by Jakob Farrar
As he walked nervously down the aisles he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. A man dressed in all black with long hair. He recognized the man, but from where? Stephen walked away from the man, keeping watch over him in his peripheral vision. Stephen didn’t know who to trust anymore, and he knew he definitely shouldn’t trust this stranger.
Stephen had a safe place to go after this, but he worried about who else could possibly be a target. He would have to find everyone he loved and get them to safety. That seemed like an impossible task, but Stephen would have to do it.
Suddenly he was stopped in his tracks. In front of him stood that man he had seen. “Stephen,” the man said, “You’re close. Where are you?”
“What?” Stephen asked. “Who are you?” He heard footsteps behind him and saw the man rapidly turn a corner and run to him.
“You’re alive!” the man said.
“Excuse me?” Stephen was extremely confused. There were two of this man? He looked behind him and saw that the other one had disappeared. He looked back at the man. “What’s going on?” Stephen demanded.
“I saw you running last night,” the man said, “I thought maybe you had died but you’re alive!”
“I don’t think you understand,” Stephen said, frustrated. “I don’t know who you are!”
“My name is Byron Peters,” he said, his voice lowering to almost a whisper. “I’m what’s known as a telepath.”
“A telepath? As in you read minds?”
“Precisely. Now, we need to get you out of here before-”
“Get me out of here? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t bother, Stephen. I know what you are, and I know you can do extraordinary things. I’m not sure what exactly, but I know that you somehow survived some sort of attack last night and, judging by the blockade outside the Work Center earlier, there was another one this morning. You’re looking for a way to escape this life and you believe that hiding and waiting for this whole thing to blow over is the best possible way to deal with this issue, am I correct?”
“You really can read minds,” Stephen said, surprised that this stranger suddenly knew everything about him.
“No, I wasn’t reading your mind. I don’t believe it would be moral for me to do such a thing without specific permission or need. An invasion of privacy, if you will. I just know how you think. How we all have thought. And I will tell you right now that the only way this is going to blow over is for you to come with me,” the man said, an earnest look in his eye. He seemed very genuine about what he was saying.
“Byron?” came a woman’s voice. Stephen looked over the man’s shoulder and saw two people walking towards them, one a man with short jet black hair and a built physique. He looked similar to Stephen in a way, but with a stronger build. The other person, who had spoken, was a tall blonde girl. The man was pushing a shopping cart that was full of various items, on top of which was a large backpack. Byron seemed to ignore them, though, as he continued to talk.
“There are many more people like us,” Byron said, “And we all want the same thing. We all want to get away from this mess we are making and we all want to live in peace. From what we’ve seen so far that isn’t going to happen. There are people following close behind us wanting to capture us and use us for who knows what. The only way you can deal with this is if you come with us and help us.”
“Excuse me,” an attendant interrupted Byron’s talking. “Can I help you with anything?” As soon as Byron and Stephen looked over her face filled with fear. “I know you,” she said, looking at Stephen.
“Do you?” Byron said, “No I think we’re doing just fine, thank you.” The attendant nervously nodded and hurried away.
“She’s going to call the police,” Stephen said, “My face is all over the news by now.”
“Are you coming or not?” Byron said.
“I assume it’ll be dangerous?”
“Not any more dangerous than if you were to stay here.”
“I’ll think about it,” Stephen said, unsure.
“You don’t have time to think about it,” the other man said. “We need to get going as soon as possible.”
“He’s right,” the girl said as sirens began to sound in the distance.
“Pardon my rudeness,” Byron said, turning to the two. “These are Mark Konners and Phoebe Burton. They’re like us. They can do extraordinary things as well.” He turned to Mark, handing him a small metal object. From where Stephen was standing it looked like a lighter. “I figured you might need this,” Byron said, handing it to Mark.
“For what?” he said.
“Just a feeling,” Byron said, turning back to Stephen. “We each have a different and unique gift. Do you have any clue what you can do?” Stephen took a breath. There was only one person he had shown his ability to, and he felt very vulnerable showing it to these three people he just met. But if he really was going to escape this whole ordeal with them they would need to know what he could do.
“I can disappear and reappear in different places whenever I want,” Stephen said, “I can only go to places I can see, or places that I have a very specific memory of. And I can’t really take other things with me, things that are smaller or just a little bit bigger than me, but I have to be making physical contact with them.”
“You seem to know a lot about your power,” Byron said. “That’s good.”
“I have been practicing for a little while.”
“So you can teleport. That could be very useful.”
“Do you think you could get us out of here?” the woman, Phoebe, asked.
“I doubt it. Like I said, I can’t exactly take more than one person at a time. And it might take me a while to get enough energy to do it. Doing this whole teleporting thing can get really exhausting.”
“We need to find some way to get out of here,” Mark said. “You’re still connected to Ashley, right?” he asked Byron. Yet again Stephen was confused. Who was Ashley?
“Yes. She’s found a vehicle and she’s on her way.”
“So all we need to do is escape the building,” Phoebe said. “There has to be some sort of back door.”
“They’re sure to have covered those by now,” Byron said. “We’re surrounded.”
“What are we going to do?” Mark said.
“I have an idea, but it’s very risky,” Byron said, turning to Stephen. “If you and I need to go somewhere you can teleport me there, correct?”
“If I can see it, yeah.”
“Great. I’m going to have you teleport you and I to Ashley’s vehicle by looking through her mind’s eye and transmitting the image to yours. You’ll be able to see the interior of whatever she’s driving, and we can make something happen that way.”
“What about us?” Mark said.
“You two stay here and fill the backpack up with all of these things,” Byron answered, “Once you see my signal come to me. I’m sure you’ll know it when you see it. You’re sure you remembered the hot chocolate?” Mark nodded.
“I really hope you know how much I trust you at this point,” Phoebe said, grabbing the backpack and pulling it open as she began to fill it with items in the cart.
“That’s stealing isn’t it?” Stephen said.
“We need it more than they do, trust me,” Mark said.
“Are you ready?” Byron said. Stephen took a breath and nodded. He really hoped this guy knew what he was talking about. Stephen grabbed onto Byron’s shoulder. Byron closed his eyes and Stephen did as well. Stephen saw the back seat of a van fill his vision. He focused on it, and envisioned himself and Byron sitting in the seat. He concentrated harder, and all of a sudden his vision faded to black. He opened his eyes to find himself in the van, a small girl in the driver’s seat. He took a breath and blinked his eyes. That had worked better than he thought it would have.
“Thank you Stephen,” Byron said, blinking his eyes into focus. “We need to go to the supermarket, Ashley.”
“I can give you directions,” Stephen said. “What’s our plan once we get there?”
“I’m sure I’ll make something up,” Byron said.
“I really hope he knows what he’s doing,” Mark said to Phoebe.
“He did when we were in the Secret Service Headquarters,” she replied. “Although I will admit it is hard to see him pulling whatever this is off.”
“Last night Ashley and I talked about our ‘tragic backstories’,” Mark said. “You know how you found out about all of this?”
“That’s a pretty sore topic for me,” she said. “I’d rather just focus on what we’re doing.”
“Yeah I wouldn’t think any of us would exactly like how all of this happened,” Mark said. He heard loud voices from near the front of the supermarket. Mark looked out of the aisle and saw police beginning to enter the building.
“We need to hurry,” he said, putting the last item of food into the bag and drawing it shut. He slung the backpack over his shoulders and quickly walked towards the back of the store, Phoebe following closely behind.
Mark jumped back as he saw police around the corner. He put his arm out to stop Phoebe from running forward. He put a finger up to his lips to tell her to keep quiet, and they started walking to the other end of the aisle. Mark studied his surroundings, looking for anything he might be able to use as a weapon. There were several propane tanks, but nothing else. Suddenly, Mark had an idea. He remembered what he had done that night in his house. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. He heard the click of a gun and the rough voice of an officer saying, “Stop! Turn around!” Mark and Phoebe did as he had ordered, Mark sliding the lighter Byron had given him out of his pocket.
“Put that down and come with us!” the officer said, his gun aimed at the two. Two other officers walked into the aisle.
“Run Phoebe!” In a split second Mark ignited the lighter. As he expected, the fire was drawn to his hand like a magnet. It was the size of a baseball in his palm, and it felt very similar to that. It was not hot or painful, but felt smooth and light. Mark threw his hand forward. As the ball of fire flew out of his hand he turned and dove aside. Mark’s vision filled with light as fire engulfed the aisle in a small explosion, sending debris everywhere. Mark pushed himself onto his knees. Somehow the backpack was still on his back and seemingly untouched by the flames. He looked up and saw Phoebe several feet away beginning to lift herself to her feet, her eyes wide in shock.
“What was that?” she asked.
“No clue,” Mark said, “But we need to go.” Phoebe nodded, and together they ran towards the front of the store.
“This isn’t a good idea!” Phoebe said as they exited the supermarket.
“It’s the only idea we have!” Mark responded, drawing another fireball to his hand, prepared to fight whatever came at them. The two quickly came to a halt as soon as they saw what was in front of them.
There Byron and Stephen stood, their hands in the air, police surrounding them with weapons all drawn and trained on them.
“Just trust me,” Byron said. He could feel Stephen’s panic next to him. He saw Mark and Phoebe run out of the supermarket and stop in their tracks. Some of the police turned around, aiming their weapons at them. That was a slight setback, but Byron was sure he could use their help to get out of this situation. One of the police car doors opened up, and a short, stocky man exited and walked towards Byron. Byron recognized this man.
“Peyton,” he said.
“Byron,” the Head of the Secret Service said to him. “I’m impressed that you’ve managed to come this far. You all sure pulled a good one at the Headquarters.”
“You’re right, we did. And we’ll do the same here.”
“Don’t try it Byron,” Peyton said threateningly. “You know you’re outmatched here.”
“I’m afraid not,” Byron said, a smile cracking across his face as he took his turn in unfolding his strategy. “While we’ve all been standing here I’ve gotten into the minds of all of these men and they are all under my control. One thought and they all do my bidding.”
“Telepathy,” Peyton said, “Interesting. But I know a bluff when I see one, Byron. You’re not going to fool me. Now please, you all need to come with me.”
“I’m not bluffing,” Byron said. He pointed one finger at Peyton and the officer next to him turned, pressing his weapon against the side of Peyton’s forehead. “Do you really want to try this?” Byron asked, hoping that this would work. Peyton’s eyes widened in panic while Byron’s face fell into frustration at Peyton’s delay.
“You wouldn’t,” Peyton said.
“You know what you did to me,” Byron said, his face twisting in anger. “You took everything from me. Don’t think I wouldn’t do the same for you. Let us leave in the vehicle we came in and we will be on our way.”
“Fine,” Peyton said, “But don’t think you’ll be able to run much longer. The entire Nation will be after you soon. Tricks like this won’t work much longer.”
“Keep trying,” Byron said, backing away. “Nobody try anything.” Byron and Stephen backed away, the officer following him, gun trained on Peyton. Byron motioned for Mark and Phoebe to follow him back to the vehicle. They walked forward, the police stepping aside to make a path for them. They all piled into the dark green van with Byron in the driver’s seat. The police officer was the last to get in. After he slid the door shut Byron slammed his foot down on the gas and the van took off. The officer’s skin began changing, and in a matter of seconds Ashley was sitting next to Mark, who jumped in surprise.
“That was close,” Byron said as they sped away from the supermarket.
“You want to tell us exactly what just happened?” Phoebe demanded.
“I knew going in the front seemed like a ludicrous idea, but I figured that we would be able to make our way out much easier that way than by trying to fight our way out. So before Stephen and I arrived I had Ashley sneak into their ranks and blend in. When Stephen and I arrived I instructed her to move close to us. I didn’t know Peyton would show up, but the fact that he did made everything much easier and I was able to improvise.”
“So it was a bluff then?” Mark asked.
“Of course it was a bluff,” Byron answered, “There’s no way I could have taken control of so many people at once. But directing Ashley to do what she did allowed for me to create the illusion that I was in each of their minds.”
“What if this Peyton hadn’t been there?” Stephen asked.
“I could have easily instructed Phoebe to destroy most of their weapons,” Byron responded, proud of himself for so carefully layering the situation in a way that would have ensured success no matter the result. “And even if Ashley hadn’t been where she was I could have kept Peyton talking for long enough for one of those two results to happen.”
“You know that guy?” Mark asked.
“Yes. I served under him during my time in the Secret Service. Why, do you know him?”
“I guess,” Mark replied, a look of concern on his face. “While I was locked up in the Secret Service Headquarters that guy came in and talked to me.”
“Interesting,” Byron said, “Typically Peyton limits his interaction to those in Sector Zero and the Secret Service. He doesn’t usually talk to those that are held in the Headquarters. He must have a special interest in us, which would explain why he is out in the field of action like he was today.” All of a sudden Byron remembered something. He turned to Mark. “You remembered the hot chocolate, didn’t you?” he asked him fervently.
“Yeah,” Mark said, opening the backpack that sat on his lap. “It’s right here-” He stopped, seemingly shocked.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s gone,” Mark said, confused. “I swear I had it right on top of everything.”
“I hope so,” Byron said. He looked out of his window, making sure they weren’t being followe
d. He saw nothing but a dark figure leaning up against the wall of a building, waving at Byron with one hand and holding a small, round box in the other.
Chapter Seven
Trust and Suicide
“We need to get out of Sector Four as soon as possible,” Byron said.
“I need to make a stop first,” Stephen said.
“Where?”
“I need to say goodbye.”
“We really need to get going, Stephen,” Mark began to argue.
“Let him,” Ashley said
“But they’re after us.”
“Didn’t you say you never had a chance to say goodbye to your loved ones, Mark?” Ashley retaliated. “I don’t think very many of us have. We need to let him do this.” Mark was silent.
“Let’s go then,” Byron said, “Which way?”
Directed by Stephen, Byron drove them through the backroads of Sector Four, through alleys and in abandoned parts of the city. Before long, Stephen said, “We’re getting close.” They approached a house. The house was near the edge of Sector Four, facing Sector Five.
“This could be a trap,” Byron said, “They know who you are, so they might know of all your connections. We’ll go in with you. Ashley, stay here in case we need a quick escape.” The group exited the vehicle, following Stephen. Instead of going to the front door, though, Stephen walked around back. Behind the house there was a tree that went up to the second story of the house. Stephen jumped up. “What are you doing?” Mark asked, but Stephen didn’t answer. He just climbed up the tree quicker than seemed possible, as if he were an expert. The others climbed up after him. Soon Stephen was up to the second story. He leaned off the tree and knocked on a window. Mark realized what he was doing just before the window opened and a girl leaned out the window, her face red, fresh tears still rolling down her face. “Stephen!” she exclaimed, almost jumping out of the window. “Hey,” he said softly as he put one foot into the inside of the window, climbing inside. Mark was the next one up after him. “You know this illegal, right?” he said, seeing Stephen in a tight, long embrace with the girl.
