Chapter 2: Hope's Prophecy

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Oh, holy cow!" Hope whispered, grasping the arms of her seat as the van turned into a flying ship.

"What?" Shalimar asked teasingly, as she sat in the pilot's seat. "You've never seen a flying machine before?"

"Well, I've seen one, Shalimar, but I've never ridden in a van that transforms into one," the girl replied, trying to sound humorous. Truth to tell, however, she was shocked that such a massive vehicle could turn into an aerobatic machine without crashing! Slowly, she regathered her composure, and said, "Boy, that was a surprise!"

Laughing softly, since Brennan, Jesse, and Darien had fallen asleep, Shalimar said, "Well, when you're part of Mutant X for as long as Brennan, Jesse, and I have been, you learn to take these things for granted, just like normal people take living for granted." Even though she had spoken softly, Hope knew those were very wise words, to which she could only nod her agreement.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pyrokenetic one, Lexa Pierce, greeted the five of them with a smile as soon as they arrived. After the formalities had been exchanged, Lexa said, "Well, Hope, let's find you a room to stay in, shall we?" So far, she was being hospitable, but she had asked so many questions that it looked as if Hope would become dizzy; for no sooner had she answered one question than another would be asked. Lexa was eager to get to know the newest resident.

"Ah, excuse me, Lexa," Shalimar said with a surprizing cool-headedness in her voice. "Until her room is ready, I could share mine." Such a stun of generosity made Hope swiftly turn to face her new friend, mouth wide open with amazement.

Looking relieved, Lexa asked, "Are you sure, Shalimar?"

Successfully hiding her pride, the blonde said, "Of course! She could choose a room tonight and stay with me until it's all set up!" Looking directly at Hope, there was a twinkle in her eyes, as she addressed the blue eyed red-head. "So, how about it? Does that sound like a plan, Hope?" With a grateful smile, Hope's nod showed her relief and understanding of Shalimar's real motivation.

With a glad sigh, Lexa knew her plan was working. "All right. Let's look for a room to put her in." As she led the procession through the living quarters, she realized, with a surprizing happiness, that she wasn't going to be in control of Mutant X much longer- and all thanks to Hope, Darien, and Shalimar.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was about two AM the next morning when Hope, in a blue sleeping bag on the floor, shot into sitting position, gasping loudly. The dream she had just had scared the tar out of her, and it dragged Shalimar out of her own sleep. "Whoa!" Hope whispered loudly. "That felt so real!" Her shoulder throbbed from pain that had come during the nightmare.

There was a groan from Shalimar before she asked, "Hmm? What's going on- what happened?" Hope started crying, causing her friend to wake up completely. Getting up and walking over to the younger woman, Shalimar hugged her. "Hope, what happened? Was it a bad dream?"

"Yeah," came the whisper. The tears came slower, but more from relief than from fear.

"Want to talk about it?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took about five minutes before they spoke about the dream, as well as other things.

"You know, I hate to admit this, but I've never really trusted Mason," Hope began in a voice level that only the two of them could hear.

Shalimar nodded, and, in the same voice level, said, "I know- he creeps me out. I think your boyfriend Darien feels the same."

Cocking one eyebrow, Hope asked, "Who said anything about Darien being my boyfriend? He and I are extremely close, yes, but we're not dating! So where did you get that idea?"

Looking a little hurt, the older one said, "I just figured that since he was the one who initially invited you, and since you two are so loyal to each other, that you two were dating or engaged or something."

Smiling softly, the red-head said, "I have to be honest with you, Shalimar, I wish it was that way. You see, I started having a crush on him in eighth grade. It continued for quite a while, and by the end of fall semester of my freshman year in college, I started to wonder if I couldn't possibly be in love with Darien.

"Well, I still have the same feelings for him, but he still thinks of me as his best bud, as far as I know. And unless he takes the initialive to ask me to be his girlfriend, I'm actually content with how things are."

The last sentence surprized Shalimar. None of her other girl friends were content to just be friends with a guy if they had a crush on him. Sure, Hope was impulsive, but there was something that was helping her to refrain herself from throwing herself at guys- something that Shalimar wished her other friends had. She smiled and said, "I'm glad we cleared that up, then. Well, what was the dream you had?"

Sighing, Hope explained it well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope: The team was planning a strategy to rescue my biological father (Adam). Each one was putting in their ideas except for Lexa, because every time a good idea that would work was put forth, she would disagree with it. Brennan's was that I quake the entrance to distract Eckhart, you look for the room Adam was trapped in, Jesse break down the outer wall of that room, and that Brennan himself deactivate any electronic traps or lazers that may have been set up. Jesse's plan was that you search for Adam, again Brennan deactivate the traps, I quake down the room's door, and that he purposefully crash Double Helix through the outer wall. Again, Lexa disagreed, but neither you, Darien, or I put in our two cents, because just as I started to ask why, the scenery changed. We weren't at Sanctuary anymore- it was in the Genomex room where Adam is being held! I've never been inside that room myself, but I saw him tied to a chair with some wierd machine draining blood out of him and Eckhart was there too! Before any of us could act, he pulled seven knives out of his lab jacket and started tossing them. The first one hit Jesse, dissolving him into nothingness! The second hit Brennan, and the metal in the knife sort of amped up the shock power of his electric ability, killing him within moments! The third went straight through you, taking your life instantly, and the fourth, which was directed at me, went into Darien's chest!

Before Mason stabbed either Lexa or Adam, who looked extremely old, I managed to knock the remaining knives out of his hands with my earthquake ability, but it didn't matter. One of them went through Lexa and she died from spontaneous combustion, the second right into Adam, and the next was about to get me, too, when I woke up!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So you see, Shalimar," Hope continued, "I think the dream was telling me to be careful trying to find my biological father. What's upsetting is that Mason can be so convincingly kind when he wants to be, but there's something about him. It gives me the creeps- something that screams, 'Traitor! Murderer!' It pleads for me to say, 'Get thee behind me, you demon!'" After a minute of silence, she said, "The only thing that keeps me from doing just that is you guys- you, Brennan, Jesse, Darien, and Lexa- and my determination to find Adam."

Shalimar smiled in the dark, as she said, "Don't worry, Hope; I read somewhere that the word 'worry' is actually Russian for 'strangle.' Please don't strangle yourself over Eckhart- just focus on finding your real dad. Okay?"

Trying to look at her roommate's face despite the darkness of the room, she said, in a relaxedly happy whisper, "I'll promise, but only if you will, too."

Grasping each other's wrists, they sealed their promise, and soon thereafter, the two girls fell asleep again, with no dreams or nightmares to interrupt their rest until morning light. In the next room, however, Darien couldn't sleep. He had heard Hope tell Shalimar how she felt about him and how she was waiting for him to make the first move. Sure, he'd always known that she had a crush on him, but was glad that she never tried to force something on him that wasn't his choice. Now, for some wierd reason, he wanted to ask her out. Whether it was out of appreciation or because he was starting to feel the same way she did or even both, he didn't know- he only knew that she had somehow discovered the true secret to getting a guy; patience.