When they returned home once school had finished, not only was Joe there, but another guy that they didn’t know, as well. They both instinctively put a hand on the guns tucked into their trousers, but Claire stopped them from actually drawing.
“It’s okay, guys, they’re here to help. The psychic I was telling you about?”
Jerry looked at the huge man standing in the kitchen. He must have been almost seven foot tall and the black suit he was wearing didn’t hide his muscles. He had a square jaw and rugged features which made him look like a cage-fighter, or something.
“Nice to meet...wait, I thought the psychic was a chick?” Goose said.
“She is a chick,” a new voice said.
From behind the massive man, out stepped a tiny little blond girl with hair down to her shoulders. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen and was only about four and a half feet tall. She had a cute, round little face, tanned skin and a few freckles. She was wearing expensive brand name clothes and had a pair of Gucci sunglasses hanging off her top.
“Hi Jerry, I’m Rachel,” she smiled and turned to Claire. “You’re right. He does have nice eyes.”
“Wait...you’re the psychic?” he asked, completely bemused. How could this little girl be a psychic? And why was everyone suddenly loving his eyes?
“No, I’m the plumber. What do you think?” she said sarcastically.
“You’re kiddin’ me, right?” Jerry laughed, looking at Claire. She just shook her head.
“Sorry, were you expecting a bikini clad supermodel?” Rachel smirked.
“I was expecting someone who’s actually hit puberty,” Jerry said.
“Look who’s talking,” she said with a grin, which caused Cass to laugh.
“Blow me Cass!”
“I thought we covered that this morning. You couldn’t handle me,” she chimed.
“And you love that fact,” Rachel laughed.
“Stay outta my head Rachel,” Cass warned.
“Don’t get all defensive, Cass,” Rachel replied. “You know I respect your privacy.”
“Oh, come on, you can’t be a psychic,” Jerry declared. “You guys just kidnapped Justin Bieber’s girlfriend or something.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You’re just a kid,” Jerry repeated, but Rachel mimicked his words at the exact same time. “Lucky guess...” she did it again. “Okay, how are you doing that? Stop it! Stop it!” she just continued repeating his words as he spoke them. “Apple, banana, hedgehog! Jerry is amazing!”
With that last one, she decided to change the word ‘amazing’ to the word ‘stupid’.
“Stop copying me!”
“And he believes me,” Rachel smiled to Claire.
“How the hell does somebody become a mind reader?” Goose asked, looking at her in awe.
“Same way Jerry got his blood, I was born this way. Don’t let my age fool you; I’ve got the mentality of a seventy year old without the senility or the need to go to the bathroom every twenty minutes.”
“And you think that the psychic smurf can help figure out why I was born this way?” Jerry asked, still finding it a little difficult to have faith.
“I’ll do my best. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can cure you of being a dick,” Rachel said seriously, a twinkle in her eye.
“That’s a shame,” Cass snorted.
“Bite me!”
“Tempting,” she grinned.
“So, you think there might be some answers in his head?” Goose asked, ignoring Cass and Jerry’s little exchange.
“Maybe. Trust me, digging through a perverted teenager’s subconscious isn’t my idea of a fun time, but I am curious to know how his blood works,” Rachel said.
“I’m not perverted!”
“So you don’t think about bumping uglies with Cass every two minutes?” Rachel smirked.
Cass looked at Jerry, scandalized. She was furious, and so was Claire. They both stared at him like he had betrayed them. Joe looked a little steamed as well.
“What...I don’t...I...” Jerry stammered with his cheeks going red.
“Oh, sorry, did I embarrass you?” she smiled sweetly. “Look, let’s just do this so I can get out of your hair.”
Jerry bit his lip, trying to hide the awkwardness he felt because of what Rachel had just revealed. Cass and Rachel turned away, the latter still looking pretty pissed. Joe was looking back and forth between his nephew and the vampire he now knew Jerry had been fantasizing about. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Jerry was at the peak of his hormonal life, and for all intents and purposes, an adult.
“Okay, what do we do?” Jerry asked, clearing his throat.
“I put you to sleep and dig around in your egg salad,” Rachel shrugged.
“You’re gonna hypnotize me?”
“No, Cass is gonna punch you until you’re out cold,” she smirked.
“What?”
“We’re going to give you a general anesthetic. You’ll be out for about twenty minute’s tops. I know your blood is going to fight the stuff off pretty quickly, but it’ll put you out for a while, and I doubt hypnotism would work on you. Hopefully it won’t make you explode,” Rachel said.
“Good times,” Jerry nodded uncomfortably.
“Don’t worry. I won’t peak at anything I don’t have to,” she smiled. She really was able to x-ray his mind.
“Why would there be answers in my head?”
“Maybe something deep seeded. Something locked into your past that you’ve forgotten about, buried so deep that you can’t access it. I’ve seen it before, you know.”
“Okay...” he took her word for it. “Umm, listen...I err...”
“We’ll do this in private, it’s okay,” she said, reading his thoughts.
“You okay, kid?” Joe asked, looking a little worried.
“I’m good. Crappy answers are better than no answers,” Jerry shrugged.
Joe’s sixth sense told him that Jerry was hiding something, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Come on,” Rachel said, walking towards his bedroom door.
The huge silent guy walked with her and leaned against the wall next to Jerry’s door. He was obviously her bodyguard. Jerry followed Rachel into his room and she closed the door behind them.
“Well, I’ve got to give you some credit. Your performance is inspiring,” Rachel said softly.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your uncle might have a built in lie detector, but I think you’ll find mine is better. You can’t hide anything from a psychic. I know why you’re acting like this.”
“I don’t know what you -”
“Oh, yes you do. This happy little attitude you’re fronting, keeping your game face on, I know it can’t be easy and I know why you’re doing it. But I’m not sure that it’s all that wise,” she said.
“I...err...I don’t really want to talk about -”
“Jerry, I know you want to appear strong for them, but hiding what you’re really feeling is only going to hurt you. I’ve been able to read minds since the moment I was born, and it’s not as fun as it sounds. I’ve seen things that your worst nightmares wouldn’t come close to touching, and the worst part is that most of the time they live inside the minds of human beings. I can see inside your mind, but I don’t have to be psychic to see how scared you are...you have people that love you, Jerry, don’t push them away,” she reached out and touched his arm. “You don’t have to deal with this alone.”
He moved back, brushing her arm off, anger rising in his eyes.
“You may be able to see inside my head, but you don’t know me! Are you really going to sit there and tell me that having a little heart to heart is gonna make things all good? Having a Doctor Phil moment is not going to cure me! It’s not going to make my friends safe! When the shit hits the fan, and it will, I can’t have them worrying about me! I need them to watch their own backs because they’ll throw themselves in
front of any bullet that comes my way, and I can’t have that!”
“You’re wrong. I do know you. It’s all in your head, I can see it. When you’re not dreaming about screwing Cass, you’re having nightmares about your friends and your family getting torn apart. You’re bottling up all that fear and it’s going to eat you alive from the inside out if you don’t do something about it. It’s already starting to fester, turning into anger. You were ready to pull a gun on that jock, just because he bumped into you!”
She didn’t need to get to know him like Cass and Claire had; she already knew everything about him, and it made him feel even angrier.
“Shut up!”
“No! I’m here to help, and already I can see your head is a hell of a lot more screwed up than your blood!”
“You’re like thirteen, and I’ve known you for ten minutes! You don’t get to give me life advice!” Jerry scathed.
“I’m fourteen and I’m good at this,” she said, not intimidated.
“Okay, so you’re a hobbit and a therapist now?”
“And you’re just a full time dick! Now sit your ass down before I give you the mother of all migraines,” she warned.
“Okay, touchy,” Jerry mumbled and sat down looking a little nervous.
Rachel reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe with a plastic cap over the needle.
“Ahh, the amount of crap I’ve been injecting myself with lately, it’s amazing I haven’t grown a third arm.”
“You’ll be fine...if you keep your head on straight. This little obsession with Cass’s curves isn’t going to help you.”
“Will you shut up! Seriously!”
“Cass has a nasty habit of hurting the people that get close to her. Trust me; you don’t want to walk down that road.”
“Now you’re good with relationships too?”
“You and her don’t have one and you definitely shouldn’t try to get one.”
“Thanks Oprah,” Jerry tooted.
“Really, Jerry, I know she’s nice to look at, but you don’t want to go there with her.”
“I’m a freak with magic blood and a head full of bad wiring. I think we’d be good for each other,” Jerry said.
“You’re aren’t as far gone as you might think.”
“What are you saying; that I can be saved?”
“I don’t know about that...but you can survive. It wasn’t easy for me you know, living with my abilities: being able to hear what people are really thinking about when they’re talking to you. Knowing that the reason your mother isn’t around is because your father had an affair. Standing in line at the grocery store and knowing that the cashier raped a woman a year before. Trust me; your little fantasies about Cass aren’t nearly as bad as some of the stuff some people think about, and I have a front row seat. As bad as monsters are, humans can be so much worse.”
“How do you do it?”
“I convince myself that the reason I have this ability is because anyone else wouldn’t be able to handle it,” she said honestly. “I think about the damage this gift could do to someone who wasn’t strong enough to take it, and I gain a small measure of closure from the fact that I’m sparing them from that.”
“And that works?” Jerry asked with surprise.
“It does, just enough for me to carry on. And every once in a while I get the chance to use my talent to help somebody...even an idiot like you.”
“Well, you’re a real soothsayer, aren’t you?” he smiled.
“I try.”
“So...your mom...”
“Found out about my father’s cheating ways and packed her bags. She pays a visit occasionally,” she said casually. “Nobody gets the perfect life, Jerry.”
She popped the cap off the needle and moved it towards his arm.
“Wait...I...my mother...” he couldn’t find the right words.
Rachel sighed sympathetically. He didn’t need to ask, she could see the question forming inside his mind.
“Certain animals imprint on the first thing they see after they’re born. Usually, that’s their parents. Sometimes the same thing happens to human beings. Scanning a person’s subconscious is a lot easier when they’re asleep, but I can’t promise I’ll find anything of her in there.”
“I’ve never even seen her face...” he said, holding back the sadness in his voice.
“I know. I’ll keep an eye out for her.”
“Thank you,” he nodded with a weak smile.
She carefully injected him with the sedative and then threw the needle into the bin.
“Should I count backwards from -” he passed out.
“Sweet dreams,” she smiled, and started to search through his mind.
Ten minutes later she walked out of the bedroom. Everyone was waiting for her to speak.
“He’s going to be out for another few minutes,” she said.
“You find anything?” Joe asked.
“Err, muscle cars, circuit boards, classic rock and the usual amount of sexual angst you’d expect from a teenage boy. Nothing about his blood though. Sorry,” she shrugged. “I think I should warn you though, the happy face he’s been putting on isn’t nearly as happy as he’s making out. He’s scared and he needs all the support he can get right now.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Goose stated.
“Neither am I,” Rachel said.
“You’re going to stick around?” Claire asked.
“You guys need all the help you can get at the moment. Besides, his blood has sparked my curiosity,” she replied. “I’m going to go now, and have a talk with Sophinia. I’ll be in touch.”
Rachel and her enormous golem left the house just as quickly as they’d arrived.
“Is she always like that?” Goose asked after a few seconds.
“Yeah, she never really bothers with getting to know people because she doesn’t have to. She takes one look inside your head, if she likes you she’s nice, if she doesn’t, she leaves,” Claire explained.
“Oh...”
“Relax, I think she liked you,” Claire smiled.
Outside, Rachel walked over to the black Bentley that waited in the driveway. The muscle man got in the driver’s seat, while Rachel got into the back. As soon as the door was closed, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.
“It’s me,” Rachel said, as soon as the line was picked up.
“Anything?” Sophinia’s voice asked.
“Nothing...and that’s what worries me,” the girl sighed.
“What do you mean?”
“Soph...I don’t think I’m the first person to go inside his head. He has no memories before his fourth birthday; I mean, it’s completely blank. His earliest memories have been erased.”
“Are you sure?” Sophinia gasped.
“Positive. It all just goes dark. Somebody else has tampered with his mind. There was something there that they didn’t want him to know about.”
“Does he know?”
“I seriously doubt it,” Rachel replied. “Most people can’t remember things from that early in their life anyway, but their subconscious memories are still there. He doesn’t even have those.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No. He’s got enough on his plate at the moment. I think we should keep this to ourselves, at least until we can find some answers.”
“I agree,” Sophinia’s voice said.
CHAPTER 16 – COLD HEARTS
Newton High School – St. Cloud.
The next two weeks passed with no new information coming to light about Jerry’s blood or Black Forest’s activities. There weren’t even a rise in the number of deaths or missing persons in the city. Black Forest were lying low, waiting for their opportunity to strike. The only thing changing was Jerry’s appearance. The black bags under his eyes were getting heavier and heavier from lack of sleep. His skin was becoming pale and he was losing weight from not eating. Yet, he continued to pretend that everything was hunky dory.
Rachel made infrequent visits, offering a few helpful words which were far too mature for a normal fourteen year old girl to utter. She also managed to hold off on revealing any embarrassing secrets lurking in people’s heads, which was always a worry with her visits.
Blood Heavy (Blood Heavy Series) Page 19