Predominance (13 page)

“Please, Victor! Stop!” Sarah begged, tugging on my arm.

But I didn't listen. It felt good inflicting pain on these men. And though the thought terrified me, I just couldn't stop it. There was an unnatural conflict taking place in my head, in which my anger had overcome my reason. Inside I was fighting to stop; but outside, I was grinning like a madman.   

The main doors suddenly opened and an entire paramilitary squad poured into the lab, carrying heavy artillery. They aimed everything they had at us, ready to open fire. But they couldn't shoot; the guards under my control were standing in the line of fire.

“Let them go!” one of the soldiers shouted, pointing an assault rifle at me. Then I heard the voice of the man in which I'd misplaced all of my hopes: Dr. Walker, who stood behind the squad. Looking me square in the eye, he gave his men a very stiff order: “Shoot them. Shoot them all.”

The order was executed without hesitation. Every weapon was fired mercilessly at the same time, as if we were shooting ducks and not human beings. A sudden horizontal rain of lead filled the lab, producing a war-like uproar in which I lost my concentration and dropped my prisoners. The now-released bodies of the four guards in front of us became the squad's targets: just an obstacle they needed to get rid of, in order to get through to us. They riddled them with everything they had, shredding their bodies and sending them collapsing over Sarah and me, covering us like once-human shields.

Blood was everywhere, tainting everything it touched. We should have died; how we didn't I had no idea, unless some remnant of my telekinesis somehow shielded us from the bullets that ripped the HOS and his men to shreds. Sarah and I crawled out from under the pulped remains of their bodies and took cover behind the capsule I'd woken up in. A brief ceasefire gave me the advantage I was looking for. Once again, without any physical contact, I took control of the now-lifeless bodies of the HOS and his men and launched them towards the execution squad, smashing them apart like bowling pins.

“Come on!” Sarah shouted, pulling my arm with all her strength, hauling me toward an opened hatch at the end of the room. “This is our chance!” 

I followed her to the hatch as gray started to creep in around the edges of my vision. The world became fuzzy and my hearing turned bleary. All I could feel now was Sarah's arm around my waist and her panting breath whooshing in my ear. I remember the rest as if it were a dream. Brief images of the forest flashed across my eyes as I felt the cold breeze of the night blowing through my hair. The smell of pine needles, the flowing sound of a river, and the soft touch of Sarah's delicate hand—all began to take hold of my enhanced senses.

My eyes opened again to the velvet sound of Sarah's voice. “Come on, Victor. We're almost there.” I saw her then, my arm around her shoulders. She was dragging my limp body inside an old, abandoned shack in the middle of the woods. I tried to stay awake, but my eyes began to close again, and Sarah's voice began to recede. The light turned to darkness and then... nothing.

Camping with Sarah

FINALLY, AFTER A
long battle against my own subconscious, I could remember all the strange episodes that had brought me here. Some things began to make sense then, like waking up in the abandoned shack, my memory loss, Sarah—and even hiding in the woods. Some things, however, remained a mystery. Seated next to the fire, I fed the flame for hours, staring blankly at it, pain and remorse piercing my conscience, just as that hail of bullets had pierced the bodies of those men...

Sarah, with a somber look on her face, tried to shed light on the things I couldn't remember—and also on the things I never knew. “Three months ago, I was assigned to work for Dr. Walker on the development of a new serum that was supposed to help regenerate damaged cells in the brain,” Sarah explained. “The procedure was a success. Patients with a number of different types of brain damage were cured—especially those with intracranial pressure issues.

“At first, we were thrilled. We finally had all the data we needed to make the findings public. But then... something happened. Patients began to show strange electrical activity in their brains—something I've never seen before. When my mentor, Dr. Palmer, put one of the patients under observation, he realized that the serum had done more than incite a regeneration pattern; it had also awakened dormant cells, which were now apparently absorbing some sort of unknown energy from the atmosphere.”

“Not just from the atmosphere,” I said, remembering the other sources I'd tapped into. She looked up at me sharply, and I said, placatingly, “But we can talk about that later. Go on.”

She sighed. “Well, at first we thought we were wrong. I mean, it was like nothing anyone had ever detected before. But when this energy manifested itself in a series of extraordinary abilities, we knew we'd discovered something much more profound. That's when Dr. Walker stepped in and took complete control over the project. After making some findings of his own, he concluded that this energy actually splits in two: he called it the Dual Dominant Interaction Force. In one form, the energy seems to be harmless to the human brain, enhancing feelings of altruism in the subject. But in its opposite form, it's harmful and addictive, even mind altering.”

“What do you mean by 'mind altering'?”

“In its negative form, this energy stimulates and enhances malevolent behavior. After reaching critical levels of saturation, it takes control of the subject's volition.”

“What happens then?” I asked.

She looked at me steadily. “You've seen what happens then, Victor. You lose control of your actions. Anger becomes your driving force, and you become—”

“A sociopath.” I finished her sentence, feeling an awful emotional pain I've never felt before.

She met my stare and swallowed hard. “Yes. Exactly.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead with a weary hand. “So why didn't he stop the project then?”

She was quiet for a long moment, then: “It's... his theory is crazy. Since this energy is driven by human emotions, Dr. Walker thinks he's found the very essence of good and evil within the human brain. And he is adamant about the need to harness this power, no matter how many lives he has to sacrifice in the process.”

I dropped my hand, and my gaze flew back to hers. “You mean—”

“Walker's been using his patients as expendable test subjects. So far, 85% of the patients have died during the procedure. And those who have survived are being... dissected.”

“You mean vivisected,” I snapped. “Dissected alive. You mean murdered.”

She bowed her head, unable to look at me.

“This is insane!” I got to my feet and began to pace aimlessly around the little clearing. “Why is he doing this?”

“The dissection—” I looked at her angrily, and she began again: “The vivisection serves two purposes for Dr. Walker. First, he hopes to find a way to harness this power, and he needs his... subjects... kept alive for as long as possible while he does it. And two...” She hesitated again.

“Yes?” I urged.

She said in a small voice, “He feels he has to dispose of his subjects anyway. Once this dark energy reaches critical levels, they become too dangerous to live.”

Sarah fell silent then. After a full minute I asked impatiently, “Would you care to elaborate a little more on that last statement?” I asked. My fingers curled into claws, and I wanted desperately to reach for the power I could feel throbbing in the air around me. 

She sighed heavily. “There's an exponential increase in telekinetic abilities once the subject's volition is altered by this negative energy. Think Carrie times a thousand.”

“Great!” I snarled, my voice filled with sarcasm and disgust. “So I'm not only turning into a homicidal maniac, I'm turning into a demon too. You know, it's amazing how far some people will go for fame and fortune. How the hell do you sleep at night?” 

Sarah stood and scowled at me. “Wait just a goddamned minute! I was never a part of this! I didn't know about it until it was too late. And when I did find out, I tried to stop it—and as you saw, almost got myself killed!”

“You lied to us!” I roared. “All of you lied to us!” As my anger raged out of control, I could hear her heartbeat step up like that of a rabbit frightened by the sight of a fox, and I could smell her fear on the breeze. The sensations washed over and overwhelmed my psyche as I did my best to control it. I kept pacing around, breathing more and more heavily; Sarah got to her feet and took a few steps back, a watchful expression on her face. I knew she was about to run, and I knew if she did, I'd reach out with my power and snatch her off her feet, just as I'd done with the security guards who had unwittingly given their lives to protect us.

“Victor, please! You need to calm down.”

I kept pacing, feeling my anger escalating as it had in the lab; and just as I was about to give in to it, a loud thumping noise derailed my attention. I recognized it instantly: the blade-slap of a helicopter, headed rapidly in our direction. Without thinking I kicked dirt over the fire, and we both darted into the woods.

From our vantage point in the trees, we watched as the aircraft passed slowly over the surface of the river, a powerful searchlight sweeping its turbulent waters. Sarah immediately recognized it as one of the facility's medical transports. “They're looking for us,” she whispered.

“They're searching the river,” I noted, having regained control of my emotions. “They must think we didn't make it.”

“Then we have a chance. We have to get as far away from here as we possibly can,” she said as the helicopter made another pass and disappeared down the river. “Let's go!”

“Wait,” I said, grabbing her arm. “I'm not going anywhere without Yvette.”

“Who?”

“There was another patient in my group, Yvette Montgomery. She was a childhood friend. What happened to her?”

Her eyes darted around like cornered rabbits. “Victor, there's no time!”

“Sarah, please!” I begged, grasping both her elbows in a soft yet firm grip. “I need to know.”

“I don't know them by name.” She sighed. “But three subjects from your group died during the procedure.”

“Who!—who died?” I asked, distressed, thoughtlessly shaking her entire body.

“I don't know!” she gasped, “Two men and one woman!”

“Yvette?” I breathed with dismay. “—NO!” I said sharply, countering my own thoughts. “There was an-another girl,” I explained, trying to assure myself I hadn't lost the love of my life. “Yvette might still be alive. We have to get help, call the police or something!” I suggested frantically.

“You still don't get it, do you?” Sarah jerked her arms down, breaking free of my grasp. “These are very powerful people. Walker and his friends are politically connected, wealthy beyond anything you can imagine. It's our word against theirs, not to mention the fact that once they pinpoint our location they'll have me arrested and you back on the slab!”

Her firm statement shocked me, convincing me even more Yvette needed my help. If no one could help us, then I needed to find a way to save Yvette myself. I said to her in a low voice, “I need you to tell me if there's a way to control these abilities without turning into a monster.”

Sarah frowned. “Why? You should avoid trying to use them.”

“Please!” My voice wavered from a shout to a whisper as I tried to control my temper, “...Just tell me how. If you can.”

Sarah took another step back, her frightened eyes fixed on mine. “Well... Apparently, the absorption of these energies is triggered by the same behavior they enhance,” she said hesitantly.

“And what does that mean?”

“Your abilities sparked the moment you set your mind to save me in the river. And though your heart rate must've been elevated, and you were obviously in distress, your intentions triggered a part of your brain that focuses on altruism. That made the absorption of, well, positive energy possible. I know I sound like a New Age freak, but that's the easiest way to explain it.”

“I don't understand. I tried to protect you in the lab, and my intentions weren't evil. What the hell happened to me then?”

“That's precisely the conflict with your condition. Even benevolent thoughts can lead to frustration and anger. Human emotions are unstable, Victor, even uncontrollable past a certain point.”

“I can do it,” I said confidently. “I can control my emotions. I can use these abilities to my advantage. I can use them to get Yvette out of that place.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Sarah glared at me in the dimness; I know she could barely see me, but she was clearly visible to my enhanced senses. “There are people armed to their teeth looking for us right now, and you want to go back into the lion's den?” She stressed every word, trying to make her point as strong as possible. “Not to mention the fact that you don't even know how to control this power, if it's even possible! I mean, just trying could make you more vulnerable to the loss of volition.” She paused, regaining composure. “You could die, Victor.”

“If I don't try, Yvette will die for sure. And I told you, I can control it.”

“No you can't!” she shouted. “Sooner or later you're going to lose it, and then you'll become an even bigger threat than those people chasing us.” She paused ruefully, lowering her angry tone. “Then they won't be the only ones trying to take you down.”

I sighed in dismay and looked at her quizzically. “Sarah, if you knew all this, why did you risk your life trying to save me? I mean, I'm as good as dead, right?” Her eyebrows knitted in self-reflection, but she kept her answer to herself. I sighed and shook my head, feeling defeated. “You should try and make a run for it, Sarah.” I turned around and began to walk back to the lab.

“Wait!” she called. I stopped and turned around. “Why are you doing this?” Her voice was full of confusion and disbelief.

“Because I promised.”

“I don't understand.”

“I don't expect you to.”

“You don't even know how to get back there! You're going to get lost!”

“Don't worry, Sarah. I have a great sense of direction.” I didn't mention my heightened senses, which I knew wouldn't let me down.

Our voices got louder with every exchange. “What about the helicopter?” she cried.

“I'll hide!”

“How would you get pass their security?”

“I know a way.”

“You're going to get yourself killed!”

“I don't CARE!” I thundered.

“Arghhh! Are you always this stubborn?” she demanded, her eyes flashing.

“You have no idea.” My own tone reminded me of the obstinacy of my father.

She exhaled angrily and began to pace, massaging her forehead with the tips of her fingers. “Okay, okay,” she said, the redness fading from her face. “We can't just walk through the front door, so we're going to have to figure something else out, okay?”

“We?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow. “What's this 'we',
kemosabe? You've made it clear you don't want to go.”

“I said 'we' and I meant it,” she replied firmly. “I hate to reduce this to scorekeeping, but I still owe you one. Besides, there are still a few things you need to know before you march back in there.” She donned her jacket and reluctantly led the way. “Let's go!” she called back at me.

Shaking my head, I followed.

***

I couldn't believe it when I saw the magnificent dawn again. It had taken us the entire night to put all the pieces of the puzzle back together. Now Sarah was leading the way back to R.C. Labs, still ill-tempered—not just because we were going back, but because given the fact that we had ended up on the wrong side of the river, the length of our journey back to R.C. Labs had tripled. Thankfully, Sarah seemed to have come well prepared. A large Ziploc she removed out from her inside jacket pocket contained money, credentials, a Swiss Army Knife, and a detailed map of the Tongass National Rainforest, which in the current situation was our most precious possession.

The map was leading us to a bridge downriver, the only way to get across its treacherous waters. On the other side, the map showed a one-mile trail that would lead us to a big, empty plain, which Sarah assured me was the secret location of the Lab. I had no idea what I was going to do once I got there, but one thing I knew for sure: if I were going to die, I wanted to do so for a good reason.