by Carly Marino
She launched off of Matt, soaring fifteen or more feet into the sky. I clamped my hand over my mouth and stumbled backward. She landed, dust kicking up at her feet.
Matt attempted to stand but he crumpled to the sand, groaning. I wanted to check on him but the Resparé stalked closer.
Fear bit at the backs of my knees, wobbling my legs. I now understood why people reported alien sightings to magazines. The Resparé’s body progressed in an unnatural fashion, speeding forward in a blink. Her movements were jerky, almost sharp twitches. She faded into a shadow. The moonbeams outlined her silhouette, and her two yellow orbs hovered like menacing fireflies.
I clenched my teeth. Hold the armor. Warmth radiated through my veins, and my protective armor snapped into place. I focused on my fingers. “Glow.”
Nothing happened. What was I thinking? Why the hell did I think I could save anyone?
She cackled, the sound terrifying. She could pounce or attack quicker than I could react. I had zero chance of winning if she dove at me, yet, she skulked slowly as if enjoying the hunt.
I shook my hands. “Glow, dammit!”
She charged.
I ran. Worst case, I’d lead her away from Matt, giving the authorities enough time to rescue him. Maybe by then my light would work. My foot caught on stray piece of driftwood, and I slid across the ground. Pain radiated up my shin, and sand invaded my already dry mouth.
I flipped over and scooted backward. The dune separating the road from the beach blocked my escape. Blocked anyone who could possibly help. I coughed and wheezed, my breathes hissing out in short bursts.
She sprung forward. Her hands gripped my neck and squeezed. My body squirmed, and my hands flailed, searching for the shadow’s arms. I scratched aimlessly at the silhouette. She shrieked as my nails pierced her skin, but her fingers dug deeper into the sides of my neck and guttural gagging sounds vibrated my throat.
A sharp, knife-like pain tore along my spine. My abdomen clenched, frozen, paralyzed by this parasite as life force seeped from my skin. Inside, tingles weaved into ropes and soared through my body, gathering beneath her palms. The invisible lines tightened and yanked into her hands. I opened my mouth to scream but my throat constricted. Wooziness washed over me, and my temples throbbed so hard I could hear each beat.
She was draining me.
I had to retaliate. If I could just steal some of her essence—
The pressure was so intense my eyes felt as though they might pop from my skull. Her yellow spheres morphed to blue, multiplied, and danced in circular patterns. They dimmed and brightened.
The tension around my neck loosened. “You—are different. Not—human.” Her voice echoed in my head. “We’ve been searching for you.”
Searching?
Her grip crushed on my esophagus, restricting even the tiniest threads of air. My body slackened under the pressure of her knees. Fog clogged my brain begging for oxygen.
If I died or they took me, they’d kill Wynter, Aunt Karen, and Ethan. They’d go after my new Inflexaen friends. I couldn’t let that happen.
Heat fired down my arms. My fingers pulsed and lit a bright zaffre. I gritted my teeth, forcing every bit of my strength to my hands. The zaffre beam expanded and the halo encompassed the Resparé, her red tendrils flashing in and out of shadow form. She released my neck.
I strained a growl, and she soared off me. I surged to my feet. My light steadied on the dark figure until her freckled, pale skin and fiery curls appeared within the stream of light.
She launched her yellow light at me.
Bursts of yellow and zaffre sparks exploded and crackled like fireworks. She yelled out, her hands stretched before her. My vibrant blue slowly shrank back toward me. I fought against the fear threatening to weaken me. To make me lose. I wouldn’t lose. I bit the insides of my cheeks, the taste of blood inundating my tongue. I stepped closer. Focusing harder, I screamed. My zaffre beam blasted forward, forming a ball of sparkling light and ricocheting her yellow back at her, knocking her down.
My light wrapped her in a bubble, and on instinct, I raised my hands, lifting her off the ground. She suspended a good twenty feet in the air. How the hell was I doing this? The weight of her body resisted against me. My arms trembled, high-pitched sounds wailing through my gritted teeth.
With a flick of my wrists, I tossed her to the side. She glanced at me before sprinting, blending with the darkness and disappearing into the night.
I dropped to my knees, hyperventilating. My muscles ached and quivered. I pushed on my chest and breathed in and out slowly. What happened? I crawled to where Matt lay on his side. Red dripped from his nose and the cut across his cheek. His head slanted and blood spewed from his mouth.
“Thea? What? That light? Are you…”
“I’m alive, and so are you.”
His face stared in a frozen state of fear. A ghostly white stole the usual yellowish-brown undertones in his skin. Not from the Resparé’s draining, but from me. I’d scared him—terrified him.
“What the hell are you?” he choked.
“You’ll be okay.” He wouldn’t spread rumors about me. Not this time.
I pressed my hands to the sides of his face. Zapping noises snapped in my ears as surges of electricity prickled from my head to my fingers. Dizziness swayed my shoulders, and my stomach flipped as I entered his mind.
Fog surrounded me so thick I couldn’t see in front me. I clamped my eyelids shut and opened them several times, and the clouds fizzled into specks of white dust. I stood on the beach, not as him like I usually did, but as a spectator.
I kneeled beside him, his body curled in the fetal position. At few feet away, the Resparé grunted as she fought the past version of me. Matt whimpered, and his memory-thoughts poured into me. What the hell are these creatures? I have to escape. I have to warn my family.
Erasing his memory wouldn’t be easy. Nora’s had been an accident. But I had to try. I pretended radio-like dials protruded from his temples and rotated my wrists back and forth as if turning the knobs. The memory didn’t change, and I was still unable to interact.
Matt’s breathing evened, and almost like someone gained control over me, one of my arms stretched out and the other remained on his temple. This was too weird, but instead of freaking out and retracting, I succumbed to the force deep within myself.
The last few minutes of Matt’s memory projected in before me as if on a movie screen. I twisted my wrist to the left. The images rewound like they had with Nora’s memory.
I rotated my hand slightly, and the motion slowed, separating the memory into short clips. The sight of the Resparé pinning me down brought chills to my body. The fear in my face and the determination and anger in hers… I shuddered.
My fingers curled into a fist, stopping the memory just as the redhead approached Matt outside the diner. She laughed, gesturing to the beach. Her hand gripped him in the crook of his elbow, and she led him across the street. Matt grinned, his repulsively sly grin when he thought he’d get lucky. I wasn’t surprised.
The two of them paused by the shoreline. Her red strands brushed his face the closer her lips came to his. I lowered my arm, and the memory paused.
Not knowing what to do, I took a chance and spoke aloud, “Matt, you told this girl you changed your mind. She called you an asshole and disappeared over the hill. As you started up the beach, a man in a hoodie knocked you unconscious. I found you laying here just as you woke up.”
Memory ended. Simple and to the point. Too much detail would provoke additional questions.
I exhaled, pulled back on my ability, and released Matt. Adrenaline skyrocketed through me, relieving my body of aches and pains. I thirsted for more of his essence. This powerful feeling. It was like a drug. I didn’t have a care in the world. I blew out a quick breath, restraining myself from stealing more of his life force and snatched his wallet. A mugging wouldn’t be believable if he still had it on him. I tossed it into the water, hoping the tide
would swallow the evidence.
Sirens wailed. Red and white light reflected off the water. Perfect timing.
Matt groaned, rolling to his side.
I jumped to my feet and waved my arms over my head. “Over here! He’s over here!”
The EMTs ran to us. “Are you okay, miss?”
I pointed to Matt. “Yes. But he needs your help.” I moved out of their way, and they opened various kits and checked his vitals. They counted to three and lifted Matt onto a gurney.
“Excuse me, Miss…?”
I swiveled to the officer behind me. “Thea. Thea Scott.”
The officer removed a small spiral notebook from his pocket. “I’m Officer Jackson. You were the one who found the victim?”
“I did. But I haven’t a clue what happened to him. I heard someone yell and he was just lying there.”
We slogged through the thick sand and up the hill. At the top, the officer removed a white card from his chest pocket. “Thank you, Miss Scott. Please, contact me if you remember anything else. We’ll be in touch if we have further questions.”
“Okay.” I pushed through the chaos, closer to the ambulance where the EMTs secured Matt inside. They’d bandaged the cut on his cheek and put a brace on his neck. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, and my heart dipped. Regardless what an asshole he’d been to me, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. It made wonder how many others had been victimized by these creatures. Missing persons, unloved crimes. Who knew how many had suffered or died because of the Resparé.
“Hey! Can someone please tell me something? What happened to him?”
I spotted Holden Lavoie taking to the EMTs, cupping his brow. Authorities and medical professionals stepped around him or directed him elsewhere.
Worry knitted his brows to the center. “Thea?” He slid past people. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? What happened? I was supposed to meet Matt to grab a burger, and he didn’t show. I saw the ambulance—”
A loud siren interrupted him as the ambulance sped down the street. Officers waved at the crowd to disburse them, and they shrank into the restaurant or hopped into their cars. Voices buzzed with questions about what had happened, and Officer Jackson made his rounds. Some said they saw him leave with a red-haired woman. A few claimed fireworks had exploded over the ocean water. But no one had seen what actually happened, and I was thankful. I didn’t need a front page spot in the Enquirer.
“I have no idea.” I shrugged. “I heard someone yell. Matt was on the ground when I got there.”
Holden stuck his hand in his pocket. “That must’ve been scary.”
I gave a tiny smile. “I’m just a little shaken.” I wasn’t at all. The energy in my body made me want to do cartwheels. I didn’t feel drunk or high like I had when I erased Nora. I felt awake, strong, and full of endorphins.
“I’m not surprised. That was brave. You saved his life.”
I guessed he was right. I had saved his life. Maybe I was a destined vigilante.
Holden rocked on the balls of his feet and adjusted his sky-blue shirt.
I fingered the charm on my bracelet and peered at the ocean. “I should probably contact his parents.” I patted my back pocket. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I must’ve dropped my phone.”
“Want me to help you look for it?”
No way in hell did I want to go back to the beach. Who knew where the Resparé went, or if she’d gone anywhere at all. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s an old one anyway.”
“I’ll call his dad.” Holden withdrew his iPhone. “Give me a sec.” He turned. “Hey, Coach Robertson… Yeah, he was conscious. Do you need me to… All right. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Keep me posted.” He returned his phone to his pocket. “His dad is already on his way. Said he’ll call me when Matt’s doing better so I can stop by.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
I glanced into the restaurant. Servers hustled back and forth between tables. I wanted to eat, but wasn’t sure if that made me insensitive. My stomach growled, louder than I wished it had.
Holden chuckled. “You hungry? You wanna grab a bite? I’m—um—starving, too. Might be nice not to eat alone, after, what happened and all.”
I tightened my ponytail. “Uh—yeah, I guess.”
He held the door for me, and I inhaled the smell of grease. The restaurant had about twenty-five tables. Booths lined the windows, and small square tables were arranged on a stained, blue and yellow flower-pattern carpet. The kitchen window had a wire across where the staff pinned orders, and the cook dinged a bell when he put a plate out on the counter.
Holden held out his hand, and I slid into a faded red booth with tears in the plastic bench. He dropped in across from me.
The warm glow in the dinner brought out the golden flecks in his hazel eyes. His short blond hair fell above his dark-blond eyebrows. He had a broad nose, which seemed to toughen his rounded jawline, and his fitted t-shirt accentuated his football-grown arm and chest muscles.
I unwrapped the paper napkin and spun the fork on the table. “So you play football? You like it?” Stupid question, but I didn’t know what else to say.
He rested back. “It’s all right. I only play for a chance at a scholarship. I get a four point, but the odds of a full ride are greater with football. Especially if I want to get into a good med school.”
I jerked my head back. “Med school? Really?”
He leaned forward and whispered, “Well, don’t tell anyone, or I’ll have to kill you.”
“Funny and smart, who knew?”
His eyes crinkled at the corners, and an orangish glow brightened the spray of freckles on his cheekbones.
The server came to our table, and she glanced between us. “You’re back? You must be a hungry guy.”
Holden rubbed the side of his head. “Uh—yeah.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Starving, huh?”
“I’ll just have a coke and a brownie sundae.”
“Burger and fries, please.” I grinned. “Oh! And a vanilla milkshake.”
“Be up shortly.” She jotted on her pad of paper, grabbed the menus, and dashed to her next table.
“Big eater?” Holden put his napkin on his lap.
“I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Yeah … obviously, I just ate.” He massaged his shoulder.
Had he lied just to have dinner with me? Why? His must’ve felt sorry for me. I traced the name Cassidy carved into the table. “You didn’t have to sit with me. I was going to eat alone, anyway.”
Holden fiddled with his silverware. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something. I tried all week but couldn’t get you alone.”
I cocked my head. What could Holden Lavoie, Mr. All American Football, want to ask the class freak? He got a four point so he didn’t need to copy my homework. Maybe had a cat that needed sitting.
The plastic seat squeaked as he adjusted. His face blazed with embarrassed blotches. “That … wasn’t me.”
I folded my fingers over my mouth to muffle a snicker. “I know.”
“Good. So are you, uh, dating anyone?”
Okay, this was officially going in a strange direction. “No. Why?”
He straightened. “Well … the homecoming dance is next Saturday, and I thought, maybe, you might want to go with me?”
I spit out a loud, over-the-top—Bah. “You’re asking me to homecoming?”
His hazel eyes widened, and he pressed on his temple. “Sorry, I asked.”
“Oh, my gosh. Holden, no. I’m so sorry.” I bit my lip. “I just wasn’t expecting … I mean, we haven’t spoken since, I can’t remember when.” A nervous chuckle escaped my mouth. “Why the hell would you want to go with me?”
“You seem, I dunno, different somehow. I saw you at Drake’s party, and…” He massaged the back of his neck. “Wow, Thea, you’re … I have no idea how I didn’t notic
ed you before.”
I held my breath. Prickling warmth itched my ears. “I haven’t really thought about homecoming, yet. Can I say maybe, for now?”
“Maybe, huh? Well, I have a feeling after you taste my brownie sundae you’ll change your mind. This place makes the best ones.”
I laughed. “We’ll see.”
“Fair enough.” He put his arm over the back of the booth.
I didn’t want to talk about homecoming anymore. Especially because I’d have to say no. Unless I learned to control my ability, of course. What? I couldn’t possibly go. I mean, Holden had ignored me for years. Why now? I didn’t want to know. “You’ve been here before? I mean, I guess lots of people come here. I kinda considered it a hidden gem.”
“Yeah, my mom works mornings here and nights at the pub. Growing up, my sitter and I would have breakfast so I could see her. My dad’s not in the picture and my mom works a lot to support us. It’s why the scholarship is so important to me.”
My stomach fluttered. We had more in common than I imagined. Both raised by a single parent who worked crazy hours to take care of us. Holden had a genuine way about him. He smiled and laughed despite his crooked teeth. I liked that.
“My aunt does the same. My parents … died.”
His mouth turned down. “I’m sorry.”
To avoid the pity in his eyes, I made a parade on the table with the ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper. “Thanks. I was a baby so I don’t remember them.”
His lips parted, but to my relief, the waitress set our plates in front of us. I grabbed the burger and moaned as the first bite touched my tongue.
Holden laughed. “Good?”
I swallowed the colossal bite. “Mmhm.”
He held out a spoon to me. “You’ve got to try this.”
I hesitated, but lifted from my seat and tasted his brownie sundae. The moist chocolate, whipped cream, and hot fudge both chilled and warmed my taste buds. I savored the flavor. “That is good.”
“Told you.”
We talked until I swallowed the last fry and slurped the end of my milkshake. Holden and I chatted about everything from our teachers to our favorite movies. He had a great sense of humor and was nothing like the jock I expected. I loved that he wanted to play football for Norte Dame, not for their amazing team, but for their academic program. He surprised me.