Cold Tomorrow

[9]

CHAPTER NINE

"What are you thinking?" Sarah asks me as we stand in the doorway, looking out at the quiet street.

I shake my head. "I don't know. I don't know what to think."

"Do you think he's..."

I look at her as she watches the road. Her skin is paler than usual and her eyebrows are drawn together in an expression that seems to mix worry and confusion. She looks tired as well – really tired.

"If you're asking whether I think he works for Patrick, then no, I don't," I reply, turning back to the street. Opposite us, a lady struggles down the road, pushing a pram as the wind continuously flings her shoulder length hair into her eyes.

"But it's possible, right?" Sarah insists. "Why else would he leave like that?"

"Maybe Patrick's people took him. Maybe he had an emergency errand to run. I mean, maybe he's just taking the trash out. We don't really have any evidence of anything, so there's no point in jumping to conclusions."

"But he just left. Without saying anything. And my ability..." She trails off, her voice soft.

"So what? He has powers – that doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad person. And besides, maybe you inherited that ability from your mother."

Sarah lets out a frustrated breath. "Or maybe you're just biased. He's your father – you grew up with him – and that's making you ignorant of the facts."

"What facts?"

"Well, for one, I have freaking powers. Me. Powers. And the spirit flew straight at me like it knew I would survive – like it wanted me to know I could survive. It led us to the conclusion that Thomas has abilities. And then we find he's missing? Doesn't that trigger alarm bells?"

I release a breath. "Maybe," I admit. "But I don't want to think about the possibility that he's been lying to me all this time, pretending to care for me, pretending to love me. I don't think I could handle it."

Sarah nods, and in the quiet that follows, I look at her once more. Maybe it's just my imagination, but there seem to be some serious shadows beneath her eyes. She looks as if she could fall asleep at any moment and I can't understand why.

"Say, hypothetically, that Thomas does have powers, and that he's an Anarkk," Sarah says suddenly. "How would you respond to that?"

I frown. "I don't know. I–" I shake my head. "I honestly don't know."

She nods.

"What about you?" I ask.

She considers it for a moment. "I'd definitely have to rethink a lot of things. I mean, he's my biological father. If he's an Anarkk, then what would that make me? What might I have inherited from him? What would it mean for my future? It'd change a lot, I think."

"Even though you don't really know him?"

She nods. "Even though I don't really know him."

There's another moment of silence, in which her tiredness becomes even more evident. "Are you feeling okay?" I ask. I notice she's leaning against the door frame for support.

"Fine," she says, and she pushes away from the wall as if to prove her point. "I'm just thinking."

"You look tired."

She shrugs, and it seems to require a lot of effort on her part. "Didn't sleep much last night."

"Really? Because I swear, you were more awake this–"