The Telepath (The Viral Superhero Series Book 2)

by Bryan Cohen

  Ted could tell Vott didn't trust Cobblestone's tone of voice, but he played along just the same.

  "Ted, I think it's time to go. You got what you came for."

  Ted took a deep breath. He was about to go against Dhiraj's advice from earlier that day.

  "No, Agent Vott." Ted glanced at the room's exit. "At least, not yet."

  Vott attempted to close the door behind him, but Ted was too quick. He went completely horizontal and shot through the opening and back into the lobby. Ted continued to push himself to full speed to zip past the DHS guards and back to the front of the building. When he landed back on his two feet, an alarm sounded throughout the building.

  This could be bad.

  Ted saw a spinning red light shine down from the ceiling. Several of the men who'd been milling around the lobby earlier surrounded Ted. They drew weapons and pointed them right at the hero's chest. He felt his stomach churn in double time, but he refused to let the fear get in the way of his finding Natalie.

  "Nice place you've got here." Ted's voice shook. "Can you set me up with your decorator?"

  One of the men held his hand up when the others reached the desired position. "Down on the ground, alien, before we take you out."

  Ted smirked. "I'll just look her up online, then."

  Before any of them could pull the trigger, Ted rocketed to the other side of the building and headed straight for a locked door into the other part of the complex. He lowered his shoulder and shut his eyes. The door gave way and smashed open, sending the deadbolt out of the wall and clanging to the ground. Ted didn't turn back to admire his show of strength.

  Nat, if you're here, I'll find you. Or die trying.

  28

  Erica spent a few extra minutes primping in front of the mirror. The ancient part of her had spoken with people of all ages, including Presidents, foreign dignitaries and murderers. The part of her that was still a teenager had never met with a teacher outside of class before. Sheriff Norris had set up a meeting with Mr. Redican at a local coffee shop, which would give Erica the chance to ask him questions about the case.

  The sheriff had planned to accompany her, but as soon as word got out that Jennifer was missing, that proposal went out the window. The way Jennifer had been acting lately, like Erica's former inhabitant in training, she wasn't surprised her friend had run off. Any worry she had about the situation evaporated when she heard Dhiraj was with her.

  They can handle themselves. And so can I.

  Erica finally approved her outfit and makeup in the mirror and looked down at her phone. She and Ted hadn't spoken since they'd blown up at each other in the hospital.

  They planned the meeting for noon, and by the time Erica reached the coffee shop, the place was packed with students, families and other caffeine connoisseurs. The smell of espresso beans mixed with caramel and filled the room.

  If there's one thing this world has improved on, it's coffee.

  Thinking back to some of the black sludge she'd downed in previous lifetimes made her gag. It was right at that gagging moment that Mr. Redican flagged Erica down from the corner of the room. She almost didn't recognize him at first, given he'd shed his typical button down shirts for a casual polo. It felt strange to walk up to this man, who now seemed much closer to her age, and interact with him outside of school. Teachers were people, too, she supposed.

  "Just when I thought I could get away from you blasted kids." Redican grinned when he shook Erica's hand. "I'm surprised Ted isn't here. The two of you seem inseparable."

  Erica blushed a bit and took the empty chair across from her teacher.

  "I'm here on his behalf." She scooted her seat closer to the table. "He can't be in two places at once, right?"

  Redican nodded in silence. It was as if he were gesturing more to himself than Erica.

  "How can I help Team Ted?" Redican sipped from a long blue straw, letting the end of the drink make a slurping sound at the bottom of the cup.

  "This won't take long." Erica took out a small notepad and scribbled a header at the top. "I need to know if you saw anybody chat with Beth before... the incident."

  Redican leaned back in thought. Or was he pretending to think? Erica couldn't shake the feeling that Redican was hiding something from her.

  "I don't remember her chatting with anyone in particular." Redican looked right into Erica's eyes. "She always acted odd in my class. I think your friend had a schoolgirl crush on me." He laughed and nearly knocked over his cup with a giddy gesture.

  "Oh, that crush remains active," Erica said. "No past tense about it. You're a cool teacher, Mr. Red."

  As Redican beamed, Erica remembered something Beth had said to her. During the building fire, Erica's friend had said something about homework.

  "Likewise. Except the student version, of course. Sometimes, it seems like you're in another league than your classmates entirely."

  Erica shared a glance with her instructor. "A month on the streets gives a person perspective."

  There was something in the way Redican was smiling that made Erica uneasy.

  "Ah yes, I heard about that. You disappeared and came back without a scratch on you."

  Beth was doing an assignment. It was a teacher. It was–

  Erica stopped her train of thought, realizing that the man before her was more than he appeared. In fact, it was very likely that Redican could hear everything she was thinking.

  Erica did her best to keep a poker face. "You've been helpful, Mr. Red, but I really should see how this interview with Cobblestone is going–"

  Erica tried to stand up out of her chair, but her legs refused to move. It was as if the commands from her brain weren't reaching their intended destination. Redican's face changed from his smiling teacher persona to something much more sinister.

  "It's so hard to get help at these places." Redican raised his hand in the air and three baristas came to their table at once.

  "How can we help you?" The three of them spoke the question in unison.

  Erica stopped trying to use her legs and began thinking of the best possible plan of action.

  "Could you lock the door, my dears?" Redican half-grinned, half-scowled at the baristas as they walked in a single file toward the front door.

  Erica noticed that everyone had frozen in place. One gentleman with a sandwich had it clutched an inch away from his mouth. A little girl with a smoothie had a straw chomped between her teeth. Only the hum of the espresso machine remained.

  "Neat trick, Mr. Redican." Erica glanced toward the emergency exit. "Seems like you're using an awful lot of power on little old me."

  Redican snapped his fingers and all the patrons in the room put down their food. They stood straight up and looked toward their corner table.

  "You had such promise, Erica." He paced around the outside of the table. "Even though you aren't really a student."

  Erica wondered how many of her memories Redican had gone through without her knowledge. "What do you want?"

  "See, I like it when we can be more direct. Enough of this pussyfooting around like we belong here." Redican put both hands on the table and looked at Erica. "I want the living soul to reach his true potential. I want him to take back my world and turn the dark soul army into a pile of dust."

  Erica felt the hint of a plan and made sure to stow it deep within her mind to keep Redican from sniffing it out. "You know that's not how this works."

  Redican sneered. "Ted is your lapdog. It was smart getting into bed with him. Making sure he'd protect your home world without question." Redican stood up and began speaking as if the words were meant for his ears only. "But there are other worlds in danger. And with a little change in programming, I think you'll make sure he saves them as well."

  Erica felt Redican enter her mind and she put her plan into action. With dozens of lives worth of memories, Erica had access to more storage than most. She jumped from memory to memory and life to life as fast as her brain could handle. Erica watched
Redican begin to shake as he tried to process all of Erica's thoughts at once. Redican let out a gasp of pain as he went down to one knee. Erica could feel her legs again and used them to run out the back door.

  Erica had gotten about a block down Main Street when she turned back. Redican didn't appear to be in pursuit. She passed by the empty gazebo when a girl a couple of years her junior grabbed Erica from behind.

  "You think you can escape?" The girl's eyes looked enraged. "You think you can have the living soul all to yourself?"

  Erica looked back toward the coffee shop and saw Redican walking slowly toward her. She pushed the girl away from her and continued to run.

  When she checked on her pursuer, a running stroller crashed into her side and sent her into the pavement. The mother and her child screamed at Erica in unison as they went for another pass. This time, Erica leapt over the stroller and kept going without turning around. She heard a short, repetitive honking noise and tried to outrun it. Two cyclists zipped down the street and closed in on her from either side.

  The biker with the longest reach grabbed for Erica. "There's no use."

  The other one made like he was preparing to ram her. "You'll suffer. He'll suffer."

  Erica jumped and did a split kick in midair. Both bikers hit the pavement hard and Erica grabbed one of their bicycles. She'd made it about a block and a half before she felt her legs fall under Redican's command. She did a U-turn and headed back toward her teacher. Erica attempted to reach into her purse and alert Ted through her phone, but she felt like her hands were glued to the handlebars. As she got closer to her teacher, Erica hopped off the bike and let it careen down the street until it turned sideways and skidded along the blacktop.

  As Erica reached the ground, she tried her last ditch effort. With all her effort, she dove toward Redican and sent a bolt of blue electricity between her hands. If she could reach him, perhaps she'd be able to put him under her thrall. Her legs got within two feet, but they never came close enough to his body to do any damage. She was stuck in place, and Redican easily shut her power off like he might fix a leaky faucet.

  "All these lifetimes, all these powers." Redican walked up to her frozen body. "Wouldn't it just be easier if you were a regular teenager?"

  Erica gasped. "No, please!"

  As Redican touched her forehead, Erica could feel the world slip away from her as she collapsed to the ground.

  29

  As Ted crashed through the door to an unknown area of the building, he felt the sting of at least three rubber bullets colliding with his body. The pain was immense, and he was certain his alarming speed toward the shooters had made the impact even worse. Distracted from his flight path, Ted caromed into a wall and crashed to the ground. His shoulder got the worst of the landing, sending even more pain through his body. He felt woozy when he looked up at the guards as they readied their weapons to fire a second volley. He reached back toward them and used his mind to smash the guns into the wall.

  His vision wasn't at 100%, but he could still see the three figures coming toward him ready to kill him the old-fashioned way. Ted would have gladly obliged some hand-to-hand combat if he'd had more time. Instead, he pointed at the largest of the three, lifted his body into the air with his powers and swung it around by the legs like a rag doll. The man-turned-weapon screamed as his body smacked into the other two guards. The crack of skull on skull knocked all three of them unconscious. Ted laid them on top of each other and shook off the mental cobwebs. Instead of flying, he went running at super speed down the corridor, willing his legs to move faster than ever before.

  Natalie would kill for these legs.

  Ted went through another door, which led to a hallway that resembled a prison. Two guards stood in front of a room that Ted rightly assumed led to his captured friend.

  The nervousness he'd previously felt had vanished. Between the pain and the slight dizziness, Ted was running on pure instinct. He put his hands on his hips and puffed up his chest at the guards. "Hey, guys. My friend is in there and the two of us need some private time."

  One of the guards took one look at Ted and ran in the opposite direction. Ted couldn't help but laugh, which seemed to demoralize the remaining guard.

  "I don't want any trouble." The guard's declaration came out more like a question. "Just stay away, OK?"

  Ted continued to walk toward the guard. The man fired a shot. Ted used a flick of his hand to guide the bullet around his body and into the door behind him. Another shot fired out of the guard's gun, and once again Ted moved the projectile around him. His confidence started to grow.

  I am such a beast right now.

  When the guard fired a third time, Ted stopped the rubber bullet in midair, turned it back around and placed it against the guard's forehead. He dropped his gun.

  "You say you don't want trouble." Ted floated the man up in the air. "Then you shoot at me. With a gun. It's kind of a mixed message."

  The man whimpered. "I'm realizing that now."

  Ted shook his head. "Stay up there for a while, will ya? Shout if any more guards come in."

  "No promises." The man's legs flailed as Ted opened the door to Natalie's cell.

  The room was dim, but once Ted's eyes adjusted, he could see Natalie right away. She was chained to the wall and had red-stained gauze wrapped around her hands. Ted used his mind to rip the chain off the wall and unlatch Natalie's wrists and ankles.

  Natalie looked up at him with a sly smile. "I thought I heard some idiot running in here."

  "Are you alright?" Ted ran over to Natalie and put his arm over her shoulder. They hugged.

  "Not anything a little choking won't solve." Natalie flexed her free arms and legs. "I'm sorry about your mom."

  Ted felt the anger tie in with his adrenaline. The GHAers had injured him mom and chained his ex-girlfriend to a wall. Somebody would have to pay for this.

  "Thanks. She'll be okay." Ted gripped Natalie's waist with his arms. "But we're gonna need to move fast to do the same."

  Natalie nodded. As Ted was about to take back off, he heard the floating guard's shout echoing through the hallway.

  "He's in here with the girl!"

  Ted grinned.

  "What are you so happy about?" Natalie asked.

  Ted pulled away from Natalie and used his powers to shut the door to the room before twisting the handle and lock all out of shape. "The guy actually did what I asked him to do."

  Several of the guards attempted to enter the room, but Ted had broken the handle and fixed the lock in place. They pounded on the door with no chance of getting in.

  Ted felt a sense of pride. "And now the guards are trapped."

  "So are we." Natalie let out her trademark growl. "Was this all part of your plan?"

  Ted's excitement sunk. "Um." He looked around. "It was part one?"

  Natalie shook her head. "Come over here. I've got an idea."

  Ted followed Natalie to a part of the wall that sported a six-inch crack.

  She gestured to it. "Well? Do your thing."

  Ted cocked his head sideways. "What's my thing?"

  "Ugh!" Natalie put her hand over her face. "It's so hard to find good heroes these days." She moved Ted's shoulders until he directly faced the crack. "Use your powers to grow the crack until it busts a hole through the wall. Do you think you can do that?" Natalie looked back at the door as one of the four hinges holding it snapped off and fell to the ground. "And quickly?"

  "Alright, alright. I'm not a mind reader." Ted did as he was told. As soon as he started to concentrate on the crack, it doubled in size. The crack spread throughout the wall and Ted could hear the sounds of breaking wood and ripping insulation. When the crack had gotten large enough, he made a pushing motion and a hole the size of a garage door smashed through the side of the building.

  Light streamed into the room and Natalie shook her head. "See, now was that so hard?"

  Ted felt like he'd just bench-pressed a Buick, but he didn't wa
nt to share that with the strongest girl in town. "Easy-peasy. Let's fly."

  Ted put his arms around Natalie's waist. She tightly gripped him back, and they flew out of the building.

  "Where are we going? The lair?" Natalie had to speak loudly to get over the sound of the air whipping past them.

  Ted did the same. "No. We're going to turn ourselves in."

  "Seems counterproductive."

  Ted laughed. "I've got the first half of another plan."

  They circled the building and landed in the parking lot. As they did, Ted and Natalie came face to face with the DHS agents, Cobblestone's security detail and the GHA leader himself. Ted didn't enjoy having a dozen guns trained on him, but he figured it was better to face the music now than to attempt to be a celebrity fugitive.

  "I want this criminal arrested for assault and causing massive damage to my property." Cobblestone stomped around, but Ted imagined this was exactly how he wanted things to shake out. It amazed him how some of the most terrible people in the world were killer actors.

  "Do what you want with me." Ted looked toward Agents Vott and Harding, who had joined the rest of the agents in the gun-pointing party. "Natalie was here all night, chained to a wall. The evidence is pretty compelling that the GHA framed her for trying to kill my family."

  "I will admit to kicking one guy in the junk, though." Natalie’s frown turned upward for a moment. "As long as we're being honest."

  Ted looked for a reaction from Vott. He put down his weapon and walked over to Ted.

  "You shouldn't have done that." He looked over at Natalie and back at Cobblestone. "Now it's your word against his. There's no way any of his guards will back up your story."

  "I have proof!" The voice that echoed through the parking lot surprised Ted more than the rubber bullets had. It was none other than GHA bully Travis Conner. "We had a security feed on Natalie all night. She couldn't have done it."

  Ted looked at Natalie. "But why would he...?"

  Natalie touched his arm. "And the truth shall set you free."