Kinetics: In Search of Willow by Arbor Winter Barrow Page B

I'm not training." I said,
nearly spitting out the last word. "I'll go after her
now!"
    "Mr. Yoshida, you haven't
been out of Ohio for most of your life and you are
a  Vunjika .
What makes you think you know anything about where she is or how
you could save her?"
    "Well I better at least try! It's my
duty as a friend."
    "I'm sorry," Her eyes narrowed. "If
you refuse the training, then we have no choice."
    I stood up ready to begin yelling but
Dad came up behind me and clenched my shoulder. "It has been a
hectic day, Chief Lancaster. Let me take my son home and we will
return in a few days with our decision."
    "Very well." She clasped her fingers
together and smirked at me as we left.
    I refused to speak to Dad the whole
ride home.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 9
     
    "It's better to act and to
regret / Than to regret not to have acted ." ~ Mellin de Saint-Gelais

     
    A single light from my iguana's
terrarium illuminated my room. The darkness was comforting in some
small way, but it made the hole in my heart where Willow should
have been feel that much larger.
    It was a whole day later since Willow
had been stolen away from all of us. Her parents had been by, but I
hadn't left my room to see them, despite the prompting from my
mother. I was in no mood to be around anyone else.
    I stared at the picture of Willow on
my wall. It was of us, smiling on a soccer field in a happier time,
a time I couldn't feel anymore. She was gone, and the people around
me couldn't, or wouldn't, do anything to save her. How bad could
this Isiro person be that she was unreachable? All these people
with abilities beyond anything I ever could have imagined and she
was truly gone?
    Impossible.
    But what could I do? I was fifteen,
gifted with average grades and average friends. Anything I could do
was limited by my severe lack of… ability. I traced the faded
outline of the X on the back of my hand. I had nothing to offer a
rescue if I could even start one myself. Whatever power I was
supposed to possess was out of my reach for the time being, even if
I knew what it was.
    I couldn't see myself returning to
school like nothing was wrong. I couldn't see myself letting her
go. I couldn't see myself taking another step outside my bedroom
door that didn't include some thought of her.
    I buried my face in my hands and
imagined the faces of everyone I knew. My parents were adamant that
what this Chief Lancaster said was rule and law; Jacob would
probably be no better. All my friends were… well, kids. They were
involved in sports or clubs but nothing that could possibly benefit
a crackpot rescue plan. If Nick were in town right now, I could
probably go to him for help, but he was thousands of miles away in
Amsterdam on some job thing.
    I let out a laugh. I was actually
considering going after her with no knowledge, no powers, no money,
nothing but me, myself, and I. Hell, I wasn't even that smart. Not
as smart as people like Nick or Harry, the nerdy football
player.
    Harry? Harry knew Willow. Harry was
smart. Even I had to admit he was probably genius level. Could
Harry make sense of the crazy that was happening to me right now?
Could Harry figure out a way to save Willow that wouldn't get us
killed? I didn't know him well, and I certainly didn't consider him
a friend, but Willow called him her friend. I wanted to trust her
judgment.
    I waited until I was certain my
parents were asleep and then I slipped out into the night. I
remembered passing by his house one day with Willow. She had
pointed it out not long after her and Harry had become friends. He
was the only hope I could think of right now, and if he wasn't able
to help me, then I… I didn't know what I could do.
    I yanked my bike out of the garage
and, as silently as possible, I pushed it out into the night. The
night was stuffy. The last bits of the cool months were about to
start fading away.