Hit Squad Read online

  ‘I’ve lost my powers,’ Ed gasped.

  ‘Me too,’ Dylan cried beside him.

  I looked round frantically. There must be some other way out of the storeroom. But it was completely sealed. No doors or windows. I groaned. We couldn’t have picked a worse place to escape from if we’d been trying.

  The Medutox was still being pumped into the room. Cal tried to leap up, onto the table. But instead he just landed back on the ground with a dull thud.

  ‘It’s reached me too,’ he said. ‘I can’t fly any more.’

  I stared at the metal pipe, knowing that my own flaky ability to see into the future must be gone too. Who was out there? Was it the man experimenting with Medusix? It must be, if he also had access to the counter-drug, Medutox.

  ‘What do you know about the Medutox?’ Dylan demanded angrily, turning on Tania.

  ‘What about the Medusix?’ Nico added, his fists clenched. ‘Why are you here? Who sent you?’

  Tania backed away.

  ‘I am recruit,’ she said. ‘I join to get special powers.’

  I stared at her. ‘Recruit for what?’ I asked.

  ‘Join what?’ Cal demanded.

  And then the door opened. My hand flew to my mouth as a familiar face peered round the doorway.

  It was Jack Linden – the man who had originally found us and brought us together. Linden had tried to take us and sell us to the highest bidder more than once before. His wolfish face creased with a smile, his bright blue eyes twinkling as he looked around the room.

  ‘How nice to see you all,’ he said smoothly.

  ‘It’s you?’ Dylan sounded appalled. ‘You’re the person who’s been experimenting with Medusix?’

  ‘No, my job was just to find you,’ Jack said, still smiling as if we’d all just met up for a picnic.

  ‘What d’you mean?’ I said. ‘Why?’

  Jack ignored me. He entered the room properly.

  Two men followed him inside. I stared at them. ‘That’s Knife Man and Broken Nose . . .’ I breathed.

  ‘How the hell are they here?’ Nico demanded.

  ‘They were dead,’ Ed gasped.

  ‘A trick,’ Jack said. ‘For some reason we don’t understand, Medusix just makes adults unconscious for a few minutes – so they look like they’re dead – then it passes, leaving no trace. The effect on children is different . . .’

  ‘What does it do to kids?’ I asked. ‘Does it give them psychic abilities?’

  ‘Never mind that now.’ Jack clicked his fingers and the two men headed straight for Nico and Dylan, handcuffs dangling from their hands.

  Nico jumped back, still twisting his hands, desperately trying to make his telekinesis work. But it was no good. The Medutox had completely taken our powers away.

  I sucked in my breath. This had all been a trap. Knife Man and Broken Nose had been working for Jack all along.

  ‘How did you find us?’ Nico asked as Broken Nose clamped his wrists with handcuffs.

  ‘Technically you found us,’ Jack said. ‘Thanks to the stories you read about telekinesis in the area.’

  ‘You mean those were made up?’ Ed said, his face paling.

  ‘No, the stories were true.’

  ‘So someone really was performing telekinesis?’ Nico demanded.

  ‘So Medusix works?’ Dylan asked.

  ‘But you said it just made adults unconscious for a few minutes,’ Ed added.

  ‘Did you give the Medusix to children? Did it work on them?’ I asked.

  Jack batted away our questions with his hand. ‘None of that matters right now.’ He smiled at me. ‘Anyway, once we knew you were coming, we relied on Ketty to do the rest.’

  I looked at the dusty wooden floor. How humiliating. All my efforts to have a vision. And they’d just led us all into this trap.

  ‘It’s all worked out very well.’ Jack grinned. ‘I wasn’t sure if the Medutox would work unless we got you in an airtight space.’ His grin deepened. ‘Wonderful stuff, Medutox.’

  I looked over at Tania again. She was blushing, her expression a mix of pride that she’d played her part in trapping us and embarrassment that she’d tricked us. And there was something else too – a look of concern. What was that about?

  ‘You did good, Tania.’ Jack chuckled. ‘Come on, we’re going back to the castle.’

  ‘How is Bradley?’ Tania asked.

  ‘Who?’ I said.

  Tania threw a glance in my direction. ‘He takes the Medusix first. My turn next, but he is not well.’

  ‘We can talk about that later,’ Jack said. ‘There’s been a set-back.’

  ‘What set-back?’ Tania asked.

  But Jack paid her no attention. He gave a signal and Knife Man strode over to me, drew a set of handcuffs from his pocket and fastened them around my wrists.

  For the second time in less than an hour, I was a prisoner.

  7: An Old Acquaintance

  Jack bundled us into the back of a van that was parked outside the church. He locked the door. As soon as the van set off, everyone turned on Tania.

  ‘What do you know about Medusix?’

  ‘Who told you?’

  ‘How did you find out?’

  Cal, Nico and Dylan all spoke at once. The girl’s eyes widened. She looked terrified.

  ‘Okay, back off, everyone,’ I insisted. Sometimes the others – especially Nico and Dylan – didn’t realise how overwhelming they could be. And Tania, whatever part she’d played in trapping us, was still only a kid.

  Dylan rolled her eyes, but all three of them quietened down. I turned back to Tania. ‘Please don’t be scared.’ I spoke slowly and with a smile. ‘We just want some answers.’

  The girl nodded. ‘Mr Jack came to me. Said he would make me special.’

  I glanced at the others. This was a familiar story. Jack had introduced himself to all of us in much the same way, promising us the world if we would let him help us develop our Medusa gene powers.

  ‘My name is Ketty,’ I said. I introduced the others.

  ‘Did Jack . . . Mr Jack . . . give you special pills or . . . or a . . .’

  ‘Medusix,’ Tania said. ‘But not Mr Jack. Another man. He bring a drink of Medusix. But only Bradley drinking it so far.’

  Cal let out a low whistle. ‘So you haven’t been given Medusix yet?’ he said.

  ‘No.’ Tania’s face scrunched into a worried frown. ‘Only Bradley drink. Then he sick. Very sick.’

  ‘That’s because Mr Jack is a bad man,’ I said. ‘So is this other man.’

  ‘You think?’ Dylan snapped sarcastically.

  ‘No.’ Tania shook her head. ‘It will all be good.’

  ‘No, it won’t,’ I said. ‘You can’t trust Jack.’

  Tania stared at me.

  ‘Ketty’s right,’ Ed said. ‘Jack’s one of the bad guys.’

  ‘Where is this other boy . . . Bradley?’ Nico asked.

  ‘I . . . I don’t know.’ Tania looked uncertainly from Nico to me.

  The van turned a corner and we started bumping along a rough, ridged track.

  ‘I don’t understand how Jack laid this trap for us,’ Ed said thoughtfully. ‘I mean, he knew we would probably come to Lovistov, but how did he know exactly when we’d arrive?’

  ‘Did anyone mention the fact that we were coming to anyone?’ Nico glared round the truck.

  ‘No, of course we didn’t,’ I said.

  ‘Actually, I told Harry,’ Dylan said, a defensive note in her voice.

  We all stared at her. Harry Linden was Jack’s son. There was no love lost between father and son, to be sure, but still I was shocked Dylan had taken such a risk.

  She threw me a defiant look. ‘There’s no way Harry would have said anything. You know he doesn’t even talk to his dad.’

  This was true. Since being used by Jack to trick us earlier in the year, Harry had worked tirelessly to help us. He and Dylan were going out together too and Harry clearly adored he
r – a fact which frankly baffled the rest of us.

  Ed shook his head. ‘Jack could have hacked into Harry’s phone. Harry wouldn’t have needed to say anything.’

  ‘Well done, Ed.’ Jack’s voice echoed out from the front of the truck. ‘Got it in one.’

  I froze. So did the others.

  ‘He can hear us,’ Ed whispered.

  ‘You’re a genius,’ came Jack’s reply.

  ‘I told you Harry didn’t say anything deliberately,’ Dylan said.

  ‘Sssh,’ Nico ordered. We all lowered our voices.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ I whispered.

  ‘Okay, listen. The Medutox will wear off after thirty minutes,’ Nico hissed. ‘We have to keep trying our powers. Hopefully there’ll be a few minutes when they don’t realise we can use our abilities. That’s when we have to act.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Cal added quietly. ‘When we get wherever we’re going, look out for air vents, skylights . . . places they might not think we can use. We don’t know how much this Jack Linden knows about our skills.’

  I looked at Ed. Dylan gave a low snort.

  ‘Jack knows everything about our skills,’ she said.

  ‘Not mine,’ Cal protested.

  ‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that,’ I said. ‘Jack’s smart.’

  ‘And ruthless,’ Ed added.

  ‘The important thing is that we stay together,’ Nico whispered.

  A few minutes later, the truck stopped and we got out. We were parked in front of a huge grey castle with a lake to one side and pine trees on the hill beyond. I looked round at the windswept landscape. There were no other buildings in view.

  The area was completely deserted.

  ‘Man, what a place.’ Nico looked up at the turrets on top of the castle. It rose gloomily over us, an intimidating presence against a steel-grey sky.

  Tania huddled next to me. I put my arm round her shoulder.

  ‘We here before,’ she whispered. ‘Bradley here too.’

  Jack and the two guards herded us inside. We stood in a hall, high-ceilinged and made of grey stone. It was virtually empty – no lights, no furniture. Our voices echoed around the cold, damp room.

  ‘Why are we here?’ Nico demanded.

  ‘What are you going to do with us?’ Dylan said. ‘Is Harry here too? Is he okay?’

  ‘Harry’s not here but he’s fine.’ Jack gave her a charming smile. ‘He’ll be pleased to know you were asking, that’s if I can ever get him to speak to me again.’

  ‘How are you involved with Medusix?’ I asked.

  To my surprise, Jack stopped and turned to me. ‘We’re hoping to make it work. Now you’re here, things should get easier.’

  ‘What d’you mean “make it work”?’ I said. I glanced at Tania, remembering what she’d said about the other boy, Bradley. He’d been given Medusix and was now sick. ‘You got that boy to take it. Didn’t it work with him? You said someone had been performing telekinesis earlier.’

  ‘Ah,’ Jack said. ‘We’ve had some complications on that front. I told you that Medusix makes adults unconscious for a few mintues. Well, it knocks kids out too. The upside is that children show signs of psychic ability first. The downside is that they don’t regain consciousness so easily.’

  Tania gasped. ‘So . . . Bradley is unconscious.’

  ‘Who is this “we” you keep referring to?’ Nico added. ‘Who else is involved?’

  Jack raised his eyebrows. ‘I can’t tell you any more now, but please understand we have no plans to hurt you. We’re just trying to work on the drug.’

  ‘Are you going to experiment on us as well?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course not.’ Jack looked surprised. ‘We’re going to learn from you.’ He beckoned to the guards to lead us away.

  At first I thought we were all being taken to the same room, but once we had gone through a couple of heavy wooden doors, Jack and Knife Man took Ed and Nico away. I opened my mouth to protest, but they were gone too fast, leaving Cal, Dylan, me and Tania with Broken Nose. He forced us down a steep flight of stone steps to a narrow corridor where we had to walk single file. Cal was in the lead. I could see his head darting this way and that, clearly looking for an escape route, but the walls looked a metre thick, and there were no windows whatsoever. After a minute or so of walking like this, down more steps and along another corridor, we reached a cell.

  Broken Nose shoved us inside. Scowling, he took swabs from inside our mouths, plus a scraping of skin from our arms. Nothing that hurt. It took a few minutes, after which he locked the door and left.

  The cell was just a few metres square. No furniture, no windows. A single lantern, complete with sputtering candle, stood beside the column that rose through the centre of the room. It cast spooky shadows around the room. It was still early morning outside, but down here it felt like the middle of the night.

  Tania sank onto the cold stone floor. Tears were leaking out of her eyes.

  ‘Bradley is really ill,’ she wept. ‘This is not what Mr Jack promised.’

  I bit my lip, feeling sorry for her.

  Dylan looked at her with far less sympathy. ‘Well, that’ll teach you,’ she snapped.

  ‘I wonder who Jack’s working with,’ Cal mused.

  ‘It’ll probably be a scientist,’ I said. ‘Jack knows a lot about IT, but he’s no expert in genetics. Whoever is trying to make the Medusix work would need to be.’ I paused. ‘If only we knew what they were trying to do with it.’

  Cal walked over and squatted down in front of Tania. ‘Hey, that boy – Bradley – who was given the Medusix drug . . . what did he do after he’d taken it? Anything . . . odd? I mean, before he was taken ill?’

  Tania looked over at me, confused.

  ‘Odd? What kind of odd?’

  I thought back to the news item Ed and I had found – about the car that seemed to moving telekinetically across the car park and the workman’s tools dancing around each other.

  ‘Could he move things?’ I said. If we knew more precisely what the boy had done, we might be able to work out what Jack and this other man planned to do with us all. ‘You know . . . could the boy they gave the Medusix to move something without touching it?’

  Tania stared at me as if I were mad.

  ‘If we hadn’t been sprayed, we could just show her,’ Dylan said gloomily.

  ‘We’d need Nico to demonstrate telekinesis,’ I muttered.

  ‘We don’t need Nico,’ Cal said. ‘Pretend to move that lantern, Ketty. I’ll lift it up – normal style – to show Tania what we mean.’

  ‘Go on, Ketty,’ Dylan urged.

  ‘Okay.’ I shrugged. I couldn’t really see how us acting out a bit of telekinesis was going to help, but I supposed anything that might prompt Tania to give us more information was worth a try.

  Cal had picked up the lantern and stood out of sight behind the column.

  ‘Ready,’ he said.

  ‘Okay.’ I turned to Tania. ‘Look at the lantern. Could the other boy do this?’ I pointed my hand at the lamp then lifted my palm slightly, as I’d seen Nico do so many times. ‘See, I’m not touching the lamp,’ I said.

  On cue, Cal – his hands out of sight – lifted the lantern into the air. From where we were sitting, it did look like the lantern was moving without support . . . that I was making it happen.

  Tania frowned. ‘You think other boy do this for real?’

  ‘Yes,’ Dylan said excitedly. ‘Did you see him do something like that?’

  ‘No.’ Tania shook her head for emphasis. ‘No, I never seen.’

  Dylan sighed. ‘Maybe they’ve been experimenting on this other boy separately.’

  I nodded, feeling despondent. We were no closer to working out what was going on than before.

  Across the room, Cal set the lantern carefully back down. I wandered over to him. The guards had taken our backpacks before shoving us into this cell. All our food and drink were inside them and I was hungry and thi
rsty, as well as freezing cold.

  ‘We have to get out of here,’ I said.

  ‘I know.’ Cal moved closer to me. ‘I’ve got an idea but . . .’ He hesitated. ‘It’ll mean all of us working together.’

  ‘We can do that,’ I said. ‘What’s the idea?’

  ‘Attack Broken Nose when he comes back,’ Cal said. ‘I know it’s obvious, but it’s our only option. I can’t see another way of getting past the locked door – once we’re through, we just need to hide out for a bit then our powers will come back and I can fly us out of here.’

  ‘What about Ed and Nico . . . and this boy they’ve been using the Medusix on?’ I said.

  ‘I’ll come back for them,’ Cal said. ‘I think we can do this . . .’ He moved nearer to me again. ‘You know, you and I are good together, Ketty . . .’

  I was suddenly aware of just how close he was standing. I gulped. I liked Cal. I’d liked him as soon as I’d met him, but I didn’t think of him in that way.

  I wanted to move across the cell. After all, Broken Nose could come back any second. We needed to get the others ready. But there was something about Cal’s presence that held me where I stood.

  What about Nico? I said to myself. Truth was, right now I wasn’t sure where things stood with Nico. He’d been distant and critical since we’d left the ranch in Australia. And before then I’d hated the way he’d pretended he liked Amy, acting all flirty with her just because he liked the attention.

  I looked up at Cal. He would never behave like that to get a girl to notice him. I mean, there was something a bit reckless about him . . . a dangerous edge even, but he was definitely steadier than Nico. More . . . dependable.

  Cal was gazing down at me. He was still standing very close. I took a step back. Turned round. Dylan was watching us. She raised her eyebrows at me.

  ‘What?’ I said, more forcefully than I meant to. ‘Cal has a plan. Listen.’

  We beckoned Tania, then Cal went through the detail of what he thought we should do.

  About two hours passed. Medutox was obviously being released into the room from somewhere, because none of our powers came back. I could feel the odourless mist on my face and clutching at the back of my throat.