Break the Norm

Chapter 3

Chapter 3





~*~ Laura





I didn't want to open my eyes. I was too scared of what I would see. I was just stabbed by the only person I've ever trusted. "Are we still in your room? Is it still your sixteenth birthday?"





I heard Drake clear his throat. "Yes, we're still in my room, but it's after midnight so no, it's not my birthday."





I sat up and opened my eyes. "Past midnight? Was I out that long?"





"No, we've been sitting here in silence that long. You snapped out of it twelve hours ago."





I tried to stand up, but I was still missing half of my energy and I fell back onto the bed. "I need to get home." Drake nodded and hesitated as he put his arm around my waist. I usually would've asked, but I just didn't have the energy. He walked out of the room and out of the house in silence. I was being dragged more than I was walking. My feet dragged on the leaf covered cement. I glanced up to see a tree house that looked like some had abandoned it. I've never seen it before. "Drake, did you know that tree house was there?"





He looked down at me with empty eyes, but they retained a little confusion. He looked up at the tree house and his confusion drained leaving his eyes empty again. "Yes."





He started walking faster. I tried walking faster to keep up. After a few seconds I realized I had the energy to walk. I stopped, thoroughly confused. Energy doesn't get replenished that fast. I glanced back up at the tree house. You're welcome. Now get home. My eyes grew wide as I heard the voice and realized it came from inside my head. Someone in that tree house could manipulate energy and they knew more about it than I did.





The voice was right, though. I needed to get home. I couldn't just rely on someone else's borrowed energy. I was lost in thought and was surprised when Drake got me to my window. I felt my own energy start to return to me as the duplicate faded. With my energy replenished, I was able to open the window and crawl in. I lied down in my bed, expecting to stay up thinking about everything that had happened, but I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.





~*~ Sean





The tree house smelled musty after the small rain shower. As tough and splintered as the floors were, it was still the easiest place for me to sit, relax, think, read, or sleep. But I'd been interrupted. Laura had walked by. Her aura has the same intensity as Drea's did. I could feel Drea's aura even without being a Vym. I was about to go report to HQ for the first time in years. People said they felt Drea's presence and no one had believed them, but now I get it. And now my job gets harder. No one is supposed to know about her. She was supposed to grow up a normal human without any influence from Vyms, but it's impossible to not accidentally discover powers that are so easy to access. Some Vyms who had felt her presence thought she hovered between the two sides, that she'd bring all the Vyms together. My parents and I knew better. She's the enemy. She's a Blood.





Hunters and Bloods don't have a fight that goes back through the ages. It's all very recent. And it all started with Erik. Erik and Drea were an unofficial item. People liked how they lived, recklessly, self absorbed and, of course, power happy. All of the most dangerous and untrained Vyms fled to Erik and Drea in search of a life without the rules we'd placed to protect. One of the Bloods' 'fun' activities was finding all the different ways to kill people with the powers of a Vym. They started out with least noticeable. Silent, stealthy ways to kill progressed into bloody, gruesome public deaths. From this came the name 'Bloods.' It's a name they're proud of. The rest of the Vyms vowed to stop them, hunt them down, but not stoop to their level and kill them. So the Hunters were formed and invented a way to hunt without killing. I'm not sure whether it's a great alternative. In a way, it is death. A person with no memory of who they are, were, or will be is not a person at all. Vym invoked amnesia is almost worse than death.





I couldn't help feeling that that was Laura's future. She'd have to be forced to forget her 'gift' as she called it. It was such a big part of her life…she'd forget everything along with forgetting she's a Vym. She'd forget everything up until the second night Drake and I had beaten her up. Erik had driven by. Erik certainly knew how to be a catalyst. Curiosity speeds discovery. But it was that night I gave myself a reality check: that I realized what I was doing was wrong. I was only doing it because my parents said to. I thought my life was normal, or as normal as it could be as the son of the Hunters' leaders. And on top of that, I wasn't a Vym. I was a disgrace from the moment I was born, a rejected prince. But I still didn't have a reason to hurt that girl. If her memories were taken, all she would know would be to fear Drake and myself. I couldn't let her lose her best friend. I'd lost any chance of being a good part of her life a long time ago. My life mission was still the same, no matter whether my parents continued giving me orders. I'm here to protect Laura, even though it had originally been to contain her, I was trained to be her shadow.





~*~ Laura





When my eyes opened in the morning, everything that happened the day before finally hit me. I just saw the future. A future where I become the bad guy and Drake and Sean's family work together to kill me, but future me spoke of alternate futures. I wasn't going to come to any conclusions until I saw all four of these alternates.





A cell phone ring forced me out of bed. I was more than a little surprised to see Drake was up before noon and answered to a monotone voice. "I could tell you were up because the orange went away."





I nodded to myself. The tattoo worked amazingly. "How are you, Drake?"





I heard a small chuckle. "Why did you ask that? I was supposed to ask that. Then again…I guess I did freak out more than you did…Do you want to come over?"





I smiled "Be right there." I took my time walking to Drake's because I wanted to find out where that tree house was. I found it half way between my house and Drake's. I focused on the tree house and tried to pick up any energy to see if someone were there. To my surprise, I hit an energy wall. I recoiled in shock. I didn't know such a thing existed. The person on the other side was shocked to. Their guard had been down and I caught a few stray thoughts, but they weren't anything more than "What the hell?"





I stared up at the tree house and focused on the energy wall. It began to move, but I still couldn't see its source. For a second, I caught a glimpse of sandy blonde hair, but it was gone so fast I wasn't sure if it was real. Suddenly, the energy was behind me. I turned slowly.





"So you found me, huh?" Sean's face held the same insulting expression as I've always seen, but his eyes were still empty. He didn't even give me time to figure out how he'd gotten behind me so fast.





I shook my head. This was ridiculous. The person in the tree house couldn't be Sean. "But last night…last night you helped me. You told me to get home. It was like you were concerned…"





It was silent for a few moments. "Mhm." Sean looked at me like I was stupid and his annoying response was an insult to my sanity.





My eyes grew intense as a life long hatred filled my glance. "I don't know what your deal is, Sean Hunt, but I will not let you toy around with me anymore." I turned and started walking away.





"I wanted to say sorry." Sean's voice changed and I turned to see an upset, guilty looking boy. I couldn't respond. Sean looked totally different without his smirk. "About elementary school. I'm sorry. You shouldn't accept my apology because you have no idea how sincere it is and I'm not even going to give you an excuse as to why I did what I did, because there is a reason. And no, it's not what you think it is…why are you looking at me like that?"





I grew embarrassed when I realized my face held an expression of shock and appreciation which looked ridiculously dreamy. Sean smirked a little…no, it was a smile. His eyes took on a bit of emotion, but it was gone before I could read it. "Sean…last night. You manipulated energy. Are you…are you like me?"





I didn't think it was possible, but Sean's eyes grew even more emotionless. I started to understand that meant sadness. "We're nothing alike, Laura." Then he vanished in a whoosh of wind. Confused at the empty air where Sean had just been, I could think of no option but to turn and continue to Drake's house.





Drake was at the door before I got there. "What the hell happened to you on the way here?"





I looked down, trying to figure out what he meant. He held up his wrist and I saw a pale yellow key: confusion. "Um…I talked to Sean." Drake's eyes were wide but he didn't say anything. "I think he has the same powers as I do, but he knows them better than I do. What if that means he had a teacher? That would mean I'm not the only one. There could be a whole city filled with people like me…I don't understand why I never noticed before. Maybe their energy has a different feel than normal and I can find them that way." Drake looked at me like he was in on something. I grew suspicious of the time he and Sean spent together in elementary school. "What do you know, Drake?"





He looked at his feet. "I know that Sean wants to be the one to tell you. But we need to talk about what happened last night."





I wished he could forget. I was the one with the power, maybe I was supposed to know for some reason, but I got the feeling he should have never known about it. I thought about how my gift has more possibilities than I've found. I wondered if I couldn't make him forget…





My thoughts were interrupted when I felt an increase in the energy level. A voice floated through my thoughts. Hi…um. I'll explain another time. Even as I looked around I couldn't find Sean. I felt a smile through his energy. I'm a good hider. Just…I don't know what you want me to say, but you need to go inside. Drake's confused.





I looked at Drake to see Sean was right. "Sorry, it's just really nice out." I smiled.





Drake rolled his eyes. "Okay then."





No one said anything and we sat on Drake's bed in silence. I just had to ask him. "Would you rather forget about it? I mean, it's a lot of pressure and if there are alternative futures…maybe you just shouldn't know about the future, Drake. You're stressing out. You didn't sleep at all, did you?"





"No…um yes. Wait. No, I didn't sleep. Yes, I'd rather forget."





I bit my lip. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. "I want to try. I've noticed my gift can exceed the limits I set for it. I think I can manipulate your memory…"





Drake didn't hesitate. "Do it. Erase my dad while you're at it."





I wasn't about to do that. I slowly penetrated Drake's mind. He squirmed uncomfortably. He knew I could hear his thoughts. He was trying to block one particular thought, but that just brought it out more. I heard Drake's thought loud and clear. She looked so damn hot. I froze up like I had at therapy. I didn't know what to think about that, so I erased it. I whispered one word and focused my thoughts on my vision of the future. "Forget." I felt thoughts one by one fading out of existence as I stored them in a small box I made of energy within his head. He wouldn't really forget, he just wouldn't be able to remember. Memories were just energy so they were quite easy to manipulate but I didn't want to erase them. It seemed potentially dangerous. Finally Drake was just thinking about how I had talked to Sean. "Hey Drake, what all happened yesterday?"





He looked at me weird, but the underlying misery was gone. "We went to Rae and Brad's game after you had an attack because you ran away from your dad again."





I nodded. "What did we do after the game?"





"What the hell? Nothing happened after the game. We both went home. Is this an interrogation? Was there a murder?"





I grimaced. Something like that, I thought to myself. I heard a laugh that didn't belong to me or Drake. I then realized we still weren't alone. Sean, this is an invasion of privacy.





The energy that I just noticed was Sean's frozen in shock. He responded through confused energy. This is just the first time you've noticed me here. Like I said, I'll explain. Just not with Drake there. I need to talk to you alone…if you're comfortable with that. I'll be at the park all day practicing. You can pass by.





I tried to continue talking to Drake so he wouldn't be suspicious. It became easier when Sean's energy vanished. I sighed with relief. Drake continued speaking. "Why didn't we have cake? Wait, I don't remember anything happening after the game. I just remember you standing on my porch and talking about Sean…what did happen last night?"





I shrugged. "You said you would rather not know."





He looked at me suspiciously. "I never said that."





I nodded. "You did, but I made you forget that, too. Hm…I probably should've left just that thought."





He was silent in thought for awhile. "So…you can manipulate memories and something bad happened and I didn't want to remember so you just casually offered to erase my memory…Did you ever stop to think that I wasn't speaking seriously? Sometimes you think you don't want to know something, you'd rather it didn't happen, but you realize that you never seriously thought that. I'd never want to seriously erase my memory, Laura. I can deal with anything that comes at me."





His eyes were intense, but I kind of felt bad seeing as he couldn't deal with something. He totally broke down yesterday. Though…maybe if I had given him a little more time…and now the regret pours in. "Drake, I need to go."





"What? Go where?"





I've never had to leave for anything but therapy, but I had to get things figured out with Sean. "I'm meeting someone. I'll tell you more about it later. Um…bye." I left without looking back.





I got to the park and heard Sean before I saw him. A rhythmic CLANG rang out every couple of seconds. A pitching machine was set up on the field and Sean hit every one. He stopped hitting and the silence was eerie. He turned the machine off and stared at me from so far away. It was like he could still look right into my eyes so I watched my feet as I walked.





"Don't ignore me."





I jumped as the voice came from beside me. "What? Sean? How…?" I glanced back at the field where Sean wasn't and to where he was standing by my side. Well, he actually gave me a lot of space, but that's beside the point. "Are you…?"





He shook his head. He had his hands in his pockets as he walked. "I don't have 'the gift' as you do."





I narrowed my eyes. "Are you not scared of it anymore? But…you put your thoughts in my head. You have to have had the gift for that."





He shook his head again. "Your mind is open for all access. All I had to do was think loudly and you could hear me. If I had 'the gift' an open mind like that would be a ridiculously easy prey. It'd be like target practice. You should work on that."





I tried to figure out how he seemed to know so much about the gift without having it. "But you just teleported or something…didn't you?"





He smiled. "Nope." He popped the 'p' so I could tell he was excited about my mistake. "I ran."





I stopped walking because that answer was just too ridiculous. "You ran? People don't run that fast."





He nodded. "No, they don't. I do."





I sighed, knowing he was itching for me to ask. "How?"





He smiled. I was shocked by the energy radiating out of him. He's been holding this back for years and now that he's letting it out, he's ecstatic. "Vy- Um…I mean people with 'the gift' can enhance things about themselves or they're born with things enhanced. Like your memory reliving thing."





"How do you know that?!"





I interrupted, but he ignored me. "I obviously do not have the gift, but I have an extra, as it's called.





"Who calls it that?"





"So both the speed of my body and the speed of my thoughts are heightened. My senses are heightened too so I can see while I run, that's kind of important. But even though my eyes can read my surroundings and guide me past obstacles while I run, I still can't see as far as I should…"





He looked off into the distance with a distinct frown on his fact. I tried to hold back any comments, but I couldn't contain the confusion. "Sean?" He snapped out of it. "How do you know this?"





He stared into my eyes, but remained silent. He looked away and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if it's a great idea to answer that question. If you know too much, your future only has one option…" He stared off into the distance again, but his ever emotionless eyes finally held a passion I'd never seen before. Distress and worry were combined with self disappointment and a lack of hope. The intense energy radiated from Sean endlessly.





I thought about what Drake said about memories. "I'd rather know than live in ignorance. Despite the consequences, a lifelong question answered will probably have lifelong effects…but I'm willing to take the risk."





Sean looked at me with a twinge of awe, kind of how I'd looked at him while he was practicing. He was a machine. Everything he hit went right where he wanted it. "I wonder, if I hadn't been raised in the life I'm in, if I would be able to make decisions for myself like that…I have to admit, I'm jealous. I'll start the story from the beginning. I'll give you the basic story, and then I'll go back and explain why.





"Drake was the one who feared your 'gift.' You know that much. He saw you messing with floating pencils. That's bound to freak anyone out." He looked at me seriously. "You should be glad only he and I saw you." I thought about that day, I had a blurry memory of it, but I don't recall Sean ever being there. "My part was relatively easy. I just pointed out more things about you he was scared of and pushed his buttons a little. I did my background research, I knew about his dad."





I stopped him, "Wait. How much do you know?"





Sean diverted his eyes. "Enough to know it would mess with his head. So I got Drake to hate you and I didn't really have a reason to hate you, so I just acted like it. I did well, didn't I? You've been totally convinced. Even now, you still don't trust me." He smiled. "I can read your emotions more than you can read mine and you're the Vym. Isn't that ironic?" He laughed then stopped as he caught his mistake.





"A Vym?" The name was unfamiliar, but I could put together the pieces and figure out what it meant.





His face blanked out and I couldn't read anything from him. "I would ask you to forget that, but I think there's been enough of that for one day." He seemed to remember something and he began laughing but there was an underlying pain.





I narrowed my eyes. "What's funny about forgetting?"





He shook his head. "It's not funny, but what he forgot…" He started laughing again. "That was definitely amusing."





I looked at him shocked. "MY DEATH AMUSED YOU?!"





He put up his hands defensively. "Woah. No, that's not what I was referring to. I meant Drake's thoughts. Particularly the one he was trying so hard to block." He tried not to laugh which resulted in a half smile. I was mesmerized. How I grew up to hate the most attractive boy anyone had ever seen I'll never know. Every single girl, whether single or taken, will say he's gorgeous. They don't even say hot. He surpassed that. Usually it's weird to call a guy beautiful, but no one could deny Sean that label.





Sean squirmed uncomfortably. "I told you to work on a wall. Seriously, after my intensive training to break down walls it's insanely difficult to block thoughts that aren't behind a wall. I can hear you loud and clear and I don't like invading people's privacy. It's not really a choice." I looked down, embarrassed. "Stop, you're right. Every girl thinks that, you're not an exception. It's not a big deal. Trying to deny that would be like saying the Empire State Building is short…not that I'm being egotistic…I guess it's kind of a fact though. I've gotten used to it. So it doesn't matter."





I looked up into selfless, midnight blue eyes. They were much darker than Brad's. The name cleared my thoughts and I felt an odd wave of energy from Sean. It almost felt like jealousy… I got the feeling Sean heard that from me too because his face blanked out again.





"Laura…um anyway, so like I said, I convinced Drake to go with me to beat you up. My parents had said that would be the one way to create fear. You had too much hope in people. You wouldn't believe they were bad. It was my job to be the first person you feared. So we beat you up the first time and you didn't really believe it. You still tried to talk to us. That was ridiculous. Why did you do that? So my parents said to go again. Then…someone on the outside interfered."





My thoughts blanked out. "That man…wasn't an illusion? I thought for sure I'd made it all up."





He looked at me with pity. I wasn't sure why. "Long story short, both you and Drake changed after that, my parents called an abort and I've been shadowing you to protect you. And you've just now noticed. But I think you deserve to know…but I don't know if it would be too much." He looked at me with pity again. "Screw it, I'm telling you. You're adopted. Well not adopted, more like forced into the lives of some seriously stupid people."





Sean kept talking, but I didn't hear him. It was like every wish I'd made on a star just came true. I'm not alone. They're not my parents. Someone is watching over me.





A blurry hand was waving in my face. "Hello? Laura? You're ignoring the important part. You cannot even think about wanting to find them, your real parents." He seemed to be fighting with himself before he spoke the next few words. "I'll help you find them one day…if they don't find you first. That's what I'm worried about. They're…powerful. And cruel people. You're better off with your 'adoptive' parents."





I shook my head. "My parents aren't cruel. I particularly remember being in a weird cave-like place, but it had electricity just like a real building and there was a girl and her name was Anne and she was my sister. Our mom and dad loved us and Anne always made cookies. Then one day it was all gone. They took me away and I woke up in my house where I've been." I was confused for a second and I thought out loud. "This memory has been blurry for so long and now I remember…"





Sean looked like he was about to throw up, but he retained control of himself. "Rewind a second. Weird cave-like place. Was it like brown stone that made it up? And a main hall that is ridiculously large with a man made platform in the front as a stage?" His voice was monotone. His thoughts were elsewhere, but he tried to focus on the questions he needed to ask.





The memories flooded back into me. "Yes! Only…there was no platform."





He nodded. "Right, it must've been a new addition."





It was silent for a second. "Where is it?"





He looked at me and his eyes were intense and protective. "No way in hell am I going to let you go there or even know where it is in case you ever want to stay there."





I flinched back at the strong energy radiating out of him. "But what is it?"





"Sorry." He relaxed a little. He was staring at the floor. "You okay?" He brushed his fingers through my hair as if from habit. I tensed at the touch. He looked up at me and pulled his hand away. He looked absolutely shocked and pained. I could feel his whole soul crumple as he realized I wasn't who he was thinking of when he touched me. "Sorry."





Then he vanished.





~*~ Sean





My hand tingled from where I'd touched Laura's hair. It was the same feeling though. My instincts had screamed to get away from her. Our blood is repealed by theirs. The way my blood moved away at the touch…it felt just like her. It felt like Victoria.