Legacy

Chapter One

She couldn't move. The nightmare had taken hold of her again, the deafening screams of both Liann and Jake when they heard the news, the sadness that invaded her mother's eyes. The worst part of this nightmare is that she had been taken there by Adrian every single night for the past 12 years, so she knew it by heart. The cries of alarm, the metal sphere, Kiewrath endangering Alice's cocoon. Adrian screaming for Reese, the scream distracting Aunt Sam and Aunt Alice, then the shooting in her head. She felt frozen, dead. Her hand went to the nightstand, where she kept the bracelet aunt Alice made for her when she was 3. The bracelet was a metal rendition of her spirit animal according to Alice: the bear of healing. Boy, did she need healing right now.

She managed to get up and walk to her closet and get a small towel, then to Adrian's room, where she saw him sweating and grunting in his sleep, the tears streaming form his face. She knew the nightmare was not really a nightmare, she knew he shared these thoughts with her without his knowledge, and that he would hate himself for ever doing it if he found out. She walked towards his bed, took his hand, and slowly passed her free hand through his light brown hair. He let it grow this long because he decided to not join the Air Force in the end. He reacted to her touch, waking up disoriented; her almost nightly ritual.

"Hey, you had another one." Rowan smiled and helped Adrian sit up.
"And my room being at the end of the hall while yours is at the beginning, I will always wonder how you get here just in time."
"Well, you can read my mind, but I won't let you. Let's just say you are a screamer, and not the good kind."

Rowan laughed while Adrian looked at her with a mix of embarrassment and fake anger. It had been this way since Reese had brought him over to Clara and Rob's, and Clara had declared that Sam's son was her son, and that Reese should take care of poor little Kiewrath, since at the moment Michelle and Marten were running god knows where, and Marie and John were so far away with Kai-Linn and Steve. They had divided into two groups that lived relatively close to each other, in case any of them needed immediate support. Michelle and Marten were convinced that they could be traced if they stayed together but agreed to maintain communication via Adrian as to their address during the time. Anna, their daughter, had written to Rowan the most and the two girls were as close as if they'd spoken in person every day. Thanks to Kiewrath's computer skills, the physical letters turned to e-mails and chats, but Rowan treasured those lavender smelling envelopes.

They'd been apart for almost fifteen years, but now the kids were going to be together in one place. Even Anna, whose parents had to give in to her desires to at least experience a "normal" college education. Michelle and Marten were against it, but when they found out that Liann and Jacob, John, Kiewrath, Adrian and Rowan were going to the same college, they gave their consent, also with the knowledge that Clara and Rob, the most powerful after Sam and Alice, we going to be a mere ten minutes away. Anna was on her way to Clara's house; she would be there in about four hours. Rowan decided that sleep would not come to either of them, so she decided that they would make their aunt Michelle and uncle Marten some breakfast.

They arrived an hour before the expected time, but they were still met with a succulent breakfast that Clara declared her children did not make, even for her. Michelle and Marten were fond of Rowan, and felt safer with Adrian around, so it was possible to experience a little of the original personalities that had charmed the rest of the group into a close friendship. There was laughter, there were cautionary talks given, and in the end, Michelle and Marten decided to go pay Kiewrath's father a visit, at Clara's request. Anna hugged Rowan tightly, and smiled when Adrian went to do the same. Adrian was the closest thing in her mind to a brother, since it was with him that she shared news of herself and her family whenever she was close enough for Adrian to catch her. It used to be only one or two states apart, now his power had grown to be able to reach her halfway around the country.