“You!” Sasha said in shock.
“Hello again,” he said to the group. “It’s so good to see you after all this time.”
“Goulden!” Dylan yelled angrily. “I should have known.”
Chapter 15
“Well, it’s a pleasure to see you too, young Dylan,” Prime Minister Goulden said. “And how are you all?” he asked as he looked round the group and laughed with a nasty sneer on his face.”
“Let us go,” Sasha yelled. “Or we’ll…”
“Or you’ll what?” Goulden snapped. “Hit me? Fly at me? Drown me? I don’t think so. If any of you so much as think about using your powers, my good men here will shoot. And then all of your lovely little friends will die.”
“You’re a monster,” Toshiko said.
“Yes, I am, aren’t I?” he smiled smugly. “But enough with the flattery. I have to say, it’s so lovely to see you all. I was hoping that one group or the other would show up, but I never expected all of you. This is a very pleasant turn up for the books indeed.”
Goulden was prowling back and forth, like a smug cat guarding its prey.
“Where are Aaron and Maria?” Sasha asked.
He stopped pacing and shrugged his shoulders.
He laughed. “That’s the brilliant bit. The genius part of this plan.” He paused and took a step closer to them. “Now listen to this, you’ll like it. I have no idea. I. Don’t. Have. A. Clue.”
“Oh no,” Dylan muttered, hanging his head.
“You see,” Goulden continued. “I thought all your families had died years ago. I really did. But then I started to get a bit suspicious. One day, I was looking at the files I have on you all and it dawned on me – all of your families were reported to have died in fires, but there were no bodies or evidence. Very tragic, and very suspiciously convenient, isn’t it?”
“That’s a stupid theory,” Dylan said, trying to deceive Goulden even though it was too late. “You saw my family’s bodies. You personally killed them, so you know they’re dead.”
“Well, yes, that’s true, Dylan. But yours died first, didn’t they? I started to wonder if maybe after that, you’d faked the deaths of the other families and sent them into hiding where I could not use them to blackmail you. After all, doing that would take away the advantage I had over you away, wouldn’t it?”
He paced around some more.
“Yes I see now, I told you I’d kill your families if you didn’t work as my soldiers, so you pretended they were all dead. Very clever indeed. I commend you, children. It was a great little plan and it truly did work – for a while. After I became suspicious, I tried to find your precious loved ones, but I had no luck at all. You did a very good of job hiding them. So then I decided to set a trap – I thought that if I pretended I’d captured two of your siblings, you’d want to save them. Oh, I was so excited when I came up with that idea. I knew you little heroes wouldn’t be able to resist coming to the rescue.”
“So you made this whole thing up?” Dylan said. He looked uncharacteristically defeated and beaten. “And we fell for it.”
“Yes and it was so easy. You little nuisances are always snooping around and causing trouble, so all I had to do was leave some clues where you could all find them. A hackable computer file here, a loud policeman there, an unlocked filing cabinet in easy view... It was quite fun watching you all running around thinking that you were winning, while all the time you were walking straight into a trap.”
“So what happens now?” Dylan asked.
“Now, my little friends. Now you are going to work for me. Be my soldiers as I originally intended.”
“Never,” Jay said.
“Whatever. Then I’ll find your families and kill them. Or maybe I could torture you until you tell me where they are,” he said sadistically. “Both sound fun to me.”
“We don’t know where they are,” Neelam said. “We purposefully asked them not to tell us where they were so you couldn’t get the information from us. We chose not to have any contact with them so you didn’t find out they were alive.”
“Well, that didn’t work, did it?” he laughed. “Well, I’ll find them. I’ve got all the powers in the country behind me.”
“You said you tried before and couldn’t,” Dylan said. “What makes you think you’d be successful now? You still have no hold over us.”
“Well, I didn’t know for sure if they were alive before, did I? Now I know the needle exists, it’ll be worth searching the haystack, so to speak. And if it proves to be hard, well I’ll just have to blow up every town that I think they might be hiding in. That’ll eliminate them and a few thousand more scum into the bargain.”
Dylan scowled. “You’re evil.”
“Oh, do stop with the compliments, Dylan,” he said. “Of course, if you choose to work for me, I’ll leave them be. I won’t search for them and they, and the innocent people around them, won’t get hurt.”
Goulden suddenly twitched.
“Neelam, please stop digging around in my brain. Your mind tricks won’t work on me. I’ve had my scientists develop a psychic dampener and it’s very effective.”
“But I…” Neelam began…
“But you read my mind in Kerridges last week?” he said, walking towards Neelam. “Is that what you’re going to say? I let you, you silly child. It was all part of the wild goose chase that led you here.” He paused as he enjoyed the look of dismay on Neelam’s face. “Your powers don’t work on me. Sorry.”
He span on his heel and strode back to the front of the room. “You know,” he began, looking at the floor thoughtfully. “I’m a little disappointed that you made this so easy. I would have enjoyed a bit of a challenge. You took the bait every time and didn’t once suspect it was a trap. I hope you’ve learned a lesson, so you perform better when you work for me.”
“We’ll never work for you,” Andrew said. “We keep telling you...”
Goulden looked at his watch. “Yes, yes, as you all keep insisting. But you will. I have you now. You’re mine. And there’s no escaping.”
He looked towards one of the uniformed guards.
“I have to go to a meeting. I’ll be back in an hour. Watch them like a hawk. They’re a slippery bunch. If any of them tries something funny, kill them all.”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned back to the group. “Sorry to love you and leave you, but I do have a country to rule over. I’ll be back very soon though, so don’t go anywhere. Not that you could if you wanted to!” He laughed his menacing laugh and strode out of the room.
Sasha and Toshiko started whispering among themselves.
“Shut up!” The guard Goulden had put in charge said. “No talking!”
“Scarlett,” Neelam’s voice said in her head.
“Neelam! I’m so scared.”
“Don’t be, just stay calm, we’ll find a way out of this... Dylan.”
“Yes?” he replied.
“We need a plan,” Neelam urged.
“I know and I think I’ve got one. Can you link us into everyone else?”
“Sure!”
“All ten of us,” he said firmly.
Scarlett could sense Neelam’s discomfort through their psychic link.
“Of course,” she said reluctantly as she tapped into everyone’s brains.
“Hi” Lucy said.
“What’s the plan?” asked Jay.
“Neelam! What are you doing in my head!?” Sasha protested.
“Wow, I’d forgotten how this feels,” Andrew mused.
“Hey Neelam,” Ethan said.
“What are we going to do?” Toshiko wailed.
“Why the hell are you all in my head?” Alex asked. Scarlett could sense him freaking out.
“That’s me,” Neelam said. “I’m psychic remember. I’m sorry for intruding into your minds, but I thought this would be the best way to discuss a plan for getting out of this without actually speaking in front of those guards.”
&nb
sp; “Good idea Neelam,” Ethan said eagerly. Scarlett thought he was a bit keen considering he was on the other side.
“I have an idea,” Dylan said. “And I’m going to need some help from Scarlett, Lucy and Ethan. If they’re up for it.”
“Sure,” she said.
“Count me in,” Ethan agreed.
“Just say the word,” Lucy chimed.
“Right,” Dylan began. “Step one is down to Scarlett. I need you to telekinetically bend the ends of their guns so they’re twisted closed and won’t work.”
“All of them?” she asked.
“Yes, all 12 at once. It’s important to do them all together so none of them shoot out in defence. It’s tricky, but I really think you can do this.”
“OK,” she said nervously.
“Then, the very second they’re disarmed, I want Lucy to set off the electronic fire alarms and sprinklers. I’ll deflect the water at their faces to blur their vision and slow them down further.”
“Easy,” Lucy said.
“And in the middle of all that commotion, Ethan, you can produce a few of those little bombs of yours and throw them at that outside wall. Hopefully, that will provide us all with an escape route. Don’t, and I repeat don’t hurt anyone with them though.”
Ethan sighed. “OK, I’ll play by your rules.”
“Once the escape routes open, we should all help each other to get out, don’t leave anyone behind. We’re not safe until we’re completely off the premises.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sasha said. “We gonna get this show on the road or what?”
Dylan ignored her dig and stayed calm. “OK, Scarlett, work your magic.”
Scarlett glanced out of the corner of her eyes at one of the guards. Those guns were pretty big, but she told herself she could do it. She closed her eyes tightly and pictured all 12 guards’ weapons in her head, then she relaxed and imagined the ends of them bending back and twisting into a tightly formed knot.
“Oh my God,” Sasha whispered in everyone’s heads. “She’s only gone and done it.”
“What on earth!?” one of the guards shouted as he furiously tried to fire his gun.
“Lucy, now!” Dylan yelled.
Lucy shot several bolts of lighting at the ceiling. They lit up the room and triggered the sprinkler system. Suddenly, all the guards began screaming in the confusion.
Dylan waved his hands around and directed the blasts of water in their faces, while Ethan ran towards the wall and powered bombs all over the place to create several holes that led to the yard outside. Andrew pounded on the wall to make the escape route even clearer. The light of the autumn sun was streaming through the gaps, Scarlett realised it must be morning already.
“Get out of here!” Dylan yelled.
Sasha picked up Toshiko, Dylan grabbed Lucy and Neelam, and Scarlett instinctively helped up Alex, who’d been knocked to the floor in the commotion. They all bolted through the wall, while Jay, Andrew and Ethan made their own run for freedom.
The group paused for breath on the outside of the wall and Scarlett let go of Alex’s arm.
“Thanks,” he muttered, catching her gaze for a second “I appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” she smiled.
She noticed Dylan staring at her from the edge of the group. He didn’t look very impressed.
“No time to waste. They’ll be after us in a second,” Sasha said. “We need to get out of here.”
Andrew, Toshiko and Ethan gathered around her. “Alex!” they called, beckoning him to their side. “Do your stuff.” A flash of light erupted and within a second, they were gone.
“Alex!” Scarlett shouted. She couldn’t believe he’d just disappeared.
“The cheeky little monkeys,” Jay said. “I can’t believe they left us in the lurch like that.”
“I can,” Dylan said. “They’re scum, all of them,” he added, looking at Scarlett pointedly. “We can’t spend time worrying about that now though, we need to get out of here.”
Dylan turned and surveyed the area.
“Do you think you could break into another car, Scarlett?” he asked as he pointed out a large, blue motor parked 10 metres away.
Jay whistled. “You’ve changed your tune.”
“Needs must and all that. Well, Scarlett?”
“Of course.” She ran over to the car, unlocked the door, leapt into the front seat and drove over to her friends. “Jump in!” she yelled.
The other four quickly climbed in, then she put her foot down and headed for the exit, where a barrier was blocking their way.
“Just drive quickly through it,” Jay said. “And don’t look back.” Scarlett closed her eyes and followed Jay’s instructions. Luckily, the barrier shattered easily. Several guards tried to chase them down the road but they soon shook them off.
“Phew, that was close,” Jay joked.
“Too close,” Dylan said seriously He sighed and sat back in his seat before staring blankly out of the passenger window.
Chapter 16
It took them just 25 minutes to get home. Scarlett couldn’t believe how much quieter the roads were in this world compared to the crawling traffic of the London she knew, but today she was in no mood to question it or complain. She was too tired after their awful ordeal and she guessed everyone else was too because no one said a word all the way home.
“What are we going to do with the car?” Jay said, interrupting the silence as they pulled up outside their house.
“We’ll park it in the garage for now, “Dylan said. “Then I’ll dump it somewhere tonight.”
Neelam, Jay and Lucy hopped out of the back and dashed to open the garage door while Scarlett steered the vehicle in and switched the engine off.
She looked across at Dylan, who was sat looking stony-faced in the passenger seat. “Can we talk?” she asked.
“What about?”
“Well… you know, what we were discussing in that corridor just before…”
“Before you leapt all over Alex?” His eyes darkened.
“I was going to say… before Goulden captured us. Why are you so bothered about Alex?”
“Why are you so bothered about Alex?”
“OK, now you’re being childish.”
“Am I? Really? One minute you’re telling me you have feelings for me, and mere seconds later you’re jumping all over him. I thought I knew you better than that.”
“Better than… what? What are you talking about? Are you jealous? Are we really having this conversation?”
“You remembered him,” Dylan said.
“Yes, but…” she started to explain that there was a reason for that.
“You didn’t remember me at all. You’ve forgotten everyone. And yet you greeted Alex like he was your best mate.”
“But…”
“And you saved him when we were escaping instead of one of us.”
“He was next to me and he’d fallen, I wasn’t going to leave him. You’re being ridiculous.”
“Oh I am, am I?”
Dylan opened his car door and got out. Scarlett did the same.
“I can’t believe you’re being so irrational. It’s so unlike you,” she yelled over the car bonnet as she slammed her door.
“You’re the irrational one. You make me so mad.” Dylan closed his door with a loud bang and turned towards the main street.
“What, you’re going to walk off and leave me?”
He didn’t answer, he just marched away a little faster.
“Hey,” she protested as she hurried along after him. She closed the garage door and followed Dylan into the house. She only just managed to catch the door before he shut it in her face.
“Dylan.” she shouted as he walked into the front room, where Jay, Lucy and Neelam were sitting. He ignored her.
“Dylan!”
He ignored her again. The group looked intrigued, especially Lucy, who sat up in her seat. They all decided not to ask what was going on though – they knew b
etter than to stick their nose in.
“I’m sorry,” Neelam said, referring to their miserably failed mission. Dylan shrugged his shoulders. “I had a go at you when I thought you were being too impulsive last night, but it’s my recklessness that started all this. If I hadn’t fallen for Goulden’s plan and gone to read his mind in the first place…”
“I messed up,” Dylan said. “And I put us, and possibly all of your families, in danger because of it.”
“But it wasn’t just your fault,” Neelam insisted. “Please don’t blame yourself.”
Dylan picked up a photo of his own family from the mantelpiece and studied it in silence. After a minute or so, he put it back down.
“I’m going to my room,” he said. He sounded really upset.
“But…” Scarlett started to say.
He glared at her. “I want to be alone.” And with that he stomped off. She’d never seen him so moody.
“What did you do to him?” Jay asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Lucy said, a little too bitchily for her liking. “Scarlett’s been playing Dylan and Alex off against each other as usual and it’s backfired on her.”
What did she mean as usual?
“I haven’t done anything,” she protested.
“Yeah,” that’s just like you, Scarlett. You’re all: ‘Oh I don’t know I’m making men fall in love with me. It just happens, because I’m so irresistible.’”
“Oh come on,” she said defending herself. Why was everyone round here being so pathetic this morning?
“Lucy,” Neelam chastised. “Leave Scarlett alone. She’s done nothing wrong.”
“She led Dylan on, then seemed to drop him for Alex the second he returned. Typical!”
“I barely spoke to the guy. Stop being so nasty and reading too much into things. Just because you’ve got a crush on Dylan and you’re jealous.”
Lucy blushed a furious shade of red.
“Sorry,” Scarlett said quickly. “I didn’t mean that.” She kind of did though. It would make sense. Lucy was one of the nicest girls she’d ever met, but whenever Dylan was involved, she was horrible to her. Suddenly, the reason for her behaviour was glaringly obvious.
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