I stood and Jack embraced me, almost knocking me over. Then he stepped back and announced, “First time I ever hugged a dude I didn’t have a choke hold on.”
Wade stood a few yards behind Jack, staring at me. “You saved my life, man.”
“And you returned the favor,” I said. “We’re even.”
“Not even close,” Wade said. “Not even close.”
“So now what?” Taylor asked.
I looked down at my watch. The crystal was broken and its silver band was now scratched and tarnished. But it was still there. It had come through the battle, just like me. “There’s a phone back here,” I said. “You better call your parents. They’re worried sick about you.
You too, Ostin.”
Ostin started to the phone but stopped. “But what about your mom?”
“I’m going to find her,” I said.
“We’re going to find her,” Jack said. “And bring her home.”
I looked at Jack and shook my head. “Thanks, but I’ve already gotten you guys in enough trouble. I can’t take that chance again.”
“Trouble?” Jack said. “You can’t buy this kind of excitement.”
“I’m in,” Wade said. “You risked your mom’s life for me, I’ll risk mine for hers. Besides, even that prison wasn’t as bad as living with my granny.” He looked at Jack. “The food was better.”
“The guards were nicer too,” Jack said.
I looked down and smiled. “Well, I could use a ride.”
“I’m in too,” Zeus said. “I helped capture her. I’ll help free her.” He looked at me. “What else am I going to do? Can’t stay here.”
“Count me in,” Ian said, stepping forward. “I can’t speak for the girls, but last I checked my schedule was wide open.” He looked at Abigail and McKenna. “How about you guys?”
“I’m in,” McKenna said, smiling.
Abigail just looked down. She furtively wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m sorry. I just want to go home.”
McKenna walked over and put her arm around her.
I looked at Abigail affectionately. “Go home, Abi. You’ve done enough. But I’ll forever be indebted to you.”
“As will I,” Taylor said.
“We all will,” Ian said. “We love you, Abi.”
Taylor walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. She dialed three numbers, then stopped and looked back at me, smiling coyly. Then she set down the phone and walked over and took my hand.
“You, Michael Vey, are a freaking rock star.”
My eyes started twitching. “Thanks.”
She grinned. “Oh, now you start blinking. You had bombs blowing up around you, bullets shot at you, and two dozen armed bad guys trying to kill you and you’re a steely-eyed ninja, and now, when I take your hand, you’re nervous?”
I shrugged. “I can’t help it.”
She smiled. “I like that.” She leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. Then she wrapped her arms around me and we kissed again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ostin giving me a thumbs-up. I could practically hear him. I knew what he was thinking without my powers. Told you so, dude.
The rest of the clan was smiling as well. When we parted, Taylor said, “Now let’s go get your mother.”
I leaned back. “Wait, Taylor. You can’t come.”
She put her hands on her hips. “If you think I’m going to let my boyfriend run off without me, you don’t know me.”
“But what about your parents?”
“I’ll call them.”
“What about cheerleading?”
She looked at me incredulously. “You’re joking, right? Save the world or shake pom-poms. How shallow do you think I am?”
I started to laugh. It was a pretty stupid thing to say.
Suddenly McKenna shouted out, “Michael, watch out!”
I spun around. No one had seen her enter. A girl I had never seen before was standing just fifteen feet from me. Zeus raised his hands and I immediately surged, knocking her back against the wall. She slid to the ground holding her arm. She cowered, her eyes averted.
“Please don’t hurt me.”
I stepped toward her. “Who are you?”
“She’s Grace,” Ian said. “She’s one of the seventeen.”
“You’re one of Hatch’s kids,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“I ran away from Hatch.”
“Careful,” Ostin said. “She could be a plant.”
“We’ll know soon enough. Taylor, see if it’s true.”
Taylor walked over and put her hands on the girl’s temples. Then she turned back to us. “It’s true. She hates Hatch.”
“I want to come with you,” she said.
“Come with me? Where do you think I’m going?”
“To find your mother. I know where she is.”
I looked over at Zeus. “What does she do?”
“No one was really sure,” Zeus said, “Something with computers.”
“I’m like a human flash drive,” Grace said. “I can download computers. I broke into the academy’s mainframe and downloaded all the information they have before they destroyed it all. You’re going to need it to finish what you started.”
I looked at her. “What do you mean, ‘what I’ve started’?”
Grace was still holding her arm as she stood. “This is just the beginning. The Elgen have built compounds all around the world.
They’re already trying to create new electric children. If we don’t work together and stop them, they’ll hunt us all down individually and then they’ll take over.”
“It’s true,” Ian said. “None of us will be safe alone.” He turned to Abigail and frowned. “Even you, Abi.”
Abigail looked down. McKenna rubbed her back.
“Hatch never forgives and he never forgets,” Zeus said. “He’s like an elephant with anger management issues.”
In the center of the hallway Nichelle groaned.
“Whoa! That’s Nichelle,” Grace said, her voice tinged with fear.
“Sure is,” I said.
Taylor walked over to Nichelle’s side. “So what do we do with sunny delight?”
Nichelle’s eyes opened. Then she pulled her hair back from her face. For a moment she looked around the room, then the screeching and pain hit all of us. I immediately surged and Nichelle screamed out, “Okay, I’ll stop!”
“Ugh!” Taylor groaned, rubbing her forehead. “Girl, you are one bad apple. Rotten to the core.”
“I’d like to fry her like a corn dog,” Zeus said. “And be done with her.”
Nichelle looked up at me fearfully as I walked over to her. “No, I have something more fitting in mind. Something much worse.”
“Worse than lightning?” Taylor asked.
I nodded, looking in Nichelle’s face. “Look at her. She has nothing left. Her powers are now worthless, her so-called friends have abandoned her, and we’re not going to let her take a single thing from this place.” I crouched down and took the diamond collar off her neck.
“We’ll let her go back to the real world and live the rest of her life as a nobody.”
As the reality of my words sunk in her expression turned. “No,”
she said. “Don’t do this. Shock me, Vey!”
I shook my head as I stood. “No. You’re on your own.”
Taylor walked over and took my hand.
Nichelle turned to Zeus. “Zeus, think of all the times I punished you! Finish me!”
Zeus folded his arms. “I’m done taking orders from you, Nichelle.”
“It’s time for you to leave, Nichelle,” I said. “Jack, would you escort her out? Make sure she doesn’t take anything with her.”
“Gladly.” He walked over and lifted Nichelle by her arm. She struggled futilely against his grasp.
“Let go of me, you creep! I hate you. I hate you all!”
Jack just grinned. “You’re not exactly BFF material yourself, sweetheart. Come
on, Wade. Let’s show Little Miss Sunshine the real world.”
“Hurry back,” I said as they waited for the elevator. “We have plans to make.”
Jack smiled, raising his fist in the air in a power salute. “Go Electroclan.”
As the elevator door closed behind them, a large grin blanketed Ostin’s face. “Wow.”
“What?” I said.
“We’re buddies with Jack and Wade, we just freed an entire prison, and,” he glanced at Taylor, “Taylor Ridley’s your girlfriend . . .”
Taylor smiled.
“. . . We’re definitely not in Idaho anymore.”
“That’s for sure,” I said.
He held out his hand. “Bones, dude.”
I held out my hand and this time it was without hesitation. “Bones.”
Taylor smiled and, for the first time, she held her hand out as well. “Bones.”
Ostin looked at Taylor and me, then around the room at each of our new friends. His smile grew wider. “You know what we have here, don’t you?”
“What?” I asked.
“It’s the rise of the Electroclan.”
THE END
Richard Paul Evans, The Prisoner of Cell 25
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