The Duals (An Urban Fantasy Thriller)

by Karen Hayes

  "This," father says, "could have well been a potential alternative future scenario. Ever heard of Everett's theory? This was a future that Vector was preparing for all of us. I want you to try to describe it now. Especially the bionic machine you saw in the sky."

  I shake my head. "I want you to answer my question first."

  "Chris, this is serious," the General snaps.

  "Well, in that case, answer my question. Then we'll talk. Where's Sarah?"

  "She's all right," father repeats. "She's here next door."

  "What is this place?"

  "It's our backup base," Buffalo utters. "A new one. We'll tell you where it is in due time."

  "Why isn't Sarah with me?"

  Buffalo falls silent. The General replies instead,

  "She needs medical help. You can see her very soon if you really want to. Later, not now."

  "And Vector, where is he?"

  They exchange glances.

  "He's dead," the General says.

  "Are you sure? Did you see him dead?" I demand. "How did he die? Who killed him?"

  "He did," the General nods at Buffalo. "Sarah managed to distract Vector, allowing Buff to shoot him at close range."

  "Very well. Bring Sarah here, and then I'll answer your questions."

  Buffalo winces.

  The General gives a reserved nod. "We'll take you to see her. After you've answered our questions."

  I shake my head. "Sorry. What I don't understand is why you had to separate us. You kept us together the last time. Bring her here, and we'll talk."

  The General squints at me. "Don't you understand?"

  I have a queer feeling in the pit of my stomach. "What am I supposed to understand? We had an agreement. We did everything we said we would. We helped you. Twice you said you were going to stick to your side of the bargain."

  "Didn't you see what she can do?" the General's voice rises ever so slightly. Any other person might have already been screaming and waving his fists at me. "Did you see what happened in the club? And the debates - had it not been for us..."

  "Had it not been for me, you mean," I interrupt him. "And Sarah. You came too late. You didn't see anything. I made that crazy girl shut down the power. And then Sarah took on Vector, distracting him. You've just said so yourself! Everything that happened in the club and in Vegas was his doing. He was using her."

  "He used her as a conductor and amplifier of his own force," father says. "Which just shows you how powerful she is. I'm pretty sure he'd never have been able to pull off something like that with any other carrier! I actually thought it was impossible. Unfortunately, here we have a unique combination. Vector was not just any dual. He killed his partner, his guardian. That affected his mental state, altering it to the point of being inhuman and allowing him to manipulate an equally powerful carrier into submission. It's a good job there aren't many girls like her around!"

  I'm getting fed up with all this claptrap. Sarah isn't "a girl". She's my partner. I'm her guardian.

  The General raises his hand, stopping my father. "Sarah Korski is extremely dangerous," he says. "Alone or not, it doesn't matter. She's a threat to everyone. Vector's experiments are proof enough. When we made our agreement, we didn't realize that yet. Now the circumstances have changed radically. I consider our agreement canceled."

  This man has an amazing ability to remain motionless. I don't know whether it's his army training but most of the time he doesn't even blink. Back in the conference room I thought I saw him pace around the desk a couple of times when the going got really tough but apart from that, most of the time he just stands or sits like a statue without even blinking. Very unusual. I find it unnerving.

  "In any case," the General continues, "you'll be allowed to see her once you've answered our questions."

  "I don't think so," I say with a crooked smile. "You've just told me you broke the agreement. So how am I supposed to believe you? Go and fuck yourselves."

  Cox who all this time has been studying the floor under his feet raises his head and gives me a look of reproach.

  "Pointless, I told you," Buffalo says in a low voice. "No good reasoning with him. He's too dumb."

  I smile. "That's what you call reasoning?"

  "You ain't seen nothing yet. No one can resist a double dose of scopolamine. You'll tell us everything we need to know."

  The General chops the air with his hand. He must be seriously pissed. "Chris, you're being unreasonable. I'm going to give you one last chance. Listen to me. We can't release Sarah now. It's out of the question. You need to accept that. At the moment, there're only two potential scenarios. We either give her a bumper dose of the serum which is likely to completely erase her ability."

  "What, by turning her into an imbecile?" I ask.

  "I don't think so. True, she might end up having some serious side effects which could affect her for the rest of her life. It might take her a few months to recover but she'll live. This is the option I might offer the two of you provided that you," he pointed his finger at me, "agree to stay and work for us. We need you, Chris. She can stay here with you. That way you can take care of her."

  "What's the other option?"

  "The other option... Well, if you don't think you can work for us, Sarah will have to be eliminated. As far as you are concerned, we'll have to take you somewhere to the coast in the van and use the neural suppressant to erase your memory. We'd have to do it for our own safety. True, it might make you paranoid. You might be on the loose for a while until they finally lock you up. You'll never remember your past. You're likely to forget your identity," the General casts a sideways look at my father who averts his gaze without looking at me.

  "Personally," the General adds, "I'd have had both of you killed, but James seems to have a soft spot for you."

  That's when I step forward and hit him hard with both my hands clenched together.

  Or should I say, almost hit him.

  The General may be middle-aged, but he's far from old. Plus he's an ex-guardian too. He recoils just in time, throwing his head back, so that my knuckles brush his chin. Excellent reaction time! Still, in recoiling he drops backward onto the table which screeches and slides across the floor.

  Father steps aside, away from us, as I go for the General. I can hear Buffalo growl something before his Taser goes off with a crackle and zaps me.

  I yelp. So that's what it feels like. I didn't think of it when I zapped other people. It's as if hundreds of tongs are pulling at my flesh in all directions.

  My body shudders. I drop to the floor.

  The voltaic arc disappears and so does the crackling noise.

  My vision fades. Shadows close over me. I can hear distant, unclear voices.

  Then it grows dark and quiet.

  Sarah

  "The kinds of powers that duals possess can be extremely dangerous. Especially your kind of power, Miss Korski. We don't need another Adam Vector to emerge any time soon."

  The voice is dull and distant. This is Buffalo. He's the only one with such commandeering notes in his voice.

  I press my chin against my chest, trying to raise my head. An agonizing pain pierces my neck. I can't even move it. My vision is clouded; muddy spots seem to swim before my eyes, making me dizzy. I can see my own bare knees through the curtain of matted hair dangling in front of my eyes.

  I'm sitting on a chair. My shins are taped to the chair legs. The chair is bolted down. I can't feel my legs at all. They must be terribly numb. I can feel my arms, though. They hurt like hell. I'm bound to the chair; my arms are twisted backward at the joints and taped to its back.

  The room is small and cold with concrete walls and a thick steel door. No windows. Buffalo is standing next to me in his pseudo-military uniform and combat boots. His scarred face is impassive, dark eyes glinting from under his frowned eyebrows.

  Behind his back is a steel medical table with a neat row of syringes and vials.

  Did they inject me again? How abo
ut my powers? Did they just suppress them? Or extinguish them completely?

  "What did you see in Vector's mind?" Buffalo's voice reaches me through the fog.

  I shake my head. I can't remember. I don't feel like talking, anyway. I'm fed up with them all. Stuff the Agency! Stuff Adam with his delusions of grandeur! I don't give a damn about duals!

  The only person I'm worried about is Chris. What have they done to him? They took us to the cars, and then...

  I wince, remembering the pain from the needle piercing my neck. It was still hurting.

  "Miss Korski?"

  "I'm not telling you anything," I croak.

  Buffalo doesn't show any reaction. I don't sense my powers. I can't sense Chris, either.

  Something sharp prickles my side. An electric charge makes my body arch. It feels very similar to having your lights punched out. A blinding wave of pain soars through me. I cry out and slacken in my bonds, staring at my bare knees.

  Electrocuting a helpless girl. Not very gentlemanly, is it?

  "I suggest you tell me what you know, miss."

  I shake my head. Greasy strands of hair dance around my face.

  Naturally, I'm scared shitless but at least I know they're not going to kill me. At least not now. They want to know the stuff I saw in Adam's head.

  Strangely enough, I can sense his presence. It's as if he's here in this room staring at me. It's him... but not quite. The recent events seem to have ripped away his fake human exterior, exposing him as the monster he truly is. I seem to be catching a whiff of his true nature brought about by some mental breeze - the smell of something dark and alien. And still I somehow know it's him.

  Could he be alive? Impossible!

  Buffalo leans to my ear and whispers, "What did you find out? We know you read his mind. You must know something!"

  Panting, I stare at the floor. I can taste blood in my mouth. It's so scary.

  "Or do you want me to inject you again? Would you prefer to go into a coma?"

  I snicker. "Yeah right. I thought you wanted me to tell you something? In that case go ahead, inject me."

  He stands up and wipes his forehead. His bull's neck is dripping with sweat. This is strange. The room isn't at all warm.

  "Sarah, you have no idea how important it is to us. Vector wasn't alone. According to our information, his accomplices are up to something. Could be a new suicide bombing. Innocent people will die, is that what you want? Any information you might have can help us, girl. What did he have on his mind?"

  He must have realized he couldn't beat a confession out of me so he decided to change tack.

  "Where's Chris?" I counter his question.

  "He's in a safe place."

  Yeah, right. They must be keeping him in a similar kind of place. Otherwise he would have already come for me. I know it. I used to feel what he did. I used to see myself through his eyes.

  A wave of heat floods my chest with the memory. The air thickens like dark honey, filling my nostrils with the scent of his hair... his body...

  I know how he feels about me.

  He wouldn't have left me here alone.

  The door opens.

  "Sir," a very young clean-shaven face peeks inside. "You’ve got a visitor."

  With a nod, Buffalo lays the Taser on the table and stomps to the door. He doesn't close it behind him completely. The weak light outside seems bright compared to the gloom of the torture chamber.

  "Did you decide to revert to your old tactics?" a voice asks behind the door.

  This is Chris' father. How disgusting.

  "This is our standard practice," Buffalo replies. "All carriers have to be either neutralized or eliminated."

  "So which of the two are you doing now?"

  "Neither. We need information."

  I startle. What else do they have in store for me? Probably enough to make me scream until I confess.

  "What about my son? What if he refuses to cooperate?"

  "Then you need to reason with him," Buffalo replies. "Our work is worth infinitely more that the life of a single carrier."

  He adds something else. Their voices begin to distance as they walk further down the corridor.

  I don't understand anything anymore. Chris' father is supposed to "reason with him" in order to convince him to "cooperate". Still, I'm pretty sure Chris wouldn't do that. He's part of me. He's my guardian. He won't leave me in trouble.

  The thought makes me feel a bit better.

  I won't leave him, either. I'll be waiting for him while seeking opportunities to escape. As long as I keep my mouth shut, they can't kill me.

  Buffalo returns, followed by two men in khaki uniforms. They remove the tape, jerk me to my feet and drag me out into the dimly-lit corridor.

  Where the hell am I? This doesn't look at all like their Brownsville base.

  Chris' father is gone. The walls are lined with cheap plastic which is broken in places. The floor is filthy. The corridor is so long it's more like a tunnel, really. We don't even get to its end because we turn off into a side passage.

  A girl walks toward us. She's slim and petite, dressed in a gray suit and looking quite mousy overall. As we pass, she presses her back to the wall to let us through, following me with her gaze.

  It's Emma. She's alive and not doing too badly by the looks of it.

  The men drag me further on as I crane my aching neck to look at her. How I'd love to dig my nails into her face! I could ruin that neat bun for her, that's for sure. She betrayed everyone she knew, the devious bitch, just to save her sorry ass.

  Emma shudders and averts her gaze. She must have read my thoughts. At least now she knows what I'd like to do to her.

  Little rat. You can run all you want. One day I'll get you.

  Buffalo swings a door open. The two drag me in, into the damp cold of a stuffy stairwell. They force me down the stairs until we come to a landing below. Buffalo ticks a code into a lock.

  Another corridor, lined with barred cells, all of them occupied.

  As they drag me through it, I sense a whiff of Adam's presence again. I hear the echo of soft laughter which seems to cling to my mind, ripping it with its tiny little claws.

  His voice, calling me.

  I must be going mad.

  We come to a steel door dividing the tunnel. Behind it are more cells. These are empty and dark, with the exception of one which is dimly lit by a quivering ceiling light.

  They push me in. The bars clang shut behind me. I grab at them to stay on my feet and look around me.

  A bunk with a thin gray mattress, a tiny rusty sink with leaking tap, and a toilet. Stylishly minimalistic.

  The two men leave but Buffalo lingers, watching me through the bars. I glare back at him. We just stand there like two star-crossed lovers, devouring each other with our eyes even though both of us have a lot to say to the other.

  "What did he say to you?" Buffalo finally asks. "What was he up to?"

  I'm not saying anything.

  He's afraid, I can feel it. I don't care. They may have taken my powers but I can still sense the fear squirming in his mind like a worm stripping this man of his peace of mind.

  "Sarah, I want you to think hard."

  Enough. I'm fed up with his lies.

  "You need to think hard," I say. "You need to find a good hiding place to hole up in. Because the time will come. You'll have to run and hide. Run and hide."

  He stares at me as if he's just seen a venomous snake.

  "Ten-oh! Ten-oh!" the radio on his belt hisses, springing to life. Buffalo startles. "Level two! Attention all stations!"

  Has it already started?

  Buffalo gives me a long look, then hurries away. I can hear the steel door clang shut behind him.

  Silence falls. I slump onto the cot.

  Funnily, I'm not scared anymore. I'm not even angry. My tears are gone. I feel completely burnt out. I'm too tired.

  I need to keep my mouth shut. That's my only chance. Let's j
ust hope that whatever I saw in Vector's head won't happen any time soon. Because then I might have to lie low too.

  I'd have too, if I want to ever find Chris.

  Chris

  No idea how much time has elapsed since they zapped me. Could be thirty minutes, could be an hour. I'm barely awake. I can't even lift myself from the floor, so I'm forced to roll onto my stomach and crawl toward the bathroom door. Holding onto it, I scramble on all fours and raise myself to my feet.

  Turning the sink tap proves to be a challenge. I lower my head and keep it under the freezing cold water until it turns numb.

  After that, I can finally stand up straight... sort of. I rub my face with the towel and rip the Band-Aid off my forehead. Now my face is burning. My body is all prickly, my head singing, my vision blurring. But at least I can walk.

  Every joint in my body screams its protest. My spine aches. I walk out of the bathroom and study the room.

  The door is predictably locked. There's no way I can escape. All I can do is pace the room and think until my head bursts.

  For the first time in days I've no idea what to do next. Before, there had always been a chance, a glimmer of hope... but not now. I can't escape.

  Soon they'll be back. I'll have to give an answer to their offer. If I accept, Sarah might turn into a vegetable while I'll end up working for those who destroyed her. And if I decline, she will die. And as for me...

  What are they doing to her now? Are they interrogating her? Torturing, maybe?

  I cuss and head for the door. I'm gonna break it, whatever it might cost me.

  The door swings open.

  Cox is standing outside in the corridor's dim light. He motions me to keep quiet. I stop, uncomprehending.

  He scoops me up by the scruff of my neck, pulls me close and whispers into my ear, "Keep your voice down. There's ears everywhere. Follow me," he backs off, pulling me out of the room, closes the door and points at the corridor.

  I follow him. What's that supposed to mean? Why would he help me? What's all this about?

  Could this be a setup? One of the General's dirty tricks?

  Cox slows down, waiting for me to catch up with him, then whispers into my ear, "This tunnel is only solid on one side. The other wall is just a partition. There's another corridor behind it."