Bloom (18 page)

Elena shook her head. She smiled but it was a smile intended to hide a truth. “It’s nothing.”

“Tell her,” someone said behind Haven. She turned to see Dormer standing a few feet away, just at the edge of the blue firelight. “Tell her about the process—about what really happened to you in the shoe factory. Tell her there’s a chance she could burn up just like a—”

“Don’t!” shouted Elena. She stood and held up a warning finger at Dormer. “Don’t you say anything. She doesn’t need to worry about that for a long time.”

“Maybe not so long,” he said.

“Tell me what?” said Haven. She stood slowly, looking between the two of them.

“It’s nothing,” said Elena.

“You may as well,” said Dormer, clearly enjoying Elena’s frustration. “She needs to know.”

Elena sighed and sat down in her seat wearily.

“I didn’t want to add to your burden,” she said.

“Tell me,” said Haven. She stood next to the fire, her mind in a suspended state of expectation.

After a long minute, Elena spoke at last. “There is a chance that your body will be incapable of holding the Phoenix energy and that it will instead go to someone else.”

“So…what? I don’t even have it yet, from what you’re telling me. I’ll still keep what I already have, right? Nothing would change.”

Elena shook her head.

“This is the good part,” said Dormer.

“The energy does not simply pass over you like a disembodied spirit looking for a different body,” said Elena. “The process of
change
—the process that determines whether or not you are capable of wielding such power—could destroy you completely if you are not the right person.”

Haven stumbled over her words as her brain struggled to process the information. “Well—what if—how do I know if I’m the right person?”

“You don’t,” said Dormer. “Not until it’s too late.” He turned and walked away, toward the black sedan near the entrance to the dormitories.

“Well, screw that!” said Haven, shaking her head. “I pass. I forfeit. Whatever you do to make it go to the next person and not me, do
that
, because I don’t want it.”

“I wish it worked like that, Haven,” said Elena. “I really do. It is a cycle. There will be a brief time where you experience increased power, but afterward it will fade until the moment comes when it abandons you completely. Once that happens—if it happens at all—you will either receive the Phoenix energy or it will destroy you and go to another.”

“But how do you even know if that’s true?” said Haven quickly, getting defensive. “You don’t even know where you got your own ability!”

“There are others in this world who have shared such things with me,” said Elena. “I was going to wait to tell you until the pain from the loss of your parents had passed.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” said Haven, instantly regretting her words. Her sadness wasn’t Elena’s fault, but she was still angry at the world for letting her parents die. She turned to look at the fire. “When will it happen?”

“It is impossible to say. Maybe never.”

“Great,” said Haven flatly. “At least I have something to look forward to.”

Across the room, a metal cup hit the floor and bounced loudly on the concrete. A small boy wearing glasses stood on a chair next to Corva’s computer, waving his arms and bouncing up and down excitedly.

“Who’s that?” asked Haven. “I didn’t even know he was in here.”

“That’s Micah,” said Elena. She stood up and hurried toward the boy.

Haven followed her over to the dark area of the dome floor that was scattered with all sorts of electronic equipment. There were several work stations. The table next to Corva’s computer was topped with a bulky radio receiver and what looked to Haven like monitoring equipment. Large knobs and small switches covered the rectangular units stacked on both sides of the table.

Micah plopped down into his seat when Elena and Haven approached and pulled on an oversized set of earphones. A long, spiraled cable ran from the headset to one of the monitoring boxes on the table. When Dormer walked up, Micah pulled the cable plug out of the monitor and turned up a volume dial.

The monitor was tuned in to a police scanner. A conversation between an officer and his dispatcher was just wrapping up.

“Copy, four-one-seven,” said the dispatcher. “Fire department on the way. We’ll send some backup for you just in case. Confirmed two identical suspects, multiple red fires in the Four Corners area at Shepherd Trail. Unit on-scene unresponsive. Advise extreme caution. Over.”

“Copy that, dispatch. Unit four-one-seven out.”

The line went silent, replaced with soft, clicking static.

“Red fire?” said Haven. She couldn’t believe she heard those exact words.

“That’s just outside Bozeman,” said Dormer. “Less than thirty minutes away.”

Marius and Corva ran to the table, breathing heavily. Marius held a chunk of bread in one hand and chewed loudly. “What happened?” he said.

“The twins are out starting fires,” said Dormer. He turned and went back to his work station.

“Who are the twins?” asked Haven. She remembered her own house burning to the ground, consumed by rising, bright red flames. She swallowed thickly as her stomach tightened.

“Some of Bernam’s henchmen,” said Corva. She squeezed Micah’s shoulder and he smiled up at her.

Haven thought the boy could be no older than twelve or thirteen at the most. He had light brown skin and pale eyes that were comically large behind his thick glasses. His baggy clothes hung loosely on his thin frame, and his heavy shoes clomped loudly on the floor as his feet bounced up and down energetically.

“Good work, Micah,” said Elena.

“So what we do?” said Marius.

Elena didn’t answer him. She turned and looked up at the roof of the dome. Haven followed her eye-line, tracing an antenna wire that ran out of the back of the radio equipment and straight up the wall of the dome to the slow-spinning fan at the very top.

“We have to stop them,” said Corva.

“Don’t bother,” said Dormer loudly from across the room. “You know something isn’t right. Multiple fires in the same neighborhood? It’s too flashy, even for Bernam.”

“There could be families inside,” said Haven suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised at the conviction in her voice. “We have to go! What if they were the ones who killed my parents?”

Elena nodded. “We will go. Haven, it is too dangerous. You will remain here with Micah. Monitor the police scanner—”

“I’m going with you!” shouted Haven. “There’s no way I’m staying! Red fire, didn’t you hear? My parents…” Her voice trailed off until all she could do was stand there with her mouth half-open, ready to form another argument but unable to find the words.

“It’s not safe,” said Elena. “Marius, Corva, Dormer, and I will—”

“I’m staying,” said Dormer. His eyes met with Elena’s for a long moment, shining with defiance.

She looked away sadly. “Very well. Dormer will stay with Micah. Haven…” She sighed and shook her head.

“Elena, she needs answers,” said Corva.

Elena hesitated a moment longer, then said, “Haven, you come with us. But you are to remain by the vehicles as a lookout, do you understand?”

“I understand.” She would have agreed to anything if it meant knowing more about those who killed her parents.

“Everybody ready?” asked Elena. “Let’s go topside.”

19

M
arius stood before a section of plain concrete wall. A few feet away was the entrance to the room full of metal tanks that Haven had been taken to when she first arrived at the dome—a miniature water recycling plant for the entire underground complex.

She waited as Marius ran his palm over the gritty concrete wall until the tip of his index finger dipped into a shallow depression. He pushed in lightly and the faint depression became a deep hole. There was a soft
click
and a small square of concrete next to Marius’s finger swung out to reveal a black LED panel. He tapped a series of hieroglyphic symbols on the screen and a long sequence of encrypted numbers rapidly cycled across the bottom until a small red light on the panel turned green.

The faint outline of a wide door appeared in the wall next to the panel and darkened as the large, thick piece of metal swung silently inward, sweeping in a wide arc to reveal a long hallway that stretched away from the dome. The heavy door was about as wide as a car and Haven realized that was how the black sedan had been brought into the facility.

She walked down the long hallway after Marius and Elena; Corva followed close behind. Caged light bulbs protruded from the ceiling every twenty feet, casting bright circles of light onto the dull grey floor and walls. Haven turned to look back and Corva gave a slight nod and a comforting smile.

The hallway led to a single, massive elevator with a heavy black door that Marius slid to the side with a grunt. After they were all inside, he pulled the door back into place and pressed the only button on the small panel set into the wall.

The elevator rattled softly as it ascended.

Haven looked down at her clothes and couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. Corva had tossed her a beige jacket that fit well enough, but could have gone down an inch farther at the waist. She felt naked somehow, and she realized it was because her hands were empty.

Corva held the same strange machine gun that Marius had used in the car during Haven’s rescue from the medical center. The body of the weapon was chromed metal; the two pistol-grips—one at the back of the gun and the other halfway down the sleek, elongated barrel—were covered with a black rubberized material. The gun hung from a worn green strap looped over Corva’s shoulder.

Neither Marius nor Elena carried any kind of weapon that Haven could see. She assumed that they didn’t need one since they could make their own energy, but from what Marius had told her in the training room, it sounded like even a Source could not maintain constant output. Any conflict would need to be resolved quickly or they would have to resort to regular weapons.

Haven opened and closed her hands, knowing that having some kind of weapon would have made her feel more confident. She was only supposed to stay by the car, but she forced herself to believe that if she got the chance to hurt the people who killed her parents, then—

Then what?

What would I do?
thought Haven. She remembered the red flames that consumed her house and the cracking and crunching of wood as it exploded and collapsed. The fire danced in her eyes and she felt Kayla’s arms around her, holding her back from the fire.

Kayla.

A wave of sadness swept over Haven and she felt like a small child curled up in a ball in the corner of a massive, empty room. She longed to be back in school—a desire which surprised her more than she would have expected—and for things to be like they were before the night of the fire. She had felt betrayed by Kayla after her parents’ funeral. The truth was that thinking of Kayla and Jason being together hurt deeply, even though Haven knew he was a worthless jerk.

She tried to think what she would have done if their roles were reversed and she had been in Kayla’s position. Haven hoped she would have put their friendship before anything else and told Jason to take a hike.

As the elevator slowly ascended, Haven wondered how anything in her life could ever be like it was before the night of that stupid party.

Was going back to school still an option after all she had learned? Could she go back to math class and pretend that blue fire didn’t occasionally burst from her skin? After the event in the cafeteria, she definitely couldn’t go back to George Walker High School. She would have to move to a new state or even a new
country
to get away from the memory of that freak show.

There was also the dark thought that the people who took Noah wouldn’t let her live a normal life ever again. They would find her wherever she went, no matter how far away she ran and no matter how careful she was to cover her tracks.

None of it mattered if she couldn’t save Noah. She focused all of her thoughts on him and pushed everything else into the background.

The elevator stopped with a bounce and Marius pulled open the heavy door.

“Top floor,” he said. “Housewares, lady’s shoes, and dune buggies. Ha!” He slapped his belly and smiled at his own joke as he walked out of the elevator.

Two black dune buggies with fat black tires and welded roll cages sat parked in the middle of a wide garage. The ceiling was only a couple feet above Haven’s head and she reached up to touch it as she stepped out of the elevator. A wide, roll-up door was the only other exit to the room.

Marius hopped into the closest dune buggy and pulled on a dusty pair of goggles. Elena grabbed one of the roll cage bars on the passenger’s side and slowly climbed into the vehicle.

Corva touched Haven’s shoulder as she walked to the second buggy. “You’re with me,” she said.

Haven followed her to the other buggy and pulled herself up and over the fused passenger door. A thin cloud of dust plumed up from the cracked vinyl seat when she sat down. She coughed and waved a hand in front of her face.

Corva sat in the driver’s seat and handed Haven a pair of goggles. “Get used to it,” she said. “It only gets worse.”

Marius fired up his buggy’s engine and idled toward the roll-up door. Corva turned a rusted key in the ignition and the second buggy shook to life with an ear-piercing growl. Haven pulled on her goggles as Corva followed the other buggy across the garage.

The wide door rolled up slowly to reveal a rectangle of night. Haven saw nothing but a dark desert reaching far into the distance and a dusty, half-paved road curving off to the side.

Marius gained speed—Corva right behind—and drove out of the garage onto the sand, ignoring the road. Haven turned back as the buggies sped away from the garage—the door was a wide slit in the bottom of a small mountain. Bright moonlight from above revealed smooth, jutting rocks all the way to the mountain’s bald, jagged peak. The entire dome must have been under the mountain or just off to the side; Haven looked around on the ground for the opening at the top of the dome but saw nothing but small bushes and an occasional cactus.