“Okay, so, how do I make it turn on?”
“What were you thinking about when it first happened?”
“My math homework.”
He raised an eyebrow, not buying it. If doing math with a calculator caused her to have a meltdown, she’d have started on fire more times than just the once. “What were you really thinking about?”
Angela sighed and leaned against the wall, finally allowing her eyes to gaze down at the floor instead of at him. “The party.”
“And how did the party make you feel?” he asked.
“Scared.”
Glancing back at her, he filled the last glass with paper and then stood next to her. “Think about it again.”
“O…kay…” She chewed on her lip, running it back and forth in-between her teeth. She did that for a long time, but nothing about her changed. “It’s not working,” she said at last. He put a hand on her arm and walked with her to the middle of the room.
“Try closing your eyes if it helps,” he said and took the initiative to push down her eyelids. He couldn’t help but laugh as she scowled at him. “So you’re at the party. There’s lots of people there, you’re having fun, and some guy comes up to you and offers to show you something super neat. You think he’s hot…” She snorted a little. “Interesting? Whatever you think of him, it’s enough for you to want to go with him. Then he starts taking you down these dark stairs, and I’m sure by then you’re starting to wonder what’s going on.”
“I had pepper-spray, so I wasn’t afraid of him. There wasn’t any reason for me to be, not with how nice he was. And he wasn’t flipping the jerk switch as soon as we were separated from everyone else. I was ready for anything.”
“Everything but The Doctor,” he said quietly.
She nodded. “That’s when I started getting a change of heart. He was so cold, not just with how he treated me, but his hands were. And his eyes. They had no sense of caring. When I told him no, that I wanted to go back and forget the whole thing, he had her tie me down so he could...do it anyway. Inject me.”
“Who was she?”
“The girl with the vines.”
“Sprout?”
Angela shrugged. “I think I heard her called that a couple of times.”
Orlando’s fists clenched when he thought about Sprout doing that to her, to anyone. What is wrong with her? Sprout’s behavior disgusted him. Every encounter he’d ever had with her, all she did was prove that she didn’t care about anyone but herself. The whole thing made him all the more curious about what the blue tribe’s goals were. What was the war on Altura being fought for, and what kind of reward was Sprout offered to entice her into assisting in the murder of teenagers?
Gripping Angela’s shoulders, Orlando leaned in toward her ear. Her entire body trembled as he spoke in a low voice. “And does it scare you?”
“No, it pisses me off.”
Heat radiated from Angela’s skin, and soon he couldn’t hold onto her any longer. Similar to a stove top, she became hot in a matter of seconds. Looking down at her hands he could see her fists were in fact on fire.
He stepped away, smiling. “And that is your ‘on switch’.”
Angela opened her eyes and stared down at her hands, jaw dropped in awe. “This is nothing like last time.”
“I would imagine as you learn to control it, the power will manifest in different ways.” He went back to sitting on the desk so he could watch.
“What can I blow up...” She surveyed the room, turning to look about her.
Orlando pointed to the water glasses on the counter. “That’s why we have those over there, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Blowing something up comes later on. Lesson one is about on and off.”
“Just one thing? Please? I feel like I’m going to burst here,” she begged, and he recognized JD’s whine instantly. The two were as different as night and day, but both apparently learned the art of pleading effectively. When Angela did it, Orlando didn’t feel like he was listening to nails on a chalk board. It was even a little bit endearing, almost cute. But she was also a cute girl, so that might have had something to do with it too.
He swallowed and nodded, looking away from her and her sultry, dark eyes. “Again, glasses.” That was as much permission as he was going to give her to let loose.
Unsure of what she was going to do, he had his own powers at-the-ready just in case—as well as the fire extinguisher. As soon as he lifted it into his hands, she hurled a ball of fire at the water glasses on the counter. It hit with enough force to shake the room slightly and there was a small explosion. The glasses all shattered. Orlando put up his psychic shield and they both watched as the shards ricocheted off the invisible barrier.
“I hope this place is soundproof,” he muttered. If Lyssa heard the blast, she’d start freaking out. Even more so if she had felt it too. He was pretty sure everything was contained to just The Apartment. The way this portion of the mansion was designed made it seem as if it were created for the purpose of being a headquarters of sorts. Did his parents know he had powers? Doubt it. I’m surprised they even recognized me this summer. The wing of the house was another coincidence and nothing more.
Just for fun, he used the fire extinguisher to put out the papers that were now on fire. He could have gotten away with simply stomping them out, but he’d never used an extinguisher before. “Feel better now?”
“Very much so.” She exhaled and closed her eyes. “So now how do I turn it off again?”
“Go to a happy place?” he suggested, only being half sarcastic. Turning off her powers would be more difficult for him to teach. Given the nature of his own abilities, he didn’t necessarily need to ever stop using them. All he had to do was manage it so when he thought about doing things, they didn’t just happen.
Angela scoffed quietly. “Is that your way of saying you don’t know?”
He shrugged. “More like I’m not sure how to explain. In theory, if your powers are ignited by wrath and rage, they’ll cool off when you calm down and return to normal. Granted, my source of information here is a comic book. But it makes sense to me.”
“Nice puns.” She laughed and the flames disappeared in a matter of seconds.
“I hadn’t been trying, but thank you. I have a knack for being awesome,” he said dryly, and glanced at the time on his cell phone. Almost ten-thirty. The meeting between the others and Dale was hopefully officially underway. “Please go well,” he whispered.
“Worried too?” She sat down next to him on the desk.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure worried is the word I’d use to describe it. Curious? Hopeful?”
“You want more new kids to train?”
“Not really, but the guy is involved. Might as well be on our side instead of the enemy’s. I already cringe at the idea of some of the bad guys being kids from my school. Doesn’t sit well to wonder who I’m beating up and what might happen if things get out of hand.” Sprout and her partner Bean went to Lunar Falls. There’d been multiple sightings of them by Alan. Orlando didn’t like that his school was such a central part of the war. Yet another coincidence that didn’t mesh well with him. Mom and Dad have to know something is up. I think I owe them an e-mail.
Angela gave him a small smile. “True that. Thanks for all of your help Orly. I appreciate it. Oh, and I did mean it when I said you could come to our house for the holiday. We’d be more than happy to have you.”
He returned the smile, genuinely at that. “I’ll keep it in mind, but I wouldn’t expect anything. A bunch of strangers will just make things kind of awkward. If I get too lonely here, I might pop by. Or, at the very least, maybe we can all meet up later for a movie.”
“Deal! I’m gonna head home so JD doesn’t give me the third degree for coming home too late on a school night. I swear, he’s worse than my parents sometimes. Plus, I have a bus to catch. If nothing else, I’ll see you on Saturday, all right? We still on?”
“Yeah, we a
re.” Orlando nodded at her slightly, glad he had told Tait no. The space was something he needed now so he could figure out if he was in fact being lied to, and why.
Chapter Nine
JD picked Cadence up at eight, just like she asked. His parents were more than okay with giving him the car for the night, but only if he picked up some groceries on his way home and made it back by curfew. That meant he and Cadence had to go to the store before they met with Alan, and they’d need to make sure everything was done in time to get him home by eleven-thirty. Which meant they needed to be done by at least eleven so he had time to get Cadence home too. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long.
They waited in the parking lot, sitting in his car, for a long time. He’d made sure to arrive early so they’d have time to observe their surroundings and mentally prepare themselves. Who could tell what kind of thing would happen? Alan seemed to think everything would go smoothly, but JD didn’t want to assume. That never ended well for him before.
The minutes ticked away, and ten o’clock was getting closer and closer. It would have been more bearable to sit through if Cadence had said something. Both of them were uncharacteristically quiet. He didn’t want to say a word if she would prefer not to talk. It was unnerving, and he couldn’t stand it. Finally, with fifteen minutes to go, he cracked.
“Do you think they’ll let him join our team?” JD asked in a quiet voice, just in case she didn’t want to be disturbed.
Cadence shrugged and they briefly made eye contact. She broke it awfully fast, and he wasn’t sure what that meant. “I’m not sure. Logistically it makes some sense. Orlando could use another ally in the school, but I’m not sure if they’re trying to ration everything out evenly. They could want to make another team of just the new kids who were given the injection. Still, it would make sense to place them with seasoned units.”
“Yeah, I totally agree,” JD mumbled. He did agree, but listening to her talk was hard to do. She was being the other girl, not his Cadence. The knowledge was useful, the insight spot on, but the attitude was frustrating. Why can’t she say things like that and be normal again? Does it have to be one way or the other?
“What?”
“Huh?” He blinked.
“Look, if it bothers you that I’m smart now, just say so. I mean, I didn’t think it’d be a big deal. You always tell me how I need to apply myself more, and now I am.” She folded her arms in front of her.
JD shook his head slowly, averting his gaze so he was now looking out the windshield instead of at her. “I don’t have a problem with you being smart. It’s nice.”
“But? Come on, I know it’s there.”
“But it’d be nice to have you be, I don’t know, you?” He didn’t know how to explain it to her, let alone in a way where she wouldn’t get offended. When he saw her angry glare, he was pretty sure he’d done that anyway.
Her jaw was tight for a minute, and then she spoke. “You keep making this assumption that I’m not myself. Maybe you need to learn how to accept the fact that sometimes people change. And I don’t see why this is such a big deal. Do you not want me to be smarter than you for a change?”
“It has nothing to do with you being smart. You’re so serious, okay? Big words and dark thoughts. I don’t like it.” He scowled and waved his hands in front of him dismissively. “It’s frustrating. You talk like you’re forty.”
“All I did was answer your question as accurately as possible.”
“I know, but it’s kind of creepy,” he muttered.
The glare she gave him after he said that cut him worse than a knife. “Am I your best friend?”
It took him a moment to gather the courage, but he made eye contact with her. “Yes. You are and you always will be.”
“Then deal with it and accept that this is part of who I am now. I’m tired of dumbing myself down for the sake of comfort, and I don’t want to be held back any more. My whole life I’ve been at a disadvantage.”
“I know.” He did, he understood why she felt the way she did. All he wanted was for her to understand how weird it was for him.
“So then what is your beef exactly?”
JD never got a chance to explain it further because he saw Alan at the flagpole, and another figure was approaching him. “They’re here.”
Cadence opened her car door. “You’re not off the hook here. I’m still mad at you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he mumbled and got out as well. Together they walked to the flag pole, each putting on their mask. She stayed close to him, so that was a good sign he hadn’t completely messed everything up. When Cadence was mad at him, it made him miserable.
They’d had a number of tiffs and spats. He wasn’t the easiest to get along with, and he knew it. The times he’d made her genuinely mad at him were nothing he ever wanted to experience again. She didn’t talk to him, wouldn’t even look at him, and there was no doubt in his mind that she did it because she was thinking over whether or not they could still be friends. The idea of losing her forever broke him more than anything, and he would do anything to keep her from thinking about it again.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“We will talk about it later,” she said tersely.
Alan in and of himself was a strange sight to see. While he was human looking, he had a tendency to wear only pants and a vest made from light materials. It was the beginning of winter and they lived in the northern part of the mid-west United States of America. The temperatures never went above forty at night. Not necessarily freezing cold by any means, but not pants-and-a-vest weather either. Maybe a sweatshirt at the least, but Alan had far too much skin showing. What was even crazier was the cool weather didn’t seem to bother him one bit. He looked as comfortable as ever.
The teenager named Dale never once took his eyes off of JD and Cadence. “Who are you? Why are you wearing those masks?” Dale asked and backed himself into the pole. “Look, don’t hurt me, okay? I’ll just walk away, and pretend nothing happened and won’t tell anyone.”
“It is I who requested to speak with you,” Alan said. “The matter is urgent and it could be pertinent to your life as well as your girlfriend’s.”
“You better not have hurt Tori or I’ll—”
“I have done nothing to her.”
JD sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “We know about what happened at the party. We know you know too. You could call us the good guys, I guess, because we were the ones who busted up the operation and helped everyone escape.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dale said in barely more than a whisper, and looked down at the ground.
“Lying to yourself isn’t going to do anyone any good, man.”
“So what if I was there, a lot of kids were there.” Dale shrugged.
“Were you given an injection?” Alan asked. Dale kicked at the grass under his feet, but didn’t say a word. With a sigh, Alan moved closer to him as well. “You won’t get in trouble. It’s important we know. Please?” he pressed.
Dale’s mouth flapped open and closed for about half a minute before he finally managed a pathetic, “Yes. I didn’t know what it was or what it would do to me. My girlfriend and I were there hanging out with some friends, and we had gotten into a fight. She said I needed to relax and stop being boring, live a little, and then I never found her again. I was mad when I went down, wasn’t thinking. What was I thinking? Injecting myself with illegal drugs? And then I passed out and—”
The guy was speaking so fast JD had a hard time processing everything going on. He fanned both of his hands in an effort to try to get Dale to calm himself. “Chill, okay? He’s right, you aren’t going to get in trouble. We aren’t like, FBI, or police, or anything.” The wide eyes suggested that Dale didn’t quite believe him. JD waited a little while longer before continuing. “So you kind of went down there out of spite? Thought you’d stick it to her by getting stuck and doing something out of the norm?”
“Dumbest
idea ever, but I didn’t want to lose her. She’s kind of changing. I might be too late,” Dale admitted.
“Feel you there,” JD mumbled and risked a glance at Cadence, who was already staring at him. He couldn’t quite figure out how to read her face though. A frown, but not angry like before; it was more sad than anything.
Alan nodded as if he understood as well, and he might have. JD didn’t know much about the situation involving the alien and his ex, so he couldn’t tell. “This might seem a peculiar question, but has anything you would consider strange happened to you since then?”
Dale’s gaze moved over each of them. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. And I know something strange is happening to Tori too. She’s been distant ever since the party. Lying to me even, and we told each other we weren’t going to do that, you know? Not sure what to do.” He paused. “I don’t know why I’m even telling you all of this. It’s almost like...”
“Almost like what?” Alan asked.
“Never mind.” Dale shook his head.
“What strange things are happening? Again, we want to be of assistance to you.”
“It’s like my body has... No you’re going to think it’s crazy.”
JD snorted. “Dude, after some of the strange things I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure it’s not as crazy as you think.”
“Okay, you asked for it,” Dale mumbled. Then louder he said, “It’s like ink is pumping in my body instead of blood. I’m not sure it’s ink. Oil maybe? It’s slippery and black, highly flammable. At the same time I can draw stuff with it, construct things even and it becomes what I want it to be. Using it makes me tired, like I’m losing part of myself. Which if my blood theory is correct, then I probably am.”
“Whoa.” JD gasped. Intense and so cool. Don’t get jealous. Nope. Not worth it. But he was. Everyone was getting an amazing, cool, and useful ability but him.
They all stood silently. Outside of the wind occasionally rustling through the trees it was dead quiet. Dale rubbed at his arms, Alan took notes, Cadence watched JD, and he watched her. A soft beep disrupted the otherwise still night, and Alan let out a soft huff.
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