Getting up the next morning brought no hesitation. My father was so eager to find out how to break the "curse", as he put it, that he had breakfast going at six in the morning. My teenage body wanted to throw a brick at him for daring to bother me this early as he hollered loudly that breakfast was ready.
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" he sang loudly from the kitchen. The sound of the grill and the smell of the food was very strong. My eyes popped open and darted to the clock, which read 6:18AM. Was he trying to get himself killed?
"Brent," Barry whined. I watched him through the doorway to the bedroom as he sat up and scratched his dark hair, stretching. "Come on, man."
"It's freaking six in the morning, Dad," I pitched in with the complaints. "This is unfair!"
"For once I agree with Alleah," Phil said sleepily. I couldn't help but smile a little at his comment. What a stinkpot.
"You three are the most pathetic bunch of complainers I have ever heard in my life," my father chuckled loudly and I threw my pillow over my head. He seriously needed to stop pushing my buttons.
"Dad, it's Saturday for the love of Pete!" I shot back.
"But Alleah, aren't you excited to find out how to save your brother?" he hollered with a mouthful of food. He had something in there at least.
"Dad, my level of enthusiasm would be much higher if you had let me sleep in until eight o'clock," I grumbled. "Right now I've got nothing."
There was a long pause.
"Phil?" my father called. "Will you do me a favor?"
"I don't know, Brent. It depends on what it is."
"I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy yourself with it," my father taunted. I had a bad feeling about this, so I got up and went out of the bedroom drowsily, heading for the kitchen.
"Don't even bother, Dad," I glared, picking up a plate to load it with some eggs. "I'm fine."
"Never mind, Phil."
"Dang it," Phil made a face before plopping back down on the couch. He looked just about as dead as I felt, though I was grateful I still felt energy from yesterday's nap.
I finished my breakfast quickly, feeling my enthusiasm return as my mind began to wake up after such an abrupt morning. My father was right, I really was anxious to find out how to stop Zemlicka and get my brother back. I hardly used my powers anyway; I could care less if they were gone or not even though they were pretty cool.
"Done yet?" my father asked me as I finished placing my bowl in the sink to be washed later.
"Yeah, I'm ready," I nodded, sending him a warm smile as I pulled up the straps on my tank top. It had to be more then eighty degrees in here. I was dying of heat.
"We have three laptops so how do we want to work this?" Barry inquired of my father, who seemed to be lost in the same thought. Personally I didn't need a computer. I could easily share with my father, but it was up to them.
"Someone could always be a scribe," Phil suggested from his place on the couch where he was fully engaged in snarfing down a bowl of fruity pebbles. Some men just never fully grew up from their childhood.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea!" Barry lightened up. "I nominate the person with the best handwriting!"
Everyone in the same second turned and looked at me, making me crack a smile. Of course they would choose me. I was the girl.
"Wow, I don't think your nomination could have been more obvious," I joked, raising my hands in the air as if to surrender. "I guess I'm the scribe now."
My father laughed. "Yes, you are. Now let's get started."
"How should we do this?" Phil asked curiously. "I have no clue where to start."
"Well, I was planning this out in my head last night while I was having troubles resting and there were mainly two things. My first thought was to send Barry on his way to keep finding out more about that love curse on the website he discovered. My second was to find out who in the world Zemlicka is and what he wants with my children. Phil, can you handle that?"
"I'm on it, boss," he nodded from the couch.
"As for me, I'm going to get some information too but it's not specific. Alleah, you'll write down what we tell you to. Important things."
"Okay," I agreed, grabbing some writing supplies and sitting down from the cupboard. The three men got to work and I doodled on the side as I waited for important information.
It had to have been at least fifteen minutes of silence before anyone even spoke up. I was getting bored and was tempted to go get my phone and text Jess. She had been on my case for the past few days about keeping in touch with her. I had texted her and reminded her what kind of chaos was going on in my life, therefore making it hard for me to constantly keep in touch.
What made it worse was that my foster mom, the woman who had raised me, was worried sick. There was no doubt that I felt like a witch for ditching her last minute without warning, but in all honesty there was really not a choice. Thankfully her sister was there for her along with my little foster cousins who were as adorable as ever. But still, I felt so terrible and Jessica had been so kind to remind me of what I'd done. She was seriously going to be the death of me but I still loved her.
"This is hopeless, Brent," Phil said with worry in his voice which instantly snapped my attention back. "I can't even find a character of information about Zemlicka. He's nowhere to be found. I even looked through the old work profiles for your old job and he's practically ancient."
"He's not there?" This time my father was the one who sounded anxious.
"Maybe he's an alien," I joked.
"An alien? Holy freak, what if she's right?" Barry gasped, giving the other two a look. They exchanged probably the most disturbing of anxious faces and I felt my stomach flip. I was kidding...
"That doesn't sound possible," my father said after a very stressful few seconds and made a face before he returned to his laptop. The crease in his forehead disappeared and I relaxed back as well. Thank heaven they didn't take that seriously. Well, my father anyway.
"Maybe he just deleted his profile after he kidnapped Andrew," I suggested, attempting to ease the distress in the room.
"But that doesn't explain why I can't find anything about him," Phil pointed out.
"He may not be known to anyone. Maybe he's being secretive," Barry offered. "He may be invisible on purpose."
"That sounds more realistic. I don't know, I guess we will have to find out."
"How?" I asked Phil. "Finding out" did not sound very promising. We would have to go right up to him for heavens sake. I certainly didn't want to be in that position.
"Well. I don't know."
"Great. So basically what you're saying is he's going to remain a mystery for as long as we stay away from him?" I rolled my eyes. "Joy."
"Pretty much," Barry shrugged. He returned his attention back to his device and once again I was left there to doodle. We seriously needed a new laptop.
"Dad, I don't think being a scribe is honestly of any use," I whined. "Can I please go do something?"
"Like what, sweetie," he asked. It sounded much more like a robot though for how monotone it was.
"I don't know. Isn't there a gym or something in this hotel? I haven't worked out in a while and my muscles are so," I paused to stretch in an attempt to make it sound more dramatic, "stiff."
"Alleah, you know how I feel about you going out of my sight," he glanced at me with his best expression of worry. "That worries the heck out of me."
"Well is there something else we can do?" I wondered. "I just want to do something. Anything."
"Honey, I really need to focus. Didn't you bring stuff to do?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Go get it, love. I am so close to finding some answers about this legend. Please?"
"Ugh," I groaned, standing up from my chair. I wasn't used to being trapped in such a little space for this long. It might sound pathetic but I went outside at least once to five times each day. This was pure torture.
"Boss, I could watch her," Phil offered, making my spirits lift. Did my ears just trick me, or was he serious?
"Don't you want to help Barry and I?"
"Well, I tried. I couldn't find anything about Zemlicka. I'll help you by watching your daughter. She's been cooped up for way too long. I understand why she wants to get out because honestly I'm ready for a break too."
"Well, I guess an hour won't hurt," my father sighed. He looked like his forehead was going to explode from stress and I had to give it to the poor guy. He had way too much to think about.
"Thanks, Dad!" I squealed. I practically danced all the way to my suitcase, throwing on some of my volleyball gym shorts and a tshirt that I brought for exercising. Once my basketball shoes were on, I skipped out to meet Phil, where he stood in his regular clothes, ready to go.
"Bye, Brent!" Phil called. "We will be back in about an hour!"
My father looked up from his screen. "Alright, you two be careful. Don't do anything stupid and if you see anything suspicious, get your behinds back here as fast as you can," he tipped his head in our direction,"got it?"
"Picture perfect," I winked and turned to walk out the door. "Bye, Dad!"
"Bye, Alleah. Love you, sweetheart!" he called seconds before Phil pulled the door closed behind him. He locked it with the spare key the hotel had given us and slipped in his pocket as we began to walk.
"Alright, punk. What are we going to do?" Phil grinned at me and I chuckled.
"Oh, just a small workout," I winked at him, thinking of my definition of a small workout. Who knows what my small workout would amount to with a twenty-seven year old.
"That's good because this young adult right here is not at all fit. As a matter of fact, I should probably hire a trainer to get rid of my refrigerator," he snorted, grabbing at the teeny amount of chubbiness that he had around his ribs. I could hardly even tell that it was there until he pointed it out.
"Oh, shut up, Phil," I smacked his shoulder roughly. "You're fine. I didn't even notice."
"I'm just messing with myself," he elbowed me playfully and I laughed a little at him.
"You and Barry are hopeless. It's official," I shook my head. We started down the long flight of stairs about then and little did he know he would be doing this a few times. His thighs would be dead.
"Nah, I think you're the hopeless one," he said. We hit the bottom step and rounded the corner where the gym was almost right in front of us. How convenient.
"Whatever you say, Phil," I rolled my eyes as he inserted our hotel key card into the gym lock and opened it for me. I slipped inside and he followed, finding that we were not alone.
"Oh snap," I said, looking at what was in front of us. There was a little silence between us before Phil broke the quiet.
"Alleah," he whined, pulling a face. "I don't want to exercise in front of all those cute girls."
At that point, I couldn't even handle myself. I burst out laughing, falling to the floor and losing complete control. Tears were streaming down my face as I took another glance at the Zumba class in front of us, pulling some very intense moves. There were definitely some very fit and beautiful ladies inside there; Phil's face was absolutely priceless.
"Phil," I cried from my fit of laughter. I was holding my stomach in pain as the women kept dancing without even noticing us. "Relax! We don't have to do it in here you know. But personally I think it's easier to run laps."
"Anywhere, Alleah," he breathed. "Anywhere but here!"
"Alright, Phil," I giggled as I turned around to leave the gym. I opened the door to let him out, but I noticed him stuck in place, still staring at the women in the middle of the gym floor. Somebody was in love...
"Phil? Hello?" I hissed, trying my best not to embarrass him like I so badly wanted to. "Are you coming, Romeo?"
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of it and whirling around to face me.
"Are you coming or not?" I smirked, holding the door open for him. "I thought you wanted to leave."
"Well I did, but....but, uh," he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know, they're kind of fun to watch."
"You like watching them do all those ridiculous moves?"
"They aren't ridiculous, Leelee," he stuck his tongue out at me like a little boy. "They're sexy."
"Ugh, just come on," I whined, rolling my eyes at him and coming back in to grab his arm.
"No," he refused stubbornly. "I'm not leaving yet."
"Phil, come on," I groaned.
"On one condition," he said.
"Tell me," I begged. I just wanted to exercise for heavens sake.
"See that blonde girl over there sitting by her gym bag and drinking water?" he asked, pointing to a gorgeous blonde girl who was all covered in sweat from her workout. She was rather muscular, which I found disgusting, but her face was absolutely stunning. She could've been a model.
"Yes?" I replied, giving him a confused look. "What about her?"
"Go get her number for me, will ya?" he said, a smile slowly forming on his face. I couldn't help but give him a weird look. Why couldn't he do it?
"Fine, sissy. I'll be right back," I grinned evilly, heading straight for her.
"Wait, really?" I heard him gasp, making me grin even bigger. He asked for it and he was definitely going to get it.
I didn't reply as I approached her, the looks of her becoming more and more clear. She definitely was a stunner with her electric blue eyes and blonde hair with bleach blonde highlights. She looked just like the Barbie dolls I played with as a child but she was just a whole lot more muscular.
"Hey!" I said happily as I approached her. Her gaze flickered to mine and she looked a little surprised, but a small smile slowly formed on her face.
"Uh, hey pretty girl I don't know," she chuckled, which surprised me a lot. I was expecting a really snappy response. Maybe Phil did have a good taste in women.
"I'm Alleah," I told her, holding out my hand for her to shake. "What's your name?"
"I'm Ivory, but you can just call me Ivy if you want," she smiled, reaching her hand out to shake mine. It was a friendly grasp and I couldn't help but keep smiling.
"That's a gorgeous name!" I exclaimed.
"Thanks, dear. Are you here for Zumba classes?" she wondered.
"Nah, I came here to exercise in the gym and my friend Phil over here was gawking at you," I said, pointing to Phil. His eyes went huge and he quickly flickered his gaze over to the ladies that were still dancing their hearts out to the Latin music.
"Oh, was he?" she laughed, peeking around me to get a good look at her admirer. It was practically killing me to watch him try and avoid her. I was trying so hard not to laugh.
"Yeah, he thinks you're pretty cute," I told her. Phil was going to KILL me but this was what he deserved for making me stall.
"He's not so bad looking himself," she said a with a small blush.
"You should go talk to him. He would really like that and I'm pretty sure he wants your number," I hinted, taking another look at him.
"He wants my number? Well, darn, I don't know. Is he nice?"
Not to me, I was thinking, but I couldnt ruin this perfect opportunity.
"Yes, he's a huge sweetheart. My father was busy with some work and he offered to come work out with me."
"He's athletic too? I'm sold!" she got right up and starting walking toward him without even waiting for answer. Part of me wanted to stop her but the other part told me to just let her go to him. I listened to devil inside me, of course.
Phil's face was one of horror when he noticed who was coming in his general direction. I sent him a smirk as he started showing the nervous sighs of a male. He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtlessly as she approached him and the two were talking within seconds.
I slowly walked toward them as Phil grinned nervously at Ivory, who was flirting rapidly with him. I never thought of Barry and Phil as being good looking before, but now I could see it. They had pretty cute faces. They weren't fit by any means, but they were healthy and I think that's all that matters.
"I heard you want my number," I heard Ivory say faintly. "Do you have your phone with you?"
"Yes, I actually do," Phil nodded, slipping his hand in his pocket and pulling out his smartphone. I watched them trade phones and enter each other's numbers in their contacts before trading back with huge grins.
"It's been great to meet you, Ivy," Phil smiled.
"You too!" she agreed. "Don't forget to text me and also call me, okay?"
"I won't, you can be guaranteed of that," Phil said flirtatiously. I had to give it to him; he was great at flirting. Just the way he acted around her shocked me. I thought he would be scared to death to talk to such a pretty woman.
"I'm so glad!" she giggled, blushing a little more.
"That's good," he said, giving her a crooked smile before glancing at me with an evil smile. "Hey, Ivy, that reminds me. Alleah here wanted to learn some Zumba."
"Er, Phil, no I-" I tried to interrupt.
"Would you mind teaching her some?" he wondered. That little devil...
"Phil, I didn't-"
"I would love to!" she squealed. "I love teaching!"
"Sounds great! Mind if I watch?"
"Of course you can," she agreed, pointing to a chair next to where we were standing. "Just sit here and we shall begin!"
"Perfect," he grinned evilly at me, making me glare visciously at him. He was going to pay for this little manuever.
Zumba was nothing I would have ever expected. It would make the strongest of athletes sweat their insides out and that's exactly what I did. Probably about twenty minutes into Ivy's gut-bursting routine, I demanded a break for water. I was an athlete for the love of Pete! This was embarrassing!
"Are you okay?" Ivy wondered, looking at me with concern. She was a teeny bit sweaty but acted like she wasn't even close to being finished.
"Uh, yeah... I'm just... a little... tired," I panted like a fifty year old man who had just ran a lap around the track.
"Are you okay, Alleah?" Phil hooted from the folding chair. He was getting a kick out of how tired I was and I wanted to slap him. He probably would be dead after the first five minutes.
"Better than you would be, Phil," I said as loudly as my lungs could handle. His face was dark red with laughter and I had to painfully ignore the urge to go slap the sense out of him.
"Are you ready for more, Alleah?" Ivy asked kindly, twirling her ponytail around with her fingers. She kept sneaking glances at Phil and he was sending her flirty gestures that really made me want to throw up.
"I think I'm good, Ivy. I don't think I'm going to be able to walk tomorrow," I said weakly. There was just a point where your body honestly did not have enough energy and right now was definitely that moment.
"Alright, that's okay. This was your first time, so I understand," she patted my shoulder sweetly. At least she understood, unlike Phil.
"You all pooped out, Leelee?" he cooed.
"Watch out, buster. I'm coming after you," I threatened, making Ivy raise her eyebrows.
"Are you two okay?" she wondered, watching us send dagger glares at each other.
"Don't worry, Ivy," I spoke up, not breaking raking my evil glare with Phil. "Phil and I have a hate-hate relationship. This is a normal thing for us."
"Oh, I see," she laughed, glancing back at the ladies who were still dancing.
"Alleah is just a little bit of a problem child a lot of the time," Phil shrugged, breaking our glare. I mentally patted myself for not being the one to break that glance.
"I could agree with that," someone said from behind me, making me jump twenty feet away from the voice. I whirled around and gasped, backing up slowly away from the attacker.
"What are you doing here, Andrew?" I choked, feeling like passing out. This could not be good. I was almost completely out of energy and now my brother decides to show up. Perfect.
"I just wanted to say hi to my sister," he snorted, pulling me into a huge hug faster than I could respond. I saw Phil in my side vision with his phone, which I imagined he was holding to text my father. We'd been gone for over an hour and he was most likely getting frantic. Ivy just stood there, completely dumbfounded at what was going on.
"Now is not a good time for that, Andrew," I snapped, giving him a hug before gently pulling away from him. He looked a little bit mad about the fact that I did that, but what could he expect?
"Time doesn't matter, Alleah. What matters is bringing our family back together," he said sweetly. He was acting more like a boyfriend than I brother; I couldn't understand why.
"That's what we're trying to do, but somebody is a little stubborn, don't you think?" I said visciously. He was really starting to make me mad.
He looked confused. "Did you purposely just slam yourself?"
That did it.
"Do you want freaking DNA testing, you ignorant fool?" I shouted faster than I could think. I watched the hurt spread across his face and I instantly regretted saying what I had just said.
"A-Andrew, I'm so sorry," I quickly started to say. "Please forgive me."
"No," he said harshly. "I'm sick of this nonsense. I'm sick of Brent engraving this bull crap into your innocent little head. I am bringing you home and I'm doing it now!"
"No!" I shrieked, backing away from him as he began to come toward me again. "I will not do anything you say, brother! Get out of here!"
"I will not!!!!" he shouted so loud that ladies from the Zumba class stopped dancing and turned to watch Andrew and I backing toward the gym wall. Phil was completely flabbergasted and Ivy looked like she was going to have a heart attack. Andrew did look intimidating with his six foot five figure, especially while I was only five foot eight, and Ivy was shorter.
"Don't make me use this on you, little sister," he growled, his hand vibrating with the intense amount of energy he was about to throw at me.
"Run, Alleah!" I heard Phil scream. "Run to your father!"
And that is exactly what I did.
Andrew followed me and I watched his eyes go wide in anger. Just as I had started, I felt a blast of energy at my feet, which I barely dodged with a leap in the air. His enraged growl escaped out of his lips from behind me and I screamed, doing a superman dive out of the gym, where I face planted into my very horrified looking father.
"Alleah!" he exclaimed, helping me back up as I rubbed my nose. I could feel the blood start to trickle from it, but at this point, I couldn't care less. I was too focused on running from my anger-struck brother.
"Dad, we have to run!" I cried, trying to run away from the door as Andrew slipped out, giving our father a very dirty glare.
"Andrew," my father said coldly, holding me protectively away from my brother. I tried to protest when a blood mark smeared on his tshirt, but he held me tighter in response.
"Brent," Andrew snarled, glaring at him in such a way that my heart sank to the deep depths of the ocean. It stang to watch my father be glared at by his own offspring.
"Just go, Andrew," I said in pain.
"Not without you, I won't," he said. I rolled my eyes at him and closed them sadly.
"You have no business here," I told him as Barry came down the stairs with our stuff. He walked past us speedily to put our stuff in the car.
"You are my business, Alleah," Andrew said, giving me a chilling stare.
"No, you both are my business," my father said, holding me tighter. "It's just getting one of you twins to believe it."
Andrew looked very upset. "Get your filthy hands off of my sister! She's not your child! I am sick of saying that and I will not say it again!"
"Andrew," I said through my teeth. "He's our father. Do you want me to prove it?"
"You can't!" he said angrily, looking like he was going to break. He looked as desperate as I felt. This was getting so old.
I actually can if you'll let me," I replied. I felt my father poke my side and I peeked down, noticing him handing me a bottle of five hour energy. I took it gratefully and tried to open the bottle as quietly as I could.
"Well I'm not going to let you because it would be a waste of time. Please Alleah! Come with me!"
"Dad, would it be okay if Andrew and I had a moment?" I asked, winking at him. Andrew didn't see, and my father looked down at the bottle.
"I'll be in the car," he whispered quietly, releasing me and starting to walk toward the camaro and mustang. I waved to him and instantly Andrew jumped on the opportunity to attack.
"You're coming with me," he said softly, wrapping his arms around my waist as he began to tug me toward the door. I quickly popped open the bottle of energy and downed the whole package, throwing the bottle to the side. Thankfully Andrew was too focused on bringing me to Zemlicka that he didn't notice what I had just done.
"Andrew, I really don't think that's a good idea," I muttered, acting upset. "This isn't a fair fight. I just got done with Zumba, for the love of Pete!"
"Exactly why I'm jumping on the opportunity," he smirked. I felt our feet lift up off the ground as we exited the building and I grinned evilly.
"Bad idea, though. You can't honestly think defeat was this easy, can you?" I asked before I let the 5 hour energy do its job. I had never felt such a boost and I let a small slip of it out to blast him away. When I looked back, he was against the hotel wall rubbing his head and looking extremely dazed.
"What the...," he squinted in my direction and I realized what an idiot I was being to stay flying there.
"Sorry, I uh...I need to go," I said, scurrying away from him through the air. I was flying super fast and the hotel was gone in a matter of a couple of seconds.
What I didn't realize was that they were way more prepared than I thought they were. Andrew flicked his wrist toward the sky and with it appeared Zemlicka's enormous UFO type ship, which instantly starting following me just like Andrew was following me now.
Relief went straight to panic. I gasped loudly and started flying faster than I was even possible. Just when I thought I was losing them, Andrew's figure started appearing in the clouds again. My mind was under such high adrenaline that I couldn't even think.
"Give up, Andrew!" I screamed as loud as my throat could handle. It burned a little afterward but it didn't matter. It seemed like they were just never going to get the clue.
"Never, Alleah!" his voice hollered from behind me. I could sense him getting closer and at this point, I needed a miracle.
Cloud after cloud I was still freaking out. I couldnt think of anything to do. For all I knew, we could in Europe. I had no clue how fast I was flying, but I knew it had to be pretty speedy, seen as how I was outflying Zemlicka's ship. Now the problem was just my older brother.
"Anddddd GOTCHA!" his voice played from behind me as I felt two hands creep around my waist and yank back.
"NO!" I screamed widly, desperately trying to get out of his gasp. "Andrew Brent Smith, let go of me you nimrod!"
"Not this time, you insane child! What has gotten into you?" he growled, attempting to get me in a head lock. He had almost succeeded when I accidentally kneed him in the ribs. It wasn't my fault that he had been trying to grip both my wrists in one hand and all I had my mind on was fighting him. He yelled out in pain and grabbed it, holding it tightly as if I had just stabbed him. My powers must have tripled the blow.
As soon as I realized what I had done, I went invisible, practically crying in fear of what had almost just happened. I felt like disappearing and so that's exactly what I did. The ship stopped by Andrew to gather him up and this screechy gut wrenching scream came from the lips of the devil.
"WE WILL GET YOU, ALLEAH!" it shrieked. I shot through the sky toward the earth as fast as I could while I had the opportunity to get away from those two.
My mind was bellowing horror as I flew toward my escape. The only place I could think of that I would feel safe was with my foster mother. I knew she would be thrilled to see me and I needed a break. Running from my own biological brother was taking a toll on my emotions. By now my heart had sunk all the way to my pelvis and it was going to take a lot to heal it.
It took me about twenty minutes to find her house, which I spotted very easily. I slowly walked up to the front door, trying as hard as I could to contain myself. I felt like dropping down to the floor in defeat and just sobbing away my sorrows.
I reached out and pushed my index finger into the button, which rang loudly threw the lit up house. It was probably around three in the afternoon now and she had most likely just gotten home from work. I waited for a little bit, but finally I heard the lock click open and my foster mother pulled it open. She looked confused when she opened it and I felt my heart drop even lower. This was not the reaction I was expecting at all.
"Hello?" she called, poking her head out curiously. I shyly waved but she acted as though I wasn't even there.
Duh, Alleah. That's because you are still invisible to her.
I undid the invisibility quickly when I reminded myself of this and she gasped.
"What just happened?" she cried, backing toward the door. Jeez, how stupid can I get?
"Mom, it's me," I squeaked gently, reaching out to her. "It's Alleah."
She still looked completely astounded.
"Alleah!" she squealed as soon as she got over her fit of shock. "You just about scared me half to death! What did you do and what are you doing here? I'm so happy to see you, but also very shocked!"
"It's a long story, Mom," I sighed, biting my lip. I was still shaking like a vibrating phone and she noticed as soon as she stopped hugging me.
"Come in, beautiful. Let's get you fixed up, alright?"
"Please," I agreed. She helped me in and sat me in the couch next to the entry, quickly cleaning off her magazines from where they had been. It was so much more disorganized than it had ever been while she raised me and it honestly scared the heck out of me. My disappearance may have broken her and I felt horrible.
"What can I get you, sweetheart?" she asked me once she had cleared everything up.
"A therapy session," I sighed, leaning my head back against the pillow soft head rest.
"Oh, honey, what's gone wrong?" she wondered. I felt the cushion next to my bottom go lower and I turned my head to look at her in response.
"Everything, Mom. Absolutely everything," I told her.
"But I thought you were with your biological father," she said in confusion. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"No, it never was a good thing," I sighed while taking deep breaths to calm my trembling body down. It had to have been from the trauma I had just experienced.
"Oh, I do remember you telling me about this now," she chewed on her chapped bottom lip, thinking.
"Yes, with me having a brother and all. Well, they almost just got me. Andrew had me in his arms about fifty feet from the evil guy's ship and I barely escaped due to an accident. I accidentally kicked him in the ribs."
"Oh, sweetie, are you alright?" she gasped. Her hands searched my face curiously for bumps and bruises, but she found nothing. He hadn't hurt me, just scared me half to death.
"Just...a little traumatized," I admitted sourly. It made me mad that I had been so stupid to let Andrew get even that close to me and that I had decided to go against my father's judgments just to exercise. It wasn't as important as staying away from the one thing that could separate my father and I forever; Zemlicka and Andrew were determined.
"I can't even imagine, Alleah. I am so sorry about all of this. I also apologize for never telling you that you weren't really mine. You were just my adopted daughter, but you mean the world to mean no matter whose daughter you are. Losing you was the worst thing that's ever happened to me and even though I realize your father went through the same thing for sixteen years of his life, it's been horrible."
"I'm so sorry, Mom," I apologized, bringing her into arms and hugging her tightly in an attempt to comfort her. Now I really felt like the bad guy.
"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," she cooed, stroking my long dark hair against my back as we embraced each other on the couch. "You didn't choose to be in this situation. I don't think anyone would have."
"I know, but Mom, I left you here alone and that really bothers me."
"Honey, if it keeps you safe, I want you to be away. I don't want anything to happen to you that will rip you away from me forever."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," I sighed, leaning my head against her broad shoulder. "But no matter what, I'm going to feel bad and I want to make things right."
"Honey, you-"
"I promise you, Mom," I continued, ignoring her protest, "that when my brother has been recovered and when the Smith family is safe, I will come back here and we will live here in Yalington with you so that I can visit you. I promise."
"Alleah, you don't have to do that for me," she said. Her selflessness never got old. She had to be one of the sweetest people in the world. It was never about her, but to me it needed to be for once.
"Well I'm going to because you raised me and made me who I am today, a strong athlete and someone I wouldn't ever want to change. You deserve so much more than anyone has ever given you and I'm going to make sure that I don't let you down."
Tears glistened in her eyes as she pulled me into another hug. To be honest, I didn't even think of saying anything close to that, but as it flowed out of my mouth like a river current, I was glad I said it. It was true, she deserved it and so much more.
"Alleah, you're the best," she smiled, wiping the edge of her eyes as she squeezed me in her huge hug. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"Oh, whatever, Mom," I blushed. "You deserve more than I'll ever offer you."
Saying this gave me an idea.
"Mom?"
"What?"
"Is there anything that's been bothering you lately that I can help you with?"
"I suppose there is, but I don't want you to have to worry about it," she said, finally pulling back from our long embrace. "I think you just need to go to your room and sleep. You look like someone just beat you with a bat."
I felt around my hair, suddenly feeling conscious of my lion's mane. It wasn't my fault that I had to fly through the wind at a couple hundred miles an hour. Thankfully my hair was naturally straight, but whose hair wouldn't be crazy after a flight like I'd just experienced?
"Uh, I'm fine, Mom. I promise. I'm running on a bottle of five hour energy right now so sleep would be a little impossible," I admitted. "By the sides, I would rather help you."
"Well, okay. I guess I've been having problems with gardening. Also I've been struggling to keep up on bank payments. But really, you don't need to-"
"I'm on it," I interrupted, getting up to go outside in the back yard. My foster mom was quite the gardener, so this surprised me. But no worries, I was about to help her get it together again.
I heard her footsteps following as I opened the screen door to go outside and check out the garden. She was right, it really was lacking. Normally she'd have a bunch of pumpkins and still have some corn around in places, along with squash and her trees were normally covered in apples. This was probably the reason she was struggling making payments; her lack of garden fruits and vegetables was causing her to have to buy more food than she was used to.
The energy I was about to use was now tingling on my fingers as I planned where I was going to start dispersing the energy. Deciding that the apples would probably be the most beneficial, I used my energy to blast the two large apple trees. A few seconds later, they were blossoming with gorgeous red apples that were the size of my father's fists, nearly half the size of a cantaloupe melon. My foster mother's jaw dropped in awe as she watched me recover her hurting trees into some of the healthiest trees we'd ever seen. It felt fabulous to have this much power over nature and even better to help my foster mom.
My mom threw her arms around me happily when I had finished with the vegetables and jumped around like a little girl jumping a jump rope. She was definitely a person who loved natural foods so I knew she was delighted.
"Thank you, beautiful!" she kissed my cheek like all mothers do to their children and helped me back inside after picking some of those glossy red apples for us to snack on. My stomach grumbled at the sight of them and there was no doubt they were delicious too.
Halfway through our apples, we heard an obnoxious bang at the door. I nearly jumped out of my skin, even though it was just a little pound and my mom noticed, looking a bit worried.
"I'll get that," she said, standing up to go get the door. I sat by the bar and started hyperventilating. What if Zemlicka was here? What if Andrew had traced where I'd gone? What if they were going to steal me away from the people I loved forever?
"Hey, Mrs. Johnston," a familiar masculine voice greeted my mom. I let out a little yelp, peeking around the wall to see who was intruding this time. The person I saw was not the person I expected at all.
"Hello, Oliver," my mom exclaimed, taking a package from him. "You are such a dear."
"Well, my mom knows you love them and we'll do anything to help you," he smiled. "I hope your headaches get better."
"OLIVER FREAKING OH MY GOSH!" I squealed like a mad woman. He winced from the screechy noise I made, but then his face lit up like a light bulb.
"Alleah?!" he gasped, squeezing past my mom to come and give me a bear hug. He twirled me around with his six foot four figure and I hugged him back tightly. He hadn't come at a better time.
"What's up, Ollie?" I asked, overwhelmed with all of this excitement. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.
"Just delivering for my mom," he laughed, roughing up my hair. "Where have you been, little one?"
"Oh, please," I muttered, pushing his hand away playfully. "Little?"
"Adorably little," he joked, patting my hand. "But seriously, where have you been?"
"It's kind of a long story, Oliver. I told you some of it in a text message, didn't I?"
"Yes, but I don't remember most of it. It's been a long time," he scratched his head. "You've been gone for a couple of months now."
"Yeah, that's true. Ollie, I've been trying to get my twin brother back with my biological father, remember?" I reminded him.
His expression went from one of merriness to one that looked completely lost. "I kind of remember something about your father and you having powers, but a twin? Since when are you a twin?" he looked at my foster mom for confirmation and she nodded, making him raise his eyebrows.
"Since forever," I shrugged. "But he's in danger just as I am. I came here to escape him and the guy who's trying to get us both. My father and I have been trying to uncover the legend that messed our family up, but as far as I know there's nothing. We need to destroy him."
"I always knew you were a special girl, but really? Why does this have to happen to my best friend?" he sighed, making a disappointed face. "I don't think you realize how badly I've missed you. School just isn't the same without our long lunches together and hanging out. Jessica has been depressed a lot, even though she has Sammy and Adrianna. But it's just not the same without you."
"I'm so sorry, Oliver. I didn't want to go," I said, trying to comfort him. "The only reason my father even bothered to get me was because he knew something like what happened at that volleyball game was going to happen if he didn't bring me into his refuge, but it happened anyway."
"That's just...sickening," Oliver looked down at me with sorrow burning in his eyes. It was the same pained tone that was heard in my foster mom's voice when I told her I would no longer be living with her due to safety issues.
"I know," I nodded in agreement. I was beginning to realize even more how badly I missed my old life. Curse Zemlicka forever and ever for destroying my life.
"There's also something else," he said as my mom disappeared into the kitchen with the package of goodies Oliver had brought over. His tone was low and I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach. Could something else possibly make things even worse than they already were?
"What is it, Ollie?" I asked anxiously, gripping his fore arms gently. He better spill because I was about to freak out.
"Please don't be mad at me, alright?" he begged, biting his lip. "This is something I really think you should know. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember and I don't want anything to ruin it."
"You can tell me, Oliver, it's okay," I said to him. What did he do, kill the cat I don't have?
"Alleah," he sighed, looking away. He looked very uncomfortable, so I just let him gather himself for a little bit. "You being gone has made me realize some things and I didn't want to, but you can't really deny your feelings."
"What do you mean?" I asked. Whatever he was leading on to, curiosity was killing me.
"Alleah," he said my name again gently, looking into my green eyes with his soft hazel eyes. "While you were gone, I realized I have more feelings for you than I remember having. Alleah, I'm in love with you."