CHAPTER 10 — THE LIGHT
Jane rushed upstairs as soon as Max told her they were coming. The unstable, mouldy wood creaked beneath her feet, and she vaulted up the last few steps onto the second floor. She began to gasp as her gaze darted from room to room, looking for a place to hide. She heard the car pull into the circular driveway outside and glanced in that direction. She turned and looked down the stairs towards the room where they had entered. She could have run for the window first and tried to escape that way, but they probably would have seen her. Still, she thought her best chance of escape was probably beyond her reach; it was too dangerous to risk a run for it.
She turned and saw that Max was standing directly behind her, having teleported onto the staircase.
“What do we do?” she asked, her breathing quickly becoming heavy with panic.
“You hide,” he said, and his eyes grew fierce and black. “I’ll create a distraction.”
The sound of car doors slamming outside reached them. Jane’s head darted in that direction for a moment as a gasp escaped her.
“I have to warn you, Jane, the disturbance that I create—it might disrupt my presence in your reality for a moment, but it will give you time to escape, okay?”
“What? What do you mean escape? I’ll never get out of here without you.”
“Yes you can, and you will. I will be able to re-enter this spatial vicinity shortly after. Without human form, I only have so much effect over this world—very little in fact—and we’re going to get only one chance at this. So you’ll need to manage by yourself for a short time, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed reluctantly. Her heart had begun to beat faster, and she could feel tears threatening to well up in her eyes. She adamantly refused to cry in front of Max, though, and looked to her side. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ll stun them.”
“How?”
“You’ll see it. When I tell you to cover your eyes, no matter where you are in the house, do it, okay? Don’t hesitate.”
“Yes.”
“Then, once it’s over, get back out through the window and run as fast as you can towards the wooded area. Don’t look back, and don’t stop for any reason.”
She nodded as she heard the sound of the door breaking through below them. She ran past Max into the room at the end of the hallway. She looked around its empty, dank interior as she heard the tentative footsteps of the men entering the house below her. She stood behind the door and waited.
After a moment, she risked one look around the door and saw Max standing on the landing, looking down at the men as they circled the large open hallway in the centre of the house. His eyes were dark and his expression was venomous. She had not yet seen him wear an expression so fierce. She sank back behind the door and made herself as small as possible.
Lucas kicked down the main door of the house and went inside. This time, he had opted for a sophisticated tranquiliser weapon, which he held to his side. The readings of psychic emanations from this location had initially fooled them, and the men had disregarded them because they had been so small. But after a while, the pattern was clear and undeniable, and had led them straight to this old house. In his logical mind, Lucas doubted that they would find anything here—it would prove to be some kind of stray reading—but his subordinates insisted that it could be something significant, so he agreed, reluctantly, to investigate. He had received rudimentary treatment for the injury to his shoulder, but a dull pain still throbbed there. He knew that he would have to make adjustments to his aim.
He entered the main hallway and saw that it was large and cavernous. He breathed in the scents of rotting wood, dust and moulding carpet, as well as other damp, stale odours. He looked at the landing above them and saw that it was empty. His two lieutenants were now coming in behind him, and he gestured for them to check both the left and right sections of the house.
As he looked back up to the landing, in his peripheral vision he thought he saw a vague, shadowy presence looking down at him. But as he whipped his head around and focussed, he saw that the space was vacant; it was just an empty hallway that stretched in either direction and led to various rooms. He turned to face the central room in the house, which was on his left, when he heard a floorboard creak above him. He stopped, motionless, and held his breath.
He turned slowly then and looked back up into the corner of the second floor, where he saw another open doorway. He lifted his gun to his side and winced, ignoring the streak of pain in his upper shoulder. He began to ascend the staircase.
There’s a problem Jane.
What is it?
They’ve separated. Lucas is on his way up the stairs.
Her heart beat faster and she tried to restrain her breathing.
Where is he now? she asked. She tried to keep the telepathic function of her mind focussed, but she found her thoughts rippling and cascading—slipping out of her control as her panic grew.
He’s moving past me, heading in your direction. Max paused. You know what you have to do.
I don’t want to use the power, Max, she shouted desperately. She didn’t. She knew she would have to hurt Lucas, but worst of all, she knew that the guilt would replay in her mind like a broken tape. It was an ancient feeling she neither understood nor cared to recall.
Do you want to get out of here, Jane?
She paused, thinking, and the obvious answer came to her. Yes.
Then do exactly as I say.
Okay.
With that firm realisation, the telepathic function of her mind seemed to grow, expanding outward. As Max spoke to her, she tasted the limitlessness of his vast mind and realised his concerns were far greater than simply escaping these men; he was worried about the future of the Universe on a much grander scale than she could comprehend and how the events that transpired during these moments would affect it. She pulled herself back from the infinite directions of his thoughts and forced her mind to go still as she focussed.
When Lucas reached the top of the staircase, he turned and walked towards the end of the hallway. The wood around him was chipped and splintered, and the faded green paint had almost turned to grey. The door at the end was open, and the room that he could see into was bright, with light coming in from the left side, just out of his sight. The floor was littered with glass, bits of carpet and other debris. He approached the door and stopped. For a second, it was as though he had heard a whisper. He whirled around and looked down the length of the hallway.
He touched his finger to the communications device wrapped around his ear.
“Anything below?” he asked, addressing his subordinates.
“Nothing yet, sir.”
“Fine. Keep looking.”
As he stared down the darker section of the hallway, he had a distant feeling that someone was staring back at him. It caused a momentary spike of panic, and although he had never been moved by such stirrings, he now felt the familiar rush of adrenaline. He ignored it.
Lucas turned around and entered the room. He stepped over the glass and walked to the left. Within three seconds, he knew someone else was in there with him. He whirled around and saw the door swing on its hinges, moved by an unseen force. His eyes grew wide, and his arm automatically rose to point the weapon at Jane, who he saw standing in the corner. But then his feet were no longer touching the ground, and he watched in confusion as the girl receded from him. He slammed against the wall behind him and squealed as his head connected to the surface. He fell to the floor in a heap, stunned. The last thing he recalled before closing his eyes was the look of regret on the girl’s face as she had lifted him off the ground. He heard her footsteps disappear through the house as unconsciousness took hold of him.
Jane saw Lucas fall to the floor and began to move immediately, running out of the room. As she did, she begged the guilt to stay buried, if only for a moment longer. Max was standing on the staircase as the other two men entered the hallway below. He turned to her and nodded. The men looked
up and saw her. They pointed their weapons at her, but seemed completely oblivious to Max’s presence.
Close your eyes, Jane. Max stretched his hands towards the men, and she could see the emanation of light begin to form at his palms. She ducked to the floor and closed her eyes as she felt an explosion of psychic energy wash over her. Even through closed lids, the light was blinding. It seemed to be not just visual in nature, but also beaming through her mind as well.
She heard two thuds as the men below her hit the floor hard.
She was sorry she hadn’t followed Max’s advice to the letter, and she clutched the wall next to her as she staggered to her feet. One hand instinctively went to her mouth as nausea overcame her. Then she gradually opened her eyes and looked at the staircase. The two men were on the floor in an unconscious heap. Max—as he had said he would be—was gone.
She began to breathe deeply. She felt the urge to leave the house as soon as possible, but her feet were glued to the landing. She continued to stare at the space where Max had been standing. A voice gradually came into her mind, growing louder. Finally, she heard it clearly; it was hers. MOVE! it said.
She forced herself to stand upright. Then she darted down the stairs, made her way back into the central room and headed to the window at the back. She vaulted over it this time, pushing her sleeves over her palms to protect herself from the remaining glass. On the other side, she ran straight ahead, fighting waves of dizziness as she did. She was running both from her own memory and from the men in the house, who she now knew were more dangerous than she had thought.
The feeling of guilt was something she could withstand, if only barely. What caused her breath to come in panicked gasps was the fact that she was now running alone. She had been separated from him, and she had no idea where he was or when she would see him again.