by Stacy
“It’s not so hard to believe. He is the only new person here, and we don’t know him from a hole in the wall. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Maybe you just don’t like him?”
“What are you talking about? I like him fine. I just don’t trust him yet,” Carter lied.
Barber threw him an unconvinced look and Carter had to avert his gaze. Carter couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something in the back of his mind that told him not to trust Ryker. Maybe it was his too perfect jawline or the way everyone adored him, but there was something off with the new guy.
“You don’t trust anyone,” Barber said.
“I trust you.”
“I meant besides me.”
“Point well taken.”
*****
The rest of the day had gone by uneventfully. The night had come again, and Carter sat in his cabin gazing out through the window at the big house. The Compound was eerily silent, everyone having long gone to bed. He was about to nod out sitting up, but as his head drooped ever so slightly, a shadow that was just a shade darker than the blackness around it moved next to the house.
“What the fuck?” Carter asked himself.
First someone sets fire to the big house and now someone is out sneaking around after hours. Carter threw on his sweatshirt, slowly opened the door, and silently closed it behind him. The shadow, in the silhouette of a man, rounded the corner of the big house moving in the direction of the backyard. Carter tiptoed across the yard, past the fire pit, and went flat against the side of the house like a thief in the night. He slid with his back against the wall over to the corner and poked his head out just enough to get a line of sight on the intruder.
The ominous figure stood with his hands against the side of the house and was peering in through one of the broken kitchen windows. Carter was sure it was the arsonist back to inspect his handy work, or perhaps to finish the job, but Carter wasn’t going to let him get away this time. He bolted out from around the corner with a fiery fist leading the way.
“Don’t you fucking move!” Carter roared as he closed in on his prey.
That’s when the mysterious trespasser did something Carter didn’t expect. The man held his hands up as if to calm him, but Carter barreled right through the shadowy figure, hitting him with a football tackle.
“Get the hell off of me!” the man beneath Carter said, but Carter didn’t listen.
The moon’s rays offered just enough light to let Carter know he hit the intruder right square in the face. The man’s nose crunched under his fist.
“Get up!” Carter dragged the man to his feet and threw him up against the torched wall of the house. With a flick of the wrist, a fireball appeared in his hand. The fire in his hand crackled and light flickered off of his palm.
“Ryker?” he asked, as the light illuminated the man’s face. He knew it. Ryker had been the bastard to set fire to the big house. “It was you.”
“What was me? You crazy asshole,” Ryker said with blood dripping down his upper lip and a hand on his broken nose.
“You set the fire,” Carter said.
“Set the fire? I was the one who put the fire out!”
“After me and Doc escaped!” Carter shouted. “Then you conveniently show up out of nowhere to save the day!”
“What’s going on?” Barber asked as he came running up behind Carter. “What’s all that yelling?”
Carter realized that Ryker must have looked like a cornered dog to Barber, and Carter must have looked like a real asshole.
“I caught him trying to burn down the rest of the house,” Carter said.
By now more of the lights were coming on inside the cabins. Weary eyed Users were coming out their doors, still in their pj’s, to see what all the ruckus was about.
“What are you doing out here?” Barber asked Ryker.
“Nothing, I thought I saw some smoldering coals and I came over to make sure the fire was completely out.” Their heads all turned in unison toward the house.
“I don’t see anything,” Barber said.
“I was just making sure!” Ryker exclaimed.
“In the middle of the freakin’ night?” Carter asked incredulously.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you!” Ryker pushed past Carter, bumping their shoulders together hard as he passed.
“Hey, fucker!” Carter grabbed Ryker by the shoulder and whipped him around to face him. “Don’t you walk away from me.”
“Get your hands off me!” Ryker slapped Carter’s hand away.
Carter clenched his fists.
“Back off man,” Barber said getting in between Carter and Ryker, but his comment was aimed at Carter.
“Oh, so now you’re taking his side?” Carter asked.
“I said back off!” Barber shouted and pushed Carter.
With a fiery fist, Carter punched Barber in the face, knocking him to the dew covered grass.
“Oh, god. Barber, I’m sorry,” Carter said as he reached down to help Barber back to his feet.
“Don’t touch him!” Ryker wrapped his fingers around the back of Carter’s neck and grabbed his arm, pulling him back.
“You should take your own advice.” Carter arched back and to the side, bringing his elbow up to Ryker’s face.
Ryker cried in pain as Carter’s elbow blasted him in his broken nose. Ryker stumbled back, gripping his nose with one hand, and aiming his palm at Carter with the other.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Carter said lifting his own palm to Ryker in defense. Ice shot from Ryker’s hand. Fire shot from Carter’s hand. The two forces of ice and fire collided somewhere in the middle. A cloud of steam puffed where the two met as ice was melted and fire was doused out by water.
Ryker growled and pushed forward, but Carter fought back with all the heat he could force into a single hand, projecting it in a flamethrower like stream. Their fight went on for many moments with neither wanting to back down. The fight of ice power against fire power was a stalemate. The two essentially canceling each other out. Neither gained ground on the other, but nor did they lose it.
“Stop it, god damn it!” Barber shouted. “Just stop it!” Simultaneously they lowered their arms.
“I’ll stop, but I want this bastard locked up,” Carter said. “This all started when he showed up. Even if he didn’t start the fire, he is somehow involved.”
“He’s not involved-”
“Fine. I’ll do it,” Ryker said cutting off Barber. “If it’ll make captain paranoid over here feel better.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Barber pleaded with Ryker.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Carter said. “He’s not staying here another night unless he’s locked up.” Carter grabbed Ryker roughly by the arm and led him toward his cabin.
“Who do you think is in charge here?” Barber asked.
“I thought I was,” Carter said as he walked away.
Chapter 16
Carter fell sound asleep knowing that Ryker was locked inside his cabin. He even had two Users, a Mover and an Enforcer, guard the door to make sure that Ryker couldn’t escape, but his good night’s rest wouldn’t last for long.
“Carter! Carter!” A woman’s voice woke him from just beyond the door of his cabin. “Come quick! It’s Barber!” It was Lucy, one of the Blinders who kept the Compound hidden from preying eyes.
“What’s going on, what’s happened?” Carter asked as he bolted upright, looking around slightly confused.
Coming to reality, he immediately popped out of bed, threw on some pants, and opened the door. Lucy was in tears.
“Something…happened to Barber,” she said.
Immediately, Carter knew it was bad. What else could it be? Every time Carter turned around there was some bit of bad news knocking at his door. It was almost as if the world was purposefully trying to shit on him as of late. Things hadn’t been a bowl of roses before, but this shit was getting ridiculous.
“Show me.”
Half naked and barefooted, Carter marched behind Lucy toward Barber’s cabin. A group of Users was gathered around the front door, blocking Carter’s view of the cabin’s inside.
“Move please.” Carter pushed and squeezed his way past the gathered onlookers.
He couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of the stunned or horrified look on the Users’ faces as he passed. Whatever it was they had seen had shaken them.
“Barber?” Carter asked as the young man came into view.
Barber lie on the floor, his bed a smoldering pile of ash, with third degree burns covering the majority of his body. “What happened here? Why hasn’t anyone gotten Doc yet?”
“We were hoping you could shed some light on the situation?” Evan asked and Lucy nodded in agreement.
“What?”
“You’re the only Scorcher here…” Evan trailed off at the end leaving the insinuation open.
“You think I did this?” Carter asked in astonishment.
“Ryker has been locked up all night,” Lucy said.
Other Users, those that had been standing around to watch, started to nod their heads in agreement. Carter was greatly outnumbered, but he was focused more on Barber’s health than his own.
“Now is not the time for this. Get Doc,” Carter ordered, but no one budged. “I said to get Doc now!” Carter demanded in a gruff tone.
A mousy woman named Lisa ran off toward Doc’s cabin, but the others stood strong, their expressions grim.
“Carter?” Barber croaked in a voice that showed obvious pain.
“Don’t worry. We’re getting help,” Carter said. “Now everyone back up and give him some air.”
“First you’ve got some explaining to do,” Evan said.
“Yeah!” A voice shouted from the crowd.
A wall of angry faces started back at Carter. The other Users huddled around the doorway, leaving Carter with nowhere to go.
“I said back up!” And almost on instinct a flame appeared around Carter’s fist. He immediately regretted it.
“Get him!” one man shouted.
That was all it took. The Users fell over him like water from a bursting dam.
“Get off of me!” Carter shouted, but it was no use.
Dozens of hands grabbed at him. He was screwed. The only chance he had of escaping was using his powers, and if he decided to use his powers against the other Users he would surely be damning himself, and any chance he had of reclaiming his innocence. Carter was being pulled and pushed, tugged and torn all at once. They came at him from all angles, picked him up, and carried him off. Carter didn’t even bother kicking and screaming; he knew he was fucked. The Compound had turned into an old fashioned witch hunt. He thanked his lucky stars there were no stakes to be burned at anywhere on the premise.
“Ryker.” Evan opened the door to the cabin he was locked in. “Get up. You’re out.”
“What’s going on?” Ryker asked. “And why are you guys carrying Carter like that?”
“It’s Barber. He’s been attacked.” Evan used his Mover powers to grab a hold of Carter and pull him from the grasp of the other Users.
Carter was suspended in midair with his arms spread at his sides like he was possessed. Ryker smirked as he shimmied past Carter’s hovering body. If Carter had control over his body at that moment, he would have smacked the suave looking bastard right in the face. Evan wouldn’t even give Carter control of his mouth to offer Ryker a few choice words on his way out of the cabin.
“You two watch the door, and keep it locked.” With a simple wave of his hand Evan closed the door behind him and dropped Carter to the wood floor.
“God damn it!” Carter shouted in frustration. “I didn’t do it!” He pounded his fist on the floor.
Many hours passed with no sign of the outside world for Carter. Finally, after it was well past lunchtime, the handle on his door twisted and in walked Evan with a sandwich on a plate.
“How’s Barber doing?” Carter asked immediately.
Evan’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but he didn’t say a word. He sat the plate on a little end table next to the bed, turned, and walked from the room, closing the door behind him. A click from the handle and the door was locked again.
With a sigh, Carter flopped down on the bed and waited. There was nothing else for him to do but wait. Wait and wonder who was truly responsible for the house fire and the attack on Barber. All signs pointed too him, but he knew he wasn’t responsible. At least he thought he did. Was he perhaps sleep walking and setting fires while in a semi-conscious state. It just didn’t make sense.
The Sun had disappeared behind the Compound’s high wooden fence before anyone came to visit Carter again. There was a knock at the door as if he had a choice of who came or went from the cabin at that moment.
“What?” Carter asked.
“Carter, it’s Ryker. We need to talk.”
“Unless you’ve got news of Barber, I don’t have shit to say to you.” The door opened anyway and in stepped Ryker. “You’re the last person in the world I want to see right about now.”
“Barber’s going to be okay,” Ryker said. “Doc is making him as comfortable as possible.”
“Are you guys doing anything to find out who actually did this?” Carter asked indignantly.
“No. The rest of the Users are convinced it was you.”
“And you aren’t?” Carter asked.
Ryker closed the door behind him. “Despite all the evidence and your lack of confidence in myself, I don’t believe you’d ever consciously hurt Barber.”
Carter was stunned. Ryker was the last person he expected to give him the benefit of the doubt. Especially after how Carter had treated him just hours earlier.
“Well I didn’t do it. You have to talk some sense into the others.”
“I’ve already tried. They won’t listen.”
“What are they going to do with me?” Carter strode over to the single window in the cabin and looked out at the Users roaming the Compound’s backyard.
“I do not know. I don’t think they have a plan yet. They’ll probably just banish you from the Compound.”
“And who will run the Compound after I’m gone? You?”
“Is that what this is all about? You think I want to usurp your position as the leader of the Compound?”
That was exactly what Carter thought Ryker wanted to do. “No,” he lied. “But I’m sure the thought of putting you in charge has crossed the mind of more than a few of the others. They adore you. Me, they could really care less about.” Carter slumped back down onto the bed.
“Quit throwing yourself a pity party and get ready to face them. Get ready to face life. It doesn’t always go the way you’d want or expect.” Ryker’s tone was harsh, but Carter didn’t take offense. He was more pissed than hurt.
“You know I could just burn this cabin to the ground and waltz out of here at any moment?”
“That’s the last thing you want to do right now. Starting another fire would only confirm all their suspicions, whether you started the other fire or not.”
“I just need a chance to explain my side of the story to them. Can you convince them to let me speak before they throw me out?”
“I will do what I can.” Ryker turned to leave.
“Ryker,” Carter said.
“Yeah?” Ryker stopped short just short of the door.
“Thank you,” Carter said earnestly.
“Anytime.” Ryker closed the door, leaving Carter with nothing to do, but wait.
He stared out the small square window from his place on the bed, fully expecting a knock on the door at anytime to let him know he was being forcibly removed from the Compound, but none came.
Chapter 17
Carter spent the rest of the evening with no sign from the outside world besides what passed in front of his window. A handful of Users coming and going, a bird landing to gobble up a worm before flying off, but nothing mo
re. With nothing to entertain himself, he fell asleep shortly after sundown. His sleep was restless though. Carter had an eerie feeling like he was being watched.
In a cold sweat, he snapped up to a sitting position in his bed.
“Having trouble sleeping?” A voice asked in the darkness.
Startled, Carter scrambled back along his bed until he hit the wall.
“Who’s in here?” Carter asked. He was thoroughly sick of waking up to people in his room, first Alaric, now whoever this was.
“You don’t recognized your own father’s voice?” Jack asked and indeed Carter did not.
Other than the day he came to deliver Walt’s will, he had not seen the man for more than a few minutes at a time in years. Honestly, it was a voice he was glad to forget. Carter had spent more than his fair share of time being yelled at by that voice, and he’d probably devoted a good amount of his mental barriers to blocking it out.
“How…how did you get in here?” Carter asked.
“I have my ways,” Jack said.
As Carter’s vision adjusted to the low light, he could make out the dark outline of his father standing in the corner of the room.
“Okay, but why are you here? What do you want?”
“Listen son,” Jack said.
“Don’t call me that.” Carter’s tone was full of venom.
Jack sighed. “Listen…Barber doesn’t deserve this place. The kid doesn’t deserve all that money.”
“What are you talking about?” Carter was now thoroughly perplexed.
“I mean, the kids not even related to Walt. I tried to talk him out of it, but the stubborn old bastard just wouldn’t listen,” Jack said, but before he could even finish, Carter shot up out of the bed and grabbed Jack by the neck.
Somehow his skin was still rough with a bristly five o’clock shadow, even though Carter was bombarded with the fresh stench of his cheap aftershave.
“You don’t talk about Walt like that.” Carter had his mouth pressed right up to his father’s ear. “Do you understand me?”