Jelly Cooper: Alien (13 page)

“Rhiannon, if you don’t…”

I hear the whispering, but it’s like I hear the words second hand.  I visualise one thing: picking up the can. 

My heart beating steady and slow, I breathe out at length and feel something reach out from within me. 

Hmm.
  Interesting.  I can
see
a silvery thread weaving its way through the air towards the can.  When I read Rhiannon’s mind, I could only
feel
the tentacle.  Now I’m trying to use it tangibly, I can see it.  I wonder if there’s any significance to this, or if anyone else can see it.  The thread caresses the can gently with translucent fingers, rocking it back and forth.  Concentrating, I push harder.  The thread reacts to the silent command and wraps its spidery tendrils around the can, harnessing it in a silver bridle.  Smiling, I lift my eyes.

Rhiannon shrieks. 
“Holy shit!  I thought you were
kidding
.  What’s going on?  What’s she doing?”

“Rhiannon?”
  Agatha breathes, her eyes locked on the can.

“Uh-huh.”

“Shut up.”

The can rises into the air.  It tilts from side to side, revolving in mid air like a circus trapeze artist in slow motion.

“Are we doing that?”

Agatha rolls he
r eyes.  “No, idiot. She is.”

I tilt my head and the can pitches to the left.  I nod
and the can bobs up and down in the air.

“This is awesome
,” Agatha whispers, jumping to her feet.  “Really awesome.”

I stand up
and the can climbs higher into the air and bobs expectantly, waiting.

“Agatha, sit back
down.  I want to try something.”

I hold out my arms and start to spin.  The can spins around me
and everything else blurs into a mosaic of swirls and colours.  Only the can remains clear, spinning though the air faster and faster.  It circles me like a moon.

Spinning to a
stop, I pause, letting the can still.

“Agatha.  Catch.”

With one toss of my head, I send the can sweeping through the air.

Agatha reaches out, fumbling as she tries to make the catch.  The can twists in her fingers
and falls to the floor.  She looks up, stricken.

I can’t help laughing.  “It’s not a problem, Agatha
.”  My eyes lock onto the can and I lift it until it hovers in front of her.

Hmm.
  I can spin it and throw it.  What else?

Sucking in a short breath, I reel
it in, letting it rest inches in front of my face.  I stare at it for a while, then I will the can to flatten.  In a hail of squeaking and crunching, it forms into a rough, bumpy, disk.

“
Okey dokey,” I whisper under my breath.  Spinning on my heel, I yank my head to the left and send it spinning through the air.  As it gathers speed, a rumbling noise swells in my head.  I push harder and launch it towards the furthest tree trunk in sight.  It impales the bark like an arrow. 

I walk towards the tree.  With no surprise, I see that the can is firmly embedded in the
trunk.  I turn back to face the others and I shrug.

“I can run if I need to.  I can read people’s thoughts, for what good it’ll do me, and I can fight back if I have to
.  I am getting the hang of these powers
way
quicker than I thought I would.”

I’m
thrilled.  Agatha, I notice with irritation, is frowning.

“What?”

“You
are
getting the hang of this a bit quick, don’t you think?”

Here we go.

“I know this may seem strange,” I say, not expecting Agatha to understand, “but it feels right.  It’s like second nature and the more I explore these different skills, the easier they become.”  I lift my shoulders.  “I just know what to do.  It’s like those people who have never played piano or guitar before and they can just play, straightaway, without any lessons or anything, you know?”

“Ooh,
I’ve got a cousin like that,” Rhiannon gushes.  “When he was six, he got a toy drum set and he could just play it, right from the start.  His parents were amazed.  They…”

She
stops, embarrassed.

Amused, I nod.

“That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about.  I can’t really explain it; I just know in my heart that this is the way it’s meant to be.  Anyhow, you should be pleased that I’m such a fast learner.  We don’t have that much time, remember.”

“
Woah up there.  What’s all this ‘we’ business?” Rhiannon splutters.  “I’m not a part of your freaky little gang.  I’m here against my will.”

She can’t get the words out quick enough, can she?  Witch.

Oh well, she does have a point I suppose.

Agatha ignores her, so I follow her lead and do the same. “You’re right, I
guess,” she says.

“Good
,” I check my watch.  “Time’s ticking on and we don’t want to get stuck here.  I’m going to skip the other stuff and move on to you, Ag, if you don’t mind.”

Agatha pales
.  Her eyes flit to the can.  I chuckle.

“Calm down,
it won’t be anything like that, I promise.”

“OK,”
she nods, nervous.  “Shall I sit, or stand?”

“Stand.
Rhiannon, you stand by her side, just in case.”

“Just in case?”
  Agatha yelps.  “What do you mean, just in case?”

I smile wickedly. 
“Kidding!  This’ll be a piece of cake, you’ll see.  Relax. Now, be still.”

I stare into Agatha’s eyes and conjure the deep pounding rhythm of my heartbeat.  I focus and block out everything except the pair of scared violet eyes
staring back at me.  I focus, I breathe, I reach. 

S
ilver arms shoot from my chest.  They fly through the air towards Agatha.  She giggles as the invisible bands wrap themselves around her arms and legs.  The moment I’m sure that Agatha is secure, I raise my eyes.

Nothing happens.

I feel a flutter of unease in my stomach and I flip it aside.  I can do this.  Piece of cake.  I push harder.

The air surrounding Agatha starts to tremble and vibrate
and
glow
.

“Jelly?”

“Stay calm, Agatha.  Everything’s OK – OK?”

“I’m getting warm!”

“It’s OK, Ag.  Just give me one more minute.”

Blowing out my cheeks, I
lift my head.  My eyes drill into Agatha’s.  She starts to rise, but makes slow and shaky progress.

Come on…come on
.

Agatha floats slowly back to earth. 
NO – I can do this.  I CAN!

I concentrate harder, my whole body shaking with effort and
frustration.  Agatha inches higher into the air.  Sweat breaks out on my forehead.  This isn’t going to beat me.  No way.  I can do this.  I can…
click
.

And suddenly, I get it.

My muscles relax and I close my eyes.  In my mind, I see Agatha, floating a couple of inches above the ground.  I picture her floating higher.

“Jelly, open your eyes
,” Agatha squeals.  “What are you doing?  Open your eyes.”

“
Shhh.  It’s fine, I promise.  Trust me.”

In my mind’s eye
I see Rhiannon, staring, mouth open.  I imagine her next to Agatha and up she goes.  I smile at her yelled protest.  I picture them bobbing up and down, one after the other.

Rhiannon yelps and I
snigger.

Oh, come on!  Of course I’m going to have fun with this.  Never look a gift horse in the mouth is what my mother would say.

“Hey, cut it out,” Agatha calls, her voice wavering as she travels through the air.

Smiling, I set them back on terra firma.  I know that my eyes are gleaming.

“Oh, wow.  This is so strange,” I whisper.

Agatha, disgruntled at the whole bobbing up and down thing, brushes twigs and le
aves from her jeans.

“Really?
  I thought that all of this was second nature to you.  What could possibly be so strange?”

“Now, now
,” I soothe.  “Don’t get upset.”

Agatha sniffs and for one surreal moment, reminds me of Rhiannon.

“What’s so strange, then?” she finally asks, pretending not to be that interested.

“It’s getting easier.  At first, I couldn’t manage it, but then something clicked and it wasn’t a problem anymore.  It was easy
.  Really, really easy.  Easy peasy.  Waaaaaaaaaay too easy.”

I turn to Agatha, prickles of fear crawling up my spine.  I don’t know if it’s the aftershock of being attacked by the Hunter in broad daylight, or
exhaustion catching up with me, but it’s all too much.  I’m fourteen, for crying out loud, and until a couple of days ago I was a prickly teenage girl. I snag my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Something’s wrong. 
Crin told me not to tell anyone, and I told you and Humphrey –

“And me
,” pipes Rhiannon.

“Oh God…”

Miserable and insecure, I slump to the floor.  Running, mind reading, levitation; it’s all straightforward.  The second the know-how clicks inside me, I’m at home with it.  For the first time in my life, I know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.  I’ve never felt so sure before and this is the problem.

I drop my head into my hands to hide the tears.

“Is she
crying
?”

“Rhiannon, leave it.”

“Oh my God, she
is
– she’s crying!”

Humphrey stri
des into the clearing.

“
SHUT UP!”

He
kneels next to me, scattering sand in my lap.

Thank God.

“This should be hard, Humph.”  I shake my head. “But it’s not.  It’s really easy.  Much, much easier than school.”  Tears prick at the back of my eyes and I blink them back.  “There’s something wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Jelly
.”  He rubs my back.  “Well, obvious alien thing aside.”

My giggle turns into a hiccup and he chuckles.  I look him in the eye.

“I can’t do this without you.”

He looks at me back.

“I know.”

Humphrey smiles and ruffles my hair.

“Good,” I say, wiping away the last of the tears.  “Because I need you.  You were right, though, when you said all that stuff.  Every word of it was true.”

“I know.”

“When did you get here anyway?” I ask.

He shrugs. 
“Just then.  I walked through the bushes and saw you crying on the floor.”  He tilts his head at Rhiannon.  “What did the She-Witch do to you?”

“As if!”
I squeal and Humphrey winks at me.

“I heard that,”
Rhiannon shouts, but we ignore her.

I grab Humphrey’s hand and haul myself to my feet.  I shake the last of the sand from my clothes and peer up at him.

“Wanna see something really cool?”

***              ***              ***

An hour later, knackered but happy, I lie on the ground with my two best friends.  Humphrey shakes his head for the seventh or eighth time, a massive grin on his face.

I grin back.  “It’s not a bad perk, is it?”

Agatha rolls over and cradles her head in her hands.  She squints at Humphrey. 

“What did Rhiannon say to you back there at the bus stop?”

Rhiannon, who hasn’t bothered with us at all for the past hour (apart a smug “look who’s back” thrown at me just after Humphrey’s arrival), lifts her head at the sound of her name.

“Just leave me out of it, OK?”

“Tell us, come on.  You had a go at Jelly for keeping secrets, so you’ll be a hypocr
ite if you keep it to yourself.”

Hmm,
there’s logic there somewhere.

“Can’t we just go home?  There’s not muc
h left that Jelly can levitate.”

Rhiannon sounds bored rather than urgent, but even I’m starting to wonder what was said during their little
conflab.

“Come on Hu
mph.  Agatha does have a point.”

Humphrey raises his head and displays an impressive double chin as he looks over at the unusually
quiet cheerleader.

“Rhiannon?”