SAVANTS

The Chapture 17

"Yes, there's a multiplier effect. Savant has a gift/strength, it's like an extra shift in the car, making us go a little faster and stronger than normal people."

"really. OKAY."

He rubbed his hands gently coiled around my knees, calming me down. "That means we can talk telepathically to each other. With people who don't have the savant gene, they will feel impressions, urges, not hear sounds. That's what I think of when I talk to you on the football field. I was quite surprised when you understood me, fascinated actually."

"Because?"

"Because that means you're also a Savant. And a savant can talk telepathically to his or her partner or another savant but when you talk telepathically with your partner for the first time, it's like you got all the lights on in a building. You lighted me up like Vegas."

"So that's it." I didn't want to believe any of this, but I remember hearing her voice telling me to float when I fell off the raft. But it must be a coincidence - I won't let it happen again.

He rested his head on my shoulder. I made a subtle move to retreat but she wrapped her hands around my nape, hugging me gently. "No. Haven't. There's more."

The warmth of her hands seeped in to relax my tense neck muscles. "I thought there might be."

"When is your birthday?" Ask her?

What is the likely relevance? "Nm ... 1 March why"

He shook his head. "That's not true."

"It was taken on my adoption day."

"Ah, I understand. That's why." He flicked his finger lightly over the curve of my shoulder then let his hand down to cover the hand I had held in my lap.

We stayed that way in silence for a while. I felt a shadow - a presence in my mind.

"Yes, it's me" he said. "I'm just checking."

I shook my head. "No, I'm imagining this."

He took a long breath. "I'm just checking the facts. I can't make a mistake about something like soul mates." She shifted, her feelings with me diminished, leaving me lonely. "I understand now. You came from a dark place, didn't you?"

What can I say to the question?

"You don't know who your real parents are?" Further.

"No" My nerves stiffened again, wrapped around me like maggots coming out of rotten apples.

He's been figuring it out too much. Letting someone new close to you know a lot about you can make you hurt - it has to stop.

"So, you never know that you're a savant and have power." Said.

"Well, that's because I don't have one. I'm an ordinary man. There's no power in here" I patted my head.

"Not that you found it. They were there. Sky, when a savant was born, his soul mate was also born at about the same time somewhere on earth. It could be a neighbor, or it could be thousands of miles away." He hooked his finger with mine. "You have half of our strength, I have the other half. Together we become perfect. Together we are much stronger."

I rolled my eyes. "It sounds sweet, a good fairy tale, but it can't be true."

"No Sky. Think, the chances of meeting your partner are very small. Most of us are destined to know there is something better out there but we cannot find it. My parents were two lucky people, they met each other thanks to a wise man from my father's family with the power to find. None of my siblings found their own partners and they are all still struggling to find them. Knowing a lot can be more than that . That's why I'm in a hurry. I was like a starving man facing a banquet."

"What happens if they never meet their soul mate?"

"it can be through many means - despair, anger, acceptance. It gets worse as time goes on. It hasn't really started to worry me. I'm so lucky to escape all that anxiety."

"It seems simple to me. Can't they run a smart matchmaking service on Facebook or something? Problem solved."

He smiled wryly. "It seems we haven't thought about that. But it's not just about your birthday, but when you're conceived, it gives you pretty much a nine-month variation. Think about how many people in the world are born the same on your birthday. Then factor in premature babies, which are late. You will be netting thousands. Savants were rare - there was only one out of every ten thousand or so. And not every savant lives in a country like ours with a computer at home. Or even speak the same language."

"Yes, I understand now" I replied.

He cupped my chin gently in his palm. "But all that's been missed, I found you. On the football field from all over the place. Sky Bright from Richmond, England.'

This is so weird. "What does all this mean?"

"means this is for us. For our lives."

"You kidding?"

He shook his head.

"Just a year?"

"The plan is so."

"Then what are you going to do? Back to England?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know. It depends on Sally and Simon. It's going to be difficult because I'm going to finish a year here and the course is completely different in England. I don't want to start over."

"Then we'll figure out a way to keep you here. Or I'll follow you to England."

"You're going with me?" I was well aware that his fingers were once again intertwined with mine.

I never imagined what it would be like to just hold hands with a boy. That's nice but a little scary at the same time.

"of course. I'm serious." He squeezed my fingers, took a better grip. "For him (my soul mate) not to run anymore"

"That means?"

He lifted one of my hands and put it in his jacket pocket. She kept her fingers locked around my fingers as she leaned beside me, looking at the same scene.

"I think you might be a little wary of me at first, until you get used to me. I'm the good one, not me the jerk"

"Wary?"

"werewolf, remember, you made me fall on the dark side. I saw it in your mind"

He knows about Wolfman? Kill me now, 'cause this is so embarrassing.

"No way, that's funny"

I groaned in humiliation.

She laughs. He enjoys my shame. "I know sometimes I'm kind of hard to talk to - like when we meet in a ghost town. I'm going through .. "he shook his head, "it's hard now. And sometimes, I just look a little"

Okay, I'll hear about the soulmate, but I can't ignore that he has the uncanny ability to read minds from my head. "You're not making this up, are you? You do anything?" I was thinking about the way he seemed to know what I was going to say before I said it.

"I do a lot of things." The sun set behind the horizon, the light of honey fading into old gold. "I want to do some things with you Sky, if you want. I was wrong for rushing to claim too soon that you were my soul mate - After all, we have the rest of our lives to fix it."

I swallowed spit. Tina warned me about this. What could be more alluring than a boy telling you he likes you.

That's what the bad guys always do to lure the poor in stories, right? But now I can't think of it, all I can think of is Zed, standing there looking so .. well.

He gently ran his free hand to my arm, connecting the fingers with my finger.

"You want a road?"

I smiled shyly. "We just did it"

"we checked the first box. Next we might go to a movie theater in Aspen, or risk having dinner at Wrickenridge and having everyone stare at us all night."

"Watching movies sounds good."

"With me?"

I look down. "I might take a risk. A one-time. But I still don't like you very much."

"OK I understand" He nodded solemnly but his eyes were smiling.

"And this soul mate thingI don't believe. Like a marriage arranged in a universe."

He grimaces. "We leave that aside for now. One step. Go out with me"

What the hell am I saying? I love this Zed, who carries flowers and kicks easy penalties so I can catch him, but I don't forget the angry and dangerous Wolfman. "Okay, I'll give you a chance."

He raised my finger to his mouth, bit him playfully, then let go. "Then we're dating."