Point: if the group of supers hadn't destroyed the Division, the government would most likely have disbanded it literally a few months later. But that isn't important. What is important is that they took down the Division, and many of them lived to tell the tale.
My mother--well, she never helped them. That wasn't her fault, of course. It would be hard to help, in her state. It's difficult to get on the bad side of Shockers and survive. They're tricky to deal with, Shockers are. As often as not, they let their tempers get the better of them. Mum had scars. Branching, veinlike scars. And besides those, she was never able to Move anymore. The effects of a gang of Shockers attacking one of the most powerful Movers in the world, I guess.
Oh! I'm Amelia, by the way. Amelia Friedstrom, Mover, on the run from Claudia Cooper. See, Claudia didn't like my mother. So she killed her. And then she realized that I was just as dangerous when I nearly killed her, so now she's after me. Go figure.
*******
Berlin, Germany
My back was to the wall, resting on years of graffiti from the people of the west side of Berlin and others from around the world. The history of this wall was etched into the history of Germany. And I was here, running from one woman like the citizens of East Germany tried to run from the people who ruled over them.
My phone suddenly rang. Flipping it open quickly without bothering to look at the caller ID, I put it to my ear and cautiously whispered a "Hello" into the receiving end of it.
"Happy birthday, Amelia!" Xander's familiar voice shouted, nearly exploding my eardrum. I narrowly avoided dropping the phone in surprise.
"Ow! For heaven's sake, Cooper, don't shout!" I cried before realizing that I was still (kind of) hiding. Lowering my voice to a murmur, I said, "You nearly made me deaf, idiot!"
"Sorry, Amelia. But I miss you, that's all," he replied, his voice crackling through the worn-out speaker of my beat-up phone. "Where are you right now, anyway?"
I grinned in spite of myself. "Berlin," I told him. "Leaning against the Berlin Wall, as it were. I'll take a picture for you, shall I?"
"Do it," he responded. I could hear the smile in his voice. Then: "How's about this? You take your picture, hop on over to Dublin and fetch Lucie and Danny, then the three of you come on over here to celebrate your birthday. Maybe if you go fetch Rachel, wherever she is, she'll take you here."
Rolling my eyes, I aimed my camera at myself and snapped a picture for Xander, then stood up and stretched, warily scanning the people milling about the sidewalk for anyone who looked even remotely like Claudia. When I caught sight of strawberry-blond hair, freckles, and a grin that I recognized, I muttered a profane word in my favorite language--German--and forced my energy at the sidewalk under my feet. My energy, unable to Move the ground away from me, rebounded off the ground and propelled me up to the top of the wall.
"Amelia? What's wrong?" I heard Xander ask.
"If I'm not at JFK International within 48 hours, assume the worst!" With those words, I hung up the phone, tossed it into my messenger bag, and began running atop the wall. Wishing with all my heart I could just be at the O'Nealls' house in Ireland to fetch Luce and Daniel right then and there, I jumped-- and landed on the O'Nealls' couch.
~Amelia Friedstrom
"Happy birthday, Amelia!" Xander's familiar voice shouted, nearly exploding my eardrum. I narrowly avoided dropping the phone in surprise.
"Ow! For heaven's sake, Cooper, don't shout!" I cried before realizing that I was still (kind of) hiding. Lowering my voice to a murmur, I said, "You nearly made me deaf, idiot!"
"Sorry, Amelia. But I miss you, that's all," he replied, his voice crackling through the worn-out speaker of my beat-up phone. "Where are you right now, anyway?"
I grinned in spite of myself. "Berlin," I told him. "Leaning against the Berlin Wall, as it were. I'll take a picture for you, shall I?"
"Do it," he responded. I could hear the smile in his voice. Then: "How's about this? You take your picture, hop on over to Dublin and fetch Lucie and Danny, then the three of you come on over here to celebrate your birthday. Maybe if you go fetch Rachel, wherever she is, she'll take you here."
Rolling my eyes, I aimed my camera at myself and snapped a picture for Xander, then stood up and stretched, warily scanning the people milling about the sidewalk for anyone who looked even remotely like Claudia. When I caught sight of strawberry-blond hair, freckles, and a grin that I recognized, I muttered a profane word in my favorite language--German--and forced my energy at the sidewalk under my feet. My energy, unable to Move the ground away from me, rebounded off the ground and propelled me up to the top of the wall.
"Amelia? What's wrong?" I heard Xander ask.
"If I'm not at JFK International within 48 hours, assume the worst!" With those words, I hung up the phone, tossed it into my messenger bag, and began running atop the wall. Wishing with all my heart I could just be at the O'Nealls' house in Ireland to fetch Luce and Daniel right then and there, I jumped-- and landed on the O'Nealls' couch.
~Amelia Friedstrom
101 comments:
(What will non-O'Nealls and non-Coopers do?)
(Start working on a post about your people, I am going to do the same thing, in reply to Kat's post, since I will probably want to write a ton of stuff [background info, etc]. But your characters will be in the story soon, especially if the rest of us know where they are, that way we can find them.)
(Never mind that, I'm going to post my reply here.)
It's not that I don't like pretty girls, it's that I don't like them suddenly appearing on my couch. That sentence may seem a little strange to those not in my current position, but believe me, if you were me, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about. There I was, trying to get through the last few pages of a particularly boring novel about a boy and some shoes, when Amelia Friedstrom decides to appear on the other side of the couch.
As you'd expect, I yelled rather loudly at her sudden arrival. She was dressed in clothes for extreme cold, (odd, because we here in Dublin were enjoying a brief respite from the usually stormy weather of our region), and her hair was an absolute mess. The bottoms of her shoes were wet, and she was doing a pretty good job of soaking the leather couch. After I got over my initial shock at her sudden appearance, I greeted her as best I could.
"Hi, Amelia. What brings you to Ireland in such a state?"
She responded with her usual smirk, and then said, "An invitation."
I was just about to ask to what I was invited to, but the door to the study banged open and the rest of my family came spilling in the door. My mother, Kayana, my father, Nolan, and my little sister, Lucille. In proper fashion, my mother and father hailed Amelia with the casual grace of people who have long since become accustomed to surprise visitors, and Luce said hello in a cheerful tone.
Practically no one noticed the fourth person to enter the room, behind my family. With her fingers stained green from oil paints, it was clear that Rachel Griffin, our temporary houseguest and my cousin (though not by blood), had just been startled out of painting a landscape. She stood near the door, hesitant to come forward, and I was reminded of how shy she was around new people. Mother said it was a skill passed down from her father, James, and it had served both of them well.
Finally, the greetings stopped, and Amelia was helped down from her perch. Brushing her hair behind her ears, my mother asked the question that all of us had clearly been dying to hear the answer to. "It's not that I don't enjoy visits from you, but why are you here, exactly?"
~Daniel
"Well, I was in Berlin just a minute ago, right? Trying to hide from that psycho Claudia," I told the O'Nealls (And Rachel), trying not to grin at the look of surprise still on Daniel's face, "when I get a call from none other than Xander Cooper, wishing me a happy birthday. So then he gets this crazy idea that I should come kidnap Dan and Luce and maybe Rachel and find a way to get to NYC so they can celebrate my birthday."
I paused a moment, looking at Rachel, the real Porter. "And then... I jumped. From the top of the Berlin Wall. And landed on your couch. Any questions?"
~Amelia
"The top of the Berlin Wall?" Mum said, sounding worried. "You know that isn't safe, anyone could have seen you." I paused for a moment to reflect on just how strange my family was. Instead of scolding Amelia for jumping off of a huge wall, my mother was concerned that she might have been spotted by passerby.
"Leave her alone, Kay," Dad said, putting his arm around Mum. "We did far worse when we were younger. I'm surprised you're not disappointed that she didn't blow up half the street in the process." He winked at Amelia, who smiled patiently. I could tell that Amelia was waiting for an answer to her invitation.
I turned to my parents. "Can we go?"
Mum took a moment to think, then nodded. "As long as Rachel is fine with it, then yes."
We both looked over at the Porter. Rachel was a pacifist, and she believed in only using her powers in emergencies or in situations that did not involve combat. Fortunately, his instance was neither. Rachel nodded her assent, and added in a quiet tone, "I'll leave my landscapes here, if Kayana doesn't mind."
"No worries, dear," Mum said, her tone becoming softer. She had always been extra nice towards Rachel, especially after her parents, both long-time friends of Mum, had been murdered by a serial killer. The killer was rapidly becoming a threat to supers everywhere, though no one knew his identity. Most supers called him the Mirage, because of his ability to disappear after a killing.
"Great!" I said. "We'll leave right away. Luce, d'you want to get anything before we go?"
~Daniel
I grinned at Kayana. "Don't worry about me, Mumma O'Neall. Somehow I don't think being seen is nearly so interesting as a Mover accidentally Porting onto your couch... But we'll figure out that great mystery later."
"...Luce, d'you want to get anything before we go?" I heard Daniel ask. Glancing over at Lucille, I grinned at the look on her face.
"Daniel O'Freaking Neall, it's as if you don't even know me!" She cried, throwing her hands up into the air. "I need... my clothes, my notebooks, my toothbrush, my IPod..."
She continued to rattle off her list of "necessary items" as she took the stairs two-by-two up to her bedroom. Rolling his eyes, Nolan sat down on his chair. "Relax, all. This could take a little while."
"Oh, calm it down, Pa. I'm done already," Luce said as she came back down the stairs with an overstuffed rucksack and a large black purse. "Stopping's gotta be good for something, right?" She paused to look around at all of us. "Weren't we going to leave or something?"
I shook my head at the sixteen-year-old and got to my feet. "Alright, let's get this show on the road. Y'all ready?"
~Amelia
"Oh, by the way, Ma, we've got company..." I told my mother as I grabbed one of the tacos she had made and taking a big bite out of it.
She propped her fists on her hips and gave me one of those "Mom" looks. "What do you mean, we've got company?"
Waggling my eyebrows, I turned around to face the living room and signaled to the group standing inside. They all filed into our small kitchen.
"Oh! What a surprise!" Ma lightly smacked me on the side of the head as she moved forward to hug and greet each of the people who had arrived, giving me a "You should have asked me" look over Daniel's shoulder as she hugged him.
I just grinned.
~Xander
I shuffled into the room behind the rest of the group, a little off to the side. Seeing all the things that Lucie had brought made me wish I had brought along my landscapes. I was drawing a very pretty one from my imagination right now, and I was eager to finish it before the scene drained away. Inspiration is like the ocean. It rises and falls, and you never know when you're going to be engulfed by it. But looking out the window at the city below, I could tell that I would, at the very least, be able to practice painting cityscapes. After all, NYC was the perfect place for new ideas to blossom.
I was shaken out of my thoughts by Xander's mum, who gave me a huge hug, then held me at arm's length. "Rachel!" she said with a smile. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," I managed. Kendra Cooper and I had more in common then you would think. We had both lost our parents, and more recently, her husband Tynan had been killed by a Hunter. No one knew who it was, but the odds were in the favor of Tynan's own daughter, Claudia Cooper.
Though the Mirage would be a legitimate guess as well.
"If you don't mind, Mrs. Cooper," Daniel said, using his most charming and polite voice, "We'd like to throw Amelia a little birthday party, seeing as she's been running so long."
Mrs. Cooper was just about to answer as the kitchen door banged open again and her two younger children ran in. "Did we miss anything?" cried the girl, a small child with vivid blonde hair.
~Rachel
"Oh, it's you! All of you!" I smacked Afton in the arm. "It's them!"
"I realized, thanks," he replied sarcastically, rubbing his arm and watching Amelia as she came to give me a hug. When she released me, I raised one eyebrow at Afton but didn't say a word.
"So how are you, Nana?" Amelia asked me, taking both of my hands in hers. "I'm fabulous, thanks," I replied with a smile. "Happy birthday!"
"Thank you," she replied with a smile. "So wh--"
"Oh! Ma! Ma, can I make a cake? My cakes are fantastic," I confided to Amelia.
"Yes, you may."
"Alright. Luce, wanna help?" I asked the Irish girl with a grin. "I'm thinking... white cake, buttermilk frosting, blue and orange fondant..."
"I'm not even going to ask how you know how to make all of this...," Luce told me as she followed.
~Nan
"So. Party, party... Anyone else we need to invite?" I asked the group. "Do we know anyone else who knows Amelia?"
~Xander
(Who else do we know? People can post who we know, and Akire's or my characters can suggest them, perhaps.)
"Let's see..." I said, thinking it over. "There's Amy Morgan here in New York—I heard she was at a casino or a bar or something—and then Ashwood and Petrov must be around here somewhere...I talked to Dani a week or so ago when she was in London, but I don't know where she went after that."
~Daniel
"There's a girl named Kate Marre," I said quietly. "She didn't know she was a super. I met her about a month ago, she was in London. I don't know how to contact her, but she mentioned Amelia." I blushed under the gazes of everyone in the room. This is why I didn't like being the center of attention. Too many people looking at me makes me nervous.
~Rachel
(Uhm...Dani can be in Vermont, I guess. Randomly.)
(Vermont is cool! I didn't really know where people's characters would be, so I just tried to mention them all without giving specific locations, just where they were a certain time ago.)
(Haha, it worked though, so it's all good. I find it interesting how it's Daniel who talked to Dani...)
"Alright! Let's fetch them," I told the group without even asking Ma since I knew she wouldn't care. "Rachel, d'you feel up to a little super-fetching?"
Still blushing, she nodded.
"Alright! Ma, d'you know where Amy is?" Amelia asked my mother. Ma smiled at her use of "Ma".
"Yes, dear. The Black Swan. A bar just off of Madison Square Park. Oh, and Afton can't go. He's not eighteen."
"Ma, Daniel's going!" Afton protested. "He's seventeen."
"And not my child. You are, dear. So no trips to bars for another five and a half months until you're eighteen. Got it?"
"Yeah, fine."
~Xander
(Ahaha! Never noticed that. That's fantastic.)
(Ha ha yes. I'm no Watcher, but I foresee many jokes being made about their names being so similar XD)
(And I think one of my characters might randomly decide to call Daniel Danny. Oh, goodness, this shall be interesting... Haha)
(Ah yes, I think you're right, Akire. xD)
I glanced up at Xander and nodded. I didn't really want to be Porting all over the place, but I didn't want to say anything for fear of offending the Coopers. I looked at Daniel for help. He noticed me, and stepped in.
"Mrs. Cooper, Rachel is a...a...what do you call it?"
"Pacifist," I said quietly.
"Yeah, a pacifist, and she doesn't really believe in using her powers more than is necessary." Daniel managed to work in a grin somewhere in between his words. "So could Amelia just take us instead? She's picked up a bit of Porting."
I nodded in agreement with Daniel, glad that he had made my condition known. I didn't believe in Porting more than was necessary, and besides, couldn't Amelia just take the rest of them herself? I'm not much of a socializer, and I would be much happier staying with Mrs. Cooper, Afton, Luce, and Nan. Maybe I could even get started on one of my paintings.
C'mon, agree with Daniel, I thought, trying to beam my thoughts to Mrs. Cooper. You can't argue with an Irish accent, just let me stay!
~Rachel
(Oh, Rachel and her moral complications. And the bit about Irish accents is absolutely true. Same goes for English and Scottish ones.)
(Kinda is...Oh gosh, Kat. Danny and Dani? xD)
"Oh, I didn't mean to be presumptuous. Sorry, Rachel," Xander said as I panicked a little inside. They were all looking at me expectantly.
"Umm, let me clarify this situation. I didn't 'pick up' anything. I Ported completely by accident. I fully intended to hop off the Berlin Wall and pick up the escape simply by running as friggin' fast as I could. Instead I ended up on y'all's couch," I said, gesturing to Daniel. "I'm not going to ask Rachel to take us if she doesn't want to. We can take a cab. We don't always need to super-travel."
Kendra nodded. "She has the right idea. But with the Hunters becoming smarter and slier, we can't have you using public transportation. You'll take the Camaro."
She tossed the keys to Xander. "You wreck it, and you're grounded for two weeks plus three days for every hundred I spend."
She winked at me. I knew full well that Xander was probably an even better driver than she was.
~Amelia
(Yep! Hehe. It'll be fun, won't it?)
(Why yes, yes it will. :P)
"Thank you, Amelia," I said to the Mover. "I don't want to hinder you, but—"
"No, no, it's fine," she said, cutting me off with a smile. "It's alright if you don't want to go rushing off to pick up supers all over New York."
I nodded, glad that someone understood. As the rest of the expedition filed out of the kitchen to jump into the car, I turned to Mrs. Cooper and Afton. "Is there anything I can do to help set up for the party?" I asked. "And do you have any oil paints?"
~Rachel
"A Camero, huh?" I asked, buckling in my seatbelt. Amelia had called shotgun before I could even think to say anything, so I was stuck in the back while she and Xander sat up front. "Where'd you get it?"
~Daniel
(So maybe someone can make a page titled "The Black Swan" and we can continue Xander, Amelia, and Daniel's adventures there? Other characters can probably show up at that bar as well. And then Kat and I can comment about Rachel and the Coopers [plus any guests that might arrive *hint hint*] on this post? Then we can make a joint post when both things are done.)
"I think our impromptu party planning crew will do well enough as it is. And you, darling, can have your run of Kiki's old office," I told Rachel with a smile. Spotting her questioning look, my smile widened into a grin. "Kiki is Tynan's cousin. She stayed here for a while, and she was an artist. Go straight up the stairs and take a right. It's your third door on the left. I think you'll like it."
Shooting her a wink, I joined Luce and Nan to see their progress on the cake. They had finished the batter, and Luce was loading it into different-sized cake pans while Nan made the frosting.
"Afton," I called over my shoulder to my middle child, "will you please go find some candles for me? We'll need... eighteen of them. I think they're in the cupboard. Thank you, dear."
~Kendra
"O-okay," I said. I followed Kendra's directions until I reached the third door on the left. The handle was brass and shiny, and I could tell it had been used frequently. I opened the door slowly, and gasped at the sight that greeted me.
I blinked once or twice, just to make sure I was seeing things properly. The room was a huge, wooden-floored space, with walls painted a glowing sunset orange. The far wall wasn't a wall at all: it was a huge window, looking out over the city. Easels and palettes were scattered everywhere about the room, and jars of paintbrushes were everywhere. There was a small sink and counter near the door, with an array of sponges ready for use.
I felt like I was in heaven. I walked in a sort of trance towards one of the easels. My brain sparked, and I grabbed some paper and paints. I taped the paper to the easel, and began painting. I drew from my imagination, creating a field full of sunflowers, rimmed by a line of trees and with a blue sky above. I was so absorbed in my painting that I didn't even notice when the door opened behind me. However, when Afton Cooper cleared his throat, I nearly had a heart attack.
My paintbrush skittered across the easel, spraying a line of white across the blue sky I had planned to turn into a cloud. I jumped about a foot into the air, knocking over the glass of water I had placed by my feet for cleaning my brushes. I turned around and stared, half in shock and half in surprise, at the Cooper's middle son.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice tinged with a bit of laughter. "Ma sent me up to tell you that the cake is done, and we're just about to frost it. Nan is pretty anxious to begin."
"H-how long have I been up here?" I stuttered, just realizing that the sun had started to go down over the buildings of the city.
~Rachel
Okay, so I took the first train to find Amelia Friedstrom. I had met her two years ago, and she said that she had crashed at Tynan and Kendra Cooper's place. She told me that if I ever needed any help, I should go there. And not just any help. Special help, she specified. If she had anything to do with a woman pointing a pistol at my head...
I had tossed the meat tenderizer away into an alley and replaced it with a knife I bought at a place I came across on my way to the station (Good thing I had a wad of cash stuffed into my back pocket). I suppose those Israeli knife-fighting lessons became good use, after all.
It's not like I'm impolite or anything, so I rang the bell first. I heard footsteps coming closer and quickly smoothed my grey t-shirt under my black hoodie and jeans. I didn't want to look like some crazed homeless dude for a first impression. I was running my fingers through my blonde hair when a tall kid about my age with dark hair and blue-grey eyes opened the door. "Hello... who is this?" He seemed careful and shy.
I shot him a grin. "Hi. I'm looking for an Amelia Friedstrom, or a... Kendra Cooper, was it? Or a Tynan Cooper."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're not a Hunter, are you?"
"What?" My eyes darkened. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. I just know that somebody is hunting me down, and Amelia said that it would be safe to come here. So is it or not?"
(This, obviously, is Afton.)
Afton and I had been on our way down the stairs to the kitchen when the bell rang. He opened the front door to reveal a girl. I peered over his shoulder at her curiously. She was blonde, and looked only a few years younger than me. One of her hands was in her hoodie pocket, and I recognized the shape of the object she held there.
"Um, what's with the knife?" I asked. "We're not going to hurt you."
"It never hurts to be prepared," the girl said, giving me a tight smile.
"I suppose..." I said. "What's your name again? And why are you looking for Amelia?" I was surprised at my own boldness. Maybe the outgoing nature of Lucie and Daniel had rubbed off on me.
~Rachel
"Kate Marre," I told her curtly, quickly assessing this girl. Something about her was familiar to me... Ah, yes! We had met in a cafe in London, once, and I asked her how she got there, and she had lied... Was she somehow connected to this mess as well? I instead turned to the tall boy and directed a glare at him. "Well?"
~ Kate
(Genna and James will come on the scene later on... they'll simply arrive at the party, I think.)
"Not if you keep glaring at me, it's not," I told the girl, raising one eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and affixed a bored look to her face. Shooting her a grin, I swept the door open wide. "Welcome to the Cooper place. We're about to have ourselves a bit of a party. Make yourself comfortable in the living room, and I'll have my ma fix you up some food."
Kate moved past me, and I shot Rachel a wink before ushering the new girl into the living room and on to the couch. "So what are you, then?" I inquired.
~Afton
I nodded, remembering meeting Kate now. It had been just a short while after my father had died, at a cafe in London. I distinctly recalled lying to her when she asked me how I had gotten there. The weather outside had been stormy, and I was wearing no raincoat. The truth was, I had Ported into the bathroom from the O'Neall's house, seeking some space from Daniel and Lucy's bickering. I had sensed that she was a super as well, but I hadn't been able to persuade her to tell me her power.
I followed Afton and Kate into the living room, sitting down on a velvet chair opposite the couch. I wondered off-handedly if Lucie and Nan had finished frosting the cake, and when Daniel and the others would be back. I hoped the cake hadn't been completed, because a baker in Sussex had once taught me a particularly tricky way to make elegant letters out of frosting, and I was hoping to test my skills again.
~Rachel
I stared at the Cooper boy (at least, I assumed he was part of the family). "What do you mean, what kind am I?" I rolled my eyes. "If this is some kind of joke, shut up. Where's Amelia? I'd like to know why there was a woman pointing a gun at me yesterday afternoon." I took in their surprised faces, and sighed. "Alright. Whatever. At least tell me your names, if you aren't going to tell me anything."
~ Kate
"I'm Rachel," I said, surprised at Kate's snippy reply. It's not like we had done anything to hurt her, or made fun of her or anything. "And when Afton said 'what type are you,' he meant what type of super. You know, Pusher, Watcher, Wiper, Porter, and so on."
~Rachel
(Does Kate not know about the types and their names because she hasn't been a part of the super community until now? Or is she just being difficult?)
(Probably doesn't. Ahahaha. But we'll see! Good thing Afton brought it up.)
"I'm Afton, as Rachel just said. And yeah, what type of super? Only supers know to come here for help," I told her. "And as for Amelia, she's out super-fetching for our party."
"Afton, dear, who was at the door just now?"
"Some Kate girl. She needs to talk to Amelia because some woman was waving firearms in her face," I called. I heard her footsteps as I finished speaking, and then she appeared in the door.
"Attracting Hunters, I see," she said, smiling sympathetically. "What was she after? Your powers? Or revenge?"
~Afton
"Her powers?" I said, incredulous. "Why would she be after someone's powers? Are you saying she can take them or something?" I turned worriedly to Afton. "They can't do that, right? It doesn't make sense."
~Rachel
(Kate has no idea what being a super means, and she doesn't know these people. She's been living a "human" or "ordinary" life for her whole life, and she just thinks that her father was involved in some sort of deal that went wrong or something. She's not sure why she can kill (or whether she really did kill) with screaming.)
Kate had never been so confused. These people were speaking nonsense, of course- surely, there was no such thing as super powers, like in the movies. Her scream must have been some sort of coincidence. But they looked so serious when they said it. Kate jumped up when Amelia walked in. "Come on, Amelia. Tell me you're not being serious. I don't know what any of you are talking about- what powers? This isn't some... Marvel film." Kate looked around at all of them imploringly. "All I want to know is what Amelia meant by "special help" and if that had anything to do with someone trying to kill my family and me."
(Amelia's at the Black Swan... but this can be after they've gotten back... Haha)
"Oh, dear. She's oblivious," I told Kendra and the others. Then I met Kate's eyes. "Darling, do me a favor? Sing this for me."
I ah'ed a C for her, then indicated for her to join me on the note. She sang it(giving me a weirded-out look as she did), and I motioned for her to continue when I stopped. Moving forward, I crouched down in front of the couch so I was at her eye level.
"Keep singing," I told her, knowing she wouldn't run out of breath anytime soon--a special little attribute of Bleeders.
As I watched, her pupils narrowed out as she sustained the note. A little tingle that ran down my spine told me that if the not was louder and rougher, I'd be clutching at my ears in pain.
"Alright, you can stop now."
"What did that accomplish?"
Kendra spoke for me. "She was checking if you were for sure a super. How did you know she was a Bleeder?" she asked me.
I rose from the floor and kept eye contact with Kate. "Hearsay. Screams are a powerful thing when you're a Bleeder, Kate. But so are sustained notes. Your eyes," I said quietly. "Bleeders' pupils narrow to slits when they hold a note for longer than normal."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, staring at me like I was crazy.
"You're a Bleeder. When Bleeders scream, they emit high-pitched sonic vibrations. It makes people's blood vessels burst. A very unstable and unusual ability," I told her grimly.
~Amelia
I couldn't breathe. "You mean I really did murder someone?" I whispered. I didn't really care that I suddenly had this ability to randomly scream something and have people suddenly fall over and die. I could hold back well enough-after all, I'd been doing it for ten years. But the fact that I had actually killed with it... No. I shook the thought out of my mind. The man had killed my father. An eye for an eye, right? "Never mind," I said quickly, seeing the confused expressions. Turning to Amelia, I met her gaze calmly. "Unstable, you say?" I gave her a little tight smile. "Teach me to stabilize it. The people who killed my father are going to kill me, and I'm not going to go down without a fight. Teach me to fight against these "Hunter" blokes, if they really were going after Father."
"Oh, dear. I'm afraid I'm not a Bleeder. I'm a Mover," I told her, lifting the couch beneath her a foot off the ground then setting it down gently. "I don't know how to control it."
"I was friends with a Bleeder once," Kendra spoke, moving to join me in a crouch in front of Kate. "She told me some of her tricks. Maybe I can tell them to you, and you can try them, yes?"
~Amelia
I sat and watched as Mrs. Cooper and Amelia talked to Kate. There really wasn't much to do, so I debated slipping up to the painting room again, but I thought that might be rude. I thought about going into the kitchen to see what was happening there, but I decided not to. I didn't want to interrupt anything. I wondered off-handedly if the Coopers had a library, or at least a few good books and decided to ask Afton.
"Afton," I said quietly, not wanting to disturb the others' conversation, "do you have any books that I could read? I'm getting a bit bored, but not because of you or your family, it's just I'm not very social, and I don't like most people...not to be rude or anything..." I blushed. Why was talking to others so difficult for me?
~Rachel
I nodded. "That be great, thanks," I smiled at her, feeling myself warming up to this family. "Are there more of you? I mean, more people with powers, like? And what kind of power do you have? Are there many different ones? Why do we have these powers, anyway?" I usually said what was on my mind, and currently what was on my mind was curiosity. I felt like if I figured out why I was like this, I could somehow get closer to my father.
~Kate
(Sorry, i know it's bad, but I don't have much time to spare at the moment...)
"I see how it is. You don't like me, then, do you?" I teased, watching as one blush faded into another. Shooting her a wink, I took her hand and led her out of the room toward one of the big mahogany doors in the side hallway.
"As it happens, Miss Antisocial," I said when we arrived at the correct door, "we have quite a few good books. You may take your pick."
I swung open the door and watched her pretty brown eyes widen.
~Afton
(I'll comment about Kate later...)
I gaped in astonishment at what was inside the doors. There were rows and rows of bookshelves, going on as far as I could see. Some of the books were musty and old, others were shiny and new. Some looked well-worn, others had scarcely been touched. It was perfect; just what I needed.
"This house has everything!" I said aloud. "My God...do you take tenants? Because I'll pay the money just to be in here and up in that art room everyday." I walked a little farther into the room, sliding my hand out of Afton's to pull a book from the shelves. A Journey to the Center of the Earth. It had been one of my mother's favorites. The thought made me a little sad. I frowned, but held onto the book.
~Rachel
"You can keep whichever books you want; just be sure you write them in the book over there." I motioned to a large book on my dad's old desk in the corner. "All the books are in there, organized by author's last name. Just draw a star next to whatever you take so we can replace it." I paused, watching her as she browsed through the books. "And yeah, you can stay if you want. But you won't need to pay."
~Afton
"Okay, yes to the first. A bunch of people have powers. There are a lot of types. Afton and Rachel, the ones who just went that way"--I motioned toward the hallway--"are a Starter and a Porter. I'm a Mover; Kendra here's a Changer. Her husband was a Sniff. Lucie and Nan in the kitchen are a Stopper and a Pusher, respectively. Xander's a Stealth. Then there's Wipers, Anesthetics, and the list goes on and on."
Kendra picked up Kate's last question. "We get these powers through a genetic mutation. I don't know the exact details of it, but I do know the mutations are genetic. Sometimes if two people with different powers have a child, the child will get one power and transfer the other power to their child. It really just depends."
~Amelia
I walked into the living room and cleared my throat. "Erm... Kendra... Mrs. Cooper... can I talk to you for a second. It's about my cousin I told you about last month."
~Amy
(Now they just need to corner Lily. lol)
"Alright, dear," I replied, getting to my feet. "Let's go into the kitchen, then. Amelia, you and Xander answer any questions Kate may have."
"Copy that," Xander said with a mock salute.
~Kendra
"Kendra, my cousin.. I need to know where she is... my father said that his sister was killed... my aunt... I need to find a way to contact her." I whispered. "I'm worried. She's only sixteen... do you have like an old cell phone number or something that belonged to my aunt?"
I nodded slowly; that made sense. "Alright, then... Kendra, you know a lot of supers, don't you?"
She bobbed her head once in agreement.
"Do you happen to know one named Bryan Ferridge?"
~Kate
I remembered just as I got to the kitchen that Kate had asked me a question before the redhead had asked for me, and I held up my index finger to Amy, signaling she should wait. Going back to the living room, I peeked my head in and told the Bleeder, "I may have known a Bryan Ferridge; it sounds familiar. I'll get back to you on that."
Returning to Amy, I listened to her explanation about her cousin. "Do you have like an old cell phone number or something that belonged to my aunt?" she asked me.
I thought for a moment about that. Alexandria Morgan had been a friend of mine because of our shared part in taking down the Division. "I may have a phone number somewhere. We can check Tynan's old files in his desk. It's just over in the library."
~Kendra
"Really?" I said, surprised. "I don't want to be a a free-loader or anything. Your mother probably has enough children in this house as it is. So there has to be some sort of payment involved." I didn't want to be a burden, especially with so many people arriving at the house already. I was thinking something along the lines of painting as a form of payment, but I wasn't sure what the Coopers would think of it. I just didn't like to leave debts unpaid.
~Rachel
"You don't need to pay us anything. My ma--she gets lonely and restless when there's no people around or no excitement in the house," I told Rachel with a grin. "She never did that before Dad died. He was always excitement, by himself. Always finding things to do and people to prank."
I picked up my favorite book, Alice in Wonderland, and handed it to Rachel. "This one's good. Anyway, my mom is always pleased to take in people for no charge just for the conversations. Lord knows we have enough money to do that. You don't owe us a dime."
~Afton
I nodded and made my way into the library. When I entered however I saw that it was occupied. "Er... sorry..." I sdaid when Afton and Rachel turned their heads. I walked over to Tynan's desk and opened drawer after drawe. "E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M." I muttered.
I pulled out everything under "M" and walked back into the living room. There I began sorting through files with phone numbers, etc. I had a feeling this would take all night.
~Amy
"What're you looking for?" I asked the redhead, going over to look at the files she had.
"My aunt. Alexandria Morgan," she replied without looking up from the files.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, putting my hand down atop the stack of files. "You won't find them there. I pulled files from my dad's file cabinets. All the people that were part of the group that destroyed the Division and their relatives."
"Okay, so where are they?"
"Hidden. I didn't want ex-Division Hunter creeps to get a hold of them if they took over the house. Actually, all the top secret files are hidden. Like, for all the powerful and dangerous supers."
As I spoke, I crossed the library to a ladder and slid it along its wheels into a position that allowed me to climb to the small second level of the library. Motioning for the girls to follow, I moved the large rug on the floor to reveal a door.
Pulling up the ring handle to open the heavy door, I revealed a set of steep stairs. "Ready for this? Watch out for cobwebs."
~Afton
I followed Afton and the girl down the stairs into the storage room where the files on the powerful supers were. I wondered if my father would be there. He was part of the group that had brought down the Division. My mother was just a regular person, but my father had given up running around being a super to be with her. He had paid the price, however. He and my mother had both been murdered by a serial killer that called himself the Mirage. I wondered if anything in Afton's files said anything about the Mirage, but I knew the only thing would probably be a list of those dead by his hand.
~Rachel
The room was small and cramped with file cabinets, a small desk that had been down here for as long as I could remember, and a safe that I had brought down that was filled with stacks of money that I had been slowly taking from the larger family safe in my mom's closet. Ma, Xander, and Nan had no idea I came down here all the time. With this tiny little room, I was prepared for anything to happen--and nobody else knew it.
Striding over to one of my file cabinets, I pulled open a drawer and pulled out a stack of files labeled "M." I thumbed through them until I had found Alexandria Morgan and handed the file to Amy. Glancing at Rachel, I saw her expression and nodded. "Yeah, your dad's file is in here. Over in that cabinet." I motioned to a blue cabinet nearer to my desk. "Lethal, he was. Killed a few Division agents. But you can look at him later. Do you want to come see Roxanne?"
"Roxanne?" she repeated, frowning as she made her way over to look.
"Yeah. Ex-Division. She fascinates me," I told her. "Not exactly in a good way."
~Afton
"She fascinates you?" I said, walking over as best I could in the cramped space to stand close to Afton. "What, so you have favorites or something?" It was my feeble attempt at cracking a joke, even though Afton had tolerated my shyness so far. In fact, I think he even found my behavior funny.
I looked down at the file Afton was holding. It was labeled MURRAY, ROXANNE—SHIFTER. He opened it up, and I saw a picture of a woman with white-blonde hair inside. "What did she do?" I asked. "What makes her so interesting to you?"
~Rachel
"Thanks." I got out of the small, cramped space and left the libary. As I walked into the living room I sighed. "Kendra, can I use the phone? It's been a habit of mine not to keep a cell phone around." I told her.
~Amy
"You're welcome," I called after Amy before turning back to Rachel and the familiar file. "Roxanne Murray, the Shifter that almost killed my father, once upon a time. Someone else finished that job."
"So why is she so interesting, then?" Rachel inquired, flipping through the pages of Roxanne's rather large file.
"She was--is?--brilliant. And she was at one point in love with my great-uncle. Roscoe. My dad's uncle," I told Rachel without looking up from the papers. "I found out Roscoe was his uncle by researching my genealogy," I told her as an aside.
~Afton
"Of course you may, dear. My cell phone is on the kitchen table," I told the redhead, smiling at her.
~Kendra
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Okay." I contented myself with humming a Broadway show tune under my breath, with crossed legs on the couch. "Maybe this this time, I'll be lucky, maybe this time he'll stay..." Someone knocked on the door. Standing up curiously, I moved towards it and peered out the peephole. Two people, a man and a woman, stood waiting. I cautiously opened the door, remembering what Amelia and Kendra had said about Hunters. "Hello? Who are you?"
The man smiled at me and opened his mouth to speak, but the woman with the similar dark hair and blue eyes was already speaking. "Genna Petrov. This here is my brother James Ashwood.. half-brother, obviously, seeing as we have different last names. We're looking for Kendra Cooper- she sent us an invite. Is she here?" Genna said this so quickly that I had to strain to hear every word.
"Er... how do I know you two aren't Hunters?" I demanded, pretending to sound like I knew what I was talking about.
~Kate
I took Kendra's cell phone and called the number. A few seconds later there was an answer. "Hello, who the heck are you?"
I smiled. "Hello. ?Is this Lily Summers."
"Course it is! Now who the heck are you, Kendra Robinson?"
"I'm using Kendra's phone. I'm your cousin." I explained. "Meet me at 4563 8th Street. I'm inside."
"Heh! I'm already there."
"Lily-" she hung up on me and I swore loudly.
~Amy
I slowly walked down the street and found the house. A man and woman were at the door and Sirius growled. "Shh. It's fine." I whispered as I slowly made my way up the steps. "Excuse me, is there an Amy here? She called me..." I asked the girl at the door, standing on my tiptoes to be seen.
~Lily
(No address so I had to improvise. Sorry, first thing that came to mind.)
"What do you mean, 'at one point'?" I asked. "What happened to them?" I had to admit, I was a sucker for star-crossed lovers, even if they were Division. I had thoroughly enjoyed Romeo and Juliet when we read it in my class, even though the rest of my peers were relieved that I did most of the talking in class so they could slack off. Literature was one of the few things that got me animated.
~Rachel
"I'm sure they fell madly in love and got married and had kids and never killed another super." I snorted and rolled my eyes, then closed Roxanne's file and set it down on the desk. "I don't know what happened to them or their love. I don't know whether her love was unrequited. I don't know whether they had children or not. I have no clue at all. But I do know one thing. There's an old file here from a long time ago on a 9-year-old Shifter with the same last name as Roxanne. Valerie, her name is."
~Afton
"Holy cows!" I exclaimed, standing on tiptoes to look over Kate's shoulder at the three people and the huge black dog at the door.
"Hello. Can you tell us where Kendra Cooper is? She sent us an invite," a dark-haired girl with fabulous blue eyes asked me.
"Oh, honestly!" I exclaimed, exasperated. Then, craning my head around back toward the kitchen, I shouted for Kendra so loud I made Kate cringe. Waggling my eyebrows at the blonde, I waved the girl and her friend in and shouldered my way in front of Kate.
As I did this, the Bleeder leaned in and asked, "How do you know they're not Hunters?"
"Hunters usually come in with guns blazing. Besides, I know when people are lying by their body language. They really did get an invite."
"Oh. Okay."
"NEXT!" I yelled loudly even though the only person remaining at the door was a redhead with that huge dog.
"That'd be me. I'm looking for Amy. She just called me and sent me here."
I realized when I heard a low sound that the dog was growling at me, so I dropped to my hands and knees in front of it and held out my hand for it to sniff. "I'm not going to hurt you, you big brute. I bet I can get you some food, if you want."
"Umm," the girl said. Looking up at her, I grinned and jabbed a thumb toward the entryway.
"Amy's in there. And Nan and Luce are making a three-tiered cake, and Kendra's making an enormous feast. If you want to stay for a little while."
~Amelia
"Nice name," I said, taking the file on Valerie Murray out of the box. "Were they related?" I asked Afton as I flipped through the file on the young Shifter.
"I don't think so," he said. "Though it is a weird coincidence."
"There are no coincidences," I said. "Charles Fort said that, or that was basically his point in a lot of his books." I was aware that Afton probably had no idea what I was talking about, but I was too absorbed in Valerie's file to care. It had very little legitimate data, but Afton had written in lots of guesses and speculation in the margins.
"You've got nice handwriting," I said off-handedly, not realizing I was saying my thoughts aloud until it came out of my mouth. I cringed, knowing this was usually when the other person laughed at me. It had happened to me so many times before.
~Rachel
(My dear God, Rachel is probably the most awkward character I've ever had :P Good thing she's smart, or else shed be hopelessly anti-social.)
(Sirius? Haha XD)
(Really distracting, since he is my favorite character from my favorite book series, and yes, I admit, Sirius Black was also my fantastical crush for a while ('til high school, actually XD) REALLY makes me stop and stare for a bit before going on, haha)
I found myself staring at a teenaged girl. "Amy Morgan? Yes, I believe she was invited to the get-together... I'm not sure if she's here yet, though. Did she say she was?" The girl had auburn hair and warm hazel eyes. "Are you related to her somehow? You have similar hair... only yours is darker."
As the door opened and a pretty teenager (what's with all the teenaged supers?) with wavy blonde hair greeted us with narrowed, suspicious eyes, Genna's left eyebrow raised. "You're Bryan's daughter!"
(Could we have Jason and Bryan be buddies, or something, Cel? They're both in England- well, Bryan and Kate were in London.)
(Just ONE fantastical crush? Rookie...XD)
(Woah! Okay, late comment. Let's just say that the above scene happened before Kat commented.)
My eyes widened as I stared after the man and woman who were walking in. They knew my father?
~Kate
"Kendra! It's great to see you again," I greeted the older woman with a smile.
"Genna and James! I'm glad to see you two received the invite."
"Yes, yes, brilliant, and all that. Kendra- there's been some trouble in Britain, as I'm sure the O'Nealls have informed you. There's been a burst of Hunter activity- around England, actually." My overeager half-brother opened his mouth to say more, but I elbowed him hard and he stumbled sideways.
"He's too happy to talk about destroying the Division to bits as always, Kendra, though I think it'd do us well to relax for a bit first. Amelia said you were making a feast of sorts; do you need any help?" I changed the subject, smiling at Kendra. Though some may not think so at first glance, I actually rather enjoyed cooking and baking.
~Genna
(Oh, yes, I was very devoted, though... many, many fanfics to say the least. XD)
(Yeah, why not.)
I looked at the burnette. God, where had I seen her before? Oh, a vision. "Boy, this has been one crazy day." I said as I walked inside and threw my bag into the nearesty seat. Sirius jumped onto the couch and and I smirked. "I hope you don't mind. He likes getting up on furniture." I told them.
~Lily
I ran out of the kitchen and threw my arms around Lily. "I jhave been weaiting eleven years to meet you." I whispered. She pushed me away and glared.
"Who the hell are you?" she growled. I sighed. "I'm Amy Morgan, daughter of Jason and Celestah Morgan. I'm your cousin."
(And LOL to Stormy's thing bout Sirius. I was addicted to the HP books at the time and I wanted Lily to have a dog with her. Yes, Lily is named after Harry's mother. Amy is named after the Doctors sidekick Amy Pond in Doctor Who. Now, my bvack hurts so that is why I'm not repling on GGWA. Plus my dad is home.)
(Ah-ha! I knew Amy's name had something to do with Doctor Who! Now all we need is someone named River who says, "Hello, sweetie!" all the time....and a time-traveling telephone booth....)
(I still am addicted, to both HP and Sirius Black... just not as obsessively fangirl-ish as before. Hopefully. :D)
(Lily Evans-Potter is also a big character for me, since it is not only my favorite feminine name (and flower), my best friend is named Lily.)
I peered curiously at Lily. "Have I seen you before? I feel like I've met you once in London." The redhead glanced around and me an her brow furrowed.
"You mean, like not in a vision? In real life?"
My eyes widened. "Woah, are you a Seer?"
"A Watcher." Lily raised an eyebrow. "You knew to this, or something?"
I grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I found out I could kill people by screaming slightly louder than I should two hours ago."
~Kate
I grinned at Rachel; offhandedly I realized she had cringed, but I couldn't fathom why. "Nice handwriting? How is that nice? I can hardly read some of it, and I wrote it!"
I wondered whether she had thought I was going to laugh at her observation. "Why are you so shy, Rachel Griffin?" I inquired. "And so embarrassed when you say some things? I won't judge you. Even when you say something other people may consider slightly odd. I promise."
~Afton
"Well, I am sure I could find something for you to do, dear. Maybe you could help Nan and Lucie frost the cake and add fondant? If they need help. Otherwise you may help chop vegetables and do something else, if you don't mind Moving a knife for me," I told Genna with a fake British accent and a wink.
~Kendra
Xander walked over to where I was standing with a tiny scowl. "James is here."
~Amelia
(Okay. Two things. First: Afton + Rachel??? Yesss???
Second: Can Amelia and James have had a thing at one point? Xander can be jealous.)
(Agreed. Rachel and Afton would make a great couple. Plus their names go together. Rafton! XD)
"I...I just don't trust people easily, that's all," I said. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not a very social person. It's because of my parents, you see." I sighed. I supposed I was going to have to go through the entire story.
"My father was a super, my mother wasn't. He had already lost her once. He had Kayana wipe her memory to keep her protected, and only after they brought down the Division did he go to her and restore her memories. When I was born, my father couldn't bear to lose me the same way he'd lost my mother once. So he taught me to be observant, to learn about people." I stopped there, unable to go on, because explaining the last bit involved the death of my parents, and that wasn't something I wasn't ready to talk about.
"There, now do you see?" I asked Afton with a forced smile.
~Rachel
"Yes, I do see," I said quietly, watching her eyes and the pain that accompanied the fake smile. I'd ask about that later. "So, Valerie. Worth avoiding? Yes. Worth researching more? I say definitely yes."
Rachel nodded, her attention focused back upon the file. Taking it from her and folding it up, I shoved it and the most important files I had gathered into my rather large laptop case that I never used as a laptop case anymore since the purchase of my IPad. Then I entered a code into the safe and scooped out all the money I had gathered: a half-million dollars, all told.
Seeing the strange look Rachel was giving me while I did all of this, I winked at her. "Something tells me our research may require a little trip to look up some super genealogy, and I know just where to do that. And it never hurts to be prepared for a little road trip, does it?"
"Wait--we're leaving?"
"They won't miss us. And besides, I have a bad feeling about today in this house. I can't explain it, but the last time I felt this... nerviness... was two years ago when my dad disappeared and/or was killed. We won't want to be anywhere near here; I guarantee it." I paused. "So I guess all that boils down to this. Are you willing to be spontaneous and trust my weird instincts?"
~Afton
(Didja follow all that? Haha. I'm not exactly sure I did... And lol to Rafton!! Haha)
"Alright..." I said hestitantly. "But we can't stay there for too long, okay?" After all, I had only met Afton a few hours ago, and trusting people was another thing I had difficulty with. But he seemed sincere, so I reached for his hand and laced his fingers in mine.
"Where to?" I asked, trying to ignore the blush in my cheeks and the tingling feeling I felt somewhere in my chest.
~Rachel
I smiled and squeezed Rachel's hand gently. Heat from my hand threatened to flare into flame, but I kept it carefully under control. "Well, that depends. Do we take hours in a dusty library going through files, or do we go straight to the man and ask? He may or may not answer, though..."
"We can try this 'man,' I suppose. Where is he?" she asked.
I frowned and brushed my hair back with a hand. "Well, he'll be in either Madrid, Paris, London, Rome or Dublin. I guess we'll have to check all three?"
"How do you know he's not somewhere else?" Rachel asked, watching me out of the corner of her eye.
"You're uncharacteristically inquisitive right now," I told her with a grin. When she blushed, I continued, "He's definitely in one of the five. He doesn't leave his precious Europe, and for the last few years, he hasn't gone anywhere but those cities. They're his favorites. And Joshua is a creature of habit... Predictable. For the most part."
With no reply but a nod, Rachel closed her eyes. There was no pop or anything to indicate when we'd gone; we just disappeared from the room and arrived in front of La Violeta right in the middle of Madrid.
Link to La Violeta:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=map+of+madrid+spain&gs_upl=1835l6452l0l8668l13l11l0l2l2l0l521l3442l0.1.6.2.1.1l13l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=685&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0xd42287d383766c9:0xad469cc0ed50997d,Madrid,+Spain&gl=us&ei=0yDgTuPEO6qusQLAraHQBg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ8gEwAA
(Shall we make a new page for Madrid, or just continue to comment here? Or do you want to make an entirely new post?)
(Haha. Up to you, Akire dear. Another page would be nice, but I don't think Joshua will end up being in Madrid... He'll probably be in London...)
(People in London are cool. No exceptions. Anyway, I think I'll get to work on a post, and we can continue our montage there.)
(Wait, scratch that last, I'm going to make another page for London and we can comment there.)
(Sorry I haven't been commenting, but I've been really busy with... stuff...)
(And sure, they could definitely have a "thing"... d'you think that Kate and Daniel could go together, Akire?)
Genna grinned at Kendra. "Sure, I'll do some chopping." She concentrated briefly on the molecules of the knife, and watched it begin moving up and down on its own accord. Over her shoulder, Genna added, "James, you go and socialize, or something. You're good at that, aren't you?" She shot him a meaningful look, and he rolled his eyes, understanding her meaning.
During college, he had been known to have numerous girlfriends. James, however, stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room, where he spotted Amelia and Xander. He gave both of them one of his 'famous' dazzling grins, and made his way over to the two.
"Amelia! I haven't seen you since... since that Starter set my poor hair on fire," James recalled with a laugh, though he grimaced inwardly at the memory of his singed, usually perfectly styled locks.
(@Stormy: Sure, though it depends on how their personalities work out together, an also on a matter of chance, like with Afton and Rachel. So yes, we can try it and see how it works :D)
(@Stormy: That is, I was wondering if, in the past, they could have had a thing, and now Amelia doesn't really like James for a little while. Maybe she could like him again at some point... If he's nice. Haha)
I frowned at James. "Probably because I've been avoiding you and your lady-killing grin," I replied, my eyes narrowed. "What brings you to the Cooper place?"
"Yes, what brings you here?" Xander asked. His voice sounded very pleasant, but I saw the dangerous gleam in his eyes.
Stop now. I can handle this.
I tried to shove the thought into Xander's mind, hoping that I could spontaneously Push just like I had spontaneously Ported, but I had no such luck. He didn't acknowledge me.
~Amelia
(@Akire: Yes, I agree. I mean, they haven't exactly met, even, have they? So we'll see, I suppose.
@Kat: You know what? I was actually thinking the exact same thing! That's a given, then, I guess. Don't worry, James will try to behave- Genna is keeping an eye on him, and she is a sight to see when she is angry. :D)
James raised an eyebrow at Xander's hostility. What had he ever done to him? Unless... he comprehended the situation instantly and smirked to himself. Of course, he had dealt with jealous men in his past often. James quickly tried to right his state of mind. If he didn't act correctly, Genna would definitely whip it into him. "Your mother invited Genna and me here," he explained, directing his words mainly towards Xander, hoping his words sounded amicable. "I thought that she must have mentioned it to you."
To Amelia, James shot a teasing grin, and jokingly put a hand to his heart. "You wound me, Miss Friedstrom!" He cried, but then straightened and tilted his head to side. "I didn't have that many girlfriends," he protested, earning a scoff from her.
(Ahaha! That made me laugh. And I'm sure she would be a sight to see. Lol)
"Oh, not that many, hmm?" I rolled my eyes. "There was Anna, that Julia girl"--I counted them out on my fingers as I listed them--"and a couple of others that I can't remember the names of. Correct me if I'm wrong, but during the year in which we dated for a few months, you acquired four other girlfriends at different times. Correct?"
I glanced over at Xander while I was speaking and was amused to note that the look on his face was an all-out glare.
~Amelia
James rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Amelia. They all were nothing compared to you, anyway- all blonde, blue-eyed girls with a brain half the size of yours. Honestly, I'm not sure why I even did date them," he frowned, glancing up at the ceiling as if trying to remember. James gave Amelia a sideways glance. "Besides, if he didn't have Xander threatening to punch my guts out every time I met him when we were dating, I never would have broken up with you."
"Well, at least he knew the type of guy you were," I muttered, my eyes narrowed at James. "And if you had really liked me that much, you would have stayed with me through anything."
"Let's go somewhere else. He's not worth arguing with." Xander's hand closed over my upper arm, and he tried to pull me toward the kitchen. I yanked myself away.
"We're not arguing, Xander. We're merely exchanging friendly memories," I said quietly, my eyes fixed on James's.
~Amelia
James' blue eyes softened. "I knew you didn't trust me, Amelia," he told her, running his fingers through a mass of dark hair. "If you thought I would go running off every night for a stripper, how could it be any kind of relationship?" James returned his hands to the pockets of his leather jacket. "And I know I had, like, four girlfriends after you, but... all I was doing was trying to convince myself I really had gotten over you." He gave Amelia a wry grin. "You sure got over me fast enough."
"How d'you know that? I haven't had a boyfriend since you. Of course, you wouldn't know that because you were off gallivanting with Kellie or Kiley or whatever her name was!" I paused to take a deep breath and compose myself before continuing. "And as for trusting you, I didn't because, guess what? My mom had just died. I didn't trust anyone except the Coopers and the O'Nealls!"
I shot a quick glare at Xander to signal that I wanted him to go away. He frowned and slowly made his way into the kitchen, casting narrow-eyed glances back at James.
I turned back to my ex-boyfriend, keeping a calm expression on my face as I waited for him to reply.
~Amelia
(He should totally kiss her randomly. Lol!)
"She was Katherine--" James began, but was cut off by a fierce glare from Amelia. "You should have trusted me, I was your boyfriend! I would have been there for you, I..." he trailed off, staring in her hazel eyes. "I still am," James added quietly. "Amelia--"
(I am now debating whether he should... haha! It would really tick Xander off, now wouldn't it? XD)
(Yes! It would be so funny. And he could see from the kitchen doorway and be so jealous. Actually, he'd probably punch James or something... Your move. Then we'll see how Xander and/or Amelia reacts to what happens. ;) Haha.)
(:D You want me to do it now, or something? If so, I'll just write it down here. If not, just ignore it/delete the comment.)
James leaned forward and gently tilted Amelia's face up with a finger. "James--" she began, but he silenced her with a soft kiss. He felt her tense up in surprise, and then relax.
(er.... I guess?)
(Perfect! A little drama to heat up the atmosphere... Haha. Good times in the Cooper house...)
It took me a few moments to remember that the person who was kissing me--and that I, admittedly, was kissing back--was James. The guy I swore I'd never have relations with again. And besides that, I still had to figure out my feelings for Xander. So I pulled away, a little dizzy from the kiss. "James, I can't. I can't do this with you."
~Amelia
I couldn't help but feel a little guilty. And, actually, a little scared of Genna if she found out. I mean, who kisses his ex-girlfriend, four or five girlfriends later? I took three generous steps back. "Sorry," I forced a grin. "Couldn't help myself."
~James
I heard a crash in the other room and flinched. "That'd be Xander. Thank you very much for that," I replied to James dryly before leaving the living room to do some damage control.
"Xander?" I inquired of the group in the kitchen when I walked in. They pointed toward the adjoining room, where Kendra stored random gifts that she had received and didn't have a place for plus extra furniture.
I went quickly to the door of the room and peered inside. In the middle of the room, the remains of a blue vase were scattered across the floorboards. Xander was standing at the window, his arms crossed as he stared outside. Walking up behind him, I stood on my tiptoes and rested my chin on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
"No," he replied, staring straight ahead, "I'm not. Go away, Amelia."
"Fine. But you are not going to hold it against me forever that James kissed me."
"You kissed him back!" he exclaimed, shaking me off of his shoulder.
I glared at him. "What do you care? You're not my boyfriend!"
"No," Xander agreed icily, "I'm not."
He left me standing at the window, my mouth open and no retort coming out.
~Amelia
"Amelia? I'm sorry, alright?" I started towards the direction she left when Xander stormed out of a room, gave me an enraged glare, and purposely shoved past me before walking into his bedroom and slamming the door, hard. My guilt worsened. "Amelia!" I opened the door of the room Xander left and recognized it as the storage room of Kendra's as I hurried to her. "Look, I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I know Xander's your best friend, and you--" I choked on the words, but soldiered on: "And you two probably like each other more than friends, so if you want to ban me from the house or something I'll understand, but honestly, please don't, because I like being here, and if you kick me out, I'll have to go back to Europe which is ridiculously crazy with hunters, and to be completely honest, I don't want to deal with any ex-Division right now, and..." I trailed off, realizing I was really rambling, and grinned at her sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.
~James
I covered my face with my hands and groaned inwardly. "It's fine," I mumbled through my fingers. Then my hands balled into fists and came down to my sides, my emotions suddenly including 'furious'. "If he wants to be that way, that is just fine. It's not like he owns me. I can kiss whoever the hell I please! And besides," I said, looking up at James, "I don't have the authority to kick you out. It's not my house."
~Amelia
Did that mean she didn't mind? My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Er- well, I guess... I'd better hope Kendra or Xander don't then..." I offered, really not sure what to say. "Uh..." I glanced at the watch on my wrist. "It's around five-thirty. Do you know when we're eating?" I gave her another of my 'infamous' charming smiles that I knew wouldn't work on her, anyway. Especially after my stomach growled rather noisily.
~James
(Not sure what to say, just like him...)
Did that mean she didn't mind? My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Er- well, I guess... I'd better hope Kendra or Xander don't then..." I offered, really not sure what to say. "Uh..." I glanced at the watch on my wrist. "It's around five-thirty. Do you know when we're eating?" I gave her another of my 'infamous' charming smiles that I knew wouldn't work on her, anyway. Especially after my stomach growled rather noisily.
~James
(Not sure what to say, just like him...)
I grinned at him, well aware of the fact that my random switch of temperament toward him was probably confusing him. "Let's go find out, shall we?"
~Amelia
Now that she wasn't being so bloody confusing, I happily grinned and nodded. "We shall," I offered her my arm playfully, turning my nose upwards as I sniffed importantly.
James and Amelia walked into the kitchen, arm-in-arm and looking thick as thieves just as Nan and I were working on the finishing touches on the cake. A quick glance told me just exactly how livid he was. I smirked to myself at their drama as I added the final white fondant circle to the front of the cake, and then Nan and I turned to Amelia.
"What d'you think?" Nan asked.
Amelia's eyes widened at the three-tiered cake. "It's amazing! How... how did you... Oh my goodness!"
Amelia attacked Nan and I with a hug, laughing. "It's gorgeous. Thank you."
"Food's done! My world-famous chicken dumpling soup," Kendra said with a wink. "I remembered it was your favorite, Amelia."
~Luce
(Cake here: http://images.pinkcakebox.com/cake609.jpg)
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