Collide (6 page)

The Coffee Shack is nearly empty when I arrive. Josh nods in my direction, motioning me to a table in the back, behind the counters and out of sight from the few patrons. He looks as relaxed as I’d imagined.

There’s no mistaking Josh as my brother. We share the same blond hair, the same athletic build, and the same tan skin. But where his eyes are piercing blue, mine are more golden. We look nothing like our parents, and everything like each other. Josh is two years older and relishes in his big brother role, watching over me at every turn, never letting anyone get too close. He was the one to warn me about Gabe and Homecoming, hinting about Gabe’s infidelity long before Gabe cheated. Too bad I didn’t listen. When I started to fall for David, Josh cautioned me against getting too close. Again, he was right and I failed to pay attention.

Josh understood my demons and my dreams. He chased away the bad thoughts and made sense of my déjà vu moments. Josh was always around to rescue me. And here he was again, playing the hero. What would I ever do without him?

“I got your usual,” Josh says as he nudges the large chai tea latte to me and stands.

I nod and my brother pulls me into a tight embrace. The safety of his arms breaks my resolve. I collapse into a crying mess. The more I cry, the tighter his arms wrap around me; a familiar pattern of security I need tonight.

“Shh,” he says. “Everything’s going to be okay. Tell me what happened.”

His voice unleashes more tears, his calm releases my panic. Time passes until the sobbing stops and my endless tears subside.

“Well, you had a lot to get out, didn’t you?” Josh teases as he releases me.

I drag my arm across my face, a feeble attempt to dry the last of the tears. “I guess so,” I manage to whimper. “Things are so screwed up. People were shooting at us.”

Josh scrunches his forehead in disbelief. “It can’t be as bad as you think.”

“Worse,” I blurt out in a garbled mess. “Mom and Dad are dead because of me.” More sobs engulf the last words.

“They just called me. They aren’t dead. What’s really going on?”

Called? How? My brain spins back into crazy town and confusion eclipses every thought.

“Dakota?” His voice compels me to spill every secret, just like always.

“I freaked out a few days ago. At the Coffee Café, with Elaine.” I take another sip of my latte. The warm spicy scent relaxes each memory. “I wound up in the hospital for a couple of days while everyone poked around in my head.”

“Did they find anything interesting?” Josh smirks.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?”

Josh laughs again. “Sorry. Go on.”

How can he laugh right now? How can he be so relaxed?

“Mom and Dad came and got me. On the way home, they told me we’ve been in hiding and my episode made the news and we had to leave.” Reliving the night raises my apprehension. The walls close. It takes every ounce of restraint not to run away. “We were run off the road by an SUV with black windows, just like something out of a spy movie. They told me to find you. I jumped out of the car and a couple of gunmen shot at us. Mom screamed. I think she’s dead, Josh. I think they’re both dead.”

Josh’s face grows serious. “This isn’t your fault.” His voice is little more than a whisper.

“Of course it’s my fault. Those people found us because of me, my breakdown. And now Mom and Dad—”

“Did you see them die?” Josh stares through me.

My body erupts in chills. “What?”

“Did you see them die?” he asks again.

“No, but—”

“They aren’t dead. At least, I’m pretty sure they aren’t.” Josh’s voice thins, becoming more and more distant. “They would’ve been prepared for this. It was only a matter of time before this happened.”

“What are you talking about ‘matter of time’? Josh?” My brain slows, chewing on every syllable.

Puzzle pieces turn, clicking into place. Josh isn’t surprised about anything. Not my freak out session, not the gunmen, none of it.

Because he already knew . . .

Everything.

“WHY AREN’T YOU UPSET, JOSH?”
I wait for his answer, swallowing back the distrust as it creeps up my throat. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Josh stares down at his untouched coffee.

“I tell you about Mom and Dad being dead, about being in hiding, and you aren’t upset or even surprised. Are you going to tell me how long you’ve known? Why you think they’re still alive?”

Silence.

“Josh?”

“Yes, alright. Mom and Dad have a complicated past and they should’ve told you everything. We are in WITSEC, or at least we were. Mom and Dad expected we’d be discovered eventually. They planned for this. That’s why I don’t believe they’re dead.”

“They should’ve told me. You should’ve.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t matter now. Right now you have to get out of here. We both do.”

I bite my lip as disbelief funnels through my thoughts. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Josh pins me with his glare.

“Josh?”

His eyes stay glued to his coffee. I imagine myself rifling through his thoughts. Josh’s voice screams answers to unspoken questions.
We aren’t safe . . . must leave . . . experiments . . . warn the others . . . disappear.
I can’t process the words, decipher their meaning. My head spins. Josh reddens.

“Stop!” His voice is low, belying a threat between the syllables. “I’m serious, Dakota. Stop it now!”

“What? I’m not doing anything.”

More questions tick by too fast. Josh’s disembodied voice continues to speak in silent cadences.

“
That
. Prying into my mind. Stop!”

Josh’s eyes roll back and close. In an instant the noise quiets—every noise. Josh’s voice no longer answers my incessant questions, no more ideas collide together. Nothing. Even the background sounds of the espresso machine and chatter from the baristas stop.

The world is too still, too empty. Tears prick the back of my eyes. I pinch my brows together, willing my ears to work, the internal conversations to start once more.

“How are you doing that?” My voice cracks. “What—”

“Relax,” he says. His concern calms me. “I needed your attention.” Josh opens his eyes and stares deep into mine.
You must learn to control your mind now, Dakota
.

My skin erupts in gooseflesh. Josh’s voice is again inside my head. The more he stares at me, the louder his presence.

“What are you doing?” I manage to ask.

A smile is the only response.

“You’re in my head?”

“Yes,” he whispers.

“And before?”

“That was you; your abilities.”

My mind closes around his words. “I don’t understand.”

“You can read other people’s thoughts, Dakota. Force them to tell you things.” There’s no shame in his voice, no accusations. Josh takes my hands in his. “You pushed yourself into my head and ordered me to answer you.”

I pull away from his grasp. “No. Impossible.” I can’t swallow the lie. Dr. Donaldson, the gunman—I’d bent them to my will. Not only them. A random teacher. A friend. Every time I get too upset, too emotional, I think of what I want and it starts to happen.

I’m a freak, a total and complete nut-job.

“This is why I, we, have to leave, isn’t it?” I clear my throat, loosening the words that don’t want to come. “Mom and Dad didn’t witness a crime.
I
am the crime. The problem.”

“Dakota,” Josh reaches for me again.

I push the chair out and stand. “I can’t stay here.” The air thins. “You should have told me.” I walk out of the café.

“Dakota! Wait!” Josh catches my arm as I attempt to leave the cramped space. “Please, wait.”

“Why? So you can tell me how no one told me for my own good or some other crap?” I break free from his grasp and run to the parking lot.

Josh calls for me, follows.

“This is so messed up,” I say as I spin to face him, unable to control my anger. “You knew I was a freak and you didn’t say anything. We were in hiding, my life was a lie and still you said nothing. ” I’m screaming now, my voice harsh against my throat.

“Dakota, please.”

“Mom and Dad are dead because of me!”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“I heard them scream!” I can’t even think now. The words come too fast, the accusations too strong.

“You’re scared. I am, too,” Josh says.”But right now we have to get someplace safe and figure this all out.”

“There is no place safe for me anymore. I’m crazy. This is all my fault.”

Josh hesitates. “You’re wrong. We aren’t in hiding because of you. Mom and Dad did witness a crime. Some very bad people wanted to hurt us, so Mom and Dad went into hiding to protect our family.”

I listen to the lies I want to be true.

“Your breakdown, the things you can do, it’s all over the news. These people are relentless. They found you once. They’ll find you again. And this time they’ll kill you. They’ll kill all of us.”

“Like Mom and Dad,” I whisper.

Josh swallows hard. “I don’t believe they’re dead. But if they are, they died protecting you. Don’t let it be for nothing.”

Thoughts and fears settle on my skin as I reflect again on the past couple of days: Dr. Donaldson, mute; the gunman, unconscious; Josh, obeying every command.

“What’s wrong with me? How can I get into people’s heads? Why?”

“Now’s not the time to think about it. I promise I’ll tell you everything. First we need to get out of here.” Josh guides me to his car. “Let’s go.”

Something in his voice sends chills exploding across my skin. “Okay,” I say as I hop in and we speed out of the parking lot.

Night darkens around us. We drive away from town and up the familiar hills toward our house. “Why are we going home?” I ask, certain nothing good waits for me there.

“I need to get something.” Josh stares straight ahead, his jaw stiff.

The sky is black as the moon hides behind clouds. As the darkness surrounds us, I settle down in the seat and close my eyes, desperate to believe the day never happened.

Pictures immediately flood my mind. Each turn opens a fresh crop of images.

A man in a dark sedan, his head in excruciating pain before he drops dead from an unseen force. dead. A girl careening around corners, her car swerving and skidding at ever-increasing speeds. Death coats my senses and I forget how to breathe. I grab a fistful of Josh’s shirt, my hands cramped into compliance. A final image blooms across my vision. Mari, the girl from the hospital, the girl driving too fast, stares into my eyes and screams a single word onto Josh as a final image of Mari, the girl from the hospital blooms, screaming a single word . . .

Run!