“Get up.” My heart was in my throat as he pulled me backwards into a standing position. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
I didn’t know how he expected me to answer with his hand over my mouth.
Jackson yelled my name and raced over with a wild look in his eyes. I wished he was alive so he could help me. “Are you okay? Is he hurting you?”
I tried to shake my head, but the guy was holding me too tightly.
“Just keep still. Keep calm. Let’s find out what he wants.”
The guy removed his arm from around my throat, but then I felt the cold steel of a blade against my neck and my heartbeat went into overdrive.
“Who the fuck are you and why are you creeping around out here in the bush?”
Kellie was suddenly in front of me, her eyes wide. “Russell! What are you doing?”
He took a step back and I was forced to follow. “She was spying on us.”
“Yeah, but there’s no need to pull a knife, Jesus.”
Jackson looked furious. “Keep still.” He tried to grab the guy’s arm, but his hand went right through and he swore. “I wish I could do something!”
Justina put a hand on her hip. “Put the knife away, Russell. She’s a Waratah resident.”
He didn’t budge. “You know her?”
“Yes. She’s the newbie we told you about.”
The knife dug in a little more and I wondered if he’d cut me. I imagined blood trickling down my chest and staining my nightshirt a dark red and my breathing became shallow.
“She’s a danger to us. We don’t know how much she heard.”
Kellie put her hands up, palms out. “It’s okay. We can trust her.”
“We can’t trust anyone. She’s new. You can’t possibly know her well enough to trust her.”
As he pushed the blade just that little bit further, panic surged through me and the image of blood spurting from my throat as I sank to the ground flashed into my mind, suddenly turning into a blinding light. I fell forward onto the rough ground as the world went black.
What just happened?
Justina shouted, “Oh, my God! What have you done?”
What?
I was kind of dazed and after a few seconds, the numbness subsided and pain shot through my hands and knees.
Jackson bent down close to me. “Maddie, are you okay?”
At almost the same time, Kellie asked if I was okay.
“Yeah… I think.”
I turned and sat on my butt in the dirt. Russell was lying in a crumpled heap at the base of a nearby tree. I gasped, then cringed. I’d done it again. I was dangerous. Maybe they should keep me locked away from everyone until I got this thing under control.
But he’d had a knife to my throat.
Kaydan checked him over. “You okay, Russ?”
He groaned in pain. “Yeah. Sort of.”
“Looks like your arm is broken. Hold still.”
Justina scowled at me. “You’re a walking disaster! Everything you touch turns to shit! What are you even doing here anyway?”
“I saw you guys leave the house in the middle of the night. I followed to see what you were doing.”
“You’re unbelievable. This is none of your business—”
“Just calm down, Justina,” Kellie said. “We need to treat his wound.”
Justina let out a heavy sigh and they all crouched down around Russell, who was now sitting up against the trunk of the tree. A soft glow emitted from under their hands as they healed him.
After a few minutes, everyone started to pull away and get to their feet.
“That’s the best we can do, man,” Kaydan told him.
“Thanks.”
Justina stayed on her knees and hadn’t removed her hands. What was she doing?
Everyone went quiet. They didn’t try to talk to her. Just let her do her thing.
I couldn’t see her face clearly in the dark, but I could almost feel the concentration as she continued to heal him on her own.
I got the feeling that this wasn’t the usual thing. Everyone waited with bated breath for whatever would happen next.
When she finally sat back, Russell moved his arm around and laughed. “You did it! You healed me completely. Thanks, J.” Then, “When did you learn to do that?”
Justina took a deep breath. “I didn’t.” She smiled. “That was intense. I could feel the bones. Could see them in my mind. I just… made them grow back together.”
Kellie put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re a true Healer. That’s fantastic!” She reached into her pocket. “Here. I brought a protein bar and some quartz. They’ll get you back up to speed.”
Justina thanked her, but the smile had disappeared. She didn’t seem very enthusiastic or even remotely happy that she’d just discovered she was a Healer. Maybe she was just worn out.
She sat on the ground and ate the protein bar while holding the quartz in her other hand, letting it do its thing.
Russell strode over to me. “You could have killed me, you stupid bitch!”
“I didn’t mean it! I just reacted. You had a knife to my throat.” I put my hand up to my neck and when I pulled it away, my fingers were covered in blood. “Oh, my God! You cut my throat!”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFEpGDbwom
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Author's Note: What is Maddie going to do now? What would you do?
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQn8e3BLjAu
