The Forbidden Trilogy (40 page)

"Do you really think I want anything to do with you and
your stupid little group? I am way too cool for all that and wouldn't be caught
dead with you!"

Gary ignored her attitude and turned his attention to
Darren, who focused on levitating a rock by his foot. "Darren, what about
you?"

"I've got to agree with Mary on this one, but not for
the same reasons. I just think you're fighting the wrong people. Rent-A-Kid
keeps us safe. I know it's gotten a lot worse around here, but it's to protect
us. Who knows what the rest of the world would do if we were discovered?"

Lucy left them and continued back to her room. Mary's
refusal didn't surprise her—she would always look out for herself and no one
else—but Darren's response was concerning. How many other students felt they
were better off trapped here than out in the world, free?

***

The rest of the week came and went in a blur of para-power
practice sessions.

Luke and Lucy stood in the training arena with dozens of
other students, each practicing their shadow power. Lucy focused on her brother
and compelled him to lie.

"At night I like to wear ladies underwear and dance
around singing show tunes." Luke's face turned bright red as the room
erupted in laughter.

"Lucy, I'm so going to kick your butt for that."
He held up his hands.

Lucy tried to move, but the air around her had thickened and
held her prisoner. When she opened her mouth to talk, another draft of air
tightened around her jaw, so she could only grunt.

"Now who's laughing, Sis?" Luke released her and
she mock-punched him. She was happy they could all laugh and enjoy something,
if only for a few days.

In the corner, one kid screamed. Desirai looked up.
"I'm sorry. I think I should stop practicing. Giving waking nightmares to
people is going to send everyone into therapy."

Okay, she thought, maybe it wasn't
all
enjoyable.
"I know some shadow powers are scarier than others, but we all need to
strengthen these muscles if we want to defeat the people who are keeping us
prisoner."

Each night, after everyone had retired to their rooms, Lucy
found herself again mesmerized by the powerful sphere she'd acquired in Russia.
A rush of calm flowed through her whenever she focused on the soft light that
sometimes emanated from it.

The next day during training, the loudspeaker came to life.
"LUKE AND LUCY, REPORT TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE RIGHT AWAY."

Everyone stopped practicing and looked to her and Luke.
"We'll be fine. Let's call it a day for now and meet up tomorrow. Just go
to your rooms and stay out of everyone's way."

Lucy spent a lot of time telling everyone how fine it would
all be, and almost no time believing it herself. Her sense of foreboding
increased as she and Luke crossed the campus.

The headmaster's office had changed very little compared to
the broken man sitting behind the desk. "Thank you both for coming. I'm
afraid you are being requested for another assignment, something urgent that
can't wait."

Luke's face hardened into granite. "You cannot be
serious. Have you seen my sister's face? She still hasn't recovered from the
last assignment, thanks to your head goon. He beat her nearly to death, even
after she completed her assignment and brought back what was asked for. If it
hadn't been for the clinic's miracle drug, she'd still be bedridden right
now."

The flesh of Higgins's face sagged off his skull like a man
being stripped of his skin. "This is beyond me. I am only relaying the
message. It's just an assignment like any other. Do it and be back in no
time."

Lucy tried to read him, but something prevented her. She
knew her powers were working, so something must have been protecting him.

She needed to assess what was truth and what wasn't. This
whole situation felt very off.

Higgins had tells like anyone else, so Lucy focused on his
body language and the inflection of his voice. She also tried to read the micro
expressions in his face. Luke had been right. After all these years of seeing
the difference, she should be able to tell when someone was lying—even without
her powers.

Lucy leaned forward. "I can't go on another assignment.
I'm still having trouble breathing at times. What happened to your policy of
not sending kids out unless they passed the health screening? There's no way
I'd pass one now."

Higgins shifted in his chair, looked down at his hands and
fidgeted with his tie. His left eye twitched a fraction when he looked up at
her. "It's going to be fine. You'll be back before you know it."

He'd lied. She was sure of it.

She recalled her conversation—well, beating—with Mr. Black.
He'd said she and Luke would be leaving and not coming back.

This was no assignment. They were being sent off to breed.

***

"We're being sent away, and this time it's for good, I
think." Lucy let the news of their impending departure settle on the
Freedom Fighters before she continued. "Higgins said the news came from up
above. We have no choice. Luke and I think that because we are the oldest and
most experienced, they're sending us off to begin the breeding process, and to
get us away from you."

Gary, who had become much more confident since his first
timid introduction, stood. "Then we bump up our plan. We need to act now,
before they take you away. We've all been practicing hard and our para-powers
are strong. We can take out many of the guards. We can escape."

The crowd cheered, but Lucy raised her hand. "Believe
me, I wish I could get gung-ho about that idea, but I can't. We're not ready.
They have weapons and training we can't compete with. They'd destroy us if we
tried now. Many of us—maybe all of us—would die. We need a stealthy, clever
plan, something that would stand a chance at succeeding."

"There's no time for that, Lucy. If we don't do
something before you leave, then we really are screwed."

Lucy leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her
chest. Hopelessness settled on her like a dark cloud. "I don't know what
we can do. Even when our powers are working properly, something's protecting
them. I couldn't tell if Higgins was lying the other day, and when Mr. Black
beat the shit out of me, I couldn't make him lie. We have no chance if our
powers don't work."

The door at the back of the room opened, and Mary sashayed
in with her red dress and designer heels.

Lucy pushed off the wall and faced her. "What are you
doing here? This is a private meeting and was supposed to be secret."

"Oh now, you need me, and you know it. I can help with
your little Mr. Black problem. I can seduce him into helping us."

"Right. What makes you think your powers will work on
him?"

"My powers are chemical, hormonal. Something protecting
his mind won't protect him against me."

"And why would you want to help? I thought you wouldn't
be caught dead with us freaks."

She walked through the room, running her fingers over the
boys' shoulders and leaving a trail of drooling teenagers in her wake.

"I just got the notice. I'm to go on assignment in a
few days, but obviously, in this Hitler-like lockdown, that's just a ruse to
get at my stellar genetics. Who
wouldn't
want to breed me, after all?
Why they're chasing after Sam and her sub-standard genes I'll never know."

"You are such a bitch." Lucy blocked Mary from
taking center stage. "But you're right. They're going to stick a bun in
your pretty little oven, so I guess we're all on the same side now."

Lucy turned to the group. "Listen up. What Mary's
saying makes sense. They want to weaken the ranks by taking those of us with the
most experience. Gary, you were right, now is the time to fight. And I have a
plan...."

The girl lay in the hospital bed, her eyes closed to the sun
shining in from the bedside window. Her blond hair fanned out around her face
like angels' hair.

Mr. Black sat in the chair beside her bed and took her
mangled hand, gently massaging the deformed muscles and tendons that caused her
so much pain. Her good eye opened and looked at him.

"Daddy! You came." Her voice danced in the air
like fairy laughter. She smiled with half her mouth, the other side of her face
crushed in on itself and unmoving.

This is what fate or genetics or whatever you wanted to call
it had done to his little girl. While those monsters were off flaunting their
para-powers, his beautiful child had been fighting for her life since the
moment she was born.

A fight she was destined to lose.

"Did you bring me any new books, Daddy? I've read all
of the other ones twice already."

"You're a smart girl. The smartest I've ever met. Of
course I brought you books. A whole bunch of them."

He pulled out a bag filled with books and put it on the
dresser next to her bed. "But I suppose you will finish those by the time
I come again tomorrow."

She giggled, then coughed. A goblet of bright red blood
dribbled down the front of her gown. "Daddy?" Tears flowed down her
face and her body shook.

Mr. Black hit the call button for the nurse, and held his
daughter to him as he fumbled for a napkin to wipe her mouth and gown.
"It's okay, Sarah. It'll be all right."

Her trusting eyes bore into his heart and squeezed until he
couldn't breathe.

"Nurse! Doctor!"

A nurse poked her head in the door. "Is everything
okay?"

Anger boiled up in him, but he pushed it down to protect his
daughter. "No, everything is
not
okay. She's coughing up
blood."

The nurse didn't look surprised. "It happens at this
stage. I'll give her some medication to ease her pain, and then get the
doctor."

Rage and fear shook his voice. "What do you mean
at this
stage
?"

"I think it's better if you speak to the doctor."

She left before he could question her further.

Sarah slumped in his embrace, her little arms wrapped around
his neck. "Am I dying, Daddy? Is it time?"

"No, Honey, you'll be fine. I'm not letting you
go."

Her grip loosened, and her eyes fluttered closed. "I'm
so tired, Daddy. Can I take a nap?"

He lowered her onto her pillow. "Of course, Baby. You
sleep. I'll come back tomorrow."

The sobs couldn't be contained any longer. He locked himself
in his daughter's private bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.

"Laura, why did you have to leave? Our girl needs you.
I need you. I can't do this alone. I never could."

The doctor called for Mr. Black from outside the bathroom.

He dried his face and met the doctor in the hallway.
"What's happening to Sarah? Why is she so much worse?"

"Her body is failing. I'm sorry, but we knew this would
happen. As she ages, her internal organs are eating themselves in an attempt to
survive. She won't make it much longer. All we can do is keep her as
comfortable as possible."

Mr. Black balled up his fists. "How long? How long do I
have with her?"

"There's no way to know for sure, but I'd say a few
weeks at most."

He slammed his fist into the wall. "And is there
nothing you can do? No cure or treatment we could try?"

"Sir, please calm down. And no, there's nothing that
can be done. Barring a miracle breakthrough in genetic testing, there are no
cures for this disease."

A dim hope took root once again in his soul. "A miracle
breakthrough?"

The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose and grimaced.
"Wrong choice of words. There is no miracle forthcoming. You must accept
the fact that your daughter is dying. I'm sorry."

Mr. Black stalked out of the room. He would not accept that outcome.
He would get his daughter her miracle.

***

"Forgive me for saying so, but your methods seem
excessive compared to the threat posed by these kids." The Headmaster sat
behind his desk and tried to look authoritative, but Mr. Black knew Higgins
lacked the authority to have the bathroom cleaned, let alone to challenge his
disciplinary choices.

That didn't stop the bastard from running his mouth, though.
"These paranormal children are the heart of our organization. They're the
reason we exist at all. They must not be so broken and terrified that we can no
longer use them effectively. That boy didn't have to be whipped. You could have
found another way."

Dark shadows filled Mr. Black's vision. "These
kids,
as you call them, are freaks of nature. They're self-righteous pricks with
superpowers who think they're better than everyone else because of some genetic
defect. You've let them get away with murder for too long. They need to be
taught some manners and respect, and that's what me and my men are doing."

Mr. Black put the full weight of his own power—the real
power that came from combat and weapons training—behind his stare. "My job
is to keep this school safe. These kids lack discipline and have dangerous
abilities. Accidents are bound to happen, and it would be a shame if one of the
faculty members got hurt, don't you think, Mr. Headmaster?"

The color drained from Higgins's face. He looked down in
defeat. "I understand."

A hard smile curled Mr. Black's lips upward.
Some people
are just too easy to break.

Shouts filtered into the office from the courtyard outside.
Mr. Black jumped up and pulled the shades.

Two kids stood face-to-face, as though dueling. One was
dressed in all red, and had even dyed his hair red, and held a ball of flames
in his hand. The other wore blue and played with a ball of ice.

A tall boy stood just outside the dueling area and raised
his voice so that all the kids gathered around could hear.

"Some say the world will end in
fire,