Descendant (14 page)

“Alex?” Will ’s voice said a second later.

“What?” I mumbled.

“You still asleep?”

“I was,” I said grumpily, my voice muffled by the pil ow.

“Oh.”

“What d’you want?”

“I was just wondering…Are you planning on sleeping all day? Because it’s going on eleven ‘o’ clock right now.”

“Eleven…?” I sat up, opening my eyes slowly to give them time to adjust to the brightness of the room. I lifted my hands in front of me, turning them back and forth, over and over again. Then I lifted one hand to my face and felt it over.

Two eyes, a nose, a mouth—everything was there.

Everything was normal.

“Yeah…you’re looking particularly human this morning,” Will commented.

“Nothing…happened then?”

“You fell asleep around midnight last night, and slept fine as far as we could tell ,” he said with a shrug. “And, as you can see, it’s morning now and you’re still about as human as it gets.”

“But…why? I mean, is this…normal?”

Will shook his head. “We’ve never seen anything like it. Eli locked himself in his library this morning and told us he wasn’t coming out until he found out what was going on,” he said. “And hopefully his books wil have an explanation—that kid gets grumpy when he doesn’t have all the answers.”

I gave Will a half-hearted smile, thinking about how grumpy I was going to be if we couldn’t find out what was going on.

“Are you hungry?” Will asked, offering me a hand.

“Starving,” I said as I grabbed it and pulled myself up.

“Good—because Vanessa’s an excel ent cook.”

The kitchen was all the way on the other side of the house, but as soon as we stepped into the hallway my nose was assaulted with dozens of delicious smell s. Bacon was the most obvious scent, but I could smell pancakes, blueberries and even orange juice too—al with amazing clarity.

Vanessa smiled at us when we entered the kitchen a few minutes later, and then went back to flipping something in the frying pan she was hovering over. In the far corner of the kitchen was a large round table basking in the sunlight shining through a tal bay window. Will pulled out a chair for me at this table and we both had a seat. He talked to Vanessa as she cooked, but I let my attention to drift out the window and across the peacefull mountain scenery, where it stayed for several minutes.

Peaceful. What I wouldn’t give to have a peacefull life again.

I should’ve appreciated that moment while at lasted, because a second later that peace was shattered.

“Morning sunshine,” Will said as Kael entered the kitchen.

“Shut-up,” Kael replied shortly, taking a seat at the table as far away from me as he could possibly get. He didn’t look my direction, or even acknowledge my presence in any way.

Not that I cared.

“I see you final y decided to get up,” Vanessa said briskly as she walked over and set a plate of biscuits in the center of the table. “Did you sleep well ?” There was something dangerous about Vanessa’s tone, and the apprehensive look on Kael’s face told me I wasn’t the only one who noticed it.

“…I’ve slept better,” Kael said, yawning. For some reason, Will seemed to find his answer amusing. I rolled my eyes as the two of them laughed quietly over what must’ve been an inside joke.

Their laughter came to an abrupt halt as Vanessa slammed a jar of strawberry jam onto the table with such force that all three of us jerked our heads toward her. She was glaring at Kael, gripping the glass jar so tightly I was surprised it didn’t shatter.

“I’m sensing a bit of tension…” Will said, smiling a crooked smile. He leaned back into his seat, like he was in a theatre getting ready for the movie to start.

“I think someone owes Alex an apology for last night,”

Vanessa said, plunking herself down in the chair across from Kael and folding her arms across her chest.

I couldn’t help but groan—I didn’t need Vanessa to fight my battles for me. And besides, I didn’t real y care if he apologized or not. I didn’t care what he did. Or at least I didn’t, until he laughed that smug little laugh of his again, lifting his eyes to Vanessa and shaking his head. Then I suddenly found myself fighting the urge to chuck my coffee mug at his head.

“You wouldn’t,” he said, eying the mug with a mocking smile.

“Keep annoying me and we’ll see what I wil and won’t do,” I said. I turned to Vanessa and gave her an insistent look.

“You told me you were going to teach me how to block people out, remember? So that I can keep idiots like this —” I jerked my thumb towards Kael “—from listening to my thoughts.”

Vanessa hesitated, not taking her eyes off Kael.

“It’s not hard to do. It just takes some practice, and a bit of conscious effort at first,” she said.

“So you can teach me then?”

Still , she didn’t answer. But after a minute she pulled her eyes slowly, reluctantly, away from Kael.

“Please?” I pressed.

“…Okay,” Vanessa final y agreed, throwing Kael one last haughty look before placing her full attention on me. Her brow wrinkled thoughtfuly for a moment, and then she continued: “So, I think the best way is to learn how to direct them first. It’s real y easy,” she assured me. “Just picture the person you want to hear your thoughts—and then, think.

Since you’re new at this, you should probably try to picture the person while you think too—your thoughts will be less likely to stray if you do. Understand?”

I nodded. It sounded simple enough.

“Okay, then close your eyes—it’s easier that way—and picture me.” I obeyed, although I felt a little foolish doing so.

“Alright—are you picturing my lovely face?” Vanessa asked.

“Yeah,” I said with a nervous laugh.

“Good, now think something that you only want me to hear.”

“Okay…” I considered it for a second, then settled on a thought from earlier.

(Kael is a jerk.) I opened my eyes as Vanessa erupted into a fit of giggles. Will looked confused, but amused by Vanessa’s reaction at the same time.

“It’s not real y that funny,” Kael said in a dry voice, eying Vanessa as he took a sip from his coffee mug.

“What’s not funny?” Will asked.

“She thinks I’m a jerk,” Kael said in a dul tone.

I felt the slightest tinge of red ignite my cheeks.

“Wait—you heard her?” Vanessa said, straightening up and turning to Kael.

“Obviously.”

“And you?” Vanessa asked, looking at Will . He shook his head, and she turned back to me. “Well , it was a good first try,” she said. For a fraction of a second, Vanessa looked discouraged. But in the next instant she appeared to have shaken it off, and was smiling again.

“Well … let’s see if you can keep your thoughts to yourself—some people find that easier. I’m not one of them, mind you, but…” She shrugged. “Okay, so instead of focusing on others, just picture yourself, and only yourself. It can be hard, especial y if the thoughts you’re thinking are about someone else. I’ve heard of some people who picture an actual wall as they think, maybe to remind themselves that what they’re thinking is not to leave their head. Never had much luck with that strategy myself, though. Real y, it just takes lots of practice—you’ll learn. Eventual y it’l be second-nature to you.” “…If you say so,” I said, feeling a bit doubtful after my last failed attempt.

“Well try it—think about something, anything, and try making an effort to block us out, and we’ll make an effort to listen in,” Vanessa said, giving me an encouraging smile.

“… Okay.”

I turned away from them and looked out the window, trying to focus on a single thought. It wasn’t long before I saw Lora’s face, and then Mom’s. They must’ve been real y worried about me. And I was worried about them too—how could I be sure they were safe?

“Jack and Emily were both keeping watch last night,” Kael said quietly. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

His words both reassured and frustrated me at the same time.

“What are you talking about?” Will asked. Vanessa, too, “What are you talking about?” Will asked. Vanessa, too, gave Kael a quizzical look.

“Her mom, and her sister,” Kael replied, looking just as confused as Vanessa. “She’s worried about them…Didn’t you hear her…?”

My eyes lit up hopefully.

“…No,” Vanessa and Will said together.

“Huh.”

Will gave me an approving nod. “Two out of three this time —not bad,” he said with a smile. Vanessa, however, didn’t seem particularly thril ed about my success. In fact, she looked upset all of a sudden.

“Vanessa?”

“Good job,” she said quietly.

“Uh… thanks,” I said.

“Are you guys done eating?” she asked, standing up and col ecting her own dishes, even though none of us had taken a single bite of food. “I want to start—” Vanessa stopped, her face becoming deathly pale as she closed her eyes. “…Did you guys hear that?” she whispered a few seconds later, looking back and forth between Kael and Will .

“She’s breaking in and out,” Will said, standing up so fast his chair toppled backward. “It sounds like she’s having a hard time concentrating.”

Even as he spoke, Will was already heading for the door, and Vanessa and Kael weren’t far behind. They moved so quickly I didn’t even have time to question what was going on, so I just hurried to keep up as they raced down the hallway and out the front door.

Outside, we bolted toward the woods. As we got closer to the trees, the air started growing thick with a sickening smell . It was familiar, but entirely new at the same time—an overwhelming combination of salt and something metal ic that made my stomach do somersaults as I ran. Holding my breath, I sped up until I reached Vanessa’s side. I was about to ask her what that god-awfull scent was when she came to an abrupt stop. She was staring straight ahead, face frozen in a horrified expression. I followed her gaze and let out a gasp as I realized the answer to my own unasked question.

“Emily!” Vanessa cried, rushing over to a creature lying in a pitifull heap on the ground a few yards away.

At the sound of Vanessa’s voice, Emily lifted her head. The golden fur around her neck was stained deep red, and blood—the source of that awfull smell —was dripping off her neck and forming a small puddle on the ground. As Vanessa reached her, Emily attempted to stand, but her legs buckled under her weight, and she col apsed back to the ground with a horrible thud. Vanessa crouched down beside her and lifted what little part of Emily’s massive head that she could fit into her lap.

“Ems… what happened?” Vanessa asked in a shaky voice as she stroked the fur between Emily’s ears—the one part of her head that wasn’t soaked with blood.

I watched anxiously as Emily gave her head a hard shake, squinting her eyes in a human-like gesture of concentration.

(We…we were outnumbered…) The voice in my head was a faint echo. (The girl’s family…) “What?” I said automatically , fear gripping me. “What about my family…? Emily! Emily talk to me—are they okay?”

But Emily strength seemed to have failed her completely.

With a soft whimper, her head rolled from Vanessa’s lap and hit the ground, where it lay perfectly still , along with the rest of her body.

rest of her body.

“We need to get her back to the house…quick,” Vanessa said, standing up with a dazed look on her face.

“You and Alex take her back,” Kael said. “We’ll go on ahead and find out what’s going on.”

“No,” I said quietly. “No—I’m going…my family needs me…”

I knew they would all disagree with me. But I was already walking away, my pace quickening with every step. I was about to break into a run when a rough hand latched on to my arm. I jerked my head around and came face to face with Kael.

“What are you going to do, Alex?” he said in a cold voice.

“Didn’t you see Emily? This isn’t a battle you can fight.”

I stared hard, unblinking, into his eyes. My breathing was heavy, but even. To the right of me, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Vanessa trying to help Emily to her feet. To my left was Will , who was watching me with a worried look on his face. I yanked my arm from Kael’s grasp.

And then I did something reckless.

I moved so quickly that, even before I realized what I was doing, I’d put considerable distance between my self and the others. I was running so fast that the trees I raced through were nothing but blurs of green and brown. Soon I couldn’t even tell the colors apart.

But somehow the path stayed obvious, and I dodged every boulder, every fallen limb, every patch of briars—and just got faster and faster, until even my recently-acquired endurance skill s couldn’t keep up with me; my lungs burned in protest, and I could feel the muscles in my legs growing stiff. I did my best to ignore my body’s screams of objection for as long as I could, but eventual y the world around me began to slow.