The Hazing Tower (15 page)

“First of all, your senses go wild. You can hear, see and feel like never before. Things that you would never notice become crystal clear.

“And then, for the best part, or at least I consider it the best. This is where Josh and Jinny’s findings come in — the time trick, as you call it. I never knew it had anything to do with time. When it happens for me, it’s like the world slows down around me. After decades I learned to control it. For example, if someone tries to punch me, I can slow things down for a short time; I can see it as if in slow motion and duck out of the way.

“There is a problem, though.”

“A problem?”

“Nothing comes for free, I guess. The more you exert yourself to slow things down, it causes pain. My nose will bleed, and in some cases I might even pass out. I was sick for weeks once.

“Of course there is the major benefit, the one I saved for last. We don’t seem to age after the transition, at least not from what I can tell. I can’t say for sure, of course, if it lasts forever. I never get sick, other than the side effects I talked about. No colds, no flu, ever. Poison doesn’t seem to affect us; that has been tried.”

“And you sleep normally? Not like Nikki?”

“Yes, that seems to be specific to Nikki. I’ve never had any sleep issues. I’m suspecting, for Nikki, it’s because she has the special gene from both parents.

“So you probably wonder how I’ve lived so long, since we can die. I’ve had close calls. It’s mostly because of the senses in overdrive.

“I can see danger before it happens, and then slow things down. Like if a car is going to hit me, I can get out of the way in time. So the chances of surviving each day are much higher than for a normal person. However, if someone really wanted to kill me, especially if they are one of us, it’s clearly possible; they would just need to catch me off guard, or have so many people that I could not use the tricks to fight back.

“Also, I’ve learned my own survival skills over the years. I almost died three times due to earthquakes. You wouldn’t think about that, huh. Earthquakes are bad because they come completely unexpected, no warning at all. I can’t see or hear a quake coming.

“So I learned to live in places without the possibility of earthquakes, or, if I was in those locations, to make sure I was in a safe building that could withstand one. Over the years, I have learned to be paranoid. That, combined with the senses and the skills, have kept me alive this long. I sometimes wonder what the limit would be. I mean, of course, my luck would not hold out forever. And the world is much more dangerous now than when I was born.

“As you can imagine, we had horses, not cars that can go 100 miles per hour; not as many weapons. The world was much slower overall, much easier to survive in for me. Think how fast the world moves now: airplanes, cars, bullets, missiles. All of that makes it much more likely I would die by accident, or someone wanting me dead.”

“Speaking of weapons, can you slow down a bullet?”

She nodded.

“Yes, but not by much. And it takes a huge effort. I can try to move out of the way if someone shoots at me. I might be able to take the bullet in, say, the arm instead of my chest, but if it’s an automatic weapon, much harder, probably impossible. The best bet in that situation is for me to run. If I see a gun, I can slow things down and run before the shot is fired. If I waited for the shot to be fired, it would probably be too late. As you can see, technology is making it harder and harder for me to stay alive.”

“You said before that Nikki is more powerful for some reason?”

“Yes, definitely. They have been waiting for someone like her for decades. I have no clue what she is capable of, but I bet it must be extraordinary. All I know is that if these people want her, then she must possess extraordinary power. I would bet she could dodge bullets with ease. If you say your scientist says I can slow down time, then with Nikki’s power it’s possible she could stop time altogether.”

Hunter got very quiet at that thought. It hadn’t occurred to him until she said it. Possible for sure, anything seemed possible at this point. Nothing was normal anymore. Regular common sense and rules were out the door.

“About Nikki. Hunter, you might want another drink before you hear this.”

“There’s more?” Hunter asked.

“I wasn’t sure I was even going to tell you. I trust you, Hunter. Let me say this. If you decide you want to leave, leave me, all of this, after what I tell you, I will completely understand.”

“No, I am in this far already. I won’t leave.”

She shook her head. “Never say never. What I am about to tell you is beyond anything you could imagine.”

He sat up in his chair and focused even more.

“Hunter. I helped kidnap Nikki’s mother. Her name was Mia.”

“What?”

She nodded. “They slaughtered Mia’s parents. I brought her on a ship from England to the United States.”

“When? Why?”

“It was 1968. Mia, Nikki’s mother was three years old.”

“Hunter. Nikki isn’t here by accident. Nikki was created. She is part of a plan so complex, so evil, it is difficult to even describe with normal words.”

“My God.” He set his drink down.

Rebecca started to cry as she began the story. She didn’t try to stop this time.

• • •

Josh looked up at the tube going into her arm.

“What is it?”

“They’re speaking French. From what I can understand it’s about prepping their DNA for something. They put some in you and then stopped. They’re fighting, arguing. I can’t understand it all, but I think they want your blood for themselves. They clearly are not the brains behind all this. They keep talking about eternal life and your blood.”

His heart sank. He was putting the pieces together in his mind.

“You told them they got the wrong people?”

She nodded. “I know a bit of French.” A tear rolled down her cheek.

“They said if that were true, that the injections would kill us. Josh, I’ve been coughing up blood. I don’t think I have much time left. I wanted to tell you Josh — I love you. I just wanted you to hear me say it again.”

He felt like he’d been dropped into the deep end of a pool and couldn’t swim. Jinny looked so pretty. Her eyes were so sharp, so caring. This was his fault. He had gotten her into this. He had killed her — the only person he had ever loved — and he had done this.

“Jinny, you know I love you more than I can explain. I’ve been so stupid. If I hadn’t involved you . . .”

His voice started shaking.

“I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” Jinny said as she tried to smile.

She started to cough and some blood dripped down the side of her cheek.

Josh strained against the straps; he had never felt such rage. He had to get loose; he had to save her. There must be some way. He couldn’t give up yet.

He could hear footsteps coming fast, more than one person. He focused on Jinny and her eyes.

“Please forgive me.”

“Josh—”

She was cut off as three people entered the room. He looked but couldn’t see; he couldn’t lift his head.

“I will kill you! Let us out of here! It’s me you want. My blood is more powerful than Nikki!” Josh tried to move, it was impossible.

“You fools!” someone shouted in English, clearly angry.

“These are the wrong people! What were you thinking?”

“Rebecca, they were in the manor; we thought, they must be—”

“You thought, that’s what went wrong. Leave them to me! I will get rid of the bodies, just go!”

“But he said, he told us never to...”

She stopped him.

“Do you want to be the one to tell him you got the wrong people?”

There was silence.

“I will cover for you just this once; I will take care of your mess.”

Josh heard more footsteps and doors closing. He could feel someone close to him; he knew he was going to die. He didn’t care. It was Jinny who didn’t deserve to go like this.

Suddenly all his straps were off. He slowly lifted his head.

“Who are you?”

“No time for small talk. Can you stand up?”

He staggered off the metal slab and found his balance. He saw the woman lifting Jinny up. He rushed to her side.

“You are both going to die unless you follow my directions closely. Do you understand, Josh?”

“You know my name?”

She grabbed his face. “Focus! You’re a smart guy; you need to think now if you want to live.”

He snapped awake and nodded.

“Listen to me: take my car from the garage downstairs. In the glove box, there are directions to a house outside the city. You get her there.

“There’s equipment in the house. My friend should get there to help you. If he doesn’t, well. You’ll need to do a blood transfusion with her. I won’t have time to explain how; you’ll have to figure it out.”

“Blood transfusion?”

Rebecca grabbed a syringe from the table.

She turned so Jinny could not hear. “Josh, are you willing to die for her, because this most likely will kill you. They didn’t inject enough serum into you, meaning you can still live. You don’t have to die.”

“I can save Jinny? There’s a way?”

“Maybe, it’s a very small chance, I haven’t had much luck with it, and we don’t have time to find the expert. They need you alive, Joshua. Hunter told me you know about the time trick, I’ve been waiting decades to understand. We need your help, Nikki needs your help. Sometimes there is a bigger picture in life. I know you understand how groundbreaking this discovery of yours is. Don’t let your love for this girl cloud your judgment.”

“Hunter? How do you know him?”

“We’re working together. I don’t have time to explain now.”

Josh shook his head. “No, not if Jinny dies.”

“Do it, inject me. Whatever it takes. I don’t want to live if Jinny dies.”

Rebecca stuck the needle into his thigh and pushed the plunger down.

“Get to the safe house. My friend and I will try to get there as fast as we can. You have to go now; we don’t have long before their backup gets here.”

Josh glanced back, he saw the look on Rebecca’s face. She was going to die here; he could see it in her eyes. “What’s your name?”

“Rebecca. You need to go, don’t look back again.”

“Thank you, Rebecca.”

She nodded, then pointed to the stairs. “Go!”

He hobbled down the stairs with Jinny on his arm. He kicked open the door to the parking structure and pressed the car remote. Nothing.’’

“Jinny, I need to find the car. I will be right back for you, OK? I’m not leaving you here, I promise.”

“You better not,” she said, managing a weak smile. Tears filled her eyes.

Josh let her softly slide down against the wall and took off running down the garage while pressing the car remote. After what seemed like centuries, he finally heard a beep.

He jumped in the car and screeched around the side of the garage to where Jinny was.

“Stay awake, Jinny, stay awake, please!” He tried his best to put a seat belt on her in the passenger seat and jumped back into the driver’s seat.

The gears of Rebecca’s car crunched loudly as he found first gear and floored the accelerator.

The bright light of the streets almost blinded him as he flew out of the parking garage. He had forgotten to check the directions in the glove box. He punched the steering wheel in anger. Come on, get it together, Josh, you can do this. It was the best pep talk he had for himself, given the time. The traffic was terrible; cars and motorbikes were everywhere. He felt the daze of disorientation ready to shut him down; he had to fight it with every ounce of his energy.

He reached down to the glove box, found a plastic folder, stuck it in this shirt and started to look back up. All he could see was glass shattering, seemingly in slow motion. Their car went spinning in circles and ended up on a sidewalk.

He tried to shake off the daze. A huge man walked up to the now broken window and started yelling at him in French. He stuck his hand through the window and pulled the car door open.

“Go, go, Josh!”

He could hear Jinny trying to tell him to go. He had hit another car, without realizing he’d even been in a crash. The man grabbed his arm and started to pull him out of the car.

The engine of Rebecca’s car was still running; he put it in gear and floored it. The man fell backwards as he tried to get his arm out from the door. Smoke filled the air as the tires burned on the wet pavement.

Josh’s vision was becoming blurred now as he drove straight down the sidewalk, picking up speed.

People screamed as they jumped out of the way; he hit a line of chairs and the debris cracked the front windshield.

He saw a woman pushing a baby stroller and swerved hard left, smashing into another car. Sparks flew like fireworks as the metal of the two cars ate into each other. He pulled hard right and the car lifted into the air as it jumped back onto the sidewalk.

“Move!” he shouted to no one. He glanced over at Jinny. Her eyes were closed and she had coughed up more blood. He couldn’t tell if she was still breathing. A wave of sickness overcame him and he threw up blood all over the steering wheel.

Suddenly, the glass behind him shattered and a small hole opened in the front windshield. Glancing back, he saw a dark truck gaining on him. Where was he? Was this Paris? Everything was disorienting. He tried to locate any familiar landmarks, something that would tell him where he was and what was happening.