Travellers

Explanations

"Amber, you are what we call a traveller. You have the traveller gene in your DNA, and it enables you to be able to time-travel to any time you want. The gene is hereditary, and you inherited it from your mother."

Amber sat on the couch silently staring at him. When she didn't say anything, he continued on.

"I know that you may find this hard to believe, but you weren't born in this time. You were born back in the sixteenth century. At the time you were born, people had just begun to find out that your mother was a traveller, and she knew that your life would be in grave danger. As soon as she had you, she managed to escape into the woods with you and sent you to the future to keep you safe. Just after she sent you away she was captured - by her own husband - your father."

He watched her carefully as she took in all of the information. Her gaze didn't waver as her eyebrows knitted together in a slight frown.

"Okay," she said slowly. "For argument sake, let's just say that I believe everything you just said. Why would my father want to capture his own wife? If they were married, wouldn't they have loved each other?"

"To begin with, yes," he answered softly. "But in the beginning your father didn't know that your mother was a traveller."

Amber held up a finger to prevent him from saying anything further. "Hang on a sec, why are traveller's hated so much?"

Alex shrugged. "To begin with it was probably just because they were different. They could do things that no ordinary person could do. They were feared, I suppose. Fear can make people do crazy things. But as time passed, it was discovered that there was a way to duplicate the traveller gene and pass it onto people who didn't have the gene. But to successfully duplicate the gene usually costs the traveller their life. In a sense, the traveller gets drained of their travelling power and the strain it has on their body ... well ... no traveller can survive that. It's very unethical, but power-hungry people just don't care."

He stopped talking as he continued to watch Amber. Her colour had drained from her face, leaving her pale and clammy-looking.

"Are you okay?"

"So there are people out there that want to drain me of my power?" She ignored his question, asking one of her own.

Alex frowned as he looked at her. "Maybe we should stop for now," he suggested gently. "This is a lot of information to take - "

"No." Amber cut in, shaking her head vehemently. "I need to know. All the people that are going to come after me, are they going to want to drain me?"

His lips pursed tightly together for a moment before he answered. "The majority, yes," he answered, his voice going cold and hard just at the thought. "But there are still a few that will just want to kill you. They believe that a traveller is an abomination and has no right to live. I'm very sorry to say, but your father is a part of that group."

Silence overtook the small room as Amber tried to process everything. She believed him. His explanation explained her little trip to the woods the night before and the psycho that had been waiting for her in her own home. She reached up and rubbed her eyes, only realizing then that a few tears had escaped and were running down her cheeks. Wiping them away, she looked back to Alex who was still watching her carefully.

"And what about you?" she asked quietly. "Why are you helping me?"

Alex cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I was sent here to help you."

Amber frowned in confusion. "By who?"

"Let's just say, someone who has your best interests at heart." He got up and walked over to where Amber was sitting and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his own. "There's something different about you, Amber," he almost whispered. "You're definitely a traveller, but there's something more to you. You're a lot more special than any normal traveller." He stared deeply into her eyes and heard her breaths begin to come quicker. Hiding a smirk, he leaned in closer. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. No-one will hurt you." He gave her hands a squeeze before standing up and backing away.