Chapter 9

A what? Michael asked incredulously.

A telepath, Kimberly said. You know, a mind reader. Like Charles Xavier out of X-men.

Oh, Michael responded with fearful tone.

I said calm down. I'm not here to do anything but talk to you and try to arrange a meeting with Gabriel and Jennifer, Kimberly said. I believe I could be of some help to them. Now Michael was curious. He looked at his watch and saw the class only had 10 minutes to go.

Help how? Michael asked.

Well, I have a pretty good knowledge of abilities or gifts. Sorry, in your case, curse, not that I know why. And I can help them find others like us without having to go through as much trouble as they have, Kimberly explained.

Interesting, I'll pass on your request for a meeting. How will I let you know? Michael asked.

I'll talk to you again tomorrow when you have Biology. Until then, Kimberly said and Michael felt her withdrawing from his mind. Michael sat quietly until the bell rang, deep in thought.

"This could definitely prove interesting, quite possibly advantageous," Michael thought as he packed his stuff and headed for his next class.

Gabriel and Jennifer walked hand in hand out of school. They no longer cared about anyone else. No one had said or done anything since they heard that Steve, Tong and Mark had been hospitalised after suffering a severe beating. Officially, it was put down as a gang-related incident but most of the students knew that they had planned to ambush Gabriel that afternoon. They just couldn't figure out how he was able to fight all three and hospitalise them with his injuries and without gaining anymore. Most just gave him and Jennifer a wide berth now.

"Did you enjoy your weekend?" Gabriel asked as they walked.

"A lot," Jennifer replied. "Did you?"

"The best I have had in a long time. We should do that more often," Gabriel said with a smile.

"Agreed," Jennifer said and squeezed Gabriel's hand. They continued their journey in silence. Once they reached the clearing, they had just put their bags down when Michael came running up.

"Your going to want to hear this," he said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Michael, what are you doing here? We didn't expect you for another hour or more," Jennifer said.

"I got out of practice and left my last class early so as I could get here as soon as possible," Michael explained hurriedly.

"Ah, ok. Spill it," Gabriel said. "What has him so worked up that it looks like he ran all the way here?"

"Well I went to Biology this morning and as usual it was boring. I thought I might have been day dreaming but I ended up having a conversation with a telepath," Michael said," And she wants to meet all of us." Michael could tell his statement had surprised them by the completely blank looks that he received back from the both of them. Gabriel recovered first.

"Did you see who it was?" he asked.

"No. The chat was purely in my mind," Michael replied calmly.

"How do you know she is telling the truth?" Gabriel asked.

"I don't, but what can we do?" Michael asked. "I mean, wouldn't it be better to have telepath on our side rather then on someone else's, or worse yet, rogue and doing whatever they want?"

"That would depend on how they acted. Even one on our side could be reckless or impersonal. That's the thing about telepathy," Gabriel explained.

"This is going to sound pretty stupid but what exactly is telepathy? Is it just like reading minds or what?" Jennifer asked, looking slightly bewildered.

"That depends on who you talk too. Generally speaking, telepathy allows a person to read another's mind, or communicate with them, mind to mind. In some fictions, telepathy has also allowed others to create illusions, control the senses, control dreams, or at the extreme edge, control other people entirely. It's one of those broad spectrum powers," Gabriel explained.

"I'm sure Kimberly could explain it better," Michael said.

"Who?" Gabriel and Jennifer asked at the same time.

"The telepath, her name is Kimberly," Michael explained.

"So she says," Jennifer pointed out.

"Either way, what are we going to do?" Michael asked, looking at Gabriel.

"Why you asking me? When did I become the decision maker around here?" He asked.

"When you brought me into the group. And I doubt that Jennifer wants to make decision so that leaves you, besides, you have already started making them without knowing it," Michael explained.

"I am no decision maker, this is a group, so it requires a group effort," Gabriel retorted.