A/N: Review please! Love it, hate it, really couldn't care less... tell me! Set after Gone, although this chapter is just a series of flashbacks, so that you can understand what's happened without having to reread Gone with my additions. ;)
BTW: Rated T to be safe. Pretty bad language and some mature content, though, so... if that bothers you, don't read. Kthxbai
Prologue
14 Days Before
"Wait, what?" I turn to my mother. "Really?"
"Yes," she says smugly. "I didn't think we'd be able to get the tickets in time, but it turns out your grandmother already had some for the entire family."
"So," I say dubiously, "she just happens to have tickets for our family plus forty-odd cousins to come with us to California!"
"Well, you know how upset she was when Jenny left. She just wants everyone to be able to come to the wedding, that's all. Anyway, when someone else offers me a two-week free vacation to go to the other side of the country? Well, I'm not complaining."
7 Days Before
We have decided to tour around California before going up to my aunt's LA high-rise. She ran off with some guy she met at a bar in Boston, which was badverybad, and we all got lectured on the Importance Of Listening To Your Parents, and how Relationships Need Time To Grow, and all that crap. Whatever. I was like, three. All I wanted was a freaking cookie.
Anyway, we've rented a few tour buses to hold me and my forty-odd cousins and all those grandparents and relatives-twice-removed-all those people who say they haven't seen you since you were three and kiss your cheek and meanwhile you're thinking you haven't seen them ever, and you wonder how you could possibly be related to such freaks.
It is hot, and I am bored. I stuff my earbuds in my ears, turn on my iPod, and forget the world.
1 Day Before
Thank God, our touring is almost over. My sister is upset she hasn't seen any Disney stars yet. I am thankful for that very same reason.
We will be driving up the coast tomorrow, through a few beach towns and some desert. I briefly wonder when we're going to get there, and then become more preoccupied with my English essay, which is due when I come back.
But really, who the hell cares about the deterioration of morals in Lord of the Flies, anyway?
6 Hours Before
I sit with my two miscreant sisters, Taylor and Gabriella, who have been running up and down the bus like idiots. Since I am the Grown And Responsible Sister, I must watch over them. They're pretty much useless, considering they can't tell me the deterioration of morals in Lord of the Flies and the essay is not writing itself.
My stomach begins to feel queasy, and my palms feel hot. I excuse myself and slide to the dingy box of a bathroom at the back. My hands burn, and I feel as if I will throw up. As I yank open the door, the metal hisses. I quickly let cold water run over my hands.
They are glowing red.
As I watch, steam evaporates from the sink. I wish the water would become colder or move faster or something, just to make my hands stop burning.
I do not pay attention as I leave the bathroom. It is only later that anyone notices the pipes have burst. The bus driver says the water pressure was too high.
Thoughts whirl around my head like little bees, a hum of you-did-this, could-it-be, it's-your-fault. I push them out of my head and turn toward my sisters.
"Taylor! Gabriella! Sit down!"
But the thoughts still flit around my head, even after we get back on the bus and continue driving.
1 Hour Before
"Alex, for the millionth time, will you get your stupid AP books away from me!" I say, annoyed, as yet another AP Biology book falls on me.
"Sorry, sorry," he says, quickly grabbing the book. "Accident."
I don't feel good. My stomach feels even worse, and my palms continue to burn. The wind is raising up terrific dust storms, my essay is still blank, and now, to top it all off, my overachiever science nerd of a cousin is dropping all of his textbooks on me. He, of course, is AP everything. It's not like I'm dumb, but I definitely wouldn't be able to understand that stuff if I tried.
All this thinking is making my head hurt. I really hope we get there soon, because my family is driving me batshit crazy.
5 Minutes Before
I am seeing stars
Stars stars pretty pretty stars
"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel!" my little demon of a sister choruses.
"Shut up," I mumble, barely able to move. My skin is burning up-
Stars pretty stars
-I just want it to stop. But it doesn't.
We are approaching the lovely coastal town of Perdido Beach. The waves roll across the sand, and it feels as if they are chasing our bus.
Stars
Taylor and Gabriella run up and down the length of the bus, eliciting shouts from my mother, who tells them to leave me alone, that I'm sick. As it is I am all alone at the front of the bus, except for my mother, who is giving me water to drink, as if it will help.
Stars stars stars, oh I wish this migraine would go away
They run back, to the back of the bus, and my mother follows them. Almost in slow motion, I watch as, all of a sudden, they're there.
And then, they're not.
Every single adult disappears. Alex disappears. Every aunt and uncle and godparent.
So does the bus driver.
Without thinking, I reach over and slam on the brakes. Then I turn around. All stomach queasiness forgotten, I look around, trying to see if my sisters are safe.
Instead I see a white barrier, slightly opaque but not clear enough to see anything through.
I walk over and touch it. It burns my hand and hurts like all hell. I try throwing an AP Chem book at it, a reminder of my cousin. It bounces back.
I turn the book over in my hands. Just a minute ago, my living, breathing cousin was looking through this book. I examine it. It's flipped over to the page explaining nuclear fission.
Possessed with a strange sense of calm, I gather my iPod, a jacket, a water bottle, and a backpack, and then, for some reason, take the keys to the bus and the three science books. I search around for something to eat, but there is nothing.
I walk outside. The barrier stretches as high and far as I can see. But I don't care anymore what's behind it. My strange sense of calm guides me away, toward a giant hotel.
With a detached sense of relief, I notice that my body has finally stopped burning.
It has been three days since The Incident. I found food at the hotel, more water, a place to sleep. But there is something wrong.
There have been fires in the town, children constantly congregating at the central square. No adults, though. Never anyone, as far as I can tell, above fourteen or fifteen.
The strangest thing, though, has been the power.
The first day, I accidentally burst another set of taps trying to refill my water bottle. All I could feel was a strange rush of power through my hands. Later, I accidentally set some curtains on fire. One second I was angry, wondering what had happened to my family, the next liquid fire was streaming from my hands.
From there I became curious. I would go outside, experiment, look around. Soon I found I could control the winds, make them start and stop, and to my surprise, one day I made a flower sprout from the ground.
It was in the middle of the second day that I figured it out. I didn't know why, or how, but I was controlling the elements. Not the scientific elements, like hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, but the ancient elements-air, fire, water, earth.
I was consumed for a thirst for learning, for power that I hadn't previously known. With nothing else to do, I spent all day experimenting. It took a very long time to gain control, not to mention a lot of burned or flooded rooms, but finally, on the third day, I made a faucet run just by looking at it.
At first it was exhausting. But now I am better. I can make the wind lift things for me, I can light things on fire with just a glance, I can make grass grow and waves move in my direction.
That was the exciting part.
But there have also been people, who came in the first day and searched around. I didn't know them, and I was scared of them. But I listened to their conversations, and I learned.
Today is the third day. Today I scout the town.
I my regular people-watching, as I do every day, just in time to see a group of people disappear into the church. There are unfamiliar faces all around, faces I don't know. The children of the town have seen me but don't know me, and leave me alone, for the most part. Mostly I have been following the leaders around, Sam and that girl Astrid, and her brother Little Pete.
It's a good thing, too, because they have a wealth of information-about the disappearance of the fifteen-year-olds, about the children of the town, about the barrier, about the power plant. After hearing about the plant, I visited it, on my own.
It was downright creepy, to say the least. With my newly sharpened senses toward the elements, I could feel matter clashing. The queasiness returned for a while, but eventually abated. Still, I had had the feeling that something was not right with that place, but then I left.
I creep toward the church and slip in through a side door. There's a whole group of them, the Perdido Beach kids, including Sam and Astrid, and some new people. Soon I learn they are from a school high in the hills-Coates Academy. There are only a few of them, including one dark-haired girl, Diana Ladris, who seems to insist on shaking everyone's hand. I have a feeling they have powers too, and I remind myself never to touch that girl's hands.
Then there's the strange one, Drake Merwin, who watches but does not really talk, and the leader, Caine. He's incredibly good-looking and seems to have a way with words.
I don't trust any of them. From now on, I tell myself, you can flit in and out of their lives, but don't become attached to any of them.
After a while, the beach kids leave. There's only the kids from Coates Academy left. They begin talking, something about bars and signal strength-from what I gather, they are measuring power... so that's what Diana does. Reads power. Caine is telekinetic, that much was obvious by the cross fiasco. Drake, from what I can tell, doesn't have a power.
I have not pushed the limits of my power. But I feel certain I am stronger than them.
"So, mark that girl down as-" Caine breaks off. "Hold on."
Now they are peering at me, and closing in on me, and in a second I must decide: Fight or flight?
They approach.
I choose fight. Rising up slowly, I nonchalantly say, "Fascinating meeting you're having."
Suddenly, Caine pushes his hands toward me, and I am pinned against the wall by an invisible force. I can't move, and for a moment I am scared, but then I remember what I can do. I don't even need to use fancy gestures. I force myself to smile arrogantly. "This really isn't the right way to welcome guests," I say calmly.
"A Perdido Beach spy, huh?" Caine asks.
"Nope," I say. "Hey, can you let me go? This is getting really uncomfortable."
"Well then, who do you work for?" he asks cautiously. But the force on me has lessened.
"Myself," I say, picking at my fingernails.
"Read her," Caine orders. Diana obediently comes toward me, offering her hand.
"No thanks," I say. They are fearful, and I relish the feeling of control I have over them. This has become a game. "As long as you play nice, I won't need to hurt you, and you won't need to know the strength of my power. We good?"
The force throws me back against the wall, and then I drop down. I feel bruised, but nothing's broken. "Bitch," I whisper. I straighten up and brush myself off. "If you ever do that again, someone's gonna pay. And I don't freaking care if you're a one bar, two bar, four bar, or five bazillion bar. Got it?" I say threateningly, completely invading his personal bubble.
Caine smiles cryptically at me. "For all we know, you could be a nobody, an ordinary human threatening us." His eyes dart to the right, just for a second, and I instinctively jerk my right hand away. I am not surprised to see Diana step back quickly.
"Nice try. But I'm not showing you what my power is until I'm ready, and you're certainly not going to find out how strong I am until I let you. We good?" Without waiting for an answer, I sprint through the side door. I hear them swearing, and on instinct, I bring air underneath me, lifting me into the air. I land on the roof of the church, and watch them run out the door, look around, and finally drive away in a car.
I follow them all the way.
From then on I am the FAYZ's resident enigma. I quickly find a way to introduce myself to the locals, and become known only as "Rachel," which I'm fine with. I mess with anything and everything, and make a habit of lounging around in front of Sam's and Caine's houses for no friggin reason other than the fact that I'm bored. Drake Merwin becomes increasingly annoying, but I don't do anything to him, in case anyone figures out my power. I still practice in secret, growing stronger every day.
Days pass, nights fall, girls die, Drake takes control, the Orc falls. La de da. I sneak in to the room for Andrew's experiment, see the footage, learn Sam and Caine's parentage and their birthdays. Once, the Coates kids trap me and make me put my hands in cement. I waited until they left so that Drake could equip himself with his torture tools, and then I loosened up the gravel and clay that was in the asphalt. It broke into pieces, and I took off before they could pull that stunt again. Not that it was very hard to get out of, but it was hell on my hands. I had to moisturize for days to get rid of it.
It was pretty funny to see their faces afterwards, anyway.
I am sleeping in an empty house on the outskirts of town when I hear the barks of something. Coyotes. But they are not only growls; mingled in with it is a guttural speech.
Talking coyotes.
Well, fuck.
I creep out of my house and fly above them so that they can't see me. They head for the day care center, and I can't decide whether or not to go in. Eventually, the coyotes come back out again, and suddenly it's a mess of kids and coyotes and power.
There is no time to think, just time to do.
I jump down from the roof, using air to cushion my fall. People don't really notice me until I start setting things on fire.
I whirl around, my mind shut down, instinct taking over.
"Rachel?"
"Rachel?"
"What is she doing?"
A coyote leaps at me from behind. I kill it with a fireball. Another row approaches, and with a quick flick of my wrist, a gorge appears underneath them, swallowing them whole. I close it up quickly, in case other people fall in.
The coyotes are careful, warier now. They slowly circle me. I don't make the first move, and neither do they.
"Darkness did not tell us about an elemental," says one of the coyotes.
An idea begins to form in my head. "Oh, very clever. You're the first one to figure it out," I say, stalling. I still need more to come...
"And such a powerful one," hisses another coyote. "You do not use your true power, human."
"Oh, and you're a reader now, too?" I ask irritably. Coates kids are gathering, and Caine and Diana are among them. I don't exactly want all of my carefully constructed mystery to fall down because of the observations of a few dogs.
"Darkness will be pleased if we bring you," muses the first coyote. "Verryyy pleased."
There are now around twenty coyotes circling me. Good enough. "Well, I'm not coming quietly." With that, I create a ring of fire around the coyotes. And me. Gulp.
They seem a bit surprised that I didn't use my hands. And also a bit annoyed. "You will burn along with us," yelps one at the edge of the ring.
"Oh really?" I ask, and for kicks, I light my eyes on fire. Fire, I have learned, does not burn me. And burning eyeballs are quite good for cinematic effect. I hear gasps all around me. "Well, I think it's about time you shut up."
With that, I let air pull me from the ground, extinguishing my eyes in the process (lemme tell you, it's pretty damn hard to see with burning eyeballs). I open a pit in the ground, pull water from the surround ocean, and wait until it fills. After I feel that it's deep enough to drown them, I deepen the hole and then close it, extinguishing the ring of fire. I let myself come back down, feeling a bit tired but certainly not as if I have reached the limits of my power, and watch as Sam chases away the rest of the coyotes.
But other people are watching me. My calm is broken, and I run. It probably would be a better idea to fly or something, but I'm not thinking straight. I just run. Eventually, I am surrounded in the center of town. Sam and Caine both step forward.
"Good job with those coyotes," I say, trying not to sound like a panicked, cornered animal. "You've got pretty nice balls of light."
I look around, then I look up. It is then that my common sense comes back and reminds me that I can fly.
"You're not going anywhere," Caine threatens. There is a brief sliver of a moment, where I could swear Sam and Caine weren't quite there. But it passes quickly, although they have the relieved look of someone who's walked over a mile of hot coals and survived.
Caine, Diana, Jack, Drake, and the rest of the Coates kids are pretty much out the door when Drake stops. "Hold on," he says. "The coyotes said something. They said Darkness would be pleased to see you, that you were a strong elemental."
Oh no oh no oh no. I am sooo not going with the creepy snake-armed kid. But Drake continues, "I think we should bring her with us."
"Make me," I say matter-of-factly. Caine smirks and raises his hand, completely immobilizing me.
"You do know I can get out of this, right? I won't go with you quietly. I can run away at any time," I say through gritted teeth. "I know Caine is a 'four bar', or whatever you're calling it, but I'm pretty sure he can't drag me all the way to wherever you're going. Not to mention, I don't need to wave my hands to use my power. So you can hold me hostage or whatever, but that doesn't mean I won't kick and scream all the way there. You don't know how strong I am. I have never pushed myself to the limit. So you may be a damn powerful telekinetic, but I'm stronger."
Drake barely listens. With each mention of power, his eyes gleam. All their eyes do. They are completely, utterly attracted to power. Caine, ever the smart one, says, "Diana check."
I begin to thrash violently- or at least, I try to. I may be more powerful that Caine is, but I can't do anything against him, for now at least. So I resort to threats. "Diana," I say in a low voice, "if you read me I swear to God I'll burn your goddamn hands off, and I am not bluffing. You saw me."
She pauses, then laughs. "You wouldn't."
A second afterward, she is screaming and clutching her hands. "Don't push me," I spit.
Caine looks at me with hate-filled eyes, and I am thrown against the ground, again and again and again. The older kids quickly pull the younger ones away.
I laugh in his face. "You love her, don't you?" I snort. "Or you think you do, anyway. Well I've got news for you: She doesn't love you, not at all. She's power-hungry, just like the rest of you, and she's using you to protect her in her own personal war against Drake." I use the wind to flick a strand of reddish-brown hair out of my face. "You're pathetic."
The grip on me tightens. Caine is shaking with anger as he drags me away. "Whatever Darkness does to you, I hope it hurts," he says.
I smile brightly at the watching crowd of teens and tweens. "Don't worry," I say cheerfully. "Have a nice Thanksgiving."
Deep down, though, I am wondering how I'm going to get through this alive.
A/N: That was a pretty long chapter, I know... I had to set some stuff up. Anyway, review, review, review!
~Ayatia~