Paranoid much?
Probably, but I didn’t care.
Eva was trouble. I wasn’t about to be sandwiched between Eva and Ryan in Bill’s car.
“Your choice,” Bill said nastily and he put his arm around Eva protectively.
That did it.
“Yeah, it is my choice! But it wasn’t my choice to have your girlfriend attack me in the hallway and try to beat the crap out of me!” Wow. I was seriously mad. I actually yelled that.
Bill immediately pulled away from Eva and looked at her questioningly.
Eva looked properly shocked and appalled. “I would never…” She started to cry. “She’s just making that up because she’s jealous that we’re a couple.”
Bill actually looked conflicted.
Really?
The fact that he was considering that Eva might be telling the truth was beyond annoying. It was offensive.
Ryan apparently agreed, “You’re really going to buy that Bill?”
“Why would I hurt her? She’s your best friend,” Eva said between sobs.
“She’s lying to you.”
We all turned around to see Max.
He held his hand out for Eva to take. “That’s enough, Eva.”
Eva’s tears stopped instantly. She looked at Max like she was going to tear his head off.
But she did as he said all the same, taking his hand, despite how angry she appeared.
“Apologize to Chelsan,” Max instructed.
Eva looked like a punished five-year-old, shuffling her feet, avoiding eye contact, “Sorry.”
“Have a nice night,” Max said and his eyes briefly met mine.
We’ll talk about it later.
Max had succeeded in jumping in my brain.
How did he do that?
I didn’t even sense it.
I swallowed hard and nodded my agreement.
This was one of those rare occasions where I felt the loss of Roberta. She’d be able to help me keep Max out. Or even how to sense that he had somehow managed to sneak past my protective barriers like a brain ninja. I was hoping it was because I was a little mentally lax after my ordeal in Ms. Floster’s head with Elisha. Either way it disturbed me greatly.
And then Eva and Max were gone.
Bill stood there in shock.
“I…” he started, then he turned to me, regret screaming in his eyes, “Are you okay?”
“A little late for that, bro,” Ryan accused.
“You were actually going to believe her, weren’t you?” I asked, still upset that Bill could think I’d lie about something like that.
Bill shrugged, which was as close to a “yes” as I was going to get. “I liked her.”
At least he made it past tense.
“Well, she’s psycho, and I think she has the same power as me.” Oops. I wasn’t planning on telling them that.
“Who has what?” Nancy said as she and Jill came up from behind.
I told them everything that just happened.
“You were going to take the shuttle instead of asking me for a ride?” Jill said appalled. Her giant green eyes actually looked offended.
“Really? That’s all you got from that conversation?” Having Jill take the nightmare that was my day and make it about her, made me happy for some reason.
“And Max! I’m mad at him. He totally stood me up at lunch,” Jill ranted on in irritation.
“I guess he had other things on his mind, like his sister attacking Chelsan.” Nancy rolled her eyes, but I could tell Jill’s self-centeredness amused her as well. Nancy turned to me, “Why do you think it was Eva that made those dead bugs eat the beam?”
“Just a feeling. Look, I’m not so sure about that part, but something’s up with Max and Eva.”
I didn’t want to rub Eva’s creepiness in Bill’s face.
And I didn’t want to tell any of them I was meeting with Max later. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but until I got my answers from Max, I didn’t want anyone to worry.
“Maybe Eva has a good explanation for what she did,” Bill said. “Besides, you said yourself you’re not sure who controlled those termites. It might not be her.” Bill was already starting to be defensive, so I decided to drop it.
“Let’s just get to Nancy’s,” I said. The others took my cue and nodded.
“See you guys tomorrow.” Jill waved as she walked toward her car.
The rest of us piled into Bill’s hover and rode to Nancy’s in silence. No one wanted to say a thing. At least Eva wasn’t crammed next to me. But seeing the pain oozing from Bill’s boyish features, almost made me wish she was. Almost.
As Bill landed on Nancy’s hover pad, Jason came out to greet us.
Nancy huffed, still annoyed by Jill’s announcement this morning that Jason may or may not be taking Joan to prom.
“You!” Nancy exited Bill’s hover, pointing her finger at Jason.
“Me.” Jason had a calm sort of expression on his face, as if he knew what was coming.
“Please tell me Joan is full of crap and that you are not taking her to prom.” Nancy crossed her arms, standing in front of Jason, daring him to deny it.
Jason gently held Nancy’s chin. “Joan’s father is the new advisor to Turner. We need all the ins we can get.”
Nancy shoved his hand away. It almost looked as if she was going to slap him. “Fine! Date her then, because we’re so done!” She practically knocked Jason over as she stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her.
Jason was flabbergasted. “Did she just break up with me?”
I patted him on the arm. “You’re an idiot, Jason.”
Bill mumbled from his car. “I’m taking off. You don’t need me for anything, do you?”
Before I could answer Bill was taking off in his hover-car.
“Nah, see you tomorrow,” I said to the empty air where he’d been and waved as his hover-car zoomed away.
“He’ll get over it.” Ryan kissed my hand that was still entwined with his.
“Maybe Eva is just a jealous freak and not a supernatural freak,” I hoped out loud.
Jason shook himself out of his break-up gloom. “Supernatural… wha…?”
I told him everything.
“Let’s research this mysterious brother and sister duo, more importantly, Elisha is back. That can’t be a good thing. Tell me everything you can remember from Ms. Floster’s lecture and we’ll try and figure out what she didn’t want you to know. Healing drugs are too obvious, it had to be something she wasn’t expecting Ms. Floster to tell you.” Jason was obviously thinking aloud, trying to rationalize and make connections.
“You better get inside and talk to Nancy,” Ryan spoke up. “And tell her you’re taking her to prom.”
“But I…” Jason began.
I cut him right off, “Do it, and tell her Joan is nasty and ugly and that you’re glad you don’t have to take her anymore.”
Jason was on the verge of argument, but then nodded his head in agreement. “Prom, seriously? I’m too old for this.”
We all walked in the house and Jason scurried off toward the stairs to Nancy’s room.
Vianne was in the kitchen preparing dinner, which smelled ridiculously good. George would be home in a few hours, so Ryan and I had to entertain ourselves.
Not hard.
We went to my room and before I could even close the door, Ryan’s hands pulled me in for a mind-blowing kiss. I barely managed to kick the door shut as our lips couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. Chemistry is a fascinating thing, it literally made my whole body tingle like I was about to have some kind of euphoric seizure. You’d think after being with each other for over six months that something like kissing would somehow not be as exciting as it was back before I thought Ryan didn’t know I existed.
It was still ridiculous.
I led Ryan to my bed, where the two of us fell into the fluffy comforter of softness.
I could feel Ryan’s grip on my t-shirt tighten like he
couldn’t be close enough to me.
I knew exactly how he felt.
His other hand held my face like it was the most precious thing in the world to him.
Ryan’s kisses became more intense as he slid on top of me. He separated from me only for a second as he pulled off his shirt.
Holy crap this boy worked out.
It was hard not to gape at my own boyfriend.
As I reached up and pulled him in closer to me I could feel his back muscles tighten.
Then suddenly Ryan reared back with a gasp of pain. He grabbed his head and almost fell off the bed from the shock of it.
I immediately reached out and held him close.
“Ryan! I’m calling an ambulance.” I started to leave the bed, but Ryan grabbed me.
“Don’t leave. I’ll be okay.” Ryan fell into me, resting his head on my lap. “It’s already passing.”
I felt a lump in my throat as I stroked his hair. What was wrong with him? I was terrified that this was something unfixable.
“I need to get you help, Ryan.” I heard the choke in my voice and knew that Ryan heard it too.
He sat up and, despite his own pain, gathered me in his lap so that he was comforting me. “I’m going to be fine. It’s probably just my brain purging the I.Q. kids or something. Sounds weird, doesn’t it?”
I nodded and kissed him gently. “What if it’s not? What if it’s worse? I know you’re going to kill me, but I called Turner for help.”
“I’ll take it.” Ryan kissed me back.
No argument. No anger.
He must really be in agony.
My heart hurt and I wanted to cry.
“This is all my fault,” I whispered in shame. If Ryan hadn’t met me he’d be a healthy super-genius with no worries in the world. Now he was having migraines because of a hundred dead I.Q. kids floating around in his brain. Yay me.
Ryan smiled and kissed the top of my head. “I love you, Chelsan Derée, and if headaches are the price I pay to be with you, then I’ll have a headache every minute of every day. I don’t care. You’re worth it.”
I didn’t feel worth it.
“I love you,” I said, trying to mask my tears.
I looked up at Ryan and his eyes were starting to droop.
“You should sleep.”
“Maybe just a little nap.” He was already half asleep.
I gently shifted my weight so Ryan could rest and I could leave him be. I stood up and watched him sleep. His forehead crinkled slightly. He was obviously in pain, even in slumber.
I hoped Gramps would send someone over, but I wasn’t holding my breath. I hadn’t heard from him in months, why would he care what happened to Ryan?
I walked over to the window.
Max was standing at the Hover-Shuttle stop staring straight at me.
I had almost forgotten about our meeting.
I wondered how long he’d been standing there.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Knock it off. I said in his head.
Wow. I was getting good at this. He nodded and turned away to wait for me to come down. I was kind of proud of myself. Roberta said I had a special gift for the whole “astral projection” thing, but talking to Max had been as simple as… talking to Max. Just as if he were standing in front of me.
I leaned down and kissed Ryan’s forehead, hoping I could take away some of his pain. Then I hurried from the room and out of the house to meet Max.
I made sure no one saw me go. I didn’t want to explain why I was having secret meetings with Max. Maybe if he told me something important. Otherwise, I planned on keeping this rendezvous to myself. If Jill heard about it, she’d probably think I was trying to steal another guy she liked.
Max turned to me as I arrived.
“Hey,” I said lamely. Hey? Really?
“Sit.” Max motioned to the Hover-Shuttle bench.
We both sat down.
Why did I always do exactly what he said? He was such a commanding force, I couldn’t seem to control myself.
Head check.
Nope.
All alone in here.
“What about John Forstski?” I said more forcefully than I intended.
“You haven’t figured it out yet?” Max didn’t sound condescending. I could tell he genuinely thought I would have figured out whatever it was on my own.
“Nope. Not as smart as you think I am apparently.” Snarky! Why was I being such a jerk?
Because Max might be working with Elisha. I needed to remind myself of that every second.
Eva had my powers I was sure of it. And if Eva worked for Elisha…
Wait.
Oh crap.
Oh crap.
Oh crap.
I stood up. Eyes wide.
Max smiled softly. “Light bulb.”
“You two…” I was in shock. I couldn’t think straight.
“Us two,” Max nodded.
“You’re the babies from Havenville. The babies that Elisha stole. The babies that I gave my powers to when Elisha made me use the twins. You’re them.” I stumbled over every word.
John Fortski invented Age-pro to stop the aging process, but his trials… his mistakes… before he found the cure for aging… he caused the aging process to speed up. That was the part that slipped from Ms. Floster. Aging. Some of the volunteers aged fifty years in four days. If given to a baby…
Max and Eva were about five months old, but their bodies looked seventeen.
Eva’s burns.
They weren’t burns.
They were stretch marks.
“Eva was the first one Elisha tried the aging drugs on,” Max said as if reading my thoughts. “Fortski figured out the proper doses after Eva. Elisha didn’t want to be scarred. She’s obsessed with being perfect.”
Elisha wasn’t in a child’s body anymore. She was an adult.
No wonder she looked scared to see me in Ms. Floster’s head. I saw her the way I remembered her. That’s why she said I was an idiot because I could have seen her the way she looked now, but all I saw was the creepy little girl.
I looked for genetic markers similar to mine… The same genetic markers your grandfather uses to find I.Q. kids…
Elisha’s words echoed in my head over and over.
Sociopaths.
I instinctively took a few steps back from Max.
“Before you jump to the conclusions I already see you jumping to, Ryan has the same genetic markers as we do. And you know he’s not evil. I’m like Ryan, I swear.” Max’s eyes were pleading.
Wouldn’t a psychopath try to convince me he wasn’t a psychopath?
But why would Max reveal Elisha’s secret? Elisha was so relieved when I saw her as a kid in Ms. Floster’s head. She didn’t want me knowing about Eva and Max or herself. Elisha had placed them in my high school to infiltrate my group.
And Eva had succeeded with Bill.
And Max with Jill.
I didn’t know what to do. Or what to think.
“Max…I…” I really wanted to believe he was good, but too many people had betrayed me, and knowing he was working with Elisha…
Then my curiosity kicked in.
“How can you speak? I mean, you’re like five months old. How do you know so much?” Whenever things became too much for me, my mind went towards the mundane and simple.
“The computer,” Max said simply.
Aahh.
The super computer that was killing my boyfriend. A brain-sucking machine that all the I.Q. kids would get hooked up to so Turner could analyze their thoughts.
“Elisha reversed its flow and fed our brains with anything on the computer, wireless, in the ether. It was all crammed in our heads like an over-stuffed sausage. I didn’t even know who I was or what I was for three weeks. We only had two weeks to acclimate until Elisha threw us into your school. After that she went to sleep for three months. Fortski told her that it was the only way to be sure the aging would work perfectly. I think he w
anted time to try and escape, to get Elisha out of the picture. But her security is too tight. He’s with her now.” Max was sharing with me. He was tortured and he finally had someone who wasn’t psychotic that would listen.
I felt sorry for him.
“What about the third baby?” I asked already knowing the answer.
“She was killed. Elisha performed the ritual that gave her our power.”
Our power.
“So you can…?” I started.
Max nodded.
“Elisha will kill me if she knows I’ve talked to you,” Max’s voice was barely a whisper.
At that moment I knew Max was good. It was hard to explain, but I felt it in my core. He was just like me, but stuck in Elisha’s web of evil. Max lost his mother, had a power he knew hardly anything about, and now was being forced to do the bidding of the girl that was responsible for all of it. I still needed to be cautious, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. For now.
“Eva and Elisha are the same?” I asked tentatively. I could tell that Max cared for Eva. Now that I knew who they were, I knew that Eva would have been an I.Q. Farm abductee for sure. That girl had no conscience.
Max didn’t say anything. His face couldn’t hide the hurt he felt.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Max finally spoke up, “Eva can be fixed. She’s just confused. We both are.”
Oh Max.
He was truly alone amongst a sea of piranhas.
“Look, Max…” I began.
But he cut me off. “Just don’t. I know how to handle Eva. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“She tried to kill me today. She used dead termites to bite through a wood ceiling beam.” I figured I’d tell him.
Max rubbed his hand over his face in frustrated disappointment. “I’ll take care of it.”
I nodded. I didn’t want to argue with him especially since he had just bared his secrets to me. Elisha really would kill him if she knew what he’d just told me. Elisha thought she had an ace in the hole, and to be honest, she had. Finding out about Eva and Max was huge. I needed to tell the gang. We had been looking for a little girl with violet eyes, not an adult. Jason would no doubt scour all the footage of every attack that had happened in the last couple of weeks since Elisha was “awake.” She could have been there and we would never have known it.
“Do you think Jill will be grossed out when she finds out?” Max asked.
The Riser Saga Page 69
