Indigo Ch. 11

Tobi and Sam found a comfortable rhythm over the days together. They spent the mornings eating breakfast and talking about the outside world: each constantly questioning the other about the very different lives that had lived. Tobi introduced Sam to various parts of The Commune. Sam was feeling stronger every day. The memory of the video was fading and she was starting to forget the stress of the last few years. She began to embrace the idea that The Commune was real and that she could find happiness here.

As the last stop on their tour, Tobi took Sam to visit the classrooms. The Commune hosted an impressively formal school system including several teachers. Most of the students seemed to be in the lower grades, though there were several in the intermediary and upper level classes. Tobi explained that the lower school classes were significantly larger, due to the number of children born to Indigo parents. Most of the students in the intermediary and upper school were brought into The Commune in much the same way Sam had been. They were completing their education and preparing for new roles within Indigo.

The intermediary and upper school students shared a few rooms and labs along the same hallway as the lower school classes. Tobi took Sam to visit one of the classes in session. The teacher enthusiastically invited Sam into their class. This particular class was only five students. They varied in age from barely thirteen, to those who looked to be around Sam's age. Taylor was one of the students in the class. He had a small black and white keyboard attached to a screen at a mobile desk unit. On the board, they were working their way through a calculus problem. It was the hardest math Sam had ever seen. She had a hard time believing that she was ready for this. She had been a solid C student through the beginning of high school, and was well behind where these guys were.

Sam also was allowed to visit the lower school classes. The children were working on a variety of art projects around the room. They smiled as they worked and seemed to have poise inappropriate for children so young. Sam chalked it up to living in such a calm and peaceful environment with exceptional parents. What struck her most though, were the large, bright eyes that they all seemed to share.

The teacher invited her to visit with the students and ask them about their projects. The children were more than happy to comply. She spent nearly an hour being escorted around different drawings, paintings, and sculptures that represented their family. The last child in the room didn't get up to greet Sam. Instead, Sam walked over to her desk. Taped across the top of her desk was a name tag that read "Charlotte", and she was working on a drawing of a familiar forest and barn.

"You must be the young Temple, huh?" Sam said with a smile.

Charlotte just looked up at her and smiled, but didn't say anything. She continued adding more animals to the landscape. It was obvious that she was one of the youngest in the class, as her drawing was more simplistic than some works Sam had seen. But, having met Cameron and Gregory, it was a perfect representation of her family. The farm here was their life, and their little girl obviously understood that. After a few silent moments, Charlotte began to speak.

"I am happy that you finally made it home." Her eyes were still down on her drawing, as if it were normal to be saying this to a stranger.

"You knew they were trying to find me?" Sam asked curiously. She wondered if it was common for the Indigo parents to tell the kids so much about what was going on.

"Yeah." Charlotte continued to draw. "She has been looking for you for a really long time."

"Who do you mean?" Now Sam was perplexed. She could not imagine why Charlotte's parents would talk to her about this.

"Mrs. Rose."

"Did your parents tell you that Rose was looking for me?"

"No, she came to see me and ask for my help." Charlotte finally put down her crayon to look up at Sam. Bright eyes and a sweet cherub face again greeted Sam. However, when she looked into Charlotte's eyes she did not feel the innocent peace that she had seen in all the others. She felt the complexity of someone who was very young, but who knew more than was possible. Sam could not hold her gaze for very long. She turned to face Tobi to silently ask for help, but he was engaged in a quiet conversation with a young boy in the corner.

Sam turned back to Charlotte, who pulled a small notebook from her desk. She opened it and started to flip through the pictures. At first the images didn't make a great deal of sense, as they were drawn in the crude hand of a young child. But as the pages continued, more detail came to the surface. Charlotte found the page she was looking for and Sam stared at it in disbelief. There was a blue car, and a series of letters and numbers that matched her license plates. Sam took the notebook and sat down in the floor beside the little girl. Sam felt the sting of tears coming her eyes. This could not be possible. People like this did not exist, especially not in six-year-old girls.

Tobi's attention was drawn to Sam as he saw her sink to the floor. He quickly came over to her side. Sam was stunned. Tobi gently removed the notebook from her hands and kept turning the pages. He looked down at the last page, and then closed the book. For a moment, his face fell, but only the little girl took notice. He regained his composure, and handed the book back to her.

"It's better if we don't give away any spoilers. You better keep the rest to yourself." He said sweetly and returned the notebook. He went to offer a hand to Sam, who was still sitting silently on the floor. But Charlotte shook her head no.

"Can I show you one more thing, Samantha?" Charlotte asked her.

"I don't need to see any more pictures." Sam wasn't sure that she could handle any more from this little girl now.

"No. I really have to show you something else."

Sam could not refuse the little girl. She was insistent and her curious eyes, a mix of child and omniscience, were impossible to resist.

Charlotte looked straight into Sam's eyes and grabbed her hands. For a moment all of Sam's surroundings disappeared. She was in a dark hallway. The surroundings were cold and damp. She could hear the sounds of quiet moaning in the distance. There was a smell that was vaguely familiar. There was a face that she could barely see in her memory. It was an incoherent rush of senses, from which Sam snapped out of quickly. The teacher was standing between Charlotte and Sam looking shocked and cross. She prompted the little girl to return to her drawing, and gave Tobi a look that meant they should leave immediately.

Tobi pulled Sam to her feet, and walked her out the door. The other kids smiled serenely and continued working as if nothing had happened.

"What was that about?" Sam asked Tobi, half in a state of shock and half determined to forget it. He shrugged and kept walking down the hall. The silence between them made it obvious that something important had happened, but he planned to give nothing away.

On their way back up the hill to the main building, Sam tried to shake the experience in the classroom. She started letting her mind wander to all the people who were around her, the opposite of her normal reaction. She noticed that whatever lockdown happened on her arrival, now appeared to be lifted. She saw many faces around The Commune, but most would avert their eyes and ignore that she was there. With the exception of the Temples, and the upper school teacher she had met, few people introduced themselves or even gave her more than a passing glance.

Tobi obviously didn't want to talk about what had happened with Charlotte, and Sam was desperate to lighten the mood. As they approached the front door to her building, Sam said with notable sarcasm, "I really appreciate you hanging out with me the past few days. But do you mind telling me why everyone else here is avoiding me?"

He smiled and replied. "They are just afraid of you."

Her suspicion was confirmed. What she sensed from them all had indeed been fear. "What have I done to them?"

"It isn't what you have done, it is what you could do."

"I don't get it. It is not as if I choose to feel what they are feeling. Plus, you guys are the ones that brought me here."

"Actually, Indigo and Dr. Franklind brought you here. No one else here really got a choice."

"At least you aren't holding that against me." She said with a smile. It was true. It was nice to have a friend here. Someone that wasn't afraid of her, and actually wanted to be in her company.

"Well, we never get a choice about who comes and goes. That is beyond our control. Plus, I'm not afraid of what you can do anyway." Tobi was being playful, making light of a fact that Sam found incredibly uncomfortable. This was a step in the right direction.

"Why would someone be afraid of me?"

"Don't you think it is intimidating having someone around who knows everything you are thinking?"

"I am not a mind reader."

"Not yet."

"I don't have that kind of ability."

"But you might. Everyone just wants to keep their privacy. Most of the people here come with a lot of baggage. They don't want you to know everything about them."

"I don't want to know."

"I know. And as soon as you learn to control what you do and don't feel, everyone will feel better. Just give them some time."

"So why aren't you afraid of me knowing everything about you?"

Tobi laughed at her question. "First of all, I don't have any secrets. Secondly, good luck."

"What do you mean?"

"Try me. I will happily be your guinea pig." Tobi had a boyish grin across his face. He was confident and charming. It was the first time Sam had been asked to feel something on demand. She wasn't really sure how any of this worked.

They sat down on a bench outside of the entrance. Sam felt ridiculous. She didn't know how she was supposed to access something from him. She had never done anything like this one command.

"Here, why don't you take my hands. Close your eyes. Just listen for a little while."

At first Sam felt nothing. Then slowly, she felt a surge of arrogance and entitlement. She felt like she could take on the world. The feelings slowly started to change. Pity, then remorse, then anger. She opened her eyes. Tobi was sitting there quietly still smiling at her.

"This doesn't make any sense." She said confused. Tobi smiled again. He was obviously toying with her, but she wasn't exactly sure how.

"I am an actor, remember? I was just thinking through some of the roles I have played in my life. "

Sam gave him a smack on the arm. Tobi was right. This was completely unfair. How could Sam read someone who was so good at changing who he was?

"Go ahead, try again. I will play nicer." Tobi reached for both of her hands, and held them in his. Sam closed her eyes again, waiting for the surge of emotions. She felt the arrogance again, but this time there was the tiniest level of apprehension, followed by a flood of affection. Sam had been so focused on channeling Tobi's emotions, that she hadn't noticed the rest of his body. Tobi leaned his face toward hers, placing a soft, warm kiss on her lips. Sam returned the gesture, and he brought his hands to her face.

The pair quickly pulled apart as the sounds of a car pulled up the drive. She recognized the blue sedan, with the Virginia plates immediately. The car parked too quickly, and the dark-haired man practically jumped from the driver's car. A red, curly-haired woman started to wave from the front. But her enthusiasm was cut short as she caught her companion's expression. He was livid. He aggressively crossed the distance between the car and bench.

"What the f**k do you think you are doing?" his blue eyes glared at them both with a fire Sam did not know could exist.