Jay Ess: An Unordinary Hero

Chapter 8 & 9

Chapter 8

As I drifted off to sleep Calla left my house to go in search of others that were like minded. She understood that this was a terrible risk for her, but one that needed to be taken. As she walked through the town of Swanton she was certain to remain invisible to the eyes of the humans. It was dark out after all and she looked like a child, she did not want someone to try to figure out why a little girl was out so late by herself.

As she wandered the streets she took mental notes of the faces that belonged to her kind. Her plan was to create a mental database of those that were frequent to the area. Once she knew who was around she would use all of her mental powers and try to surveil them and see if she could discover any that harbored similar thoughts to hers. Calla hoped to be able to find at least five allies within her people, but in truth would settle for just one.

Swanton was divided up into two distinct entities, the town and the village. Though the entities were distinct, their borders were not. The average person that dwelled within Swanton could not tell you when they passed the imaginary line from one to the other. Calla currently found herself in the village, walking through the large park.

There was not a lot in the form of attractions in the park. During the summer months is housed the farmer's market and in the winter the village constructed an ice rink, but lacking either it was fairly empty. Spread out over the roughly quarter mile length of the park were myriad trees, ranging from the sugar maple that made Vermont famous to different kinds of pines. There was a patchwork of sidewalks throughout, one leading to a giant gazeebo. Though that is what it was called, in truth it was just a raised circular cement pad with bench seats and a railing. This sat in the middle of the park and slightly behind and to the south of it lived the famed royal swans. The first pair was a gift from the queen of England. They lived in the park until it got too cold when they moved to their winter home. They were kept behind a black metal fence. The enclosure featured what were essentially a large doghouse and a long, shallow, rectangular pool. Calla found herself watching the pair as they lazily swam.

She was very deep in thought and because of her youth not overly cognizant of her surroundings. She was not certain for how long the Clatouan had been standing beside her, but she suddenly realized she was not alone. It was a male, somewhere around two hundred years old given his size. To a human he would look like he was in his late teens to early twenties. While the people from their planet were not as diverse as the humans, they did have two different lines with distinctively different skin color shades. The one beside her was of the darker variety, his skin was almost pitch black. When he needed to blend he most likely lightened the darkness and blended in nicely with those whose ancestry could be traced back to Africa. His head tentacles were long and a shade of black lighter than his skin. Without warning or preamble his mind touched hers.

"You need to do a better job of guarding your mutinous thoughts young one", he said.

Calla could feel her heart sink. She had been discovered on the first day of trying to execute her plan. She turned her attention to the male beside her, afraid of what might happen next. He stood there watching the swans, almost aloof in his mannerisms. When he did not touch her mind again she made contact.

"What is it you want? If you meant to turn me in I would already be in custody."

What could pass for a smile in their kind played across his face. "I want the child you watch and clearly protect. It was my mate that was previously watching him. It was my mate that is now dead because of him."

This news clearly took Calla by surprise. "You are Enoch?"

He gave a slight nod. "You will leave now and get him, or your mother will never find your body."