Mind Over Easy (29 page)

With her eyes closed, Jennifer could hear Dhiraj's mouth move into a smile.

"Same here."

They moved closer in the darkness and their lips connected. Jennifer's body grew warm as she felt his mouth collide with hers. She pulled Dhiraj in tighter and wished they had just a few more minutes. The fear of the mob and the pain she'd been carrying around seemed to wash away like a dry patch of sand being carried out to sea by the tide.

When Jennifer opened her eyes, she didn't see Ted's face any longer. It was Dhiraj staring back at her once again.

"You're back to normal." For a moment, Jennifer wondered if it was her feelings for Dhiraj that changed him.

"You are, too."

Jennifer looked down to see that her dress, hands and legs were once again familiar. While her identity crisis was over, she wondered if the change meant another one had begun.

"If we're changed back, does that mean Ted is in trouble?" Jennifer heard the sound of a door opening.

Dhiraj took Jennifer by the shoulder and crouched down. "If he is, he'll have to handle it on his own. Come on."

They crossed the hall and opened a door adjacent to the fish tank, then scurried in and locked the door behind them. Dhiraj knelt down and put his back against the wall; Jennifer mirrored his position. They lowered their voices to a whisper.

"Should we tell them we're not who they're looking for?" Jennifer took Dhiraj's hand. She noticed it was starting to shake.

"I don't think we should take any chances." Dhiraj turned toward her. "Besides, isn't this romantic?"

Jennifer cupped her mouth to stop the laugh from escaping. "Almost as romantic as a joint funeral."

Jennifer felt Dhiraj squeeze her hand tighter as they huddled against the wall together. The sound of a half-dozen footsteps echoed through the hallway. Jennifer couldn't help but wonder how much longer their time together would last.

Chapter 49

Natalie's abdomen itched against the fabric of her dress, but she wasn't in enough control of her own body to scratch it. She attempted to glare at Mr. Redican, but her efforts to contort her face only resulted in a twitch. Redican had frozen the emotion on her face as a pleasant but vacant smile after she gave him one too many evil eyes. The only thing Natalie did have control over was the words that came out of her mouth, though she had a feeling she should limit those to make sure she didn't lose that ability as well.

"I think you should talk out your plan." Natalie felt weird letting the words tumble out with her face stuck in happy mode. "That way, you can make sure you're gonna get it exactly right."

Redican barely registered her voice. The man held a massive and ancient-looking book in his hands. The tome seemed to glow like it contained some sort of electricity. He was looking down into the ballroom and waiting for something to happen.

He's waiting for Ted. He's nervous.

"I'm not nervous, Ms. Dormer." Redican smiled, as if he was taunting her for his ability to read thoughts. "I'd call it excited."

Is that why you pissed yourself?

Redican looked down at his pants. Natalie let a small chuckle out of her immovable face. Redican's scowl made her realize that he was not in the mood for a joke.

"Don't you realize I could've left you in that fantasy world with Ted for the rest of your life?"

Redican got so close to Natalie, she could smell his breath. It wasn't pleasant.

He continued. "You could've been perfectly happy in your mind while your body was here in a coma. Your parents would spend every day weeping over your broken life."

Redican paced away from Natalie and back. He had a sort of limp as he walked, as if one wrong move might cause him to topple over. Natalie knew he was trying to scare her, but there was no way fear was going to help her out of this. The best way for her to win was to keep a level head.

"At least I'm not in some fantasy land that makes it okay to go around messing with people's minds." Redican was about to shout something back, but Natalie cut him off. "You think it's justified to destroy everybody's lives because some army attacked your homeland on another world in another time. You don't get to play God just because someone played God with you."

Natalie figured she'd gone overboard. She watched Redican tighten his grip on a metal bar of the catwalk as his back heaved up and down with heavy breaths. Within moments, she knew she'd have her right to speak taken away from her. Natalie watched Redican as he took in a long, slow breath. He surprised her when he turned around sporting a sad frown.

"You're right."

Natalie wasn't sure he heard him right. "You agree with me?"

Redican waved his hands and Natalie had complete control over her body again. She took the opportunity to scratch her abdomen at length.

"Controlling hundreds of people." Redican took a few steps toward Natalie with each sentence. "Ruining people's lives. It makes me almost as bad as the dark souls who killed my family."

Natalie took a glance down to the stage. She wondered if she took a jump while he was monologuing if she'd survive the fall.

Natalie turned back toward her captor and gave him part of a smile. "Does that mean you'll let me go?"

Redican pursed his lips and looked at Natalie with apologetic eyes. "If only that would accomplish anything."

Natalie could sense the conversation turning and made a gut decision to try to jump onto one of the tables below. She stepped up onto the top of the railing and prepared to leap.

As quickly as Redican had given Natalie back the control, he took it away once again. She knelt and grabbed the railing, lowering herself back down slowly. Natalie walked back to her previous spot and her eyes focused on the substitute teacher.

"The dark souls took over my world and because it wasn't as high a priority as Earth, the light souls didn't lift a finger. Nearly everybody I knew was either killed or possessed by an evil spirit. Playing nice did nothing but eradicate us, Ms. Dormer."

Natalie tried to say something back, but Redican had now taken everything from her. She had a feeling he wouldn't hear much of what she said regardless.

"We were too giving. We needed to take. If the light souls won't label us as deserving as humanity, they sure as hell better respect what we're willing to do to survive."

Natalie heard the noise of a struggle on the other side of the catwalk and tried to turn her head. It was no use, and she had to rely on her sense of hearing alone. She heard several people restraining a girl from attacking them. It didn't take her long to recognize Erica's voice.

They've got me. They've got her. If they get Ted then we're all screwed.

Natalie thought she saw Redican smirk in her direction after her pessimistic thought. Completely out of her view, she heard Erica say Natalie's name before the struggling stopped. The scuffle was over and the guards took their hands off her without consequence. Natalie realized that Redican had taken over Erica's mind as well. The sub controlled Erica's legs and made her walk over next to Natalie.

Natalie wished that her first thought upon seeing Erica wasn't related to her being Ted's prom date. After all, she had a feeling that prom had been more or less cancelled. Once Natalie had shed the thought, she did her best to communicate with Erica through her eyes. She attempted to convey her desire to toss Redican to his death. Erica's eyes seemed to agree. They looked toward Redican, who was commanding his lackeys to remain in the shadows just in case.

An idea came to Natalie that was the only hope she could come up with. If she couldn't talk, she'd have to think her way out of this one. 

Mr. Redican, killing us and making Ted your slave won't bring your family back.

Redican practically ran back to Natalie before slapping her in the face with his free hand. Even though she couldn't adjust her countenance, she felt the pain sting just as much.

"I know that." Redican withdrew his hand. "I live with that every single day."

It wasn't fair for them to take away your loved ones. Don't take us away from ours.

Natalie could hear the sharp breaths exiting Redican's nostrils. They were interrupted by the noise of feet clanging against the metal ladder.

"I won't." Redican gestured toward Ted as he came into view on the other side of the catwalk. "But he will."

By the time Ted looked over in their direction, Redican had completely disappeared from view. It was as if he simply popped out of existence. Natalie struggled to pull herself free, but Redican remained in control of her mind.

Ted ran over toward their side of the catwalk, but he stopped around 10 feet short. He looked at the two of them like they were ghosts.

Help us, Ted. What are you waiting for?

Natalie looked over at Erica, but that's not who she saw at all. Instead, Erica's body had been replaced by a familiar apparition. Gone was the purple and black dress, replaced by a dark shirt and even darker pants. Erica's new face was that of Nigel's, the man who'd almost stabbed her to death. Natalie tried to pull away and noticed her own body had changed as well. Though the nagging itch on her abdomen remained, the dress was gone, replaced by a similar outfit to the one Erica was now wearing. She looked at the hair on her arms and marveled at her wider, fatter hands. She watched Ted's eyes. Judging by his reaction, Natalie had a feeling that she'd taken on the appearance of former school bully Jason Torello.

Natalie watched as Erica's mouth moved through her Nigel-like appearance.

"Did you miss us, old friend?"

Ted's face said it all. It was a combination of fear and confusion. He looked as much ready to run as he was to fight. "I killed you."

Now Natalie felt her own mouth move with a voice that was decidedly that of one of her least favorite people. "Not even death can keep us from missing prom."

As Ted crouched into a ready stance, Natalie felt her body move into a similar pose.

Redican was right. If anybody's gonna kill me tonight, it's gonna be Ted.

If Natalie had any control over her body, she would've thrown up right then. Instead, she felt herself run toward her friend and swing her right fist.

Chapter 50

Ted wasn't sure if he could move. He'd had dreams of his encounters in the caves with Nigel and Jason Torello. Erica cautioned him to cope with the fact that he'd taken a life, even though it wasn't a human life. He'd said that he was fine, but a month's worth of recurring nightmares had been stirred up by Redican's fantasy world.

It's got to be another trick
.

"You're not real." Ted straightened his spine and looked around the catwalk. "Come out, Mr. Redican. Let's finish this."

The supposed apparition of Jason Torello began to move toward him. Ted stood his ground and stared into the bully's eyes. For something that might be a dream, the way Torello walked toward him sure did seem realistic.

"You're not even gonna put up a fight?" Torello grinned as he got within swinging distance of Ted.

For all that Ted had been through, coming face to face with a school bully still sent shivers down his spine. He attempted to ignore the Torello twin. "If you want to teach me something, Mr. Redican, tell me. You don't need to play games."

Ted could hear Torello's knuckles crack as he balled up his fists.

"If anyone's tryin' to teach you something, it's to never put your guard down." Torello reared his fist back and swung.

Ted blocked the punch and pushed it off to the side. Another fist came flying, and he knocked it away with his wrist.

Torello growled and kept stepping toward Ted. "Do I feel real enough to you yet?"

Ted attempted to fly backward away from the charging brute, but his powers remained weak, only allowing him to get off the ground for a split second. He stumbled, which gave Torello a clean blow at his head. Ted felt the pain ringing in his ears as a bruise began to form. Before he could shake off the punch, Torello let a flurry of kicks fly. Ted used his own leg to block most of them, but the final kick hit his ankle, sending another burst of pain through his body. He scampered back and rubbed at the spot of the kick. 

If he were a real dark soul, that would've broken my leg.

Ted wasn't sure where the thought came from, but it multiplied in his brain. If he stopped treating this like a fight with the real Jason Torello, what would happen?

"Had enough, Finley?" Torello bounced on his toes, waiting to send another attack Ted's way.

Ted stood up tall and let his lungs fill with air. He remembered back to his months of training and clenched his fists. "I'm just getting started."

Torello came at Ted with another swing. Instead of attempting to avoid it, Ted gripped his attacker's wrist. It didn't feel at all like he expected. While he saw the dark black hair that covered Torello's arms, he didn't feel the hair when he grabbed ahold of the teen. Torello swung with his other hand, and Ted caught that wrist as well. He felt the same illusion of hair with the same hairless feeling.

"You may be real, but you're not Jason Torello."

As the fake Jason Torello aimed for a headbutt, Ted used the momentum to do a backward roll. At just the right moment, Ted kicked his legs into Torello's chest, sending him flying behind Ted's back. He heard his attacker land with a thud that rattled the metal catwalk.

Ted got back to his feet and walked toward the person who looked like Nigel. It was eerie how much the voice and mannerisms of the British villain had been replicated on another person's body.

Ted got a few feet away and crouched into a ready stance. "Nigel's dead, so, you aren't particularly scary right now."

Nigel smirked. "Let's see if I can change your mind."

Nigel faked a high punch and when Ted went to block it, the man kicked Ted so hard that he flew off the ground, cleared the railing and went plummeting to the dance floor. Ted saw the checkerboards fast approaching and braced for impact. As he was about to make contact with the wood below, his powers finally kicked in. His face was an inch away from the floor when his body stopped.