Origin (Book 2)

Chapter 2

I hated not being able to use my powers in the open anymore. I was forced to do things the normal way whenever I was out.

That gave me a disadvantage over finding my mother. My speed was my only help in finding her.

Jogging around town wasn't very suspicious. No one knew me well enough to figure out where I lived, so I could've gone anywhere I wanted as long as I didn't run too fast.

I stopped to plug in my earphones. It was then that I noticed the van.

It's sleek blackness nearly concealed it completely under the night sky, but it was illuminated by a street lamp at the moment. I didn't look at it directly but watched it out of the corner of my eye.

Some of Jake's paranoia was starting to creep into my personal habits. Regardless, I didn't let that stop me from keeping my phone on the call screen.

I continued on, looking to the side every few minutes to check in the van. It followed along silently, like a cat waiting to pounce.

I ignored its motion and veered to the right onto a back alley. Before the van could get in sight of me, I ran up the twenty-foot-high wall that connected it to the buildings behind it and hopped down to the other side.

Crap. They may have seen some of the glow of my lightning.

I ran slower now, fast, but not fast enough to be considered as me using my powers. I circled back, assuming that the van saw me go over and was following me again.

It crashed into the street behind me, the tires skidding on the street ground. It picked up speed, throwing away caution to the wind.

Were these the people Dad was talking about? The ones that wanted to kill me because I was a threat to them?

I was helpless. If I used my speed, they would know I had powers, and they probably knew where I lived, so they could catch me at home. If I didn't, they would catch me now, far away from my friends and with no one to help me.

The van was almost on top of me.

Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. Send out a vibration, it said.

I prayed thanks. Sage was watching me, even now.

I pulsed out a vibrational wave in all directions to stop the van. At the same time, I kept on running in the same direction.

The front of the van rose into the air, the back wheels skidding on the ground. Then, the back followed as well. It flipped over once in the air, then landed with a loud crash on its side.

I didn't stop to check if the people inside were alright. I raced back home before they could recover.

I burst through the door and slammed it behind me to catch everyone's attention. Jake and Blink were on the couch, and Cassie and Sage were in the kitchen.

Jake seems to take in the look on my face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Everything's wrong. Everything," I said. I started pacing the floor, turning over ideas in my head. None of them seemed to fit.

"Slow down. What happened?" Jake stood in my way so that I had to focus on him.

"That van that you were just telling me about- it followed me. And when I tried to get away, it high-tailed after me. I gave it the slip, but I don't know if it's coming back. I think they know about us, Jake. We're in some deep trouble." I ran my hand through my hair, trying to figure a way out of the mess.