Aegis: Catalyst Grove (34 page)

“I will never have that type of authority, that is, unless you are mine to develop.”

They all looked at Alex, thoroughly confused.
 

The corners of Alex’s mouth curled into a wide smile.
 
“These are adoption papers.
 
If you accept, I would like to make you permanent members of Aegis, and of my home.”

They all looked at each other in complete shock.
 
Every orphan dreams of the day when they will be chosen and accepted.
 
Year after year, they had seen others get selected instead of them.
 
What they held in their hands was the physical manifestation of their heart’s desire.
 
This was the hope they had been waiting for.
 
The hope of being part of a family and to be genuinely loved by someone other than people paid to do so.

“I will only turn these in if you are in agreement.
 
I have already been in contact this morning with Ms. Winstone of Greenwood and Mr. Pitman of the Oak Ridge Orphanage.
 
They know that you have made your way here to Portfield Manor, and I assured them you all were in my care until your return in a few hours.
 
So between now and then, you have a decision to make.
 
We will leave you to talk amongst yourselves and make a final decision.”

Alex turned and walked a few steps back towards his table, then turned back around to face the kids.
 
He grabbed the bottom of his vest, giving it a twist, then took hold of the sides of the ‘V’ at his chest with both hands to adjust it.
 
Graham leaned closer.
 
He finally realized where he recognized Alex.
 

“You are a remarkable group.
 
Whatever your decision, please know that I hold you all in the highest regards.
 
Now, please help yourselves to the food and drink.
 
I know you are famished.”

At that, Alex turned toward the other members and motioned for them to all leave the room.
 
Branson and Murphy got up to congratulate Graham and the others, followed by Chase and Cavaness.
 
After the first two had shaken hands and given high-fives, Chase walked up to Graham and placed his hand on Graham’s shoulder.
 

“You were a hard one for me to develop.
 
I hope you aren’t too shaken up.”

“I’m ok.
 
You really had me going there,” said Graham, acting a bit sheepish.

“Well, I am glad to hear it.
 
Trust is a funny thing.
 
I know I had to break yours to help you develop your gifting.
 
I hoped maybe we can repair it once you accept.”

Graham had no words to say.
 
No one had really pursued his friendship like this before.
 

“Yes, I would like that,” said Graham.
 

“Atta-boy,” said Chase with a wide smile.
 
“I’ll see you on the other side.”

With a pat on the back, Chase moved on to the others giving his apologies for the hardship but at the same time expressing his excitement to have everyone on board.
 
Cavaness stood where Chase had been in front of Graham.
 
He still hardly had an expression on his face, and his large form blocked out the light from the chandelier on the ceiling, making his face even harder to read.

“How’s the stomach?”

“Uh, surprisingly ok.
 
I don’t hurt at all.
 
It is odd.”

A slight smile broke through his hardened leathery face.
 
“Good.
 
You are a strong, young man.
 
I pushed you as hard as I did because I knew you could take it.
 
With the potential you have inside, you will be able to move mountains if you want to.
 
It may not have released this time, but it will.”

Cavaness cupped his hand and patted the back of Graham’s neck.
 
It was surprising to see a hint of compassion in his eyes.
 
What was even more surprising was that Graham actually felt close to him now.
 
Just hours before, Graham had such hatred for him, but now, he saw his real nature.
 
This guy actually had a heart.
 
Graham would have never guessed.

Cavaness made his way over to Kel next.
 
“Kelly, you are already quite the Pusher.
 
I look forward to our time together.”

Making his way down the line, he passed Damien.
 
He nodded his head saying, “Mr. Ortega.”
 

Damien was about to address Cavaness, but he had already made his way to Ailey.
 
Damien frowned, but quickly shook it off.
 

Cavaness knelt down beside Ailey and gently took hold of her leg.
 
“You are a fiery one.
 
I hope it didn’t hurt too bad.”

Ailey shook her head.
 

“Good girl.
 
I am anxious to see what you are capable of.
 
There is a lot of strength in that little body.”

He gave a quick pat on the back of the head as he had done with Graham, then made his way to the door, closing it behind him.

There was a moment of silence before Graham spoke.
 
For him, there was only one choice to make.
 
Soon, Greenwood would be a distant memory, but first, he had to tell the others what he just realized.

“Guys, Alex is one of the Alexanders.
 
It has been eating at me this whole time. I knew he looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
 
It wasn’t until he adjusted his vest that I realized that he looked exactly like Mr. Alexander from the warehouse picture and the portrait at Greenwood.
 
He must be the great grandson or something.
 
When he kept saying ‘we’, he must have been talking about his whole family line.”

“Are you sure about that?
 
That would mean his name is Alex Alexander.
 
I really don’t think his parents hated him that much,” said Damien.

“Alliteration aside, I am sure.
 
He is the most powerful man in this state.
 
I don’t know about you, but I am staying.
 
What are you guys going to do?”

“Are you kidding me, amigo? I just drained a whole pond with a blast from my hands.
 
I am not going anywhere,” said Damien.

Kel smiled at Damien’s remark, then turned to Graham.
 
“We don’t have much to go back to.
 
We do not have any brothers or sisters back at Oak Ridge.
 
All we do there is exist.
 
Here, we can have a reason to exist.
 
Danger or not, we are in.”

Ailey shook her head in agreement with Kel.
 

Graham could hardly contain his excitement about his new home and family members.
 
“Ok, then.
 
I guess it is settled.”
 

Damien gave Kel and Ailey a big hug, then turned to Graham and gave him a pound as he started singing “We are family…….”

“Stop that,” said Graham.

Damien stopped singing, but continued humming the song as he strutted to the beat in his head over to the table filled with food.
 

“You gotta watch him.
 
He gets trapped in his own world sometimes,” said Graham.
 
Kel smiled and gave a little chuckle as the food on Damien’s plate slipped off and on the floor as he continued humming and dancing to the song in his head.

“Kel, I never got a chance to say I am sorry for not trusting you.
 
It is a thing with me.”

Kel shrugged it off.
 
“We all have our thing.
 
Plus, it looks like you will have a lifetime to make it up to me.”

Graham blushed a little and nervously scratched the back of his neck.
 
“Yea, I guess so.”
 

Ailey was still standing beside Kel, picking at her wrist, trying to make them glow again.
 
“That goes for you too, sis,” said Graham.
 
Ailey looked up at him with a grin.
 
She walked up to Graham and threw her arms around his waist, squeezing tight.

Graham put his arm back around Ailey and squeezed her even tighter.
 
“Come on, let’s go tell them our decision.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-T
WO

Implosion

Once Alex and the others had taken their seats at the table, Graham stood at the opposite side and said, “You really don’t know what this means to us.
 
I still don’t know why or how you knew what we are capable of, but none of that really matters.
 
I can speak on behalf of us all when I say that we accept your offer.
 
We want this to be our home.”

“That is music to my ears,” said Alex.
 
“I will submit these papers first thing in the morning then.
 
You will still need to go back to your Orphanages until the paperwork has been processed.
 
Once the process is complete, you will officially be members of my household.”
 
Alex pulled back his sleeve to look at his watch.
 
“We still have some time before your Directors come for you.
 
There are a few things I would like to show you about this place.”

They all stood up from their chairs.
 
Alex led the four of them over to the set of three mirrors to their right.
 

“There are many unique qualities to our powers that are difficult to explain.
 
These are one of those things.
 
I want to bring you back to the warehouse where you were first kept.
 
We will be going there using this,” Alex said has he pointed to the first mirror.
 

“Sweet!
 
Is this another secret passage like what was in the cabin?” asked Damien.

“Not exactly,” said Alex.
 
“It is a passageway, but not a normal one.
 
These are called Transit Mirrors.
 
Among the variety of giftings, there are some that enable people to infuse their power into objects.
 
The power injected into the object will remain there as long as the person who put it there is still alive.
 
We call them ‘
Weavers
.’
 
Only the most masterful of Weavers can craft these mirrors.
 
Their power is fused into the backside of two mirrors at the same time.
 
This forms a bond between them.
 
Once that is complete, the mirrors are placed back to back.
 
This is when the passage is formed.
 
Next, the mirrors are placed in the two desired locations were you want to travel to and from.”

Graham reached his hand out to put his fingers in the dimples in the wood.
 
Alex gently grabbed his hand to keep him from touching the mirror.
 
“You only want to put your fingers there if you intend to take the mirror with you to the other side.
 
Since you are all brand new to all this, I want you to hold on to one of us as we go through.
 
We don’t want anyone left behind.”
 
Alex reached out and took Ailey by the hand.
 
He then placed his other hand to the center of the mirror.
 
His wrist illuminated and in a fading mist, they vanished.
 

Graham, Kel and Damien stood there speechless.
 
Chase reached over and put his hand under Graham’s chin and pushed his jaw up to close his mouth.
 
“This is only the tip of the iceberg my friend.”
 
Chase took hold of Graham, placed his hand on the mirror and vanished.

Branson took Damien, and Cavaness took Kel.
 
Within seconds, they were miles away in the warehouse at the top of the hill.
 
The feeling was exhilarating.
 
Going through the Transit Mirrors felt like the first drop you experience on a roller coaster.
 
Cavaness and Chase emerged as if it were nothing, but Graham and his friends all came out on the other side with every muscle in their bodies tensed.
 

“You get used to it,” said Chase, grinning at the others.

They were all now in a large office.
 
Alex opened the door and led them down the hall and to a small foyer with two elevators on the adjacent wall.
 
All of the furniture in the foyer was turned over on their side.
 

“Recognize anything?”

“Yea!
 
This is where we crawled down that elevator shaft,” said Damien.

“Yes, and a great plan, I might add.
 
Very inventive,” said Alex.

They continued to walk down the hall towards the larger rooms, where Damien found the files and the pry bar.
 
There were other people in the building now, straightening things up.
 
One of them had a manila folder in her hand.
 
Alex asked the woman if he could see the papers.
 
He unfolded the sides of the manila folder so that everyone could see the contents.
 
He flipped through a few pages until he found the one he was looking for.
 
He removed the piece of paper and handed it to Damien.
 

“Casey Hagan. That is the one you read, am I correct?”