Chapter 25 – Into the Night

“I’m a what?” Dominic’s incredulous expression accentuated his question.

May looked at him calmly and replied with a straight face. “A psion, like me and practically everyone else you met last night.”

Dominic arched an eyebrow and asked, “That little Asian girl?”

May nodded her head.

“How about that tough guy and the guy in the suit?”

Again May nodded. “The only one not a psion is the blonde, Tracy. Together, we are the Children of the Night.”

“Children? What is this to you? Some kind of game?”

May shook her head but refused to rise to the bait. “Definitely not a game. I’m sure you saw enough from last night to be convinced of that.” May could the disbelief emanating from Dominic and gave a quick sigh. It looked like she would have to do some explaining. She just hoped that her reluctant guest would be satisfied with a condensed version. “Look, psions have been around for a long time. I don’t have time to give you a full history, but it goes something like this. About twenty years ago, various governments around the world were conducting secret experiments and research on any psion they could find. Some were actually abducted right out of their bedrooms. Eventually, the psions rebelled, and on a single night, they coordinated a massive insurrection against their abusers around the world.” May paused when she saw the confused look on Dominic’s face. “Okay, okay, in some countries, the ‘Night’ was actually in the middle of the day. However, since the rebellion started from this side of the world, it is referred to as ‘The Night.’ Everyone on my team, with the exception of Tracy, is a child of one or more psions who participated in the rebellion – hence our name, ‘Children of the Night.’”

Dominic nodded his head slowly as he allowed the information to sink in. “Okay, I think I get that. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi story though.”

“It’s definitely not a story. My grandfather and my mother were the main instigators of the rebellion.”

“Okay, where does that leave me? My parents never took part of any rebellion that I know of…Heck, the only fighting they did was with each other.”

May took another deep breath. She wished that she didn’t have to go through this! The one thing she wanted to be doing right now was looking for Da Gueur and finding out what the hell happened last night. However, she took her responsibilities pretty seriously, and she had a feeling that when he was ready, Da Gueur would come looking for her. “The psionic gift is hereditary. All you need is at least one parent who is sufficiently powerful enough with his/her gift. We also know that the gift sometimes tends to get stronger with each succeeding generation. Did you ever notice your parents doing anything strange?”

Dominic stared off in the distance. He thought about his parents – something he hadn’t done in a long time. Ever since that day…

His father was drunk again. Dominic was hard pressed to think of a time when his father wasn’t drunk. It had started much like all the others except it didn’t end up like the others. Usually, his father would just beat up his mother until she stopped moving and then he would take out his belt and start on Dominic. This time, Dominic’s father didn’t stop until his mother was lying in a pool of her own blood. That was when Dominic finally saw the glint of the kitchen knife in his father’s hands. His father had advanced upon him then, the bloody kitchen knife clutched greedily his fist.

”Crazy dumb-assed kid! Stop staring at me you little freak!” His father’s words seemed to echo in his young mind.

“Run Dominic! Run!” Dominic’s mother voice sounded very frantic.

Young Dominic though, was transfixed on the spot. His young feet seemed rooted into the very floor and he couldn’t make them move. As Dominic looked up into the face of death, his father lifted the knife higher and higher, his blood-red eyes were filled with hate. The knife seemed to quiver then, first a little, and then more and more, as if someone or something were wrestling for possession of the knife. Dominic’s father had stared dumbfounded at his hand as one by one, his fingers released their hold of the knife. When the knife was finally pulled from his grasp, it continued to hover in front of his face.

“What the fu-“

The knife buried itself into Dominic’s father’s right eye. Dominic had watched, white faced as his father died in front of his eyes.

“Dominic…”

His mother’s voice seemed to have an unearthly quality to it. Trembling with fear, Dominic made his way past his father’s body, half expecting it to leap up at him. As he approached his mother, his little feet slipped in the blood and he fell. Somehow, he managed to drag himself to his mother, but when he reached her, her glassy-eyed face stared up at nothing. That was when he noticed the long gash in his mother’s throat…

Dominic gave himself a shake as his mind returned to the present. He hadn’t thought about his parents for such a long time. The day his parents died was a memory that had haunted him to this day, yet never before had he ever remembered it with such clarity. He gave his hostess a suspicious look but she returned his gaze with a curious look of her own. He realized something then…something his mind must have blocked out all this time. From the time his father had finished with his mother, to the moment he died, no one in the room had uttered a single spoken word.

May watched her guest intently as his expressions changed to incredulity, to horror from some remembered memory, to incomprehension, and finally to a dawning understanding. She had felt it when he had taken his trip down memory lane. His emotions had flared like a roman candle. She focused her gift and nudged him in the right direction, urging his emotions down the path of remembrance. All of a sudden, tears streamed down his face and he sobbed into his hands. Whatever memory Dominic had remembered, it was obvious that it was horrible.

“They never spoke…” said Dominic in between sobs.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” asked May.

“They never spoke. My parents, they never said a word.”

May got up from her seat on the opposite couch and sat down beside Dominic. She pulled him close and cradled his head and he cried. She felt some measure of guilt for having pushed Dominic down this path of pain, but felt certain that it was something he had to confront. She glanced quickly around the common room of Sifu Chang’s school and was glad that everyone else on her team had decided to sleep in.

Finally, in slow raspy sentences, Dominic spoke about his parents. It was something that he had sworn never to do, but at this particular moment, it seemed like the right thing to do. May listened to it all. Outwardly, she showed none of the horror she felt inside. As Dominic finished though, she started to feel a swell of hope inside her chest. Could it be?

When Dominic’s crying subsided, she asked him, “Dominic, I need to do something, do you trust me?”

Dominic wiped his tears away and regarded her. This young girl had saved his life the night before, was related in some way to the Angel who claimed no divinity, and had listened silently without comment to his greatest fear and deepest shame. Of course he trusted her! He was quite surprised at how calm his voice sounded as he said, “Yes, I trust you.”

May nodded and took his hand and sandwiched it between her own. She closed her eyes opened the doors to her gift and concentrated on the young man beside her. Although she was already expecting it, the small blue spark glittering like a jewel almost made her lose focus. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at Dominic. “You’re a Telepath!”

“A what?”

“A Telepath!” exclaimed May. “You can read thoughts!”

“Read…huh?”

May saw the look of incomprehension in Dominic’s face and gave herself a sharp inward tug. She had to remember to take this slow! “The psionic gifts are Telepathy, Empathy, Telekinesis, and Clairvoyance. If there are any more, we have never encountered them. A Telepath can read the active thoughts of others, and if he/she is strong enough, can send thoughts as well. An Empath is similar but deals with emotions instead of thoughts. A Telekinetic moves objects and a Clairvoyant…well, that one needs more time than we have to properly describe.”

Dominic gave himself another shake. This was becoming like a weird dream. He pinched himself and winced as he felt the sharp pain in his arm. Nope, not a dream! “So, you’re saying I’m a Telepath? That I can read minds?”

“Thoughts, not minds,” corrected May. “Although, if you’re strong enough in your gift, who knows, maybe can one day you’ll be able to.” As May said this last part, a part of her was already disbelieving it. She had sensed the blue spark of Telepathy in Dominic, but it was small. In fact, compared to her mother’s spark, it was downright puny. However, it would have to do. Almost any Telepath, weak or strong, could be trained to send and receive thoughts to other psions. Dominic would never be able to send coherent thoughts to say, Tracy or Michael, but he could serve as the Children’s communication specialist, helping them to stay in contact while in the field. “I want you to join us,” she blurted out before she could properly phrase her request.

“You…what? What are you talking about?”

“Us, I want you to join the Children of the Night. We need someone like you in on our team. We can help you learn and control your gift!”

“Learn and control? Why? I don’t need it.”

“But-“

“Besides, I’ve gotta be getting back to my people. They’re probably thinking I’m dead or something!”

“But-“

“Look, thanks for saving my butt last night, but I got responsibilities, you know? I can’t be spending time with a bunch who calls themselves Children. If you hadn’t noticed, I ain’t exactly a child!”

“But-“

“No more buts-“

“Will you stop interrupting me?” exclaimed May in frustration. Geez, this guy was dense!

Dominic paused with a sheepish grin and May couldn’t help but to grin back. “Alright, I can understand that you’ve got priorities. What are they?”

“Well, the Angel - except that he told me not to call him that - told me to protect my people. I’ve already lost someone close to me, and I don’t want to lose anymore.”

“I don’t see a problem. You’ve seen my team in action, right?” asked May.

“Well, I’ve seen you and I’ve seen the walking tank,” replied Dominic.

May nodded, and said, “Well, you’ve yet to see Dragon in action and Crystal is a little firecracker and Tracy can shoot anything with a trigger.”

Dominic frowned and said, “Dragon? Crystal? Tracy is the blonde girl right? Don’t tell me her secret superhero name is Blondie or something!”

May started to retort but stopped herself. If she were to put herself in Dominic’s shoes, she had to admit that some of this stuff sounded very childish. ”Look, Brandon, aka Dragon is a Telekinetic, Jade, aka Crystal is a Clairvoyant, and Tracy well, she’s my best friend. We don’t have a Telepath on the team that can handle communications so we have to rely on old fashioned radios. We don’t want the chance that someone is going to overhear us.”

Dominic scoffed in derision. “That’s a silly assed excuse, and if you want me on your team, you’ll have to do better than that! If you’re on radios, you could’ve just used your first names and anyone listening would be none the wiser!”

“Now just a minute - what was that? Are you saying that you’re gonna join us?” asked May with hope in her voice.

“Well, not if you’re gonna keep calling yourself Children. I don’t run with children. However, I do see a way we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement here. I can see how having that walking tank show up at the next unwanted house party would keep all visitors on their best behavior, and if anyone does get frisky, well, that’s where you and Brandon or Dragon, or whatever the hell his name is can go to town.”

May thought about it and the idea had some appeal, however, she wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of getting involved in the problems of normal humans. She had enough problems of her own. “How about this, how many people do you have?”

“In my house? About fifteen including my boys, why?”

“Why don’t you bring them here, to this school? There’s no classes in session these days and they would be perfectly safe here from any rival gangs.”

Dominic shook his head. “Can’t do that, I’m afraid. If we leave, then the other gangs would just move in and pretty soon the neighborhood would go to the dogs. I’ve worked too hard cleaning it up. Besides, it’s our home. We ain’t leaving.”

May looked at the stubborn expression on Dominic’s face and sighed. “Alright, when Brandon and the rest wake up, let’s take a trip down to see your place. We’ll see how defensible it is before making any long term decisions, deal?”

“How about the name, Children of the Night?”

“One thing at a time, alright?” May held out her hand and gestured to Dominic.

Dominic looked at the proffered hand for a moment and then shook it firmly. “Deal.”

---

A couple of days later, Tracy rang to doorbell to Michael’s house and was let in by Serena. Serena looked tired and careworn, yet somehow more relaxed than she had in the last couple of weeks. Tracy took note of this and felt that it fit with her newfound knowledge. As she removed her shoes, she steeled her resolve, even though a part of her felt like dying for what she was about to do. It’s all for the best, she kept telling herself.

Showing her woman’s intuition, Serena made some excuse about an errand or something and promptly left the house, leaving Tracy sitting alone in the living room to wait for Michael. She didn’t have to wait long.

Like a gust of wind, Michael was suddenly there, kneeling at her feet and apologizing profusely. “Tracy, I’m so sorry about the other day, and over the last couple of weeks…I was such an asshole to you. Please, please, please forgive me!”

“Shhh…its ok,” said Tracy as she gently stroked his hair. “I understand, really I do. And as for the other day, well, you were within your rights to blow up like that. I was trying to goad you on purpose, so really, I’m sorry too.” Michael looked up at her and as their eyes met, Tracy could feel her resolve weakening. She took a deep breath and forged ahead.

“Have I ever told you about my Aunt Sarah?” asked Tracy.

Michael shook his head and Tracy continued. “She was my mom’s youngest sister, and was several years older than me. Yup, grandma sure was amazing back in the day!”

They shared a chuckle and it felt so good that Tracy felt her heart ache. “Aunt Sarah and I used to get into so much trouble together. She taught me to always try to find the good side of things and to enjoy life as much as I could. Life is too short for regrets. The most important lesson she taught me was to always tell the people we care about that we love them.” Tracy gently pulled Michael up to sit beside him. “I love you, Michael.”

Michael opened his mouth to reply but Tracy shushed him with a hand to his mouth. “Let me finish. When I was around 7 or 8, Aunt Sarah died. She had a brain tumor that was malignant. She fought it for years but in the end, she lost her battle. She never lost her battle for life, though. Those few short years that she had…well, she showed me what it meant to truly live.”

Despite herself, Tracy could feel some tears coursing down her face. When Michael moved to comfort her, she brushed him off once more. “That was around the same time that I met May. She’d just moved into the neighborhood and we both reached out to each other. She’s my very best friend in the whole world and I would do anything for her.” Tracy gave Michael a pointed look and repeated, “Anything.”

Michael nodded, even though he wasn’t sure where this conversation was going.

“Did you hear about the Christmas dance this Friday?” asked Tracy suddenly.

Michael nodded again, “The invitation came last week but I only just saw it this morning. They’re holding at the school. I can’t wait to go with you!”

“I can’t wait to go with you too, Michael,” said Tracy with a small smile. “However, I think that we should make this our last date.”

“What?”

“Our last date, Michael. I know I haven’t been the perfect girlfriend. Heck, we never even got to go all the way together, what with everything that’s happened, but this I promise, on our last date, I will deliver, so just be a little more patient with me, ok?”

“What…wait a minute…what do you mean our last date? Are…are you breaking up with me?” Michael’s voice seemed a little choked, as if he could bring himself to say the dreaded words.

Tracy nodded sadly.

“Why? Is it because of what I said? I’m sorry! Please, Tracy, I love you, don’t do this!”

Tracy gave him a small smile and gently caressed his face. “No silly, it’s not because of that. I already told you that I’m fine with all that.”

“Then why?”

Tracy dropped her voice until it was barely a whisper. “I know your secret, Michael.”

“My what? What secret?”

“Shhh, it’s ok. You don’t have to lie to me to protect it. Don’t worry. It’s safe with me. I won’t tell a soul. I think it’s great, the stuff you’ve been doing and I think you should keep doing it. Just don’t keep May in the dark for too long, ok?”

“What’s May got to do with this? What’re you talking about? Tracy, please don’t break up with me!” An hint of desperation tinted Michael’s voice.

Tracy looked into Michael’s pleading eyes and promptly decided that she had to get out of there before her resolve broke down. This was much harder to do than she had imagined! She wanted nothing more than to hug Michael tightly and tell him that she was kidding. Instead, she stood up suddenly and headed for the door.

“Tracy! Wait, please don’t go!”

At the door, Tracy slipped her shoes back on, opened the door and looked back at Michael. “Pick me up on Friday at 6:00, ok? Don’t forget my promise too. I’ll make good on all the teasing I’ve put you through.”

“But, but, that’s not important to me. Tracy, that’s never been important to me. I just wanted to be with you! Please tell what this is about!”

“It’s simple. Like I said, I know your secret, Michael. You’re in love with my best friend May, and she’s in love with you. She just hasn’t figured out yet that you are you, that’s all.”

“Huh?”

Tracy blew him a kiss and said with finality, “Bye Michael, remember, I’ll always be your friend.” The door slammed shut and just like that, she was gone.

Michael stood staring at the door for several minutes. His brain couldn’t seem to get clear of the fog that it was in. There seemed to be a brick in his stomach and it was quickly dragging his heart down. What the hell was that about?

<<I am deeply sorry, young one, for your loss.>>

What? I…I…can’t believe it! She just dumped me! Big Bro, what was that about? Why did she do it?

<<Even though much of what she said did not make sense, I think I have put together enough of the pieces to know what she was referring to.>>

Well go on, don’t leave me in the dark!

<<I believe that Tracy thinks you are me, or rather, you are the so called ‘Angel’ and that May is in love with you.>>

But…but…it’s you she’s in love with, not me!

<<And I love her.>>

Wait, you do?

<<Yes.>>

Oh, well, that’s great…wait, it’s not great. Tracy just dumped me because she…oh my goodness, my head is starting to hurt!

<<This is quite the predicament you have found yourself in, young one.>>

No kidding! What do I do?

<<You can tell her the truth, young one.>>

What? No way! She’ll never believe me!

<<Perhaps, but what else do you have to lose?>>

I…I don’t know, Big Bro. I just don’t know.

<<I am afraid, young one, that I do not know either.>>

---

The being known as Big Bro soared through the night sky and decided that he really liked the form that his young protégé had designed. He also decided that it was great to be alive. With problems of his own, Michael had receded into the depths of his mind in order to allow Big Bro to accomplish his task. It was not a difficult task, yet Big Bro could not help but to feel some trepidation about it.

What if she does not share my feelings?

<<Relax Big Bro, I’m pretty positive that she does.>>

How can you be so sure, young one?

<<Hey, I’ve been in the back seat watching, ok? Trust me, I may not be an Empath like her, but the way she looks at you…hoo boy, you’re in for a treat!>>

Treat?

<<Use your imagination bud!>>

I…

<<Don’t give me that genderless crap. May had you pegged from the start. You are definitely male. Heck, remember what you said to me the day we met? You described the Shiza-harans as a ‘brotherhood of minds’.>>

True. Although, I do not know why I said that. There has never been any female Shiza-harans. We were all born out of a lab.

<<Hey, that reminds me. Just how was this lab destroyed anyway?>>

I was not there when it happened. However, it is believed that the Valeans used some sort of weapon capable of throwing asteroids of immense size. The planet itself was shattered and destroyed.

<<The whole planet? Holy crap! That’s some kinda freaky awesome firepower! Did they ever use this weapon again?>>

No, they did not.

<<That’s strange. If the Valeans had that kind of weapon, they should have been using it more to press their advantage.>>

Yes, now that you mention, it does seem rather strange.

<<Strange or not, I hope they don’t bring that thing here!>>

I do too, young one. Still, I cannot help but to wonder. They obviously know of a Praecetorian presence here and have already taken steps once. They will return, if only to make sure to finish the job.

<<Well, if I see them again, I promise to talk first and shoot later. I still can’t forgive myself for what I did.>>

I do not think that you should constantly punish yourself, young one. I do not blame you, and most importantly, I do not believe the Valeans blamed you.

<<That’s the part that really bothers me. And you know what else bothers me?>>

What is that?

<<If there is a Praecetorian presence here, why have they made no attempt to contact you? Why haven’t you tried to contact them?>>

As to why they have not contacted me, I cannot answer that. I have not tried to contact them simply because I do not feel a need to. I ‘died’ for them once already, and as far as I am concerned, that is the end of any concourse I have with them. Besides, this is not your war and I do not want to drag you into it.

<<Well, as for the first question, let me go and ponder it, since it looks as if you’re gonna be busy real soon! May’s house is just up there!>>

I see that.

<<Well, what are you waiting for Romeo? Go get her!>>

---

May stared out of her bedroom window and sighed wistfully. She still had not heard from her Da Gueur. She had just gotten off the phone with a sobbing Tracy who had made absolutely no sense. She asked Tracy if she wanted some company, but Tracy had adamantly declined, stating that May needed some time to get better acquainted with her lover. As if! May didn’t know where her errant – what the heck was he to her anyway – was.

“I was hoping that you thought of me with at least some level of affection.”

The sudden voice in her head startled May out of her reverie. He was here! “Da Gueur? Is that you?

“And who else would be speaking in your mind at this time of night?” Da Gueur’s voice sounded amused.

May took heart at the playful banter in Da Gueur’s voice and said, “I don’t know…maybe someone who loves me.”

“That would be me.”

The words were so unexpected that May dropped her jaw in astonishment. “What did you say?”

“I thought it was clear, May. If you were expecting someone who loves you to be speaking to you at this time of night, then that would be me.”

“Are you saying that you love me?” Despite herself, May could not slow the rapid beating of her heart.

“Yes.”

“Where…where are you?”

“Right outside your window.”

May frowned. She had been looking out her window but hadn’t seen anything. She checked again, but still could not see anything unusual. “Where? I don’t see you.”

“My apologies, May. I would drop my camouflage, but I do not wish to have your neighbors start funny rumors. Are you able to get out of the house?”

“Sure, let me grab some clothes and meet you outside.”

May quickly rummaged in her closet and pulled on a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater. As she changed out of her nightclothes, she dimly wondered if Da Gueur was watching her change, but then pushed the thought out. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t already seen everything at one time or another!

After she finished, she ran downstairs and quickly yelled out to her father, “Dad, I’m heading out. Duty calls!” Without waiting for a reply, May dashed out of the door and into the chill of the night.

The chill didn’t last long as the night around her disappeared into an even darker haze and the winter cold magically vanished. And then, just like that, her Da Gueur was there and nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

He looked exactly as she remembered, tall, graceful, lean and well muscled. Instead of a human looking face, Da Gueur’s head resembled a fierce somewhat animalistic mask. At that moment though, she didn’t care as Da Gueur’s long arms wrapped themselves around her. She hugged him tightly back and was surprised at the ache in her chest and the tears down her face. Oh, how she had missed him!

There were so many questions that she wanted to ask him, right that moment. She didn’t even know where to start. However, there was one that seemed to dominate the rest. “How…how are you alive? I watched you die on TV.”

“I…I am not sure myself.” Da Gueur’s voice seemed unsure.

“What do you mean?”

“One second, I was dying, for absorbing too much energy at once can kill my kind. The next, I was dead. I can still remember the pain of exploding. Then, the next thing I know, I was back in exactly the same place where I had died.”

“What did it feel like?”

“It…it is hard to describe. I suppose it felt like being born, or in my case, reborn.”

A light of comprehension seemed to go off in May’s head. “’Rise like the Phoenix of yestermorn’,’” she quoted. There seemed to be some truth to the prophecy after all! “Are you the Phoenix of the prophecy?”

“To be perfectly honest, I do not know. It does seem to fit though. However, I would like to remind you of the perils of self fulfilling prophecies.”

“True, but Jade uttered the exact same prophecy twice, and the second time was right after she touched you. You are the Phoenix!”

“Perhaps that is true, and perhaps not. However, there is something else that I wish to be.”

“Really? What is that?”

“I…I…I would like to be…your…um…I cannot believe how difficult this is for me!”

All of a sudden, May became aware of the emotions that came flooding out of the being in her arms. “Of course I love you!”

“You do?”

“Yes!” May tiptoed up and laid a kiss on the side of Da Gueur’s head. “I just wish I could kiss you properly though.”

“That can be arranged.”

“Huh?” May watched dumbfounded as Da Gueur’s head started to melt away. In a matter of seconds, the fierce mask was gone and in its place was a formless blob. It was then, that she realized, beyond doubt, that Da Gueur really was truly alien and that she didn’t care. She still loved him.

The formless blob shaped itself into a vaguely human shape, and slowly, features began to appear on the face. After the transformation was complete, May found herself staring into a beautiful silver face with piercing blue eyes. The eyes had no pupils and appeared to be solid blue – almost as if Da Gueur had sapphires for eyes.

Then, it hit her. She had seen this face before! She had dreamed it the night Diablo abducted her! “What? How? Mmmhmmm!”

Da Gueur suddenly leaned down and kissed May on her lips, cutting off any further questions.

May had a vague feeling of floating and as if from far away, a song echoed in her mind. She had joked about it with Tracy in the past, but now, it had come true!

She's just sixteen years old
Leave her alone, they say
Separated by fools
Who don't know what love is yet
But I want you to know

If I could fly
I'd pick you up
I'd take you into the night
And show you a love
Like you've never seen, ever seen.

In the back of her mind, she realized that she and Da Gueur were actually flying up into the night, but lost as she was in the kiss, she just didn’t seem to care. This must be what it feels to be in love, she thought, and she returned the kiss with fervor.

---

The old man sat in a darkened room, the light from the computer monitor reflected off his tired, careworn face. His eyelids were closed but he didn’t need to see to perform his task. His fingers flew over the Braille keyboard at a rate much faster than the average typist. When he finished, he let out a large sigh, saved his document and closed down the computer. His computer was strategically placed so that he could reach it without much trouble, and after years of working in such a manner, he had long memorized where everything was. He pulled the USB external drive and said, “Come in child.”

The door to his study opened and Stella Li walked into the room with a bemused expression on her face. “How do you do that Ba Ba?”

Sifu Chang pushed his chair back and reoriented himself so that he was facing Stella. He gave her a boyish grin and said, “A magician never reveals his tricks!”

Stella snorted and said, “Ha, you’re just using your gifts. Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out!”

Sifu Chang chuckled and shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with my ears, you know. The way you tromp up and down the hallways, it makes me think of a herd of elephants!”

“I do not!” exclaimed Stella as she sat down on a chair.

Sifu Chang stood up, carefully walked over to this La-Z-Boy chair and sat down with all the grace his old tired body could muster. He placed the USB drive on the coffee table and then leaned back and allowed his stress to flow out of him. It was done; his last duty to the future was ready.

Stella frowned as she looked at the drive but made no move to pick it up. “Is that it?”

Sifu Chang merely nodded.

“Are you sure about this, Ba Ba? Wouldn’t it be better if she never found out?”

The old blind man shook his head tiredly and said, “The events described there must come true, if the psions are ever to achieve true freedom. In order for May to do her part, she must act naturally to the circumstances and she must not know all the reasons until after she does her part. Afterwards, she must not hate herself for having done her part.”

“Aren’t you worried that she’s going to hate you?”

The old man smiled wanly and said, “I’ll be dead by the time she reads that. She may hate the memory of me for a while, but in time, she’ll come to realize that I was just doing my part too.”

Stella sighed and leaned back into her chair. “This goes beyond the prophecy, doesn’t it? You’ve seen something haven’t you?”

The old man nodded. “The prophecy merely pointed me in the right direction. The visions I have seen, while quite horrible, will come to pass and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. All we can do is to ensure the survival of our kind.”

“But there must be something we can do! There must be a way to stop this!” cried Stella. Tears formed in her eyes and began to stream down her face.

Sifu Chang shook his head sadly and said, “The storm is coming and the multi-headed beast rides at its head. It has already started. How are we to fight it or even stop it? There is no one place to strike, cut off one head and several more would just take its place. Even if we could kill the beast, I don’t know if I would want to. Without the beast, there can be no future for our kind. I have seen all the possibilities. The fates of the beast and the psions are intricately intertwined and the Phoenix is the catalyst that will spark the reaction.”

“What about this Friday? Have you at least warned May of the trap?”

The old man smiled and said, “I do not need to. Her cousin Jade has had one of those vision dreams last night, and is even now trying to figure out how to bring it up.”

Stella arched an eyebrow at her father and said, “Do you know everything that goes on here?”

Sifu Chang chuckled and said, “No, not everything, but remember, I do have certain advantages.” He tapped his temple and said, “I may be the oldest living psion right now, and I have had a lot of practice with both of my gifts. Jade needs to have more experience before she’ll be able to tell the difference between natural occurring vision dreams and ones that I send her way.”

“So, May will be ready then?”

“Yes, but she will not be able to defeat her nemesis - not without some help, at least.”

Stella frowned and said, “You don’t mean to go down there yourself do you? He’ll kill you without a second thought!”

“No and no. No, I am not going down. I do not need to, and no, he will not kill me. Not yet, at least.”

“What do you mean?”

The old man shook his head and said, “Time enough for that later, child. Come, you and I have some work ahead of us if we are to do our parts for the next battle.”

Stella took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She started to focus her thoughts and almost slipped easily into a meditative trance when another thought occurred to her. “Ba Ba, are you absolutely positive about these visions of yours?”

If possible, Sifu Chang’s careworn face looked even sadder. “Yes child, I am. The world as we know is ending, but in the end, we psions will become stronger because of it.”

Stella looked doubtful and said, “Maybe you have seen only some of the possibilities, but not all of them. There must be one possible future that –“

“There is none, child. I have tried and tried, but it always comes out the same. My visions are always the same.”

Stella shuddered as she thought about the future her father had seen. “God help us all,” she whispered.

Sifu Chang gave an enigmatic smile and said, “God? I don’t think so, but the Hand of God might.”