Death Sleep ~ Book Three

three.

When Lance was a child, his parents also noticed that he had a special ability. But unlike Jake's parents, they were not afraid of him. They did, however, take him to a psychologist who referred them to a doctor, who referred them up several lines until they were called in by the military. They had been informed that they had a paranormal unit and were studying people with this particular ability. Lance was tested and found to be of a formidable level of talent and placed on a list.

If Lance thought back, he would have been able to remember walking down long hallways, his hand in his mother's, past another little boy, just a couple of years older than he. He would have remembered how that boy had looked at him so jealously and how that boy scared him. But Lance had put those memories out of his mind. He had no reason to hang on to them. His life was a beautiful thing with loving parents, then a beautiful wife and a precious daughter, and to top it all off, a career that was everything he could ask for. Memories like the one about the frightening boy were not something a happy child holds on to.

Jake, on the other hand, did remember the little frightened boy that held his mother's hand so tightly. Jake knew about the list of other children with his talent. But none of them had had the drive that Jake possessed. None of them were as successful in the testing. Jake had won the spot, almost by default, but then he earned it through sheer will.

When the call came, Lance's hand shook as he listened to the man on the other end of the line. When he replaced the receiver, his wife came to him, fear in her eyes for what she saw on her husband's face.

"They've called me in," was all he said. It was all he needed to say. His wife knew about the list, also, and knew what it meant to be called in. They needed his ability. Leaving Liza with a friend, Leslie and Lance met with General Advan in a room, deep within the military base.

"I regret to have to call you in, Lance. And I regret that it is under the most grievous circumstances."

Lance waited, white knuckled, for the General to tell him why he was there.

"We have had a breach with one of the others with your same ability. No, that's not right, it's not the same as you, it's so much worse. I hesitate to show you these things, but you need to understand what we're up against." The General slid a manila folder across the table to Lance. His hands shaking, Lance opened the folder. Inside were photos of a woman, or what was left of her. Leslie reflexively screamed and Lance retched in a nearby trash can.

The General closed the folder and pulled it back to him, his face grief stricken. He waited quietly as the couple pulled themselves together. When Lance had settled back into his chair, pasty white and sweating, the General continued.

"Again, I regret having to show you something that horrific. The operative, Baxter, is a very powerful dreamwalker. That was his wife."

"What!? He did that to his own wife?" Lance looked at Leslie. Even the mere beginnings of a thought of harming her made him want to die. He couldn't begin to imagine it. Not without being physically ill again. Tears streamed down Leslie's face.

"This man is a trained killer, the best in his field. He has killed many terrorists over his career. But something inside of him snapped. He has a three year old son who was there when his mother was...killed." His voice tripped over the word "killed." That word seemed too kind of a description of what she went through. "We don't know, yet, what kind of repercussions this is going to have with the boy."

This was almost more than Lance could bear. The man had a child the same age as Liza, and he did this in front of him? His brain couldn't process the horror.