by Yalu Taylors
Braydon, Hunter, Zack and Zayne give me a huge group hug and we stand like that for several minutes. I feel elated having them close to me again. I rescued them. I giggle as the thought of them being the damsels in distress goes through my mind. “Hell no. We would have found a way out, eventually.” Hunter grumbles. “I did it again didn’t I?” Ace shakes his head while all of my guys nod theirs. “Wait, did you hear that Ace?” Again he shakes his head. “Aw you only wanted us to hear you.” Zayne turns to Ace’s group and pokes his tongue out. I giggle again as he wiggles his fingers beside his ears. “You’re acting like a big baby.” I admonish playfully.
After everyone is settled down we sit around in the van and talk about what to do next. Ace tells us that he is going back to the cabin to gather a few things and he is taking Kalenia with him. I’m scared he may want to torture her but she tells me she wants to go with him. We split up and Ace tells us that he will meet back up with us in a day or two. His group leave and I turn to face my guys. Something hits me as I watch Ace walking beside Kalenia. I shake it off and turn back to my guys.
I’m curious how the guys got themselves caught so we stay at the rest stop for the night. “Hunter and I went with Frank, well we thought he was Frank, man that’s confusing. Anyway, we went with fake Frank to the first location to scout for signs of Kalenia. When we arrived Frank turned into that Samantha bitch. Some kid around fifteen hypnotised us. That’s about all I know.” I laugh as he shrugs his shoulders.
“You suck at recounting events Bray.” Hunter laughs along with me as we turn to the twins. “Well what happened to you guys?” Hunter asks.
“Pretty much the same thing only we thought we were going to rescue you idiots, we got there and the bitch turned into a bitch, then some old guy came in and tried to hypnotize us. We can’t be hypnotized though because we are stronger mentally than these two. So they shot us with a tranquilizer dart. It only knocked us out for about half an hour.”
Kalum pops in for twenty minutes or so to drop off our stuff and some food. “So Tessa, how’s it feel to be the hero this time?” I laugh as Hunter, Braydon, Zack and Zayne all groan. “We are never going to live this down, are we?” Hunter’s eyes twinkle as he speaks and I know he is finding this as funny as I am. Zack and Zayne pull out the cards and ask Kalum if he wants to join in, he accepts under the condition that it be a quick game. “Ace and Kalenia will kill each other if we leave them alone for too long.”
Again that strange feeling hits my stomach. “Okay so what’s the bet limit this time?” Hunter asks distracting me from looking too closely at the feeling. I listen as they argue for a few minutes then decide to stick with their normal amount of twenty bucks. I sit down beside Braydon and he winks at me. He leans in and asks. “So are we winning this time or shall we leave it up to chance.” I laugh at his reference to their last game and tell him chance has always been more sportsman-like. He laughs. “Poker’s not a sport though Tessie.”
After three rounds Kalum pulls out. He smiles as he says good bye telling us that he needs to return before Kalenia and Ace kill each other. Braydon pulls out too as it’s his turn to cook us dinner with the food that Kalum dropped off. After dinner we take turns going to the bathrooms for showers and we turn in for the night, Zack and Zayne share the big bed with me and just as I start to drift off, an idea pops into my head. “So, next year for my birthday, could we maybe just go to a restaurant or something.”
Chapter 10
Tessa
I wake the next morning to the sounds of arguing. I open my eyes and listen but the voices are coming from outside. “Look tough guy, I don’t need a baby sitter and I sure as hell don’t need you rescuing me from Ace.” I realise the person yelling is Kalenia so I jump up out of bed, my foot gets caught in the blankets and Zack and I both go tumbling to the floor. The next thing I hear is Kalenia laughingly saying. “Maybe we should wait until they are finished, wouldn’t want to interrupt their orgy.” I hear Declan groan out a shut up before he knocks loudly on the door. “Can you come back in a couple hours we aren’t finished our orgy.” Zack’s voice sounds grumpy but he gives me a wink as I blush from head to toe. “So not funny.” I scramble off him and quickly throw on a bra under my shirt. “How do girls do that?” I hear Hunter mumble as I pull my straps up.
I open the door and the bright sunlight blinds me for a second. “Two questions.” I hold my fingers up. “Did you leave Ace alive? And did you bring food?” Kalenia laughs at me. “And here I thought you were going to ask what an orgy is.” I let out a sarcastic laugh as she holds up a shopping bag with breakfast foods and energy drinks. “I’ll forgive you simply for the V.” I grab the bag and motion for them to come in. I crack the can and Braydon snatches it from me. “These things will dehydrate you faster than the ice powers.” I glare at him as he take a mouthful. “Hypocrite.” I mumble as he hands the can back. “So Ace-the-douche says I have to stay with you guys while he goes hunting for the assholes who kidnapped everyone yesterday. He said something about going after the blue-man’s lead and that I would just be in the way.” Kalenia pouts at me.
“The blue man’s rope. And it means he is looking for the real Frank.” Kalum says as he steps into the van. “How did you get here pretty boy?” Kalum grunts and moves out of the way of the door. I smile as I see Ace standing there. “Tessa, I love you and I don’t want to inflict torture on you but please take her off our hands.” I get tingles when he says he loves me, even though I know he is playing it up because he wants a favour. I frown as I think about the feeling again. Do I have feelings for Ace? He gets down on his knees and holds his hands into a prayer-like position. “I’m not above begging, I’ll do anything for you if you just take her.” Kalenia pokes her tongue out at him. “Aw Ace-the-douche resorting to bribery again.” I shake my head as Kalenia sits down beside me.
“Please Tessa, she is so annoying. Never shuts up and don’t even get me started on the hot water problem.” Quinn and Phoenix twin speak as they too come into the van. It’s getting cramped in here now and I am getting uncomfortable. Especially with me questioning how I feel. I turn my face away from Ace, feeling guilty for thinking about him like that. He isn’t one of my guys. Kalenia moves closer to me and I place the can on the table in front of me, pressing my hands to the table. I wish this van was bigger.
Ace lets out a squeak of fear as the van stretches and Kalenia laughs at him. “Aw big baby is scared of a little illusion.” Hunter taps on the floor where the van has stretched out. “Um this isn’t an illusion.” Everyone jumps up and stares at me. “What? It’s not like I did it on purpose.” Braydon hops down out of the van and I turn to look out the window. “Tessandra. You need to see this.” Everyone rushes outside to see the campervan. I hop down last and stare at the outside. I poke my head back inside and then back outside, and repeat the process. “Um, how is it big inside but the same from the outside?” I look at each of the guys trying to figure out if any of them have an answer. “You’re glowing again Tessie.” Braydon points to my hand and I look down. “Get inside Tessa, before one of the normal’s see you.”
“What the fuck are you?” Kalenia asks. Ace growls at her and I feel that feeling again. It’s almost the same as what I feel when I’m around Hunter, Braydon, Zack and Zayne. I look up at the jerk twins and realise Ace isn’t the only one who inspires the strange feelings. I shake my head and concentrate on the issue at hand.
“Who’s power is this?” I ask the guys. Ace’s guys shake their heads. “I’ve never seen anyone do that before. At least not in real life. There’s an old movie where a lady has a bag like that but nope not in real life.” Hunter is rambling and that is scaring me.
“We need to find out how you did it.” Braydon tries to be the voice of reason while Ace just asks. “Can you reverse it?” Kalenia on the other hand decides freaking out is a good idea. She yells at me to stop glowing. I go back inside mumbling under my breath about not being able to help it. “It’s not my fault the
idiots at J.O.Y laboratories decided to tinker with people’s DNA.”
Braydon and Hunter follow me inside, both wearing frowns, I’m sick of everyone getting annoyed at me when something goes wrong. “Yes, let’s all get cranky at me, because you know, I mess up on purpose.” Hunter shrugs and tells me that everyone messes up, it’s how you learn. Braydon though tells me he doesn’t think I messed up this time. “Think about it guys, this could be useful. We can all use the extra space here to set up base. If we move around no one will be able to find us and with Tessie being able to change the dimensions inside vehicles we can all stay here without getting under each others feet. There will be no risk of J.O.Y finding Ace’s group at his place and no one would think we could all fit inside this tiny van.” The guys all return to the inside of the van and Kalenia asks me if Braydon always rambles on like that. Braydon and Ace share a look that says she’s pissing them off.
I’m curious about my new power so I sit down at the table that is now long enough to sit a dozen people instead of five. I think about the bunks across from us and picture in my mind there being doors with bedrooms instead of bunks. When I open my eyes everyone is staring at me. “What are the doors for?” Zack curiously opens the door closest to him and looks inside. “Cool, it’s a whole bedroom complete with double bed.” He walks down to the front of the campervan counting the doors along the way. “Why are there eight?” I shrug and pretend like I didn’t do it on purpose. “Can you make a proper kitchen?” I look at the tiny excuse for a kitchen then look at Braydon. “I can try.” I picture the cabin’s kitchen in my mind but when I open my eyes nothing happens. I try again this time envisioning the tiny kitchen morphing into the cabin’s kitchen. I open my eyes and see the cabin’s kitchen but no utensils or saucepans.
I’m suddenly looking up at the roof of the campervan. Braydon’s head pops into view. “Don’t move Tessie. I’ve got you.” I blink rapidly and try to tell him I’m fine. He kneels down beside me and holds his hands to my face. I try to speak again but nothing comes out. “I think something is wrong. I can’t find anything to heal.” Hunter comes into view and I try to turn my head. Again nothing happens. I’m getting really scared now. “Tessie, can you hear me?” Hunter asks me. I blink rapidly trying to communicate with him. “You guys are fucking idiots. Get out of my way.” Kalenia comes into view and she leans over to me. “One blink for yes, two for no. Got it?” I blink once. “Can you move?” Blink. Blink. “Do your powers work?” I try for fire and get nothing. I try telepathically speaking and again nothing. I blink twice. “Side-effect from the dimensional alterations?” I blink once. I’m pretty sure that is exactly what this is. “Then it should wear off. How long do her side-effects usually last?” Braydon and Hunter look at each other in question. “She usually just sleeps them off.” Kalenia looks at me and asks if I’m sleepy. I blink twice. How the fuck am I supposed to sleep when I have the most annoying itch on my ass and I can’t scratch or tell anyone.
Hunter thought I would be more comfortable lying on the bed so he moved me nearly three hours ago. I’ve been lying here wide awake staring at the roof, listening to them argue about how to fix me. Three fucking hours, I know it’s been three hours because Kalenia keeps telling them how long I’ve been like this. Every ten minutes or so, she informs them its been x amount of time. I’m ready to strangle her. If she was like this with Ace and the guys I can understand why they all wanted to kill her.
Ace and Kalenia start shouting at each other again and I feel like screaming. Figuring it won’t bother anyone if I scream inside my head, I yell out. “I wish everyone would just shut the fuck up.” To my astonishment everyone goes silent. I try to move but still nothing happens. I flick my eyes around trying to see anything other than the roof. Zayne leans into my view and tries to tell me something with his eyes. I’m laughing inside, full on pissing myself laughing. The jerks have been pissing me off with their loud arguing and now they are stuck not being able to say a word.
I shake my head. Wait, I shake my head again. Slowly I lift my arm. Open my mouth and say, “I’m not fixing it. You can wait for it to wear off, just like I had to.” I carefully sit up and look around. Everyone is crowded into the doorway all with similar angry faces. “No. You lot have been arguing for hours now and the whole fucking time I had an itch that would not go away. You can all suffer in silence for a while.” I start laughing at my own joke as I push my way past the group. Kalenia blocks my way and motions to her throat. “Nope, you were just as bad as the guys. If you didn’t antagonize Ace so much, you two would probably find that you have a lot in common.” Both Ace and Kalenia shake their heads vigorously. I smile and turn my back on them. “I’ll give you back your voices if you all agree to stop arguing.” Honestly by this point I’m just buying time. I have no idea how to give them back their voices. I’m too embarrassed to say that though. I’ve messed up enough already.
I pace back and forth in my gained new room. I have no idea what I’m going to do. I really screwed up this time. I’ve been pacing for nearly twenty minutes. Everyone else has resorted to writing what they want to say and I think they might have figured out that I don’t know how to fix things. Someone knocks on my door and I stop pacing. After a few second the door opens and Braydon walks in with a pen and paper.
You don’t know how to fix it, do you?
I snatch the paper from his pad and angrily shake my head. All the rooms I created have nothing in them, except for the big beds and a blanket. I didn’t even manage to create a set of sheets. Todays experimenting has made me feel like a failure. I dejectedly sit down on the pale blue blanket and stare at my hands.
We’ll work it out Tessie, don’t worry.
He pulls me in for a hug and I stop trying to think of a solution and just enjoy the comfort of his arms. That’s when it hits me. Each time I created something it was because I really wished I could have it. I concentrate on that feeling as I try to bring back Braydon’s voice. He opens his perfectly bow shaped lips and his beautiful voice rings out. “You did it Tessie.” I laugh along with him as the others come in to see what all the noise is about. Kalenia glares at Braydon and motions to her throat again. I close my eyes and concentrate on wanting all of their voices back. “Hey Tessa, do you think you could do that to my face?” Kalum asks. “Please don’t, I like his scars.” Kalenia says then covers her mouth with her hands. Kalum looks at Kalenia curiously and I leave the room. Nope not getting involved with that one.
I’m sitting on the couch in one of the new rooms when Hunter comes to sit beside me. He grabs my feet and starts rubbing them. I pull away, giggling. “Don’t like my feet being touched.” I state once I’ve caught my breath. “What else don’t you like T?” He asks curiously. I think for a moment trying to figure out what sort of things I don’t like. If he had asked me what I do like that would be an easy list to come up with. “I’m not really sure. Snakes creep me out. I can’t stand my feet being tickled. Obviously. Oh and I hate it when the twins have fart wars.” Hunter laughs.
“How about the things you do like?” He shifts closer to me on the couch and I catch his meaning. Before I can answer he starts kissing along my neck. “Do you like this?” He asks in a whisper against my skin. I groan out a yes and he moves closer again. Our thighs pressed as tight together as they can get. He lifts his arm up over the back of the couch and leans in until his lips hover just above mine. “How about this?” He cups my cheek and kisses me, his tongue gently parts my lips and I gasp as he scrunches my hair at the back of my neck. “Yes.” I breathe.
“Are we interrupting something?” The jerk twins ask. I blush from head to toe as they look curiously at Hunter. “You like it rough do you Hunter? I suppose it shouldn’t surprise us. After all the quiet ones are usually the kinkiest.” Hunter gets up and glares at the jerk twins. “Told you all before, I don’t swing that way.” He gets annoyed and Quinn and Phoenix seem to be getting a twisted pleasure from teasing him.
“Lay off gu
ys, you can’t convert everyone.” I think this may have been the wrong thing to say because they both smirk at me and walk up to Hunter and I. “Oh we’d love to corrupt you Tessa. If we get to play a little with Hunter as well, that’ll just be a bonus.” I laugh it off as though their words aren’t affecting me. Truth is I’m fucking more turned on than I was when Hunter and I were fooling around.
Zack and Zayne walk in the open door and they start in on the jerk twins. Shaking my head I tell the guys to keep it down because I’m going to bed. Again the wrong thing to say in front of Quinn and Phoenix. They offer to tire me out before tucking me in. I walk away shaking my head.
Chapter 11
Tessa
Yesterday was a really long day, especially with everything that I did wrong. When I woke up this morning, I vowed not to use my powers. Only problem with that is that Ace and the others want me to use my new powers to help them get into J.O.Y’s new facility in Mulwar. “Wouldn’t Zack and Zayne’s powers be better? They can just create the illusion that you guys look like the people who work there.” Braydon is about to argue when Zayne cuts him off. “We can do that.” He looks right at Braydon and they nod at each other. If I didn’t know better I’d swear they were communicating telepathically. “Alright, Zack and Zayne can make us all appear to be workers. That solves that part, but what about actually getting us in? We still need the extra…” Kalenia interrupts Ace. “Why are you all so hell bent on getting into the facility, I’d think you would be doing everything you could to stay away from there.”