by Bryan Cohen
"Save me!" The blood streamed out of Erica's side. "Jennifer!"
As Erica mentioned her name, Daly looked straight up at her. He took another knife out of his jeans, this one much longer and sharper. Jennifer's body shook.
She took one last glance at her dying friend. "I can't." Jennifer fled at top speed into the mouth of the cave.
Before long, she ran into a dead end. She felt around on the stone for a way to escape. Jennifer turned around when she heard the sound of footsteps. While she assumed it would be Daly, she saw something completely different. Ted, Erica, Dhiraj, Natalie and her father stood in front of her. They all shared the same look: pity.
Erica approached her, brandishing the sword. She shook her head. "You could've helped us, Jen. You should've helped."
Before Jennifer could reply, Erica slashed the sword directly through her face. A sharp cut of pain spread through her cheek as the alarm brought her out of slumber.
Jennifer sat up in her bed with tears in her eyes. It took her a minute to recognize the ringing sound of the alarm. After she shut it off, she sat there in silence as long as she could, head in hands.
"All your friends are fine. It's all gonna be okay."
Her attempt to comfort herself wasn't completely true. Ted was in a hospital in North Carolina. She had no idea where Erica and Yoshi were, but she missed her friend something fierce. The field hockey suspension gave her nothing but time to think, and most of those thoughts brought her great pain. While Jeannie Moss now worshipped the ground she walked on, that wasn't enough to stop the emotions that accompanied these recurring nightmares.
Jennifer smiled and nodded through Dhiraj's entirely one-sided conversation on the way to school. Part of her wanted to tell him about everything. About the suspension. About the fear that exploded within her whenever she closed her eyes. She felt like she'd done enough to him in her dreams – there was no need to give him anything to worry about in real life.
Besides, she figured Dhiraj was dealing with Ted's hospitalization in his trademark way: by avoiding the subject. If he was allowed to gloss over the fact that his best friend needed several bags of blood transfused into his body, then wasn't she permitted to lie about field hockey and her general disposition?
By the time lunch rolled around, Jennifer could barely keep her eyes open. Dhiraj sat by her side as Natalie and Travis ate across from them. Natalie's boyfriend had taken Erica's old seat, and the whole lunchroom conspired to keep the fifth seat open. That's where Ted used to sit.
"Cents?" Dhiraj tapped Jennifer on the shoulder. Wherever she'd been, it certainly wasn't in range of the conversation.
She forced a smile. "Sorry, what?"
He grinned back. "I was just talking about the gatekeeper. What do you think she's up to?"
Jennifer had enough demons she was dealing with in her head. It was overwhelming to consider fighting off something that could actually fight back.
"I don't know." She opened her eyes wide to keep herself awake. "You were the ones who saw her. Not me."
Dhiraj put his arm around her. "I know. You're just such a good sleuth. You're like a hot version of Sherlock Holmes."
Jennifer couldn't resist the eye roll. "Elementary, my dear boyfriend… I've got nothing." She gestured across the table. "What about you guys?"
Travis scratched his head. Jennifer didn't mind his presence at the table, though Dhiraj had put up resistance about letting him into the inner circle. Natalie said it was either let him in or watch her leave.
Travis put down his sandwich. "Does it make any kind of shape when you connect the dots?"
Jennifer flipped over her napkin and pulled a pencil out of her backpack. For all her lack of rest, she was able to draw a fairly accurate map of the U.S. The other three stared in awe at her capabilities.
"A mapmaker, too?" Dhiraj kissed her cheek. "Maybe your Halloween costume should be a sexy cartographer."
Natalie tossed a fry that landed right between Dhiraj's eyes. "Shut it, puppy love."
Jennifer stifled a laugh and connected the dots between Treasure, Florida and North Carolina. "It just looks like a line so far."
Natalie snatched the napkin from Jennifer. She stared at the three points on the makeshift map. "What do the attacks have in common?"
Jennifer strained to form a coherent thought. Each of the attacks had been so different. The Florida hurricane incident involved the kidnapping of a young girl. The attack in Treasure was more like a robbery. The last one was more public than the other two had been and eight people remained missing. Judging by the pictures of the Lychos, she wouldn't be surprised if they'd been digested.
Dhiraj interrupted her thoughts with the bite of a carrot stick. "I don't know. Maybe Erica and Yoshi'll find something."
Jennifer pictured Erica going up against a gang of Lychos and Draconfolk. She saw the protector fending off one or two before ultimately succumbing to the swarm.
She pouted. "I don't know. I worry about her."
Natalie flared her nostrils. "Come on. I know she's your friend, but she's got a freakin' samurai by her side. Besides, she isn't exactly dainty."
Jennifer thought back to her dreams and the blood dripping from Erica's side. She chewed on her lip. "I know. I just wish she were here."
Dhiraj glanced over at the empty chair and sighed. "I wish they were both here."
Travis slapped the table and they all perked up. "Quit whining, you guys." He put his arm around Natalie. "Soak this up. Who knows where we'll all be next year."
Jennifer took in a deep breath. She didn't mind the subject change one bit.
Natalie removed Travis' hand from her body. "Um, I'll be on national TV kicking butt for some school that's lucky to have me."
Dhiraj grinned. "I'll be running Ted Finley LLC while rocking a 4.0 at Harvard."
Dhiraj's eyes fixed on Jennifer's. She wanted to answer it in just the way he wanted, but they hadn't talked much about their future. At least, she hadn't.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do." She worked her tongue around her mouth. "Maybe I'll keep an eye on Erica."
Dhiraj put his hand on her lower back. "Didn't you do that for most of high school?"
Jennifer felt the exhaustion come over her once again. "It's different now." She came off whinier than she wanted to. "She's trying to save the world. So is Ted. It's hard to think about college when giant lizards and dogs are going around killing people. And we're just sitting here, helpless."
Silence filled the table, allowing the other noises of the lunchroom to trickle in. When Dhiraj leaned toward her, Jennifer turned away. They remained speechless.
Travis cleared his throat. "See? None of us really know what's gonna happen. Personally, I see me and my entourage going to my girl's away games."
Natalie raised her eyebrows. "You think we're gonna last till the end of the month? Let alone next year? I'm dating a crazy person."
Travis made a kiss face and Natalie stuffed a handful of fries into his mouth.
When lunch ended, Jennifer dumped out her trash and left the cafeteria as quickly as she could. The smell of fried foods gave way to the familiar scent of floor polish. Dhiraj caught up with her and matched her stride.
"You really don't have any plans for next year yet?"
Jennifer shook her head. "No. I really don't."
Dhiraj bit his bottom lip. "Well, I was going to save this for a better time, but…."
Jennifer stopped as Dhiraj fished something out of his backpack. He took out a folder filled with several sheets of paper. Jennifer took the documents and leafed through them.
She squinted. "College applications?"
He smiled. "Read the school names."
Jennifer looked them over. "Boston University. Boston College. Northeastern–"
"They're all in Boston." Dhiraj put his arm around Jennifer's waist. "I know I'm going to Harvard. I want you to be right around the corner."
Jennifer wasn't sure how to react. She didn't
even know what schools she would apply to. If any.
"Dhiraj, I said I didn't know–"
"I need you." He had a pained look on his face. "I know it's 10 months away, but I want us to be together for the long haul."
Jennifer felt warmth course through her. It was her first positive sensation in over a week.
Maybe that's a sign.
"Okay."
Dhiraj did a double take. "Okay? Just like that?"
The warm feeling doubled. She smiled. "Just like that."
Dhiraj wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. "You don't know how happy that makes me."
Jennifer hugged him back. "I'm glad."
For the first time in recent memory, Jennifer felt like she was needed. Like she could actually help someone. She'd do anything to stop the self-loathing and the nightmares. Maybe even move to Boston.
Chapter 28
Erica and Yoshi walked around the south end of the collapsed hospital building early in the morning. The air smelled like smoke, even though nothing nearby appeared to be burning. Sheriff Norris had worked his connections to give them free reign to examine any potential evidence. Dropping Ted Finley's name didn't hurt, either. The rest of the city was still in deep recovery after the hurricane, but Erica felt a sense of pride that Ted was able to save so many lives. Since most excavation equipment was being used on other parts of the city, the collapsed hospital building had remained largely untouched. Erica walked on top of the rubble and thought back to Adam, the living soul she'd had to kill by bringing down a building on top of him.
"What're we gonna find here, Yoshi?" Erica kicked a piece of cement in his direction.
The samurai caught it with ease and placed it back in the pile. "Proof." He looked left and then right. "Proof of something."
Erica scanned the top of the pile several more times. If something had brought the entire building down, it was likely buried far beneath the top of the pile. Even using her enhanced strength, there wasn't a safe way to reach the base of the foundation. Erica wondered if anyone would've even been able to hear any kind of detonation over the winds of the hurricane.
After another 10 minutes of searching, Erica and Yoshi left the site for a makeshift temporary hospital a few blocks away. As they entered, the head nurse came right up to them. She had a vibe that could best be described as stern and sweet.
"If it isn't Super Ted's girlfriend. I recognize you from the tabloids."
Yoshi smirked at Erica, but she ignored it to focus on the nurse.
"Are you Nancy?"
"I am. Your man floated me through a hurricane and saved me and my patients. I don't know what we could do to ever pay him back."
Erica smiled. "He told me you were brave. Let me ask you a few questions about that night and we can call it even."
The building looked like it was set to be retail space before the hospital took it over. The owners had protected the property well and were happy to donate the space for the next couple of months.
"They say it's about trying to help their fellow man." Nancy gestured to a few plastic-folding chairs. "I think it's so they can get their pictures in the paper, but we'll take it either way. What do you two need to know?"
Erica took out a notepad and a pencil. Dhiraj had offered her a space-age tablet for note taking, but there were some things Erica still preferred to do the old school way.
"We have a theory about what brought the hospital down. Was there anything strange in the days leading up to the hurricane?"
The nurse laughed. "What wasn't strange? Senator Kable's people were in and out all week for his visit. Volunteers were coming in to try to waterproof the building. If you told me it wasn't an episode of one of those hospital TV shows, I woulda had a hard time believing you. Pure drama."
Erica looked at Yoshi.
He cleared his throat. "Was anyone keeping track of all the people who came in and out?"
The nurse laughed. "You talk?"
Yoshi's face revealed a sly smile. "Only when necessary."
She cackled, her laughter reverberating throughout the small space. "There's only one man who even had a chance of controlling that mess. Charlie Potts. He runs the hospital with an iron fist. Well, ran."
Erica wrote down the man's name. "What do you mean ran?"
The nurse sighed. "Day before the Hurricane, Charlie cashed in all his sick days from the last 20 years."
Erica tapped her fingers against the chair. "Maybe he thought it'd be easier if he came back after the storm."
"Charlie Potts doesn't do easy. Not sure what came over him. I swore I saw him the day of the storm, walking around like the life had been taken clean out of him."
Yoshi nodded. "Can you tell us where to find him?"
The nurse's face grew stern. "Usually, no." She brightened back up. "But for Team Ted, I'm willing to bend the rules."
Charlie Potts lived alone in a part of town that hadn't been as impacted by the storm. They didn't have any trouble getting over by car. The house didn't look very big, but Nancy had said the man hardly spent any time away from the hospital. No need for home improvement if you're living at work.
Erica knocked on the door. She heard something metallic fall to the ground. After that, there was nothing but silence. Erica tried knocking again. "Mr. Potts? We're friends of Ted Finley's."
Yoshi smiled. "You think he'll recognize you from the tabloids, too?"
Erica was about to smirk back when they heard a glass fall to the ground and break. She put her shoulder to the door and easily broke the deadbolt. The first thing she saw was a series of broken objects scattered along the hardwood foyer and hallway. It looked more like a break-in than the house of someone taking a staycation. Someone zipped in front of her too quickly to be identified.
"Looters?" Erica saw that Yoshi had already crouched down into a fighting stance.
Yoshi's knuckles cracked as his hands became fists. "One way to find out."
They followed the last direction the figure went, taking care to avoid stepping on broken glass. She heard heavy breathing from the corner of the room and pulled the cord for a nearby lamp. The light shined on the face of Charlie Potts. He shivered against the wall like a trapped animal. His clothes and hair were disheveled. The man's eyes darted in every direction.
He seemed to look directly through Erica and Yoshi. "I'm not me. I couldn't be me."
When Yoshi took a step forward, Potts ran through the kitchen and into another room down the hall. A trail of blood followed behind him. Erica assumed it was from stepping on the broken glass with bare feet. Yoshi kicked some of the shards out of his path. "The nurse said he was put-together."
Erica walked into the hallway. "Emphasis on the was."
She knocked on the door to the room Potts had entered. "Mr. Potts? We just came from the hospital. Nancy was asking about you."
Potts came running right toward her. There was nothing on his face that suggested sanity. Instinct caused her to punch the man directly in the head, and he fell right down onto his back. His chest moved up and down, but otherwise the man was motionless.
Yoshi peered over her shoulder. "Questioning people is harder when they're unconscious."
Erica grunted at her partner. "There'll be two people unconscious if you don't shut up. Let's get him onto the bed.
Potts woke up a few minutes later. Erica and Yoshi had tied his hands and legs to keep him from running. The man's body shook as if there was an unlimited supply of energy just bursting to get out. His eyes continued to look around frantically.
"I'm not me. I'd never do what he said."
Erica sat down on the bed beside him. "What who said, Charlie?"
The man shouted in response. "Don't you know what it's like to not be you?"
She put her hand on his arm. "I actually know that feeling pretty well."
The human contact and the tone of Erica's voice seemed to calm the man down, but several other attempts at questions resulted in similarly c
ryptic remarks.
"We're getting nowhere." Yoshi tapped at the side of his head. "You know what you have to do."
Erica sighed. She avoided going inside the minds of crazy people whenever possible. She wouldn't describe it as a pleasant experience.
"Fine. But you're treating me to a cheeseburger afterwards. Damn teenage body is hungry every 20 minutes."
Yoshi agreed.
Erica shot a blue bolt of energy between her hands and moved toward Potts' head. "Don't worry, Mr. Potts. It'll all be over soon."
Potts screamed and Erica entered his mind.
All of a sudden, Erica was inside the hospital before the storm. Everything was white and pristine. She saw Charlie Potts walk around the corner at a breathtaking pace. Erica met his stride.
"Mr. Potts."
"Miss, you'll have to report to reception. I've got a meeting I'm only five minutes early for."
Erica laughed to herself. "I'll just tag along if that's alright."
"It's not."
Erica slowed her gait to stay a step or two behind the man. He entered a conference room, but before he could shut the door behind him, Erica wedged it open with her foot. The brightness of the hospital gave way to complete darkness. Erica could still see Potts' back, and he was speaking with someone, but it was unclear who it was.
Potts shouted at the individual. "You need to get out of this hospital!"
Before Erica could hear what the other person had to say, Potts collapsed to the ground and the scene before her changed.
Now they were deep in the hospital basement. Potts was muttering to himself, but nowhere near as much as he had been in his own house. He carried a large backpack.
"Destroy the hospital. I would never do that. Who am I?"
This time, Potts didn't complain that she walked by his side. "Who is making you destroy the hospital, Mr. Potts?"
"Kable's men think I'm a terrorist. I would never do this."
