Finding ELE (ELE Series #2) Written By: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels (16 page)

"Willow! Oh my gosh, Willow!" Alec comes
running towards me.

"Willow!" Connor yells out and follows on
Alec's heels.

Tony drops my hand and I bound towards them
meeting them more than half way with my speed. "Alec! Connor!" I
cry out in relief.

Alec pulls me into his arms and I crush my
head into his chest, careful not to crush him with my newfound
strength. Tears of joy start falling freely, soaking his grey
t-shirt that he must have gotten from the survivor camp.

Connor puts his hand on my arm showing his
relief in a less physical way. "We've been so scared Willow! We
couldn't find you anywhere."

Alec pulls me back enough to look at me. He
notices my eyes but doesn't act freaked out or anything. I feel
nothing but relief and love pouring out of his emotions. "I
thought..." His voice cracks and he throws his hand through his
black hair. "I thought something horrible happened to you. I
couldn't imagine what I would do Willow. I...." He pulls me into
his arms again crushing me to where I could barely breathe. I don't
care though, being in his arms feels so good and right. He kisses
the top of my head.

"I'm okay Alec. I'm safe you see?" I tell
him. I can sense the fear he felt.

He pulls me back again to look at me. "Yes,
I see." With both his hands he brushes back my hair from my face.
His hands land softly on my cheeks and he lifts my head up to his.
The butterflies dance in my stomach as his lips reach mine. He
kisses me gently at first and then it turns into a passionate,
hungry kiss.

I stiffen when a feeling of embarrassment
and awkwardness roll over me. Most startling of all is an
overwhelming sense of jealousy that nearly takes my breath away. I
pull out of the kiss and take a deep breath.

Alec, doesn't seem to notice my hesitation.
He just pulls me into another hug. When he releases me, I look to
Connor whose face is red and he looks uncomfortable. I'm sure that
kiss raised the temperature in the room a bit.

Hesitantly and slowly, I turn around to see
Tony standing on the other side of the room. If I didn't know him
better, I wouldn't have noticed his tense posture. No, I know him
more than I ought to because I can feel the jealousy and hurt that
has enveloped him. I instantly feel horrible and guilty. I
shouldn't feel either of those, but I do.

Alec whispers in my ear. "Who is that?"

I turn towards him. "Tony. He's helped me
and has protected me since I left the shelter."

"Really?" Now I feel the jealous undertones
coming off Alec.

I nod my head. I really need to stop using
this ability because I don't think I need to know exactly how
everyone feels. Right now, I'm way too keenly aware of it. I grab
Alec's hand and lead him over to where Tony stands. Connor follows
as well.

"Tony, this is Alec and Connor." I try to
ignore the hurt look in Tony's eyes.

He masks it well though. He reaches out his
hand to my friends. "Nice to meet you." He says while shaking their
hands. "Willow has been looking for you for quite some time." His
eyes land on Alec's face.

Alec smiles down at me. "I've been looking
for her too." He kisses my head softly and looks back up at Tony.
"Thank you so much for helping her Tony. I am indebted to you."

Tony shakes his head. "No, it's my pleasure.
Plus, I did it for her mom."

I don't know why that stung a little. It
shouldn't but, what, he didn't do it for me? That's stupid, I
know.

Alec looks at me. "Your mom?" His eyes open
wide in surprise.

Unable to control my smile I beam up at him
and nod my head vigorously. "Yes, both her and my brother made
it!"

He pulls me into another hug and spins me
around once. "That's amazing!" He says.

"That's so awesome Willow!" Connor's eyes
light up. He hesitates before he asks. "Did you by any chance see
my..." The emotions won't let him finish his sentence.

I look up at him and shake my head sadly. "I
didn't." When Connor's face crumbles I quickly add. "But, there are
a lot of people there. I very well could have missed them."

"Yeah." Connor says.

"What are their names?" Tony asks.

"Scott and Laura." Connor answers looking
all too hopeful.

Tony shakes his head. "I don't think we have
a couple by that name. Well, we have some Scott's and some Laura's
but not any together.

Not wanting Connor to focus on what that may
mean, I quickly add. "We’ll look for them when we get out of here,
I promise!"

He looks hopeful again. "Deal!"

"What about Lily, did you check on her?" I
ask Connor about his little sister.

Connor nods. "Yes, she's doing great. I
wanted to take her, but Alec's right. She is safer here. Especially
with those monsters out there."

Alec puts his hand on Connor's shoulder. "We
will get her back as soon as we find a safe place."

"I know." Connor nods.

Alec turns to me. "How did you know we were
here?"

"We found Claire." I tell him.

"Claire! Where is she, is she okay?" Connor
demands.

"Yes, she's okay. She's here with my mom." I
tell him.

"She's in the shelter?" Connor starts
heading towards the wall. "She's not safe here. We need to get
her."

"My mom will protect her. They will meet us
here tonight." I tell him.

"No, if she's here, I need to find her now."
He tells me.

"I’ll go with you." Tony tells him.

Connor hesitates, not sure how he feels
about going with a stranger, but then he shrugs his shoulders.
"Fine, let's go."

He puts his hand on Tony's shoulder
awkwardly and they both disappear through the wall leaving Alec and
I alone.

Alec comes up behind me and putting his hand
over my stomach he pulls me in closely to him. He whispers in my
ear. "I'm so glad you are okay."

"I'm glad you are okay too." It seems
surreal that I finally found Alec. Filled with happiness I move to
where I can see his face. Closing my eyes, I initiate a kiss. We
kiss tenderly for a few seconds before Alec turns me back around to
where I'm fully facing him again. He kisses me hungrily. His hands
rub across my back as mine run through his hair. We both express
with no words how much we missed each other.

When the kiss comes to an end, Alec leans
back and looks deeply into my eyes. "I love you so much
Willow."

My heart soars. "I love you too."

We can't get enough of each other, so we
stay in each other’s arms as I tell Alec what happened with Dr.
Hastings and Zack. I tell him how I escaped and he is just as
surprised as I was that Candy let me go. I relay all that I've been
through since getting out of the shelter. I tell him about my new
powers. He tells me about the Reapers and how Erik's people saved
him. It's amazing how much we need to catch each other up on
especially since it's only been a few days.

Time passes by fast when we are together and
before we know it Connor walks through the cave wall with Tony,
Claire, my mom and my dad in tow.

"Dad!" I bolt up with lightning speed and
run into my father’s arms.

"Willow!" He pulls me close and holds on
tight. "I'm so glad you are okay honey. I knew you could make it!"
He tells me.

My mom joins in on our hug. "Yes, we raised
a strong one here." She says rubbing my shoulder. I laugh but
secretly I'm overwhelmed with happiness. Things are actually going
right. My life that once was torn into tiny pieces is being mended
right in front of my eyes.

Poor Tony is the only one left out of the
love fest. I feel bad about that but I don't know what else I can
do. Connor is being lovey dovey with Claire. After my mom is
introduced to Alec she pulls my dad to the side and properly makes
up lost time with him. I don't know if I should be excited or
grossed out that my parents are making out in the corner of the
cave.

After we end the love fest, my mom and Tony
update my dad on all that's been going on outside the shelter. He
tells us about everything that's been happening inside which
includes a growing movement of people wanting to revolt. Some
people are whispering rumors about the temperature outside and they
want to be released. The government has upped the ante by having
weekly assemblies where they show false temperature readings of 180
degrees and video shots of sandy deserts that I doubt exist in our
country.

We aren't sure why the government would want
to keep everyone inside the shelter but my guess is if they have
satellite imagery as good as they say they do then I'm sure they've
been able to see what's going on with the reapers. I wouldn't be
surprised if some higher ups are formulating a plan to deal with
it. I just hope the plan doesn't include mass bombings or military
infantry...Not that we have much of an infantry left after the
virus killed off so many of them.

When the sun begins to set and the lanterns
and flashlights are lit, I go with Tony through to the other cave
to see if Candy shows. I know it's a risky move and that's why I
deny everyone else's requests to come with us. I trust Candy in a
strange way but the logical part of my brain tells me that I should
be ready for anything. Who knows if she is going to tell her dad
and have a huge party of people on the other side ready to arrest
us?

I'm confident that if there are people
waiting for us, Tony and I can take them.

All is quiet in the first cave. The light
from the small lantern barely shows us half of the cave. We wait
for several minutes. Right when I figure that she will be a no
show, I sense the conflicted emotions. A moment later they are
followed by a flashlight emerging from the tunnel.

Candy makes her way over to us slowly. When
she gets close enough for me to see her better, I notice her eyes
are red and rimmed with tears. Her cheeks are puffy and tear
stained.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, even though I can
feel everything she's feeling: fear, nervousness, sadness and
anticipation.

"I will be." She says quietly.

I know I wouldn't want to be coddled so I
take her hand in mine and Tony's in the other. We both walk through
the wall into the other cave.

She takes a deep breath when we step out.
"Wow!" I'm sure that experience just blew her mind a little.

Everyone’s attention immediately focuses on
us. I introduce Candy. Sensing that she's feeling overwhelmed we
all quiet down and don't hover over her much. It's getting late so
we make plans for getting out in the morning. My mom takes Candy
under her wing and I can sense a feeling of longing coming from
Candy as my mom tells her about what to expect on the outside.

It's funny how hard I thought my life was. I
can't imagine going through what Candy's been through or what she's
about to go through. She will have nobody out there on the
outside.

Before we settle down to sleep for the night
I ask Candy privately what she thinks will happen when they realize
she's missing. She tells me that she set a note to be delivered to
her brother via his tablet tomorrow afternoon. She doesn't think
her dad would give a crap but deep down she still cares for her
brother even though he's a hot mess. She didn't reveal much other
than the fact that she’s found a way out and was going to take
it.

None of us get much sleep and I feel the
effects in the morning. The first beams of light filter through the
ceiling waking me up. I'm wrapped up in Alec’s arms. I’m shocked my
parents didn’t say anything about us sleeping next to each other
last night. My guess is they were either too tired, happy to have
each other, or knew we couldn’t really get in trouble when the two
of them are here supervising anyway.

I get up before anyone else and take the
opportunity to study Alec’s face. My fingers trace along his strong
jaw and pouty lips. I can see his eyes rolling around in his sleep
as if he’s dreaming. I move my fingers through his shiny locks and
see a smile light up on his face.

Before he opens his eyes, his hand reaches
up and embraces mine. He whispers to me, “Even if I lived a
thousand years, I would never tire of waking next to you.”

I can’t help the smile that envelops my
face. Feeling shy I try and break eye contact but Alec isn’t having
it. He places a finger under my chin and raises my eyes to meet his
once again. He moves my face from side to side shining the light on
the different areas of my irises. “I never got a chance to really
look at your eyes yesterday. The light was too dim in the
cave.”

I let him look me over, trying to suppress
the feeling of being self-conscious. This is Alec we’re talking
about. I should feel comfortable with him looking at me. After all,
I am his girlfriend. Alec places his palm on the side of my face
and gives me the sweetest, most heartfelt kiss. The sound of
someone waking up causes us to break away from one another.

“
Later,” he whispers in my ear.
Goosebumps form along my arms as I think about what ‘later’ might
mean.

“
Morning Willow,” I hear my dad say
behind me.

I roll over and smile. “Morning Dad. Sleep
well?”

He nods his head. “Better than I have in a
long while.” He takes a deep breath and stretches his arms above
his head.

Soon we’re all up and moving around. My
mother passes out some energy bars and canned food. Unfortunately
we don’t have enough for everyone to have their own so we each pair
off and share…except for Tony. He gets to have an energy bar all to
himself after Candy politely refuses any food we have to offer.

You would think Tony having his own meal
would be a good thing, but he doesn’t look too happy about it.
Every time I look over at him he averts his gaze elsewhere. I have
a difficult time not utilizing any of my powers to try and hear his
thoughts or know his feelings. I guess I want a quick fix to
something that looks to be in shambles.