Farsighted (Farsighted Series) (30 page)

“Mother and Father, they think I killed you. They sent me away,” Dax argues through tears.

“I know. I’ve tried to tell them, but they can’t hear my voice above the quiet. They don’t believe, so they won’t listen.”

“Oh, God. Simmi, what have I done to you?” Dax screams in anguish. I almost feel sorry for the guy.

“What happened to me was an accident, but what about all this?” The scent of cherries dances around us as Shapri sweeps her arms to indicate the sleeping bodies and broken zoo exhibits.

“That was an accident, too. I was scared. He was coming for me. I didn’t know what to do.” I assume I’m the
he
in question.

“I’ve been watching Alex. He’s good. He won’t hurt you. Trust him. And learn to control your powers, or they will always control you. You’re meant to help the world, not hurt it.” Shapri rises as she’s saying this; her voice looms a couple of feet above my head. “I’ve said what I needed to say. Now I need to give this girl her body back. Remember, I love you, and I’m always watching out for you.”

“Don’t leave me again. Please,” Dax whimpers, trying to get to his feet, but he collapses back onto the pavement with a series of scrapes and thuds.

Shapri’s voice falls back to the ground, and she chokes again. The cherries are replaced by fresh-mown grass. She speaks as if awakening from a deep sleep. “Did she help? I didn’t want to, but she wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“More than anybody else could have. Good going,” Dad says, slapping Shapri on the back.

“Where’s my Simone?” Dax asks in a strained whisper. “Why did you send her away?”

***

When Dax’s little sister leaves, the gravity of the situation hits us. We’ve got a whole zoo to put back together and a few severely injured people to take care of. Dad returns to the crowd he’s put together and starts organizing some kind of cleanup crew. Simmi continues to hum in the background. Shapri, Dax, and I are left, sitting together on the paved walkway—the scene of our recent séance.

“I’m sorry for causing all this trouble,” Dax says once he’s regained his composure and a bit of strength. “I honestly thought you were the bad guy, that you were coming to hurt me.”

“That doesn’t explain why you would endanger so many people,” I snarl. I can’t wait to return to Grandon and place this guy as far behind Simmi and myself as possible.

“I thought if I appeared strong, crazy, confident, you’d get scared and go away,” Dax says, continuing the conversation I’m trying my best not to have. “So many people have been trying to hurt me lately. I thought you were one of them. I was scared.”

I grumble, “Yeah, well, you were right to be scared.”

“Give him a chance,” Shapri interjects. “I know how hard it is when you’re scared, when you’re trying to run away.”

“Thank you,” Dax says, reaching out to touch Shapri. Jealousy overflows from within me, and I hit his hand away.

Shapri sighs but doesn’t say anything. I think she understands even if, for whatever crazy reason, she doesn’t agree with my actions.

“I know I’ll need to work hard to earn your trust, and I’m willing to do that. Meet me halfway at least?”

I snort. The anger is too fresh. Besides, I don’t think I can put all of this behind me. Ever. It’s kind of a big deal when someone tries to kill you and the people you love.

Dad walks up to us with two other people, both of whom smell like sausage. “Dax, are you feeling strong enough to help out?”

Dax must indicate agreement nonverbally, because Dad continues.

“This is Volodya and Nikoloai. They’re telekinetics, too, and they’re going to help you put the animals back.” Dad extends a hand to Dax and pulls him to his feet. The four move off together, leaving Shapri and me by ourselves.

“I believe him,” Shapri says when the others are out of earshot. She still sounds exhausted.

I start to protest, but Shapri doesn’t let me.

“I know it’s gotta be hard for you. You saw so much more than any of the rest of us, and even based on what we saw, it’s hard. But I really do believe him.”

I sigh and fall back on the pavement in frustration.

Shapri strokes my arm, but she doesn’t have calming electricity in her skin like Simmi. “His sister’s been talking to me for weeks. She’s told me lots about him and what he’s telling us is true. He was acting out of fear. He’s not a bad person.”

Everyone else seems to be willing to forgive Dax; they all want to make excuses for him. But why do they let everything else I’ve seen about Dax go so easily? Hello, he let a bunch of animals out of their cages, used others as weapons, and endangered the entire city. You can’t just explain that away with, “I was scared.”

“What’s going on now?” I ask Shapri after a few minutes of turning thoughts over in my brain.

“Well,” she says, lying down next to me on the concrete. “They’re cleaning up.”

“Tell me more,” I urge.

“Your dad and Dax and a bunch of other psychic people are using whatever powers they’ve got to put everything back to the way it was.”

“Other psychics?”

“Yeah, they didn’t fall asleep when Simmi started to hum. Everyone else did, including my mom. She’s over by the butterfly house, just sleeping through this all—can you believe it?”

I laugh, picturing Miss Teak’s reaction when she learns she missed out on this, just like she missed out on having gifts of her own. Part of me feels bad for her.

“There are some people walking around, putting their hands over the sleeping people’s heads. My guess is they’re wiping their memories. But I don’t know how they’re going to explain the lapse in time. Or the mutilated giraffe.”

***

We’re back at our motel. Dax is with us, despite my misgivings. Dad’s been checking in throughout the day to read his mind and has “only uncovered the best of intentions.” Shapri and Simmi back him up when their respective powers suggest he’s not the villain I thought—still think—he is. At least Simmi is safe. One vision was just a giant case of mistaken identity, and the other was prevented today.

The three of us who aren’t injured are treating the three of us who are. Shapri applies a stinging antiseptic to my nose, which is most definitely broken. Dad places icepacks on Dax’s swollen body. Miss Teak chants and spoon-feeds Simmi a restorative tea—having to use her powers for so long over such a large range has completely depleted Simmi. I say she should take a Monster, but Dad yells at me for even suggesting the idea.

Miss Teak’s sweet singing—her ordinary every-day powers of being a Mom—ease us all into sleep. The nightmares are completely gone, but I still have a tugging feeling that something’s not right. Waking up gradually, I hear Dad carrying on a conversation with Miss Teak out on the patio.

“The similarities are shocking,” she says. “What do you think it means?”

“I’m still trying to figure out why Alex connected to Dax in the first place,” Dad says.

“He must be a magnet, too, but the strength of their connection is like nothing I’ve seen before,” Miss Teak says in a hushed voice. “What should we do? His family’s disowned him. He’s all alone,” Miss Teak says with the same tenderness she uses when talking about Shapri.

“And if we leave him by himself, his powers might lead to more accidents.”

“He needs to be taught. It’s our responsibility. The universe has ordained it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Dad says. I can’t tell if he’s eager or annoyed.

“Then?”

“He’s coming back to Grandon with us.”

Chapter 25

Past, present, and future unite to solidify the traveler’s destiny. Secrets abound, not all of which should be kept. Life is forever changed.

My visions stop. Nightmares about Simmi’s impending demise no longer plague me, and my brain isn’t forced to connect with Dax’s. Everything dries up. I suppose I could still seek my gifts out rather than waiting for them to come to me—but I don’t want to. Having Dax here, in my home, is all the exhaustion I can take, and I’m not so much of a masochist that I want to go looking for a new mystery to solve. Besides, I’m not done protecting Simmi yet.

A knock comes on the door. I open it and slip outside. I’ve been standing here waiting for the last ten minutes—ever since Simmi called and said she was on her way. I’m not going to make the same mistake I did last month, right after Dax first moved in.

Simmi stopped by to pick me up for our date, and Dax opened the door. I was still in the bathroom, putting the finishing touches on my cool guy look. While I was running some gel through my hair, a mumbled exchange drifted from the living room. At first, I thought Dad was saying hello to Simmi, but then Dax’s over-confident tittering of a laugh merged with Simmi’s sweet tinkling one.

I raced out of the bathroom so fast I didn’t even wash the remaining gel off my hands. I grabbed Simmi and bolted.

“What was he saying to you?” I barked at Simmi.

She yanked her hand away from me as if I had done something wrong when I was only trying to protect her.

When she didn’t answer, I asked again. “What did he say?”

“N-nothing,” she stammered. “He only made a joke. That was all.”

“Sure, that was all. Just stay away from him, he’s dangerous.”

Simmi didn’t say anything more, but she also didn’t protest. After a few moments, she placed her hand on my arm and her gifts calmed me down. The gesture made me realize how much power she actually possesses, how she would always maintain the upper hand in our relationship if she wanted to.

“Where do you want to go today?” Simmi asks, standing on tiptoe to kiss me and returning my thoughts to the present day.

I shudder and jam the unwanted memory back into my skull. “Some place where we can be alone,” I answer.

“My house, then?”

“No, somewhere new. Someplace that can be
ours
.”

“Okay,” Simmi says as we get into her car. “I’ll drive around until I spot somewhere lonely looking.” The car turns a corner and she drives on. She suggests several places—a pizza parlor, the school yard, even a little cafe almost nobody in town visits because the pastries are stale and the coffee is burnt. None of them are remote enough. We need a place that is ours alone, a place no one else will share with us, especially not Dax.

“Keep driving,” I instruct.

“But we’re almost to the edge of town,” Simmi protests and pulls the car onto a dirt road. We’re jostled in our seats as the car manages the uneven terrain. Little pebbles shoot into the undercarriage with a series of muted pings.

“Where are we now?” I ask.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been out this far. There’s an old farm building up ahead. The wood is mostly dead, but a few specks of red paint are here and there. I think it must’ve been abandoned some time ago.”

“Stop here. Let’s check it out.”

Simmi complies, and together we walk through a meadow of untamed grass and wildflowers. A stream gurgles somewhere in the distance.

“Let’s go this way,” I say, pulling on Simmi’s hand and navigating with my cane. We follow the sound of the water. It takes several more paces for Simmi to hear the noise, too. We reach the stream and she gasps.

“This is beautiful,” she exclaims. “I think we’ve found our spot.”

“I like it, too,” I say and pull her into my arms for a bit of kissing. It feels so good to be able to do this, to kiss her whenever I want. We pull apart and I ask, “What does it look like?”

“It’s beautiful,” she repeats.

“No, describe it to me. I want to see.”

Simmi hums under her breath as she searches for words. “Well, the grass is dark green. A big tree is nearby, casting shade on the ground. And a patch of yellow flowers over there.” The wind stirs up her scent as she gestures.

“Black-Eyed Susans. I smell them. What else?”

“Um, the clouds. They’re big and fluffy.” She hesitates. She always worries she’s saying the wrong thing to me. I don’t like how uncomfortable my blindness makes her, but I think it’s sweet how she cares so much.

“Do they make shapes?” I prompt.

“Yes, I see an elephant…there.” Her bangles clink together as she points to the sky. “And a rose…there.”
Clink, clink
.

“Thanks for helping me see,” I say while wrapping her in a hug from behind. I run my lips across her neck. A bird sings in the distance.

“So will this be our spot?” she whispers even though no one is around to listen to our exchange.

“What do you think?” I manage between kisses.

“I think, yes.”

“Good.” I turn her around in my arms and kiss her mouth. I can’t stop kissing her. Each touch of our lips is a dream coming true. The well of emotions she stirs up is enough to make me fight Dax a million times to keep her safe.