Channeler's Choice (14 page)

Shaking her head, Eren wondered if she had just made a big mistake. Maybe she should give Caitlin the condom her Aunt had slipped into her purse. That thought made her stomach do flip flops for a few different reasons. She really didn’t want to explain why she had a condom in her pocket. Biting her tongue, she followed Caitlin out of the bathroom and through the restaurant.

The moment they stepped into the parking lot, Eren knew something was wrong. The hair on the back of her neck tickled and the air was heavy with a bad energy. A muffled cry came from the alley beside the restaurant, followed by the sound of flesh hitting flesh, a fist maybe.

The instinct to protect drew Eren to that alley, with Caitlin on her heels. It smelled like garbage and compost and something much more terrible; blood. The tension in the air crawled across Eren’s skin like spider webs, making her shiver. A woman’s pleading voice drew her in. There were other voices too; men, laughing and heckling.

Power started to work its way up from her core when she rounded the corner and saw two men holding a woman, while a third tore open her blouse. The memory of the times Luke had tried to rape her froze Eren in her tracks. A horrible panic strangled her rage.

“
Hey girls, come to join the party? There’s room for more,” the man who’d torn open the woman’s blouse said.

His filthy eyes ran up the length of Eren’s body then looked past her at Caitlin. Someone moved behind them, a fourth man. The men holding the woman smiled.

“
Bring them over, Todd,” the leader commanded.

The man called Todd grabbed both Eren and Caitlin by the arm and shoved them forward. Anger roared through Eren, flushing the panic away. At the same time, she and Caitlin turned and punched Todd. Eren hit him in the face—feeling a satisfying crunch—and Caitlin hit him in the chest. He stumbled back and hit the ground, groaning and holding his nose. It didn’t really matter to Eren that he was hurt. He would live. As adrenalin coursed through her veins she felt her power rise and she didn’t bother to hold it down, it would be useful.

“
Damn, Todd, they’re just girls,” one of the men holding the woman said.

The other men laughed. Eren smiled.

“
Run! Get help!” the woman yelled. She was crying and near hysterics. It was obvious she didn’t think they could really help her.

“
Lady, we
are
the help,” Caitlin said.

The first man who had spoke glared past them at Todd as he groaned and complained. “If you’re really gonna let two little girls get the best of you we’re not saving yah any!” he snapped.

Todd cursed at him but didn’t stand up. Apparently, Todd was the smart one.

“
Careful, they break easy when you use your power,” Caitlin murmured to Eren.

Remembering the small boulder she had thrown across the river last summer, Eren nodded. The last thing she wanted was to kill anyone, even if they were scumbag rapists. Scaring them out of their minds so they might not try it again would be enough. Like opening a fist, she relaxed her control on her power and let it fill her body in a rush. Her hands started to glow a soft blue as she stepped into a fighting stance. She wished the scumbags could see it.

“
Sweet, it’s so much better when they fight.” one of the men holding the woman said. Another one laughed and yanked the woman back to her feet when she started to sag.

Hands open and power pouring around them, Eren advanced on the leader. Smiling, he drew his hand back to slap her. His movements looked like they were in slow motion and yet Eren knew it was just her power fueling her speed, making it superior to his. She moved effortlessly out of the way as he swung at her three times. Moving far too fast for his eyes to follow, she slashed at his chest with a bit of her power. His shirt shredded.

His eyes grew wide as he looked down at the blood beading up on his chest. “What the hell?”

Before he got the last word out, Eren hit him in the chest with a sidekick, using her power to strengthen it. Like exaggerated special affects in an action movie, he flew back several feet and crashed into a group of garbage cans.

A click snapped her attention back to the two men holding the woman captive. The mouthy guy was brandishing knife at Eren with a wild look. Slapping it aside with one hand, she thrust out with the other and grabbed him by the throat. He struggled and pulled at her hand, causing the blue mist of her power to swirl around his fingers, but he couldn’t come close to breaking her grip. As he started to kick at her, she poured more power into her arms to heighten her strength. She lifted him off the ground, slamming him into the brick wall of the restaurant. Eyes wide with disbelief, he went still.

All the while the woman’s wild eyes were watching Eren. Out of her peripheral vision Eren could see Caitlin making short work of the other guy. Though she wasn’t able to use her power to hurt him, her skills were more than enough to handle a woman-beating scumbag. She was smiling and having a great time. Eren wasn’t sure if she wished she could share her enthusiasm or not.

“
What are you?” the mouthy man gasped.

“
I’m just a girl, remember?” Eren asked in her sweetest voice.

Without straining, she tossed him into the pile of trash with his other companions. Caitlin brushed her hands together as if dusting them off, and gave Eren a huge grin. Eren turned and offered the woman her hand. Cringing, the wide-eyed woman covered her head with her arms and whimpered.

“
Don’t touch me! Something’s wrong with both of you. You…you
glowed
. You’re monsters!” she cried.

Eren’s chest tightened and she couldn’t respond. Her tongue refused to work. All she could do was stare numbly at the woman. She had seen their power. Aunt Sylvia and grandfather had warned her that there were those among normal people who were sensitive enough to see such things, psychics, mediums, and such.

Those men had been about to rape her and probably kill her, and she was calling Eren and Caitlin monsters? They saved this woman’s life. She should be grateful, or at the very least relieved. Yet here she sat cowering, too horrified to even allow Eren to help her to her feet. Not even the sound of the men’s fleeing footsteps could shake Eren from her stupor.

“
Come on, Eren. We’ve wasted enough time helping the ungrateful,” Caitlin said as she grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

There was so much Eren wanted to say to the woman, but instead she let Caitlin take her back to the parking lot. For starters, she wanted to explain that she wasn’t a monster. She was as natural to the world as the woman was. She wanted to tell her that she and Caitlin were, in fact, better than most, because in this world most people would have walked the other way.

The look of fear on the woman’s face burned into Eren’s mind. She wouldn’t have listened.

Across the dark parking lot, Eren saw Aiden and Fane leaving the car to jog in their direction. They looked worried. Seeing them brought tears to Eren’s eyes. It was one thing for someone to call her a monster, but knowing that the woman also would have considered Aiden and Fane monsters, broke her heart. She tried to blink the tears away but it only made them spill down her cheeks.

Her vision blurred so badly she had to stop walking. Aiden’s arms enveloped her a heartbeat later. After only a few seconds he pulled back and frantically checked her, touching lightly here and there.

“
Are you hurt? We thought we heard a fight,” he said.

He lifted her chin and brushed the tears from her cheeks. His hazel eyes pulled her up from despair like a compass pulling a needle north. She nodded and let him lead her back to the car.

“
A woman was being attacked. We helped her,” she mumbled.

“
Ungrateful bitch called us monsters because she saw our energy,” Caitlin snapped.

“
Should we go check on her?” Fane asked.

“
The guys took off and the woman started for the restaurant as soon as we left,” Caitlin said.

Aiden and Fane exchanged a worried look and rushed them to the car. Eren hardly even noticed Aiden had opened the passenger door for her until she sat down and there was no steering wheel in front of her. She didn’t know if he had his license or not and she didn’t have the voice to ask, so she gave him a look when he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“
Don’t worry, I have my license. I’m going to take us to a lookout on the way out of town so we can talk before driving back,” he said.

Eren nodded and tried to smile, but she was pretty sure it probably came out looking hideous. She didn’t want him to worry about her just because her eyes had been forcibly opened to the cruelty of the world. Aiden and her grandfather had tried to tell her that normal people would never accept her kind and she hadn’t believed them, not really. Now she felt stupid and naïve.

“
Good, I’m way too wound up to sit for three hours,” Caitlin said from the back seat.

She sounded like a wasp that had downed a quadruple espresso. Eren could feel her hot, angry, energy pouring from the back seat. It didn’t hurt but it was uncomfortable, like a summer day that was way too warm. Putting aside her own feelings, she reached out with her power and sent calm energy to Caitlin. It was similar to how she had reached out with her power to make Bridget uncomfortable, only this time she concentrated on it having the opposite effect. It worked; the air in the car cooled almost instantly.

“
Thanks,” Caitlin sighed.

Aiden gave Eren a wide-eyed look and started the car, but he didn’t say anything. He put it in drive and reached over to hold her hand as they pulled out of the parking lot. The minute his flesh touched hers she felt better, like the weight of the world had been lightened. It didn’t take away her sadness completely, but it came close. His fingers tingled against hers, making her think he’d probably done something to her like she’d done to Caitlin.

As they rolled through the bright city streets Eren became lost in thoughts about fear and prejudice. No one spoke, making the low radio seem loud. Still, in the company of her friends, it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, just a sad one.

The city lights faded behind them and Aiden soon turned onto a gravel road that wound its way up a steep hill. Wheat fields lined the sides of the road. Eren rolled her window down and let the energy of growing crops cleanse the seedy feel of the city from her. The spring sun had warmed the feathered heads of the stalks making it smell vaguely like bread. With each breath, her muscles unbound more and her energy calmed.

They crested the hill and the road ended in a gravel circle that overlooked the fields and the city. It was beautiful and ugly at the same time. To know that where all those lights and buildings now stood, had once been open plains, was kind of sad. Eren used to love the city, but now it seemed like a cancer on an otherwise breathtaking landscape. Okay, that was a bit extreme she knew, but she couldn’t shake her negative mood. Especially since now she knew that it, and every other city, was filled with people who would think her kind were monsters.

The engine shut off and both rear doors opened before she was shaken from her contemplating. She was still taking her seatbelt off when Aiden came around and opened her door. Fane and Caitlin were outside waiting when she got out. Was she really moving that slow? It didn’t feel like it.

“
Are you alright, Cuz?” Fane asked.

The concern in his eyes made a twinge of guilt shoot through her. She didn’t want to let her naivety ruin the night for everyone, especially Fane. This was his first real night out in America. When Aiden put his arm around her and his soothing power seeped into her, Eren was able to nod and smile.

Caitlin winked at her as she grabbed Fane’s hand. “Let’s go for a walk and let these two talk,” she said.

Shooting Eren a concerned look over his shoulder, Fane let Caitlin pull him away. The moment he turned his head, Eren’s smile faded. It had been nearly impossible to keep it in place that long. She watched the two of them disappear into the darkness and tried not to let the intense sadness she felt overwhelm her. Suddenly she missed her parents very much. The weight of the moonstone necklace against her chest helped ease the pain of their absence, but only a little.

A surprised cry escaped her lips as Aiden picked her up and set her on the hood of the car. He leaped up and laid down next to her, turning onto his side so he could look at her. She covered her face with her hands and tried not to cry. For the first time, she didn’t want him to look at her. He had tried to tell her about normal people and she hadn’t believed him, not really. Now she knew better and she felt like a fool.

“
You were right about them and I’m stupid for not believing you,” she mumbled through her hands.

“
Don’t say that. It’s not true. You believe in the goodness of people and that makes you amazing. Don’t stop believing that because of one fearful person.”

Slowly, Eren let her hands fall away and reached over to touch him. Part of her had to make sure he was real. He always said what she needed to hear, even when she didn’t know she needed to hear it.

“
Thanks, but you were right. We can’t let them know about us,” she sighed.

“
I’m sorry you had to learn it that way. Wow, that sounds even worse than it does in the movies. But I mean it, E. You should have had the chance to learn that in history lessons growing up, not like tonight. You did a good thing and that makes you who you are. What other people think doesn’t.”