The Secret Read online

  Reed shook his head. “I used to be somebody—I could run a hundred miles an hour. I could lift anything.” He sucked in a breath. “Now I’m nothin’.”

  “Are you dying?” Rob blurted it out and looked at Karen.

  Reed moved in front of Rob, poking him in the chest. “You care?”

  Karen put up her hand. “Leave him alone.”

  Jake stepped behind Karen, touching her shoulder softly. “I think we should show them, Karen.”

  Karen pulled out a sheet of paper. She opened it, turning it around and laying it in front of Rob and me. It was a drawing of what looked like rock formations or mountains. “I found this in Luth’s lab the day before he kicked us out.”

  Recognition jarred inside of me. Tourists came to Boulder every year to climb the Flatirons.

  Rob nodded to it. “What is the significance?”

  Karen shook her head. “We don’t know. But—look here.” She pointed beneath the picture.

  I gasped. The date, March 20th, was scrawled next to the mountains. “The Equinox.”

  Marsha sat next to Karen, pulling the paper to her and pointing to another part of the page. “Obviously, the date means something to you.” Her eyes looked at me suspiciously. She pointed to the smaller picture beneath the mountain. “Now look at this.”

  There was a man dressed in a robe with his hand held high in the air. Four stick-figure people were laid around a fire, flat on their backs. Their names—Marsha, Reed, Jake, and Karen—were written next to each figure. An arch symbol stood out in silver next to the fire. ‘The Gathering’ was written underneath it.

  My blood turned cold and I knew. I knew that they would die. I could feel it.

  Reed grimaced. “Freaky, huh? See…we are dying—or will. And we don’t even have our powers to defend us.” Raising his eyebrows, he looked at me. “Will you help us, Lanie?”

  The question hung in the air. Rob stiffened beside me. Jake’s eyes fell on mine and I felt a spark of energy pulse through me in waves of purple and red—it was the same energy that I’d felt on the night I’d first talked to him.

  He couldn’t die.

  “Yes…I will help. I’ll help you figure this out and I’ll help you get your powers back.” I turned to Rob. “But I’m still going to get rid of mine.”

  Episode 10: The Book

  “So how do we get information out of your mom?” Marsha sipped on her diet soda and looked over her shoulder, scanning the lunchroom.

  Instantly annoyed, I let out a breath and pulled an apple out of my backpack. I hated having them know about my mom. “I told you—we just have to wait for the facility to call us when she wakes up. It’s usually every couple of days…but sometimes longer.”

  Snapping her head back to me, she raised an eyebrow. “There’s only seventeen days until the Equinox—we are kind of in a time crunch.” She scowled and looked away.

  Reed tore into a doughnut. “We wouldn’t have this problem if we had our powers.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Really, Captain Obvious.”

  Marsha turned back to me. “You don’t understand—we were our powers, they were us. We didn’t run from them.”

  Inhaling, I leaned forward over my backpack and kept my voice low. “I get it. You think I should just love my powers. I don’t.”

  Karen sat down at the table, looking between the three of us. Seeming to sense the tension, she let out a breath and picked up her milk. “How’s Rob doing with the new software he’s designing?”

  Reed scowled at Karen and then pointed at me. “If she still had her powers you wouldn’t even have to answer. Seriously, Lanie, whatever information that was in people’s thoughts in connection to Karen’s question, she could take.” He pushed his hands together, making an explosion motion. “It was like, bam—she was synced to everyone within a ten foot radius.” Cocking his head to the side, he winked at Karen. “So freakin’ cool!”

  Karen cleared her throat but blushed. “It wasn’t that cool.”

  Marsha leaned in, giving Karen an annoyed look. “Yeah, it was.”

  Reed bumped Marsha’s shoulder. “If someone had cancer—she could cure it. The cells would, like, go back to where they were supposed to go. A bone broke—Marsha fixed it.” He pecked her on the cheek. “I spent a lot of time at the mercy of her healing hands—my training was brutal.”

  Marsha bit the inside of her lip and looked away. “Fat lot of good any of our training did us.”

  For the first time, I felt a little bit of jealousy. They’d had each other to help explore their powers.

  Karen nervously pushed her glasses back. “Um…did you use your powers…like in a training aspect?”

  The way she said it struck a chord inside of me. They had all been pressuring me the past week to show them something—draw something—talk about it. “Yeah...I don’t think you could call it training.”

  “What?” Reed leaned closer. “Why?”

  I took the cap off my water bottle and glared at Reed. “Umm…maybe because Luth is sick and crazy.”

  Reed held my gaze. “Luth couldn’t figure out why our powers were gone. I think he would help us now. I think he would help us if—”

  I put my hand up. “Not gonna happen.”

  Banging his fist, Reed hissed, “You have yours—you don’t know what it’s like to feel this vulnerable.”

  I realized he really had no idea what my life was like. I couldn’t endure another twenty minutes of this conversation. I stood. “I’m out.”

  Reed raised his hands. “Sure—you go draw or something—be totally unproductive.”

  Marsha kicked him. “Would you shut up?”

  I ignored their bickering voices as I walked away.

  Later, when I entered the art room, Senora Sanchez sat perfectly poised at her desk, plunking the computer keys in a gentle rhythm. Looking up at me, she smiled and pulled her red-framed glasses off her face. Her hair was swept up on her head with a brightly colored blue scarf twisted and turning through it.

  She smiled. “Ah, come to draw out the demons?”

  Having grown accustomed to her unusual phrasing, I smiled and headed straight to the back of the room. “Thanks for letting me stay set up all the time.”

  She waved a hand in the air. “Stay as long as you want.”

  “Lanie.”

  Turning, I saw Jake at the door, wearing dark jeans and a black, long-sleeved T-shirt. He seemed out of breath and disheveled. My heart clutched—he always looked so good without even trying.

  “H-hey.” Stopping, he eyed Senora Sanchez and pulled in a long breath. “Oh—I thought…hmm.”

  Senora gave him a smile and stood. “No—I need some lunch. Mi casa es su casa.” She walked out.

  I hesitated, searching Jake’s eyes. They were a deep blue today, but there was a spark inside of them. “Did you find something out, Jake?”

  Pulling his backpack off of his shoulder, he opened it and pulled out a small leather book.

  Dropping the brushes I had just pulled out onto the table, I stepped closer to him. “What’s that?”

  He turned the book around to show me. “I found this in one of my mother’s boxes. It’s her old appointment book.”

  There was a list of names on the page. I searched through the names, not recognizing anything. “What am I looking for?”

  Jake put his finger next to a W. Drake.

  My mind swam with confusion. “What?” I pulled the book closer. “Did she know Mr. Drake?”

  Jake nodded. “Don’t you see, Lanie? That’s why she wanted to move here.”

  I was still confused.

  “She came to me and told me we were moving to Boulder, that we would be safe here. I thought she was crazy, but by that point I didn’t care
where we went. My powers were gone and nothing felt right. Mom told me she couldn’t work at The Foundation anymore. She wanted to leave.” He looked away. “Two days later she was killed.”

  I tried to get it all straight in my head. “So your mom worked there?”

  The side of his mouth turned up. “Yeah—she was a counselor. She even taught a psychology class.” He pointed to Drake’s name on the paper. “And he knows why. I know it.”

  My phone started ringing and I pulled away from Jake.

  It was Rob. “Lanie—come now. She’s awake.”

  Opening her eyes, Mom smiled. Her copper red hair looked drab and oily, but I was relieved to see her green eyes bright, the yellow flecks reminding me of the color of hot sand in the desert. “Rob.” She reached her hand up and lightly touched Rob’s cheek.

  My heart tightened and I stepped to her other side, putting my hand on her shoulder.

  She turned to me. “Lanie.”

  I didn’t know how she did it, but when she said my name so possessively, it always made me feel…like I belonged. Like I was normal. I leaned down to her. “Hey.”

  Patting both of our hands, she turned to Jake in question.

  “Mom, this is Jake. He needs our help.” There wasn’t time for lengthy introductions. When the facility called, we never asked questions—we just came, never sure how long she would be lucid.

  Squinting at me, Mom asked, “Is he your friend, Lanie?”

  There was an intimacy to her question, the kind that was only shared between mothers and daughters. I squeezed her hand, wishing I could pour my heart out to my mom like I used to. But I gave her the simple answer. “Yep—he’s my friend.”

  Mom nodded.

  Rob sighed and I noticed how tired he looked as he spoke. “Mom, we need some information. Remember how you told us that Dad told you everything about The Foundation? Remember the book? Who has the book?”

  She frowned, looking like a child accused of doing something wrong. Her eyes darted to Jake.

  Of course. She’d been trained not to share information either. “Mom.” I hunched down. “Mom, you can talk in front of Jake. He…he’s one of us.”

  Rob cleared his throat. “He is, Mom. He…he went to The Foundation.”

  Reaching her hand out, she motioned Jake forward. “Let me see behind your ear.”

  Jake froze. Finally, he turned to the side, hunching down and pulling his ear forward so she could easily see the silver arch behind his ear.

  Mom let out an exasperated breath, but gently traced the line of the tattoo. “They thought they were so clever, giving you all the Arche—it’s a Greek word.”

  Jake took a deep breath.

  She pulled her hand back. “It symbolizes the beginning of all things that last.”

  My heart raced. I had never known what the symbol meant.

  She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and focused on Jake. “You were sent to that horrible place?”

  Jake nodded. His voice was gentle. “It wasn’t a horrible place for me. Well...not until later. But my friends and I lost our powers and…” He broke off glancing up at me. “And we need to get them back.”

  Karen’s sketch of the Flatiron rock formation flashed into my mind and I thought of their names by the figures lying next to the fire. Yes, they needed them back.

  Mom frowned. She was clearly unconvinced that she should help him. “Who were your parents?”

  Jake licked his lips. “Um…my mom was Ruth…Ruth Curtis.”

  Instantly, her face softened. “Ruthie?”

  Emotion crept onto Jake’s face. “Yeah. That was her. I haven’t heard anyone say Ruthie since…well, it’s been a long time.”

  Mom frowned. “What happened to Ruthie?”

  Jake inhaled deeply and then slowly released his breath. “She was killed a little over a year ago.”

  Mom closed her eyes. “No.” She shook her head. “Terrible things have happened. I always told Thomas I wished they could take back that night. There’s never been anything good from that night.” Her whole body started shaking. “Where’s Thomas? Where did he go?”

  She looked up, her eyes piercing into mine.

  Jagged pain ripped through me.

  Rob took both of her hands into his. “He’s dead, Mom. Remember? We told you he died—in an accident.” He didn’t break eye contact with her.

  Mom calmed down, putting her shaking hands into her lap and blinking her eyes rapidly. “That’s right.”

  I nodded, squeezing her hand. “It’s okay.”

  Focusing on Jake, she drew in a breath. “All of these secrets for so many years, it just wasn’t right. They swore us all to secrecy, saying they would protect you. I knew they couldn’t—that’s why my kids didn’t go there until…until I couldn’t stop it anymore.”

  Hesitating, she looked hard at Jake before finally continuing.

  “It was a fluke,” she said. “They were a bunch of philosophy students on a trip. I remember when Thomas came back from that trip. We were newly married and he was so excited. He told me about that night. He told me every inch of that night.” Her eyes got hazy. “They were always talking about free will, arguing the merits of being agents to act…or, if our lives were already pre-determined, and we are just acted upon. Did we have choice—true choice—to govern our actions? You know their motto: the stars incline us, they do not bind us. Who cares? Does it matter if we act or are acted upon?” She shook her head in disgust. “They were in India, on the steps of the Taj Mahal. And they were in a heated debate, half of them arguing that God controlled everything…others saying that God sat back and let things happen. There was a man hovering on the edges of their conversation. He was very old, and Thomas said he was smoking so much that he remembered thinking the man would surely die of lung cancer. At one point the old man started coughing and coughing, and when they asked him if he was okay, he pulled out a book. The book had a mark on it, exactly like yours.” She looked at Jake.

  Unwillingly, I touched behind my ear.

  Mom cleared her throat. “Thomas said the man told them that if they really wanted to find out if they had free will, they needed to do what the book said.”

  “What were they supposed to do?” Rob asked.

  Mom started to visibly shake. “Stupid. It was just stupid. Nicholi could read languages…he’s the one that insisted they all try it.”

  “Nicholi?” I’d never heard that name before.

  Mom turned to me, her eyes growing watery. “Nicholi. He…” She dabbed at her eyes. “I wish things could have been different.”

  Jake pulled a chair over and sat down in front of Mom. “What happened? What did they do?”

  Mom took another deep breath, getting her emotions under control. “He read the challenge. You see, the Equinox is a time of transformation. The book said that if they would write down their greatest desire and burn it on the sixth hour of the Equinox, that desire would be granted.” Her eyes grew wider. “So they did it…and it worked.” She winced in pain. “And then...it magnified when it passed down to all of you.”

  My mind felt like it was spinning. I leaned into her, trying to understand all of it. “So—what did Dad wish for?”

  She gave us knowing looks. “Thomas wished for two things: to be able to escape from anywhere, and to be able to give life.” She shrugged and laughed a little. “It’s what an introverted Doctor would wish for, right?” The shaking got worse and her grip tightened.

  “Do you know where the book is?” Rob’s face was pale.

  Mom shook her head. “Your father told me he was close to finding it. He thought he could change things if he had the book.” Spasms started to jerk her into small tremors. “He thought it was here.”

  Rob fluttered around h
er, his hair falling into his face over his glasses. “Did it have anything to do with a man named Drake…does that sound familiar?”

  I held to her hand, but her body went limp and her eyes glazed over.

  “No—Mom!” Rob dropped to his knees beside the bed and started to cry.

  I couldn’t look at Rob. I couldn’t stand his pain.

  Jake held his hand out to me.

  Turning to him, I saw my own pain reflected in his eyes. “Drake. We have to talk to him.”

  Episode 11: The Mentor

  It was Friday night and Mr. Drake was MIA. Nervous tension pulsed through me. I looked at my phone. “It’s been over two hours—do you think he’ll be coming anytime soon?”

  Jake twisted the top off of his water, taking a sip and offering some to me. “I thought he’d be here by now.” His lip turned up. “I can’t say that I haven’t enjoyed the wait, though.”

  A different kind of nervousness thumped in my stomach as I reached for the offered water. We’d been meeting with everyone all week to plot and plan for what Reed referred to as the “D bomb,” but this was the first time I’d been alone with Jake.

  Raising his eyebrows up and down, he squinted at me. “So…this is our first real date?”

  I laughed, my heart starting to increase in speed. “I didn’t know it was a date.”

  Draping his arm around my seat, he nodded. “Yeah...it is. I agreed to cover Karen’s kitchen duty this week so I could get posted on this assignment.”

  Watching his eyes crinkle into a smile, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching up and gently tracing the little scar under his right eye. My heart beat fast at the touch of his skin. “I’m sure Marsha was disappointed.”