Gravity (16 page)

"This must be
Ryan Grey's room
. The room is
just as I imaged it would be. The word Ryan Grey scrawled in ink in
Red's journal told me a lot more than a name."

We
step inside and the floor
creaks.

Dash continues,
"Ryan Grey is the one Violet is avoiding talking about. But from
that moment, my eyes connected to those pages, a story was coming
to light."

"We're supposed to be
looking for Red."

"Ryan Grey is still
important."

The details of his room show an exciting
personality and a talent for drawing like Dash. Dash pictures who
this person is and I'm learning from what he pieces together. He
looks beside the bed on the floor. He kneels, combing his fingers
through the rug as if something happened there. I can't grasp the
images but Dash feels like something bad had happened on the floor.
His fingers brush against every object as he passes.

"Why are you touching
everything?"

"Brief feelings
are attached to them—sorrow, depression, anger..." Dash's fingers
drag along the bed, "love."

"You're like psychic, but with objects." I'm
impressed with Dash but I'm not saying it out loud. The massive
vinyl collection on the wall captures my attention. Ryan Grey has
good taste. "It's hard to see the guy's face in Violet's head. Do
you think there's a picture somewhere?" I pull out an album by The
Stones.

"There's one in
Red's room," Dash says
. We go
to leave, but Dash stops to look at the room again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just
taking it all in. This guy is someone Red trusted."

We
walk quietly not to disturb Violet
who I can hear talking to Gabriel.

"Hey." I
whisper. "You heard me before, right? I mean, I didn't say anything
out loud."

"Yeah, I heard you.
It's pretty cool that you can project your voice into another's
head like that."

"No, not cool. I have
no idea how I did that. How do I know I'm not thinking my thoughts
into someone's head that I don't want to hear?"

"You mean it's never
happened before?" Dash stops at Red's door.

"No. Maybe it's this
place. Gabriel got zapped and you see weird shit. Tell me you've
seen things like this elsewhere?"

"My senses seem to be
sharper here." Dash slowly opens Red's bedroom door.

"Bet you could
smell
dumpster
boy
right now."

"Yep."

"Sucks to be you."

"There on his
nightstand." Dash points to a
framed photo of the unforgettable Red, Violet in the middle
and an attractive guy with light brown hair and gray eyes. They're
all smiling. Ryan Grey and Violet have their arms around each
other. Red stands next to Violet with distance between them. She
looks different; younger and happier—an expression I have yet to
see. Dash snatches up the photo. His pupils shrink and enlarge
repeatedly like a camera lens. I have never seen eyes move so
strangely.

“
I’m trying to
understand what you’re doing with the photo, but your thoughts look
as bad as Red’s journal. I hope it’s not perverted." I snatch the
photo out of his hands breaking his concentration.

“
Let's find her
room." Dash proceeds out of Red's room.

He moves
quickly like drug sniffing dog. He
goes to a door across from Grey's room. We open it to find an
empty closet. "That's weird. I can feel this is her
room."

"No wonder she sleeps
in Red's room."

Dash strokes
the door frame like some visually impaired person trying to find a
door knob. "There used to be more of it but it's like she shrunk
herself."

"English!"

"I think she
doesn't think much of herself so her room got smaller. I think this
place reacts to us."

“Reacts to us,
how?”

“
I’m not sure.
But Red is truly amazing. I'd love to meet him for real. I have a
million questions for him”

"Well, I only
have one. Is Violet taken or not."

***

Gabriel

She saw me
freak out. How embarrassing.

I flip
my
hood back on. Violet keeps
her distance like she should, but it doesn't help that I'm sitting
here quietly. What am I supposed to say? Sorry, going into Red's
room felt like I was being punished for being the monster that I
am. It painfully overpowered me. It could have been very
embarrassing. Pain often feels good when I'm in that state. I
could’ve easily lost control finding myself with an audience as I
explore the exciting energy. Arousal is a private thing.

"You're like Red. You both have the same
ability."

I
peek up from my hood. When I first
approached Red in the dream, it wasn't this intense. Red had said
'I'm sorry'.

"I
know."
I wish she could
understand what makes me feel this way. Why am I like this? What
purpose does it have? How can someone like me help her?

"What's wrong with me?" I ask.

Violet doesn't answer. Instead she looks to
the floor for a possible answer. She can’t help me. "You don't know
do you."

"I know Red can help
you. He knows everything."

"But he's not
here." Basically she is telling me I'll have to suffer until we
help her find Red—her boyfriend. My mouth twists when I think of
the word.

"There is
something I can help you with? I can show you how to see energy
auras. You can tell a lot about someone by seeing the color around
their body." She tries to smile. His big problem will have to wait.
What is the point of looking at people's auras if I can’t even go
near people? I know she's only trying to help. It's nice to have
someone who cares about me. She is too beautiful to have such a sad
face. I must have been staring at her too long because her cheeks
turn red. I'm surprised I could do that.

"I'm sorry you have
to be so far away from everyone."

"I'm used to it."

"How did you live out
there?" She says 'out there' like it's a different planet. Maybe it
is to her. She lives here where's there's no one. It must be
heaven.

"I don't know."
Thoughts of my
life are like a
nightmare I wish to forget. All the things I have to go through
each day. It isn't a normal life. There is nothing human about it.
My tearing eyes betray me. I'm such a waste of space.

Violet
grasps
the seam of her top.
She wants to console me but she can never touch me. I'm a predator
with an insatiable lust for taking what does not belong to me.
She’s far away and I yearn for a different connection. Comfort and
love are long lost feelings thrown away by my mother. I'm a
different person now and have no feelings left for that woman, yet,
the first experiences of love is something I thought I wouldn't
yearn for again.

“
I’m sorry.”
She quickly wipes her eyes. How is this stranger crying for
me?

“
Don't be. I’m
sorry, Violet. I know you need my help but I have nothing to offer
you. I think I might be useless. Red made a mistake.”

“No. Red was
specific.” Her eyes light up. “I believe he picked you for a reason
like he did the others. Red is particular in everything. You are
not a mistake. If Red believes in you, I believe in you.”

“I can’t do
anything.”

“That’s not true.
Things will fall into place. They have too.” Her eyes flutter.

What if they
don't?

Alex clears his
throat and Violet gets up.

“It’s getting late and it’s a school night. I
hope you’ll help.”

I
rise to my feel and see Dash place a
long rolled paper into his back pack.

"Please bring it back
when you're done." Violet says.

“
What is that?”
I wipe my wet face.

“A map. Dash can read
it. Just be careful with it.” She folds her hands.

"Don't worry I
know where he lives," Alex joke
s. A smile appears on her face, but only for a few
seconds.

I feel a
litt
le left out. I'm not sure
what I missed but it doesn't matter anyway. I swing my backpack on
his shoulder. I contemplate sleeping in the abandon building. It
seems pretty safe and Violet is near.

Alex leans
in
to Violet's ear. I can hear
his low voice say, "he has nowhere to go. He's not homeless; he
just has it really bad at home."

"How
bad?"

I'm shocked and
ashamed to hear them talk about me.

I hear Alex
continue with
the word
"...disgusting."

I glare
at him. Why doesn’t he mind his own
business?

Violet nods and
Alex’s face contorts. “Wait I didn’t mean here—"

"It'll be fine. You know the way." She
dismisses him. “Goodnight Dash. Goodnight Alex.”

Alex
glares at me.
You better not touch her!
I hear his
voice clearly without his mouth moving. His threatening expression
softens when he looks at Violet. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I can't look at her. "What did he say?" I
don't mean to growl at her, but Alex is beginning to piss him
off.

"
You're staying here with
me.” She tilts her head.

With her!

Alex stares
daggers before shutting the door.
If you can hear me, asshole, I'll be back
tomorrow.
His voice is loud
and clear in my head.

"
I want you to stay
here." Violet blocks the path to the door.

My jaw
drops.
“I can’t.”

“
Yes you can. I
know you have nowhere to go and you'll be safe here. I have a room
you can stay in. Food. You need to stay here." I avert my eyes away
from her. This is inconceivable. She doesn't know what's she's
asking. What does that asshole know?

"Come, I'll
show you where you'll sleep." Violet heads toward the staircase.
"Gabriel."

I sigh and follow her up the stairs to the
top and look down to see the whole layout of the cabin. She stops
in front of a door I swear wasn't there before. Violet steps inside
walking to the other end of the bedroom to give me space to
enter.

"I have a
secret." Violet says
. I walk
into the room, listening to her intently. "You might as well know."
She turns on a lamp. "This is
your
room. You
weren't supposed to move in until you’re old enough. But Red warned
me and Alex
—"

"My room?"

"Yeah. Well
yo
u might as well live here
now as long as you... want to." She stands awkwardly by the window
as I look around at
my
room. It's exactly how
I'd have it. Large queen size bed with black sheets; a writing desk
with various writing pens; a leather bound notebook to write in.
The walls are painted a deep red and the wood flooring is dark.
There are pictures of trees framed on the wall. A gold framed
painting of a crow catches my eye. As I approach for a closer look,
the feathers on the bird glisten. Its eyes look so real, I swear
they follow me. The space is clean and neat unlike my room at my
mother's house. A shelf of graphic novels I'd been meaning to read
lay in colorful neat stacks. I have my own bathroom.

"You like
it?"

"Yes."
It’
s like someone read my mind
and created my dream room.

"The Sanctuary
i
s made by Red and everyone in
it helps create a part of it. This part is you. As you change, the
room will change with you."

Violet glances beside her at a leafy
arrowhead vine. "You like plants?" She looks at the leaves
curiously.

I
sit on my new bed, touching the
sheets. It's been so long since I've used a bed. "Yeah, I like
plants." I can't believe Red knows this about me. “There is
something Zen about growing a life form out of the
earth.”

“
Your voice is
different.
It seems to have a
lighter tone to it.” She smiles.

“Really?”

“You have a nice
smile when you’re happy, Gabriel.”

I
blush
. I'm not used to pretty
girls complimenting me. She turns back to the plants, tapping her
finger on her bottom lip. I wonder what she's thinking.

"What's old
enough?"
I can't seem to meet
her eyes. "You said I wasn't supposed to move in until I'm old
enough."

"When Red knows
you're ready to learn the truth about yourself," she looks away
from me, "or when a hybrid needs his help."

Disappointed,
I
asked, "I'm too young to
know the truth. Is that why you commented on how young I
am?"

"Usually Red
tries to get people like us when they've reach a certain age.
Sixteen is a young age. You're still in school and teenagers are
dependent on their families. He wouldn't have taken you
now."

"But I’m not
dependent on my family." I realize I sound bitter.

"I don't know
why he didn't retrieve you earlier. I'm sorry. I don't know the
exact reasons he picked you three. He has reasons for
everything."