“He helped us at Dan’s house,” I said. “He helped Jason clean up the mess and wiped everyone’s memory of Jason using his power.”
“But at our next meeting he threatened Jason if we couldn’t find out more about his life before Mason. With that context, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to threaten the ones who can actually do the searching? Jason isn’t even involved in that.”
Jason threw up his hands in aggravation. “Who knows? He’s not normal to say the least, and a complete psycho to be more honest. How are we supposed to figure out his motives? He probably thinks that I know how he thinks and can figure him out. I can’t!”
“We know, Jase, it’s okay,” I soothed. “It’s getting late, so you should probably try to get some sleep before you go out tomorrow. Take something for your shoulder first,” I added when I noticed him rubbing at it. “All these questions and problems will still be here in the morning. Try not to worry about them for now, okay?”
His body was tensed, ready for action, and I knew he wanted to say no. “I’m going to go home now if you guys are okay,” Dustin said. “I’ll come back tomorrow. Get some rest. We’ll figure everything out eventually.”
We said our goodbyes, and when Dustin left I pointed at the couch. “Lie on your stomach. You’ve been tense for a long time, so I’ll try to work out some of the kinks.”
To my surprise he followed my instruction without argument, and I began to massage him, continuing until I noticed his breaths had evened out. It was one of the few times I’d seen him deeply asleep, and no part of him touching the ground. It probably wouldn’t last long, but it had to be good for him to be able to fall asleep without fear or tension.
Peace was something he’d had too little of in his life.
FIFTY-NINE
Kindred
I was right. Something had changed. Scaring the Tracker’s girlfriend wasn’t as entertaining as it normally was. The hauntingly beautiful woman was trying to change me, and I didn’t even know if she was real. But she had to be. I hadn’t come out of the womb a full-grown contract killer. I had a past—something I needed to find out about before things with the Tracker progressed too far. I still had to figure out how I’d known him before, and why I felt such a strong connection.
Whatever it was, he either knew and wasn’t telling me, or he was completely unaware of our past meeting. The only meeting I was aware of was in the hospital, but there had to be more to it. I had seen many people, kids included, in the hospital, without making a connection.
I sat in a meditative state, trying to remember anything about the Tracker or the woman, and her moments of extreme joy and even more extreme sadness. I finally got the picture of the woman caressing her swollen belly, and felt at once the elation of a new life and the heartbreaking loss. I thought maybe she’d lost the baby. Had it been mine, or was there a more distant connection? I sank deeper into meditation and remembered the hospital where I first saw the Tracker when he was a boy. I saw my hands and clothes covered in blood, but there were no wounds.
The feeling of profound loss permeated my entire being. I was alone. The woman and baby must both be dead. But how? And how did the Tracker fit in?
I tried to find out more, but nothing else would come. In a fit of rage I screamed and threw anything I could find that would break, for once not taking the time to block the noise from others. I ignored shouts from my neighbors to stop or they’d call the police, and continued trashing everything in the apartment. Nothing was mine; the previous owner being one of the members of Mason’s gang who’d taken a suitcase of clothes and ran after Mason had been killed. I felt no guilt in destroying his possessions as Mason had destroyed me.
I’d had a family. Of that I could be fairly certain. What was less certain was how they’d died. Sirens approached the apartment and I finally realized I needed to leave. I had waited too long, and couldn’t simply make them forget. I didn’t even know who had noticed my loss of control. So I hid myself from view and walked out, not bothering to take anything with me.
There was a hotel nearby. I’d stay there for now. The apartment was done. I wouldn’t go back. But now I would tell the lady detective to search for car accidents involving pregnant women or a woman and infant. I hadn’t gotten the feeling the baby had been born, but my memories were spotty. The Tracker would help me relay my message. It had gotten harder to control him; pretty soon I wouldn’t be able to. It was a testament to how strong he was, whether he knew it or not.
My plans to get a room at a hotel would wait. I needed to know. The Tracker and I would meet face to face tonight.
SIXTY
Jason
The door closing woke me from a deep slumber that I hadn’t even realized I’d been in, and I almost fell off the couch as I startled awake. Hannah was still working the kinks out of my back, so I must not have been asleep for long. “Easy, Jason,” she murmured. “It's just Alice.”
I shook my head, feeling disoriented and confused. “You fell asleep. It’s okay, nothing happened. Just relax; you’re going to wreck all my hard work!” A joking lilt entered her voice and I responded by lying motionless on the couch, but I did allow one hand to reach toward the floor. I had no direct connection to the ground beneath the house, but I could still feel echoes of movement outside.
Hannah let out a small sigh, but didn’t comment, allowing me to live with the paranoia that had haunted me for most of my life. I responded by staying still on the couch and allowing her to continue what she was doing, and relaxing once more into a restful doze.
The peace lasted another fifteen or so minutes before I felt the now-familiar sense of intrusion in my mind, causing me to jump off the couch. “Kindred is nearby,” I ground out through clenched teeth. “He’s trying to break in again.”
Hannah called for Alice as I struggled to fortify my mind against the intrusion. “What’s happening?” Alice’s voice was dim, and I poured all my energy into blocking the mental attack.
“Kindred,” Hannah answered simply.
“Not Kindred to you,” I heard my voice reply angrily. “There is more information, and I want to speak to you face-to-face. Do not fight me. You,” he indicated Alice, “and the Tracker will meet me at the park down the street. I will be there waiting. Do not call for backup, or I will leave his mind in shambles and he will never recover.”
“We’ll be there. Now, leave him alone,” Alice responded coldly, her icy eyes glaring and her arms crossed over her chest.
My body shook with laughter. “You can do nothing to me, little one. I could easily use him to destroy you, and he would live with the guilt for the rest of his life. Keep that in mind. Come now.”
The pressure of the intrusion faded and I shook my head to clear it, rubbing my hand over my face wearily. “Jason?”
“I’m fine, give me a minute,” I mumbled. Someone moved away toward the kitchen and when she came back she was holding a few aspirin and a bottle of water.
“Take these,” Hannah said softly. “If you do it now it may help avoid the migraine.” It couldn’t hurt to try, so I accepted the medication and sat back on the couch.
“He wants us at…”
“At the park,” I interrupted Alice. “I was aware. He can’t take over without me knowing what’s happening, not anymore. And it seems to be more of a struggle for him than it used to be.”
“Eventually he shouldn’t be able to do it anymore, your mind won’t accept it,” Hannah said. It was not a new line of thought so I didn’t respond.
“We should get to the park.” I was trying to hide my anxiety behind nonchalance, but it wasn’t a very successful venture. Thankfully, neither of them commented, so I avoided the, ‘no matter what happens it’s not your fault,’ speech. Whatever happened, I couldn’t allow him to use me to hurt my friends. I wouldn’t be able to live with the knowledge that my powers had been used against people I care about. Tonight we’d meet face-to-face for the first time since the jailhouse in Torsten. I
had come close to besting him then, and now I was more aware of his trickery.
One way or another, tonight would be the end of our interactions. I only hoped that whatever happened, Alice wouldn’t get in the middle. Kindred would never see the inside of a prison cell, because they wouldn’t be able to keep him there. Normal people wouldn’t be able to deal with his mind-altering and hallucinations. I at least had the potential to trap him somewhere he wouldn’t be able to escape and I’d know he was there. If I had my way, he’d never interact with another person in his life. All I’ve ever seen from him is murder and chaos.
“Jason, let’s go,” Alice said after grabbing her gun and badge. “I called Dan. He won’t be with us, but if he doesn’t hear from me in an hour, he’ll be coming with reinforcements.”
I snorted softly at the idea that normal cops could do anything, and she frowned at me. “They may not know what he can do, but at least we can use that as a threat against him doing anything to us.”
My gaze dropped to the floor as I shook my head and chuckled softly. “Don’t you know by now? He’s not afraid of you or the rest of your department. You could send in every man and woman on the force, and he’d be able to walk away. He doesn’t respect you and he doesn’t fear you.” I raised my eyes to meet hers, trying to communicate confidence. “He fears me. It’s the only reason he’d still be around. He’s afraid I’ll come after him.”
She shook her head and opened her mouth, but I interrupted, “He should be. After everything he’s done, he needs to be imprisoned, and you,” I pointed at Alice, but meant the entire police force, “cannot hold him. I can. He’s right to be afraid, because now he threatened you and everyone I care about. He will not use me to hurt you, and if he tries, he will regret it.”
SIXTY-ONE
Hannah
Jason was furious. The look in his eyes after Kindred had threatened to use him against us scared me, and I was one of the ones he wanted to protect. I threw a pleading look toward my sister, begging her silently to protect Jason, even from himself. I didn’t want him doing something he’d regret later, or worse, doing something horrible and finding out he didn’t regret it. The tension I’d worked out of him earlier was back with a vengeance, and he stood ready to attack or defend.
“Be careful,” I urged softly as they left. His gaze softened slightly as he glanced at me, and his mouth turned up in the parody of a smile.
“Hey, what could go wrong?” he asked. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
I tried to smile back at him, but he’d already turned away. He shook out his arms, loosening for whatever was to come.
“It’ll be okay, sis,” Alice smiled, walking out the door after Jason. As soon as they were gone I was on the phone.
“Dustin? Can you come back?” I felt near tears, and he must have heard it in my voice because he agreed without question. About six minutes later he knocked on the door.
“What happened?” he rushed in, looking around for any threat. “Where’s Jason?”
“He and Alice went to meet with Kindred. He wanted a face-to-face meeting at the park. I just didn’t want to be alone.” I was unapologetic about my desire for company, and he didn’t seem to require any apology.
He just nodded and sat on the couch. “Let’s watch some TV.” I sat down gratefully, leaning against my friend for support. He gave me a little hug and we sat in silence, watching TV without knowing what was on.
The silence between us ended when we flipped to a news channel that was showing a video of the ground rising up into a wall and a car driving by shooting at it. The angle was wrong to show Jason behind the wall, but the reporter was commenting on how, without this video, no one in the area remembered this event happening. The question posed to the viewers was: Hoax or real?
“Kindred can’t affect video. He didn’t block the memories until after this was taken. Jason isn’t going to like this.”
The phone rang, and I picked up. “Dan? You saw?”
“Yeah, and there are enough people on the force who were there when Jason was rescued last fall and who saw the floor of the warehouse he tore up. Some of them are starting to make the connection. Have you heard from them yet?”
“No,” I shook my head and closed my eyes tightly in the hopes the video would disappear. “This will drive him away,” I said quietly. Both Dan and Dustin heard me, and neither contradicted me. I sank back onto the couch. After everything, it would be this grainy video that would make Jason leave. He stayed through the Mason fiasco and he was working through the case with Kindred and Mason’s men, but he didn’t want others knowing about him.
“I’ll talk to you later, Hannah. I need to go check on Jason and Alice.” Dan didn’t wait for a response before he’d hung up, and I held the phone for a moment before dropping it on the couch next to me.
Dustin was looking at me sympathetically. “There were a lot of people already who knew what he can do. Most of them were the criminals of the city. It was likely he’d be leaving eventually anyway. If it makes you feel better, I really don’t think his leaving means cutting you out of his life. He cares about you, and the kids at Dan’s, and Alice. You’re his family. You guys and Sam. After his early experiences with family hurting him and abandoning him, do you really think he’ll do that to you?”
I shook my head mutely.
“Good. Just keep that in mind. Leaving this city doesn’t mean leaving you. Support his decision, whatever it may be, and he’s all the more likely to keep in touch with you.”
“Thanks, Dustin. For what it’s worth, you’re really good at this stuff. Keep it up, get your doctorate. Help people like Jason.”
“I will.” He agreed. It had been over an hour, and we still hadn’t heard from Alice or Jason.
“Do you think they’re okay?” I asked softly, rubbing my hands over the seams of my jeans uncomfortably.
His hesitation told me what I was already thinking. Something had gone wrong, but there was nothing we could do about it. As we’d found ourselves doing when Mason had grabbed Jason, all we could do was wait and hope.
SIXTY-TWO
Kindred
The park was silent; anyone who had been there earlier in the day was now safe at home. Messaging through the Tracker was becoming more difficult, his mind becoming more resistant to my control. He had been completely aware of my intrusion and had fought me with everything he had. He had managed to surprise me, because as he fought, the ground around me started grumbling and shaking, almost causing me to lose the connection.
He was stronger now than he’d ever been, and I still didn’t think he’d reached his full potential. I wasn’t sure if I should let him. It was clear that he didn’t approve of my actions, despite several of them being for his benefit. So he would come after me, given the opportunity.
I only had to wait a few minutes after delivering my message for the lady cop and the Tracker to show up. His anger was simmering, just under the surface and barely under control. I hesitated in my approach, realizing he was only one wrong word away from boiling over. “Tracker,” I said, appearing in front of him, wearing my own face by choice, for the first time in several years. Mason had occasionally wanted to revel in his own destructive capabilities, and had ordered me to drop any mask I’d been showing, so he could laugh at my disfigurement.
To my surprise, neither of them looked at me with disgust or revulsion. Instead, they almost seemed…sad? “What is it you feel?” I asked quietly.
“For who you used to be, I pity you,” the Tracker said, his tone matching mine. “For who you are now, and what you have become,”—he paused for a second—“You are a vile creature. It may not have been your fault any more than a rabid dog is at fault for his actions, but you are nothing but a killer now.”
The lady cop put her hand on the Tracker’s shoulder, trying to keep him from speaking. “What do you want?” she asked. “Why did you call us here?”
“The woman. I’m remembering more. She wa
s pregnant, and both she and the child were killed. I don’t know how, and I do not know if the baby was born, but I know now both are dead.”
“Did you kill them?” the Tracker asked, his eyes narrowed.
Had I? I didn’t get that feeling. “I do not believe so,” I answered. “But seeing as I have little memory of the event, I can’t be sure.”
“Someone’s coming,” the Tracker said, suddenly crouching down and putting his hand into the dirt. “The boxer,” he muttered, his eyes darkening with anger.
I looked at him in confusion. “Who is it?” I asked.
“Can’t you feel him?” he seemed confused. “You always seem to know when I’m around, and he was a part of Mason’s crew.”
Alice cut in, “You might know him as Ivan.”
“Ivan? He’s here? How would he know where to find us?” I wondered.
The Tracker looked at me, eyes narrowed. “Us? He’s after you too?”
“Why not? I’ve been killing his crew, and gunning for him. He was there when Mason took me. If anyone knows who I was, it’s him.” I took a step forward and the ground around me shook.
“That was a warning. You get no closer to me or Alice, or you’ll find yourself in a pit you won’t be getting out of.” His voice now showed the same darkness as his face, and I knew his anger was barely in check. His control was tenuous, and anything that startled him could cause him to lose control.
“You’re stronger than your power, Tracker. Earthshaker. You control it. It doesn’t control you. Do not let it out while it could hurt your friend.”
The lady cop stared at me in confusion. “Earlier you warned him you could, and would, use his power against us. Why are you helping now?”
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