Ryan gently pulled away and held my face with his hands. I’d never seen him smile so big in my life. “Do you have any idea what a relief that is? I never have to worry about you dying again!” If Ryan could have jumped in the air and whooped he would have.
I never thought of it that way. My friends were constantly worried about me, and rightfully so: now they’d never have to fear that I’d die. Of course, I didn’t want to bring up the fact that someone like Elisha could then torture me forever and my body would never give out. Or if she buried me alive again, I’d just rot down there and never die.
Breathe.
This immortal thing was really scaring the crap out of me.
“We just need to give you all some of this formula so we can rest easy,” I confessed. It would be rather nice not having to worry if my friends were going to die or not.
“In time. I’m sure Turner has Fortski slaving over the lab right now. I figured out some of the compounds, but that man is seriously the smartest man alive. I couldn’t even scratch the surface of what he put in that serum.” Ryan was impressed.
“Yeah, in the whole three hours you had to examine it. You’re such a dummy,” I teased.
Ryan started kissing me again and my toes tingled in delight.
“Elisha’s on the news. This can’t be good.” Jason interrupted us by entering our room. He looked scared. “Everyone is in the conference room.”
We quickly followed Jason there, not wanting to miss a moment of whatever Elisha was doing on the news. Nancy, Jill, Max, Bill, Roberta, Turner and Fortski were already inside watching a giant holographic image of Elisha’s stunningly beautiful face on the holo-TV.
Jason explained, “She’s taken over every station worldwide. If you own a holo, you’re seeing Elisha.”
Elisha’s demeanor was serious, there wasn’t a hint of a smile on her face, not even in her eyes when she spoke, “My name is Elisha Stearne. I have taken over this little planet of ours, and frankly, it was just about the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Don’t bother trying to fight me, my armies only grow stronger the more you fight back. And don’t look to your precious Vice President Geoffrey Turner, he doesn’t have the means to hurt me. He’s weak and a liar, and you’ll finally get to see him for what he is: a fake. I have a general in every major city around the world with armies of thousands. You will bow to me. You will respect me…”
Then she laughed hysterically, like she was in on a joke that only she knew the punch line of. “Wait a minute, I don’t care what you do. I’m going to make this planet burn. Why you ask?” Elisha, being one for dramatics, paused long enough to be annoying. “Because I think it’ll be fun.”
Elisha blew a kiss to the camera, “Ta-Ta for now!”
There was a huge flash of light and then regular programming popped back on the holo. Turner turned it off.
“What are we going to do?” Nancy’s voice was shaking.
I was the one who spoke. “We’re going to stop her.”
Chapter Seven
Sunday April 10, 2321
I should be used to this by now. Seriously!
Every time I go to sleep I end up in someone else’s head. It was getting ridiculous.
I was definitely in Roberta’s head. She had yet to pop up to greet me, and I was surprised I’d drifted in. Usually, her guard was up.
After my rousing statement, not much happened, so we all talked in hushed whispers of what we should do about Elisha, then we went to bed. It felt so amazingly wonderful to finally lay down that I almost didn’t want to fall asleep just so I could enjoy the sensation.
I also suspected that I’d be ripped out of my body like clockwork.
I wasn’t wrong.
In the last six days, I think I spent more time out of my body than in it!
“Roberta! What’s up?” I wanted to go back to my body and actually have a good night’s rest. Was that too much to ask for?!
Our oak forest materialized in front of me, but still no Roberta.
I felt like I was “on hold.” Like she was saying, Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be right there.
That’s when Ryan, Isabelle and Max popped in next to me. I could only describe their faces as surprised and bewildered when they arrived.
I immediately snatched Ryan’s hand and he took it gratefully.
“Where are we?” Ryan asked.
“Roberta’s brain,” I answered. Yeah, just a normal night of being me. Aren’t you glad you picked me as your girlfriend?
Roberta finally made her appearance and smiled at all of us. “Good. I wasn’t sure if I could pull you all in, but I’m glad it worked.”
“What’s this about?” Max asked. He didn’t seem upset about being yanked out of his body for this little powwow, though, he seemed more curious than anything.
Roberta motioned for everyone to hold hands (since I was already holding Ryan’s I grabbed Max’s). Without question the others followed. I still had to pinch myself that I’d follow directions from Grams so willingly, but she’d definitely proved her loyalty to me lately. That I couldn’t argue.
A pulsing of light traveled in a circle through our hands. It was a strange sensation, but pleasant at the same time. Every time the light rushed through my hand into Max’s hand and then back the other way from Ryan’s hand to my own, it warmed me from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. After a few moments it stopped.
“We’re bound now,” Roberta announced. “I want us to be able to communicate with one another telepathically since we won’t be physically together. Max and Chelsan you know how this works, but Ryan and Isabelle aren’t as familiar with telepathy. Now that we’re connected, all you’ll have to do is think of the person you want to talk to and they’ll hear you.”
Isabelle’s face showed relief, while Max looked like this was nothing new. Roberta was right, Max and I didn’t need the connection to talk to anyone we chose, but it would make it easier on Ryan and especially on Isabelle who was who-knows-where.
Isabelle spoke up, “We’re supposed to rendezvous with Elisha tomorrow. I’ve injected myself with a blood tracker, the number is 88765. Follow me and you’ll be able to snag her. Just so you know, I plan on killing Elisha, so if you want her as your lab rat, you better get there quick. I’m only going to give you an hour.” Isabelle looked at me when she said that. She knew I didn’t like killing and she was trying in her own way to respect that. “Also, I’m pretty sure Harry’s been lying to our team this whole time. He makes it sound like he wanted to stop a war and that Geoffrey was trying to start it, but I now believe Harry’s wanted a war this whole time. That’s why he sided with Elisha without our knowledge. He knew we’d never agree.”
“I’ll tell Geoffrey, and thank you.” Roberta genuinely meant it, which made Isabelle squirm a little. Then Roberta continued, “I don’t know what happened between you and Geoffrey, he never told me the whole story, but I hope you two can resolve your differences. He really did love you.”
Isabelle’s eyes lit up with fury at hearing that, but her voice remained calm as she said, “Are we done here?”
“Not quite.”
Uh.
That was Elisha.
Elisha appeared in front of us with an annoyingly condescending grin. “Why wasn’t I invited to this little party?”
Then her smile turned to shock when she recognized Max.
“How?” was all Elisha could spit out.
Roberta was quick: she used Elisha’s momentary confusion to her advantage and with sheer force of will made Elisha lift off her feet and fly backward through the forest.
Before any of us could even strategize, though, Elisha popped right back in front of us.
Irritated and angry, she hissed, “Nice try, cat lady, but now that you’re in a loaner, I’m much more powerful than you in this realm.”
Elisha twisted her fingers in a quick motion and Roberta immediately grabbed her own throat, choking from the gesture.
I m
ay have had my own issues with Grams, but there was no way I was letting Elisha strangle her in her own head. I concentrated as hard as I could, thinking only of Elisha being removed from Roberta’s brain.
And it started to work.
Like a horizontal tornado, Elisha was starting to be sucked out of the space in a wind tunnel that only affected her. I could tell she was trying to use every spell or thought that she could to stay here, but I was gaining in strength.
Roberta was released from Elisha’s hold and took a few seconds to gain her bearings.
Why was Elisha here in the first place? Was she trying to spy? If she was, there’d been no reason to show herself, she could have just listened and left. I couldn’t believe Elisha’s ego was so big that she had to gloat about it, not with all the careful planning she’d done so far. I decided I needed to ask her.
I kept Elisha at a mid-point halfway between sucking her out and keeping her in. She was just floating in space with a giant fan blowing her hair, skin and clothes back at full force.
“What are you doing here, Elisha?” I asked.
“Just bored,” she lied, her face furrowed in concentration, desperately trying to gain the upper hand.
“Seriously, are you here to spy?” I tried to see if I could provoke any kind of expression or response that would help me figure her out.
That’s when I noticed something I’d never seen before in Elisha’s eyes.
Doubt.
And I knew, with a certainty I couldn’t explain, that Elisha hadn’t come here on purpose.
“Your connection to one of us brought you here,” I said with confidence.
She didn’t answer – but her eyes flashed at me briefly. Yup. Elisha had no idea how she had come to arrive here.
Max stepped forward. “It must have been me, because of our connection.”
“When I bound us together, Elisha was sucked in through Max.” Roberta suggested. “I can try to sever the connection.”
“No,” I answered before I even knew what I was saying. “We may need their connection in the future. I don’t want to hurt Max.”
Elisha was livid, “So sweet. Have you two bonded now?” Then she screamed at Max, “Next time I’ll have to be more thorough when killing you.” Elisha didn’t like that she was connected to Max. It gave her a weakness she wasn’t expecting.
“Good luck with that,” Max said, and I almost laughed.
The punch line of Max’s joke wasn’t lost on Elisha.
Realization flooded through her. “You two drank the potion… that’s why there’s not a scratch on you.” Then Elisha screamed in a rage I’d never seen before. “You’re immortal!” Her eyes met mine and I flinched at her fury. “Now the ritual can never be completed!”
It must have pissed her off even more when my eyes lit up. I never even thought of that. If I couldn’t kill myself, then Elisha could never take my power. Sweet.
It also told me something that wasn’t confirmed until this moment: Elisha already knew that the serum didn’t just heal, it created immortality, which meant she’d be after it with a vengeance.
“Time to leave now.” I flicked my wrist and Elisha flew down the vortex of wind and was gone from Roberta’s head.
I looked around at everyone. Ryan’s hand held mine, the ever-present rock of support.
“Time for everyone to go,” Roberta announced. “We have a big day ahead of us.”
No one argued.
Before I knew it, both Ryan and I were gasping for breath as we returned to our bodies.
Ryan turned to me and moved my hair out of my eyes. “Check astral projection off my bucket list, and hopefully never to make any other list from here on out.”
I leaned in and kissed him. “I’m not sure why Roberta brought you in, but I’m grateful.”
“You have to give it to her. She knows how much we mean to each other and she wanted us to be able to stay connected. It was kind of a cool move.” Ryan kissed my forehead.
“Yeah, it was. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about that,” I admitted.
“Me either,” Ryan admitted as well.
“What time is it?” I wondered. It was impossible to tell because there were no windows in the center rooms of the Population Control building.
Ryan reached over me and grabbed his phone, lighting up the screen. “5 a.m.”
“Maybe we should…”
I didn’t get to finish that sentence.
A large explosion shook the building like an earthquake.
Alarms sounded everywhere.
Population Control was under attack.
Nancy, Jason and Bill all came running in at once.
Bill yelled over the continual explosions and gunfire, “You guys okay?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
Ryan and I hurriedly dressed and the five of us left the room to find Jill and Max. Ultimately, we needed to find Turner. I somehow didn’t think we were lucky enough for Elisha to have brought the fight to us. I knew after we evacuated Population Control our next stop would be wherever Elisha was currently residing.
Max’s voice sounded in my head, Jill and I are fine. Turner and Roberta are with us, we’re on our way to the lab. Your grandfather thinks that Elisha is coming after the formula and Fortski.
“They’re all at the lab. Let’s go,” I informed Ryan and the others. I didn’t bother explaining how I knew this and, frankly, no one questioned it. We all just ran towards the science labs and I hoped Fortski was still there. No, he couldn’t die, but Elisha could certainly hurt the poor man, forever. Besides, the thought of Elisha taking the immortality juice was a bigger nightmare than any of us wanted to contemplate.
We rounded the hallway just before the lab.
Gunfire!
I shoved everyone back before they could get hurt.
THWACK!
A bullet grazed my arm as I ducked the rest of the way around the corner. The pain was sharp and I grabbed it instinctively. It only lasted seconds as I could literally feel the wound instantly heal. So freakin’ strange.
I could hear the screams of the shooters.
They were protesters from outside and they wanted me dead.
Elisha had planned this all out. Riling up the public against me and then attacking Population Control giving the rioters access to attack. Now that she couldn’t use me anymore, Elisha wasn’t going to be exactly careful in protecting me. I couldn’t die, but my friends could. I needed to keep them safe.
I could see the black swirling holes of ten dead soldiers several hallways behind us, busy with their own fight. They were controlled by Turner, but I needed them more. I connected to their black holes and made them hotfoot it back to us. Since the protesters were innocents (not really – I mean, they were trying to shoot me! But they weren’t evil incarnate like Elisha!), I made the dead soldiers act like a shield for us to follow.
The angry villagers (as I like to call them), shot at the soldiers I controlled, I didn’t have them fire back. I made the dead guards push, shove and punch the guns out of the crazies’ hands, pretty much rendering them useless.
Although when the protesters caught glimpses of me behind my wall of men, they were like rabid dogs trying to break through to kill me.
“I didn’t kill those people at the mall! Elisha Stearne did!” I screamed. I had no idea why I was trying to convince the angry mob, it’s not likely these people could even hear me, let alone believe me. It’s just that seeing their enraged faces made me want to explain myself. I could only imagine that some of these protesters were family and friends of the victims that died. Considering I was pretty much caught on tape doing the deed, I wouldn’t believe me, either.
Unfortunately, the insane-o crowd was the least of my problems, because when we showed up at the lab, Fortski was there – but the newest batch of his formula was gone. And a giant hole in the wall revealed the point of entry for Elisha’s men, its gaping open mouth mocking us for the idiots we were. Now we knew wh
at the explosions had been for.
Turner was going over everything that happened with Fortski while a slew of his dead soldiers joined my dead soldiers in protecting the lab, pushing protesters away.
We had a short breather, then. I could hear the fighting and gunfire from the hallways beyond, but at least the explosions had stopped.
Apparently, the bombs Elisha’s attack used were quick and decisive, placed in strategic points to make a direct tunnel through the walls of the building, leading straight to the lab. Turner’s men stopped them from taking Fortski, but Elisha’s crew managed to snag the three vials of the formula Fortski had made. Turner’s men were chasing them down as we spoke, trying to stop them from escaping and ultimately going back to Elisha. I really wished Fortski had another bottle in hiding so all my friends in the room could take a swig. It would make my life so much less stressful. Of course, that was never my luck. If we survived through this, though, my friends were the first on the list for the serum.
That’s when I felt it.
“Chelsan,” I heard Max’s voice next to me. He felt it too.
Turner sensed something big was up because he turned to the both of us. “What is it?”
I swallowed hard. “Elisha brought an army of dead. There are thousands of them.”
I could see an ocean of black swirling holes outside the building. So did Max.
Roberta walked up to us. “Can you connect to them all? The two of you?”
Yes.
I could do this.
Then we could stop Elisha from retrieving the serum.
I nodded and tried to slam into the black holes of her soldiers.
Nope.
They were controlled by someone else. Someone else either stronger – or simply, there were more of them asserting control.
Max and I shared a look of concern.
“We can’t,” I informed everyone.
“Let’s go to the roof and see what we’re up against,” Turner commanded. He didn’t reprimand me or even give me a disappointed glare. I could see that Gramps had such confidence in my ability that if I couldn’t connect to all those soldiers there would have to be a reason why.
The Riser Saga Page 92
