The Exclusive One

Chapter 9

Day 6.

8:30 a.m.

Parker:

Today is the day.

I’m supposed to get my powers today. I’m nervous. Everyone didn’t want to tell me the details of what would occur because it is so painful.

I’m not looking forward to that part, but I am looking forward to getting my powers. I can’t help but wonder what I will get.

I went looking around Nikki’s room yesterday searching for more journals or clues and I found a couple that no one else knew about. She talks about her powers briefly in the journals, but it never says how many she had.

After breakfast I went back to my room and Tom reminded me to keep my phone near me so I can call someone as soon as I start getting any signs of receiving powers. I asked him what I should be looking for and he just said that I’ll know it when I feel it.

I rolled my eyes at that remark. It’s the same thing as when a woman asks how she will know if she’s going into labor. “you’ll just know” it’s what everyone says, and it is USELESS!

I fall asleep quickly when I lie down. After a couple of hours, I wake up and something doesn’t feel right. I shake my head- it’s just a stomachache I’m sure I’ll feel better if I take a shower. I turn on the water and wait until I see the steam fogging up the mirrors and I step in. I scrub my hair and try to think of something other than this weird sensation going throughout my body. I rinse my hair out and step out of my shower and wrap myself tightly in my towel as I blow dry my hair.

I wince as I start to feel the pain more in my abdominal area and I move slowly towards the bed. I think it would be best for me to go to bed as soon as I get into my pajamas. I stumble into my bedroom and suddenly feel lightheaded as I fall to the ground. Black spots blur my vision as I blink my eyes in an effort to see again. I feel an indescribable pain surge through my body, and I can’t hold back the scream that is so loud it burns the back of my throat.

I don’t hear Ryan when he rushes to my side calling my name, I don’t notice that he is carrying me into another room, I don’t feel the tears flowing freely down my face, I don’t even realize that I am starting to hyperventilate. All I know is that I have never felt such pain in my life.

I’ve passed out in the past and I always hated it and I would never want to pass out, but right now I crave that more than anything. I feel like I am being burned from the inside out. I vaguely remember trying to figure what was wrong with me, but I don’t know if I just thought that or if I asked it. If I asked it then I don’t remember hearing anybody answering me or if anybody was even there when I asked. I remember screaming for the pain to stop when the pain went to my head making me feel like it is about to explode. The pain in my head is worse than the pain that is in my abdomen.

I don’t realize that I am about to throw up until it starts coming out of my mouth.

The pain is intolerable. I can’t move as I uncontrollably vomit.

Someone came up from behind me and slides their hands underneath my arms and lifts me up as they carry me to the bathroom. Someone pulls my hair back and opens up the toilet for me and I sit there with my head on the side of the toilet ready to throw up whenever the urge comes. Eventually I am dry heaving and I go in and out of consciousness. I feel myself fall to the ground harshly and I wonder how or when I was even in the air. I move my head from side to side unable to remain still with this pain and my arms are spread out with my palms facing upward and a ball of fire hovers over my right palm and a ball of water that is halfway frozen and the other half still liquid hovering over my left palm. My eyebrows furrow in confusion and I move my palms to where they are now making fists and the fire and water disappear. I feel pain scorch through my body as I scream again and that is the last thing I remember before everything goes black again.

 ******

Day 6

10:16 a.m.

Ryan:

After breakfast everybody goes back to doing their own thing, so I go to the basement to work out. I keep hitting the punching bag as hard as I can. I feel a lot of frustration over us still not finding the girls.  

I feel some of my anger finally getting out as I hit the bag over and over again. I sigh and look at my knuckles which are starting to bleed. I walk up the stairs while wiping the sweat off my face and I’m about to walk into the kitchen when I hear a scream. I’m not sure if I imagined it though it was a very faint sound.

I stand still for a moment trying to figure if I’m imagining it or not. I hear another scream and I run in the direction of where the scream was at. I open up Parker’s door and see her on the ground writhing in pain. I run to her calling her name, but she doesn’t seem to notice me through her pain.

I pick her up and she tries to fight me as I carry her down to the basement while alerting all of the boys through their minds saying: Parker’s getting her powers. I’m bringing her to the basement.

I set Parker down on the ground and flinch at the sound of her screams as her body starts to convulse.

I wish that there was something that I could do to ease her pain, but for right now all I can do is hope she won’t die from this.

Her facial expressions begin to bring flashbacks to my sister.

I rub my hand up and down her arm as I mutter, “You’re going to be ok, Parker. I promise you; you’ll be ok. You have to be.”

I can’t lose her too.

She looks at me as if she just recognized I was there and gasps for air as she stutters, “Wh-what’s ha-ha-happening to-o m-e-e?”

“You’re getting your powers, Par.” I answer her as I pull her hair away from her face. She screams and tears run fast down her cheeks. She shakes her head as she wails, “Make it stop! Make it stop!”

I shake my head as I keep running my fingers through her hair and I tell her, “You’re going to be fine, Par. You can get through this.”

She starts to scream louder than before and attempts to get in the fetal position but doesn’t seem to have enough strength to move as much as she’d like to. I watch as I see her eyes roll back to her head. I refuse to leave her. I hear the footsteps of the boys coming in the room and I noticed Emma right behind them. She yells for them to move and she sits on the other side of Parker as she puts a blood pressure cuff on her and a finger heart rate monitor. Her heart rate is already in the 120’s. Emma glances at Parker’s face and I notice the sweat pouring down her forehead and Emma says, “Someone get a cold wet rag and bring a bucket of cold water.”

I glance up and see Ashton running as fast as he can to get what Emma asked for. I start to look back down at Parker when Emma and I make eye contact. I can see the fear in her eyes that she’s refusing to admit out loud. The blood pressure monitor beeps and she makes it aim in a way that no one else, but her could read. A frown is across her face, but it’s been that way this whole time.

I’m tempted to get into her head, but I try to trust in her and that if it was a real emergency, she would tell us what’s going on. And if I try to get into her head it may actually distract her from Parker and that’s the worst thing right now.

I hear the door slam indicating that Ashton is back, and I feel Parker’s body begin to shake uncontrollably in my arms. Slowly her body begins to levitate and lifts in the air until she touches the ceiling and is completely out of everybody’s reach. We all look back and forth between one another and Ava asks in a fearful tone, “Guys, is this supposed to happen? Did Nikki ever do this?”

Jasper and Thomas answer at the same time, “No.”

The room is thick with fear and suddenly Parker’s body falls to the floor. There was no time to react and I cringe when I heard the sound of a c***k.

I sit back beside her and look at her face and suddenly her eyes snap open staring me in the eyes for a brief moment before she starts throwing up on me. I force myself not to puke as Ashton puts his arms underneath her armpits and drags her to the bathroom down here. He opens the door and sets her by the toilet. Ava runs behind him and pulls Parker’s hair back.

Jasper immediately helps me clean up as I strip down to my boxers and we clean up my face. Thomas says, “You know her being in the bathroom may be the best place for her.”

Emma nods in agreement, “You’re right especially since we don’t know what she’s going to end up doing the more contained she is the less likely she will get hurt or accidentally destroy a room.”

Ashton comes back out of the bathroom and said, “Ava thinks we should take turns on watching her and insists on having the first watch.”

Everyone nods in agreement and Thomas says, “I’m going to talk to her for a moment everyone go and rest up for your shift watching her.”

I follow Ashton out of the basement and we both make eye contact. We are both fearful of what can happen to her.

We breathe heavily and then go up to my room and sit there together in silence trying to rest and relax knowing the other one is there for support. 

****** 

 Day 7.

2:00 a.m.

Parker:

I wake up again.

It’s probably the tenth time I’ve woken up. Normally I immediately start dry heaving or screaming in pain, but this time is different. I feel as if I’ve been reborn.

I look around the room and see I’m in the bathroom in the basement. I push myself to stand up and I don’t feel dizzy or like I need to vomit. I take a few cautious steps; scared that I might fall again. I’m in shock to see that I can hold my own weight.  

I look in the full-length mirror and wonder who put my hair up in a ponytail and I wonder who changed my clothes to a sports bra and shorts. I start to blush at the thought of it being one of the boys.

I know most likely it was one of the boys I’m hoping it wasn’t Ryan or Ashton. I don’t want it to be Ashton because I know that we are starting a relationship and I don’t want the first time him seeing me naked be because he’s having to change my vomit covered clothing.

And I don’t want it to be Ryan because he can be a total p*****t sometimes and he is like a brother to me.

I look back at my reflection and see dark purple, yellow, and green colored bruises on my legs and a couple of bruises on my arms along with the one that is still scabbed over from a few days ago. I furrow my eyebrows wondering how the rest of the injuries happened. I pull the poorly done ponytail out and quickly braid it and look at my reflection to see if my face took a beating as well and I’m relieved to see it didn’t. Though, I do look like a mess: my hair is oily and there are dark circles underneath my eyes and overall, I look exhausted as if I’ve had the life sucked out of me.

I hesitantly walk out of the bathroom and look around the room and with each step I take I feel like I am getting stronger. The thought makes me happy; maybe I finally have powers and I am like the rest of them.

I’m an Original.

The thought of that makes me excited and giddy- I never thought I’d actually be one of them!

I see some clothes laying for me on the couch and I grab them and put the sweatpants on over my shorts and one of the boy’s t-shirts and put it on over my sports bra. I look around the room wondering what I’ll be able to do with these powers. I walk to the stairwell thinking that I better go tell the boys that I am okay.

When I get to the first floor, I go to the kitchen first and grab a Gatorade out of the fridge. I’m sure that I’m dehydrated from how much I was sweating and throwing up. Nobody’s in here and I don’t even know what time it is. I walk towards the living room and it’s empty as well.

I contemplate if I should go wake someone or if I should go to my room and go to bed.

I’m not tired though, I feel energized from finally receiving my powers and I want to test them out.

I’m sure that the others would be mad at me for doing this without them, but honestly, I feel like they would cloud my thoughts too much and make it more difficult to concentrate on trying to figure this out. I remember seeing the water and fire during the haze of me getting my powers, so I decide to try to use one of those first.

I turn on the water in the sink and I focus on it. I’m surprised whenever I’m able to stop it from running instantly and I’m hesitantly bringing a small stream of water towards me.

I smile as I do this. It feels so natural and like it’s a part of me. I close my eyes as I continue to move my fingers, hands, and arms in a random dance-like movement. Just moving the way that it feels natural.

The water follows whichever way I move my hands and I’m startled when I hear, “Whoa.”

I drop my hands and immediately the water falls with a lot of it landing on Ryan’s head. I laugh instantly seeing his pout from getting wet.

He shakes his head and I laugh as some of the water droplets get on me, but when I lift my hand it quit. I smile brightly and he mutters, “Show off.”

I laugh again and say, “Here let me try something.”

I lift my hand up focusing on getting every droplet off of him and all the little drops get in the air and I wave my hand towards the drain and when I drop my hand it falls into the sink.

I turn towards Ryan smiling proudly about my achievement and he asks, “So, how long have you been practicing?”

I shrug, “I don’t know, maybe five minutes?”

He looks at me with wide eyes and says, “Stay here.”

He runs off and I listen as he runs to each door throughout the house banging on it and yelling for everyone to come downstairs. I’m surprised he didn’t just get into everyone’s minds to wake them up and make them come down, but maybe he just didn’t think of it.

I lean against the counter as I wait for everyone to come down.