Exceptional (20 page)

    A signal.
    Before she had time to react the male to her left grabbed a hold of her wrist and turned it quickly to the right.  Not enough to break the bone, but enough to send a shooting pain up her arm.  She was unable to smother the cry that came out of her throat.  Tears filled her eyes as she clutched her wrist, which the Exceptional had now released.  He stared forward as if nothing had happened.
    It had been enough though.  Luke faltered, his eyes snapping in her direction, and at that moment Tighe thrust the fireball in his direction.  Luke made an attempt to move, but he wasn’t fast enough.  The fireball consumed the entire right side of his body and he cried out in pain, his body crumpling to the ground.  Ally screamed and jumped up.  She tried to run to him but her Exceptional bodyguards took a hold of her arms.  Tears rolled down her cheeks as they pulled her back to the bench, and a strange sensation tingled in her fingers.
    “Luke!” she screamed out, watching as Pax and Maver entered the Arena.  The Ref called the match, naming Tighe the winner.  Pax pulled a bottle from a bag by his side and began to rub an ointment on Luke’s burns.  Already he was looking better.  Ally had forgotten how quickly Exceptionals healed.
    It was five agonizing minutes before Luke was able to stand and meet Tighe in the middle of the Arena.  They shook hands and Ally could tell by the expression on Luke’s face that this was not over.  He glanced over Tighe’s shoulder at her, a sorry look filling his face.  He had not expected to lose, not at all.
    She was forced to stand and step into the area.  Tighe’s hand slipped around her waist and she watched as Luke’s eyes filled with anger and then jealousy.  She wondered what plans Tighe had for her, and felt bile rise in her throat at the notion.  The Ref spoke out about how Ally was now under contract with Tighe since Luke had lost the fight.  The deal was definitive unless they chose to have a rematch on a future date   She kept her eyes on Luke’s, and he held her gaze as well.
    “I’ll find you,” he spoke, not seeming to care if Tighe heard him.
    Tighe started to pull her from the ring but she resisted, still trying to face Luke.  “Please.  Don’t let him do this.”
    “I… can’t…” Luke’s face look pained.  She wondered if he were fighting to control the urge to run after her, because all she wanted to do right now was break free and run into his arms.
    Ally continued to pull against Tighe’s grasp, her whole body vibrating with adrenaline.  A hot feeling coursed through her veins and her head was buzzing with pressure.  She had never felt this way before, but bit-by-bit she found that rather than being pulled, she was doing the pulling.  Tighe turned to look at her, a confused look filling his face.
    “Enough,” he growled.  He threw his arms around her and started to lift her off the ground.
    The buzzing energy in her started to gather in her chest and her arms felt as if they were going to burst into flames.  She gave one last push against Tighe and as she did, a blinding white light shot from the palms of her hands.  Tighe was thrown backwards, flying through the air and landing against the sidewall of the Warehouse with a sickening crunch.  The crowd around them grew quiet as hushed gasps and whispers spread up the stands.  Soon the whole Warehouse was practically silent, as the news carried down to the other end.
    Ally looked down at her hands and then back up at Tighe, who had pulled himself off the floor and was strutting toward her.  Luke appeared at her side and placed a hand on her shoulder.
    “He attacked me!” Tighe looked at the Ref and pointed at Luke, “Outside of the ring.  He should be banned from this place.”
    The Ref stared at Ally with her mouth hanging open, and then looked back at Tighe.  “I was standing right here.  Luke didn’t attack you, it was her.”
    Ally glanced at her hands once again and then this time looked back up at Luke.  
    “What does this mean?”
    Luke’s eyes met her own.  “It’s means you’re an Exceptional.”

   
   
       
Luke acted fast, taking Ally’s hand and rushing her from the Warehouse.  The majority of the crowed was still watching them with interest, and he knew he needed to get her out of there before Tighe could fully react to her attack.   Pax and Maver caught up to them quickly.
   
       
“What’s going on?” Pax asked.  “What happened back there?”
   
       
“I don’t know!” Luke said with a bite in his tone.  
   
       
“This doesn’t make sense,” Maver added.  “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
   
       
Luke ran his hands through his hair.  “I need to get her home before others follow us out here, especially Tighe.”
   
        
He convinced Pax and Maver to head to their own homes, telling them that he would contact them when he could.  He didn’t want to pull them into this mess, if it would even turn into one.  He didn’t speak to Ally as they hurried through the streets.  He had to assume she was in some sort of shock, and he needed to get her home before she either broke down or used her abilities again.  
   
       
Once they were safely inside his house, he locked the front door behind them and dropped Ally’s hand, leaning his back up against the wall.  His father had been practically living at the office these days, and his mother was most likely holed up in her bedroom.   The last thing he needed was for either of them to take in the sight of Ally and started questioning what had happened.
   
       
“Luke—” Ally’s voice sounded strained.
   
       
“Ally!” Sabine came running into the room, fresh tears running down her cheeks.  “Asher!  Ally is here!”
   
       
Asher ran into the room, skidding to a stop in the foyer.  Relief fell on his face, and when he caught a glimpse of Luke, he lowered his face to the ground.
   
       
“Oh Ally.” Sabine approached her, throwing her arms around Ally’s neck.  “I’m so sorry.  I wish there had been something we could have done.  We sent Flint out to find Luke as soon as we got back, but it looks like you found him first.”
    Luke watched as Ally took a deep breath and managed to compose herself.  “Well, I’m okay now.  Tighe took me to the Warehouse, and right to Luke.  As you can see, I’m in one piece.”
    He was glad that she was at least able to speak and respond to the others.
   
        
Sabine pulled away from her and smiled.  “I knew one way or another Luke would bring you home.  I’ll go tell Mazzi to get dinner started.”
  
         
  Luke took a hold of Ally’s and pulled her towards the stairs.  “Tell Mazzi to send some food up the chute to my room.”
   
        
He had competed in— and won— three fights before Tighe had shown up at the Warehouse.  He was feeling more run down than usual, and on top of it his side was still healing from the burns Tighe had inflicted on him.   He had never lost focus like that in a fight before.
   
        
Once he was satisfied that his bedroom door was locked behind them, he turned to find Ally running her hands along the white comforter on his bed.   She was looking much healthier these days, already gaining weight back from her time at the ORC.  She wore her hair braided to the side today and it hung over the front of her gray shirt.
  
         
  “We are going to need to get you a set of white uniforms now,” he joked.
   
        
Ally turned to him, a concerned look on her face.  “We should talk about this.”
   
        
He nodded. “Yes, but there is something I need to do first.”
  
         
  She clasped her hands together in front of her.  “What’s that?”
   
        
With out another word he walked toward her, slowly at first and then with more purpose.  He gently placed a hand on either side of her face and leaned toward her slowly.
   
        
“Luke—,” she whispered.
   
       
“I could have lost you today,” he said as he pressed his mouth to hers.  The thought had run through his mind a dozen times since Tighe presented her in the Warehouse.
     
      
Ally broke from the kiss first, looking up at him.  “I’m so sorry that I didn’t listen to you this morning.  I should have trusted you and taken your words seriously.  I risked everything we have just to run errands with Sabine and Asher.”
   
        
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.  “I should have explained the
why
more.  I shouldn’t expect you to heed to everything I ask of you.  Let’s just be thankful it turned out how it did.”
   
        
“Can we really though?” She looked down at her hands.  “What is happening to me?”
   
        
Luke took a hand and cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him.  Her large green eyes shown brightly, and as he took a closer look, he noticed twinkling, violet flecks.
   
        
“Somehow, you are becoming an Exceptional.  I don’t know how, but you are.” He stepped back and took a seat on his bed.
   
        
Ally sat down as well.  “What I did back at the Warehouse.  Is that normal?”
   
        
“I’m not sure Ally.  Our abilities develop when we are young and slowly grow as we grow.  What you did to Tighe… that is a strong ability, especially for someone your age.  But it could just be that all of the energy has been harnessed somewhere deep within you and was finally unleashed.  It isn’t completely abnormal for an Exceptional’s first display of power to be a big one.”
   
        
She nodded her head.  “But how?  I’ve always been an Ordinary.  My mom is an Ordinary; my dad was an Ordinary, and Stosh… oh.  Stosh is my twin, Luke.  Do you think he is experiencing these changes too?”
   
       
“If he does, the Guards will find him and bring him in.  He won’t be able to hide his abilities for long.  He’ll need to learn to control them, especially if he is spilling over with power like you were.”
   
       
He didn’t mention that he had seen Stosh just a day prior, and Stosh had looked Ordinary enough, displaying no signs of Exceptional abilities.  He had been angry enough with Luke that if he had abilities, he would have used them then.
   
        
“What happens now?” She asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.
   
       
“You’ll need to be trained at the Institute.  It won’t be long until word of what happened in the Warehouse gets back to my father, and he’ll make sure you attend.”
   
       
Ally cringed.  “I really don’t want to deal with Aden again.”
   
        
“You won’t have a choice, but at least now you’ll have more rights.  You can get your own home and all.  You’ll never have to go back to the ORC, or be controlled.  If Tighe had left with you this evening—” He stopped talking, unable to finish his thought.
   
        
“What if I want to stay here with you?”
   
        
“I’d be okay with that,” he smiled.  “Can you control it, do you know?  Could you use your ability again if I asked you to, right now?”   
   
       
Ally flexed her hands into fists and then straightened her fingers out again.  “I don’t think so.  Just before I, whatever it is that I did, I felt a vibrating sensation inside.  I actually felt the en
           
ergy move through my body, down my arms, and out through my fingers.  I don’t feel any of that now.”
    Luke knew exactly what she was talking about.  It was the same feeling he— and all other Exceptionals— felt right before he used his abilities.  For some, it was described as a soft tingling, where others said it felt like their insides were on fire.
   
        
Ally continued,  “I think it was because I was so angry.  I was mad at myself for putting myself in that situation, and mad at Tighe for trying to drag me out of the Arena.  I felt the buzzing sensation before the fight even began, and I think the adrenaline emanating from the other Exceptionals in the Warehouse helped fuel the energy inside me.”
   
       
Luke was worried about Ally.  Worried about what this meant for her to become an Exceptional this late in her life.  Had the virus come back and infected her?  If so, all the Ordinarys in the City would be Exceptionals soon, as well as in the settlements.  That would be a large amount of uncontrolled abilities.  Otherwise, she could be an isolated case, which made less sense.  On top of it all, her ability had shown it self as a strong one.  And where there was an Exceptional with a strong ability, his father was also.
    Ally placed her hand on his arm.  “Luke, I know this is a random thing to ask, but have you found anything out about Willow?”
    Luke wasn’t sure what had caused this to slip into her mind but he was pleased that he could at least give her an answer she would be glad to hear.
    “Yes.  I found out while I was at the Warehouse today, before you arrived.  She isn’t far from here, actually.  She is assigned to a male Exceptional just a year older than me.  His name is Coarse.”
    “Coarse,” she let his name roll slowly off her tongue.  “We need to go get her.”
    “Let me talk to him at the Institute tomorrow.  He is training in the medical program there.  I might have a better chance of talking him into handing her over to me, rather than if we just showed up on his doorstep tonight.”
    “Do you think he’ll listen?” Ally lay back on the bed slowly.
    “It is worth a try.”
    Luke stood and went to his dresser, getting clean clothes out.  As much as he wanted to collapse into bed and sleep, he needed a hot shower more.  Ally seemed perfectly content to stare at the ceiling, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her hair.  He went into his bathroom and turned on the shower, setting the temperature almost as hot as it would go.  The heat didn’t bother his Exceptional skin.
    As he pulled his shirt over his head he could feel the soreness in his muscles.  The left side of his body, the side that had been hit by the flames, was still pink but the skin felt fine when he touched it.  He undressed completely and climbed into the shower, letting the hot water engulf him.  The injured area of his body tingled under the heat, but not enough to make him turn the temperature down. He made his shower quick, drying off and putting on a fresh pair of sleep clothes.  
    He leaned on the counter, staring at his reflection in the mirror.  His hair had grown out enough that the ends hung over his hairline, small beads of water forming on the ends.  Tomorrow he would have to explain the events of today to his friends, and most likely his father.  He had always revolted against the system, forcing himself to be unaffected by all the conditions his father put into place.  He didn’t want to be a City leader, mainly; he didn’t want to be anything like his father.  But now, doing just that might be the very thing that could keep Ally safe.   Not only could he make her happy by shutting down the ORC and changing the way the Exceptionals viewed Ordinarys, but he could also ensure that no one ever brought harm to her again.  He didn’t know if the Exceptional part of her they saw today would stay, and if it didn’t, he was going to be prepared to fight for her.