Free Mind Secrets: A Science Fiction Telepathy Thriller (Perceivers Book 1) by Jane Killick

seatbelts with a sudden stop.
    A large black car had turned into the driveway as they neared the entrance which was only wide enough for one vehicle. They’d come to a stop centimetres from the other car’s front bumper.
    “Don’t these people look where they’re going?!” said Elaine’s mum. She sat there resolutely and made some gestures out the window. After a few moments, the other car backed down. It reversed slowly out onto the road.
    Elaine’s mum put her car into gear and, with the scattering of stones from her wheels, continued out of the driveway.
    Michael looked out of the side window at the offending car as they passed – it was large, imposing, sleek and black. He caught a glimpse of its front seat passenger: He was a middle-aged man with a full head of dark hair, dressed in a suit. He had his elbow resting at the base of the window while he gazed out at the scenery.
    With a chill, Michael recognised him.
    It was Cooper.
    Even though he knew who it was, Michael continued to stare. A moment too long. Cooper turned his attention from the scenery towards him. Their eyes locked.
    Michael ducked down into the footwell, out of sight of the window. Too late, he feared.
    “What you doing down there?” said Elaine.
    Michael kept quiet. He held his breath. And hoped.
    Above him, he heard the tick-tock of the car’s indicators. A rev of the engine. He held onto the back seat as the Renault jolted forward and sped away from the clinic.

CHAPTER NINE
    MICHAEL THREW OPEN the passenger door of Otis’s ugly, dented hatchback. “We need to go.”
    Otis – caught by surprise – jolted in the driver’s seat, almost dropping his phone. “Jesus!”
    Michael hopped in and shut the door. “We need to go now!”
    “What happened?”
    “Go now, ask questions later.”
    Otis started up the engine, put the car into gear and pulled out of the lay-by onto the main road. Michael swung his head round to look out of the back window. There was no sign of Cooper’s sleek, black car.
    “Is someone following you?” said Otis.
    “I don’t think so.”
    Michael sat round to face front and allowed himself a relieved sigh. The road ahead was clear. The speedometer on Otis’s dashboard pushed sixty.
    He braked sharply at the approach to a roundabout. They swung round to the third exit. He put his foot down as soon as they turned off onto the dual carriageway.
    “So what happened?” said Otis.
    Michael checked behind him again to make sure Cooper wasn’t there, then he explained everything.
    “This nurse perceived you?”
    “Yeah,” said Michael.
    “Not possible.”
    “He looked into me. Like you and Jennifer sometimes do.”
    “Adults aren’t ’ceivers.”
    “You can’t know that for sure.”
    Otis glanced in his rear-view mirror and slipped into the left hand lane. “No one had it before us teenagers. That’s why they hate us. Among perceivers, I’m about the oldest there is. It couldn’t have existed before that, people would’ve noticed.”
    “Are you sure? Because this nurse … he must be about ten years older than you – and he had it. I’m telling you, he really had it. You can perceive me if you don’t believe me.”
    “I perceive you believe it, Michael mate, but there’s no way it’s true.”
    “I think it is,” said Michael. “I think they’re lying to you.”
    Otis looked at him. For as long as he could possibly keep his eyes off the road. Like he was really wondering if it was possible. Then he turned away, reached forward and switched on the radio. Music blared out of the speakers. Loud and raucous. He turned it up. The base shook the car in a steady rhythm that blocked out the sound of the tyres rumbling over the road, and chased away difficult thoughts.
    ~
    OTIS ENTERED THE flat and threw his keys into the kitchen. They hit the back wall and dropped onto the worktop below. Michael followed him in and closed the door.
    Jennifer jumped up off the sofa, turning off the TV with the