Chapter 22

Chapter 22

          It took all of their strength and a lot of manipulation from Ellie for them to escape the capital. Then they ran. And they ran. Feet pounding pavement, trying to mask the sounds of their steps through Ellie’s manipulation, all the while Sloane kept his gun pointed out, ready to shoot whoever came at them. Rafe’s face remained taut, but not speaking. None of them spoke, they just relied on one another to keep the others safe. They ran for hours, going towards the site of what once had been Ellie’s home.

          When they stopped running, no one spoke. They found spots to sit and caught their breath, Ellie falling onto the bench, Sloane leaning against it, and Rafe slipping to the ground. It took them twenty minutes of slowly breathing, looking between one another, and regaining their natural color, before anyone spoke.

          “We told Loqi we would meet him at the burned remains of the house,” Sloane said, staring at what once had been Ellie’s house. His heart broke for her, but she seemed to mostly be over it, or at least taking it in stride. He kept forgetting she had already dealt with the heartache of this situation. That combined with exhaustion was likely making it hard for her to feel much more.

          “We can’t stay here,” Rafe said. “Eleanore will need to sleep at some point, and she will not be able to hold up the manipulation any longer. We have to leave before she starts slipping out of consciousness.”

          “We need to check on Baye,” Ellie said. “Rhapsody sent these… things after her. These wolf-like creatures, but they were too big to be wolves.”

          “They are wolves,” Rafe said.

          “Let me guess,” Sloane said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “more expriments?”

          “Unfortunately, yes,” Rafe admitted. “One of the ones that was not a failure.

          “Let’s go back to the mountain,” Rafe suggested. “We can get someone to keep an eye for Loqi, but we need to check to see if Baye made it back.”

          Ellie gave one last look at the burned house, and Sloane did not know if she was saying goodbye to it, or looking for something else, before the three of them began to move. While the mountain entrance was not a long distance, it was still a ways up the mountain, and none of them were in the best of shape. Even Rafe seemed to be shaking with every step.

          “You can’t walk without your gift?” Ellie asked without preamble, watching him struggle.

          “No,” Rafe admitted.

          “What happened?” Ellie asked.

          Rafe sighed and said, “A long time ago a train tore my legs apart. A healer put them back together, but now without my enhancement ability I can no longer walk.”

          Neither Sloane or Ellie asked another question. They were both horrified by the stories that went through their heads of how exactly it had happened. Rafe was still a closed book to them, not offering much up of his life. A train tearing up his legs could have meant he was playing on the tracks, or he could have been held down to the tracks, or he could have fallen off of the train. There were too many ways and neither dared to breathe the question.

          Rafe offered no respite from their curiosity, simply continuing to move up the mountain to the opening that would lead them to Baye and the others.

          “Their experiments could have kept you from using your powers to walk one day, correct?” Ellie asked.

          “It’s possible,” Rafe agreed, “but it isn’t worth what it’s costing.”

          Ellie’s questioning stopped again, most likely to contemplate what he had just told her. Sloane knew she was weighing Rafe as a person. How much had she been doing just that in the last week? Everyone she thought she knew had betrayed her, with the exception of Sloane. Instead he had betrayed his other friends to stay on Ellie’s side. He had joined Rafe, knowing after he had seen Hako that whatever it was the president was doing was wrong. He had wanted to listen to Ellie when they were in the caverns, but he also knew she was manipulating him to make sure she did what she asked.

          “Almost there,” Sloane huffed.

          “Something’s wrong,” Rafe said, holding out his arms to stop the other two.

          Both slid to a stop . Listening and trying to feel what Rafe had felt, but neither was as attuned to the mountain as Rafe was. He looked down at his feet, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows in concentration. “I feel nothing.”

          Wasn’t that a good thing? Sloane looked around the mountain, the wind rustling tree branches around them. He could hear an owl in the distance letting out a familiar “hoo”.

          Rafe charged up the mountain, shouting, “You two stay there!”

          Ellie and Sloane exchanged one look before charging up the mountain behind Rafe. They ran the rest of the way to the entrance and found it completely collapsed in. After Sloane and David had destroyed it, it should have been open, but instead there were rocks that were too large to have been put there purposefully by the people inside. Rafe pounded on the rocks and they shifted, shook, but they did little more than shift under the strength he threw at them. Sloane had not been expecting that from Rafe, that the man could literally have moved the boulder from a mountain.

          Rafe pulled his fist back and punched the center of the boulder. Ellie and Sloane had to duck as the rock shattered, shards flying outward. The sound of shards hitting the ground around them sounded like a hard rainfall. Looking out Sloane spotted some of the shards, but most just turned to smaller pebbles.

                    The world rumbled and rocks fell downward, sealing the entrance again as the boulder shifted away. Three sets of eyes looked to the top of the mountain, almost expecting it to collapse with the rocks. It seemed they all realized what had happened and knew that what used to be beneath that entrance was gone, as were the people inside of it.

          Rafe turned to Ellie and said, “Please, try something.”

          Ellie looked at him helplessly, then back at the mountain. Sloane was not sure what she was doing was necessary for her gift, but neither was she. She flattened out onto the ground as best she could, putting her forehead to the rocks surrounding her, closing her eyes. No words went through her lips, but Sloane felt the manipulation entering his mind all the same. When he let out a cry she shifted her focus and he felt her release his mind. Rafe had cried out as well, he had released any hold he had on dampening a skill.

          Focus shifting, Ellie flattened herself further on the dirt. Sloane had had the sudden urge to scream, so she had to be asking them to make noise, to let her know they were down there. Rafe clenched and unclenched his fists. He was waiting, letting Ellie do what she could without interruption.

          Ellie sat up and shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “That was horrible and I never want to do it again,” she said. “I could… I could connect with the dead, those who did not have their brains crushed. I felt remaining thoughts of an avalanche, I felt their pain, I felt their screams, but there is… no one left. There was nothing I could connect with. Rafe…” She started sobbing, wrapping her arms around herself and then the sobs turned into screams of anguish.

          Rafe, who had to be hurting, he just found out the family he had in that cavern was gone, reached out to her and pulled her into his arms, letting her scream at him. Fists beat at him as she released the suffering she felt. Sloane was helpless, unable to imagine what that thought process could have done to someone.

          Ellie calmed, slipping down in his arms and repeated in a raspy, whispering breath, “No one down there survived.” Her eyes closed from the exhaustion and she was out.

          Rafe looked at Sloane and for the first time Sloane saw emotion on his face. His face was twisted in regret and sorrow. “I didn’t know she could do that,” he said to Sloane, pleading with Sloane to forgive him.

          “I wouldn’t have thought that was her talent either,” Sloane said on a sigh.

          “We need to move,” Rafe said. “Whoever did this was deliberate, and they did it for us to find. All of those people… because they are searching for us.”

          Sloane looked Rafe in the eye and asked, “Is it still worth it?”

          “I don’t know,” Rafe said honestly. “It’s always been about saving lives, but tonight the price we paid to fight has been high. We need to get to the port and to the islands.”

          “What about Loqi?” Sloane asked.

          “He will either find us, or he won’t,” Rafe said. “We can’t stay here, and we can’t stay at the burned remains of her house.”

          “He risked a lot for us,” Sloane said. “I might not like him, but I think abandoning him doesn’t make us any better than the soldiers who are taking us down.”

          “Loqi isn’t joining us,” Rafe sighed. “I don’t want Ellie to know, especially now. Loqi’s illusion broke when we were fighting Rhapsody. Remember, I can sense when gifts are being used. His was suddenly snuffed out. Whether he’s dead or not, I don’t know, I can’t tell that, but I do know Bastian has him. There’s no sense waiting for him.”

          “Can’t we rescue him?” Sloane asked, hopeful.

          “We can’t rescue ourselves,” Rafe said, hefting Ellie into his arms. “This is going to be a long walk carrying her.”

          “We’ll trade off until she wakes up,” Sloane sighed and followed Rafe around the mountain.

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

          Loqi ran towards his home without being seen. During a catastrophe such as the barracks and surrounding homes burning, it was easy to move with very little illusion. It was too bad he had not had time to enjoy Jacen’s dying breaths. That boy would be livid when he found out Loqi had duped him again, and Loqi looked forward to facing him again. The next time he hoped he could enjoy the torture and stalling as he took him down for good.

          He entered his house to servants who were watching the fires from the windows but were doing nothing to stop it. They were hoping the house would not be burned to the ground, that someone would come and save them before it came too close. In the end they would evacuate and leave the house to burn, not protecting anything of his before they left. They might steal a few things on the way out, how would he know if they stole it or if it had burned in the fire.

          It was not worth his time. He cared not for the material possessions that filled his home. There was only one thing that he had to protect, that he had to make sure Bastian did not get his greedy hands on. One red rock, the red rock he had chipped at and added to the earring that he constantly wore, the one Bastian never saw. The reason Bastian did not know when he was using illusion in a minor capacity. He had come into the stone during a torture of a man long ago, something he had hidden away and never let Bastian know. What could Bastian do with a rock that could make someone’s gifts override even Rafe’s gift to dampen the gift?

          Loqi went into his room and leaned down, opening the safe that the rock had been in. He had to hurry. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, telling him to move faster, to run, to go to who were now his friends. Friends. Had the rock been the cause of that or had opening his eyes to what Bastian was been the cause of that? He reached into the safe and wrapped his hands around nothing. He panicked and bowed his head down, reaching back further into the safe. Nothing. It was gone. There was absolutely nothing in the safe, not even the money he stored in there just to keep something else inside of it.

          One of the maid’s stood at the door. When Loqi turned on her she asked, “Is there something wrong, sir?”

          “Who was in this room?” Loqi asked.

          “Only you, sir,” she said to him.

          “Wrong answer.” He reached out and grabbed her by the throat, pulling her off of her feet and pushing her into the wall. She winced, but did little more than that, shuddering against the wall. “Who was in here?”

          “You,” she told him again.

          “Fuck.” He dropped her, allowing her to crumple to the floor and rub at her throat. He wanted to kick her for being stupid enough to be tricked, but it was not her fault that someone had manipulated her mind, he just was not sure who had done it. But what it meant was that Bastian had the rock. The little chips of it in his earring was all he had left, and it would not be enough.

          Go, go, go his mind was yelling at him. He knew he had to run, but since he was at the house he would grab one last thing. He pushed the maid out of the room and slammed the door. He went to his closet and saw at the least his guns were still there. He pushed aside clothes and looked at all of the hand held weapons, wondering how many of them he could carry without overloading himself. The answer was only five before the explosions started. The sound of the fires blazing outside was just a warning that everything was going to Hell.

          Loqi opened his bedroom door and looked disgusted at the maid who still stood there, waiting for him. “Why haven’t you evacuated yet? Are you really that stupid?”

          “No,” she said. “You are.” She held up her own gun, the barrel pointed at Loqi’s shoulder. He let out a sigh and she no longer could see him standing in front of her. She blinked, and though she should have been used to him disappearing on her when he had no interest in being interrupted by the servants of the house, it never seemed to stop from surprising her when it happened.

          Loqi walked past her and knew his staff had been compromised. Had they ever not been compromised? Probably not. Bastian hired the staff for him, why would he have expected anything better from them?

          He walked down the stairs to the first floor of his house and came across servants looking alert. They were waiting for him. He had to walk past them with illusion, to make them not even see the door open as he gripped it and let himself outside. He was not going down, not like this.

          A sting in his neck told him yes, he was going down. He reached up and felt the needle in his neck. He pulled it, watching a blue liquid drip down the needle and wondered how much of it went into his system.

          Panic set in. He looked around, looking for who had shot him with the needle, but he saw no one. He looked behind him and the servants still stood watching the staircase, waiting for him to descend, waiting for something to happen.

          He moved, taking large steps in his dash away from his home and towards the burning buildings, to go through them to the gates. He wondered how long it would take the poison to set in, and what kind of poison was even in the needle. Would it kill him or was it a paralyzing agent? Was it neither? Was it a tracker of some sort? He could not lead them to Eleanore.

          Moving again he stumbled, already feeling the effects of the drug. He refused to stop, his feet moving forward even as he slowed. Burning sensations seeped into his veins, moving slowly. Deep down he knew he was only feeling the effects this quickly because he was trying to move fast. If he simply had walked out and walked down to the barracks it might have taken longer for the drug to kick in, giving him more time to have gone to the gates.

          Loqi slipped to his knees on the pavement. Dr. Meridion stepped out of the shadows, having followed him until his stopping point. Loqi had never had a doubt that it was Dr. Meridion who had attacked him. Even if the man had not shot the needle at him, he was behind the poison that was in it.

          “Am I going to die?” Loqi asked of Dr. Meridion.

          “No,” Dr. Meridion said coldly. There was no fire in his eyes, no life, he had always been a cold man who cared only for his experiments. “President Gentile needs you alive for the next experiment.”

          Two soldiers came forward, grabbing Loqi’s arms and dragging him to his feet. In his own head Loqi was creating an illusion of disappearing, but it was not projecting. Stupid needle, it was keeping Loqi from focusing as drowsiness took over.

          Loqi was taken to the manor, and despite his protests and attempts, he could neither escape or create an illusion. He looked to the gates, sadly hopeful that Rafe and Sloane would manage to escape and keep Eleanore from danger. He would see her again, somehow.

          In the manor Bastian was waiting, his purple suit clad body visible through the fog in his head. Bastian’s sneer on his lips was apparent through the fog as well. “You thought you could trick me?” Bastian asked. Bastian lifted his cane and struck across Loqi’s face, not holding back his strength. If Loqi was not as old as he was, drawing on the near immortality the gift offered him, he would have died from the blow, it would have crushed in his skull. As it was he felt teeth come out and he was sure due to the drugs he swallowed them, he was too weak to spit.

          “Don’t waste your blood quite yet,” Bastian said.

          “You are the one who struck me,” Loqi gurgled out, not sure the words could even be heard.

          “Drain him as much as you can that will keep him alive,” Bastian instructed Dr. Meridion. “Do not let him die. I still have plans for him.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

          Smoke billowed up along the sky. Approaching the gates of the capital, Ellie knew there was trouble, as did Rhapsody. Both women were tense, but Ellie found she was still compelled to follow Rhapsody through the gates. Rhapsody noticed the fire but was simply ignoring it, as if she was expecting it.

          “Someone will put the fire out soon,” she said, more to herself than Ellie. She was worried, which meant that level of fire is not what should have been burning, if there should have been a fire burning at all.

          The soldiers still stood at the carriage Ellie and Rhapsody had exited, watching the night sky cloud over, the flames the only light offered. The flames were not far from the gate, meaning it was either within the barracks, or one of the homes surrounding the barracks. Ellie knew this had to be about her, this was not a coincidental fire.

          An explosion was heard from the gate, loud enough and strong enough the ground shook beneath them. Ellie held her arms out to balance herself, but Rhapsody had a longer way to go and crumpled to her knees. A cloud of smoke went up even closer than before. This one Ellie recognized. It was within the barracks, the doctors’ chambers, where they had tested their abilities. She would not have to walk far to be able to see the building, but she knew it was a large fire.

          “What is he doing?” Rhapsody whispered to herself.

          Jacen was creating the fires? Perhaps Ellie should not have been surprised. Did that mean Sloane was on their side as well? No, there was no way after that conversation Sloane had joined Rhapsody and Jacen. But perhaps he had since he returned.

          Moistening her dry mouth, Ellie looked at the fires that were growing and wondered if Loqi had betrayed her. He could have, she could not control him. He was better at manipulating her, as he had proven.

          “Ellie!” Sloane’s voice calling her name made Ellie’s heart swell and she opened her mouth to scream for him, to warn him, but Rhapsody was faster, even in the shaking of th explosion. She had crawled to her feet and did the only thing that was natural to her. The punch landed hard across Ellie’s jaw and threw her down to the ground. Rhapsody had been expecting this, and Sloane had not been expecting her.

          Sloane aimed and shot. Ellie was horrified he would shoot that easily at her sister, but not enough to even try to move to stop him. She hit the ground from the punch and watched, wondering when her world had turned to this burning flame of horror.

          The bullet stopped, spinning in the air and going nowhere. Sloane looked surprised and Rhapsody looked smug. She slashed her hand through the air and the bullet fell to the ground, having done no damage. She smirked at Sloane and said, “Too predictable.”

          She turned and looked at Rafe and her eyes did the red rim reflection again. Rafe crumpled to the ground. Sloane reached down to grab him, but Rafe waved him off, sitting on the ground instead of fighting what Rhapsody was doing to him.

          No, Ellie knew what she was doing. She had turned his gift on him, she had taken his gift from him, and it left him weak enough he could not stand on his own. Ellie reached up and grabbed Rhapsody’s ankle and pulled. Rhapsody let out a cry, too busy focusing on everything else to realize Ellie was on the ground yanking her down. Ellie did what she had done as a child, wrapping her arms around Rhapsody’s legs until she hit the ground, then she pushed up and slammed her own fist into her sister’s face.

          Rhapsody was immediately healing from the fist, but it broke her concentration. Ellie swung her fist down again, but Rhapsody leaned out of the way and then kicked her sister off of her. The two scrambled to stand, facing one another and Rhapsody said, “I told you to come with me.”

          Ellie smirked now. “I did. To the gate, as you told me to.”

          Rhapsody said, “Come with me to the manor.”

          Ellie smirked again and said, “No.” Rhapsody looked appalled. “Whatever you are doing only works if I use my gift, like it did while I was screaming for help, you could take it. If I’m not using it, you can’t use it. So, no, Rhapsody, I won’t go with you.”

          Sloane came over to Ellie and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him in a half hug half protective stance from Rhapsody. He glanced at his former friend and said, “Rhapsody, Jacen’s dead.”

          “What?” she asked, her voice as hot as the fires burning in the distance.

          “Sorry,” Sloane said with a shrug that showed he absolutely was not sorry. “Let’s go, Ellie.”

          “You are going nowhere!” Rhapsody held out the gun that had been strapped to her waist, ready to use at any moment. “Ellie is coming back with me to the manor, and you two are going to die for treason.”

          “Rhapsody, how could you?” Sloane asked, pulling Ellie closer. “How could you be this person?”

          “How could you?” Rhapsody snapped back. “How could you choose this man over your friends?”

          “You didn’t give me a choice,” Sloane admitted. “You were willing to destroy me if it meant going to the president.”

          Rafe was standing up, looking around him as people rushed, the gates closing, sealing them into the capital. He was looking for a way to escape, to ditch Rhapsody without killing her.

          “Sloane,” Ellie warned, “she has a power that uses other peoples’ gifts. If you aim, she’ll stop it again. Rafe, if you stop gifts, she’ll just stop yours.”

          “Then no gifts, and we have to be fast,” Rafe said, “or she’ll heal.”

          “You can fight me,” Rhapsody said, “but can you fight everyone coming for you?”

          And the soldiers were coming. Behind her there were many dark shadows moving in the darkness, all with small purple insignias. The president’s soldiers. They would have no loyalty, or even compulsion, to follow or hesitate with Rafe. They were only going to listen to their orders, which everyone predicted were take Ellie and Rhapsody back to the manor, Rafe and Sloane could die.

          They needed a plan, and no one, not even the general, seemed to have one. Then Sloane told Ellie, “Manipulate her to take my power.”

          “What? Why would I do that?” Ellie was incredulous.

          “Do it,” he told her.

          “Rhapsody, take Sloane’s power.” The red reflection shone and she turned it back on them. Rhapsody was swearing but Sloane had already figured it out. He grabbed Ellie’s hand and slammed his revolver into it and said, “Bang,” forcing Ellie to pull the trigger. Rhapsody went down, a bullet in her skull.

          “Rhapsody!” Ellie screamed.

          “She’ll heal,” Rafe said roughly, seeming to lose the sweats that had taken over his entire being as Rhapsody stood there draining him of everything he had. “We need to run, it’s our only option. Like this we can’t win.”

          “Loqi?” Ellie asked.

          Sloane seemed disgusted, but he said, “He had to grab something. He said he would catch up with us.”

          Ellie nodded and the three of them ran.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

          “Just because we fooled him doesn’t mean he won’t kill Rhapsody,” Rafe had said before leaving his own home. He had left Sloane and Jacen with Loqi. Loqi was asleep, sleeping off whatever drug Rafe had given him, but it had kept him settled. Rafe had figured that the men would not fight while Loqi was not awake to make smart comments. It did not keep Sloane from wanting to drive his thumb into Loqi’s shoulder and causing him further pain.

          “You know, he shot me in the head, I should hate him more than you do,” Jacen pointed out as Sloane stared out the window.

          “That was just an illusion,” Sloane pointed out.

          “Tell that to my head or heart,” Jacen said.

          Rafe opened his front door and came back into the house, looking at Sloane and Jacen who had not gone far since he had left. Both were watching him anxiously, holding their breath.

          “Rhapsody isn’t at the hospital,” Rafe said. “The director told me that she had been called to the manor and he was told it would be a few days before she returned.”

          “We either turn over Ellie or lose Rhapsody,” Jacen said. He glanced at Sloane and Sloane’s stomach dropped. Jacen had a strong moral compass and a stronger sense of loyalty. Unfortunately, his loyalty was primarily to the woman whose life had been threatened.

          “We are absolutely not turning Eleanore in,” Rafe said. The men before him looked surprised at his absolution. “That man was willing to kill us right there if he had to because he thought we had betrayed him. You saw Hako. Eleanore will be used to create more of that.”

          “We give her over until we can rescue her,” Jacen said. “Until we have a plan.”

          “Do you have one?” Rafe asked. “A plan to rescue her? Or is your plan just to rescue Rhapsody?”

          “I can’t let Rhapsody die,” Jacen argued.

          “Rafe, I think it’s time to abandon your plan,” Loqi said. How long he had been awake Sloane was unsure, but he was sitting up in the bed looking more awake than groggy.  “Honestly, I don’t even know what your plan was, but it’s obviously not working.”

          “To take down the presidency,” Rafe admitted flatly. “It’s just not that easy. Not when he can control an entire group using fear.”

          “You can stop people’s powers, though,” Sloane said. “How can you not just defeat people?”

          “I can, and I can’t,” Sloane said. “Remember, there’s a side effect to every person’s power. I deal with my own side effects. And Bastian is older and stronger than I am. All of these years I have been trying to find a way to defeat him, and he creates something stronger. We meddle, and he finds a way around it. We steal his plans, he has them memorized. We once blew up the entire lab and he had it rebuilt in days. I simply can not get around him.”

          “Then we run,” Loqi said.

          “Running is not an option,” Rafe snapped.

          Loqi pushed the covers off of him and stood. He was dressed in a white button down shirt Rafe had lent him that was a little too small on Loqi’s broader body, but Loqi made it appear like it worked so that no one would notice he was not wearing his own uniform shirt. “What do you suggest, then?”

          “If we run, we leave all of those people to Bastian,” he said. “Rhapsody, David, people like Hako who were simply unruly and in need of discipline not to have his whole being toyed with.”

          “You already left them to Bastian,” Loqi snapped. “He’s already doing what he wants because while yes, you have saved some, you have allowed more to be destroyed. You let Eleanore escape, but Bastian was smart enough to figure out that he needed her and is growing more suspicious because she has not come before him.”

          “We need to rescue as many as we can,” Rafe said.

          “No, we don’t,” Loqi said. “But I can save Rhapsody.”

          “Loqi-“

          “Rafe,” Loqi snapped. “I know you want to save the world, but you can’t even save these kids.”

          “Hey,” Sloane said.

          Loqi continued as if he had not even spoken. “Bastian is stronger than us, and we aren’t even fighting battles against him, much less at war. I will go to the manor and get Rhapsody. You three go to Eleanore and get her headed to the port. We’ll be behind you in hours.”

          “I’m going with you,” Jacen volunteered.

          “No,” Loqi said. “I really do not need a variable in this. I have to trick Bastian, which is hard to do, but not impossible to do. I can not have a loose cannon at my side.”

          “What if you get caught?” Rafe asked Loqi.

          “What if I don’t?” Loqi asked back. “You have spent too much time being cautious.”

          “I haven’t,” Rafe said. He straightened his back and Sloane saw it, he saw there was more to what Rafe had been doing all of this time than they knew. Rafe’s fight had been in the shadows from everyone for a long time, and he was still keeping secrets.

          “Sloane, Jacen, come on, we are going to head to Eleanore,” Rafe said.

          “I won’t go without Rhapsody,” Jacen said.

          “Now you decide to get bullheaded,” Sloane snapped at him.

          “Then stay here and wait for us,” Loqi said, “but it’s at your own expense. I am promising nothing but to do my best.”

          “Jacen, I implore you to just come with us,” Rafe said.

          “I will stay and wait,” Jacen said. “Go without me. I’ll be along when he gets Rhapsody.”

          “How did it turn out like this due to one girl?” Rafe demanded, for the first time not looking like the calm figure he usually cut. His face was dark and his mood darker.

“Because she’s an anomaly that needs to be kept away from Bastian,” Loqi said with as much seriousness as the man had ever shown, at least from what Sloane gathered. His smile, even while he was bleeding, told Sloane he did not take much seriously. He did not appreciate the protective nature the man had over Ellie, but at the same time Sloane also wanted to protect her from whatever Bastian had in mind. “She was able to take the flower test, she used her powers without knowing she had them in ways that always suited her benefit, and she can fight my illusions. Imagine what knowing how to control what she has will do. She could fight Bastian. Bastian will experiment on her, but the first time he shows she’s stronger than him, he will kill her.”

“If I run, I put a lot of people in danger,” Rafe said. “I can’t take that risk, not for just her.”

Loqi shrugged and said, “I’m going to go get Rhapsody, and then I’m going to get Eleanore out of here. If you want to continue to stick around, that’s fine. Same with all of you, but my mind is made up.”

Sloane pulled his gun out of his belt and counted the bullets that were left in it from what Bastian had given him. Five bullets, he had only used one out of the six. Bastian had been planning to kill anyone that was a betrayer, and if Sloane had had to shoot several times he would have let him. The spectacle had stopped Bastian from asking for more, he had been satisfied with that answer. Or had he been?

“You said you can’t always fool the president,” Sloane said. “I don’t think you did.”

Sloane proceeded to do the stupidest thing he was sure he had ever done before. He held up his gun with its five bullets and aimed for the spy. The gun went off and the bullet turned, the speeding projectile moving through the small room and driving itself through the back of Jacen’s shoulder until he hit the ground. Sloane did not move. He watched Jacen fall forward and to his knees, crying out in pain as blood dribbled down his shoulder to the wood paneling below him. Rafe and Loqi stared at Jacen, not quite sure what had just happened, but Sloane had known. Something had been bothering him about his friend’s actions. Yes, he knew Rhapsody and Jacen had been in a relationship, and that his loyalty would lie with her, but he had questioned nothing when Sloane came back. He had not attempted to truly get Sloane alone and talk to him. He simply had accepted everything as it had rolled.

“Your loyalty is with Rhapsody over me,” Sloane said.

“Yours is with Ellie over us,” Jacen hissed.

“You’re right,” Sloane said. “I loved you, you know.”

“No you didn’t,” Jacen hissed. “You loved pissing off your dad.”

“I told you that ended when I got to know you,” Sloane said. The bubble in his chest was a heavy weight on his lungs. He felt like he was losing his breath, but he was seeing clearly for the first time. Jacen would have been willing to go with Rhapsody without him. He was brought along for one reason, and it was mostly to give Ellie something else to do while Rhapsody and Jacen did each other.

Jacen barked out a laugh and said, “Are you going to kill me, Sloane?”

Sloane was tempted. He raised the revolver but Rafe stopped his hand. Rafe knew if he shot and wanted to kill Jacen, his aim would be true, but Rafe was only offering a small comfort. “Sloane, you will regret it. Jacen, why would you betray your friend? When did you even have time?”

“When Dr. Meridion tested Rhapsody,” Jacen spat.

Sloane rocked back on his heels. Dr. Torrow had taken Rafe with him to test Ellie, and then Dr. Meridion had handed Sloane a key and told him to meet them out back. Sloane could meditate or practice until they came for him.

Rafe and Loqi were staring down at Jacen, neither knowing what to say or do. They had not been expecting that. Loqi looked as if he should have been expecting it.

“We were sent for you,” Loqi finally said. “They told us to return you without harm, all of you. They knew exactly where you would be. It had all been a test, from the very beginning.”

“President Gentile knows you are betraying him, Rafe,” Jacen said. “He knows about the metals you have been stealing, he knows about your poisoning the people, and he knows about Ellie. He’s known about Ellie for months, because she’s manipulated David every time she’s met up with him. He just didn’t know how deep that manipulation and betrayal went. Loqi, he suspected you were ready to betray him, after what happened to David, you never acted the same.”

Rafe looked to Loqi, who shrugged his shoulders, giving no answer which was answer enough. It was not untrue.

“Why are you telling us all of this?” Sloane asked.

“Because I was told you to kill you all,” Jacen said, and while kneeling on the ground he let his hands touch the wooden floor. The room around them began to ignite, quickly. “Do you wish you had shot me now?” Jacen taunted, disappearing behind the flames.

Sloane held his arm up, ready to shoot the man he had once called friend, but Rafe stopped him. “Don’t,” he said. “There is too much fire, it might just backfire. No gunpowder.”

Loqi nodded in agreement, but what Sloane was seeing was different than what Loqi had agreed to. Sloane stepped away from his own body, which was a surreal vision, and held up his gun. The version of Sloane still holding up the gun said, “Shoot Jacen in the heart,” and let a bull ring. Loqi glanced at the real Sloane and realized he still needed him to aim the illusion bullet. Sloane wasn’t sure how he did it, but he held out his own hand to give the bullet a trajectory. The scream from the other side of the flames told them the illusion had found Jacen and that he was likely bleeding out on the floor, or at least thinking he was dying. Loqi’s lips quivered from the thrill and Sloane would have continued to hate him that excitement, but in that moment he would have loved to have seen Jacen writhing in pain. It was the second time Loqi had killed Jacen. He only hoped if there had to be a third time it was in reality. Sloane would hate himself later for the thought.

Loqi pushed them out of the burning house, leaving Jacen laying there, not truly dying, but if the flames separated from him he would die in the fire. Sloane had only a moment of regret before turning away from the friend who had betrayed him, in more than one way.

          “We have to go to Dr. Torrow,” Rafe said. “I have to see if he is safe.”

          “I am going back to my place,” Loqi said. “There are things I need to get.”

          “You are going to risk it for material possessions?” Rafe asked in an exasperated tone.

          “There is something there I have to keep away from Bastian. Sloane, aim.” Sloane aimed and a scream was heard as Loqi’s illusion took over the rest. “I will either see you at the gates, or meet you at the burned ruins of Eleanore’s house.”

          “Burned ruins?” Sloane asked.

          “Not the time,” Rafe said. “Go, fast, we’ll go check on the doctor. We’ll find each other soon.”

          Rafe gave Sloane no choice. He grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. Sloane was staggering, physically and mentally, but he kept pace with Rafe. Rafe shook him slightly and Sloane realized that without Loqi’s illusions and with them out in the open, he had to be aware.

          “I will destroy the powers of anyone near us but you,” Rafe said, “but you still need to be alert. A gun can still kill us.”

          “I’m paying attention,” Sloane said, even if it meant he was only paying attention after being reminded. Most people that they ran past were more focused on Rafe’s home burning down than the people running past them. In the dark of the night they were mostly brushing it off as the two of them were escaping the flames. Whoever else was watching them did not bring attention to them, nor did they need to. In front of them there was a hissing sound, something coming from the doctors’ building was letting out the sound. While it was a hiss, it was loud enough that it was heard by both Rafe and Sloane, slowing them down before they came to a full stop.

          “I know that sound,” Rafe said. “Get back, Sloane.” He pushed him back in time for a loud boom and then a rush of flames coming through one of the windows. The soldiers who had not left the barracks either took off running or hit the ground. Sloane reached his hand up and covered his head, but he did little more than stare at the fire in front of him. There was an internal debate of going to see if Dr. Torrow was all right or running the other way. He realized this said a lot about him and took several steps forward about the same time Rafe held his arm out and told him, “Don’t be a hero.”

          “It feels wrong doing nothing,” Sloane said quietly, hoping Rafe could hear him over the roar of the fire, over the sound of glass breaking, over the cries of surprise and fear.

          “I know,” Rafe said. “Trust me, I know, but sometimes you have to cut your losses. Dr. Torrow did not live through that if he was in there. It was set up deliberately.”

          “Shouldn’t be try?” Sloane asked.

          Rafe looked at Sloane and asked, “Do you want to?”

          “No,” Sloane answered honestly. “I want to run. But it feels wrong to leave someone who could be alive and in pain and in need of help.”

          “I can’t follow you in,” Rafe said. “I’m sorry.”

          Sloane knew that meant Rafe would stay out there, trying to help him from the outside, while he went inside in hopes of finding Dr. Torrow. Sloane did not manage to go far before the flames became a detriment. He opened the door to fires that were burning the equipment, the samples, and the body in the center. Sloane risked it, because the man might have still been alive, pushing through the flames as they licked at him, continually swiping at himself to make sure he was not on fire, or putting a small fire on his clothes out.

          Dr. Torrow was dead, but it was not from the flames licking at his body. There was a syringe in his neck that had the remainders of a light blue liquid within it. Sloane was not positive if the liquid was meant to kill him or trigger a reaction, but he was dead before the flames were eating at him.

          Sloane said a word in honor of the body and the gods, not knowing what Dr. Torrow’s religion would have been but not wanting to just leave him without something being said. Sloane quickly reached through the flames and grabbed the syringe, pulling it from Dr. Torrow’s neck and breaking the needle on the ground before sticking it into his pocket. He did, though, leave the body behind. He was not going to risk his life further for a body.

          A shadow in the fire moved. Sloane jerked his head up to the figure moving closer to him and Sloane stood from the flaming body, fire continuing to burn and erupt around him, threatening to smother him in the smoke or burn him to death if he did not move.

          “Hako,” Sloane shouted through a cough. “Hako, you don’t have to stay here in this.”

          Hako, the silhouette of burning fire, was under control of the fire now. Though he was burning, his skin was only dark from the shadows the darkness and fire were casting, not from the burns. He looked almost whole, except for those eyes that still looked as if they did not truly understand what was happening to him.

          Hako stayed amidst the flames. Sloane took that as his opportunity, that the experiment seemed to have little interest in Sloane other than watching him closely.         Sloane rushed out of the building, feeling sweat dripping down his back. Rafe was still standing outside, his back to the burning building, watching people run in confusion. Someone was trying to throw water at the building, which might save the buildings around it. The building itself was going to be a loss by the time the flames were burnt out.

          Rafe looked to him and Sloane said, “I found a syringe in his neck, I brought it with me.” Rafe nodded and Sloane suddenly felt the need to ask, “Are either of them gifted?”

          “You mean did Dr. Meridion do this with a gift? No. They are just scientists.”

          “Just scientists,” Sloane repeated, feeling the ache of the burns along his skin. He was going to regret going into that building tomorrow.

          “Don’t be pedantic,” Rafe said. “I personally thought a lot of Dr. Torrow and am sad he died.”

          “You don’t look it,” Sloane snapped.

          “Sloane, I understand you are having a rough night, but one day you will learn you can not let your emotions rule you.” Rafe stepped forward. “Come on, we can’t wait for Loqi. They are going to come and try to kill us soon.”

          “Are you sure they aren’t going to just use us for experiments?” Sloane asked.

          “Yes,” Rafe said. “Bastian made a mistake earlier by keeping us alive. He won’t make that mistake again, he needs to save face.”

          “For who exactly?” Sloane asked.

          “That’s the question, isn’t it?” Rafe grabbed Sloane on the wrist and dragged him forward.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

          “You’re awake,” Baye said, stretching out on the chair beside the couch where Eleanore had slept until the sun had fallen, leaving the house mostly dark besides two oil lamps that lit the room enough to see Baye clearly.

          “Yes,” Ellie said, her voice hoarse. “Do you have any water?”

          Baye stood up and left the room while Ellie tried to focus. Everything was blurry and had a red hue at the corners. She felt off, but possibly because she had had a battle of wills with Loqi all night, and more willingly used her power.

          Baye came back with a glass full of water. It was warm, but Ellie was grateful for it, emptying the glass and letting out a refreshing, “Ah,” of pleasure before place the glass down on the table. “Thank you for letting me sleep.”

          “I had very little choice,” Baye said, still as cold as she had been when they had been at breakfast.

          “I know you are mad at me for leaving-”

          “That’s not why I’m upset,” Baye snapped.

          “Is it because of Loqi?” Ellie asked.

          “Yes and no,” Baye admitted. “I’m mad because I thought I finally had you to myself.”

          “Baye…” Ellie trailed off.

          “Oh, not like that,” Baye huffed. “I have always had to share you with your sister and her friends, and now you and I had time to just be friends without them breathing down our necks. I know it’s selfish, which is why I told you not to worry about it.”

          Ellie, needing to change the subject in a hurry, asked, “How long was I asleep for?”

          “About eight hours,” Baye told her.
          “Not enough time for them to be back yet,” Ellie said.

          “No,” Baye agreed. “It was quiet during that time. Ellie, are you sure you were that tired just from using your gift?”

          “What do you mean?” Ellie asked.

          “I just wonder if he did something to you…”

          Ellie felt offended. “No,” she snapped. “He actually… seemed almost a decent person. Almost. He has a lot of flaws.”

          “And you two only kissed?”

          Ellie flushed from head to toe and wrapped her arms around her legs, curling up on the couch. “Can we not talk about that?”

          “Isn’t that what friends do? Talk about boys?”

          “This feels weird,” Ellie admitted.

          Baye nodded her head, but seemed disappointed again. Ellie wondered if Baye felt like they were really friends at all. Her argument was valid, Ellie always put Rhapsody, Jacen, and Sloane before Baye, but they had been friends for years, and Rhapsody is her sister. Baye, on the other hand, had been in her life for two years, and while she enjoyed spending time with Baye, she never thought of Baye as her best friend, that had been Rhapsody.

          A quiet knocking sound interrupted their conversation, thankfully. Ellie felt relief and she thought even Baye’s face looked relieved. They both glanced around. It would have seemed obvious the knocking sound would come from the front door, but it had not. The knocking sounded again and Baye was the one to realize it was coming from a door, the back door of her house. She gestured for Ellie to hide and Ellie, not knowing where else to go, went to the bedroom off of the main floor and glanced out from a cracked open door.

          Baye sounded exasperated as she said, “Rhapsody?”

          Ellie came rushing back out and to the door. Rhapsody stood there looking stricken and pale until she saw Ellie. A flush rushed up her cheeks and she pushed past Baye and into the house, throwing her arms around Ellie in a tight hug.

          “Ellie!” Rhapsody cried out, hugging her tightly. “I was so worried about you. Everyone says they have been searching for you and unable to find you. They want you to come back.”

          “I know,” Ellie admitted. “But I’m not.”

          Rhapsody leaned back, gazing at her sister as if this was somehow the first time she had seen her. It had only been a week since they had been separated, and it was enough that their worlds had gone in different directions. “Ellie,” Rhapsody said to her, “you have to come back. We can stay together, with David, isn’t that what you wanted?”

          This was exactly what Baye had been afraid of. One whisper from Rhapsody or David and Ellie was almost willing to drop everything and go with her. Almost. The person who had done the most to make her determined to never go near the capital again was Loqi and what he had shown her of David. She had not had time to tell Baye what he had shown her, to get her opinion on it all.

          “It is,” Ellie said. “But I’d rather you two come with me.”

          “I can’t,” Rhapsody said. “I promised I would come back, with you.”

          “You lied then,” Ellie said. “I’m sorry.”

          Rhapsody’s back straightened, her lips pursing. “You are sentencing me to death if you do not come back with me.”

          “Not if you run with us,” Ellie pointed out.

          “No one is running,” Baye said, stepping between them. “But she is not staying with us.”

          “Baye, why don’t you, for once, mind your own business?” Rhapsody snapped. “You are the influence on my sister that needs to go away.”
          “Rhapsody,” Ellie said, grasping her sister’s hands tightly in hers and forcing her to look down at her, “stay with me.”

          Rhapsody looked into her eyes and said, “No, Ellie, come with me.”

          Ellie staggered. She released Rhapsody’s hands and felt something in her head forcing her to say, “Yes, Rhapsody, I will go with you.”

          “Ellie,” Baye said, reaching out and grabbing her friend’s hand. “Ellie, what are you doing? You know what they did to David.”

          Rhapsody flicked her finger against Baye’s nose and said, “David’s experiment was a failure. Mine was not.” Rhapsody’s eyes flickered with a red tint before going back to what her normal eye color. She had used something on Ellie that had reversed Ellie’s manipulation. That was terrifying.

          Ellie was aware of trying to fight off the power of it, of wanting to argue with Rhapsody, but she could not. She just held out her hand and took Rhapsody’s outstretched hand. She followed her out of the small house.

          Baye reached forward and grabbed Ellie, trying to stop her. Feet dragging on the floor as Ellie walked, Baye used all of her might to keep her friend in place. Ellie pried the fingers off of her arm and said, “I need to go with her, Baye. This is a horrible feeling.”

          “It’s worse because you are aware I changed your mind,” Rhapsody said. “Imagine how I felt all of those years when I didn’t want to do something and you said we’re doing it. It was awful knowing I wanted to say no, but I was saying yes and going along with your plans.”

          “Baye,” Ellie said, fear in her voice, “you need to run.”

          It was an order. Baye listened, turning on her heel and disappearing into the city.

          Rhapsody looked into the darkness and hissed, “Kill her.” From the darkness two large dogs, too large to be wolves but with the distinct shape and coloring, plodded out before snarling with fangs that were sharper than they should have been. The wolves took off into the darkness, following Baye’s scent.

          “Baye, be careful!” Ellie screamed.

          “Shut up,” Rhapsody told her, but Ellie did not have to listen to that order, and she proved it by continuing to scream, waking up people who were just trying to enjoy the night in their houses nearby. Lights came on and curtains were drawn back for people to peep. They did not see much, two blood-red-haired ladies who were seeming to have a quarrel as they walked through the streets, but it kept people’s eyes on them.

          Rhapsody’s voice was hoarse, but no one came out to help her. They left her to her fate, the people of the city turning their backs on her, assuming this was just a sibling quarrel. She had been reported missing and no one was looking her way. No one was even answering as she tried to manipulate them… because Rhapsody was reflecting it away. What had Bastian done to her that was allowing her to stop Ellie’s gifts?
          A carriage waited down the road, a black carriage with the purple insignia of the president. Ellie froze in fear, her feet no longer able to walk forward. The fear was stronger than her manipulation on herself, until the door opened and showed the carriage was empty. That was a blessing; it meant she still had hours before she would come face-to-face with the president. Hours of wondering how her sister had turned into this, and if it was the experiment or if it was her that was the traitor.

          No, Ellie thought, no matter what it was Ellie that was the traitor. She had turned against her country when she saw David’s face melting. Or had it been sooner? She had turned against her country when Rhapsody had asked her to leave with her. She had turned against her country when she had been rescued by Baye from two motor-bike riding soldiers who were going to take her straight back to the president.

          “Ellie, don’t go with them,” Baye had said, holding the gun to the man’s helmeted head.

          “Miss, if you shoot, you will be killed,” the other soldier said, pulling his own gun.

          “I wonder who will be the better shot,” Baye had said.

          “No, please, don’t kill them,” Ellie had said to Baye, her heart pounding in her chest. Baye had lowered the gun, Ellie’s gift taking over, though Ellie had not known it at the time. The soldiers raised their guns and Ellie snapped at them, “You can’t kill her either. Someone has to tell me what is going on.”

          And they did. They told her how she was an experiment waiting to happen, that Bastian wanted to use her blood to enhance his own dwindling gift, even if it meant draining her dry. He would prefer her to stay alive, though; there was so much he could do with someone like her.

          “Tell them to act like they never saw us,” Baye hissed.

          Ellie, too scared by what she heard, told them her own version. “You never found me, I had already escaped by the time you caught up with the carriage, no one knows what happened to me.”

          “Why would you put me to death?” Ellie asked.

          “I survived.”

          “David’s face melted.”

          “That is surviving.”

          There was no more arguing with Rhapsody. She had shut down upon entering the carriage, forgetting that she once loved her sister enough to want to keep her from being caught at the capital. The Rhapsody that Ellie knew was gone.