Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Bearers ❯ Chapter 27 ( Chapter 27 )

Bryan sighed quietly as our lips connected again. His movements were slow, hesitant. He was afraid. I could tell. Afraid of what he might do if he let his instincts take over.

“Bryan,” I murmured. He looked at me quizzically. “You don't have to be afraid. I'm ready for this.”

“Even if we go farther than normal?” Bryan questioned.

I smiled and brushed Bryan's bangs back. “That doesn't matter to me. I love you Bryan. I'll do anything for you.”

Bryan didn't look convinced. I firmly pressed my lips to his for another kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him so he was on top of me. I registered shock in Bryan's eyes but that didn't matter to me at all. I had to break off the kiss to breathe, but after I was sufficiently supplied with oxygen, I kissed him again. I pressed my tongue to Bryan's lips. His eyes widened but he parted his lips. I slid my tongue into Bryan's mouth. Bryan exhaled softly.

“Relax Bryan,” I murmured, pulling away. “Please don't be afraid. Don't hold back, okay? Anything you want to do, I'll do.”

“You don't mean that,” Bryan murmured.

I growled softly under my breath and sat up. Bryan moved back to give me space. “Bryan, you just don't get it, do you? I love you. I. Love. You. I'm willing to go all the way with you if you want to. Why can't you understand that?”

----------------------------------

Chapter 27

Bryan and Caelyn stared at Aleksei like he was crazy.

“Aleksei…” Bryan started.

“It's the only way,” Aleksei interrupted. “We sure as hell can't stay here. You know the only way to get out of here is to break out.”

“Yeah,” Bryan agreed. “But it's extremely risky. There's a high probability that we'll be caught. We could be punished, even executed.”

“We don't have a choice,” Aleksei said softly. “The only thing we can do is plan everything very carefully and prepare ourselves for the worst possible outcome. And…you don't have to do this Bryan. We aren't going to force you into it. You can always stay in the safety of The Institute.”

Bryan snorted. “I'd rather die than stay at The Institute for the rest of my life, assuming that's what happens, since we don't have any idea what actually happens after we get older. I'm not willing to stick around to find out.” He looked at Aleksei. “What do we have to do?”

Aleksei thought for a while. “We need to be extremely careful so no one figures out what we're doing. It's already very risky with the number of people we have, especially with Rian, but we'll make it work somehow.”

“The biggest problem we have to worry about is getting out of The Institute without being seen by anyone,” Bryan murmured. “And then we have to get out of the city without being caught. That's going to be very hard.”

“I think we should split up,” Daire suddenly said from the couch. The others stared at him as he slowly sat up. “We should split up into two groups. That way, the group is smaller and there'll be less of a chance that we'll get caught.”

“Yeah.” Aleksei nodded. “That's a good idea.”

“Aleksei.” Daire's tone was extremely gentle. “You and I can't be in the same group. It'll be very obvious that something is going on if we're together.”

“Yes,” Aleksei agreed.

“I think Bryan and I should go together and you should go with Caelyn and Rian,” Daire continued.

“No, that wouldn't be wise,” Aleksei disagreed. “People might be suspicious if you go with Bryan because you're a Bearer and he's a Breeder who isn't your mate. People won't be as suspicious if there are two Bearers together, especially if it's you and Caelyn. Likewise, people won't be as suspicious if there are two Breeders together who interact regularly, like Bryan and myself.”

“You have a point,” Daire relented. “However, I'm worried about if we meet some resistance along the way. Two Bearers together are an easy target, especially if one of them has a child.”

“We may have no choice though,” Caelyn murmured. “We may just have to go through with it and pray for the best outcome.”

“We need to pack lightly,” Aleksei said. “Only bring what you absolutely need. We won't be leaving right away, but we still need to get ready as soon as possible. I'm going to start looking for a place for us to get out. I don't know how many entrances to The Institute there are.”

“The two I know about are the one at the Medical Facility and the one we used with John and neither of those seem appropriate. Those two exits are the last places we want to try and escape from because that's where they'll expect an escape. Tell me…” Daire looked at Aleksei intently. “Do you know of anyone who's tried to escape from The Institute?”

Aleksei thought for a few moments and then turned to Bryan. “There was that one guy, right? What was his name? Al…something.”

“It was Arlen,” Bryan responded irately. “His name was Arlen.”

Aleksei looked over at Daire, who seemed to be frozen, his mind elsewhere.

“Daire? Are you okay?” Aleksei asked, his forehead wrinkling with worry.

Daire didn't answer. When Aleksei gently touched him on the shoulder, he jumped.

“Oh. Sorry.” Daire blinked, coming out of his trance-like state. “I was just thinking. What were you saying? Something about a guy named Arlen trying to escape? What happened to him?”

Aleksei couldn't help feeling that Daire was hiding something from him, though he knew this was not the right time to pursue it.

“His name was Arlen,” he said instead. “He tried to escape from The Institute years and years ago.”

“It was a long time ago,” Bryan added. “Before you were born, Daire.”

“Actually…” Aleksei frowned. “It was around the time Daire was born.” He shook his head. “Anyway, he attempted to escape from The Institute but he was caught.”

“What happened to him?” Daire asked breathlessly. “Was he executed?”

“No.” Aleksei shook his head. “They couldn't.”

“Why not?” Daire wondered. He gave a soft gasp, his hands flying to his mouth. “He wasn't…?”

“Yeah.” Aleksei's face was grim. “He was pregnant.”

“They didn't want to lose the child because it was possible that it was a Bearer. And guess what. It was.” Bryan chuckled darkly.

“So who's the Bearer Arlen produced?” Daire asked. “Is it someone we know?”

“We have no idea,” Aleksei confessed. “The name of the child was never revealed.”

“So what happened to Arlen after he gave birth? Did they…?” Daire broke off with a shudder.

“They kept him alive,” Aleksei replied grimly. “They thought that he was valuable to keep around since he had already produced a Bearer.”

“That didn't go well,” Bryan said darkly. “He didn't have any more children. For whatever reason, he could only have the one child. And they didn't know who the father of the baby was either.”

“What do you mean?” Daire asked.

“All we know is that the father wasn't at The Institute,” Bryan responded.

“No one knows what happened to Arlen after that,” Aleksei said. “He just seemed to vanish off the face of the planet. No one knows if he's still alive or if he died.”

“So how do you two know all this?” Daire asked.

“We've heard the stories the guards tell each other. And the story is in the textbook, if you've ever read it. It's a sort of warning to not mess with The Institute. They spout some nonsense about how Arlen was caught and punished, but it's contradictory at the same time, because it was written that Arlen was pregnant and it states that no harm will ever come to a Bearer, especially a pregnant Bearer.”

“I never knew that it was in the textbook.” Daire thought guiltily of his own textbook sitting at the bottom of the trunk, scarcely being used.

“Anyway, I'm going to sneak around and see if I can find any exits that are useable,” Aleksei said.

“Be careful,” Daire warned.

Aleksei smiled. “I will.”

To be continued…

Notes: I'm back! No more hiding in steel reinforced bunkers…maybe. I was afraid of being shot for killing off Aidan, but the readers were so understanding. Thanks! It's highly appreciated. All your reviews are much appreciated. It makes me feel loved, which makes me happy, which makes me motivated to write, which gets the chapters done faster.

I want to say that I'm going to post a chapter each week, but I can't guarantee it. But the chapters will always be posted on a Friday. Don't ask me why. That's just the day I chose. I'm really hoping to post one chapter each week because that means it'll be finished sooner and I think I can write a decent chapter in a week. We'll see.