Clara lay so prone in her bed, she looked like a beautiful corpse.

Alice, lifted her head into her lap and eased the glass containing the red-black liquid between her lips...Clara, still and unaware drank it down, instinctively.

Everyone was gathered in her room.

"There is nothing we can do about the elders except wait and be judged." Alice said, her skin gone gray with fear.

"Can you give us some idea of how they think? What they may do?" Tess asked.

"They are unpredictable and powerful. They have contempt for humans and what they see as their animal-ways. They believe Hetu are the most highly evolved creatures on our planet; that we evolved from humans, from animals to higher beings."

"They sound like Nazis." Will, said.

"Yes. If immortals didn’t need humans, they would most assuredly exterminate them all. Listen. This is important that you understand...Hetu cannot always be detected, not even by you, Will.

They have magick that can block even your extraordinary gift. They are shape-shifters, as you know...They would plan on observing us without our knowledge. It is their way.

They are brutal judges of character and immortal laws. If they see violations of either, they will come down hard. Often, the punishment is death."

Doug squeezed Alice’s shoulder.

She reached up and covered his hand with her own.

"Believe me. We all have something to worry about. Anyone of us, could be judged... poorly."

She sighed.

"They cannot cover such a long distance by magick alone...It will take them awhile to go here. At least not before nightfall. Like you..." She said to Tess.

"They are at their most discreet in the black of night. They would want to judge you then."

"Expect them, this evening."

*****

Will hadn’t spoken to me since his awakening. And now he sat silently in an easy chair drinking synthetic.

"It’s strange. It’s like drinking liquid need."

"-Will?"

"Hm?"

"What did...What did you see back there? With Stephen?"

Instead of answering, he got up and took me into his arms, embracing me, inhaling me...Ignoring my question.

"Apple blossoms."

Whatever it was, he didn’t feel he could share it with me.

"That bad, huh?"

"Would you come with me, for a while?"

I nodded.

He took my hand and lead me into his backyard. There was an impressive garden there, as it would be under Alice’s care. It was filled with exotic plants, I had never seen before. It looked like another world, especially under that ever-present mist.

"I’ve never really seen it before." He said, scanning the dense foliage.

Some of the plants, sparkled, others held a luminescent glow, some moved like living creatures, while others constantly rained a strange cloud of spores...None could be seen with the naked human eye.

He lead me along, beside him.

"I didn’t know it would be like this...So much that is now known to me. It all passed me by when I was...human." He sounded wistful, like an adult missing his innocence.

"Are you regretting it?"

"No. Life is progress. Even as humans we can never go back, right?"

"Will- Would you please tell me what you saw back there, with Stephen?"

He looked at me, as if trying to decide how much to tell me.

"I can’t say, just now...It constantly changes. He is cunning. He tries to hid behind those veiled dreams of his. I confuse it for something else. All I can say, is that he plans to use this judgment against us."

I could think of any number of ways that might work.

"This thing, that I have...You ever look at one of those Magic Eye drawings?"

I knew of them, humans found the shifting perspectives, the differences between the bits of art wrapped in one, amusing.

One piece, usually a message, appeared in 3-D. For us, though, the nuance was the bigger thing than the trick.

"Using this...to look further than what’s immediate. It’s like that. It takes effort to shift it just right to see what I want and it doesn’t always work. It could be a lie."

"So, you were bluffing him a bit?"

"Just a little."

We both laughed. But I knew, he was still being evasive. There was more he knew that he wasn’t telling me.

I wanted to quell this for awhile. "Well, how about you stretch out those other abilities of yours?"

"Let’s see if you can keep up."

I backed into the thick mist, smiling at him. At the last second, I turned and took off. The wind whistled past my ears. I darted across the desert in a zig-zag formation. When he got close, I moved just out of reach. The cool damp air felt amazing on my skin.

He was fast and athletic in life, but I’m not new at this. Still, I underestimated him.

One second my feet were under me, the next they weren’t. And he was on top of me, straddling me on the sandy earth, pinning my hands over my head.

He was strong. I had to admit, that was something I had missed. Everything physical had been so easy for me, it was nice to have someone who was my match in that. His skin glistened with the heavy moisture in the air, his hair hung in a thick white-blond wave across his forehead.

He was dripping on me. I didn't mind.

"Did I pass your test?" He said, managing to still make those eyes of his twinkle. I nodded.

I missed that light aquamarine color, but the steady crimson they were now, held something different. Something dangerous, that stirred a different kind of longing in me.

A mischievous smile creased his lips. He switched his hands so only of one them held both of my own above me. His free hand slid down my neckline, gracefully slipping open the buttons, on my short-sleeve checkered shirt.

He leaned down and kissed my neck.

He knew what I wanted. Every step, every moment after that was perfection. He controlled me and enjoyed this new power over me; knowing my every desire and fulfilling them.

I did love that new gift of his.

*****

When we returned, things were still tense, but our brief absence had been ignored. It had been expected, really.

Will kept me close to him, his hand entwining my own.

Clara was now up, groggy, but calm. Everyone in the vicinity felt the same.

I went to her. I was responsible for this.

"Clara?"

Her mother sat stroking her hair on the other side of her bed.

"Ibis...I was wrong. I’m more me, not less."

She was right. In life, she was a leader of a the most popular clique in school. Even then, all others followed her moods and whims.

It made sense that her gift would be as it is now.

"I hope, I can control this."

"It will get easier." I said, taking her hand. "You’re still new. You’re doing better than I did. It was the opposite for me. Every other person’s emotions was reflected by me. It was confusing for a long while."

She laughed weakly.

"You do care a lot for others, Ibis."

Alice interrupted.

"Clara, honey...We’re going to need you to try to learn how to control this quicker than usual. The drink I gave you earlier had something in it that should help you."

"They’re coming, aren’t they?"

"Yes."

"And you want me to try to keep them from getting all homicidal, right?"

Alice smiled. "Yes, in a manner of speaking."

"I’ll try."