Oblivion

by Adrianne Lemke

  “Just a little cocktail I had our pharmacy whip up. It will help make you a little more receptive to our plans.”

  He removed the cap and tapped the syringe to remove any bubbles. Then he reached for my arm, a satisfied smile on his face. I squirmed, wanting nothing more than to get away.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll only feel a slight pinch.”

  FORTY-ONE

  Jason

  “Try again!” Lena shouted.

  She stood against the fence at the far end of Tessa’s second home. Despite her shout, she appeared at ease leaning lightly against the wooden fence and holding her arms loosely crossed over her chest.

  “Slave driver,” I muttered.

  “What was that?” she called. Her stance became more aggressive and she stepped forward. The smile on her face belied her angry attitude.

  “Nothing,” I yelled back innocently.

  I knelt again, a smirk still on my face, and pushed my power through the ground. The footsteps of my friends distracted me, but I was able to nudge the ground as I had with the small amounts of dirt in the hallway. Movement was evident, but not at a large enough scale.

  Lena shook her head. “That’s not distracting. You nearly destroyed their courtyard, right?”

  “Yeah. But I didn’t do it on purpose,” I answered defensively.

  She nodded. “I know. But you accessed the power regardless. Try to think back to how you felt when you lost control. And then try to replicate that feeling.”

  The memory of the heartbeats pounding faster before disappearing made me gasp. The helpless feeling caused me to recoil. I pulled my thoughts away from the guards’ deaths, my breath coming in quick pants. She wanted me to remember that?

  “Don’t fight it. You need to learn to access your power in order to save your brother,” she urged.

  Lena had forced the others to remain in the house, which hadn’t made her any friends among the group. All of them seemed overly invested in… well… me, I guess. It was strange having so many people I didn’t know who worried so much about me.

  “Stop thinking so much,” Lena’s mental voice interrupted my thoughts.

  I glared at her. “Stop eavesdropping.”

  Her mouth twitched, and the hard look in her eyes softened. “Sorry. But you’re getting in your own way right now. You need to concentrate.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but clapped it shut and nodded sharply instead. After all, she was probably right. If I was too scared to figure this out, I never would. For my brother I would delve into the darkest part of my limited memory, and relearn my destructive powers.

  My hand dug into the tilled soil of Tessa’s garden and I pushed every thought of fear and frustration into the ground. I kept my eyes closed, and prayed this attempt would work. We were running out of time.

  Lena’s heart rate sped up and her breaths came in a rush. “Keep pushing, Jason. It’s working!”

  The more power I pushed through the ground, the more I could feel. I could feel a massive amount of earth and rock swirling around me like a tornado! Every movement, every heartbeat, and every breath of the twenty people in the houses around me were now coming through clearly. It was amazing! So much power flowed through me, and it was the most exhilarating thing I’d ever felt. If this was how it felt to use my powers, I couldn’t imagine not using them.

  “Keep the dirt below the fence line,” Lena warned. She sounded nervous, and her hitched breath and faster than normal heartbeat verified my guess.

  “No one is watching,” I assured her.

  I kept my eyes closed as I concentrated and pushed harder. The earth twister grew larger and I pushed it toward the edge of the fence where Lena stood. It paused directly in front of her. The use of power made it feel like all the tension in my body was releasing. This is the most relaxed I could remember feeling. I suddenly opened my eyes, and allowed all the dirt that had been flying around to suddenly drop.

  “Distracting enough for you?”

  I smiled at her wide-eyed expression. It was easy to forget that Lena was only seventeen. She acted much older. But her stunned look definitely made her look more like a child.

  “That should do,” she agreed breathlessly.

  Not a spot of dirt appeared on her or me, and I smiled at the feeling of power and control.

  “That could get addictive,” I informed her. “Allowing the release of emotion and power feels amazing.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad it helps you. Now it can also help your brother. You’re sure nobody saw you?”

  I nodded, but knelt again to double check. “No one in any of the houses was watching, except the people who already know what’s going on.”

  “So how did you access it?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “It’s a bit hard to explain, but I basically allowed myself to feel every emotion, and then pushed it into the ground. I’m not sure if that’s how I always do it, but it is how I have to do it for now.”

  “Nicely done. Let’s get the others. You’ll need to eat something before we go. Using that kind of power must wear you out a bit.”

  I stood and swayed a little. Apparently she was correct.

  “Yeah, food would be good.”

  We went into the house and were immediately mobbed by the others. The detective seemed impressed, Paul appeared a bit nervous, and Hannah stood toward the back of the group. The first to say something was the FBI agent.

  “We saw. Well done, Jason,” Agent Jones congratulated me.

  Paul nodded and added, “Those guys won’t know what hit them. Sammy’s as good as rescued.”

  His positivity didn’t fit with the pinched, worried look on his face. Before I could ask what was wrong Hannah pushed her way to me. She put a supportive hand on my shoulder and herded me toward the kitchen. “You’re doing great, Jason. You need to refuel before you guys attempt the rescue, and I got some food ready. It’s not much, just some turkey sandwiches.”

  “That sounds amazing right now,” I told her gratefully. “I’ll be right back in, just have to stop in the bathroom first.”

  Once I was done, I took a moment to throw some water on my face. I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment, and noted the circles under my eyes. I searched the unfamiliar face for any recognition, but found nothing.

  A heavy sigh escaped, and I grabbed a towel to dry my face. My answers wouldn’t be found in a bathroom mirror. The people in the house with me—and my brother—held the key to the mystery that was my past.

  All I had to do was trust them.

  Easy, right? After all, I was able to let Lena in. How much more difficult would it be to allow the others into my small circle? Especially knowing they were being honest about their connection to me.

  Yet I hesitated. I could tell it hurt them that I didn’t allow them into my small circle of trust, and for their pain I was sorry. However, I couldn’t get past them trusting a known murderer. Reformed though he may be, Jeremiah was still a dangerous man. Every one of my instincts screamed to stay away from him.

  “You all right in there?” a male voice called.

  Most likely Agent Jones, but through the door it could have also been Paul. Their voices sounded similar, so it was hard to say for sure. The pacing footsteps told me it was Jones, and I opened the door.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked, my eyes searching his. Was I not allowed a few moments of peace?

  To his benefit, the other man shifted under my gaze and dropped his eyes a little. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but the girls were wondering if you were coming out. You’ve been in there a while, and they were concerned.”

  I let him off the hook with a shrug. “I’m good. Just needed a bit of alone time.”

  We entered the kitchen and all sat together to eat a silent meal. After everything that had happened, it seemed that no one knew what to say anymore.

  Once the meal was over, I rose from my seat and slapped my hands on the table.

  All ey
es were on me as I announced, “No more delays. It’s time to get my brother.”

  FORTY-TWO

  Jeremiah

  Nobody looking at the real me would be able to say I am a normal person. The ability to alter my appearance works in my favor because my actual face is so damaged by what my cousin did. The few times I’d gone out in public without hiding my disfiguring scars, people had pointed and stared. It was as if my being scarred gave them the right to judge me. Their reactions made me hate normal people. Mason had used it against me.

  He had forced me to endure being mocked and ridiculed for my disfigured face. Had made me hate both those who dared scorn me and myself for not being able to fit in with society. All had been part of his plan to turn me into his weapon.

  The people in Jason’s group were odd. They saw my true face, and not one of them seemed disgusted. Nor did they look at me with pity or scorn. Some curiosity, yes. But it was more likely they were simply curious to see the true face behind the formerly faceless menace that had entered their lives two years earlier.

  At times they regarded me with suspicion or distrust, but it had nothing to do with my physical features. If I had not attempted to thank Jason by removing those who threatened him, he might have helped me get over what was done to me, and become my friend.

  The thought of how he reacted to the deaths of the hapless guards made my cheeks flush with heat. If I had known… I wanted to say I would have done things differently. I wanted to say it would have made a difference to me if I had known they were under the control of another powerful person.

  I wanted to say it, but I couldn’t. In the same situation I would have done the same thing. It had been ingrained in me that if I was captured or trapped in any way, I was to do everything in my power to escape. Under Mason’s control, I would have been in trouble not for killing the guards, but for leaving some of them alive.

  The difference was difficult to reconcile, and I was no longer sure it was worth the attempt.

  When Jason stood and declared that it was time to rescue his brother, I resolved to help him. And if I saw an opportunity to adjust Jason’s stance on killing, I would take it. He was altogether too rigid in his thinking.

  “You are staying here with Paul and Tessa. You are not trained to deal with this kind of thing,” the lady detective ordered her sister.

  “Jason and Sam are family. I need to-” Hannah tried to argue, but her older sister cut her off.

  “You need to stay here and stay safe. We’ll be back. Do you really think Jason would appreciate you putting yourself in unnecessary danger for him?”

  Hannah broke off her argument and glanced at me angrily. “What are you looking at?”

  “An older sister protecting a younger sibling,” I answered. “It is commendable. And she is quite correct. Once Jason remembers how he feels about you, he would be unhappy to know you put yourself at risk.”

  Strangely, the lady detective mouthed, “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry, Hannah. But I want you safe, and we are out of time to argue,” the detective finished.

  With Jason already waiting in the car, she was right.

  The younger girl eyed the car sadly. “Fine. I’ll wait here, but call us as soon as you can, okay? Stay safe, Ali.”

  Detective Farrow smiled and pulled her sister into a quick hug. “We’ll be fine. See you once we have Sam.”

  She turned to me and added, “Let’s go, Jeremiah.”

  I nodded and caught Hannah’s eye. “I will keep them safe, and we will bring Sam back.”

  Despite her uncertainty about whether I could be trusted, she smiled gratefully. “I appreciate your help, and I think Jason does too. He just doesn’t realize it yet.”

  The younger boy approached Hannah and appraised me, his gaze taking in everything. “Make sure you do the right thing. Jason won’t thank you if you go back to your old ways.”

  I nodded stiffly at him, unwilling to begin a fight with one of those closest to Jason. Time was up, and I climbed into the SUV next to Detective Farrow.

  The drive to the facility was quiet. Jason’s body grew more and more tense the closer we got to our destination. My best guess was that he was nervous about using his powers as a distraction. Yes, he had managed to control it in Tessa’s backyard, but he was not solid in his ability to direct the power yet.

  I could acknowledge that it would be nerve-wracking to head into battle not knowing if your strongest power would work as it should. Not a problem I’ve had, of course, but I could imagine. Despite my powers being not quite as strong, I knew how to use them.

  We reached the southern edge of the facility and let Jason and Mark out. They would remain hidden until it was time to draw the guards away from myself and Detective Farrow. He was to call us once he located Sam, and once we entered the building he would begin his distraction.

  Lena would remain in the car and attempt to use her powers to manipulate anyone who might notice me and the detective as we snuck through the building.

  “Stay safe, Mark. And keep an eye on him too, okay?”

  The detective had stepped out of the SUV to take over driving, and she moved toward the agent.

  He smiled, grabbed her in a gentle hold and kissed her. “I’ll be fine. You’re the one going into the lion’s den. Be careful. In and out. We’ll deal with shutting them down later.”

  “Got it,” she said, her cheeks flushed. “See you soon then.”

  We left our allies, and I gave her a sideways glance. A half smile of amusement crossed my face.

  “Knock it off,” she said without looking at me.

  “I’m not saying anything.”

  “You don’t have to. Yes, we were trying to hide our relationship. I don’t like to rub it in Hannah’s face that I’m with my guy when she can’t be with hers. But I know she already knows about us. And with Jason…”

  “You weren’t fooling anyone, especially Jason,” Lena commented wryly from the back seat.

  She had the grace to look chagrined. “You’re right, of course. He could obviously tell by our heartbeats. Anyway, are you ready for this?”

  “Yes,” we both answered.

  I could have explained how difficult it would be to expend so much power without allowing my ‘dark side’ out, but it was our only plan. I would push every person into believing Alice and I did not exist, and that included the unseen people behind the video cameras. It would be exhausting, but I hoped it was doable.

  The detective, for her part, would remain alert to any guards who might notice us despite my attempt to block them. Of course she was backed up by Lena, who could actually sense if someone noticed us.

  To be honest, Jason’s job was more dangerous. He would be drawing every guard to his location, and would also have to try to hide his actions from any normal person who might happen along the street. It wouldn’t be easy, and I understood why he was so nervous.

  We exited the vehicle and stared up at the building we would be infiltrating. It seemed imposing, but we had good people on our side ready to do whatever it took to obtain our goal.

  I glanced down at the detective and said, “Let’s do this. Call Jason and let him know we’re going in.”

  FORTY-THREE

  Sam

  My world was spinning. The sensation wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It felt almost like flying, despite being shackled to the bed. It was freeing, in a way. The feeling allowed my mind to escape my body’s captivity.

  The Doctor was next to me, talking in a low voice, but it seemed unimportant.

  He eventually realized I wasn’t listening, and was instead following the dust particles sparkling through the lights. The force of his anger slamming through my mind brought me down from the euphoria. I eyed him warily.

  “You must pay attention! There are people who are trying to take you away. They think you’re in danger, but you aren’t, are you?” He asked.

  Was I? Everything seemed rather pleasant… well, other than th
e Doctor’s anger, but I had been ignoring him. I shook my head, but was still uncertain.

  “These are dangerous people, Sam. They will hurt me to get to you,” he spoke in a wheedling tone, as if trying to convince me this was something worth paying attention to.

  It was no wonder he was upset at me. If these invaders were threatening his safety on my behalf, then I should be mad too.

  “Why would they hurt you?” My voice didn’t sound quite right; softer and a bit more breathy than normal. What had happened?

  He patted my head and smiled proudly. “They believe I am harming you. They are misinformed, and there are two in their number who belong with us. You’ll help bring them to me, right?”

  I began to nod, but hesitated. Something in me fought the idea of helping this man. The emotions coming from him… they didn’t quite fit what he was telling me.

  “Who are they?” I hedged.

  The Doctor looked past me and nodded. I felt another rush of euphoria. He allowed me to float in peace for a moment.

  The peace was disturbed by loud crashing from somewhere outside. I startled, unable to focus on the added noise for more than a moment.

  “They’re here now, Sam. I need you to commit.”

  A voice whispered in my mind. “Trust the Doctor. He is your friend. Bring us the Earthshaker and the Assassin. Only then will we all be safe.”

  I felt a frown on my face and shook my head trying to dislodge the thoughts. It was all wrong. Wasn’t it?

  “Why are they coming? Who are they?” I asked again.

  Impatience and anger flooded my mind, and I flinched away from the aggressive feelings.

  “Apologies, my friend, but we have been over this. You must convince them to surrender. Push them to trust us and allow us to learn from them,” the Doctor urged, impatience now coloring both his tone and his emotional state.

  “The Earthshaker and the Assassin?” I asked. “Who are they? I can’t do anything…”