Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (61 page)

I lowered my head, stared at my hands in my lap, and then I looked at the clock again—1:37 AM.

My eyes closed and I rested my head against the wall, taking slow, deep breaths to try to calm my nervous pulse. Warmth swept over me and my eyes opened.

An intense flash of light lit up the room. The swirling blur of hot white at the end of my bed grew brighter and brighter until I could make out subtle veins of color flitting through it.

The Prism.

The warmth increased as the glowing energy neared me, and a small, less painful than usual headache swelled in my forehead.

“That portal that opened up for me... was that your doing?” I asked, sitting up straighter on the bed.

“Yes,” it replied, its light fading slightly in and out. “You may rest now without fear of the Saviors taking you again for approximately one earth day. We cannot stop them indefinitely, but the energy inside the portals is so potent, it masks your own fluorescence and distorts their ability to locate you for a short time.”

“What about the others? What about Brian and Alice?”

“We will do our best to watch you all and try to
intervene if we detect activity on their part. We believe the Saviors
have shifted their focus to the new one, however—the fluorescent abomination.”

“Taylor.” The name was barely audible coming from my mouth.

“Yes. As you have experienced firsthand, his power is
corrupt and dangerous. Fluorescence is not meant to be modified
into such a misshapen genetic pattern that it infests one’s mind with darkness and rage. He is unstable and his
genetic code is not completely compatible with the light, unlike
his brother.”

I huffed, disgusted by the news. So the Saviors had only picked Taylor because he was
close enough
to what they needed. They probably knew damn well he’d start shit with us, too.

Damn them.

“As you have already witnessed, we are diligently working
to improve the door of light—the portal between dimensions, which we used to tear a hole between the stasis realm and the natural realm.”

“What?” I shook my head. “You’re getting too sci-fi on me. What’s a stasis realm?”

“When you are sent places by the Saviors, you are placed
within a layer between the natural and spectral realms—it is called the stasis realm, and while you are trapped within it, no one can see or hear you. It is a discreet layer in the fabric of time that allows you to interact nearly unnoticed while you continue to exist in real time.”

The rainbow light started to dim, signaling our chat was about to end.

“What else can I do to fight back?” I came onto my knees
and crawled a few inches closer toward it. “What can I do about Taylor?”

“We do not know how to deal with him yet. Please tell the others what we have told you. You and the Tracker are the only ones with the sight and ability to see the doors of light. Therefore, you cannot separate from the group or the Starter and Healer will be lost.”

“But David’s already gone.”

“Then you must find him and tell him what you have learned. There is no other way. He will not survive without this information. The group must stay together.”

The light flickered again and then the entire mass of fiery
colors vanished into nothingness.

I knew it. The Prism had opened that portal for me.

I vaguely remembered something about it in the vivid dream
I’d had a few years back. The dream that had brought the three of us together—the one we experienced simultaneously. In it, we were searching for some way to escape. Some kind of “door.”

I scooted back over to my pillow and reached into a pocket in my jeans. I pressed David’s coin into my palm and
brushed my thumb across the surface, rubbing away a subtle layer
of residue.

The dream finally made sense. Pieces were falling into place after almost two years of ignorance. What now? The last thing I remembered happening in my dream was the ceiling
crashing down on me. In real life, David had already rescued me from the debris after the earthquake. Now he was gone.

I didn’t
miss him
, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel safer with him around.

“What now, David?” I whispered to myself, squeezing the Libertad tightly with my fingers. “What now?”

Chapter
19

“
W
hat should we do if they take you again?” Brian asked, pouring boiling hot water from a glass carafe into a foam cup with a teabag in it. He dunked the teabag in his cup a few times until the water turned copper brown.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “The Prism are trying to help us and I think they’re getting closer to a long-term solution. Until then, we have to keep our heads down, I guess. I saw
some pretty serious shit when I was with Taylor. The Saviors
are screwing around with things they shouldn’t and… more people are…” I stopped.

“Are what, Kareena?” Brian asked, leaning closer.

“Dying.”

Alice gasped.

“What?” I continued. “You didn’t really think that guy at the diner was going to be the only one, did you?”

I wrapped my fingers around the cap of my cola bottle and tried to twist it off, but I couldn’t grip it right. I tried
again, grunting because the stupid thing seemed ridiculously
hard to turn.

“Damn it.” I sighed. Why was I so weak?

“Here. Let me get that,” Brian said, setting down his tea and then offering out a hand to me. I passed him the bottle; he unscrewed the lid and then passed it back to me.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He grinned slightly and then his
expression became solemn again. “Kareena, I don’t want anyone
else to suffer or die as a result of their experiments.”

“Neither do I.” I wedged the soda bottle between my thighs and held it there as I tried to decide what to do with it now that my stomach was suddenly feeling sick.

“Would you like to try some tea, maybe?” Alice asked, offering me her cup, which she hadn’t taken a sip from yet. Steam wafted up over the lip as she held it out toward me. I glanced at it for a moment—black tea with cream and a single packet of sugar.

“You can have mine,” she added. “It might be better for you than… pop.” She motioned toward my bottle “This early
in the morning, at least.” She shrugged and smiled an honest,
caring smile.

My parents drank tea religiously, but I wasn’t much of a fan. We brewed homemade chai for holidays and family get-togethers. I used to really love it when I was little. Chai is
basically the Indian word for tea, but it’s a lot more than that.
Chai is rich and creamy. Sweet and spicy. Aromatic and hearty any time of day. Soothing to the stomach… and the mind.

What Alice was offering me was anything but my mother’s
delicious family chai, but it was something that (sort of, kind of) reminded me of home. I reached out to carefully take it from her. The cup was super hot.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, meeting Alice’s gaze for only a moment. Her young, innocent blue eyes were starting to show signs of fatigue. It was unflattering, especially on a cute sixteen-year-old girl. Hell, it was unflattering on us all.

. . .

The Prism had told me it would be about a day before the effects of the door would wear off, so with the evening of my third day back just hours away, I couldn’t relax.

I felt like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and
take everyone with me. Waiting for Taylor to suck my seeking
ability from me and poison another thousand or more people
with this damn curse of ours.

I found a few sleepers at our hotel, too, but kept my mouth shut so Alice wouldn’t feel obliged to start them for any reason. We couldn’t risk activating any more people.

There was a knock on my hotel door. I got up from the bed, clicked off the television and went to check the peephole. It was exactly who I thought it was, so I opened the door.

“We need to leave,” Brian said, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. Alice stood beside him with a smaller pack hanging from her hands. “Are you ready?”

“Yes. I’m ready.” I grabbed the small travel bag they’d given me off the floor and closed the hotel door behind me.

It seemed three days was the most we could do without overstaying our welcome at these places. Three days was a safe number, Brian had told me, and fewer days were even better.

We didn’t have any idea where our next place would be, but we had to keep moving. Funds were getting low, so we had to budget every dollar we had left. It made me think about the diamond stud still in my nose. I wasn’t about to give it up before, but… things were getting tough and we weren’t exactly in any city long enough to get part-time jobs.

But… funds were
low
, not gone.

I’d pull my own weight, somehow.

“I got us some bus tickets to the next city,” Brian said, holding one out to me. “Grabbed them last night.”

“Where are we headed?” I asked, flipping the ticket over to read the destination and answering my own question. “Oh.” A city in Minnesota, apparently. It was as good as any other.

We’d arrive in the morning.

. . .

“Kareena, wake up.” Brian nudged me in the arm and I jolted awake, kicking the seat ahead of me accidentally. He stood in the aisle of the bus looking down at me. “We’re here. We have to get off.”

I groaned beneath my breath and grabbed hold of the headrest in front of me for balance as I lifted my groggy ass up off the chair. Brian handed me my bag and I followed him off the bus.

The motel was only a block from the bus station. Thanks to our remarkably on-schedule bus, we’d arrived just after six in the morning. It was a nice place. Ten floors and very clean from what I could tell. I was going to ask how he’d managed the reservations, but it wasn’t my business. If David did it, so could Brian. And so could I, if I needed to.

Alice went ahead and took their things to their room while Brian followed me to mine. It was a few doors down. He slid the keycard through the lock and pushed down the handle.

“Thanks, Brian. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” I said as he came in behind me and started looking around the room to make sure everything was in order. For some reason, I thought back at how stupid I must have seemed to him when this had all started. At that first hotel we were in, I was hitting on him so hard, I must have looked really desperate. “I’m sorry,” I said just as he headed toward the door.

“What? What for?” He turned back around and took a step closer to me.

“For being a bitch earlier—when all of this started. I shouldn’t have tried so hard to get your attention. You’re with Alice and… that’s your choice. I shouldn’t—”

“It’s fine,” he replied as his hand came up toward my face and then jerked away suddenly.

My brow furrowed. “Brian? Is everything okay?”

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head and backed up. “It’s… never mind.” He forked a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh. “It’s just that… Alice hasn’t been herself lately. She’s… distant. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

“She seems to do that sometimes,” I said quietly, reaching
for his hand. “It will be okay. You love her, don’t you?”

He looked into my eyes and tried to smile. It was so forced, it was unsettling.

“Don’t you, Brian?” I repeated.

He looked away. “Yeah.”

I squeezed his fingers a little more tightly and cupped my other hand over his.

“Brian?”

He looked back at me.

“It will be okay,” I said, trying to console him. I didn’t like Alice much, but I didn’t want to see him upset, either. “You’re strong. Things will be okay. Like I said, stay strong for me. Okay?”

He nodded and a tiny grin curled his lips. “Okay.”

“Thank you, Brian,” I said and then leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. Before I could withdraw completely, he turned his face and our eyes locked. I tried to pull away, but his hand held tightly to mine.

“Brian?” I whispered, looking him in the eye.

His eyes widened and he immediately released my hand.

Without another word, he left my room.

Chapter
20

A
fter getting settled, the three of us went to breakfast at a café down the street. We should have gotten the food to go to avoid being recognized, but we put our best interests aside in an effort to actually sit down to a decent meal. But after what Brian had done last night, I was apprehensive.

Alice and Brian got water to drink and I ordered a hot tea—for once.

“You guys don’t want tea this morning?” I asked, laughing
a bit at the irony as I reached across the table for a couple of sugar packets.

“I don’t know. Guess I don’t have a taste for it this morning,”
Alice replied, shooting Brian a brief but judgmental look.

Brian’s eyes narrowed angrily at her and he mouthed something I couldn’t hear.

“Are… you guys okay?” I asked.

“Yes,” they both replied, clearly annoyed that I had even asked.

“We’re fine,” Brian added, putting his menu down so he could fold his arms.

“You don’t look fine,” I continued, knowing it wasn’t my
business but still… Weird shit was going on, and if Brian and
Alice
were breaking up, the world
was surely ending or something.

“Stay out of this, Kareena,” Alice snapped. “What do you know, anyway? You haven’t known Brian for as long as I have.”

Actually, I
had
known him for nearly as long. Not… intimately, but as an acquaintance and then a friend.

“
Okay. Fine.” I rolled my eyes and scoffed. “Chill. Jesus.”

“Could you watch your language, young lady?” The patron
behind us swerved around and glared at me. Her two toddlers
were bobbing around in the bench across from her, dueling each other with drinking straw swords.