Lethal Influence Read online

  Moments later, back in the dining room, Kai sat, stone-faced, with Harrison and Leo on either side of him while everyone else busied themselves with meal preparations. He couldn’t see the activity in the kitchen, but he heard the banging of pots and pans and the laughter of many voices happily helping with a daily chore.

  Hearing the sound of a car motor outside, he shifted in his seat. The others didn’t hesitate so they must be expecting someone. Leo and Harrison glanced at him, relief on their faces.

  Turning at the sound of the door opening, Kai saw Lincoln walk into the room. Kai rose from his chair, feeling surprised and relieved. Finally, someone normal! Lincoln would get him out of here.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Lincoln, I’m so glad you’re here. These guys are flipping out. They need a dose of reason.” Kai crossed the room and stood beside Lincoln. The strength of will in his friend’s expression was almost tangible in the air. Harrison and Leo came toward Kai and he held up a hand and said, “Enough already.” They stopped short, almost, Kai thought, as if they were afraid of him. He turned to Lincoln. “You’re not going to believe what these guys did to me.”

  “Sit, Kai.”

  “Aren’t you going to take me home?” Kai glanced out the window. He could see dense evergreens and a patch of pale blue sky.

  “Sit and listen to reason.”

  Stunned, Kai lowered himself to the rough upholstery of the old sofa. “You’re one of them,” he whispered.

  “Open your mind and allow the indoctrination of your youth to slip away,” Lincoln said. He paced in front of the window. His short dark hair was backlit in the sunshine and appeared to be encircled in a halo. “Do it, Kai.” His insistent voice was less than angelic, however. “Let go of the past. We’ve been taught all our lives that humans are good and can be Influenced gently in the right direction. It’s not always true. Look at the experience you had with Derek, the dog butcher. Was there any good in him?”

  “I didn’t find anything to work with,” Kai admitted.

  “And what about Billie? Was there anything worth saving in his useless, evil life?”

  Kai cringed at the memory of the girl strung up from a hook, an image that had haunted him ever since that night. “Billie was despicable. Luckily, nature made up for my lack by taking him from the world.”

  Lincoln’s eyes widened. His voice was steely. “That’s the spirit, Kai.” Lincoln’s wide lips pursed into a hard line. “He was better off dead. Wasn’t he?”

  “What? No. Well, it worked out he won’t hurt anyone again … but that was just … fate. We can’t do that. It’s not our place to choose who lives and who dies.”

  “Why not?”

  “What do you mean, ‘why not’? That’s not the way.”

  “It hasn’t been the way in the past, but the old ways are not enough.” Lincoln held his hands in the air, as if he was surrendering. “Think of the lives we could save if we weren’t too weak to take out the humans not fit to live! Think of the innocent deaths we would avoid by getting rid of the killers! Think of the pain and suffering that would vanish from the world with a few strategic…”

  “Murders?” Kai couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you actually talking about murdering people?”

  Lincoln took a step closer. “Is it a murder if you kill someone before he kills a thousand people? Is it a murder to kill a religious leader who will brainwash hundreds into taking their own lives? You are new to Influencing missions, Kai, but already you must see that there are people beyond our help. People that, frankly, don’t deserve to live.”

  “How many of you are there?” asked Kai. “How many rebels?”

  “Are you thinking of turning us over to the others?”

  Harrison grunted at this and took a measured step toward Kai, his medallions clinking in a haphazard aria. He stopped short and scowling at Kai, snarled, “He’s too weak.” Kai watched Harrison in amazement. Where was this coming from? Was he actually threatening him with violence?

  Lincoln nodded at Harrison and he stepped away. “Let’s turn on the news, shall we, Kai?” said Lincoln. The set was about half the size of Leo’s monster-size screen. Kai found it hard to believe he had been so carefree, just watching a soccer game so recently … and with two guys who had joined the rebels. Rebels? How could there even be such things in Trebladore society?

  Lincoln turned up the sound when he found a news station. “Do you think we’ll see anyone not worth the air they breathe? I, for one, would bet on it.”

  Kai was silent. The anchor was just finishing a story. “The scandal has reached each one of these victims. Even though the abuse occurred more than fifteen years ago, he was in a position of trust and he has scarred them deeply. In the words of one of the victims, ‘He stole my childhood. I turned to alcohol to escape the pain of my memories. I was an alcoholic at fourteen’.”

  The next story showed abject poverty in an African country. There were boys between ten and sixteen years old, all holding guns. In deep tones the correspondent recounted how the boys were lured into the army by the hope of having a meal now and then. The starving, half-naked children who clamored in the street would be the next disposable warriors in a matter of months. Kai’s chest felt tight. Sympathy and indignation filled him. No one should live like that.

  A reporter on the scene at a raceway held her microphone while her hair blew in the wind. “Fourteen have gone to the nearest hospital, two of them in critical condition, after an accident at this Colorado speedway. Race car driver Andy Kettles spun out of control, his car barreling into spectators on the seventh lap of a ten-lap race.” The footage showed Andy backing up after running into spectators and rejoining the race.

  “What a compassionate fellow,” said Leo. “I’m surprised he didn’t yell at those injured people for slowing him down.”

  “There is no basic decency,” said Lincoln.

  “No caring,” said Harrison.

  “Join the rebels,” said Lincoln. “We need Trebladores who are willing to think outside convention and really Influence the human race. This is the way to make a difference in the world. Consider where you’ll do the most good, Kai.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve seen your anger, Kai. You belong with us.” Lincoln raised his eyebrows and waited. When Kai shook his head, Lincoln continued, “Can you really defend these people?”

  “They shouldn’t die.”

  “Is that what you think?” Lincoln asked. There was a smirk on his face. It had a sarcastic quality, but Kai didn’t understand why. What was Lincoln not saying?

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Join you? Join you in killing humans? How can you say that? How can you do that? We are Trebladores.” Kai glanced around the room, hoping for nods of agreement, but every person stood with the same solid look in his eyes, the same harsh frown on his face.

  “What are you going to do? Go get a bunch of guns and start shooting anyone you think is evil? What good does that do? You know the history here on Earth. You know that meeting violence with violence never solves anything. Haven’t we watched humans try that over and over? If we do the same thing, are we any better than them?”

  Lincoln held up both hands. “Kai. We’re not going to run around without a plan. We won’t try to kill every human who is hurting someone else. That would be a waste of our time.” Lincoln pulled up a chair in front of him. “We will use our research, our knowledge of what is going on in the human world. Just like we do with the Influencing. How do you think the Masters decide which mission to send us on? They gather information just like the CIA does. And then they use the information to decide who to Influence and who to let alone a while longer.

  “We could really use your help, though. We need someone who has the abilities you do … we can’t, as you said, go around shooting bad guys, can we?”

  “Abilities? What do you mean by that? I’ve n
ever even fired a gun!” Kai watched Lincoln’s eyes now and he was unnerved by what he saw. There was something there that raised goose bumps on his skin.

  “Kai,” Lincoln said. “Remember Derek and the dog? Remember the anger you felt when you saw him skinning that poor thing? You reached into his mind and tried to Influence him. And I think you succeeded, well beyond anything you might have expected.”

  A lump formed in Kai’s throat. He swallowed hard before he spoke. “What do you mean? I didn’t Influence him.” Kai leaned back and glanced at Leo and Harrison. “I felt a sharp tingle run down my spine and then I fainted. You remember! I wasn’t able to Influence him at all.”

  “No, Kai. You were doing a little more than that.” Now Lincoln leaned forward, his gaze intense. “You killed him.”

  Kai sprang from his seat. “That’s not true!”

  Lincoln rose slowly and met his eyes. “It was your mind in his mind that made him drop dead. Your anger gives you some special ability to silently and lethally Influence humans.” Lincoln paused as though letting his words sink in then he shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Leo and Harrison. “I felt that sharp tingle run down my spine too, Kai. But I wasn’t Influencing at the time. You were the only one working with the human’s mind.”

  Kai paced, his stomach roiling. He whirled around, looking desperately at each Trebladore who stood around him. Then he faced Lincoln again. “What about Gerald? What about Timothy? Weren’t they Influencing, as well?”

  “Gerald had been told not to help you unless absolutely necessary. Timothy hadn’t even gathered his breath to start before you struck down Billie.” Now Lincoln’s eyes softened and he slid closer to Kai. “Don’t you see? Don’t you realize what this means? With you leading the missions, we can stop humans who are beyond any real help. We’ll leave the soft problems for the Society to deal with. They won’t even know we’re doing anything. We can quietly kill any human who threatens the lives of numerous others. And we will never be caught.”

  Lincoln stepped back from the group who were now surrounding Kai. Kai brought his hands over his nose and mouth in a prayer-like stance, reminding himself to breathe. Finally he said, “How do I have this ability? Are there others who can do this?”

  “As far as we know, you’re the only one,” Lincoln replied. He shrugged his shoulders again and held his hands up in the air. “We don’t understand it but we know how to use it.” He lowered his hands. “The Society doesn’t know about us. And we haven’t told them about you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, “Or your little girlfriend.”

  Kai’s head shot up and he glared at Lincoln. “What girlfriend?”

  “Beth. We know you’ve been sneaking out to spend time with a human woman. You’re not so different from us, you know. A bit of a rebel, already.”

  Kai froze. They knew. The rebels knew about Beth and, despite what Lincoln thought, that meant the Society probably knew, too. He felt his stomach clench and he knew he had to get out of the camp. He had to find Beth before anyone approached her. The rules were strict and he didn’t know exactly what the consequences would be. He glanced at Leo and Harrison. They looked ready to pounce on him. He had to buy some time.

  “Okay,” he said. “I need to think about this. And right now I’m too hungry to think straight. I see what you are saying. I know there are humans who kill many others. I know how difficult they can be to Influence.” He turned to Lincoln. “Maybe you are right. But I need time to consider all this.”

  Lincoln nodded and waved everyone into chairs around the table as Leo and Harrison went to the kitchen, coming back with big bowls of steaming food. The rich aroma filled the room and Kai realized he really was as hungry as he claimed to be.

  Later that night, Kai sat on his bed, leaning against the wall, once more locked in. He took the lighter from his pocket and passed it back and forth between his hands. His thoughts and emotions came to the forefront of his mind but he tried to shut them out. His breath was quick, his chest tight, and his heart heavy. He flicked the lighter on, looking deeply at the flame. His heart slowed, his breathing eased. He sighed and let the flame go out.

  He was still trying to come to terms with the existence of a rebel faction in the Society, and now all this. Was it possible he had caused the death of a human merely by Influencing him while angry? Killed a man? He brought his knees up and leaned on them feeling little tremors of fear move though his arm muscles. He refused to think about that right now. He simply couldn’t face it tonight. Instead, he let his thoughts go to a question that was niggling the back of his mind. What made him different from all the other Trebladores?

  Chapter Seventeen

  After an hour of pondering without the blissful release of sleep, Kai’s thoughts went down the trail he’d forbidden them to take. Could the rebels really expect him to kill for them? He tasted bile in the back of his throat. Purposely? Premeditatedly? He shuddered. He really had this power?

  But … he had already done it. He had killed humans. How do you kill someone without even trying? He had been searching for a hint of goodness but had found nothing. He wanted to shut down their minds. He’d had no violent killing thoughts, only the urge to stop them. That was the only way he could keep them from going further down their negative life paths. He turned over on the little single bed. He couldn’t mourn their fate, exactly, but there were feelings he didn’t understand. He had taken human life … and as a Trebladore that was unacceptable. He bent his knees and hugged them to his chest. His breathing was quick and shallow. How could he live with what he had done? How was he going to reconcile the truth with what he had always thought he was? He thought of his father, of his face when he looked at Kai. The love and joy Kai saw there. His father had been one of the most respected Elites in this part of the world and Kai revered him. What would his father say now?

  Kai rose and paced the bedroom. What would his parents think of the rebels? He wished they were still alive. They had always been clear in their direction. They had both been strong Influencers. His father especially had a knack for turning a mind. He was confident, while Mom had harbored some doubt about her abilities. She always said she “hoped” she would succeed. Had she known about the Dereks and the Billies of the world, the people without a shred of decency? One thing was sure; his parents would never stoop to the rebel tactics.

  Kai saw his reflection in the window, and then looked out. He was on the second floor in a resort cabin in the middle of nowhere. Rebel Trebladores everywhere. There were two standing near the vehicles and at least one outside his door.

  Kai returned to his bed, sat heavily, then, got up, and knocked gently, on the door. “Bathroom break,” he called. He hoped there was someone still out there and that they hadn’t all gone to bed. The door opened. It was Harrison. Kai smiled at him. Harrison glanced around the room warily and then looked at Kai.

  “You wanted to use the bathroom?”

  “Yeah, I thought I should before everyone goes to sleep for the night. They must all be in bed by now, eh?”

  Harrison shrugged. “It’s been a long day. We are all pretty tired. Most of them have gone to bed, yeah.”

  Kai smiled again. He moved toward the back of the room. “Harrison,” he said. “What do you really think of all this rebel stuff? Do you believe they are right? That some humans are beyond help? That they deserve to die?”

  Harrison shifted from the doorway, stepping into the room. “I do, Kai. I really do think that some humans are beyond help. They are not really what I would call evil, exactly, but they are going to cause more harm than good to the human race. Influencing doesn’t work on them and they need to be stopped.”

  Kai stepped further along the wall, his hands clasped behind his back. He nodded as Harrison spoke. He paused, turned and faced Harrison with hands held out to the side. “I agree that there are humans who have gone beyond the point of any Influencing we can g
ive them,” he said. “But kill them? Doesn’t that go against the grain of what we are as a species ourselves? It’s using the very tactics we oppose. Aren’t we here to guide? Gently?”

  Harrison stepped further into the room, his face filled with a sudden passion that Kai found disturbing. “Kai, we aren’t talking about killing indiscriminately. We will be very careful to consider all things before we choose to take that step. We aren’t going to go running all over the place killing anyone who doesn’t do what we want, or who doesn’t choose to follow our Influence.”

  Kai moved closer to Harrison, watching his face as he spoke. He was only inches away now, feeling the emotion that emanated from the other man. “Who is the leader here, anyways?” he asked.

  Harrison frowned, and he shrugged. “It’s not a formal thing. I don’t think it’s my place to label people. Though it’s clear some are more in charge than others…”

  It was then that Kai moved. With one swift movement he clamped his hand over Harrison’s mouth and muscled him backward. Harrison was caught off guard and off balance and he fell heavily onto the bed, arms and feet flailing. As they went down, Harrison’s head hit the metal bed frame and he slumped suddenly in Kai’s arms. Surprised, Kai let him go. Harrison didn’t move. Kai felt for a pulse and found one, strong and steady. He had meant to simply overpower him and get to the door, locking Harrison into the room, but this was even better. Kai needed to move quickly before Harrison regained consciousness.

  He slipped out the door, locking it behind him with the deadbolt installed on the outside, and peered up and down the hall. He eased himself down the steps. The two men who had been outside were just entering through the back door. Kai slipped around the corner. Suddenly there was a wood-cracking bang coming from the direction of his room. The two men ran toward Kai’s room and as soon as they were gone, he sprinted for the back door.

  Outside, the wind whistled through the trees. He opened the door of a green jeep and smiled. Keys in the ignition — of course, they were in the wilderness, car thieves weren’t a worry. He turned the key, punched the car into gear, and sped down the mountain road as quickly as he dared. Ghostly trees and dark shapes that became rocks and brush flashed in the headlights.