Riddle of Fate Read Free Page B

things?”
    “Not yet, but Phalio is hopeful of finding a cure this time.”
    “I see.”
    “We will do everything in our power to save you,” he said, reaching towards her as though he would hold her hand. He shook his head and sat back in his chair.
    He sounded sincere, but his eyes told her that he wasn’t hopeful. “You said that in this latest case, the man started behaving strangely a few days after his second ability manifested?”
    He nodded.
    “Then I don’t have a lot of time.”
    “We want to use this time to study you. To find a way to stop this.”
    “What do you need me to do?”
     

Chapter Three
    My Mind and I
     
     
    Activity buzzed around Khaya in the dank and gloomy basement. Phalio and Roald were arguing again. They stood in the furthest corner of the room and although Khaya couldn’t hear what they were saying, she didn’t need to. Two days of endless tests and they were no closer to finding the cure.
    On the plus side, the madness seemed no nearer to her than when this all started. Would you know if you were going mad? she wondered, or would it look like the rest of the world had lost it?
    Phalio waved a hand at Roald before coming over to her again. “How are you feeling?”
    “No different.”
    “Are you ready for further tests?”
    She stifled another yawn. There were no windows so she had lost her perception of time a while ago, yet she thought it must be late evening. “I guess. Are you any closer?” She knew the answer before he shook his head.
    He started the routine all over again. He put the thermometer in her ear, followed by checking her pupil responses, taking her pulse, peering into her eyes with a strange contraption that was too bright and knocking on her knee with a little hammer, making her leg jerk.
    Next came the inane questions. ‘What day is it?’, ‘Where do you live?’, ‘What was the weather like today?’, ‘Who do you work with?’, and on, and on.
    What they learnt from her answers to these questions escaped her. The measuring tape was cold against her skin as he measured the circumference of her head, again. Did they think her head was suddenly going to expand?
    She glanced around the room. Everyone seemed busy with something. Going through files, poring over her previous test results, all except one. He was standing with his back to the room, staring intently at the wall in front of him. She hadn’t noticed him before. She would have noticed him. He was broad-shouldered, tall and was wearing a thick coat. That was odd. Why would he be wearing a coat down here in the basement?
    He turned around and her breath caught. She couldn’t see his face clearly, yet she thought it was the same man who had been in her kitchen several days ago. He looked her right in the eye, his head cocked to one side. He gave his head a shake before vanishing. Vanishing! Right before her eyes.
    “Khaya?” Phalio asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Are you well? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    She blinked and scrubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hands. “I’m fine. Just tired, I guess. How much longer today?”
    He studied her with a frown before nodding. “It’s late. This was the last batch of tests. I guess you can go. You are sure, though, that you feel well?”
    “I feel just fine,” she gave him a tremulous smile. Am I losing my mind? she wondered. Well, if she was, these would be the last people she would tell for fear of being ‘terminated’, as they so mildly put it.
    “We’ll see you in the morning. Try to get some rest.”
     
    ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
     
    Khaya rushed down the stairs of the library. Suddenly, she wanted to be as far away from there as she could. She wasn’t fooling herself. They weren’t going to find a cure. They were keeping her in that basement under observation. At the first sign of madness, they would kill her. She was sure of it.
    Welcome fresh air greeted her as she pulled the door open. A hand gripped her arm,