Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series

by Miranda Hardy

  I shut my eyes, expecting to be struck by the inevitable. Lisa unleashes a scream so loud, I’m wondering if Dr. Wilson has a silencer on her pistol.

  The loud boom rips through the air, and I brace myself for the bullet that will end my life. I can hear quick footsteps approaching, and I open my eyes to see Lisa turning away from me.

  I peer over her shoulder. Dr. Wilson is on the ground, completely still. Detective Jennings comes up from behind her, still holding his revolver.

  41

  MAVERICK

  DETECTIVE JENNINGS LOOKS like he’s about to be sick, and the thoughts roaming through his head consist of him hoping Level 6 doesn’t come after him now. I concentrate harder and try to fully read his thoughts.

  The cop had witnessed the entire thing. When he looks up at me, his feelings turn to regret. He regrets thinking I was crazy when I told him that the black-eyed kids had killed Tarick.

  The BEKs are actually real.

  Lisa throws her arms around Jennings. She’s sobbing loudly, and it pains me a little that she didn’t come to me first. But all of this is my fault. I should never have gotten any of my friends involved.

  Marcus stirs near me and clutches his head. “What a bitch, man.”

  I’m too relieved to find him still alive to be fearful of his weird black eyes. Even his voice sounds normal. Marcus is still Marcus, somehow.

  Detective Jennings pushes Lisa aside and draws his firearm, pointing the gun at Marcus.

  “Whoa!” I hold up my hands and put myself between Jennings and my friend. “He’s not one of the bad ones, I swear it. He saved my life just now.”

  “He’s one of them.” Detective Jennings points toward Astid laying on the ground. “His eyes are all black like hers.” His face softens. “And I’m so sorry, Maverick. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. But, would you have believed all of this?”

  I shake my head. “Then believe me now, Detective. This is Marcus, one of my friends who went missing, remember? He lives on my street. You all probably thought he up and joined that weird cult, but that government agency took him and made him into—”

  Jennings wants to put the gun down, but he’s still fearful. “But—”

  “Trust me, he’s not evil like some of the others.” I walk towards the still unconscious Astid. “She’s not with them, either. Astid’s on our side.” I point to Cadence’s lifeless body. “They turned Cadence into a black-eyed kid too.”

  Marcus looks absolutely like himself, except for his big black eyes. A million questions run through my mind about what will happen to him, but I’m still too fuzzy on everything myself to even begin to wonder.

  “They strapped me down,” Marcus says as he rubs his head. “I tried to get up. Then they injected me with some stuff to make me sleep. I remember one of those scientists saying something about me not having a normal, functioning brain to begin with.”

  I laugh at him. I just can’t help myself.

  “I’m glad you’re finding this amusing.” Detective Jennings puts his pistol away. “But we have a situation here that I’m not entirely sure how to handle.” He looks at me with nervous eyes. “You and I both killed government agents. I’d say we’re pretty screwed.”

  I crouch down next to Astid and pull the dart from her arm. She’s still out cold. I’m about to ask Marcus to help me lift her up when Lisa’s thoughts interrupt me.

  I want to go home. I just want to go home, Lisa thinks to herself.

  “Lisa?”

  Lisa’s eyes swing all around, and she’s looking for Astid’s brother.

  “Don’t worry about the other BEKs,” I tell her. “They’re not here. We’re safe now.”

  I leave Astid and start to go to Lisa. She runs toward me and embraces me. Her tight hug feels good, and I nuzzle her hair resting on her shoulder. She releases me, and we all stare at one another—Marcus, Detective Jennings, Lisa, and me.

  Now what do we do?

  “Can I just go home now?” Lisa keeps her arms around me. “I just need to get out of here.”

  “Yeah, you can go home now,” I say.

  42

  MAVERICK

  ASTID’S STILL KNOCKED out and laying on Lisa’s couch. She looks so peaceful, yet dirty from the mud she had fallen in. It still freaks me out not seeing any sign of her breathing.

  “Are you sure she’s not dead?” Lisa asks again.

  “She’s not dead,” I reply.

  Detective Jennings sits down in the recliner across from the sofa. He places both of his hands on the graying tight curls on his head, and his mind swirls with more questions.

  Marcus stands next to the open doorway between the living room and the hallway. He’s pacing, lost in his own thoughts. Lisa checks all of the windows and doors to be sure they are locked up tight. She already set her house’s alarm system when we first arrived, and she looks like she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

  Jennings takes a deep breath before saying, “Okay, let me get this straight. A secret government sector of some sort created these things—the Black-Eyed Kids—that escaped. And now they’re trying to get them back to this Level 6 place.”

  I nod. I don’t know what else to add. “You got it.”

  “I’m not so sure I’m too terribly happy to know you aren’t a complete psychopath. I think that would be easier to deal with,” he says. “This town is already on red alert. They think the cult that passed through has something to do with Tarick and your mother’s death and Cadence and Marcus’ disappearance. On top of that, I’m pretty sure that secret government agency will order all of us dead.”

  “Man, what are we going to do now?” Marcus asks.

  He blinks and the black eyes become shiny under the dull light in the house. Marcus still holds the gadget that put him on the ground. He turns it over in his hand. He had taken it straight from Wilson’s pocket before we had left. He’s definitely sharper than before.

  “We have four dead bodies back at the barn, and one of them has my bullet lodged in her, so I’ll have to report this, but I’m not quite sure what to say. What will the medical examiner say when they do an autopsy on Cadence?"

  “Maybe this is the perfect way to expose them,” I say. “Let the public know of their existence and the government cover up.”

  “Maybe, but that would mean exposing Marcus and the other one as well.” Detective Jennings points toward Astid’s sleeping form. He craves a beer right now. “Is that what you really want?”

  We both glance at Marcus who is still shaken up.

  “I don’t want to be involved,” Lisa says, walking into the room. “I want this to be over and go on with our lives again.”

  “That may be easy for you, but I don’t think I can go back home like this,” Marcus points to his face. “I’m not sure what they did with me, or why I didn’t turn out like Cadence, but I can’t face my mom with my black eyes. I’ll end up wanting to suck the life out of her.”

  Marcus bolts towards the kitchen just as he lets out a heavy sob. I’ve never seen the guy cry, ever. And it’s unnerving to see. And it pushes Lisa over the edge too. She’s about to lose it.

  Jennings gives Lisa a reassuring look. “I think you’re okay. But the rest of us aren’t so lucky. I killed one of their agents, as did Maverick. Marcus is one of their lost guinea pigs. They want Astid, her brother, and another BEK. Out of all of us, Lisa, I’d say you’ve got the least to worry about.”

  Lisa’s somewhat relieved, but she’s worried about me and Marcus now.

  “I haven’t called any of this in yet, so I bought a little time.” Jennings shakes his head. “I was so sure I’d have a pretty solid plan thought up by now.”

  I check on Astid again, but she’s still unconscious. There must have been some kind of heavy duty drug in that dart.

  “Sorry, Detective,” I say. “I know it’s a pretty big mess we’re in.”

  Jennings sighs again. “I was just going back to the barn to snoop around again, try to
find more evidence of the rash of disappearances in town.” He frowns in my direction. “I honestly thought you were part of that cult, Maverick. I thought you had something to do with your mother’s death, and that you’d eventually lead me to the rest of them. Boy was I wrong.”

  I chuckle sarcastically. “Truth is stranger than fiction, right?”

  “You said it.” Detective Jennings gets to his feet. “I’m going to go back to the barn and check everything out. After that, who knows. We’ll just have to face the music.”

  “What about us?” Lisa asks.

  “Just sit tight. Keep the doors locked and don’t step out of this house.” Jennings moves towards the door and puts one of his business cards on a small table. “Call me if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning.”

  He opens the door, after Lisa punches in the alarm code, and gives us one last reassuring look before stepping out. Once the door shuts, Astid begins to stir. I reach towards her with my mind, but she’s still out.

  “I’m really worried about Marcus,” I say while locking the door. “I’ve never seen him like this. If I were him, I’d go totally crazy right now. They turned him into a freaking BEK, and now he can’t ever go back home.”

  Lisa shakes her head, and it looks like she might cry again. “It’s horrible. I feel so bad for him.”

  From the kitchen, Marcus’ yells, “Hey guys, I’m starving!”

  My heart drops into my belly, and Lisa actually gasps out loud.

  Marcus pokes his head into the living room. “You have any of those pizza rolls in the freezer? Or maybe a Hot Pocket?”

  43

  ASTID

  THE MORNING GLOW through the gap in the window’s curtains wakes me, and my mind still feels like it’s floating on a cloud. Maverick is sleeping in a chair, and Lisa’s down the hall in her room. Marcus rests on the floor in a sleeping bag.

  I focus on Marcus’ dreaming mind. His brain functions much as my mother’s did when she was alive. They tried to alter him at Level 6’s laboratory, but the conversion must have gone awry somewhere. He is a hybrid, like my mother.

  The rest of Marcus’ life will be filled with trying to fight off the craving to feed.

  I replay the events at the barn as best I can remember, and I’m relieved that we’re all still alive. I know I must have missed a lot, but Kren and Garn are still out there. I must go find them. I’m about to rouse Maverick when a wave of emotion hits me.

  Lisa’s crying.

  I move silently around the boys and head toward Lisa’s room. Her thoughts become clearer the closer I get. She’s worried about what will happen to her, but she’s mostly concerned about her parents. She cares deeply for them, and she wonders if the government will come for them all. All of these strange events have robbed her of her normalcy. Perhaps forever.

  “Lisa?” I ask her with my voice before I open the door. “Can I come in?”

  “Y…y…yes.” Her timid response echoes the fright that overtakes her. Oh God! Oh God!

  I open the door slowly. “I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

  My reassuring words have little effect on her. Her bed is rumpled, and she leans against a pile of soft pillows.

  “I know,” she says, and wipes her tears from her cheek.

  Once she stares at me, the scene from the previous day replays in her mind in a flash. I see me laying on the ground and Cadence being stabbed by Marcus. Maverick’s about to be shot, and that’s when the detective shows up and kills the female agent.

  No wonder Lisa’s on edge. She was nearly killed, along with Maverick. I can’t believe I missed all of that.

  I sit next to her. “I’m sorry.”

  She nods. “Astid, what will you do now?”

  Lisa remembers me taking Ronald’s life and seeing the look of pure fury in my eyes after being forced to kill him. Lisa’s still terrified of me yet feels sorry for me.

  I need to find my brother and his followers and put a stop to them. After that, I’m not sure. One day, I would like to put an end to Level 6 and their ghastly experiments. I watch the sun shine into the room grow brighter each moment.

  “Marcus is pretty messed up now, isn’t he? There’s no changing him back, is there?” she asks.

  No, I don’t think changing back is an option for him. Yes, his life will not be the same, I fear. He will suffer greatly, and, more than likely…well, let’s not think about it. I rise and go to the door.

  “Maverick isn’t going to be able to stay here, is he?” Lisa says just as I’m ready to close her door.

  Maverick is too stubborn for his own good.

  I hope not, I lie.

  Lies are funny things, they come so easily to those with strong emotions. Humans lie all the time, but it’s not something that I’ve ever done before now. For once, I think I understand the reasoning behind it.

  She turns over on her bed and faces the window away from me, but her thoughts are as clear as the blue sky on a cloudless day. There’s nothing I can say that will keep him here.

  44

  MAVERICK

  THE SOUND OF the house’s alarm system blaring rouses me from sleep, and Lisa punches in the code to silence it.

  I jump off the chair and rush to the open door. “What happened?”

  Detective Jennings is standing there, covering his ears.

  Marcus is still on the ground, sound asleep. Unbelievable.

  “I forgot to deactivate the alarm system,” Lisa says.

  The eardrum-piercing alarm stops. That’s when the phone rings, and she rushes past me to answer it and give the monitoring service a verbal okay along with a password.

  She hangs up and goes back into the living room. Detective Jennings follows her in.

  The couch is empty, the quilt laying on the floor. I’m in a wild panic, and I’m about to run out the front door to look for Astid when she suddenly appears in the doorway to the kitchen. I thought for sure she had run away again.

  Astid smiles. It’s good to see you.

  Lisa is full of a thousand emotions all at once, and it’s draining to be able to sense all of them. I’m not sure this whole mind-reading thing is for me. I think I liked it better when I couldn’t see what a woman was thinking. Her emotions are sure on overdrive and feel like they all take a ride on the same roller coaster.

  She thinks me and Astid have something going on.

  “They were all gone.” Detective Jennings plops down onto the recliner he sat in yesterday. “It’s like it never happened.”

  “Who?” Lisa asks.

  I already know the answer.

  “All the bodies were gone when I went back to the crime scene,” Jennings says. “They were swept away, without one trace of anything ever happening there. I almost came over here again last night to tell you, but I needed some time to myself to figure things out.”

  Marcus sits up and looks at us in the living room. I still can’t get over the change in his eyes.

  “So, Level 6 sent in someone to cover it up,” I say. “But, they didn’t come here, so they must not know about Lisa. Or at least don’t care.”

  Lisa is still full of fear and doubt.

  “So much for exposing them, though,” Jennings says. “I feel as if I’ve just entered an episode of the Twilight Zone. I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept thinking they’d send some assassins to get me or something. But no. Nothing. These secret government people give me the creeps.”

  “Tell me about it,” Marcus chimes in.

  Detective Jennings stares at Astid, and worry seeps into his thoughts. He wants out of here, and fast.

  “Well, I suppose we can try to go back to our normal everyday lives and hope not to get noticed.” Jennings sits back in the recliner and looks up at the ceiling fan. “All the weird things in town are being blamed on the cult.”

  “I don’t think it’s that easy,” I say. “I feel like…I don’t know. I just feel like I can’t let this go. Tarick, my mother, and
Cadence are dead. And Marcus is some kind of weird BEK mutant.” I glance over at my friend. “Sorry, man. No offense.”

  Marcus scrunches up his mouth and shakes his head.

  Jennings blows out a long breath. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I want to expose Level 6 to the world,” I reply. “It’s not right what they’re doing, and people need to know. I first need to find out everything I can about them. Who knows what other messed up experiments they’re doing.”

  “Maverick, they’ll make you disappear if you even try such a thing,” Lisa protests. “Why can’t we just go back to our normal lives and finish school?”

  I turn toward Lisa. “There’s no going back to normal here, but I understand you wanting to stay out of this entirely. You shouldn’t have been dragged into all this anyway. But there’s no going back for Marcus and me now. I want to know everything about Level 6 and bring them down.” I turn toward Astid. “We are in this together.”

  “I was afraid you’d say that.” Marcus crosses his arms. “I don’t want to go back there.”

  “What can you tell us about where they took you?” Jennings asks Marcus.

  Marcus closes his black eyes in thought. “They first took me and Cadence to some office building in town. They drugged us and strapped us down. After that, it gets really fuzzy. I do remember being wheeled into a plane. The engines kinda woke me up for a second, so wherever they took me was pretty far. I don’t remember flying back, or much of anything after that until I saw you at the barn. That’s when whatever the hell they did to me started to wear off.”

  “You know where Level 6 is?” Jennings asks Astid.

  She shakes her head. They moved their headquarters long ago. I have no idea where they relocated. They also have smaller, temporary outposts all over the country. All over the world.