TORMENTED

By Kelly Carrero

Copyright 2012 by Kelly Carrero

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, characters and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author holds the rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written expressed consent from the author herself.

Cover Design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc.

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CHAPTER 1

All humans are created equal… God, how I wished I could go back to being just as ignorant to the truth of my existence. Or more so, I wished I was just a normal human because then my mum would still be alive, and I would still be living in Australia. Instead, I was in hiding, living in Thailand with my boyfriend, Aiden.

I knew I was lucky to have someone go through my change with me, especially a guy who was going through it himself, but with more awareness since his parents were the same.

I still thought about my mum every day and had the occasional morbid dream, but I no longer blamed myself for her death. I wasn’t sure if that was something I came to terms with on my own or with the help of Aiden.

Any other time or place, I would have thought Thailand to be the perfect holiday escape. The weather was literally perfect every day. The people were so nice and hospitable and didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

I was on my way to Baha Baha, which was a great little cafe where Aiden and I practically lived. It wasn’t the nicest looking of places on the outside. In fact, when a local first suggested that we eat there, I thought he was trying to kill us from food poisoning so he could steal our money. Then, I found out the cafe made the most delicious food and drinks I had ever tasted. I pushed my way through the old plastic hanging strips that covered the entrance—their way of trying to keep the flies out of the kitchen.

“You must have E.S.P. or something,” Jaidee called from behind the kitchen bench. He walked out to the register with our food packaged and ready to go.

“Nah, just good timing.” I laughed, thinking of the truth.

“Should I put it on your bill?” he asked.

“Actually…” I reached into my pocket and pulled out some money. “I’ll clear the debt today. This should settle it.” I handed over the money. “And keep the change. You deserve it; your prices are way too low.”

“Wow!” Jaidee’s eye’s widened. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I replied. It felt good seeing the way his face lit up. The amount was probably more money than he would make in a month.

Jaidee still had a grin plastered across his face as he disappeared out the back to grab his account book. The cafe was filled with the usual local crowd, chowing down their lunch as if drinking soup. I had never seen anything like the way they moved their chopsticks—amazing.

I suddenly got a very bad feeling that something was very wrong. When he came back to the counter, I started to ask, “Jaidee, is everything—” Before I could finish my sentence, a man dressed in black from head to toe barged through the front door. He was armed with a machine gun and looked like he meant business.

Without so much as a word, the guy started firing.  Everything immediately went into slow motion.  I could actually see the bullets leaving the gun as if I were watching a movie and had slowed it down to view it frame by frame. I could even see the air ripple as the bullets propelled their way through it.

At least twenty adults were huddled around the four small tables. Two of the women held babies to their chests. Another two toddlers sat on the floor, obliviously playing with their toy cars.

The man continued to spray bullets into the air.  Visions started flooding my mind of the bullets piercing the skin of the unsuspecting victims. The people’s bodies were being tossed around by the force of the bullets. And the blood… it was everywhere.

My mind quickly snapped back to the present while I continued to watch the bullets get closer and closer to their victims. My mind raced as I tried to figure out what I could do to stop the inevitable carnage I had just witnessed through my vision.

What I was dealing with was far beyond my capabilities. I had only just learnt to control my transportation abilities, and my mind reading was still very limited. Glancing around the room, I realised the bullets were within inches of their destinies. Trying to drain out the carnage that flooded my mind, I thought of the person I needed to see so desperately, the one person who could remove the images from my mind—Aiden.

Within a split second, I could no longer hear the bullets rippling through the air or static of everyone’s conversations in slow mode. I heard the crashing of waves, smelled salty sea breeze, and felt sand between my toes. I opened my eyes. Tears streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision, but that didn’t matter. All I could see was the vision of all those innocent people being slaughtered, and there was nothing I could do to help them.

What good was having my abilities if all they did was bring sorrow to my life? I felt Aiden wrapping his arms around me. The next think I knew, the visions were gone, replaced by Aiden’s shocked expression as he stared at me.

My mind was still working in slow motion as I looked around at my surroundings, not believing what I was seeing. They were all there—Jaidee, the men, the mothers with their babies, and the toddlers who had been sitting on the floor beside the table. Everyone was on the beach, safe and sound. But how?

“You must have transported them here with you.” Aiden’s voice was still going at its normal pace, even though everything else was not. “I don’t know how, but that’s not important right now. We have to be quick and get out of here before they see us.”

Aiden was right. All of those people were about to realise they were no longer sitting in the cafe, but on a sandy beach with tourists from around the world watching them.

I stood there in amazement as Aiden quickly removed any trace of me from their memories. Jaidee wouldn’t even remember that I had placed an order with him less than twenty minutes ago.

“I’m ready,” he said, pulling me into his arms.

I transported us behind some clumped palm trees, which were a safe distance away from the group. As my vision returned to normal, I watched their shocked faces search for some sort of understanding of what had just happened. The locals were starting to freak.

“What did you do?” Aiden asked, shaking his head.

“I don’t know.” I thought about what had happened so Aiden could see for himself.

“How?” He sounded as shocked as I felt.

I had only ever been able to transport Aiden with me. A couple of times, I tried transporting animals, as they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about it. But it never worked. I had never managed to transport another living creature with me, besides Aiden, of course.

The voices on the beach reached hysteria as the people tried to make sense of what was happening. Passersby flocked to the cafe crowd. They also couldn’t believe what they were seeing. One minute they had been staring out at the deserted beach leading into the crystal clear blue waters, and the next second, a group of people was obstructing their view.

“Don’t worry. No one else saw us,” Aiden assured me.

My mind reading capabilities were still limited to a few metres from myself, unlike Aiden, who could hear anyone’s thoughts within a couple of hundred metres. For some reason we were not bound to only being able to communicate telepathically when within close proximity to one another, as his parents were. Aiden and I could speak to each other no matter how great the distance.

"Give me a sec," Aiden said. He concentrated on making new memories for all the people on the beach. Due to the number of them, he had to opt for a basic memory, even though that left a lot of vague spots.

Once Aiden finished, the people all thought they had planned to go to the beach that day. How they had gotten down there and why they weren’t dressed for the beach was left open, and every time their thoughts would go to that gap, their minds would become foggy, and then there would be acceptance.

“Let’s get out of here,” Aiden said.

Aiden’s transportation abilities were not yet as strong as mine. He was limited to needing to physically see the location where he wanted to transport. It actually looked as if he were bouncing from point to point, whereas I was somehow able to transport myself to anyone and anywhere, which was another strange thing about me.

All the others like us needed to know the physical location where they want to go. They were unable to transport to a person without knowing where that person was.

I sat on the couch with my legs folded up against my chest, listening to Aiden's thoughts running through his head. He stood on the balcony, watching the crowd on the beach, and tried to make sense of what I did and what it all meant.

I wondered why bad things happened so often around us lately, or rather, around me lately. There were things about what had happened back in Australia that still didn’t make sense. Why had the psycho wanted me? Why had someone killed my mother? And why had her murderer hidden and waited for me to come home?

Those were all things that I did not want to think about. That was part of the reason why we were here in Thailand. I needed a break from reality where I didn’t have to think about the heartbreaking truth of what happened back home in Australia. My mum was dead because of me.

With that thought, Aiden was instantly by my side, pulling me into his arms. He knew that I wasn’t okay. He also knew that it was time to face my demons. There were only two people who would be able to help me with that: Aiden’s parents—Anna and Dave.

Before I had a chance to talk myself out of it, I closed my eyes and thought about Anna.

CHAPTER 2

“Holy shit! You scared the crap out of me!” Anna held her hand over her heart as though trying to keep it from exploding through her chest.

She was just as I remembered her. She still had the same perfect olive complexion, golden brown hair, and those amazing green eyes that seemed to see through to your soul, which for her wasn’t really that far from the truth.

“And here I thought you knew everything,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. I could tell Aiden was still worried as hell about what I had done back in Thailand.

Within seconds, Anna’s expression changed from the shock of the two of us popping in unannounced to compassion. She hurried towards me and gave me a comforting embrace. “It’s okay, honey. You’re safe now.” She released me, but still kept an arm around my waist as she turned to Aiden. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”

“I know.” Aiden gave a slight smile.

For the first time since I acquired the ability to hear his thoughts, I couldn’t hear a thing. That wasn’t supposed to happen with Aiden and me. We were always somehow able to connect to each other’s minds; we were on the same frequency. I started to panic, wondering if I was somehow going to turn back into being just a normal human, but was cut short when Anna gave a little laugh.

“Jade, there is no possibility of you ever turning back into a ‘normal human’ when you never were.” Anna stopped to have a few more giggles before continuing. “You see, honey, Aiden almost always shuts down the barriers to his mind whenever he’s around us.” Reaching up, Anna ruffled Aiden’s hair. “Apparently, there are some things a son wants to keep secret from his mother.”

I was sure my face flushed bright red as I thought about all of Aiden’s and my private moments, lying on an open platter—or open mind in my case—available for anyone to pry into the most intimate details of our lives.

Anna laughed again. “Don’t worry, honey. There are also many things a mother doesn’t want to know about her son’s life.”

Aiden’s face turned a shade redder than normal. “Nice to know you haven’t forgotten how to embarrass me.” He leaned down to give his mum a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, it’s a mother’s prerogative to embarrass her children every once in a while.” Responding to my thoughts, Anna said, “I guess it’s going to take a while for you to get used to me being his mother instead of his sister, isn’t it?”

Until a couple of months ago, I had thought Anna was Aiden’s sister, as that was their cover story. No one would have believed that Anna was really his mother, when she only looked a few years older. That was one of the best perks to our immortality. Our bodies would never deteriorate. We would be what society sees as perfection for the rest of eternity.

“Yeah, it’s a little hard to believe,” I acknowledged. “I mean, I do believe that you’re really his mum, but…”

“To look at us and believe is another story,” Anna finished. “But just remember, to everyone else, I’m just Aiden’s older sister. Okay?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone the truth. Your secret is safe with me.” I goofily zippered my lips shut.

“Geez, I almost forgot how silly you are sometimes,” Anna said with a laugh.

“You can be at times. But we still love you anyway.” Aiden pulled me into his arms and planted a big kiss on my lips, which of course embarrassed the hell out of me.

Anna laughed. “You’ve got to stop thinking of me as his mum. I’m still the same person I was when you didn’t seem to care about kissing him in front of me.”

My face flushed yet again. “God, I really need to learn how to block you guys out of my thoughts before I die from embarrassment.”

“And now you know why I put my shield up whenever I’m around them,” Aiden said with a grin.

“You have got to teach me,” I begged. Anna and Aiden both laughed. But I was serious, and unfortunately they both knew it. Aargh! I needed to change the subject quickly. “So where exactly are we?” I asked Anna. Even though I was the one who had brought Aiden and me there, I really had no idea where I was. When I transported us, I had only thought about bringing us to Anna, not to any specific location.

“We’re in Bath in England. It was our home before we moved to Australia.” Aiden’s eyes lit up with excitement as he looked around the room. He was obviously thrilled to be home.

We were standing in what seemed to be their library. The walls were adorned with floor-to-ceiling shelves, which must have held thousands of books. Some were new, but most looked as if they were over a hundred years old. A luxurious burgundy velvet reading sofa at the far end of the room faced a pair of elegant french doors.

“Come on. Check out the view from this room.” Aiden grabbed my hand, dragging me over to the french doors. “And you thought the view from our place in Australia was good.” He was grinning from ear to ear, waiting eagerly for me to step out onto the balcony with him.

“I highly doubt anything could be as beautiful as your…” I trailed off as I stepped out onto the balcony, where I let out a small gasp as I took in the sheer beauty of what I was seeing.

Below, perfectly manicured lawns led to a lake that looked as big as the ocean. “This is truly amaz—” I cut myself off when I turned to look at Aiden. “You live in a castle?” I asked in disbelief as I took in the remainder of his “home” behind where he stood. The place seemed to go on forever.

“I thought you were rich, but this…?” I was in shock. I never really thought anyone except royalty grew up in castles.

Aiden laughed. “This is England. There are castles galore around here, not only for royalty. And besides, it’s been in our family for centuries.”

When most people said that, they meant that it had been passed down through the generations. But Aiden meant that his home had been with his mum and dad for centuries. I wondered just how old Anna and David were.

“That’s a story for another day.” Anna stepped onto the balcony. “Right now, I’m sure you would rather get settled in before dinner.” She looked down at her watch. “Which should be ready in about forty-five minutes.”

I had almost forgotten the time difference between Thailand and England. Barely an hour ago, I had been in Baha Baha, picking up lunch, when the terrorist or whatever the hell he was stormed in and almost killed all those innocent people. Standing with Aiden and Anna on the balcony of a castle in England made what had happened earlier that day feel like a lifetime ago.

Aiden led me out of the library and through a maze of corridors that were more like really long, wide rooms. Eventually, we reached a massive pair of wooden doors.

“Here we are,” Aiden said, pushing them open.

I almost died. I thought his room would be in typical castle-like style—stone walls, four poster bed surrounded by furniture that had been made back in King Arthur’s day. But no… Yes, his room was huge, but it was a mush of ultra-modern with only a touch of castle-like features. For instance, his bed was solid timber and looked bigger than any king size I’d ever seen. But the place had modern trimmings, like the gigantic LED TV that came down from a secret hidey hole in the ceiling, about a metre past the foot of his bed.

There was a lounge area at one end of the room, complete with a mini-fridge. Behind the sofa were two sets of french doors, opening to what I presumed was a balcony. And at the far end of the room was another door, which I guessed was his closet. His room was bigger than our entire villa back in Thailand.

“Holy crap” was all I could think to say.

“Pretty cool, huh?” He picked me up and within a split second, I was lying on the gigantic bed with Aiden’s body on top of me. Usually, I would have some sort of warning that he was about to bounce me somewhere, but with Aiden wanting to keep his mind blocks up around his mum, I had absolutely no idea.

“We can’t,” I managed to whisper as Aiden nuzzled my neck, his hands moving up underneath my shirt. “They’ll know.” Aiden could block his thoughts from his parents, but I couldn’t.

He propped himself up on one elbow. “I think this is one of the things that Anna was talking about when she said there are some things a mother doesn’t want to know about her son.”

“So you don’t think she will be listening?” I asked, hoping to God that was true.

He ran a finger over my lips, down my neck, between my breasts, until he reached my pants, sending quivers of excitement rushing through my body. Leaning forward until his lips hovered just above mine, Aiden whispered in his oh-so-sexy bedroom voice, “Nope.” And that was all the convincing I needed.

Just as our lips met, there were two quick taps on his bedroom door before it was flung open, and some man I had never seen before entered holding a pile of neatly folded fluffy white towels.

“Oh, my God!” I pushed Aiden off with more force than I knew I had.

Without so much as a glance in our direction, the man headed straight towards the door to what I had presumed was the closet.

As Aiden got up from the floor beside the bed, he gave a small laugh whilst shaking his head. “That’s just Bernard, the butler.” He flopped down on the bed beside me.

“You have a butler?” The words came out before I had a chance to think about it. Of course he had a butler. They lived in a castle, for Christ’s sake.

“Uh huh,” Aiden replied as if it were no big deal.

“And his name is seriously Bernard?” I asked, thinking what a perfect name for a butler.

Bernard returned with his head down, moving quickly towards the bedroom door. I hoped to God that he would get out as quickly as possible.

“Bernard,” Aiden called.

Bernard immediately stopped and looked in our direction for the first time. “Yes, master?”

“I want you to meet someone,” Aiden said, putting his arm around me.

“Are you serious? You couldn’t wait ‘till I wasn’t lying in bed to do the introductions?” I said silently to Aiden.

“I could… but it wouldn’t be as much fun,” Aiden teased before continuing his introductions. “This is Jade. I’m sure Anna and David have told you about her.”

“Yes, master, they have.” Bernard walked a couple of steps towards us. “Welcome, Jade. If there is anything I can get for you to make your stay here more enjoyable, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He gave a slight bow before retreating from the room.

“Yes, master?” I repeated. I had never heard anything like it. And I hadn’t thought that Aiden would be the type of person who would have someone call him “master,” even if it was his butler.

Aiden laughed.

“What?” I gave him a little push, making sure that I didn’t inflict the same force I had when I had thrown him off the bed.

“That’s just a joke he likes playing on new people and my friends from my old school.” Aiden wrapped his arms around me, squeezing tightly. “And you should know me better than that by now. I would never ask anyone to call me ‘master.’” He chuckled. “So where were we?” He started pulling me down on the bed with him.

“Nuh huh!” I gently pushed him off me. “I’m not doing anything with you in this room until you get a lock put on that door!”

“I don’t think he will be back anytime soon.” Aiden grabbed my hand, trying to coerce me back to the bed.

“Not until those doors have locks on them!” I reiterated. “Now, am I right in thinking that you have a bathroom past those doors?” I pointed at the doors where Bernard had carried the towels.

“Yeah. And now we have fresh towels in there, too.” Aiden snickered.

I turned around and headed for the bathroom.

Aiden called, “Do you want some company?”

“Locks. Remember?” I opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind me.

The bathroom was bigger than any I had ever seen. The walls and floor were covered in the most amazing marble tiles that were modern-looking, but still kept with the whole castle theme. One of those freestanding bathtubs sat in the middle of the room, but it looked to be more like the size of a spa. I guessed it was yet another custom-made item to add to their collection. To the left stood a massive double shower that had a floating glass wall. And at the far end was a toilet that really gave meaning to the expression “the royal throne.” There was even a sofa to the side of the massive bathtub, which I guessed was for laying out clothes. Well, that was what I planned on using it for anyway.

I undressed and placed my clothes on the sofa, then made my way over to the shower. I turned the hot water tap and was instantly met with water that seemed the perfect temperature. The water not only spouted from directly above, but also from the walls.

Letting the water massage my body, I thought back to what had happened in Thailand. I tried to stop thinking about it. There was nothing I could do to change what I had done. I was glad I hadn’t let all of those locals perish in the armed fire assault.

With what Aiden had done to those people on the beach, none of them would remember I was there that day. Even if they did, there was no way anyone would find out what I had done, which meant that we were safe. I was pretty sure the shooter wouldn’t be telling anyone soon, unless of course he wanted to end up in front of a firing squad, the penalty for such crimes in Thailand.

My inner ramblings were interrupted by Aiden’s familiar voice inside my head. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your shower. I’m gonna go and see if I can find Dave.”

“No worries. I won’t be too much longer,” I lied, but Aiden knew that, which didn’t make it a real lie per se.

“Yeah, whatever. You’ll probably be in there for at least another half hour.” He knew me too well. Boy, did I love my showers. I would usually stay under the water until my skin turned wrinkly. "Oh, by the way. A locksmith will be around within an hour.”

Was he serious? How the hell did he arrange a locksmith so damn quickly at that time of night? Maybe it was an English thing. Or maybe it was one of those “I live in a castle” things. He probably had a locksmith on staff.

“Are you ever going to get over the whole castle thing?” He was obviously still listening in on my thoughts.

“Just go and find your dad. Oh, and say hi to him for me.”

“Love ya."

"Love you, too." And I meant it.

Sometimes it got a little annoying not having any privacy, but I wouldn’t have our relationship any other way. Hearing someone’s thoughts really changed the way I viewed life. For some reason, most people pretended to be someone they weren’t. Some would act as if they were better than others, but inside, they were just as insecure as the rest of us.

CHAPTER 3

When my skin had finally given me the time-up signal, I got out of the shower. After I dried off, I went in search of something to wear. I hadn’t brought anything because I hadn’t thought about a change of clothes before I transported us. Aiden, on the other hand, had plenty of clothes in his massive walk-in closet off the bathroom.

I rummaged through it until I found a shirt that would cover enough of my thighs so as not to embarrass myself too much. Then, I made my way out of his room in search of Aiden or his parents.

With my ability of being able to sense Aiden’s presence, even if it was a little tough because of the size of the place, I managed to navigate the maze of corridors that led to the dining room, where I was greeted by none other than Bernard, who motioned for me to enter the room.

Even though the dining room was huge, with seriously expensive décor and a mountain of food covering the entire table, my eyes couldn’t look away from the tarty bitch sitting in the chair next to Aiden. She was facing him, leaning forward ever so slightly to allow for maximum boob show, while she twisted a lock of her golden blond hair through her fingers. And as soon as she saw me, she started laughing as if Aiden had just told her something hilarious, which I knew he didn’t because of the confused expression on his face.

Aiden glanced up, saw me, and quickly jumped out of his chair. He greeted me with a kiss before he pulled me into his arms and whispered, “Don’t worry about her. She can be a bit much at times.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” I replied low enough that my voice wouldn’t carry, even though I knew almost half the people in the room would be able to hear me anyway, thanks to the super-hearing thing. Oh and add to that the fact that I hadn’t yet learnt to block my thoughts from them.

Before I could say anything else about the skank sitting in what I presumed would be my seat, Aiden turned so that I was under his arm and began his introductions. “Jade, this is Nathan.” He pointed at a good-looking, twenty-something guy with brown hair and blue eyes.

“Welcome to England,” Nathan said with a very strong English accent.

“Thanks,” I replied automatically. I never really looked in Nathan’s direction for more than a second because my eyes kept going back to Miss Skank, who was preening herself for her introduction.

Aidan gestured at her. “And this here is Georgia, who was just about to get out of your seat.”

Georgia scoffed, then stood to vacate the chair. She wore the tightest, shortest black dress I had ever seen, if one could even call it a dress. It was more like a boob tube pulled down over her ass. She gave me an ice-cold glare then sat in the chair next to Nathan. “Nice outfit,” she said sarcastically.

Looking down, I realised what I was wearing. Ah, crap. There she was dressed for going out on the town—or more so, standing on a street corner—and there I was in Aiden’s T-shirt. Oh well, by the looks of it, she would much rather be wearing one of Aiden’s shirts. Pity for her, that was never going to happen.

There were a few stifled laughs that I knew stemmed from Anna, Dave, and Aiden hearing my thoughts. But I also received one hell of a scornful look from Georgia, which I couldn’t explain.

Aiden cleared his throat. “As I was about to say, and really should’ve said earlier, Georgia is Nathan’s daughter.”

Georgia was Nathan’s daughter? But Nathan didn’t look old enough to be anyone’s father, let alone have a teenage daughter. And slowly, the penny sank—they were like us.

Holy crap. That meant that both Georgia and Nathan had heard everything I was thinking: the skank, the boob tube, the dressing like a hooker. Well, it was all true.

At that thought, I received another dagger look from Georgia.

Nathan opened his mouth to say something. I thought I was going to cop it for what I was thinking, when he turned to Georgia and said, “Well, you kind of do.”

Oh, my God! Did I just hear right? Did Nathan just agree that his daughter looked like a pro?

Georgia stood up, pushing her chair away from her. “I don’t have to put up with this shit. I’m leaving.” She turned around and strutted her stuff out of the room.

“Sorry, I really have to learn how the hell you guys block your thoughts. You and me—” I pointed at Aiden “—we’re not going to sleep tonight ‘til I’ve mastered it.” I gave a quick wave to Dave, then took my seat.

“Don’t worry about it. Her dress sense has been getting worse and worse lately.” Nathan picked up a glass of wine, taking a few mouthfuls before continuing, “I’m just glad that if a guy decided to take advantage of her dressed like that, he would probably end up in hospital… if he was lucky.” He snickered.

“Anyway, let’s all dig in before dinner gets cold.” Anna was clearly trying to change the subject.

For the first time, I actually registered what we were eating. And of course it was fit for a king—roast chicken, pork, and beef, with every vegetable imaginable. Also, there were prawns, lobster, crabs, oysters, and my favourite, bugs.

Anna smiled. “Thought you might like it.”

Like it? I loved it! If I could eat it every day, I would. In fact, I used to eat it almost every day in Thailand. They had the freshest of seafood there, straight from the ocean and onto your plate.

Another man who looked to be in his early twenties came rushing through the door. “Sorry I’m late.” He was as good-looking as the rest of the males sitting at the table. He had a golden tan that matched his sandy blond hair, which came down to his shoulders. He wore navy blue board-shorts and one of those white Bonds singlets. He looked as if he had just stepped off the beach, but not likely, as we were in England, and who the hell would go surfing in that icy cold weather?

“You guessed it,” the surfer guy said.

“Guessed what?” I had no idea what he was on about. I hadn’t guessed anything.

He dumped his bag on the floor and sat in the chair opposite me. “I was late ’cause I was busy surfing… in Hawaii, that is.” He had a grin plastered across his face. “You should’ve seen it. The waves were unbelievable!” He leaned over the table to knock closed fists with Aiden, who responded by giving one of those typical male bonding grunts before he finally decided to introduce me to this surfer guy.

“Jade, this is Kai. Kai, this is Jade.” Aiden stretched his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

Kai nodded toward me. “You scored yourself a good one there.” He grabbed a leg of chicken and just about devoured it in one bite.

“You’ll have to excuse Kai’s manners.” Anna gave a scornful look at Kai, which he just shrugged off. “Kai may give the impression that he is a dumb-assed surfer dude who can barely string a sentence together, but the truth is he… how would you say it…?”

“He’s a freaking genius,” Dave said.

“It’s true,” Kai muttered in between bites from another chicken leg, which he chowed as if he were some barbaric cave man.

“Enough about Kai’s not so great etiquette,” Nathan said, interrupting my mind babble about Kai’s manners. “Now the reason why Dave and Anna invited us here—”

Kai interrupted Nathan to give a few grunts for what seemed to be his thanks to Anna for the food.

Nathan shook his head, then turned to me. “As I was saying, Dave and Anna invited us here tonight to see if there was more to what happened back in Thailand.”

I shrugged. “What’s to figure out? Didn’t I just stop some terrorist from murdering all those people?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little strange for terrorists to hit a place where only the locals go?” Nathan asked. “They usually go for somewhere that’s packed with tourists for maximum impact with the media. That way, they’re guaranteed to get international news coverage rather than just making the local news, which is what they would have made if you didn’t get all those people out of there.”

That made sense. After all, the so-called terrorist hadn’t looked like the run of the mill ones I had seen training in their terrorist camps on TV. “So what now?” I asked.

Before anyone answered, I knew by the look on Anna’s face what they were planning to do. I had seen that look only twice before, and each time it meant that something freaky was about to happen. They wanted to see for themselves what had happened back in Thailand. And with that thought, I could see Dave, Anna, Nathan, and even Kai nodding their heads in agreement.

All eyes were on me, waiting for permission to enter my mind. Kai had even stopped ripping apart the lobsters.

“Aargh! What the hell?” I figured they had already been listening to my internal rambles since I stepped into the room, so what was a bit more invasion of my privacy? “But don’t be looking for anything that’s not related to the terrorist,” I added. God, I hoped they would listen to me and not go through all my personal thoughts and memories.

“Promise,” Dave said and looked at Kai and Nathan for them to give their word too.

“There are some things a guy really doesn’t want to know. A teenage girl’s mind is one of them,” Nathan assured me.

Everyone looked at Kai. “Fine,” he finally agreed.

Within seconds, I felt them all enter my mind, searching for any information they could find about what had happened in Thailand.

Aiden was the only one who didn’t need to see. He put his arm around me, pulling me to his side. “Don’t worry. They’ll figure it out.”

Just as fast as they had started, they stopped, and everyone was out of my mind. I looked around, meeting their eyes and hoping that I would be met with a ‘we’ve got it figured out’ look.

Anna, Dave, Nathan, and Kai all glanced at each other, but didn’t say a word. I knew what they were doing, but I couldn’t understand why they were blocking me from their silent conversation.

“Jade,” Anna said with a look that worried me. “Honey, there are some things that I need to talk to you about. How about we go for a walk?” she suggested, pushing out her chair and standing.

“Um, yeah, okay.” Whatever it was, I didn’t think it was going to be good; otherwise, I was sure she would have said it in front of everyone. I looked to Aiden to see if he was coming with us.

“You go ahead,” he said, wearing a similar expression as the others. “I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

“Don’t be long,” I said before following Anna out of the room.

She led me down a long corridor, passing three sets of doors before stopping in front of another set to the right. Anna turned the handle and stepped inside. She flicked on the light to reveal a medium-sized room—well, for a castle. In any other house, it would be classified as a large room. I wasn’t sure what the point of the room was, but I guessed there would be another ten rooms just like it.

“This is a sitting room,” Anna explained. “And it’s perfect for times like this.” She pressed a button on the wall, and the fireplace lit up, giving a soft glow to the room. “Take a seat.” Anna pointed towards a cream plush sofa to the side of the fireplace.

I sank into the lounge and waited for her to tell me why she needed to speak with me in private.

She sat on the adjacent matching sofa. “In hindsight, I probably should've told you sooner, but I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.”

“Told me what?” I asked, fidgeting with the hem of Aiden’s T-shirt. An uneasy feeling was starting to take hold of me, making my stomach churn.

“Remember back in Australia, how Chrissy thought she had seen Ben with Chelsea the night Chels disappeared?”

I nodded, remembering how when I grabbed Chrissy, I had been able to see the memory she had of seeing Ben having an argument with Chels at the movies. It didn’t make any sense. Dave had said that Ben was telling the truth about him being at home asleep when Chrissy supposedly saw her. And it wasn’t as if Dave would have gotten it wrong.

She continued, “Well, remember how I went to see Chrissy while you were at the police station giving them the description of the guy you supposedly saw following you and Chelsea?”

The police had called me in for routine questioning, when halfway through, Aiden told me from the waiting room that my next-door neighbour had seen the face of the guy who had taken Chelsea. I then had to give a description of the kidnapper, which in the end didn’t help us find him. I got my ability to transport while I was sleeping and woke up in a cage with Chelsea. Of course, I didn’t know how to get myself out of there, but Aiden somehow transported to me just as the psycho started to slice me up. That was when Aiden lost it and killed the guy without touching him. “Yeah,” I finally replied.

“I told you before that Chrissy had just told one too many lies, and her mind had started to believe them as truths.”

When Anna had first told me that, I knew it didn’t sound right, but every time I started to question it, my thoughts got foggy. Anna sat there with a guilty look on her face.

“You did that to me, didn’t you?” I asked. She had told me once that she had never manipulated my mind and never would, but obviously, that was a lie. I wondered what else she had lied to me about.

“Nothing. I have never touched your mind since,” she promised. At the moment, I wasn’t sure I believed her. “Look, I swear I haven’t,” she reiterated. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk with you about. What I needed to tell you was that someone planted that memory in her mind.”

I pulled my eyebrows together in confusion.

Anna quickly continued, “We don’t know who or why someone had done it, but it’s clear that whoever it was is like us. They must also have complete control over their abilities to pull something like that off. At first, we thought it had nothing to do with you, but when we found out that the kidnapper had mistakenly taken Chelsea instead of you… well, it seems we were wrong. It seems that it has everything to do with you.”

I sat there letting what she had just said sink in. Someone was playing with me. It couldn’t have been the kidnapper who wanted to “find out what made me so special,” as he put it, because Aiden killed him. Also, Aiden wouldn’t have been able to kill the guy if the psycho was like us. And I watched the man die.

“So if it wasn’t him, then someone made him do it,” Anna said, responding to my thoughts. “Just like someone planted the memory in Chrissy’s mind.”

My thoughts went to my mother and how I had walked in on her murder scene. Aiden told me that my mother’s murderer was still there when I found her. Aiden couldn’t hear his thoughts, so he knew the guy was like us. Aiden had bounced me out of there, and that was how we ended up on a plane to Thailand.

At the time, we couldn’t figure out why the guy had been waiting there for me. But with the new information, it seemed so obvious. I looked up at Anna, asking for confirmation that I was on the right track. I was met with a slight nod, and her eyes were filled with compassion.

Nausea hit me like a ton of bricks. I fought the bile creeping up into my throat as memories of my mother’s lifeless body came flooding into my mind. I had come home from the hospital with Aiden. I walked into our lounge room where I found her body lying in a pool of blood. Someone had killed her just to get at me.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” I stood and ran towards the door.

There was no way I was going to reach the toilet in time on foot, so I closed my eyes and transported to Aiden’s bathroom, where I collapsed in a heap over the toilet bowl.

Within a second, Aiden was by my side, holding my hair away from my face. When I was finally done with throwing up everything I had just eaten, I slumped against the bathroom wall with my knees curled up and my head in my hands. How could anyone kill someone like that just to play with my head? Aiden sat down beside me and handed me a glass of water.

“Thanks.” I sculled the water down to get rid of the spew taste in my mouth. Once I’d finished, I placed the glass beside me and tilted my head back to rest it against the cold marble wall tiles.

My life was changing so fast. Only a couple of months ago, I had been oblivious to my true existence. Then, it all changed so quickly when I learned that I was a next gen, which basically meant I was the next generation of the human species. “I don’t get it. Why me?” I asked, even though I was sure as hell Aiden had no clue either.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him so that my head was resting on his shoulder. Sending some of those feel-good calming endorphins my way, he said, “They’ll figure out who is doing this to you.”

“I hope so.” Although I really didn’t have much faith in his parents and their entourage finding out who was behind everything before something else happened. For some reason I couldn’t shake the feeling that what had happened back in Thailand, and even Australia, was only a taste of what was to come.

I decided then and there that I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for whatever that asshole had planned for me next. I was going to find him. I was going to find my mother’s murderer.

CHAPTER 4

When we finally returned to the dining table, everyone except Kai had finished eating. Kai had worked his way through the seafood and was on the desserts.

“Are you feeling better, honey?” Anna asked once Aiden and I had taken our seats.

“Yeah, I just hope Kai left us some food.” I gave a small forced laugh, trying to lighten the mood. I didn’t want to talk about what had happened to my mum with Kai and Nathan there. I knew that to the Scotts, those guys were probably like family. But I had only just met them, and I sure as hell didn’t feel like pouring my heart out in front of them, although they would most definitely already know how I was feeling and what I was planning. I so had to figure out how to block my thoughts.

Anna leaned over and whispered, “There’s still plenty of food. I had Bernard put some aside for you and Aiden.”

Kai stopped mid-mouthful, giving Anna a quizzical look.

Dave made a half-grunt, half-laugh kind of noise, then pointed at Aiden and me. “We all know if these two had been another ten minutes longer, you would have polished off everything on the table.”

Nathan let out a bellowing laugh and pointed at Kai. “You should see your face, man. You’ve got your mouth stuffed with cheesecake, and you have remnants of pork, beef, and whatever else you shoved in your gob hanging off your mug.”

A smirk crept across Kai’s mouth, then turned into a wide, open-mouthed laugh, exposing a mushed-up piece of cheesecake that he hadn’t yet swallowed.

Those guys acted the ages they looked, rather than their actual ages, which I guessed was good because it would be a little strange to see twenty-something-year-olds acting as though they were a hundred. I then realised that I didn’t know how old any of them really were, and for some reason, whenever I asked, the subject was quickly changed.

Bernard came in, carrying a seafood platter that he placed in front of Aiden and me. We dug into the food. Everyone respected my wishes and didn’t mention Thailand, my mother’s murder, or how I was planning to find the person responsible.

It was nearly eleven o’clock when Aiden and I said our goodnights and retreated to his room. I needed to get used to saying “our room.” We would most likely be staying long enough that his room would become my room as well. I was already dressed for bed, so I crawled in and snuggled under the sheets, which were really warm, thanks to the electric blanket.

Aiden took off his shirt and climbed into bed, too. He lay on his side with his hand supporting his head. He watched me, waiting for me to say something, but I didn’t know what to say.

He picked up a strand of my hair and twirled it through his fingers. “I know what Anna told you tonight must have been really hard on you, but I don’t think blaming yourself will do any good either. You’re not responsible for what this person has done to anyone. Okay?”

“Did you know about this?” I asked, wondering if his parents had told him earlier, and he had been keeping information from me.

He let go of my hair and dropped his hand onto the bed. “I only found out about it tonight after they saw what happened in Thailand,” he said, proving me right in thinking that they had been talking about what they had seen and were purposely excluding me from the conversation. He let out a sigh. "It wasn’t like that. They weren’t excluding you from the conversation in an attempt to try to keep information from you. They were trying to work out if all the things that have happened over the last couple of months were linked. And yeah, it looks like they are.”

Realising he hadn’t told me everything, I asked, “So why did you stay back to talk with the rest of the guys, instead of coming with me while Anna told me about it?”

“Anna didn’t want to wait any longer to tell you, and the others wanted to ask me a few questions.”

“Like?” I wasn’t going to leave it at that.

“Like if we had noticed anyone watching us, or ever felt like we were being watched in Thailand. And whether I noticed anything inside that psycho’s head when I was…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but I knew he was going to say when he was killing him. Aiden had saved my life by screwing with the guy’s mind, so yeah, if anyone knew something, it would be him.

He took a deep breath. “Except I didn’t notice anything. I was too pissed off when I saw you strapped to that bed. I became so fixated in making him pay for doing that to you. I didn’t even think of trying to find out why,” he admitted, sounding completely pissed at himself.

I put my hand on his chest, wishing I could take away the pain he was feeling. “You did the best you could in the situation. You didn’t even know that someone could have been making him do that to me.” It was one thing for me to beat myself up, but it was another to let Aiden do the same to himself. “This is going to get us nowhere. We both blame ourselves for things we should’ve done differently, but we can’t change the past. What’s done is done,” I said, knowing full well that neither of us were going to ever truly stop beating ourselves up over things we should’ve done differently.

I rolled over onto my back and stared absently at the ceiling. Neither of us said anything more for a few minutes. But when it came to us, that usually didn’t mean that much. Well, at least it didn’t for Aiden because he still had those mind barriers up, so I was unable to hear his thoughts, but he could still hear mine. And if my mother’s murderer was like us, I was guessing that learning how to protect my mind was going to be a necessity.

“So how do you plan on finding him?” Aiden asked.

Not taking my eyes off the ceiling, I shrugged. “I don’t know.” And I didn’t, but I did know where I would have to start. I would have to go back home. I would have to return to the scene of my mother’s murder. The thought of returning home made me sick to my stomach. I thought I had come to terms with what happened to her, but with it being time to go back, I wasn’t so sure.

“You’re not going to go through this alone,” Aiden said, lacing his fingers with mine.

A few seconds later, I was welcoming those feel-good endorphins he sent my way. “Thanks,” I said with a smile. “I think I’m going to need a lot more of those over the coming days.”

“So when are we going back?”

“How long do you think it will take for you to teach me how to put up my own mind barriers?” I asked.

He let out another sigh. “I’ve told you before, it’s not something I can teach you. It just happens, just like it did when you first started being able to hear people’s thoughts.”

I remembered back to my first time. It happened just as Aiden had assured me it would. One minute, I only had my own thoughts running through my mind, and the next, I could hear everyone else’s, too. Well, maybe not everyone’s, as I could only hear someone’s thoughts if they were within a metre or two of me. It was really hard to deal with at first. And I finally understood what Aiden had said about mind reading not being all it’s cracked up to be. Most people were very judgmental, but others would never know because people said one thing while thinking another.

“So there’s nothing I can do,” I said, disappointed.

“Well, there’s no harm in trying to block your own thoughts.” When I gave him a questioning look, he continued. “Just imagine putting up a mental barrier around your mind. It might work.”

I concentrated all my efforts on building a mental barrier to cover my mind. At first, I imagined a brick wall, but then I changed it to a metal barrier when I realised that bricks couldn’t really mold to the shape of a brain.

“Is it working?” I asked, once I envisioned a liquid metal structure surrounding my mind.

Aiden cracked up laughing, and I realised he had only been joking. He had never really thought that imagining the barrier around my mind would really work. “You should’ve seen your face,” he said, imitating what I had supposedly looked like when I was trying the impossible.

I rolled my eyes and turned over so that my back was facing him. Aiden had an annoying habit of making fun of me while I was trying my hardest to get my abilities to work. I supposed it probably was funny, watching me attempt what came so easily to him. Of course, he hadn’t worked out the whole transportation thing, so I had one up on him. It was just a pity that he was still ahead by another fifty. Okay, so maybe not fifty, but it was still a lot more than I had.

I fought the smile that was threatening to show itself as I imagined what I must have looked like building my mental barrier. But I would never admit it could ever be a laughing matter, although my admitting wouldn’t really matter because he would already know. Damn my not being able to block my own thoughts!

CHAPTER 5

The smell of coffee woke me the next morning. I opened my eyes to find none other than Bernard the butler standing at the foot of the bed. I was thankful that I still had on Aiden’s T-shirt. Otherwise, the whole situation would've been a lot more awkward that it already was. I hoped to God that Bernard barging in wasn’t going to be a regular occurrence.

“Good morning, Miss Sommers,” he said in his endearing English accent. “Would you like some coffee?”

“It’s just Jade,” I corrected him. I didn’t think I could stand another day with all the formalities. And if what Aiden had said was true about Bernard just putting on a show, then I wanted it to end as soon as possible. Aiden’s side of the bed was vacant. I could feel him close by and figured he was already in the shower.

“Yes, of course, Miss… er, I mean, Jade.”

I guessed it was going to take some time for him to get used to thinking of me as one of the family. Someone that he didn’t need to put a show on for. He turned back towards the trolley that he had somehow got into the room without me hearing. “I have tea if you prefer.”

“Coffee will be great. Thanks,” I said, sitting up and plumping the pillows up behind me.

“How do you take it?”

“White with one.”

He didn’t say anything more while he made my coffee, and I was glad when he turned around and handed me a mug. Yes, mug. At least that was one thing the Scotts must have liked about the Aussie way. We didn’t do teacups and, when it came to coffee, the bigger the mug, the better.

I inhaled the aroma, hoping that it tasted as good as it smelt. Bernard just stood with his hands behind his back, staring at me, as if waiting for a tip, and I was pretty sure that people didn’t tip a butler. An awkward look lingered between us as I tried to work out why he was standing there, watching, waiting for something. I wished I could have just disappeared, but I was guessing that would seem a little rude. I took a sip, still trying to work out what was going on, and why I couldn’t hear Bernard’s thoughts. I hoped Aiden was going to come back soon to rescue me from the awkward situation.

“Is everything to your satisfaction?” he asked.

“It’s good. Thanks.” And I wasn’t just saying that because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The coffee was really good.

He clasped his hands together in front of him. “Is there anything I can get you before I leave?”

Was that what the awkwardness was all about? He was just waiting for me to take a sip? “No thank you,” I said, before taking another sip.

“Very well.” He turned back to his trolley and pushed it out of the room.

Aiden came strolling in just as Bernard was closing the door. He wore nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. His smooth muscles were accentuated by remnants of the shower. “He makes a good coffee, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he does,” I said, a little surprised that an English person could actually make something that remotely resembled it. They were known for their tea, not coffee. But it was one of the best coffees I’d ever tasted, which was actually saying something. Most people would think that the best coffee in the world would be in Italy, but they would be wrong. Apparently, Australia came out on top. In some ways, that wasn’t so surprising, considering Aussies were made up of every nationality around the world.

I took another sip, savouring the sweet taste on my lips. God, I loved my coffee. “Oh, yeah, what’s the go with me not being able to hear his thoughts?” I asked, remembering how strange it was not to be able to hear someone’s thoughts, other than the next gens, of course.

A smile spread across Aiden’s face.

“What?” I asked, not getting what he found so amusing.

“You must be blocking his thoughts from your mind,” he said.

“Oh, great. I can’t even block my own damn thoughts, yet I’ve somehow learnt to block other people’s thoughts from mine.” That one I really didn’t need to learn as much as I needed to work out how to block my own thoughts from others like us. And if I was a betting girl, I would put a thousand on me not being able to pull that one off again if I tried.

Aiden walked over to the sofa. He sat down, picked up what I presumed was a cup of coffee, and took a sip. I guessed Bernard got that one in without me seeing, too.

“So what do you want to do today?” he asked casually. Considering I still hadn’t learnt to block my thoughts, I was sure he already knew what I was planning, but I guessed he must have wanted to hear me say it.

“I’m going home,” I replied softly. I was starting to make myself sick thinking about going back, but I had to do it.

Aiden nodded. “When do you want to leave?” he asked before taking another sip of his coffee.

“What time is it over there?” I really didn’t want to turn up at my house in the middle of the night and have my old neighbour, Mrs. Carson, call the police on us.

“Ahh…” He paused while he grabbed his iPhone. “It’s about five in the afternoon.”

Good. At that time of year, we still had a couple of hours left before nightfall.

“You want to go now?” he asked with a surprised tone.

“No. After we’ve finished our coffee.”

“Smartass,” he said with a smile, which I returned.

I got out of bed and joined Aiden on the sofa. “I guess I’ve been hanging around you too much, hey?” I joked, bumping my bare thigh against his.

“All jokes aside, how are you feeling?”

I didn’t want to think about how I was feeling. I would have preferred to squash any feelings I had about the last time I was at my house. I wanted to pretend they didn’t exist; otherwise, I didn’t know how I was going to cope with going through what I was about to do.

“You know I can help you with that.” He was offering to do what he had done for me shortly after I had seen my mother’s body lying in a pool of blood.

I shivered at the thought of her lifeless eyes staring up at me, as if pleading for me to help her. Yet I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do. She was gone, and I still felt as though I had failed her somehow. Why I felt like that, I didn’t know, but the fact remained that I did. And maybe, going back to find who did this to her might bring some sort of closure for me. I could only hope.

“I may just take you up on that,” I said, knowing without a doubt that I wouldn’t be able to get through it without his help.

He leaned forward, placed his mug on the coffee table, then got to his feet. “I’m gonna go find Dave and Anna to let them know that we will be heading off soon.”

He walked over to the bed, threw off his towel, and put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. The guy had a massive walk-in wardrobe off his bathroom, and yet he still preferred to leave his clothes lying around everywhere. I just hoped they were clean.

“Yes, they’re clean,” he said, as he strolled over to the door. “I won’t be long.” He left, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

It wasn’t as if I could distract myself by getting ready, because I had nothing to change into. I would have to grab a heap of clothes when I went home. And there I was, thinking about home again and all the memories it held. Damn. I was probably going to need Aiden to work his magic before I even got there.

Not knowing what else to do, I picked up Aiden’s iPhone and browsed his latest music downloads.

Before long, he was back. “You ready?”

I took a deep breath. It was time to go home. Time to face my demons. Time to find my mother’s murderer. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Aiden sat down beside me and laced my fingers with his. “Let’s do this.”

I closed my eyes and thought about home. I wanted to land us in my old bedroom, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from thinking about the lounge room where my mother’s bloodied body had lain.

When we landed, I was too afraid to open my eyes. My heart was jumping inside my chest, and my stomach felt as if it was going to empty all its contents.

Aiden squeezed my hand. “You can open your eyes.”

I shook my head. “No, I can’t.”

“We’re in your room.” He sent some of those feel-good thingies pulsating through my body, but it wasn’t enough. I thought I was ready, but I obviously wasn’t. I couldn’t even open my damn eyes. “Want some help?” he asked.

I nodded. The next thing I knew, all my fear and anxiety about returning home were gone. I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to how he could manipulate my feelings so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the raw emotion that consumed me moments ago. I opened my eyes. He was right. We were in my room.

Nothing seemed to be different; it was as if I had only been there yesterday. My double bed was still covered in the same sheets. I let go of Aiden and ran my hands through my knotted brown hair. I walked over to my dresser to get a brush and heard a familiar bark come from outside. “Tyson.”

I rushed to my bedroom window, pulled the curtain to the side, and searched for Tyson in the backyard. But he wasn’t there. My eyes drifted to the left where a furry black head was bobbing up and down behind Mrs. Carson’s fence. I guessed that answered the question about what happened to him. I had often wondered where the big fella was living and had hoped someone was looking after him, and it turned out someone was. Mrs. Carson may have been nosey as hell, but she always did have a soft spot for my dog.

“It looks like she’s taking care of him,” Aiden said, coming up behind me.

“Yeah, it does.” I let go of the curtain and turned around. I hoped that maybe one day I could get Tyson back, but then I realised he was probably better off staying with Mrs. Carson. We were hardly ever home, whereas she was always home. And maybe having a pet would give her some other purpose in life apart from snooping on all the neighbours.

Before we went downstairs, I needed to get changed. After having a go at Aiden for putting on clothes just left on his bed, I found myself doing the same. Once dressed, I braced myself, then turned to Aiden. “Let’s do this.”

CHAPTER 6

Walking down the hallway that I had walked a million times before felt surreal. Everything still looked the same, but I knew that it wasn’t. My stomach lurched with each step that I took down the stairs. I had to wonder what I would have been like if Aiden hadn’t worked his magic on me only minutes ago. I probably would have collapsed down the stairs, possibly joining my mother on the other side. Actually, that wouldn’t be a possibility for me. There was no “other side” for me. I often wondered just how great the whole being immortal thing would sound in a thousand years. Would I still be so eager to live life, or would I just be existing without any hopes or dreams, or even enjoyment?

I couldn’t ponder what could be any longer because we were about to round the corner to the last few steps before we reached the bottom, which was only metres away from where her body had lain. Aiden grabbed my hand. My fear subsided almost instantly, allowing me to take the last few steps.

Nothing that I had imagined to see when I returned to the scene was there. Nothing. Not even a single drop of blood remained on the carpet. At first, I wondered if someone had put in new carpet, but the two-year-old coffee stain beside the sofa blew that theory.

“I don’t get it,” I said, turning to Aiden. “How is this possible?”

“I don’t know.” He knelt next to the spot where she had died and touched the area where her blood should’ve been.

“But she was right there. You saw her, too. Right?” I was starting to sound a little hysterical. I had expected to see blood, police tape, and even the white chalked outline of her body. But there was nothing. The room looked exactly as it had before she was murdered.

He got up off the floor, then sat on the arm of the sofa. “Of course I saw her. Maybe they were able to get the blood out.”

“Maybe,” I agreed, even though his theory didn’t feel right. There was only one other person I trusted who might be able to tell me what happened. I just wasn’t sure how welcomed I would be. After all, I had just disappeared without even saying good-bye. But I had to try. Besides, I was sure Aiden could make her forgive me. “I’ve gotta find Chelsea,” I said more to myself than to Aiden.

CHAPTER 7

We had to pop into Aiden’s house in Paradise Waters to pick up his car because apparently it looked a little strange to others when you turned up somewhere without a car. I argued that we could just say we took a cab, but Aiden didn’t agree.

Personally, I thought he was just itching to get behind the wheel again. After all, neither of us had driven a car since we were last on the Gold Coast. There wasn’t much need for cars in Thailand. Most people got around on scooters or rickety old motorbikes because the streets, or rather the dirt tracks, were barely wide enough for one car. And on some tracks, if there were two cars trying to pass in certain sections, one would inevitably roll down a hill or something. That was why we mostly stuck to transporting, walking, and the occasional use of the rickety old bikes.

We were seated in Aiden’s BMW, on our way to Chelsea’s house. It was strange being surrounded by civilisation after avoiding it for the last three weeks. I had always thought there would be no way that I could ever move, yet there was something to be said for living with only the simple pleasures in life.

“We could go back, you know, after all this is finished,” he said. Aiden had dropped his mind barriers so I knew he felt the same way about Thailand as I did.

“That would be nice,” I said with a smile, although I couldn’t see that day happening anytime soon. For some reason, someone was hell-bent on tormenting me, and I had a funny feeling that I had only seen the beginning.

“Are you nervous?” he asked, pulling up outside Chelsea’s house.

“Is it that obvious?” Never had her little townhouse seemed so daunting. I was eager to speak with her to find out what had happened with my mum, and what her funeral was like because I hadn’t been able to risk coming home for my own mother’s burial. I got out of the car and walked hand in hand with Aiden up the pathway to her house. There were lights on in the lounge room, and I could see the flicker of light coming from the TV, so I knew someone was home.

I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

A few moments later, the door was opened by Marie, Chelsea’s mum. The moment she laid eyes on us, she just about passed out. She looked like she had seen a ghost, and I had to wonder just what had everyone thought had happened to me… to us.

Thinking about it, I realised the cops should’ve been going nuts, trying to figure it out. First, they had a murder on their hands, then the murdered victim’s daughter was missing and so was the daughter’s boyfriend and his family. Knowing how the police usually worked, I figured they would probably think Aiden had something to do with it.

“Thanks,” he said, sounding unimpressed by where my thoughts were going.

“Yeah, well, you thought it, too,” I replied in my defence. Once my thoughts had picked up on what the police would be thinking, Aiden came to the same conclusion I did.

Only that wasn’t what was on Marie’s mind. She wasn’t thinking about my mother’s murder. She was wondering why we were back, and why we had all disappeared to begin with. After everything that our families had been through together, why had we just up and left without saying good-bye? Her daughter was heartbroken. Her expression had changed from shock to annoyance. “You’re back, hey?” Her tone was cold.

I couldn’t blame her for resenting me. After all, she did think that I had just taken off right after Chelsea was kidnapped. But what I didn’t understand was why she thought we had left? Why didn’t she have any thoughts about my mother’s murder?

Neither Aiden nor I could answer that question. All we could go by was what she was thinking at the time. And it wasn’t as if we could just come right out and ask because whatever was going on, I was almost positive it had something to do with the bastard that was stalking me.

“Um… yeah,” I answered evasively. “Is Chels home?”

She didn’t answer right away. She was assessing the situation, deciding whether she should tell us that Chelsea was over Ben’s house, or if she should lie and say she would get Chelsea to call me when she got home. Pity for her, she didn’t realise that she had just inadvertently told us what we wanted to know.

Marie’s conscience got the better of her, and she decided to tell the truth. “She’s out with Ben.” By the irritation radiating from her, I could only wonder what Chelsea’s reaction would be.

Taking a step back, I said, “Thanks.”

She then closed the door without so much as a goodbye. 

“Wow,” I mouthed to Aiden as I turned my back to the house.

“That so wasn’t the reaction I was expecting either,” Aiden said in disbelief, as we headed back to his car.

I opened the passenger door and got into the car. Aiden took his seat beside me and started the car.

“I don’t get it. Why would she think we just disappeared?” I asked as he pulled the car onto the road. I knew the only reason why everyone would think that we had done a runner would be if my mother’s body hadn’t been found.

“I think you’re right in thinking that they mustn’t have found her. There’s no other explanation.”

“So what do we do now?” I asked, wondering if going over to see Chelsea and Ben might not be a good idea.

“You know Marie will tell her that we dropped by,” he said.

I sighed. “So let’s go to Ben’s.” 

CHAPTER 8

The road diversions were already in place for the Gold Coast Indie, which made the drive take longer than the normal fifteen minutes. The Indie carnival hadn’t started yet, but the preparation in the weeks leading up to it caused almost as much traffic congestion as if it had. And unfortunately, there was no getting around it on the drive over to Ben’s because he lived in a unit halfway between Surfers Paradise and Main Beach.

He had an awesome view of the race from his balcony, and every year, there would be so many of us piled onto it that I was certain it was going to collapse one year.

Once Aiden had parked in one of the building’s guest car spaces, we got out of the car and made our way to the entry doors. The only way into the building was through the intercom, and by the reaction from Marie, I wasn’t so sure that Ben would be willing to buzz us in.

“Well, maybe he won’t have to,” Aiden said silently to me, just as a couple in their early twenties stumbled up the driveway. They were clearly too smashed to notice we were unable to get in without them. All they could both think about was how much they wanted to get their rocks off. And in the back of their minds, they both had a niggling guilt over what they were about to do. But neither of them wanted to acknowledge that guilt; they were more worried about getting caught.

“Holy crap! She’s sleeping with her best friend’s fiancé!”

“You’d be surprised by just how often that sort of thing happens,” Aiden said, with a hint of disgust in his tone.

We jumped in the same elevator with them. The mirrored walls did nothing to hide the love fest heating up the tiny box.

“Crap! We need to swipe to get to his floor.” I wondered if maybe that was another sign for us to turn around and head home.

“Actually, we don’t. We’re getting off with them.”

The slutty best friend fumbled around in her bag without tearing her lips away from her lover’s mouth. A moment later, she took out her card and swiped it, then pressed the button for Floor 24.

The couple was too busy rubbing up against one another to notice we hadn’t pressed a floor ourselves. I was actually more surprised they had enough restraint that they weren’t ripping each other’s clothes off right there. They were both thinking it, but thank God, neither of them acted on it. All I could do was look at the floor, waiting for what seemed forever before the elevator gave a small ding, and the doors opened.

We made a dash out of the elevator, not turning around to see whether the two still had their clothes on as they made their way down the other end of the hall towards the slutty best friend’s love nest. Aiden stopped outside the emergency exit.

“Won’t it trigger the fire alarm if we open it?” I asked.

He shook his head. “The fire alarm will only be set off when someone opens the door on the ground floor.” He turned the handle and stepped into the stairwell.

Taking my hand in his, he bounced us down fourteen flights of stairs until we reached the tenth floor. It would have been so much easier if I could have just transported us to Ben’s front door, but because of all the cameras in the building, I couldn’t. The only reason Aiden could bounce us down the stairs was because the stairwell was camera-free.

We quietly made our way out into the hallway, then stood outside the door to Ben’s apartment, bracing ourselves for what they were going to say. Before I could come up with any more reasons as to why we should just turn around and get the hell out of there, Aiden gave three quick taps on the door.

My heart was pummelling my chest when the door swung open. Ben was laughing about something until he saw our faces. His expression immediately went to one of shock.

Once he got over his initial shock, his face lit up with a grin. “Holy shit! Where the heck have you guys been?”

He pulled Aiden into a blokey-bloke hug, then it was my turn. Ben wrapped his arms around me, and called out, “Chels, come here. You’re not going to believe who’s here.”

A moment later, Chelsea appeared at the door. She lunged at me, squeezing me so tightly I thought my head might pop off.

Her initial excitement over seeing me for the first time in weeks didn’t last long, though. She was pissed. “Where the hell have you been? And why the hell didn’t you even say goodbye?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but she continued in her good old Chelsea rant. “You were like a sister to me, and you didn’t think I even deserved to know that you were leaving? All you left me was that stupid note. And I suppose you want me to say thanks for the car.” Her thoughts went to the day when someone had slipped a note under her front door. It read, “Sorry, I couldn’t say bye. Here’s the cheque I got from the insurance company for my car. I want you to have it. I’ve signed it over, so you should have no problems banking it.”

“Okay, so that explains why nobody went looking for me,” I said to Aiden.

"Whoever is doing this to you must have written the note.” Aiden said what I was already thinking.

Chelsea was still going on. “So where did you all go? No, don’t tell me because I don’t want to know. You can just turn around and go back to wherever the hell you two have been.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

Why was it that guys could just get over things so easily, welcome you back with open arms, not abuse you for not being there, but just be glad you’re back, whereas girls were the complete opposite? Girls would hold a grudge to the end of time.

When Chelsea saw that we weren’t going anywhere, she turned around and went back inside without another word.

“Come inside,” Ben said. When I didn’t move, he added, “Don’t worry about her. She’ll get over it. She’s been missing you like hell.”

Aiden and I followed Ben into his lounge room. The place was a decent sized two-bedroom apartment that he lived in with his parents, who weren’t home at the moment. One good thing about being able to hear people’s thoughts was that I always knew who was around without having to see them. Unless of course I was dealing with people like me who had put their damn mind blocker thing up, which was really starting to annoy the crap out of me because I still couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.

Chelsea sat with her legs up on the chaise part of the black leather sofa. As soon as she saw us, she picked up a pillow and held it in front of her chest. I felt so bad for making her feel the way she did. I knew I hadn’t had a choice about the saying goodbye part, but I could have at least called her. I guessed what was always stopping me from picking up the phone and calling her was that I was scared shitless about having to talk about my mother’s murder, which for some reason wasn’t on anyone’s mind.

“Sit down,” Ben said when he saw that I was a little standoffish.

Chelsea was still refusing to look at me, so rather than sitting down beside her, I chose the other end of the couch, letting Aiden and Ben be the fillers between her and me. I really wasn’t good with emotionally strung people, even though lately I seemed to have become one of them.

“So where have you been?” Ben asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “Rumour has it that you guys were expelled from school for all the days you missed.”

How were we supposed to answer that question? We couldn’t exactly say that we had to do an emergency departure from Australia because of my mother’s murderer, who had been hanging around, waiting for me to come home. And since then, we’d been laying low in Thailand until a room full of people and I were shot at, but I somehow managed to save everyone from being slaughtered. But of course, I couldn’t say any of that to a ‘normal’ human.

Aiden put his arm around me and laughed. “Nah, we didn’t get expelled. My sister sprang for an all-expenses-paid vacation for us. But the thing was, we had to leave that night. It was some last-minute business thing they had to go on, and they thought we might like to join them after everything that happened.”

“So you guys would have to repeat year twelve, wouldn’t you?” Ben asked.

“Nope. They’re letting us sit the test later because of ‘special circumstances’—you would’ve been able to do that too, Chels.”

Chelsea didn’t answer. She wasn’t going to back down on the grudge she held against me, and Aiden was unfortunately in her firing range too.

 “So where did you go?” Ben asked, without a thought going through his head that we would be lying. Guys took things on face value. I wondered if maybe we girls should take a leaf out of their books.

“Thailand actually,” Aiden replied.

“Awesome. I so want to go there one day,” Ben said. “Where abouts?”

“A remote island south of Phuket. There was no phone signal there, so we weren’t able to call you guys,” Aiden replied.

“Phff.” Chelsea finally spoke. “If it was so remote, then why was your mum still able to do her work over there?”

I was too stunned to answer. Mum was a reporter for The Gold Coast Bulletin. If she was dead, then how could she still be submitting her work? Maybe she wasn’t really dead. Maybe someone had found her and been able to get her to the hospital before it was too late. All of those thoughts were filling my heart with hope, but my head was saying something wasn’t quite right.

Without caring about sounding like an absolute idiot, I turned to face Ben and Chelsea and asked, “Around the time we left, did my mum have an accident by any chance?”

They both looked at me with confused expressions. “What are you on about?” Chelsea asked, scrunching her nose in confusion.

Obviously, neither of them had heard anything about my mother being shot in the head, which only left me with more questions. But neither Ben nor Chelsea could answer any of them.

Their faces went blank. Although I couldn’t hear either of their thoughts, I knew what was happening to them. Aiden was erasing what I had just said from their memories. He didn’t perform that trick very often. In fact, he would try to avoid messing with people’s minds wherever possible. But I didn’t give him much choice.

A few seconds later, Chelsea glared at me, letting me know that she was still pissed off, before turning her gaze to a small string hanging from the pillow on her lap.

“You know, you could have changed her attitude while you were in there,” I said to Aiden.

“And you know I only do that sort of thing when absolutely necessary. And besides, it won’t take her too long to forgive you. She’s already folding.”

He was right. Chelsea wanted so badly to run over and give me a hug, but she also wanted me to know that what I did was not on. And yeah, she was right. I should have called her at least once to let her know that I was okay. But I hadn’t, so I guessed I deserved her acting that way towards me.

“Well, this is… uncomfortable,” Ben said, shifting in his seat. He glanced over at Chelsea. She didn’t return his gaze. She was too fixated with the little thread on the pillow. “Do you guys want anything to drink?” He stood up before we even had a chance to respond. “Chelsea, come help me with the drinks.”

She made no attempt to move, so Ben reached down, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet.

“Okay, okay,” she said grumpily.

The two of them ducked into the kitchen, just off the lounge room. A small dividing wall obstructed our view of half the kitchen, which was where they hid to speak in hushed whispers. If it wasn’t for our super hearing, we wouldn’t have heard them talking at all. Well, we still would’ve been able to hear their thoughts. So either way, when it came to Aiden and me, what they thought was a private conversation was private no longer.

Ben was getting frustrated by Chelsea’s attitude towards me. “You’ve been complaining nonstop about how much you miss her, and then when she finally does turn up, you won’t even speak to her,” he whispered to Chelsea.

“I spoke to her,” Chelsea said.

Ben made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a laugh. God, they were really sounding like a couple.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to fix what was wrong between Chelsea and me. I jumped up from the sofa, marched into the kitchen, grabbed Chelsea by the hand, and dragged her out onto the balcony. As soon as I let her go, she turned her back to me and leaned against the rail.

“Okay, I get it. You’re pissed at me. And you have every right to be. I should have called, but I didn’t. So you can either go on pretending to hate me, or you can accept my apology and get over it.”

She didn’t say anything. And if it wasn’t for me being able to hear her thoughts, I would have taken it that she wasn’t planning on forgiving me. And I would have been wrong. I couldn’t see it, but I knew a few tears had slipped from her eyes. She was hurting. She couldn’t believe that I had just disappeared on her. How I could do that to her after all we had been through? The last time she had seen me was when we were in the ambulance together after we had escaped the clutches of the person who wanted me dead. And then I had just disappeared, without so much as a goodbye.

I walked over and put my arm around her. She didn’t flinch, so I took that as a good sign. Her thoughts were clouding up as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. I didn’t know what else to say, so I just stayed there with her, watching the street below. The faraway sound of laughter filtered up from the cafes, making me remember the days when my own life was happy and carefree, back before I learnt what I really was. But those days were never going to happen again. I was never going to have a normal life because I was far from normal. God, I didn’t even seem to be a normal next gen.

If I didn’t snap her out of this soon, I was about to end up like her. Tears were running down my cheeks as I thought about what could have been. “Let’s go back inside,” I suggested, wanting to get away from the reminder of how much my life had changed.

When I turned around, she grabbed me by the arm and spun me to face her. “I missed you so much.” She threw her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder.

“I missed you, too,” I said with a catch in my voice. It wasn’t until then that I realised just how much I had missed her. She was like family to me. I swore to myself that I would never do such a thing to her again.

***

Rather than heading back to England after dropping Aiden’s car back at his house, we decided to stay for a while. I needed some time to process what I had found out and what I was going to do about it.

Chelsea had said that my mum’s work was still being published. I didn’t understand how that was possible, considering the last time I had seen my mother, a bullet was lodged in her head. Maybe they were printing a backlog of her work. But that still wouldn’t explain why her body had never been found.

Aiden and I sat in the darkness, curled up on his outdoor wicker lounge, watching the lights from across the seaway dance on the water.

“I’m going to go see her boss tomorrow,” I said. I had never been to Mum’s work and had never actually met her boss, either. All that I knew about him was that he made my mum work horrible hours and expected her to drop everything the moment he needed her.

“You probably shouldn’t get your hopes up that you’ll see her,” Aiden said softly. His thoughts then went back to the last time we had seen her. There was no possible way that she could have survived that.

“I know, and I’m not. But you have to admit that something’s not right. And whatever it is, I want to know.”

CHAPTER 9

I had driven past the building where she worked a million times before, but had never even stepped a foot in the lobby. I walked across the cream marble tiles towards the lift on the other side of the room. A handful of men and women dressed in business suits stood talking on cell phones. Aiden was driving around outside. The only parking area was for workers and could only be accessed by a security tag. So I was on my own.

The lift door opened, and I nervously stepped inside. I pressed the button for Floor 17, which I had gotten from the directory on the wall outside the lift. No matter how much I told myself that I wasn’t going to find her up there, deep down, I still held the slightest hope that I would.

After stopping at numerous floors on the way up, the doors finally opened, and I stepped out into a medium-sized room with a reception desk centred against the far wall. A two-seater sofa and a couple of tub chairs filled the right side of the room.

I cautiously approached the reception desk, where a lady in her mid-forties hunched over a bunch of papers. She was trying desperately to get them finished before her boss’s eleven o’clock appointment. Apparently, her boss was one to ask the impossible, then bitch and complain if it didn’t get done. What he really needed was a secretary or a personal assistant, but he figured, “Why should he pay for one when this woman would do it for him?” More money in his pocket, that was all he cared about.

After listening to her inner ramblings, I felt bad for interrupting her.

“Hi. How can I help you?” she asked in the sweetest voice.

Her face looked beat, but the kindness in her brown eyes shone through, making me feel that much more sorry for the way she was treated. No wonder her boss took advantage of her. I didn’t think she had it in her to stand up for herself. If only people understood that confidence was all about conditioning yourself to be that way.

Ever since I had attained the ability to hear people’s thoughts, I was surprised to find out that the people I had always thought exuded confidence had just as many self-esteem issues as everyone else. I guessed that some people just learnt to pretend they had confidence, and the funny thing was that nobody could tell the difference.

“Um, yes… I was wondering if I could speak with Nikki Sommers?” I asked, my voice a little shaky.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have anyone by that name here,” she replied.

What she was saying was true. She had never heard of anyone by that name, and she had worked there for five years, so there would be no reason to doubt her. The only thing I could think of was that she may have only known my mum as her pen name. I was never sure why, but my mother used another name to publish her work. At first, I had thought it was because she wanted to keep her work life separate from her private life, but as I got older, that didn’t make as much sense. After all, she lived for her work, so much so that she was hardly ever home.

“What about Melissa Hart?” I asked.

There was instant recognition as soon as I said that name, and my heart skipped a beat when her thoughts immediately went to a conversation she’d had with Melissa Hart in the coffee room that morning about how their boss was forever busting their balls.

“Breathe,” Aiden said. It still felt strange being able to talk to him when we were so far apart, but I was so glad I could.

“She’s here,” I said to him.

“I’ll just get her for you,” the receptionist said with a concerned look on her face. She was wondering what the hell was up with me, why my eyes had practically popped out of their sockets after I asked her about Melissa. She picked up the phone, but paused before dialling. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Um, yeah,” I replied, trying to pull myself together. But just the thought of seeing my mum was making me feel like jumping up and down, screaming, and passing out, all at the same time.

“Hi, Mel,” the receptionist said into the phone. “I have a young lady out here wanting to speak with you.” She paused, then lifted her eyes up to me and said, “Just a sec,” into the phone. She had forgotten to ask my name because of how weird I was acting.

“Jade,” I answered before she had a chance to ask.

Sandy smiled at me, then repeated my name into the phone before hanging up.

“Melissa will be out in a moment,” she said. “If you’d like to take a seat while you wait…” She pointed towards the sitting area to the side of her desk.

“Thanks.” I barely managed to speak with all the adrenalin pumping through my body.

Before I had a chance to take my seat, the sound of high heels clanking across the laminated floor hit me. But when the owner of the heels came into view, I was able to let out the breath that I was holding. It wasn’t Mum.

“Jade?” the blond-haired woman asked when I turned to head toward a chair.

Turning back to face her, I said, “Yeah?”

She stopped in front of me and held out her hand. “I’m Melissa Hart. You wanted to speak with me?”

I reached out and shook her hand so as not to seem rude. “I’m sorry, but I’m after the Melissa Hart who writes for The Gold Coast Bulletin.”

She looked at me for a moment before responding. “That’s me,” she replied, trying to work out why I was acting so weird. She was also hoping that I would get on with asking what I had come there for, so she could get back to work.

The woman standing in front of me truly believed she was Melissa Hart.

I knew that the next few words that were going to come out of my mouth were going to make me look like I was off my face, tripping on some mind-altering drug, but I had to ask. I had to know. And what I needed to know wasn’t going to come from their mouths; it would come from their thoughts. “Look, I’m looking for my mother, Nikki Sommers, who works under the pen name Melissa Hart. She’s worked for this paper since I can remember. Do either of you know her?”

I was right in my assumption that they would think I was nuts, but I wasn’t prepared for hearing that they had both never heard of Nikki Sommers, and the Melissa Hart standing in front of me was the same Melissa Hart whose name appeared in the paper every day.

Before either of them had a chance to voice their thoughts, I asked, “What about Harry Cross? Is he around?”

“Who?” Melissa asked, getting ready to call security on me. On second thought, she was thinking maybe she needed to call the police.

“Your boss?” I knew I was only proving her right by saying anything more, but I had to know.

“Our boss is James Tucker,” Sandy said, picking up the phone, just in case she needed to call security.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, then quickly walked over to the elevator, where I pressed the down button repeatedly in an attempt to bring it that much quicker. I knew it didn’t really work, but I needed the distraction. All I wanted to do was transport myself out of there, but the cameras weren’t going to allow me to escape that easily.

The elevator doors finally opened when I almost couldn’t take their hushed whispers and thoughts anymore. I was going to be the crazy girl they would talk about for the rest of their lives. When I finally made it out of the building, Aiden wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I could feel him getting further away from me, so my guess was that he was doing another lap of the block, which meant it could take another five minutes for him to get back to me. I needed to find out what was going on, and I’d be damned if I was going to wait for Aiden to drive me back to mine. I ducked around the corner of the building, where I found a bush that would conceal me from any prying eyes. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I was back at my house, standing in our study. I figured the first place I should look for any clues would be in the filing cabinet in the back corner of the room. It supposedly held all of Mum’s “confidential” material.

I tried opening the light grey drawer, but it was locked. I gave it a good hard yank and prayed that some of my freakish strength would come to me when I actually needed it. And it did. Actually, I had to stop the drawer from being completely ripped off its runners. I started searching through the files, looking for anything that yelled out “This is what I’ve been hiding.”

“You couldn’t have waited for me?” Aiden’s voice rang through my head.

“Sorry.” I grabbed a pile of files from out of the drawer and carried them into the lounge room. There was going to be some serious reading, and I wasn’t about to stay hunched over a desk for it. I dropped the files onto the coffee table and walked to the kitchen to grab a drink. Everything in the fridge had expired, except for the bottles of water and some soft drinks. I grabbed a bottle of water, headed back to the lounge room, and flopped onto the sofa.

My eyes kept darting to the spot where my mother had died. The magnetic pull was just too much for me to ignore, so I picked up the files and went back into the study.

I was about to dump the files back onto the desk when I noticed something that had not been there only moments ago—a sticky note stuck on top of a disc with the words “Play Me” scrawled across it.

My heart was thumping as I reached out to pick up the disc. I hadn’t heard anyone in the house while I was in the lounge room or kitchen. Slowly, I walked back into the lounge room and turned on the DVD player. I inserted the disk, then switched on the TV and pressed Play.

My stomach started churning as a picture of my lounge room came onto the screen. I looked up towards where the camera would have been, but saw nothing there. I returned my attention to the TV, which still had a scene of the lounge room on it. My mother walked onto the screen. She had her phone glued to her ear as usual, and although there was no volume, I could tell by her facial expression and hand movements that she was having a heated discussion with whoever was on the other end. A minute later, a man walked into the scene. All I could see was the back of his head, so it would be impossible for me to identify him. Also, his face was covered with a black balaclava.

My mother turned around, and her eyes widened. But to my surprise, she didn’t let out a scream. The person seemed to have startled her, but she didn’t look afraid.

The man raised his arm, and he had a gun in his hand. She finally started to freak out. She dropped her phone and mouthed the word “No.”

He pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun firing blasted from the speakers, and my mother’s head snapped back as the bullet entered her skull.

The scene of the bullet killing my mother played at half speed, allowing me to see the bullet digging its way into her head. Blood spattered everywhere, and then she dropped lifelessly to the floor. The same floor that that didn’t have a single stain on it.

The screen went blank, and Aiden appeared by my side. I was too numb to say anything or even move. Visions of what I had just witnessed kept replaying over and over again in my mind, the way the bullet entered her skull, killing her instantly. She hadn’t stood a chance against him. Aiden wrapped his arms around me, smothering me with those feel-good calming vibes, which didn’t seem to be having the desired effects. My heart felt as though it had been ripped open again, and there was no way to close it.

“Let’s get out of here,” Aiden said softly. He let go of me, walked over to the DVD player, and ejected the disc.

I didn’t want that thing anywhere near me, but I knew that we needed to take it with us. It was evidence, maybe the only evidence that my mother really was murdered, and she wasn’t just off on some extended holiday. And maybe there might be a clue on the disc as to who the sicko was that did that to her.

Aiden pulled me back into his arms, and I transported us back to England.

CHAPTER 10

It didn’t take long before Anna came rushing into Aiden’s bedroom. She was still wearing her pink bunny PJs, so I could only assume that it was either early morning or late at night. All she did was place her hand on my back, and really, that was all she needed to do. With both Aiden and Anna sending the feel-good thingies pulsating through my body, I was able to get a grip on myself again. And I was thankful that they hadn’t gone overboard like Anna had once before, where she had left me unable to remain conscious.

“Are you ever going to let up about that one?” she asked.

I gave her a heavy smile. I knew she meant well in her attempt to lighten the moment, but I was still having a hard time dealing with what I had just seen.

“I can take that away if you want,” Aiden suggested.

I nodded. The next thing I knew, the raw emotion was no more than a dull ache when I thought about her. I smiled. “What would I do without you?”

He smiled back, then said, “Lucky for you, you’ll never find out.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

Anna yawned. “As much as I’d love to stand here and listen to a couple of seventeen-year-olds professing their undying love for one another, I think I have more important things I should be doing.”

“Oh, God! What time is it?” I asked.

Anna waved off my question. “It’s five a.m. But that’s not what I meant.” Her eyes flicked over to the disc Aiden was still holding. “Do you mind if I take a look at that?”

“Take it,” I said a little too enthusiastically. I wanted that thing as far away from me as possible.

Aiden handed the disc to his mother.

“I’ll see you both for breakfast?” she asked.

“We’ll be there,” Aiden replied.

“Okay, see you soon.” She disappeared momentarily before returning. “Oh, just one more thing. Is it okay if I show this to Nate and Kai, too?”

When I hesitated, Anna said, “Don’t worry about it. Dave and I will just watch it.”

“No, it’s okay. You can show them.” It was still really weird to have almost complete strangers know such intimate details of my life, but I knew I needed as much help as I could get.

“Are you sure?” Anna asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

She smiled, then disappeared.

I wondered if anyone besides Bernard actually used doors around that place. Maybe that was why Aiden hadn’t had a lock on his door. There was obviously no point when anyone could just pop in unannounced.

Aiden responded to my thoughts. “You may still think it’s strange, but one day, you’ll be doing the same.”

“So what are we going to do ’til breakfast?” I asked, changing the subject.

He had an uneasy look on his face, and although I couldn’t hear his thoughts, I knew what was on his mind.

I stepped out of his embrace. “Nope. I definitely don’t want to talk about it,” I said referring to what was on the disc.

He sighed. “Well, it’s too cold outside, so we may as well just hang out in here.”

“Sounds good to me.” I walked over to the sofa, sat down, and curled my legs up underneath me.

Aiden sat down beside me. “What do you want to watch?” he asked, flicking on the TV.

“Something funny.” I wasn’t really in the mood for laughing, but I sure as hell didn’t want to add any more misery to my day.

He put on some reruns of Seinfeld.

***

About an hour before breakfast was due to be served, Aiden suggested we take a walk. It was still too cold outside, so we stuck to the inside of the castle. He showed me through endless hallways and doors that pretty much had the exact same things inside as the others. In total, there were twelve bedrooms, all of which were decorated similarly to Aiden’s room. Each had its own bathroom and balcony, and the only things different were the views. Each one seemed to outdo the other. I couldn’t wait until it warmed up so I could explore outside.

Scattered between the bedrooms were sitting rooms. Each sitting room was adorned with a different style. It was as if they had been decorated over the years, going from early period to modern day. There was also a cinema, but not like a normal home theatre. It was a replica of a public cinema, complete with rows and rows of chairs, curtains lining the walls, and a massive screen on the front wall of the room.

“We have got to watch something in here,” I said, running up the stairs to the back row of chairs. Each row of chairs was made up of either single or double reclining seats. “How could you have not told me about this?”

Aiden walked up the stairs and sat down in the aisle seat of the back row. “Well, it never came up.”

“Of course it would never come up. It’s not as if anyone would think to ask if you had your own bloody movie theatre.”

Aiden laughed. “It’s not as if I am going to go around and say, ‘Hi, my name is Aiden, and I have my very own movie theatre, you know, like the proper ones.’”

I slapped his arm playfully. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

He pulled me down beside him. “Jade. There’s something that I have to tell you. I have my own cinema. Is that better?”

“You’re an idiot,” I teased.

He graced me with his perfect smile. “And it’s just one of the reasons why you love me so much.”

“Maybe I just love you for your looks.”

“I would have a hard time believing that even if I couldn’t hear your thoughts.”

I sighed and slumped back into the seat. It was depressing the hell out of me, not being able to use my abilities whenever I wanted to. And I especially wanted to know how to block my mind so that everyone around me couldn’t hear every damn thought I ever had.

Aiden scoffed.

“Oh, I don’t mean you,” I clarified. Strangely, I didn’t mind Aiden hearing all my internal ramblings. Yes, it was embarrassing at times, but I had kind of gotten used to it.

He put his arm around me, drawing me into his side. “You know it will come sooner or later.”

I rested my head against his chest, taking comfort in his embrace. “I know. I just wish it was sooner rather than later.” Aiden sent one of his feel-good thingies pulsating through my body, making me gasp. “Hey.”

“Sorry.” He grinned. “I just thought you needed a little pick-me-up.”

“Sure. I think you secretly hate seeing me all depressed.” I turned in my seat to face him. “Admit it. You really just want me all lovey dovey all the time. Don’t you?”

Truth was, at the moment, I was the one feeling all the love. For some reason, whenever Aiden sent some major feel good vibes through me, it always ended in me wanting to jump him right there and then.

Aiden let out a laugh. “So that’s all I have to do, huh?”

“Well,” I said, standing up, “it’s not going to work this time.” I turned my back to him and looked down at the screen. “So when can we watch a movie?”

“Whenever you want.”

I turned back around to face him. “Tonight?”

“Okay. It’s a date,” he said. And the funny thing was, although we were technically still in his house, it was actually going to feel more like a date.

We left the cinema room and slowly made our way towards the casual meals room, which was just another room off the kitchen that was a little cosier than the dining room.

I had half-expected, or feared, that everyone from the other night was going to be there again. But they weren’t. It was just Anna and Dave sitting at the table when we arrived. My stomach grumbled at the sight of the bacon, eggs, sausages, and bagels in the centre of the table.

“I see Aiden finally showed you around,” Dave said, then took a sip of his coffee.

I sat down in the chair beside Anna. “This place is amazing. I can’t believe you have a real cinema here.”

Anna laughed. “Well, we had to do something with all these rooms, and there was no use for a ballroom anymore, so a few years back, we decided to do some renovations.”

Dave scoffed. “I love how you now think it was a brilliant idea.”

Anna shot him a warning glance.

“It’s true,” Aiden said, coming to his dad’s defence. “She thought it would be a terrible idea to get rid of the ballroom.”

“It was either, ‘Who’s going to want to watch a movie here when we could just go to the cinema?’ or ‘What if we have an occasion where we need to have a formal dance floor?’” Dave said, imitating how Anna must have said it. “You see, Anna here still secretly loves all things old, but would die if anyone knew how old she really is.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, trying to play down how she didn’t want to accept changing to the modern ways. She turned to me and said, “You’ll have to get Aiden to show you around outside.”

I shivered just thinking about how cold it would be out there. “Maybe when it warms up.”

Dave cut a piece off his sausage. “You know you can control your body temperature.”

I thought about the other day when I had stepped out onto the balcony when we came there from Thailand. I hadn’t realised then that I should have been cold standing out there in the middle of winter. Living on the Gold Coast, we had never really had cold winters. Most of the time, we would only need to wear a long-sleeved shirt or perhaps a light jacket. “Huh,” I muttered.

“It’s a funny thing,” Dave continued. “Your mind has been conditioned to think that in cold weather you need to put on extra layers of clothing to keep your body temperature up. But, and here’s the funny part, what you don’t realise is that by putting on the extra clothing, your body is actually working to stabilise your temperature to a lower degree instead.”

I thought about it for a moment, then asked Aiden, “So how come you always wear a jacket during cold winter days?”

He stopped short of biting into his bagel. “Well, it would look a little funny if I only wore a T-shirt when everyone else was wearing jumpers.”

“Point taken,” I said.

Bernard came in carrying a tray. He stopped to the side of me and placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of me, then another in front of Aiden. “White with one,” he said to me.

“Thank you,” I said.

Bernard then turned around and left the room. I picked up the mug and breathed in the fresh aroma. God, I loved coffee. I just about downed the whole lot in one mouthful.

Everyone fell silent as we dug our way through their breakfast. A few months ago, I would have thought nothing of it, but I got the feeling that they weren’t just eating as they wanted me to believe. No. I was almost positive that they were talking about me.

“Yes, we’re talking about you,” Aiden acknowledged. “But before you get upset, we were only doing it because we thought you might not want to talk about what happened back at your house.”

My mind instantly went back to the disc. “The files,” I muttered. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

Without waiting for them to respond, I transported myself back to my house. I had to get the files. Somewhere in them might be the only piece of information that could explain what had been going on with my mother. She had obviously been doing something all those times she pretended to be working, and I could only hope that the answer was somewhere in those files.

I appeared in my mother’s study, which was where I had left the files, but they were gone. I rushed over to the filing cabinet and yanked it open. The drawers were empty. Whoever had left me the disc must have come back for the files, which only went to prove that something important was in them. Whatever information these files held was gone, along with any hope I had in figuring out my mother’s murder.

The more I thought about it, the less I actually knew about my mother. I had never met her boss or even any of my relatives. God, I didn’t even know any of my family members’ names. They had always just been the ones who had made her choose between them and me, and she had chosen me. She had decided to keep me instead of having an abortion, which meant they didn’t want anything to do with her. Apparently, they were not going to be the talk of the town with a daughter who had been knocked up at fifteen by a guy who abandoned her as soon as he found out she was pregnant.

So that was another mystery. My father was unknown to me. I had no name. No photo. Not even a description of the man. My mother never spoke about him or told me that I looked like him, but I could only guess that some of my features were his because of things like my hair was dark brown, and my mother’s was light brown; my skin colour was more olive than hers; my eyes were blue, whereas hers were brown.

“You couldn’t let us know where you were going before you disappeared?” Aiden’s voice rang through my mind.

Crap. I couldn’t do a thing without him knowing, and I knew that he would be pissed at me for coming back without him.

“And there’s a reason for it,” Aiden replied to my thoughts. The fear in his voice was real, and I didn’t get why. Yeah, I understood that some sicko was playing games with me, but the way he felt he needed to be with me, to protect me, was really something else.

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Before leaving, I decided to go upstairs and take a look around Mum’s bedroom in hope that I might find something, and I wouldn’t have to walk out of there empty-handed.

“Just stay where you are, and I’ll get Anna to bring me over.” Poor Aiden hated not being able to transport himself wherever he wanted.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Nothing’s going to happen to me.” Anna must have agreed with me; otherwise, she would have already brought him to my house. “Besides, if anything happens, you’ll be the first to know, and then Anna can bring you straight over.”

A shiver ran down my spine when I opened the door to Mum’s room and stepped inside. It felt cold, and not just because the days were getting cooler. The room had a forbidden feel to it. The thought of me finding my mother’s body somewhere in her room popped into my head, but I knew I was being silly. The only place her body would fit was in the wardrobe. I opened it just to be sure and found it empty… well, apart from all her clothes and shoes.

I tried to think of where she might hide something that she wouldn’t want everyone to find, and the only places I could come up with were where everyone in the movies hid things. I started on the top shelf of her wardrobe. She didn’t have any secret stash of hidden treasures stuffed in an old shoebox as I’d hoped. All I found was more clothes and a blanket.

I moved on to her dresser. I opened each drawer and searched through all her clothes and underwear. Nothing. I then searched under her bed. Again, there was nothing. And it almost seemed like all the places I had searched were too clean, as if someone had already been through them and taken anything that might give me a clue.

I was just about to transport back when I had a sudden urge to check between her mattress and the base of her bed. Whether through intuition or dumb luck, I found something. It was a black and white photo of a couple in their mid fifties. I had never seen the photo before, but I knew that those people meant something to my mother. Otherwise, why would she have held onto the photo for so many years?

I turned the photo over in hopes of finding an inscription on the back, but it was blank. That would have been too easy, and it seemed that when it came to my mother, nothing was ever easy.

Holding the photo tight, I transported myself back to England where I was met by a very anxious boyfriend.

CHAPTER 11

The moment I saw Aiden pacing beside the table, I instantly felt bad for disappearing without discussing it first, or better yet, taking him with me. The look on his face made me realise just how worried he had been. “I’m sorry,” was all I could say.

“Please don’t do that again.” He pulled me into a hug.

I hadn’t realised until I was in his arms how tense I had been. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to go off on my own. “Okay,” I muttered into his chest as my body began to relax. “But I don’t get why you’re so worried about me. You know I can disappear the moment anything might happen.”

His body went rigid for a moment. “We can talk about it later,” he said. “Who do you think the photo is of?”

I broke our embrace and lifted the photo to show him. “I’ve no idea. I have never seen this picture before or the people in it.”

I passed the photo to Anna, who was still sitting at the table with Dave.

“Do you mind if we hold onto the photo for a bit?” Anna asked, putting down her knife. “We were thinking we could show it to Kai to see if he can come up with any info on who these people are.”

When I scrunched up my face, wondering how Kai could find out anything, Dave said, “He’s a computer geek. You’d be surprised just what he can do.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I took one last look at the two people in the photo, then passed it to Dave.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have it back by the end of the day,” Dave assured me.

“In the meantime, why don’t you two do something fun for a change?” Anna suggested. She turned to Aiden. “You know, Lucas was around here last night looking for you. Maybe you can do something with him?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Aiden said non-committedly.

“Well, he was really keen to catch up with you. You guys have barely hung out since you moved to Australia,” Anna said, placing the photo on the table beside her empty plate. “Maybe you could watch a movie together. Jade said she wanted to see the cinema in action.”

“Yeah, I do. But who’s Lucas?” I asked.

Aiden tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Lucas is Georgia’s twin brother.”

“Oh.” Something about Georgia really bothered me, and I had no idea why. At first, I thought it was probably just the way she was trying to stick her boobs in Aiden’s face when I first saw her, but the more I thought about her, the more I felt that there was more to it.

“Don’t worry. Lucas is nothing like his sister,” Aiden said.

“You got that right,” Dave agreed.

“You two should give Georgia a break. She’s really not that bad once you get to know her,” Anna said.

“Anyway,” Aiden said, ignoring his mother’s comment. “I’ll give him a call. Okay?”

Anna smiled sweetly. “Good.”

Aiden put his hand on my hip. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“Nah, I’m okay.” My appetite had gone to almost non-existent since watching the footage of my mother being murdered.

He turned to his parents. “Make sure you let us know if Kai finds out anything.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Anna replied. “Did you bring any of your clothes back with you?” Anna asked, looking at my attire, which I had been wearing for the last couple of days.

I bit my lip, thinking about having to go back to my house again.

“How about I take you shopping? We can have a girls’ morning, just the two of us,” she suggested.

I hadn’t exactly hung out with Anna since I had found out she was Aiden's mother, and the thought of spending the morning alone with her made me a little uncomfortable.

“Will you stop thinking of me that way? I keep telling you, I’m the same person you have known for the last couple of years.”

“Just a bit older,” Dave said under his breath, which earned him a whack on the arm from Anna.

“So how about it?” Anna asked enthusiastically.

I turned to Aiden to see if he had any plans for us that I’d be ruining if I went shopping with Anna.

“Go for it. Enjoy yourself,” he said.

“Okay. But first, I want a shower.” My clothes were way dirty, but I at least wanted to be clean underneath.

“Don’t worry about your clothes, honey. I’ll lend you something of mine to go out in today,” Anna offered.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. I really didn’t want to go out anywhere in what I was wearing. It wasn’t because my clothes were dirty, which they kind of were, but because I was still dressed to the Australian summer climate in a singlet, shorts, and a pair of flip-flops. Even though Dave had just explained how our bodies could acclimatise to any temperature, I still didn’t feel comfortable enough to try it. Besides, I would’ve attracted too much attention. People would wonder why I was the only one not dressed for the weather.

Without any warning, Aiden bounced us out of the room. We ended up in his bedroom in a matter of seconds.

“Some warning might be nice,” I said with a laugh, once I got my bearings.

“You know I like to keep you on your feet,” he joked.

“So, what are you going to do while I’m out?” I asked as I headed for the shower.

“I suppose I should give Lucas a call.” He didn’t sound too enthused by the idea.

I quickly got undressed and jumped into a steaming shower. Aiden walked into the bathroom and sat down on the sofa.

“Is he as bad as his sister?” I asked, thinking that was why he was having reservations about seeing his old friend.

“Nah, he’s nothing like her.”

“Then why the reservations?”

Aiden didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted his shirt over his head and threw it on the seat beside him. The next thing I knew, he was no longer sitting there watching me take a shower, but was in there with me—completely naked. How he had managed to get his pants off in a blink of an eye, I didn’t know.

“Actually you do,” Aiden said, slowly moving towards me. “Remember how you were able to slow time back in Thailand?” The water ran down his body, accentuating every muscle and every curve.

I gulped. “Yep.”

He pulled me closer until my body pressed against his, and all his glory. I stood on the balls of my feet and brushed my lips across his. He kissed me softly, then moved down my neck. With each kiss, he sent a surge of endorphins running through my body. I gasped in a mixture of shock and pleasure. It wasn’t his normal feel-good calming thingy he usually did. He sent pleasure endorphins pulsating through me.

Aiden gave me one of his devilish grins. “You like?”

“Like, no. Love is more like it.” I had previously thought he made me feel things that no one had ever made me feel, but he was taking it to a whole other level.

He pressed his lips against mine, pushing my back up against the wall, and showed me exactly what he could do.

***

After we finished showering, I wrapped a towel around myself and made my way out into the bedroom. I looked over at the bed, and realised that Anna had been there. She had laid a pair of jeans, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a red coat on the bed. A pair of black boots rested on the floor.

“Ahh, crap.” With my luck, she hadn’t popped by when I was in there by myself. The whole shopping trip was just getting worse.

“You’ll be right,” Aiden said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned down and nuzzled my neck.

I shook him off, not wanting to end up in another shower scene. “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to spend the next couple of hours with her.”

He laughed. “You know, they see things differently. When you get to hear everyone’s thoughts for years on end, you come to realise that everyone is thinking it, and most of the time, what they do is far less than what they wish they could do. So what I’m trying to say is that you kind of become immune to the whole sex being so taboo. It’s human nature.”

Thinking back over everyone’s thoughts I had heard, I realised he was right. Most people’s thoughts revolved around sex, money, and fear. He was probably right in saying that the more we heard, the more we became immune to such subjects.

I turned around in his arms so I could face him. “I hope you’re right.”

A smile spread across his gorgeous face. “When am I ever wrong?”

CHAPTER 12

After getting dressed, I met Anna in the main sitting room.

“You ready?” she asked, getting up from the couch.

“Yeah, and thanks for the clothes.” They were a perfect fit.

She walked over and held out her hand. “Let’s go.”

I placed my hand in hers, and instantly, we were on our way. When my feet were once again planted firmly on the earth, we were…

“Oxford Street,” Anna said.

“Wow,” was all I could say. I hadn’t really been anywhere in the world other than Australia and Thailand.

“Come on,” Anna said, dragging me by the hand. “Now, you’re going to need a whole new wardrobe, so go nuts. But whatever you do, do not look at the price tags.”

“Um, okay.” I straight away felt guilty for what I was about to do. If she had to tell me not to look at the prices, then my guess was that I would’ve probably had a heart attack over them.

“It’s only money,” she said, dismissing my concern with a wave of her hand.

She started inspecting the various clothing items on display. Within five minutes, she had me in the dressing room, trying on the numerous outfits she had selected, because I wouldn’t pick up a thing after I accidentally-on-purpose saw the price tag on a pair of jeans.

Thirty minutes later, we were walking out of the shop. “Thanks for these,” I said, referring to the seven bags of clothing we were holding between us.

“My pleasure.” She smiled. “But we haven’t finished yet.” Anna was a shopaholic, and luckily, she could afford it.

“In here,” she said, nudging me towards a lingerie shop to my right.

Aw, crap. Just what I needed after that morning, to have to go shopping for underwear with my boyfriend’s mother.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I wish Aiden never told you that we’re his parents. We used to be able to talk about anything, and I would really like it to go back to how it used to be.”

“Sorry. It’s just so weird finding out you’re his mother and not his sister.” Sometimes, I wished he’d never told me either. “I’ll try,” I said when I saw how sad she looked.

“That’s all I ask,” she said with a smile. “Now let’s get you some underwear, and while we are in here, please don’t think of me as his mother. Think of me as your friend.”

“I’ll try,” I repeated.

Once inside the store, I immediately went over to the boring section. Apparently, it was harder to think of her as a friend than I had hoped.

“So what is Aiden up to this morning?” Anna asked, while trying to coax me over to the nicer-looking bras.

I stayed put. “He said he was going to give Lucas a call,” I said, searching through the rack for my size. “You don’t know why Aiden was acting strange about seeing Lucas, do you?”

“I’m guessing it’s because he’s a little worried what you might think.”

“How so?”

“You know, Lucas being Georgia’s twin brother and all. Aiden probably just thinks it might be a bit hard on you because of his history with Georgia.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, no,” she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “He hasn’t told you, has he?”

I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t need to. Anna knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Their relationship was over before he met you,” she said. “And he was never as happy with her as he is with you. He loves you so much more than he ever loved her.”

“He loved her?” I said under my breath.

“No. I mean, yeah, he thought he did at the time, but… he was young. He didn’t really know what love was.” Anna was babbling. She had stuck her foot in it, and she didn’t know what to say, but I guessed she felt like she needed to make me stop feeling the way I was feeling.

“Look,” she said. “I shouldn’t have said anything, and I’m sorry. But the fact remains, he did have a thing with her, but it was a long time ago. And now he’s with you, and I’ve never seen him so happy. He loves you, Jade, so don’t let yourself worry about the past. You’re his future.”

Everyone had a past, including me. The problem was, his past would always be around, and to see her practically throwing herself at him as she did on the night I met her just made me feel sick to my stomach.

Anna suggested, “How about you go home? I know your size… and your lack of style.” She held up a plain white T-shirt bra. “And I’ll finish up here for you.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I think it’s the least I can do. Now go on, get out of here.” She shooed me away with the bra in her hand.

I smiled. “Thanks.” I left the lingerie store and found a safe place away from any prying eyes. Once certain no one was watching, I transported back to Aiden’s bedroom.

“So I finally get to meet the girl who thinks my sister is a pro,” a voice said from behind me.

I whipped my head around to find a guy about my age, with dark brown, perfectly messy-on-purpose hair, stretched out on the sofa with his legs up on the coffee table. He, like every other guy in the house, was exceptionally good-looking. Ah, crap. My first meeting with one of Aiden’s friends, and he already had a grudge against me.

Lucas lifted his feet off the coffee table and planted them on the floor. His blue eyes were completely fixed on me, and I was preparing myself for the onslaught of verbal abuse I thought I was going to receive for saying that his twin sister looked like a prostitute.

Slowly, a smile began to spread across his face, lighting up his eyes in the process. “I had you worried there for a moment, didn’t I?” He laughed. “And don’t worry about the whole hooker thing. I tell her all the time she looks like one.”

I let out a breath that I hadn’t realised I had been holding. “I so thought you were going to have a go at me about it.”

He chuckled. “I know.”

Of course he knew. I so had to learn to block my damn thoughts.

“I see you two have met,” Aiden said, appearing beside me. He leaned down and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Did you have fun with Anna?” He looked around the room. “Where are your bags?”

Damn. I had left them behind with Anna. Everyone went eerily quiet when I started thinking about the reason why I’d left Anna back in London.

“Umm…” Aiden turned to Lucas. “Do you mind if we pop out for a moment?”

Lucas stood up. “Actually, I think this is my cue to leave. I’ll be downstairs with Dad. Let me know when you’ve sorted this all out.” He then disappeared.

Aiden stood there awkwardly for a moment before saying, “I guess this is one of the things that I should’ve told you about earlier?”

I sat down on the end of his bed. “Ah… you think?” I laced my tone with sarcasm.

Aiden sat down beside me. “How much do you want to know?”

I thought about it. Did I really want to know the ins and outs of their relationship? No. “Just give me the basics.”

He took a deep breath. “We’ve known each other since we were babies. We started dating when we were fourteen, but it didn’t last that long. We broke up. My family came to Australia, and you know what happened from there.”

He said it as though it was no big deal, but his mother had said that he had loved Georgia. Aiden started laughing.

“What?” I asked.

“I was fourteen. What the hell did I know about love?”

I scoffed. “And most people would say that about us now.”

“Well, then they’d be wrong.” He pushed me back down onto the bed and planted a quick kiss on my lips. “You don’t have anything to worry yourself about with Georgia. She’s a right pain in the ass now.”

I looked into his eyes, and even though he was still blocking his thoughts because his parents were around, I knew he was telling the truth. “I just wished you’d told me before so I didn’t have to find out like that. You know I hate secrets.” Which was true, but the main reason I hated secrets was because I wasn’t able to keep any for myself. I was an open book to Aiden, and because of that, I expected the same courtesy.

“I’m sorry,” he said, tracing my lips with his finger. “Do you forgive me?”

I snapped at his finger with my teeth, and he pulled back just in time.

“Feisty today, aren’t you?” He already knew that I had forgiven him. How could I not? He was a guy, and guys always seemed to take the easy way out. They don’t over-analyse everything like girls do. They just keep everything as simple as possible for themselves. I propped myself up on my elbow. “I guess you better go tell Lucas he can come back.”

“He can wait a little bit longer.” Aiden put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. He leaned in and the moment his lips touched mine, a surge of those pleasure endorphins flowed through my veins. I pulled back, afraid that if I stayed lip-locked with him any longer, we would never make it out of the bedroom before nightfall.

Aiden rolled off me. “Fine. I’ll go get him.”

“I’m coming too,” I said, sitting up. “I want to see if Kai has found out who those people in the photo are.”

We ended up in the main lounge room when I transported us to Lucas. He was kicked back on the sofa, playing with his iPhone. His dad, Nathan, sat beside him, engrossed in a conversation with Dave, who was perched in an armchair.

They all stopped talking immediately the second we appeared.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

There was a moment of silence before Dave said, “You really are paranoid, aren’t you?”

I was pretty sure in that moment, Dave and Nate were deciding what to tell me. And of course, everyone in the room knew that I didn’t believe them. God, why was my mind blocking ability one of the last things to come, when it was one of the abilities I wanted most?

“So you two have worked out the little thing?” Lucas asked, not taking his eyes off his phone.

Aiden walked over to the sofa and sat down beside him. “All sorted.”

“Where’s Anna?” I asked Dave.

“She’s in her study with Kai,” Dave responded casually.

“Have they found anything?” I asked.

Dave shook his head. “Not yet.”

Lucas looked up from his phone. “Why don’t you go join them?”

“I think I will.” I started edging back towards the door.

“You want me to come?” Aiden asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll catch up with you both soon.”

I had no idea where Anna’s study was, so I closed my eyes and thought of her instead.

“Hey, sweetie,” Anna greeted me when I appeared beside her. “Did you and Aiden get things sorted?” She was sitting in a chair that she had pulled up beside Kai.

“Oooh. Trouble in paradise, hey?” Kai teased.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about him. He just likes to stir shit.”

“Oh, that hurt,” Kai said, clutching his hand over his heart.

I sat on the edge of the desk on the other side of Kai. “Have you found out who they are?” I asked, looking at the computer screen.

“Not yet.” When he saw my face drop with disappointment, he added, “Don’t worry, I’ll have a smile on that pretty little face of yours in no time.”

The confidence that exuded from him gave me the impression I would have some answers soon.

“Why don’t you, Aiden, and Lucas go watch a movie?” Anna suggested. “Kai should probably be done by the time the movie’s over.” She looked at Kai for confirmation of her timeframe.

Kai scoffed. “It won’t take me that long. I’ll probably have this figured out before you get the movie started.” His fingers were going a million miles per hour on the keyboard.

“Really?” I asked, not believing how fast he could find the identity of some complete unknowns.

He laughed.

“We told you he was a genius,” Anna said.

“Hey, hang on a sec.” Kai’s face turned serious, and his fingers came to a standstill. “I think I’ve got it.” He pointed at the computer screen. “Yep, got it.”

The people from the photograph I had found early that morning were on the screen. The image wasn’t the exact same photo, and the people were a little older, but I could still tell they were the same people.

“Who are they?” I asked, edging closer to get a better look.

“Just give me a sec,” Kai said. His fingers moved at a crazy speed over the keys again. “Bingo! Mr. Anthony Grey and Mrs. Elizabeth Grey. They live at 221 Hilcombe Avenue, Perth, Australia.”

“Now, who’s the man?” Kai said, pointing at himself with both hands.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Anna said.

I laughed as Anna almost shoved him off his chair.

“Hey,” Kai said, rubbing at his arm.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Anna asked.

I didn’t recognise the names, but I had a gut feeling that those people would somehow hold the answers to some of my questions. “I guess I’ll have to pay them a visit.”

Anna nodded. “Just make sure you take Aiden along with you. We don’t know for sure that it isn’t someone messing with you.”

“Okay, I will,” I promised. “What time is it over there now?”

Kai’s fingers started flying over the keyboard again, then stopped abruptly. “It’s exactly seven forty-seven. And by the looks of that couple, you better wait ‘til morning. You know, people that age usually like to be in bed by seven. Isn’t that right, Anna? That’s about the time you like to nod off, huh?”

That time, she really did shove him off the chair. But before he could hit the ground, he was once again sitting in the chair.

“Nice reflexes,” I said, more as an observation than as a compliment to Kai.

“Anyway,” Anna continued. “I think you’re better off going to see them tomorrow. They’ll probably be a bit more receptive in the daylight.”

“Tomorrow it is then,” I agreed.

“And until then, make sure you take some time out to relax,” Anna said. “Oh, and I put your bags in my room. I was going to drop them in to you, but then… well, my room seemed a better idea.”

Blood filled my cheeks as I realised why she had changed her mind. She had probably been outside the door while Aiden and I were on the bed. “I gotta go,” I said, then disappeared before they could hear any more of my thoughts on the subject.

Rather than popping back to Aiden and Lucas, I went back to our room. I really didn’t want anyone else hearing what I was thinking. But Aiden, of course, already knew. Our minds were connected no matter how far apart we were. Well, it was more of a one way thing at the moment because Aiden kept his mind block up at home. But that just meant that he knew I wouldn’t want Lucas coming up there before I had a grip on myself.

What I needed was a coffee. That meant I had to find the kitchen. I still had no idea where the kitchen was, but it was getting close to midday, so Bernard would probably be preparing lunch.

Closing my eyes, I thought of the grey-haired man. When I opened them, I was staring at the man himself. “Morning, Miss Sommers,” Bernard said in his proper English accent.

“Morning, Berny,” I replied, which got an eyebrow raise from him and a laugh from someone behind me.

I turned around to find Lucas sitting on the breakfast bar with a bottle of Coke in his hand. “Yeah, how’s it going, Berny?” Lucas teased.

“Oh, shut up,” Bernard quipped, finally breaking his act of the butler who called everyone sir, ma’am, and miss. Oh, and who could forget the master?

“Aiden was right,” I said with a laugh. “He said that you weren’t really like that, and that it was all just an act.”

“Okay, you got me,” Bernie admitted, dropping the proper English accent. “So what is it I can get you? I’m sure you didn’t just come in here to say hi.”

“You got that right, Berny,” Lucas said with a smile. “The lady would like a coffee.”

“Don’t call me a lady,” I said a little too forcefully. “It makes me sound old.”

“She is a feisty one, isn’t she?” Berny said to Lucas, then turned around and got to making my coffee.

“Yep, they did warn us about her,” Lucas said with a straight face.

Aiden came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. “Don’t listen to them. I would never say that about you.”

Lucas cracked up laughing. “And that’s why you’re nodding your head behind her back.”

I gave a quick elbow jab into Aiden’s stomach.

Aiden laughed. “And there you go proving them right.”

I threw up my hands in defeat. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”

“Nope,” Lucas said before taking a swish from his drink.

Berny handed me a coffee. With a proper English accent and a smirk, he said, “There you go, ma’am.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks.” I took the mug from his hands. Turning to Aiden, I asked, “So are we gonna watch a movie now or what?”

“You’re the boss,” Aiden said.

Lucas made a whipping-cracking sound.

Aiden laughed. “Yep, I’m whipped and proud.”

The three of us made our way downstairs to the cinema room. And I found out why everyone in the house teleports all the time… because it took so long to walk anywhere.

We sat in the middle row because, according to Lucas, that was the best spot for the ultimate cinema experience. After listening to Lucas go on and on about wanting to watch Transformers, Aiden and I caved and let him have his way. Lucas really did seem to be nothing like his sister. He was a little annoying, but in a fun way. He had a certain charisma that drew me to him. I couldn’t help but like him.

Bernard dropped off some pizzas and drinks, and we were just settling in to the beginning of the movie when an uninvited guest appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“You could have waited for me before you started the movie,” Georgia said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

“We didn’t know you were joining us,” Aiden said, looking at Lucas to see whether he had invited his sister.

Lucas shrugged. “I didn’t invite her.”

“Neither did I,” I said under my breath.

Aiden straightened in his seat and pressed the pause button on the remote. I could tell he was uncomfortable with Georgia and me being in the same room, especially with how things had gone on our first meeting. He was probably thinking that one of us might shoot off her mouth and then all hell would break loose.

“Will you just sit down so we can watch the movie?” Lucas said to his sister. I was surprised by his harsh tone.

“Yeah, we have a real loving relationship,” Lucas said sarcastically.

“You’re an asshole,” Georgia said. She suddenly disappeared, then reappeared sitting beside her brother. “You’re only talking to me that way because you’re trying to impress Jade.” She shot me a dagger look. She then turned her attention to Aiden. “Oh, didn’t you know? Your best mate thinks your girlfriend is hot.”

“I do not,” Lucas snapped back.

“You see, Jade,” she continued. “My brother, when he likes someone, he gives out a vibe that only I seem to be able to pick up. It must be because we’re twins and more connected than your average twins.”

Lucas turned to Aiden and me. “Don’t listen to her. She’s friggin’ nuts.”

“You know it’s true,” Georgia shot back.

“How many pills have you popped today?” Lucas asked.

Georgia scowled. “I don’t do drugs,” she said through gritted teeth, making me think that maybe she did. Georgia turned to me. “I said I don’t do drugs! You got it?”

I was about to snap back at her when Aiden said, “Georgia, whether Lucas does or doesn’t have ‘the hots’ for Jade is neither here nor there. I don’t care. All we want to do is watch the damn movie without having to listen to you trying to cause trouble.”

She stared at Aiden for a moment. “Fine. I’ll just go then. I know when I’m not wanted.”

Lucas started clapping. “If only you’d been a little quicker in working it out. Maybe I got your share of the smart gene.”

Georgia tried to slap him, but Lucas was too quick and blocked her before she even got close. “Looks like I got your share of the speed gene, too.”

I cracked up. Watching the two of them bicker was better than watching the movie. I was kind of glad I was an only child if that was the way that siblings interacted with one another.

“No, I just lucked out,” Lucas said, responding to my thoughts.

“You’re such an ass.” Georgia ran her hands through her golden blond hair. She turned to Aiden. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Just piss off, will you,” Lucas said.

She gave him one more dirty look and disappeared.

Lucas flipped the footrest out on his seat. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Aiden replied. “Now let’s watch the movie.” He pressed a button on his chair, bringing up the footrest.

By the time the movie ended, I was ready for bed. It was just after five in the evening England time, but my body clock was still on Australian time, and I needed to get some sleep before I had to head back to visit the Greys.

Aiden decided to have a game of pool with Lucas before he joined me. I could tell he was in desperate need of sleep, too, but he was having too much fun catching up with Lucas to let tiredness stop him.

I didn’t bother to get changed into my pajamas before I curled up in bed. I was practically asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

CHAPTER 13

My iPhone alarm woke me from another dream about my mum. As always, I was like a fly on the wall, watching my mother’s body lying in what I thought to be a morgue. I never understood the dreams or why I kept seeing her in that same scenario. I was just glad that the dreams didn’t come as often as they had when she was first killed.

I picked up the phone to look at the time—7:01 a.m. I’d been asleep for just over thirteen hours, but I still felt like I needed more.

I rolled over, expecting to see Aiden beside me, but the bed was empty. “Hmm,” I muttered, sitting up. I so wished that I could go back to sleep, but I needed to get up and get ready to go back to Australia. The time-zone differences were really going to kill me.

Resisting the temptation of lying back down, I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, where I stripped and jumped in the shower. I so loved having the instant warm water raining down on top of me. It was such a nice change from the not-so-fast plumbing in Thailand.

When my skin was all wrinkly, I turned off the tap and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping myself up in a bathrobe, I walked back into the bedroom, where I found a steaming mug of coffee waiting for me. I smiled at the little smiley face someone had drawn onto the mug in black nikko.

“Just what I needed.” I picked up the mug and downed half the contents in one go. I sat down on the sofa, turned on the TV, and sipped at the rest of the coffee.

“Glad you’re enjoying it,” Aiden said.

I turned around, but the room was empty. I guessed I should learn to trust the feeling I got when he was nearby, and the emptiness I felt when he wasn’t.

Aiden appeared by my side. “Missing me that much?”

I looked over at the door, which was still closed.

“Guess who’s finally able to transport properly.” Aiden had a grin plastered across his face.

 “That’s awesome.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

“Yep. Gone are the days where I have to rely on you or mum or dad to transport me overseas.”

“So what? You’re planning on doing some travelling without me, huh?”

He brushed a strand of my wet hair behind my ear. “Yeah, I was thinking about sneaking away with Georgia for a few hours,” he said with a straight face.

I slapped him playfully on the arm. “You do that, and let’s just see what happens to you.”

“Oooh, I’m scared.”

“You should be,” I said with a laugh. “You better hope that she isn’t somewhere in this house listening and already planning that time away with you.”

Aiden laughed. “Even if she was downstairs, she wouldn’t be able to hear our conversation. You and I seem to be the only ones that are able to hear each other’s thoughts at any distance. We would have to be in a neighbouring room for her to overhear what we’re saying.”

“You’re lucky then,” I said, then finished off my coffee.

Aiden’s expression turned serious. “Kai came to see us just after you went to bed.”

“Yeah, and?”

“He said that he found out that the guy in the photo, Anthony Grey, died two years ago.”

“Oh.” It wasn’t as if I knew the guy, or his wife, for that matter, but my mother did, and I was guessing that his death would have meant something to her. “Did Kai say what he died from?”

“Cancer.”

I looked down at my empty cup. It was so unfair how many lives were ripped apart by cancer. The statistics were way too high, even if the survival rate was ever increasing. “So Elizabeth Grey is still alive?” I asked.

“She’s fine. Old, but fine.”

“Did he say how old she is?”

“Eighty-two. That picture of your mother’s was taken about thirty years ago.”

“Well, I hope she lasts 'til tomorrow,” I joked nervously, hoping the picture wasn’t about to turn into a dead end.

***

At three o’clock Australian Perth time, Aiden and I transported to the address Kai had given me. The house that stood before us was a quaint little sandstone cottage. It was well presented and had kept its original charm.

“I’ll be waiting over there for you.” Aiden cocked his head towards the bench seat at the bus stop one door over from Mrs. Grey’s house.

“You’re not coming with me?”

He shook his head. “I think it will be a little less intrusive for her if you approach her by yourself.”

“Okay, you’re probably right.”

Aiden squeezed my hand. “You’ll be fine.”

A faint squeak came from the wrought-iron gate when I pushed it open. I followed the old red brick pavers up to the green wooden front door and knocked twice. I didn’t know what to expect, and I wasn’t sure what exactly I was going to say. I figured I would just play it by ear.

A frail old lady opened the door. She looked to be about five-foot-two, with white hair that had a slight tint of purple to it. “Hello, dear, how can I help you?” Her tone was warm and caring.

“Mrs. Grey?” I asked. “Mrs. Elizabeth Grey?”

“Yes, dear, that’s me.” The smile on her face shone through her hazel eyes. She seemed like such a sweet lady, and I became even more intrigued to know why my mother was harboring her picture in secret for so long.

I thought I may as well get right to it. “Um, I know this is going to sound strange, but I was wondering if you knew a Nikki Sommers at all?”

Her expression was blank, and her thoughts didn’t register the name. “Sorry, dear, I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“Oh, um…” I wasn’t sure what else I could ask her. I had stupidly forgotten to bring a photo of my mother with me so I could see if she recognised her.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Mrs. Grey said lovingly, bending down to scoop up her Persian cat, who was trying to make an escape.

Just as she was straightening, I noticed something on her hallway table that made my heart stop. It was a photo of my mother looking exactly how I remembered her. Well, not exactly. In the photo, she was wearing a stonewashed denim jacket with a hot pink tank-top underneath. Her hair was something else; it stood almost four inches above her head in a frizzed-up perm. There was no mistaking her, though. The woman in that photo was definitely my mum.

“That can’t be,” I murmured.

“Sorry, dear. What can’t be?” Mrs. Grey’s eyes followed mine to the picture of my mother. “Do you know her?” she asked, her voice catching.

I nodded. “That’s my mother,” I whispered.

“Are you sure?” Aiden asked silently.

“Yes, I’m sure.” I knew what my own mother looked like.

She shook her head. “It can’t be, dear. My daughter’s name is Helen Price, and she’s been missing for over thirty years.”

“No, that can’t be,” I said, dismissing her rationalisation. “How old was she when that picture was taken?”

“She was thirty-two.” Mrs. Grey looked at me curiously, trying to figure out why I would think her daughter could possibly be my mother, but at the same time trying to not let herself get her hopes up that her daughter was still alive and that she would finally have some answers to why her daughter had been missing for the past thirty years.

Thirty years? That would mean that my mum was sixty-two. What the hell? “I’m sorry. I have to go.” I turned my back to her and hurried down the pathway.

“Wait,” Mrs. Grey called. Her heart was filled with hope of finding her daughter, and she didn’t want me to leave without finding out more. She even hoped I was her granddaughter.

I turned back to her and said, “Sorry, wrong person. You were right. That wasn’t my mother.” I forced a smile, then hurried for the gate. I opened it, then quickly closed it behind me. I wasn’t about to let that sweet old lady get caught up in my screwed-up life. And if what I had seen was correct, then my mum was like me.

As soon as I reached Aiden, I pulled him behind a bush and transported us back to his bedroom in England. I froze at the sight of a familiar note on the coffee table. Immediately, I knew it was from my mother’s murderer.

“What the fuck,” Aiden muttered. He scanned the room to see if whoever had left the note was still there.

Once again, the message read “Play me.” However, the sticky note was placed on top of the remote. Whoever left it had saved me the trouble of inserting a disc into the DVD player. I tried to convince myself that it was the same note that I’d found at my house, that I must have dropped it without realising. But no matter how much I wished that were true, I knew it wasn’t. I reached for the remote.

“You don’t have to do this.” Aiden placed his hand over mine. “I can watch it for you.” Even though the note hadn’t been addressed to me, we both knew it wasn’t meant for him.

“No,” I said, my voice trembling with fear. “I may not want to see this, but I have to.”

He slid his hand up my arm until he was holding onto my shoulder. “Well, at least let me get Mum and Dad here first.”

I nodded.

Aiden lent down and gave me a kiss on the cheek before disappearing. He reappeared a second later. “They’re not here.”

He retrieved his iPhone from the pocket of his jeans and called his mum. While he waited for her to answer, he stood behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. The calming endorphins he was sending my way did little to ease my building tension. Just as I thought that, a stronger wave came pulsating through my body, giving me exactly what I needed.

“Hi, honey,” Anna’s chirpy voice sounded through the phone.

Aiden didn’t bother with any greetings; he got right to the point. “Can you guys come home? There’s another note.”

The line went dead. A second later, both Anna and Dave were standing next to us.

“Where is it?” Dave asked. Before either of us could answer, he turned his back to us and saw the note stuck on the remote.

Anna placed her hand on my arm. “Have you watched it yet?”

“No, we thought we should wait for you,” Aiden replied.

“Are you ready?” Dave asked, looking at me to give him the go-ahead.

Unable to speak, I nodded, and he pressed play. Aiden pulled me tighter against him, as in some protective embrace.

The screen came alive with an old home movie starring a middle-aged lady that I recognised immediately. Although she was about thirty years younger, her eyes gave her away. They still held the same kindness I had seen only minutes ago. It was Mrs. Grey.

It was a warm sunny day, possibly the middle of summer by the blue and white floral sundress she was wearing. Mrs. Grey was at a park, sitting at a green picnic table with a feast laid on top of it. The next second, an arm was wrapped around her neck, and a girl with frizzy hair kissed her cheek before turning around and giving the camera an ear-to-ear smile. The girl was my mother.

The view zoomed in to show only my mum’s face. The image slowly morphed into the woman I had known. The screen went black once again, and then a message came up like the end credits to a movie:

Your mother’s been hiding a secret from you,

and now you know what it is.

You have now learnt that

nothing is what it seems…

The image of my mother’s brains getting blown out played next.

What does this mean?

Is she alive, or is she dead?

The screen went black, then a new message appeared that sent chills down my spine.

I have a present for you.

It’s in the fridge.

I looked over at the mini-bar beside the TV, but I couldn’t move. I was too afraid of what I might find in there. For all I knew, the sicko could have giftwrapped my mother’s heart in a box.

“I’ll look,” Dave said, getting to his feet. He opened the fridge and peered inside. “What the—” He reached in and brought out a clear plastic bag filled with blood.

The TV screen came to life again and I realised that the morbid dreams I had been having about my mum were actually visions. My mother was lying on what looked to be a hospital bed, but the lack of windows in the room made me think it was no ordinary hospital. A cold sterility about the scene reminded me of a morgue, but I didn’t think she was in one of those, either. The room actually reminded me more of the one the psycho back in Australia had tried dissecting me in before Aiden killed him.

“It’s not the same room,” Aiden whispered in my ear.

“I know.” There was no way I could forget that room.

A man dressed in black walked into view, his back facing the camera. He picked up my mother’s left arm and shoved a needle into it. He then proceeded to draw out her blood, stopping when the attached bag was about a third full.

The screen went black, then another message came up.

Your mother’s body contains approximately 4.7 litres of blood.

A 40% drop and her heart and mind will fail.

Each bag holds 473 mls of blood.

And you have 1 of those bags.

The bullet in her brain inhibits her body from producing more blood.

Your goal is to pass each test.

If you don’t…

Another bag of blood will be drawn.

The screen went black again. A moment later, four little words appeared on the screen. Four words that would change everything.

Welcome to the game…

DD

CHAPTER 14

If Aiden hadn’t been holding me up, I would’ve collapsed. My mind kept racing with possibilities of what he had meant by “Welcome to the game.”

Dave switched off the TV. “I wish I could say, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and that he was probably just messing with you, but I don’t think he’s just trying to scare you.” He was still holding the bag of my mother’s blood. “Sorry,” he said, then returned the bag to the fridge. “It’s probably a good idea if we keep it chilled.”

I sat on the lounge and pulled my knees up to my chest. My mother’s life was literally being sucked out of her. He had already taken one bag, which only left three more until her body shut down. Aiden and Anna sat on either side of me, placed their hands on mine, and sent some much needed calming endorphins my way.

“Thanks,” I said, letting them know when I’d had enough. I sure as hell didn’t need to pass out from an overdose.

“You’re never going to let up about that one, are you?” Anna asked sheepishly.

I forced a smile. “Never.”

Dave ejected the disc from the DVD player, then sat on the adjacent sofa. “I want to get this to Kai so he can have a look. Hopefully, he’ll be able to find something that might tell us who this prick is. Or maybe he’ll be able to find a clue to where your mum is.”

Anna turned to me, her green eyes glistening with threatened tears. “Hey.” She placed her hand on my leg, but didn’t send more endorphins. “I know this is a big shock, finding out that your mum’s still alive. How about us oldies get out of your hair for a while? Dave and I will go see what Kai can find out, and you just stay here and try to clear your head.”

I nodded, and they disappeared.

“Come here.” Aiden pulled me down so that my back was resting against his chest and wrapped his arms around me. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No,” I said softly, but then changed my mind. “I can’t believe she lied to me all these years. She knew what she and I were and didn’t bother to tell me. I mean, if she had, then I wouldn’t have left her lying on the floor while we disappeared to Thailand. We could have helped her.”

“She must have had her reasons.”

I scoffed. “What? Did she think that I wasn’t going to eventually notice that she still looked the same age, or that I would never age past my mid-twenties?”

“I don’t know.”

I sat up and turned to face Aiden. “She even lied about her job, for Christ’s sake. Why would she do that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He picked up my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “Just look at it this way, your mum’s alive. Right now, we need to concentrate on finding her, and then you can ask her all this yourself.”

Aiden was right, which only made me mad at myself. There I was consumed with thoughts about my mum lying to me all my life when I was missing the bigger picture—she was alive. For the past few weeks, I had been grieving for her when she wasn’t even dead. She was out there somewhere, and it was up to me to find her.

The words “Welcome to the game” played on my mind again, erasing all the feelings of betrayal and replacing them with the deepest dread imaginable. “What do you think it means?”

Aiden shifted in his seat. “I don’t know. I just hope that we’re able to work out who’s doing this before we find out.”

“Me, too,” I whispered, then snuggled back into Aiden’s side. I sat there staring at the TV screen, wondering how someone could manipulate me into not wanting to turn it on ever again.

“How about we go for a walk?”

I screwed up my face as if that was the worst idea ever. I so didn’t feel like stepping out in the cold weather. Actually, I didn’t feel like doing anything at all. All I wanted to do was wallow in my own self-pity for all the mistakes I had made, and why I couldn’t have seen what my own mother was sooner.

“The fresh air will do you some good.” Aiden stood up. “And you don’t get much fresher than in the middle of an English country town.”

Ever since I had stepped out onto the balcony when we first arrived, I had wanted to explore their “garden,” as the English would call it. But the cold weather was a bit of a turn off. “Before you say anything, yes, I remember what Dave said, our bodies can adjust to the cold so that we don’t feel it.”

Aiden grinned. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Yeah, right.” I got up off the sofa. “I think I will put on a coat just in case. Do you know if my shopping bags are still downstairs?”

“Nope. Bernard put them in the wardrobe for you.”

God, I hoped he hadn’t put away my new underwear.

“Don’t worry. He didn’t.”

I sighed with relief. I really didn’t like the idea of someone going through my knickers.

A devilish smile spread across his face. “But he did take them downstairs to wash them for you.”

“What!” Ever since I was twelve, I had done my own washing, and the thought of someone handling my knickers just grossed me out, even if the person was paid to do it.

Aiden laughed. “You’re pathetic.”

“I am not.”

“Well, I’m sure Bernard will be happy to know that he doesn’t have to do your washing, too.”

I fetched my new coat out of the walk-in wardrobe and joined Aiden out on the balcony. He was only wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

“Where do you want to start?” he asked, looking down at the garden.

“Let me guess… we’re not going to be walking out the front door?”

I leaned against the railing. “How about down by the water, and then we can work our way back up to the house and actually use the front door to come back inside?”

“If you insist.” He came up behind me and grabbed me around the waist before we disappeared.

The next thing I knew, we were standing at the water’s edge at the start of a thirty-metre-long pier. Aiden grabbed my hand, and we walked the wooden planks. Just short of the end of the pier was a gazebo that had timber benches lining the right side of the railing and a massive table and chairs in the centre. Pull-down shade blinds hung on all sides of the gazebo, which looked to have never been used. After all, we were in England, and from what I’d seen since I arrived, there wasn’t much sun.

“We have to go fishing again,” a voice called from behind us.

I turned around to find Lucas leaning over the railing, looking into the water. He was only wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt as well. What the hell was wrong with these people?

Lucas laughed. “I guess you’re not convinced of what our bodies can really do, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Do you fish?” Lucas asked.

“Uh huh.”

“She’ll out-fish you any day,” Aiden said, making me sound better than I really was.

Lucas raised his eyebrows. “That sounds like a challenge.” He sat down on the top rail and propped his feet on the lower one. “What are you doing this afternoon?”

“Fishing?” I asked, knowing where the conversation was heading. I was about to have to prove Aiden right. I just hoped there were actually fish in that water.

I found it odd how Lucas had the ability to make me forget about my worries and just enjoy the moment. I wondered if that was some sort of special ability he had, or if it was just his charismatic personality.

“Nah, it’s just his personality. He makes you forget about what’s going on because he’s always so fixated in the moment.” Aiden wrapped his arms around me and shifted so I stood between him and Lucas. “Personally, I think he has a touch of ADD.”

Lucas scowled. “You’re just lucky you have Jade there for your protection. Otherwise, you would be going for a swim.”

I thought about transporting myself out of the way.

Aiden squeezed me tighter. “You do that, and I’ll make sure you come with me.”

“That’s if you can catch me,” I said before quickly disappearing.

Both Lucas and Aiden had obviously anticipated my move, so when I reappeared, Aiden was there waiting.

“I really gotta learn to block my thoughts, don’t I? Unless…” A thought came to me. I seemed to be the only person who could transport myself to someone rather than to a place.

Aiden shook his head. “Don’t you—”

Before he could finish his sentence, I began to transport myself to Anna, but stopped before I completely phased out. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about this sooner,” I muttered. If I could transport myself to anyone, anywhere in the world, why couldn’t I transport myself to my mother? I turned around in Aiden’s arms to face him. “Could it be that simple?”

He gave a little shrug. “I guess it could.”

“You can really do that?” Lucas asked.

Ignoring Lucas’s question, Aiden said, “But I don’t like the idea of it.”

I pulled my eyebrows together in confusion. “How so?”

“Well, don’t you think that he might be expecting you?”

“I can be in and out in a second. He probably won’t even realise I was there until I’ve already gone.”

The look in Aiden’s eyes made me think twice about potentially handing myself over to some psycho again. The last time I had transported myself, albeit unknowingly, to Chelsea, Aiden had to be the one to come to my rescue before her kidnapper got too far in carving me up. I had promised him that I would never put myself in danger again, but things were different. My mum was in danger. And if there was any possibility that my idea might work, I had to try.

He shook his head. “Then at least take me with you.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Aiden turned to Lucas. “If we’re not back in two minutes, go tell Mum and Dad what happened.”

Lucas looked nervous, which seemed a little out of character for him. “Okay. But be careful.”

Without giving myself a chance to chicken out, I closed my eyes and thought of my mum, but something was different. I couldn’t feel the usual connection from when I thought of the person I wanted to transport myself to. I opened my eyes, and we were still standing on the pier. I stepped back from Aiden’s embrace. “Why won’t it work?”

“I don’t know.”

“If she’s alive, then I should be able to transport us to her,” I said with a catch in my voice. I feared that maybe it was all part of “the game.” Maybe my mum really was dead, and the psycho had just created the whole perception that she was alive to mess with my head.

“Can you teleport to dead people?” Lucas asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried.” But there was no time like the present to test that theory.

The only person that I knew who had died was Chelsea’s father. I closed my eyes and thought of him, but I didn’t go anywhere. My feet remained planted on the pier. “I guess that’s a no.”

Tears started streaming down my face. I didn’t even know if my mum was dead or alive… again. That friggin’ asshole was trying to mess with my head, and as much as I hated to admit it, he was succeeding. I just wanted to crawl under a rock and not come out for the next fifty years, but even that wouldn’t solve my problems because the asshole would still be alive and probably have more sick plans for me.

Aiden wiped away the tears on my cheeks with his thumbs. “We’ll figure this out.” He kissed the top of my head.

“I might go see if Kai has found anything on the disc,” Lucas said. He looked more than a little uncomfortable with my display of emotion. Actually, he looked like how I would normally react to an emotional basket case. Lucas disappeared without disagreeing or telling me that I was wrong, which only went to prove he was exactly like me in that regard.

“Hey,” Aiden said, pulling back. “You’re entitled to a few tears with everything going on.”

I forced a smile. “I’m lucky you’re not like Lucas then, aren’t I?”

“Yep. You’re also lucky that I can fix it, too.” Aiden sent his calming endorphins my way.

Once I’d had my fill and my tears were once again locked away where they should be, Aiden and I transported to Kai to see if there was any news about what was on the disc.

CHAPTER 15

Kai leaned back in his chair, staring at the computer screen in Anna’s study. I didn’t dare look at what was on the screen. He wasn’t able to find any traces on the disc that might give us a clue as to who had created it or the location of the filming. What he was able to confirm was that at the time of the taping, my mother was indeed still alive.

“How do you know?” I asked.

Kai leaned forward and switched off the screen. “Well, if your mum is one of us, then she must be still alive, but in a state of unconsciousness.”

Nathan, who was sitting on the side of the computer desk, added, “Also, the blood would have clotted within a few days if she was dead, and there would be no way that he would have been able to draw the blood if that was the case.”

I twisted my hair up into a bun. “Then why can’t I transport myself to her?”

“We’re still trying to work out how you do that one anyway,” Nathan said.

“So you don’t know how or why?”

“Nope. You have us all completely stumped on that one.” Kai gave me an amused grin.

I sighed. “Great.” Why was it that when it came to my abilities, I seemed to break all the rules, yet I couldn’t master the simple ones that came so easy to all of the others?

“So what do we do now?” Aiden asked, sounding frustrated. “We can’t just sit here and wait for him to make his next move.”

“Maybe it has something to do with brain activity,” Lucas muttered.

“Huh?” I asked.

Lucas got up off the couch. “Well, when you tried to teleport yourself to your mum, it didn’t go so well. And then when you tried to teleport to the grave of your friend Chelsea’s father, that didn’t work either. So what I’m thinking is that there may have to be some sort of brain activity for you to connect to.” He paused to take a deep breath. “And I think I know a way to prove my theory.”

“How?” Aiden and I asked in unison.

“All you have to do is try to teleport yourself to someone who is officially brain-dead.”

“But I don’t know anyone who’s brain-dead.”

“You don’t need to know the person. There are thousands of people around the world who are attached to machines to preserve their lives, and I’m pretty sure there would be at least one in the local hospital.”

Lucas’s theory did sound pretty convincing, but it wasn’t as if I could just walk into the hospital and be able to get past all the security so I could meet a “brain-dead” person.

“Um, I think you’re forgetting that we can make people do whatever we want them to do,” Aiden said.

Subconsciously, I had put that to the bottom of my thoughts as I still didn’t feel comfortable with it. And I still had my suspicions that I had been manipulated more than just that one time Anna had confessed to, and the times Aiden had taken away my pain.

“For the millionth time, none of us have ever done anything else to you,” Aiden said, sounding exasperated. His green eyes were once again filled with hurt.

I turned to Aiden. “I’m sorry, I just have this feeling. I’m not saying that you’ve done it to me; I’m just saying that I think at some point, someone, maybe even my mum, may have done something to me.”

Kai cleared his throat. “Maybe this is a conversation you should be having somewhere where we don’t have to listen to it.”

“Sorry,” I said. “So where were we?”

“Lucas was just telling us about his theory,” Nathan said.

“Oh, yeah.” I thought back to what we had been discussing. “So where are we going to find someone to test this on?”

Kai flipped on the computer screen. “Just give me a sec, and I’ll tell you exactly where.” His fingers began moving at lightning speed.

I leaned over the desk to look at the screen. “What are you doing?”

“In laymen’s terms, I’m hacking the surrounding hospitals’ databases, looking for a guinea pig.”

“Oh,” I said quietly. It sounded so horrible to use someone like that. I knew the person wouldn’t actually be aware that I was testing on them, but if their families found out, I was sure they wouldn’t be very happy.

“Don’t worry. Their families won’t find out,” Aiden assured me.

Kai abruptly stopped typing. “Okay, we have two on life support down at Royal United. There is forty-eight-year-old Jennifer Albian in Room 4B who was admitted into the hospital after a severe car accident two weeks ago. And we also have fifty-two-year-old Alexander Thomas in Room 4D who was a victim of a hit and run, but he’s been on life-support for the last two years. His family refuses to give the okay to pull the plug.”

“So I guess Alexander is our man,” I said. Unlike the girl, Alexander’s family probably wouldn’t still be at the hospital all the time. They had probably all gone back to living their own lives, but still remained hopeful that he would just wake up one day. So Alexander was the safest bet for us to get in and out without anyone noticing.

There was a knock on the door before Berny entered the room. “Lunch is ready,” he said, sounding more down to earth. Ever since I’d called him out on his fake properness, he had lost his polished English accent. I liked him better already.

“What’s for lunch?” I asked.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” He turned around and left the room.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to wait long. I looked at Kai and Nathan. “Are we finished here?” My stomach growled, showing just how hungry I was.

Nathan hopped off the desk. “We can finish discussing the details of this experiment over lunch.”

The five of us transported to the dining room. With so many people eating a meal at one time, the casual meals table just wasn’t large enough. Anna and Dave were already there, digging into the food. Bernie had prepared an assortment of dishes. There was a plate of salmon steaks to be served with steamed Asian greens. There was also a roasted leg of lamb—probably just big enough for Kai—surrounded by roasted potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin.

Kai reached for the leg of lamb. “If you insist.”

Anna slapped his hand. “Stop being a pig.”

By the time we had finished our meal, it was decided that Aiden, Lucas, Nathan, and I would head straight over to the hospital. Kai was going to be responsible for creating a short in the hospital’s surveillance system so that we could transport in and out without being caught on camera.

We didn’t have to worry about not being able to transport directly into the hospital because Lucas had previously visited a ward just down the hall at the beginning of summer to see a friend who had pneumonia. Lucas transported the four of us to a little out-of-the-way alcove, near where his friend had stayed. The familiar hospital smell wafted through the air. It didn’t seem to matter what country I was in, all hospitals had the same odour about them.

The surveillance systems were already down, so I quickly jumped on Aiden’s back so we could move at a speed too fast for the human eye to see us until we reached Room 4D. I couldn’t wait until I was able to move that fast so I wouldn’t have to have him carry me—not that there wasn’t something a little hot about having my legs wrapped around his waist, but it wasn’t the time for feeling that way.

Once we were sure Alexander didn’t have any visitors or nurses with him, we transported ourselves to the other side of the closed door to his room. Alexander lay motionless on the bed. The machines keeping him alive were attached to just about every part of his body. There was also some sort of air-pressured pad under his legs, making them slowly rise and fall.

“That’s to try and keep circulation and muscle mass in his legs,” Nathan said, responding to my thoughts. Apparently, Nathan had done a stint of being a surgeon a few years back, so he had the right knowledge that we needed to perform the experiment without harming or killing Alexander.

I took a deep breath. “Right, let’s get this over with.”

Nathan walked over to the bed and placed his hand on Alexander’s arm. A second later, both of them disappeared. Nathan had come with us to reattach Alexander’s tubes and plugs to electricity in a vacant room in a location in the hospital I wasn’t privy to. If the test was going to work, I couldn’t have any prior knowledge of where the room was or anyone that I knew to be there with him.

A couple of minutes later, Nathan reappeared without Alexander. “All good to go.”

I closed my eyes and pictured the man Nathan had just taken away. I pictured his almost anorexic body, his salt-and-pepper hair, and all the tubes that were attached to his body. But I didn’t move. I wasn’t able to transport myself to him. Lucas had been right in thinking that I needed to be able to connect to someone’s mind in order to transport myself to them without knowing their location.

Nathan scratched the side of his jaw. “Why don’t the three of you head back now? I’ll make sure everything is back to the way it was.”

“Thanks, Nate,” Lucas said, and the three of us transported back to Aiden’s house.

CHAPTER 16

Mid-afternoon, Aiden and I were sitting on the pier with our legs dangling over the edge. At low tide, the water was a good fifty centimetres below our feet. We had been out there for an hour while I tried to master the skill of blocking everyone from hearing my thoughts, and I wasn’t going to go back inside until I had done just that.

“It’s not something that you can learn,” Aiden said for the tenth time. “It will just come to you all of a sudden, like being able to transport and when you started hearing people’s thoughts.”

“I’m gonna do it,” I said, determined to prove him wrong. I once again imagined a titanium shield surrounding my mind.

“A titanium shield can’t cover your mind,” Aiden said. “There’s no way you can get an actual shield around your brain.”

I glared at him. “That’s right. Go ahead and laugh, but you’ll see, I’m going to nail it, and when I do, I’m gonna be putting it up permanently so you won’t ever know what I’m thinking again.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Aiden was laughing too hard to say much more.

Once again, I tried to block out all the surrounding noise, mostly Aiden’s snickering, and concentrated on locking him the hell out of my mind.

Aiden eyes flashed sideways to me, then he quickly looked away.

“Did I do it?” I asked excitedly.

“Nope,” he said a little too casually.

His sideways glance told me different, and there was only one way I was going to get the truth from him. “Damn,” I said, playing along. I started thinking about Lucas, imagining what he looked like without his shirt. With how I was imagining Lucas’s body entwined with mine, there was no way Aiden would be able to sit there without saying anything or reacting in some way. “You’re full of shit.”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Full of shit about what?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Oh, actually you don’t ’cause you can’t hear my thoughts anymore. Can you?”

He looked me in the eyes and lied. “Yes, I can.”

I let out a small laugh. “Oh, really. Then what was I just thinking?”

“That I’m lying,” he said.

“Yes, you are lying, and I want you to admit it,” I said with a smirk.

Aiden raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything.

“If you can’t tell me what I was thinking the last time I tried to put up my mind block, then you and I will be sleeping in separate rooms for the next fifty years.”

“Oh, really,” he said. “You couldn’t handle being away from this for one night.” He waved his hands down his body like those half-naked girls selling cars.

I pushed his arm, but gently enough to ensure I didn’t send him flying into the water. “Just admit it, will you?”

He sighed. “Okay, I can’t hear your thoughts. You were right, and I was wrong. Is that good enough?”

“Yep,” I said smugly. “But I guess you’ll never know if I’m telling the truth, will you?” I was over the moon that my thoughts were once again my own. Actually, thinking back to my mother, I bet she had been able to hear my thoughts from day dot. So it was essentially the first time in my life that my thoughts were entirely my own, and I loved the thought of that, and that nobody else would know just how much I loved it.

Aiden swung his arm around my shoulder. “This is going to be a little hard for me to get used to.”

“Welcome to my world.”

***

Aiden and I walked back into his house through the front door. I had finally been given the opportunity of entering his house like a normal person, but I was so damned excited about conquering the mind-blocking technique that I barely noticed what the front entrance even looked like.

“Congratulations,” Anna said when we walked into the lounge room. She was the only one in the house as Lucas, Nathan, Kai, and Dave had all gone out.

“Thanks.” I sat on the adjacent sofa, curling my feet up underneath me, and leaned against the armrest.

“Anyone want anything to eat or drink?” Aiden asked.

“Do you have some chips?” I asked.

“Oh, get me some, too,” Anna said. “Can you also get me a bottle of Coke?”

I lifted my head off the armrest. “I’ll have a Coke, too.”

Aiden disappeared.

“You know he’s gonna hate not being able to hear your thoughts.”

“I know,” I said with a laugh. “And now he’s going to be just as clueless as the rest of the male population when it comes to his girlfriend.”

Aiden returned with two packets of chips and three bottles of Coke. He handed Anna’s to her, then sat down beside me. I flipped my legs the other way and curled up into his side. I dug into the chips on Aiden’s lap and relaxed into watching some old episodes of “Home and Away,” which seemed to be more popular in England than in Australia. But I had to admit, there sure was some eye candy to make it worth watching, even with all the hotties that had fled to Hollywood over the last couple of years.

About an hour later, my phone buzzed. I sat up, reached in my pocket, and retrieved my phone. It was a message from Chelsea.

What are you guys up to tomorrow? Do you wanna catch up?

I had completely forgotten about her with all the crap that had been going on. I looked up at Aiden.

“What?” he asked.

“What do you think?”

“About what?” he asked again.

I realised that he couldn’t hear my thoughts anymore, so he had absolutely no idea what I was thinking or what the message said. “Chelsea wants to know if we want to catch up with her and Ben tomorrow.”

“To do what?”

“I don’t know.” I sent a message to Chelsea. What were you thinking of?

A minute later, my phone buzzed again. How does the beach sound?

I showed the message to Aiden. “She wants to go to the beach.”

“You should both go,” Anna piped in. “It’ll probably do you both some good.”

“I’m in,” Aiden said.

“Okay, I’ll let her know. Besides, I wouldn’t mind seeing the sun again.” I looked over at Anna, who rolled her eyes.

“You know that you’ve probably seen more sun over the last few days than there has been throughout the entire year,” Anna said.

“And that’s another reason why I opted to stay in Australia,” Aiden said.

“Hey.” I slapped him playfully on his arm. “I thought I was the reason you decided to stay.”

He didn’t say anything straight away, and he looked to be in deep thought. “Nah, I think the sun was the deciding factor,” he said with a serious expression.

“Aw, you’re so going to cop it.” Anna laughed.

“She knows I’m joking.” He put his arm around me and pulled me closer.

“You better be, because you know I’ve got other options.”

He laughed. “Oh, really. Tell me, who are these others that you have lined up?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m not telling, and you know what?”

“What?”

“You’re not going to find out ’cause you can’t hear my thoughts,” I said, singing the last part.

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, really?”

“Yes, really.”

Aiden started tickling me, sending my arms and legs thrashing, but he had me pinned underneath him.

“Stop it!” I yelled between fits of laughter. I so hated being tickled.

“Ew. Get a room, will you?” a voice called from across the room. Georgia was standing by the door with a disgusted look on her face. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, making her boobs almost fall out of her half-unbuttoned white shirt. At least it was only her top half that was on display since she was wearing jeans.

Aiden glanced up at Georgia, then returned his eyes to mine. “You know, I think we might just do that.” He leaned down and kissed me on the lips.

“Oh, stop antagonising each other,” Anna said.

Aiden didn’t avert his eyes from mine. “I’m not antagonising anyone. Georgia just suggested we should get a room, and I thought it was a great idea.”

“You’re such an ass,” Georgia said. Her eyes were laced with daggers, which I was guessing was more directed at me than Aiden. “No wonder I broke up with you.”

“Huh!” He turned to look at Georgia, who still hadn’t crossed the threshold. “What a load of shit. I so dump—”

“On second thought,” Anna cut him off. “Why don’t the two of you go off to your room?” She sounded more parental than I’d ever heard her.

“If you say so,” Aiden agreed.

Georgia leaned against the doorframe. “That’s right. You two just go on upstairs and fornicate and pretend that we’re downstairs, clueless.”

“Sounds good to me,” Aiden said, then transported us to his bed, which was a lot more comfortable than the sofa. “Now where were we?”

“I think we’re supposed to be up here fornicating.” I giggled. I couldn't believe that Georgia had said that.

Aiden brushed a strand of hair away from my face, then kissed me softly. He then moved his way down to my neck.

I was so tempted to say something about how much of a slag Georgia was acting, but I managed to keep my mouth shut and relish in the facts that we had locks on the door to his bedroom, and my thoughts were finally my own. There was also my secret satisfaction in knowing that his ex was downstairs, wishing that she was doing what I was doing with the guy that we both so clearly loved.

CHAPTER 17

Almost an hour later, we emerged from our room. The coast was clear; Georgia had gone home. Apparently, she had come over to let us know that her dad wanted us all to go out to dinner at seven.

Anna said Nathan wanted us to all go out and relax, and for all of us kids to try to get along. Well, most of us did get along. His tarty daughter was the only problem, and I didn’t see how having dinner with her was going to change anything. But Anna wanted us to go, so after finally agreeing, Aiden went back upstairs to get changed. I still didn’t feel comfortable wearing anything less than jeans, a long-sleeved sweater, boots, and a coat. Aiden, on the other hand, was completely fine wearing only jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

Nathan had booked a table for us in a little English pub. We arrived via the only method we ever seemed to travel by—transportation. They knew all the safe spots to transport to that were hidden from the general public’s view. We ended up in a dark alley behind the pub’s entrance. Laughter and singing came from within, and I could make out some of the biggest culprits of the noise.

Before we walked through the door, Anna placed a hand on Aiden’s arm. “I want you to promise me that you won’t start anything with Georgia,” she said with a warning glare. “I want us all to have a good night tonight. Okay?”

“I promise I won’t start anything,” he assured her. “But if she says anything first, all bets are off.” Aiden quickly pushed open the door and pulled me inside without giving Anna a chance to say anything more.

The atmosphere inside the pub was like nothing I’d ever experienced. Besides the two-hundred-year-old feel to the place, the atmosphere really took me by surprise.

There was no one thinking, “I’m better than you,” or any of that don’t-think-you’re-good-enough-to-talk-to-me attitude that I had seen in so many bars. Everyone seemed to be celebrating the fact that they were happy and well, and most importantly, getting drunk with old and new friends alike. I could see why Nathan had picked the place to try and bring us kids altogether.

Everyone else was already seated at a long solid timber table. Dave sat on the left with a spare seat beside him. Georgia was in the next seat over, and Nathan sat opposite with Kai beside him. Kai, of course, already had food shoved in his gob. Next to Kai was Lucas. The only two empty seats were at the opposite end of the table—one beside Lucas and the other beside Georgia. I so didn’t want to sit next to Georgia, and I definitely didn’t want Aiden sitting there, either.

Aiden didn’t seem at all concerned by the leftover seating arrangement. He let go of my hand and walked over to the chair beside Georgia. But what he did next had me feeling the tiniest bit bad for her. Aiden picked up the chair and dragged it around so that he would be sitting at the end of the table rather than beside her.

Georgia scoffed, Lucas laughed, and Anna shot Aiden an “I told you not to cause any trouble” glare from the other end of the table. Not wanting to cause any more of a scene, I quickly slid into the seat beside Lucas. I don’t know why I was acting like this around Georgia, when I never used to let anyone treat me the way she had. I mean, I had never done anything to deserve her attitude. Well, apart from calling her a hooker in my thoughts. Okay, so maybe she did have reason to hate me.

Lucas leant over the table and whispered loudly to his sister, “He’s probably afraid he won’t be able to keep his food down if he has to sit next to you.”

A thump came from under the table.

“Is that all you got?” Lucas asked.

“You’re lucky I’m not wearing my heels. Otherwise, you would have a hole in your foot.”

“What? Were your feet too sore after standing on the corner all day?” Lucas shot back.

Georgia’s lip curled. “That’s right. Keep trying to make yourself look good in front of your best mate’s girl.” She leaned slightly toward Aiden and said, “I’d watch out for him with your girlfriend.”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “Stop trying to cause shit between us.”

She held up her hands. “I’m just saying.”

I’d had enough of listening to her going on about her brother supposedly liking me. “I don’t think Aiden has anything to worry about. You see, Georgia, Aiden and I are very happy together, and there’s nothing you can do or say that will change that.”

She stared at me while she sipped her cocktail. I could tell that she wanted to say something.

“If you’ve got something to say, then say it,” I snapped.

Georgia put down her glass and crossed her arms on the table in front of her. “Well, as a matter of fact—”

“So, Georgia, what are your plans for tonight?” Anna asked, butting into the conversation. I wished she hadn’t because I really wanted to know what Georgia had been about to say.

Georgia glared at me before finally shifting her eyes to Anna. “I’m meeting up with the girls after we finish here. You should come. You haven’t been out with us for ages.”

Aiden muffled a laugh. “Aren’t you getting a bit old to go out to the clubs?” he asked his mum.

Anna’s eyes just about popped out of her head. “I would love to join you,” she told Georgia. “Actually, why don’t you come too, Jade?”

“Err. Umm.” I couldn’t think of anything to say, and I certainly didn’t want to go anywhere with Georgia.

“Come on,” Anna said. “It will give you two a chance to get to know each other without the boys.”

“Sorry, Anna,” Aiden said. “But we have to have an early one tonight.”

Anna looked at Aiden skeptically.

Aiden picked up a jug of beer from the centre of the table and poured himself a glass. “We’re going to the beach tomorrow with Ben and Chels.”

“You’re going to the beach?” Lucas asked excitedly.

Taking a sip of his drink, Aiden nodded.

“Where at?”

“Back on the Goldie,” Aiden said.

“Count me in,” Lucas said.

When I gawked at Lucas, he said, “What? I’ve never been to Australia, so why not?”

“Well, I guess the three of us are in for an early night tonight.” I looked over at Anna. “Sorry.”

Anna sighed. “Maybe another time.”

I half-wondered if she was disappointed because I wasn’t going to join her or because she didn’t want to be left alone with Georgia. I picked up Aiden’s drink and took a quick sip. I hated beer, but it was better than having my mouth free to possibly agree on us all going out another day.

“Jade,” Nathan said. “I wanted to ask you if you’ve heard anything more from DD?”

I was thankful for the reprieve from the conversation with Anna, but talking about the sick bastard who had my mother made the beer that I had just drunk try to make a re-appearance. Once I had controlled my regurgitation, I said, “No. I haven’t heard a thing. Thank goodness.”

He nodded. “Well, just make sure you keep your wits about you. You never know when he might try something.” He swirled his bourbon and Coke around the bottom of his glass, then downed it in one hit.

I knew he was only thinking of me, wanting me to stay on alert for anything DD might try, but his words had put a dampener on the evening, and all I wanted to do was go back home. It didn’t seem fair that I was out enjoying myself while my mother was lying unconscious somewhere with a sick bastard who was happy to drain the life out of her while playing some sadistic game with me.

I turned to Aiden and whispered, “I’m really sorry, but I want to go home.”

“Are you okay?” He put his hand on my back, rubbing it softly.

I was so used to not having to explain myself over the past few months that it felt weird for him to not know how I felt. “Yeah, I’m just really tired, and…”

“And you’re thinking about your mum.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, guys,” Aiden said, pushing his chair back slightly. “We’re going to head back home. We’ve got to be up in a few hours to go back to Australia.”

Anna smiled. “Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow when you get back.”

I was pretty sure nobody believed that was the reason we were leaving, but at least no one pulled us up on it. I was sure they had all noticed the change in me after what Nathan said.

Aiden and I stood up and pushed in our chairs.

“What time are we leaving tomorrow?” Lucas asked. “We’re still going, right?”

Aiden looked at me.

I nodded. “Yep, we’re still going.”

Aiden picked up my bag from the back of my chair and handed it to me. “We’re meeting up with them at eleven, so make sure you’re at our house by ten thirty.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there on time,” Lucas said, leading me to think that being on time wasn’t one of his strong points.

CHAPTER 18

At ten forty in the morning, Lucas still hadn’t arrived.

“If he’s not here in five minutes, I’m leaving without him. I still need to stop off at my house to get my swimmers,” I said, slapping on some sunscreen. I didn’t really need the sunscreen. It wasn’t as if the sun could do any damage to my skin, but it gave me something to do while I waited, and I guessed I had kind of gotten used to applying it when I thought I was like the rest of the human race.

Aiden sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, chowing down on a bacon and egg muffin Berny had just made for him. “I’ll give him a call,” he said around a mouthful of food.

I closed the lid to the sunscreen bottle. “Actually, I might as well go home to get my things while you wait here for Lucas.”

His whole body tensed at my suggestion. “I’ve got a better idea. How about we both go back to your place, then we come back here for Lucas?”

I was about to object to him insisting that I didn’t go anywhere without him, but then I remembered the sick little game DD had planned for me. “Can you eat that thing on the go?”

“Yep.” He hopped off the stool, then picked up the plate with one hand, while he held the muffin in the other. “Let’s go.”

Placing my hand on his arm, I transported us to my bedroom. Aiden sat down on my unmade bed and finished his muffin while I decided what bikini to wear.

“Why don’t you wear the black one?” Aiden suggested.

I picked up the bikini bottoms. “I don’t know. I think they show a little too much of my ass.”

A smile spread across his face. “That’s why I suggested it.”

I rolled my eyes and shoved them back in the drawer.

He put the plate down on my bed, then appeared beside me. He took the black bikini out of the drawer again. “Please,” he whined, pouting out his bottom lip.

“Fine.” I snatched them from him and changed.

Aiden put his hands on my hips from behind and pulled me back into his embrace. He kissed my neck. “I think we should spend more time here,” he whispered in my ear.

I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I think I should wear these more often.” I stood up on my tippy-toes and brushed my lips against his. I kissed him, gently biting his lower lip, before pulling back.

His green eyes electrified, and the next thing I knew, he was lifting me up off the floor. I wrapped my legs around his waist and ran my hands through his hair, pulling him closer.

Aiden stumbled backwards, and we went crashing down onto my bed. I sat up, straddling his hips, and moved my arms behind my back to undo my bikini.

Aiden’s phone started ringing. We were about to ignore it, but my phone started ringing as well. Way to kill the moment.

I leaned down and kissed him one more time. Savouring his sweet taste, I climbed off his lap and fetched my iPhone out of the pocket of my jeans that I had dumped on the floor. I checked the Caller ID—Chelsea. “Hello,” I said at the same time as Aiden answered his call.

“Hey, you,” Chelsea’s chirpy voice came through the phone. “Where the hell are you guys? Don’t tell me you’re running late because you got carried away doing the horizontal dance.”

“Chelsea!” My God. I had hoped that her being with Ben would’ve stopped those comments.

“What?” she asked innocently. “I bet that’s what you were doing though, wasn’t it?”

“No,” I said a little too quickly. “Are you guys already there?”

“Yeah, we’ve been here for about half an hour. It’s too good a day not to be at the beach.

I glanced out the window on my way over to my cupboard. She was right. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. God, I loved the Gold Coast weather. I picked out a little black beach dress and slipped it on. “We’ll be over there soon.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding as though she didn’t believe a word of it. “I’ll see you when you’ve finished up there.”

“Goodbye, Chelsea,” I said before ending the call. I quickly grabbed my beach towel and shoved it into my beach bag before swinging it over my shoulder. “Okay, you ready?” I asked.

“Yep. Lucas is back home waiting for us.” Aiden ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “I guess we better go.”

I walked toward him, wanting so badly to pick up where we left off, but we couldn’t.

He ran his hand down my arm, then picked up my hand. “Come on. Let’s go,” he said, sounding just as disappointed as I felt.

I moved forward, gave him one last kiss, and transported us back to the kitchen in England.

Lucas was sitting on the bench top, holding two disposable cups of coffee in his hands.

My mouth watered at the sight of it.

“I thought you would probably want one as well,” Lucas said, offering me one of the coffees.

I quickly took the cup. “Thank you.”

Lucas jumped off the bench. “Let’s do this,” he said with a grin.

I transported all of us to the garage at Aiden’s house in Paradise Waters.

“What's this?” Lucas asked, sounding disappointed.

“It’s a garage.” Aiden opened his car door, hopped in, and started the ignition.

I dumped my beach bag in the back seat, then climbed into the passenger seat. “You’re in the back, Lucas.”

“That’s not fair,” he whinged. “Aren’t you gonna give your seat up for a guest?”

Aiden sighed. “Just get in the car.”

Lucas huffed in defeat, then appeared, sitting down behind me. “Why do we need a car anyway?”

Aiden opened the garage door and reversed down the driveway. “Because we may have to give them a lift home, and it might look a little funny if the three of us came to the beach with no transport.”

“Point taken.” Lucas’s eyes lit up as we drove through the streets of Surfers Paradise. “Holy crap. If I knew how good this place was, I would’ve visited you sooner.” I was guessing he was talking about all the half-naked women walking down the esplanade in their bikinis.

Aiden parked in a spot right in front of the beach. We hopped out and walked down the pristine white sand dunes. There was no need to call Chelsea or Ben to find out where they were sitting because Aiden could differentiate their individual presence amongst the thousands of people on the beach. I had yet to master that skill.

I followed Aiden’s lead and soon spotted Chelsea lying on her back, soaking up the sun’s rays. There was a towel laid out beside her, but no sign of Ben. I looked out into the ocean and spotted Ben’s head bobbing up and down about fifty metres from the shoreline.

“Hey, Chels,” I said, dumping my beach bag to the right of her head.

“About time you got here,” she said, not moving from her position.

I pulled out my towel, laid it out flat, and sat down beside her.

“Hey, Chels,” Aiden said as both he and Lucas sat down on the sand.

“Hi.” She rolled onto her side to face us. When she spotted Lucas, she quickly sat up.

“Chelsea, this is Lucas. Lucas, this is Chelsea,” Aiden introduced. “He’s an old friend from back in England.”

“Hi,” Chelsea said, blood rushing to her cheeks.

Aiden stood up and took off his t-shirt, revealing his godly body, making me wish we hadn’t been interrupted earlier. “Come on, let’s go for a swim,” he said to Lucas.

Lucas took off his shirt, revealing a body to rival Aiden’s. Man, what was with these boys? I looked around and noticed that almost all of the females on the beach had their eyes glued to Aiden and Lucas as the two ran down the beach and into the water.

Chelsea didn’t say anything until we could just see their heads bobbing above the surface as they swam their way over to Ben. “Sweet Jesus,” was all she said, but her thoughts told me what she didn’t dare to say aloud. In short, she was imagining what it would be like to have Lucas’s body wrapped around hers. Her thoughts momentarily went to Aiden’s body and how lucky she thought I was. If I could tune out the thoughts of only one person in the world, I would block hers.

“So how’s Ben?” I asked, reminding her she had a boyfriend.

She slowly turned her attention from the boys to glare at me. “You know, I can still look.” I was glad to have my friend back, but I had been hoping that her having a boyfriend would’ve changed her obsession with hot guys—obviously not.

I lifted my dress over my head and threw it on top of my bag. “I know. Just try not to make it so obvious when Ben’s around.”

“I promise I will try to contain myself,” she said, holding up her hand as if to pledge. “But you have to admit, Lucas is pretty hot.”

I looked at him as he jumped on top of Aiden, trying to push him under the water. “Yeah, he is pretty hot,” I admitted. But then, so were all of the next gens. It was in their DNA.

“Hey,” she said, inching closer to me. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yeah?” I asked skeptically. Even though I knew what she wanted to talk to me about, I had to try to react the way that I would have before my abilities developed.

“Well, you and Aiden have been together for…” She paused while trying to work out how long exactly we had been together, but quickly gave up. “Well, you’ve been together for ages, and I was wondering if your relationship has changed at all.”

What she really wanted to find out was if “the spark” that we had when we first got together was still as strong. “Of course, our relationship’s changed. The new love excitement doesn’t last forever, but it’s definitely still there where it counts.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed. She picked up a handful of sand and let it funnel out from her closed fist onto the edge of her towel.

“You’re still happy with Ben, right?” I asked, trying to get her train of thought on that topic so I could understand why she was asking.

She shook her head. “Yeah, of course.” Yeah, she still liked him, but she was really missing the new relationship feeling and wondered if it was just that she was getting used to him or that she was over him.

I put my arm around her shoulders. “Hey, if you ever need to talk, you know I’m here for you, right?”

Chelsea brushed the sand off her towel. “Yeah, of course,” she said, wiping the sand off her hands. “Wanna go for a swim?”

“Sounds good.”

We both stood up and headed for the ocean. As we walked, I got the full understanding of what Aiden had meant when he said that I got my fair share of attention from the male population. I could hear way too many thoughts than I cared for, thoughts on either my ass or my boobs and the occasional compliments on my eyes or my face. Basically, I was a walking pin-up girl. All of the attention made me almost turn back and cover myself up, but I wasn’t going to let the minds of some perverted males stop me from living my life.

Chelsea and I dove in and swam out to the boys. The water felt cool, but I was guessing it had more to do with the heat of the sun warming our bodies than the actual temperature of the water. We stayed out there for about half an hour, treading water as we dove under the waves, then body surfed our way back in.

“I’m starving. Who wants to get something to eat?” Lucas asked when we were all near the shore.

“I could do with something,” Ben said.

“Me too.” Chelsea wrung out her hair. “You coming, Jade?”

“Nah,” I said, looking at Aiden. “I want to stay out here for a bit more.” I sat in the shallow water with my legs stretched out in front of me. I leaned back on my elbows and said silently to Aiden, “How about you come down here and join me?”

A small smile flickered in Aiden’s eyes. “Yeah, I’m going to stay out here for a bit longer, too.”

“Suit yourselves,” Chelsea said. The three of them walked back up the beach to their towels.

Aiden held out his hand. “Come on. I got a better idea.”

A small smile crept onto my lips as I put my hand in his. “Such as?”

He pulled me to my feet. “Well, I was thinking that I know of a little beach somewhere where there isn’t another soul around for miles.” Aiden pulled down his mind barriers, and I knew exactly what he had planned.

My heart fluttered in my chest as I ran my fingers down his stomach. When I had hold of his shorts, I pulled him close to me. “Let’s go.”

He cupped my head in his hands and kissed me, pulling away too quickly for my liking. He turned around and raced into the water. I let out a small laugh as I chased after him. When we were about thirty metres out to sea, Aiden ducked under the water and didn’t resurface. I could no longer feel his presence, so I knew that he had already transported to his “private beach.” I took a deep breath, dove under the water, and followed him.

***

About twenty minutes later, we reappeared under the water of Surfers’ Paradise. Immediately, I could feel the fear and adrenalin rushing through the minds of almost everyone at the beach. We came up for air and discovered that the Search and Rescue Team were out on their boards and jet skis.

“They’re searching for us, aren’t they?”

Aiden looked up at the helicopter hovering about thirty metres above our heads. “Shit.”

A lifeguard on a jet ski pulled up beside us, his arm stretched out, but he drew it back to his side when he realised we weren’t in trouble. “You two are okay?” he asked with a surprised tone.

“Ah, yeah, we’re fine,” Aiden said at the same time that I said, “We’re okay.”

Another guy on a jet ski pulled up on the other side of us. “Come on. We need to bring you both to shore.”

I looked into Aiden’s eyes. “You better get us out of this one.”

He seemed to find the whole situation amusing. The corners of his lips curled up. “We’ll be fine.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and swam over to the lifeguard to the left of me. He held out his hand and helped me onto the back of the jet ski behind him.

Aiden was already on the back of the other jet ski. When I looked over at him, he was still trying to hold a serious facial expression while cracking up on the inside. I didn’t find it nearly half as amusing as he did.

When we got to the shoreline, we were met by two other lifeguards who had been waiting to perform CPR, if needed. We hopped off the jet skis, and Aiden did his thing. A minute later, the lifeguards thought it had just been a training exercise where they all passed with flying colours. I had to hand it to Aiden. He could wriggle his way out of just about any situation and did it all so effortlessly.

Once we had the whole lifeguard situation sorted, we made our way back up to our towels. Our friends’ things were not there, so I assumed they were sitting down for a meal in a cafe. I picked up my towel and wrapped it around my body.

“Wanna get something to eat now?” Aiden ran his towel over his smooth chest muscles before drying off his shorts.

“Yeah, I’m kind of hungry after all that.” I was referring to what had happened on the other beach.

A small smile spread across his face as he thought about our little escape. I missed being able to see myself through his eyes. And more so, I missed being able to feel the way he felt about me. I never had to doubt just how much he loved me.

Sorry, he thought before he put up his mind block. “I don’t want Lucas listening in.”

I picked up my bag, and we headed up to the esplanade. My phone beeped when we reached the set of traffic lights to cross over into the mall. My heart stopped when I pulled my iPhone out of my bag and saw a text message on the screen.

What comes up must come down.

Some things are meant to go back up,

But won’t… DD

Aiden grabbed my phone so he could read it.

“What do you think it means?” My voice caught in my throat. Even though I didn’t know what the message was about, I knew it wasn’t good.

Aiden read the message aloud, then shook his head. “I don’t know.”

A minute later, I heard the faint sound of sirens. Somehow, I knew they were tied in with the message. “Come on,” I said, jogging off toward the sounds of the sirens.

“Hang on a sec,” Aiden said, stopping next to an alleyway. “Come over here.”

I understood what he was thinking without being able to hear his thoughts. I followed him into the alley, away from any prying eyes or security cameras, and jumped onto his back.

The next thing I knew, wind was blasting against my face. When we stopped, I slid down off his back and took in the scene. We stood in front of a bungee-jumping site. There were two ambulances and five police cars. A multitude of people were crying their eyes out or puking in the bushes.

I replayed the message in my head. What goes up must come down. Some things are meant to go back up, but won’t. “Oh, my God…”

A voice that I recognised was screaming from the centre of the commotion.

“Chelsea,” I whispered.

“Don’t go over—” Aiden started.

But I raced towards my best friend and didn’t hear the rest.

Chelsea was on her knees, crying out for Ben, who was a bloodied mess a couple of metres away. His legs were tied together, and a metre-long rope was attached to his ankles. I fell to my knees beside her. Ben was dead. The rope had snapped or, more likely, was cut.

Aiden came up behind Chelsea and me, bent down, and placed his hands on our backs. A warm, calming sensation flowed through my body, and I assumed Chelsea’s, too, as her screams turned into quiet sobbing.

I put my arm around her. Aiden sat down beside me and put his arms around both of us. A few tears slipped from his eyes, reminding me of how he must be feeling, too. Ben had been his best friend. They had spent almost every day together before we left for Thailand.

“I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing the side of his neck.

The police and the EMTs worked together to section off the area. White sheets were brought and erected around the scene.

“Excuse me,” a female officer said, bending down to our level. “You’re the girlfriend, right?” she asked Chelsea.

Chelsea lifted her tear-stained face. She opened her mouth to say yes, but no words would come out, so she nodded instead.

“I’m sorry for your loss, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

The officer’s question was pointless because Chelsea’s mind didn’t hear anything past loss.

“Um, is it okay if she answers your questions later?” I asked, trying to buy Chelsea some time to pull herself together before she had to talk about what had happened.

The officer started to protest, but had a sudden change of heart that I guessed was thanks to Aiden. She stood up and retrieved a card from her pocket. “Please get her to call me when she’s okay to talk.”

I reached up and took the card from her. “I will.”

The officer gave a thin smile before walking towards the white sheets, then disappearing behind them.

Aiden took a deep breath. “Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded and stood up with him. Chelsea, on the other hand, wasn’t going anywhere. Her mind was still a thick blanket of fog. All that consumed her thoughts were the images of Ben’s body falling to the ground.

I turned to Aiden. “Can you please stop her from thinking about Ben’s…” Even though I wasn’t speaking the words out loud, I still couldn’t muster the word “death.” I understood more than ever why Aiden had done the same thing to me when I walked in on my mother’s murder scene, and even though I had been a little upset at the time, I knew how much it would help Chelsea.

Almost instantly, Chelsea’s pain eased. Her thoughts became clearer, and best of all, she was no longer imagining her boyfriend going splat.

“Where’s Lucas?” I asked, realising that he wasn’t around.

Aiden stared at the ground while he tried to search for Lucas’s presence. His eyes met mine. “He’s not here.”

CHAPTER 19

“Can I see your phone?” Dave asked, getting out of bed.

We had taken Chelsea back to her house, where we left her with her mother while we came back to England. I had promised Chelsea I would come back to see her in a few hours, but that would have to wait until I was finished here.

I handed my phone over to him and glanced at the clock on his bedside table—four a.m. I really hated having to deal with all the time differences between England and Australia.

Anna noticed where I was looking and glanced at the clock herself. “Don’t worry about the time. I’m glad you woke us up.” She was sitting up in bed with her pillows stacked behind her back. Her golden brown hair flowed in soft curls, and her green eyes were watery from tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

Dave handed Anna the phone after he finished reading the message from DD. Her eyes narrowed, and a tear slipped as she read the few words that had so much hidden meaning behind them, words that had ended a friend’s life because I hadn’t understood them at the time.

Dave ran his hand through his thick brown hair and sighed. “You couldn’t have known that he had anything like this planned. You’re not responsible for Ben’s death.”

I dropped my eyes to the floor. I knew what Dave was saying was true, and if the message had been sent to someone else, I would be saying the same. But Aiden’s best friend, Chelsea’s boyfriend, was dead, and I couldn’t help but blame myself.

Aiden sat down on the edge of his parents’ bed and pulled me onto his lap.

“I’m so sorry.”

I tucked my arm around his back and rested my head against his shoulder.

“Hey.” He tipped my chin up with his finger so that I was looking into his eyes. “It’s not your fault. Okay?”

I lifted his finger off my chin and snuggled back into his shoulder. Anna passed my phone to Aiden, who held onto it for me.

“What do we do now?” Aiden asked, stroking my hair.

Dave picked his phone up from his bedside table. “I’m going to send Kai a message asking him to come around.” He began typing into the phone. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to track down the cell number to see who sent the message.”

I lifted my head to look at Dave. “But it’s probably going to turn up nothing, isn’t it?”

Dave stopped texting, his eyes meeting mine. “Yeah, it would be pretty unlikely that he would have used a traceable phone. But it’s still worth trying.”

I slowly nodded, trying to process where we stood. That DD guy had everything on us. He knew who I was, the places I went, and who my friends were. Worst of all, he had my mother. And what did we have on him? Nothing. All we knew was what he had told us. He signed all his messages with DD, but what the hell that stood for was anyone’s guess.

“What are you thinking about?” Aiden asked, jolting me from my thoughts. I was so used to having him know everything I ever thought about that I just assumed he still could. But there was no way I was letting my mind block down when there were so many people around who could listen in on my thoughts.

“Ah, I was just thinking that we know nothing about who’s playing this sick game with me.”

Nobody said anything. I was guessing they all agreed, but couldn’t bring themselves to say it. But it didn’t need to be said. We all knew it was true.

Anna swung her legs over the side of the bed, her feet dangling an inch above the floor. “Why don’t you go and get changed into something a little warmer? Then we can discuss this further over a cup of tea.” She hopped off the bed, her feet making a soft thud as she landed on the floor. “Or a coffee in your case,” she said, looking at me.

“Sounds good to me.” Dave climbed out of the bed, too.

Anna walked over to Aiden and me. She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about Ben. He was a great kid.”

Aiden gave her a forced smile. “Thanks, Mum,” he said, then transported us to his room.

We stood in the middle of his room, staring at one another. “Are you okay?” I asked. He seemed to have come to terms with his best friend’s death so quickly.

“I’m okay.” When I drew my eyebrows together, he added, “I’m able to do to myself what I did to Chelsea today.” He had also done it to me as well, but he didn’t mention that. Aiden put his hands on my hips. “I’m mostly just scared about what he’s going to do next.”

That thought scared the shit out of me, too. DD didn’t seem to value any human life, if he was capable of taking the life of an eighteen-year-old and holding my mother hostage while he drained her blood.

Aiden put his hand on the crook of my neck and kissed the top of my head. “Come on. Let’s get changed.”

“I just wanna wash my face first.” I turned and headed for the bathroom. I didn’t bother to turn on the light, as the room was softly lit by the moonlight filtering through the windows. I took three steps toward the sink, then my feet slipped out from under me and my head cracked against the marble floor. I lifted my hand to the back of my head and felt a thick, warm liquid. “Shit.”

The lights flicked on, and Aiden stood clutching the doorframe.

The look in his eyes sent chills down my spine, but I didn’t understand why. It was just a small knock on the head, which would probably heal itself in a few minutes. A second later, my mind registered that my clothing was saturated. I slowly began to pull myself up into a sitting position. Aiden grabbed me and transported us back into his bedroom. The moment our feet touched the floor, he backed away from me.

“What?” I asked nervously. I had never seen Aiden act like that. He looked as though the sight of me repulsed him, but at the same time, I could tell he was aching to reach out and hold me.

I lifted my hands in front of me and froze at the sight of the blood that covered them. I looked down and twisted my leg. Blood covered the back of it, too. I turned my head so that I could see my back in the mirror. The entire back half of my body was covered in red.

I had to see for myself where all the blood had come from and why Aiden had ripped me away before I could look. I transported back to the bathroom doorway. Bile rose in my throat when I saw what had turned Aiden’s tanned skin white.

A pool of blood covered the floor where I had slipped, and a message was scrawled in blood on the wall.

The blood of your friend is on your hands.

You better think quick or it’ll happen again.

DD

CHAPTER 20

I realised that the blood that soaked my clothes was not mine and wondered if DD had meant “The blood of your friend is on your hands” figuratively or literally.

Anna and Dave came rushing to my side, stopping dead in their tracks when they saw the scene before them.

“Oh, my God,” Anna whispered, putting her hand over her mouth.

At the same time, Dave cursed under his breath. He walked slowly into the bathroom to inspect the writing on the wall. He moved his face closer to the wall and breathed in deeply. “It’s definitely blood.”

I was about to bury my head in my hands, but stopped short at the sight of the blood coating them.

Anna opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. I looked over at Aiden, who was still standing back, too afraid to come anywhere near me. I didn’t blame him. I wanted to crawl out of my skin and get as far away from me as possible too.

The blood felt as if it were slowly seeping into my skin. I had to get it off. And the fastest way I could think to do that was to drench myself in a pool of water.

Unable to look at myself anymore, I closed my eyes and transported outside their house and into the lake. The ice-cold water pierced my skin, washing away all traces of what had happened upstairs. When I looked around, the water had turned a crimson red, and I felt as though I was right back to square one, except the blood was all over me. Diluted yes, but still all over me.

I swam back towards the pier, trying to escape the bloodied water that surrounded me. By the time I had reached the metal ladder up to the pier, I was sure that I had escaped the blood. I climbed up the ladder and stepped onto the wooden planks.

Aiden was standing in front of me, holding a towel outstretched in his arms. “You know you could’ve just used another shower. We have fifteen of them.”

I stepped into the towel, and Aiden wrapped it around my body. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Brushing a strand of my hair away from my eyes, he gave me a half-hearted smile, before his face was once again sullen. “I’m sorry about before. There’s no excuse for how I acted. It’s just…”

“I know. It’s like your whole dog-slobber-phobia thing,” I said, trying to make light of the situation.

His eyes relaxed, and a small smile crept across his face that didn’t appear to be as forced. “Something like that.” He put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me into his embrace.

I rested my head against his chest. “I can’t go back into your room.”

“That room officially no longer exists. You can choose our next room if you want.”

I thought about it for a moment, but I didn’t know what to do. I knew Aiden had meant that I could choose another room in his castle, but the truth was, I didn’t feel safe anywhere. The “puppet master” was everywhere. He had been to my home back in Australia. He had followed us to the beach. He may have been responsible for the almost-massacre in Thailand. And he had redecorated Aiden’s bathroom without anyone noticing he was there. It felt as though he was walking amongst us, undetected, able to do and get away with anything he wanted.

The only place that he hadn’t attacked was Aiden’s house in Australia. But how long that place would remain free from his touch was anyone’s guess. However, at that moment, it was the only place that I could think of that was free from his touch. “I want to go back to your other house.”

Aiden mulled over what I had said. “Okay,” he finally agreed.

I smiled. “Thanks.”

“But first, let’s get you an actual shower to clean yourself up properly.”

***

After washing my hair and viciously scrubbing my skin so hard that I probably took off the top three layers, I changed into a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. I transported myself to Aiden and ended up in the sitting room. Dave, Anna, and Kai were all talking about what happened back on the Gold Coast and up in Aiden’s bathroom.

“That was quick,” I said to Kai. “I thought you’d be sleeping for at least another few hours.”

“Not me. I sleep on my own time,” Kai said with a laugh.

When I screwed up my face in confusion, Dave explained, “Kai here likes to travel a lot. He never stays in one time zone long enough for his body to adjust to the sleeping habits of whatever country he’s in.”

“So I just sleep when I feel tired,” Kai added.

“Oh.” I sat beside Aiden on the sofa. “That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing the last few days with jumping between England and Australia. But that will hopefully change when we move back.”

“Sorry, what?” Anna asked, her face growing uneasy.

I pulled my legs up and hugged my knees against my chest. “Um, I thought Aiden would’ve told you.”

Aiden bit his lower lip. “I haven’t exactly brought that one up yet.”

Anna sat up in her seat. “You’re actually planning on moving back to Australia? Why?”

“Ah…” I shifted my eyes up to the ceiling, in the direction of where I was pretty sure Aiden’s bedroom resided.

Aiden put his arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer. “She doesn’t feel comfortable in here after what happened this morning.”

“I’d like to know how this asshole managed to get all that blood, and then come here without anyone noticing,” Kai said, saving Aiden and me from the awkward conversation about us moving back home. Although I wasn’t sure I liked his topic any better.

“For the hundredth time, we were sleeping,” Dave said, sounding exasperated. Obviously, they had gone over the very same stuff before I had come into the room.

“Okay, okay,” Kai said, holding up his hands. “But if it was me that was sleeping, I would’ve woken up."

“Argh,” Dave said, shaking his head.

“I’m just saying,” Kai said. I was glad he was there. Somehow, he would always lighten the mood, exactly what we all needed.

Dave narrowed his eyes at Kai. “Well, maybe you should stay with these two back in Australia.” Kai’s eyes bugged out. “You know, to make sure nothing happens to them while they’re sleeping.

Kai sat there speechless.

I went to his rescue. “Don’t worry about it, Kai. We’ll be fine on our own. Won’t we, Aiden?”

“Of course we will,” Aiden agreed.

Kai let out the breath of air he had been holding.

“Actually, it might be a good idea if you did go with them,” Anna said, making Kai suck in another lungful of air. I got the impression that Kai liked to do his own thing, and looking after us two was a little too much commitment for him.

“We’ll be fine,” I assured them all again. Anna didn’t look as if she was going to leave it at that, so I added, “Maybe you could pop in now and again to check on us?”

“That, I can do,” Kai agreed. “I owe you one,” he said to me only.

“Nah, you can just take it off the ten things I owe you.” He had done so many things for me since I had come to England, it was the least I could do for him. Besides, I didn’t want to force him to do something he clearly didn’t want to do.

Anna tucked her legs up onto the sofa. “When are you planning on going back?”

“Pretty soon. I promised Chelsea I would come back to her in an hour or so after I left her, and then I was thinking of going to your house after that. Is that okay with you?” I asked Aiden.

“Yeah. I’ll stay here until you’ve finished up at Chelsea’s, and then I’ll head on over.”

“Is there anything I need to know before I head back to Chelsea’s?”

“Ahh,” Dave said rubbing his chin. “Just that Kai will see if he can get a trace on the number that the text message was sent from. We’ll let you know if we find anything. Other than that, just stay safe.”

“Planning on it,” I assured him, then turned to Aiden. “I’ll let you know when I’ve finished over Chelsea’s.”

“Okay.” He kissed my lips softly. “See you soon.”

“See you.”

CHAPTER 21

Streaks of orange and pink filled the sky when I arrived outside Chelsea’s house. I had transported myself into the bushes to the side of her townhouse. Thankfully, she only had an adjoining wall with one neighbour. On the other side was a grass walkway with a few bushes and trees bracketing it. I ran my hands through my hair and picked out a couple of twigs that had become entangled before I walked around the corner and up onto her porch.

No lights were on, but the glow from the T.V. flickered through the window. I knocked on the door and waited. A few months ago, I would’ve just walked in, but after the reception I had gotten from her mum the last time, I didn’t think that was such a good idea.

The doorknob turned, and the door swung open. “Hi, sweetie,” Marie said, holding the door open for me. I definitely wasn’t expecting such a turnaround towards me so soon.

“Hi, Marie.” I stepped into the house. I quickly peered around the corner into the lounge room to see if Chelsea was there. She wasn’t. “How’s she doing?”

Marie closed the door and put her hands on her hips. “She’s been up in her room since you dropped her home. She doesn’t want anything to eat or drink, and she doesn’t want to talk to me about it.” She sounded hurt. “Maybe you can do better.”

“Maybe.” If I couldn’t, I knew someone who could. I turned around to head for the stairs.

Marie called out, “Can you take up a glass of water for her?” She rushed off to the kitchen before I could answer. She returned after a moment with two glasses of water. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” I took the glasses, then went upstairs to Chelsea’s room.

Her door was closed, and a muffled song came from within. I knocked on her door. When she didn’t answer, I juggled the glasses into one hand and opened the door with the other. “It’s just me,” I said, stepping inside.

Chelsea lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her right hand held a photo of her and Ben. I couldn’t pick up any thoughts running through her mind, as there was nothing there. At first, I thought that I had lost the ability to hear people’s thoughts, but then I realised that she just wasn’t thinking. Her mind was numb from the tragedy of losing her boyfriend.

I put the glasses on her dressing table and dropped my bag down beside it. I then climbed onto the bed and lay down beside her.

After staring at the ceiling for what seemed like ten minutes without either one of us saying anything, I turned my head to face her. “How are you feeling?”

She didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to do. I was clearly out of my league, and I wished that Aiden was there to fix things. I rolled onto my side, put my arm over her, and rested my head against hers. A moment later, I felt wetness against my forehead. She was crying.

I didn’t say anything. I just lay there with her while she shed tears for the death of her boyfriend. Soon after her flood gates opened, so did mine. We just cried together until her mind started to function again.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. She wasn’t sorry for crying, but she felt as though she needed to apologise for making me sit through it. She knew how much other people’s highly emotional states freaked the crap out of me.

“Don’t be silly. You can cry anytime you want.” While I meant what I said, I still hoped it wasn’t going to happen too often.

Her mood went sullen. She was thinking about what she had said to me down at the beach earlier, and how she wished that those words had never come from her lips. She loved him. And if she had any doubts about it before, she no longer had them.

I wanted to tell her not to feel bad about what she had said, but it would have seemed more than a little weird if I brought it up out of the blue. “You know if there’s anything you want to talk to me about, you can. Right?”

“I know.” But she didn’t.

I sat up and crawled off the bed to get the glasses of water. “Here,” I said, holding one out to her.

She pulled herself up and took the glass. “Thanks.” She took a sip.

I sat back down on the bed with my legs folded underneath me. I was trying to work out how I could get her to open up, or better yet, how I could take the pain away from her, when there was a knock at the door.

Chelsea’s mum opened the door and stood leaning against the doorframe. “How you feeling, honey?”

Chelsea took another sip of water. “I’m okay.”

Marie walked further into the room, stopping just short of the bed. “Um, the police are downstairs. They want to speak with you. I can tell them to come back later if you want?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I may as well get it over with.” Chelsea handed her glass to her mum and climbed off the bed. She walked over to look at herself in the mirror on her dresser. She grabbed a tissue and began dabbing her eyes. There was no way that the tissues were going to make any difference to her swollen, red eyes, and she soon realised that and threw them in the waste bin.

“Do you want me stay while they question you?” I asked.

“Nah, you may as well go home. Who knows how long I’ll be downstairs with them.” She grabbed a hair tie off the dresser and tied her hair back into a loose ponytail.

I hopped off the bed and picked up my handbag. “Are you sure?”

“Yep,” she said, turning back to face me. “I’ll give you a call when they leave.”

“You better.” I follow her downstairs.

The police officer who had handed me her card was sitting on the sofa. She had agreed to wait until Chelsea was ready to talk before questioning her, but obviously, she hadn’t kept her promise.

“Speak to you soon,” I said to Chelsea before walking out the front door.

“I’m leaving now,” I said to Aiden.

“I’m already here.”

I walked around the side of her house, ducked behind the same bush that I had emerged from about half an hour ago, and transported myself to Aiden.

He was sitting outside on the sun lounge with a glass of Coke in hand, looking out at the seaway. “How is she?”

I dumped my bag on the ground next to his chair, then sat down on the lounge next to his. “She’s better than she was when I first arrived. At least now she’s talking.” I wanted to let down my mind barrier so I wouldn’t have to explain what happened, but I knew I couldn’t for fear that someone besides Aiden would be listening in, or worse, searching for something. So I had to tell Aiden about the guilt and pain Chelsea was feeling. In a way, I felt as though I was betraying her confidence, but the moment Aiden was in Chelsea’s presence, he would know everything anyway. And I was hoping that would happen sooner rather than later. It wasn’t fair that Chelsea was feeling guilty as well, and I wanted to take that away from her, except I couldn’t. It would be up to Aiden to save the day once again.

“Why don’t you invite her to stay over here tonight?” Aiden suggested.

“Don’t you think that might not be such a good idea with all that’s going on with us?”

“I don’t think he’ll try anything again so soon.”

“How can you be so sure? The guy’s erratic.”

Aiden tapped his finger against his glass. “Well, think about it. The time lag between when he had that psycho kidnap Chelsea and the attack in Thailand was more than a day apart.”

“Except for my mum. She was shot the afternoon I was released from hospital, on the same day that I escaped the psycho trying to carve me up.”

“I still don’t think he’ll try anything so soon. I think he likes to strike when you’re least expecting it.”

“Like tonight.”

Aiden sighed. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “I don’t think we can afford to become too relaxed, ’cause as you said, he’ll probably try something when we least expect it.”

“Well, you know he could have tried something tonight when you were over at Chelsea’s. He clearly doesn’t have a problem with including innocent people in his plans.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. It didn’t matter who I was with or where I was, the guy had a plan, and all I could do was try to win the game.

Aiden got up off the sun lounge. “I’m going to get another one,” he said, holding up his empty glass. “Do you want one?”

I nodded. “I’ll have a Coke. Thanks.” I turned to stare out at the moonlight dancing over the water.

A boat sped past with a group of people my age on board. They sounded as though they were having the time of their lives. I was so envious of them. I was supposed to be living the happiest days of my life, where the most important things I should be thinking about were where I wanted to go to uni and what I wanted to study. Instead, I had to deal with a psycho who was hell-bent on making my life, and the lives of those I cared about, a living nightmare. I just wanted it to end. But of course, it wasn’t going to end until I figured out who he was and how to stop him. If he was just a normal human, then I stood a chance, but he wasn’t, and I had absolutely no idea what to do.

Aiden walked back outside and handed me a glass of Coke. He then sat down on the sun lounge, swung his legs up, and leaned his head back against the head cushion.

“Hey, did you find out why Lucas disappeared?” I asked.

“Nope. He isn’t around, and he’s not answering his phone.” He swirled the Coke around in his glass, making the ice clink against the sides.

My phone buzzed in my bag. Aiden reached down, picked up my bag, and passed it to me.

“Thanks,” I said, rummaging inside it for my phone. I pulled out my iPhone and looked at the screen—a text from Chelsea.

Hi Jade, the police have gone, and I just feel like going to bed - I’ll see you tomorrow??

No worries Chels. Let me know if you need anything - even if it’s the middle of the night - okay??

Okay. Night.

Night.

I put my phone down on the cushion beside me. I heard another chime, but it came from Aiden’s phone. He opened his phone and listened for a moment.

“Lucas wants to see us,” Aiden said, putting his phone back in his pocket.

“When?” I asked, hoping it would be later.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled tightly.

“Now?”

Aiden hopped up off the sun lounge. “I’m afraid so.” He went inside, locked the back door, then transported himself back outside. “You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said with a sarcastic tone. All I felt like doing was being alone, or rather, alone with Aiden.

I took Aiden’s hand and transported us to Lucas. “Holy friggin’ shit,” I said when I opened my eyes and found myself looking through a window at the London Eye across the river.

“Oh, yeah,” Lucas said. He walked over to the french doors, opened them, and stepped out onto the balcony. “Have you ever been on it?”

I shook my head and followed him. “Nope.”

“Now you’re not a very good host, are you?” he said to Aiden.

Aiden came out onto the balcony and stood next to me, leaning against the stone balustrade. “We’ve kind of had a few other more important things to deal with.”

Lucas walked over and stood on my other side, facing toward his apartment. “Well, maybe once this is all over, we can show you around. You know, do all the touristy stuff I know you so want to do.”

“I do not,” I said a little too quickly.

Lucas raised his eyebrows. “And that’s why you reacted like that when you saw the Eye.”

Aiden put his arm around me. “You know, it’s okay to want to do things that will make you happy.” Even though he couldn’t hear my thoughts, it didn’t stop him from being able to know what I was thinking.

“Maybe another day,” I said, dismissing Aiden’s underlying meaning about how guilt-ridden I was feeling. I turned my back to the Eye. “So where did you take off to today?”

“Um…” Lucas’s eyes shifted straight to the ground. “I know there’s no excuse for bailing out on you when…” He paused. “But it’s just…”

“He’s like you,” Aiden said. “He freaks out when people are emotional.”

“And today…” Lucas raised his eyes to meet mine. “Today was too much for me.”

“And everyone else,” I said without thinking, which got me a surprised look from Lucas. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. If I were you, I would have run, too.”

“I did stay ‘til I saw you guys show up,” Lucas said.

I put my hand on his arm. “It’s okay. I understand.”

He smiled briefly, then pushed himself off the rail. “So do you guys want to do something?” Lucas asked, walking back inside.

Aiden turned around. “Yeah, sleep.” He picked up my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, and we went back inside the apartment.

Lucas was sprawled out on the black leather sofa. “Seriously?” His eyebrows knitted together as if he thought we were nuts.

“Yep. I need to catch up on my beauty sleep.” I gave an exaggerated yawn.

“I don’t think you’ve got a problem there,” Lucas said softly, making Aiden’s body tense momentarily. “But Aiden, on the other hand, he needs all the sleep he can get,” Lucas added a little too quickly.

I wasn’t certain if he had actually meant it as a dig at Aiden, or if there was a hidden truth to what he had said.

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” Aiden said sarcastically, playing along, although I had a feeling that he was still a little unsure of Lucas’s comment too. Maybe we were jumping to conclusions because of what Georgia had said about her brother thinking I was hot. Maybe that had been her intention all along, to drive a knife through their friendship to get back at Aiden and piss off her brother in the process.

“So what are you up to today?” I asked, trying to release the awkward tension that hung in the air.

Lucas had his arm draped over the back of the sofa and was tapping his hand against the leather. “Probably just try to piss off Georgia some more,” he said with a cheeky grin. “She’s bringing a couple of her girlfriends over and gave me strict instructions to vacate the apartment before they arrived.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a fun afternoon ahead of you,” Aiden said, sitting down on the sofa armrest. He pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me. I wasn’t sure if he was holding me so close out of love or because of what Lucas had said, as I was sure Aiden hadn’t completely relaxed since. One thing I was glad about, though, was that neither he nor Lucas knew a damn thing I was thinking, because I was pretty sure that everything wouldn’t have smoothed over so quickly if they had.

I put my arm around his neck. “Do you mind if we head home now?”

“Sounds good.” Aiden turned to Lucas. “I’ll give you a call when we’re awake.”

“But then won’t you be asleep?” I asked, still getting a grip on the whole living in two time zones.

Lucas shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Call me when you guys are up again. If I don’t answer, then you’ll know I’m asleep.”

The faint sound of girly laughter approached the door, followed by the jingle of a key being inserted into the keyhole.

“That’s our cue to leave,” Aiden said. “Have fun.”

I waved goodbye, then we disappeared before Georgia and her friends entered the room. When we got back to Aiden’s house on the Gold Coast, he didn’t mention a word about what Lucas had let slip, which made me wonder if I had just imagined the whole thing. Maybe Lucas had said it, but he hadn’t said it the way that I imagined. Maybe he had meant it as a dig at Aiden, but I wasn’t about to bring it up with him.

CHAPTER 22

A familiar faint smell that I couldn’t quite place played on my mind as I drifted in and out of sleep. I’d had the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long time. A small smile crept up on my lips as I remembered the dream I was having just before I started to wake. I was four years old, and my mum had surprised me with a trip to Movieworld for my birthday.

It was the first time I had ever been to a theme park, and all I could think about was that I was about to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Minnie was my absolute favourite character, and I couldn’t wait to give her a big hug and have my picture taken with her.

But Minnie was nowhere to be seen. In fact, I hadn’t spotted a single Disney character in the entire park.

I had balled my hands up into fists and begun crying my little eyes out. My mum bent down, wrapped her arms around me, and whispered in my ear for me to close my eyes. A moment later, she told me to open them again, and what I saw made me squeal with delight. Minnie Mouse was standing not more than a few feet in front of me, waving at me. I had been so excited that I never realised that my entire surroundings had changed. We had been at Disneyland.

The faint smell of my mother wafted through the air. I breathed in deeply, trying to capture her scent in my memory. I missed her terribly, and I wished I could just figure out a way to get her back to me. I was lying on my side, facing towards the edge of the bed. I slid my hand up under my pillow, and my heart froze when I touched an all too familiar warm wetness. Aiden stirred behind me, probably subconsciously reacting to my ragged breathing.

With my heart pounding against my chest, I slowly opened my eyes. I started to let out a scream, but only the tinniest of sounds came out. Lying beside me was a bag of blood.

The top was slit open, allowing the contents to spill over the crisp white sheets. I lifted my hand. Blood was smeared across the palm and fingers. My body started convulsing, trying to keep down my dinner. I quickly jumped up out of bed and made a mad dash for the bathroom.

“What’s wrong?” Aiden asked in a sleepy voice, followed by, “Shit.”

I hung my head over the sink and tried to get control over my body. Once the convulsions stopped, I turned on the tap and let the water wash my mother’s blood down the drain, taking the faint smell of her with it.

I didn’t get why I could smell her scent in her blood. I had never been able to smell anyone's scent. Maybe it was something like how Aiden had explained that we could sense people, but sniffing her in a bag of blood was taking it to a whole other level, one that I didn’t think even his parents knew about.

I dried my hands on the hand towel hanging on the rail beside the sink, then cautiously walked back into the room. Aiden was sitting on the sofa to the side of the bed. He had already stripped the sheets and mattress protector, leaving no trace of my mother’s blood or the bag.

“You okay?” he asked, standing up.

“Yeah.” I ran my hands through my hair, unable to tear my eyes away from the spot on the bed where the bag had been left next to my pillow. “I just wanna go downstairs.”

My phone started vibrating on the bedside table. When I made no attempt to answer or even to see who was calling, Aiden crawled over the bed and picked up my phone.

“It’s Chelsea,” he said, climbing back off the bed.

He held out the phone, but I didn’t take it. I didn’t want to speak with her until I was calmer. All I wanted to do was escape from DD’s sick, twisted game, but no matter where I went, he was always there, tormenting me. I would probably be too afraid to fall asleep again, knowing that the sick bastard had been right next to me without me even knowing. I had absolutely no control over my life, and I couldn’t stand it. I was supposed to be part of some superior human race, yet there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop DD. He seemed untouchable.

Aiden put my phone into his pocket. “You can call her back later then.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and ushered me towards the door.

We walked down the stairs and into the lounge room. The sun’s morning rays beamed in through the window. I sat on the sofa, while Aiden walked over to the window and drew down the sunscreen blinds.

He then picked up the remote, turning the TV on as he sat down beside me. “What do you feel like watching?” The news appeared before I got a chance to answer, and a photo of Ben was displayed on the screen as the reporter told the story.

Aiden quickly changed the channel to a cartoon show, then lowered the volume to create only background noise. He put his arm around me, drawing me into his side. My body started to relax almost instantly when I snuggled into his bare chest. His rhythmic heartbeat lulled me into a false sense of security.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“About?”

“That I can’t keep you safe.” He sounded truly ashamed.

I didn’t know what to say. I let my mind open up so that Aiden could hear all my thoughts. I didn’t get why he felt like that. Or how he could even think that it was his job to keep me safe. When it came to DD, I didn’t think anyone was safe, let alone two seventeen-year-olds whose abilities were only just coming to them. Sure, Aiden and I had some strange variations to the others’ abilities, but we were still trying to work out how to use them.

Aiden sighed. “It’s just that… your mum kept asking me to keep you safe. That was almost all she thought about when she was around me, and she must have known that there would be a reason why I needed to keep you safe. But I don’t get why she thought I could, if she was like us and she couldn’t.”

I ran my fingers over his stomach, tracing the curves of his muscles. “I just wish that she would have talked to me about it. I don’t get why she kept everything so secret. I mean, if she thought my life could be in danger, then why did she still feel the need to keep what we are a secret from me?”

I felt Aiden’s shoulders rise into a shrug. “I don’t get it, either.”

“I hope you have some pants on over there,” a familiar voice called from behind us.

I quickly put up my mind-blocky thing.

“Maybe you should’ve knocked then,” Aiden replied without turning around.

“You know I don’t do that.” Kai walked around the side of the U-shaped sofa with his eyes closed.

If Aiden wasn’t going to let him know that we were both decent, then I would. “You can open your eyes.”

“You sure?” Kai asked, his eyes still tightly shut. He had his arms stretched out to avoid bumping into anything. “’Cause the last thing I wanna see is Aiden’s hairy ass.”

“My ass isn’t hairy,” Aiden snapped.

Kai bent down, hands searching for the chair. When he found it, he turned around and sat down. “That’s not what I’ve been told.”

“Oh, my God. I don’t have a hairy ass,” Aiden said, getting a little exasperated. He turned to me. “Tell him.”

“Well, it might be just a little,” I said, making Aiden’s eyes bug out, and Kai crack up. “I’m kidding. It’s as smooth as a baby’s bum.”

Kai slowly opened his eyes and sighed with relief when he saw that Aiden did indeed have on shorts. I, on the other hand, only wore one of Aiden’s shirts, which left a whole lot of my thigh on display.

As if hearing my thoughts, Aiden pulled the throw blanket from the back of the sofa and laid it out over our laps. “Better?” he asked Kai.

“Much.”

“So why are you here?” I asked, hoping he wasn’t the bearer of some other horrible news.

Kai’s expression went serious for a moment, something I didn’t see too often. “Well, after you had an uninvited visitor show up here this morning, the Scotts thought it might be best if you had someone here with you both, and I’m on first shift.”

“Shift?” I asked, a little surprised. “And how did they find out that he was here this morning?”

Aiden tensed ever so slightly. “That would be because I took the bag to Dave while you were in the bathroom. And I’m guessing that Dave thinks that we should have someone else around us for a little while?”

“Yep,” Kai confirmed. “And because my body clock isn’t really set to any schedule, I got to have the Aussie day time, and Dave and Anna will come here for the night shift.”

“Oh,” I said softly. I couldn’t believe that it had come to being babysat. They all thought I needed around the clock guarding.

“So, what are we gonna do today?” Kai asked.

I didn’t really feel like going out, but then again, I didn’t really want to stay there either. So we decided to take Kai up to Main Beach where he could go for a surf. Aiden and I headed to Tedder Avenue for brunch, and then we went down to the beach to soak up the rays.

The fresh air did me some good, and by the time we returned home, I no longer felt like curling up and hiding away somewhere where no one could find me. Chelsea called again when we were at the beach to let us know that Ben’s funeral was being held in two days. I guessed there wasn’t much need for an autopsy, considering that about fifty people witnessed his death, not to mention the surveillance cameras that operated twenty-four-seven around that place. Chelsea still sounded so heartbroken, so against my better judgment, I invited her to spend the night over Aiden’s.

“That’s my shift over,” Kai said when Anna and Dave arrived. “Same time tomorrow.” He disappeared before giving us a chance to say anything.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been on that thing all day?” Anna said, looking at Aiden who was playing on his Xbox.

“Nope.” Aiden was too engrossed in trying to beat his highest score to say more.

I said, “We took Kai down to Main Beach so he could go for a surf, and Aiden and I went down to Tedder Ave for brunch, then back down to the beach.”

Anna opened up the bi-fold doors to let in some fresh air. “Bet Kai loved that. I don’t think he’s ever surfed there.”

“No, I don’t think he has,” Dave said, sitting down on the other side of Aiden. “Kai mainly likes to stick to Hawaii or South Africa, and when he’s been out here, he’s either gone to Superbanks, down to Bondi, or popped over to Bali.” He picked up a controller and began playing with Aiden. Boys.

“He’s a pretty good surfer,” I said.

“That’s because he’s had a lot of practice.” Anna laughed. “If Kai isn’t on the computer, he’s out surfing.” She sat next to me.

I turned to her, putting one knee up on the sofa. “Yeah, I kinda got that impression.”

Lucas walked into the lounge room, wiping his hands on his shirt. “Sorry, I wanted to use the loo before we came, but they insisted that I wait ‘til we got here.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like we made you wait hours, not just a couple of seconds.”

Ignoring Anna, Lucas joined the boys on the couch, without so much as a hi or even a look in my direction. Like the other guys, his eyes were glued to the screen. Maybe I had just imagined a hidden truth in his comment back at his apartment.

“Hey,” Anna said, turning to me. “Do you want to go see a movie with me tonight?”

I was about to say yes, then remembered that Chelsea was coming over. “I don’t think I’ll be able to. I asked Chelsea to stay over here tonight.” I quickly added, “If that’s okay with you?”

She swatted my arm gently. “Of course. Our homes are your homes now. You got that?” Anna asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Got it,” I said with a smile.

“So what time will she be here?”

I looked at my watch—almost six. “She should be here any minute.”

“Okay then, have you organised anything for dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“Chinese would be good,” Aiden said at the same time that Dave and Lucas suggested pizza.

“It’s funny how your ears pick up on something relating to food, but any other topic and you wouldn’t hear a word,” I said to Aiden. Proving me right, he didn’t respond. I decided to get him back for ignoring me, so I sent him a mental image of our last shower together. But as I was in the middle of doing it, I realised that I had never done that before, and there was no way of telling if I had sent the image to only him. Luckily, Aiden was the only one that bombed out on the game, making me sigh in relief. Dave and Lucas gave him shit for his sudden loss of control.

Aiden turned to face me, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly. “That so wasn’t fair.”

“I know.” I smirked.

“I think you might owe me big time for that.”

“Oh, really?” I knew what he was thinking, and the steamy image he sent me proved just how right I was.

The intercom buzzed, putting a much-needed dampener on our silent conversation. I looked up at the surveillance screen on the wall and saw Chelsea standing there looking disheartened. I jumped up off the sofa. “I’ll get it.”

I opened the door. “Hey, Chels.”

“Hey,” she said, stepping into the house. I could see my insurance replacement car sitting in the visitor’s parking bay. I could only imagine that DD had something to do with how she’d ended up with it, but I was glad she had. After all, it wasn’t as if I needed it. I had my own, completely green way of getting around.

She gave me a small hug. “Thanks for letting me stay tonight. Although I’ve been sleeping almost all day, so I’m not sure if I will be doing any of it tonight.”

“That’s okay. There’s a house full of people, and I’m sure one of us will stay up with you.” Anna and Dave were the mostly likely candidates because it was their daytime, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.

I took the overnight bag out of her hand, put my arm around her, and led her into the lounge room. I could feel anxiety dripping off her when she saw the room full of people, and especially when she laid eyes on Lucas. She instantly started thinking about how hot he was, then started beating herself up about thinking that way only a day after her boyfriend’s death. God, I really wanted to do something to help her deal, but all I could do for the moment was to take her upstairs to get away from them all. “Let’s get these bags up to your room.”

Chelsea smiled, glad for the excuse to get away. That was so not like her, and I hated that my fun-loving friend was replaced by a guilt-stricken, self-hating one. Anna shot me a knowing glance, but the boys were still too caught up in the game to notice. Or there was also the possibility that they were being sensitive to her situation. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and think the latter.

I opened the door to a spare bedroom across the hall from Aiden’s and dropped her bag down on the king-sized bed. The room was almost identical to Aiden’s, with its own bathroom and a little sitting area, the only difference being the view. She would have a view of the street, whereas Aiden’s room overlooked the water.

I sat down on the bed. “Come here.” I patted a spot on the bed next to me.

Chelsea sat down, looking defeated. All I wanted to do was to get inside her mind and make her realise that she didn’t need to feel guilty for what she had said at the beach just before Ben died. I put my arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Chelsea straightened. “What for?” And the strange thing was, she really didn’t have a clue.

“Oh, crap,” I mumbled under my breath. “Hey, Anna?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I stuffed up.”

“Why?”

“I think I may have altered her memories or something. She’s no longer feeling sad or guilty.”

“I’ll be up in a second.” There was a knock on the door, before Anna opened it. “Hi, girls. It’s a bit boring with the boys. Do you mind if I join you two?”

“Of course not. Come on in,” I said with relief.

“Are they still playing that damn game?” Chelsea asked. “I reckon it’s about time us girls had a go at something on the Xbox. You know, one of those dancing or singing games. Oh, yeah, a singing one would be awesome.” Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Maybe we could have teams. There would be you and Aiden…” She pointed at Anna. “… and you and Dave. And then I guess that leaves me with Lucas.” Her eyes at once glazed over as she began dreaming of what a good team the two of them would make, and she wasn’t just meaning in the game either.

“Oh, you really did a number on her, didn’t you?” Anna said.

“Tell me about it.”

Chelsea was back to the girl I knew before she even began dating Ben. And as far as I could tell, she may not even remember the two of them ever dating.

“How are we going to fix it?” I asked. The last thing we needed was for her to turn up to Ben’s funeral acting as if she’d never known the guy, let alone been in a relationship with him for the last few months.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll try to fix it.”

I gave Anna an appreciative smile. “Thanks.”

“What?” Chelsea asked, noticing the smile I threw Anna. “Don’t tell me that just because you’re so in love with that hunk of yours downstairs, that you can’t think his friend is hot. I think I might need to tape my mouth shut, just to stop myself from drooling.” A mischievous smile spread across her face. “But then again, I might just need the use of my mouth if all ends well.”

“Oh, God, Chelsea,” I said when she imagined herself getting all hot and steamy with Lucas.

Anna cracked up laughing. “Are you sure you want to change this? We could have so much fun tonight.”

I thought about it for a moment. Yeah, I would’ve loved to have the fun Chelsea back, but it didn’t feel right. “I don’t suppose you could do to her what Aiden did to me after my mum died.”

Anna gave me a wink. “You got it.”

A second later, Chelsea’s expression went blank. I prayed Anna would be able to fix my mistake, although I wasn’t sure why I had any doubt. She could make anyone do just about anything she wanted.

“Shall we all go downstairs and get the boys off that game?” Anna said, putting her hands on her lap.

“Let’s do this,” Chelsea said, hopping off the bed and walking over to the door.

“Is she fixed?” I asked.

Anna laughed. “You didn’t break her. You just made her forget about Ben’s death and the fact that she ever dated him. But yeah, I did fix her. She now remembers dating Ben and that he died, but she feels numb to the pain, like it happened years ago instead.”

Chelsea turned around when she realised Anna and I were still on the bed. “Are you two coming, or do I get all those boys downstairs to myself?”

My eyes bugged out. Had Anna’s fix not worked?

“I fixed her. She’s just trying to stir you.”

“I’m kidding,” Chelsea said. I smiled and got up off the bed.

We ended up ordering pizza and Chinese, then we all spent the rest of the night laughing our heads off as we had sing off after sing off. I half-thought that maybe I had done something to my own mind when I messed with Chelsea’s because for the first time in ages, I was actually able to relax and not think about my mum and the sick bastard holding her captive.

CHAPTER 23

Two days later, Aiden and I were standing outside the Catholic church of Broadbeach. Angels were carved into the sandstone pillars that stood on either side of the front doors, welcoming whoever passed through their threshold. Except when I looked at them, I didn’t feel as though they were welcoming me, but condemning me, as if they knew that it was my fault that everyone who sat in the church for Ben’s funeral was there because of me. I knew they were nothing more than blocks of stone, but I guessed my subconscious wasn’t ready to let me forgive myself for what I had done, or hadn’t done, to be more precise. If Aiden could hear my thoughts, he would probably be telling me that it wasn’t my fault, that Ben was dead because of some twisted freak whose idea of fun was to play with people’s lives.

We followed the crowd of people filing into the church, each family being greeted by the priest. Inside, my eyes were instantly drawn to the closed coffin that rested at the front of the room, adorned with wreaths of white lilies. I felt so sorry for Ben’s family because they never got to see his face before they laid him to rest. That would be another thing that I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

“There’s Chels,” Aiden said, nodding to the right.

She was sitting with her mum in the row behind Ben’s family. Aiden and I weaved through the many mourners cluttering the aisles, and I sat down next to Chelsea, with Aiden on my other side.

I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better.” Chelsea smiled weakly. She was confused as to why she had come to terms with Ben’s death so soon after the accident and secretly hated herself for it as well. But the moment we sat down beside her, she became more at ease. She thought she felt better because she had her best friend there to support her, but I knew it was just that she was in Aiden’s presence. Ben’s family sitting in front of us seemed surprised, but relieved by the unexpected calmness they felt.

Aiden leaned forward and placed a hand on Ben’s parents’ shoulders to give them his condolences, along with an extra shot of his calming thing. Shock filled their features momentarily, but the expressions were quickly replaced with a peaceful acceptance as Aiden removed the memory of how they felt when he touched them.

The priest walked up onto lectern and began the ceremony. I tuned out as soon as he mentioned Ben’s name. I couldn’t handle hearing anything about his death, or even his life, because ultimately, it was my fault that he no longer walked the earth.

I realised how much grief I would have to endure in my life. Almost everyone around me was going to die at some point, and I would keep on living. I picked up Chelsea’s hand and squeezed it tightly. One day, I would be sitting at her funeral, and I wouldn’t even be able to come as myself, her best friend, because how could someone who still looked like a twenty-year-old be her childhood best friend?

I slowly scanned the crowd. Each and every person sitting in the church would die at one point or another, and Aiden and I would live on. And on. And on.

I was jolted out of my thoughts of everlasting life when I spotted Chrissy sitting a few rows back on the other side of the aisle. She was dressed in a modest black dress with matching black heels and purse. She held a tissue in her hand that she used to dab at her eyes whenever the priest mentioned Ben’s name. I couldn’t hear her thoughts from that distance, but by the look on her face, I thought maybe she had changed since finishing school. Maybe she had turned back to the girl I used to be friends with before she tried to break up Aiden and me.

She must have felt my eyes on her because she turned to meet my gaze. I smiled in an attempt to let her know that we could move past everything. She returned my smile with a raised middle finger. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, and she put up the finger on her other hand. Apparently, she had changed… for the worse. I felt like going over and ripping those fingers off her hand for doing something like that at our friend’s funeral.

Ben’s parents stood up and moved toward the front of the church. It was time for everyone to say their goodbyes to the kind-spirited young man who had been robbed of his life so young.

Chelsea stood and pulled me up with her. Crap. She was going to drag me up there.

“You’ll be fine,” Aiden said silently.

I picked up his hand and pulled him up alongside me. “So will you.”

The three of us walked hand in hand to the front of the church. Chelsea held herself together, even though she feared she would fall to pieces and make a spectacle by throwing herself onto the coffin, crying her eyes out, and cursing God for taking her love away so soon.

Once we were finished saying our goodbyes to Ben, we moved over to his mother and father, who waited to the side to thank everyone for coming. They were both confused as to why they were feeling so calm and had come to the same conclusion that laying their son to rest was helping to give them closure and move forward.

God, Aiden was good. I only managed to get out a “Sorry for your loss” before leaving the remainder of the conversation to Chelsea and Aiden. Thankfully, the line was moving fast, which meant we couldn’t linger. Chelsea’s mum waited for us just before the exit. She put her arm around her daughter, and they walked outside with Aiden and me following.

Marie stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Do you want to come home, or would you like to stay with Jade for a bit?”

“I’ll come home with you,” Chelsea said. “I wanna get changed out of these clothes.” She looked over at me. “But can I come over later?”

“Of course,” Aiden and I said in unison.

“I’ll give you a call before I leave to come over. Okay?”

“Okay.” I gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek.

Chelsea and her mum turned around and headed towards Marie’s car.

Aiden pulled me into his arms. “It’s all over now.”

I leaned my forehead against his chest. “I wish that were true.”

“I meant the funeral.”

“I know. I just wish that it was all over. I wish I could figure out a way to get my mum back, and then get rid of the asshole doing all of this to me.”

Aiden kissed the top of my head. “I wish I could make that happen for you.”

“Don’t let me interrupt this special moment of yours,” Chrissy said, walking down the steps of the church. I finally understood why Aiden had said that I didn’t want to know what she had been thinking about me. I had never heard so many explicit, horrible thoughts from anyone. Her thoughts shocked me into silence.

She turned her head away from us and walked up the footpath towards the carpark. Suddenly, a car that had been moving slowly down the road sped up and veered onto the footpath, heading directly for Chrissy.

I stood there, too stunned to move. There was none of that slow-motion thing going on like what had happened over in Thailand when I could literally see the bullets fly through the air. The car skidded to a stop right where Chrissy had stood only a second ago, but she wasn’t there. And she wasn’t under the car. She was in Aiden’s arms a few feet away.

“Holy shit,” Chrissy whispered, looking up into Aiden’s eyes. “You saved me.” Aiden tried to let her go, but she didn’t loosen her grip.

I rushed over to them. “You can let go of him now,” I snapped. To everyone around us, I probably sounded like some cold-hearted jealous bitch, but they couldn’t hear her thoughts. She wasn’t even thinking about how close she had come to being run down by a car; she was thinking about how good it felt to be in Aiden’s arms and how she thought that was how it was supposed to be. It should have been him and her, not Aiden and me.

“If you haven’t noticed, he’s a lot stronger than me. Maybe he doesn’t want to let go.” She spoke so low that only Aiden and I would have been able to hear her snide remark.

Aiden broke free from her clasp even as she desperately tried to hang on to him. “There will never be a ‘you and me,’” he said in a low, but stern voice. “Just be glad I saved your ass, ’cause I’m guessing if I hadn’t been here, you would’ve been dead.”

He put his arm around me and ushered me towards the car without even so much as another glance in her direction.

“What the hell was that about?” I asked when we were sitting inside his car. “I mean, did you see the car? It didn’t look like it was out of control. And then the guy behind the wheel was in too much shock to even get out of the car. He didn’t have a clue how he ended up on the curb.”

“Yeah, I saw it, and I heard the guy’s thoughts,” he said, pulling out onto the road. “All I can say is that whatever happened back there wasn’t right. Something was definitely off.”

I turned in my seat. “Do you think it was DD?” I asked.

Aiden raised his eyebrows, giving me a knowing look. I guessed he was thinking the same thing.

When we arrived at the house, strangely, no one was around. “I thought someone was supposed to be here at all times,” I half-joked.

“Missing me already?” Kai asked, coming out of the pantry with a sumo-sized sandwich.

“Hey, mate,” Aiden said. “Don’t suppose you made one for us?”

“Nope. I’m already your baby sitter; I’m not about to become your chef, too.” Kai took a massive bite of his sandwich. “So how was it?” he asked with his mouth still half-full.

“The weirdest thing happened after the funeral,” Aiden said.

My phone beeped from inside my bag. I was pretty sure it was Chelsea telling me that she was on her way over. I left Aiden to explain what happened with the car and Chrissy while I walked over to the sofa where I had left my bag. I pulled out my phone, flipped it open, and froze as what was becoming an all-too-familiar unknown number appeared on my screen. Panic rippled through me when I began reading the message. Aiden and Kai were by my side within a blink of an eye.

That one was supposed to be a favour to you, but your boyfriend had other ideas.

Now I’ve had to move my plans forward. Someone is going to die. Who that is is up to you.

Another message came through soon after we finished reading the first.

Tick, tick, boom 12:06

My eyes glanced up to the top of the screen—12:05 p.m.

“What the hell does that mean?” Aiden asked.

Kai ran his hands through his sandy blond hair. “Well, I think we can positively say that it’s a bomb, but where it’s gonna go off, I haven’t a clue.”

“We have less than thirty seconds to figure this out,” Aiden said, his voice filled with panic.

Another message came through.

Twenty-eight

Twenty-seven

Twenty-six

It was a countdown to the end of at least one person’s life.

“Maybe it’s Chrissy,” Aiden suggested. “After all, he did try to have her run down. Maybe he’s just following through on that.”

I shook my head. “No, that doesn’t feel right.”

Nineteen

Eighteen

“Shit,” Kai yelled. “This guy’s screwing with us. How can he expect us to figure this out?”

Ten

Nine

“I know these numbers,” I mumbled under my breath. “It’s not a time, it’s a date.”

Six

“Chelsea!” I disappeared without explaining further. There was no time. The numbers were her birthday.

I landed in Chelsea’s bedroom. She was pulling a green tank top over her head. I didn’t bother to let her know I was there. I placed my hand on her back and transported her outside to the front of her house.

“What the hell?” Chelsea said when she had finished pulling the top over her head and could see again. I didn’t bother to respond. I was thinking about Marie, preparing to transport myself to her. My heart tightened, and my eyes went wide in horror as I heard a faint click, then…

Boom!

The house began to explode, and I was once again in slow mode.

Fragments of the house began to fly as the explosion rippled through the air. I fell to my knees. Chelsea’s mum would already be gone. There was no way I could have saved them both. I felt like puking. Another person was dead because of me.

Chelsea let out a deafening scream, tearing my heart apart in the process. I had just robbed her of her family. I turned to face her and almost stopped breathing.

Chelsea was kneeling beside her mother. I crawled over to her, desperately hoping that Marie wasn’t a hallucination. Her eyes were shut, but her soot-covered chest rose and fell with each breath that she took.

I suddenly realised what I had just done. I had brought someone to me. And I didn’t think that was the first time that I had done it, either. My mind flashed back to the memory of that day when I was being carved up by the psycho. I had called out for Aiden. He had told me that he had felt summoned to me, but shook off the idea because it didn’t make sense.

Without thinking more on how or why, I closed my eyes. Tears streamed down my face as I prayed desperately that I was able to bring the one person that I wanted there with me more than anyone. I was almost too scared to open my eyes, for fear that she wasn’t there, but I forced them open.

The moment I saw her body lying in front of me, I burst into tears. My mum was really there with me. The bullet was still in her head, but I didn’t care. We could get it out, and then she would be back.

Aiden appeared beside me. When he saw my mother lying on the ground, he dropped to his knees. “How?”

I didn’t answer. I was still trying to work it out myself. I removed the barrier blocking my thoughts, so Aiden could see into my mind while I processed what I had just done. The faint sound of sirens filtered through the air. I knew we couldn’t stay there to discuss how I had managed to save not only Chelsea and her mum, but my own mum, too.

Hearing my thoughts, Aiden nodded. “We’ll talk back home.” He bent down and scooped my mum up in his arms.

The three of us disappeared, leaving Chelsea leaning over her mother.

When we got back to Aiden’s house, Anna came rushing out from the kitchen. “Kai told us what hap—” She stopped short when she saw my mother lying on the sofa. “Oh, my God!”

I had kept my mind shield down so that I wouldn’t have to explain. Anna was bending over my mother. “Is she okay?” I asked.

“I think she’s okay, but we better get this bullet out of her as soon as possible.”

“This shouldn’t be possible,” Aiden muttered, shaking his head. “We’re not supposed to be able to do that.”

“I know, but… how else did she get here?” I asked. “And then there’s Chelsea’s mum. I mean, she was still in the house while Chelsea and I were on her front lawn. Then, the house exploded, and the next thing I knew, Marie was lying on the grass beside us.”

Dave gently pushed Aiden and me to the side. “We can work out how the hell Jade managed to do this later. Right now, I think we should work on getting this bullet removed from this woman’s head.” He sat down on the couch. “Kai, can you give Nathan a call and tell him what’s happened? We’re going to need him to help.”

“Sure thing.” Kai pulled out his phone, then walked into the kitchen while he waited for Nathan to answer.

“She’ll be okay,” Aiden said, putting his arm around me.

God, I hoped he was right, but seeing her lying there… she looked dead.

Aiden, knowing how I was feeling, sent some calming endorphins my way.

“Thanks,” I said, before shutting my mind off to everyone again.

“Nathan said for us to bring her to the room that he transported that brain-dead guy to for your experiment,” Kai said, walking back into the lounge room.

“You know which one he’s talking about?” Dave asked me.

I shook my head. “No. We only went into the room that the guy was in originally. But I can just transport us all over to Nathan, provided he is in the room.”

“He said he would go there as soon as he got off the phone,” Kai said.

“Good,” Dave said. “Then take us all there.”

“I’m coming, too,” Kai said, rushing over to where the Scotts and I were huddled. “There’s no way I’m missing this.” The gleam was back in Kai’s eyes. “So how do we do this? Do I need to touch you or something?”

I let out a small laugh as I thought about having five people having to be attached to me. “No, you don’t all need to be touching me. But because I don’t know where the hospital bed is, it might be good idea if someone was able to hold mum so she doesn’t end up on the floor.”

“Gotcha.” Dave scooped my mum into his arms.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on taking everyone in the room to Nathan.

“Holy shit,” Kai said. “I can’t believe you’re actually able to do that.”

I opened my eyes. We all stood in front of Nathan in an almost identical hospital room to the one from the other day. Dave walked over to the bed and laid my mother on it.

“So how did you manage to get her?” Nathan studied my mother’s face. “Never mind. We can talk about that later.” He reached over to the small bedside table and picked up a gleaming surgical tool that brought the fear of God into me. The last time I had seen one of those, the psycho was going to use it to carve into me. I quickly turned to Aiden, burying my head in his chest.

Aiden wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. “We can go someplace else while we wait.”

“I won’t be long,” Nathan said.

I breathed in deeply, trying to get a hold of my fear. “I wanna stay.”

Aiden kissed the top of my head. “Okay.”

I kept my face buried in his chest for what seemed like forever, but was probably only minutes before Nathan said, “All done.”

I slowly raised my eyes to look at Aiden. He had a small smile on his face as he nodded slightly. I turned around to look.

My mum was still unconscious. The wound in her forehead was open and bloodied, but at least there was blood, which told me that she was still alive. Her body was starting to regenerate. How long it would take was anyone’s guess.

“Let’s get her back to our place,” Anna suggested.

“And which place is that?” I asked.

Her lips curled up slightly. “The England one, of course. It’s the bigger of the two, and let’s face it, we’re going to have a lot of people staying over and will need the rooms.” When I pulled my eyebrows together in confusion, she added, “He’s going to be pissed that you’ve got your mum back, and who knows what he will do next?”

I honestly hadn’t thought about that. I was still so stunned and excited that I had somehow gotten my mother back that I hadn’t even stopped to think of the possible repercussions from DD. He would be pissed that the biggest leverage he had over me was back in my hands.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Nathan agreed. “I can imagine that he would be quite upset.”

“Where should I take her?” I asked.

“She can have the room opposite mine,” Aiden suggested.

He walked over to the bed and picked up my mum up. I transported the three of us to her room.

Aiden laid Mum on the king-sized bed, and we both sat down beside her. I could feel that the others had returned to somewhere in the house, but nobody came into the room. I guessed they were giving us some time alone. They had already done all they could, so it was a waiting game as to when Mum’s body would heal itself.

Aiden nudged me with his shoulder. “It’s happening.”

I looked down at my mother’s wound. It was slowly starting to close. I watched until there was no evidence left on her forehead, apart from some smears of blood. I saw a barely noticeable rise and fall to her chest, but she still wasn’t awake.

“Give her time,” Aiden said, putting his arm around me.

We both leaned back against the headboard and waited for any sign from her. I was so glad I had Aiden with me. I could only imagine the state I would be in if he wasn’t there. He was my straight jacket that held me together when all I wanted to do was flip out.

Mum’s lips suddenly parted, and a small breath escaped her mouth. I watched obsessively as her breathing become more regular.

“I told you she would be fine.” Aiden kissed the top of my head.

I picked up my mother’s hand and held it in my lap. Tears slipped down my face when her fingers started to move ever so slightly. Soon, she had enough strength to squeeze my hand.

Her eyes suddenly popped open, and she gasped. For the first time in my life, I was able to hear her thoughts. She was wondering where she was. The last thing she could remember was—

Her mind went blank. She had put up her wall. “Jade?” she said, tilting her head to look up at me.

Tears flowed down my cheeks as I dove into her arms. She hugged me tightly. I eventually let go of her, and she was able to sit up.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I said, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand.

Aiden edged to the side of the bed. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’m glad you’re back.” He stood to leave, but stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly and stared at my mum with his head tilted to the side. Aiden put his hands on my shoulders. They both stayed silent, but I knew there was a conversation going on that I wasn’t privy to.

My mother finally broke the silence. “I was just thanking Aiden for looking after my beautiful girl for me.” She smiled and ran her hand along the side of my face. God, how I had missed her touch. “You’ve got yourself a good man there.”

I put a hand over Aiden’s hand on my right shoulder. “He’s a keeper.”

“Right,” she said, getting up off the bed. “I think I’m about due for a shower and a new set of clothes. These kind of stink.”

I smiled. I still couldn’t believe she was back.

Aiden pointed towards the other end of the room. “The bathroom is over there. There are clean towels on the rails, and I’ll get Anna to bring you some of her clothes.”

“I’m glad you’re back, Mum.” I turned to leave, but stopped. “Just one more thing.”

“Yeah, darling?” she asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me what we are?” That question had been bugging me ever since I had found out that she was like us. Actually, I had a hell of a lot more questions for her, like why had she lied about her parents and her job, and what had she really been doing all the time she was supposed to have been working.

She smiled tightly. “We can talk about that later. I promise.” Her body turned into a blur as she moved towards the bathroom at a speed that I had never seen her use.

“Maybe she just really wants a shower?” Aiden suggested.

“You don’t believe that, do you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He scoffed. “Not a chance. But I guess she’ll tell you when she’s good and ready.”

“Well, she can’t hide from me anymore.”

Aiden and I transported downstairs to join the rest of the guys.

***

Thirty minutes later, Mum still hadn’t come downstairs. I decided to go see what was keeping her.

I transported myself outside the bedroom door and was about to lift my hand to knock when I heard the sound of a television coming from Aiden’s room. I turned around to face that door. It was slightly ajar.

Panic started filling my body. Maybe there was a new message. Or maybe DD had come back to claim his hostage while Mum was in the shower, and we were all downstairs.

Aiden was by my side in a second. “What’s wrong? I could feel your—” He stopped short, his eyes widening when he heard the TV. He put his hand on the doorknob and looked at me. I nodded, and he slowly pushed open the door the rest of the way.

My mum was sitting on the couch, too enthralled by what she was watching on the TV to notice that we had come into the room. The second disc with the video of DD drawing her blood finished playing. The screen went blank, then the following message appeared on the screen.

Your mother’s body contains approximately 4.7 litres of blood.

A 40% drop and her heart and mind will fail.

Each bag holds 473 mls of blood.

And you have 1 of those bags.

The bullet in her brain inhibits her body from producing

more blood until it is removed.

Your goal is to pass each test.

If you don’t…

Another bag of blood will be drawn.

The screen went black, then the same four little words that would see Ben’s life come to an end came onto the screen.

Welcome to the game… DD

Those words changed my life once again when I heard my mother mumble under her breath. “Daddy Dearest.”

I rushed towards her. “What did you just say?” I couldn’t have heard right. I just couldn’t.

She looked up at me. Her eyes widened. “Um…” She looked at Aiden as he came up and stood beside me. “I think you better take a seat.”

I stood my ground. Panic rippled through my body, fearing what she was about to say. I looked her in the eyes. “For the love of God, please just tell me what’s going on.”

She gestured at Aiden. “You might want to get ready to catch her.” I thought she was joking at first, but there was no humour in her voice.

I felt Aiden’s hand on my hip. He was obviously afraid there might be some truth to her words.

Mum took a deep breath. “Jade, what I’m about to tell you is huge. Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?”

I glared at her.

“Okay, okay.” She sighed. “DD… is your father.”

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