by Jim Mohr
“Sit, you evil worthless bastard!” Gerdt yells at me. I look at him in confusion. I am not evil. “Sit, now!”
I sit in the chair and Gerdt straps my arms down. I pick at the black, sticky crud on the armrests. It peels off with ease. As I looked at it, I know what I had smelt and what now lay under my fingernails, blood. Gerdt straps my legs to the chair while he speaks to the class. “Get in line from least powerful to most powerful. We will recite the snake family while practicing your harm power on his eyes.”
I begin to cry as I beg Gerdt to not hurt me. He looks at me with utter contempt and slaps me across my face. I immediately taste blood. My face burns as my healing power does its work. My defensive power awakens and my resolve is like iron as I look at the twenty-three Timere lining up to harm me.
The blood under my fingers seems to cause something else to awaken in me. I look at the blood through tear filled eyes. “This blood is from another Psychokinetic, isn’t it?” I ask.
Gerdt smiles and nods slowly. “Yes, very astute, Cougar. You sense it?”
“Yes, I can smell it.” I heave as the fear overwhelms my mind. “Mr. Gerdt, my mom always told me that you cannot escape the consequences of your actions. You will pay for this, someday you will pay.” I look at the class and speak in Russian and Czechoslovakian: “Give me your worst, fuckers!”
Gerdt looks at me in astonishment. He then says the closest thing to a compliment I had ever heard from him. “You have some resolve in you, you little bastard.” He turns to the line of children and says, “Begin.”
They chant: “Grass Snake, Bushmaster, Python, Rattlesnake, Viper, Cobra, Black Mamba, Taipan,” repeatedly they chant.
The first Timere is a small girl, no more than seven years old. She steps forward, she looks at me and has the look of someone taking a poop and it is stuck. I feel an itch behind my eyes as if something is in them. I blink and it ceases. I think to myself, “This isn’t that bad, I can do this.”
The next child steps up, and then the next, and so on. Each has more power than the previous one had. The pain increases and goes from a blunt pain to a sharp one.
Nada steps up. She touches her temple softly as if she has an itch. I enter her mind. “I don’t want to do this to my friend. Pretend like I am hurting you. I like you.”
I think to myself that only a Timere can see someone being tortured and get some kind of love story from it. If it were anyone other than Nada, I would consider them very sick. Nada looks at me as if she is harming me. I twist more than I had with the previous Timere, and I let a small moan escape my lips.
Nada leaves, and returns to her seat, as the next student steps up. This child causes real pain in my eyes. It feels as though a hot ember has gotten into them. The pain makes me scream. My eyes water and I smell my own blood. Pink droplets fall from my cheeks as the children continue chanting the snake family, from least powerful to most powerful. Every time they say the word “Taipan” a chill goes down my spine.
They continue until only two children remain—a Russian girl and Funnel Web. The girl gives me a creepy, open-mouthed smile while showing me her teeth. Her voice seems as if it is part of a collective voice, not singular, but part of a group. “I am Piranha,” she says.
Blood is now running from both of my eyes. “I always thought piranha were ugly little fish. Kind of like you, I suppose. You are an ugly little girl,” I answer.
Her eyes grow large, her mouth remains open. “I like blood,” she says.
“Unstrap me and I’ll let you see your own blood, you crazy little bitch,” I reply.
Her mouth closes as a drilling pain tears through my head. I lurch backward, pulling against the straps. They cut into my wrists and ankles. My defensive power awakens then and it seems to take much of the pain from the power she is using on me. I shake my head and look at the Piranha. I blink as bloodied tears clear from my eyes.
“STOP!” Gerdt yells. “Piranha, next time I give you instructions, you follow them! You’ve caused his defensive power to rise. Damn you!” He approaches Funnel Web as Piranha goes back to her seat. “Let his defensive power go down, then you focus on his eyes.”
“Yes, sir.” Funnel Web replies.
“Class, if you attack a Psychokinetic in a vital area, or cause them great harm, like broken bones, their defensive power will increase. Your advantage is in the non-vital areas, their eyes, fingers, groin, and feet. Only go after vital areas after their healing power is drained and you can kill them quickly.”
I can tell that my healing power is nearing its end as the damage done by Piranha heals. I feel my defensive power leaving me. It reminds me of my mother leaving me that day in July. She left me in my father’s care.
Funnel Web steps up next. A smile spreads across his face. “You don’t know how much I’ll enjoy this.”
“You don’t know how much I will enjoy paying you back, you greasy little shit,” I answer.
The pain hits me like a punch to both eyes. I scream as my vision goes black from top to bottom; as if a sheet is being pulled over my head slowly. My healing power slows the blindness, but it runs out. I sob as the world goes black. I can feel warm fluid running from my eyes. I smell my blood. It runs into my mouth. I sob and hyperventilate. The chair tips on its side, holding me in a perverse restrained pose. I hear Gerdt say, “Tomorrow if he is healed, we will name the spiders. Our focus will be ending his ability to breed.”
A sharp pain shoots through my face; I hear a snap as Gerdt kicks me in the face.
Chapter 12
Cougar—Resistance Installation: Prague, Czech Republic
Echoed voices, incoherent and distant, pain, and fog. My powers awake like a bolt of lightning in my head. The world is black, but I can sense three humans. Gabrielle is one of them. I gasp as the pain grabs me. My healing power is doing its work. My nose burns as it heals. It must have been broken. It has been set by the doctors, now the bone and cartilage fuse as if nothing ever happened.
I think “Maybe healing power addresses the most critical injuries first.” My eyes burn as a small spot of light pierces the darkness of my blindness.
“He’s awake doctor,” I hear a woman say.
“Thank God,” replies Gabrielle.
“Cougar, can you hear me?” the doctor asks. His voice is a firm, bass voice.
“Yes, sir,” I answer, “I still can’t see.” Fear grips me. Fear of the dark, of being blind, of this place.
“We know. Your healing power will fix it in time.”
I sense Gabrielle touch my arm. “Cougar, who did this to you?”
I turn my head in what I believe to be her direction. “Nobody,” I answer. I think to myself, “I was in a class with Timere, who do you think did it?”
The doctor snorts as he speaks. “I don’t think that’s accurate, Cougar. We aren’t fools here.”
I turn my head so I am facing toward the sky. “If I told you who did this, you’d talk to them, and they’d attack me again.”
“Cougar, this is not an appropriate thing to happen to a ward of this base,” Gabrielle says.
“I suppose not,” I answer. “I’m done discussing this though.”
“Cougar, the doctor is trying to help you,” Gabrielle pleads.
“Okay,” as I turn again in Gabrielle’s direction. “He can tell me what a taipan snake is.”
Immediately the other woman in the room gasps. The humans seem not to have heard the woman’s gasp, but I did. Images enter my mind of a black and gold snake, deadly and fast.
“Cougar, where did you hear that word?” Gabrielle asks.
I cannot divulge where I had heard it. The Timere, with their tortures, had provided me with names. I need more of them. “I had a dream,” I lied.
The PA system comes alive with an overhead page. “Dr. Novak to med central. Dr. Novak to med central.”
> The doctor sighs. “Nurse Andrev, takeover please,” he orders.
“Yes, doctor,” the nurse answers as a door closes. This nurse Andrev is the third human in the room.
Gabrielle pats my shoulder. “Cougar, I have to meet with Mikhailov. He is curious about today’s events. I certainly hope that you change your stance on this and answer our questions.”
I am not going to, but I’d never say that to Gabrielle. “I’ll try,” I squeak.
Gabrielle leaves the room. Only the nurse and I remain.
“Why did you gasp when I said Taipan?” I ask.
The nurse pauses, not saying anything. “I thought that you had said something else,” she replies.
I enter her mind. She isn’t who she is pretending to be. I leave her mind because I respect her privacy. “Human, you are lying to me.”
“What animal did you dream about when your powers awoke?” she asks.
The darkness of my sight doesn’t frighten me anymore, I can sense her location. “I am named Cougar. In your native, Russian tongue, it is gornyy lev (as it is pronounced).” I adjust myself in my bed. “You know things. About me, about people like me, and about the Timere.”
“Cougar, you cannot speak of this. Someone is after me. If he finds me, he will kill me.”
“Nurse Andrev, who is it? Taipan?”
She pauses, I can feel her fear. “Yes,” she answers.
“Who is he?”
“He is the most powerful Timere in the world. He has followers, and they are after the means to gain strength. A vial, a hormone filled vial.”
I rub my eyes, the speck of light I see is annoying me. “Taipan wants some hormone to grow powerful? He thinks that you have it?” I ask.
She sits on my bed; I can feel her shaking in terror. “Yes. Cougar, you are only nine. How did you get here?”
“What does my age have to do with anything?”
“You are an American, yes? The hormone you received, was it in a booster shot?” I nod. “The Resistance took you then?”
“Yep. Took me, killed my dad, and now they are training me.”
“Cougar, you must get away from here. You must flee.”
“Why? I’m learning, I’m growing stronger.”
I can tell she is confused. “The cats are odd creatures but I know they are fighters. Cougar, flee this place.” I can sense nurse Andrev is proud of me. I remind her of someone, I will not invade her thoughts to discover who.
“The cats are odd?” I repeat. “Nurse, what are you talking about?”
She sighs, “I can’t stay long. There are three families of Timere, there are three families of Psychokinetics. Timere have spiders, snakes, and fish and insects. Psychokinetics have dogs, cats, and birds. You are the third strongest cat. They are Lion, Tiger, Mountain Lion, Cheetah, Jaguar, Leopard, Bobcat, Wildcat, and the House Cats.”
I remember my former, pesky neighbor girl, Dena. What had she said that day after I bludgeoned Todd Vance to death? She had spoken of a spotted cat, a cheetah. “Nurse, I know Cheetah. She’s a girl back home, Dena Smith.” I smile at the memory.
“Cougar, flee here,” Nurse Andrev pleads again.
I look at the nurse, not seeing anything except black. “I know your mind. I will not flee, not yet. How do I gain power?”
She sighs again. “You really are different, aren’t you?”
“Nurse, tell me,” I beg.
“Psychokinetics gain power one of two ways—injecting more hormone, or by using their power. The only powers that will grow though are defense and empathy, only the passive powers. The active ones, telekinesis, telepathy, and healing, only will increase by more hormone.”
I think of her words. “So, if I can get the Timere to attack me, my defensive power will increase?”
“Yes. Yes, but please don’t do that.”
I smile. “Cool, I think once I’m healed, my newfound friend Nada can practice with me.”
“Cougar, there are other things with your powers, things that I have researched.”
“Like what?” I say as I rub my eyes. “Why do I sense them? Why do I sense humans?”
“Cougar, Psychokinetics and Timere can tell who has the gland, the power, and who does not. You can practice submitting your power, making it go away, and you will not be detected. I do not know how you accomplish that though, only that the previous Psychokinetic here was able to do it.”
I yawn as my mind seems to become slow and foggy. “Nurse, I want to know more, but I am tired.”
“Yes, when you use all of your healing power it will drain your strength,” she answers.
I fall asleep before our conversation can continue.
Chapter 13
Cougar—Resistance Installation: Prague, Czech Republic
I must stay in the medical ward until Tuesday evening. When I awakened on Tuesday morning, my eyes were burning. I cover them with my hands. My healing power immediately repairs my blindness.
Later in the day, Nada visits me. She informs me that Funnel Web, Piranha, and some other Timere had left the base on a pass issued by Mr. Gerdt. Nada’s visit is nice. Like the other time we spoke she seems sincere. I see that she has cleaned herself up. There is no more dirt on her face, no more greasy hair. Under the dirt and grime Nada is actually a rather cute girl. Before she leaves me she gives me a smile and briefly holds my hand.
Gabrielle escorts me back to my room once I am discharged from the medical ward. She seems distant as if some great weight is holding her soul down.
“Mom, what is wrong?”
“I asked Mikhailov if you can change your schedule; to swap out of the Timere class for something else. He wouldn’t hear of it.” She looks at me with a mixture of love and pity.
I shrug my shoulders. “Oh well, hopefully, everyone will behave themselves now,” I say.
“Cougar, if Mikhailov changes his mind, if he lets you quit the Timere class, what class do you want?”
I answer immediately, “Military classes! I want to fight.”
“What about art? Don’t you care about that?” she asks.
“Yes, but not now, not with what I am going through now.”
She stares at me. I can feel her emotions descend into sadness as if I have disappointed her. I wish I could tell her what she wants to hear, that I would become an artist, a scientist, or a doctor. I cannot lie, these Timere have pushed me, I must push back.
***
The next morning in physical fitness class, we practice sparring. The thirteen-year-old Bavarian monster I am matched against is six-foot-tall, and all of 200 pounds. The Bavarian, who probably eats my weight in raw meat every day, thoroughly pummels me. My satisfaction comes when my power seems to grab him, holds him for an instant, and allows me to punch him square in the nose. It pours out blood and I celebrate my ‘lucky’ shot. My celebration is too hasty as he beats my head into the ground.
My resiliency in the sparring match prompts our instructor to enroll me in hand–to-hand classes three days a week. Since he didn’t want me missing three physical training classes, Saturday will now be a workout day for me. I will be trained in karate, kung fu, and handheld weapons of all sorts, bo staffs, nunchaku, and sai. I’m really getting into this fighting stuff. I actually am getting muscles in my arms and my stomach feels tighter.
Class ends as the first snows fall on Prague. Our unusually warm autumn has become more seasonal for November. With the weather changes, my luck has changed too. Funnel Web, Piranha, and three other Timere were waiting for me in the meal hall. My breakfast will be interrupted by these shitheads.
Gabrielle is with me, she sees the Timere after I have already sensed them. Funnel Web approaches me while I work on a strudel.
“Welcome back from the medical ward,” he says.
I sip my milk. “Thanks, nice harm powe
r by the way.”
He smiles so it makes him look like an evil asshole. “Thank you. I enjoy harming Psychokinetics.”
I nod. “Careful though. You’ll meet one who has a pistol. I don’t think you will be able to heal from an extra hole in your head.” Gabrielle kicks me under the table. Funnel Web glares at me. “Excuse me, Feng Chu, or whatever your name is. I’m eating now, and the smell of you Timere is fucking with my apple strudel.” Gabrielle kicks me again, harder this time.
I look at her and smile behind my glass of milk. Piranha steps forward. “How dare you speak to Funnel Web like that!” she shouts. The meal hall falls silent as soldiers, their families, and servers, all look at us.
I lower my head slightly and whisper, so only Piranha can hear me. “When he gets his bullet, you’ll get one too.”
A female human walks up to our table. I do not recognize her, though her uniform is covered in medals and she is wearing the rank of a Colonel General. She speaks to Gabrielle. I read the woman’s mind as she speaks. Her name is Pavia Prazak; second in command of the entire base. She is a very cerebral officer. From her mind, I glean that a peace treaty of sorts was agreed upon between the Alliance and the Resistance.
“Get control of your children,” she says firmly to Gabrielle.
“Yes, ma’am,” Gabrielle responds as she turns red.
Colonel General Prazak looks at me. I am still in her head, reading her mind. “You, what is your name?”
“Ma’am, my name is Cougar Reed. I’m a ward of the base, ma’am.”
She smiles. “You aren’t the American that was captured a few months back, are you?”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s me.” I am playing with the human. I know she means me no harm. She thinks that I am a handsome boy and she can tell I am different. “I want to be a soldier, ma’am.”
She nods. “Good. Maybe you children,” as she motions to Funnel Web and his gang of shitheads, “can learn something from young Cougar here.” Colonel General Prazak turns to Gabrielle, “Carry on.” She then turns and leaves our table.