Part 3

Jamie woke up in an unknown place. He was puzzled to say the least. Why was he here? Where was here? Jamie frowned. Why couldn't he remember what had happened before he got here? Why was everything so hazy? He looked around the room he was in. It was sparse and gave off a clinical air, even if the walls were not painted white but green. This was not the hospital and yet, in a way, Jamie guessed that it was like one. But hospitals didn't have green walls. Always white. It was not a hospital.

He painstakingly pushed off his covers, his strength not yet returned. Even those simple movements tired him to the point of dizziness. He stopped what he was doing, letting the dizziness pass before he tried to do anything more. His foot touched the ground and he stood up. Jamie almost fell to the ground, feeling the rushing sensation that came just before one fainted.

A pair of hands caught him just in the nick of time, holding him upright with unnering ease. Jamie panicked. He didn't know who was behind him. It could be someone who had no good intentions on him and he didn't want anything untowards to happen to him. He struggled, but the arms holding him up only tightened their hold on him.

"Stop, Jamie," a suspiciously familiar voice told him from behind him.

Jamie stiffened in surprise. He knew now where he was, even if he didn't know the exact location of his place, at least he knew that he was in the world that the gifted lived in. Jamie had yet to be told the name of it. So he just called it the gifted's world.

"Kieran," Jamie said hoarsely, closing his eyes and letting his tension go, in defeat.

"I mean you no harm," Kieran said soothingly. "Jamie, why did you leave?"

"Because you don't really want me here," Jamie said wearily. "Why did you bring me back? So that you can gloat?"
"I have always wanted you here!" Kieran growled in annoyance. "It was that Marcus that made you think that. There are many that want you here. But you can't please everyone. There will always be a few that want to be your enemy than a friend. It is life. Marcus is but one."

Jamie was still unsure and Kieran was able to pick that up.

"Jamie, I swear it that I am not lying," Kieran said softly, helping Jamie to sit down on the bed, making it so that he could meet the younger man's eyes.

"Promise?" Jamie asked in an uncertain voice.

"Yes," Kieran told him, smiling now in happiness. "Now, don't you go running off again. Once is all that I can take of you disappearing into nowhere. I don't want to have to experience it again. Gave me a heart attack it did."

"I'm sorry," Jamie said in a small voice, suddenly finding the floor interesting.

A finger went under his chin to tilt his head upward so that he was made to look at the older man. "Don't be," Kieran told him firmly. "You were doing only what you thought you had to. I think, if I had a life like yours, I would have run too."

Jamie starred at him for a long while before nodding slowly back. Kieran smiled and let him go.

"Now," Kieran said in a light voice, "Are you hungry?"

Jamie nodded, grinning as he did so. "It seems that every time we meet, you're always asking me if I have to eat."

"Well," Kieran told him, "If you wouldn't run off all the time, it would be fine."

Jamie grimaced. "I'll try not to."

"That's all anyone can ask for," Kieran said. "What do you feel like eating? There's a crowd at the dinning hall at this time, so why don't you wait outside? I fear that they will only stare at you again. I'm sure you don't want to be stared at."

"Why would they be staring at me?" Jamie asked, confused. "I'm not someone famous or anything."

"You don't understand it yet," Kieran said, "But you're one of the most powerful gifted in the area. It's not everyday we find someone as strong as you."

"Oh," Jamie could only say. "Is that why I have those powers?"

"More of the gifts you have and the amount of power you can wield with it," Kieran explained to him. "It's a bit unusual to say the least. I am one of them. Garrett is another one. And a few others that you'll be meeting soon enough."

"Alright," Jamie said agreeable. "Can I have some sweet potatoes? I love those. Do you have them?"

"Just that?" Kieran asked him, laughing. "Are you sure that's all? We have more you know."

"Do you remember what I had on my plate when I was last here?" Jamie asked. "Those are mainly what I want."

"Yes, I do. I have to with my line of work. I'll get them for you. Wait here."

They had come to the entrance of the dining hall. Jamie waited for Kieran just outside the doors. Kieran closed them after him as he didn't want people staring at Jamie when he was waiting outside.

He came back out five minutes later with a tray loaded with food. He grinned at Jamie's dumbfounded expression. "Do you think it's enough?" Kieran teased.

"Enough?" Jamie said. "It sure is!"

The pair, Kieran again leading the way, went into the gardens.