Elevated (Book 1): Elevated (24 page)

I put in my pocket. "Thanks."

The three of them head into the hospital, and I'm happy to have some breathing room.

Dad takes the front seat. "Not sure how to work these new cars."

"Put in the address of where you want to go on this screen."

Dad reaches over and punches in an address.

"Dad, we're going home?

"Yes."

"But they'll be waiting for you there."

"They think I'm dead, remember?"

We pass by Fowler's Grove. The glowdaises look like stars on the field. For a moment, I think I'm out there, lying among them.

"Do you think, I don't know, are you and Mom—"

"Can we get back together? I don't know, Rose."

"Do you still love her?"

"Yes." He takes a breath. "And that's why we have to go back." 

***

BZZZT!

Aaron’s phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out to see a text from Elliott.

“Everything is fine here. Aaron and Zach will be ok.”

Smiling, I close the text and the screen goes back to the last thing that Aaron had up. It’s a video of Shelly shrinking down to leave the car. He isn’t considering posting this, is he? I move my finger to delete, but stop myself. This isn’t my phone after all. I don’t have a right to delete his file.

We pull up to our house and I notice the driveway is empty.

“Mr. Roberts must be out, I don’t see his car,” I say.

Dad starts to undo his seatbelt, but I stop him. “Wait, Mr. Roberts doesn’t know you’re alive. I can go in and talk to Mom.”

“Rose, it’s too dangerous.”

“Mr. Roberts isn’t home. I’ll be fine.”

“She’s going to be upset. You’ve been out all night.”

“You’ll have to ground me later.” I give him a wink and head towards the front door.

I fumble for my keys and unlock the door. Inside, Mom sits on the couch. She looks up at me, and her bloodshot eyes open wide. “Rose? No, no!”

“Mom, it’s ok.”

I walk to her and she jumps out of her seat. “It can’t be, it’s not—”

“It’s me, Mom,” I say grabbing her hands.          

She drops them as turns away. “No, Rose.”

I grab her shoulder and turn her around. “Mom, it’s me!”

She tries to pull away, but I hold her tight. She studies my face and slowly accepts that I’m standing in front of her.

“Mr. Roberts told me you were dead. Said he found your body. You had been ripped up by some mutant animal while looking for your dad.”

She pulls me close, crying.

“He’s lied about everything,” I say. “He’s been covering up that—”

“I know.”

My stomach drops. “You know?

She starts crying again. “He told me if I said anything that both of you would be killed. What was I supposed to do?”

I hug her close. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

She jerks away. “We’ve got to get out of here. Mr. Roberts is—”

“Mr. Roberts is what?” Mr. Roberts says, entering the room.

“I didn’t know you were here, your car—”

“Getting fixed,” he says, slithering over towards us.

I pull my mom back and stand between her and Mr. Roberts. “Stay away from us.”

“I don’t think you understand me, Rose.”

“What did my dad ever do to you?”

“Your father was a menace,” he says as he steps closer, forcing us to walk backwards. I hit the end table and nearly knock my orchid over. With no space between it and the wall, we’ve run out of room.

Mr. Roberts’s hands start glowing and sparking. “This is for your own good.”

Lurching back, I grab the orchid pot and fling it at his head. It connects, sending him down to the ground with large thump. Grabbing onto Mom’s hand, I lead her out of the house. Not turning back, we dash down the driveway and into the car. Dad starts the car and tears out of the driveway.

“Wha-who’s driving?” Mom asks.

Dad turns towards her.

“Adam!”

He smiles as the car lurches around a corner. As he catches her up on the whole story, I think about Mr. Roberts pulling himself off the floor. I’ve never been so grateful for those stupid dodgeball lessons in all my life.

“You knew about Mr. Roberts?” asks Dad.

Mom nods.

“Why didn’t you run? Take Rose with you?”

“He said he could track us, they would find us. Where could we go?” Her voice gets squeaky. “Besides, I couldn’t—I just couldn’t be responsible for—”

“It’s ok, I’m here now.”

“Forgive me, Rose.”

I’m so shell-shocked I don’t know how to react. She knew this whole time. And didn’t tell me? Then I think about how miserable she must have been, keeping that secret, knowing how much Mr. Roberts drove me crazy.

I put my arm around her shoulder. “I wish I would have known, Mom, so I could have been there for you.”

“You always were,” she says.

I peer out the window to see a view of the city. “Where are we going?”

“Elliott’s house.”

I perk up.

“Only for tonight,” he says. “I need to come up with a new plan.”

My cell phone goes off. It’s an unknown number. I let it ring, and after a moment, I see they left a voicemail. When I check it, the voice on the other end is cold and deep.

“This is Maddock. Tom thanks you for the bump he has on his head, but if you think you are getting away with anything, Rose, you’re wrong. Let’s be honest. If you survived the blast, your dad survived the blast. So, I have a deal for you, but you only get one shot. Turn your dad in within the next four hours, and you and your mom can walk. Keep your mouths shut and you’ll be set for life. If you don’t, within the next day I’ll have all of you on every device in the country with a reward so high that even your own grandmother would hunt you down. If you think you will escape again, then ask yourself, when was the last time an Unsound went rogue and got away with it? Four hours, Rose.”

The phone goes silent.

Maddock is right. Renegade Unsounds can’t escape the system. Once registered, your name and picture can be plastered everywhere. The last time an Unsound got loose, they were captured within a few hours.

I don’t know what to do. If I tell Dad, I know what will happen. He’ll sacrifice himself in a heartbeat. But I can’t live the rest of my life in fear. Being owned by Maddock. On the other hand, what kind of life can we create for ourselves now? Once Maddock spreads the word of that reward, we won’t have days or hours left, but minutes.

I glance back at my phone. Mr. Roberts must have given Maddock the number. Aaron was right. I definitely need a phone that doesn’t trace back to my name. Then it occurs to me.

The truth is power.

Clutching Aaron’s phone in my hand, I make my plan. Now I have to wait until we get home.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

We enter Elliott’s house and Dad places the car keys on the coffee table. I casually pick them up, and when he walks to the bathroom, I race out of the house.

Feet moving as fast as possible, I jump into the car and crank the engine. It will only take a few moments before they notice I’m out of the house, but I don’t know how to drive a car. My hand pulls the gearshift and nothing happens. I try it again.

Still locked.

Great.

My plan has failed and it hasn’t even started yet. Thinking back at watching others drive, I try pushing my foot on the brake and then moving the gearshift. It works. My hands steer the car out of the driveway, knocking over a trashcan in the process.

Mom runs out of the house, screaming, “Rose, what are you doing!”

I turn on the touchscreen and scroll through the previous addresses to find the one for Maddock’s house. The car picks up speed and begins driving itself. Mom waves behind me in a panic. If all goes well, she’ll be happy I did this. And even if it doesn’t, it’s better than the alternative. I’m not going to spend my life hiding in fear any longer.

***

The car turns down off Gardenview and into the forest. Bouncing along the rustic path, I begin to recognize the scenery and know I’m only a few turns away. I’ll need to find a quiet place to park. I switch the car to manual mode.

Here we go again.

I turn the wheel a bit too far and the car starts careening towards a tree. My foot slams on the brake, stopping the car inches away. Catching my breath, I slowly reverse before turning back onto the road. Then I pull forward slowly and park on the side. Based on the parking job, I shouldn’t attempt a driving test anytime soon.

Running out of the car, I follow the map on my phone and head towards the Steeles’ house. I hide behind the tree in front. Hope no one inside is watching out the dining room window, since I’m clearly visible. Scanning the interior, I only spy Shelly watching TV in the main room. I also detect her dad in the back study.

Now that I’m near the front door, my plan can go to work. I text Shelly with Aaron’s phone.

“Hey—Zach. Had to borrow Aaron's phone. Head outside and to the right, I’m parked in the woods.”

Shelly beats even my expectations by bursting out the front door less than a minute after I send the message. As soon as she’s halfway down the long driveway, I dash to the front door. Unlocked, of course. I had no doubt that Shelly would forget.

As I’ve already scanned inside, I know that her father is towards the back of the house. I take a few turns and find him reading a book in the study. Sneaking up behind him, I clear my throat.

He stirs. I hold out Aaron’s phone, which plays the video of Shelly morphing through the car. His face fills with terror and his mouth opens to speak.

I give him the shh gesture. “Say anything, and this video goes live across the country.”

He nods.

“My dad did nothing wrong. Just like your daughter. They got abilities that you’ve decided are Unsound. So, I’ve got a deal for you. You tell everyone that you made a mistake, or my dad is cured, whatever. But he goes free. And I don’t push this upload button and send Shelly’s video across the country.”

“You can’t do this.”

“Ok then.” I bring up a screen with a large button marked ‘upload.’

He raises his hand. “Stop. You do realize this is blackmail, right?”

“I thought that’s what you were doing.”

“I’m trying to protect everyone.”

“From my dad?”

“From destruction.”

“Not sure how being able to give power is so destructive.”

Maddock shakes his head. “It’s his knowledge that’s destructive. Your father claims there is a pattern to GEMO and that we can unlock it.”

“So?

“So what will happen when parents realize their baby will grow up to be an Eater? Or when a child realizes they can’t be a Jumper? When hope is gone, that’s when people act most desperate. Most violent. Society will implode.”

“What will happen when the world finds out your daughter is a Squeezer?” I move my finger over the button again.

He lurches up and snatches the phone. I jump after it, but he tosses it down. The phone smashes to pieces on the tile floor. “I won’t be threatened.”

“That won’t change anything,” I say. “It’s already been scheduled. Unless I do something, it will go live in—”

I nod towards the clock on the wall.

“30 minutes.”

“Who will find it?”

“Oh, it will be posted on Elevateds Acting Stupid. It’s a huge blog my friend runs. Gets thousands of views. I’m sure the media will pick it up after that. Big scandal to have the head of GEMO with an Unsound daughter.”

“You realize that when the truth gets out about your father, I won’t have to kill him. No one will want someone who can instantly kill you running around.”

I take a deep breath. “Which is why we won’t tell anyone. A secret for a secret.”

He sits back down in his chair, glares back at me, then at the wall. “Ok, your dad goes free.”

 “I’ll delay the video until five o’clock tomorrow. That should be enough time to get a public statement out there. And if not, Shelly will be revealed.”

He raises his eyebrows. “No one can know the truth about your dad’s power.”

“Agreed.”

“I’m not kidding. He wouldn’t last a few minutes.”

“No one will find out.”

“I hope, for all of our sakes, you’re right.”

He stands up.

“By the way, there was a terrible accident today in the GEMO Control Center’s security room. It seems that all the videos of about five hours were destroyed, including camera footage showing you swiping the ID for Wendy Silvers to enter the Center. You’re welcome.”

He smiles and with a wave of his hand performs a curt bow. If he’s trying to impress me, he’s doing a poor job. Obviously, he wouldn’t want his daughter implicated for murder either, and she would be front and center next to me on those videos. I am grateful, though, that Shelly snuck in with me.

He sits back down.

“Don’t tell Shelly I know about her power,” he says.

“I won’t.”

“And stay away from her. She deserves better friends than you.”

His words smack me in the head.

A secret for a secret.

I was no friend to her. I told her I’d keep her secret, and here I used it as leverage. But I had no choice. Or ,at least, I tell myself that. My mind can’t shake the memory of her wiping away that tear after she hugged me in the car. I don’t know how I’ll be able to talk to her again.

Closing the door behind me, I scan the living room. Empty. Good, the last thing I need now is to run in Shelly. I run across the room, and out the front door.

***

A wave of relief comes over me as I pull up to Elliott’s house. I’ve beaten them. We’ve beaten them. We’re not going to have run, or hide. We can live like everyone else. But I know what lies on the other side of the door. To no surprise, my parents greet me with expressions of horror.

“Where were you?” Mom asks.

“I went to Maddock’s house.”

Dad’s voice rises a few octaves. “His house?”

“Yeah, his house.”

“What were you doing?” Dad asks.

“I made us a deal. Everything is fine.”

Mom scrunches her nose. “A deal?”

“Yeah, I don’t tell the world his daughter is an Unsound, and he’ll stop chasing you.”

“Blackmail, Rose?” Dad says. “Is that how you live your life now?”