10/17

Episode 8, Chapter 35

As the minutes ticked by, Parker could only stare at the door. He wanted to chase Laney down and bring her back. He wanted to scream. He needed to break something. Killing hordes of evil creatures on a video game was not going to cut it this time. Acid churned in his belly as he struggled to contain his seething rage and anguish. He needed to do something, get out of here. Now.

But what could he do? Where could he go? Where was Paxton when he needed someone to pick a fight with? How could he have just let Laney walk out like that? What are they going to do to her? He should have stopped her. He should have convinced Ms. Dempson. His body wanted to port. Rage fueled adrenaline had pumped him full of energy. He needed to get out of here, but he couldn't. The familiar tingling he got just before he ported rushed out from his core and down his arms. In a haze of fury, he spun and punched the wall. The impact shook the house.

Shouts came from the down the hall. There were running foot steps and someone yelling his name. Two bodies burst through the door of his room, one large and one small, both trying to talk to him. Parker barely registered any of it. He could only stand and stair in open mouthed shock at a hole the size of his head in the wall before him. Hands grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him away from the damage.

"Parker." His dad's firm voice and worried features finally penetrated into Parker's awareness. "Parker, what happened?"

"Holy crap!" he shouted, spinning back to the mess he had created. "I, I exploded the wall."

"You what?" his mom asked, as they all studied the ruined wall. Penny and Laney's grandmother were looking back at them from the hallway. "You did that?"

"Yeah, I did. I mean, I didn't mean to. It just sort of happened," he replied.

"Use your words, Son. What 'just sort of happened'? Start at the beginning," his dad insisted as he began to inspect the damage up close.

"I don't know. I was just, really angry when Laney walked out. I suddenly felt like I had all this energy and I wanted to teleport but I didn't no where to go, which made me even madder." It took him s moment to find the words for how the feelings had rushed him. "I got the same kind of energy rush, like right before I jump, but instead of jumping, it just, sort of, rushed out of me, down my arms. It was hot and I was so mad that I punched the wall." As he acted out the moment, it was hard to miss the fact that Parker's fist was much smaller than the circumference of the hole he had created. "I didn't even feel it go through. There was this flash of white smoke and that loud thwump and the wall just imploded around my hand."

"There's no debris in here," Mr. Parker said, looking around the base boards. "Ms. Dorothy, you see anything on your side?" Mr. Carlisle said through the hole, as he continued his inspection, lightly bumping the rest of the wall with his fist.

"Barely a speck," Nan answered, her surprise clear.

"There should be a mess. Splinters, dust from the drywall and pieces of insulation out there in the hall and in here. What happened to them?" Parker's dad asked, looking back at his son. Parker could only shake his head.

"I have no idea. I wasn't thinking about any where when I did it, just that I was mad."

"Maybe they disintegrated," Peyton offered, excitedly looking over the hole beside his dad.

"Could be," Mr. Carlisle agreed calmly. "Or he sent them off somewhere else. Either way, what's done is done. Well, aside from the obvious part, the wall is just fine. You didn't do any structural damage," he said, giving Parker a very direct look. "But it looks like you'll be spending some more of your truck money, and a little sweat equity, patching up this mess," he said, back to his usual, unruffled tone.

"Uh, yes sir.," Parker managed to get out, still struggling to wrap his brain around what had just happened.

"Okay, now hold on. We need to talk about what just happened," Mrs. Carlisle blurted, clearly not as cooled off as her husband. Just then, Parker's phone rang. One look at the screen and he forgot everything around him for the moment.

"Uh, hold that thought mom. I'll be right back," he said before vanishing from his now crowded bedroom. Parker reappeared on the back bench of his mother's suburban in the garage. He would pay for this disappearing act but this call was too important.

"Clint, have you," Parker began but Clint had cut him off.

"Parker, what the hell, man? I just got a weird text from Laney and now she's not answering me. What's going on?" he demanded.

"If you would shut up and give me one damn minute to talk, I'll tell you," Parker growled back. Something about the edge in his voice must have warned Clint that his new acquaintance was stretched to the breaking point. Rather than push him, Clint remained quiet. Parker took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Laney is gone. Her mother flipped out and forced her to go back to the A-teen Clinic."

"What!" Clint shouted into his phone. A thud sounded through the phone. "How could she do that. Those people are crazy, or at least that head nurse is," he said through clinched teeth and heavy breathing.

"Dude, I know," Parker shouted back. "But Ms. Dempson thinks that's all just the rest of us being paranoid and crazy. They offered her and Laney protection because of all that crap that went down at their house last night. She trusts them. And your stupid stalking habit sent her over the edge. If you hadn't just decided to show up all uninvited and unwanted, we might have been able to talk her out of it."

"Hold up, blondie," Clint sputtered. "You're not trying to make this my fault are you?"

"Tell me how it's not."

"Seriously? I've only tried to help her. I can't help it if her mother went off the deep end. Back off already," Clint growled. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know half the crap you do about that clinic." Parker was not impressed by other boy's anger.

"Whatever," Parker said. "Who thinks following someone is a good idea. Did you even think about how messed up that looks?" he rumbled back.

"Sure, it was a little unorthodox, but what choice did I have? I didn't have any other way of contacting her." Clint paused, grinding his teeth in frustration. "Why am I even explaining myself to you? Laney forgave me. Heck, even Laney's amazing, scary Nan forgave me. There's no reason her mom wouldn't have forgiven me if those assholes hadn't attacked their house last night. They're the ones who you should really be blaming. Unless you are still trying to blame that crap on me too?" Parker was ready to shoot off a retort, but Clint's comment about Nan made him pause.

"Oh, my hecking," Parker muttered under his breath as he turned and flopped back on the bench seat, propping his knees up. He used his free hand to rub his temples, more out of habit than actual relief of any sort, since he could no longer feel the pressure there. "No," he finally continued. "No, I don't think that was your fault. I really wish I knew who's it was, but I already told you I believed you about not having anything to do with that."

"Is her phone off?" Clint asked. "What happened exactly?"

"That's what I'm betting. Ms. Dempson threatened all of us, you included, if we tried to contact her." Parker broke down the situation as it had occurred. When he finished, a swollen silence stretched between the two Altered teens.

"I'm going to get them, Parker," Clint finally said. "And' I'm going to find her." The cold fury in Clint's words would have frozen Parker where he stood, if not for his own gut deep, burning rage.

"We," Parker insisted. "We are going to get them, and we are going to find her."