Current

by Rian Harper

  I couldn’t move. The pain was excruciating. I felt like I was going to split in two. I didn’t know why Jasmine was still holding onto my arm, but I couldn’t snatch away from her. I started screaming when the power felt completely unbearable, and then I released an enormous shockwave. In that instance, the pain went away, and I felt relief.

  When I finally opened my eyes, I couldn’t believe the chaos that lay in front of me. What was left of the living room was unrecognizable. Debris was scattered over the floor. The couch had been relocated to the dining room, and was upside down against the busted dining table. All of the windows had been shattered, as well as the huge mirror that was hanging on the far wall. What was most remarkable, however, was the enormous crack running through the wall on which the mirror was hanging. It then dawned on me how powerful the shockwave was that I released.

  I continued my survey, now looking for my friends. I looked down beside me and saw Jasmine lying on the ground. Quickly, I leaned down to see if she was all right. She was breathing, and didn’t have any discernible cuts or bruises. She was unconscious, but seemed fine otherwise. I shook her shoulder and called out her name to try and rouse her. She came to without much effort. When she stood up, she looked around her living room and let out a sigh of disappointment. Emma and Everett walked through the front door and also looked around in amazement at the destruction I caused.

  I had to ask, “Jasmine, why didn’t you let go of me?”

  “I wanted to see how much you amplified my power. I say you more than doubled it.” She admitted

  “But look what happened to your living room. It’s destroyed.”

  “I wanted to remodel anyway.”

  “I felt it that time. The pain. Does that happen every time you build up a shockwave?”

  “Yes, but not to that extent. I think that’s why I passed out. I’m surprised you didn’t pass out, and held on as long as you did.”

  The truth was that I couldn’t believe I held on as long as I had either. But, I wasn’t going to let Jasmine know that. Emma walked over to me, put her arm through mine and laid her head on my shoulder. I leaned in to her and got a whiff of her hair. It smelled like freesia.

  “You’re special, Nate. No one in the world can do what you do.” Emma assured me.

  I became awash with a sense of accomplishment and purpose. I knew my place in the world now. So long had I waited for that answer to present itself to me, and the feeling I had when the revelation occurred was sweeter than I had imagined it. My power was unlike any other in the world. As I mused over that fact, a thought suddenly occurred to me. What would happen when I used my power with a shifter?

  Chapter 16

  Feral

  The four of us toiled away, cleaning up debris from the living room. As I swept large shards of broken mirror into a dustpan, I caught my fragmented reflection in the pieces of glass. I chuckled at the irony of the moment because I had never felt more complete in my entire life. As I went to dump the pile of debris into the large trashcan situated in the middle of the room, I caught a glimpse of movement in the enormous oak tree that sprawled over much of Jasmine’s front yard. I tensed up, not knowing if it were some innocuous woodland creature or one of the shifters. I dumped the contents of the dustpan and slowly walked over to the now glassless windows and peered into the branches of the tree. The soft autumn wind rustled through the leaves that were still mostly green.

  After staring at the tree for a few minutes, I finally saw the origin of the commotion I noticed earlier. Two squirrels were hopping from branch to branch collecting the acorns from the tree. I let out a sigh of relief. Still, the idea that the shifters were in the same city as we were was unwelcome.

  I turned toward Everett, Emma, and Jasmine as they continued cleaning and clearing the debris. “Guys, we have to leave Georgia.” They all stopped and looked at me.

  Everett was the first to respond. “I have somewhere we can go. Chattanooga. Our parents left us a cabin there. It should be a good place to hide out until we come up with a plan.”

  “What am I going to do about Clark? My job? I can’t just up and leave.” Jasmine had a hint of worry in her voice.

  “Whether you like it or not, you’re in this with us. You’ll have to figure something out.” Emma replied matter-of-factly. “Besides…we need your car.”

  My pocket started vibrating as Emma and Jasmine discussed how to best handle Clark without letting him know too much. From what I understood, he had no idea about the descendants or what they were capable of and they had to keep it that way. I pulled my phone out of my pants pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was an unknown number, which I was used to, being a realtor. I got calls all the time from potential clients. I left the call unanswered. After a minute or so, my phone buzzed just once alerting me to a new voice message. I put the phone up to my ear to listen. As I expected it was someone contacting me about a listing back in Burlington. Unfortunately for them, that part of my life had been put on hold.

  As I returned my phone to my pocket, I realized something. Cade had been sending me text messages. It was easy enough to obtain my phone number, as it was plastered on FOR SALE signs all over Burlington. A quick search over the internet would produce my phone number as well. What hadn’t occurred to me was that he was tracking us through my phone. That’s how he knew we were in Georgia. My eyes widened with the realization that he knew exactly where I was at all times. Even at that moment.

  I took my phone from my pocket and threw it on the hardwood floor, stomping on it until it relented and broke into several pieces. I picked up the tortured mess of plastic and metal and disconnected the battery, just to be on the safe side.

  Everett spoke up, “Dude. What are you doing?”

  “Um.” I must have looked like a crazy person. “I realized that Cade had my number and was texting me earlier, which is how he must have known where we were. He’s been tracking my phone.” I replied as I chunked what was left of the electronic device into the trashcan.

  Everett maintained the bewildered look on his face. “Yeah, that makes sense.” He turned and looked at the girls, evidently coming to the same conclusion I had that Cade new exactly where we were. “We need to go. Now.”

  Jasmine and Emma nodded their heads and dropped what they were doing. Jasmine instructed Everett and I to grab what food we could out of the pantry and refrigerator while she and Emma went and packed some clothes for the four of us. Suddenly, my stomach growled reminding me of how long it had been since I had eaten anything. As Everett rummaged through the pantry, picking out a few things here and there to place in the canvas bag we were filling with food, I opened the refrigerator to see what I could find to contribute. A small bag of string cheese caught my eye immediately. I reached in and separated one from the bunch, then took to eating it after I peeled back the wrapper.

  Everett and I took the bag of food and went to wait for the girls at the car. Everett leaned back against the driver’s side door as he took in a big breath and rubbed his face with his hands. I walked around to the passenger’s side and leaned over the top of the car, picking up a leaf that had landed on the roof. Everett and I stood in silence waiting on the girls to appear as I ripped tiny pieces of the leaf off one by one until I was only left with a small piece in my hand. I bent over and collected another leaf off the ground, repeating the process.

  Finally, Emma appeared through the front door with a black canvas bag in her hand and a gray backpack hanging off of her left shoulder. Everett reached into the car and popped open the trunk for her.

  “Jasmine’s getting a few things from the guest bathroom for us, then she’ll be right out.” Emma said as she tossed the two bags in the trunk.

  I smiled as she approached the car and I opened the door so that she could get in the back seat. She put her arm around my waist and lightly kissed me on the cheek before she flipped the seat forward and slid into the back of the car. As tempted as I was to sit in the back seat with her, it jus
t wouldn’t have been too comfortable of a ride given my height and the distance we were traveling.

  After a few minutes passed, Emma pulled herself up until she was pressed on the back of the seat. “It shouldn’t have taken her this long.” Worried tinged her voice.

  “I’ll go see what’s keeping her.” I volunteered.

  I jogged around the car and up the front steps of the porch as I told Everett to keep an eye out for anything weird. When I entered the living room I heard a door close down the hall. I stepped over the pile of wood that used to be an end table laying in my path and made my way down the hall. There were five doors lining the hall, all of which were closed. I knocked on the first one I came to and called Jasmine’s name with no answer. I opened the door to find a bedroom. No Jasmine.

  I made my way to the next door and knocked, calling Jasmine’s name again. Still no answer. I opened the door to a large bathroom. Still no Jasmine. Panic started to set in as my stomach rolled and my heart beat faster. I came to the third door and opened it, not bothering to knock or call out Jasmine’s name. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus because of the afternoon sun beaming into the mostly white room that I had stepped into. I watched as Jasmine fell backward toward me in slow motion away from a tall black shadow standing in front of her. She landed on the hardwood floor with a thud.

  I stepped closer as my eyes kept adjusting and saw Keenan holding a large hunting knife in his right hand with blood dripping from it. I turned my head and saw Jasmine’s soft pink blouse soaking up the blood escaping from her abdomen. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was labored. I saw the blood drain from her face as she became a ghostly color.

  Without thinking about what to do next, I impulsively let out a guttural scream and charged toward Keenan. Fortunately this caught him off guard and I was able to knock the knife out of his hand. I wrapped my right hand around his throat and lifted him several inches off of the floor, slamming him into the far wall of the bedroom. To my surprise, the drywall cracked under the force I exerted.

  “No. Please.” Keenan could barely gasp his pleas for mercy as I squeezed tighter.

  Instead of replying with words, I let out a roar. Keenan’s eyes widened as he came to the same realization I had. I was absorbing his shifting abilities. Remarkably, I remained mostly human. While channeling the other’s powers earlier, I felt different. When I was building a shockwave, the power started slowly from my core. When I was channeling electricity, I felt it emanate from my brain and shoot down my back then outward across my limbs. The power I felt now was all-consuming. It wasn’t coming from a specific location in my body. I could feel it in every cell.

  I wanted nothing more than to squeeze the breath out of Keenan right then and there, but a thought occurred to me as he struggled for air. I could try to use his superior healing ability to transfer to Jasmine and maybe save her life. It was worth a shot, and I had nothing to lose.

  With a swift motion I body slammed Keenan on the floor next to where Jasmine lie. There was little he could do except grab my arm and writhe, being on the point of near asphyxiation. I looked over at Jasmine, whose breathing had quickened. I placed my free hand over her stab wound and concentrated. I felt pulses of power radiating from my chest down my arm. There was so much going on within my body that I didn’t know if what was happening was working or not. Now that I was touching two descendants with different abilities, I was having a hard time telling the energies apart.

  “Nate!” I heard someone yell my name as I closed my eyes and tried concentrating more on what I was doing. The power in me kept building and I felt like I was losing control of it. I opened my eyes and looked over as the bed frame started shaking. Noise was coming from all over the room, as the different pieces of furniture and décor hanging on the wall all started vibrating. It sounded like an earthquake had struck.

  I felt a sting of pain hit my left shoulder, which forced me to look up and see Emma and Everett standing in front of me. Emma had her back against the closet doors, while Everett stood directly in front of the doorway. He was tensed up with arcs coming off of his hands. I realized that he had just zapped me. That made me angry. I released my grip on Keenan and leapt through the air toward Everett, knocking him over and pinning him to the floor of the hallway just outside the bedroom door.

  Suddenly, my head cleared and all I could feel was a slight tingling from the electricity running through me. I sat straddled over Everett with my hands on his shoulders. He had his hands up in the air in a symbol of surrender. I quickly rose to my feet and shuffled away from Everett down the hall. He flipped over and slowly stood, staring at me as I tried grasping what I had just done. Without saying a word, Everett turned away from me and went into the bedroom.

  After I gained my composure and felt like myself again, I went back into the bedroom and stopped just inside the door. Everett had scooped Jasmine up off the floor and lain her on the bed. Keenan was still on the floor breathing shallowly, apparently passed out from oxygen deprivation.

  “Is she okay?” I asked from the doorway.

  Emma sat down on the bed beside Jasmine and examined under her blouse where the blood was concentrated. “It’s just a scratch.”

  “That’s a lot of blood for just a scratch. Nate what happened?” Everett looked at me with confused eyes.

  “He saved me.” Jasmine sat up slowly on the bed as she kept a hand where she had just been stabbed. She slid off the edge of the bed and walked up to me. “Finish this, so I don’t have to put a bandage on.” She grabbed my hand and placed it on her abdomen.

  As I felt her energy start building in my core, I focused it through my hand and within seconds, it was as though nothing had happened to her at all.

  “Well, I’m going to get cleaned up.” Jasmine turned away and started walking toward the en suite bathroom. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back toward me. She jerked her arm away.

  “Are you all right?” I asked

  “I’m fine.” She said curtly as she walked away again.

  The sound of the door closing to the bathroom jolted Keenan back to consciousness. He jumped and sat up, breathing heavily. Everett and Emma immediately stepped back toward the wall and tensed with electricity. Keenan whipped his head around and started sliding backwards on the floor when he saw me.

  He held up his hands when I took a step closer. “Stay away from me!” He kept backing up, sliding across the floor on his rear until he had pressed himself against Everett’s legs. Everett kicked him off and moved to the side. Keenan lurched forward and caught himself on both of his hands so that he was now on all fours.

  I walked across the room and crouched down in front of him. His body shook all over. “Look at me.” I ordered him. His gaze stayed focused on the floor.

  “Look at me!” I grabbed his white t-shirt and lifted him to his feet, simultaneously pushing him toward the open window. “I should end you right here, right now for what you just did. But I’m not like you and your kind.” He turned his head to the side, breaking eye contact. “I’m not a murderer. I want you to go back and tell Cade that I’ll be waiting for him.”

  I released my grip on his shirt and pushed him until he was halfway hanging out of the open window. He clumsily fell to the ground, then scampered away from the house. I looked up at Everett who was now standing next to me.

  “Everett, I’m sorry. I had both powers coursing through me and I didn’t know how to handle everything. I didn’t attack you intentionally. It was like an instinctual urge to protect myself.”

  “Yeah.” He cleared his throat and looked down nodding his head. “No problem. As soon as Jasmine is ready, we should get going.” He offered a half-smile that I could tell was not genuine and walked out of the room.

  “He’s scared of me.” I rested against the window sill as I watched Everett walk away.

  “Do you blame him?” Emma had her arms crossed, still looking out of the window she was standing in front of. “Nate, when we came
in the whole room was shaking. We could see the air rippling around you and we had no idea what was going on. You weren’t answering us. So, Everett did the only thing he could think to get your attention.” She turned her head and met my eyes. “Then you looked up at us with those intense green eyes and growled. You were not yourself.”

  She was right. Something that I was funneling from Keenan’s powers was overtaking me. Something feral and frightening. For a minute, I’d forgotten who I was. What I didn’t want to tell Emma though, was that I still had that feeling deep down inside. And I liked it.

  Chapter 17

  Tension

  The drive to Everett and Emma’s cabin in Tennessee was awkward and quiet. We didn’t talk about what happened at Jasmine’s house, nor did I want to be the one who brought it up. I stared out of the window for the first part of the trip watching the terrain change slightly as we made our way to the Smoky Mountains. The leaves were just starting to change. Green was still the dominant color with a few oranges, reds, and yellows mixed in. I tried to keep my eyes open while there was still daylight so that I could take in the beautiful views. However, exhaustion overtook me and I slept the rest of the way.

  It was night by the time we reached the cabin. The only light anywhere in view was coming from the headlights on the car. After my eyes adjusted from having just awakened, I looked around and saw nothing but pitch black, which made me feel uneasy. I yawned and then stretched as much as I could in the compact car as Everett threw it in park. We all exited the vehicle without speaking a word to each other.

  Everett left the headlights on as he walked up to the porch and started searching for the hide-a-key while Jasmine opened the trunk and began collecting the bags we had packed for the trip. I walked to the back of the car to help her.