Chapter 1: Special Girl
3 years earlier
It was the eve of her 13th birthday and Fallon couldn't wait. She knew that she would get her powers the next day at 1:16 AM.
She was up later than Pogue tonight. Her father had made him go to bed an hour ago and it was now 10 PM. She was sitting in the study of their mansion drawing a picture of the boys from a photo taken the previous month.
The study doors opened and all four fathers came in.
"Fallon, we need you to come with us." Her father said extending a hand. She nodded, dropped what she was doing and crossed the room to them.
They left without even stopping to put shoes on her feet. They piled in ' car and drove out to 's family house in old Ipswitch.
"Dad I don't even have shoes."
"Here." volunteered being the one with the youngest body, to carry her. She climbed on his back and off they went into the house and down to the basement.
She sat in the 5th spot in the circle around the pentagram between and her father. She sat attentively waiting to hear what they needed to tell her.
"As you know tomorrow is your birthday and you'll be getting your powers. Theres more to it for you than the boys." Her father started. He eyed the bookcase and the Book of Damnation floated over and hovered over the pentagram. The circle around it lit on fire. She was still listening intently even though she had read the book several times already. "You see there were some pages missing from the book when you read it. They were pages that tell you why you're here and how to survive. Everything you need to know. You see when we found out about you we had to decide if we wanted the boys to know about how different you are from them. We decided not to tell them because it could make them resent you. So we removed those pages, but they can only stay out until you receive your powers. Now we have to tell you everything." Her father said the other men nodded.
Her mind was racing and curiosity was consuming her. What was so different about her? Why would the boys resent her? What did those pages say? Why did all the fathers have to be there? Would she finally out why she was a girl with powers?
The book opened. She remembered this page. She remembered noticing the inconsistency in page numbers, but there was no sign of ripping so she had ignored it. Pieces of paper matching the pages of the book flew out of ' hand and bound themselves into the book. It floated to her like it wanted her to take it and read it.
"You see darling every 500 generations a girl is born with powers. You see you're like… you're like a…." Her father said looking at the other men for help. Mr. Danvers spoke up.
"You're like a power surge, Fallon. You see when a baby is born with the power there is some that is bounced back into storage and can't be touched redistributed and after 500 generations it reaches its threshold and a girl is born. You have 2,500 children's worth of bounced back energy in you my dear. That's quite a bit more than us and the boys, even when they ascend."
"That's why they'd resent me then. Because I'm more powerful then them." She said finally understanding.
"Yes, possibly, so do you mind keeping it a secret because we need them to look out for you." said hopefully. She nodded.
"well since nobody's mentioned it I will. You were meant to be a wild child, Fallon. That's the way the girl is supposed to be. You have to have a certain amount of adrenaline in your body each day to stay alive, but if you die before you ascend the power is lost." said. He had been quiet up until that point and she had forgotten he was there.
"Okay so , I have to do dangerous things everyday, If I die the power goes away and if I use my powers I get addicted and age like a kid with progeria?" She said calmly, analyzing.
"Yes, to the first two but as far as the third. Yes, you can get addicted, but you age a lot slower than us about five or six times slower than us." Garwin replied.
The other three men gave him a dirty looks that screamed 'why'd you have to tell her that, you idiot?!'
"But that's no reason to start using more. You don't want to get addicted Fallon it's not good trust me, I know." said with a chuckle.
"Now you must take that home and read it. Well, just those new pages and if you have questions just ask one of us." Her father said. She nodded. They all rose and walked up stairs.
-Present day-
She stood on the edge of the cliff with Pogue, Tyler and Caleb looking down on the end of summer party on the dunes below. They were waiting for Reid again.
"Hey fellas. How's the party?" Reid said walking up and looking over the edge.
"Dunno. Just got here. What took you so long?" Pogue questioned.
"Had stuff to do. What the hell boys Let's drop in." Reid said jumping off the edge.
"Shit yea!" Tyler said falling off backwards, arms straight out on either side.
"Tyler!" Caleb yelled after him. Caleb was the oldest and felt like he needed to police all of them, especially Fallon.
"Ty will break my fall. See ya boys." She said taking a running start.
"No! Fallon you will not jump off!" Caleb yelled stepping in her path.
"Watch me." She said falling off the edge. Now they had to go over.
"Come on Caleb. It's not like it's gonna kill us …. yet." Pogue said jumping. Caleb followed. All five landed on their feet.
Fallon was leaning on a tree. She knew Caleb or Pogue would probably yell at her for endangering her life, but what else is new? She did it all the time. She had to, to stay alive. Not one of the boys knew what a fragile line she walked everyday.
"Fallon Aera Parry what in the hell did you think you were doing?!" Caleb said sternly.
"Jumping off a cliff." She replied sarcastically from her silhouetted spot leaning on the tree. "All four of you did it so why can't I?"
"Because you can't just…. You just can't." He said in a defeated tone.
"Come on. Just leave her alone you know you won't win. So can we just go to the party now?" Tyler said trying to defuse the situation.
"Yea." Pogue said. They began walking toward the dunes. Caleb and Pogue in the back, Fallon in the middle and Reid and Tyler in the front. Fallon ran up and jumped between Reid and Tyler putting her arms around there necks as she did so to try to take them down with her.
"Thanks Ty. He's goin' crazy lately. I mean Pogue is telling him to calm down." She said frustrated.
"Yea well you're with us now and you know we'll let you have fun." Reid said with a wicked smile.
"But not too much. No dying." Tyler said as Caleb stepped in beside her and Pogue on the outside. Fallon just rolled her eyes. They walked down the hill and onto the sand. They spotted Kate by the fire with some new girl and of course that's where they went.
"Hey Kate." Caleb said looking at the new girl.
"Caleb. Baby you're late." She said to Pogue.
"Had stuff with the family." He replied. Kate looked at Fallon and she nodded.
"Sarah this is Pogue Parry, Tyler Simms, Reid-" Kate was cut off by Reid.
"Garwin, Reid Garwin. You know Sarah's my grandmother's name and you remind me-" Reid was now cut off by Caleb.
"Caleb Danvers and you don't remind me of my grandmother in anyway." He said with a smile.
"And this is Pogue's little sister, Fallon Parry." Kate finished.
Reid and Caleb kept busy talking to Sarah and Pogue was with Kate. So Tyler and Fallon began talking.
"Well what do you want to do Ty?" Fallon said rolling her eyes. The other 3 usually did this, totally ignored their existence.
"I don't know." Tyler replied knowing she'd come up with something insane.
"Okay. Do you think I can jump through the fire and not catch the flame?" She said eyes flickering wickedly.
"Fallon, No." He said not wanting another blow up between one of the guys, probably Caleb, and her.
"Well I think I can." She said getting ready to do it when Aaron started to pick a fight with Caleb. A new kid, Chase, stepped in the middle, the kid Aaron was with puked on Aaron's back and the DJ yelled that the cops were coming. Fallon knew Reid had made the boy vomit and just laughed. Pogue walked with Kate, Caleb with Sarah, Chase just behind them and she was left with Reid and Tyler at the rear.
"For a second there I thought him and I were gonna go. His friend's puking came at an opportune moment." She heard Chase say.
"It did, didn't it." Reid said with a wicked grabbing Tyler's shoulder. She just shook her head as they approached Tyler's H3. She was forced to sit in between Her brother and Caleb in the back.
"Sarah wants you man." Pogue said to Caleb.
"That's bullshit." Reid said aggressively.
"Don't be jealous Reid." Pogue replied with a sarcastic grin.
"My car won't start!" Sarah yelled from her blue VW Golf.
"Hop in with us." Tyler offered. She wondered where she'd get moved then. Maybe she'd just walk home. It wasn't so far and she could use the time to think.
"I can fix it for you." Reid volunteered. Caleb told him not to. "It's not over boys." He said getting out of the car. She just shook her head of course Reid knew nothing about cars. Fallon on the other hand was a wiz with cars. She watched him pop the hood and stare into the engine.
"Come on, at least mess with something!" She said frustrated. Then Reid shut the hood and the car started. "He's such an idiot!" Fallon said rolling her eyes. He opened the door to Tyler's H3.
"Slide over."
"It's my car."
"Slide over baby boy." Caleb said from the backseat. Tyler slid over and Reid sat in the driver's seat. Oh no. Fallon was the most reckless driver but at least she was somewhat safe about it and she knew what she was doing but Reid on the other hand was just plain reckless and that meant potential danger. It also meant that her quota would be filled for today and because it was late maybe even part of tomorrow. They tore out amongst the trees and sirens rang out behind them. Flashing lights chased them through the forest.
"Okay. Pull over." Caleb said in defeat.
"Oh yea pull over that's gonna impress Harvard." Reid said pointing out the sense in not giving themselves up.
"Okay but cut across the marblehead. We might as well have some fun with it." Caleb replied. Fallon shook her head. Oh great the marbles like this wasn't old. She just leaned back and waited for the jump and then the cliff. The jump released a little adrenaline. Both Pogue and Caleb's arms flew to her chest to hold her in place as the went over the jump. They kept speeding up and the cops kept following thinking they'd pull over. As they got closer to the cliff the cops honked their horn. Silly men thought they didn't know what was coming. Oh they knew, it was part of their plan.
"Ready boys." Reid said grinning.
"Come on Caleb its gonna take all of us." Pogue said. They always excluded Fallon because she was the baby girl and they needed to protect her so she obviously couldn't use her powers… that would be insane.
'Or just one of us.' She thought to herself. She knew they didn't know how powerful she was but she did and maybe she would mess with them a little. She grinned mischievously. Reid yelled 'Harry Potter can kiss my ass!' as they ran off the cliff seeming to sail down into the darkness of the crevasse. The boys lifted the car into the air higher and higher. They tried to level it out but Fallon made it still climb in altitude. Then she let it hang in the air a little longer than they expected.
"What's going on? Who's doing this?" Reid said panicking.
"I don't know." Pogue said
"Its not me." Tyler said holding on to the Oh-Shit bar above his head.
The car dropped and they all laughed, hooted and hollered at the cops then sped away into the woods. The subject of the rising car and the hovering was forgotten. They stopped back at the dorms to drop off Reid and get Pogue's bike. Reid scampered off to his room or maybe elsewhere to make some kind of mischief. The remaining four got out and stood next to the SUV.
"Caleb I'll give you a ride home." Pogue said nodding in Caleb's direction.
"Thanks bro so I'm walking now?" Fallon said rolling her eyes yet again.
"No, Tyler will take you home. I need to talk to Caleb." He replied looking at Tyler who nodded. They were all way too over protective. This wasn't a time when she cared because the house was far enough where she could walk but it would take forever. Pogue and Caleb came up and hugged her.
"Be careful ok?" Pogue said
"Yea very careful." Caleb said sternly.
"I'm with Ty, nothings gonna happen to me. Plus I'm not the one riding on a motorcycle." She replied in a smart assy tone letting go of Caleb.
"We know. Good night." He said to her following Pogue to the motorcycle.
"See ya at home sis." Pogue said strattling his bike and starting it up.
"Yea, don't be too late alright." She replied. He nodded to her.
"Will you stay with her till I get home?"
"Yea sure." Tyler replied knowing that Fallon was rolling her eyes at this action.
The motorcycle sped off into the night carrying her two big brothers off to Caleb's. She just watched in frustration as they left her to be watched, babysat, again. Tyler walked up beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"It's just because they love you Fal. You get to hangout with me anyways. We do the same thing every night." He said trying to make her feel better about her situation. He hugged her. " Come on let's go." she nodded and got into the passengers seat.
"You know I just wish they'd back off a little. I can take care of myself too. Not that I don't wanna hang out with you. I do that without them telling you to watch me or me to stay with you." She leaned her head back on the head rest in defeat.
"I know you do. Lets just pretend Pogue didn't say that and we're hanging out just like every other night." Tyler said briefly looking at her and smiling. How could he always make things seem better for her. He was like the Anti-Caleb. She knew that Caleb did the things he did because he loved her and he was like Pogue only worse. People would think he was her real brother and not Pogue if they just saw the way he acted with her.
"Fine ill try to let it go. For you not for them." She smiled back and watched out the windows at the trees passing by. It took them twenty minutes by car to reach the Parry Estate. It was much like the Danvers' but it had its different quirks. The Danvers' was their headquarters but the Parry's was their hide out. Each house had its own function. They pulled through the wrought iron gates, up the narrow asphalt driveway to the huge house before them. Tyler parked in his usual spot, right in front of the large set of steps that lead to the large oak doors of the house. They got out and trudge up them and through the doors which shut loudly behind them.
"Well here we are. Home, sweet, Home" she said hanging her jacket on the banister of the grand staircase that lead upstairs. She walked into the kitchen followed by Tyler. "You hungry?" She asked opening the fridge and surveying what was inside.
"Sure I guess." He replied watching her go through the cabinets searching for something sweet and horrible for her health. She found what she was looking for. She pulled out a pan of store bought brownies from the pantry and set them on the island that Tyler was sitting at. She also got out plates and napkins and divvied up the pan.
"Do you ever eat anything healthy?" He asked with a chuckle.
"No." She simply said smiling innocently. "What can I say I like horrible things for me." She took another bit of brownie and Tyler just shook his head, smiling. "So what movie do you wanna watch?" She asked grabbing some milk for the both of them.
"Uh, dunno what're you feeling like? Action? Comedy?" He asked finishing his plate of brownies and milk. She took the dirty dishes and put them in the dish washer.
"Action I guess. You?" She asked turning to look at him.
"That sounds good." He replied leading the way into the theater room.
"It's your pick anyways." She reminded him. He nodded and walked up to the wall of movies. They had quite the selection. It was one thing Fallon and Pogue had in common was their love for movies and thus their DVD collection. Their father had started it and built the theater room but he had died a couple of years back leaving them to continue the collection. Tyler scanned the shelves to find a suitable movie. He stopped on one in particular, pulled it out, and put it in the projector player without even telling her what it was. She gave him a confused look, eyebrow raised in suspicion and excitement. They sat on the center couch together as the movie started. He had picked one of their favorites, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. They hadn't watched it in years. They spent way too much time together.
An hour and a half later the movie ended and the credits started to roll. Pogue decided to mosey in as well. They walked out of the theater room to find him eating ice cream out of the carton at the island.
"Well it must be genetic." Tyler said with a chuckle as they approached Pogue.
"What can we say, we have sweet tooth." Fallon said sitting down.
"Thanks for stayin' with her man." Pogue said between spoonfuls of mint chocolate chip. Tyler just nodded. He and Pogue pounded fists, he hugged Fallon, and left the mansion.