On the way to her house I decided to try my theory, even though my mom was jamming to some Amy Grant tune on the oldies Christian radio station. “So… I’ll check into that stuff for class tonight and let you know.”
“Awesome,” Lucy said, nodding. “I’m sure I’ll rest a lot better if you can figure out the answer to that one problem that really stumped me.”
“Me, too,” I agreed.
“What class is that for?” my mom asked.
I decided it would be better if only one of us answered, so I waited. “Biology,” Lucy replied, leaning forward like my mom may as well know everything. “We had such a difficult lesson today,” she continued. “Human anatomy!”
“Ugh, that does sound hard,” my mom agreed. And actually, it wasn’t even a lie. Mr. Horton had covered the digestive system today—though Lucy’s answer also fit with our c
The next couple of weeks flew by, and before I knew it, we were several basketball games into the season, and not only was the homecoming dance less than a month away, Valentine’s Day was just around the corner. Lucy and I had found a way to get Emma to “hypothetically” join in our conversation, and while all three of us were now having weird dreams, I was pretty sure it was due to the fact that we kept talking about monsters and not because of any actual bloodsuckers infiltrating our thoughts, though I couldn’t one hundred percent rule that out.On game days, we wore our uniforms to school, and the boys on the basketball team all wore matching shirts. I was standing at my locker thinking about whether or not Liam would notice I’d curled the ends of my hair when I heard what sounded like a cheer coming from down the hallway. Puzzled, I looked around and caught a few other narrowed eyes before I grabbed my books and headed in that direction.
My eyes probably resembled dinner plates, and for a moment, I thought Elliott was going to tell them he has a friend who fought in the war, but while everyone else puzzled over what he meant, he continued, “You see, as long as you continue to think about all of the things these men and women did for us, all those years ago, it’s like they’re still alive. I mean, think about it. George Washington died, like, two hundred years ago, right? But you’re still talking about him. Why? Because he was one awesome dude.” Most people couldn’t pull off that phrase the way that Elliott could. I looked around the room, and a lot of the kids were nodding. “Abe Lincoln? What do we know about him? Tall dude with a stylin’ hat, right? But… he made changes to our country that still impact us today. It’s important to know that stuff so we don’t screw things up. If we don’t know about the Emancipation Proclamation, we might do somet
“What are you doing here?” I asked as he sat down.“Nice to see you, too.”“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said, wondering if my tone had been harsh. “It’s just… Mrs. Neely has a class right now, doesn’t she?”“Yeah, but they’re good. They’re reading chapter twenty-seven and answering the questions at the end like good little robots.”“Ugh. Glad you didn’t make us do that,” Lucy said, pushing her tray aside.“Something tells me we’ll have to do it tomorrow,” I replied. “Class was fun.”“Yeah, sure was,” he agreed. “What time’s the game tonight?”“Seven thirty,” Lucy answered before I could get it out. “You comin’?”“Of course,” Elliott replied. “Drove all the way from Kansas City just to see it.”
We were getting cremated—and I don’t use that term lightly due to recent events—by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. Honestly, I don’t think anyone even cared, though. The cheerleading squad was on fire, and for the first time in forever, whenever we’d turn to the crowd to get them to participate in a cheer or chant, every single person in the audience was with us. It might’ve had something to do with the large, curly-haired man who was encouraging them from his seat about halfway up the section closest to the end of the court where our squad cheered. Every time I looked over at him, he had a huge smile on his face. Even Emma looked happy, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing her happy at a sporting event.My parents were sitting near Elliott, though not right by him. There’d been such a rush of students who wanted to sit next to him, he’d had to demand they scoot down so Emma could find a seat right next to him, a
We ended up losing by a pretty big margin, which was no surprise. In the locker room, I decided I would just throw my warm ups on over my uniform and go. I didn’t know if Elliott was planning on heading back to KC right then or if he’d come back to our house. While we’d had a nice dinner, I hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk to him without my parents, except for in the car, and he’d been pretty quiet then. Now, I at least needed to tell him thank you. I was surprised to find him waiting for me outside without a crowd around him but then realized he could easily convince anyone that they didn’t want to talk to him right now.It was dark and the wind was blowing, but he didn’t look cold at all as he stood beneath one of the many lights that illuminates the walkway to the school wearing the hat I’d given him for Christmas. He had his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and a grin on his face. I felt like I was rushing to
Valentine’s Day is a big deal at my high school. Maybe it is at every high school, but at mine in particular it’s a day when teachers don’t even bother to try to do anything, even the strictest ones, because they know none of us are paying attention.Throughout the day, students are called to the office over the loudspeaker whenever flowers arrive. Almost everyone gets something because all of our parents know this, so if you get your name called more than once, it means someone really likes you. You go up, read the card, and then put your bouquet, or balloons, or whatever on the table marked for your grade level and come back after school to get your stuff.So, my name was called during second period, and I went up to see that my parents had sent me pink roses, which was nice. And then my name was called again during third period, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cadence had also remembered the tradition and sent me some red roses. Her note
“What if…” Lucy began and then stopped, biting her lip for a second before she continued, “what if I didn’t like Jason, and I said no. Do you think Jess would be mad at me because the guy she likes asked me out?”I scrunched up my forehead and stared at her for a long while. “No,” I said. “How would that be your fault? You can’t help it that you’re gorgeous and awesome.”She gave me a cynical smile. “Still, I think she’d be mad. It’d be human nature to be jealous.”“I agree,” Emma said, nodding. “I think she’ll be mad at you no matter what you say.”“You think?” I asked, turning my gaze to Emma.“Yeah, I mean, if Liam asked Lucy out, you’d be mad, wouldn’t you? Even if she said no?”I expected Lucy to say her usual comment when it came to Liam, “barf,” but she was only
I nodded, thinking my mom likely assumed Elliott was going to brainwash me into believing that whatever had happened wasn’t so bad, and maybe, if it was as awful as she had me thinking it might be, he’d have to. He was sitting in her chair when I walked in, though he stood up as soon as he saw me. “Hi,” I said, hearing my mom fumbling with flowers and balloons behind me but not stopping to help her. “What’s going on?”“Let’s go outside,” he said, heading toward the backyard. I turned to see my mom making what would apparently be the first of a few trips inside, dropped my backpack by the door, and followed behind him.Despite the fact that it was still February, it was a fairly nice day. The sun was out, there was no snow on the ground, and only a light breeze rustled the remaining crinkled leaves in the yard. Elliott dropped into a chair on our back deck, and I sat next to him, doing my best to give him time
Cadence was glowing, holding both of her babies, one in each arm. I smiled at her and then focused on Josephina. She wasn’t crying now, but her little face was wrinkled as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Aaron had his hand on her back, beaming with pride as he looked at his little family. Jamie and another Healer, Ona, were cleaning up a tray table, but I caught his eye, and he winked at me. I hoped he could tell how grateful I was. If it wasn’t for him and his life saving blue magical healing powers, not to mention his medical skills, Cadence never would’ve come back to life.“Where’s my new favorite lil girl?” Elliott asked beside me.“Hey! I’m your lil girl. You’re going to have to think of something else to call her.” I threw an elbow at him.“Oh, I’m just teasing,” Elliott assured me. “Still, she is definitely lil. And she is my girl.”“I&rsqu
I’ll never forget the day my sister died. Even now, eight months later, sitting outside of Jamie’s operating room with Brandon’s hand in mine, every time I think about what happened that day, I get tears in my eyes. So many things could’ve gone differently, if only one of us would’ve made a different choice. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what I could’ve done differently myself that day, and even though everyone tells me there’s no point in dwelling on it, what’s done is done, it still haunts me sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep at night, when I can so vividly see Cadence hanging there in the air before she plummeted to the ground, the whoosh of power that left my hand just missing its mark.The new Hunter Leader is a guy named Daniel Bower. He came in from California a few months ago. He’s awesome. I’ve known him for a while. He’s the one who helped capture Professor Stewart after th
I continued to beg and plead with her to come back to us. At fifteen minutes, Scarlet’s whispers were loud enough for me to detect what she was saying to Cale. “How long will he give it?”“I don’t know.” Cale seemed agitated and upset, certainly more connected to my sister than Scarlet. “Not yet.”“Please... Cadey, please.” I felt as far and as deep as I could, thinking about how I’d had to go so very far into her brain to plant that dream. The clock continued to tick. Cadence still wasn’t breathing, and Jamie began to sound desperate. At twenty-five minutes, when Jamie said “thirty,” his voice broke. He knew that the chances of her coming back to us now, after this long, were minute at best. He couldn’t give up, though. We couldn’t give up.Aaron blew two breaths of air into my sister’s lungs, and Jamie started counting again.Something was diff
After Aaron finally moved forward, I followed, staying back a little bit. I didn’t want to see her like that. I had never seen a person’s body after they’ve fallen that far, but I could imagine what it was like.Only when I finally did take a few hesitant steps around the trees, Brandon’s hands on my shoulders, she didn’t look like I expected her to at all.Cadence was lying flat on the ground with her hands folded over her abdomen, sort of like Snow White. Her feet were out straight, and her hair was blown out around her. She looked absolutely beautiful. And still. So very, very still.Jamie was doing chest compressions, and when it was time to breathe, Aaron did that for my sister. Some sort of automatic pilot must’ve turned on for him because his movements were very robotic. Jamie would say thirty, and Aaron would breathe into my sister’s open mouth twice before Jamie started counting again.Tears were rolling
“No!” My scream echoed across the mountainside as I watched in horror as my sister fell. I cannot guide what I cannot see, and I didn’t have a chance to get a grip on her before she plummeted. My hands shot out in her direction, but the surge of power I’d sent to grab her went over her head. I saw a streak of blue do the same and knew Jamie had missed as well.Fumbling through Cadence’s stream of consciousness, I tried again, hoping I’d be able to figure out how to get my powers around her before she hit the ground, but she was moving too fast, and without my eyes on her, I wouldn’t be able to get a grip.Part of me wanted to at least jump into her head, to be with her, to let her know she was okay, but then, the thought of what she was about to endure, when she hit the tops of the trees and then cascaded down through them to the earth, I couldn’t bear the thought, and I knew she wouldn’t want me to see it.I
“Brandon!” I shouted, floating over to where he had disappeared. He didn’t answer, and I realized he must’ve fallen all the way in. “Dang it.” I looked around the battlefield. I knew he was safe down there, but I hated that he was in that miserable place. Cadence was firing at Daunator now while Christian moved in, to place the grenade, I assumed, so I thought perhaps she’d be safe for a few minutes. I decided to help Brandon.“Are you all right?” I asked, using my telepathy.“Thank goodness,” he thought, probably not even to me. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really dark in here.”“I know. Hold on, and I’ll get you out.”“If I hold on, won’t it be harder for you to get me out?”“All right smarty pants.” I needed to focus all of my energy if I was going to do this
“You okay?” Brandon shouted to me as he moved a little closer to where I was standing. The holes in the ground were not shaking now as much as they had been before, but they were still an obstacle we had to consider. I didn’t want him to get too close because of my tornadoes, but I was glad he was nearby.“Great,” I called back, sending another pile of creatures over the side of the mountain.Aaron was fighting his way through the crowd of black creatures, working his way to Cadence. The path was getting clearer, as far as the minions were concerned, but once he got within about a hundred yards of Cadence’s location, one of the Vampires that had been engaged with our forces closer to the top of the mountain broke off, clearly on his way to intercept the Guardian Leader.Whether he liked it or not, Aaron wasn’t alone now. I wasn’t sure where she’d come from, but Eliza was running parallel to him, fighting off
Moving the black creatures off of the ledge worked well, and I was just starting my second round when I realized my sister had taken off running toward Daunator. Christian had reached him already, a grenade in his hand. I prayed he didn’t get sucked down into another hole. The fact that Cadence was so far away from Aaron was worrisome, but he was busy with the creatures. While Cadence was slowed a few times by the minions sinking their teeth into her arm or grabbing at her heels, for the most part, they seemed to be letting her through, which seemed like a bad sign to me. Did Daunator want her to fight him?A blast of light illuminated the mountain, and then a wave of smoke obscured my view of Christian and Daunator. He’d thrown a grenade, the old kind, the ones he knew wouldn’t work. When the smoke cleared, Daunator’s laughter echoed through the air, and Christian went flying twenty feet in the air.Paul’s voice came over the IAC as I tos
Christian’s eyes widened. “Get out of here? We can’t. We have to get Daunator.”“We will. But for now, we need to go back and regroup. The most important thing is that you’re safe now,” Cadence explained to him.Christian was starting to freak out again. “No, Cadence, you don’t understand. We can’t just leave from here! We can’t just let him go!” His eyes were wild, and he reached forward and grabbed my sister’s shoulders. That lasted about half a second before Aaron grabbed him and pulled him off.“Listen, Christian, I agree. It’s important we come back and end this, but you need medical attention. And a good visit with Hannah.”And a shower, I thought to myself. But I was staying out of this one for the moment. I felt a stirring in the ground and a shift in energy somewhere further up the mountain. The argument was about to be moot.“No,