Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 30 - Four Days Later - IX

  Hailey was watching the clouds go by.

  She wore a dark blue dress—one of her favorites, which she'd picked out for Hailey back in Seattle. The rain was coming down in sheets now, but none of it landed on her. Hailey was projecting a small wall of air above her, like an invisible umbrella, and the rain simply slid off and landed around her in a ragged circle. Her dress stayed perfectly dry.

  The wind was moving really fast. Hailey could sense it, even from this far down. She couldn't see it, since the clouds were practically a solid grey sheet, but they were really moving. The rain probably wouldn't last too long.

  Hailey wanted the rain to last.

  How many times had they done exactly this? Especially in the summer, they'd lay there, on a rooftop, bask in the sun and just watch the clouds go by. She might make up a little tune, and Hailey would listen. Or Hailey would just talk about anything that came to mind, and she'd listen, even though she couldn't understand a word.

  Or sometimes they'd just be silent, and enjoy the sun, the rain, whatever came by, until Hailey took them up into the sky again.

  The clouds kept rushing by, and Hailey wanted nothing more than to leap off the roof, heedless of the rain, and let the wind carry her where it would.

  "...Hailey?"

  She didn't look over. She knew exactly who it was. "Hi, Beverly."

  "They're all waiting for you."

  Hailey nodded, but she didn't get up from her spot. She was on a narrow flat space on top of the building, barely large enough for two people to lay comfortably. She was on one side, and there was just enough space on the other half—except nobody was there.

  Beverly was standing at the far end, where the roof dropped down a bit to the large main portion. "I'm so sorry."

  Hailey shook her head. "It's not your fault."

  "Maybe I could have..."

  "You couldn't. Nobody could." Hailey forced the words out through her teeth. Voicing it aloud didn't make her feel any better. "She wasn't going to... no matter what anyone did."

  Beverly nodded, hands in her pockets. The rain didn't land on her either, although it wasn't as obvious as Hailey's invisible umbrella. For her, as skilled and powerful as she was, the rain simply passed through her as if she weren't there at all. For all Hailey knew, she wasn't—Hailey wouldn't put it past her to be able to just project herself anywhere she liked by now.

  If I could do what Beverly can, would she...

  Hailey shook her head forcefully. She couldn't think like that. Except she couldn't stop herself thinking like that. Every day, every hour since it happened, Hailey had been trying to figure out what she could have done to stop it.

  What she could have done to save her.

  "I can't stay long," said Beverly, after Hailey didn't speak for a few minutes.

  "Go," she whispered. "I'll be fine."

  Beverly vanished, but Hailey couldn't keep her face straight any longer. As soon as she was gone, Hailey felt tears trickling down the sides of her face again. They pooled up in her eyes as she stared up into the sky, raindrops sliding away in midair just like the tears on her face.

  It's my fault.

  Hailey heard sniffling, and it wasn't her own. She leaned up slightly. It wasn't inside the church, either.

  She got up, moving the shield with her, and walked to the edge of the roof. A few floating steps and a beat of her wings, and she landed on the deck with a whisper of sound, letting go of her shield as the roof covered them both.

  In the corner of the deck was Natalie, wrapped up tight in her jacket, scarred face, like a broken doll someone had tossed there to be forgotten. She looked so cold, and her bright purple eyes were reddened and puffy, full of the pain and loss Hailey felt flooding her own body.

  Hailey didn't say anything to her. She was shocked by her appearance, but it just seemed to fit everything else that was wrong with the world by now. In silence, Hailey offered her a hand.

  Natalie slowly reached out and took it. Her fingers trembled in Hailey's grip, and as soon as she was on her feet, the hand slipped away—but for Hailey it was enough. It reminded her what she was supposed to do. Be who she always thought I was.

  Together, they walked back into the church.