“Well, I've got to head out soon,” Max announced, standing up. “What are you guys planning for the evening? Anything crazy?”
“I think we're going to watch some movies,” Lisa said. “What about you, Jess, Kev?”
Jess shrugged. “I was planning on heading downstairs and gaming till I pass out. I don't feel like pretending to ignore you guys making out all night.” Drew laughed again and Lisa flushed, then looked to me for my answer.
I shrugged as well. “Same idea as Jess. I'll probably go back to the library and continue my quest to read every book there.”
Max glanced at me. For just a moment, he frowned, obviously unhappy, but then he grinned again. It seemed forced. “Sounds like more fun than I'll be having, at least. But I'm sure that's up for debate. I should be back around eleven or so. If you guys are still up by then, I'll probably be looking to do some shots. Cyanide shots, maybe. We'll see.”
Our group broke up, Max leaving for the party, Lisa and Drew heading for one of the living rooms, and Jess for the rec room. She hung back and looked at me as I finished my glass of water. “You're lonely too, aren't you,” she said quietly. Her tone wasn't as waspish as usual.
I nodded. I hadn't thought she was lonely too, not with having the computer there. There was a difference between not being bored and not being lonely, though. “A bit. But at least I can find some peace and quiet here.”
“I know what you mean,” she said. “Hey, Kev, if you want to hang out while those two are sucking face in the other room, that'd be cool.”
I was a little surprised, but smiled. “Thanks, Jess. I think I'll pass tonight. Maybe another time.”
She frowned, then nodded and disappeared around the corner. I never thought she cared too much for me. We were both in a weird situation. Kindred spirits, in a sense.
I wandered my way upstairs. My thoughts drifted back to Ripley, the glowing eyes, the superhuman strength, the confrontations and the guilt. After seeing the reflection of that asshole on the first day here, my state of mind had come into question. The sudden headache hadn't reoccurred, but it made me wonder if Ripley's impairment had weakened. Having my power go out of control here would be a disaster, far beyond anything that had happened at school. I thought that leaving school for a while would leave those concerns behind.
It was like having a demon beside me, no matter where I went. I almost turned to look over my shoulder. I knew I wouldn't see anyone there, but the temptation was strong. I headed upstairs and walked toward my room, passing the library on the way. The loneliness I felt here was one thing, but constantly thinking about Nikki in conjunction with it bothered me. She had hurt me. I had hurt her back. I had overreacted and I knew it, but it was impossible to apologize for something she didn't even remember. What was I going to say? Sorry I threw you into a wall? Sorry I almost killed you?
I walked to the window and threw it open. Nikki's face and Steph's face constantly crisscrossed in my mind, each one fading into the other. Both had hurt me, and both times, it had been my own fault. I might never get the chance to apologize to Steph, but I could at least apologize to Nikki. I climbed out of the window and clambered up onto the roof. When I got back to school, the first thing I'd do would be to go track Nikki down and talk to her. Lisa would know the room. She deserved an apology for the way I had been treating her after Valentine's Day, at the very least. Maybe we could start over.
I walked up the slope of the roof to the peak where it overlooked the back of the estate. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The sky was gray and overcast, throwing everything into shadow. The other houses in sight were so far away. The edge of the roof was close and it was a long way down. I didn't think being so far up was a good idea, especially not in this weather. I needed to get down. It would be fastest if I jumped. Maybe if I jumped far enough, I could land in the pool. It was close enough to dive into. No problem. I took a step back in order to get a running start. This was going to be awesome.
A hand grabbed the back of my shirt. “That's enough.”
I gasped and pushed myself backwards into the person behind me. I was on the roof? How the hell had I gotten to the roof? Why was I about to jump all the way down? The top of the roof was three stories up, maybe more. The pool was at least twenty feet away and drained for the winter. Even if I somehow did reach it, diving into an empty pool would be deadly. But something in the back of my head was telling me that I should jump down, that everything would be ok. I started to take another step toward the edge and found myself yanked back again. “Enough, I said!”
“You won't be able to stop him forever,” said another voice. I shook my head, momentarily silencing the whisper in my mind, then turned around. Directly behind me was a familiar figure, trench coat and sunglasses, a green glow faintly visible behind the sunglasses. Shade. Another man stood on the rooftop, about twenty feet away. His eyes were glowing, not the green that I was familiar with, but a dark purple glow. The way he held himself promised violence. I dropped to my hands and knees, straddling the peak of the roof in an attempt to keep my balance. Purple laughed. “He's resisting my suggestion without drawing on any power. It's too bad I have to kill him. We could use someone like him.”
“He's under our protection,” Shade said. His voice was far calmer than it had been the night I hurt Nikki. “More to the point, he's under my personal protection. Walk, now, while you can.”
Purple chuckled. “You don't scare me. I've heard of you. I've read your file. I know what you're capable of.”
“Do you?” Shade sounded amused. “What do you think, Parker?”
“I think I want to get off the roof,” I said. Heights were not my thing. Especially not when a thunderstorm was coming. Being hit by lightning was not on my bucket list.
“Let me help you, then.” Purple made a lifting gesture. I rose into the air and started to flip over backwards. I felt a wrenching sensation and my movement suddenly stopped. Purple lightning flashed in front of my eyes, followed immediately by green sparks. Lightning was not supposed to be that color, nor was it supposed to travel horizontally. Whatever was holding me in the air let go, and I fell down on my hands and knees again. I dug my fingers as far under the shingles as I could get them. If anyone tried to pick me up again, they'd have to take part of the roof with me.
“I told you he's under my protection,” Shade said, then looked over his shoulder and flicked his sunglasses down right in front of me. Green light flashed in his eyes, then he looked back at the other man. “If you're looking for a fight, I'll give it to you. Let's see how far you get.”
Purple said nothing, just thrust two open palms toward us. Green sparks shimmered then coalesced into a slanted wall. Purple lightning reflected off it into the sky. Thunder boomed. The charcoal gray sky was turning black and storm clouds hovered over the Pendleton estate. Rain started to fall, enormous drops that stung on impact. For the first time in my life, I found a thunderstorm to be unimpressive and nonthreatening. I pressed down on my belly and clung to the roof. This was impossible. No one could shoot lightning from their hands. This wasn't fucking Star Wars!
“You're too defensive,” Purple said. “You can't defend both yourself and the kid.”
“Can't?” Shade flicked his fingers toward Purple. Green light strobed through the air, leaving glowing afterimages. I couldn't tell if I had actually seen anything, or if I only saw the afterimages. Before those traces of light faded, he lifted both hands, palms outward, toward Purple, mirroring the guy's previous gesture. “Do you believe everything you're told?”
Purple energy formed a globular shield around my attacker. Another flash of energy ricocheted off into the sky, directly into the storm looming overhead. It drilled a hole right through the clouds, revealing a momentary glimpse of blue sky before the cloud drifted onwards. Shade charged twenty feet in seconds, throwing punches and kicks at the attacker, his fists blurs as he moved faster than any normal person could. His trench coat flapped wildly. It would have trippe
d me up, but it looked like he was moving with the coat, not fighting against it. Purple was striking back, but even at their rapid-fire speed, I could tell he was on the defensive. This fight had gone from Star Wars to some sort of Jackie Chan movie.
Shade swung. Purple dodged and pulled him off balance with a tug to the sleeve, then sprinted right for me. I could see him stutter-stepping in order to line up a kick. With his strength, he'd probably kick me right off the roof. Even if I survived the kick itself, I wouldn't survive the fall. Beyond him, Shade regained his balance and stretched out a hand, but he was going to be too late. Purple was already lining up his kick.
I let go of the roof and crossed my arms in front of my face. Thunder boomed above us. I felt a sudden, familiar throb in my temples. Ripley had impaired my power, or so he had said. The throb intensified and turned painful. Had he only told me that he had done so? Was it already too weak to hold my power in? Could I use it to defend myself? It was the only chance I had. I didn't have a choice, not if I wanted to live.
In that moment before Purple's foot reached me, I felt a surge of power from inside my mind. All my doubts and fears retreated to a distant corner of my consciousness. This was my life at stake. I wasn't about to give it up so easily. I didn't want to die. Power flowed through my body and the throbbing in my temples abruptly stopped. I heard the whistle of air as his foot whipped toward me, a devastating kick that would kill a normal person outright.
At that moment, I gave up being a normal person forever.
Chapter Nine
I felt the shock of his foot striking, but it didn't strike any part of my body. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over me, glowing purple eyes open wide as his foot pressed against a rectangular shield of crackling blue and green energy. The shield deformed under the impact, bending back toward me, a fraction of an inch away from my arms. Energy flickered in a spiderweb pattern through the shield.
I panicked. I couldn't let him break it. I pushed outwards, ramming the shield into him as hard as I possibly could. Raindrops sprayed in every direction as the shield thrust through them. The surge of energy faded and the shield vanished. The push sent Purple skidding backwards across the roof, barely able to keep his balance, his arms pinwheeling madly. Shade caught him before he could regain his balance and pressed his right hand to the man's forehead. After a few seconds, Purple’s arms dropped to his sides, the glow faded from his eyes. He coughed and a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He collapsed. Even at this distance, through the rain, I could see his body convulsing.
I almost felt sympathy for him. Almost. I couldn't move and my own muscles were twitching weakly. The rain grew heavier, sheets of water drenching me. I knew I should get off the roof and get inside, but I could barely keep my eyes open. I had no idea how I had climbed up onto the roof in the first place. I closed my eyes. Maybe I'd just sleep here tonight.
I felt footsteps, then a thump. “Fuck me,” said a deep voice, his tone almost reverent. “I thought Alistair said he had twisted you.”
I forced myself to smile without opening my eyes. “I think I broke it.”
“Yeah, no shit. How does it feel?” he asked.
“I can't move,” I said. He grunted and I felt his fingers on the back of my neck, then a curious jolt. I took a deep breath and found that some of the exhaustion had faded. I still felt like I could sleep for a week, but now I felt like I could find a bed first. Thunder boomed above us again and I could feel my clothes sticking to my skin.
“How about now?” he asked.
I pushed myself up to my hands and knees. “Better. Thanks.” I opened my eyes and looked up. He had already recovered his sunglasses and put them back on. Sunglasses in the middle of a thunderstorm looked just as ridiculous as sunglasses inside, if not more so. With power like he had just shown me, it didn't matter if he looked silly.
“Don't thank me. That's temporary, it'll hurt more later,” he said. “You're going to wish he had actually kicked you tomorrow.”
“I bet,” I said, then turned over and sat on the roof. Rain streamed down my face and back. “I can never go back, can I?”
He snorted. “Why would you even want to? Hang on for a minute. Don't go anywhere.”
“I don't think I could, even if I wanted to.”
He pulled a cell phone out of an inner pocket. For some reason, the rain didn't seem to be hitting the phone. “Alistair. I thought you twisted Parker. You did?” He glanced toward me and almost smiled. “He broke it.”
I could hear the old man's voice over the rain. “He what?”
“One of the gangbangers tried to puppeteer him, almost talked him into jumping off the roof. Would have looked like a suicide. I barely got here in time. Had to fight the banger. He faked me out and went for the kid. Parker throws up a shield.” He paused for a moment and glanced at me. “Yes, I'll clean up. I don't think anyone noticed. The storm here was keeping everyone inside.” He glanced at me again. “Don't fall off now. I don't want to have to file an incident report.”
I caught myself leaning sideways and corrected to leaning the other way. “Sorry. Tired.”
“You have no idea what tired is yet. What? Just talking to the kid. You want to say anything to him? Sure. Here.” He handed me the phone.
“Are you all right, Kevin?” Ripley sounded concerned.
“Exhausted,” I said. “Really exhausted.”
“That's normal when you are beginning to control your powers,” he said. “It seems that I underestimated your strength. I am glad you are unhurt, but promise me, you won't make use of your abilities again until you have returned to campus. You've drawn enough attention to yourself as is.”
“I was just defending myself!”
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” he said. “Regardless, it will attract attention. If you weren't returning so soon, I'd have you brought back immediately. There shouldn't be any significant danger if you remain there for the next five days. Please allow me to speak with Shade again.”
I handed the phone back to Shade. It had gotten wet while I was talking, but as soon as he took it back, rain stopped hitting it. Very strange. I hung my head between my knees and tried not to fall asleep or fall off the roof.
“No, I don't think I need any backup. It took them three weeks to decide to send one. It'll take them at least a week to decide whether to risk more. Right. I'll let him know.” He flicked the phone closed and put it back in one of his inner pockets. “Alistair seems pleased with your progress. I think you're just one lucky bastard. Broke that twist just in time, and his twists don't come undone until he wants them to. He must have fucked it up.”
“I didn't really have a choice,” I said. I wondered if Ripley had underestimated my strength. Worse yet, maybe he had deliberately made it weak. What would the purpose of that be? To make me have another accident?
“I would have kept you from dying, at least,” he said. “Though you wouldn't have liked getting a boot in the face. Or having two broken arms.”
I shuddered. I was cold, wet, and tired, but I still had hundreds of unanswered questions. I'd get whatever I could out of him before I collapsed. “Who was that guy?”
“The one who attacked you? Some banger.” His tone was dismissive. “There are a few minor organizations in the city. It's gang warfare. They're always looking to expand their operations, but we never let them. Organized crime. Human trash.”
“What did you do to him?” I thought back to what he said. “Twisted him? What does that mean? Is that what Ripley did to me?”
“Just like that. Twist his mind so he can't use his powers for a while.” He made a corkscrewing motion with his hand, then looked over at Purple, who was still twitching every few seconds. “I'll have to dump him somewhere so that his people can find him. Hopefully they don't give him a second chance.”
“Second chance,” I repeated. “You're one of the people who didn't want me to get a second chance, aren't you?”
He didn't say anything for a long moment. “I don't like that policy in general. I don't like special treatment, even for those with your supposed potential. It's irresponsible to let kids like you walk around without any training. He should have locked you up until he got a straight yes or no. Or just turned you off. But, he's the boss. No matter how I feel about the policy, or how much of an idiot I think you are, I'll follow his orders.”
I shivered, and it wasn't entirely due to the rain. This guy scared me, somewhere deep inside. “I think I understand.”
Shade nodded and pointed toward the twitching gangbanger. “He wasn't bad,” he said while the body floated toward him. “I got careless. A little overconfident. No, he wasn't bad at all.” He hoisted the body up in a fireman's carry. I got a glimpse of Purple's face. The guy was young, maybe even younger than me. His eyes were rolled up, and his jaw was slack. A spot of blood that hadn't been washed away by the rain still stained the corner of his mouth.
“Why didn't you just kill him?” I asked.
He looked back at me. “Why bother? I could have. He was going to kill you and you're under our protection. That would make it acceptable according to our rules of engagement, but I try not to kill indiscriminately. If you twist someone, they usually return the favor. Twists are recoverable. Death isn't. Keeps things civilized.”
“I don't get it,” I said. It didn't fit. A strange sense of mercy, maybe? Or maybe just pure pragmatism?
“Of course not. You don't understand anything yet,” he said. “I'm going to get somewhere warm. Remember not to attract any more attention.”
“Wait!” I called as he started to walk down the slope of the roof. “I don't know how to get off the roof. I don't even know how I got up here in the first place. I'm too tired to go exploring. Can you give me a hand?”
The Fire In My Eyes Page 12
