by SM Olivier
“We need to cross the bridge before they tear it down.” Troy said insistently as he hurled fire balls at the people trying to climb up the mountain. They came close to hitting them but fizzled out before they could actually hit their marks.
We carefully picked our way across the bridge. We made it across just in time as the middle of the bridge finally gave way and both sides slapped against the sides of the mountain. I looked down as I saw several boards scatter in different directions.
Noah squeezed my hand reassuringly and I smiled at him in appreciation. He probably imagined us plunging down to our deaths as I had.
“Now how are they supposed to cross?” Jaxson asked scornfully.
“I’m sure Terrance will come up with a solution,” Jace said dryly.
“Remind me to kick his ass the next time I see him. Shaking the bridge while we were on it was a bone head move,” Remy grumbled.
“Not if I get to him first,” I stated. My heart was just starting to slow back down. It had been in my throat. I thought for sure I was going to suffer from a heart attack in the moments before we got off the bridge.
They gave me a smile before Jace turned back to the other group. “I don’t know what they think is so funny,” he muttered.
“But they’re not−” Noah said mystified until he turned around. “Oh. Oh! Good one, Jace.”
Jace had a group of people laughing to the point that they couldn’t even move.
I heard screeches rent the air as eagles and hawks came into view. They were swooping down at the people’s heads with their talons. Jaxson chuckled at his illusion as the other group began to panic. Their panic outweighed their reasoning. They hadn’t realized it was just an illusion. The birds of prey couldn’t touch them.
“I think this party needs some dragons,” Noah laughed.
“But dragons don’t-” Jaxson’s eyes widened as a mischievous light entered his eyes. “I’ve never tried anything that big yet or anything that doesn’t exist.” He had the eagles and hawks fly back into the forest.
“Sounds like todays a good day to try,” Remy said with a smirk.
I almost had to cover my ears as a loud roaring shriek came over our heads and a massive creature the size of a house came soaring over our heads. I stared in awe at how realistic it looked. I could see its green scales shimmer in the dying sun. Its talons were easily as big as I was. I watched as its mouth opened, and flames burst forth. I ducked as if the flames could reach me.
Noah and Jaxson laughed at my reaction, and I couldn’t be mad at them as I stood back up. I would have laughed too if the roles had been reversed.
I saw as people scrambled to get out of its way. Screaming to avoid its massive talons and mouth still agape. It looked eager to swallow them whole.
“Well that was most of them,” Noah guffawed.
Terrance, Jemmy, Gavin, Sierra, Marcel, Rachel, and Sam along with a handful of Nons continued to climb up the mountain. They were attempting to climb over the pile of rocks and boulders that Remy had thrown down.
“My turn,” I grinned inspired by Jaxson’s playful offense.
“Make it quick,” Drake said in a strained voice. I turned and saw he was waning. He had been our defense for too long. Their assault had been relentless.
I focused all my energy on the small group advancing on us. I imagined them stopping their assault and decided they should play duck, duck, goose. Terrance, Marcel, Dawn, Jemmy, Rachel, and the Nons easily complied with no resistance. They all sat as Jemmy was the first to get up to tap on each one of their heads.
“Duck, Duck, Duck, Du- Goose,” she cried giddily as she tapped Marcel’s head and started to run around the circle, away from him. I could hear the guys chuckle behind me amused by my choice.
Drake sighed in relief as the force field was dropped. He took a few breaths in.
It took me a minute to realize Gavin and Sierra had resisted my compulsion.
“He’s trying to use my own gift against me,” I gritted out between my teeth. I could feel my already weakened resolve begin to crumble. Last night had taken a lot out of me, and I still hadn’t recovered.
Jace stepped up beside me, and I could see his focus was homed in on them. “That bastard,” Jace muttered with respect tinging his voice. “He’s trying to use mine now.”
Remy came up beside us, rock in hand.
“No,” Troy insisted with a hand on his arm. “They’re too close to the edge, and we don’t want them to tumble over.
Remy nodded. “Now what?”
“Guys,” I cried as I fell to my knees in pain. “I need you to hold onto me!” I cried out desperately as I felt Gavin and Sierra try to prod into my mind. Gavin had grown strong in the weeks he had worked on his gifts. With Sierra acting as his catalyst he was nearly unstoppable.
I couldn’t do this on my own. I needed the guys to back me up. I needed them to help channel and tap into my full potential.
“No!” Noah cried out as Jaxson and Drake went to grasp my hands. “We agreed not to connect our gifts anymore!”
“There’s no other way,” I said with a pained voice. “He’s trying to mimic me! If he does, then they are free to come after us.”
“It’s not worth it for a training exercise,” Jace said firmly.
I understood their reservations, and it had terrified me too, but I knew with all of them the gift wouldn’t be able to rise out of control. I compelled them to touch me and help me channel my gift.
As they all touched me I felt rejuvenated. I felt tingling in my extremities. I felt the steady power begin to rise. It was reveling at being released. It was vibrating, but I felt like it was contained, like it wanted to break free but knew it was unable to. I focused on Gavin and Sierra, and saw them stumble back as I pushed his penetrating reach back.
“Go play with them.” I commanded them. “It looks like fun.”
Once they inserted themselves into the game I slumped over. Feeling the gift leave me.
“That should keep them busy for a while,” I turned and smiled at the guys.
Remy, Troy, and Jace were glaring at me. Noah and Jaxson were amused once more. Laughing at the group playing Duck, Duck, Goose. Nothing bad had happened. Drake looked uncomfortable as he glanced between me and the guys glaring at me.
My face fell. Confused at first by the anger radiating off them. “What?” I asked in confusion. “I know you guys said you didn’t want to connect our gifts anymore, but we needed to. We didn’t get this far just to let them win. I knew if we all connected, you guys could help me control it.”
“You had no right using your gift against us,” Troy yelled, before picking up his pack and turning on his heel. He started stomping up the road without looking back.
“No training exercise is worth your health, your life,” Jace said with deadly quietness as he picked up his pack and followed Troy.
“We can’t build a strong relationship if you’re just going to ignore us and do as you please. We could have come up with a different solution before you decided to use your gift against us,” Remy said with disappointment. “We’re your connections, your helpmates, your lovers, and friends. We’re not your puppets.” He picked up both of our packs before he followed Troy and Jace.
I felt like they had physically hit me. Their words cut me through to the heart and it hurt. I felt hot tears burn the back of my eyes. I hadn’t realized that they would be so angry by my decision. Intuitively, I knew it was going to work. I didn’t think it would have such a negative effect. I didn’t think the guys would get angry or feel betrayed by my decision.
Drake reached down to take my hand. “They’ll get over their…anger soon,” he said soothingly. “If you could have seen how you came back to us last night you’d understand why they feared to make a connection.”
“But it worked,” I tried to plead my case as tears coursed down my face. “I knew it was going to work. My gift isn’t strong enough to push through all seven of us.”
“Isn’t that normal? Especially if our connection gets stronger, shouldn’t our gifts?” I wiped a hand across my eyes, trying to wipe away my tears.
“But everyone seems to have a cap-off,” Noah patiently explained. “We’ve known connected people for years. Pretty much all of them have grown stronger, but there’s a point it stops its progression. Yours feels like it doesn’t have a cap-off.”
Jaxson and Noah had fallen into steps beside us. Jaxson grabbed my other hand. “It’s not like a fire. We can’t continue feeding it wood and it will continue to grow. Since we made our connections complete, there’s no doubt we have all grown stronger. Level upped, even.”
“With you, though, it seems to want to grow. Especially when we’re channeling our gifts together,” Drake explained. “We just have to be careful when or how we use them until we can get a better understanding of it all.”
“Maybe if you continue to hone your gift, the easier it will be to control it. Like when we trained Micah to transport further distances. On his own he could transport maybe a quarter mile or so. Now he’s able to travel further. You’ve used your gifts, and you tested them, but I wouldn’t say you’ve mastered any of them. Not really,” Noah commented.
I wiped my tears away, angry once more. “How? You guys keep telling me I’m naturally strong. I don’t understand how much more I can work on it.”
“It’s kind of like an…athlete,” Jaxson said slowly. We all looked at him in confusion. “Some athletes are naturally strong, agile, fast, and everything comes easier to them, but the elite athletes don’t rest on their laurels. They push themselves. They train harder. They do everything that everyone else does and then some. They have the eyes on their ultimate goal; the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, the Olympics—whatever it may be, and they chase after it.”
I looked at him in stunned silence for a moment. “That’s pretty insightful for my Mr. American meathead,” I joked.
Jaxson feigned a hurt look. “You forget, I get good grades too!”
“It’s easy to forget when you still need to be reminded to turn off the bedroom light when we leave the room every morning,” Noah teased.
“Or to close the refrigerator door after you get done grabbing your drink,” Drake added.
“Don’t forget how many times he had to run back to the room for his assignments,” I commented.
“Not fair!” Jaxson feigned anger as he stomped off.
“Get back here,” I called after him with laughter.
I was still hurt but talking to them had helped. They had helped me put everything into perspective. I knew I had a lot of groveling to do. I had to find a way to show Troy, Remy, and Jace that I was sorry. I didn’t think I could stand them being angry at me for long. I had a knot at the pit of my stomach making me feel like I could physically get sick over all of this.
“I forgot how to,” he called back pulling me out of my troubled thoughts.
Chapter 12
Tonight wasn’t going to be my night. Paul, Will, and Megan met us at the door. They told us we had an hour to shower, eat chow, and head down to the training gym for a debriefing. I couldn’t help but notice that Megan and Will seemed pleased to see us back first. I also noticed Paul seemed somewhat surprised. I knew he had seen what we could do. I think he just thought the odds were against us. Especially with the gifted on the other team.
Troy, Remy, and Jace immediately dropped their bags when we got back to the apartment. Then got their shower stuff and left the room. I assumed that they were headed to the showers located near the gym. By their behavior, I knew they still weren’t talking to me.
“They’ll cool off,” Drake reassured me as I watched them leave the room.
“Why don’t you jump in the shower first?” Noah asked sympathetically.
I nodded. I didn’t trust myself to speak. I jumped into the shower and let the tears fall. It had taken an additional hour and a half to reach the facility after our altercation. I thought they would have cooled off by then. I didn’t expect them to be acting so coldly towards me.
I wanted to stay in the shower longer and wallow in my own self-pity, but it wouldn’t be fair for the other guys to wait on me. I reluctantly got out and wrapped a towel around myself and my hair before I opened the door of the bathroom. Jaxson was waiting on the opposite side and kissed my cheek on the way in.
I opened the closet across from the bathroom and pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a fitted white Henley. I looked at the mirror that Troy mounted behind the love seat and above the white cubicle shelf.
I looked like I had been crying. My eyes were red and puffy. I couldn’t do anything about the redness, but I could try to fix the puffiness. I went back to my closet and pulled out my cosmetics. I hadn’t worn any for the past four days, and I didn’t feel like letting everyone see my moment of weakness. I applied the makeup heavily around and on my eyes before putting on some lip gloss. I placed my makeup bag back into the closet when I had finished.
“Did you want to take my dresser and closet in my room?” Jaxson asked as I was putting it away.
I tried to smile and shook my head. I knew he could see my moroseness and wanted to cheer me up. “No thanks. I’m fine keeping my stuff in here. As much as I share your beds it’s no use.”
“Well, if you every change your mind, let me know,” Jax insisted.
I nodded and grabbed some hair product to tame my curls. I went back to the mirror to run the wide tooth comb through my hair. Then I put my products away. I curled up on the couch and waited for the rest of the guys to finish getting ready. It didn’t take them long.
“Let’s go eat,” Noah said jovially.
I nodded and slipped on my UGGs. Tonight, was all about comfort. I took Drake’s proffered hand as we walked out into the hallway. We walked down to the DFAC, and I could see that the guys were already there along with the kids.
Ella and Alex saw me first and got up screaming my name. I smiled genuinely for the first time since I got back. I knelt to embrace them, and they both hit me with such force that I was on my butt within seconds. Our limbs were in a tangled heap. They tumbled down on top of me and we all ended up giggling and laughing. With the help of Drake and Jaxson, we were able to stand back up.
“Are you okay?” Ella asked worriedly. “I saw you fixing that guy. I showed Aunt Megan, and she let Pops know.”
I was surprised that she began to call Megan Aunt Megan. I wasn’t going to discourage her, but it wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t think she would take to the other woman so quickly. Although, they had been spending a lot of time together.
I nodded. “I’m just fine.” I insisted.
“But why are you so sad?” Alex asked with a frown. “Why are the guys making you sad?”
I gave him a pointed look. “Little man.” He ducked his head sheepishly, knowing he was caught. “We discussed this. We don’t look in other people’s heads without permission or unless you feel like you’re in danger.”
“I know. I know,” he muttered. “I’ve been working really hard with Pops. I hear and see a lot now. I don’t mean to. It just comes to me.”
I kissed his cheek. He ducked his head again like he was embarrassed to be kissed in front of everyone. I knew he secretly loved it. “Well, it sounds like we have work to do. You and me. You need to work on your barriers, and I need to work on honing my gifts.”
He nodded. “Let’s eat,” he said cheerily. With the innocence of youth, he was able to bounce back so easily.
“We already had dinner,” Ella said in exasperation. I had to hide my smile. They acted more and more like siblings every day, even though they were technically cousins.
“I’m a growing boy,” Alex said
mutinously.
“If you’re hungry, let’s get you something to eat,” Jaxson declared as he fist-bumped the smaller boy.
“Can I get ice cream?” Ella asked.
Chow wasn’t generally open this late. It looked like they had set out the salad bar, lunch meat, cheeses, bread, and bags of chips for us. “If they have any,” I replied.
“But you already had dinner,” Alex said smugly to Emma as he grabbed a tray.
“I had dinner. Ice cream is dessert,” Ella said in an annoyed voice.
Jaxson chuckled. “She got you there.”
Alex shrugged. “I’ll get ice cream, too.”
We all laughed at his reasoning.
I made a ham and swiss sandwich, threw a bag of barbecue chips on my tray, and poured some pop in my cup. The chest freezer located at the end of the drink station had the novelty ice creams. They generally had it stocked three, maybe four days a week. It was normally the one and only highlight the DFAC had to offer us.
The kids were excited to see them in there. Alex grabbed two of them.
“Only one,” I gently corrected him.
“I’m grabbing one for Micah,” Alex explained.
I smiled at his thoughtfulness. He really had his moments of sweetness.
I followed Noah and Jaxson to our normal table. As we sat down the other group started to trickle in. They looked like they had just returned and didn’t look like they even had a chance to shower. I’m sure they were in desperate need of one.
“Blake Thomas, you are no longer my best friend,” Jemmy yelled at me across the room. “And I’ve decided you are no longer my sister in law.”
I gave her my best innocent smile and shrugged. I turned to Ella and Alex and smiled conspiratorially. “When Jemmy gets here, make sure you ask her if she’ll play duck, duck, goose with you.”
“I love duck, duck, goose!” Ella exclaimed.
“Me too!” Alex agreed.