the area where Ellyssa’s scent had disappeared into the stream. While studying the chart, she listed all the small towns on a piece of paper.
When she was done, she reluctantly pulled out her cell phone to call the doctor. He wouldn’t be pleased with the lack of progress.
Flipping the phone shut, Dr. Hirch opened the door to the lab. He controlled his outward appearance, but deep down, he was worried about the whole situation. Ellyssa had gotten farther than he’d expected.
“Report your progress,” he said to the assistant. He managed to keep his voice smooth and steady.
“Almost done,” Leland answered while he finished applying the adhesive to Aalexis’ temple, where he would connect the next electrode.
Dr. Hirch’s youngest daughter sat unmoving, waiting. Her blond hair was slicked back and pulled into a ponytail. Rows of platinum curls cascaded down her back where the hair escaped the confines of the elastic band. Except for the ringlets, thinner lips, and the defined chin, she looked almost identical to Ellyssa when she was thirteen.
When the doctor entered, Aalexis regarded the doctor for a brief second, expressing no real interest in him and appearing docile. He knew better, though. The young girl was extremely intelligent…and dangerous if the situation called for it. She soaked in her surroundings, mentally preparing for all scenarios. Plus, his daughter’s growing ability to control her power was moving remarkably ahead of schedule.
Holding onto the thin black cables of the electrodes, Leland turned toward the doctor. “Any news?”
“Yes. They picked up her trail, but lost it,” George replied, while checking the green spikes moving across the monitor’s screen in rhythmic patterns. No rise, no sputter, just sixty BPM, as always. The only time there was ever a slight increase was during periods of extreme physical exertion.
Leland cocked an eyebrow. “Oh.”
Dr. Hirch penciled the number down on the chart marked Subject 74. “Ellyssa made it to water. Angela has the dogs working on it now.”
“Your detective will fail,” said Aalexis, her tone matching her expressionless face.
George turned toward his daughter, but the young girl said nothing else. She stared at the doctor with cold eyes.
He ignored her statement. “How are you feeling today?”
“Fine. Thank you,” she answered, without inflection.
“Good,” he said, checking the connections before returning his attention to Leland. The younger man was situated at his desk, positioning his computer monitor. “Are you ready?”
“Almost. I’ve finished the new programming. We should have a better read on the electrical output.”
“Good.” He smiled at Aalexis. “And, are you ready?”
“Of course.”
He walked over to the set of square steel weights and pointed at the five kilogram. “Move it,” he instructed.
Aalexis’ smooth forehead bunched, then relaxed as the monitor beeped at the slight increase in her pulse before returning to normal. The weight lifted off the ground and danced in the air.
“Place it on top of the other one,” George said, pointing across the room.
Following the weight with her eyes as if guiding it with her sight, Aalexis moved the weight without effort and stacked it on top of the other, aligning the sides perfectly.
George never ceased to be amazed, no matter how many times he’d seen her perform the feat. Concealing his emotions, he glanced at Leland. His assistant stared at Aalexis with his jaw hanging open.
“Leland.”
The younger man nodded and checked the monitor. “Same as before. Most of the activity is in the frontal and parietal lobe, and there is activity in the occipital lobe as she moves the object from place to place.”
George directed his attention back at his subject. “Now try the twenty-five.”
The heavier weight moved just as effortlessly to the side of the room, as if feather-light. Aalexis stacked it on top of the others.
“Any changes?”
“No. Same brain waves. Same activity. Of course, the neurological firing is off the charts for a normal human. Not for her, of course.”
“Very intriguing.”
“Why so,
George broke his gaze off the recently placed weight and onto his daughter. Frowning, he said, “Your skill is growing beyond what was expected.”
Aalexis held the doctor’s gaze. “You let the physics of your known world cloud your judgment. Once you understand the atoms, how they move, how they hum in sequence, what charges them, you would understand.”
Without so much as a flinch of her porcelain-smooth face, the twenty-five kilogram weight lifted off the ground, followed by the five kilogram. A stapler from his desk and his notebook joined in the eerie dance. They floated weightlessly in the air, hovering in space. “There is no weight or gravity to hold down the influences of your mind.”
George stood transfixed; his composure melted, unable to stop gawking until a gasp from Leland grabbed his attention. He glanced at his young assistant, who was standing next to the floating chair he’d recently occupied.
Shaken and dumbfounded, he turned toward the little girl. Aalexis sat, expressionless, her eyes turned toward him. She had never displayed her abilities like this before. He looked away from her and closed his eyes to reestablish his self-control. “Aalexis, enough.”
“As you wish,
With a forced calm, he went to the girl and removed the attachments, gathering them in his hands. “Your talent is most awe-inspiring,” he said, his voice holding steady.
“Are you pleased,
Stunned she’d asked such a question, and with such intonation, his gaze flicked to her face. Her eyes still held indifference.
“I am,” he said, a bit hesitantly. “It seems you have been practicing outside of the lab.”
Aalexis’ expression didn’t change.
“We are done for the day. Return to your room.”
Without a word, Aalexis stood and left, the door closing behind her.
George faced Leland, who stared at the door, his lips moving.
“Leland!” the doctor snapped, breaking him from his trance.
The assistant tore his gaze from the door, amazement filling his features. “Did you see that?”
“Of course,” the doctor said as he pointed to the desk where paper draped over the side. “What does the printout say?”
Leland ripped the long sheet from its feed and sat in the previously floating chair. He quickly scanned the readout, marking it at certain segments. After a couple of minutes, he said, “There are no changes in physiological data for the most part. Minor fluxes during the initial movement.” He looked back at the doctor.
George nodded. “As I suspected.”
“As you suspected?”
“Yes, Leland. Don’t you see? No, I suppose you don’t,” he said, with a slight shake of his head. “She has transcended the scope of the physical.”
With a feeling of sudden danger, Ellyssa’s eyes fluttered open to a world washed with blinding white light. She lifted her head off the rock and looked into the sky. The sun had drifted well past the noon position.
Despite the afternoon heat, Ellyssa’s body shuddered, as if submerged in ice water. Like before, the warmth grazed her skin, but didn’t penetrate. All she wanted to do was curl into a tight little ball. If not for the sound of the water, she would’ve done so. A fire ignited in her throat, demanding to be quenched.
Ellyssa dragged her knees underneath her and pushed herself up onto her hands. Dizziness swam through
