Portal Combat (25 page)

"This isn't funny!" Dhiraj fumed. "Stay out of our heads."

Redican took on his best teacher voice. "Dhiraj, can you honestly say you don't want to learn your girlfriend's secrets? There are some good ones to choose from."

Jennifer wanted to turn around and put her hands around Redican's throat, but she felt so lethargic from having him in her head, he probably would've dodged any kind of attack.

Sheriff Norris' voice shook with anger. "You're here for one reason, Redican. If you don't stop, I'll put you in solitary for the rest of your life."

Redican rested his arms behind the back seat, stretching out as wide as he could, as if he owned the place. "You can't do that, Sheriff. You need me. Just like your daughter needed to be suspended from field hockey."

Jennifer felt her stomach drop.

Dhiraj looked confused. "Is that why you were home the other day?"

She turned toward the back. "What other day? Were you spying on me?"

"I must've been," Dhiraj said. "How else would I have seen you hang up on me?"

Jennifer shook her head and looked to her father for support.

He wore as dour an expression as Dhiraj. "What'd you do to get suspended?"

She smacked the dashboard. "I got a little overzealous protecting a teammate."

Redican chuckled. "Overzealous? You gave the girl two black eyes." He turned toward Dhiraj. "Personally, I think field hockey could do with more fighting. Don't you agree?"

Dhiraj swung his fist at Redican's face. The former teacher juked at just the right moment to avoid the punch.

"We've come to blows already? There are so many more secrets to share." Redican resumed his deep concentration.

"We'll take you right back, Redican, I swear–"

Her father abruptly cut off and stared straight ahead.

She touched his shoulder. "Dad?"

The car drifted out of the lane ever so slightly. She whipped back around to see Redican staring at her father.

She screamed. "Your stupid game is so important you have to mess with the person driving our car?!"

Redican smiled through the strain before relaxing. Sheriff Norris jerked the car back into the lane, gritting his teeth. Jennifer looked back at Redican, who appeared even happier than before.

"What a thing to keep from your daughter." Redican licked his lips. "And I thought lawmakers were always honest."

Before her father could speak, Jennifer felt the words leap out of her throat. "I don't want to know. If there's anything my dad isn't telling me, there's probably a good reason."

Her father smiled over at her, though she could tell he was doing it through the same sharp pain that she was feeling. "Thanks, honey."

Redican laughed. "What an adorable father and daughter. It's a shame I won't get to see you two when you move to the west coast."

Dhiraj choked on his saliva. "He's kidding, right?"

Jennifer's head whipped over to her father. Her hand started to shake.

"Move? Why would we move?"

Sheriff Norris glared at the rear-view mirror before attempting to console his daughter. "Nothing's in stone yet. I've just been applying for jobs in other cities that might pay more. It's all very prelim–"

Before Jennifer had a chance to respond, Redican's voice became robotic once again. "Take this exit on the right."

The sheriff's car was in the far left lane when he got the notice. With the skill only a lawman could possess, he merged through two lanes, snuck in between two cars in the third and sped ahead of one more before merging into the exit. As they got off the highway, the car pulled onto a high-end residential street with large houses and gardens that were more like art than shrubbery. Jennifer didn't recognize where they were in the slightest.

She looked over at her father. Jennifer never lost trust in her father's driving, but the possibility of them moving during her senior year made her question him about more pressing matters. She looked back at Redican, and the happy-go-lucky baddie who'd just taken a tour through their memories was gone, replaced by dead eyes and a stare.

"I was going to tell you if anything materialized." Sheriff Norris coughed. "I thought with a new job I could help you pay for college."

Jennifer put her hands over her eyes. "Dad, all my friends are here. Dhiraj is here. And I'm a senior!"

"But with college coming–"

In the midst of the conversation, Jennifer barely heard the click of Redican undoing his seatbelt. As the vehicle chugged along at 20 miles per hour, Redican opened the car door. "Erica's in trouble. I have to help her."

With that, the man rolled out of the moving vehicle.

Chapter 43

Ted's blood boiled as he watched Yoshi from across the room. The man had betrayed Erica and the entire light soul cause. If he'd been chosen as the living soul, maybe Ted wouldn't have had the burden of heroism, but the world would be in grave danger. It would've been like Adam, the living soul Erica needed to put down, all over again.

Ted circled to his left. "Did Senator Kable put you up to this?"

Yoshi slid his feet in the opposite direction. "I'm tired of following plans. The elders told me I was strong enough to be the living soul if I continued to follow the plan. No more plans."

Yoshi rushed Ted as soon as he finished speaking. Ted put up his hands and tried to push away Yoshi's first kick. The samurai's foot blew right by Ted's powers and into the side of his face.

Ted attempted to push off his feet and into the air. No such luck.

Yoshi grinned. "I suppose I've caught you on an off day. How fortunate."

The samurai ran for Ted again and swung his feet forward. This time, Ted slammed his wrist into Yoshi's ankle to block the kick. He scrambled backward.

The fight. The fight and the blood loss. I'm just too weak.

Ted looked around the dimly lit room. A beam of light shined down on a long metal pipe. He dove toward it and lifted the weapon into the air. It was heavy, but thankfully Erica's training had been focused on more than telekinesis alone.

Ted lifted the pipe like a sword, as Yoshi removed an actual sword from his sheath. The samurai whipped his weapon through the air and moved toward Ted. Yoshi swung the blade, and Ted brought up his pipe to meet it. The clanging sound reverberated throughout the room. Yoshi pushed back, but Ted held his ground.

"You know, Kikuchiyo wasn't my true friend." Yoshi leapt back and came in for another blow.

Ted felt the strain in his back as he repelled the strike.

Yoshi chuckled. "Kind of like how Erica doesn't really love you."

Ted's adrenaline doubled at the insult. "You don't know anything about us!"

He used his anger to go on the offensive. The pipe slammed into Yoshi's sword hand. The man let out a yelp of pain as he dropped his weapon, but he swiped the hilt out of the air with his opposite hand, almost like a reflex.

Ted swung his pipe again.

Yoshi parried with ease, despite the change of hand. He took a massive slice out of Ted's weapon with his sword, the blade lodging itself halfway through the pipe.

"When you die, she'll move onto her next mission so fast, it'll be like you never existed."

Ted screamed and put all his might into tossing the pipe across the room. Yoshi didn't expect the move, and his sword remained lodged in Ted's weapon as it flew into the adjacent wall. Ted took advantage of Yoshi's lapse in concentration, ducking under a half-hearted blow and jamming his fist in the samurai's abdomen. He let four more punches fly – two in the chest, one in the arm and one in the head. Yoshi went down to one knee.

"Maybe she only loves me because I'm the living soul. So what? It's more than you'll ever be."

Before Ted could react, Yoshi kicked with alarming speed at Ted's knee. He felt something tear inside, sending a shockwave of pain through his left leg. Ted pushed off his good leg and sent himself as far away from Yoshi as he could. The stabbing sensation in his knee repeated itself every second as he hobbled on one leg.

Yoshi stood up and walked slowly toward Ted. The hero hopped backward with each step the samurai took. Yoshi made a running motion, causing Ted to plant both feet. The pain forced Ted to fall down, his head nearly hitting the wall behind him. He scrunched up his face and did his best to ignore the agony.

Yoshi's smile was now firmly planted. He took a jog to the other side of the room to dislodge his sword from the pipe. His gait seemed to mock Ted's injury.

"The light souls will have no other choice but to give me the power. I'm the only one who can stop what's coming."

Ted used his hands to scoot backward. He rested his neck and spine on the wall behind him. Yoshi moved into position to deliver one final deathblow. Ted prayed that his powers would come back to him.

Please. Please let me have something left.

He felt something unfamiliar building inside him, but none of it seemed to manifest itself outwardly.

Ted pointed at Yoshi. "You're no true hero. You're a traitor who missed your chance. You'll never have the power. Killing me won't get you anything."

Yoshi gripped his sword tighter. "Maybe not. But at least it'll send a message."

The samurai wound up. Ted thought of Erica. He hoped that wherever she was, she'd be able to avenge his death. He closed his eyes and put up his hands. Ted heard the sword whooshing through the air, until it was drowned out by another noise.

Yoshi's scream caused Ted to open his eyes. Between the samurai and himself, a blue portal had opened on a diagonal plane. As Ted looked deep within the gateway, he could faintly make out Yoshi falling. The samurai still clutched his sword as he vanished out of view.

Unlike the portals he'd seen before, Ted could feel some kind of connection with this one.

I made this. I saved myself.

Ted stretched out his hand and the portal widened. He closed his fingers and the gateway closed completely. When he shifted his hand again, nothing happened. The portal had completely disappeared, taking his assailant along with it.

PART FIVE

Chapter 44

Jennifer's seatbelt pulled tight against her chest when Sheriff Norris slammed on the breaks. She turned to see a wide-open back door and Redican running onto the lawn of a massive property. Her adrenaline kicked in and she undid her belt to chase after the man.

"Honey, wait!"

Jennifer threw a thumbs-up over her shoulder to assure her father. She heard a pair of sneakers whacking against the sidewalk before Dhiraj reached her side.

He called over his shoulder with some difficulty. "Don't worry... Sheriff... we've got this!"

Jennifer cut around a bush carved in the shape of an elephant and picked up the pace. Redican was much more spry than she would've guessed. She barely caught a glimpse of him as he dashed between a lion bush and a set of trees at the end of one property.

She frowned at her cohort. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about–"

Dhiraj put up a hand. "Later. I need to focus or I'll trip."

She nodded. "Fine, but don't slow me down." 

His heavy breathing reminded her of a woman in labor. "It's moments like this... I'm glad... I got a treadmill desk."

Darkness was starting to descend and Jennifer was afraid they'd lose Redican as he dashed between more shrubbery. She looked over at Dhiraj. One of his hands clutched at his right side, as if his lungs would fall out if he didn't.

"You okay?"

Dhiraj grunted. "Just a cramp. Couldn't he... give us directions... instead of... racing us there?"

Jennifer shrugged. "Maybe Erica's thing only works in straight lines."

They spied Redican in the distance. He didn't even wait for traffic to stop as he crossed a street at full speed. One luxury vehicle skidded to a halt and another honked, but Redican didn't slow down. Jennifer waved her apology as she and Dhiraj passed in front of the stopped cars. The vehicles, like the properties around them, were too rich for her blood. She wondered if Dhiraj had any pictures of this town on his vision board. Living here was certainly something to aspire to, though it wasn't her sort of thing.

Jennifer's feet hit grass, then road, then grass again. She started to make up ground. Or was Redican slowing?

After the seemingly endless chase, Redican came to a stop outside of an eight-foot-high brick wall. Jennifer halted just behind him, while Dhiraj collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving up and down in rapid succession.

She put her hands on her knees and watched Redican make several unsuccessful attempts to jump and climb the walls.

Her eyes turned to Dhiraj. "You know, you're supposed to stay on your feet after a run."

Dhiraj coughed. "Sorry... can't listen... dying."

Jennifer offered him a hand up, but Dhiraj ignored it.

"She's in trouble." Redican started to pace. "She's in trouble and I need to help."

After catching her breath, Jennifer dialed up her dad and directed him over to the address. When he arrived, the three of them watched Redican wear a hole in the street with his pacing.

Jennifer let out a long, slow exhale. "You couldn't have come running after him, too?"

He smiled. "I thought I'd let you run for two."

A video screen on the wall interrupted their conversation. Jennifer hadn't noticed it before, as the monitor seamlessly melded into the brick.

"Excuse me. If you're here for Senator Kable, he's in Philadelphia preparing for the rally."

Kable's house. Of course.

Her father stepped ahead to the screen. "This is Sheriff Norris of the Treasure Sherriff's Department. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Dhiraj put up his hand from the grass. "Tell her if they have any prisoners to let them go." He coughed again. "And ask if they have water."

The woman on the other end of the screen maintained a neutral demeanor. "I'm sorry, Sherriff Norris, but you'll have to come back in a couple of days when the senator returns."