The Return of the Titans (32 page)

Aaron looked up at the Sentinel with his
mouth open. “Why did it do that?” he asked breathlessly.

Justin held out his palm again silently and
walked past the Sentinel. Aaron nervously looked at the huge figure
then hurried to catch up to Justin.

They walked down the stairs and up the
hallway to the Ocular room in silence. Aaron had apparently given
up trying to talk Justin out of leaving and he just followed
quietly.

Justin was aware that his friend was
watching him anxiously and he wished he had some words of comfort
for him, but he knew if he spoke up, Aaron would realize just how
unsure he was himself. So he didn't say anything at all.

The door to the Ocular room opened at
Justin's touch and as they entered, the eerie lights inside the
walls began to glow and dance, creating weird shadows. Justin
looked around but he and Aaron were alone. The pool was quiet and
flat. It looked like a dull sheet of black glass. It was only when
they got closer that it started to roil and burble. Justin stopped
at the edge of the pool and stared down into it.

He still could not see beneath the surface
and he wondered again if something alive was in there, just waiting
for someone foolish like him to jump in.

Aaron stood beside Justin, staring not into
the pool, but at his friend. “Are you absolutely sure about this,
Justin? You're my friend.” He hesitated then hurried on. “I don't
want to lose you. What if you never come back?”

Justin turned and looked intently at Aaron.
“I don't have a death wish, Aaron. I want to come back. But how can
I continue staying here, living my life and not knowing if Wilson
is alive or dead? I can't go on without knowing. I won't.” He
reached out and clasped his friend's shoulder. “Don't give up on
me, bud. I'll be back.”

Aaron just nodded. He didn't seem able to
speak. He just watched as Justin turned back to look at the
pool.

Justin thought of home. He tried to picture
his room as vividly as he could. My computer is over here and the
picture of Dad is on my dresser over there. My bed is in this
corner and my aquarium is against the wall right there.

When he had the room as firmly in his mind
as it could be and he had almost blocked out the Ocular room around
him, Justin took a deep breath, bent his knees and jumped.

As his feet touched the pool, he felt
something slam into his back and push him deep into the pool. He
tried to see what had hit him, but he was surrounded by black
liquid and piercing cold and he couldn't even tell if he was hurt.
I guess something did live in the pool after all, he thought wildly
and he sunk deeper and deeper into blackness.

Chapter 20

This time, the water portal wasn't as scary
to Justin as it had been when he had ported out of his home ahead
of the attack. This time he was more prepared. It helped that he
knew he could hold his breath longer than he had once believed.
Still, as the seconds passed, he became more and more nervous. And
he was afraid to know what had hit him as he had entered the
pool.

Finally, after an eternity, the liquid
around him began to lighten and glow, and he knew he was almost
through. His lungs were burning and he was aching to just breathe!
Then there was a loud splash of water around him and he had
arrived.

Justin took a deep breath and quickly looked
around him. The rug was soaked and water had splashed on to the
computer, but he was definitely in his own room. It looked like he
had just left. Nothing seemed to have been moved and nothing was
missing.

A low groan made him turned around with a
jerk. Aaron was sitting on the floor, both hands on his head. He
looked slightly green.

“I hate that!” he
muttered. “I will never get used to traveling that way! I'd even
prefer the bus to a water port.”

Justin stared at his friend, feeling both
amused and angry. “What the hell are you doing here, Aaron?” he
whispered quietly. “You know how dangerous this could be?”

Aaron stood up slowly and breathed deeply.
Then he looked around the room. “Your bedroom? Nice. A lot bigger
than mine at home.” He fixed Justin with a piercing gaze. “Yeah, I
know how dangerous this could be. Why do you think I'm here?” He
grinned slightly. “You know what they say: two Titans are better
than one!”

He knew he should be angrier, but Justin
also felt a sense of relief. He sighed and shook his head, trying
not to smile too broadly. “Well, I don't know who they are, but I'm
guessing they meant two adult Titans. Not a couple of runts like
us.” Then he really did smile. “You're nuts, Aaron. And if
something happens to you, I'm going to blame myself. But...I can't
pretend I'm not happy to have someone along, just in case.”

“Good. Now, let's stop
talking and look around.” Aaron walked quietly to the door and
listened for a moment. “I can't hear anything. You better take the
lead, Just. It's your house and you'll know better than me if
something's not right.”

“Okay.” Justin joined
Aaron at the door and opened it slowly. His friend was right. There
was no noise. That worried Justin a lot. His mother always had the
television on during the day. If it was off, he could only assume
that she wasn't home. He told Aaron this under his breath and they
slowly entered the hall and walked quietly toward the living
room.

The hall carpet looked freshly vacuumed and
Justin could smell a hint of lemon in the air. Both were signs that
Mrs. Petropoulos had cleaned the apartment recently. Justin took
this as a good omen but he still remained cautious as he peeked
around the edge of the archway leading into the living room.

The place was empty. The couch looked almost
lonely without his Mom lying there watching her soaps. Justin
swallowed a lump in his throat and walked into the room. Aaron
followed more slowly.

The room had definitely been cleaned
recently. There were no cups or newspapers on the coffee table. The
water jug was clean and empty. The place felt cold and foreign to
him. He walked more quickly back into the hallway and through to
his Mother's bedroom.

The bed was neatly made, all of his Mom's
clothes were neatly hung in her closet and her shoes were arranged
in rows underneath the clothes hangers. This was definitely not
right.

Justin searched the rest of his home. It was
clean, neat and empty. No notes were left behind, no signs that
anyone had even lived here recently. Justin finally sat down on a
kitchen chair with a thud and stared at the table in front of
him.

Aaron opened the fridge and the cupboards.
“No milk, Just. No bread. A few bottles of water. Nothing in here
that could go bad in a hurry.” He looked at his friend. “It's
almost like she was leaving for a trip and made sure it was all
arranged before she left.”

Justin nodded and continued to stare at the
table top, thinking this through. “The few times we've traveled,
this is exactly how Mom would leave things, Aaron. I mean, if
someone had just taken her, they wouldn't have cleaned up the
place, would they?”

“Exactly my point, Just.
I'm guessing your Mom left of her own accord. The question
is...”

“Where did she go?” Justin
finished Aaron's sentence. “And I honestly have no
idea.”

Aaron sat down across from his friend and
looked at him with surprise. “You don't? Doesn't she have any
friends or relatives she might want to visit if she was lonely or
upset?”

“Nope. Mom's folks are
long gone and so are my Dad's. And neither of them had any brothers
or sisters. There are a few distant relatives but we never see
them.” Justin went over the people he knew in his mind but he
couldn't think of anyone that his Mother would want to stay
with.

“This is home, Aaron.” He
ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think. “This is where
she's most comfortable. She wouldn't just leave.”

He stared at Aaron who was watching him
closely. Justin had a feeling that they were thinking the same
thing. And then Aaron confirmed it.

“She wouldn't just leave,
Justin,” he said slowly.

Justin turned away and stared out of the
window. “I know,” he said.

Both of them suddenly jumped in their seats.
The telephone on the wall by the fridge was ringing.

Justin jumped up and then
stood and stared at the phone, suddenly reluctant to answer
it.

“Pick it up, Just. It
could be your Mom!” Aaron urged him.

“Why would she call here?
As far as she knows, there's no one home.”

Aaron stared at him. “You're right,” he
said. “Then it must be a friend.”

Justin shook his head. “She really doesn't
have any, except for Mrs. Petropoulos. And she just walks in, she
never calls. And there was Wilson,” he added with a wince. “But
that's it.”

The telephone continued to ring. “Well, just
answer it then, Justin. We can't stand here all day guessing.”

After another moments hesitation, Justin
reached over and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” he said
quietly.

“Good afternoon, Justin,”
came a man's voice on the phone. “Welcome home.”

Justin covered the mouthpiece for a moment.
“It's some guy,” he whispered to Aaron. “He knows it's me.”

Aaron nodded anxiously.

Justin uncovered the receiver. “Who is
this?” he asked.

“My name is Colonel
William Green,” the man answered politely. Justin noticed that he
had a commanding voice. “I'm sure you are wondering how I knew you
were back?”

“It had crossed my mind,”
Justin said. He actually hadn't wondered that yet. But he did now.
“So how did you know?”

“Take a look up at the
corner of the ceiling, to the left of the arch leading to the
hallway,” the colonel said. Justin could hear the smile in the
man's voice.

He looked up and saw a small black box
hanging right in the corner. If he hadn't known where to look, he
doubted that he would have even noticed it.

“It's a camera,” the
colonel continued. “We installed them throughout the apartment,
just in case. Someone has been monitoring your home for weeks
now.”

“Where's my mother?”
Justin asked, trying not to sound anxious.

“Ah, straight to the
point. I like that.” The colonel hesitated a moment. Then he said
“Your mother went to visit her doctor a few days ago. Her guards
accompanied her. While she was in the office, some of my
men...procured her. It took her guards far too long to notice that
she was missing.” He sighed dramatically. “Very poor job on their
part, I must say.”

Justin swallowed a lump in his throat. “So
you are holding her prisoner?”

“Now, now, Justin. Don't
make it sound so dramatic. She is quite well and very comfortable,
I assure you. She has her medication and is fine.”

Aaron was watching Justin. He had suddenly
grown pale and his eyes were wide but he didn't say anything.

“And Wilson?”

The colonel waited a moment before he
answered. “I am afraid that your friend was badly wounded when he
tried to defend you and your mother. We gave him the best medical
attention we could but I'm afraid his heart gave out. You have my
condolences, Justin.”

He found that his legs couldn't support him
suddenly and Justin sat down on a kitchen chair with a thump. He
just stared straight ahead. Wilson dead? How could that be? Justin
suddenly realized that Wilson was the closest thing to a father
that he had ever had. And now he was gone, just like that.

Aaron sat down on a chair beside him.
“Justin,” he whispered. “What is it?”

Justin looked at his friend. “Wilson's
dead,” he said flatly.

Aaron's mouth dropped open. “Oh no!” he
gasped.

Taking a deep breath, Justin spoke into the
receiver. “So what do you want?”

“Isn't it obvious, Justin.
We want you. And your friend, of course. I'm betting he's also a
member of your little fraternity. And in exchange, your mother goes
free. We'll see her safely back home and she will never set eyes on
us again.”

“Why should I believe
you?” Justin asked harshly. “You killed Wilson.”

“We had no wish to harm
your friend, Justin. If you had come quietly that day, none of this
would have happened. All I can tell you is that we have no interest
in your mother. For what it's worth, you have my word that we will
honor this agreement and that she will go free.”

Justin was thinking furiously. He didn't
believe this colonel. Not one word. But he had a feeling that they
did have his mother. How could he get her back safely?

“I have to think about
this,” he told the colonel.

“By all means, Justin. My
men are in the lobby. You have nowhere to run. So take your time.
When you want to talk, just wave at one of the cameras and I'll
call back.” He waited and then said “I hope you make the wise
choice, Justin. For your sake and your mother's.” The line went
dead.

Justin stared at the receiver in his hand
for a moment then hung it up. He sat back and looked at Aaron. His
friend stared back with a helpless expression on his face.

“What can we do, Justin?”
he asked.

Justin looked around, then glanced up at the
camera. A sudden surge of rage made his stomach burn and he jumped
up and pulled his chair over until it was in the corner under the
camera. He climbed up, easily pulled the camera off the wall,
dropped it on the floor and jumped down on top of it. The little
device shattered with a mild crunching noise.