“Amazing how well this works,” the man remarked, looking down at his device. He put it into his coat pocket. “Do you remember who I am?”
“Yes, Doctor,” JD said without hesitation. Every word and action seemed to be automatic. He had no control over his body as he carefully got off the hood of the car to meet the man on the sidewalk.
The man nodded. “Good. Are you ready to continue with our experiments, as was our agreement for letting your sister free?”
“Yes, Doctor.” He paused. “But I have to be home in an hour.”
“I’ll be sure to keep this session brief.” He waved a hand in front of JD’s face. “When I snap my fingers one time, you’ll enter into a hypnotic trance, as per usual. When I clap my hands twice, you’ll wake up and not remember anything except what?”
“That I dropped off my notes for Miranda,” JD said. “And that I need a snack.”
A large grin spread across the man’s face. “Good. Are you ready?”
“Yes, Doctor.” In the back of his mind, JD knew he should have fought the man, tried to run away, anything to get out of the latest experiments that were about to be performed on his body. He still had no control over his actions, lost in whatever spell had been placed on him via The Doctor’s mind tricks. I’m a man of my word. I told him he could do this to me. Angela’s life depended on it.
The Doctor snapped his fingers.
* * *
“I can’t meet you on Wednesday,” JD said, staring up at the fluorescent light hanging above him. The Doctor milled about around him, getting together a number of supplies for whatever experiment would be performed tonight.
JD must have told him the wrong thing, because The Doctor slammed a hand onto a metal table. “When we made this agreement, the deal was you would come when I called you no matter what. You do not get the privilege of telling me when you can and can’t meet.”
“It’s going to be suspicious if I drop everything in the middle of a mission to come here,” JD protested.
For a long time, The Doctor didn’t reply. He shuffled through his papers, tapped a pen on his desk, and let out a number of heavy sighs. “What kind of mission is it?”
“You know I can’t say.” That would be giving away a secret of his tribe, a betrayal. It also broke their agreement.
The man growled and threw his pen against the wall. “It seems to me you’re trying to take too much control over this situation. Perhaps, I should go against my part of the bargain, drag your sister back here, and continue my research using her instead. Because if I’m being honest, I think she’d be a whole lot more useful to me anyway! She has powers, she has a formula of my drug I can use, and I doubt she’ll give me as much attitude.”
“Ha, you don’t know her well then.” JD snickered. “And let’s be honest. You like that I’m a puzzle, and you’re just dying to solve me.”
“I am, but I do need the version of the drug your sister has. It’s perfect. It works; there are no side effects; I need it. Perhaps you can get me a sample of her blood?” The Doctor waved his hand in front of him. “We’ll discuss this after we figure out what your powers are.”
JD clutched the edges of the table where he lay. “You promised to leave her alone, man. What other things have you gone back on that we agreed on?”
“Nothing,” the man seethed. He glared down at JD. “But I will if you fail to do what you said.”
“I have to help my team. I work for them before you. That’s never going to change. I will be going on this mission. Deal with it. I’m warning you in advance so we can schedule around it. Pretty courteous if you ask me.”
The Doctor breathed deeply for a few seconds. “Yes, and I think I can spin this to my advantage. Change of plan. I’m going to put something inside of you.”
“Uh…” JD didn’t like the sound of that. For the most part, the tests performed on him were simple scans, nothing invasive. That he was aware of, at least. Because he hated shots, and anything painful in general.
“It’s an implant.” He held up a small black device that was the size of a grain of rice. “The only thing it will do is take note of a number of stats in your body while you work. Hormones, temperature, etc. What I’m hoping is to find out how you’re impacted when you use your ability. There is something not right about you, and we’re going to find out what it is. Perhaps what you do is just too subtle to be noticed by eyes alone. It’s a start at least. You’ll need to give me a full account of the action, of course.”
Just as JD was about to argue, The Doctor continued, holding up a hand. “If I don’t know what is going on when your body changes, it won’t do any good to record the data. All I’m asking for is action. Think you can handle that? No secrets, no details on the purpose.”
“Fine.” JD reluctantly agreed, but only because he couldn’t find a good argument against The Doctor’s request. A description of any possible fight wouldn’t give anything away, right? Not like we’ll be getting into any trouble. The whole thing is supposed to be low key. Give up the artifact, go home, maybe learn some things about another culture.
The Doctor nodded, satisfied. “I don’t have any local anesthetic available at the moment, so I apologize, this is probably going to hurt, significantly. Try not to poke at it too much for a few hours.” He laughed. “I’ll put it in your program.” Then he snapped his fingers, and JD blacked out.
When JD woke up again, he was in his car hungry and happy to be finished with his latest study session.
“Mom better want Mexican, cause I'm totally jonesing for some now,” he mumbled as he fired off a text.
Chapter Thirteen
Never go to bed angry, that’s what she’d always been taught. Angela’s parents did their best to teach these basic and true lessons to their children. She knew they were right. It was always a bad idea to go to sleep with anger in her heart. For her, she could never get her mind to stop racing long enough to let her rest in the first place. When she was mad, it consumed her much like the fire she controlled with her powers.
Speaking of her abilities, thanks to the rage building up inside of her, she was having a hard time keeping them at bay. The heat of the flames rested in her skin. She felt unbearably hot, and no amount of cold showers would help. There was no way she could walk around her house naked, so she needed to find an outlet—fast.
Since she couldn’t calm down, she decided to do the next best thing and expend her negative energy. The only place she could do that was in the practice room at The Apartment, which of course just had to be attached to Orlando’s house. I know I promised I’d text him beforehand, but if I do that we’re just going to fight. I’ll have to be extra careful to not burn the place down…even if it is tempting. More importantly, if she told him she was there, he might try and see her.
And if I actually see him I might lose all of my nerve. Whenever we’re alone together, he knows what to do to make me putty in his hands. She wondered if he knew what he was doing to her. He’s not that kind of a guy. If he were trying to play both Tait and I at once, he would make a bigger effort to keep his relationship with her a secret. I guess I’m the contingency plan, or something.
She glanced at the clock. Nine. Everyone would still be awake. How am I going to do this? It’s the middle of the week, so they’re not going to just let me go without a good reason. I could sneak out. I’ve done it before, but I’d rather only use that as a last resort.
“Mom?” she asked as she stepped out of her room. “I need to go do something quick. Can I go out?”
Her mom and dad exchanged a look. “It’s kind of late,” her father said.
“I know, but I got a random text from Beth. She just got into a huge fight with Nikki because she caught her cheating with her boyfriend and it’s getting bad fast. Like, emergency Cheer meeting might have to happen so these two can hug it out before it destroys the squad.” She hated to lie to her parents, and yet she was all too good at doing it. Always had been. Not a skill she
was proud of, but it came in handy. “Please, please, please, if she wasn’t a total wreck I wouldn’t even ask. I promise I won’t be out late but she needs me to be by her side with a pint of cookie dough pronto!” Turning up the drama usually worked in her favor. Her dad was the softie of her parents.
With a sigh, her dad nodded. “Go ahead. Your brother is on his way back, but you need to be back in the house no later than ten fifteen. Absolute latest. I want you in earlier if possible.”
“Thank you, Daddy!” She gave him a big hug before making a dash for the keys in case they changed their mind at the last second. Soon she was on her way to Orlando’s.
Like always, she parked on the street running along the side of the mansion. Hardly anyone went down that road, so she felt better parking there in the middle of the night. Plus, it was closer to the entrance of The Apartment and further away from the main hall of the residence. Less chances Orlando would notice her coming by.
What she wasn’t anticipating was to walk into the practice room just as he used his psychic powers to shatter a wall of mason jars. Instinctively she threw up a shield of fire and all of the shards melted into small drops on the floor.
“Looks like we both had the same idea,” he said, his voice eerily quiet. He wouldn’t look at her. That bothered her even more.
She placed her hands on her hips. “Yeah, guess so. I’ll leave you to it. There are other places for me to blow off steam.”
“So you are mad…” He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “I don’t understand what I did to make you so upset, but I’m sorry.”
“You don’t understand? Okay, how about I make that clear to you then. You’ve been avoiding me for weeks, for one. Not sure why, outside of maybe you’re no longer bored since you have a girlfriend again, so you don’t have to use me to provide entertainment.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend. That’s far from the truth, anyway. I never hung out with you just because I wanted to be entertained.”
“As an excuse to stay away from the house, then.”
“That was the reason I gave you so I had an excuse to hang out with you and not look…” He shook his head.
“So why avoid me?”
He sighed. “Because...how much do you remember about the night I helped Alan in space? The one where you got food poisoning after cheer practice.”
“I got food poisoning after cheer practice, that’s about it. Even that much, I can’t say I recall a whole lot of what happened that night. I only know what I was told.” A shiver ran down her spine as she waited for whatever horrible truth was coming her way. It had to be bad if he didn’t want to be near her anymore.
With a nod, he took a tentative step forward. “Don’t get mad, but that was a lie.”
I put that together a while ago. She still asked anyway, hoping the genuine outburst of emotion would encourage him to stop hiding from her all of the time. “What?”
“You were kidnapped by The Doctor’s henchmen. Alan wanted to make sure you were safe before telling you.” Orlando shrugged, his expression hard to read. She couldn’t tell if he was sad, angry, confused, a mixture of all three. Most of all, he seemed sad. Perhaps the distance was something Alan had implemented and she had been wrong in channeling her anger toward him.
“Safe how?” she pressed when he didn’t continue to elaborate.
He pressed his lips together. “Security breach. Anyway, you needed my help that night. Somehow you had gotten away, and I…”
“You?”
He shook his head. “I-I was worried about you…JD made some kind of a deal to help you out, and that’s why things have been weird all around. That’s all of the information we could get from you before your memory got wiped by whatever it was The Doctor did to you.”
Something was still being hidden from her, but for the time being she let it go. “So you’ve been avoiding me because you were worried? Or did Alan want you to keep away?” Please say it was Alan.
“It was a decision I made on my own. I didn’t think I could talk about it until the timing was right. But I’ve also stayed away because…you’re distracting.”
“Distracting.” Angela raised both of her eyebrows, surprisingly amused. This is going to be good.
Orlando pinched the bridge of his nose. “I like you, okay?”
“That’s usually why you hang out with people. Because you like them.” She suppressed an eye roll.
“I mean like you in the dorky middle school way that boys say they like girls because they don’t have the courage to say what they’re really feeling.” His gaze met hers then, and in it he held an intense, overpowering, vulnerability. Orlando didn’t bare his soul to many, but she was pretty sure she was getting a good look at it then. She had to break contact with his intense blue eyes before she lost all of her nerve.
Someone pinch me, did he just say he has a crush on me? Be cool! “So you’re really feeling…what?”
“A lot of things I don’t understand,” he whispered.
She closed the gap between them, almost daring to reach for his hands, but she decided to hold back for a moment longer. “They might make more sense if you talked about them more.”
“If I do that, I’m not sure I’m going to like the conclusion.”
“Because you’d rather be with her than me,” she somehow managed as her chest tightened and her breath caught in her chest. I think I’m going to be sick.
He let out a sour laugh. “No, I’d rather be with you. I’ve always felt that way. I’m having a hard time accepting the fact that I’m a jerk. Scum. One of those guys I hate so much.”
“Because even though you’d rather be with me, you’re still going to choose her.” Yeah, he’s onto something with the whole jerk thing, right now.
He lowered his gaze. “It’s just a dance. She asked me, for the record. The idea was…I don’t know anymore, but it’s something I need to do.”
“Which is why you got so up in arms about Gideon saying she’s corresponding with another dude.” Angela stepped back just as he was about to touch her cheek.
Orlando lowered his hand, sighing. “Pride, okay? It’s not exactly an easy pill to swallow. I kind of liked the idea of her being hung up on me because the bitter part of me wanted her to see what she ruined. Happy?” He shook his head. “But I want to believe the best of her, too. I want to make what I feel for her magically go away, and I wish I had that superpower but I don’t. So even though what I feel for you is stronger, it’s not easy to get over the past. Not yet. Give me a little more time.”
“So you’re not ready. Just say so! Stop leading us both on.”
“I’m not trying to!”
“Well you are!”
They glared at each other for a moment. He took in a slow, deep, breath and let it out equally as slow. A slight growl escaped his lips. “Which is why I’ve been trying to take some space—from both of you.”
“Funny, since you’re going to prom with her. Not the impression I’m getting here.” Angela knew she shouldn’t be egging him on, goading him into anger, but she couldn’t help it. She was angry and he needed to see it. Was he out of his mind? How did he think anyone would be okay with the way he acted?
Orlando threw up his hands. “What impression are you getting then?”
“That you’re so desperate to make things work with her, to prove some kind of stupid point. I’m not sure what it is, but you know what? Have at it. I’ve tried to remain as objective as possible in your tango with her and I can’t. Be in love with her like every other guy on this planet is. Don’t come crying to me when she breaks your heart. Again.” She waved her hands in front of her and backed away toward the door. He wouldn’t see her cry. She refused to give him the opportunity.
His eyebrows knitted together as he frowned. “You wouldn’t be getting this upset if you didn’t feel the same way about me as I do about you.”
Duh. You really are clueless, man. Rather than give him a reply, she spun on her heel
and stalked her way to the door.
“It’s just a dance,” he called after her.
No, whatever game you’re playing, I’m done. You want space? You got it, for good. No guy is worth this crap. She wouldn’t cave and go back…at least not tonight. Of all the guys she’d had a thing for, she’d never once felt the same deep heartbreak as the kind Orlando Holmes gave her. I fell for him. How do I unfall? How do I get out before it’s too late? And how was it possible to love and hate someone so much all at the same time.
Chapter Fourteen
Orlando mentally went over the notes for his future mission, or tried to. After his fight with Angela the night before, he had a hard time focusing on much of anything.
Per usual, Alan popped into his school, Orlando conveniently left to use the bathroom, and the two had a brief meeting in the restroom only opened up for special events near the auditorium. Apparently, Lunar Falls didn’t trust the students to not trash the more luxurious accommodations located there. It made for a good spot since he could use his psychic powers to get in and out with ease. The pick-up point for the mission was given. He plugged it into his cellphone so he didn’t forget, and the two parted ways. He never thought anything of it again until he was at home, alone in his room.
Interesting that for a seemingly passive task, Alan is bringing all of his firepower. Literally, since Angela was supposed to be coming, too. Orlando didn’t want to see her. I have to suck it up sooner or later. Might as well get it over with. Bite the bullet, and we can get the awkward angry stage out of the way now. For the sake of being professional, he’d be civil and hold back as much of his sarcasm as possible.
The lack of Cadence also piqued his curiosity. It’d happened before, in the past, when she and JD were fighting, but those two were back to being besties for life. The room no longer felt like it was going to explode from tension whenever they got together. Cadence was by far the most polite member in the group. It didn’t make sense.
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