"Are we all here?" Her aunt's voice broke into the odd, tense silence. Kylie cut her eyes around the empty barn. Not a soul was here that she could see. Of course, she couldn't see herself, either.
Listening, she heard the slight sound of feet shuffling.
"Let's do the count," her aunt's voice echoed again. "One," her aunt said.
"Two," another voice added.
The count went up to twenty-four, but there had been several pauses, and several numbers missed, before someone moved on to the next number. Kylie recognized most of the voices. Especially the four other teen chameleons, plus Suzie, the six-year-old, and her parents, who were the teachers of the groups.
The numbers missing were obviously her grandfather and the other four elders.
"And I have Kylie," her aunt said. "Kylie, your number is twenty-five. Remember it and whenever we have the need to vanish, you must say it so we will know you are here."
She nodded, then remembering they couldn't see her, she said, "Okay." Her mind raced thinking about everything that was happening, from being number twenty-five to being invisible and especially to what the FRU wanted. Were they here for her? Then her racing thoughts stopped on one subject.
Her grandfather. She was worried about his safety and the possibility of what the FRU could do to him and the other elders. Was he okay? Did she need to find him in case he needed ... protecting?
"Maybe we should go find the others," she said, her blood starting the fizzling sensation she got when she feared someone was in danger.
"No," her aunt said in a voice that left little doubt that she was the one in charge. "We wait here. That was the plan and we never stray from a plan."
Kylie heard something in her aunt's voice. Edginess, concern. Kylie's blood grew hotter in her veins.
"Have the FRU come here before? Do they know we can vanish?" Kylie asked.
"Only if you told them," Brandon snapped.
Brandon, the teen who didn't like her. Oh, he had liked her plenty in the beginning, but when Kylie pretty much told the seventeen-year-old that he was wasting his time coming on to her, he'd obviously been offended. He'd snubbed her ever since. And anytime Kylie accomplished something that the teachers taught, shifting their patterns and such, he seemed personally insulted at her success. This wasn't a competition. She just wanted to learn all she could and then ... then go back to Shadow Falls.
Go back home. The thought hung up somewhere inside her, a place very close to her heart."I never told them," Kylie said.
"This is no time for bickering," her aunt stated.
"She brought this on us," Brandon spit out. "We've never had the FRU break in before. And God only knows what they will do to us if they find us."
"Be quiet," Aunt Francyne ordered.
But in the silence that followed, Kylie heard what wasn't being said by the others. They agreed with Brandon. Because of her, the FRU had discovered their compound.
Guilt crowded Kylie's chest. She had never considered that her coming here could have put anyone in danger. Yet it had, hadn't it?
Her blood fizzed faster; thoughts of her grandfather being hurt-of it being her fault-made her heart race.
Kylie tried to pull her hand free. "No," her aunt said. "You let go, you'll become visible."
"I need to make sure they're okay. And ... I can become invisible myself."
"That's impossible," Brandon snapped. "You can't do that until you're in your twenties. Everyone knows that."
Kylie rolled her eyes. She was tired of his petty jealousy.
Footsteps sounded. Numbers were called out. She recognized her grandfather's voice as well as the other elders.
"They'll search in here," her grandfather said. "Adults, make sure you hold tight to your child's hands.
Go to the south end of the property." The sounds of people making their way out echoed through what, even to Kylie, looked like an empty barn.
Kylie felt her aunt's hold on her wrist, directing her to walk, but then her grandfather spoke again.
"Everyone but Francyne and Kylie. You two go down by the edge of the woods in the back."
Kylie couldn't help but wonder why she and Aunt Francyne were being singled out.
* * *
"Why?" Kylie asked after she heard the last footsteps leave, still finding it so strange to speak when no one could see her.
"When we are in a state of emergency, one never asks questions." Her aunt's voice rang in the emptiness of the barn. Then, still holding Kylie's hand, the woman started moving, and in careful steps, she guided Kylie out of the barn.
She moved with her aunt, but she couldn't remain silent. "What's going on? Why should I be taken to a different place than the others?" Kylie asked as she moved through the barn door. The afternoon light had her pupils adjusting.
"Obviously, it is you they search for," her grandfather answered, his voice sounding close, but his form still invisible.
"But I'm a protector," Kylie insisted. "If someone needs help, I should stay close."
"I can feel you, damn it! Where are you?" a voice, a familiar voice that wasn't her aunt's or grandfather's, called out behind Kylie.
Her breath caught and she looked over her shoulder. About fifty feet away, standing in the tall grass, was someone she cared about."Derek," she called out. Then she remembered that no one, other than another unseen chameleon, could hear her when she was invisible.
"We should go." Her aunt gave Kylie's hand a tug, but she didn't budge. Stiffening, Kylie soaked up Derek's image, hungry for anything that was linked to her life at Shadow Falls.
His light brown hair resting on his brow stirred in the wind, giving him a carefree look, but his green eyes, with flecks of gold, held concern. What was he doing here?
"Where are you, Kylie?" he asked, and the breeze whisked his words away.
She remembered what her grandfather had said about who was here. This wasn't the FRU.
"Go to the creek!" her grandfather demanded. "You should not have told them where you were."
His accusation and his tone put Kylie on the defensive. While she couldn't see her grandfather, she could imagine his expression-stern and uncompromising.
She turned to where she heard his voice. "I didn't tell them, and no, I will not leave. You lied. It's not the FRU." The feeling of betrayal hit.
"When I told you it was the FRU, I was repeating what I was told by those guarding the gate. But even still, it is not a lie. They both work for the FRU."