“I... I’m... not sure,” I hesitated.
“If anyone asks, we were together this afternoon. Is that clear? Let’s keep this our little secret and everything is going to be alright.” His voice intruded again into my mind.
“When did you become a telepath?”
“This morning. I guess it won’t last long as none of my special gifts ever lasted more than 24 hours.”
“Can you hear what I am saying to you?” I tried to tell him without speaking. He gave me a blank face. I tried again to speak directly into his mind and this time his look seemed even sillier.
“What are you doing?” He cracked a wry smile. “Are you trying to send me a telepathic message?” He winked.
“Was my attempt successful?”
“Not really. I am serious though when I say that I need your help.” His face was now serious. “The student that nearly assaulted you is missing. Everyone in the class saw me having a quarrel with him. If he is the dead person that was found near the lake, then I will become a person of interest.”
“Holy Moley, you’re right!” I suppressed a gasp. “How do I know though that you did not kill that person?”
“Because I told you so.”
“Is it enough? I do not know where you were this afternoon.”
“You do not know it, but I promise you that I did not hurt that man in any way. I may have threatened him a bit though ...”
“You did what?!” I yelled out loud. “I mean, you want me to testify that you were with me this afternoon, while in fact you were threatening a guy who is pronounced missing and he is most possible dead? I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you repeat it?”
I was convinced that the smile I faked looked pretty silly on me.
“I am asking you to trust me,” Arthur replied calmly as he gave me a piercing glance with his blue eyes. How hadn’t I noticed before how beautiful his eyes were? However, there was something about him that freaked me out. I had the gut feeling that something very dark was hidden inside of him.
“Can anyone else confirm your alibi?”
“No. I was alone practicing telekinesis and as soon as I finished, I was so tired that I went straight to bed.”
“I need an alibi, or I will be accused of that man’s death. I need you to confirm that we were together practicing telekinesis at the time of the murder.” He had intruded my mind again.
This new gift of his really creeped me out. I felt I was not given any other choice than support his alibi. He was the student with whom I had interacted the most since I got here less than 24 hours ago. That did not make us bond in any way, however, I felt more familiar with him that I felt with the students I met during today’s classes. He was not my friend, I had no friends here, and I did not know if I should trust him. I had to make a decision though.
I decided to join hands with him. Despite the darkness in his eyes, I did not feel threatened by him. On the contrary, he had proven to be protective of me by defending me against that nasty person in class.
I would give him the alibi he so desperately needed. If the choice I made was wrong, I would have to deal with the outcome later.
“You look great by the way.”
“What!” I yelled and a passerby turned and looked at me.
“Keep your voice down,” Arthur scolded me.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized and lowered my eyes.
“It’s okay,” he comforted me telepathically. “And yes, you look great.”
“Could you please stop doing that?” I said harshly but keeping my voice low. “You are not allowed to read my thoughts, except those about you.” That did not sound correct. “I mean, you can only read my telepathic conversations with you. And what is wrong with him?” I whispered as soon as I realized that the young student was still standing beside us, with a blank look on his face, like he was frozen.
“I made him shut down. He did not hear a word of what we just said. Don’t worry, he is the least of our problems.” He gave me a smile that sent a shiver up my spine. “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for being so nice to me.”
“I am not being nice to you. This morning you defended me and now I am paying you back. We are even,” I said while pretending to look indifferently at the coffee cup I was holding.
“Do you have any questions to ask me?”
“Yes, I have. Who was the man who died? Where did he die?”
“Do you fancy a walk?” he asked.
Of course, I did.
THREE FORENSIC WIZARDS dressed head to toe in white protecting uniforms were standing above a pile of black ashes stashed on the lakeshore. One of them knelt down and started placing the ashes in a plastic bag using a small shovel.
“What am I looking at?” I asked hesitantly in fear of what that I would hear might be.
“That’s what has remained of the victim,” Arthur said quietly.
“What happened to him?” I whispered close to his ear.
“He was scorched down.”
“By whom? And why?”
Arthur leaned toward me and whispered close to my ear, making sure he would not be heard by anyone else but me. “There have been rumors about a vigilante taking action on Afall Island.”
I looked at him terrified. “I don’t want to be here anymore. May we go back, please?” Arthur did not try to stop me when I started walking fast back to the Academy building.
My very first trip outside the Academy was not fun. I did not get to admire
