Bloodlines (18 page)

“I know. What was going through your mind when you heeled Jake?” he asked.

“I was just willing it to happen. I don’t think I’ve ever willed anything to happen so hard before. But it felt natural, like I didn’t have to will it to happen at all.”

“You sounded different too.”

“I noticed that, but I don’t know why,” I said, lowering and shaking my head.

“Did you feel different in any way?”

“I did actually. I would say I felt strange but in a way I didn’t. I just felt…like me. Like that’s how I should be or…I’m not making sense, am I? I can’t explain it. It’s like I knew I was me, and I was in control of me…but it was as though there was something else inside me, helping me, allowing what I wanted to happen to actually happen…”

“Like another part of you?”

“Yes, kind of…Jesus, Tyler, what else could I be capable of? Is there anything that I can’t do?” I said, looking him in his eyes.

“Maybe it’s another power. Maybe up until now you have only been using one of the two powers we know you have. That could be the explanation.”

“I wish I knew,” I said frustrated. “Now Lily isn’t speaking to me. Neither is Danny. Lucian is shouting at me and thinks I’m keeping things from him. Jake was out of it, so he doesn’t really know what happened. You’re the only one that never goes funny on me. That doesn’t shout at me or accuse me of things. Why?”

“I trust you. You’ve never tried to hurt us, you always help us, and you saved my dad’s life,” he said, then he looked down and spoke quietly: “Maybe you picked the wrong one to go out with…”

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said, standing up and walking towards the new stone fireplace. “So what now then?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Have you ever thought of going out somewhere, somewhere deserted where nobody will see you and putting your powers to the test? You know, seeing what you can really do?”

“No, I haven’t. I wouldn’t want to go on my own. When I use it seriously I find it hard to snap out of it. That may be one thing I haven’t told you I think.”

“What?”

“If I’m just moving a chair or making something float over to me, it doesn’t take much – it’s effortless. But when it’s something bigger, like making Lily fly or making the ground shake, my eyes turn –that’s when it’s hard to snap out of it. It feels like I shouldn’t have to,” I explained.

“You mean you feel natural and normal when your eyes change?”

“Yeah, as though that’s the real me.”

“Then stay like that.”

“I look scary.”

“No, you don’t. It suits you.”

“I can just imagine what any normal person would think,” I laughed.

“Yeah, I’d love to see their reaction; they’d shit themselves,” he said, laughing with me. “Seriously, though, why don’t you go and see what you can do?”

“I don’t know where to go.”

“I could show you a few places, or give you directions.”

“Would you come with me?”

“Are you serious?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Yes, but if you don’t want to, I’d understand.”

“Are you kidding? Miss out on watching you break loose? No way, I’m there; just let me know when you want to go.”

“Anytime,” I said, laughing at him.

“OK, tomorrow it is then. I’ll come and pick you up about ten.”

“Fantastic. I’ll tell you what, as a thank-you for taking me, I’ll drive us there and you can drive us back.”

“In your car?” he asked, his eyes going wider still.

“Yes.”

“Wahoo!” he said, getting giddy.

There was a knock at the door and Lily walked in. She walked straight up to me and hugged me.

“I don’t care what’s inside you…I don’t care how you talk or anything. As long as you’re my friend I don’t care. I love you to death and I don’t want to fight with you,” she said in tears.

“I don’t want to fight either, but I swear I’m not keeping anything from you,” I said, pulling away.

“I know you’re not. You promised me you wouldn’t and I know you keep your promises.”

“Is Lucian still pissed?”

“Yeah.”

“Look, I’m tired. I’m going to get in the shower and then call it a night. Will you see them out?”

“Course I will.”

I gave them both a cuddle and went upstairs.

Chapter 17

Playtime

I woke up at 9:15 with butterflies in my stomach. I was both excited and nervous about going out with Tyler. I wanted to know what I could do, but I was also scared of losing control. I didn’t want to end up hurting Tyler or putting him in harm’s way. If he got hurt I’d never forgive myself. I knew he wouldn’t let me back out of it now though. I got washed and dressed and went to make some breakfast. Jake was already around and sitting in the kitchen with Lily.

“You’re up early,” Lily said to me.

“I know, I’m going out with Tyler at ten.”

“Oh, where you going?” Jake asked.

“I don’t actually know to be honest,” I told them.

“Hmm.”

“What does that mean?” I asked him.

“Tyler likes you.”

“Good, he’s a great friend”

“No, I mean he likes you, Keira.”

“Does he?” Lily smiled

“Yeah, a hell of a lot. He was really upset when he found out things were going on with you and Lucian. He told me.”

“Well, at the moment there is nothing going on with me and Lucian.”

“I was waiting for that.”

“He didn’t even come and say goodbye to me last night” I said putting two pieces of bread in the toaster.

“He’s adamant you’re hiding something,” Lily said.

“Well, I’m not, and if he doesn’t trust me he can piss off!” I said sharply. “There’s no point being close to someone who doesn’t trust you.”

“Tyler trusts you,” Lily said

“Yeah he does – he’d trust you with his life,” Jake added.

“Are you trying to get me to go out with him?” I asked.

“No, just saying it as it is. Anyway Lucian and Danny will be around any minute now.”

I heard the front door open and was waiting for them both to walk in. Instead Tyler popped his head around the door.

“I hope that’s not breakfast,” he said to me.

“Yeah.”

“Leave it. I’ve got you a sausage and bacon sandwich. Well done with brown sauce…your favorite. I thought we could set off early so I called in at the café.”

“You know suddenly I really don’t want that toast,” I smirked.

“I’ll have it,” Jake said, walking over – he’s like a walking dustbin.

“Are you ready to go?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah, just let me grab my bag,” I told him while opening the closet door.

“Where you taking her?” Jake asked him.

“None of your business. This is private.”

“Just behave.”

“Always,” Tyler grinned.

Jake just shook his head as he grinned back.

I grabbed my bag and told Lily and Jake I didn’t know how long we’d be. Then I walked out and got in the car. Tyler grabbed a rucksack out of his trunk, then got in and passed me my sandwich; after all, it’s not like I needed my hands to steer the car. He turned the stereo up and we set off. As we were driving down the approach to the house we drove past Danny and Lucian. Both of them were in Lucian’s car and both of them were staring at us. A minute later my phone started ringing; it was Lucian. I was too busy eating my sandwich and drinking the coffee he’d also bought me to answer to the phone, so Tyler did the honors.

“Hello,” he said. “Out…Nowhere special…Piss off!…No, it’s private, we’ll be back later…That’s fine, they don’t know either. Going now…Yeah…Bye!”

“What did he want?” I asked.

“To know where we were going, why, and how long we would be.”

“Oh…and where are we going by the way?”

“You’ll see.”

We drove for just under two hours through mile after mile of countryside. Every now and again he would tell me to turn off in another direction.

“OK, we’re here,” he said finally. “Nobody comes here – the closest farm is ten miles away and the closest estate is over fourteen miles away.”

“Fantastic.”

I pulled the car up on the grass and got out.

“Tyler, what if I can’t come out of it.”

“I’ll snap you out of it. Stop worrying.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do you know.”

“Just see what happens…Do whatever you want,” he said, sitting on the hood of the car.

“OK, here goes.”

I walked a few yards away from him. I didn’t want him too close at first in case anything went wrong. I took a deep breath and let my eyes turn.

“Come on, girl,” I said to myself. “Let it loose, feel it, use it…just do it!”

Thick black clouds developed out of nowhere in the previously perfectly clear sky, shading the whole of the large field we were in. Sheet lightning spread across the clouds every few seconds. I turned for a moment to look at Tyler; he was looking up at the sky then turned to look at me and smiled. I looked up and the lightening started to strike, only for a second each time at first, then several bolts stayed on the ground circling me. Large drops of rain started falling yet I made sure they missed Tyler and me. I turned to face him; he was standing up now, looking at the rain falling around him, but not touching him. He reached out and caught a few drops in his hands. Then his eyes turned back to me. I stayed facing him this time, watching him. The lightning stopped circling me and circled him instead.

“Touch it!” I shouted. He looked at me like I was crazy. “I thought you trusted me.”

He slowly reached out and put his hand through it.

“Why isn’t it hurting, you wonder?” I said. “The answer…because I don’t want it too. Is it real lightning, you ask? Yes it is...Watch!”

I threw one of my hands out to the side and sent one of the bolts into a nearby tree, setting it on fire. He turned to me again; the look on his face was amazing. He didn’t know what to say, he was bewildered. I moved the lightning so it was still constantly on the ground but touching different parts of the field. I raised my arms halfway on either side of my body and a fierce wind began to blow. It was so strong I had to ground Tyler and the car. Leaves blew off the trees as they bent almost in half, and blades of grass flew into the air. Then the rain turned to hailstones, each one that fell as big as a golf ball. The windows on my car were smashed and the bodywork dinted more and more with each hit. Yet once again the hail never struck either of us.

Tyler grew brave now and walked closer and closer to me, until finally he was right in front of me. He was looking me in my eyes the whole time. They didn’t bother him, glowing white, no pupils. He looked at me as he always did, warmly and admiringly. The ground beneath us started shaking more violent than it had last night. A crack developed and spread around us.

“You may want to hold on,” I told him.

“To what?”

“Me!”

The ground beneath us separated leaving us only a small area to stand on. He grabbed my waist just before we rose into the air fast. I had created a tall, thin, straight-edged mountain of rock and earth, and we were standing on the top of it going higher and higher towards the clouds. I stopped us after about thirty seconds, when we looked around we could see for miles, we were so high up. The car looked the size of a mouse. He looked down and swallowed hard, his grip on me tightening.

“Do you still trust me?” I asked him.

“You know I do.”

“Then let go of me.”

His grip loosened and he put his arms down by his side.

“I’ll see you down there.”

“What?” he asked worried.

I grinned at him for a moment before pushing him off the edge. I watched him free-fall until he was about twenty feet from the ground. I put my hand out and he slowly and softly landed on his feet. He looked up and then I stepped off the edge myself. It was amazing, I felt weightless…free. I landed as he had, just in front of him. When I looked at him I could see he was shaking. I giggled a little, then the earth started shaking again as the mountain of rock sank back to where it had come from.

Once again the field was flat and perfect as it had been before. The hailstones hadn’t melted and the field was now white. I stopped them falling, raised my arms again and all of them rose up off the grass. Then they started swirling around us. It looked like a tornado of hailstones and we were in the middle of it. The wind ripped through the air, thunder roared deafeningly loud, lightning struck the ground, the cyclone moved faster and faster around us. Then there was a flash of blinding-white light and everything was gone. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, no sign at all that it had rained or hailed, no burnt tree, nothing.

“Wow!” he said, looking around us. “That was amazing – was that everything?”

“Not even close!” I told him.

“Don’t let me stop you. Please carry on.”

“Not yet, I need to calm down.”

“Why?”

“It’s too strong. I don’t know if I can handle it yet. I don’t want to do too much until I’m used to it more.”

“Ah, I understand. Come on I’ve got us drinks in my bag, let’s just chill out for a bit.”

“Oh shit!” I said, looking at my car. I walked over to it and put my hand flat against the hood. All the dents pushed themselves back out, the window fixed itself and the car was as good as new.

“God, I wish I had just a bit of what you have in you,” he said as he grabbed his bag.

I turned the stereo on and left the door open. Then we sat on the grass next to the car.

“I am so glad I was the one to see that,” he said, passing me a coke. “Sorry, they’re not cold anymore.”

“Give ‘em here.”

I sat the bottles in front of us. Ice came out of the ground and within seconds they were cold.

“There you go,” I said, passing him one of the drinks.

“See? Now that is one of the reasons I’m jealous. I see you’ve left your eyes white.”

“Yeah, well, it’s nice to feel natural for a while. Anyway what can you do?” I asked, lying back in the grass.

“I can manipulate things to an extent, but I can’t create. You’ve seen the energy balls – you do them yourself. I can levitate but not too high, I’m telekinetic. I’ve got a lot of strength in me. I can make the room I’m in tremble. Err; I could have fixed your car like you did… Things like that are no problem. All sorts really, but not like you can. I couldn’t have created the clouds or the thunder and lightning. I definitely couldn’t crack the earth and rise up on it.”