by T. C. Edge
They’re measured, slow, one following the other with total precision. I feel a presence growing near, a hand drifting towards my face, old fingers taking hold of the mask that covers my eyes.
Then it lifts, pulled up onto my forehead, and I’m greeted by a flash of purest white, the shining shape of a man standing before me. Draped in the finest of white suits, and with hair of the same tone, and ghostly skin so pale it gleams, I look upon the man I’ve been yearning to see for so long.
Finally, I’m face-to-face with Director Artemis Cromwell. Only, it’s him holding the gun, and not me.
I stare right at the man, and he stares right back at me. In his hand, he holds my weapon, passed to him by one of his slaves. He inspects it briefly, before swaying the end of the barrel in my direction as a cold and distant smile inches onto his lips.
“So this is what you were going to kill me with?” comes his voice, deep and detached and glacial-cold.
He sways it across me again, his finger hovering on the trigger, and I flinch as the muzzle slows at it points to my heart. Then, he tosses it to the side, and it’s caught by one of his agents.
“It’s a crude weapon really, isn’t it Brie?” he says. “And hardly efficient.”
I look up into his clear blue eyes, like frozen circles of ice, and make an attempt to infiltrate his mind. I dip in and see a staggering world before me, but am immediately cast out.
“That won’t work on me,” he says calmly.
His long fingers approach once more, and drag down the mask over my mouth. I gasp in a long breath, spraying a cough into the room.
“You’re…you’re a Mind-Manipulator?” I splutter.
He begins to circle me, his feet tapping one more.
“Oh no, nothing like that,” comes his voice from behind me. “I’m just immune to such things.”
He completes the loop, returning in front of me, his body a strange mix of old age and relative youth. His hands are heavily wrinkled, deep lines spreading from the corners of his eyes and mouth. And yet, there’s a strange youth to his cheeks, his skin less afflicted there than on the other features of his face.
His eyes, though, carry a depth, staring at me and barely blinking as he hovers.
It’s a disconcerting look, and one that has me turning away. And shutting my eyes, I think of Zander, and Adryan waiting for me below, and all those I care about across Outer Haven.
And when I open them again, their corners are wet.
I can’t help it. I don’t want to cry, to show weakness. Even though I’m going to die, I don’t want to give this man any satisfaction. I don’t want to go out, pleading for my life, my cheeks stained and eyes red and mind lost to thoughts of fear and failure.
So I squeeze my eyes shut again, blocking the flow before it starts, and grit my teeth as hard as I can. And then, with my eyelids still locked tight, I simply whisper: “How?”
The ruler of this building, of this city, of this world, doesn’t need anything more. He knows what I’m asking. And when he speaks, I know it’s my fault. I know that all of this is my failure, my doing.
“Romelia Woolf,” he says quietly. “You think you got her, but she’d already figured you out, Brie. She’s been reporting to me for some time now. And now, she’s completed her task. She’s brought you to my door…”
I open my eyes, and let my body fill with hate. And instead of a soft expression of fear and sorrow, I let my visage reshape with a grimace of fire.
Zander must have found the truth in her mind, excavated it from the depths. But it was too late. Much too late…
“Ah yes, that’s it, Brie,” continues Cromwell, looking upon my expression with some glee. “You have a lot of hate in you, that much is clear. I wonder what else we’ll find in there, what secrets your mind holds…”
“No…” comes my voice.
I cut it off, bite my tongue, and turn away. He can’t find out what I know. If he does, they’ll all be doomed.
“Just do what you have to do, Director Cromwell,” I say, looking to the floor. “Please…don’t drag this out. If there’s a shred of empathy in you, you’ll let me die quickly.”
I keep my head low, but through my Hawk-vision, scan the men to the left and right. One stands, his hands behind his back, staring right at me. The other does the same, but his hands are in front of him, gripping the gun they took from me.
He’s only a few metres away. Near enough…is he near enough?
I have no choice. I have to try.
With a sudden twist of my neck, I swing my head up to him and draw his eye. I dart straight in, charging into his mind and calling out the order to kill.
But not the other guard. Not himself. Not Cromwell.
Me.
I deliver the command with such clarity and focus that is fuses immediately. The glaze spreads across his eyes and the order takes hold. And suddenly, abruptly, his hand swings up, points the gun right at my head, and pulls the trigger.
I shut my eyes as the room explodes with a single bullet. But the endless darkness doesn’t come.
Instead, a flow of air sweeps from the other side, and I hear a heavy thud. And creaking open my lids, I look to see the other Stalker standing in my path, blood seeping from his body and onto the cold metal floor.
And on the floor, amid the blood, I see the shape of the shooter, the gun still in his hand, his body knocked out cold.
“Good, very good,” comes Cromwell’s voice.
I turn forwards again and see him standing just where he was before, no fright imbuing him, no alarm spreading through his face at the sight he just witnessed.
He merely looks at me, and smiles an awkward, alien grin.
“Oh, you truly are gifted, Brie, and brave too,” he muses. “Just a look, and nothing more, and you nearly had my man killing you. But, you’re not the only one with gifts, as you can see,” he says, nodding towards the standing Stalker.
I look at the man as he turns back to me, a bullet hole cut into his side, blood spewing to the floor. But there’s no pain on his face, no fear that he might die. He just stands there, his body emptying of blood, waiting for further orders.
“Do you see that, Brie,” crackles Cromwell. “Total and utter loyalty. If I so wish, he will stand there until his body gives out. You may be able to control minds, Brie, but I can control an entire people.”
I stare at him, horrified at his words, and then turn back to the Stalker. Something in me feels sorry for the man, bred to be what he is. He has no choice in the matter, no more than anyone else. And here, right here, his life will end unless his master says otherwise.
“But,” continues Cromwell, “ I’d never waste such a useful resource.” He turns to the Stalker. “Bind his arms until we can have the kill order removed. Then get yourself to the infirmary.”
The man nods, bends down to his unconscious comrade, binds his arms, and then begins walking towards the lift, leaving a trail of crimson in his wake.
And alone now with Cromwell, I know I’m totally helpless. And he does too.
I fix him with a stare, my heart freezing as I look upon him, and a growl issues from my throat.
“You’re not going to kill me, are you?” I ask.
That horrible smile rises once more, and his old neck twists from side to side.
“Oh no, Brie…I have another purpose for you.”
And with those words, I shut my eyes, and think of my brother’s face. And from my mind to his, I simply say…
Forgive me, Zander.
I’ve failed.
THE END
The Enhanced will continue in Book Five…Captive!
Next Up - Captive (Book 5)
Firstly, thanks so much for getting this far! I hope you’re enjoying the ride! Thankfully, it’s not over yet, and there’s plenty more adventures to be had for Brie and the rest of the gang!
Next up we have Book Five , Captive, where we’ll discover exactly what Brie’s fate is!
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Also by T. C. Edge
THE ENHANCED SERIES (MAIN SERIES):
The Enhanced (Book One)
Hybrid (Book Two)
Nameless (Book Three)
Assassin (Book Four)
Captive (Book Five)
Renegade (Book Six)
Invader (Book Seven)
Avenger (Book Eight)
Defender (Book Nine)
Nemesis (Book Ten)
Sequel (to main Enhanced series, and Warrior Race series):
The Enhanced: Awakening
The Enhanced: Conquest
THE WARRIOR RACE SERIES (ENHANCED UNIVERSE):
The Warrior Race (Book One)
The Red Warrior (Book Two)
Angel of War (Book Three)
CHILDREN OF THE PRIME SERIES:
The Chosen (Book One)
Trial of the Chosen (Book 2)
Blood of the Chosen (Book 3)
March of the Chosen (Book 4)
War of the Chosen (Book 5)
OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:
THE WATCHERS SERIES:
The Watchers Trilogy:
The Watchers of Eden (Book One)
City of Stone (Book Two)
War at the Wall (Book Three)
The Watchers Trilogy Box Set
The Seekers Trilogy
The Watcher Wars (Book One)
The Seekers of Knight (Book Two)
The Endless Knight
The Seekers Trilogy Box Set
THE PHANTOM CHRONICLES:
The Last Phantom (Book 1)
Phantom Hunter (Book 2)
Phantom Legacy (Book 3)
Phantom Unleashed (Book 4)