Darkness of Light (13 page)

“Hey, what are you doing over here?” 

He looked up from his pictures depicting an assortment of beast-like monsters ripping people apart.
Hello, red flag.

“I draw too.” I nodded at his sketches. 

He bowed his head and continued drawing.

“Look, I understand about being independent and a loner. I am a loner too, so I completely get that. But today is about being part of a team. It’s about working with people you might not normally hang out or interact with or people you might not like too much. So today, I’d like you to try and get to know some of the others. Who knows, you might be shocked and meet someone you like. That’s how some of my friendships have started.” 

He continued to ignore me. 

“Derek?” I asked, trying to get his attention.

“Bitch, just leave me alone,” Derek shot out venomously.

“Excuse me?”

“
Bitch
, are you deaf?” he said louder.

Before I could even react, Eli was there, pulling him off the bench by the front of his shirt.
Holy shit! How did he get over here so fast?

“Listen, I don’t care what you do or say outside of here, but you will NOT disrespect her or anyone else while you are here. You got that?” Eli’s voice seethed with anger.

I heard a barely audible mumble from Derek.

“What?”

“Yes,” he yelled.

Without thinking, I walked up and touched Eli’s elbow. At my touch, he seemed to calm down. He let go of Derek and stepped backwards.

“I think you’re done for the day,” Eli said.

My eyes widened. “Eli, no.” He turned to look at me.

That won’t help him.

He glared at me.
I don’t give a shit.

Eli, come on . . .

For a tense moment, I wasn’t sure what he’d do. He exhaled before spinning on his heels. “All right, fine. Lunch time’s over.”

***

We were on the last course of the day. Eli led the group up through the trees on the ropes. The last event had them zip lining down to the ground, where I stood waiting for them on the giant air mattress. By now, almost all the kids’ bad attitudes had disappeared, replaced by smiles and laughter, and it looked like some new friendships had developed. 

A handful of squealing pre-teens had zipped down onto the mattress with gleeful laughter, when I noticed Derek watching the kid in front of him, Kevin, with unveiled hatred. Derek pulled something out of his pocket. Whatever it was, it glinted in the sunlight. Fear darted up my chest. While Eli and Kevin were distracted, Derek leaned over the rope. 

Oh please, no. 

Eli hooked the rope on Kevin. Before I could react, Kevin jumped off the platform.

“ELI, NO!” I shrieked. 

Eli’s head shot up and looked at me in panic. My focus was on the kid. Kevin was screaming with joy as he sailed down the zip line, but his joy turned to utter fear as the rope snapped. His small body flailed wildly as he plummeted to the ground below.

I screamed in horror, leaping off the mattress, and running towards the falling boy. With everything in my body I wanted to reach him in time. I had to stop this from happening. 

Energy surged inside me and suddenly I was closer to Kevin than should have been possible. His body was only a few feet from the ground when another rush of power ran through me. I dove for him, hitting the ground hard. His body stopped falling and paused in the air before floating into my outstretched arms. I stared at Kevin, his shocked expression mirroring mine.

I blinked as darkness seeped into my vision and quickly took me with it. The last thought I had before blacking out was that I had stopped Kevin from hitting the ground—with my mind. 

***

“Em . . .” 

My ears took in my name, but my brain grappled to comprehend its meaning, letting it slip away again. The blackness called to me like an old friend, keeping my eyes shut. I longed to follow the soothing darkness into oblivion. 

“Wake up, Brycin.”

A husky voice gripped me, pulling me through the dark. I felt the sensations of someone touching my face gently. My lids slowly lifted, blinking against the bright daylight. My vision cleared to see a pair of unyielding, green eyes. There was no hand on my face, but it still tingled with warmth. Everything flooded back to me, and I shot up into a sitting position, which I immediately regretted. 

“Whoa, take it easy okay. You might be weak and dizzy for a bit.” Eli steadied me.

“Is . . . is Kevin okay? Where is he?”

“Slow down. Kevin’s fine. He’s right over there. We’re more worried about you. You took quite a header onto the ground. You must have knocked yourself out when you caught him.” Eli’s tone was clipped and tight, and his expression, unreadable. 

Instinct told me to play along, but the truth took over my thoughts. Could I actually control things with my mind? Years of incidents and denials flooded me. It seemed I was not only capable of pyrokinesis and technokinesis, but I may be telekinetic as well. 

What kind of freak was I? Some science experiment? How was I able to do these things? 

Crap on ash bark!

That was a funny phrase my mother would say sometimes when she got really upset. It seemed appropriate right then. 

I stood up and turned my attention to Kevin. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m cool.” He nodded and smiled. There wasn’t a scratch on him, but I could tell he was putting up a front for his friends. He, too, knew something wasn’t right.

I smiled back, but it felt wrong. They all seemed to think I caught him. I did, but that was not the entire truth. I had watched his body stop and float before it settled into my arms. I rubbed my face, my brain trying to take it all in. I felt weak and sick to my stomach. I shook my head, trying to make the images replaying in my head fly out of my ears. 

My eyes landed on Derek. I thought he would look away with fear or have a guilt-ridden face, but he didn’t. Derek held my gaze defiantly; a cruel smirk twisted his lips. Didn’t he have a clue I saw what he did, or didn’t he care?

Eli stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Derek. He grabbed my elbow, where I was bleeding through my t-shirt. He pulled the sleeve up, revealing a large gash on my arm. 

“Let’s get a bandage on that,” he said, sounding as if I were an aggravating nuisance.

“I’m fine,” I replied, but squeezed his arm to draw his attention to my face.

It was Derek. He cut the rope.
My eyes looked intently into his as I tried to get my message across.

I know.
Eli gave a slight nod.
I got it covered.

I was so glad when the bus arrived to pick up the kids. The guard who had dropped them off earlier greeted us again. I couldn’t recall her name, but she wasn’t paying any attention to me anyway. She was looking and smiling at Eli like he was a cream-filled cupcake. I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling.

As Derek passed to get on the bus, Eli’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, yanking him back. As much as Derek tried to hide it, panic and fear flashed across his face.

Eli turned to the guard. “I’m going to need to speak to you about this one.”

***

If I was glad to see the kid’s school bus arrive, I was even more thrilled to see it drive away. It disappeared around the corner with eleven kids going home and one on his way to juvie. 

The moment the yellow vehicle disappeared, Eli abruptly headed for his bike. “Let’s go,” he said harshly.

I could feel the animosity oozing off him. At that moment I didn’t have the energy to wonder or care what his problem was with me now. I simply turned and followed him to the Harley. I felt weak and overwhelmed. All I really wanted was to sleep. 

Eli turned the bike around in the parking lot to start back, but then slammed on the brakes. My face and body squashed into his back.

“What the hell?” I muttered into his leather jacket.

Eli’s body was tense and all his attention was on something in front of us. I peeked around him to see a tall, gorgeous man leaning against a railing in the parking lot. He smiled at me, but something in his eyes told me he was anything but friendly. 

“What are you doing here, Lorcan?” Eli inquired. 

The strain in his voice put me on edge. The name sounded familiar, but I’d forgotten where I’d heard it.

“That’s not a very polite way to greet your brother.”

Brother. Right.
I’d heard the name from Ryan.

I could now see the family resemblance. Lorcan was a few inches shorter than Eli and he had an oval face unlike Eli’s angular facial structure, but that was the major difference between them. They shared the same color eyes and hair, but Lorcan’s hair was shaved close to his head. He looked to be older but still had to be in his twenties. 

“Well, I am not a very polite guy. Blame it on my upbringing,” Eli responded.

Lorcan smirked and propelled himself off the railing, and sauntered towards to us. The only other thing I knew was that I was in the presence of another Riders of Darkness member. I sucked in my breath through my teeth. Running away in the opposite direction was now looking like an extremely good idea.

“So are you going to introduce me to your
friend
, Eli?” Lorcan’s eyes were locked on mine as he proceeded closer, like he was stalking me. The desire to run and hide overwhelmed me even more. In an anomalous moment, Eli became my safety. He had always scared and unsettled me as if at any instant he would turn on me. But right then, Eli’s body heat was like a security blanket that I wanted to wrap myself into protecting me from Lorcan. 

Eli glared at his brother. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Ember, this is my brother Lorcan. Lorcan, this is Ember.” He hit the kickstand with his boot and swung off the bike.

“Ember, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Lorcan reached out his hand to help me off the Harley. I instinctively jerked out of his reach as I slid off the back of the bike.

“Finally?” I stepped away, putting distance between us.

“Yes, he’s been keeping you from us.”

“What do you mean? I haven’t known him long.” 

My eyes darted over to Eli in confusion, but his gaze was lost in the surrounding forest. There was a strange sinking sensation in my stomach. "What is he talking about?”

“You are important, Ember. To me, to Eli . . . but I’m afraid it’s not in the way you are hoping.” 

“Lorcan,” Eli growled. It was so deep and guttural it had me step back recoiling in fear.

“What is going on?” I demanded.

“Yes Eli, what
is
going on?” Lorcan crossed his arms with amusement. “Maybe you can enlighten me on what it is you are doing.”

“Lorcan, I’m warning you.” Eli stepped closer to him. “Don’t forget who is in charge.”

“How can I forget,
little brother
.” Lorcan’s voice was filled with abhorrence and anger.

“I think it’s time you go.” Eli stepped even closer to Lorcan and puffed up his chest. Lorcan’s eyes narrowed, but he averted his gaze. It was like watching animals in the wild claim their territory, and it was obvious who won this round. The authority Eli had over his brother was clear.

“Are you really willing to give it all up?” Lorcan spat at Eli. “Get your head on straight, brother.”

He turned to look at me with disgust. “Take care, Ember. We’ll be seeing each other really soon.” 

His voice sent chills shooting down my spine. He pivoted and in an instant disappeared into the forest. Eli and I stood there in silence. There was little doubt there was an underlining threat in Lorcan’s words. 

Fifteen

“What the hell is going on, Eli?” My voice shook slightly. I hadn’t noticed until then that my body was trembling. 

Eli rubbed his forehead as he looked over at me. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Lorcan is full of it. Just forget about him.”

“Just forget? Are you joking?” I shrieked. “Eli, tell me what is going on because none of this is making any sense.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. The determination to remain mute on the subject was clear on his features. He wasn’t going to tell me anything.

I let my shoulders sag. My energy was still low from the “saving Kevin” episode. I felt depleted by the day. Closing my eyes, I willed myself to stay upright. When I opened them, Eli was studying me like a lab rat, and that was exactly how I felt. I let out a strangled laugh and turned around, walking away from him. My security blanket had returned to its normal hostile state. 

I needed to get away from him, from everything. I couldn’t wait to get home. The walk to the bus stop would take forever. I was still in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t something I looked forward to, but it was my only option. 

I wasn’t watching where I was going as I headed down the road. The sound of grinding tires slid over gravel as a Harley came to a stop in front of me. I jumped back with a startled yelp. 

Eli’s chiseled jaw protruded with arrogance under his helmet. “Get on,” he said curtly, without even looking at me. Shock, anger, and frustration welled in me causing me to stand there mutely glaring at him. “I won’t ask you again.” 

“You’re asking me? I think that was more an order,” I spat back. 

“
Ciach ort
!” He hit the handle bar with his hand. “Just get on.”

I crossed my arms. “What did you just call me?”

Eli sighed deeply, sounding even more annoyed. My stubbornness kicking in, I moved around the bike and continued to walk. I stomped through the puddles, my anger giving me strength as I prodded on. A muffled string of profanity came from behind me. My lips twitched into a satisfied smile, which quickly disappeared at the sound of a bike engine being cut. 

Dammit!

“Brycin,” he called out, his voice low and strained. “Will you
please
just get on the bike?”

“Why?” I whirled around, but dizziness made my vision spin. Eli was there. His solid hand caught me as I stumbled.

“Because it’s . . .” He paused and seemed to think better of what he was going to say. “Because you can barely stand.”