“No, wait.” I yanked myself out of Howard’s hands and tried to go back. Tears glistened in my eyes. “I can’t leave without mom. I’ve come too far.”
“It’s okay.” Howard grabbed me and tried to pull me back. “She’ll be fine. Mason has her. You guys said I could trust him, so this is me trying to trust him with my daughter-in-law.”
“No, you don’t understand. She might disappear again. I can’t go through this, Howard, I can’t. Not again. She’s all I have. I can’t.”
Sobs erupted from me. Part of it was probably hysterics, but most of it was me scared to death that someone would take her from me again. I just had her in my arms and the thought of losing her a second time would kill something inside me. I promised Nadia I’d bring home our mom. How could I tell her I had our mom and then let her slip through our fingers like that? Schizophrenia or not, she held our family together. She was the brains behind this operation. Without her, we were nothing but bugs struggling to survive in a world I wanted no parts of.
I struggled in Howard’s arms. I didn’t want to fight him and I certainly didn’t want my powers to unleash on him either. Still, I had to get to my mom and make sure she was safe.
Something hit me in the back. My legs turned to mush and I crumpled against Howard. Nothing inside me was mine anymore. It was just...just…
I passed out.
#
Pain tore into my back and neck. When I finally opened my eyes, a small, oval window with a dawning sky was next to my face. We sailed right past plush white clouds. Lights flashed every few seconds on the wing of the plane. I was lying on my side.
More pain left me wincing. When I lifted my bandaged left hand to pull a tube out of my nose, another tube had been taped to the back of it and the line led up to an IV bag. I went to sit up and horrendous pain scorched my back and neck. I wasn’t sure which was worse, seeing as my thigh felt like someone had tore it open. Everything hurt.
“Take it easy, okay?” Mason came over and sat in a chair across from mine. He still looked the same with his hair cut so short that I wasn’t sure if it was considered a buzz cut or bald. When he smiled, it reached up into his marble blue eyes that always seemed to catch me staring at them. Even sitting down he looked about six feet tall and his broad shoulders only added to his bulk. “Your mother is fine. She’s resting, too.”
“What? Where?” I glanced down. This oversized, button-front shirt wasn’t what I came here with. In fact, my pants were gone, too. This was the last thing I wanted to become a habit. Closing my eyes as if to clear my head, I got back on track. “Where are we? Where are we going?”
“We’re flying into Fort Bragg and then from there, we drive up to Raleigh.”
“That’s in Fayetteville.”
He nodded. “I know. My guess is we’ll get another debriefing from the feds once we get there to understand the nature of how much trouble this caused and we’ll be reprimanded again for interfering with—”
“With what, exactly?” My voice was on the rise. I fought through the fuzzy effects of the sedatives someone had given me. “If it hadn’t been for their little pigeon they kept on a string, none of this would’ve happened. This is more their fault than ours. Do they think we burned down our own house? Remind me why Howard, Nadia, and I were basically kidnapped across state lines—a federal crime the last time I checked—and assaulted by a bunch of thugs with guns.”
“Okay. Okay.” Mason patted the back of my hand before glancing over his shoulder at two men who were coming toward us. “But, you need to keep a level head on your shoulders because these guys have been a little on edge ever since we saw the video footage of what happened back at the research lab. The last thing they want is you accidentally doing something that might bring this plane down.”
“Where are mom and Howard?”
“I told you; they’re fine. I’ve been keeping your mom lucid this whole time because I figured she’d want to be with you and you with her after all this time. She’s been up most of the night at the army hospital and finally went down for a nap about an hour ago after we boarded the plane.” He motioned toward a chair-turned-cot like mine where she lay on the opposite side of the plane.
“And my grandfather?”
“Oh. Him. Now, I see where you get your wonderful personality.” He pointed in the opposite direction of my mom. “He’s been giving the agents an earful, too. Honestly, it’s better if it comes from him rather than you because like I said before. You scare them.”
“Did Kurt…?”
Chuckling, he nodded. “Nadia gave Kurt the message and as usual, he was furious. What you and your grandfather did was dangerous, but it worked. It took us a little longer to find you because we thought the personal locator would pinpoint your location around Cornerstone’s campus. When you weren’t there, we retraced your footsteps and pulled up camera footage to figure out what happened. The last entry on the kiosk at the Babcock Building was the address of the research facility north of Chicago. By the time I arrived with my team, the feds were only a few minutes in front of us and the first responders a few minutes in front of them. The good thing is that the feds vouched for my people and we took control of the scene after that. The beacon Ms. Kendrick had sewn into your coat confirmed it. We knew we were in the right place.”
“Is Jayden okay?”
“She’s safe. She got away from the guards at Cornerstone and called her parents.” He stopped talking once the agents arrived.
“I’m Agent Shuster and this is Agent Fahey.” He motioned at the woman standing beside him. “How are you feeling?”
I hesitated to answer him. “Fine.”
“Good. You should know that we’ve taken Tobin Crothers into custody. He’ll never bother you or your family again. With that being said, I don’t think I have to tell you how sensitive this situation is, do I?”
“No, but you need to tell me where we’re going to live once we get back to Colburn. Last I recall, our house is in ruins and it wouldn’t have been that way had you kept a tighter leash on the Crothers family. I’m trying to avoid a supernatural version of the Hatfield versus the McCoys. Are you?”
Despite everything, the Crothers brought all of this upon themselves, they wouldn’t have gone this far had the feds minded their own business and stayed out of our world in the first place. It wouldn’t surprise me if the government were the ones who put them up to this show of wills to see who would turn out on top. Too bad I had nothing to prove it. Heaven help them if I did.
Chuckling from the other end of the plane caught our attention. Howard walked down the aisle toward us and grinned at the agents. When he stopped, he extended both hands between the seats, completely relaxed.
“Are you guys going to answer my granddaughter’s question?” He asked. “In fact, I find it ironic that I asked you the same thing a few hours ago. My family goes home and everything is—oh wait. They have no home. Now, why is that? Oh, it’s because your burnt out flunky couldn’t handle the pressure you jackasses mount on him. He brought this war to my family and they finished it. That’s what I call piss-poor asset management. But somehow, you don’t want to take some level of responsibility for your screwup. Are you serious right now?”
Mason cleared his throat. “How about we all go back to our mutual corners and cool off? If we survive the landing, maybe we can all talk with a little more civility.”
“Good idea.” Schuster nodded and smiled, but it was anything but. He and his partner walked away.
Howard saluted them with a middle finger.
I giggled. We were definitely related.
Epilogue
By the time we touched down at Fort Bragg, I was feeling somewhat better. Emotionally, that is. Physically, it was another story. I had second-degree burns across my back, arms, and neck. My face looked like it had gotten a bad sunburn, too. I had to have stitches for the three-inch gash to my thigh and more IV antibiotics. There might have been a concussion in there, too, but
I wasn’t paying any attention because my burns kept me in plenty of agony.
Mom had two broken wrists that needed another four weeks of healing time. Her memory was foggy from the time she had been thrown out of the house. She had somehow hit a tree and toppled limb over limb on her way down to the ground. She broke both of her wrists and two ribs in the process. How she made it to the cemetery, she didn’t know. She said it was like the voices in her head said it was a safe place to go, so she went. She stayed there for a few days, but somehow Crothers’ people tracked her there after we had led them there. They shipped her down to Cornerstone for treatment and then to the facility hidden on the same property as the house where Aunt Shelley kept Nadia and me. She was a few acres away from us and we never knew because the forest outside our attic prison blocked the view.
We stayed at Fort Bragg for a few days and Howard refused to go home until someone worked out a place for us to live. Mason had to stay on hand, too, because my mother wanted to stay lucid the whole time we were in the military hospital. Shockingly, he didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy her company as did she. Howard thought it best I turn away whenever they kissed or I’d snap his head 180 degrees with my glare.
The day before we were about to leave, a miracle happened...assuming anyone believed in those things. Sitting on more than two acres, a corporate home became available for rent in Wake Forest, North Carolina, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. It was completely furnished and had an enormous bonus room above the detached garage with one-inch thick, reinforced glass on the windows. It was yellow with white trim, a wrap-around porch perfect for a swing, and a black door with a welcome sign on the front. Nadia would love it. Of course, Kurt and I fought over the master bedroom, but mom slapped us both down when she claimed it as her new design studio. All four-thousand square feet came at a severely discounted price. Mom took the deal, signed the lease, and was given the keys in less than two hours.
Then, she turned around and informed the feds we would be moving before the start of the new school year. We weren’t staying in a house that was provided by the main people whose job it was to spy on the supernatural community. So, our house hunting would continue, only we would be paying cash for our next home, pay mine and Nadia’s tuition bills, and perhaps have a little leftover to buy a horse. Money from the insurance, money from selling whatever was left of our old home, and a civil lawsuit against Crothers. The FBI might even be named as witnesses. Mom concluded the transaction with “Blackmail isn’t a bitch. I am.”
Howard stuck around even longer to make sure we settled in. We weren’t the ones to have a housewarming party, so we grilled out and invited the Kendricks over, including Vanessa who had come up from Cornerstone for the weekend. She even healed Kurt’s broken pelvis. I wasn’t shocked when my story had leaked out across campus, but I was surprised when more than half of the students were thinking about transferring elsewhere because of it. On the last day to financially commit to Cornerstone—I started looking at community colleges too—they offered me a full-ride scholarship. Howard thought it was the least they could do, considering their grant-screening process sucked. He also thought I should tell the dean to bend over so I could stick the scholarship up the crack of his—mom cut him off with a warning about the language.
Though it was a tad awkward, mom was glad to see my grandfather. She was floored when she found out what he did for us and how much he truly loves us. Her only regret was that he hadn’t been in our lives sooner. Once again, dad was to blame for that. He wanted nothing to do with his father and made sure the rest of us didn’t either. Thankfully, all of that bad blood had washed away. Dad had no idea what he was missing and I didn’t care if he ever found out.
Mom had our old house bulldozed and put the land up for sale to the highest bidder. Add that to the settlement from the Crothers assets that had been seized by the feds—they didn’t want to be a witness to anything—and we finally had a cushion in case of emergencies. A preternatural couple who excelled in astral projection were stupid enough to still want the land, though most of the supernatural energy had been destroyed along with our burnt out husk of a house.
It took some time for all of us to heal both physically and emotionally, but life was back to normal. Nadia and I had a lot of school work to do, but we managed okay. I had to suck it up and take two C’s, but that was better than retaking classes altogether. I continued with my remote classes at Cornerstone, but I refused to go anywhere near that campus again. Mom thought that was a mistake, so I gave it one last try before the school year ended and the new on began.
I closed the door to my newer car—thank goodness for Howard. He saw my heap and took pity on me. He then reamed Kurt for letting me drive what amounted to a pipe bomb on wheels. My newer car was still used, but at least I didn’t have to worry about the oil light coming on or the radiator overheating. Even the air conditioning worked.
I took a deep breath as I rolled my suitcase behind me and headed for my temporary student dorm room. I’d be here for three weeks, so I hoped everything would go okay. Trembling, I gulped when I looked at the four-story structure looming over me. What secrets did it hold and who was watching? All I had to do was endure some summer classes that would cover my missing high school credits and I’d graduate with my diploma. No walk down the aisle, but at least it was better than being held back for half a semester at a normal high school. The hub school made allowances like that for us. So... I could do this. Deep breaths.
“Ms. Thorne.”
When I turned, to my dismay, it was Agent Schuster. Agent Fahey remained behind, leaning against the car with both hands in her pockets and keeping a lookout. Schuster reached the sidewalk where I stood and took off his sunglasses.
“It’s good to see you back on your feet again,” he said.
“It would be better to not see you at all.” I took out my phone and pressed the panic button once. It flashed from green to red.
“I was hoping we could talk.”
“About what?”
“Well for starters, that facility north of Chicago was partially funded by the university, but the current study grant was owned by Ignition Technologies, which is owned by the Crothers. However, school officials assumed innocuous testing was going on and not the extensive modifications that have been made to the building. It was supposed to be a four-hundred square foot cabin used for observation purposes similar to the house where you and your sister were held. The Crothers used the money we had given them over the years to research ways to keep their powers from diminishing. All of this was done under the guise of parapsychology research. Everything was confiscated, of course.”
I remained silent. None of this surprised me, although the information was interesting. They probably invested their money over the last fifty years to create their fake company to hide what they were really up to.
Schuster continued. “Anyway, the Crothers have been put away, so they can never hurt you or your family ever again. We’re also thinking about pursuing charges against your Aunt.”
“Great. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m in the process of facing one of my demons that keeps me up at night. It’s called school.” I tried to step around him, but he got in my way.
“That’s right. Congratulations on your scholarship. Not that you’re not a smart person and all, but you know your staying here sends a message to the other students that Cornerstone is in good standing. Most people might think you’ve suffered from brain damage or something.”
“I’ve stopped caring about what other people think. Plus, I’m not running away from my powers anymore. That means Cornerstone is the perfect place for someone like me to have a somewhat normal college life. Whoever doesn’t like that can ask what’s left of Ryan Babbage how he feels about crossing me.”
“One other thing.” He paused. “As awkward as this will probably sound, we confiscated everything to process our case, but were very impressed by what we saw on the video f
ootage at that facility. You and your mother pack quite a lot of power. Perhaps someday we can work together.”
Was this guy serious? I sighed. “Awkward doesn’t even begin to explain what I’m thinking right now. But I’ll tell you what. Since I’m still considered a minor, you can take that up with my mom when she’s not on her meds. If you walk out of our house alive, then I guess you’ll have your answer.”
“Phaedra.” Vanessa jogged toward me with her long dark waves bouncing around her shoulders. She was about an inch or more taller than me and very lean, but she was the witness I needed. “Are you okay? Is this guy harassing you?”
Everyone within my circle of friends and family had the app on their phones and were on alert in case anything happened to me. Once I pressed the button, everyone would be alerted, but the closest person would most likely respond. In this case, it was Vanessa, since she promised to meet me at the dorm when I got here. It was the least she could do now that our families were closer than ever.
“Not anymore.” I glanced at Schuster. “Are we done here?”
He smirked. “For now.”
“No. More like forever.” I gripped my suitcase and pulled it behind me.
Vanessa caught up and took my satchel from me and looped it around her shoulder. By the time we made it to the front door, we were making plans for where we were going to have dinner that night. Thankfully, it would be just the two of us and no meet-and-greet with friends. For now, the Kendricks were all the friends we needed.
I clicked the All Clear button on the app to let everyone know I was okay. As usual, Kurt was the first person to call and make sure. Sean was second.
About the Author
Author Marcia Colette didn't start out reading or writing books. She earned a bachelors in Biomedical Engineering before going on to complete a Masters in Information Technology.
While riding the MBTA train back and forth to her job in Boston as a software consultant, she picked up a copy of John Saul and never looked back. It wasn't long after that when she started writing her own stories. Five years later, she signed a contract with Double Dragon eBooks to publish her first urban fantasy novel.
Silent Scream (Bittersweet Series, Book 2) Page 25