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One/Prologue: Corin

The first time I hear someone else inside my head, it is almost midnight. 

It may not be entirely unexpected, but that doesn't mean it's any less of a shock.

Hello?

I sit bolt upright in bed. Starlight trickles through the blinds, giving my belongings a shadowy half-life. Am I in a waking dream? Imagining speech belonging to the dappled light that makes the wind chime above me appear to move?

Is anyone out there?

There it is again. A deep, husky sort of voice that can't be confused for my own internal thoughts - it is male. I lie back down, heart thumping louder than the voice invading my mind. Should I reply? Gathering the cotton blankets in my fists, I pull them up to my chin and stare wide-eyed at the gleaming chrome trees of the wind chime. My mother made it, for my tenth birthday. I swallow a painful lump in my throat. As I learned from her, it would be wiser to ignore the voice, hope it leaves me alone. 

Maybe I have some choice in this. 

Maybe I can choose not to be a Mindlinker. No one has ever told me otherwise.

But the temptation proves too great to resist.

"I am here," I whisper up to the metal trees. Their barren branches point to the ceiling. I don't know how to Mindlink, so I pretend they act as satellites, sending my thoughts in the right direction.

Who are you? The reply comes almost immediately, eagerly, appearing like vapour, intertwining with my own thoughts. My breath catches in my throat.

"My name is Benna." Whispering comes out hoarse, as if my throat is closing, reminding me I don't need to use my voice. "And you?"

Corin.

Corin. Short, crisp. I test the word on my lips. Introduce it aloud to the room. Bury a smile into my pillowcase. Corin is my Link. Our minds are entwined, for the rest of our lives.