“What now?” I laid my head on the back of the chair, it was still throbbing dully.
“They caught up to him; to Benjamin. He was right there in the motel room where they thought he would be.” She sat down across from me on the couch. “Anyway, his eyes, Zel, it sounds like they’re messed up like yours are. He and Frank, that’s his Lookout’s name I guess? They’re coming willingly back here with Aunt Hazel and Melody. Probably within the hour.”
My stomach did a flip-flop. After so many months of speculation, I was going to be face-to-face with Benjamin again. I had lots of questions for him, and more than a little bit of pent up anger at his messing up my first solo rewind. The questions were more important, though. Like, how? How was he a Retroact? Why was his Lookout male and older than him? Grandma Rachel had said that she’d heard of male Lookouts, but there hadn’t been one in ages. Where did he come from? Did he steal the visions from other Retroacts’ minds or have the same visions on his own?
I jammed my thumbs into my temples and pushed as hard as I could. Argh! This constant headache was more than annoying. I’d already taken three ibuprofen. Stressing out trying to remember all the things I wanted to confront Benjamin with wasn’t helping any.
“Come here.” Avery reached out and pulled me over next to him on the couch and started rubbing my neck. His hands were warm and strong, kneading at my tense muscles.
“Ahhhh,” I moaned, leaning back against him, “I love you and your magic fingers.”
Mom cleared her throat loudly. I got the hint and sat forward. Avery pretended that he didn’t and continued massaging my shoulders.
Mom cleared her throat again. “Avery, your dad wants to talk to you. Let Zellie be.”
He drummed his fingers on my back, kissed the nape of my neck, and then went over to Mom and put a hand on her shoulder to talk to his dad.
I paid no attention to their one-sided conversation, Avery was probably just getting yelled at for the PDA anyway. Mom and Mr. Adams were more lenient in their regard for our relationship than my dad and Avery’s mom were, but they had to be. Seeing as they were both blissed out adulterers living in sin, and that only one of them was actually physically here, they didn’t have much parental leverage. Still, they didn’t like us being together; not really.
Mr. Adams may have chilled out in a lot of respects, but from what Avery and Mom both said, when it came to me he was still adamant that whatever was happening between his son and me, it couldn’t continue past our twenties. He carried on believing that the only way Avery would be safe from dying the way I saw him die in my vision was if he was nowhere near me.
I knew Mom agreed with him, but I thought she was holding out hope that Avery and I would eventually fall out of love with each other, preferably within the next year. It wasn’t going to happen. I loved him. He loved me. We were young, yes, but I held his life in my hands and he let me. Responsibility accepted and granted, thank you very much.
Avery finished talking to his dad. Turning to me, he crossed his eyes and made a kissy face. I smiled through the pain shooting up the back of my head. He walked toward the kitchen, brushing his fingers over my hair as he passed. “Want something to drink? How about you, Claire?”
“Vodka Gimlet,” Claire deadpanned from behind the massive Vogue she was reading.
“There’s pop in the fridge,” Mom said, not bothering to look away from the computer screen.
We were all lounging around staring into space, still waiting for the pictures that Mom was sending to Grandma to attach, when Melody burst through the cabin door.
She ran to me and grabbed my face, scrutinizing my eyes. “Yuck. You do look as crappy as Ben does.”
“Thanks,” Ben and I said to her in unison.
Everyone turned to look at Benjamin. Despite his bloodshot eyes, he was still as hot as I remembered.
Tall and lean muscled, he had the front of his red long sleeve t-shirt tucked haphazardly into his jeans, accentuating his flat stomach. Beat up black motorcycle boots adorned his feet.
Benjamin was the opposite of Avery in a lot of ways. Fair to his dark, narrow through the shoulders like a Calvin Klein model as opposed to Avery’s broad athletic build, cocky to Avery’s low key manner. But hot to his hot for sure. Benjamin’s blonde hair had grown since our first meeting and his bangs fell across his forehead into his normally blue eyes. He flipped his hair back and flashed a smile.
“Please let my gaydar be on the fritz,” Claire said, gulping audibly. I could not blame a girl.
I got up from the chair and went to him. Avery followed right behind me. “Hello again, uh, Benjamin? Ben?”
He winked. “Ben’s good, sweetie.” Avery took my hand. “Frank calls me Benjamin only when I’m being a pain in the ass.”
Frank cleared his throat. “Hello.” He bowed his head, the beginnings of a bald spot shining through his thick salt and pepper hair.
Mom made her way over to the door. “Come in.” She gestured to the kitchen chairs. “Pull those over here by the couch, there should be enough seats for everybody. We’ve got a lot to talk about.” She waved us all into the family room and then sat back down at the computer. “Finally! I thought these stupid pictures would never attach. I’ve sent photos of Zellie’s eyes to Mom, Aunt Hazel.”
“Fantastic,” Aunt Hazel said. She grinned at Frank as he offered her a kitchen chair. He remained standing.
Claire sat on the far end of the couch, patting the seat next to her. “Ben, why don’t you sit down here and tell us a little bit about yourself? We’re all dying to get to know you.”
“I don’t know about that,” Avery mumbled, cramming into the recliner next to me.
Melody flopped down onto the couch on the other side of Ben. “Tell them what you told us about the vision.”
I felt my face heat as Ben looked at me; he was enjoying the spotlight. “I don’t know what you could see, it was like I had a strobe light going off in my head, but I saw this one here,” he grabbed Claire’s knee, “and she and I were talking, having a pleasant conversation, and then it’s as if the scene switched and all I could see was fire. We, you and I, Zellie, were surrounded by it.”
“Interesting,” I chewed my bottom lip, “I didn’t see the fire,” I glanced at Claire, “just the two of you talking. I did get really, really hot though.”
Ben got up from the couch and grasped my forearm. The image of him and Claire and a raging fire materialized in my mind.
I gently pulled my arm from his grasp and gave him a nod. “Did your head hurt? Mine’s still throbbing.”
“Oh, yeah, like a full-on instant migraine.” He sat back down on the couch. “This hasn’t happened to your eyes before though, Melody said.”
I nodded again. No, Mr. Awesome, this was yet another thing that I had no experience with.
Ben shook his head. “Me neither.” His gaze fell to the floor. I guess he didn’t know everything about everything. “But I remember my mom used to get headaches and bloodshot eyes sometimes when she had visions.”
We all sat in awkward silence for a moment, no one knowing what to say next. I finally had a chance to face my rewind saboteur surrounded by family and friends and it seemed we were all too intimidated by him to initiate the conversation that needed to happen.
I scooted to the edge of the chair, unconsciously forcing Avery to sit back. “I’m not trying to be rude,” I said to Ben, “but I guess what I really want to know is, now that we’ve got you here...what’s your deal? What are you? A Retroact or...something else?”
Ben shrugged. “It’s cool, hey, ask whatever you want. I’ve known and seen these abilities my whole life and you’ve got less than a year under your belt. If you need me to teach-”
“That’s not what I was after.” I stared him down. “I’m doing fine by myself.”
“Sure, sure.” Ben grinned. “Oh!” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “You wanna know why I’m a strapping young male instead of a girl like all you other Retr
oacts are?”
I sighed. “Yes.”
“Okay, here’s my deal.” He made air quotes with his fingers when he said deal. “Basically, my mom was just awesome.”
“Clearly it runs in the family,” Avery whispered. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“So, my grandma was a Retroact and her younger sister was her Lookout, same as you and your grandma. Now, you’d think that my mom wouldn’t be a Retroact, because she was an only child and the whole powers skipping generations thing.”
“Wait. Your mom was a Retroact?” I asked
Ben shot me a look that said, “Do not interrupt His Awesomeness while he is speaking.”
“In fact,” he paused to make sure I wasn’t going to butt in with my stupid amateur questions again, “she could do that talking to the dead thing that your mom does and--” Ben nodded his head toward Mom. “By the way, hey to that random dude hovering over your mom.”
Avery looked wounded. “That’s my dad. You can see him?”
“Sure can, Slugger.” Ben turned to Frank, smiling. “Ghost baby daddy?” He shook his head. “That’s a new one, isn’t it?”
Frank nodded. “It is.”
Avery started out of the chair, his face red with anger. He didn’t even like it when Claire and I jokingly called his dad that. Ben held up his hand though, motioning for him to simmer down.
“Anyways, my mom’s this precocious kid, right? She gets bored talking to dead people and teaches herself to rewind. She made her best friend, Frank here, her Lookout when they’re like, thirteen.”
“Thirteen?” I scoffed. “Your mom had two abilities before she was barely a teenager? You’re totally lying. I don’t get this. She’s not following any of the rules.”
“That’s because the rules are bullshit, Zellie.” He let that sink in for a moment. “I know your grandma’s a big time Society member, but they’re...they can be exclusive.” Aunt Hazel gave him a dirty look. “No offense to you Big Zellie, you’re totally cool.”
Mom laughed. “I think someone’s a little too big for his britches. The Society is not a country club--”
“Mrs. Wells, I don’t make a habit of being pissy with pregnant chicks, but you don’t know what the hell is going on. You’ve known about The Society and your full abilities for an even shorter period of time than your daughter.”
Mom opened her mouth to protest and then clamped it shut.
“And you,” he turned his scowl on me, “I’m not a liar. I fuck around, I can definitely be a dick, but I don’t lie. Not about my mom or the abilities, okay?”
I was getting irritated and tired of being reprimanded. “That still doesn’t explain you. Your mom already had an ability to build on, but you can’t just conjure them up from scratch.”
“Are you gay?” Melody chimed in. “That’s what Claire thought when we told her about you.”
“Melody! You’re totally making me sound gaycist!” Claire reached around Ben and slugged her on the arm.
Ben lightened up at that, squeezing Claire’s thigh. “You’re not completely wrong.” He winked. “Let’s just say I, uh, channel my feelings on a person by person basis.”
“So, your first...” I had to know.
“Yes, my first strong physical connection happened to be with a guy named Connor,” he shrugged his shoulders, “but you know, his sister Kiely was kinda hot too.”
Frank chuckled. Claire smiled. Everyone else stared at Ben.
I finally spoke. “So, that coupled with your mom coaching you gave you multiple abilities?”
Ben nodded his head. “That’s my deal.”
“And what about your dad?” I asked.
Ben looked to Frank. “My bio dad split when Mom was pregnant with me. Frank’s my dad for all intents and purposes. That was how she wanted things to be anyway. If she and Frank hadn’t played for the same team, he probably would’ve been my real dad.” Ben’s face beamed with pride. “Y’know, my mom was the first Retroact to have a male Lookout since The Middle Ages and the first ever to have one not related to her.”
“Your mom sounds really cool, but you keep saying was,” Claire said.
“Yeah, was. She died when I was seventeen. A year ago this past November, actually.”
Claire put her hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up...”
Ben looked to Frank again and then to the floor, tears welling in his bloodshot eyes. “It’s cool.” He tilted his head back and blinked, trying to regain his composure. “I had a vision of her death and I couldn’t figure it out in time to save her. She drowned in the Pacific.”
His eyes met mine. “We were in Hawaii on vacation, taking surfing lessons. This was after I’d had the vision, so I glimpsed her immediate future every couple of weeks to make sure things were going to be okay. Not that my glimpses are anywhere near accurate, but I had seen us surfing and we were fine, so it was safe as far as I was concerned.” He shook his head. “There wasn’t even water in the original vision.”
I stood and knelt down in front of him, grabbing his hand. “Show me.”
I saw a beautiful blonde woman with eyes the color of caramel, laughing, as the sun shone through her hair. The next image was of the same woman, only this time her eyes were full of fear. She turned to look behind herself and then the vision was over.
Still holding Ben’s hand, I opened my eyes. “That’s not a lot to go on. You can’t tell where she is, how she dies, nothing. No one would’ve been able to figure that out.” It would freak the crap out of me to have a vision about my mom dying and not be able to figure it out. Poor Ben.
He dropped my hand. I went back to sit with Avery.
“It was my idea to do the surfing lessons. I should’ve known better than to do anything risky. One second we’re paddling back towards the beach, the instructor thought the waves were getting too big for first-timers, the next second I look back and this wave overtakes her and pulls her under.”
He tugged at his hair with his hands. “I’m fucking sitting there, trying to not fall off the surfboard and get pulled under too, trying to rewind, trying to remember what I learned in swimming lessons when I was eight, anything, and then there she is on my board in front of me saying, “Benny, let me go. I’m still right here with you.”
“But she’s not here with you now,” Mom whispered.
“No shit,” Ben said, but not with much venom.
Avery took his chances and spoke next. “You can see other people’s dead friends and family all the time, but not your own?”
Ben glared at him. “Aren’t you the kid who was pissed at Zellie for saving you and your mom’s lives?”
Avery didn’t back down this time. “You know I am and you also know that my dad died during the rewind, so don’t act like you’re the only kid who’s had a parent die,” he huffed. “I was starting to feel sorry for you, but obviously you’re such an asshole--”
“Your dad’s trying to tell you he doesn’t like it when you use language like that.” Ben leered.
“That’s it!” Avery leapt from the recliner, knocking me to the floor. He charged Ben as Melody and Claire jumped out of the way. The force of the two boys fighting turned the couch on its back.
“Do something!” Mom yelled to Frank.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Zellie can stop this anytime she wants.”
“Duh,” I said, pointing my arm towards the wrestling boys. I let Avery get in one more good punch and then I started rewinding them.
In slow motion it was evident that one of the two boys was actually enjoying the fight. Ben was grinning and egging Avery on in reverse, which seemed to piss Avery off even more as he unpunched Ben three times. The couch flipped back up and Ben took his place as Avery flew backwards and landed in the recliner. I lowered my hand.
Avery was flustered. “Did you just rewind me, Zel?”
I got up from my position on the floor. “Yeah, I did. We have enough problems without you two acting li
ke idiots and getting into fist fights.” I sat back down next to him, shooting him a “sorry” look. He took my hand.
Claire pulled Ben up by his elbow. “Why don’t we let Zellie and Ben get some rest? I’ll ride with Aunt Hazel over to the lodge and get everyone set up with some free accommodations.” She checked her watch. “It’s almost eleven now, let’s meet up at the See-Saw around four o’clock? Sound good?”
“That sounds great, Claire, thanks.” I got up and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “You just want to grill Ben some more.”
She giggled. “Talking wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” she whispered back.
I squeezed her extra hard and then pushed her toward the door. Aunt Hazel, Melody, Frank, and Ben followed her, saying their goodbyes.
I now officially thought that Ben was a douchebag for starting a fight with Avery when all he was trying to do was be empathetic. Of course that didn’t mean I would turn down the chance to hear all the details of a Claire on Ben make out sesh. I kinda hoped she’d score; she could handle a bad boy like him.
Avery slid his hand into mine. “C’mon, I’ll take you home.” I’d stick to the good guys, thanks.
Chapter Three
Christopher shrugged on his black pea coat, retrieved his leather gloves from the pockets and put them on. He turned around and looked at the large industrial clock on the wall behind his desk. It was 11:15. He figured if he only took until noon to eat lunch he could head out of work a little early, maybe four. That would give him enough time to get over to the See-Saw to check up on Zellie and Ben.
He was pleased that Ben had followed the suggestion he’d planted in his mind and come back to Oregon. It was much easier for Christopher to control the two of them and their limited abilities when they were in closer proximity to one another.
Trying to monitor Zellie for emerging powers, plus keep up with his work responsibilities here in Rosedell, all while preventing Ben from saving his mother Laura in Hawaii last Fall had taught him that lesson. Laura had managed to appear to Ben briefly after her death, which only confused him instead of making him believe he was losing his powers as Christopher had intended.
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