The Gifted Read online

  Vlaine’s brows were furrowed and the corners of his lips were tucked in. I knew that look. He was in Connor’s mind. The air between the two swayed like it does over hot tar, gliding dangerously. As the blast crackled against Connor’s arm, his body jerked to the right, sending the force towards Luka.

  Luka’s eyes widened and a deep grunt escaped when he realized that Vlaine had just used Connor to direct his attack towards him. Trying to escape the blow, Luka threw his body backwards and through the wall behind him. It was as if an invisible truck hit the wall. The entire room shook and a loud bang sounded, vibrating the floor. Our bodies were jolted from the force that spilled from its target.

  Luka limped into the room a moment later seemingly hell bent on exacting revenge on Vlaine. Draxe stepped forward with his arms out to stop Luka. “It’s just a practice run,” Draxe warned, “save that aggression for the real thing.”

  Luka raised his hand and pointed at Vlaine, then retracted his hand quickly while he nodded with a threatening glare. Vlaine’s sideways smile was cocky. He was daring Luka to try and even the score. He wanted the challenge that Luka was happy to provide.

  The feel of someone watching me pulled my head towards Aiden who had his eyes locked on mine, his brow cocked. I squinted my eyes, wondering what he was waiting for. Amusement shone in Aiden’s hazel eyes and he nodded his head towards Connor.

  Without hesitation, I threw a sphere of fire towards Connor whose arm instinctively rose and sent the scorching mass back towards me. I was going to try and redirect the flames in another direction, but I had never tried to emulate Connor’s gift. There was too much thought involved and what I needed was instinct. As I prepared to endure the fiery blow that I had sent towards Connor, a rush of blood sounded in my ears just before the ringing occurred. Blurred vision hid the room for a few moments and once my sight cleared, I was in an entirely different spot in the room in Aiden’s arms.

  It took a few moments to comprehend that Aiden had stopped time to move me out of the way. Once the realization sunk in, the paint on the wall where the fire had struck it had finished sizzling.

  “Thanks,” I mouthed, breathlessly.

  “Anytime,” he winked.

  Our eyes turned to Claire and Ovolina who were standing at the ready. Claire sunk down as if she was about to begin a race. Her shoulders were pulled back and her long dark hair hung firmly between the two masses of muscle bulging from the sides of her camisole. She sprung forward, launching the first three knives into the center of the targets set up the previous night. Aiden was ready to intervene if the next stunt should go wrong. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary. Claire’s dagger spun directly towards Ovolina’s right eye. As the blade twisted in the air towards its target, Ovolina raised her hand and pushed it forward slowly as if it were fighting through thick, invisible mud. As her hand moved in the air, the blade slowed. Not a single breath was exhaled as the knife left Claire’s hand, twirling at an almost imperceptible speed towards Ovolina, then slowed to a halt midair until Ovolina’s fingers closed around the handle of the dagger.

  A proud smirk formed on Ovolina’s face as she tossed the knife in the air and caught it. We all looked towards Miranda. She nodded at Shane and flicked her hands. The instant she did so, the lights were gone from the room and we were in darkness.

  A bizarre scurrying sound emanated from where Shane had just been standing. Liz, who had been invisible the entire time, screeched loudly.

  “Lights!” Liz screamed, thus ending the practice round.

  Once Miranda allowed the lights to find their original home Shane transformed quickly back from an Aye-Aye to his normal appearance.

  Liz was glowering and her fists were balled up so tightly that her knuckles were white. “Rodent,” she spat at Shane.

  “Primate,” Shane rolled his eyes, “duh.”

  “Enough,” Lacey snapped. “Ready?” She asked rhetorically before commanding the room, “begin!”

  The moment the word left her mouth Luka was running towards Vlaine. As Luka rushed towards him Aiden stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the room. His hands were stretched behind him, each one barely an inch from my hips.

  Draxe was by my side scanning the room. Liz and Miranda have the keys. Vlaine knows too, Draxe’s voice sounded in my mind. I gave a swift, almost imperceptible, nod to let him know I heard his message. I touched my fingers lightly to Aiden’s and mentally relayed what Draxe had told me.

  Shane’s body seemed to crumpled into itself alarmingly quickly into the form of a bat and the new form flew about the room using his echolocation to find Liz, no doubt. Half a minute later Shane burst from the animal form he had just taken and his hand was motioning in the air quickly until he jumped up victoriously and shouted, “I’ve got one!”

  Claire’s lean, muscular body launched at him and pinned him down in an aggressive martial arts maneuver. She scanned the room until she found Lena then she tossed the key to her. Lena’s hand wrapped around the key that Claire expertly tossed to her, then ran behind Vlaine.

  In the process, I saw Shane scramble over to Miranda’s side. In a swift move, she handed the key off to him. It was intelligent for them to make the switch, seeing how anyone with their attention elsewhere now thought Shane was devoid of any keys. The exchange was so quick, I was sure that no one else saw aside from the team captains. The fact that Shane knew Miranda had the key meant that either they had cheated or they were working so well together that they had already picked up on little cues. I hoped it was the latter.

  Ovolina squinted and her eyes rested on me. Fingertips rose in the air and as they did the feeling of air tightening around my arms pulled them upwards until my hands were above my head. She thought I had the key, and I was fine with letting her think that. Her other hand came up and as it did, the air around my gripped around my torso and I was being lifted in the air. Aiden nodded at Draxe who threw his hands forward sending a blast towards Ovolina. Her petite body was tossed to the ground, though much more lightly than I had seen when they were the victims of his brother.

  Draxe’s defensive maneuver made the others think that I was the holder of the key because Claire and Connor were both running towards me. I pushed my palms towards the ground and created a semi-circle of fire to separate myself from the others.

  Watching the interaction, Shane’s body crumpled into a hawk that flew across the room and behind me with a single flap of his wings. Before I had a chance to turn around, I felt one of Shane’s arms wrap underneath my armpit and over my shoulder while the other began searching pockets. When he found nothing in my pockets his hand started patting my body down.

  “Hey,” Vlaine’s roar was directed towards Shane. Shane’s body froze to look at Vlaine, and while he did I pushed my hand slowly towards his pocket and slid my hand through the first layer of fabric using Luka’s gift. Sure enough the key was there, resting in the first place that he had checked on me.

  Miranda flicked her hand as if she was swatting a bug out of the air and in an instant, darkness surrounded us. Shane’s hands left my torso, followed by a scurrying sound. I tried to listen for the movements of everyone around me. Aiden was no longer standing guard, but Draxe was still by my side. I had the golden team’s key and all I needed next was sapphire, last seen with Lena.

  I put my hand against the wall and began to follow it towards where Vlaine was standing, assuming Lena was still by him. With any intelligence, she would be. If I could do the same to her as I did to Shane, our team would win.

  A blinding light appeared in front of my face, completely disorienting me. From the murmurs of those in the room, it sounded like it was equally as surprising. A moment later the light was gone and my eyes fought to begin adjusting to the darkness once again. Seconds later the same bright light appeared in front of Claire. It followed suit with Draxe then Lena.

  As darkness shrouded the room once more I continued along the wall. Just as I was coming upon where I remembered Vlaine standin
g, a fist slammed into my gut just below my left ribs. I fell to the ground, trying to catch my breath. Pain radiated throughout my stomach and I clenched my hand to the spot where I was hit, hoping the pain would dissipate quickly.

  “What the hell?” I coughed, gripping my abdomen tightly.

  “Abbs?” I heard Vlaine yell panicked from a distance.

  I twirled my hand and willed the lights to resume to where Miranda had removed them earlier. I looked around and saw Vlaine ten feet away, Draxe was by his side, and the rest of the group were dispersed looking around, disoriented.

  Luka, only a few feet away, jogged over to give me a hand. I took the help getting to my feet and searched the room for the guilty eyes of my attacker. Vlaine was by my side a moment later. “Who the hell…” he began.

  “Later,” I shook my head. “It was perfectly fair.”

  Draxe ran over and bumped Vlaine with his shoulder. “She’s on my team. I’ve got it.”

  “Now,” Ovolina yelled to Miranda just before the lights were sucked from the room then beaming in Vlaine’s eyes. In the chaos of it all, I never even saw that Connor was standing nearby. He was searching Vlaine for the key and Vlaine instinctively threw his fist towards Connor. The moment Vlaine’s fist grazed Connor’s skin, the blow was directed back and Vlaine’s arm shot backwards, pulling him to the ground.

  Miranda still had the lights in Vlaine’s eyes. He waved his head, trying to look around the light, but it remained where Miranda kept it. “Draxe,” Vlaine looked in his brother’s direction, “it’s out of its socket.” He pointed his chin at the arm that he just used to try and punch Connor.

  “Not on your team, man.” Draxe shook his head then jogged away.

  While Vlaine was trying to get Claire’s attention to have her put his arm back into its socket, Ovolina ran at me full force and as she was about to throw her weight into me I teleported across next to Draxe.

  Pushing the key into his hand I spoke to him telepathically, if Miranda can manipulate light I bet she can also bend it. I’m going to make you invisible. Who else has the keys?

  Draxe kept an arm instinctively out in front of me while he scanned the room. He touched his elbow to me lightly and replied, Connor and Lena.

  My eyes scanned the room for the two. Luka and Ovolina were staring one another down and Claire was using her brute strength to wrestle and search her closest opponents. Aiden was nowhere to be found. Lena was good at slipping from sight and with Miranda still messing with the lights, she was even harder to keep an eye on.

  If Connor had the key, anyone he saw coming did not stand a chance. If I can make you invisible, then you can get the key from Connor. I’m going to extinguish the lights then turn them back on. Keep close to the wall and I’ll try and distract the rest of them.

  The moment Draxe nodded that he was ready, I flicked my hand in the air and took the lights away. Keeping my concentration mostly on Draxe, I returned the light to the room. At first he was distorted, like a funhouse mirror with gaps. Quickly adjusting how I played with the light, I was able to make Draxe invisible.

  I then focused my attention on Ovolina. She was the firecracker in the group and I knew that she would be the easiest target. Using her own gift against her, I held her in place.

  A ferocity shown in her eyes and she clenched her fists, fighting back. It took less than a minute for her to create a scene, yelling various obscenities at me. Despite the colorful language and rage Ovolina was displaying, Connor was keeping his focus elsewhere. Knowing full well that the attack would be redirected to me, I sent a wave of force barreling towards Connor.

  It worked. Connor turned all his attention to me. Sliding quickly out of the path of the force, I toppled into Miranda. Figuring it would be a more humorous display than aggressive, I changed my appearance to hers.

  “That’s so weird,” she laughed, studying my face that now looked like hers. “Are my eyes really that color?” She leaned a little closer, fascinated by her three-dimensional mirror image.

  “Yeah,” I giggled, “you should be one of those contact lenses models or something.”

  “Is this social hour or a fight?” Lacey growled.

  “Calm down,” I snapped at Lacey, while helping Miranda up from the floor, “it’s not like anyone in here is an enemy.”

  “Um, yeah,” Lacey crossed her arms against her chest, “everyone that isn’t on my team is an enemy to me.” Her eyes traveled slow and fiercely from mine, to my stomach where I had been hit, then back up to my eyes.

  My shoulders tightened. That look was a threat, she was signaling that she had been the one to hit me. How it happened, I was not sure. Instead of letting it irritate me, I rolled my eyes and sighed, trying to brush it off. It was obvious that she was obsessively competitive and lingering on the subject would just be giving in to her desire for confrontation.

  I turned my attention to Luka, who had caught on to what I was doing before I bumped into Miranda. He was distracting Connor, Shane, and Claire by running around and, occasionally, through them.

  “Where the heck is Draxe?” Ovolina grunted, searching around frantically.

  Vlaine was eyeing where Draxe was suspiciously. Quickly, he threw his hands up and sent a blast of energy towards his brother. Draxe had been only a few feet away from Connor so I telekinetically pulled Connor in front of Draxe to redirect the blast.

  “Got ‘em, Abrielle!” Draxe yelled triumphantly.

  I stopped bending light and allowed him to reappear. In his right hand were the keys, each color sticking straight up.

  “Damn it,” Lacey hissed. She walked up to Draxe to inspect them. “Vlaine, you were holding back,” she barked.

  “I thought that was pretty good,” Claire skipped over to Draxe, “good job.” She looked at me and smiled, “how did you get it so we couldn’t see him?”

  “She bent the light,” Miranda smiled, stepping forward. “You could tell where he was sometimes because it was imperfect, but I’ve never thought of doing that before.” She pulled her rainbow hair back and twirled a thick aqua elastic around it. Arching a brow and raising her hands, she tried the trick on Claire then turned to me and giggled, “almost completely invisible.”

  “That was a good idea, Steph,” Connor patted her shoulder.

  “Thanks,” Steph shrugged, soaking in the admiration. She turned to Draxe and held out her hand, “but I’m going to need those keys back.”

  Draxe grinned and placed them delicately into her outstretched palm.

  Al made his way over to me and touched my elbow lightly to get my attention. “I think we should talk.”

  4

  I was jealous of the way Al was raised. He told me about how his entire family was aware that there were gifted people. He called replicators “watchers” and what Aiden could do made him a “keeper.”

  He told me that all watchers would be connected in some way throughout their life and when learning new gifts, it was customary to get the permission of the person from whom you are obtaining the skill. Each replicator was born with one or more innate gift and those that we have learned from others, another replicator cannot gain the ability to perform it; we could only learn from those who are innate.

  We may pass on our replication ability to our children, or they could receive nothing at all. In rare instances the children of replicators would be born with innate gifts that the parent had learned throughout their lifetime. Al said that taking a particular liking to a gift could create an imprint that would be set down; a type of species survival mechanism.

  “It is a great deal of responsibility that we were born with, Abrielle. Without having grown up around others like you, it makes you dangerous.” His dark eyes held mine, making sure that I was soaking in every word. “This power, it can be intoxicating. My people were brought up learning how to use it.”

  “I understand,” I nodded, “but even if it is intoxicating, I’m an empath. I can’t hurt anyone without hurting myself.”

>   Al’s eyebrows furrowed with disapproval. “You are naïve.” He leaned back against the wall and shook his head. “Physical pain is not the only way you can misuse it.”

  I felt churlish and vulnerable. If there was a replicator handbook, I would want nothing more than to get my hands on it. My inability to learn from others quickly was embarrassing and the fact that my father abandoned his responsibility to raise me to use my gift correctly was deeply painful.

  “I’m not…” I sighed and closed my eyes, knowing that anything following the word “not” would only be an excuse. “I would love to learn how to do this properly if you are willing to teach me.”

  Al closed his eyes, inhaled, and lifted his chin in deep concentration. I studied his perfect complexion as I awaited his response. A dimple near his eye deepened the harder he concentrated.

  Finally, he lowered his chin and opened his eyes slowly. “I will teach you some things, but we have very little time.”

  For the next hour, Al shared the basic rules that he was taught along with a breathing method that he swore would help with both confidence and control.

  “Our power comes from the vibrations. When you can control your breaths, you realign the vibrations, you control the energy.” He waited for me to nod in response before telling me to close my eyes and breathe as he instructed. “Align,” he instructed, “now open your mind. You were born with telepathy; it will come most natural.”

  I breathed as he had taught me to do then tried to open my mind. Concentrating on having an open mind seemed counterproductive. I was forcing my mind to think itself into a state of non-thinking.

  “Breathe,” he ordered, “now travel. Travel into the mind of the person you care for most.”

  With the haste in his voice, I went to the mind of someone who I could not have expected to enter my thoughts first. It was my mom. I closed my eyes and saw what she saw, heard what she was thinking, and felt her emotions. She was taking the vitals of a geriatric patient and thinking about the patient, bills, and some television show she had watched the night before.