Oblivion by Adrianne Lemke Read Free Book Online

sides as my mind wandered away—or tried to anyway. Honestly, I was just
figuring blanking out might be better than facing whatever they had planned for
me.
    My plan failed
when I felt them grab my arm and shove what felt like a harpoon through the
skin. I yelped and tried to grab at the spot with my other hand, wincing when
the restraint pinched my wrist. “What was that?” I asked, staring up at them
intently.
    “Just something to
make sure you aren’t able to disappear on us. It isn’t something that will hurt
you, but it will tell us your location in case you manage to get away during
our initial testing,” the second man said.
    The man in charge
spoke while his friend stuck a little bandage over the injection site. “Getting
away is not likely, and if you try you will be punished.”
    I wanted to ask
about Jeremiah, but I wasn’t sure if they were aware that I knew about him.
Bringing him up now could be a mistake. “Good choice, Jason,” Jeremiah’s
voice sounded in my head, and I flinched a little.
    “Just do what I
say and nothing outside of our testing will happen to you,” my captor said
smugly, apparently believing my flinch had been a reaction to what he said, and
not to the sudden voice in my head.
    Not that I wasn’t terrified
of what these people could do to me, but having another person speaking
directly into my mind was a bit more nerve wracking than threats of potential
violence. And didn’t that say a lot? Maybe a part of me could remember, because
I had thought I should be more scared of the people holding me than the person
trying to help me.
    “ Jason, you
need to cooperate. At least for now. Don’t give them an excuse to hurt you,” Jeremiah suggested.
    It was hard to
admit, but he was right. I forced my tense muscles to relax, and took a deep
breath before responding.
    “What do you need
me to do?” I asked woodenly, not meeting their eyes.
    “We’re going to
take you to one of our testing rooms. You’ll be monitored, and you will show us
your powers.”
    Frowning, I asked,
“How do I show you?”
    “The details will
be given to you once the testing begins. For now we will simply be testing the
range of what you can do. From what I understand from our mutual friend, you
are quite powerful. Know that we have ways to control you. If you fight us, we
will bring in your brother. You wouldn’t want to bring him into this, would
you?”
    Brother? The
surprise made me swing my gaze up to the man. Once again misunderstanding my
reaction, he continued, “Just do what we say, and baby brother can remain safe
with your friends. Fight us, and whatever happens to him is on you.”
    “I’ll do what you
say,” I gritted through clenched teeth. If I do have a brother, I definitely
don’t want him anywhere near these men.
    “Good choice, young
man. You may call me the Doctor, and you can call him Boss or Sir. It’s not his
name, but he does like the feeling of being in charge. You will do whatever
either of us tells you to do. I will not always be available to monitor your
testing sessions, so he will be in charge of you on those days. Both of us are
permitted to test you as we see fit. Punishments are the same. If one of us
punishes you, do not try to play us against each other.”
    Whatever had been
pushing Jeremiah away from my mind before had stopped acting up; now his comments
came through loud and clear—perhaps because I was straining to hear anything
from someone who was on my side. These people wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me.
    Apparently
Jeremiah had continued to monitor my situation, because he said, “These
people are dangerous. As I said, play along for now. I am still working out how
we can get out of here. I will tell you about your brother later.” He
seemed angry, and practically spat the word brother, but it confirmed that what
the Doctor said was true.
    I have a brother,
and because of me, he could be in danger.

NINE
    Jeremiah

 
 
    Rattling my
restraints