation. Like saying the words out loud made it real.
Milo.
I tried the name on for size in the privacy of my car, tasted the shape of it in my mouth. It didn't fit. Felt like a fake mustache, a costume for a party I wasn't invited to.
"Milo Mercer," I said. My voice sounded foreign, as if it belonged to a stranger.
It'll be okay, Mi?—
It'll be okay, Milo.
That's what the young woman in my nightmares tried to tell me—my real name.
A series of images flashed through my head.
The figurine.
The dark-haired teenage girl.
Priscilla?
The angry voices outside the door.
My parents arguing?
The fire.
The searing pain of the flames leaking at the curtains.
It all started to make sense now. Those were my real memories, suppressed by years and years of conditioning.
I didn't know how to feel, whether to be grateful or pissed at Father. I wondered if his taking me in actually had made my life better.
I gripped the wheel tighter, blinking through the wet blur in my eyes.
I didn't remember the last time I'd cried. Maybe because I'd never done it. But I couldn't control it right now. The tears just spilled. Like some kind of invisible dam in my eyes broke.
The city lights smeared up ahead, diffused through the storm, and every exit sign looked like a challenge. The more I tried not to think about the past or about Kimmy, the more the memories pushed themselves to the forefront of my mind and the more she was there.
I chose to think about her instead of my fucked-up childhood. Her hair, her eyes, her body pressed against mine, the way she'd clung to me in the dark. The way she said my birth name, even though she didn't know what would follow next.
She'd called me beautiful.
I was a monster. Manufactured through violence for violence.
What a fucking cruel joke.
I took the next off-ramp, cut across two lanes, ignored the angry horn behind me. The Bureau compound was just ahead, when I noticed the dark sedan that had been following me for a while now.
I took the next left instead of right, circled the block, then hid in thedark alley, watching the vehicle roll by. Fuckers from Bale security were still following me. I needed to get footage from the club to Viper ASAP. I was getting tired of the tail.
I took my sweet time, waiting, then got back on the street and headed over to the compound.
Once inside, I went down to the basement where a row of lockers stood against the wall. I found the one that belonged to Viper and punched the code into the keypad, then placed the pendant inside.
It was done.
The target was nearing the inevitable end.
