Fervor

by Chantal Boudreau

  “Wait, Sam,” Sarah whispered aloud, keeping her thoughts very quiet. “He stopped us. He told us to stay here until he gave us leave to move. If you go in after him, he’ll just do the same to you.”

  It did not take a solid link in the connection to know how miserable she was at the moment, but Sam got the impression that more of her sympathy lay with Francis rather than with Fiona. That aspect of Sarah had never made sense to him.

  Sam hesitated and looked at the pair expectantly, hoping that they might offer some alternate solution.

  “I was worried something like this could happen,” Elliot muttered softly. “Especially with the Tellers. They were all practically little control-hungry adults to begin with, and the scholars’ research that I saw suggested that because of their personality type they didn’t cope well with stress. Francis has been through plenty: the conflict with your Control, Fiona’s intolerance, and then my arrival with all the complications associated, particularly the removal of the stasis. It was probably just a matter of time. I need you to fetch the Languorite from my room. I can’t do it myself.”

  Elliot had been staying in Royce’s old room, and it was now considered his by the house-family.

  “What are you going to do with it, Elliot,” the Finder asked warily.

  “Please, Sam. Just get it.” The technician sighed softly.

  Sam obliged him, but anxiety attacked his stomach as he did so, and it churned uneasily. He bit his lip as he passed the device to Elliot. Since Elliot did not move to take it from him, Sam pressed it into his hand.

  “I never would have thought I would be attempting to use this on myself,” he mumbled unhappily. There was the temporarily blinding multi-colour flash, and then Elliot could move freely again. He then turned the device on Sarah, who sagged and almost fell when she found herself liberated from Francis’s command.

  Sam released a ragged breath. He’d been convinced that Elliot had other intentions for the Languorite.

  “Now, to finally test its other use,” Elliot announced, his words barely audible.

  “Other use?” Sarah squeaked piteously. “You’re not going to strip him of his gift? As far as he is concerned, it’s the only thing that he has left.”

  “It’s not like he has left us with any other option. He’s the one who chose to abuse that power. He made a conscious decision to use it as he pleases now. I’m sorry, Sarah. I have to do this quickly, before he suspects what I’m up to.”

  Sarah hid her face as the technician stepped towards the room. Seconds after he had gazed past the open door, there was a brilliant rainbow flare, many times brighter than the one that had accompanied the erasing of the Teller-induced compulsions.

  With a yelp of pain, Sam turned his eyes away as well. But he did not need to see to know that Nathan had arrived. There was a floor shaking crash as the front door exploded open and a slight breeze as the Watcher rushed swiftly past them. Sam’s sight began to clear as the large young man shoved Elliot out of the path to the entrance to Fiona’s room and then he surged out of view. He returned to line of sight two seconds later, half dragging and half throwing a partially dressed Francis from the room, before dropping him violently to the floor. Francis glanced around the room, disoriented.

  “Get up!” Nathan barked, barely able to contain himself, and fighting with himself to keep his eyes averted. “Get on your feet!”

  He was panting raggedly, holding back the urge to tear Francis limb to limb, as Fiona could be heard sobbing in the next room.

  Francis scrambled to his feet and reached out at Nathan with his disjointed mind.

  “Go away,” he instructed. “Stop interfering.”

  He had not yet grasped what Elliot had done to him, and much to his dismay, the Watcher went nowhere.

  “How could you do that!” Nathan railed, the hurt echoing through all of their heads.

  He had never pushed so forcefully and so openly before, like Fiona’s rare uncontrolled outburst, only more prolonged. It was enough to bring Elliot to his knees.

  “I trusted you, Francis! I trusted you! I thought that we were on the same page. You know she loved me! How could you betray me like that?”

  Francis did not answer, and Sam doubted that he was actually capable of doing so. The blond man’s mind, normally so orderly, was jumbled and chaotic. There was shame, anger, frustration, and disappointment there, but not much else that made sense.

  “Answer me!” Nathan bellowed, and Sam found it difficult to concentrate. He had never seen Nathan this angry or unrestrained, even when he had tossed Royce out of the house. Elliot had put his hands on his head, crouched on the floor, and Sarah stood nearby and watched, with a stunned expression.

  Francis hung his head and looked away. He was lost, in more ways than one, and unwilling to face the Watcher’s accusations and interrogation. He still had not come to terms with the fact that he was no longer a Teller.

  Everyone was so distracted by the physical conflict and Nathan’s outrage that they did not notice the quiet thought that pulsed beneath the surface. Everyone, that is, but Sam.

  “I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him,” the thought repeated quietly, and this made Sam panic. He had picked it up through the connection, which meant that it was not an exaggeration.

  As Nathan raised his fist to swing at Francis, which no one else was prepared for, Sam lunged forward, planting himself squarely between the two men. The only problem with this plan was that he did not allow for the momentum in the attack, and the fact that Nathan would not be able to abort the strike to avoid the Finder – that was if he had even been able to see him in the first place. His eyes remained averted, and he was lashing out blindly in Francis’s general direction.

  The last thing that Sam saw before things went black was the shocked look on the Watcher’s face as Nathan’s fist collided with the side of Sam’s head. The last thing that he felt was an explosion of pain and the crunch of bone as Nathan struck him with a full-forced blow that had been entirely intended for Francis, who stood cringing a couple of feet past him.

  Unfixable

  Sam was not sure if it had been seconds, minutes, hours, or days. There was blackness and there was excruciating pain. Sam did not dare open his eyes once he became conscious of his existence again for fear that any exposure to light might add to his agony. As a fresh wave of hurt rushed through him, he tensed his muscles and clenched his teeth. He could not hold back a moan.

  “Sam! Sam!” The voice was muffled and distant, like he was listening to it underneath water, but he was sure that it was Sarah’s, and it was definitely excited.

  “I’m so sorry, little buddy. I’m really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have been trying to hit him. I’m sorry that I lost my head and that you were the one to pay for it.”

  Sam was sure that that was Nathan, and from the proximity of his presence in the connection, the Finder could tell that Nathan was crouching over him. Sam noted that the young man was not trying to make any excuses, which meant that he was back to his usual self. The average person would try to suggest that Sam should not have gotten in the way, but not the Watcher. He was prepared to shoulder all the blame for the incident himself, not pointing a finger at Francis for instigating his outburst, and not chastising Sam for interfering where he was not welcome.

  Sam opened his eyes and tried to sit up…both bad ideas. The world seemed too bright and blurry, and the movement triggered a searing pain that started in his jaw and ran up the side of his head.

  “Lie still,” Sarah demanded. “I only just began to fix you, you silly boy. Nathan packs quite a punch when he’s as angry as he was at Francis. What were you thinking? He could have killed you.”

  “I was thinking he was going to try to kill Francis, and I didn’t want him to do something that everyone would regret,” Sam mumbled groggily. “I know how furious he was. I thought if I got in the way that it would stop him.”

  “He wasn’t even looking at Francis properly when he threw
the punch, Sam. It was mostly a wild swing. Why would you have thought that he would see you in time?”

  Her fingers brushed the sorest part of his face at that moment, and Sam flinched reflexively and whimpered.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Nathan said. His thoughts were filled with concern. “Is there anything I can do to help? Anything at all?”

  Sam shook his head very carefully, knowing that sudden movements would send that jarring pain through his skull again, and feeling bad for his large friend. The Watcher hung his head in his hands and pulled at his hair in frustration.

  “How could I let this happen? How?”

  “I’m pretty sure that I can fix him,” Sarah offered soothingly. “It’ll be okay, Nathan. We’ll figure things out. We’ll repair the damage.”

  “No, it won’t be okay, not as long as I’m cursed with this ridiculous ‘gift.’” He stood up and faced Elliot with great conviction, struggling to look at the technician but failing. “Get them out of my head. Do to me what you did to Francis. I don’t want them there anymore.”

  “But chances are that the scholars will notice something is wrong if I do that. Francis was right about that much. Is it really worth the risk?” Elliot argued. “Not to mention that you’ll lose that heightened protective instinct, and it has clearly come in handy in the past.”

  “I don’t care!” Nathan yelled, his ire rising again. “I’m fed up with not being able to look at anybody. I can’t stand constantly watching what I think, but at the same time having to run that stupid circuit. And I’m going to feel protective towards Fiona, Sam, and Sarah no matter what you do to me. They really are my family after all this time. Getting this out of my head won’t change that. I have to be free to be there for Fiona right now. She needs me, especially after what he may have done to her...”

  Sam had not thought that there was a connection equivalent to getting choked up, but Nathan appeared to have stumbled upon it. The possibilities were so difficult for the Watcher to consider that he could not bring himself to properly contemplate them. Sam also noted that he had not included Francis in that list of those that he considered his real family. The sense of betrayal that he felt due to the young man who had been their Teller was so strong that it was enough for Nathan to have essentially ‘disowned’ him.

  “Well I suppose that it’s possible, if Sarah and I really buckle down and work during every moment available, that we can get that hover up and running in a couple more days. That won’t give them much time to respond to the loss of your feedback. It may give us the chance to get away before they get here,” the technician reflected, bringing his hand up to his chin.

  He glanced at Nathan, who displayed conflicting body language, his stance bold and determined, but his head bowed.

  “If I do this,” he continued, gesturing with the Languorite, “Then I want to have a commitment from Sam and Sarah that they are agreeable to this, and that they will do whatever they have to in order to get the repairs on the hover completed in the most expeditious manner possible. If I don’t have that, I won’t do it – it would be too dangerous.”

  “Sarah?” Nathan stated plaintively, hoping she would say what he desperately wanted her to say.

  “I’ll do whatever is necessary, Elliot,” she responded quietly. “Nathan’s right. Fiona needs him right now, and he’s not much good to her the way that he is at the moment. We have enough of a mess on our hands not to make the best use of all of our resources, including what Nathan has to offer.”

  Sam was having difficulty grasping what everyone was saying, his mind still muddled as Sarah continued to work on him. The damage had been extreme and, without Sarah there, might have proven to be very serious, if not fatal. Even Nathan had not survived the mishap unblemished. He had struck without any regard for his own well being, driven only to hurt Francis as badly as he could possibly manage, and he had split open his knuckles in the process, a result of the level of force with which he had made contact. Sam’s injury had taken priority, however, so Nathan now stood with his hand dripping with blood as he waited expectantly for Sam to consent as well.

  “This wouldn’t have happened if I had been here, Sam. You know it. Tell him to let me go. That way I’ll be able to help Sarah and Elliot with the hover, and maybe speed things up a little,” he urged.

  “Nathan will be a better Watcher without his ‘gift’. Use the Languorite on him. Let’s deal with this and be done with it,” Sam muttered, finally able to sit up with a tolerable amount of pain if he supported himself on Sarah. She slid an arm around him to anchor him in place, the fixing less burdensome as well if he were sitting up.

  “Okay, I just wanted to make sure that you are all in agreement,” Elliot conceded. “There are still threats out there. Your Control and his friends know about me, and since they have already demonstrated a willingness to break the rules, they may see you as more vulnerable now that I’m here. Then there are the scholars themselves. If we don’t work fast enough, who can predict what will happen if we are still here when they come to investigate what has happened to Nathan. I’ll take him outside to do this. Sam seems to be faring well enough that I would imagine that you can handle him on your own, Sarah?”

  The Fixer nodded. Sam was no longer in agony, the pain having lessened to a dull, throbbing ache as long as he remained fairly still. They were both fairly certain that she could finish the job within the next several minutes.

  Elliot placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder and guided him toward the door. When they were gone, Sam finally noticed something that hadn’t come to his attention while they had been there.

  “Where’s Francis?” he asked.

  Without giving Sarah the opportunity to answer, he started searching the connection for the young man. Sam found him a fair distance from the house and moving away from them quickly. His walls were up, and for the most part solid, but dotted with holes in some areas, like Swiss cheese. Sam ventured close enough to glimpse at Francis’s mind through those holes. It was frantic and chaotic, nothing like the Francis Sam had known for years. Sam had never seen anything like it. He frowned glancing at Sarah.

  “Where’s he going?”

  “I don’t know,” Sarah replied glumly, pausing a moment at the mention of his name and hanging her head a little. “He lit out of here as soon as you presented Nathan with a distraction. He didn’t take anything with him. In fact, he didn’t even bother to grab his boots.”

  That was startling news to Sam. Considering the pace at which Francis was moving, he clearly was choosing to ignore any discomfort or damage that it would be causing to his feet. There might have been feelings of pain intermingled with the other thoughts Sam had sensed through those holes, but he had not been able to tell – they had been so jumbled.

  “What happened to him, Sarah?” Sam demanded.

  “I told you. We had a chip. Now our windshield is cracked straight through,” she replied with a ragged sigh. “And what happened here today might just have been enough of a jolt to cause it to shatter. I knew he was in trouble, Sam, but he wouldn’t let me fix him. If it had been one of the rest of you, I would have done it anyway, but with Francis, I couldn’t do it, not as long as he didn’t want me to.” A single tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away hurriedly. “I failed him.”

  “Don’t say things like that. You can fix him now; he won’t be able to stop you anymore. Maybe when we get the hover fixed, we can track him down before we leave Fervor.”

  She looked at Sam with dismay.

  “I’m pretty sure that will be too late for him,” she murmured. “I know that I promised Elliot that I would focus on the hover, but if there’s any way I can help Francis, then I need to.”

  “The damage isn’t physical, right? Can you possibly fix it through the connection? After it’s too dark to work on the hover tonight, I can help you locate him. You could try it.”

  Sam was not sure if he could concentrate well enough at the moment to guide her to hi
m, a trick much more difficult than just tracking Francis on his own. His mind was still too foggy from the blow, and by the time Sarah had him fixed to the point that he would be fully functioning, Elliot would likely be done with Nathan and want to get started on the hover right away. With that thought the windows flashed with brilliant light. It was too late for anyone to change their mind now.

  “I don’t know if we can afford to wait that long, and I don’t know if I can do it that way. I’ve never tried anything like that before,” Sarah protested.

  “You’d never catch up to him on foot,” Sam thought. “He has a good head start on us.”

  Sam was also tempted to add “and he’s running like a madman”, but he somehow felt that this would upset Sarah even more, and chose to restrain the thought.

  “If you can’t fix him through the connection, you would probably have to wait until the hover is repaired anyway, just to be able to reach him.”

  Sarah never got the opportunity to answer this, interrupted by a new distraction.

  “What just happened to Nathan?”

  It was Fiona. She stood trembling in the doorway to her room, her face tear-stained. “There’s something different about him. Did Francis do something to him, too?”

  Sarah released Sam, who could now support himself on his own, and scrambled to her feet. Then she cautiously approached the distraught young woman.

  “Francis is gone, Fiona. It’s okay. You’re safe now. He can’t hurt you anymore. If you need me to fix...”