Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) (48 page)

“Do you think
someone’s done something to us?” Jade asked. We looked around at each other uncertainly but we gave up with hopeless shrugs. We laughed awkwardly at the happenings.

“I’m old enough to be your great, great, great grandfather and then some, though,” I pointed out to Jojo with a quirky laugh. Jaden suddenly gasped.

“What is it?” Liam asked. Jaden’s head turned from Roxeth to Roxeth swiftly and he slid his hands over his face.

“You were alive for approximately
two thousand, six hundred and twenty eight years, you said. Well…we’re only about fourteen years younger than you. Do you think…do you think we knew each other?” he asked. Leave it to Jaden to figure out all the clever things. But it was true; the ageing difference between the Roxeths and us was a tiny gap (talking of our alien age). Robbie’s bottom lip quavered as he pondered.

“I’m not sure,” he said with an awkward wince.

“So you actually
may
have met us?” Jade asked, surprised.

“It
may
be, now that we think of it. But it really depends,” Liam started. “But listen, guys. What happened in the Cavern, stays in the Cavern. We never
ever
need to let this resurface.” And he was right. We knew it because we were nodding silently.

“This trip was so intense
that our thoughts are going to be reeking of the Cavern. Angelina might even pick it up without even trying to snoop through any of our minds,” Jojo added. Tammy was contemplating quietly as her amethyst eyes carefully blended with the orange sunlight exploding like raging fire.

“Then…
let’s wipe it.”

“What?” we asked her disbelievingly.

“The thoughts. Everything about the Cavern, about them breaking free this Christmas. Let’s wipe it. We won’t need to know. I’ll take out everything up until the day your Grandfather briefed us all that their prison was tearing. That’s all we need to know and we save ourselves any future hassle in the process.”

Our eyes drifted from one another. Did we really want to do this? It would me
an never having met Mychaela, Tarmo, Jordan or Aemilia. But I wanted to. I really did. I didn’t want to know any of this. But I had already pushed the others to do so many things on my behalf. I didn’t want them to have to do anything again. So I kept silent.

“I’m in,” Jade instantly said.

“Yeah, you’re right. It would make life so much easier for us and we wouldn’t have to awkwardly hide things. I’m with you, Tammy,” Jojo concurred. I grew confused as Jaden and Liam then joined in with Robbie. They all joined hands as Tammy braced herself. They were
all
in on this? I couldn’t help but smile to myself weakly. They all turned their heads to look at me.

“What about you, A.J.? We won’t if you don’t want to, buddy,” Liam voiced out as the others nodded in accordance. I smiled and showed my point-tipped canines. Liam’s gloved hand was openly waiting on my left and Jade’s on my right. I carefully slipped my hands into theirs, waiting to be ridded of all the madness, the nightmares and the pain we had witnessed. We didn’t need to know. We didn’t need to know.
We didn’t need to know
.

I closed my eyes and waited, taking a breath and waiting for the transition to happen. It must have
been over though, or maybe this was a side-effect because my eyes horrifically flung open and I violently yanked my hands out of Jade’s and Liam’s. The others broke the chain and looked at me strangely.

“Aden?” Jaden said worriedly. I was rushing, as if someone had thrown boiling acid onto my body and I was hurrying to dilute it with running water. I shuffle
d about as I tore my shirt open, buttons darting to all directions and as I swiftly pulled my collar down to expose the horrible, still bloody wound on my right shoulder. Something was scratching to be free. My goodness it was itching, clawing, burning, yelling. I was dying. I broke out in sweat as my insides churned. I was burning and I would blow up this entire household. I tensed my face and clenched as the injury coiled and contracted. It was destroying my muscles, tearing my tissues as if it were a wet towel that was being twisted to extract all the water from it. I grunted silently, teeth bared as I reflexively launched my right hand in front of me. Something was bursting to get out and I was on the verge of exploding if I didn’t let whatever was scratching and burning inside me to be released.

Like a breath of fresh air, with a loud sigh of relief as I began to pant, thankful that the brief nightmare was over, my veins surfaced to my skin and glowed as a cyan blue rushed through them, from my wound in my shoulder and to my right hand. The others had lifted their hands to their mouths and
stayed silent in horror as if their worst fears were staring at them. Jade’s eyes began to sparkle with tears. My bottom lip trembled and my now sweat-drenched hair drooped over my face maddeningly as my shirt rested torn open on my torso.

I kept my hand hovered above the bed to make sure that the azure-violet flames dancing on my palm didn’t burn anyone
.

It looks like I wasn’t going to forget
about this anytime soon.