Collide

Collide Read Online Free PDF

Book: Collide Read Online Free PDF
Author: Christine Fonseca
Tags: young adult mystery thriller
the sun dipped below the horizon. The Architect pulled herself free from her coat and sank into the oversized chair adjacent to her desk. She smoothed out the wrinkles now evident across the precious picture and stared at the faces, allowing them to imprint deeply into her thoughts.
    Five children, none older than six or seven, sat in a single row of hard chairs as four adults stood behind them. Everyone smiled, innocent and naive like a class picture from some long-forgotten moment in time.
    “Why were we so happy?” she asked to the empty room. “Didn’t we understand the truth?”
    The answer came before the question was fully shaped. No . They were too young.
    She ran her thumb against the paper, remembering each child in vivid detail. The first was a girl with the pale skin and green eyes. The Architect had never seen someone like her before joining the experiments. The girl didn’t smile; she just glared at the camera from beneath her unruly red hair. The boy sitting next to her could have been her twin—same green eyes, same fair skin. The similarities ended there; where the girl was a ginger, the boy had ebony black hair that stood at odd angles around his young face. He smiled up from the picture, his expression carrying a hint of mischief.
    It paled in comparison to the boy who sat next to him. Older than the others, his eyes held a determination along with the mischievousness. Blue and deep, he appeared to be strangely alive in the photograph. His hair, a blond windswept mop on the top of his head, and tanned skin gave him the appearance of a young Hollywood actor. He possessed a charm that seeped through the paper. He was clearly the leader of the group back then.
    When there was a leader. And they were a group.
    The Architect’s eyes moved to the next child—a fierce-looking girl, out of place among the others. Her skin was the color of midnight. Her hair was a wild chestnut mass extending too far to either side. Untamed. Fiery eyes, more amber than brown, sparkled with a life force that refused to be contained.
    The Architect rested her gaze on the image, taking in every detail. The small dimple in her checks. The angular bone structure. The uncontrollable spirit radiating from her cells. Where did you go? Tears filled her eyes as she lost herself in the past.
    Two heartbeats passed before her sight traveled to the last girl. Her blonde hair resembled the leader’s. Her eyes mimicked a golden sky, while her skin made her look like Malibu Barbie. Even at five, she exemplified the American definition of beauty. The Architect stared, ignoring the water that now dropped from her eyes and spilled across her cheekbones. A moment passed. And another. Until she looked at the four adults, their lab coats reflecting the flash from the camera.
    The Architect wiped her cheeks and put the picture back into the desk drawer. She had no room for these memories. Everyone had made their choices, including her.
    And everyone would have to deal with the consequences.

 
     
    Project Stargate 2.0
    The Solomon Experiments
     
    Dr. LeMercier’s Personal Journal –
    Aug. 16, 2002
    Day 48:
     
    The five have been chosen—finally. The team believes these to be the strongest, the most ruthless and the most loyal. I concur. Though, I wonder about the training ahead, the rigor the chosen will endure. The commitment I will force them to make. Can they, can any child, accomplish the tasks required?
     
    The siblings show the most promise. But the colored girl, I worry about her. She’s special, yes. Surprising, even. She sees events before they unfold, predicts outcomes with exceptional precision. She is the ultimate strategist, a game-maker, a chess master. A helpful skill, no doubt, but will it prove to be enough? She has not demonstrated the capacity to kill and I am not certain she ever will.
     
    More, she may discover the true intent of the task ahead, long before her fellow recruits or the others. I cannot have her
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