Sorry it took so long to get this next part out. I'm not really all that satisfied with this chapter, but I didn't want to bother with it anymore. Not too much happens here, but it helps to explain what's going on in future chapters. School starts back in about a week, I'll try to get another part out by then.
See disclaimers in Prologue. Thanks to Taya for beta'ing.
Chapter 10Zo'or turned to her. "Did you not say you would explain this. . . unique situation?" The others looked at her, expectant.
The girl had a slightly amused, sarcastic expression on her face. "Oh, no. I implied that I'd explain what I know of this situation, which isn't much. I can explain." she paused, frowning before continuing, ". . . well, sort of. . . how I know you were going to come here. But as for how you came here, and why. . . well, that's your department."
The five arrivals sat in awkward silence, not sure what to say. The girl herself knew as much, maybe more, about the situation as they seemed to, yet she claimed no to know that much. . . not very promising. By unspoken agreement, Liam and Sandoval decided not to provide any more information until they knew exactly what was going on.
"Why don't you enlighten us on what you do know?" Sandoval's voice betrayed just he barest hint of his exasperation.
Jay looked at him. "Alright, I'll try. But you're gonna want to keep an open mind." She sighed, hesitating. "Guess you could say I'm not like most ordinary people. . . not that I'm really ordinary. Anyway, about a month ago I got this really strange image in my mind, more of a vision I guess. I saw four of you. . . and another shadow, implying the possibility of a fifth person. Apparently that possibility was correct, because here you are.
"I knew two of you were different," she continued, casting a glance at Da'an and Zo'or, "Unlike the others. And a third person was. . ." she turned her gaze to Liam, who was sitting beside Renee, ". . . unique."
Liam tried his best to keep the look of fearful surprise off his face as he locked eyes with the teenager. Sensing she could read him, he allowed just he slightest cautionary glance to cross his features, hoping it wasn't enough to alert Sandoval and Zo'or of anything suspicious. Both Renee and Da'an watched this exchange, afraid of what it would come to. Da'an was greatly troubled by the fact that just a few words at this crucial moment could very well sentence his Protector to death, and he fought hard to suppress the urge to blush, which would only alert the other Taelon that something was going on.
Liam had been correct in his assumption, Jay was reading his reaction. Seeming to understand his desire to keep. . . she wasn't sure what from the others, she quickly recovered and ever so slightly switched her gaze over to Renee. To the casual observer it would seem she'd been looking at Renee the entire time. "I'm guessing that was you, Renee Palmer. You're the only woman in the group."
Renee was aware Jay was covering for Liam and was glad, but she was certainly surprised to find this girl knew her name. . . it now seemed she knew all of them somehow. And Renee wasn't the only one to come to that conclusion.
"How do you know who we are?" Sandoval asked. Although he tried to hide it, it was clear he was genuinely curious.
"And how were you able to call out to us in our own language?" Zo'or demanded, slightly unsettled.
Jay looked at them. "I'm getting to that, just hold on." They conceded. "Anyway, like I said I had a sort of vision, which is why you being isn't completely freaking me out," at least to a large degree, she added silently.
Zo'or jumped in again. "To what do you refer when you say 'vision'?"
"What I mean," she sighed, realizing the awkward explanation couldn't be put off much longer, "Is that. . . occasionally, I can see the future. And in my latest vision, you were in that future."
Sandoval's reply was laced with sarcastic, condescending humor - or as much as his CVI would allow. "So you're saying you're a psychic?"
Jay raised an eyebrow in slight annoyance. When he finished she put on an impossibly fake smile. "Well. . . " she replied in a sickly sweet voice. Then, in the blink of an eye the fake smile was wiped away and replaced by a stoic glare - he would not beat her in a battle of sarcasm. "No. I'm not a psychic. I don't actively try to see the future." No longer concerning herself with Sandoval, she gave a slight laconic chuckle. "And whenever I do, I fail miserably."
Despite her small show of attitudinal arrogance the group, confused by her seemingly contradictory statements, silently encouraged her to continue. She hesitated before speaking. "I am. . . a descendant of the Khayana, a group of people that came into existence about two thousand years ago. Our people feared persecution so everything about us is kept as secret as possible. My grandmother would be what you'd call the last pure Khayanese woman in my line." More hesitation. "The Khayana had the gift to see the future. . . at least the women did. The men's power was severely lacking, limiting them to well-developed intuition, or instinct. And--"
Renee, now fairly confused, as the rest were, interrupted. "But you're saying you can't see the future. . . ."
The girl hesitated once again, thinking. "It's a little more complicated than that. I can't actively try to see the future, it doesn't work like that. The gift the Khayana had was. . . they had no control over it, it's like the visions appeared randomly. . . but they weren't random, far from it. I've been told there were a few people who eventually developed control, but it took them years." She was getting more into her story now; she'd had hardly anyone to talk to about the Khayana, and those she could speak with already knew as much or more than she. This was her first time trying to explain her ancestry to unknowing individuals and she didn't was to screw up.
"When something of great importance was going to happen that would directly involve a Khayana, or a group, then that person, or sometimes a few people, would get a vision of the event. That happens with me." She sighed involuntarily. "Depending on importance, sometimes I'll get a small hint of. . . whatever. . . and other times I'll get a whole whack of information." Her dejected grin lacked any enthusiasm. "With you. . . it was a whole whack of info. Which generally means it's important."
Everyone was silent when she finished. Sandoval looked at them in turn, each had been listening with rapt attention. "Seems a little farfetched to me."
Jay flashed him an annoyed look before her face suddenly went blank, although not out of sarcastic intent this time. She frowned, looking at the floor, as if trying to remember something. More to herself she muttered, "Kat. . . Katya?" She nodded, then to the people in front of her she said, "Katya Petrenko."
There were a few shocked faces. "How do you know this name?" Da'an asked, the erratic movements of his hands evidence of his startled awe.
Believing her example worked, Jay replied, "When I get visions I don't just see what's going to happen. Like I said, I usually get information, which is how I knew your names--"
"And the Taelon phrase," Liam supplied; she nodded. They were now beginning to understand at least a little bit of what was going on. . . unfortunately, it was leaving more questions than answers.
"How much more of our language do you know?" Da'an asked, curious. He had only known of three individuals who had possessed the ability to understand his native tongue, two of which had possessed a CVI and the other being a Kimera hybrid.
"Nothing else that I know of. Sometimes when I get a lot of info, like I did with you," she continued, "My brain doesn't process it all. . .some of it gets stored until something triggers a memory. When I thought you didn't believe me," she looked pointedly at Sandoval, despite her belief that he wasn't the only one who hadn't believed her, "Katya's name popped into my mind." She hesitated yet again, unsure of how to proceed. "I know what the name Katya Petrenko means to me. The question is. . . " she glanced at everyone in turn, "What does it mean to you?"
Sandoval cleared his throat, keeping his uncertainty to himself. "Katya Petrenko was what you'd call a psychic, from Russia. Her ability was uncanny in most respects. However, a few years ago--"
Jay, who'd been lounging in the chair, suddenly bolted upright, her eyes wide. "DON'T finish that sentence." At Sandoval's confused expression she explained, "Unless it's absolutely necessary, don't tell me any specifics about what's going to happen. You've done damage simply by being here. . . the less I know, the better." Sandoval nodded slightly, and the others came to an understanding.
"Well," Jay said, returning to the main topic. She relaxed against the chair again, fighting back a yawn. "I guess I should tell you. . . Katya Petrenko is Khayanese." To say there was silence would've been an understatement. It lasted for nearly a minute.
"Perhaps you should tell us mmore of this 'Khayana'," Da'an encouraged.
Jay was about to go on when she was cut off by a ringing noise. Crossing the room, she picked up the telephone, bringing a finger to her lips to make sure they remained silent. "Hey Mom. . . no, haven't checked the messages yet. . . uh," she looked down at her watch as the others in the room remained silent. "About twenty minutes ago. . . I walked. . . because cabs are expensive." She sighed. "About two and a half hours. . . I'm fine Mom. Listen, I gotta go, can I call you back later? Yeah. . . happy anniversary. . . bye." She placed the phone back in its cradle.
The teenager looked around. "Okay, you're probably hungry or something, and I know I am, so I'm gonna order some pizza and we can finish this conversation in a bit. You can stay here until you figure out how to get back, my parents should be gone the rest of the week."
She was about to turn when Sandoval's voice stopped her. "I believe it would be best to continue now," his tone indicating it was not a request.
She turned on him. . . he was really beginning to irritate her. "How about 'no'? I've just been teaching three hours straight, plus I had to take my own class this afternoon. Not to mention the couple of hours it took me to walk home. I'm tired, hungry, and I need a shower. So if it's alright with you, I'll order the pizza, go take my shower, and THEN we'll talk more." She walked out of the room before anyone could respond.
The five of them watched her stalk out of the room in silence. Sandoval had to admit he did feel a slight bit of guilt. . . the girl had looked tired and he'd been more irritable than normal because of their predicament. He reminded himself that this girl had also been fairly forthcoming to their earlier questions.
"This human appears to have less control over her emotional outbursts than most of your species," Zo'or commented, earning a few annoyed - albeit hidden - looks from the others.
Liam waited a few seconds before standing. "Give me a few minutes, I'll try to talk to her," he told the others before heading in the direction he'd seen Jay going.
Passing through a small hallway he found her in what appeared to be the kitchen. She was talking on the phone but had her head in her hands, resting on a table. He stood just inside the doorway, waiting as she ordered the food. Handing up, Jay leaned her head as far back as it would go, sighed, and mumbled what, to Liam, sounded like, "Kovrahna."
Liam frowned at the oddly familiar word. He knew it was a curse, but he also knew it wasn't from any language on Earth - supposedly. Then something in his mind clicked, and he thought he understood. A little hesitantly he spoke in what he hoped was the same language. "Mya trevya?"
Jay's head shot up and over to him so fast she risked whiplash - obviously she was unaware of his presence. Her eyes were wide, startled that he'd asked her if she was okay. . . in Khayanese. Liam watched as her expression went from startled to suspicious as she regarded him.
She raised her chin and narrowed her eyes. "What the hell are you?" Liam shot her a questioning glance. Jay leaned to the side so she could look past him across the hall and into the other room, then beckoned him over to the table. She didn't think the others could hear, but better to be on the safe side. When he sat down she continued. "You're not Khayanese," she stated. He shook his head no. "Well then?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied. After the practice of countless denials, Liam was extremely good at the deception.
Jay sighed, clearly not amused. "You don't know. Well, lets see," she began, deadpan sarcasm dripping from every word. "You speak Khayanese but you're not one of us. You're obviously hiding something from at least one person in there, and then there's the fact that, for some reason, I don't believe you're completely human. Did I miss anything?"
Liam shot a concerned glance behind him at the door; Jay raised her eyebrows in interest. "Oh, so there is something then. Care to share?"
He stared the girl in the eyes for several long seconds, thinking. Then, surprising not only Jay but himself as well, he spoke in the other language - Khayanese. "We should talk about this later."
Her eyes wide again, shock evident, Jay nodded slowly. "Very well," she replied, in the same language. Breaking eye contact she handed Liam a few slips of paper - money. He looked at it in amusement. "What?" she asked him, in english.
"What? Oh, nothing, I've just never--" he caught himself. "It's nothing."
Jay wasn't fooled, but she filed away that statement for later. "For the pizza," she said. "I'm going to take my shower, I assume you guys want to talk about your interesting situation, and it's best if I don't hear it." Liam nodded. Together they headed out of the room, and as Liam crossed the hall into the living room where the others were waiting, Jay headed in a different direction and up a flight of stairs.