Illusionary

by LeAnn Mason

  CHAPTER 21

  THE MORNING ONCE AGAIN came too early, bringing with it the downside to picking a room on the east side of the house and being unobstructed by trees. The sun's rays beat in through the now cleaned window and danced across my eyelids, clearly laughing at my attempts to hide from their brilliance. I really hoped those furnishings came soon, and included drapes.

  Supposedly movers would arrive with all our belongings and furniture tomorrow. Couldn't come soon enough. These bright and early mornings made me feel like a vampire. I fought the urge to hiss at the sun and dive into the safety of the shadows hiding in the corners of my room.

  I groaned as I once again began my morning routine, though this was the first to be had in my new "home." It was still weird to think of anywhere other than my parents' house, the house I had grown up in, as home. Maybe one day I would feel the term appropriate for this place, but it wasn't today. I loved the old farmhouse and felt the beauty of the place in my bones, but it was not yet home. I needed to work a bit in that direction, maybe once I put some more effort into giving it a bit of a facelift and I could lay claim to its appearance, I would feel more settled.

  Oh well, a problem for another day. As for this day, I once again needed to work on my skills and training. I needed to work toward not being a liability to other squad members. Truthfully, it was what we all needed to strive for, though I wasn't sure how many actually would.

  I pawed through the small backpack I had brought as an overnight bag and pulled out clothes for the day's activities. As I tugged on my stretchy pants, the others' buzz continued to grow in intensity as they awakened and prepared for the day ahead.

  I found my music player sitting atop my cordless charging station where it spent its nights and tucked it into my pants. Plugging myself in again. I breathed out a breath, puffing out my cheeks and soaked in the head bopping tunes wafting to my ears, singing about how the beat makes you move.

  "Let's do this."

  I proceeded to the end of the hall toward one of the endcap washrooms, every other step creaking across the old wood flooring, only to find the room already occupied. So it begins. After finding that the other bathroom was likewise unavailable, I trudged slowly down the stairs and toward the kitchen where I hoped to find some form of sustenance to make my brain and body function for the day ahead. Luckily my healing had kicked in at some point in the last twenty-four hours and I wasn’t sore from yesterday’s paces. I was ready to improve upon my performance.

  The days continued much the same. Every morning we woke and prepared for that day's training. Some days Devlin was our mentor and we were drilled with fitness and strength training, what little most of us could do at this point. Poor Jade was using her inhaler as an extension of her arm, nearly as often as breathing on such days, but she delivered incredible death glares to anyone who tried to tell her to slow down or sit it out. She was just as determined to prove she could hang as I was.

  The others had yet to learn that Jade didn't fail. It didn't matter the task, she would not allow herself defeat. It just so happened that until recently, such tasks had been set for her by Sage standards. Standards for which she was more than able to match. These physical trials however, were something else entirely. Her body would revolt one of these times, and I hoped we would get her back from it.

  I couldn't lose Jade.

  Dane began to work with us at times as well. He wanted us to be conscious of our surroundings, aware of the people and things around us. To feel, see, taste, smell, and hear as much as possible. His lessons were often just as painful as Devlin's. He liked to creep up on us and blare a horn in our ear or shock us if we didn't catch him. One time, we walked straight into a sulfurous cloud as we attempted to track him, not one of the Sage recruits caught it prior to being engulfed in its smelly clutches.

  Knowing that our current case involved mental deceit, Jade and I led training on focusing the mind onto something you knew, something which brought peace to each individual. We came up with the “happy place” visualization. Much like the cartoon boy who never grew up instructed others to “think happy thoughts,” we too envisioned something our soul craved.

  Each was different and personal to the user, but its purpose was simple: to ground us. To create something to focus on that could be controlled and hopefully bring back the senses. The key word in there being hopefully.

  So we learned. Slowly, but we learned all the same. In the first couple weeks of Enforcer training, we heard nothing which gave an indication that our illusionist had struck again, though we couldn't figure out why he wouldn't. He had been successful and extreme in his ministrations prior. I knew he wasn't dormant; it was only a matter of ferreting out what he had done.

  Trent was heading up those attempts, reading through all reports and incidents which street enforcers responded to, but we wouldn't know for sure until I was able to sense the mental signatures.

  If Trent found an incident or report of something which may have been the work of the illusionist, I was dispatched to investigate. Unfortunately my partner on such forays was Devlin. Holden wasn’t happy with that. But with him not able to conduct interviews, he wasn’t much more than an extra body in the room that made people uncomfortable or paranoid. Commander James had decreed that his time was better served elsewhere.

  It didn’t matter that much at this point as we had yet to come across an instance which I was helpful. Devlin still treated me as pretty much useless.

  This time we were rolling up to the residence of a Sage who had been assaulted by an NE, both were women. This was different and caught Trent’s attention. Most physical altercations involved at least one Primal. Neither Sages nor Non-Enhanced were often found having gone to such extremes. So again, this was an oddity which fell into our realm of suspicion for the illusionist to have been involved in.

  Devlin and I meandered up the sidewalk to the small but tidy home, one of many such homes on this street and the surrounding others. The neighborhood was definitely Sage territory and I could feel multiple sets of eyes on our backs as we made our way to the door.

  “I always get an itch between my shoulder blades when I have to do home visits to a Sage residence,” Devlin mumbled, shuddering from the sensation as he pushed the button for the doorbell.

  “Yeah, this is the first time I’ve felt truly out of place in a neighborhood such as this.” Just as I finished my thought, the door opened to expose a small, mousy Sage woman with large dark eyes which were magnified from behind bottle glass eyewear.

  “Jessica?” I asked agape. The fact that I now stood in front of the indifferent Sage from the hospital a couple weeks back threw me. I hadn’t expected to come across anyone I knew in our search, though I had no idea why it hadn’t occurred to me. The fact that she wasn’t even an acquaintance, but really just someone I had contact with one time, didn’t matter.

  It didn’t matter that she had not been pleasant at the onset of our search. The fact that she now stood in front of me, with her left arm wrapped in a white plaster cast from thumb to mid-forearm and multiple long scratches marring her left cheek in angry reddish-brown scabs, it hit me. He could affect anyone. He, or she, could just have easily targeted my dad or my mom.

  “Yes.” With that one word, all the haughtiness she had shown at the hospital came flooding into her demeanor. She was not cowering from Devlin or the fact that enforcers were on her stoop.

  “Miss Fellers, we are here to discuss the incident which occurred yesterday as you were leaving your workplace.”

  Nodding once, Jessica opened the door wide enough to allow Devlin and me entry into her home, closing it behind us as we cleared the threshold. Waving us to a small but pristine sitting area to our left, she took a seat on a worn-out armchair, waiting for Devlin and me to find our own.

  Apparently there would be no offer of refreshments. I wish I were surprised. Once we were all seated, Jessica proceeded to recite the story of how a woman who was also leaving the hospit
al suddenly attacked her from behind just as Jessica had reached her vehicle.

  I watched the incident play out in Jessica’s mind: Her attacker, a woman who was much stronger than she appeared in her compact mom-like packaging, grabbed Jessica’s wrist and wrenched hard, blinding pain traveling up Jessica’s arm making her hand virtually useless.

  As Jessica screamed in pain, she reflexively used her telekinetic ability to throw the woman away from her. The woman was close enough to connect again as she was thrust backward to heavily impact a vehicle in the next row, her fingernails raking deeply across Jessica’s left cheek. Sobbing, Jessica ran toward two officers who had noticed the commotion after her scream.

  “They ran to apprehend the crazy lady. I didn’t look back, just went to intake and tried to be seen immediately.” She huffed. “I got out of the waiting room quickly enough, but it still took like thirty minutes before I got my wrist set.”

  “Did you know the woman? Ever have any interactions with her that you can recall?” Devlin may have been the model of professionalism by all appearances, but mentally he huffed as he slid his eyes my direction. When he remembered who he was stuck with for this interview, he shut down his wandering thoughts, but not before he berated himself for forgetting he was tethered to a telepathic Sage trainee. I had to smile at that, it was fun to ruffle the big man.

  “I don’t see many people other than those who come through the hospital bruised and bleeding…or those seeking patients. I don’t really pay a lot of attention.”

  It was my turn to snort, drawing a glare from Devlin’s pretty face and a confused one from my dear friend Jessica. Apparently she didn’t remember me either. All good, I could live with that.

  “Was there anything different about that day? Anyone seem upset at you? Any odd interactions?” Devlin stayed on track.

  Jessica seemed even more bored, her air of contempt a physical thing that weighed heavily between the three of us. “Odd things?” She tapped her foot.

  “Anyone approach you or seem upset after having encountered you?” Devlin tried really hard to keep the annoyed timbre from his voice.

  “I dunno,” shrug, “Some guy asked me out at lunch.” She preemptively righted her glasses and fluttered those too big eyes. Color me surprised when she acted as though nothing about the encounter was worth her notice. Poor schmuck.

  “Did you say yes?” We knew the answer from her body language but needed confirmation. This might be a good lead. The quelling look I received was par for the course. All interactions with Jessica were like pulling teeth, but we needed this lead. As much as we could get. My telepathy might just get this done for us.

  “How did the man take it? Did you know him?” I kept my mouth shut and let Dev take the lead, he was the one who knew the routine. I needed to soak up these procedures as much as possible while I still had a mentor.

  “I didn’t stick around to see how he took it, honestly. My break was over,” she spoke as if we were idiots. In fact, her thoughts were saying the word over and over in reference to us.

  “Do you know him? Has he approached you before?”

  “I don’t even remember what he looked like. Wasn’t worth my time.” Another shrug.

  She wasn’t lying. Her thoughts didn’t show any features, nothing remarkable. Just a white lab coat and dark hair, not nearly as helpful as I had hoped.

  Seeing as we had what we could use from her as a witness, we stood and excused ourselves, Devlin exchanging pleasantries as we moved toward the front door.

  Just as we stepped back out onto the porch, Jessica voiced the thought that had been niggling at her since seeing me with Devlin on the stoop. “Since when are any other than Primals, enforcers?”

  “Thank you for your time, Miss Fellers. We have apprehended and detained the woman who assaulted you, we are heading to her next.”

  Feeling slighted, Jessica’s mental rampage was circled around Primals in general, her bigotry making my temper once again rear its snarly head. “Now, Miss Fellers, it is not very polite, nor Sage-like to be so vulgar.” Dev actually coughed a laugh at that, though I was sure he’d deny it.

  Indignant, Jessica spluttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I shrugged, turned from the mousy Sage whose porch steps we still ornamented and began my descent to the squad SUV at the curb. I wanted to interview the aggressor. She was the one who could tell us if there was an outside force at play in this incident, though we would still most likely be blind as to the perpetrator.

  I reached the imposing vehicle before Devlin, and wrenched the door open with more force than was strictly necessary in my haste. Once I was seated and buckled snugly into the cushioned seat, Devlin made it into the driver’s seat. Without looking my way, he asked if I gleaned anything interesting and grabbed the com to Commander James. I relayed the info I got from Jessica, though it wasn’t very helpful.

  “I’ll suggest they send Dane to do a Q&A session at the hospital. Ask about who would have access to the cafeteria. See if we can get Trent to pull up video. Get a picture and name for this mystery scorned lover.”

  “Smart.” I had to give Devlin credit. He wasn’t just some hormone addled Neanderthal. He had some sense of pertinent information. Sometimes he even noted things Sages would overlook as unimportant. I hated the idea of admiring him, but I kinda did. Ugh. Dev put the com in his pocket after relaying our findings and suggested routes moving forward. Dane and Holden would go to the hospital and try to find Jessica’s less than ideal man. We were closing in, even if it didn’t feel like we had anything to go on.

  As I mulled over Jessica’s comments about her shooting down a suitor, it dawned on me. “Holy crap.” He was watching me at the hospital. From what Jessica said, he definitely appeared to work there in some capacity.

  “What?” Dev seemed annoyed at my outburst. “What are you freaking out about over there?”

  “Jessica’s story made me realize this guy definitely has an affiliation to the hospital.”

  “What, why?” His mental state was none too kind toward me at the moment, making me want to take back my nice thoughts about the not being a Neanderthal.

  “When he was watching me that night in the hospital parking lo–”

  “WHAT?!”

  Uh oh. Looks like I may have messed up a smidge. I cautiously looked Devlin’s irate direction in the driver’s seat. Still feet from me, his presence, and anger swelled to fill the cab.

  “Um, the night Rolph Duggan was hit, my telepathy clued me in to his mental signature,” I said sheepishly.

  Dev had a death grip on the steering wheel, and I feared I’d hear it crack any moment now. “And you didn’t feel the need to tell anyone about this?” He was running through a litany of curses and fantasies of just what he’d like to do to me in this moment.

  I was totally at a loss. It truly hadn’t, nothing had come of it, had it? Then I thought back to a few random incidents that occurred after that encounter. Maybe they hadn’t been so random after all? I knotted my hands together and looked at my lap to avoid Devlin’s stare. For the first time since this journey began for me, I truly felt like a child who knew nothing. I would take my licks.

  Dev blew out a weighty breath and knocked his head repeatedly against the wheel. “All right. It’s done, but dammit Sage, think! We could have had this guy already.” He took another deep breath before shooting his eyes my direction. At my completely confused look, he dumbed it down, “I could have put Holden on you, followed you. Looked for anything, anyone, off. We’ll inform the team when we get back to the CP.”

  I blew out my own breath at his declaration. I could have stopped this? Jessica wouldn’t have been hurt, no one else at risk. I was expecting much worse, closer to the pain his mind was conjuring for me, but his words hit just as hard. Everything from here on out which was caused by the illusionist, I could have prevented.

  The SUV roared to life, announcing its newly awakened state with audible g
rumblings as Devlin pulled away from the curb. Next stop: Minefield enforcement holding cells, my first visit.

  Within minutes, our silent car ride, or at least our verbally silent car ride came to an end as we pulled up at the small station house about a block off of Main. It was a fairly central location which made response time pretty low around Minefield for reported incidents. Now we needed to get to holding and speak to the attacking woman. Was it bad that I hoped she had been tampered with? To me, it meant we only had one psycho to worry about at the moment and not many. It made me feel slightly better to think that. So I took a deep breath, said a silent prayer, and exited the vehicle behind Devlin.

  The station house was much different from the command center the team currently inhabited, all desks, gleaming floors and uniformed Primals, the case information tucked safely into manila files instead of on boards for all to see. The smell of body odor and stale coffee mingled in the air.

  There were about fifteen people other than Devlin and me, each in various stages of paperwork. The mental voices were many, but quiet as they seemed focused on mundane tasks. Devlin asked a younger Primal male, who looked a bit wet behind the ears and manning the intake area, for Jessica’s assailant be brought into Interview Room 1.

  A few minutes later, Devlin was ensconced in a rickety plastic chair situated across from a fairly petite and generally unremarkable NE female in a silent standoff. I was again, standing behind a window pane in an adjacent room, listening. She was confused as to why she was being held, why the “child abuser” was nowhere to be found, and what we could want from her.