Consuming Fire

Chapter 13

Joshua pushed the door open and was met with the smell of books and leather and dust. The walls were lined with shelves filled with old volumes, a desk to his right and an armchair to his left. Thick velvet curtains draped over the giant window and a golden glow came from the lamps on the desk. From up so high, he remembered being able to see through the trees onto the glimmering lake.

Joshua took a seat in the antique armchair with fern-green leather upholstery and walnut-framed arm and leg rests. It had been a long time since he'd sat at this desk.

He flipped open Ryo's file and began to read.

Most of it he understood - the physics behind her ability to travel through space and time, the way her body was designed and such science matters as this - but there was always something in the back of his mind that wondered how. How was it possible?

When Joshua finished reading Ryo's file, he turned to the others. Regardless of his fatigue, hours went by as he focused the way he used to in his laboratory in New York, letting the information formulate answers in his mind. He suddenly found himself creating ways in which to enhance all of their abilities, just like he had with Hunter, to make them stronger and more confident with their powers. Dr. Wolfe would not have taught them that. They could use their powers to defend themselves.

And after a while, Joshua began to notice a strange pattern in the formulas. A connection that each of them had. He went back, analyzing them again, and soon found the answer he was looking for. It made Joshua's entire world freeze - literally - in time. He couldn't believe how oblivious he'd been to it before.

In every formula was the specific chemical substance Joshua knew as Ravenadium.

The reason his power and Hunter's power came to be was because of Ravenadium, but was it possible that Ravenadium had spread so far and wide that it gave other people powers, other people across the world?

What if Ravenadium isn't a rare substance at all, but something common, something every human has imbedded in their DNA?

Joshua was breathless. It was too unbelievable and there were too many theories to consider. He read on.

The spiral.

The word was written several times throughout the files. Joshua frowned, wondering what it meant.

At that moment, a knock on the door interrupted his brainstorming. The girl called Chantal stood in the doorway.

"I don't mean to interrupt," she said rather cautiously.

"Can't sleep?"

She shook her head.

Joshua patted the chair beside his and she sat down timidly, twisting a pinch of her hair.

"I'm curious ... how did you say you discovered your powers again?"

Chantal lowered her head. "I uh ... there was an accident. The only way I could explain it was to blame myself. Once I started trying it out, I realized it was real. I abused it, and I never questioned how."

"Can you relate it to anything in your life? Anything that would have connected you to the power of persuasion? A hypnotist, perhaps?"

Chantal shrugged. "Not that I can remember."

"Did you ever have a fever?"

"A fever?" she frowned. "What do you mean?"

Joshua shook his head. He didn't understand why their bodies fused an ability when they came in contact with Ravenadium and another substance - in his case, Feucotetanus - but when other people such as the homeless man Liz operated on could not handle the combination, it didn't add up. Or was there something specific in their bodies that made them susceptible to genetic mutation?

The spiral.

"Of course," he muttered.

Chantal picked up her file. "What have you found?"

"Something every scientist in the world would kill to discover. Look at this," he indicated to a printout of a microscopic image. "This is a genetic spiral, or the Double Helix as some people call it. What's supposed to happen is a continuous spiral, but what Dr. Rosenthal is saying here is that our spirals - or those of us that have abilities - were infected by something called a Retrovirus."

"A what?"

"It comes from an infection of a type of chemical. In my case ... that chemical is ice."

Chantal looked at him with a less than understanding expression but didn't ask questions. Joshua was thankful. His mind couldn't comprehend what he had just discovered.

If my genetic spiral rejected this retrovirus that formed when I combined Ravenadium and ice and injected it into my system ... would I have ended up like the homeless man on Liz's operating table? Is that why only a small percentage of the world has abilities like mine, like ours, because our bodies are immune to genetic malfunction?

"Well anyway," said Chantal with a sigh. "I think this science stuff is actually making me sleepy. I'm going to bed."

Joshua nodded. As Chantal slipped to the door, Joshua called to her.

"Hey Chantal?"

"Mhm?"

"I need to ask you a favor."

"Go ahead."

"Hunter is going to be in a very ... emotional state when we bring her back," he said gently. "And the shock of seeing me may tip her over the edge. If she finds out that Eli and Jenny are alive, and that Zac has gone with them to DC to make the FBI happy and get them off our tail, I don't know what that could do to her mental stability. Not only that, but she'll be wanting to make plans to find Dr. Wolfe and get revenge. I don't want her to be frantic. I want her to rest for the time being."

Chantal's face fell slightly, but her eyes were calculating. "You want me to lie to her?"

"No. I want you to make her believe that she is safe here and that she needs to take a break before she plans a war. I know her, Chantal. She'll want to find Dr. Wolfe. You don't have to stop her from being angry with me - I deserve to take the blame."

Chantal looked at him sympathetically.

"Just make her own health a priority over revenge, if that makes sense."

"Why don't you ask Fearne? She knows the mind better than I do."

"Fearne will have Will to comfort. She doesn't need this on her shoulders." Chantal nodded in agreement. "Besides, I want to see your power in action."

Chantal paused, thinking to herself, and then she smiled. "I think that's wise. I'll do it."

"Thank you. Oh, and one more thing. We need to tell the others not to mention the fact that Eli and Jenny are alive to Hunter when she gets back."

"Again ... are you sure?"

Joshua nodded. "She'll have enough to deal with when she returns. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said and left him to his studies.