Page 3 of Forever Frenzy
“Why can’t I heal him?” I screamed. “Why give me sight to see what’s wrong, when I can do absolutely nothing about it?” Angrily swiping the tears from my cheeks, I turned away from Tage and looked out at the brilliant sunrise. I loved that time was different here, and loved the way the warmth calmed my nerves. But it wasn’t working today.
“I know it doesn’t help, but I couldn’t heal anyone either.”
“You cured the entire world of the plagues, Tage.”
He shook his head. “Yes, but I couldn’t cure anyone with human illnesses. I could see them, and could even tell healers what the ailment was, but I couldn’t do anything about them either.”
“It’s a helpless feeling.”
Tage waved me forward. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Suddenly, as we trudged side-by-side up and down the disintegrating mountains of sand, it occurred to me. “When he dies, can he come here? Like you do?”
Tage stopped his assent, placed his hands on his hips, and blew out a breath. Reluctantly, his eyes met mine. “There is one way.”
I lay on the bed with Saul as he slept. His face was too pale and his skin was clammy beneath my knuckles. He slept so soundly. He always had, but this was different. I could feel it. I thought Seth could, too.
It was late when Seth returned. I slipped out from beneath the warm blankets and eased the bedroom door closed behind me.
He’d been to The Sand. Saul didn’t know he went there or that he could; but one day, during an argument, he’d lost his cool and let it slip. If that hadn’t given it away, the sand in his boots wouldhave. I told him I’d keep his secret as long as he was safe and was careful about making sure no one else was around when he entered that place. I assumed he did it the same way Tage had.
Most people who entered the forest were our friends, but you couldn’t be too careful. Secrets were best kept held close to the chest. Roman had given me the same advice once.
People feared what was different, and things in the Colony were once again tense. Mercedes kept me up to date on the goings-on in the Colony, and I knew Roman helped Saul and Seth on carpentry jobs when he wasn’t helping our dad. He once promised me to keep my son out of trouble, and I knew he was talking about his power.
The biggest problem was that Seth didn’t know what he was fully capable of, so we were all surprised each time a new ability presented itself. And they did...often. The list of what he couldn’t do was seemingly much shorter than the list detailing what he could.
“Are you okay?” I asked, watching as he unlaced his boots and removed his hat, coat, and scarf. I noted that the lantern beside his feet hadn’t been lit recently; the wick was cold and black. He could have lit it, but he could see perfectly fine at night without it.
“Yeah.”
He wasn’t.
“I just don’t want to get into it tonight, Mom. Can we talk tomorrow?” He rolled his neck, left and then right.
“Yeah, get some rest.”
“Night.” He stepped over to hug my neck. “Love you.”
“Loveyou.”
He walked to his room and closed the door quietly. From the living room, I could hear him trying to stifle his sobs. Something was wrong, and I knew it had to do with Saul. I could feel it in every fiber of my being.
Dad was up at dawn the following day. He and mom were making biscuits like nothing in the world was wrong, and I was glad they had these moments, especially knowing what was coming. I cleared my throat. “Morning.”
Mom smiled. “Morning.”
“Ready to go? We have some bread left from yesterday. This’ll keep us for the rest of the week,” Dad said, turning to rinse his hands off in a small pan of water. He wiped them on a towel and turned around to give Mom a kiss before grabbing the hard lumps of bread from a few days ago.
“I need a few minutes,” I answered. “Do you care if I meet you there?”
Dad’s smile fell a little, but he recovered quickly. “Sure.”
He kissed Mom again and pulled his coat on, closing the front door and blocking the harsh winter wind from blowing inside.
Mom and I listened as his footsteps on the crusted snow faded.
She kept cutting the biscuits with a jar, and when she was finished, dusted her hands off and braced them against the counter. “Please talk to me, Seth.”
