Chapter 8

    Aurora stared at the entrance door of Sanctuary.  She hoped Brennan and Shalimar would walk in the door and tell her Gabriel was fine and that she was worrying for nothing.  She had been sitting in the empty living room for several minutes.  Time seemed to pass very slowly.   As a child, Aurora learned to trust her instincts and her instincts told her that Gabriel was in trouble.  Her instincts were normally always corrected.  But in this case, she hoped that she was wrong.

    "Want something to eat?" asked Jesse who was standing in the doorway that connected the living room and the kitchen.

    Aurora, caught off guard, jumped to her feet.  She turned to face Jesse.  "You startled me," she answered.

    "Sorry, " he walked and stopped when he was standing right in front of her.

    "To answer your question, no I'm not hungry."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yeah, I'm not a big eater." Aurora looked directly into Jesse's eyes and then quickly looked way.  There was an awkward pause.

    "So," Jesse started," What's it like being a Telepath?"

    Aurora gave Jesse a confused look.  "Sorry, bad question," Jesse said.

    "No, it's okay.  I just didn't expect that.  Honestly, being a Telepath can be a pain sometimes.  I remember in high school, this guy I liked asked me out and I thought he liked me too.  But it turns out he just kept thinking about how he was going to get me to have sleep with him.  Of course that didn't happen.  I left in the middle of the date."

    Aurora continued," Most of the time I can block out people's thoughts so I can just concentrate on my own.  But sometimes, I can't. Sometimes I get these bad headaches from it."  Aurora paused and looked into Jesse's eyes without looking away.  "Not many people know what it's like to have other people's thoughts running through your head at once; not being able to pick one out from the others.  It has gotten easier to block everyone's thoughts, but some thoughts will occasionally slip into my head.  Like yours did.  Or once and a while, someone will be thinking to loud so I hear them."

    "People can think too loud?" Jesse asked looking confused.

    "I know it sounds weird, but yes it's possible. Being a Telepath isn't all bad so don't think I hate my power, it just has it's disadvantages.  It has its perks too.  Enough about me, what about you?  What's your power?"

    "I can make myself intangible," Jesse replied.  "I can walk through solid objects and I can make objects intangible.  I can also become impervious."

    "Are you saying that you can get shot and the bullet wouldn't even leave a scratch?"

    "Basically, but I can only become impervious when I hold my breath so if you were thinking about testing my powers you can forget it."

    "Now who's the mind reader?"  Jesse chuckled and they both smiled at each other.   "Just kidding," said Aurora.     

    There was another awkward pause. They stared into each other's eyes. They got a little closer to each other leaned in for a kiss.

    "Jesse," they heard someone say and they both backed away.  Adam walked into the living room.  "While we're waiting for Brennan and Shalimar to get back, why not give Aurora a tour of Sanctuary?"

    "Sure," Jesse answered, feeling a little embarrassed.  I can't believe what I almost did.  He thought to himself.  She's Brennan's sister

    What are you doing? She asked herself.  Jesse may be cute but you don't even know him, she told herself.  This time Aurora wasn't listening to his thoughts because she felt a little embarrassed herself.

     "Okay, if you follow me this way I'll show you around," Jesse said as he started to walk out the door and Aurora followed him.