“I don’t know,” Mike answered weakly, reaching up and rubbing at his temples.

  “Did you try to kill Davis Millman?”

  “It’s so hard to remember,” Mike said, pulling his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. “My head hurts.”

  “Did you try to kill Davis?” Ed asked again, more forceful.

  Mike winced, crowding tighter into the corner.

  Ed started to move into the cell but Darren put his hand on the older man’s shoulder, stopping him. Ed glared at the guard captain but softened, nodding. He crouched down in the entrance, getting eye level with his son.

  “Mike,” he started. “Micheal. Look at me.”

  Mike looked up at his father. Loch almost took a step back, there was a look of such anguish and pain etched into Mike Turner’s face. He couldn’t imagine what Ed was feeling at that moment. Mike Turner looked broken.

  “I don’t know why I did it,” Mike said, then stopped, shaking his head, he let out a laugh. It sounded pitiful, sad. “I know why I did it. I wanted him dead.”

  “Why?” Ed asked.

  “Because then I could have Harper,” Mike answered.

  He looked at his father then up at Loch, realized it was Loch, and cowered deeper into the corner.

  “I’m sorry,” Mike said quietly. “I didn’t want to. Not really. But it just sounded like a good idea when I heard it.”

  Ed looked up at Loch, both confused. Loch wasn’t sure he had heard right.

  “When you heard it?” Ed asked. “Heard what and from who?”

  Mike shook his head, reaching up and holding his own head still. He started tapping a finger against his temple.

  “In here. I heard it, in here.”

  “Did someone talk to you in your head?” Ed asked, voice almost breaking.

  “No,” Mike said. “Yes.”

  Ed looked up at Loch, who shrugged. He didn’t understand any of it.

  “There’s a Voice,” Mike said, quietly. “It speaks to me sometimes but not loudly. Always there, in the back of my mind. Mine and others. I can’t hear them but I can feel them.”

  “Who is this voice?”

  “I don’t know. There isn’t one. Maybe it’s just me? Could I be hearing things?”

  “Mike,” Loch said, slowly, calmly. “Who are the others?”

  “Are there others?” Mike answered, tapping at his head again. “I don’t know.”

  Loch tapped Ed on the shoulder, motioning him to step back. Reluctantly, eyes on his son, Ed did so. Loch closed the door. The three went back to the open area by the entrance, all looking at each other confused and worried.

  “What the hell was that?” Darren asked, breaking the silence. “Sorry Ed, I…”

  Ed raised his hand.

  “It’s okay. I… I don’t know… I..”

  Ed buried his head in his hands, body shaking.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Darren asked. “All that rambling, that talk about a voice?”

  “I don’t know,” Loch said. “It’s obvious something happened to him or has been happening to him.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “What do you mean?” Ed asked, looking up at Loch, expression full of hope.

  “You and Susan both said that he’s been changing since the Connected System hit. He’s been angrier and harsher?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe something has been slowly affecting him? Pushing him to this point?”

  “It seems to have ramped up,” Darren said. “Going from being angry to deciding to try and kill Davis is a huge jump.”

  As if he heard Darren, Mike started screaming. The sound poured out of the cell, snapping all the attention. Ed’s face turned pained at the sound.

  “It’s here,” Mike yelled, voice sounding pained. “It’s here. The Voice. The Voice is here!”

  “Voice?” Loch asked.

  Yelling came from outside.

  The three ran into the corridor, heading for the lobby, stopping as a body came crashing down onto the floor at their feet, followed by an angry man charging at the downed man.

  “You lying..” the charging man growled, jumping onto the other.

  They started punching, rolling on the ground.

  “What the hell?” Loch asked.

  Darren reached down, grabbing the collar of the man on top. He pulled, tossing the man further down the corridor, glaring down at the other.

  “Stop now,” he growled out.

  Loch and Ed stepped around into the lobby, stopping at the scene of craziness. Multiple people fought, throwing fists, kicking, grappling on the ground. More could be heard in the cafeteria. Through the glass of the doors, Loch could see the flash of various colored lights, the sign of Abilities going off. The doors flew open, bodies crashing outside, letting in the sound of metal on metal, the grunts and screams of people fighting and in pain.

  Loch didn’t know what to do, where to go. His people were fighting everywhere and they were fighting his people. Friends, neighbors. Some looked like they were fighting defensively, others more aggressive.

  “Stop,” he heard from multiple.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I hate you.”

  “You lied…”

  “You get the special treatment. I hate it.”

  “Stop, I don’t want to hurt you.”

  And then the same words, over and over, coming from those that were the aggressors.

  “The Voice.”

  “It’s here. The Voice is here.”

  “The Voice.”

  Loch could see that there were less aggressors, more fighting defensively. Others stood around, trying to figure out what to do. They reached for the aggressors, only to get punched or kicked. Even biting. Some of the Clan had gone feral.

  “Grab them,” Loch yelled, catching the attention of the others. “Knock them out, tie them up. Just do something. Don’t kill them.”

  The sound of his voice snapped something in every member of the Clan in the lobby. The defenders reacted, trying to do what Loch ordered. But the aggressors all stopped their fighting, turning to face Loch. Their faces were a mix of rage and hate, all focused on Loch. One by one, they started rushing at him.

  The first attacker reached Loch, arms reaching out for him. He twisted, grabbing the man’s outstretched arm, taking the weight and slamming the man into the wall. He crumpled to the ground, moaning. Loch ignored him, turning to face the next attacker. Through the mass of people, now that the attention was on him, the defenders were having a somewhat easier time grabbing the attackers.

  Once they felt hands, the attackers thrashed, trying to get away. It took two or three to get every one attacker down on the ground, people running for rope as others literally sat on top of the aggressors, trying to use their weight to stop the people from moving.

  To the side, he saw a man grabbing at Ed, reaching for the throat. Ed’s face was panicked. He was no fighter, he didn’t know what to do.

  Throwing the attacker to the ground, Loch stepped into the press of people. He didn’t want to hurt anyone but he had to get through the lobby and get outside. Loch didn’t know what was outside but he could feel something.

  A Presence was there, coming closer, not quite yet in the yard but almost there. It spread out over the grounds, starting to affect everyone. Loch could see it in the eyes of the defenders. Their efforts to stop the attackers got more aggressive. Instead of trying to subdue them without hurting, now they didn’t care. He heard someone cry out as a bone was snapped, arm bent in a way it should never have been.

  He didn’t know what it was, what this Voice was, but he knew he had to get out there.

  Which meant getting through a lobby full of his maddened Clan.