Chapter 63
Alja! He couldn't sense her.
That was the first conscious thought that entered Kaleb's mind. And it shocked him awake at once. He reached out with his senses in the physical world and the Net at once. The first scan revealed nothing. She wasn't close by. And the camouflage mind she'd shown him was no longer to be found in the Net. Cold sweat broke out along his spine. He tried to search deeper, found himself distracted by something that just wouldn't let him concentrate on her.
Pain.
Raw pain was everywhere, in his skull, his chest, his back, even dully throbbing in his arms and legs. There was so much of it he almost choked. Every breath hurt in his ribs. But he was breathing, so obviously not dead. He hadn't counted on that.
Slowly memories flooded back in. His calculation had been that he would die in father Perez' church. He scanned his surroundings again this time without a restriction to Alja's mind. He found Judd's close by. No! If Judd was here Alja had to be close. Had he made a mistake? His heart started racing, every beat shoving more pain through his chest, making him feel dizzy. But he forced his mind and senses back on track. He couldn't afford to be distracted now. Not before he knew what happened to Alja. He opened his eyes to a familiar place, Xavier's place. He sensed the man close by as well. But why was Judd here? He contacted the Arrow. No reaction. He found the father's mind instead. Xavier. He called out to him.
Stop! I'm coming to you.
The human's thoughts sounded strangled. He hadn't telepathed him carefully enough. He could've crushed his mind, Kaleb realized. But why? He usually could telepath to humans just fine. Something was wrong with his mind – but no, this thing didn't start in his mind, it started in his chest and it had nothing to do with the physical pain. His mind was functional but there was just this choking feeling that sliced through him, clouded every thought and made his mind struggle to bring his body to react even though it was futile. He had to move. He just had to find Alja. But, his body was useless. No matter how hard he tried to move, the pain would just stop his muscles from reacting to his brain's commands. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his face, his neck and at the sensation of it the image of Alja's fingers, cold, lifeless giving him one last caress flashed through his battered mind. This was more than agony, more than fear. It messed up his thought process so bad that it took him a while to find out what it was he felt: He was panicked.
And Alja's absence was the cause of it.
Alja.
Alja.
Alja.
It was all he could think about. He had to find her. She had to be ok.
Although it couldn't have been more than a minute since his last attempt he was about risk telepathing to father Perez again, when he sensed his mind approach. So he managed to reign himself in. He heard a door and the father entered his room. "Calm down friend. You're safe here," his gentle voice commanded.
"Why is Judd here?" His voice was a hoarse, barely audible whisper. To his relief Xavier seemed to understand him.
"I called him to help. You were dying." The words were determined, the soldier Xavier also was, sounding through.
"I know. He shouldn't be here. He has to protect her." Kaleb couldn't help various scenarios of how Alja could be hurt or in danger unfolding in his mind.
"He said she was safe with his people. She was injured but they treated her and she is stable."
Alja safe in a pack of wolves? Injured? He had to get to her. He lifted his body with Tk, tried to get himself upright. Pain blocking him again. Then a hand on his shoulder.
"Stop it. You'll hurt yourself. Judd is still flamed out from trying to heal you. Your other friends, the Arrows, should be here soon."
"Arrows?" How did Xavier suddenly know these things?
"Aden and Vasic. Judd called them to help, too. They provided the equipment you're currently monitored with and a lot of other stuff I've never seen before."
Kaleb tried hard to take all of it in to get his mind back on track, but the panic and fear for Alja almost strangled him from inside. And then he felt the pressure of a familiar presence against his shields, oily tendrils trying to sneak in. The DarkMind had been attracted to the kind of emotion that raged through him like a brutal, unforgiving storm.