Unravel Me

Adam, Kenji, and Juliette travel by foot to meet the supreme commander at a residential address, 1542 Sycamore, in what is now forbidden, unregulated turf. Castle and Omega Point are in position, hiding in nearby abandoned buildings, waiting to attack if Kenji, Adam, and Juliette are in danger. Adam has to be able to turn off his abilities for the plan to work; if he can’t, Kenji can’t make Adam invisible, and Adam will be exposed. Juliette begins to think about all the unknowns once they arrive at the house and worries, more for Adam and Kenji than herself, that everything will go wrong. She isn’t sure this is a good idea, but it’s too late to turn back.

Using Kenji’s invisibility, Adam, Kenji, and Juliette emerge from Omega Point. Adam succeeds in turning off his Energy. They walk, hand in hand, until Kenji jerks to a stop. A parade of tanks comes down the road, signifying that the soldiers are being sent to fight.

They move swiftly until they arrive at the designated address, the only house in the neighborhood that appears functional. Juliette starts to approach the house until Kenji yanks her back; they’re on the wrong street and this house is probably a trap. As they leave, Juliette thinks she sees a curtain flutter in an upstairs window.

They arrive at 1542 Sycamore with only 90 seconds to spare. Juliette tells Adam and Kenji to stay hidden and only appear if she needs help. Juliette approaches the door but, at the strike of noon, before she can knock, the door opens.

The supreme commander is younger and handsomer than Juliette expected. He is cordial and smiling until, as they enter the living room, he suddenly grabs Juliette by the throat with gloved hands. Juliette thinks she is about to die, but just as suddenly, the supreme commander lets her go, taking her guns.

Juliette asks about the hostages, and Warner’s father tells her they will be fine. She asks what he wants from her, and he says that he came to wipe out the rebels, but Warner begged that Juliette be spared. The meeting is just a ploy. It is the only favor Warner has ever asked his father, which intrigues him. He says he didn’t expect Juliette to show up, let alone without backup, which he calls “‘very stupid […] but brave’” (124). He declares his intent to kill Juliette in front of Warner, to make a point about not forming attachments. Disgusted, Juliette asks why he hasn’t killed her already, to which he replies that he doesn’t know. He offers to “keep” her but says she would have to come back to the capital. Juliette snappishly declines, and the supreme commander laughs in delight before calling Warner in from the other room.

Warner appears, and Juliette thinks how beautiful and imposing he is, even with his arm in a sling. Though his expression is impassive, Juliette sees him differently now that she knows he was raised by this horrible man. The supreme commander asks how Juliette escaped Warner, and Juliette asks if he wants to know about the first or second time. The supreme commander laughs, saying he didn’t realize she had escaped twice. Juliette wonders why he’s stalling and speculates that the hostages are in the kitchen. He stops smiling when Juliette tells him she shot Warner with his own gun. Warner is tense, his gaze fixed on Juliette.

Juliette pivots, asking the supreme commander his name and is surprised to learn he is Supreme Commander Anderson. Warner uses his mother’s last name, an emotional choice that disgusts Anderson. This emotionality is why Anderson can’t allow Juliette to live. He hands Warner the gun and tells him to shoot Juliette.

Warner takes the gun and points it at his father. Anderson then points a gun at Juliette; he will kill her himself. Warner promises to shoot Anderson if he tries. Anderson, laughing, taunts Warner, asking if Juliette makes Warner feel brave and strong. Anderson grabs Warner’s wounded arm until it bleeds, even as he keeps insulting him, and backhands him when Warner’s grip on the gun wavers. Anderson turns his gun on Warner, and Juliette takes the opportunity to grab Anderson, pinning him to the wall by his throat. She tells him to drop the gun, and he does. Juliette drops Anderson, picks up the gun, and shoots Anderson in the leg. As he screams, she shoots him in the other leg. She considers taunting him but decides there is no point. She aims at Anderson’s chest and pulls the trigger.

In a short flashback, Juliette recalls stealing a notebook (which she carried throughout Shatter Me) from a doctor before she was sent to the psychiatric facility. She remembers being shocked and slapped by the men who transported her. She wonders if she knew she was truly a “monster” and thinks about the “abyss” inside her. She doesn’t know what she might do.

Kenji yanks Juliette back just as she shoots, and the bullet misses Anderson: It’s “too soon” to kill him. Anderson has fainted, and Kenji has knocked Warner unconscious. Juliette, appalled at her own bloodthirstiness, begins to shake. Kenji says they have to run; Adam found two of the hostages, Ian and Emory, and is getting them to safety, but they still haven’t found Brendan or Winston. Kenji plans to take Warner hostage.

Anderson didn’t call the attack order, but Castle did, and the battle is raging. Adam enters and hugs Juliette, relieved she is unharmed. As Kenji urges haste, Adam drops to his knees in horror beside Anderson: Anderson is his father.

Kenji is alarmed by this revelation but tells Adam they have to hurry. They run through the streets, Kenji carrying an unconscious Warner. The Omega Point members are vastly outnumbered by the soldiers, but they use their powers to even the odds. Juliette thinks this is a good moment for a retreat now that the hostages are saved, Anderson is incapacitated.

Kenji says they need a distraction. Juliette, thinking about her most painful memories, punches forcefully into the earth.

Juliette’s punch cracks the ground. Adam runs and tackles Castle, and the Omega Point members begin to retreat. Kenji calls Juliette, and they run together. Juliette is glad Kenji is her friend. They climb into a tank with Adam.

In the back of the tank, Warner is stretched out unconscious across Juliette and Adam. Juliette thinks he looks peaceful before remembering the strangeness of their situation. Kenji confesses that the plan to kidnap Warner was not ideal, but he couldn’t think of anything else. Juliette is relieved that they are all unhurt. She starts to apologize for almost shooting Anderson in the chest, but Kenji cuts her off. Adam doesn’t know how his father, whom he thought was dead, became the supreme commander. Kenji points out that, as the supreme commander, Anderson stayed anonymous to seem more frightening. Adam was only told that his father was dead and admits that his parents were never married. Anderson was, evidently, married to someone else—Warner’s mother—which accounts for the closeness in Warner and Adam’s ages.

Kenji, who is invested in this story despite himself, asks if Adam’s parents were having a “love affair,” and Adam says that Anderson cared only about Adam’s mother, not the two sons that came from their relationship. Anderson’s disregard was so extreme that Adam had to ask permission to leave his room or use the bathroom when his father visited. Anderson resented Adam eating, feeling that the food should be kept for his mother. Anderson blamed Adam and James when Adam’s mother died, and Adam long believed her death was his fault. After her death, Anderson drunkenly abused his sons. He sent money monthly until Adam was 14, and Adam received notice from The Reestablishment, then newly empowered, that his father had died. Adam and James were left with nothing. Adam laughs humorlessly at the reveal that Warner, who tried to torture Adam to death at the end of Shatter Me, is actually his brother. Adam states that he has to kill his father.

In an entirely crossed-out short chapter, Juliette confesses that she doesn’t regret hurting Anderson and would, if given another chance, kill him.