The S-Gene (Book 1: Amelia) - COMPLETE
The Choice

Matches. Breeding. Supernatural.

Everything was jumbled in her head. They left her to decide on something that wasn’t a decision. She could ’willingly’ do this on her terms or she could unwillingly do it on someone else’s terms.

Her whole world flipped upside down because of a fucking dumb trial.

She should have done something else, she should have never walked into that fucking place. Except it was too late now. She was here and she was stuck. Amelia hadn’t even browsed through her matches yet. She remained on the floor, head buried in her legs.

Ezekiel was on the list. She knew that much.

Not that it changed anything.

He had kidnapped her and brought her here.

Maybe she should be grateful she was alive and he hadn’t eaten her or something.

This was fucked up. It was like a dating site meet surrogate meet sugar daddy. She was forced to either date someone, or carry a child for them and all of this with a monetary reward at the end. It did sound better than being kidnapped from her apartment and bred like an animal.

But better didn’t mean it was right.

Amelia would like to think it was a scare tactic and that nothing would happen to her if she left. But really, who would she be kidding? From the little she had witnessed so far, it was clear they were willing to go to any length to obtain what they wanted.

How was this happening to her?

Wouldn’t someone have tracked down one of her family members before her? She’d never heard of a strangely rich person or someone who mysteriously disappeared. Why her? Why now?

Plus, what did that mean if she decided to have a family in the future - with a normal human thank you. Would they be like her? Would she have to shield them and protect them? Would she have to live in constant fear that someone might come and snatch them up in the middle of the night?

Dr. Harper said she would dictate the terms of the contract, yet she did not feel as though she wielded any power. All she could do really was to try to get something for her troubles.

She would not find love here. Love. With one of them? That was insanity.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was after her reproductive abilities, a vampire-like Ezekiel would only want one thing from her - her blood. He would drain her dry and leave her to die. So much for a love story.

Oh god, what if it was only vampires in there? She knew Dr. Harper said she was lucky to be a universal carrier - though she failed to see the lucky part in that - but she didn’t know if it meant she matched with other types of… supernatural beings.

Should she look?

It wasn’t as though she had other options. All paths led to this… Unless she wanted to take her chances in the real world but… she didn’t. She knew how cruel humans could be, how far they could go to obtain what they sought. She didn’t even want to think about what powerful creatures might do…

If she had to do this, regardless of what she wanted, it was best to do it on her terms while ensuring her safety. It gave her a chance to have a life after. Amelia chuckled bitterly.

She had lost her mind.

She was considering this.

She was actually considering this. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

What did that say about her? Shouldn’t she be throwing herself against the walls? Trying to break the door with her shoulder?

But what would it do?

They had drugged her. They had sequestered her.

If they wanted to, they could keep her here. She could be kidnapped by these creatures and lord knew what would happen then. She had cried. She had screamed into her sleeves. None of this had gotten here out of here. If she slammed herself into the door, she would most likely end up with an injury - she wasn’t strong enough to break it.

And then, what if they thought she would harm herself? Would they drug her?

This was it.

Her only fucking way out of here was in that fucking file. There was nothing else for her. She had signed away her own freedom for money. She shook her head, her posture stooped as a wave of resignation washed over her.

Her muscles were weak, numbness spreading inside of her. She gave a half-hearted shrug, her head lifted enough that she could stare at the beige file waiting for her. She didn’t even know if the contract and the terms were real. Would they be respected?

Why go through the charade? Couldn’t they take what they wanted anyway? The staff appeared to be human. Maybe transactions were better. Less noise, less damage. She had to believe in it because if she didn’t…. There were no other options.

Her hands clenched and unclenched, her limbs shaking. She hated them - all of them. The fact that they trapped people, that they did this. It wasn’t fair. Spittles built up in the corners of her mouth before she rolled her bottom lip inward, biting it.

Fuckers.

Amelia leaned forward, inching her upper body forward until her fingertips could grasp the file. She tugged at it until it fell on the floor and then she slid it in front of her. She crossed her legs, flipping the folder open.

Ezekiel. She knew that fucker, and she had no interest in reading anything about him.

She tossed aside his page, sending it sliding across the room. Good riddance.

It wasn’t like the others were any better than him. They were in this system, in this poisonous trafficking. But, he was the one who had invaded her space, stalked her, and brought her back to Dr. Harper.

The next page had a photo of a short brown-haired man. He had honey-colored eyes and tan skin. Name: Caleb.Species: Werewolf. Oh great. Someone who could turn into a beast. Was that any better than a vampire? He could turn into a savage wolf and eat her alive…

At least his heart was beating though…. Better than being someone’s special girl and their food.

MATCH: 86.3%

A match score. What did it even mean? Then again, it was obvious what it meant. Biologically. They didn’t know the first thing about her. This wasn’t a dating site where they matched interests and passions. Dr. Harper had been clear about it. This was the likelihood they would conceive a child.

A child.

A whole human being.

She had thought about children before. The thought had crossed her mind, though she had never settled on an answer. How could she have when her life had been in shamble? No money, no education, no stability.

Amelia could not provide for a child at the moment, so children hadn’t been part of her plans. Now, they still didn’t have to be. From the way it sounded, she could have it and give it away like it never was.

But could she actually do that? Have a child out there that she would never see? She doubted shared custody was a thing… and she wasn’t looking to get married here. So, honestly… that was her only choice.

Her chest caved in as she clutched her stomach. A ringing in her ears echoed while her vision tunneled, focusing only on the word Match. A wave of heat rolled over her skin while she thanked the Gods she was sitting already. Her legs had gone weak and would have given up if she had been standing.

Amelia gently rocked herself back and forth, her guts twisting as the urge to vomit formed itself. One step at a time. She could only take this if she dealt with it one step at a time.

“Next one,” she said to herself.

She removed Caleb’s sheet, revealing the one beneath it. The next candidate had sandy hair with pearly green eyes, looking like shiny gems. Name: Ben. Species: Selkie. Alright, what in the fuck was a damn Selkie?

Her first reflex was to reach out for her phone to search the word, but as her hand found her empty back pocket, she remembered. No cellphone. What, did they expect her to randomly know every supernatural creature there ever was?

She tried to browse further, hoping she would find more information.

MATCH: 81.4%

Below, there was a list of interest, age, weight, and height… but nothing to help her understand what a selkie was. He looked normal enough. Maybe it was a shifting thing? God. She didn’t want to find out about this, she didn’t want to be knowledgeable.

Amelia kicked the file away with her foot before banging the back of her head against the wall.

How would she do this?

How could she do this?

***

“HEY!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“HEY!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Are you planning on leaving me here forever?” Amelia screamed as she kept on pounding on the door. “HELLO?”

She sighed, dragging her fists along the length of the door. They had left her to ‘think’ quite a while ago and since then, no one had returned. No water, no food - no bathroom. Did they want her to become delirious and easier to control? Then again, if that was the end goal, they could have simply drugged her again.

Click.

The sound of the door unlocked startled her, forcing her to take a few steps backward. Fina-fucking-lly. She held her breath, waiting in anticipation for the person to reveal themselves.

Almost as expected, it was Dr. Harper.

“Miss Parks. Have you come to a decision?”

He was stoic, glancing at her with his hands shoved into the pockets of his white lab coat. Did he think this was an easy decision? Something that one could do without a care in the world?

“I have questions.”

“Of course.”

He turned around enough to close the door behind him and then he walked further into the room, walking past her. “What are your questions?”

“How do I know that my terms will be respected? How do I know they will respect the contract? How do I even know no one will come after me after I’ve honored the contract. What is stopping them?”

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Valid questions Miss Parks. You see, we do not wish to see anyone harm. That is the reason we provide this service. Everyone wins.”

She scoffed; she would hardly call this a win for the carriers.

“I know you do not believe me. However, some of your peers have gone to make millions off these deals. We work with trusted clients. We have done this for years. If this was a facade, we would not bother with this and the money involved in upkeeping our facilities. We would immediately resort to barbaric ways.”

Amelia tilted her head to the side, looking away from him, before clearing her throat. “Fair point. But that doesn’t really tell me what guarantees that no one will come after me once this is done. If they will do it now if I go home without participating in this, why not later too?”

“It is something we suggest you put in your contract. Most of our participants offer it during the negotiations, but some do not. Hence why when you sit down to draft the agreement, we suggest it.”

“Suggest what?”

“Include protection. A bodyguard of some sort. The family will continue to ensure your safety once you leave. We have had no kidnapping or deaths since we have begun this program.”

Her tongue felt thick and pasty in her mouth as she tried to swallow despite the dryness of her throat. Did she even want to know how long they had been doing this?

Dr. Harper seemed to have understood her silent question since he smiled at her. “More than decades.”

Alright. So they would protect her in exchange for the… service she was offering. If she didn’t go along with this they would simply take what they wanted and her life be damned. Though his answers made sense and he appeared confident, she found it hard to trust him.

They hadn’t given her any reason to do so with all their lies and deceit.

“Why the lies then? If it’s so advantageous and easy?”

“Miss Parks, we have to protect our clients. As you know very well yourself, their existence is a myth, and it needs to remain this way. If we advertised it, do you not believe that it would defeat the purpose?”

“Fine, then why not tell carriers once you find them?”

He laughed, his chest rattled by the sound. “As you can see, you did not take the news of their existence very well. We cannot allow someone to run into the world, panicked and scared. This allows us to answer questions, explain this opportunity, and for you to register the information.”

Would she have run out of the clinic screaming? Probably. Would she have returned at some point? Fuck no. His logic was sort of sound. She didn’t approve of it, of anything they were doing. But, she supposed it made sense.

There was one thing though… “So? If you didn’t identify carriers in the first place, everyone would be safe. I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have to choose between freaking surrogacy or rape. Don’t you feel any shame?” she spat out.

“That is not quite accurate, Miss. There is a reason we began offering this service. You see, they can sense carriers. It’s not easy, they could not pick them out of a crowd, but they could eventually locate them.” He cleared his throat before reaching for his glasses and then he took them off, pinching the bridge with his index and thumb.

“Believe me, Miss Parks, what they used to do when they found them was nowhere near the worse nightmares you can imagine. By doing what we do, we find them before they do and we can ensure a mutual benefit along with the safety of the carriers.”

It sickened her. It was like someone had reached into her stomach, grabbed her guts, and was attempting to ripe them out of her. He thought they were the good guys. He justified his actions with this sick thought.

Sure, someone could have found her. Maybe. But she could have also gone her whole life undetected. He might have taken her anonymity from her forever. It might save a few, but did it save more than it destroyed? She didn’t think so.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” she settled on answering before turning her back to him.

“Have I answered all of your questions?”

He was not bothered by her opinion of him. He did not try to defend himself. “I guess.”

Many of her questions didn’t have answers. Why her? Why this? But he couldn’t answer these questions for her. She was stuck. Stuck in this life, stuck in this world that she never knew existed.

“Have you chosen a match?”

“No.”

She didn’t a damn match.

“Do you have any questions about the candidate or the process?”

“The process?”

The one where she picked whoever would ruin her life the least? Were there a lot of other steps involved with this?

“Yes. In your state of hysteria earlier, we were unable to inform you of the whole process.”

She scoffed, her eyes widening at his choice of word. “Hysteria? You mean when you told me I had no choice in this?”

“When we inform you of this opportunity that can transform your life,” he said, as though he was correcting her. “We have larger neighborhoods than the one you were in initially. We will move you to a comfortable house, and you will be able to go about your daily life. We have institutions where you can learn. I do believe you desire to further your education. Any work you do here can be recognized throughout many of the schools around the country. You will be provided with food and any other supplies you may require.”

“And… I stay here?”

He nodded. “You can meet with the different matches. Dates if you will. Conversations if you would prefer. They have all temporarily relocated here and you may meet them in a safe environment.”

“Yeah? Safe? What about Ezekiel?”

He pinched his lips together, holding the pressure for a second, before popping them open. “I am afraid Ezekiel might have been impatient. He has not been graced with many matches. We do not usually have matches meet the carrier before our information session.”

Information session? Was - they had deluded themselves into thinking this was normal.

“Let me get this straight. I will live in this little reality you have created. Meet these -things." What the fuck was she supposed to call them. “Then I pick one, make a contract, and do… whatever we agree to do… and then I go on my merry way with a lot of money and protection?”

“Exactly.”

“Millions of dollars.”

“If you so wish and the match you choose agrees. If not, you can choose another match that may agree to whatever amount you so desire.”

She could do this right? She could think of this as surrogacy. A normal thing people did in their everyday lives. Some people were driven to it by the need to help others, while some people did it out of sheer desperation.

In her case, it would most resemble sheer desperation. She needed to live. She needed to survive. She could have a better life. A life where she would know these things exist, one where she would leave a child behind… but a better life.

Her shoulders were tight as her hands were jammed into her armpits. She tried to steady her trembling chin but she was doing a poor job of it. Words would not form and she could not unleash the scream that was rattling her rib cage.

They didn’t care that she didn’t want this. They didn’t care that they ruined her life forever, and took away any sense of normalcy she might have had. One day, they made assumptions and she had to pay the price for it.

She gulped down a breath, for a second, fearing she could not swallow and she might choke. But she did not. Eventually, air made its way to her lungs and her chest expanded before she emptied them again.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful. Though, I must warn you, Miss Parks. If you attempt to run again, we will return you home and leave you to fend for yourself.”

He was smiling as he spoke, but his eyes were betraying the emotion he was trying to display. The warning was clear; obey their rules or risk it out there. If she wanted the second option, she would have picked that one already.

Something told her they did not allow second chances.

“Can we just get this over with?”

“Follow me.”

He headed for the door and she began to walk behind him.

Hopefully, she would live to regret this choice.

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