Probing Visions 1

Chapter 7 (Part 3)

     Soon, the school bells begin to work in motion and swing. Then, they resound, their chimes echoing into the horizon. As the bells resonate, the students wandering in the halls surge into their classrooms.

     Jean, Kevin, and Gabriel enter their classroom, along with a dozen students. As their feet meet the classroom's wooden floor, they turn to their left and squeeze into the bleacher-like benches. Pulling some chairs, they settle down and claim their seats beside each other.

     As soon as Jean settles down, he snatches a book from his coat's pocket and flips it open. As Kevin and Gabriel whisper into each other's ears, Jean carefully examines every word written on the tome's pages. Noticing Jean's focus on his book, Kevin and Gabriel glance at each other and deepen their conversation.

"Have you noticed Jean being too attached to that same old book for the past few days?" Gabriel asked Kevin, whispering into his ear.

"Yeah. I wonder what he could be reading," Kevin whispered back his reply.

Directing his focus to Jean, Gabriel poked Jean on the shoulder and asked, "Hey, Jean. What are you reading? Kev and I have noticed your unbreakable bond with that book."

"Oh, it's nothing," Jean replied calmly, his eyes still fixed on the pages.

Raising a curious brow, Gabriel peeked over Jean's shoulder and gazed at the letterings on the page. "...Visions?" he read aloud.

"Visions?" Kevin repeated.

"Yeah," Jean nodded, still reading the book.

"We already passed that subject last year. What makes you want to read that again?" Kevin inquired, pointing a palm towards Jean's tome.

Jean flipped another page before taking a deep breath. "Well..." he began. "You see. I had a vision... a dream, you know?"

"You're telling us you're a seer?" Kevin asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, honestly," Jean replied, sighing. "Perhaps I'm just dreaming some stuff."

"Heh. I couldn't say you're 'just dreaming some stuff' because! How could you possibly know about Scarlet?" Gabriel stated, inclining his head towards Jean's direction.

"Yeah, Gabriel's right," Kevin concurred. "What if you're truly a seer?" he pondered.

"Seers. They. Uh," Jean stuttered, his eyes darting towards the book as he flipped its pages. "Well. It depends... you could either learn how to acquire visions... or your family inherently can acquire visions," he stated.

"Which one are you?" Gabriel questioned.

"I couldn't be sure," Jean replied, a pout forming on his lips.

"I mean, which one are you, in your opinion?" Gabriel reiterated with a smile.

Jean's tight pout turned into a loose frown. "Well, we didn't learn how to do full-on visions. We just learned the basics. And about my family... eh... it's complicated..."

"What do you mean 'complicated'?" Gabriel wondered, tilting his head.

Sensing the urge to intervene, Kevin reached forward, placing a firm hand on Gabriel's back. "Very complicated..." Kevin whispered.

"...Oh?" Gabriel pondered momentarily before his mind crystallized with a conclusion. "Oh..." Turning to Jean, Gabriel bid his apologies. "I... I'm sorry, Jean. I didn't know..."

Jean sighed heavily. "It's alright. It's not a big deal," he replied, regaining a smile as he shook his head.

Kevin glanced at Jean. "Hey. What's with the book anyway? You're having visions. And now you're reading that book. So, what's up?" he inquired.

"Well... just trying to uncover some stuff," Jean replied.

"What are you trying to uncover anyway?" Gabriel probed further.

Jean paused for a second to think of an answer. "...I want to know the whereabouts of my—" his words got cut off, his ears perking up some muffled noise in the distance.