Day 362
4 days. It was hard to believe that I had such a short time. I rubbed my eyes and headed for the bathroom. I took a cold shower to help wake myself up. For some reason I felt extremely sleepy this morning. I felt fine after the cold shower and woke everyone else up.
The went through their normal morning routine. Lilian had made everyone appear normal again and it was nice having everyone to the way they usual were. While we ate breakfast, scrambled eggs and toast, I thought about something. I only had four days left. Should I tell everyone? They should probably know but I would hate to ruin everyone's day with such bad news. Finally I decided to just get it over with. Better to do it sooner than later.
"Um, guys...." I wasn't sure how to start.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me expectantly.
"I only have four days left including today."
There, it was out. Silence fell on the table. Everyone slowly started eating again. The silence was broken only by the clanging of the forks on the plates.
"So soon?" mom finally spoke.
"Yes," I choked out.
Then it seemed as if everyone snapped out of whatever they were in and everyone seemed to be talking at the same time.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier that you had so few days?"
"Are you sure that you only have four days?"
"Four days! What are we going to do?"
I held up my hands.
"Whoa, hold on you guys. This is exactly why I didn't tell you earlier, I knew you would flip out," I said angrily.
"Flip out? What do you think I would do after just recently finding out that your father is dead," mom stormed out of the room.
I started to get up and go after her, but Lilian put her hand on my arm.
"Give her some space," Lilian said knowingly.
I settled back in my chair. I wasn't done with being angry with people yet.
"What about YOU!" I jammed my finger in Lilian's direction, "You told me that you lied to me about how many days you had but never told me why or how many days you actually have."
Tim looked like he was feeling out of place but was afraid to leave in case I yelled at him too. A sad look came into Lilian's eyes as she answered my question.
"The people I worked for back at EVDA made me lie to you. They didn't tell me why and at the time I did everything they said. I have two more days than you do, Max."
Immediately I regretted yelling at Lilian. She only had two more days than I did. No wonder she looked sad. Silence fell on the room again and after a while I placed my plate next to the sink and went to find mom. She was sitting on her bed looking at something. I went over and sat next to her. She was looking at a picture. It was of me sitting on dad's shoulders. Both of us were smiling and laughing. I recognized it as the one from the park.
"You always did like that park," mom said quietly.
"Where did you get that picture?"
"Oh, it's my favorite one of the men in our family so I keep it in my purse."
We looked at it for a while longer and then she tucked the photo back in her purse.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you like that. It's just hard with everything that's been going on lately."
"Charles!" Lilian yelled from the dining area.
Charles? He was here? I remembered throwing the scalpel at him. He hadn't been killed by the wound after-all as I had hoped.
"Mom, stay here until I come back," I commanded.
I pulled the door shut and ran to the kitchen expecting to see Charles grinning at the doorway holding a ray gun. However, when I arrived, the dining room was empty except for Lilian and Tim. Lilian had just gotten up.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"Not here," Lilian rolled her eyes.
"Then why did you shout his name?"
"Charles is a Senser. He can people with powers."
I looked at her, horrified. Charles could be making his way here right now!
"Okay you guys we have to leave right now. Tim, Lilian, go help my mom pack a couple backpacks with the bare essentials. I'll check around outside to see if I can spot anyone and I'll return the key and everything."
Tim and Lilian ran out of the room and I grabbed our room key and ran downstairs. The stairs faced the front desk and as I hit the last step I saw someone standing at the counter. Thankfully his back was to me and he didn't see me. I recognized the curly blond hair. It was Charles.
"Have you seen these people?" he asked the man at the desk.
"No, I can't say that I have," he replied.
"Have any new people come here in the past few days? A group of four, maybe a family?"
"What's it to you?" the man growled.
Charles pulled out a gun and pointed it at the man's head.
"Just answer the question if you want to live to see tomorrow."
The man gulped. I ran back up the stairs as fast as I could. Charles was here which meant that in a matter of minutes he would find us. I charged back into our room and slammed the door behind me creating a wall of ice in front of it so no one could get in without breaking the ice.
"Charles is already here," I said, rushing into the bedroom.
"What?" Tim's head whipped up from the backpack he had been dutifully packing.
"Yes and he's downstairs right now. Grab the backpacks and let's go," I grabbed my knife.
Tim and Lilian each grabbed a backpack and mom once again put her hands around my neck. Lilian made us invisible with a crack and I flew out the window. Where could we go now? It seemed that no matter where we went Charles would still be able to find us since he was a Senser.
Several places popped into my head. The Bahamas, Africa, I just didn't know. Finally I decided to head North. They would probably think that we changed directions so keeping to the same direction seemed like a good idea.
I flew north for a very long time and I knew that we were almost to the Pole. This area used to be covered in snow and glaciers but now it was just a massive space of land dotted with many lakes and ponds. I flew down to the ground to take a break. It seemed that it was more tiring than before now that I had two backpacks to fly through the air with as well.
"Can we walk for a while? My arms are starting to hurt."
"Sure Max. I would have problems flying with all the extra weight Lilian has, too," Tim teased Lilian.
"Hey! Are you calling me fat?" Lilian crossed her arms over her chest.
Tim chuckled and Lilian picked a stick up off the ground.
"You see this?" she said threateningly.
"Guys will you chill out?" I laughed at them.
Lilian dropped the stick and Tim looked at me guiltily. I took a few steps forward and whacked into something. I looked in front of me but all I could see was miles and miles of flat terrain. I stepped forward and again hit something. I reached out my hand. Nothing nothing....There! I felt something solid.
It was flat and as I moved my hand over it I could tell that it was very large. I blinked my eyes a couple of times but still couldn't see anything in front of me. It was sort of unnerving to not see anything yet knowing that I was touching something. I turned to my left just in time to see Lilian smack into something.
"Ow!" she rubbed her nose.
"Nobody move," I shouted.
Lilian reached out her hand and started feeling around.
"Hm...." she said.
"What do you think it is?" I asked her.
"Well, it seems to be some sort of big object. I don't know why we can't see it unless...." she trailed off.
"What is it?" mom asked.
Lilian waved her hand and with a loud crack the unseen object was revealed. It wasn't an object really, it was more of a giant metal enclosure and by giant I mean HUGE! Silvery-gray walls ran for miles on either side of us. Far away I could see that the ends were curved. I looked up and the silvery metal ran far into the sky. I couldn't see the top. What was it?
"Hello," a voice said.
Everyone jumped and I turned around to see a man smiling at us.
"Who are you and where did you come from?" I asked.
"Ah, everyone always wants to know that. "Where did you come from?" They ask. "How did you get here?" It does get rather annoying after a while. I will, however, answer your question and since you also have powers I can tell you the truth. My name is Avery Jackson and I'm a Teleporter."
I looked at the man stunned. A Teleporter? People could do that?
"What are your powers?" Avery motioned to all of us.
He thought that we all have powers.
"I'm an Illusionist, my name is Lilian. Julia and Tim don't have any powers, they're immune. Julia is Max's mom," Lilian pointed at the respective people as she said their name.
"What about you? Are you also immune?" Avery pointed at me.
"Um, I kind of have them all," I shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.
Avery had an unreadable look on his face.
"A Liberum," he finally said.
"A what?"
"It's Latin for unbounded, unrestricted, all powerful. We didn't think it was possible," he looked me up and down.
"Oh....So who exactly are you referring to when you say "we" and what is that?" I asked pointing at the silver wall.
"A while back a group of us who had powers came here. We didn't want to be hunted down so we made ourselves a sanctuary out here where no one would be likely to come. Our group has grown larger and larger to what it is today. You wouldn't have known we were her except your girlfriend is an Illusionist," Avery was talking to me.
"Oh, Lilian's not my girlfriend," my face colored.
"Right, well, you'll probably want to meet our leader. I know she'll be interested in meeting you," Avery said pointedly at me.
"A woman leader....That's cool," Tim said.
"Yes, she was one of the first ones here," Avery replied.
"So how are we going to get there? Is there like a door somewhere?" Lilian walked over to the wall and knocked on it producing a hollow sound.
"I'll teleport us inside," Avery laughed.
"You can teleport other people to?" Lilian's eyes widened in amazement.
"Well, anything that we're touching," Avery grinned, "how do you think that I teleport around and keep my clothes on? Otherwise I would just end up popping up in random places naked-"
"Ahem," mom cleared her throat.
Avery blushed.
"Okay, where were we? Oh, right," he ran over to us.
This could be interesting....
"Put your hands on my shoulder," he instructed.
We did so and as soon as we did I felt a funny feeling. It was like falling but not actually going anywhere. Everything faded and when I blinked we were inside a normal looking room. It was a rather large room with the only thing in a desk. A woman was sitting at the desk studying several papers. She looked up as it became obvious that she was no longer alone.
"What is it Avery? Who are these people?"
"Ah, Louise, these happen to be some very interesting people that I found just on the south side of the compound. This is Julia, Tim, Lilian, and Max. Julia is Max's mom and immune along with Tim, Lilian is an Illusionist, and Max is a Liberum!"
"Yes, the group of four who are seeking safety from a brother," Louise said.
What was she talking about? We were seeking safety, I guess, but not from any brother of mine! I didn't even have a brother.
"Don't be confused," she said seeing the looks on our faces, "you are seeking safety, right?"
"Yes...." I replied slowly.
"Do not worry, you will not be found here. I have had Maskers hide this place so that no Sensers can find it."
"How did you know that Charles was after us?" mom asked.
"I am a Seer. I have glimpses of the future and I saw a group of four, seeking safety from a brother. Not a brother in the literally sense but someone who also has a power."
"Oh," I said.
"I am quite interested in meeting you Max. I've never met a Liberum before," Louise smiled at me.
"I never even knew there was a word for what I have until I came here."
"Yes, well, we will have to have a chat sometime but for now you can have a tour of the place and get settled into your rooms. I've already made sleeping arrangements with Robert, he's the builder. Avery, show them around."
Louise went back to her work and Avery led us out of the room. I was expecting some futuristic place but instead it was just as normal as Louise's office. It was a normal town and you would have thought you were in a completely normal place if it weren't for the oddities here and there.
A kid flew over us squealing with delight. A woman was darting around the front yard of a house waving her hand here and there and making beautiful flowers appear out of thin air. A group of rowdy looking boys were sneaking around and finally one of them threw out his hand. A ball of fire flew at one of the street lights and the boys took off laughing.
The light fell to the ground with a crash. A man came running from around the corner and with a wave of his hand the street light was upright again looking as if nothing had happened to it. The man smiled at his work and then noticed us watching him. He walked over to us.
"Hello, I'm Robert. I'm the builder," he shook our hands.
We greeted him politely and he turned to Avery.
"It was the Davis boys again wasn't it," he stated rather than asked.
"Yep and they're-"
He disappeared and then reappeared a few seconds later.
"-a couple streets over messing with Mrs. Friedan."
"Mrs. Friedan?" Tim asked.
"No one knows her first name," Avery said, "she was here before any of the rest of us were. Rumor has it that she used to live out here on her own. She really liked the ice that used to be here and she would run around making ice all around. Of course, it melted but she didn't seem to care.
Robert laughed, "Well, I hope she's frozen them by now!"
We continued on our tour after chit-chatting for a while. As we left Robert behind I realized that his name could be shortened to Bob. Bob the builder. I laughed and everyone looked at me funny since it seemed as though I was laughing at nothing in particular. I didn't explain it to them. Avery was still with us and he and Robert seemed to be good buddies. I didn't want to make fun of his friend.
The tour didn't seem too exciting since it was just of a normal town but I did get a feeling for how many different powers there were. There were shape-shifters, people who could control fire, the flower lady, and even some girl who kept sneezing Bubble Gum everywhere she went! I didn't want to see if I could do that one!
The shape-shifters were probably the best in my opinion. They could shift into anything! I watched as one of them shifted into a cat and then into a dog. Another one shifted into a mailbox and then into a Corvette. We left the shape-shifter group and Avery showed us where we would be sleeping.
Our sleeping quarters turned out to be the top floor of a modest looking home. The furniture and everything was typical for a modestly sized house. We each had our own room and when I asked about food, Avery said that someone would come up later on and give us anything we needed. He sounded like that "someone" would be creating the stuff for us on the spot and I knew that it was one of the people with a power that could do that.
The rest of the day flew by. I enjoyed trying out the various powers and everyone seemed to want me to try theirs. Finally after being asked to change into a puddle of vomit, that was unfortunately one person's power, I decided I had had enough. It was getting late and everyone was going to meet up at the dining room upstairs in the house we were staying in.
"Hey guys, how was your day?" I asked as everyone got seated.
"So much fun!" Lilian looked like she was having trouble controlling her excitement.
"So what did you do Lilian?" I asked.
"Well, I talked to the girl that makes this place invisible and she showed me some tricks. She's been doing it ever since she got the power and since she's been here all this time she know's a lot of stuff!"
"That's cool, what about you Tim?"
"Fine," Tim said.
"What's the matter Tim?" mom asked.
"Well, not everyone here thinks that being immune is a good thing. I got teased because I don't have any powers. Didn't you have any trouble?" he asked my mom.
"No, probably because I have a very motherly look!" her eyes twinkled, "Don't worry Tim, just ignore them."
Pete arrived and began asking us what we wanted. Whatever it was, he could just make it appear on the table for us to enjoy. I decided to have some tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. Sure enough exactly that was suddenly on my plate. After we were done asking for what we wanted Pete left us to our meal.
"Max, you should definitely learn that one!" Tim took huge bites out of his cheese and pepperoni pizza.
After dinner we played Dutch Blitz for a while before heading to bed. I said good night to everyone and headed to my room. I undressed and got under the covers. Soon I was falling asleep thinking about the theme song for Bob the Builder.
Author's Note:
Ha ha! The Bob the Builder part was fun to write. I worked on this all afternoon and it kept getting longer. Finally finished! I didn't put any Tim and Lilian romance because of the comments but I didn't put any Lilian and Max romance in either. I think maybe I'll just leave it out of the story.
What do you guys think of the them finally reaching a safe haven? I was like phew! I think I will actually finish this book in time!