Soulmates
9
Danger Averted
Jaime and David
DAVID HAD WORKED hard at learning sign language, even though he knew his signing was sometimes pretty sloppy. Jaime was proud of him and never had trouble understanding him. Usually, David could understand his son’s signs. Nonetheless, Jaime practiced what he wanted to say to his father as he prepared dinner that evening.
Jaime had taken on the responsibility of preparing dinner during the week since his father had returned to office hours most days. They planned menus together and went shopping together. Both were pretty basic in their tastes, but Jaime was a good cook.
Friday night was one of David’s favorite dishes—breaded porkchops with applesauce, butter beans, and mashed potatoes. It wasn’t really difficult to make. Jaime completed the preparations and practiced what he wanted to say. When his father got home, they sat down to the meal and David made sounds of appreciation. Before they got up from the table, Jaime held up a hand to stop his father.
“Dad, I’d like to go on a date,” Jaime signed. “Would that be okay?”
Lord, Nola. I knew this day would come. Why am I not prepared? David thought.
“Do you… have someone in mind?” he asked aloud.
“I met a really nice girl named Keira Nolan,” Jaime signed. “I’d like to take her to a movie tomorrow if it’s okay.”
“I take it she signs?”
“We don’t have any trouble communicating,” Jaime signed as he nodded.
“Are you planning to go by bus or would you like me to drive?” Jaime had not yet gotten his license, though he had a permit and often drove with his father.
“I was thinking you’d want to meet her, and I’m sure her parents would want to meet me. How about if you drive so I could pick her up and then we can catch a bus or streetcar coming home?” he signed.
David had so many thoughts going through his mind so rapidly, it was hard for Jaime to pick out what he was really thinking. It was all confused with fear… Of what? Jaime wondered. Of me being on my own? He realized then David was worried his son would get hurt.
“If you’re sure you’re ready for this, then I’ll plan on it. Do you know the timing yet?” David said.
“I need to check the movie times and confirm with Keira,” Jaime signed.
“Then I think it would be okay,” David sighed. I hope I’ve prepared him for this. Does he know to be respectful? Will he try to push things too fast? Will he get hurt? Or hurt her?
Jaime carefully avoided responding to his father’s thoughts.
Jaime sent a text message to Keira and they agreed upon the movie and the time. Jaime checked the bus and streetcar schedule to be sure they could get home from the theater. Then he gave his father the information.
“My parents have a million questions,” Keira texted him later. “Mostly want to know how we communicate.”
“Sign. Only way Dad understands”
“Yeah. Wish I was better at it”
“I’ll share meanings with you”
“Thanks”
“See you tomorrow”
“Nite”
Jaime’s dreams were filled with thoughts of Keira. His mind wandered to the possibilities of what they might do together if they were dating steadily. He remembered his promise to Keira, so switched his thinking to the shared fantasy with Debbie as he put himself into deep sleep the usual way. Fortunately, he didn’t connect with Debbie this time.
Jaime and David and Keira and her parents
“Keira’s never dated much either,” Jaime signed to his father. “Her parents want to meet both of us.”
“I have to agree with that,” David said aloud with his hands still on the steering wheel. “Is this the place?”
Jaime pointed in the direction of Keira’s house to guide David to a parking spot. It was a nice quiet neighborhood, not unlike where Jaime lived and only a few streets over. Jaime decided at once that he could bike to Keira’s house if they wanted to just hang out.
«What do you mean by hang out?» Keira shot back from the front door.
«You know! Like go over to Ground Beans for a coffee,» Jaime explained, blushing. He could hear Keira giggling in her mind.
“Hi, Jaime. Hi, Mr. Stackhouse. I’m Keira. Please come in and meet my parents,” Keira greeted them aloud at the door.
“Lovely to meet you, Keira,” David said.
“Mom, Dad, this is Jaime and Mr. Stackhouse. These are my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nolan,” Keira spoke aloud automatically signing to practice interpreting.
“John and June,” Keira’s father said, extending a hand. David shook it and then June’s hand.
“David,” he said.
“Come in for a cup of coffee. Do you have time, Keira?” June asked.
«We’re good for, like ten minutes, right?» she asked Jaime.
“No problem. Dad expected it,” Jaime signed
“We’ve got, like ten minutes before we need to head to the movie,” Keira said.
“Nice to meet you, Jaime,” John said as they sat in the living room and June got the coffee she had already prepared. “Is this okay, Jaime? Just speaking normally? Keira said you hear fine.”
“It’s good.” Jaime signed. David started to interpret at the same time Keira did and then shut up quickly. He was as interested in Keira’s sign language ability as her parents were.
“Keira tells us you invented a text to speech engine last year, Jaime. David, is that part of your background, too?” June asked.
“I’m in product management,” David answered. “It’s more of a marketing job than a technical job, but I need to understand the technology. Jaime and I consulted a little on establishing what his product requirements were, but the design and programming were all his own.”
“That’s interesting. Jaime, do you plan to release the product to the public? Seems like it could be useful,” John said.
“There are other text-to-speech engines which are very good,” Jaime signed. Keira interpreted, reading Jaime’s mind as much as his signs. “I wanted one that would be uniquely my voice. I haven’t even put it online for others to experiment with. I don’t want everyone speaking with my voice.”
“I never thought of that being an issue,” John said. “Very clever.”
“Well, we need to get going if I’m to get these kids to their movie on time,” David said. “Perhaps we’ll get together again sometime.”
“You kids be good. You know the rules, Keira. Home by eleven. The streetcars stop running at eleven-thirty,” June said.
“The movie’s at six-thirty,” Keira answered. “We should have plenty of time to grab a soda and get home afterward.”
Why didn’t I think to set a curfew for Jaime? David thought. Well, at least with Keira having a curfew, he’ll have to come home then. It’s just a formality. They’re both eighteen.
Twenty minutes later, David dropped the couple at the theater in plenty of time to get popcorn before the movie started.
Jaime and Keira
«Was meeting my parents too painful?» Keira asked.
«No. It was funny, though, when Dad decided you interpreted my sign language better than he did. That was when he decided we wouldn’t have any trouble communicating.»
«I was embarrassed when my dad started thinking all those protective thoughts about what he would do to you if you hurt me,» Keira said as they found seats in the theater. «I know you wouldn’t hurt me.»
«My dad had the same thoughts at home today. He constantly asks my mom if he’s doing the right thing.»
«Does she answer?»
That brought Jaime up short as he thought about his father’s mental conversations with his mother. Sometimes he thought he did hear her answer.
«I think there is a place in Dad’s brain where his memories of Mom live and he consults that. So, even when he imagines he hears her response, it’s coming from someplace inside him.»
«Wow. You’ve thought about it. Did she ever speak to you? I mean inside?»
«Once. I think. It was the first time I thought she was actually trying to think a message to me and said she loved me. It was… right before she died.»
«Zip, that must have been so painful for you.»
«I didn’t understand what was going on. I was only four—almost five. It was later that I began to understand that she was never coming home. I’m better now.»
«I’m so glad you can share things like that with me.»
Lights came down in the theater and previews started. The auditorium was about half full and they thought this wasn’t going to be a very popular movie. Still, it sounded like a decent premise and it was likely people would be so wrapped up in it that they wouldn’t be broadcasting other thoughts.
The Summoned was about a group of high school girls who believed one of their number had been cursed. So, they decided to have a ritual and summon a demon to find out who had cursed her and to remove the curse. It was all fun and games until the demon actually appeared. It started off with a cartoonish animation of a red creature with horns, but that image soon dissolved into a high school girl like those who summoned her. She said it would make it easier to relate in that form. The newly summoned demon set off to remove the curse on the friend and to find the source.
Jaime and Keira soon tuned out both the movie and the audience so they could continue talking with each other, head-to-head.
«The hardest part is not letting other people’s thoughts affect you,» Keira said. «I guess it’s okay to camp on someone’s fantasy or even a favorite memory. I mean, high school is probably the most fertile head space in the world for picking up a fantasy and running with it. Like you did with Debbie. I’ve done it, too. I never had the contact carry over to when I got home and decided to enjoy it, though.»
«I didn’t even realize girls had that kind of thoughts until we got to high school,» Jaime said. «I thought all the fantasies I overheard were from guys. They weren’t all that interesting until I happened on a guy’s memories of actually doing it. I realized then that there was a wide gap between fantasy and memory.»
«I think it’s natural to tune into people of the same sex at first,» Keira said. «We all go through that developmental phase when the opposite sex is icky, then vaguely interesting, then possibly attractive. Maybe everyone starts life gay and we learn to be hetero or bi or something.»
«Well, when I got caught up in Wendy’s fantasy a couple of years ago, it was the first I realized that girls had some really creative fantasies. And they have actual experience with some of the parts guys find most interesting.»
«Sorry I yelled at you. I couldn’t believe you were responding to a girl’s inner fantasy in real life.»
«I got caught up in it. Isn’t that what you were talking about in not letting others’ thoughts affect you? I avoided girls entirely for a month after that, but when Mex and Cheery started dating and making out, it was hard to shut them up. I made a concentrated effort not to listen to their thoughts. They’re my friends and it seemed like a real invasion of privacy. You know?»
«Yeah. That’s probably smart. When I eavesdrop, it’s mostly only on girls I don’t know now.»
«Not boys?»
«You… need to… understand that boys’ fantasies are a little frightening to girls. At least to me. They fantasize the same way they play football. Line up and crash into her. Pin her to the ground and start humping. As soon as they come, they huddle up and call another play.»
«Yuck.»
«Yeah. I know you don’t really do that, though, I’ll bet your encounter with Debbie was the first time you ever experienced it from the girl’s side.»
«It seemed a lot like a boy’s fantasy to me. Except the visuals and some of the feelings were more intense. I’d never really seen a naked girl through someone’s eyes before. Including her.»
«The same as a boy, except she was in charge. She told you when to kiss, when to suck, when to lick, and when to fuck her. It was all based on her control. When I listen to a boy’s fantasy, he is in control. He’s going to do something to me or to her. And most especially, he doesn’t care how she feels about it, as long as he comes.»
«Hmm. It seems Debbie didn’t really care if I was having fun or not in her fantasy. It was just an assumption that whatever she wanted, I’d do.»
«And you did!» Keira laughed. «The thing is that you knew all along that you could stop her from doing anything like that to you unless you wanted it. When I see a boy’s fantasy, I know there isn’t anything I could do to stop him from just raping me.»
«Oh, geez, Red!»
At that point, the movie reached a scene in which a truly ugly and powerful demon suddenly appeared before the human-looking demon hunting down curses, and the entire audience screamed. Keira and Jaime reached out automatically to take each other’s hand.
And the world shifted.
Their mental perception multiplied to such an extent, they were instantly aware of every thought in the auditorium. Not the overwhelming cacophony they had each struggled with in times past, but individual voices they could easily distinguish. They could look at any person in the theater and read exactly what was going through their mind. In fact, every glance one of them made was instantly duplicated by the other as if one set of senses governed them both.
Of course, most of the thoughts were of surprise and fear at the sudden image and stab of music accompanying the demon’s appearance. They were focused more tightly on the ensuing battle. A few were disappointed that something else had been interrupted and tried to regain the intimacy they were sharing with each other.
And one emerged as simply evil.
Scream, little girl. Scream. It’s good practice. By the time I’m through with you, you’ll have screamed so much you won’t have a voice. And then I’ll make you wish you could scream some more.
The images accompanying the thoughts were so graphic and gory, Jaime and Keira both gagged and turned away from each other to keep from throwing up. Their contact broken, the inner voices in the theater returned to a general cacophony, but both could readily identify the man ahead of them who had been thinking of what he would do, and the girl two rows beyond to whom he intended to do it.
«What was that?» Keira panted.
«I’ve never experienced anything like it!» Jaime exclaimed.
«Those images…»
«That wasn’t just a fantasy. It was a memory. He was… He’s done it before!»
«And he plans to kidnap her and do it all to her!»
The sheer terror of what they’d experienced brought their hearts to a stop before they were able to concentrate once again on the movie as it reached its conclusion.
«What are we going to do?»
«What can we do? You just lectured me on not letting others’ thoughts affect me.» I’ll have to get Red home and then go after him. I hope I’m not too late.
«He’s going to rape and torture and kill her!» Keira screamed at him. «They weren’t random thoughts. He’s going to do it. And he’s done it before. Don’t you dare go someplace without me!»
«We saw it together. I can’t see his thoughts right now, but I know which one he is. We’ll have to follow him and keep him from kidnapping that girl. Together.»
«Together.»
The movie ended and people started leaving before the credits had played. The girl headed toward the exit on their right and the man toward the exit on their left.
«You follow her and keep her in sight,» Jaime said. «I’ll follow him.»
«I don’t like being out of touch with you.»
«I can reach you. I know it now.»
They split, Keira following the girl and Jaime following the evil man. Once he was moving, the man’s thoughts came into clear focus. He was taking his time because he had left his van parked where the girl usually walked on her way home from the neighborhood theater. He’d been planning this for a long time, but now he was ready to act. He’d been denying himself any relief at all for a week, just so he would be primed for this night.
«Can you hear me?» Jaime sent.
«Yes,» came the startled response from Keira. «We’re just leaving the restroom.»
«Follow her outside. He’s parked in a white plumbing company van a block away. He’s going to grab her and knock her out. Nothing subtle-like either. He plans to club her with a wrench.»
«How are we going to stop him? I’ll tell her to go a different route.»
«We can’t catch him if he doesn’t try to get her. When you see the van, dial 9-1-1 and report a suspected attempted kidnapping. Start streaming video to them. I’ll try to rescue her somehow.»
«Jaime, be careful!»
Jaime followed the man at a distance until he got into his van and then Jaime circled behind it. The van was metal, of course, so he couldn’t get a good read on the man inside, but could tell when he moved to the passenger sliding door to watch for the girl.
His heart was hammering when he saw the girl round the corner and Keira a dozen yards behind.
«Make the call and start recording,» Jaime said. «Stay against the building.»
The side door of the van was open slightly and just before the girl came parallel with it, the bad guy dropped a quarter out of the van that rolled into her path. She was startled and bent down to pick up the coin. The door slid all the way open and the guy jumped out to grab her. Just as he spun to shove her into the van, Jaime reached the door and slammed it shut.
“Let her go!” Keira shouted as she came running toward them.
The guy looked at Keira with her phone held up and at Jaime, still standing by the closed door and raising his phone to record. He shoved the girl to the ground and ran for the driver’s side of the van to jump in and drive away. By that time, Jaime was recording the van’s license plate.
Keira ran to the fallen girl and knelt beside her.
“What’s going on?” the girl demanded, watching the van squeal away. Jaime stayed away, recording the progress of the van as Keira tried to speak reassuringly to the girl.
“That guy tried to grab you and haul you into his van. My boyfriend realized what he was doing and slammed the door on him. You’re safe now. Are you injured?”
“Scraped up. Who are you?” the girl shot at Keira.
“I’m Keira. Luckily my boyfriend heard him muttering about getting you as he was leaving the theater. I’ve still got 9-1-1 on the line.”
“Thank you, I guess. It was so fast. I didn’t know what was happening.” The girl started shaking and sobbing, clutching her knees in her arms as she sat on the pavement.
At that moment, a police car screeched to a stop beside Jaime and Jaime pointed toward the girls. The officer ran to assist Keira. Another cruiser pulled up and the officer started to talk with Jaime. Jaime made a sign of his lips being zipped and held up his phone. He played the video of the man getting into the van, the license number, and the direction he was headed. The officer didn’t delay, but requested backup, an ambulance, and pursuit. He motioned Jaime to join him as they approached the girl who was still sobbing. Keira’s eyes were leaking, too.
“My boyfriend can’t speak,” she said. “He can hear, but not use his voice. I can interpret his sign language.”
“An ambulance is on the way. How’s the girl doing?” the officer escorting Jaime asked the one kneeling.
“Shaken up. Possible shock. Hasn’t said anything but ‘No’ since I got here. Miss, we need identification. Did he take your wallet? We need to notify your parents.”
The ambulance arrived and the EMTs rushed to the girl who finally managed to say her name was Heidi Schvaneveldt. She begged them not to call her parents, but her school ID indicated she was only sixteen years old, so the parents were called and Heidi was transported to the hospital for evaluation. The police finally turned to Jaime and Keira. Jaime sank down on the sidewalk beside her, realizing he was shaking as well.
“Okay,” said the officer who had been the second to show up. The other pulled out to follow the ambulance. “You streamed the whole incident to 9-1-1. What tipped you off?”
“He followed her out of the theater where we were on a date. He muttered that she’d soon be his, and that got me suspicious. She stopped to use the restroom and Keira followed her while I followed him and saw his van,” Jaime signed and Keira interpreted.
“How did you coordinate your actions? You followed the girl and you followed the man?” the officer asked.
“Yes, sir. As you can see, we know ASL. Sign language. We could make arrangements across the theater.”
“Handy thing. And your solution to stopping the kidnapping was to slam the door shut in the perp’s face?”
“I’m not so big that I could attack him directly,” Jaime signed. “He’s a big guy and was carrying a wrench of some sort.”
“Okay. Let’s get your names and contact info so we can get in touch when we catch the guy and need you to identify him. That was a dangerous thing to do, you know. It worked out okay this time, but don’t risk it again, okay?”
“Yessir.”
The policeman took down their information from Keira’s license and Jaime’s permit. They were both eighteen, so the officer was satisfied that he didn’t need to call their parents.
“Can you get yourselves home?” he asked.
“We were going to stop at the café over there for ice cream, but I’ve got an eleven o’clock curfew. I don’t think we have time now.” Keira looked at her watch. It was almost ten-thirty. “We’d better catch the next streetcar home.”
“That’s a good idea. We’ll be in touch as soon as we have anything.”
The officer left and Jaime and Keira headed for the train stop that would get them to Keira’s neighborhood.
«We stopped a kidnapping!» Keira shouted as they boarded the train. «We’re heroes!»
«Do you think we need capes?» Jaime asked.
He looked at Keira and they both burst out laughing.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
