Stolen (10 page)

Beside Nathan was the infamous Dizzy, a ballerina-looking girl with long, wheat-colored hair, a straight nose, thin lips, and gray eyes that looked too large for her face. Julia had only met the girl briefly, and right away she had disliked her. It wasn’t anything she could put her finger on—more like a lack of common ground. She’d known half a minute in she and Dizzy wouldn’t have anything to talk about.

The girl stepped forward, bringing her perfectly manicured hands together.

“Nice job, Candidates. Now that we’re all re-charged—”

Julia felt a crackle in the air, like a bottle rocket launching or a piece of paper being torn, and her whole body flushed. Her vision blurred, and then
Dizzy’s
aura flared into the foreground. It was darker than any human aura Julia had ever seen, and smeary at the edges, its colors fading in and out in a frantic pulse, finally settling to brownish green.

Nathan was the next to flare. Julia was shocked to see him wreathed in orange. It was a neon orange—a vengeance orange—but it wasn’t constant. It flicked to warm burgundy—the aura of a passionate person, which did not surprise her—and below both colors, she saw…light purple? It was a combination of blue and pink: confusion and happiness. That was one complicated aura.

Each of the Candidates burst like a roman candle, and Julia
 
tried to remember what she saw—Carlin, lilac and red wine; Charles, pale green (
just
green, though not a bad green); Anise, mustard yellow (pent up energy). She tried to focus on each, but there were too many, and they were too large. She felt her legs wobble, and suddenly she was surrounded by purple. Purple and gold.

And then she was sitting on the ground.

“Julia! Are you okay?” Meredith leaned in close to her; Julia felt the girl’s warm hand on her forearm.

She blinked and Nathan and Dizzy came into focus. The colors of their auras still wreathed them.
Dizzy’s
really bothered her. It was weird; not good weird. Julia tried to scoot away from it.

She shut her eyes and heard Nathan and Meredith talking quickly.

Then, Meredith: “Just get out of her way! Out! Everybody—Marilee! Charles!”

“Stand down!” That was Nathan, and Julia thought,
What a tool.

The thought brought him into focus, and then everyone else, too. Julia took a deep breath; the tightness in her chest eased, and was gone a few seconds later.

She closed her eyes, and everyone was gone. Except Meredith. Even with her eyes closed and her focus on not throwing up, Julia could still see the girl’s aura, like a bright light behind her lids.

Meredith, and then Dizzy. Dizzy closer, Meredith farther.

Nathan and Meredith arguing, and then just
Dizzy’s
dark mess and Nathan’s smear of bold colors.

When she really came around, she was sitting, hugging her knees, on one of the carved-out steps in the theatre. Dizzy and Nathan below her.

Julia cringed.

Dizzy’s
real name was Sarah Anne. Charles had said her talent was confusion, whatever that meant. He’d also said she was a “descendent”…and Julia didn’t know what that meant, either.

Note to self—ask more questions
.

Dizzy reached out, as if to touch Julia’s hand, and Julia flinched.

“She’s got her senses back.”

“I can take it from here,” Nathan said.

“No, I’m cool. Why don’t you go check on the others. Gods know Meredith can’t handle it. I’m sure she hasn’t summoned Andrew like you asked.”

Nathan shrugged. He looked at Julia guiltily. “Okay.”

Dizzy grinned, and Julia suddenly felt crushed by the room. She was being squeezed,
smushed
by anxiety, dizziness.

The feeling was gone an instant later.

“Did you feel that?”

Julia blinked at the other girl, unsure what to say. Her mind still felt fuzzy, which…may have been Dizzy. Finally she settled on a nod.

“That’s my talent,” Dizzy told her. “I reach inside you, find your baseline. What you think, how you think. And then I scramble it.” She smirked; her long, layered hair fell over her shoulders, almost brushing Julia’s knees.

“Okay…” She hated herself for not thinking of something better to say.

“What’s your talent?” Dizzy leaned closer, so close that Julia could smell her spearmint breath. “I’ve heard that you see auras, you’re a healer. I believe that, but what else can you do? Don’t lie to me.”

“I— What do you mean?”

“Don’t. Lie.”

Julia felt the painful squeezing in her chest, and she thought about her dreams.
No!
She thought of Dwight’s pet turtle, Joe. A box turtle they’d found when they were 13—found
dead
. She breathed again and scrambled up, holding her arms out to keep her balance. “What are you doing?” she gasped.

“Am I doing something?” Dizzy grinned. “You know how these things are. Hard to control sometimes, especially after such a charged session.”

Julia knew she was going to vomit. “Are…you a Candidate, too?”

Dizzy’s
grinned widened. “I’m not a Candidate. I’m The One.”

*

Julia walked quickly to the cove where Nathan and the others had gathered, praying the whole time that Dizzy wouldn’t hurt her. She felt embarrassed that she was so afraid, but she suspected the older girl had something to do with that, too. Her hands were shaking by the time she reached the group, but before she slipped into it, a thin hand grabbed her elbow.

“Julia,” Dizzy said perkily. “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”

Those enormous gray eyes were searching, and Julia was pretty sure she understood: Dizzy thought she didn’t remember what had happened.

Though her heart was pounding, she forced herself to smile blandly. “Of course. Thanks for asking.” She stuttered a little on “asking,” but Dizzy didn’t seem surprised. She gave Julia a pat on the arm and they stepped into the group.

Nathan was talking to the Candidates about their Lesson; she only caught the tail end of the conversation, but it seemed like they would be having some kind of sparring contest.

Again, Julia wondered what the heck they were Candidates
for
.

She hated not knowing anything. Then she realized she hadn’t thought about Cayne for…how long? An hour?

She was chewing her lip over that when Nathan dismissed them. Naturally, she had no idea what she was supposed to do, but that’s when Meredith grabbed her hand.

“We’re not doing Lesson,” she said. “Nathan wants to be sure that you’re okay, so we’re just going to do Tasks.”

“Okay.”

“You look bad.”

“Well thanks.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Meredith lowered her voice. “We’ll talk later.”

Nathan was next in line, and it was alarming to see that he actually looked concerned. “Julia, did Dizzy talk to you?”

She nodded.

“Do you usually have seizures?”

“Seizures?” Her stomach flipped. “No, never.”

“I think you should go to the infirmary. Meredith can take you. Once you check out, she can show you Tasks.”

Meredith’s eyes widened at Nathan’s suggestion, but she recovered quickly, said “Will do, chief,” and steered Julia away.

Julia glanced behind her to catch Nathan staring.

Chapter 10

She felt edgy and off-kilter, and it only got worse as she and Meredith crossed the wide room. The Commons was almost empty at this time of day; except for Chosen cleaning the floors with what looked like balls of neon light and the occasional passerby, it was just Julia, Meredith, and a scattered collection of statues.

It didn’t take a “
senser
” to get that something was wrong. And it wasn’t just Julia’s freak-out.

Finally they reached a small stairwell tucked below an awning-like stone that jutted out from an area of the wall. Meredith motioned Julia forward, her pretty face cut by the thin line of her lips. When they descended into a little cove with yet another mural of celestial fighting, Meredith grabbed Julia’s wrist and nodded at the wall.

“Is that the infirmary?”

Meredith shook her head. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes, Jack.” The other girl didn’t get the lame
Titanic
reference, which was probably for the best. Somewhat reluctantly, Julia Floated. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in… “A sauna?”

The walls were made of salt-stained cedar and lined with worn wood benches and chairs. The round red bulb in the ceiling was turned off, and the glittering blue embers from an in-floor pit filled the room with a warm glow.

“Yep, this is one of the secret places for the Bishops. Drew showed it to me.”

“Is he a Bishop? I thought he was a Candidate, but I didn’t see him today.”

“No, he’s a Shepherd. He just knew about it. He wasn’t there today because he has a migraine. Or so he said. Anyway…” Meredith leaned close. “We needed to get out of sight—so we can really talk. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Maybe.”

Meredith looked at her expectantly.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…this is trippy. I don’t even want to be here and—” She was surprised to hear her voice crack. Meredith bit the edge of her lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

Julia shook her head, got herself together. “You’re the least of my worries.” When Meredith didn’t say anything back, Julia brought her hands together, picking at her fingernails.

“I started seeing auras. But it was…I dunno. Overpowering.” She exhaled. “It wasn’t a seizure. It was like…a volcano. Of auras.”

Meredith nodded. “How did you feel before you passed out?”

“I could see everything. Everyone. I mean, their auras.”

“What did Dizzy say to you?”

Freaky
. “How did you know she said anything?”

Meredith rolled her eyes. “I can’t help it.”

“She asked what else could I do. Besides what I do, with the auras and healing. She seemed to think there was something more, but I told her nothing. Then she said that she’s The One.”

Meredith laughed, a harsh, dry sound. “That little ho.”

“I think…there’s something wrong with her. She made me feel…”

“Crazy.” Meredith nodded. “I know! She does it to me, too. I think she does it to everyone, and some of them don’t remember it.”

“But you do?”

“Kind of. But that’s not important right now. Look, we’re not going to the infirmary.”

“We’re not?”

“No. The ladies there are spies. I think they keep reports on people—for The Three.”

“Spies?” Julia felt shaky. “What the hell is going on in this place?”

Meredith looked at her solemnly. “There’s nothing wrong with you. That theatre thing? It’s supposed to charge us up, like batteries. I’m not for sure, but I think it puts all our energy together and it somehow magnifies everyone’s power. I think yours just magnified like whoa. Look, has anything else happened?” She pulled out a pack of gum, holding it out to Julia; when Julia shook her head, Meredith popped a piece into her mouth.