The Hidden Gift

by Ian Somers

  The evil bastard had killed the only family I had. My father. The most harmless man in the world. A lonely man … I slammed my knuckles against the dirt. Sarah’s premonition made sense now. The lonely man was my dad and for some reason she had been referring to Zalech as the tin man.

  My thoughts focused on the killer. My body became taut as I stood and roared at the top of my voice. The noise around me was deafening. The earth beneath my feet gave way. The last thing I remembered was falling.

  I was lying on the bench next to Romand’s grave when I came to. For a couple of seconds I felt normal. I’d totally forgotten what had happened. Then Ballentine’s words came rushing at me and I crumpled up inside like a collapsing house of cards.

  I sat up and looked around and saw that I was alone. Hunter and Cathy were far off on the patio, watching me from a safe distance. The way they’d decided to inform me of my father’s demise made sense to me now; the lawn looked like a meteorite had hit it. There was a deep circular hole about fifteen metres in diameter – if anyone had been standing next to me when I lost control they would have been crushed like a paper cup. That was why Ballentine had sent me away from the others. The fact that they still maintained the distance was logical. And I was thankful for it too. I didn’t want anyone near me. I welcomed solitude.

  For the first hour I couldn’t stop crying. Then I went pacing around the grounds, trying not to get too angry, knowing I was a danger to everyone, including myself, when I flew into a rage. I managed to keep relatively calm for a while, but there was no fighting the aching feeling in my chest. My heart was shattered. I felt so empty. I was a shell of the real Ross Bentley.

  I thought of the time I’d wasted when my father and I had that ridiculous rift. We’d hardly spoken to each other for two years solid. I hated myself for that. What I wouldn’t give for one hour with him now. Even a minute so I could tell him that he was my hero … always. I had been so careless. Even when we’d mended our relationship I ran off to England and left him alone. I’d left him unprotected. He’d paid the ultimate price for my stupid ambitions.

  I sat on the bench and stared at the dark patch of grass in front of me. Romand’s grave. I had hated myself for causing my mentor’s death, and now my dad was dead too. All because I wanted to enter a contest and win a million dollars. Two of the best and strongest people I’d ever known were killed because of my mindless greed. I might as well have killed them both myself.

  When it got dark I sat hunched over with dried tears tightening my face. The lights were on at the house and I could see the others fluttering about the kitchen. Some were sitting sombrely at the table and others were pacing around, gesticulating wildly. It looked as if they were having an explosive debate. I didn’t really care what they were arguing about. It all seemed pointless to me now. Life was pointless. I was surrounded by death and I was powerless to prevent those closest to me from being murdered. I couldn’t draw my gaze from Romand’s grave, thinking that my father would soon be buried, and I wouldn’t even be able to attend his funeral. There was no way the Guild would let me leave. I would let Dad down one last time by allowing him to be put in the cold earth without his only son being there to say goodbye. The lonely man indeed.

  ‘I’m a total asshole,’ I said to the grave before me. ‘Looks like I’ve failed yet again, Romand.’

  ‘You haven’t failed anyone,’ someone said from the shadows. ‘Stop thinking like that.’

  I turned around and saw Hunter standing a few metres away puffing on a cigar.

  ‘Still sneaking up on people I see,’ I replied. I tried to make it sound humorous, but my voice was lifeless. He probably thought I was serious.

  ‘It’s past midnight,’ he said. ‘You’ve been out here almost twelve hours.’

  ‘I hadn’t noticed.’

  ‘Time can play tricks on us at times like this.’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  He took a few steps towards me then paused, afraid to come too close. ‘You calm, Bentley?’

  ‘As calm as I can be.’

  ‘I don’t want to have my skull crushed if you lose your temper again.’

  ‘I’m all right,’ I said, holding my hand out at the empty part of the bench. ‘You’re safe.’

  ‘You have every right to be angry,’ he continued as he sat next to me. He took a long pull on the cigar before flicking it away into the grass. ‘Nobody will blame you for being so angry.’

  ‘I’m sure they’re all terrified of me after what I did to Mr Williams’s lawn.’

  ‘Ah, he has enough money to hire a landscaping team to fix it. We expected you to lose your temper, that’s why Ballentine hung around, so that he could protect the rest of us when you blew your lid. They don’t think any less of you for what happened this afternoon.’

  ‘I hope not.’

  ‘Forget what they think.’ Suddenly there was an urgency in his voice, and a genuine tone. ‘You don’t need to concern yourself with what other people think of you right now.’

  ‘I don’t know what to think. I feel like I’m going to explode, Hunter. I caused this whole thing. I wanna throw myself off a cliff.’

  ‘You’ll overcome it in time.’

  ‘How can you even say that? This is not something that can be overcome. He can’t be brought back!’

  ‘You can’t change the past, but you will live on and you will come to terms with what has happened.’

  ‘I don’t feel as confident about that as you do.’

  ‘I’ve been where you are now, Bentley.’

  I said nothing. I remembered what I’d read about him in Atkinson’s journal, that his aunt had been killed when Blake tried to assassinate him. I didn’t want Hunter knowing I’d snooped around his home while he was out and allowed him continue.

  ‘I never really knew my parents,’ Hunter explained. ‘My father ran out on my mother before I was born, the lousy shit! He never returned. I have hardly any memories of my mother … just whispers of her voice, glimpses of her face.’

  ‘What happened to her?’

  ‘She turned to drink after my father left us. By the time I was three years old she was a raging alcoholic. Apparently she’d been drinking in a local pub one day. She got blind drunk and after she downed her last drink she staggered into the road outside. A car hit her. Died the next day in hospital.’

  This was part of Hunter’s story that I didn’t know about. He really had had a tragic upbringing and somewhere in the swirling emotions I felt a great sympathy for him.

  ‘My aunt was the only family I had after that. She took me in and raised me as her own. She was strict, and too religious for my liking, but she was a good person and kept me on the straight and narrow. By the time I was a teenager I thought of her as my mother.’

  ‘She was killed by a gifted person?’

  ‘Aye, she was.’ A flicker of agony raced across his face. ‘They came for me after I’d used my gift in public – I was showing off in front a girl I fancied. Gifted assassins arrived at my home and I was able to fight them off long enough to escape. My aunt wasn’t so lucky. I’d run away and left her at their mercy.’ He chewed his bottom lip and tried to hide his swollen eyes from me. ‘Bloody killed her, they did. And I ran away.’

  ‘Doesn’t seem like you’ve overcome it, Hunter.’

  ‘It still hurts. I still feel guilty. That never leaves me, but I haven’t allowed the bitterness to eat away at me. I haven’t lost sight of what’s good and what’s bad.’

  ‘How did you keep going?’

  ‘With the help of the Guild. Cathy’s father brought me into the community and he helped to get my head straight. Then I lived with one of the most powerful members, Marie Canavan. She’s my mentor. She taught me how to use the gifts I have and also taught me some very valuable lessons about life. Not allowing hatred to destroy me was the one of them.’

  ‘I appreciate you trying to help me, Hunter, and I know it’s not your way to be so candid about your past and you
r emotions. I really do appreciate it. But all I want to do is kill Edward Zalech. My life will be torture as long as he draws breath.’

  Hunter looked at me and nodded slowly. ‘All in good time, Bentley. All in good time.’

  He didn’t say in that usual condescending way of his. He said it in the way I needed to hear it. He was telling me to be patient and that the opportunity would come.

  The night grew cold and Hunter convinced me to go inside the house. I was ready to apologise to everyone, but Cathy was the only one waiting in the kitchen. Hunter didn’t hang around and left us alone. The first thing she did when Hunter left the room was to spring out of her seat and hug me. I slowly locked my arms around her and pressed my cheek on her shoulder.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t imagine how this feels.’

  ‘I’m too numb to feel anything. I can’t seem to get it straight in my mind. I can’t believe he’s actually dead. I keep expecting to wake up and for someone to tell me it was all a big mistake.’

  ‘This is my fault,’ she sniffled. ‘Your father would be alive right now if I’d made sure Zalech was dead.’

  ‘No, Cathy.’ I cupped her face with my hands and kissed her. ‘This has nothing to do with you. I’ve had enough of the blame game for one day.’

  ‘Come up to my room,’ she said, taking my hand. ‘I can’t stand this damned kitchen anymore.’

  We traipsed up the staircase to her room and she locked the door once we were inside. We lay on the bed and wrapped our arms around one another. There were no tears or kisses, words or sleep. There were only thoughts. The sadness was crushing, but I drew some comfort from being close to her. We hadn’t spent all that much time in each other’s company, but I felt like I’d known her my whole life. Without her I would truly be alone. It was on that awful night that I realised I never wanted to part with Cathy and that if she really wanted to leave the Guild then I would join her. The only thing that would keep me in the ranks for the time being was my desire to catch and kill Edward Zalech. I didn’t much care for what the Guild intended to do. I wanted him dead and that’s all that mattered to me.

  Cathy eventually drifted off and I remained still in the blackness for what seemed like endless hours. My thoughts were darker than any of the shadows in the room. I held her close for a time, trying my best to forget my troubles, trying to find sleep. When the first signs of light appeared through the curtains I rose from the bed and went to the window. I drew the curtains back slightly and gazed at the deep purple sky stubbornly fighting off the dawn. My inner fire rose with the amber sun. I felt my powers strengthening. Edward Zalech would feel that strength when I finally caught up with him.

  I stood by the window and watched the sun rising over the hills nearby. The chemical in my body, the Hyper-furens, had taken over when I murdered Bentley’s father and still, even thirty hours later, it had barely waned. My anger was boiling inside me, my senses heightened, my powers at full tilt.

  I had walked from the murder scene casually, lost in a mix of intoxication and rage. I saw the fear in the driver’s eyes when I was picked up outside Maybrook and revelled in the effect I had on others. Oh, how it was good to be feared.

  I boarded the Falcon 900 and when it rose to five thousand feet I heard the pilot shouting about a violent storm that had not shown up on his instruments. I knew it was the moisture in the upper atmosphere being attracted to me – so powerful had my mageletonia become. The storm bounced the plane from side to side and at one point nearly took it out of the sky. I used my psychokinesis to counter the effects of the storm and we landed unscathed in England at 4am. Pearson was waiting for me in the small office on the private airfield. She had packed my Deflexus clothing into a backpack. She gave me directions to the rural house owned by the corporation. It was mine for as long as I needed it. She handed me a key to the GSK7 Kinetibike that was parked nearby.

  I wanted to reach the relative safety of the country house without delay. I needed to lie low for a few days so I could plan my next move to perfection. There could be no mistakes. And besides, the Guild would have everyone out searching for me so it was wise to disappear for a while.

  I pushed the bike to its limit on the way to the house. I had been told a prototype had been driven at 600kmph, but I managed to beat that speed. I did not care about cop cars or helicopters; they simply would not be able to keep up with me even if I came to their attention. And I could easily have used my gifts to stop them if they got too close.

  I arrived at the isolated house as dawn was breaking. It was a renovated country house in a shallow valley with vibrant green fields stretching out to the horizon. There were no other buildings to be seen and the only sound was the song of the finches whistling from the maples that lined the driveway. It was a clear morning except for the area surrounding the house. Moisture was being dragged from the atmosphere towards me and formed a mist above the roof of the house, which I found quite beautiful.

  I walked the empty hallways, trying to suppress the anger caused by the Hyper-furens. It took hours, and when I did return to some normal emotional balance my mind went dull and I searched out a bed to sleep on. There were none. In fact, the large house was completely empty of furniture apart from an armchair in the front room. I made do with that. I slept right through the day and night. Now, as the new day was breaking, I was standing by the window contemplating my next move. All my thought was bent on avenging my sister. Every second was spent thinking of how to kill off the Guild members – especially Ross Bentley. He would be the icing on the cake.

  I watched the sun climbing above distant hills and the cobwebs of slumber were banished completely. I walked to the kitchen and downed several pints of water then pulled open the fridge to find it bare. Strangely, I felt no hunger. I had not eaten anything in many days, but my stomach did not ache. I was not weakened at all.

  My lack of sustenance did affect my appearance, however. I gazed at my reflection in the hallway mirror and saw a gaunt, vampirish figure staring back. Gone was the athletic young man I was used to seeing. He had been replaced by a sinewy stick insect with eyes too big for his emaciated face. I truly had become someone new. Someone to be feared.

  Two days passed and the Hyper-furens regained sway over my emotions; the immense power returned with it. I had spent the previous forty eight hours plotting against the Guild and had finalised my plan. I envisaged my strategy over and over and over. It had to be planned to perfection. My every move had to be premeditated. That way Sarah Fisher would pick up on it easier. She would predict the hell I would unleash – she in turn would tell the Guild about it and they would send as many of their agents as possible to stop me. I laughed at how cunning my plan was. I would lead them into a trap. Hopefully Bentley would be with them when they walked into it.

  My senses spiked as the drug in my body grew in influence. I could actually feel all the water nearby. I sensed the clouds that drifted high above the house. I felt a small stream cutting through the fields to the west. But overriding these was a much more substantial body of liquid. There was a nearby lake and it would be the perfect place to practise what I planned to do in the days to come.

  I grabbed my coat and strode from the house, being led to the lake like a magnet. I walked along a narrow road that snaked into the hills then led me into a neighbouring valley. The long, wide lake came into view as soon as I reached the valley wall. Its surface was silverish and long reeds gave it a golden outline. A light breeze rippled the water and I lifted my arm and it became still, like glass. I had total control, but that was not quite enough. I had to be able to replicate what I had done to the river outside the clinic two weeks before. This would be a significant test for my new abilities.

  I walked to the shore of the lake and swept my right arm from side to side. The water began to sway violently and I realised my power had grown since leaving the clinic. The lake rose up on one side then swooped back down and towered on the opposite side.

&nbs
p; Then the entire body of water was lifted from the earth and began looping around in the air like a gigantic wheel of water. It was magnificent. My power was unrivalled. I slowed the pace and allowed the water to rest back into the lake bed. It sloshed around as if a hurricane was sweeping over it, yet there was hardly a breeze disturbing the quiet countryside.

  ‘Hey!’ A distant voice called. ‘Hey, Mister! Did you just see that?’

  I did not turn at first. I simply listened to the excited voices and the bushes behind me being shaken. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the two hill walkers in their matching outdoor clothing clambering down from the higher ground towards the lake. They were coming right towards me. I tittered and returned my gaze to the choppy waters.

  ‘Hey, didn’t you hear me? Mister?’

  They were only a few metres behind me and had stopped. Probably stunned that I was not as excited as they were about the waters acting magically.

  ‘Mister, you all right?’ one of them asked

  ‘He’s probably in a daze after seeing that,’ said the other. ‘I know I am!’

  ‘Bloody remarkable. And I caught it all on my camera phone here!’

  ‘Ah, technology,’ I buzzed. ‘It seems to follow us everywhere these days.’

  ‘What the …’

  They had never heard such a voice. Even my strange voice did not prepare them for the shock of seeing my deformed face when I turned to them in an ominous fashion. Their two pink, flustered faces went deathly pale and their smiles drooped into black ovals.

  ‘What is wrong?’ I asked sarcastically. ‘You look like you have seen a monster.’

  ‘Er … no,’ the older of the two said breathlessly.

  ‘I must appear as a monster to two fine upstanding citizens like yourselves. A modern day Frankenstein’s monster.’

  ‘Just a wee surprise is all,’ the younger man said. He had not even blinked since I turned to him. ‘We’ll be on our way now.’