Chapter 1 

Most people say they want a normal life.

I thought I was living the normal life. How wrong that turned out to be.

My name is Lana, I am seventeen. I have dark brown straight hair that comes to my shoulders; my eyes have been compared to a color of aquamarine birthstone. The irises are a blend of teal and topaz green, like deep sinking tropical waters.

This was the way my Grandma described them when I was little. I am an average height of five foot six, and finally a senior at Shelby High School.

I am not allowed to date, and have been told that, “All the boys at school are only after one thing” my Dad, Mike would always say to me. I live in a small town in Eastern Montana with a population of about 4000 people give or take a hunting season.

The day that forever changed what I knew as my normal life, started like any other day; Dad waking me up whistling at me, like I was a dog. The day actually started out completely normal, I got up and ready for school, Ate some toast and drank some juice right out of the carton. Dad hated it when I did that but he had his nose in his newspaper and didn’t seem to notice. It was Friday, and I couldn’t wait for the weekend, so I could hang out with my best friend Amber; but dad had other plans unbeknownst to me.

“Lana we are going to your Uncle Allen’s for the weekend” my dad said as I sat down at the table.

“But I’m supposed to go to Amber’s tomorrow, we’ve been planning this for weeks Dad, remember? Jet skiing before it gets to cold? “, I said almost in a whine.

My Uncle Allen and his four kids all lived in the woods about two hours away and they were really weird, not to mention they’re all guys; making me the only female in my family.

“Sorry about your luck, but we are having a family gathering, and since you are a part of this family, you’re going end of story” he told me folding his newspaper and sitting it back in his chair. My dad was a big guy so the poor chair protested a little. He owned a construction company named Mike’s; not very original. He never dated after my mother; saying no other woman would compare to her. Since my mother had died giving birth to me I guess I’d never know. As far as I was concerned my dad had done a good job raising me so far.

“Dad why do I have to go, I hate it there, there’s nothing to do” I said now truly whining. My dad just glared at me, so I did not press the issue. I grabbed my backpack and started the walk to school. Since my high school was only down the street it was a short walk. Amber was waiting for me at the library when I arrived.

“Hey girl, so when are you coming over tomorrow?” Amber asked as we made our way to class. Amber was in four out of my seven of my classes and a quiet girl. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and stood about two inches shorter than me.

“Oh, I can’t my dad is making me go to my Uncle’s this weekend” I said feeling glum. Amber stopped just before opening the door to Mr. William’s class.

“What? We’ve have been planning on this for weeks and now I have to go by myself? That sucks” she said huffing with the same whining tone I used on my dad earlier. I knew exactly how she felt.

“I know, I’m sorry but you know my dad, once he says something he stays with it you know that”. I was so bummed about my fun weekend being ripped from me. We both sighed as Amber opened the door to our math class.

The day seemed to drag by in an unbelievably slow pace, once the bell finally rang for lunch I was happy to have something else besides reading to do. I quickly made my selections from the buffets in the cafeteria Amber would be waiting outside on the grassy area behind the library for me. This was our “kick it spot”, we had claimed it since freshman year. Amber was nibbling on her pizza when I arrived.

“So what are you going to do at your Uncle’s?” she asked me.

“I don’t know. Be bored I guess. Their all really weird, like stay up till dawn, sleep all day, and they are all guys. So I really don’t have anything in common with any of them” I sighed drudgingly picking at my food.

“Well make sure you bring your cell then, because I will be in the same boat as you since you’re not going with me” she said rolling her eyes and pursing her lips together

“Yeah right, you’re going to be on the jet skis and forget all about me” I said giving her back that look.

“I can’t believe he’s not letting you go. Can’t you bargain with him or something, I know your dad is strict and all but come on! Brad is going to be there!” she teased. Brad was the quarter back of our varsity football team he had a summer tan, frosted blonde tips of his short spiked hair. Biceps the size of softballs and looked like they were as hard as rocks. He was 100% hot. The only problem was he knew it. He was what Amber called D.D.G. or Drop dead gorgeous. I sighed longingly at the thought of him.

“I know.” I said after a minute of day dreaming. “But you know how it is; I won’t be able to budge my dad since this is a “family matter” I said using my fingers as quotes around the words while looking at her for sympathy.

“I guess we could try tying him up then leave” I suggested with a smile.

We both laughed. My dad was six-foot four, with arms the size of a football, he also had emerald eyes though he was missing the blue that made mine so pretty. That must have been my Mom’s genes peeking out. He always had a deep tan, since he worked outside all the time. I envied him a little for that skin pigment.

At the end of the day, I was thankful that at least I had weekend homework so I wouldn’t be completely bored. I had a three page essay due on Monday about wild life for science. Since I was going to have to be in the damn forest at least I would have a hand’s on approach to the matter, I thought sarcastically.

I took my time walking home since normally my dad would not be there yet. I dumped my book bag down in my room and turned up my music a little loud, since the Hip hop countdown was playing. I loved to dance so I dipped and swayed to the beat, I was so engrossed that I didn’t hear my dad come in.

“Lana ! ! ! ” He screamed. Making me jump, then scrambling to turned off my radio.

“Hey dad” I said a little weary, he didn’t like me listening to that kind of music and he sure didn’t like me dancing, it was to “suggestive”.

“Sorry” I whispered, when he turned in the door way, he nodded his head towards my closet where my suitcase was held officially telling me to start packing. Since it might be chilly at night I packed two light sweaters. Two tee shirts, a bathing suit, and some underwear that Amber and I had bought from a risky adult store. My dad would surely kill me if he ever saw them. We joked and called them our Lana’s secret. Two pairs of jeans and a pair of shorts rounded out my suitcase, topped off with all my toiletries from the bathroom in a nice and neat zip up baggy.

I brought my bag down stairs and placed by the front door. My dad was sitting in his recliner in front of the TV, watching reruns of the three stooges.

“All packed up?” he asked as I turned around to go back to my room. He seemed in a better mood.

“Yeah all packed; what time Sunday are we coming back from Uncle Allen’s?” I asked. His face went stone. “We are staying a week” he said with a firm lip.

“WHAT?” I yelled “I have tests and a report due next week, Dad”, breaking into my outrage “Why didn’t you tell me about this? I can’t be out of school for that long!” I protested. My dad stood up and looked down at me sternly and since his height towered over me I truly felt like a mouse.

“There will be family present you haven’t met yet.” he said and then gave me a look that shut the argument down. I wanted to stomp my feet, but I knew that was childish and would get me nothing, so instead I turned and went to my room, slammed my door instead, while wondering who had I not met? I picked up my cell to call Amber.

“Hello?” she said after only two rings.

“Hey” I was still fuming.

“What’s wrong?” With that I broke into my story about why I was going to be gone for a week.

“Wow, school is going to suck” she said when I was done with my tirade. I was her only best friend so I knew how she would feel and I really didn’t want to go to the reunion.

“So what family is going to be there?” she asked. My mind shift gears to the matter at hand. I did not know if my dad had any family alive, my grandmother had died when I was two. Dad had two brothers and I had a total of eight cousins between the two Uncles. All my Uncles had their children with different mothers and neither married. I did not know my mom’s side of the family and then a light bulb went on and flickered in the back of my brain.

“Maybe my mom’s side of the family will be there, that would be cool” I said out loud.

“. . . But why didn’t your dad tell you? I am pretty sure that would be a big thing, right? That is something he would or should tell you.”

“I don’t know, but I’ll call you tomorrow, the minute I find out anything” I promised. It was getting late and I knew my dad would want to leave at dawn so I told Amber good-bye, hung up the phone, and went to sleep.

I had weird dreams that night.

I dreamt of tigers circling me. I was so scared I woke up screaming. My dad, who was already awake for the trip, burst in my room looking for an intruder but instead there I was completely shaken from the nightmare.

“What’s wrong?” he asked after a minute and when I stopped shaking.

“I had a horrible nightmare dad.” I said gasping with tears brimming up.

“It was so real” I whispered. My dad put both hands on my shoulders and looked at me with a surprised, but suspicious eye.

“What did you dream about?”

“There were tigers, dad and they were all around me” I said with tears now coming down my face. He gently wiped my tears away with his finger.

“Well maybe you have been watching the nature channel a little too much” he suggested standing up. I never watched the nature channel before in my life.

“I was just about to come and wake you up anyways. Come on, get dressed so we can get going.” he said smiling at me. At least he seemed excited about this trip. I got up and put on my faded jeans, and a light red sweater I had set aside while packing. I brushed my hair and my teeth then grabbed my bag to go put it in my dad’s big green new pickup truck.

“Lana, give me your cell phone.” my dad demanded before he got in the truck.

“What? Why?” I almost screamed. He was going to cut me off from civilization, I began panicking a little on the inside. My temper seemed to be getting the best of me lately when it came to my dad.

“Because you won’t have service out there” he said holding out his hand.

“Well if they didn’t live out in the middle of no-where this wouldn’t be a problem” He just gave me a hard look. I slapped my phone into the palm of his hand and slouched back into the seat of the truck.

The trip was about two hours so I slept the whole way. My dad woke me up when we arrived. once I was able to focus my eyes, I saw a really large two-story cabin styled home. I let out a heavy sigh. I really didn’t want to be here despite its rugged beauty.

The house seems to sit commandingly in a large clearing that was surrounded by trees covered in moss. The house included a long porch type of deck that extended the entire face of the building and appeared to wrap around all the way to the back of the house. The wood on the deck was stained perfectly to match the home and made it look like a perfect extension of the structure. Two large down stairs windows framed the front door that had an exquisite glass paneling that almost looked out of place and far too delicate compared to the rugged exterior. Large bay windows jutted out from the upstairs bedrooms and soft gauzy curtains fluttered in the open air through the windows. I could already see the gnats flying in circles and I criticized myself for not remembering to pack the bug spray.

My Uncle Allen, whom I hadn’t seen since I was ten, looked almost the same as the last time I saw him. He stood on the porch with his dark brown hair that had a touch of grey at the temples, green eyes like my dad’s. Both my Uncles were built like my dad if I remembered correctly. I let out a huff and grabbed my bag from the back seat of the truck.

“Lana? Wow! You’ve grown up.” My Uncle Allen said looking at me up and down in admiration. “Yeah people usually change over seven years huh?” I said sarcastically. Allen looked at my dad and smiled.

“Well she seems to have taken after her mom in the attitude department” he remarked to Dad. Dad had told me stories about my mom’s charming attitude and I was happy that I had something of her in me or at least in common. I waited for my dad to grab his bag before I started towards the house.

The inside of Uncle Allen’s cabin home reminded me of a ski resort. Ripped right out of the mountains and crashed landed here in a clearing in the woods with its huge living room that had a gray stone fire place that took over the entire wall. The couch was pushed back on the adjacent wall revealing the expensive living room rug with an embellished Tiger in the center. I thought of my nightmare and shivered at the remembrance.

Then the youngest of my cousins, Derek, came down stairs, he was a definite improvement to the room. He was only two years my senior making him nineteen. We used to make mud pies together as kids. He had a head full of curly black hair and brown eyes. He was almost as tall the rest of the men in the family and just as muscular. Wow, he was cute. In the end I had officially grossed myself out because he was family.

“Hey Lana, wow you grew up” he said looking at me. What was with this family; I wondered.

“Yeah, so did you.” I remarked holding my sarcastic comments but stretching out my hands for a hug. He embraced me so tight that I thought I heard my ribs crack under the pressure. I tapped him on the shoulder the way prize fighters do to tap out and submit. I mouthed “Can’t breathe”. I was immediately released crumpling to the floor and Derek looked embarrassed.

“Oh sorry don’t know my own strength sometimes” he said looking down at me meekly offering me a hand up.

“No problem” I said still gasping mouthfuls of air while he helped me to my feet. Derek was one of Uncle Allen’s four boys, along with Jason, Dean and Albert all are older than me, the baby in the family.

“So where are your brothers?” I asked as Derek took my bags I assumed to show me to my room. Ok so chivalry was completely dead in a testosterone home.

“Oh, they’re out fishing” he said walking up the giant stair case that appeared to be large enough for four people to walk up side by side. At the top of the stairs there was a long hall with at least ten different doors dotted down the wide expansive hallway. I did not remember the house being this big.

Derek showed me to my room which was all the way at the end of the hall, last door on the right. He opened it and in the middle of the room was the largest most elaborate bed I had ever seen. It seemed bigger than a king sized bed, I racked my brain trying to figure out what was a larger size called, I came up empty. I bet that I could roll over on it twice and still never fall off. The color scheme was rich dark brown with a tarnished antique brass headboard.

The bed spread had embroidered piercing gold eyes that made you feel as though a cat was watching you. In front of the bed and to my right was a stone rock fireplace a small version of the one downstairs in the living room. Hanging above the rock mantel was a large picture of a tiger running in the forest, giving the impression it was chasing its prey. The wall that paralleled the bed had a huge walk in closet. The bathroom was off the right of the bed. I had my own bathroom, I thought excitedly. It had a huge oval clawed foot bathtub. At least I could take a relaxing bath while I was being held prisoner. One of the large bay windows was at the far side of the room. Below the window, was a window seat that was plush and inviting, The seat cushion was same dark brown as in the bed spread and was accented with leopard print throw pillows.

“This is a big room, are you sure it’s mine and not my Dad’s?” I said looking around a bit intimidated by the sheer size of it. Derek laughed.

“No this one is yours, Uncle Mikes is at the end of the other hall” he said placing my bags on the floor.

I heard laughter coming from outside. Walking to the window I saw that the noise was coming from Derek’s older brothers that were at the edge of the clearing in the back yard.

Jason was twenty six a tall and big framed, blonde and had no shirt or shoes on. My thoughts centered on, “he’s as big as Derek”. Then I saw Albert who wasn’t quite as tall as his older brothers, he had red hair that caught the sun light and made him appear older then Jason but Albert was only twenty four if I remembered right. Dean was twenty two and had long black hair and such a deep tan he could pass for a Native American.

I closed my eyes and told myself these beautiful men were family and the thoughts I had were unacceptable.

Derek left so I could unpack. After putting away my clothes and placing my personal items in the bathroom, I opened my backpack, and started looking over my homework. I wondered if maybe my Dad had told the school I wouldn’t be there for a week, because there seemed to be more homework in here than I thought remembered bringing.

I started to do my math first to get it out of the way. I hated trigonometry, I was not bad at it, but I hated it all the same. I had straight A’s in all of my classes much to my dad’s approval. As I finished up my math I heard a knock on my door.

“Come in” I chimed, as my dad walked in.

“Lana why are you being antisocial?” he gave me that look and crossed his arms, which was his signature to tell me he was unhappy about my behavior.

“Just doing my homework” I defended my good girl behavior, waving the pad of paper in the air.

“Well take a break and come down stairs, there are some people I would like you to meet” he said. I closed my books begrudgingly and went down stairs with my dad.

The living room entrance was at the bottom of the stairs and when I reached about midway down the stairs I saw a man and woman sitting on the large couch across the room. I didn’t recognize them. They had no family resemblance to my dad or Uncles. Dad seemed tense as he took my hand. He turned to me; this a bad sign or a warning?

“Lana this is your Mother’s brother Bill and his wife Tanya” he said motioning the couple over to meet me. I was in total shock, I thought maybe I was dreaming since my dad would not have kept their existence from me for all this time, I started to get mad and tried to remember my temper.

“This is why we’re here!” I yelled ripping my hand from his grip. I was hurt. I wanted to know and remember my mom so badly how could he keep these people that were the closest link I could have had. She had living relatives! I had living parts of mom besides me!

“No, this is not why we are here, I told you this was a family gathering” he said looking at me. Bill started to chuckle. I looked at him and in a flash of memory, I remembered the only picture of my mom that my Dad still had. My mother was blonde, and had blue eyes like the man in front of me. Shock held me tight and I did not know what to say to them. I wanted to run away. I wanted to hit them with a barrage of questions that would leave me exasperated and breathless. Why had they stayed away from me? I settled on just looking dumbfound and staring in disbelief.

“You don’t have to say anything to us” Bill said. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts and slow down my thinking when he vocalized what I was just thinking.

“It’s nice to finally meet you” I said as I released my hand out of the fist I had been forming without realizing it and extended it. I was proud of my resolve and self-control. When Bill touched my hand my whole body felt like it tingled. I let go and stared at him. It felt like I had just been shocked.

“Owe “I said looking at him accusingly, and then at my hand as if it was a foreign betrayal I felt. Reasoning tried to kick in; maybe he dragged his feet on the carpet and we had a static situation going on. Like when you’re a kid and I would put on my new slippers, drag my feet on the carpet and chase my Dad around the house.

“Sorry Lana I didn’t mean to hurt you” Bill said in an unusually calm voice.

“That’s ok I guess, just try not to drag your feet anymore?” Tanya tried to stifle a snicker, but started to laugh as if I was the only one not getting a joke. A joke, I hadn’t heard.

“So what brings you here now?” I asked crossing my arms looking at the two skeptically.

“Your father told us we should be here for tonight’s festivities, and we have wanted to meet you ever since you were born, so of course we jumped at the invitation to come.” I looked at my dad with seething anger to almost an intolerable level when my temper got the best of me.

“You knew about them my whole life and didn’t let me meet them till now! You kept us apart?” I accused dad I was flooded by more questions and hurt. But this point all my cousins and my Uncle Allen had ventured into the living room to watch the display and I was more than ready to make a spectacle of this.

“Lana there is much that you don’t understand yet, but one day you will understand and thank me” dad said in a calm voice. I was heated, to heated to let this go on a promise that “one-day-I’ll-be-a-grown-up” type of reasoning.

“I don’t understand and I don’t care why you thought this was ok! It was cruel!” I yelled tears of hurt, anger and confusion blurring my sight.

“You kept this from me and now you want me to just be ok with this? Ok with not knowing anything or at least very little about my mom’s family; my family? What is wrong with you?” I screamed and ran back to my room. I was through talking maybe when I calmed down enough I would be able to have a conversation with my new uncle and aunt but not right now. I was way to mad at my dad and right now I did not care what they thought of me. My whole body felt weird since the shock I got, my head started to hurt even, so I laid down and took some aspirin and fell asleep. Derek woke me up three hours later.

“Lana” he whispered “Hey Lana?” trying to shake me into consciousness.

“Wha-a-t?” I said groggily,

“Hey, um… we are going to have a bonfire when the sun goes down and you should come down stairs at least for the food. There are ribs, steak and please just come down and visit with your mom’s family while there here. Come on” he coaxed taking my hand pulling me up to sitting.

When he touched me my head started to pound again.

“OWE” I yelled as I held on to my head trying to keep it from popping off my shoulders.

“You ok”? Derek asked.

“No, I don’t think so, I have a horrible head ache”.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea” I thought I heard Derek say.

“What isn’t such a good idea?” I said while searching for the bathroom through blinding pain for a cup of water wondering if maybe I was dehydrated.

“Huh?” Derek said.

“What isn’t such a good idea?” I repeated between gulps.

“Lana, I didn’t say anything” he said smiling.

“Oh sorry” I said “I thought I heard you say it was a bad idea or something, must have been my imagination.”

“Well… Come on.” he said looking a little cautious. This family is weird I thought.

With the past conversation put out of my mind, I went down stairs and my mouth started watering at the smell of food. My stomach reacted according by growling. I grabbed a plate of food and sat at the table next to Bill and Tanya who seemed to stare at me. Great they are still pissed at me. I don’t blame them but they have to see my view too.

“What?” I said after I couldn’t handle the staring anymore, “am I sitting to close?”

“Nothing, Lana it’s just that… well dear, how are you feeling? You don’t look so good” Bill inquired.

“I feel fine except for this headache I have “I said still trying to rub the ache out of my temples that was subsiding slowly. Bill and Tanya looked at each other. I started eating again. “Do you think she knows?” I heard Bill ask Tanya.

“Knows what?” I said wiping the rib sauce from my face with a napkin.

“Excuse me?” he said looking at me with wide eyes.

“You just asked Tanya if I know, and I am asking you, know what?” I said trying not to pitch a fit or raise the alarm that suddenly took hold of the dinner table.

Bill and Tanya did some more staring at each other and they looked surprised.

“Lana how long have you had this headache?” Bill asked me.

“Since you shocked me” I said getting frustrated. What the hell were all the secrets about? Bill stood up leaned over the table positioning himself right in my face.

“Can you hear me?” he said without moving his mouth. I jumped up out of my chair.

“How did you do that?” I asked stunned. “Are you like a ventriloquist or something?” I said trying to catch my racing heart, my dad came over to me and stared with a surprised look on his face.

“She is very much like her mother” Bill said still staring at me without moving his mouth at all.

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” I screamed at Bill. My dad took my arm and looked at me.

“Lana can you hear me?” my dad said, again without moving his mouth and I knew my dad couldn’t do a ventriloquist act, I would have known about that by now right?. I felt dizzy and the room began to spin and turn darker shades of purple then black. I almost hit the floor before my dad caught me. I closed my eyes and then it was like a wave of conversations in my head “OWE” I screamed holding onto my temples again.

“Don’t fight it” Bill said taking my hand away from my head. I looked at him.

“What’s going on?” I asked trying very hard not to cry or run away.

“Lana, there are a few things you don’t know about your mother and father” he informed me, but this time he really was “talking”. I wasn’t ready for this conversation I just wanted my head to stop hurting. “Your head will stop hurting once you give in” Bill said to me. I hadn’t said anything about that I had thought it though and I jumped up from the couch.

“You… You read what I was thinking just now” I said in an uneasy tone. Pointing at him I circled around to the back of the couch trying to put some distance between myself and good old Uncle Bill.

“Like I said there are things you don’t know about your mother” Bill said standing up to walk towards me. “Well turn it off now”! I yelled backing up further. He started to chuckle a little.

“I can’t turn it off, but I can teach you how to use it. And how to shield others from entering your mind” he said looking at me.

“Shield” I shrieked looking around the room, was anyone else hearing this ludicrously? Am I still asleep? That’s it! This must be a dream; No wait, dreams wouldn’t really hurt. I felt like everyone was screaming at me without talking. In order to be heard I would have to shout. I swirled around because I just heard Derek “think” about how sexy I look. “DEREK!” I yelled, “I am your cousin and that is really gross” I shouted. Derek looked embarrassed and my dad shot a look to him that made Derek run out the back door.

“Can everyone leave the room please, I need to help Lana, show her how to use her telepathy in order to contain the pain in her head before it becomes truly madding” Bill instructed.

“Will she be Okay? “Dad was concerned.

“She will be fine, I promise, but we have to get this under control before the sun goes down so time is of the essence” Bill warned my dad in a hushed voice. Then my dad started thinking about something to do with animals I looked at him with a surprised look and then it was like he shut a door, Tanya took my hand.

“It is very rude to go searching people that don’t want to be searched” she instructed me like a mother corrects a child, I would assume.

“Telepathy?” I questioned but somewhere inside it felt like a revelation. I wouldn’t have to worry about tests every again. Leave it to me to find an angle. Everyone left the room and went outside, Bill held onto my hand but it did not send any current this time.

“You can’t cheat on tests Lana” he said out loud smiling.

“Why not?”I asked still getting use to the idea that my thoughts were no longer private.

“Because that is cheating and cheating is wrong” he teased me. I tried to listen to him but it was like he wouldn’t answer a door when I knocked. He pressed his fingers to his temples. I was trying really hard to hear his thoughts.

“Lana please stop!” he almost screamed bent over in pain, I cleared my head and moment later he let go of his head.

“Your mind is very powerful for one just starting out” he said looking at me.

“I hurt you?” I asked trying to figure all this out astonished at my new found gift.

“Yes you did; I know how to shield very well, your mother was better than I at it, although she never hurt me like that Lana”.

“I am so sorry” I said sincerely.

“It’s ok, I understand that you are still learning”. He sat me on the couch and took my hand. He was up for the punishment I would surely, although unwilling dish out. I heard his thoughts like reading a book. The information flowed with ease into my own thoughts. It was as loud as before now. He must be able to control the volume.

“Now close your eyes and concentrate. Try to block out my thoughts Lana” he said in almost a trance voice. I closed my eyes and did what I was told until voices seemed to fade away and I heard nothing at all, sweet silence. Then I opened my eyes waiting for his approval.

“Very good” he said after a minute. I was still trying to come to turns with this, blocking and being able to give people headaches, new family; it was all too much to take in. How does this work? Could I give other people headaches if they couldn’t hear me?

“Now try to read my thought again Lana” He interrupted my mental babbling. I found this easy I just let out a breath and stopped concentrating. He was thinking of the color of my eyes. He liked them. I smiled at the compliment.

“I like them to” I sarcastically replied.

“Very good, Now when we go outside I need you to concentrate hard because there are a lot of people out there, it can sometimes be hard to block out a crowd” he told me.

“Ok “I said standing up. I was excited, I wanted to see if I could do it plus; I wanted to know if anyone else heard my thoughts. This could prove to be a valuable asset if I had the advantage of hearing their thoughts. As well as I needed to know who to shield my thoughts around.

Tanya took my hand and led me outside. As soon as I came out, the conversations were loud and sounded garbled together. I took a step back when I got close to Uncle Allen because his thoughts were really snarled, kind of like an inhuman growl.

“Don’t be afraid” Bill said in my ear. I closed my eyes, I tried to it block out by imagining a tall block of steel, until I heard nothing. Then I opened my eyes and smiled brightly at my accomplishment.

“Wow this is so cool” I said out loud and jumped clapping my hands together like an excited child on Christmas morning.

“Yes it is but you have to be careful, if others find out what you can do you will be in danger”. Bill thought to me guess I had a few cracks in my shielding if he got through them so quickly. He eventually led me into the back yard where the rest of the family was. There were fallen trees that had been fashioned into benches. It was getting chilly as I approached the fire to sit down next to my dad, who was on a log closest to the bonfire.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked looking at the flames.

“You weren’t ready yet”.

“Why am I ready now then dad?” He hesitated and I almost tried to sneak in to his mind to find out what he was thinking. I remembered what Tanya had told me, since my dad hated rudeness I waited for him to speak.

“Lana, Your Uncle Tyler will be coming here soon and he is bringing one of Derek’s friends. Please be on your best behavior” he said as he stood up completely ignoring my question all together. I wanted to know what the hell was going on. So I stood up and brought down my shields staring at my dad’s retreating silhouette.

His thoughts were really hard to read.

It was kind of like Uncle Allen’s, it sounded to me like a lot of growling and hissing. I went and grabbed my dad by his arm and looked up at him. I tried hard to read his thoughts. I sensed he had more to tell me, but not right now. He was trying hard to keep me out. I caught a small glimpse of a massive orange cat with stripes. I slowly let loose of my dad’s sleeve confused.

“Dad, why are you so hard to read?” I asked. He looked down at me with anger across his face. He held firmly onto my shoulders

“Lana, stay out of my head, I mean it. I will tell you soon, but for right now, stay out!” He sent shivers down my spine when his voice rumbled. Bill came over and took me from my dad’s grasp.

“She is still learning Mike” Bill said defending me.

“She needs to learn quicker” my dad said almost in a growl. I felt tears starting to gather in the corners of my eyes. My dad only yelled at me when I had done something bad. I sucked up my tears and shielded myself once more, this was going to be the longest week ever. I watched the flames of the fire. The yellow, red, and orange mesmerized me. I was lost in a hurricane of my questions and possibilities. In the distance I heard a van drive up in the front yard. I was a little surprised I could hear that far away. I didn’t turn away from the fire. I didn’t bring down my shields. I just sat there and waited.

It was my Uncle Tyler, the baby of Dad’s siblings, and his four boys. James was about twenty five. He had black hair and a light skin with a beautiful complexion, Bryson was twenty four making him the same age as his cousin Albert and he had a comparable build to James but lacked about two inches in height and had spiked green hair; which looked like grass that was badly in need of a lawn mower. Kyle was very tan and had blonde hair but fit in with the rest of his brothers in build only a year behind Bryson at twenty three and the youngest Chris had brown straight hair all the way down to his back which looked like it was only trimmed in his whole twenty years. They all had piercing blue eyes like their dad, my Uncle Tyler. I didn’t get up to greet them. I just pretended to ignore them and stare at the flames from the fire not caring if I was coming off rude.

“Well, Well this must be Lana” Uncle Tyler said looking down at me. I just waved from where I was sitting; I didn’t feel like talking much. Beside Uncle Tyler, there was a young man that I assumed must have been the friend of Derek’s that my Dad asked me to behave around. He was as tall, if not taller than my dad by an inch. He was trim and muscular without being scary. He was delicious looking. He had a shaved head, a bold, proud nose and full plump lips.

Wow, he was hot; So much better looking than brad from the football team. He seemed to glide when he walked and since he was so big I felt compelled to watch his graceful approach.

“Wow Quinn” my dad said smiling “you have grown into a man”. Dad already knew him for the past?

“Yes sir” Quinn said looking at my dad at eye level which is saying something. I had to look away because I was starting to blush with the thought of this man. Bill came to sit next to me and smiled. I was both relieved and upset that Quinn would not be sitting next to me.

“You know Lana maybe you should try to shield me more than you are. I heard that loud and clear”. Bill stated forcing his thoughts into my brain. I was so embarrassed I placed both my hands on my face.

“Please don’t tell my dad, he’ll kill me” I said through my hands.

Bill laughed at my plea.

“I am not going to tell your dad anything Lana. But why aren’t you introducing yourself? “He asked nodding to Quinn.

“Um, well I am not allowed to” I said through clinched teeth.

“Why not?” He asked Confused.

“Because my dad is very strict, and I don’t want to get anyone killed” Bill’s eyes widened.

“I guess that means you’ve never dated?” Bill looked amused.

“No I haven’t, plus it isn’t totally all my dad, Men just aren’t that interested in me” I said looking at him for an affirmative.

“Is that right?”

“Yes?” I questioned uneasily. I was starting to get a little warm from being so close to the fire, and wanted to escape this conversation quickly it had nothing to do with embarrassment. So I stood up to leave, maybe go back upstairs to finish my homework. Dad stopped me before I could get very far.

“Where are you going?” He asked me sternly.

“I have homework to do dad remember? Since I have to be here and not in school, I have a lot of work to do, now if you will please excuse me,” I said trying to move around him.

He didn’t budge.

“Lana you just learned you have a unique ability and I understand you are frightened but you can’t hide out upstairs the whole time you’re here” he told me.

“WATCH ME!” I yelled finally losing the temper I had kept a firm leash on and eventually shocking him enough that I could easily get around him. I was angry that he thought I was trying to escape and runaway but right now I did not care enough to prove him wrong. I ran into the house and straight upstairs not thinking about anything but the comfort of my room, ok maybe I was escaping but I needed a minute to think to myself. My room was back at home where I wanted to be but upstairs in my guest quarters would work for now. The day’s events flashing through my mind like a strange science fiction movie. I didn’t notice the man who just stepped out of his room until I nearly ran him over in the hallway. I guess at some point Quinn had come up stairs to get situated and I had not noticed.

“Oh I am so sorry” I said looking up at him. He had light teal eyes. I had never seen anything like it. His skin looked smooth as a baby’s bottom and he had perfectly white teeth. I had to look down at the ground so my face wouldn’t redden.

“You alright?” he said trying to look me in the eyes. I nodded and glanced down pretending not to see him as I shot off down the hall without a word.

I made it to my room opened and closed the door quickly while trying to catch my breath. “Wow, he is so hot” I said out loud since there was no one there to hear me.

I wished I could call Amber and tell her about the man who seemed to ignite my inner fire.