At First Sight (9 page)

              He walked down the hallway towards the stairs and stopped when he heard his name coming from his father’s study.

              “I can’t keep this secret from Dean anymore,” said his father. “He needs to know.”

              Dean peeked through the crack of the doorway. Matthew, the speaker, was on the laptop.

              He shook his head. “No.”

              “Matthew…”

              “He isn’t ready to know, Frankie. This is something big and he is far too young,” explained Matthew.

              “He is my son, Matthew. He is eighteen years old. He deserves to know that he is supposed to lead our species in this war you have planned,” said Frankie, his voice taking on an angry tone.

              Dean’s foot caught against the door as he reacted to the news, causing both Matthew and Frankie to look at him in surprise. All three men were silent as the air grew thick with tension.

              Frankie closed his laptop, ending the video call. He stared at his son, feeling lost for words. “Dean…”

              Dean’s brows furrowed with anger as he stared at his father. “Are you fucking kidding me, dad?! I’m supposed to
lead
us in a
war
?! Why are we even going to war?!”

              Frankie stood up from his chair and put his hands up in defense. “Dean, I know this is hard to take in. But, we can’t change this.”

              “Why does it have to be me?!” demanded Dean.

              His heart was pounding as his anger grew. He didn’t want to lead his species in some battle that seemed completely unnecessary. Why were they going to war in the first place?

              “You should sit down,” said his father, sitting down on the couch next to his desk.

              “No, I’ll stand.”

              It was silent and tense until Frankie decided to break the silence and come clean.

              “When your mother and I met, we were completely different. She was not a Manifester,” he started.

              “She was human?” asked Dean. He didn’t know that much about his mother’s life before she met his dad.

              Frankie shook his head. “No. She was a Reader.”

              Dean furrowed his brows. “A Reader? What is that”

              “Before we met, your mom was a part of a species called the Readers. They have psychic abilities and they can see things even when they are not present to see it in person. Is any of this making sense?”

              Dean shook his head. “No.”

              “You know how your mom’s imprint allows her to see things without you knowing?” he asked.

              “Yeah. Like, she has eyes in the back of her head?”

              Frankie nodded. “She has that imprint because of her past life. We still don’t know how it happened. But, when we met, she chose to stay with me. In doing that, it caused the Readers to lose their abilities. They became normal humans while your mother still kept her powers.”

              “How is that possible, though?” asked Dean, confused.

              “Your mother was their leader,” said Frankie. “Because she was who she was, her race lost the gift. Combining different supernatural races can be very risky.”

              Dean looked away from his father, feeling like he was talking to stranger. His parents had been keeping so many secrets from him. What else were they hiding?

              “So, why am I in this? Why do I need to lead a war? Why are we going to war?” asked Dean, his heart beating faster.

             
“Dean?”

             
He knew that Lola could hear his thoughts racing.
“I’ll tell you later.”

             
“The Readers have been threatening us with war ever since the gift was lost. Matthew had it always set in his mind that, if the gift were ever to come back, then we would go to war. Whoever brought back the gift would lead our race in that war,” explained Frankie, looking away with shame.

              Dean rubbed his head vigorously. “I can’t… I can’t lead us in a war. I’m only a teenager.”

              “Nothing is set in stone,” said Frankie, standing up and walking over to his son. “We’re trying to convince Matthew…”

              Dean backed away from his father. “You can’t convince Matthew to do anything, dad! He is the speaker, for God’s sake! He won’t change his mind and you and I both know that.”

              Frankie stayed quiet.

              Dean shook his head. “I can’t believe you and mom would keep this from me.”

              He walked away and went out the back door, slamming it shut behind him. He gripped the porch railing tightly and dipped his head down, angry tears running down his cheeks.

              He couldn’t lead his race in some war. He had just found his soul mate and she was finally accepting him. To be told that he had to go to war was like being sentenced to death.

              “Why did you tell him?” demanded Matthew, pounding his fist on his desk.

              After being abruptly cut off, Frankie had called back Matthew to inform him that Dean knew everything. Matthew had expected Dean to be angry, but he didn’t expect complete disgust towards the idea of having the opportunity to be a leader.

              Frankie sighed. “I had to tell him. He is my son.”

              “He has no choice. You know that, right?” reminded Matthew.

              “We don’t have to go to war,” murmured Frankie.

              Matthew chuckled dryly. “They are going to war with us. I didn’t start this. But, I will do all that I can to protect our race. It’s my job to protect.”

              “Matthew, he is too young for this. I beg you to reconsider,” said Frankie, clasping his hands together.

              “Dean is an adult. He is eighteen. He brought the gift back and leading our race to victory rests in his hands now. I can’t take this back.” Matthew paused and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

              He shut the computer down before anything else could be said and sighed. He looked up at his brother and shook his head. “You can’t do this.”

              His brother shook his head. “I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m simply preparing them.”

              Matthew stood up from his seat and walked towards his brother. “Leo, you are exposing your imprint. I spared your life because you proved to me you can change. You won’t let it control you. But…”

              “You think I can’t control it?” asked Leo, cocking a brow. “Do you doubt me?”

              Matthew sighed. “I’m not saying I doubt you. I just don’t want you to have any blood on your hands again.”

              Leo held up his hands and wiggled his fingers, his imprint glimmering against the lights in the office. “Blood free.”

13

              “Have you decided to speak to Freddie?” asked Lola the next day, sitting with Jessica outside on the quad for lunch.

              She hadn’t heard from Dean in a few hours and it kind of worried her. He still hadn’t told her what had happened last night. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. But, she wasn’t going to force him to talk about it. She would let him tell her on her own time.

              Jessica still hadn’t spoken to Freddie and it bothered Lola. She had a feeling that Jessica was scared to talk to him. She never believed in soul mates. She believed in hooking up. To her, forever meant nothing for relationships. Forever meant something when it came to Lola and her friendship.

Anything else? No.

Jessica shrugged as she picked at her food. “I don’t know.”

“He’s a nice guy. But, he is hurting. I’m sure you are too.”

“So?” Jessica shrugged again.

“It’s not a good feeling. If I can accept Dean, then why can’t you accept Freddie?” asked Lola.

Jessica looked at her friend. “You know I can’t do relationships. They are just a recipe for disaster.”

“How do you know? Your parents are still together while mine are God knows where doing God knows what,” said Lola, rolling her eyes and popping a grape in her mouth.

“That doesn’t mean anything. I never see them, so I don’t know the truth about their relationship.” Jessica sighed. “Relationships just don’t last anymore.”

“What about Lucy and Kevin? They have been together since the eighth grade, apparently. They are in our grade, too.”

“They are weird. That doesn’t mean anything. They act like an old couple,” said Jessica, scoffing at Lola’s example.

“Exactly! If they act like an old couple, then you know they will be together forever!” exclaimed Lola. “Just give Freddie a chance. He is supposed to be your soul mate.”

“I don’t want a soul mate.”

“Everybody wants a soul mate,” said Lola. “I didn’t think I wanted one.”

“How are you still sure you want Dean? I know you accepted him, but still.” Jessica looked at her pointedly.

“I don’t know. I’m just trusting in this,” said Lola, simply shrugging. “You should, too.”

Freddie walked up the sidewalk later that afternoon, having finished surfing at the beach a few moments ago. He was still in pain and he had crashed into the waves multiple times. It only made the pain worse.

When he arrived at his house, he stopped when he noticed somebody was waiting on the porch. It wasn’t a stranger, though. It was Jessica.

“Hey,” said Freddie, propping his surfboard against the porch railing.

Jessica waved. “Hey. Lola brought me here. She’s supposed to train with Dean or something.”

Freddie nodded. “Yeah, yeah.” He gestured to the swing. “Let’s sit.”

Jessica nodded and sat down with him, exhaling slowly as their fingers brushed together. Her pain was going away.

“Mine is, too.” Freddie looked at her and pointed to his forehead. “I can still read your thoughts.”

“Oh.” Jessica nodded and rubbed her hands on her legs.

              “I’m glad you came.”

              “This isn’t easy for me, Freddie.” Jessica looked at him. “I’m not a relationship person.”

              “I know.” He smiled at her confused look. “Lola told me a bit about you.”

              Jessica rolled her eyes. “Oh great.”

              Freddie shook his head and held her hand. “No, it’s okay. I won’t judge you for your actions. It’s not my place to judge.”

              “Why?”

              “Soul mates aren’t supposed to judge each other. That’s not what my species is about. We are about love and happiness,” he explained. “We take our role very seriously.”

              “You guys are not even human!” she exclaimed. “How is that even possible?”

              Freddie sighed and shook his head, looking out at the other houses on his block. “Honestly, I don’t know. I was born this way and it even amazes me that we exist. But, we do. I’m grateful for that. We need to act human around strangers, but what we can do is really a blessing. We’re here for a reason.”

              “So, you believe in God?” asked Jessica.

              Freddie laughed at her random question and nodded. “Yeah, we do. We have the same religion. We survive on the same food. We live in regular houses. We are just like humans, except we can produce magic and meet our soul mates with one look.”

              Jessica ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it.”

              “I don’t know either, but we are alive. We are doing great,” said Freddie. “I’m not asking you to give in because you feel you have to. I want you to want this. I want you to want me.”

              “I know,” murmured Jessica.

              Dean placed fingerless gloves on Lola’s hands. Dean’s family had their own training room down in the basement. There were throwing knives, exercise equipment, and even a full track above the floor of the basement. Lola was definitely surprised they were able to fit a decent track in their basement. Dean had explained his father was the one who built the house, so he made sure to plan out everything in advance.