by Imogen Rose
“No,” Harry replied. “I guess he could, if he wanted to. He would need to release his abilities. He chose not to when he opted to be with Mom.”
“Why couldn’t he do both?” I asked, out of real curiosity.
Harry shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but from what I’ve been told, the privilege of becoming a Sigma-W comes with responsibilities and duties. I think it would make it difficult for Dad to be a regular husband and dad, which I guess is what they wanted.”
“What about you, Harry?”
“I have latent Sigma-W abilities, as well,” he smiled.
So I was sitting in the company of two potential paranormal beings and David. Freaky. And not freaky. They were my brother, my boyfriend, and my–I couldn’t define my relationship with David. The word friend didn’t fully describe our closeness. So I was the only regular person here. How boring–for me. “Wow! What does this mean for the both of you?” I asked, looking in turn at Harry and then Kellan.
Kellan shrugged. “Not a lot for now,” he said. “I mean, we have the ability, but that doesn’t mean we have to do anything with it. I haven’t known about this for all my life, so I’m not going to worry about it now. What about you, Harry?”
“I don’t know. I want to spend some time with Gramadea and Granddad learning more about it, but I’m not prepared to buy into this lifestyle–though I don’t know exactly what that entails–right now. It is kinda awesome, though.”
Sheesh. I was starting to feel a bit jealous. “So, is wandering the only thing the Sigma-Ws can do, or do they have other abilities as well?”
“Only?” David laughed.
“Oh, you know what I mean!” I smiled. “Can the Sigma-W make themselves invisible? Walk though stuff? Breathe fire? Superhuman speed–that would be cool for hockey….”
Harry chuckled “No! Well, I don’t think so. It would be cool if there were other things we could do. I guess we’ll have to ask Gramadea.”
“Right at this second, you’re both as useless as I am in the wandering department, right? It’s only David who can wander.”
“That’s right,” Harry replied. “It would be useful for us to be able to wander, especially to help out with the rescue mission. As it is, we’re going to have to be babysat.”
“Is there a way they can temporarily switch on your abilities, just for this mission?” I asked.
“I wish,” Harry sighed. “I did ask. There’s no possible way of doing that.”
“Too bad. Kellan, are you all right with all this? Were you upset to learn about your mother?”
He shook his head. “No, not the least bit, once I knew that they hadn’t even told Dad. He’s a bit upset and it’s no wonder. Knowing Dad, I’m sure he’s reassessing his whole time with Mom now, wondering if there were any signs. I need to get back to talk to him soon. I’ll bet he’s freaking out about me. We didn’t have any time to talk things through before I left with David. I guess, in a way, I feel a bit more unsure about myself. I’d stay on here, with Harry, to learn more, but I’m concerned about Dad. Besides, I’m not letting you head off on your own,” he said, coming up and kissing my forehead.
“Cut it out,” Harry muttered. “We get it, you like each other.”
We stopped chatting as Ella came bounding out to retrieve her tiara. She was still wet, wrapped in a huge pink towel.
“Why are you wearing it?” she sulked.
“Sorry, safest place,” I grinned, as I took it off and handed it to her.
“Kids, can you all come in now?” Gramadea asked, coming up behind Ella. “Ella, go and get changed. Alexa asked if you wanted to play Guitar Hero with her.”
“Awesome! See ya later, alligator,” she said, and took off.
“Right!” Gramadea said, beckoning us.
After a short briefing where we were basically assigned babysitters–Gramadea was mine and someone I never met before was going with Kellan–we changed into our protective gear. I thought we looked like cool superheroes; I had to stifle a giggle. Harry was going to stay behind. He wasn’t the least bit pleased, but… tough cookies. He was of no use without any abilities and, unlike Kellan and me, he had never seen any of Potomal’s lot, so he couldn’t even help in that aspect.
So, there we were, Kellan and I dressed up in our Sigma-W gear. I felt good. A team of sixteen Sigma-Ws, including Gramadea, met us in the conference room. There were no signs of Granddad, I guess he was too important to go on rescue missions. I didn’t recognize any of the faces. These weren’t the same people we had been introduced to when we first got here. This must be their SWAT team, or whatever. Mom and Rupert came to see us off.
“Arizona, now remember… do exactly what Gramadea says. Do not go off on your own. Right?”
“I won’t, I promise,” I reassured them, waving them off after a group hug.
Gramadea stood behind me and put her hand on my shoulder and we transported off. The journey was short and we landed right outside the building where I had been held. It was pitch dark. I guess we had moved in time, as well. There were no people around, so I guessed it must have been very late into the night, maybe early morning.
It was surreal, like being in a sci-fi movie. The SWAT team took their places in front of us. The four of us–Kellan, his minder, Gramadea and I–stayed at the back. We went to the main entrance of the building, armed with the building code so we could get in–thank goodness for Intelligence. Turns out that we didn’t need it. The front door was unlocked, the lobby empty. The security guard was not at his station and the lights were off–weird.
“Top floor?” Gramadea whispered to me. I nodded and we made our way to the stairwell. It was decided that this would be the safer option. Safer maybe, but I was pooped by the time we got to the top. The door was gently pried open by one of the Sigma-Ws in front of us. He went first and then beckoned us through. The hallway was as I remembered, except deathly quiet and dark apart from the beams from our flashlights. Had Potomal’s group transported off? We searched the floor, systematically, room by room. We finally came to the room I had been held in.
Light escaped from under the door, but we couldn’t hear any sounds. The room itself was big; I knew that from my stay there. It could hold a small army of people, certainty more than there were of us. It was possible that on the other side of this door a team of Potomal’s group were waiting to take us out.
Gramadea ushered Kellan and me back along the corridor to an empty alcove, where we remained out of sight. We could hear a lot of commotion, angry voices and running around. One of the Sigma-Ws finally appeared at the alcove to update us.
“There are a boy and girl in there. The girl is going nuts. The boy is trying to calm her, but she won’t let up. She is completely hysterical. What do you want us to do?”
Simla and Justin. I ran through the hallways toward the room and burst through it before Kellan or Gramadea could stop me. Simla was weeping hysterically while Justin looked helplessly toward me while trying to restrain her. The Sigma-Ws were looking uncomfortable, shuffling around.
“Everyone, leave,” I shouted, taking charge, while Kellan and Amadea arrived in the room. They stayed as the rest of them left. I went over to Simla and grabbed her hand. “Shut up! Pull up your big girl panties and shut up!” I seethed through clenched teeth. “Get hold of yourself!” She looked startled, by my lack of empathy I guess, and turned angry.
“You stupid… troll!” she yelled, and clenched her fists.
“Troll?” I snorted.
She came at me. I stood back as Kellan and Justin grabbed hold of her.
“Nice going, Arizona! What were you thinking?” Justin gasped as Simla was spewing obscenities at me.
“Well, it worked! I had to do something to get her out of her Bella Swan despair. Look! No despair now,” I declared proudly.
Kellan shook his head. Well, it had worked. All we had to do now was wait for her to simmer down and then she’d be good to go. It didn’t take long. She looked at me long and hard and th
en started chuckling. She either thought the situation was funny or she’d completely gone bananas on us.
“Simla?” Justin queried, letting her loose.
“Oh, never mind. Let’s get out of here,” she said.
“Wait a minute,” Gramadea said, walking up to us. “I take it you’re Simla and you are Justin?” she asked.
They nodded at her.
“I am Amadea, we’re here to take you back home. Can you first tell us what happened? Where are Potomal and his group? You two seem to be the only ones here.”
“Are you sure?” Simla asked, here eyes welling up again.
“Yes, the team has now searched through the building. It’s empty.”
“You didn’t find my dad?” Simla asked, clearly upset again.
“Your dad? Raj Sen?”
“Yes,” she sobbed.
Gramadea frowned. “Simla, why would you think your dad was here?”
“I saw him. He was brought here when I tried to escape, as leverage to get me to go along with their plans.”
“Do you know where they were keeping him?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea what happened here? Where is Potomal?”
Justin shrugged. “All hell broke loose when Arizona disappeared. Potomal gathered all of us for deployment to one of his other residences. Simla said that she wouldn’t go without her dad, so Potomal just shrugged and left us here. They just disappeared on us, all of them. They seemed to be in an awful hurry, like they were expecting you to arrive.”
“Do you think they took Dad?” Simla whispered.
“No, I can’t see any reason they would do that,” Gramadea mused. “How exactly did Potomal threaten you with your dad?”
“He said that if I didn’t do what he asked, he’d deliver Dad to the FBI,” Simla said, barely breathing. “Do you think he would really do that? Why?”
“Because he said he would. Potomal usually does exactly that. I have no idea where your father is, though, or if Potomal even had time to carry out a plan like that. He couldn’t just walk into the Bureau with Raj beside him. It’s more likely that he dumped him somewhere, to get rid of him. We’ll get our Intelligence on it, though your father is very resourceful and knows how to avoid being discovered when he wants. I’m not even sure that your dad is someone we want to get involved with other than the fact that you’ve been inadvertently involved in this because of us. Our council will make a decision. Will you both need help to get back home or have you learned to wander?”
They both shook their heads. “No, we can’t wander. We’d just begun to train.”
“Okay, we are going to transport you back home, well, to Constance’s house. Grayson is staying over there.” Gramadea turned and looked at us. “Are you ready to go back?”
A while later we were back in Spencer’s Wimbledon house, getting ready to journey back to our home in Mountain View. Although our safety could not be guaranteed, Mom was adamant that she wouldn’t remain in hiding forever. Besides, I wanted to get back to hockey. Harry was going to stay behind for a while to learn more about the Sigma-W, and since he was the most at risk–being Spencer’s only biological grandson–it was for the best. Gramadea assured us that, for our safety, she would make sure Potomal was informed that Ella and I were adopted, not that it made a bit of difference to her, but anything that made us less attractive to Potomal was worth a shot. So we were returning home, knowing full well that we were at risk. Security around us was tightened considerably and Mountain View was now swarming with an influx of Sigma-Ws, in all shapes and sizes, who would watch us. We were greatly relieved when Intelligence told Gramadea that Potomal was having trouble holding on to his recruits after the last attempt at initiating a takeover. It would be sometime before he tried anything again, if ever. Here’s to hoping he was enjoying his wealth on a warm beach somewhere.
I did wonder what had happened to Luna and Stan. In a way, I had kind of gotten to like them, even though they were holding me captive. They’d just seemed like two interesting college kids, inadvertently caught up in their father’s schemes–a bit like Simla. I wondered if they had managed to go back to school or if they were forced to continue their education elsewhere. “Gramadea, do you have any idea what happened to Luna?”
“I do. Luna is still attending college in Paris, which is the real reason why Spencer has given his permission for you to go home. We were dumbfounded when we heard that. Luna must have either completely fallen out with her father or they’ve come to some understanding where he has promised her peace while she finishes college. Either way, she is available to us, should anything happen to any of you,” Gramadea said meaningfully.
So, we were ready to go home. Ella was wearing her tiara–given to her on the understanding that she couldn’t wear it to school; Mom would keep it safe. I wondered what it was worth–a fortune. Ella had really enjoyed her royal time here and made plans to come back during vacation.
Kellan and I braced ourselves for the journey. As Simla and Justin had already been transported back, it was just us, Mom, Rupert and Ella. David was coming with us as well, at least long enough to say goodbye to his mom before he went to his dad’s again. I hoped we would get to spend some time together before he had to leave.
I closed my eyes as I felt the pressure to my shoulders and the following weightless sensation. I gave in to total relaxation and let my mind wander. Total relaxation until my mind wandered to Simla, or rather her dad. Simla told us that she’d seen him. He’d been in London at the Potomal residence. Now, no one knew where he was. Sigma-W Intelligence had come up with nothing. What could Potomal have done with him? Maybe he took Raj with him. Raj’s resourcefulness might prove useful in Potomal’s schemes. If Potomal had done that, why didn’t he force Simla to go with them? I rolled my eyes–as much as I could with them firmly shut. It would be way too much bother to deal with a screeching, hysterical Simla while orchestrating a quick getaway. Potomal probably just got fed up. As long as Raj didn’t turn up on our doorstep, I really didn’t care what happened to that idiot. I just hoped that Simla could let it go, but I wasn’t too optimistic about that. I hoped she didn’t do anything stupid. I would love for everything to go back to normal so we could just get on and enjoy life for a while.
That would have to include a trip to see Dad, though. Since the portal was now functional, I saw no issues with that whatsoever. Mom and I would just need to work out the logistics, I was thinking as I landed on a soft surface and opened my eyes.
I was home.
He still had power over her, Raj thought to himself. He knew how to contact the one person he could blackmail Olivia with–Dillard. The threat of exposing her family to Dillard would guarantee Raj the blueprints. All he had to do was get her to take him back to the cottage, so he could retrieve the prints that had been left behind when Potomal plucked him out of there.
After that, he’d be rich. He had already contacted his buyer, Dr. Masterson, who was still very interested. Of course, Olivia and the portal would be totally unnecessary if Simla would just learn to wander. Then she could go and get the blueprints herself. Wait!
It occurred to him that he really didn’t need to go back at all. Why not just get a fresh set of prints from Olivia? That would be the simplest option.
He’d staked out the Weeks’ home all morning, but there were no signs of anyone apart from the pesky FBI agents. How much more obvious could they be? And, more importantly, what had become of Simla? Where was she? If she was back home, she should have gone to school this morning. But, there were no signs of her being back. Did she permanently join forces with Potomal? Surely he wouldn’t have been dumped back here if she did. Did Simla know that he’d been unceremoniously dropped off at some old ladies’ house in the middle of nowhere, without any money? He was more than a little angry with her. She should have done what Potomal asked.
Raj found himself holed up in yet another crummy roadside motel. This life style had to come to an e
nd, he thought; he was thoroughly fed up with it. As he stared up at the moldy popcorn ceiling illuminated by a dusty, naked light bulb, he wondered if he should pick up the phone and make the call to Dillard. Why wait?
~
Constance braced herself for Simla’s return. Grayson looked stressed. Word had reached them that the FBI was back in Mountain View asking about Simla and it seemed that Grayson’s house was now being watched. Constance was glad that Simla and Justin were being returned so promptly. If they were missing for much longer, their disappearance could spark a full-scale search and investigation by the FBI. As far as she knew, the FBI agent, Claire Adams, was the same agent who had been in charge of the Darley kids’ disappearance last year. What was she doing back here now? Had some new evidence come to light? Whatever it was, the timing was terrible.
“Any more news as to what the FBI is doing here?” Constance asked, looking over at Inez and Grayson.
“Morgana has a contact over at the police station, she is trying to find out,” Inez replied. “She should be here any…,” Inez stopped as the doorbell rang.
“Morgana, any news?” Inez asked her, as Constance ushered her into the living room.
Morgana’s lips turned into a grimace, her brows furrowing into a look of confusion. “I’m really having a hard time understanding what’s going on. My contact at the station told me that they backed up the FBI on a call this afternoon. He couldn’t give me the location, but said that a man had appeared at a house occupied by two elderly sisters, burglarized it and then took off. My contact told me that it is very unusual for the FBI to get involved with a seemingly routine burglary. A call like that would normally be handled by the local police.
“Apparently, after the FBI left the scene, the remaining local cops asked the elderly sisters why they’d called the FBI rather than 911. As it turns out, they hadn’t called anyone. The FBI agent just turned up at the house without prior warning. The two ladies were initially quite pleased to have two visitors in one day. That changed, however, after the FBI agent asked them to have a look around, and they discovered that their valuables and car were missing. So, my contact is stumped. He doesn’t know who contacted the FBI or why.” Morgana took a deep breath and sighed.
