Crossfire - a sizzling slow burn with supernatural powers

Friday - coffee and push back

I fell asleep with unanswered questions churning in my mind. I tried to reconcile the different images I had of Brandt. The killer in the woods. The nonchalant smiling guy at my house. The menace just below the surface. The friend, who said 'please'. Add to that the prospect of having my memory zapped in the morning. Let me say, my sleep was fitful.

Waking was a sensation of pure panic. My breath was restricted by a hand covering my mouth.

"Don't scream," he said, crouched in the darkness right in front of my face. Brandt gave a quick smirk as our eyes met and I recognized him. "Get up. I'm getting you out of here."

I scrambled to sit up and find my shoes next to the bed. Brandt held out his hand and I took it. He kept me close behind him as we crept down the corridors shrouded with elongated shadows and intermittent low lights at ankle height. The mansion was quiet around us. At one point Brandt pushed me against the wall, when a walkie talkie buzzed below and the carrier sounded an 'all clear'. I held my breath and tried to still my heart, thumping loudly in my chest.

The sound below us moved away, and Brandt and I continued through the house. He kept a physical connection to me at all times and I clung to his hand. We approached a side door in a wall of glass. Brandt eased it open and guided me through.

"The tree line," he announced and we scurried across the wet grass to seek cover under the trees. Through the trees was a gravel service road and a little way down the road, his Mustang was parked.

"Get in," he directed me. I did it. I got in the car, realizing that I trusted him. I trusted Brandt.

We didn't talk as he drove, even as he relaxed his grip of the steering wheel and our surroundings changed color with the dawn.

On an ordinary day, just a few days ago, I would have taken to school bus to school and would be seated next to Penny for English class right about now. I tried to picture myself there. Before. I liked English. I glanced at Brandt beside me. Sitting in class seemed like a long time ago.

Brandt turned off the highway towards a roadside diner with parking in front. We were met the aromatic scent of freshly brewed coffee as we entered and found a booth. Brandt blew the wisps of steam away, before taking a sip. I warmed my hands on the mug, a question weighing on my tongue.

"Are you going to fill me in?"

Brandt froze for a second with his mug halfway to his lips as I asked. I wondered what his lips felt like. He had another sip of coffee, before answering.

"Do you know what you are?" 

"No, what am I?" I sipped my coffee and bit my tongue to give him room to answer. I needed answers.

"I don't know," he took a packet of artificial sugar and tapped one side to the table, before turning it between his fingers, and tapping the next side again the table. It was meditative. He looked at me through his floppy hair and I felt aflutter.

"When I tried to erase your memories, it should have worked. It didn't. And... it felt different than a normie. You pushed back." Brandt continued with the artificial sugar: tap, rotate, tap, rotate. He was biding his time, waiting for his statements to sink in with me.

Every sentence he said dissolved into more questions in my mind. I didn't know where to start or finish.

He paused with the 'tap and rotate' fidgeting.

"This morning my dad would have tried again, probably without using moderation. You could have lost a larger chunk of time or your memory all together. And if it didn't work...." Brandt hesitated before continuing, "he would most likely order me to kill you." The words were thick and sticky. I repeated them for myself without understanding.

"Why?"

"In our part of the state there are two primary power fractions: the smokers and us, and that is one fraction too many. We defend our area of influence and try to keep others with powers away. Too many with powers in one area and people start to notice."

I looked at Brandt as he sat across from me, I mean I really looked at him. He saved me. His eyes met mine and I recognized his noble heart.

"What now?" I asked, feeling more confident on the receiving end of his gaze.

"We are going to Setter Hill to meet my aunt."

——

We drove in to the afternoon, before we reached Setter Hill. It was camouflaged behind green, rolling hills and a simple road, that I would have expected to lead to a farm. Setter Hill was no farm. We turned the last bend in the road and before us rose a tall gate with a booth in front.

Brandt reached over and squeezed my hand.

"Don't worry." I wasn't even aware that I had been jittery.

Brandt spoke to the guard, who checked the car for any other occupants. We were allowed to enter and the gate was opened. Setter Hill was a compound centered around a main house or rather a mansion. Brandt drove to the front of the house and parked.

Moments later we were lead through the mansion to a terrace on the other side of the house. A woman with oversized sunglasses and an impressive straw hat rose and greeted Brandt with a hug.

"Brandt! How good to see you. To what do I owe this visit?" The woman said eyeing me. Brandt introduced me to the woman: his Aunt Gemini. Aunt Gemini gave me a hearty welcome.

"And who is this?"

————

  This seems to be an appropriate place to introduce myself:

My name is Louise and I've fiddled with story since I first learned to write. This is however the first story I've written on Wattpad. Being a spontaneous writer, I just put my fingers to the screen and see where the story takes me.

And where is this story going?

It looks like Harper has a power she doesn't know about. What do you want it to be?

Please, comment, vote, or send a smoke signal with your feedback.