A Diamond in My Pocket (9 page)

We approached the falls getting
pelted with mist as the water hit the rocks. A little way up the side of the
hill I recognized an opening in the rocks. I decided not to point it out to the
guys; they hated me enough already. If one of them spotted the cave then they
could be the hero. Unfortunately for me, neither of them found the cave, so I
said, “Hey, is that an opening up there?” I pointed trying to sound innocent.

“I’ll go take a look,” Chris ran up
the hill quickly and entered the gap.

“You don’t have to be like that,” Justin
turned to me sizzling with indignation.

“Like what?”

“Little miss know-it-all.”

“Do you know how long I’ve been
staring at the cave opening waiting for one of you to see it? It’s not my fault
you’re both blind. I only spoke up because we are losing daylight.”

“You are the lowest on the totem
pole, muck; your arrogance only makes you look more stupid.”

If he only knew exactly how low on
the totem pole I really was; being a muck would be a step up.

Chris rejoined us, “Good job,
Calli, the cave is big enough for everyone. Justin, go tell the others to start
gathering firewood.”

Justin rolled his eyes and left.

“Come check it out. I’m so relieved
you thought of this or else we would have been in big trouble.” He almost had a
smile or some kind of pleasant expression on his face while looking at me. Unbelievable!

“Wait, can I talk to you a moment?”
I asked him.

He turned and faced me.

“Would you give Justin the credit
of finding the cave, not me?”

“Justin? Why?”

“He and I are not … well, he
doesn’t …” I was having trouble expressing myself. How should I tell Chris that
Justin was a jackass and hated every fiber of my being, even more than Chris
did? As I tried to formulate my thoughts, I stared into his bottomless blue
eyes. That’s when it happened. I entered his mind.

Chapter 5

A Traitor Among Us

Chris’s anger toward Justin sat on
the edge of his mind, along with the frustration of knowing Justin was a faster
Runner than him. I glimpsed the deep level of Chris’s insecurities and
self-loathing. He truly didn’t feel “worthy” to be the fastest, but continued
to hold the title as a form of penitence for past mistakes, and to keep Justin
out of the lead position. I also experienced some of his feelings for me, such
as the way his body buzzed when he looked at me, held my hand, or was close
enough to take in the flowery aroma of my hair.
Whoa!

I yanked my eyes away from his, my
heart racing, and tried to recall what we had been talking about. “The last
thing I want is everyone else thinking I’m trying to step on your toes. You
know, I’m the new muck and all,” I backed away from him, “Look, it doesn’t
matter to me if you take the credit or if Justin does; I just don’t want this
on me, alright?”

“I’ll figure something out. Go
check out the cave,” he turned away and headed to the others and I instantly
lost connection to his mind.

Mind reading is
nothing
like
what I thought it would be! I’ve always wanted to read minds, constantly wished
I could tell if someone was lying or being deceitful, but this … this was
completely different. Chris’s perception and emotional dilemmas coursed through
my body and my brain recounted his thoughts like an instant replay at a
football game. I witnessed the personal race against Justin where Chris lost;
but Chris threatened Justin with something unknown to me in order to keep him
quiet and stay in the number two spot.

When I beheld Chris’s memories of
me, I was astounded to discover exactly what he saw; I glowed. I mean that
literally, because through his eyes, I glow. He can detect my iridescent aura. Beth
had mentioned something about it on my first day, but I didn’t understand her
at the time. As I finished the race last, his heart rate increased. He realized
before I did we would be part of the trio on this delivery. I felt my hand in
his as we ran through the forest after I’d received the diamond from the witch,
the softness of my skin, and the excitation which flooded through him when I
smiled.

And all this time I thought he
hated my guts!

His memories of yesterday morning
in Mrs. Winter’s office came to my mind. A powerful Seer had shown him his
future and destined love, who was a Healer … me! Yet, when he looked at me
sitting on the couch with my hand extended, he knew in his heart something was
wrong. The girl in his vision had been older and definitely possessed the
healing ability. Mrs. Winter had said no person holds more than one cosmic
power. Of course, I hold no powers or abilities anyway, so Chris’s vision of me
being a Healer is moot; so much for that particular Seer’s powers. Chris’s confusion
upon seeing me at the compound made sense now. My presence in Mrs. Winter’s
office had turned his reality upside down; he had his own paradigm shift.

I shook my head as if I could empty
the memories from Chris’s mind; naturally, I couldn’t, and headed to the cave. As
I approached the entrance, the other Runners were also arriving with gathered firewood.
It took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the darkness, but we soon realized
the cave opened up into a larger chamber with a freshwater spring coming out of
the back wall.

Beth ran over and caught some in
her hand. “Sweet!”

Cave dweller type drawings adorned
the walls and on the ground a couple of rock circles indicated where fires had
once been. I wandered toward the front of the cave to where the backside of the
waterfall flowed by. I stood and let my thoughts fall away like the water in front
of me. Ohio and my past life seemed so far away. What kind of craziness had
brought me into this magical world?

The echoing voices of everyone
continuing to enter and exit the cave with firewood comforted me. I twisted
around to find Chris watching me nearby. I tried not to make eye contact with
him because I didn’t want to be thrown into his mind again.

“Oh, Chris, you startled me,”
more
than you know.
I turned my attentions back to the waterfall, “I was just
checking this out.”

“Thanks again for saving me,
Calli.”

“What are you talking about? I
didn’t save you,” I stared straight ahead wishing he would go back to appearing
like he hated my guts. My mind knew differently now, and even the tone of his
voice revealed his feelings for me.

“My thoughts were on … other things
instead of where we needed to get to tonight. I didn’t realize how far off
course we were and the possible dangers I’d exposed our team to, all because I
couldn’t control my mind.”

“I know the feeling. You don’t need
to thank me though, I’m the muck, remember? I’ll go help gather firewood,” I
turned to walk past him, but he blocked my way.

“Calli, I’ll do better with
controlling my mind from here on out. That way, you won’t become distracted
with it too.”

“What do you mean?” I asked breathlessly
only half-way meeting his gaze. My heart raced, yet again, because of his
nearness and what he was implying.

“Look at me, Calli,” he placed his
hands on my shoulders to command my attention. Hesitantly, I brought my eyes up
to his, “Not everyone can tell when their mind is being read, but I can. I also
know how to block my thoughts, but I wasn’t aware I needed to do that with
you.”

“I’m sorry.” Tears flooded in and I
cast my eyes to the ground. I felt so guilty for some reason, like I didn’t
have the right to invade his privacy, like I’d been caught committing a crime.

He shook me ever so slightly to
bring my gaze back up to his. “Are you a Runner or a Mind Reader? ‘Cause you
can’t be both.”

I pulled away from his grasp and walked
over to the falling water. I knew I couldn’t tell him the actual truth, so I
danced around it. “This whole world is new to me, so much that I’m still
reeling with confusion.” I wiped my tears. “We’re on our way to meet with
people who can kill others with their thoughts and I’m scared. I looked into
your eyes; eyes I thought were filled with disgust, and found otherwise. I don’t
understand why this is happening. I didn’t mean to read your mind.”

“Calli, you did more than simply
read my thoughts, you delved into my memories. Only a few Mind Readers can get
that far into a brain and the process usually takes several hours and years of
practice on the Mind Reader’s part. I know most of what you saw. Please don’t
be frightened by what the Seer showed me about you—about us.”

“Frightened? Confused would be a
better word.” I continued to stare at the water.

“I’m confused too. You being a
Runner did not fit into the vision, and you should be older. Calli, please try
to understand what I’m feeling here. I’ve always thought that visions of the
future couldn’t be fabricated, yet here you stand in front of me, a complete
contradiction to the vision I was shown. It’s as if the vision was a huge
deception or something. When I saw you in Mrs. Winter’s office, I couldn’t
believe my eyes. But my amazement turned so quickly against me when I found out
you were a Runner, not a Healer. Try to imagine my confusion now that I know
you can also read minds.” I heard his footsteps as he moved closer to me. His
voice quieted as he said, “Calli, I cannot have you looking into my mind.”

I turned around and faced him. I
looked deep into his eyes for understanding, for peace. “Well, I’m looking at
you now and am not seeing anything. Maybe it went away.”

“No, I’m blocking you. You’ll learn
how to block your mind too; it’s not hard and comes in handy when you’re around
Mind Readers.”

I continued to peer up into his
eyes testing his mind barrier, looking for his thoughts. His expression
softened and his head tilted slightly as he gazed into my eyes with the same
intensity as mine. I observed the reflection of the falling water in his eyes,
the length of his lashes, the thickness of his eyebrows the straightness of his
nose, and … the way he was going to die.

“No!” I yelled as if any difference
would be made to the vision I’d just had.

“Calli, what is it?” He clutched my
shoulders again. I pushed at his chest and got him to release me only to
stumble backward toward the drop-off. He grabbed me quickly and pulled me into his
arms, “What did you see? Did you get into my mind?”

The strength of his embrace calmed
me and I felt my body relax into him. I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to
speak, but more than anything, I didn’t want the future I’d just seen to
ever
come true.
I felt his strong hands caress my back and shoulders in an
effort to comfort me and get me to talk. “I think I just saw your future,” I
whispered.

“Well,” he let go of me and stepped
back, “Of all the stars above and below, what can’t you do? So, what happens to
me?” He was amazed, scared and confused even more than before.

Yeah, this is what I didn’t want
to happen.
“What does it matter? I’ll make sure it doesn’t.” I wiped my
freshly watered eyes, “The future isn’t set, the visions are four weeks out, so
I have time to make changes to ensure this doesn’t come true. Right?”

“Do I die?” he asked. I tried to
step around him only to be blocked by his massive frame. “Answer me! What did
you see? Please, Calli, tell me.”

“I’ll change it.”

“No, Calli, that’s not allowed.
Everyone dies, don’t try to stop it.”

He didn’t know what I’d just seen.
He could never know! I tried to get around him once again, but when he stopped
me I pushed his chest with all my effort and yelled, “You will not die because
of me!”

He stepped aside as I stormed past
him and out where everyone stood frozen in their shoes. Several were holding
firewood in their arms.
Well, this is just great! They probably overheard
what I yelled at Chris.
I threw my hands up and stormed out of the cave. I
ran down the path to the edge of the stream, far away from the waterfall. I
made a mental note of the position of the sun so I wouldn’t be caught off guard
by the Shadow Demons. However, I couldn’t help but wonder about the Demons and
if they’d even be interested in me. I am, after all, normal.

Yet, the memory of my torn shirt
had me doubting again.

I sat down on a rock and took off
my shoes and put my feet in the cool water. I stared into the pool rippling
against my ankles, and recalled the vision I had concerning Chris’s death. Opening
up identically as the one in Harold Bates’ office, I envisioned the large
clearing or meadow with several groups of clans and the blurred ivory
silhouettes of the Death Clan awaiting the presentation of the diamond from the
three of us. Chris pulls out his box, opens it, and lays it before the leader
who then examines the stone and becomes angry. He goes into a tirade about
being tricked and I step up to present the real stone. The clan leader is so
enraged at the deception and he declares someone will have to die. Then the
vision jumped to an enclosed area where my entire clan sat anxiously waiting to
find out who would die. I had to choose, the responsibility was put on my
shoulders; I chose Chris without hesitation. I said his name and felt justified
in doing so, even exhilarated in doing so. He mouthed my name as his body died
on the inside and I felt nothing for him.

Why would I choose Chris? Without
hesitation? Without feeling? Everything about that vision was wrong and I vowed
to fix it. I wasn’t sure why, but I could sense that if the future played out
like the vision I’d just had then the world would not ever be right again. I
sensed an ominous, heavy reality settling into my mind where the future was
concerned and I didn’t like it one bit.

What had Maetha the witch told me
about when the proper time to present the stone would be? She’d said I would
know the right time. Is this the right time? No, she said not to show anyone
and was extremely direct on the matter. Maybe I should switch the stones at the
last minute so the one Chris presents is the real one.
Yes, that’s what I’ll
do. I’ll get him to let me carry the box with the fake stone and exchange the
diamonds before the meeting.