Charlene nodded.
Amanda meowed. Extremely convincingly. She paused, and tried again, slightly louder.
Charlene watched the woman—five-feet six inches, incredibly fit, dark skin and short jet-black hair—slip off the bed and approach the patio door. The click of the lock. The door sliding open.
Mattie reached inside, grabbing the woman’s wrist, and held on tightly.
“The boy,” Charlene said in crude Spanish.
Amanda raised her right hand, palm out, while lowering her head. She stared with a crazed expression. Amanda’s push drove the woman’s chin up and clenched her teeth so that her cry for help came out like someone choking on a fish bone. Mattie reacted physically, as if electrically shocked. She let go of the woman’s wrist.
That proved to be the game changer. Amanda’s pushing used enough force to keep the woman’s jaw set; but once Mattie released the woman, that same force was enough to throw the woman off her feet and onto the tile. In that instant, Amanda’s energy was no longer aimed at the woman, who managed to call out.
“Dillard’s in her thoughts,” Mattie panted, “but I didn’t see where.”
A man burst through the bedroom door. Amanda threw her push at him, pinning him. But a second man followed. The woman guard dove and tripped up Mattie, who tumbled back onto the patio.
Amanda’s energy had to be tapped, Charlene thought. If she pushed again…
Charlene attacked the woman guard, pulling her off Mattie. The guard swung at Charlene, and froze as her hand swiped through the hologram. Charlene had witnessed this reaction before: the stunned incredulity that made no sense in a physical world—a fist did not swing through a person. It was impossible. The brain cannot process such information. It requires a second attempt before settling on a hypothesis.
As the woman wound up to throw a second punch, Charlene took her by the throat and pinned her to the tile.
“Where’s my friend?”
The guard fought against a girl made of light. It was too much. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she passed out, unconscious from fright.
Amanda threw the second man against the wall, but lost the first man in the process.
“To the left!” Charlene cried.
Amanda released the two inside, and—with a strength Charlene could hardly believe—pushed to her left, into the darkness of the patio. A man only Charlene had seen lifted to his feet and flew away from them. Amanda returned the force to inside the room, just catching a guard running at her. She staggered, nearly spent.
“That’s him!” Charlene shouted to Mattie. “That’s the guy!”
Mattie displayed nerves of steel. She stood and marched through the door. Amanda redirected her force, knocking the man down. Mattie grabbed hold of the man’s ankle; her body shook.
Amanda couldn’t do everything at once. Charlene ran across the patio and shoved the guard as he attempted to stand. He kicked at her, but his feet did nothing but flop in the air. She shoved him again. He struck his head on a stone in the path and was dazed, blinking furiously to maintain consciousness. Returning to her friends, she arrived in time to see Mattie release the man’s ankle; then Mattie fell back onto her bottom.
“Oh…no…” Mattie said. “We gotta get out of here.”
“Run!” Amanda shouted, as she gave one final push. Both men and all the furniture in the room lifted off the floor and flew, slamming against the far wall. Amanda turned and followed Charlene and Mattie into the woods.
Charlene led the way, hoping her sense of direction was good. The guards would know the area far better than they. It was a footrace now, and all they had was the lingering hope that the guards would not think to bring harnesses with them.
“Dillard?” Charlene cried out, tormented at having failed in their mission.
“He’s on the bus,” answered Mattie. “The man was thinking about a zipper on a duffel bag getting stuck. A boy was in the duffel bag. The woman…she was thinking about the duffel getting to the ship.”
“What?”
“I think Dillard’s back on the ship.”
“But why?”
“Don’t know. Stones. A tunnel. Like the drawing. A monster. Different, but similar.” She ran fast and easy. They helped Amanda, who was dragging. The kidnappers were closing fast.
“Similar how?” Amanda asked.
“Blood and death. The monster. The someone who’s going to die? It’s going to be…Finn.”
Both Amanda and Charlene skidded to a stop at the same instant. They stared at Mattie. The sound of the guards grew louder and closer. Mattie ran past them.
“Come on!”