Part 6: Tuesday Afternoon
Emma sat cross-legged in the fields, staring at the people nearby. They seemed so happy...she wished she was one of them and then inwardly sighed. She knew she had to learn not to think of her powers as a disadvantage. But sometimes they were. she had always been too scared to read Brennan's feelings for her. Worried that he only liked her as friend. And also worried if he did. What would she do? What would she say? However, she always thought it was more likely that it was the first problem - where she was no more than his friend. And it wasn't as if she'd be able to do anything about it if he didn't - she could make people think different things, but she couldn't make people fall in love with anyone. "Hi."
"Huh? Oh, hey Gary," Emma said.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
"No, it's okay."
He sat down and asked her, "So what are you doing?"
"Nothing much. Just thinking of home," she told him. It wasn't a complete lie. She was thinking of home at the Sanctuary - just it was a particular person at the Sanctuary.
"Emma, I just wanted you to know exactly what going to be going on when we get to the Sanctuary to switch you and Jenny back. There's a lot I have to do and if one thing goes wrong then..."
"You're scared."
Reluctantly, Gary nodded. "I've switched Jenny into bodies before - but switching again..."
"I mean you don't want to do it because of her," Emma said. Gary was about to say something when Emma continued, "She's your sister, Gary and this may kill her. It's okay that you don't want to. What would be wierd was if you didn't feel this way."
"Feel this way? Oh right, you read minds."
Emma nodded. "See that guy in the blue t-shirt over there," Emma gestured a few yards ahead of them to a group of boys playing soccer. "He's proposing to his girlfriend tonight but is scared that she'll say no. And she," Emma pointed to a girl sitting on the grass reading a book. " - that's his girlfriend - is wondering whether he's ever going to propose! I sent them both calming messages so they'll get through the day."
Gary smiled lightly. "So what's it like being able to read minds like that?"
"Well, its strange. Sometimes you get thrown things you so didn't wanna know and sometimes it doesn't feel right - like your invading privacy, but at the Sanctuary I use them to help people so then it doesn't seem so bad."
After a pause Emma asked Gary whether he would mind a sort of personal question. He replied no so then she said, "How did all this start? The switching bodies thing with Jenny."
Gary sighed. "Jenny got sick. Something was wrong with her body thata mutant couldn't survive from. There was no cure. It was my fault. Our parents died when we she was three, I was nine. Dad told me to always look after her. All we ever had was each other - I was scared. I read about switching bodies in this old book. I-I didn't know it killed the host body. It just said that if you keep the body's real soul in an orb - what you were in - it would last longer as a host. I thought that meant the soul would survive too and then it could return to normal." Gary seemed hesitant to continue, but Emma knew that now he had started his story it was better to let him get it out. She doubted he hadn't told anyone until now. "Jenny was scared - but I made her do switch. The week afterwards that girl died and I realised what had happened - what we - I - had done. But now that she'd found a way to get past her disease Jenny wasn't about to give up. I couldn't dissapoint her - I couldn't let her die."
"But the real Jenny is already dead, Gary. She's gone. She won't even look like herself anymore. Would the real Jenny have let you kill innocent girls just to save her own life?" Gary hung his head in his hands and Emma placed a comforting hand on top of his head. ___________
"Hey Emma," Brennan said as Jenny/Emma walked back into the room.
"Hi, what are you doing?" she asked and sat down on the table next to the monitor he was looking at.
"I've just got ProxyBlue on in case anything interesting comes up." They were both silent for a while until Brennan said he was going to the kitchen to get something. Bored, Jenny/Emma looked around and settled on the screen to watch.
'In the past weeks,' the voice said, 'the number of missing girls has risen. In the past six weeks, six girls have been reported. They all are white females in their early twenties. The first to be reported was Rice Cooper. Yesterday, her body was discovered in an alleyway.' A picture of Rice appeared on the screen and Jenny/Emma recoiled when she saw it was the face of the girl she had first inhabited. Brennan was re-entering the room and, scared, Jenny/Emma shut it off. "Nothing interesting on?"
"Nope. Nothing whatsoever."
"Okay. Listen, Emma, I was wondering about earlier."
Jenny/Emma was barely paying attention to him, the blood in her viens rising to her head even though she wasn't upside down. Suddenly she couldn't remember what she had been told or any of the rules Gary had made her the when they started switching bodies. "Yes? What's it Brandon?"
"Well, you know Emma, both of us...I mean, you know we've always been close and...hey, wait a minute. What did you say?"
"Huh?" Jenny/Emma looked up at him blankly.
"What did you call me earlier?" he asked looking her in the eye. Jenny/Emma said nothing, not actually knowing the answer to that question - too worried about what she'd seen on ProxyBlue. "What's my name?" Jenny/Emma gulped. She wan't a hundred percent sure on that answer either.
A/N: I didn't forget about this story, but i had thought my reviewers had because reviews for chapters 5 and 6 never came. That's the only rason i spent more time on my other stories than this.
Emma sat cross-legged in the fields, staring at the people nearby. They seemed so happy...she wished she was one of them and then inwardly sighed. She knew she had to learn not to think of her powers as a disadvantage. But sometimes they were. she had always been too scared to read Brennan's feelings for her. Worried that he only liked her as friend. And also worried if he did. What would she do? What would she say? However, she always thought it was more likely that it was the first problem - where she was no more than his friend. And it wasn't as if she'd be able to do anything about it if he didn't - she could make people think different things, but she couldn't make people fall in love with anyone. "Hi."
"Huh? Oh, hey Gary," Emma said.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
"No, it's okay."
He sat down and asked her, "So what are you doing?"
"Nothing much. Just thinking of home," she told him. It wasn't a complete lie. She was thinking of home at the Sanctuary - just it was a particular person at the Sanctuary.
"Emma, I just wanted you to know exactly what going to be going on when we get to the Sanctuary to switch you and Jenny back. There's a lot I have to do and if one thing goes wrong then..."
"You're scared."
Reluctantly, Gary nodded. "I've switched Jenny into bodies before - but switching again..."
"I mean you don't want to do it because of her," Emma said. Gary was about to say something when Emma continued, "She's your sister, Gary and this may kill her. It's okay that you don't want to. What would be wierd was if you didn't feel this way."
"Feel this way? Oh right, you read minds."
Emma nodded. "See that guy in the blue t-shirt over there," Emma gestured a few yards ahead of them to a group of boys playing soccer. "He's proposing to his girlfriend tonight but is scared that she'll say no. And she," Emma pointed to a girl sitting on the grass reading a book. " - that's his girlfriend - is wondering whether he's ever going to propose! I sent them both calming messages so they'll get through the day."
Gary smiled lightly. "So what's it like being able to read minds like that?"
"Well, its strange. Sometimes you get thrown things you so didn't wanna know and sometimes it doesn't feel right - like your invading privacy, but at the Sanctuary I use them to help people so then it doesn't seem so bad."
After a pause Emma asked Gary whether he would mind a sort of personal question. He replied no so then she said, "How did all this start? The switching bodies thing with Jenny."
Gary sighed. "Jenny got sick. Something was wrong with her body thata mutant couldn't survive from. There was no cure. It was my fault. Our parents died when we she was three, I was nine. Dad told me to always look after her. All we ever had was each other - I was scared. I read about switching bodies in this old book. I-I didn't know it killed the host body. It just said that if you keep the body's real soul in an orb - what you were in - it would last longer as a host. I thought that meant the soul would survive too and then it could return to normal." Gary seemed hesitant to continue, but Emma knew that now he had started his story it was better to let him get it out. She doubted he hadn't told anyone until now. "Jenny was scared - but I made her do switch. The week afterwards that girl died and I realised what had happened - what we - I - had done. But now that she'd found a way to get past her disease Jenny wasn't about to give up. I couldn't dissapoint her - I couldn't let her die."
"But the real Jenny is already dead, Gary. She's gone. She won't even look like herself anymore. Would the real Jenny have let you kill innocent girls just to save her own life?" Gary hung his head in his hands and Emma placed a comforting hand on top of his head. ___________
"Hey Emma," Brennan said as Jenny/Emma walked back into the room.
"Hi, what are you doing?" she asked and sat down on the table next to the monitor he was looking at.
"I've just got ProxyBlue on in case anything interesting comes up." They were both silent for a while until Brennan said he was going to the kitchen to get something. Bored, Jenny/Emma looked around and settled on the screen to watch.
'In the past weeks,' the voice said, 'the number of missing girls has risen. In the past six weeks, six girls have been reported. They all are white females in their early twenties. The first to be reported was Rice Cooper. Yesterday, her body was discovered in an alleyway.' A picture of Rice appeared on the screen and Jenny/Emma recoiled when she saw it was the face of the girl she had first inhabited. Brennan was re-entering the room and, scared, Jenny/Emma shut it off. "Nothing interesting on?"
"Nope. Nothing whatsoever."
"Okay. Listen, Emma, I was wondering about earlier."
Jenny/Emma was barely paying attention to him, the blood in her viens rising to her head even though she wasn't upside down. Suddenly she couldn't remember what she had been told or any of the rules Gary had made her the when they started switching bodies. "Yes? What's it Brandon?"
"Well, you know Emma, both of us...I mean, you know we've always been close and...hey, wait a minute. What did you say?"
"Huh?" Jenny/Emma looked up at him blankly.
"What did you call me earlier?" he asked looking her in the eye. Jenny/Emma said nothing, not actually knowing the answer to that question - too worried about what she'd seen on ProxyBlue. "What's my name?" Jenny/Emma gulped. She wan't a hundred percent sure on that answer either.
A/N: I didn't forget about this story, but i had thought my reviewers had because reviews for chapters 5 and 6 never came. That's the only rason i spent more time on my other stories than this.