Thankfully, despite the dire side effect, that Father said only affected one in a million, I still remembered . . . everything.
My life.
My childhood.
That horrible place Father had taken us from.
The first time Flint and I made love.
All of it was real. Father had given us back our memories—side effects be damned.
Morning sunlight peeked through the curtains. It was the third day following my near-death. Flint lay asleep on the bed. The dark circles under his eyes had faded, but they were still there. I didn’t disturb him. He needed to sleep.
Sitting up, I was surprised to find that my head felt fine today. Clear with no grogginess. And it was also the first morning since my ordeal that I also felt energetic. Pushing the covers back, I stood with a spring in my step.
Wild, dark red snarls flew around my face when I tiptoed into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I kept remembering things as I brushed my teeth, things Flint and I had done, experiences we’d had. A smile played on my lips. It was only as I rinsed my mouth that I remembered my sudden theory before Father administered the memory antidote. A theory that, I hadn’t realized, Father and I had actually come up with together years ago following my Seattle trip.
With wide eyes, I switched my vision. It happened immediately. Nothing cracked or hurt, not like it had the first night following the drug. I felt normal. My ability had returned full force.
My cloud appeared.
Except for this time, it was different.
I stared in awe at the new, third color. Pale green shimmered among the blue and bright green. It was the same pale green that Father had in his cloud. My cloud was turning into a rainbow, like Father’s. The gears shifted in my mind. Our theory had most likely been correct.
Keeping my vision altered, I walked back into the bedroom. Flint was still asleep, but his cloud billowed around his sleeping form. The same pale green I had in my cloud also intermixed with his blue and orange. I’d bet money all of the others now had pale green in their clouds too.
I sat on the bed, letting my vision switch back to normal. I knew where the colors came from.
The drugs.
Each drug Father had administered to us showed up in our clouds. It was exactly what Father and I had hypothesized all those years ago, after my Seattle trip, when we first talked about what I saw around people there. The drugs changed our brains like they changed our clouds.
My bright green was obviously unique to me. It was the drug that allowed me to see a person’s aura, and the blue was the drug Father administered to us in April, the drug that made us forget. And now, the pale green was from the drug that made us remember.
Father had said that he’d taken all of our ability creating drugs, the first generation versions, plus a dozen more drugs that had never panned out. I thought about how Father’s cloud colors were fainter, not as vibrant as ours. I guessed that was because the first generation drugs weren’t as potent. That since they hadn’t resulted in complete transformations, just partial, his brain wasn’t altered as much. But the blue and pale green in his cloud appeared identical to mine. Those had to be from the memory drugs.
Father hadn’t been lying. He really had taken all of the drugs. His cloud couldn’t lie.
I briefly contemplated the twin’s clouds. Jasper had yellow, yet Jet had red. Father had hypothesized it was because the twins metabolized their telepathy drug differently. However, since they both had the same blue as the rest of us, they’d obviously metabolized that one the same.
My gaze inched to the door. I really needed to talk to Father. It appeared our theory was correct.
Flint turned in bed. A soft snore filled the room. The clock read just past six. I cocked my head. I didn’t hear anybody moving upstairs.
I still itched to pull the door open, but with a sigh, I sat back down on the bed. If there was one thing I was really good at, it was being impulsive, and if there was one thing I was really bad at, it was controlling my impulsive desires. If I burst upstairs right now, I’d probably wake the entire house.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my excitement. My conversation with Father could wait another hour. He, Di and Flint had gone too many days without sleep. I slipped under the warm covers and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the rainbow of colors in Father’s cloud.
He really had tried everything on himself first. Our safety had been that important to him.
FLINT ROUSED ABOUT an hour later. As soon as he did, he pulled me tightly to him. During the past two days, he’d barely left our bedroom. It was as if he thought I’d keel over and die any second.
“Good morning,” I said.
His eyes cracked open. He yawned and pushed up onto an elbow. For a moment, he studied me, his eyes still hooded from sleep. “You look like you’ve been up for a while.”
“Over an hour.”
He pushed to sitting, his brow furrowing. “Are you okay? Do you have another headache?”
“No, nothing like that.” I shook my head. “It’s something else. My cloud’s different now and yours is too.”
I told him about the new color.
“So the reason we all have colors is because of the drugs.” Flint also knew about Father’s and my theory. I’d told him years ago.
“I think so, and that’s why Conroy’s cloud is so colorful because he did take all of the drugs first. He wanted to make sure they were safe.”
Flint frowned.
I could tell from his expression that he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. My brush with death only solidified in Flint’s mind that Father’s drugs were a menace, and we were better off never taking any of them again. However, if Father really had taken all of our drugs first, even the dangerous ones that resulted in our abilities, then he couldn’t be evil like Flint claimed he was.
“He cares about our safety. You have to at least agree with that.”
“You almost died, Lena.”
“And I knew the memory drug didn’t come without risks. I chose to take that risk.”
“You should have never had to risk anything in the first place!” Hot energy poured off him. He raked a hand harshly through his hair. “We should have never been administered any of those drugs, ever.”
I sighed heavily. “Okay, okay. You have a point.” Movement sounded above. A creak in the floor. I glanced at the ceiling. “Everyone’s getting up.”
“So I hear.” Flint stood. A second later, I heard the bathroom faucet running. Flint was gone. I sighed. He’d moved at his speed into the bathroom. In other words, he’d disappeared.
I sighed again as a deep sadness engulfed me. Maybe sooner or later, Flint would come around about Father. However, I knew that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Flint had spent the last twenty-some years thinking Father was the bad guy, and my reaction to the antidote had only made it worse.
I JOINED THE others upstairs while Flint showered. As soon as I stepped into the living room, I knew something was off. A tense energy hung in the air. Jacinda sat on a couch, drinking a cup of coffee. The delicious scent wafted my way. Loud arguing voices came from the kitchen. It sounded like Jasper and Mica.
Jacinda grinned when she saw me. “How are you feeling?”
It seemed to be the question everyone asked me these days. “Fine.” I sat beside her. “What’s going on?”
“Mica’s letting Jasper have it. She’s pretty upset that he hooked up with Amber.”
Right. Of course. Funny how almost dying made me forget the other dramas going on.
Just then, Mica strode angrily from the kitchen into the living room. Jasper followed. I switched my vision. Their clouds appeared exactly as I predicted. Both now had pale green in them. I snapped my sight back to normal.
“How could you have done that to me!” Mica practically screamed. “I gave you my virginity and then you hook up with her?”
“I didn’t know, baby,” Jasper pleaded. “I didn’t
know!”
Amber appeared from the hallway leading to their bedrooms. Puffy skin lined her eyes, as if she’d been crying. Mica sneered when she saw her.
“You couldn’t wait to sink your teeth into him, could you!” Mica spat. “I knew you always wanted him!” Mica’s face turned bright red. Her energy strummed to me. I felt it flow over me, like hot crackling electricity.
The force of it took me by surprise. I quickly tuned it out. When I did, it settled over me like a light drizzle of rain. I could barely feel it.
“Let’s all calm down.” Jasper held up his hands, his voice soothing. He looked at Mica intently, his gaze focused.
For a moment, her energy dimmed as if being doused. The second that happened, she stalked to Jasper and slapped him across the cheek. The loud crack made me jump.
“How dare you!” she seethed. “First you cheat on me, then you try to use your powers on me?” With that, she stomped from the room.
Mica swept past Amber on her way out. The youngest member of our group scampered out of the way. My heart went out to both of them, surprisingly. A week ago, I would have sided with Mica in a heartbeat, but now . . .
Since the memory antidote, my opinion about Amber had changed. My anger and annoyance with her over the past few months was still there, but so was my knowledge of the person she was before the memory drugs.
Before I could do anything to help either of them, Amber turned and bolted. The only person left was Jasper. He stood by the window, hanging his head.
Jet walked into the room from the kitchen. He ate a piece of toast. In the quiet room, the crunching noise was amplified. He sauntered over to Jasper and clapped his brother on the back.
“Nice one, bro. You’ve successfully pissed off half the women in this house. And nice try with your abilities. If Mica didn’t know you could do that, it might have worked.”
Jasper shoved him off and stalked from the room.
I sat there, wide-eyed.
We’d all had our moments growing up where we argued or fought, but never quite like that. Never so vehemently.
“This isn’t good,” Jacinda murmured. “Both Mica and Amber are crying in their rooms right now.”
Of course, Jacinda would know. She could probably hear the tears rolling down their cheeks.
I sighed heavily. “What a mess.”
Jacinda squeezed my hand. “It’s good to see you up and moving. Let’s catch up later. Right now, I want to check on Amber.”
A subtle push of energy rolled into my back as Jacinda walked away. Without turning, I knew who it was. The feel and warmth of it was so familiar. Flint stood motionless by the stairwell, staring down the hall in the direction Mica, Jasper and Amber had gone. I guessed he’d witnessed the entire scene.
Jet finished his toast. “Hungry anyone? I was thinking of making some eggs.”
I ignored him and joined Flint by the stairwell. He put his arm around me and steered me to the kitchen. “See what I mean?” he seethed. “Conroy’s drugs have really messed with everyone’s lives. A good person would never do that.”
I swallowed my uncertainty. “He couldn’t have known that would happen. He honestly thought we’d never see one another again and that we’d make new lives for ourselves. Remember?”
Flint snorted and opened a few cupboards until he found where the coffee mugs lived. “Where is dear old dad, anyway? Shouldn’t he be the one cleaning up this mess?”
I bit my lip. I wondered if Father knew what was happening. “I’ll go find him. I want to ask him a few things anyway.”
I FOUND FATHER in the study. He sat at a desk that faced a window, although instead of studying or working, he simply sat there, staring out the window, an unreadable expression on his face. The desert shrubs glowed in the morning sun, the mountains purple in the distance. A hot, steaming cup of coffee sat beside him. It appeared untouched.
“Father?”
He jumped. “Galena, you startled me.”
“Sorry.” I stepped into the room and eased the door shut.
He stood and approached me, a frown on his face. “How are you feeling? Any new headaches? Blurred vision? Balance issues?”
“No, I’m fine. Really, I am. I came in here to talk to you about something else.”
The concern on his face disappeared. He let out a relieved sigh. “Of course.” With the wave of a hand, he invited me to sit with him in one of the overstuffed armchairs in front of the cold fireplace. The study was decorated like the rest of the house. Modern, sleek and expensive looking. I was a little surprised when I sat down and the chair was actually comfortable. That was a first.
Father shifted in his seat. “Are you sure you haven’t had any new headaches?”
“Nope, none at all. I feel fine. Really. But . . . um . . . I’m not sure everyone else is okay.”
Father frowned deeply. “I overheard some of what was said.”
His energy rolled toward me. It was crazy how in tune I was getting with everyone.
Father glanced toward the door. “It seems I’ve made a mess of things. What I had hoped to accomplish was to give you all free, normal lives. However, we’re now on the run, our family is fighting and you almost died.” He glanced down. His hands shook. “Galena, I cannot apologize enough for what I did to you. I never anticipated any of you would have a reaction like you did. I’ve never seen a reaction that severe from a mild mind altering medication. The memory drugs shouldn’t have done that. It was incredibly bad luck that it affected you like that.”
I laid my hand over his. “I know. You don’t need to explain again. I don’t blame you.”
“I almost killed you.”
“And you saved me too. You need to let this go, Father. Please don’t blame yourself.”
His hazel eyes misted over when he lifted them to mine. “You’ve always been so forgiving, always finding the good in others.”
“Who do you think I learned that kindness from?”
He wiped his eyes and squeezed my hand. “Now, what is it you sought me out for? I’m guessing if you’re done resting then you’re feeling better and want to talk about what you’ve remembered. Most of your brothers and sisters have.”
I nodded. There were two things I definitely wanted to talk about: colorful clouds and birth control.
“We have new colors in our clouds.” I leaned forward. “From when we last saw you—blue and pale green. I think we were right. The colors are from the drugs.”
Father cocked his head. Now that I had all of my memories, I knew this wasn’t the first time we’d discussed what I saw around others. Prior to my Seattle trip, I thought everybody had color in their clouds. So had Father. He’d had no reason to think our clouds were different than anybody else’s. However, when I switched my vision in Seattle and saw the sea of white and black around the general public I’d realized we were different. Not them.
“So it is from the drugs,” he said.
I nodded. “All of us have blue now, and from what I’ve seen so far, pale green too. The blue must be from the drug six months ago. Ever since I met, I mean re-met everyone in August, we’ve had blue in our clouds.”
“So the memory drug is blue, and the antidote is pale green.”
“It seems so.” I thought about the twins’ clouds. “Jet and Jasper must have metabolized their memory drugs similarly. Both of them have the same blue.”
“I used a different medium for the memory drugs. That would make sense.”
He was quiet after he said that. I could see the gears shifting in his mind. It was a common expression on his face. Father was always thinking.
“The memory drugs must have been mind altering,” he said. “To have caused colors.”
We’d deduced years ago, following my trip to Seattle, that only the potent mixtures created by O’Brien Pharmaceuticals could create big enough changes in people to cause aura shifts. Normal drugs, like ibuprofen, heart and diabetes medication and so forth didn’t cause changes. Oth
erwise, everybody would have colorful clouds.
He tapped his chin. “Yes, they have to be but nowhere near as altering as the ones you received as babies.” He sat up straighter. Some of the fatigue left his eyes. His energy didn’t feel quite as heavy either. I knew if I wanted to pull Father from a sad mood, the best way to do it was science talk.
“So they didn’t permanently alter our brains?” I asked.
“No, they didn’t permanently alter your brain chemistries. Just temporarily until the antidote was given, but obviously enough to cause changes in your auras.”
I asked him more about how he’d felt after he’d taken the first memory drug. In typical Father fashion, he broke it down completely. Everything in the world could be turned into a science project, at least to Father.
“There’s something else I want to ask you,” I said after we finished talking about the drugs. I squirmed for a moment. It was silly. As soon as we’d all reached puberty and gone through health class in our home school, Father had laid down the ground rules very succinctly. No sex until eighteen. After that, birth control would be readily available. No questions asked.
“I don’t have birth control,” I finally said.
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Of course, and you and Flint are together again.” He stood. “I’ll be right back.”
I stared out the window while he was gone, my shoulders slumping in relief. That hadn’t been as awkward as I’d feared.
He returned a minute later.
“Here you go.” He handed me a few packets. “We should really take you in for a proper exam. You and the other women. It’s something I’ve known for years I needed to do, but in the Hills it was impossible.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought of that either. I broke open one of the packets.
“Do you remember how to take them?”
“I think so.”
“Let me explain. Just to be safe.” He launched into a lengthy and thorough explanation about how the first course of medication had to be timed with my period so Flint and I couldn’t have sex right away. He also explained what the pills consisted of, side effects, its success rate, how it didn’t protect against STD’s, and so on. The conversation went on for at least thirty minutes.
The Complete Lost Children Series Page 38
