by Rian Harper
“Nate, I may need you to help me. Come over here.”
Those were not words I wanted to hear at the moment. Fortunately, I still hadn’t had anything to eat for a while, so I wouldn’t be throwing much up. I swallowed hard and made my way over to kneel beside Jasmine, placing myself closer to Everett’s feet. He shifted as she started to peel the saturated bandage from his abdomen.
“Whaaaaat are you doing?” Everett lifted his head and looked down at his stomach, squeezing his eyes shut, then opening them widely.
“Stop flinching. I have to change this.” Jasmine stayed focused on the bloody mess.
All of a sudden, Emma was beside me. I hadn’t heard her rise from the couch. I studied her face and noticed the cuts from where she was expelled through the window were all but gone.
“Hi. How do you feel?” I looked deep in her eyes when they met mine.
“I feel okay.” She smiled as she tucked a loose curl behind her ear.
“You too are having a moment. Something going on there?” Jasmine asked as she continued working to remove the bandage.
“No!” Emma replied a little too quickly and with too much enthusiasm before she shifted away from me a bit.
My heart sank as I remembered how she acted the first time we kissed in the car.
Everett started making some odd noises, which made Emma and I return our attention on him. Just as I focused on the wound (which I was trying not to do) blood started oozing from it. I gagged.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“You’re absolutely useless. Go sit down.” Jasmine said as she pressed down on the wound using the towel with enough force to cause Everett to curse out loud.
“Ugh. I’m going to need another towel. Emma, can you hold this. I’ll be right back.”
Jasmine handed over her nursing duties to Emma and went off again to get more supplies. I took in deep breaths of air to try and clear my head. It wasn’t working. I could still see the oozing wound in my mind’s eye. I looked back up at the ceiling fan as I sat on the love seat opposite the couch, trying to gain my composure. Watching the spinning blades seemed to help take my mind off of everything.
“I’ll finish this up, Em.” Jasmine knelt back down beside the couch.
“I don’t know if I want you anywhere near my gaping wound right now.” Everett teased through his labored breathing.
“Oh, shut up you big baby and hold still.”
A half smile formed across Everett’s chiseled face as Jasmine took the towel from Emma and dabbed away at his bloody abdomen with the fresh one she’d just retrieved. I thought I caught a glimpse of a smile flash across Jasmine‘s face as well. She and Everett’s relationship was a little clearer to me since she told me that he was engaged to her sister, but that relationship still seemed love-hate. I could tell that it was difficult for Jasmine to be around Everett, and I could understand why.
Emma walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator before making her way back to the living room where I was sitting on the love seat. I didn’t get up to greet her, and I didn’t say anything to her when she came into the room. I decided to play coy and let her come to me if she wanted. I didn’t have the energy to deal with any capriciousness from her at the moment. So, I just sat, staring ahead indifferently. At least, I tried sitting and staring indifferently.
Emma walked slowly across the room with her head hung down. She gathered her dark brown curls and fixed them over her right shoulder as she played with the ends of her hairs. She looked tired and worn, but more than that, contemplative. Something was on her mind. The more I tried to be indifferent and not care about what she was thinking, the more I actually wanted to know. She moved around the coffee table and stopped in front of where I was sitting. I was not going to be the first one to say anything. I was determined.
“Nate, I’m sorry.” She broke the silence.
“What are you apologizing for?” I asked as I looked up to meet her eyes.
“I’m sorry for earlier. For what I said when Jasmine asked if anything was going on between us. We both know there’s something there.” She sat on the arm of the love seat next to me.
“Is there something Emma? I know there is for me, but you’re sending me mixed signals all over the place.” I said almost pleadingly.
“Yes. I have feelings for you. It’s just a little hard for me to deal with because it happened so quickly. I can’t explain it, but I’ve been drawn to you since the minute we met. I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t want to be without you, and that scares me.” She looked down at me with such a light in her eyes, I couldn’t help but pull her off the arm of the love seat, and into my lap.
“Why does it scare you, Emma?” She turned her head away and didn’t answer me. I placed my index finger gently on her jawline and slowly turned her head back toward me. “It’s okay. Just talk to me.”
“Because I love you.” She confessed.
I stopped breathing after she said the words. Never had anyone in the free world told me that they loved me before. I never thought that I was anything to love. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know exactly what to do. So, I pulled her down until our lips locked in a passionate kiss. We both let out sighs as our lips parted. It was a perfect moment.
“Ahem...” Emma and I slowly looked back toward the opposite side of the living room where Everett was now sitting up with a fresh navy blue shirt on. He had a smirk on his face that indicated he was either happy with what he was seeing or I was going to get a talking to later. I was worried as to which one he was expressing. Jasmine emerged from the hall and stopped when she saw us.
“So, there IS something going on between you two.” Jasmine said in an almost triumphant tone.
Emma and I looked back at each other and just smiled as big as either of us could.
“Emma, you’re glowing again.” Jasmine said with caution.
I hadn’t noticed it yet, but Jasmine was right. Emma was glowing just as she had in Everett’s hospital room. She jumped off the love seat and looked herself over. I could see the tiny arcs starting to dance across her skin, just like the last time. It was not going to be good to have a repeat of before.
“Em, why is that happening? Why can’t you control it?” Everett asked.
“I don’t know. It’s weird.” She said as she turned her arms over and over looking at what she was forming into.
“You have to control it.” Everett said sternly.
“I can’t.”
“Concentrate, little sister. Concentrate.” He urged.
“Emma.” I stood up and walked over closer to her.
“Nate, stay back. I could kill you like this.” I could see tears forming in her eyes. I knew what was making her like this. The same thing that triggered it the last time. A kiss.
“Just calm down. Breathe. Shut it off. You know how. Just shut it off.” I reached out to grab her hands as she closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose and out of her mouth.
“Nate! Are you crazy? Who knows how much current is coursing through her right now!” Jasmine yelled as I clasped Emma’s hand.
She was right. There was no way of knowing what was going to happen to me when I grabbed Emma’s hands, but interestingly, as my fingers interlaced with hers, I didn’t feel a thing.
“Good. You’re doing it. Just keep concentrating and shut it off.” I spoke to her as calmly as I could, and she kept breathing deep and slow. A few more seconds passed, and the arcs disappeared. The glow dissipated. She returned to herself.
“Are you okay, Nate? Did I hurt you?” She looked at me with concern.
“I didn’t feel anything.” I assured her.
At that, she wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why this is happening to me.”
I grabbed her by both arms and pushed her an arm-length’s way away from me.
“I know why it’s happening. It
’s me. I’m doing this to you.”
“You’re right.” She admitted when she came to the same conclusion I had. “The kisses.”
“But, I was also the one who calmed you down and brought you back.” I pointed out.
“True. But I don’t want to brew an electrical storm every time we kiss.”
“You won’t. Here, I’ll prove it.” I pulled her back to me for another passionate kiss.
I couldn’t have imagined what happened next. A loud snap startled us out of the kiss. When we parted, I realized that the power was out. Everett and Jasmine were staring at us with wide eyes. I looked down at mine and Emma’s hands intertwined and realized that not only was Emma surging with electricity once again, but it was transferring to my own body. Arcs of electric current danced across my skin. It still wasn’t painful. All I felt was a slight tingle.
“This is amazing.” I examined my arms with awe. Once Emma realized what was happening, she quickly snatched her hands from mine, and the electricity that had transferred to me immediately left. Emma powered down and the lights flickered back on.
Chapter 15
Experiments
I couldn’t explain what had just taken place. Apparently, neither could the others, since they stood in silence with me for what seemed like an hour. We all just took in the weirdness of the event. Maybe I wasn’t so ordinary after all. Maybe I had some latent abilities that hadn’t yet manifested. Why it took them so long, I had no idea, but the notion of no longer being ordinary filled me with joy.
“Nate, are you hurt?” Everett finally broke the silence.
“No. I didn’t feel anything but a little tingle here and there.” I smiled as I uttered the words, excited at what they might mean.
“Emma had enough energy flowing through her to cause a power surge. You should be dead.” The seriousness in his tone only excited me even more.
“I know! But I’m not. What does this mean?” I couldn’t contain my delight for the situation.
“Well—uh—I don’t know.” Everett stammered as he quickly mused over my question. I could see Jasmine and Emma thinking as hard as they could as well.
“I have a theory.” Jasmine offered. “Are you up for an experiment, Nate?”
“Sure.” I was up for anything. I felt invincible.
“All right. Emma, get behind me. Nate, don’t move.”
Jasmine held her hand out in front of her, and closed her eyes. When I realized what she was about to do, my heart started beating ninety miles per hour, and my stomach jumped up into my throat. I was about to utter a warning to her to be gentle, but ended up slammed against the far wall of her living room before I could get it out of my mouth. After the impact, I collapsed to the ground, along with a picture frame that hung on the wall. The glass frame shattered beside me when it struck the hardwood flooring, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. Fortunately, all I received from the ordeal were a few nicks and cuts from the glass in the picture frame and a sore shoulder.
Emma helped me onto the couch as Jasmine paced back and forth in the dining room, thinking deeply about something. Emma sat on the couch and placed my head in her lap as she dabbed at my minor cuts with a wet cloth. Jasmine stopped pacing, and walked back into the living room where the rest of us were.
“Do you think you are up for one more experiment?” she asked as she looked down at me with excitement in her eyes.
“No!” Emma shouted. “Look at him. He’s got cuts all over him, and his shoulder is going to be bruised for weeks because of what you just did. He can’t take another hit.”
“I’ll be all right, Emma.” I still felt invincible, and was curious to see what Jasmine was thinking.
“Fine.” Emma conceded. “Jasmine, you take it easy this time.” Emma warned her.
“That was easy, Em. I don’t think I can tone it down anymore. If my theory is correct, this shouldn’t affect him at all.”
I stood up and faced Jasmine once more. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for another shockwave to hit me when I felt someone grab one of my hands in theirs. I opened my eyes and saw Jasmine directly in front of me.
“You ready, Sparky?” She looked up at me with what I noticed were nearly aubergine-hued eyes. I just nodded in response. After she closed her eyes, I knew that she was pulsing with powerful shockwaves. I knew because I could feel them coursing through my body as well. Interestingly enough, I wasn’t flying through the air toward a wall. I remained where I stood, and felt the power radiating through my body. I even looked down and noticed the air rippling around the both of us. After about a minute, Jasmine let go of me, and the power ceased.
“That was awesome!” I exclaimed as I pumped my fists, willing the power I had just felt to return.
“That was disconcerting.” Jasmine backed away from me and looked at me up and down with leery eyes. “I should have floored you. I was going full-blast at the end there, but you didn’t budge. How did you do that?”
“I don’t know. It just happened. I could feel the power you were putting off. It kept building and building. Did you see the air moving around us? It was amazing!”
“Yeah, Nate, I saw it. I was actually hoping my theory was wrong, but it turns out that I was right. You can absorb our powers.” Jasmine sounded like she was in disbelief. “Even more frightening is that I think you’re a catalyst too. I felt more power than I’ve ever felt before. It makes sense with what happened with Emma too.”
“Let’s keep experimenting, and find out everything I’m capable of.”
“Hold on there, sport. You could get injured or even killed if we keep this up. Let’s put together what we already know.” Everett objected, much to my chagrin. I was ready to put my new power to the test.
What we knew was that when I was touching one of them and they were using their powers, I came out completely unscathed. However, if I was not touching them, they could pummel and zap me just like everyone else. Jasmine proved that with her shockwave earlier, and Emma proved that in the hospital room when I got a jolt to the shoulder. I didn’t have any superhuman healing abilities like the rest of them, as enough time had passed for my cuts from the picture frame glass to have healed, but they hadn’t. That had me a little concerned, especially when it would come to a battle with the shifters.
Next, we needed to find out if what Jasmine had suggested was true and see if I was a catalyst, increasing their powers. It seemed to make sense because of Emma being uncontrollably charged after touching me. I was ready to get on with the experiments after we compiled our information. This time, Everett volunteered to test my new power. I figured he would seem excited to shock something, but all he had was a look of concern. I reassured him that I would be all right, but that he should take it easy, just in case we were wrong.
“Everett, don’t hit him full blast. You don’t want to reopen your incision like you did earlier.” Emma warned.
Everett nodded indicating his compliance, then grabbed my wrist and started the current. He lit up and started to glow, just as Emma had. The lights, again, went out. Lastly, arcs started dancing across my arms. I looked into the massive mirror on the far wall and noticed how other-worldly we both looked, aglow with massive amounts of electricity flowing through us. I wanted a closer look, so I directed Everett not to let me go, and drug him over to the mirror.
I examined my face, which was nearly unrecognizable. Aside from the glow, my eyes turned from the dull-grey they usually were to the bright, electric-blue that Everett and Emma had. Arcs floated around my body, jumping from hair to hair. It was beautiful. It was unreal. I also noticed the cuts on my face start to close before my eyes. Excellent.
As I felt the power flowing through me, I got an idea. Actually, it was more of an urge.
“Everett, don’t let go. I want to see something.” I caught sight of a sconce on the wall next to the mirror and concentrated all of my will into sending a bolt of electricity its way. I stretched my hand out toward it, closed my e
yes, and the next thing I knew, I heard a pop and glass shattering. Everett released me as they all gasped. I opened my eyes and swiveled around to meet their terrified eyes. It worked. I used the power flowing through me to shatter the light bulb in the sconce.
“Wow!” I laughed in disbelief. “Look what I did!” I shouted as I looked back at the pieces of light bulb laying on the floor. None of them responded. “Come on, guys. Say something!” I urged them.
“We don’t know what to say. This is all very weird.” Everett finally broke their silence.
“Well, welcome to MY world the past few days.” I said sarcastically.
“I didn’t expect that.” Jasmine whispered.
“Didn’t expect what? That I could use Everett’s power? Me either!”
“You don’t understand, Nate. This is unheard of. In the entire history of the descendants, this has never happened. At least not to our knowledge.” Emma added.
“So, what does this mean, then?” I asked, a little more subdued. No one answered. They just kept staring at me.
“Did you see the cuts on my face heal? I used Everett’s healing powers too!”
Jasmine lifted Everett’s shirt to examine the new bandage on his abdomen. No blood had leaked through.
“I wonder.” Jasmine peeled back a corner of the fresh bandage she’d applied only minutes earlier and gasped.
“Ow!” Everett jumped back as Jasmine ripped off the entire bandage.
“Guys look.” Jasmine pointed to Everett’s stomach where his incision once was. All that was there now were small black threads of stitching sticking out of his skin. “Nate, you accelerated his healing.” She said with a smile on her face.
As Everett kept examining his stomach, Jasmine walked over and grabbed my arm. She started radiating her power through me. It built and built until it felt like I had to release it. This time, it did hurt. The massive shockwave felt like it was tearing through me. I was exploding with power, a power that started to scare me, more than thrill me as it had before. Jasmine let out a yelp, but she didn’t let go of my arm. I couldn’t look at her, and I couldn’t say what I was thinking; that she needed to let me go and end this. I managed to hear Jasmine yell Everett’s name, and he, in turn, yelled at Emma to run.