Proxy (The Dreams of Reality Book 1)

by Gareth Otton

  Jen was dragged from the spot where she landed and as Maggie thrashed to escape, Jen realised what happened.

  Kate was down with one man standing over her while he secured her arms behind her back. Maggie had done that, made Kate vulnerable. Jen would never forgive her.

  Maggie moved Jen’s eyes from Kate to the men pinning Jen down. Mark wasn’t one of them. They were the men who had come through the back door. The men Maggie ignored once she had seen her husband.

  In confusion she looked from them to Jen’s legs that were splayed out and unmoving. Jen knew what it meant. She would never see those legs move again.

  The internal crack was the sound of a baton breaking her spine. Maggie’s recklessness had broken her back.

  The tears that filled her eyes should have been Jen’s. Should have meant fear, pain and loss. Instead they were Maggie’s, and they were from frustration. She cared only that she was losing her opportunity for revenge. Once again, Mark would get away with it.

  Then suddenly there was another shape in the doorway.

  He was tall, thin and familiar. Neither Maggie nor Jen recognised the look on his face. It made them cringe.

  Everyone stilled in response to his presence. It was only a momentary stillness, but it was long enough for Tad to work out what was going on. His rage was terrifying.

  Jen was staggered by what she felt from him. Considering how everyone in the room shrank back, she was not the only one to feel it. Something had changed in Tad. He was radiating a cold like a mad ghost, only this cold felt more focused, controlled.

  It was terrifying.

  Tad looked at Jen but something about his gaze told her he was staring at Maggie. There was hatred in his eyes.

  “You were warned.” His words were quiet and cold, and Jen’s body shivered. The fear she felt wasn’t hers, it was Maggie’s.

  Maggie opened her mouth to answer, but it was too late. Tad lifted his arm toward her and suddenly the only sound coming from Jen’s mouth was an agonised scream.

  It was not Jen’s pain, but she felt it like it was. A white hot fire spread through her as Tad’s power enveloped Maggie. It was cold as ice and hot at the same time, and it burned.

  It consumed Maggie, and once in his power, Tad’s hand clenched into a fist. Jen screamed again, and this time it was her screaming. Maggie was gone, ripped from her in a way Maggie was powerless to stop.

  Suddenly Jen was in control again and she fully felt the pain of the men holding her arms, the numbness below her waist and the ache in her back.

  Jen looked up in time to see Maggie hanging over her, surrounded by a nimbus of white light and eyes wide in shock. She looked from Tad to Mark and then to Jen. There were tears in her eyes as she realised what she had done.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  Tad shook his head. There was no forgiveness to be found there. “You were warned.”

  Suddenly Jen saw it, a surge of light along what looked like a spiderweb connecting Maggie to something a long way off. It was the connection to the next life, the call of death. The surge of light Jen saw in it was Tad increasing the strength of that call with his own power.

  There was nothing Maggie could do.

  The tears were still in her eyes, and she had a moment to look resolute and even nod in acceptance before she broke apart. Her edges blurred and features faded. She collapsed in on herself, condensing into a ball of white, spectral energy that hovered for a second before speeding along that spiderweb like a shooting star.

  There was a sudden presence that everyone in the room felt. It was warmth, a gentle welcoming that Jen recognised. It had been stronger when her parents left, the warmth more profound and comforting. For whatever reason Maggie had not been welcomed as strongly, but the important thing was that she had been welcomed.

  She was gone for good.

  In spite of everything Jen let out a sigh of relief.

  That sound broke the spell of stillness and the room exploded into action. Jen could do nothing but watch.

  31

  Saturday, 29th November 2015

  21:28

  Stella insisted on driving after seeing the state Tad was in. As soon as she made clear the trouble she could cause if he didn’t do as asked, he relented. He needed to get home to Jen and didn’t fancy doing that with police trying to pull him over every five miles.

  She drove too slowly to suit him, though she was pushing eighty most of the way. It was constant effort from Stella and his ghosts to calm him down. All he could think of was Jen being in harms way and him not there to help. Even speaking to her on the phone and getting updates from Kate did little to calm him.

  Stella was a bigger help than she knew. When she wasn’t changing gear, she rested a hand on his leg, reminding him she was there for him. It was a different Stella than the day before and it was easy to forget his issues with her. Her touch was purely comfort, something he could draw strength from, and it was keeping him sane.

  There was only so much sanity he could draw from a touch though. The minute he saw the empty police cars outside his house he knew something was wrong.

  He climbed out of the car before Stella brought it to a stop. Any thoughts beyond his anger that anyone could think of hurting his daughter had no place in his mind. He only grew more worried when a shape flew through the wall of the house.

  Charles’ face was twisted in a grimace of agony, and his head was mangled as though he had been struck with a bat. Tad had no idea what could do that to a ghost, but he wasn’t about to stop and ask. Charles needed healing, Tad needed information and the strength of a ghost. The solution to both problems was for Tad to merge with Charles.

  He didn’t even wait for Charles to land and neither did he slow his step as he rushed around the rear of the house. Using just his will, he pulled Charles into himself.

  Charles was too stunned to resist, not that he would have, and he broke apart into mist that rushed towards Tad.

  Tad breathed him in and slowed his step as he absorbed the knowledge Charles had for him. It took a fraction of a second to catch up, but the emotions that those events triggered in him were overwhelming. The primary one was anger.

  How could Maggie do this? He had made the ramifications of hurting Jen all too clear.

  Suddenly he’d had all he could take of his old friend. She had outstayed her welcome and violated every shred of trust he ever had in her.

  He was about to continue on when a hand caught him and he was forced to turn.

  “Tad. You can’t just rush in there.”

  Stella held her phone in her other hand and Tad could see by the display that she had called for backup.

  “Jen’s in there. I need to go.”

  “There are too many. Think about—”

  She was only thinking of him so he didn’t get angry at her, but he wouldn’t let her finish.

  “I’ve got to save her,” he said, then turned and ran around the side of the house toward his daughter.

  Stella called something after him, but he ignored her. He could hear the sound of commotion inside and he wondered just how long Jen had left. Maggie thought she was invincible now she had control of Jen. She would soon learn how limited she was.

  He got around the back of the house to find no one outside and the door open. He hadn’t seen anyone around the front of the house which meant that Mark and his friends, along with whoever else King sent with them, were inside his house with his daughter.

  That knowledge added fuel to the fire of his rage and the last few steps to the door were a blur.

  Kate was struggling on the floor, held face down by the man straddling her as he tied cable ties around her wrists. Kate was strong, but the man had the weight advantage and the upper hand.

  Jen was also down, held in place by two men who were gripping her so tightly her arms were immobile. Tad saw two distinct auras around her. One was the pale white of fear. The second, Maggie’s, was the fiery red of anger. Tad knew h
is aura must be the same colour.

  It didn’t take him long to see that Jen was injured. Even though Maggie was thrashing, Jen’s legs were motionless.

  Three more men were also in the kitchen. One was unconscious by the door and two others were standing warily over Jen as though she were about to break free. Tad didn’t pay them any attention. He was only looking at Maggie.

  “You were warned.”

  The voice didn’t sound like his. Other than his rage he was detached of emotion.

  He raised his right hand, extending his Proxy senses toward Maggie until he could feel her. Then he tightened his grip. Once wrapped in his power, he made a fist and pulled harshly. Jen screamed in agony but Tad ignored it, his focus consumed by the woman he once loved.

  Maggie burst free of Jen, a white light that coalesced into the shape of the dead woman. The men in the room jumped back in fright.

  Maggie stared at him with hatred and fury. She had no idea what she had done wrong. That wasn’t good enough. She needed to understand why he was about to end her time amongst the living.

  As he did with mad ghosts, he forced her to see reality as it truly was, to recognise the extent of her actions and the ramifications of her decisions.

  Her anger and hatred faded, and Maggie’s eyes widened in horror. She looked from Tad, to Mark and then to Jen, her aura flickering through several colours before settling on the sickly, greenish brown of shame.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, and he knew she meant it. He could see by the look on her face that this was the Maggie he had once known and loved, a woman horrified by her actions.

  “You were warned,” he said again. No mercy, no remorse. He would do what he promised and would not look back.

  There were tears in Maggie’s eyes as she met his gaze. She smiled, showing him her dimples one last time as she accepted her fate. She nodded once to say she was ready and then Tad extended his will.

  He reached for the thread that connected her to the next world, fed a trickle of power into that thread and let nature do the rest.

  The call of the next life became too strong for Maggie even if she fought it. She didn’t. Tad watched his friend move on and in the end he was himself enough to be gratified that he felt warmth as she slipped into the next life.

  That touch of the next life had the same effect on him as it always did. He calmed. It was clear from the lack of movement within the kitchen that he was not the only one to feel that way.

  Sadly, it was a peace that was not to last.

  Jen let out a sigh, and that sound reminded everyone that their night was not over yet.

  The two men holding Jen let her go and turned to face the new threat standing in the doorway. Kate was secured so her captor was happy to stand and face Tad. By the time Stella caught up there were five men ready and waiting for Tad to come to them.

  He did not disappoint.

  With just a thought he drew both Miriam and Tony into him, not bothering to leave anyone to guide his movements. He stepped into the kitchen.

  The man who had secured Kate was closest. He swung his baton. Powered by three ghosts, to Tad it looked like he was moving through syrup. He had plenty of time to dodge or block the blow.

  He did neither.

  He dematerialised, letting the baton pass harmlessly through him. He materialised again a moment later, now standing behind the overbalanced man. It took little effort to help him to the floor and kick him brutally in the head once he landed. He heard a crack that very well may have killed him.

  The next two men came at once, attacking from different directions simultaneously but with no more luck.

  Tad vanished again, staying invisible this time as he moved a few paces forward. By the time he came back to the living the two men had staggered towards each other. A hand behind each of their heads drove them into each other with enough force to daze one and knock the other out.

  Both landed in a heap.

  Tad had already turned from the downed men as he readied himself for the next attack, but had to stop.

  Recognising they could not stand against this supernatural foe, the two remaining men had returned to Jen. They stood behind her, one with their baton pressed against her throat and the other a few steps closer to the exit.

  “Stay right there,” the man with the baton said, his voice raised in panic. “Stay there or I’ll break her neck.”

  Tad was about to answer when he heard a commotion at his back. He turned, afraid of someone coming up behind him. He was not in danger though, Stella was.

  Dinah had appeared from somewhere, slipping into the room unnoticed and taking Stella from behind. She had Stella around the throat which forced the taller woman to bend her knees and lean back into her. It was a vulnerable position that she couldn’t free herself from. There was a wicked blade pressed against Stella’s flawless skin.

  “No heroics Thaddeus, even you aren’t that fast.”

  Dinah’s voice was steady and calm. If she was affected by the action in the room and her own danger, she didn’t show it. Tad was not surprised. He knew it took a lot to shake her.

  “Let her go,” Tad said. Then turning back to the men holding Jen he said, “You too. If any of you harm either of them, then there’ll be nothing in the world that will protect you from me.”

  “Think about this, Tad. You can’t act without at least one of these girls getting hurt. It’s you who needs to see sense. You have lost. There’s nothing left to do.”

  Tad wanted to tell her she was wrong, to act and prove he could save both of them. However, she was right. There was no way out of this. He thought he might be able to save one of them, but not both.

  That left him with two options. He could either try to save one and risk sacrificing the other, or he could surrender and trust Dinah to let Stella and Jen go.

  The trouble was, he knew who Dinah worked for. Joshua King could not be trusted. He would come after Jen and kill Stella just for being a witness.

  There was no upside to him surrendering, which left only one choice; who should he save?

  On the one hand Jen was the obvious choice, but she was in less danger. The man holding her was in shock and on the back foot. He was afraid. But Dinah was a trained killer and wouldn’t hesitate to kill Stella.

  However, he couldn’t trust that logic. The man holding Jen was an unknown and he couldn’t take the risk.

  His eyes met Stella’s. Those glistening blue eyes were wide and staring, and there were tears there. He could see she had come to the same conclusion.

  He shouldn’t speak lest he give the game away, but it was a compulsion he couldn’t resist.

  “I’m sorry.”

  The words had the result he expected. Dinah tensed her arm against Stella’s neck and Stella flinched in terror. Tad forced himself to look away before it was too late. He turned his attention to Jen and the man holding her and he drew once more on his Proxy abilities and the power of his ghosts.

  Ghosts were limited only by their perception. He knew this on an instinctual level, but there was a big difference between knowing and believing.

  In that moment, Tad believed with his very core that with his Proxy power and his ghosts within him, he had just as few limitations. He chose to change his reality so he was no longer standing in the middle of the room, but was instead at Jen’s side.

  He believed so strongly that suddenly that was where he was. There was no blur to show him crossing the distance, barely even a flicker. One moment he had been in the middle of the room and next he was close enough to act.

  The man holding Jen flinched, but before the flinch had even finished Tad had one hand on the baton and the other on the thug’s head. He kept the baton in place no matter how the man might fight and with his other hand he pushed hard, slamming the skull against the wall behind him with enough force to put a crack in the stone. It was more than a crack to the skull though, as the rear of his head caved in.

  He was dead before he slumped
to the floor.

  It was too much for the final conscious man in the house. By the size and shape of him Tad guessed it was Mark. He turned and ran away. Tad let him go. He had other things fighting for his attention.

  He scooped Jen into his arms to stop her falling, and with her secure he turned back toward the door expecting to find Stella laying in a pool of blood.

  But she wasn’t there.

  Both she and Dinah were gone. In the seconds it took Tad to overcome Jen’s captor, Dinah had got Stella out of the house and was making her escape.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said to a sobbing Jen. It broke his heart, but he had to free himself from her death grip to go after Stella.

  He wanted to will himself out onto the street in front of his house as he had done just a few seconds earlier to save Jen. But the rage and purpose that had driven his focus had dispersed as soon as Jen was safe. He couldn’t find the right frame of mind to believe that strongly again.

  He was left with no option but to sprint out the back door and around the side of the house. With his ghosts in him he was faster than normal. He was not fast enough.

  He reached the front of the house just in time to see a black Mercedes Sprinter live up to its name. For such a large van it was amazing that there was a half second of wheel spin before the tires found purchase and the van sped away.

  Tad had no illusions about catching it. He could run fast with the ghosts in him, but there were limits. He thought about going for his car and chasing the van down, but what would he do? He couldn’t force a vehicle that big from the road, and even if he could, he’d be leaving Jen and Kate alone.

  He couldn’t do that. There were unconscious and dazed men in that room who could still be a danger.

  There was nothing he could do.

  He was left standing in the middle of the road, staring after the taillights of the van as it disappeared around the corner up ahead. Dinah had Stella, and he had no illusions as to who would soon get his hand on her.