Chapter 9
I felt like I’d slept on a cloud of soft loveliness. Last night the wind didn’t seep through the windows and rattle the glass panes, keeping me awake. The floorboards didn’t creak and moan. And I didn’t have to listen to Grandma’s kitchen noise. Even though I’d expected to feel odd in a strange house, I’d slept silently, deeply, wonderfully.
I lifted my arms above my head and stretched my muscles until they eased. The room was dark, only a sliver of light pierced the thick drapes that hung over the floor to ceiling windows. It was a large room, as big as our living room and kitchen combined. I pushed my down comforter away and rolled off my Queen sized bed. The warmth of my cocoon called to me, but the room wasn’t chilly, even though the house was atop a hill and the wind was battering the island outside. They must have had some amazing heating system to keep this huge place warm when even the smallest of homes got cold during fall and winter in Maine.
I went immediately to the bedside table and picked up my cell phone. No messages. No one from school calling to ask why I hadn’t arrived for history class. Not even Grandma had called. I dampened down my disappointment. That blue light of my cell merely mocked me.
Well, screw them. I wouldn’t think about Grandma, I wouldn’t think about school. I was starting over. Last night I’d had a wonderful dinner with Lewis and Aaron. We’d talked until midnight, discussing when I’d start my studies and what I’d learn. He’d even given me some CDs on meditation, apparently the first step on my road to success. I’d felt safe and for the first time in my life, I’d felt like a normal person…comfortable in my own body. No more hiding, no more pretending.
With a sigh, I set my phone down and walked toward the windows. Would anyone even care that I’d moved away? How would Grandma explain my disappearance? My feet sank into plush, white carpet. It was so warm I didn’t need my typical double layers of socks. Managing to avoid the shadowy furniture, I gripped the thick blue curtains and threw them wide.
The rooftops from the buildings in the town below glimmered under the morning sun. And there, just beyond, the brilliant blue ocean shimmered, sparkling like a million diamonds trapped in a mermaid’s net. The few trees sprinkled across the large yard wavered and weaved under the autumn wind. To the left the sky was gray. A storm was coming, but that wasn’t uncommon along the coast. Here quickly and gone just as fast.
I started to turn away, when a sudden movement drew my attention back to the yard below. A small girl stood upon the brilliant green grass as if she’d appeared like some fairy from the books I’d read as a child. She couldn’t have been more than eight. With blonde hair and a round face she was far cuter than I’d been as a gawky child. What was she doing down there alone?
The dress and jacket she wore wrapped around her thin legs, the material pulled fierce by the wind. As if sensing my attention, she tilted her head back and stared directly up at me. I pressed my hand to my heart, feeling her gaze as if she’d reached into my chest and squeezed my very soul. Who was she? Lewis had said Aaron took in people with our abilities, was she another Mind Reader? Or maybe his daughter?
“About time,” an unfamiliar voice mumbled from behind me.
I spun around, the curtains falling back into place and shadowing the room in darkness.
An older girl, perhaps a year or two younger than me, sat in the wing-backed chair near my stone fireplace. Her jean-clad legs were curled up underneath her and a strand of her dark hair was between her lips. It wasn’t surprising I hadn’t noticed her until she’d spoken; she was dressed in black, even her hair and eye shadow were dark. She blended into the shadows like some sort of ghost in a haunted mansion. Another Mind Reader?
Daring to look away, I glanced back out the window. The little girl was gone, as if she’d never been there. I sighed in frustration. There was way too much mystery going on this early in the morning. I turned back toward my intruder. “Uh, hi.”
She spared me a quick glance, then pulled the damp strand of hair from her mouth and began to play with it, twisting it over and over around her finger. “I’m Olivia.”
She didn’t look me in the eyes, only quick glances up, as if to make sure I was still there. “Cameron.”
She unfolded her legs and stood. She was a couple inches shorter than me. “I know.”
Taken aback by her response, I flushed. She apparently knew about me, but I didn’t know a thing about her. “Okay.” Why the heck was she here? Did everyone know who I was? Did I have no privacy? A million questions rushed through my mind at once.
“Aaron wants to see you in his office.” She moved toward the door, only to pause and glance back. “You don’t hide your thoughts very well.”
Confused, I frowned. She pulled open the door and disappeared into the hall. It was only after she’d left that I realized I hadn’t been able to read her mind.
“Oh God.” Like Lewis, she’d learned how to block her thoughts.
I was so not used to having to worry. Annoyed, I opened my suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a green hoody. I dressed slowly, my mind spinning with the possibilities and irritation quickly gave way to wonder. The place had seemed so quiet last night, internally and externally, that I hadn’t thought there was anyone else in residence. How many other Mind Readers lived here?
I moved into my huge, private bathroom, barely aware of the marble tile and massive tub that had so impressed me last night. As much as I wanted to enjoy my new day, two things nagged at me: the fact that I was basically locked inside a fence and the fact that people seemed to appear and disappear like haunting spirits.
I brushed my teeth, then pulled my hair into a ponytail. Usually I put on a little makeup, but I was too eager to know what Aaron wanted. Realizing my natural look would have to do, I moved into the hall, only to pause. Carpet ran the length of the corridor, and it was a long hall. Small, crystal chandeliers twinkled above. I was so tired last night, I hadn’t gotten a good look. Now I could study every detail and one realization remained clear; Aaron had money, but how had he made his fortune?
I made my way down the wide steps that led to the foyer where more marble tile lay upon the entryway floor. I knew where Aaron’s office was as we’d had dinner there last night. Still, I paused, feeling odd now that it was the bright light of day. Things seemed harsher, more real under the sunlight. As much as I wanted to belong, it would take a while for this mansion to feel like home.
Much to my surprise, the door opened and Aaron stood there. “Come in!”
I flushed again. Of course, he’d heard my thoughts. God, it sucked being the only person in this place who couldn’t hide her feelings.
“We’ll get to it.”
Confused, I stumbled as I moved into the room. “What?”
He grinned, looking just as rich in jeans and a sweatshirt as he had yesterday in his button up shirt. “I know how you feel. But I promise we’ll teach you how to block your thoughts. First, though, I have something for you.”
I didn’t have time to feel embarrassed because he left me standing in the middle of his office as he went to the bookshelves that lined the far wall. The room was just as beautiful as the rest of the house, with rich burgundy carpet, a dark wood desk and plenty of bookshelves full of novels. No pictures. Not of Olivia. Not of the young girl I’d seen outside. Maybe they weren’t related.
He returned with a small box in hand. “For you.”
Any worry gave way to excitement. Cradling the box in my arm, I lifted the lid. Photos. “Um, thanks.” Polaroid’s of people I couldn’t identify. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but not this. I lifted one yellowed picture and studied the two men standing side by side. Both were smiling, one was familiar, one not.
“You.” I looked up at Aaron and pointed toward the taller man with blond hair.
He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah. And the other man…”
He didn’t go on, but he d
idn’t need to. My heart stopped for a brief moment as I realized who I was looking at. I suppose Mom might have had pictures of my dad, but she’d dropped me off at Grandma’s when I was so young I didn’t remember much. Grandma had nothing and I’d always supposed it was too painful for her.
My hand was trembling, I didn’t realize that until the photo started shaking. “My dad?”
“Yeah,” Aaron said softly.
He was right. I did look like my dad. Same dark hair, same hazel eyes. My lower lip quivered, my nose stinging as I tried to fight the tears.
Aaron took the box from my hands and set it on his desk, then led me to a chair. I let him because I was too overwhelmed to resist, overcome with emotions I couldn’t seem to identify. How could Grandma not even give me a picture of my father? Vaguely, I was aware of Aaron sitting in the chair next to mine. When he took my hand, I let him. Even though I should have felt weird holding his hand, I didn’t. His touch brought me comfort in a way I couldn’t even begin to understand. Comfort I’d rarely felt before.
“There are so many things your father would have wanted you to know, Cam. He might not be here now, but I am.”
They were the exact words I needed to hear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hankie, an actual cotton hankie, and handed it to me. “You don’t know how long I’ve searched for you. I made a promise to your father that I would see you survive. That you would be proud of your ability and not shun your powers. That you could protect yourself and know who to trust.”
Shun, which is what Grandmother had wanted me to do. I sniffled and dabbed at my eyes. This was where I belonged, where my dad would want me to be.
He smiled again, those perfectly straight teeth blindingly bright. “There are many things I’m so excited to teach you. Will you let me?”
I gave him a wavering grin. “Yeah.”
He patted my hand. “Good. I’m here for you, Cameron. I’m not going anywhere.”
The words I needed to hear. The same words Lewis had said to me that night I’d confronted Annabeth and changed my life forever…for the better.
“Now, Lewis is waiting for you in the dining room. You get some breakfast and if you’re up for it, we’ll start your lessons today.”
I clenched the picture to my chest, excitement replacing my sadness. “Really?”
He nodded, laughing in delight. “So like your father.”
I grinned, accepting the compliment.
“Now, go along and after breakfast I’ll teach you how to block people’s thoughts.”
Block people’s thoughts?
Silence. I’d hear pure, wonderful, silence. “My God, I’ll know quiet.”
He laughed again. “Only your own thoughts to keep you company.”
Not that my thoughts would win me a Pulitzer anytime soon, but they were mine and only mine. I knew as I left his office that I’d done the right thing. This is what my father would have wanted. More importantly, this is what I wanted.