by C. C. Lynch
“You’re right,” Vlaine nodded without me saying a word, “we need to figure out a way to hold the prisoners that we don’t kill.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed, “not exactly what I was thinking.” It must have been the work “kill” because everyone in the room went silent. Feeling the pressure to clarify his answer, I explained my train of thought. Silence was still upon us so I turned to Draxe. “Between all of us we should be able to figure something out. What about Jay? Is there something at the Think Tank that he would know about and be able to help us with?”
Draxe stepped closer. “Hagan is supposed to be the main place for research and kind of a moral compass. I’ll talk to Jay and see what he’s learned so far.”
“You’re in, like, the equivalent of a missile silo. You’re not going to get service down here.” Ovolina added her slightly snobby matter-of-fact attitude.
“Telepaths don’t need cell phones.” Vlaine mocked her patronizing tone.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Draxe. “What?” He raised a brow, “I don’t listen in on your personal conversations.” With that, he stepped out to go to his room and converse with his brother.
Lena giggled and took Ovolina’s arm. “Let’s all just meet by the fireplace in an hour and we can discuss our plan of attack then.”
Luka jumped excitedly about some sort of technological tool in Frankie’s hand and ran to the workshop. It was good to see we had two students good with technology in the group.
“Come on, Abbs,” Vlaine took my hand. “Let’s go relax while everyone gets settled in.”
23
Vlaine and I sat on the bed in a thoughtful silence. I leaned my back against the wall and tucked my shoulder underneath his arm. His warmth and the feeling of complete and total safety in that moment was a comfort that I was denied for months and I wanted to bask in it as long as possible.
The comfort of being in Vlaine’s arms would end as soon as Draxe came back with any information from his brother. Whether or not Jay could help, we needed to put a solid plan in place. Part of me felt so determined to make sure no one ever got taken to the tree house again while the other was just overwhelmed by the huge task ahead of us.
I was discouraged that Hagan Think Tank had turned my father down when he told them about what Jeremiah was doing, but I figured Jay would be more than willing to share some useful knowledge knowing that his brothers were now involved in something so dangerous. The place had been around before Replyx was created, so the chance of them having technology and research up to par with the demonstration room was likely. I just hoped that Jay was privy to such technology.
“Have you been to Hagan Think Tank?” My whisper somehow sounded foreign to me, as if I hadn’t heard my own voice for far too long.
Vlaine cleared his throat and answered, “yes.” Whether he heard my thought or just decided to elaborate on his own, he continued. “It’s in a ghost town in New Mexico. Not many people are in the area and no one can find the door if they’re not shown it. I guess it would be more accurate to say that no one has found it without being shown it. It reminds me a lot of here because most of it is underground, but somehow it’s bright like it’s filled with windows. There are plants everywhere and work cliques. Different sectors research different things and there is even a site that is ‘off-campus’ that’s used for secret testing.” He chuckled, his deep voice vibrating my shoulder. “There are hundreds of workers, all there because of a single common reason, but not a common goal.”
I smiled into his shoulder, taking in his description of Hagan. Vlaine was completely open, he had no telepathic wall up to keep me out. With my head on his shoulder I could visualize certain images he was explaining while they were displayed in his memory. I could see the hidden door in the vast desert, the deceptively bright lobby, and workstations in one of the sectors.
Reluctantly, I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. “Maybe we should make our very own research center. It will be one with a common goal that trumps the fact that we are there because of the one thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world.”
“Sure,” he shrugged, “all we need is money, resources, a team, a goal, and a way to hide it from the government or have friends high up in the government.” Vlaine paused before sucking in a breath. “It would take about 4 trillion cups of lemonade to fund this project. I’ll start setting up the stand.”
“Vlaine,” I elbowed him playfully, “there were obviously resources to build Hagan, so why not another? We can have our very own inescapable jail cells for the criminals and all. It will be an all in one security, research, and treatment center.”
“I like that idea,” Draxe said from the doorway. I jumped at his voice and Vlaine put a reassuring hand on mine. “Sorry to eavesdrop,” he smiled charmingly. “I talked to Jay.”
Draxe nodded his head, telling us it was time for the group meeting. Liz was at her usual spot near the fire, Frankie was pacing while mumbling about some numbers, and the rest of the group was fighting for room on the couch. Luka sat on the arm of the couch and the eyes of the females in the room kept roaming to him in a not-so-coincidental manner.
Draxe paced in front of the fireplace for a moment before turning to address the group. “I asked Jay if there was anyone at Hagan that could help us out, if they were going to do anything about Replyx, and if they knew of any way to detain gifted prisoners.” Inhaling a bit of courage, he continued. “Since Replyx hasn’t made an immediate attack on the Think Tank itself, they’re not willing to waste any resources or lives to take down an entity that is not threatening to them. They have some technology that can stop certain gifts but they said that heroism is for people in uniforms.”
Draxe rubbed his eyes as if he was bearing the weight of the bad news, like it was his fault they would not help. “Jay said that he and a couple of his friends will divulge on some information that might help us. Other than that, we are on our own.” His face brightened with a sudden idea. “Why don’t you find out from your dad and Luther? Luther ought to know something.”
“Good idea,” I nodded, “I’ll jump over to the safe house and be back soon.”
I teleported to the jungle instantaneously, excited to find out anything I that I could from Luther. I had been in such a rush that I forgot to ask if anyone wanted to join me.
My feet squished into the soft soil of the forest floor and the earthy smell of decomposed vegetation filled the air. The forest was unnaturally quiet, causing me to hesitate before yelling for my dad’s attention.
“Dad,” I called out as I walked up the steps, “I got everyone together but I have a few questions.” Silence greeted my salutations. “Dad?” I walked into the wooden dwelling.
“Hello, Abrielle.” Words slithered through the dense dark forest air.
The hair on my arms stood straight as panic set in. I froze completely, not able to move, teleport, or run. Jeremiah’s electric vibration filled the room in the most eerie way possible. I could sense another person in there, but my eyes could not seem to move from Jeremiah’s.
“Everyone, you say?” His voice drew closer as light steps moved slowly across the floor.
A silhouette came into my peripherals and the only thing I could think to do was push them away as hard and quickly as possible. I pulled my fists to my chest as I inhaled deeply then threw my hands forward sending a blast of energy towards the men.
Everything moved in slow motion. Pain began slowly spreading from the front of my arms, up and around crawling to my shoulders but was halted by the feel of two arms wrapping around my waist and the familiar vacuum sensation of teleportation.
Instant artificial light sent a sharp pain to my eyes, but the empathic pain had dissipated immediately.
My father spoke calmly with his hand on my shoulder. “They found the place a few hours ago.”
“Okay,” I nodded. I took deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves.
I looked around the room filled with text boo
ks and beautiful handcrafted wood furniture. We were a few feet away from a desk with papers piled neatly. He had teleported us to his office at Aldershaw Academy.
“Jeremiah knows what we’ve been doing.” I stammered urgently. “Do you think he knows where we’re hiding?”
“Shhh,” Curtis tried to calm me. “It happened so quickly and there was no one there with telepathy, strong telepathy at least. Your secret is safe.”
My chest was rising and falling in heavy heaves as the memories of my months at Replyx ran through my head. The proximity of Jeremiah had me reliving the torture Slade put me through, the panic of isolation, and the utter trepidation of being trapped in a place with no escape.
“Fine,” I shook my head of the stress that was beginning to make it ache. “Do you happen to know how the demonstration rooms were able to keep everything contained? How it was able to stop anyone from teleporting out and what not?”
My father looked down at the ground and rubbed his eyebrow thoughtfully. “There’s a certain combination of elements that contain most abilities. I can get the schematics from Luther.”
My hands were shaking and words were still hard to find. “Perfect.” After a moment of thought gathering I realized the only reason I wasn’t at Replyx right then was because of my father. “Thanks, for getting me out of there.”
His lips tightened into a thin line and he nodded his head in response. “You ought to head back to the other kids. I will contact you once I speak to Luther.” He took my arm lightly in his hands. “Abrielle, please be safe.”
A lump formed in my throat. “You too.” Not knowing how to deal with the emotional situation, I teleported back to Ernvlik.
Vlaine was waiting in the doorway of the room with his arms crossed. I steadied my breathing and tried to keep my hands from shaking. My nerves were incredibly hard to control, but I knew Vlaine’s first reaction would be anger if he found out what had happened and that was something I was not ready to deal with. I mimicked the music gift and hid my thoughts.
“You realize that I’m going to figure out whatever you’re hiding anyway.” His nostrils flared with anger. “You can’t replicate Sam’s gift forever.”
“Sam?” Vlaine had never actually told me the name of the boy that we had seen when he took me to the concert that night. “I didn’t know he had a name.”
“Everyone has a name, Abrielle.” He huffed and pulled me into a hug. “You had me worried. Please don’t go anywhere without having someone with you.”
He was right. If my father hadn’t gotten me out of there I would have just froze with panic. I wasn’t ready to face that man, not alone. My mind was racing too quickly for me to tell Vlaine what had just happened and I did not want to cause an immediate panic.
I began pacing the room, partially anticipating Jeremiah and his lackeys to come bursting through the door. Vlaine’s scrutinizing gaze made me feel as if I had to speak quickly otherwise he would figure out that the other safe house was compromised. “My father is going to ask Luther about the demonstration rooms and get back to me.”
“Oh,” he nodded, “I’ll go to the safe house with you once he finds out the information.”
I looked away quickly and bit my lip. “Or Aldershaw,” I shrugged. “One of the two.”
Vlaine’s hands gently wrapped around my elbows to stop me from pacing. “Abrielle, what happened?”
The use of my name instead of “Abbs” came as a surprise. I felt like I was being scolded for something. Looking down at the ground I began to mumble. “When I went to Curtis and Luther’s safe house it was Jeremiah there and not my father.”
“Abbs!” Vlaine shouted angrily, certainly gaining the attention of everyone else on the floor if not people above as well.
“I know.” I put my hands up, trying to somehow calm him. “My dad came and teleported me out of there pretty quickly.”
Pulling away from me, he pointed and growled through his teeth. “Every second you waited to tell me that was a second you put the rest of the people here in danger.”
It felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs. Vlaine’s words stung, but the guilt they thrust into my chest hurt far worse. No matter how accurate his statement was, being reprimanded by Vlaine of all people was a blow to my chest.
Tears pricked the edges of my eyes as I watched Vlaine stomp out of the room to speak to the others. I knew that the longer I hid in the room, the harder the boots of shame would keep me glued to that one spot.
Twelve sets of eyes fell upon my blushed cheeks. I cleared my throat to begin my explanation but Vlaine took over, never looking my way. Angrily, he explained that the other safe house had been located and we should be on high alert.
Draxe’s face softened. “What do they know?”
I took a deep breath to ensure a single tear would not drop in front of anyone. “I called out to my father and said that we had gathered everyone.” I dropped on my rear and buried my face in my hands. “I couldn’t really tell who was there aside from Jeremiah but he’s not a telepath and wouldn’t have been able to figure out where we are hiding. I was there so briefly that I’m sure…”
“The thing is,” Vlaine finally looked my way, “now they know we’ve gathered the people on their list and that we have someone on the inside. Everyone here is in jeopardy along with Luther.”
“Lighten up, Josnic,” Aiden barked. “They would have found out eventually. A day or three earlier isn’t going to make that big of a difference.”
Ignoring Aiden, Vlaine plucked his cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. “There’s no signal down here. Ovolina, why don’t you try and get your hands on some laptops or something so we can get dire messages out if we need to. Frankie or Luka, whoever is tech savvy, make sure no one can figure out where our messages are coming from.” Once he was done handing out his orders he got into the elevator and left the rest of us in silence.
I murmured an apology to the group and kept my face tucked into my hands. There wasn’t a minute of silence before Lena’s peppy voice chipped in on the subject. “You know, it was really a matter of time. A powerful group of people is capable of anything. Add some extraordinary abilities and it’s a wonder we’ve been able to have a minute of peace.”
Ovolina glowered, “a minute just might be the amount of time we have until we all get taken from here.”
Luka lent his dimples to the conversation. “What’s life without a bête noire to keep things interesting?” He stretched his arm along the back of the couch and leaned back. The brutal looking Claire gave him a side glance.
“As long as you got out of there fine.” Claire’s voice was crisp and strong. “We’re going to have to face these people sooner or later. The only reason we have some sort of warning is because of you. If they come here it’ll be better than us getting picked off one by one, blindsided.”
“Yeah,” Miranda nodded, “don’t worry about that vain guy; it’s obviously his time of the month.” She winked a bright blue eye playfully at me.
Their spirits were surprisingly high despite being told their lives were in danger, going with strangers to a remote and unknown location, and having to deal with high tensions fairly immediately.
“Thanks guys.” As soon as I spoke the words I heard my father’s voice speak an abrupt and alarming Abrielle!
The look of surprise on my face was not hard to miss. Aiden was by my side a second later watching me intently. “My father needs to speak to me. Aiden, will you go with me?” Aiden was nodding his head before I finished the question. “Good,” I bounced my head in an appreciative nod. “Draxe if Vlaine gets back down here before we do can you please tell him where we are?”
Draxe stood tall, about to turn on his heel to find Vlaine before he came back on his own. “Sure thing, Abrielle.”
24
As soon as Aiden’s hand touched mine I transported us to my father’s office in Aldershaw Academy.
My father was leaning against his desk with a
folder in his hand. Hesitantly, he pushed himself forward and placed the folder into my hands. “Luther copied the notes on the demonstration rooms. Hopefully they’re of some use to you.”
“Thanks,” I said as I took the folder and hugged it to my chest.
He stood up abruptly and put his hands up. “Before you go…”
The pause he took was longer than a few seconds and his disposition was making me nervous. “Yes?”
“Luther wanted me to give you a warning.” He cleared his throat and folded his hands. “Jeremiah and Ivan know that you got a few of the people they were planning on plucking. They don’t suspect Luther, but they don’t like losing assets. Erik seems to think if they have some sort of personal leverage, you’ll back down.”
“What type of personal leverage? They’re obviously not going to do anything to Osiris’s sons, Nicholas is probably still in the hospital under gifted eyes, you’re here, and my mom, well, if they try and take her I’ll wish them luck.” I snorted, “Cherie doesn’t have any empathy and she’ll give them a run for their money.”
Curtis was wholly unenthused by my humor. “They knew Nicholas wasn’t your boyfriend. He was still effective, even if you don’t remember all of it.”
I shifted my body uncomfortably. “They used him against me in the blocks of memory I don’t have?”
His lips formed a thin strait line. “Yes.” He glanced at Aiden wearily who was searching around the office, touching everything that appeared interesting. “They used a sort of hypnosis gift on you to try and sway your conscious allegiance. They learned a lot more about you than you remember.”
My teeth ground together as the flood of frustration crashed in. “Like what?” I hated that I was missing pieces of time but the fact that Nicholas could have been in more danger than I remembered was even worse.
