Portal Combat (21 page)

For once, Christina was speechless. She got free of Natalie's grasp and stared at the gateway. Natalie walked toward the portal, but it had closed up before she could get anywhere close.

She pulled out her phone and dialed Ted's number. "Come on, Ted. We need some heroism right about now."

The call rang several times before going to voicemail. Christina continued to stare at the place the gateway had been. She was shaking.

"What the hell was that?"

Natalie flared her nostrils. "Something bad. And we might have to be the ones to stop it."

Chapter 34

When Jennifer got the mass text from Erica, she started examining it right away. An immediate text back received no response, and about a dozen texts over the next day resulted in the same lack of contact. She felt the same pangs of nervousness she experienced when the old Erica disappeared. Jennifer knew that things were much different now, but she promised the new Erica that she'd watch her back, too. Jennifer didn't waste any time hacking into her father's computer late at night to take advantage of Sheriff Department resources. Sure enough, there were records of Erica and Yoshi buying and getting on a flight to Japan.

"Why would they go to Japan if all the attacks have been here?" Jennifer squinted at the screen, as if zeroing in closer would somehow reveal the truth. "If there was a good enough reason for her to go, Erica would've told Ted. She would've told all of us."

The nervousness of the past week faded away. Now Jennifer had a mission.

She knew that Erica was a part of multiple lives before this one. It was possible that they'd never experienced the real her, and that the protector would be willing to fly across the world at the drop of a hat, but Jennifer had to believe the part of Erica that was their friend would care enough about them to provide more than a mass text. 

The next morning, Jennifer made some calls to Florida, which is where the purported Japan flight originated. With each clue she obtained, something inside her felt more alive. She got in touch with the makeshift hospital the pair had visited. A nurse named Nancy confirmed that Erica and Yoshi had been there and that they'd visited the house of former hospital administrator Charlie Potts. Jennifer asked if she could get Potts' number, but after several tears and sniffles, Nancy told her about the man's purported suicide. The death seemed more than suspicious.

Jennifer dashed down the stairs to the kitchen as her father prepared to dig into a massive sandwich piled high with meat and cheese.

She relaxed her face and gave her best puppy dog daughter eyes. "Dad? Can I go to Florida to investigate the disappearance of Erica?"

Her father gave the sandwich a disappointed look and placed it back down on its plate. He raised his eyebrows at his daughter. "Honey, that sounds expensive. And we don't even know that Erica is missing."

Jennifer intensified her pleading eyes. "But, Dad, it's official police business."

The sheriff groaned and pushed his sandwich away. He pulled out a chair for his daughter. "No, it's not. Can we talk this out?"

Jennifer stomped over to the chair and collapsed into it. She crossed her arms. "Every moment we wait, Erica has less of a chance of surviving."

Her father did his best to look compassionate through his hunger. "What's in Florida?"

"A suspicious suicide. A phantom plane. Erica might be down there, too!"

"Jennifer. You're not responsible for what happens to Erica."

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I am."

The sheriff leaned back in his chair. "Well, you don't have to be. She's here to protect Ted and the world. Have you seen her fight? She doesn't need protection."

Jennifer grumbled. She'd seen Erica fight off Nigel's gang in the caves. Secondhand, she'd heard about her laying the smack down on the mind-wiped students. In both instances, she'd nearly died.

"Just because you can fight doesn't mean you're safe."

Sheriff Norris put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sending you to Florida. Even if you can cobble together the money, I don't think you should go. You've got school and college applications–"

She pushed her father's hand away. The anger bubbled throughout her body. "None of that stuff is gonna matter if the world ends. We need Erica. If only there was a way to track...."

Jennifer paused for a moment. She looked at her father and remembered the day of the school attack. He'd driven his truck through the front doors and nailed one of Nigel's thugs, but he'd done it by instinct alone.

"Dad? How'd you find Erica the day of the school attack?"

He sighed. "It felt like I could sense she was in danger. I couldn't even control my own facilities. It was pretty frightening, actually. I'm glad she took it out of my head."

Jennifer stood up. "I'm gonna call Dhiraj. We need to track her that way again."

Her father took a conciliatory tone. "I told you, honey, I can't do it anymore. She took it out."

Jennifer stared straight into his eyes. "I'm not talking about you."

The orderly led Jennifer, Dhiraj and Sheriff Norris into the clean, white room. They sat in three chairs on one side of the table. When her father folded his arms, she and Dhiraj did the same. Jennifer had thought this was a good idea when she came up with it, but the anticipation was making her reconsider. There was a major chance the plan would go terribly wrong, but she wasn't sure she had any other choice.

The door to the room opened once again; this time a man with long, gray hair entered, led by two orderlies. He looked significantly different from the last time Jennifer had seen him, but his face and eyes remained the same. The two attendees sat the man down in the chair across from them. He moved slowly, as if weighed down by something heavy on the inside. When he met their stares, it took him a moment or two before he recognized the people across the table.

"If it isn't Sheriff Norris... his lovely daughter... and Dhiraj Patel." Albert Redican's intelligent smile shined through a worn-down exterior. "How nice it is to see you."

Chapter 35

Ted stared in awe for a few moments as he took in the sheer size of the creature. It vaguely resembled the Lychos, but it was more than five times larger. When it let out a roar, the shockwave of sound smashed half the car windows in a quarter-mile radius, including theirs. Before Ted could say anything, Allison was on the phone with the DHS. When she'd explained the situation, she waited for a short response. Allison turned her attention to Ted.

"We need to get it off the bridge."

Ted nodded and opened the car door. He could feel his arm throb as he pushed the handle outward.

Good thing I'm in perfect health
.

Ted went flying off in the creature's direction. The people in the cars the giant had landed upon were alive, but barely. The nearby vehicles had done their best to clear a path for the beast, but given the traffic jam, there wasn't much they could do. Ted flew as low as he could, recalling his crash landing during the last battle. He aimed straight for the creature's hairy belly.

"If you take me down, I'm taking you down with me."

Ted pictured a rocket blasting off as he aimed for the beast's midsection. The creature locked eyes with him just before Ted made impact. The blow knocked the giant Lychos off its feet and up into the air. Passengers in the creature's path abandoned their vehicles. The creature bounced off the center support beam for the bridge, leaving a dent in its wake, before it slammed down on the now-empty cars. The bridge lurched beneath Ted's feet after the Lychos landed. As the creature sat there, dazed, Ted got a better look at it. Like its smaller family members, this beast had the black tattoos of the dark souls on its arm. Ted tried to fly up into the air once again, but his powers failed him, instead leaving him with a hint of the dizziness he'd felt after the blood loss.

"Looks like Papa Wolf is onto me."

It was. The creature slowly got to its feet and growled at Ted. It kicked a nearby car that still contained passengers. The vehicle smashed through the guardrail and hung over the edge of the bridge. The screams from the car made Ted's pulse quicken, tamping down the dizziness. The creature lumbered toward him, pushing several cars out of its path. As the beast reached out its arms to grab Ted, he rolled, jumped up on the hood of a car and leapt to grab a hold of its furry back.

The creature screamed and twisted its torso to try to shake Ted free. Ted held on and tried to use his powers on the teetering car. To his surprise, the vehicle lifted back onto the bridge with ease.

It needs to see me to block my powers. As long as I can hang on
–

The beast shook its back so violently that Ted lost his grip completely. He was about to come crashing down on an SUV when his powers kicked in, stopping him a few inches before his face hit metal. He dropped the last few inches when the creature turned toward him. Ted's face pressed against the roof.

"Not a fan of a fair fight, I see."

The Lychos ran toward Ted and the SUV. The creature looked ready to snap him in two as its fangs chomped up and down. He looked around at his options as the beast closed in. He made a split-second decision to leap on the car beside him, right as the creature swiped at the SUV. The beast's claws ripped the roof clean off of the car as Ted landed shoulder-first on the other vehicle. The pain from his recently-healed arm wound was blinding. The dizzy sensation returned, but Ted gripped the car to steady himself.

"Come on, Ted. Keep it together."

When the beast realized it hadn't killed Ted with its previous swipe, it grabbed for his new location. Ted popped up, ran and leapt to another car, and then another. With each jump came another swipe from the beast. Every leap made him even dizzier. The creature roared with anger as Ted continued to evade it. As he made one more leap, Ted lost his balance completely, collapsing onto the roof of a blue minivan.

He felt his hope slip away as he watched the creature run toward him. His last effort to use his powers failed and the beast's claws made the familiar sword sound as they approached his head. Ted closed his eyes and heard several gunshots ring out. When he opened them, the beast's back was to him. Between the creature's arm and the bridge, Ted could see Allison holding her gun in her free hand and firing another round of bullets into the chest of the Lychos.

"You want dinner?!" Allison's voice carried surprisingly well amidst the chaos. "I'm your main frickin' course!"

The creature roared and moved away from Ted. He pushed away the pain and sought vengeance. He reached out with his hand and found himself in the mind of the beast. Ted wasn't sure how, but he'd gained complete control over its body.

"I think I've got an itch you can scratch."

With its razor-sharp nails still extended, Ted forced the creature to bury the claws in its own chest.

Ted assumed he'd been shot or stabbed, because there was no other way to explain the unreal pain that went through his body. He looked down to see no blood or knives, just his hands in the same position as the Lychos claws. He watched the beast collapse forward, as he wrenched his consciousness out of the now-deceased mind. Ted's body convulsed on top of the minivan. The memory of the pain remained as he clutched at his burning chest. Allison had been by his side for at least a minute before he realized it.

"Ted?!" Allison touched his face. "Ted?"

His heart was beating so fast, he thought he might pass out again.

Allison stroked his cheek. "You're okay. You stopped it."

Ted looked up into her calm eyes. He started to breathe more slowly. The memory of the claws driving into his chest began to fade, as did the pain from his arm.

Allison smiled. "There we go."

Ted looked past Allison to see the Lychos on the ground, its claws sticking into its blood-covered chest. The creature was motionless.

"Didn't his mom tell him not to play with knives?"

Allison looked at the creature and then back at Ted. Her eyes widened. "You were in its head. You made it stab itself and you screamed because you felt it too. Did you know you could do that?"

"The control part, yes. The killing it and feeling its pain thing, no." He touched at his chest, which continued to feel wounded. "I wouldn't recommend it." He put his arm around Allison's shoulder. "Can you take me home?"

She nodded and helped him down from the roof. He stumbled by her side as they got to the creature's corpse.

"What're we gonna do if this keeps happening?" Allison asked.

"If what keeps happening?"

She swallowed. "If they keep getting bigger."

Chapter 36

Erica's head felt as heavy the previous few days as it did today. At least, she thought it'd been a few days. It just as well could've been an hour or six weeks. The drugs they were pumping her with made her thought patterns cloudy. She was in a small room with no windows that made it nearly impossible to tell what time of day it was. That seemed like it was by design. Senator Kable's design.

From what she'd seen in the last week, Erica felt like she had more than enough evidence to bring a case against the senator. That is, if she and Yoshi were ever able to escape.  

Yoshi.

Erica hadn't seen the samurai since she'd left the basement. Perhaps if she hadn't been so interested in snooping around, the two of them would've escaped with what they needed.

No. He wouldn't have let us. He knew we were there.

Erica had tried to get out of the bed on multiple occasions. On what she thought was the second day, she actually succeeded, but that only resulted in a face plant on the cold, wooden floor below. When a nurse rolled her back over, Erica tried to attack the attendee. Her strength was so sapped by whatever they were pumping her with that the nurse didn't even realize Erica's malicious intent.

"It's okay. We'll get you right back into bed, Ms. Kable."