by Amy Hale
The rest of the journey was slow and arduous. Darkness had fully settled in and they were relying on the dim moonlight to guide them. When they reached a small clearing, Jane put a hand up to indicate they needed to stop. She crouched down behind some tall weeds and maneuvered herself to a good vantage point. Kyler slipped up beside her and pointed above them.
“I’m gonna go up the tree. I should be able to see quite a bit from there,” he whispered.
She nodded then looked for Jeremy. He was behind them, watching her carefully for any instructions. She waved him forward and he joined her.
She spoke softly. “What do you think? Does that look right?”
Jeremy examined the area before them. “It does. Want me to run the parameter? See how big the building and grounds actually are?”
She nodded. “Just be as quiet as you can. Meet me back here, and we’ll compare your notes with what Kyler can see.”
He grinned at her and then was gone in the blink of an eye. Jane stayed on high alert, watching for any movement. She could see the building, although, it was dark and fairly nondescript. They might have missed it all together if they hadn’t been purposely looking for it. The road that led to the facility was on the opposite side, so they were coming at it from the back end.
Kyler quietly climbed down and sat next to her. “Where’s the boy wonder?”
“He went on a parameter check.”
Kyler nodded. “Are you going in for a closer look?”
“Yes, once Jeremy gets back.”
Within about five minutes, Jeremy had returned, breathing heavily. He bent over and put his hands on his knees. “It’s huge.” He sucked in another breath. “It makes the last place look like a shanty.”
Jane’s eyes raised in surprise. “Really? Are you counting all the underground rooms?”
“No. But we only know what they’ve got above ground, and the property is extensive. If there’s more underground…” He shook his head. “I don’t know how we’ll get in there.”
Kyler nodded toward movement in the distance. A man exited a small side door then lit a cigarette. The tip flared for a moment, then died back down to a dull glow as he took a puff. Kyler focused in on the man and picked up on his thoughts.
“Damn kids. I’ll be glad when this mess is over with. I’m tired of this night shift crap, although, that little blonde, Macy, is cute. With a little persuasion, she might make this part of the job fun.”
Kyler growled deep in his throat. “We gotta take that guy out. He’s planning to assault one of the girls.”
Jeremy frowned. “I almost forgot how much I hate these pricks.”
“It’s okay, guys,” she whispered. “We’ll stop them all soon.” She stood and brushed her hands off on the seat of her jeans. “Now it’s my turn. You guys know what to do?”
They both nodded.
She closed her eyes and stretched a hand out in front of her. Fog slowly began to build and thicken. It rolled in like the tide on a beach. The man smoking was soon overtaken by the dense vapor. The glow of his cigarette stood out for a mere moment before he dropped it to the ground and crushed it out.
“What the hell?” The man’s discomfort in such a sudden change was obvious as he turned and searched for the door handle.
Kyler moved in, clotheslining the man and landing him on his back with a thud. He wheezed as he struggled to regain the air that had just been knocked out of him. Kyler stood over him, fury etched in his features.
“Hello, Grant,” he whispered menacingly as he crouched over him.
Grant struggled to make out the face before him. When realization hit, he froze. “Kyler? Hey, man. It’s good to see you again.” He followed up with a nervous chuckle. “We’ve missed you.”
“Oh, I bet you have, you sadistic bastard.” Kyler reached down and picked Grant up by his shirt, lifting him to his feet. “If you don’t want me to kill you right where you stand, I suggest you look at me. In the eyes. Now.”
Kyler stared deep into Grant’s eyes, directing all his energy to the man’s mind. He then blinked and broke the connection. Grant blinked as well.
Kyler pushed him forward. “C’mon. You’re going to meet my friends.”
Jane had sprinted to the building once the fog had fully encompassed the area. She counted windows and doors, making mental notes as she did a patrol of the outer building. Reaching the final door, she carefully turned the handle and slipped inside, observing the surroundings. It resembled a small mud room. Coats, boots, and various other outdoor wear hung from pegs on the walls. She moved quietly to the door leading farther inside and pressed her ear against it. No movement could be heard beyond the door, so she tried to relax. With the lights off, she carefully moved closer to the exterior door and settled herself on a bench in the corner.
Taking a deep breath, Jane pulled a small baggie from her pocket. She opened the top and hesitantly reached in. Julia was a cruel and heartless woman on the best of days and Jane didn’t relish the idea of spending even a moment inside the woman’s head. Her fingers felt the cool, smooth fabric of Julia’s ribbon. Pushing back her fear, she grasped it tightly.
Light flooded her vision, almost blinding her. She blinked then looked around the noisy room. Everyone stared at her.
“Miss Julia? Are you okay?” asked a young girl, no older than seven.
She did it. She was Julia, or at least seeing through her eyes.
Julia stood and glared at the little girl. “Tessa, did I ask you to speak?”
The little girl fought back tears. “No, Ma’am.”
“Then don’t.” Julia shifted her gaze around the room. “Have all of you eaten today?”
The children nodded in unison. Julia kept her shrewd gaze locked on to one or two specific children. She knew what they were capable of if they didn’t stay sufficiently drugged, which was achieved through a meticulously-planned meal for each child.
Jane didn’t want anyone to pay for her intrusion, so she tried to send a thought to Julia, hoping the subtle suggestion would seem like it was her own.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure it worked and she held her breath. Julia studied the faces of her captives once more, then dismissed them. Grabbing a small two-way radio from a nearby table, she stalked to a door on the opposite side of the room.
Pushing the call button, she screamed into the radio. “Foster! Check the security cameras. Look for anything out of the ordinary. I’m on my way to the control room.”
A crackling sound erupted from the device in her hand, followed by a “Yes, Ma’am!”
Julia didn’t quite know what was happening, but she had a niggling suspicion she should check the entire building for intruders.
Colt waited in the shadows as he watched carefully for each of the scouting team to return to their meeting point. He understood why Jane conjured the fog, but it also made it hard as hell to keep an eye on all of them.
Kyler emerged from the thick, soupy mess with a man in tow. The man looked around nervously but didn’t try to escape. When they reached the rendezvous point, he gave the man a shove, sitting him on large rock.
Kyler leaned down in his face and pointed. “Don’t make a sound or move a muscle, got it?” The man nodded numbly.
Colt stepped out from his hiding spot and whispered Kyler’s name, causing him to turn around. He motioned for Colt to join him.
Once he joined Kyler, he looked at the stranger that sat staring into the fog.
“Who’s this?”
“Grant,” Kyler sneered the name, as if the very syllables disgusted him.
“What’s his story?” Colt asked cautiously.
Kyler glanced down at him in disgust. “He’s a pig that deserves to die, but I know Jane would frown upon that, so instead of killing him, I’ve taken over his mind.”
Colt took a step back. “You did what?”
“Don’t worry, Colt, I’ve never done it to anyone that didn’t deserve it. And I’ve never hurt anyone with
it, even if I was tempted here and there.”
“Damn. That’s just freaky, dude.”
Kyler laughed. “Yeah? So, not a chick magnet kind of trait? I’ll have to work on my muscles, I guess.”
Colt shot him a look.
“Hey, seems to work for you. When we get back you’ll have to teach me how to use a gym.”
Colt scanned the area for Jeremy and Jane. “Sure thing, man. Let’s just focus on getting back first.” He looked at his watch. “Where the hell are they? What was the plan?”
Kyler followed Colt’s gaze into the fog. “Jeremy is guarding the door Jane used to get inside. She’s getting us a floor plan, or something similar.”
“She’s inside? Is she nuts?” Colt fought the urge to go find her.
“I know man, it seems risky. But she knows what she’s doing. If her plan works, we’ll have everything we need and can head back.”
Colt started to fidget, impatient for this to be over. “How long did she plan to be in there? Do you have a back-up plan?”
Kyler opened his mouth, then promptly closed it. “No. She just said to stay here until they got back.”
Colt cursed then pointed to Grant. “You’ve got him. Surely he knows the layout. We don’t need her in there anymore. Get her out, Kyler. Get her out now, or I will.”
Kyler nodded and ran into the fog.
Jane kept a firm grip on the ribbon as she viewed the world through Julia’s eyes. The journey to the control room involved several sets of stairs and a maze of hallways. Julia had it memorized and never missed a turn as she navigated the layout. She pounded on a dark metal door, and it slid open. Julia pushed her way inside and barked orders.
“Get the video feeds working. Why are they all fuzzy?”
“Ma’am, that’s fog. It’s impossible to see anything in this mess.”
Julia growled. “Well get your asses outside and make sure everything is secure. I’m not taking any chances.”
Three of the four men scampered to follow her orders.
Jane remembered that Jeremy and Kyler were still outside. She willed Julia to hurry and look at blueprints or floor plans, anything that gave a clear outline of the layout, but all the woman did was sit there and fume, staring at the hazy monitors.
At that moment, a loud noise broke her concentration, and she dropped the ribbon. Looking up she saw the exterior door open and Kyler standing in the doorway.
“Jane? Are you in here?” His whispers were frantic.
“I’m here. Why did you interrupt me? I was almost there.”
“We have what we need. You need to get out of her now.”
“But how, Kyler? I still haven’t seen the layout?”
“Just… Dammit, Jane. Trust me on this. We have to go now. The fog is starting to fade, Jeremy has disappeared, and all hell is about to break loose.”
Jane’s senses went on high alert. “Where is Jeremy?”
“I dunno, but if you don’t get out here soon, Colt is gonna come in with guns blazing so get your ass out here now.”
“Colt?” Jane squeaked in confusion.
She reached down and felt for the ribbon she’d dropped but couldn’t locate it. Kyler made a grunting noise then entered the room and grabbed her hand.
“We don’t have time for this, Jane.” He pulled her out of the door and across the clearing.
Feeling her ire rise, she pulled to a stop once they got to their meeting spot. “Why in God’s name is Colt here?”
He stepped out from behind a tree. “Because I couldn’t let you do this alone.”
She looked at him and felt a mixture of relief and fury. Her happiness that he still cared warred with her anger that he put himself in danger when she’d asked him not to.
Colt didn’t move from his spot by the tree. He looked her over, assuring himself she was okay, then he turned and walked away.
“Kyler? What the hell is going on?”
He frowned. “I’m sorry. I knew he was following us, I just felt it was better if you didn’t know. Besides, we may need the back-up.”
She turned and looked into what was left of the slowly dissipating fog. “Why? What do you know?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know anything. It’s just a sense that I have, and I can’t shake it.”
Jane jumped when she saw Grant. “And him?” she asked.
Kyler waved it off like he was a trivial matter. “He’s taken care of. He’ll be helping us for a while.”
Jane started to grill him about that as well, but then realized they still didn’t know where Jeremy was.
“Kyler, can you sense Jeremy? Pick up on his thoughts?”
“No” he stated, “and that bothers me.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I can’t even do it when he’s standing next to me. It’s like he knows how to circumvent my infiltration.”
Just then, Kyler was hit with a force so strong it knocked him off of his feet. He hit the ground before anyone realized what had happened. The ground shook and dark tree roots pushed up through the ground, surrounding Kyler and binding him in place.
Colt had maneuvered himself behind Kyler and Jane to protect their backs. When he saw Kyler was down, he jumped into action, throwing his arms around Jane. He pulled her to him and raised his gun.
A voice floated from somewhere in the trees. “Do you really think that gun is going to do you any good here?”
Colt’s rage began to build. “Why don’t you step out from the shadows and we’ll find out, Jeremy.”
Jane gasped. “Jeremy? What are you doing? What did you do to Kyler?”
Jeremy now stood in front of them, the movement so fast that Colt barely saw it. He looked at Jane with disappointment in his eyes.
“Kyler will be fine. He’s just immobile at the moment.”
Kyler struggled beneath his bonds, as if to prove Jeremy’s point.
“Why, Jeremy?” Jane implored. Her heart breaking at his apparent betrayal.
“Why? What do you see when you look at me? Do you see a man with infinite gifts and the whole world at his feet?” He started to pace in front of them. “No, what you see is the young guy who was mercilessly beaten by his gifted peers, day in and day out, simply because he wasn’t as strong as the others.” He released a small laugh. “That takes a toll on a person you know. Messes with their sanity a bit.”
He bent down and picked up a stone then stood and rolled it around in his hand. He focused his attention on Jane again. “But, as it turns out, I’m stronger than everyone thought. With each recovery period I learned to push myself a little harder and strengthen myself a little more. I evolved. Adapted.”
Jeremy tossed the stone in the air and caught it. “Do you know what I was doing when you found me? I was planning to find The Curators and make them pay. Especially my uncle. Oh, I had big plans for him. It wasn’t until I heard you’d killed him that I decided to rethink my strategy.”
Colt gripped Jane a little tighter. “Your uncle was Professor Russell?”
“Yeah. He was a piece of work, wasn’t he? Using his own nephew like a piece of meat, tossing me to the dogs every chance he got.” Jeremy shook his head. “The only thing that disappoints me more than not witnessing his death, is not getting to kill him myself. I would have made it slow and painful.”
He threw the rock to one side and stepped closer. “Then you walked back into my life. My beautiful, gifted Alice. But you’ve changed more than just your name. You became a force to be reckoned with. I like that. It’s pretty sexy.”
Colt inhaled a furious breath and Jane rubbed a comforting hand on his waist. She was trying to secretly produce a shield around the three of them, but for some reason, it wasn’t working.
“Ah, now, Colt. You can’t really believe other men don’t think about her. That’s just naive and stupid. But you won’t need to worry about that much longer. I’m going to give you some options.”
Jeremy whistled and Gregory emerged from the shadows. “You can turn her over
to me peacefully, and I’ll let you and Kyler go, or we can duel it out, just like in the old days. Honor among gentleman and all that rot.”
Jane spoke up. “Jeremy, what is this really about. It’s not about your feelings for me, so why do you want me with you?”
Gregory snickered and Jeremy gave him an amused glance. “Well, you have me there. It’s not all about you and me. I also need you to build my own organization. One that will not only defeat this one, but be bigger, better, and stronger than anything the world has ever seen.” His eyes flashed in excitement. “Imagine, Jane! A world where we ran things. My uncle had the right idea, he just didn’t have the gifts to execute it, so he tried to use us, instead. But I have the gifts, the knowledge, and the drive to make it work.”
“It’s never gonna happen, Jeremy. Those kids inside? They’ll never join you.”
“Oh, they just might. They hate these scumbags at least as much as the rest of us. But if their morals attempt to take over, we can force them.”
She laughed bitterly. “So you’d do to them the very thing that made you hate The Curators?”
“Not exactly. There are more efficient ways of getting cooperation. Grant here is a perfect example.” He looked at Kyler.
“No way in hell would I help you!” spat Kyler as he worked once again to break free of his wooden prison.
“You don’t get it. I don’t need you Kyler, though it would be great to have you on the team. No, you aren’t necessary. Not when I have your twin.”
Kyler froze. “She’d never help you either.”
Jeremy turned to face Gregory. “Did Elana come willingly?”
“She did when I told her I’d captured her brother and would only release him if she cooperated.”
Kyler’s rage overtook him and he began to thrash on the ground. Tears ran down Jane’s face. She turned to Colt. “They’ll hurt her, Colt. They’ll hurt them all. I have to do as he says.”
