Oblivion (15 page)

THIRTY-SEVEN

Sam

From what I had
heard from Jason and Jeremiah, I expected to be locked in a room with a guard
or two standing watch.

What I didn’t
expect was to be led into what looked like a doctor’s exam room, and locked
onto the bed. They had left me there for quite a while, and I entertained
myself by attempting to reach into the minds of the guards and monitor their
emotional levels.

Mostly what I felt
was a low level hum of repressed will, and a distinct lack of controllable
emotion. The Mastermind knew my abilities, and was clearly taking no risk that
I’d be able to manipulate one of his guards to help me escape.

The Boss felt more
familiar. Feelings lurked beneath the surface. I was not surprised to find a
similar mix of emotions to those I’d felt with Hunter. All were muted in the
same way, but his feeling of superiority and lack of compassion for other
people definitely stood out.

One thing I
noticed about the puppets was that they all had identical thought patterns. How
the person in charge could have enough power to control so many at the same
time was an unknown. We knew from experience that everyone with abilities had
limits of some sort, so what were his?

I tried to follow
the control path back to the person in charge, but hit a mental block even
stronger than Jason’s. Nothing was getting through this guy’s control.

“Your friends are
looking for you,” the Boss’s voice broke through my concentration. “We won’t
allow them to find you, but when they do breach, we will regain control of your
brother and the girl. We aren’t finished with them yet.”

He seemed in a
talkative mood, so I attempted to gain some
intel
on
their goals. “What exactly do you want with us? I mean it’s obvious that we all
have abilities, but what’s the endgame?”

I felt a spike of
annoyance, and his eyes flickered toward the door.

“Our goals are
beyond you. Just know you are helping to further them by our study of you.”

I smirked. “You
don’t know either, do you? What about the Doctor? Is he the head guy, or does
he take orders from the Mastermind too?”

He sneered, and
the aggravation doubled. It was obvious I was right, and if I could push him
hard enough it might do me some good.

“Does your boss
not trust you? Your name must feel like a slap in the face when you don’t even
know what the plan is.”

My words had
almost as much effect as my emotional manipulation. I amped up his annoyance
and pushed at his anger. I could only hope he kept it aimed at his boss, and
didn’t redirect it toward me. Any sympathy I could find, I also pushed. Any
little bit helps.

“Keep it up, kid,
and you won’t last long enough to see your brother captured,” he growled. “I’ve
been given free reign over punishments for you, and we aren’t feeling too
forgiving at the moment.”

“Yeah, three
escapees within a day. Must be hard on business,” I sniped back at him, keeping
my smirk in place.

He was on the edge
of snapping. The man grabbed a vial and began drawing the liquid into a
syringe.

His hand was
hovering over my arm when there was a knock on the door. The person outside
didn’t wait for a response before entering.

“Boss, you are
needed elsewhere,” the new arrival said.

The new man stood
off to the side, staring at the Boss until the big man grumbled and stalked out
of the room.

“You’re good, kid.
Although right now, it doesn’t take much to push his buttons.” The newly
arrived man seemed genuinely amused. He didn’t seem to like his coworker much.

“Figuring me out?
I don’t think it took your brother long to do so. You can call me the Doctor. I
am looking to study those with special powers and figure out how they work. The
Boss doesn’t care so much about that. He mostly wants to prove that he can hurt
those who are more powerful than himself.”

“Yeah, I got
that.” I glanced toward the loaded syringe. “What was he going to inject me
with?”

The Doctor checked
the vial and tutted. “Something I would have been unhappy about. He’s
authorized to punish, but not
to
seriously maim our
patients.”

A snort escaped.
“Patients? More like prisoners. Patients have a say in treatment. What was he
going to do to me?”

“No guarantees,
but this drug has the unfortunate side-effect of causing brain damage. It is
not every time, but I am not willing to risk it. Quite honestly, it should have
been disposed of long ago.”

His anger was
true, as was his feeling that his prisoners were under his care as a doctor.
Had the Mastermind done that to him? Or was he honestly that delusional?

“He wasn’t lying
that your friends are outside. I doubt they’ll risk coming in yet, though. It’s
a shame, because your brother was one of my most interesting subjects.”

“From what he told
me, you hadn’t gotten far in your testing. How could you determine how
interesting he was?”

The Doctor nodded.
“True, he wasn’t here long. But his ability to destroy things on a large scale,
and to delicately lead the smallest pieces of dirt to do what he wants, was
definitely interesting. There is also his ability to block out the control of
one of my other patients… he is truly remarkable.

You are as well,
young man. Your walls appear to be nearly as strong as Jason’s, and you just
proved to be masterful at manipulating people. I can’t honestly say how much of
it
was your power at work
and how much was your vocal
ability to manipulate, but you have a gift.”

This guy would not
hurt us. I felt that almost as strongly as I felt that the Boss would willingly
destroy anyone he saw as inferior. He was honestly impressed by our powers, and
legitimately wanted to learn how they worked. However, he was still working for
a person who would not hesitate to harm anyone he wanted.

“What about your
patient who controls people?” I asked, pushing at his willingness to share
information. “What’s his name? How did you come to work f… with him?”

He paused, his
eyes going a little glassy as something nudged his mind. It took him a moment,
but he shook his head and gave a weak smile. “Not important. What is important
is that he is a willing subject. We have learned so much from him.”

I pushed at his
trust levels, attempting to force him into believing I could be an ally. “He controls
everything here. You can’t do anything without his approval. Don’t you want
your free will back?”

A smile filled his
face. “Thank you for your concern, Sam.” He was honest in his gratitude, but
did not feel trapped by his situation.

My senses were
backed by his next words. “I am where I am meant to be. And now, so are you.
Worry not. You and your brother will be reunited soon.”

THIRTY-EIGHT

Jason

We had to pull
away to regroup. It wasn’t easy to leave the facility knowing my brother was
being held captive, but we couldn’t count on a last minute plan to work. As a
group we decided to head back to the house they’d been using, and we’d figure
out what to do from there.

“There are two
other people there right now, Jason,” Hannah informed me.

Her voice made me
look away from the scenery flashing by my window, and I cocked my head in
confusion.

She smiled sadly.
“I don’t want to have you frightened off by the fact there is movement in the
house. One of them you have never met before, so you wouldn’t be able to
recognize her. The other… well, you might recognize his steps. I think you
should try.”

“Why should I
recognize his? I recognize yours now and the others here…” I paused.

It was interesting
when I realized memorizing the patterns of people’s footsteps came naturally.
It took almost no effort to recognize the people around me. Sam’s had seemed
familiar from the start. Once I actively searched them out, it was almost like
a punch in the gut how familiar they were. Especially when seeing him didn’t
cause a similar response.

“It has to be
someone I know well,” I inferred. “Who is it? Another brother?”

“Sort of,” she
acknowledged with an encouraging nod. “You and Sam were part of an unofficial
family. He was the oldest besides you, and helped you watch out for Sam and the
others.”

What had my life
been before the amnesia? A brother who caused the memory loss, a supposed
friend who was a killer, two cop friends, no mention of parents… had Sam and I
been orphans?

I voiced the
question, and Hannah and Alice exchanged an uncomfortable look. Jeremiah almost
looked ashamed.

“What?” I asked,
looking between all of them. It was aggravating how little I knew, and how
little they were telling me.

Alice nodded to
her sister. “Tell him, Hannah.”

Still reticent,
Hannah spoke haltingly. “You… Your father was abusive. When it got really bad
you ran away. We met you shortly after you ended up on the streets, and you
eventually started protecting other kids in similar situations. A few years
after you ran, you went back for Sam, and rescued him from your father.”

“And this person
at the house is one of the kids?” I asked.

“Yes. He was the
first you took charge of,” Hannah answered. “So you know him very well.”

I nodded slowly.
“And my father?”

“He was killed a
couple years ago,” Jeremiah answered defiantly. He held his head high, and his
gaze didn’t waver from mine. “By me.”

I flinched, and
broke eye contact. I couldn’t remember my father, but I could remember the
feeling of the heartbeats fading… disappearing. Imagining one of my family
being killed in the same way was difficult.

“Why?” I asked. “I
mean, I know he was abusive,”—at least that’s what they said—“but why did you
kill him?”

Hannah opened her
mouth, but Jeremiah stalled her.

“He had come after
you. Would have kept you prisoner and continued the abuse he’d started when you
were a child. The thin scars on your arms are what you did to yourself when you
were quite young. It was an attempt to get away. I owed you, so I took care of
the threat.”

The matter-of-fact
way he spoke about killing a man had shivers running down my back. I eyed him
warily. It was no different than I’d felt before, but now he reacted.

Jeremiah recoiled
slightly. A hurt look flashed over his face so quickly I almost didn’t
recognize it before his mask of indifference slammed down.

Lena patted my
hand and I glanced up at her.

“He’s not your enemy right now. You need to
relax and use him as a resource,”
her voice rang through my head.
“Perhaps by allowing him to help you, you
will also help him be a better person. You already know he can’t be kept in a
jail.”

I squeezed her
hand and nodded in acknowledgment of what she told me.

“I have no idea
how to respond,” I admitted finally. “I only know that I need all of you to
help get my brother away from those people. Jeremiah, in my mind you are the
wild card. I don’t know if I can trust you to keep your word that you’ll avoid
killing anyone.”

“When I give my
word, I keep it,” he replied solemnly.

“I hope you do.
When I first woke up in that place, you were my only contact who wasn’t trying
to manipulate me or study me. I sincerely wanted to count you as a friend.

But when you
killed those men, it made me question everything. I can’t live my life in the
shadow of a killer. I want you to understand that.”

A flash of
something unrecognizable crossed his face, but he jerked his head down in a
quick nod. “Very well.”

We pulled into the
driveway of a two story gray house, and I felt my heart rate speed up. Inside
the house was another link to my forgotten past, and I clenched my fist to hide
the shaking from the people around me.

“It will be fine,”
Lena assured me.

I shot her a
thankful smile and climbed out of the vehicle. For a moment I couldn’t bring
myself to move. The house was the next obstacle in rediscovering who I was.
Inside was a person who could be as familiar to me as my brother. The idea of
another emotional reaction like I’d had at the facility was frightening.

“Do what you did
back at the facility,” Lena suggested, apparently noting my hesitation. “You
recognized your brother’s steps, now see if there are others here you find
familiar.”

To make it easier
to sort through the multiple echoes and fresh vibrations I could already feel,
I dropped to my knees and rested my hands on the grassy yard. I could pinpoint
the quick steps of the FBI agent, the light and smooth stride from the killer
in our midst, and several others that seemed as if I should know them without a
second thought.

“Hannah,
Detective, you are both a big part of my past, aren’t you?”

They nodded, and I
felt the pounding of their hearts through the soil of the yard. A constant
pounding in my head I could not ignore. The two women so badly wanted me to
remember them.

“I’m sorry. All I
can tell is your patterns seem less strange than others. It is not the way I
felt with Sam’s footsteps…” I trailed off, suddenly recognizing another person
approaching.

“Jason!” The
teenager’s voice was both excited and wary as he hesitantly made his way toward
me.

In an attempt to
pull any amount of recognition from the movements I remained on the ground.
“You… I should know you…”

He nodded, unshed
tears shining in his eyes. “You’re my brother in all but blood… you and Sam.
We’ve been separated for a while. Even without your memories, it’s good to see
you. I missed you so much, brother.”

An uncomfortable
smile crossed my face, and I felt relieved when the boy didn’t attempt to come
closer. From his words and the faster-than-normal heartbeat, I could tell he
wanted to.

“We should go
inside,” Agent Jones suggested, breaking the quiet standoff.

As we made our way
to the comfortable living room, the agent brought the teenager up to speed on
what was going on.

“Oh,” he suddenly
turned toward me, “I just realized… my name is Paul.”

I nodded. “Nice to
re-meet you, Paul. Hopefully I’ll remember you properly soon.”

“Now that that’s
out of the way, we need to figure out how to get Sammy back,” Paul urged.

“What was your
plan for getting me out?” I asked, noting the familiar way he spoke about my
brother. “I know you were there while I was making my escape, and I assume it
was to get me.”

“Yeah. We had
planned on Jeremiah sneaking himself and one of us into the building unseen,
and convincing you to come with us. The plan was contingent on you trusting that
we would be a better option than staying with the people who held you
prisoner,” Agent Jones answered.

“Not a problem
with Sam, so it should be easy enough,” Hannah added.

Jeremiah shook his
head. “While that
could
work, we
should also have a secondary plan in place. Jason, you should be ready to cause
a diversion on the opposite side of the building, and Lena can help prevent
anyone from getting too close to you.”

“Not certain you
can pull off the ghost act, huh?” I asked in a snarky tone.

“Ghost… interesting
that you should call me that,” Jeremiah mused.

I narrowed my eyes
and frowned. “Why interesting? It’s pretty much what you do, right?”

“It is, but you
are the only one I am aware of who used to call me the Ghost. It’s what you
called me when you first discovered what I could do.

It’s interesting
because I believe at least some of your memories are attempting to return. You
simply have no context for the information you are receiving.”

Interesting. Good
word, I guess. So it remained possible—even likely—that I would be able to
retrieve my memories.

“Do I want to
remember?”

Hannah’s eyes
widened in alarm at my quietly asked question.

“I don’t mean I
don’t want to remember all of you…” I paused. “It’s just that… I saw… there are
so many scars,” I finally blurted. “Someone obviously tried to kill me,
multiple times by the looks of it. Do I want to remember that kind of trauma?”

Hannah grabbed my
hand, squeezing it supportively. “You need to remember. You need to, because
everything you went through made you who you are. It is important to remember
that you were strong enough to survive, and that you kept your morality and
humanity through everything.”

Surprisingly,
everyone in the room nodded. Not one of them believed I would be better off if
I couldn’t remember.

“Sam thought I
shouldn’t. At least a part of him did,” I answered them softly.

I sat on the
couch, my head in my hands.

A few moments passed
before I felt a soft pair of hands grasp mine and pull them from my face.

“Sam wants what’s
best for you,” Hannah insisted. “He loves you, and thought you would be better
off not having to relive the horrors you’ve faced. If he’d had control of his
power at the time, I don’t believe he would have done the same.”

“We have to get
him back. I don’t know what they’ll do to him,” I insisted.

“We will. But we
need to do it in such a way that it doesn’t put anyone else in jeopardy,” the
detective promised.

“Ok. I’ll trust
you. Now let’s go get my brother back.”