Wild-born (7 page)

Ralph led me in through the hotel’s back door, up two flights of stairs, and down a short concrete corridor. He unlocked our door and we entered.

Inside was a gloomy room with an old TV, a small dining table and two hard wooden chairs. There were also two simple, single beds, each with a tiny bedside table atop which sat identical, cheap and dusty shaded lamps. It was a dismal place.

Ralph turned to me and said, “Our gathering isn’t for another two days, so we have to lay low for a while. Now I’m going to go do us some shopping, lad, and I don’t want you wandering off. You might get scared, but you need to stay put, you understand?”

“Yes, Ralph, I understand,” I said dully.

“That’s a good lad. You trust me, don’t you?” said Ralph, looking deep into my eyes for nearly half a minute.

“Yes, Ralph,” I repeated. “I trust you.”

“Good. I’ll be back soon. You stay put.”

Ralph stepped out of the room, and I heard his footsteps fade away.

I wandered around the dingy hotel room, carelessly sliding my fingertips over one of the bedposts. It turned out to be made of metal. Feeling drained, I quickly removed my hand.

As my head cleared, I noticed how bright and clean the light blue curtains looked. The TV also looked shiny, like it was brand new. The beds looked large and comfortable. In fact, the whole room was beautiful. Surprised at my discovery, I looked around again. This time, the room didn’t look all that nice, but it was still much better than my first impression.

Like the room, my whole existence was becoming clearer, glowing a bit before returning to normal. I was surprised at how sharp my senses were becoming, at how I could smell the air drifting in from the vents and feel the texture of the cold plaster walls. But what did it mean? I hadn’t even realized what I was missing until I got it back.

And what about Ralph? Did I really trust him? At first I was surprised at my own question. Of course I trusted Ralph.

But then a small voice in my head said,
No.

No, I didn’t trust him. I had no good reason to. Ralph didn’t help me find Cat.

Ralph didn’t care about my sister. He didn’t care about my parents. My parents were dead... All the silenced emotions from last night were rushing back to me. I couldn’t see well through my tears, but even so, it was like I was waking from a deep sleep. I could feel again. This pain inside me made my life real, and I was myself for the first time since leaving home.

I thought about Ralph once more. How far had he gone? When would he be back? I thought about running away. It scared me because I didn’t know where I would go. And I still wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between me and Ralph. I racked my brains trying to remember our conversation in the car. Last night and this morning, every time Ralph looked at me, I felt calm and relaxed, and then everything became dull.
Everyone’s power is different.
That was what Ralph had said about the berserker.

I was lying face up on the window-side bed when Ralph returned. I could tell by the noise he made entering that he was carrying large paper grocery bags.

I heard Ralph say, “Come here, lad. Help me with these.”

I didn’t get up. I didn’t even turn toward him. Through the corner of my left eye, I saw Ralph set the bags down on the floor and sit on the other bed. Still looking up at the ceiling, I asked, “Ralph, how did you know my name? How did you know my sister’s name?”

“I told you, lad, I’m a friend.”

“Whose friend?” I asked evenly. “I don’t know you.”

“Here, look at me, lad.”

I still didn’t turn to him. Instead, I turned my head the other way and looked out the window to the darkened sky and city lights. I could vaguely see Ralph’s reflection in the glass. He was fidgeting even more than usual.

“You’re not my friend, Ralph,” I said, keeping my head turned away from him. “You made me follow you here. You’re a controller. Not a very powerful one. Not like that berserker, but you’re a controller too.”

I heard Ralph snicker, and then he said, “I’m a man of many talents, lad. They wouldn’t have sent me alone if I couldn’t take care of myself.”

My head was still clear. Ralph needed to look into my eyes in order to work his power on me.

“Why did you try to control me?” I asked.

“I needed you on my side,” said Ralph. “I needed to take you in quietly. I didn’t want you worrying about your sister when we had to get moving. I’m not like that berserker, lad. I wanted you alive.”

“I need to find my sister, Ralph. I need to know she’s okay!” I sat up on the bed, keeping my eyes on the window, steeling myself for what I was about to do. “And Ralph?” I said, steadying my breathing.

“What is it, lad?”

“I’m not going to fight in your stupid war.”

I turned swiftly, just enough to get a quick glimpse of about where Ralph was sitting. But even as I extended my arm out toward him, I already felt a wave of calm creeping over me. I heard my bedside lamp shatter as the room was suddenly alive with churning air, and the blankets whipped up around me. Still, I was ready, and I released my blast a moment later. I heard Ralph grunt in pain, and my calm vanished. The wind was weaker too, but I knew Ralph wasn’t badly hurt. I had only knocked him off his bed and onto the floor, and in a moment he would pick himself up.

I stretched my other arm toward the window and blasted it out. Ralph would just have to get over his disappointment.

I jumped out, hoping to make a telekinetically controlled descent to the street below, but suddenly a powerful rush of air pushed me right back into the room! I hit the floor hard, barely able to keep my eyes open because of the wind, which was stronger than ever. I groped around the floor until my right hand found the small, broken lamp. Squinting, I could see Ralph standing over me, and I tried to throw the lamp at him, but my arm stopped mid-swing. I couldn’t do it. He was just an innocent old man.

“Oh, you’re a tough one, my little destroyer,” said Ralph, smirking. “You almost got away. But you aren’t going to do that again, are you?”

“No, Ralph, I won’t,” I answered. And I meant it too. I felt really ashamed of what I had done. How could I have thought of running away when Ralph needed me so much?

Ralph gently pulled me to my feet, saying, “No you won’t, lad. Not till you learn to block it, anyway.”

We went downstairs and apologized to the hotel management. Ralph, pretending to be my grandfather, told them that I had accidentally knocked the lamp over and that it had hit the window. They gave us another room after Ralph agreed to pay for the damages.

That night, Ralph told me that he was going to tie me to the bed. He said it was for my own safety. Though I didn’t know what danger I was in that required me to be tied down, nevertheless I was sure Ralph knew best. I removed my shoes and socks, but didn’t bother going back to the car for my pajamas, preferring to sleep in the clothes Ralph had bought for me.

Ralph took a sturdy iron chain he had brought from his car and secured one end to the headboard of the bed. Then he wrapped the other end around my neck once, pulling it tight enough so that it wouldn’t come off over my head, and locked it in place with a small padlock through the links. I was basically a dog on a leash, but I didn’t mind it at all because I knew Ralph was my friend. I did feel a touch of fear when he put the chain on me, but soon I felt calm again. The chain drained my strength and made me drowsy.

I lay there staring up at the ceiling until I could hear Ralph’s quiet snores from the other bed. I still felt extremely weak because of the chain, but my mind was much clearer now. It was easier to return to my real self this time, knowing what it was supposed to feel like. I kicked myself for not running away when I could, before Ralph had come back. I had wanted to confront him and make sure he really was a controller. I realized that even when he wasn’t directly controlling me, he had manipulated my actions through my fears and my curiosity. It was stupid of me. My escape plan had been foolhardy at best. Ralph wasn’t just some crazy old man. He was a powerful psionic. He had killed the berserker. He was a fighter.

I tugged at the chain, but it was futile. Drained of my powers, I was not even as strong as a normal twelve-year-old boy. The chain felt increasingly heavy around my neck.

Ralph had said that the “gathering” was in two days, so we would probably be staying another night here. When Ralph woke up, I would be put back under his control, which meant I wouldn’t try to escape even if I had the chance. Ralph had done enough shopping already. He wouldn’t leave me alone again.

Ralph’s power as a controller wasn’t at all like the berserker’s. The berserker could cause pain and make people angry. Ralph did the opposite. He made me calm and trusting, and made the world seem peaceful and dull. How could I fight that?

I’d have to learn to block it. That’s what Ralph had said. He said anyone could block controllers, but that it took time and practice. I already knew I could block Ralph by not looking into his eyes, but that was just the nature of Ralph’s power. He could block the berserker completely. How did he do it? The obvious answer was to simply stay focused. But how?

I didn’t know how to block it, nor could I hope to learn in one night, but there was another way that was much simpler. And I already knew the answer because it was around my neck! The difference between Ralph’s control and the berserker’s didn’t matter at all. It was how they were similar. Metal drained my powers, but it also drained my emotions, which, just like my physical strength, were tied to my powers now. Draining broke the connection. Ralph’s control over me had weakened when he put the chain on me. The only reason his control didn’t break then and there was because Ralph was still looking into my eyes. As soon as Ralph lay on his bed and well before he fell asleep, the metal had drained my emotions and the control was broken.

When Ralph talked to me, that is, when he looked at me, he was using his power to suppress my feelings, but he didn’t do it continuously. He just did it often enough so that I wouldn’t come back to being myself. If I could drain myself when he wasn’t looking, I’d snap out of his control, and then... Well, I’d have to think of that later.

I was getting very sleepy now. The chain felt heavier than ever.

I looked at the bedside table and saw what I wanted: a cheap plastic ballpoint hotel pen lying next to the lamp. The metal tip would be too small to affect me very much, but maybe, just maybe, it would keep me sane. I reached over and picked it up, feeling nauseous from even such little movement. Slowly pulling the cap off, I slipped the pen deep into my sweatpants pocket with the tip pointing outwards.

Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I desperately prayed that I wouldn’t die in my sleep. A moment later, I woke up.

Ralph was leaning over me, unlocking the chain. The sunlight streaming in through the curtains was horribly cold, but I felt my strength return and looked up at Ralph, who peered into my eyes and smiled.

“Did you have a good night’s sleep, lad?” he asked pleasantly.

“Actually, I think I had a strange dream,” I told him.

“I’ll make us some breakfast. You go wash up now.”

“Okay,” I said, going into the bathroom and closing the door.

The faucet handle was made of metal. Not wanting to be drained, I wrapped it in toilet paper before turning on the water. After splashing some cold water onto my face, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I could hear Ralph humming to himself outside and thought, under the circumstances, how fortunate I was to have him taking care of me. Ralph was a good guy, always on my side. He would keep me safe.

I was about to go back into the bedroom when I noticed that there was something in my pocket. What was it? I reached in. Suddenly I felt a little dizzy. I pulled out a ballpoint pen and wondered how it had gotten there.

Slowly, my memories from last night were coming back to me. It hadn’t been a dream after all. I had put the pen in my pocket to trick myself into touching it. But why would I do such a thing? Why did I want to drain myself? Why had I thought that Ralph was a bad guy? Why did I want to run away from him?

It didn’t make any sense. I certainly had no desire to run from Ralph. Ralph was my friend. He needed me, and he was one of the good guys.

No,
said that small voice again.

No what?
I thought.

Just... no.

Not even sure exactly why I was doing it, I touched the tip of the pen again, and a minute later, my mind cleared.

All of my previous questions answered, now I was faced with the one question that I had failed to answer last night: What next? I was trapped in a bathroom. The moment I stepped out, I would be put right back under Ralph’s control.

I turned the faucet to hot water only and touched the stream with one finger. It was scalding. After filling a plastic drinking cup with the steaming water, I stepped back into the bedroom.

“What’s that you got there, lad?” asked Ralph.

I didn’t answer, and I made sure not to look into his eyes. There’d be no building up to this fight. I couldn’t let him see it coming. I threw the water at him and, before he could even scream, I blasted him backwards with both arms stretched out. He fell flat on his back, winded by the impact and blinded by the water that had, miraculously, splashed onto his face.

The wind was beginning to pick up. My first instinct was to run, but I knew Ralph would catch me. I grabbed one of the wooden dining chairs by its back and brought it down on him as hard as I could. I didn’t actually want to kill him, but I didn’t not want to either. I didn’t care at all. All I cared about was stopping him. One of the chair legs hit his head, and the wind stopped. I didn’t know if Ralph was alive or dead, but I wasn’t about to find out.

I grabbed Ralph’s black leather wallet, which was sitting on the little dining table, and ran from the room. When my feet touched the cold concrete of the outside corridor, I realized that I wasn’t even wearing socks, but I didn’t stop. I jumped both flights of stairs, hardly bothering to soften my impact at the bottom of either. Bursting through the back door of the hotel into the early-morning light, I just kept on running.