Dissolve (12 page)

“Sounds like a solid plan,” I said, then added “How much further until we are there?”

“About five minutes or so,” he replied as he tapped on the wheel nervously.

I don’t know what made me do it, but I reached over and placed my hand on his and gave him a reassuring smile. This seemed to relax him a little. Still reeling over the loss of Tom, it wasn’t anything romantic, at least not overtly. It was comforting and everyone needs a little comfort sometimes. We were all human, well some sort of human.

As we grew nearer, Noah’s dark features gradually changed until he was the spitting image of Shane. It was still hard to get used to his ability. Ironically, the change in looks didn’t dissipate the crackle of energy between us that I was trying so hard to suppress. He parked in front of a large apartment building and then shut off the engine. I was surprised when he ran around to open the car door for me.

“Thanks,”

“No problem,” he said.

I followed him down the sandy path leading from the front of the building to the beach in back. The clouds were white and fluffy in the morning sky and the sun was glistening off the ocean waves. People were surfing and families were playing on the beach.
I took a second to enjoy the view before bringing my attention back to Noah.

I looked up at Noah’s stormy expression and cocked my head. “What’s wrong?”

“He isn’t out here. We must go to plan B I guess. Follow me, he is in apartment 233. Remember we are looking for Carlos.”

I hoped that his brother was alright and that he hadn’t succumbed to the same thing we had been sucked into. When we finally reached apartment 233, I gave Noah a nervous glance and he squeezed my hand tightly for comfort. Then he knocked on the door and we waited.

Finally, the sound of the door unlocking vibrated through the door and it swung open. A dark haired brown eyed man in a pair of basketball shorts answers. It was definitely his brother. The resemblance between the two was uncanny. They had the same muddy eyes and unkempt brown hair. It sent a shiver through me before I managed to straighten and gather my composure.

“Yeah, what do you want?” he asked.

It took Noah a second, but soon he had recovered. “We are looking for Carlos Ventigo.”

“There is no Carlos here. Try another floor maybe.”

“Sorry to bother you then, thanks for your time,” Noah said in a rush before pulling me away.

The door shut and I was being drawn down the stairs and towards the car. As soon as we were inside the rusted out purple mustang, Noah sighed.

“He is okay. That is all I wanted to know. Now I can rest easy.”

“He looks just like you,” I commented.

“Yeah, we get that a lot. Are you ready to get the taillight fixed then hit the beach?” Noah said abruptly changing the subject.

“I am as ready as I will ever be. I hope Nessa is doing okay with Shane.”

“I’m sure they are doing fine. He seems harmless,” Noah replied.

We stopped at an old AutoZone to get the bulb for the taillight. We entered the store and a greasy man with blue eyes looked up. He didn’t say anything, clearly waiting for us to speak first.

“Excuse me, we need a bulb for our taillight,” Noah said.

“What is the make and model?” the man asked.

“Umm, I think it is a 1986 mustang,” Noah replied.

“GT, regular or Saline?” the man asked once more.

“Just regular I think,” Noah said.

“Alright, I will be right back,” he said before he turned to the back and rummaged through the tall shelves.

Once we got the part, we thanked the man and Noah went to replace the taillight bulb. Noah was a natural and had it in place in mere minutes. I finally relaxed and was ready for the beach.

Chapter 11:

We hit the beach, feeling the sand slip between our flip flops and our toes. It was gritty and massaged the small aches I hadn’t realized were even there. My eyes went wide as I realized Noah had forgotten to change and was still a dead ringer for Shane.

“What’s up?” Noah asked.

“Umm, you still look like Shane. You forgot to change back.”

“Shit, you’re right. Well at least we will be easy to recognize.”

“No, you have to go back to the car and change back before Shane sees you! He doesn’t know about all this, remember?” I demanded.

“Okay, I forgot. Let’s go,” Noah said as he pulled me back to the car.

Once we were both seated, Noah leaned down and shifted back to his normal brown hair and muddy eyes. I let out a sigh of relief and flashed him a smile. Soon we were stepping back out of the car in just a matter of mere minutes.

I felt the sand in my toes once again and smiled. The sun was still high in the sky and glistened radiantly off the waves of the ocean. Noah and I walked hand in hand down the beach as we peered around for Nessa and Shane. I was about to throw my hands up in frustration when I finally spotted Nessa. She was wearing her oversized sunglasses and had her iPod on. The sun was darkening her bronze skin as she lye on the beach in peace.

I broke away from Noah as we approached her and she flipped out her ear buds and grinned. “It’s about time. I was about to call a search party. We have been here for hours. Shane was getting antsy and worried something was wrong. I told him you probably stopped to get more snacks or something. I didn’t sound too worried so that helped.”

“Where is Shane anyway?” Noah asked.

“He is down by the ocean, swimming along the shore. He is going to have a hell of a tan being out in the water for so long,” Nessa replied.

I looked along the shoreline to find Shane. He had managed to find a pair of faded blue swim trunks at the thrift shop and I could honestly say they looked good on him. He noticed us and gave me a wave as he flashed a bright smile. Walking toward us, I couldn’t help but notice the definition in his abs and biceps as he shook off the water. Sand clung to his toes and I was nearly breathless as he made it to us. Then Tom popped into my mind and the fleeting moment was gone just as fast as it came.

“Hey, we were wondering when we were going to see you. This has been an awesome day at the beach. The sand is so white here and the water is warm and inviting,” Shane said.

I stripped off my clothes down to my swimsuit and flashed Nessa a grin. “Come on, you know you will tan best if you actually get in the water.”

She gave me a pout of her lips then resigned and follows me to the shore. We ran into the water with a splash and giggled. Noah stayed with our stuff and soon, Shane was joining us. I began to laugh hysterically as Shane playfully pushed Nessa into the water and she flipped backwards. She recovered and was soon wrapping her arms around his neck, trying to pull him under.

I couldn’t help but notice the casual way they seem to be reacting to each other. If I was not mistaken, I would say there was definitely some chemistry. It made me look up towards Noah and I noticed him watching me without even trying to hide it. His eyes were smoldering and I suddenly felt self-conscious wearing nothing but a skimpy bikini.

I was snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Shane letting out a slight wale. He ran out of the water and fell to the beach holding his leg. We rushed out of the water in concern to see that he had been stung by a jellyfish. The aftermath looked really nasty and the blood welling might indicate the need for a trip to the hospital.

“Nessa, let’s get him into the mustang and to the hospital,” I said as she nodded and helped me pull him the rest of the way up.

I shouted out for Noah and he was over in a matter of seconds to help us get Shane to the car. Nessa slipped out now that Noah was helping and grabbed our stuff and their purchases from the beach. She ran forward and had the door open and was sliding into the back so Shane could have the front seat. When we reached the car, I slid in back as well and Shane was guided into the front seat. Noah wasted no time jumping into the driver’s seat and starting the car.

For a moment we just sat there as Noah turned to Shane. “Are you alright man? How bad is it?”

“It looked awful on the beach, but maybe I was overreacting. It looks slightly red now but nothing serious. That’s kind of embarrassing.”

At Shane’s confession our heads shot up and we met eyes. Yep, I think we just figured out Shane’s ability. How the next couple minutes played out could be crucial.

I was hesitant when I addressed Shane next. “Can you put your leg up on the dash so we can get a look at it?”

“Sure, but it doesn’t really hurt anymore.”

His own mouth opened in shock as he pulled his leg up and it was as clear as ever. There is no redness on it. “What the hell? It was red and painful, but now it was as if nothing happened.

“Okay, don’t freak out. I think you have the ability to heal yourself. That is why you had such a headache after you met the creepy man,” Nessa told him.

“What? That is insane! People can’t heal themselves. It isn’t biologically possible,” he said with an edge of panic in his voice.

Nessa chose to handle this since she was the least dramatic of the three of us. “It is true. I don’t know how, but I have a weird ability too. I can read minds.”

“Doubtful. I have never met anyone who can really read minds.”

“Try me,” Nessa said challenging him.

“Okay, what am I thinking?”

A few seconds tick by before Nessa’s eyes flashed up at him and a grin spread across her face.

“Really, thanks for the complement. That’s very flattering and my breasts thank you.”

Alarm crossed his face as he realizes she was telling the truth. “How is all this possible? What about Noah and Cora? Do they have abilities too?” Shane asked, baffled.

“Umm yes, but we can’t show you here. When we stop at the next hotel we can show you. You have to trust us; we were thrown into this just like you. Everything that is happening is not by choice,” I said, speaking up.

“So this is not a coincidence? Did you know that this would happen to me?”

“We suspected you would have some sort of ability, but we were not sure what. We didn’t want to freak you out until we knew,” I told him.

Noah pulled out of the parking lot and headed back onto the road as we continued our conversation. We were heading back to the same state we just ran from. I felt like a masochist, walking back into a disaster. At this point though, any answer was better than no answers.

“So what are your abilities at least,” he pleaded as curiosity flooded his features.

“I can dissolve and Noah can mimic other people’s looks, like a shape shifter of sorts. Yeah, they are both far-fetched, but I promise that we are not lying to you. We are freaks and I don’t know why the creepy man wanted us all together. I wish I knew.”

“So if I cut myself, will it heal?”

“I don’t know, but probably,” I answered.

“What if I bit myself, since I don’t exactly have a knife,” he inquired.

“Try it, see what happens,” I said.

Showing no fear, Shane held up his arm and bit down on it. “Ouch damn it!” Blood started to well there and I began to wonder if we were actually wrong. Then he wiped the blood away with a napkin and the marks had disappeared.

“Cool trick,” he said. “Does this make me invincible?”

“I don’t know, maybe. You are the first person I have ever met that has had the ability to heal,” I told him.

“Maybe the creepy man is a mad scientist! What if we are just his science experiments?”

“Hmm, that could be quite possible for all we know. This is all just as new to us. A week ago, we didn’t even have abilities,” Nessa jumped in.

“Umm, it gets slightly worse,” I said wincing.

“Yeah, we might have bigger problems than being science experiments,” Noah added.

I could see the alarm on Nessa and Shane’s faces and dreaded the fact that I have to tell them what I was about to reveal.

“There was an incident in Alaska that is a little bizarre. The whole state just vanished. All they found were massive amounts of dust sprinkled in the snow. They have called it a state of emergency right now.”

“What?! Are you positive? That seems a little far-fetched,” Nessa said doubtfully.

“Yes, we are positive. We read it in the morning paper while we were doing laundry. Besides, it is like the pot calling the kettle black. We are just as far-fetched as that incident,” Noah replied.

“Great, we are going to have to keep up with the news just a little better than we have. What if it happens again? All of this is beyond really trippy,” Shane admitted.

I sat back in a comfortable silence as the collective took in the tragic news and processed it. No one said a word until we reach the outskirts of Florida and had to stop for gas. The sun was still waning in the sky and there were storm clouds on the horizon.

“Noah can you pump the gas? I will get the oil for the engine, and Cora can get the snacks for everyone,” Nessa asked.

“Sure thing, it’s another town and another gas station. Let’s try to make it quick though, I want to make it to Tennessee by late evening so we can stop,” Noah said.