by S M Olivier
I followed Remy and Jace into the cave, still holding Troy’s hands. I knew he was exhausted. It was written all over his face. Apparently, he had been abducted at the airport yesterday morning as he was doing a preflight. They hadn’t taken him far.
The imposter was the one to make the text message to the guys. He probably thought he could be short and concise with them and they wouldn’t be suspicious. However, our conversations were more in-depth through text. I would have grown suspicious if he had been short and concise with me. It was odd enough when he hadn’t called or texted me earlier.
Troy had been placed in a fire-resistant room and had felt like he was being watched the whole time. Several people had come into the room and asked him questions. He hadn’t responded the way they wanted him to, so they beat him. Eventually, he fed them lies. The imposter was probably trying to learn as much about him as possible.
At first, the imposter had tried to pose as me, but Troy had seen through him immediately by the way he carried himself. He purposely called Imposter Me ‘love bug’ and continued to feed them lies.
The moment Imposter Me was in place, the others had gotten lax. They came into chain Troy and haul him away, underestimating him. From his condition, they thought he was unable to fight off anyone. Once his hands were free, he was able to use his gift and get out of there.
“We’re set up in here,” Ben stated as he led us down the hall into one of the side rooms.
The room was similar to the war room we had on the other side. The computers, television, and conference table were all located here as well. The only difference was that most of the computers weren’t hooked up.
Currently, Jemmy, Gavin, and Sierra were stationed behind three of the computer terminals. They were examining the camera feeds. Pops, Terrance, and Greg were already pouring over floor plans of the mountain.
“It looks like the majority of the gifted are located in the cafeteria and the training room,” Gavin stated.
“Except our friend Darren and a few of his friends,” Jemmy said gleefully. “Which room is this?”
“Um, not sure,” Pops said with a frown as he looked over at the monitors.
“We shall soon find out,” Gavin said as he typed away on the computer. “I’m going to IM him and find out his location.
“How many insurgents did we count?” Pops asked as began to scribble on the floor plans.
“Twenty in the cafeteria, eighteen in the training room, four in our main control room, and twenty-four searching the floors… hold up,” Sierra paused. “There’s eleven of our people in the laundry room and six adversaries that will be upon them soon.”
“Let’s go,” Micah stated standing up.
“I’ll take over here,” Jace reassured Sierra as he sat down in a rolling chair beside her.
Sierra smiled at him and went over to Micah. “Let’s go,” she echoed him.
They linked hands. One second they were there, the next second they weren’t. I watched as they reappeared on the screen in the laundry room.
“It looks like some of the children we originally deemed too dangerous are among the enemies,” Jemmy said ominously.
“I guess it’s a good thing Alison and Dr. Frankenstein were moved,” Jaxson commented before he took a seat in one of the chairs.
We never found out who the man was that was helping Horatio. Alex couldn’t even get a name on him. All he could get was that the man could turn people into inanimate objects. He was transferred before I got my gifts back.
“How did he even get in here?” Troy asked his jaw clenching as if he already knew the answer.
“Your badge,” Will stated. “But it wasn’t your fault. The man looked exactly like you. They were able to temporarily blind the camera. They disabled the guards at that door, and then he brought in the rest of his friends. It looks like they got here seconds after we left.”
“Have we seen my brother?” Ford asked as he peered at the screens.
“He’s in the cafeteria,” Jemmy stated as she zoomed in on some of the people.
“What are they saying?” Ford asked as he pointed toward a man who was pacing and clearly yelling.
“There’s no way of telling unless someone can read lips.” Darren pulled up to one of the computers. “Our cameras aren’t equipped with mics.”
“Where did−? How did you−?” Jaxson asked, stunned at Darren suddenly appearing out of thin air.
Gavin smiled. “I mimicked Micah.”
“From the cafeteria?” Jace asked with an impressed tone.
Gavin nodded with a smile. Even I was impressed.
“But,” Jemmy stated with a smile, following up with our last conversation. “Cell phones are,” she said, countering Darren’s last statement. With a smile, she tapped a few keys on her computer and soon we could hear a male’s voice over her laptop.
“How did you−?” It was Darren’s turn to have his jaw drop.
“What, Mr. Amazing Hacker? You can’t do this?” Jemmy asked smugly.
“I’ve never tried,” Darren grumbled.
Jemmy let out a laugh as she turned up the volume on her computer.
“−I’m going to ask one more time! Who is gifted among you?” the man yelled.
“They want to put halos on us,” Yaris said grimly from behind me.
I turned and noticed Micah and Sierra had returned with four of the people that had been trapped in the laundry room. Yaris, Spencer, and two Nons I didn’t know by name were standing behind us.
“We don’t have enough halos for that,” Darren said smugly. “And half the ones we have on hand aren’t properly linked up yet.”
“If you don’t tell me who in here is gifted right now, I’m offing you one by one!” the man in the cafeteria yelled through Jemmy’s speaker.
“They are!” Adams yelled back as she pointed towards a small group that was huddled around one of the tables. She had black streaks running down her face from where her mascara had run. “We’re not dying so you can hide.”
“My dear old sister once again at her finest,” Darren muttered in anger.
“Your what?” Noah asked in shock.
“My sister,” Darren said matter of factly. He pushed his glasses up with his middle finger. “Well, technically my half-sister. You didn’t know that either? Man, Uncle Paul does like to keep his cards close to his chest. I guess you don’t know about PJ either, huh?”
“PJ is his twelve-year-old son that’s exhibiting signs of a gift,” Pops informed us. “And Adams has only remained this long due to her family ties, but after today she will no longer be part of our program.”
From his expression, I took it that he had known these facts for some time, and that displeased me slightly. We had the right to know especially after the stunts she had pulled with me.
“She should have been kicked out long ago,” Remy stated gruffly. “We need to get in there. We need to neutralize the threats.”
“I think we have a game plan,” Greg commented with finality in his tone.
“I can get in there with Miranda,” Micah jutted out his jaw mutinously.
“You’re swaying on your feet,” Remy said gently. “Why don’t you go lay down for a little bit?”
“I can do a little bit more,” Micah maintained.
“Rest,” Will said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Micah swallowed and nodded. He apparently wasn’t happy with our decision. “Can I have some coffee?” he mumbled to Remy.
Remy’s chest rumbled with laughter. “Try your sisters and then mine. Tell me how you prefer it.”
I handed Micah my coffee, and he took a sip of it, grimacing slightly, and then he sipped Remy’s black coffee and made a hacking noise.
We all laughed at him. “I’ll take some like Blake’s.”
“I’ll have them off our network in three minutes,” Darren informed us. “After that, we should have approximately thirty minutes before they can get back on.”
Once they were off the networks, we were placing all the rooms and halls on lockdown. Effectively trapping each group in their areas. Once Darren saw us in our designated places, the locks would be lifted.
Terrance, Sam, Dawn, Marcel, Miranda, and Ford were going to be handling the insurgents located in the control room. Gavin, Sierra, Kade, Remy, Pops, and Jemmy would be heading to the cafeteria. Kade and Gavin would freeze the room while Remy and Pops carried our enemies down to their individual gift-free cells. Drake, Jaxson, Jace, Troy, Lincoln, and I were heading to the training room where most of our gifted individuals were being held. Victoria, Sierra, Ben, Mike, Taylor, and Rick were going to attempt to clear the hallways until we could get to them.
Noah, Greg, Herman, and Darren were staying behind and manning the monitors. Noah would come as needed.
“Team’s ready?” Darren asked. “Comms in?”
“Ready,” we all chorused in response.
“Radio checks,” Darren demanded.
Individually we did our radio checks.
“Sounds good, on my go. Three…two…one…go,” Darren called out.
We took off at a gentle jog. We had studied the plans repeatedly, making sure we were taking the quickest routes to our destinations. In a single line, we ran down the service hall, down to the service elevator. Our team was using the service area since it led into one of the boiler rooms behind the training area. They would never hear us coming over the sounds of the machines.
Once we reached the room, we wouldn’t be seen on the cameras. It was in a blind spot. Everyone acted like it was no big deal, but it made me feel uneasy, honestly. The room had two doors led out, and one of them was located right under the bleachers.
I took deep calming breaths as we stepped onto the elevators. I felt warm, gentle hands on my shoulders.
“You’re tight,” Troy murmured. “Relax.”
I looked up at him and smiled. “I’ll try,” I murmured. “No matter how many times we do this, I still feel tense and nervous.”
“It’s good to feel those feelings,” Lincoln spoke up. “Just as long as you don’t let those feelings overcome you.”
I bit back my initial caustic remark. We were in this middle of an unspoken truce. I didn’t want to ruin it.
The elevator came to a halt, and before I stepped off, Jace put a staying hand on my hand. “Wait…” he warned. “Okay, we’re good.”
“Thanks,” I smirked. I felt rusty. I knew we did simulations, but this was different. There were no restarts. If something happened to one of us, there were no re-dos.
The noise in the boiler room was disconcerting. It was loud, but that’s not what was getting under my skin. It was all the other creaks. I didn’t like surprise attacks, although that’s what we were doing to them.
“Okay, Jaxson,” Jace stated. “Bring on the dogs.”
Jaxson smiled grimly before a pack of wolves appeared. They were huge, and even I gasped before taking a hasty step backward.
“Jaxson,” Troy said in amused disbelief.
“Technically, they were the original dogs,” Jaxson informed him smugly.
“They will leave a heavier impact,” Lincoln smiled wickedly.
“Will they attack?” I asked timidly as one of them turned their majestic head towards me.
“If I want them to. I guess we shall see how they behave out there,” Jaxson explained, although his look said he apparently planned to let them attack.
“Just remember that someone has to clean up the mess,” I stated as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Ready for the attack,” Darren stated in our earpieces. “In three…two…one…go!”
Jace opened the door, and the wolves took off at a breakneck speed. We followed as closely as possible. Screams filled my ears as we ran under the bleachers to the training area. We were finally free of the bleachers when we heard the first yelp.
One of the usurpers must have overcome his shock and currently had a wolf convulsing on the floor. He turned, and wire-like substances shot out from his hands and latched into another wolf causing it to spasm on the floor and cry out in pain.
Stop! I yelled in his head. Freeze! He became immobilized.
Troy was taking advantage of the chaos and was making his way through our people. He was carefully removing their bindings.
It took me a second to realize that our people were eerily silent and staring off in space like they were…locked in their own little world.
“Troy,” Lincoln called out in warning as a female from the other side wrapped him up in what appeared to be a tail.
The tail wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. One minute she was attacking him with a small looking dagger and the next she was wrapped up in her own tail. I was momentarily stunned as I saw blood spurt from his chest and arms.
“Immobilize them all, Blake,” Jace urged me before I could run to his aid.
I closed my eyes and reached out to them all. “Halt!”
I opened my eyes and saw them all frozen in mid-action.
“What’s wrong with our people?” Jaxson asked as he knelt next to Kirk, waving a hand in front of his face.
I ran over to Troy. He slumped down into a seat. I reached for the wound that was bleeding the most. I imagined the healing power spreading through my hands. I felt my hands warm once it hit. “Can you refrain from getting hurt from the rest of the night?” I teased him.
“I’ll try, but all I’ve been waiting for is my girl to give me some of her magic kisses. They don’t even have to be on my boo-boos. I’ll even settle for my lips,” Troy mock pouted.
I laughed and leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his lips before moving my hands to the next wound. “Next time, just ask.”
“Blake,” I heard Greg's voice in my earpiece. “Seventh girl to the right, black and blue hair. She’s a hypnotist. You need to get in her head and push her out of theirs.”
“Copy,” I responded, depressing the button before releasing it once more.
“Are you okay?” I asked Troy kissing him once more.
“I might need a few more of those,” Troy asserted.
I laughed. “Whatever, I got to get back to work and so should you.”
“What?” Troy asked me in an innocent tone. “It looks like Lincoln, Jaxson, and Jace has this handled.”
“Cafeteria secured. Prisoners being transported,” Remy’s voice sounded in our ears over the headsets.
“You forget we still need to secure this base and make it ours again,” I called over my shoulder as I made my way to the group of foes.
I stopped in front of the girl with the black and blue hair. “Break the hold,” I tried to compel her.
I immediately felt her push back. She was strong. I could feel it. A sharp pain began behind my eyes. She wasn’t alone, I could feel the presence of two other minds within hers. She was connected. I knew it instinctually.
I looked around the group and couldn’t believe how careless I had been. Two men were standing behind her. Their touch wasn’t noticeable, but it was there.
I smiled coldly at her as I felt the pressure increase in my head. She was trying to hypnotize me. “I see your two, and I’ll raise you two.”
“Jace, Jaxson, Drake, Lincoln, can you come here please,” I asked telepathically.
I felt them touch me within seconds. “Break the hold,” I insisted. I didn’t even bother to say it parapsychologically.
Once I noticed that her hold on them had been lifted, I looked over at the girl and her connections. She was dangerous. I would have to locate some halos and neutralize her threat immediately.
“We need to get some halos,” I said as I continued my hold on them.
“Or we can do this,” Kirk grimly stated from behind me.
I nearly jumped. I didn’t even realize he had walked up to us.
“Sleep,” he said as he held his hands out to them. Like ragdolls, they collapsed to the floor. “There. They should be out for at least
six hours,” he informed us.
“What the hell, happened?” Sherman, Kirk’s right-hand man cursed out somewhere in the room behind me.
“You were running around here clucking like a chicken,” Jaxson said with a straight face. “Texas was finally professing his love to Riggins. Fletcher had to bark like a dog every time he heard the word fetch. It was so bizarre. Then−”
I tried to keep a straight face as Jaxson spouted his lies.
“Fifth floor secured,” Ben sounded off in our headsets.
“Jax,” Jace sighed cutting his brother off. “Not now. We still have work to do. Does anyone need medical attention?”
“I think my shoulder was dislocated,” Paul grimaces standing up. “I’m delighted to see you guys.”
“Take my com,” Troy stated, looking at me and Jace. “You guys can communicate with me if there’s anything pertinent. Right now, we can send Paul and any other nonparticipating personnel to Greg so he can show them where the makeshift hospital is going to be set up.”
Troy removed his headset and handed it to Paul. “Greg will tell you where we’re located.”
Paul smiled his thanks. “Radio check,” Paul spoke into the mic.
“Lima Charlie, nice to hear from you again, Mr. Boss Man,” Darren chirped.
“Thanks for listening to me and not trying to play the hero” Paul smiled. “Now tell me where I’m going.”
Darren gave him the info and Paul grabbed a handful of people to go back with them.
“Ten minutes until they’re back up again,” Darren informed us. “They’ll have eyes and ears on us once more.”
“Not so fast, Nerd,” Jemmy stated with a smile in her voice. “I’m pretty sure I just bought us some more time. I hope that equipment in there wasn’t too expensive.”
“Please say you did not hurt Rhonda,” Darren groaned.
“Your obsession with that laptop is a little concerning,” Jemmy said matter of factly. “I expect a hug, a thank you, and your forgiveness when I see you again.”
⸟
We successfully cleared out the training room and set up a game plan to remove the rest of the opposition. We even cleared out two floors without any incidents. Our game plan was being executed flawlessly. I was lulled into a false sense of security.