The Secret

by A. Taylor, Taryn

  Karen followed Mr. Schneider, blatantly trying to overhear the attorney’s conversation.

  Scowling at me, Jake still held Lanie’s hand. “Have you heard from Mr. Drake, yet?”

  Lanie’s lip started quivering and she gave Jake the kind of vulnerable look I’d been imagining she might give to me. “No.”

  He opened his arms and Lanie fell into them. Jake’s eyes met mine, telling me that she was his.

  Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I glared at him and turned away. Okay, they could have their little moment. Whatever. But she had to come with me—soon.

  I pulled out my phone, stepping out of the police station and walking around the corner. Pushing his number, I knew he would already know the situation.

  “You need to get her to go with you. Your little prom plan doesn’t seem to be working out, Sam. You should have made her go with you sooner.”

  Clenching my jaw, I let my breath out. “It’s not like it was easy to gather all the coins. I had to practically use a blow torch to get Drake’s out of that little case he had it in. I needed time and a reason for her to help me. But who knows with Lanie’s mother? I’ve never had a problem getting in people’s heads before—it might not work.”

  He laughed. “Oh, I know this must be one of Thomas’s tricks. I can feel it. But—I have a sneaking suspicion that Lanie will be able to get in. He wouldn’t have kept her out.”

  “Let me talk to my sister,” I breathed into the phone. “I have to know she’s okay.”

  His tone grew serious. “Why would I do that? You haven’t done what we’ve agreed to.”

  My stomach clenched and a bitter taste filled my mouth. “If you’ve hurt her, I swear—”

  “Calm down. She doesn’t even know her life’s threatened. Right now, she’s sleeping in her bunk like a baby. I’ll send you a text picture. Just get Lanie in.”

  I’d never killed anybody, but lately my dreams were filled with how I would punish him if he hurt Alana. “Fine.”

  I turned, hearing Reed’s tricked-out truck rumble into the parking lot and squeak to a stop.

  “I’ve gotta go.” Clicking my phone shut, I walked to meet him and Marsha.

  Marsha scowled at me, shoving a white burger bag into my hands. “Is her brother okay, or what?”

  Opening the bag, I grabbed some fries. “They’re in there—did you find anything out about the evidence?”

  Reed fell into step beside me. “No. Officer Boyle is a tougher nut to crack than we thought. He threatened to have us arrested if we didn’t leave his house.”

  As we made our way into the police station, Alana’s face flashed through my mind. I shut the bag. I couldn’t eat, thinking about Alana. Panic started to engulf me and I tried to focus on what I needed to do.

  The attorney was gone and Karen sat on the bench again, hunched over with her head down.

  I held back, letting the others go to Lanie and Jake. How would I get her to come with me?

  “What do you mean, it didn’t work on Jake?” Marsha’s voice echoed off the concrete.

  Pulled from my thoughts, I started toward them.

  Lanie squared off in front of Marsha, her hands on her hips. “Keep your voice down.”

  Karen stood, going to them and pushing in front of Marsha. “Will you try me? Please, Lanie?”

  Lanie hesitated, glancing at me as I joined them.

  Scanning Jake’s hardened eyes, I smiled. “You mean you can’t activate his powers? What—did you just try?”

  Tilting her head forward and licking her lips, in a way that I thought was quite seductive, Lanie glared at me. “Yes…I did exactly to him what I did to Reed. It didn’t work.”

  Karen reached out and touched Lanie’s arm. “Please, Lanie, try it on me. I could help Rob if I could just figure this whole thing out.”

  Taking a deep breath, Lanie looked around. “Let’s go somewhere less conspicuous.”

  Marsha frowned, making a military twirling signal in the air. “Circle up out by Reed’s truck. She’s going to try it on me, too.”

  When we got to Reed’s truck, I stepped into the circle. My heart pounded in my ears. If Karen got her powers back, would she figure out what I was doing?

  Touching behind Karen’s ear, Lanie closed her eyes. After a minute of holding the mark and concentrating, she released her.

  Karen blinked, still staring at Lanie. “I didn’t feel anything.”

  “You didn’t feel a shock or anything?” Reed kicked his tire with his dress shoe. “What’s the deal, Lanie? How come it’s not working?”

  Tears filled Lanie’s eyes and she threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know. It just worked before.”

  I found myself wanting to reach out to her, to comfort her. But Jake did.

  Lanie put her hand up in the air to stop him. “Marsha, come here.”

  We adjusted our circle and Lanie tried again, this time on Marsha.

  After a minute, Marsha’s eyes grew steely and she pushed Lanie’s hand away. “I think you’re sabotaging it.”

  Grabbing Marsha by the arm, Reed whispered, “That’s not fair.”

  Tears bubbled into Marsha’s eyes. “She doesn’t want me to have my powers.”

  Rolling her eyes, Lanie turned to me. “I’m ready to go, Sam.”

  Astounded that she wanted to leave with me, I pulled the keys out of my pocket and tried to appear nonchalant. “Let’s roll.”

  Episode 20: Dreams

  “He’ll be okay, Lanie. Don’t worry.” Sam stood next to me, peering down at my mom’s peaceful form.

  My hands were shaking and it felt like I’d been holding my breath since we’d left the jail a couple of minutes ago. “It’s not okay. Nothing is okay.”

  Sam’s voice was soft. “Your boyfriend has a good attorney for him. Rob will get out.”

  Balling my hands into fists, I turned and rammed my hand into the wall. “Why this? Why now? We are so close.”

  Sam didn’t react to my anger. “Let’s focus on your mom.”

  I stepped next to Mom, feeling suspicious of everything. But I desperately wanted to get into my mom’s head. There were answers in there—I could feel it. “Will it hurt her?”

  His voice was patronizing. “No.”

  I looked back to Mom, putting my hand over hers. “I still don’t understand why you went through all this effort to get me to prom.”

  Sam paused and then smiled. “Is it that much of a stretch to picture yourself with a guy like me?”

  Tilting my head to the side, I scowled. “That’s not fair to Jake—is it? Do you realize how hurt he is right now?”

  Sam softly cuffed the bottom of my chin.

  Looking up, I saw the green in his eyes infused with emotion. I felt myself blush and hated the way he could do that to me.

  Sam looked at my mouth. Reaching forward, he rubbed his thumb gently across my lips. When his gaze came back to my eyes, his voice had an edge to it. “Jake’ll get over it—he’s a big boy.”

  I pulled back from him, shaking my head to clear it. The pounding of my heart in my ears confused me. “I…let’s do this.”

  Sam looked up at me. “I need to touch your mark. And you need to touch mine. Then we both put our hands on your mom’s forehead.”

  After activating Reed’s power, somehow this made sense to me. “Have you done this a lot?”

  “Marsha has gone in with me, but I’ve never taken Alana. I haven’t seen her since she got her mark. She didn’t start at The Foundation until a year ago, and I was already gone.” His eyes turned sad for a moment.

  Slowly reaching my hand to his ear, I felt for the raised silver arch.

  He smiled when I put my thumb against it and then reached for mine.
r />   I gasped at the coolness of his fingers. It felt so intimate. I hated that my breathing came faster, and I knew my face was reddening even more. The tropical scent of his lotion wafted through me.

  I placed my other hand on Mom’s forehead. “Let’s go.”

  Sam reached forward, putting his other hand over mine.

  Loud white noise blared inside of me and I felt my body start to go limp.

  “Hang on,” Sam yelled.

  It was like I was standing in some disco ball tunnel; the air and noise blared through me. And Sam was there, standing beside me.

  “What’s happening?” The floor seemed to fall beneath me.

  “I don’t know. Hang on,” Sam yelled out, reaching for my hand.

  When our hands met, a jolt of energy rushed through me.

  Sam smiled at me, his face happier than I’d ever seen it. “Cool, huh?”

  It was like I was in the middle of two realities: I could feel Sam’s hand in mine in the tunnel, but I could also feel him touching my ear and his hand over mine on my mom’s forehead.

  Then there was a loud noise, like amplified water draining from a bath tub, and it all came to a screeching halt.

  The tan walls of the library in my childhood home stretched before me. The black grand piano that no one had ever learned to play seemed bigger than I remembered it. My hands went to my body, checking to make sure that this was real.

  I heard what sounded like a lawn mower in the distance and walked over to the window, parting my mother’s red silk chenille curtains. Wonder mixed with horror swept through me. “How are we here? Is this a dream?”

  Sam stepped beside me, looking out the window. “I’m not sure. This is a lot more detailed than any of the dreams I’ve ever been in.” He turned, walking around the room, going to the bookshelf and lightly running his fingers over the books. “This can’t be a dream.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  I knew that voice.

  “You can’t be in here, Lanie.”

  My heart beat fast and I turned around. “Mom?”

  It was her, down to her pink polka-dotted sundress and the white sweater top she wore to keep from getting cold. She looked so alive and vibrant.

  Holding open her arms, she pulled me into her. “Lanie.” Her voice held a sob at the end of my name.

  I squeezed her, amazed at how hard and real she felt. Tears filled my eyes and spilled onto my face. “Mom. I was so worried I wouldn’t ever talk to you again.”

  Breaking away from me, she smiled, wiping my face with her hand. “Sweetheart. What have you done?”

  I motioned to Sam. “He brought me to you.”

  Raising an eyebrow at Sam, her voice went stiff. “If you can get into my head—you must be Sara’s son?”

  Sam froze in place, his eyes alert. “You knew my mother?”

  Compassion wrinkled the sides of my mother’s eyes and she nodded her head. “Of course. Sara was more of a hippie than the rest of them and loved to talk about the meaning of dreams.”

  Sam sat on the couch. “Were you friends with her?”

  “Well, I’d like to think so.” Raising her voice, my mom called out over her shoulder. “Henrietta—we have guests—tea, please.”

  “Yes, Miss,” I heard faintly.

  “This is crazy.” Moving away from my mom, I started touching everything, running my hand over the couch, the piano, the wall furnishings. It didn’t seem real. How could it be? And yet, it was real. I picked up one of her favorite books on the piano. “How can this be? Is your mind, like, amazing?”

  Moving to a red sitting chair, she ran her fingers against the material. “This was created by your father.”

  “What?” I turned, trying to understand.

  “We decided, when he started to go after the book, that it was time.”

  Sam folded his arms. “Time for what?”

  Henrietta appeared with the tray of tea and cookies, but she didn’t seem to recognize who I was. She placed the tray down and poured the tea, handing us each a saucer.

  “We knew Nicholi was trying to control my mind. And we knew that he was getting crazier and crazier. He had to be stopped. When your father decided to go after the book, we knew there had to be some way to protect the information I had. And it was safer for you and Rob this way. The last time we spoke, when you were asking all those questions, my mind flipped to a failsafe system. That’s how your father set it up.”

  “That’s why you haven’t woken up?”

  Mom nodded. “Yes.” She sighed and leaned back. “But I’m happy here. It’s like your father is just at the hospital and you and Rob are at school. You see, Lanie, my reality is a dream.”

  Standing, I sucked in another breath. “This can’t be happening.”

  I walked over to the bookcase, leaning closer to see the various pictures that had always been there.

  Mom came to my side and put her arm around me. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m really happy here. And I know you’re safer with me here.”

  “But you realize your body is wasting away?”

  Mom waved her hand in the air. “I don’t really think about that. In fact, sometimes I forget.”

  Then I saw it. A picture of my father and Stewart, the airplane in the background.

  My mother touched the picture, her fingers brushing over Stewart’s face. Tears budded in her eyes. “They were such good friends—they even saw each other through a war.”

  Touching my father’s face, I sighed. “Stewart has been so good to us, Mom. He’s helped us so much.”

  My mother’s eyes took on a terrified look. “What do you mean?”

  Nervous tension filled me. I didn’t understand why she looked so worried. “He helped us escape—he’s helped keep us safe from Dr. Luth.”

  I touched her arm, unsure of everything she remembered.

  My mother pulled the picture to her chest. “Lanie, I thought Uncle Stewart—my Uncle Stewart—was helping you.”

  I took the picture from her and panic started forming inside of me. “We called him Uncle Stewart, Mom!”

  Mom shook her head. Her hands started to shake and she reached out and steadied herself on the piano. “His name is Nicholi Stewart Petrov. And we did call him Stewart. The only name you have ever heard us call him was Stewart.”

  Alarm went through me. “You mean Nicholi is Stewart?”

  Her face turned to agony. “When he decided on a military career—he told us he wanted to go by his middle name. He said it sounded more American.”

  Tremors coursed through her. She dropped the picture, pulling me to her. “Oh Lanie, you’ve got to get away from him. You all have to run.”

  Pounding started in my head and blinding light flashed through me.

  Sam picked up the picture. A coin dropped out of the back of the picture and rolled across the floor.

  Sam reached for the coin, yelling, “Don’t pull away, Lanie! You’re breaking the connection!”

  “I can’t focus!” The loud, white noise and flashing tunnel were back.

  Mom’s nails dug into me. “You’ve got to stop him, Lanie! He wants to bring them back—but he can’t! Stop him before he kills all of you!”

  Episode 21: Allies

  My knees were wobbly and I felt like I was going to throw up.

  “What did you do to her?” Jake’s hands covered my shoulders.

  Sam hunched over Mom’s bed, gripping the bars. “So nice of you to join us.”

  Jake shoved his face into Sam’s. “What were you doing?”

  Sam leaned back, falling into the chair beside the bed and wiping his face. “You weren’t invited to this party, Jacob.”

  Jake helped me into a chair, glaring at Sam. “Good th
ing I followed you.”

  The realization of Mom’s voice saying his name—Nicholi Stewart Petrov—pulsed through me. I tried to get back up.

  Sam shook his head. “Don’t even try to stand. It gets worse if you don’t give it at least five minutes. It’s like an aftershock.”

  Silent, murderous restraint leapt off of Jake toward Sam. “I’m going to ask you one more time, nicely. What did you do to her?”

  “Oh, step off, Curtis. It appears there’s bigger issues than you worrying I’m scammin’ on your chick.”

  Jake didn’t respond to Sam, slowly turning to me with worry darkening the edges of his blue eyes. “What’s wrong, Lanie?”

  My heart wouldn’t slow down. The initial shock wasn’t wearing off. My throat felt extremely dry and, when I tried to talk, I couldn’t moisten the words. “It’s—”

  Jake stood, going to the sink in the room. He took one of the small paper cups and filled it with water. He thrust it at me. “Drink.”

  I took it, feeling my hand start to shake.

  Jake turned to Sam. “What?”

  Sam’s gaze hardened. “It’s Stewart.”

  “What?” Jake scowled.

  Putting my cup down, I placed my hand on top of Jake’s. “He’s Nicholi.”

  Looking back and forth between Sam and me, Jake frowned. He was still dressed in his tux. Black circles darkened the edges of his eyes. Letting his breath out, he turned away from us and ran his hand through his hair. “Is this some twisted joke?”

  Sam put his index finger to his brow, looking suddenly bored…and annoyed. “Yes—however did you guess? This is exactly what I always wanted to do on my prom night—sit in a coma patient’s room and play a trick on my date’s boyfriend.”

  Jake zeroed in on Sam and sneered at him. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I think you like to do, play tricks.”