Jhondie

Kay was already at the stairs, streaking down them as Mom ran up, trying to find out who was killing her youngest child. She made it a half-up, Kay was right in front of her, trying to screech to a halt and Zack and I were on a high-speed collision course. I didn't think, just realized what was about to happen and vaulted over the side rail, Zack following my lead. Kayla's next scream was cut off sharply at seeing me drop to the floor without a scratch. She looked back at Mom with wide, terrified eyes and then it seemed we were both trying to talk at once.

"Oh my God what is she...Kay was hiding in my closet...and he was talking about killing people...she shouldn't have been listening...and she was all like that's good and wanted to do worse stuff to him...and I thought she was in her room so we...she ran so fast across her room..."

My mother, queen of serenity that she was, looked at Kay, looked at me, and then in a clear calm voice, simply said. "Hello Zack. You certainly look like hell today."

Kay's jaw dropped. "You know him?" she gasped.

Mom blew out a breath. "I think we all need to sit down and have a little talk. Zack, would you mind staying for just a bit?"

Zack and talking do not go together. I don't know why he stayed. It might have been that he was hurting too much to take off right then. It also might have been the fact that when Mom asked him to hang around food was part of the bargain. If there was one thing that linked Zack and I, it was our ability to put away food. It had happened more than once that he had shown up and we had spent several hours together and cleaned the house out of every scrap of food except for a few things in the back of the fridge that appeared to be more mutated than we were. We signed a peace accord with that small civilization and headed to the freezer where there were Popsicles.

Kay plopped down on one end of the couch and I sat on the other with Zack half standing, half sitting on the armrest, his arms crossed. Mom stood there for a long moment, trying to figure out what to say. I certainly couldn't think of a way to start this conversation. I had thought a million times on how to tell Kay and when would be a good time, but now not a single speech that I had worked up could come out.

"Kay," Mom finally began, "how far back can you remember?"

She thought for a second. "I can remember...well..." Her voice was rising in pitch and intensity and she suddenly exploded, shouting as loud as she could. "I can remember when I had a sister and not...not whatever the hell you are! And she didn't hang around with guys that killed people and then try to get them to torture and do worse stuff! And...and..."

She could have slapped me and it would have felt pretty much the same. "Kay, you don't understand..." I tried to say, but she overrode me. I could feel Zack getting tense beside me.

"I heard everything from the time he came in your room!" she shrieked. "WHAT ARE YOU?"

"KAYLA!" Mom shouted, cutting her off. Kay's mouth opened, and then slammed shut again. It wasn't until later that I learned that it wasn't Mom that got her to be quiet, but the look that Zack gave her. As much as she was my sister, he was still my big brother, and a rather protective one at that. He had reasons for not liking it when I was upset.

"Jhondie is your sister," Mom continued. "I will admit, not by blood, but she is your sister." There was dead silence for a second and she started over. "Now, how young can you remember being?"

She looked at Mom and then back at me suspiciously. "I can remember being at a hospital a lot when I was three," she said in an accusatory tone. "I can remember when you had leukemia and Mom and Dad were upset a lot. How are you...how did you...why can remember you being in a hospital with leukemia!"

Mom knelt in front of her taking her hand. It must have been that mom- instinct thing that said why Kay was so upset about remembering that. Poor kid was confused as to what was real or made up. "You were at the hospital a lot when you were three," she said soothingly. "We were there practically every day and a lot of nights as well. We could have had chairs with our names on them in the emergency room."

She paused, a shadow of an old pain crossing her face. "You did have an older sister by blood. Her name was Katherine, and she died from leukemia when you were three and she was eight. And then we moved to Las Vegas and your father and I adopted Jhondie."

And the ironic thing was that it was Kayla who had found me in the park and decided to take me home and keep me. "Do you remember the park in Vegas?" I asked her softly. "The one by the house where I used to push you on the swings all the time?" Kayla nodded slowly. "Can you remember a little girl in the park? Under the trees in the back. She was alone and crying and hurt?"

Comprehension dawned in Kayla's eyes. "Kind of..." she muttered. She looked at me directly. "That was you. I never...just didn't think...and you were always there..." The upset tone in her voice began rising again.

"You were only four, honey," Mom said quickly. "Four year olds accept what they are told. We told you that Jhondie was your sister, and she became that to you. We accepted her as our daughter and never thought twice about the decision."

I tried to smile, but it felt brittle even to me. "Actually, it was Kay's decision." She gave me an odd look. "You announced to Mom that you were keeping me and grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go all the way home. Then you gave me a stuffed kangaroo and said she would make sure I didn't have any bad dreams. And then you went to watch the Teletubbies."

Kay's expression was a study in horror at that last line. "Okay, I can like deal with the rest, but that Teletubbies thing better be a sick joke."

Mom and I couldn't help a real smile this time. "Kayla," Mom said like a doctor giving a patient bad news. "You had Teletubbies underwear."

Kay broke out into a smile. There was a moment of silence, and I knew the real question was about to come. This was so a place that I did not want to go. Maybe I could just offer to get her tongue pierced real quickly so she couldn't talk. Not clearly at least. She had wanted that ever since Ginny stopped coming over and Kay had started hanging out with that older girl. The new best friend had two tattoos, several piercings and gave me strange looks when I was there. In any case, I knew what was about to be asked and Zack was right there with me to glower over any information I had to give out.

Before Kay could say anything, there was a delighted little meow and Cody bounded from the steps and landed on Zack's shoulder, purring loudly. Cody was never going to be a big cat, and he still fit quite well up on Zack. Kay's eyes got big. "Stupid cat actually likes you!" she exclaimed. She had never seen the cat like anyone but me before.

I looked up at Zack. "See," I said, glad to have my theory vindicated. "I told you he doesn't like many people. Pretty much just us." There was a slight twitch to the edge of Zack's mouth that might have been a smile. He took the cat off of his shoulder and scratched under its chin. Cody purred even louder in response. Kay looked impressed.

"He scratches me if I try to do that," she commented. Zack shrugged in response. Kay looked at me again, questions tumbling out quickly. "So why aren't you two together if he's your real brother? Where did you come from anyways?" I had a feeling that I would long regret my last comment before opening the closet door. I could make up some kind of story to cover what Zack and I had been talking about, but the other was going to be much harder to deal with.

I glanced up at Zack, wishing he wasn't there glaring at me for telling Kay what he knew I was about to say. But there was no way I could lie my way out of this one. I think he could tell he was a rather scary presence to her and he wanted her to be very, very afraid of him and what he would do if she ever said a word to anyone about this. He gently dropped Cody to the floor and looked back at me, waiting.

I looked back at my sister. "It's dangerous for us to be together all of the time," I began, knowing that if I looked at that self satisfied expression that Zack had to be wearing with me admitting to that, I really would hit him. "See...Zack and I...we're different. The Army wanted us to be soldiers. They wanted special soldiers that were stronger and faster and...well...more efficient killing machines. But a group of us didn't want to be like that. We wanted to be free and we ran away and have to hide now. The people we ran from...if they ever found us...Kay, if they ever find out where I am, they'll kill me. No hesitation. They'll try to stick me in a cage, and when I fight them, they'll kill me and everyone around me who knew about what I was and could do. That's why I couldn't tell you before. You were so young and if you let it out, even by accident, then it wouldn't be just me in danger. They want to try and get me alive. You and Mom and Dad would have been not needed and eliminated."

Kayla was quiet for a second, thinking about what I had said upstairs and what I had just told her. "But you were just a little girl when you were in the park."

I nodded. "I know. We were all born the way we are. They played with our DNA so that we would be born with revved abilities. They wanted to use us to hurt people, but we didn't want to do that. We had to get away, so we did."

She looked back at Zack with wide eyes. "And...and do you really kill people?"

"When they need it," Zack answered, making his first direct contribution to the conversation. I wanted to slap him. There was no need to terrify my sister anymore than what she was already.

"It's called self-defense," I corrected sharply. I looked back at Kay, not sure how to explain. Mom gave me an encouraging look, wanting to let me handle this how I thought best. "Kay, there are others like me and Zack out there. More of my brothers and sisters and if these people find them, they'll either kill them or take them or do even worse things to them. Zack keeps that from happening. I was looking at Zack when I said that, and there was this look...it was just there for a brief moment, but it was very sharp and very clear. All I knew was that my heart rate already started to increase from that look alone.

"Zack?" I questioned, standing quickly so that we were eye to eye. Guilt. That was what that look was. And earlier...this was not good. This was so not good.

"Jhon..." he said, his words trailing off slightly. Two things struck me. First, he looked so miserable that I couldn't help but feel some kind of sympathy. This wasn't failing at his job. This struck him much, much deeper. Second, it was the very first time he had ever shortened my name. And then all of a sudden, he didn't have to say it. I knew. I just knew.

"Oh God," I gasped. "Who?" The hard edge of his normal expression began to creep back, but I wasn't playing with that. "Don't you dare tell me that it's better I don't know," I snarled. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Kay backing away from me. "Who do they have? And why did you tell me everything was fine if they have one of us?"

"Because she got in trouble right after...after...and she really is fine."

"Who, Zack?" My heart was slamming in my chest. Why wasn't he telling me? Please don't let it be...no...please not...

"Keep your head soldier," he said warningly. He looked down for a second. "Bryn."

Everything in a flash. She was so small. Scared to go. Promised. Promised to stay by her side and protect her. Running so fast. Keeping her close. So scared. So scared when I told her. Told her to go on without me. Had to go back. Wasn't going to lose Eva and Zack. Had to go back. Told her I would get her later. Protect her. Just go now. She went over the fence and I left her all alone because I had to get Zack from where he had been stunned...

"No," I whispered in a tiny voice. "Zack, no."

He was the only person in the world that understood why I was so upset. Only person that could understand really. "It wasn't your fault," he said gently. "You were under orders and she knew that. She understood the need for separation."

I shook my head, trying to keep from breaking down into tears. "No. If I had done what I said I would do, then she would be here with me. And she would be safe and they wouldn't have her."

"She was sick, Jhondie," Zack said firmly. "That's what I had to come here to tell you. There's a genetic defect, one that can cause spontaneous aging."

"Werner's Syndrome," I muttered, knowing exactly what it was. I had seen a couple of kids with it at the hospital when I was volunteering there. Not a pretty way to go.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Any of us might have it. There's only one cure and she chose it."

I blinked, and then looked at him directly. "A cure?" I questioned, not wanting to believe what I was hearing.

"They can fix it if it starts." In a way, I think he was trying to justify his actions to himself as much as explain it to me. After I thought about it later, I realized how much it must have hurt him as well. Hurt him enough to be willing to talk and explain. At the moment though, I could only understand one thing. It hadn't been them chasing her down an alley and cornering her with stunners or shooting her in a non-lethal place. It had been a choice.

"Jhon," he continued, his words speeding up, "she was dying. I got her away, but there was no way to save her. She was going to die. She chose the only route to live."

I didn't think. It was just instant reaction. All of a sudden Zack was against the wall, his feet off of the floor and my hand was wrapped around his throat, holding him there. "YOU BASTARD!" I screamed at him. "YOU LET THEM HAVE HER!" From the corner of my eye I could see Kayla practically diving behind our very white-faced mother. It's one thing to intellectually know what someone is capable of. It's quite another to see your very slim daughter lift a six-foot man off of his feet and hold him there with one hand.

Zack didn't waste time with words. Words were not "Zack" in such a situation. He backhanded me instead, making me stumble back and drop him. My lip stung and I could taste blood but instead of that reminding me that Zack had always been better at hand to hand combat, it just pissed me off the more.

He rushed me, but I was still the quicker one. I sidestepped at the last second, my knee intentionally coming up hard into his midsection where I knew how badly he was already hurt there. Hurt or not, he caught my leg and slung me into the wall hard enough to crack the drywall, dazing me for a second. He was in my face in a second, pinning me to the wall.

"What's your choice solider?" he yelled, our noses almost touching. "You can feel your body aging all around you, failing, crumbling, and nothing can save you but them. You're dying. There's no hope but that. So what's your choice? You want to die? Or you want them to save you? 'Cause that's your only option."

I was squirming, trying to get away from him, but I stilled, the horror of that thought drilling into me and releasing violently. "DEATH FIRST!" I shouted at him, shoving him back. Our eyes locked in that sudden silence.

"Jhondie," Mom gasped out, trying to find a voice.

My head snapped sharply to them. "Stay out of this, Mother," I snarled coldly. "This is not your world."

I looked back at Zack, our eyes seeming to rivet into each other. "Swear to me, Zack," I hissed. "If you can't do it yourself, then make sure I can before you go. Because if they get to me and I can't...I swear, whatever remains of me will never forgive you and I'll hunt your ass into the ground myself."

"You really think you could do it?" he growled in a low voice.

"Forty-six hours and eleven minutes," I said in that same cold hissing tone. He knew damn well what I was referring to. "And they've had ten years to find even better things to do to us. All they are ever going to get from me again is a corpse." The coldness faded out and it was just me talking to my brother, my voice dropping to a shaky whisper. "You don't think they know how you got away? You really think they would believe I don't know anything? Forty-six hours and eleven minutes. I can't do that again. I won't. Swear to me. Promise me you won't let them no matter what." A long moment passed

"I promise," he whispered so softly that it could have been just his lips moving.

I nodded ever so slightly. "Go." My eyes closed for a long moment, and when they opened, he was gone. A single sob welled up from deep inside, and I was suddenly on the floor, my knees to my chest, wishing for anything that would make this just go away.