She closed her eyes as if to settle her nerves before addressing me again. “It’s okay. I’m a friend and I mean you no harm, Phaedra. I was just placing some towels in yours and your sister’s rooms in case you wanted to bathe.”
“Connie?” Howard’s voice echoed throughout the house. When he noticed me standing behind the banister he held up his hands just like he did in the food court at the mall. “Phae, it’s okay. Connie is my girlfriend and I don’t want you to hurt her. She’s been here since you and Nadia have and she’s been helping me take care of you guys. I thought having another female in the house might ease some tensions.”
“I broke the back of the last female in the house who thought that,” I replied. “Maybe fractured the skull on the other one and she was my aunt.”
“Good. That’s one less bitch—” Howard stopped when Connie cleared her throat in warning. He sighed and started up the staircase. “You want to call that drunken tramp your aunt, be my guest. At least your mother has an actual medical diagnosis for her mental condition. The only thing Aunt Jackass has is—”
“Howard,” Connie scolded. “Language. There are children in the house now.”
He waved her off. “Anyway, you’re safe here.”
“They’ll come for us,” I said.
“Let them.” When he reached the top of the stairs, he turned and went down the opposite direction, stopping at the first door on the left. “Nadia is in here. Come on.”
I glanced at the woman behind me, who smiled before nodding to me that it was okay. If they were lying, they wouldn’t have been so forthcoming with anything. At least, that was my guess. I had already been betrayed by one family member. I couldn’t take being betrayed by another, so I wanted to stay on my guard. But I had to balance it out with toning down my emotions or I’d leave a path of destruction just like I had with the last couple of houses.
When I reached the room, Nadia’s tiny body snuggled up in bed about the size of the ocean. Both her llama and stuffed panda lay on the plush pillows above her head. I ran around Howard and sat next to her on the blanket. I grabbed her other hand while feeling her forehead.
“Why is she so hot?” I asked, pressing a kiss to her heated cheek. I blinked back tears and forced a swallow through the tight lump growing in my throat.
“She’s got some sort of virus. Maybe the flu.” Connie placed the linens in a nearby chair. She went around to the opposite side of the bed and picked up a brown medicine bottle and held it out for me to see. “We used your grandfather’s telehealth services at the university to get you guys some medicine. I would’ve preferred bringing both of you to the hospital all together.”
“Yeah, we nixed that idea for obvious reasons.” Howard stepped into the room. “You and your sister look like you’ve lost some weight. Enough wounds and contusions to have me in handcuffs before a nurse could check you in. Do I need to worry about any...improper touching?”
“What?” I gaped at him, my sister’s health completely forgotten. “Nobody touched us like that if that’s what you’re thinking. Otherwise, we would have been fugitives from the law with murder charges hanging over our heads.”
Howard relaxed enough to wash ages into his face. “Thank God. It's good to have a power like that, too. Better than pepper spray, in fact. No need to worry about you going out on a first date.”
“What?”
“Ignore him.” Connie placed the bottle back on the side table. “You, on the other hand, need to stay on top of your antibiotics. That wound on your thigh was infected, and we don’t want it to get any worse. Especially if the goal is to keep you two out of the public eye.”
“How exactly is that going to happen?” I asked. “A house this big doesn’t go unnoticeable, you know. They’ll find us.”
“They might. But if they’re smart, they’ll know this house is wired with a state-of-the-art security system. There are cameras covering every inch of the property and if the power goes off, there’s a backup generator in the basement. If I don’t call in the code within one minute on my cell phone, the cops will automatically respond. There’s an alarm in the basement, two on the first floor, and another one up here.”
“Do you have any guns in the house?”
He nodded, though looking at the ceiling. “A few. At least one on each floor.”
“What are you so afraid of that you’ve locked this place up like Fort Knox?”
“Your mother’s side of the family.”
“Oh. Fair enough.” Well, that makes two of us. After my last encounter with Aunt Shelley if we lived through this thing long enough to buy another house, I’d make sure we had ours secured to the rafters, too.
“I should leave.” Connie picked up a bowl filled halfway with water. “Let me know if you two need anything. I’ll finish up dinner downstairs.”
“Dinner?” I watched as she headed toward the door.
“Yes. You and your sister have been asleep since your grandfather brought you guys here almost a day ago.”
“Yeah,” Howard said, shifting and wincing. “My back still hurts from carrying you up those stairs. I’m not that young anymore, you know.”
“Ignore him.” She waved her hand and smiled as she left the room. “Yell if you need anything.”
“Before you ask, she didn’t start out as the housekeeper.” Howard sat at a nearby desk and crossed his arms over his green plaid shirt. “I banged the back of her car during a freak ice storm.”
“And now she’s your girlfriend.”
“That, too.”
“She’s about the same age as my mom.”
“That too.”
Oh my god. This guy sounded like he could definitely be a member of our weird family. He irritated me just like Kurt. Speaking of which…
“How is it that Kurt knows you, but we don’t?” I asked. “No birthday cards. No holiday cards. Not even a congratulations or a staying-in-touch card.”
“I thought you kids were more so into social media.”
“God help you if you don’t answer my question.”
The towels that Connie put down slumped onto the floor.
Lovely. I expected something to rumble or another picture to fly across the room to prove my irritation point. Instead, I get limp linens toppling over. Anything scarier and I might yawn.
Howard’s eyebrows arched. He walked over to the linens and started picking them up and refolding them. “Kurt found me. My guess is your mother probably told him. It’s not hard to find someone who’s a college professor these days. But, I also moved around working as an adjunct professor. I finally settled down here after spending all of that time on the road.”
“When did Kurt approach you?” More like it would’ve been interesting to see how that meeting took place. If this guy was so paranoid to wire up his house, Kurt must have made a lasting impression.
“He came to me not long after your father left. I was teaching a mechanical engineering class at Vanderbilt University at the time. I didn’t even know your father left until he told me. And before you go there, I still don’t approve of how the whole thing went down. Cliff could’ve divorced your mom, but he never should’ve abandoned you kids. That was wrong.”
“Where is he now?” I asked, not sure if I cared to know the answer.
He shrugged. “Don’t know. And if I knew, I’m not sure I’d tell you. Cliff has to want to come back. He knows where you guys live. As a father and a man, it’s his responsibility to seek you out. Not the other way around.”
“How do you know about our powers? Did he tell you that was the reason why he left?”
“He left because he was not only scared but had an affair. When your mother found out, it sent her over the edge. Things flew around the house and he didn’t fare so well when the dust settled. When he realized there was a chance that all three of his kids would be like her, he fled. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame him for being scared because that’s one hell of a reason to be scared. But
that’s not enough to excuse him from his parental duties. A birthday card. A holiday card. Something to show he cared. As you put it, anything would be better than nothing.”
“I thought I said the same about you two minutes ago.”
He sighed. “The only reason why I didn’t contact you guys sooner is because Cliff and I never had a really good relationship after his mother died. I walled him off, so to speak. Abandoned him emotionally, but not physically.”
“How is one better than the other?” My head tilted slightly as I waited for him to justify that.
“Good point.” He gulped. “Anyway, he always made it clear that I wasn’t allowed to contact any of you without going through him, first. I respected that because I hoped someday I’d be able to have a relationship with you guys. Maybe I could make up for what I didn’t have with him. He said your mother had turned you guys against him and everything associated with him, including me.”
“Okay, but you never answered my other question.” I tucked Nadia’s llama and panda in around her. Her small fingers clutched the animal’s neck and pulled them closer to her front. “When did you find out about our being psychokinetic?”
“I found out about your mother, first.” He finished folding up the towels and placed them back in the chair. “When she and Cliff started dating, she told him about how schizophrenia ran on her side of the family, but he wasn’t afraid of that. She had some instances of psychokinesis, but it really didn’t manifest to the level where it is today until she was pregnant with Kurt. Your father confided in me, too, but I didn’t believe it. While your mother was pregnant with you, they visited for Thanksgiving and brought Kurt. His powers were shockingly active before his time.”
“A prodigy, huh.”
“You could say that. Anyway, like any dysfunctional family, an argument broke out and so did your mother’s powers. Scared the crap out of us. Our entire family has shunned everyone in your family ever since. When Kurt developed his powers, they were more like your mother’s before she was pregnant. There was some weirdness here and there, but nothing that was as destructive as you and your mom.” He motioned with his chin. “What about Nadia? Is she like you guys?
I shrugged. “Not sure. She’s too young, really, but everyone seems to think she won’t develop powers. Those thugs said she has another useful talent that was probably better than whatever Kurt can do and it’s not even paranormal in any sense.”
“What then?”
I sighed. “She’s lived through so many of mine and mom’s outbursts that she has this unusual ability to know right when our powers are about to get out of control and possibly the extent of the damage.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I can definitely see where that would be useful. She’s like a controller, so to speak. She knows more about your powers than you do.”
Interesting. I've never looked at it like that. It would be absolutely fantastic if Nadia could act as our early warning system and prevent a catastrophe from happening.
“Why didn’t Kurt tell us about you until now?” I asked.
“Probably because we didn’t part ways on good terms either. I think he thought I was just as useless and undependable as your father since I didn’t give him what he needed at the time.”
“Which was?”
“Money.” Howard approached me with his hand shoved in his jean pockets. “You didn’t see him like I did. He was thin and strung out on drugs to keep his powers at bay. He might have been somewhat schizophrenic by then—it was hard to tell. I tried to get him some help, but he said a mental institution was out of the question. One day he took off and I never saw him again.”
“And you never thought to check on us after that?”
Sighing, he crouched down in front of me with the lightest scent of soap on his weathered skin. “Phae, he told me your Aunt Shelley was taking care of you and Nadia. I didn’t know that much about her, so I assumed it was okay and what everyone wanted.”
“How the hell would he know? He left to get us some so-called help right after she smacked him around. He left us with that maniac.”
“He got you guys the bittersweet leaves to wake your mom and it worked.” Howard lowered his head. “I’m not blaming him for any of this. But if he had told me, instead of letting the drugs talk for him, I swear I would’ve done more. When I called your house to make sure everything was okay, Shelley promised me it was fine. When I called a few months later, ironically, you told me to go to hell and hung up. I didn’t want to be another disappointment in your lives. With an attitude like that, I thought I was intruding as Cliff said. So, I left it alone and figured you guys hated my guts as much as he hated them, too.”
“How could we when we didn’t know you?”
“I know that, and I can’t go back and fix it. Nobody can.” He stood again. “But I’m here for you now and I’ll be damned before I let anything bad happen to you guys again.”
“It’s a little late for that. Our house nearly burned to the ground. My mom is missing and Kurt is barely functional. He would’ve come and gotten us himself if he could, but he’s not here, is he? He always puts us as the higher priority over mom because that’s what she wanted and he’s not able to do that.”
Howard shook his head, confused. “Wait. You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Oh sh—.” All of the color drained from his face as he sucked in a deep breath. “He fractured his pelvis and has a bruised spine. He’s not going anywhere for another two to three weeks if he’s lucky. He can’t even walk.”
“What?” I whispered as though all of the air left my lungs.
Oh. My. God. Thoughts tripped over each other as they rolled around in my head. My stomach turned into a tightened wad, threatening to topple me. Tears leaked from my eyes. My breathing turned deep and heavy, weighing down my chest. I wanted to keep my emotions in check. Wanted to turn them off. Wanted them to go away.
“Get her out of here,” I mumbled, holding onto the last vestiges of my emotions. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Pictures on the wall began to rattle. Anything not nailed down shook as though this were the epicenter of an earthquake.
I couldn’t take anymore heartbreak. No more pain. No more anguish in my family. So much pain so fast. Too much. Our bloodline was a natural disaster area.
Howard threw back the blankets, snatched up Nadia, and fled from the room. I dropped to the floor on all fours, hoping my tears would stop falling and the room would stop shaking. There had to be foundational damage by now. All of the furniture joined in the clattering quake.
Howard ran back into the room and gaped, more so out of concern than horror. Instead of running away, he dropped to the rattling floor and pulled me tight into his arms.
“I’ve got you,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere. If you get hurt, I get hurt, but I’m not leaving you. Never again.”
I wasn’t sure what to do or say about that, so I lowered my head into his shoulder and hugged him back. We both held on tight to each other while my tears continued to spill down my cheeks and soaking into his shirt. The quaking room fell apart around us, dusting our heads and shoulders. It was long before chunks from the ceiling landed around us.
Chapter Nineteen
Unlike everyone else, Howard didn’t knock me out to get me to stop. As corny and pathetic as it sounded, he used unconditional love. No way would I ever attest to that, but I didn’t know any other way to describe it. Not a lot of people would’ve risked their lives for me like he did. Not once did his grip loosen up nor did he run. Instead, he covered me with his body to keep me from getting hurt by my own doing.
By the time the chaos ended, I was exhausted and had somehow fallen asleep again. It was morning when I woke up. Howard decided to move Nadia to a room down the hall since the only thing salvageable from this one was her stuffed animals. Gaping holes and cracked siding were all that was left of the walls and ceiling. Wires were the only thin
g keeping the fan from crashing to the floor. Even the bed frame snapped into enough pieces that the mattress had fallen through to the floor near the footboard. Shockingly, the only thing that survived my psychokinetic onslaught was the window. Not one fracture was found. Windows were always a favorite when it came to my power.
When I got downstairs, I noticed Nadia was snuggled on the sofa with a bunch of blankets and watching a cartoon on TV. The moment she saw me, she almost fell off the sofa trying to get to me. We hugged and kissed like we had been separated since the beginning of time. She was still somewhat feverish, but nowhere near as clammy as before. None of it mattered. My little sister was cleaned, fed, and back in my arms where she belonged. Every inch of her was unblemished, her skin, her fingernails, and her clothes. It was a stark contrast to how I discovered her in the attic at Aunt Shelley’s house or whoever that house belonged to. Her frizzy hair smelled like perfumed flowers and was clipped away from her face by two barrettes. She even had pajamas that fit her perfectly, unlike my oversized button-front shirt. Thankfully, I had a robe waiting for me when I woke.
Connie came into the living room with a tray of fruit, milk, toast, and orange juice. She wanted to make sure Nadia was regaining her strength. Instead of indulging, I went into the kitchen where the real food was being cooked and the need to deliver a tall apology was on my mind.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling up a barstool to the enormous kitchen island. Stainless steel appliances include a six-burner gas stove and a dutch oven large enough to hold down dinner for a family of twelve with room to spare. If you have a walk-in pantry with a frosted glass door and a separate counter space, you know this house is definitely on the higher end of the market. Being a college professor must have paid well these days.
“About what?” Howard had his back to me as he was serving up bacon on a paper towel. “You need to eat, too. No way am I sending you back to anyone looking like you came out of a concentration camp.”
Silent Scream (Bittersweet Series, Book 2) Page 15