The Extraordinaries

Chapter Fourteen: Elise

By the time we reach Dublin, I'm the only one still awake beside the driver. Fiona slopes against Connor, her head on his shoulder. The sight of it gives me this kind of longing to have that sort of closeness with someone, to feel my energy combine with someone else's.

Annie's still sitting by herself, across the aisle from Fiona and Connor. I'm not sure what made her like them all of a sudden, although I know deep down that she probably just wanted to be away from me. She's bent against the window, deep in a dream, her mouth lolling open as she breathes. Only Annie could do that and still look perfect. Only Annie.

There are a few others on the bus now too: a woman with a little girl, a couple of teenaged boys, an elderly couple who fell asleep the moment they sat down. It's like they're under some kind of spell, and it fascinates me, watching them all inside of their minds. The way the little girl fidgets in her sleep, the guy a couple rows ahead who mumbles to himself through his dreams.

The Dublin bus station looks just the same as the one in Shannon, which surprises me. I would have expected it to be nicer, considering it's in a real city, but I guess we're so far on the outskirts that it doesn't matter. When we stop, I'm the only one who stands up. The driver does too, starting to get off as if it's perfectly fine to just leave everyone here, and a bit of panic ramps up in my chest.

"Um, sir?" I call, and he turns to look at me, scowling. I don't think he likes me much, considering how Annie and I tried to get on here free. "Shouldn't we wake them up?"

He heaves a sigh. "Not a part of my job," he says. "Long as they're off before I start my next trip, it's not my problem." With that, he opens the door and climbs off the bus. I watch him through the window, starting off down the sidewalk. I wonder if he lives here, if he spends his days taking trips between here and Shannon. Must get lonely.

I wake Annie first, only because I'm scared to touch the strangers. It's been a while since I've seen new people, and all these people in one day has been a lot. All it takes it a touch to the arm and Annie jerks awake.

"Elise!" she says loudly, and I shush her.

'We're here," I say softly.

"Where's the driver?" she asks, rubbing her eyes.

I shrug. "He left. Everyone else is asleep. You ready to go?"

She glances around. "Um, yeah," she mumbles. She steps around me into the aisle and taps Connor lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, wake up," she hisses.

"Annie, what are you doing?" I whisper.

She turns, glaring. "Well, I thought that maybe since they have money, they could help us out."

I frown. I know she's right. We can't get on with what we were doing before, not now that what we have inside is fading.

Annie purses her lips, and I watch as she takes a deep breath, like she's stressing out and trying to calm herself down. Her energy changes too, going from the grey-blue of just waking up to a nervous colourless sort of mix. "Okay?" she says. When I don't answer right away, she adds, "I mean, is it okay for us to, like, join up with them?"

I nod, only because I know we have to. We'll never get anywhere if we don't have money. "Fine," I mutter, although I still don't like the idea of Connor's beady eyes on Annie everywhere we go.

She smiles, leaning to shake Connor by the arm. "Connor!" she says. Near the back of the bus, the little girl stirs, her eyes popping open. One of the teenaged boys is awake too, bent forwards in his seat.

Connor wakens slowly, but when he does finally open his eyes, he seems fully alert, energy coming to life right away. "Are we... where are we?" he asks.