Lucy had mixed feelings herself about their success, but hearing Mary's attack brought out her mama bear instincts. "You shallow, sex-obsessed twit, you know nothing about—"
"Lucy, care to share with the rest of the class?" Mr. Lancaster and everyone in fifth period stared at her.
"No, I'm sorry."
"Then please keep your mouth closed and your ears open while I'm talking. Someday, this just might save your life."
"Yes, sir."
Mary snickered beside her, and Lucy wanted to claw her eyes out. Instead, she kept her head forward and her ears, as Mr. Lancaster said, open.
"Here's the scenario." The teacher walked to the whiteboard and drew the layout of a building. "There are a group of innocent people in a building, and terrorists are holding them at gunpoint. Without using powers, how would you get in and save them? You can use any technology or weapons you can think of, just no powers."
Willy raised his hand, and the class groaned collectively.
"Yes, Willy."
He pushed his glasses up onto his nose and answered in his I-know-more-than-all-of-you-combined-and-isn't-this-just-so-obvious voice. "This is simple, Mr. Lancaster. I'd hack into the camera surveillance and reroute the feed so they didn't see me sneak in. Then I'd memorize their positions, throw a flash grenade to blind everyone, and proceed to shoot every terrorist from memory, starting with the one closest to the victims."
"Willy, you really need a girlfriend, my boy." Mr. Lancaster ruffled Willy's mop of red hair affectionately and continued pacing the room. "Anyone else?"
Darren raised his hand. "A peaceful outcome would be best for all parties. The terrorists presumably want something, so I'd find out what and try to negotiate. That way, no one gets hurt."
Lucy didn't disagree with Willy or Darren, but believed both had underestimated the enemy in this scenario.
Mr. Lancaster pointed to Mary. "What about you, how would you handle it?"
All the guys in the room zoomed in on the blond who played with her long hair and looked slightly confused. "Um... well, I would do something to, you know, get their attention. I mean, my powers work all the time. Why would they stop working? This doesn't make sense. Even if I lost my power... well, look at me." She gestured to her tight dress and curvy figure. "I'd just seduce them into surrendering."
Lucy rolled her eyes, as did every other female in the room. The men were too entranced to think clearly.
The question troubled Lucy, who didn't know how she would handle the situation even with her power. Detecting lies could come in handy with hostage negotiation. She'd be able to tell whether they lied about releasing the prisoners. As for a full-on attack, what would she do?
She had an idea. "Mr. Lancaster?"
"Yes, Lucy."
"I think everyone had good ideas." She shot a glance at Mary. "Well, almost everyone. But I don't think it would be that simple. We'd have to work as a team to succeed. Alone, we'd each just fail."
Mr. Lancaster clapped his hands and smiled. "Very good. You all are good lone rangers, but you also need to learn how to work together. Situations will come up where, even if you have access to your powers, you won't win on your own. There's power in numbers when each person's gifts are used well. Remember that."
Lucy made eye contact with the teacher and held his gaze. Did he know about the Freedom Fighters? Was he somehow endorsing what they were doing?
He turned away and addressed the class. "You're dismissed, but stay alert. I'll be doing surprise attacks at random. Be ready to defeat me without the use of powers... and preferably without serious bodily injury either. I'm just an old man, after all."
The hallway filled with teens hurrying to their next class. The squeak of sneakers on the linoleum floor, and the smell of the boy's locker room across the hall, brought back so many memories for Lucy. She missed Sam and wished they were together again. She thought Sam would have liked Mr. Lancaster's class today.
Gary approached as she made her way to the lockers. "I'm going to see if Darren will join us. Telekinesis could be very powerful. Have you and Luke decided if you're in. We really need you both." His hazel eyes begged her like a puppy dog looking for a treat.
She stood her ground, though, unwilling to sign on to this crazy plan that was doomed to failure. "We're talking about it, but it still looks like a suicide mission to me, and I kind of like being alive."
The headmaster's voice startled Lucy. "What are you doing out of class, young lady?"
She spun around, heart pounding. Neil stood behind her. "Hey, Lucy, what's up?"
"Were you doing Higgins's voice again? You freaked me out."
He laughed. "Sorry, I just can't help it. I love the look on everyone's face when they think they're about to get in trouble for something."
Lucy punched him in the arm. "You're terrible, you know that?"
Greg walked up and took Gary's hand.
"Oh, Neil, this is Gary and Greg, friends of mine. Guys, this is Neil. He can mimic any voice around. It's incredible."
Gary stared at her.
Right, Neil would be perfect, but I'm so not going there until I've decided where I stand on all this. She shook her head sharply.
Gary sighed and pulled Greg closer to him. "Hey, Neil, we're getting a club together. You know, something where we can practice our powers and talk about politics. You in?"
"I hear ya, Gary, but I don't know. Sounds risky, given... everything. I'll think about it, okay?" He turned to Lucy. "You and Luke are in?"
Lucy shuffled her feet. She didn't want to ruin Gary's efforts, but she wouldn't lie either. "Um, we're thinking about it."
"Got it. Well, like I said, I'll give it some thought but.... "
Gary's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, sure, I understand. See ya, Neil."
"Bye Gary. Lucy. Be careful."
Neil left the three of them with dejected looks on their faces.
Lucy stomped her foot, then blushed at how petulant she must look. "How do you expect to succeed if you can't even recruit people?"
Gary rolled his eyes. "That's why we need you and your brother. If people see you two involved, they'll be more likely to join."
"And then we'll be responsible for leading more kids to their death. I don't want that on my conscience."
"Then you're conscience will have to carry the weight of what's to come. It's not going to get better here. You'll see."
Greg pulled his hand from Gary's and put his arm around his distraught boyfriend.
She looked at the both of them, still trying to make a go of their relationship despite everything going on. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't mean to fight with you. I’m just really stressed right now. But we're the lucky ones, you know? You two are lucky to have each other. I'm lucky to have my brother. I feel bad for those who have to go through this alone."
When the three of them arrived at Lucy's locker, Mr. Lancaster jumped out from behind a door and grabbed at Lucy. She immediately spun him around, kicked his legs out from under him and pinned him to the ground.
"You'll have to do better than that, Mr. Lancaster." She helped him up and dusted off her knees.
"You're a natural at martial arts, aren't you Lucy? I'm glad you can take care of yourself. That will serve you well in the days ahead."
Before she could ask what he meant, he had walked away.
She grabbed her books from her locker, and walked with Greg and Gary to their next class. "I wonder what that was about."
Greg, who didn't talk much, looked thoughtful. "Perhaps Mr. Lancaster has hidden loyalties. We should keep an eye on him."
Chapter 37 – Sam
Sharp spikes pierced my mind as I pried my eyes open.
Drake's voice drifted in and out as his hand squeezed mine. "Sam, you okay? What happened, Honey?"
My vision focused. The frown lines on his forehead worked overtime. What happened? I was standing in the hallway, bumped into Brad, then—
"Oh my God, Drake, someone was in my h
ead!" My body shook from the memory. I scanned the mental energies of everyone in the house, but nothing felt unusual. Aside from a pounding headache, my own mind also felt normal—well, as normal as it ever got.
"What do you mean? Like the way we talk?"
"No, like someone tried to spy on us through me. Felt like they were tearing apart my brain with a knife."
"Are you okay? Is our baby okay?" His blue eyes glistened with spent tears. I'd never seen Drake cry before.
"I think so. My head hurts, but otherwise I feel normal. Help me up?"
He kept a hand on my shoulder. "Shouldn't you rest?"
"I want to make sure my body still works."
He nodded and supported my shoulders as I sat up. The world spun, then settled.
"I'm fine. How long was I out?"
"About two hours," Drake said. "I've been worried sick. Brad wanted to take you to the hospital, but I knew you wouldn't like that. I didn't know what to do, Sam. I've never felt so.... Even when I was powerless, I didn't feel like this."
He leaned in and kissed me. The soft warmth of his lips, the scent of his breath, brought the rest of my body to life. Heat spread through me, but I ignored it. Bad timing.
Our kiss ended abruptly when Brad opened the door. "Sorry. Didn't know you were awake."
Drake pulled back slightly, but wrapped his hands around mine. "It's okay, come in."
Brad closed the door behind him. "You look terrible."
"Gee, thanks. Just what every girl wants to hear."
"So what happened?" Brad sat in a chair in the corner.
"I think I was mind-jacked."
Brad's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Mind-jacked? Is that even a real thing?"
"It is now. Someone hijacked my mind, tried to spy on us from my eyes."
"Shit, man, that is seriously messed up." He leaned forward in the chair, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Are we in danger? Do they know where we are?"
I shifted under my blankets. "I don't think so. I pushed them out before I fainted. They didn't see much, but they might have gotten something from my memory. Depends on how powerful they are. Then again, I don't know the address here, so maybe they can't find us anyway. I just don't know."
"Maybe we should leave," Drake said.
Brad crossed and uncrossed his feet. "Where else could we go at this point? We still need to get our story out and find some help. Bernard is helping me with that. Maybe we should talk to him and see what he thinks."
"See what I think about what?" Bernard stood in the doorway, his face etched with worry lines. "I'm glad to see you conscious again. These boys have been running around like headless chickens. We were all very concerned for you."
Drake helped me sit up again so I could see everyone while I explained what happened to the professor.
"This is concerning," he said. "They have some pretty heavy para-powers on their side if they were able to get into your brain. We'll have to give this more thought. In the meantime, I have some information you might find interesting."
He sat down in a chair opposite Brad and crossed his legs. "I got an email about the hair sample I sent in for testing. You had copious amounts of drugs in your system—a designer drug, actually, that is a blend of several narcotics. The length of your hair showed that the drugs have been in your system for years. Your entire hair follicle had traces of it."
"So that means they've been feeding me drugs for as long as I've had my hair?"
"Basically, yes."
"What drugs?"
"It looks like a blend of opiates, something resembling meth, and something else the lab has never seen. I speculate the effects of this drug would create a slight euphoria, augmenting the organization's ability to use subtle coercion, and perhaps environmental controls, to keep all of you kids happy and unquestioning about your circumstances."
Brad cleared his throat. "So, in plain English, what you're saying is they drugged the kids to keep them happy and complacent, right?"
The professor mock-scowled at Brad. "More or less, yes."
His words relieved a guilt that I didn't realize I'd been carrying. "So I'm not just a gullible idiot for believing them all these years?"
"You were never that, even without the drugs."
"Then why did I believe Drake when he started questioning things about my life?"
"I thought about that, and I suspect it is a combination of the hormones released in your system from the pregnancy and good old-fashioned love. The chemical and emotional connection you and Drake formed likely changed your physiology enough that you were able to think through the drugs. It looks like the vitamins you received every three months were really drugs, and they probably wore off around the time you went into withdrawals."
"That means all my friends are still getting drugged up." I placed a hand over my belly. "What about the baby? Wouldn't this be bad for the baby too? Drake, we need to link to Lucy and Luke and tell them what's happening. We can't put this off anymore, not even for my health."
He frowned, but didn't argue. Smart man.
The professor gave a pointed look to Brad and walked out of the room.
Brad jumped up from the chair. "Right, we'll just go work on the blog some more. You two talk to your friends."
He closed the door behind him, leaving Drake and me alone.
Drake brushed stray strands of hair from my forehead. "Are you sure about this? Opening yourself up could give whoever is tracking you more access."
"I hadn't thought of that, but you'll be in there with me. Together we're pretty strong."
"Okay, but if anything goes wrong, we get out and shut down the link. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
We held hands and closed our eyes. The physical contact helped strengthen our focus, making the link more powerful.
The universe expanded and time stood still. Drake and I merged into one thought, one heartbeat, one breath. At this level of connection, direct thoughts were no more necessary than they would be with one's self. Every secret, every hidden corner, every nuance of memory lay open and transparent. This level of intimacy required complete trust—nothing could be held back.
Our collective mind pulled from memory the mental signatures of Luke and Lucy, as distinct as fingerprints, as familiar to me as their voices. We slid in gently; unlike my mind assault on Kylie, this wouldn't hurt them. It merely expanded their capacity to "hear" beyond the range of their ears.
'Sam? Is that you?' Lucy's mental voice carried her signature enthusiasm for life. I had missed her more than I allowed myself to acknowledge. All my love for her and Luke carried forward in my thoughts as images, emotions, memories.
Just as all their worry and fear crashed into me.
Luke and Lucy were in trouble.
Chapter 38 – Lucy
It didn't take as long as Lucy expected to fill Sam and Drake in on the changes at Rent-A-Kid. Rather, the shock on both ends took the most time to process.
Lucy's skin crawled at the thought that the school had force-fed her and Luke and everyone here drugs their whole lives. What kind of long-term damage would their bodies suffer? And poor Sam, going through detox and withdrawal while pregnant—how awful! Lucy wished more than anything she could be there for her friend during all this, instead of stuck planning a rebellion.
Luke's mental voice broke through her thoughts. 'So what do we do about this Seeker dude?'
"Drake and I will need to figure out a way to track him. He must be somehow connected to your power problems. Nothing else makes sense at this point. When you go on your assignment, can you figure out a way to email us photos and a layout of the security at the school? Mark off which buildings are off-limits, where the soldiers are stationed, that kind of thing. We'll find a way in as you guys plan a way out. A two-pronged attack on them may be our best bet. Lucy, can you hack into the school and see if you can find anything useful?"
'I can try. Security is pretty tight these days. We'll do our best to get that inf
ormation to you while we're on assignment. It's going to be risky, but we can't sit around waiting for them to do more experiments on us.'
"I have to go now. My body is still weak, but I'll check back in with you guys as soon as I can. Be safe. I love you both."
'Love you too, Sam. Drake, take care of her.'
'I will,' Drake said.
They were gone. Lucy's head suddenly felt light after sharing it with three other people. She didn't know how Sam survived it, bumping into every thought someone else had. Lucy would have gone crazy and started slapping people to get them to mentally shut up.
She sat up straighter on the couch in their suite, and reached for a glass of water. "This just gets better and better, doesn't it, Bro?"
Luke stood and paced the room, his brow furrowed in worry. "Still think the Freedom Fighters group is worthless?"
"I don't know. I can't see it working, but it doesn’t look like we can totally count on Sam either. We may have to do something, but I'm not sure the Freedom Fighters are the way to go." The campus loudspeaker buzzed. "Oh, crap. We're late for class. Hurry!"
They grabbed their book bags and raced from the room before the hall monitors could cite them for tardiness.
Outside, a crowd had formed around the center circle, where punishments were handed out for citations. In the past, Higgins handled these issues privately in his office, not as a public display of power like this.
Luke and Lucy paused to see what the commotion was about.
The voice of their new god, Mr. Black, boomed from a megaphone. "Classes have been postponed in order to mete out punishment to a student who felt he was above the rules. Assemble at the circle as witness to his crimes, or suffer your own consequence."
One of the Freedom Fighters stood bound and gagged in the center.
Lucy couldn't remember his name, but recognized him from the meeting. She hoped they hadn't snagged him for rebel-related infractions.
Mr. Black continued. "This boy was caught using his powers in an improper location without permission. Punishment has been set at five lashes to the back."
The crowd gasped. First, no one had ever prevented students from using their para-powers anywhere they liked, as long as they didn't hurt anyone else. Second, the punishments for citations had usually been some kind of manual labor. One girl had been forced to clean a bathroom with a toothbrush when she was caught making out with her boyfriend behind the bleachers, but nothing like this....
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