Chapter 31

When we woke up late Saturday morning, we all looked like we had just pulled ten all nighters in a row. I woke up long before everyone else at eleven thirty, seeing Dad and Beth sitting out in the backyard. I gently lifted up Edward’s arm since we had fallen asleep while watching the movie last night, tip toeing over Keisha and Trayvon’s entwined bodies on the ground, slowly sliding open the door. Dad turned around, smiling at me cautiously. "Hey kiddo. You kids sleep well?"

"For the most part." I said, sitting down on the grassy ground, not caring if bugs started crawling all over me. "Did you two..."

"We slept fine, Anna." Beth said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail with a red ponytail holder. "I was just filling your father in on the specifics of the interrogation."

"You were?" I asked, surprised. "I didn’t think that you would be interested in that, Dad."

"Well, I’m interested now." Dad said, shrugging as he took a sip of his mug of coffee. "What kind of Den Mom would I be if I didn’t take interest in what you kids were doing?"

"Den Mom?" I asked cautiously.

"I’ve officially asked him to take over to watch over you kids."

"Even though he doesn’t have super powers?"

"Well, he’s been doing pretty good at looking over at you guys, so I thought that we should make it official." Beth said happily.

"Yeah. That’s great." I said quickly. Did Zelena know this? If I went with the plan to stop F.E.R.R.E.T., then this could put him in even more danger than I bet he already was in.

"Why do I get the feeling that you aren’t telling the truth?" Dad asked cautiously.

I shrugged. "I don’t know."

"Anna, if they’re something wrong-"

"Nothing is wrong, Dad." I said, sighing heavily. "I just don’t feel too good after the premonitions yesterday."

That wasn’t exactly a lie. My head was pounding and it felt like I could fall over at any moment from how much pain was coursing through me like electrical currents. It was taking everything I could to stay awake right now instead of giving into the pain and falling asleep once again. Beth seemed to back me up, smiling at Dad reassuringly. "Callum did tell me that she was in a lot of pain after she got just one premonition last night. Imagine the amount of pain that she’s probably in now since she had two practically in a row."

Dad nodded. "Do you want me to make you anything, honey? Coffee? Waffles?"

"Now Dad," I said, sighing heavily. "You and I both know that when I have really bad headaches, I want-"

"Chocolate chip pancakes because nine times out of ten, your mother was the cause of your headaches." Dad interrupted.

Beth gave Dad a confused look. "What does your ex-wi-"

"Don’t ask." Dad said, holding up a hand. He got off of the chair, grabbing his coffee cup as he looked over at Beth. "I need to go to the store to get some Bisquick and chocolate chips. Do you want to come with me or are you planning on staying here with the kids."

Beth shrugged. "I think the kids can handle themselves for a little while, especially since most of them are still asleep."

Dad laughed, quietly sliding open the door. He looked down at me. "We’ll be back in a couple hours, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

I sat in the backyard, moving up to one of the chairs as I looked at the small swing set that came with the house, Mom materializing in front of me. I jumped, my headache intensifying as I glared at Mom. "What the heck birthgiver! Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"I was knocking. For five minutes." Mom said exhaustedly. "I know how you and your father are when it comes to sitting in the backyard on the weekends, so I thought I would try here."

"So what do you want?" I asked exhaustedly. "This is the first time you’ve come out here since you left. What’s going on?"

"I just wanted to talk." Mom said, sitting down on the other chair beside me. "What’s going on in your life?"

"You mean you actually care?"

"Of course I care! You’re my daughter!"

"If you really cared, you would have told me the truth. I shouldn’t have had to find out from an Instagram post, Mom."

"I know. I shouldn’t have trusted that your father would have told you."

I sighed heavily, shaking my head as I looked at Mom disdainfully. "So… What are you? Gay, bi, pan, what is it?"

"I don’t know, honey." Mom said exhaustedly. "I’ve been trying to figure that out for a long time. What happened with Jodee was a mistake."

"You’re right. It was."

"Anna, I’m-"

"I don’t want to hear apologies, Mom."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want my mother back." I said bitterly. "It was already bad enough when I found out that you and Dad were getting a divorce, but now all I know about you is just… Shattered on the ground."

"Honey, you still have me-"

"But I don’t. I have a woman who gave birth to me and my father who I am honestly struggling to keep myself together for because at least one member of this fucking family has to have their shit together."

"What do you mean?" Mom asked hesitantly. "What’s going on?"

I took a deep breath, not meeting Mom in the eyes. "Zelena threatened me last night."

Mom hesitated for a second. "What do you mean? I didn’t even know that Zelena was-"

"She said that if I didn’t leave Y.A.K.S., she’d hurt everything I care about."

"But why would she-"

"Because Y.A.K.S. is a club for superpowered kids, Mom. I have powers just like you."

"You..."

"Not exactly like you." I said, summoning some lightning in my hands. "And before you ask, I have no idea how I got them."

Mom swallowed for a second, closing her eyes. "And does Zelena-"

"Same as me, for the most part."

"So the Kitchen Aid-"

"We exploded that during our fight. Sorry."

"Does your father-"

"Yeah. He knows. He’s the new Den Mom for the group since our last person just so happens to be Sewage and he tried to kill me."

Mom’s eyes widened. "He WHAT!"

"It’s fine, Mom. I’m alive, obviously."

"You really need to stop telling me about these things weeks after they happen.” Mom said exhaustedly. "So that new team that Unicorn is supposedly debuting at The Super Awards-"

"I’m on it."

Mom sighed heavily, shaking her head a bit before she looked me in the eyes. "You know why she said that, right?"

"Huh?"

"You know why Zelena threatened you, right?"

"Because she hates me."

"Because she’s scared of you."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Have you been drinking early this morning? Why would Zelena be scared of me?"

"Because you’re powerful." Mom said, shrugging. "I mean, I’ve barely seen you use your powers and I’m kinda terrified."

"Just what every girl wants to hear her mother say."

"Who really exploded the Kitchen Aid because I know that that wasn’t the two of you together."

I sighed heavily. "Me. I also exploded the toaster."

"I… I am just going to pretend that you didn’t say that." Mom said, sighing heavily as she attempted to slightly change the subject. "And do you have any other powers?"

"I… May be able to see the future."

Mom just nodded. "So my child is an oracle. Great."

"Can you just get on with it?"

"What I’m trying to say is that Zelena is probably intimidated by you and your powers."

"Yeah, okay."

"I’m being serious."

"Why would she be intimidated by me, of all people? I mean, she was the person who controlled me all throughout high school. If anyone was spineless towards her back then, it was me."

"Well, do you remember what happened when you got your powers?" Mom asked cautiously. "That might give you a hint."

"If only my memory wasn’t fried be-" I started to say, pausing for a second, a thought crossing my mind that hadn’t even occurred to me. Wasn’t there a paper factory near where I passed out at?

Mom smiled at me lovingly. "Did you figure something out, honey?"

"I think I did. Thanks Mom."

"I thought I felt you move." Braylen said, opening the backyard door, hesitating for a second. He saw Mom and straightened his back for a second. "Um… Hello, Ms. Andrews. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No." Mom said quickly. She looked at me cautiously, tilting her head. "Why is Edw-"

"All of us spent the night here." Braylen said quickly. "It isn’t just the two of us here. Everyone else is sleeping in the living room."

"I see…" Mom said, standing up and smoothing out her baggy shirt. "I’ll talk to you later, okay honey?"

"Okay." I said, smiling at Mom awkwardly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Mom said, teleporting out of the backyard.

Braylen sat down beside me, giving me a cautious look. "So… What were you and your mother talking about?"

"Just… Something that happened yesterday." I said quickly. "Is Keisha awake yet?"

"I am now." Keisha said, walking out and sitting in the chair that my mother was sitting in just a moment ago. "What’s up?"

"I have an idea." I said nervously.

"For what?"

"For figuring out how to get my powers."

"You mean you still don’t know how you got them?"

"No, but presumably, Zelena got her powers at the same time as me."

"I thought we already established that." Braylen said cautiously.

"I know, but…" I said, grabbing my phone since it was hiding in my shorts pocket under my T-shirt, scrolling to my Instagram story from the night I got my powers, letting the video of me complaining about the rain storm that started pouring play. In the distance, towards the end, I saw what I was aiming for: a camera in the distance, right at the entrance of the Chesterfield Paper Factory. I paused the video, turning it to Keisha. "Look, can you access this security camera and-"

"Go back to the night of the incident to see what happened?" Keisha said, her eyes already glowing green. "I’m on it."

"What prompted that conversation?" Braylen asked cautiously.

"It’s complicated." I said, avoiding the question.

"What was the night that this happened?" Keisha asked as Becky walked into the front yard.

"Um… October 18th of last year." I answered.

"What’s going on?" Becky asked, sitting down on the grass.

"We’re trying something to figure out how Anna got her powers." Braylen explained.

"Ooohhh." Keisha said, grimacing. "That has to have left a mark."

"What?" Braylen asked.

"Sending the footage to Anna’s phone now." Keisha said as my phone screen went black. Becky excitedly got up, walking around the small couch to see it. When the footage popped up, I saw me and Zelena walking on the side of the road, rain coming down hard.

Becky laughed, pointing to Zelena. "Zelena actually had long hair?"

"Yeah. Her foster home before coming here didn’t have a lot of money, so she couldn’t get a haircut that often." I explained.

Braylen pointed to me on the screen, smiling a bit. "That’s you, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I didn’t know you had short hair."

"We’ve all had short hair at some point, Braylen." I said, remembering that my hair was cut at my chin at this point in time.

"I’m just saying that you look very cute with short hair."

"How do you know? You can’t even see my face!"

"Oh, I have a very active imagination."

"Okay, you two, enough sexual tension." Becky said, grabbing the phone from my hands. "Keisha, let’s just continue this video thing."

"Yeah." Keisha said, letting the video continue to play. It showed Zelena and I getting into an argument, I vaguely remembered that, but maybe ten seconds in, lightning hailed down from the sky. Zelena and I were passed out on the ground, the scorched tree next to us. Becky grimaced behind me.

"Hold on." Braylen said, looking at the phone closer. "Keisha can you go back to the point of impact and slow it down? I think I saw the lightning do something."

"Yeah." Keisha said, playing the video back, but this time much slower.

At the point where the lightning came down, Braylen held up his hand. "Keisha, freeze it."

The screen froze and I studied the frozen picture. The lightning clearly hit me in the neck, the one point of my body that hurt when I woke up after this, and the lightning arced from my outstretched hand and hit Zelena. Becky stared at the phone, furrowing her eyebrows. "Hold the phone!"

"What?" I asked, turning around to see Becky’s bewildered face.

"You aren’t naturally a platinum blonde?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I’m not. I guess the lighting shocked most of the color out of my hair."

"I really don’t think that that’s the most important thing right now." Braylen said, pointing to the frozen video.

"Yeah. I mean, you do have the scar on your neck from the hit." Becky mentioned casually.

I felt my eyes widened. "I have a scar on my neck?"

"Yeah… Did you not know that?"

"NO!"

"It’s right here." Becky said, moving some of my hair on my shoulder, tracing her finger on the back half of my neck. "I thought you already knew, otherwise I would have mentioned it sooner."

"Okay, but look." Braylen said, pointing to me on the picture. "It looks like you’re redirecting the current towards Zelena. You were the main target, but when the lightning went through your hand-"

"I accidentally gave Zelena powers."

"What if the electricity changed your molecular presence?" Keisha asked, the feed leaving my camera. "Like… Maybe the reason why you don’t remember this is because you weren’t completely there?"

"Huh?"

"Look." Keisha said, getting the feed back up and sped through the video until it was about one in the morning. The video played, and my body started flickering in and out of existence. Zelena’s body stayed steady. "Maybe, since you took in so much energy, you weren’t in a stable form. You had to wait a while until you could get to a more stable state."

"I mean… That would explain why I had so much static electricity for weeks after this." I said, shrugging.

"Wait… How long did it take until your powers came in?" Becky asked hesitantly.

"Well, I’d say that my powers finally showed up around Christmas time, maybe a but before that, but I didn't notice. Took a while to get used to, but around March was when the premonition thing came in."

"You mean the whole freaky future thing didn’t happen right away?" Becky asked cautiously.

"No. It just… Progressed, I guess."

Braylen pointed to my flickering image on the screen. "You think you can do that?"

"I have no idea."

"You wanna try?" Becky asked.

"Not right now." I said quickly, closing my eyes tightly. "Head hurts."

"Do you need some chocolate?" Braylen asked gently.

Becky raised an eyebrow. "Chocolate? What’s the deal with chocolate?"

"Chocolate helps clear her headaches." Braylen said quickly, already getting off of his seat on the couch.

I grabbed his arm, pulling Braylen back down. "I don’t need it right now, Braylen. I can survive until my dad and Beth get back from the store."

"They went to the store?" Keisha said, shutting down the video.

"Yeah." I said, noticing Trayvon and Erika walk outside and join us. "They’re gonna make us some chocolate chip pancakes."

"Chocolate chip pancakes?" Trayvon said excitedly. "I haven’t had those in a long time!"

"Well, that’ll be a change." Erika said happily. "My moms are so busy so we don’t do much ‘family activities’ unless it’s on vacation or something. It's been years since I've had chocolate chip pancakes!"

"Callum still down for the count?" Becky asked as Trayvon and Erika sat down on the grass in front of us.

"He and Koda are curled up on the ground." Erika said casually.

"Not to immediately change the subject, how are we gonna figure out how to get the doll from Jill?" Becky said quickly. We all froze for a second, not meeting anyone’s gaze. It was crazy to think that we actually had some forewarning about what was going to happen.

"Well, as I mentioned before," Trayvon said, drumming his fingers against the table. "My mom lives in an apartment facing that alley. We can have a small team set up there to watch Keisha’s dad since he lives just next door, and then-"

"What about if he gets out?" Becky asked.

"If you would let me finish," Trayvon said, rolling his eyes. "I was going to say that we have some people stationed near the alley so that we can watch the alley and get the doll."

"So who do we send to do what?" Callum said from the doorway. I turned around, Callum crossing his arms. "I like the plan, but we need to figure out where to send people if this is going to work."

"Anna’s in the apartment." Erika said quickly.

"Huh?" I asked, giving her a weird look.

"Anna, when you had that premonition, Zelena felt your presence and attacked you." Erika said nervously. "Don’t hate me, but I think that keeping you as far away from the alley as possible is the best plan of action."

I rolled my eyes. "Erika, while I appreciate the concern, I thi-"

"That’s a good idea." Braylen interrupted.

My eyes widened, feeling betrayal in my soul. "What the hell!"

"If Zelena hurt you in this premonition-"

"Then I can handle myself." I said quickly. I shook my head at Erika and Braylen. "I’m not some princess that needs to be protected, you two. I can handle myself."

"Yes, because running head on into a situation with no plan is ‘handling yourself’." Erika said, rolling your eyes. "Anna, I love you, you know I do because you’re one of my best friends, but you got shot because you didn’t have a plan to save my life. At least this way, we have a plan."

"Yeah, but Anna is easily one of the most powerful members of Y.A.K.S." Becky said, giving Erika and Braylen a confused look. "If we go through with this stupid plan of your’s, we’ll be benching our biggest ace in the hole since she knows the exact details."

"I mean, if Zelena showing up in my bedroom last night was any clue, they want me to be benched." I said, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

Callum’s eyes widened. "Zelena was in your room last night?"

I closed my eyes, wondering why I said that. "Quite possibly."

"What did she say?" Braylen asked sternly, making it sound more like a command.

"Braylen, it’s not-"

"What. Did. She. Say." Braylen repeated sterner. He sounded like he was getting ticked off.

"She said that if I didn’t quit Y.A.K.S., bad things would happen."

"What bad things, Anneliese?"

"I don’t see-"

"JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION, ANNELIESE!" Braylen yelled. Everyone was silent. It was the first time we’ve actually heard Braylen snap at someone before. Becky was nervously fidgeting and it seemed like everyone just wanted to get away from the backyard as soon as possible. You could practically cut the tension with a knife. Eventually, after many minutes, Braylen calmed down, closing his eyes. He spoke after taking a couple deep breaths. "I’m sorry. I lost my temper."

"She said that if I didn’t drop out, she’d hurt everything I care about." I mumbled to myself, tears starting to bubble up in my eyes.

"... What?" Braylen asked hesitantly.

"SHE SAID THAT IF I DIDN’T DROP OUT OF Y.A.K.S., SHE’D HURT EVERYTHING I CARE ABOUT!" I yelled, standing up abruptly as the tears instantly started falling. I wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. "YOU, CALLUM, ERIKA, KODA, MY DAD, EVERYONE. YOU’RE ALL IN DANGER BECAUSE OF ME, OKAY? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO FUCKING HEAR, BRAYLEN!"

Braylen seemed to freeze where he sat as I turned around to leave. Callum reached for my arm. "Anna, wait-"

"Don’t." I said, yanking my arm back as Koda came running forward. "The more extreme my emotions get, the more unpredictable my powers. I don’t want to shock you."

I pushed my way into the house as Dad and Beth opened the door. When Dad saw me, his face fell from happy, probably because he and Beth were having a pleasant conversation, to pure concern. "Anna, what’s go-"

"Dad, I can’t right now." I said, running up the stairs and sitting on my bed, Koda jumping up and laying down at the edge.

"Anna..."

"Koda, why did you follow me?"

"Well, there’s a reason why dogs are man’s best friend." Koda said, almost smiling at me. "And right now, it seems like you need a friend."

I laughed bitterly to myself. "Thanks, buddy."

Koda cautiously got up, looking at me nervously. "Is it safe to go near you right now, or do you want me to wait?"

Another tear slid down my face. "Yeah, buddy, it’s safe to come near me. Might be some static electricity though."

"Static electricity never bothered me." Koda said, crawling towards me.

We lay on my bed for what felt like hours until I heard a knock at the door. "Anna, it’s Dad. Can I come in?"

"Yeah." I said, swinging my legs so that I was sitting up as Dad opened the door, carrying a plate of chocolate chip pancakes.

"Thought you might be hungry." Dad said awkwardly, sitting down next to me and setting the plate down in my lap. "Chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup. Your favorite."

"Thanks, Dad."

Dad and I were silent while I quietly ate some of the pancakes. Ultimately, Dad broke the silence. "Do you want to tell me what happened, or am I going to have to get it from Beth after she interrogates the others?"

"Zelena broke into my bedroom last night and threatened me, saying that if I didn’t drop out of Y.A.K.S..."

"She’d hurt everything you care about?" Dad concluded. "Me, Braylen, everyone under this roof?"

"Yeah. We were talking about a plan to try and get Keisha’s father’s doll from Jill so that we could figure out how to break the control, and Erika and Braylen started insisting that I stay inside to watch Keisha’s father. One thing led to another, and Braylen started yelling at me because I mentioned Zelena and didn’t want to give them the finer details on what she told me because I was honestly still trying to figure that out when Mom dropped by and we talked about it."

"Your mother dropped by?"

"We just talked. She seems to think that Zelena is intimidated by me and that that’s why she threatened me. I don’t see it."

"Really? I do." Dad said as I rolled my eyes. Dad held up a finger before I could protest. "Now listen here, Anneliese Marie Andrews, I am not just saying this because I am your father. I doubt that you believe me right now, but back in Chesterfield, you were meek. You barely spoke out of turn. Zelena had you firmly under her thumb. Now, we’re here, and you found a bunch of new friends who actually listen to your ideas and how you feel. Having people that care about you is a kind of power that Zelena will never understand, and I’m not just saying that because she’s a foster kid and the only person she’s ever had to care about her before is you. Pair that with your electricity powers and you’re a dangerous force to be reckoned with, Anna. Believe it or not, your relationship with these kids is what makes you intimidating because I know that all of these kids would risk their lives for you, just like you’ve risked your life for them on more than one occasion, either now or in the future."

"But they also make it easier to blackmail me." I said, sighing heavily. "Maybe I should just quit while I’m ahead."

"I’m not gonna let you do that, Anna." Dad said, shaking his head. "You have too much of me in you, so I know better than to let you give up so easily. We can figure this out together."

"How can we?" I asked, setting the plate of pancakes on my small bedside table. I turned the palms of my hands over, staring at them angrily. "None of this would be happening if I didn’t get these stupid powers when I got struck by lightning."

"You mean you actually remembered what happened?"

"Not exactly. That was another idea from Mom."

"In any case, you got those powers for a reason, Anneliese. It’s not clear now, but it will be. You can make this world a better place, I know you can. And second off, all of you kids are much stronger than what any of you guys give yourselves credit for. Their goal is to take out the linchpin."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Me? A linchpin? Dad, you have to be going insane."

"You brought all of them together."

"No, that was Callum."

"Sure, Callum brought all of you together physically, but you’re the one who brought them the rest of the way." Dad said, patting my leg affectionately. "You got them to be more than just kids who found themselves in this situation. You were the person who got them to actually become friends. If you get taken out of the equation-"

"The entire team falls apart." Braylen said, awkwardly leaning against the door frame of my room. He quickly straightened himself, standing upright, back stick straight. "We’re already kinda starting to do that without you down there to mediate."

"What are you doing up here, Braylen?" I asked, trying to calm down my anger.

"I came to apologize. I was out of line back there."

"Yeah. You were."

Dad got up, as if sensing the tension and walking towards Braylen. "I’m gonna give you two some privacy. Koda, come."

"Oh come on! I want to watch the drama!" Koda complained, already getting out of his sleeping position.

"Koda, don’t make me repeat myself."

"Fine." Koda said, jumping off of my bed and giving me a concerned look. "Bark if you need anything. I mean that literally."

"Okay." I said, not meeting Braylen’s eyes as he slowly walked into the room and closed the door behind him. We were silent for a while, as if fearing to talk, until I finally looked up at him. "Look, I know that I should have mentioned something as soon as she left, but-"

"You were trying to figure out what to do without raising alarm." Braylen said, sighing heavily. "And I understand that."

"Then why the hell did you force me to tell everyone?" I asked angrily. "You know how I get when I see or hear stuff like that in my premonitions, Braylen. Forcing me to tell-"

"Was not a good idea, I know. I just… I panicked, okay?"

"You panicked?"

"I got scared because I thought that whatever Zelena said was going to take away every last thing I cared about. It was going to take you out of the place where I met you, split the rest of our group, I got scared and I took it out on you when I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, Anna."

That had just occurred to me. The guy had lost his entire family last May and, for the most part, Y.A.K.S. had become his new one. I understand why he pressured me. He just wanted to do what I wanted: protect his loved ones. I looked over at Braylen, smiling sadly. "No, I’m sorry. I should’ve just told you guys as soon as it happened."

"It was late. You were already rattled from the interrogations yesterday, so I don’t blame you. I was just..."

"Frustrated, I know." I said, sighing heavily. "Trust me, I get it."

"I’m sorry, Anneliese. Seriously. I overstepped my bounds."

"You're forgiven." I said, looking down at my feet. "Did you guys-"

"We’ve divided everything pretty evenly. You’re still in the house because Keisha’s father likes you, so you can talk to him. It’s you, Keisha, Erika, Trayvon, and Callum. Becky, Koda, and I are going to go wait in the alley for them. Keisha found out that it’s going down tomorrow, so we’re meeting up at Trayvon’s at nine."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Are you angry?"

"No. Why would I be angry?"

"I just wanted to make sure." Braylen said, getting off of my bed. He gave me a cautious look. "You gonna join us?"

"In a sec."

"Okay."

As Braylen left, I took a deep, trying to steal my nerves. Somehow, it was going to take a miracle to successfully get that doll from Jill tomorrow. If we didn’t somehow get hurt in the process, that is.

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