Part 3
Why Kansas? What the hell was there to do in Kansas? Particularly the area they were moving to. There was one bar/club hang out, a tiny movie theatre, a high school, an elementary school, a handful of shops, some apartment buildings, a handful of regular houses, some snobby mansions, lots of fields and highways, that was *it*.
Sati had grown tired of whining about why her parents had chosen to bring her here - in the middle of the school year as well. They had been very secretive about *why* they were coming here. They had left Washington D.C. and come here. Just like that. Which made Sati more than a little suspicious.
"Maybe they're bringing us out here to join some corn cult," her sister Star complained, from beside Sati, glaring at the corn fields that surrounded them.
"We'd have to go to Nebraska for that, wouldn't we?" Sati snorted.
"What's the diff?" Star said with a shrug. At least Star was the same age as Sati, so she wouldn't be alone in starting school tomorrow. Her parents had always been very blunt on the fact that she was adopted. They said they would rather tell her early on, than have her find out later and react badly.
Then again, she had been seven at the time she had come to live with the Meyers family, so what was missing? She didn't really remember anything before then.
"Well, here we are!" Mom said cheerfully as the car pulled up in front of a white frame-house with a SOLD sign sticking out of the front yard.
The house itself wasn't all that bad. There was a double garage, and a pool out back. It was two stories, with a reasonably sized kitchen, a lounge and a dining room downstairs, there were four bedrooms upstairs.
Sati picked the one with blue wallpaper. It was nice enough without needing to redecorate. She had to share a bathroom with Star, but she supposed she could live with that.
Moat of her large furniture, bed, dresser, wardrobe, had already been moved in. She sat on the bed for a few minutes, looking out the window to the view of the pool out back, and the fields beyond, stretching out to the horizon.
She dropped her backpack and headed downstairs to help with the rest of the packing when she heard voices.
"What happens when we start school and they recognise her?" That was Star,
"She doesn't need to know. Not yet, anyway." That was Mom.
"If the Black Fire awakens...if *they* find her first..." Star sounded almost worried.
"There are hardly any of *them* out here. That's why we came," Mom said, trying to sound reassuring. "Thierry is sending two of his best agents to collect her, and when the time is right, they'll tell her everything."
Star was silent for a minute before speaking. "Who's coming?"
"Garret Redfern and Lareina Morrigan, I believe their names are."
"Do they know who the other half is? Black fire, plus blue fire equals the Wild Power. 'One from the twilight to be with the dark'."
"You think that's two people combined?"
"Could be." If anything Star sounded a little jealous. "At least Sati gets her soulmate preordained."
Mom chuckled. "I'm sure you'll find yours someday."
Soulmates? Wild Power? Blue Fire? Black Fire? What the hell was going on? And how come Star had never mentioned this before? Who the hell was Thierry and why was he sending people to come and collect her? *What* were they going to tell her?
Questions were rampaging round Sati's mind. She had always been suspicious about the move, and now they had been confirmed. Something weird was going on. Involving her. Only she had no idea *what*.
It sounded like some kind of crazy fantasy. Maybe they were all into those weird Internet role-play things. Sati was strongly starting to learn towards the freaky cult idea.
She walked downstairs, making sure her expression didn't reveal she'd heard something she wasn't supposed to have heard. "Are we going to finish unpacking or what?" she said.
"Of course. Why don't you two go help your Dad with some of the smaller boxes?" Mom said, her voice falsely cheerful.
Star headed outside without a word. Sati wondered what her problem was. "What's up your ass?" she asked, irritated.
Star turned to look at her silently for several minutes. "You overheard, didn't you?"
Sati nodded. "Everything. Now either tell me what's going on, or I can find out for myself."
* * *
Why Kansas? What the hell was there to do in Kansas? Particularly the area they were moving to. There was one bar/club hang out, a tiny movie theatre, a high school, an elementary school, a handful of shops, some apartment buildings, a handful of regular houses, some snobby mansions, lots of fields and highways, that was *it*.
Sati had grown tired of whining about why her parents had chosen to bring her here - in the middle of the school year as well. They had been very secretive about *why* they were coming here. They had left Washington D.C. and come here. Just like that. Which made Sati more than a little suspicious.
"Maybe they're bringing us out here to join some corn cult," her sister Star complained, from beside Sati, glaring at the corn fields that surrounded them.
"We'd have to go to Nebraska for that, wouldn't we?" Sati snorted.
"What's the diff?" Star said with a shrug. At least Star was the same age as Sati, so she wouldn't be alone in starting school tomorrow. Her parents had always been very blunt on the fact that she was adopted. They said they would rather tell her early on, than have her find out later and react badly.
Then again, she had been seven at the time she had come to live with the Meyers family, so what was missing? She didn't really remember anything before then.
"Well, here we are!" Mom said cheerfully as the car pulled up in front of a white frame-house with a SOLD sign sticking out of the front yard.
The house itself wasn't all that bad. There was a double garage, and a pool out back. It was two stories, with a reasonably sized kitchen, a lounge and a dining room downstairs, there were four bedrooms upstairs.
Sati picked the one with blue wallpaper. It was nice enough without needing to redecorate. She had to share a bathroom with Star, but she supposed she could live with that.
Moat of her large furniture, bed, dresser, wardrobe, had already been moved in. She sat on the bed for a few minutes, looking out the window to the view of the pool out back, and the fields beyond, stretching out to the horizon.
She dropped her backpack and headed downstairs to help with the rest of the packing when she heard voices.
"What happens when we start school and they recognise her?" That was Star,
"She doesn't need to know. Not yet, anyway." That was Mom.
"If the Black Fire awakens...if *they* find her first..." Star sounded almost worried.
"There are hardly any of *them* out here. That's why we came," Mom said, trying to sound reassuring. "Thierry is sending two of his best agents to collect her, and when the time is right, they'll tell her everything."
Star was silent for a minute before speaking. "Who's coming?"
"Garret Redfern and Lareina Morrigan, I believe their names are."
"Do they know who the other half is? Black fire, plus blue fire equals the Wild Power. 'One from the twilight to be with the dark'."
"You think that's two people combined?"
"Could be." If anything Star sounded a little jealous. "At least Sati gets her soulmate preordained."
Mom chuckled. "I'm sure you'll find yours someday."
Soulmates? Wild Power? Blue Fire? Black Fire? What the hell was going on? And how come Star had never mentioned this before? Who the hell was Thierry and why was he sending people to come and collect her? *What* were they going to tell her?
Questions were rampaging round Sati's mind. She had always been suspicious about the move, and now they had been confirmed. Something weird was going on. Involving her. Only she had no idea *what*.
It sounded like some kind of crazy fantasy. Maybe they were all into those weird Internet role-play things. Sati was strongly starting to learn towards the freaky cult idea.
She walked downstairs, making sure her expression didn't reveal she'd heard something she wasn't supposed to have heard. "Are we going to finish unpacking or what?" she said.
"Of course. Why don't you two go help your Dad with some of the smaller boxes?" Mom said, her voice falsely cheerful.
Star headed outside without a word. Sati wondered what her problem was. "What's up your ass?" she asked, irritated.
Star turned to look at her silently for several minutes. "You overheard, didn't you?"
Sati nodded. "Everything. Now either tell me what's going on, or I can find out for myself."
* * *
