"Smith, L J - Dark Visions 1 - The Strange Power e-txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Lisa J)

But her heart was going quickly, and her feet wanted to leap up the steps. The stairs made a U-turn at a landing and then she was at the top.
The hallway was crowded with odds and ends of furniture, piled haphazardly. In front of Kait and to the left was an open door. She could hear voices inside.
Okay, who cares if they're nice? They're probably creeps-and I don't care. I don't need anyone. Maybe I can learn to put curses on people.
The last-minute panic made her reckless, and she plunged through the door almost belligerently.
And stopped. A girl was kneeling on a bed without sheets or blankets. A lovely girl-graceful and dark, with high cheekbones and an expression of serenity. Kaitlyn's belligerence seeped away and all the walls she normally kept around her seemed to dissolve. Peacefulness seemed to come from the other girl like a cool wind.
The girl smiled. "You're Kaitlyn."
"And you're . . . Anna?"
"Anna Eva Whiteraven."
"What a wonderful name," Kaitlyn said.
It wasn't the sort of thing people said back at Warren G. Harding High School-but Kaitlyn wasn't at Warren G. Harding High School anymore, and Anna's serene expression broke into another smile.
"You've got wonderful eyes," she said.
"Does she?" another voice said eagerly. "Hey, turn around."
Kait was already turning. On the far side of the room was an alcove with a bay window-and a boy coming out of it. He didn't look threatening. He had a cap of black hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes. From the camera in his hands Kaitlyn guessed he'd been taking pictures out the open window.
"Smile!" A flashbulb blinded Kaitlyn.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry; I just wanted to preserve the moment." The boy let go of the camera, which bounced as the strap around his neck caught it, and stuck out a hand. "You do have kind of neat eyes. Kind of weird. I'm Lewis Chao."
He had a sweet face, Kaitlyn decided. He wasn't big and gross, but rather small and neat. His hand wasn't sweaty when she took it, and his eyes weren't hungry.
"Lewis has been taking pictures since we got here this morning," Anna said. "We've got the entire block on record."
Kaitlyn blinked away blue afterimages and looked at Lewis curiously. "Really? Where do you come from?" It must be even farther away than Ohio, she thought.
He smiled beatifically. "San Francisco."
Kaitlyn laughed, and suddenly they were all laughing together. Not malicious laughter, not laughing at anyone, but wonderful torrents of giggles together. And then Kait knew.
I'm going to be happy here, she realized. It was almost too big a concept to take in at once. She was going to be happy, and for a year. A panorama opened before her. Sitting by the fireplace she'd seen downstairs, studying, the others all doing their own projects, everyone joined by a warm sort of togetherness even while they did their own things. Each of them different, but not minding the differences.
No need for walls between them.
They began to talk, eagerly, friendship flying back and forth. It seemed quite natural to join Anna sitting on the bed.
"I'm from Ohio-" Kait started.
"Aha, a Buckeye," Lewis put in.
"I'm from Washington State," Anna said. "Near Puget Sound."
"You're Native American, aren't you?"
"Yes; Suquamish."
"She talks to animals," Lewis said.
Anna said gently, "I don't really talk to them. I can influence them to do things-sometimes. It's a kind of thought projection, Joyce says."
Thought projection with animals? A few weeks ago Kait would have said it sounded insane-but then, wasn't her own "talent" insane? If one was possible, so was the other.
"I've got PK," Lewis said. "That's psychokinesis. Mind over matter."
"Like . . spoon bending?" Kait asked uncertainly.
"Nah, spoon bending's a trick. Real PK is only for little things, like making a compass needle deflect. What do you do?"
Despite herself, Kaitlyn's heart bumped. She'd never in her life said aloud the thing she was going to say.
"I... kind of see the future. At least, I don't, but my drawings do, and when I look back at them, I see that they did. But usually only after the thing has already happened," she finished incoherently.
Lewis and Anna looked thoughtful. "That's cool," Lewis said at last, and Anna said, "So you're an artist?"
The relief that flooded Kaitlyn was painful, and its aftermath left her jubilant. "I guess. I like to draw."
I'd like to draw right now, she thought, dying to get hold of some pastels. She'd draw Anna with burnt umber and matte black and sienna. She'd do Lewis with blue-black-his hair was that shiny-and some sort of flesh-ocher mixture for his skin.
Later, she told herself. Aloud she said, "So what about the bedrooms up here? Who goes where?"
"That's just what we've been trying to figure out," Anna said. "The problem is that there are supposed to be five of us students, and they've only got four bedrooms. There's this one and another one even bigger next door, and then two smaller ones on the back side of the house."
"And only the big ones have cable hookup. I've explained and explained," said Lewis, looking tragic, "that I need my MTV, but she doesn't understand. And I need enough outlets for my computer and stereo and stuff. Only the big rooms have those."
"It's not fair for us to take the good rooms before the others even get here," Anna said, gently but firmly.
"But I need my MTV. I'll die."
"Well, I don't care about cable," Kaitlyn said. "But I'd like a room with northern light-I like to draw in the mornings."
"You haven't heard the worst part-all the rooms have different things," Lewis said. "The one next door is huge, and it's got a king-size bed and a balcony and a Jacuzzi bath. This one has the alcove over there and a private bathroom-but almost no closet. And the two rooms in back have okay closets, but they share a bathroom."
"Well, obviously the biggest room should go to whoever's rooming together-because two of us are going to have to room together," Kaitlyn said.
"Great. I'll room with either of you," Lewis said promptly.
"No, no, no-look, let me go check out the light in the smaller rooms," Kaitlyn said, jumping up.