by Robyn, Amy
They left her handcuffed and sleeping. I know she is handcuffed because I feel the pain in my wrists. I feel everything they have done to her so far. They have not violated her sexually yet. They have hit and kicked her. They have demeaned her. That is bad enough. I fear that if we do not do something soon, things will get far worse. I am not sure I can survive worse. It brings me to a place that I never wanted to be again. They will suffer for what they have done to her. I will personally make sure of it.
I was shocked to realize my One is a woman I have always admired but never met. I have followed her work over the years and enjoyed her published books as well as her dissertation. She loves animals as much as I do. I read her paper on flight patterns of falcons. It was fascinating. They have always been my favorite bird. She also has a book on the language of dogs I would love to talk to her about. Well, once she knows of my abilities, I will actually be able to tell her that part of her hypothesis is wrong.
She is so intelligent and that makes her even more attractive. I have only seen pictures of her as well as through the eyes of a raccoon and their color spectrum is different from ours. Color or not she is beautiful.
She feels me too. I discovered that this morning when I was shaving and nicked myself with the razor. She doesn't understand it. She thinks she is losing her mind. She is under a great deal of stress so that is a reasonable conclusion.
When I went through the most horrific thing any child should ever have to go through, I had thought I was losing my mind. Now that I have thought about it reasonably, I think I was connecting to Emma. She gave me comfort then and kept me alive. I only hope to do the same for her.
The worst one is back. The one she calls the monster. He slaps her awake. She is scared of this one more than the others. I feel her wrists hurt again as though she is trying to get away and the cuffs are impeding her progress, causing her to tug against them. I feel her lips split and...no...no. I punch the floor until I feel the skin split. I must be yelling also. I am being held down by air, meaning Talon is here. He and Aaron lean over me.
“What is going on?” Aaron asks.
“Emma. We have to find her, now.” I yell.
“Do you want me to drug you again?” Aaron says as he bends down and looks at my hands.
“No.” I shout and shake my head. I need to have my wits. I have a falcon on the Chief right now. I need to watch his movements. Aaron pulls his phone out and calls Gage. A few minutes later Gage comes in and heals my hands.
“Want to talk about why you hurt yourself?” Talon asks as he too bends down next to me.
“No. I can't.” I would have hated someone telling a stranger what happened to me. I will not do that to her. It is hers to tell. If she wants to. Talon gives me an understanding look before letting me loose.
I have always loved his abilities. He is very powerful. He has to be very careful how he wields it. If I had his abilities I never would have gone through what I did. I shake myself. I don't want to think about that.
“I am going to go home now. Graham is upstairs. Gage are you staying here or coming to my place?” It is no shock that he wants to go with Aaron. His woman is at his house. Ashley will soothe him after he just healed me. They leave and it is just Talon and I in the basement.
“You know you can talk to me.” He and I are very close. Of all my brothers, Talon is the kindest of heart. He comes off as scary mostly due to his size, but he is actually a gentle giant. I know that he wants me to talk about what happened that summer. He was with me at that camp. He is the reason I was in that cabin. I shake my head again. Why the fuck am I thinking about this shit again?
“I want to find her.” I tell Talon. Changing the subject and I concentrate on my One again. She is gagging and her lips are bleeding. I pull away again and shout as I pull on my hair. Talon holds me down again. I shout and yell until I can't anymore. When I am calm again, Talon releases me.
“You're going to hurt yourself if you don't cut that shit out. Do you want Gage to keep healing you when your One might need it when we find her.” Fuck. I didn't think of that. All I thought of was hurting myself to distract me from what is happening to her.
“We connected once when I was young and being hurt. She comforted me. All I have been doing is freaking out. I don't know how to be calm for her. I hate those men and I want them dead.” He pats me on the back.
“Remember the feeling she sent you? Send that feeling back to her.” I do as he says. I feel the warmth and calmness settle over me and then I push it through our link. I feel her crying and shaking. The monster is gone and she has vomited several times. I speak through the link.
“It's okay. I am here.” She stiffens and then panics.
“Calm yourself. I am not there with you.” She relaxes again.
“You're the boy. I remember you.” She replies. I smile. I knew she would remember.
“I am no longer a boy as you are no longer a girl.” I smile as she relaxes more.
“You were being hurt like I am now only worse. I nearly lose it. I don't like remembering. I push my fears back. Now is not the time to allow my fears to get the better of me. My One needs me. I will endure for her.
“Yes I was and you helped me. I am going to stay with you until I can find you.” I will do what ever it takes to stay with her even if I have to face my own demons. Gods save me.
“Please hurry. They sold me to someone. The monster said so.” She starts to panic again. I send her soothing energy again.
“Rest my love. I will find you.” I stay with her talking soothingly to her as she tries to fall asleep again. I keep sending her my calming energy. If only I could take her memories and replace it with others. I know a Psion who can do that. Unfortunately he can't do it for other Psions, but maybe he can help her if she chooses it. I only pull away again when I feel her sleeping.
Talon is watching me. I lay back and breathe in a deep breath.
“She knows she has been sold. I didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't sold, but a gift to a man we all had looked up to.” I grind my teeth.
“I wouldn't have either. Is she okay?” He asks as he moves closer to me.
“No, she isn't injured much, but she isn't good either. I need to get her out of there before it gets worse.” I connect to her again and I am calmed. She is still sleeping. Talon gets a phone call. I am sure it is someone checking on me. I tune them out.
My vision changes and I know the falcon is letting me know of movement. I watch through his eyes as the Chief walks out of his house to his car.
“We have movement from the Chief.” I tell Talon. Talon must have put the phone on speaker.
“He is moving. He is leaving the house and he isn't in uniform.” I hear Aaron come on the line, as I watch the Chief drive away. I follow him.
“I have a falcon on him now, but it is getting dark now. I will have to switch to an owl when he stops.” I don't pay attention to what they are saying as I follow the bastard who wants my One. Then I feel her being slapped awake. I grind my teeth as they move her into another room.
“It's happening tonight. They are moving my One as we speak.” Her hair is pulled by one of the men.
“All of these men will die.” They dared to take what never belonged to them. They dared to touch her. I growl low in my throat.
“I am coming for you. Please just do what they say.” I tell her. She is so scared. I cant blame her. No one knows what is going to happen. I fear for my One. I can't lose her.
The the Chief stops at a gas station. I search the area until I feel a female owl. I let her know what I need her to do. I send her loving energy until she knows I am a friend. She takes flight. I love my gift. Some Psions have a love hate relationship with their gift. I love animals and being able to communicate with them is the greatest gift I could ask for.
“He is stopping for gas. I am switching to the owl right now.” She flies over and lands next to the falcon. I thank the falcon and send him on his way. The Ch
ief is in his car again and I am now following with the owl. An owls vision can be disorienting if your not used to it. I stand up, but sway slightly.
Talon's arm wraps around me as he leads me upstairs and out of the front door. Before I know it, I am in the front seat next to Aaron. I usually strive to be calm because if not all of the animals in the area feel it. Tonight I am having an extremely hard time staying in control. Even my deep breathing is falling short. I follow the Chief and give directions to Aaron.
My One is panicking. I try to send her my energy again but it isn't helping. I think they are trying to scare her into behaving. It is working. She is trying so hard not to release something inside of her. I don't understand what that is exactly, but she fears it.
The Chief gets to a house that is out in the middle of nowhere. I keep giving directions I watch him go inside of the house. I feel it in my One when the Chief walks into the room. She is so scared that I can't send anything to her. She has me blocked, yet I can still feel her.
“He is in the room with her.” I tell the others.
“Hurry!” I shout. If he touches her I will kill him slowly and enjoy his suffering. I feel all of the animals in the area are now rushing toward that house. I try to calm down so that I can get them to return to what they were doing. It is useless. My emotions are out of control. All I can concentrate on is getting to that house. The animals are starting to trail behind us as we turn onto a dirt road.
“Holy shit.” Aaron says as he looks into his rear view mirror.
“Calm yourself Forest. There are hundreds of animals behind us.” Aaron tells me. I try again to gain control. The Chief pulls her hair as he tries to kiss her. He is tearing her clothes off. Mother fucker. More animals answer my agony. He is about to rape her and I can do nothing. I have never felt so useless. As soon as the car stops, I am jumping out and running toward her. I don't see the man with a gun until it is too late. I feel the searing pain as the bullet rips into my chest.
“Forest.” Aaron and Gage shout and my One unleashes flames from inside of her to burn. I fall into darkness with one thought. At least Emma will be okay. My brothers will take care of her for me. I only wish I could have held her one time.
Chapter 4.
He comes in and I know immediately he is the one I have been sold to. He is large, sweaty and reeks of body odor. My nose curls up before I can mask my emotions. He slaps me. My head whips back as a burning pain blooms on that cheek. Asshole. It always seems as though men like him always go for the cheek slap.
He pulls my hair as he sticks his slimy tongue into my mouth. My lips start bleeding again. Good maybe it will gross him out. It takes considerable strength to keep from biting off his disgusting snail of a tongue. I gag as tongue touches mine. He tastes like his last meal had a lot of onions.
I feel the heat in me rising and I try to suppress it. If I unleash it, it will destroy everyone in this house.
He tries to pull my shirt off but I jerk away from him. He slaps me again on the other cheek and then starts ripping off my clothes. I scream as I try to get away from him.
“Stop, I don't want to kill you.” I yell at him. He just laughs as he undoes his pants. I feel the most intense pain in my chest and I know it's the man I have been talking to. The boy I once tried to help as a man tied him down and raped him. I feel the loss of him and I let go of my flames. I can't hold it back when I start to morn the loss of a man I have never met, yet would have been closer to than anyone.
I promised myself after what happened with my father, well the person I thought was my father, I would never use my flames again. It was the worst thing I ever survived was watching the flames eat away at my father as I stood by and watched. I have to do it now or he will rape me and I will never survive that.
He screams as his clothes catch fire. I back away from him even though the flames will not hurt me. He drops to the ground and rolls. When it looks like he might succeed putting the fire out, I send more flames to replace them. I have completely lost control. If only he had stopped when I had asked him to. Why do they never stop when you ask them to.
When he is finally still, I get up and walk out of the room. The entire house is catching on fire now, and I am leaving a trail of flames behind me. My chest is still aching and I feel as though I lost something very dear to me. I know it is not logical to feel this way about a man I have never me. I don't care though. I feel his loss acutely. I walk up the stairs and as soon as I am through the doorway the staircase collapses behind me.
I keep walking as though I am in a dream. Who knows how long I would have wandered through the flames if I had not seen the shadow. I turn and see a man walking through the flames. He stops when he sees me.
“Emma.” He calls out to me. I look at him for a moment. Stunned out of my stupor.
“Who are you?” I ask in shock that someone is here and talking to me.
“I am Dagger. You know my brother Graham.” I look at him closely. I take a step forward. He does look a lot like Graham. Both have the dark hair, light cinnamon colored skin and strikingly blue eyes. I take another step forward.
“I asked him to stop. I never would have burned him, if he had left me alone.” I needed him to understand. I am no killer. I was defending myself. I start crying. I killed again and in the same manner. Maybe I am bad. Maybe I should be locked away.
“It's not your fault. They kidnapped you. They hurt you.” He says with a look of sympathy. He takes a step toward me and I gasp as flames dance around him.
“You're like me?” I am shocked. I have never heard of anyone ever having an ability like mine.
“Yes, I am a fire elemental. Hurry, the flames may not hurt us but the ceiling collapsing will.” Just after he says that I notice pieces of burning wood falling in places. I jump as one falls close by. I run toward him. He lifts me up and carries me out of the flames.
We have just cleared the house when a crack sounds and the ceiling collapses. Flames shoot out, surrounding us in a blaze. He continues to walk.
A man runs over to us that looks eerily like Graham and the man carrying me.
“You're a Psion?” He asks looking clearly puzzled. Here I am naked and just came out of the flames without a mark on me. This is the strangest family, not being shocked at what is happening around us. I look at Dagger. Maybe not. He does seem to have the same ability I do.
“I don't know what that means, but I have always been able to control fire.” He smiles down at me kindly, not in a 'you have lost your mind' way. Graham comes running toward me. He takes me out of Dagger's arms. I start crying. I bury my face in his neck as my loss consumes me.
“I feel pain here.” I point to my chest. I know it is from the one who spoke into my head. I don't say that though. I know it sounds crazy. More crazy then being able to walk through fire? More so then being able to create flame from energy in the air? I shake my head. He walks me over to two prone figures lying on the ground. I cry out when I see the one with blood all over his shirt.
“They are fine. Forest was shot in the chest but Gage was able to save him.” He says as we make our way over to them. Forest. This has to be the one who I talked to. Graham takes his shirt off and puts it on me. I had forgotten I was naked. I blush. He sits me beside Forest. The man that helped me through the second to the worst day of my life. The worst of course was the day I killed my own father.
Chapter 5.
I wake with her name on my lips.
“Emma.” I shout as I try to sit up. It feels as though a heavy weight is on my chest. Talon is pushing me back down. I start to panic.
“I'm here.” I hear her sweet voice for the first time with my ears. I feel her hand as she tentatively takes my hand. I moan and pull her into me. She looks panicked for a moment before she settles against me. She looks up at me and as soon as our eyes meet, I feel it. As though my soul is rising from my body and meets hers where they combine. A feeling of belonging and deep peace take over my mind and I moan at ho
w good it feels.
She makes a weird sound in the back of her throat and I know she feels it too. I take a deep breath and breathe in her smoky scent. Smoke. I sit up again and pull her with me. The house is nothing but soot and bricks. I look over at Emma and I frown. How did this happen?
“I didn't mean to start the fire. I asked him to stop several times. I felt you get shot and I just let go. I let the flames free. I couldn't hold them back anymore.” She starts crying and I cradle her to me.
“You were protecting yourself. There is nothing wrong with that.” I assure her as best as I can in a croaky voice. I swallow and it helps some. She shakes her head. I look over at Talon and raise a brow in question.
“It looks like your One is a pyro like Dagger.” I look back at Emma. She is Psion? I am stunned. It explains how she was able to feel the meld as well as I did. It also explains why our connection is so strong
“Your a Psion?”, She shrugs.
“I am your One what?” She asks confused. How can a Psion not know about Ones?
“You know how we have this link between us?” She nods her head.
“Well it is because we are both Psion and are a destined pair. In other words we are similar to what humans call soul mates.” Her eyes widen.
“I don't know why you guys keep calling me a Psion. I have always been able to control fire. Is that a Psion? And aren't you human?” She asks so innocently. She honestly doesn't know what she is.
“Didn't your parents tell you?” It is hard for me to believe she wasn't told what she is.
“The parents I thought were my parents weren't and they died when I was little. I couldn't find a birth certificate or anything on me. It was as though I came from nowhere. When social services took my case they researched and assumed I was one of many kidnapped in the eighties. Apparently a lot of kids were kidnapped within that time.” She looks away sadly.
