“Um…what are you saying Mom? You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this a joke?” Maybe my ears were not transmitting sound properly to my brain because I couldn’t believe what I just heard.

“Trust me, I reacted the exact same way.” She smiled at my face, seeming hard pressed not to outright laugh at me.

“Seriously, tell me you’re not saying what I think you might be saying, because if you were truly saying what I heard, then I may want to have you both committed…somewhere.” I babbled, glancing back and forth between my parents while they shared a smile with each other. “Stop laughing this isn’t funny!” I could feel a panic attack coming on.

“I’m saying there’s something different about us Sasha, your dad and myself, and possibly you and Sean, although that’s not yet confirmed. Why you practically talk to one another without using any words at all – maybe you are reading each other’s minds too?”

“No way, that’s just a close brother-sister-twin type of thing Mom, I can’t hear his thoughts and he can’t hear mine.” Thank goodness, bullet dodged right there! No way do I want to hear what he’s thinking about all the time. Warily looking at Sean out of the corner of my eye as he watched Mom in consideration, I could tell he at least agreed with me on that part. “You can’t tell me you’re believing any of this telepathy stuff Sean. I mean you think I’m crazy for seeing words where there shouldn’t be any, but you believe Mom and Dad can communicate mind to mind?” Oh crud, I just blurted that out didn’t I? I thought. What was your first clue Sherlock? Shut up brain!

Dad stood up so quickly from the table he knocked over his chair. “What do you mean you saw words where there shouldn’t be any?” His mouth pulled into a frown. “Why didn’t you say something before now?”

“It just happened yesterday while we were running for our lives to Talina’s house.”  Oops, I blurted that one out too, why oh why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut?

This time it was Mom who jumped up out of her seat with a loud cry as Sean smacked his hand to his forehead in baffled astonishment.

“I don’t know how you seem to do it every time Sis, but you sure are amazingly bad at the whole keep your mouth closed thing.”

I cringed and muttered “Sorry Sean” as Mom came around the table faster than I would have thought possible.

“What happened, and I want the truth from the beginning!” Stress about her children did not make a mother happy, no matter their age. Sean explained how we ended up trying to outrun the darkness last night, how it was just bad luck and bad timing while Dad made her some tea to help calm her down. When she was breathing easier once again, I got us back on track of what she admitted before the whole spilling the beans problem I had.

“Ok, I want to know more about the mind reading Mom and Dad. Explain. Please,” I added with as much politeness as I could considering how crazy the entire thing sounded.

“Well with some experimenting, we have found that I’m a receiver, Dad is a sender and we have to be in sight of each other for it to work. I can’t send my thoughts to Dad, he doesn’t hear them like I do.” She sighed and watched Dad over her cup of earl gray tea.

“You might as well tell them everything my love.”

“Yes, they should know it all now, especially if Sasha is exhibiting signs of some type of ability.”

“You mean the telepathy isn’t all there is? What else could there be?” Confusion ran across Sean’s face.

“From contacts we both have at the government we found out there were others like us. It seems to be that the abilities run in pairs – two people – where each of them has part of an ability, and combined it becomes one whole piece. So Dad and I have one shared ability, telepathy. We have always believed that you and Sean would end up sharing an ability as well, we just don’t have any guesses on what it could be since there haven’t been any signs so far pointing in a specific direction. You say it isn’t telepathy, so you don’t hear or send thoughts out. Sasha what were you saying about seeing words just appear?”

As everyone turned towards me to hear more, I decided I needed to have some coffee if I was going to be in the hot seat again. Getting up to get the pot ready, I began.

“The first time I just thought the words must have always been there and I just hadn’t noticed. It didn’t seem like they were meant for me or anything like that, they were just words. But then, at Talina’s house yesterday, I had looked over to watch the news on the television and when the screen turned snowy from bad reception I could see letters in it that suddenly became words. Then I remembered how it felt like the words on the poster tacked to the telephone pole I was running past had arranged themselves in front of my eyes. It made everything more credible when I realized what the words were saying because they matched each other.”

By this time, the coffee pot had enough brewed in it to pour a cup, so I waited until I was finished doctoring my coffee the way I liked it then turned around back to the table to see that everyone was hung up on my story and anxiously awaiting the rest of it.

Eyebrows lifted in humor I sat back down and continued. “The words that kept showing themselves to me were ‘Help us protectors’. Anyone have any ideas about what that means?” General surprise was the consensus all around the table and at first no one spoke.

“Hmmm. So you are seeing words appear out of nothing. Maybe your ability is to get messages from other people?” Mom said while we agreed in consideration, no one knowing yet how that statement was the truth and yet so vastly wrong.

A bell tone ringing in the distance distracted all of us from our inner musings. Mom and Dad left the room to check it, while Sean and I cleaned up the dishes off the table. “I don’t understand how you could accept all of this so blindly Sean, I just can’t get over the whole mind reading thing.”

“Why didn’t you ask them to do a demonstration for you?” Sean laughed at the face I made to that suggestion. “Ok then, sometimes you just have to take things on faith, right? Besides, I think I can top what they said, and what you’ve been experiencing.”

That got my complete attention like nothing else could. “What do you mean you can top it?”

His face became serious as he turned towards me. “I didn’t say anything because, well, we all know you’re the crazy one, and I didn’t want to take that distinction away from you or anything. Ow! I’m going to have a bruise there now.”

“Then don’t be rude to your sister!” I stuck my tongue out at him and had the satisfaction of a job well done when his face relaxed from my distraction before he continued.

“When you were seeing words appear before your eyes, I was seeing outlines of images. Crisp, clear cut eyes peering at me, and I mean they were staring right at me Sasha. I had the feeling they wanted me to know something, but I couldn’t tell if they were talking. I didn’t see a face, just eyes. It was such a weird thing to see I blew it off, figured it was my lack of sleep, or the craziness of the way the world is today that was the root cause but I don’t know now Sis, I think maybe I wasn’t seeing things wrong after all. Maybe what you saw and what I saw were connected in some way shape or form?” His earnestness was going a long way in convincing me to rethink all of this ability stuff that has been shoved in my face today. How can I not believe it with everything else that’s been going on, although right now my brain felt like it was on overload and was going to shut down soon.

“Maybe so Sean, if you can believe me about seeing words, I can certainly believe you about seeing images. Let’s just see if anything else happens, it’s not like we can figure anything out right this second, and we have things we have to do today before night hits.” Am I really switching the topic to Drake? Sheesh feeling a little desperate Sasha? Shut up brain!

“You’re right, let’s go find Dad and get the details of what he wanted from us.”

Walking out of the kitchen to track down our parents, we swung an arm each around the other, grins on our faces. My brother and I so in sync we didn’t need to say the words, but we both knew how much love we had for the other. No, we didn’t have to say it but we both did, and at the same time, because in this uncertain world, you don’t leave anything unsaid anymore.

“I love you Sean.”

“I love you Sasha.”

Just then a force kept us rooted in place, there in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at each other with grins on our faces but panic beginning to build in our eyes. We couldn’t move no matter how hard we tried, we were both frozen solid. Mom and Dad came into view in my peripheral vision just as I started feeling strange and woozy, everything around me hazing and swirling, the colors melding into each other like some macabre abstract painting. Just as I thought I was going to be sick to my stomach, I closed my eyes for a moment and….

I opened my eyes to a dark and stormy night.

Well, it certainly seemed that way at least. I glanced around in confusion at my vastly unfamiliar surroundings.

Dark clouds up above….check.

Strong gusts of winds blowing my hair into my face….check.

Lightning streaking across the dark clouds off in the distance….check.

Yes, dark and stormy it was, although it was too cloudy to determine whether it was actually nighttime. And we were outdoors, yes most definitely outdoors rather than in the house like we were just a moment ago. It certainly looked like we just simply outside somewhere, but in a more wildly wooded area rather than a cultivated one. Sorry Sasha, I got nothing….shut up brain, you’re not helping!

Where were the everyday sounds of the night? It was so silent here. Why couldn’t I hear the wind blowing through the leaves on the trees, or the thunder that must be accompanying the distant lightning? Of course, those thoughts didn’t top the more burning questions of Where am I, and, How did I end up here? Even though I needed to find the answers to those questions, I thought back to the last thing I could remember. Sean and I were hugging and, oh wait! Where’s Sean? I looked around a little panicky for him and noticed him just a little ways away from where I stood. He was looking around with confusion visible on his face as he tried to get his bearings, much like I had just done. I took a step towards him and suddenly the sounds of the world around us came back to life and things started to come into focus better. I could hear thunder and wind. In fact, those noises took away anything else that tried to make itself heard – like Sean talking to me, so I went closer to hear what he was saying.

“How did….where are….I can’t….What is going on?!” He was finally able to complete a question, his voice becoming increasingly frantic the more he tried to spit out the words. Sean panicking before me…that’s new. I grabbed his arms to center his attention on me and told him “Deep breath in.” He wasn’t listening, just kept rambling so I repeated myself after shaking his arms a little. “Take a deep breath in now Sean.”

He sucked in a noisy breath and held it. And held it longer, and even longer, until finally I shook his arms again “Let it out you fool, you’re turning blue!”

A shot of air burst from his mouth, and his face went back to his normal skin tone as he kept up the deep breathing in and out, until he was able to speak calmly again.

“So are you seeing what I see all around us, or am I delusional?”

As tempted as I was to just tell him he was crazy and everything was fine I skipped that sibling pleasure this time and validated his question. “Well if you’re crazy then it’s contagious.” He seemed confused by that remark so I clarified “Yes Sean, I am seeing what you are seeing, I am feeling the wind, hearing the thunder, and I am standing outside somewhere with you when just a few minutes ago we were safe at home. Do I know what’s going on? No. Not a clue at the moment. But at least we are here together, and we will figure this out together, as long as neither one of us panics again. Agreed?”

He was nodding before I was finished speaking, in complete agreement with me. “Yes, you’re right. I’ll try not to do that again.”

“It’s ok Sean, that’s what big sisters are for after all.”

“Sasha! 4 minutes older doesn’t make you the big sister.” He reiterated. If I had a quarter for every time he said that, I’d be rich now, I thought.

“Hey, you have to take what you can get!” I laughed at his expression as I looked once more around us and relaxed my fingers from his arms. “Ok, so let’s try to figure out what’s going on. What is the last thing you remember before all this happened?” I raised my hands palms up and spread my fingers, indicating everything in sight.

“You and I were leaving the kitchen, gave each other a hug, then I couldn’t move. I could see Mom and Dad, they stared at us looking horrified. I don’t know what they saw, but next thing I know here we are…wherever here is. I wonder what they are going to think about all of this, they must be so worried now.”

A huge clap of thunder hit just as the clouds opened up and poured down on us, soaking through our clothes in moments.

Speaking loudly to compensate for the extra noise, I said “We have to find somewhere to go, we can’t keep standing here like this.”

As we turned around the large clearing we were in to see which direction we should go, both of us pointed at the same time towards the same area – a slightly darker patch of something on the horizon that might indicate shelter. Sean grabbed my arm as I started off in that direction “Wait, do you think it’s safe?”

“It might at least get us out of the rain long enough to decide what to do next.” I replied.

A sensible idea if I did think so myself, we both began the trek in the deluge of rain towards the area we sighted on. Walking through the field we couldn’t see properly was hazardous. Everything went fine to begin with, but it didn’t take long before the ground became slippery and slick with mud, so much so that we had to slow down considerably to watch our footing better. The ground itself changed from simply a cleared out area, to a treacherous pathway where our left was rapidly becoming a fast moving river from the collected rainwater, and to our right a possibly steep cliffside with an unknown drop size.

I yelled over to Sean “Be careful where you put your feet, one wrong move and” as I was speaking, Sean glanced over at me, stepped down on a patch of grass that gave way underneath his foot, and down he went. I quickly reacted and tried to grab a hold of his arm, but ended up down, sliding face first after him towards the water which had become a small river.

Next Chapter: Endless Forest Trails and Sarcasm Don’t Mix