by Lisa Beeson
On the way back to the house, Ari thought about what she was going to do. She would have to put on her best poker face so that they wouldn’t suspect that anything was wrong.
At dinner, she laughed at their jokes and joined in the conversation, but the whole time, her mind was screaming: I don’t want to leave you, but I have to!
That night, instead of going to bed, Ari closed the door and quietly packed what she would need in her grey back pack. Rolling up the clothes so she could fit more in and more than just two outfits this time, she felt bad having to leave most of what Jamie had gotten her behind, but she had to travel light. She made sure everything was in order before putting on some dark clothes and getting under the covers, then wait until it was time to leave.
When the clock said two o’clock, she silently got out of bed. Knowing it was cliché, but not really caring, she stuffed some pillows under the covers to give her as much time as she could get before they realized she was gone.
Quietly, she zipped up her hoodie and then slipped on her backpack. Slowly turning the door knob, she peeked out, making sure that Adam and Jamie were asleep in their rooms. She tried to channel her inner ninja, and noiselessly make her way down the stairs and through the house. Before she left, she snuck into Adam’s office to find a pen and some paper so she could leave a goodbye letter. She figured that she owed the Lennox’s that much, at the least.
As she was reaching for a pen, her hand accidently nudged some papers that were on top of a stack of folders. Normally, she wouldn’t have looked twice, but she saw a folder that had the name “ARI” written on top. With her curiosity peaked, she opened the folder. He had copies of all of her school records, and all of her medical files since she was found in the canal. He even had the articles that were written about her after her disappearance. Then, she saw all the stuff he had found out about the Suits. She read the copies of news articles, official documents, and printouts of emails that his military buddies had sent him about some shady organization infiltrating government agencies. They seemed to have free reign to kidnap people with abilities and do who knows what with them. She read about how they worked under someone with the pseudonym ‘Anaximander.’
Anaximander? He was the Greek scientist and philosopher who came up with the cosmological theory of Aperion – or as Ruby called it, Aethos. Interesting…but, why the heck didn’t Adam tell me about any of this? At least give me a little heads up on the people who ruined my life and are chasing me across the country. Jeez!
Tamping down her disappointment in Adam, she found a pen and a blank sheet of paper and wrote out her goodbye letter. When she was done, she thought it poetic to leave it and Cass’s letter in his “ARI” folder.
She silently snuck her way to the back door and re-latched it as quietly as she could. Then ran across the dew-covered grass, over to the barn where her bike was. She made sure it was full of gas, then put on her helmet, and pushed the bike out onto the dirt road that led to the driveway.
Ari had forgotten about how much sound the tires would make on the gravel road, which seemed even more amplified by the night’s silence.
Maybe if I went into my hyper speed mode, I’d be going too fast to make much noise. It’s either that or try to get it over the fence, and push it through the woods…
So, she tapped into her inner energy that made the world seem to freeze as she sped down the road. And that’s when she found out that when she was going super fast, she was also super strong as well. The sensor came up faster than she anticipated, so at the last minute she leaped over the red beam, easily lifting the heavy bike with her like it was nothing.
Wow! That’s good to know!
She sped all the way to the end of the road until she got to the highway. Then she hopped on the motor bike and started it up. Looking back over her shoulder towards the old farm house, her heart hurt about leaving Adam and Jamie behind. They had become like a second family to her, but she would do what she needed to protect her family.
Pushing off, she started down I-40 towards the nearest bus station. Ari noticed that although she felt a bit drained from tapping into her inner energy, she didn’t feel like she was about to pass out like she had before.
Maybe I’m getting better at this…
As she sat on the bus taking her to Little Rock, Ari thought about how in a couple hours, Adam and Jamie would be reading the letter she had left behind. She had wanted to express how much she appreciated everything they had done for her. She also told them that she’d leave the bike at the bus station parking lot for them if Adam still wanted to sell it like he’d planned. She also told them that they shouldn’t try to follow her, for their own safety.
Even if Adam did try to follow, she planned that once she got to the Little Rock bus station she would take a taxi to the train station, where she would continue on to Chicago. The tickets might be expensive, but it was necessary. By now, everyone expected her to use the bus lines, and Adam was probably expecting her to head straight for Toronto and to not go through Chicago first.
Please sleep in this morning, Adam…
Ari really did have a growth spurt while she was staying at Paradise Glades. As she waited for the taxi to arrive, she looked around the bus station and noticed that she was now about as tall as – and in some cases taller than – most of the adult women around her. She had to be at least 5’5” by now.
Getting a taxi wasn’t hard, and in the early hours of a bleak overcast morning, she was confident that no one would be able to get a good, clear look at her. According to the taxi driver’s registration displayed on the dash, his name was Aamil Almudi. He barely spoke any English, which was perfect. And with her aviators on, she hoped he wouldn’t be able to give a good description of her to anyone who was curious.
It was about a five minute ride over to the train station, and the fare was only about eight dollars. So far, so good...
The train ticket took the rest of the money she had on the pre-paid credit card. All she had left was about fifty dollars, and that was including the twenty she had gotten from helping Jonas win at pool. She would have to find a way to get more money when she got to Chicago.
The train didn’t leave until 11:30 at night, so to waste time she walked around town and wasted time at a Salvation Army a couple blocks away from the station. She found a couple paperback books for a quarter each, so she took them to a park bench in the lawn in front of the State Building, and spent the rest of the evening reading.
When it was time to board the train, she sat down in her seat, put the ear buds into her ears, and rested her head against the window. She watched the lights of the city disappear behind her.
Here I go again, Absolem…into another abyss.
Chapter 18
Chicago was the biggest city Ari had ever been to. The tall buildings nearly blocked out the sun on some streets. She found an Apple store and was able to charge her iPod and use one of their floor model computers to look at a map of the city. She quickly memorized the places on the map she wanted to go, and then logged off of the computer.
After buying breakfast on the train, and the day pass for the ‘L’ train she’d bought earlier, she was running low on cash. So, she figured she’d head over to Grant Park to find a way to get more, wanting to hold on to Ruby’s watch as long as she could. It was a nice Fossil brand watch and she would probably get at least ten dollars, but a kid pawning a watch would raise all kinds of red flags. She decided to see if she could find a street performer that wouldn’t mind her joining in to boost up donations a bit, like she had with Walter.
Leaving the store, she made sure to put on her sunglasses and she went to get on a train that would take her towards Grant Park. She hadn’t seen any signs of Suits, Shades, or even Progeny since she arrived, but she still kept an eye out. There were so many people in the city that it was hard to pin point individual ones.
No one paid much attention to her. She looked like any other teen on the train. With her glasses o
n and ear buds in, she tried to look as vacant and uninterested as the rest of them while also keeping an eye on everyone around her. Her hair had grown out some since Mandy had cut it. The short side was getting shaggy, covering her ear and reaching down to her jaw, and her long bangs were now just past her chin. But, looking around, it didn’t look any worse than the other teens she saw.
Getting off the train, she made her way to Grant Park, scanning for potential collaborators. She saw some on her way, but she could tell by tuning into their intentions that they wouldn’t be too partial to sharing their profits. So, she moved on, with her stomach starting to cramp up from lack of food. She needed to find someone soon.
It wasn’t until she walked pass Buckingham Fountain and across the road that she saw a street musician she could work with. He was a white guy with a head full of dreadlocks who seemed pretty laid back and good-natured. He was strumming away on his guitar, just wrapping up a Bob Marley song. He was a decent player, and he had a nice smile and a twinkle in his eye that made him a natural flirt. People would walk by, smile back, and drop a few coins into a bucket he had by his feet. Ari knew she could help him out, and in turn help herself out. She just had to try not to amp up anyone and draw unwanted attention towards herself. She was only planning on harmonizing with him. Kid acts always got more money than ones with only adults.
He was starting to play a Jason Mraz song that Ari had always liked, called, I’m Yours. It was perfect for harmonizing. He was sitting on some stairs behind a giant bronze sculpture of a Native American riding a horse. Ari nonchalantly eased her way over to where he was and sat a couple of stairs behind him. When he got to the chorus, she took a deep breath, and thought: here goes nothing.
Singing along, she eased herself in, and as her confidence grew and she got into the song, she began singing louder. Their voices melded perfectly together, and their sound was sweet and mellow. When he heard her singing along and the affect their voices had on each other, he snapped his head around to see who was singing with him. His eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw Ari, but instead of telling her to shove off, he just smiled and nodded, motioning for her to come sit by him with a jerk of his head. She scooted over to him just at the right time in the song, and they sang the next verse together. His smile was contagious and she could feel the joy of the song bubble up inside her and overflow. They matched each other in pitch and rhythm, like they were on their very own frequency, in tune with each other perfectly. People started to stop and listen, feeling the undeniable pull of the joyful music.
The more Ari sang, she started to feel the pain and sadness of leaving Adam and Jamie begin to float away with the notes of the song. The street musician was enjoying himself as well, smiling and playing better than he ever had before. The bucket was starting to fill up quickly with the generosity of the people listening to them perform. Ari was so caught up in the music that she hadn’t noticed the effect she was having on the people around her. When they finished the song, he went straight into another one, and Ari didn’t hesitate joining along.
Chapter 19
Cam liked to go down to the park in the afternoons. It was a perfect place to practice his parkour stunts, like jumping and flipping over benches, doing hand stands on rails, and vaulting over various obstacles. Like any normal sixteen year old boy, he also liked to scope out the pretty joggers as they ran by the water front. But unlike any other normal boy, he could scope out the women from a mile away using only his eyes. That’s why he was called Cam, because his eyes could zoom in and focus on things very far away, like a camera lens.
When he was younger, the kids never believed him when he said he could see things really far away. He always felt like that old Dr. Seuss book, about the bear and the rabbit bragging about how far they could see, but to him it wasn’t bragging; it was the truth. So, he quit telling people and kept his ability to himself.
When he was done checking out the jogger babes, he noticed a group of teenage girls who, about to take a photo, were sitting on the edge of the fountain. Cam had a devilish streak, and the temptation was just too great. He casually trotted over to the group of girls, who had now roped a tourist into taking their picture. Just as the tourist was finishing counting down to take the picture, Cam ran up and flipped sideways while making a silly face over the group of smiling girls. He landed softly on his feet, and continued jogging away. He laughed and blew a kiss over his shoulder as he heard squeals of surprise and outrage calling after him.
He hoped the picture would go viral. He was wearing a t-shirt from the shop, and since any publicity was good publicity, he knew Hawk would appreciate the exposure.
As Cam ran off, he fully intended to go straight back to the shop, but then he heard the music. It was coming from behind the statue of the Bowman. It was like nothing he’d ever heard before. The girl’s voice was amazing.
Man… if Adele, Norah Jones, and an Angel had a music-baby, that baby would be this girl’s voice.
Even though she had the talent to easily over power the poor schmuck she was singing with, she didn’t. She made sure that she complimented and enhanced his voice, to the point where even he sounded amazing. Cam had seen that guy around, and he wasn’t anything special.
The music drew him in, and he wanted to hear more. As he kept walking, he zoomed in his vision on the girl. He usually didn’t focus in on stuff while he was moving, because it made it hard for him to see what was right in front of him. But this girl was special. He could feel it in his bones, and over the years he had learned to trust that feeling.
There was a big crowd around them, but the girl seemed oblivious. She was totally in the moment, looking only at the schmuck she was singing with. At least, that’s what it looked like. He couldn’t tell with those sunglasses she had on.
As he got closer, his supernatural sight became even more potent. He could see almost every particle in the air, even the individual pores on people’s skin. Textures were enhanced, and everything was crystal clear. But most amazing of all, was that he could actually see through the walls of the buildings around him. It was kind of like those old hologram postcards, where the pictures changed depending on the angle you looked at them. He tilted his head one way, and it was a solid wall. When he tilted it the other way, he was looking through the wall at the people inside.
This is unbelievable! I’m a freaking superhero!
He knew it was somehow coming from the girl. He could feel it, like the static energy your hand feels when you put it on one of those plasma globes they have at science museums. The static energy was flowing off of her towards him. He had no idea how she was doing it, but it was spectacular.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. Everything was as it was before – no more crystal clarity, and no more x-ray vision.
Bummer…
Cam noticed that the schmuck with the dreadlocks and the girl had stopped singing. The crowds of people around them were practically dumping out their wallets into the guy’s tip bucket. Then they started filing away. The spell seemed to be broken and they were continuing on with their lives.
Now, the girl was standing up and talking with Mr. Dreadlocks. Cam couldn’t hear what they were saying since he was too far away, but he was getting the gist of the conversation. Mr. Dreadlocks was shoving the bucket at her, insisting she take it, but the girl seemed to be refusing, shaking her head in protest.
Take it, you idiot! He would never have gotten all that without you. Heck, if it had been anyone else they would have just kept it and not even offered it to you!
She finally relented and accepted half of what was in the bucket, which was still a substantial sum. She straightened out the bills, rolled them up, and put it in the front pocket of her backpack.
This kid is hopeless. That money will be taken by sticky fingers in no time. She needs someone to show her the way.
He could tell she was a runaway, but she was too clean to have been one for long. The streets were no place for a kid li
ke that. He would have to take her under his wing, and keep her safe. And it certainly didn’t hurt that she could give him super powers as well.
She put her backpack on and hugged the dreadlocked hippy.
Ugh. Gross. You know that guy’s gotta smell like unwashed hair and body funk.
Letting go, she practically jogged away down the street. Curious, Cam followed her for a couple blocks until she ducked into the Harold Washington Library.
Aw, man.... That place is huge!
As soon as the girl went through the doors, Cam raced to catch up so she didn’t get too much of a head start. He burst through the front doors, looking around for any sign of her. The place was even bigger than he thought. How am I gonna to find her now?
He jogged over to the escalators, and that’s when he saw her ascending to the upper levels. He hopped up a couple steps at a time to catch up. He could’ve gone up faster by climbing up the rails, but he didn’t want to draw the attention of the security guards stationed all over the place.
When he got up to the fourth floor, he quickly scanned the stacks. He saw that she wasn’t there, so he loped up to the next floor, and then to the next – nothing. As he got back on the escalators, he spied her getting off on the seventh floor.
Ah ha! There you are.
Leaping up the moving stairs, he got to the top just in time to see her sneak into an aisle of books in the language section. He went into the adjacent aisle, quietly trying to sneak a look at her through the books. He heard her stop and pull out one of the books from the other side. Not thinking too much about it, he stopped where he thought she was and tried to see her through the gaps in the books. Before he knew what was happening, the spine of the book in front of him shot out and smashed him right in the nose. A blinding burst of pain shot through his face. “AH! Sweet baby Jesus!” he said through gritted teeth, holding his face.