by L. J. Fox
Layne tried hard not to show the shock she just felt at those words. All over the world? She thought it was going to be a family, perhaps an extended family, not a select group of people from all over the world. That one statement scared her half to death.
She cleared her throat, ensuring her voice would carry confidently.
“May I ask questions?”
“Of course, you can.” He answered, still smiling.
“How long have your people been ... preserving the lineage?” she asked.
“It was not taken seriously until the sixteenth century when a man named Joseph Bray amassed a group of us and decided to ensure the powers were not lost over time. We are known as The Brays.”
“The Brays.” She repeated, knowing she had never heard this before. As a little girl, had she ever heard her parents mention this? She had no recollection of it.
“What do you mean by lost over time?” she asked.
He wriggled slightly in his chair. “Well … selective breeding ensures that the powers are retained through the generations and not diluted down until they eventually disappear.”
“Diluted? You mean from marrying normal people?”
“Yes. We … “
She interrupted. “So, there would be lots of people out there from before the 16th century who are a result of ‘diluted blood’ with normal humans?”
“Correct. How do you think we have such supreme athletes appear every now and again, or a music protégé or a genius? You would be surprised how many leaders in the world over the past one thousand years had blood from a person with powers.”
She raised her eyebrows. That was a profound thought.
“Due to a limited gene pool we have to be careful not to ... how do I put it ... inbreed? We also have to ensure that Brays with high-level power do not marry Brays with low-level power. Marriages have to be arranged and carefully checked. We want to make sure the couples complement each other.”
Layne pursed her lips. What a joy it must be to be part of this group ... not.
She stopped him again, still trying to wrap her mind around the whole concept of a group of people selectively breeding over many hundreds of years.
“So, where did your people come from? Who was the originator?”
He smiled at her, his super-white teeth on show.
“The Brays are your people too.”
She couldn’t accept that. She gave him a wry smile and waited for his response.
“If you were religious, you would say that Adam and Eve were perfect, were created to be perfect in every way. They were created in the image of God. Imperfection began the day Eve bit into the apple. Their children spread to all parts of the world and multiplied, mutated and spread genetic faults. One small group could have been in an isolated part of the world and multiplied amongst themselves, thus preserving the near perfection from the parents.”
“And what is the non-religious story?”
“Well, it is similar. A mutation would have occurred, and the result was a super-human. This person was the catalyst for a new community of people. They would have been small in numbers initially and inter-bred to result in a super-race of people.”
It all sounded so bizarre Layne had to fight with herself to keep from laughing or calling it bullshit. On the other hand, the thought that a young girl could hear people’s heart beats, smell hundreds of smells from long distances, heal in lightning time, and do all the other things she could do was also bizarre. Was this the truth, what he was saying? She had to face that it that this was reality and where she came from was a reality.
“Is there a goal or a plan with your breeding program? Spread superior genes, improve the world, cure cancer … or is it take over the world … world domination?” she asked, glibly.
Warren looked her in the eye and smiled secretly.
“Of course. We are working toward having a Bray in every position of power in the world”
He looked at Layne and saw the scepticism on her face.
“You would be surprised how far we have already come and how many world leaders are already from the Bray family.”
Layne looked into the blue eyes of this man who so calmly told her this outrageous information. In any other situation, she would have thought it was someone having a bit of fun with her, and any minute they would own up to the joke, but Warren’s face was dead serious. She had no doubt that he fully intended to work toward world domination.
“You said that I am important, but my blood is diluted as my father was a normal person so why would you be interested in me? Wouldn’t I be considered a low-level power person?” she asked.
He smiled again. “There are a few reasons why we are interested in you. For one thing, your powers are actually very strong. For someone who has had no training and has developed naturally, you are quite incredible.”
“How could you know that?”
“Let me show you” He reached across to a remote control on a side table and pressed a few buttons. Behind Layne, a screen rolled down.
“Please view.” he said gesturing towards the screen.
Chapter 25
Not knowing what to expect and totally taken off guard, she turned to watch the screen. Video footage appeared of her as a young child, maybe no more than four years old, in the garden on the farm. Layne was shocked that they were watching her back then. The camera was zoomed in, so she guessed the footage was filmed back in the trees outside the front gate. In the footage she was running down the garden towards the calves. As she neared the fence, she hurdled it as if it were low to the ground. The post and rail fence was taller than she was. Then she turned and looked directly at the camera, as if vaguely aware of someone watching her.
The video moved from one clip to another. In one clip she was walking through town in Katunga and put up her umbrella two minutes before the rain hit. In another which was also in town, she is around twelve years old. She grabs a friend and drags her out of the way a few minutes before a car crashes through where they had been sitting and through the front of a shop. She remembered that event. She had heard the roaring of the car engine long before it reached the street. The clips went on and on from incidents throughout her life. Incidents where she thought no one was watching. Watching this now was quite deflating. All that time and she had been unaware of being watched. It was such an invasion of her privacy and frightened her.
“Why is it that I was only aware of being watched after I turned eighteen, if your people have been watching me all my life?” she asked.
“That was deliberate. Don’t forget everyone who we have tailing you also has powers. Therefore, they know when you may be able to detect them and when you can’t. We assessed you well before you were eighteen years old, but we wanted you to grow to adulthood before we approached you. After that we wanted you to know we were watching you.”
Layne frowned, still trying to understand the whole scenario.
“What are the other reasons you mentioned?” she asked.
“As I said, your powers are strong, and we know that they can be stronger. With training on how to focus, you would be able to do a lot more than you can right now. The signs are all there. I can sense now how strong you are. Also, your mother had incredibly strong powers.”
At the mention of her mother, she drew in her breath and looked at him harshly.
“If you had been a half-breed from one of the security people for example, we would not have bothered with you. Just to let you know, we use the low-level power Brays for security, drivers, housekeepers, and so on. But your mother ... she has the most amazing powers we had seen. We felt there was a good chance you would still have strong powers ... despite who your father was.”
Despite who your father was ... this part was said with obvious disdain. Layne realised that these super-humans thought of all the normal people with disdain, like some low-class peasants.
“So, my mother had a high-level of power so that makes me important? There is m
ore, isn’t there?” Layne knew he was holding back.
“Yes.” He hesitated as if searching for the words. “You are my granddaughter.”
He stopped and stared at her, waiting for a response. She stared at him. Never in one million years would she have expected that answer. She looked into his eyes again, trying to absorb that information.
“You are ... you are my mother’s father?” she asked shocked again.
“Yes. She is my daughter.”
She could not believe it. She was more shocked about what he may have done to his daughter rather than the fact that he was her grandfather.
“Where are my parents? What happened to them?” she asked firmly.
He stared at her and the minutes ticked by. Layne was holding her breath. She wanted desperately to know the answer to this mystery, and yet, she was terrified at what the answer may be.
Finally, he spoke. “I will talk to you about your parents when you are ready, but not today.”
She was annoyed at him delaying the discussion, but also strangely relieved. Maybe she was not ready to know. The fact that she could so easily let him off on this topic meant that she was not ready.
“So, you still haven’t told me what you want from me.” She persisted with her original question.
“We want you to join us. Your powers are exceptional, and we can make them stronger. You would be such an asset to us. I see the future with you in a leadership role within the organisation.”
He waited for some sort of response from her. How should she respond here? Of course, she had no interest in the organisation. To be negative could mean a bad result, but to be positive may look false. What she really wanted to do was stall any discussions about the future or any decision, until she knew her enemy better.
“Is the jury out on who my husband will be?”
It seemed a logical question and it avoided answering his question.
“Yes of course. You have met him. It is Gregory.”
Luckily, she managed to curb the look of revulsion and presented a neutral face.
‘Oh’ was all she was going to offer.
Chapter 26
There was a gentle tap on the door and a woman entered the room. It was a welcome interruption so she did not have to comment on who her future husband was intended to be. The woman looked to be in her sixties though her skin was soft and smooth, and she was immaculately dressed. She was a stunning looking woman with her blonde greying hair and piercing green eyes. Layne imagined she would have been very attractive when she was young. She seemed to float across the floor rather than walk, her body held in perfect vertical position. Her face did not portray any emotion. She extended her hand to Layne.
“I am Miriam. Pleased to meet you Layne.”
She held Layne’s hand with her perfectly manicured hand and gave her a good looking over. Warren introduced her.
“Miriam is my wife.”
“… which makes me your maternal grandmother.”
She said it so matter of fact as if it was no big deal. Layne stared at this woman in shock. What a difference there was between Miriam and her other grandmother. Layne imagined that when meeting your granddaughter after nineteen years, any normal grandmother would be overcome with emotion and love. This did not happen with Miriam. She was completely in control. Layne felt she was being sized up like a Christmas ham.
“You do indeed look like Beverley. I am so pleased to welcome you to our home. Let’s take a little tour, shall we?” She gently took Layne by the arm.
Warren signalled that they could go. Miriam steered Layne as they wandered through hallways, looked in rooms with Miriam telling her all about the house, what the rooms were for and who the interior decorator had been. Layne marvelled at how Miriam was more interested in displaying her fancy house than getting to know her granddaughter. She never once asked Layne anything about her life or thoughts.
Layne memorised the layout of the house in case she ever needed to know her way around. The rooms were very opulent, and it appeared no money had been spared in anything. Everywhere she looked there were cameras mounted on the walls. No doubt this house was a mini fortress.
“We are having some special guests for dinner tonight and we would be pleased if you could join us.” Miriam asked with her carefully polished voice.
“Thank you. I would love to.” She responded.
The tour lasted for an hour and included the magnificent gardens. Layne noted the high fences, the security gates, men patrolling the grounds and heavy-duty doors to the house. Miriam chatted away pointing out various elements of note. Layne found her to be a very cold, almost robotic creature. There didn’t seem to be a human side to her. Could she really have the same blood as these strange people?
She sent a text message to Andy so he would not worry about her when she was left in a suite to freshen herself up for dinner. No doubt he would have been worried sick about her. She asked him to let her grandparents know that she was fine.
Chapter 27
All the guests were already seated at the table when she was shown into the dining room. Warren sat at the head of the table, naturally, and came around to greet her and introduce her to the others. There were around twenty people at the table, a mix of males and females. After spending her nineteen years of life thinking she was the only one with gifts, it struck her as amazing that here she was at a table with twenty people with gifts. She was interested to learn more. Most of them were well-dressed in casual attire whereas Layne was only dressed in her university class clothes consisting of jeans and a blouse. She felt very under-dressed and under-prepared.
Warren introduced her as if she was the new prized possession. Everyone smiled and leaned forward with interest, obviously welcoming her but very curious. Twenty pair of eyes followed her every move. Was she a circus act? She found the whole thing quite amusing, but she kept her smiling face on, to keep up the appearance of the long-lost granddaughter coming back into the fold. Clearly Warren was some sort of leader of this group, so they were very interested in a half-caste granddaughter.
She recognised one of the men at the table as a State Government minister, another as a prominent news journalist and a woman who was the CEO of a major bank. She wondered how many people in authority were people with gifts, as Warren had indicated. And of course, she recognised Gregory. How convenient that there was an empty place at the table next to him.
She took her seat and Gregory commented on how nice it was to see her again. She just smiled weakly at him. She hoped he wouldn’t try to converse too much with her tonight. Small talk with Gregory was decidedly unappealing.
The conversation around the table was quite lively with many of the guests eager to ask her questions, particularly about her gifts. She found it strange that this group so openly talked about gifts when she had spent her whole life trying to hide her gifts. It was like another world.
Something that struck her when she looked around, was that these were all beautiful people, in looks and dress. Perfectly manicured, designer clothes, perfect smiles and perfect haircuts. These were the beautiful people. She wondered if any Bray’s existed who were ordinary looking or had obvious physical or mental impairments. Somehow, she doubted it.
“Layne – such a lovely name.”
One of the women spoke up. She was an attractive brunette possibly in her late thirties with honey-brown coloured eyes and a genuine smile.
“We are all interested in knowing if you have strong powers like your mother. I will be working with you to develop your powers further. My name is Narelle.”
Warren added “Narelle is our trainer and very good at what she does.” He smiled at Narelle.
“Why thank you Warren.” She smiled back.
“I don’t remember much about my mother and I don’t know how strong her gifts … powers were. I don’t even know the difference between strong and weak powers as I have no comparison. I have never known anyone else with powers, so I can’t really answer
your question.”
She smiled at Narelle, happy that she had answered truthfully and yet given not much away.
“Oh well, your mother had acute senses. Probably the most powerful person I’ve met. She could not even walk through a cemetery as she could detect the buried bodies.”
“Really?”
That was a revelation to Layne. She never imagined there were gifts like that. Layne had never walked through a cemetery. An image came to mind of smelling decayed bodies and trying to turn off your senses to that.
A more petite lady sitting next to Narelle answered. She had ash blonde hair, straightened, and appeared to be in her forties.
“She could detect illness in a person when she held their hand.”
Entree of prawns and rice arrived. Everyone started eating but the conversation continued.
“Yes. She would have been a great doctor, but her sense of smell was too strong to consider it.”
Layne found it interesting that this group of people openly talked about her mother. She would love to have asked them again what had happened to her mother, but it was not the right time. Would the Brays so openly discuss a person they had eliminated? Perhaps, these ones did not know.
“I don’t seem to have those powers.” Layne added.
Main course was a lamb fillet with roasted vegetables and dessert consisted of a mousse. All was first class fare and service. Amazing what money could buy.
The conversation from there on was on current events. Obviously, the group had tentacles into much of society and politics. It was a strange feeling to Layne that although these people had gifts just as she did, she could not accept that she was part of this group. They were not her people. It all seemed so elitist and manipulative. She liked to think that she was more human than that, with genuine passion and caring for humanity. She wondered if humanity was a genetic trait, or an environmental one.