Lightning Proof

by Rebecca Ann

  “I’m not entirely sure, but it has something to do with a second ability. Apparently, LIs have a second ability that doesn’t manifest until they’re eighteen. Lighters have healing abilities, and Invies can stay in their teleportation cocoon.”

  It was all I could do not to let my anger over this whole thing explode. I kept my arms close to my chest, my body stiff as I focused on the kids laughing. They didn’t know laws. They were free. Yes, their parents worked in a factory and they lived in shabby apartments, but they could be themselves. I chuckled as one girl started dancing, all smiles, her movements stiff and robotic. She looked happy.

  “That girl is being mind-controlled,” Madalina whispered. “I love to see kids having fun with their abilities.”

  “And she’s okay with that?” I kept my gaze on the girl as she continued to dance. She wasn’t worried about getting ridiculed or her parents getting fined or arrested.

  “Oh yes. As long as the one doing the controlling gets permission.”

  As we approached the factory and Madalina spoke to the Watcher, I glanced at the people already gathered by the door. One woman in a long brown coat stepped up to Madalina from behind. I took note of her every move, ready to jump in if needed.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice low with scorn. “Come to tell us more lies? Come to tell us how bringing all these Lighters and Invisibles from Earth will help District One when, really, we’re overcrowded as it is?”

  “Yeah!” another woman echoed. “Stop lying to us and—”

  I held out my arms, the woman getting too close to Madalina for my liking. “Hey, whoa, step back!” I moved in front of Madalina with a glare. “How dare you address your princess like this. You don’t know—”

  “No, you don’t know,” the woman cut in, anger still in her words. “We work in a freezing cold factory because she can’t manage to get any heat, and our school is basically nonexistent because she can’t manage to hire teachers that actually want to do the job.”

  My expression softened. Things were worse than I thought. “The people coming here can help. There are teachers coming and—”

  “And you think that’s gonna solve everything?” another woman cut in. “That this place is suddenly going to be as beautiful as the palace?”

  “We’re already four families to a loft,” the first woman continued. With a final glare, she stalked off toward the factory doors, which were now open, her blonde hair blowing in the wind.

  “Everyone,” the Watcher called. “Please form a single-file line and give your name as you enter.”

  I moved out of the way as people crowded around the door, anxious to get inside. As Madalina came over to me, I asked, “What was that about?”

  Madalina sighed, gaze on the factory. “They’re not happy with my father. He makes promises he can’t keep. We simply don’t have the funds to support all the districts. It’s been that way for years. Bringing people here is our last chance to get Ada to where it once was.”

  I trained my gaze on the people hurrying inside. “People seem really skeptical.”

  “That’s because this isn’t our first attempt. All the others have failed.” Madalina waved her hand in the air, as if that would somehow wash away the defeat in her words. “I’m willing to try anything at this point.”

  “I understand,” I said. “I really do understand. I didn’t become a Watcher for fun. I did it to protect my family. Granted, I made some poor choices, but I would do anything for my people, especially my sister and the other LI kids.”

  “You’re very brave. I’d never have the guts to do that.” We started down the empty street, people disappearing as though in a puff of smoke.

  “Yeah, well, look where it got me,” I muttered.

  Behind us, shouting started. Glass shattered. Without thinking, I grabbed Madalina’s arm and teleported to the end of the street.

  You okay?” I asked after several seconds passed in silence.

  Madalina exhaled, a hand to her forehead. “Wow. That’s quite a rush. I’ve never been teleported by an Invisible before.” A shadow of determination passed over her face. “But that’s going to change.”

  “I’m sorry! I needed to get you out of there.”

  Madalina held up a hand. “No. You did the right thing. I meant what I said back there. You’re very brave. Which is why I put you on the Watcher force.”

  “Thank you,” I said, trying to sound at least a little excited. This would give me a way in. A way to study Madalina and her intentions without having to try to sneak into her thoughts. “You do know that I’ll need to teleport you at a moment’s notice, right?”

  Madalina chuckled. “Yes. I am aware.” She glanced around. “Now, I know I said we’d tour the factory, but I have some meetings I need to get back for.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll teleport you back to the palace and come back to the docks in an hour to meet the ship.” I held out my hand, and Madalina took it with a smile. “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  We arrived in her study. She went over to her desk and picked up her net-screen, glancing at it. “I have to get to a meeting.”

  I followed her out the door and, when the foyer emptied of people, teleported back into Madalina’s study. Now was the perfect time to snoop and find out more about this program. Taking a breath to settle my nerves, I walked over to the desk. This was a risk, but I had to do it. I wasn’t going to get answers from Madalina.

  I opened the top drawer and found nothing but pens. Hundreds of them. I slammed the drawer with a huff. A drawer for pens? Really? Glancing at the door, I opened the second drawer to find stacks of notebooks. Ah ha. This could be something.

  Taking the top notebook, I flipped through the pages. Names were listed out in columns with locations next to them. And dollar amounts by every name. Places like Earth and other planets I’d never heard of. I flipped to another page, and my breath caught. I recognized about ten names on this list. Families of my students. Heart in my throat, I flipped to another page and froze. No. It couldn’t be. I had to be reading this wrong. But there it was in plain sight. Victoria Thompson. My gaze flitted to the right of her name. To a money amount and location. I slammed the notebook closed, panic squeezing my chest. I knew it! I knew I couldn’t trust this program! I should’ve already had an escape plan in the works.

  “So, you found them.”

  My head jerked up at Madalina’s voice coming from the doorway. “I—” I backed away from the desk, as if that would somehow hide what I’d done. “I was just—”

  “Snooping?” Madalina closed the door. “Good! I was hoping you’d find them! I put them in my desk on purpose.”

  I teleported to the door and leaned against it. She wasn’t leaving until I got the truth. “Talk. Why didn’t you tell me about this? You knew? You had ample time to—”

  “No, I didn’t!” The words exploded through a wad of spit spewed right at me. As if that made her come back to reality, Madalina rubbed her temples. “Look, I know you want answers, and I’ll give them to you. We don’t have long. Come with me.”

  I trained my gaze on Madalina as I walked out of the study. I made a huge mistake trusting Madalina and put the LI population at risk.

  Again.

  I followed her through the foyer, up the stairs, down the hall, and to her bedroom. “What’s going on?” I asked before even walking into Madalina’s bedroom. I ignored the pink all around. Including the bedspread. “And did a pack of bubblegum blow up in here?”

  Madalina sighed as she got off the bed, putting her net-screen on the bedside table. “Shift change for Monitors is in forty-five minutes, but it’ll be better if you hear it directly from the source.” She grabbed her net-screen off the table and held it out. Once I had it, she handed me a pair of wireless ear-pods. “Put these in. We can’t risk anyone hearing this.”

  I took the ear-pods and stuck them in my ears. “You’re making me nervous.” I glanced down at the screen as Ma
dalina pressed play. A picture of Carmella came up. “What is this? All I see is a picture.”

  “It’s only audio. It’ll start in a second.” Madalina sat on the edge of the bed, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

  As I opened my mouth to reply, Carmella spoke, her voice soft but clear. “Everything is in motion. LIs from Caldwell will arrive in a few days, and thanks to my stepdaughter’s little program, more than we thought will be arriving.” A low cackle vibrated in her throat. “They won’t have long before they will be sent to planets all over the universe. I’ve convinced Madalina to hold a dinner where people will think they are being interviewed for a job. Then the money will start rolling in.”

  My hands shook as I took out one of the ear-pods. “What the hell is she talking about? What does she mean by money?”

  Madalina slid off the bed and took the net-screen, powering it down. “You know those names and money amounts you found in my desk? They’re prices. That dinner Carmella wants to hold is so she can send your friends off to their masters.”

  I took the last ear-pod out of my ear as I tried to wrap my mind around Madalina’s words. “And you knew?” I blurted. In two steps, I stood in front of Madalina, close enough we almost touched noses. “You knew this whole time, and you didn’t tell me? You said you wanted her gone for what she did to your family. You didn’t say one thing about her plotting anything.” Anger swelled within me, but I fisted my hands so as to not strangle the princess. “I knew it! I knew—”

  “I couldn’t! If Carmella finds out that I know, it could be really bad. She’s a Controller. As are all the Monitors. If the Monitors or Carmella find out I know the big plan, she would make it so I could never tell anyone anything ever again.”

  “So, you lied to save yourself?” I fired back. The shout tore through the room. Bounced off every surface. “Some princess you are! I knew I couldn’t trust you! I only agreed to your little offer to check out this program and report to the resistance back in Caldwell. Now I can definitely say that I was right. That Ada hasn’t changed.”

  “No, Lindsey. I brought you here because I knew you were in the resistance. Victoria’s father told me. I know he told you I didn’t know, but I had to make sure I could trust you. He said you’d be the perfect person to help stop her. I had and still have to keep up appearances. I can’t let on that anything is amiss, but you can.”

  I wasn’t sure how to reply, and for some reason, folding my arms helped me think. “Why did you try to convince me the program was legit and send Victoria’s mother to do the same thing in Caldwell? Why are you so adamant about bringing people here if it’s not safe?”

  “Because the Controllers won’t go against Carmella. That leaves District One and District Fourteen. If we’re going to bring her down, we’re going to need everyone we can get.”

  I clamped my jaw shut as anger continued its journey through my veins. “And how did you plan on keeping them safe, Madalina? District One doesn’t exactly have a wall around it. And what about the dinner? I can’t risk my people being shipped off all over the universe to work as slaves!” The word left a disgusting taste in my mouth. “And I can’t risk Carmella controlling them like she did all those years ago! Whatever you wanted me to do, you can forget it. My people come first.” I marched toward the door. “You can forget about the program. I’m not bringing my people back here.” I yanked open the door but didn’t get one foot into the hall before Madalina slammed it and blocked the exit.

  “Lindsey! Please! I know you don’t get it, but if I didn’t do something to pretend like I was listening to Carmella, Ada would forever be ruled by her. She’d do something so horrible, I’d have no choice but to go along with her.” Madalina’s voice started to shake, and as fear flashed in her eyes, the anger in my chest lessened some. “I’ve seen it. I’ve seen her make people think she’s telling the truth. She’ll put thoughts into their heads for so long that, by the time she relinquishes the control, they think she’s told them the truth.”

  “Kind of like altering memories?”

  “No, just making them believe what she wants them to. She does this with non-Controllers. It’s why I’ve had to keep up appearances and why we had to wait to talk until now.”

  “What about Controllers? What does she do to keep them in line?” The hair on the back of my neck and arms stood up, my hands clammy as the words left my mouth. My heart thrummed in my ears. This changed everything.

  Madalina went over to the bed, sitting down with a loud sigh. “She, um—” She dropped her face in her hands for a split second. “She makes the few Lighters that are here zap the Controller until they agree.”

  A cold knot settled in the pit of my stomach. “Please tell me again why you wanted to bring LIs here.”

  “I told you, if I helped bring them somewhere else, she’d just convince me to get them back and go along with the plan. This way, I can work behind the scenes to keep them safe.”

  I rubbed my temples. What a nightmare. “Look, I’m a Half-Controller which means I can try to keep you safe from anything she might do.”

  Madalina shook her head, and this time, tears spilled down her cheeks. “You can’t. The Monitors are back. It’s happening. Lindsey, please, get out of here! Take the ship and go—” A gasp left her, and she put both hands to her forehead. “It’s happening! She’s trying to make me think this conversation never happened.”

  Panic sliced away the anger that had been with me for pretty much all of this conversation. “Can you resist it?” I gently pushed my way into Madalina’s thoughts. They were a web of new and old, overlapping. I focused as hard as I could against Carmella as Madalina quietly sobbed on the bed. I pulled out of her thoughts after a moment, collapsing next to her. “I’m so sorry. She’s too strong. I haven’t trained with these new powers yet.”

  “You need to go,” Madalina said, but her words were stiff, her expression one of pure terror. Carmella was making her say these things. “Carmella wants to meet with you.”

  With a last-ditch effort to get past Carmella’s thoughts, I grabbed Madalina’s net-screen off her bed and shoved it into her hands. Madalina shook her head. She pointed to the door.

  “Is she still in your thoughts?” I whispered, as if that’d somehow keep Carmella from overhearing our conversation.

  Madalina nodded. I backed toward the door but didn’t take my eyes off Madalina. Dark things were going on behind the scenes. Things Madalina couldn’t stop. Not without help. But there was nothing I could do about that now. I had to focus on getting my family and people to a safe location.

  My hands shook as I walked out into the hall and took out my net-screen. I didn’t know how long I had before I would be Monitored again, but I had to contact Victoria. As her name came on-screen, I pressed it and waited for her to answer. When she didn’t, I swore.

  “Victoria,” I said once the beep to leave a message sounded, “please, please call me when you get this. It’s important.” I put the net-screen back in my pocket. Hopefully, I wasn’t too late.

  Chapter Seventeen

  VICTORIA

  “Okay, it’s all set up.”

  I glanced up from my food at Shannon’s voice, almost lost in the chatter and dishes clinking together. I wiped my hands and tossed the napkin on the plate. I couldn’t back out now, though every fiber in me told me to run. This wasn’t a good idea. I took my time going over to Elizabeth, focused on her bright top as my cane hit the legs of the benches with satisfying thumps. Behind me, someone laughed. Happy chatter swirled around me, and I sucked in a breath. In a few minutes, it would be gone, replaced with confusion and fear. I wanted to avoid that as long as possible and took my time going over to her.

  “Hello, everyone!” My mother’s voice boomed from off to my left, and I startled before realizing I stood near a large black speaker. “My name’s Elizabeth Mathews. Most of you know my daughter, Victoria. She was a teacher back in Caldwell. Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to tell you ab
out this wonderful new program on Ada that Princess Madalina started specifically for LIs.”

  “Why would we ever go back there?” a woman called out. “Ada’s queen experimented on us.”

  A low murmur of agreement followed her words.

  “I understand your hesitation. I was experimented on as well, and I thought I’d never want to live on Ada, but after working closely with Princess Madalina for the past few months, I can assure you those days are over.” More protests floated over the audience, but Elizabeth held up a hand to silence them. “I know you’re all skeptical, but if you’ll just turn your attention to the screen, I have a brief video that will help you understand what this program is all about.”

  I tried to school my expression into a mask of indifference as I glanced at the net-screen behind her. Elizabeth may be an incredible speaker, but in the grand scheme of things, that didn’t matter. If there was no trust in this program, no one from the hideout would go. Music swelled from the speakers, and Princess Madalina’s face filled the screen.

  “Hello, everyone! Whether you are a new arrival or someone who has been living here on this beautiful planet we are lucky to call home, welcome! I’m standing in front of the largest factory on Ada, located in District One. Everything you use, from clothes to household furniture, is handmade by our employees.” She extended a hand toward the large building behind her. “But if working in a factory isn’t your thing, we have a lot of opportunities waiting for you.” Her excited, high-pitched voice made my smile widen. “I want to help you live the life you’ve always dreamed of, with no laws. Where you are free to be yourselves and raise your children in an environment that accepts them.” Behind her, a group of kids came onscreen, waving. Madalina put an arm around a small girl with dark hair. “Won’t you come be part of our family and help make Ada the best planet in the universe?”

  The screen went dark, and I turned back around as quiet voices floated throughout the room. Maybe Elizabeth had really convinced them.