Runaway

by Alycia Linwood

  "So you think that scientists discovered something, decided not to share it and instead published a story based on that discovery to make people think it was impossible?" Paula's face brightened. "They only had to write something opposite from their discovery, and people would believe it, right? In the past almost everyone believed in God of Magic and the stories about him. Some of these stories were just accepted as facts because people believed in them so much. If we could analyze the stories and compare them with what we know today, maybe we could find out something interesting."

  Michael grinned at Paula as she reached for her purse, pulled out her phone and started typing something. I stared at them in confusion, unsure why they were so damn excited.

  "Umm, guys," I said hesitantly. "You would actually read some silly old stories and try to find a hidden meaning in them? Are you insane? That would take ages! And how could that be of any help? You can interpret a story in thousands of ways."

  "Well, I found some hidden facts in those old science books, so why wouldn't there be any in those stories? Besides, if it turns out the stories tell exactly the opposite from the discoveries..." Paula said, still checking out something on her phone.

  "You think there's a cure," I whispered, suddenly feeling dizzy.

  "Yeah, there might be. But these stories might give us something useful, so that we at least know what we're looking for. And there are also some newer ones which might give us the approximate date of when the discovery might have happened." Paula beamed. "Then I'll know what to look for if you manage to get me that job. Michael, there's a library which has a huge collection of the stories near here. We should check it out."

  Ah, so that was what she'd been looking for on her phone so vigorously; an online library catalogue.

  "We can do it tomorrow morning," Michael said. "It's not like we have better things to do."

  "Wait, you're serious about this?" I put my hands on my hips, giving them both a quizzical look. "Why bother with reading when we can just snoop around, break into a few offices and find what we need? The answers are here, and not in some silly books!"

  "But that is too risky! Someone could discover us and expose you," Paula said, her eyes full of worry. "There's no need to hurry. We have time. First we can play it safe and check out those books. If Adrian could go for years without losing control, then you can wait a few months."

  "Huh." I turned away from them and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I could still feel Michael's and Paula's elements, but I wasn't at the breaking point yet, which was weird considering that I had spent two hours at a mall. Ok, there hadn't been many people as we had chosen the lunch time to go shopping, but shouldn't I be feeling elements raining down on me? What if being away from Adrian really helped me to stay in control longer? Adrian's father had mentioned in his journal that being with another magic disease carrier could help you, but that it also made you weaker. Could I really live without Adrian's help?

  "Ria, are you sure you will be fine at the press conference?" Michael asked.

  "Yeah, I think I'll be fine." I bit my lip lightly, wondering should I try to persuade them to leave the books and come with me to do some breaking and entering. If Adrian was here, he'd come with me for sure because that was his kind of thing. Maybe I should... No. I kept staring at the mirror, straight at my dark brown eyes. Michael and Paula shouldn't get too involved in my mess. I'd already decided that, yet I still tried to pull them back into it. What was wrong with me?

  "You know, I brought those pills with me..." Paula said, and I turned around to glare at her.

  "No! I don't want to hear about any kind of pills ever again!" Suddenly the pressure of elements grew stronger, and I ran a hand through my hair, trying to calm myself down. I should have known my control would slip at the most unfortunate moment.

  "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to upset you," Paula said quietly.

  "I'll be fine. Just give me a minute." I went to the bathroom, which was almost as big as the room. It even had a large bathtub in one corner, and a shelf full of fancy-looking shampoos, soaps and shower gels. The tiles were mostly beige with ornaments in the shapes of flowers and I had a strange urge to run my fingers over those shapes whenever I came in here.

  Locking the door behind me, I walked over to the sink and dipped my hands into the cold water. It didn't really help because I could still tell there were five more people with elements here on my floor; one of them had earth, two had water and the rest had fire. It seemed like my father really preferred to surround himself by people of his own element. Interesting. I just hoped that would be good for me since I already had fire and its pull was usually weaker than that of the rest of the elements, but for some weird reason I still wanted it. Damn, I really had to find out more about this, and I was going to do it. I only needed some time.

  "Just keep smiling," I said to Michael, my face already hurting from showing off my teeth to the numerous cameras. We were standing right next to the small stage where my father was doing his best to charm everyone, especially those reporters who bombarded him with all kinds of questions. Michael's arm was around my waist, keeping me steady. I kept glancing at the audience, wondering what would happen if I spotted someone with magic disease. If my father was a bit less prejudiced against magic disease carriers, I could have easily told him the truth and acted as his special bodyguard. Really, who would be better in defending him from hidden magic disease carriers who wanted to harm him than me?

  "...I will do everything in my power to make this world safe and our tradition preserved!" my father said, his captivating voice rising with each word. Even the cameras stopped flashing for a moment. Now I knew why the Council had chosen my father for the president. He seemed incredibly passionate about what he was doing and knew how to make people believe his every word. I had believed him too, but I was his daughter, so that wasn't really surprising.

  "Ria!" Michael whispered, rousing me from my thoughts. I looked up and realized everyone was staring at me. Oh, shit. My father had turned toward me, his arms outstretched. He clearly wanted me to climb on the stage, but I wasn't sure why.

  "Don't be shy, sweetie." My father smiled encouragingly. Ok, I could do this. I could. Taking Michael's hand, I climbed onto the stage with him, and my father pulled me into a tight embrace. The flashes of the cameras almost blinded me.

  "As you already know, this is my dear daughter, Ria," my father said, his hand holding mine even though I was trying to pull away, so I was almost stretched out between him and Michael. "She's finished her first year at the University of Magic, and, unfortunately, had to deal with some horrible rumors about her, which were no doubt a consequence of my candidature for this position. So, I would like to thank you, Ria, for being here with me. And I promise you that I will do anything in my power to make it possible for you to realize all your dreams."

  Gee, thanks Daddy. I plastered a big smile on my face, wondering why my father was doing this. Somehow I didn't believe there wasn't an ulterior motive. If he had said something like this while he'd been merely a member of the Council, then I'd have thought he was the best father ever. But this wasn't the same and I'd always known how ambitious he was.

  "Mister Milanez!" a reporter yelled from the audience. "What do you think of your daughter's relationship with Michael Teregov?"

  "I support my daughter, of course." My father looked like he couldn't be more proud of me. I gripped Michael's hand, wishing they'd stop talking about me, but my father clearly wanted them to ask questions. Maybe it was to stop, umm, the rumors about Adrian and me.

  "But doesn't it bother you that they do not have the same element?" someone shouted, and I couldn't see who, but suddenly the crowd went wild, the cameras flashing furiously and people yelling all kinds of questions. My father raised his hand to silence them. Now that the attention was solely on him, he seemed to forget that I was still standing behind him. That was good, actually.

  "Both my daughter and Teregov have pure elements, but yo
u see, love doesn't always choose the expected path. And that is why I'm going to do my best to find a way for our children to lead happy lives with any person they want to and still preserve the purity of elements," my father said, and the room almost exploded from the wave of questions that followed. I was staring at my father in shock. He planned to do... What? My head was suddenly spinning, and I felt thirsty and cold. I couldn't stay on this stage a minute longer.

  "Are you ok?" Michael whispered into my ear, squeezing my hand. I shook my head, trying to swallow past the dryness in my throat.

  "Only a minute more, Ria. You can do this." Michael's voice was steady and soothing. I blinked, concentrating hard on the spot on the floor and trying to shut out everything else. But it wasn't working! My nails dug into Michael's skin, but he didn't seem to care. My father was still talking, but I had no idea about what.

  "Come on." Michael tugged at my arm. "Let's go. Everyone's attention is on your father. No one will notice if we disappear."

  I could only nod and let him lead me off the stage, through all the guards and upstairs to my room. As soon as we were out of sight, I let go of Michael's hand and leaned on the wall, taking deep breaths.

  "He's insane," I said. "He's lying to everyone to cover up what he will really be doing!"

  "And it's working," Michael said, watching me carefully and unfastening his tie. Yeah, I was warming the hall with my element, and it was only a matter of minutes before something burst into fire. If I had managed to finish another year or two at the university, maybe I would have learned how to use fire in a different, less dangerous way.

  "Maybe he really plans to do it." Michael shrugged. "He wants people to have pure elements, and since children can't inherit a completely pure element if both parents don't have the same pure element, maybe the scientists could find a way for the baby to have only genes for the element of one parent."

  "Yeah, like parents would ever agree whose element was more worthy." I laughed. "But it's impossible. How would you even manipulate those genes?"

  "I have no idea. Maybe through some way of in vitro fertilization? Ask Paula. She could probably tell you more."

  "Sure, and she'd probably use a lot of weird terms to explain that." I pushed myself off the wall and we started walking down the hall, toward my room. "I still can't believe my father used us. Now everyone will think he's doing all of that for me, so there will be no reason for them to suspect he's researching something else. I just know he'll be researching something else because they wouldn't want Adrian back for nothing."

  "Yeah, he's probably trying to hide something, but he has enough resources now to research as many things as he wants." Michael stopped in front of the door of my room. "Do you need anything else?" The way his green eyes regarded mine made me hesitate, my hand clutching my keycard.

  "No, thank you," I finally said. "I need some time alone."

  "Sure. See you later, then." He walked away, leaving me alone in the hall. My throat was a bit less dry, but a part of me still longed to dive into the cold, refreshing water. How was I supposed to survive the party tomorrow night was anyone's guess. I didn't like being weak, especially not when my life depended on whether I could keep the disease in check.

  "Did you know about this?" I yelled, squeezing the phone in my hand.

  "No, I assure you I did not," Oliver said.

  "Really? Because I have a feeling you helped my father to use me for his little project that I'm not even sure is real."

  "Please, sis." Oliver snorted. "Why would I have anything to do with a man who let the scientists use me as their experiment?"

  "Aren't you in contact with our parents? I remember Alan making a fuss because they couldn't get in touch with you." I leaned on the wall, sighing.

  "Not anymore. I broke any contact with them a few years ago. For a long time I'd hoped they'd change their minds about me if we kept talking to each other, but they'd just wanted to make sure I didn't tell anything about the disease or killed anyone important. They lied to you because they wanted to know whether I talked to you. Besides, what would be better than tracking me through you? Of course, once they realized you didn't know anything, they told you they have found me or something, right?"

  "Yeah, they actually said you called them," I said, my brow furrowing. What he was saying could be the truth, but I had my doubts. "They offered me to send you to visit me at the university once. How did they plan to do that?"

  "And in what alternate universe would you have agreed to that?" Oliver sounded exasperated. "They didn't want to make you suspicious because they rarely mentioned me. God, Ria, your reactions are so predictable."

  "Right." I really wished he could see me rolling my eyes. "But why did our parents try to break up Michael and me at first and even bothered telling me the whole story about our great-grandfather?"

  "What did I just say?" He laughed. "Admit it. You'd have been even more surprised if they had told you they agreed with your relationship from the beginning."

  "Well, I was hoping they'd accept it."

  "Sis... " Oliver sighed.

  "Ok, fine. Yeah, I wanted them to accept it, but I expected they wouldn't."

  "See?" My brother was way too amused by our conversation. "They probably had to tell you the story so you wouldn't do something stupid like marry Michael. That would have been problematic for them because your death would put a huge kink in their plan."

  "I almost wish the rumors about Adrian and me had been stronger. Maybe our father wouldn't be the president."

  "Please. Like he'd ever allow rumors to ruin his dream. Don't be delusional," he said.

  "Do you know Mom actually told me love was the most important and that she didn't care about the whole reputation thing?" I ran my fingers through my hair.

  "And you believed her? You're so naive," he said. "Of course she said she didn't care about reputation since they needed you to date Michael before their plan went into action. Otherwise the competition could say your whole relationship was fake to give our father credibility."

  "That is so messed up." I would have never thought my parents could be so cold and calculated.

  Gotta go," Oliver said, quickly ending the call. Why had I even bothered talking to him?

  Chapter 06

  "My brother sent me a message," I said as Paula zipped up my long dark blue gown. Damn, the dress was impossibly tight. How was I even supposed to move in it? But yeah, I liked it and this was the biggest size I could find, so I guessed I would survive.

  "Can you breathe?" Paula said, a shadow of a smile in the corners of her lips. She was wearing a purple cocktail dress, and her blond curls fell freely around her face. I turned away from the mirror and looked at her.

  "I think so."

  "What did your brother say?" She walked over to the bed and picked up her small black purse.

  "That he'll be close if I need something." I slipped on my black high heels. "I don't even know what that's supposed to mean!"

  "Don't worry about him." Paula smiled. "Listen, Michael and I visited the library and we got all the books we needed. Will you ask your father to give me a job here?"

  "Yes, I will," I said, trying to decide whether to take Adrian's necklace with me or not. This party was private and only for the members of the Council and their families. There weren't supposed to be any reporters, yet I didn't feel safe. What if someone from the Council had known Adrian's mother? Of course, it would be ridiculous that he'd remember the necklace, but I couldn't risk it. Besides, I wasn't even sure why I wanted the damn thing with me in the first place.

  "Is something wrong?" Paula raised an eyebrow at me.

  "No. You can go downstairs. I'll be there in a minute." I tried to give her a reassuring smile, and she just went for the door. Having checked that I had no new messages, I put my phone in my dark blue purse. If my brother planned to crash the party, I really hoped nothing bad would happen.

  "You are Richard's daughter, aren't you?" an elderly woman
with long white hair and vivid blue eyes approached me while I was standing near the table with drinks, bored to death. I'd never seen her before, but she must know my father very well since she called him by his first name.

  "Yeah, that's me," I said, looking around for a good way to escape. Unfortunately, Michael was nowhere in sight. Ugh. If this woman started to talk about some past event or my father's business, I was going to run for the hills.

  "You look lovely tonight," she said, her eyes darkening as she looked me up and down. Ok, now that was creepy.

  "I'm sorry. Do I know you?" I really didn't know anything about her except that her element was air, and it was very weak already. I knew the elements weakened with age, but if they were pure, I could still feel their presence rather strongly. Maybe this tiny, frail looking woman had more control on her element than anyone else. Weird.

  "Oh, dear. I forgot to introduce myself," she said, but there was a distracted look on her face. "My name is Cassandra Praine. I am... actually, was, a scientist here and I'm a good friend of your father's."

  "Well, nice to meet you." I smiled at her. If I was lucky, I could totally get some information out of her. She probably wouldn't even remember what we talked about.

  "Cassandra!" Just as I was about to ask something, my father appeared out of nowhere and put his hand on her shoulder. "How nice to see you again!"

  "Ah, Richard, it's been a long time. I see your daughter has grown into a fine young lady," Cassandra said, but the force of her element was suddenly stronger. Huh. Maybe she was just really glad to see my father, but why did she look almost uncomfortable standing next to him?

  "Dad, I have to ask you something," I said in my sweetest voice; the one I used whenever I wanted to get something.

  "Yes, honey?" My father smiled, but his voice was less than pleasant.