Chapter 28 – Joe

'So where are we, then?' I asked Ella about half an hour later. Neither her or myself had moved from our snuggled positions but I could tell she was warming up quite dramatically and was starting to feel a bit more like herself. She traced little patterns on my leg as she watched the wave's crash into the shore, a small smile on her face ever present. She was absolutely beautiful and I felt an immediate wave of guilt for crushing on someone else's Soulfinder so bad. Note to self; maybe ask Ella if she was born premature. I was a few weeks late, so she'd have to be a few weeks early for us to compensate the dates correctly for us to even have a chance. Then I had to convince her to try telepathy.

'In between Dizzard and Beeny point,' Ella said and I nodded.

'And where exactly is that?' I questioned further because I had never even heard of the names she had mentioned.

'North coast of Cornwall, secluded from literally everywhere in a protected wildlife woods; I mean the nearest thing we have around us is a deserted farm and that's three miles South-East from here. The nearest town would be Boscastle, but that's just a heritage sight and a few tourist shops. Widemouth Bay is a bit further east, but has a wonderful surfers beach. Michael and I used to go down there before the crash with the family – it was our yearly holiday. A few miles up from Widemouth is the nearest proper town – Bude. Got some supermarkets, petrol station and some cute ass shops but when we go shopping it's going to have to be to either Truro or Barnstaple.'

'Ella, Hun, you do realise you're just naming places and the only one I've heard off so far is Truro.' I said as she looked up at me smiling sweetly. I had a sudden urge to kiss her, but tried to make myself forget the memory. God damn, the things I would give to be able to use my gift on myself.

'Both are about an hour's drive from here. We don't have much time now to go and shop.'

'Tomorrow, then.' I said and she nodded, leaning back into my chest.

'Tomorrow indeed.' She mumbled again.

'You seem a bit more... relaxed than you do at base.' I simply said and she looked up at me frowning slightly. I looked down at her slightly and saw the straight in the eye. They were a slightly greener colour today, turning grey a bit around the outside with flecks of hazel around the pupil. Her eyes were just as intriguing as her.

'Er, yeah.' She simply said, sitting up a bit slightly so she wasn't completely against me but I still had my arm around her shoulders. However, Ella looked slightly more uncomfortable.

'You're good, don't worry. Don't tell me if you don't want too,' I said to her again and she just shrugged, curling up slightly but into herself rather than into me.

'Can I be honest with you?' She whispered hugging her legs close to her chest as she looked over at me. I nodded. 'If you knew something and it would change someone's life forever – would you tell them?' She asked and I frowned at her thinking about the question.

'Change someone's life... how?' I asked, and she nodded at me slightly. I guess she didn't expect me to probe the question.

'I don't know – I mean, you don't know what impact it'll have, you just kind of know it will change someone you care about in some way, you don't know if it'll work out just fine or if it'll... ruin them. What would you do?' Ella said and she looked at me with a pointed look. What the hell was she suggesting? I guess she didn't know enough about me to have a secret that would "change my life" so this clearly wasn't about me. If it wasn't about me, it would make sense how she seemed more relaxed when she was away from base if the secret was about someone at base.

'How much do you care about this person?' I asked and she gave me a one shoulder shrug.

'A lot. And the worst thing is I think I care about them a lot more than my brain is letting me know. Does that sound stupid? I'm an idiot,' Ella said, closing her eyes and resting her head on her knees she was curled up that tight. I put my hand on her calf.

'You're not an idiot, Ella. You care about the person so much that you're letting this secret you're holding about them get you down. But what I would do? You clearly care a lot about this person, so just tell them. What's the worst that can happen?' I told her and she just looked me dead in the eyes, a small smile on the side of her face. 'What?' I asked her, running my hand through her hair. It was almost like I couldn't keep my hands off her.

'When you was born – you was late?' She simply asked and I hesitated.

'A few weeks late, yeah.' And she nodded. What has that got to do with the secret? I thought about it for a second and hesitated. Was she suggesting what I thought she was?

'Let's go down the beach – I've been dying to go down since we arrived,' she said, jumping up again in her usual high spirit. She must have felt better, but I was confused why the secret she was on about lead to her asking if I was a late baby. 'Go put some shorts on, see you in a second.' She promptly said, pivoting on the spot and walking into her bedroom dragging the duvet on the floor. A few moments later, the door slammed as she got changed.

I jumped up, walking into my bedroom which was next to the lounge closing the door a bit quieter than Ella did. As I grabbed the backpack, opening up the main department. Was it more, or was Ella acting a bit more shy than she normally does. I've always viewed her as quite a confident person but I suppose every time I saw her she was around people she felt comfortable with – her brother or Jake, or her brother's Soulfinder's. The only time we've been alone was at the party, which we both were drunk off our rockers at, and then when I had to walk her to her train station and she seemed more hesitant there. She seemed more tame, quiet even. The only word I could pluck from my brain was shy. That was exactly how she seemed – shy. It was like one of those Commedia dell'arte actors, who have a mask on to hide their true self. The mask she wore was confident and happy and even outgoing but the second she could she removed the mask and the tame shy side of her was exposed. The mask was only removed when her temperature dropped.

'Are you naked? Can I come in yet?' Ella said, pushing down the handle. Quickly, I pulled up my short which I had found in my daydream about mask. She came around the corner of my bedroom smiling slightly. 'Put a shirt on, you're such an exhibitionist.' She joked.

'I never said it was okay to come in,' I joked back.

'I would have been in your room either way, get your ass in gear.' I heard her walk back into the lounge grabbing a dark grey shirt from the top of the bag and shook out the creases in it. Quickly, I pulled it over my head as I walked out into the corridor, grabbing my shoes from the side.

'Er, what are they doing?' Ella asked, pointing to my shoes.

'I plan on wearing them, you know, to walk outside in. It's dangerous out there,' I joked and she pulled a face. She had changed into a pair of short shorts, stopping just short of her bum and a baggy grey shirt that fell past her waist. She was sitting in the chair, hunched over and I could see the birthmark on her arm again – a small purple x shape that sat slightly above a small tan line.

'Shoes on a beach, now that's dangerous. I get it, you've never been on a beach but do you know what's on a beach... sand. Sand and shoes is a terrible idea.' She told me and I laughed slightly.

'So... no shoes?' I asked and she nodded, laughing slightly. As she stood up, she closed her eyes and swayed and I darted towards her, grabbing her waist and pulling her into my chest. I held her there one arm wrapped around her waist the other around her back gently holding her head as she covered her eyes, still slightly swaying in my arms.

'Hey, you alright there hun?' I asked her and she shook her head. 'What's up?' I asked as she rested the side of my head against me.

'Just really dizzy – I'm probably just nothing,' She mumbled.

'Tired?' I filled in the silence and she just nodded.

'Yeah, I'm just tired.' She whispered.

'We don't have to go down to the beach if you don't want too?'

'No – we're going down the beach, come on.' She said, taking my hand and leading me out of the lounge into the hallway, and then straight out the front door. She stood there for a second and I heard the lock click shut but never once did I let go of her hand. I stood there aimless for a second, wondering if it would be the correct thing to do to let go and remain some dignity and posterity in this situation. But did I want too? Nope. I was quite content and despite being in a strange location. I felt at home in a strange place all because of the five foot blonde next to me, still holding my hand looking increasingly pale and she still looked like she was dizzy. I frowned down at her, still increasingly worried that she wasn't well. I would never forgive myself if she was ill whilst we were in Cornwall and I was the only one who could care for her.

'Are you completely sure? It's quite a long walk,'

'It's just down the path; it's like a three minute walk.' Ella said, looking up at me as we turned to the right walking down past the empty green house – the way I didn't walk to get here. I frowned, wondering where we were going as the small narrow gravel path that was only big enough to go single file. But as we cleared the green house the path turned into a paved path with light orange tiles, three wide, leading straight down to the top of the wooden stairs. From here, I could just see the top of the wooden banister.

'The fuck?' I asked, stopping dead in the middle of the pathway as Ella walked on slightly, but got pulled back as she refused to let my hand go.

'It's a path. Quite a nicely paved path,' Ella joked.

'This wasn't here earlier – was it?'

'Yeah, it was here earlier. I saw it from the helicopter and you know... walked up here. Didn't you walk up the path?' She asked, tugging me into a walk as we went down closer to the edge of the cliff.

'No, I walked through that.' I pointed to the tangle of brambles and long grass that I had to fight my way through earlier. From here, it looked so tricky to climb through. Ella laughed slightly.

'Idiot,' She joked.

'Why didn't you tell me?' I asked her, and she grinned.

'You were a dickhead earlier.'

'You weren't much better.'

'Oh sure I was.'

'You were a complete arsehole.'

'Yet, here you are.' She turned away smiling, 'Race you down!' she shouted, before running down the beach. For the brief second she was in front of me, I saw the numerous scars on her legs and lower back and arms, where the vest top didn't completely cover. Some scars were old, barely visible, compared to others that were new, and only a few months of age.

When I was in the cell last night, Jake came in and chucked a large loose-leaf document at me. I frowned at him, and he just told me to 'Read it and leave it outside your door.'

So I did, I sat down on one of the benches. It was Ella's medial record, and it was the size of the dictionary. From when she was very young she had medical issues. Normally, by the seventh child in a family of Savant's, there will be some medical hiccups. But this normally comes later on, and more or less comes in the form of not being able to control powers. Generally, it works more like this. There's two savant genes; the KLT01-D*1 gene, which activates more the mind which access the weird mind power. It works on different genetic structures, explaining why people are different gifts compared to others, and explains why parent's gifts overlap the child's gifts; the two sets of chromosomes have both the genes, providing the parents are both savants, the gene joins and wala! You have a Savant child with strong genetic basis to be a Savant. They have a gift. Then there's also the mono aminosis macroglubsense low activation gene, or MAMGSLA. This is what causes the multiplying effect. The multiplying effect happens to every seventh child of the Mum, not the dad. After one child, the gene becomes active, and after every child until the seventh it becomes stronger. No one is too sure how it becomes stronger, but it does. On the seventh child, the gene is passed on, making them stronger, and this gene more prominent than in the others. So, you have a seventh child who is already stronger, and then on that seventh child's seventh child, you'd have a very powerful Savant. Confusing science. I'm not into that stuff. All I know is I was the strongest, and most mentally volatile, of my siblings. And, Ella, as the seventh of her family, is the same. I knew that most of the seventh children suffer from never knowing – most from growing up and seeing your brothers and sisters age and never finding their Soulfinder. It makes for a sense of lacking, and its futile. And it does cause issues. Also, fighting against bad people causes injuries normally in late teens where you're impulsive and don't think. But, Ella's injuries started young.

The first page of her medical record is like most others, starts with her date of birth and other normal statistics; born late in the evening at 9 pounds 7 ounces, everything else was okay, released within five days after observation. I couldn't help but smile – so she wasn't some mutant. The next few pages were just x-rays from a broken arm two years later. Fell off a swing. I turned the next page, expecting to keep laughing. Stalking someone's medical record is the best way to get to know someone. But it wasn't what I expected. It was broken bones, alright, but not from childhood injuries.

Eleanor Mia Evans, DoB May 16th, 1994.

I skipped the medical notes and looked at the diagram they provided and circles the injuries with red pen. They may as well of coloured it in. Punctured lung shattered Tibia, fractured Fibia, dislocated shoulder, several smashed ribs, potential internal bleeding, fractured skull, cuts and bruises, ruptured appendix. She was a wreck after the crash.

I could see them now, running around the medical room, Ella's body lying inert on the table. Medical personnel rush around, trying to save her. The paramedics tell the doctor on duty that she was awake at the scene, but was put unconscious to stop the effects of shock.

'If she wakes up, she'll be an orphan.'

'She has other family, I'm sure.'

'Five other relatives other than the parents, dead on arrival.'

'Shit.'

'There's another young boy alive, slightly better condition than her, taken to another hospital.'

'Let's pray from them both, they'll be the only family each other have.'

The doctor assessed the situation, before quickly yelling 'Get her to the operating room, now!' and they did. They operated for many hours, plating up bones and stemming internal bleeding, removing the appendix and re-inflating her lung, and resetting her heart a few times. After months and months of rehabilitation (and many, MANY pages of paper later), she was put into a mental ward, and deemed with severe insomnia and post traumatic stress disorder. Her uncle and aunt adopted her, and when she was diagnosed mentally sane, she moved to America. Checkups from there was relatively normal – stressed, insomnia, needs more rest. From there on, there were only a few cuts and bruises and broken bones working for the FBI, under a secret medical record only visible by high-up Savant agencies. Got shot two years ago when intervening in another FBI operation but the paperwork was dead from there on in, where either it wasn't printed or couldn't be found.

I looked at the scars, snaking up her leg, and pulled a face. She's gone through so much, she's lost the majority of her immediate family, and the one brother she's had left, she lives on the other side of the world too. Sure, she's got her adopted family and they are her brothers now, but she still suffers insomnia. I just wanted to hug her. But not now, not ever. I instead decide to race her down to the sea.

I can run fast, but somehow she got me there before me.

'Fucking hell, its freezing!' She shouted.

'Language, kid.'

'I'm older than you don't call me kid.'

'Older? You're only older by a few months.'

'It doesn't matter, I'm still older.' She joked around. She just stood, framed by the setting sun, mid-calf in the sea, looking out. 'Wish I could swim away from this all.'

'You'd end up in Wales; I'd want to stay here if I was you.' She smiled slightly, a genuine smile and looked down at the small waves. She looked picturesque and if I owned a modelling company I would definitely hire her. She was the most beautiful person in England easy.

'Well, if I swum in a straight line, I'd probably end up in Southern Ireland.'

'Can you even swim?'

'I work at a swimming place, of course I can swim. I also can surf so yeah, I can definitely swim.'

'Swim across the sea?'

'I can try.' She joked, walking a bit further into the ocean.

'Please don't die.' I couldn't stop myself from staying that, she quickly looked over and looked me up and down, a small grin spreading across her face before it all dropped off. She opened her mouth to say something, looking out across the ocean but in that split second I had a fear that I had messed up by saying that.

'I don't want to be here for a month alone. I'm bored and we've been here less than 12 hours.' I added as she nodded, her mouth closing again as she bit her lip looking down at the sea again, blinking back the tears. I sounded like an asshole.

'I'm going back to the bungalow and going to bed. Night.' She turned around, and walked slowly back up the beach and up the stairs. Something upset her and I wasn't rude enough to question what did upset her. Instead, I just stayed on the beach for another hour or so, and by the time I got back, the door to her room was closed.