by E. J. Mara
My God, I need to pull it together. I close my eyes and take yet another deep breath.
“I’m saying I like you.” Nathaniel brushes my bangs away from my face and I open my eyes to find him looking into mine. Instead of retracting his hand, he gradually lowers his touch, tracing the curve of my cheek until his fingers reach my chin. “I always have.” He speaks quietly and his gaze goes to my mouth.
My pulse racing, all I can do is look into his eyes. Is he going to kiss me?
… Yes. Is that okay?...
My body poised between paralyzing nerves and boundless anticipation, I whisper, “What about Julia?”
He shakes his head. “We broke up. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, it wasn’t fair to her.”
An embarrassing grin that I have zero control over takes ahold of my mouth. At the sight of it, Nathaniel leans forward, gently brushing his lips against mine. The warmth of his mouth sends a heated current straight through me and I’m barely able to suppress a shiver. He pulls away, and exhales, his breath warm and smelling of flowers.
“Should’ve done that a long time ago,” he quietly says.
“Yeah,” I smile. He pulls me towards him and meets my lips in a hungry kiss that melts me like ice cream. My heart pounding and my insides bursting into a million sensations, a part of me wonders if I’ll have a heart attack. Probably not, but even if I do, that’d be fine. Kissing Nathaniel wouldn’t be the worst way to go.
His cheek brushes a bruise on my face, but I barely feel the sting as his breath fills mine. He slides his hand down the curve of my backside, and I run mine along the muscles comprising his abdomen, both of us trembling with nerves.
He brings the kiss to a close by lightly brushing his lips against my cheek and then gently pulling away. “Was that okay?”
I grin. “Better than okay.” Once again, my voice sounds high-pitched, like Julia’s. Maybe that’s something that happens to girls after their first …romantic encounter, or whatever you’d call this … maybe a surge in hormones makes our voices lighter.
…a surge in hormones? ... Nathaniel chuckles, his hazel eyes almost glowing as they catch the light that drifts in from the bedroom. He reaches for a strand of my hair, toying with it. I’m not even embarrassed by him hearing this.
“Yeah, you just sent them through the roof,” I say, staring into his eyes. My gosh, I think I might need to kiss him again.
Nathaniel’s smile widens as I lean towards him … And there it is. I should’ve known they wouldn’t last twenty-four hours without this happening…
The foreign thought slips into both of our minds, and startled, we turn in its direction. Esther, clad in Unseen’s black bodysuit and her long hair gathered in the same kind of bun we wear for practice, stands behind us, her arms folded and a huge smirk on her face.
“Wow.” She arches an eyebrow at me and I instinctively lower my gaze to the carpet. “Well, I hate to interrupt, but your dad’s awake.”
“He’s awake?” This pulls me from my embarrassment and I look up. “Is he alright?”
“Yeah, he’s great.” Esther smiles and nods to the other end of the hallway. “But of course he’s anxious to get to Tessa, so if those of us who are shirtless will remedy that, then you guys can just follow me and we’ll get out of here. Okay? Okay.”
My thoughts revert to Tessa and I could kick myself. I’m in a comfortable mansion making out with Nathaniel while my little sister’s being held hostage by a whack scientist. Esther’s right, we need to get to Tessa as soon as possible.
Esther snaps her fingers and points to Nathaniel. “I meant you, in case you were wondering about the shirtless part.”
“Nah, really?” He grins, narrowing his eyes at her before planting a quick peck on my cheek and ducking back into his room.
Esther uncrosses her arms and adjusts the utility belt at her hips.
“So, we know where Tessa is?” I ask.
“Yep, we’ve got a pretty good idea, and don’t worry, we’ll get her back,” Esther says, confidence in her voice. “No question about that.”
I nod, soothed by the certainty in her tone. But silence drifts between us as Esther continues to double-check the supplies on her belt. Suddenly self-conscious, I smooth my hair and steal a peek at her. I bet she hates me, considering that she just caught me making out with her best friend’s ex.
“Karen?” Esther turns to me. “When are you going to get that I don’t hate you?”
Her question takes me by surprise and, unsure of how to respond, I cross my arms and scowl.
Without taking her eyes off of me, Esther says, “The only reason I didn’t talk to you at school was because your dad told me not to.”
“Are you serious?” Genuinely shocked, I uncross my arms. “Why wouldn’t he let you talk to me?”
She shrugs. “He said I shouldn’t have any obvious connection to your family. He was paranoid that if we were friends, things would come out.”
“What things?”
Esther tilts her head and looks at me like I’ve just asked her who Bill Clinton is.
… she really has no idea how important her dad is…
“If it weren’t for your dad, there’d be no Unseen.” Esther looks at me expectantly, like she’s waiting for me to applaud or burst into proud tears. But as usual, all I feel is confusion.
“I thought Dr. Mire gave you your …um, your power,” I say. “I thought she experimented on you as a child and killed your parents. So, what does my dad have to do with your power?”
“I’m not talking about my ability,” Esther explains. “The ability helps, but it isn’t what makes Unseen. Your dad created the technology that lets me and my mom do what we do. Besides that, if it weren’t for him I’d still be an I.T.I.S. lab rat and my mom would be as dead as my real parents. Your dad saved us. He got us out of there and gave us something to live for.”
I glance down, taking all of this in. How in the world could my head-in-the-clouds dad have given Esther and Ms. Greenich “something to live for”? He can barely focus on completing a sentence, let alone saving people’s lives.
“If you weren’t so critical of him,” Esther quietly says, “you’d see what everyone else sees.”
“You know what, Esther?” I snap. “How about you …”
Nathaniel steps into the hall, wearing a red T-shirt over his jeans and his gaze goes from me to Esther.
I clamp my mouth shut and Esther smirks, chuckling as she says, “Anyway, like I said, I don’t hate you, I was just following orders. Now come on, let’s skedaddle.”
Nathaniel glances at me, his eyebrows going up as his thoughts slip into mine …everything okay? ...
I nod and hesitantly offer him one of my hands. He grasps it and plants a kiss on my cheek.
“Give Esther a chance,” he whispers. With that, we fall in stride behind her where I cling to Nathaniel’s hand and watch Esther sashay ahead of us.
He’s right. And it isn’t that I don’t want to give her a chance, it’s that she makes me feel so …ashamed. She’s a beautiful, rich superhero who apparently has some kind of special connection with my dad. On the other end of the spectrum, I’m a perpetually-confused, boyfriend-stealing puncher of superheroes. Being around Little Miss Perfect is a constant reminder of how screwed up I-
“I’m not perfect!” Esther exclaims without pausing in stride or turning around.
“Oh, my God.” I cringe. “You heard all of that.”
Nathaniel gives my hand a squeeze.
“Yeah,” Esther says as we turn the corner and enter her humongous sitting room, “and trust me, I’m so not perfect, Karen. In fact, a few minutes ago, while we were talking back there, I farted. It wasn’t a huge one but, it was big enough. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll let another one rip.”
Nathaniel laughs. “No, that’s okay, we believe you.”
I roll my eyes at myself, half-embarrassed, half-relieved. Esther’s not too bad, I guess …she’s a little we
ird, but not too bad.
“WHY’D YOU BRING us to your pantry?” Nathaniel turns to Esther and accidently jostles one of the small jars on the spice rack at his right.
“Why’d you bring us to your pantry?” Esther mimics his deep voice and narrows her eyes in imitation of the way he’s looking at her.
Despite myself, I grin. The more I’m around Esther, the more intrigued I am by her, she’s surprisingly kind of hilarious.
“It’s not just a pantry,” Esther says as she closes the door that’s letting in light from the kitchen. “It’s a secret entrance to a secret door that leads to a secret lab because that’s how we roll around here, lots of secretivity.”
“That’s not even a word,” I point out, and as Esther turns to us my thoughts evaporate.
Beside me, Nathaniel gasps. Esther’s eyes are glowing in the dark, they’re golden and literally glowing, like a cat’s.
“Or is it a secret word that you didn’t know about?” Esther asks in an over dramatic voice as she flips on the pantry’s light. It’s like she hasn’t noticed our reaction to her eyes. Now that the light is on, they’ve returned to normal. She blinks back at me and says, “Ever think about that, Karen Lyles?”
“Your eyes.” I point to her. “Why do they …change in the dark?”
She looks surprised and then understanding registers in her features. Chuckling, she points to me. “Next time you’re in the bathroom, turn off the light and look in the mirror. You’ll see the same thing. It’s a side effect of the Triphylamonal. It makes our eyes glow in the dark.”
“Like the guy I saw in the cornfield.” Nathaniel quietly says.
Esther blinks back at him. “Yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about. But in any case, welcome to the You’re Officially a Freak of Nature Club. It’s fun. You get to find excuses for no one to ever see you in the dark unless they’re too drunk to notice that your eyes are glowing. Yay.”
I glance at Nathaniel. “Is she always like this?”
“Unfortunately.” He offers me a weak smile.
“Okay, enough about that.” Esther points to something directly behind us. “See that jar of olive oil on the shelf behind you? Move it over and there’s a tiny brown marking on the wall. It’s easy to miss, so look hard. When you find it, press it.”
Nathaniel moves the olive oil aside and I glance at Esther questioningly. “Press it?”
“Yes,” she nods gravely. “If there’s even one wrinkle left, the secret door won’t open.”
I blink back at her and she blushes, murmuring, “Yeah, that was a failed attempt at humor.”
“I got it,” Nathaniel announces.
“Thank God someone gets my jokes …” Esther pauses as the wall behind us begins to slide backwards. She points to the wall and rolls her eyes. “Oh, you got that. Dagnabbit. Also, thank you for opening the secret door.”
“Welcome,” Nathaniel whispers, his nervous thoughts filling my head. He takes my hand and moves us away from the wall as it swings right, revealing the entrance to a brightly lit room.
I can’t see what’s in the room yet, all I’m able to see is white linoleum. And the smell …my God, it’s intense! It’s the same floral scent that seems to be coming from my pores, but it’s even stronger now.
“Excuse me, I’ll lead the way,” Esther says, inching around us and stepping into the new room, “to your exclusive tour of our super-secret lab.”
Nathaniel and I exchange glances before following Esther through the secret passage and stepping into a well-lit room.
I look around, and just as Esther said, it’s a lab. On either side of us are long white counters containing test tubes, glassware, empty operant conditioning chambers, and other types of equipment that I recognize from Dad’s chemistry lab at school.
“Come on. No standing still!” Esther urges.
Nathaniel and I do as told, still hand in hand as we walk between the counters. To our left we pass several aquariums that team with bagradae.
I point to one of them. “Are those the kind that are dangerous to you?”
“Yeah.” Esther turns around, walking backwards so she can face us. “And now they’re dangerous to you too because you have an ability. Look down.”
She points to our feet, and Nathaniel and I glance down. To my surprise, we’re no longer walking on linoleum, but glass. Below the glass are tons upon tons of small white flowers.
“There’s a Louisiana Alyssum greenhouse below us,” Esther explains. “That plant is super important. None of our abilities would be possible without it.”
I shake my head, remembering my conversation in the hospital with Dad. “But my dad said my ability came from a tumor caused by Trip…triphyl…” I take a beat, trying to remember how to pronounce the word.
“Yeah, Triphylamonal,” Esther says, “the synthetic drug that’s the source of our abilities. On its own, Triphylamonal is deadly to humans. Combining it with Louisiana Alyssum makes it safe for us.”
…I have no idea what they’re talking about…
I glance at Nathaniel and the look on his face is a perfect reflection of his thoughts.
“No worries, Karen will fill you in later.” Esther waves him off, and continuing to walk backwards, she explains, “If it seems like ever since the accident you’ve smelled like flowers, you’re right, that’s exactly what you’re smelling. The Alyssum is in our bloodstream as a protection because without it, the Triphylamonal would kill us.”
I instinctively glance down at my arms, looking at my veins. Now my blood isn’t just blood, it’s a mix of Triphylamonal, Louisiana Alyssum, and God only knows whatever else is causing this weird ability.
“On that happy little note,” Esther continues, “your dad genetically engineered the bagrada to be like little vampires. Except it’s not blood they’re sucking, it’s Louisiana Alyssum. Unlike regular bagradae, which just eat plants, these guys only drink the nectar of Louisiana Alyssum and when they come in contact with a subject that has Louisiana Alyssum in its bloodstream, the bugs make like vampires.”
Nathaniel gulps audibly.
“They dig a hole in the host’s skin and quickly drain every vestige of Louisiana Alyssum from the subject’s bloodstream. But the bagradae can’t ingest Triphylamonal, so it’s left in the host’s body. And being that Triphylamonal is deadly without Louisiana Alyssum, that’s it- the host is dead.” Esther wrinkles her nose. “Pretty awful, right?”
“So that’s what happened to Roy when you stuck the bagrada in his ear?” Nathaniel asks, a horrified look on his face.
“Yeah.” Esther bites down on her bottom lip and her expression grows somber. Her voice lowering, she says, “I hated what I did, but I had to stop him the only way I knew how.”
I study her carefully. I’ve always assumed that Esther’s life was a fairy tale. And even when I found out about her abilities, I thought she had the superhero’s version of a fairytale life. I couldn’t have been more wrong. She’s constantly keeping secrets about who she really is, and she has to hurt people. Even though she knows what she’s doing is justified, that can’t make it easy.
Esther frowns and smooths down her hair while bits and pieces of her thoughts drift my way.
Nathaniel was right when he said I don’t see people. All along, Esther’s been right in front of me and I’ve been so prejudiced I haven’t noticed who she really is. Sure, she’s rich and she seemed standoffish. But if I’d had the courage to look beyond the bruising she gave my ego, I would’ve spotted a glimpse of the real her, and then maybe we could’ve been friends.
Nathaniel gives my hand a tug and I glance at him as ‘…it’s not too late for that…’ slips into my thoughts.
I smile and whisper, “Get out of my head.”
“You know, actually,” Esther quietly says, and we both turn our attention to her, “in retrospect I think there might have been one other way I could’ve stopped Roy.”
“How?” I ask.
She stops wal
king backwards and nods to my ring. “The ring your mom gave you, I think it-”
“Esther! Hurry up please!”
The unmistakable sound of Ms. Greenich’s voice, over yet another intercom, surrounds us.
“We’re coming!” Esther shouts, nearly rendering us deaf. She clears her throat and says, “I’ll explain later. Come on.”
We follow her out of the lab and down a small flight of stairs that leads to the greenhouse below. The sea of tiny white flowers ends near a large pool and a small carpeted area that looks like a makeshift office. Between the pool and the flowers, it’s a strange set up; two large desks, a computer on each, are parallel to each other and several metal file cabinets stand between them.
Considering the grandeur of Esther’s house, the furniture down here is startlingly cheap. Even Dad’s cherry oak desk back home looks better than the metal desk Ms. Greenich is perched on. But, even more surprising than this is Ms. Greenich.
Nathaniel and I come to a complete halt.
…She’s definitely Unseen…
“Geez Louise,” I mutter, unable to believe my eyes. Our guidance counselor is clad in a black jumpsuit that’s identical to the one Esther wears. The sight of Esther dressed like an acrobat wasn’t as shocking, we see her in a gymnastics leotard pretty much every day. But our school’s guidance counselor dressed like a comic book character? That’s a little strange, to say the least.
Leaning over one of the desks and typing something on its computer, Ms. Greenich turns to us and smiles. “Karen, Nathaniel long time no see.”
Neither of us seems able to find our voice. I glance at the black face mask beside her computer. Ms. Greenich, the nice lady who makes endearing yet sappy comments like, “if you dream it, you can do it” to us at school, puts that mask on every night and goes out to kick bad guy butt?
“I think they’re a little startled to see you in uniform,” Esther says, prancing up to the desk. She perches on the edge and crossing one leg over the other asks, “So, do you think we’ll rescue Tessa before dinner? Because I was thinking we could all go to the Olive Garden.”
Ms. Greenich turns to Esther and arches an eyebrow.