Mind of Darkness

by Jes Drew

  Some things are better left unknown.

  And some things aren’t- like where they’re keeping my dad. And how we can stop Jin. And what’s up with the Cure…

  I take a deep breath of fresh air. Weather like this reminds me of when I used to believe that I’ll find the truth soon enough.

  But days like this makes me doubt that.

  “Oh, Daddy,” I say to the wind. “Where are you?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Emily

  I wake up tangled in my sheets with the sun shining through the blinds.

  I immediately startle and sit up. “I’m going to be late-”

  “It’s Sunday,” Violet mumbles from her bed. “Go to sleep or shut it.”

  “Oh.” I sink back onto my sheets, but can’t seem to find the sleep that used to be there. No, something else is there. A nagging feeling that something’s not right. That something’s been forgotten.

  “Did we talk about something important last night?” I call.

  “We didn’t talk at all. You came in late and went straight to bed. Now be quiet before I make you.”

  I close my mouth and purse my lips.

  And then stumble out of bed and into the bathroom.

  Bleary-eyed, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I’m still wearing my top and skirt from yesterday, now beyond wrinkly, and my makeup is smeared all over my face. And when was the last time I brushed my teeth?

  Confused, I reach up to touch my tangled hair.

  And see the ink markings on my wrist.

  My whole body begins to shudder, and I slowly lower my hands to read the markings.

  See top drawer.

  Hands trembling, I grab the top drawer in the sink.

  And see a crumpled note inside.

  I bite my lip against the scream and take the note out. And read:

  You almost made him die last night.

  The scream escapes, as does my sanity. My hands tear the paper to shreds before dropping it into the sink. Then I turn the water on and scrub at my arms. Got to get it off. Got to escape the lies-

  Violet pushes open the bathroom door. “What was that? You better have a good reason or I’ll give you a good-”

  I push past her, out of the bathroom, and then out of the bedroom.

  Out of here.

  ~~~

  When a semblance of sanity returns to me, I stop running and take in my surroundings. I’m in the part of the campus that contains the soccer park. It also contains a strange-looking building that appears to be setting its own trend in weirdness. Maybe it has a map or a nice person who could give me directions.

  I try to smooth down my hair so I at least look halfway decent before approaching to knock on the front door. No one answers, so I open it. Then I find myself looking into a large, dimly-lit room with a bar in one corner, a DJ booth in another, and several sets of tables and chairs in the middle. The place is packed with students talking, drinking, and dancing.

  All are wearing matching gray berets with identical badges.

  A couple of teens standing near the doorway grin when they see me.

  “We have a newbie!” one of them- Donald- cries, and a couple others push me towards the bar.

  “Excuse me?” I say, but no one seems to hear me.

  The bartender, who looks like how Christopher described his fencing teacher in a beret, smiles at me from underneath his French mustache.

  “Welcome to Club DM,” he greets with a thick French accent. “We welcome all students of the Yin Program, but the best of us get special advantages. Please show me your student ID.”

  “Uh…”Not really sure what else to do, I hand it to him.

  He scans it with a gadget next to the cash register before handing it back. Then, in a loud voice, he asks, “Who nominates Emily Rogers as a member of Club DM?”

  “I do!” Donald cries.

  “Actually-” I squeak.

  “Does anyone second that?” the bartender asks.

  Destiny steps forward from the shadows. “I do.”

  Turning back to me, the bartender hands me a card that says ‘Club DM Honorary Member’ along with a beret with a sewn on badge. “In that case, Emily Rogers, you are now an official member of Club DM.”

  Holding the beret up, I study the badge. It’s a depiction of the strange daisy statue in the front hall with the stranger motto printed below it on a ribbon.

  The bartender leans against his counter. “Now, Rogers, Club DM members are expected to be smart, ambitious, and proud. Bad conduct of any kind would shame your brethren. But excellence will take you far. Are you ready for this responsibility?”

  “Well, actually…” I suddenly realize that everyone in the building is watching me. I clear my throat. “I just wanted to ask for directions, but this is fine too.”

  The bartender laughs. “Well, we’re directing you to the future. Welcome, Miss Rogers. In honor of your joining, have a drink on the house.”

  I lick my very dry lips. “Um, I don’t drink that kind of stuff.”

  He laughs again.

  “We don’t serve alcohol or drugs here,” Donald explains. “We at Club DM believe in sharpening our minds, not dulling them.”

  I force a smile. “In that case, I’ll take whatever you recommend.”

  “That’s more like it!” Donald cries, thumping me on the back. “Just wait until you initiate your first member. It’s going to be great!”

  I force another smile and slap my new beret on my head to cover my hat head.

  ~~~

  “Where have you been, Emily?”

  Startling, I whirl around to see Christopher jogging across the field.

  I put my hand over my startled heart. “At Club DM.”

  He comes to a stop in front of me and gives me a once over and frowning in confusion. “And why would that be?”

  “I was trying to ask for directions and I accidentally got enrolled instead.”

  Christopher raises an eyebrow and shakes his head.

  “Oh, and I think they’re expecting me to convince another student to join,” I add. Actually, I know they expect me to get another member to join- Donald’s words were the first of many like it.

  “After saying no to Donald, you want me to say yes to you?”

  I frown. “I don’t know what I want.”

  “That’s actually what I wanted to talk about. I feel like we were talking about leaving yesterday, but we didn’t come to a conclusion.”

  My head hurts at his words and I wince.

  Then, suddenly, my phone rings. I check the caller ID. It’s Hunter.

  What in the-?

  “One moment,” I tell him before turning my back on my boyfriend to answer the superhuman calling out of the blue. “Hello?”

  “Hello. Is this Emily Rogers?” It’s a female’s voice. Ninja.

  I try to swallow. “Yes. What’s going on?”

  “We got your phone call last night. Are you okay? This is Ninja, by the way.”

  “I know- wait, what phone call?”

  “You mean you don’t remember calling us frantically in the middle of the night before getting dragged off or something?”

  I blink and search my memory. I can’t remember last night at all, and it hurts my head. “No.”

  “Wait, so that was like a prank call?”

  “No! I mean, something happened last night. Something I don’t remember.” I glance down at the smeared ink on my wrists. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t get out.”

  “Can you… describe the danger a little better?”

  I glance back at Christopher, who is looking just as confused as I feel. “It’s not like anything I’ve ever experienced before. Like… someone else is in my head. I don’t feel… in control anymore.”

  The words surprise me. That is how I feel. But why am I only know acknowledging this?

  “So you need to be rescued after all?”

  I glance back at Christopher again and remember the thre
ats in ink. “Yes.”

  “Then we will come to your assistance as soon as humanly- well, superhumanly- possible. Until then, lay low and try to find out as much about Mulan Yin and her family as possible.”

  “Uh, okay...”

  “See you soon. Bye.” The line goes silent.

  “What was that?” Christopher asks.

  “I think… I think help is on the way.”

  A mental list of times when one should have music in the background:

  (1) Romantic music for every time Christopher is in the scene;

  (2) Suspense music whenever I'm getting grades back;

  (3) Humorous classical music whenever I trip on something;

  (4) Hopeful music just now;

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  A grown man stands in his way just before he can escape.

  “I know you’re not planning on coming back, boy,” the man leers. “You’ve wanted out for a while. I’ve seen it in your eyes.”

  “Get out of my way,” the boy answers. “The mad scientist sent me on an errand.”

  Another even burlier man comes to stand by the other. “Then why do you have a tea leaf in your pocket, Nelson?”

  Nelson’s eyes drop to his pocket.

  “Not all of us are as blind as you were,” the first man leers.

  “Well, not all of us are as stupid to stick around as you two.” Nelson rushes at the two of them super fast.

  The first one grabs onto his shoulder. So Tim spins sideways, sending him spinning into the second man.

  Then Tim jumps onto the dog pile and throws his fist down several times. “I. Am. Done. Here.”

  ~~~

  Tim wakes up at the stroke of midnight in cold sweat.

  His dream seemed so real, but it was just a dream… right?

  He needs to know the truth.

  Climbing out of his beds in the room, he switches on the light.

  Kyle immediately sits up. Chrissie, however, just pulls the blanket over her head and rolls over. Tim doesn’t even care enough to be relieved that Kyle is sleeping on the floor this time.

  “What is it?!” Kyle demands scanning the area. “Where’s the danger?!”

  “Danger?” Chrissie cries, finally sitting up. “Where?”

  Since Tim is definitely not going to say ‘I had a bad dream,’ he says, “In my head.”

  Kyle groans, but Chrissie climbs out of her bed and joins Tim by the lamp.

  “What is it?” she asks, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  Tim’s mind immediately goes blank, but he commands it to focus. “I have some questions. You’ve mentioned a Greene Takeover.”

  She nods, causing her adorably mussed curls to bounce.

  Focus, Tim. “Who all was a part of it?”

  “Well, there was Marcus Greene, of course.” She looks a bit confused by the question, but then seems to get lost in giving the answer. “And there were V.C., his men, the twins, Mr. Walters, and Seth Gears.”

  “The traitor,” Kyle mutters under his breath.

  Tim nods politely. None of those names- or titles- is the name he seeks for, but still… “Do I… do I resemble any of them?”

  Kyle finally makes his way over. “Wait. You don’t think you were part of that, do you?”

  “I… I don’t know.”

  Chrissie squeezes his shoulder. “You weren't. I would recognize you.”

  Rubbing his chin as he studies Tim, Kyle tilts his head to one side. “Though, it would explain the superpowers.”

  And Chrissie glares at him. “No; it wouldn’t. I kind of stripped them of all their superpowers with the chemical and sprinklers, remember?”

  Tim clears his throat. “What if- what if I wasn’t present when the sprinklers went off? What if I was out on an errand? What if I was using that errand as an excuse to run away to give a tea leaf to my dear old Gramps?”

  Kyle shakes his head. “Look, I knew most of V.C.’s men. Trust me- you’re not one of them.”

  But Chrissie whirls back around to study Tim. “Did you say errand?”

  Tim feels his insides freeze over, but he has to get the truth out, if it killed him. “Maybe I wasn’t one of V.C.’s men- maybe I was someone else in the Greene Takeover. Was there anyone else?!”

  His dream comes flooding back to him. There was conflict in the air- conflict centered around him- so he took the opportunity to leave. With a tea leaf. For Gramps.

  Or at least, the person in the dream did. A person with a name...

  But not his. It couldn’t be; it was just a random name selected by his subconscious. He couldn’t be-

  “George Nelson,” Chrissie breathes.

  Her words form an icicle that stab Tim’s already frozen heart.

  “You were the clever boy Marcus gave the tea too and made V.C. upset,” Chrissie adds in a whisper.

  “Wait,” Kyle says. “He’s a super trooper. Named George?” He shakes his head. “And you thought Theodore was too presidential.”

  “I left,” George answers, feeling the cold darkness around him. “But yes, I was a ‘super trooper.’ I tried to help take over the world.”

  “But you’ve changed.” And Chrissie steps toward him to take his hands into hers. “You’re not who you once were. You’re a hero now. You’re helping us stop Jin Yin, remember?”

  He doesn’t deserve her comfort or her touch. George pulls away from her. “I’m no hero. That’s why I couldn’t save Freya- Faith- whatever.”

  “Hey,” Kyle says. “I know what it’s like to be on the wrong side of the law too- but that’s behind me too. It can behind you too.”

  George backs away, shaking his head. “For a year I’ve wrestled with having a cloudy mind. Now I wish it would be cloudy once more. Anything would be better than this.”

  Chrissie steps towards him again. “Tim-”

  “I’m not Tim. I’m George Nelson. Tim was confused. But George… George has a mind of darkness.”

  “Tim-”

  “I. Am. Done. Here.” With that, George opens the hotel door and dashes away.

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Charisa

  I watch Tim- George- disappear into the hallway. Then I whisper, “Not again. First Faith; now Tim. And my dad is already who-knows-where...”

  Kyle shuts our bedroom door and then joins me on the floor. “You've got me.”

  Not looking away from the door despite not having x-ray vision, I sigh deeply. “Small comfort.”

  “Ouch.” He puts a hand over his heart to pretend to be wounded. Then his face softens. “You should go back to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us, and we need an alibi in case someone notices we don't have a chaperon anymore for when we do find your dad.”

  Sighing, I turn away from both the door and Kyle. “I don't think I can go to sleep. Everything's just so wrong right now.”

  “True. That seems to happen a lot to me. Like last year, right before the Greene Takeover.”

  Frowning, I turn back to him. “What about it? There was a lot wrong then.”

  “Yeah; but things were especially wrong the night we found out the twins had superpowers. Your dad had to go shopping that night- which is wrong in and of itself- and I went into the bank to meet the twins.”

  I nod, remembering. “And I followed.”

  Kyle nods again, stifling a yawn. “And then you got yourself so worked up that you fainted-”

  “Passed out.”

  “Fine, you swooned. Anyway, I had to carry you back to your house and I got there just as your dad was returning….” He shudders. “Never again.”

  I smirk.

  “But, hey, I'm still alive!” Kyle throws his arms dramatically into the air. “And it's up to you to keep it that way.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “And how would I go about doing that?”

  “Get some sleep or else you'll end up swooning from exhaustion. And with my luck, you're dad will show up just then….”

  “Hmm, maybe I should stay up.”
r />   “Oh, have a heart!”

  “Fine.” Pulling myself together, I climb back into my bed. “Night.”

  “Night,” he answers, moving from his old spot on the chair to Tim’s old bed.

  “You wanted him to leave, didn’t you?”

  “You got me.”

  Surprisingly, I find myself smiling. Even more surprisingly, I find myself falling asleep.

  ~~~

  I look around my nation's capital and shake my head. “Why didn't we just run here last time we had to get here? It's so much faster by legs than by car.”

  “Not to mention harder,” Kyle gasps, smoothing down dark hair drenched in sweat. “You have no idea how difficult it is when going at that speed for that distance.”

  “Sure I do- I just did it. Stop being a baby.”

  He wags his finger at me. “No, you didn't. You had the easy job of holding onto my me and thinking how good I look when I'm being awesome.”

  I roll my eyes. “That's a harder job than you'd think.”

  Kyle shakes his head at me like there's something wrong with me. “Come on; the place we need to get to is this way.”

  I follow him to the edge of the city where we find a massive electric fence surrounding a massive house with a yard that, among other amenities, contains an airstrip.

  Kyle whistles. “Nice pad.” Then he jumps over the electric fence. Thankfully, he lands on the other side un-krisped.

  Which means it's my turn.

  My throat goes dry. I've never been particularly fond of heights, but I've recently found a great distaste for electrocution. And this lovely fence boasts both features.

  “Don't worry!” Kyle calls. “I'll catch you.”

  “Is that supposed to be reassuring?” I call back, trying to hide my nervousness behind bravado.

  “You bet it is!”

  I lick my lips and back up. Then I run, jump, and soar over the fence. And land in Kyle's arms.

  He grins. “Told you I would catch you.”

  “Oh, put me down, you buffoon.”

  Kyle obeys. “The endearments you come up with.”