“No!” I shouted with more emotion and control than ever before. This time I intended a Push and I let it fly from my hands as it encompassed the entire car like a bubble. As our car rolled, it did so slowly and safely in the reality of my Push. I stayed bolted to the seat as well, regardless of the fact that I had no seatbelt on. I had Pushed without much thought, but my intention was clear. Keep Mimi and me safe. Keep Mimi and me alive. The car continued its slow, eerie roll until it landed upright. My breath was coming out in short, panicked bursts. I had never had a Push work so fast. An instant Push had happened and had already dissolved. What the eff? Was that possible? Mimi looked at me in shock, her hair strewn wildly from the rolling car incident. She quickly did the sign of the holy cross over her chest.
I was stuck in shock, plastered to the seat, when the sound of bullets snapping brought me back to reality. Crap! We had lost a tire, so driving away from this wasn’t happening. The two vans were stopped about ten feet behind us. Both had doors open and they were engaged in a full-fledged shoot out. My dream guy was trying to kill the Creepers. As comforting as that thought seemed, that someone was against the Creepers. I still didn’t know if he could be trusted. It was all kinds of freaky that I dreamed about this guy where he said he was looking for me and now he was here, in real life. Mimi had always thought that if the government knew about me, they would capture me for medical experimentation. Maybe this guy was with some science lab or something.
We were in the middle of nowhere and with no options.
The guys from my dream, Zayden and his friend, were crouched behind their doors, as bullets flew into the metal of their van. I guess if the Creepers hated them and were trying to kill them they could be good. Anyone who killed Creepers was good in my book.
“Who are they?” Mimi asked curiously.
“I think they might be good. I dreamed of them,” I told her.
Suddenly, one of the Creepers popped out of the back door of his van and ran toward our car.
“Get down!” I screamed at Mimi, but he opened fire, liberally spraying our back window with bullets. He had a semi-automatic and it took only seconds for the entire car to be a pin cushion. NO! My head was between my legs, glass shattering around me and getting stuck in my hair, when I heard Mimi grunt. Peeking up, I looked over and saw blood trickling from her mouth, her hands clutched, holding her stomach.
“No!! Mimi!” I screamed and jumped out of the car as Zayden came out of nowhere and gunned down the Creeper that had shot us. I didn’t care if they shot me, I had to get to Mimi. My feet slid in the dirt as I tried to run too fast to Mimi’s side of the car. Skidding to a stop, I pulled hard on the handle and opened the door. Her body fell out like a sack of flour. Oh God! Not Mimi. No. This wasn’t happening.
I cradled her face in my hands. She was pale but smiling. “I’m glad … I got to see you … grow into such … a beautiful young lady.” Her voice was so raspy and soft, I had to lean in to hear her.
“No! Mimi, I’m so sorry. I love you so much.” I sobbed as a deep breath escaped her lips and her eyes froze open. NO!! Blue fire lit up my hands. I could create anything, anything I could think of. Mimi is alive, Mimi is alive. I Pushed, hard. A huge ball of blue fire came from my hands but quickly fizzled to nothing.
“WHAT? No!” I was sobbing now, cradling Mimi’s limp form in my lap. I hadn’t expressed this much emotion in years. I felt like I might tear in two.
I jumped when a hand rested on my shoulder.
“A Push can never raise the dead. I’m so sorry,” the guy from my dreams said from behind me. His voice sent goosebumps down my arms, but I didn’t want to believe what he said. The gunfire had stopped; the Creepers must be dead.
I tried to Push again, with more force this time. Mimi is here, with me now, healthy and breathing. I Pushed, hard, harder than ever before.
A blast of blue fire flew from my hands, surrounding me. Zayden, who was standing directly behind me, flew backward from the energy output of it. But the ball quickly disappeared and only Mimi’s death remained. Oh God, no.
“Stop! More Crows will come,” the guy grunted from behind me.
I looked down at Mimi, her mouth open, eyes glued to the sky. Leaning back, I lay on the ground with her body still in my lap and looked up at the white clouds. Taking a deep breath, I imagined Mimi singing the Gayatri Mantra to me.
“Let them come. I’m done fighting,” I told the stranger from my dreams. “I give up.”
His footsteps drew closer as he kneeled down beside me. “Don’t say that. You’re safe now. I found you first this time.”
He reached out to touch me, but I bristled and met his eyes. Safe? Who the hell did this guy think he was? I would NEVER be safe. Mimi was dead now and I had no reason to live. I sat up quickly and pulled the gun from Mimi’s hands, aiming it at the guy who looked shocked by my actions.
I didn’t like guns, but I wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
“Zayden? Is that your name? What the hell do you want with me? Why are you following me?” His jaw dropped when I said his name.
He stood still like a sentinel and I was pretty sure he was close enough to disarm me if he wanted to, but I didn’t care. The cold weight of the gun in my hands made me feel safe, in control.
“How do you know my name?” His lips pursed and I found myself thinking about how good looking he was. Ugh, focus.
“Really? Creepers try to kill us, I have blue fire coming out of my hands, and you want to know how I know your name?”
He frowned. “The Creepers are called Crows and they will bring more. We have to go to our safe house.” Just as I thought, his hand snaked out and snatched the gun from me.
“Hey!” I shouted like a kid, feeling the slightest bit of fear rise up inside of me. “What do you want with me?” I tried not to let the fear show in my voice, but it cracked on the last word.
Zayden’s blue eyes glanced at my lips for the slightest second before he replied. He leaned in so close that I could smell his cologne. “To protect you. Now get in the van.” His strong hand grasped my bicep and hauled me up.
“Mimi!” I shouted, trying to rip away from him, but he just clamped down tighter.
“Take the woman’s body and put it in the back of the van,” Zayden ordered his friend. The woman’s body. Oh God. Mimi was just a body. I was in shock, I wasn’t processing this.
I could now see there were four of them. Zayden, his friend from my dream, and two others. One of them was female, and they all wore black military jumpsuits with a blue flame emblem. The girl looked about twenty years old and had a wound bleeding from her shoulder. She had fierce blue eyes, and dark red hair that was cropped into a short bob. Something on her wristwatch beeped and she glanced at it.
“Crap. Crows inbound! Let’s ride!” she yelled and everyone erupted into a flurry of activity.
Okay. Decision time. They had Mimi’s body and a lot of guns. Run now leaving Mimi’s body behind and possibly die or run away later when my chances at escape were greater? I decided to play along until I figured out what these people were after.
I let Zayden lift me up into the front seat and shut the door. I leaned my head against the cold window, letting my long dark hair fall like a curtain in front of my face, shutting the world out.
“Where is this safe house? Who are you?” I said as soon as he sat next to me.
He looked at me wearily. “It’s on a lake in Oregon.”
He didn’t answer my second question.
“Who are you?” I asked louder this time.
He cleared his throat. “I’m Zayden, which you seem to already know.”
I rolled my eyes and gestured to the blue emblem on his chest.
“Yeah, but WHO are you really?”
He gave me a sidelong glare. “I know all about the Pushes and how hard they are to control. Any excited conversation could cause you to Push. We should wait until we reach the safe house.”
Was this guy seriously not
going to answer me? “Listen, pal, if you don’t tell me just who the hell you work for, I’m going to Push my way right out of here. You could be like one of the Creepers for all I know!” I shouted.
He put his hand out. “Okay, okay. Calm down.”
I glared at him. Didn’t he know that no good ever came from telling a woman to calm down?
He sighed. “This isn’t how I imagined us meeting. We got off to a bad start … I’m really sorry about what happened to your grandmother.”
My throat clenched. “Thank you. Who do you work for?” I pressed him. I would process Mimi’s death later because right now it didn’t feel real.
He sighed and took a long time before answering. “I’m part of a privately funded group of protectors.”
My forehead wrinkled. “What do you protect?”
He grasped the steering wheel and licked his lips, staring out onto the open road that he was now barreling down at breakneck speed. “Not what. Who. We protect you,” he declared, looking over at me.
Shock ran through me and I swallowed hard. My hands clenched the edges of the seat. “What did you just say?”
“It’s been a long six years. We have been trying to catch up with you since the incident in the mall.”
I eyed the door; it was unlocked. I could open it and roll out, but the fall would probably kill me at this speed.
“You have been following me for six years.” My heart was pounding.
He pulled the van to the side of the road and turned to face me. We stared at each other in complete silence for a long moment as he gave me the most intense, gorgeous, Thor-filled gaze. “You’re a Pusher and you don’t know this yet, but Pushers have an entire group of people they work with who help them. I’m taking you to those people now. Your teacher, Asha, will explain everything.”
“Are there more Pushers? People like me?” I was perched on the edge of my seat.
He sighed. Zayden’s face looked sad for a moment before he simply shrugged.
“Not really.” He nervously looked back over his shoulder. The rest of the group was in the back of the van behind a partition.
Then he leaned into my space, so close I could feel the heat from his body. His cologne washed over me and I was suddenly distracted by his presence. I hadn’t been this close to a dateable guy in forever, so I was completely caught off guard by his next words.
“Look, Hope, I’m not going to sugar coat it like Asha will. There are only two Pushers left alive in the entire world. You’re one of them, the only good one left.”
My mouth dropped open and I had to control my breathing, my thoughts. Don’t Push. Don’t Push.
What did he say? Only good one left? There was another? Then I met his eyes and asked the question that was burning a hole in my tongue. “How do you know I’m good?”
His serious façade broke and he grinned, reaching for my palm. “Your Pushes are blue. A natural positive Pusher. Your thoughts gravitate toward helping others.”
Holy crap. I wasn’t alone.
—ABOUT THE AUTHOR—
Leia Stone is a USA TODAY best-selling author and mother of twins. When she isn't writing or kiddo wrangling, her nose is shoved in a good book. She is a vegetarian who loves Indian food and is one of those gluten free, non-GMO, organic people. She lives with her husband and family in Gilbert, AZ where she gets lots of vitamin D.
Connect with Leia at: www.leiastone.com
THE WRATH OF THE FURY
Michelle Madow
Chapter One
“Why did we have to come all the way out to the desert to see this thing?” Kayla asked, leaning back on the blanket we’d laid out and gazing up at the star filled sky. “It’s not like the comet won’t be here if we watch from home.”
I shivered and took a sip of my still steaming latte—I was glad Kayla and I stopped at Starbucks on our way over to the park—and nodded. The desert in the middle of January in Las Vegas was freezing.
“Because we’re supposed to experience this together, out in nature where we’re more in touch with the energy connected to the comet,” Garrett said as he joined us on the blanket. The moonlight reflected off his golden curls, and I smiled when his arm brushed against mine, not breaking the contact between us. “The comet is coming along for the first time in three thousand years,” he continued, imitating what our homeroom teacher, Ms. Davis, had been telling us since we returned from winter break. “And since last time it resulted in a huge burst of power—large enough for the Olympians to defeat the Titans in the Second Rebellion—who knows what’ll happen tonight?”
“Hopefully something good,” I said, gazing up at the stars. The truth was that no one knew what kind of magic the comet would bring. It was exciting and scary at the same time. “At least, no matter what happens, we’ll all be together.”
This would have sounded crazy if someone had told me back in August, before I stepped into my new homeroom at Spring Valley High and my life changed forever. Because my homeroom wasn’t just any homeroom. It was the homeroom for the witches at school.
Yeah, you heard right. Witches. I—Sydney Parker from Las Vegas, Nevada—am a witch. And not the type you read about in books that need wands to use our powers. We gather energy from the Universe to affect the world around us. We’re descended from the Greek gods—Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and the rest of them from Mount Olympus. Traces of their magic remain in our blood, and give us our powers.
It was just little things, like being able to calm people down if I was in trouble, being unnaturally lucky, and being able to make guys I was interested in fall for me—hard. Sometimes I could even hex objects that belonged to people, although I only did that to people who deserved it—like when I caught the girl next to me cheating off my math test and hexed her pencil during the next test to make her forget everything she’d studied.
For years, I thought I was a freak. I didn’t tell anyone about what I could do—not even my dad. I figured I must have inherited my abilities from my mom, but she’d abandoned my dad and I after I was born. My dad has no idea where she is now. I eventually accepted that I might never have any answers.
But then the Elder at my school recognized my abilities and enrolled me into the homeroom she taught for the witches in the school. At first I had a lot to catch up on, but I was a fast learner. And now that I knew there were others out there like me, I didn’t feel so alone anymore. I actually liked coming out to the desert to watch the comet together, even though it was freezing. It was nice to be a part of a community of people that I didn’t have to hide from.
Kayla, Garrett, and I talked about school related things for a while—like how we weren’t looking forward to our upcoming test in Trigonometry—and then I saw it. A ball of bright light making its way across the stars, surrounded by a shining blue glow, with a tail of white growing wider behind it. It moved slower than I expected; it was much slower than a meteor, almost like it was suspended in space as it arced across the sky.
I placed my coffee cup down and stared up at the comet, mesmerized by its beauty. A wave of energy traveled from my head down to my toes.
And for some reason, even though the comet was beautiful and was supposed to bring positive energy to Earth, I couldn’t help but feel like it was the omen of something terrible to come, too.
Chapter Two
The next week passed as normal, and it didn’t take long for me to forget about that strange feeling I’d had during the comet. On Friday morning I sat in my usual place in homeroom between Garrett and Kayla, and the three of us chatted as we waited for class to start.
Ms. Davis hurried into the room a few seconds after the bell rang. “Today we’re going to do some practice exercises, and I want you to do your best to stretch your powers as far as you possibly can,” she said, dropping her bag onto her desk and looking skittishly around the room. “But before we begin, I have a serious announcement to make.” She had dark circles under her eyes, and a few pieces of her normally slicked back hair
were frizzing out. Even her white blouse was wrinkled.
The chattering quieted, the only sound in the room the heater running in the back corner. I swallowed and played with my pen, anxious about whatever Ms. Davis was about to tell us.
“I’ve gotten reports from an Elder in Massachusetts that there have been problems in their area,” she said, her voice shaking. “Nothing has been confirmed, and I’m not privy to give you more information at this time, but while you’re not in school you must remain in the safety of your homes until the problem is sorted out. Your parents will be warned of the possible danger, so they can make sure you follow this new rule until I have further news to report.”
Some students groaned—Garrett, Kayla, and I included. The last thing I wanted was to be under house arrest all weekend. My favorite DJ duo, Manufactured Superstars, was coming to Myst Nightclub at the Diamond Hotel tonight, and there was no way I was missing the show. I’d been looking forward to it for weeks.
“I know the situation isn’t ideal,” she continued. “But it’s for your safety. Extra protection spells have been placed around the school and your houses until the situation can be fixed.”
I froze in place, dropping my pen onto my desk. Why would our houses need protection spells?
“Something strange is going on,” Kayla whispered to me.
“No kidding,” I mumbled in reply.
Ms. Davis cleared her throat, and the whispering stopped. “As I said, we’re going to be doing some practice lessons today,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her and looking around the room. “I’m going to give each of you a silver chain bracelet, and you are going to direct as much of any color energy at it that you can. I want you all to be focused, because you never know when what you learn will prove to be useful.” She opened a drawer, pulled out a handful of silver chain bracelets, and started handing them out. They were the thick kind that venders at mall kiosks sell by the yard to people who want to walk around looking like pimps and rap stars.
That Moment When: An Anthology of Young Adult Fiction Page 7