Misty
There were a few times in my childhood I could remember with clarity, and most of them involved Andi dressed for battle- the way she was then. She had on her leather pants, a black tank top, and her cloak with the hood up to cover her white hair. Sticking out from behind her shoulders were the hilts of her swords. She was ready to get our family back, and I was ready to help her.
But she wouldn’t let me.
“You need to stay here,” she said and I rolled my eyes.
“I am not staying behind,” I argued with my hands on my hips and standing at my full height so I could look down my nose at her. I wanted her to see I wasn’t a kid anymore, but it didn’t seem to matter if I was taller than she was, she was still a mom before anything else.
“Yes, you are.” She didn’t leave any room for discussion and my shoulders dropped.
“Misty,” she said and her voice cracked. “Please.”
I sat in the chair near the desk, and crossed one leg over the other, using my knee to prop my elbow up and hold my head in my hand.
“I understand why you want me to stay, I really do. But try to understand why I want to come with you.” I took a deep breath and turned to look out the window. Andi wasn’t facing me anyway, so trying to make eye contact didn’t really matter. “I’m not a little kid anymore, mom. I can take care of myself, you have to admit it considering I held my own against your power when most wouldn’t have been able to.” She had to see that, right? Most people, especially people as young as me, wouldn’t have been able to handle what she did to me. They wouldn’t have stood a chance against her even if she was holding back.
Her footsteps moved closer and I turned back to her. She was looking at me, but not really seeing me. I cleared my throat and her eyes snapped to mine.
“Okay,” she said and patted my shoulder. “But you will listen to me, and if I tell you to run then you run.”
I nodded frantically and stood, placing my hands over my heart.
“I promise. I promise from here until the end and back again, I won’t break my promise.” It’s the words she spoke to me when I was a kid, the way she made me feel safe when I was afraid. Andi smiled a small one that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Let’s go,” she said and grabbed my arm, slipping us without giving me any warning.
We went to everyone’s house, starting with Reed, Sara, and Max’s. They were all gone, vanished without a trace. Max was sitting in a dark living room when we got there, and despite Andi’s frustration, she didn’t put up much of a fight when he said he was going. After checking Sariel and Claire, seeing them gone, we went to Charles and Emily’s house.
Emily was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of warm tea when we slipped in.
“Is he gone?” Andi asked. She was standing completely still in the corner, and her eyes scanning the room. I’d seen her this way before, but it’d been so long I’d almost forgotten who she used to be.
“Yes, darling.” Emily grabbed a couple more cups and poured the steaming liquid into them. “Tea?”
Max and I both shook our heads, and Andi didn’t acknowledge her question at all.
“Do you have any idea where they would be?” she asked, taking a few steps closer to her grandmother.
“Have a cup of tea, darling. Sit down and calm yourself before you make any rash decisions,” Emily said and I couldn’t hide the surprise on my face. Max elbowed me in the side and I peeked at him, then took a seat.
I’d never heard Emily use such a harsh tone, nor had I heard her demand anything from anyone, let alone her only granddaughter. Emily was the most soft-spoken women I’d ever met, so to hear her speak that way told me enough about the situation. If Emily was tense then something terrible was happening.
“I am as calm as I’m going to be until I can find my family, now please tell me what you know.” Andi didn’t seem nearly as affected by the tone as I was, but I saw the twitch near her eye. She knew it was bad too, and she knew Emily didn’t want to tell us.
Emily sipped her tea and closed her eyes, then sat the cup down and clasp her hands on the table.
“In all of our years together I have never been afraid of Charles,” she said and looked at Max. “I was never afraid of Lucifer, either, if that tells you anything. But the man who came home from your trip was not my husband. He looked into my eyes and I felt fear in a way I didn’t know I was capable of.” She let out a sigh and raised her shaky hand to her mouth. Andi reached over and grabbed it, then cupped hers over it trying to calm the shaking.
“What do you know about the chip Gary Addison was making?” Andi asked softly.
I didn’t know Andi knew anything about Emily knowing the Chief, but it wasn’t surprising. Andi knew most things, she always had. It was one of the many things I could never figure out about her.
Emily told her pretty much what she’d told me in the library, but added a few more details. Like the fact, Chief Addison had been fired from his first job because of his obsession with nephilim and wanting to control the power. Back then people didn’t believe in anything, didn’t want to believe angels and demons walked the earth, or that they had children with humans. After he was let go, he began his own company- NBRC- and that’s when he started kidnapping kids. She said they had spent some time searching for him but was never able to find his facilities. They were never able to find the people they’d taken, either. And then she said something I didn’t understand at all. She started talking about something called anti-matter, a way for them to create a black hole that could be used to destroy whatever they wanted, the entire universe if they chose to. Emily didn’t know who Addison answered to, but she knew there had to be someone else behind the scenes, someone giving him orders to research such things. Things no human would think of on his own.
“Do you know where he is now?” Andi asked and Emily stood, taking the cups to the sink and dumping the tea from them.
“Yes, I know where his office is, but the facilities are hidden well. The one you were kept in was the only one Charles could find, and I doubt Addison has them there again.” Her back was to us, and she was staring out into the night.
“Why were you friends with such a lunatic?” Max asked and I waited for her answer. It was a good question, one I wondered why I hadn’t thought of before. It didn’t make sense for Emily, who was the sweetest person to walk Earth, to befriend such a crazy man.
“The same reason I never hated your father,” she said without turning from the window. “I thought there was something redeemable about him.” She pushed herself off the sink and wiped her hands on the towel next to it. “But I was wrong. There is nothing good left in Gary Addison, nothing worth saving. The only way that man would be capable of redemption is if someone was able to completely change the way his brain worked.”
After Emily wrote the address down, Andi hugged her and said she promised to find Charles. I think Emily was more shocked by the hug than the words, considering Andi had never been known for her affection.
We slipped to Eddie and Beth’s house to check on Ezra and found them playing a board game on the floor. Max and I took over while they went to talk to Andi, and Ezra scooted as close to me as he could get.
“Is she better now?” he asked and my heart cracked for him. It must have been traumatizing for him to be hurt by his mom like that. He’d never been treated badly by anyone in our family. If anything he was probably a bit too babied.
“She is,” I said and bumped his forehead with mine. “You know she wasn’t herself, right? Mom would never hurt you on purpose.”
“I know. I wasn’t worried about me, Misty. I was worried about you,” he said and I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly.
After the game ended I put on a movie and Ezra passed out. Max and I went outside and sat on the front porch.
“You think we can get them to remember who they are like you did Andi?” he asked.
I looked out into the dark woods, wondering
if it was possible. I was closer to her than I was any of the others, but maybe she’d be able to.
“I don’t know, maybe. Andi’s different than the rest of them, her mind doesn’t work the same way. I want to say yes, but I really don’t know.”
Max slid his hand into mine and intertwined our fingers, I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. This was nice, to sit there with him without the tension we’d had recently. To feel safe around him again, it was something I was afraid we wouldn’t have anymore.
“I was scared earlier,” he said and my eyes opened but I didn’t lift my head. “I heard you yelling in my mind, Misty. When I slipped to your house and saw you at the other end of Andi’s sword, I thought I was going to lose you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said and he shook his head.
“You don’t need to say anything, I just wanted to tell you something.” He cleared his throat and shifted a little. “I thought I was going to lose you and the only thing I could think about was the fact I’d been keeping something from you. The distance I’d been putting between us. I don’t want you to think it’s because I didn’t want to be around you, or that I didn’t care about you anymore. Honestly, I care about you too much, which is why I’ve been trying to stay away.” He took a deep breath and I raised my head, meeting his blue eyes with my own.
“I love you so much, and I think that might be why you’re the one I connect with. I have a power I’ve been keeping secret- a dangerous one- and for some reason, it reaches out for you hard enough I can barely stop it sometimes,” he said and lowered his gaze to my lips. “I’m afraid if we got any closer I wouldn’t be able to control it.”
“What power are you talking about?” I didn’t understand what he would be afraid of, or why he thought something he could do would hurt me by connecting. We’d be sharing my power for years, using it together like we were a team.
Max turned away and closed his eyes. His caramel complexion was glowing in the moonlight, he was truly one of the most beautiful things I’d ever laid eyes on.
“You can talk to me, you know that,” I said and tightened my fingers around his. “You’re my best friend.”
When he looked back at me, his eyes were sad, showing the amount of pain he’d been holding back.
“I can control your mind, Misty.” He flinched at his own words, but I didn’t react. How should I respond? Do you tell someone it’s okay if they control you as long as they don’t make you do anything bad? “And it’s nearly impossible for me to stop myself from doing it.” He released my hand and I didn’t reach out again.
Well, holy crap. I did not see that coming.
Chapter twenty-three
Misty
After Max’s confession, I would like to say I took it and made him feel better. I didn’t mean to, but I most likely made him feel worse about it.
We sat quietly while he waited for my response but it never came. I didn’t know what to say, and after finding out he could barely stop himself from controlling my mind, I wasn’t feeling all that comfortable around him. I was glad he'd been honest with me, but I was also kind of wishing he’d kept it to himself. Now I was always going to be wondering if my actions were my own or if they were his.
Were my thoughts my own? Was it really me who started wanting to change our relationship or was it him? Was it me who began seeing him differently or was it him changing the way I thought?
Those were only a few of the questions running through my head and only a few of the reasons I wished he’d not told me.
Andi came out and told us we would be staying the night there. I wasted no time getting up and hiding in the room I was sharing with Ezra. I laid in bed for hours and thought about the previous months, trying to sift through my actions to see if I could spot anything unusual. There wasn’t anything standing out, but when I started drifting off to sleep I knew a memory was going to take over.
“Come on, Max. I really don’t want to do this.” I peeked over the edge and backed away quickly. He’d wanted to check out the cliff everyone had been talking about, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of heights, meaning I was terrified of them. Jumping twenty feet into the water below wasn’t something I was able to do, there was no way.
“Just jump,” he said. The fear I had disappeared and the urge to hurl myself off a cliff was so strong I couldn’t ignore it. I turned and leaped without another thought. It wasn’t until I hit the water my fear came back and I began shaking. I cried afterward, too shocked to believe I’d actually done it.
We were having dinner with our families at a new restaurant in town, a place that served everything from pizza to goose.
“Want some?” Max asked, pointing to his plate. I shuddered and said no. I hated fish to the point it made me gag just thinking about it.
“Seriously, it’s good. You should try it,” he said and I stabbed a piece with my fork, shoving it my mouth before thinking about it. After two chews, I had to find a napkin to spit in. I couldn’t get the taste to go away, and I almost threw up when I burped hours later.
I woke and sat up at the same time, turning my head from side to side. The room was barely lit by the sun rising through the curtain, and my head was fuzzy.
My dreams had assaulted me with memory after memory. Some of them were innocent, and some of them were not, but there wasn’t a single one where Max had taken advantage. I could see his surprise each time, and then the confusion as the same things kept happening. The more recent memories were of him avoiding me, and when he did talk he made sure not to tell me to do anything. I needed to talk to him about it, and apologize for the way I’d reacted. It was something I didn’t fully understand, but I wouldn’t let it take him from me. I trusted Max with my life, and deep down I knew he would never use something against me. He would never force me to do anything I didn’t want to. And if he needed help learning control, then who better to help him than the person he had the hardest time around?
Andi was in the kitchen when I made my way there. She was facing the window with her arms crossed over her chest, and eyes unfocused on something outside.
“Good morning,” I said, taking a seat and grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl on the table.
She turned to me and leaned back against the counter, her swords making a clanging sound against the sink.
“What are the chances you won’t try to go with me today?” she asked and I swallowed loudly.
“None,” I said. “I promise I won’t get in the way but I want to be there.” She nodded and moved to the chair next to me. Her hands ran down her face and hovered over her necklace before dropping to her lap.
“Alright, Misty. We’ll leave in half an hour.” She sounded defeated and I hated it, but it wasn’t going to stop me from going with her.
I knew it was hard for her to let me go, to accept I wasn’t a little girl who needed her protection anymore. She was someone who had gone off and faced Lucifer by herself thinking she could protect everyone, but I wouldn’t let that happen again. I might not be as strong, or even as brave, but I was determined. I wouldn’t stop trying to help when it came to saving our family. And there was a small voice in my head telling me I was also not willing to stop looking until I figured out who the girl was.
Max was not happy about being left behind, but he knew better than to argue with Andi. I didn’t get the chance to talk to him about his new abilities, but I did catch him off guard by a hug. I wasn’t going to let him push me away anymore, not because of something he couldn’t change.
Andi and I met back in the kitchen after I got dressed. She grabbed my hand and looked at me with concern lining her features.
“I want you to keep your powers to yourself, okay? No matter what happens, or what we see, don’t let the Chief see what you can do.” I agreed and she took a deep breath. “You have your sword?” she asked and I patted my back.
A couple years ago she’d had a back sheath made for me, one similar to hers but only held my one verses her two.
It strapped around my shoulders and kept my sword fit snug between them. Sometimes I wish I had one as big as everyone else, but when it came time to hide it, mine was much more convenient. I could be armed under a simple tank and nobody would know the difference.
With one last nod, we slipped into a dark office. Andi pulled my hand back and blended us into the corner. It was an ability I’d heard she was able to do herself, but I didn’t know she could pull others with her. We were hugging the line of the veil, with one foot in our dimension and one foot in another. It didn’t feel like anything, but it kept us invisible to anyone else.
It was ridiculously cool.
Chief Addison walked into the room with his head held high, his arrogance filling the space around us. He was a decent looking man for his age, which I assumed was around sixty. He sat at his desk, pulled out a few files, and picked up his phone.
“Yeah, send her in.” He hung up without waiting for the reply. When his door opened he leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach.
Andi’s grip around my fingers tightened painfully and I turned to look at her, but she was staring ahead at the person walking in. When I turned back I gasped, and Andi jerked my hand.
She wore the same type of outfit as the first time I saw her, a black leather suit made to fit like skin. She didn’t have the guns this time, but her swords were visible on her back, crisscrossed the way I knew Andi’s were under her cloak. Whoever she was, she didn’t need to hide her weapons. Her black hair was pulled up tight and swung in a long ponytail behind her, grazing the top of her pants with the ends. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I didn’t need to, I knew what they looked like.
She stopped in front of his desk and stood silently as his leer ran the length of her, I shuddered with disgust. He was an old man looking at this girl my age like he wanted to touch her, and I knew if he did I would end up getting myself killed.
Illuminate (Antithesis Book 1) Page 12