[HANSON STORIES]

The Gifted Child

Chapter 4 - Painful Realization



"Oh my gosh are you sure?" Mrs. Hanson said, not believing what her husband was telling her. "This can't be happening, please tell me he's wrong."
Mr. Hanson shook his head.
"No. No, he's not. Taylor isn't wrong. His premonitions are never wrong. Believe me I know. I used to have them."
"But it just can't be," Mrs. Hanson said, not wanting to believe what she was being told.
"I saw what he saw and it was those men. Those horrible men!"
"Well maybe he saw it wrong. There has to be another explaination. I don't want to see you two get hurt anymore."
Mr. Hanson put his hands on her shoulders.
"Sweetheart, I wish with all my heart that it was wrong but both you and I know that this is real."
"But..." She took a deep breath, finally excepting the terrible reality.
She looked into her husband's warm eyes.
"What are we gonna do?"
"We'll all just have to lay low for a while. We're far enough away from town that they more than likely won't find us."
She nodded but one thing bothered her still. Her son. She looked deeper into her husband's eyes.
"What about Taylor? He can't handle this anymore."
She began crying.
"My poor baby!" Mr. Hanson hugged her tight, trying to comfort her, knowing it was almost useless.

Taylor sat in the kitchen, unknowingly hearing every word his parent's spoke. He sat at the bottom of the stairs that led into the kitchen with his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He too was crying. He didn't care who saw. He was too frightened to care. So many thoughts were running through his mind that he was feeling dizzy. Would they find them? What's going to happen if they do? Where will they be taken? Will he have to do those horrible things again?
He suddenly had a horrible thought.
"Oh no! What if they try to make me do that stuff again?"
His power was stronger and he knew that they knew it too. He began to tremble slightly as a painful memory came to him.

He was ten years old. He and his Father had been captured by those horrible men a second time. The first time had been five years earlier, when he was five. He was now standing in a testing lab making a thirty pound cement block float in the air. He was so tired from all that they had put him through. Pushing him. Making him lift bigger things and for longer periods of time. Sweat ran down his forehead and he was struggling to keep his concentration through his drowsiness. Suddenly, the block burst. He let out a long breath. The evil man, he knelt to Taylor. His face was permanantly etched in his memory. Danny. Taylor looked sadly and sleepily up at him.
"I'm sorry Danny. I can't do it any more. I'm too tired. I want to see my Dad."
Danny knelt until he was eyes level with Taylor.
"Taylor, what you have here is a remarkable talent. We must find out the extent of it. You wouldn't want to be cheated out of part of your gift now would you?"
"I don't care, I just want to home. I'm so tired."
Danny roughly grabbed his shoulders. Taylor gasped as a terrifying image appeared before him. He saw himself lifting army supplies. Breaking open vaults. Destroying buildings. He saw the fear in people's eyes as he did these things. He flashed back to reality and saw Danny giving him a confused look.
"What's wrong with you kid?"
One thing they didn't know about was his ability to see what they didn't want him to see. They didn't know that he had these premonitions. He began to shake. He now knew what they really wanted him for.
"You better answer me Taylor!" He wouldn't answer Danny. He just looked fearfully at him.
"Fine!" Danny yelled, "If you don't want to talk, you can go back to your room."
Room, more like prison. The windows were made of re-enforced metal and the doors could only be opened by a code key. They truely were prisoners.


Taylor blinked back the tears as the memory ended. But one part lingered. The premonition of him destroying the buildings. He moaned as another memory came to him.

He and his Dad had finally managed to out smart their captors and get away. They were running away from the building when alarms sounded all around. Bright lights shown on them and about twenty cars pulled up in front of them. Mr. Hanson had been carrying Taylor on his back. He slowly put him down and stood in front of him. The men made orders for them to return peacefully or they would be forced back inside. Mr. Hanson tried to reason with them but it didn't work. Taylor stood behind his Dad, his fear rising. His fear grew so high that his power took over.

Taylor shivered at the memory. All he could remember about that night was that he could feel his power taking a strong hold of him. He vaguely remembered seeing men running around frantically. What he remembered most was being shook by his Father and when he regained control, he had completely destoyed a small portion of the horrible institution. He had no idea he was capable of such a thing. He remembered seeing fear in his Father's eyes. He had never really been quite sure if his Father was afraid for him or afraid of him. He shook the thought away, knowing his Father would never fear him.
************************************

Zac sat at the top of the stairs, listening to his parents talk. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. No wonder Dad was so hasty to leave the store and get home. And why Taylor was so upset. He felt his anger rise. These people couldn't do that to them again. It not only affected Taylor and their Dad, but all of them as well. All the kids would cry not understanding why their father and brother were gone for so long. Isaac felt horrible because he was convinced that there was something that he could have done to stop this. Mrs. Hanson was the worst. She would cry almost non stop.
Zac shook his head.
"They won't get away with this," he said under his breath.
He then felt a hand in his shoulder and jumped nearly out of his skin. He looked up to see Isaac standing over him.
"Geez Ike don't do that!" he said in a harsh whisper. Isaac sat down next to him.
"Sorry. What are you doing?"
"Listening. Mom and Dad are having a serious talk. You want to know why Dad was in such a hurry and why Tay was so edgy?"
"Zac, that's none of our bussiness."
"The're back."
"Who?"
"Those men."
Isaac gave Zac a disbelieving look.
"What men?" he said, hoping it wasn't who he thought it was.
"The ones that took Dad and Tay away. Their back."
Isaac felt his stomach twist into a giant knot. It couldn't be. Not again.
"Ike? I don't want them to leave again. We're a family. Those men can't keep seperating us like this. It's not fair!" Isaac hugged Zac.
"I know Zac. I know." Isaac then heard a sniffle and slight whimper. "Don't cry Zac. It'll be ok."
Zac sat up and looked at him.
"That wasn't me."
"Then who was it?"
They heard it again. It was coming from the kitchen. They got up and quietly went down the stairs and turned into the kitchen, making sure their parents didn't see them. They both felt a tug at their hearts at what they saw. There was Taylor at the bottom of the steps, crying miserably. They could tell just by looking at him that he was truly hurting and frightened. Isaac and Zac looked at each other. They both had so many questions. Questions they only wished that they had answers to. Questions they were afraid to ask for fear of bringing back bad memories. They looked back to their sobbing brother, both saying a silent prayer, wishing they knew the extent of what was going on. Isaac felt something inside. Something he felt everytime this happened. The feeling grew and grew with time. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it was not good. He knew it had something to do with his father and brother. He just wished that he could figure out what it was.
************************************

That night, Isaac lay in his bed looking up at the ceiling. He was thinking about everything that had happened that day, starting with what had happened at the store. He thought about the times when he was younger and his father and brother weren't around. He was only seven the first time but still remembered it.

Isaac came into the kitchen and saw his mother sitting at the table. He had been in his room because there had been alot of policemen there. They finally left so he came to see his mommy. He got sad when he saw her. She had her hands over her face and was crying . His daddy and brother had disappeared a week ago. He slowly walked over to her. She still cried, not knowing he was there. He reached out and gently placed his small hand on her shoulder.
"Mommy?"
She jumped and looked at her son. She saw much confusion and sadness in his eyes.
"Hi sweetie," she said, wiping her eyes.
"Mommy are you ok?" She nodded and gave a tiny, reassuring smile.
"I'm okay sweetheart."
"You miss Daddy and Taylor don't you." he said with a frown. Her smile disappeared as well as she nodded. She saw tears well up in her sons eyes.
"Me too. When are they coming home?" Mrs. Hanson said nothing, only hugged him close.


Isaac remembered that day well. He remembered his mother holding him and crying her eyes out. She never did answer him. He didn't fully understand the situation but felt that just by being there for his mother was helping her a great deal. He hugged her tight for what seemed like forever while she cried. It still hurt him to think of how much emotional anguish she had to endure. When she had stopped crying, he remembered her kissing his forehead and telling him to go play with Zac, who was only two at the time. A small smile formed as Isaac thought about Zac. He was glad that he was too young to remember it. Zac may have known the story, but had no idea of what it was really like. The smile fell as Isaac thought of how it happened again five years later. It angered him to think that his family was put throught that pain and fear again. He and Zac both remember that one. He felt that feeling in his stomach again. Many times he had thought it too be anger, but it felt like something much stronger. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Oh God, why is this happening?" He then placed his arm over his face as he began to feel drowsy.
About five seconds later he was snapped back to reality as he heard loud screaming coming from down the hall.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!! PLEASE NO!!!!!!! SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!" He sat up and realized who it was.
"Taylor!" With that he jumped out of bed and ran out of his room towards his brother's room. When he got there, the whole family was there. He saw his mother and father rush past everyone. Mr. Hanson sat on the bed as Mrs. Hanson turned on the lamp. Mr. Hanson began to shake Taylor.
"Taylor! Wake up! It's just a dream, your safe! Wake up!"
"NOOOO!!!!!! GO AWAY!!!! I WON"T DO IT!!!! HELP!!!!!"
"Taylor please wake up! Taylor relax it's okay! Taylor? Taylor!" Mr. Hanson yelled as he shook him hard. Taylor stopped yelling and had his hands over his face.
"Taylor?" Mr. Hanson said gently as he moved his son's arms to reveal a very frightened Taylor. His face was red and covered with sweat. Mr. Hanson felt sick to his stomach.
"Taylor? Are you alright?" Taylor's face twisted up as he began to cry again. Mr. Hanson pulled him into his arms hugging him.
"It's okay Taylor it was only a dream. Just a dream. It's alright. It's okay son. Shh, it's okay." Mrs. Hanson sat on the bed in front of her husbnd and began to rub Taylor's back lovingly.
"It's okay baby, no one is going to hurt you. You're safe here. It was only a dream. It's over and your safe. Your safe baby, your safe," she said as she began to choke back sobs. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convice him or herself. Mr. Hanson reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently.
The rest of the family stood watching. Zac decided that he should probably take the little ones out of there. He leaned to his sister and whispered to her.
"Jessica, help me get the others back to sleep okay?" She nodded, glad to get out of there. She didn't understand why Taylor was like this. She knew something had happened but was too young to remember any of it. Unlike Zac, she was never told the story. None of the others had been. Since they were all to young to remember either time, their parents thought it best that they didn't know. The only reason Zac knew was because he had been old enough to remember when it happened the second time. She did know, however, that it had something to do with what Taylor and their father could do. She picked up her baby sister and motioned the other two out. Zac looked at Isaac.
"Ike? You coming?" Isaac just stood staring at the scene before them. Zac sighed and left the room, knowing his brother wasn't going to answer him.
Isaac stared at his parents and brother. He hated seeing his little brother like this. That feeling came back, now stronger than ever. It finally hit him. He finally realized what it was. It was sheer hatred. Hatred towards the men responsible for all of this. He got scared.
"Hate?" he thought, "How could I hate someone? That makes me just as evil as them."
He looked at his brother again and then his parents. He then turned and left the room. When he got back to his room, he lay face down on his bed.
"Dear God when did things get so bad? How could I feel hatred towards someone? Why? Why?" He said. He felt tears in his eyes. He finally knew why Taylor was always so upset. He knew Taylor hated the men as well. He felt his stomach twist. If it hurt him this much, how much did it hurt Taylor, the one who had actually experienced it?
"Ike?" Isaac looked up. It was Zac. Isaac sat up.
"Come on in Zac, I could use somone to talk to." Zac closed the door and sat down next to his older brother. Zac looked up at him.
"Ike, you okay?"
Isaac sighed and shook his head.
"No. No I"m not. I feel something that I thought I never would. Something I never wanted to. Something scary."
Zac gave a confused look. Isaac, scared? It must be bad.
"What is it Ike?"
"Hatred."
Zac cringed at the word. He then sighed and tears filled in his eyes.
"Me too."
Isaac looked at him. He then put his arm around Zac and hugged him close as many thoughts filled his head. How could these men have done this to their family? How could anyone be so cruel? So selfish? So uncaring? So.. hateful?
Isaac and Zac sat there just holding each other. They could still hear their parents trying to calm Taylor down. They both felt tears flow down their cheeks. For most of the night, they remained like this, just holding each other, feeling the pain and confusion. They were now started to get a better understanding of why Taylor feared these people so much. Why he and his father were so cautious. Why they now lived in the middle of nowhere. Oh how they wished it didn't have to be like this. The biggest question they had was, what happens now?


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