Nightrise

by Anthony Horowitz

  He couldn’t absorb it all: the people in their thousands, the bands still playing, the welcoming banners, the sunlight, the flags flying red, white and blue. He felt he was being stifled. The wound in his shoulder was throbbing badly. For a moment he lost sight of Alicia.

  “Watch where you’re going!” He had barged into a family. The father was a fat man, wearing a Homer Simpson T-shirt. He was scowling at him.

  Alicia was a little way behind, clinging tightly onto Daniel. “Use your power!” she called to him. “You can find Scott. You don’t have to look for him.”

  Jamie understood. He didn’t need to look. He could think. If Scott was anywhere near, surely he would be able to sense him. He turned his head…

  And saw his brother.

  Scott! He was there!

  At first, Jamie didn’t recognize him. Scott was sitting so still. And he was pale, as if the life had been sucked out of him. His hair had been cut short in a style that didn’t suit him and he was too smartly dressed in a black jacket, black trousers and a shirt that was a brilliant white. It was Scott but it wasn’t him. Jamie had never seen him like this before and he was suddenly afraid.

  He noticed the woman sitting next to him and knew her instantly, even though he had only ever seen her once – and then very briefly. She was part of Nightrise. She had come out of the Los Angeles office when he was there. Her eyes, behind the oversized glasses, were fixed on Scott. She was like a mother who was overly proud of her son, but – Jamie could see it in her face – this was a son who was about to do something horrible.

  “Jamie!” Alicia had called out a warning. The policeman who had seen them drive down the ramp was searching for them. He was in front of the filling station – and would have spotted them if it hadn’t been for the crush of people between them. There were three more policemen with him.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. It is my very great honour to welcome a fine politician and a fine man back to his home town on this… his big day!”

  The mayor was speaking. His voice was being amplified by speakers positioned all the way up the street. Jamie saw him, standing on a platform in front of a bank of microphones. Senator Trelawny was next to him.

  The crowd burst into applause.

  Scott was staring at something, deep in concentration. Jamie couldn’t run over to him. He would have to push his way through four lines of people, climb over the barrier and cross the road. He would never even get close. There was only one thing he could do.

  Scott… ! He projected his thoughts over the crowd, directly into his brother’s head.

  And reeled back, stunned.

  It was as if he had run into a brick wall. He actually felt it, a physical blow. His head snapped back. He tasted blood.

  “Jamie? What are you doing?” Alicia had managed to reach him. Daniel was with her. But Jamie couldn’t explain it to her. Not now.

  “Fifty years old today – and before he’s fifty-one, he’ll be the next president of the United States.” The mayor grinned and put an arm around Senator Trelawny. The crowd applauded again.

  Scott! It’s me! Jamie tried again. Once again, he was rocked backwards. His brother had built a sort of force field around himself. It had never happened before. Scott wasn’t letting him in.

  “Mum… !” Daniel pointed. The policemen had seen them.

  What was Scott doing? His eyes seemed to be fixed on the senator. No. It was the big fair-haired man next to him. The security chief. What was his name?

  Warren Cornfield removed his sunglasses. Jamie saw him drop them on the ground as if he no longer cared about them. Then he took out his gun.

  Jamie understood exactly what was happening. He could see it in the eyes of the grey-haired woman, her expectant smile. This was her doing. It was all happening exactly as she had planned.

  A presidential candidate may feel safe, but he is always surrounded by men with guns – and one of those men had just been turned against him. Scott’s powers must have grown stronger than ever. He was giving orders telepathically, without opening his mouth. Jamie could see it happening now.

  He was ordering Warren Cornfield to assassinate his boss.

  And standing next to him, Susan Mortlake felt the power flow and almost wanted to laugh out loud. How ironic it was that it should be one of the Five who should be instrumental in creating the new world – one that would have President Charles Baker in the driving seat. It was perfect. The blond-haired man would kill Trelawny. There would be two thousand witnesses. Nothing would connect him with Nightrise. Later on, they would assume he had gone mad. And she and the boy would slip quietly away. It was almost too easy. And this was just the beginning…

  Jamie was sweating. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t break through the crowd. He couldn’t connect with Scott. But now he could see the gun in Warren Cornfield’s hand. The security man was staring into space, unable to stop himself. Nobody else had seen him. Everyone was watching Trelawny and the mayor.

  “Ma’am – I want you to come with us…” The policemen had reached them, the crowd parting to let them through. The officer who had seen them on the bridge was leading them. He was short and plump with brown-tinted glasses and a moustache. Alicia turned to argue with him.

  Warren Cornfield aimed his gun at Trelawny.

  Jamie was still fighting, trying to reach Scott. But the wall was solid. There was no way through.

  It was over.

  No.

  There was another way…

  Jamie turned away from his brother and focused all his mental energy on Cornfield. He sent his thoughts across the street, through all the noise and the confusion, the cheering and the applause, and immediately it was as if he had broken into a private room and Scott was there with him, inside the security man’s head. Jamie heard him giving the orders that were forcing Cornfield to commit murder. At the same moment, he felt the gun in his hand, his finger tightening on the trigger and knew that it was already too late, that he couldn’t stop the man firing.

  The secret-service men closest to the platform saw the gun.

  Somebody screamed. The policeman had taken hold of Alicia but now he turned to see what had happened.

  Jamie did the only thing he could do. He knew he was about to make the most terrible decision of his life but he could see no other option.

  He gave the order.

  Not Trelawny. The woman!

  Warren Cornfield fired.

  But at the very last moment, he swivelled round and shot directly into the bleachers. His bullet hit Susan Mortlake in the centre of her forehead. She was thrown backwards. And at once everything changed as the crowd went crazy, screaming and struggling to get away, and the entire parade exploded into chaos.

  The secret-service people had acted too late but now they moved fast. Two of them threw themselves on top of Trelawny, dragging him to the ground. Two more dealt with Warren Cornfield. If there hadn’t been so many people around, he would have been shot and killed. Instead, they tackled him, knocking him down and disarming him. He didn’t even try to resist. All the life had gone out of his eyes. He didn’t seem to know where he was or what he had just done.

  The policeman let go of Alicia. He suspected that she was part of what had just happened but he couldn’t be sure, and his job right now was to try to bring the crowd under control before anyone else was killed. There were people running everywhere, screaming, trying to protect their children. The barriers were being knocked over. The bands had abandoned their instruments and were trying to get out of sight, afraid that there might be more shots. As Jamie watched, Senator Trelawny was led away and thrown into a car as if it was his turn now to be kidnapped. But of course his safety was the first priority. His wife and children were also being bundled out of their seats. The whole family had to be removed from the scene before any more shots were fired.

  And what about Scott? He was sitting in the same place and looked dazed, as if he couldn’t quite understand what had happened
. Susan Mortlake was next to him, her head flung back, her legs apart. She was quite spectacularly dead. Jamie took advantage of all the confusion around him. The way ahead was clear. He ran forward, leapt over a barrier and crossed the road. A moment later, he was climbing up the bleachers. There was a doctor crouching next to the mayor’s wife, who was screaming, in hysterics. A few people were still in their seats, traumatized, blood-splattered. Jamie ignored them.

  Finally he had reached his brother.

  “Scott!”

  Scott turned but didn’t recognize him and that was when Jamie knew how much had been done to him, how badly he had been hurt.

  He didn’t know what to do. He felt a burning in his throat. He had dreamed of the moment when he would find his brother again but he had never expected it to be like this.

  And then a woman he didn’t know came up to him. Jamie glanced at her only briefly, taking in her dark red hair and expensive clothes. But she seemed to know him. “Are you Jamie Tyler?” she asked.

  He didn’t know what to say. He just wanted her to leave him alone.

  “You don’t know me, but I’m a friend of John Trelawny.” She had to shout to make herself heard above all the confusion. “My name is Nathalie Johnson. I was here today as his guest but I’ve been looking for you. For both of you…”

  “My brother…” Jamie could only think of Scott.

  The woman nodded. “Please. Trust me. I can help you. We have to get you both away.”

  On the other side of the street, the policeman who had been about to arrest Alicia was making connections. He had worked out that he knew the boy from the car. He was the boy who was wanted in Nevada – the one who had shot his uncle. And there he was on the bleachers, talking to someone, right next to the woman who had been shot.

  The policeman didn’t understand what was going on. There was too much going on to understand. But one thing was certain. The boy was a wanted felon.

  He picked up his radio and began to talk.

  CAVE ROCK

  There was no time to think and there was so much they needed to do. Nearly everyone had left the bleachers by now, desperate to get away from the sprawled-out corpse of the woman who had been shot. At the same time, police and paramedics had arrived and taken charge. They had no interest in Scott, who was still sitting there, staring ahead of him. There were some spots of bright red blood on his white shirt.

  “Was he with her?” one of the paramedics asked. The boy looked as though he was in shock. Maybe it was his mother who had been killed.

  “No,” Nathalie replied. “He’s with me.” She turned to Jamie. “We have to get him out of here,” she said.

  “Scott!” Jamie crouched beside his brother. Scott had blocked him out before but if he saw him, if he heard his voice, maybe it would be different. “It’s me… Jamie. It’s all right now. Nightrise is finished. They’ve closed Silent Creek. I’ve been looking all over the place for you but I’m here. Everything’s going to be OK.”

  Something passed very briefly through Scott’s eyes - perhaps a flicker of recognition. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but no words came. Jamie turned to Nathalie Johnson and there were tears in his eyes. “What have they done to him?” he cried. “What have they done?”

  Between them they helped Scott to his feet and carried him with them. He moved like a sleepwalker, not resisting but seemingly unaware of where he was going. Alicia was waiting for them at the bottom of the bleachers, with Daniel. She hadn’t been able to come any closer. She couldn’t expose her eleven-year-old son to the sight of the dead woman.

  “Jamie! Scott!” She didn’t know what to say.

  “Are you Alicia McGuire?” Nathalie asked.

  “Yes.”

  “It’s all right. I’m a friend. John told me about you.”

  “Who are you?” Alicia asked.

  Nathalie looked around her. The streets were emptying rapidly, people scattering in all directions. Soon there would only be policemen left. “We can’t talk here,” she said. “We have to get these boys on their way.”

  “On their way where?”

  “Alicia… !” It was already too late. Jamie pointed. The policeman with the moustache was striding purposefully towards them. He had unfastened his holster and his hand was on his gun.

  “Tyler.” The single word was an accusation. The policeman stood with his legs slightly apart, like a cowboy in an old film.

  “Jamie Tyler. Right?”

  “No.” Jamie looked him straight in the eyes and pushed.

  “Jamie Tyler was here but he’s gone. You’ve missed him. And now you’ve got to help all these people. You’re not interested in us.”

  The policeman frowned as if he hadn’t quite heard what Jamie had said. Then he relaxed. “You’re right. I’ve got to help these people.” He turned round and walked away.

  Nathalie Johnson stared, not sure what she had seen. But Alicia understood. Jamie had done the same thing when they were trapped in Don White’s house in Sparks. Even so, she shivered. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for a fourteen-year-old to have so much power.

  She turned to Nathalie. “Listen to me,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere until we know who you are.”

  “I’m Nathalie Johnson.”

  The name meant something. Alicia had seen it in the news.

  “Computers?” she asked. “Are you that Nathalie Johnson?”

  “Yes.”

  “You helped the senator. You did a couple of fundraisers last year…”

  “Yes. But that’s not why I’m here.” Nathalie stopped. The policeman with the moustache had disappeared but she had no doubt that others would soon arrive. They had been lucky that he had decided to make the arrest on his own - but he would surely have put out an alert before he moved in. “I have a car very near here,” she said. “Will you come with me at least that far? I’ll tell you the rest once we’re on the way.”

  Alicia nodded. She couldn’t take her own car. The police would surely be guarding it, waiting for her to return. And anyway, they would have circulated its number.

  They hurried round behind the bleachers and down towards the statue. Nathalie first. Then Jamie and Alicia, guiding Scott between them. Finally Daniel. As they went past, Jamie glanced one last time at the statue. He felt a strange mixture of emotions, looking at the craggy face, doomed to kneel for ever with the dusty highway in front of him. The prospector had travelled a long way to deliver his warning. At least Jamie hadn’t let him down.

  Nathalie’s car - a blue Mercedes - was parked near by in a spot reserved for VIPs. Normally she would have had a chauffeur, but today she had decided to drive herself.

  “You can take my car,” she said. She handed Alicia the keys. “The best way I can help you is to make some calls.”

  “Where am I meant to go?” Alicia asked.

  “Give me a minute. You need to get to an airport. I’m just trying to think which one.”

  “An airport?”

  Nathalie sighed. “I know this is difficult for you but you have to understand. I know what’s been happening… or some of it anyway. You see, I belong to a group of people, an organization, that exists solely to help Jamie and Scott and the other Gatekeepers.”

  Gatekeepers.

  Jamie stared. Had this woman really said that?

  “What do you mean?” Alicia demanded.

  “It’s all right, Alicia,” Jamie cut in. He looked at Nathalie.

  “You know about the Gatekeepers,” he said.

  “Yes, Jamie. The Gatekeepers. The Five.” She paused. “I know Matt Freeman.”

  “Where did you meet him?”

  “In England. I met him there twice. But he’s not there now. He’s in Peru. A place called Nazca, just south of Lima. And that’s where you have to go.”

  “Peru… ?” Alicia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “It’s OK.” Jamie hadn’t told Alicia anything about the time after he was shot. He h
ad decided it was too much to explain.

  He hadn’t even wanted to try. “Why is Matt in Peru?” he asked.

  “There was a second gate. It opened. Matt tried to stop it but he was hurt. Pedro is with him now. Pedro may be able to help your brother. That’s another reason why you have to be there.”

  “What about Scar?”

  Nathalie shook her head. “I don’t know any Scar.”

  Jamie had made his decision. Everything that Nathalie had said had made him think that she was telling the truth, and the mention of Pedro clinched it. That was Inti’s other name. Matt had told him. And Inti had the power to heal. The sooner Scott was with him, the better.

  “How do we get there?” he demanded.

  Nathalie let out a deep breath. She had been afraid that she would be unable to persuade them - but somehow Jamie had found out who and what he was. One day she would ask him how that had happened. But for now, she had to think straight. They were in Auburn. The police were still looking for them. Nightrise might be looking for them too. How to get them away.

  “Lake Tahoe Airport,” she said. She glanced at Alicia. “It’s just off the 89. Right down at the south end of the lake.”

  “I’ve passed it,” Alicia said. “But Sacramento is nearer.”

  “If the police are looking for you, they’ll close off all the airports. Lake Tahoe is tiny. And there are no main roads. It’s the last place anyone will think of looking.”

  “What happens when we get there? I just buy the boys a single ticket to Lima?”

  “I can arrange a private jet. I can have it in the air within fifteen minutes. It’ll fly out from San Francisco and it should be there waiting for you when you arrive.”

  “And you’re just going to give us your car?”

  “The car doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Just get them there.” She rested a hand on Jamie’s arm. “I’ll call Matt and tell him you’re coming,” she said. “And one day you and I will meet properly and you can tell me everything that’s happened.” They heard the squawk of a radio on the other side of the bleachers. The police were sealing off the entire area. It was time to go.