Chapter 64: Chapter 64

She was clutching her abdomen, and Jamie had his arms around her immediately. “Are you okay?” he asked as Cassidy made an awful moaning sound. Cadence moved to the door, but her sister seemed to snap out of it, whatever it was, pretty quickly.

“I’m okay. But Holland isn’t. She’s… having the baby. She’s not conscious right now, but while I was in her head, I could feel it. That’s never happened before. Also, I spent some time with Hines. It’s different now. I can access their thoughts a lot more quickly than I could before. I tried… making him do something. He looked like he was getting ready to do a surgical procedure, like maybe he was going to deliver that baby, and I wanted to see if I could get him to do what I wanted, so I had him take one of the scalpels and cut a hunk of his hair off. It really freaked him out. But… I think… maybe, I can influence them, the way that Holland was influencing Aaron.”

Jamie stared at her, shocked. “Okay. Well, that might come in handy.”

“Yeah, as soon as he realized I was there, he regained control, but it was neat while it lasted. I wonder if there’s anything else I can do.”

“I don’t know,” the Healer admitted. “But be careful. You don’t want to get stuck over there or anything.”

“I don’t think that could happen. Do you? Maybe… maybe I can use this to make her stop, or to probe into their minds and make them all stop. Or maybe I’ll be able to access information more quickly.” Cadence couldn’t see her sister’s face, but her voice sounded different, like she wasn’t quite herself, like she had let this new power go to her head a little.

“Maybe. But I think you should take it easy for now. In fact, I think you should probably go back to your apartment. I’m pretty sure your mom wants to talk to you about how this happened.”

Cassidy let out a low sigh. “Okay,” she said, her voice sounding slightly ashamed of what she’d done. “There’s just one more thing. I wonder….”

She didn’t finish the sentence. Rather, she held her hand out in front of her, and across the room, one of the medical trays that had been left out began to levitate off of the table. Cassidy laughed, and then it sank back down. When she returned her attention to Jamie, his eyes were about as wide as she’d ever seen them. And then… he started to float. “All right, Cass, put me down,” he said, once he was about an inch off of the ground.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice teasing. “It’s kind of fun.”

“I’m sure. Put me down.” The Healer came back to the floor. “And don’t do that to people.”

“But… that should come in handy, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure it will, but I recommend you save it for Vampires.” He still looked a little startled, almost like he couldn’t quite trust her, and Cadence realized this could be a real problem if Cassidy decided to go rogue. Thoughts of her floating their parents around the apartment jumped to her mind, and she had to take a deep breath to try to slow her heartbeat.

“Are you watching what’s going on in there?” her mother asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” Cadence replied, turning to face her. “It’s just… Cass has a few unexpected new talents.”

“Like what?” Brandon asked, but before Cadence could even answer, she realized her feet were coming off of the ground.

“What’s happening?” Liz asked, her face ashen.

“Cassidy! Put me down!” Cadence shouted loud enough for her kid sister to hear through the door, and her feet hit the floor again. “Apparently, she can levitate things, people, herself.”

“She did that?” Elliott asked, his eyes bulging out of his head.

“Apparently,” Cadence repeated.

“Holy shit….” Brandon covered his mouth, realizing he’d swore in front of his mother’s girlfriend.

The door behind her opened, and Cassidy walked out like a normal sixteen-year-old girl, Jamie behind her. “Good news. I can infiltrate Vampire minds like never before,” she said, smiling like that was going to make everything else okay.

“And float people,” Brandon added.

“Yeah, that too. You wanna try it? It’s fun.”

“No.” His answer came quickly.

“I told her not to do that,” Jamie noted.

“I heard you,” Cadence nodded. “Right before my feet came off of the floor.”

Cassidy shrugged, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Gotta have a little fun, don’t I?”

“No, no you don’t,” Liz said, shaking her head. “You are grounded.”

“Oh, Mom….”

“I’m serious. Don’t think that just because you have some sort of magical powers that means I can’t punish you, young lady.” She was already moving down the hallway, and Cassidy followed with a teenage exhale that could’ve shaken the whole building. Brandon walked behind them at a safe distance, but Elliott lingered in the hallway.

“This is going to be a problem,” Elliott said, echoing Cadence’s concern. “She’s not mature enough to handle that kind of power.”

“I know. But what in the world can we do about it now?” Cadence asked.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I can’t see any good coming of it,” Elliott replied.

“Listen, I don’t know what all you could see through her IAC,” Jamie began, “but something seemed a little off to me. She seemed a little… less good natured than she usually does.”

“Since when has that pubescent bundle of hormones been good natured?” Elliott asked, but Cadence understood what Jamie was trying to say.

“You think that the serum somehow enhanced her Vampire qualities, too, so that she’s a little more… evil… than before?”

“I guess that’s what I’m getting at. Maybe evil isn’t the right word. Maybe mischievous is better.”

“So more like a nymph than a fairy?” Elliott asked, stroking his chin in contemplation.

“Come on, everyone knows those creatures aren’t real,” Cadence replied, though at the moment she had no idea what was real and what wasn’t.

“I’m just saying, we need to be careful because none of us can control her at the moment, and she could end up taking some bigger risks in an effort to help.” Jamie’s tone sounded cautious, and Cadence fully understood his meaning. She only hoped her mother didn’t do anything to make matters worse.