Faithless

Chapter Sixteen

 As soon as Jasmina had the helmet on she jumped on the back of the motorcycle and wrapped her arms around Aiden's waist as tightly as possible. She didn't need to be a mind reader to know Aiden was grinning as they backed out of the garage and drove off, as fast as possible. She knew he was going fast on purpose to show off, and it didn't impress her one bit, but it was still better than staying in the house.

They were driving for at least half an hour, not slowing down for anything. It was peaceful outside which didn't surprise them with how cold the weather was. They finally stopped at a large community park, which was completely empty. Aiden grabbed Jasmina's hand, rushing her inside.

"I want to show you something." Aiden said, letting go of her hand, then holding his own out in front of him. Jasmina felt a breeze rush past her, causing her hair to wrap around her face. All the leaves from the ground flew up in the air, shaping into spirals in the sky.

"Oh my..." She breathed, watching Aiden create various patterns in the air. "Aiden, what if you get caught?" Jasmina gasped, looking around for potential witnesses.

"Never going to happen." He winked, sending the wind in another direction, taking all the leaves with it. Jasmina smiled, looking up to where the leaves had been. "Magic isn't all that bad eh?"

"I can't decide that one just yet. I mean look at my powers, they make everyone around me nervous." She sighed, thinking back to how angry Sarah was after what Jasmina had done the night before.

"Your powers are different to what we've ever seen before. Tyler didn't even know what to make of it when he first found you." Aiden explained, shrugging.

"Found me? I’m still not sure if I understand that, or if I understand anyone’s powers."

"It's a long story. It'll be better if they explain."

"Fine." She sighed, heading back the way they had come.

"Wait, what's wrong?"

"Everyone just seemed to think someone else can explain all of this to me, yet no one ever actually explains anything, and it's driving me insane!" Jasmina vented loudly.

"People aren't explaining anything to you, because no one can be sure you're ready to listen."

"Can you blame me! Ugh, you know what, I'm out of here." She muttered, walking away. Aiden let her go, but not for long. Jasmina jogged out of the park and then just kept walking down the path. She hadn't been to this side of town before, and she didn't care. Jasmina just carried on following the pavement, with her head down. She heard a motorbike within a couple minutes, but didn't look up.

"You haven't got anywhere to go Jas. Just come back with me. This was a bad idea."

"I'll find somewhere. I can probably find some family or something." She lied.

"Jas please. Just stop. Let's go to a cafe or something then I promise I will tell you anything you want." He sighed. Jasmina stopped for just a second to think, then carried on.

"Oh come on Jas."

"I don't believe you."

"Just let me prove it to you." He smirked slightly, reminding her of his brother. She stopped, sighing loudly again. She knew it was stupid, but she took the helmet from Aiden and jumped on the back of the bike once more, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. She didn't care too much for fast bikes.

They found a small restaurant down the road and took a seat right at the back, away from mostly everyone else and they ordered themselves some breakfast. They were able to talk over here, but they had to keep our voices down. As tempted as it was for Jasmina to just yell out her frustrations.

"So what do you want to know?" Aiden said as the waitress put their drinks down. Jasmina waited for her to leave then looked at Aiden.

"Everything."

"I'm going to need a starting point." He smirked.

"Fine what is with the hunters? I mean how do they know we are what we are?"

"Hasn’t anyone explained the legend to you?"

"No."

"Well, the legend says there were witches and warlocks first. They lived in peace mostly. But some abandoned the ways of the light to gain more power. This rebellion if you like, sparked a new reign of terror, the hunters. They hunt all witches, good or bad and they'll never stop until we as a race, are completely wiped out. Our counter attack was the guardians, like my dad. His coven split up to dedicate their lives to helping and protecting young witches and warlocks. But as soon as the young witches and warlocks have joined together as a full coven, the guardian leaves, because as a coven, their united power should be enough to protect them." Aiden explained.

"Okay so what extra protection comes with being in a coven?" I asked.

"Well, it sets up a telepathic link. It's not very strong, like you can't just read each other's mind, but you're able to communicate and if you feel threatened, everyone in the coven will know about it and can find you within seconds. Being in a coven gives you a higher resistance to attacks from other witches or warlocks, but if they are in a coven too, the protection kind of gets cancelled out and your back to being as vulnerable as you were before." Aiden finished with a shrug, watching her reactions. Jasmina just kept still, listening intently. "Oh and the power you had before increases. You tend to be able to use the power of other members of your coven too, as if it was your own, but that takes practice."

"Okay. What about my power? Explain that."

"Now that is a hell of a lot more complicated. Your powers are pretty... Well, they're pretty rare. The term used for you and your type of powers is mindcaster, but that's a really broad term, it includes pretty much any psychic power. But you can only be a mindcaster if you have a wider range of psychic abilities. So far with you, we know you have visions and you’re starting to read minds and create shields. We’re not sure what else you might develop, if anything." Aiden paused, it was like she could hear the gears clicking in his mind as he tried to fathom out a way to explain all this to her without scaring her.

"Well I know for a fact I haven't been reading any minds lately." She mumbled, thinking about Cam. Aiden ignored her and just carried on.

"You don't tend to get powers until puberty, and even then it's pretty random when they'll start showing up. You were trying so hard to suppress your powers that it's probably delayed their development." Aiden said, tinting his head, studying her. "It doesn't matter anyway. The point is your powers are still growing, so it could be a long time before we can fully understand them. This is where joining a coven would benefit you. If you're having trouble, we can help you. Help control your powers."

"How?"

"We can take them on together, it can help you focus and deal with them."

"Great so we can just highlight how weak I am.” Jasmina mumbled, crossing her arms.

"I'm just glad you admit you have powers." Aiden winked. Jasmina just smirked and shook her head.

"What can everyone do exactly? I know some but it’s still confusing." Jasmina asked, leaning forward. Just then the waitress came back with their food, making her jump. She placed their plates down and disappeared again.

"Can’t I eat first?" Aiden smiled, picking up a fork. Jasmina didn't want to push it too much, so she picked up her own fork and smiled slightly.

After they ate we took a ride to the beach, about an hour away. It was only small, with just a couple other people around. They found a spot, close to the waves, but not close enough to actually get splashed. They took a seat and stared out at the waves for a little while. Aiden started using his power to make the waves bigger, so they nearly splashed at their feet each time.

“So what can everyone do?” Jasmina asked, after they were settled.

“You don’t miss a beat huh? Fine.” Aiden grinned. “Well you know I control Air and Water, as well as cold and ice. Cam controls Earth and Fire and I'm pretty sure you found out about the dream walking thing right? Dad has weak control over all elements and can make people blend in with their surroundings, like a chameleon I guess.” He explained. “Now Ruby can Astral Project, has she told you that?” He asked.

“Yup, and I got the demonstration.”

“Okay that’s handy then.” Aiden shrugged. “Well Tyler can see other witches and warlocks through mirrors, he can suck the information for books, meaning he just had to pick one up to get the information from it, rather than having to sit and study from them, and he can get information from people's heads. It’s a little like mind reading but instead of just seeing everything in their minds, he can go up to someone who, I don’t know speaks a foreign language, if Tyler touches them, he can learn that language in an instant.”

“So in other words, he’s super smart?”

“Pretty much. Now your favourite person in the world, Sarah has the ability to shoot electricity from her hands, which is pretty much why she has a chip on her shoulder I think. She always struggled with her temper, and on top of that she has thousands of volts shooting from her hands. Anyway, Ashleigh can teleport herself and others around and she also has the same power as Tyler, she can see people through mirrors, hence she isn’t in our coven because…”

“People with that have the same power can’t be in the same coven unless that coven is made up of people with just that particular power.” I finished.

“Right. Then there’s Dylan. He’s a healer. Any wound you get, he can fix, but it’s pretty exhausting.” Aided explained

“I haven’t really seen much of him.”

“Yeah, he likes to stay out the way, he just likes his own space.”

“That’s fair enough I guess.”

“And last but by no means least, there’s Maxine. She has the power of telekinesis and cloaking. Telekinesis is the power to move objects with her mind, while cloaking allows her to make people see what she wants them too. So she could cloak a house and everyone else would just see scenery or something, while she would be able to see the house. But people can walk into areas she’s cloaked, and when they do they will see what she is cloaking.”

“Why not cloak the house you’re all staying in?”

“She’s not strong enough yet. Bear in mind she’s only young.” Aiden shrugged. “Anymore questions?” He sighed.

“Just one.”

“It never ends with you. What is it?”

“Who’s Monica?”

“Finally, an easy one. She’s mine and Cam’s step mum. She has no powers or anything, but knows everything, obviously.” Aiden explained.

“Oh. Cam mentioned her, but never explained.”

“I’ll introduce you when we’re home. She’s alright. It’s just strange having someone who has no powers, knowing everything about us.” Aiden shrugged. He looked down at his watch and sighed. “Been out a few hours now. Long enough for everyone to get nice and worried.”

"Good." Jasmina mumbled, keeping her head low. Aiden glanced over at Jasmina from the corner of his eye. He could see the frown on her face and muttered something incoherent to himself.

"What did the i***t do?"

"Huh?"

"I love my brother, honestly I do but he can be a complete moron sometimes. What was it this time?"

"He dream walked." Jasmima said quietly.

"Last night? To be fair to the guy yesterday was a pretty stressful day. I don't think he meant any harm."

"I don't mean just last night. He was dream walking in my head before we even met. I was scared of all of you when I first saw you because of him. Especially you." Jasmina frowned. Aiden looked puzzled for a moment.

"So you mean you saw me in your dreams as well? Before you met any of us?" Aiden asked. Jasmina just nodded. "Huh." Was all Aiden mumbled. 

"What is it?"

"Well if I was there the projection of me wouldn't have come from you. So it must have been Cam putting me there. He made you scared of me." Aiden frowned.

"He said he struggled to control the dreams because I was fighting it and my powers." Jasmina shrugged, trying to offer anything she had to Aiden's thoughts. But Aiden just shook his head.

"You know he doesn't like you being around me right? What better way to get you to stay away than to make you scared of me." Aiden muttered bitterly. "I'm not saying he did it on purpose exactly. But if the thought crossed his mind and he wasn't in control, he easily could have caused you to think that way about me."

"Why would he do that?"

“He thinks I have it in for him. It’s just brother stuff.” Aiden shrugged. Jasmina knew he wasn’t telling the whole truth but she let it go for now. "Well everyone is going to be pretty pissed off with us anyway by now, I say we make a day of it." Aiden grinned mischievously. Jasmina just smirked, looking down at her hands.

"What do you have in mind?" Jasmina asked curiously, making Aiden's grin even bigger. He knew she wouldn't take anymore convincing.

"Anything you want. Today you are not a witch, and I am not a warlock. We are two regular teens who can spend the day doing stupid teenage stuff." Aiden declared, standing up and taking both of Jasmina's hands to pull her up with him.