Lightning Proof

by Rebecca Ann

  Lightning Proof

  Book One

  Rebecca Ann

  Published by Rebecca Ann, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  LIGHTNING PROOF

  First edition. September 28, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Rebecca Ann.

  Written by Rebecca Ann.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I dedicate this book to my family and friends! Thank you for the love and support!

  Chapter One

  VICTORIA

  “All Lighters and Invisibles must show their identification bracelets before boarding.”

  The voice boomed across the noisy station from the intercom mounted to the pillar behind me. I jumped, almost dropping my red and white cane. I flattened myself against the cool cement wall, away from the crowd, reaffirming my grip on the rubber handle of my cane. The tires of the 7:30 a.m. train screeched to a stop, and I turned as the doors opened with a whoosh.

  Footsteps pounded the linoleum, echoing like a stampede of wild horses in my ears. A few passengers grunted and spat slurs, shoving me this way and that as they disembarked.

  Move, Victoria! Get on the train! As the crowd swirled before me, I shut my eyes, heart pounding in my ears. I couldn’t do this. Not when the president’s message still echoed in my head.

  Lighters and Invisibles will no longer be a threat to Caldwell. In the coming days, I’m ordering they all be sent to a secure location where they can’t hurt anyone.

  Hurt anyone. Yeah. One of my sparks could kill a Normal in an instant. I fisted my hands, taking a couple short breaths. I had to get out of here. “Lindsey?” I whispered. Lindsey Cooper, my best friend and an Invisible, could teleport me out of here in two seconds.

  “Hold on, Vi,” Lindsey said from next to me, not looking up from her net-screen. “Crap! Lily! Vi, I’ll be right back! I need to go find my sister and kick her butt from here to Neverland.”

  My chest hitched, and I groped for her hand. “Wait, I nee—” My fingers met air as Lindsey teleported, and I shut my eyes as another tingling sensation stabbed at my fingers. The president already hated us. He didn’t need another reason to lock us up and throw away the key. Especially not a Lighter who couldn’t see two feet in front of her shooting off sparks in the middle of a crowded train station.

  My stomach churned, and I kept my eyes shut, the heat of the station searing at my lungs as though attempting to enclose me in a fiery cave. Darn it. How could I have run out of my pills? Even though they had robbed me of sight in my right eye and taken most of it from my left, leaving me seeing the world through a hazy layer of film, they kept the powers at bay. They kept everyone safe. My visual impairment was rare and happened to only a small percentage of people who took the pill. Especially considering most people didn’t even know the drug existed. If Normals found out... I shuddered. We had to keep them a secret if we wanted to escape being dissected like frogs. I had to do my best to act like nothing was wrong. No matter how badly I wanted to run to Shannon for more.

  At least the secrecy meant I knew one other person who had lost their vision because of the drug. That, I could count as a blessing.

  “All LIs must show their identification bracelets before boarding,” intoned the intercom again.

  I lost my grip on my cane, and it clattered to the floor. I stayed still, too scared to move as the tingling grew worse. No. No. Not here. I inhaled again and tried to think of lines from the last book I’d read. This morning, though, not even that coping mechanism was working.

  “Okay, I’m going to kill my sister. I’ve been all over this station looking for her.”

  I jerked toward Lindsey’s voice somewhere off to my right. “Don’t do that!” I put a hand to my clammy forehead, my heart still pounding like a war drum. “Can we go, please?”

  “Sorry. Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Concern quickly replaced the irritation in her words. Her mood changed faster than I could keep up with. She hated it when those she loved were in distress.

  I sighed as I picked up my cane. “We should’ve teleported. I’m really on edge, and I ran out of my pills this morning.” Lindsey and my dad were the only two people I could be completely open with. “I know I should’ve realized it sooner. I just—”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Vi. We’ll ask Shannon for more when we get to school. If we ever get there. I swear.” She huffed, and I could almost hear the eye roll in her words. Lindsey wasn’t the most patient person, and after the news this morning, hers was already running especially thin. Why, today of all days, did her mischievous sister have to run off? I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Linds, we’ll—”

  “Lindsey!”

  Lindsey turned at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Lily! Where have you been? I told you to stay where I could see you. I thought something had happened.”

  “Here!” Lily thrust something into Lindsey’s hands. “There’s your stupid bracelet. I was trying to help.”

  A pause and then, “I know, Lil. I’m sorry. I’m just freaked out.” She kissed the top of Lily’s head. “I didn’t even realize I wasn’t wearing my bracelet.”

  I fingered the yellow bracelet around my wrist. In the florescent lights of the station, I could make out Lindsey’s blue one. We weren’t allowed on the train without these on. One of the many laws put in place for LIs over the years.

  “Well, thanks, squirt,” Lindsey said, and Lily grinned.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Is Sarah with you?” Lindsey asked, her head moving from side to side.

  “She’s with her mom,” Lily said, swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet. Lily wasn’t known for sitting still for long periods of time. Neither was Lindsey.

  “Will Shannon be at the school?” I tried to keep the desperation out of my words at the mention of Sarah’s mother. My fingers wrapped around the rubber grip of my cane. I needed that pill.

  “She should be,” Lindsey said. “I’m gonna go grab a coffee, and then we can teleport.”

  I sighed as Lindsey teleported again, the word “wait” on my lips. “I swear your sister would eat coffee if it was served that way.” The words came out shaky, but if Lily noticed, she didn’t say anything, giggling instead.

  “Coffee’s gross.” She paused. “Can I teleport you to the school? Please!”

  “Let’s wait until Lindsey gets back, okay?” I kissed the top of her head and pulled her into my arms. She wrapped hers around my waist, and for the first time all morning, the panic lessened a tiny bit. “I don’t want you to be scared, okay? Lindsey and your parents aren’t going to let anything happen.”

  Lily pulled back with a sigh. “I know. I don’t want to go to some new place.”

  I opened my mouth to reply, but the buzzing of my net-screen cut me off. With a sigh, I pulled the small, thin black device out of my bag as the automated voice said, “Dad.” A tiny smile split my face, and I accepted the call. “Hi, Dad!�
�� I tapped the button that would keep my father’s hologram from appearing. In public places, it was easier and more private to converse with him on-screen. As the blurry image of his face appeared, hope rose in my chest. He didn’t usually call this early. When he did, it meant I would see him soon. We talked almost every day, but with his job as a Royal Watcher on Ada, visits only happened when he came here on business. “Hi, honey!” His cheerful voice was almost lost in the noise of the station, and I put the net-screen closer to my face to hear him. “I won’t keep you long, but I wanted to tell you I’m on my way. I have a special guest here who wants to say hello.”

  “Hi, Victoria! It’s nice to meet you!”

  I moved away from the line to hear better as a woman with tanned skin and dark hair appeared next to him. My heart quickened. I couldn’t see their face due to the glare of the lights, but I knew that voice anywhere.

  Princess Madalina.

  I tried to form a response, but between the chaos of the station and the air still hitching in my chest, my brain was nothing but a web of confusion.

  “Um—wow—hello.” The words left me in a choked whisper. In all the years my father had been a Watcher, he’d never introduced me to Madalina. She didn’t come here often.

  Madalina laughed. “No need to be nervous. I won’t bite. I promise. I’m going to be in Caldwell for a couple of days, and your father has told me a lot about you. I’d love to finally meet you in person before I head back to Ada. Maybe we can do dinner!”

  I opened my mouth then closed it. Dad wanted me to have dinner with the princess of Ada? Was he crazy! It was bad enough that my father had accepted a job as a Watcher and forced me to grow up without a mother when he sent me to Earth. Just because he was a Controller didn’t mean he had the right to rip apart our family. Even if it was to keep me safe. Now he wanted me to act chummy around the crowned princess of the planet that had almost wiped out my species?

  I don’t think so. I opened my mouth again, but before I could say anything, Princess Madalina slid into view. Sigh. Time to put on the fake smile and pretend like I was happy to meet her. “I’d be honored,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

  “Great!” Madalina chirped. I fought the urge to flinch at the eagerness in her voice. “I have a previous engagement with the president tonight, but tomorrow night we’ll definitely do dinner.”

  I nodded, too overwhelmed to reply. Dinner with the princess of Ada. Oh joy! Not! I fisted my free hand, doing my best to focus on my father’s words.

  “Is that a good time?”

  I blinked, face flushing. “Sorry, Dad. I ran out of my pills this morning, and I’m in the train station. It’s really overwhelming.” Hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep the stress of the morning out of my voice. Great. Princess Madalina would think me an emotional basket case.

  “I’m looking forward to meeting you tomorrow night,” Madalina said.

  I exhaled. Guess she hadn’t noticed the way I’d zoned out. Swallowing past the dryness in my throat, I choked up. “Yes. Same.”

  Not sure what else to say, I picked an imaginary piece of lint off my short-sleeved red shirt. The black pants had been a bad choice, not to mention the matching open-toed sandals. My feet were already killing me, but it was a small price to pay to look twenty-four instead of sixteen. People already assumed I was a teenager based on my height. Add in the fact I spoke in a high register, especially when nervous, and the heels were a necessity most days.

  “Okay, sweetie. I love you. I should land around four this afternoon, and I’ll be at your house by seven tomorrow night with Madalina.”

  I nodded, some of the tension melting away at the calmness in his voice. It was times like this I would’ve given anything to see his expression, but not even holding the net-screen close to my face helped in the glare of the station lights. “Okay, Dad. I love you.” I ended the call and dropped the net-screen back into my black handbag as Lindsey appeared beside me.

  “Told you I’d be back. I got you a coffee. You want it now or later?”

  “Later. I want out of this line.” I exhaled, tightening my hold on my cane. A dull ache started in my fingers, but I ignored it, praying to whomever listened up there that it wouldn’t get worse. “I just talked to Princess Madalina!”

  “Okay, okay. We’ll teleport to the school,” Lindsey said, but her voice lacked its usual banter. “Hold up, you talked to the princess of Ada? Wow!”

  I tried to answer, but the tingling intensified to the point I couldn’t ignore it any longer. Not even fisting my hands helped this time. “Linds, I need that pill. I can’t—” An involuntary cry of pain rose up my throat, and I bent over at the waist. Sweat poured down my back. Voices faded to a low buzz as I started to shake.

  “Lindsey,” I wheezed. “It hurts! It really hurts!”

  “Vi? What’s wrong?”

  “Tingling.” I stayed hunched over, as if that would alleviate some of the pain. My insides burned like a raging fire as the electricity scorched my veins. Good grief, I couldn’t remember the last time it’d been this bad.

  “Okay. We’re going. I think the train already left, and Shannon and Sarah are on it. I’ll get Lily to get them from the station. They should be there when we reach the school.”

  “Hey, you need to get her out of line,” a man said from a few paces behind us. “This is the Normal section. I could report you two for being here. She could kill us all.”

  “Hey, there’s no law against us being here, buddy,” Lindsey fired back. “And there’s no ‘Normal section,’ as you call it.”

  “Not yet,” the man sneered. “There are Normal children in this line. Get her out of here!” Several people echoed his statement.

  Lindsey’s breaths quickened beside me, but she said nothing else. Suddenly, a few feet away, someone started to choke, gasping for breath. Through the glare of the lights, I could make out someone falling to their knees. My feet scuffed the pavement as I took a step back, heart in my throat. Had I done that? Had one of my sparks caused that man to choke? My heart sank into my stomach as murmurs floated around me and blurred silhouettes ran past. Panicked shouts slammed into my eardrums, making them ring with pain. I took another step back. Oh, God! Why did I ever let myself run out of pills? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

  Air seared my lungs as I quelled a scream. “Linds...”

  Lindsey’s hand grabbed mine, and the train station disappeared in a sea of gray.

  The wind picked up, and for a few seconds, we were spinning. Then, before I had time to blink, the world stilled, and I opened my eyes. We stood on a sidewalk crawling with people. Thick body heat pummeled the cool air into oblivion. The overpowering scent of food and trash and sweat made me gag. People walked past us, some dressed in business suits while others looked as if they’d spent a lifetime in the same pants and shirt. They blocked the sidewalk, clothes hanging off their thin bodies. A foul odor swirled around them, carried by the wind. I held my nose as Lindsey led me toward the crosswalk. The panic gnawing at my gut slowly began to ebb away, but the man’s hacking cough had been etched into my memory.

  I whirled to face Lindsey. “What happened? Did I do something? Why was that man choking?” The likelihood of electricity causing asphyxiation was next to none, but without taking that pill, I had no way of controlling my powers.

  “Relax. It wasn’t you.” A pause and then, in a whisper I could barely hear, Lindsey said, “I think I mind-controlled that man.”

  The WALK sign beeped, and we stepped into the street.

  I sighed as my overwhelmed mind finally unscrambled her words. “Lindsey! You have to be careful! If anyone were to find out about your—you know—other ability, you’d be sent away!” Irritation bubbled within me. Lindsey didn’t use her secret ability often, but when she did, it always freaked me out. I couldn’t imagine life without her.

  “I was defending you, like I always do!”

  “Well, don’t!” I retorted, huffing and pulling my elbow out of her gr
ip when we reached the sidewalk again. “Not like that. It’s too—”

  “Dangerous,” Lindsey deadpanned with an eye roll. “I know, okay? I think about what might happen every time I walk out the door in the morning! But, unlike you, I don’t have some magic pill to take it away.”

  For a reason I couldn’t explain, “magic pill” touched a nerve. My skin pricked, and I ground my teeth. This wasn’t a big deal. I knew that. Still, the words tumbled out before I could stop them, an edge to them that could’ve cut through glass. “You say that like it’s somehow beneath you. Some people didn’t have a choice. I didn’t have a choice. My mom started giving it to me when I was three years old. I don’t remember ever using my powers.” I wasn’t aware I was shouting until Lindsey’s hand rested on my shoulder.

  “Vi, that’s not what I meant. I would never look down on you because you take that drug, and I’ll beat up anyone who does. I meant—”

  “I know,” I whispered and put my hand up to cover hers. “I’m sorry. It’s been a bad morning.” I ran a hand over my forehead. “Can we go, please?” Lindsey nodded, and I turned to head down the street.

  “Excuse me?” a small voice asked, blocking my path. I couldn’t tell much about the child except that he wore a long shirt and brown pants. My eyes hurt from the sun. I rummaged in my bag for my sunglasses, putting them on.

  “Daniel, buddy,” Lindsey said, stepping forward and crouching down in front of him. “Where’s your mom?”

  “At the bad place.” Daniel said quietly, as if he was the one who’d taken her there. “She got taken away by the people in black uniforms.”

  My heart quickened, and I tightened my hold on my cane. In all the commotion, I’d momentarily forgotten about the announcement this morning. Was Daniel’s mom the first of us to get taken back to that “secure location”? We all knew that was code for prison but didn’t dare say it out loud.

  “And how long ago was that?” Lindsey asked, her voice almost drowned out by the bustle of the street and hovers flying overhead.