The Forbidden Trilogy

by Kimberly Kinrade

  "They're fine, but not for long. Come, I must show you."

  I let her lead me to the Rent-A-Kid center. What had once been home now looks like a prison. I'm saddened by the armed guards and reinforced fences, by the beauty they have destroyed. "What's happened here? This is worse than I thought."

  "That's not all." She takes me to the center, and bodies appear. Kids I had gone to school with. I realize we are not in present time, whatever that might mean. We are in no time. She is showing me the past.

  A new man, scary and big, with a gun at his side, takes a whip and.... How can this be? He tears the skin off the back of a young boy. "No!" I scream, but no one turns to look at me. He doesn't stop.

  "They can't hear you. It's a memory, nothing more. Come."

  We leave that horrible scene. The boy's tortured face will forever haunt me, I know.

  We come to another place on campus, outside the Headmaster's office. Two boys prepare to duel. I smile. Duels had always been fun, though sometimes a little dangerous. What mischief are they causing now?

  Fire and Ice. Robert Frost is recited. As is the tradition in our duels, there must be a recitation of poetry or literature to thematically inspire the duels. It's my favorite part. And this is one of my favorite poems.

  But something goes wrong. They are interrupted by the tall, mean man. The gun is in his hand.

  And....

  No. Oh my God, no. The boy. The fire boy. He's dead. No! I knew him. I had class with him, and now his brains are splattered all over the sidewalk.

  "Is this real? This can't be real."

  "I'm sorry, but it is. We need your help. Can you come? The Seeker, he's killing us. He controls us and takes away our powers. We've already failed once at escape. We need you and Drake."

  "We're coming. Hang on to hope. We'll be there."

  ***

  Dawn lifted the veils of night from the sky and awakened me before the alarm. I shook Drake awake. "We have to go. No time to wait. Kids are dying."

  I just hoped we wouldn't be next.

  Chapter 48 – Lucy

  The Seeker's voice drifted into Lucy's dreams. Why was she dreaming of the Seeker?

  Consciousness played hide 'n seek with her mind until a dull, throbbing pain in her shoulder brought her back to reality.

  "I trust you are comfortable enough? I knew you would want your wits about you, so I had the doctor give you a smaller dose of pain medication than normal. Please, let me know if it is not enough, and I shall have more brought to you. I apologize for the trigger-happy fools who shot you. They have been dealt with."

  Lucy pulled herself into a sitting position on the bed. The Seeker sat in a chair next to her. "Where am I?"

  "These are my personal chambers. I wanted to supervise your care personally."

  A candle on the side table lit the room with a soft glow, but cast the Seeker in shadows. "Why's it so dark in here?"

  "I exist in the shadows of the world." He offered just the hint of a grin. "I am delighted you have woken. Can I get you anything before we talk?"

  Lucy swallowed and ran her tongue over her fuzzy teeth. "Water, please."

  "Of course." The Seeker poured a cup from the dresser next to him and handed it to her.

  The cold, pure liquid washed away the remnants of medication coating her mouth and fogging her brain.

  "My brother, Luke, is he okay? Was he hurt?"

  "Your brother is unharmed." He waved his long fingers in the air as if to shoo a fly or dismiss a thought. "So let's get down to business, shall we? It hurts me that the students I work so hard to protect are destroying everything we've built here. Tell me, Lucy, why are you and your friends rebelling?"

  "You really think I'm going to give up our secrets to you?"

  "I am not interested in your secrets, only your motives. I want to understand how this has happened. It was not in the plan, and it perplexes me." His eyes glowed an unnatural white, and he curved his lips into something that looked like a frown, but lacked any humanity.

  Lucy couldn't tell if he was lying. Either her powers had been shut down again, or he could block her. She would have to assess him the old-fashioned way.

  "You have spies in every corner of this school. How can you not see why we'd rebel? We aren't safe here anymore. You had my best friend impregnated against her will and locked up. She escaped, and now you and your goons are torturing, whipping and killing students. Why would you do this to us and claim to want us safe and happy?"

  All her frustration, all her fear, boiled over. She knew she should have stopped talking, forced herself to calm down, but the words poured out of her, louder and louder, until she was all but screaming. "You treat us like property, like a weapon to be used and discarded. We've made this organization millions of dollars, maybe more, with our talents, and now you do this to us. We're not weapons. We're human beings. Those are just kids out there, and now one is dead!"

  The Seeker nodded. "I agree. This has all gotten out of hand. You have no idea how... valuable you all are. I wish we could all live free in the world, at peace and happy, but the people out there are not ready for what we can do."

  His long fingers gripped the glass of water next to him as if it was a neck to be choked. He took a sip and set it back down. "I loved someone once, deeply. She too wanted a normal life in the world. There are groups whose sole purpose is to destroy us. They killed her, but only after torturing and raping her. People are afraid of us. They use our services, yes, but deep down they loathe us for our power. They will never allow us to be their equals, ever. If we hide in the shadows like nightmares, it is only until we can claim our rightful place in the world."

  Lucy flinched from the pain and adjusted herself in the bed.

  The Seeker stood up and fluffed her pillow for her. "This school was created as a haven for kids with para-powers. The assignments became necessary in order to fund all that you see here, and further research into our gifts. The breeding program, while controversial, is needed to keep our race alive. Without it, the world would run us into extinction. Besides, we don't want children born god-only–knows-where, with dangerous powers they can't control. Don't you see? None of this is meant to hurt you, Lucy, it's meant to help you, to help all of us."

  The Seeker held Lucy's eyes during his speech. Everything about his body language suggested that he spoke the truth, but her judgment clouded with the rage at his justifications. "All this sounds so sweet coming from your lips, but you're talking about rape, essentially. Forced breeding, killing babies through accelerated growth treatments—how can you justify any of that?"

  He face contorted into that of a monster, and his voice was so icy cold it could shatter windows. "A regrettable necessity."

  And just like that, like a demon transforming back to something akin to human, he was himself again. He brushed off his white garment, though nothing had stained it. "We are using safer methods now, and what we have learned will help us better protect you and our kind. Without these sacrifices, our enemies would even now be hunting us down one by one and exterminating us.

  "I know Mr. Black slated you for the breeding program, and it will not happen. That was a mistake. You and Luke are needed in other ways. You are incredibly valuable to this organization. You could be great leaders among our kind, a Queen and King to the masses of paranormals looking for safety and guidance."

  Lucy fought the fogginess of her brain, as his words lulled her like a dream. She allowed her anger to feed her clarity, to keep her alert despite his masterful manipulations. "So I'm too good for breeding, but it was okay for Sam? And Drake? And why aren't the students told? When they're old enough, why aren't they given at least the chance to live in the normal world? We've trained our whole lives to blend in and control our powers. Don't you think we could make it work if given a chance?"

  "These anti-paranormal organizations are powerful. We need to stand together. We need to grow our strength, or they will destroy us. We'll be forgotten, wiped from
history."

  "But isn't that what you're doing to Drake and Sam? You're trying to kill them and erase their memory from our minds."

  The Seeker cackled. "I would never kill Sam or Drake. I want only to help them—more than you could possibly understand."

  The world toppled and turned once again at the Seeker's words. Lucy tried to rub her headache away, but it persisted, just behind her eyes. "Help them? Seriously? You have a very unfriendly way of helping people. You might want to work on the whole how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people thing. There's even a book on it. You should check it out, and stop getting advice from Hitler's diaries."

  Nothing seemed to rile the Seeker. He smiled at her and offered her more water. "You have fire in you. Spunk. I like that. I am glad Sam picked you for her best friend. She is going to need both of us, in the coming months. Her baby's powers will increase. Without my guidance, those powers will drive her mad. That is why I seek her."

  "Oh my God, what kind of baby did you put in her?"

  "Her baby is the hope for our race. Without her, paranormals will stand no chance in the coming storm."

  "I can't tell if you're lying, without my powers, but my instincts say you're being honest. If all you've said is true, then remove the lockdown and get rid of Mr. Black. Stop beating kids and shooting them. Turn this back into the school we loved before you got here."

  "Come now, Lucy. After Sam's escape, rebel meetings started occurring. Other students started breaking rules, trying to escape. You didn't know what was best for you. We had to implement a stricter policy to protect the students. We had to keep all of you on campus, away from those who would kill you. But you persisted. The harder you push, the harder the organization has to push back, for the safety of everyone."

  "So if we stopped the rebellion, then things would go back to normal?"

  "No, not normal."

  Lucy scowled. She knew this was all bullshit, but his next words surprised her.

  "Better than normal. It's clear to me now we should have been honest with you all along. No more lies, no more cover-ups. I will personally make sure that everyone knows the truth."

  "I want to believe you, but you've blocked my powers. If you're being honest with me, why not let me confirm what you've said?"

  The Seeker chuckled. "I blocked you so that you would listen to me as a human being. I wanted you to look into my eyes as we talked, and assess at a basic human level if you could trust me. We are still people, you and I, and we deserve the courtesy of simple human interactions. You can feel what is right and wrong without your powers. We tend to rely too much on our extraordinary gifts, and not enough on our most remarkably ordinary talents."

  The candle by the bedside flickered out and left them in darkness. Lucy reached over, lit a match, and the candle came to life once again.

  The Seeker continued. "I can see that this is hard for you. If it makes you feel better, I will drop my protection and you can test me."

  Lucy perked up at this. She'd gotten better at trusting her instincts, but with so many lives on the line, she'd much rather have her power to help her.

  "First, I shall lie. Hmm... what shall my lie be? I have only three toes on one foot and one of the toes knows how to sing and dance to Irish limericks."

  Lucy smirked. "I didn't expect you to have a sense of humor."

  "Yes, people seldom do. I have unexpected depths, you know. All right, I assume you felt the lie in that, as I do not, in fact, have limerick-singing toes."

  "Yes, I felt it."

  The Seeker then repeated everything he had said about wanting to help her and Luke, about his care for Sam and Drake and his sadness about the recent tragedies.

  "I have arranged a memorial for the boy who was killed. I know you dislike Mr. Black, but his job is to keep all of you safe, and he is good at what he does. As for you and your brother, there is no assignment. You are free to go back to your dorm, but I would recommend checking in at the hospital to get some medication. You'll likely need it. I've enjoyed your company, Lucy. I hope you will consider all of this carefully."

  Moments later a guard came and escorted Lucy out of the building. The Seeker actually let her go, and gave her a lot to think about in the process. Could it be that Darren was right when he refused to join the Freedom Fighters? Were they safer here than anywhere else?

  On her way back to the dorm, the warmth of Lucy's sphere washed over her. Her thoughts spun, conflicted and confused. If there were organizations bent on destroying her kind, would they even be safe if they escaped, or would she be leading these kids from bad to worse? They'd have no money, no identification, no resources, and no way to protect themselves. Then what would they do? Where would they go?

  The honey-and-wine voice of the Seeker filled her veins, pulsing through her like a second heartbeat, enticing her and drawing her closer—but another, darker power kept her from succumbing.

  She pulled the sphere out and clutched it, letting the cool metal ease the feverish state of her body.

  The Seeker was good, but not as good as he thought.

  Chapter 49 – Drake

  Drake crouched in the dark Montana wilderness and rubbed his hands to keep warm. Sam shivered beside him despite the many layers he'd insisted she wear. This part of the country had skipped fall altogether and gone straight to winter. An early snow dusted the land around them and enveloped them in the kind of silence only the cold could usher in.

  Sam held up the drawing she'd made from her dream. Her teeth chattered as she spoke. "There are guards by the front gate, and guards in and around each building. The Seeker is likely located in what was once the main office. We need to get in and find him."

  "I have a plan for that." Drake knew she wouldn't like it, but he could see no other way. "We take control of the guards' minds and pretend to be prisoners. They'll take us directly to the Seeker."

  Sam didn't reply, but Drake could practically hear her mind as she tried to think of any solution other than mind control.

  "It's better than fighting our way through," he reminded her.

  She flinched and pulled away from him.

  His heart sank. It was bad enough that she would never forgive him for beating that man, but he had to battle his own self-loathing as well. He would do anything to protect his family—even if that condemned him in the eyes of the one he loved most—but it did little to ease his conscience.

  "Sam, we won't hurt them. We need a way in, and this is the easiest and safest way for all."

  "What if they're like the men who came after us, and we can't use our powers on them?"

  "I'm going on the assumption that the Seeker can't control everyone all the time. It made sense he would protect the minds of those he sent after us, but he probably doesn't waste energy on every guard here. It's a risk we have to take."

  Sam stood and stretched. Each day her stomach grew, the baby inside getting stronger and bigger. Drake caressed and kissed her belly before he rose to lead them into danger.

  Dressed all in black, they blended into the night, but they couldn't silence the crunch of snow underfoot, no matter how stealthy they were.

  Before they exposed themselves, Drake and Sam linked minds and took control of the two men on patrol.

  Drake commanded them mentally. 'When we walk up to you, take us through the gates safely and show us to your leader, the one called Seeker. Alert no one else to our presence. Deflect any inquiry about us. Act as though we're captured, but defend us with your lives if it comes to that.'

  The compulsion waned with the last statement as Drake felt Sam pull away, repulsed by the thought that these men might die for them.

  They maintained their mental control and approached the guards. Drake stepped in front of Sam, to protect her if things went wrong.

  The guards' glazed eyes stared at him, offering no resistance. Without waiting for further commands, they led Drake and Sam through the electrified gates and onto the school grounds. This early in the morning,
few staff or students were up and about. They walked to the main office without conflict or question.

  Uneasiness stirred in Drake. He'd hoped for easy, but this was too easy.

  The guards guided them to a white door and turned to leave. Drake mentally stopped the guard closest to him and compelled him to give up his gun.

  "Drake, what are you doing? We don't need guns. We aren't killing anyone."

  'I'm not taking any chances, Sam. If we can't use powers on this guy, then bullets will have to do.'

  With gun in hand, Drake turned the knob on the door. While still connected mentally to Sam, he sensed her scan the room. They found no trace of another mind.

  The darkness temporarily blinded them. Drake felt Sam reach for his hand. "Something doesn't feel right."

  A flick of a match startled them both. The soft illumination of a candle revealed the Seeker, dressed in a flowing white robe, with long, pale hair, sitting in a chair. His translucent skin and fragile body reminded Drake of a vampire.

  The Seeker smiled at them and lit a few more candles. "You will have to forgive the low lighting. My eyes have become very sensitive as of late, and anything more than candlelight is simply intolerable."

  Sam stepped forward from behind Drake. Her voice didn't quaver at all as she addressed their enemy. "You're the Seeker, then?"

  "Of course. And you are Sam, and Drake. I cannot tell you how long I have been waiting to meet you both. You have no idea what this means to me, to have us all three here together. You have proven very clever at evading my men, and quite deadly, though they deserved it. They were never meant to harm you, only bring you in. No matter, the easiest solution was simply to lure you here of your own volition. And you have arrived just in time. This is so lovely."

  He rose and glided with unnatural grace to light more candles around the room. A loveseat sat across from the Seeker's chair. "Please, sit. Let us discuss matters of great importance."

  Sam sat on the edge of the couch, so Drake sat next to her, poised to attack at the smallest hint of provocation.