Dark Mind (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 1) (27 page)

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s a perfect little boy, going around killing people,” Travis’ mother said sarcastically.

Don’t let them play with your mind. That’s how they want to win.
Cole straightened up, pushing his shoulders back and chest forward. “Why should I take your word for it? What possible reason do I have for believing you, that you’re not just making all this up?”

“Don’t worry, Cole,” Travis said. “We can end this. I’m sure there’s a way.”

“I’ll tell you one way,” Travis’ mother said. She pulled the gun from her waist and held it inside her jacket, the barrel sticking out. “Either come with me now or he gets it. I’m not risking your life again.”

“Cole, get inside!”

Cole turned around to see Amy, terrified, outside the front door.

“Amy, no! Don’t come out here!” he shouted. “I told you to stay locked inside.”

“I won’t let you get killed for me,” she said.

“Call the police. I’ll only be another second.”

“Are you crazy?! It’s not worth it. I’ll call the police as soon as you get inside.” She walked tentatively out the door towards Cole.

“Amy, get back!”

“Enooouugh!” Travis’ mother pushed her son aside, extending the gun out into the open. “There’s only one sure way to end this. I’m doing this for you, Travis. Don’t look.”

“Mom, no!”

Cole’s body seized with fear as he stared down the barrel of the gun. He tried to move his legs but his feet were glued to the ground, his muscles lead.

“Cole!” Amy screamed from behind him.

Cole could hear her footsteps pounding behind him, renewing his strength. He knew instinctively that Amy was the one in danger. “Back!” He turned and dove toward Amy, landing on top of her, killing her momentum, and flattening her to the ground beneath him. He grabbed her tight and closed his eyes, waiting for the blast that would kill them both.

It didn’t come.

Cole opened his eyes and looked up. The gun was still pointing at him. The mother’s face was red and she was breathing hard. Travis was behind her, staring horrified at the gun.

Amy groaned, shifting under him. “Ow, that really hurt.”

“I can do this,” Travis’ mother whispered to herself. There was a loud click as she cocked the barrel. “This is for your son. Breathe. Just breathe.”

In the lull, Travis reanimated. “It’s okay, Mom. Let’s go home. He doesn’t know where we live.”

“But what if he ever finds you?! If you can find him, he can find you.”

“He won't. He's different. Even if he can find us, he's not a murderer.”

“He already almost killed you once! His whole family is full of murderers. It's in their blood. I'm sorry but it's just not a risk I can take.” Her livid face calmed into a scowl. “Is this the girl? The one from the vision?”

“Mom…”

“It is, isn’t it? You know as well as I that you can’t change what’s going to happen. I’m going to kill her today and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Don’t fight it. One shot through them both and we can put this whole mess behind us.” She steadied the shaking the gun with her other hand. “Close your eyes, Travis.”

“Mom, no!” Travis rushed his mother, grabbing at the gun, shoving the barrel away from Cole and Amy.

Amy screamed and squeezed her eyes shut. Cole scrambled to his knees and tried to pull Amy across the lawn.

“Mom, stop. It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t know how this works.”

“Travis, let go! You’re going to make me hit the trigger! All right, all right, I won’t shoot, just let-”

A deafening explosion ripped through the quiet street, freezing the world in a vacuum of time. Not a muscle moved, not a person breathed.

The shock was broken as Travis crumpled to the ground. “Mom?” he whimpered.

Cole and Amy lifted their heads to see Travis’ bloody torso heaving up and down with great effort.

Travis’ mother was the last to break from the spell. She opened her mouth in a long, piercing wail as she dropped to her knees and lifted Travis onto her lap. “Travis! Travis, no, don’t close your eyes. Stay with me.” She repeated these lines as she tried in vain to stop the bleeding, but Travis' fading life was manifest in his labored breathing.

Travis' head rolled to the side, his glazed eyes locking with Cole's. The ever-present whispering grew into a cacophony of rushing energy passing between them like an invisible wind tunnel. The world grew distant as the energy overwhelmed his senses, and within it all was a small but distinct voice that sounded very much like Travis. As Cole felt on the verge of passing out from the assault on his mind, it ceased. Travis' eyes continued to stare at him but they saw no more.

“No, Travis, no, no….” Travis' mother cradled his body against hers, petting his head and crying into his hair.

“I’m going to call the cops,” Amy whispered into Cole’s ear.

He nodded, his eyes glued to the scene in front of him. Amy pushed herself into a sitting position, but at the sound of movement, Travis’ mother’s head snapped up, her red eyes looking like death itself.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she hissed.

“I’m going to get help,” Amy said.

“It’s too late. You can see that as plainly as me.” She placed Travis back on the grass and picked the gun off the ground with a bloody, shaking hand. “This is all your fault, Bitch. You killed my son! You killed him! He’s dead because of you! You were supposed to die, so now you’re going to.”

Amy bolted for the front door as Cole charged for the gun.

When Amy realized Cole wasn’t following she stopped and turned. “Cole, no! Run!”

Cole didn’t hear her. He didn’t hear anything. He was on a set course, oblivious to anything going on around him. Nothing was going to deter him from his goal.

Travis’ mother adjusted her aim at the charging Cole. The gun leveled, cocked and fired. The shot exploded out of the barrel. Cole felt a forceful, piercing pain rip through his arm, knocking him onto his back. He clutched his arm, yelling in pain as blood seeped through his fingers.

The mother had already lost interest in him and was pointing her gun back at Amy. Cole looked back in helpless horror as he watched Amy caught in indecision between running inside and running to his aid. Another deafening shot resounded down the block, exploding into the doorframe behind her.

The mother cocked the gun for another shot when she was distracted by the squeal of tires. Cole looked towards the sound to see a car jumping the curb at high speed, heading straight for her. She turned in time to watch the front of the vehicle slam into her, flinging her body into the air. She landed with a smack face first on the concrete.

The car screeched to a halt and Dr. Stern jumped out, wild-eyed.

“Cole, Amy, are you okay?”

“I think I need to go to the hospital,” Cole said, grimacing. Even through the pain, though, he felt little more than relief

“Are you all right, Amy?” Dr. Stern said, running towards Cole.

“Yeah, I think so,” Amy said.

“Good, go call nine one one. We need an ambulance immediately.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Amy said, pointing.

Dr. Stern and Cole turned their attention down the block to where Amy was pointing and saw a police car and an ambulance roaring around the corner, lights flashing and horns blaring.

“Thank God,” Cole said, gritting his teeth through the pain. “What are you doing here?”

Dr. Stern pressed the wound, trying to slow the bleeding until the medics arrived. “I was worried about you. Thought you might do something rash, especially after
I realized you took my letter opener. Now... I don't even know what to think. Who is th-”

The ambulance screeched to a halt. The medics swarmed out with two stretchers, lifting Cole, Travis and Travis' mother onto them, and rushing them off to the hospital.

27

“You have visitors, Cole,” the nurse said. “Would you like to see them?”

Cole smiled, nodding vigorously. “Yes, definitely.”

The nurse returned his smile. “You’re cute. I’ll go get them.”

She left and a moment later a pale Meredith entered.

“Mom, you look like death. I'm fine.”

She did not respond, merely pulled a chair next to his bed and took a deep breath.

“Mom, what is it? What's wrong?”

She took his hand, squeezing it hard. “We don’t have to talk about it right now. I know how traumatizing today must have been. I’ve set up extra sessions with Dr. Stern and I want you to know you can tell me as little or as much as you want. I love you.” She planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Cole paused. He knew it would come to this but he had been unable to think about what he could say. “Thanks. Love you too.”

“I can let you rest up, if you want,” Meredith said, sighing as she rose to her feet.

“Wait, Mom... I don't know why that crazy woman came to the house. I never met her before.”

Meredith looked down at her son, a tear forming in her eye. “I'm not talking about the woman.
I know who she is. I'm talking about your ability.”

Cole felt a creeping panic as years of secrecy crashed down around him because of one mistake. “What? How did you know? Did you talk to Dr. Stern?”

Meredith nodded and closed her eyes. When she spoke again her voice was a whisper. “Oh, Cole... Why did you have to have it too?”

What?!
Cole's mind had stopped processing as his mouth sputtered in a vain attempt to produce words.

Meredith tousled his hair, failing to ease the tension. “It's all right. It's best to be out in the open with it.
I just wish I hadn't denied it for years.”

Cole cringed under the covers, feeling like the small terrified boy that he was. “What do you mean? What are you talking about? Mom, you're scaring me.”

“It's nothing to be afraid of now. You ended it... on your own. If only I had been a better mother I could have helped you. I left you to deal with this ability on your own and put you in danger just because I refused to accept it.”

“No. N-not possible.”

“Why not, Cole? If you have this curse, why is it so hard to believe I do too? Look, I know how much harder it makes your life, how much it makes you stand out, which is why I prayed you didn't have it. I just hope you can find someone more understanding than your father. That's what scares me the most.”

“W-what does dad have to do with this?”

“I'm sorry. I know this is too much to take in all at once.”

“No, Mom. Now that it's out in the open you have to tell me everything.”

Meredith sighed and took a seat back in the chair, leveling her gaze to Cole, who was now alert, staring back with wide eyes.

“I've had your ability for as long as
I can remember but I wanted to keep it a secret from everyone, including my parents and your father. All I ever wanted was to be normal so I pretended I was. It didn't work but I tried. My mother, though, she had the same ability and she realized I did too. She talked to me about it, taught me about how it worked, how to control it, how to use it, everything I should have talked to you about. It was foolish to think you would suddenly break the family tradition.”

“It's all right, Mom. Just tell me what else happened.”

“Years later I found Travis' father the same way you found Travis, or rather he found me. We discussed for a long time what we could do about it but before we came to any conclusion, he passed away. It was around the same time that your father found out about my so-called ability. I tried to explain it to him but he wouldn't listen. He didn't believe a word of it and I guess I managed to scare him away.”

“Hold on, wait,” Cole said, so engrossed in the story he forgot where he was. “You knew Travis and his parents?”

“Uh-huh. But his father died about ten years ago and that was the last time I saw them. I recognized the mother but Travis was a baby the last time I saw him.” She raised her eyes, thinking back. “We always thought it was interesting that the two of you were born on the same day.”

“We what?!” Cole dropped back to his pillow, beginning to feel overwhelmed. “Hm.” There was a short silence while another thought weaseled its way into his brain, replacing the thoughts that were too complex to consider at that moment. “Does Aunt Beth know?”

“She found out the same time as well. My big secret was finally out in the open but I was able to convince her, unlike your father. That was when she became like this. She was always a little odd, but once she knew that supernatural forces existed, she went overboard. Can't blame her, really.”

Cole half-smiled. “No, I guess not.”

After another short silence, Meredith said, “If there's anything you ever want to talk about, I want you to know I'm here for you.”

“This is all gonna take a while to digest.”

“Well, if you're up for it, there's some more people here to see you.”

“Yeah? I'm up for it. Although
, wait, I did have one more question.” He took a deep breath and looked up at his mother's loving face. “Are we... evil?”

Meredith stood and rested a hand on his arm. “Morality is just a matter of opinion. Maybe what we're doing is for the greater good. That's what I think.” She
left, reentering a minute later with Beth, Amy and Dr. Stern in tow, all looking thrilled to see him in one piece.

“Nice cast,” Amy said. “It matches your first one. Can I touch it?”

“Sure,” Cole said. “It’s kinda cool. I've already gotten used to wearing one.”

“Two casts. That’ll be a hit at school,” Amy said.

“Does it hurt?” Meredith said.

“I’m fine, Mom. Don’t worry.”

“You know I worry. It’s my job.” She smiled.

“Hey, Cole,” Beth said. “Good to see you’re doin' all right.”

“That was really scary,” Dr. Stern said. “I'm so relieved you're okay.”

“Yeah, thanks so much for saving us. That was amazing.
I hope you're not in trouble with the police.”

“No, I think I’ll be all right with a self-defense claim. There was so much noise, I’m sure there were witnesses. Fortunately
I didn't kill her. She's in the hospital but she'll survive. But... would you mind telling me who I hit and why? The police are entirely baffled.”

“Some psychotic woman who thought
I was after her son. It's a long story and I'm kinda tired. Can I tell you tomorrow?”

“I suppose.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Sicarius,” Amy said. “Can I talk to him for a minute?”

“Of course. Come on, Beth,” Meredith said.

“We're going to have a very interesting session tomorrow,” Dr. Stern said. She shook her head.

Cole smiled inwardly.
Yep. Interesting, to say the least. Told ya so.

“See ya Cole,” Beth said. She lowered her mouth to his ear and whispered, “Your mother killed her competition too. Travis' father. You ended the bloodline.”

“Beth!” Meredith said. “What did you just tell him? Did you...?”

“Don't you worry yourself about that. Come on.”

She guided a bewildered Meredith and a confused Dr. Stern through the open door, leaving Amy alone with Cole.

“Guess I believe you now,” Amy said, laughing weakly. “That was crazy.”

“I’m gonna have some fun sessions with Dr. Stern. I wonder if
she’ll
believe me now.”

“She better or she should be fired.” She bit her lip.“You know, I feel horrible saying this but I’m kinda glad about what happened to that crazy woman. I feel even worse saying this but it’s a good thing for you what happened, right? I mean, I doubt there was any other way to end the game. It is over now, right? Better be.”

“Yeah it must be. The other team’s gone so I guess I win. Not that I wanted to win this way.”

“No, I know,” Amy said. “That poor kid didn’t deserve that. His mother was out of her mind…All right, I'd better go, but I want to be the first to sign your cast. Feel better. It’s lonely without you.”

“Thanks. I’ll be better soon enough.”

Amy kissed his forehead and left.

Cole lay there alone, exhausted, waiting for sleep to overtake him. He was still too much in shock to decipher how he felt about the events of the day. He hoped shock was the cause because at that moment, he felt nothing at all. He stared up at the ceiling, tossing the images around, until he became sleepy enough to close his eyes.

I may only be able to make bad things happen but at least that's something. Let's see how this works.
Swallow three times before the nurse comes in so that Travis’ mother dies in the hospital tonight.
He paused.
And for you Amy, to finish what I started. Swallow again so that Amy's father also dies tonight.

He swallowed four times and fell asleep.