The Originators

CHAPTER 21: EXCUSE ME, HAVE WE MET BEFORE? (POLL)

I.

Cradling her in my arms, I lift up her long auburn locks, twisting them in my fingers, letting them gather mass; dropping them so they hit her pale shoulders, splaying across both of us. I hold up one long strand loosened and hold it up to the light. Brilliant, bold, citrine it embodies Cassandra. My Cass. The one I lost years ago, and found again.

"Cass, you know how I told you I had waited for you forever?" I move her slight body on top of me so I can see her eyes.

"Yes. It was so romantic. Who would have thought you would be that mixture of inhuman strength, good looks, plus sensitivity? I'm still a little bit high just from finding you." She laughs; wiggling atop me in good humor.

"Cass, I have to ask you a serious question. Do you ever have visions about what might happen next; like, I don't know future visions?" She starts to pull away from me. I hold her arms; she has to look at me.

She tilts her head; not meeting my eyes, she looks to the right. Her left-brain is working this out.

"Well, I suppose. They kind of wipe me out when they happen. Laura was always sympathetic; the only one to ever believe me. She never made fun of me. She always believed me. When anyone was horrid to me, she would wither them with her moony eyes. They would stop or disappear."

Cass laughs, relieved her secret's out.

She flicks her hair out of her face, pulling it up into a messy, low-riding twist, "I always wondered what happened to some of the people who looked at us cross-eyed. Laura was a very cool, secret, scary girl when she was a teenager. She looked out for me though."

"I get that Cass. Sit up love." She pulls herself up. She flops back; bouncing back hard enough on the bed to end up sitting in front of me.

"What's up, my good man?" Pulling me up, she sinks her fingers into my biceps. "And, manly too." She starts to laugh hysterically; I shake her a bit.

"Stop Cass. This is very serious."

"Aren't you Mr. Grumpy."

"Cass, do you have any concept of past lives. Perhaps suspended lives. Someone is basically frozen in time."

She stares at me. In her pupils, I see the infinitesimal sliver of what I need to happen. A flicker of color turning electric.

"Like the old frozen food, we heard about? Back in the day; you'd freeze food, microwave it; hope for the best. They wrote about it, that it typically tasted like, well, re-chewed food. They ate it a long time before the Sun came making the whole concept suspect?" She wrinkles her nose, "Yuck."

"Exactly. There were some people, human so special; they were secreted in places no one would find; saved from death. Then when the time came; freed."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by saying, 'humans'?" Cass jumps off the bed. "Poll, please don't tell me I married a monster. I'm not really up for science fiction tonight. I love you. So, why are you telling me this? Why are you asking me about this?"

I study her pupils and another sliver alights.

I jump; I'm behind her instantly. She turns; another sliver flashes in her eyes.

"That was extremely fast; even for you Poll."

"Cassandra", I whisper in her ear, "Do you ever wonder where your parents are; why they are dead, no memory of them. I would bet you can't remember anything before age six when you first met up with Laura. Can you?"

"No." The inflection is drawn out; rising at the end.

"I have something I'd like you to take. Trust me. It will help you remember everything."