Glaston (The Gifted Book 1)

by C. C. Lynch

  “That must have been why I could not read you when you were thinking about the boy.” Vlaine rubbed his knuckles against the small bit of stubble growing on his jaw.

  Draxe leaned in, “what else do you think is amazing?” I could not tell if he was trying to assist or was genuinely curious.

  “I have only seen a small handful of things. I have never seen Adele or Liz at work, but I bet their talents would be equally as beautiful as a translation through music.”

  Vlaine nodded at Draxe, “go pick up Liz and bring her here. She’s with Professor Quail right now. Quail will understand.”

  I snorted. “Do you make it your business to keep track of Liz?”

  He looked up at me and gave a lopsided grin. “I make it my business to know everything about the people you spend time with.”

  “Excuse me,” my face contorted with both confusion and disgust. “You’re keeping tabs on me?”

  “Word got out that you are a replicator. I want to make sure no one kidnaps you.”

  My moment of feeling powerful and proud diminished in a mere moment. He had already told me the think tank wanted me because of my replication abilities, but his need to keep track of me made me feel like our entire friendship was a farce. “I don’t think you will ever understand how demeaning that sounded, Vlaine. In fact, you made me sound like a pawn.”

  “You are valuable to anyone because of your intelligence; even more so because of your gifts, but add replication to the mix and you could be used to fight wars. The hope was to keep your replication gift a secret between Glaston and Valdor. It’s a bit of a long story and Draxe will be back in a few minutes with Liz. I promise I will tell you in time, but sorry for sounding so obtuse.”

  I walked away and into the locker room to splash water onto my face and rid myself of the anger and hurt boiling inside of me.

  Just as I turned the faucet on Vlaine turned me around gently. “If it pisses you off knowing that your whereabouts and friends are my top priority then be pissed.” His hand reached out towards my face but he retracted it suddenly. “I just want to keep you safe, Abrielle.” A look of determination appeared, “I’m going to keep you safe.”

  How could he make me mad one minute then make my insides feel like they were melting? I splashed water on my face and gave myself three seconds to be flustered and another three to calm down.

  Draxe and Liz were standing in the gymnasium waiting for me. “Hi Abrielle,” her lip twitched into a smile that vanished as quickly as it appeared. “They said you need to see me in action.”

  “Yes, please. That is if you do not mind, of course.” I felt awkward asking her to show me her gift. It was so personal that I was not sure if she was going to comply.

  “No problem at all.” Her expression was gentle.

  I watched her standing in front of me and suddenly she was gone. A moment later I felt a tap on my shoulder with a simultaneous giggle.

  “Incredible!” my jaw dropped. “That is absolutely amazing Liz, spectacular.”

  I closed my eyes and thought of how incredible her gift was. When I opened them I saw no looks of astonishment. Liz was back to being visible. Instinctively I walked over to her, thinking of how incredible her gift was, and I lightly touched her hand.

  “Oh my God!” she screamed. “What the heck! Did she just steal my skill?”

  I jumped backwards in shock. Vlaine looked at me and back to Liz. “Liz,” he began sternly, “she did not steal your ability. We need your utmost discretion because this can be very dangerous for Abrielle.” He paused and looked at me, “I’m guessing that you needed to touch her because you were having difficulty emulating her invisibility. Sort of like how skin to skin contact creates an easier telepathy conduit, perhaps it is the same for particular gifts.”

  “Liz,” Draxe’s smooth voice began, “why don’t you go ahead and do your thing so you can prove to all of us, yourself included, that you still have your invisibility.”

  She complied, and sure enough she was able to disappear. “So you are a replication,” she walked around me in a circle as if I was some strange specimen. She looked at Vlaine and Draxe, “Jeremiah is going to want her.” Pain was in her voice.

  “Yeah,” Vlaine nodded somberly, “he already knows about her.”

  “Who? What? Why don’t I know anything that is ever going on?”

  “Jeremiah recruits gifted individuals with rare talents,” Liz spoke bitterly. “He wants them for nothing but financial reasons and does not care how he gets a hold of them. He is an awful person.” Her voice was so solemn, I wanted to hug her and heal her emotions.

  Thus began a discussion that led me to find out how Liz ended up at the school and some of the dangers of people knowing that I had the gift of replication. Jeremiah had scouts that came into a bit of luck when they saw Liz disappear one day. He went to her with an emotional manipulator, similar to Erik, and persuaded her to go to his company. It was a place where gifted people were tortured into doing Jeremiah’s bidding. Headmaster Josnic had his own team in place to try and save as many people as he could from Jeremiah’s lair.

  “He’s ruthless,” Liz’s eyes welled up, “you have no idea.”

  There were no words I could offer her to express my gratitude for sharing her dark past or for showing me her gift. “Thank you,” was all I could whisper.

  Both Vlaine and Draxe walked me back to my dormitory, which seemed more suspicious to me than if I had returned as I normally did.

  Before leaving Vlaine squeezed my hand, “You were incredible today.” He turned to Draxe, then back to me, “I am so proud of you, Abrielle.”

  “Yeah,” Draxe added, “most replicators don’t know they are one and even then it takes months to learn how to do it. Good job.”

  “Well, they obviously don’t have an incredible teacher like I do,” I winked playfully.

  Vlaine’s cheekbones rose in a smile he tried to hide, “Later, Abbs.”

  Draxe and Vlaine turned around at the same time and I watched the two walk away together, enthralled by the twins. They looked so similar in some ways but Vlaine’s gait was fierce and confident while Draxe strolled through like a famous athlete. I was fascinated by Draxe’s appearances in my subconscious throughout my life, but absolutely captivated by Vlaine’s rough exterior. They were an intriguing mystery to me and I could not help the giddy feeling that arose from knowing the devastating loyalty they had for me.

  18

  I had a suitcase full of clothes and a gym bag full of drinks and snacks. The idea of a road trip was becoming more and more exciting by the moment. Like a gentleman, Erik picked up my belongings and brought them to his car.

  “Are you ready?” he started the car engine excitedly and brushed strands of his male-model hair out of his eyes.

  I nodded and began searching the radio stations for good road trip music. “Let’s do this,” I laughed with enthusiasm.

  Eight and a half hours later we entered the gates of Valdor Academy. Erik pulled into a small parking lot on the side of a glorious white brick building. I stepped out and a cold gust of air saturated with the smell of the sea whipped my long hair into small tangles around my face. The school was breathtaking and the sound of waves lapping against rocks in the distance called for me to explore the shore.

  “I called the headmaster ahead of time and he said we could stay in the barn. I know how that sounds,” he held his hands up in a stopping motion, “but it is like a small inn. You will have to see it to understand.”

  I followed him to the barn that he was talking about. Sure enough the inside was made into a guest house. The bottom floor had a kitchen, living room, and dining room. A bay window hung along the back of the barn where the other doors once were. Ocean décor lined the loft along with a large bed that was located directly above the kitchen.

  I looked around nervously not seeing another bed. On cue with my thought process Erik nudged my arm, “we’ve fallen asleep watching movies so many times I
figured that sharing a bed was not such a big deal.” The color drained from my face and then he laughed, “I am just kidding. The couch is a pullout and there is a fold up cot in the closet over there. You can have the actual bed.”

  I shook my head, “you can have the bed and I’ll take the couch.” I walked over to the kitchen to put the snacks away that I had brought for the car ride. As I looked out the bay window the sandwiches in my hand fell to the floor. At the end of a jetty by the shore was the lighthouse I had seen in my vision.

  “What’s wrong?” Erik was quickly by my side. I tried to form words but I could find nothing to explain my reaction. His thumb traced my cheekbone softly, “shhh,” he soothed, “you’re safe.”

  Tingles of his soothing manipulation tickled my cheek. Part of me knew that I should not trust him, that I should find a way to get back home but the larger part of me was content and yearned for him to keep touching me. I would be spending the next four days alone with him and in the first few minutes of being at Valdor Erik had already manipulated me into being calm.

  “Let’s go check out the school,” Erik smiled, never breaking contact with me.

  I said nothing, just followed him as he held my hand and led the way. It was beginning to get dark already as the winter ate the hours of sunlight. The lighthouse stood in the distance as a constant reminder of what my fate would be if I was to remain anywhere near Valdor Academy. What did Professor Horicon have to do with everything? Erik’s thumb rubbed my palm gently, keeping any despondent feelings at bay.

  The front doors of Valdor opened to a display of beautiful architectural works and modern art that rivaled museum exhibits. The entrance itself was not nearly as stuffy as Glaston Academy and had a much more welcoming vibe. Glaston had always seemed like a strange boarding school, but Valdor actually looked and felt like a real university.

  He walked me through the halls and finally upstairs to the laboratories. Specimens, skeletons, and all sorts of scientific displays made my chest flutter with excitement. On the professors desk in the first lab was an exploded skull model. I wandered over to it, tempted to touch it.

  “I wish Glaston had a Beauchene Skull, or proper labs for that matter.” I pouted.

  There were only two laboratories at Glaston and they were shared between all the science courses. It was bizarre that we had a schedule of when we were allowed to use the laboratory for a class or demonstration.

  Erik nodded and led me outside to the beach. “Valdor does not waste much time on core classes like exercise or literature. We get to choose our major, just like a typical college.”

  “What happens when we graduate? The schools seem pretty tight-lipped. What does our diploma say?” It was something I had wondered but never got around to asking about.

  “We have contacts at a handful of major universities. Depending upon your GPA when you graduate you can practically have your pick from a couple top schools. You show up on their records and everything so if you ever need to send transcripts they will have them at the school.” He smiled, proud as if it was his idea.

  “That is so illegal,” I shook my head.

  “What would you rather? Grow up where there is no institution that assists you with your gifts and just pretend like they do not exist forever?” He was defensive and for the first time since I had met him, he seemed angry.

  His defensiveness made me flustered. “No,” I shrugged, “I did not mean that I disagree with how they do it. I just hope that the schools never get into any sort of trouble for this stuff.”

  “They won’t,” he said gruffly and continued down the beach.

  When we were done touring the entire campus of Valdor it was dark and the safety of the barn was enticing. Erik had kept contact with me at all times, but I would have still fallen in love with the school even without any manipulation.

  “You were right,” I smiled as he began preparing dinner, “I absolutely love this school.”

  Grinning, “I thought so Abrielle, now you know why I want to come back here.” Stuffing some chicken into the oven he turned, “you should really think about putting in for a transfer. Glaston has nothing but snotty backstabbing people, terrible rules, and a complete lack of university necessities.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I smiled. “I’m going to get into pajamas,” I walked off to the suitcases and rummaged through them.

  While Erik was busy with getting dinner prepared I searched through the items for a phone. There was none in the barn and I could not find a cell phone in any of Erik’s things. I still wasn’t able to afford my own phone with no job, something I was regretting greatly at that moment. Finally I gave up and figured that it was probably beginning to look a bit too suspicious if it took me more than five minutes to find my pajamas.

  I went into the bathroom to change and focused on getting any sort of thoughts to Vlaine.

  Vlaine, I thought as loudly as I could imagining the words traveling across the distance and flowing into his head, Vlaine I think I need you. Erik used his emotional manipulation on me today and I don’t know why. I found the lighthouse from my vision, it is at Valdor. Please figure out some way to help me out.

  I listened but received nothing back. Later that night while I was falling asleep I tried calling out to Vlaine once more. Still, I received nothing in return.

  The next morning I woke with a start when I heard someone banging on the door. I sat up nervously and stared at the door. Before I had the chance to get up from the couch Erik was already at the door.

  Erik opened it and standing there was Vlaine and Steph. I jumped up and ran to the door and hugged Steph while tossing Vlaine a thankful glance.

  “Happy Thanksgiving,” I choked out while I squeezed her tightly.

  Her body was rigid and she took my hands. “I… I need you to come with me.”

  “Of course,” I searched her eyes for a clue as to what she was about to say.

  “I went to the school last night to look for you,” her eyes were welling up, “my dad had a heart attack.” A sob erupted, “I just need you to be there when I go see him.”

  “Of course,” I squeezed her again, “let me grab my stuff and I’ll be right there.” I looked at Vlaine, “Thank you so much for taking her to me. I’ll be right there.”

  “You drove eight hours?” Erik asked accusingly as I was walking to the luggage.

  “Dad’s plane,” Vlaine answered quickly.

  I was dressed and ready to go in five minutes. I turned to Erik and hugged him. “Thank you so much for bringing me here. I absolutely love the school. I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly. I’ll see you on Monday!”

  He gave a curt nod and closed the door quickly. Vlaine, Steph, and I walked through the campus to where a small plane was landed in a clearing. Vlaine took my luggage and led me into the plane.

  “Your dad has a plane?” I wanted to be surprised, but somehow I was not.

  “Yeah, flying is a hobby of his.”

  I followed Steph to her seat and sat across the aisle from her. She was usually so poised, it was strange seeing her so upset. As soon as the plane took off she stood up, stretched out and in an instant Steph was Draxe.

  “Oh,” I exhaled the realization, “I forgot you two both can do that appearance emulation thing.” Shaking my head I ran over to Vlaine and hugged him tightly, “thank you so much for coming. I was not sure if you were going to hear me.”

  He looked over to Draxe nervously then back at me, “no problem at all, Abbs.”

  “What?” I looked at Draxe who was stifling a laugh.

  “This was a kidnapping mission, not a rescue one.” Draxe was full on belly laughing. “He thought you were going to be furious.”

  “No, as soon as we got here he did that hand on my face thing when I saw the lighthouse. I tried to communicate to you telepathically but I have no idea how close I have to be to someone to do that.”

  “What did he say exactly when he touched you?” Vlaine looked concerned.
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  “I don’t remember his exact words but he told me I was safe then showed me the school which, by the way, is incredible.” My gaze darted from one brother to another, “the lighthouse at Valdor is the lighthouse that was from my vision. I know for sure. I had the vision again last week.” They looked at each other not knowing what to say to me. “How far can I communicate?”

  “Telepathy isn’t a distance thing,” Vlaine began, “it grows stronger the more you use it and the further away you are. I am not really sure why I couldn’t hear you.” He stood up and began walking to the cockpit. “We’re going to make a pit stop on the way back if that is okay.”

  Halfway back to Glaston Academy we stopped at a farm that one of the headmaster’s friends owned to pick up Thanksgiving provisions. Vlaine remained quiet for most of the flight home, but Draxe was surprisingly chatty. We talked about books, hobbies, gifts, and he even promised to teach me how to ride Cinnamon before dinner would be served. I was tempted to try and read Vlaine, but my gut told me to leave him to his silence.

  19

  “Why exactly is everyone afraid of your dad?” Cinnamon was trotting steadily beneath me and Draxe was beside me on Buttercup.

  “His temper is notorious and he’s a lot like my brother in the regard that he does nothing to control it. He really cares about helping people develop their gifts and making their lives easier than his was, but he also has a set of different laws in his mind than are for regular humans.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “If he truly feels that someone is a threat to the integrity of Glaston then he will not hesitate to use whatever method he feels at the time is necessary. That can mean anything from taking points from your final grade away to execution.” He stated everything matter-of-factly and without much emotion.

  The sky was crisp, the trees were bare, but the ride was beautiful. It was a strange way to hear that my headmaster was not above killing students as a form of punishment. It seemed that Draxe giving me this information would be better suited for a scary basement with the sound of water dripping rather than horseback riding through the woods.