by Ian Somers
I needed somewhere to hide. Fleeing made me feel like a coward, but my life was in the balance. I had to do something to survive so I started hobbling towards Mr Barnes’ old junkyard.
When I reached the fence I leaned against a wooden post for a few seconds and tried to catch my breath. I stood there in disbelief as my enemy casually walked through the long grass as if the fighting had never even happened. How could anyone have so much power? Then I remembered that Romand said she was always angry, therefore she was always powerful and never got tired no matter how much she used her gifts. There would be no victory for me. She was unbeatable.
I limped through the junkyard in search of a hiding place, but then stopped and turned to face her. What was the point in hiding? She would eventually find me and I didn’t want to die like a coward. I wanted to stand my ground and make a fight of it, just like Romand had done.
She stopped a few metres from me and put her hands on her hips and smiled. I expected her to say something dramatic, instead she let out a scream and flung her arms into the air. Before I knew it an engine block came at me as fast as a bullet. I spun and blasted it away just in time … I barely had enough time to compose myself before another was shot at me; I deflected that too. I took control of a tractor wheel and fired it at Marianne, but she dismissed it with a wave of her hand.
I was all out of ideas and she knew it. Her eyes told me she was ready to finish it. She raised one hand and a stray car-door flew into the air, where she formed it into an immense metal disc that was spinning at an unbelievable rate. A smile grew on her face and I knew she intended to cut me in two. I transferred my strength into my precog gift and tried my best to predict her attack. I could read her better now, as if the excitement she was feeling was making it easier to predict her actions.
Her smile faded and she shot the disc at me. I tried to leap from its path when it came at me, but I was far too slow. It cut into my side and I crumpled to one knee. I saw blood pouring down from under my hoody and staining my jeans dark red; it was a bad cut, but I’d live, as long as I could prevent any further attacks.
‘That’ll leave a mark,’ she said. ‘It’s time to end this, Bentley. I would have liked to say you were a worthy opponent, but I can’t, you’re pathetic.’
A small vehicle came flying at me. I used all my training to good effect, deflected it and sent it crashing across the yard. Almost immediately, it spun into the air and came back at me again. I dropped to my knees and it passed by my face by centimetres and rolled across the ground and clattered into a row of old vehicles.
Suddenly there were more vehicles whizzing around through the air. I used outward waves to deflect them but my power was sapped and I could not raise anger to strengthen my gifts.
The end was near and I could see it coming; an old tractor was rotating high above my head. I was too weak to deflect such an object. She’d beaten me and I had failed Romand.
Marianne raised her hands and prepared to send the tractor down to crush me like a bug. I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come.
Marianne prepared to bring the heavy vehicle down and squash Bentley into the dirt. She hesitated for a moment as she watched her enemy squirming in the shadow of the tractor. In that instant he looked so much like Peter, her one and only love. She wondered if that was how Peter had looked and acted before he was callously murdered.
Have I now taken the place of Peter’s killer? she thought. Have I become that which I sought to destroy?
The moment of hesitation quickly passed. This was not Peter. This boy would soon grow to become a part of the group responsible for his death. Ross Bentley had to die.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN -
A True Gift
I don’t know what came first: the sound of the gunshot or the sight of Marianne’s shoulder exploding into a cloud of red. Either way, the bullet struck her in the shoulder-blade and hammered her to the ground. Her gift failed and the tractor came crashing down, but I was able to roll out of its way unharmed.
She was coughing blood and could barely keep her eyes open. The wound was horrific and looked fatal. Nobody, not even Marianne, could survive such an injury. I considered killing her while she was vulnerable, but I didn’t want that on my conscience, she would surely die from the gunshot wound. She was still dangerous, but as the seconds passed I saw her lose consciousness. Her head hit the ground as her body went limp.
A group of armed police officers vaulted the fence and entered the junkyard then fanned out. One put his hand on my shoulder and told me to sit down and politely informed me that I’d lost a lot of blood. As if I didn’t know that. After all, it was my blood that was all over the junkyard.
I fell onto my backside and watched the team of armed men surrounding Marianne and pointing their guns at her.
I was surprised they arrived so quickly. I’d called 999 earlier when I was sure Romand had led her out of the house. I’d given them the address of the Atkinson home and told them the person responsible for the massacre at the Laberinto was trying to kill us. Though the official story of the Laberinto explosion was a gas leak, I took the chance on the authorities being in on the cover-up and it had paid off.
I told Cathy and June to flee and that I’d follow them once I was sure Romand was safe.
I’d intended that the police would arrive in time to save the Atkinsons but they had arrived just in time to save me. Or had I been saved by those few moments of silence when Marianne held the tractor above my head? Why had she hesitated at the crucial moment?
The officers looked gobsmacked by the whole thing and kept throwing glances at the old and battered vehicles in the yard, as if they thought the cars and vans would suddenly come to life and start whizzing around once more. At any other time I would have worried about how to explain it, but now I was too exhausted too think about that.
When they were sure Marianne posed no serious threat they split up and searched the rest of the junkyard. Two of them helped me to my feet and led me back to the house, which was surrounded by more officers. Romand was still lying in the grass and a female officer was assessing his injuries. I wanted to see how he was, but they wouldn’t let me anywhere near him. I was shown to the sitting room and told to sit there until a medical team arrived.
I figured that they would soon search through the entire house and anything they found would be taken in as evidence. That included the briefcase containing Romand’s study of the fifteen true gifts. I couldn’t allow them to find it. The paper would reveal all the secrets of the gifts and probably identify Romand’s friends I kept hearing about.
When I was left alone I quietly made my way out of the room, crept up the staircase and entered Romand’s room. I was in luck. He’d left the manuscript on his bedside locker the previous night and hadn’t put it back into the bulky briefcase. I quickly stuffed the sheets of paper under my hoody then made my way back down the staircase.
‘What are you up to?’ one of the officers, who was coming through the open doorway, shouted. He pointed a handgun at me. ‘What were you doing up there?’
‘I was using the toilet,’ I replied. I lifted my hands in the air and used my gift to keep the block of sheets from falling out from under my hoody.
‘Right,’ he said. ‘Go back to the sitting room and don’t move. There are some people coming who want to talk to you before you’re brought to the hospital. I suggest you go sit down, you look like you’ve lost a lot of blood.’
I sat on the sofa and examined the cuts on my legs and the one on my side that was leaking a lot of blood; maybe I was in shock, because I wasn’t in a lot of pain. How had it come to this? A simple decision to enter a talent contest had gotten me involved in a battle between two forces that most people wouldn’t believe existed. My entire life had been turned upside down and now Romand was critically injured. Where would it all end?
‘Ross Bentley.’
I turned to see two men wearing dark suits entering the room. I didn’t know who t
hey were, but the police officers nodded to them and although I feared they might be Golding’s people, I suspected they were most likely Special Branch.
‘The men in black?’ I snorted.
‘Not quite,’ the older of the two said. He showed me an ID badge and my suspicions were confirmed; they were Special Branch. ‘We know all about you and your friends though.’
‘Friends?’
‘Marcus Romand and Marianne Dolloway.’
‘I wouldn’t say Marianne is my friend.’ I nodded to the blood on my clothes. ‘Do friends do that to each other?’
The younger man stepped forward and grabbed hold of me. ‘You’re all the same, you lot are.’ He dragged me off the chair and pushed me to the doorway. ‘Get moving! You and the Frenchman are coming with us.’
He continued to shove me through the house until I was in the back garden again. There I was told to wait while they went to Romand. To my surprise they lifted him off the ground and started carrying him. The other officers told them he was at death’s door and that an ambulance was on the way.
‘He’s coming with us!’ the older man barked. ‘Put in an official complaint if you have a problem with it.’
‘He’ll die if you don’t get him to a hospital soon!’ the female officer shouted.
‘I don’t care,’ he replied. ‘He’s coming with us, and so is Bentley!’
‘Who the hell are you people?’ I shouted. ‘You can’t do this. He needs help.’
The younger man pushed me towards the little wooden gate that led to the country road that ran parallel to the house. I couldn’t quite figure out what was happening, but I was beginning to suspect these men were on Golding’s payroll afterall and that Romand and I were being led to our deaths. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I hadn’t battled with Marianne Dolloway just to be outsmarted like this.
They carried Romand along the dark road and to a silver car. I followed them from a short distance and as I drew closer to the car I saw there were two people sitting in the back. I couldn’t see their faces, but they could have been Victor and Tsuyoshi for all I knew. I wanted to use the gift to escape but my strength was all but gone, I could barely walk. I tried to pull energy into my body as I watched them throw Romand into the back of the car. I thought it was a little strange that they’d put him on the laps of the two passengers and I paused in the road.
‘Get into the driver’s seat, Ross!’ the younger man said as he closed the back door. ‘There’s no time to waste.’
‘What?’ I bawled. ‘You want me to drive?’
‘Yes! Hurry!’
‘I’ve only had two lessons… Hang on! Why do you want me to drive? Why can’t one of you do it?’
‘Ross, get in the car and drive!’ the older man shouted. ‘I can’t hold this much longer!’
‘Hold what?’
‘The mind-switch!’
Finally it dawned on me. I raced to the car and looked into the back. Cathy and June were both sitting there with their eyes closed and Romand was sprawled across their laps. They had transported their minds into the bodies of the dark-suited men and used them to get us free of the police.
‘Hurry, Ross,’ the older man said. ‘My gift is failing.’
‘I’m not a good driver.’
‘Hurry!’
I sat in the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. I really was a terrible driver and I’d only ever had two lessons with my dad who swore he’d never get into a car with me again. There was no choice though; I had to get us the hell out of there.
I twisted the key in the ignition, pressed my foot on the accelerator and the car slowly rolled down the dark country road. I glanced in the rear view mirror to see the two special branch officers staggering around like a pair of drunks. One of them fell on his backside and the other went down on his knees and vomited on the road. Having their minds taken over obviously didn’t agree with them.
I focused on the road ahead. I needed to get my friends away from the authorities and driving like a granny wasn’t helping. I floored the accelerator and the car picked up speed. There were no streetlights and the route ahead was narrow with constant bends that slowed me down.
‘Dear Lord!’ June gasped when she’d fully released the mind switch and entered her own body once more. ‘Romand, look at what she’s done to you.’
‘How is he?’ I asked.
‘Concentrate on your driving, Ross.’
‘Tell me!’
‘This doesn’t look good. His injuries are very serious.’
‘Will he live?’ Cathy asked as she cushioned his head.
‘I’m … not sure.’
‘I’ll drive to the nearest hospital,’ I said. ‘How long will it take to get there?’
‘We can’t go to a hospital,’ June replied. ‘That’s the first place they’ll look.’
‘I don’t care about being caught. We’re talking about Romand’s life!’
‘The nearest hospital is a two-hour drive from here.’
‘He’ll never hold out that long!’ Cathy said. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘We can take him to Peter Williams; he’ll know what to do. He’s healed injuries like this before. His house is only an hour from here. Ross, take the next left turn.’
‘Okay, but what if he’s not at home?’
‘Don’t worry. Peter will already have sensed that we’re on our way.’
‘How is that possible?’
‘Now’s not the time, Ross. Drive!’
I pressed harder on the accelerator and the vehicle picked up speed. The bends came more frequent and I almost lost control of the car a few times. I didn’t slow down though, I had to get Romand help.
I felt a strange sensation all of a sudden, like cold water was being poured into my mind and snapping me from my thoughts. It was my precog gift and it was telling me that danger was drawing near once more.
‘We’re being followed,’ I told the others. ‘Someone is coming up behind us.’
Cathy and June looked through the back window but there was only a wall of black.
‘I see nothing,’ Cathy said.
‘She’s right, Ross. There’s nothing behind us.’
‘I’m telling you there’s someone following us. They’re very close.’
‘There is no one—’
Two headlights appeared behind us and they were gaining rapidly. After a moment there were sirens screaming and blue lights pulsed across the trees that lined the road.
‘I thought our mind switch would have bought us more time,’ Cathy said.
‘We have to lose them!’ I shouted. ‘We can’t be delayed.’
‘Can you use your gift, Ross?’
‘I’m running on empty, Cathy. I wouldn’t be able to lift a feather right now. Can one of you switch your mind into the driver of the first car?’
‘I can’t,’ June said. ‘The last mind-switch took too much out of me.’
‘I’ll try,’ Cathy said.
She sucked in a deep breath and lowered her head. Nothing happened for a moment but then the vehicle directly behind us swerved across the road, struck a tree and spun into the middle of the road.
‘Did it work?’ Cathy asked when she came to.
‘Looks like it,’ I said. I looked in the rear view mirror and the car was blocking the road. The cars had all come to a halt. ‘That bought us a minute or two. It might be enough time to lose them.’
‘I certainly hope so, I won’t be able to do that again.’
I pressed harder on the pedal and increased speed. The road was winding, but my precog gift was helping me to manoeuvre the car while driving so fast – I could visualise what was ahead split-seconds before I got there and adjust my course to it. It was a skill I never knew I had, but I didn’t get the chance to revel in this exciting discovery, not that I was in the mood for revelling, because the pulsing blue lights were in the distance again and were growing stronger. Three squad cars were moving up behind us and I was
sensing real danger.
‘I’m all out of ideas,’ I said over my shoulder.
‘Me too,’ Cathy replied. ‘Just keep driving as fast as you can.’
‘They’ll run us off the road soon enough,’ I told her. ‘I can sense it!’
I watched the lead car through the rear view mirror. It was coming at us fast and aggressively. They were going to strike us and send our car off the road or into a tree or a ditch. Our lives were all in grave danger now.
‘There should be a cross roads up ahead,’ June said. ‘Go straight through.’
The police were right behind us now and I couldn’t see any way out for us. I tried to find some energy to pull a tree down behind us but I had nothing left. I was totally exhausted and my injuries meant I was getting weaker each second.
‘They’re right on us!’ Cathy shouted.
‘He’s gonna push us off the road,’ I shouted. ‘Put your safety belts on. This is gonna hurt.’
We braced for an impact, but suddenly the car behind us skidded to a halt. So too did the one behind it and the one behind that. I gazed into the mirror and saw the officers leaving their cars and gesticulating to one another. I didn’t know what had happened but I was sure going to take advantage of it. I slipped the car into a higher gear and pushed the pedal to the floor.
‘Why did they stop?’ Cathy asked. ‘They almost had us.’
‘Maybe there’s something up ahead,’ I suggested. ‘Perhaps a road block or something.’
‘No, they wouldn’t have had time to set that up’
‘Why did they stop then?’
‘Because they can no longer see us,’ it was Romand, he’d woken up but his voice was terribly frail, nothing like it had been before. ‘The gift of light-tuning has many uses.’
‘No, Romand!’ June said. ‘You’re too weak to do this!’
‘Keep driving as fast as you can, Ross. I can’t cloak the car much longer.’