The Hidden Gift

by Ian Somers

  I watched as his movements became languid and air bubbles escaped his mouth and nostrils. His eyes were large with fear as the water entered his mouth and started to fill his lungs.

  I held the shield as long as I could before my strength faltered and I had to break it off. Water sprang out in all directions and washed across the broken tarmac. Zalech fell onto his back and coughed out a mouthful of water. He was barely conscious, but still a major threat so I took my chance and hit him with a powerful blast of energy that tore through his protective clothing and snapped his spine in half.

  He lay there motionless and I kept a safe distance until I found the strength and courage to stagger forward and stand over him. Our eyes locked and that familiar grin stretched his wicked face one last time. He coughed and hissed in a breath before laughing weakly at me.

  ‘You find this amusing?’ I asked. ‘You’re stranger than I thought.’

  ‘I do not find my own death amusing, but I do find victory rather fulfilling.’

  ‘I fail to see how this is a victory for you.’

  ‘All you need do is watch the skies for large eagles …’

  Those were Cathy’s final words to me before I left her. How on earth could he have known? A dreadful chill ran through my heart when I realised he must have gone to the house before he tracked me down. Had he killed Cathy? Had I lost the last person that I truly loved?

  ‘What did you do?’ I grabbed his collars and shook him violently. ‘What the hell did you do to her, Zalech?’

  ‘Very little. In fact, Peter Williams is the one who will kill her.’

  ‘Peter would never hurt her!’ Zalech’s eyes were rolling back in his skull and his mouth fell open. ‘Zalech, what did you do?’

  ‘I killed all the assassins, but used my hidden gift on one of them. I am a time-scanner and I saw all that she saw this night. That is how I found you. And that is how I found Cathy Atkinson before I chased you down.’

  ‘You liar!’

  ‘You lose, Bentley,’ he whispered before a long breath passed between his scarred lips. ‘You lose.’

  He was in his dying seconds, but I could still get answers even if he was unwilling to give them to me. I pressed the palm of my hand over his face and used my time-scanning abilities. I saw through his eyes and ran back through our battle, through his journey on the bike, to the little road outside the Williams estate. He was dragging Cathy and Mr Williams across the tarmac and into a nearby field, all the way to the small lake where, to my horror, he killed Mr Williams, then tied his ankles with a length of rope. After that he tied the other end of the rope to Cathy’s right wrist. Then he tied her legs and left arm together, behind her back.

  ‘Don’t let your friends bring you down!’ he laughed at Cathy, before kicking Mr Williams into the water. Cathy had slid right to the water’s edge then managed to lift her right arm a little and fought the weight on the other end. As soon as her strength gave out she would slide into the water, dragged below the surface by Mr Williams’s body, and with her limbs tied she would not be able to swim. She would die. Mr Williams would kill her, just like Zalech said. He’d walked away laughing, believing that I would never know, or if I did beat him in the fight, that I would be too late to save her …

  My mind went blank when Zalech finally died. I stood up away from him and heaved in breaths of the damp night air. Was there time to save her or was she already dead? It was two hours by car to the lake. She would never have been able to hold out that long. I had failed her.

  Or had I …?

  I saw in Zalech’s mind that he travelled at phenomenal speeds on that odd looking motorbike of his. In his thoughts he had referred to the bike as a GSK7, short for Golding Scientific Kinetibike Version Seven. He’d been pushing psychokinetic energy into it, somehow propelling it as fast as a bullet. Perhaps there was still time.

  I dashed down the hill and looked into the wreckage of the car to see Hunter was conscious.

  ‘I have to go without you,’ I panted. ‘If I don’t leave now Cathy may die. Will you be all right?’

  ‘Get out of here, Bentley,’ he managed to say. ‘I’ll live.’

  ‘You better!’

  I raced up the hill and leaped onto the saddle of the bike then wrapped my hands around the grips of the handles. I kicked off the stand and turned the nose of the bike south.

  ‘Right, GSK7, let’s see what you can do.’

  My thoughts were filled with the vision of Cathy being slowly dragged into the icy waters of the lake and my body surged with emotion. An awesome power exuded from me and I forced all of it into the front of the bike and suddenly I exploded onto the road. The speed was incredible and I struggled to steer the bike for a few moments. I almost drove straight into an oncoming truck then managed to dodge it at the last second. I was risking my life by travelling at such a speed but I couldn’t slow down. I had to get to that lake as quickly as I could.

  I saw the digital counter reading 500kmph. I looked back to the road ahead and increased the speed.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  The Last Straw

  I jumped off the bike when I reached the iron gate at the edge of the road. I kicked it open then raced through the field leading to the lake. Driving rain lashed my face as I ran through the long grass and my heart was pounding like crazy. I kept running until I spotted Cathy by the lake. My pace slowed for a moment and I felt a weight in my stomach. Her head and shoulders were under the water. The rest of her body was motionless.

  I sprinted to the shore and dragged her away from the lake. I used my power to sever the rope that dragged her into the water. She lay there with her eyes bulging and her mouth gaping. Bizarrely, I was reminded of how Zalech looked just after he died. Cathy had that same ghostly appearance.

  ‘No!’ I screamed. I would not, and could not, accept this fate. I had lost too many loved ones and refused to let Cathy become one of them.

  I sent a cloud of energy into her stomach and pushed it upwards which emptied her lungs of frozen water. It spilled out of her mouth then I fired a dart of energy into her heart. This was a technique that was normally used for killing, but I thought that somehow it might stimulate her heart.

  Nothing happened. Again I shot at her heart then pressed my lips on hers and blew air into her body.

  Nothing.

  I tried again.

  Her eyes twitched.

  Her chest lurched forward and she wheezed in a deep breath then reached out and grabbed hold of me. Water spurted out of her mouth and she coughed and wheezed, her body jolting and shivering. She was alive.

  ‘Ross …’ she tried to speak.

  ‘Don’t talk, Cathy. You’re going to be all right.’

  ‘Ross … Ross, he tied me to Peter. Ross … he murdered Peter …’

  ‘I know.’

  I pulled her close then wrapped my arms underneath her and carried her back to the road. I sat her down on the bike then jumped on and got it moving. My instinct was to bring her to a hospital, but that was dangerous for us both. The others always told me to avoid hospitals at costs. I had to find help and I had no idea where the other Guild members were.

  I was taking a risk, but I had little other choice. I drove to the animal sanctuary knowing that there were people there who were loyal to Mr Williams, and there was always medical personnel stationed there at night in case any of the animals were unwell.

  The security staff, who all knew Cathy personally, helped me to bring her into the central building where we found the medical officer on duty. He insisted he was only a veterinary physician and was not qualified to treat a human who had almost drowned and was suffering hypothermia. I showed him the ligature marks on Cathy’s wrist and lied that there was a killer on the loose, and that she couldn’t leave the safety of the building until he was caught. Eventually he relented under pressure and agreed to look after her.

  One of the security guards brought me to a small cafeteria on the first floor of the centre and sat me do
wn with a blanket over my shoulders and a cup of hot, black coffee in front of me on a table. My body was aching now that the adrenaline was wearing off. I had pains everywhere after the fight with Zalech but that was the least of my worries and I felt selfish even thinking of myself. I would have some bruises, maybe another scar or two to add to my growing collection. That was unimportant considering how many people had died earlier in the night.

  I went to the sink and vomited when I thought of Peter Williams. My friend and protector had met with a terrible death, one that he didn’t deserve. His body had been used in a sick and twisted game to kill the girl I loved. The only positive was that Zalech’s murderous rampage was over. He would never again hurt innocent people and would never again kill the gifted members of the Guild of the True.

  I was called into the room just after dawn; the vet told me Cathy would pull through. Apparently I had gotten to her just in the nick of time. I asked to be left alone with her, and after they left the room I climbed onto the examination table next to her and held her tight until I fell asleep.

  Cathy was gone when I woke up. I climbed off the table and saw the tall figure of Jim Sterling across the room, by the door.

  ‘Stay seated, young Bentley,’ he said. ‘Cathy is fine. She’s been brought to a proper doctor who is employed by the Guild. He will examine her injuries and will medicate her accordingly.’

  ‘I thought she was gone … I don’t know what I thought …’

  ‘I’m not surprised. You look as though you’ve taken quite a beating. You’re black and blue and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a fractured bone or two in your body.’

  ‘Who cares? He killed Peter Williams.’ I held my face in my hands and roared into them out of frustration. ‘He killed your entire team. He time-scanned Linda Farrier to find out where the rest of us were. Then he killed her!’

  ‘So, that’s how he did it.’ Sterling crossed the room and sat next to me. ‘I found out what happened a couple of hours ago, but I couldn’t quite figure out how he’d managed it. I still can’t … how on earth did he have time to kill the hit squad then travel down here before catching up with you and Hunter? All in the space of a couple of hours.’

  ‘The bike that I came here on – I don’t know where the hell he got it – it runs on psychokinetic energy and can move like a fighter jet. That’s how he managed to get from one place to another so fast.’

  ‘Golding and his toys,’ Sterling said distantly. ‘I should have allowed for something like this.’

  ‘You’re wrong, Mr Sterling. Your plan was almost perfect.’

  ‘My team should have been able to kill him. He must have been told we were coming.’

  ‘Hunter said we couldn’t trust Golding and it seems he was right. That bastard betrayed us and ten people are dead because of it.’ I pushed myself off the table and shuffled to the counter and ran my head under the tap before taking a mouthful of water. ‘I had to leave Hunter on the side of the road. He was badly injured.’

  ‘Hunter’s alive. He turned up at a hospital a couple of hours ago. He’d been brought there by a trucker who came upon the crash site. I don’t know what his injuries are, but he’ll get through this. He’s a strong man.’

  ‘And Zalech?’

  ‘Our moles in the police service have confirmed he is dead. The police will conduct an autopsy on him. He’ll be an oddity to them with his metal parts, but he can reveal nothing about the gifts or about the Guild. His treachery is over. Now it’s time to rebuild.’

  ‘I don’t think I can be a part of it anymore.’

  Sterling didn’t seem surprised or offended. ‘I understand. You have to rebuild your life first before you can think of the Guild. I trust you will make the right decision in time.’ He walked to the door and held it open for me. ‘Come, I’ll take you up to the house. You can take a proper rest and Cathy will join you tomorrow.’

  ‘I don’t know if I want to go to that house alone. Not after what happened to Mr Williams.’

  ‘Where else would you go?’

  I had no answer to his question. For the first time in my life I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. The only place for me was that big empty house and now I had to act like an adult. I had to stand on my own two feet. There was no Romand or Mr Williams to watch over me. I now had to be as strong as they once were.

  ‘There is no need for fear, Ross. You have faced and defeated the deadliest of villains and you lived. You are victorious. In this moment your mind is confused and your heart is torn with grief, but in time you will see how monumental your achievements truly are. There are very few people walking this earth who can contend with you now. Fewer still who would dare challenge you. Go to the house and rest. Trust me, you are safe.’

  He had spoken the truth and Cathy did come to the house the next day. She was quiet, and often stared off into the distance, much like her mother had in the aftermath of Romand’s death. There were tears too that first day. Lots of them. There were less the day after, and within three days she was showing fleeting signs of her old self. The Guild had kept their distance, but on the fourth day Sterling returned and shared a pot of tea with us. He told us that Mrs Williams would be back from France the next morning, along with Cathy’s mother, and that we could stay in the house with them or move to an apartment in London that the Guild had used as a safe house for many years. We opted for the latter after the funeral. Peter Williams’s ashes were to be planted with an oak sapling next to the one that stood over Romand’s final resting place.

  The house, that seemed so big and empty and cold now, would see a second funeral service in the space of five months. No one would have ever guessed that two of the wisest, strongest and most loved members of the Guild would meet such cruel deaths in such a short space of time.

  Sterling also mentioned Golding’s betrayal, and spoke of revenge. I understood why he needed to get even, but also why he would not rest until the great threat posed by Golding was banished forever. I didn’t commit to his plans, and Cathy downright refused. She told Sterling that she was done with the Guild. Never again would she expose herself to the dangers of that way of life. Sterling didn’t argue with her and seemed prepared to let her go.

  He took a different attitude with me. He was insistent that I take part in the attacks on Golding Scientific, when the time came. I appeased him by saying I needed a couple of months to recover and would join him after that. I had no intention of doing so. Cathy wouldn’t hear of it. As soon as Sterling had gone we talked about running away from England altogether and never returning to the Guild of the True and the long war they had been fighting. I didn’t like the idea of running away, but I liked the idea of her suffering a lot less. We made the decision that night to leave together after the funeral was over.

  Cathy’s mum arrived at the house early the next morning with Mrs Williams, who seemed quite composed considering what had just happened to her husband of so many years. She was probably still in a state of shock and I couldn’t blame her for that; we all remained stunned by the events of that horrible night. By late morning there were over twenty mourners hanging about the house, including Hunter. Some people associated with the Guild had smuggled him out of the hospital two days earlier. He was sitting rather uncomfortably in a wheelchair. He said both his legs were broken, but he would be back walking soon enough. His face was still bruised and there was a deep scar above his right eye. He looked a right mess, but I was sure the emotional wounds would be harder to recover from. I told him I was sorry to learn of Linda Farrier’s death. He just pretended he hadn’t heard me and looked away.

  At 4pm they planted the sapling with Peter Williams’s ashes and some of those closest to him spoke briefly. After that we reconvened at the house and most took a drink, and everyone spoke of their memories of their departed friend.

  Jim Sterling announced just before nightfall that he was leaving. Before he left the house he came to me and handed me a key and a piece of paper with an
address written on it.

  It was the key for the apartment in London where Cathy and I would stay for a month or two, until I recovered enough to rejoin the Guild’s activities. He then gave me another key, this one for a lock-up that was at the rear of the apartments. Sterling had left the Kinetibike there for me. He told me to contact him in December then went to his car.

  The evening seemed to go on forever. It was long past midnight before the last of the guests left. Mrs Williams went to bed right after that, and Cathy then told her mother of our plans. June didn’t argue. In fact, she seemed genuinely pleased that we were getting away from the Guild. I left her and Cathy to talk and went to bed.

  I didn’t sleep a great deal and was up and dressed by 7am. We were on the road an hour later and by early afternoon we had retrieved the Kinetibike and were heading west for the port of Pembroke. We boarded a ferry at 11pm that docked on the south-east coast of Ireland four hours later. From there we rode the bike north to the small cemetery near Maybrook.

  I didn’t know what I expected to see or feel when I reached my father’s grave. There were no tears shed. All I felt was resentment that his life had been taken by a brute like Zalech. I couldn’t even focus on any sense of loss because my anger was too potent.

  I spent no more than ten minutes by the grave. My father was gone and a slab of stone didn’t make me feel any closer to him. I would mourn him in my own way and in my own time. Visiting the grave hadn’t been a good idea and it took hours for my anger to ease off. By that time we had reached the north-west coast of the island, thanks to the GSK7.