Ablaze »»DARKEST MINDS««

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JAMBOREE
Ψ

Where are you, Clancy?

I come to a reluctant stop in the middle of the barren street, finding myself surrounded by cookie-cutter suburban homes. I'm not sure how far I've ran, but I know that I lost Dane and whoever else chased after me a couple blocks back. Now, as I set my hands on my hips and try to calm my breathing, everything seems to blend together. There are so many houses he could have hidden in, and there are so many roads he could have escaped down.

Realizing my Orange abilities could come in handy right about now, I close my eyes and concentrate on anything peculiar. My eyebrows knit together after a few seconds. Nothing. Maybe if I walk around . . .

I stop in my tracks when I feel a pinprick in the back of my head. I latch onto it and force myself through the mind's barricade, winding through the thoughts and memories to find out where he's hidden himself. Much too quickly I feel myself being thrown out of his head, but it doesn't phase me—I know exactly where he is.

My eyes snap open and I race towards a house on my right, leaping over the few porch steps and bursting through the front door. Clancy stands right in front of me, a surprised look on his face. He whistles lowly.

"Oh hey, Freckles. Long time no—"

I cut him off by kneeing him between the legs.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" I hiss. He groans in pain and shoves me off of him with a death glare.

"Just keeping tabs on my newest discovery." His lips turn up sarcastically. I narrow my eyes at him and clench my hands into fists at my sides, feeling the fire starting inside myself. I direct all my anger and energy at him.

"If you even go near Bo again, I will not hesitate to—"

"Kill me?" He laughs. "Please, you wouldn't."

"Try me."

"You would really kill for that useless child?" he asks. When he notices how serious I am, he straightens, a calculating look in his eyes. Arms crossed and chest puffed up, he steps closer to me. "How about for any of your other friends? Marcy? Dane? Would you kill for them?"

I don't back away when he comes inches from my face. I square my shoulders and stare him in his mischievous, beady eyes. I am tired of cowering away from people who think they can control me. Because, to me, Clancy is the same as Derrick from the Zone. But this time I won't back down from Clancy.

"What do you want from me?" I enunciate slowly, not breaking eye contact.

His eyes darken mischievously.

"Everything."

A scream of pain rips through my throat as I feel him tear through my mind. I use my own Orange abilities to try to combat his, but it's no use; my mind is putty in his hands.

Memories that have been locked away in the deepest depths of my mind, memories I don't even remember, resurface and are shoved to the forefront of my thoughts. I can feel something happening beyond the memory slideshow, like the memories are a ploy and something is going on behind the closed curtain, but I can't do anything to stop it. The pain in my head starts as a constant ache, but then it steadily evolves into a stabbing sensation.