SAVANTS

The Chapture 37

Gator apologized as he tied my legs and left me sitting in the middle of an empty shed.

''Just do what I say and then this will be over, '' she said to me, slipping her hair behind my ears.

I shivered, despite wearing my ski suit. My body acted as if it was a fever trying to be eliminated.

Nothing feels right. The gator takes a position a few feet further back, sheltering behind a crate barrier. I could hear him checking the gun.

Is he here to defend me? I can't remember it. I'm not even sure who he is. What's wrong with me? My brain feels like cotton.

After the next few minutes, there was a sound of door friction at the end there. The sliding door retreated a few inches.

"This is us. We came alone as you asked.'' It was Xav Benedict. My enemy.

''What have you done to Sky? Is he okay?'' Brother, Zed. I know him, don't I? Of course, I know him. She's my girlfriend. He said he loved me.

He doesn't love you - he's just playing you. Those words floated in my brain, but I don't remember why I thought about them.

I shut up, pulled my knee to my chest.

'Sky? Please answer! I'm going crazy here. Tell me you're okay.'

Zed's voice was in my head, too. There's nowhere to hide. I couldn't help myself - I whimpered.

''Xav, that's it! He's wounded.'' He said he wanted to run towards me.

Xav. ''It's a trap, Zed. They must have done this as we agreed.''

They're not seen yet.

"Tell us what you want in exchange for Sky" Zed's voice was unstable.

None of this makes sense. I shot them already. Why are they here? Why do I have to relive that nightmare?

''Just go where I can see you and I will tell you, said Gator.

''The problem is, we are not stupid. You can tell us now " said Zed loudly.

''If you don't come out with your hands up, I'll shoot a bullet at your little girlfriend.''

This is not how things will happen. I got a gun in my hand and I'm gonna shoot both Benedict. I've seen it happen in my brain.

''Zed?'' My voice is thin, vibrating in the void of the warehouse.

"Die? wait for me, baby, we're gonna get you out of this.''

Wrong-all wrong. My memory feels like a comic strip with a ripped frame. Benedict's family has hurt me-yes it is. Locked me in the trunk of their car for hours.

''Go!'' I choked. I saw a movement at the end there, the tip of a person's finger as they rose from behind the container they were hiding behind. That was Zed.

My brain seemed to burst with conflicting emotions and images - hatred, love, laughter, torture. The colors in the warehouse change from flat to complex multi-colors.

His eyes were on me. ''Don't look at me like that, baby, I'm here now. Let me talk to the man who caught you and we'll set you free.''

He took a step closer.

How many of them are there? Did he put a gun on me? Zed's voice echoed in my head again.

I don't shoot people. The picture of my hand holding the gun flickered like a fluorescent light.

'What's wrong with you, Sky? I can see what you see. Your mind feels different towards me. Zed's voice echoed in my head.

''He has a gun, I said out loud. ''Gator, don't shoot anyone. I've killed them but they're not dead they just came back.''

''Calm down, Sky, '' said Gator from behind me. ''And you, come to a place where I can see you. I'm sure you'd rather I see you than see your little girlfriend get hit by a bullet"

Zed stepped. Inevitably I devoured him with my gaze, it felt as if he was alternating between two masks, one where he was kind and gentle, the other fierce and cruel. His face was vague and vague.

''Now your brother. I want you two where I can see you. Come a little closer to Sky. Don't you want to see what we've done to her?'' Gator scoffed.

I have to choose. Which one can I trust? The kind of Zed who is affectionate and in love or the cruel Zed.

Zed took two steps forward, his hand swinging steadily in the air. ''You don't want it. The Kelly family quarrel was with the Benedict family - not her. He has nothing to do with this.''

What am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to trust? "Sky has good instincts" . My mom used to say that, didn't she? Instinct. More than instinct. I can read people, know their mistakes, distinguish the good and the bad.

But I've buried it, it's been inside me under all the crap in my head since I was six. I locked it on purpose. But now I have to reach out to my strength.

I closed my eyes, feeling inside me to open the door that would release my power.

The power of my perception penetrated the roof. The sensation that flowed in the room was incredible. I see them as a stream of color. Red excitement and a little black fear from behind me, a golden glint of love and a green tinge of guilt from Zed.

Hemisphere/spirit pair.

That knowledge is there, rooted deep within me like DNA. How can I not see it? My body returned to the tone of Zed, the perfect match, perfect in harmony.

Then why does he feel guilty? I checked the green, Zed felt guilty because he let me be kidnapped and that I had suffered. He wanted her to sit there with blood on her face and her clothes in my place.

''Zed!'' I'm yelling. ''Downhill"

The gun exploded. Zed was already on the move, warned by his predictions. Second voice. There's another shooter-Halloran-on top, trying to shoot Xav near the door.

Instead of dodging for cover, Zed ran towards me. I was screaming - my mind was playing this version where he attacked me and I shot him. But my hand is empty. There's no gun.

'Code Red! Code Red!' Xav punches the message through telepathy and penetrates Halloran's shield with all the power he can muster, broadcasting on a wide channel to be heard by any telepathy.

Zed threw himself on me as I sat curled up, holding my knee. "Stay under me, Sky."

''Don't shoot!'' i'm begging. ''Please don't!''

I felt the aggression and determination of Gator to kill in a flood of red. Zed's back showed a clear target, his only doubt that the bullet might have penetrated and hit me as well.

''No!'' With a burst of strength caused by despair, I used my feet to push Zed. The bullet aimed at his back hit the ground between us, bouncing wildly as it was hit by concrete.

Then everything was like hell. Gunshots rang out, FBI agents barged through the door, shouting that they were FBI. Something about my right arm.

The pain penetrated me. Sirens and more screaming. Trooper. I curled up into a ball, sobbing.

In the confusion, someone crawled to my side and protected me. Zed. He swore a sigh, tears streaming down his face. He clamped his hand over the wound on my arm.

After several explosions of gun sounds, the voice fell silent. I sensed that two presences had disappeared from the room - Halloran and Gator. Did they escape?

''Call me a medic here!' shout Zed. ''Sky was shot"

I lay quietly, resisting the urge to scream. No, they didn't run away. They were killed in the crossfire, their energy was extinguished. Halloran and Gatot are dead.

A female police paramedic rushed to us.

''I'll handle it, '' he told Zed.

He released his grip on my arm, my blood on his hand. The medics tore my sleeve.

" it looks, just scratched. Maybe he got a bullet that missed "

"They're dead" I murmured.

Zed stroked my hair. ''Yes.''

''What happened to me?''

The medics looked up from her treatment of my arm. ''You got hit in the head too?'' He saw blood in my hair. ''When this happens.''

"I don't know.'' My eyes turned to Zed. "You locked me in the trunk of your car. Why did you do that to me?''

Zed looked surprised.

''No, I didn't do it, Sky. Is that what they did to you? My God, honey, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you"

"We'd better see if he had a blow to his head or not" medics said. "Keep talking to him." He signaled to carry a stretcher. Zed untied my leg.

"I shot you" I told him.

''No, you didn't do it, Sky. Those guys are shooting at us, remember?''

I surrendered. "I don't know what to think."

"Just think that you're safe now."

I have a picture of an orange-skinned man in a suit walking to the hospital to save me. Who her?

The two medics lifted me up on a stretcher. Zed continued to hold my unharmed hand as I was pushed out into the ambulance.

"I'm sorry I shot you" I told him. "But you attacked me."

Why did my soul mate attack me?

I could see another Benedict gathered around my palanquin. They're evil, right?

Zed wiped the blood off my cheek. "I didn't attack you and you didn't shoot me."

The last I saw of the entire Benedict family was Zed's father who looked frustrated when I was put in an ambulance. Zed tried to get in but I shook my head.

"I shot him" I said to the medics seriously. ''She can't come with me, she must hate me.''

''Sorry, '' said the woman to Zed. ''Your presence makes him uncomfortable, Where are his parents?''

"They're in a hotel off the Strip" Zed's father said. ''I'll tell them. Which hospital did you take him to?''

''The Cedar.''

''Okay, I'll stay away, let her calm down if you think that's best, '' said Zed reluctantly letting go of my hand. "Your father and mother will be there. You hear me, Sky?''

I didn't answer. As far as I can remember, one of us had to die. Maybe it was me. I closed my eyes, my mind was so overburdened that I had to be examined for a moment. Then I fainted again.