Page 61 of One Step Sideways

And I didn’t even think Danny would mind me swearing this time. I could see clearly through every wall.Every wall.It took me way too long to realize that I wasn’t looking at Blaze and Cherry in the same cell with two beds, but that they were simply next door to each other. I narrowed my eyes and sought out the rows of cells, the corridors, the cars. Wait,the cars?

My legs gave way, and I sat down on my bed. I could see the parking lot and I lifted my gaze to the sky, and immediately winced. I had to blink a couple of times to get the black spots out of them and quickly realized looking at the sun with my increased vision was a really bad idea.

I turned my attention back to Cherry and tried to concentrate on just him, then mentally expanded my vision very slowly to Blaze’s cell, then into the next that had a man I’d never seen before. Then into another with Mark. Thenanother stranger. Then based on the treadmills and other equipment, I guessed this had to be the gym. Then…my breath hitched. I could see some sort of wider space and two people in uniforms standing at the door, and another one bent over a figure lying on a pallet. He was strapped down and unmoving and I couldn’t see his face. There were another two enhanced in what I assumed were small spaces next to the man tied down. What the fuck was going on? The C.O.—I could see his uniform—turned, though not enough that I could see his face, and said something to the other two, then laughed.

Then he stretched his arm out to flick a button on whatever machine seemed to be monitoring the guy on the pallet.

And then I saw it.

The tattoo.The one I’d seen on one of the guys that had been with Saunders when he’d broken into his mother’s house and tried to take Rain. The arrow was more visible, except it wasn’t an arrow. It was the tip of anchor with rope coiled around it, and as I narrowed my gaze I saw the exact spot where the tattoo faded, and the same slight scar through the letter U. It was the same man. Which meant…what? Nothing good.

And where the hell was Shae? I quickly scanned my immediate area. The more I tried, the better I could widen or narrow my vision. I didn’t need to see miles from the prison, even though I thought—with practice—anything could be possible, but I did need to see what was going on inside it.

I’d already determined that I could see through some things and not others. Metal, concrete, and whatever our cells were made of, yes. Which seemed completely random. Human skin was a no, and as I stared at my plastic spoon from my meal, I realized simple plastic also seemed impenetrable , which made zero sense.

How could I see through concrete and not cheap plastic? I couldn’t see through paper either, I discovered. I turned to stare at the office next door. One of the C.O.s I recognized was using a keyboard. He had a pen in his hand, and I could see right through it, so I guessed it wasn’t made of plastic.

The warning buzz that my door was opening sounded and as I jumped up, I could see Danny and Ringo on the other side. Wait?Danny?He wasn’t allowed in the pods.

I scrambled to the back as instructed in case we were being watched and saw the C.O. in the office glance up at the monitors and continue looking at them. I was pretty sure he was watching me. And then I realized I’d been so focused on seeing the cells to my left, I hadn’t looked to my right where all the admin was. The control room was obvious as it was to the right but there was a bank of monitors mounted high on a wall with windows. Three C.O.s I recognized were all in there. I could see the office next to me and then the clinic and some more storage areas, and what I guessed were locker rooms.

Danny and Ringo entered and out of the corner of my eye I saw Mark look over in our direction. He’d clearly heard the buzzer and the door opening and I wondered how good his hearing was and if he could actually hear us speak. Which could be a problem. “Mark,” I whispered, and he didn’t react. “Mark,” I said loudly and saw him whirl around and stare at the wall. I sent him a mental apology but knew now to keep my voice to a whisper. As they stepped in, I realized Danny wasn’t a C.O. and I had to follow the rules for non C.O.s, so I extended my wrists to Ringo. Ringo snapped the ties on but not too tightly.

“Prisoner seventy-three,” Danny said. “May I call you Kane? My name’s Danny, not Mark.”

I had to press my lips together to stop laughing at the utter ridiculousness of the situation. Then I saw the C.O. by the desk point some sort of hand device at the monitor at the same time that a tiny green light flashed on the radio attached to Ringo’s belt. Knowing the C.O. was sneakily listening in, and getting around the ethics committee rules, I glanced at Ringo as if I needed his permission. “Sir?”

Ringo nodded, so I returned my gaze to Danny. We needed to speak, and I glanced over at the control room. One C.O. had left and another two were talking, so I took a guess that they weren’t actively listening in. They looked a little distracted, to be honest. I scanned the other offices I could see and wondered where the warden was. Maybe he wasn’t working.

“Can we chat about your general health?” Danny asked, sitting and opening his tablet. “I know you’re awaiting trial and hoping for a good outcome, but I’m trying to design a medical program around you guys that will help me going forward with other enhanced.” He hesitated. “I understand this is complete shit, but I could really use your help.”

I almost smiled as I saw the C.O. in the office roll his eyes and click the remote, then sit back down, shaking his head. I could imagine he had Danny firmly in the do-gooder category by now and was bored. I didn’t care. The main thing was he was no longer listening. The light went off on Ringo’s radio. “They were listening through your radio, but it’s off now. There’s an enhanced four cells over named Mark that can hear us if we do anything but whisper.”

Ringo didn’t react knowing they were still watching. “Understood.”

“I don’t know how you managed to be allowed in here,” I said quietly, “but we need to talk. I need you to tell the team what I’ve seen.”

Danny nodded then spoke in a normal voice. “I’d like you to consider what you need from us to improve conditions here and stay healthy. But to start, when did you notice your vision changing?”

So I told them, interspersed with basic questions at a regular volume, keeping one eye on the control room and one on Ringo’s radio. It was clever. Ringo couldn’t look down at his radio. His eyes had to be on me. I knew that prisoners had no expectations of privacy regarding phone calls for example, but as I explained to Danny what I could now see, including knowing one of the C.O.s was the same one who had been with Saunders when he escaped. He updated me on what Connaught had told him, and then dropped the bombshell about O’Connell.

“You think this is a revenge thing?” I asked, then shook my head as the light on Ringo’s radio came on again. “Yes sir. I didn’t realize I could see in the dark after I got the mark until my dad locked me in the cellar.” Which was true, but the abrupt change of subject warned them both. The light stayed on for another few seconds then went off, so I returned to what I needed them to know. I couldn’t do shit about O’Connell. Either he knew or he didn’t. I described the two otherprisoners I didn’t recognize, plus the guy on the stretcher, and again described the C.O. who was with him. I hadn’t been able to see his face at all.

“Are you sure about the count?” Danny said. “Because I was shown details on seven enhanced and that included you.”

“Which means we have at least two extra not officially documented,” Ringo murmured. “Where did you see them?”

I described the last room, and he frowned. “That doesn’t exist, or I should say it’s not supposed to exist.”

I glanced to my left and counted the cells. “There’s nine to my left, then the gym, then another two plus the larger room where I saw the guy strapped down.”

I could see Ringo counting in his head. “There’s six occupied and three empty before the exercise room and that’s where the corridor ends. According to what I was told, after that is a new empty wing that is still under construction, and the entrance is sealed for security.”

“So, they have enhanced here that no one knows about,” Danny said unnecessarily, but I knew he was just getting it straight in his head.

“I’ve been trying to understand what I can see,” I said and, keeping my voice low, I told Danny what I could see through. “It makes no sense.”

Danny pursed his lips. “What can’t you see through?”

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