Jesse heard the whispers about a plan being hatched. He was still upset about his conversation with Birgit and that Valencia had disappeared. He followed a group of Craig's team to the basement cave where Breanna was updating on the logistics of the extraction.

Betty walked past him, staring at him as though she knew what he had done, watching her until she disappeared out a side door that was said to lead to a section of the garden. Turning back, he descended the stairs and joined the group gathering around the table; looking around the room and those gathered, he sighed. Valencia / Birgit was not there. Where had she gone?

Breanna started laying out the plans for the extraction and who would be a part of it. He heard his name mentioned, his training kicked in, and he found himself immersed in the preparations. For the moment, the problems of Valencia and Birgit moved to the background. He had a job and needed to focus on getting it done.

"Jesse," Breanna called as the others moved to get their gear together.

He moved toward her waiting as she seemed busy with papers on the table. He realised she was waiting until they were alone. Finally, she looked up.

"Have you spoken with Val and Birgit?" she spoke softly.

"Yes," he nodded, "it didn't go well. Valencia disappeared, and Birgit gave me a tongue lashing," he sighed, "which I deserved."

"Where are they now?" Breanna asked, folding her arm across her chest.

"I ..." Jesse propped his hands on his hips, "... I don't know."

"You let her go off on her own?" Breanna frowned, "have you forgotten she is still wanted by Madden?"

"Damn," Jesse muttered; he had forgotten that small fact in all that had happened, "do you want me to look for her?"

"Betty says she will find her," Breanna sighed, "there is a condition to you coming with."

Jesse looked at Breanna, waiting.

"You need to go through the equaliser and modular adaptor."

"What?" Jesse frowned, "why?"

"According to this file left for me by Valencia and Birgit," Breanna picked up a reasonably thick folder. "That is the only defence against Madden's crazed scheme to harvest human energy."

"When am I scheduled?" Jesse sighed.

"Right now," Breanna said, "according to the information, the entire process takes about three hours per person. That can change according to the restrictions placed on the person enhancements."

"We leave in less than four," Jesse said, "how do you know I'll be finished by then."

"You will be," Breanna indicated behind him, "Harvey is waiting for you."

Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Harvey waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's the only way, Jesse," Breanna said quietly, "The information is obvious, and you have several emotional triggers."

Jesse followed Harvey through the house to the room.

"Does it hurt?" Jesse asked

"No idea," Harvey shrugged, "you should have asked Valencia and Birgit when you spoke to them."

"How do you know I spoke to her?" Jesse narrowed his eyes on the man.

"You forget," Harvey's expression became serious, "it's my job to know what happens in all the houses."

"Guess you know what was said as well," Jesse rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Yes," Harvey said, "I would have been gentler and understanding. However, I can imagine how you felt with all the unknowns when they decided."

Jesse nodded, "What do I need to do?"

"Walk in, and the equaliser does the rest," Harvey said, "I wish you well."

Jesse watched Harvey move away. Turning, he looked into the room. Many had gone before him in such a short time. If this was the condition that got him going on the mission. He took a deep breath and walked into the chamber.

Betty walked the rose garden. Valencia was nowhere to be seen. Drawing on her enhanced ability to track where a person had been, she returned to the door. Two colours could be seen, one her own and the other Birgit's. Following the colour trace, she wandered the rose garden stopping at a bench where both colour traces began to mingle. Frowning, she looked up and around. Where could they be? A strange scent caught her attention. Slowly following the smell, she rounded the corner of some shrubs finding three different colour auras mingled with Birgit's. A trace of blood dripped on the grass, making a scarlet trail toward a sandy pathway disappearing into the forest. The colour auras moved into the nearby woods and toward the road.

Pulling out her mobile, Betty typed in a number and moved back into the house as quickly as possible. There was too much trouble brewing and not enough backup. A large man stepped out behind a hedgerow just before the house door.

"They sent a woman to look for the one," he sneered, "you will be easy to dispense with."

"The one?" Betty frowned, "who is the one?"

"The person you call Valencia," he whispered reverently, "we know her as the one who will empower us all."

"Are we talking about the same person?" Betty edged toward the steps, slowly climbing them.

"I think we are," he slowly followed her, "now get me into the house to retrieve the Breanna, and no one will get hurt."

"Retrieve the Breanna ..." Betty frowned, "you seem to have difficulty knowing what you want."

The man pulled a dangerous-looking knife, "Open the door."

"This door can only be opened from the inside," Betty lied hopefully, very convincingly, "I'll have to knock and hope someone is there to open it."

"Open the door," the words were said menacingly as the knife rose.

Betty extended her hand and knocked the specified code on the door, quickly sidestepping as the door opened with a loud bang followed by a few successive shots from a shotgun. Jenkins extended his hand, pulling Betty through the doorway and slamming the door on the gasping man.

"Thank you," Betty breathed heavily, "what is happening?"

Harvey reloaded the double-barrel shotgun as Jenkins watched the monitor to the right of the external doorway.

"There," he pointed to the far left of the screen, "men. They are pulling him onto a cart."

"The same ones that took Birgit into the forest," Betty panted, "we must let Breanna know about this."

"What are you talking about?" Jenkins frowned, "Why was Birgit out there?"

"Valencia and Jesse didn't have a ... good discussion in the kitchen," Betty sighed, "he blew it in more ways than I can say. Birgit went out into the garden; her colour aura was there. I followed it to a bench near the forest path hedgerow, and then it moved behind the hedgerow. It disappeared then. I was able to follow the blood trail to the sandy path, and the colour aura matching those on the men with the cart went into the forest."

"That cannot be good," Jenkins shook his head.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"It's not good," Harvey said, "Madden has been after Valencia and Birgit since the spike when Jasmine arrived. I can only assume he wants her to be able to extract energy from her."

"We need to tell Breanna," Betty whispered urgently, "we need to let her know what has happened."

Harvey quickly typed into the computer near the security monitor, "I'm sending these to the cave."

Breanna heard a computer sounding like a bell at the door. Looking around, she noticed one with an envelope on the screen. Walking over, she clicked on the envelope, wondering who had sent whatever this was. The file opened. Her blood ran cold. She swallowed hard on the cold dread clogging her throat and froze.

"Hey Bre," David called, turning when silence followed. Breanna was staring blankly at one of the computer screens. Frowning, he walked over, looking down at her, "Breanna?" The paleness of her face had him looking at the screen only to see what had caused so much distress.

"That's..." he cleared his throat, "Mitchell."

"Yes," Breanna whispered, "we thought he was dead, but clearly he isn't, and he loved what Darcia and Madden were doing. If he was out there, Madden must have Val and Birgit. Betty apparently went looking for her, and something she found made her suspicious that they had been taken."

"Sure," David nodded, "but taken where?"

"Wherever Madden is," Breanna sighed, "damn, I should never have let her go outside alone."

"You had no idea Madden was planning this," David whispered, "you cannot blame yourself for this. We must get those poor people out of whatever they are being held on the island and stop Madden."

"You know there is a possibility that all of this will not stop with Madden," Breanna hissed, "that's where we went wrong with Darcia."

"If it doesn't, then we just find whoever, wherever and whatever it is and stop that," David hissed back. "The important thing is that we protect our family and what is left of normal human beings."

Breanna felt the hit of his words. Sense filtered through her mind and slowly defrosted the cold surrounding her heart. Nodding, she looked back at the screen.

"You're right," she said, "we need to find Madden and stop him. If he has Valencia with him, we get her back. We get them both back."

"That's my girl," David smiled, "Jesse's gear is all here. He can take it with him as soon as he is ready to go."

Harvey appeared at the bottom of the stairs, bypassing all the groups in preparation for the extraction. He looked pale and contrite as though he blamed himself for Birgit and Valencia's disappearance. Stopping a little short of Breanna and David, he wrung his hands.

"Ms Breanna," he cleared his throat, "I'm so sorry. I should have been more astute to what was happening on the estate. If I had, Ms Birgit and Valencia would still be with us."

"Harvey," Breanna said, placing a gentle hand on each of his shoulders, "You had no idea what was going on. You cannot blame yourself any more than I do. We're going to find them and bring them back."

Harvey nodded. He refused to meet her gentle gaze. Breanna dropped her hands from his shoulders, squared hers, braced her feet apart and her hands behind her back, at ease.

"Quartermaster," she said in a bracing tone. Harvey snapped to attention out of habit. Looking into a twinkling gaze.

"Yes, mam," he said evenly.

"While we are out on our extraction," Breanna began to pace in front of him, "your mission is to keep this place safe from penetration. No one other than those permitted in these hallowed walls enters. I would expect you to have studied everyone who belongs here and know if the person wishing to enter is an imposter. Even if they look like someone who would have permission to enter. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Harvey gave a small smile, "I will ensure the safety of the establishment and the estate until you return."

Jesse appeared at the bottom of the stairs, eating a hamburger.

"I see that the procedures have been completed on Jesse," Breanna said, "that was quick."

"Jesse isn't finished," Harvey frowned, "he is still in the modulator."

Time seemed to stand still for a moment before everyone went into action. Cara frowned, shaking her head at Oran, who turned to fire a fighting star from his hand toward the person who looked like Jesse while yelling, "That is not Jesse."

The Jesse lookalike lifted a long barrel gun, pointing it at Breanna.

Harvey dove for an emergency lockdown button.

David domed the groups around him and those at the table. The lookalike pulled the trigger, the sound exploding in the cave. The gunshot reverberated against the walls jarring everyone to the bone.

Breanna braced her feet apart, holding the lookalike with her mind. Clio moved across the room, still covered by David's dome, placing her hand on the person's forehead and becoming very focused. Tania suddenly joined Clio extending her arm with a fisted hand. She punched the lookalike hard. The head snapped back, and the body crumpled to the ground. Changing back into the face and body of an estate cleaner.

"She was in the equaliser," Fiona said, "but she didn't go into the modulator. She got off the hospital bed when she woke up and left."

"That is why she went down too easily," Harvey sighed, "I wonder why she changed to Madden's side."

"My guess is Madden is holding someone she loves dearly," Jarred said, "she has to do this for that person to live."

"Clio?" Breanna looked across the room and waited.

"They have her entire family," Claire supplied. "They are using this person's imminent demise as an emotional trigger to drain them," Claire sighed, looking down at the woman on the floor. "They have started the extraction already."

Jenkins appeared at the bottom of the stairs, "We can put her in the dungeon."

"We could put her through the modulator and get her a limited gear set. She can suit up when she comes around," Breanna said, checking her weapons and ammunition. "Once she has been modulated, move her into the train and make sure she is strapped in."

Harvey and Jenkins moved the body upstairs to have the person modulated before being placed on the train. Tania set about putting together a set of gear and loading it into the compartment the would-be attacker would be.

"I'm going to check on the modulator," Harvey said from the stairs looking at his watch, "I think the process with Jesse may be completed shortly. Then we'll put her through it as well."

Jenkins said something in Harvey's ear, and together they took the stairs two at a time to the top floor.

"He really was worried about all of this," David indicated the room and then the train, "I see that you are with fellow blamers."

"What?" Breanna turned to David, "fellow, what?"

"Blamers," David said again, "you know ... people who blame themselves for everything that goes wrong."

"Oh," Breanna grinned, "I guess we can start a club soon."

Screaming filled the air as bodies writhed against the walls, curled up on the floor or trying to crawl away from the agonising pain of invisible needles pulling at the very fibre of their being.

"How is the extraction going?" Madden asked, blandly watching the tortured people in the circular room below.

"Meeting your requirements," the technician said, watching the control panel, "we will have to recalibrate after this one."

"Why?" Madden said, frowning, "we have to build resources. The investors will be here in forty-eight hours."

"We can still build resources," the technician said, "if we do not calibrate the machines after every two sessions, we will experience severe breakdowns. Besides, the merchandise needs to re-energise."

"More merchandise can be obtained," Madden waved his hand toward the view glass, "getting more equipment may not be that easy."

The technician waited while Madden paced in deep thought.

"Do the calibration but be ready for when the investors arrive for the demonstration," Madden glanced into the room below as the technician switched off the machine. The sounds of torture died away into the sounds of misery.

"Has the parcel been collected?" Madden asked absently.

"The parcel has been acquired and will be delivered within the next few hours," the technician murmured, "where are we to put her?"

"The parcel will be placed with the rest of the merchandise," Madden said, leaving the room.

The technician watched him leave before motioning to two other technicians to join him as the calibration was started.

"He is more insane than Darcia," one of the technicians said, looking at the control panel, "a calibration isn't required."

"We will do it anyway," the first technician said, "we will do it thoroughly, and we will do it as if we have all the time in the world."

The three technicians looked between themselves, smiling, "I think being very thorough is necessary."

Slowly they began work, chatting about the requirements for calibration and the happenings in the outside world during the day.

Below, in the chamber, bodies lay where they collapsed or pulled themselves to lean against walls as the agony dissipated.

"Did you hear about another parcel being delivered?" a man whispered to those nearby, "maybe we can overpower whoever brings the parcel in and get out of this hell hole."

"If they run another extraction, we will not be in any shape to do anything. Nevermind overpower whoever brings the parcel in," a panting woman said, pushing herself up from the floor.

"I heard that calibrations are needed before another extraction is done," a young man panted, crawling painfully toward the wall, propping himself up.

"How long do you think that will take?" a young woman sniffed, wiping tears from her face.

"Not sure," the first man said, "but we have a moment to gather our strength and a little energy."

"Who do you think will be the parcel?" sobbed the young woman.

"No idea," the young man part panted, part groaned, "but it has to be someone big. They have been tracking her for a while."

"Her," the word came on a whisper into the sudden silence. "The only her with the kind of energy and emotional triggers Madden requires for this deranged scheme was suppressed years ago. If they are bringing who I think they may be..." he shook his head, "we're all in serious trouble."

"Who are you talking about?" the young woman swiped at her cheeks again.

"Birgit," the man sighed, "I thought Val was safely away from all of this."

"You know the person they are bringing in?" the question came from a body resting on the room floor.

"Yes," the man sighed, "I knew both of them. They saved my life."

"Then let's hope she does it again," the first man inhaled while resting against the wall, "if she cannot save us, there is no hope for anyone.”