Then another thought jolted him: the boy believed the drug would heal his mom. "Toby, wait!"
But it was too late. Toby had already reached the street and turned right, presumably toward his house.
Drake needed more of the drug. For that brief moment while the drug worked in him, he'd been whole again, and he'd heard Sam.
First, he had to stop Toby. The drug wouldn't work the same way for his mother, and Drake didn't know what damage it could cause a person who didn't have para-powers.
With full strength back, he ran after Toby. He turned right and searched the street. The boy turned left a few blocks down, so Drake sprinted to catch up. He skidded around the corner just as Toby entered a beaten-down shack a few houses up.
He hollered again, "Toby!"
Either the boy couldn't hear him or didn't care. Probably both. Toby thought he held a magic cure for his mom, but dread gripped Drake's heart. Only one person could create a drug like this and distribute it to the streets in hopes of finding other paranormals: Sam's father. And he wouldn't care about the casualties.
Drake ran harder, nearly out of breath by the time he reached the house.
The door hung open, so he stepped in. "Toby, where are you?"
No sound.
"Toby?"
The house looked as if it had been ransacked by gangs. Graffiti stained the walls, the furniture lay toppled over and cut apart, and the smell of vomit and mold permeated his senses. He dashed into what he assumed was either the bedroom or bathroom, and found Toby and his mom on a stained mattress on the floor.
He fell to his knees.
Blue liquid stained their lips. They each clutched an empty vial. The mother held her son in a final embrace as they lay there, still and lifeless.
"No! Damn it, no! Why?"
He rummaged around on the floor, looking for anything that might save them, but found nothing. He shook their bodies, did mouth to mouth, used all his first aid training, but dead was dead, and they didn't come back.
This blue drug, a savior to him, was a death sentence to anyone without powers.
Grief choked him, but he didn't have time to wallow in it. He had to act fast, to figure out what to do next. What should he do with their bodies? Whom could he call? How would he even call? He'd seen a pay phone outside, but did he want to get involved with this—illegal drugs and two dead bodies?
Just as Drake rose to leave, Toby's hand twitched.
Chapter 74 – Sam
I push the truck back and forth on the living room floor, then slam it into the block. "Vroom, vroom, watch out!"
I'm me, but not. I look down and see the body of a little boy. I'm in his mind, in his memories, not my own.
Around me, beautiful things hang on big walls. The furniture is fancy, the kind kids aren't supposed to sit or play on.
Someone comes into the arched glass doors that lead to the foyer. The little boy knows what a foyer is, though he thinks the word is funny.
A man walks in, tall and handsome. He's holding a baby.
I—or rather the boy in me—jump up, excited. "Is that her? Is that her?"
The man smiles. Something about his smile makes me—the real me—shiver. But the boy I live in doesn't seem to notice. He's focused on the bundle of pink blanket.
The baby wiggles and the man holds her out. "This, Son, is your baby sister. Isn't she beautiful?"
I nod. "Maybe when she gets older we can play together." I can't wait to play, to have a little sister.
The man shrugs. "Maybe." He looks at the baby again. "Isn't she perfect?" He holds her in front of a window and the baby almost seems to glow. "She may be the one."
"The one what, Daddy?"
"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it. I have to put her down for a nap. Your mother will be home soon, and I want to show her the new baby. You stay here and play."
The boy doesn't listen. He follows his daddy up the staircase, too full of excitement to stay still. "Which room will she sleep in? Can she sleep with me? I don't mind sharing."
"She won't be staying here, Son. No. She has another destiny ahead of her."
The boy looks again at his little sister. She's so cute, with soft dark hair and big blue eyes. He wants to hold her, but knows his daddy won't let him.
His daddy looks at the baby and smiles. "She's the key. One day, she'll solve everything."
***
I woke up, heart beating through my chest, a fine sheen of sweat covering my body. What a freaky dream. Something told me it was a scene from the Seeker's life, but what did it mean?
A niggling of foreboding nudged me, and I panicked. My baby! Where is my baby?
I looked around and saw her in the arms of the last person in the world I expected to see.
Mary stood, cooing and staring at Ana, unaware that I was awake. She murmured to herself. "She's so beautiful."
The words echoed my dream, and a shiver ran up my spine. "Mary, give her to me."