Even with his memories, Jason had no idea what I could do. He’d been drugged and in pain when I tried to explain it before, so I had no idea what he remembered from the conversation. Hunter hadn’t given us much time to catch up before attempting to kill me and sell Jason.
My silence seemed to satisfy Kindred. In the ensuing quiet I stared out the window and kept my mind on monitoring Jason.
“He hasn’t used his abilities on a large scale.” Even to my own ears I sounded confused. “Everything he’s done is small. I don’t believe he’s been discovered, but I do think he’s moving. Are we almost to him?”
“It’s right up there,” Alice answered, pointing out the huge complex. The entire area was bordered by chain link fences that had signs for a construction company hanging from them. The cover for those who kidnapped my brother. Any destruction he caused would likely be blamed on construction. There were machines and people in hardhats who went in and out of the buildings to help sell the illusion.
“Jason was near the other side of the complex,” Kindred explained. “We can drive around the block to get to the door I used in my own escape.”
Kindred had a slight smile on his face, and I wondered silently what he could be finding amusing. “Try talking to him again,” I demanded. “Let him know we’re here to help him, and that I can get his memories back.”
The assassin took a breath and closed his eyes for a moment before they flew open. “He… he kicked me out. He hasn’t done that in years. How…?”
My mouth quirked in amusement at the other man’s confusion. “He’s more powerful than you ever were. Even not knowing how to properly use his abilities, my brother is stronger than you. He’s lived his entire life protecting himself and others from those he sees as a threat. Even losing his memories doesn’t take away his instincts.”
Scowling, Kindred seemed to sink in his seat. “Well, I have no way to even attempt communication anymore.”
“We’ll just have to play it by ear then,” Alice said grimly.
TWENTY
Jason
My concentration kept getting interrupted. Somehow, Jeremiah’s voice sounded in my head and distracted me from my escape plan, which I knew was his goal. His promises to reintroduce my brother rang through my mind and I wondered again if I could trust the promises of a killer.
Unwilling to listen to any more of his promises, I concentrated on shutting him out. It took a few minutes, but it seemed like my mind was helping by recognizing his intrusion as a possible threat. Once I felt the wrongness of his presence, it was almost easy to slam the door in his face. I paused at my door for a few seconds, relishing the sudden quiet in my mind before sneaking out of my prison.
The hallway was silent as I crept through the door. Directing the thin line of dirt toward the cameras in the hallway took time, but I hoped cutting off the line of sight to the area would buy me time to sneak away without a fight. Despite my belief that I could win a fight if pushed into it, I had no desire to use my newly discovered powers as a weapon. Of course, if I had to, I wouldn’t hesitate. There was no way I’d stay here as a guinea pig for some mad scientists. Escape into the great unknown was definitely preferable to unknown medical testing.
I made it to the end of the hall and reached a stairwell before I began to hear her—a female voice at the edge of my consciousness not quite making it through my mental door. I released a puff of air, unsure whether to open myself to a potential enemy. A feeling of warmth and trust was sent to me and I found myself responding by cracking the door.
“You’re quite good at blocking, Jason.”
The melodic voice rang through my mind and I hummed a response.
The woman huffed a laugh before continuing. “You have a friend on the outside. He feels… dangerous. Is he someone you trust?”
I huffed, peering around the doorframe to direct the dirt toward another camera cable. Heading down the stairs seemed like the right direction, and from my little excursion earlier I knew getting closer to the ground would increase my strength.
“More than you,” I answered with a slight snap to my tone. “Who are you anyway?”
“A captive like you. Only unlike you, I know the way out of this prison. Come get me, and we can escape together.” She seemed sincere, but her voice had a definite teasing quality to it. But she was another prisoner, like me, and I couldn’t leave her to be tested.
Or she was working with my enemies, and going to her would lead to getting recaptured. It was hard to decide what to do, and I suspected I might regret either decision. If I left her, and she was truly another captive, I could never forgive myself for leaving an innocent who needed help. If I helped her, I ran the risk of being recaptured. Even if she was an innocent, the risk would be high.
The way down was clear, and the idea that no one was patrolling the staircase seemed unlikely. Unless this was a setup. The mystery woman sounded too calm to be a prisoner, which helped make my decision a bit easier.
“No thanks. I’ll take my chances on my own.”
“Please, Jason,” a pleading tone entered her voice, making her sound younger than my initial impression. “I can’t… they start off kind, but the things I’ve seen in their minds… Please. Don’t leave me with them. I know your mind is muddled and confused, but you are a good man. Help me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, already regretting my decision. “Fine. Where are you?”
“Not far.” Her relief was palpable. Maybe she really was who she said. “Go down one floor. I am keeping the guards on my floor occupied, but I have no way to get out of my room. Go to the third door on the left. Come now. I can only distract them for so long.”
I sped up, pausing only to disable each camera I saw. Peering through the door, I saw three guards standing near a desk, apparently oblivious to anything other than the blank screen in front of them. What they were seeing I couldn’t begin to guess. This was the test to see if the mystery woman was who she claimed, or if she was leading me directly back into captivity.
Gathering every molecule of dirt I could find I opened the door. Prepared for a fight, I was surprised when not one of the guards looked toward me. I took advantage of their distraction and rushed to the door.
Breaking in was easier than breaking out. It was a simple matter of opening the door.
What I found inside was less simple. A teenage girl lay on a bed, her head covered with probes and arms secured to the bars at her side. It was a similar setup to mine, but she appeared to be unconscious.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.
One eye cracked open before she breathed a huge sigh. “Thank goodness. I thought it was you, but occupying the guards prevented me from being sure. Help me out of this stuff, would ya?” She wiggled her arms, the restraints clanging on the metal bars.
I unbuckled her, and stood with my hands raised slightly as she began removing the devices from her head. “Do you… I mean, do you need help with that?”
Smirking, she shook her head. “I got it. Thanks.”
It took only a few seconds for her to get the probes off and wipe some gel off her face before she grinned at me.
“Ready to blow this place?”
At my nod, she preceded me into the hallway. “I can distract most of the guards we come across, but I need you to keep cutting the cameras. We’ll want to destroy some from different areas too, if possible. Otherwise they’ll know exactly where we are.”
She was like a whirlwind of energy, and I worried her volume would get both of us recaptured. But I also began to feel protective. It was a familiar feeling and I clung to it like a lifeline. Without someone to protect, life had no meaning.
The girl raised an eyebrow at me, but didn’t say another word as we ran out into the hall. She led me away from the stairs I’d used and to a set at the opposite end.
“This will take us to the nearest exit, but there are still quite a few people between us and it,” she explained.
It was obvious she was making an effort to be quieter, and I smothered a grin of my own before once again closing my mental door.
My new companion was smart enough to stay quiet on the stairs, knowing even our echoing footsteps could be enough to give us away. There was a gentle tapping sound, and I paused to look at her. She pointed to me then to herself, and mouthed, “Let me in.”
“What is it?” I asked impatiently. Having other people in my mind was becoming tiresome.
“Your friend, the dangerous one, has entered the building. They’re on the opposite side. Do you want to go to him?”
I shuddered. “No. Not unless we have no other option.”
She nodded, seemingly accepting my answer.
“There are two guards right outside this door. They are about to enter the stairwell, and I am running on fumes.”
Holding up a finger, I directed her down the stairwell a little farther and we crouched out of sight of the door just as it creaked open.
The guard’s voices echoed through the stairwell as they chatted about how mad they were at their supervisor. I held my breath, hoping they would go up away from us. The echoes faded slightly, and I heard them clomping heavily up the stairs. I let out a relieved sigh, and waved the girl forward.
We determined that there were no other guards near the door, disabled the cameras, and rushed outside. “Where do we go?” I asked, looking around at the fenced in property.
My companion scrunched up her face and tilted her head in confusion. “You don’t know?”
Huffing a laugh, I answered, “You were in my head. You’re telling me you didn’t realize I don’t… I don’t remember anything?”
Saying it was still hard. It was admitting a weakness to an unknown, but if we were going to trust each other I needed to be honest with her.
“I could tell something was off, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was—”
My hand went up to stall her. “There are guards coming toward us, fast. I think they figured out what’s happening. We need to get out of here.”
She scratched her head briefly and grabbed my arm. “This way; I think I know a place we can hide out.”
TWENTY-ONE
Jeremiah
Getting into the building was easier than I anticipated. I hid myself and Detective Farrow and headed toward what had been Jason’s room, even though I was certain he wouldn’t be there. She had some idea that we might be able to figure out where he was if we started where he did.
“This is a waste of time,” I informed the detective yet again. “He will be long gone by the time we reach his room.”
She ignored my complaints and kept walking in the direction I’d indicated. After a moment I followed. We made our way up the stairs and down the hall toward Jason’s prison.
The thump of a footstep and the click of a door told me we’d been discovered. We were still hidden from normal view, but I turned slowly. After a moment, I nodded at the detective to do the same. My hands were up at my sides in deference to the guns aimed our direction.
These guards were wearing the special glasses, and I knew there were people on the other end of their radios telling them where to aim. I couldn’t cover every person in my illusion, because I couldn’t tell where they were. I might be able to convince those in front of us that the voices they heard didn’t exist, but I couldn’t be sure it would work. It was a strange feeling since I’d pushed the darkest parts of myself down into the depths of my mind. Perhaps some powers are not meant to be used in the light.
The gasp when I dropped the illusion told me my guess had been correct. The men in front of us had been unable to see us until I let them. It was definitely a setup meant for someone with my abilities.
“You’re going to want to put those down,” the detective said calmly. “I’m a cop, and people know where I am. If you tell me where your prisoners are, I will try to get you a deal.”
It was a brave attempt, but these people were not in their right minds. Neither guard answered, but waved us ahead of them down the hall. There was something odd about them. Despite their slight reaction to our appearance, they moved like robots.
“Kindred, what’s happening?”
Sam… waiting outside with Mark and Hannah, apparently monitoring every step of our rescue attempt.
“Caught by guards. Can you sense anything from them?” I inquired. Perhaps our resident empath would be better suited to figuring out what was wrong with the guards escorting us.
There was a pause, and the guard’s steps faltered. “Who do you have with you?” one of them asked.
“They sensed you, Sam. What did you do?” I admit my tone may have been a bit… accusatory.
His response was tinted with confusion. “Nothing. I only tried to get a read on them. It was strange, like there was an echo within their minds.”
I clenched my jaw and responded. “They have other people here with abilities. At least one is working with them to control the guards. At least some of them,” I amended, thinking about the two guards who’d watched me. Red and Butch. They weren’t being controlled. I honestly wasn’t sure which was worse; that there was someone so completely controlling other people’s wills, or that some were here by choice.
“That’s why they know you’re here,” I realized. “Go now. They won’t be interested in Agent Jones or Hannah, but they would be very interested in acquiring you. Get away now! Find your brother. The detective and I will get out on our own.”
The boy’s stubbornness was palpable, and I knew he would refuse.
“I can’t leave Alice in there.” He sounded almost insulted that I would even think he’d be willing to walk away. “Let me try something before I leave. It may give you the opening you need to get out. Jason isn’t in there anymore. He’s getting farther away, so there is no reason for you to stay. Watch for your opening. Oh, and try not to kill anyone. They aren’t in control of themselves.”
The detective eyed me curiously, her hands still held out to her sides. It was obvious she wanted to know what was going on, but I had no way to update her without tipping our hand.
“No one is with us,” I finally answered. “We came on our own to arrest those who held me captive, and to find any other people you may be holding.”
They had nothing connecting me to Jason yet, and I didn’t want to tip them off if I didn’t have to.
“You’re communicating with someone. Don’t lie to us. We can tell.”
The guards both faltered again, suddenly turning their guns on each other. I grabbed the detective and took off running back to the door. A muted gunshot echoed through the hall, and a bullet struck the doorframe as we went through, but we made it.
As we neared the exit I heard one of the guards yell, “We know the boy’s power now, and we will find him.”
“They’re coming after Sam,” I explained quickly. “We need to get him away from here.”
TWENTY-TWO
Sam
There was someone powerful in charge of this group. Someone who had the ability to control others like puppets, and speak through them at will. It had taken immense concentration to break through the guard’s programming in order to manipulate each into thinking the other was the enemy, but it had worked for long enough to give Alice and Jeremiah the chance to escape.
When the assassin warned me they would be coming for me, a slight chill went down my spine. Against someone so powerful, did I really stand a chance?
We all kept staring behind us, worried someone would follow, but we seemed to be in the clear.
“Perhaps it was an empty threat, meant to scare us away and give them time to recapture your brother,” Mark suggested.
Alice considered it, but shook her head at the same time as Jeremiah. “No, I don’t think so. They wanted Sam. I think his ability to break through the other person’s power made him a target. Now they want both Sam and Jason, and would probably take Jeremiah too.”
The killer huffed. “If t
hey try to take me, they will not like the outcome. I doubt they would risk holding me captive again.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think they care. The little I was able to catch of this… mastermind told me the guards are simply pawns. He uses them as he sees fit, and doesn’t care about them at all.” So, an assassin tearing through the ranks wouldn’t even ruffle the guy’s feathers, but the idea of someone being able to break through his abilities apparently did.
Hannah grabbed my hand in sympathy. “Did you sense anything else? Anything that could help identify the person in charge or what their goal is?”
“Not much. I think it’s a power thing though. He wants people with abilities to be under his control, but I couldn’t get any more than that.”
There was silence in the car the rest of the way back to Tessa’s house, and I felt the loss of my brother keenly. I may have the ability to mess with emotions, but in terms of raw power and ability to feel when a threat was approaching, Jason blew me out of the water.
Just before we arrived at the house I pushed my mind toward Jason, and was surprised to sense a feeling of camaraderie, and the beginnings of trust. Neither was a feeling I normally associated with my distrustful big brother, and it distracted me to the point of not noticing when everyone else got out of the SUV.
“Sam? Are you okay?” Alice asked, leaning into the vehicle. “I’m sorry we couldn’t find Jason, but we will get him back.”
“He’s not alone,” I informed her. My hands were clenched in my lap, and I glanced up at her to explain further. “Somewhere along his escape, Jason found someone he feels he can trust. I only hope he is right.”
Alice eyed me critically. “You need to get some sleep. We’ll keep an eye out to make sure we weren’t followed. Consider yourself in protective custody. Please don’t go anywhere by yourself.”
She spoke pleasantly enough, but there was an undercurrent of steel. Alice would not be happy with me if I tried to pull a Jason, and go off on my own to find him. It left me with little choice but to nod in agreement.
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