Marilyn Kaye - Gifted - Now You See Me

‘And there they were at the dining table, the conspirators,’ Amanda said. ‘Clare, the kidnapper. Stuart Kelley. And . .’ she paused dramatically.

Jenna couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘Mr Jackson.’

Amanda’s eyes shot daggers at her, but she was distracted and rewarded with Ken’s wide-eyed reaction.

‘So it is true?’

Amanda nodded solemnly. ‘He’s one of them, Ken. The second I saw him, the shock sent me right back into myself. But I decided I was going to find out more about this. That’s why I took the job in his office, so I could spy on him. On Mr Jackson , Ken. Not you guys.’

Ken offered a weak smile. ‘OK, I was wrong about you. I’m sorry.’

Amanda affected the look of a martyr. ‘I just wanted to prove to you all that I could do something to help us.’

‘Did it ever occur to you that we could have all worked together and accomplished more?’ Jenna asked.

Amanda made a face at her. ‘Look who’s talking. Miss Sociability. Since when have you been into teamwork?’

‘Since I came to grips with reality,’ Jenna shot back. ‘You should give it a try sometime.’ She turned to Ken.

‘Can I use your phone? I want to make some calls.’

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.