I Am Number Four

I have a second or two to act. The windows will break if we go through them. Our only chance is the doors leading to the second-floor porch. I open them using telekinesis. It's black outside. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I pull Sam and Henri over to me and I throw each of them over my shoulders like sacks of potatoes.

"What are you doing?" whispers Henri.

"I have no idea," I say. "But I hope it works."

Just as I see the top of the first Mogadorian's hat, I sprint towards the doors and right before the ledge of the porch, I jump. We go flying into the night sky. For two or three seconds we're floating. I see cars moving down the street beneath us. I see people on the sidewalk. I don't know where we're going to land, or if my body will support all the weight I'm carrying when we do. When we hit the roof of a house across the street I collapse, with Sam and Henri on top of me. I get my breath knocked out of me, and it feels like my legs are broken. Sam starts to stand, but Henri keeps him down. He drags me to the far end of the roof and asks if I can use my telekinesis to get him and Sam onto the ground. I can and I do. He tells me I need to jump. I stand on legs that are wobbly and still hurt, and just before I jump, I turn and see the three Mogadorians are standing on the porch across the street, looking confused. Their swords are gleaming. Without a second to spare, we got away without them seeing us.

We get to Sam's truck. Henri and Sam have to help me walk. Bernie is there waiting for us. We decide to leave Henri's truck because they most likely know what it looks like and would track it. We pull out of Athens and Henri starts driving back to Paradise, which it really might be after the night we just had.

Henri starts from the begi

"Unbelievable," he says, and smiles. "It's the coolest thing I've ever heard of." I look at him and I see the validation he has always looked for in his life, an affirmation that the time he's spent with his nose in the conspiracy rags, looking for clues to his father's disappearance, wasn't in vain.

"Are you really resistant to fire?" he asks.

"Yes," I say.

"God, that's awesome."

"Thanks, Sam."

"Can you fly?" he asks. At first I think he is joking, but then I see that he isn't.

"I can't fly. I'm resistant to fire and can turn my hands into lights. I have telekinesis, which I only learned to use yesterday. More Legacies are supposed to come soon. We think so, anyhow. But I have no idea what they will be until they actually develop."

"I hope you learn to make yourself invisible," Sam says.

"My grandfather could. And anything he touched also became invisible."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

He starts laughing.

"I still can't believe you two drove all the way to Athens by yourselves," Henri says. "You guys are really something. When we stopped for gas I saw that the plates have been expired for four years. I really don't see how you made it without getting stopped."

"Well, you can count on me from now on," says Sam. "I'll do whatever it takes to help stop them. Especially because I bet they're the ones who took my dad."

"Thanks, Sam," says Henri. "The most important thing you could do is stay quiet with our secret. If anyone else finds out about this it could lead to our deaths."

"Don't worry. I'll never tell anyone. I don't want John using his powers on me."

We laugh and thank Sam again and he pulls away. Henri and I go inside. Even though I slept on the drive back, I'm still exhausted. I lie down on the couch. Henri sits in a chair across from me.

"Sam won't say anything," I say.

He doesn't respond, just stares at the floor.

"They don't know we're here," I say.

He looks up at me.

"They don't," I say. "If they knew they'd be following us now."

He stays silent. I can't take it.

"I'm not leaving Ohio on nothing more than speculation."

Henri stands.

"I'm happy that you've made a friend. And I think Sarah is great. But we can't stay. I'm going to start packing," he says.

"No."

"When we're packed I'll go into town and buy a new truck. We need to get out of here. They might not have followed us, but they know how close they were at catching us, and that we might still be nearby. I believe the man who called the magazine did in fact capture one of them. That was his story, that he captured one and tortured it until it talked and then he killed it. We don't know what kind of tracking technology they have, but I don't think it will take them long to find us. And when they do, we'll die. Your Legacies are emerging, and your strength is growing, but you're nowhere near ready to fight them."

He walks out of the room. I sit up. I don't want to leave. I have a real friend for the first time in my life. A friend who knows what I am and isn't scared, doesn't think I'm a freak. A friend who is willing to fight with me, and go into danger with me. And I have a girlfriend. Someone who wants to be with me, even without knowing who I am. Someone who makes me happy, someone I would fight for, or go into danger in order to protect. My Legacies haven't all emerged yet, but enough of them have. I took down three grown men. They didn't stand a chance. It was like fighting with little kids. I could do anything I wanted to them. We also now know that humans can also fight, and capture, and hurt, and kill Mogadorians. If they can, then I definitely can. I don't want to leave. I have a friend, and I have a girlfriend. I am not going to leave.

Henri walks back out of his room. He is carrying the Loric Chest that is our most prized possession.

"Henri," I say.

"Yes?"

"We're not leaving."

"Yes we are."

"You can if you want, but I'll go live with Sam. I'm not leaving."

"This is not your decision to make."

"It's not? I thought I was the one being hunted. I thought I was the one in danger. You could walk away right now and the Mogadorians would never look for you. You could live a nice, long, normal life. You could do whatever you want. I can't. They will always be after me. They will always be trying to find me and kill me. I'm fifteen years old. I'm not a kid anymore. It is my decision to make."

He stares at me for a minute. "That was a good speech, but it doesn't change anything. Pack your stuff. We're leaving."

I raise my hand and point it at him and lift him off the ground. He's so shocked that he doesn't say anything. I stand and move him into the corner of the room, up near the ceiling.

"We're staying," I say.

"Put me down, John."

"I'll put you down when you agree to stay."

"It's too dangerous."

"We don't know that. They're not in Paradise. They might not have any idea where we are."

"Put me down."

"Not until you agree to stay."

"Put me down."

I don't say anything back. I just hold him there. He struggles, tries to push off the wall and the ceiling, but he can't move. My power holds him in place. And I feel strong doing it. Stronger than I've ever felt in my life. I am not leaving. I am not ru

"You know you're not coming down until I bring you down."

"You're acting like a child."

"No, I'm acting like someone who is starting to realize who he is and what he can do."

"And you're really going to keep me up here?"

"Until I fall asleep or get tired, but I'll just do it again once I get some rest."

"Fine. We can stay. With certain conditions."

"What?"

"Put me down and we'll talk about it."

I lower him, set him on the floor. He hugs me. I'm surprised; I expected him to be pissed. He lets go of me and we sit down on the couch.