The Secret

by A. Taylor, Taryn

  The sound of a helicopter roared to life and lifted in the air from the roof of the building.

  A metallic fear tasted inside of my mouth. I lifted my hand in the air to draw a weapon. If I couldn’t use my mind—maybe I could find another way.

  A crazed laugh came from Nicholi and he cleared his throat. “Lanie, would you stop? You’re killing me.” Nicholi lifted his eyebrows. “Unless you’ve missed the memo—I’m in your head, Lanie. Do you really think I’d let you create a weapon? I’m stronger, I’m smarter, and I know that hurting your mother is not what you want. Get in the helicopter.”

  Blood pounded in a whooshing sound through my ears.

  The helicopter landed and the police sirens grew louder.

  “We have to be going.”

  I hesitated, longing for the sirens to get closer, but knowing it would just mean more people would get hurt.

  I turned to the helicopter, the door was open and I could see Mom lying on some type of gurney. My chest constricted and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I ran to the helicopter, flinging myself inside.

  “Lanie!” Jake’s voice yelled behind me.

  “Sam…” Nicholi’s tone was that of a parent patronizing a child that didn’t want to mind.

  “Go to hell.”

  Marsha dropped back to the ground, crying out in pain.

  “Do you like causing your siblings pain?”

  A moment later, I watched Sam enter the door of the helicopter and slide in next to me.

  I leaned down and took my mother’s hand into my own. The air swooshed loudly around us.

  Nicholi closed the door and the helicopter rose into the air.

  “Mom? Mom?”

  “She’s okay.” The woman sitting next to Nicholi stared down at me with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. I felt something start inside of me as I realized whose eyes they reminded me of.

  Nicholi put his arm around her and gave the woman’s shoulder a squeeze. “That’s right. She’ll be fine, Ruth. Everything is fine.”

  Episode 28: Refusal

  Jake

  The leather binding of my mother’s last journal didn’t comfort me like it used to. Before I knew my mother was alive. Before I thought she could possibly be in on Nicholi’s whole crazy plan. And before I’d realized that her journals might be a clue.

  I pushed down the top on the cheap pen I held poised in my hand. Then released it and pushed it down again. I’d been combing the last few entries for a sign. Anything that would tell me how to fight Nicholi. Anything that would help me save Lanie.

  The only thing that was consistent on every page was the symbol of The Foundation. The mark we all bore behind our left ears; the half-moon shape that made up the Arche. I traced it over and over on the pages, hoping that maybe there was some kind of connection that would reach out to me.

  “It’ll be over soon.” Karen walked into the kitchen, a purple bath robe pulled tightly around her and a haggard, soft expression on her face. She gave me a resigned smile. “Good morning, Jake.”

  I tried to smile at her, but I knew it was pointless. I reached behind my ear, running my index finger over it. What was I missing? “I guess you didn’t discover anything else in the late-night digging?”

  She sighed. “No. I’m worried about Rob. He’s lived off of Mountain Dew and adrenaline the past two days. He finally crashed about two o’clock this morning.”

  I looked into her brown eyes. The usual contentment that Karen had always had a gift for carrying with her was gone. I pulled her into my shoulder. “It will be okay.” I knew it wouldn’t. I knew it was even worse than we had ever, ever imagined anything could be—but I had to say it. A small bit of comfort was the only thing I could offer anyone right now. However lame and pathetic I knew it was.

  Karen started to shake, tucking her head deeper into my chest. “No it won’t. Rob thinks Nicholi might be the only one who can really use any of the spells from the book. Like he was the only one gifted with it or something.”

  A hopeless, forsaken feeling surrounded me. I rubbed the mark behind my ear again. Power. Everything was linked to our powers.

  Rob flew into the kitchen. “I’ve got it.” He wore his standard gym shorts and the black Boston sweatshirt he never took off.

  Karen pulled back from me and wiped at her face. “What?”

  Rob sat down at the make-shift computer station he’d put together at the kitchen table. “I know the variable I was missing.”

  A surge of hope went through my chest and I moved to stand behind him.

  He started to type in code, and then I recognized the symbol he was typing over and over as the Arche.

  “Wait! What are you doing?”

  Rob turned his bloodshot eyes to me. “It’s the answer.”

  Adrenaline shot through me.

  Rob turned back to the screen, a deep scowl replacing the hope I’d seen just seconds ago. “It’s not working.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder, the puzzle clicking into place. “It will work. But it has nothing to do with the computer…”

  Gravel crunching on the driveway signaled that someone was here. I turned and saw a police car pull up and park next to the deck.

  Rob glowered. “You’ve got to get them off our backs. I thought you had your attorney guy on it.”

  I turned to walk across the room and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “You know they don’t know anything. But Sheriff Boyle refuses to believe you’re not guilty for Tamara Fuentes.”

  We’d managed to escape the police after Nicholi had left, taking the cake box and borrowing one of the airport vans that had been inside the building. Reed and I had even taken the vehicle back yesterday. But having Alana’s head stuck in the freezer in the garage made me…sick…and nervous. Marsha had insisted on waiting to bury it until Sam was back.

  A round of thudding sounded through the house. A muffled voice. “Open the door, Jake.”

  I found Mr. Schneider’s number and punched in a quick text. ‘Cops are here—again.’

  Another round of pounding. “I’m giving you to the count of ten.”

  I flung the door open, setting my face into an innocent annoyance. “I thought we agreed the questioning was over.”

  Sherriff Boyle rocked back onto his heels and I saw my own reflection in his sunglasses. “Ya know, Mr. Curtis, I would like nothing better than to leave you all alone. The problem is that they found a headless body in a tarp that looks like it was thrown from a car on the interstate.” He pulled his sunglasses off and cocked his head in what I recognized as his accusatory stance. “And wouldn’t you know it—traces of Rob Hart’s blood were found on her clothes.”

  Lanie

  “You know—your lake house kinda sucks. If feels suffocating. I don’t know why. I think you tried to over-sell me on the idea of moving here a few weeks ago.” Bitter, controlled anger pulsed through me. I’d been imprisoned—like a sick sci-fi movie where the evil scientist holds his human subjects and mentally tortures them before disposing of them at the right time.

  Nicholi sat in the chair next to me and put a mug on the table beside him. “Ruthie made it for you. She’s really great at herbal tea. You should try it. You need to relax.”

  I winced at the thought of Jake’s mom shuffling around the kitchen doing Nicholi’s bidding. “You have mind-controlled her this whole time? Why isn’t her brain fried?”

  Nicholi let out a breath. “You think it’s so simple. It’s...an art.”

  I focused on the thick, pine trees right above the lake shoreline. “Why don’t you just mind control all of us? You are capable of that—obviously.”

  Nicholi sighed. “You’re right—I could. But I see a larger picture that you don’t.” He sipped his tea. “You’re so broody. You
were never this broody when I stayed with you and Rob. I actually enjoyed our conversations then. Cooking for you guys. Didn’t you enjoy any of our time together?”

  I bit into the bottom of my lip, ignoring the painful sore that had formed from my obsessive habit.

  Nicholi slurped his tea. “Okay, Lanie. I haven’t been fair. I brought you and your mother here and I’ve mind-controlled a few people. But—does that discount all the good things I did for you? I helped you escape, kept you hidden, kept you secure. And you wanted Luth dead for so long—admit it. I was doing you a favor.”

  I whipped my head around, amazed at his ability to truly disconnect from all of this. “Convenient that I only wanted Luth to die because I thought he killed my father—and it turns out that was you.” I tried with all my effort to make the cup in Nicholi’s hand explode.

  It started to shake and Nicholi looked at the mug and then opened his mouth in an entertained laugh. “Lanie—quit trying that on me. It won’t work. We’ve gone over this. I can’t be affected by your antics. And, if you make any moves you shouldn’t, I’ll kill Chandra. Is that what you want? To be the one responsible for your mother’s death?” His face frowned in mock horror. “That would be tragic.”

  I glared at him and then turned back to the lake. “I hate you.”

  Nicholi snorted. “Yes. Hate. A powerful emotion. You need to be careful with those kinds of emotions. They can consume you.”

  “Like Molly?”

  I let the name of his daughter hang in the air.

  Nicholi didn’t laugh. He didn’t do one of his superior sighs. He didn’t say a word.

  “Oh—right. You don’t want to talk about the little girl you’re killing everyone around you to bring back. Or about the fact that it won’t work. You know that. I presume you looked at all the experiments Luth made me try. You know it’s impossible.”

  The smashing sound of Nicholi’s mug impacting into the side of the deck beside me made me smile. I’d angered him. We’d had these little chats for the past two days—every couple of hours he would send for someone to bring me to the deck to talk. I’d tried my best to hurt him somehow, and I reveled in my small success.

  His face contorted into that of an angry animal. A low growl escaped his mouth. “It is possible.”

  I held my eyes to his and dared him to do something. If the last two days had taught me anything it was that he didn’t want to hurt me.

  Nicholi looked away and slowly stood from his chair. “Get ready to see your mother.”

  My heart started to race. His mind-controlled workers were posted outside of every room and he’d kept my mother locked away from me, warning me that one wrong move would get her killed. What he didn’t know was that it wasn’t going to go down like he thought. I might not be able to do anything to Nicholi, but I’d been practicing some mind control tricks of my own on his peeps. Simple things—sending mental messages to them to pick something up: bring me a drink of water, bring me a book. I tried to keep them low and off the radar. No blowing things up. And it was working. I had my own plan for a complete take over.

  Nicholi paused in front of me and looked down. “Get the coin out of her head, Lanie. And she’ll live. If you come out without it or pull any tricks—”

  I cut him off. “I’m not stupid. I get it.”

  He didn’t say a word.

  I tried to give him the best taunting smile I could. “For some reason, you can’t completely mind-control me—and you don’t know why.”

  The edges of his eyes crinkled into a squint and he stepped away from me and moved to the door. “Really? Do you know that for sure? Maybe I’m pretending. Don’t go accusing me of things quite yet. Especially when I have your mother.”

  Rage surged through me.

  He opened the door, but didn’t look at me. “There’s no way for you to gain the advantage, Lanie. It’s my rules. It’s my game. Then it’s back to Boulder. I’m sure you’re looking forward to seeing your brother. Rob’s a good guy. I want to make that a nice reunion for you. Let’s hope he can stay out of trouble with local law enforcement.”

  Thinking of Rob and the mess all of them were left in when we hopped into that helicopter had nearly driven me to the brink of insanity. “You—”

  Nicholi turned back and shook his finger at me. “Uh-uh—I have a present for you.”

  Sam came out onto the deck and my heart lurched inside my chest. I hadn’t been allowed to see Sam, either.

  Nicholi clapped a hand down on Sam’s shoulder. “I thought you’d like to get reacquainted before you work together.”

  Sam held veiled hatred in his eyes, but he gave Nicholi a nod.

  “Great. Enjoy your visit.” Nicholi closed the door.

  Sam wore a long-sleeved, blue knit shirt with dark jeans. His eyes looked tired. His hair hung loosely in front of his face.

  Sam paused, studying me and then rushed forward, opening his arms. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

  I stood, letting him hug me, smelling his sun tan smell and grateful, for a second, that he was okay.

  He leaned back, but kept me wrapped inside his arms. “Lanie.”

  I thought of Alana. The sadness and vulnerability in his eyes made me swallow back my own emotions. “It’s going to be okay, Sam.”

  He looked at my lips. “Are you alright?”

  I nodded. “Are you?”

  Before I could object, his lips brushed against mine—heat poured into me. It slid to my heart so quickly and with such a penetrating force—I could feel all of my walls go down. I pushed him back and slapped him.

  Sam pulled away and his eyes held anguish. “I’m sorry, Lanie.”

  I stumbled back and realization dawned on me. “You just took my feelings—didn’t you?”

  “Yes. But I didn’t want to. I have to do what he says. Lanie, you can’t stop him. Get that out of your mind.”

  Red anger burned through me like a flag of righteousness. “Don’t, Sam…”

  Sam lifted his hand into the air and cut me off. “Nicholi never used his mind control on me before now. He got me to do his bidding by threatening Alana. But now…I can’t stop it. I can’t stop him. And neither can you. Alana is proof of that.”

  I shook my head. “Fight it, Sam. You’ve got to fight.”

  He looked abandoned and hopeless. “I have to help him, Lanie.”

  If Sam could be forced into telling Nicholi everything we talked about, I would have to work with that. “It’s okay, Sam. We’re just going to do what Nicholi says, it’s that simple.”

  Sam moved his eyes to the window in a hidden gesture and then stepped forward, taking me back into a hug.

  I tried to push away from him but his grip tightened.

  “Shh. I think I know a way. Listen to me.”

  I studied his sincere, green eyes as he allowed me to pull just slightly back, and then I let myself relax against him. Was he fighting the mind control?

  Sam quickly pressed his warm thumb against the raised, silver mark behind my ear. A jerk of pain went through me and the last thing I heard was Sam’s soft voice.

  “I’m sorry, Lanie. This is the only way.”

  Episode 29: Debt

  “Lanie! Lanie!”

  I could hear her calling to me. I opened my eyes and shielded myself from the glare of the sun.

  My dolls were strewn out in front of me and I could feel that my hair was pulled back into thick braids down the sides of my head—just like when I was a little girl. I sat up, blinking, and noticed I was wearing a dress, like the cottony, summer ones my mother had insisted upon when I was a child.

  “There, there, little Miss Hart.”

  I looked into Henrietta’s deep, brown eyes and felt her soft hand petting my forehead.

 
“Your momma thought it might be nice for you to get some sunshine and have comforting things around you when you woke up.”

  I expected pain. Pain in my head. Pain on my body. The usual pain in my chest that was like a knot that never seemed to unwind—but there wasn’t any.

  I didn’t move, letting myself bask in the innocence of this moment—this feeling. I knew I was in my mother’s head. I knew that everything around me was an illusion. But I liked it.

  “Come up to the balcony, Lanie.” My mother’s voice.

  My mother sat perched on a chair at the top of the stairs. I was by the fountain with Henrietta. I stood up. “I’m coming, Mom.”

  Sam stepped in front of me, still wearing his dark jeans with his hair falling in his eyes.

  Anger flashed through me. “What did you do?”

  He squeezed the bridge of his nose. “. Did you think he wouldn’t know you would be planning a mutiny? Did you think he wouldn’t guess that you would try to stop him? He knew you were testing your powers on the others.”

  I clenched my fists. “So you just played soldier—right?”

  Sam grabbed my wrist and started pulling me toward the house. “We need to talk to your mom, Lanie. There’s no time for this.”

  I kept walking, but pulled my wrist out of his grasp. “Stop it!”

  Sam stopped and put both of his hands onto my shoulders, whipping me around to face him. “Nicholi wanted you in here, Lanie. He used me. That’s what he does—uses people to get what he wants. And he didn’t want tricks from you, so I had to start the process out on the deck. I’d never done it like that before. But I had to. Do you get that? There is no fighting him when he’s in your head.” His eyes pleaded with me for forgiveness and a tortured energy passed between us. “I couldn’t stop.”