“No!” I shouted and slammed my fist down on the metal handrail, bending the railing as easily as if it were paper. Ugh, not again. I tried to ignore the gasping and muttering behind me as I forced my hand open while taking several deep breaths.
“Yeah, you’ve really got things under control. Don’t need any more training, right?” Hugh’s bland expression barely masked the sarcasm in his voice.
Kevin’s gaze was directed behind me. “Come on – let’s get out of here before a teacher shows up.”
I almost ran down the steps. Hugh and Kevin followed me until I stopped just outside school grounds near the Plaid Pantry. “I thought I was free.” I stared down at the asphalt, wishing I had the ability to burrow so I could escape without them following.
Hugh shook his head. “I don’t really understand why you’re resisting your heritage, but I can see it’s hard for you.” He actually sounded sympathetic.
I sighed and turned to face my cousins. Hugh watched me while Kevin stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and shifted from foot to foot restlessly.
“My mother died because she was a supernormal. I saw it happen,” I said, feeling so tired my bones ached.
I stopped. What more was there to say? Seems like that should be reason enough to avoid life as a supernormal, but Hugh shook his head. “You can’t just flip a switch and turn off your abilities.” He subconsciously echoed Aunt Kate.
I glared at him. “I know that.” Though I wished I could turn them off. “But can’t I train enough to learn to control them and live as a normal?”
Someone spoke from behind me. “No, Olivia, being supernormal is an absolute.”
Uncle Alex had arrived.
Chapter 19
Uncle Alex led me to his car. At first I wanted to argue, but I decided to wait until we got in the car so my outburst would be less public. I figured he was taking me to the warehouse, which was high on the list of places I didn’t want to go. Just before I got in, Kevin called out, “See you later, Ollie.” He sounded very confident he would, but I ignored him.
Uncle Alex drove in the direction of the warehouse, but then he kept driving past the street we would normally turn down. He parked in a lot under the Morrison Bridge and got out. I followed slowly, bracing myself for his admonishments.
He still didn’t say anything as we walked down to the waterfront. The day was misty, but the late afternoon sun was doing its best to break through the clouds, resulting in an occasional streak of light gleaming through the droplets of water in the air.
Uncle Alex clasped his hands behind his back as he walked along the path. He smiled at me. “So, what do you know about our history?” A light wind from the river stirred his brown hair, revealing glints of grey.
I blinked with surprise at his question. Not what I was expecting him to lead with, but okay, I would play along.
I’d never given much thought to supernormal history. I guess I’d been too concerned with immediate family history to think about my origins. I shook my head and shrugged. Getting a history lesson sounded better than getting yelled at for my temper tantrum two weeks ago.
Uncle Alex nodded as if he had expected my answer. We walked a little ways further until there was no one else around. He stopped and leaned his arms on the railing overlooking the Willamette River. I leaned beside him. The Hawthorne Bridge was lowering in the wake of a ship passing under it. A few determined people in pleasure boats braved the chilly weather. One crazy person even roared past on a jet ski.
“Quite honestly, we don’t know much about our history before two hundred years ago. We know we’ve been around longer than that from fragments of journals and other documents. But something happened back then, something catastrophic. We lost a lot of supernormals and most of our past.” He caught a leaf drifting by in the wind and twirled it in his fingers before releasing it. “Since then, we’ve worked towards reconnecting with each other and trying to piece together what happened.”
“So what do they think happened?” I asked, intrigued by this information.
Uncle Alex tapped a finger on the railing thoughtfully. “Some say there was a betrayal, an internal attack. Others say it came from the outside.” He blew out his breath. “I wish I knew. I’ve visited the archives in Edinburgh and St. Petersburg a few times. Some of the historians have pieced together enough to know the leader at the time was a woman named Cecily Hallowfield.”
“Archives in Edinburgh and St. Petersburg?”
Uncle Alex looked at me. “Surprised?”
“Yeah.” I was amazed by the scope of the supernormal world.
He grinned. “I remember feeling the same way.” He stared out at the water rippling in the light wind. “Though there still aren’t that many of us. Only a few hundred worldwide.” He sighed. “Anyway, Cecily Hallowfield had a son with the ability to read minds.” My stomach jumped at the reference to mind reading; it made me think of Ben and his knowing green eyes. “He did something, abused his ability somehow, and it caused a cataclysmic event.”
“You don’t know what he did?”
“We know the results, or at least some. The few who survived were barely coherent, but one man, Elon Smith, wrote that all supernormals across the globe were attacked at the same time. Most died in the first wave of attacks.”
“Attacked how?” I didn’t know of a supernormal ability that could kill many people at once, especially in different geographic locations.
“Well, most dropped dead where they stood; their brains exploded from the inside, blood leaking out of their ears. Elon Smith and the other survivors describe the attacks as a bombardment of sounds ranging from high to low pitch. It went on and on, and then it stopped abruptly.” He touched his ear as if in sympathy. “Only supernormals could hear it. And only in their minds.”
“Wow.” I thought uncomfortably of Ben and his ability. “Why do they think Cecily Hallowfield’s son did it?”
“Even back then, there were usually only one or two mind readers in a generation. And from all accounts, this one was unusually strong. Some mind readers develop the ability to push thoughts out at others. Basically mind control. That’s one of the reasons for our current distrust of anyone with that ability, as you can imagine.” He shook his head. “Benjamin Hallowfield was the only recorded mind reader at that time.”
I jerked away from the railing as if it had delivered an electric shock. “Benjamin Hallowfield?”
Uncle Alex half-smiled. “I don’t know what the current Ben’s mother was thinking when she named him. The Hallowfields have avoided that name ever since. But then, Kim always does exactly what she wants.” He sighed, his gaze on something far off. I wondered what he was remembering, but before I could ask, he said, “So that’s why we don’t know more about the past.”
“So Ben, the current Ben, isn’t allowed use his ability because of the old Ben?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that.” Uncle Alex pushed away from railing and walked a little further before stopping. “Since then, there have been several cases of mind readers going off the deep end. Usually they just go crazy and have to be locked up. But sometimes they want to take others with them.” The wind ruffled his hair and he smoothed it down. “It’s for his safety and others. The longer we keep him from using his ability, the safer it is for all of us.”
“Okay.” Something about his statement sounded off to me, but I wasn’t sure what it was.
We walked further down the waterfront, letting runners and cyclists pass us.
“Well, um, so what about now? I mean, there are more than just us, like you said?” I waited for Uncle Alex’s nod before continuing. “So where is everyone?”
“There are supernormals all over the world.” Uncle Alex waved a hand in a circle to indicate the globe. “We’re scattered all around, but we’re organized, got a council and everything. In fact, Kate served on it for five years.”
I didn’t have any trouble imagining Aunt Kate on a council. She had an
air of authority that I pictured members of Congress possessing. “Where does the Council meet?”
“There’s a base in Colorado.”
In spite of my lingering nerves about where the conversation was leading, I grinned. “Please tell me there’s an underground lair.”
“Olivia, don’t be ridiculous.” He waited a beat before adding, “There are actually three underground lairs. One for the governing parties, a hospital, and the prison.”
“A prison?”
“Well, since most of the villains we capture have the ability to break out of a conventional prison, we needed a place to keep them locked up. Somewhere with special containment facilities.”
A prison for supernormals. I felt emptiness in my stomach. “Are Mom’s killers there?” I decided then and there I wanted to go to the prison to confront them.
Uncle Alex hesitated and then said, “Ollie…” His brow furrowed as he grimaced.
“What?” My stomach clenched and I felt my breath come in quick gasps. I knew this was why he’d brought me here, away from everyone else.
“We never caught the ones that caused the explosion that killed Emily.”
“What? How could I not know that?” I clenched my hands at my sides. “They’re still out there?”
Uncle Alex reached for my hand, but I pulled away. He said, “I’m sorry.”
I walked away, fury spurring my steps. I spun around and stalked back to my uncle. “What is being done to look for them?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “As far as we know, they haven’t surfaced since then. We’ve looked, but it’s like they dropped off the face of the earth.”
I glared at him through the tears in my eyes. How could they not have avenged my mother? All this time and her killers were still out there.
“Ollie.” Uncle Alex reached for me. I resisted at first but then gave in as he pulled me into a hug.
“How could you? She was your sister,” I said as tears rolled down my face. “Don’t you care about avenging her?”
“I know, I know.” Uncle Alex’s voice was muffled, and I realized he was fighting back his own tears. “Believe me when I tell you we have never stopped looking.” He sighed and released me to look into my eyes. “Kate occasionally comes across leads, but so far they haven’t led us to the bastards. We haven’t given up; I promise you.”
I took a deep breath and stepped away from him. “This is why you came to talk to me, isn’t it?” I clenched my fists at my sides against the swirl of emotions inside me. “This is your ploy to bring me back.”
He started to speak, but I held up a hand. The swirl of emotions increased to a tornado inside my body, and my head felt like it was going to burst from so many thoughts. The loudest thoughts were all variations on avenging my mother’s death.
My body trembled as I fought for control. I needed to stay calm to show Uncle Alex I could manage my abilities and not freak out any time I got upset – even if it was totally justified. I stared at the rippling water below me, letting the gentle motion sooth my emotions until I was able to face Uncle Alex who was waiting quietly but watching me intently.
“Well, I guess it worked.”
Uncle Alex didn’t smile. He simply nodded and walked me back to the car.
When Uncle Alex and I returned to the warehouse, Kevin could tell I was upset. More upset than I’d been when I left with Uncle Alex. He might have been clued in when I kicked a chair across the room. So much for keeping calm; I guess I really did need more training.
Kevin rushed over to the table where I stood fuming. “What’s up, Ollie?”
Uncle Alex stopped Aunt Kate and Uncle Dan from coming over. Aunt Kate looked stricken by whatever Uncle Alex said, but Uncle Dan frowned and looked at me. I glared back at him. He was probably thinking of a way to teach me to contain my emotions or something equally annoying.
“Just catching up on family history,” I said through gritted teeth.
Kevin tilted his head and regarded me thoughtfully. He glanced in the direction Uncle Alex had gone. “Okay.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “So you’re angry about…?”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me Mom’s murderers are still out there?” I glared at him.
“Oh.” Kevin walked over and picked up the chair. He carried it back to the classroom area and set it down with deliberation. “I guess we all thought you knew.” He gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”
As a kid, I’d always assumed Mom had been avenged. I’d even let the idea of Mom’s family fighting for her honor comfort me some.
“What’s up?” Hugh came over. “Why is Olivia kicking over chairs?” He regarded me with disapproval.
“Ollie just found out that we never caught Aunt Emily’s killers.”
“Oh.” Hugh regarded me with surprise. “I thought you knew.”
I threw up my hands. “Well, I didn’t.” I shivered with reaction. My skin felt hot, and the tips of my fingers tingled. I flexed my toes in my shoes to stop them from twitching. I rolled my shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Kevin peered at me with concern.
I shook my head and swallowed. Hugh grabbed my arm. “Olivia-” He pulled his hand back quickly, shaking it as if it hurt. “Ouch, your skin is hot.”
Emma spoke up from behind Kevin. “What is wrong with her? I thought she was gone.” She curled her lip at me. “Why are you back?”
“Damn it, I’ve had just about enough…” My head pounded as I lunged for Emma, but Kevin blocked me with his arm.
“Em, Ollie just found out that we never caught the people who killed her mother.” His voice was strained by the effort of holding me back. “I suspect it’s why she’s here.” He glanced at me for affirmation.
I half expected Emma to make a derisive comment, but she gave me an assessing look and stepped closer. “I’m sorry, so sorry.” For the first time since I’d returned to the family, she looked at me with compassion. “I understand how much that must hurt.”
Thrown off-balance by her sudden kindness, I stared at Emma. She pulled out a chair for me to sit in.. She handed me a bottle of water and sat in the chair across from me. Kevin and Hugh settled around us.
Emma spoke softly. “I remember when it happened, how angry Dad was that we couldn’t find Aunt Emily’s murderers.” She looked around at the warehouse. “We all were.”
I felt myself relax, my anger subsiding but not really going away, leaving me limp and drained of energy. “I guess I can’t blame anyone for not telling me. After all, I did push everyone away.” A thought came to me and I looked at my cousins. “Do you know if my dad knows that Mom’s killers weren’t caught?”
They looked at each other and shook their heads.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen Uncle Samuel since, well, you know, your party,” Kevin answered.
I sighed. That day just kept coming up, didn’t it? I drained the water bottle and set it down. I felt cooler, and my skin didn’t seem as tight. Looking directly at Emma, I said, “Thanks.”
She hesitated and then smiled at me. “Sure.”
I stood up and Hugh asked, “What are you going to do?”
I raised an eyebrow in query.
“About training? About staying? About your mom?” he elaborated.
“Me? I’m going to train really hard, learn how to control my abilities, and find my significant ability.” I headed for the agility course. “And then I’m going to find those assholes and show them what justice looks like.”
“Welcome back, Ollie,” Kevin said, grinning, while Hugh frowned, and Emma looked concerned.
I didn’t care what they thought. Now I had a reason to continue training as a supernormal. To avenge my mother.
Chapter 20
My grounding sentence was over on Saturday, so once again I returned to training. My return to the family fold was greeted with very little fanfare. It kind of made me mad because they all obviously had assumed I would come back
. I did have to endure a lecture from Uncle Dan about discipline, but he kept fairly calm during the talk. The fact that Uncle Alex chose to clean his swords nearby probably helped. Still, it was hard to forget how he’d scared me at my house, and I avoided him when possible. I wasn’t sure what I thought about him now.
To my dismay, I was still required to perform an act of kindness for Mindy. Uncle Alex would not budge on the idea of me tutoring her. I desperately tried to think of something else, something of shorter duration than tutoring sessions, but Uncle Alex simply picked up the phone and handed it to me. “Call Mindy’s mother.”
We stood in the classroom area of the warehouse where Uncle Alex had been showing me some of the supernormal family trees – ours and the Hallowfields were on the large monitor. My heart was beating so fast I felt the blood rushing in my ears. I almost threw the phone across the room, but I caught sight of my mother’s picture on the monitor. She was smiling and aiming a crossbow at a target. She looked happy and strong. Alive. I straightened my shoulders. I would do this little thing for Mom.
I made the call. Mrs. Careen picked up and my mouth went dry, but I managed to say, “Hello, Mrs. Careen, this is Olivia Bright… I mean, Woodson.” Why had I almost said Brighthall?
“Oh Olivia, hello.” Her voice was neutral, with a little bit of curiosity mixed in.
I plunged right to the point. “So, um, I was thinking about your request to tutor Mindy in biology. And, well, if you still want me to, I can.” The silence on the other end of the line sort of freaked me out. “I did get a 100 on the last test. What did Mindy get?” I knew she’d gotten a 75.
Mrs. Careen jumped on the offer, as I expected. “When can you start?”
“Um, how about Monday right after school? We’ve got a test on Friday. I guess we can study at your house?” The Brighthalls would let me come to training an hour late for this reason.
“Good, very good.” She said goodbye and ended the call. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t said a word about my fight with Mindy.
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