There are a few things I should probably clear up before we get started with this book. This entire book is based off the "Finding Sky" trilogy, written by Joss Stirling and uses the characters that she has created. None of the Benedict family were created or characterised by myself. The main character(s) of this book are an addition to this trilogy. If you don't know what I am on about, please read the "Finding Sky" trilogy, because I might not explain everything very well within this book as I'm going on the assumption people know what it is and don't explain it fully until quite a few chapters in.

"Capturing Ella" is written in an alternative universe before Misty Falls happen. Not for any reason other that I planned this before the release and have only just got around to writing it. So whilst the events of Finding Sky, Stealing Phoenix and Seeking Crystal have all happened, the events of Misty Falls and Angel Dares (when I write this pre-note, Angel Dares hasn't been released but it probably will be by the time you read this) haven't happen.

This is where it gets a bit hard to follow; Ella Benedict is adopted. Never heard of Ella Benedict? It's because she's my own character. If you want to skip this part and find out what happened in the story, then that's completely understandable and you can! However, if you want the background information here's what happens; When she was born, she was only the Benedict boy's cousin from England. But when she was four she was in a horrific car crash that killed her parents and her five older brothers and sisters. So Saul and Karla adopted Ella (who is genetically their niece – still following?) but when the forensic reports of the car crash come back they find out the car crash was actually an attempted murder attempt on the family and they have to cover the two remaining siblings of the family. They get Victor to alter the minds of everyone in the town to believe that Yves and Ella are non-identical twins despite the age different. Ella is quite a small girl, so even though she was six when Yves was four, everyone believed they were twins. Ella's mental state wasn't quite right and had a major relapse before the start of Kindergarten when she was only six, so they pulled her out of Kindergarten and let her start three years behind school with Zed. Whilst I explained this terribly, it will be explained better within chapters where relevant – but even though she's 20/21 in this, she had only just graduated High school. Also, the one brother that survived the crash with Ella is Michael, who is also in this book.

Also whilst I have done as much research as I can on the laws of England and America, I still don't know everything. But legal age in England is 18 to drink. On that note, I don't condemn people getting drunk illegally and in that one chapter where some characters do drink, it is completely legal. Please don't break the law.

Quite a few people have also messaged me asking how I am going to write from two different perspectives – and honestly I don't know yet. But from the few chapters at various points in the un-chronological order, it seems there is a distinct different. The chapters from Joe's POV when Ella is involved is quite speech-based, in comparison to Ella's POV when Joe is involved (especially when they first meet) it's very wordy and psychological based.

Talking of psychology, please note that mental illness is a theme in this book and can be mentioned. I understand that it can be quite triggering for some readers so I will put major triggering chapters in warnings at the beginnings. Primarily within this book, anxiety is a key thing for Ella and the way she reacts and it's based on my friends (and my own) anxiety and the way I react in certain situations.

This part is also an apology; some chapters can be short (like, 800 words? I mean, this is currently 600 words – seems odd) and some chapters will be long (i'm on about 8000. It's happened before – I binge write, I'm so sorry.) so I might split the longer chapters up into parts but put them up within the hour of the first part. Also to mention; the first few chapters are a bit scene setting, but it will get a bit better.

Also; another thing when I was planning was about the way genetics would work and how everything would work based on sexuality and I couldn't think there was a define reason why the Soulfinder relationships would be limited to boy-girl and male-female so bisexuality is also a thing that certain characters mention.

That's all for now – Enjoy! :)

Chapter 1 – Joe

March, 2015

The bread knife hung perilously between the shoulder blades of my best friend, the tip of said knife causing a slight dimple in the muscles next to the spine. Suspended in the air, I frowned at the knife for a second or two until I could feel the weight of the stainless steel blade in my mind and had to remind myself to stay in control.

Well, I guess this was the literal interpretation of backstabbing.

'Now, if you wouldn't mind stabbing me,' Jason said impatiently. The twenty year old stood in the middle of my parent's kitchen with just a pair of swimming trunks on and in the international gesture showing that he isn't armed. I almost found it amusing he stood with his hands above his head, but still continued to egg me on. I continued to stare at the knife, feeling my control of it waiver in and out as my mind wandered. Is it stupid that I'm twenty and still live at home? Don't get me wrong, my parents are hardly ever here as they work at the incoherent hours at night but I still live with them. I've lived in this house for as long as I can remember - it's just my childhood house. A small five bedroom house located on the outskirts of the nearest town with only a few houses around us. As the youngest child, I always had my own bedroom compared to my older siblings. The room we were currently in had little to no change from moving day over fifteen years ago. The room was rectangular, with double patio doors looking across the garden and further onto the green fields behind our house that we used to play on. Counters filled three sides of the room, only breaking for the door. My parents when choosing the colour scheme had gone light and modern, with a light oak finish on the cupboards and white marble tops which has since been stained in some places and cluttered with utensils. On the fourth wall was a built in sofa and a table, with six more chairs around the other sides. With a big family comes a big dining arrangement. However, since my brothers and sisters were older than me, a six year age gap between me and the next brother out, everyone had flown the nest... apart from me. Not for long, though. At the end of August, I was moving into my own small flat a few miles away from here. What could go wrong in the mean time?

Even Jason had moved out at the age of eighteen when he went to university. In fact, all of my friends went to university, in pursue of a career that required a degree in God knows what and a heavy debt which many will never repay. I knew what I wanted to do as a career for ages now, from when I was little. What I wanted to do was pretty simple; I wanted to stop people using their Savant gifts for criminal reasons. When I was younger, my oldest sister Carly told me to picture our family as undercover superheroes. We all had various gifts, or "powers" as she used to call them, and we can do what we want with me. They are ours to keep. However, some people misuse theirs and use them for bad. Of course when Carly explained this to me I was six, so the crimes she told me peoples gifts were used for was theft and muggings. Our family was devoted to stopping them, but at the age of six I was too young. To be fair, at the age of six I was already losing control of my gifts and was in the deep end.

Let's just say my parents didn't catch on to what my gift was until it was far too late.

I had started mainstream infant school, and was sat in my year 1 class alone. I was bullied because I was different. Please read "different" as "a mess". I was overweight and didn't have much in the good looks department. My teeth were wonky and sticking out and I was called "Beaver-teeth" for several years. But I used to always love drawing and reading – but when you're six and prefer to sit at the painting table with the girls rather than play with the Playmobil cars; you are always going to be the laughing stock of the class. I was okay with that, though, because it meant I stay to myself – something my family always told me I must. I always kept a guard up because that's what my older brothers and sisters do, and keep my little superpower inside in brain. That was until one reading time.

The class of thirty all sat down on the floor together, as the teacher held up the book we were reading. Today it was the "Very Hungry Caterpillar". The teacher read through page by page and I was so interested in the fruits that the caterpillar was eating that suddenly everyone in the room stopped. The teacher looked at me with slight horror before calling the head teacher. I was taken into a room, with my parents to one side of me and the teacher to the other completely confused. What had I done? I didn't do anything but all the kids ran from me screaming that I was a stranger and "stranger danger!" but I have always been in the class.

In that meeting, the teacher protested she had never seen be before, and I was a new student and I just crept into the class – even though I was six – and the head teacher kept telling the teacher I have been at this school for three years. Eventually, my parents said they're withdrawing me from that school and into another school in the district because they didn't like the way I was treated within that meeting. Real story; my gift had started to play up and it wasn't safe for me to be here anymore. I think that was when my parent's realised I had a gift that was unique and wasn't as common. Effectively, I can alter mind patterns. I can change the way people look at things as easily as people can clap. I can make them stop thinking about certain things, or completely remove something for their brain. That is what I did with the entire class – I managed to remove myself from thirty kids and three teacher's memories because I loved "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book too much.

That night, Carly, the joint eldest in the family sat me down and told me about the gift I have and how it is a very good gift and I should never look down at it and that my gift can help so many people. And since then, I wanted to be able to help people. When my naivety fell away when I realised Savant's don't just use their gifts for crime – but for something much more serious. It can be from anything for kidnapping to murder. My gift could help find out the truth from the criminal but also help soothe the victims. After the whole Hungry Caterpillar incident, we moved down south into Berkshire where my parents got some jobs. However, about an hour down the road the Government had set up a new branch of the secret service – another complete section. The English Government prefers to work in branches, so in the whole stopping criminal section there were several different branches including M.I.5 as well was M.I.6, but also Maui – the new criminal prevent section for people who are Savant's. You see, Savant's are born with the genetic build up that is different compare to everyone else meaning they have unique gifts and could do things that normal people can only dream of. However, the minimum age they accept for safety reasons was 21. So whilst I had been working under my brother's supervision since I was sixteen, I had to wait until my 20th birthday nearly ten months ago to start the recruitment process. Thankfully, because I started earlier and the two brothers up from me – Jake and Quinn – both worked there, I was accepted 6 months before my 21st. So whilst my friends have graduated from university in hope there's a career out there, I already had mine lined up and had started a few weeks ago. But until that flat because available, I was still living at home.

I focused back on the knife against my best friends back, realising I must have been daydreaming for a good five minutes whilst he remained frozen, knowing any move would stab him straight in the back. The knife I had chosen for this was a bread knife, long and thin with serrated edges. I could see each edge vividly, some were getting blunt from use but the tip of the knife still held promise.

Could I do it? Could I stab my best friend in the back? Sure I could. Anyone could. I've known Jason since we were six, and I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I wish I could have stabbed him. He was cocky, loud, and arrogant. This would be an ideal solution to cure his narrow-minded ways. But no, I couldn't. I gently pulled the blade away from his back before watching it clatter to the floor.

'Knew you wouldn't stab me!' Jason said, turning around smiling. I pulled a face at him, tightening the cord on my swimming shorts. It was a warm August, and as most of the buildings in England were building mid-Victorian they all lacked air conditioning. Jason and I had decided to spend today at the local swimming pool before we both had to into work at 3 this afternoon. I look back at Jason, shooting him a dodgy look. 'You're such a wuss,' he simply said.

'I'm a wuss for not stabbing you?' I asked.

'Yeah, you always say you want to stab me but when you had the chance - you didn't!' He said, picking up his shirt from the side counter and refolding it up again.

'I meant it metaphorically,'

"Well, I was just testing you then," I rolled my eyes. Jason will graduated from university with a 2:1 degree in Criminal science, and ever since then he's been closely examining me. He's been watching to see if my work has affected my mental state. So far; nothing. But nothing major has happened in the three months I've been working for the probation period. I'm sure that'll change now I've finished probation and actually work there; it's just a matter of time.

'Anything?' I retorted, telekinetically opening the fridge and getting out a bottle of water.

'Apart from your evidential laziness, no.' Jason got up and walked to the fridge to get his own bottle of water. Jason wasn't a Savant, even though he wanted to be. I was the opposite; a Savant who just wanted to be normal. Savant's are rare and are you are meant to be honoured that you are gifted with such talented minds that can perform all aspects of ESP. But... that not how it works. By being a Savant you are confined to the rules of camouflage. You must remain hidden and quiet about your gifts or you'll piss off quite a few agencies out there. You should either use your gifts for good or for nothing. Not only that, you're doomed to being single too!

Every Savant is born with a Soulfinder, who'll light up his or her world accordingly. They are genetically dispositional to be together - their gifts will be stronger together and their love undeniable. Sounds wonderful in theory, and I'm a massive sucker for the whole romance thing and I'm not afraid to admit it even though Jason says it ruins my "man" image. There's nothing more I want then me to be sitting with my Soulfinder, me play with her (or his, there have been a few stories passed around when people realise they are bisexual as their Soulfinder is of the same gender) hair one night as they fall asleep slowly. There's also nothing more I want then one night to sit my child on my lap and read them bedtime stories as my Soulfinder sits next to me, smiling. That's the dream. But I accepted it long ago that it probably won't happen. The chances of someone finding their Soulfinder is near enough zero and there are no ways of narrowing it down. Sucks to be us all the time.

'You are going to that race thing today, then?' Jason asked as I grabbed my bottle of water from the table, walking to the front door. The "race thing" Jason was on about was Race for Life, a female only charity run to raise money for Cancer Research UK. This year, the majority of the females who work at Maui decided to form a team together and run the muddy obstacle version of the course in fancy dress. My only sister, and joint eldest Carly, said she'd do it and persuaded our sister in law, Leannah, to join in. Sure enough, them two as well as nearly forty others all signed up together finding it hilarious at the time. As time approached, Leannah fell pregnant and three weeks ago gave birth to two twin girls, my nieces. Jake has been attempting to persuade her to sit it out but too little avail. I have been called along to help him babysit the twins and support them in their run. Honestly, I was looking forward to it - it was bound to be a good laugh. Forty of the most serious ladies in such a highly secretive jobs running 5km through mud and through an obstacle course in stupid costumes were something I wouldn't miss.

'Yeah, could be interesting. I think Jake is picking me up in about two hours or something,' I said.

'We better go swimming now, then.'

Nows probably a good time to mention: I can't swim. Okay, I can swim I'm just not a confident swimmer and cannot swim for very long. Thankfully as I was over six foot tall, I could stand in the six foot section in tip toes and appear like I was swimming. I never liked going swimming, scared that I would drown but thankfully I never went to the ocean. Honestly, I only ever went to a beach when I was four and when you're that young armbands are acceptable. I'm not too sure if they do armbands and lifesaver rings in adult sizes. I just hope I'll never end up near a beach and I'm forced to swim for quite a while – and I would only appear in the ocean with my kid in the very shallows and even then I doubt I could pull that off.

'Alright, get out then.' I said, basically forcing him out the front door. I knew my parents weren't due home until tomorrow morning earliest, and so was I. Today was probably the business day of my social life so far. The Race for Life the girls were doing was in the early afternoon, then not only that there was a party that everyone in Maui was expected to come too. It was the talk of the base for the last three weeks. I needn't bring the key to the house swimming, and just telekinetically locked the door and set the alarm as the door closed, and both of us headed down the street towards the public swimming pool.

It's weird living in England. I mean, when we visited family in America a few summer's back, there were public outdoor swimming pools in every town and it was common. However, when England has an outdoor swimming pool in one of the newest parts of town it was seemed as a joke, with England only having a week and a half of days that would be warm enough to use the pool. That's it. Ten days out of 365. Not a good investment, I would say. However, Jason likes to use the pool and sees it as a good place to pick up girls, and it would probably be safer if I was there to stop him.

We walk, gently talking about stupid things for nearly ten minutes to see the pool was completely empty.

'Damn, no picking up any hot chicks today, then.' Jason said, pulling a face before jumping into the water splashing me on the side. I frowned at him, rolling my eyes as I sat down on the edge of the pool with just my calves in the water.

'Doesn't bother me.' I mumbled, but Jason managed to hear.

'Nah, you're too busy dreaming about your dream girl or guy, there is no shaming, aren't you?' He asked, before starting to swim lengths as I sat there wondering what he meant behind the comments. He knew the likelihood of a Savant finding their Soulfinder, and how slim it was to actually find your partner. But he and I both knew that the whole settling down with the one person you can truly love was something I couldn't wait to have but we both knew the chances of it happen was very slim indeed. I had little to no hope when it comes to these things. When I was younger, I never came first in the annual poetry competition my school held, or the art competitions. I never picked the winning raffle ticket in tombola, and I most definitely didn't have my way when it came to strategy games. I had what some of the "lads" in my years called wuss-syndrome. I say "lads" I correctively mean assholes. At the age of eighteen, they just wanted to get drunk every weekend and have wreck less one night stands with no commitment and relationships. When I was eighteen, I stayed in all night studying or looking at criminal cases. Now, a few months off my twenty first – when all my friends are still getting pissed night after night, or married and have kids of their own, all I want is to meet my Soulfinder.

But some things are just childhood dreams.