Breaking Hope (Finding Sky edit)

Chapter 16

The night after Oscar told me everything about Savants went past quickly. I was mainly stuck in a state of daydreaming, thinking about what he said, trying to add it all up. I put on one of my slightly thicker hooded jumpers, sticking the hood up and fiddling with the sleeve, weighting up what I believed about what he told me. If what Oscar had told me was right, and there was a Savant in every 15,000 individuals, that must mean statistically there is 4 million Savant's on Earth right now. Four million, and no one has come to the light and demonstrated their gifts? I mean, if I could read people's minds I would go into that industry and make millions of dollars. I also distinctly remember a case study in psychology, that said $1 million was waiting for anyone who can prove the existence of ESP, but it remained unclaimed. Four million individuals had this so called Savant thing that Oscar said, and none of them wanted $1 million. As if! Isn't that enough to prove that it doesn't exist? It has to be.

But, it made sense? All of the stuff Oscar had told me, made sense in a way. Didn't it explain the voice in my head, and didn't it explain why random bits of paper can fly? It, in a weird and unorthodox way, actually made sense. If I was a Savant, then it would just be natural, genetic, for me to do these weird things. Also, if I was a Savant, the voice in my head would be from the weird man compared to me hallucinating voices. Maybe this was all true?

I knew Oscar had the reputation to be a complete asshole, but he wouldn't lie to me about Ella just for attention, or just to get a few kisses. No, he wasn't like that. So what he said about Ella must have been real, then? I sat up quickly, opening the lid of my laptop and pulled up Google. I knew there was one way to check if what he said was bullshit, and that was to try and find a news article about the crash. Because if it was true, it would have hit mainstream media and newspaper, and everything he told me would be completely validated. I didn't want to do this, but I knew it was the only way to stop the voices in my head telling me it's all bullshit. I typed in the date the crash happened, and the M4 where I knew the crash had happened, and pressed internet. I paused, lungs on hold and heart in my mouth, as I waited for the results to come up. And sure enough what I saw validated Ella's life.

Seven dead, three critically injured in deadly motorway crash

Siblings, aged 4 and 6 in critical condition after deadly crash kills seven

Waking up orphans – the motorway crash that destroyed these kids lives

I started shaking, clicking the top link that came up, and waiting for it to load the entire article. I quickly closed the adverts that had popped up, frowning at how insensitive the adverts were. People died, and all they care about was promoting washing up liquid.

"Seven dead, three critically injured in deadly motorway crash," the article read, dating back to December nearly fifteen years ago. It was one of those articles that had been typed up from newspapers, just like the others I guess. The picture at the top of the page showed a heap of metal in what I assume would be a metal scrap yard. I skipped past the bullet points that the top of the article, and continued reading with a heavy heart.

"Seven members of the same family died today after a tragic car accident on the M4 motorway today, that occurred as two cars carrying the family collided with a lorry. The tragedy happened at 10:03am on the 28th December, as the family travelled to the airport to fly to America for a family occasion. Two other children, aged 4 and 6, were critically injured in the crash and are in a critical and unstable condition in hospital. The driver of the lorry was also seriously injured but remains in police custody for dangerous driving, drink driving and manslaughter charges. Police are appealing for information and witnesses. PC Martin Hailwood, from the Serious Collision Investigation has commented on this case: Seven members of the same family have tragically lost their lives in this incident, and we are supporting members of the same family through this tough time. It is in the very early stages but we are piecing together the circumstances that have led to this tragic incident. I would urge anyone who may have witnessed the collision to speak to police...'" The article continued, but I couldn't bare to read.