The Talents of the Fallen - 19. Part Nineteen: Secret Entrance

Chapter Nineteen: Secret Entrance

When Greg saw the state the twins were in, he demanded answers but didn’t get ones he wanted. The stupid boys had overdosed on Taint. And for what? The two had thrown their lives away just to humiliate their siblings. That they had tried to kill Aaron in the process only enraged the headmaster further.

That night of the storm the roof to Aaron’s dorm collapsed. The twins had damaged the support beams so badly that when the storm’s winds pressed on the roof, it had caved in crushing those on the second floor. If Aaron had been there he would have been killed. Tracy and Trey however had been in their beds and had been crushed. They were still alive, if only in a medical sense. They continued to breathe on their own but the trauma had destroyed their upper brain functions.

Greg knew who to blame for what happened… the Coven. They however could not be made to pay for their crimes without triggering a war. There was only one thing the headmaster could do. He had to go into the lion’s den and demand the Chicago Chosen stop these heinous acts. If it turned out what happened had not been the act of a rouge member of their cult he would leave the school and rejoin the one organization that could offer him justice. He would go back to his father and swear himself to the Order. Only the Order would resort to any means to see the Coven destroyed. Even if they demanded he resort to committing the same sort of heinous acts he would have justice.

First, however, he needed to deal with Aaron and the two boys who had trapped him in a dangerous love triangle.

Leaving Aaron for last he verbally tanned the hides off Jon and Andrew. Between the two he was most furious with his brother. To have lost his temper in such a violent and public way reflected bad on him and the school in general. Greg would be lucky if he managed to not have his brother expelled let alone no lose his position as headmaster. As things were he was trying to convince the parents to pin the blame on Fred and Frank. With their siblings to wave about like a bloody banner the Council was more willing to believe to him than not.

Be as it may, Andrew would have to be suspended for at least the rest of the semester if not for the year. When he told his brother the consequences of his actions, Andy didn’t get angry like Greg and expected. Since being hit by Sam’s empathic attack he had barely shown any sort of emotion.

Greg’s concern was such that he arranged for his brother to be sent to a treatment facility. The Ridgeway Treatment Center was a private inpatient hospital reserved for those among the Elected suffering emotional trauma. It was the very facility he had been tempted to send Aaron after their first meeting. He was still debating whether to do so. He would have to spend at least six weeks there so the doctors could perform a complete health assessment. If they decided he needed an extended period of inpatient treatment Greg knew their father would be all too willing to have him committed. Better there than the dreaded Reformatory.

Andy was resigned to the fact that the odds were not in his favor that he would be back before the start of the spring semester. He just had one request. He didn’t want Aaron to be left anywhere near his archrival.

After the doctors led him away the headmaster summoned Jon to his office. Unlike his brother, Jon seemed to be bouncing between emotional extremes. Yes he had been deeply embarrassed that the headmaster had caught him while he and Aaron had been completely naked. Yes he wanted to kill Andrew for threatening his life. Mostly though he was still in high heaven for having finally gotten lucky.

“Jon… I hope you understand how disappointed I am in you.”

“Well, uh… sorry about that sir.” There was no sincerity in his tone.

“You’re sorry, good, but that doesn’t grant you absolution for your actions last night.”

“Yes… but think of it this way. If I hadn’t sent that rose Aaron would probably been kill in that storm. If anything I should be given a medal for saving his life.”

“JON!” Having had enough of the young man’s cocky attitude he pounded his fist on the desk so hard to crack the wood.

Jon, seeing he had finally gone too far began to show a hint of fear. “Uhmmm sorry sir.”

“Not sorry enough. I am very tempted to have you suspended but as you said you did probably save Aaron life. Instead I’m going to have you banned from all sports.”

“For the rest of the semester?” When he didn’t get a response Jon sunk deeper into despair. “Not for the whole year? Please sir… the teams are really counting on me.”

“Give your irresponsible behavior, one would have to wonder why.”

“Please sir. I would rather you suspend me for the rest of the semester. Sports mean everything to me.”

“That is why this is the best way to get you to understand how important it is to follow the school’s rules.”

“What about dueling. You can’t take that away. The school’s honor is at stake.”

Dr. Balthazar had to think on that one for a bit. Jon was team captain for the school’s dueling club. Last year he led the team to their first regional championship. “Let’s make a deal. You can stay on the team but only if Mr. Mays passes the entrance exam and…” He paused for effect. “And he is allowed to join the team.”

“You want us to take on a newbie?”

“Don’t’ you want to get to uhmm know Mr. Mays better?”

“Not if it hurts the team!”

“Then it’s also a no go for dueling.”

Jon debated on what to do. Having Aaron on the team would allow him a lot of touchy-touchy time with his potential new boyfriend but was it worth saddling the team with that much dead weight. They could lose the season. “Damn it… alright, you win. Aaron’s on the team.”

While Jon left gone to tell the club the bad news Greg summoned Aaron to his office. He intentionally left him for last because he was the most difficult one to decide on.

When Aaron stepped into his office the lad looked heart broken. The accident with the twins had hit him hard. He looked pale as ever and while his eyes remained covered by his goggles the headmaster was certain there were tears under there.

Instead of remaining behind his desk he took Aaron over to one of the sofa’s that lined the walls. Patting the black leather Greg motioned Aaron to sit next to him.

When Aaron was seated he looked up at Dr. Balthazar. “I…”

“It’s alright Mr. Mays. I did not have you come to see me so I could berate and punish you. You’ve gone through enough of that. I only wish to discuss your future at the Liaison School.”

“Please don’t send me away. I promise I’ll be good.” Aaron begged.

Greg could feel his heart break. The young man really didn’t understand how things worked. “Just one moment Aaron. We’re in no rush to get rid of you but you do understand what you did was quite foolish.”

“I… I just… I wanted to meet the boy who had been writing me all those nice letters. When he asked to meet me I…”

“You just had to meet him.”

“He said if I didn’t he would never write to me again.”

Balthazar looked up at the ceiling and silently asked god why he was doing this to him. How could he have given life to child who would grow up so naïve. “He was bluffing Aaron. He assumed you wouldn’t find the rose until after the exam. It was a stupid assumption made by a stupid kid. That does not mean you too weren’t just as stupid going out into that storm.” Seeing Aaron sniffle Greg reached out with his mind to dim the lights and close the curtains, he used the same Talent to bring a box of tissues to the sofa.

When it got within two yards however it dropped to the ground. Confused he focused even harder but each time he tried to bring the box close it would hit some sort of invisible barrier. Looking towards Aaron and wondered if the phenomenon he was observing was an example of the boy’s Talent.

Leaving the sofa he picked up the box and tossed it to Aaron. The boy caught it. That meant what he had observed was not a simple physical barrier. Going back to Aaron he tried to levitate one of the tissues out of the box only to find he couldn’t. Confused he pulled a tissue out with his fingers and felt no resistance.

It took a great deal of experimenting but he was able to gain some understanding of how Aaron’s Talent worked. There was some sort of bubble around Aaron that prevented any sort of Talent to function inside it. However, and this was the confusing part, those within the bubble could still use their Talent just so long as what they tried to do did not affect anything inside the bubble. There were a few exceptions. First, whatever defense Aaron had, it could weaken but not block Talents transmitted through direct skin to skin contact. That was a good thing because it suggested Aaron’s shield was so weak against physical Talents like Jon.

He had read stories of such Null or Void Talents existing centuries ago but the blood lines where such Talents originated from were either hunted down by the Elected or went into hiding. That was all too understandable. Due to their ability to cancel out the Talents of others, Nulls had once been employed as assassins. Eventually it was decided by the Council that such Talents posed too high a risk to the other Elected to be allowed to live. If Aaron was a Null then Greg would need to keep others from finding out.

Aaron’s Talent however was not quite the same. With true Null, the area of effect did not expand beyond their bodies. With Aaron it extended sever feet from him. There was also the fact that within this bubble Greg could affect things outside it. That too was not the case with Nulls. Most telling of all was the fact that Jon had been able to touch Aaron and not die. According to the histories the touch of a true Null would cause a physical Talent to suffer the most agonizing death possible as their bodies’ inverted inside-out

There was a second possibility. There was another, even rarer, unheard of Talent Aaron could be displaying. It was possible that Aaron was a Mirror Talent. A Mirror Talent was one who could not just block another person’s abilities but also redirect them. To prove this Greg preformed the tissue box experiment again. Lifting the box outside the Null field range he turned to Aaron. “Aaron could you be so kind to return the box back to my desk.”

“Yes sir.” Aaron was just about to stand up but Greg placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back. “With your mind.”

“My… my mind?”

“With the Talent.”

“But I have no Talent. That’s why I go to the Liaison School.”

“I think you’re wrong. I’m betting you do indeed have Talent … possibly the most wondrous Talent I’ve ever come across. To prove it I’m make you a wager. If you are able to put the box back on my desk then I’ll transfer you to the Lakes School. You would be able to go to school with Sam, Jon and other Talents.”

“But…” Aaron wasn’t sure he wanted to go to Lakes. Yes Tracy and Trey told him how it was their dream to go and yes that was where Andy went to school, but for an Untalented like him, it always seemed to be beyond his reach.

“Consider this your entrance exam.”

“Alright.” If Tracy and Trey could not live out their dream then gosh darn it Aaron would see he lived it for them. Focusing with all his might he tried to push the box back to the desk but no matter how hard he focused he couldn’t get it to budge. “I can’t. I can’t do it.”

“You’re trying too hard. Relax. Taken in a few deeps breaths and when you are sure you are ready, try again.”

Aaron closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply. He was about to give up when he felt Dr. Balthazar place a hand on his shoulder. At the moment of physical contact he saw it.

Looking at the box he saw particles as thin as dust holding the box in place. He began to think that maybe it was not the box he should be trying to move but the dust. This time when he concentrated he focused on the cloud. Like a mental breath of wind his thoughts move the particles and thereby the box three feet towards the desk. He was doing it. Taking in a second deep breath he tried again. This time the box moved six feet closer. He was halfway there. He was just getting ready to try again when he noticed that the cloud was starting to disappear. He quickly tried to push but the box only moved ahead two feet. By his fourth and last attempt the cloud had almost evaporated and he only got the box to move six inches, Before he could try again the cloud was gone and the box fell to the carpeted floor a good two feet from the desk.

“I’m sorry sir… I failed. I… I…”

“No Aaron you didn’t. You did not fail. You succeeded. You succeeded beyond my wildest dream.” Greg felt tempted to kiss Aaron and if he were a few years older he most certainly would have. Aaron could not only block a person’s Talent but he could also use their energy to redirect it. Greg had never seen anything like it. There had not been one reported case of a Mirror Talent in his life time. Maybe not even his father’s.

When Aaron first started moving the box Greg had first assumed Aaron had finally shown signs of being a kinetic Talent. To test that theory he increased his hold on the box to make it harder for Aaron to move. When Aaron moved it twice the distance that proved Aaron was either that strong or something else was going on. Next time he weakened his hold to a fraction where it had been before. If Aaron was truly strong he would be able to push it the rest of the way to the desk but instead was only able to move it a fraction of a foot. The final test was to see if Aaron could hold up the box on his own so Greg let it drop. No matter how hard Aaron tried he could not get the box the rest of the way to the desk. It was as he said he had never seen anything like it.

Turning to face Aaron he gently removed the young man’s goggles. There were tears of failure beading in the corner of the lad’s eyes. “Aaron… you have a most marvelous gift but at least for now it must remain our little secret. No one must know you can steal another person’s Talent… no one.”

“Does that mean I can’t go to Lakes?”

“Oh you most certainly are going to Lakes.” Not for the first time he wanted to kiss the young man. There was this tickling in the back of his mind that urged him to do so. He would have to think on that later. First however he needed to see Aaron was made comfortably. “Tell me Aaron… do you love Jon?”

“I… He’s been nice to me.”

“I would say that’s an understatement. What I meant to ask is would you like to live with him and Sam?”

“Could I?” Aaron couldn’t express too much how excited he was by that possibility.

“You can. You could also live with me…” Damn why did I say that?

“Uhmmm…” Aaron had to think a bit on that one. He really did like Dr. Balthazar… sometimes in ways he wasn’t sure he should. “Could we all live together like a family?”

“We could but I don’t think Jon would care for the idea. Most teenagers prefer not having adults, especially their teachers hovering over them.”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

I wouldn’t mind either. Greg coughed to get such thoughts out of his head. “I know… since Jon’s dorm is a wreck you three can stay with me until the repairs are done.”

Aaron responded by resting his head on Greg’s shoulder. Greg couldn’t stop himself from wrapped an arm around Aaron’s waist and pull him close. “You do know how adorable you are.”

“I am?”

“Yes… you’re also a heart breaker.”

“Oh… what’s a heart breaker?”