Premonition (The Division Series Book 1)

by Leigh Walker

  I tried to ask what he meant, but he held up his hand to stop me. “Just listen. The reason our unit is so secret is due to the nature of our talents. Every member of our team has a unique talent like yours. That’s what makes us great, and that’s what’s going to help us win the war.”

  “War?” My voice came out small. “What war?”

  “The war that’s coming, Riley. The one that’s already started all over the world, with all of the terrorist attacks. The Division is designed to protect Americans on home soil. That’s what we’re here for. We’re training all summer to get ready because our cell is being called to active duty. That’s why we came and got you, finally.”

  “Finally?”

  Cranston shrugged. “It was time.”

  My mind reeled with too many questions. Came and got you finally…the war…protect Americans on home soil…a predisposition for this sort of special power, as well as some others… My breathing turned shaky and uneven. My mind whirled, and I held onto the seat, as though I might topple out of it.

  “Riley?” Cranston sounded a little worried.

  “Why…why did you put Finn and Rachel in the room with me like that?” I blurted out—as if that were the most pressing question I had.

  “I knew you’d have a strong emotional reaction to their behavior. That was the point.”

  My cheeks flushed miserably. “How did you know?”

  “Remember when I mentioned your monitor?”

  “Yes—you said it was going off the other day.”

  Cranston nodded. “It’s a way I have of keeping track of you and the others—monitoring your emotions and making sure you’re not experiencing any difficulties.”

  I checked my arms then peered inside my T-shirt, looking for the device. “Am I wearing the monitor?”

  “Something like that,” Cranston said smoothly. “I can tell from your monitor’s output and other data that you react strongly to Finn. I chose to have him and Rachel at the test because, based on my analysis, odds were good you’d have a significant reaction to their behavior.”

  “Well, you certainly got that. You humiliated me.”

  “I didn’t mean to, but you shouldn’t be embarrassed. Everyone on the team goes through the same thing, and no one cares about the personal aspects of the test. You wowed them with the results. That’s the only thing people will remember.”

  Hot tears threatened. “I’m pretty sure Rachel will remember having glass shatter all over her perfect hair.” And Finn, ugh. Finn would remember everything.

  “Don’t worry about it. Just like Maya, Rachel’s a professional. Nothing fazes her.”

  “I don’t know if that’s true—like everything else you’re telling me.”

  Cranston rested his hands together, forming a pyramid. “What will it take to convince you? I thought the results of your testing would be enough for you to see what you’re capable of.”

  Angry tears still threatened. “I don’t… I can’t…”

  “Please calm down. You’ve been through enough today, and I can appreciate that it’s hard to process all this information. Your case is unusual. Usually, we do a debrief earlier on, but that wasn’t possible with you.”

  “Why not?”

  “There are reasons, but I’m afraid they’re classified.”

  “That’s convenient.”

  “It’s not, actually, but it’s out of my hands. So…we need to be on the same page. Your testing is complete, and your training will be intense for the next few weeks. I need you to focus. What can I do to prove what I’m telling you is real?”

  “To prove I’m telekinetic with a developmentally advanced brain?” My voice rose, almost to a shout. “And that I’ve been drafted to a super-secret government agency to protect Americans on home soil against an impending war? Uh, I don’t know what you can do to convince me of that…sir.”

  “Even though you have a developmentally advanced brain, you’re still certainly a teenager.” Cranston sighed. “First thing tomorrow morning, meet me in the gym. I’ll show you exactly what you’re capable of and also what some of your teammates can do. Go get some dinner, soldier. You’re dismissed.”

  I hopped up. “Don’t I have to actually sign something or say yes to something before you continue holding me prisoner and ordering me around? And please stop calling me soldier. I’m not your soldier!”

  Cranston stood, too. “Pursuant to the Homeland Security Act, your assent, either verbalized or written, is unnecessary for me to hold you. You’ve officially been drafted. After your performance on today’s test, that’s non-negotiable. Now, if you want to go google your rights as a draftee, go ahead. But you’ll find that pursuant to our Constitution and the interpretations of the Federal courts on several key cases, I am well within my legal rights as a member of the armed forces to hold you here and to require your participation in our unit until you are dismissed.”

  “You can’t do that—”

  “Do you have any medical conditions that would prohibit you from active duty?”

  “No—”

  “Do you have any religious beliefs or affiliations that would bar you from active duty?”

  “No, but this is crazy—”

  “Then welcome to active duty, soldier. Now go get some dinner, and go to bed. That’s an order.”

  14

  Fact Or Fiction

  I wanted to skip dinner, but my stomach howled in protest. I stopped in the bathroom to splash cold water on my face before I headed to the dining room. I looked terrible. My eyes were puffy from all the crying. My skin was blotchy from what quite possibly had been an enormous amount of telekinetic-brainwave exertion.

  I peered into my own eyes. Do you believe this? Any of this?

  I didn’t want to answer the question because I was afraid.

  In the dining room, I grabbed two slices of pizza and a Caesar salad. The others sat at tables, talking in low tones. Finn sat at a far table with Emma and Josh. Kyan sat with the twins and Rachel. I slunk off with my tray before anyone noticed me.

  The gym was quiet, clean, and peaceful. The glass had all been cleaned up. The lights had been replaced, and someone had put away the monitoring equipment. It looked as though nothing had happened.

  I sat on the bleachers, devouring my food in semi-darkness, lost in my thoughts. Today had shocked my system—almost literally, ha ha. But I couldn’t locate my sense of humor. What Cranston said about my powers baffled me. I struggled with the idea. Was it possible that I had special powers? That I was telekinetic?

  What if everything he’d said was true?

  My gaze ran over the mat as my mind retraced the steps of the mental test. I didn’t often let myself dwell on the day Dad and Katie died, but the memory throbbed. I thought about them again, about that terrible day. I managed not to cry. Then I remembered what happened afterward.

  My mother had never been the same after the accident. They’d given her a sedative, but when she’d woken up in the hospital, she’d still screamed and cried until they’d brought me to her room. She thought I’d been “taken.” That was the word she’d used.

  Had she been talking about something real? I’d never considered it.

  “Hey.” Finn stepped out of the shadows, and I jumped, dropping my silverware in between the bleacher seats.

  He came over, reached down, and grabbed my fork, wrinkling his nose at the dust on it. “Sorry.” He sat down. “Are you doing okay?”

  “Yes,” I said automatically. “No.”

  He wrapped his arms around his legs and stared at the empty gym. “I get it.”

  “You get what, exactly? What it feels like to humiliate yourself in front of a bunch of people you barely know? What it feels like to be told that your brain’s somehow extra special—oh, and by the way, that you’ve been officially drafted into a secret government agency and have no legal right to leave?”

  He nodded. “I know it’s hard to hear, Hanover, but you’re really not a special sno
wflake. We all go through it.”

  I gave him a dirty look. “Cranston seems to think I’m pretty special.”

  “Well. Maybe he’s onto something.” Finn’s gaze rose to meet mine, and the memory of him holding me made me melt—until I remembered what he’d done with Rachel, and the melting turned to steaming.

  As if he could read my thoughts, he patted my knee. “Easy. Don’t go getting all upset. We already replaced all the lights. I think we’re out of light bulbs.”

  “You’re joking about this?” I shot to my feet. “It’s not funny! My whole world’s messed up, and you’re making fun of me?”

  “I’m not. Please sit down.”

  I warily sank back down.

  “I told you today was going to be brutal. The mental test is always difficult, but for most of us, we at least have an idea what we can do—what our powers are—before we take the test. That wasn’t the case with you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of the way you’ve been recruited. My understanding is that your debrief is classified, so Cranston can’t release all the information in your file to you.”

  “There’s a file on me?”

  Finn nodded. “Everyone here has a file.”

  “Have you seen yours?”

  “No. But I have a pretty good idea what’s in there because I was brought in when I was younger, and Cranston and his superiors have been forthcoming with me.”

  “Why will they tell you things about your background, but they won’t tell me?”

  His brow furrowed. “Our circumstances are different, I guess.”

  “I wonder if they’ll tell me, eventually?”

  “Probably. If they think it will help you, they will. But back to the mental test—when I took it, years ago, I already knew that they were trying to ascertain the parameters of my…gift.”

  I swallowed over a sudden lump in my throat. “What’s your gift?”

  “Promise not to run away?”

  I nodded, my hands clammy.

  “I’m a telepath.”

  “I’m sorry?” This information did not compute.

  “A telepath—I can hear other people’s thoughts and read their emotions.”

  “I’m sorry?” I asked again, my face reddening. This had implications I didn’t want to consider.

  “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I can tune the thoughts out, once I get to know somebody.”

  “I’m not embarrassed. Wait, how did you know I was embarrassed?”

  Finn watched me. “Your face is turning red. And I was listening to what was going on inside your head.”

  I opened my mouth and promptly closed it. Finn could hear my thoughts?

  “Yeah. I can.”

  “You heard what I just thought.”

  He nodded, looking wary.

  Get out of my head!

  “Sure, Hanover. Whatever you say.”

  “I didn’t say anything!”

  “Right, but I could still hear you. I told you that you weren’t the only special snowflake around here.”

  “You could’ve guessed what I was thinking.”

  He smiled. “That’s true. I can usually guess what you’re thinking, especially when you’re checking me out.”

  “Stop it,” I moaned. Remembering how often I’d ogled him, I almost threw up. “This isn’t funny—and I don’t ever check you out.”

  “I’m just trying to lighten the mood, and yes, you do so check me out.” He leaned back and put his hands behind his head, making his biceps pop out from behind his short sleeves. “Stop thinking about my biceps, Hanover.”

  I put my face in my hands. “I wasn’t,” I lied. Please, stop calling me Hanover.

  “Okay…Riley.”

  “Can you please stop? I feel like my brain might burst or something.”

  He sat up, looking more serious. “I don’t want your monitor going off. I’ll stop. And I don’t always hear your thoughts. When I first met you, I couldn’t turn them off. Now, I only listen when I want to.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Do you want to tell me about your special power?” he asked, clearly changing the subject.

  “Not really. I’m pretty sure Cranston’s making it up.”

  “I saw you in action today. You have real power.”

  I shook my head, looking up at the lights. “I didn’t shatter the lights.”

  “But you did. I was here. I saw you.”

  I turned to him. “That’s not possible.”

  “I heard your thoughts when it happened. It’s entirely possible. I heard you send out the energy that shattered the lights.”

  “You heard what I was thinking? When you were kissing Rachel?”

  He looked away. “Yeah.”

  I sat there, waiting to burst into flames. When it didn’t happen, I realized I couldn’t die from embarrassment. Otherwise, Finn would be calling the coroners right now.

  He grinned, obviously in on the joke. “You’re funny, you know, when you aren’t trying to annihilate me and the rest of your teammates.”

  “I’m not trying to be funny. Please stay out of my head.”

  “I’m sorry. Sometimes it’s more efficient than waiting for you to talk.”

  “Well, wait for me to talk.” I cleared my throat, deciding to try and act mature about what had happened instead of blowing up more electrical-current-conducting infrastructure. “I didn’t know you and Rachel were together. I was just surprised, I guess, and I didn’t react well to the news.” I tried not to think anything else, instead singing la la la la la over and over in my mind.

  “We’re not together.”

  “You had your tongue jammed down her throat, Finn. You’re something.”

  “We’re soldiers. We had an assignment. We completed the assignment.”

  “Your assignment was to play tonsil hockey with the hottest girl in our group?”

  “I didn’t say it was a bad assignment.” He laughed.

  I gave him a death glare. “You can spare me the details. I saw enough.”

  He stopped laughing. “I actually didn’t enjoy it. You were too upset.”

  “Why would you care if it made me upset?”

  “I didn’t say I cared.” He shrugged. “And I also didn’t say she was the hottest girl in our group.”

  We sat there awkwardly for a moment. I wanted to ponder his words. Instead, I kept repeating la la la over in my mind. This surely annoyed him, which suited me just fine.

  He sighed after a minute. “Don’t be difficult. We don’t need to talk about Rachel anymore. Tell me about your power. If you still don’t believe in it, tell me what Cranston said.”

  “He said that I have telekinetic powers. That’s the ability to move things with my brainwaves, in case you’re not familiar with it.”

  “I’m familiar with it.”

  “Is there another telekinetic person in the group?”

  “Not exactly,” Finn said. “We’ve come close a couple of times, but no one has been able to do what you did today. Some of us have telekinetic abilities, but nothing as developed as what you have.”

  “What other powers are there?” I wondered again about how fast he’d run the other day.

  “Sorry, I just overheard you.”

  “It’s okay. Tell me about it.”

  He nodded. “My running isn’t a special power, per se—but it’s definitely something I’ve acquired since I’ve been with The Division.”

  I filed that non-answer away as he continued, “We have some other telepaths, and several people in the group are gifted with clairvoyance. The range varies. Maya and Emma have twin telepathy, which means they can communicate with each other without speaking. They can actually do quite a few things as a unit, but I’ll let them show you themselves. Josh is an empath. He can read the feelings of other people around him and can set people at ease. He can also sense movement before it happens. Emma has precognitive and retro-cognitive abilitie
s, which means she can see into the future and past. Maya and Morgan have that ability too, to a lesser extent.”

  “What about Rachel?” I asked, embarrassed by the sharp tone of my voice.

  “She has a couple of powers. She’s a teleporter, which means she can jump through space and time without actually moving. And she’s a projector, which means she can make herself appear in places she’s not.”

  “So there can be more than one of her?” That’s just perfect.

  “Sort of. Only one of her can be the real deal. The rest are some sort of projected illusions, I guess—like a movie.”

  “Oh. Huh.” My brain could not compute. “What can Kyan do?”

  “He’s a jack-of-all trades. He can teleport—he’s fast—and he has some precognitive abilities. He also has some telepathic powers, although they’re not as developed as mine.”

  I sat there, reeling.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in.”

  “Cranston said we’re meeting here tomorrow morning, so some of you can show me what you’re capable of,” I said.

  “Good. Our teammates love the opportunity to show off.”

  “Do you feel like you can control it? Your power?”

  “Absolutely,” Finn said. “It’s taken me a long time and a lot of training to understand what I can do, but I’m in control of it. As I said, once I get to know someone, I can stop listening to them.”

  “Have you always been able to do that? To stop yourself?” In the back of my mind—the part of me that had already accepted this new reality and had commenced panicking—I already feared my power. What if I couldn’t control it? What if I hurt someone?

  “Not when I was younger. Telepathy is different from telekinesis and some of the other psychic powers. Telepaths can hear other’s thoughts from the time we’re born. When I was growing up, I couldn’t stop the flood of information coming from other people’s brains. I didn’t know I could control it. Now that I’ve worked with my power, I’m better at handling the flow. That’s why The Division is good for people like us. The training we do helps us manage our gifts and get them under control so they don’t run out lives.”

  I shook my head. “But my power, if I even have one—it didn’t run my life before. I wasn’t even aware of it. I’m thinking I might have been better off not knowing…”