Surviving ELE (ELE Series #4) (7 page)

My mouth drops open. “How did you know?” I shiver, remembering the moment when I saw the declined stamp on Sabby’s passport.

He leans towards me and lowers his glasses just enough for me to see his white eyes again. “Reader, remember?” he says before using his index finger to push his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” I say even though I still haven’t gotten all of the details of what a Reader does.

“So, I was saying... My younger brother, Seth, was not accepted. Erik and I made the choice at that time to take Seth and fend for ourselves on the outside.”

I connect the dots. “You’re Erik’s brother?”

He shifts in his seat. “Yes.”

“Are you the one that left Molly in the woods?” I think back to the girl that we saved, the one that brought us here in the first place. She had yelled at Erik and told him that his brother left her there, defenseless against the Reapers.

He shakes his head and sighs. “No. Unfortunately, that was my brother Seth. He has some responsibility issues that we are working through.”

“Oh, good,” I say. Hopefully, Seth has worked through it and apologized to her profusely.

He thrums his hands against the table before continuing. “This is a long story, Willow. Are you going to let me tell it or are you going to keep interrupting me?”

My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “Yes, I’m sorry,” I say again.

“Thank you.” He gives me a humorous smile that tells me that he’s not nearly as annoyed by my questions as he’s letting on. I relax as he continues. “They didn’t want to let Erik and me leave. We basically had to fight our way out of the testing station. That’s how we got our first gun. We didn’t shoot anyone, but we did have to do a lot of threatening to get by the officials. I didn’t think we were going to make it out of the station alive but a doctor, who must have had a lot of authority, came out of the shelter and told the officials to let us go. It was really odd because the doctor looked right at me that night and told me that I’d better not make him regret this and that I better stay alive.” Morgan runs his hands through his dark brown hair before he continues. “There were a lot of other rejects outside the shelter’s perimeter that night. Since my brothers and I used to go to this camp every year as boys, we decided to set up camp
here. Erik offered the other rejects the option to come with us. That’s how my brother became their leader. This all happened at night. The following morning when I went outside, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. I remember there wasn’t a cloud in sight that day, just a beautiful endless, blue sky. Within an hour, I was struck blind.”

I can feel the emotions running off him. The fear he had when he couldn’t see, the depression when he realized it was permanent, then the wonderment when he experienced his gift. Above all of the feelings, I feel a powerful sense of love and gratefulness. “You were struck blind but yet you still get to see the things you love most. Through the person you love,” I whisper in awe.

He turns to me in surprise and nods his head slowly. “I forget that you have Erik’s gift too. You can feel my emotions.” He smiles wistfully. “Yes, I still get to see the things I love most. All I have to do is take my wife’s hand and she shows it to me.”

My heart warms. What an amazing love story. I want to ask him about her, but I’m hesitant to change the subject again... “How does your power work?”

“With a single touch I can see everything you’ve seen, felt, been through. You name it, I read it.” He rubs his chin with his thumb and index finger as if deciding whether he should add something. Thankfully, he does. “I know that you have been through a lot, Willow. I also know that you have so many different gifts but you still don’t understand completely how you have obtained them.” He puts both of his hands on the table and leans towards me. “Would you like to know the answer?”

My eyes widen as I stare at him. Do I want to know? If I know, will someone be able to replicate it? I look to Alec.

“It’s up to you, Willow,” he says as if he can read my thoughts. He sits back in the chair and crosses his left foot over his right knee.

I nod my head and then remember that Morgan can’t see me. “Yes, please.”

“I’m not going to tell you anything that you haven’t already guessed. You injected just enough of the red shot to obtain the power that a Reaper has. Just like you thought, you
are
able to reap abilities, but you don’t take everything from the person, just the right dose. You are nothing like the Reapers you’ve seen. You are a very powerful, yet grounded, young woman who cares deeply.” He smiles and adds, “Your mother would be very proud of you.”

A tear slips from my eyes as I hear his words. I let out the breath that I’d been holding. It’s a relief to finally hear the answers. In the back of my mind, I had always wondered if one day I would lose touch with my humanity and become a full-blooded Reaper. To know that this won’t happen removes a heavy burden from my shoulders. “Thank you,” I tell him. “Please don’t share this with anyone else,” I add.

“I agree with your fears. This knowledge is not meant for the world to know. The last thing we need is for your type of powers to fall into the wrong hands. I will make sure that my brother and our people help you stop Zack. He can’t be allowed to continue down this path.”

“Thank you,” I say, relieved.

“You are most welcome.” He smiles and changes the subject. “So you can read minds, huh?”

I nod my head again, and then I roll my eyes.
He can’t see you!
I try to etch it into my brain. “Yes, I can.”

“Can you read mine now?” he asks with an amused expression.

“Um, yeah I can. Do you want me to?” I ask, confused.

He nods his head. “I just wanted to see how well it works. I haven’t run into any mind readers yet.”

“Okay...” I say a little uncertainly. I close my eyes and focus on opening up that channel that lets me read thoughts. I hear him so instantly that it startles me.

“I thought that you should know that Alec’s love for you still runs very deep. He is trying his best to be your friend but it’s hard for him. He’s a very good man. I know that you have a kind heart. Tread lightly with him. In time you two will be able to rekindle your friendship...”
I see his eyebrows rise up over his glasses.
“Act like I just said something funny. Tell him I told you that now that I’ve seen you that I think you are a real babe.”

I laugh nervously and close down that gift. I turn to look at Alec, who is watching us curiously. “He said that I am a babe.”

Alec laughs, but his eyes still hold that warmth towards me. “Yes, you are.”

I look away shyly. “Yeah, but I bet your wife is a bigger babe,” I tell Morgan.

“She’s hotness personified.” Morgan smiles like a man in love should.

That earns a laugh from Alec and me.

A knock sounds on the door and a second later Erik peeps in. He smiles and his black eyes light up when he sees me sitting next to Alec. “You found your man, I see!”

The humor we found a moment ago trickles away. Erik notices it too, or feels it with his gifts. “Oh.” He holds his index finger up. “Just a moment.” He backs out of the room and closes the door.

I raise my eyebrow in question at his weird behavior. Morgan laughs and Alec sits there quietly. I wonder if there will ever be a time in which this won’t be a sore subject.
Give it time,
I remind myself of Morgan’s words.

Erik knocks on the door and opens it again. He has a grin on his face as he says, “Willow, Alec! I’m so glad to see you. It’s been a while and I’ve been
wondering what had become of you two.” I can’t help but raise my eyebrow even higher at him. He rolls his eyes. “It wasn’t any better, was it?”

I shake my head and laugh at his absurdity. Alec does too, which breaks a layer of the icy tension in the room. “It’s good to see you too, Erik,” I say.

“So your theory on pressing that rewind button didn’t work, did it?” Morgan pokes fun at his slightly younger brother.

Erik hangs his head in mock shame. “Not for me at least. If only I were like Willow. I’d have picked up on the coolest gift ever by now.”

“What is the coolest gift ever?” I ask, even though I can think of quite a few that top the list.

He drops the shame act and takes a seat. “I call it rewinding. Well, I guess then I’d have to call it fast-forwarding too...”

“In English, please,” Alec jokes with him.

This doesn’t bother Erik in the least. I realize now that both brothers are quite fond of Alec. He couldn’t have been in their presence for more than a day before he left them the last time. He just has that charismatic quality about him that makes everyone like him.

Erik answers. “The ability to move backwards and forwards through time. Like in a song or a movie where you can rewind and fast-forward to the parts you want to listen to or see. It’s by far the coolest thing ever. Quite rare too, as I’ve only seen one person with the gift.”

My curiosity is peeked. The things I could do if I were able to rewind and fast-forward through time. Could I save my mom? Stop Tony from being injected with that shot? “Is the person still here?”

Erik senses my emotions and says, “No, she left. We thought it would be best to send Virginia away for a little while.”

“Oh,” I say, not quite getting his point.

Alec questions him. “What do you mean? Why would you send her away?”

Erik looks from Alec to me. “We have a person with sight here who has reason to believe that this wouldn’t be the best gift for Willow to acquire at this time.”

Shock and frustration sucker punches me in the chest. “What exactly are you getting at, Erik?” I don’t hide the wounded pride from my voice or body language.

He moves in closer. His face takes on a gentle expression. I can see right through him as he tries to use his abilities to calm my escalating emotions.

I stand up so quickly that my chair falls down behind me. I put my hand up as if to block him. “Don’t you dare try that on me! I asked you a question.” My blood starts pumping. I don’t like the idea that someone would have to be protected from me. That they would know what gifts I should or shouldn’t ‘acquire.’

Both Alec and Erik stare at me in awe. In the silence, Morgan grabs Erik’s hand and a moment later mouths the word, “wow.”

I glare at them and ask, “What are you ogling at?” I don’t have to wait for their answer because I catch my reflection in a mirror near the door. I walk up closer to examine my eyes. They are a striking mixture of grey and silver. Just like Jennifer’s, except for the red fleck that never fades from my irises.

“What did you just do?” Erik asks curiously.

I force myself to calm down.
I’m not mad at Erik,
I tell myself as I take a seat. Avoiding his question, I ask, “Do you not have anyone here with silver eyes?”

He shakes his head. “I would imagine that this color must be just as unique as Virginia’s.”

“What color were her eyes?” I ask.

“The lightest shade of green I’ve ever seen in someone’s eyes. If I were to describe their exact color, I would say that they are the color of sea foam,” Erik tells me.

I can imagine the light, minty green in my mind. I decide to answer his original question. “I don’t know enough about the gift I get when my eyes turn this color. I barely know the girl who has this same gift and I imagine that she knows as little about her abilities as I do.”

Morgan raises his index finger, asking permission to interrupt. “I saw the girl, Jennifer, when I read you. I believe she has a gift that I can only describe as a shield. She can block gifts if she wants to and allow others to affect her when it serves her purpose. I was intrigued when I saw that particular memory. I thought about inviting her in immediately, in hopes that she would offer me her hand. But, by your memory, she seems to be quite closed off. I doubt she would be willing to drop her shield in order for me to get an effective reading.”

“Hmm. A shield. That is a good way of describing her gift,” I tell him. Then I turn my sights back to Erik. “Okay, enough side talk, I want to know why you think I shouldn’t be around this Virginia girl.”

Erik laughs at my bluntness. “I would hardly call Virginia a girl. She has to be close to eighty years in age.”

I scowl at him. “Erik...” I warn.

He puts both of his hands up in mock surrender. His face turns somber as he answers me. “Okay, okay. Look... It’s not a pretty story. Our seer saw what would happen if you obtained the gift to move through time. It wasn’t good, Willow. I am sure you didn’t mean to, but you hurt a lot of people when you tried to prevent certain events from unfolding. You can’t rewrite history without major consequences.”

I look down.
Could I have really done that?
I know immediately that yes, I could very easily have done what the seer foretold. Did I not just have the thoughts of saving my mom and Tony? If I had the means, I would have acted on them without question.

Alec puts his hand on my back and rubs it gently. He leans in and whispers in my ear, “I know you wouldn’t have done anything intentionally.”

I look at him with sad eyes. “Thank you.” I turn back to Erik. “You’re right in keeping me from her. I’m sorry that I failed in that test.”