Six’s unfamiliarity at patrolling made me wonder – didn’t all supernormals receive combat style training? I was only recently coming to the realization that not all supernormals spent their time patrolling for creatures. There were as many jobs for us as there were for normals.
Kevin slowed down, parking beside the small park. The scene was typical – a few homeless folks set up under a large tree, a couple of guys playing Frisbee, and a woman cutting through from Belmont to 20th.
“Where is it?” I leaned forward between Kevin and Six to peer out the front window. “Are we sure it’s around here? What is it, anyway?”
“Some sort of mole or anteater-like creature,” Kevin replied. “The last report to Animal Control came from the apartment across the street. Some dude found it vaporizing the trash bins.” He turned off the ignition. “Then he said it ran across the street into the park.”
“Did Animal Control send anyone out to investigate?”
Kevin shrugged. “Aunt Kate said they thought the guy was stoned when he described the animal. I guess they don’t believe it when people tell them they’ve seen an anteater shooting vapor at stuff.”
Six spoke up. “Should we split up and scout the area?”
Kevin angled his head to stare at her with the ghost of one his crooked smiles.
I snorted and then said, “So you’ve really never patrolled before yesterday?” I shifted in my seat, digging into my backpack for the sap I carried as a backup to my sword. The sap was a discreet weapon, one I could bring to school without getting in trouble.
Six answered in a stiff voice, “Our training was focused on intellectual subjects, more appropriate to our calling.”
“Well, then.” I was torn between annoyance at her attitude and concern over dealing with a newbie while monster hunting. Now I knew how my cousins had felt when I came back and joined them on patrol.
Kevin opened the car door. “We’re not too formal. We just wander around until something pops up.” I smirked at his description of our hunts – we weren’t quite that aimless, but I knew he was resisting Six’s involvement in our hunt.
“Sometimes literally,” I added, getting out the car and coming around to meet Kevin and Six on the sidewalk. Six was frowning and I waited for her to comment on our plan, but she kept quiet.
We started to walk through the park when my attention was caught by the large community garden along one side. It was too early in the year for many crops to be planted, but there was a thicket of bushes near the back. A section of the bushes rippled in the opposite direction of the light wind.
I pointed, Kevin nodded, and we changed course in the direction of the garden. It could be anything other than the critter we were tracking, a cat or a raccoon, maybe, but it was worth checking out.
We were at the wooden fence surrounding the garden when one of the bushes in the middle of the patch crumbled to the ground as if it had suddenly dissolved. Kevin and I glanced at each other and jumped over the fence simultaneously. Six grunted and then followed.
Kevin ran into the bushes and I signaled for Six to go right while I went left.
Six hissed, “There.” She pointed to the edge of the patch.
I saw the tip of a black nose at the end of a long snout poking out of a bush.
“Toss Six the bag,” I whispered to Kevin.
Six’s eyes widened, but she deftly caught the bag Kevin threw at her. Her hands shook as she pulled it open.
“Okay, it’ll probably try to run back into the bushes, so Kev and I will block it,” I told Six, keeping my voice soft and even. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to avoid alarming the creature or keep Six calm.
Six nodded and then bent over, creeping towards the bush with the bag held open. When she got close, she lunged forward. The creature darted out of the bush into the open ground and then froze. Sure enough, it looked like a small, gray anteater glaring at us with beady black eyes. Six hesitated for a breath before diving down. The creature easily dodged her attack, skittering under the bushes. It peered out at us and snorted out a jet of vapor.
“Damn.” Six looked so bummed as she got to her feet. I felt badly for her.
“Hey, no big deal.” I pointed to the bushes. “It didn’t go far. Go after it from the side. We’ll distract it.”
She nodded, her gaze locked onto the spot where the creature’s nose caught the sunlight. I exchanged a grin with Kevin. Six moved towards the bushes in an arc while Kevin went at it from the left and I moved directly at it. The creature snuffled anxiously as I drew closer, but it didn’t run. Maybe it thought we couldn’t see it.
“Now!” Kevin hissed. I ran forward as he came in from the left, driving the pseudo-anteater to the right, straight into Six’s open bag.
“I got it!” She rolled over, clutching the bag in her lap. She grinned at me, her eyes shining with excitement.
I crouched next to her, studying the bag. It was still as I tied the opening closed. Aunt Kate was going to have fun studying this thing.
“Nice job,” I told Six. I didn’t mention her use of “I” or how strange the grin had looked on her face.
Kevin walked over, rustling through the bushes, and stood looking down at us with a blank expression. I caught his eye and knew he’d heard Six as well.
“That was amusing. Is hunting always like this?” Six handed me the bag and stood. Once standing, she reached for the bag. I gave it back to her with a slight grin. I remembered the first creature I’d caught – my feeling of accomplishment had lasted for several days.
“It’s not always so quick,” I answered, thinking of a few all-night hunts.
Back at the van, Six carefully laid the wiggling bag in the secure area in the back of the van. We reclaimed our original seats. Kevin started the van and pulled onto the road heading back to the warehouse.
I leaned back in the seat and rubbed the sides of my head, feeling spacey all of a sudden. I closed my eyes tightly and reopened them, hoping to focus. I realized Six was talking to me.
“How often do you go on patrol?”
“About every –” I gasped, barely aware of my body going rigid as a series of images flooded into my mind.
I, or my host, was fighting a bearded man dressed in a camouflage jacket barely buttoned over his ample stomach. He swung a fist through the air, but it never connected; instead, he froze while my perspective shifted until I was looking at the back of his head. The camo man unfroze, looking around wildly. My host pulled out a knife and jammed it into the side of his throat. Blood sprayed, splattering everywhere.
The hands I’d seen in other visions reached down and stripped the man of his weapons. As my host stood up, I saw mountains in the background.
Now I saw other people fighting – Black Gaea against bearded men dressed in mismatched military gear. Survivalists? If so, they weren’t surviving. Joshua, the man who’d escaped with Emma and Black Gaea, fought two men, slamming his fist into the side of one opponent’s head, then grabbing the man’s limp body to use as weapon against his other opponent.
Black Gaea fought like a whirling dervish, mowing down her opponents until only one remained. He tried to run, but she grabbed his arm so hard it ripped from his body.
The vision ended with Black Gaea’s blood-streaked face as an afterimage. I sobbed and gagged as I wrapped my arms around my stomach, hunching over, wishing I had the ability to erase what I’d just seen. It was worse because I was pretty sure my host was Emma.
I looked up, slowly realizing the van wasn’t moving. Kevin stared at me with concern while Six watched me with a blank expression and dilated eyes.
“What the hell, Ollie?” Kevin’s voice shook. “Are you okay? Was that a seizure?”
Chapter 13
I gripped the edges of the seat, feeling the material rip under my fingers. “What are you talking about? Ben’s in a coma. He can’t talk to anyone. There’s no way he can send me visions.” Fear and bitterness roughened my voice. I dashed the remaining tear
s from my cheeks.
I could see the side of Kevin’s face as he watched Six. “First you accuse us of helping Emma escape and now you accuse an unconscious dude of contacting Olivia. You really have it out for the Brighthalls, don’t you?” His cheek flushed with anger or with shock.
Six folded her hands and looked straight ahead. “We need to return to your warehouse. This is serious and we will discuss it in the presence of adults, since you’re both minors.”
Kevin peered around the seat to stare at me; I read the unspoken question. I shook my head – no, I didn’t want to get out of the van and run. I’d tried running away from the supernormal world before and it didn’t work.
In addition, I admitted to myself, the news that the visions might come from Ben sparked several emotions inside of me. Just hearing Ben’s name spoken aloud gave me a jolt. I realized I was desperate for any news about him. Six seemed to know something about his condition, so I was sticking with her until I found out more about him.
Kevin quirked the side of his mouth, acknowledging my decision, then turned around and started the van. We made the rest of the trip in silence. Staring out the window at houses, then shops passing by, I replayed the visions. If they were coming from Ben, how was he able to show me what Emma saw? Was he still in a coma? Was he out? My heart beat harder. Had he escaped like Emma? Maybe he was tracking Emma and needed help. Maybe I was the only one he trusted. What if the visions were his way of trying to contact me for help? I imagined a scenario where Ben told me I was the only person he trusted enough to contact.
The van hit a bump, jarring me out of my daydream. I stared at Six’s profile, her lips set in a firm line and her eyes straight ahead.
My daydream suddenly felt foolish. Did I really believe Six when she said Ben was sending me these visions? How could she possibly know? If he was still in a coma, it’s not as if he could tell them.
We pulled into the warehouse lot and Kevin parked the van. He said to Six, “Do you want to carry the bag? You caught the creature, after all.”
Six ran her fingers over the sturdy material and hesitated before answering, “No.”
Kevin shrugged. “Whatever.”
When we entered the warehouse, Aunt Kate was working on the Wii she’d reprogrammed to let her run training simulations designed by Uncle Dan. She saw us, started to greet us and then narrowed her eyes at our serious expressions. Kevin held up the bag, indicating he was going to lock up the creature. Aunt Kate nodded without taking her eyes off Six.
I slumped down on the couch with a sigh. Too wound up to sit still, I jiggled one leg fitfully.
Aunt Kate put down the Wii controller. “What happened?” She crossed her arms, tapping her left hand fingers on her right elbow.
I started to answer, but Six spoke over me. “Benjamin Hallowfield has been sending visions to Olivia Brighthall.” She regarded me thoughtfully. “When Emma Brighthall and her companions escaped, one of Benjamin Hallowfield’s guards noticed increased brain activity on his monitors. Some of us suspected he was trying to reach out to someone.” Her intense stare accompanied by her dilating pupils made me uncomfortable and I looked away, feeling guilty without knowing why.
Aunt Kate dropped her arms to her sides, regarding me with shock. She shook her head, closed her eyes tightly, and took a deep breath before opening them. “I was under the impression Ben is still in a forced coma and is one of the most guarded prisoners in Ley.” She came over to sit beside me, putting her hand over mine. “How can the boy send visions to my niece?”
Six continued to stand, looming over us with a calm expression. “We know from previous studies that mind readers,” she said “mind readers” distastefully as if speaking of them would expose her to Ben’s abilities, “will sometimes form a bond with those they’ve read or influenced. We know Benjamin Hallowfield influenced Emma Brighthall and we hoped he was connected to her.” She tapped her fingers together. “The conundrum was to find someone else with whom he’d connected.” She looked at me with a pleased expression as if I was her prize. “Frankly, we aren’t surprised it is Olivia Brighthall. We suspected an affinity before this.”
“What!” I jerked forward, but Aunt Kate’s hand on mine tightened and kept me in check. I frowned at Six. How could anyone know about Ben and me?
“When did Ben bond with you, Olivia?” Aunt Kate’s voice cut through my thoughts and I winced.
I kept myself from looking at the fireproof training room in the far corner — where Ben had kissed me and accidently read my mind. At the time, any violation I’d felt was tempered by him telling me the reading had revealed my innocence in the rash of bombings in Portland — the ones Emma turned out to be guilty of. Unfortunately, we couldn’t tell anyone because he had found out by reading my mind. Which was against the law.
Of course, Ben had gone on to commit a graver offense in the eyes of the Council by controlling Emma’s mind and saving us. Therefore, they locked him up anyway.
Aunt Kate was waiting for an answer. I mumbled, “Well, it just happened, and then all the stuff with Emma went down, so it didn’t seem to matter.” I gave her a sidelong look and knew my weak explanation wasn’t enough.
To my surprise, she didn’t push it. She simply shook her head and sighed.
Six sat down, her eyes almost black within a thin ring of blue. “Tell us what you’ve seen. What has Benjamin Hallowfield shown you?”
I drew a deep breath, knowing I was telling the entire Octad. Would my information help or hurt Ben?
When I didn’t answer immediately, Six frowned, her pupils shrinking. “If Benjamin Hallowfield is attempting to reach out and tell us where Emma Brighthall can be located, then telling us the visions may help us find and stop her.” She sounded kind, as if she really did want to help. “And, it may help Ben’s case with the Council.”
I sat up straight. Help Ben? How? Before I could ask, Six leaned back, her eyes mostly black again. She nodded for me to speak.
Willing to help Ben and hoping it meant he might go free, I started with the first time I heard Emma’s name in my dreams. “So I guess the first one was on Saturday,” I glanced at Aunt Kate, “the day we fought the cockroach cluster. I saw a blond woman, um, I think it was Black Gaea, telling Emma they had to go soon.” I waved to the monitor where Aunt Kate still displayed photos of the escapees. “I didn’t tell you because I thought I might be going crazy.” I felt a little surge of relief that I wasn’t. One concern replaced by another.
Once I decided to reveal the details of the visions, the words tumbled out of my mouth in a rush. I described what I’d seen through Emma’s eyes – breaking out of prison and, later, stealing the SUV. “And, today’s vision…” I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to tell anyone what I saw. It was too horrible.
“Go on.” Aunt Kate looked at me with concern.
Six just sat there, uploading data to wherever the Octad sent information when they communed.
“You’re not going to like this,” I warned them. I told them how Emma and her companions massacred a group of survivalists.
Aunt Kate stopped typing, her hands frozen on the keyboard and her face slack with horror. Six just took it in like a human recording machine.
“But there’s something I don’t get,” I said as realization dawned. “If Ben is sending these visions, then not only is he doing it through a coma, but also through the damping field.” Every cell wall in Ley Prison contained an alloy created to reduce supernormal abilities. It was one of the layers of virtual and real chains confining the prisoners. “How can he do that?”
Six’s pupils shrank back to what I thought of as single-mind mode. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “It is possible Benjamin Hallowfield’s abilities are stronger than expected.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
Six ignored my question and announced, “We require that you try to communicate with Benjamin Hallowfield.”
“Require,” I raised an eyebrow, “that I communic
ate with Ben? How am I supposed to do that? I believe it’s been mentioned – he’s in a coma and I’m not a mind reader.” I barely kept myself from adding, “as you know.”
“Benjamin Hallowfield is in a coma, true, but he appears to be lucid enough to connect with you and your cousin. The escapees are doing a good job of hiding. They’ve removed their trackers. We haven’t located them yet. And, we have tried all standard options.” Her voice was tight with agitation. “We must resort to using what methods we can.”
“Because Black Gaea is with them,” I stated.
Six stared at me, eyes cold. “Do not underestimate how dangerous Emma Brighthall is.”
“Yeah, but you wouldn’t use a mind reader to find just Emma, right?” Kevin had returned from securing the creature in the containment facility.
Six ignored him, keeping her pale blue eyes focused on mine as if she was trying to see inside my head. I shifted uncomfortably and leaned back, glaring at her. I crossed and uncrossed my arms. “Look, I can’t control when the visions come.” In my head, I added, “and anyway, if I can talk to Ben, I don’t want to do it in front of you.” Every time I imagined seeing Ben again, we were alone. And we weren’t talking about Emma or Six or anything related to Mountain of Ash.
“Have you tried?” Aunt Kate asked curiously. I could tell she was intrigued by the idea of Ben communicating with me from Ley.
“I have not.” I glared at her, feeling betrayed by her question.
Six repeated, “We require that you attempt to communicate with Benjamin Hallowfield.”
“No!” I jumped up and darted to the middle of the room, desperate to get away from Six and her requirements. I yelled, “I won’t do it. I can’t do it. If you want to talk to Ben – WAKE. HIM. UP.”
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