Chapter 10: reinforcements
I opened my eyes slowly to see someone leaning over me. When my eyes focused I say that it was Hailey, her eyes were wide with worry.
"He's awake," she called out.
A could hear more footsteps as my family crowded around me.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You used to much power and so you passed out," Jack explained.
"What about you Hailey? Are you ok?" I asked.
She smiled down at me, "Yeah, I'm fine. All I got was dizzy and a really bad headache."
I looked around me and noticed that I was lying on a bed.
"Where are we?"
My mom came and put a cold cloth on my head, "we are at a hotel honey. Hailey told us that it wouldn't be safe to go home right now."
I nodded.
I heard Jack yawn.
"Come on honey," my mom said, "it's time for bed."
Everyone left until it was just me and Hailey.
"What time is it?"
"It's two in the morning," she said, "you were out for quite a while. I was worried for a minute there that I would be mediating you next."
I smiled, "you were worried about me?"
She blushed slightly.
"What are we going to do about the Gemini?" I asked, changing the subject.
She sighed, "Well, we won't be able to go back home any time soon…Paul, I-"
She stopped and I noticed that a tear ran down her face.
"Hailey? What's wrong?" I asked, taking her hand in mine.
"I'm so sorry Paul," she whispered, "this is all my fault! I never should have gotten you involved. Now your parents know about us, and I don't know if you will ever be able to stay here. I should have just kept on running."
"Hey," I said, "don't say that! My parents were bound to find out eventually, and besides, I hated keeping it from them anyway. And I don't care if I have to move again. I hate Seattle anyway, its way to big. And don't think for one minute that any of this is your fault ok? You have no idea how glad I am that I met you Hailey."
She stopped crying and hugged me, "thank you Paul," she whispered into my ear.
Wrapping my arms around her waist I returned the hug, "no, thank you."
She released me and wiped her eyes, "you should get some rest. I'll se you in the morning."
And with that she crawled into the bed at the other end of the room and went to sleep.
………………THE NEXT DAY…………….
Hailey woke me up around noon the next day. I stretched and got out of bed, feeling one hundred percent better.
We all ordered room service and ate in the room in silence.
"So," I broke the silence, "I suspect that you two have a lot of questions."
My dad sighed and put down his coffee, "yes I suppose there is a lot we have to talk about."
"How is it that you came to know my son Hailey?" my mom asked.
"Well, I transferred to Seattle two years ago because of a ghost that I had trouble with. I won't go into to much detail, but the ghost is pretty much the reason why any of this is happening. I met Paul at school and he caught me mediating a ghost. So that's how he found out that I was a shifter and-"
"A shifter?" my father asked," I thought you said that you were mediators?"
"Well there are two types of mediators dad," I said, "Jack is just a regular mediator. He can only see, speak and associate with the dead. Shifters have powers that go beyond all that. We can shift from place to place as you saw yesterday, we can levitate objects, put up barriers, and even travel into the Shadow Land, which is a place where the souls of the dead travel when they move on."
My parents looked awestruck.
"Don't forget time travel Paul," Hailey smirked.
Damn…I was hoping to leave that one out.
"What does she mean by time travel?" my dad asked.
"Um, well. Shifters can also travel back in time to change things. It's very risky though," I said.
"Have you ever done it Paul?" Jack asked.
I nodded, "once. When I was living in Carmel. But I would rather not go into detail."
"We'll talk about that later," my father growled.
Shit.
"So who are those people that are trying to kill you?" my mom asked.
And so Hailey and I spent about ten minutes explaining everything about the Zodiac and yada yada yada.
"What are we going to do?" Jack asked, sitting closer to mom.
Hailey sighed, "I don't know. Me and Paul are pretty strong but it will still be hard to get the ring and get out without overusing our powers or getting killed."
I sighed…
I didn't want to do this…
I shouldn't have to do this…
But what other choice did I have?
We needed help…
And they were the only ones who may be willing enough.
"I think I know some people who can help," I said, "dad, can I use your phone and some money?"
……………………THE AIRPORT……………….
Hailey and I sat in the air port, waiting for the plane to arrive.
"Are you sure they will help us?" she asked.
"Nope, not really. I can' imagine why they would want to."
The doors to the plane entrance opened and people started to pile out. One of the last people off was the one I had been waiting for. Her brown curly hair was up in a messy bun and her green eyes spotted me.
"Slater," she greeted as she came up to us.
"Suze, thanks for coming," I said.
Suze looked over at Hailey and smiled, "Hi, I'm Suze Simon. You must be Hailey?"
Hailey nodded, "Thank you for coming Suze, it means so much to me. Where is this Jesse guy I heard so much about?"
Suze smiled, "Behind you with our bags."
I turned around to see Rico Suave himself. He pulled two suitcases behind him as he smiled at Suze.
"Slater," he shook my hand.
"DeSilva," I said and shook his back.
"Wow, tense much, "Hailey pointed out.
Suze laughed, "I like her. Are you a shifter to?"
Hailey nodded, "What about Jesse?"
"I am actually just a normal mediator. I'm sure Paul told you, but I was a ghost before and"
"Can it cowboy, the taxi is waiting," I huffed and headed for the door.
Hailey and Suze walked behind us, talking about random girl stuff.
Women.
We all piled into the taxi, Jesse sat in the front while Hailey sat in the middle and Suze and I sat on either side of her.
It was weird, having Suze back. But this time, it was different when I saw her. I didn't those butterflies in my stomach anymore and …I just…didn't feel that way for her anymore.
But when I was with Hailey, it was like when I was with Suze, except different. I wasn't constantly fighting to get her attention, with Hailey, it was like I actually wanted to get to know her. Not manipulate her so I could get my way.
I watched Hailey and Suze blab on and on about something stupid…shoes probably.
"Sorry to cut in ladies," I cleared my throat, "but Suze, Jesse, would you like to know why I called you two here anyway?"
"I would love to know," Jesse mumbled from the backseat.
Ass.
So Hailey and I spent the rest of the car ride to the hotel telling them about everything that was going on. The taxi driver seemed interested but when he asked I just said that we were planning on making a movie.
When we arrived at the hotel, Hailey and Suze were talking about shifting.
Better than shoes…
"You mean that we can put up barriers?" Suze gasped.
"Yup," Hailey smiled, "I'll show you."
Suddenly I found myself running into an invisible wall.
"Hailey!" I exclaimed.
When I turned around to face her I ran into another wall. She had put me in a very small box.
Suze clapped her hands and whistled, "You have got to show me how to do that!"
Hailey laughed and released her concentration. As soon as the walls were down I charged at her, grabbing her around the waist. She screamed as I lifted her over my shoulder and patted her but.
"Put me down Slater!" she yelled.
"Make me," I smirked.
Hailey growled and kicked me in the gut, causing us both to fall to the ground. I lay on top of Hailey, groaning in pain.
"Damn, why do you always have to hurt me?" I gasped.
"Because you keep giving me no choice, now get off me!" she laughed.
Ten minutes later, after everyone was unpacked an comfortable we all sat in the hotel room discussing a plan.
"Nice hotel Paul," Suze smirked, "You know, normal people who are trying to hide out would be hiding in a motel, not a five star hotel."
I smirked, "And that is probably exactly where the Gemini will look first, in motels."
Hailey shook her head, "They aren't that stupid Paul. They know your family has money and hotels are probably the first place they'd look. I wouldn't be surprised if they already know where we are."
Jesse looked a little bit alarmed, "Should we not leave then? What if they were to attack now?"
Hailey smiled comfortingly, "don't worry Jesse, they wouldn't dare do anything in broad daylight."
"They attacked us at your house in daylight," I mumbled.
She nodded, "But then we weren't aware and they thought they could take us by surprise and finish us off quickly. Now that we know what to look out for, they will probably need more time to plan."
Everyone seemed to nod in agreement.
Suze's face suddenly lit up, "Jack!"
I turned and saw Suze grab Jack up into a bear hug the second he and my parents walked through the door.
"Oh look honey!" my mom exclaimed, "it's the baby sitter from Carmel!"
I smirked…good times.
My father looked over at me, "is she like you and Hailey?"
I nodded and Suze glared at me, "You told them!"
She walked up to me and pointed a finger in my face, "You had no right to tell them about me!"
"I had no choice Suze! They kind of had question when I shifted them out of our house during the attack!"
She sighed and closed her eyes, I could tell she was counting to ten, "how much did you tell them?"
"Paul," my father asked pointing to Jesse, "is that the dead cowboy that you brought back to life?"
Suze's face turned about ten different shades of red as her anger began to build.
"You…told them…about…Jesse?" she fumed.
"It's Hailey's fault!" I pointed to her sitting in the couch.
Suze looked at her, "is this true?"
Hailey nodded," I'm sorry Suze I didn't think it would end up being about Jesse. When Paul told his parents they wanted to know about our powers and I mentioned time travel. They asked is Paul had ever done it, he said yes, and so he had to explain why. And, well, I think you can figure out the rest.
Jesse looked amazed, "She talks fast then Susannah!"
Everyone laughed at that one, except Hailey who just blushed.
As we laughed, there was a knock at the door. Eager to get away from the laughter, Hailey jumped up to get it.
"Who is it?" she asked through the door.
"Room service," the voice said, "I have brought up fresh towels."
Hailey looked through the peek hole and back away from the door.
"What is it Hailey?" my mom asked.
"It's not room service I can tell you that much," she whispered.