Chapter 11 – First Impressions

When Cindy became conscious again she realised that she was lying in her bed. She also got the awful feeling that she was not alone. How ironic, she was afraid of being alone and yet she was also afraid of not being alone.

She didn’t want to open her eyes but what if she was in danger? She sensed that this other person was in her room. It must be Chelley or Amy. Brant? No, she didn’t think so. She tried not to stir and pretended to still be asleep, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Who are they?” asked an unfamiliar male voice. Cindy felt like the question was directed at her. Was it?

“Come on, I know you’re awake, who are these people?” the voice asked again persistently. Yes it was.

Cindy opened her eyes, she was facing the window and it was still light outside. She sat up and saw a boy about her age sitting at the desk holding some photos in his hands. The photos were the ones she had dropped when Brant knocked on the door. He didn’t appear to be threatening. “They were my family,” she informed this mysterious person, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“Were?” asked the boy.

“They’re dead now,” Cindy told him. Cindy felt that this boy was not a stranger, she knew him from somewhere.

“Oh, sorry. Well they were just lying on the floor,” he said sympathetically, regretful that he asked the question. “You should take better care of them, they must be real important to you.”

“I will,” Cindy responded.

He must have realised that Cindy was feeling uncomfortable, because he stood up and introduced himself, “Hi, my name’s Heath, I’m Brant’s son. You do know who Brant is?”

“Hi, yeah I do, I’m Cindy,” she answered. He was quite handsome Cindy thought to herself. Wait a minute! This was the boy from her other dream! That’s where she’d seen him before. Cindy calmed herself, “What are you doing here?” Cindy got out of bed and noticed that she was still in her clothes, thank goodness for that.

“Oh, Dad told me to come and look after you, and tell you what he was doing.” Heath explained. He walked over to Cindy and handed her the photos. “You were pretty cute,” he said, indicating the picture of Cindy and her mum at the beach.

“Were?” Cindy challenged.

“Still are,” Heath replied. He walked out of her room and Cindy followed him into the kitchen, smiling. He leant on the kitchen bench.

“Were you in my room the whole time?” Cindy asked, taking a seat at the counter.

“Yeah. I was pretty much watching you sleep,” he answered sarcastically.

“Really?” Cindy questioned.

“No!” he denied. “Well just for a few minutes… Anyway, Dad, Chelley and Amy have gone to the factory place,” he said, trying to change the topic. “Would you like a drink?” He seemed to be relieved about getting that cleared up.

“No thanks I’m right. What time did they leave?” Cindy couldn’t believe how well she was getting on with this person. It was as if they’d been good friends for a while.

“About an hour, hour and a half ago. It’s about 12:30 now,” he said looking down at his watch. “I’ve got a bad feeling though, I think we should go and check if they’re okay,” he advised.

“Are you sure?” Cindy queried. “I don’t think I can go anywhere ‘cause I’m…”

“You’re wanted by the police, I know,” Heath cut her off. “But I don’t know if I can do it without you, I’m really worried about them.”

Cindy couldn’t resist his appealing expression; “Do you know where the factory is?”

“No, but I’m pretty sure there are some Yellow Pages in there,” he pointed to the study.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go get them.” Cindy instructed.

Heath and Cindy started flipping through the Yellow Pages, “It’s called the Stratton factory,” Cindy told him.

“Okay,” he replied, “What a weird name!”

“Yeah, pretty strange, huh?” Cindy added.

Cindy wasn’t really sure if Heath knew about the powers and everything, but it turned out she didn’t have to worry about asking him. “Wanna see something cool?” Heath grinned at her, flashing perfectly straight teeth.

“I s’pose,” Cindy responded.

Heath held out his hands over the phone book and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath in then started muttering some words to himself. Cindy looked down and noticed that the pages of the phone book were turning! And Heath was doing it without touching them! The pages stopped flipping and near the middle of the left page ‘Stratton Factory’ was printed in big bold letters. “Here we are,” Heath announced, satisfied with himself.

“That’s amazing!” Cindy praised.

“Thanks,” he bent further down to get a closer look at the address. “Write this down, will you?”

“Sure.” Here was Cindy kneeling down next to someone she’d only met a few minutes ago, and yet she felt so safe and comfortable, like she would do anything for him. Cindy scribbled the address down on a notepad, then tore off the sheet and handed it to Heath.

“Looks like we’ll need a street directory now!” Heath laughed. “You’re getting it this time, though!”

“Fine,” Cindy conceded, and walked off into the study in search of a Melways.

Cindy had found a great friend in Heath, just as Heath had in Cindy. Perhaps deep down Cindy wanted more than his friendship, but she’d have to wait and see. She looked back at him from the study. His wild brown hair, playful eyes, tanned skin, great teeth, great personality, and friendly voice. He looked up at her and smiled, she nearly melted. “I wonder what he wants,” she whispered to herself.

When Cindy stopped looking at him, Heath started listing all the wonderful things about her in his head. Her eyes, her hair, her voice…

Chapter 10 - Maree Park

When the boot of the car opened again she squinted, unaccustomed to the light. To her alarm, when her eyes did adjust, she saw a gun was pointed right at her. “Get out,” she was ordered.

“Okay, okay,” Callie obeyed. She looked around - she was in some sort of factory. There were big, heavy, metallic pipes everywhere and construction tools positioned around the room. It was cold.

“Sorry missy, we’ll have to put this on you,” one of the other men from the car informed her. He put a blindfold over her eyes, and she was left in darkness again. “This way.” She was led somewhere, and she lost track of which way she was facing. Thankfully these people didn’t walk her into any walls.

“Why are you taking me here?” she asked in distress.

“Sorry, we can’t say.” Was the only reply.

All of a sudden she heard whispering and she was taken into another room, she could tell because the temperature grew a little warmer, then a new pair of hands led her to a chair where she was instructed to sit. She did as she was told and felt ropes being tied around her. “What on earth are they doing?” Callie thought to herself.

Callie had to wait a few minutes before anyone said anything to her. After those few minutes, which felt like hours, she heard an older man’s voice, “Welcome, ahh, what’s your name dear?” the voice asked with insincere interest.

“Callie,” she answered, there was no point in lying.

“Welcome Callie, I am pleased to meet you. I’ve been waiting to meet one of you three for quite some time now,” said the mysterious, faceless voice.

“What do you mean?” she questioned, trying her best to look genuinely stumped, which was hard when you had a blindfold on.

“You know what I mean. Don’t be daft with me, girl! Now, you might as well see who I am.”

“Phillips, remove the blindfold off the young lady,” the voice commanded.

Sure enough the blindfold was removed and Callie saw an Asian man wearing a business suit standing in front of her. The voice had a face at last. “And you are?” she questioned.

“Does the name Hartono, ring a bell?” he smiled destructively.

“You… you’re him?” Callie stuttered, a shocked look appeared on her face.

“Yes, it is true. You’re lucky, you’re the first one of the little brats to have the pleasure of meeting me,” he said conceitedly.

“You are so up yourself,” Callie said with a sudden hatred. It was time to outsmart him, time to use her power. She didn’t care how much it hurt; she had to get an advantage over him. She concentrated and, yes, she had it!

Just as Mr. Hartono was going to say something, Callie interrupted him, “No, I have a proposition for you.”

Mr. Hartono gawked at her, “My-my, you are a smart one. Go on, what’s your deal?”

“Untie me, I need to show you,” Callie explained, hoping that he was dumb enough to fall for it.

“Nice try, Kelly,” she wasn’t in luck.

“It’s Callie,” she corrected.

“Callie, whatever. How foolish do you think I am? Now you listen to me.” Mr. Hartono scratched his head. “Now, I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’m afraid I have no choice. You see I have to be at a very important meeting today…”

“Where?” interrupted Callie.

“None of your business, I’m afraid.” She read his mind again, Maree Park. Somehow, she had to tell the others.

“Oww,” she winced. Her power was hurting her head again.

“Aww, in pain are we? Well you’ll be in even more pain unless you tell me where your friends are.” Mr. Hartono said unsympathetically

“Larry, can you come out here. I want you to meet somebody,” he beckoned to someone hiding in a dark corner of the room.

“Larry, Callie. Callie, Larry.” Mr. Hartono introduced. “Larry is a good friend of mine.” He went on, grinning at her, “You’ll like Larry.”

The man who walked from the corner of the room looked like he was a bodybuilder or a wrestler because he was so muscular. He cracked his knuckles whilst walking over to her. Mr. Hartono did the talking, “If you’re smart you’ll tell me where your friends are and what they’re doing. If you’re not, Larry here will introduce you to his fists.”

Callie thought it over, she couldn’t betray her friends no matter what, “I don’t know,” she said, “if one of us gets caught, we move, so it doesn’t happen again.”

“She’s lying!” Mr. Hartono accused. “Larry, you know what to do,” he said, not taking his eyes off Callie.

Larry was just about to swing a punch when another man walked into the room and whispered something in Mr. Hartono’s ear. “Wait!” Mr. Hartono instructed. “It looks like your friends have made it easier for us.” Callie had no idea what he was talking about.

“Bring them in,” Mr. Hartono ordered.

Callie could not believe her eyes. Brant and Amy were led into the room, and they both looked the worse for wear.

“Guys!” Callie said in dismay. “What have you done?”

“Sorry,” Amy uttered, not making eye contact with her.

“Three down, two to go,” Mr. Hartono laughed out loud.

Chapter 9 – Callie’s Ordeal

“I hope Amy doesn’t fall asleep,” Callie said to herself as she was running down the footpath, breathing heavily. She found her rhythm again and kept on running steadily along the pavement. She waved to an elderly couple walking their dog and turned the corner into Stradella Avenue. “Come on Callie, halfway there, let’s see if we can break the record today.”

Callie was becoming very concerned about how it hurt every time she used her power. “Does it mean I’m losing the power?” she asked herself, worriedly. It only started to happen when Cindy came; maybe it has something to do with her. Those were the only two possibilities she could think of. She is the eldest, she has to look after everyone, comfort everyone, how could she do that without her power. For once she wanted to be comforted, to be cared for. She had their respect, but what good is respect when you’re not loved. She frowned.

Callie was wearing her running shoes, jogging shorts and black crop top, and she had her hair tied back in a ponytail. It swished back and forth with every step and a bit of it came loose and fell across her face, she tucked it back behind her ear in frustration. As she wiped some sweat off her forehead, she got a horrible feeling that she was being followed. She turned around but she couldn’t see anyone, or any cars for that matter. “You’re just being silly, Callie, there’s no need to worry.” She reassured herself. She turned around again, no one was there, but she noticed that the street was practically deserted. There were no people out walking, walking their dogs, joggers, or cars driving past. It was totally empty. Now Callie was getting freaked out and started running faster, towards the sanctuary of the house.

The feeling was still there, and now she heard a car engine behind her. She didn’t dare look back, she just kept running. She stepped on a stick and it cracked under her foot, a leaf fell down on her from a tree, a fly buzzed past her shoulder. All these little things making her even more terrified. The wind started whipping against her, as if trying to hold her back, cutting at her arms, legs and face like tiny knives.

She glanced sideways, a grey car had drawn alongside her, the passenger door opened, and an athletic looking man jumped out and started chasing her. Callie panicked and that affected her running. She was slowing down! The man caught up to her and tried to hit her over the head, but she dodged it. She turned around to confront him and noticed that two other men had gotten out of the car, which had stopped, and were also heading her direction. To Callie’s horror, she noticed that they had guns. One of those men was Cindy’s follower.

She tried to catch her breath, but she was exhausted. All she could do was dodge the oncoming attacks, and she didn’t know how long she could do that for. The combination of exhaustion and fear caused her to collapse onto the ground; this was so out of character for her, that she couldn’t believe she was doing it herself. Callie Windsor, giving up, what had become of her?

The man, who had chased her, kicked her in the ribs then bent over and grabbed her by the shoulders. She was a mess, her hair was everywhere, she had tears running down her cheeks, and blood coming out the corner of her mouth. They took her back to the car and carelessly shoved her in the boot.

Callie was still in shock and when the engine started she realised that they had her, and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Chapter 8 – Cindy’s Dream

As Brant started reading the letter Cindy shoved the ring into her pocket and picked up her chair that she had knocked over not long before, Michelle and Amy didn’t seem to notice. “It’s damn Hartono again! I knew he was the only one capable of doing this,” he shouted, raising his voice unnecessarily high. He slouched back down in his chair again.

“How could they though? Callie should have been able to protect herself well enough,” Michelle questioned; this was obviously a major loss for them.

“Her martial arts should have protected her, yes, I honestly don’t know Chelley.” Brant admitted. So that was Callie’s other power, besides mind reading.

Amy changed the subject, noticing that Michelle was pretty upset, “Why are you here anyway? We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

“It’s because I have some information and it could have been what we’d been waiting for, but without Callie I don’t know if we can make it happen.” Brant told her looking up from the note.

“Can I see the note please?” Cindy asked curiously.

“Sure Cindy, if you can read it,” Brant acknowledged.

Everyone was quiet for a while. No one really knew what to say, or if they did they didn’t want to. Brant slid the note across the table and Cindy picked it up then uttered a quiet “thanks”.

It turned out Brant was the one to interrupt the somber silence, “What I was going to do today was sabotage the meeting between the Protector and Mr. Hartono.” He said ‘Mr. Hartono’ with such animosity that it made Cindy wonder why Brant hated him so much.

“How’d you find out about the meeting?” Michelle asked with interest. Michelle was so different now, so different to her usual fun-loving self. She was glum and disappointed. Cindy wouldn’t be seeing any of her smiles for a while.

“I have my ways. He’s also planning on stealing the statue from the Protector, so it’s a good chance for us to steal it from one of them. I’ve waited all these years for an opportunity like this and now…” Brant trailed off.

“Oh my gosh!” Cindy exclaimed as she looked up from the note. “This is so creepy!”

“What is?” Was all Brant could say. Michelle and Amy looked in her direction for the first time since coming back with the note.

“You know that dream I was gonna tell you about, Amy,” Cindy couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Yeah?” Amy replied a little puzzled.

“It was just like this!” Cindy stopped to catch her breath. “Callie got kidnapped and then some strange people took her somewhere, then I met a man, which must have been you, Brant, then you two came back with a note that said exactly this,” she said excitedly, holding the note high in the air.

“No way,” Michelle proclaimed, “Yesterday the vision and now this!” She let out a big breath and turned to Brant.

Cindy left out one part of her dream, the part about a boy her age. She didn’t want to tell them about that, that was private.

“A vision?” Brant asked.

“Yes, but never mind about that now, can you remember where they took Callie?” Michelle quizzed intensely; Cindy saw a glimmer of hope flicker across usually cheerful brown eyes.

“Not exactly,” Cindy’s hand felt for the ring in her pocket, checking that it was still there. “I think it was a warehouse or a factory, something like that,” Cindy vaguely recollected.

“Think harder, were there any distinguishing things around the place?” Michelle interrogated; her heart was set on finding Callie.

“I’m not sure…” Before Cindy could finish her sentence she became lost, lost in Michelle’s eyes. Another vision. Brilliant colours flashed in front of her eyes then she saw a younger Michelle sitting behind a tree, alone and crying. Suddenly Callie walked up to Michelle and started comforting her. She lifted Michelle to her feet and held her hand then they walked off together. Now she understood why Michelle was so upset, she was so close to Callie. Another vision, it was of Callie, and she was tied up…

“Cindy? Cindy?” Everyone was gathered around her, looking worried.

“Cindy are you okay?” Amy inquired. “What happened?”

“I had…”

Michelle butted in, “Another vision? Is that it?”

“Yes,” Cindy answered. She was feeling weak but she didn’t want to forget what she just saw.

“Get her a glass of water,” Brant instructed Amy, then turned to Cindy.

“Cindy, what did you see? Take your time,” Brant said thoughtfully.

“Callie…” She closed her eyes.

“No-no-no, don’t close your eyes,” Michelle warned.

Cindy forced her eyelids open. “Stratton factory,” Cindy murmured.

“Callie’s in the Stratton factory, is that it?” Brant asked.

“Yes…” Cindy blacked out.