by Simon Rose
“And it seems that you always know where to find us,” said Max.
He was stalling, desperately trying to figure out an escape. Yet Max had no idea how he and Julia would ever get away. He was also well aware that Kane was probably monitoring his every thought and knew exactly what Max was planning.
“You’ve been easy to track, Max. I always seem to have some idea where you are and it was a stroke of luck when your friend and his sister were visiting their grandparents in a part of town where I never expected to find you. I was able to get to you through their thoughts. But sometimes you’ve been easy to trace too, Julia. I’m not sure how you managed to stop me back in that parking lot when I was using Max’s friend, but I think it’s time I found out. After what happened there, I was determined to possess you at the mall, but even then I felt something, some kind of raw power. You clearly have some kind of ability, perhaps beyond that of a regular psychic, I haven’t been able to work it out. If we’d caught you at the mall I would have known, but now I’ll just do it here and find out what I need to know.”
He furrowed his brow. Julia seemed to be resisting Kane as he began probing her mind.
“What’s the matter? Got something to hide?” he said. “You’re wasting your time, Julia. You know I’ll get inside that head of yours sooner or later.”
He refocused but broke off his probing when Julia interrupted him.
“Maybe it’s because I’m just like you? Maybe I’m one of those others you’ve been reaching out to?”
Kane examined her face curiously.
“You don’t need to do that,” said Julia. “I can tell you exactly who I am.”
“Julia, no!” Max exclaimed.
She ignored him and continued speaking to Kane.
“My last name is Woodman but I was adopted when I was a baby. My mother was called April.”
“Okay,” said Kane, with a shrug. “So what?”
“Her last name was Taylor. Does that mean anything to you?”
“No, should it?”
“My mother’s name was April Taylor. Do you even remember her? Perhaps from when you were a homeless drifter, after the accident at the waterfront?”
“It seems that you know a lot about me,” said Kane, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Julia.
“Max told me everything,” she said.
Kane thought for a moment and seemed to be trying to access his memories of Julia’s mother.
“My memory’s very sketchy from that time, but I do recall meeting her. But that was years ago.”
“Almost fifteen years ago,” said Julia. “You’re my father.”
“Your father?” said Kane.
He appeared to be thinking again, carefully studying Julia’s features.
“You do have a resemblance to her,” he said. “But that doesn’t prove anything.”
“We saw my mother’s medical records at the hospital. My father was listed as Andreas Kane.”
Kane smiled, but it was hard to tell whether he was convinced by Julia’s revelation.
“That’s not a name I’ve used for a long time, but if what you’re saying’s true, that would explain our connection. It would also explain how you were able to stop me.”
“My powers have been growing since I turned twelve and that’s increased in the last few months too,” said Julia. “That corresponds with you regaining your powers and reaching out to others like yourself, doesn’t it?”
“And you think that’s included you?” Kane asked.
“Why not? I’ve always thought that I had a purpose and now I know what it is. Let me join you, Father.”
Max was shocked. Was she trying to trick Kane somehow? He couldn’t work out what Julia was doing. Had she really betrayed him, as Max had always feared she might?
“Julia, what are you doing? You can’t join him.”
Julia simply smiled then stepped over to stand beside Kane.
“Oh Max, poor deluded Max,” she said. “Are you that stupid that you couldn’t see what was going on? Didn’t you ever wonder why I seemed to be so eager to help? How I knew about your mother and wanted to be part of your big adventure? Some of it was my own idea but I know now that my father was manipulating me too, while he was searching for other psychics, even if he wasn’t fully aware of it during his slow recovery. It was all an act, Max, and you fell for it.”
Kane grinned.
“Well, this is certainly an interesting development. But I need to know that you’re telling me the truth, Julia. Why don’t you prove which side you’re on?”
“How can I do that, Father?”
“Kill him.”
Julia smirked.
“With pleasure.”
Max immediately felt the pressure in his head and fell to his knees in agony. He could hardly breathe and began to lose consciousness.
“Julia, no!” he said, coughing up blood onto the floor.
“Don’t make it too quick,” said Kane, with a cruel smile.
Chapter Thirty-One
The Sacrifice
THE PAIN IN Max’s head was excruciating. He was in danger of passing out but it seemed as if Julia was doing as Kane asked. She was also prolonging Max’s death for as long as possible. Then suddenly the pain in Max’s head began to ease.
“Max.”
The voice sounded familiar. Was it his mother?
“Max, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” he replied, in his mind, although he wasn’t sure how.
“It’s me, hold on.”
“Julia?”
“Yes, I had to attack you to convince him that I’d betrayed you. I’m shielding my thoughts from him but he could sense it at any time. Don’t let on that your pain has lessened.”
“Did you do that?”
“Yes, I’ve been able to absorb your pain, but just play along. I’m going to attack him and I may need your help.”
“But how?”
“Just do what you can. Focus on him. You have more power than you think.”
Max looked up, pretending to wince in pain and saw Kane smiling as he enjoyed Max’s suffering. Before Max could respond to Julia, her presence in his mind abruptly vanished. Kane was then startled as Julia whirled around and turned her attention to him.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
Julia didn’t reply and simply stood her ground as she narrowed her eyes. Kane seemed to have been caught off guard and took a step backward. Max got to his feet, still feeling slightly groggy, as he wiped some of the blood from around his mouth. He wasn’t sure how he could help but did as Julia had suggested and focused on Kane. He was doing his best to direct all his power at Julia. Max had a similar experience to the one he’d had at David’s house during Kane’s battle with Deanna. Max’s mind was flooded with rapidly shifting scenes from different periods in Kane’s life, intermingled with images that he assumed were from Julia’s mind as she and Kane fought. Max had no idea what kind of effect he was having on their struggle but to his surprise, Julia appeared to be winning. Kane became increasingly wide-eyed as she relentlessly focused on him and then looked astounded when she threw him into the nearby wall, where he lay still.
“What did you do?” said Max.
“No time to explain,” Julia replied. “We have to get out of here.”
“Is he dead?
“I don’t know. I hope so. I can’t sense anything from him, but let’s not hang around and find out.”
Max was still unsteady on his feet but followed Julia as she ran for the door. They made it to the doorway and raced out into the empty corridor. Just like the barren room that had once housed the lab, the corridor looked as if it hadn’t been used in years. Max was gasping for breath when they reached the corner where two hallways intersected.
“Wait,” he said, panting as he leaned on the wall for support. “I have to stop, just for a second.”
“Max!” Julia snapped. “We don’t have time for this. If Kane isn’t dead, I have no idea h
ow long he’ll be unconscious.”
“I know, believe me,” said Max, as he steadily began to breathe more easily.
“Which way to the staircase?” Julia asked.
“I think it’s that way,” said Max, pointing at the corridor to their right. “But it could have all changed down here.”
“We’ll have to take that chance,” said Julia. “Come on.”
They resumed running and after turning another corner they saw the bottom of the stairwell that led up to the surface.
“There it is!” said Julia.
They raced for the steps but just before they reached the foot of the stairwell, Julia abruptly stopped in her tracks and crashed onto the bottom step. Max ran into her and stumbled, falling against the hard, concrete wall.
“Did you really think it would be that easy?” roared Kane.
He stormed along the corridor toward them. Julia had a deep cut on her right cheek and tried to stand but Kane immobilized her. Max attempted to ease himself away from the wall but Kane kept him firmly in place with the sheer power of his mind. To Max’s horror, Julia began rising up from the floor, just as Max had done when he was attacked by the man at the mall.
“Oh, you’re good, Julia,” Kane sneered. “You really had me there for a moment. Shielding your mind like that, very effective. But when I sensed that you’d started absorbing his pain I suspected something wasn’t right. You’re very lucky that you caught me by surprise.”
Julia was now suspended at least three feet off the ground, fighting for breath, as if an invisible hand was gripping her throat.
“I know you’re my daughter,” said Kane, with a thin smile. “Despite your efforts to keep me out I learned from your thoughts that you were telling the truth. Yet you kept your treachery from me. What kind of a family connection is that? How could you betray your own father?”
His tone was mocking. Hanging helplessly in mid-air, Julia’s eyes were bulging and wide with terror. Blood poured from her nose and open mouth as she slowly choked to death.
“Once she’s finished I’ll deal with you, Max. But first I want you to watch as I kill everyone that you hold dear. You’ve tried so hard to save your parents and the others, so I’m going to let you watch while I make them suffer. Your friend Julia here is just the first of many.”
Kane’s brow furrowed and Julia’s body began to vibrate.
“Oh, my god,” Max gasped.
“I should make it quick, especially if you’re really my own flesh and blood,” said Kane, smirking. “But I must confess that I do like to see my victims experience as much pain as possible.”
He cocked his head to one side as he paused for thought.
“Then again, based on what I’ve seen of your powers, you could even surpass me one day. It’s been nice getting acquainted, but I’m sorry, Julia.”
She began to have violent convulsions, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
“No!” Max yelled.
Kane’s eyes narrowed and Julia was shattered into tiny pieces that were strewn all over the corridor and stairwell. Kane took a couple of steps backward, holding his head in his hands, apparently weakened by his efforts to subdue and eventually destroy Julia. Max knew that he only had one chance if he was going to survive.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Alternatives
MAX QUICKLY SEIZED the opportunity to enter Kane’s mind while he appeared to be incapacitated. Max knew that he was unlikely to have too much time before Kane reasserted control. Max had experienced some of the contents of Kane’s mind when Julia had launched her attack, but those were only a small fraction of a lifetime’s memories. Just as the car accident in Belgrade had seemed to have been the pivotal moment for Kovac, Max suspected that he knew which point in Kane’s life had been crucial in forming his character.
And yet Max still had to find that vital episode and Kane’s memories could almost be described as incredibly overcrowded. Random experiences from Kane’s own life were often combined with unrelated incidents from the different timelines he’d experienced, severely hampering Max’s search. It also appeared as if Kane was affected by the memories of the people he killed, retaining some fragments of their thoughts within his mind. There were some that Max found familiar, such as one of the security guards from the mall, as well as Evans, Connor, and Drake. There were other images too, ones that Max didn’t recognize, which he assumed were connected to the other psychics that Kane had reached out to, the ones that were like him. Max suspected that all this material had to be hidden deep in Kane’s subconscious. Otherwise how could he function normally with all these things swirling around in his head?
Max encountered traces of Julia’s memories from school and about her parents, as well as flashes of Julia’s recent recollections featuring Max at her mother’s house or when they were together at the hospital. Max assumed that they were prominent because Julia had been Kane’s most recent victim. The most jarring were the memories of Julia’s death, as Max briefly experienced the horror of his friend’s final moments, but he knew that he had to keep going, deeper and deeper.
Everything was interspersed with Kane’s memories of his time with Kovac, things that occurred during his wandering the country while suffering from amnesia, the period when he interviewed Max at the police station, and most crucially Kane’s early childhood. Suddenly, Max’s throat tightened. Although he was still inside Kane’s mind, Max was finding it difficult to breathe.
“No!” Kane shouted. “I’ll kill you!”
Max was on his back on the hard, concrete floor beside the bottom of the stairwell. Kane was astride him, his knees pressing on Max’s arms, pinning him down. Kane’s hands were firmly wrapped around Max’s throat.
“Just one more squeeze, Max. That’s all it’s going to take.”
Despite his efforts to choke the life out of Max, Kane appeared to be struggling to concentrate. He grimaced, apparently fighting intense pain, emphasizing his long deep facial scar. It appeared that Julia had significantly injured Kane during her attack and his killing her had weakened Kane still further. Max had rarely known Kane to resort to physical force in the past, except when he’d sent Max flying into the bookcase during the fight at David’s house. It seemed that Kane had realized what Max was trying to do. Max knew that he had to get back into Kane’s mind before he regained his full power. Yet, Kane’s grip was still tightening. Although Max tried to focus his own mental abilities, he was fighting a losing battle and was beginning to lose consciousness.
“No! Not now!” Kane shouted.
He abruptly relaxed his grip on Max’s throat, clasping his right hand to his forehead. Still gasping for breath, Max directed all his energy toward re-entering Kane’s memories while he was distracted. Inside Kane’s tortured mind, hundreds of different images and scenarios flashed by at breakneck speed. Desperately struggling to cut through the clutter, Max finally reached his destination.
He was in the playground with the yellow and blue equipment, standing on a metal platform a few feet above the ground. Max was inside the mind of Kane when he was only around six years old. The tall red-haired boy was on the opposite side of the playground. Max now knew that the boy was called Martin and had been bullying Kane for at least a year, especially at this playground when the teachers weren’t looking. Max also knew that this was the day when Kane had decided to make a stand. He’d only recently discovered his emergent powers. These were nothing when compared to the incredible mental abilities Kane would one day possess as an adult. Yet Max knew that Kane was going to kill the boy, unless Max prevented it. If he could do that, Kane might never embark on the path that would result in so much destruction in the future.
When Max had previously had his vision of this impending scene, he’d been inside the other boy’s mind. He’d faced Kane before being attacked and falling to his death on the gravel below. As Martin spotted the young Kane and started to walk over, Max braced himself. He was confident that he’d be able to ret
ain control of Kane’s body for long enough to alter the course of events and avoid a fatal confrontation.
“Hey, you,” said the boy, stopping just a few feet away. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from here?”
Max was about to reply when everything went black. When he opened his eyes, to his astonishment he was inside Martin’s mind, staring at the blonde boy with the pale, piercing blue eyes.
“Hello, Max,” said Kane, smiling as he spoke in his adult voice.
“What’s going on? How are you doing this?”
“I know what you’re trying to do, Max. You’re trying to stop this incident so that I never become my evil self. But you’ve just made it easier for me, haven’t you?”
Max couldn’t speak. He felt an incredible level of pain building inside his head. He grabbed the metal bars of the nearby climbing frame to steady himself.
“Don’t you know that if you die while you’re in someone else’s memory that you die in real life?” said Kane. “This is so simple. Martin dies, just as he’s always done, and right on schedule, but no one will ever know that you died as well, or that I was responsible.”
Max was trying to resist but the pain in his head was becoming unbearable. “Goodbye, Max,” said Kane, grinning. “Say hello to Julia.”
Images of Julia’s horrific death gave Max unexpected strength. He blocked Kane’s psychic attack, recovering just enough to rush at the young boy facing him. Kane and Martin were more or less evenly matched when it came to physical strength, yet Max could tell that the young Kane was steadily regaining control of Martin’s mind. Max was beginning to panic that despite his efforts to alter the past, the fight might be unfolding in exactly the same way that it had previously occurred.
The boys struggled against each other on the platform as the other children backed away or ran to tell the teachers what was happening. The fight had already attracted the attention of some of the adult supervisors on the outskirts of the playground, some of whom came rushing over, yelling as they ran across the playground.
