Oblivion (14 page)

THIRTY-FOUR

Sam

I learned quickly
not to struggle against the restraints. They would only chafe my newly healed
wrists again, and it wasn’t worth the pain. What these people wanted with me
was a mystery, but at least they had only gotten me. For now anyway.

If Jason had been
in his right mind—had remembered I was his brother and not had to be told I
am—he would never have left. Both of us would have been captured, or he would
have seriously injured the people who took me. It was the first time I’d been
grateful for his memory loss. For now, he was safe. At least, as far as I knew.

Even without the
desire to protect me and his friends as a driving force, Jason still destroyed
half of the building. It was part of our attempt to escape the fire they’d set
to smoke us out.

Now they were
taking me back to where they’d held Jason before, and I knew they were counting
on Jason coming for me.

“He’s not stupid,”
I informed the man driving. “He won’t fall into your little trap.”

“You think so? Our
boss is pretty good at what he does,” the guy answered.

“Drop the act, Mastermind.
This guy is another of your puppets, right?”

The driver
smirked. The passenger turned to face me. “You’re only half right,” he
answered. “My driver is my right hand. You can call him the Boss. He has no
need of being controlled. He works for me of his own volition.”

“So you’re the
meat suit,” I said with a yawn that was only half faked. “Whatever. Doesn’t
change the fact that Jason isn’t going to fall for this. And I am going to
destroy you if you even attempt to harm him.”

“You have me
wrong, Sam. Or should I call you, ‘Oblivion?’ It’s what your friend Kindred
calls you. We’re in the process of making a deal. Anyway, I have no desire to
harm your brother. Simply to train him as one of my best underlings. He is the
most powerful Ex I have met.”

“Ex?”

He frowned
slightly. “Yes, Ex is not the best name I could have come up with. It is short
for Extraordinary—as in people with extraordinary powers.”

I snorted. “That’s
the best you could come up with? Really?”

The puppet
blinked. “Naming a subspecies of humans is not as easy as it appears. Come up with
something better, and I may consider changing it.”

“I’ll have to let
you know,” I sneered. “What deal are you making with Kindred?”

“That is between
me, and my future helper. Suffice to say that your brother is an excellent
bargaining chip for locking in his loyalty.”

“I know the man.
He won’t do anything that will harm Jason. Jeremiah is loyal to him.”

“You may be right,
to a point. Jeremiah wants nothing more than for Jason to trust him as one of
his friends. Kindred, on the other hand, wants him under his control.”

“It’s the same
person,” I protested. My certainty was beginning to waver. The Mastermind was
making sense. Kindred had threatened to take Jason and put him under his
control before, so the powerful being promising he could have him…

The meat-suit
pondered my words. “You’re correct, in a way. Jeremiah was a good man until he
was changed. Kindred is the creature who kept him alive. As much as Jeremiah
would want to protest it, Kindred is still alive and well.”

I shut my mouth,
unsure how to respond.

He smirked, and I
found myself wanting to destroy the man, the way I’d destroyed Hunter.

“You know,” the
puppet said thoughtfully, “I think you could make an excellent addition to my
crew. So easy to manipulate. All I have to do is feel something strongly
enough, and it will affect you as well.”

My lip twitched,
and I glared. The idea of being overwhelmed by another person’s emotions
freaked me out. It had been bad enough once I was out of range of Hunter, and
realized how much of what I’d done was because of him. Jason feared his powers
escaping him and causing a natural disaster. I feared my powers overtaking me,
and changing me into someone I’m not.

“See? Are you
normally one to become so angry so quickly?” the Mastermind goaded.

“Maybe not,” I admitted
through clenched teeth, “but after everything, my nerves are a bit raw.”

“Raw. Untrained.
Powerful. Dangerous combination, kid.”

The passenger
turned back toward the driver. “Boss, you will take over this child’s training.
I want him willing and eager to help
us
recapture the
Earthshaker.”

I didn’t want to
feel what I felt from the Mastermind; confidence, hatred, power… all meant to
make me believe the end was all but inevitable.

The puppet smirked
again, “In time, Oblivion, you will help turn your brother into my puppet.”

I shook my head in
denial. He continued despite my adamant rejection of his plans.

“And you will
enjoy it.”

THIRTY-FIVE

Jason

“What are we
supposed to do now?” The girl, Hannah, asked frantically.

The other woman… the
one who hadn’t entered mine and Lena's hiding place until we were surrounded… answered,
“We need to settle and figure out how to get Sam back.”

Lena and I sat in
the back of the SUV, and I grew tenser every time one of the other women looked
toward me with sympathy. They seemed almost disappointed when they didn’t see
whatever it was they expected to see.

“Any thoughts,
Jason?” The new woman asked.

“One comes to
mind,” I answered hesitantly. “Who are you? I know the kid is my brother, and
Hannah is… a friend? But who are you?”

She glanced back
toward me with a wince. “Yeah, sorry. I’m Detective Alice Farrow. I’ve known
you since you were a kid, and you and Sam are like family to me.”

She eyed me as if
expecting something, but I couldn’t muster a response.

“Jason, your
brother is missing. Even with your memories gone, doesn’t that strike a chord
with you?” the detective asked incredulously.

Lena leaned into
me supportively as I stared at the floor of the vehicle. I had to consider what
I felt, and try to figure out a proper response to this crazy situation. It was
difficult to figure out a way to react that wouldn’t cause the others to look
at me with even more concern.

Several moments
passed in silence, the bumps of the road the only sound.

“Jason?” Hannah
broke the silence when it appeared like I wasn’t going to respond.

“Look… I know he’s
my brother. Intellectually, I know that,” I nodded mostly to myself.
“Emotionally is another matter. I don’t recognize him. But he’s a kid in
trouble, and if they took him where they had me, we need to get him out.”

I raised my gaze,
and met Hannah’s eyes. “You can count on my help. I will do whatever it takes
to save him.”

“In the meantime,
where are we going?” Lena asked suddenly.

“We know where
they’ll take Sam. At least we suspect it. But we need Jeremiah.”

“No!” I exclaimed.
If I hadn’t been belted into a vehicle, I would have recoiled in horror. “We do
not need that murderer’s help. Figure out a way without him, or I’m out.”

“You would leave
your brother in the hands of the Puppet Master because of your hang-up with
this guy?” Lena asked dubiously.

The others waited
in silence for my response.

“Do we really need
him? You’re a cop, right?” I asked the driver. “And Lena and I have abilities
we can utilize in our rescue attempt. Can’t we figure something out without
him?”

I realized Alice
was driving back toward the place Lena and I had so recently escaped from, and
I felt angry that they would bring my brother here.

“We’ll get him
out, one way or another,” Alice answered. “But it may be easier with Jeremiah’s
help. I know you don’t remember that you trust us, but know that we wouldn’t do
anything to harm you or Sam.”

I slumped. “I want
to trust you. I really do.”

“You trust Lena,
right?” Hannah asked softly.

“She helped me
escape, and helped me fortify my mind against the Puppet Master’s intrusion.
She’s earned it.”

“Lena, you can see
into people’s minds, right?” Hannah asked, turning to meet the younger girl’s
eyes.

My companion
glanced at me before nodding warily. I understood her reluctance. If people
with abilities were rare, it seemed likely we wouldn’t talk about them much.
Which would make it difficult to confide in anyone about them.

“Good. So you can
see that we’re being honest. We are your friends, Jason. And right at this
moment, we can trust Jeremiah.”

I looked to Lena
curiously. Her assessment would tip the scales either for or against allowing
Jeremiah to help.

“She’s being
honest, but you already know that. You’re being stubborn.” She assessed me for
another moment and shook her head. “Okay, maybe stubborn isn’t the right word.
You’re being… over cautious.”

“We’re here. Can
you tell if Sam was brought here?” Alice called back.

“Let me out for a
moment and I should be able to tell,” I answered.

“You can tell from
here if Sam’s walked into the building,” Hannah objected.

I shook my head.
“No, Hannah. Right now I can’t. Maybe I could, but right at this moment these
powers are brand new to me. So I need to get out and make contact with the
ground.”

Hannah flinched,
and I felt a flash of discomfort for putting the look of hurt on her face. The
frustration was eating at me, so I ignored her.

It seemed like
they were forgetting that I couldn’t remember anything. They obviously expected
me to be the person they knew. Maybe in time I could get back to that person,
but for the moment I couldn’t be who they wanted me to be.

Stalking away from
the vehicle, I knelt and touched the dirt near the edge of the fence line
behind some bushes. I pushed, and my power pulsed through the ground. Echoes of
footsteps bounced back to me, almost too many to sift through.

How could I do
this? How did this power work, and why was I gifted with it? Did I know before
my memory loss? I pushed the questions away as unimportant, and attempted to
focus.

The echoes and
vibrations were overlapping, making it difficult to read any single pattern. I was
unsure how to proceed, so I pushed again. My mind automatically searched for
familiar patterns.

A rush of
recognition came through, stronger than expected for the short time I’d known
him. Proof, perhaps, that the kid was a bigger part of my life than I admitted
initially. Something in me still recognized him.

The thought made
me smile, and I pushed to see where they had taken him.

A few minutes
later I returned to the SUV. The others stopped talking as I approached.

“He’s here. They
took him in. I believe he’s on the fourth floor, but everything gets jumbled
the further away from the ground they go.”

“I called Mark,”
Alice said. “He and Jeremiah are on the way here.

I don’t want any
argument, Jason. We can use all the help we can get,” she added sternly.

“No more
arguments, Detective,” I answered. “My brother is in there, and he needs help.
If I have to hold hands with the devil, I will.”

Lena glanced at
me, an unrecognizable look in her eye. Her black and pink hair hung off to the
side as she tilted her head curiously. “You sure about that, Jason?”

“You trust them,
and they keep telling me he can be trusted, so yes. He will help me get my brother
back, and then my brother will help me get my memories back.”

THIRTY-SIX

Jeremiah

Something had
changed. It wasn’t just that Jason refused to meet my eyes, or that he now
seemed to fully trust a girl he had known for less than a day. No. There was more
to it.

He was more
willing to have me around, yet it was obvious he accepted my presence only
under protest. Finding Sam had become his priority. Not too much of a surprise,
honestly, because the brothers shared a strong bond. Even without his memories,
there would have been a connection.

The big surprise
was that, even without his memories, Jason seemed to know I was different. That
the most dangerous part of me was closer to the surface than he had been in
years. He had never looked at me as a true friend, but when I suppressed
Kindred for so long, we had been close. While I masqueraded as Officer Nickels,
it had taken time, but we began to build a friendship.

“Jeremiah, what do
you think?” Agent Jones brought me back into the conversation.

Sifting through
what had been said so far, I shook my head. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get
in and out safely yet. They’ve had three of us break out in quick succession,
and are unlikely to lower their guard around Sam at this point.”

“So they’re on
high alert, but they wouldn’t expect us to go rushing in. The Mastermind knows
we’re smarter than that,” Alice said slyly. She raised her eyebrow and looked
around at all of us.

Surprising. One of
my eyebrows raised in shock as the others considered what she said. I could
honestly say I hadn’t expected the lady detective to be the one advocating a
rushed rescue.

“So what, detective,
you want to run into the facility, guns blazing, and hope no one gets killed in
the process?” I pushed, wondering if she had thought things through.

She shook her head
angrily. When she spoke, her voice was clipped, “No. I want to do this by the
book. I want to report a kidnapped boy being held against his will in an
abandoned building, and get all the backup we can.”

Before anyone
could protest, she held up a hand. “I know we can’t do that. Not without
risking the people we bring as backup being controlled by that person. Or
discovering the special abilities of some of our friends.”

“It would be worth
the risk,” Jason argued, eyeing me with distrust. “We can use all the help we
can get, and—quite honestly—I don’t feel comfortable with a murderer as an
ally.”

Both the detective
and the agent sighed, apparently familiar with his argument. At this point,
they discounted it. Even if Jason couldn’t accept it, I was there to help him.

I felt… strange.
After everything I’d done to improve myself—to be good enough that I could become
Jason’s friend—he would never accept me.

It was a sudden
revelation, and almost made me sad. Another part of me spoke.
“If you can’t rise to his level, than bring
him down to yours.”

I shook off the
thought with a frown. He wouldn’t sink to my level. He’d proven that on a
number of occasions already. Even lacking his memories, he knew he was not the
type of person who could murder someone in cold blood.

“Always better than you. Always looking down
on you. Make him like you, if you must be his friend.”

I took a step
back. What was happening?

“Everything okay,
Jeremiah?” Jones asked.

I glanced up at
the agent. Apparently, the others had wandered off while I was… well, having a
mental break or something.

“You seem… Jason
only wants what’s best for his brother. He doesn’t remember that you are a
better man now,” Jones assured me.

And wasn’t that a
kicker? An FBI agent—as straight-laced as they come—was trying to comfort a
known killer. It was a strange turn of events, and one I had a hard time
wrapping my head around.

Even more
surprising, part of me agrees with Jason. I am not a good person. “He’s right,
agent. I killed those guards. If I had known then what I know now? That those
men were mere puppets of a larger threat? I likely would have killed them more
slowly in an attempt to gain information that would help stop him.”

Agent Jones backed
away from me, and I knew what he was seeing; a cold look in my eyes, a killer’s
intent in the tightness of my jaw.

“I won’t harm
you,” I assured him. At Agent Jones’ backpedaling, the cop and Jason rejoined
us. The next words were meant for all of them. “We are allies against a much more
dangerous foe. I find myself… fond of you. Not friends, exactly, but I can
respect you.”

Jason eyed me with
trepidation, and a hint of anxiety.

“Tracker, you have
no need to fear me.” I shoved the voice of Kindred to the back of my mind.
Being gentle did not come naturally, but I spoke in a low calm voice. “I will
not harm you, and I will do whatever it takes to help get your brother back.”

It was becoming
hard to ignore the voice in my head. The constant urging to go back to my old
ways. To realize that even at my worst I was unwilling to harm Jason, and I
could most likely help him more if I embraced my full power.

Was it tempting to
feel the surge of power I used to hold over people? I wanted to say no. The
best part of me could hardly keep a hold over the desire to control people
again. There was a strong possibility I would be unable to stop myself from
sliding back into old habits.

I turned toward
Jason, surprised when he met my gaze without flinching.

“You are exactly
what you’ve shown me. Entirely too willing to hurt and kill people if they are
in your way. You say you want to be my friend?” he paused.

It took me a
moment to realize he wanted a response. “Yes. I have tried to change in order
to be your friend. Even before… I view you as a friend, even if you do not.”

He nodded
thoughtfully. “I believe you. But I need you to curb your violent tendencies.
You can’t just kill people who get in your way. I will not be friends with a
man who looks to violence and murder as a first option. It should always be the
last resort. Do you understand?”

The last resort.
“Always first. You strike first before they
can hurt you.”

Ignoring the
voice, I answered, “I understand. I will make every effort to prevent a loss of
control.”

Eyeing me
critically, Jason nodded once. “See that you do. You are here to help retrieve
my brother. Attempting to stop the Puppet Master, or shut down this operation,
is not the priority right now. Once we have Sam back… once he is able to
retrieve my memories… then we can look into stopping this.”

Stopping a
powerful adversary. A predatory grin crossed my face. That was something all
parts of me could get behind.