Everyone laughed again. Even Caleb beside me. I could feel him shake, and though I was slightly teasing, I was also dead serious.
“Caleb was right. You are fabulous.” I looked at him and he winked as she went on. “No, honey, no false alarms with imprints.”
“Ok. So, I’m not sure what it is I’m supposed to do. Or be. I mean, what happens to you after you imprint? Kyle said something about ascending and getting abilities. And if you don’t imprint you don’t ascend and you don’t get any abilities. That’s why this is such a big deal, right? Because no one is getting any of these...gifts?”
“Exactly,” Mr. Jacobson said.
Then I felt something. That little push I felt yesterday when Caleb was in my head. But this time, my mind didn’t welcome it. It didn’t hurt, but it was annoying and fuzzy. I felt my brow furrow and something zapped in somehow. There were images moving in rapid form and fashion, images of kicks and punches and techniques. My eyelids fluttered and I heard my breath come in and out quickly. Then it all of a sudden just stopped.
Everyone was staring at me expectantly. Caleb had one arm around me and the other holding my hand. I looked up to his face. He looked a little peeved actually, but waited for me to catch my breath.“You could’ve warned her,” Caleb growled to someone and then looked back at me. Finally he spoke softly, though I knew they all could hear. “What did you see?”
“I saw...um, karate?”
“Very good, Maggie.” Mr. Jacobson scooted to the edge of his chair and smiled at me. “I was teaching you basic karate actually.”
“I’m sorry?” I squeaked.
“That’s my gift or ability or power, whatever you want to call it. I can learn at an exponential rate. Then, I can help my family by teaching them anything I’ve learned that they need to know to protect them or help them do a task by sending those images to their mind. I learn just as quickly as you just did and I then teach you that quickly as well. You, for example, just learned basic beginner’s karate in less than ten seconds. I figured if I was going to teach you something, it may as well be something useful to you,” he said and smirked.
“You mean, I know karate? Like...real karate?” I made a wide motion with my hands to accentuate. “I don’t feel like I do. I don’t remember anything.”
“That’s because you haven’t used it yet. Right now it’s just an…imprint burned in your mind of my memory of how to do it. The first time you need it, it’ll fire your brain receptors and teach you along the way, but you’ll remember instantly how to do whatever your instincts think you need to at the time.”
“Ok.” I took a deep breath, taking it in. Trying not to frown or show discomfort at what he was telling me. “So, is that what everyone does? Is that everyone’s ability?”
“No. Everyone is different.”
“When will Caleb get his ability? And what will it be?”
“It usually doesn’t take long after the imprint. But as far as a what, we have no idea. He’ll show us when he’s fully ascended. And so will you.”
I looked up at him gaping. “Me? You mean I’m going to have some ability, too?”
“Absolutely.”
I thought of something and fiddled with the hem of my shirt. “This is what you meant by ‘easier for me’, that my parents aren’t involved, because not only do I have to stay in physical contact with Caleb or I go crazy, but because my family would be suspicious of my abilities pretty soon.”
“Yes.”
I was shocked to say the least. I pulled my hand free from Caleb, not meaning to upset him, but I just needed myself for a minute. I needed to feel whatever it was that he was shielding and taking from me with his touch.
Then it all rolled over me. Now, I was scared to death. I didn’t want to be a freak in their clan that everyone wanted to observe because I was so special. I didn’t want to be different or strange to my own world either. I didn’t know what I wanted.
My breathing began to be loud and erratic, my hands were shaking. I closed my eyes and steepled my hands in front of my face. I heard someone tell Caleb to help me, he said he was helping. He was letting me work through it. I was grateful that he seemed to know exactly what I needed, but it didn’t calm me down any.
I felt the tingling push of his mind in mine, checking to make sure I was all right. I knew he was listening to me, but I couldn’t stop the string of thoughts that followed.
Does this mean I’ll never have any privacy in my head? Caleb told me I’d learn to control it. Do I love him? Is that what this is? Would I have wanted him if we hadn’t imprinted? Yes, I knew I had, but would it have evolved into more? What would have happened if I hadn’t been at that light? What’s going to happen to me now?
Are we dating now? Do we just jump right into kissing and whatever else dating people do, because we know we’re soul mates? I had no idea how to proceed with him. I felt embarrassed and naïve all of a sudden. It was all too much, too fast. I heard a commotion in front of me, but I couldn’t break free from my panic.
Kyle.
“What are you doing? Don’t just sit there. Help her!”
“She pulled away from me. She needs to work through all this, Kyle. If she doesn’t do it now, she’ll do it tonight or tomorrow when I’m not with her and it’ll be a lot worse for her. She knows what she needs. I would never hurt her. ”
“Bull. You just want to act like you know her so well, now. You don’t know her. Just because you can get in her head and read her feelings doesn’t mean you know her.”
“I am in her mind and I’m going to do what’s best for her. Always. Go away, Kyle, if you can’t handle it. She’s my responsibility.”
“She was my friend before she was your responsibility!”
I heard shuffling and finally a booming voice, Kyle’s father, saying Kyle’s name and pushing Kyle’s voice further away.
I felt my hysteria dwindling. Finally dying down as I felt the push and pull of Caleb in my thoughts and mind and a steady pulse ran through my body. It was loud and a little bit fast, but steady. I realized what it was. Caleb’s heartbeat.
There was no denying it. As much as I was confused about all this, I was intrigued. As much as I was wary of how to proceed, I was excited at the prospect of being important to someone. As much as I was scared of what was to come, I was dependant and leaning on someone who had all the answers. His heartbeat pulsed in my veins. How could I deny that?
I felt him rub my arm soothingly and my mind instantly cleared at his touch. I opened my eyes and we were alone. Just us. His family gone.
He was watching me cautiously, waiting for my reaction. He squinted and looked guilty. His fingers came up to brush a tear away, barely brushing my skin. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. His guilt flooded me. He was worried that he let it go too far and he’d hurt me, that I was ready to bolt. He was worried that I didn’t want any part of this, any part of him.
I felt an ache to soothe him. My hand moved, almost on its own accord, to touch his cheek. “You didn’t hurt me.”
He looked surprised. “You did it. You can read me?”
“Yeah. I could last night, too.”
“Wow, Maggie,” he breathed as I dropped my hand back to my lap. “It usually takes a while to adjust, to have any control, especially humans.”
“I think we’ve established I’m not a normal human,” I joked.
“No, you’re not.” He smiled, but then sobered. “Maggie, I’m not expecting anything here. I mean, I know it’s awkward. It’s even awkward for Aces when they imprint with each other, to just wake up one day and have all these feelings for someone you didn’t have before. We’ll take it slow. You can set the pace, ok? I’m not gonna rush you into anything. I just want to...spend time with you and get to know you. Everything else will just fall into place when it’s the right time, all right?”I could have cried with relief. “That sounds perfect.”
“Are you ok?” He scooted closer so our legs were touching. “I know it’s a lot to take in. It must sound pretty crazy.”
“I’m...fine. I mean, I should be freaking out. This is crazy. I guess I would be if you weren’t here. But you are here. So it doesn’t matter I guess,” I said softly.
He smiled slowly and I gave in to the innate urge I’d had since I’d opened my eyes. I needed to touch him. I worried my bottom lip with my teeth, then timidly reached my arms around his neck to hug him. His arms went around my back and he sighed into my hair. One of his hands moved to hold the back of my head. His neck, where my face was pressed, smelled heavenly. The warmth I felt from his normal touch warmed even more. I felt so put together, so content. He was like a balm to every sore.
“Ahem,” an annoyed voice said, interrupting.
Kyle.
We pulled back reluctantly but Caleb was still holding my wrists. “What, Kyle?” he asked, looking at me.
“Just checking on Mags.”
“I’m fine,” I said, still not able to look away from Caleb yet either.
“Of course you are. You let everyone run all over you and lover boy here is no exception,” he said sarcastically.