CHAPTER 14 (Ninety-four days inside.)
My work schedule on Sunday is so busy that I barely get to see Alec at all. They gave me a heavy workload today probably because most everyone is off except me and three other runners.
When five o'clock rolls around I gladly hand my tablet over to Alec to download my delivery signatures. We are the last two in the office so I sit on top of his desk next to him as he finishes the last of his work. I watch him typing furiously on the keyboard. I don't pay attention to the words being entered on the screen, instead I take the time to study him in a way that you can't do when someone's looking at you. Well, at least not without totally creeping him out.
His hair is so dark that it nearly looks black on most days. Today, when I look at it just the right way I can see the deep brown and chestnut colors that stand out underneath the light. I also notice that his eyebrows furrow in and his eyes squint ever so slightly when he's concentrating. It's endearing.
I inch myself closer so I can see more of his eyes. The deep emerald green that he once had is now completely replaced with the most unique shade of navy blue that I've ever seen. It starts out dark, almost black around the outer part of his eye and then fades into a lighter, yet still navy shade of blue as it leads into his pupils. Both of his eyes are completely changed and I wonder why only one of mine has changed.
Alec turns and catches me staring. He doesn't say anything though. He shuts the computer off and stands up from his chair. He leans in to where I'm sitting on his desk and studies me.
"What are you doing?" I know I'm blushing and it's possible that I should feel self-conscious but nothing about Alec's stare makes me feel unsure of myself. If anything the look that he's giving me makes me feel beautiful and more confident.
"I figured if you got to study me for an uninterrupted five minutes then I should get to do the same to you." He smiles.
"Oh, you saw that?" I push some of my hair behind my ear.
He nods his head but continues to appraise me.
My body feels warm and flush and the butterflies are dancing around again in my stomach. The silence is killing me so I decide to break it. "So, what exactly are you studying?"
"Hmm, an exquisite specimen really." He says in his best official scientific voice.
I crack a smile at his corniness.
"Yes, her teeth are perfectly white. Her unruly waves have a color that is quite unique, it reminds me of a mix between caramel and toasted coconut."
I giggle. "I'm sure it doesn't taste as good as either of those."
He pushes his hand through my hair and continues. "Her eyes are almond shaped and one is the most beautiful brown I've ever seen."
I put my hand up to my left eye knowing that it must look horrible and freakish.
He pulls my hand away and sets it gently on my lap. He pushes my bangs aside and says, "And the other one is the most amazing mixture of colors that she seems to think is odd but I think it's stunning." He kisses me on my cheek then finishes. "I will conclude my findings with one final appraising statement. Willow Mosby, you are the most breathtakingly beautiful creature that I've ever set eyes on."
I forget to breath, instead I stare at him stunned yet feeling so loved and more beautiful than I've ever felt before. He pulls me into his arms in a passionate kiss. I stand up and lean into him. I feel as if we aren't close enough. I feel a lightheaded dizziness wash over me as our lips part.
He kisses me on the bridge of my nose and then says, "We better get you something to eat. You've been working your tail off."
"Sounds good to me." I look up and give him a peck on the cheek before we head out of the office.
Alec puts his arm around me and pulls me closer to him as we walk.
“Have you seen Connor or Claire today?” I ask.
He nods his head. “Yeah, I saw them earlier. They were on their way to you-know-where,” he says in a hushed voice since there are a lot of people moving about in the hallway.
“Ah, I wonder if they found the other part of the cave.” I say in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know how I feel about that." Alec says in thought.
I have the same mixed feelings. That place was so special and I selfishly wanted to keep it just Alec and my place. I push that feeling aside knowing that my friends deserve to know about the cave too. "I hear you but if they haven’t found it, we should definitely show them next time we are there."
"You're right babe. They would totally love it." Alec says as we enter the cafeteria and jump in line.
After we get our food we end up finding Connor and Claire sitting at our usual spot. They aren’t even touching their food but are talking in hushed whispers. Claire spots me and practically jumps out of her seat to her feet.
I stop, taken back by her audacity. Claire is such a shy, ‘in the background’ kind of person. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her jumpy…or is it excited? I can’t tell. “Hey Claire, what’s up?” I barely get the words out of my mouth before I’m dragged by my free hand over to sit next to her.
Claire squeals with delight. “Guess where we went today?” Claire asks trying but feigning to hide her buoyancy.
I sit quickly, ready for her to dish it out.
“We went back to the cave today and found the most amazing place!”
I share a knowing look with Alec. Not wanting to rain on her parade, I let her continue while acting mildly surprised. “Really? What was it?”
Claire looks so excited that she just might explode in a few seconds. “We found another cave, it was so cool! It had a big underground spring, but it was a lot warmer. We could even see the sky!" She looks at me in amazed anticipation then continues. "The sunlight came in from above us through this little hole. It was so amazing! I can't believe we actually saw the real sky! It's seems like forever since we've seen outside! I wish you were there!” She takes a deep breath, winded from talking so fast. She then gives me a frown extenuating her last point.
I nod my head in response trying to look interested. I hope she doesn’t get mad when I tell her Alec and I have already been there. Claire drones on while I eat. I nod my head every now and then to show her I’m listening. But when I see Candy sitting in a nearby table I can't help but shift my thought focus to Zack.
His actions yesterday were so unsettling and I can’t put a finger on the extent of my anxious feelings yet. There are too many unanswered questions with Zack. Does he know about my newfound abilities? How on earth did he make that man change his mind about my community service? I think back to the picture I saw so long ago in his room. His eyes are different now than they were in that picture. Could that be correlated to the changes Alec and I are seeing in ours?
My head starts aching again as Claire continues on about the cave. I rub my temples, then I run my hands up over my head bringing my bangs up with it. I should probably tell her we were at the cave earlier, I think to myself. I look up at Claire who has suddenly stopped talking. I soon realize that I must have lifted my mental guard because suddenly I can hear her thoughts. I should stop listening in, but my curiosity wins.
“WOW, HER EYES LOOK CRAZY WEIRD NOW. IS THERE A HAZEL SPOT IN THEM NOW? YES, IT’S RIGHT THERE! I WONDER IF SHE KNOWS…SHOULD I TELL HER?”
“Hazel? What do you mean hazel?” I ask interrupting Claire’s inner monologue.
“Oh, man. I totally forgot you can do that!”
I look away in embarrassment. “Sorry Claire. I’m trying to work on that.”
She pulls her arm around me. “Willow! I know you can’t help it.” She puts her face right in front of mine and talks to me like she would a small child. “It must stink having to hear everyone’s thoughts, well, it’s probably cool sometimes. Well, I don’t know... Just know it’s okay. You’re my best friend, and well, if I had to choose one person that could do that, I’d choose you.” The sentiment in her voice is almost tangible. I smile at her.
“Thanks Claire bear.” I say back to her. H
er face beams. I guess she likes the nickname Connor gave her.
Suddenly, I remember what Claire just said. My eye has hazel in it now? I look around for a mirrored surface and find my spoon. I pick it up and move into the light just enough so I can see a semi-clear reflection. I move my bangs out of the way and gasp at my reflection. There’s a definite trace of hazel in my eye now. It lines the outer edge of my left eye just outside of the red portion. I look at my other eye and it still reflects the normal brown it’s always been. I compare the two a few more times before looking back at the table.
Everyone stares back at me, expressions all blank. What do you say when freaky things are going on with your friend anyhow?
Alec breaks protocol and inches closer to me. He gently pulls my bangs back and tilts my chin up towards the light. "I still just see beautiful."
I half smile but still feel freaked out. I hadn't noticed the hazel earlier this morning when I was getting ready. This means my eye is getting more and more freakier by the second. “What’s going on with me?” I ask him just above a faint whisper. I’m too terrified to ask anything else for fear he may know the answers.
“I don’t know, but I'm sure you are fine. My eyes are changing too, so you aren't alone." He tries to comfort me.
I take a deep breath trying to chill out. I'm scared that tomorrow I will wake up and have another crazy color in my eye or perhaps it will just turn into a freaking rainbow! I know I'm totally setting myself up for a panic attack so I take several deep breaths trying to calm myself.
I look out around the cafeteria and my eyes stop cold when I see Zack. He’s standing about twenty feet away leaning up against a pillar. He gives me a wicked smile, then turns and walks away. I get goose bumps on my arms and an unsettled feeling as I turn back towards Alec.
“What’s wrong?” He asks me, barely above a whisper.
“We need to talk.” I reply simply.
"NO." I hear someone yell in my head.
What in the world? That did not sound like Alec. Alec stares at me like I'm crazy. I look around the cafeteria and find Zack standing across the room near the exit of the cafeteria.
"DON’T YOU DARE TELL HIM ABOUT ME." He's staring at me boldly now.
I hear his thoughts loud and clear as if he's talking directly inside my head. How can I hear him? I couldn't hear him before!
"Are you okay Willow?" Alec asks. He puts his hand on my shoulder as if to steady me. He looks in the direction that I'm staring, but he's too late, Zack has already left.
I open my mouth but can't think of anything to say. "Um, I think I need to go to the restroom." I feel bad for lying but I'm thoroughly freaked out by now.
"Need me to go with you?" Claire asks.
"No, I'm fine." I say to her. "I’ll be right back." I tell Alec. I give him a quick kiss on the top of his head and head out of the cafeteria.
"So does his dad know about the two of you? I mean, I would think that a little boss on employee action would be frowned upon." I spin around to see Zack leaning coolly against the doorframe of a nearby office. His blonde hair is spiked up with gel and his hazel eyes stare at me appraisingly.
"What does it matter to you?" I ask him snidely. I throw my hand on my hip to further show him my annoyance.
"Nothing, I just find it interesting. I wouldn't have pegged you as a 'go against the grain' type of girl." I don't like the way he stares me up and down as he says this. His voice holds a sly, snake-like quality that makes me on edge.
"Look, cut the small talk crap. What exactly is going on with you?" I try to open my mind up to hear his thoughts but once again they are non-existent.
"What's going on with me? I think a better question would be what's going on with you?" He raises his eyebrow and rubs his chin in a questioning gesture.
I don't like how he plays back the same question I asked him yesterday. I'm finding myself not liking a lot of things about Zack. "Uh-uh. I know something is going on here with you. You obviously don't want me to talk to Alec about what happened today. I'm not one for keeping secrets without a good reason. So spill it." I stand taller trying to look intimidating.
He laughs which makes my face flush with an angry heat. "You are kind of cute when you get all worked up, you know that sugar?"
I'm so flustered that if I were a two year old I'd throw myself on the floor in a full-blown tantrum, but I'm not going to do that. Not with Zack especially, because then he wins whatever pissing match this is. I count to ten in my head and then take a deep breath. "Look, I'm not your sugar and if you want me to keep my mouth shut then you'd better tell me exactly why you were able to do whatever you did in the hall yesterday. I've never seen anything like that, it's like you were compelling that man to believe whatever you said. And it worked!"
"Shhh." Zack looks around. Nobody is paying attention but he grabs me by the elbow and pulls me into an empty office. I look around and see menu boards, a computer and several stacks of paper. I'm guessing the office belongs to someone who manages the cafeteria. He closes the door. My heart starts racing as I remember the last time we were alone. I don't like whatever it is that he does to me. I feel unsafe around him, almost like I can't control myself.
"So?" I ask him. I put my hands on my hips and tap my foot. We are standing at least ten feet apart but it doesn't seem far enough for me. I step back for extra measure.
"So what?" He asks.
"Argh!" He's seriously a sicko and is driving me nuts. He's just toying with me and he knows it! He starts moving towards me and I scoot further back until I feel the desk meet up with my lower back. Backed into yet another corner by Zack; he moves to where he's only a foot from me. He stares in my eyes and I move to avert my gaze. I brace my hands back behind me and grip the desk tightly, trying to gain composure.
"Ouch!" I cry out as something sliced my finger under the desk. A shiver runs up me from the spike of pain and I pull my hand up to examine the damage. A half inch long slash runs along the pad of my middle finger.
"Are you okay?" He asks, seeing the bleeding.
"Yeah, something just cut me." I grab a tissue from a box on the desk and hold it against the wound.
Zack leans down to check the underside of the desk. "Oh, there's a nail sticking out here."
I lean down to see the sharp pointy nail sticking out. Realizing how close our faces are to each other I pop my head up and nearly hit his in the process. I dart a little too fast across the room.
Zack looks at me with an amused expression. "Hey, we should probably get that cleaned up. I bet there's a first aid kit in the hallway somewhere." He moves towards me and holds out his hand. "Let me see the damage." He says.
I shake my head and he walks swiftly to me and stares intensely into my eyes. I can't help but feel a bit hypnotized by the greens, browns and yellows that make up the hazel color of his eyes. An eerily similar hazel to the one that is now in my eye. I surprise myself when I hold my hand out to him willingly.
He grabs it gently and takes the tissue from me as well. He wipes away at the blood. "What?" He looks back at me incredulously. His hand grips my wrist tighter.
I look down to see that there is no longer a wound on my finger. I yank my hand back immediately and hide it behind my back. My heart starts pounding double time. How did that heal so fast? That's Alec's thing, not mine!
"How is there no cut on your finger?" He asks again. He tries to pull my arm from behind my back to examine it and I yank away from him.
"Hey! Don't touch me." I snarl at him.
"Look, I know something is going on with you. I can help you if you let me." He says in a voice that is way to calm given the circumstances and my miraculous healing.
I look up at him in surprise. "You can help me?" I barely whisper. I doubt that a guy like Zack can really help me but maybe he knows something about what's going on. I mean, obviously he's got some freaky stuff happening with him too.
"Yes, I can." He stares deep
ly into my eyes. "But, I need to know what is going on with you."
Somehow I feel myself believing that he can help me and I show my cards way quicker than I normally would. "I don't know what's going on with me but things are changing." I say still staring into his eyes.
"Like what things?" He asks calmly.
"Like I can do stuff, like I could hear you earlier when you told me not to talk to Alec. I mean, I guess you already knew that, since that's how you told me to keep my mouth shut. But, I can hear everyone's thoughts." Why did I just tell him that?
"Interesting." He scratches his head as if contemplating the meaning of the universe. "And the healing, you can heal as well?" He asks me.
I look at him and then pull my hand out from behind my back. I examine it and find that the cut is fully healed. "I guess so." I say shrugging my shoulders. Remembering what Alec told me about his gift and how his scars disappeared, I look down at my arm. Sure enough the scar from the surgery on my arm is completely gone. I withhold that information from Zack of course because I don't trust him as far as I can throw him.
He uses his finger to lift my chin so my eyes are staring at him again. "Your friends, have they been having these weird things happen to them as well?"
I open my mouth and am about to tell him about Alec but something tells me not to. I struggle hard because half of me wants to answer his question so badly and the other half is sounding the alarms, telling me to shut up. I jerk my head out of his hand and look away. I take a few breaths and then say, "No, it's just me."
He looks at me speculatively. "Really?"
I avoid locking eyes with him because something about his eyes hypnotizes me. "Really." I say trying to put on my best poker face. "So, what about you? What's up with you?"
He laughs, "What do you mean?"
"Seriously Zack? Don't be so coy. I know something is up with you. What is it? Can you hypnotize people or play mind games or what?" I look at him but keep darting my eyes away every few seconds.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure what is up with me. I just know that I can be very persuasive and people tend to do what I tell them to do." He smiles all cockily.
I make a fake gagging sound. He looks surprised at my audacity but then laughs.
"Hey, don't hate me cause I can make you want me." He jokes around.
"No, whatever it is that you do, it doesn't work on me." I say pointing my finger at him. I keep moving my eyes away from his occasionally because I know that it does in fact work on me, even if just a little.
He calls my bluff, "That's not what it seemed like earlier today in the hall. It seemed to me like you really wanted to kiss me."
Ugh, smug jerk. "No, I did not!" I say sounding like a toddler. I clench my hands in fists then say, "Look I need to go. My friends are going to wonder where I am." I turn away from him and head towards the door.
"Fine, but we aren't through yet. I told you that I would help and I will keep my word. That is, if you want to know what's going on with you."
I spin around and study him. I don't know if he has any information but I really would like to know what's happening to Alec and me. "How exactly do you propose you could help me?"
He smiles as if he already knows that he's got me in his trap. "I figure you haven't told Alec yet that your community service is cancelled. Is that correct?"
I honestly forgot to tell Alec, I wasn't trying to keep it from him. Never the less, I nod, not sure where he's going with this.
"Well, I think we need to start our own investigation. There are some things happening in this shelter that worry me and I think that our new found powers are just the tip of the iceberg. Are you game to play a little Nancy Drew with me?" He raises his eyebrow in anticipation of my response.
I remember reading those extremely old Nancy Drew books when I was twelve. I loved the mysteries and found myself reading through the whole series in a year. "I guess." I say trying to be nonchalant. As long as he doesn't expect to play the part of Ned Nickerson.
"Sounds good. When's your next free day?" He asks.
I pull my tablet out of the pouch that I have it in on my hip. I slide the power on and pull up the calendar. "I don't ever know for sure but it should be Friday."
"Friday it is then. Meet me in the hall where you went for community service." He smiles big showing off his pearly white teeth. "You know, the hall where we almost made out."
I roll my eyes. "Whatever." I say, not giving in to his poke. I turn around to head out.
"Oh and Sugar, don't tell anyone about our little arrangement." Zack calls as I walk out the door.
I don't respond to him. I just head back towards the cafeteria.
"There you are," Alec says when I return to the table. "We were getting worried about you. Everything okay?"
I nod my head embarrassed by my dishonesty.
He wraps his arm around mine holding me close. All I can think about is how my life is seemingly spiraling out of control and how there's nothing I can do to stop it.