by J. J. Melvin
We continued riding side by side, sometimes in silence, sometimes talking. We came to the end of the paved road before a large green hill with a dirt path that went up the hillside. Liam urged the horses to go on. We stopped at a beautiful flat green meadow. Liam jumped off first and helped me down off of Snow White. He spread out the blankets he had brought.
“This is one of my favorite places.”
“The view is amazing.” I looked out over the whole countryside. I could see the castle, Oxford, and the little college city below. I hadn’t realized how far up we were.
“The air up here is so fresh and brisk,” I said, breathing in the sweet smell of grass.
“Ah Erika, the air is not that special. You’re just used to breathing in polluted California air,” Liam laughed.
“You’re probably right, but what about New York’s air? It can’t be much better.”
“That’s why I’m glad to be here with you.”
I sat down on the blanket and Liam set all the food out. He laid down on his side. He was so handsome in his little Kangol hat, the same one he’d worn the second time we met.
“You know, you wore that hat the day you followed me to the playground.”
“I did, did I? How nice of you to notice.”
“I only noticed it because I wanted it.” I swiped it off Liam’s head and put it on mine.
“Well, I have to say it looks much better on you. It’s a very becoming look.” Liam smiled and handed me a sandwich. “I didn’t know what type of sandwich you wanted, so there’s a little bit of everything, and of course Nicholas packed us tea. Can’t be in England and not have tea.”
“What! You mean you invited me to a picnic and instead of making it yourself, you had your butler make it?” I pretended to be shocked and offended.
“Well, I didn’t want you to think this was a real date or you might not have showed up.”
“Ha ha, Liam.”
“Tell me about your family, Erika. You never talk about yourself.”
“You met my family, what else is there to say? I am interested though, Liam, did you see their futures?”
“Like I told you, Erika, futures are always changing.”
“But did you see anything I need to worry about? I just want to know they will be okay.”
“Erika, from what I saw they will be fine. Your mom meets a really good guy who becomes a great stepfather to Kai and makes your mom very happy. Your sister, well… she is very ambitious. She goes to Yale, becomes an attorney, and then a judge. She does very well. They will all be fine.”
“And Kai?” I asked.
“Kai has the brightest future of all, but I’m going to let that be a surprise. Let’s just say he is quite the inventor.”
“So I guess you saw some of our past too, right?”
“I didn’t mean to pry, but yes, I did see some of it.”
“Fun stuff, huh?”
“All families have issues, Erika. Yours are a little more intense, but all have issues.” He paused adding, “You know Erika, when your dad left that day, your mom wasn’t sleeping. She pretended to be asleep so she wouldn’t cry, she didn’t know how to say goodbye either. Your father seemed like a good man.”
I knew exactly what day Liam was talking about. It was the day my father had moved out. Jump, jump, jump, keep jumping, I told myself as my dad tried to say goodbye. I was on their bed, in their room. The bed, the room that my father and mother had once shared. I knew if I stopped jumping that I would dissolve into a pile of tears, so I didn’t stop until he walked out the door. I tried to wake my mom to tell her my father had left, but she wouldn’t wake up.
“Hey, let’s go explore,” I said, jumping to my feet.
“Sounds fun. You think you can hike up that hill?” Liam said pointing to a vertical mound.
“Of course I can. I don’t know what girls you brought here in the past, but walking up a hill isn’t hard.”
“What makes you think I’ve brought girls here before?”
“You know I can read minds.”
“Yes you can, but you can’t read mine, because I have never brought any girls up here. Nice try though.” Liam zoomed up the side of the hill past me. “Come catch me if you can!”
I caught up to him at the top of the hill.
“What took you so long?”
“You know Liam, Jayson is right, you are a showoff.”
He grabbed my hand. “Erika.”
“Yes?”
Liam did not reply with words. Instead he gently placed his hand under my chin and brought my lips to his. My left hand still held his, my right I placed on the back of his neck. His lips were soft, electricity ran through my body. Everything was silent— everything was perfect. I felt the soft breeze as it wafted Liam’s scent all over me. My eyes slowly opened when Liam pulled away.
“I’ve been wanting to do that from the moment we met.” Liam gently caressed my cheek. His smile sparked flitters of joy and embarrassment through my body.
We walked back down to our picnic area holding hands. He laid down on his back with me on my side lying beside him. I traced my fingers over his chiseled jawline, stealing kisses as we talked for hours. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was lying next to the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. I loved everything about him: his style, the length of his sideburns, the little dimple he got when he smiled, his beautiful shiny teeth, and his perfectly drawn lips. I had decided that was what I liked best, his luscious lips. I could have stayed there forever, but we decided to head back to the castle when it started to get cold. Liam could tell I was freezing. Californians, unfortunately, do not do well in cold weather. The castle was empty when we got back. I was glad the others were not there.
“Hey Erika, do you want to get changed and go into London? I’ll show you around the city.”
“That sounds fun, I’d love to.”
We took the Tesla to the subway station— the tube, as Englanders call it— then parked the Tesla and rode the train to London. The whole trip took about an hour. We filled our time meeting strangers. English people were very friendly, and I loved their accents. The only problem was that I realized I was mimicking them. I loved the way they spoke so much I found myself repeating their words to them. I wasn’t doing it on purpose, but to them it must have seemed rude.
London was amazing. We went to Big Ben, Madame Tussauds Chamber of Horrors, and Trafalgar Square to feed the pigeons. There were so many birds, I was certain we were going to get pooped on. We had dinner at an amazing Italian place and then headed home. We got home around nine pm and everyone was pissed.
“We have been calling you guys all day. Why don’t you answer your phones? We were worried sick!” Sofia’s hand gestures were moving as fast as her lips.
“Okay, okay Sofia, they are home now. But yes, in the future we all must know each other’s whereabouts, especially now.” Mr. Blithe was pacing.
“Why, did something happen?” I asked.
Before Mr. Blithe could answer, Liam said, “A student was attacked; he was killed. I’m sorry I didn’t see it. I was… I was distracted.”
“The Collectors, they know we’re here.” I covered my mouth with my hand at the end of my statement.
“Not necessarily. One student was attacked, but that does not mean they know we have assembled most of the world’s Diamonds here— or that the four of you are here, for that matter.”
“They got that kid Trenton,” Jayson said.
“How do we know for sure it was a Collector?” I asked.
“Because his soul was sucked out of his body. They called me to heal the kid, but there’s no healing a soulless body,” Jayson said.
The answer made me wish I hadn’t asked.
We all agreed that we had to stick together from then on out. Mr. Blithe also lectured us on being distracted. I could see why he was worried about me and Liam getting too close. I vowed I would not give up Liam, but I would also not let our relationship become a
distraction.
Chapter 20
FALLING IN LOVE
An emergency meeting was called. All the Watchers and the Four Points gathered in the meeting room of the castle. It was decided that our academic classes would be put on hold while we perfected our powers. We began training together using our teachers as our test subjects.
It was amazing to see that Liam could not only see the future and past, but he could also make people see what he wanted them to. He could see through walls and could see things miles away. I wondered if he could see through clothes, and was happy that our powers did not work on each other.
Jayson’s power to heal was miraculous. I watched as he healed self-inflicted wounds on Watchers and knew these devoted people really had to believe in him to cut themselves on purpose.
Sofia was by far the most impressive. She could make tornadoes, bend water, and cause earthquakes. She truly was like a superhero.
I could easily read minds, and could hear the frustration of the teachers that I was unable to use my powers of telekinesis and mind control. I tried and tried, but I just couldn’t do it.
Mr. Blithe was patient, “Erika, it’s okay, it will come. We just have to unlock that power.”
“I want you to practice every day. You have to learn to control the mind, it is imperative that you master this,” Mr. Schwartz pushed.
“I can help,” Liam added.
“You’re a Point, you know I can’t control your mind,” I said.
“Well, you kinda can, you already control my heart.”
“Oh yuck, really you guys?” Sofia chimed in.
While the others worked together, Mr. Schwartz and I worked on mind control. We did exercises on meditation, clearing my own mind so that I could focus on his. He had me try to control the mind of Liam’s cat, Simba. I felt really silly, but if I could not get into the cat’s mind, how would I be able to control the minds of the people coming to kill us? I didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I knew there would be inevitable casualties— maybe even some of us, or some of the Watchers.
I began to understand why Mr. Schwartz believed it was imperative for me to learn this. If I could control the minds of our attackers, I could stop them without violence. Knowing this just added more pressure.
“Mr. Schwartz, can we take a break?”
“Sure Erika, I think that’s a good idea.”
I walked down to the stream. I was sitting on a log just staring into the water when Liam came up beside me.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little frustrated. I suck at this.”
“Erika, you’re doing great. It took me a long time to get control of my powers. I have been working with the Watchers for almost six years, but you have only been here a couple weeks.”
“I know, but we don’t have time, I have to learn it all now! I can hear the panic in the Watchers’ minds. They know what’s coming, and they’re scared— scared for us all and scared for the world if we fail.”
“We won’t fail, Erika.” Liam softly kissed my cheek.
Whenever he touched me or kissed me it felt like electricity. I wondered if this was normal. I had never kissed a boy before, so I didn’t know what normal was.
“Oh come on you guys, break it up, we have work to do,” Mr. Vijack called.
“Come on Erika, let’s go back.” Liam stood, placing his hand out to help me up.
We walked up the hill hand in hand and resumed class. We sparred out on the grassy area, battling each other with swords, fists, and legs. Mrs. Kwan showed us different martial arts moves. Mr. Vijack was a pro at wrestling, Karen of course an expert swordsman, and even Mr. Blithe had been a boxing champion in his day.
Our battles were interrupted by lunch. As I sat there surrounded by real friends, I was saddened by the thought that this all could soon be gone. I tried to fight this feeling of dread, but it seemed that whenever things were good, it was inevitable that something bad was going to happen.
The next few weeks my days were filled with training both my body and mind. My nights were split between my new family in Oxford and my family back in Riverton. I never missed one night of Minecraft, which Liam had now become a part of. He was actually talking to my sister and mom more than I was, my family loved him.
Liam and I grew closer and closer. I guess you could now call him my boyfriend – my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first love.
I worried every day. I worried that I would lose him, that he would lose interest in me or start liking someone else. I worried that he would be killed. It was hard just being in the moment and being happy when I knew something bad was coming that could change everything.
It had been two weeks, and we still saw no signs of the Collectors or the army they’d assembled. Their last kill must have given them strength, but they had to be feeling weak again. Perhaps they didn’t know yet that we were all mostly here, that the Watchers had assembled all the Diamonds at Oxford, that we were being watched over and protected.
It was a Friday morning when Liam decided to announce to everyone that my birthday was on Sunday. I hated celebrating, and if it were up to me, no one would have known about my birthday. But I had been talking to my mom on speaker phone in my room with Liam when she spilled the beans. Liam was upset that I hadn’t planned on telling him, and refused my request to not tell anyone else.
“Erika, I can’t believe you didn’t tell us! What are we going to do? Let’s have a party!” Sofia said.
“No, no please, I don’t like parties,” I pleaded.
My pleas were ignored. They all sat around the dining room table, Mr. Blithe included, planning an elaborate celebration.
“Can you believe she wasn’t going to tell us? Now we barely have one day to get this thing together,” Sofia said as if I weren’t even in the room. “Let’s do a masquerade ball, with elaborate costumes,” she suggested.
“That sounds so cool, let’s do it! I can be like Zorro,” Jayson said.
“Come on you guys,” I pleaded, “can’t we just have a quiet night at home?”
They all looked at me without saying anything, then they continued their conversation, completely ignoring me. I crossed my arms, sat back in my chair, and gave up.
The next morning, as I tried to sleep, I heard the doorbell ring. Really? It’s Saturday morning. It’s too early for visitors. Looking at the clock, I saw that it was barely seven am. Not even ten minutes later, Sofia came barging into my room without knocking.
“Erika, get up, our costumes have arrived.”
Oh Lord, I thought.
Sofia pulled out Victorian dress after dress. “Erika, come on, get up. I ordered a ton of different dresses for you; the least you can do is look at them.”
Guilt always worked on me. I sat up, grabbing a dress. “I have to admit Sofia, they are beautiful.”
She glowed happily. “I chose all different kinds in different colors. Let’s try them on.” Sofia closed my door, getting buck naked in front of me.
Sofia had no problems with nudity. She put on a beautiful red dress with golden accents, and an exquisite gold mask that covered just her eyes.
“What do you think?” she asked, spinning around.
“You look stunning,” I yawned.
“I think I’m going to put my hair up like this.” Sofia wrapped her hair and placed it on her head. “And I have the perfect necklace.” She continued to admire herself in the mirror. Finally satisfied, she turned and said, “Okay, your turn, Erika.” She pulled an intricate dress out and laid it on the bed.
“I don’t know, Sofia, a white strapless dress is really going to make me stand out.”
“That’s the point. You are the birthday girl.”
Pulling at my arms and literally yanking me out of my comfy bed, Sofia threw the dress at me. I tried it on, and to my surprise it fit perfectly. I hadn’t noticed, but all the strength training I had been doing had changed my body. The dress fit snugly and accentuated parts of
my body that I had never seen before. I had hips, and it even looked like I had boobs! I was stunned by my own reflection.
“You look beautiful.”
“I don’t know, Sofia. It doesn’t look too much like a wedding dress?”
“No Erika, it’s perfect. Here,” Sofia handed me a beautiful black beaded eye mask. “Erika, can I do your hair and makeup for the party?”
“I’d like that Sofia, thanks.”
“Okay, I am going to give the guys their outfits.”
Sofia quickly changed and grabbed the boy’s costumes, leaving me with mine still on. I stared at my reflection, smiling. I took off the dress, got ready, and made my way down the stairs. The house was buzzing with people. I decided to go back upstairs where I would be out of the way. I went to Liam’s room and knocked.
“Come in,” a groggy voice said.
I ran in and found Liam sleeping on his stomach. I jumped on his back, kissing him on the neck. “Good morning, sleepy head.”
“Well, aren’t you a welcome surprise? Much better than Sofia making me try on a tuxedo at seven in the morning on a Saturday.”
I laughed. “Liam, why are there so many people in the castle? What are they doing?”
“They’re here for you,” he said, flipping me over and laying on top of me. “They’re preparing the castle for your masquerade ball.”
“Uggh,” I protested. “I wish you guys hadn’t gone to all this trouble. Plus, who are we going to invite?”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, my little flower. Sofia has invited the whole school.”
“Great. Why, why would she do that?”
“Hello silly, because she’s Sofia.”
Liam kissed me on my nose and got up to grab his robe. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and all the intense training we had been doing showed on his body as well. He stood there shirtless, wearing plaid pajama bottoms that hung perfectly. I couldn’t help it. I got up behind him and wrapped my arms around him, caressing his chest, feeling his body against mine. I slowly kissed his back.
