Disclaimer: I own the 2 new characters in this chap. You'll see. And some things in this chapter,  you just have to accept. If you bust a brain cell, not my fault. Just take it for granted and go.

Chapter 6: Zerglins

            Sarah was pregnant. *author's note: just go with it. *. They were worried about their child. Would they be Zerg, or human? Would they be bloodthirsty? Psychic? Evil? Kind? Dead?

            But the birth passed with only one hitch: there were two of them. Twins. Psiona and Jennifer. Psiona was a delight. Light brown hair, bright blue eyes like a cloudless summer's day. Jennifer, however, had night black hair and purple eyes, strange and mysterious. Jim and Sarah rejoiced that they were both born human, apparently.     

            But a week later, Jim noticed small bumps on the infant twin's shoulders. 2 weeks after their birth, small wings were evident on Jennifer. Both also had fangs. He tried to hide it, but Sarah noticed. More than once he awakened to find her staring at her children and sobbing quietly in the middle of the night.

By the time they were 3 months old, there was never a sparkle in their mother's eyes. But the fangs had disappeared. And there were times he turned around, swearing he had seen one or the other without wings. But no, there they were. The babies looked more Zerg every day.

One day, as the twins were playing beside a stream, Jim hid behind a boulder to watch. Jennifer, always the more alert one, checked around for anyone watching before plunging in. When she came up, she had a tail instead of legs and no wings. Psiona also became a maiden of the sea, or rather stream. 

"Well I'll be. The little tyke's a shapeshifter! Both of them!" exclaimed Jim in wonderment.

But when he relayed this news to Sara, she grimaced.

"What? It's good news!"

"No, it's not."

"Why? The little zerglin's'll be able to look normal!"

"But they're not. Don't you understand? They're freaks! They'll never be normal!"

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That night there was a storm. Thunder awakened the twins. Jim huddled over them, wondering where Sarah had gone. Perhaps to get more wood for the meager, dwindling fire. But just then, a flash of lightning illuminated the cave-mouth. Jim saw a figure silloeted there, one he knew well. She spread her arms, lowered her wings, and jumped!

Just then another clap of thunder sounded and both twins screamed. Jim knew not if it was for their mother or fear of thunder. He dove after her yet again, and saw she did not spread her wings. She fell down, down, down and down, down he dove, trying to catch her.

But it was too late. She landed scant seconds before Jim in a mossy patch of swamp. Luckily, she was not dead. She had broken nearly every bone in her body, but still she lived. Barely.