Oblivion (13 page)

THIRTY

Jeremiah

My thoughts
swirled through my mind as I paced the house. While I could understand the
reasoning behind the choice to leave me here, I also had a bad feeling they
would need me there.

They were about to
approach a highly volatile man with dangerous abilities and tell him they were
his friends and family. There was no proof to back them up, and Jason would be
unlikely to listen to them without evidence.

Not to mention
that both Jason and Sam were being hunted by an unknown person who had
abilities strong enough to match myself and Sam. Considering what the two of us
had been able to do to Jason, it stood to reason he would be vulnerable to this
person as well.

I paused in my
constant roaming as a thought entered my mind; at this moment I am the only
person Jason knows. This is what I wanted when we first met. Even just before
he regained consciousness in that facility it had crossed my mind to attempt to
take him and work with him. Would such a thing be possible now?

Would I be able to
go through with it now? After watching him for the last two years, could I take
him from his family and use him as an unwilling partner-in-crime?

Part of me still
wanted to. I could feel it; the Kindred portion of my mind rearing its head and
demanding the Tracker to be like him.

“I’m not that
person any longer.” My voice seemed loud as it broke the silence of the house.
“He is my friend, and I am going to help him.”

Kindred withered.
Pushed away; for now, at least. It was becoming easier to force it back, and
Jeremiah continued to grow stronger.

How could I
consider taking him from his family? I knew what it felt like to have loved
ones ripped away. And to lose all memory of them. It was an awful feeling, and
had left me torn in two.

“You could do whatever you want, if you work
for me,”
The Mastermind was certainly making the rounds tonight. He’d gone
after Sam and Jason, now it was my turn.

“And how would that benefit me?”
I
responded.
“Working on my own, I am free
to do as I please. Why should I join someone who seems to desire control over
those of us with powers?”

There was a pause,
and I closed off my mind to the intruder, leaving only the surface thoughts
open.

“You can help to train your friend… the
Tracker? I believe that’s what your other
self calls
him. And the other… Oblivion? You can do to him all of what your subconscious
wants for harming your only friend.”

My other self? Had
this person managed to contact my caged beast?

“I have zero desire to help you harm my
friends. No part of me will help you cage them,”
I insisted strongly.

The voice’s
laughter rang through my head.
“No part?
I beg to differ. Kindred feels rather strongly about protecting the Tracker,
and is feeling… homicidal, I believe is the term. He wants nothing more than to
tear out Oblivion’s throat and watch him drown in his own blood. Come now,
Jeremiah,”
he spoke my name in a mocking tone,
“do you truly believe you can be better than you were as Kindred? He is
you, and you are him.”

Despite myself I
felt doubts about my current path.

“They can never trust you,”
the man
continued. He almost sounded sad.
“They
will never see you as anything other than a killer.”

I’d had enough.
The only voice in my mind should be my own. The Mastermind’s intrusion
infuriated me. I pushed with all my might against the powerful intruder who
meant to release my inner beast.
“You’re
wrong, and I will prove it. Now GET OUT!”

THIRTY-ONE

Sam

My joy at seeing
my brother was dampened by a couple factors; the first being the total lack of
recognition on his face as I walked in. It was one thing to know he wouldn’t,
and another to actually see the blank look directed at me. It felt like a punch
in the gut, and my guilt almost overwhelmed me.

Another was his
apparent trust in the girl he’d met less than a day ago. Jason was never one to
trust easily, and it often seemed like he didn’t even trust me. How had this
girl broken through his walls so easily? I hoped to discover her secret at some
point.

Jason moaned in
pain and brought me back to the third damper; the Puppet Master was making him
absolutely miserable.

“Jase, I’m going
to have to access your mind, but I’ll be as unobtrusive as I can. You just need
a little more strength on your side to keep this guy out.”

Lena held Jason’s
arm and stared intently into his narrowed eyes. I got the feeling there was
something going on I wasn’t aware of, and waited for my brother to give
permission.

“Do it,” Lena
said, tearing her gaze from my brother for only a moment before continuing the
intense stare-down. “I’m helping how I can, but it’s limited.”

“Ok.”

I sat next to him,
closed my eyes, and allowed my mind to open a path into Jason’s. A gasp escaped
when I felt the sheer effort Jason was exuding in his attempt to prevent the Mastermind
from taking over.

He was weakening,
so I pushed his determination to a higher level. “You have to win this, big
brother,” I muttered. “I need you.”

I could tell Lena
was also connected to Jason, and I monitored her as I probed into Jason’s
feelings.

“There’s something
here.” My eyes snapped open. “There is a broken place in his mind.”

“It’s where his
memories are,” Lena informed me. “He can’t access them. Maybe if he gets them
back, he can fight the Puppet Master more effectively.”

Despite myself, I
discovered I liked this girl. She was genuine in her desire to help Jason, even
if I didn’t understand her reason.

“I can try, but I
don’t know how it happened to begin with.”

Pushing back into
Jason’s mind, I could sense his discomfort, and manipulated the levels as much
as I could.

It took longer
than I would have liked, but with Lena’s presence lending strength, and my
manipulation of Jason’s determination, comfort levels, and mental strength, we managed
to beat back the Mastermind.

The three of us
leaned against the wall wearily.

“Someone’s
coming,” Jason informed us. His body tensed, but he lacked the energy to stand.

“It’s Hannah,” I
said. “She was only going to wait so long.”

Lena scowled. “I
told her not to come in until one of us went to get her.”

Jason cringed
against the wall, “She’s here.”

THIRTY-TWO

Jason

The girl who ran
into the room a moment later was beautiful. It was enough for some of my
trepidation to seep away and allow me to gaze at her in wonder.

“Jason!” she
cried.

The kid from
earlier stood and blocked her when she tried to run to me. He spoke in low
tones. “Relax, Hannah. He doesn’t know you right now, remember?”

Her face fell, the
happy and innocent expression melting into a look of utter sadness.

Sad? For me? “Do I…?
Am I supposed to know you?” I questioned warily.

If a heart could
shatter, I was sure my comment had done so to this girl. Tears rolled down her
face, and she dropped to her knees in front of me.

“We’re good
friends, Jason,” she assured me. Her voice sounded much calmer than she looked.

I moved my hand
toward her face, but paused before I touched her. “I’m sorry I don’t remember
you. And you,” I added, indicating the boy who was apparently my brother. “Thanks
for your help. I don’t think Lena and I had the strength to push him out
ourselves.”

“That’s not
entirely true,” the kid argued. “You had all of what you needed. All I did was
push what you needed to the forefront of your mind.”

“
Riiight
,” I said, drawing out the word. “Sounds… simple
enough.”

He laughed, and I
found myself smiling with him.

“Maybe not
simple,” he agreed, “but it wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve done so far.”

“You should get
some sleep,” Lena insisted. “I think at this point the Puppet Master is
unlikely to try his luck against you again.”

I sighed. “Yeah,
that’s what I thought when I closed my eyes after you went out to let Sam in. I
don’t know if I can risk sleep right now, Lena.”

“Come with us,”
Hannah offered. “Lena can come too. If Sam, Lena, and Jeremiah work together
I’m sure they can keep this guy out of your mind so you can get some sleep.”

Everything she
said after ‘Jeremiah’ seemed to blur in a haze of anger and fear. “You’re with
him
?” I asked. “How… how could you? You
seem too… innocent to be anywhere near that man!”

“Easy, Jason,” Sam
spoke up. “Jeremiah wants to help you.”

“He’s a killer. If
you are involved with him, then… I… what kind of person am I?”

“The best kind,”
Hannah said. “The kind who fights for those he loves, and does whatever he has
to do to keep them safe. The kind who forgives his friends for teaming up with
a person perceived as an enemy, in order to find him and bring him home.”

“You’re my big
brother,” Sam said simply. “I would team up with Satan himself if it meant
getting you back.”

I frowned. “I’m not
sure that’s too far off what you’ve done, kid.”

“If we’ve teamed
up with the Devil, it’s because there was no other option to bring you home.
And if it makes you feel better, he has genuinely changed.”

“He can’t have too
much,” I argued. “He killed several guards in his escape, and never hesitated
while doing it.”

Sam looked down,
his hands twisting in his lap. “I’m not sure if he had much of a choice. He
needed to get out so he could tell us where you were. They wouldn’t have let
him go. You know that, right?”

“I waited until
there was a time to escape with no interference,” I argued. “He could have
bided his time and gotten out without the deaths.”

Lena nodded,
adding, “He’s right, Sam. They wouldn’t have harmed him before the initial
testing process. And not necessarily even after, if he cooperated. The only
reason they threatened Jason was because they assumed his blow up was an
intentional attempt to escape.”

Sam stared at me.
“You used your powers there? I wasn’t sure if you’d remember how.”

“I didn’t… not
initially. It took a little while to determine that the vibrations I was
feeling all around me were either footsteps or heartbeats, but once I felt some
of those heartbeats stop…” I paused, not sure how much to share.

“You lost control
of a power you couldn’t remember,” Sam finished. “You don’t need to feel guilty
about it. They knew about your powers, or you wouldn’t have been there.”

I stared at the
younger boy in wonder. My captivity seemed unimportant next to finding out the
truth of my family. “You’re really my brother?” I found myself asking.

He nodded, and a
sad smile formed on his face. “Yeah, Jase, I am. It has been a while since
we’ve been together and not imprisoned in some way.”

My eyebrows
furrowed and I stared up at him. “What do you mean? How long have I been
there?”

“It wasn’t you
missing, at first. You were working on a kidnapping and murder case with the
police. At some point, the guy felt your footsteps and he decided I was going
to be his next victim. He took me and then ignored me, for the most part.”

“How did he…?”

“He had the same
powers as you,” Sam interrupted. “The guy was a sociopath, but I was eventually
able to overload his emotions. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after he had
taken you away, and it caused him to crash.”

“So the soreness
and bruising…”

“Some caused by
the crash; some by the guy attacking you. You both caused some injury to each
other. It will make more sense once I’m able to search your mind, and figure
out how to return your memories.”

“We shouldn’t even
attempt that until the Puppet Master is out of the picture,” Lena argued.
“There’s no way you can meddle to that extent without Jason opening his walls.”

I looked to Sam
again, wondering how he would respond.

“You’re right,” he
answered after a moment. “I hate it… I want my brother back.”

His voice cracked,
and he looked away, tears glistening in his eyes.

“I’m right here. I
know who you are now, Sam. I can forgive the mistake. I’m sure I’ve made my
fair share of them.”

He nodded quickly.
“I know. Ok, Lena’s right, Jason. You need to get some sleep. We’ll take you
back to our house and you can rest. We’ll watch out for you.”

I opened my mouth,
and looked to Lena uncertainly. When I saw her nod in encouragement I turned
back toward Sam.

“Okay. We’ll
come.”

“Jeremiah is
there,” Sam reminded me. “But I promise you—he will not hurt any of us. He is
here to help.”

“The day we accept
the Devil’s help, is the day we ourselves become devils,” I muttered angrily.
“Fine. I’ll come, despite the man. If he does anything else I don’t like, I
will not allow it to continue.”

“Fair enough.”

“We really should
go,” Hannah insisted.

I nodded, put my
hand on the ground to push myself up, and froze. “There are people outside.
They’re surrounding us.”

THIRTY-THREE

Jeremiah

There was
something wrong. If everything had gone according to plan, the others should
have been back already. I should never have let them go without me.

Pacing the house
was accomplishing nothing. If the others were in trouble, there was nothing I
could do from here.

A hand pushed on
the door, holding it closed as I began to head out.

“Where are you off
to?” Agent Jones asked.

“They’re in
trouble. We can’t help them from here. Either come with me, or get out of my
way,” I growled.

“How sure are
you?”

“Sure enough not
to take the time to argue about it,” I said with a glare, my hand still on the
doorknob.

He took a moment
to search my eyes before removing his hand from the door.

“Let’s go,” he
said with a grim smile. “Paul, you and Tessa stay here,” he called into the
living room.

He received a
positive reply and we headed out. The agent was on his phone, most likely
trying to get in touch with Detective Farrow.

“You won’t reach
her,” I predicted. “They’re in trouble, and it’s unlikely she’ll have the
ability to respond to your call.”

“How do you know?”
he snapped, tossing the phone into the car.

“I have a gift,” I
answered beatifically.

Predictably, he
glared at me.

“What?” I shrugged
innocently. “You know it’s true. You’ve seen our abilities in action multiple
times just in the last few days, and you have to ask?”

The look he shot
at me would have frozen a lesser man in his tracks. Me? I smiled.

“I know you have
abilities,” he ground out. “I just want to know exactly what you’re picking up,
and what we are walking into.”

Letting the agent
off the hook, I answered, “I don’t know, exactly. I know they should have been
back by now, and I know Oblivion is feeling more worried than normal. I also
know the Mastermind is unwilling to let the brothers slip through his fingers.”

He paused after
starting the car. “How do you know what the Mastermind wants? And this, I do
need to hear. You couldn’t get a read on him before.”

Eyeing the other
man shrewdly, I decided to take the risk of telling the truth. “He contacted
me.”

“And said what,
exactly?”

Every word out of
his mouth sounded as if it was forced through tightly clenched teeth, and I
found myself needing to prevent an oddly pleased smile from escaping. He was
fun to rile up.

“He basically told
me that if I came to work for him, I could rebuild Jason as I saw fit, and do
to Sam everything I ever wanted to do to him for harming Jason.”

The agent’s voice
was low and dangerous. “He offered you a job?”

“I didn’t take him
up on it, if that’s what you’re concerned about, agent.”

“I’ll wait for Sam
to confirm that one, thanks,” he said, finally pulling away from the hideaway.

I snorted. “So now
you trust him? You didn’t seem too sure of him in the last couple days. And
don’t think he didn’t pick up on that.”

His wince made the
truth of my comment obvious. “I’ve made mistakes. I allowed what he
accidentally did to his brother to color my perception of him. Sam’s a good
kid, but he went through a traumatic experience. It allowed his power to get
away from him. His brother has had the same thing happen before.”

“True enough. So
you’ve gotten over it? The distrust of his power?”

“Mostly. It is
still nerve wracking to know that so much power lies with a fourteen-year-old
kid.”

That, I couldn’t
argue with.

He eyed me sharply.
“You’re afraid of him too.”

My lip twitched
uncomfortably. “He destroyed a powerful mind… two powerful minds, without even
trying. Yes, he makes me a little nervous. I would be a fool not to treat his
abilities with respect.” Or caution, I reflected silently.

He nodded.

We were drawing
near our destination before he spoke again. “So what are we walking into?”

“To be completely
honest, I do not know. But the fact your lady friend didn’t answer her phone or
contact you does not bode well. They will not see us approach, but there is no
guarantee they won’t have some other way to detect us.”

“Jeremiah, I need
to ask you a question,” Jones began hesitantly.

When he didn’t
continue, I realized he was waiting for me to give him permission to ask. “Ask
away, agent.”

“It’s just… you
seemed to be more powerful when we first met. You could get into Jason’s mind
and control him, and block yourself from the view of every person near you,
regardless of cameras. The only thing you seemed to worry about was after you were
no longer in the area; the camera would still have a picture of you.”

“How do you…?”

“I talk to Dan
quite a bit, and I’m dating Alice. Do you really think your foray into the
police department to kill their prisoner went unnoticed?”

I nodded. “Fair point.”

“So what happened?
Now you can’t keep people from seeing your image on video in real time, and you
seem more concerned with others discovering you, when you are using your
powers.”

He had figured out
what I’d been attempting to hide. My powers were still intact, but when my
Kindred persona receded, so did some of the raw power I used to enjoy
effortlessly.

“I am more
limited,” I admitted warily. It was difficult to admit to weakness, but it
could help him trust me more. “The power becomes less the more I reject being
Kindred. He… I used the persona to protect myself.”

“So what? He’s
like a separate personality? You have multiple personality disorder?”

“Perhaps. I never
thought of it that way, only that when my cousin tortured me into becoming his
slave, I lost myself. Kindred is what was reborn.”

“For what it’s
worth, your Jeremiah persona is much less creepy,” Jones said lightly.

“We have a
problem,” I said a moment later.

“Yeah, I would say
we do,” Jones agreed, stopping the car.

We climbed out,
not taking our eyes off the building at the end of our destination. Parts of it
were burning.

Other parts had
been demolished, as if in an earthquake.