Mind Secrets: A Science Fiction Telepathy Thriller (Perceivers Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked into his mind.
    “I was thinking …” Otis shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and looked away as if he was embarrassed to say it. “If you want … you could stay with us.”
    “Really?” The offer took a moment to sink in. Michael didn’t know whether to feel excited, relieved, or just grateful.
    Sirens howled. They both looked up. Two fire engines came racing round the corner, red and blue lights mingling with the orange of the blaze. Michael realised Otis had been right. If they’d waited for the firemen to arrive, Jennifer would probably be dead.
    “I’d rather not be here when the police arrive,” said Michael.
    Otis sighed. He looked out into the distance from where more sirens were screaming. “Me neither,” he said.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Otis and Jennifer lived in a squat in Hackney, north east London, about a ten minute walk from the burning remains of the drop-in centre. Jack came with them, even though he actually lived with his family a few streets away.
    It was a one-bedroom flat in a council block, one of many in the area behind the High Street. Access to the building was supposed to be via a swipe card and secure code at the front, but the wire mesh gate that locked off the fire escape was broken and, with a little perseverance, Jennifer was able to use her fingernails to prise it open. Michael followed Otis and the others up a flight of concrete stairs to the front door which Otis unlocked with a key.
    It opened directly into a messy living room that smelt of stale air. Everything about it was old and tired. The wallpaper, which looked like it had been designed in the last century, peeled at the edges. A sofa and two armchairs sagged with the weight of years of use, while the true state of the table against the back wall was disguised with a cloth slung over the top. The floor was covered in junk. An empty pizza box, several mugs with the remains of coffee in the bottom, a pile of paper in the corner, a dirty green suitcase and a couple of abandoned cigarette ends.
    “Got a T-shirt I can borrow?” said Jack as soon as he walked in. “I’m bloody freezin’.” He was naked from the waist up apart from the plaster cast and had been shivering throughout the walk.
    “Bedroom,” said Otis.
    Jack trooped off through a door at the back.
    “Make sure it’s an old one!” Otis called after him.
    Otis sat on the sofa with Jennifer. Michael chose the least-worn of the two armchairs. They said nothing for a while, silent in their own contemplation. Michael kept thinking about the fire.
    “Do you know what happened?” he said eventually.
    “Some kid saw a group of adults run off,” said Otis.
    “Not exactly a surprise,” said Jennifer.
    “The kid said they had scarves over their faces and their hoods up. Smashed the windows first, lit some petrol bombs then chucked them in,” said Otis.
    “Did they know about us?” said Jennifer.
    “That there was a bunch of perceivers meeting in the back?” Otis shook his head. “Doubt it. It’s a teenage drop-in centre. They were probably targeting teenagers, thinking they’d scare the snot out of a few ’ceivers while they were at it. We’re supposed to be five per cent, right?”
    “You’re all perceivers then?” said Michael. “You, Jennifer and Jack?” He’d suspected it, but he wasn’t sure.
    “Does that bother you?” said Otis.
    “No,” he said. But he had to admit he felt self-conscious being around them. He understood they were reading his thoughts and feelings, he just wasn’t sure how much.
    Jennifer leant her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes. “God,” she said, like the weight of everything that had happened was suddenly coming down on her. “Do they hate us that much?”
    “It’s more fear than hate,” said Otis.
    Jennifer opened her eyes again and looked straight at him. “Being frightened makes them want to burn children? Jack said a boy got petrol on his arm. It spilled out of a bottle as it flew