Blood Entwines by Caroline Healy Page B

. . .’ Hannah looked down at her sneakers and scrubbed her toes together, shrugging her shoulders. ‘Usually it’s easy. I find the person’s thought, and follow it, like a string I suppose, back into their mind, and sometimes I can wrap it a different way, or change it, convince them to do something different. Most people it’s easy. Some people are too tight with their decisions.’ She interlocked her fingers together, balling her hands, squeezing till the knuckles turned white. ‘I can’t do anything then. But you . . . nothing. Just empty.’
    Kara stared back at her, beads of cold water dropping from her chin, the tap still running.
    â€˜So,’ Kara had to choose her words carefully and keep her tone even, ‘you can read people’s thoughts?’ She wiped her chin, flicking away the drops of water.
    Hannah scoffed. ‘No. Don’t be daft.’
    Kara breathed a sigh of relief; the only person on the planet who was speaking to her at the moment wasn’t barking mad . . . thankfully.
    â€˜I can control people’s decisions,’ said Hannah, looking squarely at Kara’s reflection in the mirror.
    Kara turned the tap, watching the steady flow of water ease off to a trickle. ‘So how does that work then?’
    The timbre of her voice was, of its own accord, even. She had resolved the situation in her head in an instant. If this girl was her only friend, then so be it, a little madness she could handle.
    â€˜I feel . . .’ Hannah gazed off into the middle distance, obviously measuring her words carefully. ‘I feel a kind of pressure building up in people, like the cogs of a mechanical wheel tightening, and I know the person is about to make a decision. The feeling is stronger the bigger the decision. Then I kind of feel what that decision is going to be and, if I am fast enough,’ she smiled, ‘I can get to them before it’s one hundred per cent decided and sometimes push them in a different direction. But it doesn’t work on everyone. Some people won’t let me change their decisions.’
    Hannah levelled her gaze at Kara and waited.
    â€˜Oh,’ was all the response that Kara could muster.
    â€˜And?’ said Hannah.
    Kara turned round to face the girl. ‘And what?’
    â€˜What about you?’ asked Hannah.
    â€˜What about me?’
    â€˜I can’t see your decisions at all. It’s a total blank. How come you’re so strong? How come you move so fast, and what’s with the advanced hearing?’
    Kara shook her head, swallowing loudly. The words sounded so strange when said out loud. ‘I don’t . . .’ she attempted. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
    A steely resolve settled over Hannah’s face and posture, and Kara knew there was no point. Why not be mad together? If they were sent to the loonie bin, at least they’d have company.
    â€˜OK. Fine!’
    Kara folded her hands across her chest defensively.
    â€˜I couldn’t see properly or hear properly after the operation, but the doctor said that was normal after such complex surgery. When I woke up, things were blurry and weird. Then one day,’ she left out the piece about her screaming on the roadside, ‘things kind of sorted themselves out.’ Kara cleared her throat, hoping that her explanation would cut it.
    â€˜Go on.’
    Kara continued: ‘Now I can see fine and hear fine – in fact, better than fine. Maybe my body is finally healing that last little bit.’
    Hannah scoffed at this statement, before smiling, something that Kara had never seen before. It illuminated her face, and two perfect dimples formed on her cheeks.
    â€˜That’s a bit of an understatement; I’ve never seen anyone move that fast on the volleyball court in my life.’
    â€˜Ya, well,’ said Kara in an angelic tone. ‘I didn’t want to let my team down. Anyway, how long have