Jaden Baker (38 page)

“Perfect,” Seth said. “Now they think you’re moving in a truck. That buys us some time. We have to stay hidden until morning.”

As it turned out, staying hidden wasn’t an easy task. Even at this hour, people drove around in their cars, and a few homeless people stirred in the park. Jaden took refuge by dashing behind trees and brush, until the park ended at a street intersection, which for now was empty. If his sense of direction was correct, heading left would put more distance between him and the facility.

He kept to the sidewalk and jogged, too winded to sprint any more.

The residential area morphed into the business section. All around him were small shops with barred windows and security gates across their doors. A supermarket was just ahead of him, and a dozen or so newspaper dispensers were placed on the corner of the lot. He raced to them. Jaden scanned one of the papers for the date.

It was October sixteenth. When he saw the year, his stomach seemed to fall to the sidewalk.

It was six years later. Six years had passed since he had been taken from Napa. He was fifteen years old. A teenager.

“Four years with Dalton, two with Joseph,” Seth said.

Jaden kicked one of the dispensers, breaking the glass and spilling the newspapers to the sidewalk. Nearly half his life had been stolen. His gnarled hands shook with rage. If he could have cried, he would have screamed with tears. He ran again, leaving the vandalized newspaper stands, putting more distance between his enemies. The injustice generated a new source of energy.

Anger drove him past his pain. He hardly saw where he was going. Yellow street lamps lit his path as he approached another intersection. His bitter musing was interrupted by the sudden appearance of three young men. Jaden stopped.

The three men had been talking animatedly. When they noticed Jaden they fell silent.

He had two choices: fight or flight. Running from three strangers was the logical choice. But he didn’t want to. He had been a prisoner for the past six years, subjected to the dominance of others. Logic be damned. Jaden stood his ground.

The tallest of them looked Jaden up and down and smirked.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“Whatchoo got in your backpack?” said a second one, shorter and fat, a long gold chain around his neck. He advanced on Jaden, who took a step back.

It had been a long time since he’d roamed the streets in the middle of the night. In his pre-incarcerated life, Jaden had had many encounters with people like this. Experience taught him to avoid them, to keep to himself and mind his own business. Tonight they were in
his
way.

“You’re a weapon now,” Seth whispered, smirking.

Seth was right. Even as they stood there, staring at one another, measuring the fight, Jaden felt the drum beats of their hearts. Both the tall man and the fat man looked at Jaden like he was easy prey. They breathed steadily, calmly.

The third and darkest among them gave Jaden space. Where his two companions thought Jaden an easy victim, the third was wary, eyeing him with careful skepticism. They stared at each other, and Jaden thought he felt a gust of wind pushing him, though there was no breeze in the air.

“Let’s go,” the third said, hitting his two friends on their shoulders.

“What?” they both asked.

“We’re going,” said the third, and pulled his two friends away, his eyes never leaving Jaden’s. He watched the three of them walk away, the two arguing with the third, who glanced at Jaden over his shoulder, as if fearing Jaden would pursue.

Seth smirked knowingly then signaled for Jaden to keep running.

The pain in his leg vanished as he pounded through the business section and into another residential area, passing pink houses and white ones, all rectangular, squashed together, hardly any room between them. Flat roofs, some houses three stories high, all the same shape, flat. He passed brick buildings, and some brown buildings with red awnings out front. He barely saw them as he ran, and though his legs were exhausted, he wouldn’t rest.

After more blocks he hadn’t bothered to count, Jaden switched directions. Dogs barked as he ran past houses piled on top of each other, no alley to sneak into and rest.

Finally Jaden stopped running, his lungs burning, his legs too weak to hold him. He walked up a slight hill, huffing for air. The back of his throat was dry. He had probably put only a few miles between himself and the facility, if that. He was lightheaded and the muscles in his legs and arms burned. Running was something he hadn’t done in, well, six years.

Slowing made him cold. Sweat accumulated on his skin and he shivered. He pushed on, urging his rubbery legs to carry him farther.

When he came to the next big intersection, Jaden made a left, again wishing for a compass, but he believed he was heading in the right direction. Jaden pulled the hood of the sweatshirt over his head, hiding his face from view. Though he looked like a thug, it seemed the thing to do—this street was smattered with a few people, most of whom hid their faces, even in the darkness of night.

Seeing these people made something in Jaden’s mind click. People walking around at this hour of night—like the three men he’d just encountered—in a city like this, were not good or noble citizens.

“Remember what Alan taught you,” Seth said. “There’s nothing stopping you from fighting.”

“I know,” Jaden said. Ideally he would be a shadow phantom of the night, unnoticeable. If it came down to it, yes, he could defend himself now that no one flipped a switch to shock him. However, the bigger impression he made, the more likely he would be remembered and thus found. “Besides,” he said to Seth, “I’m exhausted.”

“I know,” Seth said. “You need to get someplace safe and hide.”

The problem was
finding
some place safe to hide. Jaden agreed that walking around at night was a giveaway. His best chance of escaping the city was to travel in crowds. He would have to find somewhere to stay the night, then start again in the morning.

He came to an intersecting street with trees and brush lining either side of the road. While following this street wouldn’t make greater directional progress, the trees provided cover. Jaden followed the wooded partitions, avoiding sleeping homeless men, for what seemed like miles. He watched the street signs, not that it made a difference. When he came to a large intersection, he was pleased to see another park ahead of him. Jaden ran across the street, ducked into the brush, then found himself on a jogging trail.

Having walked for a while, Jaden thought he’d pick up a run again. He ran past empty tennis courts, at least a dozen more sleeping homeless men, and open park areas.

The stolen watch told him it was half past two in the morning. It had been over two hours since he escaped; Jaden was sure Joseph knew he was gone. Jaden tried running faster, keeping under trees, afraid of someone watching him from above.

When he ran out of breath and out of the park, Jaden knew he needed a different plan. He was exhausted, his legs were noodles and he was faint. He couldn’t run any farther, he just didn’t have the muscle or lung capacity.

“Steal a car,” Seth said.

“What?” Jaden panted, leaning over and clutching his knees, breathing hard.

“You have to steal a car. Something common.”

“I—can’t—drive,” he breathed.

“Sure you can. Steal an automatic, anyone can drive those. Anyway, you’re running on foot, touching everything, and leaving a better scent for the dogs. Take a car and your scent goes with it. You’ll just drive it a few miles then leave it and run off in the opposite direction. It’s not like you’re taking it permanently,” Seth said.

Jaden padded onto the street, looking into the cars as he passed them. “No one is going to leave their keys in the car,” he whispered to Seth.

“Of course not. You’re going to start it,” he said.

“How the hell am I going to do that? I can’t hot wire a car!”

Seth frowned. “
Please
. You have to stop thinking like that. Use your head, and I mean that literally. A car engine is just a bunch of moving parts. When you stick a key in and turn the ignition, the car comes on, right?” Seth said.

“I guess,” Jaden said.

“So then just turn the ignition without the key!” Seth said.

Jaden came to a silver Honda Accord with an automatic transmission. He only hoped it didn’t have an alarm. Unlocking it was no problem, he could always do that, even before knew what his ability was called. He gently opened the door, his eyes screwed shut—no alarm came. He sat in the driver’s seat, Seth in the passenger’s. Whoever owned the car was shorter than Jaden, so he adjusted the seat, then placed his hands on the steering wheel. Sitting felt incredible, he wondered why he never appreciated it before. His head hit the back of the chair and he closed his eyes.

“Turn the ignition,” Seth said. “You can’t sleep now, we have to cover more distance and find a place to stay for the rest of the night.”

Jaden slapped his face and stared at the wheel, trying to concentrate on what he needed to do. He didn’t know how a car worked. Seth reminded him he didn’t need to, just turn the engine over.

“Okay,” Jaden said, and he wrapped his mind around the task.

The engine revved into life.

“Ha ha!” Seth said.

“Now what?” Jaden asked.

“Drive!” Seth said, grinning.

Jaden didn’t know which was the brake and which was the gas pedal.

“Put it in drive first,” Seth said, pointing at the gear box.

Jaden tried pushing the lever from P to D, but nothing happened.

“Depress the brake pedal,” Seth suggested, and before Jaden could ask which was the brake, Seth said “Try the big one.”

Jaden put the car in drive and released the brake, and the car crawled forward. He pushed the brake—the car stopped suddenly—his head hit the steering wheel. Rubbing it, he tried the other pedal and the car lurched forward. He hit the brake again, then the gas pedal—the car jumped.

“Lightly!” Seth yelled.

“Shut up, I’m trying!”

After one block of rough driving, Jaden finally got the hang of it and lightly pressed the gas pedal, smoothly speeding forward. At each stop sign, Jaden slowed and made sure no cars were coming, then punched the pedal to cross.

Traveling by car was much faster than walking, and (though Jaden already knew that) never was he more grateful. They quickly covered five miles, passing through neighborhoods and then into town. For a moment, Jaden wondered if he was in San Francisco anymore, as dozens of red, white and green flags popped up all over the buildings, in windows, everywhere.

“It’s an Italian area,” Seth said sagely. “Turn left.”

Jaden did, driving until he came to a one way street.

“Go right,” Seth said before Jaden stopped.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

Jaden looked around. To his left was another park. He wondered if the city was full of them, or if he had a string of good luck. On his left was a liquor shop and a bar.

“We’re going there,” Seth said, pointing through the park.

“Why?” Jaden asked. He drove straight, and watched the park as he passed it. On the other side was a magnificent white building, with two ornate towers that pierced the dark night sky. The building was well lit, and Jaden wanted nothing to do with it. It was obviously a church.

“You’re going in there,” Seth said.

“I hate churches,” Jaden said, driving away from it.

“You don’t,” Seth said. “You’ve never been in one. Besides, it’s the last place anyone will look for you. Joseph won’t bang down a church door to find you.”

“How can you be so sure?” Jaden asked.

“I’m not. I’m guessing.” Seth pointed to the side of a street. “Park here and we’ll run.”

Jaden parked and turned off the engine but did not get out.

“I don’t like churches,” Jaden said again, this time more firmly. “You should know that.”

Seth grabbed Jaden’s shoulder. “It’s safe in there.”

“I’m not religious,” Jaden said. “Not at all.”

“It’s well lit, it’s big, and Joseph knows you don’t like them. It’s the last place he’d expect you to go, so we should go there.”

“Won’t he be expecting me to go to the last place he’d expect me to go?” Jaden said, crossing his arms. “You’re assuming he’s an idiot.”

“You’re assuming he knows you have help. Now get out. We’re going into that church.”

Jaden wiped the steering wheel and gear lever with his sweatshirt, removing his fingerprints. He quietly shut the car door and locked it from the inside, then hitched his backpack further up his shoulders and ran regretfully for the church.

Up close it was massive and seemed to glow. The church was an elaborate building, with a large archway above the main entrance. A statue of an angel was high on the left wall, while a statue of an eagle was on the right. Above the main doors was Jesus, his arms open wide, his halo beaming grooves. Underneath him, just above the door was a phrase “Per L’Universo” which Jaden didn’t understand.

The door swung out to him as he reached for it, and with an ominous feeling, Jaden entered.

It was spectacular. Even though the lights were dim, the church itself was awesome. The ceiling went up forever, and the embellished artwork on the arched pillars and domes was so detailed Jaden had to get a closer look. At the front of the church, Jesus floated above what appeared to be a white castle, which towered over a table.

It was cavernous, and deadly quiet.