(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting

Chapter Twenty-Nine - About The Hunters...

EMMA

THE CAR HALTED abruptly and bounced back and forth on its tires. The driver, some junior, lifted his hands off the wheel in disbelief. We stared at each other through the windshield, his eyes apologizing to me but I was too frightened to do anything in return. I remained still in the alley like a deer in headlights, processing what just happened. I've been around weird phenomena for too long to not recognize one in front of me.

Riley hadn't moved. She gaped at us with a clenched fist in front of her legs. Finally, I nodded at the junior and stumbled to the side with a deep breath. The minivan lurched and stopped at my level, its window lowering. 

"Holy crap, are you okay?" the junior asked. "I'm so, so sorry, I have absolutely no idea what happened... My tires were slipping and I had no control but luckily the brakes worked..."

I nodded while staring at a point behind him. "It's fine. At least nothing happened."

The junior apologized again and rolled away to park the minivan. Despite my wobbly knees and the adrenaline coursing through me, I stared at my friend.

"What was that? How did you..."

She seemed freaked out of her mind. Her eyes slid to her hand as the color drained from her face.

"I told you we needed to talk," she said when she regained focus.

❖❖❖

Riley struggled and I felt like I needed to sit down. She told me about Luc's suspicions and the trainings—why I didn't see her often anymore. Well, on top of me being also busy.

"How is this possible? Did you know and not tell me or—"

"I'm not lying when I say I had no idea until recently, either," she replied and pushed back a strand of hair. She gave the front lawn a quick, sharp glance. "It... wasn't the right time, and then you started skipping school. I wasn't sure how to break it to you."

We settled at a bench outside after Riley retrieved her parka, determined to set things straight. Her, a mutant? I never would have guessed, but she just stopped a minivan from flattening me like a pancake. That spoke volumes.

I passed through every possible scenario as to how she could have missed this. I asked about her being mutated somehow after being bitten by Wanderers, like with Spiderman and that radioactive spider. I asked about how she might have been contaminated in some way. I asked about her parents hiding something from her. I asked everything and Riley automatically dismissed them like she'd thought about them all over and over again.

"I don't know. I'm thinking maybe Dad..." She looked down. "Maybe he's not really my dad. I don't know if he's aware that I'm different. He doesn't seem to be... Luc thinks I could have been given up for adoption and my real parents are like him."

"But why would they do that if that's what happened?"

She shrugged but the idea visibly bothered her. "I want to talk to Dad about it and try to see what he knows, but it's so scary I chicken out every time. Right now, he thinks I'm probably into drugs or something and I'm grounded. So I sneak out my window."

I snorted. Wow.

We caught up on one another's lives, and I left out my training before she'd get angry. On her part, she told me that she decided to forgive Chuck for the pictures and reached out to the headmaster. He looked more miserable than ever. He was the spitting image of someone who didn't sleep at night and spoke to no one. As I said that, she appeared concerned.