After War Storm

Cal

After redressing ourselves, Mare and I gathered up our supplies and made our way to the village.

"So who are we looking for?" I asked. Mare pulled out the book, with list of Newbloods, from her bag, quickly read it, and put it back.

"His name is Greg Taylor. He's 47, married, two kids," she said.
"Are neither of the kids Newbloods?"
"They're not on the list but there's always the chance Julien missed someone. He did make the list in secret and the blood base is huge."
"Good point. We'll just have to see when we get there."
"And on top of that," Mare continued "his wife is originally from Montfort. She was a spy and moved over several years back."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, it surprised me. She'd been living here quite awhile before the war."
"It's strange to think that people could have been spies and we might never know. Not that I can think what information she was really gathering living here."

Before Mare could respond we stopped walking, reaching the edge of the village.

"According to the list, his address is 17 Acorn Street."
"Where is that?"
"The village isn't that big, it shouldn't be hard to find. I think the more pressing question is: what kind of stupid name is acorn street?"

I laughed, joining in with Mare. I loved her laugh. She sounded carefree, like she had no worries, and I loved to see her that way. With everything that had happened, to us, to her, it was rare to get a moment of pure happiness and peace.

"Let's get looking," I said and took Mare's hand as we walked into the village.

We checked every street and road for its name getting several looks as we did.

Most people just glanced, trying not to get caught staring. There were several looks towards our linked hands. No doubt the news of our visit here will be known to many by the end of the day and that we are together. No one had even known Mare was back in Norta, that's probably why people stared longer at her.

She didn't seem to notice though, focusing on looking for Acorn Street.

We soon found it as the village was small, as Mare had pointed out. After walking down the street, we stopped at the door that had a 17 on the front and Mare knocked.

A woman opened the door, appearing to be in her mid-forties.

"Good morning," Mare greeted her, smiling "we were hoping to be able to speak with your husband. Is he home?"
"Yes," the woman replied before turning and walking into the house. Strange.

We followed her in, me shutting the door behind us.

The woman led us to the kitchen. The house wasn't too bad. It was fairly small (I'd guess two bedrooms) but they had a decent living room and kitchen and the house didn't look that rundown.

In the kitchen a man was sat at the table with a boy who looked about 18 and a younger girl who looked about 9.

The man looked up from whatever he was reading and his eyes widened when they landed on Mare and I.

"Mare Barrow and Tiberius Calore, if I'm not mistaken," the man, who must be Greg, said. I cringed at my name.
"Cal, please," I said.
"What do we owe the pleasure?" Greg asked looking between Mare and I.

"We were hoping to ask you some questions," Mare spoke "if that would be okay with you?"
"Of course," he answered. "Should we sit in the living room out of the way of the others?"
"I think that would be a good idea," I said and Greg led us to the living room which we had already passed.

He sat down on one of the two small sofas and Mare and I on the other.

"So what did you come to talk about?" Greg asked.
"Firstly," Mare started "you are aware you're a Newblood, right?"
"Yeah, I'm aware."
"And what's your ability?" I asked.
"I'm a Gravitron but the thing is-"
"We'll get back to that in a minute," Mare interrupted guessing that he was about to tell us that he wasn't a Gravitron anymore. "Are either of your children Newbloods?"
"As far as I know, my son isn't but I think my daughter might be."
"Might be?" I questioned.
"I've only seen her do it a couple of times and I'm not sure she knows she does it," Greg said.
"Does what? I asked, curious now.
"I haven't heard of anyone else like her."
"What can she do?" I asked getting slightly annoyed now. Mare placed her hand on my leg.