The Need (5 page)

It was my turn to look away as I spoke, “she’s probably already gone to work. We don’t see much of each other. She works, I go to college and we’re happy to avoid each other in between times.”

Her words reminded me to check my phone, surely Jon knew something was wrong. He always did just in the same way I knew when something wasn’t right with him. Closing my hand around the small black mobile I was disappointed to see no flashing message symbol. It was unusual for him not even to have messaged her a morning greeting. It was their thing beginning from the moment they had met and each morning he would send her a message.

“
That’s odd.”

“
What is?” Natasha asked as she stood and gathered the clothes I was letting her borrow from on top of the wicker chair in the corner of my room.

“
Jon didn’t send me a message this morning.”

Natasha continued to gather the items I had left ready for her, “and this is odd why?”

“
He messages me every morning and it’s always before I wake up.” Standing up I walked to my bedroom window that over looked Jon’s house. I couldn’t see anything unusual, his parents car stood in the driveway and the bedroom curtains were drawn.

“
Aisling, he probably just slept in, you both used a lot of power last night. Him more so than you, no offence but it was kinda his power that outed Silas. Relax, he is more than likely face down in his bed snoring his head off.”

My shoulders slumped slowly and I released the breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. “Yeah, you’re right.” Glancing at the time on my phone I swore under my breath. If I didn’t hurry, I was going to be late for class. “I’m going to jump in the shower, the guest bathroom is the second door on the left feel free to use it.” Grabbing my towel and clothes I didn’t wait for her to answer but ran straight into my own en-suite.

Stripping quickly I looked carefully at the gash on my forehead. It wasn’t very deep and for that I was grateful but I knew no amount of concealer would cover the purple discolouration that was blooming above my eye. With a sigh, I stepped into the shower cubicle and let the hot water pour over my skin. Scrubbing my hair clean I let my worried thoughts of the night before wash away with the water.

Hurrying from the shower I dragged my clothes on and pulled my wet hair up into a bun, securing it in place with some small hairgrips. Opening the bathroom door I noticed Natasha sitting on the edge of the bed, she was dressed in the clean clothes I had given her. Her dark hair hung in silky waves and I couldn’t stop a small spark of envy as I noticed how luminous her skin truly was.

“
Ok, what are you going to do while I’m at college?”

With a start she looked at me, confusion clouding her eyes as though I had awoken her from a deep dream. “Oh, sorry, I was daydreaming. Um what did you say?”

“
What are you doing while I’m at college?”

“
I have some phone calls to make and hopefully I’ll be able to get in touch with some of my own people. You know let them know what happened and why I haven’t been in contact.”

“
Right, are you staying here tonight or...” I let my words trail off.

“
If that’s ok with you and your mom, I will?”

“
Fair enough, the spare key is under the pot at the front door so you can let yourself in. There’s food in the cupboards so help yourself. Or maybe if you’d prefer Jon will be around so you could keep him company?”

Natasha smiled and nodded, “ok I’ll go talk to him, I’ll probably be able to tell him a little more about who we are and who you guys are in terms of the prophecy.”

Picking up my bag I grabbed the notebook and pen from my desk and Natasha followed me out the door. Pulling a blank sheet out of the back of my notebook I hastily scribbled my note to Jon.

“
Did you sleep in? I missed your morning message. I only have one class in the morning and one after lunch. I’ll stop by the library on the way home and I’ll see you at three. Jon, I love you. Know that always. I am yours and I will be forever. Love Ais xxx.”

Dropping my bag at my front door I locked it quickly behind me before running over to Jon’s front door and posting the quick note addressed to him through the letter box. This was my morning ritual to him, I enjoyed writing paper notes to him. At least real letters couldn’t be accidently deleted or take up space in a mobile phone. Although as Jon had pointed out to me letters could get lost.

Standing back from the door I looked at the house, the curtains were still drawn and I couldn’t hear anyone stirring inside. It seemed strange that his parents weren’t even up, they both worked and surely by now they should have been up and gone.

“
Aisling you coming or not?”

With one last look at the quiet house, I turned and jogged back to my own front door and the strange girl. Picking my bag back up we began the short walk to the bus stop.

“
Where do you think you’ll meet some of your people?”

Staring at the pavement and each step she took she pondered on my question.

“
I’m not really sure yet, well not until I get talking to them. I know some of them have arrived in the city, they tracked us here when I disappeared off the grid they got worried. We take care of our own you know.”

All I could do was nod, it wasn’t exactly a concept I was familiar with. They didn’t seem to have done a very good job of looking after their own so far but who was I to be judgemental?

“
Are you getting the bus?”

Aisling smiled and shook her head, “nah, buses aren’t really my thing. Anyway walking is better for me, it’ll allow me to find the others faster being in a crowded bus will just cloud it.”

“
Ok, well this is me then.” I stopped in front of the battered bus shelter and rummaged through my pocket for the right change. Bus drivers tended to be a little grumpy when it came to giving change. Finding a euro and some twenty cents I watched from the corner of my eye as Natasha shuffled in front of me for a few moments.

“
So I guess I’ll see you later?” I said glancing up at her.

“
What’s it like Aisling?”

“
What?” I couldn’t keep the puzzlement from my voice.

“
What’s it like to have a normal life? To go to college, follow your dreams have a family and friends and all the things normal people do?” She sounded wistful and her eyes had taken on a faraway look. It was as though I wasn’t there anymore. She was imagining what her life should have been like if she didn’t have her powers.

“
It’s a bit more complicated than you think. My only friend is Jon, college is alright but it’s a lot of work and I don’t exactly get on with my mother if you know what I mean. So you see I don’t think I’m the right person to be asking about these sorts of things. My life has never exactly been typical.”

Natasha smiled at me, “I suppose it hasn’t. I can’t imagine having a partner I couldn’t even kiss properly without getting fried.”

She turned to leave but I grabbed her arm “how do you know about that?”

“
Aisling I know a lot of things, knowing that is on the minor side of the equation. Enjoy class.” She spoke and nodded at the bus ambling down the road towards the stop. With a sigh I released her arm, it wasn’t as though I could make her tell me her secrets. I watched as she sauntered away.

Stepping onto the bus I began to place my change in the holder when something across the street caught my eye. The man Natasha had called Max stood just across the street staring at me. The coins dropped from my hand and scattered across the floor.

“
Child, are you going to stand there all day admiring yourself in the reflection on the window or do you want to get into the city?”

The bus drivers voice knocked me out of my panicked reverie and I fumbled to gather the coins up from the floor. Placing the last one in the holder the driver handed me a ticket and I took it without even looking at it. My eyes were instead scanning up and down the street where I had seen the strange man with the yellow eyes just moments before. Where he had stood was empty and there was no sign of him on the street anymore. He had simply disappeared.

Taking my seat on the bus I pulled my mobile out of my pocket and checked it for messages from Jon but was once again disappointed to find the screen blank. My fingers tapped quickly over the keys as I wrote the message of what I thought I had seen and sent it to Jon.

I hoped I was wrong. We had hurt him last night; we had sent Max somewhere. Surely he couldn’t be back around this quickly. With a sigh, I settled back into my seat and waited for the bus to reach my stop.

Chapter Five

Emerging into the afternoon sunshine after my lunchtime class I pulled my phone from my pocket. Seven missed calls from my mom, that was over kill for her. Normally if there was something up I’d be lucky to get one call about it, let alone seven.

Pressing the redial I listened as it rang and rang, I could almost imagine the phone on the counter at home buzzing away as she was off busy somewhere else.

The voicemail kicked in and I clicked the phone off. There was no point in leaving a message, she wouldn’t listen to it. Within seconds of my finger pressing the disconnect button, my phone vibrated in my hand. As my eyes skipped over the words, fear knotted in the pit of my stomach and an icy chill wrapped itself around my spine... slowly spreading upwards.

“
Aisling, come home. It’s Jon. Mom x”

What did she mean it was Jon? What had happened to him? Sure he hadn’t messaged me but like Natasha had said he was just exhausted. Wasn’t he? Panic swelled inside my head until I thought it might explode.

Cramming the notebook I had used in class back into my bag I let my feet carry me across campus at a run. Students glared angrily at me as I ploughed straight through the middle of them all. But I didn’t care I needed to get home and no one was going to stand in my way.

Reaching the bus stop I quickly realised the next bus wasn’t for another twenty minutes. I couldn’t wait that long. Jon couldn’t wait that long for me to get to him. Closing my eyes I waited to feel the familiar tug of his connection to me but instead all I felt was a gaping black hole that threatened to suck me inside.

Throwing the strap of my bag across my chest I began to run. Fear gnawed at my insides as I struggled to control my breathing. Something was wrong with Jon and where was I? Running home. So stupid, I thought to myself. After all the trouble the night before I should have stayed at home. I should have made sure that Jon was alright. Images and thoughts whirled through my mind as my legs pumped harder. My breathing came in shallow gasps and my vision was blurring with tears. I had to make it home.

My eyes noticed a taxi that happened to be coming down the street towards me. I did the only thing I could do in that moment. Veering into the road I dashed out in front of the oncoming vehicle. My mind registered the sight of the panicked driver as he slammed on the brakes. The car skidded towards me and I held my breath as I waited to feel it hit me. The tyres burned rubber as the car came to a grinding halt. The bumper nudged into my legs and I stumbled backwards. Frantically I rushed around to the passenger door and pulled it open.

“
Jesus, what are you doing? I could have killed you!” The driver’s words were garbled as he spoke to me. His knuckles were white with the grip he had on the steering wheel and his face was a matching shade.

“
Please, you have to help me. I need to get home.”

“
You’re crazy!”

“
Please it’s important!” Something in my voice caused him to pause then and he beckoned me inside. Hastily I climbed in and dragged my seat belt across my chest. The sound of it clicking into place seemed to calm me. Soon I would get back and then I would know what was wrong with Jon.

Following my directions the taxi whizzed through the streets. It was much faster than running home or getting the bus for that matter. The taxi pulled onto my all too familiar street. The pounding of my heart filled my head. It was all I could do not to throw myself from the taxi and race towards my house. Pulling some money from my pocket I indicated for the driver to pull over. Dropping it into his hand I jumped from the car before it had fully rolled to a complete stop.

Both mine and Jon’s house seemed quiet, eerily quiet. Surely if my mother had sent me the message asking me to come home then she should be waiting for me. A feeling of dread wormed its way into my chest. Where was she? My feet didn’t want to take the steps up to the front door but I forced them to anyway. Taking the key from my jeans pocket my hands shook with fear. I tried to slide the key into the lock but the door swung inwards with my touch.

I hesitated and fear rumbled through my body. I needed to know what was going on so with a deep breath I took a tentative step inside. With each step I took I grew bolder. The first thing that struck me was the deep silence that permeated everything within the house. It was deafening and I could feel my body beginning to suffocate beneath its heavy weight.

“
Mom?” My voice sounded small and pathetic to my ears. The sound rang out and was swallowed up in the silence. Quietly I walked towards the kitchen, my hand pushed against the door and it opened easily. I remembered poking my head around the door at her last night to inform her I was going to see Jon. I wasn’t sure why the memory popped into my head but it filled me with sadness. That was before I knew of all the other problems.