Chapter 26

Michael

Another flash of lightning brought me to my senses. Angela lay on the wet grass, motionless. I stumbled toward her, wincing with each step. How many ribs were broken? Thunder rumbled in the distance like an empty stomach. I dropped to my knees next to Angela. She was breathing, fortunately, but her skin looked ghostly pale.

“Is she okay?” I looked up to see Mr. Gerald running through the rain toward us. He stopped several feet away, looking at me as if he’d seen a ghost. I knew why he was apprehensive. My eyes were still glowing.

Groups of students inched closer to the scene, looking concerned and curious. Most stayed inside the class halls, gazing through the windows. Chase, Tyler, and Doug were helping Coach Jones to his feet.

I ignored them and looked back at Angela. She has superpowers, I thought. Why hadn’t she told me? I suddenly wished that I’d told her the truth about myself a long time ago. It would have been so wonderful to have someone to relate to. Someone besides Ray, that is.

How did she get powers? I wondered. How long has she had them?

Then suddenly it clicked. Her eyes had glowed just like Ray’s and mine. She must’ve touched a stone like we had. I remembered there was a third meteorite that landed that night at Red Knoll. Angela and I had checked two, but never the third. She’d been deeply curious about the third one and said she would check it out later. She must’ve found her own glowing stone and learned to use the powers it granted her.

That would explain why she was so sure that Ray and I had superpowers. And why she was so insistent about me revealing the truth. She probably wanted to know that we were like her, and that she wasn’t alone.

But, if she had a stone and could use its powers, why did she faint? The answer was obvious. She didn’t have her stone nearby. She could only use her powers for several seconds before passing out. I remembered how much it hurt to use my powers without my stone close to me. She really sacrificed herself to save my life.

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I wanted to feel grateful, but I mostly felt guilty. She had scowled at me. Why? Was she upset that I lied to her about my powers? She lied to me too!

“We need to take her to a hospital,” Mr. Gerald said.

“No…” I said. Angela didn’t need to go to a hospital, she needed her stone. As I remembered from my own experience, getting closer to your stone pretty much helps always. It’d helped me recover almost instantly when I’d fainted.

So, where was her stone? It couldn’t be anywhere at the school, that would be close enough to keep her from passing out. The only other place I assumed she left it at was her house.

I reached under Angela and picked her up, her body drooping between my arms. My body ached while holding her, but fortunately my powers made her feel as light as a toddler. I turned my attention to Mr. Gerald and the students and teachers that surrounded me. They looked awestruck as they watched me, as if they were waiting for a speech or some sort of an explanation.

They were going to be disappointed. I had nothing to say. I just wanted to help Angela.

I leaned into a run and bolted out of the school. I groaned as I ran, my ribs screaming at me to stop moving. Not yet, I thought. A little bit farther. Angela’s house was just a few miles away.

Why did Angela leave her stone at her house? Maybe she didn’t know how important it was to keep her stone with her while using her powers. Or maybe she just wasn’t expecting to use her powers at all today.

Something was off with that idea, though. Something about how extraordinary Angela’s powers were. She could summon a force field made of glass-looking wings for crying out loud! She looked way more experienced with her powers than I did. So, if she were so experienced, why wouldn’t she keep her stone on her? How had she not figured that out yet?

I slowed down as I approached her house’s doorstep. I had to double check to make sure it was her house since it looked like every other tan, stucco house in the neighborhood. The door was locked. Her dad wasn’t home. She said he’d be getting home later tonight. I gave the door a superhuman shove and broke it open, splintered wood falling on the floor.

Her house smelled like burnt fish sticks—probably what she'd been living on while her dad was gone—but at least it was dry and warm. I carried her to a couch in the living room and draped her on it and winced. My ribs did not like that movement. I stood there for a moment, waiting for the pain to slowly subside.

I didn’t know where her stone was in the house, but she should be close enough to it by now to pull from its powers. She was still out cold, though. No sign of waking up. I didn’t know how long it would take for the stone to recharge her.

I found a tissue to wipe the blood from her nose and a blanket and some towels to dry her off and warm her up. She slept peacefully.

My eyes drooped. I slumped into a nearby recliner, trying to find a position that didn’t hurt my ribs so much. I kept my powers on. The tingling feeling concentrated on my ribs, as if it was healing them as fast as possible. I felt the cool touch of my blue stone in my pocket, silently thanking it for keeping me alive today.

And then I swiftly drifted off to sleep.