Chapter 10 - I Don’t Want To Die
Morning begins abruptly when the owner of the truck discovers me and shakes my shoulder.
“Missy, if you needed a place to sleep, I had an extra bed in my room.” His mind doesn’t show any ill intention behind the remark, and he seems friendly enough. I grab my pillow and apologize. As I jump out of the truck, Chris and the gang meet up with me.
Beth says, “Sleep well?” Her smile reveals growing admiration.
“Yes, you?” I answer with a smile on my lips.
We move out of the way so the man can drive his truck out of the parking lot. I notice Chris makes an extra effort to avoid eye contact, but I don’t mind. Somehow, it makes it easier to focus on the task at hand. We need to check-out and get moving.
Soon we are running through the thick forest. The group is arranged differently than before. I’m placed up front to protect the group, I assume, with Justin somewhere in the middle of the pack, and Chris bringing up the rear. I suppose Justin is carrying the package because he has the full protection of the group. Ironically, it’s the real diamond in my pocket that allows me to protect him.
I lead the team over a hilltop and stop so abruptly a couple of kids crash into my back. I stand rooted to the ground with my mouth hanging open.
Beth comes up behind me. “What’s the matter?”
I gulp and say, “This is the clearing I keep seeing in my visions, the place where the package exchange is supposed to take place, only . . . ”
Justin overhears and pushes his way to the front. “So, if this is where the exchange will happen, why were we headed to the Death Clan’s caves?”
His cantankerous attitude is really getting under my skin.
“I don’t know. Everyone should block their minds now. I need to check this out.”
I walk around and smell the air, trying to pick up on scents, intentions, clans, but I come up with nothing. I jog down to the clearing with all my senses on high alert, looking for smashed grass or footprints, anything signifying someone has been here already. Still nothing. Along the edge of the trees, I spot an old logging road with deep ruts carved into the forest floor. In the center of the clearing, a mound of stones forms the rude table where the exchange will happen, the place where Chris will die. Seeing the clearing I’ve seen in my visions, untouched and undefiled, stirs up strong emotions.
I rejoin the group, looking for Chris. He is near the back of the crowd. Clearly he still doesn’t want to be around me. He waits like the rest of the team for my assessment of the situation.
“Three of you need to work on your mind-blocking abilities,” I say. “I’m not going to single you out, but you’re probably aware I’m in your head. This is definitely the clearing from my vision where the delivery will take place. Chris, where are we headed?” I figure if I bring him into the conversation, he’ll have to answer me.
He looks over his map for a couple of seconds and announces, “There’s a town not far from here to the east.”
I turn to Justin and say, “We’ll follow you.”
“Me? Why me?”
“You’re second in command, right?”
“Well, yes, but you’re the one with all the powers.” He leans in close to my ear and whispers, “Even Chris has stepped aside to let you take the lead. Why shouldn’t I do the same?”
“You want to give up the lead?” I ask.
“Chris did.”
“Oh, so you do everything Chris does?” In the back of my mind, I can hear my mother saying the same thing to me when I was younger about my friends jumping off a bridge.
“No, I just follow the leader like I’m supposed to, and right now that leader is you.”
I lean even closer to him and whisper, “But, we all know the rightful leader is you, isn’t it?”
He pulls away from me as if my breath is a sharp knife cutting into his flesh.
I take in all the faces in the crowd, not seeing Chris’s, and realize they respect me as their leader, but I know it’s only because I have these powers. This very clearing where we presently stand will be where everything ends. This is where they will discover the truth about me.
An idea pops into my head that might allow me to preserve the illusion of my powers. What if I present the diamond to the Death Clan all by myself? I know where the clearing is now, and if Chris isn’t present he can’t be killed. In fact, why would anyone else need to be here at all? I can meet personally with the Death Clan and hand over the magical stone on my own. Why haven’t I thought of this before?
Now, I only need to peek into Chris’s future to find out if this change will be a good one.
I catch a glimpse of him, and that’s all it takes for me to view his future. I find this alteration is by far the worst to date. The future through Chris’s perspective reveals that handing the stone over myself without the others present doesn’t destroy the Death Clan. Instead, they become even more empowered, propelling forward their ambition to rule the world by killing all other clans and humans who stand in their way. Not only would Chris die, but millions of other people would die.
When Harold Bates and Maetha said all three of us must be present at the delivery, they were absolutely right. Maybe it’s impossible to find a solution that will result in the Death Clan being obliterated, leaving everyone else unharmed. Perhaps these attempts to save Chris from imminent death are pointless. I feel as if nature is speaking directly to me, informing me someone will have to die for the mission to be a success—a sacrifice of sorts. I look over my team. I don’t want them to become alarmed by trying to second-guess what’s going on in my head, so I say, “Let’s get going.”
I take off running, leading the clan east, in the direction Chris had pointed. We can’t move as fast as usual because of the density of the forest undergrowth and the fallen trees. The deeper we go into the trees, the darker it becomes, and the more panicky the fading light makes everyone feel. Two different times I’m stopped and asked if Demons are in the shadows. I assure them the shadows are only that, shadows.
As we near the little Canadian town Chris targeted for our next stop, I halt the group to investigate. After clearing the area, we secure motel rooms with two sets of adjoining rooms. I let others make those arrangements and am not shook up at all to discover Chris makes sure we don’t end up together.
* * *
Justin sits in the adjoining room, talking on the phone with Chris. He calls me in and hands me the receiver without looking me in the eye.
“Yes?” I say into the phone.
Chris clears his throat and delivers the message. “Calli, I spoke with Clara, and she informed me we need to stay here at the motel until she reaches us. I told her . . . I told her about you and your abilities.”
“She’s coming here?”
“Yes, and she’s bringing most of the Runners. In fact, all the clans are on their way here. The Death Clan is demanding a large gathering of representatives from each clan be in attendance for the handoff.” I remember seeing that information inside Maetha’s mind at Harold Bates’ office. Chris continues, “She recommended I continue to steer clear of you, considering the circumstances.”
“So she thinks I’m a target as much as the diamond is?”
“No, that’s not why she told me to continue to avoid you.”
“She thinks I’m working with a witch. Am I right? You must have told her about my vision.”
“No,” he says with hesitation in his voice.
Why won’t he just come out and tell me why? “Are you sure? The moment I said the word ‘witch’ you high-tailed it away from me.”
“Clara knows things about my situation. That’s why she’s advising me to keep my distance from you and your mind-reading ability.”
“Well, I figure we have about four weeks of wait-time here at this podunk motel in the middle of nowhere. I hope Clara’s credit card will be able to support our bill.”
Chris pauses before saying, “Calli, the meeting is taking place in two days.”
“What?” My breath escapes my chest with a whoosh.
“I told her about the clearing and that you’d already seen it in a vision. She said arrangements will be made for the hand-off to take place at that location. She figures it will take about forty-eight hours for everyone to arrive.” He pauses, then says, “Would you look for my future again?”
“I don’t . . . forty-eight hours? I won’t be able to see exactly what happens. It’s too soon.” My mind still struggles to grasp the news.
“You could look to see if I have a future, or if my future looks like Jonas’s.”
His request unnerves me quite a bit. What does he want me to tell him? Nope, sorry dude, you’re still gonna die. Or, Wow, hey, looks like you’re going to live. He clearly doesn’t understand what he’s asking of me. It’s one thing for me to look and see if I can change the future, it’s another to have to tell someone their life is about to end. I’m actually happy I didn’t immediately tell Jonas of his terminal illness—and upset with myself for ever revealing to Chris his own future isn’t so bright.
“Let me get this straight,” I snap back at him. “You lecture me on nature’s will, then you beg me to go against nature and pull you back from the edge of death by the river, after which you freak out and abandon me. Now, you want to know if you’re going to die at the delivery. Why not roll with Mother Nature’s punches, Chris?”
His reply is soft-spoken. “After nearly drowning, I’ve changed my mind. If you saw me in person, could you do a reading?”
“Yes,” I say as I exhale. Maybe it will get him off my back.
“Would you only search for my future, though, and not delve into my memories like last time?”
“What do you mean?”
“By the river, you broke through my blocking defenses. So can you please only look for my future and not go deeper?”
I broke through his walls? “Okay.”
“I’ll step outside my door, and you step out yours. Don’t come toward me, or I’ll go back in my room,” he threatens.
“Am I that dangerous?”
“Calli, you waltzed right through defenses put in place by a Spellcaster. They were supposed to be unbreakable, and no other Mind-Reader has broken through them, but you blew me away with how easily you did it.”
“You didn’t want me to know how you felt about me, did you?”
“My feelings are not the issue. If a witch is watching both you and Justin, then I can’t have you sifting through my head and discovering—um, it would put everyone in danger.”
“All right. Step outside your door in two minutes.”
Well, that was the biggest temptation of my life! He may as well have dangled a chocolate-covered carrot in front of me. It makes sense to hear he’s distressed about the fact that I’ve broken through his defenses. That is the reason he’s distanced himself. He isn’t necessarily disgusted with me, he’s protecting the group.
I spend the next couple of minutes contemplating what I have decided to change for the future, what I know needs to be altered, and the fact that he won’t approve. But I’ve come to believe this is the way the delivery was meant to happen from the inception. I don’t know why I feel this way, but I do.
Ready to delve into Chris’s mind and see what I can discover, I step outside my door to find Chris standing across the way, looking like a lost puppy, sad eyes and all. My heart clenches. I focus on searching for his future. Before I can see what’s in store, his outermost feelings of disappointment and sorrow fill my mind. He hates himself for hurting me, but there was no other way to protect the team than to distance himself.
The diamond in my pocket warms up as the vision of the future fills my head. I’m bowled over to realize I must be viewing the near future, knowing the delivery is slated to take place in two days. I see the clearing, tents, floodlights, the stone table, the three of us meeting the Death Clan. Chris presents the fake stone, which is immediately detected as a counterfeit. Our clan is sequestered in a tent until a decision can be made. I refuse to surrender the diamond. They tie my hands together and place me on the stone table in a sacrificial position with the diamond resting on my chest. Chris is with the rest of the clan, trying to comprehend what’s happening and basically freaking out, but he is alive. The Death Clan begins the ritual, then an explosion rocks the forest. The Death Clan dies . . . then so do I. The entire scene plays out through Chris’s eyes, meaning he will live through my death and the end of the Death Clan.
I have figured out the solution: keep the diamond, and Chris lives, and the Death Clan will be annihilated.
The diamond cools as soon as the vision is over, leaving me to believe the Seer power held in the diamond is stronger than that of regular Seers. I must have been viewing the near future the entire time whenever I’d seen visions of the delivery over the last few days.
I turn and walk back into the room and sit down in a chair by the table. Others mingle amongst themselves and talk about trivial matters, unaware I have just seen my own death. I feel sick. The phone rings, most likely Chris calling, but I don’t want to talk to him, not yet.
“Calli.” Jessica extends her arm with the receiver in hand.
“Tell him he lives,” I reply without even looking at her.
“What?”
“Just . . . tell him he lives.” I choke out the order on my way to the bathroom. I hear Jessica repeat what I said and then she tells Chris I don’t want to talk to him. I’m sure that goes over quite well. I don’t care. I figured out how to save Chris and bring about the fall of the Death Clan, but doing so requires my own death. I’m at peace with this new scenario. Sick to my stomach, but at ease.
I sit on the bathroom floor waiting, expecting Chris to come and talk everything out, but he never does. I try to go to Maetha with my thoughts, but that doesn’t happen either. After a while, I pull myself up off the floor and decide to take a walk because the sun has gone down and no one can follow.
While I walk the sidewalks of the peaceful town, I contemplate my death, and a question arises in my mind. I’m a human with powers derived from a magical stone. Maetha cast spells of protection over me, so how can Death people kill me? I can’t ask anyone or they might wonder why I would ask such a question. One thing’s for sure: I watched my life end through Chris’s eyes.
I return to the room and settle into bed. No one speaks to me or asks me any questions.
* * *
The next morning I awake to the delightful aroma of breakfast delivered by room service. I sit up and am amazed at the mess of food setting at the foot of the bed. Is that burned toast I smell? What kind of restaurant burns their toast? The stack of golden-brown bread confuses me further. It isn’t burned at all.
Wait. I smell poison!
“Stop eating, it’s poisoned,” I shout and bolt out the door for Chris’s room. I pound on the door. Jonas opens it and I quickly push him aside, my eyes searching the room.
“Did they bring you food?”
“Who?” Jonas asks.
“Anyone? Did they bring you breakfast?”
“No.”
“Don’t eat anything brought to your room!” I run back to my room and find three Runners on the floor, writhing in pain. Justin is one of them. Michael and Jessica are the other two.
I panic and yell to the nearest person, Shanika, “Call 911!”
She doesn’t move. She only exchanges helpless glances with the others.
“Hurry!” I insist.
Beth speaks up. She has tears in her eyes. “Calli, we don’t do that. It’s probably magical poison anyway. Only a Healer can help now.”
The door opens and Chris’s group enters the room.
I kneel over Justin because Michael and Jessica are clearly already dead. I examine his body with an MRI kind of vision and find the poison on its way to his heart and brain like an evil serpent. I stop the progression and will it backward against the flow of blood, back to his stomach, forcing re-entry. I pull the toxin up his throat, causing it to exit his mouth as a dime-sized puddle of clear liquid. It floats into the air above him and then falls on the carpet.
Will and Kayla collapse as I work on Justin. I hurry over and do the same procedure on them simultaneously, with one hand on each of their stomachs. Then I check Beth and Ricky to make sure their bodies are clean of the poison. Apparently they didn’t eat any toast.
I go back to Justin and press my hand against his stomach to determine whether or not the poison is still present.
“It’s gone now. You’ll live.”
I stand to leave, but Justin catches my wrist. My peripheral vision takes in Chris from the doorway as my mind enters Justin’s. His humility and thankfulness compound exponentially by the second. His eyes express deep gratitude that could be mistaken for love or attraction by Chris. Is Justin attracted to me? No. He views me as an attractive girl, but he has no romantic feelings. What I do sense within his mind are feelings of desire, but not for me—for power, an insatiable lust for the incredible superpower I hold.
I pull my wrist away and look over for Chris. He’s left the room. I run out the door, but he’s already out of sight.
I don’t know how to handle the all-consuming turmoil that comes next. Two dead friends, sobbing girls, and somber boys—what is the protocol for this type of situation? With calling 911 out of the question, what needs to happen next? I have to find Chris and ask him. I go down to his room and find him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.
“Chris, what do we do?” I ask, barely able to talk.
He doesn’t make eye contact. “I called Clara,” he says. I sense his anguish. “She’s taking care of everything. Your group will be moved to another room, and some people will be by to pick up . . . ”
I feel he needs comfort, so I go over and sit beside him on the bed. The moment my butt hits the covers, he vaults up and crosses the room. I guess I’m still pretty scary to him.
“Calli, please go back with the others. I’ll be over in a second. I think it’s time everyone learns exactly what we are delivering and why our two friends died.”
“Okay.”
I leave his room and walk back to mine, dragging my feet. What a horrible thing to have happen. The remorse I feel for not being able to help the two fallen friends eats at me.
Before I reach my door, I hear two car doors slam shut and tires squeal as an expensive sports car speeds out of the parking lot. I make eye contact with the female passenger. I enter her mind with ease and discover she’s responsible for the poisoned food, but that she considers the mission a failure because the trio lived. Interestingly enough, the woman is not a person with powers. I look for the vehicle’s plates, only to find nothing. For a brief moment I consider chasing after the car. I decide against it. My friends need me.
I enter the silent room where my fellow teammates sit with their heads hung low. Beth sits by Jessica’s body, gently smoothing Jessica’s red curls with her fingers. Sniffles are heard throughout the room. I squeeze between Jonas and Yang and grab hold of the breakfast cart. They move out of the way as I wheel the cart out the door and leave it on the sidewalk. I take the platter of toast and dump it in the trashcan just inside the door to the room. I don’t want to take any chances that some unsuspecting soul may eat a piece. I study the remaining foods on the cart, sniffing for any other tainted items, but I find nothing. I move back into the room and stand by the door.
Justin sits at the other end of the room with his back to the wall by the bathroom, gazing at me in admiration. I almost prefer his seething glares to this. At least I could tell what was going through his head when his expressions gave him away.
To keep my mind and hands busy, I pull the blanket and sheet off the nearest bed and gently cover Michael’s body with the blanket. Then I hand the sheet to Beth and help her cover Jessica.
Chris enters the room and walks straight to Justin. Justin stands as Chris approaches. Some of the Runners near me are talking so I can’t zero in on Chris and Justin’s conversation with my intensive hearing. I can’t read Chris’s lips because his back is to me. I pick up on half of the conversation by reading Justin’s lips, which is easy to do because he’s still looking directly at me. Our eyes meet, but his mind is blocked tight. Chris must be frustrated with Justin’s lack of attention because he turns his head and follows Justin’s unbreakable gaze. As Chris’s eyes meet mine, he whips his head back to Justin and then to me again. Chris has a confused expression I can’t read. He turns his back again and speaks harsh words, pulling Justin’s eyes off me by saying something stern enough to irritate Justin.
Justin thunders back, loud enough for everyone to hear, “You can’t tell me what to do!”
Chris continues dressing him down, to which Justin replies in an irritated voice, “Whatever.”
Chris turns to find the entire group glued to their conversation. He clears his throat and removes the box from his pocket. “Losing our friends is the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with on this journey so far. This room was targeted, I believe, because two of the trio members were here. Without Calli’s healing ability, five of our delivery team would have died, including one of the trio.”
A few of the team members talk to one another. Chris looks at me and I sense he’s putting thoughts out for me to read. I enter his mind. Late last night, Beth reported that Justin had called someone and told them he had the package. I felt I should take the diamond from him. He was reluctant to hand it over, but finally did. He’s responsible for Michael and Jessica’s deaths. I will make sure he pays for what he’s done.
Chris continues to address the group. “The three of us have agreed to show you what it is we are transporting. You will find out soon enough anyway, but with all the clans coming, and with the many powers that will be floating around this small town, it’s vitally important to control your thoughts, avoid other people, and not accept gifts of free food or mysterious packages.”
He holds the black box out in front of him and lifts the lid.
“This is what the Death Clan wants in exchange for the release of the hostages. This diamond is what Michael and Jessica died over, but if we can be successful in its delivery, then they won’t have died in vain. Two men are on their way here to take Michael and Jessica and it’s absolutely important for us to block our minds and keep our mouths shut. We can’t fail now when we’re so close to completion.”
“Who’s coming?” Will asks.
“I’m not sure, but other than Hunters, this will be the first time on this journey we deal with people who have powers. We won’t know what their intentions might be.”
I say, “I’ll be able to tell. When the men arrive, I will give a signal of either a smile or a frown depending what I pick up. They’ll know we’re a delivery team even if they don’t know anything else. We must all use caution with what we say and we should be ready to run on a moment’s notice, just in case.
* * *
A white windowless van with the words: Physical Therapy—At Home Care, backs into the parking spot in front of our room and two middle-aged men get out and approach our door. I watch them through the window and determine they are Healers and not a danger to us.
I nod and smile at Chris, who opens the door after they knock. The older man says, “I’m Andrew Stuart and this is Robert Yates. Clara asked us to come.”
The two Healers enter the room and assess the situation. Andrew explains the complications that will arise if the police are involved. Andrew tells us that our only safe option is for he and Robert to discreetly move the bodies into the van so they can be transported to a secure location where final arrangements can be made.
As difficult as all this feels, we’re all in agreement.
Andrew and Robert carry the two Runners in a way that makes them look like they are alive, but unable to walk, and place them in the back of the van. If any motel guest happens to catch the activity in the parking lot, they won’t suspect anything out of the ordinary.
The Healers come back into our room and talk with us before leaving. I sit on the bed, excluding myself from the conversation. They ask the others what happened and check them over for traces of poison, including everyone from Chris’s room. I’m relieved, knowing Jonas will finally get the care he needs for his raging cancer. However, they look him over and move on to the next Runner. I jump up off the bed and approach the one named Andrew. Chris eyes me from across the room and tells me with his mind to stop.
“Excuse me sir, may I speak with you a moment?” I say to Andrew.
“Certainly.”
We step outside and, before the door closes, I catch Chris’s stormy expression.
“The last boy you checked snores all night long. Is something blocking his airway?” I try to sound innocent.
“I didn’t pick up on anything.”
“He holds his head a lot as if he’s in pain,” I lie.
“Does he complain about discomfort?”
“No.”
“There’s probably nothing to worry about.”
I nod, realizing this Healer most likely doesn’t possess exceptional healing skills. I will search out a better one when the clans converge in the clearing.
* * *
After the men leave and the motel manager moves Justin’s group into our new rooms, we all sit quietly in heavy contemplation. Chris calls on the phone and asks for me.
His voice sounds exhausted. “Why did you ask about the sick one earlier?”
I figure Jonas must be nearby, and Chris doesn’t want to say his name. I answer Chris’s question saying, “I couldn’t believe they missed the problem. I asked a couple questions and got nowhere. I’ll find a more experienced Healer to help.”
“Calli, would you please tell me about your vision?”
“I’ve already told you, you’ll live.”
“Why the change? The last time you looked at my future, I was going to die.”
“I guess I figured out the magic formula that keeps you alive.”
“What did you change? Why will I survive?”
“I’m tired and I’m going to bed. Bye.” I hang up the phone before he can respond.