Master of the Storm

Chapter Two: Fireworks

"I can't believe someone would agree to having that done to their child," I said, shuddering.

Beatrix tugged at my necklace. I wanted to rip it off her slender neck. "Money is money, I guess. I've already tracked one of the kids down," she told me. "One of the ones who's parents didn't know. I have a suspicion that his parents were killed off for getting too close. I left him a voicemail, so I'm just waiting for a response."

My eyes widened. "You've been able to do a lot in such short time."

She shrugged. "Just the power of the Internet, slow as it may be. And I work well on my own."

Something about her last comment saddened me. "Guess you're better off without me," I said quietly.

Her smile faded, though it was barely there to begin with. "I didn't mean it like that," she told me. "If anything, you're better off without me."

I leaned back on my palms. "So, why did you leave me that message then? Why did you want me to find you?"

"Believe it or not, what we are to each other is not my first priority," Beatrix responded. "I just figured you would want to know I had information on the other kids with powers."

I probably should have expected that. After all, she wasn't my first priority anymore either. "When is it done copying?" I asked.

"Sometime tonight. You can have the USB after that."

"Okay. I'll leave tomorrow."

This seemed to surprise her. "What, you don't want help find the others?" She tilted her head to the side, studying me. "What is your agenda anyway? What's your plan?"

"In general? Taking down the people who let this happen. Specifically, Thomas. I haven't figured out how to do that though. I don't even know where to start," I admitted.

"We should team up, then," she said. "It makes logical sense. In simplified terms, I have brains, you have brawn."

I raised my eyebrows. "What, you wanna be friends again? No thanks, too high a risk you'll stab me in the back."

For a minute I saw a flash of hurt on her face, and I instantly felt guilty, even thought what I had said was true. Then, it morphed to anger. "Is that really what you think of me?" she asked. "I helped you escape from the orphanage. I tampered with evidence in a murder investigation. I broke you out of that underground lab."

"But you betrayed me, too. So I guess it's even. And I didn't ask you to do any of that."

She exhaled bitterly. "Oh, fuck you. That's really convenient of you to say now, when I've already done it. When was the last time you did anything for me?"

"Don't start," I snapped. "I said, we're even."

"Where does that leave us, then?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess we're strangers again. Or, I dunno, allies? I mean, we kinda have the same goal. Right now I just need to figure out some things by myself."

"That's fair," she said. "If you promise me one thing."

"What?"

She smiled slightly. "That you'll stop denying your feelings. You're still in love with me."

"That's presumptous."

"Emotion reader, remember?" I had forgotten for a second.

"So, what if I do?" I asked. She didn't answer. She just leaned forward at the same time I did.

Her lips were soft and warm, as her hand ran through my hair. I crawled towards her, straddling her lap and pushing her against the wall. It was as if fireworks were going off in my head, sending ripples and explosions all through my body. I felt my nerves tingling. She felt like fire, and I was melting in her arms as she tugged at my hair, her nails digging into my side.

When we stopped, she just rested her forehead against mine. I closed my eyes, and we sat there for a moment. And for that moment I pretended that everything was normal. That we were still in the motel, that my powers and Thomas and all that didn't exist, that it had never happened. But as I pulled away, I had to face the hard truth. We were not together. We couldn't be together. And I had only come here for one thing.

I got up, and picked up my bag I had dropped on the floor. "It's getting late," I said. "Do you have food?"

Beatrix shook her head, looking up at me with unusually dilated pupils. "I was planning to survive on water."

I tossed her a handful of granola bars from my bag, before taking one out for myself. "Where are you gonna go when you run out of that, too?"

"I have empty bottles set up outside."

I shook my head at that. "I wouldn't do that, radio said it was gonna rain acid."

"Then I don't know," she admitted. "The police are still searching for both of us regarding Alyssa's case. And now Thomas and his coworkers want me dead. I'm good at hiding. I'm good at tricking people. I'm good at surviving. But that can only get me so far."

"So that's why you want to get in touch with the others?" I asked.

"Safety in numbers, I suppose. Some backup would be nice."

I looked out the window, or, the hole in the wall, as I saw the sun had set, and without all the artificial light out here, it actually got dark. "I'm gonna try to sleep," I said, placing my bag on the floor to use as a pillow.

"Really?" she replied, coming down beside me, and my stomach swooped. Before I could change my mind, I pulled her into me.