The Exclusive One

Chapter 3

Day 1.

7:00 a.m.

Parker:

I wake up and as I move, I can’t help the moan of pain that slips through my lips. The pain rushes through my body making me want to cry.

God, why did I have to sneak off on a mission by myself?

Well, I know why I did it. Nikki has been training with me one on one for the few years and it has given me a lot of confidence. And she told me recently that I’m better than some of the Originals at fighting.

Tom refused to let me join them on the field and I wanted to prove to everyone that I’m useful even if I don’t have powers.

I slowly push myself off the bed and wince in pain. If only I was like them. Maybe I would have the ability to heal and I wouldn’t be in so much damn pain.

I force myself to act normal as I go into the kitchen and get some breakfast. I hope Tom has figured things out. After I eat, I’ll call him and see what’s going on.

I walk into the kitchen and see Ryan and Ashton sitting at the island eating cereal. I greet them as I go to the refrigerator to look for food, “Good morning boys.”

I can hear the smile in Ashton’s voice as he says, “Good morning beautiful.”

I roll my eyes; Ashton has always had a crush on me although I’m not quite sure why. I don’t think I’ve ever shown him anything to make him think that I’m interested in him. And honestly, Ashton is hot. He could get any girl he wants so I’m not quite sure why he has his sights set on me. But for as long as I’ve known him, he has never had a girlfriend and has only hit on me.

Ashton has always been my closest friend, but in the past year he seems to be trying harder to break out of the friend zone. I’m not sure why though…

I hear Ryan scoff as he says, “Beautiful? She looks like she got hit by a truck.”

Ryan laughs at his joke and I instantly feel self-conscious. Normally, I wouldn’t because it’s not abnormal for him to make that kind of joke. I just can’t help, but think:

Does he know what I was doing last night?

Do I really look that bad?

I thought that I covered everything up pretty well. I mean, nothing is out of the usual this is something I would normally wear.

Ashton responds, “Shut up, Ryan. She’s gorgeous and you know it.”

Ryan looks back at me and shrugs, “She’s like my sister I don’t view her in that kind of light. I mean, yeah, she’s an attractive girl. But she does look like a mess right now. Which thinking about it is unusual… is everything ok, Par? Normally you’re already dressed and have your hair and make-up done.”

I shrug in response, “I just got up and I’m hungry I think you can deal with my ‘morning’ look for five minutes.” Then I dramatically add, “But if I’m so hideous, I suppose I’ll hide out in my room until I am beautiful once again!”

Ryan snorts at my response while Ashton rolls his eyes. I heat up a breakfast sandwich and say, “But, seriously I’ll leave you two alone and go get ready.”

I grab out some orange juice and pour myself a glass and then grab my sandwich out of the microwave. I take a bite of my sandwich and it burns the roof of my mouth making me open my mouth in surprise.

I notice Ryan glance down at his phone with his brows furrowed. I ask with my mouth still full, “Why do you keep looking at your phone?”

Ryan’s nose crinkles up in disgust he hates when people talk with their mouths full and Ashton caught it too so he opens his mouth up to give Ryan a glimpse of all the mushed up food in his mouth.

Ryan shakes his head with a disgusted scowl across his face then looks back down at his phone and then glances up to look at me before looking at his phone again as he replies, “I haven’t heard anything from Bella yet.”

Ashton speaks up, “She’s probably still sleeping; Ryan you’re not normally awake at this time…none of us are. Besides didn’t you guys stay up late last night?”

Ryan nods softly, “Maybe I should just drive over to her house to see if she’s at home.”

I ask, “She didn’t stay here last night? She normally always stays the night on New Year’s.”

Ryan shakes his head, “I don’t think so. She wasn’t in Nikki’s room or in your room.”

Now I’m confused and I frown as I take another bite of my sandwich. I need to get away from the boys so I can talk to Tom without them knowing what happened last night. I go to leave the room when the house line begins to ring and I grab it quickly before anyone else could and say, “Hello?”

“Parker, it’s Tom.”

“What’s up?” I see both Ryan and Ashton looking at me curiously. I don’t normally pick up the house phone and right now I just hope Ryan doesn’t try to enter my mind because if he does, I’m sure to be revealed for all the stupidity from last night.

“I need you to come here.” Tom sounds nervous and that’s unusual for him. He’s like the dad in our group he typically sounds demanding not nervous.

“Just me?” I question in confusion and he confirms, “Just you.”

I hang up and look at both Ryan and Ashton who are watching me intensely. I force a smile as I shrug, “I have to get ready; looks like I’m about to be on the clock.”

They both nod in understanding because we all have gotten called like this and we have learned not to ask questions until later because the person wouldn’t have any answers.

I rush to my room and put on a pair of jeans and then a black t-shirt with a leather jacket so that I can still cover up my scar. I run to the bathroom and put my hair into a high ponytail and grab out a pair of ankle black combat boots that had studs on the toes and the heels. I tie them up quickly and look back in the mirror and snap my fingers as I look around. I grab my fingerless black leather gloves and slip them on then nod in satisfaction before running out.

******

Day 1

8:20 a.m.

Ryan:

Parker left about half an hour ago. My head is racing wondering what reason Tom could’ve needed just her. He normally doesn’t ask for her.

He excludes her from a lot because she doesn’t have any powers and honestly HQ doesn’t enjoy having normal humans around. More than anything though I wonder where Bella and Nikki could be?

What does Tom know?

What isn’t he telling me?

Why isn’t he telling me?

I groan in frustration and I rub my temples as I feel the headache coming on from all of this over thinking and Ashton looks over at me and I can see in his eyes that he feels sorry for me and he suggests, “Ry, why don’t you go take a nap? I bet we’ll be called out for a mission soon and you need to get some rest.”

I nod in agreement and drag myself back to my room. I run into Travis on the way up the stairs and he asks me frantically, “Have you seen Lorelei?”

“No?” I answer curiously. She’s missing too… why are 3 of our girls missing?

He groans as he runs a hand through his hair and says, “She’s not answering her phone, she wasn’t in Nikki’s room, do you think she’s in Parker’s room?”

“No, I don’t think so. Parker left because Thomas called her in and Bella and Nikki are both gone as well.”

Travis’ eyes look enraged and it almost sounded like he let out a growl as he gets up in my face and says, “So help me, Ryan, if your sister is the cause of all this and Lorelei gets hurt I will kill you both.”

He pushes me out of his way and I watch as he leaves.

Travis has never really fit in well with our group.

So, our group is: Thomas…well Tom and his wife Emma they were like our parents, but they aren’t our parents. We were all either orphans or were abandoned when our parents recognized our abilities.

None of us were related to Tom except for his fraternal twin Jasper who also helped to take care of us. Jasper and his wife Ava weren’t around as often so we all viewed them more like the cool uncle and aunt.

First, there was Ashton he’s the one that’s been living with them the longest he’s been around hoping in and out of Originals houses since he was 8 and then finally settled in with Thomas and Emma around the time he was 12. None of us really know what happened to him to get him living here. I’m sure Tom, Emma, Jasper, and Ava know, but no one else does.

After Ashton they took in Nikki and me. I was 13 and she was 11 when they took us in. We were abandoned by our parents because they saw Nikki’s powers. Nikki was very young when she got her powers, most of us don’t get them until we are 13 or older. She has many powers and is the most powerful person you could meet.

Then there was Parker. She was adopted and she was the only one of us that has no abilities. She had caught Nikki using her powers and eventually found out about each one of us. Tom decided to just adopt her so there was less chance of her ever spilling our secret.

Travis was the last one to be added to the group at home. He was sixteen by the time he got added and has only been here for a couple of years. Something just has always seemed off to me.

Lorelei is Travis’ girlfriend and Bella is mine. They both have powers as well, but they don’t live here with us. They live in a small cottage about five miles down the road. They automatically became a part of our group because they were dating us.

We got along very well with Travis’ girlfriend Lorelei, but something about Travis has never set right. He has anger issues and anytime something happens that he doesn’t like he explodes. I think I should talk to Tom and Jasper soon about seeing if he could be relocated. I’m beginning to get concerned that somebody will actually get hurt with him.

I shake my head as I go to my room. I’m sure he wouldn’t actually hurt any of us. He’s just beginning to get more intense and that makes me uneasy.

I lie on my bed wishing that my racing thoughts would go away. Everything is going to be ok. It has to be.

After what feels like only a few minutes I hear my door open. I lift my head and see Ashton walk towards me and he asks, “Can’t sleep?”

“I’ve only been gone like five minutes, Ashton, it takes time.” I answer in frustration.

He gives me a puzzled look and says, “Ryan, you’ve been gone for an hour. Come on, shut your brain off. You have powers when it comes to the mind, I’m sure you could force yourself to settle down.”

My eyebrows furrow as I think about what he just said. I mean… he’s not wrong. I’ve just never tried to use my powers on myself before so I’m not quite sure how that would all work.  

He sits beside me and says, “Or how about you try putting your thoughts into my head?”

My nose scrunches up at the idea of letting someone else know my thoughts, but honestly nothing was wrong with Ashton knowing. He is my best friend and is the closest thing I have to a brother. And I don’t think my thoughts would overwhelm him as much as it is me. I ask, “Are you sure?”

He smiles, “Yeah, go ahead, bud.”

I sit up and put my hand on his head with my thumb pressing down on a pressure point between his eyebrows. I close my eyes as I focus on the thoughts leaving my mind and entering Ashton’s mind. I feel sweat start to form on my forehead, but slowly I feel a weight being lifted from my shoulders. I smile softly from the relief because I didn’t realize how tense I was about all of this.

I let go of him and sigh and he looks at me, “Feeling better?”

I nod, “Yeah, a lot. Are you okay though? I haven’t done that before.”

“Yeah, Ryan, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, now get some rest while you still can.”

He gets up to leave my room and I call out, “Hey, Ashton?”

He looks back at me and I say, “Thanks.”

He smiles as he shrugs, “What are best friends for?”

I chuckle as my door closes and I lay my head on my pillow and instantly fall asleep.