Flying Free

by Kellie McAllen

  “Anders had Randall Winslow, the head of the council, listed as his emergency contact on a medical record. I wonder how they know each other.”

  “Winslow was Anders’ teacher, his mentor, really.” My mom piped up from across the room, and Phoenix and I both swung our heads around to look at her.

  “What’d she say?” Lexus asked, and I turned the phone so she could see her.

  “Randall Winslow was the leader of Magna Virtus for years, and Anders was his protégé. He was like a father to him. Winslow hand-picked Anders to take over the school when he stepped down.”

  “How do you know this?” Phoenix asked.

  Mom tilted her head and blinked at him, tucking a strand of graying hair behind her ear. “Well, I was there, honey. We went to Magna Virtus together. Anders was a few years older than us, and he took over the school right about the time we graduated. A lot of people didn’t like the idea of Winslow putting someone so young in charge, but Anders proved to be a competent leader—”

  “Except that he was kidnapping Specials and locking them up in the basement,” Phoenix growled.

  “Do you think Winslow knew what Anders was doing?” I voiced the question I’m sure everyone was thinking.

  “I’m almost sure of it.” Our father said, coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. His face, so similar to mine and my brother’s, was lined and gaunt, and I wondered if we would look that haunted when we were his age. Were we destined to fight one battle after another?

  “I never trusted that man, and Anders was just like him. If he’s on the council, things are worse than I imagined.”

  The room went silent as we contemplated what that meant for everyone involved in this.

  “Lexus, just be careful, okay? Don’t trust him just because he’s on the council. Keep your eyes open and watch your back,” I warned.

  She nodded, her face solemn.

  We said our goodbyes a few minutes later, too distracted by this new information to maintain the conversation.

  “We can’t stay here,” my father announced as soon as we ended the call. “We’re too exposed, living in the city. There are probably thousands of Specials here, and any one of them could be our enemy. I’m sure Winslow will have the whole community on the lookout for us. All it takes is one person to recognize us and turn us in.”

  “Where should we go then?” My mother’s voice was almost a whisper.

  “Off the grid, somewhere far away from the population. Alaska, maybe. We’ll live off the land, be totally self-sufficient. Just the four of us.”

  15

  “You’ve left quite a mess for me to clean up, Anders.” He didn’t bother to say his name, but I’d recognize Randall’s voice anywhere. I turned down the radio and pulled out of the passing lane. This conversation would require my full attention.

  “Things got… a little out of hand.” I sighed and scrubbed a hand over my prematurely-graying buzzcut. The hairs were a few millimeters longer than I preferred, but right now a haircut was the least of my worries.

  “Well, I have to give it to you — some of these students are impressive, to say the least. I’d compliment you for that, but it seems like you didn’t have much to do with it.”

  “I take it you’ve met Lexus.”

  In the passenger seat, Renee snapped her attention towards me at the mention of her daughter. Her own appearance was similar to the teen’s, with long bronze hair and hazel eyes set in a face that looked perpetually haunted.

  “Yes, we had a nice chat today while I was interviewing all your prisoners. She’s an interesting specimen, isn’t she? I take it she gets her skills from her mother?”

  “Renee is quite impressive, as well.” I wanted to boast about Lexus’ range of talents — she far surpassed her mother, but I didn’t want to play all my cards yet. At this point, I could never show my face again in the Specials community, and I wasn’t sure exactly what my next move was.

  Fortunately, Randall Winslow and I had something in common, an understanding that went back for years, ever since he first started mentoring me when I was a student at Magna Virtus and he was the school’s leader. We had similar ideas about our kind, similar goals — we both believed that Specials were naturally superior to Normals, like Homo Sapiens were to Neanderthals, and that our species could only benefit from the careful study and development of our powers. If that meant that some of us had to sacrifice for the greater good of our kind, that was only to be expected.

  He’d built the prison in the basement and filled it with his own collection of unique and extraordinary Specials, and eventually he trusted me enough to share his secret. He also shared his database of Specials with me, a resource that I’d added to over the years.

  When his passion for the development of our kind and his “collection” outgrew the school, he moved his research to a larger facility and passed the baton of leadership at MVA down to me. It looked like my time at Magna Virtus was over, but I was hopeful that Randall would help cover my tracks so I could continue our research. It was good to have friends in high places.

  “Do you have room for a few more at your facility?” I asked, hoping he’d take the hint.

  “Yes, I think that’s probably the best place for the both of you, but you’re going to owe me for this one, Anders. I’ll have to call in every favor I have to get you out of this mess. Where are you now?”

  “Traveling that direction. Is the situation… contained?”

  He barked out a laugh that would sound jolly if I didn’t know him. “Not exactly. The entire student body is aware of what happened, and two of your prisoners escaped with their children before we even arrived. Fortunately, they seem to be objectors who prefer to disappear rather than bring any attention to themselves.”

  “The Eastons?”

  “Those are the ones.”

  “They left? All four of them?”

  “Took off in the middle of the night in your Camaro, no less.” I could hear his amusement in the tone of his voice, and I felt a pinch in my chest. He knew how I felt about my car collection.

  After that sour news wore off, another thought struck me. “Wait a minute, the Eastons left but Lexus is still there? She and those Easton boys are attached at the hip. I’m pretty sure they have a threesome going on. I can’t imagine those boys would leave without her.”

  Renee gawked at me. Probably not one of the first things she wanted to learn about her estranged daughter.

  “Yes, well, Miss Wren was aware that they were leaving. I didn’t realize they were that bonded. It sounded like she’s only known them a few months. She seemed more interested in finding her mother.”

  “They must have something planned, Randy. Those kids are sneakier than you’d imagine.” I couldn’t believe they’d managed to uncover my secret without me having an inkling of what they were up to. How long had they been suspicious of me? Or did they just get lucky? I’d like to believe that I’d taken enough precautions to prevent anyone from stumbling across my secret, but once again, I’d underestimated Lexus.

  He snorted. “What about the other boy — Jaxson? She seems quite friendly with him. Have they worked together much?”

  “Jaxson is a powerhouse, a solid level four. I’ve been grooming him for years, kind of like you did with me.” My cheeks lifted in a smile at the memory, but it quickly disappeared when I realized Jaxson and I were nowhere near as simpatico as I’d hoped we could be.

  I’d never taken the time to have a family — my own parents had passed me off to the school to raise, and my work and my students were my focus, but I’d always longed for another relationship kind of like what I’d had with Randall Winslow, only with me as the father figure. I thought Jaxson and I were building towards that. Maybe after a few more years we would’ve gotten there, but now that was all over. Disappointment steam-rolled over me, and I pressed my foot to the gas pedal, making the SUV shudder. It definitely wasn’t one of my hot rods.

  “He was my strongest st
udent until Lexus came along. But Jaxson caused a ruckus looking for his parents a while ago, and he pulled Lexus into it. Last I knew they were enemies.”

  “Well, they didn’t look like enemies this morning. They arrived together and spent the whole morning huddled up like they were best friends.”

  My eyebrows raised at that. When had they made up, and how had I missed it? Had they collaborated with the twins to uncover my secret? I could only imagine what kind of power Lexus could wield if she teamed up with all three of them.

  “Randall, if Lexus and Jaxson are working together, you need to separate them immediately. Together they’d be… big trouble.” I wanted to say unstoppable, but I still didn’t want Randall to know just how powerful Lexus was.

  I glanced at Renee, and her face looked hopeful and terrified at the same time.

  “I’d like to use her mind control abilities to lessen the fallout of this… situation,” Randall suggested. “Perhaps I can offer her a visit with her mother in exchange for her cooperation.”

  I cringed. If Randall got a front row seat to Lexus’ power, he’d claim her as his own, and I might not ever get to study her like I wanted to.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Randall. If you could prevent my reputation from being permanently smeared somehow I’d be deeply indebted, but Lexus and Jaxson together could make more trouble than they’d solve.”

  Randall laughed. “I’m sure I can handle a couple of children, Anders. You do remember I used to be your teacher long before you ever took over the reigns of the school, don’t you?”

  16

  “I have a proposition to offer you two.” Mr. Winslow loomed over me, and his nondescript face seemed suddenly menacing despite the smile plastered on it. He’d done nothing to me, so why did I feel like every word he spoke was laced with threat?

  “Let’s go to the office and have a little chat.”

  Jaxson and I exchanged a nervous glance then followed a few steps behind him, my heart beating faster than the click of his shoes on the old, black and white tile. Each square we crossed made me more and more nervous as he led us down the hall.

  The other council members were waiting for us in Anders’ office, staring at me with blank faces and empty eyes, and I once again took one of the cold, metal, folding chairs in the center of the room, curling into myself. I resisted the urge to pull my legs up and hide my face behind my knees. Jaxson sat next to me, his arms crossed and his long legs spread wide in front of him.

  Mr. Winslow glanced at Jaxson but then turned his focus towards me. “Lexus, I know you’ve only been here a short time, but I’m sure you can recognize that this school does a lot of good for the young Specials of this community, especially for students like yourself who receive full scholarships.”

  I nodded. So it was true; the school was footing the bill for me, and I had a feeling that now Mr. Winslow was trying to collect.

  “And I’m sure you can both agree that it would be a shame for all the good done here to come to an end because of the mistakes of one person.” His eyes flicked between us, one eyebrow raised.

  I blinked a few times and slowly nodded again. Agreeing felt like a trap, but I wasn’t sure why.

  He centered his focus on me again. “And you seem like the kind of person who’s willing to do whatever you can to help those around you who need it.”

  My eyes widened as I stared at him, too afraid to respond. What was Mr. Winslow getting at? I was afraid to find out.

  He leaned over the desk and stared at me, his dark eyes piercing. “Lexus, we know you possess a very valuable skill, one very few other Specials have mastered.”

  My gut clenched, and I shriveled up tighter. Did he know what all I could do? In the wrong hands, my powers could be lethal. Mr. Winslow was supposed to be the voice of reason for our kind, so why was I so worried about him knowing about my abilities?

  “We’re doing everything in our power to capture Anders Grant and bring him to justice, but rumors about his actions have already begun to spread from the students to their families. I fear that the school will suffer as a result of his actions, and parents will refuse to allow their children to continue their studies here, despite the isolated threat.”

  My eyes followed him as he came around the front of the desk and hovered over me again. I craned my neck to look up into his face.

  “Lexus, Jaxson, we want you to use your mind control powers to help us contain the spread of this information — for the good of everyone involved. If knowledge of this incident was erased, the students and their parents will feel much more at peace, and you and your classmates can continue their studies uninterrupted. I’m sure you can see how that would be the best for everyone.”

  His words sounded good, his logic sound, — maybe it would be better if everyone could just forget this ever happened, and if it weren’t for the fact that I knew he and Anders had some kind of relationship, I might have been all for it. But instead, I was immediately suspicious of his motives. If he and Anders were friends, did he really intend to hunt him down and make him pay for what he did, or did he just want to make it all disappear so everyone would forget what Anders had done?

  Concerns bounced around my mind as I thought about his proposal, but Jaxson apparently wasn’t buying it at all. He jumped up, knocking his chair to the ground with a clang that made me flinch.

  “So that’s how the council works, huh? You just brainwash everyone any time someone does something they’re not supposed to? I wonder how many other crimes you’ve swept under the rug. We know you’re close to Anders. You just want to protect him from the consequences of his crimes. You’ve got to be crazy if you think we’re gonna help you do that.”

  I gaped at him, amazed that he’d had the audacity to talk that way to them. No matter how shady they might be, they were still the council — effectively the law for our kind.

  He grabbed my arm, yanking me out of my chair. “Come on, Lexus, let’s get out of here.”

  I let him pull me out of the room; the damage had already been done, and he was right — the last thing I wanted to do was help Anders. But I still had a feeling we’d just made a horrible mistake.

  * * *

  ➳➳➳

  * * *

  Cold hands grabbed me, jarring me out of a deep sleep, and the first thing I saw when my eyes popped open was a scowling face hovering over mine. My body instantly tensed, my heart pounding loud enough to block out all other sound, and chills raced up and down my spine, making my whole body shiver.

  The menacing face yanked me out of my bed and shoved a gun in my side, the cold circle pressed against my skin making my heart rev like Anders’ Camaro.

  My eyes darted around the dark room, looking for my roommate, Sarah, but her bed was empty. She and Juan had been spending a lot more time together recently; was she with him? I was simultaneously relieved and terrified. There was no one here to help me or even witness what was happening.

  “Mr. Winslow needs to have another chat with you, Lexus, so you’re going to put some clothes on and come with me.” His voice was as cold as his hands and the gun, and my body froze in place.

  “Get moving, girl!” He slapped my cheek, igniting a fire under me.

  I grabbed some clothes from my closet — a pair of jeans and the warmest sweater I had, then turned back around, holding them. The man was staring at me. Did he expect me to dress in front of him?

  “What are you waiting for?”

  There was no way I was taking off my clothes in front of him, so I quickly yanked the pants up over my pajama shorts and pulled the sweater on over my camisole then shoved my feet in some sneakers, my whole body shaking.

  “Where’s your phone?” he demanded, and I pointed at the nightstand. He grabbed it and slid it into his own pocket. “Don’t need you making any phone calls.”

  I was suddenly grateful that Jaxson had warned me about my phone. Not only had I removed the twins from my contacts list, I’d deleted all our te
xt messages. Maybe a hacker could dig out the information somehow, but I doubted the average person could.

  “Now, you’re gonna walk down to the office like a good girl and not draw any attention to yourself. I’ll be walking a few yards behind you, so I’ll know if you try anything. If anybody happens to be up and asks you where you’re going, just say you couldn’t sleep so you decided to take a little stroll. Got it?” He pressed the gun to my neck for effect as he hissed out the instructions.

  I nodded and headed for the door, stumbling over my own feet. At 3am, the hallway was empty, and I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed. The hallways of the old school were dim and shadowy, foreboding, and the trek to Anders’ office took longer than ever before, and yet I was there way before I was ready. Mr. Winslow was inside alone, sitting in the dark room with only a small desk lamp on. It threw black shadows across his face like jagged mountains.

  “Have a seat, Wren.”

  I cringed at the use of my last name. It dredged up painful memories of being bullied. Was that what was about to happen?

  “I know you don’t know me, Lexus, but I’m not the kind of man who takes ‘no’ for an answer. Especially not from cocky children like your friend Jaxson.”

  I ducked my head. I knew it was stupid of Jaxson to blatantly refuse Mr. Winslow’s request, but Jaxson was never known for subtlety.

  “This afternoon’s meeting was your chance to do things the easy way. Since you refused, we’ll have to do it the hard way.” He slapped a hand on the desk, and I flinched.

  “Now, this is what’s going to happen: I’ll call an assembly tomorrow and get all the students together, then you and Jaxson will use your powers to make them believe a story a little more palatable than what actually happened.”

  “What about Anders and my mother?” I whispered, my voice shaky.

  “I know where they are. Your mother will be released after her mind is wiped. Let me worry about Anders.”