by J D Cowan
“Me?” Once again it appeared the boy did not expect questions directed at him. “My parents don’t mind. Money is money.”
“So we do have that in common.”
“Unfortunately.”
“If you have a problem with me, Jason, then tell me now. I don’t deal with snide punks.”
“I don’t know you well enough to tell you my problem, Matthew. But you are rude, and I don’t like that.”
“Kids really are clueless.”
Matthew fell into the couch and cupped his head in his hands. The earlier headache ratcheted up. It thumped his skull like a hammer on steel. Where did this headache come from? He bit his lip and fought it off.
“You can sleep in the spare room at the back,” he said. “I wondered why it was there, but I guess this is the reason. There are ready-made meals in the fridge, but I suppose you had those in your apartment. There’s about five left.”
“Whatever.”
“Oh, I hate kids.”
Hours passed. Matthew kept his distance from Jason. Having no internet or television in the apartment only made things worse. Normally he would just do some exercises to pass the time, but Jason’s presence made that awkward. He sat on his bed and counted the ceiling tiles instead. The orange sun on the screen had nearly set, so he turned on the light.
A sound stirred in the hall outside his room.
He sat up and sighed. “What are you doing out there?”
“Going to sleep.”
“Isn’t it a bit early for that?”
Jason paused as if in thought. “How can you even tell what time it is?”
“Good point. Well, at least let’s do what Marguerite asked us to do.”
Matthew crossed the hallway and leaned against the doorframe to the spare room. Jason already sat facing him on the bed.
The boy rolled his eyes. “You mean we should talk?”
“What else? We’re going to be here for a bit. Might as well do something. What’s your last name?”
Jason stared at the wall. “I’d rather not tell you.”
“Then let’s talk about something else. Where are you from?”
“Not saying. This conversation must be unpleasant for you, Mr. White.”
This was one smug punk. “Actually, I don’t want to know. But I’m bored and sick of doing nothing around here. What do you like to do?”
“I like to keep up with Primes.”
“You’re a hero nut?” Matthew cut off a groan. “I guess that’s a kid thing to do.”
“I’m not a kid. I’m fifteen. And yes, I like to think about them. They showed up one day and ended up changing the world overnight. Don’t you think that makes them a big deal?”
“No, that makes them annoying. I was only a squirt at the time, but haven’t you heard of the rampage Achilles went on? How about the highway war? Did you never hear about how the Ionic Man magnetized everything he touched before Pendragon somehow slipped through to take him out? Even that guy is a piece of work. Too squeaky clean, and he always manages to say the right thing to make everyone fall all over him. Can’t stand his type. We’d be better off without all of them. Life is tough enough without the whole hero and villain shebang.”
“Oh, what do you know? You’re just a normal human.”
“And thank God for that. I was born with nothing, and I’ll die with nothing. There’s no better way to go out than even and square. I pay my dues, and I get left alone to do what I want. Prying into other people’s business is a waste of time.”
“Well, it can’t totally be a waste of time.” Jason suddenly cracked a grin. “Mrs. Stohl told me they were in the business of looking into powers themselves. Maybe they’ll find the secret to them. Maybe everyone can get abilities.”
“Or maybe they’ll find a way to wipe them out. Why do you like these Primes so much anyway? You wanna be one? Why? It looks like a lot of hassle for no reward. Two of the most popular heroes are dead or in jail. Just jump off a roof or rob a bank if that’s the ending you want. It takes a lot of arrogance to put on a mask and decide you’re going to change everything. Some of us like the way things are.”
Jason jumped up. He marched over to Matthew with clenched teeth. He met the older man nearly face to face. “How could you possibly like the way things are? Crime rules the city, and people get stepped on every day. If we had more heroes, we wouldn’t have those problems!”
“I hate to break it to you, but yes. Yes, we would absolutely still have those problems. We had monsters long before Primes showed up, and we’ll have them long after they’re gone. It’s only a matter of time. We’re only lucky it hasn’t happened yet.”
“Because we have heroes to stop them. We just need more of them.”
“Until they turn into Achilles and wipe out half the city.”
“That wouldn’t happen again if we had more heroes to stop him!”
“Crime doesn’t stop just because heroes exist.”
“I never said it did! I said it can be stopped if more good people stood up against it.”
“You are surprisingly naive, Jason. I bet you also think all those arrogant fame-grabbers care one whit if you or I get stepped on. Here’s a clue: they don’t. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Jason leaned forward and jabbed a finger into Matthew’s chest. Matthew stood his ground, but something strange happened. Dizziness gripped his skull, and queasiness stuck in his gut.
Matthew floated off the ground, lifted by an invisible force and was thrown forward—into Jason!
The boy put his arms up, but there was no impact. Matthew flew forward into Jason and melted into him. Darkness overtook Matthew momentarily.
Hard breaths fell and tension pooled in his blood.
“What happened?” Jason asked. “Where are you?”
“I’m here,” Matthew said.
“Where’s here? Why are you speaking like you’re inside my head?”
Matthew looked around. He had lost some height and now stood where Jason had just been. But the boy’s voice spoke from his mouth. The revelation hit Matthew like a cold flash: it wasn’t his mouth. He was inside Jason.
“Because I think that’s where I am.” A sting of panic settled both inside of Matthew and around him—Jason flipped out. “Calm down and look at a mirror.”
Jason ran across the hall into the bathroom. He looked straight into the mirror and patted himself all over. Nothing was different on the outside. Matthew saw all of this as if he was in the boy’s body. They had somehow merged together.
“Look at your hand,” Matthew stated as calmly as he could. “Your bracelet’s gone.”
Jason instantly looked at his left hand. His breath pumped out in spurts.
The bracelet had indeed vanished. The boy trembled. Matthew couldn’t blame him; he barely held back his own panic. Sweat covered goosebumps grew all over the boy. Jason fell back against the wall as Matthew tried thinking this through.
This was the experiment? The bracelets merged two people together? That couldn’t be it. Some level of compatibility had to be needed. This had to be why they were chosen to pair up.
Any hope that this project was just a lark, or for some good cause, faded at that moment. All Matthew could see was that smile on Marguerite’s face as they put on the bracelets. She knew this would happen.
Jason breathed deeply as he leaned against the wall and clutched the hand where his bracelet should have been. Matthew said nothing. Fear held him back. He didn’t know what to say, but he knew what they had to do.
They needed to get out of this place, and fast.
Chapter 2
Next Phase
Panic overwhelmed Jason’s senses. He touched Matthew, and now Matthew was in his head! And where was the bracelet?
Pure madness.
Jason only agreed to this whole thing because of Mrs. Stohl. She couldn’t have known this would happen . . . could she? She had been so kind when she found him sleeping in the al
ley. She fed him and kept him warm.
He stumbled out of the bathroom and towards the living room. This had to be a mistake. Maybe he could convince Mrs. Stohl to open the door and let them out. Maybe this whole thing was a misunderstanding.
“Where are you going?” Matthew’s voice said inside his head. “I can’t even tell what you’re thinking in here. Damn, this is crazy. But you need to calm down.”
“Calm down?” Jason replied in his mind. “You were just absorbed into my head, and I can’t get you out!”
“Listen to me. Don’t freak out. We need to address this rationally, even if it is mental.”
Matthew’s eerie cool succeeded in simmering Jason’s frantic mood. The boy paced behind the living room couch. Matthew was right. There had to be a reason for all this.
“Think about it,” Matthew stated. “Why would they create bracelets that randomly merge two people?”
Relief smashed against Jason’s nerves. That was true. There must be a way for them to split apart again. The bracelets had to have some rationality behind them.
“You understand, then? There has to be a way to separate again. Concentrate. If physical contact got us here, maybe mental force will get us out.”
“Alright. I’ll try.”
Jason took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He couldn’t push Matthew out of his head, but he could try to isolate and separate the two of them mentally.
An outline of Matthew floated in the depths of Jason’s mind. With a thought, he imagined removing the older figure like a needle from a haystack. An odd weight stuck inside him like a splinter slowly being pulled free from his head. It was Matthew!
“I feel that,” Matthew said. “We’re almost there.”
Stars shot across Jason’s vision, and a sudden queasiness came and left in an instant. It was like losing a good deal of weight and regaining it again. Jason fell against the back of the couch in the middle of the open room. A shape formed before him.
To his right stood Matthew, whole again. The bracelets returned to both their wrists.
“Good job, Jason. Not sure how you managed, but we’re back to normal. Looks like the bracelets are back, too.”
Jason wiped the sweat from his brow and took notice of his left hand. “What are these things?”
“Part of the experiment. These psychos knew this would happen, and they didn’t say anything. Do you still think these people are going to help heroes?”
It took Jason a moment to realize what Matthew had just said. He was right. This project was a sham. He tried to think it through, but his legs trembled violently, and it took too much concentration to keep them still.
A sharp odor Jason couldn’t place wafted in the air. It reminded him of a skunk, but less pungent. Had the air changed, or did the bracelet do something? Whichever it was, he wouldn’t risk it further.
“Do you smell that?” he asked Matthew.
“Smell what?”
“Take the bracelet off!” Jason yelled.
He reached for his wrist, but his balance was still off. Jason’s hands slid against the sweat on his fingers, and his arms flailed. His left arm crashed against the couch. The resulting bang sent it soaring into the kitchen, denting the wall. Plaster sprinkled from the broken spot as the couch crashed down.
Familiar fear crept back into Jason’s thoughts. What had this bracelet done to him?
Matthew looked at him sideways. “You did that.”
“I did.” Jason looked at his hands and then Matthew. “Did the bracelet let me do that?”
“Let me try.”
Matthew lined himself up against the smashed couch and pulled. The furniture budged, but he struggled. After a pause, Matthew looked at Jason then at the bracelet. He closed his eyes in concentration and threw his arm out like Jason did earlier.
But he didn’t strike the couch. Matthew’s body turned to mist and ran up against the furniture.
He became intangible.
Matthew reformed whole again and patted himself down. His face shone sheet white. “Different powers.”
Jason nodded with widened eyes.
Matthew sunk back and his whole body misted into an ethereal form. A cloud of fog spun across the floor. He instantaneously re-emerged beside Jason.
“You can turn into air? That’s weird.”
“Hang on,” Matthew said. He smiled. “Let me try something else.”
Instead of mist, Matthew melted down into a puddle of water. He moved and swirled about the floor, a living liquid.
Jason watched as Matthew pulled himself back together again. Several times he tried transforming into other shapes, but nothing else worked. Apparently, air and water were his limits.
“Liquid and mist.” Matthew scanned the band around his wrist. “Your physical traits are enhanced, and mine changes shape. What exactly are these things?”
But instead of answering, Jason thought. For as long as he could remember he had been trapped in dreams involving a mountain range. A golden light pierced the towering ridges from somewhere deep within. He had to find it, wherever it was. The distinctive vibe from the dream felt exactly like the one from these bracelets.
A pang of fear shot through his heart. He told Mrs. Stohl about those dreams when he met her.
Stupid. Stupid! This must be why she chose him for this project.
“So you have super strength, and I have transforming powers,” Matthew said. He laughed. “So that’s what this is all about!”
“Take it off.”
Matthew stared at him again. “Why? This is amazing.”
“You’re crazy, man.”
“I’m just blown away. Aren’t you?”
“Forget it,” Jason replied, reaching for his bracelet. “I’m done.”
Jason pulled against the bracelet, but it wouldn’t budge. He thrashed against the accessory. It was no use: the bracelet was stuck to him.
“Why can’t I take it off?”
“Calm down!” Matthew said into his head.
Jason looked up. Matthew stared at him. Their mental link remained even though they were separated.
Matthew nodded. “We’re being watched, remember? Don’t tell them what you’re planning.”
“What do we do?”
“Wait until we have an opportunity to get outside this apartment and learn where we are being held. Then we make a run for it.”
Jason disagreed. They couldn’t just run away. Whoever Mrs. Stohl really was, she wanted these bracelets. She wouldn’t just let them leave.
Matthew took one step forward and wobbled. He put a hand up against the wall to steady himself.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jason asked.
“I don’t know.” He slid against the wall to the floor. “I’m feeling tired.”
Jason approached, and a weight crashed down upon him. Fatigue dropped him to his hands and knees.
Matthew fell across the floor, unconscious and unmoving.
Jason tried to get up to reach him, but his muscles cried against him. His cheek kissed the carpet as his muscles gave out.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry, Dad.”
He remembered his dreams. After running away, they became vivid and more frequent. They were just dreams, but they always had messages. A woman he could never remember after waking whispered to him constantly. What did she say about this place? He couldn’t remember. Mrs. Stohl had a way about her. And she reeled him in like a trout.
The front door slid open. Mrs. Stohl entered with a sextet of men in dark suits with skin even paler than the two sick figures on the carpet. The six converged on them.
“What did you do?” Jason rasped out.
She kneeled beside him, a beatific smile upon her thin cheeks. “It isn’t what I did. It’s what you’ve done.”
“You better hope he’s alive.”
“More than that, Jason. You are both a part of a much greater kingdom than this one. You have passed.”
Before he could argue the poin
t, darkness overwhelmed him, and the suits fell upon the fallen pair as his last thoughts died out. Mrs. Stohl whispered in the corners of his thoughts.
“Welcome to Phase Three.”
Chapter 3
Castor & Pollux
Pale light flashed in Matthew’s eyes, awakening him from slumber. Groans escaped his sore throat. He shook the sleep from his thoughts and awoke in the dark.
The metal room held little light beyond small streaks dancing against the steel ceiling and tall walls. Despite the deep darkness, he spotted nine other figures hidden in the enclosure. They could only be more men in suits.
He couldn’t see Jason anywhere.
“You’re awake,” Jason said through his thoughts. “Took you long enough. They’ve got you tied pretty well. I’m stuck. I can’t get out like you did earlier.”
Matthew blinked. “You’re in my head now?”
“I guess. Don’t know when that happened since I only woke up a few minutes ago. None of them can hear me in here, though.”
“Wait for it. We need an opening.”
“Mr. White,” Marguerite said. She held a tiny light in her hand. A lighter? He couldn’t see it. But he knew she was grinning. She had to be. “Congratulations.”
“You.” Rough ropes burned the arms tied behind Matthew’s back. Even the bracelet on his wrist was gone, the most obvious sign that they were not separated. He groaned as he sat up. “Is this any way to treat the two idiots who completed your tests?”
“You’re staying still for now. I’m only doing this because I know your character, Mr. White.”
“You think you do.”
“No, I do know. You planned to take the Gemini Bracelets and run. You were thinking about how you could profit from their power. You think you haven’t left a paper trail, and you haven’t; however, you do have people who can attest to your disappointing character. Lazy, unfocused, unambitious, and unreliable. Why do you think you were chosen? No one is going to miss you when you fall into the Mirror Gate. But that doesn’t mean you won’t run anyway, which is why I placed a bomb against your heart.”