by M. H. Soars
“Lexi, are you okay?” he asked and I shook my head.
“Someone has to stop them.” I glanced toward the fight and saw that it had taken a group effort by Matt, Sean, Zach and Lucas to break those crazy boys apart.
“How is he?” Ethan asked me.
“I think it’s really bad, Ethan.” I turned to look at Ethan’s beautiful eyes with a question in mine.
“You have a gift, Lexi. Use it.” He leaned closer to give me a quick kiss on my cheek. “I'll block the view.”
He crouched by the poor kid’s feet. His back was to the crowd of people, effectively blocking anyone from seeing what I was about to do. I placed my hands on the freshman’s head and immediately felt the bubbling energy leaving my fingertips. The anxiety I felt before turned into elation when the kid opened his eyes.
“What happened?” he asked.
I was about to answer him when Ethan groaned and held his head between his hands like he was in extreme pain.
“Ethan!”
I was in front of him in an instant, just in time for him to collapse against me. I sat down on the floor and Ethan rested his head on my lap, his face scrunched up in pain. I traced my fingers though his hair, trying to offer him comfort.
“Ethan, talk to me. What's wrong?”
“I don’t know,” he moaned. “My head feels like it's going to explode.”
Ethan was suffering, but I didn’t feel my healing powers stir. Could it be because I had just used them to heal the other kid? I felt awful that I couldn’t help my boyfriend. After a few minutes, Ethan opened his eyes again and sat up.
“Feeling better?” I asked.
“Sort of. My head is still throbbing, but nothing like before. I must have had something like a flash migraine.”
The fight was over, but people still roamed the hallway. It took several teachers and the vice principal to calm everyone down and herd the students back to class. The troublemakers were gone, probably already in the principal’s office, and so were my cousins.
I told the freshman he might have a concussion and that he should go see the school nurse. I was fairly certain he was fine now, but I didn’t want to risk it. I tried to convince Ethan to do the same, but he said he had some painkillers in his locker.
I was still worried about him, but there was nothing I could do, so I went back to class. Needless to say, no one got anything from the remainder of the lectures. All the student body could talk and think about was the fight.
CHAPTER 32
Matthew
“This is getting ridiculous! We’re the Prodigy, for crying out loud, and you’re apparently Durgin’s right hand!” Melanie shouted and pointed at Lucas. “Between us, we should have discovered by now who’s behind the Ayahuasca distribution.” She stopped right in front of him, poked his chest with her index finger, and glowered. “You're keeping things from us.”
He rolled his eyes. “The only thing I’m keeping from you is how utterly obnoxious I think you are. Oops! I guess the cat is out of the bag now,” he replied sarcastically.
We had all returned to La Maison Falafel after school, including Lucas. We needed to discuss the big fight, since it must have been another incident fueled by the suddenly ubiquitous drug. Whoever was responsible for its distribution had become bolder, and I didn’t doubt it was related to Alexia and Ethan’s reconciliation.
Melanie still didn’t trust Lucas completely, even though he had come to her rescue at the nightclub. Knowing her, she probably resented him for that, as well. It didn’t help his case that he hadn’t been able to catch the guy who had been selling Ayahuasca at the club.
Sean stepped between them before things escalated. “Calling each other names won’t help our case.” Melanie remained where she was, but Lucas took a few steps back. He obviously had more sense than my dear sister.
“What will happen to Taylor and Anthony now? Will they still be possessed once the drug leaves their systems?” Mia asked.
“It depends on how frequently they've been taking the drug. By the way, they're calling it 'the Big A' now,” Lucas replied.
“Oh, now you mention it. If I had known, I wouldn’t have bothered learning how to pronounce its original name. It took me forever to get it right,” Sean joked, in an attempt to lower the level of tension in the room.
“Can’t you or Durgin use your compulsion mojo to find out from those guys who sold them the drug?” Melanie asked with contempt.
“There’s only one person is this room who can perform that kind of invasion, and it’s not me.” Lucas glanced in my direction.
I stiffened immediately. “No way! Don’t even think about it. Doing it to Gary was bad enough, and he almost couldn’t handle it. I would probably turn an Earthling’s brain into mush if I tried.”
Lucas acquiesced. “There is that. I guess we’ll have to rely on more traditional means.” He turned toward Melanie with an ironic smile. “How about you, Mel? I just hear you complain and complain, but so far I haven’t seen you use your amazing powers to help at all. If you could use your abilities to spy on me, for sure you can follow our boys Taylor and Anthony once they leave the hospital.”
Melanie’s face turned red with anger, and her hands clenched into fists by her side. “How did you…” She paused, trying to compose herself. “Don’t call me Mel!”
Lucas chuckled. Maybe he didn’t have much sense, after all. I would have laughed, too, if the situation wasn’t so serious.
“What happens to the Myserians if they are no longer possessing the guys? Do they just stay here on Earth, hovering around and waiting until the next stupid kid decides to try the Big A?” Zach asked, trying to get back on track.
“Since they can’t be killed, I assume so,” Lucas replied.
“That's not true,” I contested. All eyes were on me. “Ethan killed the Myserian that was possessing Henry.”
“I thought the Myserian died because Ethan killed Henry,” Sam said as she clutched her necklace.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. My theory is that the Myserian killed Henry, not Ethan.” I didn’t know how I knew that, but my gut was telling me it was so.
Lucas’ eyes sparkled as my words sank in. “Of course. It makes perfect sense. If Henry had just died, the Myserian would leave his body and find another host. But if Ethan’s power actually attacked the Myserian…” Lucas stopped mid-thought and started to pace the room.
“Do you think that maybe the Myserian stole Henry’s life force in an attempt to fight Ethan’s attack?” Mia asked.
“I don’t want to assume anything, but the clues point in that direction. The Prophecy says that Ethan and Alexia are the key to destroying the Myserians, right? And we think it’s probable that Ethan has the power to kill a Myserian. We just need to figure out Alexia’s role in it,” Lucas answered excitedly.
“And that brings us to our biggest problem. When are we going to tell them about the Prophecy?” Sam asked.
Before Lucas could answer, Alexia came in to the game room, interrupting our impromptu meeting.
“Hi guys!” She greeted us with a smile until she laid her eyes on Lucas. Then she frowned. “I don’t want to be rude, but what are you doing here?”
Lucas actually looked embarrassed. Melanie snickered at his response, earning disapproving glances from Mia and Zach.
“Lucas is my partner in Biology,” I answered.
“I didn’t realize you had any classes together,” Alexia replied. She was right, we didn’t. But Biology was the only class that I didn’t attend with any of my cousins, and I figured we needed an excuse to justify Lucas's presence.
“Well, we do,” I shrugged, and she dropped the subject. She clearly had other things on her mind.
She dropped her bag next to the couch and went to the bar to grab a soda. “Did you guys know that LJM’s Anniversary ball is this Saturday? I didn’t realize it was so soon after the Homecoming Dance.”
“Oh, yeah, Leopold’s famous Anniversary
Ball. I’m supposed to take pictures of the party for the newspaper,” Mia replied.
“I’m surprised you didn’t realize it was this weekend, Lex. The posters advertising it have been plastered all around school for weeks. It’s all everyone talks about,” Sean replied. “I've already been asked by five different girls.”
“I didn’t realize it was lady’s choice.” Alexia frowned, looking worried.
“Nah, it’s not lady’s choice, but I can’t help it if I’m irresistible,” Sean laughed.
“So who are you taking, Sean?” Sam asked.
“No one. I want to keep my options open.”
Zach rolled his eyes at his brother’s comment. Everyone started to talk about the dance, and the girls made plans to go dress shopping. But I couldn’t help but feel wretched — not only because the last thing we needed right now was another stupid dance where things could go wrong, but also because I didn’t think I could handle seeing Sam go to the ball with a guy who wasn’t me.
Without thinking about the consequences, I blurted out, “Sam, do you want to go to the ball with me, as my date?”
She looked at me, startled. From the corner of my eye I saw Zach shaking his head in disapproval.
Sean groaned, “No, man! You can’t do that! It’s like going to the prom with your sister. Either you go stag or we go as a group like we did at Homecoming.”
I ignored Sean and stared at Sam. “What do you say?” I asked her.
She blinked a couple of times before she answered. “Sure, Matt. I’ll make the sacrifice.”
I smirked at her response, knowing it was no sacrifice at all.
The next day at school I still picked up some pieces of conversation about yesterday’s fight, but the main topic on everyone’s tongue was the ball. I was walking to my next class when Lucas appeared and walked with me. He looked tense, and I couldn’t help but ask, “Are you all right, man?”
He grabbed the straps of his backpack and sighed heavily before replying. “No, Matthew. I’m not all right. How can I be, when I seem to be going nowhere in my investigation? I’m not used to failure.”
I made no comment, because I shared his sentiment. We needed to find out who was dealing the drug before more people became addicted to it. It had been hard enough to subdue Taylor and Anthony yesterday. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen if we had to contend with a large group of people possessed by Myserians.
I shuddered to think what could have happened to Melanie at the nightclub if Lucas hadn’t been there. It turned out that only two of the guys had tried the Big A before she interrupted them, and even with her Arcadian strength they had outmatched her. She had also been unwilling to hurt them too badly, so she didn't use her Changeling abilities to deal with them.
We rounded a corner and bumped into her. Melanie smacked against Lucas, and it was funny to see her squirm at the sudden proximity to the bane of her existence. I felt sorry for Lucas. Melanie could hold a grudge like no other.
“What's the hurry, sis?”
She looked warily in Lucas’s direction before she faced me. “I was actually looking for you. Last night I kept thinking that maybe we had been approaching our drug problem from the wrong angle, so I did some research on Ayahuasca’s background. Didn’t Durgin say that the drug is derived from two Amazonian vines, and that it’s commonly used by shamans in South America?”
“Yes, he did say that,” I said.
“So I did some research online and found a specialist on the subject right here in Santa Barbara. This lady is from Peru and claims to be a spiritual guru. It said on her website that she uses a special South American concoction, and I quote here, ‘to inspire psychological breakthroughs via psychedelic visions that pave the way for emancipated thinking’.”
“And you immediately thought she was referring to Ayahuasca?” Lucas snorted. “It sounds to me like this lady is nothing more than a whacked burnout hooked on magic mushrooms.”
Melanie turned red at Lucas’s easy dismissal of her research. “At least I found something worth checking out. It’s not like you've contributed anything with all your Nox Elite training!”
“Melanie! Tone it down,” I said out of exasperation as I glanced around, making sure people hadn‘t overheard her outburst.
Lucas opened his mouth to reply but thought better of it. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at me. “I still think this is nothing, but I have English Lit for my next period, and I would do just about anything to skip it — even go on a wild goose chase.”
“Charming,” I heard Melanie mutter.
The Peruvian spiritual guru was called Adolfina Vilca. She had a small store downtown, where she sold all kinds of trinkets related to the study of the occult. Her store smelled of incense, wet dog and mold, and it was overflowing with all sorts of crap. It was an assault to the senses. No sooner had we entered the place when I found the source of the wet-dog smell. An ugly mutt came over to us, eager to greet the newcomers. To my surprise, Lucas squatted down to pet the dog as Melanie made a disgusted sound and wrinkled her nose.
Lucas looked up. “What? It reminds me of my old dog.”
“Whatever. Just don’t come near me with those filthy hands.”
Lucas stood up and wiggled his fingers at Melanie. “That coming from a girl who can turn into animals.”
“At least I’m clean,” she said defensively.
I rolled my eyes. “Guys, let’s focus.”
“Can I help you?” an elderly woman asked. She had appeared out of nowhere.
Her long hair was completely white, her tanned face etched with wrinkles. She was short and looked frail, but the glint in her eyes told me her mind was sharp as a knife.
Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but Melanie beat him to the punch.
“We’re looking for Mrs. Vilca.”
“That’s me,” the lady replied. “How can I assist you?”
“I’m writing an article for my school’s newspaper about the effects of hallucinogenic substances on the human mind. I heard you're the person to talk to about the subject.”
The old lady smiled, showing yellow, crooked teeth, and asked us to follow her to the back of her store. There we found a small kitchen and a round table with four chairs.
“Sit, sit. I’ll make us some tea. Then you can ask me whatever you want.”
“There’s really no need to trouble yourself,” I said, but she dismissed me with a wave of her hand.
“It’s no trouble at all.”
Resigned to drinking some tea with the old weirdo, we sat down at the table. Mrs. Vilca poured dark, steaming liquid into our cups. Lucas picked his up and smelled its contents suspiciously.
“We’re not about to experience a hallucinogenic trip firsthand, are we?” he asked. The old lady laughed, but I knew he was serious.
“No, it’s just good old green tea, but I can read your leaves if you like.”
“No thank you,” he answered curtly. He put his teacup back down without drinking the warm liquid.
As soon as the professed guru joined us at the table, Melanie didn’t waste any time. “I was wondering if you could tell me about the effects of Ayahuasca.”
Mrs. Vilca's eyebrows arched upwards, but she quickly masked her surprise and half-smiled. “You did your research, didn’t you, little one?
Melanie bristled from being called 'little,' but the lady didn’t notice. She gave us a brief history lesson about the vines that, once brewed according to a traditional method, became the Ayahuasca drug. She also listed the side effects of it. Unfortunately, she didn’t add anything to what we already knew.
I could feel Lucas’s impatience pouring out of him as he bounced his legs up and down, fidgeting. When Mrs. Vilca finished her tale, Lucas asked bluntly, “That’s fascinating, but where can we find Ayahuasca here in Santa Barbara?”
Mrs. Vilca choked on her tea and paled a bit at Lucas’s question. She avoided his gaze as she stood up and went to the kitchen
sink. Without turning to look at us again, she answered him. “I’m afraid I don’t know.”
We glanced at each other, acknowledging the change in Mrs. Vilca's behavior. We were on to something here. Excitement coursed through my veins. Lucas stood up and walked toward her. Sensing his presence, she turned. Her eyes widened in fear as she took a good look at his menacing glare.
“I… I think you should leave,” she stuttered.
Without breaking eye contact with her Lucas continued, “You have access to the vines that make Ayahuasca, don’t you?”
She shook her head in denial, but Lucas didn’t give her a chance to speak.
“You will sell them to us,” he commanded. Mrs. Vilca’s eyes grew unfocused, and her face went slack.
“I don’t have any of it anymore,” she replied. Lucas cursed.
“Ask her who she sold it to,” Melanie said.
Lucas shook his head.
“I can’t. I can only make people do things, I can’t extract information from them against their will. Even Durgin’s compulsion ability, which is much stronger than mine, can’t accomplish that.” His gaze stopped on me, but I held my ground. I was not about to turn an old lady into a vegetable just to get a name out of her, even if she was guilty.
“So what was the point of having her confess that she had the vines in the first place?” Melanie replied as she, too, stood up and put her hands on her hips.
Lucas glared at her. “Now that we know she’s involved, we can search the place. If that doesn’t yield anything, I’ll put her store under surveillance.”
Melanie raised her hands heavenward. “That is just freaking great. More delays. Meanwhile, our drug dealer is getting more and more people hooked on the Big A.” She stalked out of the kitchen and back into the store. A few seconds later I heard her shout, “Bingo!”
