Chapter 30 – The Warrior Departs
The following weekend, May
finally made it back up to her grandfather’s school so that she could confront
him. A part of her chafed at the delay
because she was terrified that any minute, Chun Peng and her brother Mogwai would
suddenly show up and try to kill one of her friends. She had tried several times that week to talk
to her mother, to try to get her to explain some key things, but Stella had
remained steadfastly silent.
When May was finally allowed
into her grandfather’s room to see him, she was ready to storm in and really
cut loose with her pent up frustration, but one look at her grandfather’s weak
and frail body made her forget it all.
If anything, Sifu Chang
looked even more tired and careworn than ever before. Maybe it was a result of his stroke, or maybe
it was a result of being woken up by Chun Peng’s psychic bolt or maybe it was
the execution of Dr. Stevenson, but whatever the reason, Sifu Chang looked as
if he were knocking on Death’s door.
Instead of lashing out at
her grandfather, May gingerly took his right hand and squeezed it gently. Stella silently stood by her side and May
could feel her mother’s emotions emanating out in sad waves.
Sifu Chang slowly opened his
eyes and looked at his two visitors.
“You two look as if you’re looking at a dead person. Cheer up!
I’m not dead yet.”
Tears welled up in Stella’s
eyes and she reached down and touched her father’s arm. “Hush, ba ba!
Don’t say things like that!”
“Things like what? Like the fact that I’m dying?” asked Sifu
Chang in a slightly bemused tone. “I’ve
known for a long time. I guess it is the
price of being the first of the Altered.”
May swiped at her wet eyes
and asked, “Altered?”
Sifu Chang managed a small
nod. “That is the name I have given
those of us psions who have been surgically enhanced. The doctors who operated on me and Toby Clark
were really just experimenting and had no safe guards in place. As it is, Toby and I, well, we shared certain
key characteristics.”
May frowned slightly and
said, “Really? Like what?”
Sifu Chang let out a small
cough before replying. “Well, I’m sure
you had noticed during your encounters with him that Toby was a little mentally
unbalanced?”
When May nodded, Sifu Chang
smiled slightly and said, “I’m afraid that news of my own mental stability have
been greatly exaggerated.”
“What? What do you mean? You’re one of the sanest people I know!”
exclaimed May.
Sifu Chang gave her a stern
look and said, “May, you do not need to be nice to a foolish old man. Surely by now you have deduced the true
nature of this school?”
May nodded and said, “You
wanted to do more research on the psion gifts, but in secret and without any
further experimenting.”
Sifu Chang nodded and asked,
“Now, what kind of man would open his doors to young bright students under the
pretext of training them, when really, he was helping scientists study
them? What kind of sick man is that?”
“But your school did teach
us! It taught us to use our gifts and to
protect ourselves!” protested May.
“Besides, after the Night, no sane parent would willingly allow their
children to be studied like a lab rat!”
Sifu Chang sighed tiredly
and looked at Stella. “I am tired, child
and I do not have the strength to properly explain this. Can you help?”
Stella nodded sadly and
said, “What my father is trying to explain in a very round about way is that he
is not entirely sane. When he emerged
from his surgery, he became a less moral person. He actually supported the research and the
surgery. It wasn’t until the doctors
killed my mother and my son that he rebelled.
May, don’t judge him too harshly.
Remember, he has spent nearly his entire life in the control of the
Centers.”
“I can understand that, but
what about the rest?”
Sifu Chang coughed again and
continued the thread. “When my wife
died, I started having visions. Visions
of a most horrible future. Yet, as
horrible as these visions were, I could see a bright and hopeful future for our
kind. I resolved to do everything I
could to make these visions come true.”
That last statement startled
May. “Wait, you mean that you’ve been
doing everything you can to make these horrible visions come true? Why?”
“My goal is the survival of
the psion people, at any cost.”
“May, your grandfather has
lost the ability to shy away from unpleasant tasks. Imagine yourself faced with a terrible
decision. You know the right thing to
do, but you also know the right thing has a terrible cost. What do you do?”
May gave the question some
serious thought and said, “I would try my best to find an alternative, and if
there were none, and if the decision were important enough, I would make the
right choice but try to minimize the damage.”
Stella nodded in approval
and said, “You and I can do that, but your grandfather cannot. He would have made the decision right then
and there and damn the consequences. Do
you see the difference?”
Understanding dawned upon
May and she said, “This school is like that!
You know that we need to learn more about our gifts and you know how
important that is, but you also know that nearly every psion alive would be
repelled by the thought of being studied like lab rats. That’s why you had the cameras installed and
all the scientists hiding in secret rooms!”
Sifu Chang nodded in
agreement. He looked at May with sad but
knowing eyes. May stared back and
suddenly, more clicks were made in her head.
“That’s why you founded the Children of the Night! You knew that we would need to become
stronger. You knew about Diablo!”
Stella reached up and
grasped May’s arm. “May, during the
night of the rebellion, your grandfather and I had Toby Clark at our
mercy. His gifts were no match for our
Mind Control. For the sake of the
future, we let him go.”
May was suddenly flushed
with anger. “Jared died because of
Diablo! Couldn’t you have at least
warned him?”
“If I had, I would have
changed the outcome.”
“What outcome? To get me involved?” yelled May. Her teeth were tightly clenched and her anger
was broiling out of her in vast tidal waves.
“You felt no guilt over his death, didn’t you?”
“May Hua Li!” snapped her
mother. “Get control of yourself! Your grandfather made the decision with no
moral qualms at the time of the decision making, but after Jared died, the
guilt that hit him was almost more than he could bear!”
“The guilt adds up,” said
Sifu Chang. “It just keeps adding up and
up and up and there’s no end to it.”
“May, look at your
grandfather. Look carefully!”
May put a tight leash on her
emotions and took a long careful look at her grandfather. More importantly, she looked with her
gift. What she found was a gigantic
ocean of guilt that was barely held in check by her grandfather’s Empathy.
“Medically, your grandfather
should be stable, even after his stroke.
But he’s not. May, he’s
dying. He’s dying of guilt.”
“It’s impossible,” said May
in a whisper. “No one could have
accumulated so much guilt.” She gave her
grandfather a stern look and said, “What else do you know?”
In response, Sifu Chang
closed his eyes for several moments. He
appeared to have fallen asleep but he raised his left hand weakly. Stella walked around the bed and took hold of
the raised hand. She closed her eyes for
a moment and when she opened them, she gave her father a nod of acceptance.
From the night table beside
the bed, Stella withdrew a small box.
“May, inside this box is an electronically written record of every
vision that your grandfather has ever seen.
He wants you to read it after you return from
Startled, May sputtered,
“What do you mean my return from
Sifu Chang let out a quiet
chuckle and his left hand touched his temple.
May understood the meaning immediately.
“Why can’t I read it
now? Are you afraid that I’ll try to
change the future? That I’ll try to
prevent some of these horrible visions?”
“It is too late for that,”
said Sifu Chang in a hoarse whisper.
“Nothing can prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. The world will end, but our kind will
survive. More than survive…the psions
will emerge from the storm as the next stage of human evolution.”
Sifu Chang lapsed into
silence. May could see that he had
passed out. She looked at Stella and
said, “You know this Chun Peng character, right?”
“Yes,” said Stella.
“I need you to contact
her. I need you to tell her that I’m
coming, but I need a little time to get ready.”
“She knows,” said
Stella. “She will give you a week to
settle your affairs.”
“One week?”
Stella nodded grimly. “Your father and I will spend that time to
fabricate a story that will explain your absence. You need to make whatever preparations you
need. In one week’s time, you must be on
a plane to
“What happens if I’m late?”
“Chun Peng has told me that
out of respect for our past experiences, she will make my death quick and
painless.”
---
Michael was in the kitchen,
doing his homework on the kitchen table when Serena suddenly waltzed in and
dumped a large load of bound papers in front of him.
Michael looked up with a
start and saw her triumphant smile.
“What is that?” he asked as it indicated the load of papers.
“That,” said Serena
theatrically, “is our future.”
“Huh?” Michael seemed to have a hard time shifting
gears from homework to whatever Serena was saying. The grand way in which Serena was gesturing
with her hands did not help.
Serena slammed her left hand
on top of the pile of bound papers and declared, “Ted and I hit Mom and Dad’s
superiors and their insurance company for a hefty pay out. The fact that they tried to cover up their
deaths and then got caught raised a lot of embarrassing ripples.”
Michael was just trying to
digest the news, but something bright and glittery caught his attention. It was a rather large and bright diamond on
Serena’s ring finger. “Congratulations! I take it he asked and you accepted?”
Serena looked down
nonchalantly at her finger and said, “Oh this little thing?”
It was all an act and
Michael saw right through it. He jumped
out of his chair and hugged his sister tight.
“I’m so happy for you! When is
the date?”
Serena hugged him tightly
back and then quickly pushed him away.
She ran to the powder room by the front door and Michael could hear some
retching sounds. The toilet flushed and
Serena came back into the kitchen with a sheepish expression. “That’s the other news I wanted to tell
you. The wedding won’t be until a couple
of months after the baby comes. I need
the time to get back into shape!”
Delighted, Michael rushed
over to give Serena another hug but she held him back, “Not so fast champ! I need to let my stomach rest after that last
one!”
“So, I’m going to be an
uncle?”
Serena nodded and said, “A
very rich uncle!”
“Huh?”
“Weren’t you paying
attention?” asked Serena in a vexed tone.
She pointed at the pile of paper on the table and said, “We’re rich
now. We should be getting the payout in
a few days.”
“Really? How much?”
“Oh not that much
really. After we split it evenly, we’ll
each get about five easily.”
“Five? Five what?
Thousand?”
“You’ve got to set your
sights higher little bro! Five million
each!”
Dumbfounded, Michael sat
back down. “Five million dollars? Holy sh-“
“Uh uh!” said Serena
quickly. “Young millionaires shouldn’t
be using language like that! So? What’re you going to do with your money?”
“I…I don’t know…I
mean…wow…” Michael’s expression turned
serious and then he brightened up and said, “I’d like to put up a monument of
some sort for our parents. I mean, we
never got anything that we could bury.
We only have a couple of headstones at the cemetery. I’d like a tribute of some sort, you know?”
Serena beamed at him. “I knew you’d say something like that! In fact, great minds think alike. I’ve already got the process going. So what else?”
A small flicker of an idea
went off in Michael’s head. It grew
quickly and he smiled as it became fully formed. “You know what? I think I know exactly what to do with it. Can you call our real estate agent?”
Serena frowned and said,
“You’re not thinking of selling the house are you?”
“Of course not! I’m thinking of buying one!”
---
Dominic Pedro was not having
a good day. Earlier that week, he had
received notice from the owners of his house that the house was being
sold. He had thought that it would take
a long time to sell because he figured that no one in their right mind would
want to buy the dump. However, he
received another notice yesterday that the house was sold at above the asking
price and that the new owner would be coming in today to make an
inspection.
Dominic had spent the entire
morning, trying to whip his people into shape.
Everyone was running around in a helter skelter, trying to get the place
cleaned up. While his people cleaned up,
Dominic kept hoping against hope that the new owner was not going to evict him
and his people.
The doorbell rang and
Dominic hurried to open it. He opened it
to find a raven haired beauty on his doorstep.
Her sultry seductive features took his breath away and he belatedly
realized that he had been standing with his mouth open. He quickly stepped to the side to allow the
beautiful woman in. If the woman shocked
him into silence, her companion made him explode in disbelief. “You!”
The young man that had
followed the beautiful woman in smiled apologetically and said, “Yes, Dominic,
it’s me.”
“What…what’re you doing
here?”
“I’m here to look at my new
house.”
“What?!”
The young man closed the
door behind him and gave Dominic a hard look.
“You know who I am, don’t you?”
Dominic knew from the way
the young man asked the question that he wasn’t asking if Dominic knew his
name. In fact, Dominic knew of the young
man from various conversations with Brandon, Jade and the other members of the
Children of the Night. He had never met
the young man face to face though, and certainly had never expected him to
waltz into his house! “You’re the
angel.”
The young man shook his head
and said, “I vaguely remember asking you not to call me that. I’m not an angel. My name is Michael Wellington. This is my sister Serena.”
Memories flooded back to
Dominic. Memories of another beautiful
woman who had died in his arms. “What do
you want?” he asked, more harshly than he had intended.
Michael looked unfazed and
said, “I’ve heard of the stuff that you’re doing here. Tracy and her friends spend a lot of time
here. I’ve come with a gift and a
proposal.”
Suddenly suspicious, Dominic
asked sternly, “What kind of proposal?”
“Don’t you want to see the
gift first?” asked Michael innocently.
“I want to know what you
want,” said Dominic tersely.
Michael sighed deeply. “Look, I want you to know that I’m deeply
sorry about Adrianna. I was too far away
to help.”
Dominic ignored him and
looked at Serena. “Is he ever going to
tell me what he wants, or can I ask you?”
Serena gave him a bemused smile
and said, “Michael’s plan has merit. You
should listen to what he has to say.”
“Look,” said Michael
patiently, “I want to help you and your people to get good legitimate jobs.”
“We already have good
legitimate jobs and it’s barely enough to pay the exorbitant rent!” snapped
Dominic.
“Not anymore,” said Michael
happily. He gestured to Serena and she
opened a briefcase that Dominic hadn’t noticed her carrying. She handed a bunch of papers to Dominic.
“What’s all this?” he asked
suspiciously.
“Oh not much. Just some legal documents that state that you
are now the owner of this house.”
Michael was grinning openly now.
“Me?” That one word was all that Dominic could
manage. He was shocked speechless.
“That,” said Michael with a
gesture to the papers in Dominic’s hands, “is the gift. Now we come to the proposal.”
“Maybe we would be more
comfortable if we could all sit down,” said Serena smoothly.
Wordlessly, Dominic led his
two visitors deeper into his house. In
the kitchen, they all sat around the large round table and looked at one
another. Michael was the first to break
the silence.
“Look, I could not save
Adrianna. However, I think that if we
all work together, we can make it so that her death will be the last violent
one.”
Dominic sat silently for
several minutes. He kept flipping
through the papers as if in a daze.
Finally, the words that Michael had spoken made their way into his
consciousness. He looked up and said,
“I’m listening.”
---
On the night before May’s
departure,
<<Are you sure about this, Big Bro?>>
As sure as I have ever been, Michael.
<<What about these…uh…whatever you call
them…things that you made?>>
All I know is that it seemed like the right thing to
do. I know that I cannot stop May from
taking this trip. I know that I cannot
go with her. It would be too easy for me
to simply burn anyone who even remotely looks like they are about to harm
her. This is the best way I can think
of. In a small way, a part of me will be
going with her.
<<Yeah, you could say that again. I’ve never seen anything like it
before.>>
There are many things that you have not seen yet,
young one!
<<Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Anyway, the way you pulled those things out
of you…it was incredible! But, are you
sure that they’ll work?>>
They will work.
I knew that I could not simply pull a piece of myself and give it to
May. It would become a mindless energy
devouring life form.
<<Yeah, but it would have most of our powers,
right?>>
It would, but at a very high cost. I cannot give something like that to May.
<<So, you came up with these – whatever they’re
called – and you’re going to give them to May?>>
Correct. They
have been stripped of most of their power.
They will have minimal energy consumption requirements and if May uses
them wisely, they will give her an edge.
<<I see.
So, are you going to stand here all day or are you going to
knock?>>
Before
“You came!” she exclaimed
happily. “I was just finishing up my
packing. I was just in the middle of
trying to figure out how to get my nightsticks shipped out to me. I don’t think they’ll make it through
customs.”
“Perhaps I can help,” said
“I wish!” said May
wistfully. “Chun Peng’s last message to
my mother stated that you are not to come with me to
“That was not what I meant,”
said
“Really? Aww, you shouldn’t have! Is it something I can unwrap?”
“In a manner of
speaking.” From under his wings,
“Ooh, nice ribbons!”
May started to reach for the
ribbons but
“What do you mean?” asked
May. However, she stared hard into his
pure blue eyes and she knew exactly what he meant. She let out a wordless wail and buried her
face into his chest. She sobbed there
for several minutes.
Eventually, May calmed down
and backed away. She dried her tears and
said contritely, “I’m sorry about that.
I just…I just wish I didn’t have to go, but if I don’t…I’m so scared!”
“I know.”
“I’m going to miss everyone
so much! Especially you!”
“Hopefully, these will let
you know that I will always be near you,” said
“What are they?”
“They were once a part of
me. I have modified them so that they no
longer have many of my powers. Powers
such as mine have a great cost, and I am not ready to allow you to be burdened
with those costs.”
May reached for the ribbons
in
“They responded to my
thoughts!” she exclaimed in disbelief.
“They are coded to your DNA
now,” said
May examined her arms in
admiration. She looked as if she were
wearing silvery ribbons on her arms between her wrists and her elbows. She was sure that they would be completely
unnoticed under her clothes. “What can
they do?”
“That is entirely up to
you. They were once a part of me. As I am a being of substantial power, I am
also a being who needs substantial power.
In order to ensure that you do not have to pay the power price, I have
removed almost all of the abilities from them.”
“Almost?” May flexed her arms experimentally. She dropped into a combat stance and tried a
few punches. The ribbons did not affect
her movement in any way. She tapped one
of them and was surprised to find that it felt hard and soft at the same time. “I think I could probably block attacks with
them. I wonder if they’ll get in the way
of my nightsticks.”
As if on cue, the ribbons
suddenly flashed to life. They slithered
off her arms, down to her hands and coiled and shaped themselves into a pair of
silver nightsticks.
“Cool!”
“It appears that they retain
the ability to change their shapes,” said
“No kidding! I wonder if –“ May concentrated for a moment
and suddenly the nightsticks in her hands reshaped themselves into two silver
Tai Chi swords. She swung them around
experimentally and found their weight to be almost negligible. She frowned and thought about her
nightsticks. In response, the weapons in
her hands reshaped themselves back. She
could get used to this!
She walked over to the
corner of her room that held her wooden dummy.
It was simply a tall stout wooden stand with several wood branches
sticking out of it. She used it for practicing
her punch and kick combinations. She
twirled her right nightstick and swung it at the wooden dummy. She had not intended to put much power behind
the blow but the wooden dummy was knocked over as if she had hit it full
on. She understood the implications
immediately. The ribbons not only shaped
themselves to whatever weapon she needed, but they also amplified her hitting
power.
She experimented some
more. She turned the right ribbon into a
sword and the left one into a small shield.
She even tried putting the ribbons together and found that she could make
a larger sword or a larger shield. When
she was satisfied that she could control the ribbons, she allowed them to coil
back up on her forearms.
She turned to
“I will always be there for
you, May. If you ever find yourself in a
situation where you need me, simply think of me and I will hear you.”
May’s eyes became wet and
she felt as if her heart would burst.
Before she made a fool of herself again though, she asked another
question. “You mentioned something about
a power price. What is it?”
“These ribbons retain my
ability to shape shift. As such, their
power requirements are very minimal.
While they are attached to your body, they will absorb the excess energy
that your body generates. However, if
you ever feel them getting ice cold, you must remove them immediately. Lay them out in the sun for a while and they
will recharge. I wanted to give you
something more powerful, but as I said, the power cost would be high for a
human body.”
“Don’t worry! These are perfect!” May wrapped her arms around
“As will I.”
“I have to spend the night
with
“Great! Here, this is for him.” May gave
---
A lot of people turned out
to see May off the next day. It warmed
her heart to see all her friends and family one last time before heading out
into the unknown. She knew that she was
going to miss each and everyone one of them.
The only person who was not
there was her grandfather. She was still
not entirely sure how she felt about him and his most recent revelations. Shortly after her visit, he had slipped back
into a coma, and this time, it appeared that he may not wake from it.
May had never felt so alone
before. As the plane ran down the runway
and took off, she felt as if it were bringing her further and further away from
everything she loved. She knew it was
ridiculous. Her grandfather had already
predicted that she would return. But if
she did return, did that mean that she would pass the tests? If she did pass them, what did that mean for
her future?
No matter how she looked at
it, a part of her life was coming to an end.
Her time at her grandfather’s school, her leadership of the Children of
the Night; it all seemed as if they were already part of her past. Her future, at this moment, seemed
uncertain. However, she knew that she
would face this future with all her strength and determination.
May glanced out of the
window and watched as
End Part 2 - Warrior