Chapter Eighteen - Threads

Anne loved to read. She would read just about anything. Even tabloid papers, despite how much she complained about them. She found them an easy read after work. And it was because of this that she stumbled across a “human interest” story. A flying woman. A man with her. They had been seen after a strange explosion caused a ruckus at an apartment block. The entire wall of one of the rooms was blown outwards, glass shattering onto the road. Conveniently a photographer had been on the scene and had had sense enough to capture the pair flying away.

“It’s them,” Ciarán told Anne and Jimmy. “Daniel and the woman who brought him away from here. There’s no doubting it’s her.” He cursed under his breath. “What do you think they were doing there?”

“Maybe...” Anne muttered. Ciarán and Jimmy shared a glance and waited for her to continue.

“Well, the news stations have been talking about... mutants. How they’re dangerous. How they’re kidnapping people. Like a guy in Black Lake. Middle of the day... two men in black suits. Left the girl there for some reason.”

“So what are you getting at?” Ciarán asked impatiently.

“They’re after mutants...” Jimmy whispered. “Like us.” This caught their attention. “It makes sense. Why else would they send Daniel and the other two? They must have known I’d ask for your help. You do have a way of getting me out of trouble... If they know where Anne and I work they might know that.”

“So we’re mutants?” Ciarán asked aloud. “Dangerous! That what you’re saying!”

“Or in danger...” Anne mumbled. She didn’t like the idea of being different either. And she didn’t like that her life was at risk because of it. “What else do we have on these guys?”

***

For Edel, finding Naomi was proving increasingly difficult. She had found her mobile number eventually. But contacting it failed. It seemed to have stopped working. And she didn’t think Naomi was avoiding her. Why would she leave a contact number if that was the case?

As well as that, Naomi seemed to have learned her lesson when it came to taking peoples’ memories. It left Edel with nothing to follow. And she had no inclination as to where Naomi was heading. With that she had disappeared. No trace of her left.

Which meant Carl would have some trouble containing Emily.

***

Will had been easy to track, but difficult to keep in contact with. Lisa couldn’t communicate with him at all. She was worried for his safety; she wanted to know how he was doing. She didn’t know what they might be doing to him. She shivered at the thought of him in danger.

At least she knew where he was at all times. She knew how far away he was, in which direction. She used a map to track him through the desert on the dirt road. But there was nowhere to go out there, only some old buildings. And most of them had been destroyed in a fire years before according to all the sources Lisa had found on the internet.

One in particular caught her attention. The largest building of them all, the only one that hadn’t collapsed through entirely at some point – the building had belonged to Horizon Inc. Instinctively she knew it was Will’s ultimate destination in the back of the white van.

***

She never kept still. Carl noticed it quite easily. Emily never sat in one place too long. She was always fidgeting. She kept playing with the buttons of her blouse. She had tried to leave more than once, and Carl had had to try stopping her. Thankfully she refrained from using her ability. He guessed that she didn’t know how to use them properly.

The nurses had begun to notice him struggling with her. With looks of pity in their eyes and sympathy in their voices they suggested he get some help from a specialist doctor. Reluctantly Carl agreed. They gave him a phone number for a doctor they believed could help Emily. He was positioned in Black Lake – a private doctor, usually travelling between hospitals.

Carl took a risk and left Emily in the room by herself to use the payphone. The phone rang slowly in his head, emphasising how tired he really was. Finally someone answered. “Hello, Doctor Noel Landy’s office. How can I help you?”

“My friend... she’s lost her memory,” Carl explained in a drone. “I need help for her... please...”

“Of course,” the woman replied. “Name?”

“Carl... Carl Kenny. She’s Emily Quigley.”

“Very good,” she stated monotonously. “Now,” she said with a cheery voice,” you’ll need to bring Emily here Mr Kenny. The Doctor currently has a full appointment list and cannot afford to leave Black Lake at the moment.”

“Yes... yes of course.” He turned to check on Emily, heart skipping a beat as he saw her missing from the room. Dropping the phone he ran towards the door, seeing a struggling Emily in the hands of one of men who had taken him in Black Lake. She tried screaming but his hand was over her mouth. She kicked out in every direction, panic in her eyes. “Emily!” he screamed.

She was dragged into a white van as she finally got her mouth free. “Help me! Please! Somebody!” She was in tears as the doors closed on her, and Emily was sped away from Carl.

And once more he was alone.

***

“There is something...” Jimmy mumbled. “In New Thanes a few weeks ago I saw someone soaring through the air, but he didn’t look like he had much control. He was sort of confused as to what happened. I’d seen him the entire time, following someone I think.”

“What makes you so sure?” Ciarán asked, scepticism in his voice.

“He was dressed like Daniel. Down to the sunglasses. I thought I’d lost him in the crowds when the next thing I knew, there he was, heading down the street in mid air.” He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember more. He jerked when he thought of the note on his car. “He was here! He delivered a note!”

“He what?” Anne shrieked.

“He came here. To deliver a note. I was supposed to... kill you?” Embarrassed he looked away.
“He wore a black suit, but as soon as I saw him he vanished. Ran I think. I saw a blur. That’s it.”

“Super speed then,” Ciarán grumbled. “And all we can do is blow stuff up and shoot lightning from our fingers,” he grinned.

“And what about Jimmy?” Anne asked, staring at her colleague suspiciously. “What can you do Jimmy?”

“I don’t know yet...” he mumbled. “Anyway, there’s more. A fight in a restaurant. Some guy getting beat up by a guy in a black suit. Caused quite a stir in the place. And a tremor or two. It was like an earthquake. Then... knives and forks flying everywhere. At the guy in black.”

“A mutant,” Anne stated. “That about confirms the theory that they’re after mutants. And I suppose, they are too. It’s the only explanation for it. But I don’t understand why they want us dead...”

“Genocide...” Jimmy moaned. “Because we’re not working with them.” A gasp came from Ciarán. He was reading an old newspaper. “Did you keep that thing?” Jimmy asked Anne.

“Media studies,” she explained. “What’s gotten to you?” she asked Ciarán, grabbing the newspaper.

“A businessman killed himself,” he replied. “He was wearing the same clothes as Daniel and the others... Do you reckon he was with them?” Neither of the teachers responded. “The tracks were bent... broken really. That’s what it says. They’re not connecting the two... but as far as I know trains don’t just get back on the tracks. It’s physically impossible.”

“He’s right,” Anne exclaimed, a hint of excitement in her voice. “And there was odd seismic activity in the area! And in the area of the restaurant. The date matches the track bending.” She turned the paper around for them to see the article – journalists playing with the idea that the world was tearing itself apart. “That was no businessman, then.”

“And he probably didn’t kill himself...” Jimmy told them. “He could have gotten on the train for that if he was going to take all those people with him. Or trying to. I don’t think he was expecting the train to hit him. Where’d he work anyway?”

Anne quickly scanned the page. “Horizon.”