by Jon Robinson
Anton leant down and put the water bottle on the floor. ‘All right,’ he said, nodding, remembering how Alyn’s own lack of trust had caused him to flee. ‘I’ll have a word with Luthan.’
35
‘Feel free to stay here as long as you want while you make up your mind,’ Felix said the following morning, gesturing for Alyn to step into the lift of his apartment building. ‘It’s the least I could do.’
Alyn had spent the past twelve hours in a bus shelter, struggling to make sense of everything Felix had told him. Tired and hungry, he found himself guided by some unseen hand to the billionaire’s apartment the next morning, where he was promptly greeted in the lobby by his enthusiastic host.
‘You can go in – it’s not locked,’ Felix said, smiling as the lift doors opened, and he pointed to his apartment.
Alyn looked at him, then entered. The first thing to catch his eye was an enormous crystal chandelier, suspended threateningly above a set of leather sofas. Alyn hesitantly stepped from the floorboards on to a cream rug as he followed Felix to the master bedroom. On a table by the bedroom door was a crystal vase. Alyn’s attention was drawn to it immediately.
You’ve wanted your revenge, he thought, staring at the back of Felix’s head and letting his fingers wrap round the neck of the vase. Now’s your chance …
‘Through here is a walk-in wardrobe,’ Felix said, gesturing with his hand to an inconspicuous-looking wooden panel.
Alyn released his fingers from the vase as Felix pulled the panel to one side, revealing a narrow room, which extended a considerable way back. Either side was filled with shoeboxes and rows of expensive clothes.
‘We’re about the same height, aren’t we?’ Felix said, sizing up his guest. ‘Everything in here can be yours. I haven’t worn half of it!’
Alyn walked through the room, not saying a word. At the far end was a full-length mirror, throwing back his overwhelmed doppelgänger.
‘And over here,’ Felix said, leaving the wardrobe, ‘is the bathroom. Why don’t you take a look inside?’
Felix pointed to a door on the other side of the bedroom. Alyn entered and paused. A circular Jacuzzi gurgled and hummed serenely, surrounded by a ring of flickering candles. In the far corner behind the Jacuzzi was a glass shower area, stocked with bundles of fresh white towels.
‘You haven’t said much, Alyn,’ Felix said. ‘Do you like it?’
‘Well, yeah,’ Alyn said quietly. ‘It’s amazing.’ It’s better than amazing. I’ve never seen anywhere like this.
‘I’m sure you want some time to think about what I’ve said.’
‘I still haven’t forgiven you,’ Alyn blurted out, before Felix had the chance to leave.
The ageing billionaire looked at him, mustering a sad smile. ‘Come,’ he said.
Alyn followed him out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Felix switched on a television mounted on the wall, which was showing a news broadcast.
‘Despite our best efforts, there is still a lot of unrest. Chaos. People feel as though they have nothing left to lose.’
He pointed at the screen. The news broadcast showed a pedestrian street in the centre of London blocked off by the police.
‘This happened just last week, Alyn. A gang of terrorists left a chilling threat that they were going to bomb the city.’
‘What happened?’
‘They didn’t,’ Felix said. ‘We put some subliminal images in the film, so you would all unconsciously influence the bomb to malfunction. Individually, you might only ever influence small things to happen … the fall of a coin, but together –’
‘We can make miracles happen,’ Alyn said aloud. I remember seeing the images in the film, back at the prison. I didn’t think anything of it … What else have we been influencing?
‘All those lives,’ Felix said, as though reading Alyn’s thoughts. ‘You’re heroes. And you don’t even know it.’
Alyn looked away, not quite knowing what to think. ‘If you hadn’t taken us and kidnapped us, those people would’ve died …?’ he asked.
‘That is just one example,’ Felix went on. ‘If you’d like another, I’d be more than happy to show you.’
‘Wait,’ Alyn ordered.
‘Yes?’
‘Back in the prison, there was a girl. Jes. I think something happened to her. I need you to find out for me.’
After a moment’s pause, Felix spoke. ‘I’m sorry, Alyn. There was an incident, an accident. She was injured.’
‘Is she …’
Felix closed his eyes and nodded sadly. ‘I’m sorry, Alyn.’
Alyn shut his eyes tight together. ‘Maybe there was a mistake. Maybe she’s still …’
‘She’s not. I’ve been assured it was very quick. Painless.’
‘I don’t believe it,’ Alyn spluttered. ‘I don’t believe she’s gone.’
Felix walked over to the door. ‘This is difficult for me too, Alyn, believe me. We never imagined something like this would happen. I regret it terribly.’ With that, he surrendered a sympathetic smile and left the room.
Alyn sat in the shower, with his arms wrapped round his knees. The hiss and drone of the water seemed to echo the deadened, hollow feeling inside his chest.
He sat passively for over an hour before staggering to his feet and gripping the glass with wrinkled thumbs.
After getting dressed, he found Felix reading a newspaper in the kitchen.
‘I need your word that you won’t hurt my friends,’ Alyn said.
Felix lowered the newspaper and studied Alyn over his glasses.
‘And I need the other kids in the prison freed. As soon as possible. I need them all returned to their families.’
‘They were always going to be returned eventually, Alyn,’ Felix answered.
‘If you want me to help you, I need your word,’ Alyn said. ‘I need you to promise me.’
Felix smiled. ‘I knew you’d come round eventually.’
36
Jes and Ryan had both been asleep in the back of the car for the past few hours. As they drifted round a corner, Ryan slowly opened his eyes to find Jes’s head on his shoulder.
Jes murmured softly as he looked out of the window. The fields were bleached by snow and a stream of swirling flakes flowed endlessly at the windows.
Without thinking, Ryan turned his neck and kissed her forehead.
‘Huh?’ Jes said, half asleep.
Ryan froze and shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Jes sat up, rubbing her eyes. ‘Where are we?’ she asked.
‘Still a long way to go. Gotta take the scenic route in case the Pledge are watching the motorways,’ Charlie said. He pushed his cap to the side. ‘Get some rest while you can.’
‘I don’t think Stephen’s going to call back,’ Harlan grumbled, looking at the telephone box. ‘So much for your plan, Julian.’
‘He’ll call,’ Julian said. He shivered, pulling his knees close to his chest. They’d spent another night sleeping rough, taking turns to keep an eye on the phone. Other than the name ‘Felix’, which could be anyone, this was their only concrete lead and Julian wasn’t prepared to let it go so soon.
As he was considering this, the phone in the telephone box rang. ‘So much for my plan?’ Julian said, looking pleased with himself. ‘Now do you want to get that or shall I?’
Harlan nodded towards the phone.
‘Yes?’ Julian said, lifting the receiver to his ear. ‘Who is it?’
‘I think you know,’ said a voice, clearly upper-class and smooth in its diction. ‘You have something of mine.’
Harlan snatched the telephone from Julian. ‘Are you behind it? Your company’s name was on the ibis –’
Julian elbowed him and pulled the telephone out of his hands. ‘My colleague means that we have something to discuss with you.’
‘Oh?’
‘We want you to meet us here,’ Julian said. ‘Within an hour. Alone.’
‘Or?’
‘Or your precious weapon will go straight to the highest bidder. By this time next week there’ll be a hundred clones. Considering how advanced this thing is, I’d say it’ll cost you a few billion in contracts …’
‘An interesting offer,’ the voice answered, giggling. ‘But I’ll do one better – you come to me.’
Harlan pulled the telephone back from Julian. ‘No way. We do this out in the open.’
‘Oh. There might be a problem with that,’ the voice said. ‘I’ve already sent some of my people to collect you. In fact, they should probably be arriving as we speak.’
Harlan looked up. Three men hurried out of the rear of a white van, parked a short distance away from them.
‘It’s a set-up! He must’ve traced the call –’
He dropped the telephone and pushed the door open but Julian grabbed the handle.
‘We’ll never outrun them from here,’ Julian said. Over his shoulder another pair appeared from a second van on the other side of the road, surrounding them. ‘Quick, help me hold it shut …’
Harlan grabbed the handle. One of the men tapped the glass phone box menacingly and waved to them. He tried pulling the door open, but Harlan and Julian managed between them to hold it shut.
The rest of the men arrived, encircling the phone box.
One of the gang yanked the door hard, with enough force to create a gap. He reached inside, grabbing at Julian’s coat. Harlan removed his ibis and fired at the grasping hand.
The man yowled and fell away, his arm hanging limp.
Each of the gang began slamming their fists at the glass, beating it over and over. The panes rattled. The beats grew rhythmic and began to synchronize into a steady drum.
Another man, taller and broader than the others, pushed his way to the front and pulled hard at the door.
‘I’m losing my grip!’ Julian announced, trying his best to secure it. Harlan held the bar in two hands, leaning back. With each pull from the other side, the gap between the door and the side of the cubicle grew wider.
Julian was about to let go of the handle entirely when they both heard the sound of a car screeching across the pavement. The men outside turned their heads as one.
‘Now!’ Julian threw himself at the door, knocking two of the distracted men off balance and giving him and Harlan the chance to make a break through the rest.
‘After them!’ yelled one of the men. Three set off in pursuit, but the silver sports car sped in front, blocking their path.
Anton leant out of the window and yelled, ‘Harlan, Julian! Get in!’ He spun the steering wheel in their direction and the car bounced over the pavement after them.
‘He knows our names!’ Julian panted, trying to keep up with Harlan. He stopped and turned as the car raced past them.
The back door was flung open. ‘Get in, will you?’ said an impatient Pyra.
The pair looked behind at the men who were hurtling towards them.
‘It’s the car or them,’ Harlan said. He ran to the car and threw himself inside.
Julian stood in the road, watching helplessly as the gang were almost upon him.
‘Julian!’ Harlan cried from inside the car. ‘Are you getting in or what?’
Julian snapped out of his trance. He rushed towards the car and dived inside, slamming the door shut just as a hand was centimetres from grabbing his leg.
Several of the gang members raced back towards their van and it soon set off in pursuit of the Guild’s car. They tore round the corner and over the pavement, knocking a bin on its side. In the back of the car, Harlan and Julian were slammed together into the door, and then were thrown back the other way. The floor of the car trembled as Anton increased the pressure on the accelerator, pulling far ahead of their pursuers.
As Harlan managed to disentangle himself from Julian in the back of the car, he felt a familiar prodding on the back of his shoulder. ‘Elsa?’
‘Hello,’ she said with a smile.
‘Oh great,’ Julian mumbled.
Elsa flung her arms round the pair. ‘So glad to see you both,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I left … I just … I didn’t know what to do.’
‘You can start by letting go of me,’ said a breathless Julian, slipping out of her arms.
‘What are you doing here?’ Harlan panted. ‘Who are they?’
‘We picked her up en route to her parents’ house,’ Pyra said. ‘It was a stupid idea for her to go back there when there are people like that looking for you. What were you thinking, letting her go like that?’
‘You think we didn’t try telling her? It’s like speaking to a brick wall,’ Julian said, sighing theatrically. He rapped the side of Elsa’s head. ‘Sometimes I wonder if there’s anything in that head of hers at all.’
‘Ow, get off,’ Elsa said, and swatted his hand away. ‘Anyway, you two got yourselves in trouble too!’
‘Harlan’s fault,’ Julian cut in quickly. ‘If he hadn’t given the game away by interrupting on the telephone, Stephen might’ve believed me.’
‘It was your plan,’ Harlan argued. ‘I told you it was stupid.’
‘What happened to you two anyway?’ Elsa said to Harlan.
Harlan opened his mouth to speak, but then looked at Pyra and Anton.
‘It’s OK,’ Elsa said. ‘They’re on our side.’
Harlan looked unconvinced. ‘You sure we can trust them?’
‘You can’t be sure of anything,’ said Anton. ‘But if you’d rather go with the lunatics back there …?’
‘Decisions, decisions,’ Julian mumbled.
‘Julian’s ibis broke and we spotted the company’s name was written inside,’ Harlan reluctantly explained. ‘We figured they were probably involved in the whole thing. The company is called SIGIL. They specialize in cutting-edge technology. They’re owned by Stephen Nover, the billionaire. We tried coaxing him out.’
‘And we just saw how that turned out,’ Pyra replied.
‘Now,’ said Julian, leaning forward, ‘is someone going to explain what’s going on?’
‘We can do stuff,’ Elsa exclaimed. ‘We have this Ability –’
‘I thought I told you not to say anything, Elsa,’ Pyra interrupted.
Elsa went on regardless. ‘We can make things happen by using our imagination. Pretty cool, huh?’
‘Make things happen?’ Julian said, narrowing his eyes. ‘Have you been dropped on your head or something?’
Elsa shook her head. ‘It’s real, Julian! I’m not lying.’
‘Well, I don’t understand,’ Julian said. ‘And I’m the smartest one here, so obviously it doesn’t make sense.’
‘It’s the only thing that makes sense,’ Harlan murmured. ‘My whole life I’ve felt like I’ve been surrounded by patterns … coincidences.’
‘This is insane,’ Julian argued. ‘You can’t honestly believe this.’
‘I said the same thing,’ Anton offered. ‘We all did. But we can prove it.’
He made sure they weren’t being followed and pulled the car down a quiet suburban road and parked at the kerb. A boy was playing with a remote-controlled car on the snow-edged pavement.
‘Make the car crash,’ Pyra said. ‘All three of you, use your imagination together.’
Harlan, Elsa and Julian all looked at the toy car zipping quickly over the icy pavement.
‘See?’ said a sceptical Julian. ‘Nothing’s happening …’
‘Shush!’ Pyra looked back at them. ‘Really imagine it. Make it so vivid that it looks real.’
Harlan took a deep breath and shut his eyes. He visualized the car spinning out of control and crashing with such concentration that Julian’s sighs next to him melted away until he was totally absorbed in his imagination. A tingling sensation began in his forehead and increased in intensity. The boy continued pressing the remote control with his thumb, and sneezed suddenly. Inadvertently nudging the steering wheel, he looked up just in time to see the car careering towards an oncoming
real one. He gasped and yanked the control in the opposite direction. The toy car hit a patch of ice, spun wildly and cartwheeled against the kerb.
Harlan opened his eyes to find Elsa staring at the toy car, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Julian was leaning forward, baffled. He turned to Harlan, who was also speechless.
The boy ran over to the toy car, which was upside down with its wheels still spinning. As he lifted it up, a piece of the plastic bumper clattered to the ice.
Harlan put a hand to his head. ‘This is a huge amount of responsibility,’ he said quietly, feeling a row of goose pimples prickle the back of his neck.
‘That’s where we come in,’ Anton said. ‘To train you. To make sure you use it properly.’
This can’t be possible, Julian thought. It’s just a coincidence. We didn’t make that car crash. We couldn’t have done. He watched the boy examine his broken car, unable to take his eyes away. A cocktail of dread and nausea began to curdle in his stomach.
‘You OK, Julian? You’ve gone really pale,’ Elsa said.
‘It’s not real,’ he said. ‘It’s a mistake. It’s not real, it’s not real …’
‘Julian, what the hell’s the matter with you?’ said Harlan. ‘You just saw it –’
‘Let me out,’ he said. ‘Please, I’m … I’m going to be sick.’
Julian clambered out over Harlan and fell on to the pavement, coughing and retching.
‘What’s the matter with him?’ Pyra said. ‘Weird kid.’
Harlan pulled off his seatbelt and went outside to Julian. ‘I know it’s a shock, but I’m sure they’ll explain everything …’
Julian looked up, panting. ‘Get away from me. Get away.’
Elsa poked her head out of the window. ‘Come on, Julian, we’ve got to head back … They’re going to train us –’
‘I’m not going anywhere with them. Leave me alone.’
He pushed Harlan’s hand away, got to his feet and sprinted along the street.
‘Damn it,’ Pyra said, tearing off her seatbelt and kicking open the door. ‘Julian, you need to come back! It’s not safe!’
She chased after him, but by the time she reached the next road, Julian was long gone.