Tainted Energy (The Energy Series Book 1) (15 page)

Neighbors
finally became concerned after all the yelling ended, shoving curtains aside
and cracking open doors. Some even asked if we were okay. Nice they cared after
all the commotion stopped. We refused to acknowledge them, though I did manage
to flip the brawnier guys the finger.

"We
need to get to Jake's." I went straight for Wilma's car, Tarek right
beside me.

Mom
plopped on the ground, her pants already too muddy for her to care. "Shouldn't
we call the police?"

"And
tell them what, Mom? Dad beat us then got sucked into the floor?" Hysteria
bit the tips of my words. "Maybe tell them tree roots tried to eat me?"

"I
just thought since..." Tears pooled on the new hills forming across her
upper cheeks.

Feeling
guilty, I did my best to help her up as Tarek watched in silence, his hands
resting on his hips. The neighbors still hadn't come out, but they wouldn't
call the cops, either. A sort of trailer trash code of honor. "We'll go to
the apartment, talk to Jake. Figure everything out."

"We
need to leave," Tarek said when the ground shook.

Mom must've
felt it, too, because she finally stood, opened the back door, and slid in,
pushing the lock.

He led
me to the passenger side door. "Where to?"

"We
have a place. It's not far."

"Get
in."

He didn't
have to tell me twice. I pulled the door open and slouched in the seat, the
smell of vanilla helping my nerves. He hopped in the driver's seat, shoved the
car in reverse, and skidded into the road, reaching over to snap on my seatbelt
before putting the car in drive.

I
smiled. Free at last.

Lena

A
ny energy I had left, the short
drive sapped it out of me. Once we pulled in behind Jake's car, Tarek peeled me
out of the seat and carried me up the few steps to the front door.

Mom, who
now seemed used to having a strange giant carry me around, shuffled behind us,
but stepped in front to tap on the door. She knocked louder when we waited a
minute too long. After a third door pounding, the lock gave way, and the door
opened a crack.

Jake
peeked through the sliver, already yelling, "It's a door, not a punching
ba–" When his eyes landed on me cradled in Tarek's arms and Mom's face,
which looked like she'd just had invasive plastic surgery, he swung the door
wide. "Jacie?" His expression blackened. "He's a dead man."

"You're
too late," Tarek said. Without waiting for permission, he stalked past my
boss, heading straight for the couch.

He sat
at the edge of the sofa and gently lifted my shirt, his attention never leaving
the bruising traveling over the left side of my ribs.

Jake tilted
my mother's chin and inspected her face. "What happened?"

Mom
spent the next half hour filling him in. She didn't leave any detail out,
including the part where the giant guy pulled the screaming roots from my legs.
Jake only interrupted about a hundred times, not quite grasping it, except for
when Dad kicked our asses and Tarek swooped in to save the day.

When he
let Mom finish, all the while dabbing an icepack on her face, Jake had one
question left. "And so where did you come from?" He directed the
question to Tarek's back.

Tarek
closed his eyes, and his jaw tensed. "Don't worry about who I am."

Jake stomped
over to the couch, standing behind it so he could meet Tarek's eyes. "Is
that right, tough guy?" When my boss was mad, he talked with his entire
body. The way his arms and chest danced as he spoke said he was beyond pissed.

Tarek
took deep, even breaths. "You and the woman know too much already."

Well,
that didn't go over well.

"Fuck
you, pal. She's not
some
woman. And I...I was here before you ever came
into the picture." Jake gripped the back of the microfiber couch, the tips
of his fingers white. "You'll start talking, or you'll leave. Your choice."

My
warrior's dimples emerged for the first time since last night. "If you
think you can make me leave, be my guest."

Jake
stood six feet and had some pretty good muscle to back up his mouth, not to
mention the eight years in the ring. But next to Tarek, he looked like a tween,
awkward and lanky.

That
didn't stop Jake's face from going red to purple as the fabric of the sofa
ripped under his hands. The old school Italian dripped from his words as his
shoulders rolled. "I don't care how big you are, but I'm not gonna let
some punk kid just waltz in here and run the show. You come in my house, you
play by my rules."

Punk
kid. Right. Tarek might have looked like a freshman in college, but I'd wager
he had a few years on Jake.

Tarek
stood and shadowed the man I once thought could take on a small army. "You
don't want to go there." His fists curled and his hips shifted.

"Stop
it. Both of you." I pulled myself up. Mom slinked around Tarek to sit
beside me. "Now's not the time for pissing contests." I ignored Tarek
when he shot me a raised eyebrow. "Tarek's here to keep us safe. Safe from
things you can't."

He gave
Jake a smug look, his arms crossing his broad chest.

"And
you need to stop being such an ass." I pointed a finger in Tarek's face,
his smirk disappearing. "She
is
my mother, and Jake's been here for
us when no one else wanted the job. Whether we can tell them everything or not,
you will respect them."

He didn't
reply, but a tic appeared in his jaw, and I think everyone heard him grinding
his teeth. Jake didn't make his gloating as obvious, the corners of his mouth
turning up only a little.

I
stumbled to the bathroom, giving him a scowl on the way. "You can knock it
off, too."

Too much
testosterone floated in the living room to stick around.

∞ ∞ ∞

The
bathroom mirror wasn't in the mood to flatter. My hair stuck out everywhere,
mud highlighting the tips. The lump on my dirty cheek already started turning
purple and the heightened color of my face, which had yet to fade completely
away, contrasted in an unflattering way. The crusty blood drying on my bottom
lip mixed with the pink looked like I stepped out of a bad eighties movie. All
that color had me thinking there was a future in the circus.

Loud
grumbling in the other room revealed the two men hadn't decided to stop acting
like boys. I turned on the shower to drown out their voices. They could work
things out while I scrubbed off the filth. If not, well, who cared. All the
chaos–I was over it.

Steaming
water relaxed my muscles and stung the cuts and scrapes on my face and legs.
The pleasure-pain combination kept me alert. Let me know not everything that
happened in the past two weeks manifested from a broken mind. I scrubbed using
Jake's body wash and shampoo. Not too feminine smelling, but at least it
removed the mud, blood, and my father's sweat and spit from my bruised body.

I
wrapped a towel around me and opened the door a crack. "Jake? Could you
get my stuff?"

We'd
have to go back to the trailer to get my backpack and Mom's things. Christ, now
we'd have to tell the manager Dad took off and we'd be moving. No one would
miss him, but we'd still have some explaining to do.

A tap on
the door interrupted the landlord excuse forming in my head. "Lena,
sweetie, can I come in?" Mom's soft voice hurt my heart.

I opened
the door to her holding a bag. "Wanna take a shower? You can just wear
some of my clothes."

She
moved to set the bag on the closed toilet. "That sounds wonderful."

Mom
unzipped the bag, pulled out sweats, an old shirt, and a pair of underwear,
handing it over. Her fingers shook, and tears rolled down the swollen slopes of
her face. "I'm sorry, Lena, for all of this. I just," she wiped at
the tears with the back of her hand, "I have no idea what happened."

I
gathered her into my arms, the bruises scattered on my torso protesting. "Don't.
We're safe now." I didn't believe it, but she didn't need to know that. "It
wasn't your fault."

Her arms
tightened around my waist, reminding me of how fragile she'd become over the
last few years.

"Are
you gonna tell me who he is?" She may have been frail, but she definitely
knew there was more to our situation than Dad being dead.

"He's
the closest thing to a friend we have right now, besides Jake."

"Is
he… Does he go to school around here or something? Play football for ESU? The
boy is gigantic."

I
fidgeted, not knowing what the hell to say. Lying was the only option, but I
was just too tired to come up with something good. "He…no…um… I don't
think so…"

"Maybe
you'll tell me one day?" Yeah, she was much more aware than I usually gave
her credit for.

I said
nothing, just nodded, and let the subject drop.

She gave
my cheek a gentle pat and bent to turn on the spigot, adjusting the water.
While she showered, I dressed before dragging my body back to the couch. Jake
threw a quilt over me and tucked the edges around my legs. Some deep discussion
with Tarek resumed after. My giant, who sat across from me in a deep, cushy
chair, bounced his leg, looking impatient.

Yeah, he
was
my
giant. I'd decided that the first time I saw him in my dreams. I'd
fight for him. Even if I had to fight the ghost of whom I once was.

As my
eyes closed, Tarek said, "We'll talk later."

Jake
said goodnight, and his footsteps carried him from the room. The end cushion
sank, and Tarek's warm hands lifted my feet onto his lap. That big leg didn't
bounce anymore as his fingers massaged my calves.

"Lena?"

"Yeah?"

His hands found every kink, every
sore muscle, the effect better than any sleep med.

"What you've dealt with…and
today, what you went through, and you're still so strong." He stopped
talking, but thankfully kept kneading my calves. I could deal with his pauses
if he kept doing that.

After a while, he continued, "No
one I've ever met could handle this stuff the way you have." His warm
fingers stilled for a moment. "Not even
you
. You're the bravest
person I've ever known."

One point me. Zero points, ah, old
me, I guess?

Even with all the bruises and the
exhaustion, at that moment, I could've flown. The smile hurt my sore face, but
I couldn't help it.

I opened my lids a crack to find a
soft smile teasing his lips. "Thank you."

His eyes lifted to mine. "And
I'm glad you're
you
."

No, no tears…just…damn. Too late.

"You're pretty okay, too."

His
smile widened. "Sleep." That deep voice had the effect of a Greek Siren,
beckoning, filling my entire being.

"Okay."

Lena

C
onfusion sucked. You know, that
feeling you get when you wake up in a strange place and forget how you got
there?

I flew
up, the protest from my body excruciating. The only sound interrupting the silence
came from a ticking clock somewhere. The weight that left long enough to let me
sleep, settled on my shoulders, getting good and comfortable.

You know
what sucked more?

Remembering.

Careful
not to wake the bruises, I pushed gingerly off the couch, shielding my eyes
from the nosy sun peeking through a front window. After stumbling out of the
bathroom, I found Tarek sitting on a chair across from the couch.

"Morning."
His smile was soft, showing a hint of his dimples.

I rubbed
my eyes, flinching when the motion upset the bruise on my cheek. "How long
was I out?"

He
helped me back to the couch, my muscles so stiff I felt like an eighty year
old. When I lay down, he sat at the end of the couch, propping my feet on his
lap. "About fourteen hours or so. Your mother's in the bedroom across from
Jake's."

"It's
10:00
? I'm gonna have to get Mom to call the school. Missing two days
this week won't look good." I patted my cheeks, trying to wake up. Finding
the couch and Tarek's hands too comfortable, I began to drift.

"Who's
Zander?"

That
helped keep me awake.

"Ah..."
I ran a hand through my hair, glancing out the smudged window, watching an
older couple walk by the house…watched the streetlight switch to green, too. I
looked everywhere but at the guy on the end of the couch. "Who?" My
roaming eyes finally found his.

Tarek's
face made my stomach flip. He didn't seem angry, though his gray eyes had an
edge of misery dulling their shine. "Jake said someone named Zander asked
about you at work last night. Said the boy could barely speak, he was so upset."

I'm
pretty sure the guilt crawling through my stomach after seeing the pain on
Tarek's face wasn't right. I'm almost positive the guilt should've been for
forgetting all about Zander. A long sigh, and another, still didn't ease all
the wrong emotions. I guess there was no time like the present to come clean to
the supposed soul mate–or was it energy mate?–I'd dreamed about since I was
eight. "He's...my boyfriend."

That
sounded so lame and small compared to–I had no idea what this was, but Zander
wasn't a major concern. I shook my head, amazed. If someone had told me that I'd
forget Zander in a week, I'd have laughed...and punched them in the face.

"Your
boyfriend
?" He didn't yell or stomp off in a rage, something Zander
proved capable of doing. Instead, he rubbed my legs, his dimples giving another
quick appearance. "That sounds cute."

Ah,
hell, no.
His
patronizing tone was way worse than a Zander tantrum. "What? You pick now
to treat me like a kid?"

He
stared out the window for a second, sadness rolling in his eyes. "Sorry."

I
definitely didn't think there was any need for me to explain, but... "I
thought it was serious. Well, at least heading in that direction."

"But?"

I huffed,
throwing my hands in the air. "But everything! I've hardly thought about
him with all this going on."

He
smiled. "Good."

"I'm
gonna have to talk to him. Probably should do that today before he calls out a
search party."

The
smile left, replaced with a scowl. "Let Jake take care of it."

As much
as my legs complained, I swung them off his lap and headed back into the
bathroom. "He's not Jake's boyfriend."

∞ ∞ ∞

Tarek
and I headed back to the trailer park, leaving Mom with Jake. I glanced at the
blood splattered on the walls while loading the rest of my stuff into my
backpack. Handing it off to Tarek, I went to grab Mom's clothes, her photo
albums, and a few of her favorite novels that made it through Dad's book
shredding. After throwing those three bags in the car, I found the bleach in
the back pantry and filled the kitchen sink with hot water.

An hour
later, the blood on the walls and carpet were no longer visible to the naked
eye. Hopefully it would be enough for the landlord not to ask too many
questions. The entire time I scrubbed, Tarek searched the house. For what, I
had no idea, but he seemed satisfied when he came to the kitchen while I
cleaned out the sink.

Wiping
up all the blood, a mixture of mine and Mom's, had anger seeping in. As much as
it might've made me sound like a psychopath, the only thing I felt about Dad's
death was relief.

After a
deep breath to wash away the lingering rage, I turned to Tarek. "Find
anything, Sherlock?"

He
cocked his head to the side. "Who?"

"You
know, Sherlock Holmes? The inspector? Doctor Watson?" His face showed no
recognition. "Yeah, okay. Bad joke."

"Are
we finished here?"

I threw
rags and sponges in a garbage bag, tying it up and slinging it over my
shoulder. "In more ways than one."

He took
the bag with a smile, guiding me to the door.

As we
walked to the car, I said, "Are all of you able to do that, make trees come
to life? Break a floor then have it mend itself? I mean, Christ, if you all had
that kind of power..."

Tarek
started the engine when we both clicked on our seat belts. "No, that was
something I've never seen." He pulled onto the main road. "Maybe it
has something to do with Casimir's power mixing with the Protector energy."
Tarek tapped the wheel as he spoke. "Wardens have mending abilities that
make them able to live longer, survive the negatives in their dimensions…it's
possible, I guess."

When
tension turned his mouth into a thin line, I sighed, closing my eyes. "We're
in way over our heads, aren't we?"

He
braked at a red light. "Looks like it."

∞ ∞ ∞

When the
car pulled into the school's parking lot, I half crawled, half stumbled out,
the pain riding on my ribcage sucking all my energy. After scrubbing the house
and helping with the bags, my body pleaded to stop and sleep. The butterflies
zipping through my stomach didn't help either.

I
slammed the door and signaled for Tarek to leave. After the third nod toward
the exit sign, he shoved the car in drive and puttered out, parking outside the
fence.

Sighing,
I trudged to Zander's car. In about ten minutes the lot would be full with
obnoxious people racing to get to wherever seemed more important than school.

As I
leaned against the car door, I began to crave that normalcy. I wanted to be
oblivious of dimensions, Guides, and Protectors. Mostly, I didn't want to have
to figure out who wanted to get rid of me. The weight of all of it sat in my
gut like a stone.

The last
bell echoed, and I sat up straighter, keeping my focus on the doors. Knowing
Tarek watched everything irritated me. Privacy was what I needed, and when I
saw Zander walk out of the building all disheveled and sullen, I wanted Tarek
to leave.

I
smoothed my hair, suddenly conscious of how bad I must've looked. When he
glanced up and his face shined, I forgot everything but him. No longer able to
stay put, I ran, ignoring the pain shooting through my middle. His arms were
already waiting, scooping me up, holding tight.

My body
screamed in protest, and this time I couldn't ignore it. "Ouch. Easy."

Confusion
etched his face until I lifted my shirt some to show him. His smooth cheeks
tightened. "Who did that to you?"

"Dad."

"He's
a monster." Rage ate at every word, and I could have sworn guilt covered
his face. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?
You didn't do anything. And he left right after. Hasn't come back, don't think
he will."

No
warning, Zander kissed me, and the dull thump entered my brain. Things needed
to be discussed, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what those things
were.

"I
missed you." He kept his hands around my waist without using much
pressure.

"I
missed you, too." The words sounded strange. Logic buried deep in my
psyche screamed that I'd barely given him a thought during the last week,
except for how to get him out of the picture for a while. But whatever came
over me, I decided at that moment that I'd missed him with everything I had.

Thing
about heroin, the drug is hard to quit.

He
brushed a hand through my hair, smoothing the places it stuck out. "Where've
you been? I went to your house after work. Jake said he hadn't seen you..."

Lying
didn't come so easy with him. "We...drove around a while after, trying to
figure things out. Wilma let us borrow her car."

His dark
eyes searched mine. "Where'd you stay last night?"

I
swallowed. "We ended up at Jake's. I guess you could say we officially
moved in."

He
kissed me again, and this time I kept him close. As we stood there, surrounded
by the yelling kids and revving cars, groping each other, clarity stabbed a
metal spike through the thick Zander cloud. Uncurling my fist from his
sweatshirt, I stepped back a few feet, forcing deep breaths in and out.

"What's
wrong?" His tortured face searched mine.

"We
need to talk." I shook my head, trying to loosen the cobwebs, touching my
lips. "I need to tell you something."

"What?
Tell me." He came closer, putting his palm on the cheek not marred with
bruises. "But let's get outta here, okay?"

"I
can't."

"Why?"
He went to the car, holding out his hand.

"No,
Zander."

"What's
goin' on?"

I had to
dig deep, but his anger helped remind me of how much he
didn't
think of
me. As far as he was concerned, I was a coward, not able to live with just my
weak mother. That dull throb eased up, the lies coming out smoother. "I
need some time."

"What
are you saying? You need time away from me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"
His eyes turned bright, shiny with tears.

"I
need to...focus on Mom and me, get our lives back on track."

"And
you can't do that with me around?"

I studied
my serrated fingernails. "I can't afford the distraction right now."

"So
now I'm a distraction."

Everything
I said came out wrong. But one glance over my shoulder at Wilma's idling car
solidified my resolve. "Right now, yes."

He
slammed the car door and stepped forward, stopping when I flinched. "This
isn't over. I gave up
everything
." He moved slower this time,
standing right in front of me. "I know you love me."

At least
what I said next wasn't a lie. "I don't know anything right now, Zander."

My eyes
stayed on my hands, the atmosphere becoming empty and hollow. When I found the
nerve to bring up my head, he was already in his car. He gave one last scowl
and peeled out of the parking lot, almost hitting another car backing out as
his tires squealed and smoked. Kids threw obscenities, both words and creative
hand gestures, at his rear window.

I just
stood there, my legs unwilling to take me to the car.

Funny
thing, as Zander disappeared down the next block, the dullness cleared away. My
resolve was strong again, especially thanks to the sight of Tarek, who waited
patiently with his window down and looking right at me.

Dumbass
is what I felt like then.

∞ ∞ ∞

Silence
filled the ride back to the house. I had no idea how to explain why I melted
around Zander. Maybe I did love him. But as the car rumbled down side streets,
stopping at lights, and grumbling when they turned green, love didn't register.