Free Paranoia (The Night Walkers) by J. R. Johansson Page A

felt shaky beneath me and I forced myself to stand up straight. “What kind of danger?”
    “They have him, Parker.” Jack walked closer to me and lowered his voice, checking the back door to make sure Mom wasn’t there before he finished. “The Takers have finally caught up with your dad.”

    We struggled through an extremely awkward ice cream sundae where I fought hard not to look like an upset teenager pushing his melting rocky road around in circles instead of eating it. Mom still looked concerned, but Mr. Nelson—Tom—was a welcome distraction. When I said we were going to my room to play computer games, she didn’t seem too worried.
    “Make eye contact with your mom,” Jack muttered as we were about to walk down the hall.
    With a quick nod I went over to them, shook Tom’s hand, and gave Mom a quick hug. “If we don’t come out before noon tomorrow, send in Coke and Milk Duds.”
    She laughed and I met her eyes for a second or two before following Jack down the hall to my room.
    Once the door was shut, I flipped on the small lamp by my bed. Then I grabbed my sunglasses from the dresser, tossing him the extra pair just to be safe. “What happens when two Watchers make eye contact?”
    He pushed the glasses onto his nose and shook his head. “Same as when your Dreamer is awake. The empty space, except you’re stuck in it together. I prefer dreams, though … the empty space is boring.”
    “Agreed.” I grabbed my backpack and started dumping it on the bed. “How far away is he? We need to pack things up.”
    “Parker, this is why I didn’t want to tell you.” Jack plopped down on the chair in front of my computer. “We aren’t going after your dad. Now is not the right time. To be more specific, you are not the right person.”
    I sat down on the bed and dragged the empty bag onto my lap. “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “It means you inherited more than just your dad’s blue eyes.” Jack rested his elbows on my desk and bumped my mouse, making the screen light up. In the dim light of my room it cast an eerie shadow across half his face. “You have his temper, too. If you think for one second I’m taking the person he asked me to protect into the heart of everything he wanted to keep you safe from, you’re even crazier than I thought.”
    Everything in me wanted to argue, wanted to pin him against the wall and force him to tell me where Dad was. I gripped the straps of my backpack so tight my fingertips went numb. Jack’s spine stiffened, like he could feel me sizing him up. I had a few inches on him. Since I’d started getting more sleep after the fire, I’d put on some muscle. While Jack was thin and probably very fast, I was stronger. If I caught him off guard, I could do it. There were so many things in my room I could use as weapons. Whether I decided to just hurt him or kill him …
    I stopped and my skin went icy-cold in an instant.
    This wasn’t me. This was everything I’d spent months fighting off. I mentally shoved Darkness back with all my strength. I couldn’t help my father until I got control of him first.
    My twisted half appeared again, looking furious as he leaned against the wall in the far corner of the room.
    “Someday you’ll understand. Not all my ideas are bad just because they don’t come from you.” And then Darkness dissolved back into the shadows.
    His appearing and disappearing again and again was really getting exhausting. He created a war everywhere I went … in my house, my room, my head. How long could I keep fighting him off?
    “What do you suggest we do?” I picked up my newly emptied backpack and took out my frustration by shoving everything back into the bag—hard. “What do they want from him?”
    “They’ve been after him since he left you guys, but they’ve never caught him before.” Jack’s head shifted back and forth as he watched my motions. “We know for certain he’s alive. They need him alive. For now. That has to be