I catch a cab and direct them to the address I was given. My knee bounces as we travel through town until we pull up to a small, white house. I pay the cab driver then get out and walk hesitantly up the three stairs to the small covered porch. Is my dad on the other side of this door? Will I even recognize him?
I take a deep breath and knock on the door. My stomach is in knots while I wait for someone to answer. I hope I have the right address.
A short, dark-haired woman opens the door a crack and looks me over. Her long straight brown hair covers her chest and her warm brown eyes seem kind. She looks to be in her late thirties.
“You must be Dustin’s girl.” She smiles as she opens the door the rest of the way. “You’re older than I expected.”
“He hasn’t seen me since I was six. I guess he forgot I would still grow up after he left.” I cross my arms.
She steps aside and smiles. “Come in, Krissy. I had to make sure it was you.”
“Where’s my dad and who are you?” I ask as I step inside.
“My name is Catherine and we will take you to your dad soon. First we have to make sure no one has followed you,” she explains as she closes the door behind me. “It’s dangerous out there for people like us.”
“What do you mean people like us?” I ask, still standing next to the door. I want to be able to make a quick getaway if this is some kind of trap.
“They really haven’t told you anything, have they?” she sighs.
“Nothing at all.” I shake my head.
“Come, let’s sit down.” She motions to the brown leather sofa in the living room.
“I’d rather not.” I cross my arms across my chest.
“Whatever suits you,” she shrugs then walks forward and sits herself.
I continue hovering by the door as I take in the room. A large picture window lets in plenty of light and the walls are a light beige. The leather sofa is against the wall and a matching loveseat sits to its side making an L. The love seat faces a fireplace with a television hanging above it.
“How do you know my dad?” I ask, when she stays silent.
“We belong to the same organization,” she replies, looking at me expectantly.
“What organization?” I put my hands on my hips.
“CODA,” she says.
“That doesn’t explain anything,” I groan.
“I’m waiting for you to get comfortable to explain things.” She smiles, her eyes crinkling at the sides.
I shoot her a dirty look. Is she really going to give me brief half answers if I refuse to sit down? I’m at war with myself. I want to stay close to the door so I can escape easily, but I also want to know what’s going on. Would my dad send me here if he thought it was dangerous? My mom seemed to still trust him even though he abandoned us. Maybe this woman knows why he did.
I give in and walk deeper into the room and perch on the edge of the loveseat. I don’t want to take my backpack off since I still don’t trust the situation.
“Do you want some breakfast? The boys just left for school so it’s just you and me here,” she offers with a smile.
“What boys?” I ask, looking around. There’s no pictures hanging on the walls. If they were her kids, wouldn’t she keep pictures around?
“That’s a longer story. Let’s start with CODA.” She angles her body towards me.
“Ok, tell me about CODA,” I stare at her ready for answers.
“CODA stands for Coalition of Discerning Auras,” she explains. “We all have the same gift and work together to stay safe from Vinco.”
“What is Vinco? My uncle used that word.” I wish everyone wouldn’t have kept me in the dark. It sucks being the one with all the questions.
“Vinco is an organization that wants to capture us all to use our gifts for their selfish purpose. They’ve found a way to hide their auras from us, which makes things even harder,” she shoots me a sympathetic look, as if she knew what I was thinking.
“Doesn’t that just make them easier to spot? They would be the only people without colors all around them. I can’t see what they would want with a bunch of people who can see auras.” My head is swimming. None of this makes any sense.
“If that was all we were able to do, we would be useless to them. There’s so much more to what you are,” she sighs. “I really think your dad should explain the rest.”
“I don’t see him anywhere to do the explaining,” I quip back.
“I know. Let’s get some breakfast and then I’ll take you to him,” she offers, standing up and waiting for my answer.
I want to tell her to skip breakfast, but my stomach growls loudly at the thought of food, betraying me.
“Breakfast would be amazing,” I relent and stand myself.
I follow her into the kitchen. The stainless steel appliances stand out next to the black cabinets and grey marble countertops.
I sit at the breakfast bar while she piles eggs, sausage, and toast on a plate then sets it in front of me with a large glass of water
“I’m shocked the boys didn’t finish this all off today,” she muses as she makes a plate for herself. “They normally eat me out of house and home. Make sure you drink lots of water. Don’t want you getting headaches.”
“Why would I get headaches?” I look at her in confusion
“Altitude sickness. If you don’t stay hydrated, you could get bad headaches and feel nauseous while your body adjusts,” she explains, giving me a pointed look.
I dig into the food eating much faster than necessary, making sure to drink down the water as well.
“Are you going to tell me about these boys yet?” I ask between bites.
“So I explained CODA was an organization we belong to. Several of our kind have been taken by Vinco over the years, some leaving children behind. Not every child develops the ability, but those who do, CODA takes in and raises. We have a school just for our children. I have three boys living here who all lost their parents at a young age,” she explains. “We will be going to the school when we are finished. Your dad teaches there.”
My dad left me to work with other people’s kids? Was I not enough? I’m not even sure I want to see him, if I’m being honest with myself, but what choice do I have? My mom is missing and Uncle Tony said to call the number…
“I see your brain is working overtime, Krissy. I’m sure his story is much different than the one you are coming up with in your head.” Catherine looks at me, her eyes darkening.
“I don’t know what to think,” I whisper. “He left us when I was only six… to work with other kids.”
“That isn’t true. Your father just joined our organization last year.” She shakes her head. “You’ll have to ask him the rest of the story.”
I finish my breakfast and put my dishes in the sink.
“Can we please go now?” I ask, bubbling with impatience.
“Teenagers,” she chuckles and shakes her head. “Let's get going then.”
She grabs her keys, and I follow her out a side door into a garage. I get into her black Ford Focus, she opens the garage door, and then we are off. We drive through residential neighborhoods, the houses blurring together until we reach a large, red brick building. There are no signs explaining what the building is, but I assume it has to be the school.
We park in the back of the building and I freeze, not wanting to get out of the car.
“Krissy, we have to go inside if you want answers,” Catherine says gently.
“I know, but what if I don’t like what I hear?” My voice is barely above a whisper.
“Only one way to find out.” She places a hand on my arm.
I reluctantly open the car door and get out. I don’t know about all of this. I just want to go home to my isolated life with my mom. I thought I wanted the world at my fingers but now that it’s here… I don’t know if I can handle it.
I follow Catherine to the door, and when we step through, we are in a long hallway lined on either side w
ith dark blue lockers. Doors break up the banks of lockers in even intervals on both sides.
“We need to check in at the office first,” Catherine says, leading me down the hall.
We stop in front of a wood door with a large window. As we enter there’s a long tall desk with an elderly woman sitting behind it.
“Who do we have here?” The woman looks over the top of her glasses at me.
“This is Krissy, Dustin’s daughter,” Catherine says.
“It’s lovely to meet you Krissy. I’m Arlene.” The woman smiles at me.
“Nice to meet you too,” I reply.
“He’s in room 204. Please sign in before you go,” Arlene says.
Catherine and I sign the visitor log then she leads me out of the office to a wide staircase. The closer we get to the top, the faster my heart pounds. I don’t know if I’m ready for this. Pull up your big girl panties, I chastise myself. I’ve wanted answers for years and now I’m about to get them.
We step in front of room 204 but I’m too anxious to open the door. Catherine stands behind me quietly. I reach forward and grab the doorknob and open the door.
My eyes land on the man standing in front of a small class of students. He’s older but it’s the same jet black hair and kind, hazel eyes. My mouth dries up and I can’t get my feet to move forward so I just wait.
“That wraps up class for today. You guys can have a break before your next one.” He grins at the students.
They start gathering their things then walk towards me. I panic and flatten myself next to the wall. Damn my awkward social skills.
As soon as the room clears, my dad turns to me.
“Nikki,” His eyes brimming with tears.
“It’s Krissy. No one has called me that since you left,” I snap, anger bubbling to the surface.
He has no right to that nickname anymore. He left me.
“I’m going to leave you two alone to talk,” Catherine closes the door behind her.
“You're still wearing the hat I gave you,” he points out.
I rip it off of my head and throw it at him.
“You can keep it,” I snap.
“I know you don’t believe it yet, but I left to protect you,” he says quietly, his face bunched up in pain. “There’s so much I need to explain.”
“You’re here helping other people’s kids but you couldn’t be there for me. What is there to explain?” I cross my arms across my chest.
All of the confusion and fear over the last ten years comes bubbling up again. If he cared, he would have come for me. Especially since he seems to be just fine.
“Sit down and let's talk. You have every right to be angry but could you at least listen to my side of things?” he pleads.
“Fine.” I roll my eyes and slide into a desk in front of him. “Talk.”
“How much has Catherine told you?” he stares at me, waiting for an answer.
“She told me what CODA stands for, that you teach other kids, and that there’s a group called Vinco that hunts us,” I answer.
“Good. I’ll start from where I left then.” He claps his hands together. “When you were six, Vinco found me. They were hunting all the memory eaters.”
“Hold on. What’s a memory eater?” I look at him, my face bunching up in confusion.
“We are memory eaters. I didn’t know if you would share my gift since your mom was ungifted. When a memory eater has children with another memory eater, all of their children are gifted, but if we have children with an ungifted there's a fifty percent chance of the child receiving the gift,” he explains.
“Uncle Tony?” I ask, wondering if he is gifted and just hiding it. But why would Dad leave him behind if so.
“He’s ungifted, but he was also adopted. His parents were taken by Vinco and my parents took him in. His mother had the gift, but not his father. I still don’t know why they took his father. It doesn’t make sense.” He shakes his head.
“So back to your story,” I remind him.
“Right. Your grandparents were captured six months before I left, then I started seeing Vinco in town. I didn’t want you and your mother getting caught up in all of this so I took off. I stayed on the move for years. I always checked in with your mother, but she never saw any indication that you were seeing auras.” He runs his hands down his face.
“I never told her. She was always so paranoid that I didn’t want to give her another reason to worry.” I play with my hair as I speak.
He nods. “Last year I met Catherine. She told me about CODA. I loved the idea of banding together and teaching youth how to master their gifts so I joined. I checked in with your mom again and she still said you were ungifted. It’s rare for our gift to manifest after the age of fourteen so I thought you were safe,” he says.
“Maybe if everyone didn’t keep so many secrets, I wouldn’t have felt like a freak and kept it to myself.” I glare at him.
“You’re right. We handled all of this poorly, but I honestly just wanted to keep you safe from Vinco. They are bad people, Krissy,” his eyes plead with me to believe him.
“This is a lot to take in. So what happens next?” I ask, still trying to process everything.
“You’ll go to school here and learn about your gift. You need to understand it and you’re behind because of me.” He looks down at his feet.
I stare at him, trying to squish the anger in my chest, but it’s been burning for so long I don’t know how to. I want to know that I can believe him, but it all seems so overwhelming.
His aura starts swirling as I stare, the colors separating into thin lines then drifting towards me like smoke. His eyes snap up and open wide.
“What are you doing?” He barks, staring at me like I’ve just murdered someone’s puppy.
“Nothing.” I shake my head.
His aura returns to normal, the colors mixing back together.
“Krissy you just tried to eat my memories. We don’t mess with those unless we have to.” His words come out rushed.
“Explain please. I don’t know what you mean,” I reply, shoving down the anxiety that’s building in my chest. I don’t want him to know how much his words are freaking me out.
“When we eat memories, the person loses that memory forever. What were you thinking?” He stares at me with wide eyes.
“I was angry and trying to figure out if I could believe you.” What the hell is he talking about? You can’t eat memories… But I can’t deny I felt his aura calling to me like I could taste it.
“We need to get you enrolled as soon as possible,” he replies. “If you focus on someone’s aura and it starts to swirl, break contact. There are ways to search for particular images when you are trained more. Your classes will go into more details on that.”
“Sign me up then,” I sigh, not really wanting to accept this new reality, but I have no other choice.
Chapter 3
The morning flies by in a flurry of paperwork. Catherine helps me enroll since my dad is busy teaching classes. I’m thankful for the break from him, if I’m honest with myself. I’m still trying to sort out my feelings. I can logically understand his reasoning, but my heart doesn’t want to listen. I’m still hurt and angry. I feel that if I wasn’t gifted I wouldn’t be good enough for him.
I want to find out what happened to my mom and Uncle Tony. Neither of them would have just abandoned me, and I’m scared something really bad is happening to them. But I’m just a teenage girl, what can I do?
When we finish with the paperwork, I’m officially enrolled to start tomorrow.
“Let’s go grab lunch,” Catherine suggests.
“Sounds good to me.” I follow her out to her car.
She drives us to a small cafe. I stay quiet in the car thinking over everything. My dad being back in the picture, my missing family, learning that there are others out there just like me. It’s so much to take in.
“A penny for your thoughts?” she asks when she pulls into the parking
spot.
“It would cost a lot more than a penny,” I stare at my hands.
“You’ve been through a lot. I wouldn’t expect it to be easy,” she places a hand on my arm.
“How do I find out what happened to my mom?” I finally ask. “She went out to do something then never came back. Then my uncle says Vinco was following him and gave me instructions to call a random number. I call it and my long lost father answers. It’s just so much to process. I just want my mom back.”
“That’s a lot more than I realized. I will put feelers out for you on your mom, but I would bet your dad has already done that. He talks about Jo fondly,” she says.
“He still talks about my mom?” I ask, my eyes widening.
“He does. He says she was the love of his life,” she looks at me.
“Then how could he leave? If you love someone, you don’t abandon them,” I say through clenched teeth.
“As we get older, we learn the world isn’t as black and white as it seems when we are younger,” she replies.
“It would be a whole lot easier if it was,” I reply then change the subject. “Who is Vinco? Why did they want my mom; she’s not gifted? What do they do with us once they get ahold of us?”
“That’s a lot of questions, but I can answer some of them. Vinco is an organization that captures memory eaters in hopes to gain power. They use our abilities to control world leaders, shape politics, and whatever else will further their goal.” She meets my eyes. “I don’t know why they would want your mom. My guess would be to try to get to you. They normally don’t bother with the nongifted.”
“Would they let her go if I went to them?” My mind starts formulating a plan.
“Doubtful. They would probably just kill her or use her to get you to cooperate.” Catherine gives me a concerned look.
“There goes that idea.” My shoulders slump. I thought maybe I could save her.
The Strange Existence of Krissy Nichole (The Memory Eater Chronicles Book 1) Page 2
