Lost Flyght – Chapter 15

I want to pan fry the fiddlehead and season it before eating it, but I have no idea if cooking it will change the way it works. There are no notes about this plant in Dad’s database except that it causes invisibility. So I have to wonder how they even know that. Did they discover it by accident? Or because someone else used it and told Dad about it?

Whatever the answer is, I don’t have time to call Dad and ask him.

“Ready?” I ask Gus. He nods and keeps his eyes on me as I sit at the foot of my bed.

I throw the fiddlehead in my mouth and chew. Well, it doesn’t taste weird. It tastes like grass, which I expected. I chomp and chew and chomp and chew and wish I had cut it up into smaller bites. Blech. My mouth is drying out, and suddenly, everything about my teeth is just wrong.

“Water?” I hold out my hand, and Gus glides a glass of water into it. “This is gross. A lot different from the fiddleheads I’ve grown and cooked.”

My body is screaming at me to spit it out. Spit it out before it’s too late! But I keep going. I chew and swallow with a mouthful of water. Chew and swallow, until it’s all gone.

I make a retching noise as I hand the water glass to Gus.

“That awesome, huh?” he asks, setting the glass on the dresser.

“Awful. I don’t think I’ll ever eat that again, even if this works perfectly.”

I sit and wait, wondering how long it’ll take for this plant to work. The fern took a while to chew, so I guess I’ll see some results soon. Oral absorption of medication is usually pretty quick between the blood and the brain, whereas absorption through the stomach takes a lot longer.

Standing up, I test my reflexes. My head feels stuffed with cotton, and my balance is off.

“Whoa.” I tilt to the right and put my hand out to try to stop the world. Gus grabs my arm.

“Easy there. You should sit back down.” He eases me to the bed. “How do you feel?” Pulling his datapad from his pocket, he prepares to take notes.

“My mouth is dry,” I say, trying to wet my tongue. “And my head is stuffed up.” Taking an inventory of my body, I catalog symptoms for Gus. “My stomach is not happy with the fern, I can tell you that much.” Just then, my belly howls like I have the worst gas on the planet. “I… My skin is tingling.”

I hold out my hands and stare at them. The color of my skin is changing, becoming gray, white, and almost silver.

Gus looks up from his datapad, and his mouth drops open. “Wow. Vivian, you’re disappearing. That was incredibly fast.”

“I am?”

“Yeah.” He covers his mouth for a moment before rubbing his beard. “Your clothes are still here, though. Hmmm.” He lifts his eyebrows. “I think you’re going to have to get naked.”

I laugh. “Are you flirting with me, Augustus Correa?”

“Every moment of every day, but I swear this is professional.” He reaches out for me and cringes when his hands meet my skin. “Your body temperature has dropped. You feel clammy and cold.” He leads me over to the mirror. “Your body temperature dropped when you ingested the prescient berries too.”

Wow. I am disappearing. It’s like my whole body has lost its color, and I’m taking on the whites and grays of the surrounding room. I pull off my pink and red beach cover-up and gasp. My skin is the same color as the cover-up, but right before my eyes, it fades in color.

“Holy shit.” I peel off the bikini top and bottom, and the darkened skin underneath bleaches out too. I run my fingers through my hair as it lightens. It shimmers and shines for a moment before turning invisible. Even my pubic hair loses color. “This is surreal.”

Gus checks his datapad. “That didn’t take long. It’s only been ten minutes since you finished swallowing the plant.”

My stomach gurgles loudly and moves. Ugh. I clutch at my belly.

“I just barely saw that.” Gus’s voice is filled with awe. “Are you okay?”

I draw a shaky breath. “Yes, I’m okay. I feel tingles all over, and my stomach is unhappy. But otherwise, I feel fairly normal.”

Gus’s eyes are focused on the wall behind me now. He’s looking straight through me.

So, I move, and he twitches.

“Do you see me?” I ask, standing by the bathroom door. He whips around to the sound of my voice.

“No. But I can hear you.”

I move again, and he must detect something because he jerks to the side.

“Okay. I saw something. Like a glimmer?” He waves his hand in front of him but misses me. “It reminds me of…” He snaps his fingers a few times. “A heat mirage.”

I sneak right up to him, and a smile blooms on his face. “I can tell you’re near me. I can smell you.” He closes his eyes. “Coconut.”

He’s so close to me, and I want to kiss him again. But this invisibility plant is messing with my head. I can’t see my own hand as I lift it through the air to touch Gus’s beard. I have to move slowly, so I don’t accidentally poke his eye out. That wouldn’t be very romantic.

Gus startles right as my fingers contact his cheek, then he smiles and leans into it.

“Vivi…” He rests his hand over mine. “I won’t stop you from talking to my parents.” He takes my hand in his and watches how it shifts in color. “You’re so brave, so full of life.” He squeezes my hand. “Go ruin Cressida. No one should have that kind of power over Jinzo.”

Or over me.

Am I really the type of person to ruin someone else? I’m not sure. I have a temper and a bad attitude some days, but my heart is too soft to hurt other people on purpose. Do I have it in me to teach someone else a lesson? Goodness knows everyone else wants to see me ruined.

It’s so hard to know what to do.

Can I fight fire with fire? Or am I too chicken?

I slip from the room before I can change my mind.

—-

With the resort winding down for the day and preparing for the night, the walkways between villas are quiet. I pass a villa with a family in it, everyone eating appetizers in the kitchen, showers running, and music playing in the back. Before I left, Skylar had ordered dinner in and also found out where Cressida is staying by slipping Raul fifty credits — Villa 375.

Villa 375 is just up and around the corner. I stick to the shadows, well aware that I’m naked, and I should be careful of where I step. Not only do I not have anything to protect my feet, but I should also stay clear of prickly bushes or anything that will be a problem for my bare skin.

Have I mentioned I don’t enjoy being naked? I recently adopted a clothes-at-all-times approach to post-sex and sleeping after what happened with the prescient berries, but nude is not a state I stay in for long as it is. I like to be protected. This feels wrong in so many ways.

I pass by another villa, and a dog jumps against the backyard fence and barks at me.

“Hey, Charlie! Quiet down!” his owner calls out.

Hmmm, Charlie can see me… or maybe smell me? Gus could still smell me when I was in the room. Charlie barks more as I slink away, then he gives up and quiets down.

I take a deep breath and look at my hands as I approach Villa 375. I’m still invisible as far as I can tell, so I circle around to the back of the house where I hear voices.

“Oh my God, give it a rest, Cress. You’ve been complaining for an hour straight.”

Whoever is talking is exasperated to no end.

“I’ll bitch as much as I want to,” Cressida responds, a haughty tone to her voice. “This is my network, my vacation, with my money, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I please.”

I hear a weary sigh from someone. “Okay. I’ve had it for today. I’m going for a walk.”

“Don’t you walk away from me!”

If this was the way she spoke to Jinzo, no wonder he left.

“I will walk wherever I damned well please.” His baritone voice echoes through the house. “Don’t wait up.”

The front door slams, so I tiptoe around to the side of the villa and see a man leaving, his deep copper skin reflecting the last rays of the sunset. I can’t remember his name, but he’s one of Cressida’s top consorts, acquired a year or two before Jinzo.

Maybe I should let this be. Maybe I shouldn’t fight this with Cressida. Will it make me a better or worse person to let her get away with her shit?

I’m not certain.

“Well?” Cressida’s voice rises again, so I return to the rear of the house. “Who else is going to leave now?”

Silence.

It only takes a moment to realize I’m being silly by not looking in the window. I have invisibility. I could walk through their house right in front of them, and they wouldn’t see me. But my heart is beating so fast, and my stomach is gurgling like a caged monster. It lets out a growl, and I double over in pain, sucking in a breath to stop the stabbing in my gut.

“Look,” someone else says, so I stand up to peer into the window. It’s one of her newer men. “You can’t keep people around by sheer force of will. Jin left, and that’s unfortunate. But he had every right… every reason to go. Ever since Darvin left, you’ve been trying to hold on to people with claws instead of kindness. It’s excruciating to watch.”

Cressida’s face turns from white to pink, and her eyes fill with tears. “I… am doing… the best… I can.” Each word comes grinding out of her mouth, and regret fills my chest.

“Baby.” The young woman on the couch stands up and crosses the room to Cressida, holding out her hands to take Cressida in her arms. They may be sisters or cousins? I can’t remember if Cressida has either of these relations, but they share similar features. “You have done all you can.”

“No.” Cressida smacks away the young woman’s hands. “No. I need to stop them. That bitch may take Jin, but she’s not taking the Taurus. That ship is mine.” She jabs her finger into her chest.

“How many times do I have to say it?” The newer man stands up to face Cressida. “Jin left you because of the way you treated him. The way you treat us all.”

“James,” the young woman hisses at him.

“No. No. I won’t be silent anymore.” He points his finger at Cressida. “If you continue to pursue this, if you don’t turn yourself around from this destructive path, we’ll all be gone before you know it.” He sighs, letting his arms drop to his side as Cressida fumes at him. “We want to help you. You’re angry. I get it. Darvin was a blow, but you stole him first! And then mistreated him, so he disappeared. With Jin, we saw that coming a light-year away. He gave you warnings. He went through all the channels, followed all the procedures. You let him go, thinking he’d be back.” James shrugs. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

Cressida turns on her heel and storms off. Retreating footsteps up the stairs echo through the villa, and a door slams on the second floor. I tilt away from the building and notice a light come on in the bedroom above me.

“Who wants a drink?” James asks, and when no one answers him, he says, “I do! Where’s the rum?”

I withdraw from the house, and my stomach cramps up again. Oh no. I need a bathroom, fast. My body prickles with sweat as I get that feeling, that awful feeling like I’m less than five minutes from my bowels emptying out. I turn, and a bush jumps straight into my path. Didn’t I just say I should avoid things that would hurt my skin? My feet fumble on the rocks of the garden behind me, and I crash into the bush, yelping as I scrape my knee and hip.

“Did you hear that?” James asks from inside. His face appears in the porch window, and even though I’m in so much pain I’m seeing stars, I hold my breath, quieting my voice to a whimper. James stares right at me, lying among the bushes, but he blinks a few times and moves away from the window. “Must be in the property next door.”

I count to five before I’m able to stand. I run my hand over my knee, and I can tell it’s bleeding, even if I can’t see it. Fabulous. Another wave of panic washes over me as my bowels drop. I have to get back to the villa.

I hurry away from Cressida’s place at light-speed. Gotta get home. Gotta get home. Oh, man, I’m so screwed. If I shit in the bushes, will it be invisible? This makes me laugh. They may not see it, but they’d smell it. I laugh more and clutch at my stomach. Charlie, the dog, hears me pass again and comes to bark, but I’m too quick to stick around.

Villa 313 is right in front of me. I can make it. I know I can. Sweat covers me from head to toe as I run around the rear and throw open the porch door.

“Vivian?” Gus’s voice calls out from the kitchen.

I don’t want to call any more attention to myself in case there are other people in the villa, so I stumble right for the first-floor bathroom, shut the door quietly, and make it to the toilet just in time.

I groan as I lean against the nearest wall. This is as bad as puking my guts out after the prescient berries. And now that the sweat on my skin is drying in the cool, conditioned air, I begin to shiver.

“Vivian?” Gus opens the door and enters. He stops at the sink. “I can hear you. Where are you?”

“On the toilet. Don’t come any closer. I’m gross.”

He flips on the fan and room deodorizer. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen a lot worse as a nurse. Diarrhea?”

“Mm-hm.” It’s all I can say as my body cramps up again. “And painful cramping. And I’m bleeding too.”

He approaches the toilet, and his eyes find mine. “I can see you… kind of. An outline of you is coming back. How are you bleeding?”

I cry out as my bowels cramp up again. An anvil of pain crashes through me, and I try to breathe through it with rapid breaths.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Gus backs up. “Stay right there. Be sure to flush the toilet now before you go again, or it’ll back up. I’ll go find some pills in my medkit. IV meds would be faster, but I can’t see you to put in an IV.”

“Vivian?” Skylar pushes the door open. “Is she in here?”

“Hey,” I say and wave.

Skylar stops, and her eyes widen. “Fucking wow.”

A rush of goosebumps covers me from head to toe, my bowels cramp, and I panic.

“Get out! Get out!”

Gus and Skylar scramble for the hallway.

“Oh God. I’m never eating again,” I yell at the door as it closes.

I’m not sure I’ll ever eat anything from those seeds again, either.