~ X ~ An estate in the suburbs surrounding Washington, DC
The room was furnished as an office. Priceless carpets covered the hand hewn floorboards. Wallpaper, carefully removed from a castle in France, was re-hung in this room built specifically to accommodate it. Period lamps were rewired to provide modern lighting. The ceiling was a delight to the eye. Exquisite taste combined with unlimited money had created an eclectic background for modern devices connecting the user to the outside world. An ergonomic chair in front of a practical antique working desk made this a perfect place from which to run a business conglomerate.
The middle aged, black haired woman with the piercing blue eyes, sitting at the desk clutched her head screaming.
Denial.
Rage.
Pain.
As acceptance came, she folded in on herself.
A young man teleported into the room. His frantic calls "Mom. What's the matter? What's wrong?" were not necessary to identify them as relatives. His features, eyes, and identical blue black hair would always do that.
He supported her with a strong arm, while attempting to pull her hands away from her face. "Tell me!"
As the tears streamed down her face, she moaned, "Your uncle. My Hugh. Gone."
He shook his head. "That's not possible. He was the strong—" He swallowed and repeated, "That's not possible." He pulled himself together. "You're too far away to know for sure."
She turned on him, pushing his hands away. "We're twins. We've been in each other's mind since the womb." Her words were fierce. "The only known superior twins." She clenched her fist, pounding her forehead as if she could crush the pain. "He's always been there. Always a presence. Always a warm feeling. No matter how far away. It's empty now."
She clenched her hands, long nails cutting her palms. "Empty. Empty."
As she pressed her palms to the side of her head objects in the room trembled and rose. The lights flashed on and off, some burning out. He alone stood still as a small whirlwind mysteriously appeared in the room. A passing servant poking his head asking, "Do you nee—" was violently thrust from the room hitting the wall, knocked senseless.
The young man reached out mentally, and a young woman near his age teleported in. Her coloring and facial features were similar to his, but softened by her sex.
"Hugh?" She spoke only her cousin's name, but her eyes widened as she took in the chaos in the room. "Aunt Helen? What's wrong?" When she didn't receive an answer, she turned to her cousin.
"She insists your father's dead."
"Daddy?" The girl reached despite knowing contact was impossible from this distance. "Daddy, are you there?" She turned to her cousin. "It can't be. No way. He said it was almost over. That the next time we spoke he would call us to him to rule the world."
She clenched her fists much as the older woman had done. The family resemblance was marked between them.
The violence in the room abated as the woman got her grief under control. The furniture was smashed to bits. Louis IV chairs no more than kindling. The antique desk smashed. The priceless Abyssian carpet was torn up. Wall paper hung in shreds.
None of the trio paid any attention to the damage.
The woman straightened, ignoring the strands of hair hanging in her face and the trail of mascara running down her cheeks. She reached a hand out to her niece wiping off the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her face hardened. "We will grieve later. We need to find out what happened."
Her son nodded, the harsh planes in his face similar to those of the man he was named for. "I'll reach out to our contacts in New York. We'll find out what happened. I swear."
He paused. "Do you think the machine just didn't work? That it didn't affect humans the way he thought it would."
His mother shook her head, black hair flying all over giving the impression of a crazy woman. "It was working. He just needed Roger Price's power. His last call said that the final stage was in place."
She wrung her hands. "I told him I should have been there with him. We belonged together. It should have been our moment."
Her son eyed her for a moment before gently gripping her by the shoulders. "You know he wanted to do it on his own. Start the process to make this world safe for our kind." He paused. "We spoke about it often. He wanted it as a present for you. Wanted his family out of harm's way just in case." He shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest. "He thought of us as his legacy. Me, Cassie, Delia."
Delia nodded. "Cassie's death upset him greatly. He had hoped she would be the one who would make our species triumphant. He was fanatical about us staying away after that."
The Founder's namesake stood lost in thought. "It had to have been Roger or his son. No human could have ever stopped Uncle. We need to know every nuance, everything that went on. We must understand so that we can turn this around."
He turned to his mother. "Does the son know about us?"
"No." She was positive. "Roger and the human brother never knew that Hugh had a twin. They only knew about Lily."
Hugh snorted. "Ah, yes, my long deceased Aunt."
"Yes." She clenched her long nails, her voice bitter. "If only she had lived we would never have been defeated. Her betrayal still burns. Even after all these years."
