Revelation: Book 4 - Edgewood Series, page 1
REVELATION
Book 4 – Edgewood Series
Karen McQuestion
Other books by Karen McQuestion
For Adults
A Scattered Life Easily Amused The Long Way Home Hello Love
For Young Adults
Favorite
Life on Hold
From A Distant Star
Edgewood Series
Edgewood (Book One)
Wanderlust (Book Two)
Absolution (Book Three)
For Kids
Prince and Popper
Celia and the Fairies
Secrets of the Magic Ring
Grimm House
For Writers
Write That Novel! You know you want to…
Copyright © 2017 by Karen McQuestion
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
www.karenmcquestion.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Revelation Book 4 –Edgewood Series/Karen McQuestion. -- 1st ed.
ISBN: 978-1540790118
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A NOTE FROM KAREN
For Charlie, who helped start it.
And for Jack, who helped end it.
CHAPTER ONE
RUSS
In the beginning, there was just me, Russ Becker, your typical high school guy whose only goal in life was to make it from one day to the next. Not easy, since I was suffering from the insomnia from hell. Night after night with no sleep was making me crazy. The only thing that seemed to help was sneaking out of the house to go for a walk after my parents fell asleep.
One evening when I was rambling around town, I witnessed something down by the abandoned train station. It looked a little like a meteor shower. But when I got closer, I saw that the falling light particles had landed in a field in a perfect spiral pattern. Later I found out that what I’d witnessed was called a lux spiral, but at that moment all I knew was that I’d stumbled onto something incredible.
After that, my average, typical life careened off the rails going to a place even Google couldn’t map. I discovered I had superpowers and eventually met three other people my age that had seen the lux spiral and developed superpowers of their own. Mallory, a pretty girl in my science class, could exert mind control on people without their knowledge. Jameson, this smug jerk-wad, had the gift of telekinesis, meaning that just like a Las Vegas magician he could move things with his mind. Nadia, soon to become my favorite, discovered she could astral project and tap into people’s souls, getting a read on who they were and determine if they were telling the truth. And me? I won the superpower lottery, being able to sense electricity, shoot it out of my hands, exert some mind control (not to the extent Mallory could, but still pretty cool), and heal people’s sicknesses and injuries.
If that’s all there was to it, life would have been great, but we soon found out that there were two secret international organizations, opposite factions, both of whom wanted to recruit us for their own purposes. (I know. It sounds like an overused movie cliché even to me, but I swear to you, that’s how it really went down.) Five adults in my hometown of Edgewood knew all about this and filled us in: Rosie, who ran our local diner; Kevin Adams, owner of Power House Comics; Dr. Anton, child psychiatrist; Mr. Specter, my science teacher; and Mrs. Whitehouse, the high school cafeteria lady, all had experienced the lux spiral as teenagers and were now aligned with the Praetorian Guard. They warned us about the other group, the Associates, who were supposedly evil and power-hungry.
My older sister Carly had her own horror story about the Associates, telling me that sixteen years earlier her high school boyfriend, David Hofstetter, had developed superpowers just like me and that the Associates had killed him when he wouldn’t join their organization.
It was a lot to think about.
And then I had my own encounter with the Associates when they kidnapped my then ten-year-old nephew Frank, forcing me to pass a series of tests before my sister Carly and I could get him back.
Life had just gotten real.
Then there was a “class trip” to Peru sponsored by the Praetorian Guard and chaperoned by Mr. Specter, Mrs. Whitehouse, and Kevin Adams. Peru is where we discovered that Carly’s boyfriend’s death had been faked in order for him to work in Peru for the Guard. He’d been secretly spying on Carly and their son Frank (who was conceived when David snuck back home for a visit, pretending to be his own cousin). He thought spying on Carly and Frank kept them connected, but really it was just pretty stalker-ish and creepy. Peru was also where we learned that my science teacher, Mr. Specter, was secretly aligned with the Associates. Before we could do anything with this knowledge, he was killed in an explosion.
If that wasn’t enough excitement, weeks later there was a secret mission to Washington D.C. to thwart an attempt on the president’s life at the Presidential Black Tie Bash. Mallory, Jameson, Nadia, and I went, along with Dr. Anton, Rosie, and my sister Carly. It was there we found out that Mr. Specter hadn’t really died and that he was behind the threat on the president’s life along with Mrs. Whitehouse and Kevin Adams. This was how his assassination attempt went—Mr. Specter had built a death ray machine. The death ray machine was disguised as a gurney and wheeled into the Black Tie Bash for a guest who’d collapsed. Mr. Specter posed as a doctor in this charade.
All of it was rigged ahead of time by the Associates. The plan would have worked too, if the four of us hadn’t taken action, all using our respective supernatural talents. I’d thrown myself in front of the ray, to block it from reaching the presidential family. I’d thought I’d faced certain death, but I guess it wasn’t so certain, because I wound up living through the ordeal.
Now we were home again and it was my junior year. Nadia and I were seeing each other as much as her mother would let us. Mallory and I were still friends, and Jameson, now that he was away at college, was irritating me a whole lot less.
Back when Frank was kidnapped, the Associates had offered me anything I wanted if I’d come to work for them and said they’d give me some time to think about it. Months went by and when I didn’t hear any more, I was starting to think that maybe they were going to let it go and I could just live my normal life.
Which was good because to tell you the truth, I had some AP classes that were kicking my butt and I really didn’t need any more stress.
CHAPTER TWO
RUSS
After an exciting summer, the boring, everyday routine of junior year was a welcome change. I had some hard classes, so I couldn't afford to mess around too much, but besides that, my schedule was fine. I was assigned the late lunch period, which was the better of the two time slots, and Mallory and two of her popular friends had added themselves to my table, which got me points with my friends Justin and Mick. After his funeral, almost no one mentioned Mr. Specter, the science teacher, anymore and if anyone missed Mrs. Whitehouse's presence in the cafeteria, I didn't hear about it. I had no idea where she’d gone but didn’t care one way or the other. She was the equivalent of the annoying fly whose absence wasn’t mi
ssed.
Outside of school, things were even better. I’d gotten my driver’s license, and passed on my first try, unlike my sister Carly who had to take the test three times. Best of all, Nadia's mother allowed us one date a week. She had to know every detail ahead of time and she called my cell pretty frequently during our night out, something which aggravated Nadia, but I figured it could be worse, considering that at one point her mom wouldn’t even let me see her at all. If we had to put up with her obsessive monitoring, that was the price we paid. I could deal with it. After all, we still were able to communicate almost every night when Nadia astral projected to me.
So, one date a week—that was it. I could call Nadia during the week to make plans, but her mother was always nearby. When we talked, Nadia had no privacy so most of the personal stuff came from my end, me trying to cram in ten minutes of good conversation and her agreeing to everything I said in a way that gave away nothing. Nadia had argued for more time with me, and even her dad had tried to cajole her mother into letting us see each other more often, but nothing could make that woman budge.
I thought that this was how Nadia and I were going to have to operate until her mother agreed to let her get a part time job. Her father made a case for letting her get out into the world, and working twelve hours a week seemed acceptable. Not just any job though. Her mother was concerned about her working in what she called “a safe environment.” It had to be indoor work, and nothing messy. She couldn’t work late at night, and it had to be somewhere with a security staff in place, and it couldn’t be too far from home.
Which is how she got a job working in the gift shop at Mercy Hospital. A week after she started, another part-time employee quit, and Nadia recommended me for the job, which is how I wound up working there too. She didn’t tell her mother about me getting hired, of course, because that definitely would not have been okay with her.
But it was okay with me, even if my friend Justin said it was a job for girls. I don’t know where he was coming from because he worked at the popcorn wagon. Like that required a lot of testosterone. When I pointed this out he said, “Ah, but you’re forgetting one thing, my friend. The smell of hot buttered popcorn is a definite draw. I’ll be charming the ladies while you’re hanging with the sickos.”
I shrugged. “Sure. Whatever.” Justin didn’t have a clue. Charming the ladies wasn’t all that important when you already had a girlfriend.
One Tuesday evening in mid-October, when Nadia was scheduled to work and I wasn’t, I went up to the hospital to visit her. I stood in one corner of the tiny shop, pretending to be interested in the rotating display of greeting cards while I watched her ring up an old lady’s purchase. Employees were required to wear sky blue polo shirts with the hospital logo embroidered on the left side. Honestly, it wasn’t my best look, but that color looked great on her. Tonight her dark hair was pulled back, held in place by some kind of stretchy band. Now that her face was healed and she didn’t keep her face hidden, you couldn’t help but notice her big brown eyes and long dark lashes. She handed money to the woman and flashed a smile. “A dollar five is your change. Do you want the receipt with you or in the bag?”
“In the bag, please.”
Nadia complied and handed it over the counter. “Thank you. And congratulations on your new grandson.” When the woman left the shop and we were alone, she grinned in my direction. “What are you looking at, sir?”
“I’m looking at you,” I said, pointing. “I have to say I’ve never seen a more beautiful girl in my entire life. Why don’t you close up shop so we can run away together?”
She blushed. “You’re bad.” But I could tell she liked it.
I went over and put the flat of my hand on the counter. “Do you get a break tonight?”
Nadia shook her head. “It’s just me. No one else is coming in.”
I’d thought as much. During the slow times they usually only had one person there. Business was never exactly booming except on weekends when patients were more likely to get visitors. Otherwise, we sold the occasional magazine, and the usual greeting cards and floral arrangements. Our best seller was a single rosebud in a skinny glass vase banded by a red ribbon. It was supposed to look elegant, but really it was just the cheapest option.
I stretched across the counter, trying to get as close as possible. When she astral projected to me at night, we shared everything about our life, all our hopes and dreams and our fears too. In a way, it was more intimate than being in the same room, but physically apart. Still, there was nothing like having her near, taking in her scent, seeing her grin and knowing my presence was the cause of her happiness.
One of the security guards came past in the hallway and paused in the open doorway. He was a beefy guy wearing black pants and a gray shirt adorned with a gold badge, and he looked all business. He called out to Nadia, “Everything okay, miss?” He narrowed his eyes at me, hand on his baton like he was ready to beat me across the head if necessary. Good grief, it was like her mother had spies everywhere.
“All good,” she said. “You remember Russ? He works here too.”
The guard’s face relaxed. “Hey, man. Didn’t recognize you without your baby blues.” He illustrated by flicking at the front of his decidedly more masculine button-down shirt.
“Yeah, I know, right?” I said. “I love that thing.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “You folks have a nice night,” he said, giving a friendly wave before continuing on.
After the guard left, no one came by and we were alone. Our time was limited so we made the most of it. Nadia reached over the counter and surreptitiously stroked my hand, her voice luring me in with stories about her homeschooling projects and descriptions of her home life. “My dad watches to make sure she takes her medication,” she said, referring to her mother. “She laughs it off, but it's no joke to me.” Nadia didn't have a scar on her neck from her mother’s attack anymore. I'd healed it so you'd never known she'd been cut with a knife. The emotional scars were a little harder to fix. If someone came at you with a knife once, how likely were you to trust them not to do it again?
As the clock struck eight, Nadia had to start the closing routine. I straightened while she emptied the register drawer and counted the cash before locking it into the drawer for tomorrow’s deposit. She'd call her dad for a ride home once everything was done and lock the door on the way out. I'd have taken her home, no problem, but we knew not to do anything that would arouse suspicion. Better to stick to the script. I glanced at the doorway to make sure no one was around, then went behind the counter to give her a quick kiss. Our boss, Mrs. Melwood, had said the security camera pointed at the register was only for show, but I wasn't taking any chances. “Four more days,” I whispered once we pulled apart. My weeks were starting to begin and end according to our date nights.
“Would you just do one thing for me before you go?” she asked.
“Anything. Just say the word.”
She reached down to the shelves below the counter and pulled up a small green plant with fuzzy purple flowers in the middle. An African violet. Not a popular choice. This one had a tiny plastic sign sticking up above the leaves like it was protesting. The letters on the sign spelled out, "You Are Loved." A piece of paper wrapped around the pot was held in place by a rubber band. Nadia pulled the sheet of paper out and unfolded it. “For some reason, this never got delivered. It’s been sitting here since I got in. Would you mind taking it up to the room?”
Usually, deliveries were the job of volunteers. During the day it was the gray-haired brigade, a rotating group of senior citizens who relished spreading cheer to the ill and infirm. In the evenings it was usually some teenager doing it as a service project for their church. Tonight, apparently, it was my turn.
“Not a problem.” I scooped it up and held it against me like an infant. “I think he likes me,” I said, making cooing noises.
“Room 432,” Nadia said. “The east wing. And the patient’s name is Ike Bruder.”
“Got it,” I said. “Room 234. The west wing. Mike Bader.”
