Ending ELE (ELE Series) (3 page)

“
I don’t know. I haven’t had any visions about it.” He turns to look at me. “Have you, Willow?”

I blush and look down. I
’ve had a vision, but not about the safe house. I look back at my dad and hope that he just assumes that my rosy cheeks are from the cold air hitting them. “I had a vision, back in the cabin. I didn’t see anything about the safe house. I do know though that you were all safe. You weren’t with us in the vision, but Tony had told me that you were all safe.” I meet Tony’s eyes and see him looking at me inquisitively. I do my best not to think of the details of that particular vision.

“
I don’t get why my dad was there at the cabin though,” Alec speaks up. His eyes are filled with emotions that I can’t fully comprehend. I couldn’t imagine knowing that someone in my family was playing on the dark side’s team. Marya rubs his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

Tony answers Alec
, even though it wasn’t really a question. “Blake was in cahoots with Zack. He wanted to get a hold of Willow’s powers just as much as Zack did. It would be outlandish for us to presume that he would simply give up hunting Willow just because Zack was removed from the equation.”

Alec doesn
’t look happy about Tony’s answer but he doesn’t respond either.

“
There were a lot of people working with Zack. I’m sure your father isn’t the only one leading this mission to hunt me down. There were dozens of other bidders in the room who saw what a single dose of my blood could do,” I tell Alec. “I’m so sorry, Alec... about your dad.”

This time he does little to hide the emotions running amuck in his navy eyes.
“He’s not my dad. He’s simply the man who fathered me. He ceased being my dad long ago. I really should feel betrayed or hurt or confused at my father’s involvement in this mess, but I’m not. I mean, I’m mad as hell, but I can’t say that I’m surprised.” His eyes turn fierce. He’s still staring at me when he says, “I
will
stop him.” His determination resonates from his face.

My mouth stays open, but no words come out. What does one say to that? I can
’t imagine the position that Alec is in right now. I can feel the anger, betrayal, and pain casting off him in waves. His inner-strength and his demand for justice are equally as strong. I have to force myself to close off my empathic abilities.

“
We should probably get moving again,” my dad intercedes.

We nod our heads and quietly head out again.

After a few more hours of walking, we reach a large clearing more than a hundred yards in length. It isn’t until we see the clearing that we realize that the snow is still coming down just as powerfully as before. We were protected for the most part under the covering of the trees.

We use our invisibility as we step out into the clearing. I look from my left to the right and notice
it isn’t a normal clearing in the woods—it’s a road. I wonder where it leads.

The invisibility does little for the
trail we are making in the snow though. Tony’s been doing his best to cover our tracks, but it isn’t perfect. We walk through snow that has accumulated to be over twelve inches, if not more. We have to pick up our feet to walk through it. It seems to take forever before we are back under the covering of the forest again. Being out in the open and exposed in this eerie weather, with more than one party of hunters after us, is nerve wracking.

“
We’re almost there,” my dad whispers.

We keep our invisibility up as we start ascending a large slope.

“This is the safest way. The road back there will take us close to the safe house but I don’t want to chance the exposure. We will have to climb a little ways,” he tells me.

“
No problem,” I tell him.

We reach the point that we have to start using our hands to climb. Tony throws Sebastian on this back and says,
“Hang on, little man.” Sabby giggles as Tony makes a choking sound and says, “Whoa! Not that tight.”

The climb isn
’t hard. The snow for the most part made it a little easier since it packs around where our shoes step in and provides a sort of foothold for us.

Tony offers me his hand when I make it to the top. I accept it and he pulls me swiftly
onto flat ground. He takes the opportunity to pull me close into his chest and kiss the bridge of my nose. His lips are cold but the gesture warms me nonetheless.

I smile when I see
Connor and Alec helping their girlfriends up the last part too. It’s very chivalrous. I suddenly find myself feeling sad for my dad. Or am I feeling the sadness coming from my dad? I’m not sure which. The knots form in my chest as I see the forlorn look on his face. If I miss my mom this much, how much more does the man who loved her with all his heart miss her? What would I do if I lost Tony? I have no idea how my father has kept moving through this.

“
Because he loves you and your brother,”
Tony answers my own personal questions.
“I’m sorry. I know I don’t need to listen in on every thought you have. It’s hard though. I’m still getting used to these abilities and when I feel you hurting, I have to try to help you.”

I look into his
warm, forest-green eyes.
“I know. I’m sorry that I got upset with you earlier. The gift that we have is so special and I took it for granted. I love you.”

“
I love you too,” Tony says aloud.

“
I wuv you too, Wello,” Sabby adds.

We both look down at him with grins on our faces. This little boy is the light in all of our darkness.
“I love you too, Sabby. I think Daddy needs a hug. What do you think?”

Sabby puts his little finger up to his
chin and smiles really big. “I think yes!” He giggles, runs over, and attacks my dad with a bear hug.

My dad grunts but then smiles
big. “Be gentle with your old man, Sabby.”

“
Oh, sawwy.” He loosens his grip.

My dad places a kiss on top of his curls.

“We’ll take care of him,” I whisper to the wind, in case my mom can hear me. I hope she knows that we’ll do everything in our power to make sure my dad isn’t lonely.

“
Are we ready to move?” Alec asks, breaking my thoughts. He’s standing there with his arm around a seriously shivering Marya.

“
Yes, it’s only a little ways from here,” my dad says.

He
takes the lead and we head diagonally back towards where I assume the road would have led us. We stop and use our invisibility when we get nearby, taking it as a good sign that we can still use our powers. It means that the military isn’t nearby. Or at least, that they aren’t using whatever device they used to shut our powers down previously.

We stop just within the tree line
, which opens to a snow-covered driveway, leading to a large, two-story log cabin. In front of the doorway is an engraved wooden sign, labeling it the Hideaway Bed and Breakfast. The large front porch spans the entire length of its front. Rocking chairs, heavy with the snow that drifted in with the wind, line the porch.

There is no sign of life around the cabin. Inside the windows,
no lights glow. I look to my dad. “Do you think they left?” I whisper.

“
I don’t know. Perhaps.” My dad looks confused. “This place was so well hidden though. I’m surprised they would have moved out so soon.”

A sinking feeling fills my gut.
That, or someone forced them to move out. The memory of the covered trucks carting away Erik’s people, Lee, and the others comes flooding back. “We need to check inside.”

Without an answer, we step out of the trees and make our way to the cabin door. Tony,
Alec, and my dad have their guns out. I pull mine out as well, just in case. The door is sitting partially open. Some snow has made its way into the entryway. Tony takes the lead and opens the door the rest of the way. The first room is filled with large, leather furniture that all faces the huge fireplace with a cobblestone hearth. There are a few cups and plates strung about on the end tables and coffee tables. We walk past them into the formal-dining room. Three long, wooden tables are covered in a disarray of plates half-filled with breakfast foods. I take a closer peek at the food. It’s not moldy and there are no flies flying about, so it must be pretty fresh. A few chairs are lying on their backs on the ground.

“
What happened in here?” Marya asks, mimicking the question in all of our minds.

Connor doesn
’t wait for us to clear the rest of the first floor before he starts calling out, “Lillie! Mom, Dad!” His concern and worry is so thick it envelopes the entire space. Claire stays by his side while he runs from room to room. It’s hard to see him like this. Connor is usually so carefree and goofy. I hadn’t even thought about his family being here.

Tony and I make our way up the stairs together.
I continue to pray that everyone is okay—that everyone is safe. We start searching the individual rooms but come up empty. We pass room after room that was left in utter disarray. There definitely was a struggle in this place, but perhaps not a violent one. Thankfully, we’ve found no signs of blood and no lifeless bodies.

“
Lillie!” Connor yells out as he runs up the stairs. His face is twisted with worry and his breathing is heavy.

Claire looks just as worried. Her eyes dart from Connor to me. She
’s never seen him like this before either—like he’s coming unglued. “It’s going to be okay, Connor.”

He shakes his head as he
searches every inch of this floor. “No, no it’s not! She was my responsibility. I’m her brother!”

“
Maybe she’s with your parents. Maybe they got away,” Claire says assuredly. She tries to put her hand on his back but he whirls around to face her.

“
Did you see those chairs? The food? These people didn’t get away, Claire.” His eyes are filling with tears.

My heart nearly splits in two at seeing him so anguished. I focus my empathic abilities on him like I
’ve seen Erik do. I think calm and peaceful thoughts. Soon his body relaxes and his shoulders fall a tad.

Claire, who saw the change, looks over at me. She mouths,
“Thank you.”

I nod my head. We start
looking through the remainder of the rooms. When we’ve searched the final one, we realize that the place is in fact empty. I look over at Connor, who is at the far end of the hall, and my gut wrenches. Claire pulls him into her arms.

The fear and worry is so thick that I think about turning it off, but don
’t. For some reason, I feel like I owe it to Connor to feel his emotions with him. The fear is almost overwhelming, to the point that my heart actually speeds up like it would if I were scared. It’s almost like he’s terrified. Is that a normal emotion in a situation like this? Something feels off about it. “They’ll be okay,” I call to Connor, attempting to comfort him.

He doesn
’t answer me and I realize it’s because he’s crying. Claire is rubbing his back as she holds on to him. I make my way across the hallway towards them and halfway down, the emotions flip. The terrified sensation switches—there is still a note of fear but in a
fear of the unknown
kind of way. Not in a,
my life is in danger
way.

Tony is at my side and when I look into
his black eyes, I can see that he felt the change too. We both stare at each other a bit perplexed. I turn around and start walking away from Connor, towards the last room again. The feeling of terror increases the closer and closer I get to the end of the hall.

Tony catches on even before I do.
“It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re not going to hurt you,” he calls out to nobody in particular.

I hold my breath as I realize his conclusion. Someone is hiding. Someone is very, very scared and hiding from us. I follow Tony
’s lead. “It’s okay. I promise that you’re safe. You can come out and we will take care of you.” The feelings change from terror to confusion, to hope and then to mistrust.

Connor and Claire come over to us, wondering who we are calling out to.
“Did you find someone?” Connor asks. “Lillie! Did you find Lillie?” he yells out to me.

I shake my head.
“No, I just feel like someone is here. They’re hiding. They’re very, very scared.”

“
Lillie! Lillie baby, it’s me, Connor. If you’re here, please come out,” he calls frantically.

“
Connor, it might not be Lillie. It could be anyone.” Tony tries to calm him down using his empathic ability like I did earlier.

Connor fights it all the way and continues to call for
Lillie. The sound of a loud thump above us causes us to go quiet. The rest of our group has come up the stairs to see what’s happening.

I look up
at the ceiling where the thump came from.
There’s an attic!
“Someone is up there,” I say, pointing upwards.

Connor
’s expression turns hopeful. With Tony’s help, he pulls down the attic door in the ceiling. A built-in ladder descends along with the door. Connor is the first to climb up.