The Boy Who Read Minds

by Veronica Soliman

  "Guess what Vy," he whispered, leaning close to me and reaching for my arm. I watched as the giant scratch on his elbow instantly shut as well as the cut on his lip. My eyes widened.

  No. Way. This was impossible. I looked at the strangers surrounding us. All of them were silent as they watched us, I couldn't hear a single thought.

  What happened? What’s going on?!

  "What?" I asked, noticing my headache subsiding as the liquid on my forehead stopped. I put my hand on my forehead, there was still blood, but no cut.

  "I can hear your thoughts." He grinned and for whatever reason, the past few minutes of utter fear and torture felt like they were worth it.

  Chapter 36:\ Reign It In

  Amy

  By the time I got home from school, there were crowds of police officers surrounding my house. Yellow tape and dozens of detectives and officers were swarming the area. Confused, I approached my house to see two men dragging Bailey out, her mouth was covered with something red and splotchy. My eyes widened as I watched her, her hands were soaked in blood as well, dripping like she’d offered a sacrifice and was awaiting her prize. I parked my car on the street and sprinted toward my sister. She had a wide smile on her face as she looked around her.

  "Bailey! Bailey! What happened?" I shouted, fear filling my eyes as I watched them handcuff her. She had a strange smile on her face, standing in front of our lonely house. My eyes widened; why was there red paint all over her. Why was she being arrested?!

  "Ma'am, you can't pass here. This is a crime scene." A police officer stood in front of me, blocking my path and my view. My heart was racing.

  "That's my sister!" I shouted, frustrated as I tried to push past him, "what happened?" I cried, climbing over the yellow tape as he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. His grip was firm around my arm, unwilling to release me.

  "No information can be disclosed at this time. I would suggest you step back over the line. We will contact you once we've reached the station." He seemed so calm whereas my heart was racing. I watched my sister as she easily walked with the officers. I wondered why she wasn’t stressed out or crying, why did she just have a smile on her face.

  I backed away, shocked as the sun blared. I was confused and frustrated as I heard an officer say, "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." I watched them stuff her into the back of the police car and shut the door as several officers stood outside, talking and writing on a clipboard. Another was speaking through a two-way radio. None of them seemed to be stressed, I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if I was being pranked.

  "Please let me see my sister." I said in shock. "Why are they arresting her?" I screamed, receiving the attention of several officers. “She’s innocent! Tell me why you stuck her in the back of a cop car!?” One of them caught my eye as he walked up to me. His badge had the word "Sheriff" on it.

  "Yes ma'am, what's going on here?" He placed his hands on his belt as he signaled for the other police officer to walk away.

  "Why did you people surround my house and arrest my sister!? She's innocent! She's never done anything that would warrant arrest!" I exclaimed as he watched me curiously, he looked sympathetic as he spoke, but he didn’t seem as stressed as I was feeling.

  "What's your name, kid?" He asked, his eyes suddenly full of compassion. I was suddenly afraid of what his next words would be.

  "Amy Bloom."

  "Well Miss Bloom, we received a call from nearby about screaming so we had an officer investigate. Your sister had opened the door with ‘red paint’ all over her hands, so the officer called for backup. That’s why we are here.” He said, I raised my eyebrow, confused how this warranted an arrest in any way, shape, or form.

  “What? Why is she being arrested?!” I panicked as he crossed his arms and sighed. “This doesn’t make any sense! Red paint?! She was painting?! How does that warrant an arrest?!” I cried, tears streaming down my face as I looked at the police car that Bailey sat in. She looked like she was in a daze— and quite possibly on drugs.

  “Miss Bloom, I will only disclose this information because, as her only living family member, you have the right to know the extent of Bailey’s punishment. Your sister, Bailey Bloom is under arrest for the murder and abuse of a corpse. My dear, your sister killed Ethan Cowell and partook in the act of cannibalism. Both of which are serious crimes, we are taking her in. They are getting ready to take her to the station as we speak." He said and the police car that Bailey was sitting in had started and began driving away. I felt the air leave my body. It felt like I'd gotten punched in the gut as I felt my knees buckle and I was afraid that I might never get to see her again.

  No way. There was absolutely no way that Bailey had done something like that. She wasn't capable. I wondered for a second if I was being pranked. This was impossible, Bailey was the most harmless person ever!

  The information slowly registered in my mind as my eyes widened and I grabbed the sheriff by the collar, “What do you mean by the only living family member?!” I screamed, crying loudly as several officers turned to look at me.

  “Calm down, miss Bloom.” He said, removing my hands from his collar. “I understand that you may be stressed right now, but please try to stay calm and I can explain to you what information we have.”

  “Please! Please, there’s no way!” I screamed, crying as I stared at his wrinkled eyes. He sighed.

  “We have reason to believe that your parents, Mark and Sylvia Bloom had passed away in a plane crash— but this is speculation. Your sister, Jamie, has been missing from her dorm for a few weeks. We have reason to believe that Bailey Bloom may have harmed any number of her family members and by arresting her now, we are keeping you away from risk.” He said, I laughed nervously, unable to process the information that had all thrust itself on me at once. I fell to the ground, staring at the grass as tears streamed down my cheeks and I felt like I would shut down at any second.

  My family is dead, and Bailey was arrested for possibly murdering a man. I couldn’t process any of it. My heart was racing so fast, I thought it might explode. I heaved, trying to take a deep breath. I was in shock and disbelief.

  As if on cue, police officers emerged from my house carrying a gurney which was covered by a giant black bag. The sunlight was bright enough to show that inside was a man of about six feet tall. I watched as they pushed it to the ambulance parked near the front door.

  They lifted the body up into the ambulance while a hand missing it's pinkie, which was still bloodied, slipped out. I screamed at the sight and saw the officers look of empathy, before I puked on the officers foot. Flat out just splattered my entire lunch on that man's foot. I watched in disbelief as the area around my house cleared out. The cop car with Bailey in it was long gone.

  Crime scene. This was surreal. I hoped it was all just a nightmare that would end soon. And Ethan Cowell, Cowell— that name sounded familiar as I quickly realized he might have been related to my friend Jared Cowell. I barfed again, crying as the sheriff backed away.

  “We can offer you support, miss Bloom. If you’d like to come down to the station, we can arrange for—” he continued talking, but his words fell on deaf ears. I lay on the grass looking at the sky, wondering how I hadn’t learned anything about my missing family members until today. I wondered who had kept this information from me and why.

  I felt my legs move of their own accord. The sheriff was still talking, but I wasn’t listening. I simply sat in my car and stared at my phone screen.

  The first person I called was Aaron. Yes, I know, Tyler is my boyfriend, but he would never be able to comfort me through a situation like this. Aaron would know all the right things to say, he lived nearby, he was reachable, emotionally present and willing to help; he always was.

  "Hey Ames." Aaron answered, I was surprised that he had picked up. His voice was so calm on the phone. The chaos surrounding me dissipated as I stared at the screen. I took a few d
eep breaths, "Ames, are you there?"

  "A… Aaron, B… Bailey, she's been arrested. They’re dead. She— I…" It was getting hard to breathe as the temperature in the car rose exponentially. It made me angry and sad and scared all at once. She couldn't have done something like that.

  Never! I know my sister. She had no motive to ever kill. I had nobody to talk to. I couldn’t understand why or what had happened. I was afraid of being completely alone. She didn't kill anyone. My sister would never kill anyone.

  The man in gurney wasn't real. The man in the gurney wasn't real.

  The red on her wasn't blood. It was just food-colored water. Right, red food coloring, that’s it. Or he had tried to hurt her, so she fought back. My sister wasn't capable of something like that. The cops were lying. They had to be lying; they just wanted to make arrests and meet their quota. Yes, that’s precisely it. She is innocent!

  "Amy, are you still there?" I heard Aaron's voice on the line. I knew my breath was shaky. I hadn't realized that I was still crying, I sobbed loudly as I gasped loudly. We would get out of this mess. My sister didn't deserve to rot in jail; she was all I had left. She didn't do anything wrong.

  "Can I come over?" I finally asked, now it was Aaron's turn to take a long pause. I heard mumbling on his end of the line, anxious that I couldn't even sleep in my own home tonight because it was a crime scene under investigation.

  It wasn't Baileys fault. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t have hurt anyone. Bailey was kind and sweet. There was no way that this was possible. It was whoever that man was. Ethan Cowell. He's to blame for being in our home to begin with. My heart was racing as I tried to process my thoughts.

  "I'm at Violet's, you can come here Ames." Aaron said. I'd almost forgotten he was on the other end of the line, so lost in thoughts of how I could help my sister. I took a deep breath, hung up, and drove toward Violet's house. I'd only been there once before for our game night. I contemplated telling Tyler about this entire situation. I couldn't bring myself to, the less people that knew, the better. I was anxious and unsure of what to do next. I didn’t want rumors to spread— I knew Aaron and Violet wouldn’t spread rumors; they typically kept to themselves, they didn’t talk about other people.

  Parking in front of Violet's house, I looked at Aaron's green car. It looked like it had been folded into itself. I wondered what happened as I approached the front door and knocked.

  "Hey." Aaron answered the door, the same knowing smirk on his face making a re-appearance. Where it had annoyed me before, now it brought me so much comfort as I rushed into his arms and hugged him, tightly wrapping my arms around him as he stood there and held me. Just like old times, when we were together. He hugged me silently as I shut my eyes and heaved into his chest, his freshly laundered scent surrounded me as I cried loudly.

  "What happened?" Aaron asked. I was shocked at the question honestly. He'd never cared enough about me before to ask that. He’d always seemed to just know. Maybe Violet had changed him for the better. He was nicer now, sweeter, more compassionate. I shut my eyes. I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Everything was rushing through my mind. I sobbed loudly, leaving tear stains all over his sweater, but Aaron just held me.

  What happened exactly? What happened was that I drove home to find my sister getting arrested for murdering and trying to eat a man. I found out that she might also be responsible for my dead parents and missing sister. It was too much information all at once. I felt like I could puke just thinking about it.

  It was ridiculous to even think about it. Impossible even. I felt like I was in a never-ending nightmare. Aaron dramatically stepped back, and I stared at him, confused. He was looking at me with shock all across his features. He placed his hands on my shoulders, looking directly at me as I stared into his silver eyes.

  "Have you called Tyler yet?" Aaron asked, still keeping his distance from me. I hadn't even answered his original question.

  "No."

  Aaron nodded, “I understand,” he said. My eyes widened, shocked. The old Aaron probably would've told me to leave and go to Tyler. I couldn’t comprehend who this guy even was anymore. He leaned forward and pulled me into a hug.

  “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Amy.” Aaron said, hugging me tightly as I cried into his chest, unable to speak as I realized I had never said a word about what had happened. God, I missed Aaron.

  "Aaron, you left your backpack in the car!" Violet walked into the living room, holding Aaron’s backpack in her hand. "Oh, hey Amy." She said before approaching and realizing that I was crying. Aaron looked at her; he watched her like a hawk as she approached, “Amy? What’s wrong?”

  "I—,” I said, but Aaron cut me off and looked at Violet.

  “Can Amy stay here for a couple days?” Aaron asked. They gazed at each other as Aaron released me from our hug. I stood there, frozen as Violet walked over to me. I wondered why she hadn’t answered, but I was unable to process anything right now. I wasn’t even sure how I had been able to find Violet’s house in my daze.

  “I’ll make you some tea, I want to help you.” Violet said as Aaron stood there, still staring at her. I took a deep breath, plopping onto her living room couch before balling my eyes out once again. It felt like this pain would never end.

  Chapter 37:\ Break Up Games

  Tyler

  Amy hadn't answered any of my calls for the past two days. At first, I'd considered that she was probably just busy, but now I felt like she was just ignoring me. This weekend had probably been the slowest weekend of my life. It was a weekend without Amy, and while before I had hoped for time apart, now it just hurt not to see her.

  I'd have to wait ‘till school tomorrow to figure out what was going on with her. I wasn't sure what had gone wrong in our relationship for her to up and ignore me like that. But I understood, sometimes breaks were needed. I just wished she had talked to me about why I was suddenly cut off from any contact with her this weekend. I sat at home, staring at my phone, hoping Amy would call or respond to my texts and tell me that she was okay. I worried far too much about her. I felt like I had a rite of passage now to worry about her.

  My biggest fear had always been a fear of losing someone I love. And not losing them as a friend or partner, but the other type of losing, the permanent type. The type where I will never see them again. Lost in my thoughts, it took me a couple seconds to realize that someone had been knocking on the door. I rushed out of my seat, hoping it was Amy. My heart was racing as I rushed to the door, pulling it wide open to meet the puffy blue eyes of Amy Bloom. Relief flooded me as I wrapped my arms around her.

  It felt surreal that she was standing in front of me right now, after having ignored me all weekend. I had feared that she’d wanted to breakup with me without notifying me first. I stood there, utterly shocked and speechless.

  "Amy?" I wondered why she'd been crying. "I've been trying to call. Are you okay?" She didn't speak, simply standing there as I held her. I felt uneasy as she looked me in the eye.

  "Amy? Come on in. Is everything alright?" I asked, holding her waist as she took a deep breath before speaking.

  "Tyler." She said, struggling to speak, "Bailey's been arrested."

  "Your sister?" I asked as she nodded, her body shook as she looked down, her shoulders sunk. It now made sense why her eyes were so puffy.

  "Come inside, I'll get you some water. I want to know how I can help. I'm here for you, I want you to know that. And I love you." I said, lifting her chin and kissing her forehead.

  She slumped against me as I reached for her hand. It hurt me to see Amy like this. I couldn't even tell her about what was going on in my life at this moment because it seemed so insignificant compared to what she was going through. I didn't want to trouble her any further. Amy followed, closely behind me and I shut the door once she was inside. She sat in the spot that I had occupied moments ago, and I sat beside her, holding her close as she placed her face in her hands. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tryin
g to comfort her.

  "Why was Bailey arrested? Who else knows about this? And baby, where've you been for the past two days?" She took a deep breath and I wondered if I had been asking too many questions. I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

  "I haven't seen her since the arrest. They said it was for murder and cannibalism!? Can you believe that something like this could even happen nowadays! I can't believe it though, my sister would never…" Amy spoke as my mind wandered. It filled me with thoughts of disgust and the realization struck me that Bailey had hit on me on numerous occasions when I was at Amy's house. I wondered if that was how she’d lured in her meals. I wanted to throw up my dinner just thinking about that. But I could see Bailey doing something as awful as that— she was weird.

  "What?" I wasn't sure how to tell Amy that I had a weak stomach and hearing about stuff like that could easily make me puke. Before I got a change to further explain, I felt it coming up my throat and rushed to the nearest sink.

  "Tyler!" She called, "are you okay?" She asked, standing beside me as I puked my guts out. I couldn’t process what she’d just said; I couldn’t fathom how I would’ve felt if Bailey tried to eat me.

  "I'm sorry, Amy, I just have a really weak stomach." I muttered, clearing my throat and hoping to hide my disgust as I wiped my mouth and rinsed the sink. She patted my back and poured me a glass of water. Funny how I should've been the one to take care of her during this tough time, yet the roles had reversed; it only made me feel worse.

  "It's okay, we don't have to talk about that. I just wanted to let you know what's been going on and why I haven’t seen your texts or calls. I haven't heard from the police and I’m planning on going down to the station sometime this week or maybe next week." She seemed oddly calm about it. I would’ve been going ballistic if I had just learned about this news. I felt as though she was withholding other information, but I didn’t know if I could stomach it.