The Centerpoint Trilogy (3 page)

She flinched. It was a visible flinch that shook her whole body. She pulled away from him for a moment, but then relaxed when she realized who he was. He saw the recognition as it crossed through her beautiful green eyes. “Ethan,” she gasped. She seemed drawn out of another world. She was lost in thought before he had approached her.

“Are you okay?” he asked. He was really worried for her. Poor thing. Ethan did not know how to handle such a situation. “Was someone you knew…”

She shook her head. “No, nothing like that,” she whispered, looking up into his eyes.

Her eyes were so beautiful. The color of green was like nothing he had seen before. It was so sharp and intense. It reminded him of a deep, nearly endless forest of pure green.  There was a depth to her eyes, like if he looked for too long, he could get lost forever. They were perfect. They also returned Ethan to a dream, to a memory.

All those children sat scared. They were so scared. They were locked in a room with a man who had every intention of hurting them. They had been snatched from their family and friends. They were too young to understand the situation and they were afraid that they would never get free. He was so scared too. He had only been six when he was taken. He was scared that he would never see his family again.

Then, he locked eyes with one of the scared girls. She was quieter than most of the other children. She was looking at him from across the room with big eyes. She had red hair that was pulled up in a ponytail. Her eyes were so green. They were full of purpose and intensity. He had never seen a color of green like that before. It was like an endless forest that one could wander for years and years. Ethan wondered if this was just his dream or if this was reality. Could Anna be part of that reality? Oh god... was she one of the children?

Ethan blinked. He hated that he had to ask, because he wasn’t sure what would happen. The worst case scenario was, of course, that she would think that he was insane. Ethan leaned over and pressed his hand back to her shoulder. Fear filled him as he spoke with a slightly trembling voice. “Anna,” he whispered. “Did something terrible happen to you when you were a small child?”

Anna looked at him with a wide eyed expression. The tears he had seen glimmering in her eyes slowly welled up into bigger tears, tears that poured from the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks. She began to cry openly, loud tears..  She shook her head from side to side, and Ethan almost believed for a moment that she was going to deny him. Then, she nodded. It was a slow nod that was full of horror. Anna was looking at im like she was utterly terrified of him. “Yes,” she whispered, very softly.

“Me too,” he murmured. “I was one of those children, Anna. I was there that night.”

              Anna seriously looked as though she was fighting back tears. She looked around them and then looked back into his eyes. Her eyes fluttered around and she looked side to side like she was desperate to escape the situation. She had to be free. She had to get out if it was the last thing that she did. No, her eyes screamed, no.

  “Let’s get out of here, please,” she whispered. He was quick, of course, to oblige her. They left the scene of the explosion, both shaken. He kept his hand on her protectively as they walked. He really had grown to care for her and she was so shaken up. He was terrified too, but he tried not to let that show. They stopped at the same coffee shop where they shared their first date. It wasn’t far and it was a good place to just sit. It was dark at this time, the sky going black quickly after sunset.

Anna sank into a seat. She seemed to be trying to disappear into it. She got lower and lower and closed her eyes for a minute. She did not speak until her eyes opened again, their clear green clouded with unshed tears. The rest had escaped down her cheeks and left long tracks behind.  “I can’t believe this,” she whispered. She shook her head from side to side and then looked up at Ethan. She seemed to become a little bit calmer as she spoke up. Her voice came out shrill, but it sounded like she was trying to restrain it. “This is unreal!”

Ethan laughed. He had been having that same reaction every day since the fateful day he was kidnapped. Everything was kind of unreal in it’s own way. There was just nothing that could be done to change that.   “Hasn’t everything been unreal since that night?” he asked. “Nothing has been normal since that day.”

Anna just stared. She stared at him for a very long time. Her face was firm, held tight, but slackened helplessly as the minutes past. She looked down at the table that was the only barrier between them. She reached across the table and took his hand. He was surprised by the intimacy of the gesture, but he held her hand back. “I let it go,” she whispered, “but recently, I’ve started to dream again.”

That was terrifying. He had tried to convince himself that the strange recurrence of his childhood dreams meant nothing. He did not, however, believe too much in coincidence, so if she was dreaming of the same things, then there was a reason. There was a terrifying reason. “Me too,” he told her. “They have been frequent and intense.”

“And he’s mentioned explosions,” she filled in.

Oh wow, yes that was bad. If the dreams were exactly the same, then there was no question about his fears. Of course, now he was wondering about her. He had left the experience as a child with many changes. He knew that he was not alone. The question boiled in his mind until he asked it. “What kind of powers do you have?” he blurted out. All of his life, his own powers had been something to contend with. He had dealt with the fact that he was different, could tell nobody, and was the only one like him. Knowing he was not alone filled his heart with something that he could hardly control.

Her jaw set firm, she tensed. She looked like she was ready to stand up, or perhaps slap him. She appeared full, her eyes wide and hard, there was something else there. She was strong, but silent. There was a dangerous quality to her face. The very green eyes that he was so attracted to flashed and the emotion on them was one of rage. “No,” she said bluntly. It was a flat no. It was an anxious denial. She was not going to tell him, she was not going to trust him. It was obvious that she was terrified, but denying it all the same. Why would she deny it?

“You can tell me,” he urged, wanting so much to have her trust. This meant that he was no longer alone! All of his life, he had only shared his gifts with a few close companions that he trusted not to tell. That did not save him from being utterly alone. He had always been so alone.

“No,” she said again.

“I’ll show you mine,” he told her. Desperately, he called upon his power. It always felt strange to go to that deep place in his mind. The gift that he had was locked away, until he accessed it. It was easier to access, now that he was an adult, but yes, it was still scary. He spoke to her again, this time in her mind.

I can project my thoughts. I can send them into others’ heads. I can hear them too, if they’re loud and projected at me.

Horror crossed her face. Her green eyes widened and she shook her head. She looked at him like she was utterly disgusted. She stood up and backed away. She kept opening her mouth and closing it, like she wanted to speak, but could not. He ended up hearing her anyway, loud and clear.

Go away!

Her thought screamed in his head. He winced. He had heard loud thoughts before, but hers were screaming in anger and maybe in fear. They were loud and made him hold his hands to his ears before he could stop the juvenile looking gesture.

She looked at him apologetically. She seemed to realize that she had hurt his head in some way. She still turned away from him though.  She started to walk. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. She then began to run. She ran away from him as fast as he could. Even though the thoughts were not directed right at him, he swore he heard her muttering in her head the word no, over and over again.

Feeling helpless, he watched her go. He did not want to let Anna go, but he could not bring himself to chase her. It was like he was frozen in place. His mind ran at a mile a minute. He had met this girl and now she was part of the thing that he’d been waiting for his whole life. He could not understand why she was running away from him, but he knew that she was experiencing the same fear he was, albeit in a different manner. He wanted to run to her. He wanted to be with ehr. Meeting Anna had to be fate. He was meant to meet her. There was no other explanation.

Chapter Five

Anna ran home and got into the car. She did not even know where she was going at first. All she knew was that she did not want to be home. She then realized, of course, where she was going. When she lost control and she felt scared, there was only one place that she could drive. Her heart pounded. She drove fast, but tried her hardest to maintain the speed limit. She could not get a speeding ticket because she was beyond emotionally distressed. She just needed the one person who could help her. She, alone, could not handle this!

Ethan was not going to tap into that part of her heart. He was not going to bring back the things that she had been suppressing deep inside of her for most of her adult life. She was not going to let it back in. All her life she struggled for control. She had known that she was anything but normal and that her life, since she was seven, had not been in her control, so she had thrived on the ability to control things. Now, she had been thrust into the arms of a stranger and the memories that she had blacked out. She was not the girl who had been kidnapped at seven years old. She was a grown woman. She was a grown woman who was completely normal. Anna wanted to be normal.

She drove straight to her mom’s house. She had always been close to her single mother. The woman had done everything for her and she had never really known life without her close by. She was the one who made sense. The woman was her life, her world and the only person who could inject some sanity into her life. Her mom was the only person who could help her handle this. It was all she could do. She walked up to the apartment building that her mom lived in and climbed the stairs to the second floor two at a time. She knocked on her mom’s door, crying. She needed her mommy.

“Sweetie!” her mother cried when she answered the door. Her mom was shorter than she was, but they were very close in appearance. Her mom’s red hair was a bit curlier, but she had the same sharp green eyes that Anna had been known for. The woman was very warm and friendly and it showed on her kind face. Her mom had the same red hair that she did, but hers was thicker. Her curls framed her face, which was rounded and made her look sweet.  She took a step towards Anna and immediately pulled her into a hug. Anna sagged into it desperately as her mother asked, “What’s wrong?”

Anna didn’t know how to explain. Crying, she tried her best. “I’ve been dreaming of that night mom,” she cried. “I’ve been continuously dreaming of the night that I was kidnapped. It’s been so long since I’ve even thought about it, but it’s come back with a vengeance. The man, he always talks about explosions...and...and... I had a date the other day Mom, with a really wonderful man named Ethan. It was lovely. Then, today there was a huge explosion. He was there, Mom. Ethan was one of the kids!” She was rambling, talking a mile a minute while nestled firmly in her mom’s arms. She felt safe and protected there. She kept talking, hopefully explaining her story in some way.

“Oh dear,” her mother lamented. “It seems like something of that magnitude could hardly be a coincidence.” It was a miracle to Anna, that her mother took in her rambling so calmly, so evenly, but the woman had always been somewhat near a saint. It was also nearly a miracle that she understood Anna’s nearly deranged rambling.

“He showed me these powers, mom.” It was the powers that unnerved her most of all. She could not handle the idea of someone else having those abilities. She couldn’t stand the idea of them being real. She just couldn’t bear it. They were not real. She knew that she had abilities, but at the same time had never used them. She had held them back even when they wanted to come out. Yes, they were instinctive at times, but it was an instinct she was trying her best to deny.

Her mom’s eyes widened and the woman loosened her grip only enough to stroke Anna’s arm. Anna shivered at the tender, loving touch. Her mom seemed to be exploring and searching the depths of her daughter’s soul. It always amazed her that her mom could be so gentle and simultaneously so strong. She had so much strength and courage, but was the kindest woman possible. Her mother’s expression was honestly a little hard to read. She frowned and pursed her lips. Finally, she managed to speak, finding the words that she wanted. “Baby,” she said, “you are gifted too.”

Anna flinched at that. She moved herself out of her mother’s grasp and shook her head, just slightly. She knew that she had abilities, but had always denied them. They had been there when she was a child, but she forced herself to outgrow them. She had grown far beyond those strange things she could do when she was a little girl. “No…” she began. They were not a part of who she was, not anymore.

Her mother pursed her lips again. She spoke slowly, all the while still stroking Anna’s arm lightly. “Sweetie, why deny it?” her mother asked. She tilted her head to the side, looking at Anna with a questioning expression. Anna did not remember much from being a child, but did remember that her mother had always quietly accepted the fact that her daughter had an exceptional ability. She had never doubted, despite the ludicrous nature of the abilities. Anna found answering that question to be difficult. Why deny it? There were so many reasons, but expressing them was difficult.