by C. S Luis
“That’s great. I’m happy to hear that.” He grinned, and I tried to return the smile but failed miserably. The silence deepened, and I prayed Michael would hurry.
“Things will get better. I promise you,” he paused. “It may not seem like that now, but it will,” he said with a warm and reassuring expression.
“Michael tells me you love to paint. What else do you like to do?” Dr. Black politely asked.
Why did he care? Perhaps he was just making conversation. Either way, his thoughts were blank this evening, but then, I didn’t want to venture into the unknown region of his mind as I had done before, since it had proven pointless.
26
Dr. John Black
Of course, I already knew what she liked, her talents as an artist, her favorite writers and painters. I already knew the fact that her favorite flowers were daisies and roses, and that her favorite color was red. I should have worn my only red tie this evening.
Michael finally came down and she seemed to be thankful to see him, perhaps hoping not to have to answer any more of Slater’s pointless questions. I just wanted to know her.
"Dr. Black, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," Michael said politely as he came down the steps.
"Nonsense, Michael. I had the best company," I said, smiling over at Claudia. She smiled back with difficulty.
“Shall we?” Michael asked, directing us into the dining room.
“I brought this bottle of red wine. I hope that it will complement the occasion,” I politely said.
“I’m sure it will,” Michael responded. “Thank you.”
27
Claudia
Michael took the bottle as Dr. Black walked ahead of us into the dining room. Complement the occasion? Who talks like that? Michael turned to me and seemed to be asking me the same question.
“This really wasn’t necessary,” Michael politely answered.
“It was the least I could do,” Dr. Black replied, taking off his jacket. I couldn’t help noticing his built figure beneath the black shirt he wore, and I was so busy looking that I didn’t even hear Michael when he called me over. It was only when I snapped out of it that I hurried forward, hoping he didn’t notice where my eyes had been just briefly.
Again, I cursed Alex.
We stepped into the dining room; Dr. Black pulled out a chair for me. I meant to sit on the other end, but Michael motioned for me to take it. He didn’t want me to be rude, so I took the seat reluctantly. My grandfather’s dining table wasn’t very long, and with Michael at the end of the table, Dr. Black took a seat opposite, facing me.
Before his arrival, I had set the table while Michael prepared the feast. He had made a chicken casserole with buttered bread, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, and gravy. And for dessert, he’d made a delicious apple pie. Michael was surprisingly quite the chef.
Dr. Black did his part by opening the bottle of red wine that he brought with him; he then poured Michael a glass, and then himself. I had my glass of lemonade that Michael had previously prepared for me. During dinner, I darted my attention elsewhere, perhaps thinking of the others and Alex’s little quarrel. Michael and Dr. Black were busy talking about school and things of that nature. I listened to a bit of their conversation; Dr. Black asking Michael about his brief period as principal. It seemed he wanted feedback on how he had handled certain things. Michael seemed happy to offer his help.
But as I picked at the food on my plate, I couldn’t help but feel I was being watched. Why did I feel like Dr. Black’s eyes were always on me when I looked up, like he was observing me? When I looked up at him, I caught his gaze on me more than once. He merely smiled and darted his eyes in the other direction, taking slow sips from his glass of red wine. Michael stepped over to the kitchen, and we were briefly alone. I wanted to know what he was thinking, but when I listened in, I only got distorted static.
28
Dr. John Black
She tried again to read my thoughts. My long stares during dinner had made her curious and uncomfortable, but the wine had somehow loosened John Slater and made him arrogant and daring once again. My desires were hard to keep in check; if anyone here truly knew me, they would see it, the hunger burning in John Slater’s eyes.
I was on fire, and it wasn’t from the wine’s smooth texture falling down the back of my throat. But the emotions, the sensations, and the connection that now vibrated in my soul. Did I want to convince myself I was under some cruel spell, a spell or a poison put in place by Project X?
I could feel her, her mind searching my head for the reason my eyes kept finding her, observing her, and taking her in. She was naive of what darkness lurked in my mind, and if I dared to tell her, I would be a bigger fool. I would scare her, and I didn’t want that.
So, perhaps it was my intoxication, my arousal, or perhaps even my stupidity that I did what I did. I merely looked over at her directly, and at once, she knew that I knew what she was attempting to do. I wanted her to know all of my thoughts. If I could, I would say run baby, run and don’t stop running from me. But no matter where you run, I will always catch you. Because that’s what I did, and God knows I wanted to. You wouldn’t be able to escape me. But you can try; you could try to run, but it would do you no good because I’m the best.
“You know, it’s quite rude to try to read someone else’s mind without their permission,” I mentally said, allowing her to read my message to her, and immediately she lowered her gaze, unsure of what she had heard.
She bravely and doubtfully glared right at me. I grinned, almost laughing as I saw the fear in her eyes. I didn’t want to scare her, but I had.
Michael stepped into the dining room with three plates when Claudia rose from her chair and said, “I’m going to bed.”
“Now?” Michael asked. “But honey, we’re just about to have pie.”
“Oh,” I said. “Are you okay, my dear?”
“Yes,” Claudia said, trembling and glaring over at me, but my smile had vanished. I had not wanted to spook her, and I blamed the wine for my arrogance.
“I hope it wasn’t anything I might have said,” I said, but it was of course; there I went again. Claudia glanced at me in disbelief as I rose from my seat politely.
“No, I’m just tired. And it’s a school night. I should really get to bed,” she said yawning and slowly taking a step back. I wanted to apologize. I didn’t want her to leave. But she was desperate to get away from me. I scared her when my intentions had been to do the complete opposite.
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” Michael asked. Claudia nodded, wanting to get away.
As she made her escape, I called over to her and said, “Have a good night, Miss Belle, and see you tomorrow.”
29
Claudia
It wasn’t the words that came from his lips that frightened me or startled me in the first place as I now hurried up the stairs. It was the fact that he knew what I could do. I realized this with dread and anticipation.
I slammed the door to my bedroom as I tried to reanalyze what had just happened downstairs. He knew what I tried to do. Dr. Black knew, but could he read my mind as I had attempted to read his?
I must have sat in the dark for an hour before I heard the front door open and then nothing. Finally, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and fearing they were Dr. Black’s, I jumped under the covers like a scared little child hoping the boogieman wouldn’t find her hiding.
I peered from underneath the sheets and clearly saw a shadow stop outside my door. For a minute, it remained, probably contemplating whether or not to enter. Then finally, it disappeared and I heard another door at the end of the hallway open. The hallway went dark, and a door closed behind. Throwing the sheets back, I realized childishly that it had only been Michael, and as I lay there, I watched a breeze push back the curtains, allowing a cool scent of pine into my room.
For a long moment, I laid there watching the curtain move, catching a few stars through the visible night s
ky. Maybe I wasn’t as special or as different as I had suspected. Maybe there were more people out there that could read minds and move things with their thoughts than I had thought. And perhaps Dr. Black was one of those people. Perhaps he was here to guide me. Maybe he knew things I didn’t know about the rest of us. I mean, there had to be many more of us, maybe a whole clan of people that could do these things, like the Jedis in Star Wars.
What if there was a whole colony of us somewhere? Maybe that’s what my grandfather was trying to tell me. And perhaps, if that was so, I wouldn’t be alone anymore. I could learn from them. I could learn from the clan of mind readers and be among others like myself. These thoughts alone excited me, and for a while I couldn’t sleep, but then my eyes became heavy, and I eventually drifted to sleep.
30
The Mysterious Quentin
Claudia
I found myself running through the hallways; something evil was chasing me. And I could sense it coming closer and closer. And no matter where I went, it was there in the shadows. It looked like a runny pen, ink washing all over the hallways and emerging from every crack on the floor.
It was dripping down from everywhere I looked, on the walls and from the pipes. It was reaching for me from every direction. I knew it wouldn’t stop until it had me, and everywhere I ran, it was close behind, lurking and reaching from the walls themselves to snatch me like a fairy tale monster. Even the pipes told me of its approach, and I kept running, trying to escape, but there was no escape and no place to run.
The halls extended in front of me, long and endless, and I knew there was no place to hide; its hands reached forward trying to grab me. And I felt its long, bony fingers reach out and take hold of my arm. I screamed, but when I faced him, it was my young rescuer’s face I saw instead. He smiled at me, and the warmth I felt once again consumed me. I felt protected and safe. He took me in his arms and held me, and he exhaled, pressing me closely and tightly into his embrace:
“You are safe now, my pet,” he whispered, petting my head gently.
I opened my eyes suddenly to find a figure sitting on the ledge of my window. My first reaction was to scream, but the scream slowly faded within my throat as I realized there was no reason to fear the form.
“He was here,” I thought. He was finally here.
“It was you that day, wasn’t it?” I made myself ask, nervously wondering with sheer curiosity what he would say. The shadows of the room obscured his face, but I could sense it was him.
He leaned forward slowly, and his face came into view through the moonlight, which made his matted coal hair glimmer along with his ghostly, beautiful well-structured face.
“Yes,” he merely answered, and a grin appeared upon his handsome face.
“I must apologize,” he suddenly said as he sat in the darkness on the window ledge. I sat up on the bed unable to say a word. I felt uneasy but happy because he was real, and he had come. I wasn’t crazy. As much as I had wished, I wondered if it had been my longing that brought him out from wherever he had been.
“For what?” I made myself ask, feeling my lips tremble when I spoke.
“For not coming sooner when you needed me.” He leaped from off of the window ledge and slowly moved into the room; the moonlight revealed his face again, and his well-defined form emerged out of the shadows. He was dressed in what appeared to be a scaly black two-piece jumpsuit; a small portion of his shoulders were purple.
“I don’t understand,” I said, moving to the foot of the bed. “You stopped it, whatever it was.” My lips froze, knowing well I didn’t understand what it meant to do. Or did I?
The figure’s face flashed in my mind as I recalled him looking into the mirror, and its reflection startled me even now.
My rescuer lowered his head and dropped onto his knees at the foot of the bed. Then, he slowly gazed up at me.
I could feel his sadness; his large purple eyes overwhelmed me with excitement. And I knew he was genuinely sorry for what had happened, although, I didn’t understand the full extent of what had happened or why. Nevertheless, I was happy to see him again.
The yearning growing inside of me ever since our first meeting could not be quenched. And now that he was here, I wanted to know him, to breathe him, and to be near him. But why did I feel so overly attracted to a stranger? The truth was, that he wasn’t a stranger at all to me, and his eyes seemed to say the same thing as they found me in the darkness of the room.
“No, I failed you, and for that I apologize,” he said again, dropping his head down. I extended my hand hoping to feel his face and stopped only when his eyes glanced up at me again, broken and sad but beautiful and mysterious; I longed to know the young man behind them.
“You saved me,” I whispered, my voice shaking as the words left my lips. He rose immediately, pulling away, and he came to stand by the window again with the moonlight glowing from his face. And from there, he examined me with a superior wisdom I had not seen in anyone else before.
“What was it?” I asked nervously, referring to the dark figure, the man in the black suit and red tie. And yet, I had no doubt I already knew the answer.
Death.
He didn’t answer immediately; his eyes only danced over at me with an all-knowing cunning that both frightened and lured me to him.
Then he said, “Unfortunately, we need death. A direction for souls is the only order. Distribution of the sources, the energies, who else would know it well but a being?” He paused; the thought seemed to distract him for a moment. “Without order, there is only chaos."
“Who are you?” I softly whispered, intoxicated by his presence. I couldn’t understand it.
I rose from the bed and stood mere steps from him, staring into his deep hypnotic eyes, feeling my face grow warm. These words had no meaning at all to me as he came a step closer, drawing me in with his simple stare. His beautiful purple eyes sparkled like clusters of light, all dancing at once. I couldn’t move, and all I could think of was being with him; each step he drew closer and closer. And I knew almost immediately what he knew. But how?
He pulled away from me, leaping up onto the window ledge again. I felt a spell had been lifted, and I was now able to speak. But I couldn’t remember what I’d meant to say. Yet, I knew his name when I hadn’t before.
Quentin, I heard it in my head.
“What’s happening?” I uttered, feeling myself shaking, feeling my lip quiver slightly as the very words came from them.
“How is this possible?” And then finally, the very words that I longed to speak stumbled out in a breath. But I already knew, so why was I resisting the obvious?
“Anything is possible,” his voice said while glaring at me as if I were some ignorant fool.
“Come. I want to show you something.” Quentin beckoned me, extending his hand out.
I hesitated, looking back at my room as if the mere objects would miss me, but more so, wondering if Michael had heard anything.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said again; his eyebrows lifted, giving me that all-knowing look once more.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” I firmly stated.
"Then take my hand,” Quentin challenged, extending a hand out to me from his place on the ledge. It was the same as he had done before back in the pool area, but this time, it was my choice.
"Trust me," he said with a tender smile. "Take my hand. I want to show you something wonderful."
Still with a slight hesitation, I took his hand and he wrinkled an eyebrow as our bodies came within inches of each other.
"Don’t you trust me, my pet?" Quentin whispered into my ear softly; I immediately pulled away and glared at him in mere shock.
I could feel myself shaking, surprised by my own voice when I heard myself say, "Yes."
How couldn’t I? He had saved me! Why would he hurt me?
But before the word could leave my lips, I exhaled, closing my eyes, feeling my stomach sink, and a tiny scream almost escaped my lips, but whe
n I opened my eyes, we were in the sky. The drop had left me breathless, and my heart filled with adrenaline. I couldn’t control the sensation that overwhelmed my entire being. The air blew through my hair as Quentin held me close beside him; his eyes were smiling down at me as he again said, "Hold on."
I felt his grip tighten as we began to move faster, and I closed my eyes when I couldn’t see anything but a bright light consume us entirely. Then, as quickly as it had all happened, I felt the peace around us, and when I opened my eyes, we were standing on a beach, the white sand gathering at my feet. The blue skies above were filled with flying seagulls. How was this possible? Behind us, just at the horizon, a large and vast blue ocean expanded as far as the eye could see. I exhaled the breath I had held before our arrival. In fact, I couldn't contain my excitement.
"How did you do that? This is amazing! Where are we?" I gasped and raced to the end where the sand met the blue water. I looked like a crazy, infatuated girl.
"This is my world; this is Demos. Here I can do anything I want,” he answered arrogantly, standing on the sand and raising his arms to the sky.
I raced into the water until it was up to my waist, looking far into the ocean and wishing to go further, to explore the beauty before me. All around me was a wonder of colors, jungles, and tall green plants. There was a landscape of mountains in the distance, birds of all colors flying above us, and mixed sounds of the animal life in the greenery far away.
I felt I never wanted to leave.
There was a single splash behind me, and I spun around to see a tail fin wagging in the air before disappearing. I moved back and it appeared again, this time closer. Then again, something moved behind me and I whirled around only to catch sight of a woman’s face in the clear ocean water. I nearly fell back, but a hand grabbed me before I lost my balance. And soon I realized I was staring at the face of a beautiful woman with red burning hair and a fishtail fin. She was obviously a woman, except for the lower part of her. Her upper body, her breasts were hidden behind the long burning locks of her hair. Amazed and paralyzed by her, I couldn’t move, catching myself staring at her tail fin more than anything else.
