Edgewood Series: Books 1 - 3 (59 page)

“Good,” Mr. Specter said, closing the notebook. “And that concludes the question portion of the assessment. I told you it would be easy. Next we’ll test the strength of your powers.” He unzipped a compartment in the backpack and pulled out something resembling safety goggles. He held it out for me to take and I could see that the solid part in front was curved at the top to go over my forehead with a cutout for my nose at the bottom. Attached on either side was a thick stretchy strap designed to hold the thing in place.

“What is it?” I asked.

“This device will measure your power. A sort of meter, if you will. Go ahead and put it on. It won’t hurt.”

I put the thing over my eyes and stretched the strap over the back of my head. Now I was in a world of darkness. “It’s heavy,” I observed.

“Don’t worry, the Deleo won’t be on for very long,” he said.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “The what?” The word Deleo triggered a rush of memory fragments. The conversation with Nadia played out in its entirety. She’d astral projected to me last night, and told me a long story about Mr. Specter and Professor Neverman and the Deleo but I’d been asleep and hadn’t fully heard what she’d said. Until now.

“The device. This will only take a few minutes. Try leaning your head back, that might help.”

“I’m feeling claustrophobic,” I said, reaching up to take it off, but before I could it began whirring and suction-cupped to my face. “Really, I need to take it off.”

“Keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.” Mr. Specter’s tone was sharp.

I stood up and tried to pull off the goggles, but this thing, the Deleo, was part of me now, needling around the edges of my brain, and confusing me, so I wasn’t even sure what I was doing anymore.

“Sit down!” Mr. Specter pushed me hard, so that I fell back into the chair. “Keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.”

I wanted to pull it off, but within seconds, I’d lost the will to struggle. Resisting seemed like so much work and I was finding it pleasant in the world of the Deleo. I lowered my hands to my side. Nadia’s voice came back to me, telling me that Professor Neverman had said he’d never seen anything like it. And that he made it sound blissful. Beautiful. That didn’t sound so bad.

“Are your eyes closed?” he asked. His voice seemed far away, like a cloud speaking to me.

“Yes, they’re closed.” I kept them shut and tried to think of what else Nadia had said about what had happened with the Deleo, and it all came to me. Along with the words came pictures, moving pictures showing me what had happened the night before. I saw it played out before me as if I had been there—the two men drinking tea, Mr. Specter pulling the Deleo out of the backpack. And now, like someone had turned up the volume, there was sound: Mr. Specter telling the professor to open his eyes and stare at the image, the professor saying how beautiful and intense it was, and Mr. Specter altering his memories.

Voices played in my head.

Mr. Specter:
Keep staring. Don’t look away
.

The professor:
Oh
!
It’s suddenly gotten very intense
.
This is incredible
.

Mr. Specter saying: I
know it’s intense, but you have to keep looking. Do not close your eyes
!

I knew all of this came from Nadia. Somehow she’d shown me what she’d witnessed last night. What a smart, wonderful girl. There was probably no one else on the planet who could enter my consciousness and mind meld with me like that. I realized then that I’d let her down. She’d been worried and afraid, and instead of being there for her, I slept. If only she’d knocked on my door to wake me up, we might have had time to work out a plan. Now it was too late. Mr. Specter was going to alter my memories and there was nothing I could do about it. And not just me. He was going to do it to each and every one of us. Those who refused would be dead. Collateral damage, Mr. Specter had said. A necessary evil.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, forcing out the words.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be over in a few minutes,” he said. “Now open your eyes, and stare at the image. Tell me what you see.”

Nadia

When Mr. Specter said, “Nadia, your timing is perfect. You can be next,” he had the Deleo hanging from his fingertips. At the sight of it, I swear my heart stopped. I saw the back of Russ’s head and when he didn’t turn around to look at me, I knew I’d arrived too late.

And in that split second, I made a decision. I wasn’t going to be next. And I wasn’t going to become anyone’s so-called collateral damage just for refusing. There had to be another way, and I would find it or die trying. “I’d love to go next, but Jameson would kill me,” I said breezily. “He’s dying to be tested. He thinks he’s going to have the high score and be top dog.” I rolled my eyes like I was an adult doing an impression of a teenager.

“But you’re here now; why not just get it over with?” Mr. Specter smiled encouragingly.

“Mrs. Whitehouse sent me down to get Russ. She’s making me eggs and toast and she wants him to eat too. She said he barely touched his breakfast.” These last few words I did an impression of her voice, which made him chuckle. I flapped my arms like she did sometimes—spastic jazz hands.

His smile expanded into a huge grin and I knew I’d pulled it off. That’s the good thing about being truthful most of the time. When you do lie, people don’t expect it. “Well, then off you go,” he said. “Let Jameson know I’m ready for him. Russ?” Mr. Specter pulled on Russ’s sleeve and Russ rose obediently to his feet. Mr. Specter gave him a nudge in my direction. “Follow Nadia and take it easy for a while.” He addressed me. “Russ isn’t going to be himself for an hour or so. The test is tiring. He probably won’t feel like talking, so don’t push it.”

“I don’t really feel like talking either,” I said. “My blood sugar is low. I’ve got to eat soon.” Like he was sleepwalking, Russ wandered past me to wait in the hallway. I stayed right on his heels.

Mr. Specter stood in the doorway. “You know the way?”

I nodded. “I’m excellent with directions.” I tapped on my forehead. “I’ve got it all up here.”

“Very good.”

I took Russ’s arm and led him away from Mr. Specter. I’d been afraid he’d want to walk back with us and get Jameson himself, but I lucked out and he stayed behind. My heart pounded so hard I could have sworn it hit my rib cage with every beat. Even though I was gripped with fear, I tried to act calm, walking, but not running, down the hallway. When I heard Mr. Specter close the door behind us, I exhaled in relief.

“Listen Russ,” I said, putting my hand in his, “we’re going to have to do something drastic.”

“Something drastic?” He looked toward me, his face lacking expression. I realized then that even though we’d been touching I hadn’t picked up on any emotion. At all. He wasn’t happy or sad or in pain or upset. He was just empty. A human void. I wasn’t sure how much he would comprehend, but I talked anyway, keeping my voice very low. “Just follow my lead? No matter what I do, play along, okay?”

“Okay,” he said. It should have made me happy that he was agreeable, but I got the sense he was parroting rather than responding. There was nothing I could do about it. It would have to be good enough for now.

I’d lied to Mr. Specter about being excellent with directions, but the fates must have been looking out for us, because I was able to retrace my path without any false turns. Leading Russ by the arm was as easy as walking an old pony around the ring. Every time I glanced up at his impassive face I fought the urge to cry.
Oh, Russ, what did he do to you
? But the fact that he was incapacitated was all the more reason for me to stay calm and figure something out quickly. I had to be strong for both of us.

When we got back to the room where the others waited, I was eager to sound the alarm. Mallory still sat off to one side of the room, her arm propped up on the edge of the chair, her head against her hand. Her eyes were closed. She might even have been sleeping. Kevin was crouched down behind the couch, popping up periodically to shoot an imaginary weapon at Jameson, who clutched his chest and fell to the floor. They were, I would guess, reenacting some battle from a comic book or movie. Being away from home seemed to have helped Jameson loosen up. I’d never seen him play around like this in Edgewood.

“Duck, Nadia!” Jameson yelled from the floor. He was sprawled out now, as if getting hit had thrown him back into snow angel position. “He’s going to get you.”

I walked up to him. “Stop goofing around. I have to talk to you. It’s important.”

The urgency in my voice took the playfulness right out of him. He scrambled to his feet, looking sheepish. “What’s going on?”

I had Kevin’s attention too. He dropped his imaginary weapon and waited for my answer. I addressed everyone in the room, even Mallory who hadn’t moved since we walked in. “Listen. Something serious is happening and we need to band together. Mr. Specter isn’t who you think he is. He’s got this gadget called a Deleo. I’m not really clear on how the technology works, but it messes up your thoughts and erases memories. He’s using it to brainwash us under the guise of testing.”

“What?” Kevin asked.

“He’s got this thing called a Deleo, and it—”

“Oh no, you don’t have to say it again. I heard you the first time.” Kevin’s face showed how ridiculous he thought the whole thing was. “Nadia, I can tell you right now that it’s not true.”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” I said. “It is true. He straps this thing over your head and says he’s testing your powers, but that’s just a cover. It actually manipulates or wipes out memories. “

“I’m not sure what you saw, but believe me, I’ve known Sam Specter for more than thirty years and he’s a standup guy. Wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Now Kevin sounded irate.

I turned to Jameson. “Look at Mallory,” I said, pointing. “And Russ. He’s turned them into zombies!” I was shouting now. Mallory raised her head to look, but didn’t seem to register what was going on. “He’s scrambled their brains and he wants to do it to us too. We have to stop him.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Kevin said, holding up his hands. “Let’s all take a deep breath here. I can guarantee that Sam Specter would never do the kind of thing you’re talking about. Even if there was technology like that. Which there isn’t. Except for the Neuralyzer Tommy Lee Jones used in
Men in Black
.”

“I remember that!” Jameson said.

“I got a replica of it at the store,” Kevin said.

“Cool! How much?”

“Just under ten bucks. You’d be amazed how many I sell over the holidays.”

“Stop it!” I yelled. “I’m completely serious here. I’ve seen this thing, this Deleo, and I overheard him talking about it. He wants to do this to all four of us, and if we don’t do it, we’re going to wind up dead. Collateral damage. Look!” I brushed my hand against Russ’s cheek. “Look at Russ and Mallory. I’m not making this up.”

“Mallory, are you okay?” Kevin asked, to prove his point.

She nodded. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“How about you, Russ. How are you feeling?”

Russ said, “Tired.” Echoing the last word Mallory said.

“See,” Kevin said. “They’re both tired. Which is exactly what Sam said would happen after the testing.” He came closer and leaned over to look me in the face, so close I could smell his hair gel. “Nadia, you gotta chill. We’re all kinda out of sorts after what happened yesterday. But if we don’t trust each other, what do we got? I’ll tell you what we have. Nothing. We’ve just gotta hang together.”

I stood firm. “I know what I saw.”

Kevin straightened up. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s all go down there right now and talk this through with Sam. We’ll get to the bottom of whatever it is you think you saw.”

“I’ll go next if you want, Nadia,” Jameson said. “I’m not afraid.”

“Don’t do it, Jameson,” I begged. “Please don’t go along with this.”

“You can watch when it’s my turn if it would make you feel better,” he said.

Jameson and Kevin were acting like I was a kid afraid of needles trying to get out of a vaccination shot. Why couldn’t I get through to them?

“Come on, let’s go.” Kevin gestured to the doorway. “We’ll do it together. You can lead the way.”

“I’ll stay right with you,” Jameson offered.

“Oh, Jameson.” I shook my head, my heart filled with frustration. “I thought you were smarter than this.”

Mrs. Whitehouse walked into the room, carrying a steaming plate full of food. “Oh there you are, Nadia. I rustled up some breakfast for you.” She stopped to take in all of us, frozen in place like we were a life-sized diorama. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to find Sam, that’s what’s going on,” Kevin said. “We need to get this cleared up.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jameson declared. He clapped a hand on my back. “Don’t look so worried, Nadia. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

“An explanation for what?” Mrs. Whitehouse called out, after they’d sprinted out of the room.

I took a piece of toast off the plate she’d extended in my direction. Lightly toasted with strawberry jelly. “Thanks for making me breakfast,” I said. “But I won’t have time to eat it.”

Russ

People talked and someone fell on the floor and there was a girl eating jelly toast. Me, I was just there. Watching, but not caring. I was an inanimate object being moved by the will of someone else. Portable. Like the shell of a human being.

I’d fought the Deleo as much as I could, but it was powerful. Its tentacles tapped at my thoughts and memories and slithered in wherever it found a weakness. At first I held back the intrusion as best I could, thinking of childhood songs, and reciting the multiplication table in my head.

Twinkle, twinkle little star
…

“When we’re finished here, you will do whatever I tell you to do without question,” Mr. Specter said.

The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain
…