“Fine. You know the procedure,” I watch as Paylon pulls out a small container that conceals a purple potion. Alexander walks forward and falls to his knees, letting his head hang back with his mouth open. Paylon removes the cap and an eerie purple mist floats out.
I can’t let this happen. I scan the clearing confirming that they still haven’t found the horses, which means they don’t have their weapons. I act quickly, and just as the first drop is about to be poured I fling the bottle out of Paylon’s hand, smashing it into a tree. I blink hard not sure what I just did. I’m starting to feel as though this gift controls me more than I control it.
Codian and Chadian whip around in confusion. In seconds Paylon flips out a long knife he had concealed on his belt and slices it across Alexander’s leg. Alexander screams and falls to his side, red blood running from his thigh I try to freeze Paylon, but it’s no use. I see the glowing green rock around his neck and I know I won’t be able to stop him.
Alexander sees me through the trees, but relief is not on his face. Instead of staying to fight I clench my eyes shut and try to teleport Alexander back to our camp. I remember the night in the castle with the coin. I focus hard and picture him lying back in the clearing by the bunker.
“Where’d he go?” I hear Codian yell and when I open my eyes I see that it worked. I scan the clearing looking for Toby, but he’s not here. Paylon’s gold eyes see me through the cluster of trees and I feel the blood leave my face. He races toward me, and my adrenalin builds. I close my eyes and just like I teleported Alexander, I also send myself back to our camp.
When I open my eyes I’m back at the campsite. Alexander is sitting next to me. His hands are pressed against his thigh, and I can see a distant and painful look on his face. At first, I’m confused, but then I realize the blood seeping through his fingers and running down his leg.
Out of instinct, I run over to him. I place my hands over his, but he shakes me away, “No! Adaline, you can’t help! I don’t want your help!” Tears start slipping through his tightly closed eyelids.
I ignore him and place my hands over his. Before he can push me away I make him freeze with my mind. It feels wrong to use my gift against him. Suddenly I feel the warm blood start flowing through my fingers. I need to move fast, even though I’m not sure what exactly I need to do. I move his hands and see the slash down his left thigh where Paylon had cut him. He’s going to need stitches. I rip his backpack from his shoulders and take out the first aid kit.
My hands start shaking as I dig through the kit. I grab the needle and nylon thread I had seen earlier. I grab my water bottle and try to twist off the cap but my hands won’t stop shaking. I take in a deep breath and my hands fall still. I twist off the cap and pour water over the needle and thread to try and clean them. Then, I pour what I have left on Alexander’s leg. His red blood washes down into the ground. I attach the needle to the thread and position myself above his leg.
I try to remember back to the night my mother gave me stitches. I had fallen and busted my arm open on a rock on my way home from Alexander’s. My family couldn’t afford to go see a doctor so my mother sat me down in the bathroom and gave me stitches.
“I’m going to squeeze now and it’s going to hurt but you can’t pull away Adaline, okay?” my mother had said to me. I sat on the chair in the bathroom while my mother knelt next to me. I shook my head and agreed. She squeezed the spot on my arm and I remember screaming really loud. “It’s okay, Adaline. I’m sewing it shut now, don’t look and don’t move.”
I clenched my eyes closed and felt the cool needle pierce my arm and weave itself in and out. When my mother finished she told me I could open my eyes. I did and watched her tie off the end of the stitching thread. She handed me a small blue pill for pain, but I remember it didn’t seem to do much. We never got to take medicine since it was too expensive. That was one of the only times I ever did.
I look down at Alexander’s thigh. I take my left hand and squeeze the wound together. Then, with my right, I send the needle through the bottom of the cut and out the top. I pull the thread through and then send the needle back through his skin. I do this until I’ve made my way down the gash and then work my way back, making sure to cross the stitches so they make a little “x”. Just like my mother had done with me. When I get back to the end I started at I tie off the stitching thread and cut the extra away with the small pocket knife from Alexander’s bag. I unfreeze Alexander and he lets out a scream of pain. He looks at his leg in disbelief. My hands are stained with his blood. I take his water bottle and pour it on the needle to clean it.
“Look, Alexander, there’s something I need to tell you,” I pause, waiting for him to ask me to continue, but he doesn’t. He just looks at
