Authors: Sophie McKenzie
The others were in high spirits. Geri had promised that we didn’t have to attend any more camps and she was planning on sending us back to Britain, to a secret location, for some rest and relaxation. ‘Your families will be allowed to visit and, from now on, I shall be involved in your lives on a day-to-day level, overseeing both your training programme and your Medusa Project activities.’
The others couldn’t see further than the promise of family visits. But I couldn’t face being part of the project any more.
Not the way Geri ran it.
Behind me, the others were lounging on the beds, laughing.
‘No way,’ Nico teased Ketty. ‘If we were in Scooby Doo then you’d be Shaggy.’
‘If I’m Shaggy, then you’re Fred.’ Ketty laughed. ‘Totally vain and not quite as clever as you think you are.’
‘
What?
’ Nico turned to her in mock-horror.
‘
I’m
Fred.’ Dylan wrinkled her nose. ‘And by the way, Fred’s not vain or stupid. He’s the leader. The smart one.’
‘But Velma’s the one who always figures stuff out. She’s the
really
smart one,’ Ketty argued.
‘Then Ed would be Velma,’ Dylan said. ‘
I’m
Fred.’
I looked round. What were they all going on about?
‘You okay?’ Ketty smiled, but I could see the anxiety in her eyes. She was worried about me.
I nodded. ‘Listen—’
But before I could say what I needed to, the door opened and Geri walked in. She looked like she had the first time I’d met her, smartly dressed in a red suit with not a single hair spoiling the sleek line of her bob.
‘The flights are booked,’ she announced. ‘We leave first thing in the morning. You’ll have a week to recover, then a week of intensive training, then it’s back to missions. We’re going to have to use more cunning to get you in play than we did before. But this experience should give you a lot of confidence. Now I know you’ll be able to handle whatever I throw at you.’
I looked round at the others. Weren’t they going to object to being used like this? A sullen silence met Geri’s words. Nobody spoke.
‘You’ll be pleased to hear that Fernandez and the local police are under investigation and the street children you rescued from that cellar in San Juan are being looked after by the proper Spanish authorities.’ She sighed. ‘I owe you all an apology for sending you to that training camp.’
‘We shouldn’t have been sent to
any
kind of camp,’ Dylan said.
‘Maybe not, dear.’ Geri paused. ‘But you can’t deny that you needed a lesson in discipline . . . because what you did before . . .’
‘Because what we did before was
right
.’ The words were out of my mouth before I’d realised I was going to speak. Everyone stared at me. ‘And we’re going to carry on doing just that. The right thing. At least, I am.’
Geri frowned. I met her eyes, resisting the pull to mind-read her. We stared at each other and, for the first time, I realised how small-minded and uptight she really was.
‘I’m not trying to stop you doing the right thing,’ she said briskly. ‘All the criminals I’m going to send you after need to be stopped.’
I shrugged. ‘Maybe. That isn’t the point.’
Geri cleared her throat. I could feel Nico, Dylan and Ketty watching me, but I kept my eyes on Geri.
‘Ed,’ she said in a conciliatory tone, ‘I know you’ve
always
had issues with using your Gift but—’
‘I don’t have issues with it any more,’ I said.
Geri raised her eyebrows. ‘Well, good, then—’
‘Then nothing. I didn’t want to be able to mind-read,’ I said. ‘But as I can, I plan to use it to help people.’
‘But that’s what the Medusa Project
does
,’ Geri insisted. ‘And you don’t have a choice about being part of the project, you know that. You can’t leave.’
‘I’m not saying I want to leave,’ I said. ‘I’m saying I want to choose who I go after and who I don’t. I want it to be
my
choice, not yours
.
And I want proper attack and defence training. Every day.’
Geri glanced at the others, clearly hoping for some support. I looked at them as well. Nico nodded at me. Dylan, too. A small smile crept round Ketty’s mouth.
‘But, Ed dear, you’re in no position to decide which criminals need to be dealt with most urgently,’ Geri said, sounding flustered. ‘Or when and how to make best use of your special skills. None of you are.’
‘Aren’t we?’ Nico folded his arms. ‘Why not?’
Geri’s mouth opened and closed again.
‘Ed’s right,’ Dylan said, getting up off the bed. ‘If we’re in the Medusa Project, then it has to be
our
project. You can give us options, but
we
decide who we go after.’
Ketty smiled. ‘Exactly.’
A lump lodged itself in my throat. I was prepared to go ahead on my own, but I couldn’t deny how good it felt that the others were with me.
‘This is ludicrous,’ Geri blustered.
‘You don’t have a choice,’ I said. ‘If you lock us up then you can’t use us. And if you send us out on a mission or to another camp or something, then we’ll just run away. Well,
I
will.’ I glanced at the others.
‘We
all
will,’ Ketty said.
Nico and Dylan nodded.
‘You’ve obviously made your minds up.’ Geri pursed her lips. ‘Well, it’s not as easy as all that. You’ll see.’
She left. As she closed the door the others turned to me.
‘Way to go, Mr Ethics.’ Dylan laughed.
I looked from her to the others. There was a new respect in their eyes.
‘Why didn’t you say something before?’ Ketty said. ‘What you’re suggesting is a brilliant idea.’
‘Yeah – but you might have warned us you were going to get all assertive,’ Nico said. ‘We could have braced ourselves.’
I laughed. Then I remembered Luz. I wandered over to the bay window which stuck out at the end of the room.
It was good to have everyone’s support but, in the end, I was still alone.
We all are.
I knew that now.
Dusk was settling over the crowded city. Lights came on, sending the grey walls of the local buildings into shadow. There was bustle everywhere, with the old and the new, ancient shacks and modern tower blocks all mixed in together. The window was shut, but you could just make out the muffled yells of street traders and the blaring of a million car horns.
‘You can still have a laugh sometimes.’ Dylan appeared beside me. ‘Just because Luz’s gone doesn’t mean you’re never going to enjoy yourself again.’
I raised my eyebrows at her. ‘I thought
I
was supposed to be the mind-reader round here.’
She shrugged.
I glanced over my shoulder. Nico and Ketty were chatting, their heads close together, poring over the hotel’s in-house movie list.
‘Don’t those two make you sick?’ she said tartly. ‘They’re so freakin’ loved-up all the time.’
I stared at her, suspiciously. How come Dylan was being all chatty with me all of a sudden? And then I saw that she was actually trying, in a very Dylan-ish way, to be friendly.
I grinned. ‘Are you trying to bond with me, Dylan Fox?’
She grinned back. ‘Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just the only one left in the room to talk to.’
She wandered off, into the bathroom. I turned back and looked out over the city again. More lights were switching on.
Luz meant ‘light’
, I thought to myself.
I sighed.
God
, was absolutely everything from now on going to remind me of her?
Oh well, maybe there were worse things.
‘Hey, Ed, come and watch this movie we’ve found,’ Ketty called.
‘Yeah, it’s advertised as “the thinking person’s werewolf movie”,’ Nico added. ‘You’ll love it.’
And, smiling, I turned away from the window and walked back across the room.