Cynetic Wolf
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Without thinking, I dove and came up two meters away, knife in hand. I was ready to fight for my life... How do I use this damn blaster?

The figure flicked a staff and sent my knife clattering to the ground.

“What are you doing, Raek?”

What the—? “Professor Fitz? What are you doing?”

“The same as you,” he whispered. “Trying to find out what happened.”

“But, why are you here?” Something didn’t add up.

“I was waiting for you. Knew you’d be back.”

I was suspicious now, angry. “Why?”

“Shhh.” He grabbed my shoulders and pulled my face to within inches of his bitter coffee breath. “Want to live? Want to see your family again? If you do, be quiet and follow me. We haven’t got much time.”

“But what about—”

“That can wait. We need to get out of here. See the shadow in the corner, over by your couch?” He pointed. “That’s an enhancer from the DNS. He’s been here all night, waiting for you. There are two more like him and another team of cynetics on call five minutes away. We have to go, now!”

A team of cynetics, for me? “Okay. But where?”

“The last place they’d expect.”

Trust

“School? You can’t be serious,” I said, as we rounded the corner and the outline of the rundown schoolhouse came into focus.

“What kid would hide in a school? Or willingly go?”

He had a point. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a large old key ring, some ten-odd bronze and silver keys jangling as he did.

“You have a keyring?” My mouth fell into a lopsided grin. Was he serious?

He smiled. “Of course. They can’t track the low tech stuff.”

Again, he had a point. Who was this guy?

Once we were in, we closed the door and descended steep concrete steps to the half-finished storage basement. Even with lights on, the space was small, damp, and not well lit, just three low tech bulbs, one flickering. If he wanted to kill me and dispose of the body, this was the perfect place.

“Why were you at my house? What were you doing? How’d you know about those goons?” I asked, voice rising. “And why don’t you use a band? Who the heck are you?”

He smiled. “That’s a lot of questions, son. I’ll start with the big ones.” He cleared his throat. “Why was I at your house? Like I said, I was waiting. I knew you were in trouble. Your next question: Why’d you need my help? I don’t have a good answer, other than I’ve lived an interesting life, made a lot of friends, and more than my fair share of enemies. I’ve been in your shoes before. We’ll leave it at that. What was your next question?”

“The DNS?”

“Simple,” he replied. “I came after I heard what happened. You’re a smart kid. I wouldn’t be able to find you unless you wanted to be found. But you’d want to see your family. I’m friends with Ms. Qin, two houses over. She’s visiting her sister so I let myself in, turned off the lights and hid. Half an hour later, twelve DNS broke into your house and searched the place.”

Twelve? Holy cow.

“An hour after, nine of ’em left. That leaves three.” He must have seen the pain in my eyes because he added, “I don’t know what happened to your family.”

I said nothing.

“For the smartband, I already answered that. Prefer anonymity. And as for who I am, I’m your Science History teacher.”

Thump, thump! Feet clattered and there was a rustle of leaves. Had they found us already?

“Stay down, Raek!” Professor Fitz commanded. Scowling, he rose to his knees and crawled to one of the dirty glass windows with a view outside. Careful to not make a peep, he peered out.

SLAM.

My heart skipped a beat.

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