by Laura Winter
No, I should have been stronger. I had half of the Blue Soul in me. It was my connection to that energy and to Nate that made me strong.
I didn’t get a grip on my mind before Jackson dug back in. He wasn’t erasing anything this time around, just causing as much pain as he could. I tasted blood in my mouth as the fire burned in my head and ran through my body. I was losing function of my limbs as the familiar pain ran through me. I hadn’t felt this pain since the Cold Soul outbursts had driven me insane.
Wait, my outbursts. That’s how I had released the pain before. I gripped my hands into the rocks below me, crushing them to dust between my fingers. Push the pain out, make an explosion.
No matter how much I tried to push it out, it wasn’t working. I gasped for air, losing my strength to fight.
I opened my eyes to see Nate, several glitches, and Luci fighting the monkeys around the perimeter. If I had released that power, I would have destroyed everything, and they would be caught in the blast. Had I been out that long? I couldn’t have been with Jackson for more than five minutes…
Jackson didn’t give me another chance for air as he pierced my skull again, shooting pain down my spine as I crumpled and writhed on the ground. I was shaking and losing consciousness fast, but I was sick of being weak. I couldn’t let him win.
The Cold Soul outburst had been directed before when I hit Aidan with my power. I had saved myself from him and protected Nate and Glitch. I had been stronger than the voices and Aidan, and I could do that now. I had lost control of my limbs, but I didn’t need them. I just needed one moment to focus my mind. I loaded my energy in to my head and shoved forward.
Jackson stumbled back and lost his hold over me. As feeling returned to my body, I pushed off the ground and gathered my strength for another blow. Jackson had caused me pain by digging into my head, and we had the same power. I could fight back with his own medicine. I planted my feet underneath me and shoved again.
But Jackson was ready for it. Instead of fighting it, he absorbed my force and pulled me into his head.
60
Nate
I couldn’t stop pacing or watching the clock tick slowly. Thirty minutes. We had to wait thirty minutes before we headed off after Finnley. Only five minutes had passed but it felt like she had already been gone a lifetime. Luci was bouncing her legs impatiently while Glitch struggled to sit comfortably. This was a nightmare. Waiting was the dumbest idea we had. We should have gone with Finnley, and we should be close by in case she needed us. What would happen to her if we didn’t get there in time?
My phone rang and we all jumped. What if this was Finnley calling to say she was in trouble? I should have been there for her, I should have gone with her. I could have helped.
It didn’t help my nerves to see that it was Madeline calling. “Madeline? Did something happen?” I asked, already out of breath.
“No, everything is fine and going as planned. Finnley left, right?” Madeline asked, her voice quiet like she was hiding our conversation. Our parents must have been nearby.
“She left five minutes ago, do we need to leave now?” I asked, still pacing.
“You can’t leave until thirty minutes have gone by, but you need to take something with you. It’ll help you,” she said, her voice trailing off. I could vaguely hear our parents arguing in the background about what they should be trying to do about Jackson to keep us safe.
“Mads, what do I need to take? Is Finnley going to be okay?”
She whispered back. “You need to take some of the empty power sources. You fight the monkeys, but they are strong. You need to take their powers. Finnley will know what to do when the time comes.”
Damn, that was a good idea. “But wait, I can’t take Jackson’s power. He was born with them.”
“It’s okay. Finnley knows what to do,” she said, hanging up.
“What is it?” Glitch asked. He and Luci were standing, ready to go.
“We have to grab the empty power sources. We might have an advantage.”
* * *
Finnley’s car was parked at the old cabin which meant she had made it this far, but it also meant she was getting to Jackson about now. We had to hurry. Glitch and Luci were silent as we hurried through the damaged trees. I had seen this before, and I knew the path, but they were seeing the destruction for the first time. They saw what would happen if the Cold Soul was released again. They finally understood why we should be afraid.
I could tell we were getting close to the epicenter. The trees were not only splintered, they were completely uprooted. My feet started moving faster, knowing that Finnley was going to be in the middle of something by the time we arrived.
My heart dropped when I heard Finnley’s scream echo around us. The three of us exchanged terrified glances before we took off sprinting. As we neared the edge of the Original Complex, I saw what we were up against. Seven monkeys were stationed, waiting for us, but they were distracted as they watched the middle of the blast zone.
Finnley was kneeling on the ground, screaming and clutching her head as Jackson stood over her. I couldn’t see what he was doing to her, but my worst fears were all ringing in my head. He could have been torturing her, blocking her memories, or worse, erasing them completely. Jackson was winning.
As hard as it was not to run and save her, we had a job to do. If we ever wanted to help Finnley, we had to get rid of the monkeys. I pulled an empty power source out of my hand and focused on the two monkeys closest to me while Glitch and Luci split up and circled around the other way. I inhaled quietly and focused on pulling the monkey’s power.
It was a lot easier this time, probably because their strength was significantly less than that of the Cold Soul. They stumbled slightly before realizing what was happening. They couldn’t do anything to stop me at this point, but they could still yell to get the attention of the other monkeys. As their power slid across the ground and into my hand, I channeled it into the empty cage. It filled slowly, with an ugly gray-brown mixture of light and smoke. Interesting, two different power sources into one cage.
The two monkeys were shaking as they dropped to the ground. Without their power, they seemed to have almost no energy to fight, but their friends did. Glitch had started making glitches of himself as he fought three of the monkeys at once. Luci was struggling to hold off one because he was moving too fast for her to hit him with light. That left one monkey for me, and it was the only one I wanted to face.
Big monkey smiled wide when he realized I was the one going to fight him. I was glad I was going to get my revenge on him for all he did to Finnley. As he picked up speed running toward me, I remembered how much it would hurt if he actually came in contact with me. It was an unfair advantage to be that big to begin with and have extra strength. When he got within range, I dropped into a shadow and watched him stumble as he ran past me.
I popped back up just as he turned around. He was smarter than he looked, continuing to move and making it harder for me to pull out his power. I avoided his punch again as I dropped into the shadow, but he had a different idea. As he ran past, he reached down into the shadow and found a grip on my shirt collar. He pulled me up out of the shadow and tossed me easily toward a broken tree. Flailing, I focused enough to fall into a shadow, softening my landing as I slid out on the other side of the tree, unscathed.
Finnley screamed again and distracted me. Jackson wasn’t giving her a chance to recover as she writhed on the ground in pain. He was going to kill her. Even around the perimeter, I could see the rest of us weren’t exactly winning either. Glitch had knocked one of the monkeys unconscious, but he was getting tired. There weren’t as many glitches fighting back against his remaining two monkeys. Luci’s light was fading, and the speedster was getting a few extra hits in.
Big monkey used my distraction to pick up a broken tree to throw at me. I dove behind the fallen log I had just gone through, but he was expecting that. His thrown tree splintered branches around my hiding pla
ce, knocking me back and clearing a path for him to come at me again. I regained my footing and shook off the impact.
Big monkey chuckled as he advanced. “You’re losing quite brilliantly. It’s a wonder you got this far.”
He ran at me, but I had my trick ready. As I slid into the shadow, I saw him prepare to pull me out again. Instead, I was the one to reach out and grab his outstretched arm. I yanked his arm down as he fell into the shadow with me. I could feel his strength as he fought to keep a hold on me, but I used my anger. I swung my other fist down and connected with his jaw in an echoing crack. His hands released and the blackness surrounded him, swallowing his screams until he was lost in their depths.
I hopped out of my shadow and oriented myself with the remaining monkeys. I need a way to win, and I needed it fast. How could I absorb four different energies at once without hurting Glitch or Luci? And how could I do it when they were all spread out? I needed a controlled black hole, but that’s what Finnley was supposed to help me with. I had to find a way to pull them into nothingness.
The two men I had already incapacitated were starting to get their balance again, but didn’t look like they were interested to fight me after watching big monkey disappear. I turned my focus toward Luci’s monkey as I pulled the remaining empty cages from my pocket. I pushed my shadow out, crawling along the ground and weaving around Luci’s light.
Glitch needed my help too. I sucked in a breath, sweating and using a lot of energy, but felt my shadow split and head toward his monkeys. Luci saw my shadow just in time and pulled her light back without hitting me. All at once, I reached out and grabbed each of the monkeys around their ankles. Their screams turned to weak whimpers as I ripped their power from them. It was a lot at once, but I could channel it. I felt the energy slide through me as I shoved them into the three cages in my hand.
My entire body was weak, but I couldn’t stop now. I had to help Finnley. I stumbled through the mess while Glitch and Luci ran to check on each other.
The scenario had changed since I had last seen her. Finnley was no longer screaming on the ground but stood glaring at Jackson who just glared back. Neither noticed as I ran up.
Blue blood ran from Finnley’s nose as she strengthened her stance. As she did, I saw a shiver run through Jackson’s body as his nose started to bleed too. She was fighting back, but still shaking.
No, that was everything around us. The rocks below us were vibrating, and the ground under Finnley’s feet cracked. She was going to have an explosion. As much as I wanted Jackson to suffer, Finnley might not be able to handle this without getting us all caught in the blast. I had to contain her if I needed to. I slid my right hand into her left and let the Blue Soul connection take over.
61
Finnley
I stood in the clearing again, watching my dad talk with Nate. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. I could only hear Nate calling to me in my head. He needed to stop talking to Richard. He was getting angry, and I could feel it. Richard’s hand lifted, and so did mine. The knife was there, shaking in my hand, but still prepared to follow my dad’s commands. It always happened like this.
I had lost. I hadn’t fallen into Jackson’s head, he had tricked me so he could get inside mine. But I wasn’t going to let this happen again. Jackson was trying to get me at my weakest but I had the Blue Soul in me, and I could fight back against Richard this time. I could save Nate and myself so my dad wouldn’t hurt us anymore.
I felt my power expand as I built a shield around myself and Nate. The Ruby no longer controlled my head as I felt the world flood back. I turned to look at Richard as his face turned cold. I knew what to do.
I gritted my teeth and shoved the knife into his gut, leaning close to whisper as I twisted it deeper. “You’re too late, Richard.”
He choked up blood, gasping for air as his hands clutched his stomach like I had once done. This time, I won.
The ground shook underneath me and I fell back, but I didn’t land in the clearing. I fell to the floor and Aidan landed on top of me, his fingers gripping into my wrists as he pinned me to the carpet. I could see his power now, the haze that Nate had described. It was suffocating and heavy, even more so than Aidan pressing his weight into my chest. Still, I wriggled and tried to break free. Aidan just dug his knee harder into my legs.
“Stop fighting,” he growled, barely struggling against me. “You’re going to forget all of this. One day soon, I’m going to get that power out of you and you’ll never see me coming. You can’t see me coming because you won’t remember you found out about this.”
My lungs were burning and it was getting harder to catch my breath the longer I struggled. I was sucking in the last of my air, trying to concentrate one last time. I shouldn’t be fighting Aidan anymore. I had already beat him, and I shouldn’t let him hurt me anymore. He didn’t deserve that satisfaction, even if he was dead. He didn’t have control over me any longer.
I slammed my head forward and into his. He released his grip enough for me to shift and shove my hands into his chest. I launched him up and off of me toward the wall. But it wasn’t his bedroom wall anymore. He slammed into the brick on the side of the building in the alley, falling limp to the ground.
I wanted to relax because I was tired, but I wasn’t done yet. I shot up to my feet.
“Jackson!” I shouted, spitting in fury. “Come fight me yourself, you coward!”
I spun around at the sound of his laughter and found myself on the ground again. I was crouched, rocking back and forth in the corner of the common room. Big monkey stood behind as Jackson leaned down in front of my face. I saw him, and I watched him move, but I could only rock as he spoke.
“Such a waste. Who knew that the smarter version of herself was actually insane? The Cold Soul did a number on her.” I knew what would happen next as he looked over at Madeline behind the TV. “What a shame. Your friend here has already lost her mind, and we barely touched her. Enjoy this empty shell of a person while you can. She won’t last much longer.”
I shot my hand out and dug my fingers into his wrist. It caught him by surprise as I yanked, flinging him against the bookcase. It crushed under his weight and the people around us disappeared. It was just us.
“You underestimate what I’m capable of,” I growled, ripping the cuff off my wrist. It didn’t matter that we were in our heads, I just wanted him to see me fight.
His smile curled as he stood up and brushed it off. Shit, I hadn’t hurt him at all. “Foolish girl. We aren’t in our heads, we’re only in yours and you’ve lost control. I own you.”
What should have been a threat actually gave me a different idea. I was the smarter version of myself because I was forced to fight my own head. It was a constant my entire life. I fought the voices, Aidan and my dad, and the demons they built inside me. Everyone thought that’s what made me insane, but it actually made me stronger. I lasted this long because I could fight. And the Cold Soul had shown me what I was capable of, even if I didn’t know how to control it at the time.
I dove at Jackson and knocked him back into the library at House. We slid across the floor and hit the desk. Jackson rolled away from me and stood up easily, laughing. I rolled over and leaned up against the desk as Jackson shook his head.
“What makes you think you can beat me in here?”
“That,” I said, smiling. I pointed up to the second floor where Clara was gripping her hair as she slid down the bookcase. “You wanted to know what I was capable of? Well, experience this for yourself.”
Clara screamed and everything around us exploded. The bookcases splintered and the staircase crumpled as she pushed out with all of her power. Lights shattered around us in bright flashes, showering glass around us. I could hear the voices screaming in Clara’s head because I had felt it before, but I was stronger now. I knew how to fight back against the Cold Soul.
Jackson didn’t.
He screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching his head. “How can
you do this?” he asked, growling through his teeth.
“You’re in my head, remember?” I hissed, walking toward him. “You thought Kinsie was weak because she gave in to the Cold Soul. You thought I was weak for letting it out. Turns out you’re the weak one. We fought this noise for eighteen years, and you can barely stand a few seconds.”
I swung my leg and connected with Jackson’s side, sending him flying back against the padded walls of the training room. Clara was in the corner, fighting the two day headache she had. Weights were flying around as she pushed out with all her might. Jackson screamed again, and I saw blood running out of his nose. This was my payback, and I had the upper hand now. I could still feel the pain in my head, but I could handle it. I was stronger this time around.
I kicked again and he slammed into the same brick wall as Aidan. Jackson was going to feel every bit of pain I felt. The Cold Soul voices were destroying me, trying to get me to give in, but I just fought back harder. Jackson wasn’t so lucky.
