C I N: "Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin. You never come out the way you went in." (The C I N Series) (25 page)

My feet stood frozen in place. Lisa was more powerful than Ally and I combined. She petrified me. Electrical currents beyond anything Reginald ever measured in Ally or me were alive in Lisa. It was as if she weren’t human anymore. Each day she changed more and more. Her powers were going to overtake her soon. The last person who lost control ended up killing—

“Calm down!” I stood between them. Pig growled, tugging on Ally’s pant leg. Lisa grinned, picking her Boston terrier up. He kissed her face and narrowed his bug eyes at Ally.

“Why didn’t you just let me go away with my mom? Why’d you have to trap me?” Lisa cried. “I thought you guys wanted me around. Now I’ve got to stay here with people who hate me!” She raced through the tall grass around the lake towards C I N. She didn’t look back. My heart pounded and every fiber in my being yearned for her touch.

I kicked the pile of ash (that was once an anthill) and called out, “I hate you!”

“A little dramatic, don’t you think?” Ally grumbled. “She’s not
that
bad.”

“I don’t hate
Lisa
.”

Ally’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean—”

I took off, running as fast as I could. I needed to get away from my sister, from Lisa, from everyone. This is why I liked living alone; too much drama, too much talking, too much of everything.

“Alex!” My sister chased after me. Lightning crackled above us. “Don’t push me away again!” Her words stung. “What are you running from? It wasn’t
your
fault. You’re not the one who is to blame!”

What was I running from? How about the fact that I’d fallen into the same trap
again
? This time, though, I was falling for someone even
worse
than Amie. And, what did Ally know? It
was
my fault;
all
of it was.

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