Chapter Six #2
“No, come on,” she said. “The adults who are left can make the call for themselves, but the kids? They’re too young to grasp what that means. Not all of them have parents who know enough about being a Luminary to choose for them.”
“Annie, I’m scared, but I don’t think they’re too young to get it.
They’re teens—they understand exactly how dangerous this is, especially after what happened to Derek.
With him gone, I’m the one in charge of these decisions, and I don’t know how.
” He shook his head. “What if we offer them the stronger inhibitor shots for now? It’s not permanent. ”
“I could say the same for your hypnosis.” She placed her hands on her waist. “It’s good enough to keep them safe.”
“Okay then,” he said, his shoulders sagging as he walked out.
It was almost crushing how conflicted he felt. Even seconds after he’d left, Nick’s leftover emotions made it hard for me to breathe. It was sadness fueled by this awful thought that no matter what he did, he was going to make the wrong decision.
I needed to shake that feeling off, so I turned to Jay. “Shouldn’t Gabby come with us?”
“No,” Chris said, jumping in. “Gabby should stay to help protect the facility. I’m sure they’re searching for Luminary power surges. David said they were close to creating some kind of device to sense Luminaries. That was years ago. By now they could’ve perfected it.”
“And Gabby can block them.” I nodded. “But who’s David?”
“That’s our other scientist. David Carson.” Gabby rubbed her temple. “He works here with my dad, but he’s been in charge of securing the rest of the building. He should be almost done. And yes, I need to stay and help hide everyone here.”
“When do you think we’ll leave?” I looked at Jay, but he only shrugged.
“Not yet,” Kevin said. “We have to get transportation, and I want to see if Dr. Ryder can figure out both our powers first.”
“You’ve been saying I took your powers away, but you all seem to think you probably still have them. I don’t get how ANY of this works!” I threw my hands up and let them fall against my legs.
“Wait, are you mad at me?”
“Yes! No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know.
It’s just . . . I feel so horrible about doing that to you, and I guess I’m glad you can get it back, but I’m annoyed?
Like, I felt guilty for nothing? And you’re all so nice, and you’re in danger because of me, but you won’t let me turn myself in. I just don’t know how to feel.”
“Ah! You’re frustrated. Yeah, I get that. It’s, umm . . . It’s—uh, I don’t know how to fix that.” Kevin turned to Annie, wide-eyed. “Can’t we just zap her memories back?”
“When she’s ready.” Annie laughed. “You don’t know how to deal with this version of her, do you?”
“Nope!” He braved a peek at me. “But we’re waiting until you’re ready, Alexa. Don’t worry! And to answer your question, Dr. Ryder cooked up a stronger version of the original Luminary formula and gave it to me.”
“The one that gave us powers?”
“Yep. That one was in vitro, but since I’ve already had it coursing through my veins, he thought it might work. The markers in my blood are showing as active. I just can’t seem to get a handle on it.”
I frowned. “But there’s no permanent cure?”
“We don’t really know. Dr. Ryder said the one you gave me wasn’t the same as the first one he’d seen, which is the only reason the reversal worked. It was weaker, but he can’t figure out why.”
After a long session of Dr. Ryder and Nick explaining the plan involving the twins, I felt more drained than I had since my FBI interrogation.
What they could do wasn’t explained—or maybe it was.
All I knew was that I stopped listening when they said they needed my and Kevin’s powers too.
None of it would work unless we did our part.
There were so many ifs that I just wanted to curl up and sleep it all off, so that’s what I did.
I was exhausted and scared, but worse yet, I felt hopeful.
And even with no sense of self, I knew that was dangerous.
I woke up to a ghost town. No sign of anyone, anywhere. Great. Did I scare everyone off with my snoring?
The place was massive and confusing, and not wanting to get lost, I headed to the closest place I remembered: the lab.
I found Dr. Ryder speaking animatedly to a man with glasses.
They stood about eight feet apart, nodding at each other back and forth using intense hand movements. It made for an entertaining sight.
“A placebo,” the man with glasses said, laughing. “Yes, let’s do it.”
“Who are we placebo-ing?” I asked, making them jump.
“Ms. Ryan, you gave us a scare.” Dr. Ryder turned to the man with the glasses. “What do you think, David? Should we tell her?”
David pushed his glasses up with his index finger and smiled. “I don’t see why not. She was a spy, after all. She can keep a secret.”
“Ah, yes, of course.” Dr. Ryder pulled up a chair and placed it in the middle of them. “Sit, sit.”
“I’m okay here. The last time I sat in that chair, you stole all my blood.”
“That’s simply not true! You donated them for the—never mind. Suit yourself.” He raised his hands, shaking his head. “Suit yourself.”
“You must be Dr. Carson,” I said, extending my hand to the other man.
“Call me David,” he replied.
“If you’re calling him David, you may call me Marcus.”
I frowned. That seemed wrong. I was already used to addressing him formally.
“We’re not competing, Marcus.” David turned to me and shook my hand. “Great to meet you.”
“You’ve already met this young lady here.” Dr. Ryder pulled David’s hand away, frowning as if offended.
“Yes, but I didn’t want to be rude.”
“Never mind. This is of no consequence.” Dr. Ryder shook his head. “Right, young lady, we know your friend Mr. Pierce has his powers but has been blocked emotionally by your death—”
“And Mr. Lake’s,” David chipped in.
“Ah yes, when you both died, we think Mr. Pierce blocked his own ability to become static and to teleport once more.”
“Okay, but I’m not dead.” I smiled.
“No, of course not. We’d be talking to a ghost,” Dr. Ryder said, turning to David. “Although we haven’t scientifically proven that ghosts do not exist, have we?”
“No, we haven’t. If we could get a device to capture different spectrums of space dimensions, maybe with the twins’ powers, eh? Then we could study whether or not ghosts truly do—”
I cleared my throat. “Maybe we can forget about ghosts for a minute? What about Kevin and his powers?”
“Oh, yes, yes. We’ve already treated Mr. Pierce.”
“And by all accounts, his powers should’ve been reactivated. I keep saying it’s all in his head,” David said, shaking his own head.
“However! Mr. Pierce’s mental state should be in a better place now that you’ve returned from the dead—”
“Again, I wasn’t dead.”
“No, of course not, dear. Where was I? Yes, as I was saying, now that you’re back, all the reactions in his blood cells indicate activity when tested. We just need to give him a push and assure him that this pill . . .” He glanced around the table behind him. “Where are my vitamins, David?”
“Here,” David said, picking up the bottle. “A powerful multivitamin. We’ll tell him this is the answer, along with Mr. and Mrs. Logan’s assistance. It will help awaken his mind and his powers.”
“So we’re lying to him?”
Dr. Ryder shook his head vigorously before slowly turning it into a nod. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Not a manner. You’re literally lying to him.”
“It’s just a vitamin. It will not harm him, but if he believes it’s the answer, we are ninety-eight percent sure it will work.”
“Have you studied my bloodwork yet?”
“Ah yes, we’ve started trials. Nothing new so far. You’re like Mrs. Logan, but instead of generating kinetic energy, and very much like Mr. Pierce, you can pull energy—”
“Well, he manipulates electricity,” David interrupted.
“Correct, my friend.” Dr. Ryder nodded. “And you, young lady, can pull energy and transfer it back out. Transforming it. Possibly.”
“An electromagnetic conduit.” David pointed at a circuit attached to a battery.
“I’m so confused right now.” I looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”
“They’re finished re-homing everyone who was left at the center. I believe they’re now brawling,” David answered.
I frowned but said nothing.
“Young lady, your powers can be quite erratic and dangerous. I believe it was a very good thing you’ve always been so controlled.” He nodded. “A good thing, indeed.”
“Maybe you could fix me and take it all away? I don’t care if the formula is weak or whatever.”
“Not with these powers. I don’t think so.” Dr. Ryder shook his head. “It has many possibilities. If what you’re planning with the brother and sister is to work, you’ll have to get a hold of your powers. If you do, we will all have a chance at a future.”
I sighed. “I don’t think that’s even possible. The plan is scary, dangerous, and just batshit crazy.”
“Crazier things have happened,” Jay said as he walked into the lab.
“Yeah, like what?”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Now I’m intrigued.”
“All in good time, Alexa.”
“Fine. It couldn’t be crazier than walking through a misty tunnel from one place to another in a matter of seconds.”
“Crazy? Possibly. Crazier? Nope, definitely not.” He smiled. “We’re taking turns combat training. Kevin needs a partner, and I thought you might be interested in kicking his ass. What do you say?”
“Oh, for sure. Count me in!”