Dad finished serving his food and joined me at the table. “So you don’t trust her.”
“No, but she’s hanging around,” I shrugged, “so she’ll see soon enough that we’re all innocent.”
Dad swirled spaghetti onto his fork, frowning thoughtfully with a faraway look in his eye. I knew his processing face well, so I stayed quiet, appreciating the silence after the hectic day I’d experienced.
My phone played the first few notes of the X-Files theme song, signaling a text from Anna: Training?
I texted back: Over.
Her response was immediate: Demo tmrrw?
I grinned, even though my stomach tightened with worry. I knew it wasn’t right to show Anna what I could do, but it was so nice not to hide my secret life from a normal other than Dad. Sure, where?
There a pause before the next text came. I wondered where we’d go and what Anna wanted to see. Springwater corridor? Near the Hwthrn Bridge?
My chest tightened as if I’d taken a punch. Not there, not after Emma’s rage had sullied that place for me. I countered with: SE Ivon, near Ross Island bdg @ 8?
Ok and a ninja emoticon was Anna’s response.
Chapter 8
Tuesday morning dawned far too early. I groaned in protest when my alarm went off and pulled my pillow over my head in an attempt to muffle the chirping of a bird whose mission was to wake up the whole world. When I closed my eyes, I saw the skinless body from Sunday, so I tossed the pillow on the floor and sat up, rubbing my face in an attempt to wake up. As I sat up, I went cold – Emma had escaped. She was out there in the world, going who knows where. I slumped on the edge of the bed, overwhelmed with memories of Emma: Emma threatening us with the Mountain of Ash fire stick with Uncle Alex chained to the bridge trestle behind her, Emma sneering at me when I came back for training after seven years, and Emma trying to keep me from patrolling with them.
Boo jumped into bed, head-butting me for scratches. As I rubbed him under his chin, I stared out the window without seeing the trees and sky. My thoughts swirled – why were there so many beasts in Portland all of a sudden? Why were they such bad ones?
Dad was calling from downstairs, “Olivia, get up. You’re going to be late.”
“Okay, okay,” I yelled back crankily, thinking I should get a pass on school due to excessive monster hunting.
I rubbed my eyes, then stretched. I stopped mid-stretch as I remembered waking up in the middle of the night to yet another vision. It was similar to the vision I’d had in class yesterday and over the weekend – same weird feeling of being in someone else’s body watching events happen. This time I was staring at the side of a car as if crouched down beside it. Actually, my host was the one crouched down with a hand on the tire. It was the same hand as in my earlier vision.
The images flipped through a series from my host’s-- I supposed it was Emma’s--perspective. Beginning with the host hunched down beside the car, then standing beside an SUV, and finally, sitting in the backseat looking at the back of two people’s heads – a blonde woman who was driving and the short-cropped hair of a man. An almost imperceptible voice continued throughout the dream.
Not as dramatic or interesting as the previous set. In fact, other than the weirdness of getting random images with an indistinct voiceover, it was lackluster. The images seemed more disjointed than before and were somewhat fuzzy, as if the reception wasn’t good. I’d slipped back into sleep quickly, my tired body defeating my spinning mind.
In the morning light, I shook my head to dispel the vision. Such a weird series of daydreams I was having lately. If I had to binge-watch a series of dreams, I wanted something more fun, please.
“Olivia!” Dad stood at my door, hands wide. “You’re not even out of bed. Get moving.”
“Dad, I…” I stopped myself. The images were just so weird; there wasn’t any reason to mention them to him. “Okay, I’m getting up.”
School was a little better than Monday. Jack was polite but cold, and Mindy was Mindy. On the plus side, I didn’t zone out in class and have weird daydreams.
Of course, the best part was I was friends with Anna again. She gave me a conspiring wink at the end of the school day, reminding me of my promise to show her more about the supernormal world. I nodded back and she left with a grin.
When I arrived at the warehouse after school, Zoe was sparring with Six in the boxing ring. Kevin was still out healing.
I watched Zoe and Six for a few minutes, growing more and more puzzled. I could tell Zoe was holding back from her usual furious level of fighting, but even so, Six never managed to get through Zoe’s defenses. In fact, Six hit like an angry kid – wildly and with no direction. She still wore her pale tunic and pants, further hampering her movements.
A subtle change in the air behind me alerted me to Uncle Dan. I said, “Six isn’t a very good fighter, is she?”
Uncle Dan grunted in either disgust or agreement. He came up beside me wearing a thoughtful frown. I knew that look – it promised hours and hours of difficult training. I didn’t know if training with us was a part of Six’s mission, but I had a feeling that if Uncle Dan had anything to do with it, she might not have much choice. He couldn’t pass up the chance to improve anyone’s skills.
As if thinking about skills sparked the topic, Uncle Dan gripped my shoulder, looking pleased. “I hear your abilities have advanced to disintegration levels.” I nodded, feeling a surge of pride at his approval. “Very good. I’ve already started to design a new training program. I’ve also contacted an old friend of mine with the same ability.” I perked up. A chance to train with an experienced disintegrator sounded fun. Uncle Dan continued, “Remy had some ideas for training that sound exciting.”
“Is she coming here? I’d like to meet her.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, we’ll see.”
I pushed down my disappointment. “Okay, what is the plan for today?” I was excited and curious to see what he would add to my regimen.
Uncle Dan’s gaze was on Six again. He answered in a slightly distracted voice, “Today just do your usual Tuesday routine. I need to figure out how to train Six effectively. Her training to be an investigator obviously never covered fighting or hunting.”
Stung by his underwhelmed reaction to my ability, I almost asked if Six even wanted training but decided not to get involved.
“Well then, I’ll just go…” I noticed Aunt Kate near the seating area. “Talk to Aunt Kate.”
I left before Uncle Dan could respond. I wanted to know if the ‘rents had heard anything more about Emma, but there was no way I was asking him.
Aunt Kate stood in front of the large monitor, staring at a map. Her short hair stood in spikes and tufts as if she’d been running her hand through it.
It was the map of Portland with red dots scattered around town showing our recent hunting locations. Most of the dots clustered along the Willamette River and in Forest Park. Aunt Kate frowned at the map and then started typing on the computer.
“Aunt Kate.” I didn’t want to interrupt her thoughts, but I couldn’t wait any longer. “Have you heard anything about Emma?” I glanced back to make sure Uncle Dan was still working with Six. He was guiding her through a series of drills.
Aunt Kate looked up and met my gaze. “Not really. According to Gregory, The Council is still searching for them. He says they disabled or removed their trackers.”
“Trackers?”
She typed a few more keystrokes as she answered, “Prisoners in Ley are implanted with trackers to monitor health and location.”
“Where?”
She lifted her arm, reaching under it with the other one and tapped near the bottom of her shoulder blade. “Here, usually.”
“How would they get it out?” I twisted around, trying to imagine cutting out a tracker from the hard-to-reach spot in my back.
“Most likely they had to cut out each other’s.” She grimaced. “I imagine it hurt.”
I tried to picture l
etting Black Gaea dig into my back with a knife or some other sharp instrument. Yeah, no, not going to happen.
“So no one knows where they’re headed? Do they have a clue why they all broke out together? Are they in cahoots?” I immediately felt stupid for saying cahoots – it sounded like I was in an old western.
It was worth it though when Aunt Kate’s lips twitched into a brief smile before turning grim again. “Mountain of Ash.”
That was all she needed to say to make me shiver. I didn’t know anything about the other two escapees, but it made horrible sense that Black Gaea would be a part of Mountain of Ash, considering she liked to create droughts. It went along with the name of Mountain of Ash’s big plan, Scorched Earth. At least that’s what Emma had called it when she was monologuing after we found out she was blowing up parts of Portland. We still didn’t know much more about the plan than the name.
“What can the man do?” I asked Aunt Kate.
She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t know.”
I mirrored her frown, twisting a stubby piece of hair around my finger. I missed having long hair; it was much more satisfying to worry at. “Where is Mountain of Ash? I mean, where do they hang out?”
She pulled up a different map, this one of the United States. “Gregory isn’t completely certain, but he thinks somewhere in Oregon.” She tapped her stylus on the table. “It explains why we have so much supernormal activity in the Pacific Northwest.”
I went cold at the news that Mountain of Ash was in Oregon. “I didn’t know they were so close to Portland.”
Uncle Dan came over with Zoe and Six trailing behind. “Kate, got any activity out there?”
Aunt Kate gave me a quelling look, indicating she didn’t want to continue our conversation with Uncle Dan around. I gave her a short nod in agreement.
She looked at Uncle Dan. “Sure, it looks like there’ve been some unexplained fires in Forest Park in the past two days.” She pointed to the map of Portland, where the urban park sprawled near downtown. “As bizarre as it sounds, I think it’s a firebug.” She gave her brother a wry look as if expecting his reaction.
Uncle Dan laughed – something he rarely did anymore. The grim lines around his mouth disappeared in his laugh lines, giving him the appearance of a younger man. “A firebug? This far north?” He smirked at his sister. “Bet you it’s just some homeless folks or some partying kids.”
Aunt Kate raised an eyebrow disdainfully, though I could see the smile lurking in her eyes. “You’re on? The usual terms?”
“Sure.” Uncle Dan turned to Zoe. “Okay, grab what you need to hunt a firebug,” he rolled his eyes in his sister’s direction, “just in case.”
“Well, I’ll need Olivia for one.” Zoe winked at me. I felt a surge of excitement at the idea of hunting a firebug. It helped that my ability made me fireproof, as well as able to extinguish fires.
“And take Six with you,” Uncle Dan finished.
“What?” Zoe and I said in unison. While my surprise came from how soon Six, who was barely able to fight, was going on patrol when it had taken me weeks to be allowed, Zoe sounded more outraged than astonished.
“She needs the experience.” Uncle Dan walked away before either of us could respond.
Zoe glowered after him before stomping off to the locker room. I gave Six an embarrassed look over my cousin’s behavior and followed Zoe. I glanced back to see Six staring at the critter map of Portland.
I caught up with my cousin. “What’s the deal? That was rude.”
She opened her locker and started digging around inside. Her muffled voice answered, “Hey, I’ve spent the last hour babysitting her.” She straightened, holding her whip. She shook it out before coiling it. “She sucks at combat.” She hooked the whip to her belt. “So it follows that she’ll be a liability on a hunt.”
I sighed. She was probably right, but I couldn’t help feeling a little sympathy for Six. I’d been the weak link a few months ago and knew it felt rotten. “Give her a chance. Maybe it’ll be a good opportunity for her to do something other than be creepy.”
Zoe slammed her locker shut. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
Chapter 9
Forest Park sprawled side-by-side with downtown Portland, with several access points. Aunt Kate thought the firebug might be near Hoyt Arboretum so Zoe drove the Brighthall’s Sprinter van across the Burnside Bridge and up West Burnside. As we drove through downtown, we passed North Park where barricades surrounded a large area of the park. In my mind, I could see the shattered remains of the sweet, bronze elephant statue that once stood in the center of the park; that is, until Emma blew it up as part of her mission to prove her worthiness to Mountain of Ash.
I jumped when Six spoke from her seat directly behind me. “Was this one of the attack sites?” Her cold, clinical tone erased any sadness I felt and made me angry.
When it was obvious Zoe wasn’t going to answer, I said shortly, “Yes.”
“And your family had no idea Emma Brighthall was behind the attacks?” Six’s tone implied disbelief.
“Well, as I recall,” I looked pointedly at Zoe, “Emma diverted suspicion onto me.”
Zoe grinned wryly. “Hey, I never thought it was you.” She sobered. “But I really never thought it was Emma.”
“What made Emma Brighthall able to accuse Olivia Brighthall?” Six directed her question at Zoe.
“Hey, I’m right here, you can ask me.” If I had to replay the horror of my family thinking I was capable of killing so many people, I was going to do the telling, not someone else.
“We want the perspective of someone who was close to Emma Brighthall. How was she so able to fool everyone for so long?” Six’s clinical tone was getting on my nerves.
“Now’s not the best time to talk about that.” Zoe’s tone was shaky with suppressed anger.
“Why not?” I was impressed with her tough attitude towards Six.
“Because we’re on a hunt and we’re about to park.” Zoe pulled into the Hoyt Arboretum parking lot and turned off the ignition. She got out of the car and opened the back to gather her equipment.
I sat for a moment as a thought came to me. I turned to Six. “Do you know how to hold a Glamour?”
Holding a Glamour was a necessary skill for supernormals, something we all learned so we could go about our business without nosy normals bothering us. I assumed every supernormal was taught how to do it, but given Six’s lack of basic fighting skills, I didn’t want to assume.
“Of course.” Six almost sneered her answer. “We frequently have to move among normals.”
“Okay. Good.” I hopped out of the car and went to the back where I pulled out my short sword in its simple scabbard and fastened it around my waist. Glamour mode was automatic to me while on a hunt, so the couple in running gear a few cars down didn’t even blink at the sight of a teenager wearing a sword. However, in all honesty, the sight of kids role-playing wasn’t uncommon around town, so it’s possible I didn’t need to hide. Last week, while hunting for the stingray creature, we’d come upon a bunch of old people reenacting a scene from The Fellowship of the Rings. Only my supernormal-enhanced reactions kept the guy playing Gandalf from whacking me in the head as he shouted, “You shall not pass,” at a dude dressed like a Balrog. The Balrog carried a whip made from LED lights to indicate fire. To my annoyance, Zoe and Kevin spent the rest of the night trying to convince me flaming whips would make a great weapon. The idea of flinging fire around sounded like a bad idea, even for someone with my abilities.
Happy to have my sword around my waist, I smiled at the couple as their gaze slid past us. Best to be cautious, no matter what.
Zoe slammed the door shut. “Right, okay, Six, you need to stay in back, out of the way.” Ignoring Six’s raised eyebrow, Zoe turned to me. “Ollie, you’re point since you’re best equipped to catch the critter.”
I headed down the trail with Zoe and Six following. Six slid on the leaves a few times until she figured
out how to walk on the rocky trail in her boots.
We walked for a while, passing a handful of runners and walkers. Following Aunt Kate’s suggestion of where to search, I lead my little group off the path into the thicker part of the forest. Zoe and I slipped through the thicket easily, but Six muttered to herself or was it selves?) every time she caught a bramble. Her loose tunic ripped a few times. We probably should have lent her some better hunting clothes, but it was too late now.
Despite worrying about Emma’s escape, the weird visions, and my sanity, I enjoyed walking through the forest. The trees were dense enough to cast a gloom; we were far enough in that the city sounds dropped away from my sensitive ears. Compared to most of my life, critter hunting was simple. Look for the critter, find it, and either capture it or, if there was no other option, kill it.
I stopped, holding up a hand to halt Zoe and Six, ignoring Six’s grunt when she almost ran into Zoe. My nostrils caught the faint whiff of smoke on the breeze. I pointed in the direction it originated from and Zoe nodded. Without a word, she headed off to the left, disappearing into the trees as if she’d never been there.
Six hesitated until I waved for her to join me. I was better equipped, both emotionally and ability-wise, to protect her. She swallowed and followed me, having the sense to stay quiet.
We went slightly to the right, creating a pincer effect with Zoe on the left. We drew closer to the cause of the smoke and I saw spurts of flame ahead. I grinned when a bush caught fire, smoldering in the dampness.
I touched Six’s arm lightly and pointed in the direction of sparks. Keeping my voice at sub-whisper level, I told Six, “That’s probably the firebug. Come on, but stay behind me.”
To my complete shock, she smiled at me and nodded. Despite her dirty, ripped tunic and her obvious inexperience in the woods, she looked…happy. Remembering my first hunt, a Mongolian Death Worm in the tunnels under Portland, I understood her excitement and her fear. I hoped this hunt went better than my first, which had left me injured.
The Supernormal Legacy_Book 2_Root Page 8