SLEEPER (Crossfire Series) Read Online Free Page B

Duren.

CHAPTER 2
     
    Six weeks later
     
    There’s nothing wrong with me.
    Lily stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. There were smudges under her eyes from lack of sleep, but, apart from that, she felt and looked perfectly fine. Just a little stressed out, that was all.
    After all, she was living with a bunch of moody teenagers, for heaven’s sake. There were enough catfights around here to last her a lifetime.
    She welcomed it, which was ironic. She wanted to be alone, had always preferred to be alone, and now she was afraid of it. That was because when she was by herself, she started to think, and thinking made her afraid.
    Lily ran a comb slowly through her hair. The back was curling out softly around her shoulders. She needed a haircut; she liked the short, easy style she’d kept for years. All she needed was a pair of scissors and a few quick snips.
    She stared down at the scissors by the sink. There was no logical reason for it—she just couldn’t make herself cut her own hair. It was as if staring at her reflection scared her. What if something inside had been programmed that Lily must have short hair? Maybe she was being prepared for another task.
    She shook her head and quickly turned on the tap. Leaning down, she splashed her face with cold water, welcoming the sharp, icy slap.
    It’d been over two months since she’d run away with the girls, and except for one time, she still hadn’t been able to say the words out loud. The only person who knew about her condition was Tatiana, and even she wasn’t too sure what was wrong with Lily. Hell, she wasn’t too sure herself. She could only remember up to a point, and then everything was a jumbled mass of images. After that she was just…herself. Right?
    She bit her lip, drawing her teeth slowly over the lower one. How could she explain brainwashing to a teenager when she didn’t even know how it’d been done to her? But at least Tatiana had accepted the story and had kept an eye on her to make sure she didn’t go anywhere without a reason. That was important—she couldn’t disappear without permission.
    She wanted to laugh at the incongruity of that thought but couldn’t. These days the things going round and round in her head were bizarre. If she were programmed to disappear, how would she or anyone else be able to stop her?
    Lily leaned closer to the mirror, looking deeply into the dark irises of her eyes, trying to find answers to her unspoken questions. Who was in there? She felt like one of those people who had multiple personalities. Could she really have undergone some kind of brainwashing? It had taken years before the CIA had activated her, and even though she’d somehow stopped herself in time, something inside her was still ticking. What if there were other things she’d been told to do?
    The notion horrified her. She blinked back the sudden swell of tears. She’d worked so hard all these years to be in total control of her life, and to find out that she had never been—ever—both devastated and pissed her off. Like this crying. She’d been doing that a lot lately. As if tears could change her situation and what she’d done. As if self-pity would make her feel less lonely.
    She knew there was a reason why she’d always hated the CIA. Something inside her had been trying to warn her, trying to make her remember. She’d brushed the feelings off, but now she understood those were real feelings—the hatred and the fear. Everything else was fake. Right? She wasn’t sure anymore. She couldn’t trust her own emotions.
    Sometimes she wondered whether she was going through some kind of drug withdrawal. Maybe the CIA had picked her because she was schizophrenic and they’d somehow given her drugs to suppress some of her personalities. She straightened from the mirror, blinking rapidly.
    Don’t even go there. You’re driving yourself crazy, thinking like that.
    “Lily, are you all right in there?” Tatiana tapped on the