by Jordan Dane
“Count in your head, little man. You’re not getting a grade for doin’ it right. Stay quiet.”
Rafe would’ve laughed, but he couldn’t.
Bristol Mountains
When Uncle Reginald said he had a plan to help, he hadn’t been blowing smoke. Gabe stood next to Rayne and held her hand as he gazed around a room he didn’t remember from his childhood at the estate.
“Cool,” Rayne whispered and smiled up at him.
When they first arrived, Gabe had seen a dome at the end of one wing of the mansion. He didn’t remember a structure like that from before. Parts of the domed room had a new-car smell that mixed with the musty odor that leached from the stone walls. The old with the new. Dim theater lights were positioned around a room with plush tiered seating. The seats looked as if they reclined. A big apparatus dominated the center of the main floor below. Probably a high-tech projector.
The place would make one helluva media room.
“What is this? Looks like a planetarium.” Gabe’s voice was muffled in the dark room. The acoustics were epic.
“I call it the Serenity room. Some people do yoga to find inner peace and center themselves.” His uncle grinned. “I come here.”
When the man smiled, his teeth glowed in purplish-white and his skin turned a dark blue. As he got closer to the machine in the center, a black light set his white shirt aglow, too. He nearly vanished, except for his teeth and shirt.
With a remote control, Uncle Reginald punched a button and the machine hummed like a Star Wars lightsaber and rotated. Lights spiraled around the darkened room, and images appeared and faded away above their heads. Planets and stars and breathtaking photography of Mother Nature’s best on land and sea appeared before them.
“I gotta be here on movie night.” Gabe couldn’t take his eyes off the pictures shooting across the vaulted ceiling. “Amazing.”
“Take a seat, Gabriel.” His uncle waved them to sit anywhere. “Rayne, please join him.”
Gabe chose a seat in the middle with Rayne taking the spot next to him. He shoved back into the chair until it reclined, and he smiled at Rayne. Seeing her in this light with the colors washing over her, he wanted to kiss her, but he had to settle for lacing his fingers in hers.
“Forgive the drama.” Uncle Reginald’s rich baritone voice came through a microphone, almost making it sound as if the man had gotten into Gabe’s head. “With the acoustics I’ve built in this room, the microphone serves a purpose. I’ve found it can center your mind and relax you. Bear with me.”
Gabe didn’t say anything. He took a deep breath and focused on the mesmerizing light show.
“Anger and resentment toward your father have been your triggers. I saw it in you as a child,” his uncle began. “From what you said, your anger is the source of your abilities. Is that a fair statement?”
It took Gabe a long moment before he answered, but he eventually said, “Yes.”
“Real power does not come solely from anger. Your ability must be controlled and truly focused. It’s like a muscle that needs exercise.” His uncle smiled. “I believe that’s why your mother chose a traveling circus.”
“I thought she was—” Gabriel couldn’t look his uncle in the eye “—ashamed of me. With a circus, she could pretend it was an act.”
“Oh, no, dear boy. Is that what you thought?” Uncle Reginald grimaced. “Circus life wasn’t easy for her, but she did it for you. She made working with you and your abilities into a big game so you’d accept who and what you are. The excessive travel was a way to hide among people she thought of as a second family.”
Uncle Reginald poured a refill of coffee and left Gabriel to think.
“After Kathryn died, you disappeared. You’ve only half accepted who you are. You’ve been hiding it, haven’t you?” The man didn’t expect an answer. “You must embrace your power. Own it.”
“How do I do that?”
“I believe you need to find a place between your anger and the sense of peace you need. Rage can no longer serve you. It may even sabotage your abilities...or worse.” Uncle Reginald let his words sink in. Only the hum of the equipment filled the room as the pictures and lights flashed.
Gabe felt a familiar struggle start inside him. He fought the agitation. Whenever his thoughts turned to his father, the anger began, but the beautiful, serene pictures and the slow, throbbing lights suppressed those feelings. His uncle’s voice and the light show became a jumble of conflicting feelings.
“You must test yourself if you hope to gain a deeper understanding of your abilities and push your limits, Gabriel.”
Gabe heard footsteps come toward him. He didn’t look away from the spiraling lights over his head. He trusted his uncle.
“The next step is the challenge, dear boy.” Without the microphone on, his uncle spoke closer to his ear. “Are you ready?” Gabe nodded and felt his uncle’s hand on his forehead. Uncle Reginald’s fingertips were warm and felt hotter the longer he touched Gabe, until a tingle started in his head and the room dimmed. He didn’t feel the chair anymore. He didn’t feel Rayne’s hand. It was as if he were adrift in darkness, with only his uncle’s voice to keep him there.
“You may not believe that you have true serenity in you, Gabriel, but it is there. Share it with me.”
The dark swallowed him completely now. When he didn’t sense his uncle with him anymore, Gabe gasped and his body stiffened as if he’d been pushed into the deep end of a cold pool. His breaths came in rapid pants until he slowed everything down. When that happened, a pinpoint of light turned into more. Thousands. They spiraled at him, like oncoming headlights, and when they came faster, things looked familiar, like puzzle pieces coming together
“Oh, my...God.”
His words trailed off as glimpses into his memory swept to the surface of his awareness. He’d been transported somewhere else—to another time. He wasn’t remembering stuff. He was there in the moment—again. The swell of emotions he felt then came back in a rush, too. More and more of the memories came back to him, times he’d forgotten or should’ve been too young to remember.
The first time he saw his mother’s face, she held him in her arms at the hospital, with the beat of her heart still fresh in his ears. On a birthday, he saw her face lit by the candles on his cake. The glitter of the tiara she wore paled by comparison. The day his mother gave him Hellboy as a pup, he got a whiff of puppy breath and he gasped. Their circus act rehearsals, rugby matches, Christmas and Thanksgiving, he felt her love with the same intensity as when he was a young boy. The memories came faster and a surge of feelings magnified. They filled him until he thought he couldn’t hold any more, but he didn’t want them to stop—until they did.
The minute his uncle took his hand away, the rush of emotions came to a sudden end, leaving Gabe exhausted, as if he’d relived his whole life. With eyes wide, he jerked his head and stared at his uncle in shock.
“I didn’t know I still had those memories.” Gabe spoke through tears.
His most cherished memories still lingered. They were ebbing from his body and he ached to feel them go, but he had his mother with him. He’d smelled her hair and felt her touch—and knew she loved him...still. Even though her laughter faded back into his mind, he’d been there with her again, as surely as if she haunted him.
In that moment, Gabe had never felt so close to his uncle. He was the father he should have had.
“You’ve just forgotten,” his uncle said. “You’ve blocked out the good in your life and buried it with the ugliness, but those lovely memories of your mother will always be a part of you. The good and the bad make up who you are and who you will become. When you can find that sweet spot—between rage and peace—that’s when you’ll accept everything that you are and reach your full potential. “
Gabe hugged his uncle and let the tears come in sobs. He didn’t fight it, especially when Uncle Reginald did the same. Letting go had been a long time coming for both of them.
Downtown L.A.
Dusk
It took Rafe a long time to shake the feeling someone had eyes on him. He’d done his best maneuvers—ducking into crowded bars at happy hour to slip out the back, crawling out bathroom windows, even cutting through a ladies’ underwear store—but he hadn’t done enough to lose his tail until he hopped on a bus with commuters going home. Suits with places to go.
Without money, he got the boot from the driver, but not before he’d ridden blocks away. By the time he got off, he didn’t feel the eyes anymore, but he had to hoof it back to the tunnels. It was almost dark by the time he made it. Although he was starving, he went looking for Benny before he drank water, before he did anything.
When he saw Kendra with Lucas in the commons, they sat at a table by her garden. It was Rafe’s favorite time of day. Kendra always looked pretty under the fading light off the sun, but that didn’t matter now. Rafe kept his distance and stuck to the shadows. He waited for her to look at him before he nudged his chin for her to come over. Kendra didn’t hesitate. She came right away.
“What’s up?” she said, keeping her voice low.
He wanted to tell her about Lucas, but Benny came first.
“Did Benny give you the money? Did he make it back okay?”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t seen him,” she said.
Rafe couldn’t speak. He replayed his last moments with the kid and second-guessed his decision to leave him alone.
“Oh, shit.” He couldn’t catch his breath.
“Raphael, what happened?” When Kendra put a hand on his arm, he let her read his fear. Allowing her to connect to his pain was faster than talking.
I felt eyes on us. I thought they were after me.
He saw in Kendra’s eyes that she understood his frantic thoughts. Her mind reached out to him, but he couldn’t stop flashing on what happened.
I gave him the cash. Maybe I read it wrong. Maybe they went after him.
To stop him, Kendra pulled him close and hugged him. She whispered in his ear, “We’ll find him. You were only trying to protect him.” She squeezed him tighter, but he felt numb.
After she let him go, Rafe only nodded as his stomach tightened into a fist. He gritted his teeth as Kendra went back to the commons...and Lucas. As she told the others what to do, Rafe couldn’t focus. He stared down at the black leather strap tied around his wrist, the one with the silver infinity on it. If anything happened to Benny, someone would pay—but the first name on the blame list would be his.
I never should’ve left you, Benny.
An Hour Later
Bad enough Rafe had lost Benny, but now he’d exposed all of them. Looking for the kid in the tunnels turned tricky. None of them could do it quietly, using their mind links. They had to call out his name. If the Believers or some pervert had followed the kid belowground, they all risked getting discovered. A chance they had to take. Kendra took one group and Lucas took another. They backtracked the main sections and covered every inch.
Rafe did his own search. He didn’t feel like company, not after what he did. If the Believers found him, he didn’t give a shit. Bring it. He deserved it.
He went over the route he told Benny to take and searched every step of it. No sign of the kid, and when he didn’t get a psychic push from Kendra that she’d found him, the darker his thoughts got. Without seeing any trace of the kid, Rafe went crazy with worry. Benny wasn’t like them. He had no chance at hearing their mental shout-outs.
Rafe rummaged through miles of tunnels in the dark, without using his ability. That made every minute agonizing. He hit every spot the kid liked to hang. When he finally reached the old train, Rafe heard soft sobs coming from inside the steel relic.
“Benny?”
Rafe’s heart hammered as he bounded up the steps onto the old locomotive. He searched the engine first. When he didn’t find Benny, he followed the sounds of the crying to another car. The runt had crawled into a storage compartment only he could fit in. It had muffled his voice, but Benny was too choked up to talk. Rafe opened the lid and pulled the kid down and held him in his arms.
Before he said anything to Benny, a familiar mist swept from the gloom. Aged hands and wise eyes took shape from a shadow that undulated like inky ooze—the dead guy in overalls. He had stood watch over Benny, even though the kid never knew it. As Rafe held little man in his arms, he mouthed the words thank you, and the dead guy actually smiled back. At least, Rafe thought it was a smile.
“I did everything you told me, Rafe. I couldn’t get rid of them.”
“What are you talking about?”
He put the kid down and knelt in front of him.
“I heard ’em. Some guys followed me. I couldn’t lead ’em to where we are, so I hid.”
“Did you see them? How many were there?”
“It was too dark. I only heard ’em.” Benny’s lips trembled and it broke Rafe’s heart. “I hid and counted to a gazillion, but...”
“But what, little man?” Rafe couldn’t catch his breath. “Did they...do anything to you?”
The kid cried for real now. Terrible thoughts raced through Rafe’s head. Perverts in bathrooms when no one could hear a scream. Fathers with fists that hurt like steel. Nightmares that weren’t nightmares came rushing to his eyes in the dark. Something had happened to Benny because of him.
Something bad.
“What happened? You can tell me.”
He held the kid and covered his own misery with Benny’s sobbing gasps.
“I pissed my new pants,” the kid choked out. “I stayed put. I didn’t want ’em to find me, not even when I had to pee.”
When he heard that, Rafe shut his eyes tight, squeezing the tears from his eyes. He’d been so worried, he never smelled the pee. Now he did.
“You were real brave, Benny. You protected us, for real. I’m proud of you.” He tried to keep his voice calm, but inside he wasn’t.
“But my pants, they stink and everyone will know what I did.”
“No one will know. It’ll be our secret,” he told the kid. “Besides, pants can be washed. I’ll do it for you. They’ll be good as new. You’ll see.”
Benny seemed okay with that. Rafe waited until he stopped crying. He wiped the kid’s face and sent a mental message to Kendra.
Found him. He’s okay.
Thank God, she replied. Where are you?
At the dead train, but we’re okay. We got something to do first. See you at the commons. Let everyone know, okay? And thanks...
Even though Benny worried that his pee smell would get on him, Rafe held the kid and carried him all the way back. Benny got real quiet and put his arms around his neck. Rafe never had a little brother, but if he could order one, the kid would be Benny. One hundred percent.
He took Benny to his corner of the tunnels and gave him clean clothes to wear from his stash. After he fed the kid, he gave him his mattress to sleep on for the night. While he washed Benny’s pants, Kendra found him.
“Missed you two at the commons. Is Benny okay?”
“Yeah, he was just scared.” He stopped washing. “He said some guys followed him, but it didn’t sound like the Believers. He hid and stayed put. Brave little runt.”
He mentally blocked her from seeing what had really happened. She’d know he hid something, but he didn’t care. Sometimes guys had secrets. He fished the money from his pockets.
“Here’s the cash. Benny kept real good care of it. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know he wouldn’t, Raphael,” she said. After he went back to washing Benny’s pants, she touched his shoulder and forced him to look at her.
“Benny is one of us. If he’s in trouble, we’re all in it,” Kendra said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Raphael. You protected your own. Sounds like Benny did the same. I’m proud of you. Both of you.”
Even with his hands wet with suds, she hugged him. She didn’t have to read his mind to know he could use one. With her
holding him, it didn’t take much for a rush of emotion to hit him hard. He’d almost lost Benny. He’d almost lost everything.
Now that he was alone with Kendra, he could’ve told her about Lucas, but almost losing Benny had been enough drama for one night. He kissed Kendra on the cheek and let her go. He had pants to wash and Benny needed looking after.
West Hollywood
Fiona lived in the “Bird Street” area of West Hollywood, exclusive acreage where the rich and famous held or rented prime real estate. Hollywood A-listers. With her income supplemented by the Church of Spiritual Freedom, she had been able to live in the lifestyle she deserved. After a long day at Haven Hills, she sat alone at her dining table, taking in the incredible, glitzy view of the city through ceiling-to-floor windows. She had brought home her pet project. Over a glass of red wine, she pored through the library book and the many copies of drawings that her new target had left her—clues to find him.
This mysterious new Crystal child had not intended to taunt her on purpose by leaving the book and his knapsack, but that was exactly what spurred her on. She pretended that he had challenged her to find him. Despite Alexander Reese expressly asking for her to focus on Lucas Darby only, she had gone against his wishes and pursued the new boy anyway—a surprise she’d present to Alexander when she had something worth telling him.
When she found what she’d been looking for, she smiled and raised her glass to toast her success.
“To us, Alexander.”
It was in one of the drawings, of a boy and a girl sleeping together. She hadn’t paid much attention to it, since she couldn’t see their faces. Something drawn in the corner—a strange historic element—caught her eye, but little else. It wasn’t until she found the exact drawing in the art book taken from the library that she saw what the boy had seen in the book.
“Where are you...exactly?” she whispered.
She read about the tunnels where the historic mural had been originally painted. Fiona got out a map and narrowed her search to the cross streets mentioned in the book. She had no idea that underground tunnels existed in downtown L.A. Next she got on her laptop and queried keywords that brought up more information.
