Phases

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

   Marianna huffed softly and gently pulled her hands from his. Should I be concerned?

   Jimin released a short burst of bright laughter. "You must learn to trust me."

        "Stop listening in," she commands.

        "I mostly hear you without even trying."

   She squinted at him. "Did you know before today that you could hear my thoughts?"

   His response was instantaneous, "No! No, not at all, I swear it!" Jimin's eyes were wide and sincere. "Though yesterday, in the dining hall..." he trailed off, "Oh. I think I heard you yesterday as well."

   Marianna shifted uncomfortably. "No way to know for sure at this point. We should decide on our next course of action."

A slow, sly grin spread across his face. Marianna pointedly refused to meet his eyes. "Jimin, we hardly have the time for this. Half of the day is gone, and we have yet to so much as open a book!"

   He chuckled deeply and decided to let her off the hook for now. "Right. You're right. Let us continue," he agreed, "My next question is why now?"

        "Hmm. Another good question. But I think the answer to that one is simple."

        "Do share, Miss Averndale."

        "It's either due to your approaching change, or to our new-found proximity to one another. Those are the only reasons that would make sense."  

        "In which case, it's plausible that this power will grow stronger with the coming of my change."

        "Or the longer we are near each other. Perhaps both." She blanched a little at the thought. It would seem she no longer held any freedoms in her life. The thought brought despair in its wake, and she found herself wishing for the day to be at an end already.

   Her anguish washed over Jimin in a tidal wave of feeling and he lurched to his feet, needing to put distance between them. Gods, there must be a way to control this somehow, he silently hoped. He found her thoughts to mostly be humorous but found that he could not bear the weight of her current emotion. He paced to the fireplace and braced his forearms against the mantle, scratching his brow with his thumb. A glance over his shoulder revealed a gaping Marianna, one hand placed over her solar plexus. Jimin pivoted back towards her, his arms out in a questioning gesture.

        "I can feel you," her voice is barely audible as she stood. "Here," her hand pressed down more firmly over her abdomen. "Just now, when you moved away, it...it pulled."

   He stood, mouth agape, as he gawked at her.  "What?"

     "I can feel you.  When you move about ... I feel it.  Like a - a pull.  Here." She pressed over her abdomen once more.  

        "A pull?"

    Her free hand flew up to her head as she swayed on her feet.  "And here.  It makes my head spin.  Like a compass finding true north."

   With a start, Jimin noted a soft, golden glow begin in her eyes. "Marianna?"

        "There's something ... something is happening.  I can feel ... something is happening, Jimin."

   He watched on in horror as her hands dropped to hand limply at her sides.  The vacant look in her eyes was unnerving as the golden glow intensified.