Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series

by Miranda Hardy

  “I totally felt that, too,” Marcus says. “It’s like it was sucking our energy out without even being totally under his power. I kind of felt that way before we even saw it. And you can bet your ass neither Astid or I gave Frankentoots permission to gank our life forces.”

  With my good arm, I reach into Marcus’s backpack to get out our water bottles. “We can use that to our advantage. If either of you start feeling like you’re being drained, Frankenwarrior is nearby.”

  Astid takes her water and takes a huge drink. I don’t know if we’ll have the energy to confront him again.

  All three of us understand what has to happen before we take on Balor again, but no one mentions it. Without feeding on human life force, Marcus and Astid don’t stand a chance against that thing. Even if my right shoulder wasn’t injured, I’m not much help in the fighting department.

  Marcus interrupts my thoughts. “What I wouldn’t do for some fried chicken.”

  We can’t help but laugh nervously, knowing what lies ahead for us.

  8

  ASTID

  I’M NOT SURE it’s a good idea to stay along this river. We’re too exposed. I search the nearby woods with my mind. I don’t sense anything but the wildlife, but I doubt my abilities can be trusted at this point. The fight with Balor drained a lot of my energy. Despite my weakness, however, my perception of the trees’ natural auric fields is sharper than ever. Bright blue glistening light dances just above the pine tree tops.

  “We need to stay next to the water source.” Maverick worries about running out of water, and he’s certain we’re lost.

  “I think she’s right, Mav. I’ve got an awful headache creeping up on me and I’m not sure we should be out in the open like this.” Marcus rubs his temples. “And all the trees are giving off some weird light. I’m getting a migraine.”

  I see the lights, too, I telepathically say to Marcus. Every living thing emits its energy in the form of auras. For some reason, the trees seem brighter.

  “Okay.” Maverick throws his uninjured arm into the air. “Where should we go then? I’m open to suggestions.”

  We should head east. The highway should run east of our current position, and maybe if we found it, we could follow it to somewhere safer. If we got out of the woods and found a decent place to rest, we’d all be better off.

  “Did it occur to you that east is the direction the monster headed?” Maverick is exhausted. Despite this, he is determined to find Level 6’s facility. “If we head that way, we may very well run into him again, and none of us is equipped to handle him now.”

  Marcus crosses his arms. “We have no clue where this damn Level 6 is, Frankenweiner is after us, and some creepy stalker dude has been spying on us. Not to mention we’re running low on food. Are you expecting us to hunt for our dinner now?” Marcus pictures a large meal from an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. He licks his lips. “We’re in no shape to take on Level 6 right now, Mav-Man. We’re either going to die of starvation or end up as Balor’s next meal.”

  We’re all on edge at the moment, and I’m sure it’s perfectly normal after what we’ve been through today. I take a deep breath. Maybe we should take a break and eat something.

  Before Maverick can tell me we should keep moving, the thundering sound of a helicopter comes from the north. The three of us stampede toward the trees, using the canopy of trees as our cover. We make it in time to hide just as the helicopter appears overhead.

  We reach out with our minds towards the cockpit, and we’re able to read them.

  “This is useless. I see no sign of him anywhere,” the agent named Howell says. He’s looking for Balor. “Let’s backtrack to where the tracking device was found.”

  “At the cabin in the state park?” The other agent imagines Balor ripping his heart out from his chest. “Negative. Let’s head back to the base first. All I’ve got is my standard issue, and it’s not enough to stop that thing. They shouldn’t have let the damned thing out in the first place. He’s no ordinary fugitive.”

  The helicopter speeds away, well out of range.

  “Holy crap,” Maverick musters. “You guys heard all of that, too, right?”

  Marcus nods. “Balor is wild and free, man.”

  That was a stupid thing to do, I tell them. Balor cannot be controlled.

  “Hey, at least now we know where to go.” Maverick hurries into the forest after the helicopter.

  We follow him. We soon lose track of it, as it’s too fast to trail, but it continues heading west. The sound of its beating blades eventually fades away. Maverick remains vigilant, leading us away from the highway, towards where he thinks Level 6’s facility is located. Two hours pass, and our pace slows.

  “This is hopeless, man.” Marcus voices his thoughts first. “How much further are we going to go? Their base could be in Timbuktu for all we know.”

  “There’s another mountain in the distance. Maybe we can go there to search for shelter in a cave or something.” Maverick’s legs and shoulder aches, but he doesn’t want to surrender to his fatigue. “I thought for sure the base would be close.”

  Wait! Do you feel that? My mind picks up someone’s thoughts in the distance.

  “I hear it.” Marcus peers off to the southwest. “It’s an agent.”

  Maverick strains to listen, but he can’t make anything out. “Either I need a satellite dish, or I need to get closer.”

  Marcus and I forge ahead of Maverick, through the dense trees and towards the source of the thoughts floating around in the air. We get close enough for Maverick to pick up on their conversation mentally, yet keep enough distance to stay hidden.

  “Don’t you ever feel like you’re an overpaid security guard?” one of the agents asks. He thinks about all the training he had endured in the FBI and then the CIA—so many physical and psychological tests. Instead of being involved with the experiments or the top-secret projects, they stuck him out to guard the perimeter. “My dream was to have top secret security clearance. So close, yet so far away.”

  “Yeah, I hear ya.” The other one snickers and fiddles with his rifle. “Just keep your nose clean. It’ll happen. Maybe you’ll get assigned to Groom Lake or something exciting like that.”

  We near a clearing but stay behind the tree line. A huge electric fence with barbed wires atop surrounds a compound containing three massive hanger-like buildings. The black helicopter we tried following sits out in the open one of three concrete pads. There are no roads leading in or out of area, but there appears to be a small runway on the south side. Woods border the entire complex.

  The two agents carry machine guns over their shoulders, and they linger on the eastern side of the complex. The one who wallows in self-pity gives the other agent a quick salute before doing an about face and disappearing around the corner.

  If the guard comes any closer, he will start to feel uneasy and know we are near, I tell the others. Panic seizes me as I search the buildings with my mind. I can’t get a reading on the two far ones, but the one closest to us feels empty. I know all too well Level 6 likes to place their secret facilities deep into the earth. I never thought I’d be working so hard to go back underground.

  Marcus speaks to us with his mind. They have guns, guys. Big ones. We need to back up before that dude picks up on our BEK vibe.

  Every muscle in my body tenses. It’s too late.

  The guard ventures too closely to our position and starts to feel uneasy. He reaches for his walkie-talkie, and this will be the only chance to stop him before it’s too late. Summoning a flow of strength, I break through the cover of trees and race straight for him.

  Before he can raise his gun and pull the trigger, I deliver a hard blow to his jaw. He releases his grip on his weapon, and I hold him up by his shirt. My body craves his energy, but I fight the temptation. I strike his left temple, and he collapses onto the grass. I move to deal with the other agent.

  The guard turns the corner with his weapon at the ready, but M
arcus tackles him before he has a chance to fire. The man opens his mouth, but he can’t muster a sound. Marcus lifts him off the ground and stares into his wide eyes.

  Marcus is going to try to drain him.

  Marcus, don’t do it, I plead. You don’t need to kill him.

  Maverick rushes to his side. “Marcus. What do you think you’re doing?”

  After a short, tense moment, Marcus drops the agent onto the ground; terror boils inside him. He’s struggling to fight the hunger.

  Maverick picks up the agent’s gun. He winces as he slams the butt of it into the man’s head. “I don’t think it would have worked anyway. He didn’t give you permission to invade his, um, Level 6 secret lair. Besides, I’m sure he doesn’t taste anything like a Chinese buffet.”

  Marcus is hiding something from us, but I decide not to probe into his mind any deeper.

  “I’m sorry, man.” Marcus’s hands still shake. He drops to the ground and covers his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

  Maverick, we need to tie these two up so they don’t alert anyone. I keep my mind open and listen all around us for anyone else who may be nearby. I don’t sense another living soul anywhere.

  Marcus is filled with a thousand thoughts. He wonders if the man he almost killed had a family or kids. Do secret soldier-agent dudes have families? Maverick was right, though. Without the guard allowing him in, Marcus wouldn’t have been able to forcefully pull the agent’s essence.

  Maverick steps in and taps Marcus’s shoulder. “You need to focus. We are like sitting ducks out here.” Maverick stares into Marcus’s black eyes. “You are still you. You’re not a monster.”

  “Yeah, sorry, man.” Marcus wipes away tears from under his eyelids and gets back to his feet. “Thanks for not letting me make a huge mistake.”

  I visually scan the area before approaching the electric fence. I follow it up with another psychic sweep.

  “I think we’re in trouble,” Marcus says. “There’s gotta be hidden cameras and stuff all over the place.”

  I close my eyes and allow my hearing to increase in sensitivity. It’s much too quiet.

  “How do we not get turned into toast?” Maverick asks, pointing to the fence.

  Without answering him, I reach out to touch it. It’s been deactivated.

  “OK, now this is worse,” Maverick says as he goes to touch the fence, too. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Marcus places both of his hands onto the fence, his fingers wrapping around the thin metal. With a low grunt, he pulls with all his strength, ripping the fence wide open enough to step through.

  There’s a storage shed. I point towards a small metal structure less than fifty yards away. Maybe there’s something in there we can use to incapacitate these men.

  Marcus turns away and jogs towards the shed.

  “You were tempted, too, huh?” Maverick asks me.

  “Yes,” I reply. “I felt as I could influence him into letting me in.”

  Marcus soon returns with some extension cords and works on tying the two unconscious men around a tree beyond the fence. Maverick tries to help him, although he’s not able to do much with only one good arm.

  I search as far as I can into all the bunker-like buildings and feel no one…nothing. Then I spot the security cameras pointing over the bunker doors. Just as I had sensed a lack of power coming from the fence, I know the cameras are likewise not activated.

  When they are finished, Marcus has one rifle in his grip and the other one strapped to his back. “They won’t be able to alert anyone for a long time,” Marcus says. “What’s the plan?”

  One of these bunkers is probably hiding the entrance to their underground facility. I point to the nearest building. Might as well try that one.

  “What about the security cameras?” Maverick says, pointing to the pair over the bunker’s door.

  They are not on.

  “I’m not liking this one bit,” Marcus whispers. “Even if those things are off, I still feel like we’re being watched.”

  Maverick shrugs his left shoulder. “We’ve come this far. Might as well keep going.”

  I lead the way to the bunker. The door is secured by a swipe card lock. Before I can ask Maverick or Marcus to check the unconscious agents for their security badge, the electronic lock buzzes, and the dead bolt disengages.

  Every fiber of my body wants to run the other way, but now I need to know what is happening here. Who is helping us? After taking a deep breath, I open the door.

  9

  MAVERICK

  I TELEPATHICALLY ASK Astid and Marcus: Do you get the feeling we’re all heading right into a trap?

  We enter the large, nearly empty hangar. Old plane engine parts litter one end of it, while empty offices surround the sides. Off to the right is a door leading to a stairway going down.

  Why’s it so empty? Marcus asks us. He tightens his grip on the machine gun. The second weapon is thrown over his back, just in case. I would have taken the second one had my arm not been screwed up.

  Do you know how to use that thing? I ask him.

  Nope. I’m hoping pulling the trigger while aiming in the right direction would do the trick. Marcus scans the entire building with his mind, as we all do. And when I run out of bullets, I got my backup here. Terminator-style.

  Astid throws us both a stern look. Terminator?

  Marcus whispers, “Never mind.”

  This is hard for Astid, and only now do I fully realize just how brave it was for her to agree to come with us. After living like a lab rat all of her life, then her mother dying, and then having to fight her own brother…on top of the guilt she feels for all the innocent death that seemingly follows her, here she is.

  She’s too busy scanning the cavernous hangar to sense my thoughts. There’s no one here, but I can’t feel the floors below, assuming there’s more than one level. Astid stares at the stairway door, dreading the things we may find down there. She also wonders who had unlocked the hangar door, allowing us to come in.

  “No, you’re not paranoid,” I tell her. “I still have the feeling we’re being watched.

  If Level 6 knows we’re here, then why are they inviting us in? It all makes no sense. Balor is still out there, and it scares the bejeesus out of me to admit I’d much rather face an army of Level 6 agents than come face-to-face with Frankenwarrior.

  After a deep breath, I say, “Let’s go down the stairs.”

  “I’ll run point.” Marcus sneaks towards the door before pushing it open with the barrel of his gun. I’ve always wanted to say that.

  I follow him down, and Astid takes the rear. The narrow stairway reminds me of the ones found at our school—pale peach long tiles, a few fluorescent lights buzz overhead, and white walls lead down. It smells musty, and I don’t think anyone has cleaned the stairwell in a very long time.

  When we reach the next landing, I lean over the railing to peer down the center to see the bottom only three levels down. Three floors.

  As quietly as we possibly can, we continue down the flights of stairs, stopping at every landing. Maybe this whole building is completely empty. If so, there’s two more hangars we can investigate. After reaching the first underground floor, we stop at the rusted metal door, which is slightly open, the key pad not flashing any colors. Marcus glances through the tiny window. I strain over his shoulder to see. It’s a long, empty hallway, as far as I can tell. He and Astid search with their minds as far as they can go and find no trace of anyone.

  Marcus pushes the door open further and steps in. We follow.

  The first two doors lead to empty offices—no desks, cabinets, or chairs. The third door leads into a lab. Marcus tries to open it, but it’s locked. No high-tech security system here. Astid gives it a try. She turns the knob and the lock snaps. Marcus readies his gun and pushes the door open.

  A few computers sit on a counter with rolling tall chairs under them. Papers litter the entire counter. Astid sneaks under Marcus’s rifle,
goes to the papers, and starts shuffling through them.

  Marcus and I head to the rear of the laboratory where thousands of specimens in jars are on display on small metal shelves. I’m pretty sure small body parts are floating in each glass container, and I notice at least a dozen or more eyeballs staring back at me. Empty fish tanks line the next wall.

  We take a closer look at all the jars, wondering what creatures these body pieces came from. Are they human? Animal? Alien? One jar holds a green hand—an effing green hand. Marcus points to a container with a pointed white ear that might have been plucked from an elf.

  Marcus shrugs his shoulders. “What did this belong to?”

  “Dr. Spock?” I give him a ‘live long and prosper’ hand salute, but he doesn’t get it. “Star Trek, dude.”

  “Oh. I’m more of a Star Wars kind of guy.” Marcus is tempted to pluck the jar, but he decides against it. “Looks like it used to be Yoda’s.”

  Look at this. Astid plops down on an office chair and holds up some papers.

  I peek over her shoulder while Marcus continues to walk along the wall of horrors.

  A folder’s labeled Project Immutability. “What’s that mean?” I ask her.

  Unchangeable. Astid pulls the papers from the folder. They experimented with various life forms with the goal of prolonging longevity, or youthfulness. They injected DNA from species with longer life cycles, creating human hybrids. Tortoises, Geoducks, Tuartara, Lamellibrachia Tube Worms, Whales—the list goes on—into human cells.

  I feel like I’m about to barf. “Are you telling me they tried to create human whales?”

  Marcus turns towards us. “That’d be one very big, ugly dude.”

  Astid flips through more pages. It looks like they terminated most of them before twenty days. Human chimera embryos, animal chimera embryos, and transgenic human embryos. I don’t know what any of that means, but the transgenic ones were kept alive much longer.