I had figured it out; keep the
diamond, Chris lives.
I turned and walked back into the
room and sat down in a chair by the table while others mingled amongst
themselves over trivial matters, unaware I’d just seen my own death. I was
sick. The phone rang. I knew it would be Chris, but I didn’t want to talk to
him, not yet.
“Calli,” Jessica extended her arm
with the receiver in hand.
“Tell him he lives,” I replied
without even looking at her.
“What?”
“Just … tell him he lives.” I choked
out the order on my way to the bathroom. I heard Jessica repeat what I’d said
and that I didn’t want to talk to him. I’m sure that went over quite well. I
didn’t care, though. I’d figured out how to save Chris and bring about the fall
of the Death Clan, but it required me dying. I was alright with it. Sick to my
stomach, but alright.
I sat on the bathroom floor
waiting, expecting Chris to knock on the door, supposing something significant
might happen; but none of which did. I tried to go to Maetha with my thoughts,
but that didn’t happen either. I pulled myself up and decided I’d go take a
walk because the sun was down.
While I walked the sidewalks of the
town, I contemplated on my death and a question arose in my mind. I’m a human
with powers derived from the magical stone. Maetha had cast spells of
protection over me, so, how would the Death people be able to kill me? I didn’t
understand. I couldn’t ask anyone either, or they might wonder why I asked such
a question. One thing was for sure; in the most recent vision, I watched my
life end through Chris’s eyes.
The next morning, I awoke to the
delightful aroma of breakfast delivered by room service. I sat up and was
amazed at the mess of food sitting at the foot of the bed. Was that burned
toast I smelled? What kind of restaurant burns their toast? The stack of golden
brown bread confused me further. It wasn’t burned at all.
Wait!
I smelled poison!
“Stop eating, it’s poisoned!” I
bolted out the door and ran for Chris’s room. I pounded on the door and when
Jonas opened it, I noticed they didn’t have a breakfast tray.
“Did they bring you food?”
“Who?” Jonas asked.
“Anyone? Did they bring you
breakfast?”
“No.”
“Don’t eat anything brought to your
room!” I ran back to my room to find three Runners on the floor, dying. Justin
was one; Michael and Jessica were the other two.
I panicked and turned to the
nearest person, Olivia, “Call 911!”
She didn’t move. She only exchanged
helpless glances with the others.
“Hurry!” I insisted.
Beth spoke up, “Calli, we don’t do
that. It’s probably magical poison anyway. Only a Healer can help now.” She had
tears in her eyes. The door opened and Chris’s group entered the room.
I knelt over Justin because Michael
and Jessica were already dead. I examined his body with an MRI kind of vision
and found the poison on its way to his heart and brain like an evil serpent. I
stopped the progression and willed it backward against the flow of blood, back
to his stomach forcing re-entry. I pulled the toxin up his throat exiting his
mouth as a dime sized puddle of clear liquid. It floated up into the air above
him and then fell on the carpet beside him.
Will and Kayla went down during the
time I worked on Justin. I hurried over and did the same procedure on them
simultaneously with one hand on each of their stomachs. Then I checked Beth and
Ricky to make sure their bodies were clean of the poison. Apparently they
didn’t eat the toast.
I went back to Justin and pressed
my hand against his stomach to ascertain if the poison was still present, “It’s
gone now. You’ll live.” I stood to leave and Justin caught my wrist. My
peripheral vision took in Chris from the doorway as my mind entered Justin’s. His
humility and thankfulness compounded exponentially by the second. His eyes
expressed deep gratitude and I realized Chris might mistake this as love or
attraction. Was Justin attracted to me? No. He recognized me as an attractive
girl, but no feelings existed in him for me. But what I did sense were feelings
of desire? Lust for power, a longing for the kind of incomparable superpower I
held.
I pulled my wrist away and looked
over at Chris. He’d left the room. I ran out the door after him, but he was
gone.
The turmoil which ensued was all-consuming.
Two dead friends, sobbing girls and somber boys; it was almost too much to
handle. What is the protocol for this type of situation? Clearly, I didn’t
know. If calling 911 was out, what needed to happen now? I had to find Chris
and ask him. I went down to his room and found him sitting on his bed with his
head in his hands.
“Chris, what do we do?” I asked
quietly.
He didn’t make eye contact with me,
“I called Clara. She is taking care of everything. Your group will be moved to
another room and some people will be by to pick up…” he couldn’t continue.
I felt he needed comfort so I went
over to him and sat beside him on the bed. The moment my butt hit the covers he
vaulted up and crossed the room. I guess I’m still pretty scary to him.
“Calli, go back with the others. I’ll
be over in a second. It’s time everyone learns exactly what we are delivering
and why our two friends died.”
I left his room and walked slowly
back to mine. What a horrible thing to have happened. The remorse I felt for
not being able to help the two fallen friends ate me up inside. Justin
continued to stare at me in awe. I almost prefer his seething glares to this
because I know what’s going through his mind.
Chris went in and walked straight
to Justin. His back was to me but I read Justin’s lips to pick up on half of
the conversation. Basically, he told Justin he was going to tell everyone about
the diamond. Justin never took his eyes off me while he spoke with Chris. I
watched as Chris turned his head to follow the direction of Justin’s
unbreakable gaze. As his eyes met mine he whipped his head back to Justin and
then to me again. Chris had a confusing expression I couldn’t read. Chris
turned his back again and spoke harsh words pulling Justin’s eye off me,
something stern enough to irritate Justin. Justin thundered back, “You can’t
tell me what to do!” Chris continued harping to which Justin replied in a
passive voice, “Whatever!”
Chris turned to find the group
glued to their conversation as intently as I was. He removed the box from his
pocket and said, “Losing our friends is the hardest thing to deal with so far
on this journey. The three of us have decided to show you what it is we are
transporting.” He held the diamond out in front of him and everyone gasped. “This
is what the Death Clan want in exchange for the release of the hostages. They
think this stone will empower them; but in fact it will remove their power. The
Death Clan would no longer be a threat to anyone. This is what our friends died
over, and if we can be successful in the delivery of this diamond, then our
friends won’t have died in vain. Two men are on their way here to collect their
bodies and it is absolutely important we block our minds and keep our mouths
shut. We cannot lose now when we are so close to victory.”
“Who do you think sent the poisoned
food?” Austin asked.
“Does it really matter who?” Justin
said with his usual ill tone, “Everyone is our enemy at this point.” His dark
wanting eyes zoomed right in on me. The dazed, power-hungry Justin was too
confusing to me. He seemed like he wanted to dissect me to find out why I had
powers. I definitely liked the old angry Justin better; the one who couldn’t
wait to get away from me.
“Justin’s right,” I said out loud,
drawing everyone’s attention. “No one can be trusted at this point. We must all
use caution with who we talk to, what we say, or gifts we accept.
The two men who came to collect the
bodies were from the Healers’ Clan. We shared many hugs and tears as our two
friends were placed on gurneys, wheeled out and put in the back of a windowless
white van. The men came back in and talked with us. I sat on the bed excluding
myself from the conversation.
The men asked the others what had
happened and checked over several of them for traces of poison, including
everyone from Chris’s room. Finally, Jonas would get the care he needed for his
raging cancer. However, they looked him over and moved on to the next Runner. I
jumped up off the bed in anger. Chris eyed me from across the room and told me
with his mind to sit down and say nothing.
“Excuse me sir, may I speak with
you a moment?” I asked the man who had examined Jonas.
“Certainly.”
We stepped outside and, before the
door closed, I caught Chris’s stormy countenance.
“The last boy you checked snores
all night long. Is something blocking his airway?” I tried to sound innocent.
“I didn’t pick up on anything.”
“He holds his head a lot as if he’s
in pain,” I added.
“Does he ever complain about
discomfort?”
“No.”
“There’s probably nothing to worry
over.”
I nodded, realizing this Healer
most likely didn’t possess exceptional healing skills. I would search out a
better one when the clans converged in the clearing.
Later, after the men left and we
had settled into our new rooms, we sat quietly in heavy contemplation. Chris
called for me on the phone.
“Why did you ask about the sick one
earlier?”
Jonas must have been nearby and
Chris didn’t want to say his name. “It angered me they missed the problem. I
asked a couple questions and got nowhere. I’ll find a more experienced Healer
to help.”
“Calli, would you please tell me
about your vision?”
“You’ll live.”
“Why the change? The last time you
looked at my future, I was going to die.”
“I don’t understand you, Chris. First,
you’re all noble and willing to die if it’s ‘nature’s way’, but when you nearly
died on the river bank you asked to be saved, and now you’re wondering why you
won’t die at the delivery?”
“What did you change? Why will I
survive?”
“I’m tired and I’m going to bed. Bye.”
I hung up the phone before he responded.
Chapter 11
Questions without Answers
The next day started early with a
lot of commotion out in the parking lot as the only two motels in the
one-stoplight town filled to capacity. Vehicles and buses arrived all
throughout the day as did our other Runners from the compound. Our instructions
were to remain in our rooms until Mrs. Winter arrived later in the morning.
Mrs. Winter pulled in shortly after
ten and took charge of the situation. Family members of the deceased would be
flying in to pick up the bodies later in the day. News reporters hovered
nearby, intrigued by the influx of people on their small town and the sudden
deaths of two teenagers. Mrs. Winter handled damage control and was definitely
comfortable in doing so. She told the press we were all part of a family reunion
and more would be coming.
I distanced myself from the whole
ordeal as much as possible. I couldn’t wander the streets of the town anymore
because Mrs. Winter assigned two female bodyguards to shadow me. Chris and
Justin also had guards following them around for safety. I needed some fresh
air so I convinced my guards to escort me to the roof. They stayed at a
distance, but not out of sight.
I figured they were in their late
twenties and appeared to be in excellent physical form, and of course,
beautiful. I didn’t fit here with these people of powers, in their world; why
couldn’t they see that?
I heard them talking and glanced
over to find Beth asking them to let her out to talk to me. Soon, she walked
out on the warm, nearly flat motel roof and sat beside me.
“Everyone is wondering where you
went. I thought to myself, if I wanted to get away from the world, but couldn’t
leave, where would I go? I was right. What’s up?”
“Just trying to listen to the
wind.”
“Does it bother you to have two escorts
following you everywhere?”
“It’s annoying, but no more than
having to sleep in Mrs. Winter’s room tonight. It’s like I’m grounded or
something.”
“Well, you do kind of take off at
night like it’s nobody’s business.”
“Hey, whose side are you on?”
“Yours, of course. I envy your
freedom.”
Her comment made me remember the
vision I’d seen at Cave Falls of Beth in prison. “Beth, what do you plan to do with
your life?”
“I don’t know.” She scratched off
her chipped black nail polish with her other fingernails.
“You don’t have a plan?”
“Like what?”
“Like something not involving
incarceration.”
“Do I go to jail?” Her astounded
expression on her face surprised me.
“Do you mind if I look?”
“Didn’t you already?”
“Things change.”
She closed her eyes letting me take
over her brain. I found what I searched for and withdrew from her mind.
She opened her eyes, “What’s the
verdict?”
“Can I ask you a couple of questions
first?”
She nodded.
“Do you recognize when I’m in your
mind?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see the future at the same
time I do?”
“No, I sat wondering what you were
finding.”
“Would you block me from your mind
so I can test something?”
“Alright.”
Her walls went up and I focused my
attentions elsewhere to reorganize my thoughts. Chris was down in the parking
lot leaning against an old truck with his arms folded looking up at me. I
turned away from him back to Beth. I found her future the same way as when she
let me into her mind. I tried to break through her walls to read her present
mind, but couldn’t, until … until I thought about specific things such as her
relationship with Justin. Then I got right through. She opened her eyes in
astonishment.