I jumped to my feet, forming balls of ice in my hands and throwing them at the black figure. It squealed and dodged around Zoe, running further up the passageway. We followed, running as fast as possible through the narrowing tunnel until we reached a section blocked by a pile of rubble. The creature disappeared through a narrow gap at the top of the pile.
Zoe started to follow, but I grabbed her arm. “Hey, I think we need help.”
She bit her lip in frustration, caught up by the excitement of the hunt. “Let’s just check out what’s on the other side. See if we can tell where it might be headed? Okay?”
Equally reluctant to give up now, I nodded. Zoe sheathed her knife and scrambled up the rocks. She paused at the top, peering at the other side. “Looks clear. I’m going over.”
The opening was large enough for her to slither through as I clambered up. By the time I was at the top, Zoe was on the other side. I slid down to land beside her. The monster was nowhere in sight. We glanced at each other, nodded, and started forward cautiously. I balanced a ball of ice in each hand and Zoe held her knife in front of her.
A slight change in the darkness drew my gaze to the ceiling as an inky black figure erupted from above, landing on Zoe. Its surprisingly long legs wrapped around her in a crocodile hug. She flailed her arms, attempting to stab it with her knife. I lobbed ice at it, afraid to use fire in the narrow space. My arms tired from throwing, I changed tactics and started kicking the monster until it screeched again. It rolled towards me, letting go of Zoe but trapping her against the wall. I tried to see if she was moving, but she lay so still that my heart faltered.
Snarling and flashing its long teeth, the horrible caterpillar thing raised the front half of its body halfway up, reaching for me. I tried to step away but backed into the wall behind me. When I attempted to duck to one side, the creature followed my movements as if it was a cobra dancing to a flute player’s tune.
I stared up at the glowing eyes, the teeth looming down at me, and felt terror. I raised my hands, palms out, switching to fire. I aimed a stream of flame right at those damn eyes. Instead of flinching away, the creature leaned into the fire, seeming to drink it in. I gaped at its reaction even as I increased the level of heat. The monster still didn’t back away, so I ratcheted up the heat again and again, sweat rolling off my face. Finally, the monster backed away, further down the tunnel, but it didn’t run; it simply dropped into a crouch and watched me. Zoe hadn’t moved since it let her go. I didn’t stop, calling for more heat, more intensity. I felt a surge of triumph when the thing screeched and shuffled back, but it was too late for me to stop. I’d hit disintegration levels of heat and I gasped when the monster crumbled into dust.
I fell to my knees and crawled over to Zoe. When I got to her side, she was pushing herself up with her hands, shaking her head dazedly. I blew out a sigh of relief. She looked okay, even annoyed. “Ollie, what happened?”
I sat back on my heels and ran a warm hand through my hair. “Well, it’s dead.”
Zoe looked around, her eyes narrowing. “Where’s the body? Clean up will be a pain in here.”
I started laughing, doubling over with hysteria, managing to sputter out, “Um, clean up isn’t going to be a problem.”
“Ollie?” Zoe grabbed my arm. “Calm down. What happened? Did you…?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” I said through my giggles, pointing to the remains of the evil caterpillar.
Zoe staggered to her feet, lurching over to examine the sad little pile of dust. “Well, I guess you’ve got a point. Clean up isn’t really an issue.” She grinned at me.
I joined her, still riding the back edge of hysterical laughter. I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. “Zoe, I got so scared. You didn’t move.” I hugged her tightly. “Are you okay?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, sorry I got dropped. That thing was much stronger than I expected.”
“You know, the weirdest thing about it was at first it liked the heat. I think that’s part of why I let the fire get so hot, because it didn’t run until the levels got really high.” I nudged the dust with my boot. “And then it was too late to stop.”
“Well, I guess we’d better tell the ‘rents.” Zoe rolled her shoulders. “Ugh, that thing left me sore.”
We decided to head further into the tunnels where we would be able to exit through one of the bars or restaurants with doors. We chose Old Town Pizza, because it was crowded with folks grabbing a late dinner.
Aunt Kate was still at the warehouse talking to Six, who must have returned after I left. Six frowned at Zoe and me when we burst in, calling for Aunt Kate.
Aunt Kate was used to us showing up all excited about a creature, so she took it in stride. When Zoe described the monster, Aunt Kate looked fascinated. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. Six, have you?”
Six shook her head. “No, we haven’t, but we’ll see if it’s in the archives.”
“The archives?” Zoe asked, but Six was already communing with her sisters and ignored her.
Aunt Kate answered, “The Octad somehow have a mental library they can all access. They call it the archives. I don’t completely understand how it works.” She watched Six thoughtfully before turning back to us. “Okay, so you don’t have the creature with you?”
“Well, I disintegrated it.” I gave her a weak smile. “At least cleanup is easy, right?”
“Olivia,” Aunt Kate gave a short laugh, “but now I can’t see it and figure out what it is.”
Six spoke, “It’s a furrilous. Native to Africa. Never spotted in the States. Until now.” Her eyes remained partially dilated. “Olivia Brighthall is a disintegrator?”
I crossed my arms. “I am. Just recently in fact.”
She looked fascinated, and her eyes dilated more. I guessed she was telling her sisters. I seized the moment. “Hey, it’s late, I’d better get home and finish my homework.”
Aunt Kate waved good-bye as I dashed for the door. I didn’t feel like fielding questions from Six right now.
“See you tomorrow.” Zoe grinned, knowing a getaway when she saw one.
Chapter 15
When I woke up Thursday morning, I was still preoccupied with thoughts of Ben, Emma, and the visions, so much so that I brushed past Mindy and Jack on my way into American History without my usual discomfort. I glanced back at a “huh” sound from Mindy – only then did I realize my inattention – and I felt, if not quite indifference, at least relief from the pain of seeing them together.
I settled at my desk feeling a bit happier – Jack was less of an issue and Ben was trying to talk to me.
Today’s topic was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. From Uncle Alex’s history lessons, I knew that there had been supernormals present. It had been a rare time of accord between normals and supernormals. Too bad it started to fall apart not long after – in the usual way, normals wanting to harness our abilities for their purposes – never mind we have our own desires. It was hard sometimes, especially when studying the history between normals and supernormals, to like normals. Then I would spend time hanging out with Anna or snowshoeing with Dad and I remembered why we tried to coexist.
“Who can quote the first paragraph of The Declaration of Independence?” Mr. Gifford waved a hand at ever-eager Maryam Willis, who started quoting in a singsong voice.
I tried to listen to Maryam, but another voice started murmuring in my head — the first sign of an incoming vision. In vain, I tried to push back, mentally yelling at Ben. Not a good time, can you wait? Instead of ceasing, the vision slammed into me full-force, sharper than any of the previous images.
I stood, or rather Emma, stood in bright sunshine across the street from a building occupying an entire city block. On the corner opposite Emma, the entrance was a large, round structure like a gazebo. The words Clarke Planetarium stretched over the doors. As Emma watched, unaware of the show she provided for Ben, and by proxy me, a woma
n stepped in front of her and faced her.
It was Black Gaea, no longer dressed in prison clothes, wearing basic black – black leggings with a black tunic. She smiled gleefully, her hair glinting in the bright sunshine, her eyes wide with excitement. She looked more dangerous than she had in the other visions. I didn’t know why; she wasn’t actually doing anything but staring at something Emma couldn’t see because it was behind her.
After a moment, Black Gaea nodded and smiled – not a smile I’d want to see up close for real – but Emma just nodded back and lifted a…dart gun? Strapped to the top was…oh crap…one of the nasty, horribly destructive Mountain of Ash flame sticks. This one was longer than the ones Emma had used to blow up statues in Portland last fall. Instead of being the length of my forearm, this one looked as long as my leg. I felt fear tighten my chest and I could hardly breathe.
Suddenly the world seemed to shudder around Emma. Black Gaea froze in place with her arm pointing at the building. Everything was still: a flock of birds hung mid-flight over the street; a kid stopped mid-run around her parents; the spray of water in the fountain hung suspended in air. Everything but Emma, who walked towards the planetarium, weaving through the people on the plaza without taking her gaze off the doors to the planetarium.
I realized I was seeing what it was like to be Emma when she stopped time, her significant ability. It was eerie, like being in a museum surrounded by waxworks.
Emma stopped walking when she got to the entrance of the building. A woman was holding it open for a now frozen stream of teenagers, most wearing sulky expressions. Emma stood behind a guy framed by the door and lifted the dart gun with its horrible missile, firing it inside the lobby. She stood for moment, watching the stick of wood disappear into the darker depths of the building.
She turned and ran back to her companions – now I saw the other escapee, Joshua Grenon, who had been behind Emma when the vision started. As she ran past Black Gaea, Emma touched her shoulder. To my astonishment, Black Gaea followed as Emma touched Joshua’s arm and he unfroze to join them. Everything around them stayed frozen except for Emma and her fellow escapees. I realized it had been more than thirty seconds since Emma had stopped time – her significant ability’s limit was thirty seconds and she’d never had the power to unfreeze people selectively.
Emma’s powers had grownstronger. What did that mean? I didn’t think our significant ability could grow past its initial manifestation. At least that’s what Aunt Kate claimed. She should know – her ability to fly objects was puny, only allowing her to lift objects of about five pounds. She was clever enough to turn it into an asset, but Zoe had told me her mom was always looking for ways to expand her ability.
When Emma and the others started running, buildings streaming by as they used their basic package running ability to get as far away as possible, I realized I’d let my thoughts distract me from the real problem: Emma had just lobbed a deadly Mountain of Ash flame stick into a crowded building. I could see that Emma’s time stopping ability had faded when a bird flapped its wings, a car drove by, and a woman pushed a baby carriage down the street – all unaware of what was about to happen.
Emma stumbled as the ground shook beneath her feet. Her view changed as she swung around to view the damage she’d wrought.
Through Emma’s eyes, I saw smoke and dust billow from the direction of the building. As some of the smoke roiled away, I saw the entire building was gone, obliterated. Only a gaping hole in the ground remained as a harsh reminder that, minutes ago, a building was there. The buildings around the planetarium smoldered in various states of destruction, walls blasted down, windows shattered, and metals twisted into grotesque art.
I couldn’t take it all in. More horrible than the broken buildings was the human toll. Near the awful hole in the ground, remains of bodies lay unmoving, arms severed from torsos, legs shredded to rags, or heads ripped from necks. I hated myself for hoping most of them were dead, the damage to their bodies was so bad.
Grateful this vision didn’t include sound from Emma’s location, I shivered at the people staggering away from the damage, mouths wide in screams. One man, confused by the explosion and unaware of the flap of skin hanging from his head, stumbled towards the destruction until he dropped to the ground, motionless.
Emma glanced to one side and I saw Black Gaea speaking – saying, “Come on.” They turned and ran.
The vision stopped abruptly, cut off like a window shade dropping down. This vision was the most awful one yet. I didn’t think I could handle anything worse. Emma’s gaze hadn’t wavered the entire time. She never looked away from the carnage she’d created.
I realized I had curled up in a ball on the hard floor of the classroom. I was shaking and my left wrist hurt. It felt like it was broken. What had happened to my body while I was stuck in the vision?
Jack had his hands on my shoulders and wore a determined look. My body felt bruised all over. I sat up and Jack let his hands drop. My lip hurt. When I swiped a hand across it, my fingers came away with traces of blood. I must have bit my lip in an effort not to scream at the horrifying images. I cradled my throbbing wrist against my chest and looked around at the gawking faces of my classmates. Even Mindy looked scared, though when I caught her eye she managed a weak sneer. For some reason, that made me feel marginally better.
So much for being discreet about the visions.
I tried to stand. I had to tell Aunt Kate and Six what I just seen, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
“Miss Woodson, I need you to stay still.” Mr. Gifford’s face was white and his voice shook. The school nurse peered at me from beside him as she reached for my unbroken wrist and took my pulse.
The school nurse said, “You need to stay, dear. Your father is on his way.”
“But –” Oh wait, that would work. Dad could take me to the warehouse. I nodded at Mr. Gifford and tried to ignore the whispers of my classmates as they discussed my latest crazy-town entry.
Jack sat on his heels in front of me and regarded me with a direct look. I could tell he was getting ready to ask me what was going on, so I headed him off.
“Thanks, I’m okay now.” I gave him a tentative smile, which he returned with a frown.
Mindy chose that moment to assert her ownership of Jack with not-so-muffled sobs. “Oh Jack!”
Jack spared me a fulminating stare before going to Mindy’s side and enveloping her in his arms. I resumed staring at my hands, which were shaking – all I could focus on was the vision. I was sure the events had just happened and I knew I couldn’t stop them. That didn’t prevent me from wishing I could have tried.
Mr. Gifford told the class to give me some space as Dad rushed in. I managed to answer his questions calmly, all the while chafing at the need to tell the Brighthalls.
Finally, I said, “Dad, Aunt Kate may be able to help. Can you take me to see her?”
Dad gave me a sharp look. “Okay, we can discuss that.” He helped me to my feet, though I felt fine. My bruises were already healing, all the soreness passing away like water. Even my broken wrist merely ached. My only lingering pain was from the memory of what Emma did.
Once Dad got me to the car, he let loose about his worries. “Olivia, what happened? Why do you want to see Kate? Does this have anything to do with your cousin’s escape?”
I nodded. “Yes and you have to take me to the warehouse.”
Dad didn’t start the car; instead he crossed his arms and gave me a stubborn look. “How does you having a seizure at school relate to Emma’s escape?”
Oh yeah, he didn’t know about the visions. Desperate to get to a Brighthall, I ran my hands through my hair as if it would help me think of the words to explain this to Dad in a way that wouldn’t freak him out. “So…um,” I paused, “okay, Dad, I’ll explain, but can you at least start driving to the warehouse?”
In response, Dad started the car. “Talk.”
I drew a deep breath and let it out. “Ben is sending me v
isions of what Emma is doing.” I kept my eyes straight ahead so I could get through this without seeing Dad’s expressions. “I guess he can tap into her mind because he did once, or something.” I frowned. “I don’t totally get it, but anyway, he’s sending what he sees to me. Even though he’s in a coma and all.”
“Do the visions always induce seizures?” Oh no, Dad was using his clinical voice – not a good sign. It meant he was really mad but trying to be reasonable to keep from yelling.
Nervously, I gripped my hands together. “No, this one was just really bad.” I shuddered at the memory. “Really, really bad, so that’s why I have to get to the warehouse and tell someone.”
Dad didn’t speak for several blocks. I started to talk a few times, but the forbidding expression on his face stopped me.
We pulled into the empty warehouse parking lot. I knew the lack of cars could simply mean someone was there but had decided to run to training, especially since the weather was almost sunny today.
I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the car door.
“I’m coming with you.” Dad released his seat belt.
I froze. Didn’t he know? “You can’t…normals can’t come into the warehouse. It’s against the rules.”
Dad turned to glare at me. “Olivia, are you seriously telling me I can’t come inside with you? With my daughter?”
I held up my hands, palms out in a conciliatory gesture. “I’m not, but the Brighthalls are. Well, all the supernormals – certain areas are off limits to keep our lives separate from the normals.” I winced, my heart feeling heavy. “Didn’t Mom tell you?” I asked hesitatingly. After all these years, it was still strange to me that Mom told Dad about her heritage. Showed how much she’d loved and trusted him.
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