by Jo Ramsey
Except it was. My instincts hadn’t steered me wrong before, but obviously they had with Brent. Or maybe he was safe to talk to when I met him, and something had changed after I left. I would probably never find out, but it didn’t matter. Either way, I felt like an idiot. I’d opened my stupid big mouth and spewed out stuff I shouldn’t have told anyone. If I hadn’t done it, Gene might still have tracked me to Denver because of the news reports about those kids, but he wouldn’t have been able to find out where I was from there.
“One of them’s a finder,” Shad said. “They probably would have found you eventually anyway. Brent just made it easier. I’m sorry, Kellan.”
“It isn’t your fault either,” I said.
“I don’t agree, but whatever. Anyway, I have to hang up because the plane’s taking off again. I’ll see you soon.”
I wanted to ask how he’d afforded a plane and why he was even coming here, but he hung up before I could say anything.
I gave the phone back to Mireille. Upstairs, the doorbell rang.
“Derek, Charlotte, stay with Kellan.” Garrett strode to the stairs. “Lauren, Nate, upstairs.”
“Where’s Treese?” I asked again.
No one answered me, and I realized no one knew.
“I’ll call the police. If they try to break in or refuse to leave, they’ll be breaking the law.” Mireille went to the other side of the room.
Garrett, Lauren, and Nate went upstairs. I stayed where I was, wishing Lauren had stayed instead of Charlotte. At least Lauren was comforting. And looking at her would have distracted me from panicking.
Voices murmured upstairs, but I couldn’t make out what they said. And then I heard a louder voice, one I recognized. The fire built up again, and I let it. There was no way I would let Gene take me without a fight.
“My stepdaughter is not your concern.” Gene was right at the top of the stairs. “If you don’t turn her over, it’s kidnapping.”
“The only girls who are here are my foster daughters.” Garrett’s voice was closer too. “I have no idea who you’re searching for, but your stepdaughter isn’t here.”
“Stepson, then.” Gene said it like he was spitting out dog poop. “She probably has you all convinced she’s a boy, the same as she tried to do at home. I don’t know why she’s so sick, but she obviously has you fooled.”
Charlotte moved behind me and put her hand on my shoulder again. “Calm down. Don’t let him get to you,” she whispered. “Idiots will be idiots.”
I swallowed hard and let another image of the ocean wash through my mind. The fire ebbed away beneath the waves, or maybe Charlotte’s power helped. The tar-pit burst of anger backed down to sludge. Gene knew I wasn’t pretending. He was just trying to set me off.
I had to keep it from affecting me, because otherwise I would lose control.
“One of them senses you,” Derek said in a low voice. “I can’t tell which one. There are three. One’s still outside, and the other two are up there.”
“You need to leave,” Garrett said. “This is a private residence, and I have foster children here who can’t handle stress.”
“Give me my stepdaughter, and we’ll go,” Gene said.
“Down there.”
I recognized this voice too. A guy named Rex who was a member of Gene’s church. I hadn’t realized he and Gene were so buddy-buddy. They didn’t usually talk to each other at church as far as I saw, and Rex had never been at our house like most of Gene’s pals.
“The police are on their way,” Garrett said. “Leave now.”
“I’m sure the police will be interested in how you’ve kidnapped my stepdaughter.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. The pulse pounding in my ears was louder. I didn’t dare see who was approaching. The fire was too close to the surface, and if I saw Gene’s face, I might let go and burn down the whole place. Every time he called me his stepdaughter, a scream rose in my throat.
“Be ready.” Charlotte’s voice was more of a breath.
I didn’t have to use fire. I had other powers. I should start with those if I had to do anything at all.
I closed my eyes again as the footsteps continued. Father, help me to do the right thing. Amen.
Then I opened my eyes and faced the “good, religious man” who had made my life hell for the past nine years.
Gene stood there, smiling. He had no idea what he’d walked into. “Kellie-Anne. Here you are. We’ve been searching for you everywhere. Why did you leave?”
“My name is Kellan.” I stood, shaking off Charlotte’s hand. “Go home, Gene. Back to your brainwashed wife and daughters.”
He narrowed his eyes. Behind him Rex muttered something. Something pulled me toward Gene, and my feet moved a few steps in his direction. My brain went blank except for one thought. All I had to do was follow Gene’s orders, and everything would be fine.
The part of my brain that was always calm pushed against the thought, and a sharp bolt of pain shot through my head. I forced my feet to be still, ignoring the twitching in my legs, which still wanted to move.
Gene’s intentions screamed into my mind. I started to shake and dropped to the floor to make sure I wouldn’t go near him. My gut twisted, and I clutched at the floor even though there was nothing to hold onto. If I left with them now, I wouldn’t see my mother or sisters again. They wouldn’t take me back to Arizona. If they couldn’t control me, they would dispose of me. We were right beside the Atlantic Ocean, and accidents happened.
My hands heated up even more, and I itched to slap them right onto Gene’s face. Burn him up the way I had his friend.
I wouldn’t do it, though. I’d prayed to do the right thing, and deliberately hurting someone, even someone like Gene, wasn’t right.
Mireille walked over to us from the far side of the room and stood between Gene and me. “You’ve been told to leave.” Her French accent, which I’d barely noticed before, was stronger now, revealing her fury. “This home is a safe place for the children who live here, and you are upsetting them.”
“My stepdaughter doesn’t live here.” Gene tried to reach around her. His hand stopped as if he’d hit a wall. “You’re breaking the law.”
Garrett finally came downstairs, followed by a police officer. “I think that’s up to the police to determine.”
Everyone turned toward them, including me. Everyone except Rex. He lunged at me and grabbed me, and everything started blanking out. It hurt, but the pain and darkness were welcome. Black. Only black. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to see, no emotions to feel. Only black.
Pain stabbed into my skull and limbs, shooting red through the black. The agony wiped all thought from my brain and sucked the energy from my body. I wanted to lie down and let the blackness take everything away.
Fight it!
The voice in my mind wasn’t mine. Power so strong it took my breath away broke over me, shoving the black and red away. The pain remained, but now it sharpened my thoughts, bringing me back to myself.
“Let me go,” I said.
My words sounded as if they came from about a mile away, and they echoed in my ears. I grew hotter, but the fire wasn’t out of control. Not yet. I was in charge of it, and I could use it if I chose to.
“Let go of him!” Derek shouted.
Loud noise slammed into my ears. Too many voices. Too much commotion, as my mother would have put it. My eyes were open, but the blackness hid everything.
And then it all stopped.
I didn’t know where I was. Not the basement. There was no wind in the basement, or sounds of birds and water.
I blinked, and slowly my vision returned. I looked down and screamed. Below me, rocks and water seemed to reach up for me. My heart raced, and I stumbled backward.
I started to shake so badly I could barely force myself to turn away from the sight. A few houses were nearby, but I didn’t bother calling for help. No one had answered my scream. If anyone was inside the houses, they couldn’t he
ar me.
A sound a few feet away caught my attention. Adrenaline coursing through me, I whirled to face the noise. Rex and Craig, another guy I recognized from church, stood there with Treese and another person I didn’t know.
No wonder Treese hadn’t been in the game room with the rest of us. Rex or Craig, whichever was the finder, would eventually have located me anyway, but she’d told them exactly where to go. She’d brought them straight to me. Because of her, the entire group was in danger. I doubted she realized it. She believed she’d brought danger to me, not to the others.
She narrowed her eyes and jutted out her chin. She didn’t care what she’d done. She just stood there, hands on her hips, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. The guy beside her was frowning, but Treese was happy.
I hated her. Even more than Gene and his friends. And I wanted to burn her. But I couldn’t. Setting her on fire would make me just as bad.
“Gene will be along shortly,” Rex said. “He got a little caught up dealing with the cop. Too bad he doesn’t have abilities, huh? He would have been able to zap himself out of there when we did.”
“Why did you do this?” I asked Treese.
“I have to protect my family.” She frowned. “You were a danger from the start. Garrett and the others have kept me safe for too long to risk them. We didn’t want you to come here.”
“You shouldn’t have come,” the guy beside her said. I guessed he was the remaining group member I hadn’t met yet. “We were more than happy to help your poor stepfather find you. It’s too bad you tried to run and lost your footing here. It’s quite a fall.”
Maybe Brent hadn’t been the one to rat me out to Gene after all. If Garrett had been able to find my phone, Treese might have been able to as well. She’d even been in my room.
She saw the group as a safe place and wanted to keep it that way, even if it meant not allowing anyone else to find safety there. I understood fear, and fear radiated from Treese right then under her triumph. Not only fear of what would happen if they didn’t get rid of me. Fear of me, as well, and of being found out.
“All it takes is one wrong step.” The guy’s voice was low. Soothing. Persuasive.
My feet moved closer to the edge. I didn’t have to think about it. I just had to take that wrong step, and this would all be over. I wouldn’t have to worry anymore about being safe. No one would find me. If they did, I’d already be gone. They wouldn’t be able to do anything to hurt me. I would be fine.
The ocean would put out the fire, and everything would be calm.
“No,” I said. The guy could obviously control minds. So could I, and I was smart enough to recognize thoughts that weren’t my own. I stepped back. “The only way you’re going to get me over this cliff is to throw me. You want my blood on your hands? They’ll be able to tell.” I turned to face Treese and the guy. “They’re not stupid. They’ll take one look at you and know what you did. Do you think they’ll let murderers stay with them?”
“Your blood won’t be on our hands.” Treese’s voice shook. “We aren’t doing anything at all. Your stepfather and his friends will take care of everything. We’re just here to make sure you don’t get away again.”
Shield yourself.
Again, I had no idea where the voice came from. God, maybe, since I’d prayed for help. Or one of the others. If I could broadcast my thoughts, probably one of them could do the same. I only heard the words and knew I had to do what they said.
I didn’t know anything about shielding myself. I just remembered it being mentioned, and Treese making the joke about being in a comic book.
“I trusted you.” I kept my voice steady. “They all trust you, Treese. And you’re betraying them. Do you honestly believe you’ll all be safe once I’m gone? You won’t.”
I kept talking to buy time. What was shielding? My heart thudded in my chest. I couldn’t do it if I didn’t know what it was. “Now that Gene and his friends here know about you, you’ll never be safe. They’ll bring others. They believe psychic powers are evil, even if they have them too.”
Through the rush of questions in my brain, an answer popped up. A shield blocked things. I could block my mind so they couldn’t read or control me.
No, don’t! My own little panic voice shouted against the thought. If I blocked my mind, I wouldn’t be able to protect myself. I trembled and fear raced through me.
I ignored the voice and the fear. Blocking my own powers would be better than letting theirs through. I took a deep breath and pictured a concrete wall going up around me. Noise dulled, and I realized some of what I’d been hearing was the thoughts of the others. Now only the background of water and birds soothed me.
“Gene isn’t coming,” Rex said. “I guess we’ll have to take care of her ourselves.”
He looked me in the eye, and I looked right back at him. He was the one who’d tried to make Shad kill himself. I felt his attempt to control me as if he were knocking on the door of my brain.
He couldn’t get in, though. I refused to let him.
He laughed. “You actually think you’re strong enough to keep me out? It doesn’t matter what you do. I’ve had a lot more practice than you. You’re not going to walk away from here. They don’t know where you are. You’re alone. It’s you and us.”
Warmth surrounded me. People stood beside me, their arms around me. I could only see them in my mind, but their body heat and presence pressed against me. The group was with me.
I pressed my lips together to hold back a smile. I wasn’t alone. I would never be alone again, and the others would find me soon.
Gene is gone. The voice had to be in my own mind. The shield still surrounded my brain. But I knew the information was right.
My heart sank a little, but mostly I felt only a little burst of relief.
“So you can, what, magically move people?” If I talked, maybe I’d distract them long enough for the others to show up. “Did you do it to all of us? You must be pretty strong. How come the church doesn’t know? Or do they, and they made an exception to the powers-are-evil rule for you?”
In comic books or movies, it would have worked. I’d have heard a whole supervillain monologue, and the good guys would have arrived to save the day just in time.
But this wasn’t a comic book or movie, despite Treese’s jokes earlier. This was reality. My reality. Which was pretty close to coming to an end.
“Shut up.” Rex nodded at me, and I reeled back as if I’d been slapped across the face.
“You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Craig said. Apparently he had taken a supervillain lesson or two. “This isn’t a game.”
“No, it’s real.” I reached inside myself. I was scared nearly to death. Literally, since I was closer to death than I’d ever been. The only reason I wasn’t at the bottom of the cliff yet was because I’d managed to stop them from controlling my mind. My shield wouldn’t last long. Not with two of them who had that power. Both of them pushed at me now, trying to force their way in. Their battering, a barrage of mental punches, hurt, and with each one, more of my power drained away. I didn’t have much time left.
Father, I don’t want to die today. Please help me. Amen.
I inched away from the cliff. I couldn’t run. There were four of them and only one of me, and it was a pretty safe bet one of them would catch me if I tried to run away.
Or not. Right now none of them tried to touch me. If they really wanted me over the cliff, one of them could have grabbed me and thrown me. I figured they had two reasons for not doing so yet. First, they didn’t know if I’d set them on fire. Second, if one of them physically pushed me, he or she would be a murderer. They would be anyway, but if they made it look like an accident or like I’d jumped voluntarily, no one would know.
Authorities didn’t believe in psychic powers. And two good churchgoers like Rex and Craig wouldn’t possibly have powers, because then they wouldn’t have been good churchgoers according to the teachings
of their religion. I wondered how they justified it to themselves, but I didn’t have time to think about it too long.
Something tapped at the edge of my awareness. A fainter version of Rex’s attempt to bust into my mind. This one felt friendlier somehow. It might have been one of the group. I didn’t dare let my shield down enough to find out. Not only did it keep them from controlling me, I was pretty certain it kept me from lashing out with fire. I had to hold on to it.
I hadn’t meant to hurt Gene’s friend back home. I’d only been defending myself. Same with the motel clerk in New Mexico.
I’d lost control those times because my emotions had taken over, and because I hadn’t realized I could control the fire.
Now I knew. I had the power to use or not, as I chose. However I chose.
“We’re wasting time,” the still-unnamed guy said. “The longer we stand here, the more likely they’ll find us. You said Gene isn’t coming. Let’s get rid of him, then.”
“Or not,” I said.
The November wind that whipped through my hair pushed dry leaves along the ground. Kindling and a way to spread the flames.
I didn’t just let it go this time. I didn’t want to burn down the whole town. Just the four people in front of me who were ready to kill me.
I focused, and fire flowed from my hands to the ground around me. The leaves caught immediately. So did the bad guys’ shoes.
Treese screamed. One of them lashed out at me, and I reeled back from a hard slap against my mind. Rex. I didn’t care. He couldn’t touch me this time.
None of them could touch me, physically or psychically. The knowledge swelled in my chest and grew into a ball of power, fueled by flame. My power. Huge and consuming, but I could control it. I was a tiny cup trying to hold an ocean, but I held it.
I smiled, and the fire reached back to me as if to embrace me. Laughter bubbled through me. Mine.
Four people stood near me. Four who had hurt me. Who wanted to destroy me. But they couldn’t fight the fire. The fire was mine.
I stepped forward. The flames shot higher, and the wind picked up and spread the fire. I could barely see them through it. I knew where the edge of the cliff was, though. It would be so easy to drive all of them over it. Exactly the way they’d planned to get rid of me.
