As if hearing my thoughts, the scenery started to swirl around the two of us like we were in the eye of a storm made of color and light. When it finally settled we were standing in a field of wild flowers stretching for miles and miles. It was stunning, with thousands of different varieties of flowers in every color imaginable and a blue sky like none I’d ever seen.
“Where are we?” I asked in awe.
“You tell me. You brought us here.” Elisha was just as amazed as I was. “Is that tree familiar?” Elisha pointed behind me.
I whirled around to see a giant weeping willow.
And I knew where we were.
We were at my tree.
My tree near the trailer park where I’d go to read and get away.
Where I lay stranded while my mother was being poisoned to death.
Where I let my stepfather, Bruce, finally die when I stopped controlling him and let his corpse turn to bone.
I turned back to Elisha and she was looking at me with curiosity. “You know this place?” she asked.
“What are you doing in my brain?” I decided to get to the point. I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. Her eyes were so creepy.
“Are you coming to rescue us?” she asked unbothered by my directness.
“Yes. We’re just trying to figure out how. It’s not easy to break in to Geoffrey Turner’s headquarters, you know.” Why was I giving this poor girl so much attitude? I couldn’t seem to help myself.
“I know how,” Elisha said with conviction. “It’s why I risked coming to you like this. I wanted you to meet the boys and see for yourself why helping us is so important.”
Elisha squeezed her eyes shut as if she were concentrating really hard.
The air started to crackle and then…
SNAP!
Two young boys stood before me. They were identical twins. Their faces were oval with long straight noses and short brown hair. They were holding hands and staring straight ahead. Their milky white eyes told me they were blind, but it was the swirling black holes that disturbed me the most. Disturbing because the holes weren’t in their chests, they were in their brains. These boys were completely brain dead.
“You can see it, can’t you?” Elisha asked.
“What happened to them?” was all I could utter.
Elisha forced a smile as she looked at the boys with motherly worry. “Chelsan, meet John and Samuel Dane. They were the only two survivors of Larotte Fielding’s research in 2133. They were a part of the very first I.Q. Farm. Almost two hundred years of experimentation has left them brain dead.” Elisha started to tear up. “I can’t leave them here, Chelsan. I just can’t.”
I reached out and touched her shoulder to comfort her. I felt just as bad for John and Samuel as she did. It was hard not to when I thought of everything these two little boys went through. And knowing that they were really almost two hundred years old just made it that much worse. It made me shudder to think how messed up my grandfather really was. How could he do something like that?
Elisha turned around as if someone were about to run in the field of flowers and chop her head off.
“He’s coming. I’ve got to go.” She turned to me. “You don’t even have to be in the building. You have a radius, right? A radius that your power works within?”
It was kind of scary how much she knew about my power, but I answered her anyway. “Four miles.”
She smiled. “You see? You could help us from a few miles away in the red forest.” Elisha’s smile faded as she looked behind her again. “Oh God, it’s her.” Elisha’s eyes met mine and I could see the genuine terror in her face. Whoever “she” was, Elisha was petrified of her. “Tomorrow.”
Must be Grams. She scared the crap out me, too.
POOF.
They were all gone.
I was standing in the ocean of flowers alone.
Okay.
Now what?
“Chelsan! Chelsan! Wake up!”
I opened my eyes to see Ryan’s face within inches of mine, full of worry and fear.
“I’m awake. I’m here,” I mumbled and realized we were already parked in the school lot.
Ryan visibly relaxed and kissed me in relief.
I should black out more often. This was nice.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Nancy had climbed to the back seat and I was suddenly realizing how cramped we all were back here, since Bill had opened my door and was also crammed next to me.
“Guys, I’m fine, maybe a little claustrophobic though. Geez, how did you all fit back here?” I tried smiling this off, but it was no good. They were officially the Worry Wart clan.
Bill backed out and Nancy climbed over the front seat letting herself out of the car.
Ryan held my face in his hands. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Give her some air.” I could hear Bill’s irritation at Ryan.
Ryan gave him a quick predatory glare, but I made him look back at me. “Don’t start, he’s just worried and I’m fine. Let’s get out of here,” I said, pulling him out of the car by the hand.
When we were all gathered around Bill’s hover, I told them everything that happened, hoping it would make the boys re-focus on the task at hand instead of starting some sort of fight.
“Larotte Fielding? That’s the guy Jason told us about, remember?” Nancy said still a little dazed by what I told her.
Trying to think it through as well, I said, “I guess Turner took John and Samuel before the authorities got there.”
“Well, if we can come up with a plan to help them escape, she’s right, you could do it from a mile or two away. Turner wouldn’t even know you were there,” Bill said.
“I don’t like how she can make you black out like that.” Ryan wasn’t letting the incident go. “I mean it’s one thing when you’re asleep, but to do it to you while you’re awake? We’ve got to find a way to stop her from doing that.”
“Which means finding out more about that astral thing.” Bill nodded in agreement.
I hated to admit it, but they were right. The more I thought about it, Elisha being able to render me unconscious whenever she wanted to was actually petrifying. That’s a lot of power. “Well, after we rescue them, she won’t need to communicate with me anymore, so we won’t have to worry about it much longer,” I said, more to placate myself than my friends. I couldn’t think about it. I had to stay focused on getting Elisha and the twins out of there.
“Let’s get inside.” Bill gave me a reassuring smile. “While you were out, Dad’s guys checked out the school and said it’s safe.” I could tell he knew I wanted to stop talking about how Elisha could mind-smack me anytime she wanted.
“Thanks, Bill,” I said as the four of us walked toward the entrance.
There was something very comforting about Geoffrey Turner High. (The name excluded, obviously!) The structure itself was early 1800’s in design, with brick walls, iron-wrought gates and green ivy growing up the sides. Oak arches framed the entryways, making it feel like you were walking into an old photo where tea and scones awaited. We were entering at the top of the three-story building since the hover lot was above the school. The middle story was the hover carpool lane where most of the students were dropped off by their parents or nannies. And the bottom floor was my favorite. That’s where the courtyard was, with its cherry blossom trees and quaint benches. It was a great place to escape whenever I needed a moment to myself.
I used to stress about tuition and worked at an ice cream shop to cover what scholarships couldn’t, but I’ve rested easier ever since dear old Gramps added a lump of cash in my bank account when he was pretending to care about my mother’s murder in front of the press. Of course, he tried to kill me right after he made the deposit, but he failed, as usual. Now I had enough money to graduate. No day jobs for me anymore. So, too bad for him.
We entered the bustling hallways and had to push and shove our way to our lockers. I could barely see the marble floors t
hat lined the hallways, but the deep red mahogany lockers always grabbed the eye. Everything about this school was extravagant, including the students. I was literally the only poor person there and up until two months ago I was treated like a leper because of it. But things changed…
I opened my locker, pulled out my reader and sweater, and turned to Bill. “See you after class?”
“With bells on.” Bill smiled and started toward his first period class, but not without an annoyed glance at Ryan. Whatever was brewing between these two was only at a simmer, I just hoped it wasn’t going to turn into a boil any time soon. That was the last thing I needed.
Ryan held onto my hand as the three of us headed to History class.
We entered the freezing classroom and I put on my sweater. Why did Mr. Alaster like it so cold? The classroom was almost full and I tried not to stare at Jill Forester sitting alone in the back of the room. In the past her long locks of shiny black hair would somehow defy physics and always be perfectly styled, but nowadays she just pulled it back in a sloppy ponytail, her green eyes avoiding everyone, her head down.
She was my mortal enemy pretty much the entire time I resided at Geoffrey Turner High. Jill used to make my life torture and everyone at school followed her lead in fear of her father’s power. He was second in command to my grandpa, which made him the second most powerful man in the world. Unfortunately for Jill, her dad had been dead for a few years without anyone knowing it. Turner controlled him the way I controlled dead things. It made me feel sorry for her for about a half a second, then she’d open her mouth and all sympathy went out the door. She was so mean! But maybe I would be too if I was living with a zombie. Okay, my stepfather Bruce was dead since I was seven. But it was different with Bruce, I knew he was dead, I controlled him. But with Jill… she must have thought he didn’t care. That he had no interest in her whatsoever. That’s gotta sting.
And I admit, I was fighting a bit of guilt regarding Jill’s dad.
I kind of blew him up.
I really didn’t mean to. Basically, my grandmother, Roberta, had kidnapped Ryan. Bill and I used Jill’s dead dad to break into my grandparent’s house to rescue him. When we found Ryan chained to a chair we realized he wasn’t alone.
My dead mother was there, controlled by Roberta. She made Mom say horrible things to me, and dance around like a crazy puppet. There was nothing I could do. Roberta had used her powers to stop me from connecting to my mother’s black swirling hole. Seeing my mom like that… something inside of me snapped. I screamed from the depths of my soul and somehow managed to make every dead thing within fifty feet of me explode.
And sadly that included Jill’s dad.
The day after it happened I thought Jill would destroy me at school. I was expecting her to do her worst, but when she tried to send her lackies after me they all turned on her. I guess they didn’t like her very much either and now that she couldn’t use her daddy to control them, they made her the new “leper” of the school. It was kind of sad, actually, watching the social demise of Jill Forester. She was in utter shock at first and tried to lash out at everyone that she felt betrayed her (especially her supposed best friend Joan), but in the end she couldn’t really do anything except make a lot of noise. After a week or two she just dropped off the radar and stayed to herself mostly. Joan took her place as Queen Bee of the school and was surprisingly nice to the four of us. It was almost as if Joan wanted to rub it in Jill’s face. She knew how much Jill hated me, so she did the worst thing she could think of to Jill. She made me popular.
I hated it almost as much as I hated being an outcast. It was so fake. And it was killing Jill. I knew I shouldn’t care. I should write it off as Karma (Nancy certainly did and I loved her for it), but I had made her dad blow up like a bomb.
And I mean, BOOM!
Jill probably didn’t even know that he died that way, just that he died. I couldn’t relish seeing her hurt, especially since, as far as she knew, the father she lost had died only two months ago, not years ago. She must have so many questions and… Okay!! I admit it! I felt sorry for her! There I said it. I felt like crap because I could help her with some of those questions. I could tell her that her dad was pretty much a zombie for who knew how long and I finally let him rest in peace. But Jill’s hatred for me was as strong as ever and I didn’t know how to break the ice even if I wanted to.
Uggh.
I decided not to make eye contact with her, and I sat in my usual seat near the front with Nancy on my left, Ryan on my right.
Mr. Alaster gave me a slight nod. We had bonded when the press made a field day out of me after my trailer park was demolished. Being a trailer park kid himself, he didn’t start taking Age-pro until he was thirty like my mom. He really looked out for me and I appreciated it. Mr. Alaster was wearing his usual cardigan sweater with round suede elbow patches, button up shirt and khakis. He was skinny as a rail with brown curly hair and wire framed glasses.
“Okay class, simmer down,” Mr. Alaster said with a sparkle in his eye. “I have something very exciting planned for today.” Whenever he was this enthusiastic it usually meant we were in store for something good. “We’re going to find out who our ancestors are, dating back at least twenty generations!”
Wait. What?
“How?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. If it ever came out that Geoffrey Turner was my grandfather…
…I didn’t want to think about it. Turner would be on a fast track to kill me for sure.
Mr. Alaster didn’t even care that I interrupted, he just acted like I was a part of his announcement. “Genetic testing! The big man himself has brought in his people to perform the tests. You’ll all be able to find out where you came from and who your family is. What trials they went through, maybe you’re from royalty, or maybe from a family of convicts! The sky’s the limit, folks!”
Gulp.
And Gulp.
The big man? When anyone at this school referred to the “the big man” they meant Turner! Why would he want these tests? Surely, he knew it would expose his relationship to me. Did he want that? What could it possibly gain him? Or maybe he planned on hiding the fact that we were related, but needed my blood for some horrible spell? I really wished I could read minds!
Nancy’s eyes were as round as mine as she started to put the pieces together and Ryan’s hand was already squeezing my hand in support.
“Maybe this is a good thing,” he suggested, but I could tell he was just as freaked as I was.
“Let’s give them a big welcome.” A group of four men and women in lab coats entered the classroom and the class applauded their arrival.
And one of them was dead.
Great.
It was one of the women, her black spinning chasm practically winking at me as she stood in front of the class with the others.
The leader of their group was a man who looked like he was fifteen. (You’d think the rich people that started taking Age-pro at eighteen who still looked so young would wait a few years, but everyone was about status!) He was carrying a large metal case. “Hello, everyone. I’m Dr. Grun and these are my associates. If you could just stand in line on this side of the room we’ll start taking your blood samples. Thank you.”
Students started filing in line against the wall, talking to each other with some excitement. Finding out about relatives that actually died was a fascinating topic that even kids who weren’t interested in History still wanted to know about. I admit, if I didn’t know Turner was my grandfather, and there wasn’t a dead woman being controlled by him issuing the test, this would be really cool. Ha!
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jill’s green eyes staring at me with curiosity. (And hatred, she looked like she was in a constant state of I want to kill Chelsan.) I pretended like I didn’t notice and took my place in line with Nancy and Ryan.
“Why is Jill staring?” Nancy obviously saw the same thing I did.
“Who knows? I really don’t wa
nt to guess,” I said, hoping Jill would stop with the glaring. I wasn’t sure if I should tell them about the dead assistant yet. Honestly, I think Jill saw my reaction and was trying to figure out why I was wigging out. If I told Nancy and Ryan they’d start wigging out and Jill would definitely know something was up. Not that I should care what Jill thought, but in her hey-day she was a dangerous enemy and I still couldn’t be sure she wasn’t planning my demise.
“She’s been doing that a lot lately,” Ryan said to my surprise.
“She has?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed, but now that Ryan said it out loud, maybe I had and was just ignoring it.
“Yeah. I’ll keep an eye on her, make sure she stays out of trouble.” Ryan put his arm around my waist protectively.
And then a thought hit me.
“Uh guys,” I barely croaked out. “What if my blood is different because of my power? What if Turner is doing this so they’ll take me in? Like I’m an alien or something!” I gulped.
“You’re fine. Don’t worry. Jason can get you out of anywhere if it comes to that.” Nancy reassured, but I didn’t have her confidence.
“But that lab assistant is dead.” Oops. I shouldn’t have said that.
It was my turn next.
I left Nancy and Ryan with shocked looks on their faces. No doubt Jill was taking notes.
I walked straight up to the dead assistant. “You’re not taking any blood from me,” I whispered in her ear.
She leaned in close so only I could hear, “I know you have no reason to trust me, but this is necessary. I’m not here to kill you, I promise.”
“Sorry. Not good enough,” I said and began to walk away. I tried not to sweat as I was fully expecting her to grab my arm and forcefully take my blood. I was even ready for it. Ready to smash through the flimsy magical barrier surrounding her black hole to stop her. My grandparents placed the barriers in all their zombies trying to keep others from taking control of their slaves. I had plenty of experience obliterating this particular defense and I was raring to do it.
But the dead woman didn’t even flinch. I heard her voice behind me, “Thank you for the sample, Ms. Derée.”
The Riser Saga Page 36
