Invisible

Chapter 11

"I... I did?" I asked in shock. Liam nodded excitedly.

I smiled the biggest smile that I had in years and tackled him in a hug.

"Liam! This changes everything!" I exclaimed, holding back my tears of joy.

"I knew you could do it," he said smugly, wrapping his arms around me.

I let go of him and sat back in my seat. "If I learn to control it completely, I could have a normal life," I said to myself in awe.

"And you will. We just have to practice."

Liam took the car back out onto the road and we continued the long trip to Louisiana.

"So once we complete phase one of my plan I'll explain phase two to you," Liam said suddenly.

I sighed. "I'd feel better if you just told me the whole plan."

"Nah," Liam smirked. I rolled my eyes and looked out the window at the endless stretch of highway.

"Fine. Then how will we 'complete phase one,'" I asked.

"When we get to Louisiana you're going to meet lots of people," he explained, although it didn't really clear much confusion.

"Okay?" I asked, waiting for him to elaborate.

He sighed, as if I should have completely understood what he was talking about. "The more people you meet, the more uncomfortable situations you could possibly get in, which means more practice," he explained.

I turned to look at him. "Do you realize how easily that could get me caught?" I snapped.

"If you mess up, we leave. It won't be a problem. But you need to learn how to control your power and this is the best way to do it."

I thought it was a terrible idea, but he seemed to be the smart one between the two of us, so I didn't argue further.

Arriving in New Orleans was an interesting experience. Normally, my mother and I would pull into a silent and seemingly empty town in the middle of the night and stay at some crappy motel.

But everyone in New Orleans seemed to be awake, and very lively. People walked the streets and music was playing loudly from somewhere that we couldn't see. For me, it was very unsettling.

"This is awesome," Liam mused, looking around excitedly.

"Eyes on the road," I demanded as he almost blew through a stop light.

Liam laughed and shook his head. "Where should we stay?" He asked, referring to the many hotels that seemed to be at every street corner.

"According to Google this one here is the cheapest," I answered, pointing to a small hotel a few streets ahead of us.

As we pulled up to it, we realized that it was the source of the jazz music we had been hearing. Right in front of the entrance, a small band was playing on the sidewalk, an instrument case filled with money placed in front of them.

"I've always wanted to do that," Liam said.

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to play on the street for money?"

"Yeah, I think it would be fun," he shrugged, parking the car behind the hotel.

I felt a twinge of guilt as I watched Liam pay for the room, just as I had whenever he payed for gas or food.

"I'm sorry," I said to him as we entered the elevator.

He looked at me with concern. "For what?"

"That you have to pay for everything," I said, not able to look at him.

"Hey I volunteered for this, remember?" He reminded me, lightly knocking into me with his shoulder. I nodded, still feeling guilty.

The room was surprisingly large, and before I knew it I was running to the bed an flopping down on it like a child.

Liam shook his head at me and placed his bag on the floor, making his way to the other bed.

We both fell asleep almost immediately, still in our clothes with the lights on.

I was woken early the next morning to a loud noise being blasted in my ear. I jumped up, startled, to see Liam with his phone in my face, playing a loud ringtone.

"Liam! What the heck?" I screamed, my heart thudding in my chest.

"Your hands are gone," he pointed out. I sighed in annoyance, then closed my eyes and focused on my breathing.

A few moments later I opened my eyes to see Liam grinning smugly.

"You jerk," I muttered, stomping over to the bathroom.

"Hey it worked! You were back to normal in 33 seconds," he argued, following me. I slammed the bathroom door in his face.

"Really Dovev?" He groaned, pounding on the door.

I groaned and swung the door back open.

"Can I not take a shower in peace?" I snapped. His hurt expression caused a twinge of guilt, but it soon changed back to annoyance. He brought this on himself.

"Okay fine, geez. I'll never wake you up again," he muttered, walking away and turning the tv on.

When I got out of the shower, I heard Liam talking to someone in the room. I quickly got dressed and exited the bathroom, to see Liam talking to an excited looking young couple.

"Hey... we have a situation..." Liam said nervously. My stomach dropped and I could feel my heart start racing. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down.

"We know who you are!" The woman said excitedly. My eyes snapped open and I looked at Liam in panic.

"We've been researching you for years, we've always wanted to meet you," the man smiled. Liam walked over to me, standing in front of me protectively.

"Listen, I think you have the wrong person," Liam warned.

The woman smiled brightly. "Oh don't worry, we're not here to get you in trouble. We haven't told anyone that you're here."

"Are you sure you know who I am?" I said, stepping out from behind Liam.

"Christina Dovev!" The man whispered excitedly. I groaned, looking to Liam for help.

"Why do you want to meet me so bad?" I finally asked, seeing as Liam seemed very confused.

"Well, we've heard that you can turn invisible," the woman explained sheepishly.

Finally Liam spoke up. "Where did you hear that?"

"We're kind of conspiracy theorists. There's all kinds of theories about you, but this one had the most evidence behind it," the man said.

"What do you want?" I finally snapped. I wanted them out of my business. They were a threat, not only to me, but to Liam, and I wouldn't let us get betrayed again.

"I'm so sorry. My name is Brooklyn, I work here, and this is my boyfriend Cameron. We've always wanted to meet you, and I saw Liam's name on the computer and I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity." The woman explained.

"What... why did my name mean anything to you?" Liam asked. I could feel him tensing beside me.

"Robert Dovev told every news station in the country about you two," the man, Cameron, said, surprised that we didn't know this.

The guilt I had been feeling since I left with Liam all hit me at once. I had dragged him into this mess, and now he was in as much trouble as me, maybe more.

"You have to change his name in the computer," I blurted suddenly. Brooklyn nodded.

"I already did it. Like I said, we're not here to turn you in."

"We'd actually like to help you run," Cameron stated .