They turned to leave the way they had come, but found the hallway blocked by a hungry inferno of flames.
Lucy thought back to her sneaking around when Sam had been kept here against her will.
"Follow me, I think I know another way out." She led them down one hallway and found a door to the outside.
The three of them crashed through it just as the building collapsed around them. They ran for the campus gate Mr. Black had opened earlier.
Lucy tried to ignore the bodies littering the walkways. She couldn't help them all—not now, not this way. But one body stopped her abruptly and she let out a choked cry.
Mr. Black shifted the weight of his daughter in his arms. "What the hell? We've got to go, now!"
"It's Higgins." She ran to him and dropped to her knees to check his pulse. Still alive, but barely. "Headmaster Higgins, are you okay? Can you hear me?"
His eyes flickered open. "Ah, Lucy, you must leave. All of you must leave. Terrible things are happening."
"Yes, I know. Here, I'll help you. Come with us." She went to lift him but he moaned and pushed her away.
"It's too late for me. I tried to help, tried to do what I could. I'm sorry. I failed you all." He grabbed her hand and pushed something into it. "Get what you need and leave. End this."
His breathing slowed. Then stopped.
"Mr. Higgins! No!" Her cries ricocheted around her and inside her.
Mr. Black kicked the back of her feet. "He's dead, we're not. But we will be if you don't move your ass."
She looked in her hands, a key ring and a note with passcodes written on it. She shoved them into her pocket next to her sphere, and ran with Mr. Black toward the gate.
Staff and students all struggled to get through and out of harm's way. Mr. Lancaster seemed to be in charge, organizing the students and teachers, getting them out safely, or as safe as he could.
When they arrived, Luke was there waiting for her. "Sis, what the hell? I've been worried sick. And why the hell is he not dead?" He pointed to Mr. Black.
"Long story. Let's get out of here."
Before they could escape, a dozen guards surrounded their small group.
One guard held up a megaphone. "Everybody freeze."
Lucy looked to Mr. Black, still carrying his child. He stepped forward. "Stand down, men. I have this under control."
"With all due respect, sir, we no longer take orders from you. You have been compromised."
Sam, where are you. We need you. We're in trouble.
Without further warning, the guards raised their guns to start firing into the crowd.
A surge of power pulsed through Lucy. Her sphere came alive, which meant.... "Luke, put up your field. Our powers are back."
He held up his hands and the air condensed around them. The bullets had stopped mid-air, just inches from their targets.
Lucy expelled her breath, and she and her brother led everyone toward the gate.
Lucy's mind opened to another presence. Sam.
"Lucy, I'm here. I'm coming."
Chapter 59 – Mr. Black
His daughter's form lightened, as if part of her were already leaving him. He refused to let her go so easily. "Someone, help! I need an ambulance. My daughter is dying."
He hated to use that word, that horrible, awful word that meant this world would lose its brightest star.
Two medics from the local hospital arrived to help him. "Please, bring her to our ambulance. We'll get her to the hospital."
At the ambulance, an EMT said, "Sir, your daughter's pulse is weak. We need to move her now. She might not even make the trip to the hospital."
Lucy touched his arm. "I hope your daughter gets better. You did the right thing, helping the students get out. I hope you know it."
He'd already forgotten about Lucy. He couldn't believe she'd actually followed him into a burning building to save his daughter. For a moment, guilt surfaced over how he'd treated her, but then his daughter coughed, and the moment passed. Nothing mattered but Sarah, and anything, or anyone, who interfered with his ability to care for her would suffer.
"If my daughter dies, someone will pay."
He stepped into the ambulance after his daughter. The EMT reached to close the door, but Mr. Black put his hand out to stop it. "Lucy."
She turned and looked up at him.
"The other kids, they're in a facility in Utah." He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Here's the address. Don't let these guys get too powerful. It won't be good for anyone. And... thank you for helping Sarah."
He pulled the door closed and sat next to his daughter.
Her labored breaths came at fewer intervals, despite the oxygen attached to her.
Yes, if she dies, someone will pay.
Chapter 60 – Sam
In the last moment of his life, a bright glow rose from his chest and out through the window. Was it his soul? A final burst of energy from his powers? I didn't know, but whatever he'd been, the Seeker died to protect someone else.
It was a noble deed, and that's how I'd remember him.
The climb down the fire escape tore at my burned hands until the pain threatened to overwhelm me. The view from the window showed me a school fallen into chaos. My dorm would be completely engulfed in flames soon. Bodies of students and guards littered the once peaceful walking paths, and para-powers sparked everywhere in conflict.
A group of students moved toward the front gates, which had miraculously remained untouched by the fire, but not for long. I needed to get down there and find Lucy and Luke... and Drake.
Just thinking his name carved another hole in my mangled gut.
The ground rose to meet me faster than expected, as I slid down the last ladder of the fire escape. I stumbled onto my knees, tearing my pants and leaving small marks of blood on the cement. I hobbled along through more than just a trace of blood smeared across the campus walkways.
I joined a swarm of students heading for the front gates. "Drake! Drake!"
Bodies pushed me forward, and I couldn't tell one person from another. No one looked familiar, and yet everyone looked the same. "Luke? Lucy?"
"Luce, where are you? I'm stuck and can't see anyone?"
'Sam, oh my God, we've been worried sick about you. Get to the gates. We're about to get out.'
I imagined a single file line as we all walked off campus and into the world. Leave it to Lucy to plan something far more dramatic.
The entire perimeter of the fence pulled itself out of the ground and flew into the forest. In another display of power, the brick wall beyond the metal fence crumbled to dust.
Teens of all ages screamed and cheered and ran from the school that had become worse than a prison.
But where were they going? Brad should've been here by now with backup. I needed to get to Lucy and Luke and help organize the students.
I locked on to Lucy's mental signature and pushed through the crowd, following her link.
We reunited just outside the old fence line. All around us fires burned, things exploded, and people laughed and cried.
I wrapped my arms around my best friend and added my tears to the mourning. "You're safe. I'm so glad you're safe."
"You too, Chica. Where's Drake? We've got to get out of here."
My sobs came harder.
"What did I say? What's wrong?"
"I lost Drake. I can't find him."
"What do you mean, you lost him? He's not a puppy. Can't you use your link?"
I gave her the Reader's Digest condensed version of what happened.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Sam."
Luke came up and wrapped his arms around both of us. "We'll find him, but first we need a what-do-we-do-next plan. We have that, right?"
"Yes. Let me see what I can find."
With my two best friends both hugging me, I reached out my mind and scanned our area. Something had shifted in me since the Seeker had kissed my forehead. Some space I hadn't known existed now opened
up, but I didn't know what it meant, and I didn't have time to explore it.
A mass of consciousness lumbered toward us, and one familiar signature. Brad had brought the cavalry.
"We're going to be okay. Brad's coming with help. I need to try and connect to all the students and create some order."
Normally I would have needed Drake for this kind of power, but I didn't have him anymore, at least not in that way. Maybe not in any way.
I sat down to steady myself, and let Luke and Lucy guard me as I reached out to every mind around me. Not all were students and teachers. Many of the guards survived. I could feel their confusion and fear, like zookeepers whose animals had escaped—that's how most of them saw us.
The students were scattered everywhere, but most realized an escape from a secret facility in the middle of the forest needed more thought than just running. It didn't take as much power as I'd imagined to connect with everyone. I offered a gentle push for them all to listen and respond.
"I am Sam. I escaped once and have come back to help. Friends are coming with vehicles and supplies, but I need you all to come to me and stay calm and orderly while we sort it all out. Guards, look around. Your leader is dead. You've lost, and more of you will die if you don't walk away."
The fighting stopped, and they came. Not as zombies, but as free members of society, though society didn't even know they existed.
As if on cue, icy rain broke from the heavens. It poured down so hard, it subdued the fires and eventually put them out.
When Brad and his people arrived, Luke, Lucy and I had organized everyone into groups with team leaders and jobs. Some groups were assigned to clear buildings and retrieve the bodies of the dead and wounded. Other groups were responsible for gathering research material and secret information, using the codes and keys Higgins had given Lucy to access the safes.
So much loss of life. And who could say for sure where the lines of good and evil lay? No single person was all one or the other. So how did we decide which actions to place on the scale of good and evil?
I chose to look at how they'd spent their last moments of life.
***
The familiarity of Brad's embrace sent me into another round of tears. No one had seen Drake, and his body hadn't been found.
"We'll find him." Brad took off his jacket and draped it over my shivering shoulders. "In the meantime, there's someone I think you should meet."
An elderly priest in cleric robes got out of the car and came to me. "You must be Sam."
He held out his hand, but I reached over it to hug him instead. "Father Patrick, it's so good to finally meet you, but you shouldn't have come here. It's still very dangerous."
The father's smile was infectious, even in the midst of such bitter sadness. "Do not worry for me. The Lord is my keeper and He alone decides the time and place of our reunion, does he not? But I'm not here to give a sermon. We've brought buses for the kids, and I have a safe haven for them lined up until we sort all of this out."
I marveled at all he and Brad had done, but a man and woman dressed in suits walked up to us before I could thank the priest.
The man held out his hand to me, and I shook it. "I'm Agent Morrison, and this is Agent Simmons."
I raised my eyebrow at Brad. He'd involved law enforcement? I couldn't decide if this was really great news, or really dreadful news.
"Sam, these are the people who sent the mysterious email. They work for a secret arm of an intergovernmental agency created, in part, to stop Rent-A-Kid from becoming too powerful: IPI, International Paranormal Investigations. They helped us put together the resources we needed to get your guys out, and they want our help in taking down the entire organization from the top."
Agent Morrison's mind opened up instantly to my mental touch. 'I know you can read my mind, Sam, so you'll know I'm telling the truth. We're here to help. We can discuss all the details later. In the meantime, we're taking your friends and fellow students to a property owned by the Church and run by Father Patrick. We assumed that would be a more comfortable solution for all of you while we get to know each other?'
I nodded and called to Lucy. I could read minds, sure, but sometimes a lie detector is better to have around. For me to tell if someone was lying, I had to dig. She knew instantly.
She walked over with Luke in tow. "Can you read these guys for me?"
We had both agents make several statements of intent about what they planned for us and whether they intended to hurt us—intentionally or otherwise.
"They're on the up and up. We've got some seriously injured kids here. Did you guys happen to bring any medical personnel with you?"
Agent Simmons got on her walkie-talkie, and within a minute or two several ambulances drove up with E.M.T.s ready to get to work. I'd never seen so many vehicles around our school.
One medic noticed my hand and pulled me away from the group.
Lucy stayed beside me as the woman had me sit on the back of her ambulance, where she unwrapped my makeshift bandage. "This is a pretty bad burn. How'd it happen?"
I told her, leaving out all the painful details.
Lucy arched her eyebrow.
"I'll tell you later, Luce. Just know, the Seeker is dead."
Her eyes filled with tears, which I did not expect. "I believe you. We have so much to talk about."
"How far along are you?" The medic palpated my stomach and held a stethoscope to it.
"Um... I guess I'm... four months along. I'm not sure."
"You look big for only four months. Are you sure?"
Lucy glared at her and the woman shrugged. "You'll need to have a full psychical as soon as possible. And regular prenatal appointments, if you want a healthy baby."
Somehow prenatal appointments hadn't been high on my list of things to do with people trying to kill or imprison me, but I promised I would follow up.
She smeared ointment on my hand and wrapped it in clean gauze. "This is a third-degree burn. You need to get it checked out immediately."
I promised, and headed back onto the school campus.
Lucy grabbed my arm. "Where you going, Chica? We need to get out of here."
"I have to find Drake. He's not with any of the students, so he must be on the campus. He could be trapped or hurt. I have to get to him."
"Okay, but let me at least get Luke to help."
I waited while she found her brother.
The three of us searched every room, every hallway, every soggy, burned-out area. No Drake.
My feet and hand and... just about every part of me hurt so much, but I couldn't stop. Waterlogged, frozen to the bone despite Brad's jacket, and nearly delirious from exhaustion and pain, I kept looking.
Luke pulled me into another hug. "Sam, we've got to go. He's not here. Not anymore."
Some of the buildings had been burned so badly. There might be remains....
Brad's new government friends promised to launch a full investigation and sort out the bodies, but they made it clear anyone not alive and accounted for had likely perished in the fires.
I would never accept that story.
Drake was not dead, and I would find him.
He had to know. He had to understand.
The Seeker gave me one last gift before he died, and while I didn't know what it all meant, I knew one thing clearly.
I could restore Drake's powers.
Chapter 61 – Sam
Winter winds howled in the distance as we crowded into the abandoned cathedral. Father Patrick had found this sacred place for us to honor our friends who had fallen—a place off the grid, for those who still had nightmares of being captured and imprisoned.
IPI had needed the remains for autopsies. No bodies meant no burials, so we decided to have a mass memorial service instead.
Each day my baby grew bigger, and my black dress now stretched to the point of almost tearing. I rested my hand on her as she wiggled around inside me.
Drake's body had not been found, aliv
e or... the other. Everyone assumed the fire consumed him, but I could feel in my heart, if not my mind, that he still lived, somewhere. He just chose not to come home to me, to us—which was almost worse.
I understood his reasons, to a degree, but couldn't forgive him for abandoning me while pregnant with our child, nor could I forgive myself for what I'd done to him.
Brad, Luke and Lucy slid into my aisle and flanked me in a show of friendship and support. Greg and Gary also joined us in our row. I'd gotten to know them a bit, since our escape, and was impressed by how much they had done for the cause. They gripped each other's hand tightly in shared grief. I envied them that connection, that intimacy.
Everything had changed, even my friends. I suppose I had too. Our carefree days had ended the moment Rent-A-Kid kidnapped Drake and impregnated me.
Father Patrick stood at the podium to begin the service. "Each of you has lost someone you loved or cared for. The loss of a human life is never an easy burden to bear, and the loss of so many young lives is nearly impossible to comprehend. We all come from different spiritual practices and beliefs, but today we are unified in our grief, and in our celebration of the lives of our friends and loved ones."
Organ music played in the background as the priest talked about sacrifice, justice, and right and wrong. My mind wandered to the night we all escaped and the Seeker died. I racked my brain for any sign I could have done something differently, something that wouldn't have resulted in Drake leaving.
Many photographs lined the front of the church: kids I'd grown up with, teachers who'd shaped my education in small and large ways, Higgins, with his no-nonsense approach to everything, Mary, with her toothy grin—her death lay especially heavy on my soul.
But others weighed even heavier.
Though Mr. K hadn’t died in the breakout, his picture had been included. He’d been a part of this from the start, he’d tried to protect me and save me.
And Gar, my fierce protector. He’d been more than he seemed, but weren’t we all? No one could find a picture of him, so I’d drawn one from memory. I’d tried to capture the one and only smile I’d ever seen on him.
They'd insisted Drake's picture be put up with the others.
The Forbidden Trilogy Page 36
