by Eaton, Pam
Henderson splits into five. His clones try to run at Shemnon, but they freeze and then burst into bright lights. A ghostly man steps forward, and the light from Henderson rushes into him.
Two women walk over to Chelsea. She screams and grabs at her chest. It looks like her power is being ripped from her, the light streaming into her ancestors’ bodies. Chelsea and Henderson flop to the ground, screaming and moaning in pain.
“Becca.”
I turn my head and come face to face with my mom.
“Mom,” I say, crying out her name.
“There isn’t time. You need to make them all forget,” she says, her voice urgent.
My brow furrows. “What? How?”
She points to Gregory. He’s starting to come to. I look back at my mom and bite my lip. “I don’t think I have enough left in me,” I tell her.
“You need to try. You’ll never be safe. These people will never be safe. Gregory needs to make them forget about Mr. Rivers. Forget their hatred for their own kind and work toward making this world better. Just like our ancestors intended.”
“Rivers isn’t even here,” I tell her.
“He’s close by,” my mom says. “I can feel him. Do this and we’ll help deal with him.”
My grandparents, my dad, and Ania walk up behind Mom. “You’ve got this, sweets,” Grandpa says, smiling brightly at me.
I drag myself over the rough, charred dirt towards Gregory. His head is moving back and forth. I place my head on his chest, too tired to sit up.
Gregory. I need you. I need your help, I tell him.
A quiet moan slips out.
Please, I beg.
His eyes start to flutter open. “Becca?” he asks, his voice sounding like sandpaper.
I tell him what my mom said. “I need you to try. If we have a shot at the future, this is the time. This all needs to stop,” I say.
He grabs my hand. I start to give him everything I have. Even as black spots start to fill my vision and the world starts to sway, I give it all.
“It’s working,” he says. I think he’s shouting, but I can’t really hear him. It’s like he’s at the opposite end of a tunnel.
“Almost done,” my mom whispers to me.
I let myself go, opening my heart and mind.
Surprise shouts reach my ears, but it’s muffled. The black spots fill my vision until everything fades.
Forty-Two
The scraping of rocks and dirt against my cheek is what finally wakes me from the nothing I was submerged in. My eyes blink open. I’m outside still, but who’s dragging me, and why?
I pull my leg to try to dislodge it, but nothing happens. Nothing moves. I’m frozen.
“Oh, looks like she’s waking up,” Mr. Rivers says, and my eyes shoot to the left.
He’s hobbling along beside me, and since I’m frozen, that must mean Thompson is dragging me.
“You really messed up my plans.”
I strain to say something, anything. He raises a brow. “Thompson, release her mouth.”
“How?” I ask through heavy breaths when my mouth can move again.
“That was easy. I just injected Thompson with your blood. It’s amazing stuff, by the way. Imagine everyone’s surprise when they all froze.”
The dragging suddenly stops and Thompson drops me like a sack of potatoes. The sound of a door opening makes my heart pound in my chest.
Thompson picks me up again and brings me into one of the abandoned houses in the village.
“Drop her over there,” Rivers commands.
Thompson drops me on my side against a wall. I still can’t move anything but my eyes and mouth.
Rivers grabs a syringe from his pocket. It’s filled with blood, probably mine, and he injects it into his arm like a heroin addict. After the plunger completely pushes my blood into his veins, he lets out a soft sigh.
“Good,” Rivers says to Thompson. “Now release her and go outside to keep watch.”
Thompson walks robotically out the door, and Rivers turns to me.
“On. Your. Knees.” The command in his voice washes over me, forcing me.
My stomach clenches in dread and I feel my body get to my knees without me telling it to.
His hand reaches for the gun on his hip and he slaps it into my hand. “Put that to your temple,” he instructs.
He fixes his shirtsleeves like what he’s having me do is nothing. I feel the cool barrel of the gun touch my temple. My heart starts beating out of control, but there’s nothing I can do. I keep trying to transport, but nothing works. I can’t break his compulsion.
He pulls out a chair and gets comfortable in his seat. Like I’m not kneeling here with my hands shaking, sweat dripping down my face, gun to my head. “Did you know I was in the Korean War?” he asks.
I don’t say anything.
“Answer,” he says, his voice ugly, vicious.
“No,” the word feels unnatural as it pushes out of my mouth, and his lips curl in cruel satisfaction.
“You know I bled for my country. And then later I watched my best friends being tortured in Vietnam. I was forced to be a POW so I could learn the enemy’s secrets. My body is filled with scars for this country, and yet I’m not allowed to exist out in the open with my powers. I’m not allowed to use my power for personal gain, or they’ll find a way to put me down. I’m not allowed to have more than one child. So yes, I started trying to create more of us. I found all these undesirables. I rid the streets of homeless people, whores, addicts. I wanted change. I want to take back what’s ours. We used to be treated like gods.”
“You went too far,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Excuse me?” he asks, like he can’t believe I have the nerve to contradict him.
“Do you even realize the horrible things you’ve done? What you’ve destroyed? And for what? To stroke your ego?”
He tsks at me like I’m a child. “Brave words for a girl with a gun to her head. Press it harder to your temple,” he says with a flick of the wrist.
The barrel digs into my skin, and I can’t stop myself from wincing in pain.
“Weak. Just like your mother,” he says.
I grit my teeth, trying to move my hand away, but I can’t.
“You could have been a part of all of this,” he says waving his hands in the air. “No matter; your DNA will still be around whether you’re breathing or not.”
My stomach drops at his words. No. No, this is not how this is supposed to be. This is not how I die. I can’t. He leans towards me, a manic look in his eyes. “Pull the—”
The door beside him bursts open. He spins in his chair, but before he has a chance to open his mouth, Lucy puts a bullet in each of his legs.
He crumples to the floor, screaming in agony.
My arm falls to my side, and a sob breaks free. Gregory rushes into the room. He rips the gun out of my hand and gives it to someone behind him. His arms surge around me, and I can’t stop shaking.
“I got you,” he says in my ear.
“Not so scary now, are you?” Lucy spits out the words, standing above him, her gun trained on him.
A strange gurgling sound comes from Rivers. “What’s happening?” I ask.
We all stare at him as he clutches his chest. “You hit a major artery,” Mr. Smith says from the door, Walter right on his heels.
Mr. Smith walks into the room and stands over Rivers. “Before you die—because that’s what’s happening—I want you to know that your plan has failed. Our people are united. Project Lightning has just gained a large amount of help. I hope you rot in Hell for the things you’ve done.”
“Jeremy,” Rivers says, blood trickling past his lips.
Rivers takes one more gasping breath and then goes completely still. Walter leans down and puts two fingers to Rivers’s neck. After a moment he looks up at us. “He’s gone.”
Mr. Smith steps over his body, completely ignoring the man who was his mentor and friend for years. He squa
ts down next to me. “Are you okay?” he asks, looking me over.
“Yeah,” I say. “Just banged up like everyone else.”
My eyes stray to Rivers’s body. “Let’s get out of here,” Gregory says and picks me up.
We all leave out of the house, except for Mr. Smith.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask Gregory.
He keeps walking down the road and towards Tiberius’s house. Lucy, Walter, and Xavier follow behind. “I don’t know.”
I nod once. I don’t know what I would do if it had turned out Mr. Smith was a psycho who tortured and murdered people.
“Where is everyone?” I ask.
“Tiberius is at the house helping the injured and talking with…I guess our allies now?” Lucy looks as confused as me.
“It’ll take time to figure it all out,” Walter says, patting her arm. “We won’t know the true extent of their willingness to change until Mr. Smith and Gregory can interview them all.”
“Where’s Tony?” I ask, scanning the roads.
“I don’t know,” Gregory says. “We all watched your unconscious body be dragged away, and as soon as we were unfrozen Tiberius tracked you down.”
After another right turn, we approach my house. “There’re too many people at Tiberius’s right now,” Gregory explains, answering my unspoken question.
Xavier walks ahead and opens the front door and we walk inside.
Tony jumps up from the couch and rushes over to me. “Are you hurt?” he asks.
“I’ll be fine.”
He takes a deep breath and his whole body relaxes. “Becca, I saw him. I saw my dad,” Tony tells me.
“I know,” I say. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you that my mom gave me a heads-up in a dream. They were all there to help.”
Gregory drops us down on the couch. “Ania was here?” Walter asks.
I nod and start to choke up at the tears he lets fall. “She loves you so much and she wishes she was here,” I tell him.
“How?” Lucy asks.
“Shemnon. Where is he?” I ask, looking around.
“Who?” Gregory asks, face scrunched.
“The guy with the long hair that summoned all of the spirits. He’s the dream-walker.”
“He disappeared with all the spirits when we were unfrozen,” Xavier says.
The front door opens, and Tiberius, Mr. Smith, Raven, Daemon, and Luca walk into the house. We all look horrible. And tired.
“What now?” I ask Mr. Smith.
The most amazing thing happens. Mr. Smith smiles. “We get to save the world every day.”
Gregory lets out a tired laugh and I lean against him and close my eyes.
“How about a vacation first?” I ask.
“We’ll see,” Mr. Smith says, and I can hear the smirk in his voice.
“It’s done,” Lucy whispers and my eyes open to find her.
She grabs Tiberius’s hand. “Yes,” he says.
I rise from the couch and walk over to my aunt and uncle. They wrap me up, and it’s at that moment I feel the arms of my family around me, living and dead. Everyone I love is in this room.
“Do you have room for a lizard man?” Luca asks, causing Xavier to burst out laughing.
“We’ll make room,” Mr. Smith says.
Epilogue
Four Months Later
“Does this feel weird? It feels weird to me. Are you sure we should be gone like this?” I ask Gregory as he pulls out a chair for me.
“Becca,” he says, leaning down to kiss my temple. “For the hundredth time, it’s just a date. We’re probably going to go on thousands of these.”
He takes a seat across from me. “I know, but Luca was almost completely transformed. And Lucy and Tiberius haven’t been out without Eloise, and you just hashed everything out with Mr. Smith—”
He grabs my hand and gives it a tug. “It’s just dinner. We’ll be back later. Besides, how often do you get to eat at Vito and Lucille’s Restaurant?”
He’s right. I haven’t been here since I went with my grandparents years ago. And this is the first time we’ve really been alone since the showdown in Fordlandia.
But we’ve been busy. Everyone has. Tony has been in counseling, and he and Mike went on a backpacking trip around Alaska. Dex thinks he finally found the cure for breast cancer. Raven and Daemon got married last month. Life has been crazy, but amazing.
“How was your talk with your dad?” I ask.
He winces a little at the “dad.”
“Sorry,” I say.
“It’s okay,” he says, waving away my concern. “It was a good talk today with the therapist. He finally opened up about my mom. She cut the relationship when she found out she was pregnant with me. They never told anyone about their relationship. Rivers never had any clue about me.”
Our waiter comes over and takes our order.
“Enough with the heavy,” I tell him once we’re alone again. “I’m pretty sure I saw Mike kissing Sariah.”
“Becca.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
His face softens and he shakes his head. “I love you,” he says.
I smile at him. “I love you too.”
He starts to tell me about Raven’s work with finding trafficked women, when both our phones start to buzz.
I pull mine out. “Damn it. Looks like our date is getting cut short.”
He looks at his phone. “Xavier said it’s urgent,” he says, placing his napkin on the table. “We’d better hurry back to headquarters.”
He reaches for my hand.
“Let’s go then,” I say.
Gregory leaves a twenty on the table to cover our drinks and we head out of the restaurant. Once we’re around the side of the building, Gregory pulls me close to his body. “One last kiss before we go,” he says, and dips his head down.
Our lips connect, and that same all-consuming heat fills my veins, shooting from my toes up to my fingertips.
“Never gets old,” I tell him, and transport us to the cafeteria at headquarters.
“Happy birthday!” A chorus of voices slams into us the moment we appear.
“What?” I say, looking around at everyone I love.
Everyone is here, from Bronia and Walter to Lucy and Tiberius. Even Daemon made an appearance. “My birthday was a month ago,” I tell them.
“We were hunting down Thompson then and didn’t have the chance,” Gregory tells me, hugging me close.
“At least he’s now rotting away in a jail cell with Henderson. And since Dex found that stone to block powers, there’s no way they’re getting out.”
Only Chelsea and Henderson had their powers stripped from them forever. Everyone else that worked with Rivers is blocked until Mr. Smith decides otherwise.
Gregory squeezes me once more and I walk around, talking to all my family and friends.
The night flies by. And it’s filled with laughter and joy, things that seemed unachievable six months ago. And after several hours, I can barely keep my eyes open. Gregory walks me to my room and helps me inside.
“Did you have fun tonight?” he asks.
I throw my arms around his neck and play with his hair at the nape of his neck. “It was amazing. Thank you, because I know you were probably behind it.”
He gives me a shy smile, so I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him.
“I’m glad,” he says. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He leans down and kisses me once more. “Love you,” he whispers.
“Love you too,” I say and watch him walk out the door.
I stagger over to the bed and plop down. In no time at all, sleep pulls me under.
* * *
The tree swing in my grandparents’ backyard is a welcome sight. I sit down and push off, feeling the wind blow my hair.
“Hey, baby,” my mom says, and I drop my feet to stop the swing.
“Mom,” I say, my voice breaking. I haven’t seen her since Fordlan
dia. I never thought I’d get the chance again.
She opens her arms and I run into them. “I never got to say goodbye,” I say into her hair.
“Shemnon let me come back one more time,” she says.
“If I ever see that guy again, I’m going to hug him.”
She laughs. “He’ll be around.”
She steps back and holds me at arm’s length. “I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud to be able to be your mom. And I can’t wait to watch all the amazing things you’re going to do.”
I look down at our feet. “I wish you were here still.”
She lifts my chin with a finger. “I am here,” she says, tapping my chest. “I am always here. I will always be here for you, rooting for you, and loving you. Don’t ever forget that.”
I give her a small smile. “I won’t.”
“Good. Give me one last hug,” she says.
I squeeze her tight. “I love you,” she whispers to me. “Keep conquering the world, my extraordinary girl.”
The End
Acknowledgments
I can’t believe I just wrote “The End” on book three in The Extraordinary Series. I started writing the first book over eight years ago. Took me a while to get that one done. It’s been an amazing ride seeing so many people read it. It fills me with so much joy when people tell me that they enjoy my words. But it’s not just me behind all of this. There are so many to thank.
First, I’d like to thank my editor, Jana Miller. She’s been with me since she read book one over three years ago. Her comments and edits have truly helped me become a better writer. Next I need to thank my dear friend and fellow author, Kathy Cowley. Thank you for always being willing to proofread my work, even when I only give you a few days’ notice. Also, Susan Allred, thank you for proofreading, giving advice, and being an amazing cheerleader.
To my lady authors from the Red Mountain Chapter, thank you for your support, critiques, and friendship. I truly cherish our time together. And to the rest of the American Night Writers Association, I am a better person from knowing and working with all of you.
