by Alana Siegel
Was it possible to politely decline the nomination? The silence dragged on. Although I didn’t want to, I needed to step in. “I nominate Jaime to join Derek as our leader,” I said. “She is the reason we are here today. If it wasn’t for her research, we would not be united,” I listed as backup for my nomination.
“I second Jaime’s nomination. Let’s vote,” Derek announced. He crossed his arms over his chest. “All in favor of Olivia as leader, raise your hand,” Derek announced. Luca and Chelsea’s hands shot into the air. Derek nodded at their votes.
“All in favor of Jaime as leader, raise your hand,” Derek asked, tentatively, since it seemed like it was going to be a blow out. Max, Derek, Cliff, Helen, Jaime, and I raised our hands. I didn't want to be elected leader, but I was surprised at Helen and Jaime's lack of confidence in me.
Jaime stood up to address the group. “As first order of business I would like to invite Helen and Cliff to our Gifted Retreat,” she said.
“No!” I shouted without letting Jaime continue. “It’s too dangerous. They don't have a Gift to protect themselves,” I added. If Helen wanted to share the Gifted story with Cliff, I had to believe that she had her reasons. However, letting her walk into the line of fire was not part of the plan. I thought Jaime agreed with me on that.
Helen looked at me with hurt in her eyes. I could feel the guilt building and the knots in my stomach getting tighter. After the disaster that I had caused by keeping secrets from Helen the week before the Homecoming dance, I had promised Helen that there would be no more, but her protection was my main priority. Joining the Gifted Retreat was too risky.
“They are with us, not against us. We need to arm them with as much knowledge as possible,” Jaime told me calmly.
I finally knew what Jaime and Helen were whispering about when they thought I wasn't paying attention. Jaime had been updating Helen on the events at the Gifted Retreat. They thought I was fragile and broken hearted. They didn't think I could be trusted to be strong on my own, and they wanted to keep a watchful eye on me.
I expected that kind of behavior from Max and Derek. They were overprotective and irrational when it came to my safety. There was no convincing them to back down, and they had Gifts to protect themselves. However, I was stronger than they thought, especially when it came to Helen. I refused to let her walk into harm's way for me again.
I looked at Helen and spoke directly to her. “I don't need you to babysit me. You can voluntarily walk away. This isn't your battle,” I said, trying to rationalize with her.
She didn't raise her voice, but she spoke with finality. “Olivia, we are all in trouble. I'm not walking away,” she said and turned her attention back to Jaime like the matter was settled.
I stared at her, and the silence in the room was deafening. Everyone seemed to think I was better off in the backseat. Derek cleared his throat and jumped in to change the topic. “With that settled, I would like to ask Aunt Ev to educate us on the Gifted. Would that be okay, Aunt Ev?” He motioned that she had the floor, and then sat down next to Jaime.
“Oh, sure. I love watching you guys work together. You are so energetic. It reminds me of the good old days.” Aunt Ev clapped her hands together.
“The story begins with your family member who passed their Gifted jewelry to you,” she said, relaxing into her seat. She paused to look at each of us. “The good news is that most of them were my friends. The bad news is that only one is still alive.” The smile never left her face. Having lived through so many deaths in her lifetime, she accepted that people weren’t around forever.
“You see, we created a group just like yours a few decades back while we were grieving the loved ones we were unable save. We were older and jaded, with family members who were scared and dependant on us.
“From the very first meeting, we discussed who would receive our jewelry. We knew that if you didn’t pass it on while you were alive, the Meta would find a way to lock it up. ‘A controlled Gifted citizen is a protected Gifted citizen,’ was the Meta’s slogan, and believe me, they controlled everything they could.” She raised her eyebrows to emphasize the Meta’s daunting omnipresence. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.
“We researched our family trees and kept an eye on new babies being born. Each one of you were specifically selected and monitored. The tough part was keeping it a secret. If the Meta found out that a Crescent was in contact with their selected descendant, the jewelry was confiscated. It was just another rule that gave the Meta more power.
“Every day I think about the many Gifted children in the world who will never reach their full Gifted potential because of the Meta.” Aunt Ev digressed.
She took a deep breath. “Our search led us to Pandora. By picking descendants in the same town, we hoped that you would find each other and look out for one another,” she said, her voice rising an octave. She put her hands over her heart.
“If the others could see you now, I’m sure they would be just as happy as I am,” she whispered.
Aunt Ev took a deep breath and continued, “Chelsea, your mother’s great-uncle Joe’s cousin named Roslyn was your Crescent. She was a very dear friend of mine. We used to bicker like cats and dogs and then laugh for hours,” Aunt Ev said to Chelsea. Her face was glowing, thinking fondly of her old friend Roslyn. “She was the maid of honor at my wedding and escaped with me when the Meta attacked the church. She passed away a year ago at age ninety-nine. I miss her terribly.” Chelsea wiped her eyes discreetly.
Aunt Ev switched her focus and said, “Max, your grandmother on your mother’s side had a third cousin named Pete, and he was your Crescent. He had a bit of an extreme personality. One minute his temper was flaring and the next he was a caring listener. He used to push the envelope when it came to aggravating the Meta and visited Pandora to keep an eye on you. He did precarious things like sit in the back row at your middle school graduation. It drove us nuts with worry.” She paused to think back on another time. Max’s eyebrows were raised in surprise.
“The last person who made up our little group of four was… Prometheus,” Aunt Ev said. I gasped in shock, and Max and Derek practically jumped out of their seats. “Now, now. Helen filled me in on your little run-in last fall. Prometheus was always eccentric, but he was a part of our group.
“He showed up at my house on January 1, 1943. I remember the date because my little sister Dorothy was over to visit, and she answered the door to let him in.
“He told us that he knew we were Gifted and was hoping we could spare some food for him to eat. He had nothing but the coat on his back. What was I going to say?
“He was very private about his past, and I had a few of my own secrets so we didn't ask questions. Finding an Elste descendent was his number one goal. In fact, he was the reason we all looked in Pandora. He found the Harts about twenty years ago.
Her smile had faded into a painful frown. “I wouldn’t necessarily call him a Crescent because the title implies a sense of caring for the person you pass your Gift to, and Prometheus wasn't happy about Derek's birth. He acted like he was left with no choice but to pass on the Gifted jewelry.” She looked past all of us, staring into space.
“And then Olivia was born, and he changed his mind. He said he would give the necklace to her,” Aunt Ev whispered. It sent a shiver up my spine. “We argued with him profusely. We told him it was too dangerous to give Olivia the jewelry, but nothing would persuade him, and he wouldn't back down.
“The last time I spoke to him was fifteen years ago,” Aunt Ev concluded with a sigh. She wouldn't meet my eye, but everyone else sent me sideway glances. “We didn't know that he had two Elste necklaces,” she said.
My heart fell into my stomach, and I looked down at my hands in my lap rather than meet anyone's stares. I knew all along that I didn't have the personality of an Elste. Now I had confirmation. I should have never received a necklace.
* * * *
Chapter Twenty: Mind Your Heart
Tap,
tap, tap. There was a light knock on my bedroom door and Derek peeked his head in. “Are you still sleeping?” He asked.
“Sleep hasn’t been on the agenda for the past week,” I responded from the bed. Derek grunted in agreement and quietly closed the door behind him. Relaxing was impossible. My small, innocent existence had been rattled from the foundations. Someone evil and manipulative had watched me and my brother for years. He plotted and planned my life without caring about my opinion.
“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Derek said. I tried my best to look happy.
“I’m doing all right,” I replied, letting out a heavy sigh.
“V, I don't understand Prometheus's motive for giving you a necklace, but I know you deserve to be Gifted. You deserve to be an Elste,” he said in an attempt to comfort. I shrugged my shoulders.
“It's true. You are unbelievably powerful,” he added enthusiastically.
“Or unbelievably dangerous,” I muttered. He opened the window shades and the morning sunlight illuminated his face. His expression looked grim. It hadn’t necessarily changed since the fight with Max yesterday afternoon, but as his sister, I could tell he had something important to tell me.
He took his time flattening my blanket and perching on the edge of the bed. He was wearing the baggy, dark grey sweatpants that he had owned since middle school, a white T-shirt, and a navy blue hooded sweatshirt. He pulled on the zipper anxiously and then looked at me, as if he could relay some secret message without saying it out loud.
“What’s going on, Derek?” I asked. He sent me a forced smile and then turned away. I crawled across the bed and flung my feet over the edge so that I was sitting next to him.
“Girl problems,” he admitted. He pulled the metal zipper up the length of his sweatshirt and back down. I waited in silence, knowing he would continue at his own pace.
He turned to look at me. His eyes were wide, full of hope, and wistful like a child. “It’s about Lynn.”
I grinned at him. “You really like her, don’t you?” I asked. He nodded his head. I felt guilty that I hadn't taken the time to get to know her better.
“So what’s the problem?” I asked. “She endured an entire dinner with Mom fussing over her food and Dad telling her terrible jokes. Based solely on that information, I think she likes you, too.”
Saying the words out loud sounded hypocritical. Justin sat through that same dinner, and the next day he broke up with me. Still, I refused to believe that Lynn felt the same way. My relationship with Justin was different. I had begged and pleaded for him to come to dinner with my family. He had wanted to keep our relationship a secret, and I had exposed us.
Derek took a deep breath and stared into the flowery abyss. “That’s the thing, I was positive that she liked me, too. The way she cared about me and the things she shared with me, it felt so real.” He turned to face me. I searched his face for the missing pieces to his story.
“Where is the tragic ending?” I asked, impatiently.
“She left,” he said. His shoulders drooped. I could feel the gloom and unhappiness that he exuded. I wrapped my arm around him, trying to surround him with love.
“I’m sorry, Derek. Some relationships aren’t meant to be,” I said, and I could hear the hollowness in my voice. I was uttering words I didn’t believe in just to make him feel better.
We sat together, listening to the noises in the large house. The dishwasher buzzed from the kitchen downstairs. Water rushed through the pipes when someone turned on the shower. I hoped my presence was healing, just like his was for me.
His body still seemed tense when he faced me and said, “That’s not the worst part.” He pulled my arm off his shoulder and held my hand. “She delivered my Gifted necklace. She was Prometheus's messenger.” I stared blankly at Derek.
“You knew about Prometheus before you came here?” I asked. He closed my hand into both of his own.
“Of course not. I just put two and two together after Aunt Ev's story,” he explained. “Lynn was Prometheus’s pawn sent to Pandora to find us.”
“I was so blind. After the trauma Lynn caused you, I let her walk into our lives for a family dinner!” Derek vented.
“You didn’t now what she had done, Derek. Plus, you are here to help me now,” I said. We sat on the bed next to each other for a while longer. Eventually he sighed, kissed my forehead, and still gloomy, walked out of the room.
Later that day at the Gifted Retreat, Derek was a different person than the heartbroken boy from our talk that morning. If was as if he wanted to make up for letting his guard down by doubling down on protection now. I had seen him speak in front of groups many times over the years, but never before like this. The passion poured out of him, and it motivated all who listened.
He was rallying the troops and building enthusiasm in a way that only he could. He united us as a support system for each other. He spoke to our hopes and promised change. Seeing Derek in his element only highlighted the fact that he was the natural diplomat, and I was the mistake.
Together, Derek and Jaime were an impressive leadership team. In her role as co-leader, Jaime took care of the behind-the-scenes logistics. She kept us on schedule, created lists, and ticked off items that were completed. Even though no one else knew about the election we’d held at Aunt Ev’s the evening before, the choices we’d made were so perfectly suited to their new roles that all the other Gifteds accepted them as leaders without question.
I scanned the crowd. Helen and Cliff sat in the front row, listening intently. They paid more attention to Derek and Jaime than they did to Mr. Rowling in English class. I bet if we told them they could take notes, Helen would whip out a notebook.
My whole life felt weird when Helen and I were out of sync. Since we arrived in Salt Lake City, we hadn’t had a private moment to talk. Once we were back in Pandora, I was positive that things would go back to normal.
My eyes wandered to the back where Luca joined the crowd of listeners. His arms were crossed over his chest, like he was standing guard over his family. His eyes were focused on Derek.
He was strong, warm, and safe. He would fight for each person in the room. I thought about the way it felt when he wrapped his arm around me, and I felt myself grinning. I tried to brush away the idea. It wasn’t fair to drag him into the mess of my life.
As if I had whispered his name, he turned his head in my direction and caught me staring at him. His lips parted into one of his brilliant smiles. I felt my face heat up and quickly looked back at Derek and Jaime.
Luca was an open book. He didn't hide his feelings for me, and he showed clear and public support. I felt safe with Luca, but was that what I looked for in a boyfriend? Someone who was safe?
I wasn’t sure it was the best trait to describe the ideal boyfriend. What I did know was that I wanted someone who supported my decisions. I wanted someone who was honest with me, and Justin never was. I sighed because it didn’t matter. I was hopelessly in love with him.
Maybe I would never get over Justin. He was my first love. I snuck a sideway glance at Max. Was this what he felt for me? He said the sadness never really goes away, yet you find a way to move on. Luca could help me do that.
Derek and Jaime broke through my thoughts. They had just finished their motivational speech on the importance of preparation and were organizing kids into their respective families. Derek circulated between the other families to help out. With Derek busy, there was only one other Elste in the room, Luca.
Maybe it was because I was just thinking of what it would be like to be Luca’s girlfriend, but suddenly I felt shy around him. I made a beeline for Helen and Cliff instead. I wasn't ready to be alone with Luca, especially when I hadn’t made up my mind about my feelings for Justin.
Before I crossed the room, Helen took off running like a bat out of hell. With her arms flailing in all directions, she looked possessed. The sudden desperate movement caught the attention of the room. The chatter died down as people loo
ked over.
Helen reached out, grabbed the handle of the open door, and yanked it as hard as she could in an attempt to close it. She pulled at the heavy frame helplessly and her chest heaved from exertion. It was no use. The door was being held open by a metal table that had taken three people to move in the first place.
When Helen realized the door wouldn't close, she turned around and scanned the room like she had laser vision. Her knees were bent in a battle stance, and her arms spanned the open door protectively.
“What are you doing?” I asked. Her eyes were open wide in panic, and she breathed deeply through her clenched teeth.
“Don't you smell it? It's not one of your scents. Someone Gifted is here,” she said. The room went still as we all took a deep breath in. I was amazed at her ability to recognize the foreign scent before anyone else.
I sucked air into my nostrils. The scent was sweet, but not too sweet, like an autumn flavor. What was the fragrance? I breathed in again. Apples! It smelled like apples.
“Argh!” Helen groaned, and she flew back a few feet. The Gifted person that we couldn’t see tackled Helen, trying to make an escape. Helen struggled to grab hold of the invisible person. Then the smell vanished.
I rushed over to help Helen and blurted out, “Are you okay?” I couldn’t believe she had thrown herself directly into danger. It was exactly what I was afraid she would do. Max and Chelsea ran over, too, and we helped Helen into a chair.
“We need to find Prometheus and gets some answers. It is too risky to sit around and wait for him to find us,” Max growled through clenched teeth. His eyes burned with fire. I ignored him and gave all my attention to Helen.
She looked up at me and said, “It was the Hadean from Prometheus's Gifted crew. I remember her scent from the night they kidnapped me.”
“What was she doing here?” Jaime asked. She stood guard behind Helen’s chair.