Seclusion Read Free

school. When there are prospective students, I usually meet with them,
discuss things about the school, and get things started for them. Raegan, I
know you have many questions.”
    “Dr. Taylor, I…”
    “Oh, call me Taylor please!
I hope that we will be on a first name basis soon!” Well, this is unlike any
other psychologist or school advisor I’ve talked to.
    “Okay, you can also call me
Rae. My family and friends,” if I had friends , “just use Rae.”
    “Okay, Rae,” she said with
a smile. “I know this is a lot to take in. Don’t worry; I will give you plenty
of time to decide. I’m just going to be blunt. I know the word talent might
confuse you. The best way I can explain is to show you.”
    On the coffee table, there
was a huge vase holding a dozen red roses that Uncle Jeremy had bought for Aunt
Janice for her birthday. Taylor lifted her hand above one rose and spread her
fingers out above the bud, and immediately, right before my eyes, it blossomed,
each petal spreading and opening. Slowly, she repeated the process with the
other rosebuds, sometimes even shutting them again, or creating new buds. I was
so shocked, I almost wanted to cry. Someone else with abilities! Could this
be real?
    Taylor looked at me and smiled in
a motherly way. “I know, it’s shocking! I know most kids’ talents don’t start
out as powerful as they can become,” she said as she moved a Swarovski crystal
bangle from one wrist to the other.
    I was so curious about
everything now, and a tad skeptical. This sounded too good to be true, but my
intuition told me she had been telling the truth. “All of the kids at the
school have talents like this?”
    “All in varying ranges.
That’s why if you apply, I will give you some short tests and will go over the
results with you to see where in the program you would be placed.”
    “What other abilities do
they have?” I asked, still in shock.
    She thought for a split
second. “Well, the last child I met was able to mentally put up a barrier
against other psychic powers, which is a way of guarding oneself, but that is
just the beginning of her power.”
    “How come I have never
heard of this school before? This should’ve been on every news channel out
there!” I asked, flipping through the flyer from front to back and then again
from back to front.
    “Well, Dr. Zeke wants to
make sure that our school, and our talents, stay confidential. He believes that
if the world found out about them, there would be chaos, and people would abuse
us and try to use us as lab rats,” she explained. “Dr. Zeke is like us himself.
He just wants what is best for us. He also conducts research, so that when we
do come out to the world we will be able to explain what is going on in our
bodies and why we are different. Dr. Zeke believes he has discovered that
talents have a hereditary component. He has also discovered the gene
responsible, and believes it looks as if it has been manipulated, almost
manufactured by someone. Oh, I’m on a tangent again! Don’t worry, we will teach
you everything we know, so you can be in control of your own future. We hope to
inspire more scientific study in this area,” she said.
    I thought this was all very
curious, so I decided to use my ability. It was a good thing I decided to forgo
my gloves. I needed to be very sly about touching her, since Taylor was aware
of these abilities, or talents, as she called them. I smiled and offered Taylor another scone, handing the plate out to her. Sure enough, Aunt Janice’s famous
scones were never turned down. I purposely twisted my hand at the last moment,
grabbing a napkin to offer as well. I barely touched her, and automatically I
got a surging pain in my head. I was used to this and composed myself quickly.
It just meant that Taylor had a headache. Headaches were a cinch to fix. I
could heal her from across the room now that I knew something was wrong.
However, with bigger ailments, touching was better. All I got