Tomorrow's Yet to Come

Chapter Eighteen –  Stories to Tell

"I never told them about you," said Ava to Zan. "At least not until the other day. Max had to heal me, and he got a flash of what happened that day. I had to tell them."

"So what's the deal with all of you?" asked Zan. "Are they all Antarian too?"

"No," said Ava. "It's really complicated, but there was another set of pods, and Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess were in them. Max, Michael and Isabel all came out together. A wonderful family adopted Max and Isabel, but Michael went into foster care. He had it really rough. Oh, and did you know he's my brother? Zan, I have a family too. I used to be so jealous of you and Lonnie. I wanted someone to be my family too, and now I have Michael, and Kyle."

"Yeah, what's his deal?" asked Zan. "I'm getting the feeling he doesn't like me too much."

"Probably not," said Ava. "But he will. Just give him time. He's a wonderful person, and he loves me so much, and I love him."

"How'd you hook up with a guy like that, anyhow?" asked Zan. He leaned against a fence, and looked down at the blond girl. "I kind of always figured we'd end up together, you know?"

"We didn't belong together Zan, not here on Earth. You know it as well as I do. You were my friend, my only friend, but nothing more."

"Yeah, I know, blondie, I know. So tell me more. How'd you all hook up, and how'd you find out Rath, I mean, Michael was your brother. Man, this gets confusing. I guess Rath really was your brother too, then, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Ava, darkly. "Though I'm not to anxious to claim him, that's for sure. Rath, Lonnie and I came here, they were looking for Max, to try and get him to go to the summit. Him and Tess went back to New York with them, and I stayed here."

"Tess? Who's Tess. I didn't meet her, did I?" asked Zan, confused.

"Tess is the other me," said Ava. "Damn, this is getting complicated. Okay, first there are two destiny books, we had our copy, and they had their copy. But while each book makes sense by itself, if you read them together, it tells a completely different story. Alex figured it out."

"Alex, he's the one with Lonnie, I mean Isabel. The one that can mind warp. How can he do that, anyhow. You still haven't explained that," said Zan.

Ava paused, unsure of how much she should reveal. She thought for a minute more, then continued. "Liz was shot in the restaurant her parents own. Max healed her, at great risk to himself, and the others. As a result, Liz developed powers like ours. It seems our powers are centered in our brains. We use more of our brains than the average human. When Max healed Liz, it bumped up the development or something in her brain, and she got powers."

"And Max, he healed the others, too?" asked Zan.

"Yeah, Kyle got shot, too, and I forget what happened to Alex and Maria, but Max healed them," Ava lied. She was unwilling to tell Zan about the Granolith, and it's role in activating Alex and Maria's powers."

"Where are Rath and Lonnie, and this Tess character, now?" asked Zan.

"Rath and Lonnie are dead," said Ava. "Alex and Maria killed them when they found out Rath and Lonnie were going to kill Michael and Isabel, and take their place. They, along with Tess were going to kidnap Max, and try and get back to Antar."

"No shit, there's a way to get home. How?" asked Zan, excitedly.

"I don't know," said Ava, turning her head away from him to hide the fact that she was lying.

"What about this Tess chick, what happened to her?"

Ava climbed up onto the top bar of the fence, and hooked her feet over the lower rung. She looked off into the distance for a moment before she answered. "Tess is dead, she killed her, but in the fight, Liz lost the baby boy she was carrying." A tear trickled down Ava's face, and Zan reached over to wipe it away.

"Man, that's harsh," he said. "She must have been broken up about it."

"Yeah, well, lets just drop it," said Ava. "It's not my story to tell. Besides, I want to hear about you. You got a job? I can't see you in the nine to five world, Zan."

"It's a nothing job. I was fixing cars in a Mercedes dealership. The pay was pretty good."

"You fixed cars?" laughed Ava. "Zan, you don't even know how to drive a car."

"I managed," said Zan. "And if you count stealing them, then yeah, I knew how to drive a car. But let's not talk about me. I want to know more about what's been going on with you. How'd you hook up with this Kyle guy, and is he treating you okay?"

"Kyle's great Zan, and I'm really lucky to have him and the others in my life."

"And a brother too. That's cool," added Zan. "So, what else did the books tell you?" He tried to hide his interest in the information.

"Oh, Zan, I don't know," Ava said helplessly. "Do we have to go into all of that now? I mean, you're here, finally. Can't we just be happy about that?"

"Man, there sure is a lot of nothing around here," said Zan, looking up at the vast expanse of blue sky. "I don't think I've ever seen so much nothing."

"It is kind of weird," said Ava. "But it's nice too. There's a whole world out there Zan, and Kyle and I are going to explore it."

"Yeah, and how are you planning on this little venture? Did you jaunt back to Antar and make a withdrawal out of the royal treasury?"

Ava flushed and looked at the ground in embarrassment. "Actually," she said. "We made a little trip to Vegas one time, and well, we kind of made a bundle."

Zan laughed, and threw an arm around Ava and gave her a quick hug. "That's my girl," he said. "I've been known to do the same thing a time or two in Atlantic City. Too bad, I like the idea of going back to Antar and helping ourselves to all that royal treasure."

Ava laughed uneasily. She was disturbed at the way Zan kept redirecting the conversation to going back to Antar. It wasn't something he ever really cared about before. In fact, it was his lack of interest in going back to Antar, which lead to Rath and Lonnie wanting to kill him. "Oh look," she said gratefully. "Here come Liz and Max." She jumped down off the fence, and ran over to them, glad to escape Zan's prodding questions.

"You okay," Liz whispered to Ava when the two couples met up. Ava surreptitiously shook her head, and shot Liz a look that clearly begged for help. "Ava, you have a phone call, it's Pam Troy. She heard you were back in town, and is dying to talk with you," Liz improvised.

"Hun? Oh," said Ava, when she realized what Liz was doing. "Pam. I've been dying to talk to her. Zan, I have to take this call. I'll be out in a few minutes, okay?"

She didn't wait for an answer, and walked towards the house, Liz trailing after her. Liz raced along, struggling to keep up with the fast pace the other girl had set.

"Ava, slow up, will you?" said Liz. "It's not like she's really on the phone. The day Pam Troy would talk to one of us is the day Michael and Maria don't fight about something."

"Liz, lets just go inside. I need to talk to you," said Ava, clearly distraught.

"Is it about Zan?" Liz asked. "Never mind, that's stupid question. Of course it's about Zan. Come on, we can go talk in Kyle's room."

The two girls entered the house, and went straight to Kyle's room, ignoring their friends who sat in the living room.

"Okay, spill, what's up?" asked Liz, sitting on the bed next to Ava. She looked around the room, while Ava formed her response. Her gaze paused when it came to the bulletin board Kyle kept in his room. It was decorated with pictures of their small group of friends, after they had discovered Tess' duplicity. Every picture of her showed a girl with a smile that never quite reached her eyes.

"Liz, did you hear me?" Ava asked. "I just said that I'm not really sure if that's Zan."