Exposing ELE (ELE Series #3)

by Nuckels, Courtney

  Without breaking the kiss, Alec pulls me up from the chair and while we’re both standing, he pulls me so close to him that we could almost be one. His gentle kiss deepens with an urgency that tells me it's been too long since we've been together. His left hand is warm against my lower back. He runs his right hand through my hair. I hold on tightly to him as I'm swept up in the whirlwind of warmth and safety that he exuberates. I want that safety; I crave that normalcy. If only our kiss could take us back in time to when my life wasn't torn into pieces. If only...The mirage fades away before me as I come to my senses. I put my hand on his chest and pull back, breaking the kiss. I shake my head. “I can't.”

  Disappointment flashes in his navy eyes. “I shouldn't have done that. I don't know what I was thinking.” He runs his hands through his dark hair and stands up. He walks over to the window.

  I take a deep breath and then I stand up and join him. This safe house is located right next to the woods and the window in this room looks over a row of tall evergreens.

  “It's okay. I just can't do this right now though. Too much has happened. I'm different now. I don't think I will ever be the same.” I bite my lower lip. I don't want things to be awkward between us.

  He turns around and looks at me. “Don't be sorry, Willow. I just wish I knew what I can do for you.”

  “You can be my friend. I really need my friends right now.” My heart stops in anticipation of what his answer will be. I can tell now that being friends is not what he wanted. He wanted to go back to the way things were. I wish we could but I'm just not the same now.

  He puts his palm on my cheek and smiles softly. “We were pretty good friends. I think I can do that.” He kisses me on the forehead and drops his hand.

  “Thank you,” I mouth to him, feeling relieved. Deep down I don't kid myself. I know he may not be satisfied with friendship and perhaps this isn't the last time we will talk about this. For now though, I will accept what I can get, as long as I don't lose Alec too. I need him in my life. My friends mean too much to me. They are like my family.

  “Well then, as our first act as friends, maybe we ought to go find Connor and Claire and see if there is any trouble to be found in this hotel.” He watches me for a response.

  I give him a half smile, which must be satisfactory enough for him. He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door. “Maybe we should hold off on the trouble though.” I add.

  He squeezes my hand, “Deal.”

  I let him lead me down the hall and up two flights of stairs. We find Connor and Claire in a small room labeled: Recreation Center. Alec opens the door for me and I get a good look at a Ping-Pong table and a pool table before Claire attacks me in a full-fledged hug.

  “Willow!” she exclaims. She hugs me tightly and I revel in the comfort my best friend brings me.

  I hold on tight. A minute later I feel the wetness soak through the shoulder of my shirt. I pull away from Claire and find her crying. “Claire,” I say with worry.

  That causes her tears to fall even more freely. She hunches over crying heavily with her hands covering her face. I pull her to me again. Connor looks on worriedly from the corner.

  As I hold her, I close my eyes and open my emotions up. I feel Claire's relief that I returned. How much it ate her up inside not knowing if I would make it back alive. I also feel the hurt and her sense of loss. She had grown to love my mom. Everyone dies on her.

  “I'm back, Claire. We are all safe now.” Although I know one person is excluded. I pull her back so I can see her. I catch the reflection of my black irises through her eyes. “I'm sorry, Claire. I know that you loved my mom.”

  She looks ashamed and I can feel the emotions as if they were my own. She wipes at her eyes and says, “I just feel like it's wrong for me to feel sad. You are the one who's mourning for your mother. You shouldn't need to comfort me... I have no right to feel this way.” She darts her purple eyes away from mine.

  I put my hands on her shoulders and shake her lightly. “No, Claire. You have every right to feel sad. I am not the only one who mourns for her. We can remember her together.”

  Claire looks at me uncertainly and I pull her into another hug. “It's okay. We are going to be okay.” I pat her back. Saying those comforting words to my best friend actually allows the words to sink into my heart. As I look around at my friends together in this room, I know that things will be okay. Maybe not right away...but eventually.

  Connor comes up behind Claire and wraps his big lanky arms around us. “Group hug!”

  That earns a soft giggle from us. Connor is great at breaking tensions, I'm so grateful to have him as a friend. Alec comes and joins in on the hug too and eventually we are a mixture of limbs with Claire and me sandwiched in the middle.

  When we break apart, our eyes are dry and our hearts are just a little bit less broken. “We are all together.” I look at each of them. “And with that, I have to tell you that I think I'm going to need your help.” I hadn't thought of including them before, but these are my friends. What makes me think that they are any less capable of completing a rescue mission than I am? I look at Connor first, “Connor, you still want to find your parents right?” I'm not sure if his parents could be prisoners but one way or another I am determined to help him figure out what happened to them.

  He nods his head. “Yes, Lily has been having a hard time adjusting. I need to find them for her.”

  “We will find them,” I tell him. Then I add, “I saw her in the classroom earlier. She was putting a puzzle together.”

  He smiles proudly. “Yeah, she's a smart cookie. Though the teacher's say she won't let any of the other kids too close to her. She hasn't made any friends here.”

  “It'll take some time. Reading emotions is a hard ability for a child to possess. However, children are so much more flexible than we are. I think we underestimate just how much they can handle,” I tell him.

  “That's true.” Connor seems as if he hadn't really thought of it that way.

  I look to Alec next. “What about your dad?” I can't believe I hadn't thought about his dad before now. He is probably among one of the taken prisoners... that is if he was lucky enough to survive the Reaper attacks.

  “I do need to find him. He may have been a Class A Jerk but he's still my dad,” Alec says.

  A thought occurs to me. The old me would have kept it to myself but the new Willow is determined to be honest with her friends. “Are you prepared to handle it if he was in cahoots with Dr. Hastings?”

  Alec's eyes turn dark as he considers it for a moment. He nods, “If that was the choice he made then there will be consequences.”

  I nod firmly and then address all of them. “If you all are up for it, I would like your help in saving the rest of the prisoners...” I bite my lip. “I have to admit though that I don't know where they are. When we went back after Dr. Hastings, the prisoners had been moved.”

  Alec looks confused. “You went after Dr. Hastings?”

  I realize I hadn't told them where I was going when I left with Tony. I just assumed that my dad would clue them in. I look over at Claire who has a guilty expression on her face.

  “You told me that she went to find supplies,” Alec addresses Claire.

  She avoids eye contact when she says, “I'm so sorry, Alec. You were just so torn up about not being able to help Willow after her mom died...”

  I look at Alec in surprise. He quickly averts his gaze from mine but not before I see the truth in them.

  Claire continues, “When Willow's dad told me that she went after Dr. Hastings, I knew that it would tear you up inside with worry. I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth.” She looks over at Connor. “I'm sorry, Connor, I shouldn't have lied.” Her eyes tear up and I can see the fear in them. She's worried she messed up big time. I can totally understand that feeling since I've for sure been there and done that...more than once.

  Connor grabs her hand and squeezes it. “You were just trying to protect you
r friend. I'm not mad at you. I love you babe.” He gives her a light kiss.

  Claire turns to Alec. She fidgets with her nails as she waits for his anger to turn on her. “I'm so sorry, Alec.”

  When he meets her eyes, he says, “I forgive you. I understand that you were trying to protect me but I want you to be honest with me in the future. I can handle the truth.”

  Claire nods her head. “Most definitely. I will. I'm sorry again.”

  Alec gives her a half smile. “I'm not mad at you. I will be if you say you are sorry one more time though.” He tries to play off lightening the mood. He turns his attention towards me. “So you went after Dr. Hastings? How did that go?”

  My face turns serious as I say soberly, “I killed him.” The audible sound of the three of them gasping in unison would almost be funny if it weren't for the situation. “I didn't really have a choice. He was going to kill Tony and it was either his life or Tony's.”

  “You made the right decision,” Claire assures me. The others agree as well, even though I can see the jealousy flash across Alec's eyes.

  “What about Zack?” Connor asks.

  I shake my head. “He wasn't there so I don't really know.”

  “So he may not know about his dad? Or who killed him?” Alec asks with worry in his expression.

  “I have no idea. It probably won't be long before he finds out that his father is dead. I honestly don't know how he'll react to the news. I do need to find Candy though. Maybe she can help us,” I say.

  “Yes! Maybe Zack will release the prisoners now that his dad's out of power.” Claire sounds idealistic.

  I wish I could believe that, but I have a gnawing feeling that Zack may have turned into something even darker than his father. Either way, I need to find him alive so I can find out if he knows a cure that will prevent Tony from turning into a Reaper.

  “So how can we help?” Connor asks.

  I shrug my shoulders because I don't have a plan yet. “Tony is meeting with Lee and some others. Hopefully, they will work on ironing out a rescue mission. If you are willing to help with it then I know your abilities can be utilized. Are you all in?”

  “Yes!” they say in unison.

  Connor puts his hand in the middle of our group, waiting for us to place our hands on top of his to do some type of rally chant. We leave him hanging and he sulks while he drops his hand to his side again. Alec gives him a consolatory pat on the back and he lightens up.

  “We should go find Candy. Will you go with me, Claire?” I ask, figuring that having her along will help me. I have no idea how Candy will react when I tell her that I killed her father. I try to put myself in her shoes and that makes me cringe. Could I still be friends with someone if they killed one of my parents? Even if my parent was evil? I run my hands over my face. It’s like an impossible question in which no answer could exist.

  We leave the guys in the rec room and head out in search of Candy.

  I have to ask around but eventually we find Candy hanging out in Jake's room. I had nearly forgotten about the beefy blonde boy she met at the bonfire a few nights ago. The door to his room is open and when we approach, we find her sitting next to him laughing. She runs her hand through her long blonde hair. Her baby blue eyes are brightly lit and for the first time in a while, she looks genuinely happy.

  I don't want to be the one to take that from her. I consider whether I should just leave and allow her to stay peacefully unaware of her father's death and her brother's crossover into possible evil-dom. She has a right to know, I tell myself. I gather the courage and knock on the door.

  Both Candy and Jake turn to look at me. Candy jumps up and comes to my side. “Willow.” Her eyes look sympathetic as she asks, “How are you doing?”

  It's still so odd to see Candy caring. I know it's the absence of her father's pull that allows her to be free to care about other people. I bite my lip and wonder again if this will be good news or bad. “I'm hanging in there,” I say honestly. “Um, can we maybe have a word with you in private?”

  Candy looks a bit surprised but only takes a second before she turns around and tells Jake, “I'll be back in just a sec, K?”

  “I'll be waiting.” He smiles.

  Candy giggles and, for once, the sound of her laugh doesn't sound like nails to a chalkboard. It sounds like happiness. My heart starts accelerating and my nerves work in overdrive as I lead her and Claire to my room.

  Once the door is closed and we all take a seat, Candy asks, “What's going on?”

  “Willow needs to talk to you,” Claire tells her.

  “Then why are you here?” Candy doesn't sound accusatory, just inquisitive.

  As a buffer in case you don't like what you hear, I think. “I asked her to be here for both you and me when we have this talk.” I take a deep breath.

  Candy's eyes dart between the two of us and she starts clasping and unclasping her hands out of nervousness. “So, this isn't going to be a good talk, is it?”

  I shake my head slowly. I really dread what I'm about to tell her. “I know you were at the funeral and you are aware of my mom's death...” I look away and I have to force myself to breathe because just talking about my mom hurts. Especially when I have to use past tense. “Has anyone told you how she died?”

  I look up to find Candy's eyes starting to water. She nods her head sadly. “I'm so sorry, Willow. Yes, I know that my father was responsible. I don't know what to say... I'm just so sorry,” she says, stuttering while trying to find the right words. She looks at me with worry. It hadn't occurred to me that she could be just as nervous about talking to me about this as I am with her. “My father has a way of taking away the things we care about most.” A tear escapes as she recalls her own mother's death.

  “I don't blame you at all, Candy, please don't think that.” I watch the relief flood across her features. “But, that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Candy straightens up a little and wipes the tear away with the back of her hand. “What do you need to talk about?”

  “Tony and I went back to the prison and...” I judge from Candy's expression that she wants me to just get on with it. Say what I came here to say. “We found your father. Some things happened and I didn't have a choice. He was going to kill Tony and I couldn't let that happen...” The lump in my throat makes it almost unbearable to speak the next words. “I feel like you need to hear this from me first...” I look away, not ready to see the judgment in her eyes. “I killed your father.”

  She gasps and when I force myself to look her in the eyes, she’s looking away and her expression is blank. Needing to know her feelings, I open up the part of me that will let them in.

  I feel the shock of my words bouncing across her mind like an echo. The mixed emotions of sadness for the loss of the father who gave her life, and relief that he can no longer cause any more pain, tear at her like a rope in tug-o-war. There's an underlining piece in her that feels like her mother has finally been avenged. Then there is a feeling of loss, grief and worry for what her future will be like now that she is parentless.

  Her eyes meet mine as she thinks of her brother. Her expression hardens. I know she hates it when I invade her privacy with my gifts, she's told me before. She knows when I do it.

  “I'm sorry,” I tell her, not needing to be more specific. She already knows that I am. I just need to know now if she hates me.

  She forces her to push away the anger that was building because of my intrusion into her private feelings. “What about my brother?”

  “He wasn't there,” I tell her. “I don't know where he is.”

  Candy stands up and heads towards the door. “I have to find him. He’ll need me.”

  I jump up from the bed where I'd been sitting. “Wait. There's more...” Candy stops and gives me her attention so I continue. “We are going back for the prisoners. You can come with us, but you need to know that your brother is different.”

  “What do you mean he's
different?” Her blue eyes are open wide.

  I don’t care for the way she said different either. “I don't know the extent of it, but I believe he was helping your father with whatever plan they were trying to commence. He helped your father take the prisoners.”

  “My father would have forced him to do that. Now that he's gone, he is free too. He will do the right thing and hand over the prisoners,” Candy says assuredly.

  Claire chimes in. “Tell her about his eyes,” she urges me.

  Candy looks at Claire for a moment, and then turns her attention to me in question.

  “A lot has changed with your brother. He's not the same anymore; his eyes are different. He has a lot of colors like mine in them but half of his iris is red.” I tell her.

  Her lower lip falls open. “Like a Reaper?” she asks.

  I nod my head. “He's not full blown Reaper but there is something not right with him. I don't know to what extent he has changed because of these powers, but I don't believe he is on the side of good.”

  Candy shakes her head in denial. “No, he could be just like you Willow. I don't know how he got all of the colors like you have but that doesn't make him bad. Just like it doesn't make you bad. I mean, you obviously have some red in your eyes too.”

  Sure I have a speck of red but half of my eye isn't that color, I think to myself but don't say aloud. I want to tell her about my witnessing Zack inject Tony with the red shot. I don't believe that if Zack were like me, he would have knowingly tried to take a person’s life like that. Even if it wasn't technically a death shot, he knew what it would turn Tony into. Who knows how many other's he injected with the same thing. The thought sends chills down my spine. I can't tell Candy though. I'm the only one who knows about it. Instead, I say, “Look, you're right. He may have just been under your father's influence. In fact, I would love it if that is the case.” Because if he's good, he might tell me how to help Tony. “But you need to go into this with an open mind. You need to be prepared to deal with it if your brother has truly taken a turn for the worse...” I take a step closer to Candy to better illustrate my upcoming question. “Are you ready to deal with that?”