The Four Points: Book 1 (The Four Points Saga) Page 14

  Mr. Blithe handed me a list of people who were rumored to have been Diamonds: Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Dickens… the list went on. It was interesting to discover that many past Watchers had also used Oxford University as a gathering place for Diamonds, just as we were using it today. So it was no surprise to find out that Oxford had produced twenty-six Nobel Peace Prize winners, nine current holders of the Order of Merit, one hundred and twenty Olympic Medal winners, and at least thirty international leaders. Needless to say, you can guarantee some of these individuals were past Diamonds.

  The list didn’t make me feel better, it made me feel worse.

  “Mr. Blithe, this list is what makes it all so hard to believe. I don’t have any great talents or ambitions to be the leader of anything.”

  “Erika, that’s now. You are still so young, you just haven’t found yourself yet.”

  “Mr. Blithe, what did Sofia mean when she said that you couldn’t find me because I hadn’t done anything worthy of recognition?”

  “Erika, that’s complicated. We the Watchers are usually able to locate Diamonds by what we call their shine. A lot of Diamonds excel in school or their craft. We are able to find them when they win a science contest, when they are entered into Mensa, when they make beautiful works of art. We call it shining because they shine for the world to see. We watch for people that stand out and do research to see if they have the diamond marking. When we verify they are a Diamond, we keep close watch on them in case they are a Point. We also need to know who all the Diamonds are in case something happens to a Point, because one of the remaining Diamonds will be chosen to inherit the fallen Point’s place. It is the Watchers’ place to teach and train The Four Points.”

  “So you found me because of the shooting?”

  “Yes, because of your shine. You protected all those people Erika— you did, no one else.” Mr. Blithe was trying to give me confidence in who I was, who I was meant to be. I just wasn’t sure it was working.

  “Hey Erika, look at it this way. They found me because I won the lottery, but they found you saving people’s lives. I think that’s pretty worthy of recognition, don’t you?”

  “At least you have all this money,” I laughed. “I wish you could see my future.”

  “Well, that’s one thing I told you we can’t do, Erika. Our powers work on everyone except our fellow Points. But I can tell you that one of the Diamonds here is going to be president in forty years. Have you tried to read my mind, Erika?” Liam brushed his hand through his hair as his eyes searched mine for an honest reply.

  “No, of course not,” I lied. I did try, it just didn’t work.

  “It’s a good thing you can’t,” Liam laughed mysteriously.

  “Mind reading is going to be the main part of your training. We have to make it second nature; we have to grow that power of yours.” Mr. Blithe was leaning against one of the tables in the library as he spoke.

  “I have to warn you, Erika, sometimes our powers can be… well problematic. It’s like opening the floodgates… it took time for me to control mine. I had headaches every day for months. I couldn’t stop all the images,” Liam warned.

  “Is that why I get so many headaches? Doctors have never been able to tell me why I suffer from migraines, and the medication I was prescribed seemed to make things worse. All the voices in my head, all the noise… I thought something was wrong with my brain.”

  “Well, there probably still is,” Liam joked.

  “Don’t worry, Erika, we will teach you how to use all your powers— and how to control them. It will help the headaches.” Mr. Blithe looked at Liam as if to tell him to stop talking.

  “So how long do we have until we go looking for the Collectors?” I asked.

  “Well Erika, most likely they will come looking for us. They collect Diamonds, and we have most of them gathered here at Oxford.”

  “Mr. Blithe, you said that some were killed already. We can’t let the 15 we haven’t found die.” I was tracing my hand over the hundreds of books with Diamond or Point in the title.

  “Believe me, we are looking for them, and we will find them. That is the job of the Watchers. However, it is important that the Diamonds do not know they are Diamonds. We keep that from them. It is not necessary for them to know; they have no special powers like you, no way to defend themselves. It is our job to protect them. They are our world’s future elite. It’s not an easy task, as they can be anywhere in the world. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.” He paused and added, “This is the first time in 400 years that the Collectors have been released. The past Watchers must have thought the cave would never be found. They took the diamonds from the capital of the diamond world, India, and buried them in Africa. I’m sure they never thought Africa would become the next diamond hot-spot. They must have thought they buried the diamonds deep enough to never be unearthed, but unfortunately for us, they were wrong. Usually the Points have a relatively safe existence: you save people’s lives, you all better the world, and that’s it. Some centuries the Points have bigger tasks, harder challenges, but it’s very rare to have to go up against Collectors.”

  “Great. Lucky for us this happened during our time.” I smirked, trying to make light of the situation we were in.

  “All this talk about finding the last fifteen Diamonds has made me extremely anxious. Liam, please show Erika around, and stay out of trouble.” When Mr. Blithe left, the energy in the room left with him. The mood shifted and the room felt awkward.

  “Okay, soooo, uhmm… let’s go to the garage,” Liam proposed.

  Liam seemed nervous, almost unsure of himself. He always acted so cool, so put together. It was nice to see this side of him.

  “Okay.” I placed the book that was in my hands back on the shelf. “What’s in the garage?”

  “Your chariot, my lady.” Liam quickly regained his charismatic composure.

  We walked into the garage, which appeared to be more of a car museum.

  “Really?” I said as I looked at the expanse of fancy and obviously ridiculously expensive showroom-type cars.

  “What?” Liam looked at me, not understanding my comment.

  “Do you need all these cars?”

  “Are you trying to say I am materialistic?”

  “Yes Liam, that is exactly what I am saying.”

  “Well, you have to admire a woman who speaks her mind, but these are not all my cars, little missy. We all have one— Sofia, Jayson, Mr. Blithe… even Sir Nicholas. He owns the Ferrari over there.” Liam pointed at a shiny sports car displayed in the corner.

  I laughed. “Okay, okay I get it, they’re not all yours.”

  Liam walked me over to my chariot, a beautiful burgundy four-passenger… golf cart.

  He put his hand out. “My lady, may I help you in?”

  I giggled as I took his hand and plopped onto the front seat. He opened the garage and we were off.

  Everything I thought I knew about England had turned out to be wrong. I’d pictured England as always being cold and gloomy, but it wasn’t. It was a perfect day, the sun shone bright, and the air was brisk and cool. I looked up at the blue sky as the wind blew my long hair, making it whip at my face as the golf cart took swift turns through the hillside. Everything was so beautiful. Everywhere I looked it was bright green— the grass, the trees, the bushes, it was all extraordinary. We wound through the windy roads of the countryside on our way to Oxford. All the while Liam spoke about the history of the land. I was surprised to see that we were entering a bustling little city. Liam’s castle was very close to the university, yet the university was located smack in the middle of a bustling cosmopolitan city. I gazed around at all the interesting Victorian houses. The city was a mix of ancient and modern.

  Oxford University was enormous. Several castles made up what Liam called a “city university.” It was a university without a main campus; instead, all the facilities were scattered throughout the city’s center. I had never seen
such exquisite buildings. I kept referring to them as castles, but to Liam they were just campus buildings. We drove through the city and the gorgeous expanse of campus, where it seemed Liam was quite well known. Girls in groups smiled and waved, whispering and giggling amongst themselves… Oh lord, I thought, here we go again. Eventually we stopped at a building on the north side of the campus.

  “Liam, why are we stopping here?”

  “This is the research department. We are known as a collegiate research university, after all. So I figured it was a good place to start your tour. Let’s go in.”

  “What are they researching in this building?” I stepped out of the golf cart, looking at the tall castle-like building that stood before me.

  “The brain.” Liam put his hand out to help me climb the three small steps that led to the front entrance. He held open the door and waved me in. The architecture inside matched the grandeur of the building’s outer appearance. The marble floors, the murals on the ceiling… I had never seen anything like it except for pictures of the Sistine Chapel. We walked through a second set of doors into a room, a lab that held a different appearance. Gone were the fine murals and the marble floors, and in their place stood a sterile white environment. Partitions separated people seated with electrodes stuck to their temples.

  Liam whispered, “They are trying to see if it is possible for people to read minds. Scientists believe that it is possible through the use of one’s mirror neurons. Cognitive scientists and neuroscientists have been doing extensive research here on the art of mind reading. They would love you, but… you can’t participate. That would give us away. When no one’s here, I am sure Mr. Blithe will bring you here to study your brain.”

  “Great.” I looked around, watching the test subjects straining to concentrate. If only they knew the consequences of what they were trying to accomplish. Would they really want to read minds then?

  “I wish I could read your mind.” Liam looked at me coyly.

  I changed the subject back to the class. “The scientists don’t mind you poking around?”

  “They probably do… but when you donate millions a year to the research department, they seem to look the other way.”

  “Hey, what’s over there?” I walked towards what seemed to be a zero-gravity chamber. I stared at the random objects flying around the air: a stapler, pens, a doll, baseballs, tennis balls.

  “That is the psychokinesis lab, better known as the telekinesis area. Here they see if a subject can move things with their mind. The object is to move the items from the chamber and keep them floating.”

  “Has anyone ever been able to do it?” I asked in awe.

  “No, but I have a feeling someone will be able to… soon.” Liam gave me a look to tell me that I was who he was talking about.

  “Yeah right. I can’t move objects with my mind.”

  “You did bend the bars at your old high school, remember? Only time will tell, Erika, only time will tell.”

  I thought about what Liam said. He was right, the bars had started to bend. Can telekinesis be a power that I could develop? “Okay, where next?” I asked, keen to hear and know more.

  “Do you like water?”

  “Whyyyy?” I questioned as we walked back to my chariot.

  “Because I want to take you rowing. You know, Oxford is known for their row teams.”

  “As long as you don’t capsize the boat, Liam. I’m not a good swimmer.”

  “Deal.”

  “Promise. I see that mischievous grin on your face. Liam, promise me!” I demanded.

  “Don’t you trust me yet, young Erika?” Liam had one of his devilish grins on his handsome model face.

  “Liam, I’m only a couple years younger than you— and no, I do not trust anyone.”

  “Well, I’m going to change that. You will trust me.” You had to love Liam’s confidence, but he did not know what he was up against.

  We drove to the river, and when I got out of the car I was surprised to see how large the boats were.

  “Uhmm, we are not taking that one, are we?” I pointed to a large rowboat.

  “No,” Liam laughed, “that is an eight-person boat. For that you need eight rowers and one coxswain.”

  I had no idea what a coxswain was, but I didn’t care enough to ask.

  “We are going to take this one.” Liam pointed to a shiny small blue canoe or rowboat-type thing.

  “Do I have to row?” I asked, whining.

  “Hey, just ‘cause I’m a guy doesn’t mean I have to do all the work.”

  I reluctantly agreed, and he handed me my oars.

  We had rowed to the middle of the river when we heard screaming. A boy was frantically waving his arms as he floated next to a capsized boat. Thank God the boy is wearing a life vest.

  “Help, my dad is trapped! Please help me!”

  My heart raced and my blood pumped heavy through my veins. The desire— no, the compulsion— to help was innate. I didn’t think, I just jumped out of the boat. The cold water cooled the throbbing coursing through me, making things clear. Swimming as fast as I could, I quickly reached the boy. The gloom and sadness in his eyes was overwhelming. Even though the boy was older (about 12, I guessed), he made me think of the brother I’d left at home. The little boy was okay. The fear he harbored was not fear for himself.

  “My father, help my father!” He took one of his ice-cold hands off the boat and gripped my shoulder.

  “Okay, I’m going to flip the boat. I need you to swim a safe distance away.” The boy nodded in agreement. I wondered where Liam was, but everything was happening so quickly I couldn’t wait, I had to act.

  I dove under the water and resurfaced under the flipped boat into crimson liquid. It was dark with a small amount of light creeping in, making my surroundings visible. I was under the small canoe-like boat with the boy’s father floating unconscious inches from me. When the boat capsized, the father must have hit his head; blood was gushing from his scalp. Luckily, he was wearing a life vest. Still, I didn’t know whether he was dead or alive. I held onto him with one hand and flipped the boat with the other. I looked over at the boy to make sure he was safe. He was. Liam was with him.

  “He’s hurt,” I yelled to Liam as he and the boy made their way closer to us.

  I placed the man in the boat, then jumped in myself. Liam pushed the boy up to me. With one hand on his arm and the other on his vest, I heaved him in. Liam easily brought himself aboard.

  “Peter, I need you to shut your eyes until I say you can open them, okay? I need you to promise.” Liam put his hands over his eyes, gesturing for the boy to do the same.

  Without arguing, the boy agreed and shut his eyes. I knew Liam did not need to ask the boy’s name to know it was Peter, but I wondered if the boy noticed he hadn’t given it. Liam rowed the boat to shore with lightning speed. I was impressed, and I realized why Liam had told him to shut his eyes. The boy didn’t even notice how fast we went. Liam got out of the boat, placed the father on the ground, and performed CPR.

  “One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, breathe.” Liam continued his chest compressions, willing the man to come back to life. Peter sat close by crying hysterically. Then we heard a cough, followed by gurgling spitting noises, and the man was back. He had regained consciousness. His chest convulsed as he spat out the water that threatened to take his life. Peter was overjoyed, and with tears still streaming down his face he declared in a thick English accent, “Father, I thought you died!”

  The boy wrapped his arms around his father and laid his head on his father’s chest. The man heaved in more and more air. He caressed the boy’s hair. “I will never leave you Peter, never.”

  The ambulance arrived and took Peter and his father to the hospital. The first officer on the scene shook Liam’s hand.

  “Liam my lucky lad, you always seem to be in the right place at the right time.”

  I stood there in awe of Liam. He had given Peter back his fa
ther. Is this what Mr. Blithe meant by saving people’s lives? Even when Points don’t fight Collectors, is this what we are meant to do?

  Liam and I walked back to the golf cart soaking wet. It was a cold, shivery ride back to Liam’s castle. My teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

  “Liam, could you see their future? Did you know they’d be alright?”

  “Erika, the future I saw was that the father died. You see, the future can always change. The moment you decided to jump out of the boat is when you changed the future. That is when I saw him live. He would have died if you had waited for me.”

  “Liam, I only got there a few seconds before you.”

  “Yes Erika, but a few seconds can be all it takes between life and death.”

  Chapter 15

  CASTLE LIFE

  It was about 5:30pm when Liam and I got back to his home. My teeth were chattering uncontrollably by the time we pulled into the circular driveway. My knees trembled, and my body longed for warmth. All I could think about was the beckoning call of a hot shower.

  We were greeted at the gate by Nicholas, Mr. Blithe, Jayson, and Sofia. Mr. Blithe explained that both our condition and impending arrival had been foreshadowed by a call from one of the Oxford University constables letting them know what happened. His eyes gleamed with fatherly concern, a look I had not seen from a man in a very long time.

  Nicholas handed Liam a towel and placed one around my shoulders. I was still shivering uncontrollably. In that moment I had never been so happy to see a simple item before, a glorious towel. I wiped my face with the edges, and the size of the enormous cloth blanketed my body.

  “Let’s get you inside right away Erika, you are going to catch pneumonia,” Mr. Blithe said as he and Nicholas ushered me in.

  “Hey, what about me?” Liam called after us.

  “I got you, bro.” Jayson took the towel and wiped Liam’s face gently.

  “Very funny, Jayson.” Jayson swayed back from the force of Liam’s push.

  I slowly sloshed upstairs and made my way into a hot shower. The little boy today reminded me so much of my brother. I couldn’t figure out why he did; they didn’t look alike, and he was much older than Kai, but as the hot water flowed over me so did a rainfall of realization. I thought of Kai because I felt sorry that he would never have the connection Peter did with his father.