Psychic

I straight-out laughed in her face. Victoria was so startled that she almost fell off of the chair. Her face was so confused and shocked that it made me laugh even more.

Magnus had already told me about working for Hawthorne, it wasn’t like I didn’t know. I also knew that he wasn’t ever going to turn me in to Hawthorne, so Victoria’s information wasn’t as valuable as she thought.

“Didn’t you get the dreams?” she asked tentatively.

“Yeah.”

“Then you know who he’s working for and what he’s been ordered to do. Olivia, he’s getting close to you so he can take you to Hawthorne. Who knows what will happen once he gets a hold of you? I sent those dreams as a warning, did you not get that?”

“Oh, I got that,” I said, “but we’ve already sorted that all out. Magnus doesn’t want to turn me in to Hawthorne. In fact, he even told me that there was another one of his agents at the school, the one who originally alerted Hawthorne to my being here. He’s the reason why I haven’t been taken yet, Victoria, he doesn’t want to turn me in.”

She gave me a cold hard stare. “Has he told you who the other agent is?”

“Well, no, but-“

“Then ask him. See if your precious little friend will be so keen as to protect you then.”

I was shocked at myself for never asking. I just assumed that the other agent was just a substitute at the school or something, someone that had seen me do something with information that I shouldn’t have had, but the way Victoria was talking, it was like she knew him.

“Why? Who is the other agent?” I asked hurriedly.

Victoria tsked. “Haven’t you at least figured out what his connection is to the other agent? I mean – even with just the information from the dreams you could’ve figured it out. I’m surprised you haven’t by now.”

She was wrong. I had figured it out, but it was a little too unreal to believe. Magnus had mentioned him before, but he’d never said outright that he was the other agent. I remembered how mad Magnus got at Hawthorne when he mentioned him. It was like Magnus knew that they were on the same mission.

“It’s his brother, isn’t it? The other agent.”

Victoria smiled slyly, reminding me of a snake. “Congratulation’s, you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

It made perfect sense. Why Magnus was so resentful of him, why Hawthorne used him to taunt Magnus. Magnus’s brother was the other agent, the one who first alerted Hawthorne that I might possibly be here, in Chesnutt Falls of all places.

But another questioned remained. Who was Magnus’s brother? Did I know him?

“Do I know him?” I asked, trying to keep a leveled voice.

“How am I supposed to know?” she scoffed. “I’ve only been out in the open for less than twelve hours. I haven’t had any time to study every student at your school.”

“How’d you know where I live?” I asked suddenly. She obviously didn’t follow me home, for that she would’ve had to risk being close to the school, where there were at least two of Hawthorn’s agents waiting to capture her again. So, how’d she find me?

“We’re psychics, Olivia. We all have a connection. If you know the right brain waves to grab, you can find anyone. All I had to do was fish in peoples’ brains until I found someone who knew you and I kept going from there.”

I nodded, but the broad reach of her powers – of mine – still escaped me. How was it even possible what we could do? And all those things that she could do, could I do them too?

“How do you do it?” I asked. “How can you control someone? How can you even just walk into a square full of people without hearing all of their voices yelling and screaming at you? How did you not go crazy when saw those images and fantasies? How can you live knowing that no one will ever be able to keep a secret from you? That you’ll always know if that special someone didn’t mean it when he said ‘I love you’? How do you do that?”

I felt like my chest was constricting on itself. All the feelings that I’d ever felt about being what I was suddenly came out at once.

My whole life I had always been alone. No one really understood where I was coming from, not really. My ‘gift’ always made me feel isolated from others. The world was so cruel when you knew the truth, and I hated living like that.

Victoria, despite the fact that I couldn’t and shouldn’t be able to trust her, was just like me. She was a psychic. She knew most of all about what I was going through because she had lived through it herself. Victoria, in all of her malevolence, was the only person I could relate to about who I was.

She stayed silent for a minute before looking up at me. I could tell from her expression that she was being totally bare and honest in the next words she said.

“I grew up in a society that helped me understand. Even though people knew what I was and stayed away from me because of it, they still taught me what to do. I never felt strange or abnormal with other magical creatures because even though my burden was harder, we were all in the same boat.

“But you don’t have that. In your world, people don’t take kindly to things that aren’t normal. With mortals, everyone wants to be the same. No one takes kindly to people who are different. It’s why Hunters do what they do. They think that there is something bad about being a little different. That there’s something dangerous about you even if you haven’t done anything yet.

“And even thought I didn’t grow up outside of the reaches of the magical community like you did, I know what it feels like to not fit in. Even if I wasn’t totally shunned, I know what it feels like for people to shy away from you because of something you can’t control. We’ve both heard their thoughts and we both know what they think about us.

“But I’m here now, Olivia. I may be some wicked villain in your eyes, but I sincerely want to help. I can teach you things that will help. I can teach you a more efficient way of keeping everyone’s thoughts out of your head. I can teach you control and power. I can make sure that you never feel estranged from society ever again. I can help you.” Victoria urged.

And even though she was a villain. And even though I was probably out of my mind. I said the most plausible thing in my head.

“Okay.”

The next day at school, I got there early. Bella was in dance practice and there was still thirty minutes until school started. So, I went to the library.

What Victoria had told me the night before was still fresh in my mind. About who I was, and what I could really do with the powers I was given. I felt strangely calm with this information. I felt . . . normal.

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could blend in. I now knew for sure about why I could read minds, about why I could do the strange things that I did. I read minds so that I could control others, and I didn’t even feel the slightest bit upset over that.

My whole life I’d felt like an outcast, and now that I knew that I could make someone else feel that pain, even for a second, I felt better.

I snapped out of my thoughts. What was I thinking? I wasn’t evil. I couldn’t use these powers to do that, could I? Wouldn’t controlling people be a bad thing? Isn’t that why people were afraid of psychics in the first place?

I looked up and saw that Magnus had entered the library, a relieved expression across his face.

“Thank god, you’re alright.” He sighed, sliding into the seat next to me. “I was worried about you all night. If Victoria had found you, there’s no telling what she would’ve done.”

I nodded, not exactly agreeing with him or disagreeing. Victoria had found me, but I was still aright, so I didn’t find any reason to tell him that he was wrong.

“I was fine, there was no reason to worry about me. I can take care of myself.” I assured him.

“Well, at least you had an uneventful night.” – I didn’t correct him – “While I was stuck on patrol duty for Hawthorne. He’s seemed to have lost Victoria completely. Apparently the magical bounds that kept her powerless were sabotaged. It seems that someone in his inner circle is working against him. But whys strike now instead of ten years ago when she was first captured is a mystery to me.”

There was only one reason that I could think of and it was me. I was almost sixteen, and I was about to do something that would change the magical community forever. Now would be the perfect time for her to break out.

“Yeah, me too.” I say.

I had no reason to keep Victoria coming to my house from him, but I felt like I should. Victoria was a psychic, the only other one. I felt like it was my responsibility to protect her.

The librarian suddenly told us to quiet down, even though I’m sure we were using our inside voices. I immediately dug into her head and delved into her thoughts.

Stupid kids. Why can’t they read like the other educated ones? They are so rowdy.

My vision went dark and suddenly Mrs. Lynch grabbed her head in pain. I released my hold on her mind and it stopped. My eyes went wide in fear, had I just caused that?

“Hey, are you okay, Liv? You look scared.”

I looked back at Magnus. He didn’t know what I just did. He didn’t know the full extent of what I could do, or at least he thought I didn’t. He didn’t know what I could become.

“Are you sure you didn’t see anything strange last night? Victoria could’ve been-“

“I’m fine.” I assured him. “I’m sure I didn’t see anything strange. She’s probably left the country or something. Who’s to say I’d even be the person she would try to find first when she broke out? If I where her, I’d run as far away as I could.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, concern practically dripping from his voice.

“Yes, I’m totally sure.”