The Forbidden Trilogy (34 page)

Mr. Lancaster clapped his hands and smiled. "Very good.
You all are good lone rangers, but you also need to learn how to work together.
Situations will come up where, even if you have access to your powers, you
won't win on your own. There's power in numbers when each person's gifts are
used well. Remember that."

Lucy made eye contact with the teacher and held his gaze.
Did he know about the Freedom Fighters? Was he somehow endorsing what they were
doing?

He turned away and addressed the class. "You're
dismissed, but stay alert. I'll be doing surprise attacks at random. Be ready
to defeat me without the use of powers... and preferably without serious bodily
injury either. I'm just an old man, after all."

The hallway filled with teens hurrying to their next class.
The squeak of sneakers on the linoleum floor, and the smell of the boy's locker
room across the hall, brought back so many memories for Lucy. She missed Sam
and wished they were together again. She thought Sam would have liked Mr.
Lancaster's class today.

Gary approached as she made her way to the lockers.
"I'm going to see if Darren will join us. Telekinesis could be very
powerful. Have you and Luke decided if you're in. We really need you
both." His hazel eyes begged her like a puppy dog looking for a treat.

She stood her ground, though, unwilling to sign on to this
crazy plan that was doomed to failure. "We're talking about it, but it
still looks like a suicide mission to me, and I kind of like being alive."

The headmaster's voice startled Lucy. "What are you doing
out of class, young lady?"

She spun around, heart pounding. Neil stood behind her.
"Hey, Lucy, what's up?"

"Were you doing Higgins's voice again? You freaked me
out."

He laughed. "Sorry, I just can't help it. I love the
look on everyone's face when they think they're about to get in trouble for
something."

Lucy punched him in the arm. "You're terrible, you know
that?"

Greg walked up and took Gary's hand.

"Oh, Neil, this is Gary and Greg, friends of mine.
Guys, this is Neil. He can mimic any voice around. It's incredible."

Gary stared at her.

Right, Neil would be perfect, but I'm so not going there
until I've decided where I stand on all this
. She shook her head sharply.

Gary sighed and pulled Greg closer to him. "Hey, Neil,
we're getting a club together. You know, something where we can practice our
powers and
talk
about politics. You in?"

"I hear ya, Gary, but I don't know. Sounds risky,
given... everything. I'll think about it, okay?" He turned to Lucy.
"You and Luke are in?"

Lucy shuffled her feet. She didn't want to ruin Gary's
efforts, but she wouldn't lie either. "Um, we're thinking about it."

"Got it. Well, like I said, I'll give it some thought
but.... "

Gary's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, sure, I understand.
See ya, Neil."

"Bye Gary. Lucy. Be careful."

Neil left the three of them with dejected looks on their
faces.

Lucy stomped her foot, then blushed at how petulant she must
look. "How do you expect to succeed if you can't even recruit
people?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "That's why we need you and your
brother. If people see you two involved, they'll be more likely to join."

"And then we'll be responsible for leading
more
kids to their death. I don't want that on my conscience."

"Then you're conscience will have to carry the weight
of what's to come. It's not going to get better here. You'll see."

Greg pulled his hand from Gary's and put his arm around his
distraught boyfriend.

She looked at the both of them, still trying to make a go of
their relationship despite everything going on. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't
mean to fight with you. I’m just really stressed right now. But we're the lucky
ones, you know? You two are lucky to have each other. I'm lucky to have my
brother. I feel bad for those who have to go through this alone."

When the three of them arrived at Lucy's locker, Mr.
Lancaster jumped out from behind a door and grabbed at Lucy. She immediately
spun him around, kicked his legs out from under him and pinned him to the
ground.

"You'll have to do better than that, Mr.
Lancaster." She helped him up and dusted off her knees.

"You're a natural at martial arts, aren't you Lucy? I'm
glad you can take care of yourself. That will serve you well in the days
ahead."

Before she could ask what he meant, he had walked away.

She grabbed her books from her locker, and walked with Greg
and Gary to their next class. "I wonder what that was about."

Greg, who didn't talk much, looked thoughtful. "Perhaps
Mr. Lancaster has hidden loyalties. We should keep an eye on him."

Sharp spikes pierced my mind as I pried my eyes open.

Drake's voice drifted in and out as his hand squeezed mine.
"Sam, you okay? What happened, Honey?"

My vision focused. The frown lines on his forehead worked
overtime.
What happened? I was standing in the hallway, bumped into Brad,
then—

"Oh my God, Drake, someone was in my head!" My
body shook from the memory. I scanned the mental energies of everyone in the
house, but nothing felt unusual. Aside from a pounding headache, my own mind
also felt normal—well, as normal as it ever got.

"What do you mean? Like the way we talk?"

"No, like someone tried to spy on us through me. Felt
like they were tearing apart my brain with a knife."

"Are you okay? Is our baby okay?" His blue eyes
glistened with spent tears. I'd never seen Drake cry before.

"I think so. My head hurts, but otherwise I feel
normal. Help me up?"

He kept a hand on my shoulder. "Shouldn't you
rest?"

"I want to make sure my body still works."

He nodded and supported my shoulders as I sat up. The world
spun, then settled.

"I'm fine. How long was I out?"

"About two hours," Drake said. "I've been
worried sick. Brad wanted to take you to the hospital, but I knew you wouldn't
like that. I didn't know what to do, Sam. I've never felt so.... Even when I
was powerless, I didn't feel like this."

He leaned in and kissed me. The soft warmth of his lips, the
scent of his breath, brought the rest of my body to life. Heat spread through
me, but I ignored it. Bad timing.

Our kiss ended abruptly when Brad opened the door.
"Sorry. Didn't know you were awake."

Drake pulled back slightly, but wrapped his hands around
mine. "It's okay, come in."

Brad closed the door behind him. "You look
terrible."

"Gee, thanks. Just what every girl wants to hear."

"So what happened?" Brad sat in a chair in the
corner.

"I think I was mind-jacked."

Brad's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Mind-jacked? Is
that even a real thing?"

"It is now. Someone hijacked my mind, tried to spy on
us from my eyes."

"Shit, man, that is seriously messed up." He
leaned forward in the chair, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Are we
in danger? Do they know where we are?"

I shifted under my blankets. "I don't think so. I
pushed them out before I fainted. They didn't see much, but they might have
gotten something from my memory. Depends on how powerful they are. Then again,
I don't know the address here, so maybe they can't find us anyway. I just don't
know."

"Maybe we should leave," Drake said.

Brad crossed and uncrossed his feet. "Where else could
we go at this point? We still need to get our story out and find some help.
Bernard is helping me with that. Maybe we should talk to him and see what he
thinks."

"See what I think about what?" Bernard stood in
the doorway, his face etched with worry lines. "I'm glad to see you conscious
again. These boys have been running around like headless chickens. We were all
very concerned for you."

Drake helped me sit up again so I could see everyone while I
explained what happened to the professor.

"This is concerning," he said. "They have some
pretty heavy para-powers on their side if they were able to get into your
brain. We'll have to give this more thought. In the meantime, I have some
information you might find interesting."

He sat down in a chair opposite Brad and crossed his legs.
"I got an email about the hair sample I sent in for testing. You had
copious amounts of drugs in your system—a designer drug, actually, that is a
blend of several narcotics. The length of your hair showed that the drugs have
been in your system for years. Your entire hair follicle had traces of
it."

"So that means they've been feeding me drugs for as
long as I've had my hair?"

"Basically, yes."

"What drugs?"

"It looks like a blend of opiates, something resembling
meth, and something else the lab has never seen. I speculate the effects of
this drug would create a slight euphoria, augmenting the organization's ability
to use subtle coercion, and perhaps environmental controls, to keep all of you
kids happy and unquestioning about your circumstances."

Brad cleared his throat. "So, in plain English, what
you're saying is they drugged the kids to keep them happy and complacent,
right?"

The professor mock-scowled at Brad. "More or less,
yes."

His words relieved a guilt that I didn't realize I'd been
carrying. "So I'm not just a gullible idiot for believing them all these
years?"

"You were never that, even without the drugs."

"Then why did I believe Drake when he started
questioning things about my life?"

"I thought about that, and I suspect it is a
combination of the hormones released in your system from the pregnancy and good
old-fashioned love. The chemical and emotional connection you and Drake formed
likely changed your physiology enough that you were able to think through the
drugs. It looks like the vitamins you received every three months were really
drugs, and they probably wore off around the time you went into
withdrawals."

 "That means all my friends are still getting drugged
up." I placed a hand over my belly. "What about the baby? Wouldn't
this be bad for the baby too? Drake, we need to link to Lucy and Luke and tell
them what's happening. We can't put this off anymore, not even for my
health."

He frowned, but didn't argue.
Smart man.

The professor gave a pointed look to Brad and walked out of
the room.

Brad jumped up from the chair. "Right, we'll just go
work on the blog some more. You two talk to your friends."

He closed the door behind him, leaving Drake and me alone.

Drake brushed stray strands of hair from my forehead.
"Are you sure about this? Opening yourself up could give whoever is
tracking you more access."

"I hadn't thought of that, but you'll be in there with
me. Together we're pretty strong."

"Okay, but if anything goes wrong, we get out and shut
down the link. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

We held hands and closed our eyes. The physical contact
helped strengthen our focus, making the link more powerful.

The universe expanded and time stood still. Drake and I
merged into one thought, one heartbeat, one breath. At this level of
connection, direct thoughts were no more necessary than they would be with
one's self. Every secret, every hidden corner, every nuance of memory lay open
and transparent. This level of intimacy required complete trust—nothing could
be held back.

Our collective mind pulled from memory the mental signatures
of Luke and Lucy, as distinct as fingerprints, as familiar to me as their
voices. We slid in gently; unlike my mind assault on Kylie, this wouldn't hurt
them. It merely expanded their capacity to "hear" beyond the range of
their ears.

'Sam? Is that you?'
Lucy's mental voice carried her
signature enthusiasm for life. I had missed her more than I allowed myself to
acknowledge. All my love for her and Luke carried forward in my thoughts as
images, emotions, memories.

Just as all their worry and fear crashed into me.

Luke and Lucy were in trouble.

It didn't take as long as Lucy expected to fill Sam and
Drake in on the changes at Rent-A-Kid. Rather, the shock on both ends took the
most time to process.

Lucy's skin crawled at the thought that the school had
force-fed her and Luke and everyone here drugs their whole lives. What kind of
long-term damage would their bodies suffer?
And poor Sam, going through
detox and withdrawal while pregnant—how awful!
Lucy wished more than
anything she could be there for her friend during all this, instead of stuck
planning a rebellion.

Luke's mental voice broke through her thoughts.
'So what
do we do about this Seeker dude?'

"Drake and I will need to figure out a way to track
him. He must be somehow connected to your power problems. Nothing else makes
sense at this point. When you go on your assignment, can you figure out a way
to email us photos and a layout of the security at the school? Mark off which
buildings are off-limits, where the soldiers are stationed, that kind of thing.
We'll find a way in as you guys plan a way out. A two-pronged attack on them
may be our best bet. Lucy, can you hack into the school and see if you can find
anything useful?"

'I can try. Security is pretty tight these days. We'll do
our best to get that information to you while we're on assignment. It's going
to be risky, but we can't sit around waiting for them to do more experiments on
us.'

"I have to go now. My body is still weak, but I'll
check back in with you guys as soon as I can. Be safe. I love you both."

'Love you too, Sam. Drake, take care of her.'