Modified Box Set

by Kat Stiles

  Jay sighed. “I’m worried about you. It’s suicide to go after Derek. Who knows what he’s got planned, what he’s going to—”

  “Look, I’m not leaving here until his brains are splattered every fucking where!” I realized that came out louder than I’d intended when everyone suddenly stared at me.

  I softened, taking his hands in mine. “Go, make sure everyone is safe.”

  “And who’s going to make sure you’re safe?” Jay said. “I’m staying with you, suicide mission or not.”

  The doors to the lab rattled, and I could hear the sound of a keypad beeping from outside.

  “Other stuff I deactivated,” Jay said and smiled. “But it won’t hold them for long.”

  I was touched that he wanted to stay with me, but I couldn’t risk Derek hurting him. “Thank you, I appreciate you—”

  Jay motioned to Vi. “Take them to my apartment, stay with them and make sure they’re safe in case Derek sends someone.”

  Vi looked at him as if he were nuts. “No way I’m leaving Kate with that monster.”

  The door busted open, and Derek’s minions piled into the lab area. They hadn’t seen us yet, but we had only seconds before they’d head down the hallway.

  “I’ll be okay, I’ll meet you guys back at the apartment.”

  Lillian approached me and motioned to lean down. When I did, she whispered, “Go alone.”

  I nodded, more sure of my plan than ever. Psychic little girl says to do it? Yep, I’m going with that plan.

  Vi reluctantly agreed, but then said, “If you’re not there in twenty minutes, I’m coming back.” The group held hands, about to teleport when the minions stormed down the hall.

  Fuck, they caught us.

  Chapter 5

  “I’ve got a visual on the intruders, sir,” one of them said.

  “Kill them all except for Kate,” Derek’s voice boomed over some speaker I couldn’t see.

  The hesitation to get their orders was all the time Vi needed. She grabbed one of the dudes before he was able to fire his weapon, and threw him into the others. Then, one by one, she picked the minions up by their legs or arms and threw them down the hall, back towards the lab.

  “We should probably go before they start shooting at us,” she said, as she rejoined the group, a huge satisfied grin on her face. They held hands and began to teleport, for real this time.

  The minions had made it to their feet, so I started to teleport as well. Before I completely left, I felt a hand enclose in mine.

  When I materialized in Derek’s office, Jay was standing next to me. The place was as pristine as ever, Kubrik-esqe in the amount of white in the décor.

  “I told you to go!” I whispered to Jay.

  “Kate, I love you,” he whispered back. “I’m not leaving your side.”

  “Jay, I—” I was just about to tell him my feelings, tell him I loved him and wanted to be with only him, when Derek appeared out of nowhere. He faced his massive window overlooking the woods, his compound nestled firmly in the middle of nowhere. The grin on his face as he turned around was insufferable. I’d never wanted to harm another person so bad in my entire life.

  “Kitty Kate! Oh and you brought your mysterious little friend.” He messed with his tablet before tucking it back into his designer suit. “I knew you’d find your way back to me. You always do.”

  “You arrogant fuck…” I muttered, as I concentrated, focusing every bit of my energy into exploding his brain all over his pretty little white office.

  “Tsk, tsk,” he said, as he tapped one of his temples. “You didn’t really think I’d let you back in here, did you?” He signaled to someone on the other side of the room. In a flash, two of his minions stood beside us, decked out in black suits and ties like out of a turn of the century shitty sci-fi flick.

  Jay gently touched my hand. At first I felt only a spark, which became a tingle, before it turned into a steady flow of energy. That comforting, strengthening warmth surrounded me once more, and all the fear, all the hesitation within me vanished.

  I can take on this prick and win. Minions or no. With Jay by my side, anything is possible.

  “You ready to die, asshole?” I couldn’t help but smile, eager to get inside his brain and wreak havoc.

  “As much as I adore our little conversations, I really don’t have the time.” He nodded to his henchmen. A high-tech weapon that resembled a gun discharged with a muffled thwump sound. I braced for the dart, fully expecting to lose consciousness. But the only thing I felt was Jay’s hand slip from mine.

  He collapsed on the floor. I looked for the dart but didn’t find one. My eyes were drawn to the red splotch growing larger on his shirt.

  They shot him? No. This can’t be happening. I gathered him on my lap. “Jay, you’re going to be all right.”

  It seemed to take a tremendous amount of energy for him to simply touch the spot, which was now pooling blood. “Kate, I…” He coughed and then tried to take a deeper breath but failed. “I’m sorry.”

  His eyes closed and he fell limp in my arms.

  Derek clapped his hands together. “Well now that that’s out of the way, we can get down to business.” From my peripheral vision I could see a bunch of dudes in white lab coats heading toward me, but I didn’t take my eyes off Jay.

  My one true friend. The one who was always there for me. The most kindhearted, generous person I ever met. And the man I was in love with.

  A tear trickled down my cheek. I didn’t even get to tell him.

  “Extract her power now,” Derek said. “No sedation.”

  An anger rose within me, like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Accompanying it was a searing pain, starting at the base of my skull. The tears blinded me, as I gently lowered Jay to the floor, but I could still make out the white lab coats closing in on me. A wave of pain reverberated in my body, nearly causing me to blackout. If not for that anger, that pure rage that took over, I’m sure I would’ve. A shock traveled through me from head to toe, jolting me. The feeling was painful and empowering at the same time, like the rush you get after coding a procedure for 17 hours straight and finally getting it to execute. Before an obscenely large needle pierced my skin, the rage festering within me burst out in a scream.

  The needle flew across the room, smashing against the fireplace wall. Another lab dude tried to stab me with something that resembled both a needle and a gun.

  I could feel my eye twitching, like an echo from the electricity that had just traveled through me. I wiped away the last remnants of tears from my eyes, only vaguely aware of the man with the strange device frozen next to me. I pictured him flying through the air, smashing against the wall like the needle did only moments before.

  To my surprise, that’s exactly what he did.

  Telekinesis? I didn’t have time to marvel at the new ability, if that truly was what happened. The two dudes in suits fumbled with their weapons as they came at me. With a thought I sent them flying back too, but this time with more force. A sick cracking sound echoed in Derek’s perfect little office, as their heads made contact with the marble walls. A trail of blood streamed down the shiny white surface. I took solace in the glistening streak, a beautiful imperfection in that God forsaken vacuum.

  “You want my power, motherfucker?” I basked in the dread in Derek’s eyes. His quivering bottom lip. His realization that he’s not in control anymore. “Come get it.”

  Derek immediately disappeared, coward that he was. But I wasn’t about to let him get away. I focused on his brain, picturing him as if he were there.

  I sensed him in the office, but I couldn’t break through to his mind. I kept concentrating, refusing to back down. I owed it to Jay and to myself, to get this son-of-a-bitch.

  At first it was just a flicker of a memory—an image of a girl rejecting him in elementary school. Then his entire youth flooded in, a symphony of nerdy teenage angst, with a feeling of isolation and a general misanthropic vibe. It started
to get interesting in his college years when I caught a glimpse of his mental breakdown, but then the feed stopped abruptly.

  “Nooooo!” Derek cried.

  I ran toward the source of the voice, near his desk, but there was nothing. I couldn’t even sense him anymore. How did he break free of my probe?

  “You can’t get in, Kitty Kate. I won’t let you,” Derek’s voice boomed. It appeared to be coming from the speakers on his desk.

  Was I unbelievably frustrated? Yes. Did I want to rip his head off and bathe in his blood? Maybe. But I knew how to get under his skin. It wasn’t hard if I could keep my cool. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “Poor Derek,” I said, laughing. “Nobody wants to play with you.”

  Derek let out what sounded like a frustrated growl. “Why isn’t this working?”

  I figured he was probably trying to smoke out the room and sedate me, or use some other security measure to take me down. I smiled at Jay’s ingenuity.

  Then the thought of losing him hit me again. I ran over to where Jay lay on his side, so motionless. I took his hand in mine and caressed it. How could I let this happen?

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.” Sobs shook my body, as I cried into the hand I held. “I was going to tell you, I just ran out of time.”

  I kissed his hand and gently lowered it. “I love you.”

  “How sweet,” Derek said, his voice still booming over the speakers. “Too bad this isn’t a fairy tale. You don’t get your happy ending.”

  He became visible only a few feet away from me. I rose, feeling that rage swell in me once more. “You’re wrong, Derek. It’s you. Your brains splattered, that’s my happy ending.”

  With a thought, I lifted him off the ground and applied pressure to his throat. He gasped for air, kicking his legs helplessly as he held his throat. I slammed him against the closest wall, with enough pressure to hurt but not kill him. He stayed pinned to the wall, still struggling to breathe.

  “I’m so going to enjoy this.” I felt a sadistic smile spread across my face, almost as if it were my power contracting those facial muscles. His eyes grew large in perfect terror, as I began the probe.

  “Please don’t, I’m not—” he started to whisper, before I closed his lips shut with a thought. The pressure built, as I pictured his brain exploded all around, bringing some much-needed color to his office, however macabre. In his mind there was a different landscape than before, still shrouded in negativity and distrust, but the scenes weren’t the same. I was too angry to seriously consider the anomaly, and as I heard the poof, I realized it was too late anyway. Derek’s body slumped to the floor, lifeless and broken.

  It’s over. It’s finally over. I was hoping I’d feel different. Vindicated. Relieved. Something. But after the rage subsided, the only thing I was left with was sadness.

  Jay. I couldn’t leave him here. I gathered him on my lap as I teleported back to his apartment.

  I landed gently, for the first time ever, on the floor of Jay’s living room. Everyone we’d rescued was there, and strangely enough, so was Vlad, just sitting on the couch as if he’d come over for a beer.

  “What the fuck is he doing here?” I said, pointing to Vlad.

  “Is okay,” Lukas said. As if that were enough explanation. I’m sure it must’ve been my pissed off and confused expression that clued him in to continue. “I tell him what Derek did to me, and how you sprung us. He’s cool.”

  I wasn’t sure what to think, but I recalled how Lukas talked about him, like he was a friend, or maybe more like a partner. I guess even Derek’s minions have a buddy system.

  “Oh God, what happened to Jay?” Vi asked, as she joined us.

  “Derek. I killed the bastard, but not before…” I lifted up Jay’s shirt to expose the bullet wound.

  “Sugar, let me take a look,” Zoe said. “I’m a volunteer EMT.” She knelt next to him on the floor, listening for breathing and searching for a pulse. Searching too long for any hope of good news.

  But then she looked up. “I think I felt something. Damn, and me without my kit!” She teleported in a flash. Is it possible? Is he still alive?

  Lukas hit Vlad on the shoulder, jostling him. “Go help.”

  Help? What the hell is that guy going to do? Vi scooted out of his way as he approached, still freaked out from the last time he zapped her, I was sure.

  Zapped her. Fuck that’s right, his power! Maybe he could…

  But before I could even finish the thought, he touched Jay, sending volts of electricity through his body.

  Nothing seemed to change. His body was still motionless. I checked for a pulse but didn’t feel anything.

  “More power!” Lukas yelled from the couch, motioning with a frustrated wave, as if Vlad were an idiot.

  Vlad shrugged, then touched Jay again, this time sending enough of a charge to jolt his body upward. Zoe popped back in and eyed Vlad.

  “What are you doing?” she asked in a reprimanding tone. She put her stuff down, which included a defibrillator and a first aid bag.

  “Helping?” Vlad said. He stared at Zoe as if she were some kind of exotic creature.

  “He was sending an electrical current through him,” I explained. “Like what your device does.”

  “What kind of dangerous shit…” Zoe mumbled, nudging Vlad out of the way. He conceded but still his gaze lingered on her. She checked for a pulse, and her jaw dropped. “It’s stronger now!”

  I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, when I noticed the same glow surrounding Jay’s body that I’d seen when he’d healed Alex in the hospital. But then it seemed to flicker out.

  “No, no, no…” I positioned his hand on the gunshot wound, hoping his power would kick in and start to heal him. “Jay, can you hear me?”

  There was nothing. Zoe continued to monitor his pulse. I wracked my brain, trying to figure out if there was something I could do, some way to help him. It seemed like his power was working and then…

  “Zoe! Turn it off again,” I said, so fast it was barely comprehensible. “Your power! It’s interfering, turn it off!”

  She nodded and closed her eyes. In a flash, the subtle glow returned. I laughed, and I guess I looked a bit hysterical, because the next thing I knew, Zoe’s hand was gently patting mine.

  “He’s alive, Kate. I won’t know what kind of condition he’s in, until we get him to the hospital…”

  “They can’t help him,” I said. “Well, not more than he can help himself anyway.”

  “Honey, what are you talking about?”

  The glow surrounding him grew in intensity, especially near his injury. I watched in amazement as the bullet rose to the surface and pushed out of his wound through his fingers. It fell with a clink to the floor.

  “He’s a healer,” I said, my voice wavering in tearful joy. “He’s healing the wound!”

  “Damn, if that don’t beat everything…” Zoe said, looking on in awe.

  It didn’t take long for the bleeding to stop, his body repairing itself in that amazing, healing glow. Once the glow faded, I took his hand in mine. “Jay?”

  His eyes flickered open, and he looked around, confused. “How did I get here?” He slowly sat up. “What happened?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re back, you’re here with me.”

  I looked up at Vlad and Zoe. “Thank you so much, both of you!”

  Jay’s eyes followed my gaze. “Hey, isn’t that the guy who zapped me?”

  “I’ll explain later,” I said, and pulled him into me for a kiss.

  I kissed him, slowly, sensually, not giving a shit that Lukas was making cat calls and Vi was giggling. Jay was brought back from the dead by his incredibly cool super power, and I was ecstatic. I finally slowed, and he smiled as he withdrew.

  “What was that for?”

  “Coming back to me. I thought you were gone.”

  He rested his hand on my cheek. “I love you Kate
. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I love you too,” I said, and kissed him again, wrapping my arms around him. When Lillian started to giggle and Steve cleared his throat, I ended the kiss.

  “We’ll pick this up later,” I whispered into his ear.

  That geeky grin I so loved appeared on his face, and I couldn’t help but feel that all was right in the universe.

  Until my phone chimed, that is. A text message appeared on my screen from an unknown user.

  Congrats on killing my doppelganger. Shapeshifting is a pretty cool power, isn’t it?

  And then a happy face emoji. Yes, those stupid fucking emojis survived the digital crash of 2028, and even the technological advances of 2039 that made the smart phone obsolete. Like a cockroach after an apocalypse, they were indestructible. He was indestructible. The little smiley face taunted me.

  It was all for nothing. I killed an innocent man, and fuckbag Derek somehow survived. If he’s alive, then it isn’t over.

  Chapter 6

  Fuck, he’s probably making plans to get me now, I thought, as I threw my phone down.

  “It isn’t safe here,” I said. “We have to go.”

  Vi picked up my phone. “Oh shit, is this from Derek? He’s not dead?”

  “Kate, calm down,” Steve said. “The only people who’ve teleported to this place are already here.”

  “Vlad is here,” Lukas said. “So he can’t teleport to us. We are safe.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?” I felt a panic attack coming on, between the realization that Derek wasn’t dead and that I killed the wrong guy. “He must know the address.”

  “Zoe is here,” Vi said, as she gently rubbed my arms. “Their powers won’t work.”

  “Powers didn’t almost kill Jay,” I countered, feeling the anxiety rise further and further. “A gun did. He’s got the manpower and weapons to overcome us.”

  “Daddy, I’m scared.” Lillian wrapped her arms around Steve. He shot me a look of death, and while I felt bad about scaring her, it didn’t change the feeling of paranoia welling up in me.