Finding ELE (ELE Series #2) Written By: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels (8 page)

"Chris was giving your daughter a hard time
again." Tony speaks for me.

"I think I broke his hand." I say a bit
confused.

The first thing I see flash in my mom's eyes
is pride. I have to stifle my laugh after seeing that emotion. Then
she asks, "How did you break his hand?"

"I'm not sure, he had his hand on my
shoulder and I just tried to remove it and then he was screaming on
the floor." I start panicking again, worried that I'm going to get
in trouble. Can I go to jail for that? Is there even a jail on the
outside anymore?

My mom looks at me and suddenly her
expression changes to the same one Tony had earlier. She's looking
at my eyes. She doesn't say anything though. She turns to Molly.
"Let's get you to your room honey. I made you a room next to
Willow's."

Molly nods her head. "Thank you."

The four of us walk Molly to her room. We
get her situated with a lantern light then let her have her
privacy.

My mom immediately leads us into my room
next. She closes the door and lights another lantern that I hadn't
realized was in here. "What's going on Willow? Your eyes, they are
starting to look like mine now."

"What?" I ask shocked. I run over to the
nightstand where I kept the hand held mirror that Tony gave me last
night. I pull it up and sure enough mixed into the swirls of purple
and blue, is neon yellow. The red spot stands in an even more
bizarre contrast.

"You must have our ability now!" Tony seems
to realize.

"Oh man, I really did break Chris's hand." I
feel dread in the pit of my stomach. I start pacing the room. Chris
is an absolute butthead, and sure he deserved to be sucker punched
but to have his hand broken? I don't know. "I should go heal
him."

"Yeah, I don't think he wants you anywhere
near him." Tony laughs.

My mom gives him a disapproving look before
she tells me. "Look, I will go check on him in a moment. Right now
we need to figure out what we are going to do about your eyes. I
don't know if I'm ready to tell the whole compound about your
multiple abilities yet. When they see your eyes though, I know the
questions will begin."

"I bet Chris has already leaked the news
anyhow." Tony says respectfully to my mom.

She shakes her head. "No, I had Lee speak
with him. He shouldn't be sharing Willow's secret."

"I don't know about that mom. He called me a
Reaper in front of everyone." Anger starts bubbling up inside
me.

Anger flashes across her face and she
clenches her jaw. "Well, we’ll have to have another talk with him
tonight then. For the meantime, let’s still try to keep your
abilities on the down low." I giggle at her use of the phrase 'down
low.' Her mood lightens with my laughter. "Do you know how your
eyes are changing colors so much? Just a few hours ago they were
mostly light blue."

"I've been thinking about that. I think they
are taking on the predominant color of the most recent power I've
used." I say.

"That makes sense." Tony interjected. "You
can still see the other colors but there is only a trace amount.
Other than the red of course, that seems to be a constant."

"Okay, so can you work on using another
power tonight so your eyes aren't neon yellow? The other colors are
fine, but everyone will notice if you suddenly start looking like
one of us." My mom tells me.

"I can do that, I think." Although, I'm not
sure which one I should try. "Anyone need to be healed?" They shake
their heads. I briefly consider reading their minds but that's the
one power I feel guilty using. Sometimes I think of horrible and
stupid stuff. I wouldn't want anyone to read my mind. I decide to
go invisible.

My mom gasps and I chuckle. "I don't know if
I will ever get totally used to you being able to do all of this."
My mom smiles in my direction. She tries to keep looking at where
she last saw me.

"Don't worry, I'm not even used to all of
this." I say. I slowly focus on turning back visible again. "So,
are they purple yet?" I ask.

My mom shakes her head.

Tony looks closer. "Well, I can see that the
neon doesn't seem as bright. Maybe it takes a few minutes."

"Hopefully by tomorrow you will have purple
eyes again." My mom says. She sees my worried expression then adds.
"If not, then that will be fine too. I will tell everyone if I have
to."

"Okay." I say. I look down feeling a little
bad about tonight's events. "I'm sorry mom." I say quietly.

She puts her finger under my chin and makes
me look up at her. "Don't ever be sorry for standing up for
yourself. I'm sure Chris had it coming."

Tony says, "Yep!"

"I love you no matter what and don't listen
to jerks like Chris. You are perfect just the way you are." She
looks so sincere that I nearly cry in relief. I try and hold back
the tears as she pulls me into a hug.

"I love you." I say.

"Love you too honey." She pushes my hair out
of my face.

"I need to go check on Chris." She turns to
Tony. "Let's leave Willow to get her beauty sleep."

He nods. "Goodnight Willow."

"Goodnight." I say to both of them.

Tony opens the door for my mom and they
start to head out.

"Wait." I say to my mom. "I promised I'd
tell Sabby a story tonight."

She smiles. "Okay, I’ll take you to his room
on the way down."

I follow her and Tony out. She leads me down
one flight of stairs and then over to Sebastian’s room.

I walk inside and close the door behind me.
"Sabby?" I call out.

"Wello!" He shoots up from the bed and runs
up to me, giving me a tight squeeze. This time my body is stronger
and I don't crumble under his grip. "I no think you come." He
says.

I pull gently on his curls. "How could I
ever forget you Sabby?"

He gives me a contagious grin and my world
instantly feels just a little bit brighter. I lead my brother over
to the bed and hop in next to him. The lantern light bathes the
room in a gentle glow. I look around the room. It's much like mine
with two double beds. Some of my mom's clothes are strung out on
the other one. I'm glad that Sebastian doesn't sleep alone in here.
Kicking my shoes off, I scoot closer to Sebastian and he rests his
head on my shoulder.

"Once upon a time...." I tell him a story
about a world where everything is right and life ends in a happily
ever after. Then I fall asleep with my little brother curled up
beside me.

I wake up in the morning still holding
Sebastian in my arms. Rain is pounding on the rooftop and windows;
something I haven’t heard in what seems like forever. Memories of
my childhood flood my mind. I remember playing digital games with
my family and putting on puppet shows during stormy weather.

I glance over and see my mother curled up on
top of the covers in the bed beside us. She looks so young and
innocent when she sleeps; a major contrast to her outward
appearance during the day.

As if she senses me looking at her, my
mother’s eyelashes begin to flutter. A smile fills her face as she
takes us in. “It’s so good to see you two together again.”

I smile back and give Sebastian a little
squeeze. He stirs and nestles in closer to me. I put my cheek
against his head and breathe in the scent of baby shampoo.

Thunder claps, rattling the windows, which
startles Sebastian. He looks frightened until he realizes that I’m
here next to him. “Wello, whatchu doing in my bed?”

My mom and I laugh. Gosh this little guy is
too cute for his own good. He rubs his eyes with his little pudgy
hands and lets out a big yawn.

“
I guess I fell asleep while telling
you your bedtime story last night. I don’t mind though; you’re
awful cute when you wake up.” I kiss his forehead.

Sebastian gets a stubborn look on his face.
“I not cute Wello, I hansome. Mommy tells me so.”

I smile. “Is that right…” I give his curls a
ruffle and climb out of bed. The cold hard floor hits my feet
causing me to shiver. I instinctively wrap my arms around myself
for warmth.

I look to my mom who is still trying to wake
up. “So what do y’all do when it rains like this? You know, to pass
the time and all.”

She rubs her hands over her eyes and
stretches her arms up over her head. “Well honey,” she says while
still yawning. “Usually we use this time to strategize or train. We
always have someone watching the outside, but there’s usually no
use going out when the weather is like this.”

I nod my head and say, “Well, I guess I
should go talk to Molly. I don’t think we’ll be able to take her
home till this weather clears up.” My mom nods again and slowly
gets out of bed. “Alright then. I’m going to get back to my room
and get ready for…well, whatever it is we do today.”

"Sounds good. By the way, your eyes are
mostly purple now." My mom says.

I instinctively reach my hand up to them.
"So it worked?"

She nods her head. "There's still a bit of
neon yellow in there, but it's only as noticeable as the other
shades. The purple is the most prominent. It’s quite amazing."

I laugh, "Well that's me, amazing
Willow."

"You are amazing honey. I'll see you at
breakfast. Love you." She smiles.

"Love you guys too." I quietly shut the door
behind me not knowing the sleeping schedules of the others. For all
I know they stayed up half the night and partied downstairs. I tip
toe to my room but just as I reach for the doorknob, Molly’s door
opens slightly. I let go of the door handle and walk next door.
Molly’s head pokes out and she lets out a little squeal and jumps
back when she sees me.

I guess she wasn’t expecting my face to be
the first thing she saw when she opened the door. “Hey,” I say. “I
didn’t mean to scare you. I was just going to my room when I saw
your door open. I figured I’d come and see how you were doing.”

She purses her lips together and then
squints her eyes. “Why were you returning to your room? Were you
out…you know. All night?” Her eyebrows wiggle up and down.

I stare at her with nothing less than shock.
“Excuse me?” I question. I’m not sure I heard her exactly right. Is
she accusing me of what I think she is?

Molly leans against the door jam. “Because
I’m not going to judge you or anything.” She examines her nails
while talking to me. “I mean, Tony, is that his name?” She doesn’t
wait for me to answer before she moves on. “Yeah, Tony is pretty
hot. I wouldn’t blame you. But you really do need to be careful and
all. We don’t want anything to happen, if you know what I mean.”
And with that she pats my stomach.

I think I’m going to puke! I was totally
wrong. This girl is nothing like Claire. What happened to that nice
sweet little girl that we rescued yesterday? I not so gently remove
her hand from my stomach. “Uh, no. I was with my little brother in
his room. I fell asleep telling him a bedtime story.”

Molly’s expression never sways. “Yeah,
okay,” she says. “Whatever you say.”

I clear my throat. This is getting awkward
so I try and change the subject. “So, I guess you’ve noticed it’s
raining outside.” She nods her head. “So, after talking with my
mother this morning, we’re going to have to postpone taking you
home until the weather lets up.”

Molly gives me a half smile and says, “K,
guess we’ll just have to find something to do in the meantime.”

Oh great. I guess I expected her to be
maybe…disappointed or something. She seems indifferent now and it
doesn’t make much sense to me. Was the quiet, gentle girl I spoke
to yesterday just in shock? I can tell this girl is going to be a
hand full. I begin to wonder if I can pass off responsibility of
her to my mom today.

We stand there for a few moments in an
awkward silence. I finally break it, “Well, I’m going to go and get
ready. I guess I’ll see you down at breakfast in a few?”

She perks her head to the side. “Yeah, sure.
Whatever.” She turns back into her room and closes the door. I roll
my eyes for dramatic effect and march back to my room. Maybe I was
wrong and her super power isn't just invisibility, perhaps she
suffers from extreme mood swings. I've never seen someone's
mannerisms change in such a short period of time.

***

The rain is still beating against the
windows as I stroll into the dining area. Thankfully someone had
left me a change of clothes in my room the night before. I’m
feeling pretty good and refreshed…until I see Molly flirting full
speed ahead with Tony. I stop dead in my tracks and watch the
master at work. Flirting with full on hair flipping and lip biting.
I let out a sigh and walk over to their table. Molly bats her
eyelashes at Tony a few more times until Tony sees me.

Like a rocket he jumps out of his seat so
fast I only see a blur. He stands like he’s at attention and ready
for inspection. “Willow,” he says and clears his throat. “I was
just talking to uh, Molly here. Waiting for you, of course.”

I scratch my head. “Yeah, okay. Well, I’m
here."

Tony waits for me to sit and then follows
suit. I guess we’re a little early for breakfast since it hasn’t
been put out yet. My bet is it’s almost ready though since the
smell of grits is starting to permeate the room. My stomach growls
loudly and Molly giggles. I roll my eyes.

We sit at the table in an awkward silence
for about a minute until people start walking in with huge metal
containers filled with breakfast. I am the first to hop up and I
nearly knock my chair over in progress. Tony catches it before it
hits the floor. "Thanks." I say quickly before I run over to get in
line.

A few people manage to get in behind me
before Tony and Molly claim their place in line. Something bizarre
is going on this morning. Molly is a completely different person.
Tony seemed freaked out that I caught him talking to the little
flirt. The most inexplicable thing that happened this morning is
that I felt a little something...like it was very small, but it was
there. I don't even want to say the word in my head but I will
anyway. Was I really jealous? I ponder on it while I make my plate
and heap all kinds of yummy breakfast fare onto it. There's no way
I would feel like that when it comes to Tony and Molly.