Seclusion (31 page)

“Damen, are you hurt? I
think you are hurt.”

“No, sweetie, I’m not hurt.
I’m fine. What about you?”

“Damen, you are hurt. I
know!”

“I am fine now that I have
you,”
I
said. Her words gave me hope.
“I have a little headache is all.”

“I’ll heal you then.”

I felt blinding warmth
through our link, and suddenly my nose stopped trickling blood and the pain in
my head subsided. I nodded my head, exasperated that she was healing me yet
again.

“I said I was fine. Did
that hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine,”
she said softly
.
“I
missed you, Damen. I remember more now. Thank you for searching for me.”

“I will search every day
for the rest of my life if I have to! I will find you, love.”

“I’m scared you will leave
again after you find me.”

“Raegan, I love you. I
won’t ever leave you, even if you choose to be with Jay. I’ll be friends with
both of you if I have to. I could never put you through the pain of breaking
our link again.”

“Choose to be with Jay?”

“Shhh, you don’t need to
think about that right now,”
I told her.
“I have many things to tell you. I
found my mother’s journal on the island. We can read it together if you want.
She knew your mother!”

“YES, yes! Did you find
your parents?”

“I’ll tell you the whole
story. Just stay with me.”

*
* *

CHASE

I was wandering through the
dark halls of the school after leaving the library. I had checked everywhere I
could think of for Raegan. My phone rang, and I checked the Caller ID: Jay.

“Any news?” I asked.

“Carson kidnapped her from
the track field, but he compulsed her to forget everything else,” Jay said.

“Is she okay? Does she know
where she is?” I asked.

“At one point she’d
forgotten how to talk, but now she’s doing good and she misses us all.”

“Damn, what have they done
to her?”

“I don’t know. She refers
to the place as the cave. But I think that’s more of what it feels like to her,
not an actual place.”

“So where do you suggest I
start looking?” I asked.

“Well, has Elsie found
anything out about Dr. Drake?”

“No, not yet,” I said.

“Well, I’d start with the
track and then move to Dr. Drake. Invisibility should help.”

“Thanks for the tip,
Sanelle.”

“No prob. We should be at
the school within the hour. We’ve just started our descent. But Damen has had a
rough time keeping the connection going, and Raegan needs him to stay sane.”

“Got it.”

I grew quiet, thinking that
if I’d just gone running with Raegan, everything might be okay and I wouldn’t
be sneaking around at 10:00 p.m. like a stalker. I’d already recovered her
purse and cell phone from the locker and had searched the surrounding track and
entire floor, but I still had no clue where she could be. I turned around and
went back to my room. I knew another search around the track was going to be
useless. I texted Connor and asked him to meet me in our room. A few minutes
later, he was there.

“I need you to get into the
school’s video feeds and help us find the last video of Raegan,” I said.

“Of course! Why didn’t I
think of that sooner?”

I watched him sit in front
of his computer, pushing the keys.

“It’s been erased, but let
me see what I can do,” he said.

He kept punching the keys
until I saw Raegan on the track. We watched as a hooded figure, who we assumed
was Carson, sprinted up next to her. He said something to her and then
blindfolded her and spun her around. Then we saw him walk to the corner rec
room with her, and then they disappeared.

“That’s it!”

“Tell Jay and Damen,” I
said.

“Don’t you want to wait for
backup?” Connor asked.

“No!” I said as I took off
running.

Before I got to floor 7, I
absorbed energy through the air and became invisible. I jogged to the rec room
I had seen on the video feed. There wasn’t anything there except a closet door,
so I opened it. Sure enough, there were stairs. I followed them down and down
and down until I came to two doors: one labeled lab, and one labeled office.
LAB!
Were they running tests on her?
I tried both doors, but they were locked.
They wouldn’t open without a retinal scan and ID code.

I heard a doorknob turn,
and I backed up against the far wall. Then Taylor came out of the office,
followed by Carson! I knew Raegan was in there, but I wanted her to get out
safely and I needed to find out what these two were up to.

I followed them to a Jeep,
and as they got in, I hopped into the back, where I saw shovels, a suit bag on
a hanger, and men’s shoes. What was going on? I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d
be able to hold the invisibility, but I leaned forward, listening closely.

“So who’s that lady in
there with Raegan? She’s creepy,” Carson asked.

“It’s none of your
business. Her name is Janell and she is basically a locker and generator. She
holds all the powers that I can’t use for the moment. Since I can hold only two
to three powers at a time, she holds my excess ones.”

“Cool. Where we going now?”
he asked.

“We are going to go help an
old friend,” she said.

“We are?”

I looked out the window and
saw that we were approaching the meadow where we had gone ice blocking.
If
there was only a way to communicate with the others!
I thought about using
my cell phone, but I couldn’t see it, and I knew that if I made it visible I
might wreck my cover. So I just sat there hoping that maybe Damen was
listening, though I figured it was doubtful considering the pain he’d been in.

Taylor and Jay parked the
jeep and grabbed their things out of the back. I waited till they were a few
feet away before I jumped out and followed them to the graveyard.
Oh no,
this isn’t good
. They were either digging up a body or digging a new grave,
and either way, it was bad news.

Taylor
sat down in a yoga pose
next to the last grave and started breathing.

“Carson, start digging,”
she said and pointed to the grave.

“Ohh, is there buried
treasure down there?”

What an idiot
, I thought.

“Just dig, and dig
quicker,” Taylor said.

At the rate Carson was digging, I figured it would take him an hour to get to the casket, even if it
was only a foot down. I knew I had to chance running back now. I walked slowly
to the back of the jeep, phased out of invisibility, refreshed my power, and
took off as fast as I could, which was too fast for Taylor and Jay to even see
me.

*
* *

I was still stuck in the
abyss, not sure what was going on in the outside world except for what I heard
from Damen. He told me that he and Jay were just landing and would be on the
school premises within fifteen minutes. He also told me about the information
he’d gotten from his mother’s journal. I couldn’t believe it. My Aunt Janice
had been on that island and she didn’t remember it! When he told me about Jay’s
vision of Damen’s parents’ deaths, I could feel his loss and pain through the
link.

“You couldn’t have done
anything. You were only a boy. Your parents loved you, and your safety was
first!”

“What’s the point of these
powers if they can’t protect the ones you love?”

“Like me?”
I asked in a quiet
whisper.

“Yes, like you. Raegan, if
I would’ve known all this before, I would’ve taken you with me! I would never
have left you. Jay was right this time. Not only did I cause this, but I
inflicted more pain on the both of us by breaking the connection. I thought
someone was after me, and I thought you were going to get hurt by it. I don’t
understand why they’ve taken you just to do this to you, Raegan.”

“How is she? What’s she
saying now? Tell her that I’m sure my ability will locate her once we are on
campus. Tell her I’ll be coming for her.”

“Tell him I can hear him
and that I’ll be happy to see him and very thankful when he finds me.”

I heard Damen groaning even
though he was trying to hide it.

“What’s wrong, Damen?”

“Nothing, love. I can’t
wait to see you and have you safely in my arms is all. If Jay lets me.”

“What do you mean if Jay
lets you? When did you start asking Jay for permission to be with me?”

I heard Damen chuckle.

“That doesn’t sound like me
does it? I guess I’m learning to share.”

“Well, I’m sure Jay
appreciates that, but I’d prefer you never let me out of your sight again.”

“That sounds great to me,
but you might start a brawl. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve come to blows
over you.”

“What do you mean by that?
You are best friends!”

He showed me the argument
on the boat.

“I can’t believe he hit
you! Even if he was right, he doesn’t get to hit you! Tell him he’s gonna get
what’s coming to him!”

“Jay,” I heard Damen say,
“she says she can’t believe you punched me and that you’re gonna get what’s
coming to you.”

“Bring it on, Sunny, bring
it on.”

I chuckled.

“Just wait, Damen, he
thinks I’m kidding. Tell him my prediction powers come in handy and that
journal he hides with his premonitions might just find its way to me.”

“She says you keep a diary
and that she might have to photocopy it and share it around campus if you don’t
listen to her.”

“Damn, Rae. I won’t hurt
your precious Damen again…unless he deserves it again.”

Jay and Damen drove to the
parking garage, and I watched through Damen’s eyes as they pulled into a spot
with the closest access to the building.

“I think I know where she
is, or which direction at least!” Damen said, ripping his seatbelt off.

“No! Wait, Damen! I know
where she is too, but Chase is running 80 miles per hour back here. He needs to
talk to us all first. We are up against more than you think, and we need a
plan!”

*
* *

DAMEN

It was killing me to have
to listen to Jay, but I knew his abilities were strong. We headed back to my
apartment quad.

“What’s going on?”
I heard her sweet voice
ask.

“I know where you are, but
Jay says we need to meet and make a plan first. Apparently he thinks this is
bigger than just Carson. I have to say, after all the crap I read about Zachary
Drake, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Z was in on it, too.”

Jay was on the phone
calling Connor and Elsie and asking them to meet us in my room. I couldn’t help
pacing as I waited for them to show up.

“Damen, I want you to be
careful. If something happens to you while you’re trying to save me, I don’t
think I’ll be able to handle it.”

“I appreciate your concern,
love. But I can take care of myself. You know I love you though, right? I mean,
really love you. All that crap about starting something new with someone else
was all crap. It was bull the day I wrote it, and it’s always been just bull.”

“What about the bartender?”

“Bartender?”

“The slutty one who gave
you her number on a napkin.”

“You saw that? Well, I
guess you didn’t see me crumpling it up and tossing it in the trash on my way
out of the bar.”

“I guess I didn’t see
that.”

I remembered Jay’s
description of Raegan when she saw me getting out of the shower, and suddenly,
I couldn’t help myself.
“I guess not. What else did you see with those
prediction powers? Nothing too personal I hope.”

“Uhhh…of course not.”

“Mmmhmm. Jay told me you
almost passed out on the track one morning.”

“He did not say that, did
he?”

“Well, he did, but I think
he was more interested in you being almost naked and panting at the time.”

“Oh my, we have some things
to clear up when you find me. Damen, I’m not feeling too well. I think I’m
starting to forget things again. I’m getting the urge to scream again.”

“It’s okay, I’m right
here.”

I didn’t know how else to
keep her connected to reality, so I sent her memory pictures again. I was sharing
the memory of our dream when I had set my bedroom up with flowers and candles
when Chase rushed through the door. I was still concentrating on holding Raegan
in reality, so I couldn’t really focus on the group.
Jay will take over
,
I thought. I sent Raegan pictures of the stars and of my home, and I showed her
where her picture sat on my nightstand, right next to
The Hunger Games
.
I told her I’d figured she’d want to see it, so I thought I’d better read it.
She laughed and sent me a picture of a smile.

I went into my bedroom
while the rest of the group made plans. I started with my earliest memory at my
grandfather’s house.

“That’s your house?”

“Yes. Well, my
grandfather’s, but I inherited it after he died.”

“It’s beautiful! You live
in Washington? Do you sparkle there? Have you been to Forks?”

“Slow down, I’ll tell you
everything.”

For some reason, being
apart from Raegan for so long made me not want to take any moment with her for
granted again. I wanted to share everything with her.

“My grandfather hired
tutors for me, and I barely left my home as a child. My powers made it
difficult, and my grandfather had his own agenda that I was unaware of at the
time.
I
never played any team sports growing up because I couldn’t be near others. But
I can shoot really well, and I’m pretty good at archery and hand to hand
combat. I loved to swim growing up. I used to sneak out when I was ten and go
to the neighbors’ house and play with their kids. That’s when I had my first
crush. Who knows, maybe it could’ve led to something real if her family hadn’t
thought I was a psycho stalker since I knew everything about them, including
their secrets.”