Oblivion (2 page)

THREE

Jeremiah

Hiding in plain
sight is something I am very familiar with. Watching the Tracker… No, Jason; he
is Jason. Over the last few days I watched him, making sure those who held him
did no further damage to him. The Hunter had fallen to insanity, but they
caused the so-called ‘accident’ that killed him. Whether they meant to or not,
the accident had injured Jason as well. Reinjured, I should say. He had still
been sporting injuries from his fight with the Hunter. That he had been
unconscious in the trunk may have saved his life. He hadn’t been severely
injured by the crash, but had been unconscious for most of the last few days.

Every time one of
them came near the boy… the man… I now considered a friend, I wanted to destroy
them. But attacking would only inform them that I was there, and stall any
plans I may have for rescuing Jason.

So far, my
presence remained unknown, and I couldn’t risk Jason’s escape by attacking
prematurely. He could get hurt, and I can’t carry him out of here. Not while
he’s unconscious anyway.

When he finally
stirred, I hid myself out of habit. It would be interesting to see his reaction
to my appearance.

After all, he
still thinks I’m dead.

He looked around
the dark room, his eyes briefly settling on the corner where I hid, although
that was probably nothing. As I was not moving, he shouldn’t be able to sense
my presence.

But someone else
was. A presence was in my mind… searching. Jason’s little brother. Unexpected.
Unwelcome. The boy was searching for me… or rather the person I’d been
pretending to be for almost two years. Right now, the boy could be no help.

“Get out of my
head, little boy!”
my mental voice pushed into his mind.

While I was
dealing with my unwelcome intruder, Jason was trying to get up, and beginning
to panic when the pain hit him. I wanted to help him; to unlock the door or
window and simply remove him from this place. From what I’d seen so far, escape
wouldn’t be that easy.

What was revealed
in the following conversation was almost completely unforeseen: Jason couldn’t
remember anything. He had no idea who he was, what he could do. He didn’t know
our connection, or why I would risk my own safety to help him now. It was more
of a blow than I expected. I had suspected something happened in his mind
before the accident, but I had no idea what it was until he told me.

Before we could
delve into
why
he’d lost his memory, Jason turned his head toward the
hall as if hearing something. His eyes were wide with fear. He didn’t know what
he was feeling, and still he knew whatever he sensed was to be feared.

“I’m with you. If
they do anything to hurt you, I will stop them,” I tried to assure him.

Jason’s mouth
gaped open as he watched me fade from his sight. I turned off the light so his
captors would have no reason to suspect anything was amiss. His breaths came
faster as the room darkened. I wanted nothing more than to get him out, but what
I told him earlier was correct. His legs are not yet steady enough to get him
out. Soon. “Soon, Jason. We’ll get out of here and figure out a way to stop
these people.”

Before I appeared
in all my scarred glory, Jason was the one person I thought would recognize my
true face. I thought about keeping the persona of Scott Nickels so he would
wake to a friendly face. It had taken nearly two years, but Scott managed to
break through at least some of Jason’s walls. He was becoming a friend.

I thought about
it, but decided against it.

Maybe I hoped he
could view me as a friend too. But he thought I was dead. Everybody thinks I’m
dead. Death is a great way to gain freedom. But it also prevented me from
proving myself to Jason. If I had remained alive, the Tracker would have hunted
me down. The Earthshaker was afraid of me, and—as the one person in the world
who could sense when I was near him—he would likely have killed me. Now, Jason
has the potential to be a friend.

It took a few
minutes for the kidnappers to show. Jason may not remember anything, but
apparently his tracking ability is alive and well. The man who entered wore a
medical mask and a cap, along with surgical scrubs. His identity was unknown,
but he appeared to be the man in charge of taking care of Jason as he recovered
from his fight with the Hunter, and the car crash.

Jason tensed,
obviously uncomfortable with the silent scrutiny, and the inability to tell the
man’s identity. “Who are you?” he asked. “Where am I?”

He didn’t ask the
obvious: Who am I? Perhaps he didn’t want these people to know just how
vulnerable he truly is. Always a master at protecting himself. “
It’s
okay, Jason,” I said. “He can’t hear me or see me, but
I will protect you if he tries anything.”

Even not knowing
anything about what was happening, Jason was incredibly good at pretending I
wasn’t there. “What do you want?” he asked again, his tone more demanding this
time.

“We already have
it.” The man spoke for the first time. Even while helping Jason the last couple
days, he never spoke a word.

Jason’s eyes
narrowed and I could practically feel his destructive power straining to let
loose. “What do you mean by that?” His voice was as tight as his fist, and I
knew he was close to losing his temper.

“Settle, Jason,” I
cautioned. “Now is not the time. I need to scout an escape, and you’re in no
condition to run.”

His captor glanced
at a chart, and Jason sent a glare in my general direction. I could read the
“and why should I trust you?” in that glare, and raised my shoulders slightly
even though he couldn’t see it.

“You want out, and
I want to get you out. These people don’t know you.”

The one-sided
conversation served only one purpose: to stop Jason from causing this place to
crumble to the ground. Once we were out, fine. Until then, I couldn’t allow him
to lose his temper. With his memory, his power was—at least mostly—under
control. Without it, I had no such assurance. Chances are that he has no idea
what he is capable of, and has no idea how to prevent his power from setting
off an earthquake under us.

“You’re almost
ready,” the man said. “Eat your meal tonight and get some rest,” he almost
sounded… concerned. “You will need it tomorrow.”

“Why?” Jason drew
his gaze off mine, and warily eyed the scrub-clad man. “What’s tomorrow?”

FOUR

Sam

“Jason is alive!”
I interrupted the others as they searched through every scrap of information
about Hunter they were able to find. The same thing we’d been doing since Jason
disappeared three days ago. I’d finally felt him a few minutes after I
attempted to connect to Nickels. This was the first I felt from him since
before Hunter knocked him unconscious at his cabin. “He’s terrified, but he’s
alive!”

Alice, Mark, and
Hannah looked up at me in shock. “You’re sure?” Hannah asked, her eyes welling
with tears.

Nodding, I said,
“Positive. I know my brother’s emotions anywhere.”

Jumping to the
important things, Mark asked, “Is there anything else you can tell us? Any part
of his emotional state that can give us any clue as to where he might be, or
what’s happening?”

Concentrating
harder, I answered, “It seems like he’s far away, but I don’t know how far.
I’ve never tested my range, but when he was at the Farm with Mason, and I was
in the hospital in
Carndal
, his emotions were easier
to feel than now.”

“Okay, so it has
to be further away than that. Is there anything else?” Alice asked.

There was, but I
couldn’t explain it. Jason… well, he didn’t feel like himself. The constant
fear and tenseness about his power was missing. Sure he was scared, but it
wasn’t the same kind of fear.

“Something is… off,”
I finally said. “He’s scared, and confused, but he doesn’t feel normal to me.
And there’s something else… I think, well, I think someone is with him. There’s
a familiar personality nearby. I think
it’s
Nickels,
but I’m not completely sure. I never even attempted to feel his emotions before
the last few days, but he definitely feels familiar,” I said again.

“I knew it!” Mark
growled. “I knew there was something off with Nickels! First he was able to
push you from his mind, and now he is with Jason wherever he is.”

“But Jason doesn’t
seem afraid of him,” I said. “He almost seems relieved. There was a third
person in the same vicinity, and when that person left, it seemed like Jason
felt safer with Nickels—if it is Nickels.”

“Okay, so what is
Nickels thinking?” Alice asked, tapping a pen on the table near one of the
files.

Shrugging, I said,
“I have no idea. I can’t tell thoughts, only emotions. He seems worried, but
not afraid. Beyond that… hold on,” I pushed my ability, trying to force myself
to look beyond the surface emotions to those hidden behind the mental shields
Jason’s companion had erected.

“I told you to
stay away!”
The voice was back. It was the same person I contacted when I
tried to reach Nickels earlier.

“Sam?” Hannah
sounded concerned, and, when I looked at Alice and Mark, they appeared to share
that concern. I must have given something away when the man spoke to me.

“I’m fine. Give me
a moment.”

“Who are you?”
I
pushed the question into his mind.
“You aren’t Detective Nickels, so who are
you?”

The man seemed to
chuckle.
“I am Nickels. And yet, I am not. I have had many forms and many
names, but in none of them have I done something as grievous as what you have
done. To destroy one man’s mind, and wipe another clean… that is a truly
dangerous ability, young one.”

“What do you
mean? Whose mind is wiped clean? I—”

“You can
pretend, Oblivion, but you are more dangerous to your brother than I ever have
been.”

The tone was familiar, but it was
impossible. What I suspected couldn’t be. It couldn’t be the truth. He was
dead. And yet, the truth was impossible to ignore.

“Kindred,”
I
realized finally who this man truly was.
“I would never harm my brother.”
Recognizing what he called me, I asked,
“Why did you call me ‘Oblivion’? And
what do I need to do to get Jason back?”

I could feel my
breaths speeding up as I grew more agitated, suspecting, but not yet knowing,
what Kindred was about to tell me.

“First, do not
call me Kindred. I am Jeremiah. Second, you wiped your brother’s mind clean.
Perhaps you did it by mistake, but he remembers nothing. For now, I am the only
person he is able to trust. Third, Oblivion, you made him forget. You have a
dark power, little boy, one that you must learn to control before I allow you
near your brother again. Until you learn that control, there is nothing more
you can do for us.”

“Wait!”
My
mental voice nearly screamed at the thought I may have harmed my brother so severely.
“Is Jason okay? Aside from the memory loss, is he safe?”

I already
suspected the answer was no, but I wanted Jeremiah to admit that he may need
help.
“I may be able to help Jason remember. Fix his mind. But you need to
let us help you. My friends and I can help Jason and you.”

“We are not
safe, and Jason may be in more trouble than even I can help him with.”
Even
Jeremiah’s mental voice sounded disgruntled.
“Very well. We are about three
hours north of you, in Silvan City. I will tell you more once you arrive. But I
warn you, one wrong move in your brother’s mind, and I will do what I must to
protect my friend.”

Wanting to snap
that I would not hurt my brother, and that Kindred is definitely not Jason’s
friend, I instead took a deep breath and responded,
“Fine. We’ll head that
direction. But I will warn you, if you try to keep me from my brother, I will
do to you what I did to Hunter. He is
my
family, not yours! You will not
prevent me from reaching him. Do I have your understanding?”

Now I felt a new
emotion stirring in the assassin. Fear. It was a nice feeling, knowing I could
strike fear into the heart of such a powerful and dangerous man.

“We have an
understanding, Oblivion. We do not trust each other, but we have the same goal
in mind. For now, at least, we will work together to save Jason. Then you will
set him right. After that? Well, we shall see.”

Jeremiah
practically pushed me out of his head, and I almost stumbled forward. “Sam?
What’s going on?” Alice asked.

“Nickels is
Kindred,” I told them bluntly. “He must have faked his death. Now he’s going by
Jeremiah. He told me where Jason is. They’re in Silvan City. We need to get
there, now! He didn’t say what was going to happen, but he did tell me that
Jason’s in trouble.”

“Kindred’s alive?”
Alice asked. She took a quick step back in shock. “How?”

Mark shook his
head. His emotions swirled between shock, anger, and wary acceptance. “Think
about it, Alice. His powers. He can make people see what he wants them to see.
Jason knew only that he’d been shot. Once he was away from the one person who
could see through him, he did what he had to do to remain free.”

The agent gave a
huff of laughter. “Honestly, we probably shouldn’t be so surprised.”

Alice shook her
head, acceptance finally settling in. “Why pose as another cop? Why pretend to
be Scott Nickels for so long? And why couldn’t Jason see it?”

I honestly
wondered the same about Jason. As for Kindred… “He wanted to be Jason’s friend.
He posed as a cop to give himself credibility, and then allowed events to flow
around him so Jason wouldn’t suspect anything. The only thing Jase ever told me
is that Nickels always seemed a little too interested in his past.”

“Sam, was there
anything else Jeremiah told you? Anything about how Jason is doing?” Hannah asked.

She alone didn’t
seem to care about how or why Kindred faked his death, or what he would do now.
All she wanted was to know my brother was safe.

I couldn’t tell
her what she wanted to know.

Nothing about what
Kindred told me was comforting. The only good thing he said is that Jason is
still alive. We’d traded one psycho for another, and once again Jason’s life
was threatened. Unlike with Mason, Hunter, or even Kindred, we had no idea what
this new enemy might want.

Whatever they
wanted with Jason had been complicated by my inadvertent actions. All I wanted
was for Jason to be safe. To be able to live his life without fear. I never
wanted to hurt him. I wouldn’t necessarily say it out loud, but my brother has
always been my hero. That I had enjoyed manipulating his emotions hurt me. I
didn’t want to become one of the monsters who harmed my brother. I couldn’t be
the same as one of them. It wasn’t possible. He always wanted what was best for
me, and I for him. When I’d wished for him to be able to forget all the bad
things in his life, I never meant for it to happen.

So I didn’t want
to tell them what Jeremiah said. I didn’t want my family to look at me like I’m
a monster. But they did need to know what we were facing once we managed to
save Jason.

Hannah was
watching me, her hands clenched together and face pinched with worry.

“Yeah,” I finally admitted.
“He told me Jason doesn’t remember anything.”

And I am the
cause.