by Aella Black
This is it.
I didn’t know what “it” was exactly, but somehow, I knew I wasn’t coming back to this cell. When the guard unlocked the door, I walked out without a backward glance.
No one made a sound as we walked obediently to the room where we’d been called. I shivered as I recalled the firing-squad vibes from earlier. This time reminded me of the way prisoners of concentration camps had often willingly entered gas chambers in large numbers because they’d been tricked into doing so.
Was Fletcher capable of that level of deception and depravity? It scared me I didn’t even have to think about the answer.
When we entered the hall, I spotted him immediately, standing with two men and one woman dressed in business attire. The officials, no doubt. The woman smiled at us as we filtered in. I didn’t return it.
We lined up the way we were earlier, and while doing so, I noticed there were significantly fewer guards than earlier. I wasn’t sure why, since we were supposedly “dangerous” criminals. Still, there were pairs of guards at each entrance, and several of them flanked Fletcher and the officials. Warrick was one of them.
The two men watched us intently. One was middle-aged and balding, and the other, with his thick, dark hair, looked young. The woman had bleached her hair a brassy blonde and wore too much eye shadow. She looked more like a soccer mom than a government official. Was she one of the parents Wolf had mentioned?
I took inventory of my friends. Birdie was wedged between Cathy and Cal. Cooper was on the other side of Cal, and Rocky stood near me. Lucy was right next to Rocky.
I scowled, thinking about Lucy’s words from yesterday. If Fletcher was forcing her to intervene, the officials—or parents, or whoever they were—might only be seeing what Fletcher wanted them to see. What Lucy was making them see.
After we were all exactly where he wanted us to be, Fletcher spoke to the visitor. “As you can see, everyone here has been looked after quite well. After all, we must preserve our best hope for the future, am I right?”
The balding man nodded. “Everyone appears healthy and happy.” Was he blind? That’s when I knew for certain that Lucy’s hallucination was making him blind to reality. “But what of the reports we’ve been hearing that parents haven’t been allowed to see their children?”
Fletcher clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m not sure why they would say that. All parents are welcome to visit their children twice a month. Any more than that, and I fear the supernaturals wouldn’t be able to focus on developing their powers.”
“Ah, I see,” the man said. “So those complaining might have likely hit their monthly limits?”
“Undoubtedly,” Fletcher said, not missing a beat.
I clenched my hands into tight fists at my sides. He should have been struck down by lightning for those lies.
“They seem to be well disciplined too,” the younger man with dark hair said. “How did you accomplish that?”
“They are aware of the burden they carry on their shoulders for our future and strive to obtain excellence at all times.” Oh, we carry burdens, all right. “Once in a while, there’s an outlier, or the group will get a little rowdy. But it’s nothing a few hours in the rec area can’t cure.” Fletcher beamed at us like a proud father.
His flagrant lies were making me nauseous now. I wanted to say something. Anything. But what? Even if I broke ranks and yelled in the officials’ faces about how we were treated, Fletcher would have me hauled away, convincing them I was one of those outliers he’d just mentioned. The officials would believe him—like they’d bought all the lies he’d been peddling—and after they left, the death of thirteen kids would be on my head. Fletcher would probably even make me watch as the ultimate punishment for my reckless actions.
No. The only possible way the officials might question Fletcher would be if they saw it for themselves.
The woman spoke up. “Well, it looks as if you’re running a tight ship. Sparkling clean kitchens, fun, spacious rec areas, well-behaved teenagers. Can I send mine here for a week or two?” she joked, confirming she wasn’t one of the parents Wolf had mentioned.
The four of them laughed. If they only knew.
“We’ll get out of your hair,” she continued, “but we’d like to have a look at their living spaces first. Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” Fletcher said affably. “It’s not ideal, unfortunately. We’d much rather renovate to make their rooms more like dorms, but this being a historical building and all…” He shook his head, clicking his tongue. “You can imagine the hoops we’d have to jump through.”
“Oh, I know,” the older man said. “Money isn’t exactly flowing like wine these days, and even when it is, it’s out with the old and in with the new.”
“Exactly,” Fletcher agreed.
He led the way toward the exit. The officials trailed behind, a little more slowly as they walked along the line of inmates. As they did, it appeared they were scanning for any signs Fletcher wasn’t telling the truth. Lucy must have really worked her magic, because several of us still had scrapes and bruises from recent matches. The amount of power it must require holding hallucinations of this magnitude—and for this length of time—was as unreal as the visions she produced.
I looked over at Lucy, expecting to see her face screwed up in concentration. But, to my surprise, she looked angry. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who realized our last hint of hope was about to walk out the door. Except, unlike me, she had the power to do something about it. Question was, would she?
The officials were nearing the end of the line when the woman’s eyes widened and she leapt backward. “What’s wrong with that child?” she asked, pointing a shaking finger.
Every head in the room turned to see who she was referring to. I didn’t have an unobstructed view, but I could see several inmates near the woman looking at each other in confusion. My heartbeat sped up.
The woman, panic in her eyes, shouted, “Why are you all standing there? Help her!”
The younger official suddenly startled, and concern creased his forehead. “What’s going on, Fletcher? There’s blood all over the floor.”
Since there was obviously no blood on the floor, Fletcher and I figured it out at the same time. His eyes cut to Lucy. When I looked back at her, she stood tall, her face the picture of innocence.
The bald man cursed. “What’s the meaning of this? These kids aren’t healthy. Look at all the bruises.” He pointed to me, and I knew Lucy hadn’t just created a new bloody illusion.
She’d dropped the other entirely.
“Gentlemen, I can explain.” Fletcher turned back to the officials, perfectly calm.
“Okay, well explain it to me too while you’re at it.” The woman was not having his misogynist attitude, and I was here for it.
“Yes, of course,” he said, sounding slightly flustered for the first time. “We have an inmate—a trickster, if you will—who can make you hallucinate. What you are seeing is not real.”
Uh-uh. Lucy had opened the door, and I wasn’t about to let Fletcher slam it closed again. I stepped forward. “The bruises on my face are real,” I told the bald official. He was still staring at me, and I wondered if he now recognized me because of my parents. “And you know what they’re from? Him,” I pointed at Fletcher. “Forcing us to fight against each other—in this very room.”
The officials looked around, as if seeing the hall for the first time. In many ways, they were.
“Alexander!” Fletcher snapped. “Back in line.”
“I won’t.” I shook my head furiously. “They came here to learn the truth. This is the truth.” I looked around at my fellow inmates, and they all stared back at me, shocked and horrified. “Tell them the truth.”
Fletcher snapped his fingers at the guards. “Take Lucy and Alexander away. I’ll deal with them later.”
“No,” the young man said. “I want to hear what they have to say.”
“I do, too.” The woman
’s smile was gone now. She turned and addressed the inmates. “Anyone who agrees with this young man’s statements, please step forward.”
For a terrifying second, I thought no one would.
Then Rocky did. It was a small step forward, but hopefully a giant leap toward freedom. Cathy was next, Birdie quick to join her. Followed by Lucy. One by one, Lansing inmates stepped out of line, each one putting their lives on the line.
Dane crossed his arms and stayed planted where he was. Coward. He’d always been afraid to take a stand—and he always would be. He wasn’t alone, either. A handful of others, namely his groupies, stayed where they were.
But the majority ruled in this case. An overwhelming amount of evidence had revealed the truth behind Fletcher’s lies.
The bald man stepped into his space. “What is the meaning of that?” he hissed, gesturing to all of us. “You were supposed to take care of these kids, not treat them like criminals!”
Worse than criminals, actually. And Fletcher was the crooked prison warden who’d been caught red-handed. The jig was up. The look on his face told me he knew it. And now he stood in front of them like a cornered animal.
Which made him even more dangerous.
“Saul, Nash, Wolf,” he said, snapping his fingers. The three guards immediately moved to surround the officials. “Weapons.”
In one smooth motion, all three whipped out their guns and pointed them at the officials’ heads. I was so caught up in the moment it took me a second to realize that one of the guards was Wolf. Lucy had made her choice… what was his going to be?
The officials seemed to be in a state of shock. The woman recovered first. “You need to put that gun away right now,” she said, not an ounce of fear in her voice. It was commendable, but knowing Fletcher like I did, her confidence was also misplaced.
“What do you think you’re going to do, kill us?” the young man scoffed. Like the idea was ludicrous. I could assure him it was not.
Fletcher couldn’t look happier. “Actually, yes.” Even though I knew it was coming, my mind was still blown at his ruthlessness. “It’s the perfect set-up. A prison full of wild, powerful supernaturals. Would anyone doubt me if I told them they revolted and killed the officials who came to check up on them? It’ll be attributed to a freak accident, and these kids won’t be allowed to go anywhere. As it should be. You three… you can die knowing you’ve made it much worse for them.”
The balding man gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. The woman and the other man both stiffened.
No. It could not end like this. It would not end like this.
My muscles tensed in anticipation of the sprint I needed to make to knock out Fletcher, whose fingers were poised to snap his deadly order. That’s when the first shot rang out. Then a second.
Saul and Nash fell to the floor, holes in each of their chests. And Wolf held the smoking gun.
Fletcher drew his weapon, but Wolf already had his leveled at the warden’s head. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t shoot you right now.”
Fletcher’s eyes narrowed. “You delivered the messages to Will. He was always too soft for his own good, and it appears you are too.”
At the mention of Warden Will, there were whispers throughout the room. He wasn’t exactly popular at Leavenworth, but he was a million times better warden than the ones who came after him. I hoped it finally clicked that there were people in power on our side—people who could only help if these officials got out of here alive.
Wolf’s gun clattered on the floor, and he doubled over in pain. Warrick stepped forward, snarling. “I never did trust you…” he said, kicking Wolf in the head. A smile formed and was immediately replaced with a look of terror. Warrick began to scream, brushing off his sleeves like there was a—
“Fire! Fire!”
But there was no fire. Lucy stepped forward, her eyes glittering.
Warrick saw her and realized what was happening. “You’ll pay for that.”
Lucy shook, and all at once I realized Warrick had unleashed his power on her. But it didn’t work. Unlike everyone else, Lucy didn’t fall to the floor in unspeakable agony. Her face twisted in angry concentration as she fought back.
Warrick growled in frustration, and then his face scrunched up like he was concentrating too. They were locked in a battle of the minds, the only two who could see or feel what was going on. The rest of us only stood by and watched.
The contest shifted somehow, and Warrick screamed, clamping his hands over his head. Blood trickled out of his ears. “Shoot her! Someone, shoot her!” he shrieked.
But no one moved—not even Fletcher. He had his gun leveled at Lucy, but he appeared as fascinated as the rest of us by the unseen conflict that raged.
Warrick’s screams grew louder, his agony more obvious with each second. Moments later, he collapsed to the floor, writhing, his eyes wide with horror. Then he stilled, his eyes like saucers but now unseeing.
The entire room was stunned silent.
“Good riddance,” Lucy spat. Then she swayed on her feet and fell to her knees.
With Lucy no longer a threat, Fletcher returned his attention to the government officials. “You’re lucky she turned on me instead of you.” As if she would have. Then his expression hardened. “Enough of this nonsense,” he said, pointing his gun at the woman.
Her eyes widened, the immediate threat to her life finally registering. Fletcher was going to shoot her at point-blank range. No one could survive that.
Even if I’d already moved, I was too far away to be of any help. But someone else was.
Fletcher pitched forward suddenly, as if he’d been shoved from behind. The gun fell out of his hands, going off as it hit the tile floor. I didn’t see where the shot landed because just then the air shifted, and Tex materialized before my very eyes. Pointing at the officials, he yelled, “Cover them!”
Dozens of inmates rushed toward the visitors. I ran over to Tex, hardly believing my eyes. “What are you doing here? Did you even get out?”
“Of course I did. Why else do you think they’re here?”
“You came back.” I’d stated the obvious, sure, but what kind of person busted out of prison only to bust back in? In this case, an incredible one.
“’Course I did,” he said. As if no other option existed.
“Tex, I could kiss you.”
“Please don’t,” he said with a lopsided smirk.
Fletcher was now back on his feet, fury in his eyes. He turned to nearby guards and said, “Well? Shoot them!”
The guards hesitated. “Which one, sir?” a tall, athletic guy asked.
“Everyone!”
There was another pause, and for a moment I thought the guards would side with us. Why wouldn’t they? Wolf said we were all in the same boat. Then I remembered. He also said something about the guards’ families. Was Fletcher blackmailing them? He wasn’t above that. And if that were the case, the guards really were in the same boat as the rest of us—and yet still on opposite sides.
After the first shot was fired, I rushed the nearest guard, tackling him to the ground and knocking him out. I immediately moved on to the next one. Other inmates charged, taking on whichever guards they could. Screams echoed off the high ceilings, making it impossible to hear anything anyone was saying. It was complete chaos.
In all the confusion, I lost sight of Fletcher, but the guards, who appeared outnumbered, began banding together. Fang led a gang of his buddies against some of them, and Mei, Kendra, and a few others challenged a different guard group. Yet another cluster of inmates formed a human shield around the government officials, who appeared to be shouting into their phones.
Good. We needed backup. I just hoped it would get here before we were all killed.
This thought provoked a desperate need to find my friends. Scanning the mass of uniformed inmates, I spotted Cal using his tall, gangly body to defend Birdie and Cooper. Tex was beside him. Bless them both, because Cooper still hadn’t
learned to control his telekinesis, and Birdie’s power was useless inside.
As I looked around for the others, my gaze snagged on Fletcher, firing round after round as he backed toward the exit. Luckily, he wasn’t a great shot. His narrowed eyes collided with mine, and he aimed his gun my way.
Before he could fire it, Lucy—who I hadn’t even realized was still on the ground—leapt up, grabbed his hands, and tried to jerk the gun away. I’d never seen her fight before, which meant her power must have been completely spent.
I ran toward them—watching them grapple for the weapon the entire way—and was almost within reach when the sound of the gun stopped me in my tracks. Lucy lay slumped in Fletcher’s arms, her uniform growing dark around her middle.
“No!” I yelled.
Fletcher glanced down at her with a pitying look. “We could have done great things together,” he said.
That was why he didn’t shoot Lucy while she and Warrick waged their mental war. Her ability to create hallucinations was too valuable to him. Apparently not anymore.
He dropped her like a sack of potatoes.
“You—”
He shot at me, but I ducked out of the way just in time. Fletcher made a beeline for the doors. He was trying to escape, which meant he knew this was a fight he couldn’t win.
Oh, no you don’t.
Rocky must have had the same idea because she stood blocking the door. My heart stopped as Fletcher pointed his gun directly at her head. Then both of his hands flew to the sides of his head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cathy, and instantly I knew she was screaming bloody murder inside his mind.
“Chief.”
I turned to see who the barely-there voice belonged to. It was Lucy, lying in a puddle of blood, gasping for air.
Rocky gave me the signal that she had this under control, so I ran to Lucy and knelt beside her. Her hand was slick with blood when I took it. “Hold on, okay? I’ll go find Phoebe. She’ll heal you,” I assured her.
Lucy’s head moved side to side in a motion so slight I’d have missed it if I weren’t sitting beside her. “No, she won’t,” she whispered, blood now trickling from the side of her mouth.