Family Matters CHAPTER 14

Grace was officially freaking out so far no one has come to speak to her, she really wanted to see this Gordon guy again and show him exactly whose daughter she was. She was worried for Skye, when it became apparent that they were not going to answer her request for Skye she gave up on signing. She was upset that she had been searched, her things taken and was being ignored. She had no way of keeping time seeming that they took her watch and there was no clock in the room. She had started pacing the length of the room deciding against unleashing her frustrations at the wall, she kept looking back at the picture on the wall clearly a viewing window she just had no idea who was on the other side. When she got bored of pacing she ended up leaning against the wall trying to think of a way to get to Skye. All her plans were great, and precise the only thing all her plans had in common was she had to get out of this room and she had so far come up with no solution for that problem yet.

She felt the disturbance in the air before Gordon appeared in the room carrying a plate with food before he could disappear she had grabbed him.

"I brought you some food thought you might be hungry." He stated but she didn't let him go, she traced the letters S.K.Y.E on his arm making it clear she wanted Skye. "Skye is safe, we are helping her. You have nothing to fear from us here." He stated but she didn't buy it, she knew it was complete and utter bull she did not let him go. L. E.A.V.E she traced the letters on his arm. "You are safe here, we are just setting up your accommodations. Until then you can stay in here." He said and before she could do anything he was gone she turned back to the painting on the wall with a glare. Time seemed to drag on, in all honesty she lost track of it, she had no idea if it had been five minutes or two hours, she left the food where it was not touching it. She sat on the ground watching the painting. When she figured enough time had passed she made herself disappear. It had the desired effect, she felt the air tremble before Gordon appeared but this time he was not alone there was a lady with him.

"We know you are in here, we just want to talk. We will not hurt you, you are safe." The lady stated and turned to face Grace as she made herself visible.

'Safe?'

"Yes, you are safe. What is your name?" she asked giving a reassuring smile that had Grace mirroring.

'Grace. You know sign?'

"Grace a beautiful name, yes I can understand you." The lady stated and Grace actually felt herself blush at the compliment this made her blink a couple of times, what was happening? She took a step back trying to clear her head. "Grace you are safe here, relax we are here to help you." She stated making Grace look back at her she could feel herself relaxing. "We are all friends here at afterlife, a community. Would you like to be part of that? Somewhere safe, somewhere you don't have to hide who you are. Will you join us?" she asked and Grace felt herself nodding in agreement, what she was saying sounded amazing. "What are your powers Grace?" she asked

'I can control and manipulate the air.' She signed back instantly she really wanted to be part of the community.

"You turned invisible, how did you do that?" she asked

'Reflected the light around me, made myself not visible to the human eye.' She signed back but seemed to hesitated

"You will be safe here, thank you for being honest. Here at Afterlife we are honest and trusting. Do you trust me?" She asked and Grace felt herself once again nodding her head, this made the lady smile once again making Grace mimicking the smile back. The lady turned to Gordon, "She is ready to join our community."

Skye was cautious, Lincoln had explained so much she had to admit her head was still spinning learning that she was part alien was a lot to take in. She was worried about Grace, even though Lincoln assured her she was fine and was waiting for her to complete her transition. She could not believe that it took over three days for her transition to be completed that she could move around, granted she had been asleep for most of it. She did note that she felt different, she felt complete it was hard to describe the intense buzzing she felt under her skin she felt since waking up in containment was now only a tingling sensation and it felt right. As she followed Lincoln as he gave her a tour of Afterlife she had to admit seeing him use his powers was cool, she had learnt a lot from him when she was awake. He told her that he was leading her to the one she wanted to see most, Skye thought it was Grace but when he introduced her to one of the 'Elders' it had her pausing. She figured out who it was right away after all she had her eyes and brown hair some of her features were the same as to who she saw in the mirror each morning. This here was her mother…

They stood there in silence for a while Skye did not know what to say and her mother was looking at her with longing.

"What happened? Where were you? Who are you?" Skye asked as the lady led her away from the community towards a look out over the mountains.

"My name is Jiaying and I think you figured out who I am. You were taken from us and ever since we have been looking for you. Your father, he never gave up hope looking for you. I thought I would never see you again."

"That man is not my father, he killed a lot of people. Innocent people."

"I will admit, when you were taken from us it broke something in him but he loves you all he ever wanted was to bring you home. Here you are. Home. I won't try to force anything on you, just know that I am here for you. Now I brought you over here to help you with your gifts…" she stated and Skye spent the afternoon with Jiaying even made an avalanche on the mountain across from them, she had to admit Jiaying helped her with her powers explaining that she could manipulate the natural vibrations of things. It wasn't until they began talking about small things that Skye remembered Grace.

"Grace, the girl I came here with. Where is she?" Skye asked

"She is here, amongst our community. She is helping Harper, I spoke with her explained that I wanted to speak with you first. She said she did not want to get in your way and I assured her that I would bring you back to her after our conversation." Jiaying replied making Skye inwardly frown, that did sound like something Grace would say but she doubted that Grace would have wanted to see her before seeming they were separated straight away. "She saw you while you slept, I explained the transitioning process. She understood given she was concerned for you it took a lot of reassuring that we did know what we were doing." Jiaying added she led Skye back through the community until they reached a house that looked more like a cabin. Jiaying knocked and was greeted by a blonde girl who gave a dazzling smile lowered her head at Jiaying before ushering them in.

"Skye this is Harper, Harper this is Skye. And here is Grace." Jiaying pointed out as Grace was in the kitchen cooking.

"Grace?" Skye asked moving over to her relieved that she was ok, figured she would be in a kitchen. "Should have figured you'd be in a kitchen." She stated pulling her in for a hug, Grace hugged her back.

'I am glad you are alright?'

"You did see her in transition remember?" Harper stated making Grace smile

'Oh, yes, but seeing her now is better.' Grace replied looking over Skye when they broke their hug a part.

"So what have you been up to? What do you think of this place?"

'I feel safe. This is the right place to be.' Grace signed back once again smiling before looking from Skye to Jiaying and back to Skye with a curious look but held no judgement.