Discovery (12 page)

“Grace, if I tell you, the Council will make sure I'll never see you again.”

“If you don't tell me, I'll make sure you
won't want
to see me again,” she hissed. “Now you tell me what's going on right now. Now, Ben!”

Ben took a deep breath.

“Ben?” Grace glared and placed her hand back on the door handle. “Your mouth better start moving.”

Ben gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Grace even thought she saw it bend slightly. “Ben, who's the Council?”

Ben glanced at Grace in his rearview mirror and then focused on the road ahead. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Here goes. Let's start with the premise that there are two kinds of beings in this world. There are those that are normal and those that are special. Follow me?”

“No.”

“Okay … well … the Council governs those beings that are special.”

“What do you mean special?”

“Special … like they have special powers. Special like they can do some stuff normal humans can't.”

Grace's brow knitted together. “You're still not making any sense.”

“This is harder than I thought,” Ben muttered to himself. “No wonder this is a huge code violation.”

“Ben,” Grace prodded him.

“Okay, let's start over. You are human.”

“Yes … ?”

“Some people are … more than human.”

Grace looked at Ben like he had lost his mind. “How can someone be more than human?”

“Some people are born with special powers.” Ben shook his head. “Geesh, this hard.”

“What kind of special powers?”

“All kinds. Some have super strength or speed. Some can read minds. Some have super intelligence.”

Grace glared at Ben. “Stop messing with me. Tell me the truth.”

“I am.”

“No. You've read too many comic books and have seen too many movies.”

“Grace, this is serious. There
are
beings in this world that have special powers. And the Council is the group of beings that govern those with special powers. They make the laws that these special beings have to live by.”

“Like Congress for your comic book characters?” smirked Grace.

“Sort of,” Ben said.

“Get real, Ben.” Grace rolled her eyes.

“I am. Please Grace, you have to believe me. These special beings call themselves the Powers. The Council tries to maintain order between the world of the Powers and your world, the human world.”

Grace didn't know whether to jump from the car because she was mad at Ben her friend for taking her to North Carolina or because she needed to get away from Ben the crazy person. She placed her hand on the door handle.

“There's more,” Ben continued, eyeing Grace's hand on the door.

Grace stayed still.

“You see, the Council has existed for thousands of years,” Ben continued. “It ensures that those of us with special powers, the Powers, can live peacefully among you humans. Members are appointed for life. When one Council member dies, the remaining members choose the replacement and so on and so forth. With me so far?”

“No. Wait. Back up. What do you mean those of
us
with special powers?” Grace gripped the door handle tighter.

Ben glanced at Grace through the rearview mirror and then turned back to the road again. “Anyway, like I said, the Council has been around for thousands of years. A long time ago, the Powers didn't have to hide their super human abilities. They didn't flaunt their powers, but if a human happened to discover a Power's ability, it was no big deal. Everything was explained away with magic or divine intervention or some other lame excuse that the humans believed. But then came the Salem witch trials beginning in 1692. So many of the Powers were murdered because of those trials. They were accused of the vilest things, but there were really no witches in Salem. Just a bunch of Powers who practiced their abilities a little too openly.”

“Uh-huh … ” Grace's fingers wrapped tighter around the door handle.

Ben eyed Grace and then returned his focus to the road. “Anyway,” he continued, “after the Salem murders, as we call them, the Council had to choose between allowing the Powers to take over the humans or forcing the Powers to hide forever. Because the Powers had always prided themselves on being the caretakers of the human race, the Council chose the latter and we have been in hiding ever since.”

“Uh-huh.” Grace raised her eyebrows. “Tell me more.” Grace thought that the longer Ben talked, the more time she would have to figure a way out of this mess.

“Well, the Powers continued to live among the humans from that time on, but they could never openly practice their superhuman abilities after the Salem murders. To do so was a strict Council code violation, in some instances punishable by death. So, for about three hundred years, the Powers and humans lived together somewhat peacefully until the 1960s, when one of the Council members got tired of hiding his powers. He tried to take over the Council, essentially hoping to convert it from a democracy into a dictatorship. The other Council members booted him off but not before he had gathered a ton of support from some of the other Powers. Apparently, this rogue Council member and his son were very persuasive when arguing in favor of the public use of powers. Anyway, this rebel member was eventually killed but this only made him a martyr among his supporters who started calling themselves the Anti-Powers. With me so far?”

“Sure.” Grace rolled her eyes. “Go on.”

“Well, the Anti-Powers, led by the deceased rebel's son, have been fighting with the Council and the other Powers ever since. The son has never been identified by name or face but we do know that his whole goal in life is to get rid of the Council and take over the human race. Payback for the death of his father or something Shakespearean like that. Anyway, think of the Council and the Powers as the good guys and the Anti-Powers as the bad guys. There is a kind of cold war going on right now between the two groups with the Anti-Powers wanting to control the human race and the Powers, led by the Council, wanting to preserve it.” Ben glanced back at Grace. “Is any of this making sense?”

“Sure. Whatever you say.” Grace didn't hide her patronizing tone.

“Grace, I'm being serious.”

“Ben, what does any of this have to do with me?”

Ben slowed the car slightly when he replied, “Because without you, the Council would eventually disappear and the Anti-Powers know it. If the Anti-Powers get you and your genes, they can take over the Powers and the humans would become nothing more than their slaves. That is, if they allow any humans to survive at all.”

At that point, Grace knew Ben was no longer her friend but was instead a certifiable lunatic. She silently watched the trees zoom past her window.

“Grace?” Ben asked. “Are you still with me?”

“Uh-huh,” Grace mumbled. “Just processing it all.” She had to get out of that car. Seeing a small two-pump gas station emerge at the road's horizon, she said, “Uh … could we stop for a minute? I'm feeling a little car sick.”

Ben glanced at the dashboard. They had less than a quarter tank remaining. “Yeah, I guess it couldn't hurt. We need some gas anyway.” Ben looked back at Grace. “I'm sorry I've thrown so much at you about the Powers and all. I just want you to understand what we're up against.”

“Sure,” Grace said, not understanding anything at all except that her best friend had gone completely insane.

Ben pulled into the gas station and started pumping gas. He leaned down into Grace's open window. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, but stay in the car. Don't get out under any circumstances. I don't know who all is around here yet.”

“Of course,” replied Grace, feigning acceptance of Ben's story.

Ben finished pumping the gas and then headed into the gas station. The minute he was out of sight, Grace reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. There were eight missed calls from Annie and six missed calls from Gregory.

“Hello?” Annie's voice sounded like an exasperated angel on the other end of the line.

“Annie?” Grace whispered into her phone.

“Gracie! Where are you? What the hell happened last night? One minute you were there and then you disappeared. Gregory and I were so worried about you. I mean we looked everywhere and — ”

“Annie, would you shut up for one second?” Grace interrupted. “I don't have much time. I think Ben is suffering some sort of mental breakdown or something. He has me in the backseat of this random Mercedes I've never seen before, driving through North Carolina, talking about Powers and Anti-Powers and some stupid Council. I really think he's lost his mind.”

“Where are you exactly?”

Grace looked out her window at the gas station sign overhead. “I told you. In North Carolina somewhere. I don't know the town but the name of the gas station is Taylor's Gas-n-Go. You've got to help me, please!”

“Who are you talking to?” Ben's voice boomed into the back seat. He reached through the open window, grabbed the phone out of Grace's grasp, disconnecting the call in the process, and hurled it toward an empty field on the other side of the road. The phone flew up into the sky so high, Grace never saw it land.

“What the — ” Grace stammered.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Annie. And who do you think you are? That was my brand new phone you just threw out!”

“Look, I'm sorry. But you obviously don't grasp what I'm telling you. You are in danger, Gracie. They can track you with your cell phone. I don't care if you were talking to Annie or the Queen of England. From now on, you don't do a thing without my approval. Got it?”

Grace's shocked eyes just stared back at Ben.

“Here. I got you something to drink. This should last you for a while.” Ben handed her two bottles of water. “Now sit back there and be quiet. We have a long ride ahead of us and I need you to do what I say. Okay?”

“Okay,” Grace whispered.
So this is what it feels like to be kidnapped
, she thought as she uncomfortably settled down into the back seat of the Mercedes.

• • •

The foyer in the Reich mansion was darker than most. Dark wooden flooring. Dark Turkish Orientals. Wallpaper of deep burgundy leather. Even the lights from the massive chandelier hanging over his head were dimmed to the point of being useless. So Doc thought it only fitting that his last few minutes on this earth would be spent in such a dark, empty-feeling room. Even the ornately carved cherry deacon bench on which he was sitting was pillow-less hard, uncomfortable. But the elderly man assumed Mr. Reich liked his guests to feel that way.

Uncomfortable. So they would not stay long.

Not that he was a guest tonight. Having worked for Mr. Reich's father when he was a member of the Council and thereafter when the older man defected, Doc knew the Reich family well. He only hoped his years of service had earned him a quick death.

Death.

The thought of it made Doc shift slightly on the bench, and his fingers pinched the top of his nose between his eyes to ease his now ever-present headache. He had no power to stop the inevitable. In fact, he had no powers at all. He was just a simple pharmacist who had fallen in with the wrong crowd, as his mother would have said.

The heavy, double doors to the study opened.

“Father is ready for you,” Andrew said.

Doc nodded and slowly stood up. His legs felt like lead poles as he shuffled over the thick Oriental toward the study. He stopped in the open doorway, unable to go any further.

“Now, Doc,” Andrew prodded him. “Don't make this any harder than it has to be.”

Doc looked up at Andrew knowingly and shuffled his lead poles into the room. Seated behind the large antique desk was Mr. Reich with Gregory standing to his left. Mrs. Reich and her sunglasses lounged on a chaise nearby, nonchalantly flipping the pages of a magazine, stopping every now and then to study a fashion ad as if it were any other evening.

“Doc,” Mr. Reich began. “You know how it pains me to do this, don't you?”

“Yes, Master,” Doc replied without looking up.

“Obviously I hold you responsible for the girl's allergic reaction to your drink, but you have served the Anti-Powers well so I'll make this quick.”

“Thank you, Mast-,” Doc sighed but before the words could complete their journey from his lips, Mrs. Reich was at his side, her presence placing an unnerving calm over Doc. He relaxed and before he could utter his final words that he had rehearsed so well, Mrs. Reich's glasses were off. The last thing Doc would see on this earth were the beautiful red eyes of Mrs. Reich glaring down on him just before the laser beams escaped her pupils and tore through the middle of his forehead. He collapsed limply on the floor. Instant death. Exactly what he had hoped for.

Mrs. Reich replaced her sunglasses and purred, “Darling, will there be anything else?”

Mr. Reich rose from his desk and crossed over to his wife. “No dear. Thank you.” He bent slightly and kissed her cheek.

Mrs. Reich smiled up at him, then turned and silently glided from the room, stepping over Doc without hesitation as she exited.

Mr. Reich turned to Gregory. “You could learn a lot from your stepmother, son. She truly has mastered emotion manipulation. Did you see how calm Doc was? He never even thought of fighting his fate.”

“Yes, Father,” Gregory stated hesitantly. He warily eyed his father, knowing he and Andrew were next on Mr. Reich's evening agenda. They were prepared for their punishment.

“Boys,” Mr. Reich began slowly. “Now, let's review. What do we know?”

Andrew responded from a corner of the study, “We know Grace entered the bathroom at the Café alone. By the time Gregory was able to melt the door's lock and we entered the bathroom, she was gone. We think she escaped through the bathroom window.”