Emily (26 page)

‘
I’ll go as well,’ Ross said, tightening his arm around Vondra. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

‘I’ll stand besides you,’ Jonas pledged giving his hand to Vladimir, who took it.

‘
As I,’ Janak replied, reaching for Helena’s hand.

But before Helena could say anything, Jonas stepped forward and said,
‘I know your heart lies with us but you will need to lead the people.’ Helena began to protest but Janak stepped in.

‘
My love, please,’ and the look that passed between them was so intense that the others had to look away.

As Vladimir faced Vondra she smiled and said,
‘My brother, I stand at your side,’ turning to Ross, she added, ‘After we free our people, we go to your restaurant,’ causing everyone to laugh. Emily looked at Vladimir and Eric and Vladimir winked at her. If Vondra wanted a restaurant after all this, then they would supply it.
That is
, he thought to himself,
if we live
.

Twenty minutes later, the group was on its way to the manor. Ross and Vince were riding motorbikes that belonged to the free abnormals. Emily was on Applejacks and Vladimir, Eric, Vondra, Jonas and Janak were all in animal form. They moved with a purpose, only stopping to regroup one mile before the manor. Vladimir morphed back into human form to give instructions on how they would approach it.

‘Eric and I will approach the manor to check out the compound. The rest of you stay here. Emily, keep a connection open to us.’ And they morphed back into animal form. After ten minutes they were back.

‘
The children have been rounded up in the compound, Varrick has them sitting outside the front of the manor.’ Vladimir told the group.

‘
How many children?’ Vince asked. He wanted details.

‘
At least twenty five,’ Eric responded. ‘They look around the same age, around four.’

Vondra
’s face was hard, ‘Are they hurt?’

‘
I don’t think so but they all look scared,’ Vladimir replied. Turning to Emily, he asked, ‘Can you transport the children all at one time?’ Emily wished she’d had a chance to try out her new strength; her ability was still unknown.

‘
Maybe.’ Then she said, more strongly after connecting to Applejacks, ‘Yes I can. I just need to be close to the children.’ Pausing to think, Vladimir finally told them what the group’s next move would be. He smiled at Applejacks, who nodded back.

‘
Vondra and Ross, you need to stay here, Emily will teleport the children to you. Janak and Vince, you need to find transport for the children and take them back to the new camp. The children are the priority. Once we get them clear, we will see what we can do about Varrick.’ Vince thought about Vladimir’s plan.

‘
Can I make one comment?’

‘
Of course,’ Vladimir completely trusted Vince’s judgement.

‘
It sounds like you, Eric and Emily are taking a one way trip. We all know it. You could be sacrificing yourself for nothing.’

‘
We still have the advantage,’ Vladimir replied.

‘
What’s that?’ Vince asked.

‘
Emily! She can talk directly to all the abnormals. When we first came to the compound, Emily picked up on how unhappy they all are. If we can turn enough of them to our side, it might give us the edge we need.’

Vondra spoke in her low husky voice.
‘That is a big risk, they’re all pretty…’ pausing she thought hard for the right word in English, ‘brainwashed.’

Emily answered her.
‘I know what you’re saying but I really felt their unhappiness. Maybe we can get them to not fight us.’

‘
It is the only plan we have right now,’ Vladimir said, and by his tone they knew that the discussion was over. Looking at the group, each nodded their agreement.

‘
What about me?’ Jonas asked, aware that Vladimir had not given him a task.

Vladimir turned to Jonas and said,
‘You my friend, have to save my mother. I will get Emily to teleport you into the compound.’

‘
I can get you into her room,’ Emily added ‘we just need to get close enough.’

‘
What about her collar?’ Jonas asked.

‘
I think I can teleport it away before it can blow,’ Emily told him.

‘
You think?’ Jonas replied. Emily looked down at her feet.

‘
I’m not sure. There’s always a moment before the transport starts when taking hold of the subject causes a slight vibration that could make the collar blow. It would depend on how sensitive the device is.’

‘
I’ve seen it blow a man’s head off when a bolt of lightning hit a tree from twenty metres away,’ Jonas added, but he knew they had no choice.

‘
Brother,’ Vondra cried, reaching out to touch Vladimir’s arm ‘please be careful. ‘Smiling at his sister, Vladimir touched her hair then turned into his wolf form. Emily mounted Applejacks and Eric morphed into his wolf form as well. Just before Vladimir turned towards the manor he looked back at the group and thought to himself what extraordinary people they were.

At the edge of the trees in front of the compound, Emily looked at Jonas and concentrated on him for a moment before he popped away. The small group then turned into the compound. Within seconds an alarm sounded and the guards were all around them with guns pointed.

‘
Vladimir, something is wrong
,’ Eric thought in the connection.

‘
I know, I see it too
,’ Vladimir replied.

‘
What’s wrong?
’ Emily asked. She couldn’t see what they were talking about.

‘
There are only a few guards. There should be more.’ Vladimir replied.

‘
Should I move the children?’ Emily asked.

Pausing Vladimir acknowledged,
‘
Yes
.’

Quickly turning, Emily focused on the children who were holding each other
’s hands. They all looked very frightened but none were crying.
They’re trying so hard to be brave
, thought Emily to herself. Concentrating hard for a moment, she visualised where they were to go and they all popped out of sight. The guards shot a dart gun at Emily but this time she was prepared. It was effortless to place a force field around the three of them. The guards, seeing that the darts didn’t hit them, changed to machine-guns; the noise was deafening.

‘
That’s new
,’ Eric said in the connection, he had almost jumped into the dart to protect Emily.

‘
And very handy
,’ added Vladimir.

‘
The only thing is, I can’t do anything else while the force field is up.’ Emily replied. ‘I wasn’t even sure if it would work but I sensed that it might.’

‘
Don’t keep your feelings to yourself, Emily,’ Vladimir responded. ‘Come let’s move inside. We need to find Varrick.’

*
* *

As soon as Jonas materialised in Valeskia
’s cell, he changed into his human form. Valeskia jumped as he teleported into the room. Taking a moment to look at each other after all the years apart, Valeskia gave him her deepest smile before turning to business.

‘
What’s the plan?’

‘
I need to take you to the girl; she thinks she can take off your collar,’ Jonas replied looking around the small cell.

‘
Jonas, the guards have told me that Varrick’s plan is to kill the latest batch of children,’ Valeskia told the gentle man.

‘
We know and that’s being taken care of. Emily has the power to teleport them away and Vondra is waiting to take them to our new camp.’ Suddenly the alarm went off and the pair could hear guards running down the hallway.

Jonas turned to Valeskia and said,
‘You know, perhaps this was not a good idea. I realise we’re both locked in your cell.’ Valeskia laughed.

‘
The cell has never been the problem. Emily knew that.’ Walking over to the door, Valeskia pulled a key from the top of the doorframe.

‘
I’ve had this for years, let’s hope it works now.’ Putting the key into the lock, Valeskia slowly turned it. Hearing the solid clunk as the door lock popped open brought a smile to both her and Jonas’ face.

‘
I will turn into my wolf,’ Jonas said. ‘In case we come across any guards, I will attack so that you can escape.’

‘
My oldest friend,’ Valeskia replied, ‘after all these years apart I don’t intend to lose you so soon. We stay together.’ Jonas replied by changing into his wolf form, but not before she saw that his face had turned red.

Moving into the deserted hallway, Valeskia was surprised. There should still be guards here. Something was wrong! Hearing gun-fire, the pair quickly moved up the stairs to the entrance of the ballroom. Pausing, Valeskia opened the door a crack to see how many guards were in there. She could see three and again she was surprised. Only three, what was going on, where were they all?

Peering through the crack again, Valeskia saw the front door to the ballroom bang open and Vladimir, Eric and Emily – who was on Applejacks – entered the room. The guards were firing their guns but none of the bullets seemed to be touching the small group. Gesturing to Jonas, Valeskia mouthed to him, ‘We need to create a diversion.’ He nodded and they moved quietly into the ballroom, hiding behind the throne.

Looking around the room, Valeskia saw a heavy vase to the left of the throne and whispering to Jonas she said,
‘I’ll throw the vase into the corner. You jump on the two guards and knock them down. I’ll jump on the guard to the left.’ Jonas shook his wolf head at her but Valeskia was firm.

‘
I can do this,’ she whispered back. Realising that she was determined – and really, he could never say no to her – Jonas moved into position. Valeskia picked up the vase and threw it down the stairs. The noise worked and as the guards turned, both Jonas and Valeskia threw themselves at them. Seeing their advantage, Vladimir ordered Emily to lower the force field and both he and Eric raced up the stairs to where the guards were. It was all over within seconds and the guards were rounded up and forced to sit on their knees with their hands locked behind their heads.

Morphing back into human form, Vladimir demanded,
‘Where is Varrick?’ None of guards said anything. Turning to Emily he asked her, ‘Can you send one of them into the void for ten seconds and then bring him back?’ Looking at Applejacks, Emily thought about it.

‘
I might lose him during the connection, but I can try.’ The guards looked at each other nervously. Turning back to them, Vladimir’s voice showed no mercy.

‘
This is your last chance! Tell me where Varrick is.’ He gave them a few seconds to reply before turning to Emily and simply saying, ‘Do it.’

Choosing the youngest guard, Emily concentrated for a moment and then he was gone. Applejacks had closed his eyes as well; the pair
were linked with Emily’s arm resting on his neck. After ten seconds the guard popped back into the room. His mouth was open and he filled the room with a scream, shaking uncontrollably. Emily shut her eyes and turned from the man. Vladimir knew she was upset at having to hurt him.

‘
Tell me where Varrick is!’ he demanded again. ‘Or I will send you back again.’

‘
No, no! Please don’t send me back,’ the guard pleaded. ‘I will tell you what you want to know.’ Pulling himself up so that he was sitting on his knees, he looked at Emily with terror on his face. His skin was red from the cold of the between void and he was having a hard time catching his breath. ‘He is following the children.’

‘
What?’ Eric moved closer to the guard.

‘
He has placed a tracker on a couple of the children. He guessed that you would free them with the witch’s ability. He has set off with the rest of his guards to follow them to your camp.’

‘
What does he plan to do?’ Vladimir asked, already knowing in his head the answer.

‘
His plan is to kill your people, to kill all of you. We were meant to kill you here but we didn’t know the witch could make a force field.’

Turing to Eric and Jonas, Vladimir ordered,
‘Tie them up!’ Turning to Valeskia he said, ‘Mother, we need to remove your collar.’

‘
I think it will explode as soon as she tries to teleport it,’ Valeskia replied calmly, ‘but I’m willing to try.’ Valeskia knew that she had to lose the collar and there was no other way to get it off.

‘
Applejacks has given me an idea,’ Emily interjected. ‘How big will the blast be?’

‘
Not too big, it’s designed to just take off the person’s head. It works inwards,’ Valeskia replied calmly.