Ah, the damp hallway Dom transported me to previously. We were practically best friends, if it wasn’t for the fact that the passage was soggy and moldy, with little furry critters calling it home. Even in the humidity, a tingle ran the length of my spine, and I shuddered.
“This way,” the new guy said, then grunted.
Would it have been weird if I told him I already knew the way and to please refrain from leading me in circles like Dom? Probably. And, to be honest, this new guy didn’t seem like someone I’d want to piss off. From the way his shoes clomped against the floor to his balled fists, he seemed…angry. Or maybe that was my general distrust talking.
Our lengthy walk turned into a brisk one, when the agent stopped and performed the weird knocking ritual on a door to my left, not right. Huh. This was an entirely different passageway from the one Dom guided me through.
“Hey, where are we going?” I asked. “I thought it was that—”
“We aren’t going the way you came in with Dom. I’m taking you somewhere else. You’ll be nice and comfortable before you’re selected.”
The door pushed back and slid to the side, allowing us access. With a swift wave of his hand, the new guy motioned for me to travel ahead of him. Several feet in front of me were concrete stairs leading downward into darkness. There were no torches like there were in the first hallway, or any other form of lighting. My eyes couldn’t pierce through the shadows to see what lay ahead.
“What’s down here?” I asked, peering over my shoulder at the burly man.
He pushed me, and my arms flailed as I attempted to recover my balance.
“Keep moving,” he ordered.
Using the walls on either side of me as a guide, I kept my arms outstretched, fingers gliding across the concrete. I jerked my hand away from the right side, as my fingertips were suddenly coated with a thin, liquid substance, which could be water, or it could be something totally different. Hopefully the former, considering the place had some serious leaks going on. To the left of me, there was a long hallway lit by torches. Finally! I might’ve been born with a special ability, but it definitely wasn’t night vision. Concrete walls merged with stonework, and that architectural feature continued down the long hallway. Weak moans echoed from somewhere deep within the bowels of this shithole compound, becoming louder as I advanced. With the corridor teeing off, I slowed my pace, unsure of which path to take.
“Turn here,” said the agent. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me to the right.
The stone walls were soon replaced by iron bars…and people. Some wouldn’t even glance up at me, their heads hanging, drool dripping in strings from their lips. Others reached out to me from between the metal rods caging them in place.
“Help us!” a few cried. “Please help us!”
But what the hell could I do? I wasn’t some sort of savior; I was just a young woman who wanted to keep her imagination intact. And I was in the same position as the others down here.
“In there,” the new guy said, opening a cell door and shoving me inside. I stumbled to the floor. Peering up, I noticed two others shared the same space: a middle-aged woman and a little girl. I pushed off the ground and into a sitting position, wiping my hands on my jeans.
“I’m scared.” The little girl whimpered and scooted closer to the middle-aged woman.
The woman clutched the girl’s tiny hand and whispered, “Don’t be. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
The little girl’s eyes latched onto mine and wouldn’t let go. I blinked several times. Standing up, I walked across the chamber and picked the neighboring wall to sit against. Large stones separated our cavity in the corner of the prison from the adjacent cells, except for the twin alcove across the walkway. There were two men inside of it, and they wouldn’t stop staring at me.
“Mother and daughter?” I asked the woman, redirecting my gaze.
She nodded. “She has the gift, too. They want to take away ours at the same time. They said it’d be easier that way.”
What the Ministry did to people was inhumane and crooked. Who gave them the right to erase imaginations, especially those of young children? And why were they suddenly erasing kids’ minds? I thought they had reached an all-time low when I found out what they stood for, but this was an entirely-new issue.
A steady drip, drip, drip echoed off the walls, mingling with the sounds of wailing. Water puddled on the concrete floor, and the entire place reeked of piss and sweat, and staleness. I pinched my nostrils shut.
“You’ll get used to it,” said the woman.
I jerked my head toward her. “Used to it? How long does a person have to be down here for that to happen?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’ve lost track of time.”
Okay, this was definitely worse than I thought. Something had to be done to save these people. My people.
“You know, for someone who’s been warned not once but twice, you can’t seem to take a damn hint, can you?” Dom’s voice buzzed loudly, and clearly, in my ears.
I scrambled to my feet and toward the bars. “Get us out of here.”
But the hard lines on his face told me convincing him wasn’t going to be easy.
“Dom, you have to believe me. I had no—”
“Hush,” he ordered. “I was lenient with you, and you betrayed my trust. I didn’t want to see you again.”
For reasons unknown to me, my heart jolted. Why would I subconsciously give a damn about what he thought? The guy kidnapped me, for crying out loud. I should hate him. I should fight him, like I fought Jessica. I should curse the very ground he walked on, but I didn’t. He saved me once before, and I had the distinct notion that the act of releasing me wasn’t normal for him. He didn’t hesitate to erase Victor’s mind while I was present. So, why did I have immunity?
Fingers encircling the iron bars, he lowered his head and hissed, “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
“I had no choice! I was being attacked. You have to believe me.”
His eyes glazed over. “I don’t have to believe anything. Besides, it doesn’t matter; you’re not my problem anymore.” Turning on his heel, he strolled back the way I came in.
Why did he even bother coming down here? For the sole purpose of rubbing his mistake, and mine, in my face? I didn’t understand him, and it was pointless trying; the Ministry would erase my mind shortly, and I wouldn’t remember him or any of our conversations.
“I was never your problem and you know it!” I shouted. “If I was such a hassle, then why didn’t you take my imagination from me when you had the chance? Isn’t that why they switched my case to someone else? You broke the Ministry’s rules, not me!”
The groans and cries for help ceased. Apparently, everyone enjoyed a good show, and Dom and I were center stage. Too bad the Ministry wasn’t offering popcorn, soda, and candy.
Boots clomping against the concrete and splashing in water puddles, Dom returned. Heavy breaths exited his nostrils, and his eyes bore down on me through the cage I was in.
“We’re not having this conversation,” he stated.
“Oh, yeah? Then why are you here?”
“I came to pick up the next infected person on my list.”
Narrowing my eyes, I said, “Bullshit. I’m not buying that for one second. The last time I was here, you had another guy running to the prison to do your dirty work. And since you don’t like to get your hands soiled that can only mean you’re here to see me.”
His eyes flicked downward, pausing briefly at my lips, and then resumed gazing into my own. “You actually think I have feelings for you?”
“Did I stutter?”
“Don’t be absurd. Why would I waste my time? We’re enemies. We were born that way, and we will die that way. And in a few short hours, you won’t even remember my name.”
Dom’s words hung in the air, almost as thick and heavy as the humidity and dampness, as he exited the prison a second time. He had a point, and damn it, I knew he di
d, but the tiny shred of doubt in the back of my brain hummed the opposite.
Forcing my eyes shut, I imagined sitting in my car at Valley Falls Park. I want to go home. I want to be free of this place. But when I opened my eyes again, I was still in the prison.
“It doesn’t work,” said the middle-aged woman. “We’ve already tried. Whatever protection they have over this place”—she peered up at the walls—“doesn’t allow us to use our ability.”
Dom had told me I couldn’t use my ability in his presence, so the Ministry must have guards camped out in the prison. What else would qualify as an explanation? Unless the Ministry had some high-tech gadgets that stopped us from using our imaginations, the whole thing didn’t make sense.
“Is there another way out?” I asked the woman.
“Not that I’ve seen,” she said. “Although, these stones appear to be decades old. They’re too aged to be new, and they’re crumbling.”
I stepped over to the wall at the back of our small chamber, examining the stonework. The woman was right—the mortar holding the hand-sized stones together was falling apart. But if I started picking away without knowing the layout of the prison, the wall could open up into another guarded hallway, or a prison cell. What about the barrier behind the woman and little girl? We were situated in a corner, at the end of a long passageway full of single chambers. If the design was similar in other areas, then opening up that wall wouldn’t obstruct another passage—but it could lead elsewhere, like outdoors.
Either way, it was worth a shot.
My fingers clawed at the mortar between the stones, bits and pieces dropping to the floor. The middle-aged woman and little girl moved to the adjacent wall, watching me tear away at the cement holding the rocks together. I needed a chisel, or a screwdriver, or any hard, pointed object.
“Why am I not surprised?”
Jerking my head around, I nearly snapped my neck. Dom stood in front of the iron bars again, a sly smirk curving his lips.
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m helping you escape, but you don’t have much time,” he said, shoving a key into the lock. He turned it, and nothing happened. Clearing his throat, he mumbled, “Wrong one. It’s gotta be here.”
Had I entered an alternate dimension? Was I in The Twilight Zone? This was the same guy who, moments ago, said he wished he’d never see me again, and that I wasn’t his problem anymore.
“I don’t believe you,” I said, refusing to budge from my spot.
He peered up at me. “You don’t trust me?”
“No, I don’t. You’re my enemy, remember? You said so yourself.”
“Kearly, don’t do this right now. I need to get you out of here.”
Motioning toward my cellmates, I asked, “And what about them? What about everyone else in here? Are you going to release them, too?”
He shook his head. Then, gritting his teeth, replied, “There isn’t any time. We only have a short window before they find us.”
“I can’t just leave my people here.”
“If you don’t come with me, you won’t even remember them as your people!” he hissed.
He had a point. But leaving them here, knowing they’d be subjected to agonizing pain, like Victor was, and then losing one of the things that made their lives unique and meaningful, tore a massive rift in my heart.
I bit my lower lip as I debated Dom’s proposition. Could I trust him? He helped me before, but would he actually do it again, or was this all a trap? If he wasn’t lying, if he was helping me escape, then he could be the key to helping me take down the Ministry. What better way to knock them out than with someone who had been on the inside, someone who knew the way they worked, what their plans were, and who could transport me to the Ministry whenever I wanted?
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go with you.”
Dom yanked the cell door open and motioned for me to follow him. I glanced back at the middle-aged woman and the little girl, whose doll-like eyes held all the innocence in the world.
“I’ll come back for you.”
The woman tilted her head, conveying a silent message: she questioned whether I was serious or not. Most likely, Dom and I wouldn’t be able to save them all, which meant this woman and her daughter would already be victims of the Ministry by the time we came back to hatch our plan. My words were nothing more than an empty promise.
Passing through the entrance to the cell block I was in, I yelped and jumped back a few feet. A body was slumped over just outside, and as I peered around, I noticed there was more than just the one. There was a trail of bodies.
My eyes met Dom’s, and I clutched my stomach as waves of nausea churned like an angry storm. “What the hell did you do?”
He sighed. “They aren’t dead, if that’s what you mean. I just knocked them unconscious.”
Scrunching up my nose, I said, “Well, remind me to never piss you off.”
“Too late,” he teased, sending me a glare.
Hand gently clutching my wrist, Dom guided me over a body here and a body there as we treaded through endless passageways. Water splashed under our shoes, the noise echoing off the stone walls. If the Ministry had any sort of secret listening devices, or even security cameras with sound, we were screwed.
Soft whispers carried through the hallways. I wasn’t sure which direction they came from, but Dom stopped walking, cocked his head, and then continued onward. I had no idea where he was taking me, but it was better than going back to the prison.
“This way,” Dom murmured, leading us farther into the labyrinth underneath the Ministry’s central hub.
I continued glancing over my shoulder as Dom grasped my wrist tighter and tugged me along. There wouldn’t be much time before the Ministry’s agents figured out I had escaped, and if they noticed Dom missing, he’d be wading in knee-high shit, too.
A light flickered from a room ahead, and as we neared, I noticed the iron gate. Dom poked his head around the corner, glimpsing through the gate’s bars. His shoulders relaxed as he opened the entrance. We returned to his office. Wouldn’t that be one of the first places they look?
“Ummm,” I began, but didn’t have time to finish.
“In here,” he said, pulling one of the books on his bookshelf. The entire shelving unit gradually opened, revealing a secret passageway. “Come on.” Dom motioned for me to go in first, but I couldn’t see anything. The room was pitch black.
More whispers carried through the stone hallway outside the iron gate. Dom and I shared a fleeting look, and I didn’t hesitate any longer—I practically jumped into the room, with Dom right behind me. Pressing a button on the inside, the bookshelf returned to its original place. Light filtered into the darkness from tiny holes in the wall. I stepped up to one and peered through to the other side, nearly gasping. Four Ministry agents were scouring Dom’s office. One of them flipped through the stacks of paperwork on Dom’s desk, while two others picked books, one by one, off the shelves. Oh, my God. I jerked my head in Dom’s direction, hoping he could read my face. It wasn’t like I could speak without those guys hearing me.
Dom stood straight, unmoving, for several seconds. He took a few steps toward me, slid an arm around my waist, and backed me against the rear wall of the hidden chamber. Lips pressed against my ear, he whispered, “I’m going to distract them, but I need you to use your ability.”
A dry spot emerged at the back of my throat. I gulped, hoping it’d improve. “But I can’t.”
Dom nodded. “Yes, you can. You’ll have to wait until I get them out of the room before you run through the passageway behind you.”
I licked my lips, unable to turn my head and see what he was talking about. What other passageway? “And if you don’t have any luck?”
“Don’t jinx me,” he said, a sluggish grin curling the crook of his mouth. He loosened his hold on my waist as his other hand grazed over the wall. “There you are.” He wasn’t talking to
me. A green light illuminated the small space, and the circular device it came from was fixed to the concrete. Dom punched in four digits, and the wall shifted backward and to the side, rock grinding against rock as it disappeared. “Don’t stop for anything. Do you understand?”
I nodded and whispered, “Yes, but what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll catch up with you soon.”
He released his grip on my waist, and I backed up, into the other secret chamber. Seriously, how many hidden passageways were in this place? Dom pressed numbers on the keypad again, and the wall began to close. Behind him, the bookshelf slid open, and the Ministry’s agents barged inside with flashlights.
Words congested my throat. This was bad. Very bad. What would they do to him for helping me?
“Dom?” I squeaked.
“Remember what I told you,” he said. “Run!”
The darkness consumed me. I turned around and shuffled through the shadows, not knowing what lay ahead. Jagged rocks protruded from the walls, and I jerked my hand away as I nicked my palm. At any given moment, the Ministry’s agents could figure out the code to Dom’s secret passageway and come after me. If they succeeded in capturing me again, I had no reason to believe I’d get another chance at escape. This was my only option, and I had to make the best of it.
Light filtered from an opening up ahead, as the beams highlighted the craggy rocks. I was able to glimpse outlines, but nothing was definite. It was a start, though, and that was all I needed. If sunlight found its way into the cave, or whatever this place was, then there had to be an outlet. Hopefully it’d be big enough for me to fit through.
Wait—what was I doing? I peered over my shoulder at the never-ending maze of rocks, twisting and snaking into the darkness. I couldn’t even distinguish where I began, so that meant I was far enough away that I had the opportunity to use my ability. It was worth a shot, anyway.
“Please work,” I mumbled.
Closing my eyes, I imagined my car in Valley Falls Park. I imagined sitting in the front seat, hands on the steering wheel, the inside reeking of stale French fries, mustard, onions, and pickles.
The cushioned seat under me was a welcome feeling. But I couldn’t celebrate just yet; I had to get my keys out of the passenger door and get to my house as quickly as possible. I’d be a primary target now, and I needed to pack. Living out of my car was the only option, since I didn’t have money to pay for a hotel room. This definitely wasn’t what I had in mind for the remainder of the year. Life on the run from a fanatical organization wouldn’t last forever, but it could buy me some time to figure out how to dismantle the M.I.N.D.
Well, just as soon as my eyesight returned to normal. I couldn’t exactly drive blind. My eyeballs stung, like a thousand needle tips were poking them, and my vision was worse than having an optometrist’s eye drops expanding my pupils. Waving my hand in front of my face didn’t help; it was one big blur. Even colors were completely distorted.
“Uggghhh! What the hell is wrong with me?” I roared.
Tap, tap, tap.
I jumped, banging my thigh on the steering wheel. “Ow! Who is it?” It was strange asking that, especially if the person didn’t know what I was going through.
“Kearly, it’s me. Open up,” said Dom.
What? How’d he escape the Ministry’s agents?
Leaning across the passenger seat, my fingers skimmed the door, until I felt the little round knob. I pulled it up, and the door swung open. Dom plopped down, the entire car bobbing with his weight.
“Why haven’t you left yet? We need to get going. The Ministry will be here any second.”
“I can’t see,” I said, grating my teeth.
“Shit.”
“Uh, yeah. So, we’re screwed, unless you want to drive.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Not long. Why?”
Dom slowly came into focus. Well, his outline, anyway. He peered out the window and said, “It’s a temporary side effect. The more you use your ability, the longer the consequence. The Ministry has conducted research into the matter but hasn’t come up with a viable solution to the problem. All we know is that it doesn’t last forever, and the outcome isn’t damaging. So far, at least.”
Great. One more thing to add to my list of problems.
“By the way, are these yours?” Dom asked, jingling my keys. “I saw them in the lock. Despite what you might believe, you do need them to start your car and drive away, which would be fantastic right about now.”
I bit my tongue and refrained from punching him. Reaching out, I snatched the keys out of his hand. My head pounded as a slicing pain wreaked havoc under my skin. The keys slipped out of my hand, dropping to the floorboard.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
“Kearly, you have to hurry. They’re here.”
“What? No, I can’t see just yet. Switch places with me.”
Dom didn’t waver. He glided from his seat to mine, lifting me up and into his lap. My cheeks warmed as I attempted to switch places with him, but one of my legs caught against the steering wheel.
“You know, I’d love to sit like this all day,” he said, “but I really don’t feel like dying.”
I huffed. “I’m stuck.”
In one swift motion, he yanked me backward against his chest, grabbed the underside of my thigh, and swung my leg over the top of the steering wheel. An abrupt yelp exited my mouth as he pushed me toward the passenger seat.
“And now you’re not,” he stated, shoving the keys in the ignition and starting the car. Throwing us into reverse, he backed out of the parking space and nearly squealed my tires pulling out of the lot.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To your house. You need to pack a change of clothes, and we need to figure out a place to hide for the time being.”
“Do you even know where I live?”
Dom didn’t reply right away. I glanced over at him, at the sharp lines on his face: his nose, his jaw, his cheeks. His demeanor was ominous, and if a person didn’t know any better, he could seriously pass for a pissed-off individual, who worked too much and had a blood pressure problem.
“Yes, I do.”
“You do? How?”
“I…maybe…” He stalled, mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. “I may have visited there once before.”
Twisting my upper body towards him, I crossed my arms. “Oh, really? And when was this?”
“Recently.”
I scan through my memories of a time when he could’ve been at my house. The roof! Oh, my God. Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? So, someone was on top of the trailer. Great. At least I wasn’t on the verge of losing my sanity.
Shaking my head, I told him, “You have some nerve, you know.”
He snorted. “I had to keep an eye on you.”
“Oh, that’s not creepy at all.”
“Look, not all of us detest your kind, but we do have to act like we hate you as long as we’re inside the Ministry’s walls. They have eyes and ears everywhere. If we didn’t, suspicions would grow, and they would interrogate us for hours.”
“You keep saying ‘we’. Who all does that include?”
“There are several of us. We’re not strong enough to destroy the Ministry, but we will reach that point, eventually.”
I frown. “So, let me get this straight. You and a secret group of agents actually don’t mind people like me, and you and your group want to annihilate the Ministry?”
“Pretty much.”
Glancing out the windshield, I said, “Huh. Well, I can’t say I saw that one coming.”
“Kearly, if I was a true Realist, I wouldn’t have given you a second chance. You’d be a zombie, going about your daily activities with no daydreams, no form of escapism. You’d be just like Tabitha.”
I winced. Thinking about how much that woman smoked and drank, how that could’ve been me, was a harsh wake-up call. I didn’t wa
nt to lose my imagination. I didn’t want to be like everyone else. Escaping by way of my mind was my life.
My phone rang, the melody muffled from inside my book bag, which was still in my passenger floorboard. I reached in and dug around, until I found it. Ryan’s name appeared on the screen, along with the “Answer” and “Decline” options.
I groaned. “What does he want now?”
“Who is it?”
“Ryan Carter.” My back straightened as I remembered the conversation I had with Ryan. “He’s dating Jessica Lyons. Apparently, her father works for the Ministry. Does that name ring a bell?”
Dom’s eyelids were basically nonexistent. “Uhhh, yeah. That’s not good.”
My shoulders slumped. “Who is he?”
“He’s third in line to the CEO’s throne, head of the Ministry’s committee, and a councilman. Suffice it to say, he’s pulling major power with the M.I.N.D.”
“That’s just wonderful. He also knows about me and my ability. Ryan said he overheard Jessica tell her father she saw me disappear in study hall one day, and her father said he’d take care of it.”
My phone stopped ringing, and I viewed the 1 missed call announcement on my display, standing by in case I needed to return Ryan’s call.
Dom pounded his fist once on top of the steering wheel, and he cursed under his breath. “Yeah, I bet he’d take care of it. I’m not going to lie, this is bad. If he gets his hands on us, we’re dead. Not metaphorically speaking, either. Literally D-E-A-D.”
“Okay, I get it. Jeez. So, what do we do?”
“Call Ryan back,” Dom said. “Find out what he wants, and then we’ll go from there.”
I pressed one button, and my phone automatically redialed Ryan. One ring. Two. Three.
“Come on. Pick up already.”
“Kearly?” Ryan answered, voice low.
“What’s going on?”
His tone was curt. “Can’t say much right now. We need to meet again.”
“I don’t know…”
“Is it true that you’re a fugitive?”
I laughed. “What?” My smile died, as I realized he was talking about the Ministry. I was considered a fugitive to the Ministry, and I’d be willing to bet Dom was, too. Seeing no alternative, and knowing that, eventually, Ryan would hear it from Jessica, I replied, “Yeah, I guess I am.”
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Mind's Eye (Mind's Eye, #1) Page 12
