Branded (The Branded Series) (13 page)

“What is this
training camp thing?” I asked.

“It’s a three
day intensive training camp where you’ll meet Gifted Ones from all over North
America and you’ll have the opportunity to train in your specialized category.”

“Okay,” I
nodded. “And that’s this weekend? That’s kind of short notice, isn’t it?” What
would I tell Anna about why I had to leave for the weekend?

“They don’t
give us much notice on these things,” Ms. Peters explained. “Less chance of
anyone finding out about the camp and causing problems for us.” She paused as
we rounded the corner, and when it was clear there was no one within earshot,
she continued. “So our cover is that there is a national environmental conference
going on in Toronto for high school students across the country. Our school has
been chosen to send a group to represent our area. You will be the volunteers
going on the trip, although you won’t really be going. You’ll go to training
camp instead.”

“Won’t they
notice if our group doesn’t show up to this conference thing?”

“We’ll be
sending in five young Interpol agents to replace you for the three-day conference.”

“Why five?
Aren’t there only three of us? Who else is going?” I asked.

“Two seniors
from our school. They’re also gifted. You’ll have an opportunity to get to know
them on the trip.”

“So, Rachel’s
going too, right?” Noah asked casually, although his face turned pink. I tried
not to laugh.

“Yes, Rachel
will be going.” Ms. Peters peered at him over her glasses. “You like her?”

I laughed, “Does
he? Does he ever.”

Noah threw a
punch at me and scowled, “Rachel's her daughter, dude.”

Ms. Peters let
out a laugh. “It's okay, Noah. You're a good kid, so I don't mind. It's those
other boys, like her ex-boyfriend, that I don't like her being around.”

“Her ex wasn't
a good guy?” Noah asked.

“Well, I
shouldn't really say anything bad about him. Let's just say that he was a good
kid at one point. He was a jealous boyfriend though, and jealousy will ruin
you. Rachel broke up with him. She is much too smart for guys like that.”

Noah nodded in
agreement.

There was a
silence, then Ms. Peters continued, “Jake, I understand that you have a girlfriend—Anna
Taylor, is it?”

I felt my face
get warm and my hands start to tingle at the mention of her name. “Yes, Anna
Taylor. Do you know her?”

“I've heard of
her. Seen her around the school. She's quite a cute little thing, isn't she?”
Ms. Peters winked at me.

“I think the
word is beautiful,” I said, trying to suppress a grin. Given the opportunity, I
could talk for hours about Anna. Tell her anything she wanted to know. I worked
at slowing my heartbeat so I could hear Ms. Peters continue.

“I wanted to
talk to you about that, Jake. I know you care a lot about Anna and this might
be really hard for you to hear, so I apologize in advance.” She stopped walking
and turned to me. Although I knew I shouldn’t, I somehow felt relaxed. I admired
her gift.

“S'okay. Go
on.” I leaned in closer.

Ms. Peters
spoke directly at me, each word stinging more than the last. “Jake, darling,
it's not safe to have a girlfriend right now. I know it doesn't seem fair, but
Anna is very vulnerable. With you becoming a Gifted One, the Defiers are
immediately attracted to you and will want to know your weaknesses. Anna is
your weakness.”

“What do you
mean? Who are these
Defiers
?” My stomach tightened.

“Well, for
every good there is evil. The Defiers are those who defy the laws of the covenant
and who can do as much damage as we can do good. They are always trying to weaken
us,” explained Ms. Peters.

“And you think
that these
Defiers
will want to hurt Anna for some reason?”

“Of course
they will. The only way to severely weaken a Gifted One is to take their source
of power, which is oftentimes the person they love. When you are distracted and
unfocused, you are very weak. Anna will be at great risk as long as she is your
girlfriend, Jake. I'm so sorry to have to tell you that.”

Everything
inside of me screamed to tell her she was wrong and that I could protect Anna
no matter what happened. That without Anna, I had nothing to fight for. I
wanted so badly to prove her wrong, but I knew it was hopeless. Something deep
down told me she was right, even though I hated the thought of it.

Ms. Peters
continued, “The attack at the lodge . . . we have good reason to believe that
was an attempt on your lives.”

“What?” I
reacted with surprise, although I had to admit that I had contemplated the same
thing the day before.

“Interpol has
been doing its own investigation. It appears that the men involved in that
shooting were recently reprogrammed. Brainwashed, if you will. It is how the Defiers
get random people to do their work for them,” Ms. Peters explained.

“What do you
mean
reprogrammed
?” Noah asked.

“Reprogramming
is something that Interpol invented for when they capture any of the Defiers.
They reprogram them with a new identity—give them new memories, and sometimes
even a new family.” She looked down at the ground. “And now the Defiers have
learned how to reprogram people and they are using it to their advantage.”

“So these Defiers
kidnap innocent people, reprogram them, and have them go out and kill other
innocent people?” I asked, fighting to make sense of it all.

“It’s
difficult to understand, but yes, that is essentially how it is done,” Ms.
Peters answered. “Which is why, oftentimes, the shooters end up committing
suicide. That is how their programming ends.”

“How do you
know they were after us?” I asked.

“Your rooms
were ransacked—the only two in the hotel.” Ms. Peters’ eyes were large and
sorrowful. “I’m sorry, Jake. It’s just too dangerous.”

“Why? Why
would they do that? Why would they target us?”

“We are very
powerful people when left to our own devices. And they are very powerful people
when left to theirs. That is why we are always at war with each other.”

“But what
about Noah and Rachel? You don't have a problem with that. Wouldn't a relationship
between the two of them put Rachel in danger?”

Ms. Peters
began walking again. “Two Gifted Ones are actually stronger together than they
are apart. Rachel will always be in danger, and Noah would attract no more
danger to Rachel than is already there. To subject Anna to that when she is
defenseless and unaware is just careless.”

“So what am I
supposed to do?” I asked, swallowing the large lump in my throat.

Ms. Peters
paused before telling me what I dreaded to hear. “You will need to break up
with her, Jake. Leave her be. It is for her protection.”

“And what if I
don’t want to?”

She stopped
walking and slowly turned to me. “Jake, you’ve been given a great and powerful
gift. You have a responsibility to protect people now. You have a
responsibility to protect Anna.”

I fought the urge
to cry. Or yell. Or run. “But maybe I don’t want this gift! Who says I have to
keep it? There must be a way to get rid of it and have a normal life!”

Ms. Peters
frowned. “I guess that’s your decision. But you’ll need to decide sooner than
later. Once you sign the covenant, the only way to lose your gift is to turn to
the dark side. And that’s definitely not the best life for Anna either. So you
have a decision to make.”

“What
covenant?” Noah and I asked in chorus.

“This training
camp is a test to see if you are truly cut out for this. If you choose to continue,
at the end of the three days there is a ceremony where you will become branded
with the mark of the Gifted Ones. Once branded, you are bound to the covenant.”
She took my hands in hers. “But, Jake, without your gift, who will help protect
Anna if something like this ever happens again?”

The words
stung as they echoed in my head. I was frozen in my place as Ms. Peters continued
walking toward the school. She vanished inside and Noah and I were left standing
in the schoolyard by ourselves. Ms. Peters was right. I knew what had to be
done. Break Anna's heart. And mine. But could I actually do it?

We sat outside
for another
hour until the lunch bell rang and everyone began filtering out through the doors.
The moment Anna came out, the sky seemed to get brighter and the air smelled
sweeter. Her face lit up as she caught sight of me.

“I can't do
this to her.” I started to panic. “I promised her I wouldn’t hurt her. I promised.”

“You're not
doing it to her, Jake. You're doing it for her,” Noah said.

Suddenly
Rachel came through the doors and ran toward us shouting, “Jake! Over here!
Wait!”

Shaking my
head at Rachel, I reached for Anna's hand. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I
choked.

“Yeah, sure.
What's on your—”

“First can I
talk to you, Jake?” Rachel cut Anna off as she grabbed my arm and pulled me
down the path toward the football field.

“Rachel, what
the—” I pulled my arm back and stood my ground.

“I am so
sorry,
Jake,” Rachel began in a low whisper. “I panicked for a second. I saw
what
you were about to tell Anna and I just needed to get you out of there.”

“So? I don't
get it. I have to break up with her. You
know that.”

“Yes, you do.
I know. But you were about to create a big scene and that is not how it should
go.”

“No, I
wasn't,” I argued. “I was just going to tell her we shouldn't see each other anymore.”
That had been the best I could come up with under pressure.

“Well, I
already had a vision about how that ingenious idea would’ve gone over. She gets
upset and leaves crying, Eric comforts her, you take out your frustration on
Eric, and then you get suspended.” Her voice pleaded for me to reconsider. “Is
that what you want?”

I shoved my
fingers through my hair and held my head for stability as I thought through
Rachel's vision. “How do I do it then?” I finally asked.

“Don’t ask me.
The last time I broke up with a guy, he turned all psycho on me. You're on your
own.” She reached over and stroked my arm. “Just try not to upset her too much,
okay?”

I stared at
her hopelessly, waiting for another vision to turn her eyes blank so she could
give me some much needed advice on the situation. How do you tell your best
friend and soulmate that you can’t be with her?

“Sorry, that's
the best I have. Good luck, Jake. I'm sorry.” Rachel walked back to the group
and left me standing there, with my back to the crowd and my heart in my
stomach.

“You okay?” There
it was—Anna’s magical voice. The one sound in the world that I would never get
tired of hearing.

I turned and
gazed into her deep chocolate brown eyes—pools of mystery with a sparkle of
sunshine. “Yeah, it's good. Sorry about that.” I waved my arm toward Rachel, dismissing
her.

Anna looked at
Rachel and said, “What did she want you for?”

The
uncertainty in her voice begged for understanding. I so badly wanted to tell
her that she had nothing to be worried about with Rachel. I wanted to share our
secret with her. I hated keeping secrets from Anna.

“Who, Rachel?
Oh, she uh . . . she just . . . she . . . was just asking about Noah. I think
she likes him.” I shifted my weight and crossed my arms, something my mother
always told me I did when I was lying. That's how she knew that it was me (not
my little sister) who threw the baseball through the garage window last summer,
and me (not the dog) who ate most of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
off the counter last week.

Anna looked
down at my arms folded across my chest, paused, and then said, “I see. Well,
that would definitely be cool if they got together. We should hook them up.”

“Yeah, that
sounds good,” I mumbled as I put my arms around her and pulled her close. I
just wanted to hold her. I knew I didn't have much time left with her, so I
wanted to soak up everything. Maybe it wasn't fair to her, but I needed it.

Noah and
Rachel were watching us from the benches and exchanging quiet words with each
other.

“Listen, why
don't we get together after school? Something's bothering you and I need to
know what it is. I want to help, Jake.”

I nodded in
agreement. My stomach was in knots.

“Meet me at
the canoe at four o’clock. We'll go over to the island so we can have some
privacy,” Anna whispered as her fingers trickled down my chest.

Four o’clock.
Okay. I had a few hours left before I had to end the best thing in my life.

The lake was
calmer than
usual—small, steady ripples. I sat on the big rock beside the canoe staring out
at the water as I waited. Anna was always very punctual and I knew she would be
here at four o’clock sharp, so a glance at my watch indicated I had fifteen
minutes to figure out what I was going to say.