Awakened

by Morgan L. Busse

  Her humiliation began to morph into something darker. The coldness from moments before disappeared in the sudden heat that surged through her body. She uncurled her fingers, her breath coming fast. If it was a show they wanted . . .

  Her palms began to burn.

  A hush spread over the crowd. Kat glanced to her right. Small flames flickered around her hand. She could do it. She could just let go and show them what she could really do—

  She closed her eyes, barely holding back the dark power erupting inside of her. She panted against the gag and closed her hand into a fist, willing the fire to disappear.

  “As you can see, igniting matter is but one of her abilities,” Father said above her.

  “That wasn’t much of a demonstration,” one of the men called out.

  Kat opened her eyes and glared at the councilman who had spoken. She could feel her connection to every cell in his body, could feel his blood pumping, almost hear his every thought. All she had to do was close off that small gap inside his throat, pull the cells together and block off the air—

  The man fell to his knees, his hands around his throat. The other men around him took a couple hasty steps back.

  “That’s enough, Kathryn.”

  Kat barely heard her father as she gasped at her own action. No, I can’t go there! She squeezed her eyes shut. She heard the man take in deep draughts of air and stumble across the floor.

  “As you can see, with the power of matter under her control, she can ignite things, tamper with the human body, or move things with her mind.”

  “And how will you control her? What stops her from doing that to all of us?”

  “I’ll show you. Kathryn, please move something.”

  Kat turned away and stared up at the glass dome. She felt like she was in those deep, dark waters, drowning again. If she let go and sank beneath, would Father really be able to stop her? Deep inside, she knew the answer. No. The power was too strong.

  “Don’t do it, Father,” she whispered, her words coming out muffled through the gag. An airship moved across the glass, blocking the sky for a couple of seconds. She had to delay as long as possible, keep the monster trapped inside of her, at least until she blacked out like she had in the past.

  But something told her it wouldn’t happen this time. The monster had grown too strong under her father’s experiments.

  Something pinched her arm. She glanced to the side and caught sight of a needle withdrawing from her upper arm. A hallucinogen.

  “You’ll do it, one way or another, Kathryn,” Father said quietly as he pulled away. “I need you to do this.”

  “Father, please . . .”

  Her vision darkened. She stood in a dim corridor with windows lined up along one side. Rain pelted against the glass. Paintings hung along the other wall. Paintings of the Bloodmayne family. The door opened at the far end, and a figure walked in.

  “Kathryn Bloodmayne.” Blaylock’s voice sent a shiver down her back.

  The figure shambled along the runner toward her. His face came into view along the farthest window. “I’ve never kissed a smart girl before.” His deformed lips turned upward and the skin below his right eye crinkled into a gruesome display.

  “It’s not real,” she whispered.

  Blaylock made his way down the hall toward her.

  “Wake up, Kat!” she said breathlessly. “Father injected you with something. Just wake—”

  Blaylock stretched out his hand.

  Kat screamed. The paintings trembled, then shook harder. The first one shot across the room, right in front of Blaylock. Another one followed, and another, until Kat had pulled every single one from the walls, using them to block Blaylock from her view.

  The corridor faded. So did the windows, and the paintings. A painful coldness rushed through her veins, forcing the images away.

  Kat blinked her eyes. There was a loud clatter in front of her. Glancing down, she found a pile of paintings, with their ornate golden frames, in a heap on the platform.

  “Good, very good.” Her father stood beside her, his face toward the audience. “What you just witnessed is the subject controlling the matter in this room. Remember, all things are made of matter, even the air. With just her mind, she was able to pull the paintings from the walls and place them here. Think of what our men could do if they had that kind of power. They could stop a motorwagon, ignite a platoon, or even pull an airship from the sky.”

  Kat barely heard her father’s words. Her breath halted and her eyes flew open. Something cracked inside of her. The power she had held back for so long rushed through her, lifting her from the table. It burned away the coldness, pumping her veins with a heat so intense she cried out in pain.

  Her father turned toward her as Nicola sidled up beside him. “Dr. Bloodmayne, do you want a syringe?”

  He held up his hand. “Let me talk to her first. I’m not ready to halt the presentation yet. We need at least one more display.” He approached her. “Kathryn, stop now.”

  Kat slipped beneath the dark waves of her mind and a different voice emerged from her mouth. It laughed that cold, hard laugh.

  “Kathryn,” her father said as he held up a small rectangular box. The cable emerging from the box was the same black and thickness as the one attached to the earphones around her head. His finger hovered over a metal switch. “I will stop you if I have to.”

  She glared back. The power connected her to every particle in the room and continued to expand. She could feel the Capitol building, every brick, every ounce of mortar, every heart beating. And the power continued to expand. Farther, farther. She could feel it all. Every single particle within World City.

  A crackle erupted inside the earphones, followed by the familiar high-pitched whistle. This time she was ready for it.

  The monster roared and extended its claws beneath her arms and legs. With a powered thrust, it broke the metal manacles that held her to the table and ripped the earphones off.

  Her father took a step back and dropped the box. “Bring me the syringes. Now!”

  “Yes, doctor.” Nicola raced across the platform while snapping orders to the assistants nearby.

  Kat raised herself off the platform and stepped down from the small ledge as another laugh bubbled up her throat. With one hard thrust, she tore the gag from her mouth. They were mistaken if they thought they could take her now.

  The lab assistants hurried across the floor with syringes in hand while Blaylock hovered nearby, his gaze dancing between her and her father.

  “Kathryn, I’m warning you!”

  Kat waved her hand and the syringes flew from the assistants’ hands and against the wall, hitting first with the needle, and quivering at that point. Her lips curled into a smile as she gazed back at the table full of needles. With another wave, all the syringes rose into the air and shot across the room, hitting the wall with a dozen pings, leaving them trembling like darts.

  She turned her attention back to her father, then to the crowd. “You want to see power? You want to see what I can do?” She raised her hands and flicked her fingers wide open. Flames erupted around her palms. “Then I’ll show you!”

  Chapter

  34

  “I thought you said you could control her!” one of the councilmen yelled.

  “Emerson, Blaylock, get those syringes!”

  The panic in her father’s voice sent a shiver of delight through Kat. She turned her attention to the assistants. “I don’t think so.” Kat clenched her right hand into a fist. Emerson and Blaylock froze in mid-run.

  John Ashdown raised his hand and pointed at her. “Shoot her!”

  Around the room, the guards drew their guns and shot. Without releasing her hand, Kat arrested every bullet in midair. She laughed at the incredulous looks on the councilmen’s faces. “Aren’t you impressed? After all, this is what you wanted, isn’t it? Someone with power like this—”

  She sent the bullets toward the syringes. With loud pops, the
glass vials exploded, splattering their clear liquid against the wall and floor.

  More shots erupted around the room. Bullets hurtled toward her, but it was as if she were watching leaves float in the breeze. She caught each one and sent them toward the walls.

  “Kathryn, stop now!”

  A shudder went up her spine and anger burst inside her. Kat swirled around. She glared at her father. “There is an old story Ms. Stuart once read to me about a man who wished to create the ultimate person. Instead, he created a monster, and that monster burned him alive. Moral of the story?: Be careful what you create, or you might awaken a monster.”

  Dr. Bloodmayne raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Now just calm down, Kathryn.”

  Kat sneered. “Did you tell these men why you really created me? Do they know about my mother’s body you have preserved back at the Tower? Or you—” She looked at John Ashdown and the other council members. “I know the real reason you want this power. You started the war with Austrium.” A couple of them turned and looked at each other. “Yes, I see your minds, like electrical impulses, and I can read each one. How many people did you send across the Narrow Strait? How many people have died so you could expand your little empire?”

  The blood whooshed inside her veins at dizzying speed. Faces flashed across her mind: Captain Grim, Dr. Emmett, the soldiers at the base. Stephen. Each one affected or hurt by the war. The flames grew around her hands until it looked like she was holding two balls of fire. She glared at the men. “You were hoping to use this power inside me to accomplish your goals, but you cannot control me. No one can control me!” She laughed and raised her hands.

  “God help us!” William Sterling yelled. “The woman’s gone crazy!”

  The monster hesitated, and the real Kat emerged. She looked around the room then glanced at her hands. Shock filled her being. She could almost see the claws of the monster extending beyond her own fingers. “Yes,” she whispered, horrified. “God, help m—”

  She gasped as the monster pulled her back under.

  “Kathryn, this is not you!”

  She swung her head toward her father. “What do you know about me? You were never there! And that Kat you think you know? Soon she will longer exist! You killed her! With every experiment, with every day you were absent from her life.” She raised her hands again. “Now only I exist. Isn’t that what you wanted, Father? Power? Shame you never treated the other Kat better. Maybe she would have shared it with you. Then again”—she gazed at her hands—“Maybe not. I think I shall use fire. I do like igniting things . . .”

  She turned toward the drapes that framed the windows surrounding the hall. One by one they burst into flames. The men shouted and started for the doors, but Kat raised her hand and a wall of fire appeared in front of each exit. She laughed.

  Her father stared at her with a disapproving frown. Her lips twisted into a snarl and she brought her hands up in front of her. All she had ever wanted was for him to look at her and see her. Now that desire was gone. He no longer mattered. Father would never hold her captive again. He would never disappoint her.

  A vortex of flame began to swirl around her. She would take him out. She would take them all out. Smoke billowed through the room as the smell of burnt fabric filled the air. The men rushed toward the middle of the hall as the flames grew along the perimeter.

  Kat gathered all the matter inside the room, then shot her hands into the air. The glass dome above exploded into a thousand shards. The debris rained down on the screaming men. She would destroy them first, then the building.

  Then she would set all of World City on fire.

  Chapter

  35

  Lightning flashed overhead. Stephen drew up the collar of his duster and gazed up at the topmost part of the Tower. It had been a half hour, and still Miss Fealy had not returned. Had something gone wrong? Had she been caught? Could she not find Dr. Latimer’s machine?

  A horse-drawn carriage rode by, followed by a sleek phaeton. Across the street, a man emerged from the Tower, dressed in the standard lab coat. He headed for one of the outlying buildings.

  As the sky grew darker, lights appeared in the windows along the multi-stories, all except for the very top. Those windows remained dark.

  Dr. Latimer coughed beside him and readjusted his coat. Neither man spoke.

  Boom!

  Stephen whipped his head around, searching for the explosion. His eyes traveled from building to building to the left, then up along the rooftops. There. A plume of smoke, darker than the clouds overhead, churned toward the sky.

  “That’s not good,” Dr. Latimer muttered beside him. “If I’m not mistaken, that smoke is coming from somewhere near the Capitol building.”

  Explosion. Smoke. Possible fire. All near the Capitol building.

  Kat.

  Blazes! Were they too late?

  Another figure appeared in the doorway of the Tower just as lightning flashed above. Stephen let out a long breath as Miss Fealy scurried across the courtyard with something wrapped in a dark cloth in her arms. He stepped toward the street curb and hailed her.

  After looking both ways, she darted across the street.

  “Here you are,” Miss Fealy said, panting. “I had to wait until the floor was empty, then I had to find the switch that turned off the device.”

  Dr. Latimer took the contraption from Miss Fealy and peered under the dark cloth. “Yes, this is it. Thank you.”

  Stephen turned in the direction of the Capitol building. “Our apologies, Miss Fealy, but we need to leave now.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  What the—Stephen swung around. “We don’t have time.”

  “I still have my Tower pass. It might help get you into the private exhibit.”

  Stephen and Dr. Latimer glanced at each other. If that explosion had indeed come from Kat, getting into the exhibit probably wouldn’t be a problem. But they couldn’t waste any more time. Besides, police and firefighters were sure to start showing up and asking questions. Her pass could come in handy then.

  “All right. But keep up.” Without waiting, Stephen took off down the block at a brisk pace. He would be running right now, but he doubted Dr. Latimer could jog with that device of his, and Miss Fealy was likely to trip in her long skirt.

  The three made their way along the street. Minutes later the sky opened up in sheets of rain. Stephen wiped the water from his face and continued. Bells started clanging in the distance. Each blare made his stomach tighten until it was a firm knot inside his middle.

  They turned after three blocks and headed north. Ahead, wreathed in smoke and steam, stood the Capitol building in all its architectural glory. Two stories high, with lavish molding and circular metal designs along the railings and windows, it rivaled the Tower as one of the most spectacular buildings in World City. A wide case of stairs, the length of the façade, let up to the grand portico itself. Rain pounded the stairs, and a river of rainwater ran along either side. The entrance was empty. Not surprising given the downpour. No fire engines yet either, or one of the older water carts. Or any policemen.

  Stephen nodded. Good. The last thing they needed was an audience witnessing scary-Kat going all-powerful.

  Stephen reached the steps and took them two at a time until he reached the massive set of oak doors. No guards greeted them at the entryway. He paused. There should be someone here admitting people inside.

  Lightning flashed behind him and thunder rolled across the city seconds later. Stephen wiped his face again and looked around, then pressed down on the metal handle on the right.

  Dr. Latimer came up beside him, panting and clutching his awkward bundle. “Where are the guards?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like it”

  Stephen pushed the door open. A long marble hallway greeted them. The ceiling above consisted of interlaced metal rods and glass. A light haze of smoke diffused the pale light in the hallway, creating an otherworldly glow, and the
sound of rain pelting the windowpanes echoed throughout the empty corridor.

  “Where is everybody?” Miss Fealy asked, her soprano voice reverberating through the hallway.

  Stephen shook his head, but his senses screamed that something wasn’t right. The Capitol building should be bustling with activity, even on a stormy day like this. Unless the council had dismissed everyone for the private exhibit.

  Maybe they had.

  He stepped inside and drew out one of his guns. The air was tainted with smoke. He squinted and stared down the corridor. The light haze was thicker at the end near the set of double doors that led into the dome area. On closer inspection, he spotted more smoke, darker, seeping through the crack below the doors.

  He started down the hall, dread weighing in his stomach. The closer he drew to the doors, the more the silence pressed in on him. If there were an exhibit going on inside the dome, there should be an announcer or conversation or applause. Anything.

  Halfway down the hall lightning streaked over the glass ceiling, followed closely by a deafening crack of thunder. Stephen jumped, Miss Fealy gasped, and Dr. Latimer glared up at the sky.

  Stephen took a couple deep breaths through his nose and steadied himself. This weather was not helping the mood.

  Once he reached the doors, he paused. He stared at the smooth wood, his heart racing inside his chest. Images of what he might find flashed across his mind. Kat being experimented on for a room full of councilmen. Kat losing control and shooting fire everywhere. Kat throwing the men and guards against the walls.

  He swallowed, an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Time to find out.

  Stephen opened the door, his gun ready.

  Chapter

  36

  Smoke billowed out of the door the moment he opened it. Stephen coughed and stepped back. His eyes watered from the noxious fumes. Moments later, the air cleared a little, but the meeting room was still full of the dark haze. There were no gas lamps lit and no lights. His sense of foreboding skyrocketed.