by S R Watson
Loren nods and then disappears. She is gone maybe ten minutes before she returns with Mr. Blakely. Fuck, why did she have to get the headmaster? I guess getting in trouble is the least of our concerns.
“She called me because I’m her uncle, and right now, I’m not worried about why you’re in here afterhours. I’m here to find out what’s wrong with Genesis.”
The whole mind reading thing freaks me out every single time. I try not to think about it as I move aside to let him next to Genesis. He inspects her face and arms. He closes his eyes as he runs a single hand along her side and then legs. I look on in confusion.
“You did right to call me, Loren. She has three cracked ribs interfering with her breathing and a fractured left femur.”
“What! How?” I exclaim.
“Impossible,” Loren adds. “We were just walking when she collapsed.”
“Mr. Remis, help me get her to the infirmary. Get some rest and I’ll speak with you tomorrow about this party,” he tells Loren. He carries Genesis out of the room so I don’t know how my help comes into play, but I follow him anyway. We walk in silence until we arrive at this elaborate looking clinic.
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask finally.
“What were you doing tonight?” he asks, ignoring my question.
“What do you mean?”
“I can sense the presence of alcohol in her system. Demigods and demigoddess have the ability to heal themselves. Her human half is affected by the alcohol, thus prolonging her healing time. That’s just one of the problems. The other problem is that she didn’t get this injury from a simple intoxicated fall, so I’ll ask again. What were you doing tonight? Or did you forget the whole connected thing?”
My throat tightens as realization dawns on me. I did this. Fuck. It must be from my crash landing.
“What crash landing?” he asks, reading my mind once again.
“One of the girls was showing me how to run at superhuman speed, only I didn’t know how to stop. I tumbled several times, but I was okay. It didn’t hurt.”
“That’s because Genesis absorbed all of that pain and broken bones. She felt every bit of it. So imagine running at the speed of a car going a hundred miles per hour and then crashing. Now imagine what impact that car would take. That’s what your carelessness caused her tonight.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”
“There is a reason you’re here to learn to control your powers, Mr. Remis, and this instruction doesn’t come from other students. They’re here to learn just like you. Now in this instance, everything you do is being felt by Genesis. She’ll heal quicker once the alcohol is gone from her system and the two halves of her can work together properly, but that doesn’t mean she gets to skip the pain of doing so.”
He lays her down on a stretcher, and I just want to go to her. I’m sick to my stomach with worry and regret. “What can I do? I’m so sorry,” I apologize again.
“Nothing. I will ease her pain. For now, head to your room. We’ll discuss this tomorrow. This is not a very good start.”
I leave the infirmary, feeling like the biggest jerk. How could I have been so reckless? I totally forgot all about the whole connected thing. Knowing I’ve caused an injury to someone else tarnishes the fun I had with Madison. It felt so freeing in the moment, but at what cost? I’ll be back first thing tomorrow. I need to know that she’ll be okay. From now on, it’s no longer just my safety I have to worry about. I vow to protect her from this moment forward.
Chapter Nine
Genesis
Light filters through the windows across from me as I look around the whitewashed room. Medical and state-of-the-art lab equipment are in abundance around the room. I grip the rails of the stretcher I’m on as I start to remember last night’s events. I slowly rise while trying to untangle myself from the wires attached to me. A monitor above me begins to sound. The noise startles me, and I nearly pull out the IV inserted into my left arm. I need to get out of here and find out what’s going on. Why am I here?
“Welcome back,” Mr. Blakely says, ominously. “You’re here because I brought you here last night.”
The fact that he can read my mind doesn’t even faze me much anymore. I think back to the party and vaguely remember Loren helping me back to our room. I remember the excruciating pain. “I must have blacked out,” I admit.
“You’d be correct. And the alcohol you consumed had everything to do with that,” he addresses, sternly. “The party you attended wasn’t scheduled or approved through the appropriate channels. Add alcohol to the mix, and it warrants consequences. Who was responsible for hosting this party?”
“I don’t know what’s real anymore. I don’t know what real anymore,” I sing. I allow the lyrics of “Not Real Anymore” by Dreaming of Ghosts, Robot Koch, and Fiora to fill my mind and replace the confession of my thoughts for him to read. I won’t let him get into my head and steal the truth. My eyes slide closed as I recall the harmony, the words echoing my own personal truth. I don’t know what’s real anymore.
“Clever,” he responds. “Do you think you’re the first to try this suppression of thought? I will get to the bottom of this, and those in attendance will meet with consequences. You and Mr. Remis get one pass since you haven’t been here long enough to know the rules.”
“I didn’t drink enough to pass out,” I confess. “I just wanted to knock the edge off. I’m of age and thought it’d be okay.”
“I won’t go into the rules right now, but I will say this.” Elysian picks this time to enter what I have deduced to be the campus clinic or at the very least where they conduct their studies. “You’re just in time, Mr. Remis. I was just about to discuss with Genesis the issue with last night and the cause of the escalation.”
“Is she okay?” he asks, coming farther into the room.
“I can hear you, and yes, I’m fine,” I respond. His eyebrows knits with worry as he gets closer to the stretcher.
“I’m so sorry, Genesis,” he apologizes. His tone distraught.
“For what?” I ask confused. I look back and forth between him and Mr. Blakely, trying to decipher why the headmaster summoned him here.
“You were pretty injured last night,” Mr. Blakely begins. “It was due to your connection with Elysian.”
“Wait. What do you mean ‘I was injured,’ and what does he have to do with it? I feel fine.”
I try even harder to clear the haze of last night. All I can clearly recall is going down at the party after feeling a horrendous sharp pain.
“I’ll let Mr. Remis explain his role on how you ended up here,” Mr. Blakely states, turning his attention to Elysian.
“I left the party with Madison,” he admits. “She wanted to show me more of the campus grounds. We were talking about her abilities, which led her to showing me how fast she can run. She made a lap around the entire academy faster than I had a chance to blink—well, maybe a few blinks. She attempted to show me how to tap into this power, and I did. Only, I wasn’t able to stop, and I crashed onto the ground, flipping several times.”
My eyes narrow as I will my thoughts to once again be reined in. She wanted to show him around campus, all right. She probably wanted to show him her vagina. Why did I bother covering for her to begin with? She threw the damn party and then disappeared with Elysian the first chance she got. Conniving twat, indeed.
“Un-hmm.” Mr. Blakely clears his throat. “Just as I suspected, but Madison is not why I called Mr. Remis in here. We will deal with that next.”
Crap. I let my thoughts get away from me. I don’t know why that chick just rubs me the wrong way.
“Because we’re connected, the injuries you sustained were because of me crashing. You absorbed my pain, like you did when Professor Winters showed us we were connected in her office yesterday morning.”
“Only we now know the effect to be quite a bit more substantial. Genesis, you suffered three cracked ribs and a fractured femur. You not only absorbed his pain, but you also
absorbed his actual would-be injuries,” Mr. Blakely points out.
I can feel the color drain from my face. Being a nursing student, I’m all too aware of what that means, and the average healing time for fractures is a minimum of eight weeks. I feel along the intercostal space of my ribs and then inspect my left thigh. No pain.
“I kept watch over you last night,” Mr. Blakely explains. “After your body rid itself of the alcohol, your human side worked in conjunction with your divinity to heal. I’ve already reassessed you before you awakened, and the fractures are gone.”
“I can’t believe it. I’ve never been able to heal myself before. I broke my ulna in the eleventh grade and spent eight weeks in a cast. Was I not a supernatural being back then?” I ask.
“You’re a demigoddess, remember? That means that half of you was just dormant at that time. Both of you have only recently activated that part of yourselves.”
“So basically, because the stud over there decided to engage in late-night power sharing, I had to suffer the consequences.” It’s more of a passive-aggressive statement than a question. Elysian was enjoying her company … they were having fun. I brush the jealous ideation aside. He’s allowed to be whatever to whomever. I have no claims to him just because we’re connected. “Whatever. I just hope you think about how you may be hurting me next time you decide to be reckless.”
“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes for the third time. “It wasn’t intentional. Of course I don’t want to see you hurt. I will be more careful going forward.”
“On to the next issue,” Mr. Blakely interjects. “Stress equates to a lower temperature threshold for you. The lower temperature results in a slower metabolism, meaning a decreased ability to metabolize your alcohol intake.”
“What does that all mean?” Elysian asks before I can speak.
“It means it doesn’t take much alcohol to reach black-out status since I can no longer metabolize alcohol at a normal person’s rate. It means now I’m officially an easy drunk.”
“Pretty much,” Mr. Blakely confirms. “Last night you hit the exacta— the perfect storm.”
“Exacta meaning two variables manifesting simultaneously—like horse racing,” Elysian surmise.
Mr. Blakely just nods. “I explained to Genesis that you two get a pass in this mess since you weren’t briefed of the rules, but ignorance won’t work the next time. There’s nothing scheduled over the weekend, but I expect you both in Professor Winter’s office by eight a.m. on Monday. No more indiscretions will be tolerated.”
We both nod in understanding. Elysian waits for me while Mr. Blakely disconnects me from the EKG leads and takes out my IV.
“So much for us starting over, huh? Starting on a more positive note.”
“It’s fine,” I assure. “You apologized, and it’s done. There’s no need to keep discussing it.”
“So we’re cool?”
“Sure. See you later.”
I head in the opposite direction toward my dorm. What was I going to tell Loren? I don’t want to lie to her, so I’m not. Nothing else would make sense anyway. What possible explanation could I give for healing broken bones overnight. I walk through the door, half expecting her to still be asleep since we were out so late. No such luck. She nearly tackles me with hugs the moment she sees me.
“Oh, God. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. What are you doing up before nine?” I attempt.
“I was up most of the night with Elysian. We were both really worried about you. He was beside himself with guilt.” I have to admit I’m surprised that Elysian cared so much. Maybe I misjudged him. “What happened? Last time I saw you … you were broken.”
“The fractures are gone now,” I assure.
I start from the beginning, hoping that I really can trust her. I tell her about our divinity, how I absorb Elysian’s pain and injuries, how stress contributes to our uncontrolled powers, and how our hierarchy on the supernatural chain makes us a threat. She doesn’t look surprised.
“Don’t be mad, but Elysian shared all of this with me. I was so scared when my uncle told me you had all of those broken bones, and you looked so out of it. He came back after going with my uncle to take you to the infirmary. He told me that you would be okay once the alcohol left your system, but that didn’t stop us from worrying about how you were doing until then. Later, he said that it wasn’t his place to tell since the two of you hadn’t decided how much you were going to share with the other students about your class.”
“It’s okay. I’m not mad. I get the vibe that I can trust you.”
“You totally can,” she promises. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“I just want a nice hot soak in that tub and a quiet afternoon of reading before I have to start studying on Monday. This weekend, I just want to rest and digest all of this.”
“What are you studying? What is your major?”
“Psych nursing. I graduate next semester, and then I’ll have board exams.”
“That’s pretty cool. I want to be a fashion designer,” she shares. “I’m in love with everything couture.”
“I have no idea what that is, but I’m fascinated by your inspiration board.”
She goes to the board and plucks one of the designs off the cork. “I’m going to be famous one day, designing for all the runway models.”
“I have no doubt.” I smile.
“Well, enough chitchat. You’ve had the night from hell.” She goes into the bathroom and starts to run a bath, then comes back with a wide grin. “I sprinkled some of my favorite rose-infused bath salts in it. Soak away.”
“You’re too much,” I tease. She has been nothing but sweet since the moment we met. I’m lucky to have her for a roommate, and I can already tell we will be great friends.
“Not at all,” she replies. “I’m heading out to get us some breakfast. You’re going to love it. And don’t worry, I won’t bring you any meat. Honestly, that just means more for me.”
She skips out of the room before I can protest. The heavenly scent of roses wafts from the bathroom, calling me to get into the warm, welcoming waters. I waste no time ditching the capri pants and top from last night. I undress completely before lowering myself into the silky waters. My mind wanders over to Jan and Steve. I need to call them to tell them something at least. Cooper, not so much. Yes, it stung that he broke up with me even though that’s where things were headed anyway, but I think it hurt more that I wasn’t a better judge of character. In the end, he wasn’t someone I could count on—someone I could confess all this madness to. Having Loren to help navigate this new change in my life is a blessing. I’m connected with Elysian, but he’s different. He’s hot, and someone I need to keep strictly platonic. So why did it bother me so much to learn that he had spent time with Madison and shared a part of his identity with her? I have so many thoughts and unanswered questions consuming me.
This bath is great, but I can still feel an edge of stress seeping into my thoughts, making me question everything. I begin to sing “Not Real Anymore,” but this time out loud. It worked once before to keep my thoughts at bay. I don’t know how long I’m in the tub, but at this point, I have a whole concert of songs I’ve belted out. I’ve moved onto “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Chromatics when I hear a knock and giggling on the other side of the door.
“Can we get tickets to that performance?” Loren asks.
Wait … what? I sit up straight, sloshing water over the side of the tub. She said we. Oh, God. Okay, maybe it’s another one of her friends that I’ve yet to meet.
“Who’s out there?” I ask, suspiciously.
“Your other half,” Elysian teases, and I want to slip underneath the water. “Don’t stop now.”
I’m mortified. Of course, it couldn’t simply be just another one of Loren’s friends. Maybe if I stay in here long enough, he’ll leave.
“Hurry up in there,” Loren urges. “I’ve been gone for twenty minutes, and you’re still in there. Your
surprise breakfast is going to get cold.”
I reluctantly get out of the tub. I guess hiding in here is futile. I dry off before I remember I never brought a change of clothes in here with me.
“Can you get me a pair shorts and tank out of my drawer. I forgot to bring clothes in here.” I really want to say that I wasn’t expecting her to come back with him, but I resist the urge.
I crack the door open just a tad—expecting to see her outstretched arm. Instead, it’s his. I clench the towel around me tighter. His eyes peruse me with a caress before he closes the distance so I can reach the clothes.
“Loren ran to get ice down the hall for the drinks.” He smirks.
“Thanks,” I manage to get out before yanking the clothes out of his hand.
The towel slips ever so slightly, but he is quick to turn away. Ugh. He probably sees me like a little sister or some equivalent. Why do I care? Him refusing to look is obviously a testament to his lack of interest. I bet if Madison was standing here in this towel, he wouldn’t be able to tear his eyes away. I quickly shut the door before I embarrass myself any further. Too late. Wrapped in the gym shorts, I find panties and a sports bra that he obviously picked out. At least he was smart enough to know that I couldn’t possibly wear the tank without support. Still, he’s touched my intimate things. I get dressed and force myself to leave the safety of the bathroom. He’s just a guy, I chant over and over. Loren comes back in just as I enter the room. I look at all the food she has spread out and focus on that. So thoughtful.
“I got you eggs Benedict,” she announces. “Without the ham. I told them to put it on my plate. Oh, and I ran into Elysian getting food so I told him to join us. Hope you don’t mind.”
Kind of too late if I did, but I just smile. “Of course not. Thank you for the food. You couldn’t have possibly known it was one of my favorites.”
“Mine too,” she beams. “But I opted for the southwestern omelet this go-round. Elysian did too.”
He uncovers his food, and together, they definitely have enough meat. I sit on my bed, and she passes me an orange juice.