Chapter 18

They will be fine, I told myself. It's me they're looking for. I was flying steadily north, trying to put as much distance between me and the Readers.

Readers were genetically enhanced people. But instead of animal DNA, they can feel your emotions and when they have a good grip on your mind, they can control it. They're not as hotheaded as the Erasers. They were used for special jobs, ones that required self control and common sense.

They will be fine, I repeated. Just as I thought that, a memory flitted across my mind. It was of my experiences with the Readers. They were making me walk towards them, and laughing at my fear. The shaky feeling I got after I felt them leave my mind, like how my head wasn't mine anymore.

They wouldn't be fine. No one is fine after dealing with them.

I wheeled around and started flying at top speed back towards the motel. Not even slowing down, I flew right through the shattered window and straight into someone's back. We toppled to the ground. Looking down I saw it was one of the Readers, and he was out cold. I glanced up, my raptor vision taking in a thousand details in seconds. A big Reader was holding Kary round the neck. Ariek looked like he was about to pounce. Ethan's face had the expression of full on terror.

Ok, enough processing. Time for action. I leapt up and launched myself at the nearest Reader. I clapped my cupped hands over his ears, rupturing his eardrums. Screaming he fell to his knees. I karate chopped his neck and he keeled over. I looked over and saw Kary had taken this distraction as an opportunity to escape. She elbowed her captor in the ribs. She managed to slip out of his now loosened grip. Ariek stepped in and was now in locked combat with the Reader. Ethan was off to the side, shifting his weight from foot to foot. As if he was debating whether to fight or not. Then a look of solid determination appeared on his face and he rushed over to help Kary.

A dizzying blow to the back of head, snapped me back to my predicament. Still slightly woozy, I whirled around to face my attacker. I planted a hard, roundhouse kick square in his chest. I got a couple good punches in and was bringing my hand back for another, when a Reader grabbed me from behind. He pinned my arms to my side, and held me tightly. I tried to stomp on his feet, but the other Reader backhanded me across the face. I felt the burning pain and wanted to cry out, but I blocked it out and bit down on the inside of my cheek. Kicking my legs out I tried to shake his grip.

"Let. Me. Go!" I yelled.

Then I heard a voice, clear and soft.

"Charlotte, stop." Then it was as if my body had a mind of its own. I stopped struggling, my legs perfectly still. "Very good." Called the voice "Now come over here." The Reader let me go and I walked over towards the voice. I stopped in front of the biggest, scariest Reader. But I felt no fear; instead I felt the urge to help him. Then a teeny, fragile sounding voice piped up in my head, "No! He's controlling you!" But that didn't make sense. He was the good guy. He was going to take me so I can become good too. The little voice came back, but louder and stronger, "Stop it Charlotte, this isn't you! You know who you are; you would never go with him!" That's right, I wouldn't. I looked up at the man I was so eager to help just a couple of seconds ago. His eyebrows were knit together in concentration, had had a deep frown etched on his face. I felt no urge to help him, instead I felt repulsion.

I felt the sensation of waking up from a very deep sleep. I then felt a surge of anger at realizing what had just happened. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the Readers start charging towards me. I stayed glued to the spot until the last minute. I jumped up as high as I could and went straight over his head. Still going full speed, he crashed into the big Reader. Their heads connected with a dull clunk, and they fell to the ground.

"Lets roll!" I yelled out. Immediately Ariek, Kary, and Ethan were by my side. We ran out of the room before anyone could react.

We sprinted down the hall and found the stairwell. We raced down the stairs, taking a couple at a time. After four flights of stairs we made it to the lobby. The sight of four breathless, beat up kids might have been distressing to some of the people milling around, but we didn't stick around long enough to find out.

We rushed out the double doors and out onto the street. Ethan pointed out a trolley that had just pulled up. We hid ourselves amongst a large group, and trouped aboard. When we had found our seats, I looked everyone over, accessing the damage.

Kary looked none to worse for wear, with a couple bruises and scratches. She was helping Ethan stem the blood gushing from his nose. "Stick a tampon in. It absorbs right up." Ariek said with a smile. I looked over at him and gasped. His lip was split in several places, his eye was puffy and was already starting to bruise. There were cuts and bruises all up and down his arms. There was a small gash on his face, from where I'm guessing he had been punched so hard it broke skin.

"Oh, shit..." I groaned. I grabbed our pack and took out a water bottle and a rag. I leaned over and started to clean up the blood on his face. When I went to put more water on the rag, I noticed him staring at me. I locked eyes with him, startled by the intensity of his gaze.

Without realizing what I was doing, I started leaning in closer towards him. Once we were almost nose to nose, I came to my senses and jerked backwards. I cleared my throat and didn't look at Ariek the rest of the ride. But I felt his eyes on me the whole time. I started wondering what would've happened if I hadn't backed away. And I found that the more I thought about, the more I wanted to find out.

Oh god, what is wrong with me?