“They must have found another one,” Alec whispers. He starts moving quickly towards them since now we can tell that this is Connor and Claire's group. They are teamed up with Josh, the guy who I tricked into telling me where the prison was.
“We pulled him from the bushes,” Claire tells me when I reach them.
I look down to see a boy around thirteen or so lying on the ground looking dazed. His eyes are the same color gold as Marya's are. The collar is already off of him. His neck looks worse than Jennifer's. I wonder if he had an allergic reaction to something on the collar, or in the medication, because his face and neck all the way down to his arms is covered in a light red rash. I kneel down to inspect it further and realize that it's not a rash. There are dozens of small scrapes and cuts, probably from the bushes.
Anger at whoever would do this to a kid starts to ebb away at my calm. “Can you help him?” I ask Alec.
Alec nods his head. Not concerned at all about what happened a few minutes ago when he healed Jennifer, he places his hands over the boy's neck. I watch as the tiny scrapes heal up. When the little puncture marks start closing and fading slightly, I put my hand on Alec's shoulder.
“I think he's good, you can stop,” I tell him.
Alec lets go. “I didn't feel the same thing this time. It was there in the background but it was nowhere near as strong as with the girl.”
That's strange, but a good strange. I'm glad it didn't affect Alec the same way.
We wait for a moment until the boy starts coming to. Like Jennifer, he starts freaking out. He scoots back from us so fast that we can't stop him from running his back into the bushes. He winces in pain and has no choice but to move forward again. Although there is the worry inside me that says he won't be susceptible to my powers, I still attempt to help him. First, I use my emotion ability to make him feel calm. He noticeably relaxes.
I let out the breath I'd been holding and move towards him so that he can see my eyes. I use my compulsion. “You are safe. We are going to help you. What's your name?”
“John,” he says as his eyes glaze over, submitting to my abilities.
“Nice to meet you, John. I'm Willow. These are my friends.” I gesture behind me. “We’re going to get you out of here. First, can you tell me anything about why you’re here? Do you know who did this to you?”
“I don't know who did this. I was with the others in the building. Then early this morning some guy came in looking all pissed off. He looked at all of our eyes and then singled me out. He jerked me up and put the collar on so fast that I didn't know what to do. He dragged me out here and left me. I thought I was going to get away. Then something started stabbing at my neck. I felt sick and fell into the bushes. That was the last thing I remembered.”
“Why would they have dragged him all the way out here though?” I wonder.
“Bait,” Tony says.
I ignore him because I know he's right. “I'm sorry that this has happened to you, John. What about the others? You said you were in the building with the others.”
John nods his head. “Yes, there are a lot of us; in a building somewhere down there.” He points towards the middle of the maze where the old buildings are incorporated.
“Are they all in one room? Are they being medicated?” I ask, hoping he can answer the question.
“Yes, we were all in a large room. I was pretty out of it back there so I assume everyone was. It wasn't as bad as when he put that collar on me. That was crazy. At least with the other stuff I still knew I existed. Out here, I thought I was lost forever. I was sure I was as good as dead,” he answers honestly. The calming sensation I washed over him must be working because nobody who went through something like this would be able to answer without totally losing it. I personally want to lose it just hearing what happened to him.
“Thank you. Your information has been very helpful,” I tell him. “We are going to get you to safety now.” I reach my hand out and help the boy up.
I ask Josh, Connor, and Claire to get him to the team on the perimeter. They don't seem happy about my orders, but I don't care. Part of me knows that things are about to get really bad, really quick. I can't help but feeling better, knowing some of my friends are outside of this maze. I give Connor and Claire a hug before they head out with Josh and John in tow.
When we’re alone again, with only Tony and Alec, we start moving.
“Do you find it strange that we haven't run into a single guard?” Alec wonders aloud.
“Yes, it is odd. I don't like it,” Tony says eyeing me out of the corner of his eye. “What I really don't like is the convenience we've had in saving both Jennifer and John. Also, I don't think it's a coincidence that last night Marya was rescued and this morning they replace her with someone that has the same eye color.”
Ice runs up my spine. “I thought of that too.” I just wished I knew exactly why. For what purpose... none of this makes much sense. I get the sneaking suspicion though that it will all add up to some huge diabolical plan. The key is to crack the code before Zack, or whoever’s in charge, figures out we know.
We keep walking, following the row of bushes. We make a few turns and, eventually, I see the dilapidated buildings come into view. The windows of the old buildings have been broken out here and there. The paint is peeling and some boards are hanging by their last nail. We walk out of the row of bushes into a large open space. Nobody is in sight! This is absolutely not right.
Tony puts his arm out, keeping me from walking further. We stop and listen. I hear a high-pitch scream coming from inside the building and start running.
“Wait!” Tony yells after me. I can hear him on my heels. I turn to see him next to me. Alec is way far behind without the strength of speed on his side. I consider stopping but then Candy, Jake, and another guy with purple eyes step out from the bushes. He’ll be safe with them. At least he's not alone.
Without pausing, I run into the first building to my right. That's where I assume the scream came from. I stop cold when I am faced with nothing but mirrors. There has to be hundreds of mirrors lining the room and they create hallways that lead this way and that. I feel disoriented when I see my reflection and Tony's shooting up all around us. I sway a little and I watch a dozen of Tony's arms reach out to help steady all of the reflected versions of me. I close my eyes to make the sensation that this room is causing cease. I totally forgot about this room. When I was here last with my family, it was one of the funnier moments. Since Sabby was still a baby, he laughed his little cheeks off when he saw himself in all of the mirrors. It was so freaking adorable… nothing like this time.
I open my eyes and look around again. Some of the mirrors are cracked or all out broken. I try to make my way from broken mirror to broken mirror since it helps me get reoriented. I allow myself a moment at each to stare at the empty black frames. Shattered mirror pieces are scattered about on the floor.
I hear another scream so I start running again.
“You can't just run in there blind. Slow down!” Tony yells inside my head.
I don't answer. I keep running. I crash into a mirror. I hear it break apart into a million little pieces. The slicing pain doesn't hit me until a second later. I grab at my forehead and my hand comes away covered in blood. I look into an adjoining mirror and see the blood pouring off my forehead and down the side of my face. There is so much blood in the many reflections of myself that it makes me woozy.
I see Tony coming up behind me in the reflection of the mirror. He's looking down and I wonder if he's hurt. Then I hear, “Did you hurt yourself, sugar?” He looks up and my stomach lurches when I see a dozen pairs of red eyes staring back at me.
My heart works double time and I turn around so fast that it makes me dizzy. The real Tony isn't there; instead, I am faced with another mirror. I catch my reflection in it and see that he's still behind me. I turn again and reach out to the mirror to feel its cold surface; he's not there. I'm totally freaking out when I turn around
again and again, not finding the real Tony, just his reflection. I end up turning so quickly that I can no longer keep my balance and I fall to the ground.
My hands get sliced apart against the shattered mirror pieces. I back away with my feet and hands, not caring about the cuts. I look around for Tony, who I can't see in the mirrors anymore. That's when I finally hear the crunch of glass under foot. With the dizzy sensation abated, I stand up quickly. I move backwards until I finally feel a mirror against my back. At least he can't sneak up on me.
I wait until I hear the crunching sound again. Then his laugh sets my blood boiling. I wait until he steps out into view before my suspicions are confirmed.
“Hello, sugar.” Zack stares at me with evil eyes. The colors of his eyes are no longer the vibrant mixture of colors they once were. Instead, they are mostly hazel with a small fading trace of the other colors, including the red.
I look at him incredulously. “Your eyes.” Of all of the things I could say... that I wanted to say! Instead, I say that?
He laughs evilly. “Yes, my eyes are... fading. Aren't they?” His expression turns angry. “Thanks to you,” he spits.
My eyes open wide. “What do I have to do with your eyes?” I ask.
“Wouldn't you like to know? Tell me this, Willow; do you think you’re better than me because of all of the gifts you possess?”
I raise my eyebrow. My heart is beating so loudly, I worry it might stop cold from the pressure. “No, I don’t, Zack.”
He stares at me for several seconds. He opens his mouth to respond but the sound of Candy calling him stops him.
“Zack!” She runs into a few mirrors as she makes her way to where we are. “Zack, you’re okay,” she says with relief.
“He's dangerous, Candy!” I warn her as she reaches his side.
She rolls her eyes at me and grabs her brother's arm. He faces her and gives her a fake smile. “Sister.”
“He's gone, Zack. We can go now. He has no control over us any longer,” she urges him, obviously talking about her dad.
Zack's expression hardens, “Yes, he's gone.” He turns to me and adds, “Willow murdered him.”
Candy looks taken aback. Not by his proclamation since she knows I killed her dad, but by the fact that Zack seems mad about it. “You hated him.” She jerks at Zack's hand forcing him to look at her.
Zack looks at her like she's a stupid child. “Yes, but he owed me! He was supposed to give me the powers I deserve. Now he's gone because of her,” he says so harshly that I can see the spit spray from his mouth.
I watch Candy wipe at her face with a gross expression. “Who cares about powers, Zack? We don't have to do anything for him anymore. He killed our mom; he deserved to die.”
“Does it look like I care about that, Candy? It's not my fault that mom wasn’t strong enough to withstand the immunization. It should have made her strong but she was just too weak,” he says coldly.
Candy looks like a puppy that’s been kicked. It takes her only a second to truly understand how cold and lost her brother is. When she does, she surprises us all. She makes a fist, cocks her elbow back, and punches him square in the jaw with all her strength. “You bastard! You don't talk about our mom like that!” she cries out.
Zack wipes his hair out of his face and then he backhands his sister so hard that it sends her flying back into the mirrors. The glass crashes down around her. Jake and Alec finally find us and they both go running to her side to help her.
Zack turns his anger and wrath on me. “You’re coming with me. You’re now the only person who can give me what I need.”
“I'm not going anywhere with you,” I yell at him furiously. I watch Alec from the corner of my eye, working on healing Candy. The glass has cut her badly. I look around wondering where Tony is.
“Yes you are.” He snaps his fingers and two Reapers come out from hiding. They start to approach me. “I need your blood,” he yells at me.
“What do you need with my blood?” I yell back at him. “Have you turned into a sparkly vampire overnight or something?”
He holds his hands up to keep the Reapers from advancing. I forgot Zack's flair for the melodramatic. He likes to make a scene, so asking him such a question allows him to play his cards perfectly, which in turn, buys me some time. He says, “I still don't know what makes you so special that you get to have all of the powers. I told you that your blood tests back in the shelter were inconclusive and they were... in a way. You see, Willow, while I can't figure out how to recreate a shot that will allow me to have your abilities, I can inject your blood into my bloodstream to get similar results. See the problem is the results faded after a while. Father was supposed to find another way to make it permanent. We considered a blood transfusion but we don't know if that would be a permanent fix. For the mean time, I think having regular injections will have to do.”
My stomach turns so badly that I end up vomiting up my breakfast. Zack laughs as I stand doubled over, heaving out the contents of my stomach. He is injecting my blood into him? The thought of it is so incredulous and so grotesquely ridiculous that it makes my stomach roll. I quickly stand back up. He looks at me with an expression of pure delight. My reaction was all that he could have hoped for. I look up and spit towards him. He doesn't flinch. I yell, “You are sick and twisted!”
He smiles as if I’ve just given him a compliment, “Yes I am.”
I notice then that another Reaper has approached Candy, Jake, and Alec. He holds a gun pointed at them. I need to buy some more time. “Where are you, Tony?” I don't hear a response. I look at Zack. “Why did you host such an elaborate trap then? Why place the prisoners where we can easily find them?”
Zack looks more than happy that I asked this question; he is overjoyed. “Ah, Willow. You are quite smart. I always thought that you are possibly one of the only girls with a brain capability close to mine. Not quite as amazing as mine, but close...” He holds out his hands, “You see, when I injected your blood into me I only got the powers you had up until the point I took your blood. I want all of the powers, not just some...”
The realization hits hard and I raise my upper lip in disgust. “You wanted me to run into those people so I'd get their powers. Then you could take my blood and have all of them!” It comes out more of a question than a statement.
Zack starts clapping loudly. “Bravo, Willow, Bravo!”
“Then what did you inject Tony with? Why did you make him a Reaper?” I yell.
“I didn't make him a Reaper.” Zack laughs.
Huh? “If you didn't inject him with something to turn him into a Reaper, then what did you do to him?”
He raises his lip in a half smile. “I need an army. He’ll be one of my soldiers.”
“No! He will not!” I yell. My fists are clenched and the anger is tearing at my vision until the edges blur with red. Or is it gold?
“Yes he will. Come on out, Tony,” he calls behind him. I watch in horror as Tony steps out from behind a mirror upon command. His eyes are red and he complies.
“Tony, help me. You have to snap out of this,” I beg him.
“No, sugar. He can't snap out of this... unless, of course, you want to give yourself up freely. Then maybe I can change him back,” Tony says to me, but I know it's not Tony. It's really Zack.
“Let my friends go,” I point to Candy, Alec, and Jake.
Zack looks at me like I'm crazy for wanting to help them. Then he shrugs and says, “Why not.” He turns to the guys who I thought were Reapers. “Let them go.”
I wait until they are gone and then I say, “You will have to kill me before I go anywhere with you.” I smile snidely in the same way he has been doing to me. Then I raise my gun to my forehead.
The Reapers, or whatever they are, start advancing. “Stop!” Zack yells. He turns his glaring eyes at me. “Two can play at this game. Tony, shoot yourself.”
My hand starts shaking as I see Tony slowly raise his gun up towards his own head.<
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“No!!!” “No!” I yell aloud and inside Tony's head. Then the anger that had been threatening overcomes me. The edges of my vision seem to fill with a golden haze. My arms shake and the gun falls from my hands. I clench my fists and the anger pours through my veins. I can feel it flooding over me.
The mirrors start bursting forth. The glass shatters everywhere like silver confetti. The lights overhead explode, sending down fireworks of red ember sparks. The ground shakes. An earthquake is tearing at the building but I don't care. I aim my anger at Zack. His eyes turn from shock to fear and he begins backing away. A beam from the ceiling lands behind him. I realize then that I caused it to fall. I’m causing this building to shake. I hold out my hands and watch as pieces of the ceiling break through and fall to the ground. They crush the mirrors behind Zack and block his escape route. More beams fall and the ground trembles. I realize in horror that I can't control whatever is happening. The ceiling starts caving in and I look up to find a beam hanging dangerously low above my head.
Suddenly, Tony snaps out of it. His eyes turn yellow and I look at him with some relief. “You have to stop, Willow!”
“I can't!” I realize that I have no control over this power I'm yielding.
Zack has backed up and is trying to get away through another corridor. I throw a beam in his way and he falls back on his butt.
Then the air is whooshed out of me as Tony grabs me over his shoulder so quickly that in the next second we are outside. We escape just in time; right before the entire ceiling comes crashing down.
CHAPTER 10 (Shatter)
It takes me a moment before I catch my breath and my heartbeat returns to normal. Tony holds onto me for a few seconds longer and then puts me down carefully. “Are you okay?” he asks me in our own internal language.
Exposing ELE (ELE Series #3) Page 15
