Taym
Opposites Attract
Ouch.
Hauling up my now 80 kg head, I tried getting my squinting eyes to refocus and adjust to the light. I was still in the abandoned Café.
Argh! I shook my head viciously trying to throw out as many tap dancing elephants as I could, but to no avail; instead, it only got worse.
What brought me here anyway…! I was comfortably having Chinese with my cousin then… – right… That address barged straight into my head. How long was I out! Rick’s probably going nuts right now, hacking every surveillance camera in the city. I’ve got a LOT to explain once I get back… Being the Private Investigator he is, I’d be surprised if he didn’t show up any minute now!
What was I thinking…?
As my memory slowly made its way back into its dwelling, I tried recalling the rest of the day.
What else…? Another crappy day at school -Oh… yeah, and I quit. It was an accident but well, when you spill a dozen sticky smoothies on your boss, you’re out and I’m pretty experienced at that.
Then there was that girl again. The Hills girl.
The pain was still unbearable. I tried bringing my hands up but something stopped me. I was tied up on one of twelve chairs scattered around –Oops. I remembered what I’d done. How I threatened her. She must’ve misunderstood… - though that doesn’t matter now. She’s holding me captive for god’s sake!
I reluctantly dragged myself into consciousness, and forced my eyes open. On the chair to my right she innocently rested, awkwardly cross legged, staring intently on the chandelier above us. Her silky mahogany locks fell past her shoulders, giving way to her perfect facial features.
How can something so beautiful -so delicate, produce pain that, shockingly, didn’t send me straight under a R.I.P gravestone.
“About time!” Her voice echoed in my aggrieved head countless numbers of times, “You’ve been out for almost half an hour!”
“Seriously…” I hardly managed to mumble, “You tied me up?”
“Hey, you threatened to hang me!” She reasoned, dragging her chair up and taking a seat facing me, “Now, wouldn’t it have been a LOT easier if you just gave in from the very beginning!”
That’s for sure.
I tried commanding the knots to untie themselves but it didn’t seem to work, the constant beating pain in my head hazed my concentration.
“Look, I’m just not a big fan of being in the top 10 list of freaks on Guinness World Records, alright? This whole mumbo-jumbo is NOT my thing, so just untie me, and I’ll be on my way – no chair cages, no hanging.” I explained difficulty.
She raised an eyebrow obviously enjoying her hopefully brief moments in control. “Anonymous person, we just got started,” She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and began to read out whatever was written, “First of all, what’s your name?”
She oddly reminded me of Rick, and strangely I kind of liked that. She can be pretty irritating at times, and this was definitely one of those times.
“I don’t like answering questions.” I told her firmly.
I felt some sort of pressure in my head and it seemed to grow stronger as the smirk on her lips spread across her face. “You sure you don’t?”
I tried pulling off the chair from under her, but the pressure got too great. It was almost like my nerve cells were slowly tearing apart. My energy was drained. I couldn’t take it any more so I spilled it all out.
“Taym” I gasped feeling very hot in the cheeks.
“Taym? Exotic… Taym what?” She demanded.
“Taym Liptom” I told her observing a look of recognition in her face.
“The 4th tree!” She yelled out.
How random was that! You don’t shout out ‘We gotta save the turtles’ when you’ve been talking about cars for the past 10 minutes!
“Huh?” I dumbly expressed my confusion.
“I ask the questions here!” She read off of her list once again, “Since when did you discover you had this ability?”
I looked at her emerald green eyes intently. How naive she was. I didn’t want to risk her squeezing the energy out of me again. I needed every bit to untie myself.
“For as long as I can remember… I used to steal other kid’s toys without having to move in Kindergarten.” I quickly replied trying to buy me some time.
“Wow… okay… Uhmm… Who else had your ability, or anything similar to that, in your family?” She continued interrogating.
“My dad I think…? Not sure though. It’s a topic we don’t discuss.” I willingly complied, relieved as the knots began to undo.
“You’re not sure? It’s pretty obvious, you know” She snapped.
“My parents died when I was 7, I live with my cousin, Rick, and im hoping that’s the last of your questions?” I told her getting impatient.
The knots were almost undone; I felt their rough texture scraping along my hand as they squirmed around.
“Oh… I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She sympathetically said. She put her list away and rested her head on her knee, now on the chair.
“Nothing for you to feel sorry about. We done here?” I insisted, as the ropes fell off now completely untied.
I didn’t make any sudden movements, which shocked me. It was almost like I wanted to stay; even talk for a while!
“Not quite. What is it with you and abilities?” She patiently asked.
“I’ve already told you. I’m not a big fan.” I averred.
“But why?! It’s a blessing!” She pressed on.
“A blessing?! No! Not in my case at least, I can’t control it. I hurt people. I destroy things, without even knowing it!” I yelled.
“Oh yeah? You’ve been in control for the last hour with me! How’d you explain that!” She shouted getting up.
I looked down. She was right, I couldn’t explain it. It stunned me how it felt like I was capable of getting things under control with her presence. I recalled the incident at Mucho’s Shake’s, how I managed to direct everything towards her, in attempt to stop her; and how here in this very deserted café, I managed to summon furniture at her, lock windows and doors. Typically, a chair or table would be violently jerking around in the air, obliterating everything in its way. Things were different when she was there.
She sat back down and took a deep breath. “I’ve got things I can’t explain too you know. I’m capable of things around you I never knew I could do.” She told me as though she’d read my mind.
“Like what? Enlighten me.” I asked her, now interested.
“Well… The only person I could ever talk to in the head was Gran, and she died 2 years ago. In these 2 years, I almost forgot what it was like. I couldn’t do it to anyone, apparently only to special people;” She tried summing it up, “When I managed to speak in your mind, I knew you were different; you had to be and well I was right.”
We locked eyes and a moment of understanding past between us.
“Don’t freak out,” I pulled my hands up and began to rub my wrists, “You didn’t think I was going to stay tied up this entire time, did you?”
Her eyes sparked and she smiled slyly, “I guess we got off on the wrong foot”
I tossed away the ropes, got up, and stretched out my hand. “Taym Liptom, Mind over Matter freak”
She got up “Leah Hills, Telepathic dork” She said smiling and the instant she touched my hand, we felt an electric wave pass between us. She pulled her hand away and awkwardly sat back down.
“Now what?” I asked sitting down myself.
Noticing how much she’d blushed, I made sure I kept my eyes pierced on her.
“We have to find the rest.” She said.
“What rest?” I asked now more confused than ever.
“There are more of us. Since you were the only one in your family, it’d mean there must be five others.”
“Five others?” I was really shocked. I couldn’t even believe someone like Leah actually existed!
“Yeah. You know, the trees? The family trees? I’m from the first tree, and you’re the fourth.” She continued casually.
“Family trees?”
“Taym, would you please stop repeating everything I say. Yes, family trees.”
“But I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I confessed.
She then explained to me everything about the box, her Gran, the Café we were in, her mom, and even her nutty sister.
For the first time, I thought it would’ve been a lot easier if she’d just said it all in my head! I hardly concentrated; I was far too busy admiring how softly she spoke and how determined and daring she was. Hopefully she couldn’t read my mind… that would just be embarrassing me; however, she did notice my bamboozled expression.
“Am I speaking too fast?” She asked with a hint of humiliation in her tone.
“Nah… I’m just… thinking.” I stammered, “Leah, I think I know just the person to help us with all this.”
“So you’re in this?” She hopefully asked.
“Yeah, I guess.” I hurriedly said before I could stop myself. I don’t know what got me to say that, but I knew I wanted to be around her.
She began to smile, but it slowly died down as we began to hear voices from outside.
“Oh no…” She whispered turning a ghostly white.
I strained my ears in attempt to hear as much as I could.
“Hurry up! I’m twenty five years older than you and I’m already here!” A woman’s voice called out.
“You’re not the one in stilettos mom!” Another much younger voice snapped.
“We’ve got to get out!” Leah hissed.
I didn’t need to be told twice.