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“That’s right.  How do you know about that?”

“That’s your super-sensitivity, Tracy.  Each of us has it.”  She motioned behind her, where Madison and Eve were now standing.  I hadn’t even seen them approach. 

“But not as strongly as you,” Eve put in.  “You’re the most powerful we have ever seen.”

“Most powerful what?” I asked.  None of this was making any sense.  I pushed myself so I could see all the girls at once.  My muscles were stronger than before.

“Careful, careful,” Liz said, gently pushing me back down by my shoulders.  “You don’t want to over-exert yourself yet.”  I tried to resist her, to show I was better, but her grip was strong.  I was forced back down.

“You have to tell me what’s going on,” I said.  It felt like I had stumbled upon some sort of secret coven!

“Actually, that’s not far from the truth,” Liz laughed, and I realized abashedly I had spoken that last part out loud.  But it was her answer that scared me more.

“Just who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Liz, and that’s Madison, and that’s Eve, Tracy.  But, of course, that’s not what you meant. 
What
we are, are crystal seekers.  As are you.”

Crystal seekers
?  It sounded like some sort of gypsy, new-age mysticism.  I said as much. 

“You won’t be so dismissive once you learn the truth,” Liz said ruefully.  “You see, there are special types of crystals that exist only on Traven Island.  They aren’t found anywhere else in the world, as far as we know.  The one I gave you earlier was one of them.  A weak one, and very small, but, still, you managed to draw on its power.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That feeling you described to us, Tracy, of your hand going on fire?  That was you
awakening
the power of the crystal.”

“But it’s just a piece of rock,” I said.  “What type of power can it possibly have?”

“More than you can ever imagine,” Liz said longingly, half to herself.  Then she snapped her attention back to me.  “It’s not just a piece of rock, Tracy, and you’re not just a regular girl.  There’s something different about you, just as there is about all of us.  It allows you to
tune into
the power of the crystal.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not that difficult, really.  The crystals harness a particular type of power.  How it came to be, or where it came from, none of us pretend to know.  What we
do
know is that we’re able to draw upon that power.  Each of us – you included – is able to do that to unlock the power that’s contained within.”

“What are you talking about?  I never claimed to unlock any sort of power…?”

“Ah, but you already have.  You’re just not aware of it yet.  It comes as naturally to you as breathing does.  It wasn’t like that for all of us.  Some, like Eve and Ashley, had to train their minds to draw the power.”

“Ashley’s here?” I said, and a surge of panic rose up inside.  I remembered what she’d done to me, or rather, tried to do.  I dreaded meeting her while I was in this condition.

“Relax,” Liz said, “she’s out cold.  That’s your doing, too.  You could have killed her.”

“What?  But… she attacked me!”

“And you fought back, and won.  Do you really think the struggle you went through was something
ordinary
, or
normal
?  You drew upon the power of the crystal to defend yourself, and I must say, did a mighty fine job.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I saw it play out before my own eyes.”

“You…
saw
it? 

“We all did.  I don’t think any of us was expecting Ashley to react the way she did.”

“If I had known,” Madison put in, “I would have never left you alone.”

“Alone?  But you were right beside me—”

“But you were the only one who had the crystal in her hand,” continued Madison.  “That allowed you to fight against what Ashley was trying to do to you.”

“And what was that, exactly?”

“Oh, you know.  Maim you beyond recognition.  Maybe even kill you,” Liz said conversationally.  All I could do was stare.  I
knew
Ashley had hated me, and I suspected that she had tried to kill me, but to hear it confirmed by Liz, to hear it out in the open, was like a slap in the face.  What had I done to provoke her so?  “I went for my crystal, but by the time she had the power flowing through hers, there was nothing left for me to do.”

“Wait,” I said, putting two and two together, “when Ashley activated the crystal, that was when I saw the blue light.  Right?”

“Bingo,” Liz said.  “Whenever a crystal is activated, your mind goes into overdrive.  You know how the brain works.  Right?  Neurons fire in supremely complex patterns, giving rise to thoughts?”  I nodded.  Something like that sounded similar to what I’d learned in science class.  “Well, when a crystal is activated, neurons in your brain start to fire considerably faster.  It doesn’t happen to just anyone, of course – just those of us who can draw power from the crystals.  Because your brain is working at a significantly increased level, everything around you appears to stop completely.  In reality, though, nothing really stops.  Time flows the same as before.  The slowdown is just an illusion that’s created when your brain works so much faster than before.”

“What about the blue light?”

“That’s the visible aura from the crystal,” Liz answered.  “It’s what allows you to draw power from a crystal.  Our minds are in tune with the aura which renders it visible to us.”

“So then, back at the party—?”

“Was when I activated a crystal,” Liz finished for me.  “And when you came looking afterwards, we first realized you might be like us.”

My head was spinning with all this information.  It was coming out of nowhere.  It was totally unexpected.  And yet, on some intuitive level, everything was falling into place.  The strange occurrences were making more sense than before.  I didn’t know whether to be frightened, excited, or relieved.

“But I still don’t understand one thing,” I said. “What does activating a crystal actually do?”

“It gives us power to change the world,” Liz said longingly. 

“What?”

“You already experienced it firsthand.  You even described the feeling to us.  The flash of fire in your hand?  That was the crystal waking the latent ability within you.  And when you fought off Ashley? That was you drawing on the crystal’s power.  You saw what she did with the bonfire.”

“Then…” I gulped, reliving the memory, “…then all of you saw what was happening with the flame?”

Liz nodded, as did Madison and Eve.  “We all saw it, but were powerless to interfere, since none of us had our own crystals within reach.”

“Lucky for you,” Eve spoke up, “you managed to absorb the energy Ashley was controlling with the crystal in your hand.”

“This is crazy!” I said, pushing myself up.  The headache had finally subsided enough for me to think clearly, and my muscles were now strong enough to support me.  I went on hands and knees, then pushed myself up onto my legs.  I wavered for a moment, thinking I’d fall back down, but steadied myself just in time.  Liz and the two other girls watched me silently.  “All of you are crazy!” I exclaimed. “This isn’t…
normal
.”

“Of course it’s not normal, Tracy,” Liz said smoothly, “but neither is what you are.”

“What I am, apparently, is enough to nearly get myself killed!”  I shuddered at the memory of the perpetual void.

“After sickness,” Madison said quietly to Liz.  Liz nodded.

“What’s after sickness?” I asked cautiously.

“Your mind goes into overdrive when another crystal is activated, anywhere around you,” Liz explained.  “Usually, nothing happens past that.  But if you’re the one to use the crystal, , and you draw too much power… well, the activity of the brain becomes exponentially higher.  Unless you train yourself, your brain, it just can’t handle it.  You get hallucinations, OBEs, and the mesh holding reality together seems to fade away.”

“OBEs?”

“Out of Body Experiences,” Madison chimed in.  “Everyone’s is different.”

“You mean… all that I felt before I woke up?”

Liz nodded.  “Some of us see visions afterwards, others swirling arrays of colors, and yet others nothing at all.  It all depends on how experienced you are, and how much energy you pulled through the crystal.”

“I still don’t understand what using a crystal does.  Why would you
want
any of that?”

Liz smiled knowingly.  “Why don’t we show you?”

I hesitated.  There were too many secrets here.  Even with everything I’d been told, I felt like I was just barely scratching the surface.  Too little of this was making sense, and too much of it contradicted every iota of common sense I had.  I nearly
died
after what Ashley did.  How did I know any of this was going to be safe?  And that experience in the void – the after sickness? – was more than just a simple hallucination.  I knew, deep down, that I could have been lost forever in there.  No, this was all too much for me.

“I don’t think so,” I said quite strongly.  “I’ve had more than enough for one day.”  I stepped backwards, away from the girls, set on leaving.  “What’s the way back?”  The forest was dark, as night had fallen a long time ago.

“Tracy,” Liz said quietly, stepping toward me.  “Now that you know about us, you can’t just run away.”

“Oh?  Well you can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to!”

“We’ve shown you a secret that we have sworn to guard with our lives.  You can’t simply turn your back on that.”

“I never asked for it!”  I spun around, striding to the edge of the clearing.  Every direction looked the same.  I could barely make out the shape of the girls behind me, or the shadows of the trees in front.  I was keen on leaving,
now
.

“Even if you run, you won’t get away,” Liz said quietly. 

“Watch me,” I retorted.  I knew I had come from here somewhere.  I searched through the edge of the trees, seeking the path back.

“Don’t turn your back on us, Tracy,” Liz called from behind me.  “We’re your friends.”

“No.  Friends wouldn’t subject each other to what I just went through,” I muttered.  The pale light from the moon illuminated a path through the trees dimly, and I thought it looked vaguely familiar.  I angled myself toward it.  I had to get back. 

After twenty steps in the direction, I realized I was going the wrong way.  The clearing had been at the bottom of a slope, and the way I was going now was completely flat.  I spun around, ready to march back and demand to be told the right way to the dorms.  But instead of seeing the clearing, as I expected, there was only dark forest.

Shift
.

I spun around.  What was that?  My heart started beating faster.  I strained my eyes, but couldn’t see past the enveloping dark.  The trees blocked the light from the moon and stars.  I could barely see the ground at my feet.

Shift
.

It happened again!  I spun once more, trying to catch whatever it was.  Something appeared in the corner of my eye.  But it was gone as soon as I looked.  The darkness felt heavier, more menacing.

Shift
.

I definitely didn’t imagine it.  My eyes went wide.  Fear froze me in the spot.  There was something in the forest, a blur through the trees, and it was preying on me.

Shift
.

There it was again.  The darkness thickened, like a heavy fog.  I couldn’t see anything.  I ran, crashing into trees and stumbling over roots, knowing I had to get away.

Shift
.

The blur wasn’t coming after me.  But, every time it appeared it was in the same place, just on the edge of vision.  I couldn’t see through the dark anymore.  Somehow, that blur still made an impression every time.  It felt like a… distortion. 

Shift.  Shift.  Shift.  Shift
.

My head spun as I tried to catch it.  I lost all sense of direction.  My foot caught on an upturned root, and I fell backwards.  My head rebounded hard on the solid ground.  I lost consciousness.

Chapter Eighteen – Connections

When I came to this time, it was already bright.  The air felt warm, and I could smell the aroma of food cooking somewhere in the distance.

“You can’t run from who you are,” someone said solemnly.  I jerked to that side.  I thought I recognized the voice.  But I couldn’t be sure…

My heart froze in my chest when I saw Ashley standing beside me.  Ashley, the girl who had tried to kill me!  And she was able-bodied, while I lay here completely vulnerable. 

I tried to get up, to get away, but just as before, my entire body was numb and without feeling.