by Bryan Cohen
"Good thinking, light souls. Let's blow up a bunch of castles and hope Ted and I come running out."
As she stood on top of one particularly heaped-up mound of rock, Natalie saw Ted on the other side of a long passageway. Her spirits lifted.
"He's alive."
Before she could do so much as call out to him, the sound of an explosion drowned everything else out. It reminded Natalie of one of those cheesy 80s sound effects, at least until it started getting louder. The noise continued to increase as the source of the cacophony came into view. Through a hole in the ceiling, Natalie could see the ship. It was spinning wildly and one of its wings was engulfed in flames. The entire firey mess was headed right for her. Natalie didn't hesitate.
She ran away from Ted, as it was her only chance of surviving. Picking up speed as she traveled back down the rubble, Natalie drew both her weapons. The sounds from the crashing ship drew nearer and she could feel the heat from the fiery wing. She discharged a half-dozen blasts into the wall. The stone tore away and the daylight poured through. Her legs pushed through the pain and carried her toward the makeshift exit. As the ship crashed into the castle directly above her, Natalie leapt through the opening.
She turned in midair to see that the space where she'd just been was completely demolished. Natalie wasn't sure if Ted was close enough to feel the impact. At this point, it probably didn't matter, as she was plummeting to certain death. The exit she'd made had kept a plane from crashing into her, but it also bought her a one-way ticket to the city that lay far below the General's stronghold.
Time seemed to stand still as the wind whipped her hair upward. Natalie let her body go limp.
It was good while it lasted.
She relaxed and let the air guide her. The sounds of the explosions above grew farther and farther away. Natalie closed her eyes.
Chapter 26
Ted looked up through the hole in the ceiling. In a matter of moments, he detected at least five planes zipping through the sky. While he hadn't seen the aerial arsenal of the dark souls, Ted figured the tens of thousands of ground troops couldn't be everything they had available to them. The light souls had to know this mission was dangerous.
They're willing to die to get me back.
"Hey! It's him!"
Ted's thoughts were interrupted by two guards coming around the corner. One laser shot came close enough to his face to almost singe his stubble. Before the second blast could come, Ted sprinted and dove behind a mound of fallen stone. His heart raced as he tried to think.
"I need to find Nat and get us on one of those ships."
Above him, Ted heard the sound of a weapon arming. He looked up to see the grin of one of the black-cloaked guards.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Ted didn't have a chance to answer. Just then, an exploding plane dropped out of the sky and crashed through the ceiling behind him. The noise was deafening and it couldn't help but draw the guard's attention. As it did, Ted used his powers to yank the weapon out of the man's hand and into his own. He took two shots at the ground to his right. The stone cracked and gave way, opening up a hole just large enough for him to fit through. The guard screamed an obscenity as Ted slipped through the opening. After a second or two of free-falling, Ted felt the dark soul gaze of the guard wane. He let his powers take over, gently lowering himself to the floor.
A look left and then right confirmed that he'd shot his way into a massive dining hall. The sounds that trickled through the opening above him echoed throughout the cavernous room. The building shook and several metal candlesticks to his side toppled to the ground with a clang.
"I guess I'm too early for lunch." Ted stuffed the gun into his pocket and scanned for the nearest exit.
As he ran into the hallway, a slender shoulder slammed right into his. Ted fell to the ground and his gun skidded across the floor. He looked up and felt the warmth take hold. The woman who'd knocked him over had olive skin and short, dark hair that perfectly complemented her features. She wore a green, tight-fitting outfit that looked out of place in the medieval surroundings. Despite his fall to the ground and the bombs going off around them, she was smiling. Her grin was enchanting.
She spoke with a slight accent that Ted couldn't trace. "You really do look just like the General." The woman offered him a hand that was calloused and delicate at the same time.
He took it. "Who are you?"
She lifted him to his feet with ease. "Reena. Second-in-command of the light soul army." Her eyes twinkled. "How about we get you out of here?"
Ted nodded, more so at the eyes than the question. He shook out the cobwebs. "No. My friend from Earth is here. Her name is Natalie, and we need to find her."
An explosion rattled the stones above and below, filling the hallway with the smell of powdered rock and ammunition.
Reena's smile turned dour. "If you want to live, then we need to go now."
Ted folded his arms. "I don't go without her."
She sighed. "You remind me of Cora." Reena wrapped her arms around Ted's waist.
Ted felt the warmth spread to his cheeks. "Wh-who?"
Reena shook her head. "Let's find your friend."
Ted finally took the hint and used his powers to propel them through the air. With all of the dark soul attention directed upward, Ted had no problem guiding them to the rendezvous point. There was only one problem. Even though the area was relatively free of bomb strikes and debris, Natalie was nowhere to be seen.
"She should've been here by now."
Reena looked to the sky. In the distance, they could both hear another plane plummeting to the ground with an earth-rattling crash.
Her look was patient but stern. "Our window is closing."
Ted's heart grew rapid as his eyes darted around the hall. He took hold of Reena once again. "Maybe she went back to our room. Hold on!"
Ted blasted the two of them through the air faster than he even though possible. The gaze of even one dark soul would've sent them careening into a wall, but the guards continued to focus their attention elsewhere.
Ted landed outside their room and placed Reena gently on the ground. "She's gotta be in here. Hold on."
Reena's look seemed to grow more angry with each passing second, but she didn't stop Ted from dashing inside.
"Nat?" He ripped the covers off her bed and zipped in and out of the bathroom. "Nat?"
Ted placed his fingers on his temple and searched for Natalie's mind. He found Reena's building impatience and the thoughts of several light soul fighter pilots trying to keep alive, but there wasn't even a hint of Natalie's mind.
"She's not here." Ted ran out into the hall and past Reena to the outside of the building.
The images surrounding him were absolutely chaotic. Blasts of energy flew through the air in every direction. Ted coughed on the smoke that seemed to be coming from directly below.
"Natalie?!"
Ted hadn't noticed that Reena was beside him until she took his hand.
"We need to go, Ted."
It took all of Ted's willpower to keep his emotions at bay. He nodded and Reena spoke into some kind of communication device around her wrist. A ship larger than any of the others Ted had seen settled into position directly above them. A beam of light similar to the ones the dark souls had used to grab him and Natalie shone down upon the two of them.
Reena's smile almost soothed him. "Relax your body."
Ted complied and the beam of light began to lift him up into the sky. That's when a faint voice trickled in through his mind.
"Ted."
Relief and fear flooded his emotions. "Natalie!"
Ted tensed up his arms and legs and the beam of light lost its effect on him. He dropped to the ground as Reena remained in the beam, slowly flying upward to the ship.
Ted couldn't hear what Reena was saying, but the look on her face didn't convey sunshine and rainbows.
He gestured upward. "I'm sorry!"
Befor
e he could reach out with his mind toward Natalie, a blast of energy caught his attention. It zipped through the sky far above his head. The beam of light was headed straight for Reena's current position.
"Damn it!"
Ted pushed off the ground with incredible force, shattering the stone beneath him. The adrenaline surged through his body. The energy pulse seemed to move faster and faster. Ted screamed to increase his speed as well. He knew there wasn't enough time to get her out of the way. He rallied all his strength and slammed directly into the energy pulse.
The impact sent the projectile off course, but not before it sent a blast of electricity through Ted's body. His mind felt like a nuke had just gone off inside. Everything seemed to shut down and his body began to plummet.
He only had time for one thought before unconsciousness enveloped him.
I'm sorry, Nat.
Chapter 27
Jennifer stared at the portal after Erica and Travis disappeared. The shimmering pool of light closed in on itself within seconds. She felt as empty inside as the field before her. The friend she'd tried to protect and avenge through two different lives was now on another world. Her throat tightened and she tried to deaden her emotions.
Dhiraj patted her on the shoulder. "And then there were two."
Jennifer tried to smile. She gave it her best shot, but she was pretty sure her face looked much closer to awkward neutral. Jennifer kicked at the ground below where the portal used to be. "All we have to do is keep a homicidal maniac from taking over the world." She crouched down and looked into her boyfriend's eyes. "Piece of cake, right?"
Dhiraj joined her in the dirt. She didn't know how she'd be able to keep it together if the assassin had taken him as well. He was literally the only person she had left on Earth.
Dhiraj's look was both pained and optimistic. "Erica, Ted and everyone else'll be back in a jiff. We just need to buy them a little time."
She knew Dhiraj was trying to help, but there was no guarantee of anything. The only thing that was certain was that her father was never coming back. For the hundredth time in the last few hours, she cursed herself for not being the one who led Redican outside. If she'd been the one gunned down by the brainwashed farmer, then at least she wouldn't have to cope with so much pain.
Dhiraj took her by the hand and they walked back to the van. She tried as best she could to tap into his positivity. It didn't seem to be working.
She rubbed at her eyes. "So, how do two fugitive teens bring down a Presidential candidate?"
Dhiraj opened the passenger door and smirked. "I don't know, but it sounds like a great movie."
Jennifer didn't expect to hear herself laugh, and it helped to take some of the weight off her shoulders. The pressure continued to leave her slowly but surely as they got back on the highway. Something about driving nowhere in particular calmed her. There weren't too many distractions on the road, and after a few minutes of trying to locate the license plates of all 50 states, the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Every so often, Dhiraj would come up with an idea, and Jennifer would shoot it down.
"What about a sex scandal? We could get some pretty young thing to tarnish his reputation."
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "And who exactly was going to participate in said scandal? Me?"
Dhiraj gave a fake shocked look. "Of course not. I was thinking Beth or Winny."
Jennifer raised her eyebrows. "My cousin?! Not being able to check your portfolio stats has made you go crazy."
Dhiraj nodded. "They better not have frozen my accounts. I'll compound my fist on an investment banker's face."
Later, Dhiraj proposed the idea of voter fraud.
"I mean, let's face it. We just need to tap into the people who are already doing this. There's got to be a few Free Ted people with connections."
Jennifer sighed. "And if we fail, we send all those people to prison. We've already tarnished our own names. No need to bring others down with us."
Dhiraj tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and shot Jennifer a dirty look. "You know, I remember back to when you used to be Ms. Supportive." He let out a wistful sigh. "Oh how I long for those days."
The idea slammed into Jennifer's head like a cannonball. Her eyes lit up. "Wait."
Dhiraj's mouth opened. "You do like my idea?"
"No, it was terrible. But I think I have something that could work. You still got that disposable phone with the wi-fi?"
Dhiraj nodded. "What are you thinking?"
Jennifer put her hand on Dhiraj's. "At the next rest stop, I think we can find a scandal that'll blow this whole thing wide open."
Jennifer took a few moments to rearrange her hair and put on some sunglasses to disguise her identity. As much as Dhiraj said he wanted to be the one who got their breakfast, it was a lot easier for her to be incognito in public. After all, Dhiraj had been a talking head on Rudy Bolger's show no fewer than 10 times in the last year.
Jennifer used cash to pick up a few breakfast sandwiches before she sat down across from Dhiraj to talk out her plan.
"Kit Kable wasn't always this purebred senator. He used to be Adam. What if we could prove he was actually an evil murdering psycho in the 80s?"
Dhiraj's face brightened. "That's brilliant!" He stared down at the screen on his phone and began typing. "Let's see if we can find a little more info... there!"
Dhiraj held up the tiny screen for both of them to view. The article Dhiraj had found was from a Chicago newspaper. The headline read, "Local man killed in building collapse."
Jennifer pulled the phone closer. "Adam Crammond, 25."
The black and white article beside the photo showed a collapsed building surrounded by police and ambulances. The caption on the photo asserted the mystery behind the unplanned demolition and Adam's death.
"They said the building was a freak accident. It doesn't say anything about his powers." A grin crept across her face. "Survived by his parents, Frank and Ellie." She rapped her knuckles on the metal table. "Think they're still alive? This was over 30 years ago."
Dhiraj yanked the phone back and began typing. "The magic stalking power of the Internet knows no bounds." Within seconds, Dhiraj had another page to display. "Looks like Ellie Crammond is in an old folks home in the burbs."
Jennifer couldn't help but wonder if her father would be proud of their detective work.
She beamed. "Shall we pay her a visit?"
Dhiraj pocketed the phone. "Since sonny-boy probably never calls, I think this is a great chance to respect our elders."
Jennifer took one last bite of her egg sandwich and tossed the trash. "Let's hope she has the dirt we need."
She pictured Kable being sworn into the Oval Office.
The butterflies beat against her stomach. "Otherwise, this plan's gonna end mighty quick."
Chapter 28
Kit Kable was beginning to feel the effects of the full-swing political campaign. In addition to the town hall debate with the President, he'd delivered speeches in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida. He'd succeeded during each at re-opening old wounds related to the attacks he'd secretly instigated. The speeches went well – he had the numbers to prove it – but the lack of sleep and constant traveling was beginning to take its toll. His deep and guttural yawn echoed throughout his modest Washington office. The walls were packed with noteworthy photos and framed newspaper articles. There was a picture of him and Blake signing a major piece of legislation together. In a prominent poster-sized image, he had his arm around Sophie Kent, the girl who he'd covertly put through a portal during the September hurricane. An article from a decade prior recounting his first senatorial victory had replaced his wedding photo with Sandra on the wall closest to him. Kable remembered that campaign fondly, though he imagined his competitor didn't.
Incumbent Senator Harry Aaron had a healthy lead until Kable added more than a few racist turns of phrase to the man's vocabulary. The incumbent's lead dropped like a stone and Kable took the prize. He
felt that Aaron's subsequent divorce and mental health problems were more than called for after all the attack ads the man had put out against him.
Kable was tempted to use a similar strategy of mind control on Blake, but something inside kept him from altering the President's brain. Senseless killings and kidnappings in battleground states were one thing, but using the President's mind against him might be too low of a blow.
After a series of knocks took Kable away from memory lane, Terry entered with a mixed look upon his face. The campaign manager shut the door behind him softly, as if it would arouse less suspicion that way. Kable repressed a laugh and gestured for Terry to take a seat.
"You look troubled, my friend." Kable put both feet up on his desk. "Whenever I feel that way, I try to remember what I've accomplished so far. It gives me a sense of pride in my darkest hours."
Terry's hesitant glance demonstrated no effort to remember the good times. "I've got some news about our little farming issue."
Kable grinned. "No need to talk in code. What's the latest?"
Terry spoke the words as if each one cut at his insides. "The sheriff and Redican are dead. The farm's owner, too. Erica LaPlante and the rest of the gang have relocated."
Kable let the words hang in the air for a few moments.
Three decades prior, Adam Crammond wasn't much of anything at all. He'd failed at his attempts to be a serious political journalist in Chicago, and his lack of money made moving back in with his parents in the suburbs the only feasible option. The situation left him unstable, and he'd considered leaping into the Chicago River on more than one occasion. Adam's last chance was an effort to break a big story that connected drug trafficking to the mayor's office. He was successful at stumbling upon the criminals responsible for taking in the shipment via boat. There was only one problem: the leaders of the drug ring weren't human.
He saw the dark souls lift what must have been a thousand-pound shipping container without the help of machinery. In his shock and fear, Adam dropped his camera. They spotted him immediately. He ran, and the dark souls gave pursuit through a maze of shipping containers. Just when he thought the end was near, a blue wave of energy came over him. He wasn't sure what happened inside, but the hopelessness and despair seemed to vanish. It was replaced by power. Before he could take advantage of this newfound confidence, a woman came out of the shadows and killed two of his pursuers. She appeared to be about a decade his senior, though she was a lot more spry than anyone he'd ever seen.