by Kyra Dune
“I think you and Curtis weigh a little more than a pop can,” I said. “And if one of you end up getting dropped and broken, I can’t throw you in the trash can and say ‘oh well, no big deal’. Besides, I’ve never tried to lift anything thirteen feet into the air. I can’t do it.”
“How do you know you can’t if you’ve never tried?”
“Forget it,” I said. “Think of another way.”
Zack made an exasperated sound. “There is no other way and we’re wasting time standing here arguing about it.”
“Curtis, back me up please.” I turned to my cousin, who was fiddling around with his camcorder. I swear, sometimes it was like he had the thing glued to his hand.
“Actually, I think it would be pretty cool for you to float us over the wall.” He grinned. “And I could get it all on tape.”
I glared at him. “What do you know? You’re fourteen.”
He rolled his eyes and went back to working on his camcorder.
“If we’re not worried, you shouldn’t be either,” Zack said. “I’m only asking for you to do something simple. Something anybody with your powers should be able to do with ease.”
I eyed the wall, which seriously looked more like twenty feet tall now I was thinking about it. I glanced over at Curtis, then inched closer to Zack and lowered my voice. “Look, I’m scared, okay? What if I lose control? I can’t risk hurting him.” I didn’t want to hurt Zack either, but I wasn’t about to tell him as much.
Zack breathed out through his nose. “I get it. Believe me, I do. If it makes you feel better, you can float me over first so if there’s problem I’ll be the one to deal with it instead of him. But I don’t think there will be a problem. You can do this. I have faith in you.”
“What?” I took a step back. “Since when? All you’ve done is tell me how out of control I am and now you want to say you have faith in me? You’re only saying it because you want me to do something. You don’t mean it.”
“Don’t tell me what I mean,” he said, his voice tight with frustration. “You are out of control, most of the time. But not always. This much I think you can handle on your own. So make up your mind already. We don’t have all night for you to stand here thinking about it.”
“Fine,” I snapped, suddenly not so sure if I really did care I might end up dropping him on his head. “Brace yourself.”
“Wait a minute.” Curtis trained his camcorder on us. “Okay, action.”
My turn for an eye roll. Then it was time to focus. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm my racing heart. In order for this to work, I had to manipulate the air around Zack to lift him off the ground and over the wall. But I couldn’t concentrate too hard, or nothing would happen. It was supposed to be a natural extension of my will. If I didn’t pay enough attention, I might drop him, but if I pushed too hard and got frustrated, I could as easily end up slamming him into the concrete wall. So I think you can understand why I was so nervous.
Zack slowly rose into the air. I bit my lip to hold back a cry of triumph. It was so not the time to be distracting myself. Watching him rise higher and higher made my stomach churn, but when he disappeared over the top of the wall it was the most terrifying moment of my life. I did my best to hold the air around him without seeing him and let me tell you, it was a long way from easy.
I kept a firm hold on my powers for as long as I could, until my head was pinging and my muscles ached as if I were carrying his body physically instead of mentally. I held until I couldn’t hold any longer. Until I felt the power whoosh out of me.
“Zack?” I stepped closer to the wall, trying to be loud enough so he could hear me, but not so loud anybody else would. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” came his muffled reply. “You did good. Send Curtis over. I’ll make sure he lands okay.”
I rested my forehead against the wall and let out a shaky breath. My entire body trembled with relief. When I straightened, I found Curtis smiling at me in a way which was entirely annoying. I shot him a look. “Don’t say a word.”
He made a zipping motion across his lips, then stepped into the space Zack had occupied only moments before. “Beam me up, Scotty.”
I was in no mood to mess around so I didn’t bother with a reply. In a moment, Curtis was floating up into the air exactly like Zack, though he didn’t handle it with as much cool detachment.
“Whoa.” Curtis held out his arms as if it would help him balance better. “This is weird.” He looked down at me, a goofy grin on his lips. “And totally awesome.”
“Will you shut up?” I snapped. “Or do you want me to drop you on your head?”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He didn’t sound as sorry as he should have.
Even though Zack made it over okay, I was still nervous as I watched Curtis disappear from sight. “Tell me when he’s safe,” I called out. I could already feel the strain was much harder this time. I was getting tired fast,
“Okay,” Zack hollered. “I got him. Let go.”
I didn’t hesitate to do exactly that. Then I pressed my fingers to my throbbing temples. Holding and focusing my powers was way different from using them for brief moments. The kind of tired I was feeling right then was like no kind of tired I ever felt in my life.
“Abigail?” Zack called. “What are you waiting for? Get over here.”
“I...” I leaned over to brace my hand against the wall. “I need a minute.”
A pause. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m a little tired is all.”
“Get over here first, then you can rest.”
I growled. He was such a jerk. Didn’t he care I was maybe too tired to be floating myself around? No. All he cared about was hurry, hurry. I pushed away from the wall. “I’m coming.”
My turn to fly. Was I excited? Yeah, I was. I mean come on, who hasn’t, at some point in their life, wished they could fly? When Megara fled the truck stop, she left in a tornado of her own making. And, yeah, it was exactly as cool as it sounds. I wanted to be able to that. I wanted the power, but even more, I wanted the control.
But I was scared of it. Scared I could never have the control. Scared someday I might go so far I couldn’t come back. I was scared to fall. Those were thoughts and worries for another tine, however. I wasn’t trying for anything so ambitious as a tornado right then. It was only a little air bending.
I drew the air toward me, feeling it grow depth and weight. “You can do this. You can do this.” I whispered the words over and over as my feet lifted off the ground. It was the first time I’d ever tried to float myself. I’d thought about doing it so many times, but fear always held me back. Tonight giving in to fear was not an option.
Watching the ground pull slowly away from me made my stomach churn. So I lifted my head and focused instead on my goal; the top of the wall. Focus on the top of the wall and my power would take care of the rest. This is what I told myself as I inched upward.
The top drew closer and closer and Oh my god I was flying. But no, no, I couldn’t think about it. It would only freak me out. The goal. I had to focus on the goal.
Then I was up and over the wall, the toes of my sneakers brushing the top as I crossed. I lowered myself toward the ground, feeling giddy and light headed all at once. “I don’t have much more in me.”
Zack raised his arms. “A little further and I got you.”
I managed to hold on until Zack had a firm grip on my legs before I lost my grip. My knees came down hard on his shoulders and I heard him grunt, but he kept us both up. I sort of slid down to the ground. My feet hit earth and my knees buckled. Zack’s arms tightened around me.
“You’re all right.” His warm breath brushed past my cheek.
I grasped his arms to keep myself steady, and looked up into his eyes. “Wow. That was... intense.”
He nodded. “You did a good job. You have more control than you realize.”
Our gazes locked and there it was, the look. The same one
he gave me before he kissed me at the beach house and then later, at the hotel before we were so rudely interrupted. A hot, fierce look that caught the breath in my throat and made my whole body tingle.
“Uh, guys?” Curtis looked suitably embarrassed. “Shouldn’t we be going now?”
Talk about ruining the moment. We quickly separated, both of us making a point of looking anywhere but at each other.
“Right.” Zack cleared his throat. “We need to do what we came to do and get out of here.” He strode away from us.
I glared at Curtis. He mouth the word ‘sorry’ and I think he really did mean it, but it didn’t make me any less irritated with him. Not that I really wanted Zack to kiss me in front of my cousin, but I did want him to kiss me. It’s complicated, you know? And frustrating, trying to figure out where we were going with this thing. Which was nowhere if we could never get five minutes alone together.
Silver moonlight made our path across the open space clear and easy, but it also meant anyone who happened to glance out a second story window was bound to see us even over the cornfield.
“Somebody is going to see us,” I hissed. “We’re going to get caught.”
“Calm down,” Zack snapped. “It’s three o’clock in the morning. Nobody is awake. Still, it would help if you’d be quiet.”
I grabbed Curtis’ arm and pulled him toward me. “You stay close. Just in case.”
“It’s not like I was planning on wandering off,” he said. “Can I have my arm back, please?”
I let him go. “I’m only trying to look out for you.”
“I know, but you don’t need to get all freaked out,” he said. “I understand we have to be careful.”
Zack glared at us over his shoulder. “What part of ‘be quiet’ do you two not understand?”
“Sorry.” I muttered. Only minutes ago he was about ready to kiss me, now he was being a jerk again. I’d never met anyone so hard to figure out in my life.
Curtis raised a brow, giving me one of those ‘this is the guy you like?’ kind of looks. I elbowed him in the ribs. Not too hard, though, because he was right. Liking Zack made no sense at all. It wasn’t only his looks, I’d been around plenty of available guys who were as cute, or even cuter, than Zack and I hadn’t fallen head over heels for any of them. And it certainly wasn’t his winning personality or his sparkling conversational skills. So why him? It was something I couldn’t understand for myself, let alone explain to my cousin.
We paused at the edge of the cornfield. Main Street was dark and still, but some of the houses on the connecting streets had lights in the windows. “Why would anybody be up this late?” I asked.
“Lights don’t mean anyone is awake,” Zack whispered. “Some people leave them on all night.” But a hint of uncertainty had crept into his voice and I so did not want to hear uncertainty from him. I wanted him sure and steadfast. I was worried enough for both of us.
Zack took us behind the buildings lining the street until we had no choice but to cross out into the open. I’ve never felt so exposed in my life. Few people in the compound had vehicles, so we at least didn’t have to worry about a car coming up on us. But nothing was to stop somebody out for an early morning stroll from doing so. Small as the compound was, anybody was bound to know we didn’t belong.
I breathed a sigh of relief when we slipped into an alley, but the relief was short lived once I realized it was nothing but a narrow dirt strip running between neighboring backyards. “This is insane,” I muttered to myself. All we needed was one barking dog to alert the world of our presence and it was all over.
We somehow managed to make it all the way to the back of my grandparent’s house without incident. They had no fence surrounding their yard, so we walked right up to where a tall oak tree had stood near the garage. Note, I said had stood. Because the tree was gone. Nothing left in its place but a stump.
Zack shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to float us again. It should be easier this time.”
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Tears welled up in my eyes. I know it’s probably silly to get all sentimental about a tree, but lying on the roof and staring up at the sky through its branches, as I imagined my dad might have done when he was my age, was the only real peace I’d had when I was living at the compound.
“I can’t believe he did this.” I figured my grandfather must have cut the tree down out of pure spite. After all, he had no reason to think I would ever come back to this place to see it.
Curtis looked confused; Zack, only irritated. “It’s only a tree, Abigail,” he said. “Get a grip.”
“It’s not only a tree,” I practically snarled. Zack took a step back, clearly shocked by my vehemence. I drew in a deep breath and let it out slow, reminding myself he couldn’t possibly understand the importance of the tree. I’d only told the girls about it, not any of the boys.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But my dad... he carved words from some book into one of the limbs. I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. I will face my fear and let it pass through me. Only I will remain.” I surprised myself for remembering the words so well. “Whenever I looked at those words, I felt better. Safer. Like I was sort of connected to him.” I roughly brushed a tear from my cheek and laughed. “Stupid, right? I mean I didn’t even know the guy.”
“It’s not stupid,” Zack said. “Maybe you don’t remember him, but he was still your dad and somebody stole him from you. I know how you feel.” He was thinking about his mom, I’m sure. How she died in the fire my brother caused.
“Me too.” Curtis got a little flustered when we both looked at him, but he didn’t duck his head or look away as he explained for Zack’s benefit. “My parents were killed during a robbery.”
It was a weird moment. Sad, obviously, since we were talking about our parents, but it was almost kind of nice, if that makes any sense to you. It was sort of a bonding moment. We were all three connected by what we’d lost and how we’d lost it.
“So,” Curtis said, “are we going to fly again?”
I smiled. Trust my cousin to be the first one to break up the seriousness of the moment. “It’s not really flying you know. It’s floating.”
“Whatever you want to call it, I am so ready for another go.”
“Don’t get too excited,” I said. “We’re not making this a regular thing, okay? I am not an amusement park ride.”
Curtis lifted his camcorder so he could record himself again. “Ready.”
“No way,” I said. “Zack still goes first. I don’t want you up on the roof by yourself.”
He made a noise of protest. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“Sure. Whatever. Get out of the way.” I shooed him aside so Zack could stand in his place. Then I floated Zack to the roof of the garage and he was right, it was easier.
I sent Curtis up next and then myself. My cousin was all smiles as I joined them. “We could make the coolest superhero movie,” he said. “And we wouldn’t even need any special effects.” He pointed the camcorder at me. “Ready to be a star?”
I put my hand over the lens. “I think I’ll pass.”
“Your loss.” He shifted toward Zack. “What about you? Want to try for an Oscar?”
“Put that thing down and stop goofing off.” The scowl fit Zack’s face so well it was hard to believe he ever wore any other expression. “This isn’t a game.”
Curtis lowered the camcorder. “Sorry.”
I shot Zack a murderous look, which was totally wasted since he already had his back to me and was headed toward where the garage roof connected to the house. If we hadn’t been up so high I would have seriously considered working up a wind and knocking him flat. I mean, yeah, sure we were in a dangerous situation, but it didn’t excuse him being a jerk.
Zack stopped to look back at me. “Get over here and open the window.”
“And what is it you’re supposed to be good for here?” I stepped up beside him. “Because it seems to me like I’m the on
e doing all the work.” I ignored his dark look and focused on the window.
You might think after levitating three people opening a window would be easy. If so, then you would be wrong. See, it’s the air around an object I manipulate, not the object itself. And there is not a whole lot of air between a window frame and its sill.
To make it worse, Zack started tapping his foot against the roof. “Will you stop it?” I snapped. “It’s irritating.”
“You’re trying too hard again,” he said. “I’m offering you a distraction.”
“Right,” I glared at him. “Like that’s going to work.”
“Isn’t it?” He nodded at the window with such a smug expression I swear I wanted to smack him.
I gritted my teeth, knowing even before I looked what I would see. Sure enough, the window was open. Sometimes I really hated him. “Don’t,” I poked him in the chest, “say another word.”
Again, Zack went first. Mostly because no way was I climbing blindly through the window into that house. Curtis started to follow, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “You come in last in case we have any trouble.”
Curtis rolled his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
Once I was inside the room, I couldn’t resist the urge to look around. It was my dad’s room growing up and then, for a brief time, it was mine. Enough moonlight came through the window to show me nothing had been touched since I left. Everything my grandmother bought me to make me feel more comfortable in my new home was exactly as I’d left it.
My gaze drifted to the bed and I shivered when I saw the chain attached to the footboard. The broken cuff lay on top of the rumpled sheets. I wondered if I stepped closer, would I see shards of glass still scattered across the bedside table? I decided I didn’t want to know. It was too creepy to think no one had been in this room since Zack rescued me from it.
Zack opened the door. The hallway beyond was dark. I had a flashlight tucked into my back pocket, but we didn’t want to risk using it until we were inside Alastair’s study. But I knew where my grandparent’s room was and thinking of them there at the end of the hall made my heart race.