The Misfits

Cassidy

The trip to Brighton, South Carolina was long but uneventful. The kids rested along the way, so they would be ready when they got there.

They arrived early, so they stopped to eat while they waited. A little before eleven, Jaden drove to the meeting place, parking behind a building with an empty rear lot.

Robbie, Cassidy, and Wanda got out to wait, while everyone else ducked down in the back, hiding from sight.

Robbie took out two big zip ties and put them around Cass’s and Wanda’s wrists, only doing it upside-down. This allowed the cuffs to be pulled off with little effort.

A white Econoline van pulled into the lot, and in front of Jaden’s van. The lights were on, temporarily blinding them and all three put their hands up to block the light.

The lights went off, and two men got out of the van. They wore black tactical gear and masks pulled up, covering most of their faces.

The driver asked, “Where is Andre? Who are you?”

“Andre had a little accident. Jose sent me in his place.”

The man looked at Robbie, then Cass and Wanda. “We were told you’d have one. This isn’t one.”

“Yeah, I can count. Jose found another at the last minute. He said if she was what you needed, you could pay him next time,” Robbie said.

The man pulled his sidearm and Cass recognized it as their tranq guns. “Which one is the telkie?” he asked.

“The what?” Robbie asked, confused.

Cass sighed. She hadn’t thought this part out. Robbie didn’t know about their abilities, thinking he didn’t need to know, but this man was going to screw that up.

Cass opened her mouth, but Wanda beat her to it. “I am,” she said.

The man pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. It hissed and the dart sped out.

Cass was ready and she caught it just after it left the barrel, arcing it around Wanda and into the neck of the second Facility man.

He gasped, grabbing his neck, then fell over.

“They’re supposed to be drugged,” the first man yelled, panicked, trying to reload his dart gun.

“Oops,” Robbie said as Cass pulled off the fake cuffs. She yanked the gun up, pulling it from the man’s hand, breaking both his finger, and his nose at the same time as the gun hit him in the face.

The man turned to run but Wanda had rooted him to the spot while he was trying to reload. He fell over, cursing as he hit his broken nose.

Cass bent down next to him. “We’re going to go for a little ride now. You have two choices. It’ll be easy. Cooperate or die. Your choice.”

The man said nothing, so Cass said, “Have it your way.”

She focused her inner Darth Vader and made her good hand into a C while putting pressure on the man’s windpipe.

He began to gag and choke as he could no longer breathe.

She looked at him. “Did you think I was kidding? You kidnap kids, holding them, testing them, torturing them. I was hoping it ended with Hugo Forrester, but I see it didn’t.

“With or without your help I’ll destroy the Facility and those who run it. But since you’re only a flunky, I was giving you the opportunity to do the right thing. If not, then you’re one of them to be destroyed.

“See your friend over there?” Cass said, pointing to the tranquilized man. “Just so you know how serious I am, watch.”

Using her power, she dragged the man around so they could both see the man’s head.

Cass eased up on the first man, so he didn’t pass out before he saw. She raised one of the man’s arms, then snapped it so it was at a very unnatural angle, before dropping it.

She then did the same to his other arm.

Since the man was drugged, he felt nothing thankfully.

Cass didn’t want to do this, but she needed information and help, so it couldn’t be helped. “I did that to prove a point. That I could. Easily. What you need to see is this,” she said and snapped the man’s neck.

If the sound wasn’t enough, the fact that it was at an almost ninety-degree angle to where it should be was telling. With just a little more pressure, she could have simply ripped it off.

The man made a retching noise, and Cass let up, so he didn’t die choking on his own vomit.

Cass looked away and stood up as he upchucked.

Robbie had looked away, feeling ill himself, but Wanda didn’t. She looked as determined as Cassidy.

When the man stopped heaving, Cass aske d, “So, I’ll ask you one last time. Are you going to help, or end up like your partner there?”

“Please!” he exclaimed. “I have a family.”

“And would you like your kids kidnapped?”

“No. No. I’ll help, just don’t kill me,” he said to her.

Cass told Robbie to go open the back of the van. He did and the others got out of Jaden’s van.

Cass left the Facility man still alive where he was and telekinetically moved the other into the back of the van.

“Everyone get in the back. Jaden, follow behind us at a distance. Take Robbie.”

He started to protest but Cassidy stopped him. “We talked about this. You’re staying behind. I don’t want you hurt.”

“But what you did…”

“We’ll talk about that later too. Or Jaden can fill you in while you wait. But you’re waiting.”

She went back to the man and told Wanda to let him up.

Wanda did and the man stood shakily.

“Get any bright ideas and you’ll end up like your friend,” Cass told him. She had him get into the passenger’s seat and she got into the drivers said. “Directions?” she asked, and he told her.

As they drove, he said, “You’re the one who escaped, aren’t you? I heard about you and the other two. You’re supposed to be in Georgia.”

“Well, here’s a funny little story. Someone, either the Facility or your buddy Jose, caused an accident,” she said holding up her arm in the cast. “I had to get a CAT scan, which found your little tracker. It was removed – from all of us. So, yeah, it’s still in Georgia. But obviously I’m not.”

They drove and as they approached a field, the man told Cass she was getting close.

“What kind of defenses?” she asked.

“Cameras basically. There’s no real need for much else.”

Cass sped up, knowing that time would be of essence once they were seen on camera.