Emotionally Charged Page 2

  A lot of windows were broken, spilling glass onto the street and making the shop displays sparkle as though the shabby chic furniture or gourmet cupcakes had been sprinkled with diamonds.

  Then I noticed it wasn’t just a lot of windows. It was every window. It made sense the earthquake had broken glass, but just around the corner I hadn’t noticed any windows broken on the rows of townhouses.

  A beam of light shone out of a building up ahead. I froze. Someone’s in there, but someone good or bad? I didn’t need to see the exact pastel shade of the shop to know it was Duck Egg Blue. The light jiggled, then vanished. The sound of shattering porcelain echoed in the street followed by a boy-like chuckle.

  I’m guessing not good.

  “Hey!” The word came out before I stopped to think. “Hey, get out of there!”

  The humming inside me had grown louder, anger pulsing through my veins. That’s my mom’s shop. The hell I was going to let someone trash or loot it. Getting called out should make them run away.

  The possibility it wouldn’t only struck me when four figures in hoodies jumped out through the cleared window, bringing with them an avalanche of retro dinner sets from the display. I cringed as plates smashed on the pavement.

  The gang turned my way and I saw they were just boys, younger than me. I didn’t recognize them from school, and they didn’t dress like teens from this area either. More like kids from the housing estate a couple of ‘burbs over who sometimes crashed parties around here. The kind of kid Mom always told me to be understanding of. They had tougher situations than we did, but it was hard to be understanding when they were smashing up my mom’s livelihood.

  Two shone flashlights my way. I squinted into the harsh glare.

  I stood taller than a couple of the thugs, but it was still four against one. Why did I feel like I could deal with this? The fizzy high I was on had my confidence up and blocking the part of my mind that knew this could be dangerous, and that feeling of invincibility could just make it worse. A point proved when the boys headed for me instead of making a guilty dash.

  “Stay back. I have pepper spray.” I bluffed, reaching my hand into a pocket of my trench coat. I grabbed for my phone instead, swiped it on, but couldn’t dial on the touch screen without looking, and I wasn’t sure the emergency number would even redirect and work with most of the network down. What would they do if they saw me dialing? Back off, or advance faster? It didn’t seem worth the risk when it could take ages for the cops to arrive.

  “Pepper spray? I eat that stuff on my breakfast,” one of them joked.

  I took steady steps away as the boys came closer. Every one was dressed in black, like they were in uniform. They had no distinguishing features visible apart from slightly varying heights. I started imagining being a victim who couldn’t identify her attackers and I didn’t like it.

  I tried to warn them off again. “I’ll call the police.”

  “Relax, we’re just out for some fun.” He chuckled, the same chuckle I’d heard when he was smashing things in Mom’s shop. His idea of fun worried me.

  Glass crunched on the concrete footpath behind me. I spun around. Another boy, all in black loomed over me.

  He grabbed for my arm. I gasped, stepping quickly out of his reach.

  Anger shone from him and my body flared with adrenaline. The five thugs penned me in and took turns pushing at me or grasping for me. I reacted on instinct, my body taking control. I dodged, avoiding a lunge from one side then a snatch from the other. They jeered and taunted, trying to get their hands on me. Fingers wrapped around my arm, but I easily twisted out of them.

  But the more I avoided them, the more I saw the anger in them build.

  No one had ever been this mad at me before. It scared me. It set my whole body on fire.

  “Someone help!” I cried out, but my voice was lost in the wide street. I doubted anyone would hear. No hero would come and save me. This wasn’t one of my daydreams. This was a nightmare.

  I ducked under a wide swing from the closest guy. He snarled violently. They weren’t playing anymore. Remembering my self-defense class, I pulled my keys out of my pocket. I grabbed my phone with the other hand. I made a wild jab at the thug’s chest with my longest key while I looked at my phone screen, thumbing in an emergency call.

  The key sank into flesh, startling me. I didn’t expect it to break skin at all, let alone slide right into him like a dagger. My hand warmed with the guy’s blood. What the heck?

  I paused too long and was shoved in the back.

  I fell flat on my face. My phone dropped from my hand and skittered out of reach. On the ground, my mind helpfully recalled the second part of the self-defense lesson emphasizing the importance of disabling your attackers, not just pissing them off even more.

  I barely felt the fall, but when I tried to call for help again there was no air in my lungs. Numbly, I registered broken glass jutting out of my palms.

  One of the guys grabbed my shoulder and rolled me over. I snatched his hand in both of mine and twisted. I swear I heard bones break. He screamed.

  I also thought I heard footsteps approaching, fast. I might have just been hearing things. Just wishful thinking as the guy cradled his wrist, called me something I wouldn’t repeat and kicked me in the side of the head.

  Chapter Four

  My world swam in darkness.

  Sounds of scuffling faded in and out, and energy surged through my body.

  Snapping my eyes open, I watched a man in a white button-down shirt throw one of the hoodies against a power pole. Actually picked him up and threw him. The others were already running, or stumbling, away.

  Someone had come to save me. It was a miracle.

  The kid thrown against the pole slumped there, unmoving. My eyes widened, hoping he was just unconscious.

  Dusting his hands, my savior turned around to reveal the face of a male model. I blinked, and in that instant he went from all the way over there to over beside me. I blinked again, confused and unsure of reality. Because now I really had gone into daydream world.

  The new guy’s shirt accentuated his V-shaped chest like it had been tailored for a perfect fit and his blond hair sat flawlessly as though he hadn’t just dealt with a bunch of looting delinquents. His sleeves were rolled neatly below his elbows, and although he only looked about twenty, the watch on his wrist was expensive. I’d seen it in classy magazine ads.

  “Are you all right?”

  Even his voice was dreamy.

  I tried to sit up so I wasn’t so awkward and prone, wanting to be more presentable for this god-like figure. “Hngh. Ow. Crap.”

  Damn it.

  The guy chuckled, and his smile made my heart shiver like a nervous bunny. When he grabbed my hands and helped me up with perfect care, I thought I would lose it entirely.

  “You were amazing,” he said, bending to collect my phone and keys from nearby. “When I heard someone calling for help, I came as quick as I could. Saw most of the fight while I ran down the street. I thought you had them dealt with on your own for a minute. Very impressive.”

  I groaned, reliving my misguided foray into heroism. “Impressive like a high-jumping lemming.”

  He half-smiled. “Cutest lemming I’ve seen in a while.”

  Gulp.

  He handed my phone and keys back to me, giving me a scrutinizing look. “But really, how do you feel?”

  How did I feel? I’d just been thrown on the ground and kicked in the head, but actually I felt... “Good? Does that mean I’m in shock?”

  “Maybe. Maybe something better. My name is Jake.” He took my hand, gently cleaning blood off it with a tissue, and I forgot to ask what was better or whether I needed a blanket and hot chocolate in case it was shock after all.

  “I’m Livvy,” I replied, without stuttering, which was the second miracle of the night.

  “Let’s find you somewhere to recover then, my lovely Livvy.”

  Guys had tried calling me that befor
e and it had always sounded corny until now. This guy’s voice was so tasty I could lick it.

  He looped my arm in one of his like a Victorian gentleman and I trotted obediently alongside him. I pretended to need the support more than I did, just to squeeze a little closer. I was going to make the most of this, in case I woke up and discovered it was a concussion-induced dream.

  We walked to the end of the street and sat at a bus stop on the corner. It was beautiful, a real work of art. Designed to bookend the archway that used to stand at the other end of the strip, the heavy concrete bench was covered in colorful mosaic tiles.

  My mind refused to help me out with anything to say. Thank you for saving me was the obvious thing, but it seemed so inadequately lame I couldn’t make it come out my mouth. Jake kept looking at me, and I read amusement and satisfaction all over him. Oh God, he smells so good. I couldn’t say that out loud either.

  He broke the silence after what felt like forever, but was more likely only seconds long. “I bet you feel better than good, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. I did still feel pretty tingly. I looked at my palms, where glass had poked from my skin, and found them clear and clean. What?

  Maybe I’d imagined it. My brain had been MIA. “I think I’ve been on an adrenaline kick most of the night.”

  He chuckled. “Getting kicked like you did, aren’t you surprised you’re already feeling okay? You don’t realize how fast you were moving back then, do you? And did you know you almost ripped that guy’s hand off?”

  “I did what?”

  “It’s fine. It was self-defense.” Jake paused for a moment. He assessed me with piercing eyes. “What if I said you were more than normal? Something different, better, possibly even supernatural? Would you freak on me or—”

  “Would I think it was a dream come true? The latter.” I nodded with wide eyes, waiting to see what he’d reveal. I half-expected he was setting me up for some epic punch line, but there was an energy in the air I couldn’t deny. A magic I wanted to embrace. And if this guy had the key to that? Dream. Come. True.

  Jake pointed his finger at my chest and then his. “You, me—we have superpowers.”

  Tingles. I eyed him up and down, looking for outward signs of mental illness. But I felt his sincerity and wondered if this was what I’d been waiting for my whole life. If by some miracle my dreams were about to become true. Things come in threes, right?

  And the things I’d seen him do, the things I had done tonight, were they more than normal? I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. It had all been such a blur. “Okay. That sounds great and all, but this is a bit outside the realm of real life. I’m going to need some kind of proof to be onboard here.” Please have proof. Please have proof. Please have proof.

  He raised a perfect eyebrow. “How about a visual demo?”

  Jake took my hand and pulled me off the bench. Turning back to it, he gave it a swift kick in the center. The bench cracked down the middle and fell inward in a kaleidoscope of tiles and crumbled concrete. It was as completely destroyed as the archway down the road. The bookends matched even more now.

  I stared, mouth open, and he waited for my response with a smile.

  “Where are we supposed to sit now?” I giggled, edging on hysteria at the scope of what was happening. “And also, what the how?”

  Down the road, headlights broke through the darkness and a car swung around the corner, heading down the street. Jake waved at it and turned back to me.

  “You’re like me, like us.” He gestured to the car, speaking fast as it approached. “You’ve always been able to read people’s feelings, right? You feel stronger when people are angry, or full of energy when others are scared. When emotions surround you, you think faster, move faster, heal faster.”

  I found myself nodding to his words, realizing what he said was the truth. This wasn’t just a dream. I’d always been like that. My one unique feature, hidden on the inside, was more special than I had ever realized. His words repeated in me. You’re like me, like us.

  “It’s real. I can tell you feel it. We’re empaths. That’s why I’m here. We’re always on the look-out for other people like us, and the easiest time to find them is during a natural disaster when emotions are heightened across the whole population. It’s often the first time empaths really experience their power, like you have tonight.”

  The black SUV skidded to a stop beside us and the front-side window opened. I couldn’t quite see inside but I heard a man talk. “We’ve been driving ’round looking for you for ages. What’s the deal, Jake?”

  Jake tilted his head to me and simply said, “Got one.”

  A girl not much older than me burst out the back door. “You really found one? Zomigosh, it’s a girl!” She squealed and came toward me, her shimmering red hair flying around her from her leap out of the vehicle. The front doors opened and two guys stepped out. They were stunning, every one of them. I made an effort to keep my mouth from hanging open.

  Everything was happening so fast. I had superpowers. Jake had superpowers. Now I was meeting so many hot people with superpowers.

  I reached out a hand to the girl to introduce myself and she wrapped her arms ’round my shoulders, hugging me as she jiggled a little dance. “I thought I might have been the only one. Don’t get me wrong, I love my boys, but I’ve been dying to find another girl ’path.”

  Jake cleared his throat. “Everyone, this is Livvy. Livvy, that’s Emma, over there’s Donny.” He nodded to the tallest guy, whose velvety black skin rippled with muscles which barely seemed to fit under his clothes. “And this jerk is Jamie.” Jake grinned at the last guy, a few years younger than all of them. He and Jake looked like they could be brothers. Jamie gave Jake the finger, smirking all the while, then shook my hand. Donny just nodded silently.

  “So, you guys come to natural disaster areas to help out, and hope you find more people like you—like us?” I couldn’t believe I was talking to a team of real-life superheroes. I needed to sit down but the bench option had been removed.

  “That’s pretty much what we do,” Jamie said.

  “How did Jake find you? How long have you known what you are? Did you already know? Are you from around here?” Emma overflowed with questions and I couldn’t find a gap to answer any.

  Jake cleared his throat. He leant on Jamie’s shoulder and gave me a bashful smile, threatening to liquidize my legs. “I know you just met us all, and I know it’s late, but we’d really like for you to come with us.”

  I exhaled a little too loudly. “With you? With you where?”

  “Just to hang out for a bit, chat some more. I know I unloaded a lot on you all at once. I’d love to talk it over more and explain things properly because there aren’t many of us. Empaths need to stick with our kind. We’re stronger together. That’s why we have our team.”

  Hang out and chat. I could do that. I had to.

  This was really happening. My impossible dreams were coming true, and I had to find out more. I couldn’t let these empaths just leave me in my normal life again. My parents weren’t expecting me home now and with so much going on at the shelter, I doubted my absence would be noted. I could spend all night with Jake and his team if I wanted. And I wanted.

  I knew I should be thinking about this more seriously, but I had trouble focusing on anything other than Jake’s smile, and the warm feeling it gave me inside. I couldn’t sense any dangerous emotions coming from any of the empaths, just warm, happy fuzziness. The desire to jump in the car with them proved overwhelming. “Sure. Let’s go.”

  Jake and Emma beamed. Jamie’s smirk remained in place.

  Donny didn’t show much expression. His face remained still, like the carving of a god. He checked his watch, also expensive. “We’re meant to be flying back tonight.”

  “Oh. In that case...” I hesitated.

  “We can chat in a café at the airport until we fly out.” Jake looked down at me, his eyelids half closed and a small, pouting smile
on his lips. “Come with us.”

  A rush of warmth flooded me. I felt so secure, so sure. I nodded.

  Looking past their attractive forms was difficult, but in their emotions all I read was excitement and pleasure at finding me. They wanted me. I was special. Like them? Maybe not quite, but they wanted me anyway. Jake and his friends didn’t feel like strangers at all. They already felt like family, as if I knew them. I trusted them and going with this group, this team, was the only thing in the world I knew I wanted. It could be my only chance to live my dreams. Mom would tell me to go for it.

  Somehow we went from chatting in the rental car, to chatting in the airport, to chatting on the plane.

  It wasn’t the first time I told my parents I’d be in one place but went somewhere else.

  But it was the first time that going somewhere else involved a first-class flight.

  Chapter Five

  First class was wow.

  Everyone treated our group like royalty. Jake sorted out everything and the airline squeezed me onto the flight at late notice. Even with strict airport security we breezed through with the team’s excess baggage, no questions asked. Jake reassured me we weren’t going far, and they would fly or drive me back home any time I wanted. They only flew up to get to the quake site fast, and were only a few hours’ drive away from my Bellscroft.

  Why were they leaving my home town so soon? Wasn’t there any more they could do for people after the earthquake? Maybe they’d done their sweep and were happy no one was trapped under rubble somewhere. We didn’t talk about that at all. Mostly they had questions for me about who I was, and what I knew so far about my abilities. Which I had to admit wasn’t much, with that night being my first experience. But I explained how it seemed like I was moving crazy fast and the firey strength I felt, and they all nodded like they knew exactly what I meant. Because they have felt it too. Then they relaxed into the flight as though they had been working hard, and I relaxed alongside them, basking vicariously in their post-heroism glow.