The Aisling Secret

Long ago, members of the Aisling family had gift. It wasn't strength, nor intelligance. It was considered to be a very rare talent. What is it, you ask? It is the power to read and feel memories. Many think this includes reading minds, but it clearly isn't so. Can someone feel what you are thinking? Back before evil, this gift was used to heal. But a dispute started among two of the Aislings. Their minds were demented, and instead of healing, they injured. Insanity soon came, affecting all that touched the evil one's hand. Finally, the good and evil members of the family went to war, and only the prophecy shall decide who wins. The prophecy states that on September 17th, 1989, twin boys will be born. One will be good, and the other evil. They both will have the same powers, but neither shall see each other until they are ready. When they meet, they will start a total war, and until then, fate is unknown.

"And so...the southern economy was greatly effected during the development of..." The teacher, Mr. Bowls, droned on. Aiden sat, dozing lightly, trying to listen to what the teacher was talking about. The door creaked open, and Aiden sat up, wondering who came in.
A girl with dirty blonde hair with braids entefred the room. She was wearing a red netted top with a full black corset and plaid skirt. He noticed she had on combat boots. "Hello Miss...?" said Mr. Bowls. "Chloe, Chloe Evans." the girl replied.
Mr. Bowls nodded, then motioned towards Aiden. "Why don't you take a seat by....erm..sorry, what's your name again?"said Mr. Bowls. Aiden chuckled. He had been in school for three months and the guy still couldn't remember his name. The girl nodded and came towards him, almost cautiously. "I don't bite." said Aiden with a grin. The girl looked down at her desk with a blank expression on her face. Mr. Bowls turned back to the board and started teaching. Aiden stuck out his hand. "Hey, I'm Aiden." she turned around and shook his hand. Suddenly, Aidens mind was flooded with images. An enourmous pain went searing through his shoulder, and he began to feel as if he could never get away from him. Aiden let go of her hand and shook his head to clear his mind. Who was she scared of? What happened?
Aiden was pulled from his thoughts when a ruler slapped the desk. "MISTER NUMBERG!" Aiden looked up to see Mr. Bowls peering at him through half-moon glasses. "Can you please recite everything I just said?" he asked. Aiden stood up and started to speak. "The economy of the south was greatly affected due to the addmittance of California as a free state. The south also feared that Lincoln's election wouldn't provide equal representation in congress, therefore, the south seceded." Aiden finished, with his hands behind his back. He heard a laugh from Chloe. Mr. Bowls pointed at him. "YOU!"-he pointed to Chloe-"AND YOU! DETENTION AFTER SCHOOL TODAY!"
The smile slid right off of Aiden's face. He rolled his eyes and sat back down. Chloe looked anxious. "Are you ok?" asked Aiden.
"I don't have a ride," she mumbled.
"I can give you one. Free of charge." he shot her a grin. She smiled, but Aiden knew it wasn't her real smile. After the pain he had experianced, he knew she didn't have the energy to be truly happy.

Later on at lunch, Aiden sat with his 16 year old sister, Ellie. "Ok, who'd you meet? You have been staring into space for the past three hours." said Ellie, throwing a french fry at him.
"I met this new girl, and when I shook her hand...it hurt, the memory hurt. It was new too, I...I really like her." said Aiden. Ellie nodded
"Well, talk to her. You have detention, right?" Ellie replied.
"How'd you find out about that?" asked Aiden.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "I have office-aid during that period, dummy."
"Oh."
Chloe took a seat at the table right next to his. Aiden stood up and moved over to her table. "I'm really sorry I got you in trouble."
She looked up, making the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "It's alright. You seem like quite the memorizer though. That's really cool that you could do that." Chloe replied. He smiled, and she blushed. "Hey, why did you move here, anyway?" asked Aiden. She looked down. "Long story...I..don't want to talk about it." she replied after a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't mean..." started Aiden. "No, no, its alright. I'm fine." said Chloe, smiling.

DETENTION

Aiden stared at her. She was so pretty, but something was upsetting her. She didn't want to talk about it, he knew that, but he had to do something for her. "Psst." he whispered. She looked over. "Give me your hand." said Aiden. She obeyed.
"Now, I want you to make your mind completely blank. Don't focus on anything but the insides of your eyelids." said Aiden. He fought the pain from her memories and forced the feeling of being on a beach with waves gently touchiing the tops of his feet. He watched her eyes as she recieved the memory. The pained expression on her face quickly became more relaxed. "Thanks," she whispered.
When detention was over, they walked out towards the school parking lot. Aiden was slightly embarressed by the state of his car. Grime covered the 16 year old volvo, and his friend James had eaten a taco in there earlier, making the car smell like beans. "Nice car," said Chloe, flashing him a breathtaking smile.
"Well...my friend James kind of borrows it sometimes. He isn't the neatest person in the world."
Chloe chuckled as Aiden held the door for her.

Neither of them wanted to break the calming silence that dominated the car. Finally, Chloe decided to talk.
"So, what exactly did you do?" she asked. Aiden shrugged.
"Long story. Maybe later," he replied. She nodded then continued to gaze out the window.

Her house was pretty average, with a cobblestone sidewalk and yellow tulips. The red bricking on the house reminded him of his own. Aiden helped her out of the car and walked her to the doorstep.
"Thanks," said Chloe. "Do you want to come in?"
"Sure, that'd be great. Are your parents home?" he asked.
As if on cue, a man of about 25 years of age, with brown hair and was wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks. He stuck out his hand.
"Jeff Hughs. I'm Chloe's guardian."
Aiden shook it. "Aiden Numberg."
Chloe had a worried expression on her face. Aiden raised an eyebrow, but Chloe mouthed the word "later".
"Well, I guess I'll see you later," said Aiden. "Nice meeting you Mr. Hughs." Jeff nodded then went back inside. Chloe smiled at him again then went inside, leaving him breathless at the door.
He regained his composure then got into his car and drove home. When he got into the door, Mrs. Numberg was waiting for him, a concerned expression on her face.
"Why did you get detention?" she asked.
"How did you know?" asked Aiden, wondering how word traveled so fast.
"Ellie." she replied. Aiden sped upstairs and banged on his sister's door.
"What?" her annoyed tone answered.
"Why'd you tell mom?" he asked through the door. It opened.
"She asked me how you were today, and I told her you got detention," she said, rolling her eyes.
Aiden stared at her for a few seconds, then heaved a sigh and returned to his room. Aiden loved his room. The walls were navy blue, and he had rock band posters covering the wall. He sunk onto the bed and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he was asleep.
He dreamt of Chloe, wearing a black and red dress. He kept calling to her, but she kept telling him to go away, that she didn't want to scare him. He called to her one last time, and oddly, she started ringing.
Aiden woke with a start. He looked at the digital clock that sat on a table next to his bed. It read seven thirty. The ringing continued, and he reached over and grabbed the phone.
"Hullo?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he spoke.
"Dude, were you sleeping? It's only seven thirty."
Aiden fell back onto the bed. It was his seventeen year old cousin James. James had powers too, he was able to move things with his mind.
"Yes, I was sleeping, and no, I am not getting out of bed," said Aiden, turning out his light. The light turned back on. "C'mon James, I need to sleep!" he grumbled.
"No you don't." James replied. The covers flew off the bed and onto the floor.
Aiden groaned and got out of bed, grabbed his keys and went out the door.

Within three minutes he reached Longview. Aiden sat there for a moment, drifting in his thoughts. Suddenly a bright light shined in front of him. He yelled and threw his hands up, trying to block it. A low chuckle came from the bushes next to his open window. He threw open the passenger door.
"Get in the car dumbass." said Aiden in an angry tone. He glared into the darkness and tried to find James, but couldn't see anything. Suddenly a pair of red eyes came from the darkness. An agonizing pain shot through his body and horrible images of Chloes bruised and battered face flew threw his mind. He started to feel faint, as if he was slipping into darkness.
"Aiden? You don't look too good...are you ok?" said a voice. Aiden had recovered enough to open his eyes again. James had gotten into the car and was staring him straight in the face. He shook his head, trying to hold on to consiousness. Chloe crying, holding her shoulder to stop the pain. Aiden could feel it, he could feel the fear in her. Finally he blacked out, collapsing into a deep sleep.
He awoke in his bed, confused. Had he been dreaming? As he opened his eyes, he realized it wasn't a dream, that everything happening was real. His bedroom door opened, and James walked inside, an extremely concerned expression set on his face.
"What happened?" Muttered Aiden groggily. James shrugged.
"I dunno, you looked like you saw a ghost, moaned, and then fell over."
The doorbell rang and Aiden heard Ellie thump downstairs to greet the visitor. Within a few moments Curtis walked in the room.
Curtis was a very mysterious person, his presence always dominated the attention of everyone in a room. He very rarely used his powers; he could see things coming. His reflex's were that of a cat's, nothing got past him. Curtis was 20, and had lived on the streets for three years when he was sixteen. He finally mangaged to recover, and became the manager of a punk club in the inner-city. Today he was wearing a tan trenchcoat that went well with his olive skin tone, a white shirt, jeans, and loafers. His beanie on his head covered the mass of curly hair that lay there.
"Hey,I heard someone was tired last night," said Curtis. Aiden chuckled as he got out of bed.
"Yeah, I think it was because I didn't eat. I'm not too sure, really."
Curtis raised an eyebrow, but said no more.
"So who's that girl I saw?"
Aiden blushed. "She's just a friend, nothing more."
"Really? That's not what I heard," said Ellie, who had just appeared in the doorway. Aiden shot her an evil look and was about to say something when his mother's voice echoed from downstairs.
*more later*