Project ELE (24 page)

Having Alec share this with me makes my heart soar. I had no idea the effect I had on him was this strong. But, truth be told, I would have to say I feel the same way. Sure, I have Connor and Claire, but Alec is different. Alec is like my rock in this place. The foundation I need to keep my time here not only bearable, but meaningful and peaceful as well. I give his hand a squeeze. “I could never have summed up my feelings as well as you just did. You are an anchor for me here and I'm so grateful to have you in my life.” I say with a shy smile.

Alec's eyes brighten with my sentiment. He kisses me gently on the lips.

"Okay enough of the mushy stuff; get back to work." I joke.

He goes back to looking at the papers scanning over them again. “I’ll have to do a bit more research and see if I can find any other connections. But, thank you Willow, for telling me about that red serum. I know that must be hard to talk about.”

I nod my head. I know that if I say anything more, painful memories of my brother will have to be relived in my mind, so I push the thoughts aside deciding to live in the here and now.

"Oh." I say when a question springs into my mind. "If everyone had vaccinations then how come we are the only one's showing symptoms?"

"I've been pondering that too. The only thing I can think of is the cave perhaps. I mean it wasn't until then that we started showing the changes. Maybe it was something in the water." Alec guesses.

I doubt Zack found the cave but I keep that information to myself for now. "Perhaps. By the way, how many different vaccines are on that list?" I ask scanning over the numbers next to the names.

Alec flips through the numerous pages. "I only see ten."

"Wow, I wonder if it really is the vaccines that have caused the powers or if it's something else. I find it hard to believe that everyone in here has a latent power now lurking in their systems waiting to be unleashed. It just doesn't make sense at all." I think out loud.

"I hear you. That would be total chaos at best. It's very possible that the vaccinations don't have anything to do with these changes, but it's the only semi-logical thing I can come up with. It's an easier pill to swallow than radio active spiders or magical stones." He massages his temples. "I think my brain is fried."

I move to sit back on his lap. "Aww, poor thing. We will have to fix that." I say with a big smile before I lean in and kiss his headache away. I follow it up with a light kiss on his forehead. "Better?" I ask.

"It might just need a little more mending." He says with a crooked grin. "What do you say you and I ditch this place and spend the last half of the day together."

"Sounds like a brilliant plan to me." I smile. We put away the books and I tuck the list back into my satchel and head out.

We decide to check out a movie and we end up watching some goofy vampire horror flick that makes us laugh. The special effects and acting were mediocre at best but it provided us plenty of cheesy lines to make fun of. After the movie we grab a bite to eat for dinner and then Alec walks me back to my room.

"Night." Alec says.

My back is pressed up against the door as he leans in to kiss me goodnight. "Eek." I screech as I fall backwards into my dad's arms. He opened the door so suddenly that neither Alec nor myself could keep me from falling backwards. My cheeks heat and I know my face must be hot pink or something close. Awkward!

My dad sets me back on my feet. "Hello Alec." He says a little icily. My dad likes Alec but I know that he certainly doesn't want to think of him kissing his little girl.

"Hello Mr. Mosby. Um, I was just escorting Willow home." He stammers.

"Mmhm. How often exactly do you escort my daughter home?" My dad interrogates.

"Dad, be easy on him. He was only doing the honorable thing." I say trying to save Alec.

"Oh, making out with my daughter in the hallway is the honorable thing?" He eyes the two of us.

"Dad!" My eyes widen in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Mr. Mosby." Alec looks clueless on how to respond to my dad's prompt.

My dad breathes out a long breath then says, "You are respecting my daughter, right?"

"Yes sir, very much sir. I mean, I respect her very much sir. And you. I respect you too, sir." Alec stutters.

"Good. Well have a goodnight." He shoos Alec away.

Alec looks at me a little torn but I smile and say, "Goodnight." He gives me a sweet smile and then gladly retreats from this intensely awkward situation.

I turn to my dad. Any normal teenager would start a fight with their parent after being embarrassed in such a way. I open my mouth but close it quickly when I notice just how tired he looks. I rarely see him due to his intense schedule and I don't like what I'm seeing. He looks much older than he did when we first entered the shelter. His hair is more than fifty percent grey and his eyes look worn out and exhausted. His shoulders are slumped just enough to soften away all of my teenage angst. "I'm sorry dad." I say.

His look softens and he says, "Lets go inside honey." He looks down. My satchel must have crashed to the floor during my fall. My tablet and the paperwork I stole lies face up. My heart starts accelerating as he leans down and picks up my stuff. I try to take it back from him before he can look at it but I don't get the chance. He glances over some of the names and then quickly ushers me into the room and shuts the door. "What is this?" He waves the paper in the air and a look of deep concern lines his face. His eyes don't look tired anymore; they look wide and alert.

"Um, I found it?" I end up phrasing it like a question instead of an answer.

"Sit." He points towards the one chair that is in our room. I take a seat feeling like a child put in the corner. I watch as he flips through the papers. "Where did you get this?" He asks.

My brain thinks through what to say. Should I lie or tell the truth. Do I involve my dad in this mess or not? I want to protect him because he certainly doesn't need any extra stress. I open my mouth to make up a lie and am cut short.

"Truth Willow." He says cutting me off at the pass.

I look from side to side and then mutter, "Dr. Hastings lab."

His eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. "Dr. Hastings lab? What in the world were you doing there?" He stares me down and adds, "I want the truth young lady and I want it now."

I accidentally let out a laugh. His eyes narrow at my outburst. "Sorry, it's just a long story dad."

"I have all night." He sits down on the edge of his bed to listen.

I sigh and realize that I have to tell my dad what's going on. I owe it to him. He is my family and his name is on that list. Plus, maybe he can help. I run through everything with him from the cave to the powers and then end with my under cover work that I've been doing with Zack. I even tell him about my eyes and the contacts. I wish I could show them but I don't know how to take the contacts out. When I'm done talking I feel relieved. I look up at my dad who has been silent the whole time. He has a strange pondering look on his face.

"Honey, you know that I always believe you right?" He asks.

"Yes." I say wondering where he's going with this.

"I believe you now but I have to say that I'm struggling a bit with the whole super power thing. It doesn't make sense Willow. Maybe you imagined it?" He says. “I WISH HER MOM WERE HERE. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.”

"She's not here dad and I need you to believe me." I say.

He looks at me incredulously. "You heard that?" “NO, I MUST BE GOING CRAZY. THIS ISN’T POSSIBLE.”

"It is possible dad and you aren't going crazy." I study him and decide he might need a little more convincing. I haven't tried out Connor's super power yet so I decide now is as good a time as any. If it’s anything like the others it is all about concentration. I take my index finger and place it on the middle of the desk. I concentrate as best I can and slowly I watch my finger sink into the desk. Weird! It doesn't feel like I'm moving through anything. The desk just feels like air, or maybe it's my finger that feels like air. I plunge the rest of my hand through the desk. I giggle when I see it sticking out at the bottom. "Freaky." I say aloud.

"Oh my gosh." My dad says. I look up to see him hovering over me. He touches the desk and sees that it's not a magic trick or an illusion. "Okay." My dad says a little shaky. "I believe you. Can you please pull your hand back out. It's freaking me out a bit."

"Oh sure." I pull my hand out quickly and place both my hands in my lap.

My dad runs his fingers through his hair and pulls a little at it. "This is impossible. I don't know how..." He starts pacing the room. I watch patiently as he makes a few laps. He stops mid stride and turns towards me. "Okay Willow. Tell me what, um...abilities have you been noticing?"

Relieved that he isn't labeling me as a total nut job I answer. "So far I can read minds, heal myself, go invisible, pass through objects and I can convince people."

"Convince people?"

"I'm not sure what to call it. It's like I can tell someone to do something and if I concentrate just right they will listen. It's like I can hypnotize them or something but I don't use a watch or an object to put them under." I qualify.

"Compulsion. This is truly amazing Willow." A look of question pops on his face. "Wait, you haven't used this on me have you?"

I feel a little hurt but I understand his need to clarify. "No, I wouldn't do that dad. I try not to use any of this stuff. When I got each power it was hard for me to control it but after a day or so I can manage to turn it off and only use it if I have to."

"I'm sorry I asked. I love you and I know you wouldn't do that." He sits back down on the bed. "Why do you have this list?" He holds up the papers.

"I saw our names on it and I just grabbed it. I didn't know if it had anything to do with what's happening with me." I say.

My dad scans through it all. "These are the immunizations?"

"I believe so." I say.

"You think this has to do with your abilities?"

I nod my head.

"Well, I guess it's as good of a guess as any." He takes the list and hides it under his mattress. "Have you told anyone else about this?"

I shake my head. "Alec, Connor, Claire and Zack know." I add, "I'm the only one who knows about Zack though. I haven't told my friends about him and I haven't told Zack about their powers either."

“There are others?” He asks looking at me with a fixated stare. I nod my head. “That’s what we were doing tonight…trying to figure out why we’re exhibiting these symptoms when others aren’t.” He rubs the tip of his chin in thought.

"Smart girl. I don't like you working with Zack at all though. I don't trust his dad and I don't think the acorn fell far from the tree in that family." He says. "I will do some digging of my own for you. In the mean time, try to lie low."

"Okay." My heart feels relieved knowing that he believes me and is going to help. I catch on a moment later to what he just said. "You know who Zack is?"

He nods sadly. "Yes, I know Dr. Hastings son. That family is up to no good. There's a lot of rumors going around about some past trouble they got into. I don't like any of it and I don't want you mixed up with that kind of people."

"I understand." I say not confirming or denying that I will spend any more of my time investigating with Zack. I already knew that Zack and his family seemed untrustworthy. Now, with my dad's warning, I will be even more vigilant.

"I love you." He comes over and places a kiss on the top of my head. "Everything is going to be okay." It still astounds me how easy he is handling this. I would have expected more of a show; perhaps hysterics or fainting…something.

"Thanks dad." I say. I believe him. We can figure this out.

"Try to get some sleep honey." My dad says.

"What about you? Aren’t you going to bed?" I ask.

"No, I think I need to look into a few things first." He helps me out of the chair, gives me a hug and then leaves the room.

My mind is so wound up that it takes me what seems like an hour to turn my mind off enough to fall asleep.

I get a surprising message on my tablet when I wake up the next morning. I've been given another free day. I rarely ever get two free days in a row. The sleuth of texts that follow up that notification let me know that my friends are off as well.

Since I didn't make plans to snoop around with Zack I tell my friends that I was given a day off from my community service. We text a little more and then agree to meet at breakfast to discuss our plans for the day. While my suspicions are rising as to why I keep getting free days I don’t question it too much. I mean, to work or have a day off…is it really a question?

I quickly throw on a pair of purple scrubs and take a look in the mirror. Leaning in closer I check out my eyes. They are brown but not the same brown that I was born with; the contacts have altered them to look a little darker. I don't know if it's the contacts or what, but I look a lot older than sixteen. I know that inside I feel older too. I've been through a lot of things that a sixteen year old should not have to endure. I sigh and throw my wild curls into a loose bun, grab my satchel and head out, determined not to have a pity party.

Surprisingly Claire meets me outside of the cafeteria. She looks nervous and her purple eyes are darting back and forth through the crowd looking for someone. I realize that someone is me when she comes running up.

"Hey!" She looks tense.

"Morning." I say with a half-smile.

Claire is literally radiating anxiety. "Um, what's going on?"

I raise my eyebrow in question. "What do you mean?"

"Alec seems a bit perturbed this morning. I wasn't sure if y'all had a fight or something last night." She looks behind her checking to make sure nobody is listening.

"What makes you think we got in a fight? Maybe he's just having a rough morning." I'm surprised by her question.

"Yeah, that could be it." She bites on her lower lip. "But, I saw something this morning. I mean, something I probably shouldn't have seen."

I stare at her for a second expecting her to carry on but I guess she needs a little prodding. "Well, what did you see?"

She looks around to make sure nobodies within earshot then leans in close to whisper. "I was practicing my invisible skills this morning and ran into Alec and Zack in the hall."

I gasp. Crap-ola!

Claire looks at me suspiciously then continues. "They were arguing pretty heatedly. I heard your name brought up. I couldn't hear everything they were saying because I had to turn visible again. I swear I thought that Alec was going to take a swing at Zack and I knew that I had to interrupt them. I ran to the next hall so I didn't just appear out of thin air in front of them and by the time I returned Alec was gone. Zack was standing in the hallway looking all smug with himself. He gave me a horrible stare that made me feel icky all over so I rushed by him as fast as possible."

She looks at me expecting me to say something. I just stand there staring at her with a blank look. My brain is running through the possible things they may have discussed. Does Zack know about Alec's abilities? Does Alec know about my snooping around with Zack?

"What did Alec say when you found him?" I finally ask.

"Nothing really. He's just been sitting at the table looking all agitated. I asked him what was up but he didn't seem to want to talk. I didn't tell him that I saw him and Zack. I just wanted to find you first." She looks worried.

"Well, I'm sure it's fine. Let’s go in and see what's up." It's easier for me to say than to actually do. Everything in my being doesn't want to go into the possible thunder storm that all of my lying and sneaking around has potentially caused. I walk in behind Claire. Instead of going directly to the table I make my way to the cafeteria line. I grab a bowl of cereal, no milk and a glass of orange juice then head to the table.

Alec avoids eye contact with me until I sit down. He looks up at me and in that instant I wish he would have continued to dodge my gaze. His blue eyes are as dark as a midnight sky. They still take me back a bit seeing as how they were a bold emerald green when I first met him. I break eye contact first and feign interest in my food. My stomach doesn't feel hungry; in fact it feels a little sick. Probably sick with worry. I pick at the cereal with my fingers and eat anyhow.

Everyone remains uncomfortably silent while I finish my breakfast. The tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I want to say something and start defending myself but I know I should wait for Alec to bring it up first.

"So, are you all ready to go?" Connor asks uncomfortably.

I look to Alec who is still appraising me with an intense, slightly angry stare. I dodge it quickly and say, "Sure." We leave the cafeteria silently. Once we are out in the hall Connor takes all of our tablets. I assume that means that we are headed to the cave.

The journey to our secret spot is agonizing due to the silence. I twiddle my thumbs and have to consistently try to tell myself to stop fidgeting. It makes me look guilty. Alec glances at me through his peripheral vision every once in a while. I tense up each time wondering when he's going to lay me out.

When we reach the drop off I consider asking Connor to help me down. I can't imagine jumping into Alec's arms. I wonder if he could be mad enough to let me fall on 'accident.' I brush that thought off as absurdly ridiculous. Alec loves me and even if he hated me, he wouldn't be the kind of guy to let someone get hurt.

Connor and Claire make their way down the drop off first. Connor jumps down, not bothering with the ladder and Claire drops into his arms. He gives her a peck on the lips when he sets her down.

My heart starts racing as Alec jumps down. Connor and Claire have started heading down the next tunnel leaving Alec and me alone. He turns around and gestures his arms up to me. I can't see his facial expression because he's set his flashlight on the ground facing up towards me. I take a deep breath and allow myself to drop into his arm. He catches me. He hesitates for a second as he slowly sets me down. His hands remain planted on my hips as my feet touch the concrete. I look into his eyes and see a mix of emotions running wild. My heart is hammering fast and the butterflies that I always get around him are running rampant in my stomach. He leans forward only a fraction of an inch. I imagine he would have kissed me had it been any other circumstance. The fact that he slowly comes to some unknown realization and turns away from me hits my heart hard. It feels like a knife cutting right through it.

He grabs his flashlight and heads down the tunnel behind Connor and Claire.

I follow reluctantly, feeling horrible. Whatever went on between Zack and Alec must have been bad. By the look in Alec's eyes and the silent treatment he's giving me, I assume it was catastrophic.

A thought occurs to me. I work so hard to keep people's thoughts out of my mind that I haven't thought to listen in on what's going on in Alec's head. I feel a little torn about invading his privacy but I figure I can't do much worse than I've already done to him.

"I’M SO MAD AT HER. HOW COULD SHE DO THIS?" Alec's inner voice says in a near holler. I cringe at the sound of it. I didn’t know you could yell in your head.

Usually people's inner voices are rather calm but he seems really worked up. I listen hard to find out what he's mad about but he just keeps saying the same thing over and over. Sometimes he rephrases it in a different manner but never does he think about the reasons why he's actually mad.

At the next drop Alec stays behind me so that Connor has to help me down. That really tops the cake; he’s mad enough that he doesn't want to touch me. I just wish I knew exactly what he’s so mad about. Is it the sneaking around with Zack or lying to him? Or maybe a little of both? I mean either one of those things would be enough to make me mad but would it make me as angry as Alec seems to be? I don't know.

When we get into the cave Connor and Claire head directly to the later cave. Alec moves to follow them but I grab his arm and turn him towards me. He looks surprised at first but then his stare turns into an angry glare.

"What is wrong with you?" I throw my hands on my hips and stomp my foot. I can't believe I just stomped my foot!

Alec seems like he is going to ignore me but then he says, "Actually the question here should be what is up with you?"

I look at him appraisingly. "What do you mean?"

He laughs. "Oh, let me rephrase that for you Willow." I don't like the way he says my name. He continues. "What is up with you and Zack?"

Crappy-crappington! "What do you mean what is up with Zack and me?" I know it's a stupid mechanism to counter his question with another question but I want to know what he's heard. I open my mind but all I hear are the same phrases over and over again. He's mad at me and he can't believe I've done this. Done what?

"Don't play coy with me Willow. You know exactly what I'm referring to!" He puts both of his hands on his hips. I note that his hands are facing outwards. I remember learning in an elective psychology class that hands facing backwards on your hips represent someone taking a normal posture. Hands facing forward show aggression or anger, neither of which are a good thing.

I open my mouth to try and say something witty or to possibly counter with yet another question but I decide against it. I take a deep breath and tell myself that I need to be honest with him. I should have been honest with him from the very beginning. "I'm sorry Alec. He told me not to tell you. I know I shouldn't have listened to him but I thought that perhaps he would be able to help us."

A strange look flashes across Alec's eyes. He says, "What do you mean? How could Zack help us?"

"I don't know how but he knew about me. I didn't tell him about all of you though. He said that he could help me investigate to try and figure out how we got these powers." I say quickly.

His eyebrow shoots up. "How we got these powers? You just said that you didn't tell him about us."

Oh touché! I consider it quickly and then realize that I don't owe anything to Zack by keeping his powers a secret. "Zack has a power too. He can compel people."

Alec seems to be processing the information when he asks, "Like make people do his bidding? Like those old vampire movies?"

I had never really thought about it that way but, "Yeah, I guess like that."

He scratches his head and I notice that his body language doesn't seem as rigid. "So did he help you?"

"Well, he got me these contacts." I point to my eyes and then cringe at Alec's expression. I forgot that I lied to him about that too. I take a long exasperated breath. This is the exact reason why lying is bad!

When Alec doesn't say anything I add, "We also broke into Dr. Hasting's office." Alec seems to look interested in that tad bit of knowledge. "Actually, Dr. Hasting's is Zack's dad." Alec seems surprised by that too. "We nearly got caught but I managed to grab that list before we left."

"Did you guys figure out what the immunizations have to do with this?" He asks.

"He doesn't know I took it so no, we didn't figure out anything. My best guess is that maybe it could have caused our powers."

"Then why hasn't everyone exhibited powers yet?" He ponders.

"I don't know that yet. I mean honestly, they could have squat to do with our powers but I figured it was a start."

"Okay, so I get that you and Zack were trying to do 'research,' but why did you lie to me?" Alec puts his hands back up on his hips.

"I don't know. Zack told me I couldn't tell you and I...." I feel frustrated tears come to my eyes as I realize how damaging my lies were to our relationship. I blink them away and look back at Alec. "There is no excuse for my lying to you. I shouldn't have done it. I'm so sorry Alec. If I had the power to go back in time I would tell him No!" I take a shaky breath and add sincerely, "I understand that you are mad, probably even livid at me. I understand as well that I've broken our trust. If you feel like we need to break up I would not hold it against you in any way." This time I can't blink my tears away. They start flowing over.

Alec seems to struggle against some sort of invisible barrier as he takes a single step towards me. He doesn't say anything but looks tortured. I open my mind to hear what he's thinking. "I’M SO MAD…AATT…HHEERR.” My eyes open wide at the way his thoughts sound. It's like each syllable is a struggle for him to think, or like he's thinking that thought but is also in a way trying to fight against it.

I blink a few times as I listen to his thoughts repeat the same struggling inner dialogue. Something clicks and I realize instantly what's going on here. "What did Zack tell you?" I ask boldly.

He seems to be surprised by my change in demeanor. "What do you mean?"

"What exactly did he say to you? Claire overheard you both fighting. I want to know what he said." I stand up tall and stare him down.

Alec looks puzzled and then thoughtful. He seems to be pondering it. I tune into his thought process. "WHAT DID ZACK SAY? I CAN’T REMEMBER. I KNOW WE TALKED. WHAT WAS IT? I’M SO MAD AT HER, HOW COULD SHE DO THIS? WHAT?” Alec rubs his temples.

I was right in my conclusion. I take a step towards Alec. I put both of my hands on his arms and then look deeply into his eyes. "He compelled you." I say simply.