by Kathy Reichs
“The blackouts have passed?” Karsten asked when I finished.
“Yes,” we said.
“The flu-like symptoms? Gone as well?”
Nods all around.
Karsten let out a breath. Relieved.
I changed that.
“There are side effects.”
“Side effects?”
“We call it flaring.”
I explained the powers. How our senses would expand, our perceptions sharpen. The flashes of strength and speed. The glowing golden eyes.
Karsten almost slipped from his chair. We managed to catch him.
“Amazing.” Karsten’s head wagged from side to side. “Amazing,” he repeated.
“Okay, doc,” Hi said. “We’re amazing. But what do we do?”
“Can you call on these abilities at will?”
“No,” I said. “The flares come and go randomly.”
“Probably not,” Karsten said. “From your descriptions, the episodes seem to be triggered by strong sensory input. And by stress.”
“What does that mean?” Shelton asked.
“I believe your powers are activated by stimulation of the limbic portion of your brains.”
“Meaning?” Ben asked.
“Neuro-anatomy is very complicated.” Dismissive.
“So am I.”
Recognizing the menace in Ben’s voice, Karsten paused to organize his thoughts.
“The limbic system contains a structure called the hypothalamus, which regulates the autonomic nervous system via hormone production and release. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration, salivation, perspiration, pupil diameter, among other things.”
“So?” Ben asked.
“I suspect the virus altered your DNA. I think that alteration caused a change in how your brains work.”
My heart leapt to my throat.
Karsten continued, oblivious to the anxiety his words were creating.
“Instances of great stress set off hormonal reactions within the human body,” he explained. “That’s normal. But for you there seems to be a whole new level. When threatened or frightened, you experience sensory and physical capabilities consistent with the natural abilities of wolves.” Karsten swallowed. “Somehow, my hybrid strain of parvovirus inserted canine DNA into your genetic blueprint.”
Silence filled the room. An unearthly stillness that floated up from the bunker’s subterranean passages, and rolled in from the sky, the sea, and the dunes. Our hearts hammered in unison.
When able, I spoke with what voice I could muster.
“Can you cure us?”
“I don’t know,” Karsten said quietly. “But you have my word. I will never stop trying.”
Suddenly, Coop growled, low and menacing.
I moved between the dog and Karsten. Coop ignored me. His eyes were again locked on the bunker’s entrance.
“What’s up, boy?”
Coop’s head whipped to me, back to the opening. His ears were flat, his muscles tense as steel. He barked three times, loud, aggressive.
Everyone froze.
Voices drifted in from outside.
Lots of them.
CHAPTER 53
“Shh!” I whispered. “Hold Coop.”
I slipped through the opening and inched down the crawl. What I saw outside chilled me to the bone.
Dark figures, one holding a gun. The group stood twenty feet from the bunker, locked in heated debate.
I scuttled back inside.
“We’ve got company. Three. At least one is armed.”
“Friends of yours?” Hi asked Karsten.
“No. I followed you”—he pointed a shaky finger at Shelton and Hi—“from the Morris dock. I have no idea who these people are.”
“There’s no back door.” Ben clenched his fists. “No way out. We’ll jump them as they crawl in.”
“Are you crazy?” Shelton grabbed his ear. “They could all have guns!”
“What choice do we have?” Ben snapped. “We’re trapped.”
“What about the window?” Karsten asked.
I shook my head. “The drop-off is way too far, with nothing but rocks below.”
Karsten cocked his chin toward the entrance to the back chamber. “What’s in there?”
“Another window and a collapsed tunnel,” Hi said.
“Tunnel?” Without hesitating, the professor disappeared through the opening.
We followed.
Karsten crossed to the abandoned passage and waved a hand over the loose planks blocking the opening.
“I feel moving air,” he said. “Have you ever entered this shaft?”
“No way,” Shelton said. “It could cave any time.”
A male voice bellowed outside.
“All right, kids.” Raspy, like gravel sliding down a drain. “Don’t make us smoke you out!”
Coop growled. I looped my arm around his neck, worried he’d bolt.
“No cell reception.” Shelton was frantically punching keys. “I can’t keep a signal.”
“If we flare, we can take these guys.” Ben grabbed a plank.
“Don’t be absurd! These men may be professionals.” Karsten’s brows crimped in thought. “Into the shaft. Now.”
“They’ll follow us,” Ben objected. “The front entrance is a choke point. They have to enter one by one. We should ambush them there. It’s our best chance.”
“No arguments!” Karsten pushed me forward. “I’ll stop them here while you escape through the passage. Quick now.”
I wondered why the killers hadn’t stormed in yet. Perhaps they’d had the same thought as Ben. Whatever the reason, their hesitation wouldn’t last long.
As Shelton and Hi pried loose and tossed aside boards, Ben rolled rocks from the tunnel’s mouth. A quick minute’s work created a two-foot gap.
Beyond it yawned absolute blackness.
“I’m not going down there.” Shelton looked petrified. “No chance!”
“It’s the only way out,” I said.
“We don’t know where it empties.” Shelton was practically in tears. “If it empties. The passage could be blocked. A dead end!”
Crack!
“We’re armed, little piggies,” a voice bellowed. “Come out, now, or we’ll huff, and puff and shoot your little asses!”
“Into the passage!” Karsten barked.
“What about you?”
“They don’t want me.” Karsten avoided my eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t contradict him. It was easier that way.
“Go,” he said. “Now.”
Ben wriggled through the gap. Hi followed, then Shelton. Pushing Coop in front of me, I shimmied through last.
The passage angled sharply downward. Overhead, there was barely a six-inch clearance.
I glanced behind me. Karsten was refilling the opening with debris.
“Forgive me, Tory.”
The entrance went black, enveloping us in eerie gloom.
Five yards down the passage, a massive boulder blocked our way. Ben strained as he tried to muscle it aside. With Shelton and Hi’s help, he managed to grind it several inches sideways.
Raised voices carried into the tunnel. Coop growled. I clamped my fingers around his snout.
Crack! Crack!
Thud.
I almost screamed.
“Over here!” Raspy Voice shouted. “There’s some kind of shaft!”
I scraped past the boulder. Behind me, debris crashed as it was pulled free and tossed aside. I started to panic.
SNAP.
The darkness separated into particles that slowly drifted apart. My head throbbed.
I looked over my shoulder. Two silhouettes were straining to lift a boulder at the tunnel’s mouth.
My ears picked up a faint ripping sound. I rotated my head, trying to locate a point of origin.
The noise was coming from overhead.
I looked up.
M
y heart went into overdrive.
Cracks were slowly spiderwebbing the roof.
Suddenly, the ripping became a rumble.
“Guys, run!”
Ahead, eight golden eyes gleamed in the darkness. Ben. Shelton. Hi. Coop.
All understood. As one, we bounded down the tunnel, clawing past fallen beams and scrambling over rocks.
The rumble exploded to a roar.
Dirt rained down in clods. Dust blinded my eyes and clogged my lungs. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
Hand cupping my mouth, I scrambled forward.
Something crashed behind me. I dropped to my knees, hacking, gasping, desperate to breathe. Dank air blasted my body as the tunnel went black.
CHAPTER 54
Blinking to clear my vision, I looked behind me.
A solid wall of earth sealed the tunnel just paces from where I knelt. We’d barely escaped the impact zone.
Utter blackness. Even flaring, I could see nothing.
“Everyone okay?” I called out.
The boys sounded off. Even Coop gave a short bark.
“Keep moving,” I said. “It’s one-way now.”
We stumbled forward, totally focused on footing and breathing, refusing to consider the horrifying possibilities.
What if there was no way out? Would our pursuers be waiting when we emerged? What was the thud that followed the gunshots? What happened to Karsten?
Concentrate. Get out.
The tunnel forked.
“Which way?” Shelton’s voice carried from the left.
“I sense fresh air coming from the right,” Hi said. “I think I smell grass.”
I raised my nose. Sniffed.
Hi was right. New scents had joined the mix of dust and mildew and rotting wood. Grass and wet sand.
My heart pounded against my ribs.
I was about to speak when I heard movement, a bark, then, “Oof.”
“Coop votes to go right, too,” Hi said. “At least, I think that’s why he knocked me over.”
“Do it,” Ben said.
The darkness hid obstacles until they were just inches away. We picked our way along, tripping over rocks, beams, and a host of unidentifiable objects.
Triple doses of adrenaline pumped through me. My head felt too small for my brain. I reached out with my senses, probing for a way through the darkness.
Never shoul d’ve listened ... knew the roof would cave ... can’t breathe ...
What was that?
“Shelton, did you say something?”
“No.” His voice was shaky.
Puzzled, I searched for the thread I’d lost.
No use. Gone.
It had sounded like Shelton. I attempted to refocus.
Balance. Breathe.
Ambush at the entrance ... could have taken these bastards...
I shouldn’t be able to smell anything but dust ... Grass? I’m a freak of nature ...
OhmyGod!
I was hearing the other Virals.
In my head.
No. Way.
I tried again. Couldn’t reconnect. Couldn’t reopen whatever had closed. I strained to hear their voices, came up empty. Nothing.
You’re losing it, Tor.
Focus. Feet. Lungs.
Bad smell ... danger ... rip, tear ... save pack ...
Coop! I was sure of it! He wanted to protect us.
I stumbled forward, grabbed the puppy, and hugged him to my chest.
Warm ... mother-friend ... shield ...
As powerfully as I could, I willed a message from my brain to his.
I’ll protect you, little one. We’ll be safe. I promise.
Coop yipped and nuzzled my face. I kissed the top of his head.
“What was that?” Ben had stopped moving.
“Protect who?” Shelton asked.
“Tory, that was weird.” Hi. “Where are you? Are you talking to me?”
“I’m here,” I said.
Had everyone heard me? I floated a test message.
I’m here, too.
“Whoa!” Shelton and Hi.
“You’re in my head!” Ben sounded shocked. “Get out!”
I couldn’t believe it. They could hear me! The Virals could hear me!
Then the feeling passed.
I struggled to regain it. Useless, like trying to hold onto a dream.
I floated another message.
No link up. Damn.
“What did you just do?” Hi asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Do it again.”
“I can’t.”
I released Coop. He darted forward through the murk. From up ahead, I heard barking. We wove toward it like rats in a maze.
Minutes later, the darkness lifted ever so slightly. The promise of light drew us like a beacon.
Ben called out. “Ladder!”
We all rushed forward.
Above the ladder hung a square of night sky speckled with stars. A pale shaft of moonlight oozed through the opening.
A way out. I almost cried with joy.
Shelton tested, one, two, then shot up the rungs. Hi followed.
Slinging Coop over one shoulder, Ben went next. I was right on his heels, ready to catch the dog should Ben stumble.
The ladder ended in a bunker so small the five of us barely fit. Its window slit faced north, toward the harbor.
My flare was still burning.
I drank in the night air, senses blazing, terror slowly receding.
“Where are we?” Hi asked.
“Across Morris, on the Schooner Creek side.” Ben was scanning the terrain. “This must be one of the sand hills.”
We were perched high above the waterline, overlooking the northern tip of the island. Big pie-faced moon. With my canine vision, the landscape was lit up like high noon.
“Look!”
Shelton pointed northeast toward our clubhouse. Two hundred yards away, just off the shoreline, four men struggled to load a bundle onto a skiff.
“Jesus. Look at that bag.” Hi’s voice cracked.
The shape. The bulk. The way the men strained.
My front teeth clamped onto my lower lip.
As we watched, the skiff rose on a wave and the bundle lurched sideways. The men struggled to regain control. One corner of the wrapping slipped loose.
A bright yellow sneaker popped into view.
My breath caught in my throat.
Dr. Marcus Karsten.
The shots.
The dead weight hitting the floor.
No! It couldn’t be true.
Karsten was the one person who had understood. The one person who might’ve reversed the changes that had altered our bodies.
I almost cried in despair. Karsten’s death closed a door. Our last hope had been murdered.
But why? What threat did he pose? And to whom?
The men finally hauled their gruesome cargo onto the boat. An engine kicked to life. Our attackers put to sea.
We watched until the skiff disappeared over the horizon, our eyes glowing gold in the darkness.
PART FOUR:
INSIGHT
CHAPTER 55
I returned to my workstation. I’d blown it in stunning fashion.
Jason said nothing, but his jaw was tight. Hannah avoided my eyes. Across the room, Team Madison snickered and whispered.
My presentation had been a disaster. I’d stumbled through explanations, confused figures, forgotten the significance of my findings.
Even Mrs. Davis was looking at me sideways.
It was a world-class foul-up, but I found it hard to care. After the previous night’s catastrophe, everything else seemed trivial.
Karsten was dead. Murdered. There was no one alive who could help us now.
Concentrate on class work? I was a mutant freak. And masked men were hunting me. I’d only come to school because I was afraid to stay home alone.
I hadn’t said a word to Kit. How could I? We didn
’t have Karsten’s body.
Just as we hadn’t had Heaton’s body.
The Virals had agreed not to repeat our earlier blunder. We were tired of adults looking at us like we were nut jobs. Or liars.
But the fact remained. Someone wanted us dead.
The knot in my gut tightened.
Why?
You know why. You found Katherine Heaton.
But why would the killer persist? The skeleton was gone. Not a soul believed our story. We had no evidence. We could identify no one.
The murderer had nothing to worry about. The Heaton case wasn’t in danger of being cracked.
And yet we were targets.
I’m missing something.
Who would risk shooting four kids? It was crazy. A quadruple homicide involving Bolton Prep students would make the headlines for months. Every resource would be thrown at the investigation. The risk of capture would be enormous.
We must be forcing the killer’s hand. Which meant we were getting close.
But how? We had zilch. Zip. Nada. Bupkes.
My thoughts flashed back to our confrontation with Karsten. His answers had unlocked the secret of our illness. I finally understood why my body was out of control.
A designer virus had mangled my genetic code.
Shudder.
Deep in my core, inside my cells’ nuclei, wolf DNA intermingled with my own. The idea terrified me. What would come next? What if I completely lost control?
But I have powers, I reminded myself. I can do things others can’t.
I can flare.
Except I didn’t understand how to turn those powers on and off. Didn’t know how to use them. And Karsten could never fulfill his promise to help. Would never have a chance. He’d sacrificed his life to save ours.
We Virals were on our own.
Flying solo.
Only one course of action made sense. We had to solve Heaton’s murder. Find the evidence. Expose the killers before we became their next victims. Perhaps then we’d find the answers that died with Karsten.
But time was running out.
After the final bell, I waited for Chance on the front steps. He was late.
I paced, edgy. The fingerprint was our only lead. If Chance had struck out, I was uncertain what to do next.
It was a very helpless feeling. Our pursuers were out there. Could return at any time.
Minutes dragged by. The stone lions watched, impassive.
