The Riser Saga

by Becca C. Smith

  Every hallway was painted pristine white, holo-paintings perfectly lining each wall. I felt like I was in a museum. It was lovely, but very cold.

  “Up here.” Jill led the way up a small wooden staircase.

  We entered a large room that was extremely high-tech looking. Glass and metal was the décor, from the huge desk lining a corner of the room, to the end tables, lamps and furniture. Who would want to sit on a metal chair I had no idea, but it did look cool. There were about ten holo-screen bases that were all turned off. Sunlight poured in through the ten-foot windows forming the North wall, and the room almost sparkled from all the reflections going on.

  “There’s a safe in the floor.” Jill pointed, hurriedly walking over to a seemingly normal looking square of slate that made up the office flooring.

  “Jill?! What are you doing?” Jill’s mom’s voice sounded like she was coming up to the office.

  “Nothing Mom, just getting a few things for Nancy’s,” Jill yelled over her shoulder and pulled out the square piece of slate, revealing a safe underneath. Jill typed in the code to unlock it.

  “Jill, I need to talk to you. Are you alone?” Jill’s mom was getting closer. She was just down the hallway.

  Jill was so focused on the safe and retrieving the holo-chip, she didn’t make eye contact with me. I was starting to worry. What would we possibly say to her mom to explain why we were in her late husband’s office breaking into his safe? I started to sweat.

  “Jill, we should go. Hurry!” I urged.

  The safe beeped twice and the heavy metal door popped open. Jill reached down inside and her face went white.

  “It’s gone,” Jill could barely get the words out.

  Of course it was.

  Why me?

  I was seriously an idiot to think it would still be there, and now we were going to get in trouble from Jill’s mom.

  Fantastic.

  “Jill, are you in your father’s office?” Her mom was right outside the door.

  Jill motioned for me to hide behind the door as she slammed the safe door closed and replaced the slate to its natural resting place.

  The door opened. I leaned against the wall so it wouldn’t hit me.

  “Mom! I just wanted a few minutes of alone time in here.” Jill turned to her mother.

  “I see.” Her mom sounded off-kilter.

  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was wrong. I peeked through the crack of the door to get a better view of Jill’s mother. I could barely see her head, but even from that angle it was remarkable how much Jill looked like her. From the black wavy hair to the delicately stunning face, they were definitely related.

  Then I saw it.

  And I reacted on instinct.

  I jumped from behind the door and threw Jill to the ground.

  Just in time.

  Jill’s mom had nearly sliced Jill’s throat with a butcher knife.

  “Jill, she’s dead!” I cried before Jill could react to my sudden tackle and her mother’s attack.

  Jill was speechless. She looked dazed. I knew I’d have to do all the maneuvering and thinking in this situation.

  The black swirling hole spinning in her mother’s chest was just another horrible reminder that my grandparents hadn’t changed. I suddenly remembered Jill’s miraculous recovery from her bullet wound and realized they must have injected her with a tracer. It would have been so easy, follow Jill back to the house, find out where she hid the holo-chip, take it, kill her mom…

  Next time Jill comes home, dead.

  But they hadn’t counted on me going home with her.

  Just as Jill’s mom tried to take another swing I slammed through the barrier that blocked me from her black chasm and connected to it with ease. It was an awkward moment, I didn’t want to make Jill’s mom do or say anything, so I just let her stand there.

  Jill pushed me off as she gained her senses and stood in front of her vacant mother. Tears fell heavily down her cheeks, though she didn’t seem aware of them. Jill couldn’t stop staring at her mother’s eyes, as if daring her to say something. To come back to life. Anything. My heart broke for her. I knew how Jill felt. I’d felt the same way only a couple months before, when Turner had murdered my mother.

  “Jill, you should leave the room. I’ll let her go.” I tried to make my voice as steady as possible for Jill’s sake.

  “Let her go? What does that mean?” Jill’s voice was shaking, but strangely calm at the same time.

  I reached out and grabbed Jill’s hands, turning her to look me in the eye. “She’s dead already. I’m going to let her rest, okay? Turner turned her into a puppet and right now I’m controlling her. I don’t want to do that anymore, so I’m going to make it impossible for anyone like me or Turner to ever control her again. Does that make sense?” I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. Jill’s lights were on, but there was no one inside. She was in shock, barely holding on by a thread. I needed to get her back to Nancy’s before Turner realized he needed to finish the job.

  After a moment’s pause, Jill moved her head slightly in what I assumed was a nod.

  “Just wait for me in the hallway. We’re going to walk out together in case Turner sent others. Okay?” Her eyes distant. I was losing her again. “Okay, Jill? Just a few seconds?”

  “Yeah… yeah… okay.” Jill stepped around her mom like she was a fragile egg, but in the end Jill was out of the office and standing in the hallway.

  I made her mom walk further into the room and sit on one of the metal chairs. I wasn’t sure how long Jill’s mom had been dead, so disconnecting her from her black hole could prove messy. There was nothing I could do about that, I couldn’t let her be used again. For Jill’s sake. Once she was seated I disconnected her body from its swirling black hole.

  Jill’s mom’s skin barely turned gray. Turner must have killed her only a couple of days ago. Like I thought, right after Jill hid the holo-chip. What a guy. My brain still couldn’t fathom how he could be such a maniac. I felt dirty for ever having anything to do with him. I abhorred the fact that I’d been grateful for Roberta helping me through Elisha’s torments. Why did I ever consider trusting them?

  Jill and I were now bonded by the worst possible experience anyone could ever go through. Our parents were gone, and it was Turner’s fault.

  I hurried out of the room and joined Jill’s stick-still figure in the hallway.

  Gently taking her hand, I said with urgency, “Let’s get out of here.”

  I moved ahead, but Jill wasn’t budging.

  “I’m all alone now,” Jill’s voice was quiet, but her words felt like a scream.

  “You’ve got me. Now I mean it, let’s get out of here.” I wished Jill could have time to let out everything that was going on in her brain, right here and now, and have a good cry, but I knew we weren’t out of danger. Turner would have back-up. Of that I was certain.

  I practically pulled Jill through her house and towards the front door. I put out my feelers to see if there were any more dead people Turner may have stationed around the place, but I couldn’t sense anything. I mentally kicked myself for not recognizing Jill’s mom’s black hole when we entered the house, but with those stupid barriers the grandparents put into their corpses, my mind didn’t pick it up right away.

  Since I was leading, I had a hard time remembering the way out of Jill’s monstrous house, but after a few wrong turns we finally arrived at the front door. I peeked out the window to see if anyone was out there.

  What?

  Standing in front of Jill’s hover-BMW was none other than Turner himself.

  I was frozen.

  Do I go out there?

  Was he here to finish us both off?

  What was going on?

  I took another peek. No one else around.

  “Chelsan, come out here,” Turner’s voice sounded mildly annoyed. “I see you peeking out that window. I’m not going to kill either of you.”

  Yeah, right.<
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  Then, before I could stop her, Jill flew out of the house and straight for Gramps.

  Oh boy.

  Jill jumped Turner and had him pinned on the ground before I could even make my way out the front door. She punched him in the face while screaming at the top of her lungs. It would’ve almost been funny if I didn’t expect fifty of Turner’s soldiers to suddenly show up and kill her. But no soldiers. So far.

  “Get your dog off of me!” Turner yelled in annoyance. “Trust me, you need to hear what I have to say.” He grunted.

  I ran up to them just as Gramps threw Jill off. She landed with a thump a few feet from her car. Before she could launch herself at him again I grabbed her arm.

  “Jill, stop,” I said, though I didn’t really want her to. I liked seeing Turner’s butt being kicked by Jill, but I also knew that, if he came here alone, what he’d have to say would be pretty important.

  Jill angrily whirled on me. “Don’t you dare defend him!”

  “I’m not, but he’s here alone. Us against him. Let’s hear what he has to say,” I pleaded with her.

  Jill shrugged me off and stormed toward her car. “I’m tired of listening! I’m tired of him trying to kill me! And I’m tired of you!” Jill opened her car and sat down inside, slamming the door shut. She didn’t take off, though, so I knew she was going to let me talk to Turner first. It was scary that I was actually able to understand “Jill Forester fits,” but she deserved to act out towards me and especially towards Turner.

  Gramps and I walked a few feet away from the car. I crossed my arms and stared at him with as much anger as I could muster. “Speak,” I more or less snarled.

  Turner glanced briefly behind him to make sure Jill couldn’t hear. “I didn’t know you were coming with her.”

  “So, if I wasn’t here it would have been okay to kill her?” Unbelievable!

  “Maybe not okay by your standards, but easier to deal with, yes.” Turner had that annoyed expression on his face again. “I’m not here to be judged. I’m here to ask for your help.”

  It took me a few seconds to really hear that. Gramps was asking for my help. Sure, I’d helped him recently, but that was more of a mutual need situation. But now he was actually asking. It was probably the hardest thing he’d ever done.

  Good.

  It was nice to see him squirm, and he was definitely squirming.

  “I know you know the twins are still alive. Roberta told me they came to you when she was inside your mind. I need to know if you let them in, or if they just appeared.” Turner was eyeing me like a hawk.

  I could tell this information was vital somehow and it immediately scared me. Mainly because I hadn’t let them in. They came in on their own and I had no defenses against them. And if they could do it, maybe Elisha would find a way back in as well. The thought paralyzed me with fear. “They just came in on their own,” I mumbled. I could hear the shake in my own voice and the look on Turner’s face didn’t exactly ease my mind.

  “I know you think I should just kill them, but I can’t.” Turner said quietly. “Chelsan…” his voice actually cracked.

  Seriously, major crackage.

  It froze me. I’d never seen any kind of emotion from this psychopath I called Gramps. To hear his voice laced with emotion while saying my name actually had me stumped. I looked over at Jill’s figure sitting in the driver’s seat of her BMW and even from this distance, the slump of her shoulders, the lowering of her head, her pain was obvious. And it was all this man’s fault. Everything that had caused me anguish over the last two months was his fault. I would never have even known Elisha if it weren’t for Turner. I never would have seen an I.Q. Farm. It would have just been a nightmare Ryan told me about his past that we could have forgotten about because our lives would have been safe and normal and wonderful. Why did just hearing the slight quaver in Turner’s voice make me feel for him? Why was I so conflicted over a psychopath? Grams, too. They both managed to make me feel something for them. It was making me sick to my stomach.

  “Just tell me.”

  “I’m afraid if I kill them Roberta will die.” Turner’s voice was quiet. And something more… Frightened. “And possibly you,” he said as an afterthought.

  Thanks.

  “Okay, you can knock off the mock concern for me, it’s insulting. Why would killing the twins kill Roberta?”

  “It’s not mock concern, it’s just… well… originally it was Franklin we were worried about. Now that you have his powers, well… you may be in danger as well,” he explained. “When the twins killed everyone in the first I.Q. Farm, Roberta was there. She was pregnant with your father. She was the only one who survived and we don’t know why. We can only speculate that it had something to do with her pregnancy. We were too scared to kill John and Samuel for fear that she and Franklin were linked to them somehow. If we killed them, it might kill her and our only son.”

  “That’s impossible. My dad was a hundred and ten when he died, if Roberta was pregnant with him in 2133 that would have made him…” I quickly tried to do the math in my head, but I sucked at math, “well older anyway.”

  “A hundred and sixty-nine. Franklin was a hundred and sixty-nine when he died.”

  “See? Wait.” I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess, you lied to him about his age.”

  “We had to. Franklin found out about the twins and he was a smart boy, we knew he’d make the connection of his birth and his powers. We were afraid of what would happen. If he started to control the twins... You of all people know the intoxication of it. We didn’t know if we could stop Franklin if he combined his powers with theirs… If that was even possible! It was too much of a risk. That’s why we kept him a child, so he’d never know the origin of his power, or his true age. We celebrated his birthday every year until he was thirty-eight, then every other year after that. Sometimes even I forgot how old he was. When you lie to yourself enough it starts to become truth.” Turner was in full confession mode now. “But now we know that you’re strong enough to control them. The fact that you were able to disconnect from their powers, despite the temptation… We could use that to our advantage.”

  What was I supposed to say to that? It was too much to take in at once, so I just stood there staring at Turner.

  “Those twins could destroy life as we know it,” I said out loud. If those boys were to die, Roberta and I could die, too. But if it meant saving the world… What kind of a person would I be if I didn’t at least consider the option… I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want Roberta to die but…

  I vomited.

  Right on Gramps’s shoes.

  Turner took a step back and shook off the chunky contents of my breakfast. Surprisingly, he didn’t look mad or upset, he just looked… worried.

  Grrr. I wanted him to be evil. It was so much easier that way.

  “We think the twins have the same four-mile restriction you do, but yes, they could wipe out every living thing in that vicinity.” I think he was trying to comfort me, but it didn’t change the fact that Turner didn’t really know that for sure, and I certainty didn’t want to test it.

  “How can I keep them out of my head?” I asked, desperate for an answer. I didn’t like it that I was intricately tied to these monsters. It was bad enough having Elisha and Roberta popping inside my head anytime they wanted, but I’d learned how to kick them out, maybe I could learn to do the same with the twins.

  “Roberta will teach you how. I’m sure she can find a way.” I could see that Gramps wasn’t exactly convinced of that. “Listen, Chelsan, I know you’re scared about John and Samuel, but we may need them. Right now they’re in a cell two hundred feet beneath Population Control Center. Elisha can’t reach them. To be honest only you can.” He paused as if thinking of how to proceed. “Roland Light and Elisha are going after the Baby Center Headquarters in Arizona. Our sources say they’re going to kidnap all fifty thousand surrogate mothers and blow up the building. I can’t let that happen. I know you
don’t trust me, I know you don’t agree with my methods, but if Roland and Elisha take those women, there will be thousands of devastated parents who will fight back. Chelsan, we’re talking about a possible war.”

  War?

  A topic I had only read about. Masses of people killing each other for whatever reason suited them at the time. Age-pro pretty much took the fight out of people since they could live forever. Was that Roland and Elisha’s goal from the start?

  “What can I do?” Seriously, what could I possibly do that Turner couldn’t do himself? He could control the dead, he could control the living, why did he need me?

  “I need you to use John and Samuel’s power. If I could I would, but you’re the only one we know of who can do it.” Turner was serious.

  “No way.” The words came out of my mouth before I even had time to think of a proper answer. I guess my body and mind were speaking for me at the moment.

  “We would hover John and Samuel out and all we’ll need you to do is use their power to control the surrogates. If we can get them away from the center and into a more defensible area, Roland and Elisha won’t be able to take them to Havenville.” Turner kept talking as if I hadn’t said a thing. “It’s the only way to keep everyone alive. My sources tell me that a large majority of the surrogates at the Baby Centers are riled up from what happened at the LA branch. They want to leave. They want to have these babies and raise them on their own. If I didn’t have my security teams on every single one of the Baby Centers we’d already have millions of surrogates breaking out to find the first Christian Coalition town they could find. If I don’t have you, I’d have to attack Roland’s men, and there would be casualties. There really would be a war then, and there wouldn’t be any way to stop it. But if we remove the problem by keeping the surrogate mothers safely with their donors, under my protection no one will have cause to fight just yet.”

  “What about the seven thousand Roland already has?” Was I really having this conversation? I thought I’d just said no way.