Chapter 7
Friend
Snap out of it. You're being really stupid.
What? Who is this girl? She's crazy.
Am not, well, only a little. This guy is sort of rude. And he's wallowing in self pity, when from the sounds of things, there's nothing he could have done to control it.
Of course I could have controlled it.
How?
I could have... I could have... been there in the library. Not true. Life support...
See? You're proving yourself wrong.
If I hadn't gotten caught I could not have been in life support!
But how could you possibly control that? And what does this guy mean by caught?
I mean...
Just show me.
The hellhound grabs at me, and slashes my shoulder. I swim as fast as I can, away towards the crevasse. A voice gasps in shock, and someone swims in after me. It's someone tinted green from the murky water, and I can't see much, before they grab my wrist and jerk me out of my memory.
Reliving that memory hurt like hell. My chest stings again, of course, but I don't miss the drug induced haze.
So you've been taking painkillers? That explains the silence. I thought you'd been killed, or had gone catatonic or something. Scary. I missed the idea of having someone like me.
You were worried about me?
You weren't supposed to hear that thought.
Silence.
Silence.
Are you still there, Lady Connery?
Yes, I am. I still don't know this guys name. Or mine, other than what the others call me.
My name's Abe. And what do the others call you.
I don't want to tell you. I'm not going to let him know its Guppy, that's insulting, and I don't want to be teased about it.
Sorry, I heard that. And I get called fish stick, so I wouldn't tease you.
Thank you. I like this man.
I like you too, lady Connery.
Crap. He heard that. This telepathy stuff is too hard.
I agree. Was I supposed to hear that? And who are you?
I have to go... Oh no!
And with that the comforting presence in the room is gone. And I am alone again.
But I feel better than I did before. Even though nothing has happened.
Chapter 8
Second Chances
I really didn't need to worry about being replaced. As usual Hellboy totally over reacted. I had a marvelous time listening to the tapes of Disey afterwards.
Disey- I'd like to file for a court martial
Manning- what the hell? Disey, what shit are you pulling now?
Disey- I just want a court martial, Manning, get it.
Manning- Against whom? What charges?
Disey- Against that animal, for invasion of privacy.
Manning- you can't court martial Hellboy, he's not going to listen
(A fond chuckle ensues, that makes me wonder when he and Hellboy became such friends)
Disey- who the hell is Hellboy? I'm talking about the fish dude.
It all goes downhill from there. In the space of a few minutes, Dicey has been threatened with several court martial's himself, death, demotion and castration.
The hollered 'and don't come back was cut off by the slamming of a door, and the click of the recorder being turned off.
I decide to try and reach Lady Connery. Who is she? What is she, to be such a strong telepath? Why have I never met her before?
I can't find her. I search, and I search for what seems like a few minutes.
I'm interrupted by the nurses brining me supper, and scolding me for not touching the lunch they left while I was sleeping.
She's gone. I've lost her.
I don't know where she is.
I keep my mind away from my missing friend for the next few days, by swamping myself with work. Disey is still the head, but is neglecting his duties painfully. And I think I have the equivalent of a restraining order.
The biggest thing that's supposed to happen is tomorrow the group of St. Trinian's rescue-ees arrives. I'm organizing their quarters right now.
I look over the scant information I have.
Two males and two females
One werewolf
Two shape shifters
One telekinetic with possible pyro-kinetic abilities
Running between the ages of 5 and 60
The quarters of the werewolf have to be double checked for any silver. The door is reinforced, of course, and the full moon isn't for another few weeks.
The shape shifters are fairly simple. Regular quarters, on either side of the werewolf, standard issue, the same as the pyro-kinetic, except the furniture in this room are the castoffs of my own telepathic stage; the exact same, but shatterproof, and very ductile. We have a shelf of books we can give to the five year old, which will be relocated to his/her room as soon as we find out who they are.
It is difficult; to take into account factors we know nothing about.
I stand and stretch, and rub my chest. The scars had stretched, and I twist my torso, wincing.
I walk through the halls, dressed, as usual, in loose black pants, with no shoes. I've yet to find any that fit my flipper feet.
Liz is where I knew she would be. She sits up, puts her book down on the coffee table next to the sofa of her living room. Hellboy is in the back room, shaving his horns.
"Liz, I need a favor."
She smiles, and waves over to the deep blue chair I always use. I sit, and fold my legs neatly underneath me. I've always felt more comfortable cross legged.
"So how are things going upstairs?" She gets up and brings me a cup of coffee. It is one of the few human foods I enjoy. The some of the others are chocolate, black licorice, fish, turkey salad, mint and celery.
I smile and take the cup. I sip carefully, using my powers to cool it down from a scalding level.
Liz feels the energy use and grins. I nod once, and reflect again how well she's coming forwards. I've been teaching her self control for the past week, and her power level is already light orange. She can generate heat, and fire comes easily, she no longer explodes, and her self confidence has sky rocketed. She smiles more often, and will wear colours. Hellboy has bought her several shirts which suit her beautifully.
Today, her ice blue turtleneck has the sleeves pushed up to her elbows, and her black skirt has a deep blue scarf looped through the belt loops. I send her a quick telepathic message.
We're dressed to match
This is a test of sorts for her. She has to answer me. It'll improve her control, and widen her skill range.
Now all I need is a pair of blue sunglasses and we could be twins.
Her voice is slightly quiet, but it's obviously audible. I nod again, and get back to the topic at hand.
"Liz, you know the group coming tomorrow?"
She nods once.
"They've got a kinetic among them. From the sound of things, this person is untrained. I'll be doing to movement training, but they've also shown possibly sparks."
Liz's eyes widen.
"And they're out of control?"
I nod. "I think so. I don't know what colour they are, though. And I can't deal with pyro-kinesis. I know next to nothing about it, and fire and water don't mix all that well. They'll need some help. Don't answer now, call me back later."
I nod my thanks, and I can tell already that she want to do it. She's easy to read as a book. Her thoughts are right on the surface.
Alright, now that's dealt with. I really feel confident about this. But my Lady Connery is still missing. And I'm worried. But I won't let anyone know that, it's one of my weaknesses.
Chapter 9
New Guests
I spend the rest of the day trying to arrange for our guests. There's not much to do, so I finally end up reading. My favorite book in the world, half of the pages have rips or folds, the cover is dog eared, and I have practically memorized it.
The story is about a man who was raised on mars who came back to earth. He believed that water was life.
The book ends sadly, and every time I feel the sting again and again.
I used to feel like a stranger in a strange land, but now I have my home.
And tomorrow people are coming to join us in our Freak Nation.
I should sleep.
I wake up in my tank later than I had hoped. I swim lazily to the entrance and step through the first door. I wait for the water to drain around me. I step into the library, skin dripping wet, and sat against the wall of the tank on the tile floor, not wanting to drip on the piles of books I was sorting. When I am dry I go and begin reading again.
I am curled up with my feet dangling over the edge of and armchair
I'm just drifting off to sleep when a group of people walk in.
I watch them quietly, shielding my thoughts.
A man, tall and thin with dusty brown hair, about forty years old, he's the werewolf, I can tell. A woman with red hair, a few years younger than the werewolf, hanging on his arm, they're lovers, and they'll want to share quarters.
A surly teenager glares around. He looks like he's walking on nails, he's a shape shifter and I pick up strong thoughts from him.
Another place where normal people claim to want to help us, but actually use us, I'm getting out of here as quickly as I can.
So I'm a normal person, am I? Hah, bloody unlikely.
A five year old girl is there, who wears only dark colours, and looks like she's folded in on herself, my eyes widen. She's a blue power, but has no control.
I stand, and step out from behind the bookcase.
"Welcome to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense"
The werewolf jumps. I don't read any of their minds, because I want them to be as at ease as possible, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that telepathy can be disconcerting.
The werewolf seems to be the leader.
"My name is Abraham Sapien; I'm the part of the bureau."
The onslaughts of thoughts at this are interesting.
The werewolf is confused, the older shape shifter is scared of me, the younger is beginning to think of the Bureau as more than just an organization out to get him.
The five year old thinks I look like Guppy.
GUPPY! She's met Lady Connery.
The werewolf introduces himself.
"I'm Christopher Dale. This is Arabelle Sanders, her son Andrew, and Hazel Ire."
"Pleased to meet you, I'll show you to your rooms now. Supper will be in an hour. If you could tell me your meal choices now, we can meet in the library to eat, and I'll give you a quick explanation of the Bureau."
They nod, and I start the walk down the hall.
We come to the shape shifter boy's room first. I give it to the boy, Andrew. He nods his thanks, and walks in, closing and locking the door after him. His mother gives me a quick glance to see if I'm offended, but I just smile and shake my head, and she is reassured. We next come to the little girl's room.
I turn to her.
"Hazel, this is your room."
I open the door, and she looks in and sees the telekinetic proof furniture. She narrows her eyes at me, and her glare seems to say 'You don't trust me.'
"The furniture is the same stuff I used when I first found I was telekinetic, and I experimented and vented anger on it for a straight week, so basically anything that can be broken has been. Feel free to experiment, and don't worry about shattering anything. I smile. "My favorite thing to do was tie the chair legs in knots; I eventually got to the point where I could tie a bow. You'll have to tell me what you can do."
She is reassured, and she walks into her room. She doesn't smile, but I didn't expect her to.
Arabelle is next to her, and I quickly show her the door that attaches the two rooms. "In case she needs help" Arabelle smiles gratefully, and I make my way back to Hazel's room, to ask her some questions.
