The Boy Next Door, Chapter 7

I lead Lyss into my bedroom and shut and lock the door. She crosses her arms and stands in the middle of the room. She looks on the verge of tears. "What happened Alyssa?" She looks around my room for a minute before talking.

"I got your text last night but decided to wait before calling you, cause I figured you were with Adrian. I got really, really drunk and danced a lot with this guy named Zeke. He seemed cool and I was just having fun. By the end of the night I could barely walk so Zeke said he'd give me a ride home. He helped me to his car and sat me in the backseat. I asked if he had anything to drink and he said he had some water in the trunk. I was kind of in and out of it so I don't know how long he was gone, but the last thing I remember is taking the water from him. This morning I woke up having no clue what happened or where I was. My phone is missing." She finally starts crying and I catch her before she falls onto the floor.

"God, Lyssa, I'm so sorry." I hug her and she clings onto me like her life depends on it. And in a small way, I think right now it does. "Have you talked to the police?" I feel her shake her head.

"No and I don't want to. I don't want to tell anyone." I frown.

"Lyssa, I can't just not say anything to anyone. Especially Bren, since she let you in. She's going to ask me what happened."

"Lie to her. Please Emma. I can't tell anyone. I can't..."

"Okay, shh, I won't. Let's get you in the shower okay? Clean you up." She nods and I lead her to the bathroom. I make sure the other door is locked before starting the water. I go to leave, to give Lyss some privacy, but she's just sitting on the closed toilet doing nothing. I look at her a few seconds before making up my mind that I'm her best friend and right now she needs me more than anything, and I need to be there for her, no matter what I need to do.

I stand her up and help her undress, helping her wash up under the water. I cringe as I see the cuts, scrapes, and already nasty bruises all over her body. After she's cleaned up I dress her in my robe and lay her on my bed. It looks as if she's asleep before her head hits the pillow.

I gather her clothes, which smell like booze, and put them in a trash bag. After hanging up the towel I bring the bag downstairs to the garbage bin outside. Just as I'm coming inside Bren appears in the kitchen. "What happened to Lyssa?"

"She got drunk last night and got into a fight." I don't feel bad for lying to Bren, but it feels wrong to lie about what happened to her. Bren shakes her head while tidying up the table.

"What does her mother think of her drinking?" I shrug. "Maybe I should have a talk with them." I glare at Bren as she glances at the phone.

"Don't. You hardly know them, it's not your place to say anything." She puts her hands on her hips.

"Well I don't see you doing a thing about it, do I? No, you tag along with her." I roll my eyes and open the fridge, scanning my options. I suddenly feel starving. I grab the leftover pasta casserole and stick it in the microwave. I can feel Bren's eyes on me as I get a fork and a bottle of water. I finally turn on her.

"What do you want Brenda?" She narrows her eyes.

"I want a stepdaughter that's a little more respectful."

"Yeah, well I want a stepmom that's not such a self righteous bitch with a spoiled brat daughter. But we can't have everything we want, can we?" As soon as the words come out I know I'm going to regret them later, but that felt too good to care about the consequences. I watch Bren open her mouth a few times before stalking off into the living room. No doubt to bother my dad at work.

I shake my head as I open the microwave door and take my casserole out. I gather the fork and water and head back up to my room. I almost make it when I can hear my cell phone ringing from my bed. I open the door without managing to drop my food and set it on my dresser, hurrying to answer the phone before the other person hangs up. I glance at caller ID but don't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi Emma."

"Who's this?"

"Adrian."

"Oh, hey! How'd you get my number?"

"Oh, um, I'm good at guessing?" I chuckle and set my water bottle on the dresser beside the food.

"Yeah right. Fess up."

"Okay, it was Lyssa. But tell her I tortured it out of her." I smile and glance down at her. She's exactly as I left her. "So, I'm not busy today and was wondering if you wanted to show me around town."

"Don't you have a job or something?"

"I start that tomorrow."

"Convenient." I look casually out my window to see him sitting on his bed. I jerk back and accidentally hit the wall, which makes me curse.

"You okay over there?" I rub my head.

"Yeah, just stepped on something."

"So what do you say?"

"I wish I could, really, but I'm kind of busy today."

"Oh, doing what?" It might just be my imagination, but he seems disappointed.

"Uhmm.. I can't really get into details but I have to stay with Lyss today."

"I saw her walking up a bit ago. She okay?"

"Uh, not really."

"Anything I can do?" I think about asking him if he'd like to beat the shit out of someone, but decide against it.

"No, that's okay."

"Well hey, if you two need anything, just come over." I'm about to tell him thanks and I'll call him later, when I stop. I didn't read the text last night but I'm still stressing over that, and now I have Lyss to take care of.

"Well, maybe some company wouldn't be a bad idea. Mind hanging out over here?" I take a chance and peek into Adrian's room just in time to catch him smiling.

"Sure, I'll be over in a few minutes."

The Boy Next Door, Chapter 6

I tap my foot against the wall and look at my cell phone. I still haven't opened the text from my mom, and honestly don't know if I want to. I close the window and dial Brax instead. Maybe he'll know what to do.

"Yello?"

"Hey Brax."

"Hi Em, I just actually just about to call you." I chuckle and look out the window. "I was uneasy like all night and thought it might be you. What's going on?"

"So you didn't get a text from mom last night?"

"No, but I'm guessing you did."

"Uh huh."

"I'm also guessing you haven't read it."

"Nuh uh. I don't know if I want to." I hear him sigh deeply, a sign that he's thinking a lot about something.

"You're visiting in what, two weeks? Something like that? Why don't you send it to me, I'll save it on my phone, and we'll read it when you get here."

"How do you always know what to do?"

"Cause I'm awesome." I smile and I can tell he is too. We don't have one of those freaky twin bonds, but if an emotion is strong enough or if we're talking, we can usually tell what the other is doing or how they're feeling.

"So what did you want last night? You called but Lyss was here and I think I cut you short."

"Ah, actually I just wanted to tell you that I've met someone." I stop tapping my foot and sit up on my bed.

"Well this is news. Tell me everything."

"There isn't much to tell yet. We met a few months ago at the grocery store, of all places. We both wanted the last package of chicken. It was on sale and a super good price. Anyway, we argued for like 10 minutes until the manager found another box in the back. We went our separate ways and I didn't think much of it." I lean back against the wall. When you get Brax talking, he never stops.

"Later that week Tannin and I were at the dog park. I didn't even see him, but he came up to me and introduced himself as the guy that almost got his chicken stolen from him." I laugh. "We let our dogs play and talked for almost the entire afternoon. Exchanged numbers and almost inseparable ever since."

"Aww, that's nice Brax. What's his name?"

"Kieran, isn't that cool?"

"Not as cool as Brax." He chuckles. "I can't wait to meet him."

"Be nice to him please. I like him a lot." I pretend to be offended.

"Since when am I ever not nice?"

"I'm serious okay? Especially since he's recently come out and I don't want my dumb little sister scaring him away."

"Hey, I am only 3 minutes younger."

"But still younger."

"Fine fine, I'll be nice."

"Good. Now you can tell me what happened last night with Adrian."

"Lyss dragged us to this new club. I got the text from mom while we were there and you can probably just imagine how I reacted. I didn't feel like staying after that so Adrian and I went to Miss Muppets, that coffee place down the street, and talked until real late."

"That's it?"

"Well he walked me home, but it was super awkward when we said goodnight."

"Did you get his number?"

"No, we live beside eachother. I can literally see inside his bedroom from where I'm sitting."

"Oooh, spying huh?" I can feel my cheeks get hot.

"Not intentionally, but it's kind of hard to avoid every time I look out the window."

"Whatever you say Emmy. What you need to do is.. Oh, hang on I have a beep. It's Kieran."

"You can go. I have stuff to do anyway. Like track down Lyss and figure out where she ended up last night."

"Okay, love you sister."

"Love you brother. Bye."

"Bye now." I hang up and flop back down on my bed, tapping my foot against the wall again. Jackie told me it bugs her so I make a habit of doing it whenever I can. I dial Lyss's cell phone and hang up when it goes straight to voice mail. I may just have to go to her house.

I get up and look around for something to wear. It's super hot already and it's only noon, so I settle for shorts and a tank. I french braid my hair to keep it off my neck and stick on the first pair of flip flops I can find. As I'm locking up my bedroom door the doorbell rings downstairs. I hear Bren answering the door. "Emma! It's Lyssa."

"I'm up here Lyss." I unlock my door, kick off my flip flops and wait for Lyss. When she gets to the top of the stairs I just stare at her. She's in her clothes from last night but they look ripped, her makeup is smeared all over her face, and I can see the beginnings of bruises all over her skin. "What the hell happened to you?!"

Mind Over Matter, Chapter 23

Gemma. Wake up.

I roll over and bury my head under my pillow.

You can't get rid of me that way.

I frown.

What do you want? I'm trying to sleep.

You need to wake up.

I roll my eyes and push myself to my elbows. I'm about to tell Jackson off when I hear a quiet knock at my door. It opens and Zee slips in. He shuts it and steps over to my bed.

"Gem? Are you awake?" I scowl in the dark.

"I am now. What's going on?" I feel Zee sit on my bed and lean toward me.

"I don't know. I was down in the kitchen getting something to eat. I came back up to go to bed and Will's door was open. I snuck to the door and stood outside of it. I heard some people in there talking about what to do with him. I didn't stick around long enough to listen, and I came up here."

"That doesn't make any sense." Through the bond I feel Jackson hiding something from me. It's been a week since he took my headache away and this.. bond has gotten stronger. Now I, mostly, know what he's thinking without him having to think it to me. He's learned how to hide stuff from me, but I know when he's doing it, so it kind of defeats the purpose.

What is going on?

"What are they doing taking Will away in the middle of the night?" I take Zee's hand and feel that he's shaking.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out somehow. Let's just wait until morning to decide what to do, okay? We can't think when we're tired."

"I don't really want to go back down there." I move over and pull him down to lay with me. I feel quiet rage come from Jackson.

Oh, cool it. He's scared and I'm being his friend.

I don't care, I don't like it.

Well you're going to have to.

I feel Jackson retreat from my mind, as much as he's able to, and roll my eyes. Boys.

"You okay, Zee?" He squeezes my arm.

"Yep, thanks." I smile and drift back into sleep.

**

I wake the next morning to snoring in my ear and an arm draped over my shoulder. I wiggle out from under Zee and grab my toothbrush, shutting the alarm off before it goes off on its own. It's a wonder I'm up before it, considering every other morning I have to drag myself out of bed.

I do my morning routine and then head down to the kitchen. Jackson is sitting at the table, reading a book and eating toast. He ignores me as I gather my usual cereal and milk for breakfast and sit down to eat it. "Oh just say it already. I know you're dying to tell me how stupid you think I am." Silence. I glare and throw my spoon at him. It hits his chest and not his head like I was aiming for. He sets it on the table without looking at me. Before I can find something else to throw at him Liz and Tessa walk in the door.

"Oh good, you're mostly all here. I have some more bad news." Jackson keeps staring at his book, but I can tell he's listening to Liz. "Will ran away last night."

"What?" Liz nods and slides into the chair across from me.

"I know. First Samantha, and now Will."

"That seems kind of odd." Liz looks at me sharply. "I mean, that two kids run away in less than a month." Tessa sits beside me, farthest away from Jackson.

What's up with Tessa? She hates you.

I make her nervous.

Why?

Isn't it obvious?

I get a look from Jackson like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Cause of your record?

Yeah.

I don't catch anything hidden, so that must be all.

But you've been here for a month and haven't even raised your voice.

He shrugs.

Once a murderer, always a murderer. You'd be good to follow her example.

I roll my eyes.

Kind of late for that now, isn't it?

"Gem?"

"Huh - What?"

"I was just telling everyone that testing is being skipped today, due to Will's disappearance." I sigh with relief. I hate the testing they're putting me through.

I sit in one of the rooms with a bunch of electrodes stuck to my forehead. Another person sits in there with me and I try to visualize what the picture is on the card they're holding, by getting into their mind. I walk away with a headache every time from concentrating so hard. I've only broken through four times since I started, but the testing is always the same. Practice makes perfect, and all that. It's really boring.

Liz leaves just as Zee stumbles into the kitchen. I'm told to fill him in on what's going on today. Remembering how scared he was last night, I hesitate before telling him. Jackson solves that problem, because he butts in before I can say a word.

"Will's gone." Zee shoots me a panicked look and sits down across from me, in the chair Liz sat in. I grab another spoon and eat the rest of my cereal. Tessa is long gone, probably upstairs in her room. That makes me worry. That's how Sam and Will were before they "ran away". I don't believe they did either. Will was rude, sure, but he wouldn't just run. I catch Jackson looking at me and can tell he agrees. So what's going on? He looks away and back to his book. I grumble and Zee looks at me.

"So it wasn't actually a dream last night?" I shake my head sadly.

"No. He was taken."

"Why?"

"I dunno, but we'll figure it out." I look at the door as Tessa peeks her head in.

"Can I talk to you, Gemma?" I stand and follow her into the hall. "Come upstairs. I need to show you something." I follow her up to her room. Once there, she shuts the door behind her.

"What's up?" She picks up her sketch book, holds it for a second, and then hands it to me. I'm confused but open it to the first page. It's a picture of a lemon with a small circle beside it. It's dated December 11th. I look up at Tessa, who's standing there nervously. "What's this?"

"I drew it a few nights before Sam left. We had lemonade that night for supper." I look back down at the drawing.

"Okay. So what's this little circle?"

"I think it's a sleeping pill."

"What?"

"I don't know. I knew Sam before coming here. She used to be open and nice. It was only after coming here and starting testing that she started acting like a bitch. Then almost two weeks later she 'runs away'." I flip to the next page. It's a picture of a girl, one half clear and solid, the other translucent and foggy. "That's you."

"Zee did say he could see through me." I flip to the next one. It makes my stomach flip. It's a picture of a guy laying on the floor, face down, blood around his head. Exactly like Jackson looked after he fell down the stairs.

"Look at the next one." I almost don't want to, but I flip the page. This time it's a cow with a small circle beside it. We had milk last night for supper. "I drew that a few nights ago. I couldn't sleep last night either. I felt like I needed to be awake but I didn't know why."

"Did you hear anything?" She shakes her head.

Come outside near the back fence, bring her with you. I have something to tell all of you.

Mind Over Matter, Chapter 22

"Jackson!" I crumple to the floor and drag myself over to him. "Jackson! Wake up." I can feel the dark edges of unconsciousness seep into my mind, but I fight it. I can't pass out when Jackson's laying on the floor potentially bleeding to death. And part of me feels that if I were to go under, I wouldn't come back up.

I grab his arm and shake him, willing him with my mind to wake up. For a few terrifying seconds, nothing happens. But then, slowly, the nausea and dizziness subside. I scramble up to my knees beside Jackson's head. I feel him wake up, like it's happening to myself.

His eyes open and he looks up at me. "Well, that was weird." I'm so relieved that I almost hit him.

"That was more than weird. What happened?"

"Don't know." Although I can't see it, I can feel him trying to figure out what happened.

"What's going on?" He goes to sit, but I'm hit with a wave of dizziness, so I push him back down. "Oh God, if you make me throw up I might have to kill you." He eases back onto the floor. I remember that his head had been bleeding, so I inspect it, and find nothing. "You were bleeding."

"I heal fast." I feel like I'm lying, which must mean that he is.

"You're lying, I can feel it." I feel indecision, confusion, guilt. This is all too confusing. "What happened, Jackson? This isn't my powers growing. This doesn't feel natural." As soon as I say it, I realize how natural it feels.

"I don't know."

"You never seem to have any answers." I see, as well as feel, the amusement on his face.

"I have plenty of answers, just not the ones you're looking for." Not yet.

"Oh, now I can hear you too?" I don't know whose confusion is it, but I stand up, thankfully dizzy free, and kick the wall, which only makes my toe hurt.

"Ow." I turn on Jackson.

"So you can feel it too?"

"Yep." I kick the wall again for good measure and smile when he frowns down at his foot.

"This is too weird. I don't want this.. whatever this is! I want my mind back. Give it back to me!" Despite how mad I am, I also feel calm. Jackson holds his hands out like I'm a cornered animal.

"Hey, calm down, okay?"

"Don't tell me to calm down. This is entirely all your fault."

"Maybe it is my fault, but that doesn't make it go away." I cross my arms like a mad 3 year old.

"Fix it."

"I don't know how." He's not lying. I sigh and slide down the wall to the floor. This is giving me a headache. I look up at Jackson when I feel like I've figured something out, only I don't know what it is. "What?"

"When did you first notice it?"

"Afrer you left my room. I was going to come down and have a bath then felt like I was falling. That must have been you."

"I think it happened when I took your headache away."

"How did you do that?"

"I took the pain from you, I've told you."

"Not everything. I can tell when you're not telling me everything."

"I don't know how I do it, I just do." He's telling me the truth. I sigh and lean my head against the wall, closing my eyes. So much for my bath. I jump when I hear the front door open downstairs. I feel myself begin to panic.

"What do we do?"

"We don't tell them. We don't tell anyone." The look and feeling he gives me squashes any type of argument I had. "Not even your buddy Zee." His face sends cold chills down my spine.

"Gem - Oh, there you are. What -" I look up at Zee, who's standing at the top of the stairs, looking between Jackson and I.

"Hey." It comes out sort of strangled.

"You okay?" I nod. "What, is that blood?" Jackson wipes at the blood with his shirt.

"I fell and scraped my hand, no big deal." Zee ignores Jackson.

"Why do you look so weird, Gem?"

Nothing.

I flinch at the power behind his voice.

"Weird afternoon."

"Is your head feeling better?" I almost start laughing, but stop at Jackson's warnings.

"The pain is gone." Zee smiles and holds up a shopping bag.

"I got you something." I force out a strained smile.

"Awesome." His smile falls.

"Okay, spill. What's going on?" I stand up.

"Really, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go up and take a bath. I'll see you at supper, okay?" I don't wait for an answer before running up the stairs and not stopping until I'm safely behind the locked door of the bathroom. I start the water and go to remove my shirt, but stop.

You stay outta my head, got it?

I feel laughter in my chest, deeper than my own. He's laughing at me.

Don't worry, just have your bath.

I almost back out, but I can feel that he's not looking in, so I take his advice and have the bath.

Mind Over Matter, Chapter 21

Knock. Knock. "Gemma?"

"What?"

"Can I come in?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, pretty sure." I'm laying on my bed with my eyes closed and a wet cloth over my forehead. It's been 3 days since that weird.. thing happened, and I've had a dull headache ever since. I still can't tell you what happened, cause I still don't remember. I groan as I hear my door open. Damn the non-locks in this place. "Can't you leave me alone?" Jackson sits on my bed beside my feet. "Besides, you're not supposed to be up here, remember?"

"No one's here to get me in trouble, so it doesn't matter."

"Where'd everyone go?"

"To the city for some Christmas shopping."

"Why didn't you go?"

"I don't like crowds, plus I volunteered to stay behind with you."

"How noble of you. Now go away."

"So rude." I roll my eyes but stop because it hurts my head. "Your head has been hurting."

"So?" He's silent for once, which is a nice surprise.

"I could help, if you wanted."

"I already took an Advil."

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then? I'm not in the mood for riddles."

"I meant that I can take your pain away, for good." Despite myself, my curiosity gets the better of my mouth.

"How?"

"Let me show you and you'll see."

"Fine, go ahead."

"Scoot over." I move to let him sit beside me instead of at my feet. "Relax." I put a conscious effort into relaxing, and it finally works. I feel all of my muscles relaxing one by one, from my toes to the top of my head. "Don't move." I wasn't moving anyway, but I do as he says. I feel the tops of his fingers move in circles around my temples. Everywhere he touches me feels warm. I begin to panic as his fingers start to feel hot. "Shh, don't fight it Gemma." I want to make the feeling go away, but I make myself lay still. He does this for a couple more minutes, then finally takes his fingers away.

"What'd you do?"

"Your headache is gone." I start to tell him that no it's not, but I stop and realize, it is gone indeed. I sit up, without pain, and look at Jackson. He looks pale and he's sweating. I frown.

"Are you okay?" He smiles.

"Sure." I don't believe him, but I don't press the issue. I've learned that badgering him just makes him more quiet about what I want to know.

"What did you do?"

"I did what I said I would do, I took your pain away."

"How?"

"That doesn't matter. What matter's is your headache is gone." He gets up and walks to my door, kind of wobbly I notice, then stops. I get the feeling he wants to say something, but instead he closes my door and leaves me alone in my room. How odd. I shake my head, which doesn't hurt at all, and get out of bed. Now that I'm feeling better I plan to take a long, hot bath and make myself something to eat.

Before I can take one step I get this sensation as if I'm falling. I grab onto the wall to steady myself, but realize it's not me that's falling, it's Jackson. I open the door and stagger to the stairs, using the wall for support. I make my way down the stairs to the guy's floor to see Jackson laying on his stomach, blood seeping from his forehead.