by K J Bell
Our food arrived and we ate quietly. You could feel the unanswered questions floating through the air, so thick you could reach out and touch them. I remembered how quickly Brent arrived at Reese’s house and was still curious as to how he managed it, so I decided to break the silence.
“Um, how did you get to Reese’s house so quickly?” I inquired. “I took the Audi, so you didn’t even have a car.”
Brent smiled secretively, letting out a low chuckle.
“Hmmm, I probably need to show you that one,” Brent laughed, telling me to go up to the room. I looked at him questioningly. “Just do it.”
I placed my napkin on the table and took the room key from his hand. Reese smiled as I walked by. He was obviously in on the secret.
I opened the door to our room and started to walk to the couch. Brent appeared out of nowhere across the room, opposite the door.
“Whoa, how did you do that?”
Brent shrugged. “I jumped. It’s one of my new abilities. I actually thought it was impossible, even for one with our gifts.”
Brent went on to explain that after I texted back, telling him I was going to Reese’s, he centralized his thoughts on the house and he was there.
We went back to the restaurant where Reese was still eating.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Reese said as we sat down. “I can do something new, too.” he said and then looked around to make sure he would not be seen. He briefly changed his appearance to the waitress that had been flirting with him. “So cool, right?” he chuckled. “I always wanted to do that.”
Old Reese was back with all his boyish immature charm and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You have to be responsible with it, Reese,” Brent scolded.
“Yes, I know, dad. Thanks,” Reese said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Brent shook his head, obviously disapproving of Reese’s public display.
“Okay. I know the two of you have been avoiding it, but what happened after I left?” I asked, moving my eyes from Brent to Reese, waiting for one of them to answer me.
They both went on to fill in the gaps. Brent explained how it was actually Reese who figured out his dad had either been adhered to or someone was using his semblance. He knew emotionally there was no way his dad had lived his entire life knowing his mother’s secret and concealed it so well.
“I could feel it when I spoke to him,” Reese said. “When you backed out of the driveway, I was positive.”
Reese told me how Brent could practically read his thoughts and before Reese’s father could do anything, they restrained him. They learned that Reese’s dad helped Logan lure me from the house, but had no idea where I was headed. Their abilities had grown and Reese was able to retract the Adherent from his father while Brent absorbed it. His father didn’t remember anything about what happened.
“So, he doesn’t know about you?” I asked.
Reese’s features drew inward, tightening the creases around his eyes.
“No, and he won’t. It was wrong of me to tell him. I love him. He’s my dad and I can’t take fatherhood away from him even if I am angry with my mother,” Reese admitted, and I was proud of him.
I smiled at the realization he was growing up.
“So, then what happened?” I asked.
They looked to each other and then to me. Brent’s phone whistled at just that moment with a new text. A broad smile stretched across his face. He replied quickly to the text and set the phone on the table face down. He gave Reese a quick glance and Reese nodded.
I felt a twinge of jealousy. Who could be texting him that would elicit that reaction from him.
Get a grip Claire; it could be his mother, for Christ sake. My subconscious scolded me. I really needed to put a muzzle on her.
“I see you found your phone,” I said to Brent, remembering I had tossed it in the grass before I went to see Logan.
“Yes, we tried to call it, praying you’d answer. When we heard it ringing in the grass I almost lost it. It was my last hope to find you,” Brent responded.
“I guess you found another way,” I smiled.
Brent gleamed at me. “Yes we did. We have a surprise for you. Are you done here?”
I was still hungry, but knew I couldn’t eat another bite with the anticipation of a surprise. He signed the bill and grabbed my hand, practically dragging me down the hall to the elevator. The short trip to the third floor seemed to take an eternity as both boys stood without speaking. Reese was rapping his fingers on the steel walls and Brent was tapping his foot. The combined noise was nerve-racking, and I was relieved when the doors finally opened.
We reached the door to our room and Brent kissed me softly on the cheek, whispering he loved me. My mind was running rampant with nervous thoughts about what the surprise could be. The anticipation was torture. What if they found Kace and it was time? I didn’t think I was ready for that.
You’re not.
With his arms around my waist, Brent looked into my eyes with that unbearable blue stare. “Relax, we haven’t found Kace. It’s nothing like that.” He always seemed to know what I was thinking, but this time he knew exactly. I was not surprised.
“Great, now you can read my thoughts?” I asked, with the slightest hint of irritation in my voice.
“If you’re upset, yes,” he responded, a rash of guilt heating his face. So, that was why I always felt he knew what I was thinking – because he did.
“Don’t worry. This is a surprise you’re going to love.”
Still annoyed my thoughts would no longer be private, I wanted to tell him to stay out of my head, but chose not to.
“Let’s not prolong this any longer, then,” I requested.
Brent swung the door open before I finished the sentence. I suddenly felt happiness like I never experienced before. It was the kind of joy you read about. The kind of rejoicing you witness on the news when they show reunions between military families. The stories that make you cry uncontrollably as you watch a young man in uniform sprint to his wife after a long deployment, holding his newborn baby daughter for the first time, having missed her birth, upholding his commitment to the rest of us. That was that kind of emotion cruising through my body right now and I rode the wave.
I ran to her, throwing my arms around her enthusiastically, refusing to let her go. The tear ducts opened and I cried tears of joy as my heart swelled with elation. When I finally released her, she wore a radiant smile on her sweet face, her dimples deeper than I had ever seen them.
“Maggie, I can’t believe it.”
She squeezed me again, harder this time.
“I can hardly believe it either, dear,” she whispered through her own joyous tears.
“How can this be? I saw you Maggie,” I questioned, struggling with the words through the confusion swirling in my head.
She wiped the droplets from her cheeks, “My purpose is yet to be fulfilled,” she said, fighting back more tears. Maggie explained that when she reached the Agents and realized her life had ended, she already accepted her death. Omni was there. Of course, Maggie already knew who he was. Omni told her she would be returned because her purpose was unfulfilled. She told us how she was conflicted about her return.
“It was difficult for me because I felt at peace and I wanted to be with my parents again,” she admitted, chewing on her bottom lip.
I felt for her, understanding the desire to be with her parents, to see them again, and tell them everything you always meant to when they were alive.
She continued. “Then I thought about all of the things that I still want to do. I’d like to skydive and travel the world.” She paused looking between me and Brent. Her gaze returned to me. “And fall in love,” she finished. I had often wondered if she wanted that, to love and be loved. I felt happy she would have another chance to find it.
Maggie was the one who had given Brent and Reese clues to find me. She had known about Logan’s family in Boston and the building his Uncle Jeff
had been restoring, turning into lofts.
The boys filled me in on how they had left Reese’s and went straight to Maggie’s. They knew Logan had me, and hoped that Omni might be able to give them some help in finding me.
When they got there, they found Maggie disoriented and confused. She had been furious with them for losing me, but they explained everything to her and she understood. Maggie told the boys she had been friends with Logan’s Uncle Jeff since childhood, and he had often tried to get Logan to move in with him.
Once, Maggie had even tried to talk to Logan about what was going on in his house, but he only got angrier with her. She assumed that probably fueled the hatred he felt for me.
Maggie knew Logan had probably taken me to Boston, but had not been sure exactly where his uncle’s building was. Maggie had phoned Logan’s Uncle Jeff but had to wait for him to return her call. They all looked so defeated, recalling the agony and feeling of being helpless waiting for that call.
“But then it all worked out. If you had reached Logan’s uncle right away and went to the lofts, I wouldn’t have been there. Logan held me at the mill the first day,” I informed them, hoping this helped ease their feelings. It seemed to as they smiled.
I continued to talk with Maggie while the boys started playing some heavily competitive video game, and I rolled my eyes, listening to the two of them razzing each other about who would be victorious. I felt pleased watching the two of them behaving in a natural way or as natural as they could, vowing to annihilate each other.
I felt Maggie’s soft touch on my arm.
“Tell me about, Logan,” she encouraged.
“He’s going to be okay,” I said revealing every horrendous detail of what had happened between us, and how I had been utterly terrified and thrilled all at once.
“Jeff knew and he really tried hard to reason with Logan’s mother. He said it would be best for Logan to come live with him, but she wouldn’t let go. I guess I can see why that would be hard for her,” Maggie stated frowning.
“Well, I can’t see that,” I scoffed. “Sorry, Aunt Maggie. I don’t mean to be so harsh but how could his mother not see how wrong it is? It’s so selfish.”
“Yes, Claire, it is, but I don’t think it’s easy for Logan’s mother to understand that. Logan is her only child and she needs him.”
“That doesn’t make it okay. Logan needs a mother and she should protect him from harm, not the other way around.” I was sounding angrier than I meant too. “I know I am not his mother but it just doesn’t seem fair.”
She wiped a tear from my cheek with the pad of her thumb, gazing at me sympathetically.
“It’s not fair, sweetheart. I am just glad Logan realized he has a chance to take a different path in life other than the one his father chose. I’m proud of you for helping him to see that. I know you must have been terrified. You’re an amazing young woman to have sacrificed yourself the way you did,” Maggie praised, beaming at me through thick, auburn lashes.
I grinned with delight. It felt so good to hear this woman, who had made her own sacrifices in her life to take care of her parents, and to take me in, say she was proud of me.
“Thanks Aunt Maggie. It means so much to me to hear you say that.”
“You are very welcome, dear,” Maggie replied. She nodded her head toward Brent. “He was worried sick about you. Please don’t take off like that again. I’m not sure the poor boy would be able to handle it,” she laughed
“I won’t. I’m really sorry I worried everyone,” I said, placing a hand on top of hers.
She kissed me softly on each cheek before standing up, stretching into a yawn.
“I’m going to bed, dear. I’m exhausted. I love you, Claire Bear,” she said sweetly. I smiled at her calling me Claire Bear. It was a nickname my dad called me for as long as I could remember. “I’ll be right next door if you need me,” she offered, gesturing to the Neanderthal behavior taking place next to us.
Brent and Reese were now standing, gripping the remotes, shoving each other and hooting loudly.
“I might take you up on that,” I said chuckling.
I showed Maggie out and turned to the boys.
“I’m heading to bed,” I yelled over them as they yelled things like, “Die, you zombie scum.”
They didn’t hear me.
“Heeellloooo!” I yelled again.
“You’re going down!” The response was obviously not meant for me, so I left them battling to the death without me.
Opting for a bath before sleeping, I sank into the steaming hot tub. Life was a never ending rollercoaster, ups and downs. Right now it was up and I was going to enjoy it until it peaked. Shutting my eyes, I allowed the warmth of the water to alleviate my worries about what was to come next.
I had to drag myself from the tub, suddenly feeling weighed down with fatigue. I was afraid I would fall asleep and drown if I stayed in any longer. After I was dressed, I looked in the mirror, relieved to see that my bruised face was not as bad as it seemed earlier. Brent healed my palm and did his best to heal the other bruises. The ashy marks created from the Adherent were easy, but he was still developing the ability to heal things caused by human influences. The dark circles under my eyes reminded me I desperately needed to sleep.
When I opened the door to the room, I saw Brent. He was lying across the bed, staring at the ceiling. His hands were tucked behind his head and his knees bent. The display was unnerving as his expression suggested he was struggling with his thoughts. I slid on the bed next to him and he pulled me tightly to his chest.
“What is it?” I asked softly.
He traced his fingers gently over the bruises on my face. There was an angry edge to his voice. “I can’t stand that he hurt you,” he let out.
I shifted uncomfortably knowing I had showed him what happened with Logan, and the images were now permanently etched in his mind, retelling the story every time he thought about it.
“I’m fine,” I reassured him, resting my head on his shoulder breathing in his scent that I loved so much.
“It’s not okay, Claire. He never should have touched you because I never should have let you walk out that door without me.”
I sat up swiftly.
“Don’t! Don’t you dare blame yourself. I’m glad I left. I believe more now than ever things happen for a reason. Logan needed guidance to escape his home where he’s been tormented his entire life. If I hadn’t gone to him, he would still be suffering through it.”
He drew himself up resting on his elbow. He ran a finger softly along my jaw.
“You’re so kind, Claire.” He looked down, straining to find the right words. “Just remember, he has a long way to go. I don’t want you to be disappointed if he slips into old habits. It’s not that easy for people to change their behavior.”
I breathed in long and deep. Brent’s words bothered me and I didn’t want to fight with him. I wasn’t so foolish to think that Logan didn’t have a long struggle ahead of him, but I resented the fact Brent was attempting to minimalize the progress I made with Logan. I was contemplating what to say, to make my point without it ending in an argument when Brent leaned in, and trailed his lips lightly along my jaw, like feathers.
He ran his fingers up and down my back, tracing my spine, and kissed the lobe of my ear softly. It was nearly impossible for me to think while he was touching me like that. Thinking of a word was too much, let alone stringing together a sentence, so I sighed in defeat and leaned into him. He lowered me to the bed on my back and put his palm on my belly, under my t-shirt, the heat from his hand nearly burning my skin. He rested on his elbow, looking down at me.
“I’ve learned some things about myself through all of this, Claire, and I’m not really proud of it,” Brent admitted. The edge in his voice from earlier returned. I didn’t respond but put my hand on his chest, encouraging him to continue. “When it comes to you, I feel extremely possessive and jealous. The thought of anyone hurting you makes me ang
ry in a way that scares me.”
His eyes were dark and he awaited my response watchfully.
“Brent, I’m sure it’s just normal emotions that come with first love. The feelings are strong and euphoric and the fear of losing it does things to both of us.” I tried to reassure him but he shook his head.
“It’s not only about first love, Claire. It’s very hard for me. I fight to control my anger. When you don’t listen to me, it makes it so much harder. Part of my role in your life doesn’t allow me to trust anyone you’re around who I see as a threat. I can’t feel compassion for Logan the way you can because of how he’s treated you.”
“But he’s changed,” I interrupted.
Brent smiled sincerely.
“I know he has, baby. My designed nature however, has not. But, I’m working on it, Claire,” he admitted. Remembering his earlier comment about it not being easy to change behavior, I realized he was talking about himself as much as he was Logan. “You’ve never made it easy on me. Do you remember Paul from our sophomore year?” he asked.
“Let me guess. That was really you,” I said.
Brent nodded.
Growing up, Brent had the ability to change his semblance to anyone he wanted. I wondered how many people I knew in my life had actually been him.
“Figures!” I huffed. “I really liked Paul. He was nice to me.”
Brent sighed loudly.
“Yeah well, you didn’t like him, like him” he stated, making air quotations with his hands when he said the word like. “You liked Brandon as I recall,” he reminded me, tilting his head questioning if I remembered that little crush.
I did remember. I thought Brandon was cute but he had turned out to be a complete ass. He was a year older than us and one of the popular kids in school. Then it struck me. I remembered that I told Paul, who was really Brent, all about it and my cheeks blushed apologetically.
“You told me he was cute, and I told you he was an a-hole and you should avoid him. As usual, you didn’t listen.”
