Fear Darkness (The Fear Chronicles Book 3)

by C. C. Bolick

  * * * * *

  Fifteen minutes later, Agent Dallas walked into the room where we sat around the table. She held some type of radio, which she slammed on the table.

  “I can’t call headquarters. Satellite communication is down again. I don’t know what we can do about the solar flares.”

  “Solar flares?” I asked.

  “Interference from the sun,” she said. “The flares have been wreaking havoc on communications for months now.”

  “I need a way back to Atlanta,” I said. “Van left me here and I’m starting to think he did it for a reason.”

  “To protect you,” Rachelle said. “They insisted on protecting me and I ended up here.”

  Hannah finished a second biscuit. “Atlanta isn’t the best place to visit this time of year. I suggest we try New York.”

  Agent Dallas’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re really trying to stir up trouble.”

  “What’s in New York?” I asked.

  Rachelle laughed. “A better question is who’s in New York.”

  I rolled my eyes. “This is getting us nowhere.”

  “No patience in these younger agents,” Hannah said.

  “First of all, I’m not an agent,” I said. “Second of all, if it seems like I have a lack of patience, it’s probably because Louis kidnapped my family and no one wants to help. I found out my own mother is a liar.”

  “What did she lie about?” Hannah asked.

  “She told me Louis is my father. Erin did a DNA test and proved it’s really Dad. He’s been my dad all along. DNA doesn’t lie but obviously she does.”

  “Who’s Erin?” Agent Dallas asked.

  “The new doctor Sylvia hired. But that’s not all. I’ve also lost the man I love. Travis was kidnapped from his room on the isolation floor.”

  “Please don’t say you told him you love him.” Agent Dallas groaned. “You’re too much like your mother and I don’t care to hear about your precious feelings. Haven’t you ever heard of playing hard to get? Guys like a challenge.”

  “She’s a straight-shooter,” Hannah said. “That part of her I like.”

  “Yes.” Agent Dallas’s lips curved into a smile as she watched me. “All I’m asking is that you stop sobbing over the guy and do something about it.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “You got Van to bring you here,” Hannah said. “Why didn’t you insist he find Travis first?”

  Agent Dallas jabbed her fork in Hannah’s direction. “She has a point. If you want to survive as an agent, you’ve got to start using your head.”

  “I don’t want to be an agent.”

  Hannah and Agent Dallas exchanged a glance. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Hannah said.

  Agent Dallas stood. “I’ll probably regret this, but I’ve got a way to get you back to Atlanta.”

  “But I want to save—”

  She held up a hand. “One thing at a time. I don’t have the resources to take on Louis, but I can get you to Atlanta and help plead your case.”

  “You would do that? Even after I was mean to you?”

  “We do what’s right, even when it’s not what we want. It’s part of being an agent.”

  I stood and followed her down the hall and through the door at the kitchen’s other end. It opened into a room large enough to hold a small plane.

  She extended a hand upward. “Here’s your transportation.”

  “You’re kidding me.” I turned to Agent Dallas in shock. “You can fly this?”

  “How do you think we got here?”

  “I didn’t know.”

  Agent Dallas grinned. “I spent ten years in the Air Force before joining the agency. Flew missions in combat zones, all of which are classified. I can get you back to Atlanta.”

  “New York City first,” Hannah said from the doorway. “I think we should pay our favorite senator a visit.”

  Chapter Eight

  Travis

  The next morning, sunlight poured through windows along one wall of my room. The horizon felt strange with one sun at twelve o’clock and another at three. How long had I been out?

  My clothes had been changed. No longer was I trapped in the white outfit that made me look like a mental patient. Now I wore a black uniform of some sort. There was nothing fancy about the outfit, which was a pair of black pants and a black shirt. No belt. The pants had pockets on the sides but not the back. Next to the bed sat the boots Dad gave me on the ship.

  Rubbing my chin, I wondered if there was any way to shave here. Dad wore a beard but Tyler kept the hair on his chin short, professional. I’d never known my old partner to wear a full beard and that didn’t change when he left Earth.

  I thought about my powers and tried to teleport across the room. Nothing. How long would the serum last this time?

  Having my powers taken made me feel violated. It was different when Van gave me the serum. I drank the purple liquid, making the choice to get rid of my powers. I held out my hands. No longer would I burn another person’s skin by touching them.

  For a moment, I sat in the warm sunlight and let myself enjoy being powerless. I could only hope Dad was truthful when he promised to take me back to Earth.

  When a knock came from the door, I thought about not answering. The knock came again.

  I opened the door and Tyler waited outside in the same green uniform as the day before. “It’s strange to see you in green. I can’t believe you traded in the black.”

  “Comes with the job,” he said. “I was waiting for you to hit me.”

  “Maybe after breakfast.”

  “You’re hungry? Good, I ordered us food from the kitchen.”

  “Kitchen?”

  He nodded. “This palace is like a hotel. They have people on staff to cook all of the meals. The palace guards live here and room and board are provided.”

  “Do you get paid?” I asked.

  “Better than I did at the agency, believe it or not. The queen doesn’t skimp on her version of the Secret Service.”

  I wondered how Tyler ended up with the job, but I’d wait for him to tell me. He led me down a long hall with simple metal doors like mine. The walls were the color of wood glue and the hall wide enough for a truck. The ceilings rose at least twelve feet above us. The elevator had a familiar feel except for the glass. “Do they put the black glass on everything?”

  “Just about,” Tyler said.

  After the elevator, he took me down another hall, this one only wide enough for the two of us to walk side-by-side. The sparse decorations seemed out of place for a palace, but the simplicity felt modern. Tyler stopped at a room that held a wooden table with eight chairs. Several bowls of food were spread across the center.

  “I like to eat here,” he said. “It feels like home.”

  Home. At least he didn’t consider this planet home yet. At one end of the table to my right, Charlene sat in a green uniform like Tyler’s. To her side sat a man in a black suit.

  She looked up and smiled. “Travis, this is my husband.”

  Her husband, but no name? I was too tired to ask, as if I’d care once this crap mission was over. His suit could have been worn by any businessman on Earth. He looked toward the doorway as a younger man entered the room, also in green.

  She waved a hand at him. “This is my son. I’m sure you’ve seen him before.”

  Charlene didn’t have to tell me her son’s name; the agency had a file on Pade. He walked past me with barely a nod and dropped into a chair at the other end of the table. With a wave of his hand, a cup of what looked like coffee appeared on the table.

  “Sorry,” Charlene said. “My son seems to have forgotten his manners.”

  “Bad day,” Pade said.

  “Already?” she asked. “It’s only breakfast.”

  I thought of the agency’s file on Pade. Angel had grown up with him in the same small town where Sylvia hid most of the agency’s secrets, including a family from another planet. Charlene raised
her kids on Earth until the day she took them from normal human lives to this strange place.

  Pade stayed and never returned to Earth, even though Charlene visited on occasion. I shivered to think that could easily happen to me. No, I wasn’t getting stuck here. For more than twenty years, other agents had talked about Charlene. Her shooting skills were legendary.

  Tyler took the seat across from Charlene and I sat next to him.

  “I made sure they brought extra food,” Pade said.

  “Awesome.” Tyler bit into something that looked like French toast. “Can’t get over the way this food tastes. Everything seems backward here.” He motioned to the empty plate before me. “You should eat something. It’s going to be a long day.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Are you still mad at me? You were warned about trying to use your powers.”

  “Dad told me to play nice,” I said. “You know me better than that.”

  Tyler laughed, a sound I’d missed hearing. Charlene grinned and drank from a cup of yellow liquid.

  Maybe skipping breakfast was a bad idea. I reached for my fork.

  “You’ll like being on Golvern,” Tyler said. “No diseases. No need to worry about—”

  “How do they stop the spread of diseases?” I asked.

  “By cleaning everyone who visits. I had you pressure-washed after knocking you out last night.”

  “That’s not funny,” I said.

  He grinned. “Coming here has been good for me. I’m finally getting my head straight.”

  I wondered if anyone else at the table knew what got his head out of whack. Between his betrayal of the agency and the way he couldn’t stop thinking about Erin… I lowered the fork. He probably had no idea Sylvia brought Erin to the agency. A few words from me would wipe that smile off Tyler’s face.

  “Something bothering you, Travis?” Charlene’s husband asked.

  “No.” The way he watched me gave me the creeps. He and Pade looked alike, but the older man reminded me of Van. I reached for a plate of something that appeared to be bacon. The meat chewed like rubber and tasted like syrup. I looked around for somewhere to spit the meat but ended up swallowing it instead.

  “You’ll get used to the flavor,” Tyler said.

  I shook my head. “That tasted like pure sugar. I gave up most forms of sugar when I started training to be an agent.”

  “You’ll fit in great here,” Charlene said. “Sugar is a delicacy almost never added to food.”

  “I told you I should have cooked,” Pade said. “He’s not used to this food.”

  “You have more important duties,” his father said.

  Maybe I wasn’t the only one stuck with high expectations. With a groan, I reached for a bowl of fruit that looked like pineapple. “You cook in addition to guard duty?”

  “I’m not a bad cook,” Pade said. “Maybe I’ll show you how good food can taste here.”

  “I won’t be staying that long.” The fruit tasted like strawberries. “It’s weird to see yellow strawberries.”

  “What’s your plan?” Pade asked with a yawn, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

  “I meet with the queen and find out what she wants. As soon as I get the chance, I’m out of here.”

  “What if she wants you to stay?” he asked.

  “I’m not staying.”

  “You’re part of this place even if you don’t realize it yet,” Charlene said.

  I stood and shoved back my chair. “I’ve had enough to eat.”

  Pade stood and faced me. “When you see the queen today, you’ll treat her with respect.”

  “Or what?” I asked. “If you’re going to make threats, you better hope your aim is as good as your mom’s.”

  For a moment we stared at each other. Pade moved first, with a sharp punch aimed at my chest. I ducked and spun, hooking his arm in mine and dropping him to the floor on his back.

  Pade swore when his head hit the floor. “You’ve got to teach me that move.”

  Tyler jumped to his feet and raced to my side. He grabbed my arm before I could pull another punch. “You’ve made your point.”

  “Let him go,” Pade said. “We’re not finished.”

  Reluctantly, Tyler released me. “You two have to find a way to get along.”

  “I didn’t like you when you were friends with Skip and Angel,” I said to Pade. “I like you even less now.”

  Charlene’s husband walked around the table and leaned over us. “I needed a good laugh. That was worth putting up with your attitude. We should invite Travis to every meal.”

  Tyler held out a hand to Pade.

  Pade ignored Tyler’s hand and pushed himself up to stand. “Travis fights as good as you said, but I don’t trust him.” Tyler opened his mouth and Pade said, “Yet. He must prove where his loyalties lie.”

  With a gun in my hand, I’d show him a thing or two about my loyalties. “My dad said—”

  He glared at me. “I don’t trust your dad.”

  “Do you trust anyone?” I asked. “How about Van?”

  Pade gave me an evil look and stormed out of the room.

  Tyler shrugged. “I guess I should get you ready to meet the queen.”

  * * * * *

  After less than thirty minutes with Pade, I knew we’d come to blows again. I didn’t care for his attitude and he made no attempt to hide the fact he didn’t like me.

  Tyler seemed genuinely disturbed that Pade and I didn’t hit it off.

  “If you think he needs a friend,” I said, “you hang out with him. I’m going to meet this queen and get the hell off this planet.”

  “You really think it’s that easy?”

  “Just watch.”

  He put a hand over his mouth. Was that laughter? I didn’t speak to Tyler again as he led me to a throne room out of a movie. Every lavish decoration possible was in this room. If it was metal, it was gold or platinum. Even the floor seemed paved with gold.

  The room sat empty except for one person—the queen on her throne. She sat with her hands on the armrests to her sides. With her head held high, a huge crown of platinum and glittering diamonds seemed heavy enough to weigh her down, but she didn’t move. Beneath the crown were layers of fabric that weaved around the sides of her face and fell down the front of her glittering blue dress. Hair the color of snow peeked out from beneath the fabric. With the heavy makeup that made her skin shine, I couldn’t make out her features beyond the intense blue eyes.

  Tyler stopped at the end of a red carpet that stretched across the floor in front of her. He knelt. “Your Highness. This is Travis Payne.”

  All the things I planned to say evaporated as I opened my mouth. Should I bow for her? Instead of moving, I stood transfixed by the strange scene before me.

  “Leave us,” she said.

  Tyler stood and bowed, then turned away from us, leaving the room without a sound.

  “Your friend has spoken highly of you,” she said.

  “You speak English?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t figure out your accent. You don’t sound like the other people I’ve met here.”

  “Growing up, I didn’t always live in this palace. As queen-to-be, someone who could see the future said I’d unite the people of this planet. As on Earth, some people here don’t appreciate unity, like some fail to see the beauty of peace.”

  “Another person who could see the future?”

  “Your father’s brother.”

  I remembered my conversation with Dad. This was my chance to play nice and make Dad proud. “You owe him a debt.”

  “Raymond was strong like you. He died while protecting me. I owe him the greatest debt.” She stood and walked down five golden steps, stopping a few feet from me. “I heard you lost your powers.”

  “A stupid mistake.”

  “Yes.” She moved closer, lifting a hand with a glove that stretched to her elbow. Slowly, she peeled back the glove until her hand was bare. I clo
sed my eyes as she touched my cheek.

  I held myself rigid while it felt as if her eyes burned into me. Few people had touched me, especially in recent months. When the warmth of her hand faded, I opened my eyes. “What did you see?”

  “Rena. You had a chance to show her how you felt.”

  “Had? That would be my past not my future.”

  She smiled. “The time line I see is not always linear.”

  “I showed her respect.”

  “And restraint?”

  The red burning my cheeks felt dumb. “I love Rena. I wasn’t going to take advantage of her.”

  “You’ve earned her respect. If the opportunity presents itself again, don’t tell her all the reasons you should wait.”

  My mind spun as I thought about her invasion of my privacy. The one thing I’d kept to myself was my feelings for Rena. It wasn’t the business of a queen or anyone else. “You didn’t bring me here to talk about Rena.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “You want me for my powers.”

  She took my hand and opened my palm. “You have no powers.”

  “Not now, but when the serum wears off, they’ll be back. I’ll have to live with this curse again.”

  The queen watched my face. “Your powers are a gift.”

  “If you think so, find a way to take them away. You can have my powers.”

  She slid her glove back on. “I have enough powers of my own. I respect the gifts I’ve been given.”

  I ran a hand through my hair. This wasn’t the time to get upset, not when I was so close to convincing her I wasn’t fit for the job she had in mind. “I never asked for the powers.”

  “You have the potential to use your powers to save people.”

  “I don’t want the ability to kill someone simply by touching their skin. Can you help me get rid of that power?”

  “The serum I sent took your powers.”

  “For two days. Can you erase this power permanently?”

  “There is no way to pick and choose your gifts. You must give up all of your powers.”

  I considered losing my ability to teleport and see the future. “If I agree, then what?”

  She hesitated. “Don’t you need time to consider this choice?”