Coming Together (Tèarmann Chronicles book 6): A Christian Urban Fantasy

by TR Moore Ede

  Zack was quiet for a moment.

  “Not going to steal anyone else’s?” Victoria asked. “They are just comics-”

  “Shush,” he said, waving a hand in her face. He snapped his fingers, a huge smile forming. “Bolt.”

  Malissa smiled. “That’ll work.”

  “Jason, Irene, you could go off of the fact that you breath fire,” Victoria said. “So like fire, flame, torch, blaze, or flare; stuff like that. It doesn’t have to be completely accurate to your power.”

  “Okay,” Jason said, then looked at Irene. “What do you think?”

  “Well, we used the same first letter just because,” she whispered with a shrug. “Fire seems a bit cheesy, so I could be Flare, and you could be Flame?” She spoke slowly, sounding quite unsure.

  Jason nodded. “That works. We can talk to Mom and Dad and see what they think.”

  “Speaking of parents,” Zack said, looking at this watch, “they want me home soon. I should probably head there now. See y’all later.” He disappeared in a blur.

  Malissa shook her head with a small smile. “Zack will always be Zack,” she whispered. “Thank goodness.”

  “Excuse me,” Eve said, standing up. “Just getting some water,” she added

  I followed.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked, quickly noticing I was trailing behind.

  I picked up my cup of water off the kitchen table. “It’s just interesting to see how calm you are. Before you would have jumped a mile high.”

  She nodded, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I was panicked, still am a little.” She drummed her fingers on the countertop. “But it’s helpful that I have people to back me up. Before it felt like the world was going to be against me. Sounds kind of silly, I guess.”

  “You came out of a ship from a different planet. I think that’s an understandable stance. You’re lucky that you found someone who was willing to listen.”

  “Yes, thank the Lord.”

  I tilted my head. “Are you a Christian?”

  She nodded. “Is something wrong with that?”

  “No. I don’t know what I expect from people who live on a different planet.”

  She chuckled.

  “Well, I’m glad to see you’re more comfortable.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. I really do appreciate yours and … Jessica?”

  “No, I’m Jessica, that’s Jessie.”

  “That’s almost the same thing.”

  “We were separated at birth so, yeah, it’s confusing,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “That used to be one of my nicknames.”

  She gave a nod. “Anyway, I appreciate your willingness to help even after seeing the color of my blood.”

  I just gave a nod.

  Eve finished her cup before returning to the other room.

  I stood there for a moment before doing the same.

  “We should probably get going,” Jessie said, standing up and coming over.

  I looked at her. “We should?” Why?

  Mom and Dad have a meeting tonight, and I’d like to talk to them about this before they leave.

  We don’t have to talk to them about this today.

  I’d prefer to talk about it right away while everything is fresh in my mind. Please?

  I sighed. Fine. “I guess we’re going,” I said aloud.

  Jessie smiled and grabbed my arm. “Thank you for lunch, Mr. Quinn.”

  Mr. Quinn gave a nod. “It was my pleasure. And thank you for coming.”

  After a few more goodbyes, we left. The walk home was quiet as we both thought about the information we had just been presented.

  “Mom! Dad! We're home,” I called, as Jessie and I walked in. “Are you serious about letting us be on a hero team?”

  Dad laughed as he walked into sight. “Yes, we are. You wouldn’t have been at that meeting otherwise. Why? Do you not want to do it?”

  “No, I do, I just can’t believe you're going to let us do something that dangerous,” I said, following him into the living room.

  “It’s not that different from you going on missions,” said Mom. Jessie plopped on the couch next to her as she added, “It’d be just about as dangerous.”

  “We’re going straight to danger, not avoiding it!” I said, sitting down. “So, more dangerous. Also, as we have powers, so it will be like painting a target on our chests.”

  “We’re not going to be at the front,” Jessie said.

  “Still.”

  Dad nodded as he took a seat next to us. “We did take everything into consideration, yes. It will help you be better prepared with your powers, and you can be around people your age.”

  “We’re playing superheroes. Do you see how much they get thrown around in movies? The difference is that physics will be applied.”

  “First off, movies have supervillains and they’re able to punch people around harder than normal, and second, as I said, we’re not going to be on the front lines,” Jessie said.

  “Unless someone sets up a trap,” I said, looking over at her.

  Jessie cringed at the thought. “Do you think that would really happen?”

  “We have powers, so yes.”

  Chapter 7

  “It sounds like you’re trying to talk us out of it,” Dad said, putting an arm around me.

  I looked away. “I’m not. I just don’t understand why you let us.”

  “Don’t keep questioning it or they’ll change their minds. I thought I’d be the one to ask all those questions,” Jessie whispered. “I can’t wait to tell Miss Silver … although I’m not sure if she’ll like the idea. This is going to worry her a lot.”

  “And we won’t?” Mom asked. “Your father and I are worried, but we also know you would like to use your powers. I doubt they will put you in anything really dangerous or illegal, so we figured we should let you. If we—or you—don’t like what’s going on, we’ll pull you out.”

  Jessie and I nodded.

  “So do you have any name or uniform ideas?” Mom asked.

  We shook our heads. “Nope, none,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. “Plus, we can only design the shirt portion of our uniform. I’m hungry, so I’m going to find myself a snack.” I disappeared into the kitchen.

  After lunch, Jessie and I sat in her room thinking up different shirt ideas. I sat on her desk, as she sat on the chair, drawing. “Are you sure you don’t want to draw?” she asked, glancing up.

  I rolled my eyes. “I can barely draw a stick figure. I prefer active stuff over drawing, anyway.”

  She drummed her fingers against the desk. “What color should it be?”

  I shrugged before hopping down. “Don’t care. I’m not one for fashion or caring about what looks best with what.”

  She stared at me with an unimpressed look before turning back to the paper. “Fine, purple.”

  I whirled around and peeked over her shoulder. “Purple? Isn’t that a bit too girly?” I asked with a frown.

  “We’re girls!”

  “So what?”

  She huffed and continued drawing the outline of a shirt. “Yours doesn’t have to be the same color as mine.”

  I leaned my arms on the back of her chair. “But it’s easier to piggyback off of your idea.”

  She shot me a look.

  I snickered. “I’d prefer to go with all black.”

  She turned her chair around, forcing me to stand up straight. “That’s boring.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “So? We’re not going to a fashion show.”

  She huffed and spun her chair back around. “You should have some sort of logo.”

  I paused for a moment. “How about that aiming thing that I see when I use my stuns? But it will be on my arm, not my chest, begging for them to all shoot at me.”

  Jessie rolled her eyes. “That’s fine. I think I’ll go for a dark purple.”

  “And your symbol?”

  She tapped her pencil against the desk before leani
ng back. “I don’t know.”

  “Well that’s not helpful now, is it?”

  “Stop it,” she mumbled, pushing my face away. She let out a long breath. “What about …” Her face seemed to freeze in a look of uncertainty and thoughtfulness.

  I sighed and plucked the pencil from her hands.

  “Hey!”

  “You’re thinking about this too much. It doesn’t have to be a spot on connection to your power. Just enough for those who know us to tell who is who. So, how about this?” I asked, drawing the outline of an eye, just the football shape, nothing else.

  “What about the iris and pupil?”

  “You’re thinking about it too much. You don’t need the detail. It’s fine like that.”

  She pursed her lips. “Fine.”

  “Fantastic. See, I’m helping,” I said with a grin.

  She shook her head.

  I chuckled.

  “Well, let’s see what your aiming symbol looks like,” she said, pushing the pencil and paper toward me.

  “I’ve been doing most of the work.”

  “No you haven’t.”

  “Sure I have. I thought up my color-”

  “A boring color,” she said, resting her elbow on the chair’s armrest.

  “And both of our symbols.”

  She rolled her eyes. “And I decided that we should sit down and do this now instead of waiting for the last second.”

  I chuckled. “I work best at the last second. Motivation. And it’s funny watching your reaction.”

  She shot me a glare.

  “A black shirt with the white eye might look more like a uniform.”

  She bit her lip. “What about a dark purple and white or grey?”

  Turning around, I leaned against the desk. “I suppose. If that’s what you really want?”

  “Black’s no fun.”

  I rubbed her head before drawing my aiming symbol as she asked. “It looks like that. Or about that. And it’ll be red.”

  She looked at me. “Red?”

  “Yep.”

  She turned back to the paper. “I see.”

  “Do you have a problem with that?”

  She shook her head. “I thought you would have gone for a more subtle color.”

  “I think they need to be able to see it.”

  “I guess. Do we get a choice on the mask?”

  I shrugged. “So long as it covers our face enough, I’m good. And I’d like to wait and see how comfortable they are before making a decision.”

  She nodded her head to one side. “Makes sense.” She glanced back at the paper. “I suppose we’re done.”

  I plopped on her bed. “It appears so.”

  “I thought it would be harder.”

  “We still have code names to decide on.” Her shoulders drooped. “We’ve made progress. We can do that later,” she mumbled, sliding the paper further onto the desk before getting up.

  “But shouldn’t we get it done right away?” I asked.

  She shot me a look, clearly not amused.

  I flashed my most fake innocent smile.

  She grabbed her pillow and threw it at me.

  I laughed, easily deflecting it. After lunging and pinning her down, I began to tickle her.

  Jessie was not impressed and soon recruited Mom and Dad to help.

  The next morning, I awoke to hear someone ruffling through my closet.

  Inwardly, I frowned. Who was in my room and why? I remained still for a moment before sitting straight up.

  Jessie jumped and covered her mouth. “Jessica! You could have made me scream.”

  I stretched. “Sorry. Just because we moved doesn’t mean the UIC won’t find us. I have to be prepared.”

  “If they were smart, they would stun you in your sleep.”

  I shrugged. “Not all of them are. So, what are you doing in here?”

  “You wore one of my dresses and hung it in your closet. I’m just here for it.”

  “Not trying to get payback for yesterday?”

  She rolled her eyes as she turned back to me, the dress slung over her arm. Her hair was done up simply, half up, half down, a simple beaded clasp holding it together.

  “Right, church,” I mumbled, then laid back down. “Have fun.”

  “You should come with us.”

  I snickered. “Funny. No thanks.”

  Jessie’s shoulders drooped before a smug look crept onto her face. She sat next to me and poked my shoulder. “Remember that bet? You promised to come to church if you lost, which you did. Since you're up, let's go.”

  I glared at her before burying my face in my pillow. I gave a long groan. “Fine, fine, fine, fine!!”

  She giggled. “It’s not like you have a choice. Wear something at least clean and presentable. You don’t have to dress up, I just like to.”

  I lay there for a moment then slid out of bed. I sat there on the floor, staring off.

  “Keep moving. I don’t want to be late.” With a smile, Jessie disappeared out of my room and into hers.

  After hitting my head against my mattress a few times, I forced myself to my feet, got dressed and threw my hair into a ponytail.

  Within ten minutes, we got into Miss Silver’s car. Jessie was smiling, I was scowling.

  “Jessica! I wasn’t expecting you to come, but I’m glad you did,” Miss Silver said, glancing back at me from the driver's seat.

  “It wasn’t my choice. I lost a dare. Jessie was better at escaping Terry than I thought. He better not have been in on it!”

  Jessie rolled her eyes. “No, he wasn’t. If he was, I’m pretty sure you would find out and then make me do something. No, I won fair and square. Besides, I don’t think Terry would have laughed so hard if he knew, neither did he have time to find out since we put him up to it when he arrived.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and looked away.

  “Anyway, your parents told me about the … team you’re joining,” Miss Silver said, her lips forming a tight crease. Her eyes slid to Jessie.

  “Yeah. I’m a little scared but for whatever reason also excited,” Jessie said with a small smile, wringing her hands together.

  Miss Silver gave a nod, worry lingering in her light brown eyes. “I can’t believe your parents would allow you to do something so-”

  “Dangerous?” I asked, leaning forward. I let out a long breath, feeling defensive for my parents. I waited for a moment before I spoke, hoping to rid my tone of obvious displeasure. “We’re agents, danger is part of our life, especially since we’re connected to the UIC.”

  “Continuing to be an agent and joining that team won’t help.” She sighed. “But I'm not in charge of you, so I can only give my opinion.”

  Jessie looked at her lap, the disapproval of her former guardian likely causing her to form second thoughts. “I-I know it will be dangerous but … it will be kind of nice to be around a group of people that also have powers, that it’s not just us.”

  Miss Silver said nothing, only nodded.

  “Hello Jessie,” someone said, just as I walked through the front doors of the church.

  I flinched, my shoulder tensing. It didn’t cross my mind that people would likely mix up Jessie and I.

  Jessie quickly came up next to me. “Hey. Yeah, I’m Jessie, this is my …” She looked at me, clearly at a loss for words.

  “Friend,” I said, forcing the best smile I could muster. “Jessica.” I held out my hand.

  “Well, isn’t that something? You two are not only the spitting image of each other, but also have very similar names,” the elderly woman said, shaking my hand.

  I stood there for a moment as Jessie, the woman, and Miss Silver talked before something caught my eye. Taking it as a means to escape, I gave a polite nod and slipped away. “I didn’t know you guys went to the same church.” Mr. Quinn and everyone who lived with him were there.

  “Jessica,” Mr. Quinn said with a smile. “Yes, that’s how I know Miss Silver. I di
dn’t know you were interested in going to church.”

  “I’m not,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “But Jessie won a bet.”

  “I didn’t know you gambled,” Jason said, one eyebrow lifting.

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like that. I just said, if she could escape Terry, I’d go. I didn’t think he’d actually lose.”

  Jason covered his mouth as a smile formed.

  I frowned, then glanced over my shoulder. “Either way, Jessie’s not known to have a sister, so it’s likely very odd for me to appear out of nowhere. As a heads up, I told that woman I was her friend.”

  “I mean, makes sense,” Victoria said with a sideways nod. “And either way, it’s not that bad. My parents aren’t Christians, so it was my friends who dragged me to church for potlucks and Sunday school then youth group activities. “

  “Then you converted.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. It brought a sense of stability with the confusion of my dad’s job. And being able to have a Father there when my dad wasn’t.”

  I slowly nodded. “Jessie will likely drag me along for stuff like that.”

  “It’s really not that bad,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I quite enjoyed it, especially when I got extra chances to throw a dodgeball at Zack.”

  A smile tugged at my lips.

  “The pastor will read the Bible passage and then explain it, so it should make sense at least a little. Just think of it as understanding Jessie’s faith more.”

  I exhaled a long breath. “I can survive that.”

  She chuckled.

  “So, Zack doesn’t come to this church?”

  “Nope. He and my other friends attend another one. When I moved in with Officer Rasper, I started coming here.”

  “I see.”

  Mr. Quinn glanced at his watch. “We should be heading in. The service is starting soon.”

  “I can assume you won’t be making any more bets anytime in the near future,” Jason said, heading into the sanctuary.

  “At least not with Terry in regards to his skills,” I said with a nod. “Or more accurately, his lack thereof.”

  “Are you still complaining?” Jessie asked, catching up.

  “Maybe,” I said, sending her an obviously fake smile.