“Let me go,” Jane said.
William set Lily down. “What?”
“I don’t know what you’ve done to me, what you slipped me or whatever, but please let me go. Now.”
William looked genuinely confused. “I’m … not sure what you’re talking about.”
“I am a doctor. I know there is no medical explanation for what you are doing to me. No one can control someone else’s movements. Unlock that door and let me go.”
“Steven, unlock the door,” William said, holding up his hands. “Please believe me that I am in no way trying to do this. I’m trying to understand it as well. Are you saying that you’re compelled to … follow my directions?”
“I didn’t want to follow you here. I tried to drive away and I was physically unable to do so. I didn’t want to come in this house, but my body isn’t listening. And I am on the verge of screaming for help.”
Lily slowly approached her. “I got scared too when it started happening to me.”
“What are you talking about?” William asked.
Lily looked from him back to Jane. “I don’t think he means to do it.”
“Lily.” William kneeled down before her, his eyebrows raised. “Are you saying you’ve been forced to follow me?”
“I want to go with you. But … I can’t say no, either. It’s like … I don’t want to hurt people. But when you’re in trouble … I have to do it.”
“Hurt people?” Jane demanded. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to let me, and this little girl, go. Right now.”
“Don’t be afraid of him. He’s not doing it, it is,” Lily said. “The monster in the mountain is.”
“Seriously, stop this right now—”
“I would if I could,” William said. “I don’t want to be doing any of this. I just know what happened to Lily and me … happened to you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jane … do you remember if you went missing … about a year ago?” William asked.
Jane flinched. “I didn’t go missing…”
“But something happened. A period of time you don’t remember. Am I right?”
She swallowed. “Did you have something to do with that?”
“No.” He shook his head. “But I know what happened.”
Jane whirled to Steven. “Are you one of those people who kidnapped him? Is that what this is? Did you also do something to me?”
“Young lady, I haven’t ever laid eyes on you before just now. And I am so sorry that you’re caught up in this. We will explain everything to you.” He motioned with his chin towards William. “Listen to him. Even if he doesn’t direct you to do so, you should probably sit down.”
* * *
The headlights of the Jeep Cherokee, clouded by years of oxidation, made for even a dimmer view of the shockingly dark neighborhoods, void of electricity. They drove at a slow pace, hoping to conserve as much gas as possible, as there was no way to know how far they would have to go to find a working station. It also meant no air-conditioning; the slight breeze coming from their glacial pace offering little comfort.
“Let’s hope the military isn’t close by, looking for survivors. If so, we’re in trouble,” Steven said.
“Jane said the city had all but emptied before the last storm. The National Guard only returned for them at the hospital.” William took off his hat to try and dry his sweaty hairline.
“You’re sure … you’re absolutely sure you can find her? Because that is one strong-willed, frightened young woman. It wouldn’t surprise me if she hit the gas and did not let up until Mississippi.”
“I can feel her. She’s still in the city.”
“How can you know that?”
William maneuvered around scattered trashcans in the street. Even the headlights seemed insignificant in the black.
“It’s the touch.”
“Touch?”
“I realized it in the hospital, right before the hurricane hit. When I physically touched Jane, I knew it. I could feel it. I had complete control over her abilities. Together … we moved the winds in the room from striking us. And then stopped the storm.”
“My God,” Steven said softly.
“It’s the same with Lily, once we made a physical connection. All I had to do was think … tell Lily to stop, and she would.“
“You can communicate with her telepathically?”
William glanced at him. “It sounds ridiculous. But yes. I didn’t realize the extent of it until I touched Jane. Once we made that connection … not only can I talk to her…”
“You can actually control her movements. Even if she doesn’t want to do it. William…”
“I know.”
“It’s incredible. Is that by design? Or did they even realize this could happen?”
“I don’t think so. In fact … I don’t think they’re happy about it at all.”
“How do you know?”
“They’re clearly controlling me when I dream to connect to the others, to spark their weapons. But back at the shotgun house, when I entered the dream, or connection, whatever you want to call it, and I tried to move on my own volition to find Jane, there was heavy resistance; a strong feeling that I was defying them. I got that same feeling when Jane and I stopped the storm: an anger from afar.”
“Son, I know you are shouldering a lot. And we’re all scared as hell. But this is the first sign of hope.”
“Hope?” William’s forehead wrinkled. “I have to physically touch them to stop their abilities. The others like us are all over the world. How I can begin to stop them all?”
“I’ve spent a lifetime of defeat after defeat. Heartbreak after heartbreak. When you get to my age, you celebrate the signs of possibility. And speaking of signs, that one reads we’re in Uptown. She said it’s where she lived.”
“I vaguely remember these streets,” William said as a strand of beads in a magnolia flashed momentarily in the headlights. “My parents used to take us here all the time for the kid-safe parades in Mardi Gras. It was one of the few times I could blend into a crowd without being identified. Quincy actually made a joke about drinking too many hurricanes and not remembering the times he’d been here.”
“Bizarre to wish that someone who is practically a stranger was still here,” Steven said.
William smiled sadly. “I didn’t even know who he was before all this.”
“We used him. I’ll admit it now. We didn’t know what it would take to get you where you needed to go. With Quincy, though, your options were endless. We’d hoped the realization that both your great-grandparents started on this path would help you see past his … eccentric ways, and his insulting job offer. I’ve seen his YouTube videos and read his interviews. He believes in stuff that even I find farfetched. I wonder, now, what he’ll do with what he knows. If he goes to the FBI, tells them where we’re headed…”
“I doubt that. He saw enough to know to stay away from any government agent.”
“That’s true. He’s probably holed up in some posh hotel or maybe a boardroom, being grilled by his board of directors on how to handle this PR crisis. Eventually, though, they’ll have to alert his shareholders that he is alive, in order to reverse the plunging stock. His company took a big hit when he disappeared. And once that’s out, the FBI will come to him. We don’t have much time.”
“But even if we do convince Jane to come with us, which sounds almost impossible given her reaction to what we told her … I believe the others are on the East and West coasts. And that’s just in the United States. They’re all over the world. I can’t get to them all.”
“I learned this in those terrible days when the Suits raided my home and I was on the run for the first time: You take one day at a time. One hour at a time if you must. And I know it probably isn’t much of a comfort, but as long as I’m breathing, I’m with you.”
“Here,” William said, taking the chain with the flash drive off his neck. “Take it.
Should we ever get to Nanna, it needs to come from you.”
Steven accepted it, putting it around his neck. He held the flash drive in his hand. “Just don’t forget it, if something happens to me. I haven’t taken my meds for a day or so now.”
“Jane is a doctor. Maybe she can help.”
“How far away are we now?”
William could feel her, just as he could sense exactly where Lily was sitting in the back seat.
“I need to turn there. Wait, wait. It looks flooded. I’ll find another way around. You OK Lily?” He looked over his shoulder.
She nodded, perspiration on her forehead.
“I know it’s hot. Want to lay down?” William asked.
“That’s OK.”
She had to be hungry, and they were down to the last of the chips and peanuts they’d bought at the gas station in Alabama.
“We’ll find some food and a place to rest once we hit the road. A place with air-conditioning,” William promised.
“William, there’s something else,” Steven said. “Are you prepared … if Jane refuses to come with us…?”
“To force her to come? I hope to avoid that.”
“You realize you may not have that chance. You have no idea how far your control over her reaches. I don’t think she will come willingly. You saw how she grilled us. You’re asking someone who believes only in science to believe science fiction.”
“There.” William pointed, his headlights flashing on another shotgun. “The one with the white trim.”
The house, like all the others, was completely dark. Jane’s Honda was parked in the drive.
He pulled up, aware he was blocking her in. William took Lily by the hand as they exited the car. When she started to drag her feet in weariness, he lifted her till they got to the door.
They knocked. After a few moments, they heard a muffled reply from inside. William opened the door.
“Jane?”
They walked in, the humidity of the room almost overwhelming. He set Lily down, hating to use what was left of the phone battery for light. Holding it out, he saw a glimpse of Jane lying on the couch, apparently asleep.
The light revealed the two men standing over her, dressed in black suits.
He felt the injection in his neck. Steven grunted while Lily cried out.
William whirled around with the light, the movement causing such dizziness he almost fell.
Before he hit the ground, he swore he saw, just for a moment, the face of his Aunt Kate standing in the corner, watching, with her hands covering her mouth.
FOURTEEN
He was so groggy at first that it was difficult even opening his eyes. Even when he could focus enough to sit up, he immediately had to lie back down, the nausea so strong he feared he might vomit.
Drugged now, twice. Not just him, but Lily too. Injected with God knows what. It can’t be good for a little girl.
William sat up again, slowly this time. There were no windows, so the only light came from fluorescents above. The queen-sized bed took up much of the space, as if it were hastily crammed in. Books were stacked in columns, even on the floor. A Sports Illustrated issue covered a nightstand. A small TV was placed in the corner, with a connected Xbox.
It took him a moment to realize everything was tailor-made for him.
He heard the beeping of a code and the loud release of bolts in the door. The door opened slightly.
“Will.”
He hadn’t imagined it, that last moment in Jane’s house. Even for a moment, it was a face he instantly recognized—his eighth birthday party, Sunday dinners around Nanna’s table—his aunt Kate was there for a while, often in a business suit, fresh off a plane. And when she wasn’t dressed for a meeting, she was in a Predators jersey, playing football with him and his brothers, a cautioning hand when they were in public, scanning for photographers in the crowd. The family’s pit bull, William’s dad had called her, ready to bite anyone who lunged at them and wired not to let go.
Until Grandpa Tom resigned from office, and the aunt he knew became someone else.
Very much looking like a US senator, in her dark blue suit and glasses, she walked over to him, her arms outstretched.
“Don’t,” he said, holding up his hand.
She paused as he groggily stood. “You’re with them, Kate. You let them do this.”
“Honey, I didn’t want to. It’s the last thing I ever wanted. And I’m not with them. I want to keep you safe. Keep everyone safe.”
“Safe? You call drugging and throwing me—wherever we are—safe?”
“This is the safest place right now, I promise you.”
“And you’ve locked up a little girl and a doctor too? And Steven, is he here too?”
“They’re two of the deadliest people on the planet, William. And you know it as well as I do. This had to happen. As for Dr. Richards, he’s being questioned right now.”
“Thinking about maybe pegging this one on him too? Since the murder charge didn’t stick last time?”
“William, please. I had nothing to do with that—”
“Why are you even here, Aunt Kate? How do you know about any of this? How did you know how to find me?”
“I’ve been trying to track you down for a year now, William. Obviously, since the disaster in Little Rock, I’ve moved heaven and earth to locate you. People have come to me with information that assisted in that effort.”
“People? Such as government agents dressed in black? The same ones you used to deny existed? I remember the fights you had with my mom over the phone. You denied everything that Nanna said.”
“I made a lot of mistakes. But I understand now. It’s why we’ve desperately been looking for you—”
“We’ve?” William winced. “So you’re now aligned with the SSA? Because news flash, Aunt Kate, they weren’t trying to look for me. They’ve tried to kill us all.”
“I wouldn’t let anyone lay a single finger on you, and you know it. I’ve done it all your life. I know this has been horrible for you, and I’m not happy about it—”
“This is bullshit.”
“Hey,” she said, snapping her fingers. “I’m know you’ve been through hell, but son, I’ve changed your diaper, taught you to tie a bowtie, and taken red-eye flights to make your eight a.m. Little League baseball games—”
“You turned your back on us!” William outstretched his hands. “Your own family! Your own mother! And now you try to play the doting aunt?”
“I don’t expect you to understand. You have every right to blame me. But I never stopped loving any of you.”
“This is how you show your love—”
“Yes, this is how I show it,” she said, taking a step towards him. “You are no longer on the run. You are under constant protection. I can at least tell your mother and father and brothers that you are with me and there is no need to worry while we try to figure out what to do next.”
“You don’t get it. There isn’t time. If you keep me locked up in here, I can’t stop this. I can’t stop what’s coming. You want to keep your country safe? There won’t be a country if you keep me down here.”
“What is best now is that you and the other three are safe and taken care of, and I swear I will make sure you have everything you need—”
“The other three? You’ve found another?”
Kate bit her lip. “I will tell you everything in due time. Everything I learn I swear I will share with you. I will keep nothing from you. I’m just trying to protect my state and my country and family—”
“You know about Blue, then? Do you know about that, Aunt Kate?”
She blinked. “Blue?”
“They didn’t tell you that, did they?” William said, motioning outside the door. “Ask your friends in the suits about Blue. Ask your government about Blue. Then see if you can ever look any member of your family in the eye again. Until then, leave me the hell alone.”
William turned away from her, his fingers laced
behind his head.
“Will—”
“Ask them. Ask them about Blue. See if you think your family is safe in the hands of your government.”
She sighed. She went to the door, her hand pausing on the handle. “You know I love you, even if you hate me right now. But I can’t put family before country.”
When he didn’t respond, she quietly walked out. A series of bolts sealed behind her.
The anger burned, and in it, he sensed Lily immediately. He felt the rise in her as well.
He took a deep breath and blew out through his nose, repeating it over and over. He closed his eyes.
William?
In a heartbeat, he was with her. She sat on the edge of a bed, clutching a large pink stuffed hippo. On the walls were posters of unicorns and teddy bears. A small table beside her bed was covered in LEGOs. Another custom-made prison.
Lily. I’m here.
Come get me.
I’m trying, honey. But I have to figure out how.
I’m scared.
I know. But just stay calm.
Please come get me.
I’ll come for you, I promise, as soon as I can.
He hated to make a vow he might not be able to keep, and hated even more to leave her.
As soon as he broke the connection, he attempted another.
Jane was pacing in a room similar to his, but obviously much less prepared. They didn’t know enough about her to try to personalize her cell.
Jane.
She flinched, looking around. Even with her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, wearing the same scrubs for God knows how long, William couldn’t help but notice what he first thought when he saw her: Dr. Spencer was a beautiful woman.
Jane, it’s William. I’m here.
“What?” she almost cried out.
Listen, try to talk to me just by thinking. They’re watching us every second, I’m sure of it. Please. Just try.
She opened her mouth to speak.
Just think. Try—
William?
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