The Gifted Chp. 2

Rosabelle stomped up to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. She loved Knox. She loved him more than anyone or anything on this earth but he was so protective and possessive that she couldn’t stand it. John was her good friend and she really loved him but she wasn’t in love with him. Knox didn’t have competition and he never would. She didn’t understand why he didn’t already know that. She plopped down under her apple blossom tree on her plush white rug leaning her back against the trunk. She folded her arms across her chest and waited. She knew that Knox would be up right behind her. The double doors opened slightly and he stuck his head in.

“Can I come in,” he asked. She pursed her lips and looked the over way.

“I don’t think there is a way I can stop you,” she said huffily. He smiled and stepped inside unnaturally slow as he made his way over to her. He stood before her with his hands in his pockets. She kept her eyes trained on the bed so that she wouldn’t look at him. Knox sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“What do you want me to say Rose? I don’t trust the guy. You see the way he looks at you and how he always finds a reason to touch you. He’s trying to take you from me,” he exclaimed. She sighed and looked up at him.

“He is not! Yes maybe he has some feelings for me but he knows how I feel about you. He knows that he has no shot and he has settled for being my friend. He knows that he can’t have me. I know that he have can’t me. The only person who doesn’t know that is you!” she exclaimed.

Knox shook his head. He felt like Rosabelle was being naïve. John wouldn’t admit defeat, not with a girl like Rosabelle. She was the kind of girl a man fought to the death for. John could be at this moment scheming and plotting against Knox. Maybe this was the plot, he thought. Maybe John wanted to stick around and create as many arguments between Rose and Knox so that he could wait until she finally tired of Knox’s possessive behavior and went to John. Knox glared into the space above Rosabelle’s head. She watched him knowing that some twisted idea was forming in his head and she threw her hands up in frustration.

“You are a mess! Nothing will ever happen between me and John! Get that through your thick head!” she exclaimed. Knox looked down at her and smiled. She was so cute when she was angry. He lowered himself down to his knees and grabbed her hands.

“I’m sorry okay. You know how I am. I tried to be cool when I first saw that he was here and I didn’t say anything too, too much out of the way until just now. I am improving with him right?” Knox asked imploringly.

She couldn’t stay mad at him. She couldn’t stay mad at anyone. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“You are, Love. You are,” she replied.

Knox sprawled out under the tree on the rug with her and sighed heavily. He hated making Rose upset with him, but he just couldn’t let her go out with John. He would be paranoid the whole time and then he’d be cranky and nobody wanted him cranky.

“C’mon let’s go to sleep,” she said getting up and pulling him with her. She went into the bathroom and changed out of her dress into a lavender silk slip. She turned off the light and slid into bed with her man. She had never slept without him in past five years. All Suvi’s attempt’s to keep them in separate bedrooms had failed. She eventually gave up and gave Knox’s room to someone else.

Rosabelle woke up in the bed alone. The sun was shining through the sheer curtains on her face. It was Monday her least favorite day of the week. She lived for weekends. School was so stuffy and boring. Thank goodness this was her last year! There were too many rules, students had practically no say, and the worst of all she had to wear shoes! She sat up in the bed slowly and ran her hands through her hair. Maybe she could flood the school and get the day off. The thing was, she had done that a couple months back and gotten into serious trouble. She’d rather just go to school than face the wrath of Suvi and GDU again. She loved the fact that there was something really special about her…most of the time. Sure she couldn’t never really have a normal life but that was fine. Her life at The Manor was the closest thing to perfect, especially with Knox there with her.

Their existence seemed to come out of the clear blue. People just began giving birth to children who weren’t normal. Children that could do things that were not humanly possible. There were no warning signs. No quirks during pregnancy, nothing. There was a huge frenzy. People were scared, terrified of these children. The government quarantined and tested them. It took years and before these children were released and laws were put into place to govern them. They were labeled Gifted. They were mostly human. They’re bodies were the same. They possessed the same organs. They ate the same things as the humans ate and needed the same things to survive. The only differences with these children were the amount of their brain they used and depending on the gift some other small things. The only way a person could tell the humans from the Gifted was by eye color. Some of the Gifted had normal eye color, blue, brown, green, grey, and hazel. Others had eyes colors in shades of pink, yellow, orange, purple, red, and black.

Places called safe houses were created like The Manor. There were many safe houses all across globe. They were for the Gifted children who possessed gifts that posed a greater threat to others. The more brain a gifted person used the more of a threat they were to others. Humans ten percent of their brains but the Gifted used more. Some gifted people used as little as 11 percent of their brain. They were no danger at all. Anyone who used any where from 11 to 20 percent was pretty safe. Those who used 20 to 50 had their gifts evaluated. Anyone who used more than 50 percent was a definite threat. In safe houses, it was instilled to not abuse powers, not to harm others, and control and restraint were taught. It was mandatory that these Gifted children remain at the safe houses until they reached full maturity which was the age of 20. They were home schooled throughout elementary years when their control was minimal. They were allowed to go to public schools at middle school after passing a test of control. This was a test Knox failed repeatedly until his 9th grade year.

Rosabelle sat up in bed and watched Knox as he came out of the bathroom soaking wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. He smiled over at her, his blood red eyes sparkling in the sunlight. She sighed sadly when he turned his back to her. No matter how friendly he tried to look, the severe red of his eyes always made his look sinister. He had been dealt a bad hand in so many ways. Knox’s Gift was his strength and speed. He got stronger and faster with age. By his first birthday he could lift Suvi with no problem. Today he could lift up to 10 tons. He could reduce steel to powder in his clutch. He was extremely agile and at top speed ran at 250mph. He angered easily and it sometimes took him hours to calm down. His rage issues only heightened his strength and lessened his control. It didn’t take much to set him off. Most people walked on egg shells around him. When he was angered Rosabelle was more proficient than anyone in calming him down. This was another reason why Knox and Rosabelle were permitted to share a room. One night Knox became enraged after being scolded for once again being in Rosabelle’s bed. He had been about to smash the wall when Rosabelle told him to stop and he immediately did. Suvi had let the matter rest. Knox would share a room with Rosabelle as long as he wanted to.

Most children at the safe house received visits from their birth families. Knox did not. His mother struggled with his birth. He became frustrated and began thrashing inside her. Burst her uterus, crushed her pelvis and spine and pummeled her kidneys and liver. She was dead before he was out. His father refused to have anything to do with him and the rest of his family followed suit. His abandonment was a huge contributor to his rage issues. He would sometimes go into episodes of self loathing and depression that were even hard for Rosabelle to pull him out of. The thing that troubled him the most was that he hated his father for not wanting him, but at the same knew that he would do the same if the tables had been turned. He was tormented by his confusion.

“Aren’t you going to start getting ready,” Knox asked. Rosabelle shrugged.

“I think we should ditch today. Spend the day in the meadow,” she proposed. He shook his head.

“You think that everyday,” he replied with a smile. She blushed and put her head down sheepishly. He climbed back into the bed and sat across from her.

“This is our last year, Rose. You can do it,” he said rubbing her arm. She stared back into his handsome face. His jaw line was perfectly chiseled and his lips begged to be kissed. He had thick glossy dark hair that fell to his shoulders. He kept it in a ponytail at the nape of his neck but there were always strands that came a loose and fell to the front. He was tall and despite his strength he was really rather slender. She cupped her hand to the side of his face and kissed his forehead.

“I guess we’ll go to school then,” she said. He nodded and she slid off the bed.

After Rosabelle was dressed and ready she and Knox went down to the first floor for breakfast. When they went into the dining room Rosabelle took the seat next to Vlada.

“Good morning,” Rosabelle said.

“Ditto,” Vlada replied.

Vlada was 19 years old. She had long ice blonde hair and lavender eyes. She was tall and had an athletic figure, She had an eerie voice but no one could really pinpoint why. She had amazingly high cheek bones and hard jaw line. Her beauty was striking and severe. She was Gifted of course and was one of the people mandated to live in The Manor. Her gift? Mind Control. She could make a person do anything she wanted them to. Vlada was encouraged not to use her gift at all but she did anyway if it was something harmless like making her someone bring her a glass of water when she was too lazy to get up and do it herself. She was a really laid back and lackadaisical type of girl. She and Rosabelle had become like sisters over the years.

“I was thinking we could go shopping after you get home from school today,” Vlada suggested. Rosabelle shrugged.

“Sure,” she replied.

Suvi appeared in the room with two pictures of orange juice. Suvi was sort of the den mother. She cared for the children, fed them and kept them dressed. She taught the younger kids school lessons, restraint, and control. She was a teacher, mother, disciplinarian, confidant, and therapist. She was one of the reasons why so many people always hung out at The Manor whether they were Gifted or Human. She was so warm and inviting. She drew people in and they always wanted to be in the vicinity of where she was.

“Do you need any help Suvi?” Vlada asked.

“Not in here but the kids may need help dressing upstairs. I want to get the lessons done on time today,” Suvi replied.

Vlada nodded and went to up the stairs. Rosabelle put her feet in her chair and placed her head on her knees. She really dreaded Mondays. Breakfast was just as loud and rambunctious as any other meal time and afterward the kids that were allowed to go to public school went on their way and the younger kids went to lessons with Suvi.

Once outside the house Knox scooped Rosabelle up in his arms and raced through the trees until the reached the main roads. Her hair blew in the wind and she giggled the whole way there. Knox carried her through the forest like this every morning but it never got old to her. Everything blurred around her and she could hear the wind whistling as he tore through the air. The ride never lasted more than a second but it was exhilarating none the less. When they reached the edge of the forest Knox set her down and she kissed him quickly on the lips.

“You always make my morning better,” she told him.

He smirked and took her hand as they walked down the street. It wasn’t illegal to use their gifts in public and Knox could have very well run the whole way to school but he didn’t want to. People were scared of him enough already. He didn’t want to stand out anymore than he had to. After the run through the forest that had about a 10 block walk to the school. They arrived on time and once they got into the building they went straight to their shared locker that was framed in rose vines. It didn’t take long for them to be joined by John. Knox grumbled inaudibly. Over 90% of the school was absolutely terrified of him but the one guy who was trying to steal his girlfriend had to be apart of the other 10%.

“You ready for class,” John asked Rosabelle.

“We just got here!” Knox snarled looking over her to him.

“Play nice,” Rosabelle whispered to him. Knox rolled his eyes and wrenched his books out of the locker making dents in the covers where his fingers were.

“I’ll see you later,” he said and stormed off.

Rosabelle frowned a little looking after him and then spun around to John.

“You know I always get mad at him but it’s your fault too! You do it on purpose and you’d better stop,” she chided. John shrugged.

“C’mon we’re gonna be late for class,” he said. He draped his arm over her shoulders and guided her toward their first hour class, Pre-Calculus. They entered the room and took there seats in the back of the room. She could just feel the time slowing as she settled into her seat.