Blank, p.14
Blank, page 14
part #1 of Lincoln Delabar Series
“I can hear your voice. Are you talking to me in my head?”
“Yes.”
“It’s just like I imagined it. How are you doing it?”
“I can do it all the time with people I connect with. This time is different though. I haven’t connected with you but I can still let you hear me. I guess I learn new things about myself all the time.”
It was hard to keep up the energy. This was different than if I had let her open to me. I let my hand fall away from her face and she pulled hers away, embarrassed.
I tried to let her hear me again, but the connection was now severed. I typed.
“I guess it only works if I’m touching you.”
“You said it works all the time if we are connected.”
“Yes.”
“I want it to be that way. How?”
“Are you sure? It can’t be undone once we’re one.”
She nodded slowly.
I knew in my heart that she probably wasn’t really ready for it, but I wanted to be close to her. I reached for her hand and took it in my own.
She hesitated for a second. “Does it hurt?”
I shook my head.
I put her hand to my face and she touched me with her fingertips. I opened to her and we both began to tremble. I held her hand steady as she gasped and the colors of her life spilled into me like a wave washing over us. It was so strong that I held my breath. She opened her eyes and started to cry.
“Oh my God. I can feel you,” she said.
She put her other hand to my face and leaned in and kissed the bare skin there. The softness of her warm lips was something I had never felt before and it brought a tingling feeling where they caressed me. She pulled away smiling.
“That’s never happened before,” I said.
“Is that a good thing?”
I nodded.
“I don’t know why I did that. It was like I couldn’t stop myself.”
“It’s okay. I kind of liked it.”
She giggled and stared at me harder. Then she pulled back.
“Oh my God. I can see your face. I can see it.”
“I don’t have one.”
“I can see your blue aura and over the skin there is a face. It’s faint, but it’s there.”
She smiled as her eyes twinkled.
I was in shock.
I didn’t know what to think of this and it made me a little scared. I’d never been able to imagine how I might look and now I was scared to see.
“You’re kinda cute,” she said, still amazed. She reached up to touch my face again. “That’s really cool. It’s like you’re almost a ghost.”
“Can I see?”
She nodded, understanding what I meant to do because she saw it in my mind. I touched her face and let the tingling take over. What I saw made me gasp.
The aura around me was deep blue. A color that started almost purple at the edges and darkened as it moved inward. Her ocean description was pretty close and if I ever got to see the real thing this is what I would imagine it looked like. At my head, a ghostly face peered back at me with large round eyes that had pupils a light green. A small smile spread over the lips and teeth. My eyes shone of their own light within the aura and I shivered at the sight.
“You’re eyes are really cool,” she said. “Do you see them?”
I nodded, the strength starting to leave me as the energy it took to keep the vision open grew weaker. I dropped my hand from her face and slumped there next to her. I was panting. Sadie came up and licked my face, whimpering.
“Are you okay?” Avril asked.
“Just so tired. It takes so much energy to do that. I couldn’t hold it open any more.”
She took a breath in and looked down at Pepper in her lap. Then her head snapped up and her mouth fell open.
“She just talked to me. She wants to come home with me. What is happening?”
“They’re connected to me and that means that you are connected to them too as long as I’m around. I’m like a radio antenna or something.”
She started to laugh as Pepper licked her face, the image in the puppy’s mind one of simple trust and loyalty. Avril’s aura shimmered again brightly as the wonder of all she was taking in filled her mind.
The weakness was leaving me slowly and I stood, holding out my hand to help her up. She took it and stood, putting Pepper down to sniff at her feet.
“I have to go in soon, but I wanted to walk you home.”
“Okay. It’s not far. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I’ll tell my mom as we walk past my house. She’ll hear me.”
We started down the street and the dogs followed, running here and there and inspecting all there was to see. As we got to my house, Sadie woofed and Hawkins and Jayne went to her. Pepper paused, came over and sniffed Sadie’s face and then went back to Avril. They were saying their goodbyes and it hurt to see. Pepper would be back to see them, but the puppy in her wanted to know more about the world. She looked up and Avril picked her up.
“It’ll be okay, girl,” she said. “We’ll come back to see them tomorrow and every day. I promise.”
Pepper licked her face and she put her back down. I told mom I’d be right back and she came to the door to see Avril. She said nothing, but smiled as she watched us walk away. I’m sure I’d have to tell her all about it when I got back.
As we walked, Avril asked lots of questions about my past. Kaylin, Mom, Dad, Joey, Tuck, and Sadie. She could see most of it, but still wanted to know more. I kept thinking of my face, and what I had seen and she smiled at me, knowing that my wonder at seeing my real self overshadowed everything else. Well, almost everything else. She was here next to me and that was pretty cool.
“It’s strange that you can see auras in everyone else, but not yourself. What happens when you look in the mirror?” she asked.
“I don’t see a thing. There are no vibrations in the glass so it’s like an empty space in front of me.”
“That has got to be so weird.”
“I never thought about it before. It’s just always been that way for me.”
“Will I be able to see the colors in people when you’re not around?”
“I’m not sure. You’ll have to see.”
“I won’t be able to tell what Pepper’s thinking, will I?”
I shook my head. “You’ll be able to figure it out. You’re so good with her.”
She shrugged. “I guess. It’s just that it’s pretty cool to hear her.”
“If you listen the right way, you’ll always hear her. You’ll see.”
“You’re so different than all the others. I wish I had known you before.”
“You’re my friend now. You’ll always be connected to me. Always a part of me. I’ll never go away.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
“That’s scary,” she said, but smiled.
“I know. Sometimes I’m not sure I can handle it, but so far, everyone I’ve let in I still want in. I’m sure you’ll always be special to me. There’s something about you, and even now, I’m still not sure what that is.”
“I’m just me.”
“And I’m just me.”
We were at her house and we stood there, an awkward silence between us. She picked Pepper up and looked at me.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
I walked away and waited for her to fade from my senses. I slowed, knowing it was coming, but wanting to put it off for as long as I could. I didn’t know why, but I wanted her there all the time.
I could feel her slipping away and I turned.
She was watching me from her porch and she waved. I waved back, slowly. She put Pepper down and opened the door to her house, disappearing inside as an emptiness settled over me that I couldn’t quite get past. I took one step back toward her house and then stopped. I’d see her tomorrow. No. I’d feel her tomorrow. And that would be good.
Turning away, I started home, a smile on the ghost of a face that I could still picture in my mind. The green eyes staring back at me and the pink hue of her showing me the way. I concentrated on that image.
At least until Andy Prindel stepped in front of me and said, “Where you going, lover boy?”
A stupid grin covered his face and I backed up a step. Rodney had snuck behind me and blocked the way.
“Happy about making the football team?” Andy asked.
I didn’t move. His color was pitch black and it scared me.
“Too bad you won’t be playing,” he said as the bat he was holding behind his leg came out into view.
It came up and swung at my head. I ducked, but too late.
The sound it made as it struck my skull echoed in my head and followed me into the darkness, the world spinning out of control. The last thing I remember was Avril screaming in the distance. She was shrieking ‘No! No! No!’ and all I wanted was to help her escape from whatever frightened her. It wouldn’t be until after that I would learn she was screaming for me.
The world went dark, matching Andy’s horrible aura, and I dreamt of pain.
Lots of pain.
Chapter 5
Where Did Everybody Go?
I awoke to blackness. Not darkness or dimness. Total blackout. I could see nothing.
I didn’t know where I was or what was happening and my heart started to pound in my chest as the panic spread through me. Then, I realized I could hear sounds and though I didn’t know what they were, hearing something made me feel better.
Someone touched my arm and I flinched.
“You’re awake,” a female voice said. I didn’t recognize it, and the fact that I was totally blind only made the voice seem even more foreign.
“Do you have any pain?” the voice asked and I shook my head. I felt heavy; weighted down and sluggish, but nothing on me hurt.
“Your mother, sister and uncle stepped out for a bite to eat, but they will be back in a little while. I know you can’t talk, but I’m Lisa. I’m taking care of you today.”
Taking care of me? Where the hell was I and what the hell happened? I shrugged my shoulders since I didn’t know any other way to communicate. I had no idea where my pocket computer was.
“You don’t care?” Lisa asked. I could hear a little hurt in her voice.
I shook my head and lifted my hand to make a writing motion. My arm wouldn’t bend and it felt heavy. I reached over with my other hand and it was then I realized my right arm was in a cast. Now I really began to get anxious.
“Be careful,” Lisa said. “I’m sure you’re still pretty sore.”
My head was fuzzy and I couldn’t think straight. I touched my left hand to my face and felt bandages across it and wrapped around my head.
“Don’t pull on those. We don’t want them to come off yet.”
What the heck was going on? I couldn’t remember anything and had no idea what day or even what time it was. How old was I? Where was I? Who the heck was Lisa?
I made a writing motion with my left hand.
“What, honey?” Lisa said.
Her voice was starting to irritate me and I felt as if her syrupy sweetness was settling into my head.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me, sugar.”
I breathed air in and out through my nostrils, frustrated, and made the motion with my hand again, trying my best to mimic holding a pencil.
“Do you have to pee?”
I shook my head vigorously and it felt as if my brain was sloshing around inside my skull. Her voice and the motion were starting to make me sick to my stomach.
“A pen? Do you want to write something?”
I nodded thickly, dropping my hand to my lap and sighing. My stomach did a flip and I felt bile rising in my throat. I didn’t want to throw up. I remembered all too well what happened last time I got sick. I fought it down and the feeling passed.
She pressed a pencil and a notepad into my hand and I tried my best to write something, but I was not left handed and I couldn’t see. I showed her.
“What happened? Is that what you’re asking?”
I nodded.
“You were attacked. They beat you with a stick or bat or something. You have fractures to your skull and your right arm. Lots of contusions too.”
“How long?” I wrote.
“How long were you out?”
I nodded again.
“Five days. We were starting to get worried. Lots of activity in that head of yours but you remained unconscious until now.”
I heard my mom’s voice talking to Joey and then they were in the room. A wave of relief washed over me and then, as I realized that I couldn’t feel them, couldn’t see their thoughts, couldn’t talk to them in my head, the nausea returned instantly and panic spilled over. I vomited all over the front of me.
* * *
“I don’t know why the telepathy is no longer working, Linc. The doctors know nothing,” my mom said.
They had cleaned me up and given me something in my I.V. for nausea, but it was making me sleepy. Mom had brought my pocket computer and I was typing on it the best I could.
“I can’t see,” I wrote. “I’m totally blind.”
“Oh Linc. I don’t know what’s going on. The blows to your head must have messed up something in there.”
“I can’t be like this, Mom. I can’t. This is horrible.”
“You’ll learn,” she said. “You learned to deal with what you didn’t have before.”
“This is different. I CAN’T SEE!”
My mom started to cry and if I could, I would have joined her. Instead, a pain deep in my chest felt as if it would burst out of me and I squeezed the sheets so hard in my hand it hurt.
Someone else entered the room and a male voice said, “Well, look who’s awake.”
“Dr. Moore,” my mom said and I could tell she had gotten up. “He says he can’t see.”
“Well, yes. He does not have eyes. Is he confused?”
“No,” she said. “He had a kind of vision before. Like sonar they told us. He sees vibrations. Now—nothing.”
“Vibrations? That is quite unusual. I’ve never heard of that before. Not in humans.”
He seemed more interested in me as a lab rat than really trying to understand that everything was wrong. I was broken. And I wanted to be fixed.
“He’s different,” Mom said. “He’s always been different. He has telepathy too, but he says it is no longer working.”
“Telepathy? Real telepathy?”
“Yes.”
“Like what? Could he figure out a word you were thinking or guess how many fingers you were holding behind your back?”
“No. Not like some cheesy magic show, Doc,” Joey said, an edge to his voice. “The real thing. He could read and see all of your thoughts.”
“That’s amazing. I’ve never run across a case like this at all. And now he is not able to telepath at all?”
“Yes, that’s right,” my mother said.
“It could just be a symptom of his fractures and concussion. He still has some swelling of the brain and contusions of the tissue deep inside. It’s not unusual for victims of this kind of trauma to experience memory loss and other maladies. We’ll have to see if his abilities return once the swelling has completely gone.”
I typed. “How long?”
“Ten days. Two weeks or so. I would think that things should improve by then, but you have to stay off your feet and take it easy.”
I nodded. That strange sloshing feeling in my head came back and it made me feel queasy.
“Your arm, though, will take longer and you’ll have to have more surgery. The radial bone was practically shattered and it will require a rod and some screws. I’ll be honest. It may not return to normal function again. We’ll be utilizing lots of physical therapy, of course, and if you stick with it and push yourself, I would expect it to regain seventy percent of its normal function.”
“But it’s the arm I throw with,” I typed.
The doctor read what I typed. “I’m sorry. A break like this, you’re lucky we didn’t have to amputate the arm below the elbow.”
I swallowed hard at that thought and moved my arm a bit in the cast. Pain flared just below the elbow and I took a quick breath in.
“I’ll have the nurse get you something for that pain,” Dr. Moore said and I heard him leave.
I felt someone touch my hand just below the cast and I knew it was Kaylin.
“Linc,” she said. “Who did this to you?”
I didn’t know. I couldn’t remember anything after football tryouts. Everything was a blank.
“I don’t know,” I typed. “I can’t remember.”
“The police have been by every day to take a statement,” Joey said. “We’ve had to put them off. No one saw a thing.”
“The police?” I asked.
“Yes, honey,” Mom said. “They found you over on Avril’s street. A nice man, Mr. Hanlon, called an ambulance after he heard Avril screaming over you in the street.”
Avril? The girl from school? What was I doing over on her street?
A faint wailing surfaced in my head and then floated away as I tried to concentrate on it. It sounded like a girl’s voice.
“She’s been coming every day,” Kaylin said. “I think she likes you. She’s been very worried.”
“I don’t remember,” I typed.
“Not anything?” Mom asked.
I shook my head. I was breathing fast, concentrating so hard that the nausea was returning.
“It’s okay,” Mom said. “It will come back to you. Don’t get yourself all upset over it.”
“Yeah,” Joey said. “You rest now. Just get your strength back. There’ll be time for all that later.”
I nodded, glad to have them all here. I couldn’t help but think that this all had something to do with Avril, but it wouldn’t come. I put my head back on the pillow and tried not to think about it.
Lisa, the nurse, came in and fiddled with something to the left of me as she talked to Mom.
“I’ve got something for his pain,” she said. “It will probably put him to sleep.”
