Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series

by Miranda Hardy

  “Party Pooper.” Marcus sticks out his tongue.

  No, please go, I tell them. I need a moment alone anyway.

  Maverick says, “I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.”

  Dr. B is about to intervene and tell me Maverick is right, but I wave him off. “I would like to be alone, just for a short moment,” I say out loud.

  Marcus whispers to Maverick, “You know how chicks can be sometimes.”

  “Alright, but just stay put.” Maverick is still torn, but he has to relieve himself too badly to argue with me.

  Dr. B rifles through a bag and hands each of them a flashlight. “The ceiling gets low, so watch your heads.” He bends low towards me. “I know this means nothing to you, but please know, I am truly sorry. From the depths of my being, I regret all the things I’ve done. I promise to do whatever I can to help defeat Level 6.”

  He leads the others deeper into the cave. Maverick is continuously probing Dr. B’s mind, keeping aware for any signs of treachery. They disappear into the darkness, and I decide to stop mentally reaching out to them.

  With some effort, I get back to my feet. The cool wind reaches me as it swirls all around the cave. I let the breeze caress me, but it brings me no comfort. I long to hear Mother’s voice again. Her words would always soothe me. Even after a difficult day of undergoing medical tests, or trials that measured my abilities, she could always make me feel safe.

  Not too long ago, Kren was also my source of strength.

  I walk back to the mouth of the cave, and I’m greeted by a brilliant night sky. The stars glisten against a pitch-black background, and I think back to a time when seeing such a magnificent sight would have been impossible. Dr. B had done his best to describe the outside world, including what stars looked like, but his words had failed to convey the true beauty I’m staring at right now.

  After some hesitation, I step out of the cave. The tall trees sway in the wind, as if inviting me in. I’m drawn towards their dancing auric fields, and I marvel at how brilliant the blue light emanating from their tops are. I close my eyes and reach out with my mind. There are creatures of all kinds of in the woods, but I don’t sense anything else. No Level 6 agents. No Balor. No Kren.

  No Mother.

  I step into the woods until I come to the same path we had taken to get here. It feels good to be alone with my thoughts, but I’m careful not to wander too far away. Even though I am still weak, breathing in the cool night air invigorates me.

  Did we dare trust Dr. B? He had not been deceitful even once—yet. But he had to know there was nothing he could do that would ever make up for the horrors he was responsible for. Yet, one thing was for sure, he does still love Mother. Did she love him back? Or was she merely keeping Dr. B under her power in the hopes of escape. Had she ever loved any man in all her years? Trying to imagine the length of time she walked the Earth rattles my mind.

  Had she escaped, she would have come back for me and Kren, right?

  I shake my head, angry at myself for even thinking she would have abandoned us. After another step deeper into the woods, I whirl around to notice I’m quite far away from the cave now. I should head back before Maverick gets too worried about me.

  At the edge of my mind, I sense a spark.

  I gather my strength for a moment before projecting my mind outwards. It doesn’t take long, and I sense the presence of at least three or four beings at the periphery of my senses. I push further as I shut my eyes, and my head pulsates with each heartbeat.

  With my eyes wide open, I follow the energy trail further down the path. Far to my left, I sense a familiar presence. It touches my mind for the briefest of moments before it disappears. Whoever it was, it was telepathic like me. I reach out to my right, and I immediately feel the energy of two humans who are separated by a great distance.

  I try to discern if they are Level 6 agents, but I’m too weak. At the base of a tree, something on the ground catches my eye. It looks like a backpack, but as I step closer, I quickly realize it’s a pile of ashes.

  Kren?

  I don’t sense my brother, but at this point, I don’t trust my abilities. One human entity is coming towards me, and soon, I can hear footfalls on the dirt path. I conceal myself behind the tree, relying on my night vision to see who approaches. The beam of a flashlight slashes through the darkness.

  My head continues to throb, and I’m faint. I do my best to ignore my weariness and prepare to fight. It’s most definitely a man walking on the path, and he’s holding a gun in his other hand. His light wanders left and right as if he’s searching for something. I still can’t detect if it’s a Level 6 agent, but I have to assume he is one.

  I lower my stance, gathering my remaining strength.

  The man’s dark-skinned face comes into view, and I immediately recognize him.

  “Detective Jennings?”

  13

  MAVERICK

  THE FRONT OF the cave is empty. “Where’s Astid?”

  “I don’t know, Mav-Man. I can’t sense her,” Marcus says.

  I propel my mind out as far as I can and can’t feel her anywhere near the cave. “We need to go and find her. She’s gotta be out there somewhere.”

  Beck hands Marcus one of the nutritional drinks. “Let’s stop to think about this. Level 6’s security squad is still looking for you. They know you broke into the facility, and I’m damn sure they will search all night and into the next day for you.”

  Marcus gulps it down quickly and throws the empty container against the wall. I feel his energy level rising and his mood shifts. It’s helping to stave off the hunger inside of him a little. He’s invigorated. “What was in that?”

  “Let’s say it’s got the punch of a 50-hour energy drink,” Beck replies. “I wouldn’t suggest Maverick or I attempt to drink it unless we feel like a trip to the hospital. Our hearts would simply give out. It was something they worked on to feed Balor to curb his cravings. Apparently, he needed much more than one per day. I stole a whole case of it when I left Level 6.”

  “Come on, Marcus. We need to find Astid.” Why can’t I sense her? Are my abilities somehow fading? Do you feel her? I ask Marcus telepathically.

  No, I don’t. Let’s go. Marcus points towards the cave entrance.

  “Wait, take these if you insist on going.” Beck hands us each a flashlight.

  Marcus hands his back. “I can see better without it.” He grabs one of the machine guns he had taken from the guards. “I’ve got all I need, yo.”

  I pull the night vision binoculars from my pack and put its strap around my neck. “And I’ve got these things, which you dropped.”

  Beck nods. “I’ll stay inside the cave. I hope you find her soon.”

  Although Beck’s been on this mission solo for a while, he’s glad he’s got someone on his side now to keep him company. He also has a lot more questions about Marcus and what Level 6 did to him. Beck believes Marcus is some sort of…anomaly.

  Marcus shutters. I don’t know what an anomaly is, but I don’t like how this Beck-dude keeps looking at me like I’m a walking science experiment.

  I can’t worry about Beck right now. I don’t know where to look. Do you get a read from any direction? I ask Marcus.

  No, but maybe she headed toward the falls we heard on the way in, he suggests.

  “Good idea. Let’s check it out.” I head in the direction in which we heard the falls, scanning as far out as my mind can go and glancing through the binoculars every once in a while.

  I sense Marcus beaming out his mental radar too. He also keeps thinking about the drink and how fast the effects are wearing off. He wishes he had more of it, but he’s definitely not nearly as weak as he was before. All I’m getting are all the little night time critters scurrying around.

  Astid must be pretty far away. We don’t want to get too close to the compound or too far from the cave. Level 6 is out here, too. I’m irritated that Astid’s so foolish as to go out of the cave like this
, especially since others besides the agents are hunting us. The list of people who want us dead keeps growing.

  Just when I start feeling a little at ease about getting away, you have to think of nothing but doom and gloom, Marcus tells me with his thoughts. You’re one big ball of Christmas kittens.

  Ball of Christmas kittens? Really, dude? Every time you try to use an old cliché saying, you always get it wrong. I want to laugh aloud, but that’s not a good idea.

  Now you’re just grasping at balloons.

  Wrong again.

  Marcus snickers. You’re going to make me flip my light bulb.

  Can you be serious for one second? I ask. I used to think you did that on purpose, but maybe your brain’s so fried, it jumbles all the words up.

  The grin on Marcus’s face evaporates. Do you feel that?

  I try to search for the same energy he’s feeling, but I can’t find it. It must be too far away. Nope. Maybe I’m losing my touch or something. My mind abilities used to be stronger than Marcus’s. Either I’m getting weaker, or despite not having fed on human souls, Marcus’s abilities have gotten sharper.

  No worries, Mav-Man. He points to our left. This way. Marcus starts running into the woods, away from the waterfalls.

  Marcus, what the hell are you doing? That could be an agent! I scream as loud as possible in my head and try my best catch up to him.

  It’s not. It’s… He can’t quite tell, but the person Marcus is sensing is terrified. He senses raw fear coming from someone in the distance. He slows down, knowing I can’t keep up with his pace.

  Who is it? I ask. I still can’t feel it, but I sense what you’re feeling.

  I can’t tell, yet. A little further and I’ll be able to read the dude’s mind. I’m sure of it. He moves forward and crosses the path we had taken earlier to get away from the compound. He steps carefully into a heavier area of the forest.

  We get a little farther, and I begin to feel the entity myself, but can’t hear his thoughts. Are you sure he’s not Level 6?

  Marcus shakes his head. It’s not, and ‘he’ is a ‘she.’ She’s hurt and scared. All she keeps thinking about is returning home and apologizing for running off. Oh man, what if it’s a runaway in the middle of the woods. Talk about the wrong place at the wrong time. Marcus focuses on the girl’s thoughts to try to get more information.

  I continue to mentally reach out, and I’m straining to sense her. Finally, her mind sets off an alarm on my psychic scope. She’s hurt her leg. It’s definitely not Astid, though.

  Her fear is too thick. It’s actually interfering with my reading her thoughts. I have to get a little closer. Marcus waits for me to catch up, and then we try to silently inch closer to the girl without scaring her. Too late. She heard us.

  Damn! I was hoping to see her before she knew we were there, but with the binoculars, it looks like she’s got her back to us.

  Her fear ramps up so intensely, my own hands start to tremble. She can sense that crazy BEK vibe. I’m sensing a familiar energy coming from this person. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking. I think I know her.

  The girl is finally able to have one coherent thought, and it’s about her companion. Detective Jennings!

  Mav-Man, this isn’t good. Marcus sees her balled up against a tree trunk before I do and lets me pass him.

  “Lisa?” I burst through two trees and shine my flashlight on her.

  “Maverick?”

  I bend down and hug her with my left arm, letting her cry onto my good shoulder.

  She sobs for a long while before her crying subsides. “What are you doing here?” I ask.

  Lisa struggles to catch her breath. Relief washes away her terror for the time being. “We came to find you.” She tries to stand, but there’s a gash in her leg that’s bleeding.

  “Just sit still.” I tell her.

  Marcus uses his super strength to rip a piece from the bottom of his shirt and hands it to me. I wrap the strip of cloth tightly around her leg.

  “It was awful, Maverick. There was a huge monster that found us. Jennings fired his gun at it, and it should be dead. The bullets only slowed it down. That’s when we ran, knowing there was no way we could fight it. It was so dark, and I was so scared. I got separated from Jennings.” Her lower lip quivers, and she tries to keep her composure.

  “Marcus, help me with her,” I say.

  Marcus gets on one side of her, and I support her from the other side. We lift her to her feet.

  “I can walk. It hurts, but I can move. I can’t run fast though.” Her panic threatens to return with the thought of Balor coming after them. “What if it finds us?”

  “I won’t let that happen,” I say. “Why did you guys even come out here? What were you thinking? That wasn’t part of our plan.”

  “Yeah. Operation Monster Mash.” Marcus is totally serious. “We go destroy Level 6 and then come back home. You and Jennings aren’t supposed to be here.”

  “You didn’t check in with us, and Jennings freaked.” Lisa turns to me. “He said the last time you talked, you said you were going to Georgia. Red Top Mountain State Park. When we got here, we found your car abandoned. We feared the worst,” Lisa says. “The park rangers wouldn’t let us through no matter what, so we hiked it to see what was going on. Then we ran into that giant mutant.”

  Marcus and I lead Lisa back towards the cave. I’m hoping Astid is back already. “Why did Jennings bring you? He should know better.”

  “He didn’t have a choice in the matter. I hijacked his keys and refused to let him go without me. I threw a tantrum to get my way,” she says.

  “Way to go, girlie,” Marcus says with a smirk.

  “Don’t call me that.” Lisa smacks Marcus on the head.

  He rubs the back of his head. “That wasn’t nice.”

  I stop to let Lisa rest for a moment. “You shouldn’t have come. It’s too dangerous out here, and you’ve been through too much already. I thought you never wanted to be a part of all this crazy shit ever again.”

  “I’ve had time to think things over and I do want to help you, Mav. I owe it to you and to Cadence and Tarick. I can’t keep living my life in fear of those Black-Eyed freaks showing up at my door to kill me or government agents ready to kidnap me behind every corner.” Lisa looks back at Marcus. “No offense.”

  “No worries.” Marcus hides his hurt feelings. He hasn’t looked in a mirror in a really long time. He often forgets his eyes are black, too.

  We near the path which takes us back to the cave, and Astid’s voice resonates in my head.

  Stay back, Astid urges us. It’s not safe.

  By the look of terror in Marcus’s eyes, he received her message loud and clear.

  I stop Lisa and press my index finger against my lips.

  Marcus and I see the scene through Astid’s eyes. She’s hiding behind a large boulder with Detective Jennings, and they are watching the mouth of the cave where six guards from Level 6 stand, ready to charge in.

  14

  ASTID

  MAVERICK’S URGENCY RALLIES anxiousness among us all. We need to stop them. Otherwise, Beck is dead meat.

  A part of me wants to see Dr. B brought to justice for all of the atrocities he’s committed. Let them capture him. There’s nothing more he can tell us, and he’ll get what he deserves.

  Without needing to actively read Maverick’s mind, I sense his disagreement. I do find comfort that Marcus and Maverick were able to reunite with Lisa. With Detective Jennings at my side, I’m reassured we have more allies. However, it adds to the number of people we need to protect from the horror in these woods. I want to reassure Detective Jennings that Lisa is safe now, but I dare not speak aloud with Level 6 looming nearby.

  Maverick’s angst grows. Astid, we can’t let him be caught. He’s our only link into the compound. He knows how to get in and out of Level 6 facilities. The agents are only pretending to negotiate with him. They’re going to take him in by force.

&nbs
p; To my dismay, Marcus is concocting a crazy plan inside his rattled head. Whatever we decide, we need to do it quick. Those agents are ready to dive into Beck’s hidey-hole.

  I try to reason with them. We shouldn’t jeopardize our safety to save him. Now we have Detective Jennings and an injured Lisa to protect. We should retreat as quietly and quickly as possible.

  Astid, we are faster than they are, Marcus chimes in. Mav is right. We need to save him. He may have been an evil mad-scientist at one time, but he did help us escape the compound. And the energy drink he gave me actually worked.

  What are you thinking? Maverick asks.

  Simple diversion, Marcus replies. I’ll lead them away and you spring Beck from the cave. We all meet up at the waterfalls. I’m feeling pumped!

  Maverick thinks his plan is terrible. That energy drink’s affects are temporary.

  Before I can intercede and tell them my thoughts, Marcus whips away from Lisa and Maverick and sprints towards the cave. He makes so much noise, they all turn their attention toward him. He waves his machine gun up in the air while hollering all kinds of nonsense. When the agents pursue, Marcus changes direction and jets deep into the woods.

  One of the agents yells into his headpiece, “Armed intruder headed west from our location. Four in pursuit.” He motions for three of the other agents to follow his lead. “Two remaining to retrieve Dr. Beckett.”

  Maverick is on the verge of a full-blown panic. That didn’t work as he expected.

  “Stay here,” I whisper to Detective Jennings. I’ll handle it.

  Just as the pair of agents take one step towards the mouth of the cave, I leap from behind the boulder and race up behind them before they realize I’m near. I unleash my power, filling their heads with pure terror. In their disorientation, they nearly fall over themselves. I gather my strength and momentum before shoving them hard. They fly through the air and hit the cave wall, knocking them both out cold.

  Detective Jennings springs up from behind his hiding place, brandishing his gun. He holsters his weapon when it’s apparent the agents are unconscious. “Good job, Astid.”