Twinepathy (Part 41): A Bit of Trouble

Hullo, everyone! Well, look who missed two parts… I didn’t mean to hold you in terrible suspense, but… it kind of happened. Sorry (sort of)! 😉 New? Part one is here.

The fuzziness clears – will I ever get used to this? – and I look around in surprise. A light breezes waves little strands of loose hair off my face, and palm branches flutter slightly overhead.

I jump in surprise as cool ocean water splashes against my ankles, soaking my tennis shoes. The water pulls back and buries my feet in the wet sand. It’s nearly impossible to get my feet out of the sand without my shoes coming off, but somehow I manage and slog over to where Blaze is. He’s laying Ezra out on the hot sand and is checking her over.

“Why are we here? Shouldn’t we go to headquarters?” I ask grumpily. My hands ache like crazy. My shoes are fairly new, and now they’re covered in mud. I may not be a girly-girl like Brooklyn, but unnecessary waste like this is… wasteful.

“We will be going to headquarters,” Blaze growls through gritted teeth. “I just want to make sure she’s alive.”

The blood drains out of my face. I hadn’t considered the fact that Ezra might be dead. I’d just assumed she was unconscious. I’m suddenly very grateful that Denver’s not here. What would he say? Probably nothing, he’d probably be hyperventilating. My legs get weak and wobbly, so I kneel down next to Blaze. “Is she okay?”

He nods, sitting back on his heels. “Her pulse is fine, I think, so she’ll probably be okay. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but I’m not a doctor or anything.”

No, he’s not. Neither am I, but I can tell that something’s wrong, from her unconsciousness and pale, bruised face. I really hope she’ll be okay. “So let’s go to headquarters.”

Blaze nods, and after a second, we’re kneeling on the icy floor of Jen’s office. Jen is heading towards the door, but she stops in surprise when she sees us. She recovers almost instantly and hurries over to us, kneeling next to Ezra. Jen’s hand flies to her ear. “Com, cancel the call for Trav and bring in Medic. Volt is here, 33. Tell Pop and company that Jazz and Blaze are back.”

Jen closes her eyes, inhaling slowly, deeply, calmly, and places her hands on Ezra’s arm. I notice a few small flashes of blue light where her hands are touching Ezra, but that might be my imagination, since nothing else changes. Jen removes her hands with a frown on her face.

The door opens, and a boy enters. He’s skinny, which makes me think of Maddie, and I’d guess he’s about her age, too. He kneels down next to Jen, only giving Blaze and me a passing glance.

“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Jen says, smiling at him encouragingly and ruffling his hair. I’m shocked by how casual and laid back she is with Ezra lying unconscious on the floor in front of her. I’m about to give some kind of snippy remark when Blaze nudges me and gives a pointed look in the boy’s direction. I get the message: this is for the boy’s benefit, for whatever reason, so I keep my mouth shut, for once.

“She just has some chloroform in her system,” Jen begins. “If you can get that out, and heal the bruises, that would be great.”

The boy nods and places his hands on Ezra. Her face gets a little less pale, and the bruises disappear. He removes his hands and looks at Jen for approval.

“Great job, Medic,” Jen says in a fake solemn voice with a smile. “You’re free to go.”

“Wait,” Blaze says, gently grabbing my wrist. Medic pauses, looking between the two of us, and Jen lifts an eyebrow. Blaze turns my hand over, revealing my raw, bloody palm. “You might as well take care of Jazz’s hands while you’re here.”

Medic hesitates, but a nod from Jen is enough to make him come over. He gently touches both of my palms, as if he thinks I’m going to break. The torn skin moves back into place and fuses together in a slow, mesmerizing pattern that should be disgusting but really isn’t. He also touches my knuckles where I punched the guy, and the bruises disappear. He gives me a shy, adorable smile and hurries out of the room after another nod from Jen.

Ezra shifts slightly on the floor, her eyelashes fluttering as a soft moan escapes from her lips. Jen lays a gentle hand on her arm. “Now that that’s taken care of, we can talk.”

I have a feeling this might not be pleasant.

Twinepathy (Part 16): Normal

Hullo, everyone! Is it Monday? I guess it is. I nearly forgot about a post today! Whoops… but, luckily, I remembered… and I also remembered to post Jen’s interview! Click here to check it out, and if you’re new to Twinepathy, check out Part 1! Enjoy, my friends!

Antarctica.

What. In. The. World.

“What?” Brooklyn squeaks. She’s about as shocked as I am, but when she’s shocked, she can speak. Or… squeak.

Blaze grins. “Antarctica. You know, that giant continent at the bottom of the earth that’s ruled by penguins and seals?”

Sarcasm helps me recover from shock, I know from experience. I glare at him and gaze up at the ceiling. “How?” I ask Jen.

She nods. “We have a guy here with powers that fit the climate.”

“Frosty,” Blaze says, holding in a laugh.

“He keeps the place from melting or shifting or anything like that. He also made it so we could keep it heated and not freeze.” Jen gives us a wry smile.

“Why here, though?” Brooklyn asks, blinking.

“The privacy.” Jen motions around. “It’s – mostly – a secret organization. This makes it even more secret. We have enough teleporters that it’s easy for us to get in and out. And the only things we have to deal with are the research stations and the penguins.”

Makes perfect sense. Not really.

Jen takes Maddie’s hand. “Well, let’s get started on our projects. Blaze, you can take them to school. Remember, land in an isolated spot.” She gives him a pointed look.

Blaze nods. “Yes, ma’am.” He looks passive and obedient. But of course that doesn’t last long. He turns to us with a grin. “Well, let’s go, girls.” He grabs our hands, and the next instant we’re in the middle of a shady, deserted alley.

Brooklyn shivers from the creepy atmosphere, and even I feel uncomfortable here, but Blaze leads us through several alleys and out onto the street, right next to our school. “Have a good day,” he says, smiling. “Contact me when you’re ready to pick up Maddie, and I’ll come get you.”

“What will you be doing?” Brooklyn asks curiously.

He tilts his head with a hint of a smile. “I’ve got school, too, you know.” He ducks down the street, and I have a feeling that if we headed that direction, we wouldn’t see him. I look at the school, then at Brooklyn. I open my mouth to say something, but then her eyes widen.

“Our homework!” she yelps.

I moan. “Great. Do you have the contact thingy?”

Brooklyn shakes her head. “It’s at home.”

Perfect. Brooklyn’s an amazing student and pretty much every teacher’s favorite, but while I’m good, I’m not that good. They might let her get away with no homework, but they won’t be letting me, I’ll bet. With this and everything else that’s happened, how are we supposed to act normal?

Well, that might be trouble. How are they going to get out of this? Guess we’ll have to wait to find out… And yes, we’re building up to something BIG. Next part… 😉

Next Part –>

Twinepathy (Part 11): A Great Big Sister

Hullo, everyone! How has your week been? I hope it’s been wonderful! Another part of Twinepathy today, and last week I joined in on the Beautiful Books Link-Up and I posted a character interview with Blaze. So much fun! If you didn’t get a chance to read those, check them out! And if you’re new, click here for the first post. Enjoy, my friends!

The Finch? What kind of name is that?

“Two weeks ago, one of our agents – as we tend to call ourselves – passed out on the job,” Jen explains. “He’s one of our best spies, nicknamed The Finch because he can morph into any type of bird, plus communicating with them.” He? A guy called The Finch. Ha! “Luckily, he was in human form at the time, and he had a team with him. When they brought him back to me, he woke up, but didn’t remember anything. I read him, but it was like he’d been wiped clean of all traces of memory.”

I glance at Maddie. This sounds an awful lot like what happened to her. “Has he recovered?” I ask.

Jen shakes her head. “No.”

My heart drops for Maddie at that. Will she end up being without early memories for the rest of her life? “Do you know why this happened?” Brooklyn asks, pulling Maddie towards her. Maddie does look like she needs a hug, with her eyes wide and scared.

“We’re working to figure out what happened,” Blaze says.

“There have been several cases of sudden, unexplainable amnesia in the news lately,” Jen says grimly. “Citizens. It can’t be a coincidence… But enough about that, we’ll figure it out soon.” She turns her focus back to us. “We can take Maddie back to headquarters, and we’ll find someone for her to stay with until we figure everything out. I can probably make room in my apartment if I need to.”

I don’t even need a look from Brooklyn to know what she’s thinking and what she wants me to do. After all, we’re sisters. We know each other as well as ourselves, even without a telepathic connection. “Can she stay with us?” I ask.

Jen gives me a surprised look. “Well, she could. Bu how are you going to explain it to your parents?” She knows how our parents act, what they’re like, their little quirks… which is pretty creepy, if you think about it. She knows so much about our lives…

I shrug. “Brooklyn keeps bringing home stray animals. We can probably pass this off as something like that.”

Jen rests her chin on her fist, deep in thought. Finally she nods. “Okay. That would be the best option. Let us know if there are any problems, and we can take her to headquarters. I’ll send Blaze to check on you regularly.”

Brooklyn nods, and Maddie relaxes a little. “Thank you,” Brooklyn says.

Jen shakes her head. “No, thank you.” She stands up. “Blaze, let’s head back now. Can’t be gone too long, or the world would blow up.” She rolls her eyes, but I can’t tell if she’s actually joking or not. I hope she is.

The five of us toss our empty cups and head outside. “We’ll see you two soon,” Jen says. “If we don’t hear from you again today, then we’ll assume that everything worked out.” She and Blaze turn to head down a nearby alley.

“Wait, are your headquarters here, in town?” Brooklyn asks, confused.

Jen smiles, her eyes twinkling. “Not even close. You’ll visit eventually. But Blaze can’t do his thing in the middle of the street.”

Brooklyn nods, and after one last wave from Jen, they disappear down the alley. I turn to Brooklyn and Madison. I manage to hold back my smile at the picture they make, standing there holding hands. Brooklyn would make a great big sister.

“You told Denver we were going shopping, so we might as well stop and grab some clothes for Maddie. Does that sound good?” I ask.

Brooklyn’s face lights up. If there’s one thing she absolutely loves, it’s shopping for other people. That’s why she picks out my wardrobe when we go shopping. “Awesome!” she exclaims, herding us towards a store.

Poor, poor Maddie.

Oh, great. Shopping. I wonder where these mysterious IDIA headquarters are… And will Albany and Maddie survive the shopping trip? XD Comment below with your thoughts!

Just a note: We’re leaving on a trip this weekend and this week is going to be crazy, so I won’t be on here very much. Apologies if I can’t get to your comment in a prompt and timely manner! ❤ Keep being awesome, guys!

Next Part –>