Possessed By You (Overworld Underground Book 1) (29 page)

Chapter 26

George Walker called on me at lunch the next day with a simple text.

Can you meet me outside in five minutes?

I knew it was foolish to wonder how he'd gotten my number. Government people probably knew how many times per day I went to the loo. Since Tyler wasn't at the office today, I decided it wouldn't hurt to meet with George. I responded.

Yes.

I stepped outside and saw him on the sidewalk. For once, George looked rather grim. "It appears the problem is spreading."

"How?" I felt quite disconcerted at the thought of more super-soldier children wreaking havoc on society. It would likely lead to school massacres even worse than the ones haunting the nation already. Teenagers, by their very nature, were unstable enough. Unthinkable quantities of hormones coursing through their blood and a belief that they already knew everything there was to know was quite a dangerous combination to begin with. Adding enhanced abilities was an invitation to disaster.

George brushed his suit jacket as if dislodging a bit of lint. "The drug is being spread by student pushers in the schools. Kids are taking it and in many cases, unknowingly infecting themselves."

I felt sick to my stomach. "What would you like from me?"

"How much time can you take for lunch?"

The morning had been quite hectic, but the afternoon promised to be slower. "Perhaps two hours."

He checked the time on an unusual-looking cell phone with a half-peeled orange logo on the back. "That should be enough." His gaze turned back to me. "We'll investigate several high schools in the metro area. This time it will be much different. We can't cause a panic by rounding up the students. Instead, we'll pose as school officials and step into classrooms."

I didn't bother asking how we were to reach all these schools within two hours. "I see." I raised a querying eyebrow. "How do you intend for me to touch the students?"

"Your ability has a range, correct?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes it's far more sensitive than at other times. I can feel the presence from a few yards away, but I still have to touch the individual to narrow it down to them."

He nodded. "That should work." George opened the door to the back seat. "I believe we can make this work." George closed the door and climbed into the front seat. He turned to look at me as Sticks pulled into traffic. "We'll try walking the hallways at the first school. You tell us if you feel anything."

"Am I to blindfold myself again?" I asked.

He replied with an apologetic half-smile. "I'm afraid so."

"What a bother." I found the blindfold lying on the seat next to me. "Just tell me when."

Mr. Sticks pulled into a blind alley.

George turned to me. "Now, if you please."

I did so. Once again, I felt the peculiar sensation of rising before moving forward. I wondered if they had secret black helicopters that picked up the car and whisked us around on silent rotor blades. There was no telling with these people.

The first high school was in downtown Atlanta. We received plenty of concerned looks from people, but the front desk allowed us entrance once George produced IDs labeling us as Department of Education officials.

A concerned man in a worn blue suit met us inside the front security zone. "I'm Principal Jackson. I wasn't told we'd have visitors today."

"Nothing to alarm yourself about." George shook the man's hand. "I'm George Walker. We're simply here to survey for possible building improvements and renovations."

The principal's eyes widened. "Finally! They've cut so much from our budget over the past decade we can hardly afford to make routine repairs."

"We'll need complete access, and prefer not to have anyone tagging along." George offered him a reassuring smile. "We'll be done in thirty minutes."

Principal Jackson looked as though he had a lot more to say, but simply nodded. "Please get me if you have any questions."

"Of course." George headed to a junction ahead and went left into a long hallway lined with classroom doors. We strode all the way to the end, passing several adjoining hallways filled with lockers along the way. I felt absolutely nothing until we passed a female bathroom near the far end of the adjoining corridor. A faint chill emanated from within.

I stepped cautiously inside and saw two young females speaking with a group of three girls. Their eyes lit on me when I stepped inside and I instantly thought they looked guilty.
Perhaps these are the dealers.
I saw one of them tuck something into her purse, confirming my suspicions. Something in the eyes of the two supposed drug pushers looked much older than their teenaged appearance.

"We're just about to go to class," one of them said. "I'm sorry, but I was having really bad cramps."

"Yeah, cramps," her companion said. "I hate periods."

The other three students spun to face me, alarm in their faces as they became aware of my presence.

"Very well," I responded in a curt voice. "You shouldn't be here without hall passes."

One of the pushers grinned. "I'm sorry. We'll go now." Her voice sounded confident and not the least bit contrite.

Having seen the strength these sorts of people possessed, I opened the door and kept my distance. I looked at other students. "All of you get back to your classes. I'd like to speak with these two alone."

The other girls rushed out. I managed to touch each of them as they passed and confirmed none of them were infected.

One of the pushers sniffed the air and hissed. "Something's not right."

"They warned us," the other said.

Without warning and to my great astonishment, the first girl gripped the porcelain sink and ripped it off the wall. Water sprayed everywhere. A strong arm gripped me and jerked me back through the door an instant before the sink smashed into the doorframe, sending shards flying.

Mr. Sticks spun me so quickly I hardly had time to register the movement. I heard the sound of fragments impacting his back. He grunted, but didn't seem otherwise fazed. With a quick thrust, he sent me stumbling across the hall and turned. The two girls seemed to blur out of the bathroom. I shook my head and wondered if my vision had gone wonky.

George blocked a blow from the first girl. He ducked, swept the feet from beneath her. She hit the tiled floor with a loud grunt. Other Custodians aimed their wrist-mounted dart guns, but apparently couldn't get a clear shot. Mr. Sticks turned to the second girl. She aimed a flurry of punches at Sticks, arms moving so fast, the movements blurred together. Sticks blocked the blows with precise efficiency, his face showing little strain from the endeavor. He caught the girl's arm, twisted it to the side. His leg thrust out and kicked the girl in the midsection so hard, she slammed into the wall a few feet from me. Cracks ran up the distasteful green cinderblock.

I should have been absolutely shocked at the display of raw power, but my mind had apparently accepted this strange new reality with abnormally enhanced teens and my amazingly adept allies.

"Leave me alone, bitches!" the girl cried. She stumbled forward two steps, stiffened, and fell as darts found their mark.

George pinned the other girl face down on the floor. "Lance her," he said in a calm voice.

Another Custodian darted her in the neck and the perpetrator went limp.

I noticed a small glass vial with a thick red substance rolling across the floor. I picked it up and looked at it. It looked almost like blood. Sticks snatched it from my hand and gave me a disapproving look.

"How rude." I regarded him with narrowed eyes.

"We'll handle it from here," George said. He spoke quietly into his phone. Within minutes, another team of his people came in, scooped up the pushers, and departed with efficient ease while yet another group inspected the damaged wall and bathroom.

"We'll have it repaired in ten minutes," a woman in this new group said.

George looked around and noticed a flickering fluorescent bulb. "Repair that too, while you're at it."

"Shall I repaint this awful green as well?" the woman asked. "I think a tasteful mauve would fit right in."

George chuckled. "Not this time." He turned to me. "Let's continue."

Unlike the other Custodians, I sensed something quite different about this woman. The hairs on my right arm tingled as though the woman were charged with static electricity. I wanted to touch her, but she moved back to her group. I looked at her. She had no equipment for fixing broken mortar or repairing plumbing for that matter. She held a thick but short wooden rod in one hand. I wanted to wait and see what she'd do, but Mr. Sticks prodded me forward. I gave him a dirty look before continuing down the hallway, risking furtive glances over my shoulder.

We took a right. My intuition detected something when we walked near a door leading outside. I stepped out as quietly as possible and found two teens, their backs to me, smoking near a dumpster about ten yards away.

"Totally, my man," one said. "Drink all we want, smoke all day every damned day and it never affects us."

"Hell, yeah. And we can totally bang any girl we want." The second teen twitched and spun. He tossed down the cigarette when he saw me.

Silver darts found their targets before I even had a chance to tell George. Apparently, they didn't want a repeat performance like the girls in the bathroom. Once again, a team of Custodians whizzed in and took the troubled youths away.

We walked the last hall, but I detected nothing unusual.

"It appears we reached this school before any true harm was done," George said with a satisfied note in his voice. "Let's move on to the next."

We went to several more schools, perhaps six in all, using the same cover story. One principal was unwilling to let us walk around unescorted. Mr. Sticks put a dart in the poor woman's neck and left her slumbering on a bench in the hallway. He obviously felt their mission superseded any outside interference. I made a mental note not to cross him.

Only one other school had infected students. George and team were able to apprehend them all quickly without incident. He dropped me off at work fifteen minutes early.

"You are very impressive, Miss Glass." George's expression looked sincere. "Not only are you calm under pressure, but your ability has helped us immensely. We may be able to stamp this out quickly before the pushers infect more students."

"I hope so," I said, eager to get back to the office and enfold myself in comfortable normalcy. "What do you do with the infected students? Do you inform their parents?"

"It's a very delicate process." He remained silent a moment, probably deciding what he could tell me. "As you might imagine, telling parents their children are infected with a super-soldier serum is unacceptable. We have to come up with cover stories." George straightened his tie. "I assure you we do what is best for all involved. There are strict rules in places to protect those affected." He went back to the SUV. "Until next time, Miss Glass."

I watched the SUV vanish into traffic and then went inside the office building. Despite the excitement, I wasn't nearly as flustered as the last time. Either I was developing a professional detachment, or my mind didn't quite know how to process the events of the day.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on. I busied myself helping Jack and Kevin, but my thoughts ricocheted between Tyler and my side job. As Jack and I left the building after work, he gave me an abbreviated version of his evening with Isabel.

"The class was a lot of fun, even though we ended up burning our sauce."

"Dare I ask how you managed to burn your—" I stifled a giggle as my mind sank into the gutter. "—sauce?"

Jack didn't seem to notice the dive my maturity had taken. "I kind of got distracted." He shrugged.

"Distracted?"

"Isabel." He laughed. "I think I kind of distracted her too."

I didn't ask for more details. For all I knew, it might involve hot sauce or special sauce. "Are you seeing her tonight?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you?"

I pursed my lips. "I didn't go home last night."

His eyes went a bit wide. "Wow. You and Tyler hitting it off, then?"

Getting off is more accurate.
"You might say that."

He grinned. "You look really happy. I remember those sad puppy-dog eyes you made when you first started working here. I'm really glad things are working out."

"Me too." I touched his hand. "Just please don't let anyone else in the office know."

He grinned. "Of course not. Your secret is safe with me."

I walked home, enjoying the evening air. Isabel was already inside, dancing and singing to herself when I came in the door.

"Em!" she shouted and ran across the room to give me a hug. "Oh my God, it feels like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Well, I suppose it's easy to lose track of time."

"Did you and Tyler get it on again?"

"Oh, yes."

She squealed, jumping up and down as she held my hands. "I'm so proud of you, girl! Is he good? Does he have a big—"

I wondered if my face was as red as it felt. "Yes, he's definitely well endowed. And he knows how to use it."

She hugged me tight. "Jack is coming over later, and we're going to ice skate in the park. You and Tyler want to come?"

"Maybe," I said, uncertain as to what Tyler had planned for the evening. "He might have already made other plans for us."

"Okay. Just let me know."

I gave her a curious look. "So, have you and Jack done anything yet?"

She gave me a coy smile. "We've made out if that's what you mean."

"Oh yes, that's exactly what I mean." I rolled my eyes.

"I told him about my guy issues."

My eyes went wide. "About all of them?"

She nodded. "I felt like I owed it to him, you know? I haven't felt this way about a guy. Not ever."

"Are you sure?" It wasn't like I'd never heard that from her before.

Her eyes grew serious. "I thought I'd had strong feelings before, but there's something about Jack, you know? It's like, I can't stop thinking about him. I'm happy just being around him. And he makes me laugh." She sighed. "And really horny. But I'm taking that part slow for now."