Blue Violet

chapter 6



Alex tried his best to keep his mind off the girl he’d met today. Ellie…cute name…what was that short for? He remembered as she’d walk away in the parking lot, he’d felt like he’d just been punched in the gut. That sensation had lingered, bothering him for the rest of the afternoon. He was not interested in high school girls. Not even when he was in high school. But when he’d looked up and his gaze had connected with hers, he’d felt a connection. A strong one.

Alex rolled his shoulders and forced the girl from his mind. He’d come home for a specific reason. And it wasn’t to crush on one of his younger sisters’ friends, no matter how adorable she was.

After Ellie had walked away, he’d ushered his siblings over to their car. “Did I hear something about a study session? You might need to cancel that, Delia. This week at least.”

“I figured there was a reason you’re here,” Adelaide replied.

“Yeah, what’s up, Alex? You’re supposed to be off at college,” Nate added.

“Your mom called. She’s having one of her feelings again.” Alex locked his eyes on Adelaide.

All three frowned at this news. Lila and Adelaide’s mother, Lucy, had the ability to sense others’ emotions and intentions. Sometimes this translated to an intuition of something coming. She could feel if it was negative or positive. And almost always it related to her family in some way. Lucy herself didn’t claim this as part of her powers. She thought of it more as mother’s or women’s intuition. Either way, they’d all learned to take her premonitions seriously.

“Did she say what the feeling was?” Lila asked. She tossed her backpack in the trunk of Nate’s car.

“No, she just asked me to come home. And when I got there, she sent me here to make sure you three came straight back after school.”

“Well, let’s go find out what this is about,” Nate said, and they all loaded up in their cars.

Adelaide and Lila beat him back to the house. As he walked in the door, he heard Adelaide on the phone.

“I’m sorry we have to flake on you, Ellie,” she was saying. “But with Alex home from college, we’ll be doing family stuff most of the week...”

Alex tamped down on his unusual curiosity about the girl he’d met today and went into the living room where the others were gathered. He greeted everyone he hadn’t seen yet with warm hugs.

“What’d you tell her?” Nate asked, as Adelaide sat beside him on the floor and took his hand.

“That with Alex home, we decided to have some family time,” she replied with a shrug.

Nate nodded. “Not bad. About as truthful as you could be.”

“Mmm…yeah.” she agreed. “You know I don’t like lying.” She paused for a moment, her expression thoughtful. “Besides, I have get the impression that she sees a lot more than she lets on.”

“Who are you talking about?” Lucy walked into the room, followed by Hugh. They headed straight to Alex to give him warm hugs.

“Oh, this girl Adelaide met at school,” Lila answered. “New girl. Her name is Ellie, and today was her first day. Lila walked right up to her in the lunch room.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows as she took a seat on the couch. “You don’t think she suspects anything?” she asked with a concerned frown.

“How could she? She’s only known us one day,” Nate said.

Lucy’s frown didn’t let up.

“Do you think your feeling has something to do with this girl?” Hugh asked quietly. He rested one hand on his wife’s leg in an attempt to soothe her.

“I don’t know…” Lucy glanced around the room at the faces she loved so much. “It’s different this time. Almost like I’m getting two separate signals.”

“Are they centered on a specific person?” Hugh prodded.

“No, I…” Lucy shook her head, visibly frustrated. “Part is good.” She looked up at Alex. “Like what I picked up on just before we found you. And that part seems to be very strong. But even stronger is this sense of dread. Something bad is coming. I feel like we’re all in danger. That’s why I asked you to come home, Alex. I think we need to protect ourselves, and the best way I can think of to do that is by being together.”

The room fell silent.

“Do you think you should meet Ellie right away?” Alex asked his adoptive mother. He shifted to prop his ankle on his knee.

Lucy shook her head. “No. I think if she was like us, it would’ve been pretty obvious to you guys. Or she might have said something. There’re not many of us around. I think she’d be too surprised to find three together— let alone nine —not to say anything.” She turned to her daughter. “Delia? Did you see anything?”

Adelaide shrugged. “I saw some relationships between her and a few of us, but nothing I’m worried about.” She didn’t like to share what she saw about developing or future relationships. She tended to get a little apprehensive that she would influence the people involved and affect what could have been.

The others all nodded. Alex quietly blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and squashed that small kernel of hope that had irrationally popped up. He thought, Dang. If she had powers then maybe… But Lucy was right. If she was of their kind, she’d have come forward.

Hugh leaned forward, absently tapping his glass. “I think our only option at this point is to stick together and keep our eyes open. Alex, we’ll need you to stay home for a while.”

Alex nodded his agreement and saw Ramsey do the same across the room. In truth, he often felt a little homesick while he was away at college. He’d become used to having a family around him, despite the years he’d spent alone. After his grandfather had passed away in 1917, leaving Alex without any remaining living relatives, he’d wandered for years. So now secretly, he was pleased with this chance to be home.

Alex and the rest of the family failed to see the large, oddly colored golden falcon perched high in the trees just outside the house.