by L. J. Fox
Her father was looking at her with a strange look on his face. He had not yet answered her question but continued to stare at her. It made her feel uncomfortable. She shuffled her feet and squeezed Brad’s hand again. Brad looked down at her and she looked into his eyes, this man she loved. How had things come to this? She had thought originally that she could protect them all, the two of them and Layne, but she was crazy to think that one person could hold off an entire organisation. Even as strong as her powers were, they had outsmarted her with John who knew how to turn off the Bray detection ability.
She wished she could talk to Brad right now and tell him she was sorry. Sorry she wasn’t able to protect him and her daughter. Sorry she had dragged him into this mess. She heard her father speak but the words didn’t immediately translate into meaning. They were spoken slowly, carefully with a few second pause between each word.
“You – have - been - exiled.”
She saw a confused look in Brad’s eyes at those words as she tried to understand what those words meant.
POP!
Brad jerked forward into her. In a split second she saw a dark spot appear on his forehead as he plunged forward. She screamed as he fell into her, knocking her over backwards. She hit the floor hard and scrambled to pull him off her. Rising to her knees she could see a mass of blood on the back of his head and she could smell the familiar odour of his blood.
“NO” she screamed. “NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOO!”
She turned Brad over and his lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling. His face covered in blood and a neat round bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” She cried as she cradled his head and placed her hand on the bullet hole.
Could she heal him? Could she? Would he come back?
She rocked him and cried, rubbing the blood off his cheeks. She leaned forward, whispering to him and kissing his cheek. No one else in the room moved. Silence except for the sound of Beverley in her grief. He wouldn’t come back. He couldn’t come back. She could not heal him this time. It was too late. He was gone, her friend, her lover, her husband.
“Sorry about the carpet Michael. We’ll replace it.”
She heard Warren’s voice so matter-of-fact, as if nothing serious had just happened, like he had spilled some red wine on the luxury carpet. She felt her anger grow like a churning ball of black hatred gathering speed as it tumbled down a hill. She looked at the face of her beloved husband one last time, his beautiful broken face, and then rose to her feet. Her breathing was short and haggard as her senses went into overdrive, her hatred and anger threatening to engulf them all. She was beyond reason, beyond human.
Eyes wild, she looked at the suit who had tucked the gun back in his pocket. She concentrated on him and within seconds, the suit was screaming and clutching at his face. He fell to his knees as blood flowed between his fingers. The others in the room all started talking at once in panic and moving. Someone grabbed at her, to try to pull her away from her mission but she was beyond distraction. She could vaguely hear men yelling and lots of commotion, but her focus was on the kneeling man with the bloody hands who was now groaning weakly. He slumped forward, face first on the floor and stopped moving.
She turned her attention to Warren who had been staring at the lifeless suit on the floor. He backed up away from her with his hands up as if surrending, his face showing fear. Her eyes found his and she saw his face freeze in horror. He knew that he was next. He could see the boiling anger in her eyes, the unhinged fury about to spew forth.
She focused on him and Warren shouted as his hands flew up to his face.
“NO!”
She started to push her mind at him when a hand grabbed her arm. She was barely aware of the hand tightly pulling her arm to get her attention, until she heard John’s voice.
“Layne. Don’t forget Layne.”
Her daughter’s name found its way through the dark fogginess of her brain. They had Layne. They could hurt Layne as they did to Brad. Maybe they already had. She dropped the push and sank to her knees in a slow sliding defeat. She closed her eyes and welcomed the blackness that was waiting for her.
Chapter 75
Layne snapped her eyes open in horror. Her mother’s teary eyes were watching her. Now she knew the entire story of what happened, the true bastardry of Warren and the organisation.
“But they did not kidnap me. Did you know that?” Layne asked. “They were bluffing.”
“I didn’t know that at the time, but I found out later. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had known that at the time?”
Her mother shook her head, thinking of what destruction would have followed.
“What happened after Burbank?”
Her mother sighed and looked back at the ocean, conjuring up painful memories.
“I was kind of catatonic for some time. I think my mind couldn’t cope as I thought they must have killed you as well. I didn’t want to live in a world without you and Brad, so I went away. I went away where there was no pain, no loss, no feeling. I became a non-person. It was just blackness. I don’t know for how long. I was kept at my father’s house locked in a room and I guess they had me on an IV to keep me alive. I don’t remember anything about it.”
“What brought you back?”
“I felt you. I knew you were alive as I felt the connection. Wherever I was in my black hole, I suddenly felt you and I knew. I knew they had not harmed you and you were a distance away from me but alive. I had to come back for you. You saved me. When I was awake and conscious, I was given the situation with no negotiation and no choice. You would be allowed to grow up with Ross and Nina at the farm provided I did what was asked of me without question, without fuss and with a smile on my face. Of course, I would do whatever it took to keep you safe.”
“Why did they let me live?” Layne asked curious.
“Well … I think Warren was interested in finding out what powers you would end up with, being from a powerful person and a normal person, and brought up in a normal world. I think you were an experiment.”
Layne snorted. “One that backfired on them.”
“I was sent to the US under a false name, to be the wife of the leader, Dustin.”
She looked wistfully across the ocean as if she were turning back time, remembering how it all started.
“He thinks I lost my powers. He knew I was very powerful as he met me once when I came here for a conference, but when I came to live in the US, he assumed that the trauma had deprived me of my powers. I have never shown them to him in any way or barely used them since … since I have been here.”
Layne looked across at her wide-eyed. That admission surprised her. “But you haven’t lost your powers have you?”
Her mother smiled. “Not at all. I have been the dutiful wife and run the house, baked cookies, represented him at functions, hosted guests and smiled for the camera, but this façade is not me. I am not really here. I have never been here. Do you understand?”
“I’m not sure. But … you have Jason. That must have made your life more complete.”
“He is not mine. Dustin and I have never shared a bed.”
She shivered as if the thought of it revulsed her.
“I agreed to let the Brays think he is my son so we can play the happy family but I don’t see him very much really. He has people tend to his every need, feed him, drive him around. I am just another adult to him. He calls me Mom but it doesn’t mean anything.”
Layne was again taken back by the thought that Jason was not actually her brother after all.
“Oh. Then who is Jason’s mother?”
“Ah it is Isla from the office, you know, Dustin’s secretary. They have been having an affair for a very long time, so I guess they came to some sort of arrangement.”
“Wow. I have to say that has shocked me a bit. And Dustin – he has accepted this arrangement, separate beds and all?”
“I am sure he didn’t think it would be this wa
y but I guess he has Isla now, so he just likes to keep up appearances.”
“Tell me, is Dustin a good person?”
Her mother pursed her lips and frowned.
“He is pleasant enough and he has never treated me poorly. But you have to remember, he didn’t get to be the leader for nothing. He has had to make some tough decisions and go down some dirty roads. He is ruthless and is Bray through and through. I know you are wondering if I have ever loved him, and the answer is no.”
Her mother glanced at her watch, suddenly realising how late it was getting.
“We have to go back. This discussion is far from over. We will continue tomorrow afternoon.”
Layne grabbed her by the arm and she turned back to look at her.
“Mum, do you think I am in any danger from Dustin?”
Chapter 76
Back at the residence, Layne felt she was looking at everything differently after the discussion with her mother. She watched Dustin and Jason at the dinner table that evening, and with the information she now had, she could see that this was not the family picture she had first thought it was. Dustin asked Jason questions about his day and he answered politely but didn’t make any further conversation nor did he seem full of energy and fun like many boys of his age were.
Her mother seemed a different person than when it was just the two of them. The giggles and laughter were gone, the smiling eyes and spontaneous outbursts had vanished. Her mother was just a polite well-dressed and attractive woman who looked distant and contained.
Layne kept up the image of the courteous and pleasant guest as she watched Dustin. She was itching to know how powerful he was and what he was thinking. Would he harm her? She was pretty sure Warren wished her out of the way. Had the two of them arranged something? If they had, surely it would have happened before now. Perhaps he did not want to upset his wife, though if he thought his wife no longer had powers and they did not love each other, would he care about upsetting his wife? She had no way of knowing.
After lunch, Layne and her mother drove to the same spot where they knew it would be quiet and peaceful. Again, the weather was kind and the beach was perfect. They walked along the shoreline letting the small waves cascade over their bare feet.
“Tell me mum, how strong are Dustin’s powers?” Layne asked.
“Well, only he really knows. I have not seen him use his powers much though I do hear him talk with others about it. He is supposed to be one of the most powerful ones in America.”
She stopped walking and turned to face Layne. “To be honest, I don’t think he is as powerful as I am, or possibly you are. I can’t know that for sure.”
Layne reached out and grabbed her mother’s wrists.
“Mum, I want you to come back with me to Australia. Please. You don’t need to be here. Not now. Not anymore. Come home with me. Warren and his cronies can’t touch us if the two of us stick together. Between us, we are so powerful, more powerful than anyone in the world.”
Her mother sighed. “Dustin would never let me go.”
“Maybe he would. Maybe he wants to be with Isla now. You could ask him.”
They wandered back to the sand hill, spread the towels and sat down to talk.
“The number one priority at the moment is to keep you safe Layne. I think my father … I am not going to call him that anymore … that monster, Warren would probably be afraid to harm you in any way because he would fear what I would do.”
“But … Dustin thinks you have lost your powers. Surely he would have told Warren this information?”
“Probably, but Warren may still be unsure if it is true or not. He is a coward and would be afraid for his own safety if I were to get angry. God help me, if ever go to Australia again and see him again I will kill him.”
The words were said with such ferocity, that Layne remembered the vision she had been given of an angry young Beverley who killed one of the Brays and would have done the same to Warren had she not been stopped.
“But … Warren could arrange for my elimination in an accident or similar, so it could not be blamed on him.”
Her mother frowned and sighed. She knew that it was true and a good possibility.
“The way I see it I either become a fully-fledged Bray, marry Gregory and work for the organisation, or I try to break free of them and they will be seeking to get rid of me. I have already overpowered Warren and some others so they would think of me as a great risk.”
Layne lay back on her towel, looking up at the sky. She didn’t want to cry in front of her mother but the future looked so black that it was hard to keep positive.
“And … how can I leave you, knowing that you were forced to be here, and are not happy? I have been given a mother after all this time and I don’t want to let you go ever again.”
The tears started and she couldn’t stop them. Was she being selfish wanting her mother to come back with her? She sat up to search her bag for a tissue to wipe her eyes when she felt something. It was very weak and barely noticeable, but there was that tenuous connection again. Clearly it was not her mother and it certainly was not Jason, now that she knew he was not her brother. She paused in her search to concentrate on what the sensation was. She heard her mother inhale loudly and turned to look at her.
“OH MY GOD!” Her mother suddenly exclaimed. “Darling – you are pregnant.”
Chapter 77
Dustin looked up surprised as Layne opened his office door and walked in unannounced. He never saw visitors unannounced and this completely took him by surprise.
“Layne, oh … I wasn’t expecting you. Did you see my secretary?” He stammered, wondering how she had managed to slip in without Isla blocking her.
“Yes. She is … busy at the moment so I thought I would check to see if you had time to see me but looks like you have.” She smiled pleasantly.
Dustin sat up straighter in his chair, starting to look a little annoyed but Layne did not wait for him to say anything.
“So, I wanted to drop by and say that I will be leaving on Saturday morning, back to Australia.”
Dustin was looking at her warily fully aware something else was coming. Why else spring this surprise visit on him?
“… AND my mother is coming with me … for good.”
She said it with finality and waited for his reaction. He stared at her, not sure if she was joking with him or not. She saw his mouth involuntarily drop open slightly. Then snap shut as he spoke.
“No. I don’t think that will be happening. She is my wife.”
“It WILL be happening … and she’s not really your wife is she? Not really. She is not the mother of Jason and she has never belonged to you. Set her free.”
Layne had lost her smile now and her face was stern and fierce. Her words were slow and calm but said with confidence. Dustin looked at her and blinked a few times as if he could dislodge her like an eyelash caught in his eye.
“Layne, I know you may think you are in control but it is only an illusion.”
He got up from his chair and started pacing the room as if in slow motion, every movement slow and calculated.
“You may have got the better of the idiots in Australia but it will not happen here. Do you understand?”
He stopped pacing and looked at her, waiting for a response.
“I am not trying to get the better of you Dustin. I am just here as a courtesy to thank you for your hospitality and let you know that my mother and I will be leaving on Saturday.”
“Anne-Marie will not be accompanying you.”
His voice had risen and his face was flushed with anger.
“You mean Beverley. She is not your possession. If she chooses to leave, then you cannot stop her. What century are we in?”
She saw his mouth set in a hard line and his face redden further.
“She will not leave. She has created a life for herself here with friends and hobbies. The Australian arm of the organisation will not want her back in Australia.”
Layne gave a little chuckle. “They will have no choice, just as you do not either. Let her go.”
“NO!”
“Dustin, I am leaving now. I suggest you think about your actions and the future. I would prefer this to end peacefully.”
She turned her back on him and started toward the door. Within two steps she felt a sharp pain hit her across her forehead, deep inside her brain. She didn’t cry out but the depth of the pain took her breath away. Immediately she put up a block to stop further attacks. She did not have much experience with blocking, having only used it on the tram the day that John Springer had tried to ping her.
She took another two steps and she could feel an attack pushing against her block. She stopped walking and concentrated, trying hard not to let the attack through her defence. She thought for a split second that her block was going to fail against the sheer force of the attack. With a deep breath and a powerful push, she bounced the attack back to the attacker. She heard Dustin cry out as the powerful force hit him right between the eyes. The cry only lasted for one second but she triumphed in the accuracy of the push.
Layne turned quickly to face the aggressor. She always found it easier to ping or push if she could see the target. Dustin was standing just in front of his desk with one hand leaning on the desk, as if for support. He had his head down slightly and was staring at her, his brow furrowed and eyes narrow slits. She took a stand with feet slightly apart for balance. The two opponents sized each other up.