“Anyway, when I told the man, he introduced himself to me for the first time as Thorn, and from that moment on, he taught me how to use my gift so I could get around in this world. So, although I can’t see colors and things like you, I still can feel the moisture around the objects. As far as seeing goes, I can’t see through objects, but I can see around them without even looking towards them. I've honed my gifts, so as long as there's moisture in the air around it, I can see it. The more moisture there is, the clearer the image.” Nolan sighed, completing his story, and seemed to relax.
Caleo stood in shock for a moment, unsure of what to say. “So … you … can see outside this cave?”
“Yes.” Nolan rubbed his palms down his face. “But the longer the distance, the more energy it takes.”
“How do you do it without stealing energy?”
“I've killed a lot of Leeches to get where I’m at now, and I’m sure my brother told you about that.”
“But doesn’t that take a lot of energy?” Caleo took a seat beside Nolan, leaning against the cave wall.
“I have a lot of reserve energy. Once I learned to get around on my own, Thorn hired me as a contract killer to keep the Blessed off his tail, and with my military training and my power, I became a natural Leech assassin. A few years ago I almost went off the deep end with my thirst for power, but Thorn saved me again, and I was reassigned to protect this town of yours from any Leech who might enter. A few months ago I received a package with new instructions from Thorn that said you were my top priority and I was to protect you at all costs.”
After a moment to think things over, Caleo asked, “So you have a mark, too?”
Nolan only nodded in response.
“Where? I searched your entire body, but I couldn't find it.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized what he just admitted and he was thankful that Nolan wasn’t able to see his face redden from the embarrassment.
“You did what?” Nolan laughed. “I feel violated.”
“I’m sorry, but I had to know. I saw Bradley’s on his hand and I just needed to know,” Caleo said defensively, but Nolan just waved it away.
“You did the right thing. But you forgot to look in one spot.” Nolan lifted his right foot to show Caleo its sole. Caleo could see the dark outline of the mark centered on the bottom of the foot. He tentatively reached out and traced the mark with his fingers, noting that it was a dark black. Nolan flinched and Caleo pulled his hand back.
“Sorry, that tickles,” Nolan laughed, adopting a more serious tone. “You're the only other person besides Thorn who has seen this, or even know about my power. Everyone else, including Bradley, thinks I’m just a Dog.”
“Dog?”
“A normal person who works for a Leech.” Nolan rubbed his hands together then popped his knuckles.
“So when you disappeared back in the woods … ” Caleo asked, thinking back to the fight in the woods.
“That’s part of my gift, I can turn into liquid. I was a puddle on the ground,” Nolan said, but when Caleo remained silent, he added, “I wanted to be invisible to the man who was heading our way. It’s not like I could hide behind a tree, there isn’t a tree big enough to hide me in the woods.”
“And when I was stuck in the hole?”
Nolan smiled then turned towards Caleo. “I'm not actually sure. I was trying to pull all the moisture out of the dirt so that it would crumble apart when I tried to pull you out. But when I touched you and your energy mixed with mine I saw you as moisture. Somehow you used my power to become liquid and I was able to draw you up. Once I released you, well, you were yourself again. That’s never happened before.”
A long silence fell over the cave. Caleo looked over Nolan’s face, trying to get a glimpse of his eyes in the light.
“This room is full of moisture, you know. I can see you trying to look at my eyes,” Nolan laughed. “If you want to see them then just ask.”
Nolan reached for something near the wall then struck a match, lighting a candle, and held it up to his face.
“Please don’t be afraid.” He reached his other hand out and pulled Caleo’s head closer. “Please tell me how they look; I have been afraid to ask since the incident.”
Caleo awkwardly looked into Nolan’s eyes.
“Please, Caleo,” Nolan pleaded.
Caleo held Nolan’s face in his hands as he examined the eyes. “Well, they are a very light blue, almost gray, color and they look like normal eyes, just with a really light color.”
Nolan let out a puff of air and looked as though he was about to cry.
“No … they look really good, man, Mysterious, even kind of sexy.”
“I’m not sad. For the last seventeen years I have wanted to know how my eyes looked, but I had no one to ask except Thorn. And, well, it’s kind of never come up,” Nolan said, laughing as tears streamed down his face at the same time. “Before, my eyes were brown. So … sexy, huh?” Nolan asked, raising an eyebrow as if the last words just sank in.
“Well, that would be if I …” Caleo stumbled, thinking back to the magazine under his bed. He couldn’t see the photos on the pages, Caleo thought, backing up from Nolan. They are flat images he wouldn’t see them as anything but paper.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything,” Nolan said, as Caleo paced the floor, frustrated.
“No, it’s my fault.” Caleo rubbed his palms into his eyes in frustration. Stupid, so stupid! He chastised himself mentally.
“Well, we need to get some more sleep. We are on guard duty tonight.” Nolan threw Caleo a pillow, as if to end the conversation, or at least the awkwardness.
Caleo walked back to his grandmother’s blanket and lay down, staring at a spider web in the corner. “I see you got your pants back.” Caleo wrapped up in the blanket as he rolled to face the wall.
“Yeah, I grabbed them before I went to get the rest of my stuff.” Nolan yawned loudly, then added, “I guess I’m not as big of a man as you are after all.”
“Yeah right, just look at you the picture of perfection.” Caleo internally berated himself for saying the last part out loud.
“We're all naturally athletic as Leeches; not super strong, but you won’t have to work as hard at it as a normal person to gain muscle,” Nolan explained. “Now, get some sleep.” He blew out the candle and the room was immersed in darkness, again the only light was coming from the entrance.
12
“Rise and shine.” Nolan shook Caleo. “It’s getting close to seven. Let’s go see how the day went.”
Caleo rolled over and looked out the opening of the cave, trying to gauge the time of day by the light coming in. He looked at Nolan, who was going through a pile of canned goods in the corner, shaking them. Caleo could only guess he was trying to find out what they had inside; being he couldn’t read the label.
“How do you know? I can’t see the sun from in here.” Caleo rolled over, then panicked that he might have said the wrong thing as he remembered Nolan couldn't see the sun. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you can’t see ...” he stopped, unable to think of a way out of the situation.
Nolan smiled and turned to Caleo. “Usually, when the sun goes down the moisture in the air cools, not always, but most of the time.”
“Really? I never noticed.”
“Neither have I. My watch just beeped seven times right before I woke you up, so I guess it's about seven o’clock now.” Nolan smiled and Caleo rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help but smile.
“You want some help?” Caleo walked up and picked a few cans out of the pile. “Beans, soup, hash, fruit, or tuna?” Caleo held each up in turn.
Nolan shrugged. “Soup or beans, your choice. You’re the one who has to stand next to me tonight.”
Caleo threw a can to Nolan. “Guess.”
Nolan snatched the can out of the air and shook it experimentally. “Beans?” Nolan said, making it sound more like a question then an answer.
“They are in mo
isture. Can’t you tell?”
“No. It’s an air-tight can, I can’t feel any of the moisture in it and so I can’t see inside it.”
“I guess you’ll find out in a minute then.” Caleo grabbed a can of vegetable beef soup for himself and ran out of the cave.
As Caleo emerged from the cave he noticed Jack, sitting on a rock by the edge of the water, waving a greeting. He raised his hand to wave back, but everyone turned their attention to him as if waiting for a speech. Caleo awkwardly lowered his hand and turned back, just as Nolan walked past him and climbed down the rock face. Eager to get out of the spotlight Caleo followed and as soon as his feet touched the ground, Grandma was right behind him.
“You hungry?” she asked, grabbing the can from his hand. “Let me cook that for you, sweetie.” She went over and sat down beside a small camp fire no more than a foot in radius.
Caleo watched as she opened the can with a tool attached to a Swiss army knife, then put the can on a large flat rock and slid it close to the fire. Nolan walked up beside her and proceeded to open his own can.
Caleo went and sat down by Jack. “You okay?”
“Still sore, but I'll live. Miss Farns had some Tylenol in her diaper bag.” Jack lifted his shirt to reveal a bruise the size of a melon on his back.
“Ouch.” Caleo shook his head, then settled back against the warm rock as Jack talked about his day and what had transpired. How Kylie had loved to splash him when he wasn’t paying attention, how the Hispanic man had been getting fire wood all day, and how it took three hours to start a fire using only Grandma’s glasses. Grandma spent hours finding the perfect spot to plant her purple rose bush; she found a spot right at the edge of the cliff, in front of a large triangular shaped rock that jutted up like a tombstone.
They were sitting in silence, watching the sun set, as people started to go into the cave for the night, leaving Caleo and Jack sitting alone on the rock. Suddenly Jack reached over and took Caleo’s hand in his own. “You know I love you, right?”
Caleo stared at Jack for a moment, confused by the sudden urgency of the question and the way that it was worded. Normally Jack would skirt around saying that he actually loved anyone, except Grandma, with a joke. Caleo decided to approach the answer carefully and make it sound more like a question. “Yeah?” Jack’s face fell as if he was disappointed with the answer. “What’s wrong?”
Jack’s eyes flicked upward behind Caleo at someone approaching.
“Grandma sent me out to help you get into the cave for the night.” Jillian walked around Caleo and knelt down beside Jack.
Caleo looked back at Jack, raising his eyebrow in silent communication.
“Just be careful, all right?” Jack slowly climbed to his feet with Jillian’s assistance.
It wasn’t until Jack and Jillian started back for the cave that Caleo realized how happy he truly was today. Sure, the world had gone to hell and an army was out turning North America inside out to find him, but for once in his life he felt like he really fit into this family. His family.
“I’ll get him.” Caleo turned at the sound of Bradley’s voice to see both Bradley and Nolan approaching from behind.
Bradley reached out and grabbed the back of Caleo’s arm. There was a dull sting and Caleo wondered if he was getting used to the sting because it didn’t seem to hurt as much.
Bradley pointed to Jack with the other finger, as if casting a spell. “Watch.”
Caleo turned back to Jack when he felt his energy getting Leeched. Jack was floating in the air in a bubble towards the entrance of the cave.
“I feel like The Good Witch of the North,” Jack yelled happily.
“Glinda!” Bradley yelled back.
Confused, Caleo glanced back at Bradley. “What?”
Bradley rolled his eyes and the annoyance was almost visible in his voice. “Nothing.”
Nolan laughed as Caleo turned his attention back to Jack. Once Jack had landed in the entrance of the cave, Bradley pulled his left hand away from Caleo and said, “Good night” as he walked to the cave entrance. It wasn’t until Bradley had entered the cave for the night that Nolan turned his back towards Caleo and released a fart.
A wide grin spread across Nolan’s face as he looked back at Caleo. “I guessed right, you’re in for the night of your life.” Caleo fanned the air, coughing, and backed away. Nolan started walking towards the woods, then stopped and looked back at Caleo. “Okay, let’s go to the top of the cliff and go over a few things.”
Once on the cliff, Nolan motioned for Caleo to join him on a rock. “First, what is your power?”
Caleo thought about the question for a while. “Well, I can put out fire,” Caleo waited, but when Nolan said nothing, he quickly added, “Steve tested me at his compound, and I found out that I don’t get burned. Also, in the basement of your apartment building, I walked into the fire and my clothes would catch fire, but when it got close to my body the flame would go out. Oh, and it happened again at the Inn. I think my power is to put out fire.” When Caleo finished, he felt both disappointed for having such a lame power and out of breath.
Nolan laughed and Caleo snapped his head up to stare him down. “It’s not funny! John said your brother would have someone recycle me if he found out that I had such a useless power.”
“You met John? I thought he was dead.” Nolan sat quietly and seemed to think on the subject for a moment. “Yes, Steve would have. What did John tell you your power was, please think hard about his precise words?”
“He said I could cool the air around me,” Caleo emphasized the word cool with annoyed enthusiasm.
“Cool the air around you.” Nolan repeated the words a few times, hoping to find some use in them.
After a while he just shook his head. “Well, until we learn more, I guess we should work on blocking your energy from others.”
“What’s the point? With the power I’ve got, the only thing I can do is be used!” Caleo snapped.
“Your power isn't useless, it saved your life at least once and it has saved mine. It’s far from useless. We just need to find a way to make it useful.” Caleo could tell Nolan was just trying to make him feel better, but it wasn’t helping.
“You sound like a teacher.”
“Let’s look at it this way. What do you think is so special about water?” Nolan held up his hand, which faded to almost translucent, then melted a second later, pouring over his sleeve and creating a puddle on the rock.
Caleo, amazed by what he saw, reached for Nolan’s sleeve only to have a hand jet out of it just as he touched it, as if it were just a magic trick performed by an amateur magician.
“My power allows me to see and for that I’m thankful, but I can’t help anyone by turning into a puddle. Sure, people slip on puddles, but my plan of attack would be foiled by a wet floor sign. There are very few Leeches that think their power is useful.” Caleo stared into space, imagining the whole scene. He was in a food court and there was a man with a handle bar mustache, laughing cynically, while cartoon Nolan was hiding behind a table and turns it into a puddle. “Bubbles … ” Nolan said flatly, bringing Caleo out of his imaginary world. “Sorry, I thought I lost you there for a moment. What possible use can you find for having the ability to make bubbles as a power?” he finished the statement chuckling, but stopped suddenly. “Yet, he's saved my life twice now with a bubble, opened a locked door, floated heavy loads in the air effortlessly, can nearly fly, and keeps heat in the cave by sealing the door with a bubble.” Nolan stood and paced back and forth near the edge of the cliff. “So you can cool the air around you. It’s not useless; you just need to find a way to use it.” Nolan turned to face Caleo. “Now, if you want to learn how to protect yourself and survive, then stand up. If not, you might as well go to bed with the others.”
Caleo slowly climbed to his feet.
“Okay, close your eyes and concentrate. To block someone from your energy all you need to do is imagine putting all of your energy
in a trunk and then lock it,” Nolan said then paused; a soft whistle filled the air.
Caleo looked up at Nolan. “It’s your fault, I’ve been holding it all through the speech.”
“Damn,” Caleo said, walking away. “My eyes are seriously watering.”
“Okay, let’s start.”
“I thought we already did with the whole trunk thing.”
“I was trying to get you to cheer up with a joke, but the gas pretty much took care of that, now to block your energy you first have to find it and use it at will. So strip down and follow me,” Nolan said, removing his shirt and pants and placing them on a rock.
Caleo slowly slid out of his pants and removed his shirt, keeping a close eye on Nolan, whose body was barely visible due to the cloudy night sky as he ran to the stream and plunged into the water. Caleo decided that going skinny dipping with a complete stranger, blind or not, was past his comfort level and left his underwear on as he headed for the water after Nolan. Slowly Caleo walked in to where it was waist high when he remembered Nolan saying that the more moisture the better he could see things. He paused, watching Nolan for any sign that he was just perving, but he was floating on his back seeming not to care about his own nudity.
Nolan turned his head to Caleo. “Now just lay back and float. Clear your head. Focus only on the sounds of the water.”
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