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Author's Chapter Notes:

 Ibis' friends learn her secret.




Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


"By who?"

"I don’t know..." She said.

"It had to have been another one of us." She said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"But how? Why?...Why would someone do this?"

"I don’t know...But I don’t want you going back to school until we figure this out. It’s too dangerous."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"The official story is that he disappeared....But I found the spot where he was killed. His body had been reduced to ash and mixed with the dirt."

She said, disgusted.

"Just...Stay here." She said, both hands on my shoulders.

"I’ve been trying to get in touch with a few of his contacts, but I think they too, are being careful and laying low. I’m hoping Lawrence already got in touch and they’re on their way."

"How many?" I asked...At once curious and afraid.

"Three."

That night I had many things on my mind as a lay on my bunk.

Will’s memory.

Lawrence’s death.

Poor Tess...

And.

-and...

My breath caught and I felt a warm electric charge flow through me, starting at my feet and finishing in my head.

My eyes, fluttered closed ...and I was someplace else.

I was in the brush, wearing the tanktop and yoga pants combination I was wearing now...My most comfortable clothing.

My feet were bare...Everything had a vague shifting haze around it, like it wasn’t real. Which, of course, it wasn’t.

I did a slow turn in place, scanning things human eyes couldn’t see.

It was then that I noticed the spot on the horizon, it wasn’t close enough for me to determine who it was, but I knew, what...

He would arrive at any moment.

And then he was in front of me. A beautiful boy...more so than anyone I’d ever see. His white skin held an olive undertone, that told me he or his kin might have been from a warmer climate. His hair fell in gentle mahogany waves around his face. His black eyes were entrancing and dangerous.

He wore the clothing of a backpacker. Khakis with many pockets and a long-sleeved sportshirt.

He looked like a teen, like me, but it was clear that he was not. His eyes traveled over me in a way that made feel naked. I tried to move, but my body was rooted to the ground.

He stepped forward and slowly, gently, caressed my cheek. His hand sliding down my face to neck...which he held. And then he did something strange, he pulled me close and bent so his lips barely brushed against mine and he whispered something I could not hear...

Then he inhaled...

I sat up with a start. Tess, standing over me, watchful and worried.

"What just happened?"

"You were gone for awhile...Just completely prone and unseeing, like you were asleep. But your eyes were wide and aware." Tess said, stunned.

"Each of us, bring different gift with us over to this world...You feel others’ emotions. Your healing has never been a useful thing, I’ve thought. But now..."

"Another one of us had to be the one who did that to you. And I bet whoever it was, had something to do with Lawrence’s death." She said, her voice, cracking with anger.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the rush of desire I felt for this creature, just from that brief encounter...

 

****

 

Everything had become so complicated since we’d moved to Shadow. Our kind getting killed, Will, and now this...burden of yearning.

I shivered, feeling the memory of his cold hard touch, again. I had been sheltered by Tess, despite my long life, had known nothing of love, besides my bond with Tess. Never the deep connection between two who want each other in other ways.

I wanted this stranger with a carnal lust similar to, but still different from my desire for human blood. That ache affected my head and deep in the pit of my stomach...

This was a pooling warmth which began below my belly and spread from there.

With Will, it was different. Repelled by own desire to do what instinct dicticted and yet drawn by his...everything else.

The stranger affected me in a much more basic way. The fear I knew I should have, just wasn’t there.

 

****

 

..."and we just wanted to come see how she’s doing..."

I heard the voices floating through the house.

"....well, she’s resting now...I just gave her medication..."

"Tess, it’s okay." I said, walking to the front door. There was Clara and Will.

"Well. Don’t just stand there...Come in. Sit with me for a bit."

I had been away from school for more than two weeks now, and I missed them more than I cared to admit.

"You do look...different." Clara said, placing a hand on my forehead. Will hovered nearby...Still keeping his distance. Good for him. I’d forgotten how good he smelled.

My eyes were a strange color...Remaining an inky black regardless of how well I’d fed.

Clara leaned forward, her eyes cautiously scanning for Tess, not knowing how useless that was.

"Look, Ibis...You’re going to have to level with us."

"I don’t have to do any such thing." I said, suddenly very defensive.

"Ibis..." Will began. "You’re not...normal. We’ve both been noticing little things."

"The fact that you don’t eat..." Clara supplied.

"Or how your eyes change color." Will said, frowning and closely watching how they’d changed, even now.

"Listen." she said. "It’s just really freaky. I think you’re cool, but you’re definitely...Not like us."

She said, struggling for the correct words. Nothing but open curiosity came from both of them. Although, I did feel some excited anticipation from Clara and more caution from Will. I don’t think he really wanted to know. Clara was probably hoping I was an alien.

"Okay." I said, sighing.

"Tess." I said, my voice low and level.

She was just there. And they both jumped.

"Jesus!" Clara said.

"What just?-"

"You wish to explain or shall I?" She said.

I began. "I was born in 1943...Well, my second birth anyway..."

I continued on, telling them all about my life up until this point, from the rescue from the wildcat to our fear of new interlopers. And they remained quiet, never once interrupting in the expected disbelieving fashion.

After I’d finished, I took a deep breath. I did leave out the part about Will’s special allure and my waking dream. That felt too personal to share with them both.

I was silent, allowing them to consider the information. I had laid it all out the table. They could either dismiss me and Tess as crazy people or believe.

"Can I...touch you?" Will offered, first.

"Not now." I said, a bit too quickly.

Clara said. "So, how does it taste?"

Clara’s very favorite thing in the world was chocolate. She loved the stuff.

So, I said..."Imagine you have to live without chocolate for a whole year. Just none, in any form. Then you’re left to starve for a few days. And someone finally sets the most delectable looking chocolate in the world, in front of you, with a side of milk."

"Wow." She said.

It wasn’t exactly the best description, but it was the most relatable.

"So, then that’s why you’re not in school?" Will asked.

"I can’t. Until we know who’s responsible for Lawrence, it’s just too dangerous."

"If I didn’t think you might be in danger too, I would not have told you this."

"Why would we-?"

"Because we’re her friends." Will finished.

"Yes."

"Well, it’s not like we can do anything. You’re freakishly fast, strong, and virtually indestructible."

"I think Lawrence’s death has proven, that’s not the case." Tess said, stepping forward.

"You all will be watched."

Tess stood, with her hand on her hips, her head tilted in that way, I recognize as her thought pose.

"Actually...I think you should go back to school, Ibis."

"Whoever did this, doesn’t want to draw attention to themselves."

"You can keep an eye on them while you’re there. And I’ll keep an eye on you until the others come."

"You’re also hoping we’ll draw them out." Clara said, uncharacteristically serious.

"Yes. I have to admit that is true."

"So." I said. "Now, that you know. How do you feel?"

"Relieved, actually." Clara said and she wasn’t lying. "I don’t have to agonize over my best friend dying on me."

Will’s thoughts were a little different. "And you?"

"I’m just..amazed to know your real age." I smiled.

"In spirit. But I find that I feel as much a child now, as I did then, with the way Tess treats me."

I said trying to reassure him, that I wasn’t exactly off-limits. I rolled my eyes at Tess.

She swatted me. But I could see he was intimidated. Even more than he already was.

With the burden of my secret on the table, I knew I had to tell him more...Later.










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