Kate Sorensen stared at her daughter, Autumn, in the rear view mirror of their SUV as they drove over to Heidi's house. She had been thrilled at Autumn's newfound motivation for proper eating and exercise, and especially her new friendship. Autumn had always been a loner, more interested in watching television than making friends. It had been like a gift from the gods for her to meet Heidi.
She had definitely underestimated Autumn's description of Heidi as being a genius, chalking it up to her enthusiasm for having a new friend. After hearing the orchestral arrangements mixed with a modern rock ensemble that Heidi had recorded were glaring evidence that Autumn had not exaggerated in the least.
Of course, now there was this supposed supernatural element as well. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. As much as she wanted to call the events all coincidence, it would be blind obstinance at this point to ignore the evidence that something unnatural was going on with Heidi.
As she pulled onto the quiet residential road where Heidi lived, Kate's keen eyes spotted a government issue unmarked car parked unobtrusively down the street from Heidi's house. As she passed it, she glanced at the two ordinary women sitting in the front seats. Kate had been working around soldiers long enough to recognize them whether they were in uniform or not. These two were definitely soldiers, and she had little doubt they were here to keep an eye on Heidi.
As they pulled up to the Rockwell house, Kate felt a small worm of anxiety wriggle through her midsection. Autumn had warned her about what she called Heidi's 'god mode', which was apparently when Heidi performed many of her supernatural feats. She said Heidi could be extremely intimidating when in god mode.
"You okay, mom?" Autumn asked her with a knowing smile.
"I'm fine," she replied, shaking her head ruefully. "Go get your friend and let's go shopping."
"No need," Autumn said, opening the back door. "She's on her way."
Kate watched closely as Heidi exited the house. Autumn was right. This was definitely not the same Heidi that Kate remembered. Heidi seemed to have lost every ounce of fat she had once carried in abundance. She had grown at least half a foot as well. Kate was tall for a woman, and she was probably only a few inches taller than the young woman confidently approaching their SUV. Halfway to the vehicle, Heidi glanced down the street at the covert soldiers, her lips curving slightly. Then she turned back to the SUV and met Kate's curious gaze.
Kate blinked in surprise as ageless eyes full of untold wisdom peered into her soul. Her breath caught as the sense of overpowering intelligence studied every cranny and corner of her being. She felt like a sheet of glass, completely transparent to the young women's probing gaze. Every secret she ever had was inspected and catalogued.
Then Heidi smiled in greeting, and the overpowering presence vanished. "Hello, Ms. Sorenson. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise," Kate managed to reply weakly. In the rearview mirror, Autumn winked at her and smiled encouragingly.
Okay, she was a believer. It was one thing to hear about how extraordinary Heidi was—it was completely different to actually experience it firsthand.
She noticed the 'covert' soldiers pull out and trail them from a discreet distance. It suddenly occurred to her that if the Colonel was having a security detail watch his daughter, there might actually be a cause for worry when in Heidi's presence. What if some bigshot from DC wanted to take Heidi apart to see how she ticked? Could Autumn get caught in the crossfire?
Heidi's supercharged gaze captured hers in the rearview mirror and Kate had to remind herself how to breathe. Heidi shook her head slightly, as if she knew exactly what Kate was thinking. Considering she had knocked out hundreds of people with some kind of superpower, perhaps Kate should worry more for any poor fools sent to try and take her in. Heidi nodded slightly, as if she was listening to every thought Kate had. Kate couldn't hold back an involuntary shiver as she tried to just focus on driving.
"Do you mind if we pick up one more person?" Heidi asked her, eyes once again those of a normal adolescent—well, mostly.
"Not at all," Kate smiled easily. "Who and where?"
"Aria," Heidi replied, passing her phone up to Kate with a mapping app already open. "She's a little shaken up after the events yesterday, so I thought we could recharge her confidence."
"Oh, nice," Kate smiled again. "So you two have been keeping in contact?"
Autumn's eyes were suddenly staring at her in the mirror full of unsaid meaning as she shook her head slightly.
"Sort of," Heidi replied after a pause.
It took Kate a moment to make sense of the interchange. Oh. She probably has a psychic eye on Aria. God this is getting weird.
When they pulled up to Aria's house, Heidi walked over and rang the doorbell. A short man in a tank top and shorts answered the door. Kate had seen a lot of lushes in her life, and she recognized the signs of a man who spent a lot of time with a bottle in his hand. Kate couldn't hear the exchange, but a moment later the man was cowering and backing away from Heidi with a look of absolute terror in his bloodshot eyes. A dark stain down the front of his shorts was evidence that he had just soiled himself in fear. There was a sudden boom that shook the car, and the engine died. The man collapsed on the ground and convulsed as if he were having a seizure. Heidi stood over his quivering form like an avenging angel, auroral lights arcing around her as she spoke quietly.
The soldiers, who had parked a few hundred feet behind them, were out of their car and watching the exchange uncertainly. They looked ready to rush up the road at a moment's notice.
"What's going on?" Kate asked in alarm.
"If I had to guess," Autumn replied, not sounding very alarmed at all. "I would say that Heidi has discovered that Aria's dad has not been a very good father. She is extremely protective of children."
"What do you mean, 'not been a very good father?'" Kate asked sharply.
"Probably just verbally abusive," Autumn guessed thoughtfully. "I don't think she would leave him alive if he were doing anything more serious than that."
Heidi looked past the semiconscious man into the house and made a beckoning gesture. A moment later, Aria came out of the house, tears staining her cheeks. Heidi put an arm around her and guided her to the SUV. Kate tried to start the engine again as they climbed inside, but it was completely dead.
"Car's dead," she sighed, glancing at Heidi warily.
"Try it again," Heidi instructed, her voice layered with overtones of supreme authority. Yep, she was in full on god mode.
Kate's hands shook slightly as she turned the keys again. The SUV roared to life. Kate glanced back in the mirror, but Heidi's attention was on Aria. Letting out a shaky breath, she continued on toward the guitar store. Several of the neighbors had started coming out of their houses to see what the loud boom was. The soldiers behind them had apparently been far enough away to not have their car stalled, because they pulled out and began following again as she turned the first bend.
By the time they arrived at the guitar store, Aria had stopped crying and was even smiling as Heidi and her daughter bantered with her about what an awesome vocalist she would make.
Kate frowned as they entered the mall where the guitar store was located. She had forgotten about Heidi's notoriety. Hopefully the news media had remained unsuccessful in finding a picture of Heidi. If so, nobody would recognize her.
The soldiers were casually following from a few dozen feet behind as they walked through the sparsely populated hallways. Kate noticed Heidi smiling broadly as they passed the children's play area. There were several mothers with their children playing on the small playground. Autumn was right—Heidi seemed to have a real soft spot for children.
"So which one do I want?" Autumn asked Heidi helplessly as they surveyed row upon row of guitars.
Heidi calmly walked along the row of guitars, plucking one string of each guitar she passed by. She slowly made her way down the aisle of guitars as the bemused clerk watched curiously. About halfway down the aisle she stopped and pulled a Fender down from the rack. She spent a few seconds tuning it, seeming to know the right pitch for every string without any source of reference. Then she began playing a haunting melody that grew steadily more complex, until both of her hands were flying up and down the fretboard. A few of the other people in the shop gathered around to watch in appreciation. Kate marveled at how anyone could make something sound so beautiful from metal and wood.
"This is the one you want," Heidi informed Autumn as the onlookers clapped enthusiastically, some of them calling for more.
"That's pretty expensive," Autumn said when she looked at the price tag.
"No it's not," Kate disagreed, taking the guitar from Heidi and presenting it to the clerk at the counter.
"How about one more performance, before you go?" the clerk asked hopefully. "You're a great advertisement for window shoppers."
"Yeah, let's hear another one," Aria encouraged, her eyes filled with amazement.
"Only if I get my partner," Heidi replied with a smile, arching an eyebrow at Autumn. "Rise of the Serentium?"
Autumn swallowed hard, looking at the small audience that had gathered around. "I'm not sure about playing in front of people…"
"I'll start, you join in," Heidi told her, pulling another guitar from the rack. "It will be just like in the studio."
Kate nodded her head encouragingly, excited to finally see her daughter perform.
Autumn nodded, smiling weakly. "Okay, you start."
Heidi started picking a poignant melody line. A moment later, Autumn began strumming a rhythm in perfect time. After a few rounds of the same melody line, the picking became more complex, and Heidi began singing. It was like time suddenly stood still as everyone in earshot stopped what they were doing to listen to that glorious voice. Kate felt a tear run down her cheek as Autumn's voice began harmonizing with Heidi.
Kate had been to live concerts and heard beautiful music before, but nothing could have prepared her for how soul capturing the music Heidi and her daughter were performing. The word 'transcendent' seemed far too commonplace to describe how spiritually moving their masterpiece of musical genius was.
When they finished, there was a deafening silence as everyone around stared at them in profoundest respect. Then the cheering began as people from all over the mall began gravitating toward the music shop to find the source of the seraphic music.
"Autumn?" a young blonde girl was staring at Autumn from the guitar shop entryway in astonishment. "Was that you?"
"Me and Heidi," Autumn replied with a blush. "Yeah."
The girl's eyes widened as she looked past Autumn to where Heidi was putting the guitar back on the rack. She took an involuntary step back as Heidi's gaze landed on her.
"Hello, Alice," Heidi greeted the young woman with a smile. "How's your head?"
"It's... fine," Alice replied, looking spooked. "It was just a goosebump."
"Sorry about that," Heidi said apologetically.
"This is Heidi?" the store clerk asked, pulling his phone out to take a picture. "As in, the Heidi that's been all over the news?"
"Time to go," Kate said firmly, beckoning the girls to follow her.
Phones were popping up all over as the name Heidi rippled through the crowd like an echo. Everyone wanted a picture of the latest celebrity. The two soldiers seemed to be battling awestruck expressions that threatened to dominate their faces. The crowd parted easily for Heidi as they left the building.
"Well, so much for the media not having a picture of Heidi," Kate muttered sourly.
"That won't be changing anytime soon," Heidi assured her with a steely glint in her eye. She didn't elaborate.
"So are you interested in joining now?" Autumn asked Aria with a grin.
"Hell yeah," Aria replied, laughing in amazement. "I still can't believe that just happened."
"Yeah," Kate told her with a wry grin. "And you only heard them singing with two guitars. You should hear them with their full orchestral arrangement."
"You did pretty good in front of a crowd," Heidi congratulated Autumn cheerfully. "You're a natural."
Autumn blushed at the praise, her eyes shining. "Thanks, that was a lot of fun."