Eye of the Sh*t Storm by Jackson Ford (most romantic novels .txt) 📕

there? Why not take us all out? Put us all in his fantasy world? Unless…

My ability has limitations. I’m stronger that I used to be, but unless I’m high on meth, I still have a limit to my range and strength. Maybe the Zigzag Man has limits, too. Maybe he can only affect two people at once, and no more. Maybe we can use that. Somehow.

It’s strange that he didn’t use his ability on Leo when he first tracked us down. Maybe he thought he didn’t need to – that Leo would be tapped out, his wiggles preventing him from fighting back.

The idea of someone with the ability to make you see things that aren’t there isn’t as far-fetched as you’d think. When you can move shit with your mind, your notions about what is possible and what isn’t are very flexible. But where did the Zigzag Man come from? How does he exist?

And both times we’ve run into him, we only barely escaped. Sooner or later, our luck is going to run out, and I still don’t have the first clue how to actually stop this guy.

More than that: if he comes back, and makes me see Carlos again, puts me in the fire…

“My fingers hurt.” Leo squints down at them. His left eye is still twitching like crazy.

“Leo,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “The Zigzag Man…”

“Huh?”

“Is there anything you can tell us about him? Anything at all?”

Leo bites his bottom lip. When he finally speaks, it’s as if he hasn’t heard me. “Me and Olivia and Lucas would use our powers, and then we’d get to play, but—”

“Who’s Olivia?”

“She could do math and stuff.”

Math. I want to ask Leo more, but before I can, he says, “Sometimes the Zigzag Man and the other lady would watch us.”

“The other lady? Who’s she?”

“I don’t know. What’s gonna happen to the other kids? Are they gonna be OK?”

For a second, I think he means the other kids at the School. Lucas and… Olivia, was it? But no – he’s talking about the Legends’ Daycare for Wayward Orphans. I want to tell him not to worry, that of course they’re going to be OK. In the end, I can’t do it. I don’t have the energy to lie. “I don’t know. But Mrs Garcia seemed nice, so…”

He ponders this for a minute. “Where’re your mom and dad?”

It takes me a couple of seconds to form the words. “They… aren’t around any more.”

“Did they die?”

“… Yes.”

“Oh.” He thinks about it. “That’s sad. I would miss my dad if he died.”

“Your dad’s… We’re gonna do everything we can to find him, OK?”

“Hey,” he says, “did your mom and dad know about your powers?”

The smile I give him feels forced. “Yeah. Actually, they… they kind of gave me my powers. Me and my brother and sister.”

“They had your same powers?”

“No. Chloe could see heat – she could see how hot and cold things were. Adam – my brother – he never needed to sleep.”

“He could stay up all night?”

“Pretty much.”

“Cool!”

It was very much not cool. Turns out, having no sleep your entire life turns you into a psychopath. Adam was the one who killed my parents, and Chloe. He would have killed me too if I hadn’t booked it the fuck out of there. I’m not shy about my past – I came to terms with it a long time ago – but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give Leo the details. He hasn’t exactly had a normal childhood himself, and I probably shouldn’t make it any worse with horror stories.

God, Chloe… I miss my parents the most, but I miss Chloe too. What girl wouldn’t miss her big sister? Especially when she’s the source of so many good memories. Like riding through the woods, the wind whipping against our faces, both of us laughing.

At that moment, I spot what I’m looking for. Nic does too, and bursts out laughing. “I forgot these were here,” he says, grinning at me.

I can’t help but smile back. Because yes, I am a genius.

Union Station isn’t just an architectural masterpiece. It has the greatest waiting room known to man. If you think that sounds lame, then I want you to imagine yourself and your buddies relaxing in giant, puffy armchairs while you wait for your train. That’s right: armchairs. Dozens of them, aligned in neat rows across the waiting room, each one a miracle of squashy leather upholstery and smooth mahogany.

LA is a dirty, messy, chaotic place, but there are some spots that stay pristine and untouched, against all odds. No graffiti, no vandalism. And it appears that despite the quake, despite everything that’s been thrown at my city, the Union Station waiting room is one of them.

I turn to Annie, raising a hand for a high five. She stares at me, shaking her head in wonder.

“Don’t leave me hanging,” I say. I make it sound light, but I really do want her to high-five me. I want her to be OK with this.

After a few seconds, she gives my hand a weak slap. A moment after that, we crash down into the chairs.

The leather is old and slightly cracked, dusty as hell, not as comfy as I remember. You wouldn’t want to sit in this chair every day. But right now, at this moment, it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt. It is all I can do not to go to sleep right here. I wink at Leo, who sits with his legs dangling off the chair opposite. Against all odds, he’s grinning too.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. Just… being. Yes, we’re being chased by the Legends and the National Guard and Africa and the goddamn piece-of-shit Zigzag Man, but it feels like we’ve called a time out in this little game. Not to say that we can totally relax yet. We won’t be able to for hours. But resting for a little while here will make those hours more bearable. And