“That’s correct.” He started teaching and my mind wondered back to my parents again. I knew the answers to everyone else's questions, just not my own.
The morning passed by at a snail’s pace until it was time for lunch. I met Becky as I walked into the cafeteria. The tables were filling up fast so we hurried over to the only one left. I couldn’t help but listen to her as I unpacked my turkey sandwich. I hid my smile. Becky was trying to figure out how to ask me to go dress shopping with her. Sometimes she forgot that I could hear her thoughts.
“I was thinking Amber, why don’t we go shopping Friday? We can go to Indianapolis. It’s not that far and we can be there in two hours easily. I’ll even drive.”
I opened my mouth to say okay, but Becky continued. “We need new clothes and that’s the best place to go. They have everything there.” I waited for her to stop talking, but she kept pleading her case. “You’ve never been there since you moved here and I could show you around. Please say yes!”
“Okay.” She looked at me with wide eyes and I laughed at her shocked expression. “But let’s go
Saturday instead, just so we’ll have more time.”
“You’ll go?” She squealed, while bouncing in her seat. I was just hoping she wouldn’t start jumping up and down. “I can’t believe it. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never ventured out of this small town. I’m so excited! It’ll be great!”
“Calm down!” I hissed at her, and then laughed. I really hoped that I could do this. I’ve been in the city before when I was younger, before the voices became so clear and loud. It was hard to concentrate then but this was a sacrifice I’d gladly make for Becky.
“Hey there, mind if I sit with you?” Charlie asked while staring at Becky. He stood at about five-feet-nine and had the body of a runner. With his sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, he was handsome enough and his thoughts didn’t make me want to smack him every time he was near.
“Not at all.” Becky gushed.
Becky stood at five-feet-four. Her long blonde hair only emphasized her bright green eyes and pale skin. I imagined what they might look like together.
“Soooo Becky, are you going to prom with anyone?” Charlie asked and I burst out laughing. Becky shot me a look that screamed shut up! I couldn’t help but hear this poor guy praying that she didn’t have a date and promising to do anything if she said yes. He had it bad, but that’s a good thing.
She deserved a guy who would treat her right.
“Sorry, I’m so sorry. I really wasn’t laughing at you all. Please continue.” I waved my hand for them go on. I guess I’m a liar, too.
“No, I’m not. I’ve been trying to talk Amber into going.” She saw his face fall. “Not like that! I meant because I don’t have a date and if she went then I would have someone to talk to. Good Lord, we’re not like that.” I couldn’t help but snicker at this fumbling train wreck.
Clearing his throat several times, Charlie finally asked, “Would you like to go with me?”
I noticed Becky’s hands tremble before so she tucked them under the table. “Sure, that sounds great!”
Usually I found it difficult to be around people but sometimes, like now, I really enjoyed it. I knew how excited Becky felt and not only that, I could hear it in my mind. I could hear how hopeful Charlie was. They both wanted to scream with excitement but instead, played it cool.
This was just another part of my life I had come to accept. I’ve never had a boyfriend and the fact was I never would. I knew I was destined to live my life alone. How would any man want to be with someone who knew everything… and I mean every thought that passed through his mind? I knew the answer… he wouldn’t. Was that why my mother had been alone?
“Ok guys, I’m gonna head out. Talk to you later Becky,” I said as I grabbed my bag and headed out of the cafeteria.
Chapter Two
Saturday came and I couldn’t wait to head to Indianapolis. I spent the week bolstering my courage. We would shop, eat some good food and then shop some more. How bad could it be to be in a big town?
I dressed in my black short shorts and paired it with my red lace top. I added black boots to complete the outfit and decided to leave my dark auburn hair down. It fell in waves and almost reached my waist. As I stared into the mirror and saw my alabaster skin and bright blue eyes, I wondered again about my parents and which one I looked like. Shaking my head to clear it of the useless thoughts and now satisfied with the way I looked, I headed downstairs.
“Hi honey, where are you headed today?” Sarah sat eating a piece of toast and drinking a cup of coffee. She always tried to wait for me at the breakfast table. This was our thing.
“Becky and I are going shopping. I’ll be out late so don’t wait up.” I went over to the coffee pot, where Sarah already had my cup sitting with creamer in it, and poured it full.
“Good, I’m glad you are hanging out with your friends like nor… I mean like other girls do.” Oh Lord, I almost said normal. I heard her thoughts while I stood leaning against the counter drinking my coffee.
I offered her a smile. I was used to being seen as odd but I still didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
“Yeah, it should be fun.”
“What about breakfast?” She asked, smiling. This was us… pretending to be normal.
“We’re picking something up this morning, probably fast food. What are you doing today, Sarah?” I asked as I took another sip of coffee.
“I’m not sure what all I’ll get into. I need to weed the flowerbed and just get things done around here. I’m also going to visit Jim and Megan’s grave today. I saw the sadness enter her eyes and knew I needed to leave. I wasn’t trying to be mean but she had never shared her family or her pain with me. As far as she knew, I didn’t know anything about them and if she didn’t want to talk with me about it, then I certainly wouldn’t pry. Being a foster kid, there are things that I just kept to myself as well.
“I think I’m gonna head out. Becky should be waiting by now.” I looked down at my watch.
“Okay, be careful.” She gave me a slight smile and I appreciated the effort she made for me.
I headed out the door and found Becky waiting by the curb. She drove a red two-seater beetle that she got last year for her seventeenth birthday. I loved her car. I jumped in the passenger seat and we headed for the big city.
“Where do you want to go first?”
“I thought we could go to the mall. It has about anything you could possible want, even dresses.” I saw her watch me from the corner of her eye waiting for my reaction.
“Sounds good.” A grin spread across her face and I smiled back.
Two hours later, we pulled in to a parking space at the mall. It was crowded today and it didn’t take long before I regretted my decision to come. There were so many people around, so many thoughts, and it was loud!
I can’t believe they just fired me!
What should I wear on my date tonight?
If I catch her with that man again, I’m going kill them both.
I looked at Becky, she was grinning ear to ear and I promised myself that I wouldn’t ruin this day for her.
Suddenly I heard a sound that chilled me to the bone and made my skin crawl. It wasn’t words exactly, but an odd screech of words that made me want to cover my ears. I turned just in time to watch a huge, muscular, warrior man wearing black leather pants. He had hair as black as night. I watched as he pulled out a short sword with a curved blade. He fought with …. what was that thing! Oh my God! It was built like a man but he didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen before except in horror movies and nightmares.
His eyes were glowing red like flames of fire and when he flashed his pointed teeth they looked as if they could cut through flesh. As I stood, unable to take a step, my eyes darted from his teeth to his grayish colored skin and black pointed fingernails. I knew he wasn’t human, he couldn’t be. Frozen, I could only stand there and watch as my body trembled. This
was something nightmares were made of, an actual horror movie come to life.
The warrior man with the short sword slashed at the red-eyed demon creature, cutting streaks down his chest. The demon creature took swipes with his black pointed nails but he was no match. The warrior kicked him in the stomach and as he bent forward, he nailed him in the face with his elbow; the creature fell to his knees. I knew it would be over soon. As the warrior raised his sword to deliver the final blow, the demonic looking man let out an ear-piercing squeal, knowing he had lost and disappeared into thin air.
With the demon man… creature… I didn’t know what to call it… with it gone, I took deep gasping breaths as the fear abated my body. Moving my eyes from the now empty pavement, I glanced up and stared into eyes of turquoise unlike any I’d ever seen before.
The victor stood well over six and a half feet tall and had black hair that reached his ears. He stood shirtless and I could see his sculpted chest and arms along with his chiseled abs. I tried to hear his thoughts, but it was silent which left me with an odd sensation. When I noticed that he was studying me, my pounding heart stopped and then started beating again even faster than before. I felt connected to him somehow, as if I should know who he is.
Tearing my eyes from his, I glanced at Becky to see if she could see him. For the first time, I felt
Becky’s hand on my shoulder asking me if I was all right. My body felt disconnected somehow. When I turned my head back to the warrior man… he was gone, leaving me to wonder if it really happened or if it was just my imagination.
“Did you see that?” I asked Becky, but she just stood there looking at me in a strange way.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t see anything except you standing there staring at the parking lot like you were in a trance. Come on Amber, let’s go.” Becky turned and walked toward the entrance. I took one more look but there was nothing there. Turning, I followed Becky wondering what the hell just happened.
My interest in shopping left with the sexy warrior man and his short sword, as my mind replayed the fight over and over in my head. He wielded his sword with confidence as if it was an extension of his arm. I had never seen anything like that before and why couldn’t I hear him? And why couldn’t Becky see them? My mind kept running away leaving me to wonder if I was finally losing it.
“Which store do you want to hit first?” Becky asked, startling me out of my own thoughts and rescuing me, even if she didn’t realize it.
“It’s up to you. You know this mall better than I do.” I knew what she wanted to do. She had the whole day planned for us.
“Ok, let’s go to the dress shop!” She squealed, as she dragged me to the escalator.
I watched as the different people passed by and wondered again, what it must be like to be normal. Everyone worried about the most trivial things such as what to have to eat, what movie they wanted to watch or who to ask out.
Then there were those thoughts that really I hated to hear: thoughts of violence, sabotage and vile actions. Lately those thoughts have been louder. I hear them over the nonconsequential thoughts like a funnel to my ear. There were times in the past few months that I almost intervened but I didn’t because I didn’t want to seem crazy. In the past, that only got me sent to a different home so I learned to keep my mouth shut. It was getting harder to ignore though. There’s a drive in me stronger than any Illinois tornado and I had to fight to stay out of situations I had no business even knowing about.
Becky pulled me into a shop that was filled with floor length dresses from top to bottom. She ran straight to the rack that contained small sizes, as she wore a size two. “What color dress should I try on first?” She asked without taking her eyes off the rack.
“I don’t know, why don’t you just grab some to try on and I’ll let you know if they’re gorgeous or hideous.” I thought I was being funny but she gave me a mock scowl. Grabbing an armload of dresses, she headed to the fitting room while I browsed through some as well, even though I still was unsure about going to prom. A few minutes later, I spotted Becky coming from the dressing room wearing a bright yellow dress.
“What about this one?” She stood in front of the floor length mirror, turning slightly so she could see the back.
“You’re kidding right? You look like the sun. We won’t even need lights at the prom; you can just stand in the middle of the room and glow.” I chuckled. It really did look terrible. “I know; you could paint your face brown and tell everyone you thought it was a costume party and you came as a sun flower.” I held my stomach as I laughed.
“Oh, just shut up! A simple no would have sufficed,” she said jokingly. “Ok, this one’s out. I’m going to try on another one.” She returned a few minutes later wearing a purple dress. I stood there as I looked at her. I don’t think I like this one, even though it fits me well. "What do you think?” She turned and twirled.
“I think you look like the purple dinosaur…what’s his name? Oh yeah, Barney! We could hold hands and sing the ‘I love you song.’” I laughed as she pretended to hit me. After she tried on several more, she walked out wearing a strapless red dress. “That’s it! It looks beautiful on you.” “You really like it?” Pleases say yes! Please say yes!
“I really do. You’re going to knock Charlie’s socks off.” The dress looked perfect on her. It hugged her body, showed off Becky’s tiny waist, and flared at the knees. Perfect!
“Thanks Amber. What about you? Are you going to try on any dresses?” I looked back at the dress rack and one in particular drew my attention. I grabbed it and headed for the dressing room.
After I put the dress on and zipped it up, I stepped from the dressing room to show Becky.
“OH MY GOD! You look stunning Amber! Turn, let me see you.” I turned as Becky stood there with her mouth gaping. The bight turquoise dress suited my dark auburn hair and even went well with my blue eyes. I knew I had picked this dress because of my mystery man’s eyes.
Looking in the mirror, I absolutely loved it. It was an A-line floor length dress with a V-neck. It certainly showed off my figure, although I never worried about being attractive. She is so gorgeous; it makes me jealous. I wish I could look like her.
“Thanks Becky and stop that! You are gorgeous. Charlie asked you to prom and nobody has asked me.” I knew Becky had always felt like I was prettier than she was but she never got jealous. She had a better personality than I did because I don’t talk to others very much. At size two, she was much smaller than my size four, or six, depending on the style of clothes. My breasts were larger and my hips wider than most of the girls at my school and at almost eighteen years old, it made me look less like a teenager.
Becky turned red with embarrassment. Occasionally, she forgot that I could hear everything she thinks. “Stop listening to me,” she said.
“Well, stop thinking then.” I mocked her and we both laughed.
As we stood at the register, Becky suggested, “Let’s run these out to the car and then we’ll look around some more.” I nodded as she slid her mom’s credit card back into her wallet. Becky and her mom had a rocky relationship and she would often make up for the fights by giving her the use of her credit card. It’s a wonder Becky didn’t start fights all the time.
As we put the dresses in the trunk, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and shivers ran down my arms. I slowly turned around and found the source of my discomfort. A man with red eyes stood at the end of the parking lot staring at me.
As his mouth began to move, I wanted to cover my ears, but I didn’t. Even though I was panicking, something warned me to stand very still, not acknowledge him in any way. I forced myself to look away, ignore him and act as if he wasn’t there. Nobody else could see him and some instinct deep inside told me not to show myself different. I realized I couldn’t hear his thoughts. He was something other: Not human. Not really a demon, even though I could call him that with those eyes.
With my heart pounding I slowly, casually t
urned to Becky. “Let’s go back inside. I’m starved.” I tried to rush her without it seeming that way, still trying not to draw attention to myself.
As we quietly walked away, memories came rushing forward. “Mamma, why are we running?”
“We’re not running sweetheart; we’re just walking fast.” She smiled, but I remembered the panicked look she had. Her smile wasn’t natural and it was before I could hear every thought, so I never knew what scared her.
“Amber, are you okay?” Snapping out of it, I looked at Becky. She seemed worried as we neared the entrance to the mall.
“I’m fine, just lost in thought.” I gave her a halfhearted smile and as we entered, I looked back over my shoulder where the demon man stood, but all I saw were turquoise eyes staring back at me. As I kept looking at him, I almost walked into a man exiting the mall. Breaking eye contact, I smiled at the gentleman, “Sorry,” I muttered. When I looked back, he was gone and I felt empty. Strange.
“What do you want to eat?” Becky asked as I turned back around. Please say pizza.
Laughing I said, “Would you like to have pizza for lunch?”
“I would love to. It’s almost like you read my mind.” She said with such sincerity that I couldn’t help but snicker. She felt like family to me and I loved the way she could lighten my mood without even knowing that I needed it. If she only knew the things I had heard and seen today.
“You know, you could just say you want pizza. You don’t have to think it over and over again hoping I will say it.”
“How can I test you if I just blurt out what I want? Just consider it practice, like exercising your brain.” Shaking my head, I know I had a silly smile on my face. Believing what she said, Becky had no idea how strong my ability was. I also hadn’t told her that the older I got, the stronger it became. “Come on, let’s go.”
We finished lunch and decided to shop for some new clothes. While walking around I saw a cute little family and it made me smile. My mind started wandering again and I found myself thinking of my parents. Lost in my own world, a man bumped my shoulder when we passed and jarred me from my thoughts. What a jerk! He didn’t even say sorry, he just kept on walking.
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