Gone (24 page)

"Who?" Diana demanded.

"Who do you think? The blonde and her retard brother."

"You let her get away?" Caine demanded, forgetting Sam for the moment.

"I didn't let her get away. They were in the room with me. The girl was pissing me off so I smacked her. Then they disappeared. Gone"

Caine shot a murderous look at Diana. Diana said, "No.

She was months away from turning fifteen. And, anyway, her little brother is four"

"Then how?" Caine furrowed his brow. "Can it be the power?"

Diana shook her head. "I read Astrid again on the way here. She's barely at two bars. No way. Two people teleport-ing?"

The color drained from Caine's face. "The retard?" "He's autistic, he's like in his own world" Diana protested. "Did you read him?"

"He's a little autistic kid, why would I read him?"

Caine turned to Sam. "What do you know about this?" He raised his hand, a threat. His face inches from Sam's, he screamed, "What do you know?"

"Well I know that I enjoy seeing you scared, Caine."

The invisible fist sent Sam sprawling on his back.

Diana, for the first time, looked worried. Her usual smirk was gone. "The only time we saw tdeporting was Taylor up at Coates. And she could only go across a room. She was a three. If this kid can teleport himself and liis sister through walls.. "

"He could be a four" Caine said softly.

"Yes," Diana said. "He could be a four" When she said the word "four" she looked straight at Sam. "He could be even more."

Caine said, "Ore, Howard: lock Sam up, tie him down so he can't get that Mylar off his hands, then get Freddie to help you. He's done plastering before, he knows what to do. Get whatever you need from the hardware store" He grabbed

Drake by the shoulder. "Find Astrid and thai kid."

"How am I going to catch them if they can just zap out whenever they want?"

"I didn't say catch them " Caine said. "Take a gun, Drake. Shoot them both before they see you "

Sam charged ai Caine and plowed into him before he could react. The momentum carried them both to the floor. Sam headbutted Caine in the nose. Caine was slow to recover, but Drake and Ore swarmed over Sam and kicked him off Caine.

Sam groaned in pain. "You can't kill people, Caine. Are you crazy?"

"You hurl my nose," Caine said.

"You're screwed up, Caine. You need help. YouVe insane" "Yeah," Caine said, touching his nose and wincing at ihe pain. "That's what they keep telling me. It's what Nurse Temple . . Mom .. told me. Just be glad I need to keep you around, Sam. I need to see you blink out, figure out how to keep it from happening to me. Ore, take this hero away Drake: go"

"If you hurt them, Drake, I'll hunt you down and kill you," Sam shouted.

"Don't waste your breath" Diana said to him. "You don't know Drake. Your girlfriend's as good as dead."

128 HOURS, 32 MINUTES

ASTRID WANTED TO scream al Drake and Diana, to denounce them, to demand to knew what kind of worthless human beings used the FAYZ as an excuse for violence.

But she had to keep Little Fete calm. That was her top priority, her brother. Her blank-faced, helpless, unloving brother.

She resented him. He had turned her into a mother at age fourteen. It wasn't right. This should be her time to shine, to be bold. This was her time to use ler intellect, that supposedly great gift. Instead, she was a babysitter

Astrid and Little Pete were shewn, with mock courtesy, into a classroom. It wasn't one of Astrid's classes but might as well have been. Everything was achingly familiar: books open on desks, walls festooned with student artwork and projects.

"Have a seat. Read a book, if you want" Diana said. "I know you like that kind of thing"

Astrid hefted one of the books. "Yes, fourth-grade math. I love that kind of thing"

"You know, I really dislike you" Diana said. Drake leaned against a wall and smirked. "Of course you dislike me," Astrid said. "I make you feel inferior"

Diana's eyes (lashed. "I don't feel inferior to anyone" "Really? Because usually a person who does bad things recognizes that there's something a little wrong with them.

You know? Even if they suppress it. they know they're sick inside"

"Yeah" Diana said laconically "I feel bad about that. My evil heart and all. Give me your hand"

"What?"

"I promise not to infect you with my badness. Give me your hand." "No."

"Drake. Make her give me her hand " Drake came off the wall.

Astrid stuck out her hand. Diana took it in hers and held it.

"You read people" Astrid said."I should have figured it out earlier. You have the power, don't you?" She looked at Diana like she was looking at a specimen in a laboratory

"Yep" Diana said, releasing her. "I read people. But don't worry, I just read power levels, not your secret little thoughts about how much you want to make out with Sam Temple"

Astrid Hushed, despite herself Diana laughed at her.

"Oh, please, that's obvious. He's cute. He's brave. He's smart, but not as smart as you. He's perfect"

"He's a friend," Astrid said.

"Uh-huh. Well, we're about to find out how good a friend he is. He knows we have you. If he doesn't tell Caine everything Caine wants to know; and dc whatever Caine tells him to do, Drake here is going to hurt you."

Astrid's insides turned to jelly. "What?"

Diana sighed. "Well, that's why we keep Drake around. He enjoys hurting people. We don't keep him around for his conversational skills"

Drake looked like he'd rather take a shot at Diana. His narrow lizard eyes narrowed further. Diana didn't miss his expression.

"Go ahead, raise a hand against me, Drake" Diana taunted. "Caine would kill you." lb Astrid, she said, "Better behave yourself, he's all riled up now."

Diana left.

Astrid felt Drake's eyes on her but she couldn't look at him. She kept her gaze down on the math book. Then glanced at her brother, who sat playing his stupid game, unable, unwilling, uncaring.

Astrid felt ashamed of her own fear. Ashamed that she couldn't look at the thug who leaned insouciantly against the walL

She had no doubt that Sam would do his best to save hen But Caine might ask for something Sam couldn't give.

She needed to think. She needed to work out a plan. She was scared, she always had been scared of physical violence. She was scared of the emptiness she sensed in Drake Merwin.

She scooted her desk up beside Little Pete's and put a hand on his shoulder. No reaction. He knew she was there, but he showed nothing, absorbed in his game.

Still not looking at Drake, Astrid said, "Doesn't it bother you that Diana treats you like some wild animal she keeps on a leash?"

Drake said, "Doesn't it bother you going around with that retard? Having a little 'tard practically attached to you?" "He's not retarded," Astrid said evenly "Oh. Is that the wrong word? 'Retard'?" "He's autistic" "Retarded," Drake insisted.

Astrid looked at him. She willed herself to meet his gaze. "'Retarded' is a word people don't use anymore. When they did use it, they used it to signify an impairment of intelligence. Petey is not intellectually impaired in that way He has at least normal IQ, and may have a higher than normal IQ. So the word doesn't apply"

"Yeah? Huh. Because I like thewordVetard.' In fact, I'd like to hear you say it. Retard"

Astrid felt dread sap her strength. There was not the slightest doubt in her mind that he meant to hurt her. She held his gaze for a while but then looked down.

"Retard," Drake insisted. "Say it."

"No," Astrid whispered.

Drake sauntered across the rcom. He was not carrying a weapon. He didn't need to. He placed his fists on her desk and leaned over hen

"Retard," Drake said. "Say, 'My brother is a retard.'"

Astrid didn't trust herself to speak. She was choking back tears. She wanted to believe she was brave, but now, with the thug inches away from her, she knew that she was not.

"My, Brother. Come on, say it with me. My. Say it."

The slap was so quick, she barely registered his hand moving. Her face burned-

"Say it My., *

"My," she whispered.

"Louder* I want the little retard to hear it. My brother is a retard"

The second slap was so hard,shea!most tell from the chain

"You can say it while your face is still pretty, or you can say it after I've smashed it in—your choxe. My brother is a retard "

"My brother is a retard," Astrid said, her voice shaking.

Drake laughed delightedly and crossed to Little Pete, who had looked up from his video game and seemed almost to register what was happening. Drake put his face into Little Pete's space and with one hand yanked Astrid by the hair so that her mouth was close to Little Pete's ear and said, "One more time, nice and loud" He pushed Astrid's face against the side of Little Pete's head and ydled, "My brother is—*

And Astrid fell back on her bed.

Her bed. Her bedroom.

Little Pete was in the window seat, cross-legged on the bench, video game in his hand.

Astrid knew immediately what had happened. But it was still impossibly disorienting. One second in the school, the next in her room.

She couldn't look at him. Her face burned from the slaps, but even more from shame. "Thanks, Petey," she whispered.

Ore dragged Sam from the gym into the weight room.

Howard looked around, considering what he should do.

"Howard, man, you can't be down with this" Sam pleaded. "You can't be okay with Caine kiting Astrid and Little Pete. Ore, even you can't be okay with this. You didn't mean to kill Bette. This is way over the line."

"Yeah, it is over the line," Howard admitted, preoccupied, his mouth twisted quizzically to one side.

"You have to help me. Let me go after Drake "

"I don't think so, Sammy See, I've seen what kind of stuff Drake can do. And we've both seen what kind of stuff Caine can do" To Ore, Howard said, * Let's put him here on this bench. Faceup. We'll tie his legs to the upright here"

Ore lifted Sam and slammed him down onto the weight bench.

"Ore, this is going to be cold-blooded murder" Sam said.

"Not me, man "Ore said. "I'm just tying you up"

"Drake is going to murder Astrid. She helped you get through math. You can stop this,Ore"

"She wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that," Ore grumbled."Anyway, no more malh class"

They used rope to lash his ankles to the legs of the bench. They tied another rope around his waist.

"Okay, now here's the good part" Howard said. "We load some weigh! on the bar. We lie Sam's hands to the bar and lower it down on the slide, right? He'll be busy keeping the bar up off his neck"

Ore was slow to understand, so Howard showed him. Then Ore piled weight plates onto the bar.

"What can you bench-press. Sam?" Howard asked. "I'd say put on two forty-fives on each end, right? With the bar, that makes it two hundred pounds"

"No way he presses two hundred " Ore opined.

"I think you're right, Ore. I think he's going to be busy just keeping that bar from choking hin:"

"This isn't right, Howard," Sam said, "You know it isn't right. You don't do stuff like this, either of you. You're bullies, you're not cold-blooded killers"

Howard sighed. "Sammy, it's a whole different world, haven't you noticed? It's the FAYZ, man *

Ore lowered the weight. The bar rested on Sam's bound wrists, which pressed down against his Adam's apple. He pushed upward with all his strength, but on his best day he couldn't lift two hundred pounds. All he could do was keep up enough upward pressure to keep breathing.

Ore laughed and said, "Come on, man, we better get back to Caine before we miss more fan.*

Howard followed Ore but paused at the door. "It's kind of weird, Sam. That first night, man, I thought, "old School Bus Sam, he's going to be running things soon if we don't look out.' Everyone was looking to you. You know that. But no, you were too cool to play it that way. Off you go without a word to anyone, off with Astrid He laughed, "Of course, she is hot, isn't she? And now Caine's running ihe FAYZ and Drake's going to take out your girlfriend."

Sam struggled against the weight, but there was no way to lift it. Even if he'd had a good angle on it, he could not have hefted it.

But Howard* for all his cleverness, had overlooked one thing: in this position, Sam could reach the Mylar with his teeth.

He tried to rip at the tabric, tut it was slow work and he had no time. He had no doubt that Little Pete had teleported himself and Astrid to their home. Drake would find them there.

Sam tried to get the Mylar between his teeth, but it was slippery and tough. And when tw focused on that, he lost focus on keeping the weight off his neck.

The bar pressed his knuckles into his throat. He pushed upward, but already his arms were cramping. His muscles were weakening.

He could tear at the Mylar and free his hands, or he could keep the bar from choking him. I! was impossible to do both.

And even if he did free his hands, so what? He wasn't like Caine. He didn't have control of his powers. He might tear the Mylar and then be unable to do anything.

The bar slipped lower.

He had the Mylar between his teeth.

He chewed it, trying to make a small hole he could enlarge. By now, Drake would be out of the school and on the move. Would he have to stop somewhere first to retrieve the gun?

Astrid would know they were gcing to come after her. She would know it would be dangerous to stay in her house. Would she move fast enough?

And where could she go?

Sam felt the grind of tooth on tooth. He had made a hole. But he was gasping for breath. He barely noticed the door opening. Quick steps on the carpet and the sound and loci of one of the weight plates sliding off the bar Sam took a breath. "Hang on, brah"

Quinn slid the rest of the weights from the bar.

With quaking arms, Sam pushed the bar up off his neck.

"I didn't know they would do this, brah, I didn't know, man," Quinn said. He was pale. Like he'd never ever seen the sun, "You gotta believe me, Sam* He was working at the ropes. Sam sat up.