HERO

33 / To Dream a Dream

Hope. Four letters that give a person the ability to see light in darkness. More than Womack's superpowers, hope can lift the spirits of the downtrodden with invisible hands. It can carry them on their way into, and hopefully through, the traumas faced.

Hope is a mighty warrior in the battle against torment, yet it can be slain with a look. With a word. With an absence.

Thomas's hope dissolved along with Bren's body.

He didn't blame her for going, but he realised just how much he relied on her being there, and in how short a time that reliance had come. Her vanishing in front of him had been a kick in the teeth for his self confidence. His vulnerability was all too obvious. When Lacey closed in on him fought hard. He kicked out and his arms windmilled, trying to make painful contact purely based on the rapid number of swipes he was making in the air.

Two hit home. One was a glancing blow to the woman's shoulder, catching the bone and hurting Thomas more than her, and the second was a slap of her ear, making her jerk back and swear.

"Come here, you little fucker. You're coming whether you like it or not, so you may as well save your energy. You'll need it."

Thomas was certain he would need his energy for what they had planned for him. If he was entered into The Spot, though, he'd have less chance than here. Here there was one woman. There, they had at least half a dozen Spotters on the tail of the contestant. The odds were not in his favour either way, but he could make a show of resistance even if it was futile.

Which it was. Lacey smacked the back of his head with more force than he'd put into his strike. He was a boy with only the limbs he was born with to aid him. She was older, and was a Spotter. They were generally well muscled and very fit. For many powers, athleticism wasn't needed. There was no physical requirement to be able to use something that was genetic. Even if you were a lazy, obese slob, you could still outrun a gazelle if that was your power. This, though, was television and they had an image to keep up.

So, Lacey's smack sent Thomas reeling. He narrowly avoided falling against the stump and his ear – his whole head – was ringing.

He didn't have time to fall. He was enclosed in her force field before he touched the ground. He felt himself be raised up and then he was floating behind the woman, along the path her leader had walked as he made left the scene. He tried to move, but was unable to. The force field was a snug fit, one that tightened if he struggled.

When they reached the exit, David was gone. Another car pulled up next to her and the boot popped open. Thomas knew immediately was she intended and he started to wriggle in a bid to free himself. It didn't work. Instead, he found the force field was shrinking to the point he was finding it hard to breathe. He was lowered into the boot with a slight motion of Lacey's hand, his legs bending and his knees coming up to his chest. He tried to push them back down, to straighten himself, but the field wouldn't let him. The boot lid came down and he was lost in darkness.

Within a minute, he felt the car start to move and knew his death sentence had just been signed.

Thomas wasn't generally afraid of the dark. It was just the result of the sun being fed up of looking at one place all day so had moved on. It'd be back in the morning. In this case, being unable to move and being in the dark, he was scared. It wasn't so much to do with the knowledge he was going to be dead in a day or two. There was no way to avoid that. It was what was going to happen in the meantime. What was planned for him when they arrived at wherever they were going,

The ride was smooth and relatively quiet. Considering the state of the roads, which meant driving them including some swerving for the damaged sections, Thomas expected to be thrown about the boot more than he was and for the journey to be much noisier. It was as if the car wasn't quite touching the road. He wondered if the Floater was in the car along with David and was keeping it elevated, making it a vehicle purely for show or the comfort of the man who'd captured him. He wondered at how important a person must be to be able to have that sort of transport.