The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions (6 page)

“
It was fine,” Androse
lied, sticking his hands inside of his pockets. He really was no
good at socializing and it didn’t help that he felt like he was
being semi-forced to get to know a bunch of new people. Normally he
wouldn’t give someone like Hudson the time of day, but since he was
at the house of one of his grandfather’s good friends, Androse
supposed that he would try and be as genial as possible.

“
So, do you happen to know
what’s going on,” Hudson asked plopping down on one of the air
mattresses.

Androse thought this an odd question. “I
have absolutely no idea. I was told that we were going on a trip, I
fell asleep in the car, and then I woke up here where everyone
somehow knows me.”

Hudson laughed as he looked Androse up and
down. It appeared as if he wanted to say something, but then
decided against it. “So, that man in the kitchen is your
grandfather, right? Charles?”

“
Yeah,” Androse answered
slowly. Why was Hudson talking to him like the two of them had been
friends for years? There was nothing exactly wrong with it and it
certainly was helping him to open up a little, but it bothered him
when people got too comfortable too soon when they first met
someone.

“
I don’t remember ever
meeting him, but he remembers me from when I was little like
everyone else remembers you,” Hudson said setting a pillow under
his head.

“
Obviously our
grandparents and families are all old friends,” Androse said
leaning against the wall closest to the door.

“
Um, who are you and why
are you in my grandmother’s house?”

Androse jumped and turned, and upon seeing
who had spoken, his body went slack. In the doorway to their room
was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. She had long,
dark red hair, tan skin with freckles on the bridge of her nose,
and she had the brightest, clearest blue eyes.

“
Oh, Androse, this is
Awbrey. Awbrey, this is Androse,” Hudson said hopping
up.

“
Hey,” Awbrey nodded,
leaning against the door seal as she looked him up and
down.

“
Hey,” Androse practically
whispered. He cleared his throat and spoke a little louder. “I
don’t really know why I’m here. My grandfather brought me and my
mother-”

Awbrey had put her hand over his mouth and
shut the door behind her. Androse was sure that his face was bright
red.

“
Wait, so you don’t know
why you’re here and you’ve never been here before?”

“
No, I haven’t,” Androse
said backing up.

“
You’re…
different
, aren’t you? Like, you can do things,” Awbrey
asked.

“
What do you mean?” Heat
rose at the top of his head between his forehead and hairline and
his mind froze up. Androse felt like he knew what she was talking
about and thought that he was being silly. How could she be talking
about that?

“
You have powers,” Hudson
interjected enthusiastically, seeming as if he were slow on the
uptake and wished he would’ve thought to ask him before Awbrey
did.
Oh
,
shit
, Androse thought.
He didn’t know what to say. Outside of his mother and his
grandparents, he never spoke of his abilities to anyone at
Charles’s stern request. “Dude, it’s okay. We have powers too,”
Hudson said noticing the stunned look on Androse’s face. “Alright,
so there is another bed in here which means there must be another
guy coming.”

“
There is another bed in
my room which I thought was for Andrew, so that must mean that
there’s another girl coming,” Awbrey said sensibly.

“
Then there are five of
us,” Androse spoke up, breaking his stupor and trying his absolute
best to not seem awkward; he felt it especially necessary now that
he was in front of Awbrey.

“
So, you are
saying-”

“
Yeah,” Androse cut across
Hudson. Though he was terrified, it actually felt good to admit to
having powers and Androse started breathing deeper. He was only
ever able to discuss his gifts with Charles, so the realization
that he now had two new people to share this side of him with was
too good to be true. “You guys have powers too, you
say?”

“
Yeah,” Hudson and Awbrey
replied in unison.

Feeling bold, Androse took off his thin
hoodie and smiled in anticipation. “How about we do a little
demonstration for each other?”

Chapter
5

Zander

“
Honeybunches, you have
got to drive faster,” he said rubbing his stomach.

“
I’m with Dad. Are we
there yet,” Zander asked turning off his mp3 player. “It’s almost
noon.”

“
You two are the most
impatient-”

“
Don’t avoid the question,
Mom,” Zander said taking off his seat belt in order to lean in
between the two front seats. “You said we would be there fifteen
minutes ago and it’s been fifteen minutes.”

“
You’re right,” his mother
said tolerantly. “It has been fifteen minutes, and we’re here. Just
like I said.”

“
Finalmente
! I’m freakin’ starving,”
his father exclaimed. They pulled into a driveway that already had
three cars in it. There was a dark green SUV, a blue BMW, and then
next to it was an old white Subaru that had a little bit of rust on
the sides. His father was the first to get out of their car. “Come
on, Zander. Let’s get the bags. The faster we move, the faster I
can eat.”

“
No. They can stay in the
car,” his mother said. “We are already late, so let’s go ahead and
get in there. The bags can wait.” His father, suddenly very
serious, nodded in agreement and closed his car door.

“
Late for what? Aren’t we
just hanging out here for a day or two,” Zander asked resting his
forearms on the back of her headrest.

“
Yes,” his mother said
taking off her seat belt, “but there is a reason why we came here
and a very important one at that.”

“
And, that is,” Zander
asked.

“
You’ll find out soon,”
she said getting out of the car. He quickly got out too.

“
Does this have anything
to do with why you two have been so cool recently,” Zander asked
looking up and down the street as he followed his parents up the
walkway. Summer vacation was coming to a close, and just days ago
his parents had given him more freedom than they ever had. At the
start of the summer, his curfew was only extended by an hour to
nine-thirty, he was only allowed to have two friends over to their
house at any time, he was allowed to have girls over but not past
eight o’clock, and he wasn’t allowed to go over any of his friends’
houses that were not within a one mile radius. Over the last week,
however, they had allowed Zander to stay out past midnight, he
could have as many friends over as he wanted as long as they stayed
outside of the house and didn’t make a mess, and he was even
permitted to go and spend the night at his best friend’s house who
lived outside of his parents’ set parameter where there were girls
who slept over as well, unknown to any adults.

“
Kind of,” his mother
answered knocking on the front door. She seemed excited but
dejected, and his father’s normal enthusiasm and wit turned into
angst. Zander’s dad was one of the happiest people that he knew,
but in the time that it took him to walk from the car to the porch
he became a totally different person.

“
You okay, Pop,” Zander
asked. His father continued to stare at the door. He didn’t answer
Zander right away and when he did speak, he addressed his
wife.

“
I can’t believe this,
amore. I have to go through this all over again.”

“
Marcel! Not here,” his
mother spat.

“
Whoa,” Zander said
confusedly. Very seldom did his parents argue, but when they did it
was usually pretty bad; his mother was half Mexican and half
Italian, and his dad was full-blooded Italian.

“
It’s not fair,” Marcel
continued. “Once with you was more than enough.”

“
I know, Marcel. Please,”
she said closing her eyes. “You don’t think that I understand? Is
he not my son as well?”

“
Of course he is your son,
Sylvia. You birthed him, didn’t you? Or did I record some other
woman yell, scream, and curse the doctor out?”

“
That’s not funny,” said
Sylvia. “Considering that I’ve already been through it, do you not
think that I feel worse than you do?”

“
I went through it too,”
his father debated. “In my own way. You have no idea-”

“
Yes, I do! You don’t
think I worried about you and everyone else on top of that through
everything?!”
What the hell are you guys
fighting about
, Zander thought totally
lost.

Marcel sighed which was
usually a sign that he was dropping an argument. He knocked on the
door that no one had answered yet, and trying to busy himself, his
father started tapping his foot and undid one of the buttons on the
collar of his shirt. His mother shook her head at him and then ran
her hands through her hair to try and make sure that she looked
presentable.
Okay then
, Zander thought.
I guess
that
’
s
over
. Whenever his parents got into a
squabble, they normally just let it go and pretended as if nothing
had happened and Zander thought it awesome; he hoped that the girl
that he married one day would be able to do the same. His parents
had been married for eighteen years, so if that was how they dealt
with their problems and were still going strong, then he guessed
that they had the right formula.

“
Well,” Zander started,
“looks like no one is home. I think we should-”

“
Scusami, amore,” Marcel
spoke up. Zander made a face; even though his parents outwardly let
things roll off of their shoulders, he didn’t doubt that they
apologized to each other in private. Thing was, Zander had never
actually heard them do it.

“
It’s alright,” Sylvia
said after a few seconds, taking her husband’s hand.

“
I’m just…I’m scared,” his
father admitted. “If anything happens to him…”

His mother stared at Marcel with the
sincerest of eyes as if she had fallen in love with him all over
again. She embraced him and planted kisses wherever she could.

“
Really, Mom and Dad? Is
this what we’re doing,” Zander asked as he averted his
eyes.

“‘
Really’ is right,” came
another voice. Zander looked at the now partly open front door to
see a guy with short blonde hair and blue eyes peeking out. He
looked cool, so Zander nodded and the guy nodded back.

“
Wait a damn
minute…Hudson? Hudson Williams?! Is that really you,” Sylvia asked
separating from her husband.

“
I guess,” he said opening
the door wider to reveal two other people standing behind him. One
was a red-haired girl with beautiful eyes who Zander immediately
took a liking to. He licked his lips as he checked her out, and
after tearing his eyes away from her he noticed the guy standing
behind her who looked downright weird to him. He had long blonde
hair, but the hair closest to his neck was dyed black and he was
wearing it in a ponytail. He also had a very pretty face for a guy
which made Zander think that he was a little strange.

“
Awbrey…and
Androse
?!” His mother
clapped her hands to her mouth.
Awbrey
,
huh
, Zander thought.
Wait
…
did she just say Androse
?
What the fuck kind of name is
that
? “Come here,” Sylvia said pulling
Hudson into a hug. He smiled as he hugged her back. “Awbrey, you
have grown up so much! You are gorgeous,” Sylvia said moving on,
but when she got to Androse he extended his hand to which his
mother stopped in mid-hugging position and took it in both of hers.
Tears came to her eyes and she looked back at his father
disbelievingly. “Marcel, look at him,” she said lovingly.
I know
.
He
’
s a freak
, Zander
thought.

“
That was the first thing
I noticed,” Marcel said stepping up to shake Androse’s hand. “Man,
do you look like your father.”

“
I know,” Androse smiled.
“I’ve seen plenty of pictures. Plus, I’ve heard that a lot over the
past fourteen hours.”

“
Oh, I apologize! I’m
Sylvia, and this is my husband, Marcel,” she said wiping her eyes
with a tissue that she took from her purse. “And this is my son,
Zander.” He gave a curt nod to all of them to which his mother
didn’t seem very pleased with. “Zander, this is-”

“
Hudson, Awbrey,
and…Andy,” he interrupted her. “Yeah. That’s what I’ll call you.
Let’s go with that.”

Androse made a face. “Actually, it’s just
Androse. I don’t have any nicknames or anything.”

“
I’m not calling you that,
bro. That’s a pretty abnormal name. Trust me, Andy is definitely
better,” Zander replied.