Miss Quick

Chapter Twenty

 Chapter Twenty

Pendant

Carlos stares at the pendant in awe, his face illuminated by the red glow. I can feel warmth radiating from him even though I'm not touching him.

"It glows yellow for me," I whisper.

He meets my eyes with a deep stare of his own. I can see an expression unfolding on his face, like the pendant is hypnotizing him. "Do you know what this is?" he asks softly.

I shake my head.

"This was my dad's," Carlos says, staring at the pendant.

There's a beat while I take the time to form words. "Wait, what? How did it end up in AIGEA? Did your dad go there?"

He nods. "He must've lost it there. It was years ago. He went crazy, obsessed with trying to find it..."

"When was that?"

"Twenty years ago. My mom told me," he explains.

"Oh. What do you know about it?" Then I interrupt him before he gets a chance to respond. "Do you know why it glows?"

"No. But I do know it represents four people. I'm red, guess you're yellow. There are two others. And it's very powerful. I don't know why, but  my dad stole it to try and use it. Except he couldn't."

"Because he wasn't one of the four?" I guess.

He nods and meets my eyes. His pupils expand in the dim light.

"What does it do?" I whisper.

"I don't know."

I'm a little disappointed. "Well, what do the S's stand for?"

"I don't know. Strength?"

I notice my body is vibrating with anxiety. I voice my thought. "Speed." Then I'm self conscious, feeling like it's stupid. "Or is that a stretch?"

"It could be both."

"So you mean...the yellow one is for speed and the red one is for strength?" My pulse is racing. This is the first time I've heard any information at all about the pendant. "That would mean the other two people...they have abilities that start with S too!"

"Maybe." He turns the pendant over in his hands, his gaze on it once again.

"Do you think..." I'm afraid to voice it, afraid it's just wishful thinking. "Do you think it'll help us get out?"

"I don't know what it does."

"You said it's very powerful..." I gasp as I remember something. "Tara. When she tried to use her ability on me, it glowed. The light gave us away. It was glowing even though neither of us were touching it."

"What's her ability?"

"Intui- no. She can simulate other people's abilities."

"Simulation," Carlos whispers.

"She's the green S," I realize. "Because it glowed green and yellow then. But then who's blue?"

"Dunno. What happened when it glowed?"

"I don't know, it was...I could sort of...feel her ability inside me. Searching for my ability. She never got it, we had to stop so the light would go out."

"Anything else?"

"I could also kind of feel Sadie's ability still in Tara."

"It was two-way."

"I guess. So do you think that's how it works? It combines two abilities?" I'm on the edge of my seat, my body pressing against the rough rope. "And how would we get it to work?"