Oblivion

by Adrianne Lemke

  Pursing his lips, Jeremiah answered. “Depending on what you’re doing, you are either a Tracker: a person who can use the echoes of footsteps to follow a person, or an Earthshaker: one who can cause earthquakes and destroy buildings. From what I’ve seen in the past, your earthshaking ability is influenced by your emotional state.”

  Blinking at him, I said stupidly, “I can cause earthquakes? Destroy buildings? So how in the world did I end up here?”

  Huffing out a quick breath that could almost be called a laugh, the other man answered, “Hunter. He had similar abilities, and was able to disrupt your powers. Then you were incapacitated by the car accident, where these people grabbed you.”

  “Hide yourself,” I hissed, suddenly feeling vibrations in the hall. “Someone’s coming.”

  Without hesitation, Jeremiah faded into the corner again and turned off the lights, leaving me still questioning my sanity. Everything he told me was crazy. How could I believe it?

  And yet…the vibrations I felt earlier indicated the approach of the doctor. The vibrations now were getting closer, but they felt different. “Have you seen anyone else here, Jeremiah?” I asked quietly.

  “In your room I’ve only seen you and the man who was here earlier.” His answer did not thrill me. I could tell he wasn’t overly happy either. Why would another person now choose to appear? The answer came to me suddenly: Because I am finally awake. Whatever these people want with me, I have a feeling it is about to start.

  The man who entered the room now seemed to be a person in charge. He was dressed similarly to the doctor, but it seemed to be more a way of hiding his identity. A shiver ran down my spine. I am at their mercy, and still they feel the need to hide themselves from me. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it means they aren’t certain of their ability to hold me prisoner.

  “Jason, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” His voice was pleasant enough, but still made me cringe. Or maybe that was the fear of what he was going to do. Either way, he made me quite uncomfortable.

  Leaning forward a bit, my hair fell over my eyes, and I glared up at him. “What do you want?” I asked.

  “I believe my associate already told you we have what we want.”

  Scoffing, I snapped, “You have me. Fine. Now what do you want me for?”

  “You are… unique. I want to know exactly what makes you tick. I have a range of tests to figure out exactly what you can do. Eventually, we will work up to finding out how you can do it.”

  Testing. It didn’t sound too bad. “And if you don’t cooperate… well, let’s just say you really want to cooperate. I have some friends who will make sure you do what I say. Understood?”

  I nodded numbly, wondering how exactly I was supposed to do everything they wanted. Sneaking a glance at the corner where Jeremiah hid, I hoped the other man would come up with a plan to get us out. Because without memories of what I can do, I have a feeling cooperating will be nearly impossible.

  And I have no desire to see what they will do to me if I don’t.

  SIX

  Jeremiah

  Jason’s fear is palpable. His captor’s threats are obviously getting to him, and, at this point, there is very little I can do about it. The hallways are covered with cameras. Getting in was hard. Getting out would be nearly impossible. “I’m sorry, Jason.” I hid myself from him and the other man. Sneaking around to find a way out is my best bet, and it would be best for him as well. Although he may not be happy when I disappear on him; especially after promising not to leave.

  Before Jason’s friends and his brother arrived, I needed to know as much as possible about the facility, and those running it. Sneaking out was easy. The newly arrived man had left the door standing open. The only thing I had to avoid was the camera outside the door. At least for now.

  Outside the room I heard footsteps approaching. Hiding in a small alcove, I waited for whoever was coming. The sounds grew closer, and two men in dark uniforms walked by. They looked like typical security guards, but they carried automatic weapons. Along with what looked like cattle prods. Nasty. They were scary enough on their own but, if Jason could remember what he went through, they would hold a different level of terror.

  He had an understandable fear of electricity after what Mason did to him. And, after what he went through at Hunter’s hands, the fear was likely compounded. It might be a good thing Jason couldn’t remember anything.

  The guards also wore high-tech glasses that looked to be equipped with… video cameras. This could be bad. My ability does not work with cameras, and if they were viewing a live feed…

  Melting back into the shadows I tried to stay as still as possible, not wanting the guards to turn in my direction. The cameras on the glasses seemed like an odd security measure. Unless… did they somehow know about people like me? There were undoubtedly others with abilities such as mine. If they knew about Jason’s powers, they could potentially know about others as well.

  One of the guards was talking as they walked past. “…believe they actually got him. If the rumors are true, this guy could destroy the whole building.”

  His friend nodded. “Seems like too much of a risk, if you ask me. Why bother with learning about these freaks? They should all be put down.”

  Not something I wanted to hear from the men surrounding Jason, and who could potentially see me. The second guy, at least, seemed like he might be a bit trigger-happy. Not a good trait for a man holding an automatic. I followed them for a little while, hoping to hear more conversation, but apparently they were done talking.

  I watched the walls closely, making sure I kept out of view of the security cameras, at least until I could get one of the guard’s uniforms. It would take more energy than I wanted to expend to make sure all who could see the security screens wouldn’t see me. Somehow, I feel weaker now than I used to, and I do not want to waste the energy if I don’t have to. If I could get a uniform, at least from the camera’s view, I would fit in.

  There were several rooms along the hall, and, once I stopped following the two guards, I tried to check them out. ‘Tried’ being the operative word. All of the doors were locked; all except one which led to a laboratory.

  I made my way toward the back of the room where there was a glass refrigerator. Vials of blood and several different drugs were lined up neatly on each shelf. There were microscopes, and a glass chamber big enough for a man to stand in, and canisters of gas connected to the chamber. What kind of tests did they have in mind for Jason? None of these things would help them figure out his abilities.

  Or was this for someone else? There was a computer in the corner of the lab, but it was password protected. I looked more closely at the blood vials in the refrigerator, but they were labeled with numbers, not names. From what I could tell, there were several samples from three different people.

  I couldn’t remember them getting any blood from Jason, oddly enough. Why they wouldn’t was beyond me. Why wait until he was awake and ready to fight before getting a sample? The drugs were labeled similarly to the blood. No names on the vials, only codes.

  Footsteps were approaching, and I began to wonder why this room was left open. There appeared to be no reason for it to be…spinning away from the computer, I ran for the door. I realized too late that there was a security camera over the door of the lab. I suspect they know I’m here. A suspicion that proved accurate when I opened the door, only to face five guards in a semi-circle around the door.

  Three of them held their guns on me; the other two raised their cattle prods. I released the power hiding me from their normal sight, and raised my arms in surrender. Despite obviously knowing I was there, two of them took a step back in surprise. I wanted nothing more than to push through them, grab Jason, and run. But I’m outnumbered. Fighting them right now would not help me. Or Jason.

  One of the men grabbed my shoulder and spun me toward a wall. They zip-tied my hands behind me and turned me to face them once again.

 
One of the cattle-prod bearing guards touched his ear. “He’s in custody. We’ll take him to room 23 and secure him.” He paused for a moment, listening to the reply. With a curt nod at his companions, they began to march me down the hall.

  I turned to glare at them, my voice lowered into a warning growl. “You won’t hold me long. And I will tear this place to the ground.”

  SEVEN

  Sam

  We were in Silvan City. Neither Alice nor Mark required much convincing when I told them we needed to go. Apparently, even with their distrust of Kindred…or Jeremiah—whatever he was going by these days—they believed he wanted to help Jason. And they definitely believed me when I told them I didn’t know anything else.

  Hannah, on the other hand… well, she didn’t seem so sure. She kept giving me sideways glances, and questioning whether Jeremiah said anything else. Every time I answered in the negative, she gave me another look, as if she was almost done giving me the chance to come clean. How she could read me so easily, I didn’t know.

  “Jason is terrified right now,” I said, kind of out of the blue. “But he’s hiding it behind some determination. I think he wants to try escaping. But Jeremiah hasn’t told me where they are yet, and we can’t help until he does.”

  Hannah spoke up. “Maybe you should try reading Jeremiah again. If you do, he may speak up again. He doesn’t seem to like it when you go into his head.”

  “Hypocrite,” Alice hissed from the front seat. Apparently, she still held a grudge. Whatever Jeremiah did in the past was not important anymore; for now at least. Of course we couldn’t forget that the man had killed multiple people and terrorized my brother, but for now? For now, we had to forget all that and trust him to watch out for Jason.

  “Alice, we have to work with him. He doesn’t think like most people, but after everything he went through, do you expect him to? Mason did horrible things to him. Most likely, if he had been allowed to live his life without Mason’s interruption, Jeremiah would have been a good person,” I urged the police officer.

  I could tell she was listening, but she still had a frown on her face. I huffed impatiently. Of course it would be hard for a cop to ignore the crimes Jeremiah had committed. Even if it would help us in the short-term.

  Continuing my argument, I said, “Whatever he’s done in the past, he’s trying to help now. I don’t fully trust him either, but I can tell he genuinely wants to help Jason. Don’t do anything that will scare him off.”

  Both Alice and Mark straightened in their seats. “I wouldn’t do anything to compromise Jason’s safety. You should know that, Sam,” she informed me. She sounded hurt, and her emotions mirrored the vocal clues.

  I winced, staring out the window for a second. The last thing I wanted was to alienate my friends. Whatever was happening with Jason, I needed their help to find him—and to help me keep myself together. Sometimes it was hard to keep my own feelings separate from others. The cold detachment I’d felt while with Hunter, for example. How I enjoyed manipulating my own brother. That wasn’t the real me, but—for a time—it was.

  Alice sighed, apparently thinking I wouldn’t respond to her.

  My mouth twitched in a smile. She wouldn’t hurt my brother or me, so I assured her, “I know. You are one of the few people Jason trusts completely. I know you wouldn’t purposefully do anything to compromise his safety.”

  She frowned. “Does that imply that I would inadvertently put him in danger?”

  I shrugged. In my mind, past events spoke for themselves. Without her involving Jason in the Trevor Mason case, Jason would never have appeared on Mason’s radar, and we likely would never have left home.

  Her hurt gave way to reluctant acceptance, but the frown remained. Harping on the past wouldn’t help, so I informed them that I was going to try contacting Jeremiah. “Don’t talk for a few minutes, okay?”

  My three companions nodded, and my mind traveled the path to Jeremiah’s. Explaining how the connection worked was nearly impossible. The closest I could come up with is that because my mind could sense emotions, I could follow a specific person’s emotions back to the source.

  Anger seemed to be one of the main emotions Jeremiah knew how to feel, and I followed that path. I winced as I made the connection. Right now it went well beyond anger. Kindred, because he was definitely in assassin mode right now, was absolutely furious. Something was happening, and it had thrown him into a murderous rage. To gain his attention I attempted to dial down the anger.

  I definitely got a reaction. Pain shot through my mind as his mental voice snapped back at me. “Not now, Oblivion! I am a little occupied at the moment.”

  “Where are you?” I wasn’t about to let him go without finding out where my brother was. “I need to know, or I can’t help you.”

  “You can’t. Not now. Believe me; I will let you know when you can be of service.”

  Now I felt my own anger rising, and I clenched my fist. It was a struggle to prevent myself from tearing into Kindred’s mind. “You and I are similar, Kindred. The name works for me now. I will do whatever it takes to get my brother back, including tearing through you if I have to.”

  “I will contact you again in a few moments. Just give me time to finish this,” Kindred said, cutting off contact without any consent from me.

  He was still more powerful than me. For now. But he was still sincere in his desire to help, and I knew he would be in contact. “What did he say?” Hannah asked quietly, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

  “He’s busy with something right now, but he promised to contact me again soon. We should find somewhere to stop. A hotel or something,” I suggested.

  “We don’t need to,” Mark said. “I have a friend who has a house here, and the O.K. to use the place whenever I’m in town.”

  I felt a flash of discomfort from Mark as he spoke, and saw him glance at Alice, but didn’t question him. Nor did I mention the flash of—was it jealousy?—from Alice. Now wasn’t the time.

  “I think Kindred is in trouble,” I finally said.

  “What happened to calling him ‘Jeremiah’? I thought he wasn’t going by his assassin name anymore,” Alice asked, turning toward the back seat.

  “He is absolutely furious right now. I don’t think the name ‘Jeremiah’ works as well when he’s ready to kill someone. If it helps, he didn’t argue when I called him Kindred.”

  Oddly, she didn’t seem all that reassured. Alice pursed her lips, and Hannah put a hand on my arm and asked, “Do you have any idea what was happening?”

  “No, but it was definitely not good. And I did learn one thing: I can’t control his emotions—at least not to the extent that I could with Hunter. I tried to dial down his anger, and it just made him more furious.”

  Nodding, Alice said, “Well, we know Jeremiah’s ability does have a lot to do with the mind. He probably has more control over his own mind than most people.”

  “Not only his mind. If he could only control his own mind, he would never have been able to manipulate Jason,” Hannah said. “I’m not surprised he isn’t as easily influenced. He would also be more sensitive to someone having power over him after what Mason did to him.”

  I watched out the car window; buildings and stores passed by at a slow speed. People walked around, going about their everyday lives with no idea that my world was tearing apart. I blinked, tears filling my eyes. I did this. I destroyed Hunter’s mind. I allowed Jason to be taken.

  “It’s not your fault, Sam. Don’t give up,” Hannah urged.

  “You can’t say that,” I told her. I turned to face her. “So much of what happened is on my shoulders. I can’t deny it.”

  “We’re here,” Mark said. I looked out the window, glad of the interruption.

  My mouth dropped when I saw the house. It was huge! “Who is this ‘friend’ Mark?” I asked. We drove through the open gate up to the front entrance. The front yard was perfectly landscaped with bushes and flowers lining the driveway.
r />   “She’s an heiress, someone I helped a while back.”

  I felt jealousy flaring. Wait… there was no reason for me to be envious of this person. Many people were more financially well-off than me. Why was I…? Ah. Not me. Pulling back a little I realized the jealousy was coming from Alice.

  “What did you help her with?” I asked.

  “It was actually a case. I was trying to catch a con artist who was scamming people out of their money. I was able to help Tessa with getting her money back once we caught the guy. She was grateful. Now we’re good friends,” he finished, seemingly oblivious to Alice glaring daggers at him.

  Testing the waters of Mark’s mind, I realized everything was as he said. He had no romantic interest in this woman, whoever she was. Not romantic, but he definitely felt a deep affection for her.

  “How much property does she have here?” I asked, glancing around the house. Mark parked, and we got out of the car. From what I could see, the back was just as well-kept as the front.

  “I think it’s about ten acres. She has to hire people to take care of most of it. There used to be several horses back in the stable, but the last time I was here there were only two.”

  “Tessa!” exclaimed Mark, raising a hand in greeting as the front door opened. A tall, gray-haired woman stepped out, pulling Mark into a big hug.

  “Mark! It’s been too long. Who are your friends?” At first glance, the woman seemed frail, but her blue eyes showed so much life that it was impossible to maintain that impression.

  Alice’s jealousy quickly turned to embarrassment, and her lips turned upward as the older woman hugged Mark.

  Mark introduced us. “We have something we need to do here in Silvan,” he explained. “A friend of ours is missing, and we believe he is somewhere nearby. Would it be okay if we stayed here while we look for him?”

  Her eyes widened when Mark mentioned our missing friend, and she looked at us with sympathy. “Of course it is. And when you find him, your friend is welcome too. Stay as long as you like. I’ll have Carina show you to your rooms. The kitchen is open to you, just let me know if there’s anything you need.”