The first time Juliette looked into her daughter’s eyes, she felt something strange. It was as if she was staring at a mirror, looking directly into her own eyes but still having that odd sense of unfamiliarity within the familiarity, however that was possible. Her bright, green eyes dazzled her from the moment she laid her eyes on the fragile human being (although she wasn’t entirely a human being) resting against her chest. Her name was Jane Warner. And she had a gift.
Jane wasn’t quite sure what was happening to her at first. She didn’t understand why people gasped and stared in utter amazement every time her mother touched her. It all seemed so silly for young Jane. Was there a new law that banned mothers from carrying their own children? Were young girls considered dangerous? It wasn’t until she reached the age of nine that she understood why. Her parents had kept the truth away for too long. Yes, she did know that there were people who had ‘powers’ or ‘gifts’ or whatever they were universally known as. But she didn’t know that she had a gift, too. She had it all along.
“Mo-om,” Jane sang, walking towards the front porch of their house. “Can I please go out?” She clasped her hands over her mother’s arm and shook her violently, abruptly waking her up.
Juliette yawned and ran the side of her hand along Jane’s cheek, and then said, “It isn’t safe to go out, Jane. Maybe in the morning.”
As a response, Jane groaned and stormed back into the house. It had been more than twenty years since it all happened. One would think that the mayhem was finally gone and peace reigned throughout the world, but there would always be people who’d try to reestablish the world that was once reestablished by others. However, things were definitely better. The Reestablishment was turned into a void of nothingness and replaced by a new kind of government run by the man himself, Aaron Warner. As much as he hated to take the position of his ruthless father, he had no choice. He had a vision and he was determined to turn that vision into a reality.
And especially with his family, the most precious thing in his life, he vowed to turn society from the mess it had been for years into a place of freedom and equality. He didn’t want his only child to experience the horrors Juliette had gone through. He didn’t want her to live that part of the past. He just wanted her to be safe.
Now Warner was sitting in the living room, talking to a few officials about his plans for the future. He watched her daughter storm by him, her long, brown hair draped over her shoulders like a waterfall, and her fists clenched and clipped to her sides.
“Jane,” Warner called, motioning with his hand for her to come over. “I’d like you to meet some of my friends.”
She stopped in her tracks and turned her head to forcefully smile at him. “Hello,” she said, and quickly added, “Goodbye” before she slammed shut the door to her bedroom.
Warner quickly apologized to his friends. “You know how fifteen-year olds are,” he said with a hard laugh. His friends laughed along with him, and Warner made it seem like he easily dealt with this every day, but his eyes kept darting to Jane’s door. He had to check on her.
He stood, but was pulled back down when a gentle hand brushed behind his neck. He looked up. Juliette. She smiled at him quickly and nodded at his friends. To Warner, she whispered, “She hates me.”
“No one can hate you, love,” he murmured, landing a quick peck on the back of her hand. Juliette smiled brightly at this. He’d never stopped calling her ‘love’. The word had stuck to her. Every time she’d hear it spoken from his lips, she felt like she was falling in love with him all over again.
