Powerless Revision 1 (22 page)

Contrasting with Kevin’s cool composure, Yannick couldn’t contain his interest and delight in the wooden case. He crept forward cautiously but eagerly. The case popped up and fell back onto the table with a thud.

“Is this really it? So there’s a living foot in here that’s not attached to a body? I have to admit I’ve tracked down a number of people but never like this.”

He extended his arms to reach out and grab hold of the box, but Kevin halted him.

“Don’t touch that! We don’t have permission from Corey. Just take a seat over here and try not to let it tempt you.”

Kevin felt like he had a good understanding of his present situation. Natalie would not return with a decision about whether or not Corey would grant them an audience. Instead, they were already meeting with him.

“Corey,” Kevin called out into the air. “I’ve devised a plan, involving Yannick, to track down the assailant who violated the sanctity of my home and attempted to take the life of my daughter. You yourself said this ordeal is far from over and my family will remain in danger until it is. This is our opportunity to fight back.”

Yannick winced at the sound of his name, but he too waited to hear proof that Kevin’s words had met with more than the soil that surrounded them. A thundering, rumbling voice resonated through the floor and caused a tremor in the room. The sound seemed to come from a colossal being positioned right below their feet and poised to swallow them whole.

“You don’t realize what you’re asking. Will I ignore the chain of command and allow you to take matters into your own hands? That’s not a request to be made lightly.”

“I’m well aware,” Kevin responded. “But this could be our only chance to find out who is doing this and what they want. Who is Pyrenee? These are answers that will not come to us if we simply send the prisoner away. All we need to do is give Yannick something he can track with.”

A bass rumbling came through the floor, a perverse kind of laughter, and Kevin noticed Yannick’s uneasy hand wringing.

“And who are we entrusting our sacred mission to? You do realize your stay in our village hangs from a rope tied to a string tied to a hair. You may be beyond the location of your crime, but the knowledge of it exceeds you. I know you avoid me, and your beating heart tells me of your present discomfort.”

Yannick, defensively, spoke out to the voice, though he felt ridiculous doing so. His eyes drifted toward the rattling box, and it became the object of his speech.

“I’ve made mistakes in my time, but I’m just trying to live my life and make my own way. Just because someone’s done something in the past doesn’t mean they aren’t worth anything now. I can do this job for you. There’s nobody else who can.”

“Ahh, determination. We’ll see how long that lasts,” Corey grumbled. “Mr. Ipswich, what you’re asking for is substantial, but I can’t justify it because you’ve given me so little. Are you sure there isn’t anything you could say that might bolster your case?”

Kevin sighed, bit his lip, and cast a bitter glance down at the floor to the blindfolded old man below him. He leaned forward, putting his face into his hands. Yannick watched him with wide-open eyes.

“You want to know, do you? Is that what it takes? I just have to satisfy your selfish desire for information and then you’ll grant me the freedom to try to keep my family alive? How merciful! It seems like the things that shouldn’t be dredged up are the only ones that ever are. But, fine, I’ll tell you, so listen close.

“When I came back to this village almost sixteen years ago with Jeana and Mira, it was not by choice and not by accident. Jeana and I had a home up north of Darmen in a mountain village. It was a safe, quiet, sleepy town, and we loved it. But all at once our dreamy life met a dark turn.

“In my life I can see a sharp divide, everything before and everything after. To our delight and surprise, Jeana gave birth to twin girls, and we were ready to relish in the joys and pains of parenthood, but the pain came sooner rather than later. Jeana wouldn’t recover after childbirth. Some kind of sickness had found its way into her, and nothing our trusted doctor did could change that. Fearing for the babies’ safety, we had to separate them from their mother. I could tell you at length how terrible that was for them all to endure and for me to bear.

 
“We lived for a short time as a strained, fragile family, until something not of our own doing drastically changed our lives. I was out in the backyard chopping firewood at dusk. It was spring but the nights were still cool. Wiping my brow, I noticed a window open on the side of the house. Jeana hadn’t been down to the ground floor in a week, and the babies certainly didn’t come up from the basement. Knowing I hadn’t done it either, I raced inside the house and ran down to the nursery.

“I saw him there, an unkempt and heartless man. He stood over one with the other in his arms. I let out a cry when I saw him, and he flew toward the only exit, which I blocked. Mindlessly, I motioned to detain him, but there was some kind of spark that ignited the walls and turned my vapor to steam. My disbelief left me unprepared to defend against his charge, which knocked me down. Never before and never since has my power fizzled on me like that. I watched the fire spread along the ceiling, and I scrambled for my child, the one he left. We hurried up the stairs amid the smoke and spreading fire.

“I only had a split second to choose: take Mira outside first and come back to Jeana or attempt to carry them both from the building. I couldn’t wait, I couldn’t leave her in danger for another second, so with Mira in my arms I hurtled the stairs to Jeana’s chamber. I could feel the warmth through the floor but the fire had not yet spread here. Rustling Jeana and pulling her onto my shoulder, all she would say was that she was sick and shouldn’t be near the baby.

“I carried them from the engulfed building and we collapsed a safe distance away. Amidst Mira’s cries, the three of us watched the flames swallow our home. Her name—Mira’s twin sister—was Clara, and I shudder to think of how she met her end after she was taken from us. But it turned out that was not the full extent of the horrors inflicted upon us that night. We didn’t think of it at first, but then we became suspicious when Mira’s power didn’t show. He took it somehow. We checked every inch of her and couldn’t find any evidence something had happened, but something did happen. No one is just born without a power.

“Everyone looked and searched tirelessly, but not a trace could ever be found. Realizing we had nothing but ourselves, we decided to go somewhere far away where they couldn’t ever find us again. But they did find us again, and it wasn’t so different from the first time. Looks like they wanted to finish the job they started, and I get the impression they won’t stop until it is finished.

“Maybe now you understand why this is important to me, as if what happened with the thing in this box wasn’t enough. Now I’m begging you, Corey. Please let us move forward with this.”

Exhausted and teary-eyed, Kevin rested his jaw and hung his head. His eyes closed, he shut out the truth of what he’d said and retreated inward to that truth that can never be communicated. His lip quivered and his hand shook as his mind grasped at the memories and his heart echoed the feelings.

They waited to see what would happen next. He looked at the floor to see if Corey would reply, but no sound of any kind came through. He concentrated on the floor so hard that it startled him when a knock came at the door. Noticing Kevin was in no mood to answer it, Yannick broke from his reclusive tendency and got up from his seat. He heard the door unlock and then pulled it open.

“I forgot to give you this,” Natalie said, offering a small tray with a key on it. Yannick took the tray and closed the door. It did not lock. Returning to the table, he placed the tray between his seat and Kevin’s.

“If you need a moment, that’s fine. We can do this whenever you’re ready,” Yannick said. Kevin summoned a nod and pulled himself together.

“What do we do?” he asked.

“If it’s a hand or a foot, all I need is to clip a nail. That should be enough. If you can hold him in place, I’ll do the rest.”

Kevin made his readiness clear and Yannick went to unlock the case. Kevin sealed the foot, Yannick opened the case, and soon a part of a nail was in his possession. They locked the prisoner back in the box, and Yannick turned his attention to the toenail clipping.

He rolled it in his fingers and gave himself to a trance-like sensing. He twisted his head and turned, trying to pick up the information. He squinted, cringed, and then his eyes ballooned.

“What? What it is?” Kevin asked.

“This is scary. There are so many parts to this man spread out in so many places. It took me a while to figure out the source, the core. When the parts switch, there’s an instant where there’s nothing there, and so I had to find the one part that never disappears. I figured out where it is, but I’ve got some bad news for you.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s behind enemy lines. We’re talking about ground controlled by the Sunfighters far to the northeast. This guy could be involved with them. He could be in the middle of a military base. That’s the one place I can’t get to, Mr. Ipswich. I’m sorry.”

“Why can’t you get there? What’s the problem?”

“The problem is my power is to find like things. I don’t have a fighting power or a hiding power. Assuming I can even make it all the way around the front lines, if I get caught over there, that’s the end.”

“But you’re better than that, right?” Kevin argued. A pleading desperation crept into his voice. “You’re stealthy, and you’re a better spy than this guy even. Wait. Is this about money? Are you trying to drive up your price?”

“Man, cut that out. I listened to your story, and I feel for you. I want to help, but this is more than I can handle.”

Kevin felt a painful hollowness in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t have anything left to say, and he surrendered with his silence. But the voice of Corey returned, bouncing off the walls and echoing in their heads.

“Yannick, we understand the danger this journey entails, and it’s clear that performing this selfless service will do much to wash away your prior wrongs with the balm of time. Your crime was to steal from a wealthy patron of our state, and those indebted to him vilified you as a result. Our village could be a sanctuary from their wrath, rather than the punishment of the exiled. We ask you to make an attempt to uncover this plot against the Ipswiches. Do not walk where danger lies and always err on the side of caution, even if it means abandoning completely. Will you undertake this, and by so doing make me your ally?”

Kevin looked at Yannick with the last-ditch resolve of a broken man offering his final plea. Yannick couldn’t help but be moved by his fomenting sincerity.

“This is your chance, kid. Can you feel it? If you’ve ever wanted to be someone’s savior, now’s your chance.”

Kevin caught Yannick’s firm and tempered glare and knew he already stared down the challenge before him.

“I’m going to do this. They’re going to find out exactly how much I am, and they aren’t ever gonna know it.”

“Yannick,” Corey’s imposing voice interjected. “Make your preparations and leave as soon as possible. The prisoner will be transported and out of our hands tomorrow. And as for you, Mr. Ipswich, you keep a close eye on your family, and may you find peace with the terrors you’ve known.”

Mira stood in the slushy snow outside of the schoolhouse early Monday morning. She pretended to be examining the rivulets of water streaming along the ground, but her thoughts were actually glued to her latest snare. On each desk, a colorful invitation with an intricate design waited with a cookie for a student to find. Her mind jumped at predictions of how each of them would react, and she pondered how many of them would notify her of their interest as the invitation requested.

Her classmates began to emerge from the path, and Mira cordially greeted each one of them. She restrained herself from peeking inside to see their reactions, but she did listen for any signs of surprise or excitement. Nothing telling came to her, and she continued innocently and demurely greeting those who arrived.

After everyone passed her and Mira had neither made out any signs of approval or mockery, she feared that when she finally went in she would find fourteen invitations and cookies piled on her desk. But when Aoi exited the schoolhouse to meet her on her way in, she felt some relief.

“I’m not coming to your party, but thanks for the cookie,” she said.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you change your mind,” Mira replied with an identically measured delivery.

They entered the schoolhouse and Mira sat down at her desk. It didn’t take her long to notice cookie wrappers balled up on desks or dropped onto the floor. She wondered if they had ignored the invitations attached or if they had eaten them too without noticing. The other students didn’t look at her, and she realized she would have to wait for their responses.

Fortst abruptly strode in and quickly called the class to order.

“The time has come, my pupils. You’ll be taking your test today. Get out a sheet of paper and your ink bottles, not your pencils. There won’t be any erasing or changing your answer after you’ve written it. You’ll have one shot at answering my questions before I give you the answer and we move on to the next one.
 
Remember, a test is a learning tool, so let’s learn who hasn’t been doing their studying together. Ready? Let’s get started.”