Chapter 9

When Nate went into the room filled with people and saw the state Aiden was in, he knew they were in trouble. At first, he had no clue how he’d help Aiden. Although Nate was powerful, he was currently very vulnerable, his body was too weak to fight.

He could use his telekinetic abilities, but fighting at such a great distance would be unfavorable. That’s when he decided the best way for him to help Aiden was to power him up. After spending a decade trying to contain his soul within his body, he had expert control over it.

Focusing inward, he drew out the spirit essence within his body. Ever since his soul core was shattered, he no longer had soul energy condensed into a ball, like other humans. Instead, his soul essence was spread throughout his whole body.

Once he condensed that energy and sent it outwards, he used his mental abilities to form the God’s Javelin. The strain of creating the spear was negligible, once it formed he combined the two forces. The javelin floated above his body, cackling with a violent purple lightning. The same lightning that tried to kill him ten years ago.

The soldiers in the room grew alarmed once they saw what was happening. They tried to run forward and stop him, but he used the spear to deal with them quickly. He then sent the spear to Aiden, leaving behind a bunch of unconscious soldiers laying by his bedside.

Ten minutes later, Aiden had begun fighting with the angel. Although Nate’s spirit was with Aiden, his mind wasn’t. He knew once the fight broke out the Guardians might head towards him. He gave Aiden some parting words, then focused on his body.

Being in two places at once was a strange feeling. Seeing two different images was taxing for his mind to try and comprehend so he had to focus. Aiden would just have to deal with things on his end.

The door to his room opened. Nate couldn’t help but smile as the doctor he’d spoken to earlier entered. She glanced at the bodies lying around him before approaching his bedside.

“What happened here?” She said in a worried voice.

“They tried to kill me.” Nate said, opening his eyes.

The confusion on the doctor’s face reassured Nate that she wasn’t privy to the things going on here. “Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know. But I need you to get me out of here.”

She grew alarmed as she realized what Nate was asking. “I can’t do that!”

“Please! It’s only a matter of time before reinforcements come, I need to be gone before then.” As Nate pleaded he sent a tendril of mental energy, carefully slipping it into her ear.

“I-I don’t know…” The doctor said, torn between doing the right thing and doing the lawful thing. The Guardians were the law, and somehow this weak figure that should be dead, had instead subdued half a dozen of them.

If I do nothing he dies. She suddenly thought.

But it’s against the law, I’d be jeopardizing everything!

Could you live with yourself if they killed this defenseless boy?

The doctor grabbed her head in frustration. It seemed like she was at war with herself. She knew if she made a move her whole life would change. But if she kept her head down and did nothing… could she live with the guilt of letting someone die?

That’s not why you became a doctor. That thought hit her like a sledgehammer. It shattered any hesitation she had left. She ran out of the room and returned five minutes later with a wheelchair.

“Do not move a muscle.” She warned him, “Lifting your body and making you vertical will ramp up your heart rate to dangerous levels. Let’s not do anything to raise it further. Just sit there and try to remain calm, okay?”

Nate nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. The woman removed the covers and transferred his body onto the wheelchair. Nate knew he was in a bad condition when the woman barely struggled with handling his weight.

Once he sat down on the chair he felt his heart rate go up just like the doctor said. Although he tried to prepare himself, he wasn’t ready for the nauseating feeling that washed over him. His heart was beating so fast he felt like he was going to faint at any minute.

The woman began to wheel him out of the room but all he could focus on was keeping his heart in check. The feeling was so uncomfortable that he thought about using his mental abilities to try and slow his heart rate, but he didn’t have the slightest clue on how the human body operated. To go randomly poking around might end up doing more harm than good.

The sound of shouting caught his attention. Looking up, he saw a soldier pointing a gun at the doctor and yelling at her. The woman held her ground and yelled back, standing in front of Nate protectively.

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Nate felt a little bad. The woman was protecting him so earnestly because she was convinced to do so. He’d slipped several suggestions into her mind, convincing her to help, and now here she was ready to defend him to the death. Although it was manipulation, Nate didn’t feel too bad. All he did was use what was already there.

The woman - who he found out was named Alicia - was naturally a caring person. Although she cared about what would happen to him, her instinct for self-preservation overwhelmed any inclination to get involved. All Nate had to do when he slipped into her mind was to tip the scales in his favor.

The yelling grew louder, but Nate had heard enough. The man continued yelling at Alicia, the gun pointed at her forehead and his finger on the trigger. Suddenly the man felt his body seize up. He pressed the trigger, but his finger refused to move.

“GO!” Nate yelled.

Alicia ran behind Nate and wheeled him out of there as fast as she could. The man was frozen in place. Once Nate and Alicia turned the corner, Nate let go of the soldier.

Don’t do anything stupid or you’ll regret it. Nate spoke into the man’s mind.

The man’s eyes grew wide with fear. I have to report this!

The man reached for the walkie-talkie on his shoulder but before he could speak into it his body seized up again. This time instead of staying locked in place, it moved. His body moved without his permission.

His right hand reached up, the gun still in hand. The barrel of the gun pressed against his temple. The man wanted to piss himself, he was so scared. His body was moving on its own and all he could do was watch.

You should’ve listened. Was the last thing he heard before his finger pressed the trigger and the world went dark.

Alicia jumped at the sound of a gunshot. She looked back, afraid the Guardian had followed them, but when she saw no one in the hall she made a beeline for the elevator.

This is so crazy! This is the craziest thing you’ve ever done! She thought to herself as she jammed the elevator button.

You’re doing the right thing. A part of her whispered.

“Thank you.” Nate said as he reached up and touched her arm. Their eyes met and suddenly, Alicia felt the tension leave her body. She was doing the right thing. If she died, she’d die with a smile on her face knowing her parents would be proud.

The elevator dinged. Alicia pushed Nate inside and hit the button for the lobby. It felt like the elevator was slower than usual as it went down to the first floor.

Nate took the time to check in on Aiden. He saw the fight he had going with the angel was still raging on. He grew worried when he saw the angel summon enough golden spears to fill the sky, he thought about helping but his senses reached out and he saw what was waiting for them on the first floor.

The elevator stopped on the first floor and the doors opened, revealing a dozen Guardians with their guns all pointed in their direction.

Alicia almost screamed when she saw all the guns pointed at her, but a second later the Guardians relaxed. Several of them looked at each other, confusion written across their face. “That’s impossible, isn’t it? The elevator cameras showed they were on this one. Did we get it wrong?”

“Nah, I checked it. It was this one for sure.”

The Guardians continued to argue amongst themselves when Nate spoke up. “Hurry!”

Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise. “You?” She whispered, afraid the Guardians might hear them, even though they were several feet away.

Nate nodded his head. “Be careful not to bump into them.”

Alicia maneuvered amongst the Guardians who were now talking into their radio trying to figure out what went wrong. She watched in amazement as one of the Guardians seemed to be looking straight at her. She paused for several second, but when she noticed his gaze was focused behind her she moved to the side.

The man stepped forward and reached into his pocked, pulling out a card.

“Really? We got all this shit going on and you want to grab a snack? How can you even eat, given the situation?” They heard someone shout at the Guardian who’d walked past them.

 She noticed the man was holding a credit card. He was getting ready to slide it in to buy something from the vending machine when the other Guardian spoke up.

The Guardian looked at the credit card, confusion on his face. “I-I don’t know… I’m not even hungry… weird.” The man said as he shrugged his shoulders and put the card back into his pocket.

“Are you going to watch them all day? It’s not easy to keep them distracted!” Nate hissed, disturbing Alicia from her thoughts.

“How are you doing this? Are you controlling all of their minds?” She whispered as she wheeled Nate towards the front door.

A sudden thought entered her mind. What if he’s controlling my thoughts?

That thought quickly went away as she remembered why she was doing this. At the end of the day, she couldn’t look away as her patient was killed. She shrugged the idea off.

“It’s not easy.” Nate said as he reached his hand up and began massaging his temples. “Convincing them of something like ‘Nobody’s in the elevator’ is quite difficult actually. Especially when they’re looking straight at me, but playing on their doubts and drawing their attention away from us helps.”

Alicia wanted to ask him something that just came to her mind. “Could you convince someone to kill themselves?” She blurted out.

Nate shook his head. “No, not unless there were already suicidal thoughts in that person’s mind. At the end of the day I cannot force someone to do something if it’s against their will.”

The Guardian he made shoot himself wasn’t mind controlled. The brain would never be convinced to do something like that unless that person was already thinking it. Instead what Nate did was to control the Guardian’s body. Forcing his arms and limbs was much easier then forcing his mind.

Alicia went towards the front doors and saw all the chaos that was going on outside. People were yelling and screaming as they pointed to something in the distance. There were a dozen people outside, and their number was quickly becoming larger as more people joined the audience.

She re-routed her path towards the back of the hospital. If she could get Nate on one of the ambulances, she could probably convince one of the E.M.T’s to help.

“Alicia! Alicia!”

Several of the staff called out to her, but she didn’t respond. She hurried towards the back entrance. As she approached the doors, she turned Nate around and pushed open the door using her back. She pushed until his wheel chair was cleared then turned him back around.

What met their eyes were three figures: Aiden, Idris, and the angel. Aiden’s eyes went wide as he saw Nate sitting in the wheelchair. He rushed forward enveloping him in a hug.

“You really are awake!” Aiden laughed hysterically. “I can’t believe it!”

“You’re crushing me!” Nate laughed. Aiden relented, he pulled back and placed his hands on Nate’s shoulders.

“How do you feel?”

“Good enough.” Nate said then he turned towards the bald mage with an eyebrow upraised. The bald mage stood there with an angel over his shoulder. He saw Nate looking at him and nodded his head but didn’t say anything.

“Let me explain…” Aiden began.