Where No One Knows

by Jo Ramsey

  “They do some studying,” Shad said. “Not to test you or make you do things for them. Just to try to understand where the abilities come from. Why some people have them and some don’t. Why some can control them and some can’t. And they don’t force you into anything. If you don’t want to help them with the studies, you don’t have to. Everything’s a choice.”

  Frowning, I stared at him, trying to decide whether to believe him or not. People didn’t usually give something for nothing. “So they’ll help me understand what I can do and how to control it, and they don’t want anything in exchange?”

  “All of them have abilities.” He took another swig of soda and set the bottle back in the holder. “They’ve all been where you are. Kicked out of their homes because their families didn’t understand, or runaways because they were afraid to let anyone find out about them. Scared. Alone. The group was started when three of them found each other living on the street in Boston and realized they’d all ended up there for the same reason.”

  “Everyone wants something,” I said.

  “You’re answering out of emotion again,” he said. “You aren’t listening to your senses, only to your expectations and fears. Try again. You have these abilities for a reason. You might as well use them to help yourself.”

  I didn’t like being lectured, but he was right. Fear had pretty much run the show since my mother and Gene got married. Gene had never exactly done anything threatening to me until after I’d set his pal on fire. Then he threatened me, even when I told him what had happened. I’d known all along he had the potential, and that had been enough to keep me walking on eggshells around him until I’d had to defend myself.

  I’d only been seven when he met my mother. Still young enough to be scared into compliance. He didn’t have to threaten me. He was authoritative and he was bigger, which meant he was in charge.

  I’d forgotten what it was like not to be afraid all the time.

  Shad didn’t say a word while all this ran through my brain. Maybe he knew I needed time to process what he’d said, or maybe he was reading my mind again.

  I hadn’t realized the effect Gene had had on me until now. He’d done the same thing to my mother—turned her from a strong, fearless woman into someone who followed most of his commands because she didn’t know what would happen otherwise. Even the times she’d stood up to him, her voice and body had shaken. Defending herself and me had cost her.

  My sisters had all grown up with it, and they would end up marrying into the church, guys identical to their father, and the cycle would keep going.

  I couldn’t change things for them. They were behind me, and even if I wanted to see them again, I probably wouldn’t have the chance. My breath caught on the lump in my throat and tears welled up until my vision blurred. My sisters hadn’t chosen to be born into their lives. They’d been dragged into it by their parents, and if Gene had his way, they would never know any other way to live.

  Maybe when I was older, I’d be able to help them. Right now I was only sixteen, I was on my own, and I could only help myself. Barely.

  “Being afraid stinks,” I said.

  “Yeah, it really does.” Shad glanced at me. “I was fifteen when my parents kicked me out. They did it because I came out as gay, not because of my abilities, but the result was the same. I ended up on the streets. I did things I’d rather not tell you about just so I could survive. I found my way to Boston when I had to run from a guy who demanded more than I could stand. The group took me in, taught me to control my abilities, and gave me a home until I was ready to move on.”

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. I was kind of naïve, but filling in the blanks Shad had left didn’t take a rocket scientist. No one should have to live through that kind of thing.

  I might have ended up doing the same thing if my mother hadn’t given me money.

  “Don’t feel sorry for me.” He spoke in nearly the same tone as always, but his voice held a hard edge. “It happened a long time ago. I got help dealing with it. Still talk to someone when I need to. It sucked. I wish I hadn’t had to live it, but I’m living past it now. Whatever you think of me, believe me when I say I’ve come a hell of a long way since then.”

  “You’re strong.” I said it without even thinking. I couldn’t even imagine how it felt to go through what he’d gone through, but he’d survived.

  “So are you.” He took a deep breath. “Okay. Just don’t feel sorry for me, because pity is one thing that really bugs me. Anyway, that’s one of the reasons I’m helping you. I won’t lie. I could use some cash. I’ve been out of work a little too long, and I can’t keep borrowing off my friends. If you hadn’t been able to pay me, though, I still would have found a way to help you. I wouldn’t have been able to drive you to Chicago, but I would have found a way to do something.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Do you mind if we don’t talk for a little while? This all brought some stuff up, and I have to deal with it before I explain anything else.” He turned on the radio. “Anything you want to know, I’ll tell you before I take you to the train in Chicago, but right now I really would like to stop talking.”

  “Yeah. No problem.”

  I took a package of snack cakes out of our stash. Not the ideal breakfast, and I was adding more sugar to teeth I hadn’t brushed since the previous morning, but I was starving now that my stomach had settled down.

  The radio blasted static broken up by occasional sounds that might have been words, so Shad started scanning through stations. Since it was morning drive time, most of the stations had news or people talking about random things instead of playing music.

  “Kellan McKee.”

  I looked at Shad, wide-eyed. Lips pressed together, he shook his head and took his hand off the radio’s scan button.

  “—is looking for the young man who stopped a mother from drowning her children at a Denver hotel last night. Kellan McKee is about five feet six inches tall, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He is underage and may be traveling with an older man. His stepfather, Gene Rusk, arrived in Denver this morning to wait for news. If anyone has seen Kellan McKee, please contact your local authorities.”

  Shad swore. “This isn’t good, man. You said your stepfather knows the guy we saw at the truck stop.”

  “Yeah.” I swallowed hard a couple of times. If my heart beat any harder, it would come right through my chest. I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs were too tight. Now was a good time to work on controlling my fear, like Shad had said.

  I tried breathing again and managed to inhale. Clenching and unclenching my fists, I tried to reason with myself. Unless Gene found me, he couldn’t do anything to me. And between my powers and Shad’s, we could make sure no one recognized me, or at least no one remembered me long enough to report me. “You made him forget, you said. And he didn’t recognize me anyway.”

  “True enough.” He hit the scan button again and found a station playing a country song.

  I wasn’t a huge fan of country music, but it was better than hearing my name on the news.

  “We’re going to have to be really careful from here on. We still have about six or seven hours to Chicago, and anywhere between here and there, someone might see us. I will keep you safe, but it won’t be as easy as it sounds.”

  “It doesn’t sound easy if they’re talking about me on the news.” I took some deep breaths. I was trying not to be afraid, but knowing people were looking for me made it really hard. A tornado of fear swirled through my brain, building to terror, and I couldn’t slow my thoughts enough to grab one to focus on.

  “You have a phone, right?” Shad’s calm voice gave my mind something to hold onto.

  The spiraling thoughts slowed. I swallowed hard and took another long breath so I could answer.

  “Yeah.” I patted my pocket where I’d put the phone Brent had talked me into buying.

  “Call the number I’m about to tell you.” He
changed lanes to go around a police car that had stopped behind a minivan.

  I held my breath until we’d passed them. If the cop had turned around at just the wrong time, he would have seen us. And he might have recognized me.

  I didn’t want to think about what might have happened if I’d been recognized.

  I took out my phone and dialed the number Shad recited. “It’s ringing.”

  Before I completely finished the last word, a male voice answered. “Yes?”

  “Westerly,” Shad said, raising his voice so the other guy would hear him.

  “Hello, Kellan,” the guy said. “And Shad.”

  “Um, hi,” I said. Obviously Shad had given some kind of code word. This group thing was more organized than I’d realized.

  “Tell him,” Shad said.

  “Who am I talking to?” I wasn’t sure if I was asking Shad or the guy on the phone.

  “My name is Royce,” the guy said. “I’m a friend of Shad’s, as you probably guessed. You wouldn’t have called if everything was going smoothly, so why don’t you tell me what’s happened?”

  “My name’s on the news.” My voice broke. Too much was going on, and I just plain didn’t know how to cope with it anymore. “Did you hear about the kids? The ones at the hotel?”

  “Shad told me.” Royce sounded sympathetic. “It might have been better for you if you hadn’t intervened, but you did the right thing. You saved their lives, and now we’re working on saving yours. Okay?”

  “Okay.” My life might be in danger. Hearing someone else talk about saving my life made the risk seem way more real.

  “Where are you now?”

  “You don’t know?” If he was part of the group Shad had mentioned, which seemed like a pretty sure thing, he should know everything.

  “I can tell the future, not the present,” he said. “I can say you’ll be safe until you reach Boston, but you might encounter some bumps along the way. Let’s figure out how to minimize those. Where are you?”

  “Hang on. There’s a sign coming up.” I didn’t even know which state we were in, let alone which city all the traffic around us was heading for. That was what I got for falling asleep. “Um, I think we’re just about at Des Moines.”

  “About another hour or so, we’ll be there,” Shad said. “The sign says sixty miles.”

  I hadn’t paid attention to the whole sign, just the city name. If I was going to help these guys help me, I probably ought to pay more attention. “Okay, so we’re about an hour outside Des Moines.”

  “I can hear Shad.” Royce sounded amused. “Cell phones don’t exactly lend themselves to private conversations.”

  “Neither does talking to someone with better-than-average hearing,” Shad said.

  He didn’t sound amused. In fact, he sounded a little ticked off. Did he and Royce not get along?

  “Kellan, does your phone accept text messages?” Royce asked.

  “I don’t know.” I looked at Shad. If he was going to keep interrupting anyway, he might as well help me with this question.

  “It should,” Shad said. “Even the prepaid ones do. It just uses more of the minutes than a phone call would. We can add more minutes to it.”

  “Not a good idea,” Royce said. “They might be able to trace him that way. Kellan, your phone should have a speaker button. Put me on speaker, because I want to be sure Shad hears me correctly.”

  I found the button and pressed it. Shad glared at the phone, his mouth in a thin line. His eyes narrowed when Royce spoke again. “Shad, are you listening?”

  “I am.” Not only was he angry, his voice was starting to sound a little like it had when we’d encountered Ian.

  “Calm down. I know I’m the last person you want to hear, but I’m catching calls today, and this is to help Kellan.”

  Shad took in a breath and held it for a couple of seconds, then let it out very slowly. When he spoke again, his voice was almost normal. “Go ahead.”

  “In Des Moines, change to I-35,” Royce said. “If you stay on I-80, there’s more chance they’ll find you since it’s the most direct route from Denver to Chicago. Stay on I-35 until you reach Route 20. Twenty’s a surface road, so you’ll probably have to deal with traffic, stoplights, and such. But it’ll be a safer route.”

  I didn’t want to annoy Royce, but I didn’t agree with what he was telling us. And it was my safety on the line. “I know you’re trying to help me, but you aren’t making any sense. Shad’s car has Colorado plates. Wouldn’t out of state plates stand out more on a back road than on the interstate? And wouldn’t they figure if someone’s on the run, they would be more likely to take back roads for exactly the reason you’re saying?”

  Shad made his laugh-noise. “He’s got brains, Royce.”

  “I didn’t expect anything less.” Now Royce sounded almost as unhappy as Shad had before. “Kellan, I hear what you’re saying. I’m looking at a map right now and at the potentialities. The possible futures. The route I’m telling you is the one with the least potential of you being seen.”

  I started to argue again but then took the advice Shad had given me back at the rest area and checked in with my instincts.

  A cool wave of reassurance flowed through my mind, and the tension and fear flowed away. Royce was telling the truth. I hadn’t doubted that. He was giving us the route his powers told him held the least risk. My instincts backed him up.

  Shad didn’t say anything. Either he already agreed with Royce, or he wanted me to be the one to figure it out.

  “Okay,” I said finally. “I guess we’ll go the way you’re saying.”

  “Thank you.” He rattled off a couple more routes.

  I didn’t pay attention this time because he was talking to Shad, not me. I wasn’t the one driving the car.

  “Now, we know you’re planning to take the train,” Royce said. “You’ll have to show ID. They require it now.”

  It took a second to register what he’d said. “ID? Why?”

  “Security, the same as for flying. They can’t take chances anymore with the threats the government sometimes receives.”

  “Oh.” I’d never realized trains were at risk just like planes were. Since I’d never been on a train, and I didn’t watch or listen to the news most of the time, I hadn’t heard about any threats.

  Apparently buses were the only thing that didn’t require ID. Even though I wanted to get to Boston as soon as I could, I would have to get back on a bus and deal with constant stops and longer travel time. And possibly with more risk of being found.

  “Don’t worry,” Royce said. “There’s an ID card with your picture on it in the packet Shad has. We were reasonably sure that once he found you, you would want to get here faster than a car or bus could manage. We didn’t want you to fly, because you might have had to go through a pat-down, which would have been far too intrusive for you.”

  “Yeah.” I shuddered. I didn’t want anyone putting their hands on me for any reason, and that type of search would reveal that I wasn’t physically male, something I preferred to keep to myself as much as I could.

  “We thought a train would be the most likely choice, so we prepared for it,” Royce said. “The ID adds a couple of years to your age and uses a false name, but it will pass.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “Once you’re on the train, Kellan, call this number again. Shad, you too. We want you both safe.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Shad muttered. “I’m always fine.”

  “I won’t be catching this afternoon,” Royce said. “After twelve, it’ll be Charlotte.”

  “I’ll call then.” Shad grabbed his soda but didn’t open it.

  “Be careful, and call back if you run into any problems,” Royce said. “Hanging up now.”

  Shad opened his soda and drained it. He tossed the empty bottle onto the floor in front of my feet and glared at the windshield. “Of all the freaking people who could have been catching.
”

  “What does catching mean?” That wasn’t the question I wanted to ask, but it was the one he was most likely to answer.

  “Someone has to monitor the phone all the time,” he said. “A member of the group might need something. Sometimes group members give out the number when they find someone with abilities who could use some help. It’s a cell phone, and someone from the group always has it. If they can’t answer a question, they have other contacts they get in touch with.”

  “I’m sorry it was him.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Not your fault. Crap happens.” He kind of rolled his shoulders as if they hurt. “He’s another thing I’d really rather not talk about, okay? Let’s just say I’ve known Royce a long time and in a few ways, and leave it there.”

  “Okay.” They must have been boyfriends or something, though Royce had sounded older than Shad.

  “Stop trying to figure it out.” He gave me a little smile, which softened the anger in his voice a bit. “Just help me watch for the I-35 sign.”

  “Okay.” I focused on the window, which did nothing to shut off my curiosity.

  Chapter Six

  ANOTHER HOUR passed before we found I-35. I spent the whole hour staring out the windshield. Otherwise I probably would have kept trying to talk to Shad. He clearly didn’t want to say anything more, and I decided not to push my luck.

  I was wide-awake now. Not because I’d gotten enough sleep but because my brain was racing. My chest felt like someone had blown up a helium balloon inside it, and for the first time in days, I wanted to get moving to get where I was headed instead of getting away from somewhere. I had somewhere to go. A plan in mind. Despite the part of me that still whispered the group in Boston sounded too good to be true, I believed what I’d been told.

  Others like me existed, and they would help me.