The Mysterious Life Of Lorelei Jones

XVI

Joel and Thomas left Connor’s room, Leaving Lori and Connor alone. Lori hadn’t looked Connor in the eye since they came up with a plan.

“I’m going to go back to the guest room. See you.” Lori said, walking towards the doorframe. She doesn’t make it far before Connor grabs her sleeve. He writes out a message with his other hand.

“Are you alright? I know everything has been bsd… Bad. Typo. You can talk to me.” Connor typed.

“Y-Yeah, I’m good.”

“You’re lying. Did it hurt you?”

Lori felt like she was going to vomit. Mortdecai posed as him and forced himself on her. She knew it wasn’t him but still. “Are you going to be up for a while?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Loi took her hand out of his and walked out. Lori didn’t realize how close their rooms were. She was so tired when they first got here she didn’t notice. Walking into the guest room, she sat on the bed, and Connor stood in the doorframe.

“You can come in,” Lori said, laying down.

Connor grabbed the desk chair and brought it up to the bed. Lori got to look at his face a bit better. It was swollen and had dried blood on it. She wanted to avert her eyes but knew that would be rude.

“I’m not going to force you to tell me what happened. You clearly are traumatized by it. Hell, I am too. I actually thought I was going to die. When it was attacking me, I kept thinking that I hoped you guys were okay. I can’t help but think if I had gone with Joel to his studio, would I still be okay? Or would Mortdecai still have attacked me? I’d take a million beatings if it meant Joel was safe. I’m glad you’re not badly hurt or anything.”

Lori sighed. “He made me kiss him. When I saw him, he already looked like you. I thought you had just woken up. It grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him. I was so confused. When he started acting weird, I knew it wasn’t you.” Lori wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Connor thought for a moment, then left the room. He was gone for about thirty minutes. When he returned, he brought; a phone charger, some cookies, and a first aid kit.” He laid everything on the bed and held out his hand to Lori.

“What?”

“Let me see your wrist. I saw it looked darker than usual. I was wondering why you had a bad bruise on it.”

Lori held out her hand, and he wrapped his hand gently around it. After examining it, he looked through the first aid kit. After finding a small tube of cream, he poured some on her wrist and motioned for her to rub it in. Lori winced as it touched her skin. It was cold and started to tingle. She didn’t realize that it hurt as bad as it did until she touched it. How could a human have so much strength? How powerful was Mortdecai?” Lori thought. When she was finished, Connor grabbed some gaze and gently wrapped it around her wrist.

“Done. Does that feel better?”

“Yeah, it does. Thank you.” Lori smiled. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that. You didn’t deserve it. Does it hurt? You’re mouth, I mean?”

“It doesn’t feel great. Kind of numb. Occasionally it does sting but not too bad. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. If I was stronger, I might’ve been able to fight it off. I don’t have any powers, but still. I’ll be honest. I’m jealous. I’m angry that I can’t protect anything. I wanted to protect you and Joel. In the end, it still got its hands on you. Joel could’ve died. I know he just got his powers, but I know he wouldn’t have been able to fight Mortdecai off. I think Mortdecai is in love with you. Not just because he forced himself on you, when he was kicking my ass, he kept saying I didn’t deserve you. That I was holding you back, I thought he was going to kill me. I kindly told him to go off, and he said he didn’t like how I talked to him. Guess that’s why he took my tongue away. I don’t regret it. I’d tell him to **** off a million more times. Don’t tell Joel I’m jealous of him. His ego is big enough.” Connor typed. He laughed at his message.

“I won’t.” Lori hugged him. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have involved you in this. If I hadn’t called you the other night, you would be fine. Both of you would still be normal. If anyone should feel sorry, it should be me. Connie, I’m so…” Lori stopped talking. Connor wrapped his arms around her. Putting his hand on her puffy hair. Lori felt his body convulse as tears ran down his face. She didn’t need to hear it from his phone. Connor felt horrible. He never wanted her to feel bad. Lori felt a stinging sensation in the back of her mind. Then she heard something in her head.”

“She thinks it’s her fault. That’s dumb. Lori, I’d never blame you for anything.”

Lori pulled away from him. Looking surprised. “How did you do that?”

Connor tilted his head in confusion. He wiped his face and grabbed his phone. “Huh?”

“I thought I heard you say something. I’m not trying to be funny. I heard you say you don’t blame me for anything.” Lori said, searching his expression.

“Um, no, I didn’t.” Connor typed.

“How did she know that?” Connor thought.

“I can hear you,” Lori answered. “I’m not doing that!”

“Well, neither am I! I can’t do anything! You’re the one with the powers.” Connor typed.

“Can she be more amazing? Is this a new power she has now? Oh ****! She can hear you, idiot!” Connor thought.

Lori hurried out of the room. When she came back, Joel was behind her.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Joel asked groggily. He had just fallen asleep.

“We need you to settle something. Sit.” Lori leads him to the bed.

“This better be good. I was in the middle of something important.” Joel yawned.

“You were asleep! Okay, think of something anything. Connor is going to try to read your mind. Con, type out what he thinks.” Lori said, sitting on the other side of the bed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Alright, if I do this, can I go back to sleep? We have a possible world-ending event to look forward to.” Joel asked. After seeing Lori was serious, he leaned back and closed his eyes. “Fine, I thought of something.”

“When we were ten, I told mom that you broke the tv when you were trying to imitate some karate moves. Even though I did it.” Joel thought.

Connor got up and slapped him. “Bastard! I was grounded for a month because of that! I knew it was you who broke it!” Connor typed. Then he dropped the phone when he saw the shock on Joel’s face.

“How did you know that?” Joel asked.

“I think Connor has powers. It makes sense. Something stressful or dramatic must be what activates our abilities. Maybe Connor can connect his soul to others. That’s how he can hear our thoughts. It’s just speculation. I felt something when I heard his thoughts. It could be like how a phone works. Both sides connect so everyone can hear.” Lori wondered.

“How did he get powers? Did we always have them? We’ve been stressed and angry before. So, why is this happening now?” Joel asked.

“Maybe Lori had something to do with it?” Connor thought. Lori and Joel heard him in their minds.

“Stop thinking,” Joel said. “I can’t believe I have to tell you that.”

“Screw you.” Connor thought.

“What if he’s right? What if I had something to do with it. Neither of you had abilities before this morning. Then all of this happened. Maybe I am getting stronger. Think about all Mortdecai can do. It’s possible I can activate people’s abilities? I knew I wasn’t the only one who could do stuff like this.” Lori said.

“Well, next time, I want to be able to fly. If I had a choice, does this mean I can see spirits too?” Connor thought.

“Only one way to find out,” Joel said. “Thomas! Come here!”

Thomas appeared in front of Joel. “Since when am I at your beck and call? What?”

Connor’s eyes widened. “Holy ****. I can see him. Ha!” He thought.

Thomas turned to Connor. “Oh great, another one. Why do you feel like Lorelei?”

“Excuse me?” Connor thought.

“I noticed the same thing when Joel hit me. When you both use your powers, you feel like Lori. Remember when I said Lori is like a beacon to spirits? Well, you both are like candles. When you stop using your abilities, the flame goes out. Lori is always shining.” Thomas snapped his fingers. “I think I have an idea on how we can beat Mortdecai.”