Branded (The Branded Series) (23 page)

“Well, I
really like her, if that's what you mean.”

“Yeah, I could
tell that much. What do you think she thinks about you?” I asked.

“I really
don't know. I mean, she's really friendly to me, but she's really friendly to
Claudia too. So I can't be sure.” Noah pelted a stone as hard as he could out
into the lake. “We did talk a bit yesterday though, during the commotion about your
mind movement stuff.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I was
waiting for you by the door when you were still inside with Sam. Nick had run
to get James and that other healer guy, and the word was spreading fast about
you. Rachel ran over to me and asked what had happened. So I told her and she
got really quiet. It looked like she was trying to make sense of something.”
Noah paused as he bent down and scooped up another handful of stones. “Anyway,
it looked like a good opportunity to give her a hug, so I did.”

I laughed.
“You hugged her?”

“What?” Noah
asked. “She looked vulnerable and almost upset. It seemed like the right thing
to do.”

“What'd she
do?” I asked. “Hit you?”

“No, she
hugged back. Then she told me it felt good in my arms.” Noah smiled and turned
a little flush.

“Well, that's
good. Was it awkward or anything?”

“Big time. I
just wanted to pull her face up and kiss her and never let her go, but you know
how it is . . . she'd think I was a freak or something,” Noah laughed.

“Ya think?”

We both laughed
and then sat still for a few minutes as the warmth of the sun became distinct.
Then I said, “I wonder why she got all weird about my mind movement?”

“I don't know.
She did mumble something about her vision or something. I wasn't really paying
attention. I was just relishing the fact that I was holding her in my arms. She
smelled so good, dude.”

“Well, I hope
it works out for you guys,” I said.

“Me too.”

“So how did
your language classes go yesterday?” I asked in an effort to change the subject
and spare me more pain.

“Really good,
actually. We worked on listening to as many different languages as we could.
Then we had a test on translating. It was kind of challenging. I messed up a
couple of little things, actually. Well, my teacher didn't seem to think they
were little. Apparently you can misinterpret one word and the whole meaning of
the sentence goes from being a death threat to something really funny. So I'll
have to work on that a bit.”

“Sounds like you
got it under control.” I smiled.

“Yup. And how
about you? How did your healing class go?”

“Great. Really
fun.” I scanned the perimeter of the lake in search for the loons who could
still be heard.

We let the
conversation die as we sat back and enjoyed the peaceful setting around us.
Birds chirped, fish began making appearances above water every now and then and
the sun was peeking up over the top of the trees across the lake. I wished that
Anna was here.

Noah suddenly
sat up. “I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you. Did you know Claudia can
read minds?”

“Really? Why
didn't you tell me this? That's big, isn't it?”

“Yeah, she
told us last night at the campfire. I think you were in the bathroom or something.
She can't do long distances yet. She's working on expanding her reach, but
right now, she has to be within five feet of someone to hear their thoughts,”
Noah said.

“Man, I didn't
know that. That's pretty cool. Can Nick do it too?”

“No, and
apparently it's a touchy subject with them because she can read Nick's thoughts
and he can't read hers. Apparently some people gifted with Discernment can do
it, but not everyone. Probably similar to mind movement.”

“Neat.” I
started thinking back to anything I might have thought when I was close to
Claudia. I hoped nothing too embarrassing.

“Yeah, I thought
it was pretty cool,” Noah said as he stood up and stretched. “It's almost seven
o’clock. What's the schedule look like for today, do you know?”

“I don't
know,” I said as I dug through my pockets for the schedule. I reached into my
sweater and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Here it is. Just one sec.” I
opened the paper and instantly felt faint. It was Anna's copycat drawings for
me. My eyes immediately went to the words 'Always and forever . . . 'till death
do us part.'

“Do you have
it?” Noah asked confused.

“No. I thought
I did.” I quickly folded the paper and put it back in my pocket.

“You look like
you just saw a ghost. What was that?” Noah reached for my pocket.

I dodged his
reach. “Not important. I don't have the schedule, do you?”

Noah gave me a
distrusting look and then said, “No, I don't. But I think breakfast is at
eight, and then it’s free time until, like, eleven when we go to the graduation
ceremony. Then we get our tattoos. That's going to hurt, dude.” Noah shuddered.

“Wimp,” I
said.

“You'd be the
same way if you couldn't heal yourself all the time,” he said.

“Yeah, maybe.
But probably not.” I smiled as we started walking back down the path toward the
camp.

“Well, that
was fun. I'm glad I dragged my butt out of bed,” Noah said.

“Yeah, it was
good.”

We went back
, cleaned up
and met the others at the mess hall at eight o’clock for breakfast. People seemed
chattier this morning as the weekend was coming to an end. I had to admit that
I was going to miss the place. I never felt so powerful. So sure. So purposeful.

I filled my
tray with eggs, bacon and toast and was heading back to our table when I
spotted Matthias standing off to the side, looking somewhat distracted. I
detoured and made my way over to him.

“Good morning,
Matthias,” I said as I approached him.

Matthias
quickly looked up at me and stared blankly for a few seconds as if he was trying
to catch his bearings. “Oh, hi Jacob . . . Uh, sorry, I was just thinking about
something.”

“Is everything
okay?” I was hesitant and unsure. Although my heartbeat was quickening, time
seemed to stand still as I waited for his answer.

“I just got
off the phone actually,” Matthias said as he held up his cell phone. “It was
the hospital. They just got Becca’s results back. There's been no change.”

Matthias' face
was old and worn. I felt completely responsible and defeated at the same time.
This was huge! This changed everything. Was I not able to heal the incurable?
How was I supposed to be great when all I could do was heal cuts and breaks?

My arms turned
to stone, which I only realized when my food slid off my plate and onto the
floor in front of me. I jumped back and tried to keep my composure.

“I'm sorry,
Jacob. It's all my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you into something so big,”
Matthias apologized.

“But we can
try again! We'll go back today. I want to. Maybe it was because I didn't have
enough time. I can figure this out, Matthias. We'll heal her.” I was
persistent. This little girl meant so much to Matthias and he had lost too much
already. He had already felt enough pain for one lifetime.

“Yeah, maybe.
We'll see. It was probably too soon. Your gift is still young. I'm sorry, Jacob.
It really was far-fetched and unfair of me to put you in that situation.”
Matthias lowered his head and walked away. “Healers are hard to come by. I was
just reaching.”

Slowly, I
knelt down and picked up the remnants of my breakfast. I salvaged a carton of
milk, but the rest went in the compost bin. My mind was racing, thinking back
to everything I had done with the little girl, and anything I could have done
differently. My heart was beating louder and louder. When I finally looked
around, no one was left in the mess hall. I left the hall, running into Nick
and Noah on the other side of the doors. They didn’t say anything to me. We
just walked together in silence. They seemed to know. Maybe they did. Maybe
Claudia told them.

The graduation
ceremony
was held on the soccer field. A large stage was set up at one end with blue and
white streamers and balloons decorating the stage and podium. Blue chairs were
set up on the field and most people were already seated.

“Over here!”
Claudia called as we approached the field. She flagged us over to sit with her
and Rachel near the front.

Nick greeted
Claudia with a kiss and I instinctively turned away. I didn't need to be reminded
of how much I missed Anna. I noticed Claudia pull away and whisper something to
him about "later,” which reminded me of her mind-reading capabilities.
Crap! She read my mind. I felt like an idiot. She giggled.

“All right,
cut it out,” I said to her with a grin.

“Sorry, I
can't control it yet,” she giggled.

I took a seat
next to Nick. Noah sat down on the other side next to Rachel. I noticed Rachel
gave him a flirtatious smile, which was not unusual for Rachel, but I wondered,
for Noah’s sake, if there was more to it than that.

Claudia leaned
over to me and whispered, “Yeah, she thinks he's cute.”

I pretended to
be offended and gasped, “You shouldn't be doing that.”

She laughed
innocently. “What? It's for the good of mankind, isn't it?”

I wasn't
overly comfortable sitting close to Claudia, but I guess she was used to
reading people's candid thoughts, so she shouldn't be surprised by anything I
thought. I knew she could hear what I was thinking so I thought, in a joking manner,
Keep my thoughts to yourself, got it?
She threw me a quick, devilish
grin. Just like Anna would have.

I caught sight
of Matthias out of the corner of my eye and my smile immediately vanished from
my face as I remembered my failure. It bothered me that I didn't know what I
had done wrong. I did everything exactly the way I thought I should. And most
of all, I really believed I was healing her. Now that I had doubt in my head,
how was I going to one hundred percent believe anything the next time I had to
do something? I was always going to doubt myself now, which would put me back
at square one.

Claudia leaned
across Nick again and whispered, “Don't beat yourself up about it. These things
happen. One day you'll be great enough to do anything.”

I thought,
Will
I? Or am I not cut out for this after all?

She whispered
back, “Patience, young one.”

I smiled and
tried not to think anymore. I was starting to feel a little violated. I'm sure
she heard that too because she didn't say anything else about my random
thoughts after that.

The rest of
the campers took their seats. The ceremony was scheduled to begin any minute. I
looked around the crowd and spotted Sam, James and Matthias huddled near the
back, discussing something seemingly serious. I wondered if it could have
anything to do with my failed healing attempt yesterday. Did I disappoint Sam
and James too? Then Matthias held up a finger and reached into his pocket for
his cell phone. He immediately stepped back and answered his phone. James and
Sam both watched him closely. Matthias closed his eyes and slowly shut his
phone, holding it to his mouth. Sam reached out and wrapped her arms around
him. James lowered his head into his hands.

My heart sank.
That must have been the dreaded call. The call Matthias never wanted to hear.
His little Becca Jean was gone to heaven. I watched through blurry eyes as
Matthias walked away from Sam and James and up the hill into the mess hall. I
couldn't help but feel completely responsible.

A few more
minutes passed and James appeared on stage to welcome everyone and make a few
remarks and jokes about the weekend. I tuned out most of his introduction as my
thoughts were with Matthias. Would this give him more strength, or bring him
down? Would he be able to heal his own heart, or could I do it for him? James
had said something that first night about an experienced healer being able to
heal minds and spirits. Maybe I could do that for Matthias? Who was I kidding?
I wasn't even able to heal a body yesterday, much less a mind or spirit.

By the time I
put my attention back on James, he was well into a monologue that seemed
important.

“. . . which
is why we have the closing ceremony at this hour, when the sun is at its
highest and most powerful. Gifted Ones receive their strength from the sun. We
are most powerful in the light. The Defiers are most powerful in darkness.”
James paused and took a sip of water. “Now, you have all been given the
opportunity to consider whether you are willing to commit to this lifestyle.
For those that are, when I call your name, please proceed to the stage where
you will sign the covenant. Once you have signed, you will then be branded with
the mark of the Gifted Ones.” James paused again, this time to pick up an instrument
on a table, which resembled a microscope similar to that used in biology class.
“This instrument will be used to collect the sun’s powerful rays and burn the
mark of the Gifted Ones onto your wrist. Once you are branded, you may go take
your seat.”