by Debbie Civil
Chapter 9
“Elias.” The guy was knocked out, his mouth opened in an O shape. When he woke, I was going to tease him about how he must have swallowed plenty of spiders. “Elias.” He still didn’t stir. This was a partial relief. It was possible that I could slide out of bed without being detected. If his keys were lying around, I would have made use of them. It was foolish of me to drive knowing that my health problems could very well endanger me. I silently cursed my stupid conscience for not allowing me to risk it.
The lights were on, and the door was partially ajar. His bedside clock read 6:30 which meant that we had been napping for a couple hours. I was about to tip-toe out of the room, when a crate caught my attention. A familiar book rested haphazardly on the edge. My heart pounded when I picked up my well-traveled copy of “Gone with the Wind.” Seeing my book caused me to look in the crate. The notebooks rested atop one another in chronological order. I pulled out the one marked entries 1 to 93 and sat on the floor. I opened the book and read.
Entry 1
I’m going mad. I can feel my mind floating away from reality. At night, phantom sounds of saws, screams, and gunshots keep me awake. It all would have been easier with her by my side. It’s difficult to refer to her as anything else. She was a dream, my breath, the reason I left the cells alive. But none of them cared. So I decided that I would be the one that cared. I would keep my own thoughts for company and never think of anything else. So I will recount the events that led to me meeting the girl that I’ll refer to as summer. She brought light and warmth when it was all darkness.
I dreamed of Mandy for the last time the day I met summer. This time, her ocean blue eyes were looking into mine with longing and desire. Her mouth was open with a smile, and the atmosphere was a hopeful one. It was the night of my grandparent’s anniversary party, the night that changed everything for me. We danced under the chandelier, my hand planted on her lower back. I had hoped that she couldn’t realize that I had been sweating. I was worried that the perspiration would leak through her satin ball gown. But she didn’t seem to notice anything but me. Well, that wasn’t true. When her eyes weren’t focused on me, they were glued to her feet. Mandy was a terrible dancer.
“So, what are you going to do?” I asked her. The orchestra was trading one slow and boring song for another. Honestly, all of the music sounded the same to me.
“I don’t… Elias, my family…” Mandy had met with the robes last night. She had two options, disappear with me, never to speak to her family again, or go back to her human life. If she hadn’t been poisoned, the Robes wouldn’t have known about her. I was going to leave the audience for Mandy, but she didn’t know that. My denouncement was scheduled for the fall.
“Don’t think about it,” I softly told her before baring it as she stepped on my foot, again.
“Sorry. I warned you,” she giggled. I was going to respond with something witty, kiss her cheek, and insist that we go for a walk outside. Then, the icy fear hit me. I released Mandy and spun around and froze. Two Dwellers had found their way into the ballroom. They were both dressed in black, lurking by the orchestra pit, holding knives. Shooting at a touched one was downright idiotic since many of them had levitation talents or could control objects. Some of them in fact had been known to shoot bullets right back at their targets. But I didn’t have any such powers. I was the third child, the unlucky one. Mandy was defenseless. She was only a human. I scanned the room, searching for either Roson or Cameron with my eyes. As much as it sucked, I had to rely on them to keep Mandy safe. Though I was trained and could have given either of them a run for their money, I needed someone that could protect Mandy. I couldn’t find my brothers. But the fear that enveloped me intensified. Mandy slipped beside me and peered around. She, of course, spotted the two dark shapes as well and shuddered.
“Elias,” she softly said. “You’re looking green.” She had the tendency to talk whenever things were tense. At that moment, I wanted to cover her mouth with my hand. There was no need to draw attention to herself. Dwellers had exceptional hearing and weren’t encumbered by the loud screeching instruments. As if the musicians were trying to scream for help, wrong notes filled the air, then the music stopped altogether. The two animals switched their gazes from side to side, as if trying to pick a target. My grandfather had just made it to the door, probably to summon soldiers, when the chandelier exploded. Mandy screamed as a shard of glass struck her across the face. I shouted in alarm at seeing the blood on her face and pressed her up against the wall, my body shielding her. So the Dwellers had recruited a member of the touched audience. I instinctively knew that they had, even before seeing the man that strode forward, his palm raised to the sky. Martin Greenwood, the father of a girl named Amy, grinned maniacally. People still hadn’t realized that he was the one who had caused the chandelier to explode. They were too frantic, and in search of hiding places to think rationally. The ones that scurried under the tables were well off for two reasons. Number one, they weren’t trampled by people. Number two, the Dwellers only attempted to kill whoever they saw. They weren’t interested in chasing after people.
“Elias,” Mandy called, beating on my back, but I didn’t move. There was no way that she was going to be harmed by the Dwellers. People grouped toward Martin, trying to either protect him or seek comfort. His protector, Shay was attempting to escort the middle-aged man from the room. That’s when Martin pulled a blade from his suit pocket and sliced his protector right in the neck. Fury had pounded through me, at seeing one of my mentors taken down by his own charge. My veins surged and before I could stop myself, I dove at Martin, and a Dweller stopped me by punching me in the face. His blow didn’t seem to harm me in the slightest. Cameron had struck me harder for eating one of his pop tarts. I kicked the man in the knee, and the man groaned. He whipped out a pistol and cocked it. I hadn’t expected this kind of attack. Martin must have told him that some of us were defenseless. No matter, I knew what I was doing. Before he had a prayer of pulling the trigger, I twisted his arm, and he began to scream. In hindsight, I should have known that something was different about me. I should have known that everything that I ever known was about to change. Instead, I kept on twisting until the gun fell from his grasp. I picked up the weapon and shot the man in the head, without hesitation. Dwellers weren’t exactly like humans. They were called Dwellers because they had the potential to be a touched one, but never fulfilled it. I didn’t think twice about the man who fell to the ground, or the blood that splashed on my face. I simply spun around to see that there were more Dwellers. Most of the Soldiers were sluggish in their actions, and the Dwellers were having no problem picking through them. It would be discovered later that Martin Greenwood’s daughter had poisoned the soldiers and any touched one she could get her drink into. At the time, I was starting to panic, so I began shooting. My aim was true, hitting unsuspecting Dwellers who moved my way. But then, Martin Greenwood caught sight of the Dwellers who were falling, and decided to take care of me.
“Elias,” Roson shouted as he ran my way. He had a talent for moving objects and was more powerful than Martin Greenwood. My brother raised his hand and impaled Martin on a strip of chandelier that had been left hanging. The piece of metal went through the man’s neck, and he didn’t move again. I was so awed by my brother’s power that I didn’t see him. I heard a shot and expected to die. Fear clogged my throat, and it was almost too much to bare. But then Mandy shrieked, which was like ice water getting tossed in my face. I spun around to see her running toward Roson. Roson was on the ground, clutching his chest. Mandy’s face was full of anguish.
“No,” she cried. “No, Roson, please hang in there. Please.” She was on the ground, caressing my brother’s face as if trying to comfort him. Another dweller was behind the pair. But Cameron dispatched him with his talent, fire. A strange urge had come over me. My muscles were bunching up, and my eyes were drawn to the red puddle on my brother’s chest. I knelt down on Roson’s
other side, and my hand’s trembled as I pushed Mandy’s hand away. She looked up at me, hopelessness in her eyes.
“He was trying to save you,” she said in an accusatory tone. That stung. Mandy was my girlfriend, the love of my life. As horrible as it was. I expected her to be relieved that I was alive. But she wasn’t. Her panicked eyes were focused on Roson’s face.
“I’m sorry,” I softly whispered to Roson, who was losing color.
“I love you, Mandy,” he said softly.
“I love you too,” she cried before placing a soft kiss to his lips. It was like I wasn’t even there. Instead of yelling at my future wife for kissing and loving my older brother, I schooled my features.
“Mandy, we need to put pressure on this,” I urged. She focused on me again, her face filled with fear.
“It’s no use. He’s dying,” she began to cry which angered me. How was she giving up so easily? Why was she so weak? A stronger woman wouldn’t have gone into hysterics like that. I shoved her hands off of Roson’s a bit rougher than I meant to. Then I pressed my right palm on his chest. A bolt of pain sliced through my arm, and I yelped, thinking that I had been shot. I tried to move my hand, but it was like the blood on Roson’s wounded acted as super glue. I couldn’t move it, not even if I tried. I felt a shudder, something warm filling my chest, and then a lightness filling my head.
“Oh crap,” Cameron cursed, his voice trembling. He must have saw the state that Roson was in. But I couldn’t look up at him.
“Elias, it’s all right. I’m fine,” Roson said, his voice sturdier than it was before. His voice broke the spell. I lifted my hand and stared at the wound. It was closed. I swallowed and shook my head. This wasn’t possible. I hadn’t healed his wound. The Phoenix was Oliver Marge, a spineless S.O.B. with poor bedside manners. I remembered how he had only healed Mandy for a generous donation to his cause. Being so in love with her, I had forked over a quarter of my trust fund to save her. But looking at the way her blue eyes saw only Roson, I began to feel like a sucker. Getting to my feet, I glanced around me to see the Dwellers bolting. They didn’t want to stick around to see the Phoenix heal all of the soldiers. I didn’t know how to do it, but my kind could heal a room by projecting some power. Apparently, the cowards thought that I was skilled, so they exited.
“Elias,” Cameron called, staring at my hands.
“So I’m the Phoenix,” I said flatly, pitying Oliver Marge and his family. Only one Phoenix could exist. That meant that he underwent combustion and was now a pile of ashes. That was going to be my fate. The worst part was that I had no idea when it would be. But until then, I was immortal. That meant that I could live thousands of years while my mortal girlfriend would grow old and die. By the way that she had kissed Roson, I didn’t think that I had to worry about Mandy anymore.
“Go on, heal,” Cameron ordered. He was animated, finally ecstatic that his little brother had magical powers. More because I wanted to be away from the girl that broke my heart and the older brother that stabbed me in the back, I went around the room and healed the soldiers that weren’t already dead. After I was finished, I made my way back to Mandy and frowned at her. She was bloody, and the wound on her cheek looked like it needed stitches. Roson must have explained what I now was to her because she said, “its okay Elias. You don’t have to heal me.” And that’s when I woke up. That was always when I woke up and exchanged one hell for another.
Tears pricked my eyes as I carefully placed the book back in the crate. Elias was going mad, and I didn’t think that anyone knew it. He was a killer that healed and protected. I cringed at the memory of him blowing off the dweller’s head. What was a dweller? A thought came to mind. They viewed us as abominations. Was it possible that my stalker was a dweller? What if Cameron or Roson were the ones sending me letters? What if it was the Shrew messing with my mind? I had never had an endless list of suspects before. But there was no way to cross each one off of my mental list. Someone was stalking me, and I had no clue who it was. Getting to my feet, I stared at Elias as his eyes focused on what was in my hand.
“I noticed my book,” I said, hoping that he couldn’t detect the lie. He had mentioned something about feeling the Dwellers. What if Elias felt me?
“You have a lot of questions. I…”
“Elias,” I slowly asked.
“Yes.”
“Is being a touched one genetic?” He looked at me for a brief moment and patted the bed. I reluctantly sat down, clutching my favorite childhood book for comfort. The pained look that the Phoenix shot me didn’t settle me in the least.
“Well, it works like this. If a touched one marries another, their first child will inherit the abilities of the father while the second, the mother. Any children after that will be slightly faster, and stronger, but nothing else. They will most likely become a soldier. If a touched one marries a soldier, the first born will inherit the powers of the touched parent.”
“I’m second born,” I argued, confused. “That would mean that Jordan has abilities. Do my parents have abilities?” Elias shook his head. “ Is there a way to be sure?” Elias gave me a pitying look.
“Lena, your parents aren’t touched. I would have felt them,” he softly said, and my heart plummeted into my stomach. Was I adopted?
“I look like my mother,” I argued.
“She could have had an affair with a member of the audience,” he pointed out.
“No! No! That couldn’t be. No!” The grief smacked into me so hard that the window shades began to shake.
“Calm down,” Elias said, but my emotions were everywhere. I began to cry and the wind reacted, whistling past the window, begging to come in.
“No! Do you think that’s why Mom left me without a thought? Did she do it because I was going to ruin her perfect little family?” Elias frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“My mother abandoned me when I was eleven. She went to Hollywood with my sister and doesn’t even visit anymore. She didn’t even see me in the hospital. You saw my mother, but I didn’t.” My last words were angry, the rage egging me on.
“Lena, I’m not sure what your mother’s motives were. I…”
“Can we find my real father? I want to know why he abandoned me.”
“We can. Just calm down,” he pleaded. Because I must have been too much of a wreck to calm down on my own, Elias grabbed my hand and filled me with fatigue. I was about to fall asleep when he said, “You need to get yourself together, Lena. We have to go to your mother’s house for her dinner party. Do you understand me? You can’t tell anyone about this.” I wanted to ask Elias if he was afraid of Dwellers finding out about me, but I thought better of it. For all I knew, Elias could have killed me when he…
“You didn’t save Mr. Twist.” Those words didn’t mean to come out, but they did. Elias shook with what I assumed was anger, until he spoke.
“I had to choose, Lena, between you and him. You were dying from internal bleeding, and so was he.” He snatched his hand from mine and went into his closet and came out wearing a cashmere sweater, Khakis, and boots. I slipped into my shoes as he went to the bathroom, probably to freshen up. When he came out, he handed me an unused toothbrush and a washcloth, and I took my turn. Elias’ bathroom was spacious with a Jacuzzi, a shower, and racks of towels. It smelled like his aftershave. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, without thought. Then, I went home where I pretended.