2.7
For the second time that night, I approached my house. But unlike the last time, I knew what I was walking into. Or rather, the lack of what. My father had apparently tried to stay up, likely waiting for me. Just by looking ahead, I could see him before I walked through the door, fallen asleep on the couch with phone-in-hand. It didn't exactly take a genius to know he had been waiting on me to maybe phone. Or for someone else to phone about me.
Still, just because I knew didn't mean I wasn't careful to avoid waking him. I floated up the steps to the porch, completely avoiding the old wood that would creak under my weight. I seized the bell that he had placed above the door with a bit of telekinesis, holding it still and from making any noise as I slipped inside.
I didn't bother turning on the lights as I hesitantly floated into the house, halting in the front hall. Like I had seen, dad lay on the couch in the living room, snoring lightly with the phone still tightly grasped. I stared in his direction, feeling the anger that had filled me earlier beginning to resurface. After a moment it faded and I sighed, floating a blanket over to lay gently on him.
It took me a moment, as I had to fight against myself before I was able to murmur out a "Night, dad," before moving into the kitchen. The folder with the Wards documents was still resting on the table where it had been left after our fight and I flipped it open, peering blearily at the papers in the dark. After the signature faded into focus, I sighed and they went into my backpack with what I had gotten at the PRT HQ. I knew a place to hide them until the morning at least when I could be rested and talk to my dad without the weight of the day crushing down on me. Hopefully without sparking into another argument like we had earlier.
A few minutes later, once I had gotten upstairs to my room I tucked away my backpack and went about taking out my changing for bed and taking out my contacts. And the fact of the matter was, that they hurt coming out now more than they ever did going in, leaving me red-eyed and on the verge of crying before I felt my way over to my bed. The relief as I curled up on a familiar bed, and as the covers drifted back for me with the slightest of efforts was close to bliss. But I still couldn't sleep. Despite how tired I felt, my mind was caught up with what the Director had said as well as what she hadn't said.
Sighing, I shook my head and shifted until I was truly comfortable. A yawn escaped and I pulled the covers closer. I could worry about that tomorrow morning. I was just going to forget about this day now and sleep. Just sleep...
* * *
The distant chirping of an obnoxious bird was enough to wake me from my slumber, and I began working my way free of the tangle that the bedding had become. After a moment fumbling around, I was able to get my contacts in and see that my previously closed door was now slightly ajar, which probably meant dad was likely awake and had checked on me at some point. A quick look at the alarm clock left me frowning as I realized what the time was. It was a school day, but I honestly couldn't care less at the moment. The last thing I wanted was to go back to Winslow. I had bigger things that I had to deal with, things a lot more important than a day of missed school.
First, though, I was going to look the papers I had over before I showered or went downstairs. After I got at least marginally dressed, I pulled my backpack out and retrieved both what the Director had given me and the papers that my dad had gotten and filled out and looked at those first. I wanted to know as much about what I was dealing as I could before I got into this with my dad.
Ultimately, by the time I went for a shower my head swam with half-understood legal jargon but in return I was confident that I had at least a good understanding on what the paperwork said. A lot of it still went over my head, but what didn't I hoped would give what I was going to say to my dad more weight. Cleaning up and getting properly dressed took longer than I expected as I paused several times to stare ahead at the conversation that was upcoming. I hesitated at the top of the stairs, unhappy with what I had seen so far. I steeled myself anyway and did my hair up in a quick braid as I went downstairs with the paperwork for what I hoped wasn't going to be a futile effort.
My dad was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing a robe and staring blankly at a half-finished cup of coffee. He looked up as I entered, relief clear on his face. The chair he was in shifted and I knew he was about to get up, say something and to try and hug me. I wasn't sure I was ready for that yet. I quickened my pace and neatly placed the table between us. He stopped mid-rise, disappointment flashing across his face before sinking back into his chair.
For a moment, things were silent. Whatever nerve he had built up before I came in I had cut-off with barely any effort, and I had to fight past lingering emotions of last night. Ultimately, I was able to evenly and cooly speak. "Dad," I said, moving over to the refrigerator and getting some orange juice out before I dropped the papers on the table in front of me. "I...I think we need to try and talk."
He nodded slowly. "You're right," he said and the way the skin around his eyes tightened was the only visible sign that he was still upset on some level. I could feel him marshalling that to help build up a head of steam to get going again. "Sit down, please?"
"Dad, I.." I began, but he shook his head, cutting me off.
"Sit down, Taylor. Please." he repeated firmly. I tightened my hands on the glass of orange juice and sat down opposite him, with the papers loosely scattered in front of me. "Now, we're going to talk about this, as you said. What you've been doing at night is the first thing."
The orange juice was slightly bitter as it went down, but I didn't mind even though I took a moment to look at the options in front of me when he began this way. I wanted to change his mind, not put him on the defensive. But I didn't want to talk about the times I had gone out at night.
"I'm sorry I stormed off." There. Start with an apology, maybe I could build on that and it would draw him away from that question.
"Taylor," he swallowed some of his coffee before meeting my eyes. "Where did you go?"
I took a drink from the glass again to give me more a bit of time, enjoying the taste more this time before answering. "I went to clear my head. But then I had another visit from the Protectorate." I concealed a wince as irritation leaked through my voice when I thought of the likely reason why they had shown up and the look that swept across my dad's face told me he had heard it loud and clear.
"Taylor, I…" he began, then his hands tightened on the mug of coffee and I could
see his resolve solidify. "I did what I thought was right. I looked over a lot of things, saw what happens to kids going out like you're doing, how often they're in the hospital or worse."
I took a deep breath to keep from snapping at him.
Focus. I went through the the responses I had in my head for that question, answering it with just the plain truth once more. "I went to the PRT HQ last night. The Director gave me a talk about what my options were if you turned these in. She was honest at least. Gave me everything upfront. Or at least what she wanted to give me upfront. I imagine there are a few things left out," I paused for a moment, as I thought about precisely what those options were before I continued. "But she didn't exactly hide them from me, I guess."
"What did you think?" he asked and I relaxed a fraction. He was at least asking me what I thought. That was good. "I...I want to know what you think. I want to know
why. Why everything?" I let the glass settle on the table and gripped the edges with my hands to give myself something to focus on.
I let my head move from left to right slowly. "I think there's other options. I looked over them, understood them for the most part, after I woke up and I thought about what she said to me. One option she gave was a trial membership, to get a feel for things and see if it was something I wanted to make into a full membership. One thing she said stuck with me while I was looking at them this morning."
"What was that?" he asked, clearly uncertain where I was going with this, but I couldn't pick up any sense of backing away from his decision. I looked for options where I tried other approaches, tried reasoning with him, pleading with him.
Why isn't there one where I talk him around?
"She gave me the forms for that and said when 'Provided you and your father sign them'," I answered, pausing my search for a moment to keep the conversation going. "Which means that I have to sign the other forms as well for them to mean anything."
"I've read them as well, Taylor," he told me. "And I spoke with representatives. You're fifteen and I can sign these on your behalf and you'd have to abide by that."
I chuckled, the sound slightly bitter, tightening my grip on the table at his words and fighting not to let my temper get the better of me. "And what I want doesn't matter? You ask me to tell you what I think, then say no to it just like that?"
His face screwed up in concentration, seemingly fighting something inside. "I told you, I want you to be safe," he said, a weary note in his voice. "To not have to worry that my daughter's not dead in an alleyway somewhere because she ran out on her own."
"I know that. But the Wards...they aren't going to do that. Not if-," I told him, my voice catching.
What was I going to have to do to convince him?
Still, his frown deepened. "If
what Taylor?"
I shook my head, cutting off a tangent before it happened by looking him dead-on as I spoke with absolute certainty. "I'll work with them if I need to, but I'm not going to be railroaded into anything. I don't need to be in the Wards and I don't
want to be in the Wards."
"Taylor," he said, his voice high for an instant before settling back to a normal tone. "You haven't given me any reason why you are so against this aside from 'I don't want to'. You used to love heroes, wanted to be one! Why are you so set against me wanting you to be safe? To be one of those heroes?"
I closed my eyes, drawing in a shuddering breath as I ran through possible responses and what his reaction would be, feeling heat flood my eyes as everything I said, he refused to budge.
I can't convince him. There had to be a way to turn him from this decision. I could display my powers, drive home the fact that I wasn't helpless and didn't need someone watching over me… No. That would only have him thinking I was just acting out in a tantrum.
I looked at the papers on the table, still trying to find an option where he changed his mind. An option played out and I felt ill as it did so. That would work, but the things I would have to say? I couldn't do that, not even if it was a sure path to convincing him of what I wanted. Disgusted with what I had seen, I dismissed the possibilities of my foresight and slumped back in my chair.
"I don't have to be a Ward to be a hero," I said softly, staring at where the moisture on the outside of my glass had soaked into some of the papers. "I went out because it was something I wanted to do, that I had chosen. This… this takes my choice and walks all over it. It isn't something I chose anymore. It's something you forced me to do."
I stood up slowly. "I've met other capes, heroes, who aren't part of the Protectorate. I'm not alone and I won't be pushed into something I didn't choose. I do not choose to be a Ward. You cannot force me and if you try..." I let the sentence trail off without finishing.
He stared at me, frustration clearly written across his face and I could feel his thoughts warring with one another. He sighed after a moment. "We're… we're going to step back from this, Taylor. Cool off. We'll talk about it again in a few days and I'll decide what I'm going to do then."
I relaxed a bit as he said this. "Alright."
Making a face at the dregs of his coffee, he stood and went to the sink. "I've got to get ready for work. Do you need a ride to school?"
"No," I shook my head. "I'll get there myself." He nodded and glanced toward the papers in front of me for a moment before heading toward the bathroom. I waited until I heard the shower start up before gathering them up. I went to my room and rearranged the contents of my pack, folding my costume and settling it neatly inside before adding the other stuff I kept in there. The papers went right back into the side compartment. Dad could just go and get more himself, I knew, but I was going to keep these with me.
I had a few days to figure out how to convince him not to file these and what I was going to do if I couldn't. It would have to do for now. I changed into some clothes to go out, grabbed my jacket and went back downstairs. It hadn't gone as I had hoped, but it wasn't the worst it could be yet.
Dad was adjusting his tie in the mirror when I came back downstairs and I glanced in his direction with a nod. "I'm going out." He nodded, looking at me through the mirror and nodded, looking as if he didn't know what to do or say. Then I was out the door. I had some things to do until the afternoon when I could try and fix another problem from yesterday.
* * *
The central branch of the Brockton Bay Library was mostly empty on a Tuesday morning. I found a table in a distant corner and began sorting through law books, hoping to find more information on what my options were. Convincing dad wasn't going to be easy and the more I actually knew, the better my chances were going to be. I thought about giving myself a headache and pushing ahead to see, but it would be easier when it got closer to the end of the week. For now though, I had many,
many books to read.
Two hours later and I was certain that what
I felt amounted to a quarter of the modern legal statutes and rulings burned into the back of my eyes, although it was more reasonably only a bare fraction. Other than the obvious fact that I was likely to treat forced enlistment very poorly, it appeared that while they preferred if parent and child both signed, the parent
could sign a child up against their will. I closed one of the legal texts with a grimace before sitting back to consider that. Piggot had said otherwise, but I could only assume that was to give me a sense of control of the situation. Or something. All it really did was reaffirm my desire to not be a member of the Wards.
I made a face and dug in my pack for the papers, laying them in a neat stack beside a book on parahuman legal codes and flipped it open. There were things in here that didn't quite make sense to me, so I was going to figure those out before I did anything else. I leafed through the book until I found sections dealing with underage parahumans and devoted my attention to comparing against the papers.
Twenty minutes later and I was getting frustrated once more. Finding what I needed amongst all the different statutes and codes was proving a challenge. So far, I had only been able to find the barest details in the books I had gotten off the shelves. I knew a parent could enter their kid without the kid's consent as well, and a few bits on what the PRT could do to enforce that, but the rest was proving elusive. There was very little where a child could fight back or back out. Besides a few odd cases that couldn't apply to me.
The most prominent was if a child could somehow convince someone that the parent was in some way unfit to act as the legal guardian. I wasn't sure how I felt about that...
"Maybe I should have just given my dad an ultimatum," I muttered half-heartedly. Nearly three hours spent here and so far I had very little to show for my efforts. The book I had been looking at dropped to the table with a thud and I leaned back, looking around to distract myself for a moment. It was a public library and the largest in Brockton Bay. I had been here long enough that people had started to trickle in while I had been occupied.
There was an older couple sitting close together, looking over old newspapers and talking quietly, if clearly animatedly, about something in the papers. One of the librarians was working books back onto the shelves, another was clearing off books left on a table not far from me. I looked to my right, where there were two rows of shelves in line with my table. A blonde girl around my age was looking over some of the books there. She looked my way after a moment, and smiled in my direction before continuing to look at the books in search of whatever she was trying to find. I turned back to the papers, blowing a loose strand of hair from my face as I prepared to tackle more of the maze of legal jargon.
"Ow!" I heard glass shatter behind me as
something stabbed at my neck with a hiss of released air. I grabbed at the spot and my fingers closed around something that I wrenched free with a gasp of pain. It was a… dart of some kind. Several lights blinked on one side and the tip was stained red from where it had pierced. "What the…?"
My vision started to swim before I could finish the question, and my fingers suddenly lost half their sensation as they went numb and the dart slipped, dropping onto the book in front of me like it had been greased. My blood left spots behind on the open page as it soaked into the paper. Page two seventy four. I weakly fumbled, trying to get a grip on the edge of the table as I tried to stand, to force myself up. But my legs refused to so much as even twitch, and the motion instead knocked me to the floor. It was like all the strength had gone out of me, and left me suddenly weighed down by leaden chains. No one was paying me any attention, but from nearby I heard shouting. I had to fight to force myself to look toward the source of the noise.
I tried to push myself up, succeeded only as far that I was able to weakly prop myself against the table leg instead of laying on the floor. Several men were approaching in.. black? Military? I tried to focus on them, to push through my thoughts which had turned strangely woolen. It was the fact that they held weapons that managed to register with me, the implied threat giving me some semblance of
something to order my fading mind around. I.. was being attacked? The instant that the one in the lead was close enough, I
pushed. The man flew back, slamming into several of his companions and bowling them over. The others reacted immediately, raising their guns to take aim.
I pushed again, harder this time as the room spun around me and a distant thought told me I wasn't holding back or even exerting any control. I heard shelves crashing into one another and a pained scream from someone behind me as my telekinesis erupted out in all directions. Against my back, I felt the table disappear and barely kept myself upright.
My attackers went down, one flying backward and crashing into the wall with enough force to leave an imprint and a sickening crack distantly registered. But as I did that, the men were getting up.
'No….stay...down...'
I roughly tried to seize the weapons and crush them with pure force even as I felt the edges of my vision fray. I was rewarded with the sounds of tormented metal, but also a more meaty series of cracks and screams as I suddenly tipped over, unable to keep myself upright without something to lean against.
"Gah!" I shoved my hands against the table to brace myself, pushing back and almost tipping over instead before looking around wildly for the men who had…
There were no men in military gear scattered around the floor. Or overturned bookshelves. Only a librarian who was looking toward me with a glare and the freckled blonde who was staring my way with a mixture of confusion and wariness. My eyes flicked toward the table, where the dart had fallen and my blood had stained the page.
Nothing.
What the hell was that? I wondered, feeling my heart rate begin to steady. It had felt so real… like… like that time on the boardwalk, with the purse snatcher… I looked around quickly and worried at my lower lip for a moment. Was it some sort of precognition? Was that going to happen if I stayed here?
My eyes fell on the page I had just turned from, then I flipped back, checking the page number. No. Not precognition. Page two seventy four was what I had just looked at. I swallowed, looking around again for any sign of the soldiers I had seen before gathering the papers up and hastily stuffing them into my backpack That they would get crumpled was only given the briefest of thoughts before I zipped it closed.
I left the books on the table and headed for the front entrance, almost running in my haste to get out of there and away in case whatever I had just seen could come true. No one tried to stop me, though I could swear I felt eyes on my back. The sense of being watched did not stop even after I was outside.
What the hell had that been? The thought came to me again once I was out of the building. Outside, with people moving around, the panic that had seized me lessened somewhat. I took in a massive gulp of air, bracing myself against a pillar in an effort to calm down. It had been like the purse snatcher on the Boardwalk, only more… real. No, that had been real as well. What was it then? I rubbed at the side of my neck where the dart had struck, a phantom pain still tingling there.
The urge to take off flying was strong, but I resisted. I wasn't sure if I could get away fast enough that someone couldn't take pictures of my face with my costume still tucked away in my pack. Still, I needed to get away from here, that much of the urge I agreed with. I needed to go find someplace that I could think in peace and try to figure out what that had been. The first time, I hadn't given it much thought, but that was the second time. Were they connected?
I needed to talk to someone about this. The PRT? I wasn't keen on talking to them just now though, so perhaps not. Those men had been… military? Mercenaries? Why would they be attacking
me? Were they even after me? The dart, which I assume had some sort of sedative or tranquilizer had definitely been aimed at me…
Someone was targeting me. Why? What did these visions mean? Warnings? Some sort of interaction with someone else's powers? Vicky had the theory I was some sort of trump, as she put it, was this another part of that? I shook my head, trying to sort through the questions even as more came to mind. But right now, I didn't have the time. I had to
leave.
I straightened, stepping away from the pillar I had been leaning against and started down the steps toward the sidewalk. A bus came through here in just a minutes and I could take it across town to get some lunch, then head toward Winslow to see if I could catch Catherine and Minako after school let out.
* * *
I was sure no one had followed or was watching me as I stood in an alley a few blocks from Winslow. Still, I spent a few minutes just waiting, scanning around myself to be sure. I still didn't understand what had happened earlier, or how it tied into the pickpocket a few days ago, but I was sure now that both had something to do with my power now. Whatever it was, I had to be careful. Once I was sure that there was no one around, I levitated myself up to the roof. I had a decent view of Winslow from here and the surrounding area, and I had arrived just in time to watch the buses slowly lining up in preparation for the school day ending.
I looked at the school just long enough to confirm that the day wasn't out yet, then let my eyes drift to the road, eyeing the cars passing back and forth. There were parents already waiting for their kids when I arrived, the rows of cars taking up every space along the street. Several of the buses were lined up in the parking lot as well. I adjusted the cheap cap and shrugged as I tried to get more comfortable in the jacket I had picked up before coming here, keeping my head down as I waited for my friends to come out. Their mom's car was a short distance down the street from me, and the alleyway I had flown up from had easy access to the street for when they did come out.
Maybe I was being too paranoid. But one moment, I had been reading books and the next I had been swarmed by faceless men in black military gear with guns. And then I wasn't. Maybe I was going crazy, but it felt just the same as the time with the purse-snatcher. Too real not to be real, but wasn't. Was that something a crazy person would say?
A few minutes passed and I saw students beginning to stream out from the gates. A quick glance ahead and I saw them coming out in the next two minutes. I floated back down to street level again, re-adjusted my cap and walked over to the car where Catherine's mom was waiting.
The window came down as I approached and she smiled. "Hello, Taylor. I hope everything's okay?"
"More or less," I answered, my attention shifting from her to the people passing by even as I flipped my foresight off and on in quick, rapid checks. "I'm sorry about just running out like I did. I'd had something of a bad day and reacted less than positively to some stuff. I was hoping, if it wasn't too much trouble, to come over so I can talk to Catherine and Minako?"
I paused for a moment, catching sight of a man in a coat coming around the corner farther down the street. But ultimately, he just continued walking. Realising this, I turned back to her and hastily added; "I mean, if that's ok, that is?"
She looked like she was thinking about it when she smiled and nodded past me. "Perhaps you should ask my daughter, instead?"
"What?" I blinked and turned almost jumping as I saw Catherine and Minako there. I'd been so busy looking for trouble that I had missed their actual approach.
"I dunno, Mina," Catherine said seriously as I divided my attention between them and running another check. "She looks kind of suspicious, hanging around outside the school with a ballcap pulled down to cover her eyes."
"Perhaps we should alert the authorities?" Minako suggested, looking equally serious while I just stared at them, trying to interpret their reaction while watching an argument between two gang members that was going to become a full on fight in the next five minutes.
Neither said anything for a moment and I felt my shoulders slumped. Had I misread things and they didn't want to hear me out or talk at all? "I… well, sorry about-"
"Good idea," Catherine interrupted and leaned to the side. "Hey, mom. We found a strange person lurking around. What should we do?"
"Get in, all of you," her mom said with a tone of voice that suggested she was rolling her eyes. "I want to get moving before more of the other parents do."
"The parental unit has spoken," Catherine said, grinning. "In you go!" Relief flooded me and I looked around once more before slipping into the backseat, moving across for Minako to get in also while Catherine took the passenger seat in front.
Catherine was telling her mom about her day as she asked questions while driving. I kept quiet for the most part, half-heartedly chiming in when asked a question, letting my mind drift back to the library. Catherine's parents were military or such, as I recalled. Perhaps I could ask for advice that way? I frowned mentally, charting that action carefully. I could, but her father wasn't home, or at least as far as I could see, and her mother would want to know why. Catherine and Minako knew the answer to that question at least partially, but I wasn't keen on more people learning I was a cape.
After that, the rest of the trip to Catherine's house passed unnoticed for me, any interesting scenery once more ignored. I continued to run my precognition in short bursts, the act of looking ahead every few minutes for minutes at a time occupying most of my attention and it was only when we arrived at Catherine's house that I started to relax. For the moment, at least, nothing surprising was going to happen, I knew. Or at least, I hoped.
"Your father's out meeting with his friends," her mother said as she led the way inside. "He'll be back for dinner. The usual rules apply. Homework done before then."
"Got it, mom," Catherine said, grabbing my arm and tugging me toward the hall. "C'mon. We can talk back here." I nodded, hoping she hadn't noticed that I had almost jumped when her arm hooked around mine. I was safe here. Calm down.
"Before we talk about anything else," I said as the door to her room closed, taking a deep breath as I steadied myself. This is why I had come here, even after what had happened or
not happened at the library. "I want to apologize. I...You at least earned me listening to you after what you've done for me, even though we haven't known each other that long and I didn't even give you that when you asked for it. I could say that what had happened so far that day was an excuse…"
I shyly rubbed one arm and tried not to look away. Finally I looked at them both in turn and nodded, more to myself than anything as I went on. "But I won't. You didn't have anything to do with that, and I made it like you did. Both of you...I'm sorry.""
Neither said anything and I shifted nervously, glancing back and forth between them. Minako smiled and settled into a chair even as Catherine walked toward her bed. "Accepted, but Taylor, truly, you did not need to apologize."
"I didn't need to," I answered. "I
want to."
"Enough sappy stuff," Catherine said, flopping onto her bed and rolling around so she was facing me. "It's good enough that you're here and talking," She said with a smile that slowly turned grim. "But I'm getting that there is something else going on here now. You're wound tighter than my dad's guitar's strings. There's more than yesterday, isn't there?"
I pulled off the ballcap with a shuddering breath, trying to decide how to explain in a way that didn't make me sound crazy as I ran a hand through my hair to straighten it out. I finally gave up on that as everything I thought of sounded increasingly ridiculous.
"I think," I paused for a moment, struggling with the words. "I think someone is after me."
The effect was immediate. Catherine had sounded serious when she asked what was going on, but now their body language shifted. They were alert and I knew I had their full attention.
"Run me through why you think that," Catherine said, pointing to a chair. "As much detail as you can."
"Remember on the boardwalk, when I spaced out while we were at the ice cream shop?" I asked, deciding there was as good a place to start as any, since I could explain some of my powers at the same time.
Catherine and Minako exchanged a look before nodding. "You do that every so often. Like you're in your own little world. What of it?"
"Well... " I bit my lip, thinking of a good way to show them. "Got a quarter?"
"Um, sure?" Catherine reached for a jar, producing a shiny quarter that she rolled around on her fingers.
"Flip it," I said, triggering my precognition as the coin spun back down. "Heads."
"Yeah…?" she drew the word out with a questioning tone. "Lucky?"
"Flip it again," Catherine shrugged and did so. "Tails."
"I don't see…" she began as Minako took the quarter and launched it skyward once, then again, and a third time.
"Heads, tails, tails," I called out in turn, drawing a raised eyebrow from the usually impassive girl.
"You're shitting me," Catherine said. "Are you saying…?"
"Pre-Cog. Or precognition, I guess. Trust me when I say I know you're going to hold up five fingers, and now you're going to hold up two, seven, and twelve because Minako raised two more to your ten," I answered with a brief nod and a small smile.
Catherine looked equal parts shocked and put out, strangely enough. She grumbled sourly under her breath even as she brought her hands from behind her back. "Thinkers. I hate Thinkers. Thinkers
cheat."
"You are losing focus again, Catherine," Minako chided with a smile before turning serious as she looked at me once more. "This has, I assume, something to do with your theory?"
I nodded. "When we were at the ice cream shop, I had a moment where I saw someone try and grab your purse. I used my precognition to stop them. The entire vision or whatever played out while I sat there spacing out. It felt
so real, but…"
"No one tried to steal my purse when we were out," Catherine said, a frown appearing. "That's… weird. Maybe it's some weird post-cognition? Seeing something that might have been? What do you even call that?"
"Parachronal-cognition, is one such term I believe." Minako chimed in helpfully. Catherine just stared at her friend for a moment before she face-palmed.
"My God Mina, sometimes you are such a
nerd," Catherine began.
I shook my head, interrupting both of them. "I thought it was something like that, and there was even something recently like it, but I haven't been able to see things that
might have happened any other time, so I don't think so." I grabbed a chair and sat down, pausing to look ahead like I had been doing earlier. Still nothing in the next few minutes, so I continued.
"I blew off school today to look up some books at the library. I needed to figure out some things after what happened yesterday. Then, something happened. I was reading and I heard glass break and I got hit with a dart. Some kind of tranquilizer." I rubbed at the side of my neck where the dart had struck, putting the rest of my thoughts in order,
"These men in military gear stormed in as I was trying not to pass out. I fought them off with my other power and was falling over when It was suddenly like with the purse snatcher. I was at my table and no signs of the men or that I had been shot. I remember it happening, but it never happened. It's like I stop, and then suddenly skip over the minutes where it happens." I drew a shuddering breath as I finished, remembering the panic that had seized me all too clearly. "I got out of there after that, but it... I don't know what's going on and it worries me."
I looked down at my hands. "So, that's it. I don't know what it is, but both times, it's been too real. I just figured it was my power and a might-have-been sort of thing, but today was just…They were there for me. I wasn't in the way of something, this was about me."
"You're sure about this?" Catherine asked, her eyes narrowed in thought. "I mean… do you have any idea why? You have something they want?"
"Perhaps…" Minako said, trailing off with a thoughtful look. "Your powers are interfering with another's? Or his with yours? We've heard that different Thinkers can interfere with each other, throw one or both of them off their game. And whoever it is is aware of this? That you are the one interfering with their power?"
"My powers?" I asked, frowning as I considered it. I wasn't sure. It had only happened twice that I knew, but if that was the case, there was no telling what this was doing to the other person. "I don't know. I guess it's possible…"
Catherine shook her head. "I don't think that's it, Mina." She climbed off the bed and took my hands, her expression serious. "I don't want you to get upset, alright? My dad always said that military actions against a place or person always had a reason. Something that you wanted to get. A better vantage point, information, and so on. Think about what you just told us you had the power to do, Taylor."
"What?" I blinked, the question not making sense at first. "I just told you I could see the… future…" From the look Catherine was giving me, I was pretty sure I had paled quite a bit. My hands shook and she gave them a squeeze.
"It's only a theory, Taylor," she told me, her voice firm. "It might not even be true. Either way, it doesn't mean anything."
"Yes. But I don't like the amount of sense it makes..." I said grimly, while the panic I had felt earlier rose back up as I considered the theory she had suggested. "The chance someone I don't know is after me, knows I can see the future? If there had been more men backing those others I fought off… there's no telling where I could be right now."
"Taylor," Minako said, drawing my attention with her calm voice. "Focus on the here and now. Whatever might have happened doesn't matter. You are here and safe. It didn't happen except in your mind. Focus on that."
I drew in several calming breaths, slowly letting go of the panic that had been rising up. She was right. Whatever I was experiencing, I was safe right now. Maybe the things I was seeing were some sort of warning, to let me know what someone was after me? I thought about it, considering the possibility. If it was true, if someone was after me, then I needed to find out more. I couldn't act without solid information after all.
Catherine and Minako were giving me worried looks when I turned my attention outward once more. I forced a weak smile at them in reassurance. It was not, I thought, entirely successful as I wasn't reassured myself and both clearly saw that.
"Sorry about freaking out like that," I murmured, finally. "I guess I'm still a bit stressed out."
"Well, we don't even know for sure if this is true," Catherine said. "It's just a theory. We need to figure out who they are and who they're working for if we're going to do something about it."
"We?" I asked, blinking and looking between the two of them.
"Well, yeah," Catherine admitted. "You're our friend. Do you think we'd just let some guys tranq you and take you who knows where?"
"We would be poor friends to permit such a thing," Minako added serenely.
"Now, there's a few things we might be able to do about getting more information," Catherine said, her tone serious. "I don't know if you'll like some of them, though."
"Let's go with the ones I will like first," I said with a wry grin, the barest edges of humor in my voice.
"Well, first, we need everything you can recall about what you saw," Catherine told me, climbing up the ladder to her desk and coming back down with pen and paper. "Every detail. What they're wearing, the weapons they used. Any symbols or markings."
"Information is power," Minako interjected. "Even if you reject some of Catherine's ideas, we will have knowledge to draw conclusions from."
I thought about what the men had been wearing, the weapons they had held. Their faces had been covered, so I didn't have anything useful there, but I could remember everything else pretty clearly. I took the pen and paper from Catherine and started drawing, the pen flowing across the paper as I put what I saw to the sheet of paper.
"Here," I said, holding out the paper a short time later with a rough sketch of several of the men on it. "The stuff they were wearing was black, for the most part. I don't remember any markings anywhere."
"Standard military stuff, looks like," Catherine said. "I don't recognize the weapons though. My dad might, but he's not here. Mom might have an idea too… "
"But she'd want to know why you were asking," I finished her sentence with a sigh. "Which I guess is what you thought I wouldn't like."
"I could ask him later, not mention you at all," she offered. "Say it's from a cape we met the other night."
"Do you think he'd buy that?" I asked. I started to prod my powers to see if that was something that might work before I frowned at what she had just said. "Wait, your parents know?"
"My mom and dad do," Catherine said, smiling foxily. "Minako's parents don't. Part of the deal keeping them in the dark is that dad keeps an eye out for us. Makes us train." She made a face at the last words.
"Her father is quite demanding in making sure we met his standards," Minako explained. "To answer for Catherine, though, I do not think he would accept that at face value. He would wish to know why a cape we had just met was asking for our help."
That matched with what I saw as well and I frowned, thinking that while going over the fact that their parents knew and let them go out without forcing them into the Wards. I wanted to ask more about that, but I wasn't sure which issue I should worry more about. Dad wanted to force me into the Wards when I didn't want to go. In the face of what I suspected now. that seemed pretty minor honestly.
"If you can keep out that I'm the cape, plea-" I paused, thinking how silly what I was about to ask sounded. "No, just keep it to yourselves for right now. I'm not ready for someone else to know just yet. Even if it is your parents."
Both girls shared a look, but it was Minako that spoke up. "Taylor, if it's what you want…"
"It is," I said, nodding as I stood up. "There is someone else I can ask about this as well. They might know more, and I was thinking about asking them about something else already."
Minako nodded, although Catherine hitched an eyebrow as she looked at me inquisitively. "Someone else? This got more to do with yesterday? Who is it?"
I smiled. "A friend. I think I'll go look her up now, actually. Up for ice cream tomorrow?"
"Only if you tell us what was going on yesterday," Catherine replied, lightly punching my arm. "You had us worried when you stormed out."
"Sorry, sorry," I said, holding my hands up. "Ice cream will be on me and we'll talk about it then, okay?"
"It's a date!" Catherine said with a grin, eyeing me in a way I couldn't decipher.
"I… you said you guys weren't… not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not...interested like that." I stammered. Catherine kept looking at me for a moment longer before bursting out laughing.
"I'm teasing," she said with a smile. "Go talk to your friend and see what you can find out. If you need us, we'll help, okay?"
"Okay," I agreed with a nod, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders as I headed out of their house. I didn't know what was going on with these things I saw that weren't happening, but at least I had fixed one problem. Maybe I could fix the others too, somehow.
I found the alleyway I had used the other day, checking that it was safe to leave from and took off, trying to decide the easiest way to find the next person I wanted to talk to. I rolled my eyes as I gained altitude, realizing I had that on me. I fished out my phone and punched her name on the contacts.
"Hey, Vicky," I said as she picked up. "Got time to talk?"
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