Branded (The Branded Series) (21 page)

We had a
rest period
scheduled for the early afternoon, then we were heading back to strength class
for some more torture. We sat on the grassy hill overlooking the soccer field
and watched a scrimmage game.

“How did your
strength class go this morning?” Rachel asked Noah.

“Great. It was
fine,” Noah said cautiously, flickering his eyes in my direction for just a
second.

“Yeah, it was
pretty crazy,” I added. “I lifted, like, thirty pounds or something big like
that.”

Nick and Noah
laughed, relieved by my sense of humour in the matter.

“You mean
three hundred
pounds?” Claudia asked, confused.

“No. No, he
really means thirty,” Nick laughed.

I smiled and
rolled my eyes. “But I think I know now what my problem was. I'm ready to go
back at it again.”

“What was your
problem?” Rachel asked.

“I was letting
something distract me. I have a purpose, and I have a reason. Two different
things that I was letting cohabit when I shouldn’t have.”

Rachel gave a
confused look to Noah. “Are we still talking about your strength problem, or
something else?”

Claudia
interrupted, “And how did your Healing class go?”

“Uh, about the
same.” I grinned. “But it's all good now. Trust me.”

The bullhorn
sounded.

“Good,” Nick
said as he stood up and brushed his pants off. “I'd hate to see you get held
back.”

“Come on,
guys. Let's go to strength class and watch Jake lift fifty pounds now,” Noah
teased.

We said
goodbye to the girls and headed back to the dreaded building by the mess hall.

Sam was standing
at the back
of the room waiting for us to gather. “Good afternoon, cabin three.”

We took our
seats and waited patiently as Sam arranged the cement balls along the left side
of the room. So effortlessly.

“Okay
everyone, we'll start by warming up with the balls. Go grab a ball and a
partner and toss it back and forth.” Sam picked up a smaller cement ball and
said, “Jacob, you can pair with me.”

That was a
little embarrassing. “Uh, thanks. I guess.”

I closed my
eyes, cracked my neck and cleared my head. I was ready.

“Think fast,
healer,” Sam taunted as she gently tossed the ball toward me.

I reached out
to grab it, bracing myself with my left foot back, and caught the ball with
ease. It no longer felt like a heavy block of cement, but more like the beach
ball that it resembled. I creased my brow as I inspected the ball. Was it a
joke?

“Excellent
job, Jacob. You think you're ready for the big ball?”

“Yes, please,”
I said, welcoming the opportunity to be considered normal again.

Sam picked up
the large ball and hurled it at me without warning. This time I didn't feel the
need to brace myself as I reached out and snagged it like a football.

“Very
impressive,” she commended. “Class, now that we're all up to speed, I think
we'll have a little competition. Let's all line up here on this side of the
room and I want everyone to take their turn in throwing the ball as far as you
can. We'll see who can get the closest to me.” Sam stood at the opposite end of
the room, which was about forty feet away, much further than I had seen anyone
throw.

Everyone took
a turn. I stood back and watched for the techniques that appeared to work
better than others. Some people threw it like a bowling ball, while others
threw it like a baseball. Most balls landed in the middle of the room,
somewhere around fifteen to twenty feet, which was impressive in itself. Noah
was in the lead so far with coming up just five feet short of Sam. Nick was the
next one to throw, then me at the end of the line. Nick hurled the ball and it
landed at Sam's feet.

“Very nice,
Nick,” Sam said, obviously impressed.

I stepped up
and cleared my head. The ball felt so light in my hands that I had to check to
make sure I was even holding it. I decided to throw it like a baseball and
pitched it with all my might. Everything I had.

The ball
soared, at an unbelievable speed, across the room, over Sam's head and right through
the wall! A few seconds later, a big thud conquered the room as the ball
smashed into a tree, sending the tree timbering to the ground.

I wasn't sure
if I should apologize for the destruction, or celebrate my victory. I got my
answer when Sam burst into cheer, followed by the rest of the guys.

“Well done,
Jacob!” Sam applauded. “My, my! They sure were right about you. You have some
promise.”

“Good job,
dude,” Noah said slapping me hard on the back.

“Never seen
anything like it before,” Nick shouted over the laughter and noise.

Just then
Matthias came running into the building. “Is everyone alright here? Anyone
hurt?” He scanned the room for injuries, but quickly relaxed when he saw the
celebration. I met his eyes with a wide grin. “You
did this?” he
laughed.

“Sure did.
Just needed someone to talk some sense into me,” I said with a wink.

He looked
across the room at the hole in the wall and shook his head. “Look at this
mess.”

Sam clapped
her hands together and shouted above the commotion, “Okay guys! Everyone relax
and sit down. You all did very well, but we don't have a lot of time left so I
want to talk to you about mind movement before you go.” She looked up at
Matthias, “Thanks for stopping by to check up on us, Matthias. Thankfully there
are no injuries.”

Matthias
nodded and left the building, chuckling to himself as he went.

“So I'll begin
by reminding you that mind movement is not something you are expected to be
able to do. It's rarely done and when it is, it's only by seniors who have been
practising the techniques for years. Some of you may be able to accomplish mind
movement after years of service, but I want to show you the technique now so
that you can practise at home.” Sam started handing out pencils to everyone.
“Take this pencil and set it on the floor in front of you.”

I set my
pencil down on the floor and stared at it, wondering what the technique was. I
remembered all those times I laid my tired and bored head down on my desk at
school and stared at my pencil, willing it to jump out of the groove at the top
of my desk. It never happened. I wondered if this was going to feel the same.

“The trick
with mind movement is really quite simple. First of all, you must believe you
can do it because our motto is, ‘If you think you can, or you think you can't,
you are right.’ So you have to believe that this pencil will move. Secondly,
you don't imagine the pencil merely moving, but you imagine the final
destination for your pencil.” Sam laid her pencil on the floor and stood over
top of it. “For example, I know I can move this pencil and I want to hold it in
my hand.” And just like that, the pencil lifted off the ground and flew into
her hand like a magnet.

“That is
neat,” I said.

“Go ahead,
give it a try,” Sam said as she slowly walked around and watched. “Those gifted
with Faith may have an easier time with this.” She leaned over one guy and
said, “You're trying too hard. I can see the wrinkles in your forehead. It's a
simple act. Don't put much thought into it. Just believe and tell it where to
go. You
are in control.”

I listened to
everything Sam said about believing it and just doing it. I knew I could do it,
given the accomplishments I had achieved in class already. Now I just had to
decide where I wanted the pencil to go. Hmm . . . Where to go?

“Let's see it,
Jacob. Stop thinking about it and just do it already,” I heard Sam say.

“Go to Sam,” I
said quietly, and off my pencil went, flying through the air and smacking Sam
in the middle of her forehead.

“What was
that?” she said as she looked around. Her eyes rested on my pencil lying on the
ground at her feet. She looked back to me with disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”

“I don't often
joke, Ms. Conrad. You didn't believe in me,” I said with a smile, recalling the
words she said to me earlier that day.

Everyone was
watching our exchange by this point.

“You're right.
I can't believe it. This has never happened in all my years. You're not supposed
to be this advanced, Jacob. That wasn't in the cards for you.” She scratched
her head as she thought through something that was beyond me, but bewildered
her.

Noah leaned
over to me and asked, “Did you really move the pencil, dude?”

“Yeah,” is all
I could say as I waited for more of an explanation from Sam.

Sam paced the
floor for a minute then she looked up at everyone and announced, “Okay
everyone, you're dismissed. Go take a break or something. Jacob and Nick stay
here.” She waited for everyone to clear the room. “Nick, please go and get
James Chisholm and Matthias. Tell them it's important.” She continued to pace
with her fingers tapping away at her lips.

Nick left in a
hurry. Noah, appearing concerned, waited outside by the door. “What's this all
about?” I asked Sam when the room was empty.

She didn't
respond, she just kept muttering, “It doesn't make sense. It wasn't meant to be
like this. It just doesn't make sense.”

A few moments
later, James and Matthias burst through the door.

“What is it,
Sam? What's the matter?” Matthias demanded.

James didn't
need an explanation. He read her mind the moment he walked into the room. “Are
you sure?” he asked before she could answer.

“I think so. I
mean I didn't exactly see it, but that's what he said.” She struggled to remain
steady and calm.

Their
uneasiness made me nervous. Was I a freak?

“What
happened?” Matthias shouted.

“We were doing
mind movement techniques,” Sam started to explain, “and I think he moved
something.”

Matthias
sucked in some air and turned to face me with wide eyes.

“Jacob,” James
began, “tell me what happened.”

“I don't
understand what the uproar is all about. She was showing us how to do mind
movement, so I did it. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“It's just
that mind movement is only done by few people in the world, and none of them
are newcomers. We just didn't see this in your future. It's a great thing, mind
you. It's a really great thing.” James smiled from ear to ear. “I need to see
it for myself though.”

Sam brought a
chair over and set it down on the floor in front of me. “Can you do it again?”

“Yeah,” I
said. “Sure.” I squinted my eyes, focusing on the chair in front of me, and
then silently commanded the chair to take a trip across the length of the room
and rest against the wall.

We all watched
as the chair flew and bounced off the wall, landing with a clang on the floor.

“Incredible!”
shouted Matthias. “Jacob, you are one special kid.”

“Good work,
son.” James beamed.

“So what do we
do now?” Sam asked, reluctant to join in on the celebration.

“It doesn't
change much, Samantha. He'll continue with his training as planned,” James
answered.

“But no one
saw
this. Why?” she demanded.

“This stuff
happens, Sam. Well, not quite like this, but change happens. It's a shift in
the energy.”

“I know how it
works, James. That's what concerns me! Does this mean the Defiers have an edge
now too?”

Matthias and
James exchanged a look. One that I didn't understand. Then they both answered,
“Yes.”

“What happened in
there?” Noah
asked when I finally came out of the building. He was waiting by the door with
Rachel, Claudia and Nick.

“What's this?
Why are you girls here?” I asked Claudia and Rachel, puzzled.

“We heard all
the news through the grapevine,” Claudia explained. “Did you really do mind
movement?”

“Yes, I did.
And yes, I realize it's never been done by a newcomer. And yes, I realize how
rare it is.”

“I was just
going to say you're a freak,” Claudia teased.

“That's pretty
cool, dude,” Noah admired. “Imagine the stuff you could torture Mr. Meade
with.”

I snickered at
the ideas that flooded my mind. Good pranks. Fun stuff.

James,
Matthias and Sam came out the door, squinting from the sun.

“You kids can
move on to your next class now,” James said. “Jake, you're with Matthias for
more healing work. I'm going to let Matthias take you off grounds for your
session. Good luck with it.” He walked away with not another word.