Chapter 12—Grayson

What am I doing to her? Is my presence hurting her? I felt so terrible that she was in pain. I didn’t know what was happening in her brain. I hoped her head injury wasn’t permanent. And if it were, would she always be in pain when I simply touched her hand. That would be awful. I needed to explain our connection. What if she freaks out? I hope she can go into work late or something, so I have a chance to talk to her.

We went to my Jeep after class, and I started driving her to work. “Can we go to our spot?” She asked. “Sure, of course.” “I just feel really calm there. I think I’m going to need all the help I can get with this conversation.” She took out the cell phone and made a call. “Hi Annabelle. I have a bad headache today. Is it possible for me to get today off? I’m sure it will be gone by tomorrow…okay, yes, thank you so much. See you tomorrow.” She looked at me and smiled. “We have a few hours.” That was a relief. I needed to talk to her, but I also just needed to spend some time with her. More than the half hour we were getting the last couple of days. The longer I was near her, the more at ease I felt.

I opened her door, and she gave me another magnificent smile. We walked to our rock and got comfortable. I had the album too. She might want to see more. “So, I have a lot of explaining to do. I don’t think the short story is going to cut it this time.” “Yeah, I would really like to know what’s going on with me.” She admitted. “I don’t have all the answers, but I do have some theories. I will have to start at the beginning.” “And when was the beginning?” she asked. “Long before you and I were ever born.” She nodded with some sort of understanding.

“So, you and I are special. Our people are special.” “Our people?” She asked. “Yeah, we are human, but we are also just a little different. Our ancestors had some abilities that most people don’t.” “Abilities?” she asked surprised. The look on her face made me laugh. “Not like flying or shooting lasers out of our eyes or anything. We are just a little Improved from the average human. We have the same capabilities as everyone else, just much stronger. So, you are good with science and numbers. But its way more than that. You are actually brilliant. You don’t even realize it. You are a mathematic genius. But I am getting way ahead of myself. I need to go back a little, to our parents.” “Okay, I will try not to interrupt.” She stated. “You can stop me at any time and ask all the questions you want.” I told her.

So, I started over. “We come from a long line of people who are especially smart, strong, intuitive and healthy. Our people live for a very long time. We don’t get sick. “Wow, so there must be a lot of you.” “Us” I corrected. “But, no, there aren’t a lot of us. That is also different. Our people very rarely reproduce. I guess that was nature’s way of making sure we didn’t take over the world.” I joked. “Okay, so how many of us are there?” “There are only about fifty. And we all live together in a private community in Colorado.” I let her absorb that before I continued. “We can only produce one child in our lifetime if we are lucky. Not every couple can have children. So, when a child is born to our people, they are very special and precious. But you and I are particularly special.” She nodded for me to continue. Her eyes trained on mine.

“We can only have a child with our bonded mate.” “What does that mean?” She asked. “When two children are born in the same month, they are bonded to each other. Or what some would call soul mates. But it’s much deeper than that. A bonded couple are forever linked. They will only ever love each other. They are made for each other. Only a couple, born close to one another like that, can have a child in their lifetime. So very few children are conceived. Your parents and my parents were both bonded couples. When they had you, your mom and dad were 203 years old. It took them that long to get pregnant with you. My parents were 180 when they had me.” “But in the pictures, they looked 30 years old, at the most!” she protested. “I know, super healthy remember?” “Yeah, okay. I’m just having a hard time getting my head around it.”

“When both of our parents got pregnant at the same time, they were so excited to know their children would be a bonded couple. Which meant, we could also one day have a child. And our whole group would continue to exist because of our bonding.” “Wow, that’s crazy. I mean, not that I don’t believe you. I just mean, it’s really out there.” “I know, that’s why I didn’t start with that when I first met you. It would have been a little awkward if I just went right up to you and told you that you were my soul mate. I had to keep that tidbit to myself.” That got a little laugh out of her.

“So how often is a baby born to our people?” “Very rarely. Maybe every hundred years or less. Actually, before you and me, there hadn’t been any babies born since my own parents. They were the youngest couple.” “My parents told me there was someone else pregnant when our parents were. She was about 250 years old and had never been pregnant. Her and her husband had tried for years. No one knew what was going to happen with that. Only two children could be bonded, but three women were pregnant. They thought maybe someone else would also get pregnant so there would be two bonded pairs born. They said it hadn’t ever happened like that before and they were all extremely excited. But more time passed and no one else got pregnant. So, everyone wondered which children would bond. The whole community was talking about it. Then one day when all the moms were about 6 months pregnant, the other woman got very sick. They said it was extremely unusual. She went into early labor. Both her and the baby died. The whole community was in mourning. Her husband took it especially hard. It must have been horrible for him to lose them both.”

“Wow, that’s so sad. Especially since she had waited so long to finally get pregnant. How is her husband doing now?” She asked. “He kind of secluded himself after that. He left often to travel. He was never really the same.” I told her. “So, our moms were both healthy?” “Yep, they were doing great. Your mom and mine were best friends. They spent most of their time together. They said we would always be more active when they were near one another. Like we already knew we were supposed to be together.” She listened intently. “So, who was born first? What are our birth dates?” “Well, that’s where it gets really interesting. Most bonded couples are born within a month of each other. But not you and I.” “We weren’t?”

“No, our moms went for a walk together one morning. Your mom noticed something interesting glowing in the rocky soil. She picked it up to discover a beautiful large piece of amber.” I turned my wrist over for her to see my bracelet. “It was this one, and the one you wear.” I said, pointing at her necklace. She reached down and took her stone in her hand. I could feel mine heat up when we both held them at the same time. “They continued walking and they both felt a sudden birth pain. They quickly headed back to the house to find the doctor. By the time they were in the labor room, you and I were coming. They put our moms in two beds next to each other. Your Mom set the stone down on a table between the two of them. The labor was fast. You and I were born at exactly the same moment. Our first cries were simultaneous. And when we cried out, the amber stone cracked in two.”

“Oh my God, that’s amazing.” “It really was. Nothing like that had ever happened before. You and I continued to cry, even when we were put into our mothers’ arms. They tried to feed us and sooth us. Nothing was working. Finally, your mom suggested they put us together. There was a little bassinet next to each bed. So, they put us both in one, between them. We immediately turned towards each other and touched hands. There was a spark between the two of us and we instantly stopped crying.” I looked at Amber. She was staring at me with wide eyes and a fascinated expression.

“Our family knew, at that moment, there was something special about us. We had an intense bond that none of our people had even seen before. As months went by, everyone could tell that you and I were somehow already communicating with each other before we could even speak. My mom said that by six months, you and I were definitely carrying on nonverbal communications.” “What do you mean Grayson?” she asked. “We were communicating telepathically, with only our thoughts.”

She didn’t speak. She looked confused but excited. Her colors were so complex. A mixture of disbelief and fear along with fascination and happiness. They were changing with each passing moment. I didn’t know what was coming next. Then she finally spoke. “We have to touch again. We need to get our connection back. That’s what’s happening. Our connection was broken when I was hurt. It’s trying to reconnect.” I was surprised she was ready to try that again. I knew it would hurt her. “Let’s just take our time. I can tell you more about our bond. I want you to be ready when I touch you again.” I told her. She nodded and looked at me with anticipation.

“As we grew up, we noticed other things that were different from everyone else. The most obvious one was the ability to see people’s emotional colors.” “You can see that too?” she asked shocked. “Yes, but only when I’m near you. Or at least have some sort of connection to you. I couldn’t see the colors after I lost you. Could you still see them all this time?” “Yeah, I didn’t know it was unusual. The phycologist thought I was crazy or making it up. I decided to never mention it again. But it has protected me over the last three years. I can prepare myself for whatever mood my Foster Parents are in.”

“I’m so sorry you have had such a hard time Amber. I wish I had been able to look for you right away. But they wouldn’t let me go.” “I understand Grayson. It isn’t your fault.” She reassured me. “I knew you weren’t dead. I could feel that you were still alive. But I couldn’t convince anyone. And I couldn’t sense where you were.” “What do you mean, sense where I was?” she asked. “As we got older, everyone told us we were doing things the others couldn’t. We could speak to each other telepathically from long distances. They first noticed it when we were learning to ski. You would be down at the bottom of the hill, still able to communicate with me at the top of the hill. The rest of our families could only sense emotions from their bonded mate, and only when they were together in the same room. You and I could actually have long conversations with each other no matter where we were.”

“That is so amazing.” “We tried to see how far reaching or telepathy was. You went with your parents one day into town and I could still talk to you. When it got harder to sense you, we decided to hold our pieces of amber in our hands. It worked almost like a cell tower. The amber amplified our connection. You and I could communicate no matter how far apart we tried. Until you went all the way to California for that trip.” “How did it change?” She asked. “You and I could only sense each other’s emotions from that distance, and only if we were holding the amber. We couldn’t talk. So, I could sense that you were having fun. Or that you were tired. Or that you missed me. I could project my feelings back to you. But no actual words. I felt lost and alone when you were there. But then, one night, I felt the most horrible emotions coming from you. Fear, pain, terror, and then nothing at all. I couldn’t feel you anymore. But I know you were alive. You just had to be.” I could see her eyes were glassy and she was about to cry. I wanted to take her in my arms, but I was afraid of the electricity.

“So how did you finally figure out I was still here, in California?” “One day, some months ago, I felt your emotions again. I felt fear and anger. It was you. I knew the feel of your emotions as if they were my own. I could feel that they were coming from about the same distance as they had three years ago. So, I assumed you were still in California. That’s when I started my internet search. My Mom and Dad didn’t believe me. I snuck away and drove here to look for myself.” “Grayson, I owe you so much. You never gave up on me. Thank you.” When I looked in her eyes, I saw that the tears were flowing freely now.