Controlling the Elements (The Manipulator Series Book 1)

by N. R. Spratlin

  "Wow buddy, you look so cool!" It takes him a moment to meet my eyes. I know he is trying to weigh the sincerity of my words.

  "My name is Flint. Can I tell you a secret?" I lean closer to him and whisper under my breath. He finally looks up at me; my mouth opens in a surprised “O” shape. I have to keep from falling on my ass when I see the color of his eyes. I quickly shut my gaping mouth and put my facial features into neutral. Then I smile gently at him while I look over his shoulder at his aunt, then towards Tucker. At least he has the galls to look sheepish as he runs his hand along the back of his neck. The boy’s aunt though, has focused onto us with a slight frown on her face; I guess to see where I would be going with this.

  "Sure," A little voice comes out, and I take a closer look at him to see that he’s now looking to the ground, his lip trembling. It’s as if his spirit had deflated like a balloon.

  “Hey Tuck? What is going on?”

  “It seems he is upset Zep left. All I can tell is that he hasn't seen him in a long time.”

  My heart breaks a little for the boy; I did not know that Zep's current short comings have been affecting a child. If he does not start getting his act together and fast, we are going to have more than just words.

  I whisper to him, "When I was growing up my favorite superhero was Batman too." His little ears perk up with my proclamation.

  "You liked," he pauses for dramatic effect and lowers his voice to a rasp, “the Batman?"

  "Oh yeah I did, I actually collected most of his comics when I was your age." His little eyes start to twinkle from the discovery.

  "My Aunt Dill won't buy me comics yet, well except for the ones on Kindle. She says I need to take pride in my stuff to show her that I can be responsible for it. My name is Lyon." He sticks out his tiny hand for me to shake. I look up at Dill to see a lovely hue of red tinting her cheeks.

  "Nice to meet you Lyon." I shake his hand in return. "I think I have the rest of your outfit down, but let me see if I have it right, okay?" He flashes me a brilliant smile and nods his head in agreement.

  "Okay, obviously we have," I drop my voice to imitate his earlier one, "the Batman pants. Let’s see the button up white shirt with red cape is Superman, right?" He bobs his head up and down excitedly with a smile still locked on his face.

  "I had a hard time choosing which ones to wear tonight so I figure the mixed worked." He chirps.

  "I agree the mix really works," I chuckle. "Okay, well, your rain boots are obviously Spiderman, but what has me completely thrown is the bow tie. Why a bow tie?"

  He gets a mischievous glint in his eyes as he leans closer and grabs me with both hands by the cheeks; "Because bow ties are cool." he giggles as my eyebrows shoot to my hairline.

  Really now?

  I look towards Dillon and see her face is now alight with a beautiful smile that causes my insides to feel a bit off.

  I respond quickly," Alright Doctor, well can I show you something while the adults get stuff ready for dinner?" He looks over his shoulder towards Dillon who seems to hesitate for a moment.

  "I am just going to show him some things I think he might appreciate in my bedroom while you go talk," I raise my eyebrows at the last part, hoping she got the hint of what I’m trying to say.

  Message is received because she drops to a squat on our level and grasps Lyon's hands.

  "You listen to Mr. Flint ple—"

  I interrupt her, "—Just Flint." She arches her eyebrows at me for over stepping, but I am not one to stick with formalities, to be honest they remind me of my father, and that really does not bode well with me.

  "Alright, you listen to Flint, and if you need anything I will be right down here." She smiles at him as Lyon lets go of her hands.

  "Yes ma'am," He readily agrees as he gives her a big hug then turns towards me.

  "Ready to go?" I question and he nods his little head yes, then grabs my hand. My insides feel funny again at the connection of the small child's hand. It has been while since I have felt this kind of stir. Lyon reminds me of someone. I smile down warmly at his eager expression. Feeling kind of nervous and hoping he would like what I had to show him.

  "Well then, let's go!"

  * * *

  "This is the coolest!" Lyon proclaims as his eyes light up.

  "SHHHH!" I wave a hand in front of his face trying to keep his voice down. Absolutely no one knew about this secret trunk in my closet, and I’m trying my hardest to keep it that way. The boys know I have an inner nerd, but they didn't know to what extent. If they saw this I will never live it down.

  "Oops sorry," Lyon giggles as he turns his attention back to the trunk full of my collectible action figures, all wrapped up in their original packaging.

  "It must have taken you forever to collect these!" He points to them in exasperation.

  "It did take some time, my mom used to give me one for every birthday and Christmas." I look back towards the action figures with a soft smile; they hold fond memories for me now.

  "Wow, you have the coolest mother ever!" Lyon says with his eyes transfixed to the figures.

  "Yes, I sure did." I agree. This makes Lyon stop his gazing and look towards me, I could see the question behind his eyes so I decided to go ahead and beat him to it.

  "My mom passed away when I was about fifteen." Once the words left my mouth Lyon launches his little body into mine.

  "I am so sorry, loosing mommy sucks!" He buries his head into my shoulders while clinging like a spider monkey. I wrap both of my arms tightly around him, moving to sit down on my butt with Lyon on my lap as I hold onto him just as tightly as he is to me. In this moment I feel such a strong bond towards this boy, knowing how awful it is to lose loved ones so young.

  With every second ticking by while he is in my arms, I know with certainty I will do anything for this lovely little boy just to protect him, to keep him from having the type of childhood I did. I would move the Earth and stars to make sure he was happy.

  After a few more moments of clinging together, we break apart. I go and close the lid to my secret trunk then I guide him in the direction of my box of comic book collections.

  "Here you go knock yourself out; you can borrow some to take home too. I do not mind." Lyon once again throws himself at me and clings to my legs.

  "Thank you Flint," He squeezes me tightly one last time, and then jumps away rushing to the box and starts picking through with a carefulness one would not expect from a child his age. I smile down at him.

  "If you will give me just a few minutes I want to find something as cool as you are wearing for dinner."

  And I think I know just the get up.

  "Okay sure,” he agrees without paying attention to what I was saying. I laugh, while walking to my chest of drawers and pick out exactly what I need.

  After a few minutes of preparing and getting my eyes adjusted back to wearing only my glasses I walk out of the room.

  "How do I look?" I ask, finding Lyon sitting next to a small pile of comics I assume he has picked out to borrow.

  "Oh, wow you look so cool!" He jumps up and rushes over to get a close up of my attire.

  "Your pants look like mine!" he proclaims delighted, as he grabs the side of my leg and flutters the material of my baggy batman pajamas around, "but I like your Superman shirt more."

  "No, I like yours better, yours is more creative. Mine is just the plain old blue shirt with the red symbol." He giggles; pointing to my feet as he finally catches sight them. I wiggle my Spiderman sock covered toes at him and it sets of his giggles to full on howls of laughter.

  "Are those your real glasses?" He asks as he reaches up, I see what he’s trying to do and bend down to his level so he can slip them off my face and look through the lenses. I have to take a moment to blink as my eyes have to adjust to the blurriness.

  "Yes they are. I am blind without them." I say just as he places them back on.

  “They make you look just like Clark Kent!" Lyon smiles at me.
<
br />   "Well we have one problem." I announce and I take on a serious look to garner his attention.

  "What's that?" He asks frowning, a small crease marring his over wise smooth forehead.

  "I do not own a bow tie." I state in all seriousness. He tilts his little head back, giggling.

  "That's okay; we can use a regular tie." He pats my shoulder and stands up and grabs my hand to drag me to my feet. We walk to my closest and I show him my selection of ties. He concentrates for a while, sorting through them. His eyes light up as soon as he spots what he’s after. He reaches for the red checkered one and declares it perfect as I get myself straightened out.

  "What do you think buddy? Am I good to go?" Lyon nods his head enthusiastically and grabs my hand so we can walk down stairs for dinner.

  I am really glad that I had spent this small amount of time with him. He reminds me of, no I’m not going there. There are too many listening minds in this house. I smile as Lyon hops down the stairs. He already has a firm place in my heart now. I hear the guys in frantic whispers below and a prickle of worry creeps into my happy feelings.

  I hope everything went ok down here with their talk.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “I guess I just followed the stereotype and hoped for the best.” - Dillon

  Meanwhile downstairs….

  Everett

  I sit in my chair in the open plan dining room, fiddling with the arm of my black rimmed eyeglasses nervously. I keep sneaking glances at her. As soon as Flint went upstairs with Lyon, I knew that was his subtle way of getting things going. I don’t know why I am so nervous; this should just be a simple talk. Who am I kidding? This is more than just a simple talk. The only thing I can think to compare this to would be what I would suspect a man feels when he is about to purpose. I am not saying I have any firsthand knowledge of that, it’s just a speculation.

  “There she is, the lady of the hour!” Connor proudly declares as he waves a cooked piece of lasagna in the air coming out of the kitchen. He’s wearing his favorite apron, I wish he wouldn’t. Dillon giggles at his antics and the sound sends a shiver down my spine. I take my eyes off her, feeling a bit concerned, I do not know how to process how she affects me. If I am not careful, I might find myself goofing off like Connor does just to hear that giggle again. I grimace, that would be just awful.

  “Come in, come in, and don’t just stand there all on your lonesome. Food will be done soon.” Connor says with a smile.

  “It sure does smell good.” She walks into the kitchen then stops. “Flint told me to get a glass and fill it up with my alcohol because I would need it. So, point me in the direction boys, because it sounds like he was completely serious when he said I would need something to ease my nerves.” She is clutching a small clear bottle in her hand and looking around the kitchen between Connor, Tucker, then at me sitting here. I stand up about to walk through, but Tucker is the nearest and jumps into action.

  “Here I will help you, Connor is about to be up to his elbows in meat sauce then needs to turn everything down so we can have our chat. Everett is just finishing up getting some things we will need,” She looks back towards me and I nod my head forward and bit awkwardly, kind of glad I have already stood up so it looks at least like I was about to do something rather than get her a glass. I take it as my cue to continue on. I walk back to our shared office and pick up the few small books that I could find. I hope this will be enough to help explain things clearer. I will admit I tend to hang on to anything educational, and for once I am happy about my hording tendencies. These few books are from our beginning education at the compound back home, and the only things I have that would help break things down a bit to make it easier to explain.

  I sigh out loud and grab the small paper books and smack them against my hand several times. I do not know just exactly how I am going to explain about our kind. I am used to our people knowing who they are since birth and therefore being educated in the basic years. This should be an interesting night, but if anything, I am up for the challenge. It’s hard to believe we have found our Manipulator, and she’s a girl.

  When I walk back to the dining room I see everyone is already seated at the table, and not only does Dillon have a drink but the rest do as well. I look towards my usual chair at the table noticing that I, too, have a small glass filled with a clear liquid. I walk to my chair, pull it out, plop the book on the table, and sit.

  “So what poison have we picked tonight?” I ask the room.

  Ugh, I hope he likes vodka too. Dillon’s sweet voice fills my mind and it brings a smile to my face. I look towards the rest of the guys to see everyone’s eyes sparkling, they heard it too.

  “Well,” she starts hesitantly, “I initially got a bottle of vodka as a small apology for Flint. I looked it up and it’s supposedly the best. They only sell them in a small size here.”

  “Because he’s Russian?” Connor asks slowly.

  I see her cheeks start to heat up and know that he is right on the money. She looks down to her lap where I would assume she is fidgeting her hands. It’s something I have noticed her doing while I have been observing her.

  “Yeah, I know it sounds cliché, but I guess I just followed the stereo type and hoped for the best.” She shrugs her shoulders.

  “Well,” I start and it grabs her attention because she looks up at me to continue, “I don’t know about other Russians, but these Russians love vodka.” I catch Tucker raising his brow at me in confusion.

  Okay, I elaborated a bit, I am more of a bourbon guy, and most of the others prefer beer, but we don’t hate the stuff. Tucker must have picked up on my inner justification because his shoulders start to shake and his eyes are squinting in silent laughter.

  “Wait,” Dillon says calling my attention back to her. “You said ‘these Russians’, you’re Russian too?” She looks like she can’t believe it and it makes me chuckle. As soon as the sound comes from my throat both Connor and Tucker give me a perplexed look. I guess I could understand why, I am not a man to be known to make that sound too much.

  “Yes I am,” I say and she looks at me like she is dissecting her own puzzle; me. I am not going to lie when I say part of my body wakes up a bit when she gives me that look.

  “We are too,” Connor adds and snaps her attention from me and I almost want to strangle him.

  Woah, that’s not me. She turns to look at him and her look of confusion washes over her face once more.

  Their Russian too? Well, Zephyr must feel like an odd ball out then. I chuckle a bit and so do the rest of the guys at her train of thought.

  “Actually, he’s Russian too. He was the first to leave the compound community when he was a kid.” Connor clarifies her thoughts.

  Hold on. He answered her thoughts. He must have realized it as soon as the rest of us did because he slaps his hand over his mouth and his eyes bug out.

  “Wait.” Dillon freezes, “Did I say that out loud, shit I must be a little tipsy” She tries to rectify the situation.

  “Dude, let her believe that.” Connor sends to me, he must have known I’m about to clarify.

  “I don’t think she could handle it on top of everything else.” Tucker adds his two-sense in. I snap my mouth shut. They are right, if I start off with that the only thing we would accomplish would be scaring her straight into a strait jacket.

  “Okay everyone let’s get back to the topic at hand.” I clear my throat hoping to bring things back on track. “Now Dillon, I need to clarify something before I start to explain things to you.” She nods her head at me to shows she is listening and picks up her glass, taking a hefty drink. Good, she’s going to need that. “What I am about to tell you is one hundred percent true. Not only that, it is purely scientific. There is no witchcraft or magic at hand. Do you understand?” I peg her with a serious look. I only told her that hoping to avoid the first wave of questions when it came time to convince her it was true. She nods her head and sits up straighter locking her gaze on m
e to start. Well, I am glad I got her attention.

  “There really is no simple way to say this other than there is not just one human species that exists.” She goes to open her mouth, but I hold my hand up to stop her. “Please just let me get say what I need to first, then we will have question time, okay?” She snaps her mouth closed again, nods her head, and grab her drink to drain the rest of its contents. Connor notices she’s empty and grab the small bottle that is sitting in front of him and refills her glass. She smiles her thanks and then turns her head back to me.

  “Now, like I was saying, there is more than one species of human on Earth. I am not saying there are tons of different types of humans, just two to be specific. There is every day humans with an average brain pattern and sulci and gyri flow.” Her look of confusion stops me and I see Connor shaking his head at me.

  “Explain in laymen terms boss man.” He chides and I feel my cheeks heat. I tend to forget to slow down and explain.

  “The sulci and the crevices in our brain; where the gyri are the raised areas. They are also known as brain wrinkles.” I clarify and she smiles, still silent, but know I know she has an understanding.

  “Anyways, the average human has a certain patter to these brain wrinkles. Before more was known about brain usage, there was a myth that used to circle around that said we only used about ten percent of our brain. That is not true; the basic human used one hundred percent of their brains every single day at some point in time.” I take breath and listen out for her thoughts since she hasn’t tried to interrupt me. When everything remains silent I continue on.

  “The thing that makes us different from everyone else is that, we have a few more wrinkles, as you would call them, in our brain. Thus making us evolved. What those newly developed map of wrinkles has caused are initially short cuts into the way we think and interact with the world.” I stop, giving her another moment. She takes another drink from her glass and I mimic her taking the opportunity to check in with Tucker on her emotions.