“Calm down. We won’t be separated. He can’t take you away from me. You can hide in the graveyard until he gets tired of looking for you.”
“He’ll never stop. My father’s a monster, a monster, I tell you and when he finds me he’ll punish me.”
“How will he punish you, Amie?”
“Mathew, he beats me senseless. I’ll be murdered this time; murdered!”
“You can’t be serious,” I said searching the yard for any hint of her father. “He hits you?”
“Yes, and when he sees me with you he’ll call you a scoundrel and be embarrassed by me and then I’ll be beaten to death.” Amie knelt. “Look at me, Mathew. This is the last time I’ll get to see your beautiful eyes or touch your skin for tomorrow, I will not exist. I’ll be dead.”
“You can’t die!” My heart pounded. What was I supposed to do? Striking her meant breaking the rules. Dr. John, the only person I feared, would come for me.
My sister Jane screamed.
I turned to face her. She sat in the tall grass across the lake. Her red hair fell around her. Were there tears in her eyes? What was wrong with Jane? Had I done something to hurt her?
“Mathew please don’t do it, please!” Jane called toward us. She doubled over hiding her face in her knees. My fingers twitched. Up ahead a tall man ran towards us. Amie’s father found us!
“Run, Amie, lets hurry before he catches you.” I tugged her arm. She wouldn’t budge. “C’mon, quick he’s coming!”
“I can’t run anymore, Mathew.” Amie sobbed choking on her tears. “There’s no place for me to run to. I’m trapped.”
Trapped? Amie didn’t have a clue about what it felt like to be trapped. “Amie, there’s things about me that would make you so unhappy.” Like, never being able to leave the Lynn district…
“This is the end for me, Mathew.” Amie clutched my arm. Her father stood before us with a snarled lip. “Father, please don’t take me away.” She grabbed his shirt. “Please, father!”
“Get up,” her father ordered. His fat fingers wrapped tightly around a chunk of her hair. “Let’s go, before you embarrass me.”
“Let her go!” I shouted. Amie trembled. “I mean it. Don’t make me stop you, sir.”
Amie’s father dragged her by the hair. “Stop! You’re hurting me!” She screamed. Dirt stained her knees and blood seeped down her leg. “Father, please!”
Thunder grumbled above us. The sun disappeared behind the clouds. My sister, Jane screamed, lighting the sky. “Don’t do it, Mathew!” She begged once more.
I couldn’t hear Jane. My only thoughts belonged to my fears of losing Amie. How could I watch her leave? How could I allow her father to harm her? What would be the purpose in not changing her? Life for Amie would be better with me. She’d be safe and capable of protecting herself from her father. I could save Amie! I’d be her hero—finally.
My hands rose. Lightning painted the sky behind me. Would Amie be happy confined to this small area of Lynn? She couldn’t travel or explore like she’d planned to do after graduation. Would Amie hate me for trapping her? If I changed her would that ruin our relationship? Suppose her dad took her away and she married a good man who could provide for her and love her; a man who could touch her?
I couldn’t think about another man pressing his fingers to her flesh.
My hands straightened. Volts of electricity shot from my fingers attaching themselves to the lightning above. I directed the bolts towards Amie. Her body dropped to the ground. She lay motionless in the burnt grass.
Jane’s pained cry echoed across the lake. I turned and watched my sister curl into the fetal position. She wailed, holding her stomach. What had I done to my baby sister? Could she finally feel again?
“What’s wrong with my daughter?” Amie’s father shook her. “The lightning—it’s killed her!” He cradled Amie in his arms. “My little girl—”
“She said you were going to slay her!” I shouted. He looked up with narrowed eyes.
“You did this! You’re the boy who controls the sky.” Her father’s fist waved in the air. “How could you kill my daughter?”
“I didn’t kill her.” I recoiled. “You were going to murder her so don’t try to put this on me. Don’t play the sad victim with me!”
“Why would I travel nearly a month and pay a year’s salary to a new school in Europe just so I could come and kill her? If I didn’t care for my daughter I would’ve just left her here next to you!”
“Stop trying to manipulate me!”
“You’re a shade,” Her father said. He tossed Amie over his shoulder. “You’ll never get your wicked hands on my daughter!”
A smile spread across my face. “I wish you well, sir.” Let’s see him take Amie out of the Lynn district. “I wish you well on your journey.”
“I’m taking her to the doctor and calling the police. You’ll be placed in jail for sure.” “You’re not going to get away with your dark tricks, not with me.”
“Dark tricks?” I was appalled. I’d saved Amie’s life! He just didn’t realize it yet. “You dragged her by the hair to ‘take’ her away with you. Who’s the bad one here? Beside you saw nothing but lightning come down and strike her. I haven’t moved from this spot.”
Amie’s father nodded. “But the townsfolk will believe me. They haven’t forgotten your father the sorcerer.”
I froze. In 1692, the town of Lynn thought I was a sorcerer and tried to burn me alive. There was a witch frenzy caused by the neighboring town of Salem. Since then I claimed to be the orphaned son of Mathew when in reality I was him—reinvented.
“Stop where you are, sir!” I commanded. Lightning split a tree in two and I raised my hands parallel with my shoulders. “Put Amie down and leave or I’ll burn you alive.” My hands pointed in his direction.
“What are you?” Her father gasped. He laid Amie in the grass and lowered his gaze. “What have you done to my daughter?”
“I’ve fixed her. She’ll never get sick again,” I told him. “I’ll fix you, too, for your silence.”
“How can you fix me, boy?”
“You’ll never get another fever and when pestilences destroy villages and colonies you will be a lone survivor. No one will pass a disease your way,” I said. Sparks rose from my fingertips. “Do I have your attention now?”
Amie’s father nodded. “The name’s Victor.”
“Victor, close your eyes.”
“Is it going to hurt?” Victor winced readying himself for my strike.
I smiled. “Hurt? This is going to be so painful you’ll wish you had the plague.” Victor recoiled, ready to object.
It was too late for that.
THE PAST
When Alex was Mathew & Ally was Jane…
Victor and Amie lay in the grass. Their bodies limp and unmoving; they were nothing more than lawn ornaments. What had I done? My body convulsed and I fell to my knees.
My sister leaned over me. Her red hair fell in my face. Pain rushed along the veins in my neck. Jane spoke through choked sobs. “Why’d you do that?”
“I need her,” I said grinding my teeth to withstand the pain. “She’s my everything.”
“Amie is—”
“What is she, Jane?”
“She’s stirring.”
I glanced up. My future wife, my love, the mother of my soon to be children, leaned forward, brushing her matted bangs from her forehead.
“Mathew,” she groaned. “What’s happened?” She struggled to focus. “Is that my father?” She trembled. “Did you kill my father?”
“No, never!” My hands touched her soft hair. She wept in my arms. “I’d never kill your father. I’ve fixed him for you.”
“What about me? Am I fixed, too?”
“Yes.” I pressed my lips to her hair. “You’re forever fixed.” Life was perfect. I had my sister, my love and we’d be together forever. At least if I had anything to say about it.
“She’s only fixed if h
e says so,” Jane interrupted. “We’ve a guest, Mathew.”
Who was there in this world who could take Amie away from me? I couldn’t swallow. It was as if there was a cloth stuffed down my throat. I turned about.
“Mathew Mood,” a tall man spoke.
It couldn’t be. Why of all days did he have to pay me a visit? If only I’d paid attention to Jane and listened to her when she said to stop! Couldn’t I have waited? No. There wouldn’t have been another chance for me to change Amie.
I took a deep breath. What would he say? Was Amie going to be unchanged?
“Mathew Mood, what have you done?” The man’s voice was thunderous. “There’re only so many rules and in one hour you seemed to have broken them all.”
I hid my eyes from his face. “I’m sorry, Dr. John, but I’m in love with her.”
“What’s that have to do with anything?”
I knelt before him. “Please, don’t take Amie away from me.”
“How does it benefit me to keep her around?”
“It’ll make me happy,” I answered. “Please, Dr. John, think of it as an experiment.”
He thought for a moment. “Fine, but in the end it will be entirely up to Jane whether Amie stays or goes. Remember the code,” Dr. John said. “Linking has many benefits but also there’s always a heavy price to pay…”
“Why does my sister have the control over my Amie?”
“She’s your link and source of power. Without her you’re nothing.”
“I’m much stronger than Jane!” Anger rose inside me.
“Careful,” he said. “I won’t tolerate your tantrums. This is the sort of behavior that gives us a bad name.”
Us? What did he mean by that? Were there more of us out there?
“You are on very thin ice. I saved you once, Mathew, I won’t do it again. The only reason I haven’t unchanged you is because of Jane. She doesn’t deserve to be punished because of your actions.”
“What did you mean by ‘us’? What actions? Dr. John, I don’t understand!”
He stood before me, satisfied with my confusion. “The originals watch over you and your new group. We don’t care for your lack of discretion. There’s no reason for you to be creating more of us. Lynn isn’t large enough for many more.”
“I just want Amie. She’s the love of my life.” Tears streaked my cheeks. I didn’t care that I looked like a pansy. Dr. John couldn’t take Amie away!
“Sir.” Amie tried to speak. His eyes darted her way. “I’m in love with Mathew. Please don’t send me away. I want to spend forever with him.”
Dr. John frowned. “And forever you shall spend trapped here in the district of Lynn. Try to leave and you’ll see just how imprisoned you are.” He turned to leave. “I hope you truly do love Mathew because if you don’t, your soul will be eaten alive.”
Eaten alive? What did that mean? “Dr. John!” I shouted. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll soon find out when your precious Amie begins to transform. She’ll need Jane’s help with finding a linked soul.”
Linked soul...figures he’d use that phrase. “I’m her soul mate.”
“Did I say soul mate?”
I shook my head. “No, but—”
“She’ll soon die without a link from Jane. That’s the price you’re going to have to pay for your link to Jane.”
“I don’t want to change anyone!” Jane exclaimed. “This isn’t a life I would ever wish on anyone!” She stamped her feet rage filling her. “You can’t ask this of me. Please, Dr. John, you do it.”
“Why don’t you want to change someone for Amie?” I cried. “She’s my love and you’re my sister! You’re Amie’s best friend and you should want to keep her with us forever!”
Jane folded her arms. “I’ve got my own personal reasons for not wanting to keep her forever.”
THE PAST
When Alex was Mathew & Ally was Jane…
Amie and I watched Dr. John disappear. She tugged on her brown hair. Was it fuller already? “What’s happening to me?” Amie wondered. “I’m ready to sprint around the lake. Would you care to join me?”
I shook my head. I remembered those days, feeling invincible and full of energy. I guess I was used to it, now. Amie jumped, remembering her father. “Will my father feel the way I do?”
“No. He’s too old to change in the same way as you.”
“But he’s fixed, you said?”
“He’ll never get sick again.”
“What about me? Will I grow sick?”
“No.” Should I tell her about the longevity effect? Maybe it was too soon for something like that.
“That crazy man said something about being linked forever. What did he mean?”
Amie wasn’t going to let me slowly feed her knowledge of her new life. Had I expected any less from her? “Dr. John meant that if you wished to never age you will need someone to link with just like Jane and I are linked. If after you transform, which don’t worry, takes well over a hundred years—”
“A hundred years?” Amie’s head spun. She fell back in the grass. “What do you mean by a hundred years, Mathew?”
“This is way too much for you. Let’s talk about it all later,” I said, offering to help her up. She resisted.
“No, tell me what must be done.” Her face grew serious. “I don’t want to die. I want to live forever…with you.”
I grinned. Amie was the only thought I had—ever. She was my whole world. What was she going to think when she realized what being mine actually meant?
“Tell me, Mathew, what I must do to live forever? I need to know.”
“First, you’ll have to fight your temper in order to build a tolerance to the transformation.” I began. She leaned forward, listening intently. “Then you and Jane have to agree on someone. Jane has to change them. Once she does then you’re safe forever.”
“Nothing can kill me once this is done?” Amie’s face brightened.
“According to Dr. John, if your link dies your longevity cycle, as we call it, begins to decline and you’ll age the same way everyone else on earth ages. Your cell regeneration cycle will slow down.”
“How can my link die?”
“If your link steps out of the Lynn boundaries it means death for them and eventually death for you, too. You can still live a normal life as long as you stay in Lynn but if you step out of the boundaries, then you’ll immediately become the age you truly are. If you’re a hundred then you’ll grow old instantly and die right there in less than two minutes.”
“So, I need to find a link and fast.”
“Are you listening to me?” I waved my hand in her face. “This is a crucial decision. Whoever you and Jane choose has to be someone you trust. If not, then your life will be filled with strife. I lucked out getting my sister. She’s not so bad. Don’t tell her I said that but it’s the truth.”
“Is there anything else crucial that I need to know?”
“Not right now, Amie. Let’s not worry about a link until you start transforming. It takes a long time for most people.”
“Mathew, did you ever transform?”
“No,” I admitted. “Jane and I are from an original. We became ‘us’ within several hours.”
“Why is it going to take so long for me to change?”
“Because you’re a third generation strike; it’s not nearly as powerful as an original.”
“Who are the originals?”
“Let’s save that story for a later date. You know all you need to know for right now.” I whispered. She nestled against my chest. “I love you Amie.”
“I know you do,” She said.
THE PAST
When Alex was Mathew
& Ally was Jane…
Amie sat in our bed with her arms folded. I loved when she pouted. Her lips were full and pink. Did she know this? I tried to touch her hair but she jerked away. “Why are you acting like a spoiled child?”
“You said you fixed my
father,” Amie said. “He’s growing old. Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t lie. He won’t get any diseases. Haven’t you noticed his health is amazing?”
“Well, you need to stop him from aging. He’s going to die soon. If you don’t fix him, then I won’t marry you.”
“The reason you wanted to marry me was to get away from your father. Why do you want to save him now?” I grabbed her from behind. She froze, unbending in her stand. “C’mon Amie,” I whispered in her ear. “You’re not going to die.”
“Actually, Mathew, I will if Jane doesn’t provide me with a link. Why can’t you force her to do what you say? Why don’t you care what happens to me? She wants to watch me die.”
“Jane does not want you dead,” I said. “Why would you think such a thing? She’s a bit eccentric but not a killer.”
“You don’t know Jane like I do.” Amie inched closer. “Make her link me.”
“What happens if I don’t?” I teased drawing her close. Twenty years is what it took to make the pain when touching Amie stop hurting me. It was worth it. Her eyes bore through me. “What will you do if I don’t make Jane do as you say?”
“I will run away.”
“Where will you go?”
Amie thought for a moment. Her bottom lip trembled. “Leave me alone in my prison cell.” She fell on the bed face first sobbing into the quilt.
“Oh, Amie.” I sighed. “I’m so sorry.”
“I knew I couldn’t leave Lynn okay but twenty years in the same town, watching your old friends only from a distance as they grow older and have families while I still look like a teenager, and spend each day watching my father become more and more decrepit. I can’t handle thinking about the day I’ll transform without a link. That’ll be the end for me.” She sat up. Tears stained her cheeks. I wiped them away. Amie’s voice cracked. “Is it painful to die?”
“Stop dwelling on this link, Amie. It’s not like that. You’d just start to age like normal that’s all,” I said. She didn’t seem convinced. “You’ve got years and years before you need to worry about a link. The longer you wait the better.”
The C I N Series Bundled Page 37