Growing Wildflowers | WLW

Sticky Phacelia

They escort me to a black Escalade with windows tinted so dark, it's impossible to see through them. I hold my breath when I see the boxy man sitting in the driver's seat.

"He's one of us. Relax," Leroy orders.

Leah looks tiny in the passenger seat as she props her body forward, intent not to let her shoulders touch the leather. Leroy sits in the back with me, his posture unnaturally straight, his hands folded in his lap. Neither of them speak, and even though the car is human-free, I can't breathe. The silence is crushing my lungs. I'd gasp in a breath if it wouldn't break the barrier of silence. It's not long before the driver pulls into a large, gated parking lot full of matching black SUVs.

Leroy lets out a long breath. "We've arrived."

The building isn't what I expected. It looks like a normal business, all beige, long glass windows, an address painted in black above the entrance. It could easily be mistaken for my old orthodontist's office from my childhood. I don't know what I was expecting. A castle in the middle of Bolton?

Leah dials a combination on the keypad by the door and we follow her down a never-ending hallway, turning through several doors and taking two flights of stairs before we arrive in the basement of the building. I'm overly aware of the way the elders are blocking me in; Leah in lead and Leroy and the driver behind me.

The room is dark and empty besides soundproofing foam on the walls and a table in the middle.

I don't know exactly what they're planning but my stomach drops regardless. Nothing good is going to happen in this room. I don't think it through. I have to get out of here. I'll come up with a plan later. After sucking in a sharp breath, I push past Leroy and break into a sprint toward the staircase, but I'm not fast enough.

I can hear Leah's angry voice behind me as she shouts, "move!"

I don't look back, don't stop running, but as my shoes hit the first step on the staircase, a loud pop echoes down the hallway. My leg buckles under my weight and my body crashes into the staircase. My ribs crack against the force of my bodyweight connecting with the edge of the step.

I cry out in pain and look at the source of the hot, blinding pain. My ankle is broken. The bone is protruding from my flesh and when I grip my leg to try and ease the pain it only gets worse. I don't know if I'm screaming. My jaw is clenched so tightly I might break my teeth and then, as suddenly as the pain hit me, it vanishes and I'm on the floor gripping my perfectly healthy leg.

Leah is standing at the other end of the hallway, her hand stretched toward me, her teeth gritted, and the fiery red of her eyes ablaze. Leroy puts a hand on her shoulder. "Let the girl up." He looks at me. "You won't try to run again, will you?"

I shake my head fast and immediately feel pathetic for it as I push to my feet. I can't keep my eyes from the ankle that was snapped to pieces less than a minute ago.

"There now." Leroy smiles wide. "Leah shouldn't be depleting her gifts in the daylight anyway." He raises his eyebrows at her.

She steps close to him, her lip curling over her teeth. "You do not have as much power here as you believe you do."

They stare at each other for a long second until Leroy nods for me to follow him.

I squeeze by Leah who's still blocking most of the entrance to the dark room, too scared to ask her to move.

"What just happened?" I ask when the driver closes the door behind us.

Leroy sits at the table and motions for me to follow suit, so I do. "Leah's gift is manipulation of the mind. She's the eldest of the committee so she's able to use her gift in the daylight, however it weakens her greatly."