Kindred Read Online Free Page B

said, you haven't told them either," he said. His voice was more curious than accusing, so I nodded in agreement.
    "That's true. I found out shortly before I ran away, after I got out of the hospital. My father was… unhappy about my recent hospital stay, and wasn't afraid to make his displeasure known. While he yelled and… did other things, I could hear the ground under our house rumbling. He was too distracted to notice, and I put the incident out of my mind until the next week when I was mowing the lawn and I felt him coming up behind me."
    I met Dustin's eyes and continued, "His were the first footsteps I was able to feel, and when I rescued Sam, I stored them away for future warning," I took a breath, staring at the floor as I spoke. I wasn't ready to see Dustin's reactions yet. "As he approached, I could feel some of myself—my energy—flow into the ground and raise the earth in front of him and he tripped. It wasn't a conscious choice," I admitted. "He was already drunk and angry, the last thing I needed was for him to get even more upset," I stopped, still staring at the floor.
    "Jason… what did he do?" Dustin asked after giving me a few minutes to compose myself.
    "He dragged me into the house and beat me until I was unconscious. I tried faking it, but he just kept hitting me. He was gone when I woke up, and that's when I decided to leave. Unfortunately, I was in no shape to stay on the streets, so I waited until the bruises began to fade, and stayed out of his way as much as possible until about a week later, when he was at work. I grabbed whatever food and clothing I could fit in a backpack, and I left."
    "Where was your mother in all this?" Dustin asked. He was trying to sound disconnected, like a casual observer, but I could hear the anger in his voice.
    "She wasn't around. Got sick of how he treated her and ran shortly after Sam was born. She took him with her actually. It was when Sam was about five that my father got him back. My mother had been arrested for drug abuse and prostitution, and the courts sent Sam to live with our father. She died of a drug overdose not long after that. She never hurt me. Sometimes even tried to get him away from me, but it was always worse for me when she tried. Eventually, she gave up trying to protect me," I paused, taking a drink of water and just breathing for a moment.
    "He never touched Sam in a harsh manner, not while I was there anyway. I thought he'd be safe…" I trailed off and looked around the room again. I hadn't told anyone any of this before. It felt strange to talk about it. I still felt ashamed of myself for naively believing that my father would leave Sam alone in my absence, but I'd needed to get out. Once I'd discovered my ability, I'd wanted nothing more than to use it against my father, to punish him for how he'd treated me, and then to make him disappear… forever.
    "Hey, Jason. Come on back, bud," I blinked at him and cringed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you, but…"
    "I was out again. Sorry."
    "It's okay. Can you tell me what you were thinking about before it happened?" Dustin looked concerned and curious.
    "I… uh…" I shook my head. I didn't want to tell him, but wasn't this the reason we were doing this to begin with? If I couldn't tell him, then what was the point in continuing? Dustin waited patiently, allowing me to think it over. "I was thinking that I needed to get out of my father's house, because I was afraid I'd become like him. I was afraid that the next time he came for me, would be the time I'd let my power loose and destroy him." I saw Dustin lean back slightly at the venom in my voice, but continued. "But I should have brought Sam. He never should have been stuck with that monster." I shook my head again, this time in disgust at myself; then I looked up at Dustin curiously. "That only took a few seconds to think about, how long was I out?"
    It was Dustin's turn to hesitate as he rubbed a hand over the back of his head. "About