Now You See Me

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

HOW LONG HAD SHE been here? Lying on a bed, Tracey stared at the ceiling and realized that she’d completely lost track of time. She had a vague memory of being brought into this bedroom, but when? She felt dizzy and disoriented. Had they given her some kind of drug? Or was she just suffering from the shock of suddenly finding herself made of flesh and blood and bones again?

The clouds in her head began to float away and she started thinking more clearly. Serena had probably hypnotized her, and she was just now coming out of it.

She was quite a hypnotist, that Serena. Tracey always thought hypnosis could only happen if the subject cooperated, if the subject was willing to be put under. Tracey certainly hadn’t given permission.

And what kind of hypnosis had she been using on Carter? From what she’d observed, it was like he was in a constant state of hypnosis, and she brought him out of it only when they wanted information.

But all these questions could be put on hold. Right now she had to concentrate on getting out of there.

She got off the bed and grabbed on to a bedpost as a fresh wave of dizziness swept over her. Her legs were trembling too. But the sensations passed, and she made her way to the door. She wasn’t surprised to find it locked. Of course, she was being held prisoner. And even if she went invisible, she couldn’t get through a locked door.

But they’d come in here sooner or later, she assumed, and if she was invisible, she could slip out while the door was open. She tried to concentrate, to pull up the feelings that could make her disappear.

You’re worthless, you’re alone, nobody sees you, nobody cares about you, you’re depressed. .

It wasn’t working — she was still all there. Maybe Serena had given her some post-hypnotic suggestion. .

There were windows in the bedroom. She went over to them and examined the latches.

With the sound of a lock turning, she faced the door. Clare stood there. ‘What are you doing?’

What could Tracey say — ‘Admiring the view?’ It was a stupid question.

‘I’m trying to get out,’ she replied.

‘Well, you can’t,’ Clare said. ‘Come with me.’

The others were still at the dining-room table. ‘You’re slipping, Serena,’ Clare announced as she pushed Tracey towards the table. ‘She’s already awake.’

Serena frowned. ‘It’s not easy with these kids. They’re not normal, their brains don’t work like other people’s. I’m going to have to develop some sort of special individualized hypnotic programme for each of them.’

Stuart indicated Carter. ‘You didn’t have any problem with him.’

Serena gave him a withering look. ‘Of course not. He isn’t gifted.’

Now, that was interesting, Tracey thought. She’d always wondered about that. So he hadn’t been put in their class because he was like the rest of them. He’d been placed there simply because he was strange, weird, not normal. Which, when she thought about it, was like the rest of them. .

Stuart was looking at her nervously. ‘Is she trying to disappear?’

‘She shouldn’t be able to,’ Serena said. ‘I gave her a post-hypnotic suggestion.’

Clare grimaced. ‘What makes you think that’s going to work any more efficiently than your hypnosis?’

‘I’d like to see you do a better job,’ Serena retorted.

Mr Jackson spoke up. ‘Don’t bicker. We need to concentrate on how we can make this work for us.’

‘What’s the problem?’ Stuart asked. ‘We were going to take them all eventually anyway.’

‘But not yet,’ Clare snapped. ‘Nothing’s in place. We’re not ready for her.’

They were talking about her like she wasn’t there. In a way, this could be good for her, though. If she could feel like she wasn’t there, maybe in another moment or two she wouldn’t be there.

But instead of feeling depressed, she felt annoyed with them. Did they think she was stupid? ‘Are you talking about the project?’ she blurted out.

That got their attention. ‘What do you know about the project?’ Clare asked sharply.

Uh-oh! Tracey offered a weak smile, and hoped it looked mysterious.

‘I don’t like this,’ Stuart declared. ‘She knows too much.’

‘And she could disappear any minute,’ Clare added.

Serena agreed. ‘So what are we going to do with her?’

Only Mr Jackson seemed calm. ‘She’s not going to disappear.’

‘How can we stop her?’ Stuart wanted to know.

Mr Jackson’s smile was extremely unpleasant. ‘I’m going to tell her exactly what will happen if she does.’ He addressed Tracey directly.

‘Do you love your little sisters, Tracey?’

Tracey stared at him blankly.

‘And what about your parents, Tracey? Do you love them?’

Mutely, she nodded.

‘And you wouldn’t want anything terrible to happen to them, would you?’

Tracey found her voice, but it was trembling. ‘You’re a very bad person.’

Mr Jackson shrugged. ‘Good, bad — it’s all relative.’

‘Besides,’ Tracey continued, trying very hard to steady her voice, ‘I can’t always control my gift. Do you think I wanted to appear in front of you today?’

‘But you’re getting better and better,’ Mr Jackson said. ‘That’s what your special class is all about, isn’t it?’ He nodded towards Carter. ‘That’s what he’s told us. You practise, you work at gaining control. Madame’s doing a good job with you, isn’t she?’

Tracey could feel her own breathing become harder, faster. Was it possible that Madame was involved in the conspiracy? The one person they all completely trusted, the one who knew them better than their own families — was she part of this? Her heart was thumping and she couldn’t catch her breath.

‘She’s hyperventilating,’ Clare declared in disgust.

‘It’s a panic attack,’ Serena said. ‘Get a paper bag.’

The next thing Tracey knew, her mouth was covered with a bag and someone was yelling, ‘Deep breaths! Deep breaths!’ Her heart pounded harder, louder, she could hear the banging. .

But the banging wasn’t coming from her chest. Someone was rapping on the door.

‘Quiet!’ Mr Jackson ordered them. In a softer voice, he asked, ‘Is the door locked?’

‘Of course,’ Clare whispered back.

But the door opened anyway. Mr Jackson raced towards it and collided with a speeding wheelchair.

It got him right in the stomach. ‘Ow!’ he screamed.

But none of his comrades raced to his aid. They were all frozen as they watched the rest of the rescue team march in and close the door behind them.

Tracey felt her breathing ease as she took in the new arrivals. Ken, Jenna and Amanda followed Charles. Emily, Martin and Sarah came in next. Madame brought up the rear.

Serena began chanting at Carter, and the boy’s eyes were becoming even more glazed than they were normally. Tracey suddenly realized that she might be trying to hypnotize him permanently, so that he couldn’t ever testify against them.

‘Charles!’ Tracey yelled, and pointed towards the hypnotist. But Charles only glanced at Serena. He focused on the paper bag that had been used on Tracey, and sent it flying across the room. It fell over Serena’s head and covered her face. But Serena continued to chant.

‘I’m going to have to knock her out,’ Charles declared.

Tracey looked around the room. She didn’t see anything particularly heavy. ‘With what?’

Charles grinned. Suddenly, a big frying pan sailed into the room. It flew through space towards Serena. Since she couldn’t see it coming, she couldn’t duck — and it hit her in the head. That stopped her chanting.

Martin gasped. ‘Where did that pan come from?’

‘From the kitchen,’ Charles said with a smug expression. ‘I don’t have to see things to move them any more.’

Madame was clearly impressed. ‘Charles, you’re improving!’ But her attention was diverted when Stuart Kelley began moving towards the door. She turned to Sarah.

‘Make him stop!’

But Sarah looked absolutely terrified, and didn’t move.

‘Martin, stop him!’ Jenna yelled.

Martin cringed. Jenna groaned, and spoke rapidly. ‘Oh, that’s right, I forgot — you’re a weakling, you’re hopeless, you can’t do anything, you puny feeble little nobody.’

Martin went into action. Seconds later, Stuart Kelley was on the ground, knocked unconscious. Jenna looked down at his prone body.

‘Hi, Daddy,’ she said sarcastically. ‘What’s new?’

Clare stood very still, taking in the scene. Then she started towards the kitchen. Jenna watched her.

‘Don’t even think about it,’ she said. ‘Charles can get a weapon out of your hand before you can get a firm grip on it. He could even turn it around and use it on you.’

Charles’s eyes widened. ‘Gee, you’re right! I never thought of that.’

Mr Jackson had recovered from his encounter with the wheelchair. He stood there stiffly, and spoke to Madame.

‘What do you think you’re going to do now?’

‘I’ve called the police,’ she replied. ‘And when they arrive, I’ll accuse you of kidnapping Tracey.’

‘We didn’t kidnap Tracey,’ Clare objected. ‘She came here of her own free will.’

‘Then I’ll accuse you of kidnapping Carter,’ the teacher said.

Mr Jackson didn’t blink. ‘Call his foster parents. He has their permission to be with me. You have no proof of anything illegal going on here, Madame. And I sincerely doubt that you really called the police.’ He actually smiled.

Jenna whispered in Tracey’s ear. ‘She didn’t. She’s just trying to scare him.’

The principal continued. ‘It seems to me, Madame, that you have more to fear from the police than we do.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

‘I’m the principal of Meadowbrook Middle School. I’m a respected member of this community. If you have me arrested, there will be publicity. And I’ll have a platform to tell the world all about your Gifted class.’

Tracey looked at Madame. Was that fear in her eyes? If so, it vanished quickly.

‘And I’ll have no option but to instruct my students to use their gifts against you. You know what they can do.’ As if to make her point even clearer, she put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. Sarah flinched, but she didn’t contradict Madame.

Mr Jackson fell silent for a moment. ‘Then it looks like perhaps we should make a deal,’ he said finally.

‘Go on,’ Madame said.

‘You say nothing to anyone about this. And I won’t expose your students.’

Ken spoke. ‘That’s not much of a deal. He wouldn’t tell people about us, Madame. It’s like you always say — nobody believes we have gifts.’

‘And why would the police believe you?’ Clare countered. ‘You have no evidence against us.’

‘But there is evidence,’ Tracey cried out. ‘You can tell the police about the project. You can show them the plans.’

‘What project?’ Madame asked.

‘It’s what they want to use us for. It’s in a folder, in that desk.’

‘I’ll get it,’ Charles said quickly. He looked at the desk, and all the drawers opened. And all the papers came flying out. Telephone bills, bank statements — hundreds of documents floated through the air.

‘Oops!’ Charles murmured. ‘Sorry.’

‘The police are here!’ Emily announced.

‘Madame, they’ll see Serena,’ Ken pointed out.

‘Sarah, move Serena,’ Madame ordered.

There was a knock on the door. ‘Police! Open up!’

Mr Jackson turned to Clare.

‘Open the door.’

‘Sarah!’ Madame exclaimed. ‘Do it!’

But Serena remained where she was, with the paper bag on her head and unconscious. And Clare was already beginning to open the door.

‘Sarah, quick!’ Madame hissed.

‘Oh, Madame,’ the girl whispered in an agonized voice. But she looked at Serena. And as if by her own free will, the woman got up and walked out of the room into the kitchen.

Two police officers stood in the doorway. ‘Excuse me, ma’am,’ one of them said to Clare. ‘But we’ve had a complaint of some kind of disruption going on here.’

The other officer looked at the papers lying all over the floor. ‘What’s going on here?’

Mr Jackson strode forward. ‘Good afternoon, officers.’ He introduced himself and shook their hands. One of the officers looked at him with interest.

‘We’ve met before. You’re my kid’s school principal.’

‘That’s right,’ Mr Jackson said, beaming. ‘We’re working on a school project here.’ He looked at the papers and smiled ruefully. ‘I’m afraid we had a little accident and made a mess. But I don’t quite think it’s in the category of anything criminal!’ He laughed at his own little quip.

The police officers didn’t laugh, but they didn’t seem concerned either. ‘I guess you made some noise and a neighbour complained,’ one said. ‘Just keep it down, OK?’

‘Of course, officers,’ Mr Jackson said smoothly.

Madame spoke up. ‘Actually, the meeting has ended and we were about to leave. Come along, everyone.’

Eight of the nine gifted students gathered around her.

‘Come along, Carter,’ Madame called.

‘No, Madame,’ Jenna whispered frantically in her ear. ‘He’s the spy!’

But the teacher ignored her. ‘Carter?’ she called again.

In zombie mode, the boy rose from his seat at the dining table and joined them. Madame ushered them all past the policemen and out of the door. She turned back to the people still in the house and spoke.

‘This was an interesting meeting. Highly enlightening.’ She paused, and then added, ‘I’ll get back to you, Mr Jackson, and we can continue negotiations.’