AN: OMG WHAAAT! What' up with Brielle's parents?! AND OMG GET READY FOR THE BENEDICTS IN THIS CHAPTER!

Thank you guys so much for the reviews! Honestly, every time I see there's a new review I get so excited I could do a happy dance!

P.S Soooo sorry this chapter came in so late! I had writers block for a couple of days and then couldn't seem to get it perfect! Hope you like it anyway!

Llamacorn: Guuuurrll, you review every single chapter and I'm so happy you do! Also I'll make sure I have loads of fun at Ed's concert for the both o us! Also who's your favorite guy/girl character in the Finding Sky series?! xx

Prettyweirdgirl: Sorry! I love cliffhangers! They get me really excited for writing the next chapter! Thank you so much for your review. It means a tooonn! Have you read all of the Finding Sky series including Misty Falls etc? Which is your favorite?

Disclaimer:

Any characters from the book Finding Sky that are used belong to the amazing Joss Stirling. Any other characters are my own:)

CHAPTER 6

Jasper (Jasper's mum's name is Loretta)

It had only been a few hours since I had personally met Brielle and had discovered she was my soulfinder. I knew she had a lot of baggage from her past that she was struggling to carry. All I wanted to do was free her from all the pain that she was going through and take the weight off her petite shoulders, but that all changed when her parents had started shooting at us. I had to be the one to tell her who they really were, and I knew that would tear her apart.

Three weeks earlier

I could hear mum on Skype with her sister, Aunty Karla, downstairs. They were talking about me. About how I was slipping, and was heading the bad way. Ugh I hated being talked about behind my back. Sometimes I wished my younger brother, Reagan, wasn't such a straight laced version of me because it made my parents pick him as a favorite over me.

I heard my mum change the subject from me to Reagan, when Aunty Karla asked about him.

"He's doing great! He's getting the highest grades in every class, and has really taken to science." I could just feel my mum beaming as she talked about him and everything he was good at.

Reagan was only a year younger then me, and looking a heck of a lot like me. Stupid curly hair that went everywhere and didn't do what you ever wanted it to do, height that soared above everyone else at an impressive 6.3ft, and naturally tan skin that came from my mum's Hispanic side. We had roughly the same shape face, mine being sharper at the edges, his more round. His eyes were a sky blue, where mine were sea green. Many people thought I was the youngest, seeing how wise and intellectual my younger brother was, but I would assure them that he was the baby of the family.

"JASPER! COME DOWN AND SAY HI TO AUNTY KARLA!" Mum called from the kitchen.

I knew as soon as I went down there I would be swamped by disapproving looks and questions from both my mum and aunty, so I did what I could do best in a family of savants, and put up my strongest shields. Windsor Castle strong. Both my mum and aunty could see glimpses of the future and read other peoples thoughts without even meaning to, but when they were together, they were unstoppable.

Bracing myself as I went downstairs, I heard my mum telling my aunt what nice day it was out. It was storming, but mum wouldn't admit that to her sister who lived in Wrickenridge, Colorado, where it was like 90 degrees everyday.

"Hi Aunty Karla." I addressed my aunt as I walked up behind mum on the laptop.

"Jasper, darling! How are you!?" She smiled over enthusiastically.

"Fine." I muttered as I raised my eyebrow at mum.

Both sisters exchanged an insufferable look.

"Ok, what's up. What have I done now?" I knew I was in for a lecture from both of them.

"Oh calm down, Jasper! You're getting all flustered!" Mum gave Aunty Karla a side-wards glance as if looking for reassurance. My Aunty gave a slight nod of encouragement to her.

"Well, dear. Your aunty and I were talking about you.." Great. I knew it. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. "..and we think that you might be heading the same way Zed did before he met Sky..."

Deciding it was best to just listen to what they had to say, I roamed the kitchen cupboards, looking for something to eat. I settled for an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle of the counter, and took a seat across from mum so I didn't have to see them both giving me disfavoring looks.

I took a bite of my apple as she continued.

"When Zed found Sky he realized that his actions weren't the actions that would get him anywhere in the future...a future with his soulfinder. So your aunt and I have discussed this a lot and..."

This was getting interesting, the silence coming from the laptop in front of mum was rather unusual.

"..we think that it might be a good idea to ask Crystal to find your soulfinder for you.."

The apple in my mouth turned to sawdust. I swallowed the now tasteless fruit.

"What happened to the 'No soulfinders until you're 18' thing?" I grumbled.

Even though everyday I wonder where she might be, or when I might meet I her, or what she would look like, I never really thought about finding her until I was at least 18. My oldest cousin Trace had met his soulfinder, Diamond, when he was 24, and I had always thought that was roughly a reasonable age to settle down.

"Well, we know how much Zed changed after meeting Sky and he was just like you! Doing the same things, getting in trouble, making a reputation at school..." Mum argued her point.

"At least think about it, Jasper. We only want the best for you." My aunties voice came from the laptop once more.

–-

A couple of days had gone past before I came up with a decision about the soulfinder situation. Both my mum and my dad had organized for us to spend Thanks Giving at our cousins in Wrickenridge, and I had decided that with the whole family being there, I would ask Crystal to find my soulfinder for me in private. AWAY from my families crazy Thanks Giving celebrations.

I had not yet told my parents about what I had decided to do, and they gave me the perfect opportunity when they called me from my room.

"Jasper Black! Come downstairs at once!" My dad nearly shouted it from the living room.

I knew I was in some kind of trouble when he called me by my full name.

What could I possibly have done now?

I sauntered down the stairs as slowly as I could, already thinking up excuses that I had no idea what to use for yet.

"Ok, I admit, I haven't been the most perfect son, but you already have one of those and another one would be a total bore!..what have I done now huh?" Turning into the living room, I said my piece before they could accuse me of anything, not knowing that what they had to say had nothing to do with my recent behavior.

They both looked at me with mouths forming perfect "o's".

"Whatever you thought we called you down for, it's not that." My dad said in his fatherly tone of voice that meant he was worried for me.

"Oh..Right.." I stammered.

"Well, what we really called you down for was that we've had a heads up from your cousin, Victor, that in a few days there will be a family moving nearby, who we have reason to believe are working for the anti-savant organization."

This would explain the urgency in his call when he shouted for me earlier, but I sensed there was more.

"..and? There's more?" I tried reading his thoughts as I knew he was keeping something from me, but I hit a wall. He had his shields up. This was serious.

"Victor has informed us that this organization has been around for a very long time. Longer then any of us expected, and we have been informed by members of the Savant Net that they haven't just stopped at "interrogations", as they like to call them, but they have not hesitated to take lives. Savant lives."

Of course I would not forget the stunt Eli Davis had pulled on one of my friends, Angel, almost drowning her.

"We don't think their arrival here is a coincidence. We think they know your powers, and your strength. Your ability to detect a savant would be very useful to them and their co-op." My mum added.

I knew where this was going.

"If you guys think I'm going to go on lock-down until you find out whether these people are who you think they are, then you're wrong. I have end of year exams coming up! If I mess these up, I would have to re do the whole year!"

Even though my parents thought I didn't keep up with my studies and they were just subjects that bored me to death, I thrived from learning. I loved learning. If there was one thing I could do without having to think too hard, it was algebra, but I wasn't exactly wanting to go the brainy way, like my older cousin Yves. I would never pull it off. I liked the reputation I had earned. Not exactly the one my parents wanted, but I liked it and they knew it.

"Alright. We won't keep you at home, but there will be boundaries. No going out with that gang of yours. You know your mother and I don't like them. You will not be able to use your gift, telepathy, or telekinesis outside of this house. Both you and your brother will have a curfew." My dad was persistent with his plan that he thought was somehow "protecting" me.

"Wait, but that's not fair! They're my friends! I don't see you making a fuss about Reagan not seeing his friends."

"It's only for your safety, dear." So mum was good cop. I could handle that.

"No. It's not just for my safety. You've wanted to have these rules put in place long before you knew this anti-savant family was moving into the neighborhood. It's only brought them forward. Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me that when this family is gone, these rules will be too? I know I'm not your favorite son, and that I do things that you don't approve of, but I thought at least you'd be half decent parents when it came to something like this, rather then finally being able keep me caged up in here just because you don't like my friends..."

I knew I was going way too far. Neither of them deserved me talking to them like this, but I couldn't hold back when I sensed hesitation from them, indicating that everything I had said was true. I could see the utter astonishment in my dad's eyes that I was jumping to these conclusions, but something inside me told me it wasn't just that. It wasn't just a conclusion. It was the truth.

"Well you now what. I don't like you. I am tired of being the son that you don't like to talk about with other parents because I'm not good enough for you.."

I could see the tears running down my mum's flushed cheeks and dad's angry face looking at me, infuriated that I had upset his wife, his soulfinder, but it only seemed to make me dig a deeper hole for myself.

"..So you don't have to deal with me anymore ok? I'll get out of your hair. You can finally have your perfect family with one perfect son. I won't be a bother to you anymore."

With that I stormed out of the living room, into the hallway, only to be confronted by some unexpected visitors.

"Zed warned us you might try to storm off, and under the circumstances, it was a really bad idea." Victor stood in front of me with his steely gaze directed at me, Trace and Uriel flanked him. "We flew in from Denvor this morning."

Uriel stepped forward and gestured to the living room where I could hear my mum sobbing and dad murmuring comfort to her.

"I think you have an apology to make." I glared at him, and then at Victor, and Trace. Damn their timing.