Elimination (The Mind Breaker Book 1)

by Marina Epley

  I wonder if Carrel is referring to Victor.

  “I’m sure that psychopath has already told you all about his apocalyptic prophecy,” Carrel says. “But were you silly enough to actually believe his yarn? He tells the same fairy tale to every breaker he can, the spiel about humans and breakers living in peace.”

  Carrel removes his glasses to clean the lenses. I remain silent.

  “Anyway, let’s see what you can do,” Carrel says. “Lena, come here please.”

  Lena shivers upon hearing her name. Obediently, she slides down from the gurney and walks toward Carrel. I notice her limp.

  “This is my number one breaker,” Carrel says, pushing Lena closer to me. “She’s a telepath. You’re slotted to be a telepath as well. So, prove it, connect with her mind.”

  Not again. I vividly remember seeing the world through the eyes of the inmate lady at the jail followed by the sensation of a bullet crushing my skull.

  “Do it, breaker!” Carrel raises his voice.

  Lena closes her eyes, concentrating.

  “Please, work with me,” she begs. “Just do what he says, otherwise they’ll beat us both.”

  Her arms are covered by varying shades of bruises.

  “I don’t know how,” I say.

  “It’s easy,” Lena answers. “Just think of me.”

  Carrel orders Lena moved into another room.

  “Hey!” I shout at guards. “Don’t hurt her!”

  “Don’t worry,” Carrel says as he places electrodes on my forehead and temples. “We’re not going to kill our best breaker. She’ll be fine.”

  Desperately, I shake my head, trying to knock off the electrodes. Nothing works.

  “Calm down,” Carrel commands. “You’re only screwing up my data.”

  He stares at the monitors on his desk.

  “Concentrate on her,” he orders.

  Something burns my left hand. I flinch from the immense pain. Carrel glues to the monitor, watching. Then he looks at me.

  “You felt that, didn’t you?” he asks, smiling.

  “What are they doing to her?” I shout, worrying for Lena.

  “You really are a strong telepath,” Carrel admits. “Possibly, even stronger than Lena I think.”

  He calls for the guards to bring Lena back in. I feel relieved seeing her, at least she is alive. I notice a fresh red burn blistering on her left hand. The guards must have burned her for the test, sadistic jerks.

  “Are you all right?” I ask.

  Shivering, Lena nods. Watching her being in so much pain and fear makes me sick. If I had a gun and my hands were free, I’d kill Carrel and the guards without hesitation. Such monsters don’t deserve to live.

  “Very well. Now let’s check if you can read memories,” Carrel says, rubbing his hands. “Bring Victor and Jimmy,” he commands as he takes a key from the desk and removes the blocking collar from my neck.

  I watch him attentively. If I’m ever to escape, I’ll have to take care of the blocking collar somehow.

  “Don’t get too overexcited by temporarily regaining your ability to hypnotize, breaker,” Carrel says. “All Elimination employees are resistant.”

  I need to think. What did Holtzmann say about the different breaker levels? Each higher level has all the abilities of the lower ones. Level four not only means telepathy and reading memories, but I should be able to hypnotize even the resistant. I focus, projecting my thoughts toward Carrel. Nothing. I don’t know how to hypnotize the resistant, at least not yet.

  The guards return, leading a scared teenaged boy wearing a blocking collar. This must be Jimmy, another breaker. I’m guessing he’s between twelve and fourteen. Hard to tell, because he’s short and skinny, with a round freckled face. He reminds me of Kitty somehow. My sister has the same type build, narrow shouldered, childlike and seemingly fragile.

  Swaying, Victor follows the guards with unsteady steps. He looks drowsy, his eyes cloudy and unclear. The sight of him repulses me. I won’t be forgetting what he did to Jessie.

  “Why did it take you so long?” Carrel demands.

  “Sir, we had some trouble with Victor,” a guard reports. “This idiot is high.”

  Victor smiles and waves to Carrel.

  “Goodness!” Dr. Carrel exclaims. “Victor, you knew not to use anything today!”

  “Relax, doc,” Victor answers. “I’m in a great shape. Can swipe any memories you wish,” he stares at me, “except the memories of this dude, I guess.”

  “Just sit down somewhere,” Carrel says.

  Stumbling, Victor approaches one of the gurneys and hops up awkwardly. He obviously has problems with coordination at the moment. I watch him with despise. Dr. Carrel may be providing drugs to Victor to keep him under Elimination’s control. It’d explain a lot.

  “Come here, Jimmy,” Carrel says.

  Indecisively, Jimmy approaches him.

  “Am I in trouble, sir?” he asks. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Don’t worry, my boy,” Carrel answers. “I just want you to participate in a simple scientific experiment, allowing our friend Rex here to read your memories.”

  Jimmy steps back, clamping his mouth with a trembling hand. He remains quite for a few moments. Then he shakes his head.

  “No, please,” Jimmy begs. “Don’t do this to me again, sir.”

  Guards push him toward me.

  Jimmy sobs, covering his face. He doesn’t even try to resist. I notice dark purple bruises on his neck and wrists.

  “I won’t read his memories,” I state.

  “Of course you will,” Carrel answers, nodding toward the guards. They react instantly, punching Jimmy hard in his temple. The boy expels a muffled cry, collapsing onto the floor.

  “Stop it!” I yell, pulling at the straps binding me. “I have no idea how to read memories.”

  “I’ll help you,” Victor says calmly, approaching. “It’s not that hard.”

  “Back off, junkie,” I growl.

  Victor doesn’t seem offended. He smiles widely and says, “Look, breaker. I can respect your desire to resist these fools,” gesturing toward Carrel and the guards. “I despise them too. Once upon a time, I was pathetically naive and carried some of the same stupid principles as you. Trust me, you’re gonna need to change that if you hope to survive here.”

  Surprisingly, Victor doesn’t seem too drugged anymore. The effects must have worn off as even his eyes have cleared.

  “Reading memories is child’s play,” he continues. “You just focus in on your subject of interest, imagine that you’re him and then,” he snaps his fingers, “you break the subject’s mind. You’re a breaker, aren’t you? It’s in your genes. That’s what you were born to do.” Victor pauses, thinking. “Only don’t forget yourself,” he warns. “Things can get a little confusing.”

  “I don’t want to hurt this boy,” I say. “He’s done nothing to me.”

  “Don’t worry about him,” Victor says. “It may look rough, but eventually the subjects always recover. You’re at a higher risk of being damaged in the process.”

  I don’t understand what he means. It was Jessie who seemed completely messed up after Victor’s memory reading. Although, I can remember Victor repeating his own name as if he was trying not to forget who he was. Weird stuff.

  A guard pulls Jimmy up from the floor and presses a rifle to his head.

  “This boy is only a level one breaker,” Carrel explains. “About as common as dirt. I’ll order him shot, should you choose to remain noncompliant. I have dozens of level ones, and am more than willing to have them all killed if that’s what it takes to make you more agreeable.”

  I taste bitterness in my mouth. Jimmy closes his eyes, waiting for a bullet. Somehow I don’t doubt Carrel’s threats this time. If Jimmy dies here, it’s going to be on me.

  “All right,” I say. “I’ll try.”

  The guard shoves Jimmy forward, forcing his head only a few inches from mine.

>   “Concentrate,” Victor instructs. “He’ll instinctively try to block you to protect his memories. You have to break through any mental barriers he builds.”

  I close my eyes, concentrating on Jimmy. I still have no clue what to do.

  “Read his memories!” Carrel demands.

  Memories, I repeat in my mind, concentrating. I hear Jimmy sobbing. Help me here Jimmy, I project. Tell me something.

  The first few moments nothing happens. I just lie back in the chair, eyes closed. A splitting headache suddenly explodes in my head. I feel nauseated. A momentary sensation of falling down. I open my eyes as the room, the guards, Carrel… everything disappears. Some invisible force carries me far away from reality. No sound. No time. Complete nothingness.

  Then random images flash in my mind.

  I see a woman sprawled on the concrete in a large puddle of blood. This is my mother, I understand suddenly. Elimination has killed her!

  I get on my knees beside her, crying in despair. Officers wearing black uniforms surround me, aiming their rifles.

  Now, I’m inside a cell in the prison. My life is over. My both parents are dead. It’s my fault because I revealed my breaker abilities. What a fool I am! How could I have ever done this? Everything I do turns out wrong. I’d be better off dead.

  Images are flashing across my mind so fast that I can’t comprehend everything. Somebody beats me. I beg them to stop. I cry alone in the cell. I think of death. Feels like I’m losing my mind.

  Then everything abruptly stops.

  I open my eyes and realize that I’m still in Carrel’s lab. Jimmy lies on the floor unconscious. I see his mouth foaming. Lena cries somewhere nearby.

  “What’s your name, breaker?” Victor asks.

  He approaches and slaps my face.

  “What’s you freaking name? Answer!” he repeats.

  “Jimmy,” I say.

  “Darn,” Victor groans. “Come on now. You have to remember who you are. I know it’s hard sometimes. Who are you?”

  I don’t understand what Victor wants from me. I’ve just told him my name.

  Wait. That’s not true. Jimmy isn’t my name. Elimination didn’t kill my parents. Those memories aren’t mine.

  “Rex,” I answer. “My name is Rex.”

  “There you go, breaker. Never forget to come back,” Victor smiles.

  Dr. Carrel claps his hands.

  “Great!” he says. “You’re even stronger than Victor. I’ve never witnessed such a fast memory reading. Now I need to see what’s happening in your brain.”

  Guards carry away the still unconscious Jimmy. Glancing at him, I feel deeply sorry. Hopefully, he’ll be okay. Victor did say that all subjects of a memory reading recover sooner or later.

  One guard presses my head back against the chair, placing straps across my forehead. Dr. Carrel approaches me with an electric razor in his hand.

  “What the heck?” I exclaim.

  “There’s a little problem, breaker,” Carrel says, shaving my head. “Placing monitors only on your scalp doesn’t provide complete data. And I really need to understand fully what’s happening inside your head.”

  The realization of his intentions strikes me. He intends to attach the electrodes directly into my brain, as he previously did with Lena. I growl, yanking my arms and legs in a desperate attempt to free myself.

  “Calm down,” Carrel says. “You’ll hardly feel a thing. I’m giving you a strong anesthetic.”

  He wipes my shaved head with a cotton ball. I notice a drill on the table and understand that in a few moments Carrel will be drilling holes in my skull. I strain against the straps so hard that the lock on my left wrist snaps, breaking. I punch Carrel in the face. He cries out, backpedaling. Instantly, I cover to block a strike from the guard. He grabs my wrist, twisting and pressing it back down onto the chair.

  “I’ve got him,” he says, holding my wrist firmly.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” Carrel says. “I’m not using anesthetic this time.”

  He approaches, wielding a scalpel in his hand. I feel the sharp blade slicing through my skin.

  Chapter 11

  “Stop!” I shout, focusing my thought on Carrel. “Drop the knife!”

  Carrel’s hand freezes. The scalpel falls onto the floor, having left only a slight incision on my forehead. Having lost the collar, I can break resistant minds as well. Carrel follows my directions. I concentrate harder. My nose bleeds from the effort.

  “Back off!” I command.

  Carrel takes a step back. His eyes are wide open, but I don’t think he can see anything.

  “What the hell?” one guard exclaims. Others only stare in shock. They still haven’t realized what’s happening. I have to hurry.

  “Don’t move!” I shout, directing my thoughts toward the guards.

  The guards stand motionless. I feel their minds trying to resist, but my will is much stronger at the moment. Nevertheless, I doubt I can hold them under hypnosis much longer. I’m already exhausted and running out of strength.

  “You! Unstrap me!” I command the nearest guard.

  Unsteadily, he takes one step toward me and stops, hesitating. He’s really strong. My head spins. The guard winces, but takes another step.

  “Unstrap me!” I repeat. “Now!”

  Moving torturously slowly, he frees my arms and legs. I grab his rifle and swing it around hard, slamming into his head. There’s a crunching sound as it connects with his skull. The guard collapses. One less to hypnotize. Next, I strike Carrel’s indifferent face with the butt of the rifle. He expels a muffled cry, slumping to the floor.

  Lena screams. I’ve almost forgot her. I can’t leave her behind. I have to get her out of here.

  Holding the rifle on the guards, I jump off the gurney and approach Lena. I stumble, being slightly unbalanced.

  “Wow!” Victor exclaims. “You’re really good!”

  I point the barrel at him. Victor rolls his eyes.

  “Oh please, breaker!” he groans. “As if I don’t already have enough problems with these Elimination fools pointing guns at me all the time. Besides, I’m in no mood for fighting today.” He approaches the cabinets with medicine supplies. “Go on, shoot these jokers. I couldn’t care less.”

  Victor grabs several bottles of pills, stuffing them in his pockets. Apparently, I can’t hypnotize him. I turn back to the guards. As long as Victor doesn’t try to interfere, I don’t have to worry about him.

  Holding the rifle on the guards, I grab Lena up with one arm. She trusts me instantly, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. Slowly, we head toward the exit. The guards reach for their rifles. I’m too weak. Can’t break their wills any longer.

  “Stand down!” I shout, trying anyway.

  A guard raises his rifle. I pull the trigger. The guard groans, falling. Lena screams, squeezing my neck tighter.

  “Nice shot,” Victor says.

  The other guards turn their heads, looking for the shooter as their minds begin to clear. The sliding door to the outside is closed. I anxiously fire several rounds into the locking mechanism on the door until something finally clicks inside the lock and the door slides partly open. I run out, holding Lena.

  “Shake it off and get after him!” Carrel’s voice thunders from behind. “I want him taken alive!”

  It’s a very long straight hallway before coming to any corridors we could turn down. The guards pursue, firing shots above our heads. I stoop as much as possible to keep Lena out of the line of fire. We’re too slow with me carrying her and I’ve no idea where to go anyway. I aimlessly return fire until the rifle is empty. I keep the weapon although it’s now no better than a club.

  More officers pour from a corridor into the hall in front of us. I stop abruptly, looking around.

  “Can you help, Lena?” I ask.

  “I’m trying, but haven’t learned hypnosis yet,” she answers.

  “Drop your weapon!” a guard commands, shooting into the wall be
side us. I step back. Lena cries, pressing her face against my shoulder.

  “Don’t kill them!” Carrel yells. “I need those two alive!”

  The guard fires again and a bullet slams into my arm. I drop the rifle, shuddering from pain. The floor begins to sway as I’m overcome by dizziness. Still holding Lena, I press my back to the wall to regain my balance.

  The guards are on us in an instant. They rip Lena from my arms and throw me to the ground. Somebody punches me in the head on the way down. I hear Lena scream.

  “Don’t injure the girl!” Carrel shouts, wiping blood from his face. “I need them both alive.”

  I elbow a guard as they struggle to get my arms behind my back. Someone slams my face back into the floor for my effort.

  “Stop!” a loud voice commands as a gunshot slices the air above.

  The guards back slowly away. I see Holtzmann walking toward us. Chase follows him. At first I think Chase is aiming his rifle at me. Then I realize he’s targeting the guards.

  “Carrel! You shameless thief!” Holtzmann shouts in a high pitched voice. “How dare you attempt to commandeer my subject?!”

  He pushes the guards away. They keep their weapons at the ready, but step back.

  “Oh God!” Holtzmann exclaims, seeing the blood oozing from my wound. “What have they done to you? Good Lord!” he repeats in shock.

  “I have authority to examine any breakers I wish,” Carrel protests. “You’re interrupting my work.”

  “Enough!” Holtzmann counters. “You’ve crossed the line! I’ll have to report these violations to Browning.”

  I expect Carrel to continue arguing, but he only sighs. Holtzmann and Chase help me up. I can hardly stand on my own, but manage to reach out and snatch Lena from the guard.

  “Let’s go,” Holtzmann commands, turning to leave.

  “Wait!” Carrel stops him. “Lena is my subject! You can’t take her.”

  He approaches me. Purposely, I step away, drawing Lena closer.

  “No!” I growl. “Lena goes with me.”

  “She’s mine,” Carrel says. “Take the girl,” he orders, but the guards don’t move to follow his command.