The Source (The Mindbender Series Book 1)

by C. S Luis

  “If you don't want to go to prom with him—”

  “No, it's not that at all.” I said, but I didn't sound that convincing. And I knew Michael wanted more from me. I couldn't tell him Joseph gave me the creeps, could I? Or at least that he'd been pretty wary of me, which made the feeling mutual.

  “Then what happened?” Michael asked with a frown. I stared at him, wondering if I could tell anything remotely close to the truth—what I feared and what I felt. “If you like,” he added, “we can go shopping for a dress. I know how crazy you girls get about the dress. Believe me, I know.” I supposed, being a teacher in a large school, he'd seen his fair share of teen dances. “Joseph asked for my help,” Michael added. “James and Richard will have to attend as the assistant principals, of course. I thought it would be nice to volunteer too.”

  I glared at him as he drank his orange juice. He was normally in good spirits, but I couldn't blame him for not being able to keep that up after last night.

  “I really haven't thought about it much,” I muttered.

  He blinked at me with wide eyes. “Honey, it's one of the biggest nights of high school. I remember my prom.”

  I wrinkled my nose at him, really not wanting him to get into any details about it. “Oh, yeah?” I said, trying just to brush it off even though I wasn't actually curious.

  “Are you sure you're okay? You haven't touched your breakfast. Did I make the eggs the wrong way?” He tried to smile again, but it made him look like such a dork.

  “Oh, no. They're fine,” I said. “I'm just tired.” This time, it was the truth. My trip with Quentin and being unable to sleep after he left was already catching up to me. Just thinking about him made me smile.

  “Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” Michael asked. “Bad dreams?” He came to sit at the table with me, and I immediately regretted opening the conversation for him to ask those kinds of questions. I didn't want to lie to him, but I couldn't tell him about Quentin.

  “Yeah.” I looked up at him with a strained smile. “I guess you could say that.” I shouldn't have said anything.

  “Well, don't forget I'm always here if you need to talk to someone. Okay?” He picked up his cleared plate and took it to the sink.

  “Okay.” I just hoped he wouldn't keep asking about it.

  “So, go with John to prom. I have a good feeling about him. He seems well-rounded.”

  I stared at him and gulped down my own orange juice.

  “Get to know him,” Michael added. “You might like him.”

  “I don't think his uncle likes me very much.” The minute I said it, I wished I could take it back.

  Michael's fork clattered into the sink, and he turned around to face me. “What makes you say that?”

  “I don't know. Maybe he thinks I'm not good enough for his nephew.”

  “I didn't get that feeling from him, but you're better in tone than I am…” He frowned. “Maybe you just read him wrong. He said nothing but nice things about you. And he was only asking after you out of concern. Just like John.”

  I had no idea what Joseph had asked about me, but I didn't want to keep going down this road with Michael right now. So I just shrugged.

  “I think John might have a little crush on you, Claudia. I mean, why wouldn't he?”

  I blushed. Were we really having this discussion right now?

  “Just go with him. He's a good kid. You'll have a lot more fun with him than spending your prom night with a bunch of principals.”

  I must have looked disgusted at this point, or extremely uncomfortable, or both, because he finally dropped it. I quickly finished my breakfast, rinsed off my plate, and stuck it in the dishwasher. When I turned around, Michael was packing his lunch and taking a brown paper bag out of the fridge.

  “I made you a little something,” he said, looking a little too proud. I tried to smile back, realizing that not taking the sack lunch would most likely just hurt his feelings. “The cafeteria food's pretty foul, isn't it?”

  He was right about that, and I snorted. “Thanks.” I took the bag, and Michael grinned, like I'd just given him some kind of award.

  “Well, I guess we'd better get going,” he said and finished wiping up the table.

  We were almost at the front door when a car horn honked so loud, I jumped. Then I saw Alex had just pulled up in her red, 1969 Mustang convertible to get me. She'd insisted on giving me a ride to school, even though Michael and I were literally going to the same place.

  “Who's that?” Michael asked as he peered out the window.

  “Oh, that's for me,” I said, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. “I forgot to tell you. This girl from school offered to give me a ride. I hope it's okay.”

  Michael pulled the curtain open a little farther, and I saw Alex finish putting on her lipstick then turn to wave at us. He nearly returned the wave, then seemed to realize this was the girl I was talking about. “Alex Burton? You're friends with Alex Burton?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I said. I could hear it so clearly; in his mind, Alex was nothing but trouble. His thoughts were always this easy to read.

  “Okay,” he managed. “Go ahead.” Clearly, he didn't want me to, but he wasn't about to stop me.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Of course. You need to make friends. I'll see you at school. Just be careful.” He opened the door, and I gave him a smile before racing out to Alex's old mustang. “Drive safe,” he called after me, stepping just outside the front door. When I opened the passenger door, I turned back to see him examining Alex's beat-up car from top to bottom. I could hear his mind; he was trying to see if the tires had air and whether she'd updated the registration. I think he would have asked about it if given the chance.

  “Don't worry, Mr. McClellan,” Alex called through the open door. “I'll get her to school in one piece.” As soon as I got in and shut the door, she peeled out of the neighborhood. I tried to shoot Michael a reassuring smile as we sped away, and I saw him take a step off the front porch as if he'd changed his mind.

  “Did you really have to do that?” I asked Alex.

  “I couldn't resist,” she said, grinning. “Sorry.”

  “He already doesn't like it that I'm hanging out with you,” I told her.

  Alex laughed. “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah. You want to give him another reason?” I didn't think it was that funny at all.

  “So, have you asked yet?” Alex said, driving right through a stop sign.

  I braced myself against the frame of the door. “What are you doing?”

  “Relax,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I checked first.”

  I shook my head and stared out the window, trying to pretend I wasn't going to get it from Michael when I got home. Maybe he'd even bring it up at school. I could already imagine scolding, and I was sure he'd never let me ride in the car with her again.

  “Well?” Alex asked.

  “Well what?” I turned to look at her as she sped right through a yellow light.

  “What do you mean what? Did you ask about the party yet?”

  I'd completely forgotten about the party this weekend, and I hadn't even brought it up with Michael. I had a feeling he wouldn't let me go, especially now that he knew I was hanging out with Alex Burton. “Not yet…” I said.

  Alex whipped her head toward me. “What? Claudia, it's in two days. You have to ask.” She drove like a madwoman down Broadway until we came to a screeching halt at a stoplight, just a turn away from the school.

  “I know,” I said, glaring at her. Her driving had made me physically nauseous, like she'd only just learned how.

  “Afraid he's not gonna let you go?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Maybe,” I admitted. I opened the brown paper bag he'd given me for lunch, then shamefully stuffed it into my backpack.

  “He made you a sack lunch? What a dork.”

  I frowned at her.

  “Sorry.” She smacked her gum and b
lew a bubble. When it burst, she added with a wink, “Look, just sneak out. No big deal.”

  “I can't do that,” I exclaimed.

  “Why not? I do it all the time. Piece of cake. And I'll pick you up.”

  “I don't know,” I said.

  “Okay, so what's the problem, then? Everything okay with you and old man McClellan?”

  I frowned out the windshield. “It's not that.”

  “Then what is it?” Alex asked, shaking her head.

  The light finally turned green, and she sped off, nearly running down two guys on the crosswalk as she careened into the parking lot. She honked at them and kept driving, looking for a space. There didn't seem to be one left, so she took us around the circle again. I thought she was heading back onto the street, but she'd apparently decided to take one of the teacher's spaces.

  “Wait, you can't park here,” I told her.

  Alex shut off the engine. “Why not?” She shrugged and reached into the back seat for her backpack. Then she checked herself out in the rearview mirror one more time and wiped some dark lipstick off the corner of her mouth.

  “You just parked in a teacher's space.” Just in case, I pointed at the posted sign right in front of us.

  “It's Mrs. Whitney's, and she's out today. Don't worry, I checked. I'm not stupid.”

  This time, I rolled my eyes at her and grabbed my bag from the car floor. How would she know which teachers were out today?

  “So, what's the problem?” she asked. I looked at her, wondering if I could even begin to explain anything to her without her thinking it was a huge joke. “Well?”

  I took a deep breath and said, “Have you ever felt like you've been dreaming but were wide awake?”

  She frowned, suddenly looking quite serious, and nodded. I almost sighed in relief until she said, “All the time. It's called acid.” Then she burst out laughing. I opened the car door and meant to get out, but she pulled me back by the arm. “I'm just kidding. You can tell me what's going on.” I waited for her to laugh again, but she didn't.

  “Do you believe people can do things with their minds?” I asked her.

  “What? You mean like move things and shit like a Jedi?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered, waiting for her to start thinking the word 'freak'.

  “I do actually,” Alex admitted, and I could sense she was being honest. “Wish I could do that. Can you imagine? That would be so awesome!” She laughed. “Don't tell me you can read minds.”

  I looked the other way, unsure if I could tell her or if she would even believe me. But it was too late; we were already having this conversation.

  “Can you?”

  “I can,” I admitted, waiting for the reaction in her eyes and then her lips. Everything always happened with her in that order.

  “No, really. Like actually read minds?” She spun toward me. “Are you serious? You're pulling my leg, right?” For a few seconds all she did was stare at me, and as if by mere examination, she could see it in me.

  So, I did what was obviously the next best thing. I gave her a show and tell. I locked the doors, turned on the radio on, and scanned through the stations until I found an 80's classic from Huey Lewis & the News, “The Power of Love”.

  “That radio's never worked,” she muttered. “How did you do that?”

  I tapped my temple, already convinced she'd either laugh at me or leap out of the car and run away screaming.

  Instead, she smiled and said, “Awesome!” Then she danced to the music, like nothing had happened. “I'm thinking of something very interesting.” She smirked at me, and the minute I looked at her, I knew.

  “No,” I told her. “I can't.”

  “Yes. Oh, come on, Claudia.” She nodded and pressed her hands together, pleading with me. “This is amazing! This has to be exploited in every possible way.” A giggle escaped her, then she froze. “Hottie at twelve o'clock…”

  “What are you talking about?” I felt that familiar tug and whirled toward my window to see John, He turned toward Alex's car, and I ducked like an idiot.

  Alex grinned, and I pulled her down with me onto the front seat of the car. “Oooh, hiding from hottie?” I shushed her. “Pocahontas, what are we doing? Did you already talk to him? Oh, you did? Do tell…”

  “He asked me to prom,” I admitted.

  “So why are we hiding?”

  I hushed her again. “I ran off in the middle of dinner.”

  “Wait, dinner? He was at your house, and you didn't call me? When?”

  I glared at her. “Yesterday… I ran right after he asked. I don't want him to think I don't want to go…”

  She stared at me as if she were watching a romance movie and batted her eyelashes. “Wow. Prom, huh? That's awesome. I don't get why you're hiding, though.”

  “Didn't you hear what I said?”

  “Claudia, if I had a nickel for every time I didn't run off from some guy… jeeze.”

  “Whatever. I still need to talk to him…”

  “Oh, you like him, Pocahontas.” When I blushed, it only made Alex laugh. “I knew it.”

  The radio abruptly went dead.

  “He has a nice car,” she whispered, looking out the window.

  “He has a car?” I wanted to see it for myself, but I felt the tug of him searching for me again and pushed it back at him. The way Alex looked at me made me wonder if she'd felt those tugs too. Only she couldn't feel them. Not like I could.

  She turned back to admiring John's car. “Yeah. It's a nice one too. Looks like a new Jaguar.”

  “Yeah, his father has money. I think the man's some kind of doctor or surgeon,” I said.

  “Shit. Hot and loaded. Looks like you hit the jackpot. Oh, damn. I just saw Dr. Müller.” She dropped back down onto the seat.

  “Dr. Müller?”

  “If he sees us, he'll make me move my car.” She giggled.

  Was that really the only thing she was concerned about? “I have to go,” I said, nervously trying to open the car door.

  She grabbed my arm. “You can't go now. Just relax. I don't think he saw us.” Alex peered over the dashboard and lifted her head up, grabbing her school bag. “Okay, come on. He's gone.”

  I felt the tug again and looked around, but I didn't see John.

  “Come on.” Alex opened her door, I opened my, and I nearly crawled out of her car to hide behind a truck in the parking lot. “Okay… Go!” We rushed inside the building just in time. I glanced back and caught sight of Dr. Müller making his rounds.

  Alex grabbed me and yanked me along behind her, pulling me through a crowd of students and into the side stairwell to our left just as Dr. Müller stepped inside. I lost sight of him when we raced to the second floor. The bell rang just as we reached the top landing.

  I wanted to find John, to explain myself to him and why I'd run off in the first place. I knew he was worried about me; I could feel it. The thought that he'd dialed back that watch just to sense me made me smile. John… The tug grew stronger, yanking me enough to make me stumble. He had to be close, somewhere.

  We stopped, and I pulled out my phone to check the time. “Damnit. I'm gonna be late.”

  “Forget it. Let's just ditch class today.” Alex wiggled her eyebrows. “Let's play with your new gift.”

  “I can't.” The second bell rang, and now I was really late. John kept tugging and pulling at my mind, like an invisible rope wrapped around my waist. I wanted to tell him I was coming, but the feeling was enough to let him know I was near. Why wasn't he coming to me?

  'The roof.' It felt like his warm had brushed against my cheek, as if he were standing right next to me, whispering those words.

  John wanted me to find him on the roof.

  The hallways slowly cleared of students, and I saw him down the hallway. John, I called to him with my mine. He turned, saw me, and motioned for me to follow. Then disappeared through a black metal doorway. I hurried away, leaving Alex behind before she even noticed I was gone. I d
ucked through the same metal doorway leading up a flight of steps to the roof.

  Leaving Alex without a word made me feel just a little guilty, but right now, the only thing on my mind was John. Once I reached the roof, I saw him standing close to the edge, looking down at the street. He wore the same sporty jacket he'd worn last night; his brownish blond locks blew slightly in a breeze.

  “John?” He turned, and where I expected to see his bright green eyes sparkling back at me, instead, his eyes were purple.

  He smiled, and his entire appearance shifted. The sporty jacket melted into that scaly leather uniform, his light hair darkening into black, matted locks above a pale complexion.

  “Quentin…” This discovery made me feel both guilty and betrayed.

  “Is it him you want to see instead?” Quentin hissed, moving toward me. I was paralyzed by his words, terrified. I wanted to ask where John was, I knew what had happen. I hadn't felt John's tug in my mind, only Quentin's. “You don't belong with him. You belong with me….”

  I couldn't resist his pull, stumbling toward him from the stairway.

  “Why did you leave so quickly last night?” I asked.

  He could sense me trying to resist him, I knew, and then all my resistance was gone. I needed to stand by his side, though I still didn't understand why. When I reached him, his deep purple eyes swam with the same fierce connection I felt, and he took one step toward me.

  “Forgive me. I did not want to leave… but your world does not hold the capabilities I require to exist. That is why I often must go.”

  I gazed at him, perplexed, but none of it really mattered. I just felt the need to be near him. “You mean to the place you showed me?”

  “Yes. That is my home. I cannot exist beyond its walls unless I acquire energy from another source.” He leaned forward, almost stumbling toward me, until we were holding each other there on the roof. His eyes grew heavy with desire at my touch, and the same swirl of gold I'd seen within John's eyes now flared in Quentin's. “You're my angel,” he whispered. I touched his cheek, and he let out a huge sigh, closing his eyes while my fingers brushed across his cold skin.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, trembling.