The Gifted

9 | Eyes

The longest road trip Maya had ever been on was to Los Angeles to visit extended family: Colorado to California through Nevada and Utah, and back again. She'd learned then that she had absolutely no sense of direction or time, and despite her successful trip to Portland—hurray for stubborn, determined idiots—her senses were still garbage. When the car pulled into a driveway, she hadn't even realized they were in Louisiana, let alone that they were already at their destination.

The house sat alone on a road that stretched empty for miles in both directions, and behind it was a forest that Maya imagined led to a bayou. The setting sun cast the sky in a fading glow of orange-yellow, and she wished that they'd gotten here earlier. She'd learned to appreciate the clarity of daylight, and walking into a stranger's house at the brink of darkness felt like a mistake.

But, this was what she asked for. No turning back now.

The front door of the house swung open, and standing there was a woman in her sixties. She was frozen for a moment, watching her two guests silently get out of their car, and then she hurried down the porch steps, yelling at Jack.

"Boy, you know better than to be cryptic!" she hollered, referencing a phone call that must've been made when Maya was asleep. "I almost had a heart attack!"

Jack grinned. "Nice to see you, too," he said, returning the woman's hug. "Jemma, this is Maya. Maya, Jemma."

Maya waved awkwardly. "Uh, hi."

Jemma smiled; it was the type of delighted face that a grandmother would make when she had relatives to feed. In one fell swoop, she placed an arm around Maya's shoulders and gently ushered her into the house. Only a few minutes had passed between arriving in the driveway and the door shutting closed behind Jack, the last one in, but in that short time, the sun had set. It was officially night, and Maya was in a stranger's house with a stranger's arm around her shoulders, having been driven here by another stranger whose screams she heard in her head.

What a strange predicament.

Jemma took her arm off Maya and led the way into the house. "I wish you had gotten here earlier," she lamented. "I spent all day organizing, and now I'm exhausted."

"That's okay," Jack said, staring at the ceiling. "We can try tomorrow."

Try what? Maya thought. What could Jemma do to break their connection? She must be Gifted, too, and Maya concentrated on the back of her graying head, trying to sense it, to recognize someone like herself.

Jemma suddenly looked over her shoulder and winked. "Don't overexert yourself," she said softly. "Not all Gifted are made to see."

Maya immediately turned around to ask Jack what they were doing here, but he was gone. She panicked for a second, thinking that he'd abandoned her, but then she heard footsteps above. He'd simply gone upstairs.