BreeTico – Haha! I love cliffhangers (: And yes, I don't think getting a kitty cat with three dogs would be a very good idea. Even if they are cute and cuddly. Sigh.
The Significance Series belongs to Shelley Crane.
Chapter Sixteen
I locked my arms around Nick. I was practically pulling myself into his lap. I'd been scared to death that this wasn't the ascension, it was something else. He hugged me tightly to his chest as the feeling of imprinting shot through me. It was like my veins cooled, but my skin was burning hot with a fever. I pressed my face into Nick's neck, scrunching up the front of his shirt with my fingertips. It was magical, sort of like floating in mid-air. It was like it was only the two of us, frozen in time.
Slowly, it went away. The burning hot feeling on my skin melted away, and the icy cold of my veins warmed. I shivered, and Nick tightened his grip on me. It felt amazing, but it had also scared me out of my wits. I gave a nervous laugh, and he laughed out loud, like it was the funniest thing that had happened to him in a long time. He stood up suddenly, drawing me away from my seat on the hay bale. His hands tightened on my waist as he lifted me up in the air for a brief second before drawing me in close to a hug that practically crushed my ribs. It made sense for him to be excited. He'd been waiting for this moment for the last twenty years of his life. And he was starting to think that he was never going to get it. This was the true meaning of being an Ace.
Within seconds of putting me down, Nick lifted my chin so that I looked directly into his eyes. His mind barely brushed against mine, and it was like an instant connection. It was so much stronger than it had been before. I didn't even have to try to read his mind, and it wasn't like I was even digging for thoughts anymore. It was basically like everything was laid out for me to see. Right before my eyes, I could see pictures of him and Rodney growing up, playing baseball and racing on bicycles. As my mind delved deeper into his, there was an intense pulling feeling, like he was yanking me into who he was. I got the feeling of all sorts of memories, but there was also a burst of his present time, too. And, to my shock, his present was mostly filled of me. There was an image of me while I was sleeping, pressed against his side, a faint smile on my face. There was me standing in front of him, looking up into his eyes. Then there was me, standing in a videogame shop, with a broken purse and a look of wonder on my face. Interestingly enough, he seemed to center on that very moment when my purse had snapped and he'd made a chivalrous move to help me pick up my stuff. That had been the moment that had set off our imprint, really. If I had a purse that was fully intact, then Nick would've never tried to help me, and we would've gone our separate ways. I shivered at the thought.
I was just starting to get a read on the little things about him – books, movies, and songs that he liked – when suddenly there was a wall, blocking me out. I blinked a few times and looked up at him. I was sure that the mask of hurt was on my face, and he shook his head, pulling me into his chest. "I'm sorry, Elsie. It's just… well, there are things that you don't know about with Aces just yet. And it's hard for me to sit there and let you dig around in my head while I'm conscious." He bent a little closer to me, pressing a kiss on my cheek. "Wait until I'm asleep for that," he whispered. A shiver ran through me at his words, and he gave a low chuckle.
"What's so different about now and before?" I asked quietly.
"Before, we were just imprinted. We were tied together, but we moved around each other. I could get a read on you if I tried and vice versa. But now, after our ascension, we're in tune with each other. Two instruments that harmonize perfectly," he said, giving me a musical analogy. I smiled at him, because it actually made sense like that. I could picture myself as a piano and him as a guitar or violin. He just seemed like he would be a wood instrument. He seemed to pick up on that, and it made him laugh. "It's literally like cake for us to get into each other's mind, now. But you can still block me, if you want to."
"You're the only person allowed in my mind," I whispered to him. He leaned forward, and just before his lips were about to press against mine, I shrugged and added, "Well, you and Maggie."
"Way to ruin the moment," he whispered to me, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. His blue eyes focused on mine as his hand brushed up the side of my neck. He leaned forward and kissed me, and this time it felt different. It wasn't just a perfect kiss anymore. It was a fiery needy kiss, one that I could feel all the way to my toes and in every strand of hair. This was what it was like to find a soul mate.
He leaned back from me and gave me an easily smile. "Do you feel any different? Do you feel the pull of your ability?" He asked me quietly. That was right. I got an ability with the ascension. That was sort of scary. I'd seen Maggie use hers, and I'd seen other family members use theirs. I wondered what I would have, and what it would say about me.
"What's it supposed to be like?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "It's different for everyone. What are you drawn to?"
I pulled away from his embrace and slowly walked past the hay bales. I put my hand on the railing of one of the horse stalls. Scout meowed and started towards me, pushing his head underneath my chin before brushing his tail underneath my nose. I ran a hand over his back, looking into the horse stall. Peanut snorted at me, his nose rising to sniff at my fingers, as if I held a snack for him. I continued to walk away from him, stepping towards the open doors of the barn. With a deep breath, I stepped outside and looked towards the house. The night was just starting to fall, but there was plenty of sunlight for me to see the house. I thought I even caught a glance at Alexandra through the window. I was still focused on her when my eyes caught the glint of something. In the open pasture nearby, there was a trough filled with water. I could hear Nick come up behind me as I reached out and touched the surface of the water. It rippled around my fingers, but strangely enough, it was like it created waves around me. Shocked, I withdrew my fingers. Things really started to get weird, though, when the water followed the arc of my hand. I practically screeched, and the water dropped from my hand, splashing onto the ground.
"Whoa," Nick said calmly from right behind me. He reached over to touch my hand, and there was a sudden shock between us. We both jumped, and then looked at our hands. Mine had little droplets of water, and his seemed to have little sparks of energy dancing in between his fingertips. I could tell that he was freaking out by it just as much as I was. This just seemed so wrong. Nick marveled at his hands for a moment before pointing out two fingers to the sky. Within a second, a bolt of light shot from him and into the sky. It only took a second for a low rumble to move across the empty expanse above.
"Lightning," Nick said quietly. "Cool." I rolled my eyes, and he stared at his hand. He could definitely give someone a good shock, now. He glanced over at me, then to the trough that we were standing in front of. "Elsie, I think you might have some sort of… affinity for water." He told me. "My aunt, Caleb's mom, can control metal. And Peter, his dad, he can mess around with minerals. I mean, he can like, move the salt shaker because of all the salt in it." He told me. "I think you might have something to do with water. And if I do lightning, and your power complements mine… can you do rain?" He asked me.
"Rain? You want me to make it rain?" I repeated.
He shrugged. "Give it a try. It can't hurt."
I stood there, staring at him blankly for a moment, wondering if he'd gone crazy. But who was I kidding? I'd fallen for his soul mate charade, and that had proven to be real. And then I'd jumped at the chance to living with him. I'd met his family, and I knew that what they were saying wasn't false. It would be messed up for me to assume that he'd be lying to me now. There were things that I just couldn't explain with normal terms of logic. I guess this just had to be chalked up as another one of those. "And how do you want me to do that?" I asked him.
"It's part of you. You feel it and pull from it." He told me.
I closed my eyes and tried to imagine a little part of me that was obsessed with water. I was trying not to smile at the thought of a miniature me surrounded by buckets of water in my head, but that's when I started to really feel it. There was the urge to just… twist the water. So I did. I kept my eyes closed and focused on the fluffy white clouds I'd seen before. I just had to give them a few mental tugs, and…. Within seconds, rain was pouring down on me. I ducked, partially raising my hands. Water seemed to deflect off of my palms. Nick stood beside me, his hair soaked.
He gave a short laugh and motioned towards my hands. "Now that is awesome!" He called, reaching out to me. I was worried for a second that he would shock me, but I could feel the lines of his electricity. They were dancing over my skin, but they didn't hurt. Not me, anyway. With my concentration broken, the rain started to lighten up until it was just a tiny sprinkle. Nick pulled up the hood of his jacket and wrapped an arm around me, leading me towards the house. He practically picked me up off of my feet in his eagerness to tell his family that the two of us were ascended.
Nick pulled open the door and shuffled me inside. He slipped in behind me, closing the door. Our shoes squeaked on the smoothed out, stained concrete floors. I slipped my sandals off, brushing a hand over my now-wet shirt. Nick shook his head, sending droplets of water flying through the air. I ducked to avoid them, but it was like they just hit an invisible wall around and fell to the floor. "Wow," I whispered, completely in awe.
I turned to look at Nick, but my words got caught in my throat. He looked different. It had been pretty dark outside, and with only the faint barn lights to see, I hadn't been able to tell a difference. But when I looked at him now, I could see the differences in his face. His chin and nose were a little more chiseled, and his eyes were more vibrant. His hair seemed like it would behave perfectly from now on. As I leaned against him, I could tell that he was stronger, now. I was sure that the muscles he had from working out on the ranch were bound to be tighter than before. "You look different." I accused.
"It's just the ascension. I can't really explain why it does that." He told me.
"Do I look different?" I asked, glancing down at me. I could already tell I did. I was more… shapely, I was sure. Was I just imagining that my clothes felt a little tighter around my hips and across my chest? Obviously, I had to be right, because a warm flush moved across Nick's cheeks as he nodded. I was pleased that it had made Nick blush, but I was also a little freaked out. How different did I look?
"Not much. You just look older, like I look to you." Nick told me, picking up on my inner rant. "Your brothers will be able to tell something is different, but they could attribute it to new clothes or a different hairstyle. Aces, on the other hand, will notice the mark of the ascension if they've seen you before." He told me.
I wanted to go look in the mirror and see for myself. I opened my mouth to ask him another question, but my words were cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards us.
Alexandra leaned out of the kitchen. She looked at the two of us, a confused expression on her face. She took in our wet clothes and then consulted the window outside. It was clear that it had rained pretty hard, but it had only poured for a few seconds. "I think we just experienced some freak rainstorm." She said, glaring at the window like it was going to tell her something. Obviously, she wasn't paying much attention to us, or she was bound to notice the differences in her son and me. But then again, we were soaking wet.
"Mom," Nick said. She made a noise to signify that she was listening, but she didn't turn to look. Instead, she leaned over her kitchen sink to get a better look out the window. I could tell that she was looking towards the sky, taking in the strangely colored clouds. They were like a mix between white and gray, slowly going back to the way they were supposed to be. "Mom," Nick repeated.
Alexandra jumped, turning to look at him. "Huh?" She asked, still completely confused as to what had happened. Nick had told me that she could look into the past for brief periods of time. I wondered if she was trying to do that to figure out what had gone awry to make the weather act up.
Nick opened his mouth to tell her that we'd ascended when Rodney stepped into the house. His dad was trailing behind him, stomping off his boots on the mat just outside the door. Rodney pulled off his hat and hung it on the nearby rack. "That was the weirdest rainstorm that's ever passed through here. It had to be an ability."
"But that would be an unusual ability for the Watsons, and they're the only ones that have ever used their powers against us." Alexandra said, a look of worry on her face. All three of them were too worried about a potential attack to pay attention to us.
Rodney shrugged. "They have an echoling, don't they? If they have one of those, how hard would it be for them to have someone that can mess with the weather?" He asked. Alexandra seemed to hook onto the conversation like she was sure they were one hundred percent correct. It sounded probable to me, and I knew that it was my fault that there was some freaky temporary weather.
"Hey, man," Nick said to his brother, holding out a hand. I could see in his mind, clear as day, that he was going for one of those guy handshake things. This time, though, he was going to shock Rodney. He thought that it would've been more fun to let them know that way that we ascended instead of just telling them. Especially since they weren't paying attention to us even though we'd tried several times.
Rodney took the bait, reaching out to grab's Nick's hand, his attention still on his dad. The moment their hands met, Rodney let out a curse and yanked his hand away. Alexandra glared at him, motioning towards me. She sort of acted like I'd never heard a curse word in my life. It was sort of amusing, really. As Rodney shook out his hand, I gave him a dazzling smile. "No buzzer required."
"What?" Rodney asked, turning to look at me. I flashed him another grin and wrapped my arm around Nick's.
Nick burst out laughing, and I couldn't help but giggle. Alexandra looked at us for a long time, her eyes narrowed on me. Suddenly, she seemed to get it. Her eyes got big and she gasped loudly, flying to my side. She put a hand on Nick's shoulder and her other grabbed my wrist. "You two ascended!" She exclaimed.
I nodded, and she gave a squeal of excitement. She turned to Daniel, and he clapped Nick on the back. Even Rodney was grinning. This was what every Ace looked forward to in life, and now that Nick and I had achieved it… it was like graduating high school all over again, sort of. People were proud of you, no matter what your grades or social status had been. Here, it didn't matter if I had a bad ability or a good one, they were still proud to call me family.
"So, if Nick shocked me, does that mean you caused the rain?" Rodney asked me.
I nodded. "Apparently, I have an affinity for water, and Nick can control lightning… or, I guess, a form of electricity." Alexandra was practically bouncing off the walls, she was so excited. It really proved why I liked her. She was stoic and responsible, but she also knew how to let loose and have fun.
"Oh, this is so exciting!" Alexandra said. She went to hug Nick, and then she realized that he was still wet from my impromptu rainstorm. She paused for a moment, and then shook her head. She settled for patting her shoulder. It was obvious that she wanted to keep us here so she could talk to us, but I was actually starting to shiver from the cold and we were all tired. "Why don't you two go take showers and warm up? And you might as well go to sleep. It's late and we're all tired. But we will celebrate tomorrow." She said pointedly.
Nick nodded, and pulled me to our bedroom. He let me go take a shower first, and I hurried to change clothes and wrap up my hair in a towel so Nick could take his shower. I slipped out of the bathroom and thought I heard Alexandra and Daniel in the living room. It just felt like I needed to hear what they were saying. Slowly, I crept down the hall, pressing my back against the wall. I paused at the end of the hallway. Daniel and Alexandra were seated on the couch. Neither of them would be able to see me unless I stepped out a little more.
"I'm excited for them, but what are the Watsons going to do now? They wanted to stop the two of them from ascending. I guess it wouldn't really matter. If Marcus said that they wanted to get rid of them –" Alexandra's voice choked up a little bit here – "Then an ascension shouldn't stop them from trying? They're still in danger, Daniel, and we can't do anything. Even when we get to reunification, there's no guarantee that the council will do anything about it."
"All we can do is make sure they're safe for now. They'll still need to be on the lookout." Daniel replied. "But they still need the chance of being together. It's not fair for them to have a rough life. I don't know what it is, but it seems that imprinting is causing a little more pain than joy nowadays."
"Don't say that," Alexandra whispered. I heard someone move on the couch, probably Daniel going to give his significant some comfort.
"I'm sorry, but it's true. Look at what they did to Caleb and Maggie. And now that they know that Maggie is the Visionary, the Watsons won't risk hurting her or Caleb. It would be a promise of being exiled. But there's nothing protecting Nick and Elsie."
Alexandra sounded like she was about to cry, and I swallowed nervously. "They'll be safe, right?" She asked him.
"I hope so." He replied. After a few moments of silence, I shook my head and slipped back down the hallway, hand over my mouth. They were right. Maggie and Caleb were both protected by her status, but there was nothing to keep me and Nick safe. It was up to us to keep ourselves alive.
# # #
Nick had been fuming when he heard about his parents' conversation. He was angrier that they were right than the fact that they'd been talking about us. It was the same for me. But the only problem was that we couldn't do anything about it. We had to just take it day by day, and survive anything that was thrown at us. We were already protecting ourselves by keeping each other nearby all the time, not that it bothered me. The house was safe with the alarm system and everything else. It was the outside world that held dangers. But we couldn't stay holed up in here forever. Besides, my brothers were still waiting to meet Nick's family, and Hanna was still waiting to meet Nick. Part of my life was outside the confines of this house, and he knew it.
Which is probably why he was the first one to say that we couldn't just stay locked up in here. We had to learn to deal with it. Alexandra and Daniel understood, but it still set them on edge. Still, Nick and I figured that we needed to keep from living in fear. That would be exactly what the Watsons would have wanted, and now we could honestly protect ourselves. Nick could shock them out of their wits, and paired with my ability to control nearby water sources, we'd be set, even if it meant electrocuting them or shocking them beyond what Nick had done to Rodney.
Nick had decided that the first step of reclaiming our lives was him meeting my best friend. Hanna had been ecstatic when I'd called to make plans yesterday, and now we were supposed to be going out today. There was a town fair going on in the next town over. Apparently, Nick's parents used to take him and his brother there when they were younger. We figured that it would be a good public place for the two of us to see people that had no idea the lives we were secretly living.
I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, a clip in between my teeth as I struggled to put my hair up. Nick was right – after my ascension, I did look different. There were only slightly changes, but it was still noticeable. My hair had always been dark blonde, but now it had more of a golden tone to it. My eyes, dark brown, had little strands of golden green through them. My lips were a little more full, and I was generally a little more shapely in what Nick had admitted was "good." At least he wasn't saying that I'd gained weight in all the wrong areas. Apparently, the ascensions had knowledge of what people found beautiful. But besides just being a little better looking, I was stronger. My arms still looked pretty thin and girly, but I could definitely lift more than I could before. And I had a better balance. I'd learned that when I'd gone to get up in the saddle early this morning for a quick exercise. Sadly, it meant that I still couldn't compare to Nick's grace, which had only grown more so with our ascensions. Of course, my new physical attributes could be chalked up to everyday things – hair dye, the sunlight, and a good face wash.
Nick stood outside of the bathroom door, watching me. I couldn't use my foundation anymore because my skin was just a shade darker than it used to be, and there was no use for my concealer because there wasn't a hint of a blemish or under-eye circles. I still carefully lined my eyes, though, and put mascara on my eyelashes even though my eyelashes had grown darker and longer. "Don't worry about this." Nick told me. "It'll be fine."
"I know," I replied, even though I didn't, and he knew it. There was just something so complicated about bringing my two worlds together. I just wanted to keep the two of them separated, since the last time Nick had met one of my friends it had turned south for that relationship. But it had brought me closer to Nick, so I guess it wasn't really that bad after all. But still. Hanna was different than Paul. She would know if something strange was going on, and she wouldn't hesitate to ask me about it, either.
Nick glanced at his watch just as I twisted the top back on to my tube of mascara. "We should leave if we want to get to her house on time."
"Because God knows that Hanna's all about punctuality." I replied.
Okay, so, it's sort of a short-ish chapter. I will be the first to admit that the first part was a little rough in writing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a way to present their abilities without feeling that it was sort of awkward, so I settled on this. Sorry if you don't like it. But, if you do like it, YAY! (:
Anyway, how do you like the abilities? And what do you think is going to happen in the future for Nick and Elsie? Please leave me a review! Thanks for reading! Peace. (: