The unadjusteds trilogy.., p.57
The Unadjusteds Trilogy: Boxset, page 57
Eli walks closer, plants a hand on my shoulder, and I stop pacing. “Why don’t you show me what you can do? I’ve never seen you in action. Only the aftermath.”
I try on a smile. He’s telling me it’s okay to use my powers. Is that what I needed to hear? It is okay to use my powers.
Building up to a demonstration, I glance at the old tire swing on the ground. It makes a great seat, but it’s in the middle of the yard. It’s going to get in the way. With one ability I burn the rope, then I hoist the tire into the air, holding it there with telekinesis, before I let it fall and roll away. Simultaneously, I produce the wings of a blue macaw – one of my favorite abilities - and with a third ability, that of a flea, I jump to the roof of the farmhouse.
Eli’s eyes shine. “That’s impressive.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “But it’s not going to help my mother.”
“What do you think will help?” Eli asks when I jump back to the ground.
“Something to do with my healing ability. It’s growing.” I’ve only admitted this to Paige, because she’s the one person who won’t look at me differently. “The more obvious demonstration is the destroyer power, the healer ability’s ying.”
Before I can wipe the sweat from the nape of my neck or alter my stance, a black bolt of lightning shoots out of my fingertips and disintegrates the now resting tire into a pile of ash with a fiery flourish. It’s like the grand finale of a magician’s show. But this isn’t an illusion.
Eli leaps back. “Jesus!”
I’ve had little time to get used to the physical presence of the black lightning. While we were on the mission to find Earl, when the power first manifested, it started small, was totally out of control and I was terrified of hurting someone. I still am. Especially now I have so much to worry about. Now the power is bigger, stretches further, is more destructive and continues to whisper at me, begging me to use it. I won’t give in to it, not unless I need it. But seeing it work, out in the open, testing its reach, fills me with a new sense of wonder.
“I know,” I say quietly. “It’s the destroyer ability. Every healer possesses it. For everything light in the universe there must be something equally dark.”
“You sound like a philosophy textbook.”
“Even so, I’ve found it to be true. My healing power is growing too.”
Eli plants his feet wide and places a hand on his hip. “Show me.”
“Do you trust me?” I ask, looking into his brown eyes.
“Yes,” Eli says, nodding. “You saved my life. You saved me.”
Swiftly, I step closer to Eli. With the knife I keep tethered to my belt, I slice across his palm. He flinches, but doesn’t complain. I bring my fingers to his palm. He flinches again. The white, electricity bolts appear immediately and leap from my fingertips onto Eli’s palm. We become cocooned in a golden aura and a comfortable warmth surrounds us. The wound disappears, drawing the spilled blood back into his palm.
Eli flexes his hand a couple times. “That didn’t happen the last time you healed me. What were those...things? It was like mini lightning, without the electrocution part.”
“I know. Its growing, or its Earl’s,” I say.
“Earl didn’t have anything like that.” Eli stares at his palm.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. So, it’s not Earl. It’s me. Hopefully, when the power has finished transitioning, I’ll be able to reach my mother. But in the meantime, I need to know if there’s anything else in me that can help.” I pace back and forth on the dirt ground again, wishing I’d brought a canteen of water with me. “I can feel things, urges, gurgling around inside, but I’m not sure how to express them. I’m not sure I should.” I shudder at a memory of Earl, the devil personified, with powers I don’t want anything to do with.
“So, let’s figure it out,” Eli says. He stands strong, his hands on his hips, his gaze never leaving my face. There is strength and solidarity in his eyes. “Right now.”
With my lower lip trembling, I nod. This is what I’m here for. Guilt washes over me. Matt will be furious. But I don’t need Matt right now. The thought of what I house inside my body is terrifying, and now I don’t have to discover its secrets on my own.
Eli put his hands on my waist and turns me to face the empty, overgrown backyard. Grass towers over a foot tall and dandelions grow in yellow clumps. The drone of a bee sounds as it flies from flower to flower. A rusty slide lies on its side near the tree that supported the tire swing. In its past life it may have been red. “Feel the power. Feel it bubbling around inside you. Can you isolate a single one?”
My stomach rolls, as though a hand has entered my body and is slowly trying to mix all my insides together. Uncomfortable, but bearable. The feeling moves to my chest, like I’ve drunk a can of soda too quickly. “I can feel…something.”
“Grab onto it. Let it fill you up. Let it come.” The excitement in Eli’s voice makes me smile and I feel the pressure of his hands on my waist.
Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the sensations. The bubbling continues and spreads to my arms, my neck, onto my face. It’s coming. It’s almost here. And then it crests, like I’m riding a tall wave. Snapping my eyes open, I focus on the abandoned house. When I closed my eyes the house was behind me. Looking at my feet, I realize I now stand at the far end of yard, the long grass tickling the backs of my calves.
“Holy crap!” Eli’s hands still rest on my hips. “I can teleport much further! With passengers!”
“So it seems.” Eli smiles at me. It is a warm, rich smile that gives me the confidence I need to continue. “That was quite a ride.” He rubs his forehead.
“Headache back?”
“A little. It’s okay. Not as bad.”
“Teleportation – check.” Although I already gained the ability from Jacob, I’ve never been able to teleport more than a few feet before. Let alone with another person. Maybe I won’t have to drive to the fields anymore. “Do you know any others?”
“Telekinesis? I know he had telekinesis and pyrokinesis.”
“Got them both,” I say, ticking them off on my fingers.
“Mind pushing, communicating with animals, and telepathy are the mental ones I know about.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was impossible to keep a secret around him.”
“What a nightmare.”
Hearing people’s thoughts. It’s marginally better than seeing the future. I can read Matt’s expression well enough already, and I don’t want to pry into his private thoughts. Not when he’s mad at me. But when he’s feeling loving, it might be fun to know what he’s thinking.
“Anything else?” I ask
Eli chuckles. “That isn’t enough for you?”
I purse my lips, then say, “I need to know.”
“I don’t know. I think you’re scary enough already.” He pokes my side.
I laugh. “Only if you get on my bad side.”
Eli holds his hands up. “I’ll be good!”
We laugh together. It feels good. I haven’t allowed myself to laugh, not while my mother remains in her mental prison.
“I know there are more. We’ll have to experiment,” I say. “Until we get to the bottom of them all.”
“Okay.”
Feeling a tiny bit embarrassed, I look at my feet. I’m worried about asking too much of him. “You’ll help?”
His presence comforts me. I don’t even know him that well, but I feel…connected somehow. There’s something about him that eases the rushing of thoughts in my head, that holds my worry over my mother at bay.
“Of course,” he says.
He’ll help. He understands. Eli is easy to be around, easy to look at, easy to talk to. He might even make this process fun. Relief seeps into me and I feel exhausted, as though the old fatigue of using abilities has come back.
Eli and I spend the day testing my abilities. The telepathy is the most disconcerting. He allows me to read his thoughts. They touch on his headache, which is still there, move to how he’d like to furnish his cabin, then to girls. Specifically romance. I’m surprised. There’s no one particular in mind, but he craves…passion. His thoughts land on me. He finds me beautiful. I try hard not to smile. I have never felt beautiful before and it’s nice to know someone thinks of me that way. He is wary of Francesca.
I push deeper, but a mental wall goes up, and I can no longer see his thoughts.
He coughs. “I think the telepathy depends on the willingness of the subject.”
“You think I’m beautiful?” I touch his hand, the one I sliced.
He blushes. “Have you looked in a mirror?”
“Thank you, Eli.” I kiss his cheek. “Then I couldn’t read you anymore. Did you pull back? Put up a wall?”
“Some things are private.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Silver
When I arrive home that afternoon, I find Francesca standing on my front porch directing a nurse and two orderlies. One of them wheels my mother out of the house and into a waiting ambulance.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “What’s happened?”
“Silver, she’s fine. There’s no emergency.” Francesca faces me. “With your father’s trip extended, the nurse has suggested we take her to the hospital where she’ll get the help she needs.”
“But I... you can’t...I need to...” I move close to my mother and away from Francesca’s shriveling look. “She wants to be here. I want her to be here.”
“Silver.” Francesca marches up to me and places her hands on my shoulders. I narrow my eyes at her and she removes her hands. “There is nothing more you can do for her. I’ve seen you try. You can’t reach her. She needs to be in a hospital where she can receive the best possible care. It’s too much for you.” Her tone is firm, non-negotiable.
“You have no right. That’s not your decision.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Silver.” Matt comes out of the house. “She’s right. Your mom needs help that you can’t give her.”
I shoot him an accusatory look. He, of all people, should realize how much I need to be with my mother and that I can’t bear to be separated from her ever again, whether I’m actually capable of helping her or not.
“Silver, I’m sorry…I just…”
I stare him down. An apology isn’t going to change the current circumstances.
“It’s okay, Matt.” Francesca raises a hand. “She can hear the rest.”
I swallow, trying to work saliva into my dry mouth. She sometimes has that effect on me. I want to do as she asks, I want to help, but she keeps asking for the impossible.
“Silver, the other fact of the matter is, you are distracted.” A stony expression takes over her face.
“But that’s not true! I came to the fields. I did as you asked,” I cry. I resist the urge to stomp my foot on the ground.
“Silver, we need your help. The situation with the crops is more serious than I previously thought. They are dying, all of them. We need your expertise, your focused expertise. I don’t think you’ll give your full attention to the situation until the issue of your mother is taken out of your hands.”
“The crops are not dying!” They can’t die. They’re not allowed to die. Because then my dreams will be true. It’s a mistake. Francesca doesn’t know what she’s talking about. But that’s not the point.
The point is I need my mother and she needs me. Anger consumes me and I don’t trust myself to speak. This is unacceptable. I’m the best chance my mother has.
Without warning, the windows panes vibrate in their sashes. A roof tile falls from above and lands at my feet, then is immediately reduced to a pile of ash. Matt lays a restraining hand on my arm. I swallow my anger.
“I can’t have her taken away from me again,” I plead, as I watched my mother being loaded into the ambulance. I make a half-hearted attempt to follow her. But it’s futile. Francesca simply won’t allow her to stay. I glare at Matt again. Why has he allowed this to happen? Why isn’t he standing up for me?
“Silver,” Francesca says gently, all the firmness gone from her voice now my mother is safely ensconced in the ambulance and pulling away from my house. “I will make it my utmost priority that she receives the best treatment available. Catatonia is not a new disorder. It’s been around for decades. Margaret will have access to those professionals who know the most about this condition.”
“Like Deja,” I say.
Francesca nods. “Yes. Like Deja and a whole team of others.”
“That’s not her field of expertise.”
“She is very experienced,” Francesca says.
I squeeze an acorn in my pocket with a bulk fist, smashing it to a pulp. “We can wait for my father. He’s away looking for Koko’s old friend. A lady who can see into people’s minds and understand what’s trapping them there. She’s out there somewhere. We just have to be patient. You know that. Why can’t we wait for him?”
“Are you being patient, Silver?” Francesca’s lips compress. “He’s been looking for months already. She may not even be alive. We have to take care of Margaret with the means we have access to, not rely on hopes and wishes.”
Tears prickle and spill onto my cheeks.
Matt slinks to my side and puts an arm around my shoulder. I remain rigid.
“This is for the best,” Francesca says.
Slowly, I shake my head.
“Your healing hasn’t helped, Silver, and I know the hospital staff will work hard with your mother. Please have a little faith in me,” Francesca says.
“I don’t have faith in anything,” I mutter.
Matt’s touch turns into a placating squeeze. Francesca frowns. “Have you been to see Deja yet?”
I blanch, feeling sucker punched. How does Francesca know I sought help?
“For all the good it did.” I’m tempted to tell her about taking anxiety away from my DNA, but I don’t need any more trouble right now. I’m not that stupid.
Her lips thin, and her features soften. “These things take time, Silver. You’ve been through a lot.”
I sigh and swipe at the reaming tears on my cheek. She doesn’t insult me with a pat to the arm or any other trite gesture. She gives me a curt nod, then retreats down the porch steps and into her car. She rolls down the window. “Oh, and Silver? We will be seeing you at the farm lab tomorrow.” It isn’t a question.
“I wished you would have warned me,” I snap at Matt as soon as Francesca’s car disappears. “Then I could have been prepared. I could have taken Mom somewhere else.” I thrust a finger into the middle of his chest.
“To what end, Silver?” Matt’s hands jerk. “Your Mom needs help. Real help. And we need you.”
“I don’t care. I’m trying to give her the best help I can.” My black lightning power flares on my fingers and destroys one of the porch steps before I’m able to suck it back down. “And Matt? Don’t ambush me like that again.”
I try to push past him into the house, but he catches my wrist. “I’m sorry for that. I didn’t know it was happening until a couple of hours ago. But Silver?” He tugs me closer. “It’s the best thing for her. For both of you.”
“Hmm,” I say, staring at the floor, at my feet and then at the point where the ambulance disappeared with my mother, anywhere but at Matt’s blue eyes, because then my resolve will melt and I’ll crumple and the depression will come. That feeling of utter uselessness, the feeling that even though I’m the strongest person in the world, the most capable when it comes to abilities, I can’t do anything to help my mother.
“Silver, it’s going to be okay.” Matt places one finger under my chin and lifts my face. He kisses my cheek, then the other, my nose. My resolve to stay mad at him, at Francesca, at the world and the injustice of it all blows away like a dandelion on the wind. I tense for the next wave of emotions. The emotions that will cripple me and send me running to my bedroom to hide under the covers forever. I feel nothing building, no wave of despair, no uncomfortable tightness in my chest, no swimming vision. Nothing is shaking or being reduced to ash. A small miracle. There’s only quiet and the feeling of Matt’s arms around me.
“Francesca told me because she was worried about your destroyer power.” Matt lowers his voice, his eyes shifting around the desolate neighborhood as if he’s afraid we’re being watched. “I think she wanted me around to help...control you, I guess.”
I look up in surprise.
Francesca is scared of me.
CHAPTER NINE
Silver
Walking into the kitchen to grab a drink, I realize I’m not alone. Deja sits on a stool at the small island making notes on a pad of paper, her long hair tied into a low knot and trailing over her shoulder. She puts her pen down and smiles at me.
I frown. “Did we have an appointment? I didn’t think therapists made house calls.”
Matt comes in behind me. “Francesca thought it would be a good idea for Deja to be here. In case…”
“In case I got angry? You got that right.”
Deja removes a pair of reading glasses from her nose and slides off the stool. “I wanted to reassure you that your mother will be well taken care of.”
Turning my back, I grab a glass from the cupboard. Bypassing the tap, I go for the half empty bottle of red wine Dad left on the counter before he left. It’s probably stale, but I don’t care. I take a gulp. “Have you treated catatonia before?”
She presses her lips together. “Matt, maybe we could talk alone.”
Matt nods, briefly touches the small of my back, and leaves.
“He’s worried about you. Try not to be too hard on him.”
