We woke up bright and early the next day.

Carrianne had forgotten to tell the front desk that we didn't want our complimentary wake up call, so 7am on the dot the alarm clock on the rickety bedside table that separated our two beds began screeching.

"Oh my god!" Carrianne groaned grabbing her pillow and putting it over her head. "Make it stop."

I sat up and smacked the top of the clock, then looked over at Garrett. Waking up next to him was something I could get used to, even if it was a rude awakening. He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Good morning." He grinned.

"Good morning." I said back with a smile.

"You look beautiful." He whispered.

I leaned down to kiss him when I got smacked in the back of the head with Carrianne's pillow. "This is even worse than the alarm!" She complained. "Someone turn it back on so it can drown you two out!"

I looked over to her sheepishly. "I'm sorry." I mouthed to her.

She smiled, making me feel a little better. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was really starting to like Carrianne, and I don't want to make her uncomfortable. "Honestly, it's fine." She said tossing her covers back. "I was only teasing after all." I looked at her skeptically as she strutted over to the bathroom. "It'll be even more ok with me, if you'll come to breakfast with me. I am famished."

She looked at me expectantly as she waited in the bathroom doorway. I glanced over at Garrett and saw that he was already falling back to sleep. "Fine." I told her and she clapped her hands and headed into the bathroom to get ready.

Garrett popped his eyes open the second she closed the door and grabbed my face, pulling me down to him. "I thought she'd never leave." He whispered to me as he threw the blanket back over the two of us. I giggled as he flipped me over so that I was laying on my back beneath him. He propped himself up over me on his elbows and kissed the tip of my nose. "I wish we had our own room."

I smiled leaning up to kiss the tip of his nose. "Me too, but it's important that we stay together anyway."

We both turned our heads in the direction of the bathroom when we heard the shower cut on, then turned back to each other smiling. "Sounds like we've got a minute." He beamed.

"Knowing what I know about Carrianne, I'd be willing it takes more than just a minute for that girl to take a shower." I pointed out with a devilish grin.

Garrett raised his eyebrows and then brought his lips down to mine. "Even better." He whispered right before his lips crushed mine.

Not so shockingly, Carrianne managed to take a 45 minute long shower. By the time she came out of the bathroom she was looking her usual runway ready self. I had tried to convince her that her makeup and hair straightener were not necessities that you take on the run with you, but she had been adamant that she would not leave her house if she couldn't bring them along.

She informed me when she came out that we would have to go eat first and I could shower later, since she'd used all the hot water. I threw on a sweatshirt and some jean shorts then pulled my hair up into a high bun. "Do you want us to bring you something back?" I asked Garrett before we headed across the street.

"He doesn't eat breakfast foods." Carrianne informed me as she pulled me by the wrist out the door. "We'll bring you back some chicken." She called over her shoulder before slamming the door behind us.

We sat in the same booth as yesterday, but this time I got a little more adventurous and ordered the Billy's Breakfast Platter. It was so much food we should have just shared. I was dying I was so full by the time I finished. Carrianne was prattling on and on about how excited to see Scarlett again she was, but I couldn't focus on her words. "Care? Are you sure you're ok with me and Garrett?" I asked her suddenly, causing her to choke up on her drink for a second.

She laughed it off quickly. "Why? Are you going to leave him if I'm not?"

My mind stuttered. I hadn't expected her to say that. "Well, I...Um, I'd...Yeah."

She widened her eyes and raised her perfect eyebrows. "Yeah?" She asked surprised.

"Well, you're my...you're my sister, Carrianne. Pretty much the only living family I have left, so I don't want to do anything that would wreck our chances at having a relationship."

Her eyes began to water and she reached her hand across the table and held onto mine tightly. "Cade, I was only teasing." She said softly. "I can't believe you would do that for me though. It's pretty clear how you and Garrett feel about each other...You would just give that up for me when you don't even know me?" Her voice was an octave higher than usual.

"Well, yeah." I nodded. "I love Garrett, but you're family. You promise that you're ok with it?"

"Yes, I swear times a billion." She smiled warmly. "Garrett and I were never like the two of you. We tried. So yeah, it's bound to be awkward but if you're both happy I am fine. When Garrett and I thought we were stuck together forever we tried really hard to just accept each other, and make a relationship work, but it never did. Forcing it only ruined the friendship we had initially. You two are perf together." She grinned. "You know, I always used to want a sister."

"Well you got one." I smiled.

"I sure did."

***

Hours later after we'd all had our turn in the shower and been to and from lunch we sat together in our room waiting for Scarlett and her family to arrive. They were going to come pick us up and we'd all ride together to a nicer hotel, which Carrianne was pretty excited about.

"What time are they getting here?" I asked Carrianne.

She looked away from the TV to look over to me. "They said about 2."

I looked up at the clock on the wall. We still have a little over a half an hour. We had been able to be get in contact with three of my mom's friends and they would be meeting us at the other hotel tonight around 8.

Carrianne crossed her legs on the bed. "So tell me what your powers are." She smiled widely. I ran down the list of things we had been able to do so far and she sat back in awe. "And I thought I was powerful. You sure make me look weak." She laughed with a toss of her hair.

Garrett patted my back once and then excused himself from the room. "I wonder where he's going." I mused.

"He's probably just being sensitive." She dismissed it. "He gets all upset when people talk about their abilities. He's always hated his. I keep telling him though that having a unique ability is in way more demand than having a few that everyone can do."

"Oh." I said with a nod of my head. I'd have to make a point to talk with him about that. "So what can you do?" I asked her even though I pretty much knew already.

You could tell she was excited about the chance to turn the conversation around to be about her. "Well, obviously I am fire gifted, I have pretty good telekinesis, and I can control electrical currents." She raised her hand and snapped her finger, causing all the lights and the TV to shut off. When she snapped them again it all popped back on like nothing had happened. She smiled pleased with herself. "Since you can control elements, I guess you can do fire." She shrugged. "Have you tried electricity?"

"Actually, I couldn't get the hang of fire. I guess I should be able to do it since I can handle all the other elements, but all I mastered with fire was how to put it out. And, no. I never got around to learning electricity."

She jumped up from the bed and grabbed the small metal waste basket from beside the door and brought it to sit in between us on the bed. Then she pulled a piece of paper off of the notepad on the table and held it over the basket. "I'm going to teach you fire." She smiled. "It is the most powerful element after all and you'll need to be able to use it. Now you're going to have to get angry, and I mean really angry. You have to feel your power in your veins, rushing with your blood. Focus on it, get angry, and force that fire out of you." She held the paper up and hardly moved her eyes to it for a second before it went up in flames. She dropped it into the basket and I sucked the oxygen away from it. "Now you try." She pulled another piece of paper off and held it up for me.

I tried to do exactly what she said, and I was sure it was going to work. I could feel it in me, just like she said, but I couldn't force it out. "I can't do it." I muttered, crossing my arms.

"Keep trying. You have to get angry!"

"Well what do you think of to get angry enough?"

"People that walk slow, finding an adorable bikini top on the sales rack but then not being able to find the matching bottoms in my size, snotty little neighbors who want to steal your boyfriend." She giggled.

"You're never going to get tired of telling that joke, are you?"

"Nope." She grinned. "But honestly, I think of my mom. All of the times she pushed me or degraded me to get her way. I think of her voice in my head. I hear her saying I'm not good enough or that she wishes she'd gotten a different daughter."

"I'm sorry."

"You're not supposed to be feeling sympathetic, you're supposed to be getting angry. Do you want me to slap you? Or I can try to break your nose?"

"That won't be necessary." I laughed holding up both hands in front of my face. "I'm ready." I said determined. I stared that piece of paper down like it was the person who killed Stephen. I pulled all the hate I had inside of me for all of the people who have hurt the ones I love. It didn't even take long before that piece of paper exploded into fiery pieces.

"Woah!" Carrianne screamed as she yanked her hand away quickly. "That was amazing, Cadence!" Once the fire was out she leaned over and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her, thinking again about how surprised I was at how quickly I had learned to really care about her. She was my lesson in never judging a person. No matter how truly horrid they may seem or act, you never know what a person is carrying on the inside. "They don't stand a chance, Cade. Not with us against them. So many of the brute force behind The Order are nothing but big goonies. Strength and speed are the main abilities between them. We've got this in the bag." She grinned.

"I hope you're right." I said. "Then you can get back to school so you can see Carter."

I knew that would get her going. I don't want to jinx this by counting our chickens before they've hatched. I want to sit back and prepare as much as possible before going into this. We've got three days to get everyone ready and come up with a full proof plan.

"Derrek, wherever you are, stay hidden! This will all be over soon."