Anthony Horowitz - Nightrise

Trelawny could see his wife sitting in the bleachers next to another woman, whom he had met earlier that morning – she was married to the mayor. His two sons were sitting there too and he knew that they wouldn’t be enjoying this. Both of them felt shy about being out in public. His car had almost completed its circuit around the bleachers and any minute now it would stop and he and the mayor would get out. The speeches would begin. It seemed so strange to be here. Trelawny remembered playing in these streets as a child. And now here he was, fifty years old, and all these people had turned out on account of him. He wished his parents were alive to see this moment. He also hoped the speeches wouldn’t go on too long.

The car slowed down and stopped. Warren Cornfield was the first out, his hand resting on the car door, his head swivelling to take in the crowds.

About fifteen metres away, in the middle of the bleachers, Susan Mortlake leant over and rested her hand on Scott’s arm.

“All right, my dear,” she whispered. “It’s time. Do it now.”

There was a filling station at the bottom of the slope and it was the one thing in the town that hadn’t closed. Alicia drove off the ramp and into the forecourt, skidding to a halt beside the pumps. She and Jamie left the car. Daniel scrambled out after them.

“Hey!” The garage attendant had come out of his office. “You can’t leave that here!”

But they were already on their way, abandoning the car, pushing their way through the crowds. Alicia knew that they were in danger. The policeman on the bridge must have seen what they had done and he would have put out a radio alert. There was a presidential candidate in the area and anyone behaving strangely would have to be brought down quickly. In other words, shoot first – ask questions later. She wished now that she had left Daniel behind.

“How are we going to find him?” Jamie shouted.

He couldn’t absorb it all: the people in their thousands, the bands still playing, the welcoming banners, the sunlight, the flags flying red, white and blue. He felt he was being stifled. The wound in his shoulder was throbbing badly. For a moment he lost sight of Alicia.

“Watch where you’re going!” He had barged into a family. The father was a fat man, wearing a Homer Simpson T-shirt. He was scowling at him.

Alicia was a little way behind, clinging tightly onto Daniel. “Use your power!” she called to him. “You can find Scott. You don’t have to look for him.”

Jamie understood. He didn’t need to look. He could think. If Scott was anywhere near, surely he would be able to sense him. He turned his head…

And saw his brother.

Scott! He was there!

At first, Jamie didn’t recognize him. Scott was sitting so still. And he was pale, as if the life had been sucked out of him. His hair had been cut short in a style that didn’t suit him and he was too smartly dressed in a black jacket, black trousers and a shirt that was a brilliant white. It was Scott but it wasn’t him. Jamie had never seen him like this before and he was suddenly afraid.

He noticed the woman sitting next to him and knew her instantly, even though he had only ever seen her once – and then very briefly. She was part of Nightrise. She had come out of the Los Angeles office when he was there. Her eyes, behind the oversized glasses, were fixed on Scott. She was like a mother who was overly proud of her son, but – Jamie could see it in her face – this was a son who was about to do something horrible.

“Jamie!” Alicia had called out a warning. The policeman who had seen them drive down the ramp was searching for them. He was in front of the filling station – and would have spotted them if it hadn’t been for the crush of people between them. There were three more policemen with him.

“Ladies and gentlemen. It is my very great honour to welcome a fine politician and a fine man back to his home town on this… his big day!”

The mayor was speaking. His voice was being amplified by speakers positioned all the way up the street. Jamie saw him, standing on a platform in front of a bank of microphones. Senator Trelawny was next to him.

The crowd burst into applause.

Scott was staring at something, deep in concentration. Jamie couldn’t run over to him. He would have to push his way through four lines of people, climb over the barrier and cross the road. He would never even get close. There was only one thing he could do.

Scott…! He projected his thoughts over the crowd, directly into his brother’s head.

And reeled back, stunned.

It was as if he had run into a brick wall. He actually felt it, a physical blow. His head snapped back. He tasted blood.

“Jamie? What are you doing?” Alicia had managed to reach him. Daniel was with her. But Jamie couldn’t explain it to her. Not now.

“Fifty years old today – and before he’s fifty-one, he’ll be the next president of the United States.” The mayor grinned and put an arm around Senator Trelawny. The crowd applauded again.

Scott! It’s me! Jamie tried again. Once again, he was rocked backwards. His brother had built a sort of force field around himself. It had never happened before. Scott wasn’t letting him in.

“Mum…!” Daniel pointed. The policemen had seen them.

What was Scott doing? His eyes seemed to be fixed on the senator. No. It was the big fair-haired man next to him. The security chief. What was his name?

Warren Cornfield removed his sunglasses. Jamie saw him drop them on the ground as if he no longer cared about them. Then he took out his gun.

Jamie understood exactly what was happening. He could see it in the eyes of the grey-haired woman, her expectant smile. This was her doing. It was all happening exactly as she had planned.

A presidential candidate may feel safe, but he is always surrounded by men with guns – and one of those men had just been turned against him. Scott’s powers must have grown stronger than ever. He was giving orders telepathically, without opening his mouth. Jamie could see it happening now.

He was ordering Warren Cornfield to assassinate his boss.

And standing next to him, Susan Mortlake felt the power flow and almost wanted to laugh out loud. How ironic it was that it should be one of the Five who should be instrumental in creating the new world – one that would have President Charles Baker in the driving seat. It was perfect. The blond-haired man would kill Trelawny. There would be two thousand witnesses. Nothing would connect him with Nightrise. Later on, they would assume he had gone mad. And she and the boy would slip quietly away. It was almost too easy. And this was just the beginning…

Jamie was sweating. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t break through the crowd. He couldn’t connect with Scott. But now he could see the gun in Warren Cornfield’s hand. The security man was staring into space, unable to stop himself. Nobody else had seen him. Everyone was watching Trelawny and the mayor.

“Ma’am – I want you to come with us…” The policemen had reached them, the crowd parting to let them through. The officer who had seen them on the bridge was leading them. He was short and plump with brown-tinted glasses and a moustache. Alicia turned to argue with him.

Warren Cornfield aimed his gun at Trelawny.

Jamie was still fighting, trying to reach Scott. But the wall was solid. There was no way through.

It was over.

No.

There was another way…

Jamie turned away from his brother and focused all his mental energy on Cornfield. He sent his thoughts across the street, through all the noise and the confusion, the cheering and the applause, and immediately it was as if he had broken into a private room and Scott was there with him, inside the security man’s head. Jamie heard him giving the orders that were forcing Cornfield to commit murder. At the same moment, he felt the gun in his hand, his finger tightening on the trigger and knew that it was already too late, that he couldn’t stop the man firing.