[Night Walkers 02] - Paranoia (2014)

by J. R. Johansson

  “Look down at him.” We both turned our eyes on Jack. His arms were by his side and tears rolled down his cheeks. He wasn’t even trying to defend himself. “Does he look like someone you need to fight? Does he look like your enemy? What are you doing?”

  Jack shook his head. “No, he’s right, Parker. It’s my fault he got caught. I ignored his warnings. I thought I knew better. I wanted to prove I was better.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “They used me to get him.”

  Dad leaned forward, his face and expression furious, but he didn’t try to choke Jack again. His voice was a feral growl. “That’s all, huh? Don’t you have more to confess to your brother?”

  “M-my wha—” I knelt back from them in complete shock, but no one seemed to notice.

  “No, that’s all. What are you talking about?” Jack was physically trembling beneath him.

  “No more lies.”

  This time Jack actually looked a little offended. “I’m not lying!”

  “You practically gift-wrapped me for them!” Dad sl-

  ammed the side of his fist against the ground next to Jack’s head. “You called and told me they had you!”

  “They were holding a gun to my head!” Jack spit out, pushing him off.

  “But when I came, you weren’t here.” I could hear in Dad’s voice, as he leaned back, that he was starting to doubt. “Instead, they had a whole army waiting to greet me.”

  “I only agreed to call you because I knew you wouldn’t come!” Jack pushed Dad again and slid up the wall into a sitting position. It was silent for ten—twenty—thirty seconds before Jack uttered four words that were absolutely drenched in pain and regret. “Why did you come?”

  “Why wouldn’t I come?”

  “You’ve been teaching me my entire life how to escape from here. You’ve gone over plan after plan after plan, and never once—not in one single scenario—did you ever come back to get me. It isn’t like I’m … ” His eyes darted to me, but he didn’t finish his sentence.

  Dad’s back stiffened. “I didn’t know if I could—if I’d be alive to come in after you. I wanted you to be prepared.”

  “Well done, Danny. You were very convincing,” Jack scoffed. I saw Dad flinch, and for the first time ever the guy who was apparently my brother sounded just like me. “Because I didn’t believe for even one second that you’d come after me. No matter what you heard on the phone.”

  “But they … ” Dad’s voice was soft now and full of pain. “Once I was caught, they said you’d joined their side. They showed me pictures of you with Parker. You were fighting. They told me you would kill him if I didn’t make Eclipse. I thought you had, I thought you were—oh my God.”

  “The better question is … ” Jack wiped tears off his cheeks angrily. “How could you have believed them?”

  Dad lowered his face into both hands and shook it slowly back and forth. “He came back again, fiercer this time. I guess I haven’t been thinking straight.”

  When Jack didn’t respond, Dad scooted closer. “Jack, I’m so sorry. You know—you’ve seen how hard it can be for me to see the truth. Without you here to help … he’s too strong.” His voice dropped to a low whisper, packed with emotion. “I can’t even say … I’m just … I’m so sorry. I should never have believed them. I know you would never … ”

  Jack closed his eyes tight before taking a deep breath that seemed to drain the fight out of him. “I know. I’ve seen. I understand.”

  “Super, because I don’t.” I was stunned, confused, and furious. I’d just found out the guy who’d been living in my house for weeks was secretly my brother. Obviously not

  full-blooded, because Mom didn’t know it either. So Dad had cheated on her … or with her?

  “You’re my brother?” I glared from Jack to Dad and back again. Then a sudden realization dawned. “The Builder you mentioned? The one who died when you were twelve?”

  Dad flinched and turned away. Jack gave a slight nod, but he looked braced for a fight.

  “You said she was your sister.”

  “I lied.” Jack didn’t look away or even blink.

  Every thought made me more and more furious, and Darkness was threatening to burst free. I took a deep breath and decided I didn’t care. It didn’t matter what ran in our blood. How could I call them family when they’d both left me alone with this maddening ability my entire life?

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m getting out of here as quickly as I can. I just need you to tell me how to undo what you did. All I care about right now is saving my best friend.” I got to my feet and fought Darkness back, drawing in measured breaths and blowing them out between my teeth. Calm … I needed to stay calm.

  Dad looked at Jack with wide eyes and Jack gave a soft nod. Climbing to his feet, Dad grabbed my arm and waited for me to face him. “I’m sorry, Parker. I had no idea you were … that you’d become Divided, like me. If I’d known you were so far in, I would’ve sent Jack sooner. I promise.”

  “You’re like me? You could’ve saved me from this!” I jerked my arm out of his grasp. “How come the answer isn’t ever ‘I would’ve come myself’?”

  Dad’s face was wracked with pain. “It’s complicated. Staying away kept you safe.”

  “Save it,” I muttered. “You left me and stayed with your other son. Obviously it wasn’t about keeping your kid safe.”

  Dad shook his head desperately, frantically. “His mom was dead and no one knew he was mine. That’s why I made him call me Danny. If I’d had the option to give Jack another life than the one we had, I would’ve chosen it. If anything had happened to you or your mom because I was selfish and stuck around, I wouldn’t ever have forgiven myself. You’re a man now, Parker. Tell me there isn’t anyone you would stay away from if it meant saving their lives.”

  Flinching, I looked at my feet and Jack answered for me, his voice exhausted. “He understands. He’s mad and he doesn’t want to, but he still understands.”

  “Gee, thanks, bro.” I glared at him and spit out the last word like it disgusted me. My head was pounding, my heart ripping through my chest. I was losing control. This was all too much. Closing my eyes, I pictured Addie and Finn in my mind and tried to calm down.

  “It’s fighting him.” Dad’s voice was close, although his first words weren’t directed at me. “Breathe, Parker. Don’t give in.”

  It took me a couple of minutes, but the soothing voice of my dad along with thinking about my friends smoothed everything over. I opened my eyes.

  “Thanks.”

  Dad squeezed my shoulder. The circles under his eyes were deep and scary dark, worse than mine had ever gotten. He reached out suddenly and wrapped one long arm around me and grabbed Jack with the other, crushing us both against his shoulders.

  “I love you both.” He rubbed his hand through my hair and I didn’t try to pull away. “I’ve missed you more than I can explain, both of you.”

  I’d spent many long nights thinking of all the words I would use to hurt my dad if he ever walked back into my life. Each syllable I’d imagined uttering came back to me. The possibility was right here, within reach. And he still loved me. I could see it in his eyes, feel it in the way he hugged me. That love would make it so easy to hurt him the way he’d hurt me. The ultimate revenge, right here within my grasp, and I did the one thing I hadn’t imagined doing. Without a second thought, I waved them all away and wrapped my arm around his back.

  “I missed you too, Dad.”

  When he pulled back, there were tears in his eyes and he was smiling. The same smile I remembered from long before he left, from when I was much younger.

  “Now, tell me what’s going on with Finn?”

  chapter twenty-six

  “You remember Finn?” I frowned and rubbed my thumb across my chin.

  Dad’s brow furrowed. “Of course. You’ve been friends forever. And I’ve kept an eye on you over the past five years, you know.”

  Jack shook his head like I was
a lost cause. “I tried to explain that, but it’s clear who got the brains in the family.”

  “Oh, right.” I glared at Jack. “He was your spy.”

  Jack flinched at the word “spy” and I almost felt bad …

  almost. Then he turned to Dad. “Finn was the trial-run subject for Eclipse.” His face was sober, but Dad’s face drained of color completely.

  “No … no, it wasn’t supposed to happen.” He rubbed one hand through his hair, tugging on the ends like I’d always done. It was like watching a vision of me in the future. “I swore I’d never make that drug again, but when they told me you’d betrayed me, showed me pictures of you and Parker … told me you’d threatened to use everything I’d taught you against Parker … it was confusing. He made me believe them.”

  I knew now that Dad was talking about his own version of Darkness. I couldn’t claim not to understand how terrifyingly real hallucinations could seem.

  “Tell me you know how to reverse it,” I said.

  “I don’t … ” Dad turned toward me, his face stricken. “I don’t think it’s possible. Any options are untested, unsafe.”

  “We’ll start there. Tell me what you know.”

  “It’s not that simple. You’d need to do something that cannot be done.” He was muttering under his breath as he turned away, arguing so low the only person it could’ve been with was himself. I made a mental note to be even more careful not to argue with Darkness in front of other people. It didn’t—well, it didn’t look good.

  “Dad?” My voice was low but firm. “I’m not a kid anymore. You tell me what I have to do. I’ll decide whether or not I can do it.”

  He stared at my face and raised one rough palm to my cheek. “Right … right. You’re no child, but don’t overestimate yourself. Even you can’t do this.”

  “Tell me.”

  “It’s like they always said, though … ” Dad muttered to himself before walking back to his hiding spot by the back wall as though he’d completely forgotten we were here. “Sometimes it takes one who is broken to heal one who is not.”

  I turned to Jack, but I could see it in his eyes. Dad hadn’t been watching out for me in this frame of mind. He wasn’t really capable of it anymore—but Jack was. He’d been doing what Dad would’ve wanted, and he’d been handling this entire mess almost entirely on his own. Jack’s eyes brimmed with tears that never quite fell as we watched our dad display how far a Watcher could fall.

  My heart shattered for them both and for the first time, I didn’t think about how they should have been around for me. I thought about how I should have been around for them. Was this the future for all Watchers, if we survived this long without a Builder? Or was it just for those like Dad and me? The Divided? For the first time, I wondered if it could be a blessing to die young.

  Jack stepped silently to my side, both of us watching Dad’s back.

  “How long has he been like this?” My voice cracked a little.

  “It’s been a slow decline. He’s had a harder and harder time fighting back.”

  “I’m not deaf.” Dad whirled to face us, his eyes sharp. “And I don’t know how much your brother has told you, but you’ve already been here too long and we must act quickly.” He was speaking fast, but each word was quiet and clear. I was thrown again when he said the word “brother,” but I moved past it, knowing that if what he was about to tell me was how to save Finn, it was much more important right now.

  He stood beside his cot and patted his hands across the front of his dirty jeans and shirt like he was looking for something to write with … never mind the fact that we had nothing to write on. “Finn’s personality has gone quiet. It’s being slowly overwritten by the Taker in his body. Like code in a computer, he’s being replaced. The longer this continues, the more of him will be gone. Understand?”

  I gave him a shaky nod. Finn was being erased from the inside out. How could I fight that? “Tell me how to stop it.”

  “This is a bad idea, Parker.” He frowned and turned in a small circle beside his bed before staring at me again. “There is a good chance that you—that neither you nor Finn will survive it.”

  “I understand. Just tell me what you know.” I placed one hand on his wrist to keep him focused.

  “It’s the Taker. You must find the Taker’s body and bring it with you, but make sure you take the IV also. Once you unhook the drug, you’ll have one hour to find a way to release Finn before the Taker’s body will begin to shut down. Once that happens, they’ll both be lost for good.”

  I frowned. “This sounds like more than an untested theory.”

  His brow furrowed. “This part we know for sure. They’ve done a couple of low-dose temporary tests to make sure Eclipse was safe before the official trial involving your friend.”

  “Okay … ” I said, resisting the sinking feeling in my gut. Everything he said was only making it sound less like there was an answer.

  “The dangerous part is this: only a mind stronger than the bond between the Taker and Finn will be able to break him loose. The only mind strong enough to do that … ” He stopped fidgeting, grabbed one of my shoulders, and stared hard into my eyes. “Is one that’s been Divided—and permanently rejoined again.”

  “That’s possible?” My mind and mouth gaped at the ramifications. Would Darkness be gone? Could I be like before? For the first time in days, Darkness was utterly silent behind his wall.

  Dad’s frown deepened at the hopeful tone in my voice. “When a person like us becomes Divided, that new portion of personality stretches out into new space. It actually utilizes a different portion of the brain, which makes the mind stronger and the personality weaker.”

  “That makes sense.” I spoke slowly, my mouth struggling to form words from my rampaging thoughts. “But has anyone ever actually been rejoined?”

  “It’s happened a couple of times.” Dad looked down and closed his eyes like he was in sudden, intense pain. “The risk, though, has outweighed any possible reward.”

  My brain stopped whirring and every limb went suddenly cold. “What is the risk?”

  “We have no proof whether it can be different, but every time thus far, every time one of the Divided has tried … ” Dad opened his eyes, but he looked everywhere except for at me. “It has been the Id—the adapted personality—that’s taken full control.”

  My body went rigid and for a moment it seemed as though everything had gone still both within me and without. I heard my voice speak words that I didn’t remember deciding to say. “I understand.”

  “I know how important Finn is to you, Parker.” Dad squeezed my shoulder with his long, thin fingers until I looked up into his face. “But this is too dangerous. You shouldn’t try it. The danger is too great.”

  My stomach roiled inside of me at the choice I’d have to make. And all I could manage was to speak the same words again. “I understand, Dad.”

  “Good.” He nodded, checked his pockets for a pen again, and then turned back to Jack. “Now then, we need to go to my lab.”

  “Why?” Jack was already shaking his head.

  “To make sure no one can ever make Eclipse again.”

  We snuck back into the hallway and Jack crept down to the corner, checking to be sure the nearest section was still empty. He gestured for me to follow, but instead, I walked to the nearest occupied cell, pulled up the door release as quietly as possible, and then moved on to the next one. The prisoner from the first, a ragged older man, staggered out behind me. I glanced ahead at Jack and my—our—dad. “You guys want to help me out here?”

  “Now?” Jack looked torn. It was a lot harder to sneak around with a massive group of people.

  I paused and looked at them both. “Do you really think we’ll get the chance to come back later?”

  Without a word, they looked at each other and then began opening the cells, one at a time. Dad skipped one and I asked why.

  “I know him.” His mouth pressed in a hard line. �
�He’s a Taker.”

  I peeked in. The man looked only a little older than Jack, and his face was pressed against the glass. He mouthed the word, “Please.”

  “Then why did they lock him up?”

  He shrugged and moved on to the next cell.

  Looking back in, I met the man’s eyes and then muttered under my breath as I lifted the latch, “The enemy of my enemy … I hope.”

  The Taker came out, thanked me, and turned toward the huddled group in the middle of the hallway.

  I stopped him halfway there. “Why were you locked up?”

  He sighed but turned, his face sincere as he responded. “Not all of us think Eclipse is the answer. I think I just disagreed a little louder than most.”

  Dad raised his eyebrows from down the hall and I heard him mutter, “Maybe there is hope yet.”

  By the time we got down the first hallway, we had a team of ten people opening doors and spreading our message: “We’re all getting out of here. Move quick. Stay quiet.”

  I opened Audrey’s door myself. When I walked in, she cowered farther into the corner.

  “I’ve talked to your mom and dad. They miss you.”

  Her brown eyes got huge and she stopped shaking, but she didn’t move.

  “I’d like to take you home to them.”

  I counted one second—two—three. Long enough that Jack poked his head in the door looking for me, but I didn’t want to rush her … or scare her.

  “Parker … ” Jack said my name, but hesitated when I glanced at him over my shoulder.

  Then I felt a tiny cold hand in mine and looked down to see Audrey’s bare feet next to my own.

  “Please take me home.” Her voice trembled, but before I could respond, she followed Jack out into the hallway and pulled me along in her wake.

  Jack led everyone down the next hall. We found Delilah Jones, the grandmother I’d seen on the Missing Persons poster in the Newton City Jail. She took Audrey’s hand so I could continue opening cells. Perfect strangers moved together with one purpose. Some assisted older people and children to move quickly, to stay quiet. Jack took command like he was born to it and they followed him easily. This was what the NWS should have been about. Helping others to survive, to live full lives in spite of what our genes and reckless scientists had done to us. This was what Dad had always wanted.