by Jo Schneider
“Okay,” Mark said. “This might not be comfortable.”
A jolt of white hot electricity seared through Lys. It raced to the hole in her board and struck, leaving the board a smoking, charred mess. Lys felt herself yanked from her meditation and thrown back into the real world.
Gasping for breath, she doubled over, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to get rid of the fading images that crowded her mind.
“You okay?” Mark asked, squatting down in front of her. His hand lay on her bare forearm.
Lys slowly opened her eyes, her vision returning to normal. “Yeah, I think so.” She looked up at Mark. “That’s scary.”
Mark smiled. “Sure is, mate.” He stood and looked around. Lys followed his gaze and found both Peter and Kamau watching her. Inez and Brady still sat with their eyes closed.
“Not bad for your first time,” he said.
Lys felt like a fish out of water. “That’s magic?”
“Yes, it is.”
“How do you feel?” Kamau asked.
Lys thought about it before she answered. “Good, actually.” And she did. The remaining buzz of the magic echoed around in her head. The Need lurked in the shadows, unable to come out. Both resided inside of her?
She opened her mouth to ask Kamau how he felt, but Inez’s eyes shot open, and she gasped, looking around frantically.
“What is it?” Mark asked, moving to her.
Inez took in her surroundings, and as soon as her eyes settled on Peter she calmed down. “Nothing,” she said to Mark after a breath or two. “I just had a hard time getting out of it.”
Mark nodded, then turned his attention to Brady. “Hey, Brady, come up for some air.”
Lys noticed that Brady’s eyes moved back and forth behind his eyelids. He didn’t say anything.
“Hey, mate,” Mark said, striding across the circle. “Get out of it.”
Brady moaned. “Can’t,” he said softly.
“Try,” Mark ordered.
“Don’t want to.”
A scowl moved over Mark’s face. “Now.”
This time Brady’s eyebrows knit together, and his face screwed up in concentration. Sweat broke out on his forehead. “But I can feel everything.”
“You can feel everything later,” Mark said. “Right now I need you back here.”
Brady nodded. His shoulders shook like he had the chills, and a moment later he opened his eyes. Lys noticed that his oily eyes swirled the fastest of anyone, and his hands shook like an old man’s.
“You okay?” Mark asked.
He nodded. “I think so.” A small grin broke out on his face. “That’s pretty damn cool.”
“Isn’t it?” Mark said with a knowing smile.
Kamau frowned. “Why is it hard for some people to come out of the magic?”
Mark looked at him for a moment before answering. “Magic is different for everyone. Some people can access it easily but have a hard time getting out. For others it’s the opposite. Did you have difficulty breaking away?”
“No,” Kamau said, shaking his head. “Not at all.”
“Ancients have more control in general,” Mark said before looking around. “Why don’t we break for lunch. Inez, we need to get a hold of Mason. Do you have a cell phone?”
“I can steal one.”
“That works. I need to tell him where we are and find out when someone can come pick us up.”
Inez didn’t look particularly happy with the idea of calling Mr. Mason, but for once she didn’t argue. Instead she just stood and pointed down the hall. “There’s some food in the first room. Help yourselves. I’ll go get a phone.” Her eyes briefly flickered to Lys as if to say, “Don’t even think about following me.”
Right, like Lys would put herself in a position where she’d be alone with Inez.
Lunch went quickly. Lys inhaled some chips and a small sandwich, hardly listening to Brady throw out ideas for renaming the power levels, and barely noticing Kamau’s leg pressed up against hers. She wanted another go at her magic. Sure, it terrified her, but on the other hand, for a few minutes she’d actually felt like she was in control of her own destiny. Maybe she could go on. Maybe her life wasn’t over after all.
Before they’d finished, Inez returned with a cell phone and a bag full of fruit.
“Here,” she said, dumping it on the table. “The phones usually get reported stolen within a few hours, so you should use it now.” Without another word, Inez snatched up an apple and left the room, gracing Lys with yet another withering gaze.
“Don’t worry, she’ll calm down soon,” Peter said, following Lys’s eyes.
Lys shrugged. She didn’t care much about what Inez thought or did. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.
Mark took the phone and left the room, dialing as he went. His voice faded after the word, “Hello, Jeremiah?”
Lys stood and made her way back to the ballroom. For some reason she felt better about dabbling with magic there. Inez sat on the floor in a far corner, her eyes closed. Going back to her previous spot, Lys settled down and tried again.
This time it was easier to clear her mind, but getting to the magic took a while. She heard the others shuffle back in, but no one said anything.
When she finally got the hole in her board, and the magic began to fill her, Lys had to have Mark get her out because she couldn’t open an outlet. Magic poured into her body like water filling a glass, and when it got to her waist hysteria kicked in. That happened twice before she got it right.
As soon as she found a balance, she opened her sight and searched for someone’s eyes to look through. She didn’t want to use Mark again, so she looked farther away. It took a few minutes, but she finally found a person. Although she had no idea how she did it—the whole thing felt like a video game that she never read the directions for.
The view from the person’s eyes came into focus, and Lys recognized that they were in the supply room. There might be a lot of bad costumes in Vegas, but how many could claim the purple and white bodice on a dress made of feathers and slabs of tire. Right, no one.
She found her perspective moving toward the wall where the door lay hidden. She expected them to hang up an outfit and leave, but instead they walked to the wall and put a hand on it. A glove appeared. A black glove.
Lys hissed in a breath. Lots of costumes had gloves—must be someone from the show. However, when the perspective swiveled to the left, Lys caught sight of two policemen, one talking into his radio and another drawing his gun.
Maybe the club got busted. Lys wished she believed that.
Pulling out of someone’s sight seemed easier than getting out of her magic. It felt like squeezing part of her mind through a funnel. Lys retreated from the policemen and searched for another set of eyes to look through. It didn’t take long, and as the now familiar gray haze cleared, Lys found herself in a hallway, standing at the back of a line of four other policemen. She wished she could hear what they were saying, but Mark had told her that being a sight user meant she probably would never hear anything when she did this.
“Get me out.” The words blurted from her mouth as she recognized where this set of policemen were standing.
Mark started to say something about her doing it on her own.
“Now!” she said, raising her voice.
The shock hit her and Lys flew back into her own eyes, the scene around her shredding into ribbons. She blinked and shook her head, trying to clear the remnants of the magic from her sight.
“What is it?” Mark asked, arms crossed over his chest.
Lys gulped. “The police. They’re right outside the doors.”
The words no sooner left Lys’s lips than a crash came from the end of the hall. Everyone sprung to their feet.
Lys watched in horror as a police officer ran into the ballroom. The gun in his hand followed his gaze, traveling from her to the others and settling on Mark.
“Freeze!” the officer said as a
nother man burst from the hall.
Lys saw everyone put their hands up.
“I think we found what we’re looking for,” the second officer said.
“Call it in.” The first officer returned his gaze to Lys. “You alright there?”
Lys nodded. “Yes, sir.”
This guy thought she’d been kidnapped. By Mark. That explained the guns.
“I’m fine. I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” Lys said.
“These guys aren’t all police officers,” Peter said in a hushed whisper. He inhaled deeply. “The New.”
To Lys’s surprise, Kamau stepped forward, speaking before either man got to their radios.
“Officers, I’m so glad you found us. We’ve been lost down here for hours, and couldn’t find our way out.” He smiled brightly.
The first officer looked around at the construction lights. “Lost?”
“Yes,” Kamau said, “and you found us. We’re grateful.”
The others shot sidelong glances at Kamau, and Lys returned a reassuring smile and gave her head a little shake.
“You are?”
Kamau nodded. “Absolutely.” He took a step forward. Neither police officer twitched. They both had their eyes glued to Kamau, and they listened to his voice intently. “We’re glad that your superiors sent you after a group of lost tourists.”
“Lost tourists?” Inez muttered.
The first officer’s attention turned toward Inez, and the look of serenity on his face screwed back up into a glare.
“Yes, officer,” Kamau said, glancing at Inez out of the corner of his eye. “We were on a tour, and the guide brought us into this room. He told us a ghost story and then disappeared.”
“A ghost tour?” the second officer asked.
“Yes.” Lys noticed Kamau flick a finger at Brady. He nodded and shifted his weight. “It was horrible. The girls were scared, but now you found us.”
Both police officers nodded in unison with Kamau. Their eyes sort of glazed over and they swayed back and forth.
“You should put your guns away. You’re heroes.”
The second officer lowered his gun, then they both put their guns away, grinning madly.
“My goodness, what is that on the floor?” Kamau asked.
As both officers looked down, Brady’s hands shot into his pockets. He pulled out two pieces of broken tile and threw them at the police officers. Each one struck its mark in the head, and both men slumped to the floor.
Inez swore.
“Nice,” Mark said.
“Dude!” Brady said, turning toward Kamau. “You totally just used a Jedi mind trick on those guys! I had no idea you could do that.”
“Jedi mind trick?” Inez asked.
Brady turned to her. “Yeah, you know, like Luke Skywalker in Star Wars?”
Inez blinked.
“Oh, come on,” Brady said. “You know, the force, Star Wars, Princess Leia . . . These aren’t the kids you’re looking for.” He waved his hand in front of Inez’s eyes.
“I know what a Jedi is,” Inez said, swatting his hand away.
Brady turned to Mark. “We could use Jedi names for the magic! Padawan, Jedi Knight, Jedi Master—stuff like that!”
Mark shook his head.
“There are more coming,” Kamau said, interrupting Brady before he could really get going.
Mark turned to Inez. “Are there any other ways out?”
“Just back through the storm drains.”
“Then that’s the way we go.” He pointed at the far corner. “Now.”
Lys jogged behind Brady, who led the way. Inez and Peter brought up the rear. The room began to tilt back and forth, and Lys almost lost her footing.
The magical buzz from a few moments earlier swung the other way—filling Lys with the gut-wrenching need to sit down and cry.
“I told you they’d bring us trouble,” Inez muttered to Peter as she strode toward the grate in the floor.
Peter shrugged. “We’ll be okay.”
“We’ll all be okay if we can get to the rendezvous point and meet whoever Mason sends to get us,” Mark said.
“Get over here,” Inez said. “I’m going to cut the power.”
Everyone hurried to comply, and just as the pounding on the doors down the hall began, the room went pitch black. Lys felt Kamau step closer. The sound of the grate being lifted squeaked in the silence, and Lys cringed.
“They’re coming through the second doors,” Kamau whispered.
“I’ll go first. The rest of you follow,” Inez said. Lys heard her jeans rubbing against the side of the grate, then the click as her boots hit the concrete below.
“I can’t see a thing,” Brady complained. “Where’s the hole?”
Lys looked around. She couldn’t see anything either. Wait. She’d been able to see in the tunnels before. It must have been magic. Taking a breath, Lys closed her eyes and willed the board into existence again. It jumped to life, clear and clean—ready for use. Lys opened a tiny hole and moved in front of it. Instead of concentrating on other people’s eyes, she tried to imagine what it would be like to see in the dark. When she opened her eyes, the pitch black room sat bathed in a dull gray. She could see. Not only that, the desire to cry was crowded out by a happy buzz.
“Right there,” she told Brady, taking his arm and steering him forward.
Lys didn’t need Kamau to tell them that one set of policemen had broken through the door. She heard the pounding right before the splintering of wood. “Go!” she whispered, putting Brady’s hand on the edge of the hole.
Brady didn’t even hesitate. He jumped down, landing right next to Inez.
“Have everyone jump, I’ll catch them,” he said.
“You can’t see,” Lys pointed out.
“Don’t need to see, now I can feel you guys moving around up there.”
Brady looked up and Lys could clearly see his swirling eyes. She glanced at Kamau and found his bright, silvery eyes focused on the hallway across the room.
“Mark,” Lys said, moving him forward. “Go.”
She didn’t bother to watch him drop. Footsteps sounded from down the hall, feet crunching on dirt and rocks from the cave in.
“Go,” Lys said, pushing Kamau forward.
Indistinct words came from the hall, following the flashlight.
“They’re looking for us,” he said.
“Just go!” Lys said, wondering if the gas station clerk had turned them in. Maybe Kamau’s little trick didn’t work as well as he thought.
“You should go first,” Kamau said.
Okay, Lys had to admit that the knight in shining armor routine made her weak in the knees, but now was not the time for chivalry.
“I can see, you can’t. Go.” She maneuvered him over to the hole, placing his toes on the edge.
He looked at her. Lys knew he couldn’t see her face, but his eyes bore right through hers. Could he see? She reached out to squeeze his hand, but before she got there another flashlight joined the first, and from the way the beam spread across the floor, Lys could tell the policemen were getting close. So instead, he got a nudge. He only hesitated for a heartbeat before he jumped.
Lys and Peter dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding the flashlight beam. A fresh set of officers hit the end of the hall—a different hall than the first set. And with them came a pair of men in black body armor. Lys felt Peter squirm beside her.
“What happened?” one of the officers asked.
“Quiet,” one of the men in armor said.
Betting against those helmets not being able to see in the dark would be a bad idea. She gently pushed Peter toward the hole. He started to army crawl his way backward.
Maybe she could distract them while Peter and the others got away. Lys steeled herself and prepared to jump up.
Peter beat her to it. Springing to his feet, he bounded away from Lys.
“Hey, who are you guys?” he yelled, waving his arms.
All eyes turned toward Peter. The police officers trained their flashlight beams on him, and his sprinting form moved in and out of the light as he ran.
“Freeze!” a police officer said, gun following Peter.
“That’s one of them,” a synthesized voice said from under a helmet.
The other figure in armor raised a weapon. It looked like a crossbow from the future. The figure pointed it right at Peter and pulled the trigger.
Lys found herself on her feet as the weapon fired, launching a large c-shaped projectile at Peter.
She tried to move, but something had a hold of her ankle. She tried to break free, but the scene around her seemed to slow. She saw Peter running, arms still waving. The projectile followed him. When it hit him, it clamped around Peter’s middle like a crazed Pac-Man, locking shut with a click.
White light burst from Peter, blinding Lys. A scream full of pain rang out. The ballroom filled with anguish as Lys cried out as well.
“No!”
But her cry got cut short. Someone grabbed her from behind, putting a hand over her mouth, and lifted her off her feet. Before she could begin to struggle in earnest, her captor jumped and they both went down the hole.
“They got Peter!” Brady whispered as they landed. He set Lys down.
“Go get him!” Inez said, panic in her voice.
“It’s the New,” Lys said. “They got him with some kind of weapon. It clamped around his stomach and then there was a bright light.” She could hear the hysteria in her own voice. Peter’s scream echoed down the hole.
“That’s a dog collar,” Mark said. Everyone turned to look at him even though they probably couldn’t see him.
“Dog collars don’t capture,” Mark said. “They kill.” The scream from above cut off.
Lys watched Inez’s eyes go wide. She shook her head and started to reach for the ladder.
Mark’s hand shot out and grabbed her. “He’s gone.”
“I have to go get him,” Inez said, trying to wrench her arm free.
The synthesized voice spoke. “He’s done.” A pause. “The rest of them can’t be far.”
Rage shot through Lys. They killed Peter? They really killed him? Then the realization hit—if she’d jumped up before him, she’d be dead.