Bella Vita (6 page)

Thank you.
He managed to say before I quieted
him.

“You need to rest. To make
sure that it all healed well and to get your strength back.” I
cooed at him as though he was a small child.

It isn't necessary, Emma.
You've healed the cut and supplied him with blood, he is fine
now.
I had forgotten Betty was
there.

But look at him.
I looked back over at him and realized she was
right.

Thank you again.
He said as he blushed and looked down at his
feet.

That was most impressive.
It is a skill you don't call upon often though. What else can be
done with this aspect of your gift?
Betty
asked with a look of excitement.

I brought back to life a
small bird once. And I can heal minor injuries. I've never done
anything like that cut before though.
I
felt a little annoyed over being tested like this, he could've
died.

Leave the emotion, Child.
He knew the risk. And I've a similar ability, only not as strong. I
could've revived him. Shall we test you life giving ability?
She raised an eyebrow.

I don't think it's
necessary.
I really didn't want her to
kill Bernie to see if I could make his heart beat once
more.

Fair enough. Then let's
move onto your mental abilities.
I'm going
to test each aspect of your defense, attack, and manipulation
abilities. After that we will begin to teach you some of the things
we know.
Her face turned dark.

I didn't feel her at first, it was like
testing for weaknesses and endurance at the same time. When I
reached my limit I felt pain sear through my body. My mind went
blank for a minute and then I tried to turn the pain against her.
It required me to test her as well. Soon I hit a weak spot and
poured my strengthen behind it. She gasped in pain and fell to her
knees. I stopped.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
hurt you.
I didn't know what to do, how do
you heal a mental injury?

She sat there with a dazed look on her face.
I decided I needed to fix it. I stood before her and placed my hand
to her head and again felt for the injury. I found it instantly, I
had broken something- I didn't know enough about the mind to know
what it was, but I felt the broken buzz that came from inside. I
reached out my healing abilities and wrapped myself around the
problem. I wasn't sure what to do first, but then I could feel the
problem. Once I knew my gift could find the mistake and heal it, I
knew I could fix it.

Betty blinked up at me. She looked over a
Bernie who had gone pale white with fear, and he nodded his head. I
assumed she had asked him a question directly. Betty looked at me
with amazement.

Child, I don't know what
you did or how you fixed it, but I know I was lost. I couldn't find
myself. It was as though you had cut the line that connected me to
my body. Thank you for repairing me.
She
got up a little wobbly and walked to Bernie's side.

I'm so sorry.
I pleaded at her to understand how sorry I
was.

The fault is mine. I
underestimated you. Something a seer should never do. We will need
to work on your defense, but you last very well under my attack.
Your own attack was a marvel. I know I'm well and everything is
fine, but I'm shaken at your gift. I would like to continue this
tomorrow. Once we've tested everything, I'll train you some and
suggest to the school what should be done for your classes. I don't
think a beginning mental attack class would do you well. Perhaps an
advance one on one class. Hmm. I shall think on this. But I must
rest some to regain my inner strength.
And
with that Betty actually disappeared.

It wasn't your fault,
Emma.
Bernie told me as he came to my side
to comfort me.

It was. I did that. I shook
up Betty to the point where I broke her. You don't understand that
I knew she was broken. I could feel it!
I
cried.

Bernie took me in his arms
and whispered to me how it was all okay, Betty was fine, and it was
only a test. I knew he was right, but I had a hard time letting go
of what I was capable of, it frightened me.
How can I even exist and be able to cause such damage? I
thought I was chosen to fix things not make them worse.
I cried.

When I awoke, I felt utterly drained and
wished my eyes didn't feel like bricks. Bernard was in my room,
asleep in a small cot he must have materialized. He looked as tired
as I felt. I went and took a nice hot shower. I smelled food as I
got dressed in black linens that were by my bed when I got up. The
smell was delicious and drew me out of the bathroom quickly. Betty
stood holding a plate and beckoned me forward. My hunger didn't
erase the memories from the day before, I looked down at my
feet.

Oh, come on, Child. I'm
fine. I think it was more of my ego being hurt by being bested by a
child. Now come and eat. You will get over things as you discover
more about yourself today. Remember, you're supposed to be learning
about WHO YOU ARE here! Now eat.
She sat
the plate down on the table and walked out of the room.

The bacon was crisp, but
not burnt. The omelette was cheesy and full of ham, potatoes, and
various veggies.
Delicious.
I ate a small side of hash browns. And to finish
everything off I drank orange juice laced with blood. I felt
completely rejuvenated. I fixed Bernie a plate and took it to him
on a tray.

I woke him when I walked in. His eyes looked
at me with concern. I handed him the tray, smiled, and left the
room. I didn't want anymore reminders of yesterday.

Betty wasn't in the training room. I walked
through the entire house and didn't find her. When I went outside
the front door, I found her sitting on a floor cushion with a low
table in front of her. She gestured toward the velvety black
cushion opposite her. I sat as gracefully as I could, but still
managed to thump at the end. If it bothered her refined senses, she
didn't say.

Today, we test your seer
abilities. If they're anything near your mental capabilities, I can
only see one future for you- and it looks brighter each
moment.
Her smile was genuine, which
caused some of my deeper fears to relax.

So where do we
start?
I smiled at her.

Tell me what this card
is?
In her outstretched hand was a simple
playing card, the back was facing me.

Surely, we're going to
start with actually seeing something.
I
whined at her.

No, we begin here. This
takes as much focus as looking into the future, it's all about
looking for the right thing. There are two ways to do this: one,
you can take the information you need directly from my head- I'll
not give it easily, and I'm positive you could take if it you truly
wanted.
She grimaced slightly, but
regained her composure.
The second way is
to manipulate your vision to see in the direction you want. Allow
your mind to trace back to the moment I took the card from the deck
and see the card. Or check the future to when I reveal the card to
you.
She looked at me
expectingly.

I took a deep breath. I was
not sure about bending time and space with my thoughts only. I
decided that looking forward would be easier than looking back. I
focused my thoughts on the card and what the future held for it. I
saw the card being placed face up. It was a red card, hearts or
diamonds. I thought about what the shapes were,
hearts
. Then I followed the pattern,
counting out the number-
one, two, three,
four, five, six, seven. Seven.
It was the
seven of hearts.
How the heck can I see
this?
And then it was gone.

So, Child, do you know the
card that I hold?
Her smug face drew on my
patience.

“It's the seven of hearts.”
I smiled and took the card from her limp fingers.

I turned it around very slowly, and placed
it face up on the table. The small red symbols stared happily up at
the sky.

Very good. Now to the next
test. Perhaps a little mind reading.
Her
disappointment in my quick abilities seemed to take on a darkness
to them. I figured this test would be hard.

Bernard!
She huffed out and he appeared
instantly.

How may I assist,
Milady?
He actually bowed to her. I wasn't
sure where the formality came in, perhaps in the way she summoned
him.

I want you to think of
something very secret. Something you'd never want anyone to find
out. Then I want you to lock it away in your mind- the way I showed
you before. Then Emma will try to figure it out.
She looked at me and nodded.

Sounds good. Just let me
know when you're ready, Bernie.
I beamed
at him.

Concentration broke out
across his face, covering it in a light sheen of sweat. Whatever he
was thinking about, it was clear that he didn't want it to be
known. His face went lax very suddenly, and then he smiled.
I'm ready, Emma.

Okay.
I wasn't sure how to begin this. I sent my normal probe out
to his mind. I felt for his vampire thoughts floating on the edge.
I grasped onto one as quickly and as hard as I could. My foothold
was strong. I did a quick mental search through his most recent
thoughts. It occurred to me that this was similar to a computer. If
I wanted to know something about the previous use of the computer,
I could search the data files. Here, I decided that I could run a
search on his memories. It seemed like a good start.

I focused my energy to find
something recently hidden. Flashes passed into my thoughts. Nothing
of use. Suddenly I felt it. It pulsed with the dark, lust of a
secret wanting to be known. Bernie had hidden it well, but the
problem with secrets is that they don't want to be hidden. It
pulled me in with its black waves of sensuous thoughts.
Do I want to know this?
A part of me knew that I certainly didn't want to know. Its
pulsing tendrils licked at my thoughts as desirous as smooth sweet
chocolate. I could feel the creamy sensation of knowledge wanting
to be known. I couldn't resist.

I reached out and touched the darkness. And
I was enveloped.

Soft ivory flesh stood out against black
satin sheets. The contrast was startling- white against black. The
body was clearly female. Her back was turned toward me. The shadows
of the room played with the curves of her back. She was lean and
toned in places. Her hair was fanned out behind her, creating a
curtain of black waves. A hand rested on her hip, the nails painted
a deep blood red. She was still youthful, but that meant nothing in
the world of vampires.

A sound moved my vision to a man standing in
the corner. He was chained and stood wearing only sheer black
pants. His hands were chained above him, his face- Bernard's face-
was a mask of pure delight. But desire flashed dangerously behind
his eyes. He tugged slightly on the chains- something he could've
easily broken with his strength or made them vanish with his
gifts.

A slight laughter caused me to turn my head
once more. The woman was staring at him. Pleasure spread across her
face. She held the key to his chains in her hands. It swayed back
and forth with the gentle swish of her wrist. She cocked an eyebrow
and with a confident smirk dared him to get it. I heard the clink
as the chains broke. He was on her in seconds. He purred at her.
And then he bit her. The only problem was that the woman in the bed
was... me.

I pulled out of the thought
with a start.
Did I just see that?
I felt a little dirty to having stepped into
someone's guarded wants. Even more so when they involved me. I
looked at Bernard, and he turned crimson and cast his eyes
down.

Ah, so she was able to see
what you hid.
Betty was both pleased and
annoyed- something I wasn't sure about.

Betty, what's wrong?
I wanted to know what I had done.

You've done nothing, Emma.
In fact, you're the most gifted mind user I've ever encountered.
Let's test your seeing skills. Just briefly.
Her eyes dimmed and faded to a cloudy gray.
Ah, that will do quite well. Now, I want you to
look into the future of your beloved Dominic. What can you
see?

I merely nodded. I thought of Italy, Bella
Notte and the beautiful cave that connected me all to Dominic. And
then I thought of him. I felt more emotions than I saw images-
worry, happiness, regret, forgiveness, and then a grief that
shocked me back into the moment and out of my thoughts.

What does it mean?
I asked instantly.

What did you see?
Her smile was constant.

Nothing. I only felt. The
last thought I got was all grief. Like someone died.
I gulped for air.

You tried to see too much.
The images come when searching for moments- not an entire lifetime.
You felt what he'll feel from this moment on- should things stay on
this course. But courses change, so things are not set.
Betty's smile was gentle with
understanding.