She was much quicker to react than she had been on the beach. She knew she needed to reset. It took her about two seconds. Even so, that was long enough for the bald man to shoot Charlie and Odd in the head and walk past Joni toward the back of the room and the twins.
She reset.
She had only gone back about thirty minutes. Joni wasn’t sure if it was long enough, but there was only one way to find out.
Charlie was speaking.
“Well, here’s your first lesson. We have security cameras on the Underground network. And we have them in the stations.”
Joni reset again and stood up, her chair clattering to the floor behind her.
“He’s coming,” she said.
“Who’s coming?” said Charlie.
“Oh, god, the guy who shot me on Innisfarne. How much have I told you? We don’t have time. We have to get out now.”
“What are you talking about?”
Odd stood up too. “You just did - your thing? When you come back. A new universe?”
“Yes,” said Joni, her eyes pleading with Charlie to move. “Yes. And if you don’t move right now, we’re all going to die. There’s a man coming. He has a gun. He’s going to kill all of us if we don’t get out.”
Charlie stood then, and looked at the twins, who were looking at her with wide, scared eyes.
“Anything?” she said. They shook their heads in unison.
Charlie turned back to Joni. “They’d know if anyone was close enough for us to need to worry. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but we’re not going anywhere. Now sit down.”
Joni tried appealing to her, desperate to get through, but Charlie just grew increasingly suspicious and hostile, openly questioning Joni’s motives in trying to get them out of the house.
Joni put her hand out toward Odd.
“Please,” she said. “I’m telling you the truth. We have to hurry. He must be on his way right now.”
Odd looked at her, hesitating. While he thought about it, Charlie picked up her backpack and started looking for something.
“Ok,” said Odd. “I believe you, Joni. Charlie, I think we should go.”
Joni and Odd both looked at Charlie, who was now holding a big, black handgun. She was pointing it at Joni.
“Sit down,” she said.
Joni sat down.
Odd shook his head. “What are you doing, Charlie? This isn’t right. She is telling the truth.”
“Maybe,” said Charlie, “maybe not. How can we know? She says this psychopath is coming here to kill us, she says she can do something no one else in the world can do, which means she can save us. But there’s no way she can prove it. What, we’re just going to trust her and walk out of the one place we know we’re safe?” She nodded toward the twins. “They look worried to you?”
Odd looked. The twins were still playing cards. Cass looked up and gave him one of her small, solemn smiles.
“So, you think Joni is lying?”
“I think it’s possible. Sorry. Still, there’s an easy way to find out.”
“How?” said Odd.
Charlie looked at Joni.
“Tell us exactly what’s going to happen. Then, if this psycho friend of yours appears, I’ll shoot him.”
The waterfront opposite the house was lined with bushes, giving Adam plenty of cover as he approached the house. When he was about a hundred yards away, the lights inside the house went out, and the drapes were pulled open. He froze. It was a cloudy evening, but London was never totally dark. As well as the occasional undamaged streetlamp, there was also a faint wash of light from the hundreds of buildings nearby.
He stayed utterly still for ten minutes, then reached into his backpack and removed his night-scope. He looked toward the house. He could see that the inside space had been knocked into one big room. About five feet back from the window was a table. Sitting at the table was a woman with a handgun. She looked like she was expecting someone to come in through the window. Interesting. That would have been Adam’s first choice.
Adam moved the scope fractionally and saw other figures. Toward the back of the house were two children. They were sitting on the floor, holding hands, their eyes shut in concentration. Adam had seen this before: Sensitives scanning an area, looking for enemies. He knew what he was looking at. He smiled. The darkness inside him was far more pervasive than the darkness outside. He was invisible to them.
Joni Varden was the fourth figure. She was off to the side, sitting against the wall next to a boy of a similar age.
Adam reviewed his options. He knew he wouldn’t have the luxury of time on his side. That was why Innisfarne would have been so much better. No one would have heard the shots. He could have taken his time with the ritual. Here, he was going to have to wound the girl, kill the rest, then use the knife quickly. It was possible that the shots wouldn’t attract any interest, but with Manna gangs and vigilante groups active in the area, he didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. Anyway, once the ritual was complete, he would be joined by his Master and the world would kneel to them both.
He retreated slowly, watching the woman with the gun, making sure she hadn’t seen him. Then he ran silently along the street behind his target.
Charlie waited for nearly forty-five minutes before speaking.
“Looks like your friend is a no-show,” she said. The gun was on the table, but her hand was still resting on it. “You want to try another story? Or are you ready to tell us the truth now?”
Joni was about to repeat her warning, try to convince Charlie that the danger was genuine—and imminent—when events made it unnecessary.
The window at the back of the house exploded. Charlie’s head snapped backward as the bullet caught her at the top of the neck. She slumped in her chair, eyes open, seeing nothing. The twins began to set up an unearthly wail. As Joni ran for the table and the gun, two shots cut the sound short. She had her hand on the gun, slick with Charlie’s blood when the next bullet shattered her hip and she span, knocking Charlie’s corpse from the chair, before joining it on the floor, coming to rest looking at Charlie’s red, red hair.
Joni realized she still had the gun in her hand. She managed to lift it and point it toward the footsteps she heard coming closer. She knew, even if she managed to fire, it would be very unlikely to hit him. She had to try. She pulled the trigger.
There was an empty, hollow, click.
She reset so that she wouldn’t have to hear the shot that killed Odd.
38
“We even have them on the streets and in the plazas of Canary Wharf. Want to guess how many are in Canary Wharf?” said Charlie.
Joni gasped and put her hands on her hip reflexively. It was fine. She was fine.
“Over two thousand?” she said, gasping slightly.
“How the hell did you—?” said Charlie, then noticed the expression on Joni’s face. “What’s wrong.”
“No time.” Joni’s urgent tone got their attention. “He’s coming. He’s outside right now.”
Odd looked at her. “You just did - your resetting? The thing you can do? This is happening for the second time for you, yes?”
“Third time, actually,” said Joni, standing up. She grabbed Charlie’s backpack, ran to the far side of the kitchen and tipped the contents onto the floor. Charlie reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. By the time she was halfway across the room, Joni had the gun in her hand and was pointing it at her.
“Sit down, Charlie,” she said. Charlie stood still.
Joni reset.
“Yoni, what are you doing?” said Odd.
“The man who’s coming after me - the bald man. Here’s here. In about half an hour you’ll be dead. All of you.”
Charlie took a half-step toward Joni. “Please put the gun down. This is crazy. No one’s coming.”
“I said sit down.” Joni held the gun up higher, and Charlie stopped moving. After a long look at Joni’s face, she backed up and sat down.
&
nbsp; “That’s better,” said Joni. “Now, I know how this looks, but ask yourself this: how did I know there was a gun in your backpack? Simple. I’ve just watched you get it out, ok?” Her voice only trembled slightly. “I saw you before I reset. How could I have known about it? How?”
Odd spoke up. “She is making a good point, Charlie.”
Charlie wasn’t so easily convinced. “She could have seen it when I opened my backpack.”
Odd looked skeptical.
Joni realized she could prove it beyond reasonable doubt.
“It’s not loaded, anyway,” she said, lowering the weapon so that she was aiming at Charlie’s leg. Charlie paled visibly.
“It is loaded,” she said, then started to get up when she saw Joni’s gaze drop and her finger tighten on the trigger. “Joni. No.”
Joni pulled the trigger. The subsequent click as the hammer fell on an empty chamber sounded loud in the otherwise silent room.
“Thank God,” said Charlie, her voice shaking.
“I told you,” said Joni. “Not loaded.” She pointed the gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger again. She screamed as the gun kicked in her hand and a chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling. When she looked up, there was a neat hole above her.
“The first chamber,” said Charlie weakly. “That was empty. But the gun is loaded.”
Outside, under cover of the bushes, Adam froze. He was too far away to tell if what he had just heard was gunfire. He waited. In his experience, the only time you heard a single shot fired was during a carefully planned execution-style hit. According to his information, there were five people in the house on Canary Wharf. There would be more shots. He waited another three minutes before moving on, reassured.
Odd stood up and held out his hand for the gun. Joni handed it to him, still shaking.
“Thank you,” he said. He placed it on the kitchen drainer, then turned to Charlie. “So. You are believing Yoni is telling the truth now?”
“Yes,” said Charlie, the word a whisper. She repeated it, more strongly. “Yes. I believe her. We need to get out.” She looked at the twins, still looking shocked by the gunshot.
“Anything at all?” They shook their heads.
“How is that possible? How can he be so close and they can’t sense him?”
Joni shrugged. “I might be the only one in the world with the ability to reset the multiverse,” she said. “Who knows what other abilities might be out there?”
She headed toward the door. “No time to pack,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Charlie gestured toward Theo and Cass, and they got up. The group headed for the front door. Odd didn’t move.
“Odd?” said Charlie.
“Yoni. You said this was the third time you are back to the same reset, yes?”
“Well, I can’t come back to the same reset point. But, yes, within a few seconds. Why?”
“Let us not rush. I know he’s coming. But was it the same both times before?”
“No. It was different. He came through the front window the first time. Then, when Charlie had the gun and was waiting for him, he came through the back window.”
“So, if we behave like the first time, we know where he’s coming from, yes?”
Joni wasn’t sure what Odd was getting at. She was just painfully aware of time passing. She felt increasingly panicky about the decreasing likelihood of everyone getting out alive.
“I think it’s probably too late to run,” said Odd. “He must be nearby. Most probably he is watching us now.”
Joni glanced at the window.
“Do not look,” said Odd. If I am right, the best thing we can do is act as if we do not know he is there. Maybe he is hearing the gun. Maybe not. Either way, it is here in the kitchen now. Out of sight. Charlie. You are the best shot.”
It wasn’t a question. Charlie nodded.
“I think you should be standing here at the sink with the gun. You cannot be seen from the window. Yoni and I will sit at the table. He has already changed his attack once, yes? So if we are acting like we did the first time, he will attack the same way. It will be the first time for him, remember.”
Joni shook her head. “No. It’s too risky. He’s here to kill us. We have to get away.”
Odd looked at her. His eyes were calm. If he was afraid, he was hiding it well. His voice was completely calm.
“This is the only way. We will be one step ahead, you understand? We know where he will be. Turn your back to the window and point to where he was when he came through the glass.”
Joni did as she was asked, pointing at the floor a few feet away from the table.
“He came in and rolled,” she said. “He didn’t stop, just stood up and shot me in the stomach. He shot Charlie in the head. Then you. He was fast. So fast.”
Odd led her back to the table. She took his hand passively and let him guide her to her chair.
“Charlie,” he said. “You know what to do. Please don’t miss.”
Charlie pulled up a stool next to the drainer and took the gun, making sure the remaining chambers were loaded.
The next few minutes were almost unbearable. They spoke quietly as they waited. As Odd said, they wanted to make the scene appear as close to how it was before Joni’s first reset as possible. Charlie was not at the table this time, but they just had to hope that their attacker wouldn’t change his strategy. If he did, Joni would reset to the point when they had agreed on the plan, and they would try something else.
It was almost time, Charlie lifted the gun and held it in both hands, pointing at the area of floor indicated by Joni. Odd still seemed calm. He said it was just how he responded to extreme pressure. Joni was ashen and using all her willpower to stop her body shaking with fear.
They waited.
When the window shattered, they all jumped despite the fact they knew it was about to happen. The dark figure rolled across the floor.
Charlie raised the gun.
Adam knew immediately that something was wrong. Seconds before his mind consciously registered the problem, his training and instincts did the heavy lifting for him. He knew one of the occupants was out of sight and had been so for twenty minutes. The information he had been paid for described the Users in the house as two child Sensitives, an older boy who specialized in healing, and a woman strong with Manna, but not a natural aggressor. Manna users who used their power to fight spent years developing their abilities, working particularly on their speed. It was all very well having the ability to mold physical reality, but by the time most Manna users had attempted to attack Adam by making a wall collapse onto him, or the floor rear up and pull him into a hole, he had usually shot them three times. It was a common weakness among Users. They were so proud of their power, they forgot that sometimes a good old-fashioned gun, or knife, was a better weapon.
So when he rolled into the room and saw the Varden girl’s eyes flick quickly from him to something behind him, he knew there was a threat there. The only surprise, as he rolled a second time, this time twisting through one hundred and eighty degrees as he did so, was the gun in her hand. She was certainly smarter than the average User. Her intelligence didn’t help her much against Adam’s speed, though. His bullet hit her in the side of the head before she had even begun to aim.
The boy at the table jumped for the gun. Adam put two bullets in him in mid-leap. His body fell to the floor.
Joni reset.
39
“It didn’t work,” she said simply, trembling with shock.
“What?” said Odd.
“We tried it. I just reset. You died. This—,” she indicated Charlie and the gun on the drainer. “This doesn’t work.”
Joni felt hollow, mentally exhausted by the trauma she was having to go through again and again. She took a breath.
“Now we try my plan,” she said.
The minutes passed excruciatingly slowly once they were in position. This time, Charlie had unlocked the back door and opened it a f
raction. The twins were ready to run. Charlie would join them. Odd knew what he had to do. The gun was in his lap. They had discussed having Charlie at the table instead of Odd, but as Joni knew the bald man would come through the window if she and Odd were sitting there, she didn’t want to change anything and risk another disaster.
Odd wasn’t at all happy with her plan, but she promised a reset if it went wrong.
“He doesn’t want to kill me with a bullet,” she said. “He always wounds me. He just wants to stop me getting away. He needs to use his knife. He needs the ritual. The fact that he won’t kill me quickly is his weak point. We have to use that.”
They waited.
When she thought there were only seconds to go, Joni pushed her chair back from the table, moving slightly to the side. She braced one foot on the floor, doing her utmost to look as if she was just fidgeting, rather than preparing herself.
When the window exploded, she was ready.
The figure dived through and went into a roll. Joni was already on her feet, running directly toward him.
As Adam rolled, part of his brain had time to register the completely surprising reaction of Joni Varden. Of all the possible actions she might have taken, he hadn’t factored in the possibility that she would run toward the danger.
She jumped as he rolled, passing over his head. Her feet hit the floorboards, and she propelled herself through the broken window and out into the night.
Infuriatingly, impossibly, the girl somehow had the presence of mind to shout something over her shoulder before running as fast as she could for the end of the street.
“Missed me!” she called.
Adam felt a cold stab of surprise, an emotion he hadn’t experienced since childhood. How was this possible? How could she react so quickly? It was inhuman.
He flipped out of his roll. He was aware of movement to his sides and behind him, but he knew he had no time if he wanted to catch her. With incredible speed and agility, he reversed direction and threw himself through the gaping hole, rolling on the grass and unfurling himself into an immediate sprint. He fired one round at the figure ahead of him, but it went wide of the mark, just as he thought it would. Then he heard the whistle of a bullet as it went past his head.
The World Walker Series Box Set Page 87
