The Zeuorian Awakening (19 page)

“I’m fine. But if Tyler ever talks to you again, don’t listen to him. He likes me and misunderstood our friendship as something more. He thinks he owns me.”

“I see. Then I should come home and make sure he doesn’t bother you.”

Lexi pressed the red button on her cell phone and looked at Everett. “I have to go. She’ll be home soon.”

Everett walked to the window and glanced outside. “You should be safe going home. I don’t see Tyler’s Hummer.”

“I guess I’ll see you later then,” she said with a sad tone to her voice since she didn’t want to go yet.

“Oh we’ll talk some more. I promise.” Everett gave her a crooked smile. “But before you go I have something to give you.”

He leaned her back. Every artery in her body thumped to the beat of her heart, faster and faster as their lips were about to touch. She sucked in her breath when his lips firmly pressed against hers and the world seemed to stop: the buzz from the computer fan, the ticking of the wall clock, everything except their hearts, which beat to the same rhythm until she gasped for air and everything went back into motion.

A strange sensation traveled from her lips and into Everett. His heart rate sped up and sounded like a racecar. He pushed her up against the wall with a fierce passion as his mouth pressed harder on hers. She matched his desire with her own, wanting more and more while ignoring the bright light flashing outside his house.

For a moment, she forgotten all her worries and relaxed into his kiss. Taking in the strength and reassurance his mouth offered her. Tasting, touching and loving one another. And then she felt a strange tingling sensation building inside of her followed by a blinding flash of light.

“What the hell?” Everett shouted. He twisted his body and grabbed the burning cell phone from his pocket and threw it on the ground and stomped on it.

She watched in horror as Everett put out the flames burning his jeans from a bolt of lightning striking him. His back pocket had been charred, but luckily the fire hadn’t burned through his underwear to his skin. Though, if he had waited a second longer it could’ve been her trying to put out the flames burning his body.

“I’m fine.” Everett stopped patting his smoldering pocket. “Don’t beat yourself up over this. I knew the risk and will gladly take it again.”

His words didn’t ease her conscious or make her feel any better about having hurt him. The excitement of kissing him morphed into dread of what she would make happen the next time they kissed.

He gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

She stared at the oatmeal looped pile carpet. “Are you sure? What if lightning strikes you again?”

“It won’t. I’ll prove it to you tomorrow when I kiss you again, but this time I’m not going to hold back—that is, if you’re up for a challenge.”

A small smile formed on her face. Even when she felt like crap and wanted to hide in a hole, he could find a way to make her happy. “Okay. You’re on.”

“I thought you’d accept the challenge.” He winked at her. “Anyway, you should go, but don’t mention us to anyone, especially Angie. And most of all don’t ever use the word Zeuorian. We call you the full-breed.” He kissed her and lingered for a few seconds. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at school.”

She ran into the hall and continued down the stairs. Finally, she felt hopeful everything may turn out alright with Everett on her side and his father trying to convince the half-breeds to accept her. However, a small part of her doubted he would be able to change the half-breeds minds about her.

Early in the morning Lexi’s eyes flew open when a creaking noise jolted her awake. She held her breath while listening for the noise. The only sound she could hear was the ticking of her wall clock. She closed her eyes to rest, but she heard another creak. This time the wood creaked closer to her bed.

She sat up, clutching her sheet to her chest, and scanned the dimly lit room for whatever or whoever made the noise. In the far corner she noticed a faint silhouette of a figure. She squinted wondering if it could be a shadow created by the poor lighting. Then it moved. She tightened her grip on the edge of the blanket as a slender man stepped out of the shadows with a large knife in his right hand.

“
Everett,”
she called to him telepathically, leaping from the bed and running into the hall.

The man tackled her to the ground, slamming her into a small decorative table. She kicked him in the face and got to her feet. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her toward him. He glared down at her with his crystal blue eyes—bluer than sapphires, which seemed familiar. They were the same color eyes the man who killed her parents had.

Oh, no, he found her. She shoved him, but he refused to let her go. He stared into her eyes trying to take hold of her mind. She stared back at him as if it would block him for some odd reason.

The man cried out, gripping his stomach and bending over. Blood soaked his white dress shirt and oozed out from between his fingers. She heard a familiar voice shout, “Run Lexi, get out of here.”

She ran down the stairs, tripping over her feet and stumbling the entire way down. Once she reached the last step, she leaped off it and sprinted toward the front door, breathing heavy and calling to Everett telepathically again.

“Lexi.” Everett pulled her into his arms and away from the front door. “Calm down. It’s okay.”

“But the man, he’s still upstairs.” She struggled in his arms trying to reach for the door knob. “We have to get out of here or he’ll kill us both.”

“Shh, Angel.” Everett stroked her back and kissed her cheek. “It’s only a nightmare.”

“No it can’t be. It’s real.”

“Open your eyes and you’ll see.”

She opened her eyes. The morning sun streamed in through her window and shined on her body wrapped in her sheets like a cocoon.
“I don’t understand. If I’m dreaming how is it you were in it?”
she said telepathically to Everett.

“
I’m not sure.”
He paused for a few seconds.
“But something changed after we kissed last night. I’m not sure if you stopped blocking me or my abilities have grown stronger, but I can hear and see your thoughts more vividly than ever before. I can even feel your presence, which seems to get stronger the closer you are to me. Do you feel different, too?”

“
I didn’t notice anything different about me, but you said this happened after we kissed.”

She wondered if the strange feeling flowing through her into Everett somehow had boosted his abilities. If her kissed did that to Everett, then what did it do to Tyler when she kissed him?

“
Your kiss wouldn’t do anything to him. He’s a human,”
Everett said, a hint of disgust to his voice.
“He doesn’t have any abilities to boost, except his oversize ego.”

Lexi covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. Everett definitely didn’t have a problem showing his true feelings toward Tyler and to an extent same as her. But she didn’t despise Tyler like Everett, no, he scared her. He couldn’t take no for answer and pursued her like an obsessed psycho in one of her horror movies.

Thinking of a psycho.

Her mind drifted to the man in her dream who appeared to be the same man who killed her parents. Could he have tried to kill her before murdering her parents? Was her dream a memory or could it have been a premonition or had he managed to push himself into her dream like Everett somehow did?

“
It is easier to touch your mind when you’re sleeping since your defenses are down,”
Everett said.
“But I don’t believe he pushed himself in your mind or I did for that matter. Only a Zeuorian or an extremely powerful first generation half-breed could touch your mind.”

“
Do you think he’s one of them?”

“
No, well, maybe.”
Everett hesitated.
“The man had crystal blue eyes. Only Zeuorians or a direct descent of one have the purest color blue or green eyes. But all the first generation half-breeds passed away on Earth unless they came from Valos.”

Lexi swallowed hard. Maybe her mother thought she killed the queen.
“Could the queen still be alive and sent someone to kill me?”

“
Or there’s one on earth my father doesn’t know about. Either way I should tell him what you saw. Now get your cute butt out of bed. We’re going to be late.”

She glanced at the digital clock on her oak nightstand that read seven-twenty.
“Damn. I’ll be out in fifteen.”

She threw the covers off of her and rushed to the restroom. Ten minutes later, she ran down the stairs to the kitchen for a quick breakfast.

Irene stood next to the sink, reading the morning newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee like clockwork. “You’re late,” Irene said while she continued to stare at the paper.

“Not if I can help it.” Lexi ran over to the pantry and pulled out a granola bar for breakfast. She grabbed her backpack and shouted on the way out the side door, “I’ll see you later.” She ran down the paved path to her car and felt a familiar hand cover her mouth.

“Shh,” Everett whispered. “You don’t want your aunt to hear us.”

She pulled him over to the bush and away from the kitchen door. “What’s wrong? I thought we were meeting at school.” Her heart pounded against her chest as several reasons he would want to talk to her raced through her mind from the half-breed coming back to town to The Community discovered her identity.

“It’s nothing like you’re imagining.” Everett lifted her chin. “I wanted a chance to talk before we went to school and . . .”

He bent down and planted a kiss on her lips. A warm feeling spread throughout her body. The wind picked up, the sky darkened and she pulled away before the weather turned to the worse.

“Sorry,” she said out of breath.

“Don’t be. I understand why you’re pulling away. Hopefully soon it won’t be an issue anymore, since,” he leaned close to her ear, “I’ll be helping you to learn control.”

“How?”

“I’m going to have you work on controlling your abilities while I test you after school.” He winked at her, making it obvious he meant while kissing her. “Then you won’t have to worry about slipping up and leading the half-breeds to you. I’ll be able to kiss my girlfriend without destroying the world in the process, but,“ his voice took on a more serious tone, “we’ll have to keep our relationship a secret until The Community accepts you.”

She wrapped her arms behind his neck. “So how many abilities will I develop?” she asked, hoping Everett would be able to answer her since she had no clue.

All she knew was what she remembered her father saying. Over three-quarters of her mother’s journal had been illustrations and instructions on how to use each of her powers. Without knowing how long her mother’s journal, she wouldn’t be able to determine the number of abilities she would develop.

“I wish I knew.” Everett tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “But a lot of our history had been lost after the first-generation half-breeds were killed during the war. Only a few know about your kind and most of them aren’t willing to discuss it. What I do know is when you turn two years old, you develop all your abilities like half-breeds, but most of them are so weak you won’t notice you have them until your awakening when they are awakened.”

“I’m not developing new abilities?” She couldn’t believe it. “They’re growing stronger?” That was an odd concept to wrap her mind around.

“But the number of them you were born with and how strong they’ll grow differs from one family to the next. Some develop a few extremely powerful ones while others develop several less powerful ones. Without knowing who your parents were, I can’t be sure which type of Zeuorian you’ll turn out to be.”

“I do have a picture of my birth parents at home. Will that help you to determine how many of them I’ll develop?”

“Maybe.” Everett thought for a minute. “I should take a picture of it later with my phone and text it to my father. Perhaps he could figure out who they are, but I still can’t guarantee anyone will recognize them.”

Great. Nothing Everett said had enlightened her even a little. He only created more questions for her. It seemed only her birth mother’s journal could answer her questions about her abilities. Too bad she had no clue where her parents had placed it.

“You’ll be fine without your mother’s journal.”

“I have a hard time believing you, since aliens, like me in horror movies don’t have happy endings. They always end up dead in some grotesque fashion.”

Everett shook his head. “You should watch superhero movies instead. The superhero never dies and ends up getting the girl in the end. Well, in your case the guy.”

“Do you really believe I’ll have a happy ending?”

“Yeah, I do.”

But from the expression on his face, she could tell he didn’t believe it. There had to be something he knew and hadn’t told her. She focused on his mind to figure out what he had kept from her, but he had it blocked as usual.

“So why is it you’re still blocking me from listening to your thoughts? Are you trying to hide stuff from me?”

“No, well, maybe a few things,” Everett said with a chuckle. “But mostly I’m used to blocking my thoughts from my father. He listened to every single word that crossed my mind and questioned me about it.”

“Hmm, if you say so,” she said teasingly, even though she knew he was keeping secrets about something that threatened her future. But judging by what she’d witnessed so far, Everett cared deeply about her and wouldn’t hide anything important unless he believed it would protect her.

Everett glanced at his wrist watch. “We don’t have much time before we should go to school, but I wanted to review over some rules.”

“Rules?” She scrunched her nose. “What rules do I need to know other than keep up the appearance we’re just friends in public and don’t cause any accidents.”

“There’s plenty.” he winked at her. “For instance if you feel you’re going to lose control, focus on me and only me.”

“No problem.” A smile spread across her face. “I already do.”