Zero Sight (14 page)

I flinched and double-checked the path, and damn it, they were still closing on Rei. I looked around me. We were in a crowded place. No matter how hardcore they were, they surely couldn’t pull something here. There were too many people for anything that brazen.

The men picked up their pace.

“
Stars above,” I protested, “it’s the middle-of-the-freakin-day.”

But my gut told me otherwise. Those three men meant to do something terrible. I scanned the area for police, but there weren’t any. And the intense waves rushing over my Sight weren’t letting up. Every second they were getting closer. What should I do? I couldn’t reach her in time if I walked, and darting over might not be the best idea. There was something
wrong
with that guy. My body kept screaming at me to keep away.

Rei was looking at a city map, matching something written on a piece of paper with cartoonish city diagram, when her body suddenly tensed. It was like watching a nature documentary. If she were a deer, her ears would have been twitching. I watched as she calmly glanced into their reflection off the glass.

Smart, I thought, but how the hell did she know to look?

The men were less than fifty yards away when the realization shook me.
The parking lot last night
. I could have kicked myself. My Sight hadn’t misfired last night; it had been played with. In haste, I re-directed my Sight towards Rei. I was greeted by the same tingling as last night. She was broadcasting it loudly now, like a switch had been swung. And I bet she could sense it too, that she could feel the tall man’s killing intent. And…no, that couldn’t be right. I had never used my Sight like this. Heck, I never even knew it was possible. I could sense their feelings—and things were seriously fucked up right here. The men were slowly closing in on her, and yet Rei was getting
excited
. I put aside the issue of why the hell I was able to sense what Rei was feeling. The pressing question was why the hell anyone would feel excited by the shit this guy was spilling out. There was no doubt in my mind. Something deep in my bones was telling me that this guy meant death. And yet there Rei stood, quivering in anticipation.

A terrible thought crossed my mind. Maybe Rei didn’t quite get it. I’d seen the type before. They’d read a bunch of fighting magazines and always thought it would be cool to be in one. Rei had lived a sheltered life. She might be about to do something really stupid. And this mistake wasn’t just going to cost her a bloodied nose…I only knew one thing for certain. I wanted answers. For seventeen years I had lived with the mystery of my Sight, and now, for the first time ever, a clue was dangling in front of my nose. And at that very second, Rei set off into the city.

I hissed a curse. She was leaving the station? How stupid could she be? Did she want to get herself killed?

The three pursuers saw her go and picked up their pace.

I gritted my teeth. I was about to do something stupid.

+

Let me take a moment to point out the glaringly obvious. Humans are idiots.

Over millions of years, a species’ fitness is tested in a game of life and death. The rules are quite simple: Fail and turn to dust, survive and reproduce. Some animals fail because they do stupid shit, others because they were just plain unlucky, but on the whole, the ones that were a bit smarter, quicker, or simply more paranoid than their fellows survive a bit longer. And that little bit is usually just long enough to make some babies. The cycle continues, and a sort of survival manual is etched straight into the DNA. It keeps progeny from doing silly things that failed creatures have tried before. Things like jumping off cliffs, poking snakes, or eating dirt (worms excluded). But humans just
have
to be different. We get a little more brainpower than your average mammal and decide that the manual shouldn’t apply. After all, how can a few million years of collective experience compare to the incredible insight we’ve accrued through a few decades of foraging at grocery stores and microwaving TV dinners? The result? Unlike our fellow mammals, we humans are prone to some
really
boneheaded decisions. And in the middle of a crowd, in the nation’s largest city, I was about to make the first in a series of them. I grabbed my bag and headed over to the lockers. Keeping my eye on the tall man, I fed the locker some change and stowed my bag. Then, taking a deep breath, I chased after the party.

What can I say? I’m only human.

We traveled through the busy streets on foot. I kept a good fifty yards back, but it wasn’t because I was worried about being spotted. There were plenty of people to mask my tail. No, that wasn’t it. I
had
to hang back. The nasty vibe that tall bastard was sending off was simply too much to handle. If I got closer it started to mess with my mood. It was like a grab bag of misery. Despair, hopelessness, and fear, take your pick, it was like a direct challenge to my psyche. Each wave that hit me sent my heart racing.

Nerves on edge, my Sight was staying active. Normally, I was limited to using it during moments of intense emotion. My Sight was always fleeting, and I never had time to play with it, but the intense aura this guy was throwing off was somehow keeping it switched on. As we walked, I learned I could direct my Sight onto others as easily as I had done the tall man and Rei. It just took a bit of mental focus. I swept it like a flashlight, focusing it on one person after another. Every one of them had a faint hint of light surrounding their bodies.

I wiped the sweat from my brow. Auras…I was looking at auras. After looking at a number of people, I began to pick up on patterns. The color of the aura seemed to be dictated by the person’s mood. Blue was for bored. Red was for angry. The aura of a man scribbling in his notebook was a vibrant purple. Inspiration, I guessed. It was simply amazing. All I had to do was train my focus and my Sight worked like a charm.

The usual waves of color were there as well. Motionless objects didn’t emit them, but most moving objects had a current of waves preceding them. Why did some objects emit and other not? I was getting the sneaking suspicion that the motion had to be driven by a conscious act. I could see a door swing open before a person exited, but the model train racing across the toy store window didn’t have any waves at all.

What about animals? I wondered.

I spotted a dog watching a child eating an ice cream cone. It was a faint but muted green. The emotion was envy; that was obvious enough. (Then again, I didn’t really need an aura to understand the emotional state of a dog.) Still, the discovery was important. It meant that my Sight was somehow tied into the energy of life—and the moving objects that were the extensions of life.

I shook my head. None of it made any sense, but it sure was fascinating.

I turned my Sight back to Rei. She was far off in the distance, but I wondered if it might feel like the cold flame I sensed back at the bus station. Instead, only a vague grey haze quivered about her body. I frowned. What the heck was that? It didn’t look like any of the others. Maybe it was the distance?

I focused more mental energy into my Sight, and the world around me faded.

I paused. So focusing my Sight diminished my other senses? Strange. Was this safe? I wondered. The quivering haze continued to cloud around Rei. I couldn’t see through to the core. I couldn’t fight the temptation.

I thrust more energy into the effort—and then the whole exercise went awry.

It was as if I had tripped and fallen, but not downward. I was falling towards her. Part of me was still walking down the street working its way through the crowd, but another part of me was sliding forward through space at an incredible speed. I was in two pieces, and before I knew it, half of me tumbled inside her. My thinking clouded. Strange thoughts intruded on my attention. My senses tasted foreign. I smelled the hotdog stand next to her. Felt the rush of humid air blowing from a grate below her. Heard the tap of her boots out of step with my own. Stranger still, although my own rational mind was intact, I didn’t quite
feel
the same. It took me a few moments to sort out it out, a few moments to realize that I was so…happy. Sure, I was tired, but I could sleep later. The fatigue was melting away as a rush of adrenalin overrode it.

Finally
, I thought.
An opportunity. The cursed restraint…I could cast it aside. The rush of blood, the crunch of bone, the yielding of flesh…Could I even remember what torn skin felt like on my lips? And now the time was near. Just a little bit further…Just a little bit…

Rejecting the foreign input, my mind shook. I wrenched out of Rei, emotions tumbled this way and that. In my confusion, my physical body bumped into a cop. He scowled. Told me to watch were I was going. For a flash, I stared at his windpipe. I wanted to tear it out with my bare hands.

I mumbled an excuse and lumbered on. A cold sweat was running down my brow. Emotions—our emotions—were mixed like laundry. Figuring out which were mine was taking time, time I should have been spending forming some sort of plan. Meanwhile, Rei had led our merry caravan into a run-down section of the city. I didn’t like where this was going, but if I didn’t keep moving I was going to lose them. What was I getting myself into? I was flying blind and chasing questions down the proverbial dark alley. Shouldn’t I be considering the risks of this little adventure more carefully? But these clues to my Sight, all the years of not knowing, how could I turn away now?

Rei halted before I could decide. No crowds to hide me, I stepped into a doorway. I watched as she checked the address and examined her small notepad. She was looking at an old rundown warehouse. Rei returned the pad to her pocket and walked over to the loading dock. Hopping up, she disappeared inside.

I looked up and down the street. It was Sunday. Most of the businesses were closed. Only a few people were wandering by, and no one was stopping.

A deserted building on a quiet street. Wonderful.

I hung back as the three men followed her in. I had two good reasons: 1) The lack of foot traffic was making me more noticeable, and 2) Instinct had just filed an emergency appeal. Machismo needed to re-argue his case before I was stepping one foot inside of that building.

“
Your Honor, Dieter is going to get himself killed,” Instinct argued.

Machismo huffed up his chest. “Your Honor, despite Ms. Bathory’s rather colorful personal—”

“
You mean homicidal?” asked Instinct.

Machismo bristled. “Despite that, Rei is a lady in distress. We are duty-bound to respond.”

“
And how do you plan on responding?” Instinct asked. “Let me guess…you plan to karate chop the two man-mountains, deliver a nutter to the tall fellow, and then gallantly embrace the swooning female?”

Machismo nodded eagerly.

Instinct looked at Machismo with disdain.

“
Fool. She’s the type that would tear out our heart as a thank you.”

“
Well…” Machismo replied. “That’s a good point, Instinct, she might be a bit dangerous, but I’ve been doing some thinking…”

“
Oh, stars above, Machismo,” Instinct said with a sigh.

“
Just listen, you prude. Yes, it does look like she is luring these guys, and yes, it does look like she wants to beat the crap out of them, but didn’t we do the same thing when we called Tyrone out? Didn’t we just spend all last night explaining how if you don’t stand up and fight you’ll just get trampled? It might be our fault that she’s picking this fight. Martial arts training or not, Ms. Bathory probably doesn’t know the first thing about street fights. Our little pep-talk might be about to get the young lady killed.”

“
Hmm,” the judge brooded. “Good points. Good points.”

“
Oh, I almost forgot!” Machismo added. “I noticed there’s a steel pipe lying over there. I would like to enter it into evidence as exhibit A.”

“
Exhibit A?” Instinct asked.

“
Yeah, A stands for ass-kickin’.”

The judge frowned.

“
Hmm, Machismo makes a good points. Plus, thugs kind of piss me off. I’ll allow it.”

“
We’re an idiot,” Instinct lamented.

I picked up the pipe and swung it. A good five pounds, it hummed as it swept through the air.

I was so going to get myself killed.

+

Phase 1 of my plan required ninja-quiet. By that I mean I tried to sneak into the warehouse on my tiptoes. The tall man and his goons had entered the building about a minute ago, so I figured enough time had passed. Pole in hand, I hopped up onto the loading dock and idled up next to the door. The door opened into a darkened storehouse. Inside, I could hear the echo of voices. The tall one was saying something. He stood ten paces back with the two thugs flanking him. He was gesturing toward Rei, but I couldn’t make out the conversation. Pressing my luck, I scooted inside, snuck behind a stack of merchandise, and squatted down to listen.

“…
don’t give a damn who you are,” the tall man said. “I will ask you only once more. Where is your package, dear?” The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The tall man’s voice was cool and methodical, and the threat of violence hung in the air. I looked to Rei. Her enormous hoodie masked most of her face. She stood loosely, her arms resting at her sides.