Run To Earth (Power of Four) (14 page)

Sam and Rose quietened at once.

“You don’t think Skyler was serious, do you?” Rose asked. “About the sleeping with both eyes open thing?”

Sam swore. “He’s just the type to try something,” he said.

Aaron swallowed heavily. He didn’t trust Skyler and he did seem like the brash, beat-you-up-and-deal-with-consequences-later type.

Tense moments passed in utter silence.

“I don’t hear anything,” Rose whispered.

“Neither do I,” Sam added.

They all lay still, listening for any small creak or squeak.

Nothing happened.

“You’re just imagining it,” Rose said to Aaron. “God, you scared me.”

“Don’t let Skyler get to you like that,” Sam said with a nervous chuckle.

“Sorry,” Aaron said, “I must be hearing things. I was sure–”

There it was again: another series of thuds, loud and noticeable this time.

“You heard that?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah,” Rose whispered, sounding scared. “That I heard.”

The sheets rustled as Sam sat up. “Great,” he said, fear clear in his voice. “Someone’s downstairs.”

***

Aaron crept down the steps in near total darkness. Sam was before him and Rose behind. Sam had the bathroom curtain rail in his hand – the only weapon they could think of. Aaron’s heart thudded heavily in his chest and he struggled to keep his breathing even and quiet. Being blinded by the darkness meant they had next to no chance of fighting Skyler. If that even was an option.

They came to stand at the bottom of the stairs. Faint sounds were coming from the downstairs bathroom. Aaron frowned. Had Skyler crept in here to beat them up but decided to use the bathroom first?

“Sam,” he whispered as low as he could. “I don’t think it’s Sk–”

The door clicked and opened, and Sam reacted. Aaron heard the distinct swish of the metal rod being swung in the air and prepared himself for the smack of it hitting flesh, and possibly even the crack of bones. But he didn’t hear any of that. What he did hear was the clang of the metal rod hitting the floor and Sam’s yelp as he was pulled violently forward.

“Sam!” Aaron yelled.

“No!” Rose screamed behind him. “Sam!”

There was a thud, a clicking noise and a sharp intake of breath before suddenly light flickered in all corners of the hallway, as lanterns hanging from the ceilings glowed brightly.

The first thing Aaron saw was Sam, lying sprawled out on the floor, looking terrified – and rightly so. He was facing down the barrel of a gun. A pistol, to be exact. But that wasn’t what stole Aaron’s breath. It was the boy holding the gun, pinning Sam down with a knee on his chest and a hand around his throat. The boy looked up and met Aaron’s stare.

It was him. The boy with vivid green eyes.

The boy Aaron had been dreaming about for almost two months now.

The boy who was now narrowing his eyes at them, looking absolutely livid.

“Who are you?” the boy demanded. “And what the hell are you doing in my house?”

9

Houseguests

“Don’t shoot! Please, don’t shoot!” Sam cried, both hands held up in surrender.

“Who are you?” the green-eyed boy asked again, his gun still pointed at Sam’s face.

“I’m...I’m Sam Mason. I’m not from here, I’m from Earth – planet Earth!” Sam yelled.

“We’re all from planet Earth, idiot,” the boy said, but pulled away his semi-automatic. His thumb pressed a lever on the side of the gun before he let Sam go and stood up.

Rose hurried to help her brother back onto his feet. They huddled close to Aaron, who was still staring at the green-eyed boy in stunned disbelief.

“What are you doing in my house?” the boy asked again, reaching back to slip his firearm into its holster.

Sam and Rose didn’t answer but looked to Aaron, who was just standing there, trying to figure out if he was awake or in fact asleep. He had only ever seen this green-eyed boy in his dreams. It was the middle of the night. Regardless of how real it seemed, this was surely just another dream. It had to be.

“I’m dreaming,” Aaron murmured.

The boy’s eyes narrowed. “What?” he snapped.

Aaron blinked, realising this was most definitely not a dream, and judging by how angry the boy looked, they should start explaining – fast.

“I...I...We...” Aaron stammered, his ability to form words failing him miserably.

“We didn’t come here on our own,” Rose spoke up for him. “We were told to move here.”

The boy looked over at her and his expression softened, just a little, but his eyes were still narrowed.

“Told to move in?” he repeated.

“We...we were told this cottage was empty,” Sam said in a shaky voice. “He said the previous owner wasn’t coming back.”

“What?” The boy moved forward. “
He?
Who told you–?” He stopped and his eyes widened with realisation. His expression twisted into fury. “Skyler,” he growled and turned around, storming out the front door.

Aaron, Sam and Rose shared a look before hurrying out after him. There were lanterns floating in the air, casting a soft light on the sleeping street. It wasn’t going to be asleep for long.

“Hey! Skyler!” the boy yelled as he strode towards one of the blue-doored cottages. “Get out here!”

Three houses down, a door opened and Skyler appeared, his platinum hair dishevelled and sleep lingering in his eyes. At the sight of the other boy, though, he seemed to wake up.

“Well, well,” he said with a smirk, leaning against the doorway. “Look what got dragged back into Salvador.”

The door to the next cottage opened and Ella appeared, sleepy-eyed with bed-tousled hair.

“What’s all the rack–?” She paused, startled at the sight of the green-eyed boy. “Kyran! You’re back,” she cried with great enthusiasm.

The boy – Kyran – nodded at her.

“Hey,” he returned before turning back to Skyler. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What?” Skyler asked, feigning confusion.

“You moved other people into my house,” Kyran said. “Told them I wasn’t coming back? What the hell?”

Skyler shrugged. “Call it wishful thinking on my part.”

Kyran glowered at him. “Move them out.”

“Why should I?” Skyler asked.

Kyran took a step forward, fists clenched. “You put them in, you get them out.”

“You reckon they know we’re here?” Sam asked Aaron. “They’re talking about us as if they can’t see us.”

“We can see you,” Skyler answered, not looking away from Kyran. “We just don’t care.”

More blue doors opened and, one-by-one, mages stepped out, rubbing sleep from their eyes. Murmurs of “Kyran” echoed in the night, but the aforementioned was busy arguing it out with Skyler.

“How about I move them in with you? How’d you like that?” Kyran snapped.

“You could try,” Skyler answered. “They wouldn’t get past the front door.”

“Just move them somewhere else,” a sandy-haired mage called from four houses down. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem, Ryan,” Skyler replied, “is that all the cottages are taken.” He met Kyran’s furious stare and smiled. “There’s a huge number of Shattereds staying
and they’re likely to be around for a while.” He grinned at Kyran. “Afraid your place is the only roof over their heads.”

“I don’t think so,” Kyran snarled. “I’m not giving up my house. You take them – now!”

“And do what with them?” Skyler asked, “There’s no place to put them.”

“I don’t care,” Kyran replied

“Neither do I,” Skyler smirked.

“It’s fine, we’ll move out.” Rose raised her voice, making everyone turn to look at her. “We’ll move out.” She looked at Kyran. “You can have your place back.”

“Rose?” Sam turned in surprise. “You heard what they said. There’s nowhere else to stay.”

“It’s fine. It’s warm enough. We can sleep outside,” Rose said, her face tinged pink with humiliation and brown eyes darkened with anger. “I’d rather that than stand around listening to them talk about us as if we’re...unwanted junk.”

Skyler snorted with laughter. “You heard her,” he said to Kyran. “If you want your place vacated, throw them out. They’ll have no choice but to sleep in the street.” He straightened up and stepped back. “Oh, and you should know, those two,” he pointed at Sam and Rose, “Shattereds.”

Kyran swore at him, which only made Skyler laugh before closing the door. Ella sauntered out, smiling as she came to Kyran’s side.

“I did try to warn him,” she said.

“He won’t get away with this,” Kyran seethed.

“That I know,” Ella said. “But what are you gonna do about your houseguests?”

“I told you, it’s fine,” Rose said stiffly. “We’ll sleep outside–”

“You’re not sleeping outside!” Ella interrupted, glaring at Rose with annoyance. She turned back to Kyran. “I guess I can take one.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll take the girl, you keep the boys.”

White hot anger swept up in Aaron, snapping him out of his dazed surprise. His fists clenched and jaw tightened. They were talking about them as if they were homeless puppies.

“Rose is not going anywhere without me,” Sam objected at once.

“You don’t get a say in this, Shattered,” Ella replied. “Come on.” She beckoned Rose and turned to lead the way.

“I’m not leaving my sister,” Sam protested.

Aaron reached out and held onto Rose’s hand. “We’re not splitting up,” he said.

Ella stopped and turned around. “Excuse me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Did you say something?”

“Yeah, I did,” Aaron replied. “Rose isn’t going with you, not without us.”

“Damn right,” Sam added.

Ella snorted. “Suit yourself.” She looked once at Kyran before turning around and walking back to her cottage.

The other mages retreated back inside their respective cottages too, leaving Kyran with his trio of houseguests. He let out an exasperated sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. He looked up at them and held up a finger.

“One night,” he said. “You can stay one night. As soon as it’s daybreak, you find yourself somewhere else to stay.”

“Yeah, cool,” Sam agreed.

Rose didn’t say anything. Sam wrapped an arm around his sister and led her back. Aaron gave Kyran a last look before turning and following behind the twins.

***

The next morning, when Aaron woke up, he wondered if the night before had been just another strange dream of the boy with the vivid green eyes, but when he sat up in bed to see Sam and Rose already awake and whispering about Kyran, he knew it was all real. He looked across at the door, wondering where Kyran had slept. When they had returned upstairs last night, Kyran had discovered the beds and sofa in the main bedroom. Without a word, Kyran turned and left the cottage, slamming the door behind him. As far as Aaron knew, he hadn’t returned at any point in the night.

“What are we going to do?” Rose asked. “If we can’t get another place, they’ll split us up.”

“That’s not happening,” Aaron said. “We stick together.”

“What if we don’t get a choice?” Sam asked. “You saw them yesterday. They didn’t care what we wanted. They were acting like we were trash, fighting over who gets stuck with us.”

“They’re just gits,” Aaron said. “They can’t force us apart. I won’t let them.”

They fell quiet, listening to the sounds of Salvador outside as breakfast was set. They could hear the rattling of the plates flying across the table, yet none of them moved to get up and go downstairs.

“Where do you think that Kyran boy slept last night?” Rose asked.

Sam shrugged. “No idea.”

“I feel kinda bad,” Rose admitted. “I mean, we took both the beds and the sofa in his house. Where was he supposed to sleep?”

“Well, he’s throwing us out,” Sam said. “Don’t feel too sorry for him.”

“He has every right,” Rose argu
ed. “We’re in his house without permission. Why should he let us stay?” She turned to see Aaron sitting quietly on his bed, deep in thought. “Aaron?” she called. “What’s wrong?”

Aaron slowly shook his head.

“Don’t worry,” Sam comforted. “We’ll figure this whole somewhere-to-stay thing out. Don’t look so down.”

Aaron cleared his throat. “It’s not that,” he said. “There’s...something I need to tell you.”

Sam got up and moved onto Rose’s bed, coming closer to Aaron. “What is it?” he asked.

“I know how...bizarre and...and completely crazy this is going to sound,” he started.

“My favourite way to start a story,” Sam teased.

“That...that boy, Kyran?” Aaron said. “I’ve seen him before.” He swallowed heavily. “In my dreams.”

Rose and Sam looked exactly as Aaron had imagined. Their eyes widened and eyebrows rose.

“Excuse me?” Rose asked.

“I know, crazy, right?” Aaron said. “But it’s true. I’ve...I’ve been dreaming about him – Kyran – for two months now.”

“How’s that possible?” Rose asked. “You never met him before last night, right?”

“Right,” Aaron confirmed.

“You sure?” Sam asked. “It’s more than a little creepy that you dreamt about a complete stranger and then, two months later, you met him in the flesh.”

“Exactly,” Aaron said. “It is creepy.”

Sam’s face darkened. “Is it a...mage thing?”

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

“Like, do mages have dreams about the future?” Sam asked. “What were the dreams about? What were you and that Kyran boy doing?”

Aaron hesitated, thinking about Sam’s words.
Was
it a mage thing? Did his dreams hold more significance than he first thought? He brought up the mental image of what he could remember of his dreams: the conversations he had with Kyran, the cave with the lava, the time he was holding a gun, when he asked for help but was turned down. Could that be the future? He shivered, as a trickle of fear ran down his back.

“Oh,” Sam’s voice made Aaron look up. “Was it
those
kinds of dreams?” he asked, misinterpreting Aaron’s little shiver.

“What?” Aaron frowned. “No, no! Don’t be stupid!”

Sam grinned and held up both hands. “Hey, you’re the one dreaming about dudes.”

“Shut up, Sam,” Aaron said.

Both Sam and Rose were giggling.

“I’m sorry,” Rose apologised, “but your expression was priceless.”

Aaron threw a pillow at her. “Glad you’re amused,” he said, but a smile came to him at the sight of Rose laughing again. “Come on, we’d better get some breakfast before it’s all gone,” he said, getting up.

“You didn’t answer,” Rose said as they headed to the bathroom to wash up before breakfast. “What were the dreams about?”

Aaron shook his head. “Nothing special,” he answered. “Just some weird conversations and...” He remembered the dark, the running, the cave, the lava and the feeling of helpless frustration that squeezed his heart. He swallowed heavily. “And just normal dream stuff.”

***

As soon as Aaron walked outside, his searching gaze spotted the tall, dark-haired Kyran seated at the table, already halfway through his breakfast. Aaron, Sam and Rose joined him. Most of the table’s occupants looked up at them, except Kyran. He had his head lowered over his plate and steadily worked on emptying it.

“How’d you sleep?” Skyler asked Aaron, with his usual condescending smirk in place.

Aaron ignored him.

“What’s the matter?” Skyler grinned. “Not in the mood to mouth off today?”

“Can’t you eat in peace, Skyler?” Drake asked, his mood notably darker than usual, evident in his shadowed eyes and tightened jaw.

Skyler shrugged but he looked away from Aaron, his piercing blue-eyed gaze resting on a new target instead.

“You’re awfully quiet too, Kyran,” Skyler taunted. “What’s up?”

Kyran didn’t say anything.

“Oh come on,” Skyler teased. “Tell us what’s on your mind?”