The Clairvoyant 4

CHAPTER 4:

Clair sat next to Firon on the thin mattress she had laid there. A huge blanket was lying crumpled in a corner. Clair picked it up and drew it around Firon saying, "Planning to stay awake till late?"

"Yup!" Firon said softly. She had intended to talk to him that night. Clair was tucking the blanket around himself when Firon touched his arm and said, "Hey… I am not here just to talk about the final paper. I want to reflect upon my life, maybe I am looking for some answers Clair…. What do you think?"

Clair’s mood swung from flamboyance to down to earth. He said gazing into the sky, which was studded with a million stars, "I am not confused, I am just waiting for my answers. As for reflection, I think I have more to reflect on than just my own life. I got your life on my platter as well you know…."

Firon could feel the proximity, the bare minimum distance left between her and Clair. He made her feel comfortable and uncomfortable every time he reminded her of the way she had rejected him. She let the notepad drop into her lap as she propped herself on her hands behind her back. Gazing at the stars she said softly, "Clair… when you had the chance to continue as a cause why did you register for training?"

Clair exhaled noisily but didn’t say anything, he was taking his time. He knew that the moment was weak and if he wanted he could ask Firon the same question once again but then the relation they had to build after ‘the return’ would vanish and he sincerely didn’t want that to happen. Turning to look at her, he saw her in a different light. No meaning, confusion engulfing her, alone and withered, Firon didn’t deserve the pain of being a cause… or the rudderless life she was leading.

Firon unconsciously bent her elbows and crashed (albeit softly) into Clair’s chest. She could hear his heartbeat… it was so warm, so secure and so comforting. Firon recalled feeling so safe- it had been a very long time. She hadn’t seen her father or mother or any relative. Once you become a cause you are an individual with no ties with anybody but the ASFC and its members. She thought about the day she had opened her eyes after that day in college….

Clair silently read Firon’s mind as she fell asleep in the balcony sitting with him.

FIRON’S POV:
A young Japanese or Korean lady who looked quite young rushed from Clair’s bed to mine carrying reports and samples. I craned my neck to see where we both were. Clair had a fractured leg or so it seemed. He was asleep when I first saw him there. That lady came towards me and said something about talking to the agency executives about my options. Trust me I didn’t understand a word of what she told me. Once again I fell asleep to wake up a few days later and find Clair sleeping with his head on my bed, sitting on the visitor’s chair. Poor thing. Then the rude memories of being hauled into a strange world with him came into my mind and I felt devastated, I remember that part clearly cause I felt like punching him right in his face but I couldn’t mark as perfect a face as his. Anyways then I remember being in a room with all stupid bandages and what not with Clair supporting me. We were sitting in a room with some black suit (or was it blue suit) executives. We had to sign some papers. One of those men asked me if I wanted to become a ‘cause’. I think I was being controlled by Clair at that time. Maybe because it was a really vague feeling. A detached sort of sensation. Maybe it was the result of drugs. They said a cause is someone who lives the life of a human but is in fact is bestowed with some special ability. They are different from mutants though mutants are almost same. But causes maintain the physical appearance and weaknesses of humans. Mutants have their own advantages and disadvantages. Causes need protection because they are invasive in nature that is they can communicate and exert their powers on any species. That may or may not be possible for all. There is only one organization per species to train and provide shelter to the respective species. Becoming a cause the individual comes under a bond to never leave ASFC again. Disobedience can lead to execution. That was what they told me before telling me the crueller options- do whatever professional work you are involved in inside the facility or option 2- die with no one to know where you are or who you were. In between the humans you will be reported dead or missing based on the information ASFC gives.

I recall myself saying that I would become a cause and then I think Clair and I came outside after which he hugged me so tightly I thought I would suffocate not because of lack of air but because of the emotions he was showing me. He shook my shoulders so badly. He wanted to slap me or so he said because ii had chosen to become a cause. I told him that I had no one left but him and all because of him too… so why shouldn’t I be burdened on him? He cried as they took me away. Tsugumi said that I was the third acquired cause. Two weeks I was in Tsugumi’s ward. Clair was there too… looking after me, arranging my things, getting me to accept the air that I would now have to breathe. Then one day I had a bad bad headache, Clair was not there, Tsugumi had gone to see her sister. I knew it was because of the transformation I underwent. Tsugumi said side effects would be there and they would be bad and I never knew they could be this bad. That evening Clair came in with a cake to celebrate my discharge. He said after I had finished yelling my daily dose of frustrated words at him- I think I’m falling for you….

***

Clair’s voice sailed through Firon’s head, "Firon…. Firon? Want to have some coffee?" Firon opened her eyes groggily and said, "Sure, I don’t suppose we’ve written more than two words…" yawning she said, "What is the time anyways?"

Clair stretched as she realized she had been shamelessly sleeping in his embrace all this while. Praying to God that it was only five minutes, Firon heard Clair say into the night, "It’s been half an hour since you settled in my ‘embrace’ as you put it."

Firon thought as she blushed, ‘God! He is a crazy clairvoyant….’

Needless to say, she got a reply back, "So are you!"