Control

by J. F. Jenkins

  It took a while for her to reply again, and he waited to see if maybe she was thinking the same way. Hopefully she’d suggest a phone call so they could talk each other to sleep. As much as he wanted to, he also didn’t want to mention it for fear he would come off as too pushy. He promised himself he’d make sure she had space and not suffocate her, that he’d keep being normal so she didn’t freak out.

  Twenty minutes later she finally responded. “Try not to stay up too late. I need to go now.”

  Disappointed, he replied. “I won’t. I’ll try now too.”

  At least he got to talk with her a little. It helped. He only wished he knew how she felt. Maybe now would be a good time to enlist the help of Angela and get some good girl-advice. The two were growing closer, but he didn’t know if she’d be willing to help him yet. Besides, she’d probably try to push Cadence and me together, set us up, not be discreet, and that’ll make things scarier. I already feel so many new things that I’ve never felt before. This has got to be the real deal, real love.

  When he fell asleep roughly an hour later, he did it with a smile, thinking about Cadence.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Angela had never teleported before. Doing so with Alan was jarring. One minute they were standing in The Apartment with Orlando, and the next they were in one of the tunnels. She didn’t like not knowing where she was, and especially didn’t like not knowing how she got there. It didn’t hurt—it tingled slightly—but what had worried her the most was if something went wrong. She’d watched enough science fiction movies to know that teleportation was a complicated process. One small screw-up and she could have been a pile of steaming goo, or trapped in a wall, or end up in China.

  “Still having a hard time getting used to that,” Orlando said as he adjusted his clothes.

  He looked smoking hot in his loose black pants and white button down dress shirt. On his head was a black fedora, and of course he wore his mask. He’d taken JD’s costume idea a lot more seriously than she had. Angela wore her gray sweatpants and a matching tank top. She was cold for the time being, but if they were going to go in and bust up the operation, she’d no doubt be working up a sweat. The tunnels weren’t exactly heated. Not something she had been anticipating. Orlando shivered as much as she did while Alan seemed unfazed by the temperature, per usual. But they couldn’t move in their bulky winter coats, so the teenagers would have to suck it up.

  “Are you ready?” Alan asked quietly, glancing from one to the other. She didn’t like him being quiet; it made her feel as if he might be afraid. Not the kind of thing she wanted in someone who was leading her into potential trouble.

  She nodded, and Orlando did the same. Subconsciously she found herself moving toward him, if only because she could feel the warmth from his body.

  “Nice costume. Impractical—but nice,” he whispered.

  Angela laughed. “It’s not that impractical! And if you think mine is awesome, you need to see what JD walked out in. There are no words to describe it.”

  “I’m sure I’ll see it eventually.”

  “We are nearing the suggested location for the lab,” Alan said. On hearing that her stomach began to turn itself in knots. Unlike her previous trip into the tunnels, the lights were on. The first giveaway that there were probably other people down there with them.

  They stopped in front of a door, gave it a tug and found it locked. Orlando moved forward and used telekinesis to take care of that quickly. Slowly, Alan opened the door and walked into the room, a storage room of some kind for an office. There were boxes upon boxes filled with files, cabinets, stacks of printing paper, toner, and several other supplies.

  For a moment, all three of them stood there and took the whole sight in. Not what Angela had been expecting, at all.

  “You remember the plan, yes?” Alan asked in a hushed voice. The teens both nodded. It was a simple enough plan. Part one was to try and sneak out information about the upgrade, and do a little eavesdropping, before stopping The Doctor from injecting anyone else. Alan’s source claimed there might be some teens taken against their will to be a part of the new experiment.

  With a slight wave, Alan motioned for the two to follow him. Silently, they crept their way through the lit hallways of whatever office they were in. There wasn’t a logo, or any kind of identification to tell Angela where they were exactly. The brightness of the lights bothered her. It made her feel exposed. Anyone could have been watching them. And someone was, because they hadn’t been standing in the hallway for more than a few seconds when two teenagers in masks stepped out of a room and in front of the trio. Both appeared to be guys, but it was hard to tell given their masks. They were tall. One large and the other thin.

  “Coming to join the party huh?” one said, who was obviously male with his deep voice. The only other thing Angela could tell about him was that he towered over everyone, and he was big. Even Alan, who was tall and muscular, seemed tiny in comparison.

  Orlando took a step forward, clearly not intimidated. “Crashing, but yes.”

  “You must be the mouthy one Sprout was talking about,” the guy said. “Chihuahua man.”

  With a heavy sigh, Orlando looked back at Angela and shook his head before returning his attention to the two newcomers. “Faithful sidekick.”

  “Sprout told me about you too.” The big man’s fists clenched at his sides causing the large muscles in his arms to ripple slightly.

  “Of course she would. She can’t get enough of me. Apparently I resonate with her. What can I say?”

  “Arrogant much?” The guy bristled slightly. Was he jealous? Did he like Tait too? The girl was gorgeous, but Angela was having a hard time understanding why the guys were all so gaga over her.

  Orlando shrugged, seeming cool. “It’s not arrogance if it’s true.”

  Angela watched the exchange between the two and couldn’t help but get flustered. They were discussing someone she once considered a good friend, and Orlando’s girlfriend. Awkward couldn’t begin to describe how she was feeling. It didn’t seem right, and she found herself getting jealous.

  Distracting the other tribe members with words would stop them from pressing an alarm or attacking. That was something her team could use.

  “So what are you going to do? Hmm?” she asked, and she channeled all her jealousy and anger toward Tait into something more positive. Angela’s hands were soon covered in flames, and she straightened her posture, squared her shoulders, and hoped she came off as aggressive and intimidating. Alan also got ready for a fight by doing the same thing. He can create fire too? Cool. It made her feel doubly strong.

  The large masked teenage boy took a step forward and rubbed his hands together. As he did this, his muscles glowed a soft golden color and she noticed them harden. Like they were turning into metal instead of flesh.

  “I’m going to capture you and bring you to my boss. Resist all you want, because I could use an attempt at a good fight,” the guy egged them on.

  His comrade, who up until now hadn’t said a word, started to rub his feet against the ground as if he were getting ready to start a race. It reminded Angela of JD’s toy cars. When they were pulled back and released they burst forward. This guy looked like he was getting ready to rev himself up in a similar way.

  “Ladies first,” Orlando taunted the two teenage boys.

  Angela took control of the moment. “With pleasure. You’re so polite!”

  She threw a fireball at the tall skinny guy, who was just about to leap at them. He dodged the fire, which smashed into a wall farther down the hallway and left a black, burned spot on the otherwise bland off-white paint. When he jumped out of the way, he landed into his partner causing them both to lose their balance and stumble. Alan took advantage of this by sending a burst of energy their way. He didn’t have fire, it only looked like it. Impressive all the same. His burst hit the large one and it bounced off of the guy’s body. The guy laughed like it tickled.

  It didn’
t take long for the skinny one to get back on his feet. With barely a second to react, he was barreling toward Angela at an inhuman speed. He was moving so fast his body was a blur. She tried to summon up more fire to throw at him, but she could barely manage a puff of smoke. Panic filled her and she prepared herself for an impact that never came. With a snap of his fingers, Orlando brought up an invisible psychic shield that the guy ran into. He fell backwards several feet and hit his head against the corner of a wall, rendering him unconscious.

  One down, Angela thought, and turned toward the big one just in time to see him charging toward them all. The guy reached for Orlando, who barely dodged the massive arms coming at him, and then he took a swing at Alan. The alien teleported across the room just in time to avoid a good smack in the head. Which only left Angela.

  Large hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her toward the big guy’s chest. He spun her around so she was facing her teammates, and she winced. She hated being the one who got caught. Alan stepped back, but still maintained his confident posture.

  “I can squeeze her like a tomato, so be careful with what you do next,” the big one said. Alan nodded.

  If he thinks I’m helpless, he’s got another think coming. The last thing she was close to being was helpless. Closing her eyes, Angela focused, hard. She had to act fast. Her body temperature began to rise, she could feel the heat flowing through her veins, and began to smell burning cotton. Which meant her clothes were probably catching fire. Not quite what she’d been hoping for, but it got the job done. Soon the strong, iron-like grip around her body was gone and her captor yelled out in pain. A yell that was cut short when a large piece of furniture flew over her head and made an impact with his. She stepped away from him just as his body fell to the ground.

  Orlando took a few deep breaths. His body was hunched over slightly. He’d clearly exerted himself more than usual when he threw the couch at the big guy with his telekinesis. Who else could lift a couch so easily?

  “Put yourself out before you set off the smoke alarm,” he said.

  “Right,” she said and relaxed her body, going to her “happy place”. A place where she didn’t fight JD all of the time, and her family had enough money to make ends meet. And her father had a job and was happier than ever. There weren’t aliens trying to wage war on her home planet. School was easy for her, and Orlando smiled more. That last image made her face flush. The fire disappeared, and she lucked out because her clothes only had a few holes burned through them. She’d been worried they might have been completely destroyed. From what she could see, the more burned portions were the bottom of her pants. The more formfitting the spot, the less damage was done. Good to know.

  Alan waved for the two to follow him into the room where the enemy had come from. They entered and shut the door behind them. The room was a security office. A row of televisions lined the wall in front of them, each displaying a different room or hallway in the building. There must have been thirty of them. Most of the rooms on display were black or empty. One television showed the hallway they had just come from and she could see the two knocked-out teen boys lying on the floor. Another showed a small group of masked teenagers, hanging out and talking, as if they were waiting for something. One last TV had a different lit up hallway on it, as well as a closed door.

  “Behemoth? Racer? Are you there?” They heard the unmistakable voice of The Doctor through a communicator on the desk. It was similar in style to the one Jaes had given them before, but rougher in design and larger in size.

  “Yeah, we’re here,” Orlando said, picking the communicator up. He lowered his voice to a tone that matched the bigger one’s voice.

  “Did everything check out? You were gone for a while,” The Doctor said.

  Orlando glanced back at Alan and Angela. “A few of the experimented were wandering around. They’re chatty.”

  “Bring them to the lab. I’m done with Sensor. It’s time for another. In fact, bring me Virus and Bomber. And tell everyone else to stay put, for crying out loud,” The Doctor said, then grew quiet for a while. Angela thought she heard someone speaking in the background, but it was hard to be certain, nor did she have any clue as to what they were saying.

  A quick glance passed between Orlando and Alan. “Sure thing,” Orlando said and then turned off the communicator’s microphone.

  “He knows something is wrong,” Alan said in a hushed voice.

  “What makes you say that?” Angela asked.

  “Someone else was talking in the background,” Orlando said.

  She nodded. “Right. I heard them too, but that doesn’t mean he’s onto us being here.”

  “Something about the way he got all quiet at the end there makes me nervous,” Orlando added as he ran his fingers over the rim of his hat. He made eye contact with her. “We’ll just need to be extra careful. So I’m thinking this is the lab.” He pointed to the television screen showing the hallway with the closed door.

  Alan nodded with agreement. “Yes. We will need to get the information about the upgrade from there. How, is another question entirely. I’m not sure how many of The Doctor’s charges are trained to fight, nor how powerful they are. The teenagers waiting in the room must be brought to my supervisors as well.”

  “I have an idea,” Angela whispered. Her voice shook in shock that she was even going to try suggesting her plan. Both young men watched her, waiting. She took in a deep breath. “He wants one of the experimented right? So how about I go in, get the upgrade, and distract him. Someone else can get the information in the lab, or something, and the other can take care of the charges.”

  “Not sure I’m liking it,” Orlando said.

  “But it makes sense,” she insisted.

  “Sort of. How do you propose I sneak information off of a desk in a lab? I can’t exactly waltz in there and take it. Plus you have no idea what this upgrade is going to do to you! What if you get hurt? Or worse?” The passion in his voice touched her. He didn’t usually care about things, let alone other people. Their growing friendship meant something to him too, and that made her smile.

  She winked. “You have this cool telekinesis power. You might not have to go inside the room to get it.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “I’m going to be fine. The first injection didn’t do anything to me. The second one won’t either,” she added with more confidence than she felt.

  Orlando sighed and faced Alan. “You decide.”

  “It’s a plausible plan,” Alan said quietly. “You’re ready to be more bold. I will return to you shortly. What I need to do will not take long.”

  “Okay, we’ll try it,” Orlando said. He peeked out the security room’s door. “Looks like the coast is clear now, so let’s get moving.”

  He led the way out of the room, and she followed. Alan took up the rear. For a few minutes, Angela felt confident in her plan. So long as they were all together, she could take on the world. When Alan parted ways from her and Orlando, that feeling began to fade. While Alan went down one lit hallway, following the sign for the employee lounge, she and Orlando went in the opposite direction. They walked through the halls that were lit, taking that as a good sign they were heading the right way. As they went, Orlando practically glued himself to Angela’s side, and she loved it.

  “Medical facility,” Orlando read out loud and pointed in the same direction that was on the sign in front of them.

  “It’s a good enough lead for me,” Angela said and continued on. When he tried to join in, she put a hand to his chest to stop him. “I have to go alone. This hall needs to be empty when he opens the door.”

  He shook his head, and she could feel the muscles of his body tense up under her touch. Orlando was so much stronger than he looked. With much reluctance, he moved away and around the corner. Even though he wasn’t in her sight anymore, she could still feel him nearby, and that helped her continue on.

  Angela kept walking through the hall until she found the door th
at was on the security camera. Hand shaking, she raised it to knock on the door, then waited.

  A long minute, that felt a lot more like five, passed. The door opened and in front of her was The Doctor.

  “Who are you? I asked for Virus and Bomber.” He peered down at her from behind his mask.

  Angela swallowed. “I don’t know who they are...” she paused trying to find the right words to say that wouldn’t get her, and more important, the others, busted. “My friend from school told me to come here. Because at the party, there was the injection thing, and she said I could find all of the answers I needed if I came tonight. I came in the way she told me to enter, but I guess I’m late because no one was around. This was the first place I looked. I’m sorry, I can go and—”

  “She’s an experimented,” a familiar voice said from within the room. She recognized it as the teenage boy at the pool from the other night.

  The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Unexpected surprise, but I’m sure I can squeeze you in. Come in and sit down.” He gestured for her to go to a chair that should have been in a dentist’s office.

  So nervous she was almost sick, Angela did as she was told. She tried her hardest not to react and let her fear show, but it seemed futile. Hopefully Orlando wouldn’t be far behind. The only problem she wasn’t anticipating was the extra company. The Doctor was supposed to be alone, and this created a huge kink in her plan.

  “So you came looking for answers,” The Doctor said. His tone was light and casual as he went over to a table and picked up a syringe of clear liquid. “But you have a mask. Where’d you get that if you don’t mind my asking?”

  “My friend. I told her I was hesitant, embarrassed. I mean, this isn’t the kind of thing I do normally, and I didn’t want anyone else to know. At the same time I’m scared and...and she said she’d help me out so I didn’t have to feel so ashamed. She’s the only one who knows I was there. I kind of want to keep it that way.”