Flee (The Aurora Lockette Series, Book 1) (14 page)

“Well,” she said, uncrossing her legs, “I
never met the guy, but he must have cared for you. He instinctively
protected you by releasing the statement. We didn’t have anything
to do with it.”

Konstantin appeared, holding up a spatula, a
wide grin on his face. “Who wants bacon and eggs, ladies?”

Carmen refocused briefly on me before turning
to her husband. “Good morning to you, too. I’ll take some.”

“Aurora, how about some eggs?”

“Sure. Sounds great,” I said.

After breakfast, Konstantin asked if I would
be interested in a tour of the village. I threw on a light jacket
and followed him out the door. I took a deep breath as soon we
stepped outside. The air was cool and clean, with a freshness only
pine trees and rain can bring.

The village was built on a small clearing at
the base of a mountain. A paved road twisted through it. He led me
about half a mile down the green hill toward the road. Houses and
cabins dotted the foot of the mountain, some partially hidden by
trees.

When we reached the road, brick buildings sat
in a roughly straight line down what appeared to be ‘the strip’. He
pointed out one of them to me. “This is the library. It’s huge. It
has every kind of book you can imagine. We also order all the
latest DVDs. You can just go in and take whatever you want and
return it when you’re done.”

We continued our walk down the paved road
that was most definitely the center of activity. My attention was
drawn to a small café, where large groups of people clustered
around the tables outside.

He led me to the cafe. A girl with super
short, bright blond hair waved vigorously at us.

“You must be Aurora. My name is Julie. I’m so
glad we have another flyer.” She extended her hand and pumped mine
enthusiastically. “How old are you? You look to be my age. I’m
twenty-two.”

I tried to follow her rapid fire style
speech, but I was still stuck on the “flyer” lingo she had thrown
out, and she reminded me of Bree. Ouch.

I shook off my discomfort and played nice as
Konstantin introduced me to several other people.

After my face was sore from fake smiling,
Konstantin touched my arm. “Want to go for a hike? I’d like to see
what you can do, away from everyone.”

“Sure,” I said. “Can we invite Julie?”

“Yes. That’s a nice idea. She’s a strong
flyer.”

The trail we took twisted and turned up the
mountain at a steep incline. The trees blocked out most of the
light. The doom and gloom was starting to get to me, when the trees
suddenly gave way to a long stretch of open, sunny, meadow dotted
with only a few trees.

I put my face up to the sun and tried to soak
it in, desperate to cleanse Gavyn from my brain. I put my hands out
and pushed up my sleeves to get a little sun on my pale arms. I
allowed myself to float up to the tops of the trees and out of the
reach of the shadows.

Julie giggled and followed me up.

Konstantin joined us. “Okay. Let’s see what
you can do.”

I looked up at the sun. I wanted to get
closer to its cleansing light. Without saying another word, I shot
toward the sky. I had never tried to go so fast before. The wind
ripped through my hair, pulling out my ponytail holder. My light
jacket flapped wildly in the wind created by my movement. It was
exhilarating.

I looked down and saw Konstantin and Julie
were far below, appearing only as small dots. I paused, enjoying
the amazing view only I could see before heading back down.

“Holy crap!” Julie shouted as soon as I was
close enough to hear. “Wicked! I’ve never seen anything like
that!”

“Can you move horizontally as well as you
move vertically?” Konstantin said.

“I think so.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

We skimmed along the top of the trees,
slowly, so I could take in all the sights and sounds. Julie and
Konstantin had to concentrate to move in the way I did. Their
movements seemed sluggish next to mine. In a strange way, it made
me feel good. It also made me feel weird. Not only was I a freak
but I was a super freak.

Eventually, we landed just outside the
village and walked back into the clearing. I went back to the cabin
with Konstantin.

“You hungry?” he asked.

“Sure.” I was never one to turn down food. He
pulled some bread out of the cabinet and meat and cheese out of the
fridge.

“Sandwiches okay? Carmen’s the skilled cook
around here.”

“Perfect.”

“So,”—he pulled open the bread and pulled out
four slices—“you seem to have quite the ability. It’s far above
what I can do. Can you tell me about when you noticed you were
different?”

“Yeah, I kinda noticed something was going on
when I was reading in an armchair, looked down and saw I wasn’t in
the chair anymore, because I was floating above it.”

“At least you were at home. How old were
you?”

“14.”

“Did you drop out of school?”

“No, why would I?”

He knitted his eyebrows together. “Because,
until you learn to control it, it can be difficult to be in
public.”

“Oh. Yeah. I stayed home four weeks from
school on a claim of Mono.”

He dropped the bread he was holding and
turned to face me. “Four weeks? That’s all it took?”

“What, is that bad?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, not bad. Good,
different.” He resumed his sandwich making.

“Christ, I am a freak.” I slumped forward on
the table, resting my head on my splayed out arms. “A freak that’s
been transplanted out of my pretend life into Alaska!”

He put a sandwich down in front of me. “You
have lost a lot in this experience. I know you can never replace
those friendships or experiences you’ve had, but please believe me,
you will gain a million things with us. Carmen and I will do our
best to look after you like you are our own.”

Carmen breezed in the front door, shopping
bags in hand. She pulled a compact black phone out of her back
pocket and tossed it to me. “Here you go. Call your mom so she has
your number. Please feel free to text and call at will. I also
picked you up a few sweaters, but I’m not sure what you like. Maybe
we can go shopping tomorrow to get you some more Alaska appropriate
attire.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I feel bad just living off
your charity. Maybe I can give you some money?”

“Don’t worry about it. We won’t take your
money. Like I said, the organization owns some businesses, which
earns us a nice income. We need to focus on educating you and
keeping you safe.”

After I finished my sandwich, I returned to
the privacy of my room to call Mom with the new cell phone. She was
slightly less angry and anxious.

I called Julie next, curious to see where our
friendship would go. “Hey!” she said when I told her it was me
calling. “I’m glad you called. I’ll save your number. Why don’t you
come over to my cabin tonight? I’m having a few people over. We’re
just going to drink some beer and watch some movies.”

“Sure. You can’t go wrong with beer.” I truly
wanted to crawl into bed and cry for the rest of the night, but
Julie’s idea sounded more productive. Maybe the crowd of new people
in my life would push out the memories of my former existence.

“Awesome. Come on over now. You can see my
cabin from your dining room window. I’m the only one with my front
door painted purple.”

I paused by the front door as I left. “Hey,
guys. Julie invited me over. I think I’m going to go.”

“Great!” Carmen said. “Have fun. Go that way
when you walk out, it’s not far.” She pointed to the wall behind
her with her finger.

“Do I need a key?” I asked.

They looked at each other and laughed. “There
are no locks. There is no danger here,” Carmen said.

“Oh, right.”

I walked in the direction Carmen pointed,
looking for a cabin with a purple door. It wasn’t hard to spot. It
was tiny, built with dark wood, and nestled in the trees. An old
wooden table and chair set crowded the small porch. Brightly
colored blankets thrown over the railing waved gently in the breeze
like Tibetan prayer flags. Julie and two people around my age had
beers and were relaxing in the chairs.

Julie waved me over to the porch.

“Hey, Aurora, this is Karen.” She gestured at
the tall, thin, attractive brunette with striking blue eyes.

Karen shook my hand. “Nice to meet you. It’s
good to have a fellow Texan around. I’m from Gonzales, Texas.”

“And this is Damien.”

He unfolded his considerable length while he
stood to shake my hand. He was handsome with chiseled features and
long dreadlocks. “Would you like a beer?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He reached a giant muscular arm behind him
and retrieved one from the cooler. “So,” he said, “you’re a flyer?
From what Julie said, you’re really good.”

“Oh. Yeah. I guess I am a flyer. What about
you, Damien?” Apparently, superhuman abilities were a casual topic
of conversation around here.

“I’m what they call a blocker. Has Carmen or
Konstantin explained blockers to you yet?”

“Briefly.”

“Well, I travel with those two a lot. I’m
useful to have around when dealing with them.”

Them. I needed to learn more about them. I
opened my mouth to ask Damien, but Julie interrupted. “We’re all
more than just our gifts. Why don’t you tell us more about
you?”

“I was in law school before I came here. My
mom and my sister live in Kansas, which is where I lived for a long
time. Parents divorced when I was two and my dad is not in the
picture. That’s about it. I’m boring.”

“Law school?” Damien asked. “That’s not
boring. That’s pretty cool, actually. I always thought I would go
to law school and be a district attorney.”

“Why don’t you?” I asked.

“Tuition, time, and I’ve got this, which is
way more fun.”

Karen was quiet during the conversation. I
turned my attention to her. “So, Karen. What’s your gig?”

She laughed. “Well, I’m not one of the
talented kids. I’m Damien’s handler,” she said.

Julie opened her front door. “Hey, you guys
want to watch the movie?”

“Sure,” I said.

During the movie, I saw the images move
across the screen, but I didn’t comprehend the movie. My mind was a
million miles away. I tried to reconcile all of this new
information with my life. I felt the pull of my old life, of him. I
wanted to hear his voice so badly.

The cell phone was heavy in my pocket, but I
resisted the urge to dial the numbers I knew so well.

After the movie, I bade my new friends a good
night before walking out into the still light late evening. I
enjoyed the brief walk back to my temporary home. Back in my
bedroom, I drew the black curtains shut to block out the sun. I
changed into pajamas, jumped into bed, and scrunched my eyes shut,
trying to block the thoughts of Gavyn, Mom, Erica, my friends, and
even my familiar apartment in San Antonio that was mine no
longer.

I was not successful.

The café was crowded today as usual.
Konstantin walked quickly ahead of me, having dragged me out of bed
early for some reason.

Ugh. This was the new nexus of my social
life.

A stocky middle aged man with shaved head and
deep tan stood as we approached. Something about him screamed
military. Several somethings about him actually. His movements were
smooth, controlled, and precise, with his eyes constantly darting
around to take in his surroundings. He was dressed in boots and
rugged pants.

“Good morning, Konstantin,” he said in a
British accent. I thought of Gavyn and his British accent, and his
perfect eyes, and…

“I’m Dennis. Konstantin has told me all about
you. I’m very glad to meet you.”

I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Dennis has come in for a visit from one of
our groups in England. He’s going to be coming with us today,”
Konstantin said.

“Okie dokie.”

Two miles in a strictly upward motion in a
thick forest landed us in a large open clearing ringed by trees. My
thighs ached with effort and I had sweated so much I was 90% sure I
had pit marks. Dennis wasn’t even out of breath from the vigorous
hike.

“Dennis is, you could say, a type of blocker.
He can’t fly. But please, show him what you showed me yesterday,”
Konstantin said.

“Okay.” I zipped up my jacket to defend
against the cold air, took a deep breath, and flew. I rose to the
top of the trees and paused, waiting for further instruction from
Konstantin.

“Fast, like you did yesterday,” Konstantin
yelled from the ground.

It was new for me, to have complete freedom
to move. The air moved around and through me. Surges of energy
rolled through my body. I rocketed through the air, even faster
than before. My futile ponytail holder flew out of my hair. I felt
like I could go forever and ever. I stopped when I realized I was
very, very cold. I swallowed my panic when I looked down. I had
gone too far. I couldn’t tell where I had come from.

Thankfully, I saw a small dot moving above
green blobs of trees below. I surged down toward the dot.
Konstantin met me halfway. “Nice.”

We returned to solid ground, where Dennis was
still waiting and watching. “Wow. Impressive,” he said. “You’re
very good.”

“So I passed my demonstration? Do I get a
sticker?”

Dennis smiled. “I heard you are a sharp
little thing.”

“I’m not a ‘little thing.’ ”

“My apologies. I didn’t mean any
offense.”

“Let’s go back,” Konstantin said. “You look
tired.”

“Sure.”

Dennis fell into step next to me as we hiked
back to the village. “Please tell me, how did you learn to control
your ability on your own?”

“I wasn’t on my own. My mom helped me. I
would practice all day at not floating away. I stood in front of
her in the kitchen and tried over and over until I got it right.
I’m still not sure how I do it.”