by Shelly Crane
“Go, Maggie,” he demanded harder.
I obeyed…halfway. I didn’t go to the garage but I ran further away from them and watched as the horrific scene unfolded. One of the men took his hands palms up and made the ground beneath Caleb lift and shake making a little hill that eventually opened up into hole under Caleb. He jumped and reached for the edge just in time and clung for his life as the mound raised higher and higher and the hole got bigger and bigger. Then the other one huffed and pushed the one working in aggravation. His mind said he was mad because he should have taken care of Caleb already and he was ready to take me for his reward money. I saw it in his mind what he was doing before he did it but him pulling the gun out of his jacket pocket shocked me into shivers.
He climbed the mound and pointed it at Caleb. I couldn’t see Caleb’s face but I heard him.
I love you, Maggie.
That was it for me.
The man got one shot off before I pushed my hands forward and the guy’s gun went flying back behind him. I used my other hand and imagined lifting Caleb up and over the mound to land in the grass and that’s exactly what happened. The men cursed and one ran for me. I pushed through the thought to move his bike, to send it skidding and crashing into him and when it carried out my commands, I closed my eyes to to the sickening crunch of bones and tearing of flesh on the concrete driveway.
When I opened them, the other man was making a swift advance to me. Caleb was hot on his tail but wouldn’t reach him before the man reached me. I tried to think of something to do, anything but I froze and the guy reached his hands around my neck.
“That’s was my bike you wrecked you little twit,” he growled in my face not worried about his comrade at all. Then his eyes drifted to my neck and his grip loosened a little in his shock. “The Visionary.”
Caleb pulled him off and slung him backwards. He skidded in the grass on his back, leaving a trail and indention as he went with the force. Caleb was shocked at his strength but didn’t dwell on it. The man got up and went to grab the gun that was near him as he roared with aggravation and cursed.
Then something happened that I never expected. Caleb held his hand out for the gun and it flew threw the air just as the man reached for it, straight into Caleb’s hand. The man ran at us full speed with his clear intentions blaring though his mind to mine and then to Caleb. He was going to kill Caleb and take me to Sikes. Without further hesitation, Caleb lifted the gun and pulled the trigger.
The man stopped mid run and fell back from the force of the shot. He lay still on the ground and Caleb turned, throwing the gun to the ground. He pressed my face into his neck.
“Don’t look.”
Caleb had killed the monster for me.
It was then that I felt him, his pain. I had no idea why I hadn’t felt it before but my body recognized the injury and began to heal him. I pulled back, though he tried to stop me, to see a huge red spot on his t-shirt on his stomach. I pulled his shirt up to see a gunshot would on his right side.
I screamed as my heart rate beat painfully for him.
“It’s alright, baby,” he soothed and grabbed his chest a little like he could feel my heart and it was as painful for him. “You’re healing me already. It’s ok.”
I held his arm under mine to steady him and we watched together as the wound sizzled and burned closing up and becoming tan again instead of red and angry. Caleb groaned as the bullet pushed itself out and fell with a dull thud to the ground.
I knelt on my knees to inspect closer and ran my fingers over it in awe. I hugged him around his middle and pressed my cheek to his stomach and burst into tears.
“Why didn’t I see that coming? Why didn’t I get a vision for this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You could have died,” I croaked as he rubbed my hair then he bent down with me and pulled me to him. “What if I hadn’t been here, you would’ve-”
“Shh. Don’t. Shh.” He lifted my chin and kissed my lips softly once. “We’ll always be together.”
“What was that?” I asked and felt the cool wind on my wet cheeks. “How did you do that, Caleb? Did you get your ability?”
“I don’t know what happened. I just felt like it told me what to do and I did it.”
It was then that we realized someone was watching us. I looked and saw Marcus standing in front of the garage.
He clapped and smiled cruelly as Caleb and I stood up.
“Bravo. Bravo, really, a spectacular show. I think you’ve gained some new abilities that we never-” His eyes moved to my neck as well and his arrogant steps faltered. “No. No, that can’t be. You’re human trash!” he roared. “You are not our Visionary!” He shook his head furiously and balled his fist. “It’s a trick. They painted that on you to trick us.” He made wide angry strides to us. “I’ll see for myself.”
Caleb once again shoved me behind him and I waited in fright but also fascination as him and Marcus sparred. There were no abilities for him either so it was a fair fight. I wanted to help but was afraid that I’d just distract Caleb or hurt him somehow. As it turned out, he didn’t need my help.
I saw in Caleb’s mind as he fought the moves he learned from Uncle Max as he went along. Some he knew already but some he learned as he went, his mind teaching him. If I wasn’t so scared, I would have been fascinated to see it as it happened in his mind.
Caleb didn’t have to fight long. He had the advantage of knowing how to fight that Marcus didn’t. Marcus would make for a punch and Caleb would rear back to evade and then land a blow to his jaw or chest. Then Caleb kicked a booted foot to Marcus’s chest sending him flying several feet away from him.
I put my hands up to hold him off as he started to run back to us but it wasn’t my power that stopped him. We looked behind us to Peter and Rachel there. Rachel was holding him in place with a murderous look on her pretty face. Marcus’s belt chain and buckle and ear gauge were straining and pulling as he groaned.
“No man should wear all that metal,” she said and threw him aside to slam into the side of the garage.
He lay there motionless and Rachel ran to Caleb.
“Oh, my! What…” she said with her hands fluttering without any idea of where to start.
“Maggie took care of me, Mom. It’s fine.”
“What happened?” Peter boomed and looked around. “Are you alright?” He moved forward to inspect me, grasping my arms gently and leaning down to look in my face. “Maggie? Are you alright, sweetheart?”
The yard was destroyed with the huge mound hole and dirt everywhere. There were bike parts and I turned away when I saw a leg sticking out from behind a pile of mangled metal.
“Yes. They were waiting for us,” I explained. “They must have been Aces because they had abilities. Then Marcus came from inside the garage.”
Peter paled.
“Randolph,” he muttered and took off running.
Rachel and Jen both ran in after him. Bella trotted up to Caleb, sniffing his shirt and whining. He bent down and petted her head.
“It’s ok, girl.”
Then we walked slowly inside and as I had suspected, it was confirmed when I heard Rachel’s keening cry. Marcus had killed Randolph, their butler, jack of all trades, security man and family friend.
Caleb sat solemnly on the back steps and I rubbed his back with my hand inside his shirt to soothe him. I felt responsible. They were after me. This was all happening because of me.
“Stop it, Maggie,” Caleb commanded. “This would have happened to anyone who imprinted. We’ll get them. This isn’t over and it’s not your fault.”
I nodded and heard Peter on the phone with the police. Randolph was a human. This was a human murder and had to be handled by human authorities but, what about the mess outside?
I left Caleb there on the step to go and try to clean up a bit. I felt horrible and sickened but it had to be done. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood when I used my power to scoot the bikes and their ow
ners into the hole in the earth they had created and tried to bury Caleb in. Now they were buried in it instead.
I pushed the ground closed and the dirt back down as much as possible in my mind and tried to make it look normal. You could tell something had happened but it didn’t look suspicious.
I had forgotten all about Marcus as I suspected they had.
I whirled around quickly only to find him gone. Crap. He knew. He knew I was the Visionary and now all my enemies would know. I went back inside and told them Marcus was gone and he had seen my mark. Peter cursed up a storm and shoved all the items off the counter in the kitchen to the floor with a roar. Rachel tried to calm him with soothing words and touches. I saw him wrap her in his arms and they just held on to each other as Caleb pulled me from the room.
The police came, as I saw them out the window, but Peter took care of all of it. He told them the mound was the beginnings of a pool. Caleb and I just took showers and went to lay in his room in silence. I wanted to comfort him somehow, to make it all go away but I felt like he just wanted me to be there, that that was enough so that’s what I did. I made sure to touch him somewhere and we just stared at the ceiling together and tried to make sense out of everything that had just happened.
~ Twenty Five ~
We woke a little later to Peter. We were still on top of the covers just as we had laid down before and sometime had finally fallen asleep. Peter sat on the bed next to me and told us that he had hired a cleaning crew to come and take care of the place. He didn’t think it was safe to stay when someone had breached the security. We would all go stay at Kyle’s until it was all fixed up again.
So, we got up and got dressed again. Everyone seemed calmer and steadier now and Caleb insisted on driving his bike, though I suggested maybe he shouldn’t drive. He smiled and said he was fine. So we trekked right back to Kyle’s after only been gone from there a couple hours.
Everyone was still up when we returned and there were a few other people there too to greet us, Gran being one of them. She smiled big and hugged me and Caleb at the same time. I smiled widely because she was the first Ace I met since becoming the Visionary that didn’t bow to me. She murmured all kinds of sweet things to assure us that all would be well and she was glad we were safe.
Maria ran to her mother and squealed loudly.
Kyle also greeted us and I saw genuine relief when he looked at Caleb and they bumped fists. Then he hugged me and squeezed me extra tight. Then he pulled away and sat on the other end of the room by Gran. I heard Jen ushering Maria to bed in the hall.
We all sat in the living room to have a powwow.
Lynne had come down and she too seemed better. She came straight to me and wrapped her arm through mine. She smiled at me.
“You look like crap if it’s ok for me to say that.”
I laughed.
“I’m so glad you’re back to yourself.”
She shrugged and sat down next to me and stared straight across the room. I felt Kyle glancing my way several times, his interest and longing pouring to me through his mind, but I shut him out and focused on Peter.
Peter told them all what had happened and they gasped and uproared over it all. Uncle Max reiterated his earlier point about harming other clans. Even though they were after us first, the council forbade true harm to other clans and to take a life was grounds for denouncement of the entire clan.
That was when it truly hit me. I had taken a life. Caleb had taken a life for me too. Even though they weren’t truly human and they were trying to kill me- well, kill Caleb and take me to be tortured, it still felt odd and wrong. Everyone assured us that they would fight the council for us. They’d stand behind us and we did the right thing but as I clung to Caleb’s arm, I’d had it. I was just done with the Watson’s and all their mess and didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Everyone dispersed, some going home, some going upstairs. A few people bowed to me, kissing my fingers and then touching their foreheads with them but most respected my wishes and just tried to tame their looks of awe.
I stopped Peter to ask him about why I hadn’t gotten a vision for Caleb being shot or us being attacked. He said that you can’t see visions for yourself nor you’re significant. Great. I then told him about what Caleb did in the fight and his gaze shot to Caleb.
“I still don’t feel anything, Dad,” Caleb assured. “It was just right then, at that moment, now…nothing.”
Peter sighed.
“Well…I don’t know. This is just getting more complicated,” he said before heading to bed.
We went to stand in the kitchen with Lynne, Kyle, and Jen.
“Have you told your dad what happened yet?” Jen asked me.
“No,” I sighed. “He would just worry all night. I’ll tell him when we go see him tomorrow.”
“You’re going over tomorrow?” she said hopefully but cleared her throat and ducked her head.
“Yeah, I think we should all go see them before we leave for London,” I said and saw her grateful look at including her in coming with me.
“Well, what about me?” Lynne asked. “Where am I going to go when you all leave?”
“Don’t know. Hadn’t thought that out yet,” I said in frustration at the never ending problems coming our way. Caleb put a hand on my neck and squeezed in a massage. I leaned into him and didn’t know what I’d do without him. What are we going to do with her?
No clue. Maybe she can stay with your dad?
Maybe. I’m so tired of thinking right now. I just want to rest and not have to worry about everything for just a minute.
I know. By the way, thanks for saving my life…again. You were so incredible back there.
So we’re even I think. I smiled up at him. You were pretty good too. Your karate is almost as good as mine.
He laughed out loud and kissed my forehead.
“Oh, this is so going to your pretty little head,” he crooned.
I turned back to see Lynne watching us.
“Are you talking to each other in your minds?”
“Mmhmm, all significants can.”
“Wow. So, why do you keep getting visions for me and no one else?”
“I have no idea, Lynne. I’m as confused as you.”
“Hmmm. Ok, well, I guess I’m going to bed.”
“Goodnight,” Kyle said beside her and smiled. “I’m right next door to you if you need anything.”
“Ok, thanks,” she said softly and looked away from him, feeling flush for some reason that she didn’t understand. She started to walk away but stopped. “I don’t want to be a burden to you guys. You’ve been so good to me already. I can just find somewhere to crash. You don’t have to worry about me. You got me away from my dad, that’s enough for me.”
“No,” Kyle said vehemently. “We like having people here. Don’t worry about it.” She nodded and turned to leave again. “Lynne. Still be here when we get up the morning, please.”
She turned and looked up at him. She was pretty short and seriously thin. She just looked so small and fragile next to him and he looked at her with an odd expression. One I recognized and I felt my heart spike at the realization.
She was staring at Kyle earlier across the room during the meeting and he wasn’t looking at me during the meeting either, he was looking at her! I had blocked him out to pay attention and just made assumptions! I felt Caleb turn my way in recognition of my thoughts right as Kyle reached out to touch her arm.
And then it happened.
Kyle and Lynne imprinted right there in the kitchen in front of us.
It was amazing. Their faces registered the shock of heat and lighting in their veins. Her face was in awe but somewhat frightened by it all. I imagined my face looked exactly the same when it had happened to me. His face was elated. I saw a couple of their future visions but they happened at the same time so it was so hard to concentrate.
I saw a piece of one where Kyle was twirling her under his arm, her red dress
flowing around her ankles, in a big yard at night under the stars.
Then another short look at her putting something away in a tall cabinet. He came up behind her and lifted her so she could reach. When she turned around you could see her small belly bump and he rubbed it gently.
The last one I could make sense of was of the two of them standing in a big grand gold room in front of hundreds of people.
When she finally gasped, I knew it was over and looked around. Caleb’s grin was broad and he was gripping me to him with affection. Jen was trying to paste on a smile but was utterly devastated inside. She so wanted this for herself.
Kyle’s mouth was open and he looked the happiest I’d ever seen him in my long time knowing him. He closed the short distance between them and framed her face with his hands.
