Revolution #9

Torn in Two

The bruise was already painting his back many shades of blue. Pulling his black T-shirt off was painful. Adam laid down wearily on his stomach. He was definitely getting too old for this rollercoaster ride he called a life. "Donna, do me a favor, please?"

"What is it?"

"Over there is the door to my closet," he pointed. "There's a medicine cabinet to your right. Get the camphor cream on the top shelf, please?"

"Sure." Man, that bruise was really nasty. Donna went to look for the salve and entered his closet for the first time. How neat could a man be? Angela was right, Adam was a control freak. Besides the ever present black theme, there were carefully separate outfits for particular looks, such as GSAgent, insurance inspector. All labeled. Don't be nosy, girl.

Adam had crossed his arms and his head was resting on them. "Please, would you...?" He pointed again, this time to is back. "Lux tossed me with all her strength. I'll be too stiff tomorrow."

"Of course. Just relax and I'll make sure that I won't hurt you when I put this stuff on you." Donna sniffed at the camphor cream. "Man, I hate the way this stuff smells. My dad had to use it on his leg." She rubbed the salve on the bruised areas of his back.

"Thank you! It feels great, though. Why did your father need it?"

Donna sighed. "He injured his back at work. The pain went all the way down to his legs. The left one especially. Had to beat on it to numb it sometimes."

"Ciatic nerve compression. It hurts pretty bad." Her hands were kneading his sore muscles. "Donna, this is great. You know what you're doing, don't you?"

She chuckled. "I, uh, I have a pretty good feeling."

Adam smiled. "You and your feelings."

"I can't help it you know."

"I know. Precog is involuntary." The smile faded from his mouth and he turned to face her. "Donna, about your feelings, what did you really see in the vision you had with Lux?"

She pondered her answer for a couple of second. "I saw all the spirit animals of my friends, your spirit animal. By the way did you know you have an owl?"

"An owl? Are you sure?" Adam bit his lips as he did when thinking something over. "I read about the spirit animals on Blair's dissertation."

"When I look into the owl's eyes, I see you," said Donna. "It's a tribal thing."

"Donna, when Tremayne had me by the hand, I saw an owl." Adam had thought he was losing his mind when the desease inducing mutant had turned against him. "And not only that. I saw a wolf, a tiger, a jaguar, a hawk and a fox. They were attacking a forest of living trees." That was one of the strangest visions of his life. "What does it mean?"

Donna was a psichology major with minor in anthropology. Sentinels and Guides was one of her favorite subjects. "Blair is a wolf, Jim a jaguar, Sam a hawk and Mac is a fox. Cory's animal is the tiger. Or rather they have those animals as spirit guides."

"And I have an owl? What do I need a spirit guide for?" asked Adam.

Donna Gryphon could get in lecture mood, too. "According to tribal beliefs everyone has one. They help steer us in the right direction and warn us of impending danger."

"When you, Rev and Lux reverted Tremayne's power to him, I saw an owl plunge its talons on his chest."

"That must have been your spirit guide's way of protecting you," explained Donna.