Original Souls (A World Apart #1) (9 page)

"Corinth!" I yelled with a huge smile. "You've grown so much!" I could
n’
t help but shed a few tears. I lifted my now twelve-year-old son into the air and spun him around like a windmill. Corinth was always so short for his age, but his shape seemed a little more elongated as I hugged him tight. "This is the greatest day of my life," I said to him with a kid's joy in my voice.

But he didn't say anything back at first. Not a word. I put him down. Tried to give him a little breathing room, considering h
e’
s two years older than the ten year boy I hugged that horrid last night I saw him. He's old enough to carry himself, I suppose.He looked up into my eyes, squinted his own, and then asked a question . . . without moving his lips. I could finally hear that tender voice with the slight stutter again. It asked me
;“
wha
t’
s wrong with me, dad
?
” I looked up to Julia as I put my hands on Corinth's feeble shoulders. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that she was well aware of the situation.

When we got into the house, we told Corinth to wait for us in the living room. He sat there innocently watching cartoons on the flat screen. He loved that mouse and cat one. He laughed every time the cat got whacked in the head with the frying pan. I'm so glad to see him smiling and happy, but most of all safe. Julia really pulled it off.

She decided to start the dreaded conversation, since all I could do was stare at her blankly. "He's telepathic, Cris."

"I noticed," was all I could get out, because hearing her say that struck fear in my heart.

"Are you glad now that I made a move?" she asked arrogantly.

I couldn't let that one slide. She really had her priorities out of order. "You being right isn't what's important, Corinth's health and safety are the only things that should matter."

"I know," she put her head down and grabbed her glass of iced-tea. She took a steady sip and glanced back up to me. "At least we're no longer blind to the facts," she conceded.

"You're right," I admitted, "h
e’
s got a lot of grief ahead of him though
.
” I hung my head low, trying to block out the stories I've heard of psychics driving themselves insane
.“
I can't believe we never saw the signs."

"Were there any signs?" she asked rhetorically. "He never gave off any vibes. He's-such a sweet boy, and magik just is
n’
t his strong suit. In fact, he has always seemed so. . ." hesitating to say what we both knew.

So I said it for her. "Weak."

"Yeah," her shoulders sunk. "He-never seemed like he'd be interested or able to do anything big with magik." And sh
e’
d know best. She tried to teach him, despite the law. Even put him on the roof
.‘
A little fear never hurt anyon
e
’ she always said. I thought I was supposed to be the hard one, but Julia did
n’
t pitfall into stereotypes easily. She did what she could to make sure her son knew the wonders of magik. But he never got too far, even with his mad mothe
r’
s zealous encouragement.

"Well, that's the problem with the restriction on magik in Draconia," I said angrily. I was starting to come down a little from this whole situation. One surprise after another, and all this for power over the masses. Just senseless anarchy it seems.

"Wow
,
” she appeared genuinely stunned
,“
I'm a bit surprised to hear you speak like that, Criston."

"Yeah," I started a little softer, "you wouldn't believe what's happen to me since you left me in that hospital bathroom."

She looked down for a second, then brought her head back up to reveal a sly little smile creeping from one side of her mouth to the other. I couldn't believe she was having fun with the thought that I looked like a fool, because of how proactive she was. I loved her more than ever in this moment. The fact that she could manage to have a sense of humor under these stressed circumstances showed how loving a woman she really is. I was scared and restless, but she was ready to sit down and just be a family again. If only for a little while. Even though I gave her no help in all this, she still wanted me around. She's so strong anyway, I'm not surprised that a hick-up or two couldn't shake her love for the family we've built.

So, instead of talking about the ever-looming fears making their way through both our minds, we decided to take up with Corinth on the couch and watch that cat chase that poor mouse all over creation. We all fell asleep huddled together. Finally back on the same team.

<*>

Corinth and I woke up to the smell of food. Bacon, to be more exact. I loved bacon, but Cory, he's obsessed with it. It's definitely in his top five favorite foods. Julia knew how to make him feel like he was home. I was extremely hungry too. I hadn't eaten since I was in the hospital.

I need to put something in my stomach, but I'm so taken by Corinth. He's here with us, no trouble in sight. Just the thought of it is so refreshing. How could I ruin this by trying to take him back? That thought seemed ridiculously selfish. I couldn't rip him from this perfect situation.

We ventured from the living room couch toward the kitchen. We sat down and dug in.

He ate so fast. I knew I couldn't just jump right back into parent mode with him. It would be counterproductive, so I let him have his meal the way he wanted it. He loves milk, so Julia poured a glass for him while he scooped up eggs with his hand and shoveled them into his mouth. He looked rather frail so it's good he's packing it in like that. His skin was tanned to the T. His green shirt move up and down as he stood up on his chair in the kitchen and sat back down after he retrieved whatever random item he wanted from the far end of the table. He had grown indeed, but he was a bit of a shrimp compared to most boys his age.

Whether it was the pepper, the syrup, or ketchup, he just stood up like an animal on its hind legs to get it. He bent over the table using one hand to support his weight while he reached. I loved seeing it. I missed seeing it. He's never had great table manners. Julia says i
t’
s because I don't have any table manners, but I think he's his own little man. He's old enough now to decide for himself how to take in a meal. I could see his tan line as the shirt moved up and down his arm, adjusting itself as needed. He had a few noticeable cuts and bruises between the sun exposed dark tan skin, and light creamy tan skin around the shirt's short sleeves.

He was certainly a perfect mix between every feature I had and his mothe
r’
s. Her light olive and my dark brown skin tone-made up his perfect complexion. Despite the light scarring, I was wholly surprised that he's in such great condition. Not just physically, but mentally too. He just seemed happy and in tune with his surroundings. Not in a suspicious way either, just really well adjusted and back into the natural flow of things. But he was concerned. That I knew because he could
n’
t stop telling me so in my head. His turquoise colored eyes shimmered as the sun light came in through the kitchen window in front of the stove, where Jules stood.

She's gazing at Cory just as intently as I am. I suppose she's reminiscing as well, and calculating the damage that's been done. His dark black hair draped over his forehead, partly covering his eyes. His pink lips cracked open into a smirk as he noticed me watching him. He looked up at me and flashed the biggest smile I've ever seen from him. I smiled back and touched the top of his head and tossed his hair around some. His hair is slightly longer in the front than the back. It's a nice cut. He put it back the way it was after my hand left his head. He must have liked it as well. I suppose Julia did it before I got here. His hair was much less kept, shaggy and longer when I saw him back in that abandoned factory. It was mangy too when we were at the hospital. I did
n’
t see him much at the hospital, but then too I lost myself looking over his frame and that thick head of jet-black hair. Good thing Julia cleaned him up as she always did. He likely felt a lot more like himself after that.

"Cory," Julia called out, and then oddly paused. She looked to be trying to gather the right words. "How do you . . . feel?" she asked more with her hands than her mouth. Her voice cracked mid sentence. Now she scratched her head, looking for a better angle to start with.

"I feel great, why?" Corinth smiled as he spoke with an oddly adult tone.

"What do you mean ... why? I always want to know how you feel, honey," she said tentatively. I could see her mind working. She wanted to ask him those dreaded questions. What happened when they came for you? How were you treated? Did they hurt you? And any other possible scenario involving him needing support of any kind.

"I can feel yo
u’
re fear, dad," Corinth said to me abruptly.

It took me by surprise. His tone inferred that he knew exactly what I was feeling, but decided to give me the opportunity to say it for myself. Exactly how far did the reach of his new powers extend. Could he hear me thinking my thoughts?

"I can. But I'll stop if you don't want me to."

My jaw could have hit the floor. He spoke those words inside my mind, just like before. So effortlessly. This was getting weirder by the second. I've heard of telepathic people. The
y’
ve been sought after for all of time, but none of them could use the gift as easily as Corinth.

They could see some cryptic images of the future and maybe make good sense of the past. Things that no one could know unless they were present in that era. Some could even move semi-large things with their minds, even reject the use of a wand or llave, and simply cast spells with their mind as the conduit. But-their abilities had very specific limitations. They didn't just enter peopl
e’
s heads and do what they willed.

The picture was starting to shape up. It seems someone in the Gente Peligroso knew things about our son that we didn't. Julia and I had no idea of Corinth's ability to do these spectacular things. It was about that time now, we needed to get some information from our boy about his abduction and his abductor.

"Corinth, do you know anything about the people who took you?" I hesitantly asked him. He still wore that smile on his face, but it fell as I opened up this dialogue.

"No," he said flatly.

Julia moved closer, with a bewildered look on her face. "Cory, how is it possible that you don't know who they are?" My thoughts exactly Jules. "I mean, you've been speaking to your father and I in our minds all this morning and yesterday as well. You surely saw something notable in the past two years, honey?"

"I'm sorry, okay!" he shouted and put his head down on the table. His mood took a drastic turn in one immediate flashing instant.

"No, honey, don't be," Julia said quickly as she put her hand on his back and rubbed in some much needed comfort.

"I
t’
s just that ..." his head popped up, while his voice steadily stuttered. "I just woke up last week in that factory and
I
—”

"Wait!" I jumped up out of my seat in absolute shock. "What's the last thing you remember before you woke up at the factory?" I urgently asked.

"Well, you left my room after we ate our chocolates, and then it gets really fogging from there," he said through streaming tears.

I have to admit, I'm kind of glad to see him cry. For a second, I wondered if he still had human emotions. His tone had been somewhat robotic up until now. Julia looked up at me in question when Corinth brought up our chocolate indulgence, but thankfully, he continued with his explanation.

"You said goodnight, then you turned off the light and clicked on my night light. I started to fall asleep and I dreamt about some weird looking hooded man appearing in my room. He came in a blue and gray puff of smoke. It lit the room up brighter than my night light for a second. He stood over my bed for a little while, and just looked at me with his big scary blue eyes. They were even bluer than your eyes dad." He looked over to me with that little face, and I couldn't believe that he had to go through all of this. After a massive deep breath, he kept on with his recount of the events between now and then, in a much more timid tone. "So . . . I just put my head under the covers. Then like a minute later I pulled them back, to check if he'd went away. But instead of being in my room, I was in the factory staring dad in the eyes."