Marcus grabs the duffel bag from Maverick and hoists it over one shoulder. Now Maverick’s free to concentrate on running through the heavy woods.
Marcus asks the same question I had been pondering. How come we can’t read it?
If it were Kren, I’d know. If it were another BEK, I’d know. If it were human, I’d be able to read their mind. Whatever it is, it’s able to mask all thoughts from us. I peer back at Marcus. I don’t know.
The entity moves out of our range. My muscles relax.
Maverick gasps for breath. He leans against the large trunk of a massive tree. “What was it?”
“I don’t know, Mav-Man, but I don’t think it is friendly.” Marcus drops the duffel and removes the backpack from his shoulders. “I’m going to just assume it’s the same thing that not only tore our car up, but—”
Marcus’s stomach churns, and he forces the gruesome images from the cabin out of his mind.
The sun moves closer to the west and our daylight hours are becoming scarce. We need to keep moving. There’s not much time left before dark and we need to find some place safe for the night.
“Agreed.” Maverick’s labored breathing almost returns to normal. “Let’s hike it, though. I can’t run anymore.”
We walk further into the woods, heading toward the base of the mountain. All of us keep our minds open and search for any kind of trouble. My thoughts wander. Is it too late to turn back to find the road and hike our way out of this?
“There.” Maverick points to a patch of dirt at the base of a large rock mountainside.
Trees provide sufficient cover on all sides, and if we need to run, we have several directions in which to take off. The three of us quicken our pace, eager to reach our destination before nightfall. After more than an hour of walking, Maverick is the first to sit next to the rocky wall.
“Did you bring a lighter or matches?” Marcus asks Maverick.
Maverick nods.
“I’ll go and gather some firewood. It’s too cold for you out here,” Marcus says.
He’s right. Maverick is shivering. He draws his knees up to his chest and wraps them with his arms. Marcus and I may be impervious to the temperature dropping, but Maverick is still very much human. After throwing us a quick, worried glance, Marcus heads back into the trees.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Maverick says. “I’ll be fine, Astid.”
I am more worried about your state of mind, I say. You are not in a good place to make life or death decisions.
“State of mind?” Maverick takes out one of the blankets and wraps it around him. The gun falls to the ground. He picks it up, and tucks it into his waistband. “Yeah, I’m scared shitless. And I’m well aware I don’t have Marcus’s and your super strength.”
Maverick, it’s not too late to get out of this. We can hike back to the road and leave. We can call Detective Jennings. I’m sure he can arrange for you to get home. I picture Lisa in my head and project it outwards at him. I know you have loved ones who long to see you again.
“That’s not fair, Astid. What about my loved ones who were taken away from me?” Maverick can’t stop his thoughts from turning to finding his mom dead on the living room floor and Tarick’s lifeless form in the mud. “They deserve to pay for what they’ve done. They deserve to go down. Do you want what happened to us to happen to countless other people? Who knows what else Level 6 has been doing beyond creating the Black-Eyed Kids.”
No. I’d never wish any of it on anyone, but that’s not the point, I tell him. It’ll take a lot to put a stop to them and all of the experiments. I can’t help but think about Kren and the others who had escaped with us that fateful day. It’s not the BEKs’ faults either. They are victims, too.
“So Kren isn’t at fault?” Maverick’s cheeks burn hot with fury. “Your brother hates all humans. Remember, he wanted you to suck my soul, and don’t forget what he did to Tarick. He’s not on our side, Astid. He’s got his own agenda.”
I can’t help but think there has to be a way for my people to live in peace with humans without consuming them. The thought brings forth a hunger I haven’t felt in a few days.
Maverick raises one eyebrow. “How long can you and Marcus live without consuming lives?”
He’s picked up on my thoughts, but I don’t bother to protect them. Kren thinks I’ll die if I don’t feed. I do grow weaker the longer I go without absorbing someone’s energy, but the thought of taking an innocent life hurts far more than the pain of the hunger. I’m not sure how long Marcus can sustain his resistance. He’s younger than I am and hasn’t been in this form for very long.
Marcus returns with an armful of firewood. It’s evident he caught at least part of our conversation. His mood shifts to one of remorse and fear. He’s afraid he’ll have to take someone’s life. The hunger grows inside him steadily, but he pushes it back usually by consuming as much junk food as possible. With our supplies so low, he fears the inevitable.
Maverick rummages through one of the packs and tosses Marcus a peach fruit cup. Sometimes reading each other’s thoughts has its benefits, but Marcus wishes he could learn to turn the sharing off as I have.
A whirling sound shakes us from our thoughts. It’s a helicopter. It’s closer than we’d expect. The chopping of wind reverberates off the mountainside, amplifying it to make it sound as if it’s completely surrounding us. We hurry to hide our belongings. Marcus scatters the wood he collected, thankful we hadn’t started a fire. We choose to dive under a log and bush next to the jutting rock and watch the helicopter pass.
It’s jet black, and it speeds right over us towards the mountain. Fortunately, it seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere and isn’t searching for anything. I scan as far as I can with my mind, furiously trying to read the minds of the passengers before they get out of range. Marcus and Maverick do the same.
They’re Level 6 agents, and their base is close by. We have entered their territory without even realizing it.
4
ASTID
IS IT POSSIBLE we were being led here on purpose? I forget to block my thoughts. Both Marcus and Maverick have read my mind already.
“You think whatever damaged the car and chased after us did it on purpose to get us here?” Maverick asks. “Maybe Beck was setting us up all along.”
That’s not exactly what I’m thinking, I reply mentally. Maybe Level 6 already knows we’re here, and they wanted us to come here to the mountainside.
Maverick’s face turns from anger to sheer panic. “If that’s true, why don’t they just kill us. Or at the very least, take us away. Lock us up and throw away the key?”
“Whoa. Let’s get a fire going before it’s too dark to see anymore and then talk about what to do.” Marcus places the gathered wood into a pile on the dirt and adds in a patch of dried leaves to ignite the fire. “The plan was to just take the time to chill out and clear our minds. We can’t make decisions while we’re all—” He shakes his hands violently and widens his eyes like a madman. “—freaking out and stuff.”
“Just be ready to put out the fire in case the chopper comes back.” Maverick retrieves the packs and rummages through them, bringing out some bottled water, crackers, and canned vegetable soup. “I’m glad these are ready made soups, because we can’t spare our water.”
“Yum, cold soup. My favorite.” Marcus rolls his eyes.
“You can stick your can on the fire to warm it up.” Maverick gives him a playful punch on the shoulder. “But if you love your soup cold, go right ahead.”
We all three place our cans near the growing flames. After a little while, Maverick is the first to pull his soup out. He pulls the tab on top of the metal can and opens it. He grabs the other two cans carefully and opens them for me and Marcus. He reaches into his backpack and produces three metal utensils.
“Dig in, guys.” He hands each of us a spoon. “We’ll need our strength.”
We sit around the fire and eat in silence for several minute
s. Maverick thinks about Level 6 and how hard it’ll be to find them. He thinks we should head in the direction the helicopter went first thing in the morning. If we had flashlights, he’d be heading there now. His brows furrow for a second, followed by a shrug of his shoulders. He’s becoming used to me being in his head.
Marcus wonders if I’ll finish my soup and hopes not so he can have more. I take a few more spoonfuls and pass the rest over to him. He throws me a wide smile. “It’s hard to strategize on an empty belly.”
Maverick puts his soup down and leans back with a deep exhale. “I could read your guys’ minds, but let’s be normal for a change and talk out loud.”
Mental communication is normal for me, but Maverick is in a fragile state. Without thinking too much about the words, I open my mouth and say, “We should look for the creature and stop it before it kills again.”
Maverick and Marcus both shoot me blank stares. Both of them are still not accustomed to hearing my voice. When the initial shock evaporates, they are fixated on the word “creature.” In order to move forward with our quest, we have to acknowledge the obvious. A human could not have mangled its victims in the cabin like that, and Wanek had his life force taken from him. Only something with otherworldly strength could have ripped the metal machine inside our vehicle as if it was made of paper. And only a being like myself could have drained little Wanek. Marcus wants nothing to do with such a creature, and once again, he’s imagining all sort of insidious beasts he’s seen in the movies.
“We are close to finding Level 6. It’s our chance to figure out a way to expose them for who they are and what they do.” Maverick studies me for a quick moment, sensing my agreement. “Whatever monster killed those people and destroyed our car is also out here with us. It’s safe to assume Level 6 created that…thing. You think it’s another experiment gone wrong?”
I decide to communicate with my mind in order to convey my thoughts more accurately. Level 6 can’t control what they’ve unleashed. You saw what it does to people. It can’t be allowed to roam free and continue killing. Just thinking about the gory cabin makes my stomach churn. Level 6 has become desperate to retrieve us and is willing to eliminate innocent people who stand in its way. We have to stop it.
“What makes you think we can stop it?” Marcus’s fear escalates enough for him to have lost his appetite. “Anybody know where we can buy a bazooka? Or maybe we’ll need a tank to kill the Hulk.”
Maverick’s eyes narrow. “Okay Astid, it’s time you came clean. You need to tell us everything. You owe us all of the truth about the BEKs, Level 6, and this super strong monster.” His mind touches mine only for an instant, but he backs off immediately. “You’re good at hiding things from us, but you shouldn’t hide any of this. Marcus needs to fully understand what’s happened to him, too.”
This moment has always been inevitable, and Maverick’s right. I owe them the truth. “Where do you want me to start?”
Marcus and Maverick exchange nervous glances before Maverick says, “Start with your time at Level 6. And since it’s easier for you, go ahead and just tell us telepathically.”
As much as I’d hate to relive the time in my underground prison, sharing my knowledge of Level 6 will help Maverick realize just how dangerous the organization is. Maybe he will not only understand me better, but he might gain insight into Kren’s motives and actions. When someone experiences a lifetime of cruelty, it affects them more profoundly than most can imagine.
When I was younger, my knowledge was limited to what I was taught by Level 6’s scientists and whatever else I could secretly gather from their minds. Everyone we came into contact with must had been trained to block their thoughts, but Kren and I were still able to steal some pieces here and there. I thought living there was normal, and I had a relatively happy childhood. But then again, I didn’t know any better. Mother shielded us from the true nature of our imprisonment until I was older.
Unlike Marcus and all the other BEKs, Kren and I were born in the facility. Our mother gave birth to us under the supervision of Level 6. We were the only ones in the facility, to my knowledge, who were not created by the scientists in the labs. They kept our family in isolation from the others, but we did glean flashes from their memories of the above ground world prior to their…conversion. After the scientists altered their genetics and implanted their control devices, they barely thought about the outside world ever again.
“So, who is your father?” Maverick asked.
This was something Mother never discussed, although she promised to tell us someday. Her secret died with her.
I don’t know, I reply.
Marcus whispers in a low voice, “Level 6 made me this way, but this wasn’t the case with you and your bro?”
“We were born like this,” I answer aloud. The scientists knew my mother was special.
Maverick’s eyes widen with sudden understanding. “She must have carried some kind of special genes or something.”
“If you tell me they infused some kind of alien DNA in me to make me this way, I’m going to freak.” Marcus is on the verge of panic. “Please don’t tell me your mom mated with an alien.”
Level 6 had the technology to artificially convert normal humans into beings like me and Kren. The science is beyond me. Like I said, my mother was special, and they needed her in order to conduct their experiments. That’s all I know.
“I knew it!” Marcus slaps his thigh. “I’m part alien now. Shiitake!”
“Calm down, man,” Maverick says. “We don’t know if it’s an alien or what. It doesn’t really matter now anyway.” He turns to me. “Why would the government want to do all this?”
The scientists had worked hard to keep their secrets from us, and they knew how to make themselves immune to our mind force. But Kren and I had still been able to pull some information out of them at times.
The scientists were consumed with perfecting their ability to turn normal humans into entities like me and Kren, and they were only partially successful. I don’t want to share any more with them because it’s too painful, but they will both know I’m hiding something. During sessions when we were required to take a person’s essence, the scientists were dismayed we needed to be given permission by our victims. It’s the only way to bring down the human protective barrier around the life force, allowing us to consume it. The scientists worked tirelessly to figure out how to make us forcefully take human essence without our victims exercising their free will, but they failed. We do, however, have the ability to influence our victims into dropping their defenses.
“Kind of like a vampire,” Maverick says.
Marcus adds, “So they wanted to make an army of psychic human-vampire hybrids?”
Yes, I believe Level 6 intended to use us for military purposes, but the fact that we needed to be invited by our victims before consuming destroyed any possibility we could be utilized in that way. Even though we can push our victims into doing what we want, free will is a powerful thing. Our strength and stamina are attributes they wished to keep, however. As terrible as it sounds, they also believed children assassins could be useful.
Maverick shivers. “They were trying to create living weapons.”
Marcus tosses his empty water bottle on the ground. “Are you sure Level 6 couldn’t develop any BEKs who suck souls who didn’t need permission from their prey?”
I shrug my shoulders. As far as I know, they never did.
All three of us are silent for a long time, busy letting our imaginations run wild. I can’t help but think of Mother. Maverick can feel my sorrow.
“Level 6 has taken both our moms.” Maverick turns to Marcus briefly before looking back at me. “It’s taken everything from us.”
Mother tried to spare us from how much she suffered, but Kren and I knew her pain. In some ways, Kren and Maverick are the same. Neither can let go of their hatred, even if it leads to their own deaths.
“Your mom.” Maverick’s mind strengthens its con
nection to my own. “She went through a lot, huh?”
That’s a subject I’d never wanted to discuss, but Maverick was easily sensing my thoughts and feelings. Our mother endured the worst of the experiments. For some reason, the scientists couldn’t successfully create us through artificial means. So they used her to give birth to Kren and me. They attempted to reproduce more children, but they all failed.
“Sounds horrible,” Maverick said.
Marcus threw a small stick into the fire. “Instead, the mad scientists figured out a way to just take a regular, good looking dude like me and turn him into a soul-sucking Black-Eyed Kid.”
Level 6 found an endless supply of unwanted children. Many come from the streets, abandoned by their parents. Most are runaways. The scientists found it easier to convert them instead of breeding them. But they don’t have the same amount of power Kren and I have.
“Ain’t nuthin’ like the real thing, baby.” Maverick chuckled. “My dad used to sing that old song around the house.”
All the trauma she endured changed my mother. She held onto the hope that she would somehow figure out a way for us to escape. When it seemed impossible, she refused to consume human lives, and thus she grew weak. Now that I think about it, I believe Level 6 would have done away with all of us and closed the BEK experiments entirely had we not escaped. In order to keep us alive, they had to continually find people for us to kill. They were hoping to keep us alive by other means, but we couldn’t sustain ourselves on food alone.
“They tried to just feed you regular food?” Maverick asks.
Yes. They did try it with a small test group. Three children were given only food. It failed. It took a while for them to wither and die, but they didn’t survive. It saddens me, since they were so young. I caught the thoughts of one scientist who was trying to create a special food or drink for us, but I don’t think he was every successful.
Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series Page 28