The Telepath (The Viral Superhero Series Book 2)

by Bryan Cohen

Redican was right. If anybody's gonna kill me tonight, it's gonna be Ted.

  If Natalie had any control over her body, she would've thrown up right then. Instead, she felt herself run toward her friend and swing her right fist.

  45

  Ted wasn't sure if he could move.

  It's got to be another trick.

  "You're not real." Ted straightened his spine and looked around the catwalk. "Come out, Mr. Redican. Let's finish this."

  The supposed apparition of Jason Torello began to move toward him. Ted stood his ground and stared into the bully's eyes. For something that might be a dream, the way Torello walked toward him sure did seem realistic.

  "You're not even gonna put up a fight?" Torello grinned as he got within swinging distance of Ted.

  For all that Ted had been through, coming face to face with a school bully still sent shivers down his spine. He attempted to ignore the Torello twin. "If you want to teach me something, Mr. Redican, tell me. You don't need to play games."

  Ted could hear Torello's knuckles crack as he balled up his fists.

  "If anyone's tryin' to teach you something, it's to never put your guard down." Torello reared his fist back and swung.

  Ted blocked the punch and pushed it off to the side. Another fist came flying, and he knocked it away with his wrist.

  Torello growled and kept stepping toward Ted. "Do I feel real enough to you yet?"

  Ted attempted to fly backward away from the charging brute, but his powers remained weak, only allowing him to get off the ground for a split second. He stumbled, which gave Torello a clean blow at his head. Ted felt the pain ringing in his ears as a bruise began to form. Before he could shake off the punch, Torello let a flurry of kicks fly. Ted used his own leg to block most of them, but the final kick hit his ankle, sending another burst of pain through his body. He scampered back and rubbed at the spot of the kick.

  If he were a real dark soul, that would've broken my leg.

  Ted wasn't sure where the thought came from, but it multiplied in his brain. If he stopped treating this like a fight with the real Jason Torello, what would happen?

  "Had enough, Finley?" Torello bounced on his toes, waiting to send another attack Ted's way.

  Ted stood up tall and let his lungs fill with air. He remembered back to his months of training and clenched his fists. "I'm just getting started."

  Torello came at Ted with another swing. Instead of attempting to avoid it, Ted gripped his attacker's wrist. It didn't feel at all like he expected. While he saw the dark black hair that covered Torello's arms, he didn't feel the hair when he grabbed ahold of the teen. Torello swung with his other hand, and Ted caught that wrist as well. He felt the same illusion of hair with the same hairless feeling.

  "You may be real, but you're not Jason Torello."

  As the fake Jason Torello aimed for a headbutt, Ted used the momentum to do a backward roll. At just the right moment, Ted kicked his legs into Torello's chest, sending him flying behind Ted's back. He heard his attacker land with a thud that rattled the metal catwalk.

  Ted got back to his feet and walked toward the person who looked like Nigel. It was eerie how much the voice and mannerisms of the British villain had been replicated on another person's body.

  Ted got a few feet away and crouched into a ready stance. "Nigel's dead, so, you aren't particularly scary right now."

  Nigel smirked. "Let's see if I can change your mind."

  Nigel faked a high punch and when Ted went to block it, the man kicked Ted so hard that he flew off the ground, cleared the railing and went plummeting to the dance floor. Ted saw the checkerboards fast approaching and braced for impact. As he was about to make contact with the wood below, his powers finally kicked in. His face was an inch away from the floor when his body stopped.

  "I've gotta stop doing this." Ted placed his feet on the ground and used his replenished powers to push himself back up to the catwalk.

  Before he had a chance to land, Nigel was on him again with a series of powerful punches.

  He's strong like Nigel. Maybe it really is–

  Before Ted could finish the thought, the fake Jason Torello grabbed Ted's arms from behind. Nigel took his opportunity for a free shot and landed it right in Ted's stomach. The air shot out of Ted's lungs in a hurry, and if Torello hadn't been holding him up, he might have collapsed to the ground. There was so much pain and so little oxygen, Ted was completely surprised by what happened next. It was instinct – it had to have been.

  Jason Torello tried to hold onto Ted, but his arms pulled free. "Hey, what gives?"

  Torello began to move backward into the air. Ted blocked Nigel's next punch with his mind, wrenched Nigel's arms behind his back and sent him into the air as well. The lack of support from the Torello twin sent Ted to his knees, but he held his assailants above the ground nevertheless. Ted sped up his recovery process by looking inside himself and manually re-inflating his lungs. He stood and watched the two men hovering above the ground.

  "If you were them"—Ted coughed—"you'd block my powers. Who are you?"

  He heard a low chuckle and turned toward it. At long last, it was Mr. Redican, who looked like he was about to pass out. His skin was so pale, he almost glowed on the dimly lit catwalk. Ted noticed his substitute teacher gripping a book in his hand. The blue veins leading to his fingers seemed ready to burst.

  "That was a fun one, wasn't it?" Redican shook as he walked toward the three of them. "I wasn't sure how that was going to turn out."

  Ted felt the anger build up in his chest. "You know, I've never considered trying to rip a person's head off with my powers, but I really have a hankering right about now."

  Ted was about to lift Redican above the catwalk as well when his powers seemed to give out once again. Nigel and Jason Torello dropped back to the catwalk with a clang. Ted tried to use his abilities, but the muscles of his body no longer seemed to be in control. He saw Redican concentrating all his attention on Ted. The man's skin became paler with every passing second.

  "You'll die if you keep this up." Ted strained to move against the mind control of his enemy. "You're already dying."

  Redican shook even more. Ted wondered if his enemy would kick the bucket before things came to blows.

  "As long as I take her with me."

  Ted looked in the direction Redican spoke. The image of Nigel had completely changed. The black and purple dress gave away Erica's identity almost immediately.

  Ted began walking toward her without any control whatsoever. Butterflies multiplied in his stomach. "Let me go, Redican!"

  Redican's voice was weaker than it'd been before. "Millions of people are dying on other worlds, but the light souls are only protecting Earth and their way of living."

  Ted spied the other person he'd been fighting. Natalie was completely motionless on the other side of the catwalk aisle. He reached Erica and his hands turned her over.

  "If you want me to save your people, I'll do it." Ted's hands moved toward Erica's neck. His voice grew sharper. "Leave her out of this!"

  "It's okay, Ted." Erica's eyes were filled with tears. "I don't blame you for this."

  Ted's hands began to move toward Erica's neck. "No! But I love you."

  Erica forced a smile. "You're strong enough to go on without me."

  Ted's hands gripped Erica's throat and began to squeeze. "Let me go, Redican!"

  "I can't." Redican's voice became raspier with each passing word. "Without her, you can reach – true potential – save – every world."

  Ted used all the muscles in his body to try to pull his hands off Erica's neck. He could see her trying to struggle but likewise unable to prevent the inevitable.

  Ted felt the tears come out of his eyes and watched them land on Erica's dress. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

  Redican laughed at Ted's pain. The bellowing laughter echoed through the ballroom. Ted closed his eyes, no longer wanting to see what his hands were doing.

  Suddenly there w
as the sound of breaking glass and metal smashing into bone. The echoing laughter was replaced by the thump of a body against the catwalk railing.

  46

  Dhiraj had pictured himself living to the ripe old age of 100. By that time, he would have had time to run dozens of companies, write a few best-selling how-to books and lead hundreds of seminars throughout the world. As the noise of footsteps grew closer, Dhiraj thought he might not even get 20 percent of the way there. The sweet scent of Jennifer's perfume filled Dhiraj's nostrils as he tried to put the potential last moments of his life into loving her.

  "I liked you, too." Jennifer shifted her head on Dhiraj's chest.

  He pulled his arm tighter around her body. "What do you mean?"

  She looked up into his eyes. "I knew that you liked me. For years. I liked you back that whole time."

  Through all the fear and worry, Dhiraj felt a burst of joy. He smiled down on her. "I never knew."

  She sighed and pulled herself up to a sitting position. "I know. And it sucks." Jennifer's voice broke. "We could've had years together, but we won't because I was stupid."

  Dhiraj moved his hand to Jennifer's face. He felt his eyes start to water. "You've been in my life, and I'm grateful for that." Dhiraj helped Jennifer to her feet. "And I'm not ready for it to end."

  He tossed his jacket to the ground. Dhiraj started to try to psych himself up.

  "It's probably two dozen people on this floor alone." Jennifer tried to stop Dhiraj's warm-up. "The odds are impossible."

  Dhiraj smirked. "Never tell me the odds."

  Jennifer rolled her eyes. "I think you're a lot more like Butch Cassidy than Han Solo in this situation."

  Dhiraj pulled Jennifer toward her for a quick kiss on the lips. "You're a closet nerd? I knew I loved you for a good reason."

  She placed her hand on Dhiraj's shoulder. "If we get out of this alive, we can watch all the trilogies you want. What's the plan?"

  Dhiraj mapped out a potential path. His father occasionally took the service elevator down to avoid waiting to get to the bottom. The only problem was that the service exit was four floors up. They would need to somehow sneak to the stairs, slip past any brainwashed students, run up four flights and get to the other side of the floor to reach the elevator. If there were any locked doors along the way, they'd be cornered without a doubt.

  "Sounds slightly less than impossible." Jennifer did an abbreviated field hockey stretching routine. With a cute hop off the ground, she gave Dhiraj a nod. "I'm ready when you are."

  He kissed her on the cheek. "We're going to survive."

  She attempted to smile, though it came off more like a farewell. "Keep dreaming big, moneybags."

  Dhiraj opened the door and looked down the hallway. The students who'd been patrolling the floor seemed to be gone. Dhiraj wondered why they'd stopped before trying the door to their hiding spot. He waved Jennifer on and they tiptoed toward the floor's only entrance to the stairs. When they turned a corner, Dhiraj froze in his place. There were almost a dozen students milling around right outside the door. Almost immediately, three or four of the students spotted them.

  Dhiraj was about to grab Jennifer and run, when nobody gave chase. None of the students even got up from their conversations. In fact, one of them gave Dhiraj a polite wave.

  Jennifer and Dhiraj shared a confused look.

  "Hey!" a student wearing a frilly, orange gown said. "Do you guys have any idea how we all got here?"

  Ted regained full control over his body shortly after Redican went crashing to the ground. He pulled his hands away from Erica's neck right away. She wasn't moving.

  "Erica?" Ted's voice trembled. "Erica?!"

  With a heavy gasp, Erica sprung back to life. Her chest heaved up and down to bring in as much air as possible.

  "You're alive!" Ted's tremble changed to a giddy shout. "Are you OK?"

  "Yeah." Erica's voice was scratchy, as if she'd been screaming for hours. "Good thing you strangle like a girl."

  Ted laughed. He assumed that Natalie had come to and saved the day just as she had in their previous incident in the caves. When he glanced back at her, he noticed she was still on the ground, struggling to get to her feet.

  What the...?

  With some trepidation, he looked over at Redican. He was passed out cold on the floor of the catwalk. Standing above him with a busted stage light was none other than Erica's friend Beth. She'd changed out of the hospital gown Ted had last seen her in. The typically dainty girl was wearing a little black dress that matched her tiny black purse. It was unlikely that her weapon of choice was a planned part of the ensemble.

  "You can make me commit all the crimes in the world." Beth let the stage light drop to the side of her former teacher. "But nobody's gonna make me miss prom."

  Ted could tell that Redican was still breathing by the motion of his back. After helping both Erica and Natalie to their feet, Ted pulled the powerful book away from Redican's tightly gripped fingers. As he did, Ted felt a burst of power go through him that was almost more disruptive than the one he felt that morning at Page's Diner. Millions of thoughts went through his mind at the same time, as if he'd had a chance to peer into the brains of every person in Treasure. He almost fell to the ground, but Natalie caught him before he could join Redican below them.

  "Easy there." Natalie hoisted his arm around her neck. "I guess that punch of mine finally caught up with you."

  Erica politely smiled. "Actually it was the book. It's full of immense–"

  Natalie coughed to interrupt Erica. "Duh. I'm not an idiot. You alright, Ted?"

  After a few more seconds of the room spinning, Ted felt like he was once again on solid ground.

  "That was a rush. I just saw what pretty much everyone in town is thinking." He looked at the three women around him and laughed. "A lot of people think mostly about sex."

  The ladies gave him a cockeyed glance before joining in on the joke.

  Beth moved over to Erica and gave her a half-hug. She looked over at Redican. "What are we gonna do about him?"

  Ted watched as Erica rubbed Beth's back. He supposed it was a good that the two of them had stayed friends after her identity change. "Before he wakes up–"

  "If he wakes up." Natalie scoffed.

  Erica wrinkled her nose. "I'm gonna keep him from hurting anyone."

  She knelt down beside Redican and put her hands on his temples. Ted watched in awe as a tiny burst of blue electricity shot between Erica's hands and went through his skull. Redican's body shook for a few seconds before resuming its barely alive status.

  Ted looked over at the others. While Erica's display of power didn't seem to make much of an impact on Natalie, Beth's jaw was practically on the floor.

  "What did you do?"

  Erica stood up. Her voice was hard, as if she'd just gotten some bad news. "Two things." She looked at Natalie. "I turned an enemy into a friend." Erica moved her eyes back to Ted. "And I found out some new information."

  Before Ted could process what Erica had said, he heard a voice echoing through the ballroom.

  "Ted!"

  Ted touched Erica's shoulder. "I'll be right back." He was about to jump down to the dance floor when he stopped himself. "I don't think I said this today, but you look great."

  Erica took Ted's hand, pulled him closer to her and kissed him. Ted wasn't sure what he would have done if he'd been forced to kill her.

  She gave him one more kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."

  Ted floated down below. Dhiraj was the leader of the pack. It looked like he was the grand marshal of a parade as dozens of teens came in behind him.

  "They're all friendly again." Dhiraj grinned from ear to ear. "I figure we have a couple more hours to party. Jen's trying to find the band."

  Jennifer walked through the front door with four scraggly-looking 20-somethings. "I found the band. And we've got an hour and 45 minutes left!"

  The students began to cheer and dance, as if they hadn't
spent most of their evening trying to hunt down Ted and his friends. Ted decided not to let it bog him down. After all, this was prom, and he'd be damned if he wouldn't get at least one dance with the girl of his dreams.

  Natalie stood by the refreshments table as she sipped on her third glass of punch. Her nerves still felt on edge from the events of the last couple days. It wasn't every weekend you were kidnapped, framed for arson, taken through a magical fantasy world with your ex-boyfriend and forced to attack said ex-boyfriend. She was glad to see that most of the students around her were having a good time, but she wasn't sure if she could let herself do the same.

  Dhiraj and Jennifer jumped into view, taking her out of her thoughts.

  "Natalie, you've gotta get out there." Dhiraj looked punch-drunk with joy.

  "It's like brainwashing made the band at least 30% better." Jennifer had the same kind of smile on her face.

  "So, you guys are finishing each other's thoughts now." Natalie looked to the side. "That's not entirely vomit-inducing or anything."

  Dhiraj and Jennifer forced Natalie to put down her punch and join them on the dance floor. While being surrounded by gyrating classmates seemed unpleasant and a little smelly at first, she tried to let the upbeat music take her for the next three songs. Even though it wasn't her choice to attend, she was glad she came. When the music turned slow, she watched Jennifer put her arms around Dhiraj's neck. She wondered if her friend had ever felt as happy as he had in that very moment. Natalie couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever get back to the jubilation she'd experienced at the homecoming dance with Ted.

  A familiar voice caused her to turn around. "May I have this dance?"

  Natalie thought her mind was playing tricks on her. It would only be the millionth time that had happened in the last 48 hours. But with Redican on his way to a holding cell, Natalie figured it actually was Ted asking her to dance.

  "Where's Erica?"

  Ted gestured toward a pack of other dancers. "Somewhere over there. I asked if I could have a dance with you."

  Natalie frowned. "And if I say no?"