The Centerpoint Trilogy (8 page)

Two weeks later, Anna and Ethan sat at the park. It was a small, local park and it was a lovely spring day. They were far from the only ones to be enjoying the sunshine and the lovely place to sit. There were families having picnics, people riding bikes and kids running around the grass like maniacs. Ethan couldn’t help laugh at the way that two kids of about ten chased each other, yelling something about a dragon. The imagination of young people would never cease to amaze him. That was part of why teaching had become his ideal career. It was something he had always wanted to do because he loved the young mind. Anna and Ethan were sitting on a blanket. They had just had a wonderful picnic in the park. They had made sandwiches, salad and brought along drinks. Anna tilted her head back and leaned on Ethan’s shoulder. They had not been dating that long, but nearly dying together had honestly attached them at the hip. He was pretty sure that they were going to last, honestly and by the look in Anna’s eyes, she had to believe it too. They had something strong; whether that something was magical or mundane was yet to be known.

The pair were not alone. Alicia was with them. She sat on the other side of their blanket, legs crossed under her. The woman was watching while her daughter ran and played. She had told them, just a week earlier, that her daughter had been named Rhiannon by her grandmother. Her grandmother had a Welsh best friend named Sasha, who told her that the name meant great queen. Whether or not the baby was a queen, she was certainly great. Her power was immense, scary. They were all a little afraid of the potential that she had. It was obvious that the powers Alicia had were hereditary and had also become stronger when passed on to the child.

As she played, it became more than obvious that all of the adults were watching her and reflecting. They were wondering what this great queen would become, really. Her potential was great and Anna and Ethan were pretty sure nobody knew it more than her mother did. Alicia looked at her with a scared, no, terrified expression on her face. She looked at Ethan, who nodded. There was a lot to fear. They could not deny the fear.

While they thought, the girl played. She was two years old and an excitable, energetic child. Alicia told them that she played games in her mind and Ethan could see those games too. There was no way that the bright eyed child was living on the same plane as the adults were. She saw things in a way that they could never imagine.  Her eyes were wide and like the older kids, she too was playing a game of make-believe, but the game was inside of her brilliant mind. Ethan had gotten lost in the silence for awhile when Alicia spoke up, catching both of their attentions.

“She’s killed someone,” Alicia said. The report had come out and the body of the man who kidnapped them had been found in the fire, as well as that of the woman he killed. Somehow, the blonde had escaped. “She’s only two years old and she killed someone. She has absolutely no idea just how powerful she is.” The pain in the woman’s eyes broke her heart. He’d never had a child in his life, of course, but he could not imagine the pain that she was in. Her little girl had killed. It was a mother’s absolutely nightmare.

Anna shifted a little. Responding to this movement, Ethan put both arms around her. He really felt that he was falling in love with this girl. There was something beyond extraordinary about her. She was beautiful, perfect and he loved her. He loved her with all of his heart.  He squeezed her shoulder and she spoke to Alicia. “Alicia,” Anna said gently, leaning up against Ethan. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to help her. She’s the next generation of...whatever this mess is, and we’re there for her.”

Alicia sighed heavily. “I’m just scared.”

Ethan kept his arm around Anna, but looked at Alicia with as comforting of an expression as he could manage. “We’re all in this together,” he said. As cliched as that statement really seemed to him, it was true. They had all been thrust together and they were not leaving the bonds that they had formed. “Anna and I are here for you and we’re going to protect Rhiannon.”

Almost as if on cue, the little girl rushed up to them. She flung her arms around her mother and hugged her, squealing out loud, “Mommy!” The girl was a fit of giggles, as if she had seen something immensely funny in that world that small children lived within. That world was the most precious thing and they had to protect it.  Alicia hugged her tightly and above her shoulder, Ethan saw her smile. They would all be okay. This was never going to just end, but they’d be strong.

Ethan felt a lot about the future generation. The man who had kidnapped them, he had said something about the future and he was pretty sure that kids like Alicia’s daughter were, in fact, the key. The future was very cloudy, but at the same time they would be strong. They would hold on, because it was all they really could manage to do.

It was almost a month until Anna and Ethan were able to go on a proper date. They had talked about it often, but both were very busy. When they finally were able to, it was a relief. It was, Anna could not help but note out loud, what normal people did when they cared about each other.

The restaurant was very nice and definitely screamed normal. It was a small cafe, with tables that had checkered tablecloths and candles on every table. The atmosphere was casual, yet there was a hint of romance that Ethan could see from a mile away that Anna loved. They were shown to a table near the back of the room and he held out the chair for her. She sat down and smiled at him, a faint blush on her face. If she loved this, then he would make it perfect for her.

“It’s so nice and normal,” Anna teased, a fake look of amazement in her eyes that made Ethan laugh. He had to agree that it was very nice and normal. A month after the most horrible thing had happened to them, they were all doing a pretty good job at getting the normal and mundane back into their lives. They truly deserved it, after all that they had been through since they were little children.

“It really is,” Ethan agreed.

Anna looked pleased, but there was something that bothered her. He could see it in her eyes, weighing away at the back of her mind. Ethan was rather concerned about that. He cared about Anna more than he had ever cared about any woman. She was special and the bond between them was something that they would explore in the years to come. It meant that no matter what, he was supposed to be beside her, and yes, that was what he wanted too.

“Anna, you okay?” he asked.

Anna nodded and looked at him with an expression that was pretty much apologetic. “Sorry, Ethan,” she mumbled awkwardly. “I just had a thought and I really can’t shake it.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t help wonder if us being together is our choice,” Anna said, her voice small. She averted her eyes, like she was a little bit embarrassed by her words. He honestly thought that was silly. It was natural for her to wonder such a thing, because he often wondered the same. They had been thrust together in the strangest way. “Is it on us that we’re together right now, or is it on him?”

Ethan understood how grim that thought was. They really had something good and a lot of care for each other fast, but at the same time the thought hung over their head that those feelings were manufactured. Nobody wanted to believe that anything they felt was manufactured. “Maybe he did bring us together,” Ethan said honestly, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “Honestly, I believe that he did force us together somehow. The abilities that he gave us did bring us together, but nothing, Anna, nothing can change how I feel about you right now.” She needed to know that. The situation might have been created, but his feelings for her were real and all him.

Anna looked at him with the biggest smile on her face. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his, absolutely smiling. He smiled back at her, stroking a hand through her hair. She was the perfect person and he was lucky that she was part of his life. He sat back down in his seat. He was honestly in love.

Whatever the future brought.

EPILOGUE

Three months later, Ethan was in the blessed position of being able to watch Anna sleep. They still did not live together yet, but they would be moving into Anna’s place as soon as possible. It was nicer than Ethan’s, and she had been meaning to find a roommate anyway. He really enjoyed staying with her at her apartment in the meantime, because that meant he could watch her as she slept.

It wasn’t in a creepy way. Anna was just the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen in his life. Her soft red hair framed her face perfectly and he loved the way that her chest rose and fell with each breath. Her mouth always seemed to be curved upward into a smile, especially after they spent a night together. That made him feel immensely powerful. He was the man who put the smile on that angel’s face, after all.

Ethan thought back. The man who had kidnapped them as children, and again tried to destroy them as adults was called Kahn. Kahn North was his name.  He had been in jail for the twenty years following the initial kidnappings and had just been released before his second attempt. He was now dead. His body had been recovered in the fire. With him, the police hoped, so went the last traces of the Celestial Centerpoint cult. Ethan knew that was a load of crap.

He wasn’t trying to be negative, just realistic. The blonde woman had made it out of the fire somehow. There had also been evidence to say that there were others out there. Then there was Alicia’s baby Rhiannon and how powerful she was. There was no way, in Ethan’s mind, that it was over. When he looked at Anna, he knew for sure, in his very soul that it was never going to be over.

Anna slept silently, but there was the faintest hint of restlessness in her. He projected to her, in her mind, that she was okay, but there was still that gentle stirring of her body. She moved about a little and made small grunting noises. Her face furrowed up in discomfort and he ran his hand over her back. He ran it up and down the base of her spine. She was really the most beautiful woman alive.

              Anna woke up. She yawned and stretched her back, before sitting up. “I’m going to be sick again,” she said with a sad laugh. She then got up and ran towards the bathroom. Her feet made soft pattering sounds on the ground.

Yes, she was pregnant. Yes, they were having a daughter. Yes, they had used protection, but Ethan had a feeling that fate did not care about that. Her name was going to be Genesis, the bringer of a new era and she was going to be amazing.

Counterpoint

(Part Two of the Point Trilogy)

by Kayla Bruner

Chapter One

              Anna hated nightmares. For her, they were dark and vivid and yet she could hardly remember them. All she knew when she jolted out of bed was that her daughter, Genesis, was in danger. The girl had been screaming for her, begging for her mommy to come and save her and Anna had been paralyzed. She had been in pain, holding onto her own body as if she was sure that her soul was going to jump straight out of it. She had been screaming, but there was no way that her body was going to let her go to her baby girl. The idea made her heart hurt. No. Her daughter needed her. She needed to be there. Her desperation was that only experienced by a mother. She could not breathe. She had to get to her daughter.

When she woke up, Anna realized that she must have been screaming in the night, because her husband was talking loudly and had pulled her in her arms. Ethan’s arms were wide and strong, wrapping firmly around her. Their room was also in shambles. The nightstand by their bed had toppled over and with it a vase that was full of flowers and water. Her stomach twisted. Her powers were usually under her control, but not this time. There were rumpled bed covers on the floor and several pictures had been yanked right off of the nails holding them. Obviously, she had been using her powers while she was asleep.

Ethan pulled her into the tight protection of his arms. There was nothing quite as safe as having Ethan’s arms wrapped around her. She closed her eyes and then she found that she was relaxing. It was the best thing, the most powerful thing. She leaned against him and shook her head. When she spoke, the first thing that came out of her mouth was a deep, “Sorry, I’m sorry Ethan.” She hated that she could lose so much control. She lost control of her mind and body both and that disturbed her so much. She needed control if she was going to fight the world around her. “I had a nightmare. I didn’t mean to let loose.”

Ethan stroked her shoulders lightly. She often became hot at night, so she was only wearing a tanktop and shorts. His hands moved over her bare shoulders and down her back, until it hit the small curve of her back. He continued to touch her like this, until she caught her breath. She gave her husband a look full of gratitude. There was so much to be thankful for. Ethan saved her every day and she knew it was mutual.  “Thank you so much,” she whispered, leaning on his broad shoulders. Ethan was thin, but there was a part of him that was so broad, so secure and safe. His arms made her feel especially secure. She felt much better when she had the man’s arms around her.

The man’s eyes were furrowed with an intense concern. “Anna, darling,” he whispered, still touching her to make her feel better. They had been together for over five years and Ethan was very skilled at making everything feel just a little bit better. He knew her. He knew what made her tick. “Anna, you’ve had a lot of nightmares lately. Why is that?”

She swallowed and tried to respond nonchalantly. She did not want Ethan to worry about her. It was hard for her to burden someone else, even if it was her husband. She liked to be strong all on her own.. “I don’t know,” she said honestly, although she had a few sinking suspicions in the back of her mind. For most people, nightmares were no big deal but she couldn’t help imagine that something sinister was attached to hers. It had been five years since anything bad happened, but she still believed that something truly could. Their daughter was special, they were special and the world was not kind to those with powers beyond that of the natural world.

              Ethan seemed very worried. He was just as suspicious of the whole event as Anna was, she could tell. Her husband was an intelligent man and there was nothing she could do about it. She could not stop him from fearing the same things that she feared.  “What happened in the nightmare?” he asked. Even more hesitantly, he asked her, “Sweetie, do you think it could have anything to do with...all that?”

She shook her head at that. She knew that it was pretty much a sign of her denial, but she could not deal with the idea that the dreams had anything to do with all of that. She was a grown woman and was no longer plagued by nightmares of the past. Her daughter’s birth had signified that she had moved past the victimization that she and Ethan both suffered at the hands of the Celestial Centerpoint, but still, Genesis was five years old now and she couldn’t help think that it was time for her abilities to make her relevant to some ancient conspiracy.

Genesis was no normal child. Her parents had been kidnapped when they were six and seven years old, respectively. The man who had kidnapped them was a man named Kahn North, the leader of a cult called the Celestial Centerpoint. Kahn had intended on making the children that he took special. He performed a ritual when they were young that had left them with extraordinary powers. He had called Ethan and Anna the minds. Their powers involved matters of the mind - Ethan was a telepathic man who could project his thoughts to others and sometimes, when strong thoughts were directed towards him, Ethan could hear them.  Anna, herself, was a telekinetic who was capable of moving things with her mind. From the smallest pieces of dirt and debri, to something that weighed about a hundred pounds or so, she could move it. Heavier things, she struggled with, but they wiggled and moved slightly all the same.

Unfortunately, things had not stopped with the generation of Ethan and Anna. They had been kidnapped again five years earlier. Their escape from North and his insane disciples had been made possible by the effort of a small child named Rhiannon. Another one of their captive friends was a woman named Alicia. Alicia had been part of what North called the fires. She was very capable at sending a blast of fire at those who crossed her. The blast was powerful, unforgiving and stronger than anything Anna had ever seen.  Her daughter inherited this gift too, but her gift was stronger and harder to control. She was taken when they were, by North, as a hostage. The stress of being taken had led to two year old Rhiannon burning down an apartment and killing North. It had broken their hearts to see such a small child with such incredible ability.

              The children were more powerful than their parents were. Rhiannon was strong and now, at eight, she could control her powers a lot better than when she was two.  They scared her mother half to death most of the time and Anna truly believed, looking at Rhi, that the eight year old was also scared of what she was capable of. She did not want to use her powers and was fearful when she did use them unwittingly.

If possible, her daughter Genesis was even stronger. At only five, she had already taken her parents’ abilities and made them more intense. She could project her distress in pictures, as well as words and she could throw a tantrum that left a damaged house in it’s wake. In the earliest days, Anna had been afraid of upsetting her daughter. She had come home to too many scenes that resembled her bedroom’s current state of affairs.  Gen too became hesitant about her powers as soon as she got older. She did not like to use the special thing. Still, she was as special as possible. Those girls were the most precious things that existed. It was plain and simple.

“Anna,” Ethan said, his voice low and tense. She could tell that her husband was not going to let her lie about the fears that she was having. “Did it have anything to do with Gen?”

Anna nodded a little at that. She hated to admit it to him, but she could not lie. What use would lying be? Plus, her relationship with Ethan had never been one of lies. “I just can’t let myself believe that right now,” she whispered. “They’ve been quiet for five years, Ethan. The man who did this to us is dead. Why can’t things be peaceful now?” Anna knew, instinctively, just how pathetic her denial sounded, but she could not help herself. She did not want to deal with it. She could not deal with it. It was too much. It made her chest ache. She was afraid.

Ethan was comforting, but stern. He stroked her hair lightly. “Anna, love, we would both love to believe that, of course, but we always suspected that something was coming involving the children.” He looked fearful. His eyes were narrowed and a muscle in his face near his jaw twitched, lightly. That made Anna feel more uncomfortable, more afraid than she had ever been.

“Ethan!” she yelled, not frustrated at him, but at her own mind. “If something bad is coming and it’s going to target the girls, then it’s going to take form in something a lot stronger than dreams.”

“He came to us in dreams before!” Ethan retorted.

Her husband was, of course, correct. Kahn North had been a fixture in Anna and Ethan’s dreams in the days and months that preceded their eventual second abduction. It was not entirely absurd to believe that dreams meant something when dreams had foreshadowed what was going to happen before. Still, Anna felt denial hold onto her heart like it was a clamp. So what if she was a telekinetic who could move things with her mind who had an extraordinary daughter? She just wanted to be normal for a while longer.

“We need to sleep,” she told Ethan gruffly, a tone that she hoped informed him that their discussion was completely over. She turned over in bed, shifting so that her back was facing towards him. She could feel the heat of his gaze on the back of her neck and lowered her head down, sinking into the comfort of her tight coverings. She knew she was irrational for the moment, but she just needed time to process..  “Ethan, you have work in the morning!”

Ethan made a small sound. That was when she heard her thoughts in his head.

I’m scared, Anna.

             
She sighed at that, knowing she was being needlessly rude to the man that she loved and who loved her as well. She was taking out her aggression on the man she loved so much. Ethan should not have to suffer her fears. He was just as afraid. She frowned. “I know Ethan,” she said out loud. The way that she was feeling in that moment, she could have projected it at him so loud that it physically hurt. She much preferred her physical voice, especially when the last thing she wanted to think about was her husband’s supernatural powers. “I am too, but we’re going to protect Gen. You and I, Ethan, we’re going to keep her safe. I’m sorry for being mean. Sleep, babe. You have work early.”

Ethan touched her back gently. She responded by doing the only thing that she could think of. She turned around and looked into his eyes. They were a soft pair of eyes that always represented comfort to Anna. There was something so utterly comforting to Anna. He had seen her through the best and worse with those beautiful eyes and she loved them. She leaned over and kissed him, stroking his cheek. “Come on now sweetie,” she said. “You have to get up bright and early to fill those young minds with knowledge. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Ethan softened at her words and her kiss. He relented, slowly. The tension bled out of his face and his expression slackened, just a little. “Okay,” he said, nuzzling his face to hers and gently laying back a little. She stroked his face, trying to get him to rest. She really did care about his rest. He needed to be well rested to have a successful day. “We’ll talk tomorrow Anna.”

              “Of course we will,” Anna said, leaning forward and cuddling to him. Ethan was a person who slept well with close contact. She was more than willing to give that to her beautiful, loving husband.

Ethan fell asleep rather quickly. Ethan was a heavy sleeper, for the most part, so she knew that she would not disturb him when she got up out of bed. He slept on his back with one hand draped over his stomach. His face was furrowed up, but he seemed content, peaceful. He looked absolutely angelic.. That was something that made Anna feel so much better. She got out of bed and carefully tiptoed her way over to her daughter Genesis’ room.

              Genesis was asleep as well. The five year old looked very much like her father, with soft brown hair that was shaggy, but straight. She did have Anna’s eyes, however, a bright green that shone so wonderfully on the baby. The girl was curled on on her side, fist clenched and was sleeping deeply. Anna leaned over and pressed a kiss to the girl’s head. She shifted, but thankfully she did not wake up. Genesis was a very special girl and that she could not deny, but in other ways she was very much just another five-year-old. She was clingy to her parents, sweet and intelligent. She was charismatic and easy to talk to. She was the perfect child. Anna had never known love until the day she found out she was pregnant. That love had only blossomed as Genesis was born and grew.

              Anna had to admit to herself that the dreams were coming more often and they were recurring. Every time that she woke up, she was not one-hundred percent sure of the details of what had happened, but all the same she felt that her daughter was in grave danger and she was in pain and unable to stop it. She was unable to save her daughter. That helplessness was starting to haunt her during her waking hours as well, making her feel all around awful. As much as she tried to dismiss the dreams, she could not deny that what she was feeling was real.

              Anna returned to her bedroom and joined her husband in bed. She knew that dreams were powerful. She reached over into the bedside drawer and found a small bottle of sleeping pills. She too needed rest and she knew that she was not going to get it otherwise. She took a pill, swallowing it dry. She laid back into the bed and let it coax her into a dreamless sleep.  It would all be okay.

Chapter Two

              Ethan woke up at six-thirty and his first instinct was to turn around and look at his wife. Anna was asleep, eyes shut tightly. He knew that her dreams were plaguing her, as much as she tried to downplay them out of a fear and denial that he wholeheartedly understood. She got angry when she was in denial, as opposed to him, who got quiet when he felt the same. He did not blame her though, for expressing her feelings in the way she knew best. Leaning down, Ethan pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her brow furrowed, but Anna did not wake up. He was really worried about his wife. She was seeing things and Ethan knew how powerful a dream truly could be.