Chapter 9
Not a Freak
My eyes fluttered open and in front of me was a bright light. Jennifer’s face swam into my vision, and she seemed to be patting something cold on my forehead.
Suddenly all the memories came flooding back. My mom was in trouble. I needed to help her.
I sat up to fast and almost fell over again. My head was swimming with aches that seemed to move.
“Whoa there,” Jennifer said in a calm voice. I looked over at her and noticed worry in her eyes.
“Please tell me I was just dreaming.” I whispered in a broken voice. “Please tell me that I fell down the stairs and got a concussion.” My eyes filled with tears as she shook her head.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what your going through right now. I know your mom meant a lot to you.” She said. For a moment I saw her eyes fill up, then she looked away, ashamed.
“Why are you crying?” I asked a little shocked that she could cry for someone she didn’t know.
She winced a little and replied, “My sister was kidnapped,” I fell back onto the bed. What kind of heartless person would take a 6 year old!
“It’s going to be fine Jenny,” I said, not sure if I was talking to her or me, “We’ll find her, and get her back,” She smiled weakly at my pathetic attempt to help.
“You have no idea where they would be. Or what kind of guards they have. Or even where to start,” She seemed to have lost all hope already.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
“An hour and a half,” she replied in the same hopeless voice.
I looked around and realized I was in my dorm. The bed had fresh sheets, and the drapes on the window were thrown open. There was no sign of Nico so I guess he was down at breakfast. The lights were off in the room but you could still see just as well with the window uncovered. I inhaled deeply watching the tree outside sway in the wind. Letting out the huge breath as the tree swayed back the other way.
Suddenly I remembered the feeling of warmth that had been present when I passed out. “Hey, Jenny, did I start something on fire last night?” I asked.
She smiled weakly to reassure me, but it didn’t work, “Yeah, but Jack put it out already and cleaned everything up. I relaxed slightly, knowing that I hadn’t hurt anyone, then remembered what was going on.
“We’ve got to figure out what’s going on,” I demanded. I threw off the covers and stormed out of the room. Downstairs I could here the other guys talking in low whispers at breakfast.
I slowed down before entering; sure they all knew what had happened. I stepped in; my eyes swept the room for Jack and found him in the back right corner. That’s when I realized all the whispers had diminished. They were all staring at me. I felt Jennifer step next to me, and saw a few eyes slip to her. We slowly walked over to Jack’s table and he yelled through the enormous room, “As you were,” and the talking continued immediately.
A thought occurred to me then as I sat down at the table with Jack, Jennifer, Nico, Kayla, Garret, and Italy.
“Was anyone else taken or… killed?” I whispered the last word. “No, just Carly and your mom” Jack answered.
“Why just them?” I asked cautiously. Jack seemed perplexed by this question, as if he had been asking the same one. He looked towards Italy for help, which I found odd.
“There are different levels of power with these gifts,” she began, surprising me, “You two happen to be at the top of those levels, along with some of the other students, including Nico and myself. But you two were the only ones who had someone to loose. Nico and I have already lost everything.”
My eyes fell at this statement, and all I could say was, “Oh.” I had tons of questions, like why was I at a higher level than the rest? And what did that mean for me? Was I dangerous? Should I be scared? How did Italy know this? Why did she seem to be one of the grownups when she looked like she was 8?
But instead another question came to mind, “Italy? What’s your gift?” I asked.
She blushed again, “Umm,” she looked to Jack who just nodded and said, “You might as well tell them now, before they figure it out later,” I was staring to get nervous, and so was everyone else.
“My gift is,” she looked for the word, “different. I don’t have an elemental power; I have something less common in Bluen. It’s called Telepathy, I can read minds and control things just by thinking about it.”
I stared at her in awe and she blushed some more. She was a telepath? I had to test this. “What am I thinking about?” I asked as I scrambled to think of something random, when I finally settled on tacos she said, “Tacos,” Quickly and quietly. I stared some more then said, “Make my fork levitate,” then realizing how rude that was I added, “Please,” She looked at the fork and it floated an inch of the table.
“Whoa!” I whispered. I had never seen anything like it. “Your amazing!”
She blushed some more, “You really don’t think I’m a freak?” she asked. I stared at her dumbfounded, “A freak? No, you’re awesome! I don’t know if you’ve noticed but not everybody can read minds and make things levitate just by thinking about it.”
Her face turned beat red at my compliments and I blushed with her realizing how I had just pointed out why she would be a freak.
“Well anyways, our agents found 3 different tracks coming from your house.” Jack started, addressing Jenny, “They split up and followed them, and one of them eventually found your sister.” A huge sigh of relief escaped Jenny’s mouth before Jack could continue she started shooting questions at him, “Where is she now? Is she ok? I have to see her! Where is she?!”
Jack grabbed her arm to quiet her and continued, “Unfortunately, our agent was unable to get her. She was heavily guarded and there was no way one man could get in and take her without getting noticed.” Jenny’s eyes fell and all that she could muster was a quiet, “Oh,” as we all watched a small tear slide down her cheek.
“We have decided, however, to send a small rescue party in to save her,” Jack said trying to comfort her. She looked up and asked, “Where is she?” Jack waited a second before saying, “California.” He let that sit for a moment.
“Who’s going?” she asked. “Kayla, Garret, Italy, a few more instructors, and myself.”
“I’m going with you.” She said, sitting up straight and looking him in the eye. He shook his head, “You are not trained enough to go. You are much too powerful to bring along in your current emotional state. It would be extremely dangerous.”
I felt a slight breeze as her face hardened and she folded her hands lightly on the table in a very obvious symbol of power. She looked Jack in the eyes again and told me sternly, “I am going to help save my sister whether you want me to or not. This is my sister we’re talking about and I am not going to sit here and wait while you guys go save her without me!”
He shook his head and was about to talk when Jenny continued, “Italy is going, why can’t I?” Jack closed his eyes in frustration, “Italy is coming because she is our only telepath and she has trained for most of her life. You are not coming because of what you have just displayed for us. It could be dangerous for the outcome of the mission if you had a mood swing and decided to take away our air.”
She seemed slightly offended by this statement, “Why on earth would I kill you? You’re trying to save my sister! I’m not that stupid!” She fumed.
Jack opened his mouth to speak, then closed his eyes and answered in a controlled voice, “You, are staying here and that is final. I’m sorry Jennifer, but we can’t risk anything, your sister’s life depends on it.” He finished sympathetically.
Jenny narrowed her eyes at him, but was smart enough not to talk.
After a moment Jack said, "We will leave in 1 hour for California."
