Nightrise

rest of them — well, we didn't give a damn.
    "I lost count of the number of homes we were in and out of. The one thing was, they never separated us.
    We had this caseworker. Her name was Deny and she said that it was important they keep us together.
    Like it was the law. When we were eight, they tried fostering us out of state in Salt Lake City and that worked for a little while. I think we were happy. We were with a couple who couldn't have kids of their own. They had a nice place and they were kind to us…but about twelve months after we'd been there, they decided they'd had enough. Derry flew out to see us, and by now she knew what was going on and that was when she tried to tell us. We were different. We were special. But we made people uneasy.
    That's what she tried to tell us but she didn't exactly put it into words. Maybe she thought we'd laugh at her.
    "It didn't matter, though. We'd already worked it out for ourselves. We knew we had this…ability.
    Maybe you'd call it a power, only that would make it sound as if we could put on costumes and turn into Spider-Man or something, and it was never like that. But even while Derry was talking to us, trying to explain it, we knew we could have looked into her mind and seen what she was thinking. Telepathy.
    That's the word for it. But we weren't superheroes. We were freaks. We weren't like anyone else. And that was why we'd never been able to fit in."
    "Did you ever use your ability?" Alicia asked. She felt like she hadn't breathed the whole time Jamie had been speaking. He was so skinny and vulnerable, sitting out here on the patio with his black hair falling to his neck. Only now was she beginning to understand all he had been through.

    "How do you mean?" Jamie asked.
    "I don't know. To cheat in exams. Or to find out about stuff you weren't supposed to know."
    "No!" Jamie shook his head. 'You don't understand how it feels to be able to read people's minds, Alicia.
    It isn't fun. It was like there was this whispering all the time. All the time! We'd be walking down the street and it would be everywhere, all around us, never stopping. Can you imagine what it would be like going to a movie if the audience never stopped talking? Well, that's how it was for us. Sometimes it could drive us mad.
    "What most people are thinking, most of the time, isn't very nice. They're thinking about their husbands or their wives and the arguments they've had. They're thinking about the people they want to hurt and how angry they are and how miserable they are and why it's never their fault. Or maybe they're worrying about money or about losing their jobs or it can be even worse. They can be thinking horrible, foul thoughts. So, no, we didn't use our ability. We did the exact opposite. It was like putting our hands, permanently, over our ears. We managed to close all the doors.
    "We kept just one of them open. I could hear what Scott was thinking and he could hear me. It worked even when we were a mile apart although it got fainter…you know…like a whisper. But we were never scared to go into each other's heads because we always knew there would be no bad surprises. We knew it would be safe. And that's how we became the telepathic twins. That's what Don White made us."
    "Were you sent to him next?" Alicia asked.
    Jamie shook his head. "Can I have another drink?"
    "Coffee?"
    "Coke."
    "Wait there…"
    Alicia went into the kitchen. Fortunately, her sister kept the place well stocked. She came back with a can of Coke and a glass filled with ice. She waited while Jamie drank. Then he put the glass down.
    "Reading minds wasn't the only thing we could do," he said.
    The Accident. Alicia remembered he had mentioned it when he began talking. She guessed that he was coming to it now.
    "After Salt Lake, we were moved back to Nevada, to Carson City. We were fostered by a couple named Ed and Leanne. Ed worked in a local hospital. He did maintenance. Leanne didn't do anything.
    "We were still going to school at that time. We were ten years old. And we still didn't fit in. We were flunking most of our classes. Anyway, there was a big kid at the school. His name was Ray Cavalli and he used to pick on us all the time. Everyone was scared of him because he threw his weight around and nobody would go to the teachers because they didn't want to tattle. Anyway, I got into a fight with Cavalli and he was really beating me and of course Scott knew what was happening as soon as it started and suddenly