“All of you. You’re all bad bloods.” Serena started to stand as she spoke. “Right?”
No one replied, and the only one who moved was Blake. He held up his teddy bear’s arm and the toy danced on his knees. Serena’s eyes—her gray gaze—landed on the boy before Michele stepped out from behind the island and snagged her attention.
“Aside from Cal,” she confirmed under the roar of the heater turning on. Her knee-length black dress fluttered around her dark leggings, blending in and out like Vi’s powers had consumed her. I half-expected Michele’s eyes to flash yellow, a sign of her abilities, but her irises remained as gray as Serena’s.
The girls stared at one another, and I wondered if Serena knew of Michele’s abilities. I especially wondered if the vision Michele had seen Serena in years ago actually meant anything, but I didn’t have a complete grasp of how Serena’s powers worked. I was clueless. All I knew for certain was what Serena said, and for the first time in my life, I wished I had Blake’s powers so I could hear what both girls were thinking.
Serena’s throat moved as she swallowed, and then she turned to me. Her scrutinizing gaze told me she wanted answers, and she wanted answers now. But I didn’t have an explanation. Michele’s premonition saw Floyd coming and causing a fight over my leadership, but she hadn’t once warned me about Serena coming. I was ill-prepared for the opportunity to show her my flock, to invite her like Michele and Cal wanted, to be honest like I wanted to be. Still, my thoughts were lost on my lips.
“Daniel,” Cal’s voice interrupted any concentration I had managed. When I glanced at him, his caterpillar eyebrows settled above his eyes. “The others.” He wanted me to wait.
“Others?” Serena squeaked.
I stood up and touched her arm before she could ask. “Think of it like a support group for now.” My forced smile twitched at the edges. “We’ll talk about the rest after dinner.”
“It’s almost ready,” Calhoun added, suddenly cheery as he spun around to the sink. “We’re having pot roast.”
Blake pumped his fist into the air, taking his bear with him. “I love pet roast,” he cheered.
Cal spun back around. “Not pet roast, Blake.”
“Pot roast,” the little boy finished Cal’s correction.
“Right on, kiddo.” Calhoun shot the kid a grin. “We don’t eat pets around here.” We didn’t even have pets.
The two bantered back and forth as Serena nudged me. Before I could even react, she grabbed my hand and yanked me backward a few feet. We weren’t far from the others, but her widened eyes told me we were far enough for her.
“That boy,” she started.
“He’s special,” I confirmed, pressing my shoulder against the wall. “I know.”
Serena’s eyes flicked over, like she was trying to see past me but couldn’t. She sighed when she finally decided to look at me and only me. “He went into my mind.” I half-suspected that much, but her next words hit me. “I went into his.”
My shoulder popped as it tried to rise against the wall. “What’d you see?”
Serena’s second of silence was too long. Blake had seen too much of my life by accident, things no one should’ve seen, and I didn’t want Serena to know. I didn’t want anyone to know the truth.
“You were fishing with Mini Cal,” she said, a dent appearing above her nose.
I burst into laughter. “Mini Cal?” I could barely catch my breath between my laughs as I remembered Adam. “Oh, man, Adam,” I shouted down the hallway. “You have to hear this.”
Adam appeared faster than any normal human could’ve appeared, and a small gust of wind shot past us. He was exposing his powers to Serena, but she already knew, so I ignored it as I told him what Serena’s nickname for him was. While Cal chuckled, Adam’s face reddened, and he faced his uncle. “I don’t look like you that much.”
“It’s a compliment, boy,” Cal spoke through the end of his laughter.
Adam folded his arms and blew his black bangs out of his face. “At least I still have hair.”
“I got rid of mine,” Cal retorted, too quickly. “And we’ll see how much of that stays in twenty years.”
While Adam and Cal continued to play-argue, I snagged a glance at Serena. She was staring at the two, and I wondered if it was the first time she had seen Cal relaxed. The old man, in his norm, was hilarious and laidback, but with the election’s approach, he had hardened. We all had. It made me realize I might not have known Serena at all. What was she like before Henderson? Did she smile more? Was she usually busy with chores? Why would today be any different?
I wanted to know. I wanted to know everything, and I had never wanted to know more about a person before. Still, I had to remember why. Robert was connected to her. An entire flock was. And she was the first blood ever to escape a blood camp, even under the new testing—blood testing that wasn’t even legal yet. She had more to do with everything than I knew, and that was the only thing I was sure of. It was why I was so focused on her, wasn’t it? Every time she looked at me, I thought I might lose my ability to think straight. I thought I might lose my abilities altogether.
“Don’t let the old guy scare you,” Adam broke through my thoughts, but I kept staring at her as my best friend talked to her. “My uncle isn’t as tough as he looks.”
“Tougher than you,” Cal retorted.
“I should know,” Adam ignored Cal’s remark. “We share genetics.”
Serena managed a smile, but it was Calhoun’s question that turned her smile into a sincere one.
“Care to help me with the roast, Serena?” He invited her to partake in something, and she jumped at the chance to be a contributor. My eyes followed her from the living room to the kitchen, only a few feet away, but every step reminded me of how far she’d come. When we met, she was skin and bones. Since then, she had gained some weight, and her steps were lighter, more carefree. Her voice was too. If Robert was doing anything right, he was at least feeding her. But the reminder made me sick to my stomach. I had to know how he found her.
“So,” Adam started to whisper as he inched closer to me. “This is her?”
“Yeah.”
From across the room, Serena tied her hair up in a ponytail, her blonde hair swinging back and forth until it was secure, and then her eyes met mine. She even let out a smile before she turned her back to me in order to face Calhoun. Her shoulders had even gotten stronger.
In my peripherals, Adam stared at her too. “Not quite what I was expecting,” he admitted, “but your focus makes a little more sense now.”
I eyed him, angrily.
He smirked. “Does she have a sister? A friend, maybe?”
“Adam—”
“Just kidding, man.” He hit my arm and let out a half-laugh. Before he could continue, Michele walked across the room, and Adam straightened up. He had to watch his jokes around the mom of the flock.
“So,” Michele started to talk, her back facing Serena. “How are we going to explain her to everyone?”
It was only when she said it that I remembered how much of a secret Serena had been. I had risked my life to save her, and in turn, I had risked the flock. It wouldn’t have been taken lightly, so Adam and Michele were the only ones I spoke to about it. Vi and Blake found out by default, but the seven others were oblivious. Peyton and Ron were too young to cause a ruckus, but Floyd and Maggie would when they arrived.
I glanced at the door, half-expecting it to open, but the house was still. My imagination was left to guess how Floyd would react, but Michele was standing right in front of me. “What did you see?”
“It wasn’t clear,” she sighed. “He challenged your leadership, but I never saw Serena, and I saw more of Henderson’s face on the news than anything.”
Her other premonition. I had almost forgotten.
“One more bad thing,” she continued. “I saw a gunshot. And blood.” Michele was shaking, and at the edges of her irises, small flecks of yel
low appeared.
I laid my hand on her shoulder. “Relax,” I said, and she did, almost like my orders actually meant something. Cal thought they did. That’s why he insisted we pick a leader—a face—for emotional reasons. Other than that, I didn’t feel like a leader at all. I felt just as lost as the rest of them. Political leaders, blood, and a gunshot never resulted in something worth celebrating.
“What if he gets assassinated?” Adam asked, but he said it with a lollipop in his mouth. Where he had gotten the candy was beyond me, but where he got his attitude wasn’t. Calhoun was just as calm about destruction. They had the warrior’s gene.
I released Michele only to press my fingertips to my forehead. “Then, we’ll deal with it when it happens, but we can’t worry about that for now.” We had to worry about our defenses, and right now, our best defense against everything—the government, the people, even the Southern Flock—was Serena. “We’ll tell the others that she’s our friend.”
“Just a friend?” Michele’s voice rose only to drop again. “That’s your excuse?”
“It’s not like I had time to plan,” I pointed out. I was too focused on Floyd, and I never thought Serena would return so quickly. Cal’s offer of a fake ID should’ve scared her more. The fact that she had already returned was almost questionable. It made me think her flock didn’t care about her disappearance. But—then again—their lack of care could push her into our arms.
“I’d become friends with her,” Adam commented, as if thinking the same thing.
Michele rolled her eyes. “You’d become friends with any female.”
“You have to admit though”—Adam propped his arm up on Michele’s tiny head—“the girl seems pretty great.”
“You barely know her,” Michele said, but her tone admitted her agreement.
For everything Serena had been through, she blended into the room like she had known everyone forever. Most bad bloods took weeks to acclimate to the group—I blamed it on all the rejection we faced—but Serena helped Cal like he had never scared her, and she held my hand like I had never kicked her, and she smiled at Blake like he hadn’t forced himself into her private thoughts. Perhaps her powers did more than collect others’ abilities. Perhaps her powers blended her into them as well.
“Did you two touch her yet?” I mumbled, wondering if they felt the same as I did.
“I purposely avoided it,” Michele admitted, glancing at Adam.
He pulled his lollipop out of his mouth, and his nose crinkled. “Not sure.”
“That’s a ‘no’ for him too,” Michele concluded. “Why?”
I kept my thoughts to myself. “We’ll say she’s a friend for now,” I repeated my plan to them, “and after I have a chance to speak with her, based on that conversation, we’ll explain the full story to everyone. Got it?”
Adam and Michele nodded, but Michele’s nod was paired with a sigh. Her back leaned against the spot next to Adam, and she reached up to grab his lollipop. He didn’t argue as she stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes were all over Serena, but Serena was focused on Cal and Blake.
“It’s strange,” Michele commented, pulling the candy from her lips. “I’ve seen her in my visions, but she looks different in person.”
Adam took his lollipop back. “What’d you expect?”
“Someone a little more,” Michele paused, “wild.”
We went silent, but Adam messed up her white hair. She didn’t even budge. I didn’t either. We didn’t have the right to. As much as bad bloods were shunned by society, we had our own set of unspoken rules. Never judging another bad blood was near the top. We were judged enough by others. But Serena was different—too different—and even Michele sensed it. What set her apart from us was the question. I had a feeling the answer relied on what tied us all together, and I doubted we were ready to accept that.
“Just prepare yourself for Floyd,” Michele broke the tension, but her words happened at the same time as the knocking. Even when she wasn’t having visions, she seemed to speak them. Her shoulders slumped like she wasn’t even surprised. Serena, on the other hand, had the opposite reaction, and I only noticed because of Cal.
“It’s okay,” he said, drawing my eyes toward him. He was talking to Serena, now standing in the corner of the kitchen. Her knees were bent like she was preparing to run, but when Cal spoke, she straightened up, and her focus followed Cal as he walked to the door. “They’re right on time.”
“They?” Serena repeated as Cal opened the door.
Tessa burst in and ran straight across the room for Adam. She squealed as Adam picked her up. “You’re getting too big for this.”
He wasn’t lying, but the nine-year-old squeezed both of his cheeks. “You’re getting too slow to dodge me.”
It was her cue. He spun around fast—too fast—and the two of them became a blur of swinging braids and black hair. When they finally came to a stop, her giggles pierced the air.
“Don’t start that,” Michele lectured. “Tessa will throw up again.”
“No, I won’t,” she said
At the same time, Adam said, “No, she won’t.”
They laughed again before he repeated what he had done. Maggie rolled her eyes as she approached the spinning duo, but the grin she cracked suggested she felt differently than Michele about it. The redhead’s grin didn’t break either, until she saw Serena. “Oh.” Maggie’s face turned as red as her hair. “Hi.”
“This is Maggie,” I explained to Serena, and when Adam stopped spinning, I pointed to the girl with pigtail braids. “That’s Tessa.”
“Hi.” Tessa’s ‘hi’ was much more energized than Maggie’s was, and the little girl waved with both hands.
Serena nodded at them both, but her eyes were quickly scanning the room. As the others entered, I could practically see Serena counting.
Maggie gestured to the blonde with uneven hair. “That’s Kally”—she pointed to the scared boy next to her—“and Ryne.” Both shrugged like none of it mattered, and I knew the duo was up to their usual fighting. If I didn’t know myself, I would’ve guessed they were dating, but they clashed as much as their powers. While one contorted fire, the other could freeze anything, and all we could do to neutralize the situation was to ignore their bitterness. Maggie did just that as she looked at me. “Floyd will be here any minute—”
The words barely left her mouth before Floyd stepped inside, all dangly and out of breath. He closed the door and leaned his back against it as he exhaled a loud breath.
“You guys forgot to tell me when we were leaving,” Floyd explained in-between breaths. “I ran to catch up.”
“We might have left early without telling him,” Maggie whispered to me and then winked.
I suppressed my laughter, but Adam didn’t. Floyd immediately shot a glare at him, and right when I thought he’d start a fight, his eyes moved over to the kitchen. My stomach twisted as Floyd found Serena among the crowded room. “Who are you?”
“We’ve met plenty of times,” Cal intervened as he opened his oven to check on the pot roast. “Dinner is almost ready too, so we can catch up—”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Floyd mumbled as he shook his jacket off and onto the couch. His eyes never left Serena’s, and she straightened up. She didn’t look away either. In fact, it was Floyd whose eyes fell first. He looked at me instead. “Who’s she?”
I raised my hand. “Relax, okay?” I started. “We can talk about it after dinner.”
“Relax?” His voice indicated that he was planning to do the opposite.
“Floyd,” Michele snapped first. “She’s just a friend.”
My plan. It seemed much worse when actually played out.
“Just a friend?” Floyd’s expression twisted. “There’s no such thing.”
“Floyd,” Maggie practically shouted, and her red curls suddenly appeared curlier as she shook.
Adam took one look at her before putting Tessa down on her feet. He leaned d
own to whisper to Tessa, and Tessa ran down the hallway. Vi took the hint. With her silence, I had almost forgotten she was there at all, but right when I needed her, she appeared, looking at me once, before grabbing Blake and taking him down the same hallway. “Come on, Ryne, Kally,” she directed over her shoulder.
Ryne gestured for Kally to go first and Kally huffed. “Just because I’m a girl.”
“Get over yourself,” he mumbled back, but they ended up walking together, side-by-side, and the room was left to the older kids of the flock—with Cal standing next to Serena’s side. Her focus still hadn’t left Floyd. She was unmovable, unshakable, but her stance warned of how deadly she could move. I half-expected she was as quick as Adam was, and she didn’t even have his powers yet. Adam was the one to step up to Floyd first.
“There’s a lot to talk about, okay?” Adam didn’t even deny it. “But you’re not going about it the right way. You’re going to scare the kids.”
“They’re already scared.” Floyd’s finger pointed at me. “And he’s not the one trying to comfort them all day.” He turned his finger to jab himself in the chest. “I am.”
In one blink, Adam was behind Floyd and the door was thrown open. Adam’s hand was even wrapped around Floyd’s arm, but Floyd had remained where he stood. Adam only succeeded in stretching Floyd’s arm, but he still told the guy to leave.
“I’m staying right now,” Floyd said.
“Obviously.” Adam released him, and Floyd slowly drew in his outstretched arm, forming it back into its regular size. He rubbed the skin like it hurt, and small ripples appeared where extra skin had formed. When he stepped away, Adam followed, looking ready to stretch Floyd out again if he made another move.
“That’s enough, guys,” I tried to interrupt, but Floyd acted like he couldn’t hear me.
“I’m not scared of you or your uncle,” Floyd spoke down to Adam, who was only a few inches shorter and only a few years younger. Adam was stronger—and smarter.
Calhoun laughed. “You are as dumb as you look.”
Floyd whipped around to face Adam’s uncle. “What did you say?”
Cal’s face hardened. “You are. As dumb. As you look.”
Floyd’s face burned a cherry red, plastered against his pasty face.
“Go ahead, Stretch Armstrong,” Cal continued, patting his chest once. “Try to take out GI Joe.”
The color on Floyd’s face melted away. “What?”
“There are twelve of you,” Serena said, so suddenly the air in the room shifted with everyone’s focus. She stood at the center. “Twelve,” she repeated the number like it meant something.
Floyd’s eyebrows squeezed together, only to relax when his thoughts turned into words. “Is that what this is about?” He stared daggers at me now. “You brought her here to tell her what we were? Are you trying to get us killed?”
“Outside,” I growled. “Now.”
“You are. You’re trying to get us killed.” Floyd leaned back. “I guess there’s no point in waiting for the election anyway—”
I snapped. I grabbed him, right by the center of his shirt, and the skin on his chest stretched into my hand. My fingernails dug underneath the flap I pulled toward me, but Floyd hadn’t moved. He stood right where he had before. He simply stretched.
“Stop,” Serena’s shout broke through us, and we broke apart like she had physically pulled us back, even though she hadn’t. Adam had. He had yanked me back, and I hadn’t even seen him move.
“He didn’t tell me anything,” Serena continued anyway. “He didn’t.”
Floyd looked at me, then back at her, then back at me. “You’re about to then.” His expression never changed. It was empty, stretched out like the night I had met him at Old Man Gregory’s. “Is she the one you saved? The escapee?”
A noise escaped Serena’s throat.
“You think this is the only way we can survive? Her?” Floyd continued.
Adam stepped in between us before I could hit him. “Relax,” he yelled at both of us before pointing at Floyd. “And shut your mouth.”
“Agreed,” Cal spoke up, taking steps until he was right in front of Floyd. “A man who turns to his enemies for amusement is an enemy to himself.”
“What do you know, geezer?” Floyd was losing his mind. “You’re not me. You aren’t even a bad blood.”
Cal leaned closer. “I got enough bad blood on my hands to understand.”
“How righteous of you,” Floyd spat at his feet. “I’m sure she would love to hear all about it—how we were created by a bad blood killer.”
“Leave Serena out of this,” I snapped, but Floyd wouldn’t stop.
“She’s going to find out anyway,” he continued, turning around to say everything I wanted to say to her myself, but he never got his chance.
The front door slammed shut, followed by the sound of footsteps rushing away.
Serena was gone.
About the Author
Bad Bloods: November Rain Page 22
