Chapter 25
There were five of them. All were tall and very muscular. They climbed out of their SUV and carefully looked around the property. The driver motioned for them to follow him as he walked up the pathway to the front door.
Rachel positioned herself between us and the entryway where they would soon be. Noah tried to stand beside her, but she firmly said, “Noah, please. Get back.” She pushed him behind her as the doorknob turned.
They didn't knock. They walked in and down the hall and came face to face with us standing in the living room. Rachel stood firm with her head held high.
The first guy forced a crooked smile and removed his sunglasses. “Rachel, Rachel. I see you were expecting us.” He tucked his sunglasses into the front of his white t-shirt and folded his arms across his well-built chest.
“What do you want, Ryan?” Rachel asked.
“What do I want?” He turned to exchange smirks with his posse. “Is that any way to treat an old friend, Rach?”
“Well, I know you want something, so just get on with it and ask already,” Rachel said.
“I see your gift has improved. I'm surprised you saw me coming, actually.” Ryan took a few steps toward her and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Noah flinched. “And I see you're still as beautiful as ever.”
Rachel's body tensed but she made no attempt to move away. “Get your hand off me, Ryan.”
Ryan's smile quickly faded and he scowled as he checked out the rest of us. “You have a boyfriend here, don't you?”
“No,” Rachel answered.
Ryan caught her eyes and stared for a few seconds, then smiled. “Which one is it, Rachel?” He looked over at Nick who was standing close to Claudia. He ruled him out. Then he looked at me, on Rachel's left, and then over to Noah on her right.
“They are just my friends, Ryan. Is that so hard to believe?” Rachel seemed convincing.
“It kind of is, actually. Given your reputation and all,” he chuckled darkly and walked back toward his group. “Rachel, it's like this. I need something and you're going to get it for me.”
“What is it?” she asked, hesitantly.
Ryan paused, looked her straight in the eyes and said, “A miracle worker.”
Rachel swiftly moved a few steps closer to him and then looked back at the rest of us. “I don't have one,” she said, holding her head high.
One of Ryan's friends cleared his throat and said in a foreign language, “Ryan, O yalanci's. O biri biliyor.”
“Emin misiniz?” Ryan responded.
“Evet,” his friend answered.
I looked quickly at Noah, who I knew could translate for us what they were saying. He grew a little uneasy, so I figured it wasn't good.
Ryan turned back to Rachel and said, “I'm going to ask you one more time, Rachel, but before you answer me this time, I want you to know that I will cause a great deal of pain and suffering for you and your friends if I find out you're lying to me.”
Rachel stared him straight in the face and said, “I don't have one yet, Ryan. You know you can't take them too soon when they're not ready, or it will be disastrous. You should know that.” Her voice was both persuasive and pleading.
Ryan became very angry. I wasn't sure if he didn't believe her or if he was just angry because he couldn't yet fulfill whatever personal vendetta he had. He let out a loud angry growl, grabbed the lounge chair in the corner of the room and hurled it over our heads. The chair crashed into the wall behind us. Then Ryan went for Rachel. Noah jumped in his way to protect her, which stopped him in his tracks.
“So you're the one.” He grinned widely.
“No!” Rachel shouted as she tried to push Noah out of the way, but it was too late. No one saw it coming when Ryan jumped up and kicked Noah in the chest, sending him flying across the room and into the wall.
My heart was racing. I wanted to run to Noah and make sure he was okay, and heal him if he wasn't, but I remembered Rachel's warning about exposing our gifts.
Ryan came at Rachel again and before he could touch her, I jumped up and shouted in a loud rumble, “Get back!” And with that, Ryan and his four, overgrown friends flew back about ten feet into the entryway.
They were stunned, as were the rest of us. I didn't realize that I had that much mind strength.
“What the hell was that?” Ryan asked, looking around at his friends who were equally perplexed. Then he looked back at us and very slowly said, “We'll be back.” And they left.
I ran to Noah first. He was still slumped over on the floor trying to breathe. There was blood streaked down the wall from where his head had split open. I quickly laid my hands on him and healed him. Noah slowly stood up and shook his head.
“Noah, I am so sorry,” Rachel cried as she wrapped her arms around him. “That's why I didn't want you standing next to me. I didn't want them to assume we were together because he would destroy you.”
“Don't apologize, Rachel. This is not your fault.” Noah pulled her chin up so he could look her in the eyes.
Rachel blushed.
I looked over at Claudia and gave her a raise of my eyebrows. She giggled and elbowed Nick.
“Okay,” Nick interrupted. “So, I was wondering if we might be able to talk about what just happened here.”
“Yeah, Noah, what did those guys say?” Claudia asked as Noah and Rachel turned to give him their undivided attention.
Noah cleared his throat, “Okay, so the guy in the blue shirt is a mind reader and he was reading Rachel's mind.”
Rachel gasped, “What? But I didn't think that was possible. He's not even gifted.”
“But if he was gifted at one point,” Claudia answered, “then he could have been able to keep his skills. It's like the strength and speed. It's a learned skill. I've heard of it happening.”
“So, anyway,” Noah continued, “he read your mind and told Ryan that you were lying and that you knew a miracle worker.”
Rachel grew uncomfortable and quickly walked over to the other side of the room and sat down in the chair as she held her head in her palms. “This isn't good.”
“Did they find out anything else, Noah?” I asked.
“Not that I know of,” he said as he kept his eyes on Rachel.
“Who is it, Rachel?” Nick asked quietly.
She looked up at us with a torn expression. “Simon. Five-year-old Simon,” she said.
“Oh, right,” Claudia exclaimed. “But he's so young. Do you think they were able to read your mind on who it is?”
“I don’t think so,” Rachel said softly. “I tried really hard not to think of him so I could convince myself that I didn't know a miracle worker. And if I was convinced of it, then I might have a chance of convincing Ryan.”
“I don't get why he wants a miracle worker,” I said. “What's in it for him?”
Rachel rocked back and forth in the chair as she chewed on her fingernail. “It would be so disastrous if they got their hands on a miracle worker. They would be able to manipulate any situation. Anything that they wanted, they could have. He could even make me fall in love with him again, if he wanted to.”
Noah stiffened. “Well, let's just make sure he doesn't get his hands on Simon. We'll call James and let him know what just happened.”
“Simon is well protected,” Claudia assured us. “He'll be fine.”
“We'll call James as soon as we get back to the school,” Nick said. “Your mom is probably going a little crazy not having heard from you yet, Rachel.”
“What time is it?” Rachel asked as she stood up and dug her keys out of her pocket.
“Four thirty,” Noah said. “Man, I can't believe the time. Let's get going.”
“Did you say four thirty?” I frantically pulled my sleeve up to double check my watch. “Guys, we gotta go. I'm supposed to be at the Coffee House right now with Anna.”
We piled back into the Jeep and Rachel drove us back toward the school.
“So you'r
e meeting Anna?” Rachel asked hesitantly as she looked in the rear-view mirror at me.
“Yes. But just to make a clean break,” I said.
“Do you think that's a good idea?” Rachel asked.
“We were friends before any of this, why shouldn't we be friends now? And friends have coffee.”
She didn't say anything else, thankfully. I wondered if Claudia was listening to my ranting thoughts about Rachel or minding her own business. I wondered if that's why Claudia seemed so motherly—because she always knew what you were thinking, just like my own mother always seemed to know.
“See you guys.” I hopped out of the Jeep and into my car. I peeled out of the parking lot and toward the Coffee House. Two minutes later, I whipped into a parking spot hoping Anna was still there. I needed to see her.