Chapter 5 - The Others

After discovering an ability to hear the thoughts of others Alie finds a group of others with the same freakish ability to hear thoughts, some of them even going to the same school as her.

     I sat down at the small wooden chair nearest me. My mind to shocked for words, my eyes skittered along the walls of the room. From the outside the house appeared to be quite small. Inside the ceiling was high, the walls and floor of the back room a wood, polished finish. Here and there along the walls where framed pictures just showing nature. Photos of the beach, forests and bushlands and then some of fires, though sad to watch the natural beuty burn to the ground it was eeriely beautiful, the fire giving off so much light in the dead of night when the pictures where taken. Bringing my gaze back to the table before me for a second to gather my scattered thoughts. I had believed I was alone in this place where I was capable of reading every minute thought, yet here i was now, seated at a table in a room of eight people all with similar abilities to mine.

 

    

     "I am sorry I could not have talked to you about this sooner, Alie. I had hoped to, although it is becoming-, well we all just needed to meet you. Some of us are leaving tomorrow to set up a small circle of us about an hour from here, and I would like for you to meet all of us before they leave in the morning," Seth looked at me intently as he said this, his bright hazel eyes boring into mine, sending a message of compassion at my situation and lack of understanding of this new world i had stumbled into. Reading the confusion plain on my pale features he quickly but just as softly added, "I'll start from the begining. We will explain it to you as best as we can. We are all still trying to understand what our capabilities are and how far they extend."

Seth paused for a moment, deciding where the start actually was. " For starters, all of us in this room have some form of ability. I think the best place to begin is to introduce each of ourselves and say what we know of our abilities. Jen, do you mind starting off."

 

 

 

 

 

    

     Slowly I lifted my gaze from the table and brought my hands together. Clenching them hard to stop them from shaking. Moving my gaze around the people seated there, my eyes stopped on the woman who had spoken before.

She had a soft brown coloured hair which was pulled away from her face by a simple ponytail. She looked to be about twenty years old at first glance, but when you looked into her eyes it seemed impossible for there was so much wisdom and knowledge locked within them. Seeing this I found it hard to believe her to be merely twenty. Surely she must be older. Bringing her gaze to me for a moment she quickly flicked her eyes over to Seth, trying to read just how much he really wanted to be said. Suddenly her gaze sharpened and swept back to me, softening as soon as she made eye contact with me.

 

     "Alie, I am Jenna. I, too, am so sorry this has been thrust upon you so suddenly, but it could not wait any longer I am afraid." Her was so young and yet her manner of speaking threw me off, for it was so much older and wiser, holding in it a sense of wisdom at a level impossible for a twenty year old.

Going around the table Liz spoke next, my eyes darting from Jenna on to her equally soft features.

 

     "You already Know I'm Liz, Seth's sister. My real name is Elise but call me that and i swear to god I will kick your scrawny a*s, got it?" her voice strong and confident, and in no way did that sound like an empty threat. Judging by the smirk on her face she was almost daring me to call her Elise just so she could put me in my place, wherever that was.

 

 

     My head was reeling. Here I was in a room, seated with a secret network of mind readers hiding out in a small run down building on the outskirts of the poorest town. Slowly I just nodded my head to show Liz I understood i was at the bottom of all of this and in no way was i prepared to step above that low level just yet, if ever. Realising my face must be as pale as someone who was dead, it might be a good idea to start breathing again or they might just start thinking I was dead. drawing in a shaky breath, I turned my gaze to the next person seated at the table.

 

     Even seated it was clear he was a tall man. His short hair was begining to grey. Again his grey eyes where full of so much wisdom although in this case it seemed impossible that anyone would be capable of holding so much wisdom, that i found it hard to meet his steady gaze. Even with the creases of age wrinkling his face it was clear he was a handsome man for his age.

Keeping his eyes focused on me, seeing into me, he spoke, " I am Aldan. Do not worry yourself so, daughter, you are one of us. We would never cause you harm. We would never cause one of our own harm."

 

 

     For a moment i was so stunned I forgot to breathe again. Forgetting, also, my discomfort, i moved my eyes to meet his grey ones. They had softened, the corners of his lips tilting up at the edges forming a comforting smile that allowed me to breathe again. Just by seeing this little form of comfort in a smile I was eased along with the truth of his words. I knew, now, I was safe here. They would never deliberately bring me to harm.

 

     Opening my mouth to reply, I found I was still too stunned to speak and judging by the softness in those calm grey eyes, he understood.

 

     Next was a tall, tanned, muscular man by the name of Raimund, with blue peircing eyes and a straight nose, his russet hair cropped short to his scalp. His eyes were amazing changing with his feelings between ice and fire. The woman standing at the back of the table, leaning on the wall was Amynta although preffered to just be called Amy. She was tall for a woman, with a perfectly curved sexy figure, waves of inadequacy swept over me when I saw her. She was beautiful, with long curling chestnut hair, vibrant green eyes, a soft mouth coupled with angular cheek bones, she belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine. She knew she looked great although the way she just leaned against the wall implied she used it only when she had to. Her looks alone where a weapon and she knew how to harness them.

 

     The small quiet girl seated next to where Amy was standing was Eve. Hey eyes where distant with a far off expression, amost like she was only half in the room and half of her was someplace else. She had soft pink lips, grey eyes and soft strawberry blonde hair that fell to her shoulder in free flowing waves. Her slight figure was covered in a light pale shirt and a light flowing white skirt. Next to Eve sat another young man by the name of Haven. He, too, was well muscled, but had a quiet nature, pale blue eyes, fair skinned and auburn hair, with a small pale line for his lips.

 

     Lastly was Seth, seated next to me, his hands resting lightly on the wood surface of the table. Taking a quick breath he turned his gaze to me and I met it with a new shakiness, the shock still not having faded after the introductions.

 

     "And that leaves only me. My name is Seth although you are already aware of that. I know this is so much for you to take in and in such a short time but you must understand what it is that makes each of us different, that makes us the same and yet sets us each slightly apart from each other. Even we do not know our full capabilities, so for now we can only tell you what we do know."

 

     Still looking at me, Seth began, " Where to start." Seth drew in a slow steadying breath, all the while looking at me. " I noticed the way you reacted to Jenna. How she speaks and holds herself in a way that is older then how she looks. In truth she is the oldest of all of us in this room. She first found her ability when she was twenty years old, most people will discover they have added abilities by the age of about sixteen, seventeen. Jenna can never age. She can listen to the deeper thoughts of a mind, and she also recieves messages from elsewhere, where, we do not know, but never has that ability led us astray, each time it has been true to each word. I will not say how old Jenna is for in truth i do not know, except she has been friend to my family for several generations now. Liz is like a messenger of a sort. It is like her mind records a thought and can convey that message to someone several cities away. Also, once she knows your mind imprint she can track your mind, each mind has its own imprint and Liz is able to identify between each one. Aldan will not cause you harm so you have no need to fear him. He has the ability interact with the nerve systems that link to the mind, he is not able to make a move or anything like that, he can inflict the idea of physical feeling to a person, make them believe they are in pain when they are realy fine, he can also make you believe you are fine when in extreme pain though, in this case he has saved several lives."
 

     Pausing a moment to gather his thought, Seth flicked his gaze over to the old man, who simply nodded his head, the comforting smile still in place on his features.

 

     Bringing his gaze back to me Seth continued speaking, telling of how Raimund, could influence the thoughts of another, implanting a thought or idea, and in some cases completely 'deleting' a thought or idea from a persons mind. Amy was able to open up a persons mind, to read the deeper more hidden parts and learn things about a person they themselves may not even know. She could also weaken a person mentally, leaving them in a tired state, in some cases just putting the weakest to sleep, this was dangerous though because it also drained her own mental strength, making her need to rest soon after weakening them. Eve was capable of seeing future events. Her own mind being a probability calculator of a sort, unconsciously weighing up possibilities and creating a mental vision of the most likely outcome, leaving her with premonitions and visions of the future outcomes. Haven was like a sheild, being able to project a barrier around several minds to protect them. 

 

     He was also a healer of a sort, being able to project an emotional state of comfort into a persons mind while helping ease traumas that have been locked into a persons mind. Haven was a doctor or healer, for mental injury.

 

     " And finally, I am capable of bringing several powers together. I am able to join other minds together to share their abilities between the two of them. Like i can link Liz with Haven so that haven can heal a mind that is several cities away. I too can help ease trauma of the mind although only very small things, traumas that go unnoticed by even the person themself. Like if someone has said something that eats at their confidence, i can help to ease that. We all can read others minds just as you can. It is okay Alie. We can help you. You do not even have to come here often, but we can teach you and help you learn more about yourself and your abilities."

 

     While Seth had been speaking my gaze had drifted away from his and i was now just looking at my lap, trying to let what had been said sink in. Finally I opened my mouth to speak, "I.....I don't know what to say. This is just so much.I..ah. I have one question," without waiting for a response from anyone I continued, " How is it that while I am near you I can't hear what you're all thinking. Like when any of you come nearer to me all the other thoughts of those around me seem to fade. I don't think its bad that i can't hear you're thoughts i just want to know why it is different."

 

     I stopped talking as suddenly as I had asked the question. I could not bring myself to look at any of them, my mind still reeling from the shock of this discovery.

 

     After a long silence Seth spoke up again, " You cannot hear what we think because we are the same in a way. The best way i can describe it to you is like a one way magnetic force. We are all one force attracting the other one. But we do not attract equals. If we chose to, we could open ourselves and let our thoughts free, but it drains our energy quite quickly. The longest we can last doing it non stop is about twenty minutes before one of us pass out. Does that make sense?"

 

     Slowly I nodded my head. " You all told me your names and what you are capable of. The only thing I can tell you about myself is my full name. Not even the girls i used to be friends with know that. It seems to great a name for someone as simple as me so i shortened it to alie. My name is really Alathea."

 

     " Soon enough you will be able to tell us what you are capable of Alie," Seth spoke. " I will drive you home now, I will see you at school again on the monday and if you wish to learn more, we will discuss when would be appropriate times for you to come here to learn. Come now I will drive you."

 

     Silently I rose from my chair, letting my gaze pass each of them i spoke, " Thank you all, for trusting me and telling me about yourselves. I think i will come back here but i just need the weekend to let it all settle in. I will see you all around then. Bye"

 

     Seth took my hand as each of them said goodbye, some nodding and smiling similarly to the smile that had never left Aldans face since he had placed it there an hour ago.

 

     As Seth led me by my hand to his car, that i had not noticed parked out front he opened his mouth, " Alie, despite what you may think, your name is not too great for you. You are Alathea and where named so because it speaks only truth for you."

 

     My gaze lifted again to meet Seth gaze as he brought me out the front door to his silver holden commadore. In it I saw again the worry I had seen a few days ago when he realised he would have to leave me to go do something else.

 

     Seeing me look at him he quickly forced a smile, but as we both stepped into the car the worry and concern remained there, just below the forced smile.

Author's Note

please ignore spelling and grammar...just tell me what you think of the story, constructive critisicm welcome

Reviews

[Gary H]

Good work. The first couple of lines are near perfect to open a story/chapter. Not sure why the text changed shape. Was this because the group of people began to speak?
The use of the paragraphs worked well. You could expand on your use of colour. Also maybe think about trying to create an atmosphere - the air was getting hot/steamy/cold/dead - and you could use something else in the middle to take the reader from the characters and then back again - the piece about Jenna does do this to some extent.
You definately have a talent for writing like this.

[justink :):)]

i like it and the way you discribed it

justin:):)