The Weapon Within: A Paranormal Dystopian Adventure (The Unexplainables Book 1)

by Lizzie Rose

  ‘You ready, Ava?’ Noah’s voice was light but his eyes didn’t leave Connor’s and his fists were clenched. Connor winked at me again and walked away, whistling a high pitched, un-recognisable tune.

  *

  We spent the rest of the day in the library. I’d been quite excited at the thought of a room full of books, but the days of it being used as a place of study were long gone. The few remaining books were damaged and unreadable and the only member of staff spent the entire time playing a card game on his computer. All around me the students sat playing on mobile phones, listening to music through little wires that went into their ears or gossiping to each other in hushed voices. The room was hot and stuffy and, as I sat with my head resting on the table, I thought about how much time was being wasted here. The whole system seemed bizarre to me and the thought of having to come here on an almost daily basis did not fill me with joy. Someone sniggered from further down the table and I looked up at a girl with flame red hair.

  ‘I know the feeling.’ She grinned at me then went back to her phone. Reminding myself to try and be more selective about the thoughts I wanted to share, I closed my eyes and waited for the day to end.

  *

  For a while I was sucked into a world where spots, boys and pop songs were the main topics of conversation. Fridays were my favourite because my friends and I would meet at the diner for tea after college and work. It made things bearable and for the most part I felt happy. There were only two things that caused me concern: Skye and Connor.

  The former was avoiding speaking to me at all costs and shot dirty looks at me whenever we were in close proximity, and the latter would not leave me alone. Every time I turned a corner at college he was there, sometimes with his little gang of friends, other times alone. Whenever he did manage to speak to me his eyes would rake me up and down, sending shivers of discomfort down my spine. I couldn’t understand why he was trying so hard to be nice to me after he’d been so aggressive towards me when we first met.

  ‘I think he likes you,’ Beth told me matter-of-factly from the other side of our easel one afternoon, having listened patiently to my concerns.

  ‘Likes me?’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘You know . . . fancies you.’

  I laughed. ‘Don’t be crazy. Anyway, he’s got a girlfriend, hasn’t he?’

  ‘That depends on who you ask.’ She giggled. ‘Everyone knows that he’s cheated on Chantelle at least twice in the last year. He’s not exactly what you’d call loyal.’

  ‘Not marriage material then.’

  ‘Um, no. I’m sure you have better taste that that.’

  ‘I certainly do.’

  She peered around the side of the easel, her paintbrush waving in mid-air.

  ‘Oh, really? Like who?’

  I dipped my head and concentrated hard on choosing a new colour. She wasn’t going to be distracted. ‘Come on, I promise not to tell.’

  I sighed. ‘Well, it won’t make any difference because he’s not available.’

  ‘Who are we talking about?’

  ‘Oscar,’ I whispered.

  ‘Ohhhh.’ She grimaced. ‘Awkward.’

  ‘Please don’t say anything to him. It’s bad enough as it is with Skye trying to make me spontaneously combust every time I see her. Seriously, it’s a good job she doesn’t have powers.’

  ‘She’d die if she did. She hates Oscar being around the Nexes so much.’

  ‘She gets on well with Kenzie though,’ I pointed out.

  ‘That’s because they were close growing up so she couldn’t just walk away completely.’

  The tutor strolled over to our easel and looked carefully at my picture. I’d deliberately made it look as though a child had painted it. She nodded and walked away. ‘This place is crazy,’ I muttered to Beth who sniggered and stretched round to add a blob of paint to my page.

  *

  Just over two months later, the weather changed significantly. Almost overnight it went from being mild and a bit rainy to freezing cold. Esther bought me a couple of thick woolly jumpers to keep me warm. The promise of a week off college was imminent and I’d made plans with Beth to go on a day trip to the shopping centre. I didn’t really need anything but figured it would be fun anyway and was really looking forward to it. Oscar drove us to the centre and dropped us off. I was super-excited and insisted that we go into every shop we could find just to see what was inside.

  By the time Oscar came to meet us, we were exhausted. As we set off out of the car park, we chatted about our day and moaned about our aching feet. Oscar put the radio on and after a while we sank into quietness, listening to the music. We reached a junction and came to a stop at the red light. A line of vehicles coming from the left began to move. My attention was caught by a large, dark coloured 4x4 vehicle with blacked-out windows. There was nothing remarkable about it other than the fact that the drivers’ window was fully open, which seemed strange considering that it was getting dark and extremely cold. Unable to tear my eyes away I stared through the window and my insides turned to ice.

  The vehicle turned down the road we were waiting on and we turned in the opposite direction as the lights changed.

  ‘You ok?’ Oscar asked innocently. When I didn’t answer, he glanced sideways at me. ‘Ava? What’s wrong?’

  ‘Stop the car,’ I spoke through gritted teeth.

  ‘Why? Are you ill?’

  I turned to look at him and his eyes widened in alarm. ‘Oscar, stop the car and let me out.’

  ‘Not until you tell me why. What’s going on?’

  ‘Let me out!’

  Instead of slowing, he rammed his foot down on the gas. The car shot forwards, shaking as it swerved around the bends in the road. We were leaving the town now, heading towards the village. As we screeched to a halt outside the cottage Oscar cursed loudly.

  ‘They’re not back.’ He looked at me warily. ‘I need to get Beth home. Will you be all right alone?’

  With shaking hands I released the seatbelt and got out of the car. The cold air hit me like knives.

  ‘Ava?’ Oscar called after me. Ignoring him, I let myself into the cottage and waited until he’d driven away before kicking off my shoes and heading straight back outside.

  My hair whipped out behind me as I ran past the edge of the farmland and out into the wilderness beyond. The last of the houses had just passed out of sight when my powers left me. The glimpse of the driver’s face burned in my mind and images from my past flickered like a candle in my memory: the way he looked at me the very first time I met him; the first time he hit me; the times I cowered against the wall, willing my powers to come yet feeling nothing but an overwhelming terror at the sight of his bunched fists.

  The memories spun, gaining speed until they were moving so fast they blurred into one. A breeze rippled past me then curled in on itself, picking up speed and turning itself around. It circled around me and grew tall, stretching up to the sky. Dark clouds formed above it. As the fury coursed through my veins, the winds became fiercer, screaming as they buffeted me. Lightning forked down through the centre, bouncing off the walls surrounding me, making them crackle and flash. I could send this after the car. It would hunt them down and destroy them if I told it to. It would be easy. The wind crept to the tips of my fingers, waiting for the command. Just as I was about to let it go, Oscar’s face popped into my mind.

  ‘No!’ My scream echoed around me as the wind exploded and I fell to the ground.

  Chapter Ten

  Oscar was sitting on the bed beside me.

  ‘Are you ok?’ I croaked.

  ‘Am I ok?’

  I blinked at him in confusion.

  ‘Don’t you remember what happened?’ he asked.

  ‘I remember going shopping with Beth, but after that it’s all a bit foggy.’

  He shook his head a little. ‘I didn’t know where you went. There was all this lightning and wind. If it weren’t for the panther . . .’

  ‘Wh
at do you mean?’

  ‘He led us to you. We were just about to set off to search for you when he came up and started growling at us. It’s a good job security weren’t around. Anyway, he led us straight to you.’

  ‘Did you get into trouble for being out?’

  ‘No, they don’t know anything about it. We were discreet.’

  ‘Will you stay with me tonight?’ I asked tentatively. ‘Please?’

  He leaned forwards and kissed my forehead lightly then manoeuvred himself under the covers. I rolled over and put my head on his chest and within seconds I was asleep again.

  *

  I spent the whole of the holidays in bed at Esther’s insistence. Frustrated at having lost my time off I returned to college begrudgingly. Once November had passed, there were signs of Christmas approaching. The shops in the town put up sparkly decorations and played jolly music and soon the villagers joined in. I watched in amusement as Brock and Oscar spent the best part of an hour trying to manoeuvre an enormous tree through the cottage door before plonking it into a large tub near the fireplace.

  We spent a whole afternoon decorating it with baubles and tinsel, and by the time we’d finished, the tree was barely visible. I experienced my first ever snowfall a couple of weeks before Christmas. Unable to get to work or college due to the roads being unpassable, Oscar and I spent the day outside.

  He showed me how to build a snowman and soon after we had a whole family of snow people as well as a snow cat taking up residence in the garden. He then introduced me to snowball fighting by throwing a large handful of the stuff, which hit me square on the back of the head.

  An hour later we went back inside, dripping wet and freezing cold but laughing hard. Once the snow had thawed, I gave in to the fact that I’d have to endure the last weeks of college after all.

  Beth took me shopping again the weekend before we broke up. I’d been saving up part of my lunch money over the previous months and had enough to buy small gifts for those closest to me. The sight of the little boxes wrapped up in brightly coloured paper had an effect on me and I faced the last week of studies feeling quite positive.

  *

  Classes were actually quite enjoyable over those last few days. We spent our art classes playing charades and our music classes listening to festive tunes performed by the members of the class on various instruments. Even Connor seemed unusually quiet for once. Although he did still make regular appearances throughout the day, Chantelle had apparently attached herself to him with glue and managed to steer him away every time he looked as though he were heading in my direction.

  I finished my first term at college on a high and bounced out of the door, eager to start the holidays. There were only a few days to go before Christmas and I spent them helping Esther write cards for our neighbours and deliver gifts to those we wouldn’t see on the day. The snow was all but melted now, leaving slippery grey puddles here and there. The air was icy cold again, though, and dark clouds overhead threatened more storms on the way.

  *

  Brock and Esther wanted to go and visit Esther’s mum on Christmas Eve so it was arranged that Oscar and I would stay with Gran and Gramps and then we’d all meet up at the farm on Christmas Day. Skye was visiting family abroad for the holidays, which was fantastic news for me.

  We spent Christmas Eve making paper chains, eating party food, and singing Christmas carols which Gramps sang more and more out of tune as the sherry bottle at his side emptied. Even Moth the cat joined in by lazily batting the paper chains with her paw before turning over and going back to sleep in front of the fire.

  The next morning, I was woken by Oscar hammering on my bedroom door.

  ‘Are you awake yet? Happy Christmas! Come on, get up!’

  Gramps was already waiting in the lounge and a few minutes later Gran joined us, bringing with her a tray of hot buttered crumpets. We spent a good hour ripping off wrapping paper until we all had a small pile of gifts beside us. I was humbled to see the care that they’d taken in choosing gifts for me. Gran and Gramps had bought me three cookery books and a box of posh chocolates and Oscar had given me a beautiful necklace which had a gold heart-shaped pendant with tiny sparkling jewels studded around the edge of it. I also had some more new clothes from Brock and Esther, and a pack of luxury shower gels and body butters from Beth.

  Once we’d looked through our new treasures, we set about getting ready to go to the farm. The plan was that Oscar would take Gran, Gramps, a huge pile of presents, and two large Christmas cakes first and then come back for me. As soon as they set off I got into the shower and, by the time he returned, I had on my new red dress and was just finishing drying my hair.

  ‘Why don’t you put this on?’ he spoke softly, appearing at my shoulder. He held out the necklace he’d bought me and proceeded to undo the clasp. Lifting my hair up, I watched in the mirror as he gently fastened it around my neck, his fingers brushing against my skin.

  Forcing myself to breathe, I waited for him to move away but he didn’t. He lifted his hand and pulled me round so that I was facing him. ‘Merry Christmas,’ he murmured, leaning towards me and brushing his lips against mine. Electricity coursed through my body.

  I gasped and pulled away slightly, expecting him to step back but instead he stepped closer, bending down towards me. His lips pressed against mine but harder this time. He put one of his hands around my waist; the other in my hair. Running my hands up his chest I locked them behind his head. He moaned softly and pulled me closer still, his kiss becoming more urgent. His tongue ran across my lips and then suddenly the tip of it was inside my mouth, flickering against the rim of my teeth until the tips of our tongues met. The feeling was exquisite. He let out a groan of longing and tightened his arms around me. Just as I was about to lose myself in him, a high-pitched metallic jingle filled the room and we sprang apart, gasping for breath.

  Oscar pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket and clasped it to his ear.

  ‘Hello? Yes . . . um, we’re just about ready.’ His eyes met mine and I saw he was blushing. ‘Yep . . . ok, middle cupboard on the right-hand side . . . ok, we’ll be setting off in a couple of minutes . . . see you soon.’ He pressed a button and put the phone back in his pocket.

  ‘We should probably go.’ His expression changed and he suddenly looked vulnerable. ‘I . . .’

  ‘It’s ok. I’ll go and get in the car.’ It took me all my strength to walk out of the room in a dignified manner.

  We rode to the farmhouse in silence. When we arrived we were greeted by a throng of people and soon got lost in the crowd. The rest of the day was pleasant but somewhat marred by what had happened.

  I helped with the final preparations for the Christmas lunch, played with Brogan and his new toys, wore a paper hat, and pulled endless crackers, all the while trying hard not to think about Oscar. Apart from anything I didn’t want to let slip to the others what had happened so I tried to block it out. But it was difficult, especially seeing as the flavours of the roast turkey and trimmings were masked by the taste of his mouth and the scent of his skin. It didn’t help that every time I saw him he looked to be deep in thought and worse still, was avoiding my eye.

  *

  The curfew had been extended for Christmas so it was quite late by the time we got home and we all went straight up to bed with little in the way of conversation.

  When I arrived downstairs for breakfast the following day, Oscar had already gone out. My heart sank as I sat down at the table.

  ‘Just give him time,’ Esther said in a soothing tone.

  ‘You know? How?’

  ‘You did a very good job of keeping your thoughts quiet last night,’ Brock told me gently, ‘however Oscar was not quite so restrained.’

  ‘Oh!’ I blushed furiously.

  ‘Don’t worry, none of the telepaths present will say anything. We make a point of keeping things like this quiet – it’s not ethical to be spreading other people’s innermost thoughts about the town.�
� He smiled. ‘I think that maybe Oscar just needs a bit of time to sort out how he feels. He’s a tad conflicted to say the least.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ I grumbled, burying my head in my hands.

  *

  The rest of the holidays went painfully slowly. Oscar and I spent very little time in each other’s presence and barely spoke when we were together. The whole situation was confusing me. Oscar was clearly angry with me but I wasn’t really sure why. For all it probably shouldn’t have happened, it had been the most amazing experience of my life so far. Just thinking about it made my entire body tingle.

  Making my mind up to ask Beth her opinion, I waited somewhat impatiently for the college bus to arrive at her stop on the first day back. When she clambered on board, however, something about her expression made me forget all about my problems.

  ‘Are you ok?’ I asked as she slumped down in the seat next to me. She looked at me in surprise.

  ‘Didn’t you hear?’

  ‘Hear what?’

  ‘About Kenzie.’

  I looked across at Kenzie’s usual seat and realised that Lissa was sitting there alone.

  ‘She got in a row with her parents over the holidays,’ Beth explained. ‘They adopted her when she was younger but when they discovered she was a Nex they wanted to give her back. The authorities persuaded them to keep her but they’ve never really got on. Anyway, they had this huge row at Christmas and Kenzie lost her temper.’

  I looked at her blankly.

  ‘Kenzie can make things explode,’ Noah explained quietly from behind us.

  ‘Explode?’

  ‘Yeah, like boom, there goes Dad’s greenhouse.’

  ‘Wow!’

  ‘Yeah, only Dad didn’t see it that way,’ he continued, ‘neither did their neighbours, who reported her to security.

  ‘So what happened? Is she in prison?’

  ‘They don’t put kids in prison but she’s been excluded from college. She’s almost eighteen anyway so she could have left soon, but this way she’s going to have to wait a few months until she can get a job.’