Jump Line (Book 1 - Jump Line Series)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Why is he so angry with me?" I swallowed. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and silently willed them to stop. I didn't want to cry in front of Samuel. I didn't want him to think I really was weak or soft. Whatever that meant. This was just one of the many reasons why I didn't like to talk to other people.

"Esa, I understand this doesn't make sense to you, but it also doesn't make sense to us. One day you just vanished. Gone. We had no clue what had happened. Fast forward three years, and suddenly you emit enough energy for me to finally be able to find you," Samuel said, his shoulders sagged forward. "The hardest part for me was that, when I found you, you didn't recognize me."

"I wish I had more answers for you," I responded through the soft sobs that had finally penetrated my tough exterior. I really wished there was something more I could add, but it was the truth. Besides, none of what he'd said made any sense. It was crazy. What did he mean by "emitting enough energy" for him to find me?

"How did you really find me?" I asked, hoping he would give me some sort of clue as to what was going on right now.

"Esa, I can feel your energy, but for some reason I only started to do so again a few weeks ago. For the past three years, none of us have felt anything from you," Samuel said. "Did something happen recently? Something that might make you emit more energy than normal? A large lightning storm, perhaps?"

"Lightening?"

"Yes, our bodies can feed off that electricity and it makes us stronger."

"No."

For several seconds I was stuck in time, thinking about his question. The answer was yes and no. I was the same person I had been for the past three years, but something had happened several days ago, and it didn't have anything to do with lightening. I had a vivid dream about a woman who'd told me it was time to come home. The dream had left an odd feeling inside of me.

Shortly after, I was confronted by a boy who I recognized from school. He had been standing in an alleyway I took every day to get to my latest home. I had always thought he was one of the good students. He'd seemed nice. But on that day he was angry with me and kept accusing me of following him. He had pushed me back toward a brick wall and then pulled out a large knife. It only took me a few seconds to show him who would be walking out of the alley and who would not.

I knew an evil smirk was probably visible on my face as I reflected on that encounter.

"Esa? What are you thinking about?" Samuel said, bringing me back to the present.

"Yes, things have changed recently. I have learned more about my special capabilities, and I've needed to use them at certain times."

"Like? Anything specific I should know about?"

"Like being able to use them to protect myself. Why? What do you really want to know? Why won't you explain more about my past?" I hoped he could hear the frustration in my voice.

"I want to know so I can try to figure out what happened, as well as how much clean-up we need to do."

"Then you might want to go back to a day before you found me. There is a boy lying in an alleyway."

"Is he dead or alive?"

"I'm pretty sure he's dead."

"Your work?"

"Possibly," I whispered, afraid of how he would respond to my truthful answer.

Samuel sighed. "I'm not surprised."