Gone

with himself.
    “And one of those five,” Sam said, “is a murderer. A murderer and a bunch of cowards. That’s your posse, Caine.”
    Caine’s eyes went wide. He bared his teeth, furious, and suddenly Sam was flying across the room.
    Flying like he’d been shot out of a catapult.
    The gym spun around him.
    He hit the basketball hoop hard, head smashing into the glass. He hung for a moment from the hoop and then fell onto his back.
    He was dragged by unseen hands of terrifying strength, like he’d been swept back by a tornado. He came to rest at Caine’s feet.
    He was slow getting back up this time. The flow from his nose had been joined by a trickle of blood from his forehead.
    “Several of us developed strange powers, starting a few months ago,” Caine said conversationally. “We were like a secret club. Frederico, Andrew, Dekka, Brianna, some others. We worked together to develop them. Encouraged each other. See, that’s the difference between Coates people and you townies. In a boarding school it’s hard to keep secrets. But soon it became clear that my powers were of a whole different order. What I just did to you? No one else could do that.”
    “Yeah, that was cool,” Sam said with shaky defiance. “Can you do it again?”
    “He’s baiting you.” It was Diana coming into the room and obviously not happy with what she was seeing.
    “He’s trying to prove he’s tough,” Caine snapped.
    “Yes. And he’s proved it. Move on.”
    “Watch how you talk to me, Diana,” Caine grated.
    Diana sauntered over to stand beside Caine. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head at Sam in mock dismay. “Well, you look pretty bad, Sam.”
    “He’ll look worse,” Caine threatened.
    Diana sighed. “Here’s the deal, Sam. Caine wants some answers from you.”
    “Why not ask Quinn?”
    “Because he doesn’t know the answers, but you do, so here’s the thing: if you don’t answer Fearless Leader’s questions, Drake is going to start beating on Astrid. And just so you know: Drake is sick in the head. I’m not saying that to scare you, I’m saying it because it’s true. I’m a bad girl, Caine has delusions of grandeur, but Drake is flat-out sick in the head. He could kill her, Sam. And he’s going to start up in five minutes unless I go back and tell him not to. So, tick-tock.”
    Sam swallowed blood and bile. “What questions?”
    Diana rolled her eyes and turned to Caine. “See how easy that was?”
    Amazingly, Caine took it from Diana. No threats, no attack on her, just seething and resentment and acceptance.
    He’s in love with her, Sam realized with a shock. The timeshe had seen them together there had never been any outward sign of affection, but there was no other possible answer.
    Caine said, “Tell me about your father.”
    Sam shrugged, a painful move that made him wince. “He wasn’t a part of my life. All I know is, my mom didn’t like talking about him.”
    “Your mother. Nurse Temple.”
    “Yeah.”
    “The name on your birth certificate, where it has father’s name? It says ‘Taegan Smith.’”
    “Okay.”
    “Taegan. A very unusual name. Very rare.”
    “So what?”
    “Whereas ‘Smith’ is really common. It’s a name a man might use who wanted to hide his real name.”
    “Look, I’m answering your questions, let Astrid go.”
    “Taegan,” Caine repeated. “Right there on the birth certificate. Mother: Constance Temple. Father: Taegan Smith. Date of birth: November the twenty-second. Time of birth: ten twelve P.M . Sierra Vista Regional Medical.”
    “So now you can do my horoscope.”
    “You’re not interested in any of this?”
    Sam sighed. “I’m interested in what’s going on. Why the FAYZ happened. How we make it stop, or else how we escape from it. On the big list of things to worry about, my biological father, who I never knew, who wasn’t anything to me, is way down that list.”
    “You bug out in five days, Sam. Interested in that?”
    “Let Astrid go.”
    Diana said, “Come on, Caine. Get on with it.”
    Caine smirked. “I’m very interested in the question of disappearing. You know why? Because I don’t want to die. And I don’t want to suddenly find myself back in the world. I like it here in the FAYZ.”
    “Is that what you think happens? We jump back into the world?”
    “I’m asking the questions,” Caine snapped.
    “Let Astrid go.”
    “The point is,” Caine continued, “you and I share something in common,