Mania (27 page)

Thirty-Five
Jack

My mind whizzed through the possibilities. I wasn't sure if this would work, but since Parker had made eye contact with Cooper last, and I was here in his mind … then he definitely had to be connected to us both.

“I think we need to try to take Cooper down … from the inside out.” I spoke the words slowly, knowing this went against everything I'd ever taught Parker about being a Watcher. We always tried not to hurt anyone … but this time was different. It was Cooper.

“You mean, from inside his mind?” Parker asked, and then looked at Darkness. They both seemed doubtful.

“Cooper has tons of neat drugs to play with, Jack.” Darkness's frown deepened. “One of them has supercharged his mind somehow. He's insane … but very strong.”

“I think the drug is part of why he's so messed up.” Parker rubbed his hands over his knees. “I think it might have made him the way he is.”

I lay on my back, thinking about alternatives for a few seconds, but came up empty. “I think this is our best shot. There are three of us … ”

They looked at each other and Parker said, “Not really, though.”

“No, you're right. But your mind is so strong with you Divided, even after all they've done to you, that I can literally feel it vibrating in the dream around me, Parker.” I couldn't keep my voice from sounding a little impressed. “When you two work together, you're formidable—even without me.” I tried to infuse my voice with all the confidence I could gather. “And
with
me—we can do this.”

Parker and Darkness looked at each other and then back at me. “So now what?”

That question had been bothering me too. What if it was hours before Cooper went to sleep? What if the Takers found Chloe before we even had a chance to do this? What if Cooper started killing other people because he got bored waiting?

“I'm not sure,” I said. “I guess we hope he goes to sleep sooner rather than later.”

Darkness gave a short, barking laugh. Parker shot me a dark look and said, “Cooper's even more tired than me. Half the time he falls asleep standing up.”

“While torturing us,” Darkness added.

“So it shouldn't be too long.”

“Good.” Except for the mention of torture, I felt mostly relieved by what they'd said. “All we need is an instant of Cooper dozing off. I can trap him while we fight.”

“Before that happens, tell me what to expect.” Parker sat forward. “Don't we need a plan for what to do in there?”

“Well … ” I wanted to give him some idea of what we should do, but I really didn't have that answer.

“What will it be like when we're all connected to the same dream?” Parker asked.

I tried to scramble together something to tell him … a starting place if nothing else. If Cooper was as strong as Parker said and we went in there unprepared, we could be in serious trouble.

But the truth was, I had no clue what to expect or how to attack in a situation like this. I'd never heard of anyone doing it.

The next instant, I knew that any time for preparation was gone. It was now or never—the dream around us was vibrating so hard my head started to hurt. Cooper must have been falling asleep.

“Just keep fighting him, Parker,” I said. “Giving up in here could mean dying. Keep fighting and I'll find you.”

The suffocating blackness of Parker's mind melded with a new layer that felt thicker and firmer than the rest. I immediately felt around for the new presence. It wasn't hard. Cooper's mind felt so intense it clashed with every dream layer it touched. It seemed like sound waves in an echo chamber, bouncing against everything remotely close to it.

Focusing every ounce of energy I had left, I fought through the layers and closed in on him quickly. Reaching out my hand, I phased my fingers out and jammed them roughly into Cooper's leg. He cried out in pain and I heard a bashing sound nearby as Parker and Darkness broke into Cooper's cocoon too.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cooper looked down at me, thrashing his leg, trying to free it from my grip, but I held tight. I focused all of my energy on tying his mind here, keeping him bound to this dream and to me. If he was going to get free, he'd have to rip me apart. Which, from the excruciating pain I felt every time he tried to pull free, was absolutely possible.

I hoped Parker was ready for this.

“I'm keeping him here,” I yelled to Parker, and Cooper pulled even harder, realizing what we were doing. “You have to hone in on his mind and do the opposite of everything I've ever told you. Get in his mind and tear each bit away. Any kind of damage you can do will help.”

“You can't do this.” Cooper laughed and yanked away again. My mind felt like it was exploding with every tug. “You're not strong enough … even together.”

“Parker!” I screamed, trying to get him to move before I lost my ability to fight altogether.

He and Darkness flew into action. They dove toward Cooper's back and I felt a physical shuddering in the dream world around me as Parker slammed his fingers into Cooper's body.

Now Cooper was the one screaming.

Darkness stepped directly into Parker and disappeared—they were working as one. The shudders of the world became strong as an earthquake. Cooper stopped moving. He stopped pushing me away. He raised his hands to his head and pressed them against his forehead.

Suddenly his thoughts and memories flooded into me. He was using them to push me away. I saw him torturing my brother as if I were the one doing it; I felt his joy at seeing him die and bringing him back. I saw a white room with unbelievably bright lights where they'd injected Parker with a black, sinister-looking drug. I jerked my hand out of him like he'd burned me, and Cooper closed the cocoon of darkness around me.

“Jack!” Parker yelled, and I knew he was now both holding Cooper and trying to attack him.

I dug into the dream space, heading that direction, and broke through after a few seconds. In that short time, Cooper had already gained so much ground. Parker was still holding on, but he was down on his knees and looked like he was having convulsions. I dived forward, steeling myself again as I stuck my hand back into Cooper.

Parker stopped shaking and got back on his feet. My heart ached as Cooper bombarded me again with the horrifying memories … but I held on, realizing Cooper's whole plan was to make me let go. Because Parker was winning his battle—and Cooper wanted desperately to run before it was too late.

Parker attacked viciously, going through behind the memories Cooper was hitting me with and tearing them to pieces with terrifying ferocity. Cooper howled in pain with each one.

Then new memories came to light, unbidden. I saw Cooper punishing Takers for as little as noticing his exhaustion. I saw Cooper killing people he only suspected of being Builders and Watchers—the way he'd seen his father do, except—as Cooper was committed to being more than his father was—he was willing to do anything.

And I saw Cooper screaming at Joey for helping my brother.

Then he stopped paying attention to me, and Parker yelled out as Cooper started to fight him. Darkness reappeared, like Cooper had somehow managed to separate them. He fell to the ground, struggling to get back up. Parker screamed in pain and my heart filled with panic. Cooper was winning again …

But only because he'd stopped fighting me.

Refocusing my energy, I only used a tiny piece of my mind to chain him here. With the rest, I did exactly what I'd asked Parker to do. I began ripping Cooper's mind apart.

I started with his memories of all the Night Walkers he'd murdered. Using my mind, I pictured shattering each memory like a piece of glass, smashing them into a million pieces. Cooper reacted violently, but I held on, tearing through him as quickly as I could.

Every move I made damaged me. The effort it took to break one piece of him away was unbelievable, but I kept fighting. I left shredded memories in my wake—of his father, of his brother. I realized that the memories of him being cruel to Parker and Chloe were the easiest to destroy. Others were harder. The one of him finding his father dead was the hardest. It was tied to an emotion I recognized too well—grief.

Then everything got easier, faster. I looked up and saw that Darkness and Parker were united again, and they were plowing through what remained of Cooper's mind faster than I could keep track. Parker looked ragged, staggering to his knees again as he kept fighting through the pain I could see in his eyes.

“No! Please!” Cooper cried out, and then the last piece of what made him Cooper exploded, along with the dream around us. The last thing I saw before I woke up was Parker sinking into the black swirls and out of sight.

Thirty-Six
Parker

I sat up straight in my chair and moaned out loud. It felt like my veins had been filled with glass. Every heartbeat sent slicing shards of pain throughout my body. My head was the worst. It was excruciating. I could barely think beneath it.

“Cooper?” I heard Joey's voice say, and lifted my head to see where he was.

He stood directly in front of me, staring right at me. I blinked and looked down at my hands. They were smaller than mine, and I wore Cooper's ring …

“
What the hell!? ”
Darkness stared at me from a spot on my right. He'd expressed my thoughts exactly. I'd somehow taken over … a Taker.

But when I honed in on my body and thoughts, the way I had with Dr. Rivera, there was nothing.

Cooper was gone, destroyed … and so I'd taken over
just
his body, because that's what Takers do.

“Are you okay?” Joey's words sounded concerned, but his voice was anything but. “When I came in, you were asleep in your chair, and then you started having some kind of seizure.”

“I'm … okay,” I answered slowly, then looked up at Joey as I tried to figure out what was happening. We were in an office, and it was just the two of us. No one else was here. I needed more information. “Did we find Jack and Chloe?”

Joey frowned deeply and then sighed. “You aren't hearing me. I don't know why I'm still surprised by that. I'm not just saying that
I
won't go out looking for them—I'm saying I'm not going to let
you
do it anymore.”

I couldn't keep the surprise from my voice. “You won't?”

“No. This has to stop, Cooper.” Joey lifted a gun from the desk beside him. “I don't want to hurt you, but I will
make
you stop. I'm not a Night Walker. I'm not a so-called god, as Dad called your kind—and maybe I
am
less than you, just like he always said. But this … ” He gestured toward the office door and his face showed genuine remorse. “You killed people out there today—people from both sides. This is war, and that's nothing new. You have to stop this now. Let's talk to Chloe and see what she has to say. She's our sister, Cooper.”

I grumbled a little, mostly buying time to figure out how to respond. Cooper would never agree to Joey's proposal. My hands grew sweaty; I could see in Joey's eyes just how serious he was about this. It seemed like I kept jumping out of the fire and into—another fire. “You're going to shoot me?” I asked.

Joey nodded without hesitation, and this time he pointed the gun at me. “I've wondered for a long time if Dad finally killed himself because he couldn't handle one more day of living the way he did, destroying people that way. I've been hoping you might figure that out before it was too late. But it's like you're only determined to outdo him. I'm done waiting.”

“Okay,” I answered slowly, trying my best to sound reluctant. I'd had no idea Steve Campbell had killed himself. I was pretty sure even Jack didn't know about that.

Joey dropped the gun to his side, shock registering plainly on his face. “Okay?”

I thought about how to carry this charade on, but the truth was that Cooper would go down swinging in this situation … or he'd survive through deceit. He might agree to Joey's demands, and then have one of the guards shoot Joey the instant they were out the door. This family had so many secrets … just like mine. It was time for the truth. My only chance was to tell him everything and hope Joey was the kind of guy, deep down, that I was starting to suspect he was.

“I need to tell you something.” My speech was slurred and my eyelids drooped. I raised my hands, signifying surrender, and Joey's eyes narrowed.

“What?”

I climbed painfully to my feet to make sure I could stay awake. Who knew what would happen if I fell asleep again and disconnected from this body? “I'm not Cooper. I'm Parker.”

Joey lowered his chin in obvious disbelief, raising his gun again.

“We were in a dream, and we fought … I'm not sure how, but apparently I've taken over his body.” I stared Joey straight in the eye, trying to show him that I was telling the truth. “You brought me food and water. I know you aren't a Taker.”

Joey shook his head. “Cooper knows all those things. This doesn't make sense. Why are you trying to convince me that … ”

“Because it's true, Joey.” I fought back another wave of exhaustion and continued. “But I'm not sure how long I can stay awake and in control here, so maybe we should take advantage of the moment. I can tell all of the Takers that Cooper has—that
I
have—changed my mind. I'll tell them I'm putting you in charge. You know that blue vial Jack tried to give Cooper earlier? It's a new drug that could save the Takers. But it won't allow them to hurt other people, so in that way it's far better than Eclipse. It's called Spectrum. We
have
a way to help—I just need to convince the other Takers it's worth a try.”

Joey stood there staring at me, his forehead deeply furrowed, watching me closely.

Darkness shook his head. “I'm not sure he's buying it.”

“I need your help to do this, Joey.” The pleading tone in my voice came through loud and clear.

“How do I know this isn't some elaborate lie so you can get to your guards and then tell them to kill me?” Joey's gaze was so hard, it felt like he was trying to read my mind. He probably wished he could.

“Isn't the fact that you have to ask that question proof that your brother
has
to be stopped?” I yawned and leaned back against the wall behind me.

Darkness showed up at my elbow and clapped his hands loudly in front of my face. “We have to stay awake, and hurry. It will be very bad if this body finally gives out while we're still in it. We don't want to go down with this ship.”

I nodded slowly and stood up straight.

“What position did I play on our soccer team?” Joey asked, his eyes focused on mine.

It took me a second to answer because I was so surprised at the obvious question. “You were a fullback. Cooper wouldn't know that?”

Joey stuck the gun into the back of his pants and his expression was heartbreakingly sad when he replied. “He never cared enough to pay attention to anything I did.”

I stepped forward and shook my head. “That was a mistake … one of many that Cooper made. But I made that one too.”

Joey's expression was part surprise and part suspicion.

“I should've tried harder to get to know you before now,” I said. “Maybe we could've stopped this sooner—before it got so terrible.” I extended my hand toward him. “But we have a chance to stop it now. Are you in?”

He stared at my hand for a few seconds before shaking it with his massive one. “I'm in.”