“What did you see?” Michael asks a little too coolly.
I look up and am caught in his trance. Something tells me that he doesn’t seem surprised by the fact that we just surfed through his memories. Nor does he seem surprised by our eyes, which must have gone completely white. I focus on my own healing ability, just for the sake of adding some color to my eyes. By the look on his face that turns from shock to wonder, I can tell it worked. I decide to answer his question. “A crash. An explosion.”
“Oh,” he says.
Tony doesn’t seem too thrilled by his lackadaisical answer. “Explain,” he says through gritted teeth. His hand is on his head as if he can force the sound of those screams from his mind.
“I was on the train in Baltimore,” Michael says, knowing that those two words—train and Baltimore—are all we need to hear to understand.
Tony and I look to each other in horror. Claire gasps from behind us. The horrific memory makes sense now. I remember the news coverage of the accident in Baltimore. Accidents of that proportion don’t happen often these days. It was only a few months prior to us entering the shelter, I think. I still remember the images of the charred and twisted eighteen-wheeler that had stalled on the tracks and derailed the passenger train in Maryland. The damage was extensive and there were very few survivors. I guess Michael was amongst the lucky ones.
I take a deep breath and look over at Michael. His eyes are filled with an intensity that only a survivor’s eyes can hold. An intensity that I know all too well.
“We need to try again. We need to make sure he’s safe,” Tony tells me.
I nod my head in agreement. Just because he’s been through something tragic, doesn’t mean that he’s not a psychopath. Even though I have a feeling that he’s not bad.
I hold my hand out to Michael. His eyes widen in surprise. I guess he thought we were done. He shrugs his shoulders and places his hand in mine. Tony quickly clasps his hand over it as well and we are sucked into the memory again. The jarring crash as the train crumples in on itself from the momentum. Michael’s body being thrown from his seat, his head slamming into the window as the cart he’s in tumbles onto its side... The screams erupting around him and there’s an explosion from somewhere in the front of the train cart. The heat is intense and then it becomes more bearable as Michael’s body is dragged out of the cart by a rescuer. Then everything goes black. I hold onto his hand for several more seconds. I feel Tony’s hand lift away a moment later, but I keep my hold on Michael. I try to swim through the deep, black abyss to search for other memories, with no luck. Finally, I let go.
I allow myself a few seconds to regain my composure.
“I can’t see you after the accident. What are you trying to hide?” Tony says in a stern voice with little feeling, while placing his other hand near his back pocket.
I look at Michael with the same intensity. He’s hiding something, I can tell.
“I’m not hiding anything.” He looks at me when he says it.
“You are,” I say through gritted teeth, trying to shake his memories away from me. “I should have seen more. There were no memories after the accident. Just... Blackness.”
His blue-green eyes flash with intensity that’s locked onto me. “I was in a coma for a long time. When I awoke, I was in an abandoned hospital with sweat soaking my body. They left me behind. I can only assume from the bits and pieces that I’ve scrounged up that they thought I was close to death and didn’t bother with bringing me into one of those shelters.” He curls his fingers into his fists. I can tell by his gaze that his mind is wandering back to that moment.
“That doesn’t explain where your memories went since you woke up,” Tony states.
Michael looks at him as if just noticing he’s there.
“Yeah, why couldn’t we see when you woke up?” I ask him.
“I don’t know how your powers work. I’ve only recently learned about powers. I had found a small group of people with your kind of gifts,” he answers.
“You’ve found people with abilities? Where are they?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I woke up one morning to find them gone. I guess they left. I’m getting tired of waking up alone.” His eyes are smoldering as he says the last part.
My cheeks heat at the alternate meaning and Tony steps closer to me. “That still doesn’t explain why we couldn’t see your memories.”
Michael looks to Tony and seems a little annoyed. “Look, my mind blanks out a lot since I’ve woken up. Sometimes, I forget entire spans of time. I don’t know for sure but that could be affecting my memory,” he offers.
I glance over at Tony to see if he’s buying it. He purses his lips in thought. “Perhaps,” Tony says simply. And with that, the tension that built up in the area is gone.
Michael speaks up once more, this time looking back and forth between Tony and me. “Seriously though, why do you have so many different colors in your eyes? The people I met with abilities only had one color.” He points to Tony. “And you moved that log with your mind. How do you have more than one gift?” I watch as he tries to make sense of it.
“Honestly, it’s a long story to get into right now. But, yes, I have multiple powers,” Tony says. I can sense a bit of mistrust still floating out there between all of us and Michael. Well, I should say everyone but Marya and Claire. They seem to be drawn to him. So noticeably that Alec and Connor are starting to feel jealous. I scoff at the strangeness of it all.
Alec extends his hand in greeting, “Nice to meet you, Michael. I’m Alec, I can heal.” He puffs up his chest and I can tell that he’s trying to seem bigger and cooler than Michael. The two guys shake hands and we all take turns introducing ourselves, telling him our name and ability. His introduction to Claire and Marya lingers slightly longer than the rest and both blush and giggle like schoolgirls. Connor gets a bit red in the face and repositions himself so he’s standing in front of Claire.
“Down doggie,” I whisper in Connor’s ear. The look he gives me could kill. I still manage to give him a smirk.
When it comes time for me to introduce myself, I keep my distance, not trusting myself not to be pulled into whatever web he has Claire and Marya in. “I’m Willow,” I tell him, not offering up my abilities.
This doesn’t go unnoticed by Michael. He arches an eyebrow and then nods acceptingly. “Nice to meet you, Willow.”
I nod but don’t say anything further. We all stand there in awkward silence, unsure of where to go from here.
Michael looks behind us and notices the hatch we’ve unearthed. “Any clue as to what’s inside?” He walks over to it and gives the handle a jiggle.
Connor interjects. “It’s a tunnel of some sort—not sure where it leads or anything.”
Michael cocks an eyebrow. “Let me guess, you used your ‘ability’ to be able to see this, while the door remained sealed.”
Connor grins while collecting on the ego boost. “You can say that,” he says, while brushing nonexistent dirt from his shoulder. It’s not often Connor takes the limelight from his ability. While cool, it’s not always the most useful.
Just then, Claire lets out a shriek and is dragged away from Connor. In an instant, Connor darts around and lunges at Claire’s attacker. I see the assailant’s red eyes before Connor punches him in the face and frees Claire. We hadn’t even thought of the threat that obviously continued to follow Michael. The monsters with red eyes!
“Reapers!” Marya calls out and the area becomes a swarm of action and fighting.
I take out my pistol, readying myself for action. Before I have a chance to know what is going on, a Reaper painfully tackles me from behind. I feel his ability immediately, like all my powers are being sucked clean dry. Tony plucks him off me. He sends him flying through the air and into a tree trunk several yards away. I cast a glance over Tony’s shoulder and, noticing it, he whirls around and begins fighting off another assailant.
I look around for the gun I dropped and can’t
find it anywhere. I have no time to look for it because a female Reaper is running towards me. Her red eyes and messy black hair give her a crazed look. I lift my hand in her direction and focus on moving her with my mind. The golden haze lines my vision as she lifts up from the ground a few inches. Then a silver glint flickers around the rim of her red eyes and she smirks as she drops back down and continues charging at me. I brace myself for her attack. She throws a punch. I dodge it and counter with a kick to her stomach. I put all of my power into it and she goes flying back. She’s up a second later and coming at me again. I lift my hands, ready to attack, but she stops cold. Her eyes glaze over. That’s when I see the blood and at the source of it, a knife is sticking out of her chest. She attempts to lift her hand up to the wound but falls to the ground lifeless in the next second.
I stare at her in confusion until Claire materializes from her invisible state. Her eyes are wide with horror and she’s shaking from what she just did. I don’t know if Claire has had to kill anyone yet. My stomach twists, knowing the shock she’s going through.
I don’t have the time to dwell on it because her gaze flickers to something behind me. I look over my shoulder and find a Reaper with Tony in a chokehold, his face turning purple. The Reaper’s eyes are crazed and swirling with red, neon yellow, gold, and silver. I try to scream and can’t find my voice. I start to run to help him but a shot rings out in the clearing, stopping everyone in their tracks—Reapers and all. The Reaper that was holding Tony has a bullet that sunk clean, square in the middle of his forehead. He slumps to the ground, releasing his hold on Tony.
There are only three Reapers left alive. They take notice and immediately begin running in the opposite direction. I watch as Michael uses my gun to shoot at the rest of the Reapers. He hits one more, but the other two were way too fast.
I crawl to where Tony lies in a heap and collapse onto his chest. I try to focus my healing abilities while my brain and body still feel scrambled with fear. A second later, I feel Alec’s arms embrace the both of us. I’m immediately overcome by a sense of peace and calm and I let my body relax against Tony’s.
Once I feel back to normal and am sure Tony’s okay and on the road to recovery, I help Alec fix the cuts and bruises of everyone with us. No one seems to be severely injured, just shaken up. Claire is only starting to come out of her shock and now she’s crying. Connor is trying to comfort her. It’s been a long time since we’ve run into any Reapers. The fact that we’ve kept our guard down for this long leaves us shaken at what just took place. The reality is Reapers are still a real threat and we need to take it more seriously from now on. It would have been stupid of us to think that all of them died back in that mountain.
I hug Claire. “Thank you, Claire. You did what you had to do. It was us or them,” I tell her, knowing she needs something to hold onto. I know how hard it is to deal with the aftermath of taking a life.
She tries to nod her head as she continues to sob into Connor’s chest. He shhhs her and tells her what a kick butt warrior she is. I eye him and mouth, “Not helping.”
He goes back to telling her, “It’s okay, you did good. It’s okay.”
Tony stands back up for the first time since the attack and walks immediately over to Michael, who still has my pistol in his hand. Tony offers his hand to Michael and he accepts. Tony looks him square in the eyes. “I owe you my life. Thank you.”
A tear springs to my eye at the realization of what just took place. It could have been a very different outcome had Michael not been here. Tony could have very well been killed. I fall to my knees and weep into my hands. The thought of Tony ever being gone from my life is just too much for me to bear. I feel Tony wrapping me in his arms and I embrace him tightly in mine.
“I thought you were gone,” I say, sobbing into his chest.
“It’s okay. I’m fine, see.” He holds me away from his chest by the arms. I take one look at him and start crying again. His face softens and he pulls me back into an embrace, rubbing my back reassuringly. We stay like that for a while. I clench Tony’s shirt in my hands, willing myself to calm down. He helps me to my feet. I take a tissue from my pocket, wiping my face and blowing my nose.
“He snuck up on me, while I was taking out one of his friends.” Tony answers the question that was on my mind. Tony is so strong and often, I can consider him invincible with all of his powers. I had wondered how that Reaper almost got the best of him. Even though the Reaper snuck up on him, I can still tell that Tony is still unsure how he was stuck in a hold that he couldn’t get out of.
I nod my head in understanding. I myself was caught so off guard by the entire attack that I didn’t even take out one Reaper.
“You don’t always have to be the hero,” Tony speaks to me in my head.
I give him a steely look. “I don’t have to be the hero, but I don’t want to be the damsel in distress either.”
“Honey, I’d save you from a speeding train any day, but we both know that you are far from being a damsel in distress.” He kisses me on the forehead and instantly I feel better.
I look around at the others to find Claire and Connor in an embrace as well as Alec and Marya. Michael stands off to the side, still staring down at the gun in his hand. I walk over to him and he gives the gun back to me. The barrel is still warm as I put the safety on, placing it back in my back pocket. I barely know Michael but it doesn’t stop me from offering him a hug. He saved my boyfriend’s life and for that, I am eternally in his debt.
“Michael, do you have anywhere to go?” I keep my arm on his out of concern and focus my energy on healing. He may not be physically wounded, but I know emotionally he could use a little healing.
Michael shakes his head. “No…”
He doesn’t even need to say it—it doesn’t matter. “Why don’t you come with us?” I offer.
He seems harmless enough, and he did save our lives. His eyes brighten. “Are you sure?” he asks, his voice filled with hope. He looks around at the other nodding heads. His face produces a smile and I return it. “We’d be happy to have you,” I add.
“Yes,” says Marya. “We’d be happy to have you.” Alec shoots her a look. “What?” she states.
“Should we chance the tunnel? There’s no telling where it leads.” While contemplating our choice, I fill in Michael on why we’re here and who Dr. Hastings is. He listens intently while I talk, shaking his head at appropriate intervals.
“Evil, evil man,” he responds.
“I think we should chance it. We came all this way and we found the needle in the haystack—we shouldn’t waste this opportunity. Plus, I doubt we’ll run into any Reapers down in the tunnel,” Marya states.
She has a point. “I agree,” I second.
“Let’s see where it leads.” Tony slips his hand into mine and squeezes it. I nestle my head under his chin.
Connor, Tony, and I help everyone through the sealed door. We drop down one by one into the tunnel.
“That’s strange. This is where it must dead end… in the middle of nowhere,” Claire states. It does seem strange. It’s completely dark down here, not a drip of light.
Michael clicks his lighter on and shines it down the tunnel.
We discover a torch attached to the wall.
“That’s pretty old school. A flashlight would have been a little more practical,” Claire says.
“Yeah, but a flashlight wouldn’t cater to his need for dramatics,” I say. “Should we light it?” Who knows if Dr. Hastings doused it with too much lighter fluid?
“I say go for it,” Alec interjects. “Unless, of course, you like walking in the pitch black.”
Good point. Michael takes his lighter and holds it up to the torch. It lights right away and an eerie glow fills the tunnel. He unlatches it from the wall and takes the lead. We all walk to the left of him to avoid the smoke trail the torch makes.
We walk for a good while through the twists and turns of the tunnel. Sometimes it goes uphill,
sometimes down. One time, I swear I hear running water, but I can’t be sure. We talk about the Reapers along the walk. Tony explains to Michael what the Reapers do. We discuss about how they had multiple powers today. A thick blanket of fear and unease falls over us as we think about exactly how they must have gotten those powers. We walk in silence for a while after that.
After walking for nearly an hour, the tunnel becomes narrow. I begin to worry that it’ll become too narrow for us all to fit, until finally it dead-ends into a ladder. Michael raises the torch upwards but it’s too short to completely light the path above us.
Michael notices a holder for the torch along the wall. He places it in it so that he can climb the ladder.
Seeing the holder, I can’t help but think that Dr. Hastings must have thought of everything when it came to the secret passageway.
We begin ascending the ladder and eventually end up climbing in the dark. My stomach is filled with nerves as I grasp at the rungs that I can’t see above me. I can hear the click, clicking of Tony’s shoes climbing. Other than the sounds and our heavy breathing, our group remains eerily quiet. The atmosphere is dank and cold as we climb further upward.
I hear a small thud and then an “Ow,” from further above. I can only assume it’s from Michael. He must have hit his head at the top. I look up and watch as Michael, who is in front of Tony, lights the lighter again. A two-foot area around him illuminates as he raises the lighter up to the top of his head. Sure enough, it’s another door. He gropes around for the handle and finds it, twisting it open. A loud squeal lets loose as the hinges creak from non-use. A small light floods the area. Michael lifts the lid further until he is able to fold it all the way back and it rests on the surface above. He moves into the room above, using his lighter to barely light the area.
Tony is the next to climb up into the room. “What the?” Tony says, stopping at the top of the ladder.
I try to urge him to keep moving so we can get off this ladder but he’s stopped cold. He shakes his head, lets out a whistling breath, and then he moves off the ladder to help me up.
Ending ELE (ELE Series) Page 11