EVO Shift: EVO Nation Series: Book Two

by Chapman, K. J

  I nod again.

  “Why don’t you speak? Can you only talk in your mind or something? That’s a bit weird.”

  “I’m not weird,” I snap.

  “How old are you?” he asks, not fazed by my outburst. He starts keepie uppies as he speaks. “I’m nine. When did you start developing your ability? I started about three months ago. Mum said I shouldn’t talk about it though because bad things can happen to EVO who get caught, but I guess it is okay to talk to you. Can you read my thoughts right now or do you just talk to people in their heads? I’m an Electrokin. Do you know what that is? I can manipulate electricity. I can turn on a TV just by touching it. You’re quiet, say something.”

  “You talk a lot.”

  He drops the ball momentarily, and his brow lowers before his face splits into a grin. “Yeah, I guess so. How old are you?”

  “Five.”

  “Do you have any EVO friends?”

  “I’m home-schooled, so I don’t have any friends at all. There is a boy who lives down the lane, Charlie, but he only plays with me because his Mummy and Daddy tell him to.”

  Adam looks a little sad. “My parents took me out of school too. It’s too dangerous at the moment. I might frazzle the teachers or something.” I giggle, and he kicks the ball to me. “I don’t have friends either. You’re just a kid, but if you want I can teach you keepie uppies?”

  I nod eagerly, but Mum’s voice calls from the house again.

  “Don’t be scared of my Mum. I think your Mum is scarier. My Dad said your Mum drinks like a fish. My Mum won’t hurt you. She wants to help you.”

  “Teddie, what are you playing at? Come on.” Mum appears at the door. “I told you not to go out of ear shot. Stop annoying the boy.”

  Adam picks up the ball from my feet. “It was my fault, Mrs Leason. I was teaching Teddie how to play football.”

  Adam smiles at me before returning to his game.

  Mum grunts under her breath and ushers me inside the house.

  ***

  I pick up a Barbie and make her pirouette around the doll’s house. Dad has dragged the television from their room into my bedroom and I’ve watched nothing but Disney films all morning. I scratch at my tummy, lifting my top to see the small blistered spots dotted all over my skin. I must have caught chicken pox when Charlie’s Dad forced him to come to tea at our house a few weeks ago. Charlie was scratching at his leg the whole time, and Mr Reaves rang Dad that night to say that Charlie had the chicken pox.

  I look to the door, and sure that Dad and Mum are not close by, I have a good, long scratch like a dog clawing at fleas. So what if they scar on my belly?

  The front door slams and I jump out of my spotty skin. My heart kicks against my chest. For a minute, I thought I had been caught out, but then I realise that Mum has been out for hours. She’s probably drunk again.

  Another slam, this time the fridge. “If you can’t drink on a Friday when can you?” Mum snaps.

  “Look at yourself. Leoni’s going to be here any minute to manipulate our daughter, and you can’t even stay sober for one bloody night. Teddie needs her Mum, Shana.”

  “That child needs a lot more than her mother. Do you not resent it... her?”

  “Never. You make me sick,” shouts Dad. The doorbell rings and I hear him whisper angrily to her before opening the door.

  Footsteps pound the stairs. I run to the bed, jump under the duvet, and pretend to be sleeping. The door creaks open a little more, and I feel the weight as Adam sits on the side of my bed.

  “I know you’re not really asleep, Spotty.”

  I open my eyes slowly and stare up at Adam’s beaming face. His hair and face are wet from the storm outside.

  “So, you haven’t turned into a chicken yet?” I shake my head, trying to disguise my smile. “Don’t worry, I can’t catch it. I’ve had chicken pox already. Your Dad said we could park the caravan in the field tonight. I just thought I’d come and say bye. We’re going home early in the morning. I also wanted to show you something new I have learnt. I don’t get to show anyone other than Mum and Dad and they get kind of mad when I use my ability.”

  “Mine do too,” I say, sitting up. He really does know what it is like to be me. “Show me.”

  “Okay, hold up your hand like this.” He holds up his palm like he wants a high five. I copy. He holds his hand to mine, nearly touching, but not quite. “I won’t hurt you.”

  A spark of blue spreads along his palm, reaching out in mini lightning bolts to mine. A tingly feeling spreads up my arm, pulsing through my whole body, and my hair starts to rise around my face.

  Adam laughs, shifting to the side, so I can see my reflection in the mirror. I burst into hysterics at the sight of myself. My hair stands on end, and Adam’s eyes water from laughter. The electricity licks at my skin and it’s the beauty of it that mesmerises me most.

  “My Mum and Dad are scared to touch it. They think I’m going to fry their brains. Are you not scared?”

  “No. It feels gentle. You’re cool. Will you be my friend?”

  The blue retreats back into Adam’s hand and he lets it fall onto his lap. “You’re pretty cool for a little kid too,” he says. “I thought we already were friends?”

  Shana enters, red faced and puffy eyed. “Say goodbye to Adam, Teddie.” She props herself up on the doorframe.

  Adam grabs his rucksack, slinging it over his shoulder. “Bye Teddie. It was nice to meet you,” he says, tapping at his forehead. I tune in easily. “Don’t touch any light switches for a few hours in case you blow a bulb. And… don’t forget me, okay? You’re the only friend I’ve got.”

  Leoni appears, offering me a kind smile. She tells Adam that his Dad is waiting for him, and then enters the room, closing the door behind her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “That was surprisingly uneventful,” Leoni says. I open my eyes and blink away the dryness. “You might have a bit of a headache, and a bunch of memories that don’t fit properly, but everything will sort itself out.”

  Sitting up, I pull against the restraints on my wrists. The skin underneath has been rubbed raw and bleeds into the sheets. “I thought you said it was uneventful.”

  She just smiles and unlocks the cuffs. “I don’t like the brown hair on you. What did Adam think of it?”

  “Seriously? Don’t ask me questions about Adam because I won’t answer them. If you were around for him you’d know for yourself.”

  “That shy little girl from fourteen years ago has found a voice,” she says, half laughing. “You don’t half talk a load of shit, though. I have been sat on this saddle of a stool for the last thirteen hours, so I’m going to have a pee, have a coffee, and then I’ll explain it all to you. Do you think you can hold off on the judgement until then?”

  I’m speechless, gawping at her like a fish out of water. Leoni shakes out her legs before heading out the door. I like her. My intuition feels more in tune than it ever has. It’s like I’m reading her subconsciously. She has a chip on her shoulder to match mine. Yeah, I definitely like her.

  “I can see why he is in love with her,” Leoni thinks.

  I know she thinks it because her lips don’t move. I didn’t even have to try, her thoughts just popped into my head without as much as a flinch on my part.

  “I must remember it’s my weekend to have the kids.”

  “I’m gasping for a cuppa.”

  “Who ate my cereal bar?”

  Different thoughts and different voices fill my head; talking over each other, screaming for my attention. I grasp at my skull in a bid to stop the noise. Leoni stops at the door and watches me over her shoulder.

  “What’s up with her now?” she thinks.

  Even more voices fill my head; random thoughts obscuring my own. I can’t control this, I have no off and on switch, and a familiar ball sits in my throat, stopping my lungs from expanding. I cry out, but it’s more of a raspy gasp.

  Leoni rushes back into the room, taking
my face in her hands.

  “They’re so loud,” I say, wheezing for breath. “I can’t breathe.”

  “Pull it back, Teddie. The telepathy belongs to you, not the other way around.”

  “This is different. I have no control. I can hear everything.”

  “If a five-year-old girl can control it, a nineteen-year-old, grown ass woman sure as hell can. You don’t get to be weak, not when Adam is relying on you.”

  The mere mention of Adam shocks me back to myself, and I inhale deeply before the panic can get me firmly in its grip. I focus on the telepathy, balling it up in the centre of my mind until it steadies and I can feel it waning. I want to lock it away, never to open it again. It’s scarily powerful and I can’t cope.

  “I wanted to let you recover, but perhaps now is a good of a time as any. What Grayson said to you about Adam being safer if you don’t link, well, he’s wrong. You need to link with him, Teddie. You need to give them reason to need him. Tell him you’re alive. If not, he has no value to them.” Her hands are hot on my cheeks, painful almost. “Link or they’ll kill him.”

  “You’re right.” She seems taken off guard by my response. Was she expecting an argument? This is Adam we’re talking about. “What do I do? The link only happened if we were close. It’s sporadic.”

  “It was sporadic,” Leoni says, smiling. “Try it now.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?”

  “Teddie, we’re alone in this building. Those voices you heard are from a packing factory about a mile down the road. Link with Adam, now.”

  “What do I say about you?”

  “You say nothing. He can’t find out like this.”

  I know my telepathy is strong. It has always been strong; I just lacked the memories to remember what I was actually capable of. I tell myself to link with Adam and it’s as if I’m jolted from reality. My mind and body feel separate, and a warm crackle surrounds my mind. That’s not all I feel. A deep, dark sense of despair sticks to me like tar, chilling me to my soul. A hollow, emptiness threatens to engulf me.

  “Adam?” I ask.

  The crackle intensifies, giving me respite from the desolation.

  “I’m dreaming again,” Adam thinks. “Just leave me alone.” His voice is dead- TORO dead.

  My heartbeat thuds around in my brain. Please, don’t be TORO. “It’s me, Baby. It’s Teddie,” I say, again.

  “No. Teddie is dead.”

  I show him my memory of walking into the Syndicate meeting with Jude. I show him Grayson’s face, my hospital gown, and my telekinetic episode as my brain seared with pain. The crackle of electricity feels hot in my mind.

  “Teddie?” His thoughts are wary.

  “Hey, you.”

  His emotion shifts from despair to exhilaration in an instant. The darkness creeping into my soul peels away from me. “Where are you? Are you safe?” he asks.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Where are you?”

  He sighs with relief. “We were deported back to Britain. I’m in a detention centre, but I don’t know where. I haven’t seen the others since we arrived. You have no idea how sexy your voice sounds right now. I thought I had lost you.”

  “Are they hurting you?” There is silence. “You need to tell them that I am alive.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Please, Adam. If they think you know nothing they will kill you. Give them a reason to need you. You have to do this. It will give us time to find you.”

  “No. Stay in Italy and stay safe.”

  “We’re in Britain at Syndicate’s headquarters. They saved my life. But I...I killed Maggie.”

  “Because you had to,” he says. There is no doubt in his mind at all. He trusts me implicitly. He doesn’t know what went down on that beach, yet still he knows the truth.

  “I will find you. Try and find out something about where you are, and let me know the next time I link with you. I promise I won’t leave you for long.” I feel more drained than I have ever felt from linking. A dizziness swirls through my mind, distancing me from Adam’s thoughts.

  “Teddie, what’s wrong? I can feel it. Are you sick?”

  I can’t hold the link much longer. “I’m okay.Things have kind of changed with my telepathy. Tell them I’m alive, Adam. You have to. I love you.”

  I’m jerked back to reality. I open my eyes and Leoni watches me impatiently.

  “Well?” she asks. I wipe tears from my eyes. She raises her hand to my temple. “May I see?” I allow her access to the memory. She sits in silence for a moment, composing herself. “I know it’s silly, but I expect to hear his twelve-year-old little voice. He has a man’s voice. It’s a kind voice,” she says, smiling to herself. “He sounds like a good man.”

  I pick up on her emotions: pain, sorrow, pride, relief, love. She was keeping him safe when she left him. I’m unsure if I am reading her on a primitive level or if my telepathy makes me more intuitive. I know Leoni loves Adam. “He is the best of men,” I say, taking her hand.

  She stares at our linked hands.

  The door opens and Jude strides in. His eyes dart from our hands, to my face. “You linked, didn’t you? He knows you are alive, doesn’t he?” He sounds scarily angry.

  “Yes.”

  He just glares at me. He doesn’t say a word, just glares at me. His chest rises and falls at rapid speed, but still he says nothing. Then, he turns on his heels and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I enter the meeting room wearing a pair of Leoni’s jeans and Cooper’s grey t-shirt. I have had to tie it at my naval to make it fit better. He wears a hoody that is still stained with my blood. My Converse look worse for wear, but they have survived a lot with me and I just can’t throw them away. They have out survived the man who got them for me. God, I miss Golding. I prize my eyes from my feet, so as not to look little and afraid. Only Jude and Cooper wait for us. I was expecting ear ache from Grayson, but it looks like he’s left Jude to give me a double dose.

  I look straight at Jude. “I won’t apologise for potentially saving Adam’s life.”

  “It’s not what you did, but how you went about it, Princess.” His voice is softer now. The vein in his head isn’t bulging at me like before. “You looked me in the eye and said you wouldn’t link.”

  Leoni steps forward. “This is my son’s life—”

  “And you can shut your damn mouth,” Jude snaps at her. His anger for Leoni is still at full strength. “You took advantage of her straight after your voodoo memory shit. She wasn’t in the right mind to make the decision. I blame you for this.”

  “For what? All Teddie has done is given Adam a lifeline. They’ll know nothing other than the fact that she is alive.”

  “Exactly. You’ve told them that the one EVO that Towley wants is alive and well. He will never stop hunting her. She will always be running. I know you only care about Adam, he’s your son, but Teddie is my family, she is my world, and how dare you put her at risk.” Jude’s just inches from Leoni’s face.

  I can’t help but smile. This angry, arrogant, sometimes obnoxious man wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t shy away from admitting his love for me. Thinking about it, he never has. I drag him away from Leoni. “I love you, Jude.”

  He swallows hard, holding my head close to his chest. “I love you too, Princess. So, how was he?”

  I grip Jude tighter, burying my face into the fabric of his shirt.

  “He’s hanging in there,” Leoni says for me.

  “And the others?”

  I shrug. “He’s all alone.”

  “Adam won’t tell them you’re alive, you know that as well as I do,” says Jude. “I was just mad that you went behind my back.”

  “I know, but I hope we’re wrong. I get that Syndicate have their own plans, but I can’t just leave Adam and the others at the mercy of Towley. Getting them out of that shithole is my only concern. Screw Syndicate.”

  “Teddie’s right, Jude. How
are we supposed to save the world when we can’t even save our own?” adds Cooper.

  “Who said we can’t do both?” Jude says, grinning. He turns to Leoni. “Lizzie is in.”

  She raises an eyebrow in approval.

  I look to Cooper, but he shrugs his lack of knowledge.

  “Who the hell is Lizzie?” I ask.

  “I am.” A woman enters the room with Grayson, Kesh, Ingrid, and Silvain.

  Her blonde hair is pulled back into a simple, but severe ponytail. She has vibrant blue eyes made all the more vivid by the dark bruising around her eye sockets. Her strong nose and jaw add to her intimidating presence. I recognise her, but can’t place her. She can’t be much older than twenty-five, but her demeanour is that of a middle aged woman. She shakes my hand and I return the gesture, still trying to place her in my backlog of upturned memories.

  “It’s good to meet you, Teddie. And I want to apologise to you for what my father put you through.” I tilt my head and look to Jude for answers. “I’m Lizzie Roscoe.”

  I knew I recognised her. I’ve only ever seen Lizzie in a photo on Roscoe’s desk at Facility One. She is the daughter of the man who put me through hell and was going to turn me into a soulless TORO. Isaac abducted her and held her hostage to ensure Roscoe would bring Tess to him.

  “We had been watching both Facility One and Gabe for a while. Kesh intercepted correspondence between Gabe and Roscoe, so we knew Lizzie had been abducted. We had been aware of an old warehouse the E.N.C used to store trafficked weapons, and on a whim, a few days ago we went to check it out. They had been using it as Lizzie’s prison.

  I skim her mind as delicately as I can, but there is an overwhelming rush of voices. I class reading a Roscoe as a necessity. From what I can pick up before I throw up, her thoughts are streamline, purposeful, and highly opinionated, but she’s legit. She hated her father nearly as much as I did. She knows I read her- they all do if my facial expression is anything to go by. I can’t control this telepathy and I’ve lost my ill practised tact.

  “My father’s ideologies were primitive and out dated. A scientist who hinders progression is a fraud in my book. I'm utterly ashamed.”