Gifted

by Andy Lewter

  I could smell damp dirt and the heavy feeling of humidity weighing down on my body. I opened my eyes and took in an ungratifying breath. I sat up from the damp floor, taking in my surroundings. Dark brown hues of dirt, damp from rainfall were under me. Wide, thick emerald leaves with brilliant veins sheltering where I slept. A moss-covered tree where Miles must've leaned against whilst holding me.

  "Miles?" I glanced around, only to find one single white flower lay beside me.

  A plumeria, snowfall white with a golden center. I smiled, inhaling its sweetness, twirling it in my fingers. I could smell Miles on the stem.

  Next to the tree laid a bag — my stomach was telling me there'd better be food inside or someone was going to pay. I tucked the delicate flower behind my ear and unzipped the bag, finding granola bars, bananas and a water canister. While finishing the last bites and guzzling most of the water down, I practiced being in tune with my body by listening to my breaths and heartbeats.

  By finally taking control of both, my senses were magnified. The damp dirt I was sitting on felt alive — I could feel soft breaths from the earth's crust release ever so slowly beneath me. And the colors and hues around me were brighter and deeper than I'd ever seen. Brilliant and beautiful. I could smell plants, flowers, the ocean carried on the wind, my shampoo, and Miles.

  I needed to find him.

  I leaned against the tree and pulled myself up. The sun beamed into my eyes, bright colors from the sweet, fragrant flowers and brilliant greens flooded my vision, causing me to plant my feet and take in my surroundings.

  I never knew one could experience such a magnitude of color — it was beautiful.

  I pulled in a calm breath and steadied my mind.

  And that's when I felt it.

  The familiar pull, comfort and sweetness wrapped into a bind so tight it could never be undone. I would recognize it anywhere.

  I threw a strap from the backpack over my shoulder, squared up to the direction it was coming from, and trekked forward letting my senses guide me. It should have been foreign, awkward, to let one foot step in front of the other without knowing exactly where the next step would be placed — but it wasn't.

  It was natural, a forbidden force guiding me to my destiny. I ducked under vines and branches without seeing them. I stepped unknowingly around deep-pitted swamp holes by mere instinct. I could sense animals around me and hear their beating hearts slightly speed up from unsettlement and curiosity as I neared. Each gust of wind cupped my chin and hugged my waist in ways I only knew one person could touch me.

  A sudden snap of a twig set off my internal alarm, making me stop in my tracks. I hunkered down in a nearby bush and held my breath, scoping out the premises. I listened for what seemed like hours… pushing my senses as far as I could to determine a threat nearby.

  I could feel something — but it wasn't behind or in front of me. I swallowed nervously when I tilted my head upward toward the treetops.

  I was blindsided. A mass of camouflage jumped from a tree overhead and descended toward me. Fast. He landed inches from me and instantly maneuvered me in a body lock, covering my mouth. Just as I was about to attempt my poor excuse of a struggle, a familiar voice whispered in my ear.

  "Shhh, I'm not the bad guy. If you promise not to scream I'll let you go."

  I gave him one curt nod and he slowly released me, as promised. His careful brown eyes assessed me for any injuries.

  "Damian, it's dangerous here. What are you doing? There's serious Valens here and you can get hurt!" I glowered.

  He chuckled haughtily. "I'm fine. I snuck up on you easy enough." He grinned.

  "Not quite! I heard you and that's why I stopped. I could have hurt you."

  He crossed his arms arrogantly. "Oh yeah? How long have I been tracking you, genius?" He quirked a brow waiting for my response.

  "That is irrelevant! You're vulnerable here and you know it!"

  "Hey, don't worry about me. It's you everyone's concerned about. And why in the deepest pit of Hades are you heading straight for the Ludovics' nest? I know Miles wouldn't have left you in an unsafe place. And you went ahead and threw yourself to the sharks anyways," he scoffed, throwing his arms toward the sky. "Good thing I can track. Now let's go before anyone else catches you." He stood and picked up my backpack.

  I looked away — he acted so much like his brother.

  "That's the thing… Nicholas and I share the same gift. He probably knows where I am because I know he's that way." I pointed in the direction I was walking.

  Damian took a step back, assessing the situation. His eyes grew wide, shocked. "How do you know this?"

  "He won't hurt me! Everyone is acting like the opposing team will hurt me and they won't. It's actually overwhelming me a bit."

  "Oh? And you know this how? Their whole family is manipulative and vile." Damian's eyes grew red with anger and his hands balled into fists.

  I looked down, biting my lip. "I know this because… because we're in love with each other."

  After several moments passed, I lifted my gaze and met his eyes. He was hiding his expression. But lucky for me, I could tell how he really felt. Betrayed.

  I sighed, "Look, Damian…"

  "I don't want to hear it. For now, let's get you safe. And then… you can decide whatever it is you want."

  He walked off with my bag and didn't look back. I followed several paces behind him, lost in my thoughts.

  His words stung. What did I want? It was such a complex situation. Here were the noble Kavins, rescuing me from the man I loved.

  Damian didn't say another word to me. He bowed branches and pointed toward certain plants to avoid coming in contact with. Other than that, all I heard was our ragged breaths and the crunch from our footsteps. I refused to open my senses like before. I wanted to wallow in my thoughts for the time being.

  The day descended into early evening; I'd become so thirsty and hungry that I wasn't paying attention to where we were going anymore.

  "How do you know where you are? I haven't seen you pull out a compass once."

  "I don't need one," he dismissed.

  I sighed and left him alone. It wasn't much longer before he stopped walking and turned, waiting for me to catch up.

  "You'll be staying here."

  "Oh, you want to make camp?"

  He shook his head and glanced up the tree we were standing by. I craned my head back, finding a tiny tree house upon the treetop. It would be completely camouflaged if you didn't know where to look.

  "Fascinating. But how do we get up there?" I asked, dully.

  He grinned darkly, dropped my bag on the ground and then disappeared in the brush.

  "Lady Everett! You've arrived at last."

  I blinked, turning toward the familiar voice. "Navi?"

  "Oh yes, dear. I'll bet you're exhausted from your day's journey, yes?" She beamed.

  "Uh, yes, actually. I'm really thirsty. Damian didn't stop once after he found me."

  "And he'll be getting a talking to for that. Here, honey," a motherly voice crooned behind me. I was comforted at the site of Dara. She handed me a large tin cup of ice-cold water. I drank it all in a few gulps and sheepishly handed it back to her, wiping my chin.

  "Thanks."

  "There's a stream close by. Do you need to wash up a bit?" Dara asked sweetly.

  I glanced down at my dirty hands and shoes. I could only imagine what my face looked like.

  I shrugged. "It couldn't hurt, I suppose."

  "I'll take her," a deep voice offered as he noisily walked into sight. "That is, if you don't take off again like you did before." Miles’ emerald-green eyes pierced me accusingly.

  "Hey, you left me. Remember?"

  "To get more water." He glared. "What set you off, anyways?"

  "I…" My eyes grew wide as I'd finally figured out what was happening. I was content with Miles and his family taking me back to Kansas. In fact, I was excited to see my mom and sleep in my bed again. That is, unt
il I practiced enhancing my senses and felt Nicholas. Then it was like I couldn't think of anything of else — all I wanted was him. I craved his touch, his voice. I couldn't rest again until his hand was in mine. But when I switched my senses off, it was easy for me to walk away with Damian… almost like nothing had happened.

  And then the raw truth revealed itself.

  Nicholas makes me vulnerable.

  Is being vulnerable to Nicholas a bad thing? To feel everything he feels? To live happily and securely in our unbreakable bond? When I'm with him nothing else matters. All I'd ever want is him.

  I focused back on the path we came from. My stomach was in knots. I needed to see him, to know if he was okay. The weather was unusually… calm today.

  "The stream is this way." Miles steered me off the path I didn't realize I was walking on.

  I let him steer me. Apparently I didn't have control over myself. And if I was going to be completely honest, it scared me.

  Miles led me down to a bubbly stream. It was serene and peaceful, tall grass hovered over the crystal clear water like a protector. I found a calm pool, knelt on my knees and dipped my hands in, attempting to scrub them clean.

  "Miles, I need you to keep me in your eyesight at all times."

  "I'd planned to, but why the request?"

  I turned and looked into his curious green eyes. "I don't trust myself."

  He furrowed his brows in confusion.

  I sighed. I needed to get this over with. "When I try and take charge of my senses, I get vulnerable and can feel Nicholas. He captivates me. All I think about is him. That's where I was taking off to this morning. To find him."

  "I see." He clenched his jaw. "Those Ludovics are full of deception and lies. They've somehow convinced you to have these feelings — they made you vulnerable through love. It's pretty sick if you ask me, and I see how effective —

  "Miles!" I snapped. "I met him while you were gone on your family reunion. Our feelings are genuine."

  "You… what?"

  "After I turned I was going crazy. Bored, no one was home. I'm normally fine by myself but with all the new things happening that I didn't understand, I was going nuts!"

  "You could have called me," he stated flatly.

  "I know, and I probably would have if I hadn't met Nicholas. He knew I was Valens but thought I was Amitto."

  "And how exactly did you meet?" He crossed his arms, switching to his business-like tone.

  "We met in a parking lot. I had a flat and he changed it for me. Then he came over for dinner and — "

  "He was in your house?" he demanded, his voice raising.

  "Yes, and when my mom came home he figured out who I was. Apparently they heard rumor of Olivia, but didn't know she had a twin." I swallowed in thought and focused on washing myself off again. "And then he left, saying he was going to find a way for us to be together."

  "Well, that's worked out great, don't you think?" Miles glowered. "You don't kidnap people. And you don't kidnap your girlfriend!" He started pacing angrily. "Do you know why we left town? The head Valens said they had a proposition they wanted to offer and it was mandatory that we all show for a meeting. And I see now it was nothing but a scheme! To sneak one of their own in to try and find you! When we found out it was a waste of time we hurried back. Why didn't you call me, Abbs?"

  "I didn't know who I was! I didn't know I wasn't supposed to meet anyone new! What do you want from me?" I cried, tears filling my vision.

  Miles dropped to his knees, his eyes heavy with emotion. "You're right. You being in any kind of danger is my fault. I promised to keep you safe, and here you are. Taken from your home because I broke my promise." He focused to maintain composure.

  After several moments passed, the softest of smiles eventually touched his lips. He lifted a careful hand up and pulled the perfectly white flower from behind my ear.

  "I'm happy to see you liked it," he said quietly.

  "Yeah, thank you. I had a dream about it and…" I trailed off, yawning, the reality of my exhaustion hitting me full force.

  "You did?" He asked curiously, bringing his full attention back to me.

  "Actually, I'm really tired. Am I sleeping in Rapunzel's lair up there? I tilted my head toward the tree house.

  Miles nodded and handed me a couple protein bars. "It's most important that you're safe and out of sight. The others will be close by. And there's more meeting with us later this evening."

  "Lead the way." I yawned again with a mouth full of protein bar.

  Chapter 18

  Dim sunlight streamed through the cracks of the cabin. I learned sometime in the middle of the night not to freak out when the tree house swayed unnervingly.

  It was just the wind.

  The soft pitter-patter of rain droplets musically lulled me to stay asleep. It was so serene, comforting, and intimate. The rain smelled refreshing and slightly musky. I stretched, stiff from sleeping on a mound of blankets. The lullaby the droplets created threatened to push me back to sleep, but instead I forced myself to see if my doorkeeper was staying dry.

  "Miles?" I yawned pushing open the tiny door, rustling my hair and forcing it into a French braid on the side.

  "Good morning." Damian smiled underneath his poncho. "I'm babysitting."

  "Where's Miles?"

  "He had to… take care of something," he smiled nervously.

  He was hiding something. I narrowed my eyes.

  "Hey, Damian? Miles and I discussed that I'm on a need-to-know basis. And I need to know where Miles is. Regardless of the orders he barked to you before coming up here," I lied.

  "Oh, right." He nodded, knowingly. "The Ludovics are close. Navi's been watching them." Shock crossed his features before he slapped a hand over his mouth. "How did you — I was sworn to secrecy for your protection!"

  I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for your cooperation, little Miles." I grinned.

  "Wait, where are you going? You have to stay here!"

  "Not gonna happen." I tied my braid off, adjusted my thin sweatshirt and started to climb my way down the enormous tree. "He knows I'm close and he's just going to look for me regardless of what any of you have to say."

  "Stop!" Damian hissed. "Look." He pointed over my shoulder.

  I followed his gesture with my eyes, finding what alarmed him. I watched as several people I'd never met, along with Kayla, Emerson and Nicholas hacked their way through the forest. One man wore a green and brown stained burlap gown, belted with a burlap tie with several pockets sewn randomly around his waist. The other man was dressed in black from head to toe — his jet-black hair gelled in points on his forehead.

  "Who are they?"

  Damian shook his head. "No idea. Probably reinforcements."

  I planted my foot on a branch below me, looking for a way to climb down.

  A strong hand grabbed my arm, holding me in place. "You need to stay here for your protection, Abby," he demanded.

  I shook my head. "You know I can't do that. They won't stop until they find me. I'll be okay, they won't hurt me."

  "Honestly, it's not you I'm worried about," Damian admitted quietly before lifting his hand off me.

  "What are you worried about then?"

  "The safety of my family. You'd be surprised what Valens will do for the sake of power."

  I smiled slightly. "Well then, you and I can't let that happen, can we?"

  He sighed. "Yeah, I guess not. Scale down the tree over here." He slipped his poncho off and led the way.

  We slowly crept down, taking each step with caution so as not to alert anyone of our presence. The rain had stopped sometime during our descent. Once we were on the ground, the air was thick with humidity, and the clouds were heavy and dark above us.

  "They'll be this way," he whispered.

  We hunkered down and crept through the brush ever so slowly. We eventually came to a clearing where Dara, Edmund, Navi, Miles and a man I assumed had arrived in the middle of the night stood
. This man's face was weathered and he had all sorts of furs stitched into his cardigan. There was a bull's horn tied with a leather strap around his neck.

  "Who's with them?"

  "That's Jerry, an old family friend." He met my eyes darkly. "You should see the gift he bears."

  "Why doesn't anyone have weapons?"

  He tapped a single finger to his temple. "They only use their mind and strength. They think it's weak to use human weapons." He shrugged.

  I rolled my eyes, scoffing. "Right. A grenade launcher is weak."

  Damian chuckled quietly beside me.

  The clouds turned an uncomfortable green color and mist from the recent rain rested at the tree's base. I blinked, taking in my surroundings as something internally clicked.

  "I've seen this before…" I whispered.

  "Shh," Damian hissed.

  "Where is she?" Nicholas demanded as he and his family entered the clearing.

  His voice sang to the rhythm of my heartbeats. Even during the little time we'd been apart, I'd forgotten how magnetic and alluring he was to me. His every feature sculpted to perfection. I wanted to run to him, to feel his secure embrace around me… but I knew better. I held onto the grass around me to keep from bolting.

  He walked with such determination, such power. His fists where clenched, his eyes angry.

  I pushed my senses toward him slightly. Anxiety, worry and adrenalin. It was so thick in the air I could taste it.

  "I can feel she's close and if I were you I wouldn't keep her from me any longer," Nicholas seethed.

  "Now, now," Dara crooned, holding her hands up gently. "Let's talk about this first."

  I felt Nicholas calm ever so slightly.

  Kayla stepped forward, focusing hard on Dara. "You will NOT use your mind tricks ON MY SON!" she shrieked.

  Miles' mother blinked and dropped her hands with terror written all over her features.

  "Get out of her head," Edmund demanded of Kayla. "We can be civil about this." He stepped forward and placed his hand securely in Dara's. "Remember what you're seeing isn't real," he whispered in her ear.