by Bryan Cohen
"Almost there."
When Natalie reached the foyer of the building, she saw the door that would bring her freedom. She'd never run as fast as she ran right then, until she felt the bullet hit her in the back. She'd been moving so quickly that when she fell forward, her body skidded several feet on the painted cement.
The pain from the projectile was excruciating. When she reached back to feel for blood, she was surprised not to find any.
"Rubber bullet," Travis said. "Cobblestone says he's not quite ready to kill you yet."
As much as it hurt to move, Natalie turned over to a sitting position and attempted to melt Travis' face with her eyes. She wondered if someday that trick would work. Natalie expected that Travis' face would be villainous and cruel. He actually looked more hurt than angry.
"Shooting someone in the back is kind of a dick move." Natalie tried to inch her way closer to the exit door.
Travis kept pace-for-pace with her, gun drawn and pointed directly at her head. "So is pretending to be someone you're not."
Natalie growled. "I think bombing a classmate and injuring his mother wins the psycho contest." Natalie stopped a few inches short of the door. "So congratulations to your and your hateful organization."
Travis fired another shot. This one whizzed by Natalie's ear and ricocheted off the door.
"I'm not afraid to shoot you again."
Natalie pushed past all the pain in her back and stood up. "You may not be afraid to shoot me from point blank range, but you are afraid. Afraid of telling the truth."
Travis cringed. "The truth doesn't matter."
Natalie stood as tall as she could manage. "You've got a room full of people who are going to cheer for Ted's mom getting injured. If they knew the truth–"
"It's too late." Travis face began to twitch. "You're going back in the cell."
"You know what happened to the Torellos. You know that Ted is a hero." Natalie noticed the two other guards enter the room. "You're a good guy, Travis. I know you'll do the right thing."
Natalie watched Travis' gun hand shake while the other guards used a plastic tie to bind her wrists. Even when they kicked her in the back of the knees to send her to the ground, Natalie never took her eyes off Travis. When the guards pulled her back to the cell, she saw her classmate over her shoulder, continuing to stand in the very same position. She wondered if getting to him was her only hope of making it out alive.
Chapter 25
Erica took careful steps into Beth's hospital room, which happened to be only a floor up from where Ted's mother was recovering. The room was sterile and smelled of rubbing alcohol. Erica had crossed over into several morgues in her time. Despite years of advances in technology, hospitals never ceased to be creepy.
Ted and his father were asleep in Mrs. Finley's room, but Erica was still full of energy. She'd already visited Beth since her friend had arrived at the facility, but the redhead had been more or less catatonic. This time, however, Beth looked directly at her when she walked through the door.
"Oh my God, Erica!" Beth squealed. She emphasized almost every other syllable she spoke. "What is going on? You have to help me."
The hospital staff had bound Beth's wrists to the bed to keep her from trying to escape. Erica knew she'd have a hard time convincing the nurses to let her loose after 24 hours of raising hell.
"Hey, hun." Erica gave her friend a hug. "I'll see what I can do. How you feeling?"
The face Beth made reminded Erica of an angry reality show contestant.
"How am I feeling?" Beth did her best to gesticulate without the use of her hands. "I have doctors coming in every two hours treating me like a crazy person. I'm tied to the bed like some wild boar." She jerked her head to one side of the room and the other. "And I haven't even touched Facebook for two straight days. My life is the worst."
Erica sat down at the chair beside her bed. "I'm sorry." Erica forced a smile. "At least you'll probably drop five pounds from the terrible hospital food."
Beth started to cry. Erica did her best not to hate all teenage girls at that moment.
"You know, before your boyfriend got superpowers, everything was fine." Beth wiped a few tears on her hospital gown. "You were there to hang out with me and play 'Who Wore It Best' in the hallways. We were all everybody cared about. Now, everybody just wants to see Ted hover off the ground."
Erica considered telling Beth that she was worm food before Ted changed, but she caught herself. Erica took Beth's hand.
"We don't always have a choice of what happens around us. It's all about what we do with those circumstances that makes us who we are."
Beth looked at Erica for a moment before closing her eyes. "Ugh, I fell asleep. You were too boring."
Erica knew that her previous inhabitant was just as terrible as Beth before the crossover, but that didn't make her any less angry. She did her best to cover it up.
"Do you remember anything about the person who told you to start the fire?"
Beth opened her eyes and leaned back into the pillows. "The doctors seem to think it's some kind of voice in my head. I don't remember anything that happened after Redican's class on Thursday. Maybe someone told me in there."
Erica exchanged some cheek kisses with Beth. "You're wonderful. Feel better soon." Erica walked to the door. When she turned back, Erica felt the room grow dark.
While Beth was still sitting on the bed, Erica could tell that another person had taken control. A look of hatred washed over Beth's face.
"You can't keep him from the truth, protector." Beth's voice had changed from bubbly to devilish. "Or is there too much blood on your hands for you to even care?"
Erica glanced into the hallway. She waited to step back into the room until a nurse moved out of earshot. "Who are you?"
Beth smiled like she knew all the secrets in the world. "Someone with nothing to lose." The redhead leapt toward Erica, but her restraints snapped her right back down into the bed. Beth growled and pulled at her shackles with all her might.
"It doesn't have to be like this." Erica moved closer to the bed. "You've lost people. So have I. That's what happens during a war."
The rage on Beth's face changed into pain. "It wasn't our war. The dark souls wouldn't have even bothered us if you'd given them Earth."
Erica pursed her lips. "Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile."
Whoever was in control of Beth's facilities ignored Erica's response. "Consider this your last warning. Give the boy access to all his powers. Let him end this war and bring peace to all the conquered realms."
Erica stood her ground. "And if I don't?"
Beth's confident smile sent a chill down Erica's spine. "Then I'll make everyone you know and love suffer. Including your boyfriend."
As the message ended, Beth collapsed back down to the bed. Erica ran back over and attempted to rouse her. Beth opened her eyes and looked through Erica as if she wasn't there.
Erica shook her head and felt tears come to her eyes. "Damn it."
She wanted to run to Ted right away to tell him what happened, but she remembered that he was still waiting for his mother to wake up.
It's not the right time.
Erica sighed.
Not that there's ever a right time.
Erica decided on the next-best person to talk to.
She found Sheriff Norris typing away on a laptop in the cafeteria. The room was so white, the light reflecting in through the window threatened to blind her. While the rubbing alcohol scent was absent from the room, the aroma of food that replaced it certainly didn't make her want to order an early breakfast. The sheriff had stayed in the hospital all night with the Finleys. Erica sat down next to him with two cups of coffee.
"Catching up on fan mail?" Erica handed him one of the cups.
"Thanks." The sheriff took a large gulp and continued typing. "I wish. What do you want, Erica?"
She feigned surprise. "I'm just trying to be of assistance to the hardest-working
lawman in all of the U.S.A."
The sheriff closed his laptop and leaned his chin onto one of his hands. "Uh huh." He took another sip of his coffee. "Just don't put another whammy on me, OK?"
Erica had promised Jennifer she wouldn't use her powers on Sheriff Norris again. It was mighty tempting to get everything she wanted without much asking, though.
Erica handed over a list of names to the sheriff. "Long story short, someone on this list may have put a spell on Beth to make her start that fire."
The sheriff took the paper and glanced it over. "Fifth period English?" He gulped his coffee.
"One of these people may have a book that lets them control a person's mind."
The sheriff shook his head. She imagined he liked it better when he was dealing with jaywalking and parking tickets instead of the strange and mystical.
"Should this really get priority over whoever bombed the Finley house?" the sheriff asked.
Erica sipped her own coffee. "What scares you more: a cult or the possibility of 1,000 brainwashed students walking around starting fires?"
Sheriff Norris let out a long sigh. "I can start making some phone calls about a magical brain book."
"Thanks, Sheriff."
As she left the cafeteria, Erica walked past a wall of photos that showed the hospital under construction. The image of girders and a cement foundation brought her back to memories of screaming, the crunching sound of a tumbling building and an overwhelming sense of loss.
It had been many years since Erica had seen a living soul reach the height of his powers. The light souls had given the power to a man in his early 20s named Adam who had lived a relatively humble life before he was granted the new responsibilities. They sent Erica to guide and protect him.
Adam seemed to be the perfect candidate to receive the power, but it didn't take long for his abilities to go to his head. Before Erica had realized the man's repressed anger issues, he'd already mastered the abilities to move objects, control minds and wield immense power. If he'd learned how to bend time and move between worlds, the entire universe might no longer exist.
An emissary from the world of the light souls told Erica that her mission had changed from one of assistance to assassination. After six months training Adam, she spent the next month hunting him down. With the help of Adam's friends and some construction workers she had under her control, Erica was able to bring down a massive building on top of Adam to end his life and the threat against human existence.
When Erica looked at Ted sleeping on his father's shoulder, she knew he possessed many qualities that Adam lacked. But despite his differences, she worried that Ted wouldn't be able to handle it.
Too much power can make anyone go mad.
She had gotten lucky that Adam was careless enough to be hunted down. What if Ted got too strong and brought down the entire universe around him?
With none of their minds safe from whatever made Beth start that fire, Erica might just have to risk the potential apocalypse.
Chapter 26
Jennifer had hoped to make the entire drive on her own. She knew she could trust Dhiraj to protect her, but she worried that his form of protection might involve calling her father and taking them back to Treasure. There were still two hours left of driving when she felt herself start to tire.
She both hated and appreciated that Dhiraj could sense her weariness.
"How are you feeling?" Dhiraj caught Jennifer's eyes as she glanced over.
She could feel the genuine concern radiating out of him. "I'm more awake than I've ever been."
Dhiraj chuckled. "Is this opposite day or something?"
Jennifer giggled, despite her determination to stay grumpy. "You're ridiculous."
Dhiraj let the words sit for a few moments. "You know, people who care about you are going to start wondering where you are pretty soon."
Jennifer had already steeled herself against any such arguments. She knew her father would be worried when he got home from the hospital, but she figured there are just some things you can't involve your parents in. The new Erica hadn't paid her much attention since she'd returned, which wasn't so different from the old Erica who'd shunned her for her stick-in-the-mud attitude. Aside from the two of them, Dhiraj was the only one who seemed to want her to be happy and healthy, and he was right along for the ride.
Jennifer smirked. "You can tell them we eloped."
In a three-second space, Dhiraj's face went from joy to melancholy. "Seeing as I'm on a need to know basis, that's as likely to be the truth as anything else."
"I'll tell you more when we get there." Jennifer suppressed a yawn.
Dhiraj shifted his weight toward the driver's side. "So I can't talk you out of it?"
Jennifer made a sharp exit off the highway and into the parking lot for a rest stop. She watched the flickering neon lights of the convenience store as she parked beside an empty fuel pump.
"If you don't want to be here, you can leave right now." Jennifer took the keys out of the ignition. "If not, you can get me an iced coffee."
Dhiraj opened the door. "I needed to pee anyway."
As she watched Dhiraj enter the store, Jennifer felt herself wishing he would come back to the car. As the hours crept into the middle of the night, she'd gotten more and more unsure of herself. Having someone there to keep her from a mental breakdown might be the only thing that would give her the revenge she sought.
Jennifer filled the tank and watched the door of the convenience store. She didn't notice the man standing behind her until he'd tapped her on the shoulder. As she turned around, the first thing she saw was the beige deputy uniform. A gun rested in Daly's holster and he appeared to reach for it as he spoke.
"Excuse me, miss?"
Jennifer's shriek was so loud, it caused Dhiraj to come running out of the mini-mart, iced coffee in hand. "Jennifer?!"
She backpedaled until she was pressed up against the trunk of her car. Jennifer felt her hands shaking as they tried to grab anything they could to escape.
The Daly-lookalike put up his hands, backing away as quickly as he could from the sound. "I was just going to ask you to move your car up a little. I didn't mean to–"
"Long drive." Dhiraj put his hand on the Daly-apparition's shoulder. "She's on edge. We'll be out of here in a sec."
Jennifer watched as the man changed to his actual form. His skinny frame and glasses made him look like Daly's opposite rather than his twin.
The man glanced at the coffee. "I hope that's decaf." He looked at Jennifer like she belonged in an asylum and went back to his car.
Dhiraj put his free hand on Jennifer's arm. "Are you okay?"
She let out a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. But maybe you should drive."
Jennifer figured Dhiraj must have sensed that she didn't want to talk about her crazy screaming at the station, because he changed the subject to anything but her outburst and the reason for the drive.
The cool beverage and polite conversation was just what she needed to settle down.
"We're just about there." Jennifer eyed the odometer and kept her eye out for a certain motel sign.
"I'm surprised you even know where there is." Dhiraj smiled to himself. "No GPS. No printed directions. You're sure we've reached this magical spot you've kidnapped me to?"
Jennifer felt herself relax even further as she stuck her tongue out toward Dhiraj. The motel sign came into view.
"Not everything needs to be digital. You memorize a few numbers, check the mileage and before you know it...." Jennifer changed her tone to the GPS voice. "You have arrived at your destination."
Dhiraj gave Jennifer a goofy grin. "More like, you and your captive have arrived at your destination."
Jennifer opened her mouth as if she were offended. "That's it, we're not eloping anymore. I had a great ceremony planned and everything."
Dhiraj rolled his eyes. "I'll get the cooler."
Jennifer had been in the company of a lot of different guys in
the past couple of months. This was the first time, however, she could say she truly felt comfortable around one of them.
When they checked in, there was only one room left and it sported one queen-sized bed. The closest Jennifer had been to having her own hotel room was during the 7th grade field hockey tournament in England. Dhiraj had been across the hall as the guy who'd made the trip happen. The stale smell of the room in the present with its dubious comforter made her long for the prior room with the current company.
They assessed their belongings. Jennifer's cooler would keep them well fed, while the extra toothbrushes and supplies in Dhiraj's overnight bag for Ted would make sure they were hygienic.
Jennifer changed into the outfit meant for Ted – a generic t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants covered in cartoon meatloaf drawings. "Why meatloaf?"
"Never a bad time for meatloaf." Dhiraj looked straight down at the carpet and sat. "Would you mind lending me a blanket for the floor?"
Jennifer held out her hand. "Unh-uh." She lifted him up off the ground. "You're getting half the bed. Besides, it'll make it easier for me to hear you sneak out."
When Dhiraj stood straight up, they were eye to eye. She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't know if it was her instinct from months of kissing every boy in sight, the fact that she was a teenager alone in a hotel room with a boy or that she actually cared about her friend in that way. When she moved close to him, she could feel his body shudder.
"I'll take half of the bed." Dhiraj's breath quickened. "Thanks."
Jennifer put her arms around the back of Dhiraj's neck. She breathed in his scent and drew her body closer.
"We don't have to sleep yet." She brought her lips close to his to see if he would close the distance himself.
Jennifer felt him inch forward a tiny bit before he pulled back. She moved ahead and kissed him anyway. She wanted Dhiraj to take her by the waist and toss her onto the bed. She wanted all her emotions thrown out the window for several minutes of pure instinct. Before she could lose herself in the moment, Dhiraj jerked his lips away.
