Fear Darkness (The Fear Chronicles Book 3)

by C. C. Bolick

  Sylvia took the bill. “You described the catalyst as an acid of some type.”

  “Skip helped me review the files on other known powers. With his photographic memory, we finished in two hours. His gift is amazing.”

  I wondered if Sylvia would mention Tyler. “Did you find anything in the files? Has there ever been someone with this type of power?”

  “Yes,” Erin said. “The closest DNA component I could find was Travis. His skin secretes a similar acid, although more caustic.”

  Sylvia’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She answered and listened for a full minute before hanging up. Her face gave away nothing. “Maybe this boy’s DNA will provide a breakthrough. I promised Travis I would do everything in my power to help him live a normal life.” Her eyes met mine. “We all know he can’t live a normal life while unable to touch another person.”

  I swallowed the pain in my throat. Maybe Sylvia cared more than she admitted.

  Sylvia turned to Erin. “Were you able to review Rachelle’s case?”

  “Her file is on my desk.” Erin walked into the office.

  “I hope you aren’t lying about her job,” I said.

  “Why would I lie?” Sylvia lowered her voice so that Erin couldn’t hear. “We need her skills.”

  “Which has nothing to do with Tyler,” I whispered.

  Sylvia straightened. “Let me make one thing clear. I may have gone to that hospital in Chicago undecided, but Dr. Watts was on our radar long before I read her file. Within an hour of meeting Erin, I knew I had to have her for my team, despite the connection with Tyler.”

  “Are you saying you wouldn’t have hired her if—”

  “I’m saying her past with my grandson wasn’t a recommendation. Her skills for the job were.”

  Inside the office, Erin answered the phone on her desk. Her hands moved as she spoke, as if she was drawing a picture.

  “What about the interview process?” I asked.

  “Erin is a genius, but I needed to be sure she could work well with the other agents. I knew if she could get along with you, she’d get along with anyone at this base.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Thanks a lot.”

  “I’m glad she agreed to take the job.”

  “You didn’t give her a choice.”

  Erin stepped into the hall and handed Sylvia a folder.

  Sylvia opened the folder. “Give me a summary without the medical jargon.”

  “We completed two scans after Rachelle arrived. Her brain is deteriorating faster than anyone realized.”

  My heart sank. “Deteriorating?” I thought back to when Angel said there was something about Rachelle’s power I needed to know.

  Erin held Sylvia’s gaze. “I’ve reviewed time stamps on the previous scans. Every time she uses her power, the damage to her brain intensifies.”

  I glared at Sylvia. “You knew this all along and you made Rachelle use her power?”

  “Only when absolutely necessary,” Sylvia said. “When I say absolutely necessary, I mean necessary to save lives. Other times Rachelle used her power on her own knowing the damage it would cause.”

  I thought back to when Rachelle told me about her dad being sick. “She made it cold because she was scared for her dad.”

  “Rachelle was warned,” Sylvia said. “She knew eventually she would reach the point of no return. Her mother had the same power. It killed her.”

  “No,” I said. “Rachelle’s mom went to the South Pole.”

  Sylvia sighed. “That was Rachelle’s aunt. None of the doctors could figure out a way to stop the damage and eventually her mother’s brain ceased to function. She was taken off life support and died.”

  “I’m sorry,” Erin said. “Nothing the agency has tried helped delay the damage.”

  I shook my head. “There has to be a way.”

  “It’s unfair of me to expect you to walk in the door and fix our problems,” Sylvia said. “I appreciate the fact you tried.”

  I watched in shock as a tear slid down Sylvia’s cheek. She wiped the tear and turned away. “Excuse me,” she said.

  Sylvia Greene crying in front of me? I couldn’t believe the director of Earth Under Fire was capable of this emotion. Anger, disappointment, and retribution, yes. But not this level of sorrow.

  “Then we keep her from using her power,” I called after her. “If we make sure Rachelle has no reason to use her power, there will be no more damage to her brain.”

  Sylvia stopped. “If only it were that simple. If only we didn’t have billions of lives depending on us.” She continued down the hall without looking back.

  “You’ve got to find a way,” I said.

  Erin walked into her office and dropped into her desk chair. I resisted the urge to straighten the folders tossed at every angle. “I’ll do whatever I can to help,” she said. When I turned to leave, she asked, “Where are you going?”

  “Senator McCall forced Sylvia into going after Dad and Alfie. They’re working on a team as we speak.”

  “I hope you get them back soon.”

  And I hoped to finally have answers.

  * * * * *

  An hour later, Sylvia assembled a team of more than fifty agents in the largest operations room. Skip sat at a desk with two monitors. Other agents sat at desks around the room, twenty at least, watching various camera feeds. I only cared about one monitor—the one with a satellite view of Louis’s property.

  The screen froze and a message box opened saying the signal had been lost. Skip slammed his keyboard. “We’ve got to do something about these solar flares.”

  A nearby agent laughed. “When you figure out a solution, let me know.”

  He sighed and typed a string of characters. “I’ll send updates during the flight.”

  Agent Dallas walked in with Agent Nichols. Six other agents assembled around them. I stood within the circle as she outlined how this would work. As long as I had a seat on the plane, I didn’t care how we got in the house. All I cared about was seeing Alfie again.

  * * * * *

  After nine hours and a long nap, I stood in front of Louis’s house for the third time. Hopefully, it would be the last.

  When Senator McCall asked for a statement to be made, Sylvia went all out. Drones were deployed. Helicopters made whirling noises in the night sky above. Dozens of agents surrounded the house then busted down the door. Soldiers in black and camo ran inside with their guns drawn.

  The event seemed choreographed for a movie. When Agent Dallas got a call over her radio, she motioned for me to walk with her inside.

  On a couch in a huge living room sat Bethany with Alfie close at her side. Louis stood at the room’s center. Dad stood near a window. Agents hung back in the hall with their guns drawn.

  “Your fellow agents are brazen with their attack,” Louis said. “I wondered when they’d strike.”

  Dad looked at me. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  Even if he hated me for forcing his extraction, I was happy to see him.

  “Regina,” Louis said with a smile. “Welcome home.”

  “We’re here for Agent Mason and his son,” Agent Dallas said in a firm voice. “You will release them to us and we shall exit your property.”

  “No.” Louis pulled a gun from inside his gray suit jacket and pointed it at her. “You will leave my property.”

  Dad jumped Louis from behind and wrapped an arm around his neck. With the other, he wrestled the gun from Louis’s hand.

  Louis gasped for air and Dad released him, still holding the gun. Louis fell to his knees and Dad held the gun over him.

  “Shoot him,” I said.

  Dad looked at me in surprise. Bethany pulled Alfie close and put a hand over his exposed ear. Alfie watched with huge eyes.

  “I wish I could pull this trigger.” Dad stared down at Louis. “As much as I hate you, you’re a part of my daughter. I can’t remove you from her life.”

  I looked at Agent Dallas and she motioned fo
r me to speak. “That’s nice of you to say Dad, but—”

  “No, Rena. You would never forgive me for killing him, not your blood. You may hate him now but I won’t have you hating me forever. Pulling this trigger is not worth you hating me.”

  Louis jumped to his feet and wrestled Dad for the gun. Agent Dallas drew her gun and other agents filled the room around us. Louis got the gun away from Dad and pointed it at him. “You might not be able to pull the trigger, Mason, but I can.”

  I’d seen enough. I raised my hands and thought of what could happen to Rachelle if she used her power again. Fear pulsed through me and blue lights sparkled in my palms. I called to the neutrons in the air as I waved my arms, making streaks of blue that reflected on objects around the room.

  The blue intensified and I felt the neutrons in the air. Timed seemed to slow. I surrounded Louis with a field of blue, shoving the neutrons at him with super-speed, then slowing before they touched his skin. When time restarted, Louis dropped the gun and fell forward. His gray suit looked as if it had been barbecued. Black dust covered his face and hands.

  I looked at Dad. “No way was I letting him shoot you.”

  Everyone stood in shock as they tried to digest what happened. For me, minutes passed. For them, less than a second.

  “You thought you needed to save me?” Tears shined in Dad’s eyes. “After everything I did to you Rena, you don’t owe me this kind of loyalty. I made your life hell.”

  “You might have made my life hell, but you’re the one who gave it to me.”

  He watched me as if he couldn’t figure out what to say. Dad looked at Bethany and then back at me, shaking his head. “I’ll always love you no matter what you say. You’ll always be my daughter.”

  “For once you and I agree.” I put my hands on my hips and stood in front of Bethany. “You’re the biggest liar in the world. I wanted to come here and ask why you lied, but I no longer care.”

  Tears slid down her cheeks. Her fingers trembled as she reached out, but I stepped back before she could touch me.

  “She’s your mother,” Dad said. “I believe she’s your mother because she knows things only Rosanna would have known.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “But she was lying when she said Louis was my father. Remember the DNA test you refused to take?”

  “Rena…” he said in a strangled voice.

  “I had the test performed without your permission. You can thank me later. Turns out the test is ninety-nine-point nine percent sure you’re my biological father.”

  “I knew it.” Alfie leaped from the couch and threw his arms around me.

  Bethany stood, her hands shaking. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her body collapsed on the floor. Dad rushed to her side.

  I hugged Alfie close while wondering what all of this meant for my family.

  * * * * *

  Dad didn’t talk to me for the entire trip back to Atlanta. He didn’t talk to anyone, just sat and stared out of his window.

  Alfie sat next to me and recounted the entire experience. The TV shows, the video games, the endless supply of ice cream… I didn’t have to ask questions to know he was treated well.

  Bethany was kept under the watchful eye of the medical staff. She never moved from the makeshift bed they placed her in.

  Back in Atlanta, we were all taken to the med-level. Doctors checked Dad despite his protests. Alfie went along with the doctors’ tests without complaint. Bethany was checked and placed in a room for observation.

  I wanted to see her alone. Despite how I told her I didn’t care, I needed to know why she lied and why she’d help Louis kidnap Alfie. More than anything, I wanted to hear her voice. It didn’t matter the sound was Bethany’s voice. In my mind, I heard her sweet sound. I saw Mama’s face as I remembered from before she died, not Bethany’s face.

  At the door to her room, Dad stood looking on. Inside, the doctors placed several probes on her head and chest and hooked up a machine to record pulses.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Dad asked.

  “I don’t have a choice. I’ve got to see her.”

  He nodded. “I understand the feeling.”

  “Before I left the base, Mama told me she didn’t want Alfie to know. She’s already dead to him and she didn’t want to put him through that pain again.”

  Dad wiped his eyes, though I didn’t see a single tear. “She was a good person. She’s still a good person.”

  “Even after she kidnapped Alfie, you still think she’s a good person?”

  “Rosanna never did anything without a reason.”

  I shook my head. “If that’s so, I’m dying to hear why.”

  “Don’t say that word.”

  “Sorry.” I leaned in and wrapped my arms around Dad’s waist. Like Travis, he was nearly a foot taller than me.

  “Did you really have a DNA test?”

  “The new doctor completed it for me. I took a hair from the comb in your bathroom.”

  “I still can’t believe—”

  “The test proved you’re my dad. I thought you’d be happy.”

  “I am.”

  “I’m glad you ended up being my dad.”

  His voice filled with emotion. “Me too, Rena. Me too.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Travis

  Mom was in the cylinder… She’d died eighteen years ago and now her face was inches from my hand. Only a sheet of glass separated us.

  Her pale face seemed to float, covered with a thin film of frost. Her eyes were closed; her lips formed a peaceful line. Crystals of ice sparkled on her eyelashes from the white light above. The thick mist twisted around her like she was breathing. In reality, a machine blew cold air inside the cylinder like a freezer.

  If only I could see her green eyes. “She was beautiful,” I managed to say.

  “Is beautiful,” Dad said.

  “No. She’s dead. Has been dead for eighteen years.”

  “If that’s the case, you should have no issue with me teleporting you out of here. You could go back to Earth without seeing her face again.”

  “How did you get her here?”

  “You don’t want to know those details.”

  “She died.”

  “There was no way to save her. Then.”

  I tore my eyes from her face. “What do you mean, then?”

  “There was no way to repair her internal injuries and keep her body from shutting down, but there is a way now.”

  My head was foggy. I couldn’t understand his words. “Now?”

  “Snap out of it, Travis. You almost died months ago, but you didn’t.”

  “Angel saved me.”

  “Your sister’s blood has healing properties. Before her power matured, she could not have saved you. One drop healed your injuries in a way not even Golvern doctors could have.”

  “I still don’t—”

  “Angel used her gift to save you, a gift she only realized after she turned eighteen. That gift didn’t exist when your mother died. Now with Angel’s help, we can save her.”

  “What… what do we do?”

  “For now, I must break Paleris out of this prison. We’ll take him back to Earth and make sure he never returns here.”

  “You said he was dangerous. A killer.”

  “We find a way to kill him first.”

  “That’s not a plan. That’s suicide.”

  “It’s our only chance.”

  “Why not kill him here?”

  Dad put his hand on the glass surface and stared down into Mom’s face. “These cylinders have a locking mechanism only Paleris can open.”

  “Like a code?”

  “A numerical code can be broken with enough time. He used sound to create a unique wave no one can replicate. Only that wave, modulated at the correct frequency, can open these cylinders.”

  “You can’t pick the lock? What kind of agent are you?”

  “The kind who wants his family back. Fighting on G
olvern doesn’t concern me. Equality for humans? Not losing sleep over a fight that has nothing to do with my future.”

  Again, my eyes found her face. I forced myself to look away. “I need to see Rena. You promised to take me back to Earth.”

  He shrugged. “I have no problem with going back to Earth, but I’m not leaving Paleris until he gives me the frequency.”

  “You think he will after all these years?” I thought back to the scene in the prison cell when Agent Lockhart tried to bring back the memory of the queen’s brother. No wonder Dad seemed relieved when it didn’t work.

  “I don’t have a choice. We don’t have a choice. If you want your mother back, the only way is to gain his trust and find a way to reconstruct that wave.”

  “You can’t bargain with a killer. We don’t have time.”

  Dad patted the laser at his side. “Right now, freedom means more to him than anything.”

  “And when he’s free?”

  “We’ll take him to Earth. You’ll get to check on your girlfriend and maybe we can find a way to bargain to our advantage.”

  Which sounded like the worst move since promising Rena not to save her from falling out of the sky. “I don’t like it. How are you going to get Paleris out of here?”

  He smiled. “A distraction. Now you know your purpose here.”

  * * * * *

  Dad said few words on our trip back to Levendar. He landed the ship and walked past the guards as we had earlier. Now the long walk felt different. Dangerous. The sound of each airlock sealing behind us made me wince.

  What if someone figured out Dad was here to case the cell?

  The area outside the cell was empty. I stood as far back from the cell as possible. Dad made no effort to approach the energy field or engage the prisoner.

  “Stay here while I ready the ship for our escape.”

  “Escape?” I whispered while glancing around for cameras. “Now? Don’t we need to make a plan first?”