Night came sooner than I had hoped. I wanted to spend the rest of the day talking with James and Max while playing under the sun. Although I may be a superhuman, I can't control the weather-it sure would be nice, though. (During Max's conversation about Superman, she also told me about these people called X-Men. They sound a lot like me with their mind-reading powers and all, but what would really be cool is to be the girl who can control the weather.)

The four of us gathered around the campfire Case had built and prepared to roast our dinners. We were all starving from not having lunch and exhausted from swimming. I couldn't wait until tomorrow.

James and Case had brought fat hotdogs that we stuck onto the end of green sticks and roasted over the fire. Max was busy talking to Case when she was roasting hers and ended up with a crunchy black thing that used to be a hotdog. Graciously, Case took it from her and traded his fairly good one.

Max and I had brought the ingredients for making s'mores. Fortunately, our s'more making skills were far better than roasting hotdogs. Nobody burned theirs, but James accidentally dropped his in the fire. None of us were gracious enough to save it for him. We merely watched the marshmallows bubble and pop until the only thing left was a smoldering black chunk.

We rolled out our sleeping bags so that we were scattered around our camp area. Next to me, Max slept peacefully with a trickle of saliva forming at her left cheek while James snored lightly. Max's radio was still playing quietly.

I rose from my sleeping bag to turn it off when I saw Case sitting by the fire, his hands tucked up underneath his chin in an almost thoughtful manner with his back towards me. Forgetting about Max's radio, I walked over beside him and sat down on the massive log.

"Can't sleep?" I asked him, watching his golden face illuminated in the flames.

"Nope."

"Same here." He was wearing his swimming trunks with the shirt that he had arrived in. I had changed back into my regular clothes due to the night chill. "Case?"

"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Go ahead," he replied, still staring into the fire.

"Are you-don't think I'm crazy asking this-are you part X5?"

Slowly, he turned to look at me and studied my face for any trace of sarcasm or joking. When he found none, he answered a very solemn, "Yes."

"That's what I thought."

"How do you know?"

"My mom told me. Well, my dad told her, but never mind that."
"What's her name?"

"Max."

"Max..." he pondered, then it clicked. "Yeah, my mom, Tinga, used to tell stories about her sisters and brothers before she left. Your mom was one of her favorite sisters."

"I'm sorry about your mom."

He smiled wryly, but it was a sad smile nonetheless. It was taking almost all of his willpower not to cry, so he resorted to shrugging Tinga's death off. "It was a long time ago."

"Doesn't make it hurt any less."

"No," he agreed. "It's doesn't."

"How long have you known James?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"James? For awhile, I guess. I've lived in Europe…France pretty much…for most of my life. Dad and I came back about two years and a half ago. I met up with James in college."
"I'm assuming that's where you met Max, too."

He nodded. "At that crazy drug party. Has James told you about that?"

"Yeah, sounds like it was pretty bad."
"Pretty bad is a rather harsh understatement. It was horrible, just plain awful. So," he said, changing the subject as he stretched. "I'm guessing that you're an X5 child."

"Times two," I replied, holding up two fingers.

"Times two?"
"My parents are Max and Zack…both X5s."
"Powerful people."

"I know," I answered.

"I've met your dad before."

"Really? He doesn't seem like the type that would show himself."

"It was after Mom died," Case began, but stopped as he choked up as he came right out and said it. I didn't ask him to continue, but simply waited until he felt strong enough that he could do so. "Sorry," Case apologized.

"It's ok."

"I just…"

"She was your mom, you have a right to cry."

"Yes," he reluctantly agreed. "But she didn't have a right to die the way she did."

"How did you find out?"
"Your dad. He came and apologized to Dad for not saving her from 'the evil king'."

"Lydecker," I whispered.

"Yes, Lydecker.

"Anyhow, Dad and I were still in Europe at that time, but your dad…Zack…came to us. He offered us money in repayment almost for Mom's death. He talked to me about Mom and Max and…you. Apparently, Max was still pregnant with you, but you hadn't been born."

"Yeah, he blitzed after Mom became pregnant. So, now I know where he went."

"Now you know," he repeated, then paused as he rubbed his bare arms, trying to warm himself. "He told me that there were others 'like me', and I could find them if I wanted to."

"And you did."
He laughed slightly, turning back to the fire. "Yeah, ironic-isn't it? My girlfriend's one of those people along with my best friend's girlfriend as well."

"Poor James, he must feel pretty bad, knowing that he's left out like that."

"Oh. Well, he knows who I am."

"You told him?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. And, surprisingly, he took it pretty well. As well as could be expected anyway. He's a good guy."

"I know."

"Now, I'm not saying that you should get married to him or anything, but he'll treat you very well. Besides," Case shrugged, "he's got secrets of his own."

"Don't we all?"
"Yes. Look, Alanza, if you ever want to get a hold of me or anything, I'll be there in a heartbeat. If things ever get crazy on you, that is."

"Thanks."

There was a pause as we listened to Max's CD, still playing. Another one of her interesting rock stars, Goo Goo Dolls. When I told her that they sounded like a baby chew toy, she simply laughed her laugh and let it drop with a flip of her hair. "Alanza," she had said, "Rock stars in the pre-pulse times were all about being insane and flamboyant. That's how they got business." Then, she proceeded to tell me about some girl named Britney Spears and her strip tease show on something called MTV. I blocked out the rest of the conversation after that.

The CD sang on though and I couldn't block it out this time. "And I don't want the world to see me/'Cause I don't think that they'd understand/When everything's made to be broken/I just want you to know who I am."

"Strange song," Case remarked.

"That's because it's us…Crazy rock stars."

"It's far too true. When everything breaks, the world will know who you are."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, feeling a shiver down my spine.

"You'll figure it out, eventually." He rose to his feet and stretched. "I'd better get to bed."

"Yeah, me too," I agreed.

Case walked over to his sleeping bag and prepared to lie down in it. "Thanks for talking," he told me.

"No problem." I paused, then asked, "Case?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell James," I said, referring to my heritage.
"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Thanks."

"You know that Lydecker is dead don't you? That means we're finally free of being chased around the globe," I told him, assuming that since he had been over in Europe he wouldn't have heard of Lydecker's fortunate death.

He waited before answering me, and I was unable to see his face in the shadow streaked night, "Alanza," he whispered gravely as if there were people in the forest listening in on us, "the evil king is a master of disguise."