Oblivion (17 page)

FORTY-TWO

Jeremiah

Nobody looking at
the real me would be able to say I am a normal person. The ability to alter my
appearance works in my favor
because
my actual face is so damaged by what my cousin did. The few times I’d gone out
in public without hiding my disfiguring scars, people had pointed and stared.
It was as if my being scarred gave them the right to judge me. Their reactions
made me hate normal people. Mason had used it against me.

He had forced me
to endure being mocked and ridiculed for my disfigured face. Had made me hate
both those who dared scorn me and myself for not being able to fit in with
society. All had been part of his plan to turn me into his weapon.

The people in
Jason’s group were odd. They saw my true face, and not one of them seemed
disgusted. Nor did they look at me with pity or scorn. Some curiosity, yes. But
it was more likely they were simply curious to see the true face behind the
formerly faceless menace that had entered their lives two years earlier.

At times they
regarded me with suspicion or distrust, but it had nothing to do with my
physical features. If I had not attempted to thank Jason by removing those who
threatened him, he might have helped me get over what was done to me, and
become my friend.

The thought of how
he reacted to the deaths of the hapless guards made my cheeks flush with heat.
If I had known… I wanted to say I would have done things differently. I wanted
to say it would have made a difference to me if I had known they were under the
control of another powerful person.

I wanted to say
it, but I couldn’t. In the same situation I would have done the same thing. It
had been ingrained in me that if I was captured or trapped in any way, I was to
do everything in my power to escape. Under Mason’s control, I would have been
in trouble not for killing the guards, but for leaving some of them alive.

The difference was
difficult to reconcile, and I was no longer sure it was worth the attempt.

When Jason stood
and declared that it was time to rescue his brother, I resolved to help him.
And if I saw an opportunity to adjust Jason’s stance on killing, I would take it.
He was altogether too rigid in his thinking.

“You are staying
here with Paul and Tessa. You are not trained to deal with this kind of thing,”
the lady detective ordered her sister.

“Jason and Sam are
family. I need to-” Hannah tried to argue, but her older sister cut her off.

“You need to stay
here and stay safe. We’ll be back. Do you really think Jason would appreciate
you putting yourself in unnecessary danger for him?”

Hannah broke off
her argument and glanced at me angrily. “What are you looking at?”

“An older sister
protecting a younger sibling,” I answered. “It is commendable. And she is quite
correct. Once Jason remembers how he feels about you, he would be unhappy to
know you put yourself at risk.”

Strangely, the
lady detective mouthed, “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry,
Hannah. But I want you safe, and we are out of time to argue,” the detective
finished.

With Jason already
waiting in the car, she was right.

The younger girl
eyed the car sadly. “Fine. I’ll wait here, but call us as soon as you can,
okay? Stay safe, Ali.”

Detective Farrow
smiled and pulled her sister into a quick hug. “We’ll be fine. See you once we
have Sam.”

She turned to me
and added, “Let’s go, Jeremiah.”

I nodded and
caught Hannah’s eye. “I will keep them safe, and we will bring Sam back.”

Despite her
uncertainty about whether I could be trusted, she smiled gratefully. “I
appreciate your help, and I think Jason does too. He just doesn’t realize it
yet.”

The younger boy
approached Hannah and appraised me, his gaze taking in everything. “Make sure
you do the right thing. Jason won’t thank you if you go back to your old ways.”

I nodded stiffly
at him, unwilling to begin a fight with one of those closest to Jason. Time was
up, and I climbed into the SUV next to Detective Farrow.

The drive to the
facility was quiet. Jason’s body grew more and more tense the closer we got to
our destination. My best guess was that he was nervous about using his powers
as a distraction. Yes, he had managed to control it in Tessa’s backyard, but he
was not solid in his ability to direct the power yet.

I could
acknowledge that it would be nerve-wracking to head into battle not knowing if
your strongest power would work as it should. Not a problem I’ve had, of
course, but I could imagine. Despite my powers being not quite as strong, I
knew how to use them.

We reached the
southern edge of the facility and let Jason and Mark out. They would remain
hidden until it was time to draw the guards away from myself and Detective
Farrow. He was to call us once he located Sam, and once we entered the building
he would begin his distraction.

Lena would remain
in the car and attempt to use her powers to manipulate anyone who might notice me
and the detective as we snuck through the building.

“Stay safe, Mark.
And keep an eye on him too, okay?”

The detective had
stepped out of the SUV to take over driving, and she moved toward the agent.

He smiled, grabbed
her in a gentle hold and kissed her. “I’ll be fine. You’re the one going into
the lion’s den. Be careful. In and out. We’ll deal with shutting them down later.”

“Got it,” she
said, her cheeks flushed. “See you soon then.”

We left our allies,
and I gave her a sideways glance. A half smile of amusement crossed my face.

“Knock it off,”
she said without looking at me.

“I’m not saying
anything.”

“You don’t have to.
Yes, we were trying to hide our relationship. I don’t like to rub it in
Hannah’s face that I’m with my guy when she can’t be with hers. But I know she
already knows about us. And with Jason…”

“You weren’t fooling
anyone, especially Jason,” Lena commented wryly from the back seat.

She had the grace
to look chagrined. “You’re right, of course. He could obviously tell by our
heartbeats. Anyway, are you ready for this?”

“Yes,” we both
answered.

I could have
explained how difficult it would be to expend so much power without allowing my
‘dark side’ out, but it was our only plan. I would push every person into
believing Alice and I did not exist, and that included the unseen people behind
the video cameras. It would be exhausting, but I hoped it was doable.

The detective, for
her part, would remain alert to any guards who might notice us despite my
attempt to block them. Of course she was backed up by Lena, who could actually
sense if someone noticed us.

To be honest,
Jason’s job was more dangerous. He would be drawing every guard to his
location, and would also have to try to hide his actions from any normal person
who might happen along the street. It wouldn’t be easy, and I understood why he
was so nervous.

We exited the
vehicle and stared up at the building we would be infiltrating. It seemed
imposing, but we had good people on our side ready to do whatever it took to
obtain our goal.

I glanced down at
the detective and said, “Let’s do this. Call Jason and let him know we’re going
in.”

FORTY-THREE

Sam

My world was
spinning. The sensation wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It felt almost like
flying, despite being shackled to the bed. It was freeing, in a way. The
feeling allowed my mind to escape my body’s captivity.

The Doctor was
next to me, talking in a low voice, but it seemed unimportant.

He eventually
realized I wasn’t listening, and was instead following the dust particles sparkling
through the lights. The force of his anger slamming through my mind brought me
down from the euphoria. I eyed him warily.

“You must pay
attention! There are people who are trying to take you away. They think you’re
in danger, but you aren’t, are you?” He asked.

Was I? Everything
seemed rather pleasant… well, other than the Doctor’s anger, but I had been ignoring
him. I shook my head, but was still uncertain.

“These are
dangerous people, Sam. They will hurt me to get to you,” he spoke in a
wheedling tone, as if trying to convince me this was something worth paying
attention to.

It was no wonder
he was upset at me. If these invaders were threatening his safety on my behalf,
then I should be mad too.

“Why would they
hurt you?” My voice didn’t sound quite right; softer and a bit more breathy
than normal. What had happened?

He patted my head
and smiled proudly. “They believe I am harming you. They are misinformed, and
there are two in their number who belong with us. You’ll help bring them to me,
right?”

I began to nod,
but hesitated. Something in me fought the idea of helping this man. The
emotions coming from him… they didn’t quite fit what he was telling me.

“Who are they?” I
hedged.

The Doctor looked
past me and nodded. I felt another rush of euphoria. He allowed me to float in
peace for a moment.

The peace was
disturbed by loud crashing from somewhere outside. I startled, unable to focus
on the added noise for more than a moment.

“They’re here now,
Sam. I need you to commit.”

A voice whispered
in my mind.
“Trust the Doctor. He is your
friend. Bring us the Earthshaker and the Assassin. Only then will we all be safe.”

I felt a frown on
my face and shook my head trying to dislodge the thoughts. It was all wrong.
Wasn’t it?

“Why are they
coming? Who are they?” I asked again.

Impatience and
anger flooded my mind, and I flinched away from the aggressive feelings.

“Apologies, my
friend, but we have been over this. You must convince them to surrender. Push
them to trust us and allow us to learn from them,” the Doctor urged, impatience
now coloring both his tone and his emotional state.

“The Earthshaker
and the Assassin?” I asked. “Who are they? I can’t do anything…”

A reflection off
one of the pans near my bed caught my attention and I stared at the bright spot
in fascination.

“It’s so pretty,”
I muttered.

The Doctor cursed
under his breath. “We gave him too much. He’s suggestible, but not lucid enough
to follow through.”

“Who are you
talking to?” I dragged my attention from the pretty shiny thing, back to the
man who said he was my friend.

“Our other friend;
the one who spoke to you in your mind. He does the same with me. He’s going to
help your attention span, so don’t fight when he goes into your mind.”

Into my mind? Why
would I allow…?

The intrusion made
me gasp, and I instinctively pushed at the offending person.

Another bang from
outside was followed by rapid cursing by the Doctor. “It’s not working. We
should take the kid and go before Jason destroys this whole place.”

I couldn’t hear
the response, but the other man did not seem happy about it.

“We can get him
later! It will do us no good to wait and let him destroy this facility!” The
anger and fear were clear now in his voice.

I watched
curiously. The harsh emotions pierced through the artificial high created by
whatever they’d given me. True memories began to seep back in.

“Jason,” I gasped
out, fighting the fogginess in my mind.

The man whipped
his head toward me, eyes wide with the shock that now rolled off him in waves.
“You… right now you shouldn’t know anything.”

More came to me,
and I realized my brother had come to rescue me. The Doctor’s worry, anger, and
fear broke through the effects of the drug. To prevent it from taking over
again, I pushed him to feel even more to help ground myself.

“When drugging an
empath you should be careful to remain calm and in control of your emotions,” I
spoke calmly as I manipulated his mind to help myself.

He gasped and
backed away from me grasping his head in his hands as if in pain.

“What’s happening
to you?” I asked.

The pain he felt
was not from anything I was doing. With Hunter and Jason, I had been able to
manipulate them without any pain. They hadn’t even noticed what I was doing at
the time. It left only one option.

“You failed him,
didn’t you?” I realized. “He’s punishing you for your lack of control. I can
help you, but I need your assistance in return.”

He was unable to
respond, but I felt a sense of hope at my words that I took to mean he wanted
my help.

I wasn’t sure
exactly how to begin, so I pushed to see where all of his levels were in order
to figure out how best to help him.

“He’s nudging your
pain receptors,” I informed him. “The pain you are feeling is literally all in
your head. Somehow, he’s making you believe that you’re feeling pain.”

I reached to touch
his arm and realized I was still restrained on the bed. My hands shook. It
wasn’t time to fall apart yet, so I took a deep breath. There would be a right
time to fall apart, but this wasn’t it.

Pushing aside my
impending panic, I closed my eyes and focused on the Doctor. Before I could
figure out how best to aid him, the attack stopped.

He lay on the
ground shaking for a few minutes before attempting to push himself up.

“Are you okay?” I
asked, with full knowledge that he was not.

His faith in his
leader had been shaken. Somehow he had believed the Mastermind would never harm
him as long as he continued to follow directions.

“You didn’t do
anything wrong,” I assured him.

To help my case I
pushed at his feeling of betrayal and his new desire for revenge.

He stood next to
my bed, undecided on what path to follow. His hands hovered over my restraints,
but stopped short of setting me free.

“You were going to
help me. Even if you thought I wouldn’t reciprocate,” he said in wonder.

He was on the
precipice of a decision, and it took only another minute before he reached for
my hand.

“I will free you.
But no one else in this facility is on your side,” he warned. “And you still
have the drug in your system, so be careful.”

“My brother is
here,” I informed him. “I’ll be fine.”

A sense of desire
swept through him, but I pushed it down. My anger helped to push it almost to
non-existent.

“You aren’t taking
him either. You think I’m a good person for wanting to help you? Trust me, you
have no idea what I’m willing to do if you even think about hurting my
brother,” I snapped.

He gave me an
admiring look. “We underestimated you, Sam. I’m thinking we were incorrect
about which brother is more powerful.”

I smirked. “In raw
power? Jason’s got me beat hands down. He could take down this facility and
barely break a sweat. All I do is manipulate others. Not really powerful, but
definitely effective.”

I turned to leave,
feeling a little unsteady but doing my best to hide it.

“Have a nice life,
assuming your boss doesn’t decide to kill you for this. Good luck.”

The Doctor didn’t
follow me.

Oddly, I found
that I held no anger toward the Doctor. Despite apparently having full control
of his mental faculties I could tell he had been pushed toward the belief that
he would be helping people by what he was doing. He felt no malice toward those
in his care, and attempted to make them as comfortable as possible in their
captivity.

It was madness, in
a way, but not the same as I felt with Jeremiah. I was beginning to think Jason
was correct to not trust the man. There was definitely dark sentiment growing
in our ally, and no way to know if—or when—he would turn on us. Keeping him
around was risky, but having his help could be worth it.

I made my way
toward the nearest exit, but the place was built like a maze. I got turned
around in my attempt to avoid contact with any of the guards, and found myself
outside, but in the inner courtyard.

Just over half of
the yard was freshly torn up, and I knew it had been Jason’s doing. The ground
was soft, but there were also large chunks of stone and concrete mixed in.

“Where are you
guys,” I muttered, turning to find a different way out.

I stopped short
when I saw the guards standing by the door. Two men under the control of the
Mastermind.

“You need to come
back in now,” one of the men said.

I took a step
back. “And if I don’t?”

The other guard
pointed at two locations in the upper floor windows.

“We can’t have you
spreading the word about what we’re doing here. I would hate to lose the
ability to study you, Sam. However, trust that I would rather study your corpse
than have you free to spread the word about our plans.”

My brow furrowed.
“I don’t know your plans. All I know is that you’ve been gathering others with
abilities and studying them. I have no idea what your endgame is.”

The guards turned
toward the inner part of the building. “If you want to survive, you need to
come with us. You could even be reunited with your brother. I might even be
willing to help him with his little memory problem.”

I looked up at
them in shock. “I thought…”

“You thought I was
unaware? I was. At first. But then he ran away and didn’t go to you. He went
with another of my test subjects instead. I have full access to her thoughts,
and she doesn’t even know it. Once she discovered his problem, I also became
aware of it.”

I nodded slowly.
“How would you help? Why would you help? Wouldn’t that make him more likely to
escape from you again?”

“Come back inside,
and I will explain,” he invited.

I took a quick
glance around the courtyard and realized I had no choice. Other guards had
appeared near the other potential exits, so I nodded tersely.

My neck tingled at
the thought of turning my back on two snipers who were ready to shoot me, but I
had no choice.

“Who are you?” I
asked as we walked down the hall.

“You know better
than to ask,” he answered.

“What I mean is;
you are one of the most powerful people I’ve met, but I don’t think I’ve ever
officially met you. Why do you never appear in person?”

A guard nudged me
from behind so I kept moving.

“See, my thought
is that you are super powerful in the mental aspect, but physically? Physically
I don’t think you could fight a rabbit. I’m guessing you’re scared to show your
face because any of us with the ability to prevent you from taking over our
minds would be able to tear you down like wallpaper.”

“Keep your mouth
shut and get moving,” the guard said. His voice was a little different, and I
seized the minor victory.

“Getting a little
too close, right? You know my brother will rip you apart, so my guess is you
aren’t even in this facility.”

A smile had begun
to form on my face, but at my final thought it faded.

If the Mastermind
wasn’t even here, then how could we find him? If we didn’t find him and stop
him now, he could simply set up his operation in a different location.

He would keep
coming for us until he was able to wear us down.