The Centerpoint Trilogy (24 page)

“I am Change,” the girl told her with a sly grin.

“Give me my father,” Rhiannon demanded. She knew that she wasn’t in the position to demand, but she had to be strong. She had to keep going.

“Show me how strong you are then,” the girl said idly, as if she were having a casual conversation.

Angered by her glib and casual nature, Rhiannon decided to show her power. She raised her hand and felt the energy scream as it was ripped out of her. A column of fire shot from her hand and right at the girl. The girl smiled almost as if impressed and raised her own hand, slowing the fire’s flow. She then shot it back. Rhi dodged, ducking out of the way as it singed her hair and clothing. She was back on her knees and she was pretty sure that was just what the blonde girl wanted.

That was, of course, her last thought before she was knocked out.  As she fell into unconsciousness, all she could think was: I am an idiot.

Chapter Eleven

              When Rhi woke up, her head was pounding. The pain throbbed over and over again and she let out a tiny, weak little cry. It hardly sounded like her own voice. Each throb of her head jarred her whole body and she was forced to open her eyes. The room she was in was dark, and it took a few moments before she could even really see anything. She forced her eyes to adjust and she could see the faint shapes around her. Her wrists were bound in front of her, a chain between them and a peg in the wall nearby her.

              She pulled on the chains and looked all around her. She could detect faint shapes, yes, but she felt that she was all alone. No, it looked like she was all alone, but someone had to be there. The girl who had taken her, she had to be there. “Where are you?” she yelled, her voice feeling raw. She screamed to the blonde bitch who had taken her. “Come out and let me see you! No use hiding away from me is there!”

              When Rhi woke up, her head was pounding. The pain throbbed over and over again and she let out a tiny, weak little cry. It hardly sounded like her own voice. Each throb of her head jarred her whole body and she was forced to open her eyes. The room she was in was dark, and it took a few moments before she could even really see anything. She forced her eyes to adjust and she could see the faint shapes around her. Her wrists were bound in front of her, a chain between them and a peg in the wall nearby her.

              She pulled on the chains and looked all around her. She could detect faint shapes, yes, but she felt that she was all alone. No, it looked like she was all alone, but someone had to be there. The girl who had taken her, she had to be there. “Where are you?” she yelled, her voice feeling raw. She screamed to the blonde bitch who had taken her. “Come out and let me see you! No use hiding away from me is there!”

When no answer came, Rhi struggled more. She could feel a weight in her back pocket, solid against her, and she realized that she still had her phone. She shifted her hips to try and be able to grab ,reach behind her, but she could not. The chain link holding her by the wrist was still far too short. Ugh. It was useless. What was she supposed to do? She had walked into a trap, all the while knowing that it was a trap and now she was paying for it. She was suffering the consequences of her own stupidity.

              It felt like she worked for hours to get her phone back, through shifting and twisting that made her hips and thighs ache and burn, as well as the wrists that were pulling against the solid steel manacles to try and get at the device. The moment she got it, it sprung back to life.

              Another video popped up onto the device’s screen. The blonde girl was there. She looked at Rhiannon with a serene, soft smile. “Hi,” she said, waving like she was greeting a long lost friend. “I can promise you, Rhiannon, that Daddy is just fine - well, for now.”

Before her, on the screen, Rhi could see her father. He was on the floor, tied up by his wrists and ankles with some thick rope. He was injured, she realized, a trail of blood dripping down his cheek from a head wound. His eyes were partially opened, but they appeared dazed and out of focus. He was looking off at something that either existed in the distance, far away, or maybe did not exist at all.

“Let him go!” she choked out, forcing her voice to be demanding.

The girl chuckled and shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “Oh and by ‘Daddy,’ I mean our daddy, by the way.” She was grinning madly.
“What?”

“Did you know that Rhiannon?” she asked. “This is my daddy. He’s not my fake daddy, like he is for you either.”

“Liar!” she shouted at the screen, twisting violently. “Let him go!”

“I’d rather not,” the girl said firmly. She raised her hand and grinned, her eyes wide and joyful. “Do you want to see what my mommy taught me how to do?”

She twisted her hand at the wrist, and with that gesture, the man began to writhe and shake against his bonds. He let out a scream, a scream that was almost inhumane and sounded nothing like the father who had raised her since she was a little girl. His body tensed, the slackened and then he shook violently with the pain. The screaming went on and on. It sounded like it would never stop.

              “Please!” screamed Rhiannon, suddenly desperate. “Please let him go! Please!” Her screams grew more and more desperate with each second of her father’s torment.

              Amid the screams, she heard the pleas, ripping out of her father’s throat. He was being torn apart from the inside. “Please!” he shrieked.

              “You sound the same,” the girl laughed. “I guess you have that much in common, even though he and I are the ones who share blood.”

              She screamed.

              Meanwhile, Gen was sitting alone in her room, thinking, when it hit her that Rhi was gone. It was something that would be impossible to explain; she did not know how she knew that, but she just did. The surge of anxiety leaped out of her heart and up into her throat. She knew that Rhiannon had gone alone to find her father. It hit her like factual knowledge and not just some kind of whim or worry that Rhi would do something stupid. It was an absolute kind of knowledge.

              She ran to Rhi’s room. She flung open the door and was not at all surprised when she found the room to be completely empty. She searched all around, through the closets and in the hallway, even, but she knew that she was not going to find Rhi in the house. It was just a given. Rhi was gone. There was nothing that she could do.

              How could she have been so idiotic? She knew Rhi better than anyone else, maybe barring Rhi’s mom, and yet she’d let her go upstairs. She was Rhi’s best friend. She should have known that the girl was going to leave, immediately. Was she really that much of an idiot? Oh god, she was in so much trouble. Rhi was in so much trouble.

              As she ran back downstairs, tears started to form and fall down her cheeks. God, she could not be any stupider. She found their parents in the living room. They were just sitting. Nobody was talking; nobody even said a word. They were scared and now trying to silently figure out how to save her best friend’s father. Now, they had to save Rhi too. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, guilt for her role in the mess overwhelming. All of their eyes flickered toward her.

              “What is it Genesis?” her mother asked, concerned.

              “Mom, Rhi’s gone,” she whispered. “I think she went after Uncle Elliot. She had to have gone. Aunt Alicia, I am so...so sorry.” She began to cough as she sobbed out her apologies, a hacking, nervous cough that was nearer to choking. She was so stupid. She didn’t know what she had been thinking. She had been an utter idiot. How could they ever forgive her for this one? She shook her head, horrified at herself. “It’s my fault; it’s all my fault and I’m so sorry.”

              There was chaos, as they all sprang to their feet. Her father grabbed hold of her mother, putting his arm around her shoulder and holding on tightly. To her surprise, her Aunt Alicia pulled her into a hug. “No sweetie, it’s not your fault,” she whispered, as she held on so tightly that Gen felt breakable. She felt like she could crumble in that hold. “Oh sweetie, as her mom, I should have thought about it. I should have known that she wasn’t going to sit around while we debated on how to save Elliot in time. She was going to react, just the same way that Elliott would have reacted, or the way I would have before you kids became the priority. I was stupid.”

              Genesis pulled back and looked at her aunt. She could see the pure terror on Alicia’s face and she could not help but feel guilty. This was her fault, as much as she wanted to believe otherwise. Her aunt looked so lost and scared and this was her fault.

              “We have to find them now,” her mother said.

              “How?” Alicia asked.

              Gen listened as the adults came up with ideas, but none of their ideas really seemed like ones that would work. They were disjointed, things that came from the tip of the tongue. They exchanged anxious glances and idiotic ideas, but they would never work. Gen knew that they did not yet see her as an adult and would see her ideas as insane, but she at least had to suggest something to stop the madness. She had to bring up something that could get them Elliott and Rhiannon’s location, at least.

              “Dad and I can call out,” she said softly, and then louder. “We need to call out to them.”

              “No,” her father answered, almost immediately, but she saw the slight hesitance in his eyes.

              “It’s too much risk,” her mother explained. “There’s no telling if it would get intercepted, especially if someone out there has abilities similar to ours.”

              “We have to risk it,” she insisted. She and her father could call out telepathically to Elliot and Rhiannon. If they worked together, their powers would amplify and they would find them.

              “We can’t.”

              “I can’t stop myself Dad,” she told them, not sure if she was telling the truth or not. Either way, she was not going to stop herself. She knew that the urge was bubbling up inside of her. Sometimes she lacked control. So did Rhiannon, when it came to the fires. She was not sure if she could stop it and she was not going to try.

              “Please don’t, sweetie,” Alicia begged. This made it hurt, but she could not stop. She could not stop herself.

Rhiannon! Rhiannon!

She screamed out with her mind, louder than she had ever found herself able to do before.

Something heard her screams, something that was not her best friend. She could feel it sitting in the back of her mind, resting inside of a crevice of her brain. It slithered around like a slug, twisting and turning through the waves and paths of the mind. She twisted against the bonds, but it got inside one of the many winding tunnels that made her who she was. It was called an Alturi and it was inside of her mind.

"I am an Alturi," it said, using her voice and speaking out loud. It was talking through her like she was a puppet.  “I am an Alturi and you have already lost, humans.”

Chapter Twelve

              As the girl and the man screamed, Gracie sobbed. She curled up into the crevices of her own mind and sobbed hysterically. She did not want to hurt people and she never had. This was the person she had fought not to be, throughout her entire life. This was the darkness in her that she’d always wanted to be rid of. “Please!” she sobbed, the girl locked inside the recesses of her own head. “Please, make it stop! I don’t want to hurt anyone, please. Please...don’t…”

             
Shut up!

             
The Alturi’s words were so strong and overwhelming that they shut her up, but for just a moment. “Let me go!” she shrieked, as soon as sense returned to her.

              She thought about the man, the one who the Alturi kept telling her was her father. She had always wanted to know her father, just as much as she had always wanted to
truly
know her mother. To be honest, most of her childhood dreams were about a world where they both existed, where they both took care of her and loved her. It was what the young woman wanted more than anything in the world. She wanted a family who would love and take care of her.

You really thought you’d have a normal life?

             
The Alturi’s taunt inside of her head made Grace sob. Of course she wanted a normal life! All she had ever wanted in life was to live life like a normal girl, one who did not possess horrible powers. She screamed and yelled out, her desperation too much to handle. It wasn’t too much to ask, just to be normal. She shrieked, hoping to drive the creatures out of the twisting and turning corners that made up the crevices of her mind. She wanted to drive them out through force alone.

             
You’ll have your mother, soon, at least, unless you keep up that noise. Stop it, or we will refuse to bring her back to you.

             
She wanted to keep on screaming. She did not, for a moment, trust these creatures. She did not think they would ever give her back what she asked for. She did not believe a word they said. Still, in spite of herself, Grace stopped screaming. She had to hold on to that stupid dream, or nothing else in the world would matter. Nothing would ever be okay, unless she held on to the stupid, probably false hope that her mother would be returned to her.