“Um, sorry about your luck," Molly said, clearly unaffected by my ranting.
“Well, I won’t be able to save the world on an empty stomach, so shall we?" I asked before heading to the door.
“Yep, just follow me. When we get there, I will give you the skinny on everyone. Just don’t flinch when I start yapping in your head. Other people will notice," she said as she led us to the cafeteria.
Not since high school had I been in a place like this. I had no interest in returning either. The food even smelled and looked like that of my old high school. I wondered if they brought in lunch ladies as well. I looked behind the line to see more of the goons standing about giving everyone the stank eye. I just made my way through the line and got the most edible looking selection. It loosely resembled pizza.
Molly motioned for us to sit at a table in the middle of the room and started yapping away in my head while we ate. She talked about the gossip first. Like who was hooking up with who, and who was about to be in deep crap for not fulfilling their quota for the month. I looked around as she spoke, and I was grateful that all in all there were only about fifteen women present. Not counting the ones hooked up to machines.
I must have gotten a look on my face, because Molly switched gears. She looked hesitant at first, but then steeled herself for what she was about to say.
“Listen, I don’t know how you will save us. I don’t even really know that you can when you get your own stupid butt captured. But, if you do get out of here, there are things you need to know. He is working with some of the Council members on a big plan. I don’t know what it is. I just know that not everyone that is supposed to be a good guy is fighting for the right team. I heard one of the other Seers say that she saw some sort of explosion and then a monster coming out of the smoke, but shortly afterward she disappeared. Whatever is coming isn’t good."
Molly released my mind as I reeled. So, yea, there were more big bad guys out there. Fantastic. Could I deal with the first one on my list before another one took his place? I looked down at my half eaten cardboard, I mean pizza, and realized I couldn’t wait to gain any more information. I had only been here for a few hours and I already knew, without a doubt, that something bad was coming.
We finished eating, talking about small things. I asked her how her life was growing up under the Corporation and she said miserable. Not that I had guessed it would be much fun. But she told me all of the small things she had done, little rebellious acts that they had never caught on to. She would only go so far and then stop. She made it so they would trust her to leave the compound, but she only gave them part of the information she garnered from visions or psychic links.
She also told me that she and several other Seers had been genetically mapped and given something to induce their visions earlier. It wasn’t one hundred percent effective, so the Corporation still had to wait for the Seers to reach twenty five. They weren’t completely reliable until then.
We headed back toward the rooms and I stopped outside of my door.
“Um, Molly, I have a weird request. It is a total invasion, and I will understand if you say no," I said, anxiously awaiting her response.
“Well, spit it out. Don’t tiptoe around whatever it is you need to ask. Just ask it," she said.
“Would you let me sift your memories? Just to see if there is anything you might have picked up on that you’ve forgotten. Or any sort of information that might help us figure out who on the Council is batting for team evil?" I finished nervously.
“Sure, I have nothing to hide. Like I said, life under the Corporation is boring and stressful. Plus, I have like zero personal things that have not already been looked through by one of the Guardians. So browse away. Just try not to fall asleep from boredom," she said, and she came into my room and sat down on my bed.
I sat next to her and grabbed her hand. I cleared my mind and I started turning back her memories like pages in a book. Each time I did this it got easier and easier. I looked through all of the years she had lived there and watched as more and more Seers were brought in until it abruptly stopped with my mother. She was the last Seer to be brought in. I wondered if she somehow protected the others.
I watched all of the little things Molly did to get under the Corporation’s skin and I watched as her mother admonished her for her rebellion. All of her life played out before me. I gathered very little useful information. But in the end, I knew that I had gained a friend. When I came to the memory of Molly first seeing me, I felt her relief at the sight of me.
I broke contact with her, bringing myself back to the present. I looked at her and said a quick thank you. I always felt guilty about poking around in people’s heads.
“Oh stop it, you shouldn’t feel guilty about something you were born to do," Molly said.
She really seemed to be an advocate of the ‘drink some water and suck it up’ campaign. No fluffy placations from her.
“Alright, fine. Listen, I’m going to try and spring us. I’m pretty sure my plan will fail miserably, because I don’t have that great of a track record so far. But, if you hear a ruckus, know it is time to bounce? Got it?" I asked, hoping that she wouldn’t hesitate to run if the time came.
“Well, let’s just hope this one works out better than the last. With you blocking all of us, we can’t see what will happen around you. So, whatever the plan is, don’t mess it up," she said before getting up to leave.
I hugged her tightly and she sort of stood there in shock for a moment before awkwardly returning my hug.
“Thank you for helping me, Molly. In all seriousness, I thought I was on my own in here. Granted, with my luck, you will just go and turn me in when you leave here," I laughed awkwardly, really hoping she wasn’t a turncoat. I had dealt with enough of those to last a lifetime.
“Nah. I’m tired of playing at rebellion. I want the real thing," Molly said while wagging her eyebrows.
“Well, I hope that I can make all of your dreams come true," I smiled as she left.
**********
I spent the next few days with Molly. She introduced me to the other Seers. They all seemed more hesitant to form a friendship with me, and I couldn’t really blame them. Xavier had basically told everyone to watch me. I felt like a bug under a microscope. Anytime I tried to sift through someone’s memories, I would almost get caught. I was blocked at every turn. Unable to get any information, I was starting to get frustrated.
I was dragged to countless meetings with scholars. All of which had promised Xavier they would be able to hack into my wards. So far, none of them had had any luck. I could tell that Xavier was becoming increasingly more agitated with me as the days passed, and I knew that if I was going to survive I needed to act soon. With the lack of information and his rage, waiting wasn’t worth it anymore.
**********
TWENTY FOUR
That night when I lay down to sleep, I lifted the ward from my dreaming. I knew it was risky, and I knew there was a very real chance I would be caught. I had to find Kennan though. As soon as I closed my eyes he was there.
**********
“Izzy, please tell me you’re safe," Kennan said, looking exhausted and drawn.
“Safe is a relative term at this point. I’m not dead or hurt, so that is something. But he caught me. I was stupid, I know, but we don’t have time for that now. If they catch me here they will know I lied. So let me get this out quickly. He has me in Chicago, you remember the building he worked out of in the Loop? I don’t know what floor though, sorry. There is something more. He is planning something big and he has the backing of some of the Council. I don’t know when, but there was talk about big explosions and monsters." I breathed a sigh of relief at unloading everything I had wanted to say.
“I am coming for you, do you hear me. Don’t do anything reckless between now and then. No more trying to save me Izzy, that isn’t your job. I’ll find you, and I’ll kill the bastard once and for all," Kennan said with rage po
uring off of him in crimson waves.
“How touching dear brother. I thought you didn’t care," Xavier said from behind Kennan.
I stood stock still and knew that I was too late. I might have warned Kennan, but I had also let Xavier in.
I looked at Kennan with wide eyes, and I could read the same terror reflected back. I ran. I tried to jump back from the dreaming and I opened my eyes.
**********
Standing over my bed was Xavier and a couple of his goons. Before I could even mutter the words of the ward to put it back in place, I was strapped to a board. I tried to scream, but I had tape wrapped over my mouth. I knew then exactly where they were taking me. I was getting hooked up. To what end I didn’t know, but whatever it was it would not be good.
“I asked so nicely for you to behave and cooperate, but then you go and betray me," Xavier said as though I were just a petulant child being sent to a time out.
I looked at him with my eyes full of anger and loss. I would never get to tell Kennan I loved him. I would never get to help Molly. I would never even get to shove a sharp object into the side of Xavier’s throat.
“Now, we’re going to play a little game. I’m going to put you back into the dreaming and we’re going to have some fun. Perhaps after you’ve been there for a while you will rethink the whole 'not taking your wards down' thing." Xavier pulled me into the room with the five other women.
I was transferred to one of the medical tables and they strapped some sort of contraption around my head. I was frantic. My breathing became erratic and I knew I was on the verge of a total mental collapse. The fear of the unknown shredded any courage I had left.
Someone to my left flicked a needle before sticking it into my arm. I started to go fuzzy around the edges and then the darkness enveloped me. Only it wasn’t the darkness at all. Somehow they had induced the dreaming and what I was left in was a nightmare.
**********
I looked around me, hoping to find some way out, but knowing that I was trapped. Suddenly, from every direction the ground turned into a churning blackness. The waves of darkness undulated in a rhythmic procession toward me. There was no escape. As the wave drew closer, I saw that it was thousands upon thousands of insects. If I didn’t move they would overtake me and shred every piece of meat from my bones.
I screamed out, hoping the pitch of my voice might deter them. In a matter of seconds, I was swallowed up. Their spiny legs poking me as their pincers searched for a tender spot to pierce. They struck time after time. Pain radiated throughout my body. I was petrified and I knew that I must be dying.
Suddenly it all stopped.
**********
“Did you like that one?" Xavier asked. “I have ever so many more. Your mother didn’t like that one at all either.”
I screamed out. I knew that this torture would continue until I caved or I died of heart failure. I could hold out for the latter. I would hold out for it. I wouldn’t let this man win. He might have me in the dreaming, stuck in some mad man’s induced nightmare, but I wouldn’t cave.
**********
Suddenly, I was drowning deep in the ocean. I swam upward, and time after time the air was torn from my grasp. I frantically swam, and as soon as the surface would come into reach, I was shoved deeper into the water. It continued until I thought my lungs might physically explode.
**********
I was in a house and flames erupted around me. I looked for a safe escape but couldn’t find one. Instead the flames sought me out. I tried to run, only to be stopped by another wall of raging inferno. I stood still, knowing that there would be no escape and praying that this would be the one that would end me. I felt the flames melt away my skin and deaden my nerves so that I could no longer feel the raging pain. I embraced the fire and let it eat away at my sadness. I let it consume me and fill me with the burning rage I had carried earlier. I let it kill the girl that had wanted to die only seconds ago.
**********
As soon as I embraced the fire it was extinguished. I was now in the woods, in the dark. There were hungry sounding animals close on my trail. I ran blindly through the thick underbrush, not knowing what direction I was heading. My heart pounded in my throat as I ran and ran and ran. I felt a pull at my ankle as a wolf bit down hard. I lost my footing and tumbled over. As one, the pack of wolves moved in on me, seeking out their choice morsel. I felt them gnaw and gnash into me, as if to tear me in a thousand directions. My body came apart and I once again let the rage consume me.
**********
“Are you ready to talk yet pet?" Xavier asked.
I looked up defiantly and flipped him the bird. I would make him run out of nightmare scenarios. I could survive them all. No matter how graphic or horrifying, I wouldn’t let this man win. I wouldn’t cave, and I wouldn’t die. Either way he would have won. So instead, I resolved myself to live on and defy him in this small way.
**********
Next it was a torture room in which all of my fingers were cut off. This one made me think he had seen one too many "Saw" movies. All of which I had avoided because, just yuck. I didn’t spend long in there. I think he could tell I wasn’t impressed.
**********
Scene after scene passed before me. There was a plane crash, a car wreck, a fall from the top of a building. My body was abused, burned, cut, limbs were severed. Every nightmare was brought into fruition. I didn’t know how much time passed while I was there. I couldn’t tell if this was moving at real time or if it was moving at the pace of a regular dream.
Each new nightmare brought on a new horror until finally he brought one that even I could not refute, not even in the dreaming. He took me and locked me in a coffin. I laid there as the air slowly started to seep out of the box leaving me without any oxygen. I fought against the box and struggled. I knew that he would leave me like this. I knew that if I didn’t lift my wards, I would spend the rest of my life in this tiny lightless box.
I tried to breathe but ultimately I think I blacked out. I didn’t even know that was possible in the dreaming, but I guess the mind could only take so much. When I awoke I was still in the small box and I tried to even my breathing. It was just a closed space. It wasn’t even a real closed space. I tried to convince myself, but my mind wouldn’t allow it. My breathing started to speed up again when I heard a voice.
**********
“Izzy, Izzy, you have to wake up. Your guy is here, but there is something happening. You have to wake up. Fight it, they came for you, now make it worth them coming. It isn’t real. You can control it as much as he can. FIGHT IT!" I heard Molly yell before she was ripped from the dreaming.
I struggled and started to feel the dreaming around me. I realized with my ward down I could shape it as easily as I always could. I took a breath and calmed my mind. I had to get out. With the image of Kennan driving me, I imagined the coffin opening. The lid crashed open. I shot out of the coffin and raged against whatever was keeping me in the dreaming.
I ripped at it until I was finally brought back to the surface and I awoke to find a whole new horror.
**********
TWENTY FIVE
I turned my head to see Xavier standing over Kennan’s prone form. I wondered if I was still in the dreaming. There was no way he would have taken him down so easily. I scanned Kennan’s body for any sign of blood but didn’t see any. I turned my focus back to Xavier, only find he had been waiting for me to awaken.
In his hand was a gun pointed straight at Kennan. Before I could even scream, Xavier smiled in my direction and pulled the trigger. It hit Kennan in the throat and then he fired again hitting him in the chest. There was so much blood.
I was drowned in it, a whole new horror replacing all of the nightmares that Xavier had induced. He had just brought them to reality and I was overtaken by a haze of red. I was numb to the pain. No longer could I hurt, he had just taken away the one person that was my entire world.
I pulled the mechan
ism from my head slowly, ripping the tubes from my arms in the process. I sat up on the bench as Xavier approached me. I reached behind me discreetly to grab a scalpel from the table. I waited for him to get as close as he was going to.
“So are you finally ready to submit?" he asked, bending over me.
With the numbness pulsing through my veins and the rage of a lifetime of loss fueling me, I lashed out. I drew the scalpel across his jugular with an accuracy borne of countless hours of training with Ian. I severed his artery and as he fell to his knees in surprise, I pushed him over. I hopped down from the table in the hospital gown and I straddled him. I made sure he was looking at me as his life blood flowed from him.
“Never," I said as I plunged the scalpel straight into his heart, ending his long life.
I sat that way, paralyzed for I don’t know how long. I felt as though my whole world had been stolen. Suddenly, being trapped in a coffin didn’t seem like such a bad thing. I looked down at my hands covered in blood and tried to wipe them off on my gown violently. No matter how hard I wiped it wouldn’t come off. I started to become frantic and realized I was still sitting atop Xavier’s body. I jumped up and away, staring in abject horror towards Kennan’s lifeless body.
I stood there, unsure of what I was supposed to do now. How was I supposed to save anyone if I couldn’t even save the one person I loved? My world felt like it was falling apart and all I could do was stand there dumbly.
“Izzy? Izzy, are you alright?" I heard someone ask softly from behind me.
I turned to find Ian staring at me like I would attack him at any moment. He had his hands in the surrender position as he approached me slowly. I looked into his eyes and wanted so badly to scream out or to cry. Any sort of emotion that could convey the emptiness I now felt. Finally, I pointed towards Kennan’s prone body.
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