Being Jamie Baker (29 page)

I could see them all just fine through the greenish haze in my eyes, and I knew they were all shouting at me to calm down, but I couldn’t really hear anything except the whirlwind of electricity swirling around me. And then suddenly the significance of Mike’s call dawned on me.

“Ryan didn’t show up to the game,” I said, not bothering to calm down. I didn’t want to calm down. I had a feeling that Super Jamie was about to come in very handy. “Ryan would never just blow off a game.”

Carter’s eyes drifted to the picture he’d given me, and I nodded, my thoughts already there.

“He wouldn’t,” I decided confidently. “Even if Mr. E. does want to study me, he’s not evil. He wouldn’t hurt Ryan.”

He just wouldn’t.

But then, Ryan Miller would never leave his team in the hands of Paul Warren either.

I looked questioningly at Carter, but he didn’t seem to have any ideas. And why should he? It’s not like Ryan was worth anything to him.

In the silence, my phone rang again. I scooped it up off the floor and when I saw Ryan’s name I was filled with relief. “Ryan! Where—”

“Ryan can’t talk at the moment, Jamie,” the voice on the other end replied.

“Mr. E.?”

My heart sank. I was sure it had only been a paranoid fear that Ryan’s no-show could have anything to do with Mr. Edwards. I didn’t expect that fear to be legit. My stomach turned over and over again as I tried to decide if I was more angry or scared. The two emotions were pretty equal at the moment, but knowing what happens when I am feeling either, it wasn’t looking so good for Mr. E.

“Yes, Jamie, it’s me,” Mr. E. said, interrupting my thoughts. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

“Actually,” I said, trying my hardest not to crush the phone in my hand, “I’m the one with the bad news. I know who you are.”

Mr. E. stayed silent for a minute. He was surprised by my confession. “It’s not what you think, Jamie.”

“Oh, right. Like I’ve never heard that before.”

“I promise you, Jamie. I mean you no harm.”

“Yeah, tell that to Ryan!”

“I don’t want to hurt Mr. Miller either. He’s just here because I know you too well. We need to talk, Jamie.”

“Oh, we’re going to do more than talk.”

“Relax, Ms. Baker. It’s not going to do anyone any good if you lose control.” Well, he was right about that. But I
was
in control. Sure, I was a little glow-in-the-dark at the moment, but it was by choice. I hadn’t even fried my phone. I had no idea how I was doing it, but for the time being, I was controlling my powers. It was like I was in some kind of super survival mode.

Something needed to get done, and I was going to do it. End of story.

“Where are you?” I asked, only it didn’t really sound like I was asking all that much.

“The school,” he answered. “But please, Jamie, there’s no need to get upset. I think you’ll like my proposal.”

Fat chance. “You really shouldn’t have done this.”

I heard Carter and my parents call out to me as I disappeared in front of their eyes. I knew they were worried about me—well, my parents anyway. Carter was only worried about his paycheck—but honestly, did the Flash ever stop to explain things before he took off running? There’d be plenty of time to explain everything when it was all over, and I was sure this was not going to take very long.

* * * * *

I didn’t hesitate for even a second as I flew to the school and blew through the door to my English classroom. Maybe I should have come up with a plan first because I was
not
prepared for what I found waiting for me on the other side of that door. I knew Ryan would be there. I even expected to see him tied to a chair or something, which he was, but I never dreamed that he’d be wired to a car battery. It was such a disturbing sight that the moment I saw him I freaked the mother of all freak-outs.

“Amazing,” Mr. Edwards whispered to himself as the lights in the room burst, raining down in a shower of glass and sparks.

“Amazing” is definitely not how I saw it. What I saw was every muscle in Ryan’s body tensed and shaking violently from the electricity being pumped into him. The wattage was so high that he couldn’t even scream. It was the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen. “Mr. E., what are you doing to him!” I shrieked.

“It’s not me, Jamie. If you don’t want him to die I suggest you turn off the power right now.” When his words sank in, I was so horrified that my eyes drifted back to Ryan in what felt like slow motion. “I can’t just flip a switch!”

I took a step toward Ryan, wanting to rip him free from the torture. But as I moved closer, the energy got stronger. I couldn’t free him, so I did the only thing I could think of. I left. And it just about killed me. I left Ryan there, stranded with a psychopath, wired to a car battery, and now, thanks to me, probably half dead. But what else could I do? I was killing him, and unlike Mr. Edwards seemed to think, I couldn’t just turn it off. Not when I was so upset.

I ran from that room as fast as my legs could take me. I was too distraught to think up a plan, but it didn’t really matter because my phone was ringing just a few short seconds after I took off. I didn’t say anything when I answered it—I couldn’t get words out between my sobs—but Mr. Edwards didn’t wait for a greeting.

“I’m sorry, Jamie.” Mr. Edwards sighed, and he had the nerve to actually sound remorseful. “I didn’t realize… I was under the impression that you had learned how to control yourself. Honestly, I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

You know what they say: anger does a body good. Or maybe that was milk, but whatever. It certainly did me some good right then to get really mad, because I quit crying like a baby and found my inner ice queen.

“Then why take Ryan? Why strap him to a battery? You’re sick!”

“It was self-defense. I knew that if you couldn’t use your power around him, then you wouldn’t be able to use it on me.”

I hated to admit it, but, “Actually, Mr. E., that wasn’t a bad idea on your part.”

“Thanks.”

“Too bad it was all a wasted effort.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because I may not be able to stop you right now, but the cops surely can. Don’t think I’m not going to call them.”

Mr. E. ignored my threats and changed the subject. “I’ve been to Tahoe, Jamie. I’ve seen your little practice sessions with Ryan.”

I was about to hang up on him and call the police as promised, but something occurred to me then.

“It was you I saw that day, videotaping me.” I was talking more to myself than him. “I should have known Carter would never be stupid enough to get caught.”

“Jamie, the things you can do… You’re incredible! Don’t you want to understand how it’s possible?”

“No. What I want is for you to let my boyfriend go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Not until you hear me out.”

“You,” I growled, “will never get what you want. I would let Carter take me to CNN before I’d let you come anywhere near me!”

“You don’t understand what I want,” Mr. E. said in a strange voice. I realized a moment later it was desperation. He was pleading with me. “I want to help you master this gift you have. I want to see you happy, Jamie, and safe. We could work together. Just you and me. No hospitals, no doctors, no labs.

Kind of like what you and Ryan have been trying to do, except that with the things I know, we could actually get some answers. You wouldn’t have to leave your life, and we don’t have to do any tests that you don’t want to do. I would take care of you.”

It was right then that I realized Mr. E. had some serious issues. “Carter wasn’t kidding about you being obsessed with me, was he?” I said. “News flash, Mr. E. You’re a psycho!” I don’t think Mr. E. appreciated me calling him crazy, because he got mad. Supermad. Super
villain
mad.

“You don’t know what’s best for you,” he said, his voice trembling in the creepiest way possible.

“But I’m going to make you see.”

“Cuckoo!” I sung. “I’m calling the cops now.”

“If you do, Ryan will be dead before they get here.”

The guy sounded crazy enough that he might actually be capable of what he was threatening.

Something came up my throat then, and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to say anything.

“You leave me no choice, Jamie,” Mr. Edwards said.

There was a moment of silence, then a click, and short buzz of static in the reception on my phone.

Then Ryan began to scream a pained, muffled scream. “Hello?” I screamed. “Mr. E.? What are you doing?”

Mr. Edwards was way too calm when he finally spoke up again. “The interesting thing about a car battery, Jamie, is that it’s really not enough power to kill you by electrocution. That’s why people like to use it as a form of torture. You see, what it does is, the electricity makes all of your muscles tighten up so hard that you can’t breathe. Eventually you die of suffocation. It’s a very slow, painful death.”

“This isn’t funny, Mr. E.! You’ll kill him! Stop! Turn it off!”

“I want to, Jamie, I do. But you’re a very stubborn girl. This may be the only way to get through to you.”

“But I can’t control it!”

“Well, I suggest you learn pretty quick.”

Why did this keep happening to me? Why did I continue to hurt people? Derek was dead because of me. And now Ryan was dying. Again, because of me.

I was so frantic that energy raged inside me at an extreme I’d never felt before, and it caused that yellow-green haze to cloud not only my sight, but my mind as well. It was impossible to think rationally.

One thought took up all the space in my head: Save Ryan. Do whatever it takes.

As I took off running again something in the back of my head told me that saving my boyfriend might require taking the life of my favorite teacher, well, ex-favorite teacher, but whatever conscience I used to possess had flown the coop. I knew I wouldn’t be able to control my temper when I saw him, but I didn’t care anymore. Quite frankly, Mr. E. deserved whatever he got.

I was back at school within seconds and stopped in the parking lot. I could still hear Ryan, but his scream was already weak. Too weak. I needed to get in there, but I knew that if I went barging in like before, I would most likely kill Ryan instantly. As worked up as I was, I was probably radiating enough energy to make his body explode or something. That was a nightmare I could live without, but I had to do something.

Slowly, and more focused than I’d ever been in my life, I stretched my hands out in front of me and closed my eyes. Just like that time in Ryan’s bedroom, and in the park with the street lamps, I could feel all of the electricity in the world around me. Ironically, it didn’t feel like the nightmare that it was. It felt more like a nice warm security blanket. Almost as if it were part of me, just an extension of my arms. I could feel it. I could grab it. I could push it away from me, pull it to me.

It was strongest near the football field, where the lights were now on and the scoreboard was blazing. But this was not the energy I was interested in. I turned one hand away from the field and swept it toward the school. When I found the tiny pocket of energy coming from the direction of Mr.

Edwards’s classroom, I sucked it out of there as quickly as I could.

When I started to pull the energy into me I heard Ryan’s cries of pain stop. He gasped for breath once and then went silent, most likely succumbing to unconsciousness. This actually comforted me more than it horrified me. It meant that my plan was working and the torture had momentarily stopped. But it wasn’t over because I still couldn’t get myself under control, and as long as Ryan was attached to that battery, every ounce of energy I released in his presence would be pumped directly into his body. So as I walked slowly toward my boyfriend, I continued to swallow up every last drop of electricity in the entire school so that there would be nothing left to hurt Ryan.

By the time I reached the classroom door, the energy I was still pulling in was nearly too much to keep contained. I had to stop. I couldn’t take in one more ounce of electricity or I would burst with an explosion that would wipe all of Rocklin High from existence. This was it, the moment of truth, but I was determined. “You will
not
let it go,” I ordered myself. “You will
not
hurt Ryan again!” I looked at the closed door in front of me and took a deep breath as I clenched my burning hands into tight fists. My insides felt like an atom bomb, with particles of energy bouncing around in absolute chaos. “Don’t let go,” I chanted to myself. “Don’t let go. Don’t let go!” I was concentrating so hard on not letting my power escape me that when Mr. Edwards called my name, it startled the living daylights out of me. He must have heard me mumbling to myself. I was reaching for the door when he yelled out, “Jamie? Is that you?” All I did was flinch because he’d startled me. But there was so much power inside me that when I did, I maybe sort of… blew up the door. Okay, so there was no maybe about it. I exploded that door into a thousand tiny pieces sending Mr. Edwards ducking for cover beneath his desk. “I guess so,” he said with a chuckle when the dust settled.

I don’t know if it was the amusement in his voice or the streaks of blood running down Ryan’s nose as his body slumped forward in his chair, but I totally snapped. “How could you?” I screeched, and then, without warning, took aim at the desk Mr. E. was hiding behind and blew it to smithereens.

Mr. Edwards was knocked back a few feet by the blast and looked a little scraped up, but ultimately, he was fine. Pity. But on the bright side, he looked pretty scared. “Careful now, Jamie,” he stammered nervously. “You don’t want to hurt Ryan, do you?”

“Do you hear him screaming?”

Mr. Edwards glanced quickly at Ryan and frowned. “I thought you said you can’t control it.” And that’s when it dawned on me. I had just walked into this room more charged up than a nuclear power plant, and I hadn’t once set off the battery attached to my boyfriend. I’d even done that whole lightning thing twice, and still nothing had hurt Ryan. I was controlling my power. I was controlling it, and I hadn’t even realized it.

I was so angry just now that I wanted Mr. E. dead, and it was all I could think about. My power was just naturally following my lead. As I stared at my hands in astonishment, I realized that that’s the way it had always been. Whenever I was angry, my power shot out from me with fury. Whenever I was scared, it acted as some sort of defense mechanism. That’s even why it never hurt Ryan when he hugged me or kissed me. Every time Ryan touched me the power drew us together, pulling him to me like a magnet, because that’s what I’d wanted.