The Riser Saga

by Becca C. Smith

Eva leapt at me and I made a soldier block her way. She looked like a crazed animal, trying to claw her way through the corpses, trying to attack me.

  It distracted me for a moment.

  WHACK!

  Elisha’s triumphant grin was the last thing I saw as I fell to the ground.

  Actually, second to last.

  As my head hit the floor, I saw the blank stare of Max, standing over me, holding one of the metal pipes.

  Ouch.

  Chapter Four

  Thursday April 7, 2321

  Really?

  How many times had I been knocked out in the last six months of my life?

  My head pounded as I opened my eyes to see where Elisha had taken me.

  An empty room.

  Awesome.

  No windows, one steel door, cement all around. I felt like I was in a slightly larger coffin than the one Elisha put me in before. She did this on purpose. To mess with my head.

  It was totally working.

  I wanted to scream.

  I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

  Through the mouth. Through the mouth. If I just took small relaxing breaths through my mouth eventually my brain would calm down enough to make me realize that I actually could breathe. It was one of the techniques Jill taught me.

  In case Elisha was spying on me somehow, I didn’t want her to have the satisfaction of me freaking out.

  I really hated her.

  I searched for anything dead, my usual tactic in a hostile situation!

  Nothing.

  Of course.

  I should have known.

  Max.

  Had he turned? Had he been lying to me the whole time? Was he under Elisha’s control? I guess Max’s loyalty was the least of my problems, but I just didn’t want to believe he was evil like Elisha and Eva. I don’t know why. I guess it was because I genuinely liked the guy. Max had such a quiet power that was both intimidating and inspiring at once. Plus, he could be a potential ally if I could break Elisha’s hold on him. If that’s what it was.

  I wondered at the lack of anything dead.

  At some point, I would have to be around dead things soon because Elisha had the same power I did.

  I couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t killed me, though. I mean, I was happy for that, but it didn’t make any sense. Why keep a person alive who could thwart your every move? Elisha always had a reason for everything that she did, and I had a horrible feeling in the pit of stomach as to why she was keeping me alive.

  That’s when Elisha’s lovely voice filled the room through some hidden speaker, “Good morning.”

  I kind of grumbled. I really didn’t feel like talking to evil-wench-girl.

  The steel door clunked and then opened.

  Four burly guards walked in, all strapped with guns. “Please follow my boys.” Elisha’s voice ordered with annoying politeness.

  I decided it was better than the cement tomb, so I stood up on wobbly feet and followed the guards outside.

  The hallway we entered was similar to the room I just left, cement all around. I had the distinct feeling we were in some sort of underground bunker. Buried alive with style this time, I guess.

  I did a quick Roberta check. I opened my mind to her, hoping she’d be there waiting to tell me they were on their way to the rescue.

  Nope.

  I’d have to save myself.

  Again.

  Where are you? Roberta’s concerned voice echoed in my brain.

  Relief flooded through me.

  I thought back to her, No idea. I thought you guys would track me or something.

  With what? You insisted that Geoffrey take our tracker out of you.

  I could hear the I told you so tone in her voice. When I’d realized that the grandparents had injected a tracking device in my blood five months ago, it kind of… I don’t know… freaked me out! I told Turner to take it out, but I had secretly assumed he hadn’t. The fact that Gramps actually had taken out the tracker made me realize what a huge step that was toward trusting me. Now, of course, I felt like an idiot because they could have rescued Ryan and me by now. Ggrr.

  That’s assuming Ryan was anywhere near me.

  The odds were for it since Elisha loved torturing me, and seeing Ryan hooked up to brain-sucking machines was the perfect way to do it.

  After what seemed like hours (probably five minutes), our party arrived at a solid steel door. I needed to come up with a battle plan. Preferably one that didn’t involve Ryan or me dying.

  I got back to Roberta, I’m in some kind of place with lots of cement and steel doors. Does that help at all?

  Roberta’s response was quick in my brain, Not really, but it sounds like it’s underground. We’ll start a search. In the mean time, keep our connection open.

  Will do, I answered.

  I shivered.

  What was that I just felt for Grams? Comfort? Gratefulness? Loyalty? It was sad that it actually made me shudder to think of a grandparent that way. Those feelings should be natural. Ha.

  I walked through the opened steel maw of darkness into another concrete room. This one was filled with holo-computers and set up like an I.Q. Farm. Eva and Elisha were standing over Ryan’s unconscious body.

  As I’d expected, Ryan was hooked up to the thousands of wires that plugged into the ceiling and the giant brain machine. The holo-monitors displayed his brain activity and it was off the charts. The I.Q. kids stuck in Ryan’s head were going nuts in there. And from his weak vital signs, they were killing him.

  There were no others in the room. Four guards behind me. Ryan, Eva, Elisha in front. And me.

  Max was nowhere to be seen.

  Still nothing dead.

  But still… these were odds I could work with.

  Elisha smiled when she saw me.

  Eva didn’t.

  Elisha motioned me toward her. “Don’t worry, Ryan will be himself soon.”

  I reluctantly walked over to her so that I could hold Ryan’s hand.

  I looked up at Elisha with as much hatred as I could muster, “What do you want with us? Why haven’t you tried to kill me?”

  Elisha acted as if the very thought offended her, “Chelsan, why would I kill you? I need you.”

  “Uh, huh. To do what? Break-in to headquarters again?” I was fishing and she knew it.

  “Oh, I can do that on my own now. No. I need you to kill yourself,” Elisha said it like it was the most natural thing in the world to say.

  “And why on earth would I do that?” I asked, appalled at this psychopath.

  “I can’t tell you that, just trust me.”

  Um.

  Was Elisha really this insane or did her recent, forced growing spurt fry her brain a bit?

  “Here’s an answer for you. No.” Geez.

  Elisha laughed. “You don’t have to do it now, silly. I need you alive first.” She nodded to two of the guards.

  One guard stepped forward and grabbed me by the arms. The second guard opened a small metal box to reveal two filled syringes inside.

  Uh, oh.

  The second guard took out the first syringe and injected it into my arm.

  Elisha tilted her head to the side as if observing me for the first time. “This first injection makes you loopy so you won’t have control over your power.”

  My vision started to blur and everything felt really sluggish. My body felt thick and heavy, every movement was a Herculean effort.

  The guard injected the second needle.

  Elisha’s voice sounded like she was in a tunnel, “The second shot should make it impossible to communicate with anyone.”

  Roberta! I screamed in my head. She injected me with something!

  Nothing.

  Roberta! I used every ounce of my astral ability.

  Crickets.

  Elisha stepped closer to me, so pleased with herself. “That little shot works wonders, doesn’t it? Did you honestly think I’d let you talk to your dear old grandmothe
r? You’re still just as dumb as I remember.”

  I wanted to respond. To yell. To scream. But my tongue felt like it was eight times its size and my lips were numb.

  Elisha took another moment to gloat, but when I’m sure my sluggish state was no longer entertaining for her, she moved towards Eva and Ryan.

  Eva’s eyes lit up with joy at the sight of my drugged stupor.

  No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t focus on anything.

  “Open the wall,” Elisha ordered.

  Eva walked over to a holo-computer and punched in a command.

  A loud clanking echoed in the room and I wanted to giggle. Why did I want to giggle? I felt so weird.

  I noticed Elisha and Eva suddenly turning toward me. What were they looking at? That’s when I realized I was making strange noises as I opened and closed my mouth trying to feel my numb lips.

  Eva groaned, obviously disappointed. “You said she’d be in pain.”

  “Patience, Eva. I never said it was the drugs that were going to make her feel bad. Let her enjoy the good for now.” Elisha turned around to focus on the wall in front of me.

  It was opening. I couldn’t tell if it was the drugs or not, but as light started to pour into the room, yes, it was definitely opening.

  Whoa.

  Thousands of swirling black holes were behind the wall. I hadn’t seen them before. The wall must have been made of that compound the grandparents used. I had been so freaked out I hadn’t noticed.

  Focus.

  Focus.

  Blah. Blah. Blah. My mind felt fuzzy. Unicorns.

  The wall was gone.

  And standing in front of us was an entire army of dead soldiers standing in perfect formation.

  Elisha’s army.

  They were outside in some sort of canyon, or maybe it was cement. The L.A. River. I was sure of it. Darn it, stupid, slurpy drugs! I needed to talk to my grandma.

  “Get Ryan ready,” Elisha ordered Eva.

  Ryan?

  Ready for what?

  How was I standing? My legs felt like Jell-O and yet I was standing perfectly straight with no guards helping me.

  Eva’s hands were moving a mile a minute as she swiped and swirled and punched the holo-screens in front of her. I couldn’t tell if it was my muddled brain or not, but it looked like her hands were dancing.

  I nearly toppled over when Ryan’s whole body seized.

  “Ryan!” I could hear my voice scream, but it felt like it came from someone else. Like I was standing outside my own body watching the entire scene take place.

  Wait a minute.

  I was standing outside my body.

  My mind instantly became clear. Somehow I had jumped out of my body completely. Whatever brain-wave-stopping drug Elisha injected me with didn’t work. She thought it would stop me communicating with anyone... That’s when I realized that “talking” to Roberta was different than “visiting” Roberta. They were actually two separate things. One: I stayed completely inside my brain. And two: I was completely out of my body. I suddenly realized that calling every kind of mental communication “astral projection” was actually not accurate.

  Now that I was out of my body, I didn’t know what to do.

  I felt so helpless.

  Ryan seized again, his back arched in pain.

  “NOW!” Elisha screamed.

  Eva pressed a final switch.

  Ryan screamed.

  They were killing him.

  Instinct took over.

  I jumped inside his head.

  It was like entering a wind tunnel full of light. Streaks of white soared past me at lightning speed.

  Then, just as suddenly, it was calm.

  “Chelsan?” I heard Ryan’s sweet voice call out.

  One second I was in darkness, the next I was in a field of the greenest grass I’d ever seen. And Ryan was standing in front of me.

  I ran to him and we embraced like we hadn’t seen each other in years. Even though I wasn’t really there, I could still feel his arms wrapping around me. Ryan kissed me and my imaginary toes tingled just like in real life.

  Ryan pulled away with a smile. “They’re gone. Elisha did it.”

  “The I.Q. kids?” I asked incredulously.

  Ryan nodded. “Whatever she did to configure the machine, she took all of them out. I’m sure my body will be unconscious for a while, but I’m free. I’m actually free.”

  I hated Elisha’s guts, but I admit I was thrilled that she’d made good on her word and helped Ryan. Of course, my body was still drugged and she wanted me to kill myself, but baby steps.

  “Where did they all go?” The thought suddenly occurred to me.

  “Into the ether? I dunno. I’m just happy they’re gone.” Ryan kissed me again and my stomach did flip flops. “How are you here? Are you sleeping?”

  “Weren’t you watching?” I figured he had “seen” everything that had just happened like he had the last time he was hooked up to the brain contraption.

  “Elisha injected some kind of drug in me so I couldn’t have free access to the machine. Why? What’s happening?” Ryan had worried-face on.

  “I’m drugged too,” I informed him. “Elisha used it to stop me from talking to Roberta in my head, but it didn’t stop me from leaving my body.”

  “Interesting.” Ryan was thinking. “Do you think you can take over my body?”

  Huh?

  “Huh?” What was he getting at?

  SWOOSH!

  I was thrown out of Ryan’s body with stomach-puking force. Luckily, I wasn’t pushed back into my own drugged-out form.

  “Clever, but you have to stay in your own body.” Elisha was talking to my actual body and not my incorporeal form, so I figured I was ahead of the game. She really thought the drug would keep me locked inside my own body. Her mistake.

  Ryan was out cold and I was loopy girl down below. I made a quick decision and flew out of there as fast as I could. I focused so I could see all the strings of light that connected me to everything. The brightest, as usual, was Grams. I clung to it and raced to Roberta as fast as I could while keeping an eye on the ground to see where we were.

  Definitely the L.A. River. I was right about that.

  Elisha had built some kind of underground facility underneath the Sepulveda Basin, which branched off from the river. I recognized the Sepulveda Dam first with its cement archways and long straight bridge spanning its way across the concrete floor. There wasn’t much water, it was more for show than anything else at this point (and at any point according to Mr. Alastar). But the Sepulveda Dam was a landmark, and that helped me gain my bearings.

  I was flying past it and towards Population Control in a matter of seconds. Everything was a blur of light and color until I was floating above Roberta’s head. She was sitting in a room with Turner. Harry and Isabelle were there as well with the two other soldiers that escaped Elisha’s ambush, Terence and Dean I think it was. It looked like Gramps was so angry he was about to rip off Harry’s head. Isabelle stood in the corner like she was invisible, taking in the conversation. She was definitely an observer while the other two sat in cushy armchairs quietly next to Roberta.

  I didn’t have time to listen in so I jumped full force inside Roberta’s head.

  “Chelsan! You’re here! I’ve been trying to contact you, but Elisha must have some sort of blocking device.” Roberta appeared in front of me, the blackness around us melting and transforming until we stood in our usual oak forest. Apparently, this place gave comfort to Roberta as well as to me since she always created the same forest as our meeting place.

  I got right down to it. “Elisha gave Ryan and me some kind of drug that stops us from communicating outside ourselves. For me it was the psychic thing and for Ryan it was preventing him from connecting to the computers. Somehow I was able to leave my body and come here, but my actual body is seriously drugged out right now.”

  Roberta’s eyebrows furrowed with thought for a moment,
then relaxed as she understood and explained, “When you talk to me directly through your mind it’s called ‘telepathy.’ When you leave your body like this, that’s ‘astral projection.’ They’re two different things. Elisha’s obviously found a way to stop telepathy, whether through minds or, as Ryan does, through computers.”

  It made sense, although it still made me feel like a novice. I’d just assumed they were all the same thing. It made me realize there was so much more about the whole black-magic-mojo world I didn’t know.

  Roberta brought me sharply out of my contemplation. “Do you know where she’s keeping you and Ryan?”

  I nodded. “In some kind of base under the Sepulveda Dam.”

  “We’ll get you out of there as soon as possible. You’d better travel back to your body. Sooner or later Elisha will realize that you’re not in it, despite her drugs. Probably sooner.” Roberta hugged me impulsively. “We’re coming, just hold on tight.”

  Sudden tears filled my eyes. Roberta said the words with such conviction, it made me emotional. Sometimes it was hard being the strong one. Having someone, even Roberta, hug me like that made the whole situation a bit overwhelming.

  Roberta pulled back and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “You and Ryan will be fine,” she smiled, “I promise.”

  I smiled back. Me! I actually smiled back. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t help it. Roberta was giving me comfort and I needed it.

  “There’s something else I need to tell you,” I began. Then I told her about the I.Q. kids being ripped from Ryan’s brain.

  Roberta’s face turned white. “I’ll tell Geoffrey. Now go.”

  I didn’t like that look, it made me extremely nervous as to where exactly those I.Q. kids went. It wasn’t like Elisha to do something out of the kindness of her heart. So what was in it for her? There was nothing more I could do here, though, so I nodded to Roberta and zoomed out of there, heading back to Ryan as fast as I could. So fast I made the mistake of actually entering back into my own body.

  Whoa.

  Drugs are bad.

  Seriously.

  I felt like I was going to throw up, and yet at the same time, I couldn’t move. Through the whole super-sluggish haze, I saw that Elisha was busy talking to Eva, probably planning out their world domination strategy. I concentrated as hard as my muddled brain would allow and tried to partition my consciousness from the drugged out part of my brain. I tried to use the same technique I used to focus and unfocus on dust. One moment I’d see it, the other moment I didn’t. If I could just separate my clear mind from my intoxicated one. Basically: shove my consciousness into another part of my brain that wasn’t affected by the drug.