by M J Hutto
“I’m not going with you Dani. It’s time for us to try things apart. It’s time for me to be on my own. I can’t keep living like this, tiptoeing around you and praying you won’t go to far. I’m tired of being afraid. I’m tired of your jealously. I’m just tired, Dani.”
Dani sagged and walked toward Maxine, pleading. “Baby, no. We need each other. I don't want to lose you. I love you.”
At the last word, she reached Maxine and caressed her cheek. I noticed Dorian and Galen ease toward the pair, both appeared far more alert and ready. Maxine reached up and took Dani’s hand gently to move it away from her face.
“I know you think that, and you know this isn't the first time you’ve said those exact same words. I can’t do this anymore. You have to let me go.”
Dani stepped back and glanced around. She held up her hands and smiled in a self-depreciating way. Her eyes, before she cast them down, glared hatefully into mine. She motioned for the three officers to lead the way. She left with them, but I knew she would not let this go. I’d seen the possessiveness and hate in her eyes. We would need to be very careful.
3 New Old Friends
I filled out the paperwork to press charges and Maxine surprised me by filling out her own. We completed the employee paperwork required and I discovered she didn't have a checking account, so we set time aside to accomplish that the next day. She had no place to go tonight so Reva offered her parents spare room. We would need to talk things over soon but she seemed to have enough to think over for the moment so it could definitely wait. Plus, it was her decision so she would or wouldn’t talk in her own time. I just wanted to make sure she was safe and had a roof over her head. The rest was hers.
I told them to head on out and I would clean up tonight since I lived in the house behind the shop. There were rooms below the shop for storage, but we didn't have too much on hand since I grew my own herbs and tea. The greenhouse was in the lot beside the shop. I owned all of the property. I would go over to check my plants before going back to my house. I swept the floors and went over them with a dust mop, cleaned the counters and put the baking pans into the drying racks after cleaning them. We had dough premade for cookies, croissants and danish. Reva and Maxine would come in early to start the proofing and baking. They had already taken the trash out before leaving.
I walked out to straighten books and displays. A bright light was shining into the shop but that wasn’t very abnormal, there was a liquor store on the corner, and they were open late. I went to lock the door only to have it pulled from my hands. A man of medium height, medium build with medium brown hair and medium brown eyes was standing in the open doorway. His features were fairly nondescript, and I doubted I’d remember his face ten minutes after this. His clothes were beige and also unmemorable.
“Sorry sir, I’m closed. I had the signs turned. I just hadn’t locked the door yet.”
He smiled shyly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was hoping you could point me towards Main Street. I seem to have gotten lost.”
I walked him back out the door and pointed to the right. “You’re almost there. When you pull out of here take a right. Cross the next two intersections, make a left and at the next intersection you’ll be on Main.”
He smiled and thanked me after shaking my hand. I felt a mild discomfort with the man, looked at his aura and found it to be just as bland and beige as the rest of him. I’d never seen an aura like it before. It was his only interesting feature. I tucked the thought away for later inspection while walking back inside and locking the doors.
The city we lived in wasn’t small, but it also wasn’t large. The world had changed somewhat since the cancer vaccine had altered individuals. Some saw things as better but others did not. The changes weren’t universally accepted, nor did everyone receive changes conducive to appreciation and acceptance; much less use them that way.
We all had the new coloring but some with a deeper blue skin tone while others, like me merely had a blue tint. The amount of blue coloring seemed to be related to melanin levels prior to the change. Eye color was pretty uniform but colored contacts could easily disguise that. Hair color was easily manipulated but required very frequent touch ups as the color tended to fade quickly.
Also, while I obtained some psychic abilities and perceptiveness others achieved mind control, telepathy, telekinesis, and/or ability to speak to spirits. Some thought these abilities wonderful, some thought them terrifying and some thought of ways to use them for their own benefit. Multiple governments attempted to seize these individuals for study and/or weaponization.
This resulted in said individuals resisting. While the numbers were fairly small, they had families who wished to keep their loved ones safe. There was a shift in government during the election that year to a fourth party, one composed of one-third Orokkian representation and two-thirds representation by humans. It certainly wasn't perfect but there was at least representation for those affected by the governmental decisions being made.
This shift instigated some civil unrest by those who felt the mutants were being given priority or preferential treatment. After all, why should 0.01% of the population get one third of the governmental representation.
While civil war did not occur within the United States there were significant skirmishes among communities and state governments. Texas, California, Nevada, Georgia, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Virginia, and Montana attempted to secede but ultimately the support wasn’t present from those within the areas. The federal government restructured the United States and redistributed the “states”. The southeast, northeast, northmidwest, southmidwest, southwest and northwest became known by those names for the grouping of states. Gangs were prevalent throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. City 7 in the southeast was no different.
The US happened to be my past, present and likely future habitat so my knowledge base is there. I wasn't particularly high in the political machine, but I knew enough to keep myself out of jail and vote for those who backed me as a person and species.
Just this week the first mutant infant was born-well infants as they were twins. They previously thought we were infertile, so the news was awash with mutant headlines:
Will This Travesty Be Allowed to Continue?
Not So Infertile Anymore!
Sterilize the Mutants, Protect This Country!
Beautiful Twins Born at Long Last!
Not One but Two Abominations, Mr. President This Cannot Stand!
First Look at America’s Twins.
There were more on both sides of things, but you get the idea. Some were very happy and others not so much. As it happened the infants were born to a bispecies family. Yes, that is what science decided. We were homomagicae, technically a subspecies of homosapien but the world believed us apart based on our abilities. We were the Orokkian people (blue people), and our magic was Chaotian. Some of the concerns were definitely grounded in reality.
The man who created a cult and attempted to take over the government in Northwest was bad for all of us. Or the woman who had an entire community convinced they would burn in the fires of hell if they didn't provide tributes and male staff, read sex slaves, WEEKLY! That one was in southmidwest. There was a pair of individuals in France who convinced an entire city, via television, they were blind while they robbed banks, museums, and wealthy individuals. An English woman convinced the entire country she was a direct descendant of King Arthur and was entitled to the crown.
The list went on, with the most incredible being the group of five individuals who’ve set themselves up as superheroes with the goal of protecting the US from other “bad mutants”. They had the ear of the president, politicians, and many other influential and wealthy benefactors. They hadn’t done anything overtly untoward, but I suspected they weren’t actually Orokkian. They didn't look quite right and didn't quite act right. Either way, they had yet to do anything resembling heroic or helpful. I’d never had the pleasure of their company up close, but something was assuredly off about
them. I wasn't good with auras outside of real time and face to face, too many variables. Most of what I could do was better in person.
I shook my head and looked around to be sure everything was put away and tidy. The floor was swept, and the counters cleaned. I walked towards the back to check the greenhouse and plants. We had multiple types of teas, herbs and even a few citrus trees. I had two beautiful and bountiful blueberry bushes that were for me. I shared with the shop for muffins and scones sometimes, but the majority went to my kitchen table. Fresh blueberries year-round was splendid and an extravagance I loved.
The temperature was set, and I watered the plants while I sang to them. Don't laugh, they grew better when I sang to them. It didn’t matter what I sang, just that I did. Everything needed love and encouragement. You don't have to believe me; truth doesn’t require your belief to remain truth. I danced a little too, that didn’t do anything for the plants, but it made me happy.
The chores finished, I walked out and locked the steel reinforced doors. The building was enclosed in a shuttered structure which wrapped around the greenhouse during sundown and the times of greatest danger of looting and vandalism. During the hours of sunshine, we rounded on the greenhouse and had cameras set up to monitor the area as it was open for maximum light.
The greenhouse was also inside a fenced area with my rescue dogs Jekyll and Hyde and the kitty queens Emma and Lucy. The cats seemed to think they were in charge. They were certainly the more dangerous of the bunch. They had a house with an upper and lower area with heating and air, along with automatic food and water dispensers. They were sure to let me know if something was wrong. Their house was connected to mine.
My house was behind the shop. A one-story cottage with easy access to the animals, the shop, and the greenhouse. I had privacy and was close enough to quickly solve problems as they arose. I had been very fortunate in the years I’d been here. I loved my shop and the community had been tolerant and at times even supportive.
The community was an interesting mix of desolation, gentrification, and luxury. Some European royal bought an entire block with a hotel in disrepair and renovated it into a rather obnoxious castle complete with a moat. I’d never had the pleasure but heard tales of hi-jinx and shenanigans from others. Apparently, the parties were legendary, and the royal had a harem.
I unlocked the door and walked into my home feeling the day melt away. I toed my shoes off and put them in the shoe rack by the door. If I didn’t put them away, I tended to trip over them at inconvenient times. After I fractured my knee, I decided it was time to have a home for my shoes.
A noise in the kitchen caught my attention. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone inside, but it could be one of the cats or dogs. They preferred their home but sometimes came in to spend time with me. I walked into the spacious area and drew up short. Sitting at the island was the last person I ever expected to see; mostly because they were dead.
“Jaylin?”
She smiled and nodded. Her lips were moving but I could only hear a garbled rushing sound. That was when I realized this must be some new manifestation. I’d never heard or seen ghosts before, but no one knew how long we might continue to manifest or if we would. It seemed, however, I wasn’t quite finished. So, I’d done this before, the learning obviously, not the actual hearing and seeing of ghosts. I focused myself using a simple breathing technique and pulled some of the stored energy from one of my bracelets. Within a few minutes I could more clearly hear her words and understand.
“...nk God! You are in danger!” Jaylin said.
I looked up sharply and then around the room. As I was walking through to clear the remainder of the house Jaylin spoke again.
“Not immediate danger. There’s not anyone else here.”
I stopped and went over to her. I hadn’t seen her often since we were in “camp” together. We had been sixteen at the time and aged out of camp that year. The camps had come about as a way to give us, the downtrodden Orokkians, a place to belong. It also served as the government's way of keeping track of us and performing tests on us. During the three months of camp, we had a battery of tests performed; lab test, cognitive tests, and physical performance tests. Those were peppered in with the outings and actual camp activities. We definitely made our fair share of s’mores and friendship bracelets. They were coed camps so there was some spin the bottle and a few dances too.
After we were too old for camp we stayed in touch with letters and phone calls. She had actually visited at times and memorably when I’d moved into this place. She died almost four years ago. I had attended her funeral, but this was the first time I’d seen her ghost.
“Okay, what am I in danger from? And why am I just now seeing you for the first time? I thought I was finished manifesting new powers.”
She shrugged her shoulder and flipped her shoulder length white hair back after it slipped forward. She had a beautifully pale cyan coloring and her eyes always seemed to be shining.
“No idea why you're just manifesting this one. I've only just arrived? How long have I been dead? It seems like it just happened. How did I die? The voice basically told me I’d died, to get over it and they had a mission for me, which was to warn you of danger.”
I sat down beside the island and rubbed my face with my hands. I was having a conversation with my dead friend who had apparently been sent by someone to warn me of danger.
“I’ll be thirty in a couple of weeks, you died almost four years ago. We don't know exactly what happened. They ruled your cause of death a cardiac arrest but aren't they all? I mean if your heart doesn’t stop, you're not actually dead, right? There weren’t any signs of foul play or suicide. They said sometimes our bodies just give out, so any investigation stopped there.
What kind of danger and did they say when or from whom? Also, who are they?”
Jaylin’s mouth fell open, her face stunned. I guessed I would be shocked too if I found out I had been dead four years and just now turned ghostly. But wait, she seemed pretty solid. I wondered if maybe I could touch her and if I could if maybe she was actually back? It wasn’t something I’d ever seen before, wishful thinking. I was reaching out to touch her when she jumped up and started to pace.
I realized I could partially see through her pacing form and my hopes were crushed. I hadn’t realized until now how much I missed my friend. We had roomed together every summer at camp and kept in touch in the interim. I hadn’t been that close to anyone else that wasn’t family since.
“They didn't exactly give me any names or references. And they were pretty vague about where the danger was coming from but seemed sure it was real and would result in your death,” she stated while continuing to pace and gesture towards me at the end.
“Okay, let's slow down and think this through. What are the things we know as facts? One, you died. Two, you are back. Three, you are a ghost?”
She nodded but stood still as I walked towards her. I reached out to touch her and my hand tingled coldly as it went through the area she seemed to be occupying. She became less realistic and hazier in the area my hand passed through. The cool tingling continued for several seconds after my hand was outside of her space.
“That sort of hurt,” she said while making a face. “Although hurt might be the wrong word. It felt wrong or something. I think that proves I’m a ghost though.”
“Agreed,” I replied. “Four, someone or something told you I was in danger and your mission was to warn me. Five, they sent you to me or at least to the area I’m in.”
Jaylin nodded and started pacing again. She was always a mover, never really able to sit still.
“Now for the things we don’t know. A, what the danger is. B, who the heck these...hmmm, beings are who want you to know. C, why they chose this,” she said gesturing up and down herself, “medium and person to warn you. D, why, and no offense to you friend, you would be important enough for all this. E, what to do to stop events from happening.
I've never see
n or read a story that ended well when people were messing around with the future. It usually just gets more screwed up.”
I was nodding along while she talked. All of those things had occurred to me as well. I was not very important in the grand scheme of things, I had no political clout or motivation, I was not brilliant or likely to create some life saving medicine. I had no idea why some omnipotent being would send my friends ghost to warn me of upcoming danger. Maybe I was meant to save someone else later or maybe one of my kids was going to be president or win a Nobel Prize. However, since I had no romantic prospects and didn’t intend to fight the artificial fertilization nightmare and my species had only recently proven the ability to even have children, I doubted it was about my progeny. Who was I kidding, it had to be a mistake?
“Jaylin, this has to be some sort of mistake. Maybe I’m supposed to get a message to someone else about danger. Did they actually say my name? That they were sending you back FOR me or maybe just to me?”