Free Council of Peacocks by M Joseph Murphy Page A

seen her in an hour.
    When she first left, he assumed she was just
in the restroom. Later, he assumed she must be just chatting with
friends. Now, he knew something was wrong. Punch drink in hand, he
made his way through the crowd of familiar faces. Quickly, he
realized people were looking at him. Pointing. Snickering behind
their hands.
    He leaned up against a wall, took a sip of
punch, and tried to stop his head from spinning. In the darkness
behind his eyes, he saw everything so clearly. She was in the
backseat of a car, topless with another man. Paedrag Lucki.
    David dropped the cup of punch and walked
out to the parking lot. He was furious. Ramona was cheating on him
and everyone would find out tomorrow. Forget tomorrow; most of them
knew now. Face flushed with anger, he wiped tears from his
eyes.
    He wanted them both dead.
    Ramona and Paedrag didn’t see him coming.
They were too focused on each other. He stared at them through the
foggy windows of Paedrag’s car. David clenched his fists.
    An explosion knocked people to the
ground.
    Car parts flew in all directions. People
screamed, ran and cried. Everything around David dissolved into
chaos and flames.
    But inside, David was calm.
    ***
    “You killed your girlfriend,” Jessica said.
“I knew you were a monster.”
    David’s eyes flew open and he spun round to
question them.
    Jessica smiled and tapped her forehead.
    “It was an accident.” He turned around and
stared at his feet. The first two times, he hadn’t meant to use his
abilities to commit murder. The last time, though, he knew exactly
what he was doing.
    The last time.
    Maybe that did make him a monster.
    In the back seat, the girls snickered behind
their tiny hands.
    The Hummer pulled into the parking garage of
a tall glass skyscraper on Bay Street. David saw two armed men in
the attendant booth. The show of strength was unnerving. It spoke
of a back-story he knew nothing about. They pulled into a parking
spot and Elaine opened David’s door. He reached for his bag but
Elaine shook her head.
    “Leave that,” she said. “I’ll have it brought
to your room. Wisdom will want to see you first. Girls, hurry back
to class. No detours.”
    “Class?” David watched as the two girls
walked away, hand in hand. He hoped he’d never see them again.
    “You’ll see in due time, Mr. Ross. Come.”
    Standing in the parking garage, David felt
even more removed from reality than before. It was like an alien
world, filled with concrete and too many shadows. There were no
other cars on this level, nor were there any grease stains on the
floor. With the exception of the soft rumble of the ventilation
ducts, everything was quiet and still. Even in running shoes, his
footsteps echoed loudly back through the empty garage.
    Elaine placed her hand on a flat, red scanner
to the left of the elevator. When the scanner turned blue, she
punched in a series of numbers on a nearby keyboard. Only then did
the elevator open to a dark-skinned giant of a man in a black suit,
and a Doberman Pinscher on a short leash.
    “Get in, Mr. Ross.” Elaine motioned him
forward but did not step into the elevator. “This will take you to
Mr. Wisdom. I’ll meet with you later this afternoon to go over some
paperwork with you.”
    David hesitated. He looked at the dog and
thought of what those teeth could to do to him. Could he stop the
dog before it ripped out his throat?
    Elaine shook her head. “We didn’t bring you
all this way to kill you, Mr. Ross.” She pushed him into the
elevator. “If you intend on lasting here, don’t be so jumpy.”
    As the elevator doors closed, David struggled
to keep his eyes off both man and dog. He was afraid either one of
them could attack at any moment. There was no soft elevator music
to fill the air, just the constant panting of the dog. David
studied the mirrored walls of the confined space and fought a
losing battle with fear.
    ‘Too late for second thoughts,’ he thought.
Sweat ran in streams