Darkest Powers - The Awakening Part 9

"And if there is a note? I wanted to join your escape, Chloe, not your crusade to find Simon's dad."

"B-but he'll-"

"Save the day?" She managed a sarcastic lilt. "Rescue us from the mad scientists, cure us, and take us to a land of lollipops and unicorns?"

My voice hardened. "Finding him might not solve anything, but right now, we're a little short on options. What are you going to do instead? Go back to the Edison Group and say you're sorry, it was all a mistake?"

"I'm doing what I planned all along. We needed each other to get out. But that's all I wanted from you. I'd help you find the note, but I won't stay until morning to do it. I'm going home, to my dad."

That shut me up, if only because I was afraid I'd say something I'd regret, like ask if she meant her dad or her father. Did she know there was a difference? I doubted it.

"So your dad.... He's human?"

"Of course. He doesn't know anything about this. But I'm going to tell him."

"Is that such a good idea?"

"He's my dad dad," she snapped. "When he hears what my mom did...? Everything's going to be okay. My dad and me get along great. Better than him and my mom. They hardly even talk. I'm sure they only stay together because of us kids."

"Maybe you should wait a day or two. See what happens."

She laughed. "And join your band of superheroes? Sorry, but I'm allergic to spandex." Her sneakers scuffed on the concrete as she turned away. "Say bye to Liz for me."

"Wait!" I tugged off my shoe. "Take some money."

"Save it. I don't plan to ever get the chance to repay you."

"It's okay. Just take-"

"Keep your money, Chloe. You'll need it more than I will." She took a few steps, then stopped. For a moment, she stood there, then she said quietly, "You could come with me."

"I need to get Simon his insulin."

"Right. Okay then."

I waited for a good-bye but heard only the slap of her sneakers, then the creaking of the door as she left.

When Liz returned from patrol, she said she'd seen Tori leaving. I explained, then braced for a chewing out. Why had I let Tori take off? Why hadn't I gone after her? But all Liz said was, "I guess she didn't want to hang around," and that was that.

We were both quiet for a while, then Liz said, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. About me being dead."

"I handled it wrong. I should have made it easier for you."

"I don't think there's any way to make that easier."

We sat side by side in the darkness on a piece of cardboard I'd dragged over. My back rested against a crate. I'd stacked more around me, like a play fort. A small, dark, cold fortress.

"Why'd they kill me?" Liz asked.

I told her about the experiment and the genetic manipulation and what the file said about terminating us if we couldn't be rehabilitated.

"But I could could have been rehabilitated," she said. "If they'd just have been rehabilitated," she said. "If they'd just told told me what was going on, I wouldn't have been freaking out about poltergeists. I would have taken lessons, pills, whatever they wanted." me what was going on, I wouldn't have been freaking out about poltergeists. I would have taken lessons, pills, whatever they wanted."

"I know."

"So why? Why? Why?"

The only answer I had was that we didn't matter to them. We were subjects in an experiment. They'd try rehabilitation because we weren't animals, but Lyle House had been only a token effort, to prove to themselves that they'd made some attempt to save us.

They said they killed us because we were dangerous. I didn't believe that. I wasn't dangerous. Brady wasn't dangerous. Maybe Liz and Derek, but they weren't monsters. Derek had been willing to stay at Lyle House just so he wouldn't hurt anyone else.

They played G.o.d and they failed, and I think what they were really scared of wasn't that we'd hurt people but that other supernaturals would find out what they'd done. So they killed their failures, leaving only the successes.

That's what I thought. "I don't know" was what I said, and we sat quietly for a while longer.

Next time, I was the one to break the silence. "Thank you. For everything. Without you, Tori and I would never have gotten away. I want to help you in return-help you cross over."

"Cross over?"

"To the other side. Wherever ghosts are supposed to go. The afterlife."

"Oh."

"I'm not sure why you haven't gone. Have you...seen anything? A light maybe?"

A small laugh. "I think that's only in movies, Chloe."

"But you vanish sometimes. Where do you go?"

"I'm not sure. I still see everything here, but you can't see me. It's like being on the other side of a force field, where I can see-Well, I guess they must be other ghosts, but they seem to be just pa.s.sing through."

"Where do they come from?"

She shrugged. "I don't talk to them. I thought maybe they were other shaman spirits, but I..." Her gaze dropped. "I didn't want to ask. In case they weren't."

"Can you ask them now? Find out where you're supposed to be?"

"I'm fine."

"But-"

"Not yet. Just not yet, okay?"

"Okay."

"When you do find Simon and Derek, I'm going to take off for a while. I want to visit my nana, see how she's doing, and my brother, maybe my friends, my school. I know they can't see me. I'd just like to see them."

I nodded.

Liz wanted me to sleep. I closed my eyes to make her feel better, but there was no chance of drifting off. I was too cold, too hungry.

When she slipped out to patrol, I stretched and s.h.i.+fted. The chill of the concrete came right through my cardboard mat. I was crawling over to grab more layers when Liz reappeared.

"Good, you're awake."

"What's wrong? Is someone coming?"

"No, it's Tori. She's in front of the warehouse. She's just sitting there."

I found Tori crouched between the warehouse and a Dumpster, staring at the rusty bin, not even blinking.

"Tori?" I had to touch her shoulder before she looked at me. "Come inside."

She followed me without a word. I showed her the spot I'd made, and she settled in, crouching in her strange way.

"What happened?" I asked.

It took a moment for her to answer. "I called my dad. I told him everything. He said to stay where I was, and he'd come and get me."

"And you changed your mind. That's okay. We'll-"

"I went across the street to wait," she said, as if I hadn't spoken. "I was in an alley, so no one would see me before he got there. The car pulled up and I started to step out and-and I didn't. I kept telling myself I was being stupid, that I'd been around you too long, getting all paranoid, but I needed to see him first, to be sure. It was his car-my dad's. It stopped right where I said I'd be. It idled there, all the windows up, too dark to see through. Then a door opened and..." Her voice dropped. "It was my mom."

"She must have intercepted the call," I said. "Maybe they switched cars. Or she got to his car first, knowing you'd be looking for it. He was probably on his way, in her her car and-" car and-"

"I snuck away and called my house again, collect. My dad answered, and I hung up."

"I'm sorry."

More silence. Then, "Not even going to say 'I told you so'?"

"Of course not."

She shook her head. "You're too nice, Chloe. And I don't mean that as a compliment. There's nice, and then there's too too nice. Anyway, I'm back." She reached into her pocket, and pulled out something. "With food." nice. Anyway, I'm back." She reached into her pocket, and pulled out something. "With food."

She handed me a Snickers bar.

"Thanks. I thought you didn't have any money."

"I don't. Five-finger discount." Her sneakers squeaked on the concrete as she s.h.i.+fted farther onto the cardboard mat. "I've watched my friends do it plenty of times. But I never did. Know why?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Because I was afraid of getting caught. Not by the store or the cops. I didn't care about that. All they do is give you a lecture, make you pay it back. I was afraid of my mom finding out. Afraid she'd be disappointed in me."

A crackle as she unwrapped her candy bar, then broke off a piece. "Not really an issue now, is it?" She popped the chunk into her mouth.

Fifteen.

O NCE MY STOMACH HAD NCE MY STOMACH HAD something in it-even a candy bar-exhaustion took over. I wasn't asleep long before the dreams came-nightmares of never finding the guys, of Mrs. Enright killing Aunt Lauren, of Tori hog-tying me and leaving me for the Edison Group to find.... something in it-even a candy bar-exhaustion took over. I wasn't asleep long before the dreams came-nightmares of never finding the guys, of Mrs. Enright killing Aunt Lauren, of Tori hog-tying me and leaving me for the Edison Group to find....

I awoke to the sound of voices. I leaped up, breath jamming in my throat, searching the darkness for men with guns.

Beside me, Tori was snoring.

"Liz?" I whispered.

No answer. She must have been out on patrol.

After a moment, I decided I'd dreamed the voices. Then the sound came again-a psst-psst-psst, psst-psst-psst, too faint to make out the words. I strained to hear but could only catch that papery whisper. I blinked hard. The unending darkness became a landscape of black jagged rocks-boxes and crates. Only a pale moonglow made it through the thick grime coating the windows. too faint to make out the words. I strained to hear but could only catch that papery whisper. I blinked hard. The unending darkness became a landscape of black jagged rocks-boxes and crates. Only a pale moonglow made it through the thick grime coating the windows.

I caught a whiff of something musky, animal-like. Rats? I s.h.i.+vered.

The sound came again. A papery rustling, like the wind through dry leaves. Maybe that's what it was.

Dry leaves in April? When the nearest tree is hundreds of feet away?

No, it sounded like a ghost. Like the scary movie version, where all you hear is a wordless whispering that creeps down your spine and tells you there's something lurking just around- I shook myself, then stood and stretched my legs. I scuffed my sneakers against the cardboard carpet a little more than necessary, hoping Tori might stir. She didn't.

I exhaled, cheeks ballooning. I'd been doing well so far, facing my fears and taking action. This wasn't the time to bury my head and plug my ears. If my powers were abnormally strong...

Uncontrollable...

No, not uncontrollable. Dad would say that everything can be controlled if you have the willpower and the will to learn.

The whisper seemed to come from the next room. I picked my way through the maze of boxes and crates. As careful as I was, I kept knocking my knees against them, and each rap made me wince.

With every step I took, the whispering seemed to move farther away. I was clear across the warehouse before I realized the sound was was moving away. A ghost was luring me. moving away. A ghost was luring me.

I stopped short, my scalp p.r.i.c.kling as I peered through the darkness, boxes looming in every direction. The whisper snaked around me. I whirled and crashed into a stack of crates. A sliver jabbed into my palm.

I took a deep breath, then asked, "Do you w-want to talk to me?"

The whispers stopped. I waited.

"No? Fine, then I'm going back-"

A giggle erupted behind me. I spun, smacking into the crates again, dust flying into my mouth, my nose, my eyes. As I sputtered, the giggle turned to a snicker.