The Hidden Gift

by Ian Somers

  ‘Why did you come here, Edward?’ she asked as we passed along the pavement towards the town centre. ‘When you left I thought you were nothing more than a cold blooded killer.’

  ‘But you thought more of me before that outburst, am I right?’

  ‘You are more,’ she admitted, almost ashamedly. ‘Although it’s hard to forget your tantrums when you have been on the receiving end of one.’

  ‘I have apologised.’

  ‘And I haven’t run away.’

  We reached a corner and Dr Walters told me to wait there while she fetched her car. I was suspicious at first, but she explained that the car park attendants would stare if I came with her.

  She reappeared a few moments later and drove across the street and parked the car. I retrieved the Kinetibike and followed her to the house she rented in one of the suburbs. I scanned the house, and the street, before climbing off the bike and following her to the front door.

  Walters was even more nervous when we were alone and in a confined space. She brought me down the short hallway to the sitting room, then flicked on the lights and sat on a chair near the blackened fireplace. I sat on an identical seat opposite her and was reminded of the night I killed Bentley’s father. The seating arrangement. The room. The house. The family portraits. The similarities were very striking. Even the mood in the room was tinged with fear like it had been on that night in Maybrook.

  ‘I have worried about you,’ Walters admitted, fidgeting with an imaginary object in her hands. ‘I was worried about what you’d do, but also worried for you. I hear whispers in the corridors of the clinic about people like you – the gifted – and how they have a secret war. That they hunt each other.’

  ‘I would rather not discuss it.’ I leaned back in the chair. My right knee was twitching. Fear was as new as sorrow to me and I felt it every time I thought of the Guild’s hit squads and what they might subject me to if I was caught.

  ‘You’re struggling with the new emotions, aren’t you?’

  ‘Struggling with the sudden lack of anger.’

  ‘It will return soon enough. Somehow you used up all the Hyper-furens in your brain, but the drug is self replicating and right now your system is being flooded with it once again. The rage will return very soon.’

  ‘Then I must leave you very soon, doctor. I would not risk a repeat of what happened before I left the clinic. I simply wanted to speak with you while I could reason properly, and feel the emotions that have been so often hidden inside me.’

  ‘What do you feel, Edward?’

  ‘Regret mostly. I cannot remain here for much longer even though I wish I could. I would like you to know, doctor, that I am not simply a monster. I am not only a tin man without a heart. I was once more than that and perhaps I can be again.’

  ‘You’ll have to avoid your enemies until I can find a version of the Hyper-furens that suppresses the anger.’

  ‘How long could it take?’

  ‘I have no answer to that question. I am not a chemist and I don’t even know if it’s possible to create a strain of the drug tailored to your specific requirements. But there may be a formula stored in the vaults that might work. It’ll take me some time to find out. Here,’ she hopped off her chair and went to the table her handbag was lying on. She delved into it and took a mobile phone to me. ‘Take this. At least that way I can contact you when I have found another formula.’

  I stood and there was just a fleeting hint of a smile as I looked down on her pretty face. It felt so good to be close to her. I felt human as I watched her eyes portray her genuine concern. Perhaps it was more than just concern … It did feel good to be human.

  It was nothing more than a dream, though, and could not last for much longer. There was a good chance this would be the last time I would ever feel such emotions. The drug they had injected into me would not be going away and the most skilled killers on the planet were probably already searching for me. I decided to end the dream in the nicest possible way and kissed Walters with my scarred lips. She did not flinch. That was the best part.

  I took the phone from her hand and thanked her before walking to the door. I paused on the porch for a moment and scanned the street before walking to the bike. I hit 500kmph as I reached the first of the motorways leading away from the city.

  Walters was correct when she said the Hyper-furens would renew itself and once it did, the anger would re-emerge. I was seething as I reached the country house. All I could think of was the Guild and how they had murdered Ania and disfigured me. The anger was so potent that it made my body shake and my brain throb inside my skull. I began to pace from one dark room to another, thinking of my next attack. One that would strike deep into the heart of the Guild.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Demolition Squad

  We passed the rest of that night discussing our plan to demolish the Golding Plaza hotel. I spent the next morning trying to convince Cathy to get involved, even just as a getaway driver. She refused at first, but by midday she relented and we had our five-person demolition squad. Ballentine was calling the shots and he decided we should hit the hotel just after nightfall – approximately 7pm. The timing was decided on mostly because light-tuners operate best in darkness, but also because London would still be very busy at that time and it would take the authorities longer to get organised after we called in the bomb scare.

  Mr Williams seemed to be an expert on every subject, and destroying a building was no exception. Hunter and Ballentine had brought down buildings before, but on a much smaller scale. Between the three they had a fairly solid and detailed plan to weaken the structure enough for it to collapse under its own weight. I provided them with all the details I could remember from my time in the hotel, none of which were pleasant to recount, and it was decided that the underground car park would be the focal point of our attack.

  We would have to knock out as many of the smaller pillars as possible, then find one of the main support pillars and break it. That would be enough to make the hotel fold inward like a giant accordion. Once that was done, Cathy would make a phone call to the house and Mr Williams in turn would make a call to Golding’s people. What would happen after that was anyone’s guess.

  We hit the road at 5pm, taking one of the unmarked 4x4s from Mr Williams’ animal sanctuary. Cathy drove while the rest of us checked and double checked all the details of the plot. At 6pm, as we were approaching London, a phone call came through to the one mobile that we had with us. It was from Mr Williams and he informed us that he had called the police and told them that a massive, thousand-pound bomb was in one of the rooms of the hotel, that it was remotely operated, and to get everyone, including police, out of the area before it was detonated. The wheels had been set in motion and there was no turning back.

  We reached London half an hour later and couldn’t get within two miles of the hotel. Dozens of police officers were turning away any vehicle trying to approach, which had been expected. Police cars were tearing through the roads and siren-blasts mixed with panic-stricken voices filled the evening air. It was chaos with hordes of pedestrians hurrying away from the scene. I thought of the harrowing scenes I’d witnessed in Portsmouth and felt a pang of anxiety in my lower chest. I was hopeful, though, that this time there would be no nasty surprises and that no innocent people would get hurt.

  Hunter began directing Cathy through the side streets and eventually we came to a small car-valet garage that was hidden from view of the main streets nearby. The staff had bolted as soon they heard about the bomb and Cathy parked up on the deserted forecourt and the rest of us disembarked.

  ‘Cathy,’ Hunter said, leaning into the open window next to her, ‘7.30pm and you’re out of here. You leave with or without us.’

  ‘I’m not going to leave without any of you,’ she retorted. ‘Maybe that’s the way you operate – it’s not my way, Hunter. And it wasn’t my dad’s way.’

  ‘I’m not debating this with you, young lady,’ he snapped
. ‘We don’t know what we’re going to run into at the hotel. It wouldn’t even surprise me if Golding guessed we’d do something like this and had a few assassins stationed around here.’

  ‘You’re just being paranoid.’

  ‘Don’t wait a second past 7.30. I mean it.’

  He stormed away from the vehicle and we followed him along the narrow, cobbled street towards the hotel I said I’d never return to, even if my life depended on it.

  ‘You don’t really think he’d place assassins in the hotel, do you?’ I asked him as I moved to his side.

  ‘We’re dealing with Paul Golding,’ he replied with a shake of his head. ‘I thought you’d have a fair idea of how devious he is by now.’

  ‘He won’t be expecting us to hit the hotel,’ Ballentine boasted. ‘Cathy was right; Hunter’s just being paranoid.’

  ‘Whatever you say, Dominic. You’re the one who’ll be in the firing line.’

  ‘Let us keep our minds on the task at hand,’ Ballentine said. ‘This is a civilian hotel, full of tourists, and I don’t see any reason for there to be trouble apart from some security guards, and they will not be stupid enough to hang about after a bomb scare. Golding doesn’t pay his employees handsomely, remember.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ Hunter said. ‘I really do.’

  We cut through a maze of narrow alleyways as we made our way to the hotel. They were all empty apart from one. A cat watched us passing and the hair on its back stood on end when I met its gaze. I found this very odd, seeing as though Canavan had us cloaked.

  ‘You sure we’re invisible?’ I asked her. ‘That cat just looked me dead in the eye.’

  ‘Body refraction doesn’t work on cats,’ she replied. ‘That’s the first lesson light-tuners learn during their training.’

  ‘Quiet,’ Ballentine whispered. ‘Both of you.’

  We soon came to the broad street that the hotel was on. I found myself only yards from the spot where Romand had been standing when he first made contact with me. I wished he was still with us.

  ‘Right,’ Ballentine said. ‘Hunter and Canavan, it’s time for you to work your magic.’

  The light-tuners didn’t waste any time, and from the entrance of the alleyway they built a maze of towering mirrors. This was to delay any police who tried to enter the hotel. Basically, when anyone approached the hotel they wouldn’t see it; they would see the reflection of another nearby building. It would delay them long enough for Ballentine and me to do our work. When the light-tuners finished creating the house of mirrors, and had blocked off all approaches to the Golding Plaza, it was time for us to move.

  ‘I’ll cloak you both as you enter,’ Hunter said to us. ‘You’ll be invisible until you get inside. After that, you’re on your own.’

  Ballentine allowed me to lead the way as I knew the hotel all too well. We moved forward with no hesitation, knowing that Hunter’s ability to bend light around us would keep us safe. I darted across the eerily quiet street and headed for the entrance ramp that led to the large underground car park.

  Once inside, the cloak gave way and we were visible again. We moved amid the lines of vehicles at a cautious pace, watching for any movement. Once we were sure there was no one left in the car park, Ballentine took control of the situation and he pointed out certain pillars that I would have to crush. We wouldn’t get started until we’d decided which of the main load-bearing pillars were to be broken; these were the pivotal ones that would collapse the many floors above us.

  ‘There,’ he said pointing at wide, grey pillar that was about six feet wide on all sides. ‘That one should be enough, as long as we can take out a handful of the smaller ones surrounding it.’

  ‘Shall I begin?’

  ‘I think it would be wise to wait until I create a shield strong enough to protect us from a thousand tonnes of concrete, don’t you?’

  He smiled at me and I was just about to smile back when I felt a stinging sensation in my brain; my precognitive gift was suddenly in riot.

  ‘Something isn’t right,’ I said to Ballentine. ‘We’re not alone.’

  He didn’t even have time to respond to my warning. I felt an attack and I turned to my left and released a wave that deflected a volley of automatic gun fire. The bullets cracked off the wave and ricocheted around us, some striking the high ceiling, others dashing the bodywork of the cars.

  We scrambled for cover. I ran into the shadow of the large pillar and Ballentine backed up against a car and crouched low. The gun fire kept coming. Thankfully we were unharmed; my colleague created one of his impenetrable shields and the bullets sparked brightly as they bounced off it. He emerged from his hiding place and marched forward into the face of the gunfire. He was unscathed and I followed him into the fray.

  Then our attacker was revealed. He was positioned behind the pillars on the far side of car park, nothing more than a shadow at first behind the bright flashes from the muzzle of the gun. Ballentine’s defensive shield enveloped me as it grew. Cars were pushed away by it as he moved towards the assailant.

  ‘I’ll protect us,’ he shouted over the loud echoing gun shots, ‘you take him out once you build up enough strength.’

  ‘Got it,’ I shouted back.

  Then the assassin made what appeared at first to be a costly error. He dashed forward from his position of cover towards a line of cars. I reacted swiftly and fired a dart of kinetic energy at him. He was struck flush in the chest and was knocked off his feet. The impact should have killed him, but to my horror he rolled across the dusty floor and then bounced up onto his feet and began firing again.

  ‘What just happened?’ Ballentine roared at me.

  ‘I don’t know. That shot should have broken him in two!’

  Ballentine halted his approach then backed away. It wasn’t wise to keep pushing on when we didn’t know what we were actually dealing with. Our retreat spurred the shadowy figure to move towards us. I got a good look at him, and realised it wasn’t a ‘he’ after all. He was actually a she. She was tall and slender, had a very elegant way of moving – almost like a cat – and was wearing long grey boots, black leggings, and a long, black cape with a neck cowl and a hood that was covering her head and hiding her face.

  She kept firing at us; the bullets were unable to pierce the shield and she ceased firing. I watched her taking some small objects from under her cape and she threw them in our direction. Suddenly there were loud bangs and a blinding light. Ballentine was taken by surprise and his shield gave way.

  Bullets whizzed by my ear as the assassin began shooting once more. Ballentine and I darted for the cover of one of the large pillars and crouched low to the ground.

  ‘I’ve never seen anyone capable to taking a psychokinetic hit like that before,’ I panted.

  ‘Neither have I,’ Ballentine said. ‘I’ll have to take more heed of Hunter’s paranoia in future. We have been delayed too long as it is. Let’s show this assassin what agents of the Guild are made of, shall we?’

  ‘Hell, yeah.’

  He didn’t waste any time and got to his feet and built a new shield around himself. Bullets bounced off the invisible barrier and Ballentine took a moment to pin-point the assassin. She was trying to flank us and was out in the open, away from the cover of the lines of parked vehicles. Ballentine pumped his fist into the air and the assassin was knocked off her feet. Just as before she was relatively unharmed and was quickly climbing off the floor. This time, however, she felt the full force of Ballentine’s psychokinesis and was blasted into the air and was sent smashing into the windscreen of a car.

  I was about to send a volley of energy at her, but she lobbed a flash-bang grenade in our direction and momentarily stunned Ballentine. I had sensed the attack and made a dash to another line of cars as the bright flash went off. I summoned as much power as I could then threw my arms in the air. Cars on both sides of me were dragged off the ground and tumbled forward. The assassin dropped her gun instantly and raised her arms.
The cars struck a shield she had created and spun around the floor. Car alarms were going off all over the place and I could barely hear myself think. The noise distracted me and I was almost killed when the attacker lifted and threw a motorcycle at me.

  I leapt out of its way and pushed energy out of my hands and aimed it at a car in front of me. It was bumped into the air and I hit it with another wave that propelled it across the cavernous room. It came down with a loud crash and I believed I’d put an end to the duel.

  I was wrong, and narrowly avoided an energy spear that crushed a car right next to me. I retaliated and the assassin was knocked to the ground yet again. This time I heard her moan. She’d finally been hurt, and tried to make a run for it.

  She was all out of luck. Ballentine managed to bring down part of the ceiling that fell right on top of her as she fled. We held a quick search of the car park; there were no more mysterious assassins, then we went to the body of our attacker and stooped over her. On closer inspection we saw that it was not simply a cape that she was wearing. It was almost like chain mail with a nylon fabric covering it to make it look like it was a normal garment.

  ‘So, that’s how he did it,’ I said under my breath.

  ‘Zalech?’

  ‘Yeah, he must have been wearing something like this when I fought him in Portsmouth. That’s why he wasn’t hurt when I attacked him.’

  ‘We should take this cape with us,’ Ballentine said. ‘The Guild will have to know more about technology that renders basic psychokinetic attacks impotent. Golding has been a busy bee of late.’

  Ballentine ripped the unusual cape from the assassin and her face was revealed. She was quite young and very beautiful, nothing like I had expected her to be. Her green eyes stared vacantly at us and her mouth was open and full of blood.

  ‘Irena,’ Ballentine said. ‘You foolish girl.’

  ‘You knew her?’

  ‘Yes. Her name is Irena Hofer. We tried to convince her to join the Guild two years ago, she refused because there was no money in it for her. We warned her that others would try to recruit her, but she was dismissive and said that if they paid well she would work for them.’