Over_Red has found some free time this month and he's edited this installment of the series.
Yay!
I've already sent him part five and he'll edit it as soon as he's done writing chapter ten of Dream Drive, so that'll be up soon, too.
Enjoy!
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Jack Watts drove to the spot where he picked up Mia after school each day. He was too nervous to sit behind the wheel, so he got out. He paced the sidewalk as he looked off into the distance, hoping she'd come soon. He honestly didn't know if she was going to show up this time. He had no clue what he would do if she didn't, just as he had no clue what to do if she did. He had mulled over his options the whole morning long, even while he had been training his three new guard dogs and meditating to prolong his cloaking ability.
He had rescued her from getting raped by Ramon yesterday in the woods. He had used his powers on Ramon in a wooded area once before, but she had not seen it for what it was back then. This time, she had, even though she had jumped to the assumption that Jack was a witch. The ridiculousness of the accusation gave him hope that she would not repeat it to anyone else. Even if she did, people would probably not take her seriously. He had no idea how to disabuse her of the notion without using his power on her mind and he was terrified of somehow making a resonant connection with the cloaked figure if he did that.
His best chance of dealing with her suspicions would be to just blatantly deny them until she gave up. He still had doubts over whether it would work. She had been so fervent this morning. So zealous. He checked the time as he paced. She was the queen bee of the school and she would take some time to chat with her fellow cheerleaders after last period ended, or she'd preside over a gathering in the parking lot, making her arrival time to this spot vary by as much as ten minutes from day to day.
He again checked the time on his phone. She should arrive there in three to thirteen minutes. Usually, he played some music while he waited, but he was too nervous for that now. He kept pacing the sidewalk and lifting his gaze towards the corner, expecting her to pop out from behind it at any moment. He dreaded it at the same time.
When she finally came around the corner, she hesitated for a moment and then walked right up to him. Before he could say anything, she said, "I'm so sorry, Jack. Please, forgive me! I didn't mean to blow up on you like that this morning. I don't know what came over me."
He nearly collapsed with relief. "It's ok, Mia," he softly said. "You had a terrible shock yesterday and you needed to vent some steam. I get it. It's to be expected. You're under a lot of pressure, what with school and graduation and everything. I've been thinking, maybe we ought to find someone for you to talk with about what happened yesterday."
"What do you mean?" She frowned and put her fists on her hips. "You think I've gone crazy?"
He gulped at her harsh tone of voice. "No! No, I don't! That's not what I think."
"Then what?!"
He held his hands up in a reconciliatory gesture. "I just think that... attempted sexual assault is a terrible thing and that anyone that goes through such an experience should be given every chance to work through it. That's all."
She glared at him for a few seconds and then firmly said, "I don't need to have my head shrinked!"
"Shrunk," he corrected. Off her glare, he quickly added, "I didn't mean a psychiatrist, I meant a psychologist. You know, just someone whom you can go see and talk with, whenever you liked. No pills, no... anything. Just talking."
She mulled over his words and then sighed and nodded. "Can we go home now? I need your help with chemistry."
"Yeah, sure." He opened the car door for her and then got behind the wheel.
"I'm sorry for kicking you in the gut," she said as he pulled away from the curb.
"That's ok. I'm really sorry for punching you in the gut."
She smiled. "It's ok, I'll live."
He returned her smile and felt a tremendous sense of relief flood over him.
"So, I asked some people," she said. "Turns out, the cops really are sniffing around to see who sent them a gun that was stolen, like, ages ago."
"You didn't say anything, did you?" He looked at her. He was surprised to see her impish grin. For an instant, he thought he could see an admiring glint in her eye. He quickly faced forward to see where he was driving. He ignored the urge to go reading her mind.
"No," she said. "I didn't say anything. Did you carry that piece with you everywhere you went?" He squirmed in his seat and floundered for words. "Never mind! I don't wanna know. You're not carrying now, right?"
"No, of course not," he emphatically said. "I don't screw around with guns. Uh, I mean... I don't do that anymore."
"Good."
All talk of the topic ended with that word. He drove them home, where they had some lunch and then worked on making her ready for her chemistry exam. Janice avoided them, as usual, and the day brought no new surprises.
That night, Jack sat in his room, going over Mia's words and mood swings from earlier in the day. He didn't know what was going on inside her head. He feared that she might lead the cloaked figure straight to him, if she still believed him to have supernatural powers of any kind. He needed to know which way her thinking was headed. He retrieved his stash of marihuana. Smoking it was out of the question, as the smell might alert Janice to it, so he chose to eat it. He grimaced at the taste and swallowed it down as fast as he could. He decided he'd never eat it again, unless it was baked into something tasty.
He washed the taste down with some water and then began his meditative exercises. Fairly quickly, he achieved a state of mental clarity and the high kicked in, activating his clairvoyant abilities.
Despite wanting to know what Mia was thinking, he first focused on the aspects of his power that he had recently discovered. The cartoon dog showed up in his room with a soft bark of greeting. Jack smiled at it and thought about seeing the future. The dog gave a series of soft barks, crushing Jack's timid hopes of winning the lottery.
The dog told him he wasn't precognitive. Instead of reading the future, he had been able to foresee the behavior of two people whose minds he had previously read. Mia and Ramon had made decisions that would have lasting, emotional consequences for Jack. Since he had been open yesterday and willing to allow anything to come into his mind, he had subconsciously picked up on those decisions.
