فصل 35

Chapter 35: The Prodigal

“Nichelle,” I growled. I stood, balling my hands into fists. “What are you doing here?” “We’ve got to go. We don’t have much time before they realize your camera’s out.” I grabbed her by her neck and threw her up against the wall. “I should fry you right now, you traitor.” “I didn’t betray you,” she said. “Things aren’t what they seem.” “You think I’m that stupid?”

Nichelle grimaced with pain. “If I betrayed you, why am I here?” “No idea,” I said, my electricity sparking with my anger. “But I know you led the Elgen to us.” “I only pretended to. The Elgen had already found us. That night at the street market . . . that wasn’t Taylor who came back with us.” I remembered what Ostin had said in the back of the van. “What?” “I can smell different electricity,” she said. “It was Tara who came out of the store. That’s why I was acting strange. And that’s why she wanted to leave so fast. They must have captured Taylor when she went into that store.” Her explanation flustered me. “Why should I believe you?” “Because I’m telling the truth! Remember how different Taylor was acting? How she suddenly had a headache?” I just glared at her.

“Michael, you have to believe me or we’ll all die.” “I don’t believe you.”

“Remember, Tara’s blouse was unbuttoned? She must have traded clothes with Taylor so we wouldn’t know.” “Why didn’t you tell us then? We could have held Tara hostage.” “Because they would have just killed Taylor and us. You couldn’t have held Tara hostage. Hatch doesn’t care what happens to any of us. I know that better than anyone.” I just looked at her.

“Please, Michael. I’m not lying. I know you think I’m evil and worthless, but right now, at this moment, I’m not lying. And if we don’t hurry the Lung Li are going to kill the real Taylor. They’re going to feed her to the rats.” Then Nichelle did something I’d never seen her do before. Her eyes welled up with tears. “You’ve got to believe me. If not for us, then for Taylor’s sake.” I slowly relaxed my grip on her. “How do you know they’re going to feed her to the rats?” Nichelle slid back against the wall, clutching her throat. “I heard the guards talking about it. The Elgen feed people to rats.” I knew this better than anyone. The memory of my time in the bowl filled my mind with terror. “Why did you lead the Elgen to us?” “It was our only chance. They already knew where we were, and they’d already captured Taylor. I had to make Hatch believe that I was betraying you.” Everything she said made sense except for one thing. “You could have just run away. Why didn’t you?” “I know,” she said softly. “I almost did.” She looked me in the eyes. “But I didn’t, okay? I promised I’d help you.” I didn’t know what to say.

She breathed out in exasperation. “We’ve already wasted too much time. We need to go. Now.” “Where are we going?”

She took a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. “We need some light,” she said.

I held my hand close enough to the paper that my glow illuminated it.

“I drew this map. I think it’s pretty accurate.” She pointed to a square she’d drawn. “We’re right here. The Lung Li are stationed where I put the Ls. The regular guards are where I put the Xs. If we can get into the air duct through the mechanical closet across the hall, I think we can crawl through the duct out to here.” She touched the other end of her map. “That’s the hallway where they’re holding everyone except Taylor. We’ll need Ian to find her. She’s probably being held somewhere near the bowl.” “Do you have keys to the other rooms?”

“No, I could only get this one. But you have more electricity than Bryan. I think if you focus, you could burn through the bars.” I didn’t know if I could or not, but at this point I didn’t have much of a choice. “All right, let’s go.” Nichelle slowly opened the door, then stopped. “The camera is sweeping our way,” she said. “Come closer. When I say ‘go’ we’ll run to the closet across the hall.” I stepped in close behind her.

“Ready . . . Go.”

We stole across the hall to a mechanical closet and quickly ducked in, shutting the door behind us.

“There should be an air vent in the ceiling,” Nichelle said.

My glow wasn’t bright enough to illuminate the ceiling, so I created a small lightning ball, which lit the closet. “Right there,” I said, looking up. The vent cover was mounted with screws. “It’s screwed in.” “I got this,” Nichelle said, holding up a screwdriver.

I looked at the vent, then back at the tool. “It’s the wrong kind of screwdriver.” “It’s all I could find.”

“Maybe we can pry it off,” I said. “Give me the screwdriver.” She handed it to me.

“Now help me up.”

I climbed up a pipe while Nichelle pushed against me. I slid the flat tip of the screwdriver under the vent cover and pulled on it but couldn’t pry it loose.

Suddenly we could see the light under the closet door brighten.

“They must know you’ve escaped,” Nichelle said. “This is our only way out. Focus your electricity in your fingertip and melt the heads off the screws.” I had never tried melting anything before. I held up my index finger and concentrated on it. It began to glow brighter and brighter until it was bright enough to light up the room. It was fortunate that they had turned on the hall lights when they did, otherwise they would have seen my light from under the door. I touched my finger to one of the tops of the screws. It took just a few seconds before the head turned bright red, then melted. “It worked,” I said, starting on the next.

“Hurry,” she said. “I can’t hold you much longer.” There were four screws. I melted them all, then slid the vent cover out of its brackets and handed it down to Nichelle before climbing back down. “I’ll help you up first,” I said.

I crouched down to my haunches. Nichelle climbed up onto my back, then shoulders. She didn’t weigh very much, and I stood so she could get her elbows into the open vent. She pulled herself up into the duct. We could hear footsteps walking toward us.

“Hurry,” she whispered.

I handed her the vent cover, then climbed up the pipe and pulled myself into the duct. “Quick, give me the vent cover,” I said. “I need to cover this back up.” She handed it to me. As I reached out to slide it into its frame it slipped from my fingers. I clenched my teeth as it hit against the pipe, then the floor with a loud clang.

I glanced back. Nichelle’s eyes were wide with fear.

“Maybe they didn’t hear it,” I whispered.

Suddenly there were footsteps approaching the door. If they saw the open vent we were as good as dead.

As the door handle moved, I reached down toward the cover and magnetized. It flew up to my hand. As the door opened I maneuvered the cover into place, then backed my hand off magnetically, holding it over the opening.

Someone stepped inside the closet. He coughed, and then there was nothing, which was more unnerving than his noise. I didn’t dare look through the vent but I listened carefully for the unholstering of his pistol. It would be easy for him to shoot us through the tin ductwork. The beam of a flashlight shone through the cover to the top of the vent. The guard hesitated just a moment more; then he walked out of the closet and shut the door. We waited a moment longer; then, still magnetically holding the vent cover with one hand, I reached out and grabbed it with my other hand and slid it into place. “Let’s go,” I whispered.

The duct we were crawling through was as large as the one in Peru, about thirty inches high and three feet wide, and pitch black except for my glow. We crawled on our elbows and knees as fast as we could.

The air duct passed by both Ostin’s and Jack’s rooms. We came to Ostin’s first. The vent covering in his room wasn’t an ordinary screen but made of the same reinforced steel bars that were on the room’s windows.

“How are we going to get through that?” I said.

“Just like you did with those screws,” Nichelle replied. “You can melt through it. Just focus.” Nichelle made the room’s surveillance camera go dark; then I heated up, focusing all my energy into my right palm. As the light from my hand grew brighter, Ostin woke. He curiously sat up in bed, watching. “Michael?” I burned through two of the bars, leaving a space big enough for him to fit through.

He stood. “Michael? Is that you?”

“Yes,” I said. “Drag your bed over and climb up.” He pushed his bed over to the vent, leaving one end of it propped up against the door to slow the guards if they entered. I reached down and grabbed his hand and pulled him in to his waist. He climbed the rest of the way in. It wasn’t until after he was completely inside the duct that he saw Nichelle.

“What’s she doing here?”

“She’s helping us escape.”

“She’s the one who got us captured.”

“It’s not her fault. Remember what you said about Taylor not being Taylor?” “Yeah.”

“You were right. That was Tara who came back to the hotel with us.” “I knew it,” he said. “And Nichelle knew it was Tara, so she went to Hatch and turned us in so he’d think she was on his side.” Nichelle looked at him in amazement. “That’s exactly what I did.” “Brilliant,” he said.

I suppose that was one of the benefits of being friends with Ostin. You didn’t always have to explain things. We made our way to the next vent, which was Jack’s room. Jack was lying in his bed, facing away from us. Nichelle killed the camera; then I whispered, “Jack.” He didn’t move.

“Jack!” I said louder.

Still nothing.

“He must be asleep,” Ostin said.

I melted through the bars and let myself down into the room. As I neared I saw that he was tied up in a white canvas straitjacket. I gently shook him. “Jack, it’s me.” He slowly rolled over. “Michael?”

I was horrified. From my glow I could see that the Elgen guards had severely beaten him. Both of his eyes were swollen and he had a huge contusion under his left eye. “I’m so sorry, buddy,” I said.

The jacket he was tied up in was fastened with simple buckles.

“Roll onto your stomach,” I said. “I’ll get this thing off.” Jack groaned with pain as he rolled over. I quickly released the buckles, then Jack took off the jacket and slowly stretched out his arms, grimacing with the movement.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I think they broke my ribs,” he said.

“I wish Abi was here to help you.”

“I’m glad she’s not,” he said.

We pushed his bed to the wall beneath the vent.

“Can you lift yourself up?” I asked.

“I’ll try.”

Jack stood on the bed and grabbed ahold of the vent’s outer bars but, probably for the first time in his life, struggled to do a single pull-up. “I can’t do it.” “Yes, you can.” I got down on all fours. “Step up on my back.” He looked at me doubtfully but did as I said. He weighed more than I thought he did, but now that he was two feet closer he was able to pull himself the rest of the way up. It was not until I began to climb back up myself that I realized I had forgotten to tell him about Nichelle. I heard his voice echo from the vent. “You!” Fortunately Ostin was positioned between Jack and Nichelle.

“Take it easy,” Nichelle said.

“I’m going to rip your head off, you—”

“Jack, stop,” I said, pulling my upper body into the duct. “She’s on our side.” “You can beat me up later,” Nichelle said dully. “But now’s not really the time.” I pulled myself the rest of the way in.

“Jack, she’s cool,” Ostin said.

“Have you guys lost your minds?”

“Trust me,” I said. “Things aren’t the way we thought they were.” “Here,” Nichelle said, handing Jack the screwdriver. “You can use this as a weapon.” He looked surprised at the offer, but reached out and took it. “Just don’t kill me with it,” she said, turning back around.

“How much time do we have?” I asked Nichelle.

“About an hour.”

“We need to go faster,” I said.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked.

“They’re going to put Taylor in the bowl,” I said. “We need to get Ian and McKenna, then go for her.” “Taylor was with McKenna,” Jack said.

“No, she wasn’t,” Ostin said.

We crawled farther down the duct, though Jack did so with great difficulty. Crawling on his stomach with broken ribs was like walking barefoot on broken glass.

Five minutes later Nichelle said, “There’s a Glow coming up. I can feel him. I think it’s Ian.” “Let me get in front,” I said. I crawled past everyone. As I approached the opening, I heard someone shouting. I looked through the vent. Ian was sitting on his bed yelling at the two guards in the room with him. It took me a second to figure out why—he must have seen us coming and was keeping the guards from looking at us. As I peered out of the vent, Ian glanced up at me for a millisecond, then, turning away, slowly shook his head.

“Two guards,” I whispered to the others. Normally I could take them, but I couldn’t pulse that far and I couldn’t throw an electric ball through the bars. I wished Zeus were with us. They’d already be on the ground.

“We’re going to have to go in through the hall,” I said. “We need to back up.” We had crawled over a mechanical closet about sixty feet back and we crawled backward until we reached the vent. I lit a single finger and pushed it through the metal, then dragged it around the edges until I’d cut through three sides.

“You’re getting good at that,” Nichelle said.

“Thanks.” I bent the grate back with my foot.

There wasn’t enough room in the closet for all of us, so only Nichelle and I climbed down. Nichelle put her ear against the door. I looked at her in anticipation. “Anything?” She shook her head. “I’m going to look out. Be ready.” She slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door just enough to look down the hall. Then she raised her hand and turned off all the cameras and stepped out.

“You there! What are you doing?” someone shouted.

“What do I do?” Nichelle asked without looking back. “It’s a guard.” “Try to get him close,” I said.

“Put your hands up,” the guard said.

Nichelle laughed. “In your dreams.”

“I said put them up. Now!”

“Since when do Eagles take orders from captains?” There was a pause; then he said, “I’m sorry, miss. I didn’t realize it was you.” “No worries,” she said. “I knew it was you.” “What are you doing here?” He was coming closer.

She lowered her voice. “Looking for you, Captain.” “May I help you with something?”

“I was just hoping to get to know you a little better.” The man seemed rattled. “You know, it’s against the Elgen code to—” Nichelle interrupted him. “Do you always follow the code?” “Not always,” he said softly. He was getting close.

“Good. Because that code could definitely get in the way, if you know what I mean.” There was a pause.

“What time is your shift over, handsome?” “I’m done at—”

Nichelle raised her hand. “Wait, did you hear that?” “What?”

“Hatch is looking for me. If he finds me with you, who knows what he’ll think.” She reached out her hand. “Hurry. In the closet.” “But . . .”

“Hurry!”

The captain ducked inside the closet, and Nichelle pulled the door shut behind them. I was crouched on the opposite side of a heating unit just a few feet from the guard. He was facing the opposite direction, so he didn’t see my glow.

It was quiet for a moment; then the captain said, “I didn’t hear anything.” “I thought I saw Michael Vey.”

“Vey?”

“You’ve heard of him?”

“Of course I’ve heard of him.”

“Have you ever met him?”

“I really shouldn’t be in here.”

“That’s for sure,” I said.

“What?” As he swung back, I put my hand on his leg and pulsed. He dropped to the ground.

“You’re good,” I said to Nichelle. “You could be an actress.” “I lived with Hatch for ten years. I was.” She looked down at the guard. “Let’s get his keys.” Ostin stuck his head through the open vent. “Hey, he’s about Jack’s size. He could wear his uniform.” “Good idea,” I said. It wasn’t easy undressing the guard in the closet, but we got his clothes off and handed them up to Jack. Then we handcuffed the guard to a pipe with his hands behind his back and stuffed his T-shirt in his mouth to keep him from shouting for help. I helped Ostin down from the vent, then Jack climbed down by himself, even though he was still in a lot of pain. We gave Jack the guard’s keys.

“What’s the plan?” Jack asked.

“You’ve got the uniform, Captain,” I said. “Ian is in the second door on the left. There should still be two guards in there. Get them to the door and I’ll take care of them.” “Got it,” Jack said.

Jack stepped out of the closet and looked around. “All clear,” he said.

The four of us walked to the room. Jack looked in through the one-way window, then unlocked the door. Nichelle, Ostin, and I pressed up behind him. We could hear the guards yelling at Ian.

Jack glanced back at us and pushed open the door. “What’s going on?” Jack said to the guards. “What’s all this shouting?” “Captain,” one of the guards replied. “We were questioning the prisoner.” “We don’t have time for that. There’s been a breach of security. Two of the prisoners have escaped. We’ve been ordered to lock down our hall and join the hunt. Come with me.” “Yes, sir,” two voices said in unison.

As they got to the door, I stepped in around Jack and pulsed, knocking them both back into the room. Nichelle knocked out the camera while I released Ian.

“That was some trick getting in here,” Ian said.

“You watched the whole thing?” I asked.

“From the second Nichelle walked into your room.” He looked at Nichelle. “You can explain later.” “Happy to,” she replied.

“Where’s McKenna?” Ostin asked.

“Just two cells down from this one. No guards with her.” “We’ll grab her on the way. Have you seen Taylor?” “They’ve got her locked up in a cell by the bowl. She’s with the girl.” “Jade Dragon?”

He nodded. “Yes. And we’d better hurry. The guards are on their way to get her. It looks like it’s feeding time in the bowl.” “Come on, Taylor,” I said. “You just need to buy us some time.”