The Supernormal Legacy_Book 1_Dormant

by LeeAnn McLennan

  The crowds parted to let the boy’s mother through. She promptly grabbed and held him while babbling her thanks. I stepped back, feeling very conspicuous and a little shocked by my involuntary reaction. I nodded at the lady and turned away, embarrassed by her gratitude.

  I looked into Dad’s eyes and shivered. He stood with his arms crossed, his face pale and a sheen of tears in his eyes. “Adrenaline?”

  “Ah…” I was saved from answering when a man rushed up and hugged me. I was taken aback until I realized he must be the child’s father.

  “Thank you, thank you. Anything I can do to thank you. It’s yours, name it.”

  Can you make me normal? I thought, but instead I said, “It’s no problem. I was just at the right place, at the right time.” The man tried to say more, but I said, “Please, it’s really okay. I don’t need anything. I’m just glad your son is all right.” I tugged at Dad’s arm. “Hey, let’s go.”

  To my relief, Dad didn’t question my desire to go. I led the way, first through people telling me how wonderful it was that I’d saved the kid, then past people further down the trail who asked us what the ruckus was.

  Finally we were at the parking lot. Dad opened the back of the Jeep and we sat on the back to replace our hiking boots with sandals. We didn’t speak until Dad sat in the driver’s side of the car, and I slipped into the passenger side.

  “Ollie.”

  “I know, Dad, I know. If I need to talk…”

  As we drove back to Portland, I leaned back and closed my eyes, trying for a semblance of calm, at least outwardly. Inside I was feeling panic. For the second time in two days, I’d used my abilities. That thought kept banging around inside my head. I used my abilities. Again. My scalp prickled as if someone was poking a thousand needles into it; my legs twitched involuntarily, wanting to take me back to the trail to erase the memory of the little boy’s rescue from the minds of all the witnesses, even though I knew that wasn’t possible.

  Under my panic was a little thread of lightness. When I thought of how good it had felt to dart forward at top speed and save the little boy, and how relaxed I’d felt as I caught him, my entire body seemed to float with relief – I’d claimed my birthright. But I was pretty sure I wanted to give it right back.

  Chapter 3

  The next day, Anna took me out to lunch to celebrate my survival. On a whim, I suggested the Oak Street food carts in downtown instead of our usual food carts on SE Belmont.

  “Oh Olivia, was it completely terrifying?” Anna asked when I met her at noon. “I mean, you were with Jack and all, and I heard you saved the day ” – she followed me to Almost Hero’s gyro cart – “but I would have been so scared.”

  I smiled at my best friend. Tall, fair-skinned, with big earnest blue eyes and long blonde hair currently streaked with purple highlights, Anna had plopped down next to me in fifth grade, announcing that she really liked my Wonder Woman backpack and we were going to be great friends. As I’d been doing since second grade, I instinctively pulled back from strangers, but when Anna decided to be your friend, you didn’thave much choice. I didn’t mind; in retrospect, I think she’d saved me from becoming a loner and helped me be normal.

  “It was interesting,” I replied, thinking about how much I couldn’t tell her. “I’m just glad most everyone’s okay.” I tried not to think about the bank security guard and the construction worker. I knew their names now – Roberto Chavez and Tim Hanson – from the Oregonian article about the bank robbery.

  The food carts were set up in an old parking lot near the middle of downtown. I didn’t know why everyone called them carts when they were really trucks or vans serving up all kinds of food, from Thai to pizza to weird food fusions like bacon-wrapped ice cream balls. It was a sunny fall Saturday, and the carts were busy despite the chilly weather. The crowd was the usual Portland mix of business types in suits, street people, hipsters, and tourists. A couple of cops wandered through, stopping to order lunch at one of the Thai food carts.

  Anna and I ordered chicken gyros and found a sunny spot in the grass to enjoy them.

  “How’s Jack doing? I heard he has a concussion.” Anna folded back the paper around her gyro and took a big bite.

  It was a mild concussion, but that wasn’t why my stomach clenched at the question. So far, the promised talk between Jack and I hadn’t happened. I still had no idea what I was going to say when Jack inevitably asked me about my display of skills. “He’s okay. His mom is pretty freaked out though.” Jack’s mother had been a single mom since his father had died of cancer when Jack was six. One of the things that drew us together had been the mutual loss of parents at a young age.

  Anna finished her meal. She crumpled up cucumber sauce-smeared paper. Aiming for the farthest trashcan, she tossed the wadded paper, just missing the opening. She muttered about no skills and got up to grab her trash. After taking a last yummy bite of my gyro, I crumpled my trash in one hand and tossed it into the same trashcan, making the shot easily. Anna gave me a mock dirty look. I leaned back on my forearms, enjoying the sunshine while watching the crowd.

  Groups of people milled around the carts, talking about what to order while others strolled along the street in the direction of the waterfront. A couple of guys about my age wove through the crowd holding skateboards. I sat up straight when I saw one of the guys bump into a middle-aged lady and slip his hand into her purse. He pocketed her wallet in one smooth move.

  Crap. Thinking about how upset that lady would be when she found out her wallet was gone, I got to my feet. I didn’t have to have supernormal abilities to know I couldn’t just watch.

  I had only taken one step when the lady yelled, “Stop him! He’s stolen my wallet!” She lunged after the guy, hitting him with her purse. The thief raised his arms to ward off the blows and managed to stagger out of her reach.

  “Hey lady, are you crazy?” he protested weakly. I gave him credit for cheekiness.

  “Give me my wallet. Now, young man.” The woman spoke in a firm voice and reached out her hand expectantly. She sounded like a school teacher.

  The yelling attracted the attention of the cops at the Thai food cart. They ran over and the lady pointed at the guy. “He stole my wallet.”

  The arrival of the police unnerved the kid, and he reached into his pocket. Tossing the wallet on the ground, he ran away, weaving through the crowd. The cops took off after him while the woman stooped down to pick up her wallet.

  The entire incident was over so quickly that Anna came back from the trashcan staring at the crowd. “What happened?”

  I couldn’t help laughing. “That guy stole that lady’s wallet. She caught him and whacked him with her purse.”

  “Geez, really? Wow.” Anna watched as the police escorted the kid to their cop car. “Boy, stuff is just happening all around you now. It’s like you’re a trouble magnet.”

  “What? I am not.” I sobered up. “What a mean thing to say.” I deliberately tried not to think about saving the little boy yesterday and of all the restless energy still buzzing through my body.

  Anna grinned at me. “Just kidding. You’re probably just more aware of stuff like this since the robbery.” She slung her backpack over one shoulder. “Come on, let’s walk home. It’s too pretty to ride the bus.”

  We walked east across the Hawthorne Bridge, one of the seven bridges crossing the Willamette River, separating the west side of Portland from the east side. Anna chattered about her idea for her English paper comparing Doctor Who mythology to Robert Heinlein’s Lazarus Long character’s folklore. I nodded and tried to look interested while I worked very hard not to think about her words “trouble magnet.”

  My body still felt jittery from using my abilities at the bank robbery. Last year at New Year’s, Dad’s sister had come to visit. When Dad and Aunt Maggie popped open the champagne, she talked Dad into letting me have half a glass. I felt the same way now, like I’d had champagne and it was making me giddy. I privately admitted I like
d the feeling of saving people, but not the consequences. I didn’t want to accept all the baggage and the obligations that went along with feeling this way, with being a supernormal. All things considered, it would be better if the cork was put back in the bottle. Maybe that would stop me from replaying Mom’s last look back before she tried to save me and my schoolmates. I hadn’t replayed that image this frequently since the year after Mom’s death. Now it came to me anytime I closed my eyes.

  Anna and I stopped on the Hawthorne Bridge to watch the dragon boat practice in the river below. I usually enjoyed watching the boats as the teams streaked through the water with even, sweeping strokes measured by the caller’s drum. Today, though, I considered jumping in and trying to swim off some of this energy in a race with one of the boats.

  Anna pointed out the boat her older sister crewed on – it was painted red with black and gold highlights. The Chinese dragon’s head leered at us as it was propelled towards the bridge. When Anna called down to her sister, I waved at the rest of the team. I turned the wave into a full body stretch.

  “Ollie, you are so wiggly today.” Anna shifted her backpack to her other shoulder. I just shrugged, tired of half explaining myself.

  As the boat passed under the bridge, I stared at the wake left behind and wondered. Was the bank robbery just the start? Was I a trouble magnet? Would I be able to go back to my normal life? Would this restless energy go away?

  Chapter 4

  Not only is my father intense about hiking, but he’s also a wannabe farmer. In Portland, at least on the east side, a lot of people have veggie gardens. Some people also have chickens. Dad took it a step further and added two goats to our mix of garden and animal life. He rented the goats out to a local business that used them to clear weeds and underbrush in vacant lots. When they weren’t on a job, it was my duty to care for them, along with the chickens. I alternated between despising every minute of the work and not really minding it all that much.

  When I got home from hanging out with Anna, I was in the ‘whatever’ phase of farm animal care. I fed and watered the critters while telling them about my day. The chickens watched me with suspicion in their beady eyes, but George and Martha, the two goats, appeared happy to see me; Martha even butted me in the leg.

  Once the animals were fed, I went inside our craftsman-style house. It was too large for just the two of us, but Dad wouldn’t sell it for something smaller. He said the yard was the perfect size for the garden and animals, but I think part of his reluctance came from his memories of Mom in this house.

  To make up for spending Friday with me, Dad was at the office catching up on work, so I had the place to myself.

  Even after the walk from downtown, I still had energy to burn, and I considered doing a kickboxing workout in the basement gym. I rejected the workout in favor of watching Serenity again while cleaning out my closet, an activity that usually settled my mind. Though I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, I still loved it when Mal gives his ‘aim to misbehave’ speech. However, this time I found myself watching River Tam with apprehension. An enhanced super girl felt a little too close to home right now. After a while, I turned off the movie and wandered restlessly around the house, leaving my clothes scattered around my bedroom.

  I was peering into the fridge for the third time when the house phone rang. When I answered, Dad was on the other end. “Hello Olivia, will you be home for dinner tonight? Or are you going out with Jack?”

  Was I going out with Jack? We had exchanged texts earlier in the day but hadn’t made plans. If it’s possible to sound preoccupied in a text message, Jack did. His last reply had simply been L8R.

  I added concern for my relationship with Jack to my jumble of worries. “I’ll be home. I can make crab risotto.” I had a lot to think about; cooking usually helped me sort out my thoughts. Dad’s sister was a chef and had taught me how to cook a few years ago.

  “That sounds good.” I could hear the smile in Dad’s voice. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  Clouds rolled in and a spitting rain started as I headed to Zupan’s Grocery for the risotto ingredients. I was walking along, head down, when someone called out, “Ollie!”

  As if wondering about him had conjured him, there was Jack, sitting in one of the coffee shops along Belmont Avenue. He had his laptop open on the table with a half-finished cup of hot chocolate in his hand. He waved me over, and I sat down across from him. He closed the screen of his laptop and pushed something underneath it.

  We stared at each other awkwardly. It was the first time since the robbery that we’d been alone. His black eye was still swollen and painful-looking, though it made him look kind of tough. He wore a dark green hoodie, and his hair fell messily around his face. Despite my anxiety over what to tell him about my behavior at the bank, I was happy to see him.

  “Hey” was my brilliant greeting. Something told me it was time for our talk but I still had no idea what I was going to tell him. The truth was out of the question. My mother had drilled the family’s philosophy of ‘don’t tell anyone about supernormals’ into my head from infancy. My first words had probably been ‘I won’t tell.’

  “So what’s up?” Jack crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Did you and Anna have fun?”

  “Yeah, we…” I started to tell him about the wallet theft but changed it to, “ate lunch and walked home. It was nice.”

  Jack nodded, his gaze drifting around the coffee shop. I couldn’t wait any longer for him to ask about my actions during the robbery. “So about the other day...”

  Jack’s eyes snapped back to mine. He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward on his elbows. “Yeah, what was all that, Ollie? You were pretty evasive about it afterwards.”

  I kept a smile on my face with great effort. I wasn’t looking forward to lying to Jack. Aside from the fact I didn’t want to deceive my boyfriend, he also had good BS radar. Now that I had brought up the subject, I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Let the lying commence.

  “So, I asked Dr. Carmen. Dad’s friend, the cardiologist? He said it was probably all the adrenaline. You know, fight or flight and I went with fight.” I shrugged. “I guess it worked.”

  “Really, that’s what you’re going with? Fight or flight?” Jack frowned, staring at me as if he was trying to read my mind.

  “Well, what else could it be?” I managed to laugh, though it was hard. “Come on, admit it. You’re bummed. You’ve been hoping I could fly or leap tall buildings.” Yikes, did I really say that?

  Jack sighed and ran his hands through his hair, managing to mess it up even more. “Okay, okay, you’re right. It was just…” He waved his hands around. “You seemed so strong, and the thing with the bullet…” He trailed off.

  “Well, you were hit on the head pretty hard,” I said gently. “And everyone else was pretty freaked out. What’s the term? You’re all unreliable witnesses.”

  “Yeah.” Jack smiled at me and I relaxed, pushing all guilt down to the same place I kept all my other secrets. It was better this way, especially since I had no intention of letting the genie out of the bottle again.

  “What are you doing for dinner? My mom is having dinner with friends. She said I could come, but...” Jack shrugged and began packing his stuff into his backpack. When he picked up his laptop, I saw the paper he had pushed under it was a brochure with a police logo on it.

  “I’m making dinner for Dad. He’s had to work all day. Some client with a big project,” I answered. I decided not to ask about the brochure. It wasn’t worth poking at the peace we’d just achieved. “Want to join us?”

  Jack grinned. “Sure, why not? And then I can whip your butt at Wii-boxing.” He followed me as I headed for the grocery store. “You owe me a game.”

  Once the groceries were acquired, we walked home in companionable silence. It was still drizzling, so there weren’t many people lingering outside. I saw a homeless man standing about three blocks away at the stoplight with a c
ardboard sign begging for money. A car pulled up and the driver handed the man a few dollar bills. The homeless man pulled out a paper bag and dropped the bills into it. I noticed absently that the man seemed to be more in focus than anything else around him.

  I was just about to ask Jack if he was going to try out for the soccer team when a man ran by the homeless man and grabbed the paper bag. The thief ran down the block, heading away from me and Jack. The homeless man yelled and waved his hands in distress.

  I reacted before I’d fully processed what happened. Dropping the grocery bag, I took off after the thief. I barely heard Jack say, “Ollie, what are you doing?”

  As I ran after the thief, my focus sharpened so that I was tracking his movements exactly. My legs moved effortlessly, my breath came easily, and my mind was clear. I gloried at the feeling of freedom, and I was almost sorry to catch up to the guy. Even though he was four blocks in front of me, I drew even with him in minutes. I yanked the bag from his grip. He screamed while batting at me with both hands. I danced back nimbly, jumped forward, caught his arm and twisted it behind his back. I noticed that, even though he was taller than me, I was able to lift him off the ground a few inches.

  “Stop it! Stop it!” He struggled against my grip, his feet flailing in the air. “You’re hurting me.”

  “Not cool, stealing from a homeless guy.” I angled my head away from his dirty, unkempt hair. “A fellow homeless guy, I mean.” My heart pounded with rage. How dare this excuse for a human steal from someone else? I let go of his arm with a push, and he staggered to the ground.

  “I need it. I need it for my medicine.” His expression turned sly. “You could help, give me twenty bucks for it.” He ran a hand under his red, raw nose and sniffed hard. “And then I’ll give that guy his money back. I will. I promise.”

  “Look, I’m not giving you any money,” I said through gritted teeth. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, confused by how quickly I’d become so angry. I folded my shaking hands under my arms while still keeping my grip on the paper bag. “But I can take you to a shelter if you want.”