The Curse Of Spring (Book Two of The Seasons Trilogy)

Chapter 19

Harley

Jay was drunk. I could tell by the way he answered the phone, the slight slurr of his words as he told me to "just stay safe" and that he'd see me the next day. I guess his five year sobriety chip was well and truly down the toilet.

I plonked down in Emily's high backed office chair and rested my head in my hands, struggling to keep myself together. Too much was happening at once, too many life changes. I'd come to learn that I sucked when it came to processing and handling change - and the person I usually would have gone to to discuss all this stuff was drowning his own chaos in a bottle of spirits.

I guessed I could have called Tanner, but Tanner would want to help me by getting involved and that could only ever end in disaster. He was too impulsive and would definitely land me in some sort of trouble.

I sighed and stared at the hideous doll on Emily's desk, it's large vacant eyes mocking me.

"If only you knew half of the s**t I've been through in the last few days, maybe you'd be able to guide me" I said to the doll with a sigh.

I breathed in deeply before I stood up and went back to the office door, Emily's laughter greeting me as I opened it.

"Did you manage to get hold of Jay?" Cole asked as I approached the table, throwing Emily a warning look.

I sunk back into the chair, "Yeah, I did. He's drunk again, and I don't know how much longer it will be before he completely falls off the sobriety wagon. I'm going to have to call his sponsor when we get back."

Emily shook her head sadly and reached across the table to take my hand in hers, squeezing it gently. Silence stretched out between us but I could feel a strange connection to her, like this was something she had done a thousand times.

"Go and have a hot shower, it will help you," she told me, her voice gentle and soothing.

I nodded and stood, thanking the ladies for the dinner before I headed back to the room Cole and I were sharing. Pulling a Guns and Roses t- shirt which had clearly belonged to a young Wynter out of the cupboard before I stepped into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

Steam filled the bathroom and seemed to wrap around me as I took off my borrowed clothes. The water was heavenly, beating against my skin before it trickled down my body and disappeared down the drain, taking all of my frustration and anger away with it.

I heard the door to the bedroom open and shut, Cole whistling a familiar tune as he entered. My mind went astray to the intimate moment we had shared a few hours back, the pure magic that seemed to pulse between our two bodies was undeniable. Even if I didn't entirely believe that we were soulmates, there was no getting away from the connection we had.

I closed my eyes as my mind got lost in the way his lips felt on mine, the way his hands moved over my body. It was almost magical. I felt water pooling at my feet and I sighed. Thinking that the face cloth that had hung on a hook on the shower wall had fallen and was blocking the drain, I looked down.

And screamed.

Water was circling around my feet, creating a little water tornado as I stood in the eye of the swirling water.

“What the f**k!” I heard my own voice shout as I stumbled backward, breaking through the water tornado and causing it to crumble, the water suddenly rushing towards the drain.

“What?” Cole asked, a concerned look on his face as he burst through the door.

“Water. Tornado, there was a tornado,” I stammered, my brain struggling to form a coherent sentence.

He looked at me before he looked down at the floor of the shower before a slow grin spread across his face.

“You did it? You manipulated the water?”

I opened and closed my mouth, no doubtedly looking like a demented guppy, no sound passing my lips.

“Yeah… I… I think I did,” I finally managed to get out, my entire body suddenly shivering.

Cole slid open the shower door and turned the water off, grabbing a towel off the cabinet where I had left it before he wrapped it around me and guided me out of the shower and into the bedroom. He slipped a t-shirt over my head, his eyes never leaving mine, a strange blue light dancing within their depths. He then pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me.

“It's OK to be a bit stunned,” he said gently, smoothing my damp hair away from my face.

“It happened, Cole. I have powers… I have no clue how I did it, but I made the water swirl around like it was a tornado,” I sounded as if I were in a trance.

He smiled at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling before he kissed my forehead.

“You did it, babe. You did it.”

With that, he tucked us both into bed, although I'd be lying if I said I slept a wink that night. Instead, I lay in Cole's arms as my brain raced, replaying what had happened in the shower a million times.

The reality of the presence of my powers only hit me as I watched the sun slowly break over the horizon. Cole and Alana would expect me to fight alongside them. That unsettled me. I wasn't a fighter… I mean, I could throw a punch with the best of them but I could never purposefully hurt some poor soldier who was just following orders. And that's most likely what would happen.

Darn!

Cole woke up, yawned and stretched before he said that he was going to help Emily in the kitchen. I watched his cheery form practically dance through the door before I closed my eyes, hoping to reduce the headache which seemed to be pummelling my retinas.

Moments later, or so it seemed, Cole was shaking me awake gently.

“Harley, we've got to get going if we're going to make it back to Jay's house this afternoon,” he half whispered.

I groaned and dragged the pillow over my head only to have it pulled away as Cole chuckled.

“Nooooo…” I moaned, flipping onto my stomach and burying my face in another pillow.

He leant over and yanked the duvet off of me before he spanked my backside.

“Do you really want to leave Jay alone for another night?” Cole asked seriously.

I sighed and dragged myself from the bed, dressing quickly in my own clothes - Emily having washed and dried them for me without me even requesting it. You could tell she was used to being the mother of many children, always anticipating others' needs.

I followed Cole downstairs to the kitchen where Emily was helping a little boy with some mathematics sums at the kitchen table.

“Good morning, Apr - Harley,” she corrected herself with a faint blush. “old habits die hard.”

She gestured to the pile of pancakes in the centre of the table, and Cole snatched one up, rolling it up and taking a bite.

“You're the best, Em,” he grinned.

“Those were for Harley. Didn't you have enough earlier when we were making them for the children?” Emily chastised, her hands on her hips.

Cole trod over to her and kissed her cheek loudly. “You know I can never get enough of your cooking.”

She rolled her eyes and looked at me muttering, “bottomless pit, this one.”

I had to smile at their interaction. It was so… normal. Like we were actually sitting in some suburban home with Cole's mother instead of an orphanage. Although, I guess Emily is the only mother Cole actually knew and she really did think of him as a son, that much was evident.

After a brief breakfast, Emily walked us to the garage where our bikes stood. I looked back at the monolithic four story building, its cracking white paint and the patched up window on the second floor making it look incredibly run down.

Cole was obviously thinking the same thing because he pulled Emily into his arms for a massive bear hug before he said, “I'll transfer money into the account as soon as I get to an Internet café.”

Emily smiled and patted him on the cheek softly, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

“Thank you, Wynter. And please call Alana, she needs to know that you found April - I mean Harley.” She turned to me apologetically, “it's going to take me time to get used to the name change.”

She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a squeeze, the tears she had held back running down her cheeks.

“I'm so glad that you're safe, and that you and Wynter are back together again,” she blubbered into my ear, her tears splashing against my neck.

I squeezed her back and caved into the urge to kiss her cheek just like Cole had done a hundred times since we'd arrived.

“Thank you, Emily. For everything.”

With one last hug and kiss goodbye, we climbed on our bikes and rode down the long, tree lined driveway.

It was time to return to Jay… and to hunt down his sponsor.