Hit Squad

by Sophie McKenzie

  I followed Nico and Foster outside, to the front of the castle. It was dark outside now and almost exactly thirty minutes since we’d both been sprayed with Medutox. I tried to reach Nico through remote telepathy. At first I thought it wasn’t working, but as I focused, I soared into his mind – familiar to me now. As usual, it was intense and forceful. But now a darkness – the colour of his pain – touched everything like a shadow.

  Shall I start? I suggested telepathically. I could do some basics with Bradley. Hopefully Foster will relax if it’s all going okay. Then you take over. Let me know when you’re about to cause the distraction. Yes?

  Fine.

  I broke the connection. ‘Okay, Bradley,’ I said. ‘I’m going to mind-read you now; that should help you see how getting fully into someone’s mind works, rather than just speaking without words, which you can already do.’

  I glanced at Foster. He nodded his assent. I turned back to Bradley and met his gaze. With a whoosh, I was inside his head.

  He sensed me straight away. I waited a moment, letting him get used to my presence. His mind was younger than he looked. Restless . . . enquiring . . . this boy was smart and unhappy. I probed a little further, letting the rush of his feelings wash over me. Like most people being mind-read for the first time, his thoughts were jumping about.

  How is this working? What can you see? How much further can you go?

  I can go wherever I want, I thought-spoke, probing a little deeper. Why was Bradley so unhappy? I caught the tail of his misery and rode it to a memory: saying goodbye to his father, Rick . . . a blonde woman – I sensed she was his mother – in tears . . . yes, there was pain inside Bradley. He missed his father. He wanted to be with his mother. He was scared of his uncle. Or was he just scared of being part of his uncle’s plans?

  You know what Foster wants to do is crazy, I thought-spoke. And wrong.

  It’s what I have to do, Bradley thought-spoke back. I thought you were going to teach me how to mind-read.

  I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was to encourage Foster’s protégé to develop such a powerful skill. On the other hand, Bradley would be useful, if I could just get him on our side.

  Okay, I thought-spoke. I’m going to make my mind as open to you as I can. Just relax and try to catch a thought.

  I sat back in Bradley’s mind, trying to keep my own thoughts under control. If I was honest, I was more than a little intrigued. How much would Bradley – whose abilities had been given to him via a drug rather than through genetic inheritance – be able to achieve?

  It took a moment before I felt his presence, pushing gently into my mind. As soon as I sensed him, I resisted. No way did I want this boy seeing into any of my thoughts and feelings. I pushed him away – no problem, he was too weak to resist – and broke the connection.

  Bradley gasped. He staggered backwards a little.

  ‘You okay, Brad?’ Foster’s voice was full of concern.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Bradley said, a wide smile spreading over his face. ‘That was amazing. Can we go again, Ed?’

  I shook my head and glanced over at Foster. ‘Not too much too soon. He needs a chance to get used to what he can do. Otherwise it’ll be overwhelming.’

  I was lying, of course. If I were Bradley I’d have wanted to practise going further . . . seeing how far I could penetrate into somebody’s mind. But I wanted to hand over the lesson to Nico now . . . to find some way of fading into the background and getting away.

  Foster looked at me shrewdly. I met his gaze, resisting the slight pull to dive into his mind that always came whenever I made eye contact with anyone.

  ‘Fine,’ Foster said. ‘Ed’s right, Brad. You don’t want to overdo it.’ He turned to Nico. ‘You’re on.’

  As Nico drew himself up, Foster signalled to one of the guards who stepped forwards and sprayed me with Medutox. No. My heart skipped a beat. Now I was going to have to cause the explosion without being able to contact Nico – or any of the other Medusa teens. I’d been hoping to have a moment to try Amy again – or Dylan. But now I’d have to wait.

  Nico was looking right at Bradley. There was an intimidating intensity to his glare. ‘Show me what you can do,’ he demanded.

  Bradley raised his hand. It was shaking slightly. He was obviously nervous performing in front of Nico. He pointed at a branch lying on the ground. It twitched, but didn’t rise into the air as I’d seen the barrel of oil move earlier. It struck me that Medusix might confer a wider range of abilities than the Medusa gene, but not to the same level. I mean, okay, so Bradley hadn’t had his powers for very long, but he didn’t seem very effective in his control of them.

  ‘I can’t do it,’ Bradley said.

  Foster waved the guards back and moved closer to his nephew – a protective gesture. I smiled to myself. It was clever of Nico to make Bradley feel vulnerable, guessing correctly that this would draw Foster in.

  Nico began explaining some of the basic principles of telekinesis.

  ‘Let your mind be still,’ he said. ‘Relax your body. Focus, but don’t grasp at it. Don’t force what you’re doing.’

  I took a step away from them. One of the guards clocked me straight away. He held up his hand. Sunlight glinted off the gun in his palm. I gulped. Nico was going to have to make his distraction good to give me enough time to make it back into the castle.

  I bit my lip, waiting. Nico was standing behind Bradley now, demonstrating a curving arm movement.

  ‘This is the best, most economical move to help you with lifting stuff,’ he said. ‘Of course it’s perfectly possible to do telekinesis without physically moving, but the hand gestures help.’

  Bradley nodded, then focused on the stick on the ground again.

  Nico glanced up. Caught my eye. Even without my telepathy I knew what was coming. I braced myself.

  With a roar, Nico jumped back, away from Bradley. He raised both hands, twisting them at the wrists. Foster, just a few metres away, flew up into the air. Nico swung him round, teleporting him straight at the guard behind. With a smart crack, Foster’s legs made contact with the guard’s gun arm. The gun flew onto the grass. In an instant Nico teleported it up, driving it through the air and against the second guard who staggered backwards, his gun also falling to the ground. A moment later all three men and both guns were in the air, whirling over the grass. With a roar, Nico flung them all into the lake. He held out his hands, creating waves that crashed across the water. The whole scene was chaos . . . stones and branches flew up from the paving nearby . . . It had only taken seconds.

  Bradley ran to the side of the lake. ‘Stop it!’ he shouted.

  Without looking round, Nico yelled out.

  ‘Ed, go!’

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned and ran for the castle.

  16: The Lab

  I glanced round as I reached the main castle door. All hell was breaking out behind me. The men in the lake were yelling at the tops of their voices as Nico kept creating waves that crashed down on them. Beside him, Bradley was jumping up and down, emitting panicky shrieks. As I stood, watching, Broken Nose came racing round the corner. He didn’t notice me. All his attention was on Nico and the furore at the lake. I sped indoors. Across the hall. Through the door. Up the stairs. Along the corridor.

  I took a wrong turn and doubled back. Where was the door to the lab?

  Around another corner and I saw it. I burst through the swing door and darted along the corridor. I reached the lab and skidded to a halt. I rattled the door handle. It was locked. For a terrible second I felt overwhelmed with a sense of failure. I needed Nico to open this lock. He always sorted out locks. Without him, I was useless.

  Then I examined the door. It wasn’t made of proper wood and it didn’t look particularly strong or well-made. Not like the internal doors in the older part of the castle. My dad’s a builder and he’s taught me a thing or two about construction. And this door was far from solidly put together. Confidence rising, I took
a step back and aimed a kick at the weakest part of the door – just to the side of the keyhole.

  With a splintering crack, the door flew open. Buoyed up by my success I rushed into the lab. Everything was just as it had been earlier. Moonlight from outside created long shadows across the oil barrels and the bottles of Medusix on the shelf. The night air was still filled with shouts and yells from outside. I raced over to the window. I could just make out Nico and Bradley, still on the shore of the lake. The bars were immovable, but at least I could push open the glass. As I did so, a cacophony of roars and yells floated up at me.

  Nico was holding off the others, continuing to use his telekinesis to create chaos outside. I ran over to the shelf and switched on the light. It took a second to find all the Medusix bottles. There. I took the first two and raced to the sink in the corner of the room. Whatever else happened, I had to make sure all these stocks were destroyed. I flung both bottles into the sink. As their contents drained away, I raced back for two more. And another. There were five bottles in total and in less than ten seconds the contents of all of them were down the sink.

  I scanned the empty shelf, then the surrounding area. No more Medusix. Just bottles of chemicals, each carefully labelled. There were acids and hormone extracts and all manner of liquids I’d never heard of. A small pot at the end of another shelf caught my eye: StopMed. I grabbed it. Was this more of the Medusix drug in a different container? I lifted the lid and peered in. A small sachet of pale pink powder met my eyes. It didn’t look anything like Medusix but it carried a label of dosage instructions. For a second, I was tempted to chuck it down the sink as well. But the sachet was tiny. And I was curious. What else was Foster developing here? I took the sachet out of the pot and shoved it in my pocket.

  The yells outside in the lake were loud and angry. Nico was still, clearly, holding off all the guards. All I had to do now was set light to the oil in the barrels and hope the fire took hold as fast as possible. I grabbed the nearest barrel and braced myself, ready to tip it over. To my horror, it lifted in my hands – as light as a shoebox. I tore off the lid. No. The oil barrel was empty. I raced to the next and the next. Also empty.

  I looked round desperately. What could I use to start a fire now? There was nothing. I could attempt to light one of the cloths on the counter or the white coat hanging on the back of the door, but a single glance at the ceiling confirmed a sprinkler system was in place. Without something to create a proper blaze, a fire would be extinguished before it had a chance to take hold.

  I stopped for a second. I had to think bigger. There were other rooms. Other sources of fuel. I dashed back into the corridor, then out, into the properly furnished part of the castle. I could hear some of the guards yelling downstairs. I strained my ears, but I couldn’t make out any sounds from the lake.

  Was Nico still out there? Was he okay? And where were Dylan and Cal? Hours had passed since they’d escaped. Had they managed to reach the police? Was help on its way?

  If only I had my Medusa ability back I’d be able to check in with all of them. But there was no time to think about the others. I had to find a way of destroying the lab. One of the guards pounded up the stairs. I ducked back, behind a wall, holding my breath as he raced past. He skidded to a halt just metres away from me. He pulled a key from his key chain and slid it into a door. I watched intently as he dashed into the room. Seconds later he was out again, a rifle clutched in his hand, running full pelt back down the corridor. He hadn’t noticed me at all.

  As the guard disappeared down the stairs, I crept over to the room he’d gone into. He’d left it unlocked, the door ajar. I pushed it open. Wow. It was some sort of arsenal. I looked around, stunned. There was a rack of guns, still chained into position, and a cupboard containing knives and chains. Without stopping to think, I ran to the cupboard and smashed the glass. I yanked open the door and peered inside. What could I use? My eyes lit on a hand grenade on the bottom shelf. It was small and oval, with a pin sticking out of the top. I’d never used a hand grenade before but I’d seen them in action movies a million times and I knew how they worked. You pulled out the pin and threw the grenade. Seconds later it exploded – a tiny bomb. It was perfect for destroying the lab.

  I ran to the door, clutching the hand grenade. The castle was eerily still. No sounds came from outside. Did that mean Nico had taken his chance to escape? Or that he’d been recaptured?

  As I turned, ready to head for the lab, Knife Man appeared, blocking my way. I darted back, my breath catching in my throat. Had he seen me?

  I peered around the wall. No, he hadn’t noticed me, but he was now stationed outside the lab. It was going to be impossible for me to get past him and carry out my original plan. I hesitated. What on earth could I do now?

  I thought fast. Maybe if I could run outside and hurl the grenade up at the lab window . . . The light was on in the room, so it should be easy to identify, and even I should be able to hit such a big target.

  It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was the best I had.

  I raced along the corridor and back down the stairs to the ground floor of the castle. I darted out through the front door. There was no sign of anyone.

  I took a backwards step, looking up to the first floor. The lab was easy to spot. It was the only room in the row with the light on and the window open. I steadied my hand, ready to hurl the grenade. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Broken Nose rushing towards me round the side of the castle. A yell from behind. I spun round. Another guard. Almost on top of me. I had no time. I pulled the pin out of the grenade. Drew back my arm. But before I could release the grenade the guard behind me reached me. Grabbed me round the waist. Twisted me round.

  Completely disoriented, I flung the grenade away from me. It soared through the air as I was hurled to the ground. I looked up, dust flying into my eyes. The grenade seemed to be moving in slow motion, heading towards the far corner of the building. Miles away from the lab.

  Boom! Seconds later the grenade hit the castle wall about six metres up. The explosion boomed through the air. Brick and stone flew everywhere, fire rocketing out of the wall. At the same time, appearing from nowhere around the side of the castle, Dylan ran into view.

  I opened my mouth to yell, but the world was exploding in front of my eyes, drowning me out – and burying Dylan under tons of stone.

  DYLAN

  17: Buried

  I ran along the castle wall, hidden from view. I had to get to Ed. I checked my force field was fully engaged.

  Boom! As I raced round the corner, a huge explosion threw me off my feet. Rubble fell on my head. Down and down. I crouched low, hands instinctively over my head, praying that my force field would protect me.

  It did. I had no idea what had happened, but it felt like the castle wall I was running past had fallen on top of me. It was still coming down. I could hear the final few thuds of stone on stone, but I couldn’t see a thing.

  I was buried alive.

  The energy flowing from deep inside me, covering my whole body, was all that was keeping me from being totally crushed. As I thought this, I nearly panicked and lost my focus. Dust and powder from the stones seeped through my force field. I could feel the fine silt settling on my hair . . . my skin. I took a few slow breaths, trying to calm down. Okay, so inside the mound of earth and stone it was pitch black and there was a ton of rubble above me but I was still alive.

  Stay calm and think, I told myself. I steadied my energies and tried to work out what to do. Maybe Ed would attempt to make contact with me. Except . . . if he’d been overpowered by the guards he would probably have been sprayed with Medutox.

  As my fears whirled round my head I could feel my force field weakening. More rubble dust settled on me, on my face, in my throat, choking me. Stop it, I ordered myself. There has to be a way out of this. Think.

  It had been Nico’s telekinetic ‘lake storm’ that had attracted my attention, but it was Ed – and the guard attacking him – who I�
�d been running towards.

  Had any of them actually seen me coming round the corner before the building above my head exploded? Did they even know I was buried under here?

  Cal certainly didn’t. He’d flown off with Tania earlier, to take her to the local police so she could get back to her family. I’d waited across the lake all day, expecting him to return – hopefully with police support – but he hadn’t shown up.

  Panic rose inside me again. The air around me was thick and hot. My force field protects me from the larger stuff, but it doesn’t work on a molecular level. That’s why Medutox affects me – I can’t help but breathe it in. Basically, even with my force field I still need oxygen. And there wasn’t any in here.

  I pushed cautiously at the stones above my hand. There was no way I could move them. They were just too heavy. A terrible sense of claustrophobia swamped me, tightening my chest and throat. It’s okay, I tried to reassure myself. Maybe I couldn’t claw my way out of this. But I had my force field. That was a start.

  ‘Dylan! Dylan!’ Ed’s yell was muffled. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m great, Chino Boy,’ I shouted, relief flooding through me. ‘Is Nico with you?’ I was trying to sound calmer than I actually felt. I wondered if Ed could tell. He’s kinda perceptive, I’ve realised recently.

  ‘No,’ Ed yelled back. ‘But don’t worry.’

  My heart sank. Ed might be perceptive, but he’s not exactly the physical type. If it was down to him to dig me out of here it might take hours.

  ‘Are you alone?’ I asked.

  ‘Er . . . no,’ Ed said. ‘The guards and Jack are here.’

  From bad to worse. My one hope was that Ed might have overpowered his guard and that he and Nico were free. Now I was going to be just as much a prisoner as they were.

  A tiny chink of light appeared overhead as a large stone shifted. I could hear footsteps. And then the dark sky opened up above my head. A bright light shone down.