The Thought Keepers: Ability

Chapter 23: A Rip In Time

Time, the final frontier. Well, only if you know how to navigate it properly, which I absolutely didn't. Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing.

But I couldn't let that deter me. I had wasted so much time relying on other people to look for Uncle Ethan that I had lost him, and now I had to figure out how to bring him back to life.

Give yourself a little more credit. Someone's been trying to kill you all this time. It's not like you've been sitting around twiddling your thumbs.

But then again, you haven't taken your visions as seriously as you should. So maybe some of it is your fault.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," I told Jake under my breath as soon as Carson let go of my hand, clearing my throat to disguise it as a cough. I was still reeling that Jake was Carson's twin brother, and somehow different from him in every way possible. Where Carson was soft and understanding, Jake was cruel and impatient. I hadn't told Carson about his telepathic threats yet, or his constant badgering in my mind. It wasn't that I was trying to keep more secrets from him, but that I couldn't figure out how to tell him that his brother was my least favorite person right now.

In any case, he was too preoccupied with the situation at hand to comment on my strange mumbling. He strode towards the end of the sloping driveway, staring out at the street with distantly weary eyes.

"My dad will be looking for you when he wakes up," he said quietly, as if he were afraid someone would overhear. "The best I can do is stall him while you look for your uncle. He's a powerful telepath, so hiding from him won't work for long. We'll have to think of something to occupy him in the mean time."

"Will you be okay going back like this?" I asked, not particularly worried about being found by the Helios Supreme. I was more concerned about what this meant for Carson's relationship with his dad; that he was straining their distant bond even further. I knew what it was like to not trust your parent an inch, and yet still have to deal with them.

He smiled softly, taking a step back instead of answering. With half his face concealed by shadow and street light glinting off his dark irises, he looked more full of secrets than ever. For once, that didn't scare me. 

"Focus on finding your uncle, Zekara. I'll be alright," Carson said with a doleful smile as he disappeared into the night. The ring of my full name on his lips was strangely unpleasant. It sounded a lot like a goodbye. 

I took my time turning around, staring at the empty Corvette Stingray in the driveway, windows black and seats vacant. I could almost see Uncle Ethan sitting there, listening to the R&B stations and humming along to whatever song was playing. He had a low grumble of a singing voice, too rough to be good, but he always tried his best. And just like that, warm nostalgia seeped into my thoughts like bitter tea, leaving a tartness in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of. 

I opened the door to our abandoned house, the creaking hinges marking my presence in the empty living room. The air was cold and stagnant, a fine layer of dust marking the TV stand and bookshelves, like my uncle and I hadn't been cleaning the entire house just last weekend. The house seemed foreign to me, as if it were someone else's instead of mine. 

I stared at the kitchen light above the stove for a good few seconds before I moved on, passing into the darkened hallway. I slowed at my bedroom as the lapis lazuli glowed, shining faint blue light against the door. I clasped the cool stone before entering. 

The lamp was still lit from earlier, illuminating the bright yellow walls that were meant to keep out all traces of darkness. I smoothed my hand over the cool surface, narrowing my eyes at a small chip in the amber paint that Uncle Ethan never got around to smoothing over. He hadn't put the same care into Shade-proofing his own room, leaving his own walls bare and easily eclipsed by shadow energy. The lack of care when it came to protecting himself ended up costing him dearly.