Luke threw the empty coconut against the plane, where it
thudded loudly. "Well, our life wasn't so bad, was it? We had our own
rooms, a bunch of cool shit. I had a sixty-inch television screen. Sixty inch!
How am I supposed to get something like that now? Hmm? Maybe what we had wasn't
the best, but it was pretty good. Better than getting killed." His voice
broke and he stopped talking.
Lucy heard the tears in his voice. She knew he didn't really
prefer their life at Rent-A-Kid over this, not after they'd killed their
friends and teachers, impregnated Sam, and experimented on them. No, something
else bothered her brother. "It's not your fault. What happened on that
plane, what happened to those people—Rent-A-Kid did that, Beleth and his team.
Not you! You can't blame yourself." She sat and put her arm around him,
but he shrugged her off.
"It is my fault. Morrison died because of us. Because
of me. If I'd held that shield, I could have saved him. I could've stopped
those freaks from shooting everyone."
Lucy grabbed his hand, refusing to let him push her away
again. "They knew the risks when they accepted this mission. Even if you
hadn't been on that airplane, Rent-A-Kid would've still attacked it, and
everyone would still have died. Except then, there'd be no one left to complete
the mission."
Didn't he see? They had to finish what they started. They
owed it to those kids and to the agents who died for this mission.
Luke's breathing calmed, and he shook his head. "But I
was
on the plane." He stood and walked away. "I'll see you back at camp,
Sis."
She stood to follow him, but sat back down. He needed space,
for now. She regretted dragging him into the plane. He hadn't been ready for that.
She dropped her head.
I should've been more
understanding, but still, he has to get his shit together. I can't do all of
this alone.
Those kids needed them, and she needed her confident brother
back.
So she'd give him his space for a bit. Then she'd sit him
down and tell him that it was time to move forward. He had no choice. Neither
of them did.
Drake opened his eyes, and Toby was once again staring at
him, this time in awe. "You did it, man. You healed yourself. I have to
get this to my mom!"
Drake shook his head to clear his mind as the kid ran off.
Sam.
My baby. I have to get to them.
Then another thought jolted him: the boy believed the drug
would heal his mom. "Toby, wait!"
But it was too late. Toby had already reached the street and
turned right, presumably toward his house.
Drake needed more of the drug. For that brief moment while
the drug worked in him, he'd been whole again, and he'd heard Sam.
First, he had to stop Toby. The drug wouldn't work the same
way for his mother, and Drake didn't know what damage it could cause a person
who didn't have para-powers.
With full strength back, he ran after Toby. He turned right
and searched the street. The boy turned left a few blocks down, so Drake
sprinted to catch up. He skidded around the corner just as Toby entered a
beaten-down shack a few houses up.
He hollered again, "Toby!"
Either the boy couldn't hear him or didn't care. Probably
both. Toby thought he held a magic cure for his mom, but dread gripped Drake's
heart. Only one person could create a drug like this and distribute it to the
streets in hopes of finding other paranormals: Sam's father. And he wouldn't
care about the casualties.
Drake ran harder, nearly out of breath by the time he
reached the house.
The door hung open, so he stepped in. "Toby, where are
you?"
No sound.
"Toby?"
The house looked as if it had been ransacked by gangs.
Graffiti stained the walls, the furniture lay toppled over and cut apart, and
the smell of vomit and mold permeated his senses. He dashed into what he
assumed was either the bedroom or bathroom, and found Toby and his mom on a
stained mattress on the floor.
He fell to his knees.
Blue liquid stained their lips. They each clutched an empty
vial. The mother held her son in a final embrace as they lay there, still and
lifeless.
"No! Damn it, no! Why?"
He rummaged around on the floor, looking for anything that
might save them, but found nothing. He shook their bodies, did mouth to mouth,
used all his first aid training, but dead was dead, and they didn't come back.
This blue drug, a savior to him, was a death sentence to
anyone without powers.
Grief choked him, but he didn't have time to wallow in it.
He had to act fast, to figure out what to do next. What should he do with their
bodies? Whom could he call?
How
would he even call? He'd seen a pay
phone outside, but did he want to get involved with this—illegal drugs and two
dead bodies?
Just as Drake rose to leave, Toby's hand twitched.
I push the truck back and forth on the living room floor,
then slam it into the block. "Vroom, vroom, watch out!"
I'm me, but not. I look down and see the body of a little
boy. I'm in his mind, in his memories, not my own.
Around me, beautiful things hang on big walls. The
furniture is fancy, the kind kids aren't supposed to sit or play on.
Someone comes into the arched glass doors that lead to
the foyer. The little boy knows what a foyer is, though he thinks the word is
funny.
A man walks in, tall and handsome. He's holding a baby.
I—or rather the boy in me—jump up, excited. "Is that
her? Is that her?"
The man smiles. Something about his smile makes me—the real
me—shiver. But the boy I live in doesn't seem to notice. He's focused on the
bundle of pink blanket.
The baby wiggles and the man holds her out. "This,
Son, is your baby sister. Isn't she beautiful?"
I nod. "Maybe when she gets older we can play
together." I can't wait to play, to have a little sister.
The man shrugs. "Maybe." He looks at the baby
again. "Isn't she perfect?" He holds her in front of a window and the
baby almost seems to glow. "She may be the one."
"The one what, Daddy?"
"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it. I have to put
her down for a nap. Your mother will be home soon, and I want to show her the
new baby. You stay here and play."
The boy doesn't listen. He follows his daddy up the
staircase, too full of excitement to stay still. "Which room will she
sleep in? Can she sleep with me? I don't mind sharing."
"She won't be staying here, Son. No. She has another
destiny ahead of her."
The boy looks again at his little sister. She's so cute,
with soft dark hair and big blue eyes. He wants to hold her, but knows his
daddy won't let him.
His daddy looks at the baby and smiles. "She's the
key. One day, she'll solve everything."
***
I woke up, heart beating through my chest, a fine sheen of
sweat covering my body.
What a freaky dream.
Something told me it was a
scene from the Seeker's life, but what did it mean?
A niggling of foreboding nudged me, and I panicked.
My
baby! Where is my baby?
I looked around and saw her in the arms of the last person
in the world I expected to see.
Mary stood, cooing and staring at Ana, unaware that I was
awake. She murmured to herself. "She's so beautiful."
The words echoed my dream, and a shiver ran up my spine.
"Mary, give her to me."
The light from the window lit up Mary and the baby like an
image of Christ with his virgin mother. The comparison almost made me laugh.
Mary,
a virgin? Yeah right.
Mary had changed. Burn scars marred the once flawless skin
down the side of her neck, but her golden hair was perfectly styled, as usual.
She paid little attention to me. I sat up and was about to use my powers to
force her to bring me my baby, when she finally looked up and handed Ana over.
Love washed through me in waves as I stared at my daughter.
I never knew anyone could feel this way about another human being. I'd loved
her while I carried her to term, but nothing like this. This little
cherub-faced girl with big blue eyes had stolen my heart. If only Drake could
be here to see her, to fall in love with her himself.
"I love you, Ana. I'll be enough for the both of us, I
swear." Only then did I realize Mary was still standing there, watching
me. I'd seen her die. "How are you here, Mary? We thought you
were...."
"Dead? Yeah, I've gotten that a lot since I've been
back. I didn't die, no thanks to all of you who just left me there.
Fortunately, IPI found me, and I had the distinct pleasure of recovering in
their dreadful facility. You would not believe how miserable it was."
I couldn't believe she'd survived what Drake had done to
her. Did she remember? "What happened to you?"
"I'm not really sure. They think I got caught in a
fire. Well, they know I got caught in a fire." She fiddled with her hair
until it covered her neck—a gesture that looked practiced. "But they think
I hit my head and lost some of that time right before. So, yeah, not
sure."
Guilt invaded my happy moment. Should I tell her what really
happened? Would she do something to me or my baby if she knew that Drake almost
killed her trying to free her from the Seeker's mind control? Maternal instinct
warred with my sense of right, but in the end, maternal instinct won out. I
wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the safety of my child.
The door opened, and Brad walked in. He smiled and gave a
little wave to Ana. "How's the cutest baby in the whole world? Huh?"
His presence made me feeler safer, especially with Mary back
so suddenly. "I love how we all sound like such goofballs around a
baby." I offered him Ana, though it pained me to part with her, and he
took her and made goo-goo sounds.
"I'm so glad you came through this okay, Sam. We were
all worried for a while."
Susie had said I'd nearly died giving birth. But all I remembered
was.... "Drake. I felt him. He was here with me, giving me strength
somehow. I think he's the reason I lived through it."
Brad's face hardened, then softened into a goofy grin for
the baby. "But he doesn't have his powers. Maybe you were delirious with
the medications?"
"No, I don't think so. Even Susie said I was slipping
away, then all of the sudden I called out to Drake and my body started to heal
itself. Those aren't my powers. Those are—were—his. Do you think he could have
gotten his powers back?"
The thought saddened me. If he did have his powers, then why
hadn't he come home? Maybe he'd never forgiven me for what I'd done to him. But
if so, why did he save my life? He'd sounded sad, in trouble.
Most of our friends were mad at him, Brad especially, though
Luke and Lucy weren't big fans at the moment either. They didn't understand.
They hadn't been there to feel how the loss of his powers had stripped him down
to nothing. And I'd done it to him. I'd never forgive me either, so I couldn't
blame him for being upset. But I did blame him for abandoning his
daughter—inexcusable regardless of how he felt about me.
Susie popped her head in the room. "Sam, can you handle
a few more visitors?"
Everyone kept telling me to rest, but I felt surprisingly strong
and healthy. I needed to get up and stretch, to start doing something.
"Sure, send them in." After this visit, I would insist that everyone
stop treating me like a sick patient. Ana was healthy, and I felt better than
ever. Literally, I felt stronger than I had since I got pregnant.
Father Patrick, Bernard and Desirai came into the room.
Father Patrick spoke first. "Hello, Sam, I hope you
don't mind. Is this too much right now?"
I smiled at the old priest. Drake's absence must have broken
his heart. They'd always been close. He'd been the only father Drake had ever
known.
I gestured for them to come in. "Not at all. I'm so
glad you're all here. I'm going stir-crazy in bed all the time."
Brad showed Father Patrick the baby, and he lovingly held
her, after waiting for a nod from me. So odd that this little life was now my
responsibility. I had to make sure to feed and change and care for her. I
decided who touched her and who didn't. Mary should never have held my baby
without permission. I'd have to talk to someone about making sure no one ever
touched Ana without my permission again.
Bernard, whose full name was George Bernard
Shaw—seriously—now led all academic studies at the new school. He'd likely
become the new Headmaster. He'd also taught and mentored Brad in college, and
the two were still tight. He'd been instrumental in helping us rescue our
friends after we escaped Rent-A-Kid. He'd also been the one to encourage me to
reapply to school, and had written a glowing letter of recommendation.
He smiled at Ana. "She came a bit early, but looks
healthy as a horse."
Um, okay.
"And at least this means you'll have more time to
recover before starting school in the fall."
"
If
I get accepted, you mean. IPI gave us all
backgrounds, but a school could still find a lot missing."
Bernard pulled something from his pocket. "Why don't
you find out right now?"
He handed me a thick packet from U of W. Thick—that
meant...! I tore through the envelope while the group passed Ana around, happy
to be the object of so much love.
My throat thickened as I scanned the introduction letter.
"Oh my God! I've been accepted. And the art department wants to meet with
me in two weeks to review my complete portfolio. They might give me a
scholarship."
Everyone cheered and hugged me. Des stood by the door as if
scared to come in. I gestured to her, and she joined the group.
"Congratulations on your college acceptance."