Oblivion (9 page)

TWENTY

Jason

My concentration
kept getting interrupted. Somehow, Jeremiah’s voice sounded in my head and
distracted me from my escape plan, which I knew was his goal. His promises to
reintroduce my brother rang through my mind and I wondered again if I could
trust the promises of a killer.

Unwilling to
listen to any more of his promises, I concentrated on shutting him out. It took
a few minutes, but it seemed like my mind was helping by recognizing his
intrusion as a possible threat. Once I felt the wrongness of his presence, it
was almost easy to slam the door in his face. I paused at my door for a few
seconds, relishing the sudden quiet in my mind before sneaking out of my
prison.

The hallway was
silent as I crept through the door. Directing the thin line of dirt toward the
cameras in the hallway took time, but I hoped cutting off the line of sight to
the area would buy me time to sneak away without a fight. Despite my belief
that I
could
win a fight if pushed
into it, I had no desire to use my newly discovered powers as a weapon. Of
course, if I had to, I wouldn’t hesitate. There was no way I’d stay here as a
guinea pig for some mad scientists. Escape into the great unknown was
definitely preferable to unknown medical testing.

I made it to the
end of the hall and reached a stairwell before I began to hear her—a female voice
at the edge of my consciousness not quite making it through my mental door. I
released a puff of air, unsure whether to open myself to a potential enemy. A
feeling of warmth and trust was sent to me and I found myself responding by
cracking the door.

“You’re quite good at blocking, Jason.”

The melodic voice
rang through my mind and I hummed a response.

The woman huffed a
laugh before continuing.
“You have a
friend on the outside. He feels… dangerous. Is he someone you trust?”

I huffed, peering
around the doorframe to direct the dirt toward another camera cable. Heading
down the stairs seemed like the right direction, and from my little excursion
earlier I knew getting closer to the ground would increase my strength.

“More than you,”
I answered with a
slight snap to my tone.
“Who are you
anyway?”

“A captive like you. Only unlike you, I know
the way out of this prison. Come get me, and we can escape together.”
She
seemed sincere, but her voice had a definite teasing quality to it. But she was
another prisoner, like me, and I couldn’t leave her to be tested.

Or she was working
with my enemies, and going to her would lead to getting recaptured. It was hard
to decide what to do, and I suspected I might regret either decision. If I left
her, and she was truly another captive, I could never forgive myself for
leaving an innocent who needed help. If I helped her, I ran the risk of being
recaptured. Even if she was an innocent, the risk would be high.

The way down was
clear, and the idea that no one was patrolling the staircase seemed unlikely.
Unless this was a setup. The mystery woman sounded too calm to be a prisoner,
which helped make my decision a bit easier.

“No thanks. I’ll take my chances on my own.”

“Please, Jason,”
a pleading tone entered
her voice, making her sound younger than my initial impression.
“I can’t… they start off kind, but the
things I’ve seen in their minds… Please. Don’t leave me with them. I know your
mind is muddled and confused, but you are a good man. Help me.”

I squeezed my eyes
shut and took a deep breath, already regretting my decision.
“Fine. Where are you?”

“Not far.”
Her relief was palpable.
Maybe she really was who she said.
“Go
down one floor. I am keeping the guards on my floor occupied, but I have no way
to get out of my room. Go to the third door on the left. Come now. I can only
distract them for so long.”

I sped up, pausing
only to disable each camera I saw. Peering through the door, I saw three guards
standing near a desk, apparently oblivious to anything other than the blank
screen in front of them. What they were seeing I couldn’t begin to guess. This
was the test to see if the mystery woman was who she claimed, or if she was leading
me directly back into captivity.

Gathering every
molecule of dirt I could find I opened the door. Prepared for a fight, I was
surprised when not one of the guards looked toward me. I took advantage of
their distraction and rushed to the door.

Breaking in was
easier than breaking out. It was a simple matter of opening the door.

What I found
inside was less simple. A teenage girl lay on a bed, her head covered with
probes and arms secured to the bars at her side. It was a similar setup to
mine, but she appeared to be unconscious.

“Are you okay?” I
asked quietly.

One eye cracked
open before she breathed a huge sigh. “Thank goodness. I thought it was you,
but occupying the guards prevented me from being sure. Help me out of this
stuff, would ya?” She wiggled her arms, the restraints clanging on the metal
bars.

I unbuckled her,
and stood with my hands raised slightly as she began removing the devices from
her head. “Do you… I mean, do you need help with that?”

Smirking, she
shook her head. “I got it. Thanks.”

It took only a few
seconds for her to get the probes off and wipe some gel off her face before she
grinned at me.

“Ready to blow
this place?”

At my nod, she
preceded me into the hallway. “I can distract most of the guards we come
across, but I need you to keep cutting the cameras. We’ll want to destroy some
from different areas too, if possible. Otherwise they’ll know exactly where we
are.”

She was like a
whirlwind of energy, and I worried her volume would get both of us recaptured.
But I also began to feel protective. It was a familiar feeling and I clung to
it like a lifeline. Without someone to protect, life had no meaning.

The girl raised an
eyebrow at me, but didn’t say another word as we ran out into the hall. She led
me away from the stairs I’d used and to a set at the opposite end.

“This will take us
to the nearest exit, but there are still quite a few people between us and it,”
she explained.

It was obvious she
was making an effort to be quieter, and I smothered a grin of my own before once
again closing my mental door.

My new companion
was smart enough to stay quiet on the stairs, knowing even our echoing
footsteps could be enough to give us away. There was a gentle tapping sound,
and I paused to look at her. She pointed to me then to herself, and mouthed,
“Let me in.”

“What is it?”
I asked impatiently.
Having other people in my mind was becoming tiresome.

“Your friend, the dangerous one, has entered
the building. They’re on the opposite side. Do you want to go to him?”

I shuddered.
“No. Not unless we have no other option.”

She nodded,
seemingly accepting my answer.

“There are two guards right outside this
door. They are about to enter the stairwell, and I am running on fumes.”

Holding up a
finger, I directed her down the stairwell a little farther and we crouched out
of sight of the door just as it creaked open.

The guard’s voices
echoed through the stairwell as they chatted about how mad they were at their
supervisor. I held my breath, hoping they would go up away from us. The echoes
faded slightly, and I heard them clomping heavily up the stairs. I let out a
relieved sigh, and waved the girl forward.

We determined that
there were no other guards near the door, disabled the cameras, and rushed outside.
“Where do we go?” I asked, looking around at the fenced in property.

My companion
scrunched up her face and tilted her head in confusion. “You don’t know?”

Huffing a laugh, I
answered, “You were in my head. You’re telling me you didn’t realize I don’t… I
don’t remember anything?”

Saying it was
still hard. It was admitting a weakness to an unknown, but if we were going to
trust each other I needed to be honest with her.

“I could tell
something was off, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was—”

My hand went up to
stall her. “There are guards coming toward us, fast. I think they figured out
what’s happening. We need to get out of here.”

She scratched her
head briefly and grabbed my arm. “This way; I think I know a place we can hide
out.”

TWENTY-ONE

Jeremiah

Getting into the
building was easier than I anticipated. I hid myself and Detective Farrow and
headed toward what had been Jason’s room, even though I was certain he wouldn’t
be there. She had some idea that we might be able to figure out where he was if
we started where he did.

“This is a waste
of time,” I informed the detective yet again. “He will be long gone by the time
we reach his room.”

She ignored my
complaints and kept walking in the direction I’d indicated. After a moment I
followed. We made our way up the stairs and down the hall toward Jason’s
prison.

The thump of a
footstep and the click of a door told me we’d been discovered. We were still
hidden from normal view, but I turned slowly. After a moment, I nodded at the
detective to do the same. My hands were up at my sides in deference to the guns
aimed our direction.

These guards were
wearing the special glasses, and I knew there were people on the other end of
their radios telling them where to aim. I couldn’t cover every person in my
illusion, because I couldn’t tell where they were. I might be able to convince
those in front of us that the voices they heard didn’t exist, but I couldn’t be
sure it would work. It was a strange feeling since I’d pushed the darkest parts
of myself down into the depths of my mind. Perhaps some powers are not meant to
be used in the light.

The gasp when I
dropped the illusion told me my guess had been correct. The men in front of us
had been unable to see us until I let them. It was definitely a setup meant for
someone with my abilities.

“You’re going to
want to put those down,” the detective said calmly. “I’m a cop, and people know
where I am. If you tell me where your prisoners are, I will try to get you a
deal.”

It was a brave
attempt, but these people were not in their right minds. Neither guard
answered, but waved us ahead of them down the hall. There was something odd
about them. Despite their slight reaction to our appearance, they moved like
robots.

“Kindred, what’s happening?”

Sam… waiting
outside with Mark and Hannah, apparently monitoring every step of our rescue
attempt.

“Caught by guards. Can you sense anything
from them?”
I inquired. Perhaps our resident empath would be better suited
to figuring out what was wrong with the guards escorting us.

There was a pause,
and the guard’s steps faltered. “Who do you have with you?” one of them asked.

“They sensed you, Sam. What did you do?”
I
admit my tone may have been a bit… accusatory.

His response was
tinted with confusion.
“Nothing. I only
tried to get a read on them. It was strange, like there was an echo within
their minds.”

I clenched my jaw
and responded.
“They have other people
here with abilities. At least one is working with them to control the guards.
At least some of them,
” I amended, thinking about the two guards who’d
watched me. Red and Butch. They weren’t being controlled. I honestly wasn’t
sure which was worse; that there was someone so completely controlling other
people’s wills, or that some were here by choice.

“That’s why they know you’re here,”
I
realized.
“Go now. They won’t be
interested in Agent Jones or Hannah, but they would be very interested in
acquiring you. Get away now! Find your brother. The detective and I will get
out on our own.”

The boy’s
stubbornness was palpable, and I knew he would refuse.

“I can’t leave Alice in there.”
He
sounded almost insulted that I would even think he’d be willing to walk away
. “Let me try something before I leave. It
may give you the opening you need to get out. Jason isn’t in there anymore. He’s
getting farther away, so there is no reason for you to stay. Watch for your
opening. Oh, and try not to kill anyone. They aren’t in control of themselves.”

The detective eyed
me curiously, her hands still held out to her sides. It was obvious she wanted to
know what was going on, but I had no way to update her without tipping our
hand.

“No one is with
us,” I finally answered. “We came on our own to arrest those who held me
captive, and to find any other people you may be holding.”

They had nothing
connecting me to Jason yet, and I didn’t want to tip them off if I didn’t have
to.

“You’re
communicating with someone. Don’t lie to us. We can tell.”

The guards both
faltered again, suddenly turning their guns on each other. I grabbed the
detective and took off running back to the door. A muted gunshot echoed through
the hall, and a bullet struck the doorframe as we went through, but we made it.

As we neared the
exit I heard one of the guards yell, “We know the boy’s power now, and we will
find him.”

“They’re coming
after Sam,” I explained quickly. “We need to get him away from here.”

TWENTY-TWO

Sam

There was someone
powerful in charge of this group. Someone who had the ability to control others
like puppets, and speak through them at will. It had taken immense
concentration to break through the guard’s programming in order to manipulate
each into thinking the other was the enemy, but it had worked for long enough
to give Alice and Jeremiah the chance to escape.

When the assassin
warned me they would be coming for me, a slight chill went down my spine.
Against someone so powerful, did I really stand a chance?

We all kept
staring behind us, worried someone would follow, but we seemed to be in the
clear.

“Perhaps it was an
empty threat, meant to scare us away and give them time to recapture your
brother,” Mark suggested.

Alice considered
it, but shook her head at the same time as Jeremiah. “No, I don’t think so.
They wanted Sam. I think his ability to break through the other person’s power
made him a target. Now they want both Sam and Jason, and would probably take
Jeremiah too.”

The killer huffed.
“If they try to take me, they will not like the outcome. I doubt they would
risk holding me captive again.”

I shook my head.
“I don’t think they care. The little I was able to catch of this… mastermind
told me the guards are simply pawns. He uses them as he sees fit, and doesn’t
care about them at all.” So, an assassin tearing through the ranks wouldn’t
even ruffle the guy’s feathers, but the idea of someone being able to break
through his abilities apparently did.

Hannah grabbed my
hand in sympathy. “Did you sense anything else? Anything that could help
identify the person in charge or what their goal is?”

“Not much. I think
it’s a power thing though. He wants people with abilities to be under his
control, but I couldn’t get any more than that.”

There was silence
in the car the rest of the way back to Tessa’s house, and I felt the loss of my
brother keenly. I may have the ability to mess with emotions, but in terms of
raw power and ability to feel when a threat was approaching, Jason blew me out
of the water.

Just before we
arrived at the house I pushed my mind toward Jason, and was surprised to sense
a feeling of camaraderie, and the beginnings of trust. Neither was a feeling I
normally associated with my distrustful big brother, and it distracted me to
the point of not noticing when everyone else got out of the SUV.

“Sam? Are you
okay?” Alice asked, leaning into the vehicle. “I’m sorry we couldn’t find
Jason, but we will get him back.”

“He’s not alone,”
I informed her. My hands were clenched in my lap, and I glanced up at her to
explain further. “Somewhere along his escape, Jason found someone he feels he
can trust. I only hope he is right.”

Alice eyed me
critically. “You need to get some sleep. We’ll keep an eye out to make sure we
weren’t followed. Consider yourself in protective custody. Please don’t go
anywhere by yourself.”

She spoke
pleasantly enough, but there was an undercurrent of steel. Alice would not be
happy with me if I tried to pull a Jason, and go off on my own to find him. It
left me with little choice but to nod in agreement.

We walked into the
house, and Mark greeted us. “Sam, did you have any indication that this person
would be able to sense you if you use your power? Anything at all that could
help us gauge their limits would be useful.”

I shook my head.
“The only thing I know for sure is he or she is stronger than anyone we’ve come
across so far. He doesn’t control all the guards, but he has a good number of
them under his thumb. He can probably take over the others if he needs to as
well. I didn’t get the sense that he was straining too hard over it, either.”

There was a slight
hitch to Mark’s breath, and he cringed before responding. “In that case, I
don’t think we can risk you using your abilities. There is too much potential
for it to lead them here. Jason wouldn’t thank us if in the process of finding
him, we lost you.”

Alice nodded and
put a gentle hand on Mark’s shoulder. “I agree. I’m sorry, Sam, but if he can
sense you it simply isn’t worth the risk.”

My shoulders
slumped and I stared at the ground, tears gathering. “I just want my brother
back. Is that really so much to ask?”

Alice gathered me
in her arms. “It isn’t,” she answered. “I promise you we will find him. But it
will have to be without the use of your abilities. Jeremiah,” she spoke over my
head at our new ally, “can you use your powers to find Jason? You’ve done it
before.”

It took a moment,
but he answered, “I believe I may be able to lead you in the right direction. I
can’t pinpoint his location, but I should be able to get us close.”

“Anything is
useful. At this point we have no idea where he is,” Alice replied gratefully.

“Probably not too
far away yet,” Mark interjected. “He hasn’t been out long, and has no idea
where he is. It may take him a while to find a good place to hide. If Jeremiah
can point us in the right direction, it could be that Tessa may know some areas
someone could use as a bolt-hole.”

We all jumped as
the doorbell rang. Mark put his hand near his holster and cracked the door.
“Paul,” he said, relaxing his stance.

Seeing my other
big brother, I ran to him, burying my face in his chest like I had so many
times when we lived on the streets.

“Sammy, what
happened?” he asked gently, running his hand over my hair.

He was still
bigger than me, and I felt safe with him. Alice and Hannah had become a part of
our extended family, but Paul was my brother in every way but blood. “Jason is
still missing. We tried to find him, but he was gone when we got there,” I
explained.

Pulling out of the
hug, I kept a hold of his hand to keep myself grounded. I could feel my body
trembling with emotion, and needed the solid presence next to me.

“The people who
had Jason are now after Sam. Whoever is leading this group has abilities of
their own, and is quite powerful,” Jeremiah added.

Paul eyed the man
distrustfully, pulling me slightly behind him as he spoke. “And you are?”

“My name is
Jeremiah. You may remember me as ‘Kindred.’ I am here to help Jason.”

Casting a confused
glance toward Alice and Mark, Paul asked, “Can we trust him?”

Alice had a
moment’s hesitation before nodding. “He seems to genuinely want to help. And
Sam says he’s sincere.”

“My only goal has
ever been to help Jason. I realize now that I went about it all wrong at first,
and have a better idea of how to properly protect him,” Jeremiah explained. He
obviously noted Paul’s protective stance, and made no move to get closer to us.

“How would Sam
know…? How would you know he’s sincere?” he asked me.

It was my turn to
hesitate. I’d been keeping secrets from my family, and they were beginning to
come out. The others filed out of the room to give me time to explain myself to
him. It didn’t take too long to catch him up, and I waited with bated breath to
see his response.

“I guess it
figures you would have some sort of power since your brother does,” he said.
“So you know Jason is still okay right now?”

“I’m not supposed
to actively use my ability. We don’t know if the Mastermind can sense me if I
do, but I can’t turn it off completely. I’m not trying to reach out to him, but
if he has a spike of emotion I can tell. He’s not spiking, so I can assume he
is doing fine for now.”

Reaching an arm
around my shoulders he assured me, “We will get our big brother back, Sammy.
And we will keep you safe. I’m just getting you guys back; I won’t lose you
again now.”

Paul’s confidence
was entirely sincere, and I had a hard time disbelieving him. “You’re right.
Jason got out on his own, now all we need to do is find him. Once we do that, I
should be able to figure out how to return his memories.”

“Sure hope so,”
Paul responded. His huffing laugh showed a distinct lack of humor. “I want to
be able to yell at him for leaving, but it won’t have the same effect if he
can’t remember doing it.”

“Funny,” I
answered with a darkly amused smile. “I think Hannah and Alice have the same
inten
…”

My voice trailed
off; something was happening. “I think someone is coming.”

“I concur,”
Jeremiah broke in, striding toward the door. “I believe we were followed,
despite our efforts.”

Alice and Mark
approached, both holding their service weapons. “Paul, Hannah, Sam, go upstairs
now. Tessa is already in her safe room, and I want the three of you to join
her.”

“I can help,” I
protested as Paul grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the stairs.

“They’re after
you. I won’t risk them getting you. Go!” she yelled.

Hannah stood near
the top of the stairs, “We should all go. Jeremiah is the only one who stands a
chance against these people.”

Alice smiled
gently at her sister. “This is part of my job, sis. I love you. Now go!”