Run To Earth (Power of Four) (4 page)

“Come on. I’ll tell you everything,” Michael promised, “but not here. Come on.”

Sam took hold of his sobbing sister, pulling her away from Kate and led her out of the room, following after Michael. The door closed after them with a click. Aaron was left facing his parents, and felt an unbearable urge to run after his uncle.

“Sit down, Aaron,” Chris instructed quietly.

Aaron lowered himself down onto the edge of the bed. Long minutes stretched out but no one spoke. Aaron waited, barely breathing. He watched as his parents shared awkward glances, communicating in that strange husband-and-wife way that didn’t need actual words. Finally, Chris let out a sigh and walked over to the chair, pulling it across the room so that he could sit in front of Aaron.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” he started, “but I want you to keep quiet and let me explain first, okay?”

Aaron nodded.

His dad sighed again, fingers rubbing at his chin as he closed his eyes. After a moment’s pause, he looked at his wife, but she stubbornly stayed next to the window, refusing to come any closer.

“What happened tonight...” Chris started. “It’s very difficult to explain. Before you can make complete sense of it, you need to understand something. You’re different from other people, Aaron.”

“Different?” Aaron asked. “As in...?”

“As in...” Chris faltered. “You’re not...human.”

3

Family Secrets

Aaron blinked at him. “Sorry?”

“You’re not human,” Chris repeated. “Neither are we.” He pointed at himself and Kate. “Neither is Mike–”

“Wait, wait.” Aaron held up a hand, his eyes narrowed. “Wait...What?”

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Aaron would have laughed. It was a joke, of course it was a joke. But then he remembered that his dad didn’t make jokes. After the kind of night they’d had, after what had happened to Mr and Mrs Mason, his dad wouldn’t even think of making jokes.

“Aaron.” Chris took in a breath. “I know what this sounds like, but you have to understand that what I’m about to tell you is the absolute truth.”

Aaron nodded, but a part of him still protested wildly. It was ludicrous. He wasn’t human? What did that mean? He watched as his dad drew himself closer, sitting on the edge of his seat, hands clasped together and head bowed.

“I should have told you this before, I know that,” he started. “Your mum and I...” He glanced at his wife. “We hoped you’d be older when we told you, but...” He swallowed heavily. “After tonight, I guess we have no other choice.” He met Aaron’s eyes. “We’re not human, not completely.” He paused. “We’re mages.”

Lines formed across Aaron’s brow and his eyes narrowed again. “Mages?” he asked.

“Yes, mages,” his dad repeated. “We’re different beings. Born into this world in the form of a man but with powers bestowed by Heaven itself.”

Mages? Powers? Heaven?
Aaron’s head was spinning.

“You’re having me on,” he said. “This isn’t funny, Dad.”

“I agree, it isn’t funny in the least,” Chris replied, “but I’m not having you on. You’re a mage and so are we. We’ve been living in the human realm since you were born, which strictly speaking isn’t allowed–”

“Human realm? So
....we’re
aliens
? Is that what you’re saying?” Aaron asked, so angry he was trembling. How gullible did his dad think he was?

“No, we’re not aliens.” A half smile came to Chris’s face. “But we do have our own world, so to speak – our own realm.”

Aaron was shaking his head, his mind screaming in denial. “This is...this is insane,” he argued.

“It’s difficult to believe, I know,” Chris said softly, “but think about what happened today. Everything you saw. Does any of that make sense?”

Aaron fell quiet. Did it make sense? No. The ground opening to trap the out of control car, the white mist dropping from the sky and the way it chased them, the men who stepped seemingly out of thin air – It couldn’t be explained, not by rational means. Aaron’s insides twisted, his heart frantically beating against his chest. Mages? Powers? Was it really possible? He glanced up to see the sincerity in his dad’s dark green eyes. He swallowed heavily.

“You’re not joking?” he asked, half hoping he was.

Chris shook his head. “I’m not.”

Aaron’s mouth dried. “A...a mage?”

Chris nodded. “Different, not human, but we have humanity, Aaron. We’re the same in most ways.”

Aaron nodded, holding on to that small truth. They had humanity. They were still humans...sort of.

“Those...those men.” Aaron asked quietly. “Who are they?

Chris’s expression twisted into one of anger. “It’s a long story, Aaron, and not one that I want to get into right now.” He brushed a hand through his hair, letting out a slow breath. “I promise I’ll tell you everything, but we don’t have much time. We have to leave. Those things are looking for us. They know where we are, and they are just waiting for the right moment to attack.”

Aaron nodded, his heart beating wildly. “What are we going to do?” he asked.

“Go somewhere safe,” Chris replied. “Mike’s in the other room, explaining all this to Samuel and Roslyn. As soon as he’s done, we’re going to leave.”

“What?” Aaron asked. “You’re telling Sam and Rose about me? That I’m a...a mage?”

“They have a right to know, Aaron.”

“A
right
to know?” Aaron’s eyes widened. “I’ve just been told this two seconds ago and it’s about
me
! Why are you telling my friends?”

“Because your friends are a part of this now.” His mum spoke from the corner. “You unleashed your power in front of them. They witnessed it. Now they’re involved.”

“My power?” Aaron asked, turning around to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

“What happened today,” Chris said, “what you did, that was an example of instinctual reflux–”

“What
I
did?” Aaron asked incredulously. “Dad, I didn’t do anything!”

“The car, Aaron,” Chris said. “What happened to the car, that was you. Your instinctual reflux is a flow of power, one that opened the ground to stop the car from running you over.”

Aaron went rigid, as if someone had doused him with ice-cold water. His mouth opened and closed but not a sound left him. Slowly he shook his head. “No,” he breathed. “I...I didn’t...”

“It’s okay.” Chris rested a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “It was out of your immediate control. I already told you, it was instinctual. You reacted to save yourself. It’s okay.”

“That...that driver?” Aaron’s heart twisted. “Oh God. I...I killed him!”

“No, you didn’t,” his dad replied. “I checked on the driver after...after leaving the Masons.” He shifted in his seat. “She was drunk and had passed out at the wheel.”

Aaron thought it would make him feel better to know that no lasting damage had been done by his hand, but it didn’t. If anything, his stomach curled tighter.

“How did you get her out?” he asked.

“I pulled the car out,” Chris replied, “then fixed the ground. I couldn’t have the authorities confused–”

“You
pulled
the car out?” Aaron asked. “Fixed the ground? How? How could you–?” He paused, eyes widening. “Wait. Mages, do they have...magic?”

“No,” Chris replied, with that half smile again. “It’s not magic, Aaron. It’s much more than that.” He moved to sit next to him. “What we have are powers.”

Aaron felt dizzy and a little sick. He couldn’t see the difference between powers and magic. He closed his eyes but it only made him feel worse.

“That’s why we wanted you to stay away from your friends,” Chris said quietly. “When a mage exposes his power in front of humans, it leaves something called a Trace on the humans, so other mages can identify them. That’s why we pulled you from school,” he revealed. “A mage’s core wakes at the age of thirteen. It continues to grow over the next six years. We let you go to school when you were younger, but we knew you could never go to secondary school. We weren’t going to take the risk that you might do something in front of hundreds of children. And when that boy tried to push you down the stairs, we got a chance – an excuse to pull you out early.” Genuine sadness engulfed his features. “That’s why we kept you away from your friends, told you not to hang around them.”

Now Aaron was definitely going to be sick. He pushed the feeling of nausea down, fighting the rise of bile clawing up his throat.

“But you continued meeting them,” Kate said, accusation and anger lacing her words. “You defied our explicit demands to stay away–”

“Because he didn’t understand,” Chris interrupted, throwing a hard look Kate’s way before he turned back to Aaron. “You didn’t know why we were asking you to stay away. It’s our fault. We should have been honest and told you the truth.”

Aaron had always wondered why his parents didn’t want him around his friends. Now he knew. It wasn’t his friends who were the problem, it was
him
.

“Sam and Rose,” he croaked, still fighting the urge to throw up, “they didn’t see me do anything. I didn’t
do
anything. How do you know they even have that...that Trace thing on them?”

“We can see it,” Chris replied wearily. “You will too, once you learn how to pick up on it. All mages can see the Trace. But the problem is, those things you saw today? The ones that came out from the white mist? They can sense the Trace as well and they kill anyone who has it.” He met Aaron’s terrified gaze. “Sam and Rose can’t stay here. It’s not safe for them. They have to leave with us.”

“But they have other family,” Aaron said, desperate to do something – anything – right by his friends. “Their grandparents live in Scotland. And I know Sam and Rose won’t say anything to anyone. They won’t tell a soul–”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kate interjected. “Even if they did, no one would believe them. But no matter where they go, which corner of the world they hide in, they will always be found because of the Trace.”

“I don’t understand,” Aaron began, his stomach tightening so much it hurt. “Then where are we going to go?”

His parents fell quiet. His dad looked over to meet his mum’s gaze. “We have to go back,” Chris said, speaking to Kate now. “We don’t have a choice any more.”

Kate didn’t say anything. She stood with her arms crossed, lips thinned to a line. Then she looked away, staring at the window, despite the curtains still being closed.

***

Dawn broke some four hours later – the sky an array of orange, yellow and red, before it steadily turned to the cloudy blue of daylight. Chris drove through the English countryside. Acres of green land stretched before the car, and mountains lined one side, their peaks hidden behind foggy clouds.

The occupants of the car sat in silence, each one lost in their own grief-stricken thoughts. No one had spoken a single word since Chris, Kate and the three teens had piled into the car. Michael had stayed behind, mentioning something about “taking care of things”. Aaron had watched his uncle as they drove away, wondering if he would ever see him again. He had no idea where they were going and he didn’t have enough strength left in him to ask.

Aaron glanced at Rose, sitting next to him. She had her head resting on Sam’s arm. Watery brown eyes stared ahead, not seeing, not blinking. Sam had sagged against the door, his gaze ahead. They hadn’t said a word to Aaron since talking with Michael. They didn’t even look his way. They had got into the car, avoided looking at him, and sat in complete silence.

Aaron turned his head, staring out of the window. He didn’t blame Sam and Rose for not wanting to talk to him, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Aaron closed his eyes, as confusion and uncertainty stabbed at him again. The truth his parents had told him was still being protested in the back of his mind. Like thorns, it pricked at his conscience, and at his logic. Mages. Powers. A different realm. It was too ludicrous to be real – but then, what other explanation was there?

“Where are you taking us?”

Sam’s voice carried clear in the car, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Somewhere safe,” Chris answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Where is that?” Sam asked.

“It’s hard to explain,” Chris answered. “Once we get there, you’ll understand.”

A moment passed in silence before Sam said, “Stop the car.”

“We can’t,” Chris replied. “We need to keep going.”

“I said, stop the car,” Sam repeated, his words dripping with anger. “You can go wherever you like, but let me and Rose go.”

Rose lifted her head off her brother’s shoulder to stare at him.

“Samuel–” Chris started.

“No! I want out!” Sam yelled suddenly. “Who are you to take us away?” he asked, his fists curled into balls. “Let me and my sister go!”

Kate turned in her seat, looking at him through the steel mesh. “I know you’re upset, Samuel, but please, just stay calm.”

“
Calm
?” Sam repeated incredulously. “How can I stay calm? We were just attacked! By...by something I...I can’t even
begin
to understand. And my mum and dad–” His voice broke and he stopped abruptly. His eyes glistened with unshed tears but he shook his head, as if refusing to succumb to grief. “We want out,” he stated. “I need to go back, back home to my parents. I won’t leave them...not like this.”

“Michael is with them,” Chris said. “He’ll make sure everything is arranged accordingly.”

Sam slammed a hand against the mesh; the loud
thwack
rang in the car.

“They’re
my
parents!” he hissed between clenched teeth. “I’ll do what needs to be done!”

“Samuel, you can’t go back,” Chris said in a tone that warned him not to argue. “None of us can go back – never again. Michael’s already explained this to you.”

“Those men,” Sam said, his eyes glazed over in memory of the dark figures appearing out of the mist. “Who were they? What did they want? Why did they kill my mum and dad?” His voice broke again. “What did they want from them?”

Kate turned around as much as she could in her seat. “They didn’t want anything. They were there to kill, simple as that.” She glanced once at Aaron before her gaze snapped back to Sam. “If you or Rose go back, they will sense you because of the Trace. They will come for you.” She tilted her head in remorse. “I’m sorry, really, I am. But the harsh reality is that you can’t stay here. Where we’re taking you, you’ll be safe. We’ll all be safe. So, please, just calm down and let us do what needs to be done, okay?”