PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “That’s not true,” I whisper, but in the deepest, most honest part of my heart, I like Mason being my secret. I don’t want him to be friends with Robin because that may mean he won’t have room for me.

  Robin shoulders her backpack and starts walking toward the door. A small amount of guilt plagues me as she rubs her back. Some of what she said might have a kernel of truth to it, but she doesn’t understand as much as she thinks she does. It kills me that I can’t fix that. Maybe I can at least try to make her see more.

  “Robin,” I say before she reaches the door, “I love Mason.”

  She stops and sighs. “I know you do.”

  “It does scare me to think of Mason being away from me and finding something better. He’s my best friend, the person I can’t imagine living without.” My breath catches at the thought of not seeing him every day. “But if Mason did want to leave, I wouldn’t stop him. I would miss him like you could never understand, but I want him to be happy more than anything else.”

  Slowly, Robin turns back around and faces me. She looks tired, sad.

  “I do understand what it’s like to miss someone so much it physically hurts.” She pushes her glasses up on her nose, brushes her hair back, anything to keep her mind off what she’s saying. “Eliana was my Mason. My best friend. My only friend. It was my fault she died. I’ll never forgive myself, and I’ll never stop missing her. My selfish choices cost her everything. I worry that you’re going to fall into the same trap.”

  Shaking my head, I say, “I would never tell anyone about Mason.”

  The pain that flashes through her eyes makes me cringe. I didn’t mean it as a judgment of her. I try to apologize, but Robin waves me off.

  “That’s not what I meant. I know you won’t tell anyone about Mason, but there are other ways you might betray him to the Sentinels.”

  “What?”

  “Why hasn’t your family helped Mason develop his abilities?”

  Abilities?

  “The dreams he has, you can’t tell me no one in your family recognized them as an ability he needed to develop. Most Aerlings are fully trained by now. Mason acted like he’d never heard of such a thing. His abilities are meant to keep him safe from the Sentinels and your family has done nothing to help him develop them.” Robin glares at me, watching my expression carefully.

  I’m not sure how to respond to her. Of course, no one in my family had any idea we were supposed to be looking for something. It was only when Mason brought it up himself that I began to wonder if his dreams were something more than simple nightmares. I don’t want to give away that we are clueless about this, but I struggle to find an answer for Robin.

  “We . . . Mason’s dreams, they, uh, until just recently they were nothing but nightmares. The same thing every night. We didn’t realize they meant anything.”

  Robin’s eyes narrow. “Until recently?”

  My head bobs slowly. “He had a nightmare about someone breaking into our house last night, before it actually happened.”

  A strange sense of excitement builds around Robin. “He’s never dreamt something that came true before? He said his dreams are always very real. What about those?”

  “He doesn’t tell me much about his nightmares usually. They’ve never come true before, thankfully. They’re bad, really bad. And most of them are about stuff that already happened.”

  “What kind of stuff?” Robin demands.

  Now I’m the one folding my arms. “The kind that’s very personal and Mason wouldn’t want me talking about.”

  “Does Mason have any other abilities?” Robin asks. Well, it’s more of a demand, but I can tell she’s trying to be patient.

  I shrug. “I don’t know. There are things Mason is better at than other people, but maybe he’s just stronger or whatever.”

  “Like what?”

  “He seems stronger than a normal guy of his height and build. His endurance is really good. He outlasts everyone else when we go running, including my dad who was All American in cross country when he was in college. He sees better than us, especially at night. His hearing is better.” I shrug again, not sure whether his edge over us is enough to qualify as special abilities.

  Robin doesn’t seem impressed. “No, that’s all just regular Aerling stuff. He’s got to have something more,” Robin says. Her fingers curls around her backpack strap as if suddenly nervous. “He should have had an ability that manifested much earlier.”

  “What if he doesn’t?”

  She shakes her head worriedly. “I don’t know. It’s not supposed to be like that. He should have shown signs of some kind of ability as a toddler. I don’t know what that means if he didn’t.”

  “You don’t think the dreams are enough?”

  Robin chews on her lip. “I don’t think so. Many Aerlings start developing secondary abilities in their late teen years. They usually aren’t as strong as the primary ability, though.”

  Neither of us says anything for a moment. Fear builds in my mind that I missed something in Mason that could make the difference between staying hidden from the Sentinels and being killed. What escaped our notice? Could he possibly have hidden some ability out of fear that we wouldn’t understand?

  I push that thought away quickly. Mason wouldn’t keep secrets from me. He knows I would never turn away from him just because he was different. No, Mason must not have seen anything unusual in himself either. He would have told me, wouldn’t he have?

  “Maybe . . . maybe you should come over this afternoon and we can talk about it with Mason,” I say dejectedly.

  Spending more time with Robin isn’t my idea of a nice time, but despite her baseless accusations, she has me scared.

  “Sure,” Robin says. “I know you don’t trust me, Olivia, and I know I haven’t known either of you that long, but I care about Mason and I don’t want to see him hurt. You don’t have to like me, but I hope you can at least believe me.”

  “I do believe you,” I say, surprising us both.

  Robin nods. “See you after school then.”

  I watch her walk away and slump down to the bleachers. My head drops into my hands. I feel like every time I turn around lately, Robin is dropping some kind of bomb on me. Mason is an Aerling. Mason isn’t human. There are Sentinels trying to kill him. You and your family screwed up his chances of surviving. Mason only loves you because he has no one else.

  Okay, maybe she didn’t say that last one quite like that, but it’s what she meant.

  I don’t want to doubt how Mason feels about me, about my family, but he’s been different since Robin showed up. To be honest, it started before she showed up. Everything Mason was already feeling, everything I had been blind to, is now being validated by Robin. I want to believe that he’ll always stay with me, but I’m not so sure anymore, and it breaks my heart to admit that.

  Chapter 13

  Meltdown

  (Mason)

  The weird vibe between Robin and Olivia, when I find them standing together at Olivia’s locker after school, doesn’t make sense with the polite way they’re treating each other. I suspect something happened between them earlier. Neither one seems interested in explaining, though, so I leave it alone for now.

  Olivia announces that Robin is coming over to hang out, and we head for the Jeep. Evie is already waiting for us there, with Aaron making a hasty retreat. He’s well aware that Olivia thinks he’s an idiot and tries to make himself scarce when she’s around. Since I don’t like him either, I’m glad to see him go.

  Evie stops staring after Aaron in time to turn and hear Robin say she’ll meet us at the house. Evie’s hands snap to her hips as she fixes a glare on Olivia. “Am I the only one who remembers what happened last time she came over?”

  “We need her help,” Olivia admits.

  Now, I am more curious than ever to know what she and Robin talked about.

  The drive home is quiet and sullen. For some reason, Olivia keeps looking over at me with a sad e
xpression I don’t understand. As we approach the house, everyone’s eyes are scanning the streets for suspicious cars, but everything seems perfectly average. Evie is hardly appeased.

  As soon as Olivia puts the Jeep in park, Evie jumps out, slamming the door behind her. I’m shocked Evie is being so dramatic about this. When I turn to Olivia, she puts a hand on my arm and says, “This has more to do with her not being able to see Aaron than with you or Robin. I’ll go talk to her.”

  Olivia gets out and holds the door open long enough for me to slide out after her. I want to ask her what’s going on between her and Robin, but she walks away before I get the chance. Sighing, I head for the house, hoping Robin will have some answers.

  As my body flops onto the couch next to Robin, she looks over at me and smiles. It’s the first pleasant expression I’ve seen all afternoon. There is something infectious about Robin’s grin. I can’t help smiling back.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey,” she says. Robin sets the notebook she was flipping through down on the coffee table and turns sideways to look at me. She tries to maintain her smile, but it falters and slips away. “Olivia said you told her about Eliana.”

  I nod, hoping she doesn’t expect me to apologize. Olivia was struggling to trust Robin. She needed to know that what happened to Eliana was the mistake of a naÏve little girl and not a vicious betrayal.

  “She said you don’t keep secrets from each other.”

  “No, we don’t.”

  Robin fidgets with one of her dangly earrings. “You didn’t tell her everything.”

  She doesn’t have to explain for me to know what she’s talking about. I look away, not sure whether I’m embarrassed when I think about Robin kissing me, or glad she did it. “No,” I admit, “I didn’t tell her.”

  “Why not?”

  I shrug. I don’t want to admit that I didn’t know how to tell Olivia, because I couldn’t figure out how she would react. Would she be glad I had found someone that I might have a real chance at a relationship with? Would she be angry? Jealous? Would it affect her at all? Without knowing the consequences, I couldn’t tell her.

  A thought suddenly occurs to me. I turn to Robin, hoping I didn’t just figure out why Olivia seemed so down on the way home. “Did you tell her?”

  Robin laughs. “Olivia dislikes me enough without me adding fuel to the fire. No, I didn’t tell her.”

  I start to ask what she did tell Olivia that upset her so much when I hear the front door open. Assuming it’s Olivia’s mom, but not wanting to be caught off guard, I check the driveway for her car and relax when I hear her voice calling out that she’s home. Her head peeks around the corner a few seconds later.

  “Robin, how nice to see you,” Olivia’s mom says. “Where are the kids? Did they all abandon you?”

  Realizing my mistake right away, I jump up from the couch and try to reach her before Robin makes the connection. I’m not fast enough.

  Robin cocks her head to one side. “Evie and Olivia are upstairs, but Mason’s right in front of you.”

  My hand lands on Olivia’s mom’s shoulder. Her eyes widen, knowing we’re both in trouble. “I . . . I meant to ask where the girls were. Of course Mason is right here.”

  She reaches out and gives me a quick hug before dashing off to the kitchen. I want to follow her, but Robin grabs my shoulder. My head drops to my chest. She’s way too smart of a girl not to have connected all the dots.

  “What just happened?” Robin demands. “Olivia’s mom acted like she didn’t even see you.”

  “Sure she saw me,” I answer lamely.

  Folding her arms across her chest like she so often does, Robin glares at me. “You’re lying.”

  That’s right about when Olivia bounds down the stairs. She slows to a stop at the sight of Robin facing me down. “What happened now?”

  “Your mom walked into the room and asked why I was sitting there all alone when Mason was right there! Add that to the way Evie was acting the other day, and something is clearly not right here!” Robin yells. “What is going on?”

  Olivia tries to brush off the outburst. She’d have to be invisible for Robin not to notice her shifting feet and darting eyes. Still, she tries. “What are you going on about, Robin. Mom just didn’t see him. I don’t know why you’re having a meltdown about it.”

  “He was standing right in front of her!” Robin’s eyes are darting back and forth.

  Olivia’s mom walks back into the room slowly, her eyes on Robin. I remember her approaching an injured cat the same way once, when it wandered into our yard. In the weeks we have known Robin, Olivia’s mom has never expressed an opinion one way or the other about whether she believes Robin is a threat. Now, there is fear in her eyes.

  “Robin,” she says calmly, “I’m sorry if I upset you earlier.”

  The cautious approach doesn’t fool Robin. She backs away slowly.

  The clomp-clomp of Evie clambering down the stairs momentarily distracts everyone. Her hand appears first, gripping the hand rail and swinging herself around the landing to start down the last half flight. She skids to stop when she realizes everyone is staring at her.

  “What is all the yelling about down here? And where’s Mason? I need him to help me with my math homework,” Evie says. Her eyes dart around expectantly. Olivia and her mom groan.

  Robin’s eyes double in size. One hand covers her mouth while the other starts pointing at Evie. “See? See?”

  Evie’s hand drops from the rail. Her face falls as she realizes her mistake. “He’s standing right here, isn’t he?”

  I reach over and touch Evie’s shoulder. “Sorry, right here.”

  “Mason, I’m so sorry,” she says.

  “Your mom blew our cover first,” I say with a laugh.

  Olivia’s mom can’t hear me because she’s not touching me, but Evie looks over at her and grimaces. They both feel terrible. Really, I’m not sure how long we were going to be able to keep this up anyway. I’m not even sure why we’re keeping the truth from Robin anymore. I trust her, so I take the lead.

  Taking Robin’s hand like I might a frightened child, I wait until she looks at me. From the corner of my eye, I can see Olivia clenching her fists. I still don’t know what happened earlier today, but Robin deserves an explanation. She doesn’t resist when I pull her over to the couch and make her sit down. Evie and her mom crowd around us, each making an effort to touch my shoulder or arm so they can hear me.

  “Mason, what is going on? You guys are really freaking me out!”

  I don’t quite know where to begin, so I start with the first thing that comes to mind. “Olivia is the only one who can see me.”

  “What? Why?”

  The only response I can give is to shrug.

  “That’s not an answer!”

  “I’m sorry, Robin, but we don’t know.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense. If you’re all Caretakers, why is Olivia the only one that can see you?”

  Everyone starts squirming except me. “Um, it’s probably because they aren’t Caretakers. Not even Olivia.”

  For a moment, I think Robin might faint. Just in case she pitches forward and smacks her head on the table, I put my arm around her shoulder and keep her upright. The hand Robin never let go of when I led her to the couch clamps down on mine, but she stays conscious.

  “How . . . did you . . . this doesn’t make sense!” Robin cries. “How did you get an Aerling if you aren’t Caretakers?”

  Her hand slaps over her mouth as her eyes grow larger than I would have thought possible. The way her breathing spikes to near hyperventilation puts everyone on edge, including me. “Robin? Calm down. It’s okay. You’re freaking me out now!”

  Robin isn’t paying attention to me. Her eyes snap over to Olivia’s mom. “Did you steal Mason from his Caretakers?” she demands.

  “Whoa!” Olivia jumps in. “Is that what you’re having a conniption fit about? Good grief, Robin! We’re not kidnappers!�
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  “How . . . how?” Robin stutters.

  Before this turns into a fight, which it looks like it’s about to, given Olivia’s and Evie’s outrage, I force Robin to look at me. “Robin, no one stole me. Olivia saved me, and she’s been protecting me ever since.”

  I’m not sure my words have made any impact. Robin seems intent on going into freak out mode. I’ve stayed pretty calm up to this point, but panic starts to creep in. If Robin starts telling people someone kidnapped me, who knows what the real Caretakers will do. I’m ready to start shaking Robin when she finally takes a deep breath. Everyone holds very, very still.

  Robin breathes out slowly and says, “Someone needs to tell me what on earth is going on. Right. Now.”

  “Do you remember how I told you that I figured out I was an Aerling when I was five?” I ask.

  Robin nods slowly.

  “Well, that wasn’t completely true. I hadn’t heard the word Aerling until the day you ran into us in the parking lot. The only thing I figured out when I was five was that no one could see me. I was alone, wandering the city trying to find someone to help me, but no one heard or saw me.”

  “Why . . . were you alone?”

  Talking about this has never been easy, but for some reason a tenuous calm settles over me as I begin telling Robin my story.

  “I don’t remember very much about my life before I found Olivia. I know you said something about how Aerlings remember everything, but watching my family die took most of those memories away.”

  Robin gasps. “What?”

  “I can’t tell you what happened for sure. I was hiding in a kitchen cabinet when it started,” I say. “I tried to come out when my mom screamed, but she held the cabinet door shut so they couldn’t find me. When the screaming stopped, I thought it was over, but it wasn’t. She fell in front of the cabinets. I didn’t see the blood at first. Not until I pushed the door open a little further. Then I saw it spreading across the tile.”