by Lee Davidson
“You have my word,” I mumble and try to ignore the regret that’s snuffing out my intuition.
19. I think you broke me
Willow
Three times now, Lawson and I are knocked on our backsides, unable to sever the blocking connection with Reed. In the distance, it appears that Evelynn, Billy and Jackson are having about as much luck as we are.
This time, I try to be ready. Actually, I’ve tried to be ready every time. My back foot is wedged in the thick grass for more traction, but my legs feel like silly string in combat boots. The voltage delivers a deadly shock, so painful I hardly noticing my flight through the air. When I land, the current doesn’t stop like it has before, but, Holy Mother, I wish it would!
Labor, labor, labor…
“Block!” I yell from my curled position on the ground.
The voltage releases me and my raw throat tells me that I’ve probably yelled really loudly, even by my standards.
Everyone on the field is staring at me, including Reed, who has stopped in mid-stride.
Jonathan’s the first one to move and he crosses to me. There’s a sick excitement in his voice. “Excellent! Can you share what was done differently?”
Lawson shakes his head and I say, “I don’t know,” with a croaky voice.
“Keep trying until you figure it out,” Jonathan urges.
Oh sure, that sounds like a bang-up time. “Don’t you think we should give Reed a chance to block?” I plead as Jonathan is walking away.
“It’s all about stamina,” Jonathan says over his shoulder and then, “I saw that,” when I roll my eyes.
After two more tries, I lift my head in time to see Reed stop and then I allow myself a well deserved minute to get my bearings.
I announce to Jonathan that I think we’ve done it and he has the Legacies gathered around me a minute later.
“Willow, Lawson, please perform another block while we observe,” Jonathan says.
For the love of St. Therese!
“Wanna mix it up?” Lawson asks in a tired voice when we’re crossing the lawn.
After agreeing with Lawson’s whispered plan of attack, my voice belts out in unison with his. “Haze!”
One, two, three.
In my head, our voices scream simultaneously, Bunny hop, bunny hop, bunny hop.
The force throws us both into the air and my hands ball into fists. I stay focused as my body bounces off the ground. “Block,” I manage.
Reed, sideways in my vision, makes me want to laugh, but my back hurts too badly. He hops between Lawson and me like he’s in a potato sack race.
Jonathan watches him cross the lawn. “I’d venture to say that block was a success.”
As usual, my mouth works faster than my head. “Success, my—”
“Eh hem.”
“Sorry,” I reply to Jonathan with very little sincerity as my muscles continue to quiver sporadically.
Jonathan shades his eyes and turns in Reed’s direction. I’m able to get up on one elbow just as Reed stops at the edge of the field, freezes, and scratches his head. In the time it takes him to cross the expanse of the field back to us, Lawson gets himself upright and offers me his giant hand.
“You all right?”
Certainly he can see the worry in my eyes. Everything about this is a bad idea.
“Billy, Reed, and Jackson, why don’t you block Evelynn?” Jonathan circles back to Lawson and me. “Any helpful advice you can offer?”
“Your thoughts have to be in unison. Agree on the outcome and make a plan, by counting or whatever, so you can transfer the thought together.”
“Yelling the thought seems to be helpful, too,” Lawson adds.
“When you say yell do you mean out loud? Because I can totally do that, but I don’t want to be the only one shouting. You know what I mean?”
I jump in when Jackson takes a breath. “Just think it loudly in your head.”
Billy, Jackson, and Reed huddle together about twenty feet from Evelynn. When they break apart, they command the haze and the rippling effect is even weirder from the outside. The usual water bubbles stretch out from each Elite and across the lawn, but when they merge around Evelynn the enclosure moves faster than Niagara Falls. Inside, Evelynn is barely a magenta blur.
As if a bomb explodes, Billy, Jackson, and Reed are blasted backwards. When they hit the ground, Billy’s filter dissolves. Jackson’s and Reed’s filters are still stretched to Evelynn and don’t separate until both guys yell, “Block.”
Evelynn begins cartwheeling across the lawn with her back to us. Beside me, Lawson chuckles as Evelynn continues across the field like a magenta bicycle reflector. Yikes!
“What happened to your filter, hot shot?” I yell to Billy.
He rolls to face me and answers with a mean glare.
Jonathan passes Billy on his way to Jackson and Reed and asks Reed to block Evelynn, probably so she’ll stop mooning us each time she’s upside down.
When we've all regrouped, Jonathan orders Billy, Evelynn, and me to block Lawson. We choose a friendly outcome and begin. The next thing I know, everything’s dark.
I try to turn over, but can’t move. Dear God, I’m paralyzed!
“No you’re not,” someone muffles, answering the statement that I must have said out loud.
When a weight lifts and frees me, I raise my head and spit grass and dirt out of my mouth. “You oaf! What the heck is wrong with you?” If I wasn’t dead already, the giant would have killed me.
Beside me, Billy groans, apparently hurting, too.
“I think you broke me,” I whine to him, but get no reply.
Jonathan reaches us with Jackson and Reed trailing behind. “Good work.”
Sure, now that I’m as flat as Stanley, Jonathan approves.
Billy moans.
“Oh, suck it up.” My voice is too weak for the dig to have the full effect.
“Shut up.”
I laugh, instantly regretting it because he laughs, too. Feeding off each other and unable to stop the convulsing movement of our guts, we’re both holding our ribs in pain. Finally, the pain wins. I can’t take anymore.
We watch Lawson from a distance while he twists the day away. What I wouldn’t give to have a recording of him. I’d have blackmail forever. Then again, he’s seen me do things I’d be happy to forget. One thing’s for sure, the guy’s got some killer dance moves.
Evelynn stumbles over to us and sits beside me to watch the show.
Reed turns to Jonathan a few minutes later. “How long are we going to watch him?”
Jonathan, entranced by Lawson’s swinging hips, pops back to reality. “Go ahead and block him.”
When Reed completes the block, Lawson continues dancing.
Reed tries again. Nothing.
Jonathan puts his hand up. “Hold on, Reed. Jackson, would you please try?”
Jackson’s already working before the words are out of Jonathan’s mouth. After Jackson fails twice, Reed isn’t quite as disappointed in himself.
“Reed and Jackson, together please.”
They do as Jonathan instructs. My dreads blow back when Jackson and Reed are thrown fifteen feet behind me.
“You boys all right?” I ask when Lawson finally stops dancing.
Reed’s voice is muffled by the crook of his elbow. “I’m not sure.”
Jackson’s speechless, which is alarming.
“Promising,” Jonathan says to himself. “The results seem to be as lasting as we hoped. The more Satellites that are involved in the block, the more, it seems, are required to undo it. Promising, indeed.”
Regret is performing a hip-hop dance in my belly. What we’re doing is wrong.
I gave Jonathan my word. I cannot go back on that.
While my head houses the boxing match of my thoughts, Jonathan calls Lawson, Reed, Evelynn, and Billy to the field. I should have guessed who’d be on the receiving
end.
At Billy’s request, since he almost crushed me on the last round, the group forms a circle around me. A minute later, they are all floundering on the grass. I march past Jonathan to my prize: Jackson.
I bend down and kiss him full-on. I’ve never wanted anything more. Jackson’s eyes pop from their sockets. I would laugh at his ridiculous expression if my mouth weren’t otherwise occupied. When he gives in and closes his eyes, he’s on his toes so I don’t have to bend down. At barely five feet tall, I’ve never had to bend down for anyone in my life. This guy really is short.
His tongue moves around my mouth as fast as he talks. I can’t stop kissing him, so I try to keep up. Around and around we go like a game of tag. Or hide-and-go-seek.
What the—
“What are you doing!” I push the leech off me and spit onto the grass before using the back of my hand to wipe the slobber off my face.
“Sorry. Really I am. I didn’t know—it was them!” He points across the field. From where she’s resting on the ground, Evelynn smiles at me. Reed, Lawson, and Billy are much further from us, probably from undoing the block, but also on the ground and barely moving.
Jackson is still rambling. “…honest, I didn’t know. I really didn’t. But I was all right, right? I mean, the kiss, was it good for…”
“Not now Jackson!” I stomp over to Evelynn.
“Willow, I would advise keeping your cool,” Jonathan warns as I pass him.
When I reach her, I fist my hand around her long, gold necklace. “That’s how you did it with him, isn’t it?”
“What?” The little siren is actually confused.
“With Grant. You blocked him so he’d kiss you.”
Wounded for half a second, she recovers. “He begged for it.”
“Willow!” Jonathan’s voice is close now.
I release her necklace. “You wish.”
The boys find enough strength to gather around us in record speed. True to form, they would never miss some girl-on-girl action.
No doubt Jonathan wants to shift the focus to something constructive by saying, “We won’t know the true effect until we perform a block with all six of you.”
What’s with all this “we”?
“Please form a circle around me.”
The others register what’s happening about the same time I do.
“Jonathan, we—” Reed starts to say.
“I promise this will be your last block.”
Of course it will, because this one will probably kill us for real.
After we decided on the trusty go-left bit, Billy starts the count. When he hits three, we all belt out a pathetic, “Haze,” in unison.
I count along in my head and then the noise is so loud I cover my ears. I think I’m chiming along, but I can’t hear myself over the others.
A force rockets me backwards and I happily succumb to the darkness.
Grant
20. They want to destroy us
Grant
My muscles don’t have a chance to relax while I code. In less than five seconds, the forest scenery shifts, but not to my old bedroom as I was expecting. I’m not paralyzed like before and nothing hurts. This is a good day!
Sitting on the tailgate of a parked pickup truck, my eyes follow the line of mature trees bordering the narrow gravel road. Aside from the two bikes laying on the rocks, the road is deserted.
“Dance with me.”
My head jerks to the voice behind me. “Tate?”
Standing in the scratched, white bed of the truck, she smiles down at me and ruffles my hair. “Dance with me.”
Before I can answer she takes my hands and pulls me to her.
“There’s no music.” Really? I have a million questions to ask this girl and that’s what I come up with?
Her hands release mine and half of her body disappears into the sliding back window of the truck. The radio kicks on. Tate returns, lifts my hands from my side, and wraps them around her waist. She steps closer and I automatically tighten my grip. This makes her smile, so I tighten my embrace even more. Her hand cups my neck and she rests her head on my shoulder.
“I love you.” Again, where the heck is my obscene word choice coming from? I realize I don’t regret saying these words, but they catch me off guard.
“I know,” she whispers and kisses my shoulder. “I love you, too.”
We move together for a few minutes and my world feels whole. I’m never letting her go. I breathe deeper, wanting more of her scent.
She stops moving and laces her fingers firmly around my neck.
Her head lifts off my shoulder and she studies my face for a few seconds. “Something bad is about to happen.” Her hazel eyes are dark when she focuses on the sky.
I want to erase the worry from her face. I’d give anything to do so. “I don’t understand.”
“They’re coming. They want to destroy us.”
My anxiety increases with my heartbeat. “Who’s coming?”
Her eyes fill with tears.
“Don’t cry. Please.” My arm muscles tense to keep a strong grip on her. “Please, Tate, tell me who’s coming.”
“They’re going to destroy us. They don’t want us to be together. It’s too late.”
“It’s not too late. You need to tell me who!”
Her fear morphs to anger. “You already know!”
“No, I don’t.” Please calm down!
“Your friends.” The expression on her heart shaped face is pleading. “Grant, I love you. Hold me. Please don’t ever let go.”
I push a curl off her wet cheek and cup her face with both hands. “I won’t, Tate. I won’t ever leave you. I’m here, I’m right here! I love you.” And I do. Even without any solid memories of her, the words are so easy to say, so true.
She buries her face in my neck and I hug her hard, locking her body to mine. “Please don’t cry.”
“Come back to me,” she pleads. “Please, come back to me.”
My arms squeeze tightly around her, but hit my chest.
She’s vanished! I spin around the empty truck bed in panic.
“Tate!” My yell echoes like I’m in a cold cave. “Tate! Come back!”
The gravel road is gone an instant later, leaving me panting and gawking at my wild reflection in the coding room.
As if Tate put it there, an idea materializes in my reeling head. I can almost hear her voice. I know what I need to do.
21. What if we destroy their connection forever?
Willow
Wake Up! Wake up! Wake up!
I open my eyes to stop the sound of my own voice screaming in my head. From my back, I push up onto my elbows and squint into the blinding sun. The shadow above me moves and the form comes into focus. “Rig?”
Rigby grabs my hand and yanks me up. I groan and massage my upper arms before moving to work on my shoulders. Rigby moves behind me and takes over.
I carefully move my head side to side to stretch out my neck. “Your hands are genius.” I roll my head down. “What happened?”
“You took a good hit while you were blocking. Jonathan pulled us from break and brought us here,” Rigby explains.
“Us?” I raise my head and scan the field. Well would you look at that; the whole darn gang is here. Anna has her attention on Lawson while he rubs his neck. Elliott is standing over Reed, who must have just come to. Owen is talking to Billy. Clara is helping Evelynn fix her wardrobe malfunction, and Liam appears to be trying to tune Jackson out.
“A group block? Girl, that’s insane!”
I rub my temples and the pulse beats into my fingers. It’s insane, all right.
“Everyone please join me over here,” Jonathan hollers from the bleachers.
In true gentleman form, Rig helps me across the field even though I could manage on my own. Probably. The teeth clenching seems to help with the pain. I won’t lie; my legs are thankful when Rigby an
d I sit on the bleachers beside Owen and Billy. Owen won’t take his nervous gaze off Anna when she comes our way, not that I blame the guy. Lawson is staggering beside her like an intoxicated Incredible Hulk. If Lawson falls, Anna will be buried alive.
When the others have piled onto the bleachers, I try to rub my headache away while Jonathan talks.
“Our group block was as successful as I had hoped. We have some unexpected side effects to contend with, but I think this just may work.”
“Did we block you?” Billy asks. I can only assume the others remember as much as I do, which is basically nothing. I don’t even remember saying “Block.”
“Yes. Quite well actually.”
Jonathan’s about to go on, but I cut in. “How did you stop?”
He leans forward like he didn’t hear me. “What’s that?” A classic case of stalling.
My famous Willow-volume is in order. “How did you stop? It would have taken five Satellites to reverse the block. If you were walking, how did—”
“Tsk-tsk, Willow,” he says, “you know I never reveal my tricks.”
If that’s not the truth. I’d give my left arm for just a tiny glimpse into his head. OK, not the whole arm, but a few fingers maybe.
“Phase two is complete. We have finished the necessary training,” Jonathan states.
We relax like we were all holding our breath. Another day of that kind of torture and I’d need to be committed.
“Some modifications are necessary to the original plan. Each of you will be accompanied by a partner. Since there seems to be no secrets among this group,” he swoops his eyes over each of us and his expression is unreadable, “we may as well include you all.”
Jonathan brings the new arrivals up to speed in regard to our upcoming assignment. Beside me, Rigby sits up straighter. “Your assignments will be filled temporarily by other Satellites. Your job will be to block our Elites awake like you have just done. Simple enough?”
They nod.
Jonathan steeples his fingers. “Great. I would like each of you to get in a coding session before your departure. I ask that you meet back here after break, which is currently in progress. Any questions?”
