Chapter 11

22 September

Moving on foot, Alex made good time thanks to his physical enhancements. As he moved, he wondered if he could teleport. Having that ability would make this much easier, but it was something to investigate later.

Arriving at Mr. Burnside’s house, Alex noted that an hour had lapsed since he started out the first time. It was time for Alex to step things up. The first thing Alex did was check for cameras. What surprised Alex was that there were no cameras around. He knew he was in the right place because he could feel the principal inside. Judging from the disruption of the waves, Alex guessed he was with someone.

The lock on Mr. Burnside’s door was so bad that Alex wondered why the man even bothered. It only took Alex two seconds to open the door without using extra mental powers. Lockpicks worked just as good.

Using a captured pistol with a suppressor, Alex entered the house and made his way to where he believed the target was located. Unsurprisingly, Alex found the principal in bed with one of his students. What was surprising was that the student was Tanya.

Before Alex did anything, he wondered what he would do with Tanya. Knowing what he knew, he wouldn’t be able to let her live, but the thought of killing someone so young turned his stomach. Thankfully, neither noticed Alex, so he had some time. A message scrolled across his vision, telling him Guardian and Intell wanted to talk. Alex extended his shield and dipped into his brain.

“What is it?” Alex snapped.

“Alex, we know you feel sick, but you need to grow a pair,” snapped Guardian. “You knew, before starting this, you would most likely have to kill other teens. Tyronne’s gang is too heavily rooted in the local youth culture for you to avoid it. It wouldn’t surprise me if you end up killing some children before the end of the night.” Seeing Alex’s face, Guardian continued. “This is why I didn’t want you to go on this mission. You haven’t had time to completely grow into your powers.” Now, Intell spoke up.

“I have finished processing everything you downloaded from the six thugs you killed. They were from rival gangs and had orders to watch your house and report. Your father was an idiot. He was playing multiple gangs against each other in a bid to keep them distracted while he stole all their money. A couple of days ago, the gangs realized what was happening and met to resolve their differences regarding your father. They were close to nabbing him for themselves, but the Feds got to him first. With the Feds getting your father, the gangs put a hit on your father and have gone looking for someone who might know where he kept the money he stole.”

“Who is in danger?”

“Your mother and several co-eds at college.”

“I have to deal with this first. I’ll deal with that issue later. Since they want to know where the money is, they won’t go killing their prisoners. Thanks, guys.” Alex jumped out of his head.

Alex took a breath and reached out to Mr. Burnside. Diving into his brain, Alex ensured he hadn’t missed anything that morning before continuing to the brain stem. There, Alex stopped the nerve that told the heart to beat.

Within seconds, the lights began to sway, and everything started shaking. The shaking was so bad that cracks opened up, and Alex figured he had had enough. He jumped out of the principal’s head and into Tanya’s. There, he found further information regarding Tyronne, including his current position.

By this time, Tanya knew something was wrong as she tried to wake Mr. Burnside. Not wanting to make it harder on himself, Alex pulled the same trick with Tanya with the same results. Within two minutes, both people were dead. Alex removed their heads before gathering the loot from the house. Since he had already drained Mr. Burnside’s electronic accounts, Alex left the house ten minutes after stepping in.

Again, fire was used, although Alex didn’t use an accelerant this time. He used his pyrokinesis to start multiple fires throughout the home. It only took a few moments for flames to burst through the roof. While Alex wanted to hide the evidence, he didn’t want to push more energy into the flames because he figured if there were sorcerers on the fire or police service, they would almost instantly recognize the fire for what it was.

Alex ran with the two severed heads and hid them with the other six. He also hid the loot in a different location. With everything hidden, Alex took off toward his next set of targets. He almost couldn’t believe how fast he could run now, and was outside the first gang hideout in five minutes.

From the mental signatures, Alex was sure there were fifteen people inside. A few looked to be mixing drugs while others were counting money. Some were drinking or getting high, while the rest were involved in what looked to be a small orgy. Outside, there were two guards. They were Alex’s first targets.

These gang bangers had no idea how to properly stand guard, and they would never learn as Alex slit the throat of one and buried a knife in the back of the neck of the other. After retrieving the thrown blade and cleaning both with the thug’s clothing, Alex slipped into the house.

The house stank of stale booze, drugs, sex, mold, rotten food, urine, and fecal matter, although Alex wasn’t entirely sure where all the poo and pee smell came from. He really didn’t want to find out either. Alex had to block his sense of smell, or he would have vomited everything in his stomach. As soon as his sense of smell was blocked, a message scrolled across his vision saying “thank you.” The stench was so foul that it even affected The Three. Alex couldn’t believe anyone could live in such conditions.

Alex stepped into the main room, and time slowed. There were nine people in the room. One was obviously a slave as she wore a studded leather collar and nothing else. If that wasn’t enough, the dead look in her eyes proved it. Knowing she probably had a horrible story, Alex didn’t jump into her mind, so nothing would distract him.

A quick check revealed that the leader of this group was one of the individuals upstairs involved in the orgy. A knife went into the necks of the two guys counting money; Alex didn’t want blood all over the money. Running as quickly as he could, Alex knifed the three goons mixing drugs in the easiest way possible. From the chemicals lying around, Alex knew how he would destroy the house. The members who were high or drunk didn’t require anything special, so Alex slit their throats.

Time sped back up for Alex as he looked over the room. All nine gangbangers were dead, and the slave was knocked out. Alex didn’t need her screaming and alerting the others. Scanning the lower house again, Alex confirmed nobody else was around, although there were plenty of rats. Alex looked at the rats and shivered, as he wasn’t a big fan of rodents.

Carefully climbing the stairs, he couldn’t avoid squeaky steps, but thankfully, the others were too involved in what they were doing. When Alex stood at the door where the others were, he found himself looking at what looked to be a mother and daughter who were getting gangbanged by five gang members. The sixth was sitting to the side, watching. Alex didn’t have to check their brains to figure out he was the leader.

Brushing across the mother’s brain, Alex immediately wished he hadn’t. He learned the girl downstairs was her youngest daughter. The three had been enslaved after a rival gang moved into their neighborhood. They ended up with this gang when they were used to clear up a debt. The mother thought all three would be dead soon, as their bodies were riddled with sexually transmitted diseases. The daughters were also recovering from recent abortions that the mother had been forced to perform with a filthy coat hanger and without anesthesia.