When All is Null and Void

Chapter Twenty-Six

Danielle's slap had not made contact, but Caleb's cheek dribbled blood. The world hadn't shifted moments ago; it had twisted without Caleb's permission or guidance. The pain was akin to electrodes attached to his spine as they sent sharp pulses of agony rupturing through his body. Caleb's right hand was shaking violently. He couldn't see past the excruciating fog threatening to send him to blackness.

On the other end of the tunnel of pain, Caleb registered little. Danielle and he flew apart in a single burst of unseen energy. Caleb slammed into a wall and piles of books toppled under the raging weight of his sailing body.

"Caleb!" he heard Alexander, but his vision was tunneling rapidly now.

The electrodes of white-hot, searing torture shot into every nerve ending. With each pulse, his muscles contracted.

Darkness closed in.

Caleb heard her voice, though he couldn't remember who shewas. "What's going on?"

Alexander's calm: "Stay back. Don't touch him."

Hers: "Okay." No fight.

A strong, cool hand settled on the middle of Caleb's back. In an instant, the electrodes ceased their frenetic pulsations, but Caleb's spine still burned in the aftermath of their inferno. That, too, soon faded, and Caleb's vision returned, slow at first and then all at once. Unaware of how much time had passed, Caleb lay panting and exhausted, his muscles quivering, as if he'd been strung between two horses running in opposite directions.

Caleb's tongue was thick and cottony as he struggled to say, "What...happened?" Alexander's right hand resisted Caleb's attempt to sit up. Danielle was in the corner of the room. She'd wrapped her arms around her chest, and her skin pallid.

"You had a seizure," Alexander said. "I'm not sure what caused it." Caleb's frayed nerves mended under Alexander's soothing calm.

"Are you okay?" Caleb managed to Danielle. His tongue was no less thick—had he bit it? The tang of copper sat like a ghost in the back of his mouth.

"I—guess so?" She took a breath. "Shouldn't we take you to the hospital?"

Alexander stood up. "I didn't catch your name," he said, extending a polite hand.

"Danielle," she replied without offering hers. "I met Caleb at the party."

Titus was off in the far corner of the living room, observing with all with his imperious demeanor. He no longer wore the cowboy costume but a pair of dark jeans and a red flannel. When had he changed? Titus caught Caleb's eye and only an instant of sympathy passed through his eyes before they narrowed in hawkish suspicion.

"I'm sorry you witnessed any of this," Alexander said, breaking the seal of silence that had enveloped them all.

"I don't knowwhatI witnessed," Danielle replied, throwing her hands up. "I just want to go home."

"Not yet." Titus stepped off the wall as Alexander tapped Danielle on the forehead with his pointer finger.

"Why do you people keep touchingme?" The affront in her voice was almost as if Alexander had violated her on some, deeper, more primal level than a simple tap on the head. "It's really—" she cut off and swayed on her feet. Eyes rolling to the back of her skull, Danielle crumpled. Titus caught her before she could hit the floor. He lowered her onto the couch with a care Caleb hadn't expected.

"What—did you do?" Caleb lifted himself to an upright position with a beleaguered grunt. His eyelids fluttered as an encompassing exhaustion threatened to drag him into unwilling unconsciousness.