Clockwork Twist : Dreamer by Emily Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

expression.  Daniel picked up a nearby empty chair and put it down beside Twist. “You're talking about emotions, right?” he asked, his voice low but his tone eager.  A jolt of bitterness shot through Twist's heart.  He was no better than the other two. “Do you know how rare that is?  Sensing emotion is almost as rare as sensing the future.”
    “Let me guess, I'm a freak among freaks.”  Twist's voice came out sharper than he'd wanted it to, and he saw the result in Daniel's eyes. “Sorry,” he muttered.
    “Just, try not to use that word here,” Daniel said stiffly. “But are you telling me that besides having the ability to sense emotions in other people, your Sight doesn't work when you use it on Jonas?”
    “It works, I just don't see anything that caused damage in him.”
    “But you do with others?”
    “With everyone else, it seems,” Malik said, sounding excited now. “He said something about being able to 'feel' Jonas too, maybe without a physical touch.”  Twist shot him another glare.
    “You didn't even flinch when he touched you a second ago,” Yumi said, pointing at Twist. “You started to relax even before he did.  Could you feel him coming?”
    “What does it feel like?” Daniel asked, his dark eyes alight with curiosity. “Is it like a gut feeling, or a vibrational thing?”
    They were all staring at him now, expectantly, as if it was all right to talk about these things with people who couldn't even begin to understand.  Twist suddenly realized that he would rather they simply cut him open to have a look inside, than be made to continue to answer their invading and painful questions.  Something deep inside of Twist snapped, unleashing an unrelenting wave of need.
    He had to get away from them all.  Now. “Excuse me,” he said, already on his feet.
    They spoke as he moved past them, but he heard none of it.  Twist was down the hallway and out the door so quickly that he didn't even realize where he was until the chilly, salty, moist night air hit his skin.  He closed the door behind him and kept moving.  He wanted to look back, to see if he was being followed, but he was too terrified to find out if he was.  He knew, somewhere in the raging chaos, that he had done entirely the wrong thing.  But even now, he couldn't get his body to stop trying to run.
     

 

     
    Twist felt at once hollow, and also filled to bursting with ice as he stood leaning heavily on the streetlight, on an empty and misty street he didn't know.  He had no idea how far he was from the house.  He had no idea what sort of social disaster he'd left behind him.  He had no idea what they must have thought.  All he knew for sure was that he was so far beyond his expertise that he felt exactly like a child.  He'd never been good at talking with people.  But this was a whole new level of undisputed failure.
    The last few questions that they had asked him ran over and over in his mind, mocking him in their logical simplicity.  Why couldn't he just answer them?  Why did he jump and run away like a frightened little animal?  After all he'd been through with Jonas, Myra, the crew of the Vimana , and so many others, Twist had thought he was getting better at this.  He'd almost begun to think he could learn to be a working part of humanity—a true member of a group.  He'd dared to hope that he wasn't too far gone to actually connect.
    His thoughts grew dark enough to swallow him whole; far darker than the starless black sky above, hidden in the thin mists.  Then, ever so subtly, he felt a stirring at the base of his neck.  Jonas was coming closer, out in the world beyond Twist's tiny puddle of amber streetlight glow.  For a moment, Twist wished he wouldn't be found.  Maybe he could just vanish into the mist and never have to hope and fail again.  Then the tingling grew warmer, softer, and edged with a gentle sadness that seemed positively bright against his own.
    Jonas stepped into the puddle of