Words couldn’t begin to describe how I felt. They were going to wipe our minds and migrate into our hosts, and who knew how the hell that would turn out. Wherever Charlie was, it would be the worst kind of hell for him to have his body do the bidding of the Padre.
Then I remembered something. “Helen and I are already in hosts! You can’t migrate another mind into these bodies!”
They both let loose an evil cackle.
The Padre continued to snicker as he spoke. “Why? Because those silly laws say so? Those were nothing more than a placebo to appease the public. In fact, having already completed a migration, you’re the perfect candidates for us. Now, I don’t feel like waiting to scan your minds, so why don’t you just tell us how you found us?”
In that moment, I felt more helpless than at any point in my childhood. The Padre seemed invincible in Charlie’s time, and that only seemed truer as I lay there on that medical table. If he had it his way, he’d migrate into new bodies until the end of time, an undying source of evil. If there was anything left for me to do, any cards left to play, I had to scramble to do it before it was too late.
Then, it hit me. Looking the Padre right in the eye, I revealed my secret. “Charlie sent me.”
The Padre’s gaze didn’t flinch even a little as he stared through me.
My focus didn’t waver either. As the seconds passed, I thought he was just going to kill us and find other hosts when things took a turn.
“Ha ha! Charlie? Charlie Rios! He’s been dead for years. That coward took his own life in jail before I could get to him. So, stop bullshitting. How did you find us?”
If Helen and I are going to die, I might as well cast some doubt into their minds to haunt them for as long as possible. “You’re right, Padre. You are lucky. After Charlie struck you down at the warehouse, he lost your thugs on the road. If he didn’t get in that accident, he was going to hunt you down.”
The confident expression on the Padre’s face disappeared for the first time that night. His brow shot up, and he barked at me. “You work for the Brazilians! Those bastards!”
“Wrong! I thought you were a little aggressive on the Korean job. That’s probably what set them off.”
Squinting in disbelief, the Padre’s jaw dropped. “How in the…?!”
He leaned within centimeters of my face, and it was clear that he hadn’t given up his cigar habit.
With him that close, I couldn’t help but to pile it on. “You were also a little rough with the product on the Russian job. I think that’s why the compressor failed.”
“It can’t be…”
Jolting the Padre’s attention, an alarm sounded and red lights lit the place up.
The guard from the backyard walked up next to Allen and acknowledged the alarm in a robotic voice. “The perimeter has been breached.”
The Padre just continued staring at me. “But you can’t be…Charlie. He’s…dead.”
“Sir, the perimeter has been breached.”
I smiled and delivered the final blow. “And if you would have just let me know about the ‘pilot’ job, I could have made arrangements.”
Clearly in shock, the Padre slowly rolled back from me.
The mechanical guard chimed in again. “An auto-car just arrived in the parking lot.”
Snapping out of his stupor, the Padre turned to the guard. “Show me holo!”
The guard pulled up a holo-pad and flashed it on. It showed the same auto-car Junior had driven after our meeting, and he was parking at some abandoned building. In the corner of the holo, I could just make out the deteriorating sign.
Oceanic Laboratories! That’s where we are.
Anger came over the Padre’s face. “My damn son wants to bring the fight to me. Well, I’m tired of his bullshit. Release the auto-hounds!”
“Yes, sir.”
The robotic guard tapped some buttons on his holo-pad, and then the hologram disappeared. I thought the Padre was going to turn his sights back to me, but a ruckus broke out in the same direction where Helen had been. Allen and the robot guard darted through the curtains behind me. Based on Allen’s face, he wasn’t very happy. The Padre spun around my table to turn toward the distraction, and I was ready to call out to Helen to add to the disruption when my attention was instantly drawn to the back of the Padre’s auto-chair. His model was the exact same as Auto.
The battery is prone to flare ups!
Then memories from Charlie kicked in, and I knew exactly what I needed to do. But based on the sounds behind me, a scuffle must have broken out near Helen. The obvious thuds of punches, and finally, a small explosion had me worried to death.
I fought my straps like hell to get free, to no avail. “I swear to God, if you hurt her!”
The Padre, still taking in the situation, didn’t even have a chance to respond when my concerns were more than put to rest.
“Ryan! Where are you!” Helen’s voice was moving, and that could only mean one thing.
She is free! “Over here, Helen!”
With Junior coming, the alarm sounding, and Helen loose, it was the right amount of chaos to overwhelm the Padre.
“God dammit! Can’t I get any decent help around here for once! Do I have to do every little damn thing myself?!” From a compartment in his chair, he pulled out the hand cannon with the dog skull insignia on it and put it on his lap, then engaged the auto-chair to change directions.
The familiar hum moved around my table, toward Helen. As he turned the corner near my feet, I was able to stretch my right foot out just enough to hook the battery wires known to be faulty. He only had to drive another half meter before the electrical surge kicked in and sparks began to fly.
“What the hell?!” He spun in circles, chasing the mini-firework show coming from the back of his chair.
Helen stormed through the curtains behind me. “Ryan!” She darted to my table and pressed the button to release the straps.
The sparking Padre finally saw what was happening and reached for his gun. “You little shits! We’ll find other hosts who are not such a pain in my ass.”
“Helen, get down!”
We both dove behind the other side of the table as shots rang out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Only it wasn’t shots but small explosions from the Padre’s auto-chair battery.
“Come on, Ryan! Let’s get out of here.” Helen pointed to the set of double doors labeled Exit.
“No! I have to make sure he dies.” Peeking my head above the table, I saw the Padre catch fire in his chair.
His agonized screams filled the room. “Nooooo!”
Bang! Bang!
Boom!
More mini-explosions followed the big one, and he was thrown from the chair, through the curtains. As delighted as I was at seeing the Padre suffer, I was just as terrified when the blowout spewed flames across the room. The curtains erupted, encircling Helen and me in the makeshift room.
The Padre, still burning, began slowly crawling away, through the burning wall of curtains.
At first, I thought he was trying to get away, but then I saw where he was headed. Just meters beyond the flames were more than a dozen oxygen tanks. Something had to be done or the whole place would blow up before we could get out.
“Dammit, Ryan! We have to go.”
I hoped Charlie would make an appearance in my mind and help me figure out the right thing to do, but he was nowhere to be found. If we were going to get out of there, I had to act fast.
Popping up, I darted around the table.
“Ryan, stop!”
I dashed toward the Padre.
He rolled over with the dog skull gun in hand, the barrel pointed right at me.
I threw caution to the wind, and leaped into the air. Sailing the remaining distance was the longest seconds of my life. An
unquestionable certainty overcame me.
This is all about to end.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
I dropped on top of the Padre, and as I waited for the pangs of death to overcome me, I heard Helen scream.
“Ryan, no!”
Fearing the worst, I rolled off and onto my back, quickly realizing my chest was actually burning from the cinders on the Padre and not bullet wounds. I kept my eye on the Padre while rolling to put my burning clothes out, but the only motion was from the flames consuming his body. The larger fire grabbed my attention again, and it was growing exponentially larger by the second.
Helen ran in my direction, then dove onto the ground in front of me and pointed at the double doors.
Junior!
He had shot the Padre and was still pointing his gun in our direction.
I waved, and he dropped the weapon to his side, then motioned for us to follow him.
I turned to Helen. “He’s all right. Let’s get the hell out of here!”
We jumped up and ran toward the exit. Junior covered us, though he had already made short work of the few guards that were there. We hurried through the short maze of hallways on the second floor, and we hit the stairwell and raced down the two flights.
A loud bang shook the entire structure and debris fell from the ceiling.
“Hurry!” Junior yelled.
We sprinted through a few more hallways at ground level until another explosion rocked the foundation on which we stood and more rubble fell from above.
Junior pointed ahead. “That’s our exit!”
Not having had a moment to really check on Helen, I looked over as we ran and realized that we had been holding hands since we left the burning room. Most importantly, she looked all right. I looked back, and with the main entrance in sight, we sprinted like mad and burst through the doors. Outside was the same parking lot from Charlie’s memory, only decayed from age and neglect. It was also littered with the remains of what must have been the auto-hounds.
“Over here.” Junior ushered us to his car.
Helen and I flung the door to the backseat open and jumped in.
Hopping into the driver’s seat, Junior started the car, turned the wheel hard, and slammed the accelerator to the floor. The car peeled out and raced through the parking lot, toward the woods.
A flare-up in the rearview caught my eye, followed by the loudest explosion I had ever heard. The building was completely obliterated. Only flames and a rolling cloud of smoke remained.
I couldn’t resist confirming the obvious. “No one could have survived that.”
Junior chimed in. “Let’s hope not.”
I turned to Helen. “You okay? How the hell did you get free?”
“Honestly? I called your name, and then blacked out. When I came to, I was standing over Allen and the other guards, and they were in pretty bad shape. That’s when I called your name again.”
I shook my head, but in that moment, I couldn’t bring myself to delve into what it might mean.
“Blacked out? Well, I’m just glad you’re okay.”
She nodded. “How are you, Ryan?”
“I’m fine.”
We naturally leaned in together to hug and kiss. Pulling back after a moment, there was something else I wanted to know. “How’d you find us, Junior?”
He slowly peered up into the rearview, and I caught his slight grin.
“Well…Joey…I was really close to catching my father…Sonya…when you messaged me. I offered five times the credits on the Anono domain for them to reveal your contact information, and within minutes, I got it. I kept an eye on you for several days, but thought it was a dead end. Then gunshots were reported at your apartment building, and I drove up just as you were pulling away and followed from a distance. I almost lost the auto-truck from Spruce Street to the lab, but then I found the road through the woods.”
“Well, that was one hell of a hunch. Thanks for coming.”
“It was nothing. Anything to get back at my father.”
Silence overtook the car as the night was finally catching up to all of us, and there was nothing left to say.
I looked in the rearview and stared at myself, thinking about how far I’d come. A paralyzed kid. The migration. Meeting Charlie. Helping to avenge all of the named and unnamed victims of the Padre. It had already been a wild ride, but part of me knew it was still just beginning. As the thought ran its course, I could feel my mind expanding rapidly in a way that I had never felt before, and the slightest pain came over my right eye as the pupil began to glow a bright white. I trembled a little as the most nostalgic presence from within made itself known, then I let loose a breathy laugh.
I whispered, “You’re forgiven, Charlie.”
The End
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Between Two Minds: Awakening, my very first novel. As it got closer to becoming a published book, my obsession shifted from writing it to that of feedback from people like you. When you have a minute, please return to the website where you purchased your copy and submit a review—good, bad, or indifferent. It would mean a lot, and ultimately challenge me to make subsequent books that much better for you.
Thanks again!
Acknowledgments
A loving thanks to my parents, siblings, and wife for being my guiding lights throughout life and this novel.
A very special thanks to Debra L Hartmann and her team at IAPS for providing end-to-end editing and design work of the utmost quality. My debut novel wouldn’t be what it is today without your cordial guidance every step of the way.
A special thanks to:
•My teachers, coaches, and friends from Hammond, IN. You all shaped me in many ways as a person and author.
•The students and football players I mentored as a teacher and coach. Your willingness to work hard and chase your dreams inspired me to become an author.
•My teammates in data migration and software development. My time with you inspired much of the story behind this novel.
About the Author
D. C. Wright-Hammer is an avid storyteller with a passion for fantasy and science fiction. Currently, he is a certified scrum product owner at a large software company, and formerly, taught engineering and technology to high school students. He also has a passion for multimedia including music and video.
To stay on top of all of his latest content, visit hammerstonecreative.com and follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/dcwrighthammer and Twitter @dcwrighthammer2.
Between Two Minds: Awakening Page 37