Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Forty-One

It took a few seconds for William, who was still in Mi Lings form to react. With a cry, she raced downstairs, running outside to where Julie was last seen. The others followed, Kim scooping up Maggie on the way. Before long, they gathered, near Sara, where she was kneeling on the sand near the spot Julie had disappeared, with an intense look on her face.

"She's gone, there's no trace of her. No footprints leaving this spot," she said in a shocked, shaky voice.

Sara had tears running down her face and Kevin, who had changed back to himself, took her into his arms, where she immediately started shaking. Mi Ling looked shocked and bewildered, as she brushed futilely at the sand where Julie had been standing. She too stunned to even think about changing form and when Kim lifted her up, she let out a scream of anguish.

Julie was upset. She had poured her soul out to the one person, she knew would understand her, having felt the same call of womanhood. When she realised, that Sara had relayed her story to the others, she felt betrayed. Her emotions boiled over, as she stood up and stamped away towards the water. She threw her arms around, as she cursed, ever being born. She vented and argued, mostly to herself, as she tried to figure out her next move. Would William ever forgive her? Could she ever face them again? Not having anything to hide anymore, the sudden release of her emotions, started to overwhelm her. She felt flushed and something inside seemed to snap, as fire flew from her hands. Shocked, she could not stop the fire from engulfing her whole body. Strangely, she didn't feel her skin burning. The flow of suppressed energy increased suddenly, making it impossible to see anything but fire. She screamed out for it to stop, and it did. She felt her body twist, and then she was in blackness.

She was still conscious, that was something. She wondered where she was. Gone was the sunset, that had bathed the beach where she'd been last, gone was the fire that had raged around her. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed it wasn't entirely dark, and she could hear a muted drone somewhere close, as if a TV set was on nearby.

She could sense the closed in feel of a room and see the small chinks of light coming past the drawn curtains. Not wanting to move, until she knew where she stood, she wished there was some light, so she could see properly. With a flicker, her hands glowed with a pale blue flame that gave off sufficient light for her to see. Startled, she eeeped, both at the sight of her glowing hands, and what she saw in the room.

"I can't be here," she said softly, noticing that the flame wasn't actually burning her hands, but was forming a few centimetres from her skin. "I'm home, in my room, hundreds of miles away from where I was." She told herself, as if saying it would make it not real.

Creeping to the door, she eased it open, and peered out, as the sound of the TV grew louder. Julie slipped out, glad that her feet were bare, having lost her shoes in the sand on her run down the beach. She carefully looked into the lounge, to see her mom watching TV and knitting her latest project. Julie ducked back, and stood with her back to the wall near the lounge doorway.

'How did I get here?' she thought, as she moved back to her bedroom. 'Oh god! What about the others? They'll think I blew up or something. I have to get back,' her panicked thoughts tumbled around, as she tried to come up with something concrete.

Kevin stood looking at the depression in the sand. Something about it wasn't right. He looked at the edge where it met the undisturbed sand of the beach, looking at the striations in the sand made by moving gains of sand. They all met in the middle, like spokes on a bicycle wheel, but in the centre, there was a smooth circle about a foot across with no lines in it at all.

"Sara, did you feel a blast of heat or sand, when Julie bl...um...disappeared?" Kevin asked, deciding that the word, 'blew up,' wasn't prudent, with William standing there.

"No." Sara supplied, thinking back to that moment. "Why?"

"Where's the sand then?" Kevin asked, having stood up.

"Look at the edge of the circle," Kevin began, seeing the puzzled looks of the others. "There's no sand. If it had been an explosion, the sand from the depression would be scattered all over, and Sara, who was twenty feet away, should have felt it as a blast of heat and exploding sand."

"If it wasn't an explosion, it must have been an implosion," Sara answered, seeing what Kevin was getting at.

"Exactly, there's no debris, as it was sucked up into the space Julie had occupied. She must have shifted instantly leaving a vacuum. This caused the noise and the sand sucked up to this point, before lifting and being sucked along with her." Kevin explained, showing the inner smooth circle.

"She teleported," Kim said in wonder. "Her powers manifested almost together, she didn't burn out, like I thought had happened."

Kim had to explain the process of burnout in regard to developing psychic powers. Something that was known to happen in some of cases the Shelke had studied in other races.

"So where is Julie now?" asked an anguished William.

"Maybe she went home?" Maggie, who had been quiet all through this, piped up.

William was off like a shot, running back to the condo, to check their room. His despondent look, told everyone that she wasn't in the house, as they trooped in to the house shortly after.

Julie lay on her old bed, and considered the options. She didn't have the cell phone that was in her handbag at the house. She didn't have the glasses, to help get past her mom. The only phone was next to her mom, and she didn't know how she had teleported her in the first place, so trying again would take time. Even if she got out of the house undetected, she had no money on her.

Maybe she could form, a nexus with William, but she needed to relax to do that. She shifted, trying to get comfortable; unfortunately, her movement jostled the small table next to the bed than the lamp wobbled precariously. Misjudging the distance in the gloom, her attempt to steady it, just resulted in knocking it over. The crash sounded deafening, and Julie froze in fear of discovery.

Amelia Boone, heard the crash, and she clicked off the TV. The crash sounded like it had come from the bedroom, so quietly getting up; she headed to hall cupboard, where she kept the loaded shotgun. Armed, she moved quietly towards Daniel's bedroom thinking a burglar was in the house. She kicked open the door. Yelling "freeze," as she flicked on the light.

Amelia, whose eyes were already casting about, saw a small female figure hunched in a ball on Daniel's bed. The girl's eyes were blinking, trying to acclimatise to the sudden brightness in the room.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my son's bed," growled Amelia.

"Mom?"

"Julie's at home," Maggie reasserted, tugging on Sara's skirt to get her attention.

Sara knelt down, so she was face to face with Maggie.

"You meant home with her mom?" she asked gently.

"Yes." Was Maggie's certain reply.

"How do you know this?" Sara asked, trying to stay calm.

"I feel her, I kinda know where ebebody wearing a bracelet is," Maggie answered snugly, as if it was no big deal.

"It looks as if those that manifest powers seem to gain two," Kim speculated, looking at Maggie with interest.

"Not me," argued Sara. "I've only the one," she finished with a sigh.

"So far," Kim replied. "Cindy, Julie, and Maggie have two each. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't gain another later. At a rough guess, Tyrissa and Carolyn should be gaining at least one power about this time, although that's not a certainty. Both William and Kevin, should develop soon, depending on how long they remain in female form." Finished Kim, winking at the men suggestively.

"If Julie's at her mom's, what can we do? We can't just ring her, asking if she has her daughter with her. If Julie is there, she maybe hiding. Do you think Julie can teleport back here?" Kevin asked, seeing if the others had any ideas.

"I don't know," answered Kim. Teleporters are very rare, and I don't have any real data on them. What we know is mainly rumour and legend. Our best guess is that they use the same method we developed for our spacecraft when we jump, except they don't use machines, they just use their brains. Just as we have to stop and take new bearings at each jump point, teleporters have to know the destination to be able to get there. She should be able to jump back here, but when is another matter."

The group went downstairs to the lounge to wait, hoping that Julie would soon contact them.

Amelia Boone heard the girl speak in a questioning tone. The word 'mom,' gave her pause, as she lowered the barrel of the shotgun. Seeing little threat in the cowering girl, Amelia walked closer, trying to get a better look at her intruder.

"Stand up," Amelia demanded. Her tone suggesting that obedience would be the better option.

Julie stood up. Seeing her mom like this, made her wish she had called her more often. However, with everything else, she'd never got around to it.

"Mom, it's me, Daniel. There have been some changes I need to talk to you about," she opened, hoping to convince her mom to listen before she threw her out.

"If you're Daniel, then changes is an understatement," Amelia scoffed. "Who put you up to this prank, one of Daniel's friends? If so it's in bad taste," she protested.

"I can prove it," Julie challenged, hoping to get the chance.

"I'm listening, go ahead," Amelia smiled, thinking this was too easy.

Julie knew she had to come up with something only her mom and she knew. Not something that Daniel might have told anyone else. In her state of shock at her recent discovery of her two talents, she never thought of the one irrefutable way she could prove it. Use the Krin to revert to Daniel's form. Maybe because she was so committed to being female and Julie in particular, that thought never entered her mind.

She cast her mind back to her life as Daniel, going over some of the things Amelia and Daniel had talked about. Suddenly, she had a revelation. Some odd things that Daniel hadn't been astute to pick up on, little hints and subtle questions that Amelia had dropped into conversations, that Daniel, preoccupied with his need to hide signs of his cross dressing had missed.

"Mom...when I was Daniel, I liked to dress in your clothes."

Amelia was stunned. She walked to the bed and sat down, placing the gun on the floor. Of all the things Daniel might have revealed, to others, this wasn't one of them. For years, she had suspected that Daniel was wearing her clothes. Little things like clothes placed on different hangers, or facing the wrong way in the closet. Not enough to confront him about it, but enough to know something was going on.

She wasn't an ignorant woman and knew the term cross-dressing and had read up on the subject, when her suspicions had first been aroused. She'd tried to drop hints to Daniel, hoping he would open up to her. With no male figure to worry about, she thought she could help him come to terms with his obsession.

She looked at this girl standing before her, claiming to be her son. Was it possible in the time since he'd left, to have had surgery to look like this? If so, where had he found the money? A million other questions filled her mind, as she sat on the bed.

Julie waited, watching her mom for a reaction, seeing if her guess was correct, that her mom knew of her hobby all along. Belatedly, she thought of the Krin, kicking herself for forgetting its powers.

"Mom, this body is a gift. I have the power to switch back and forth, from Julie to Daniel, but I'm living as Julie full time now." With that she touched the Krin, watching Amelia's eye widen, as she reverted to Daniel's form. She switched back immediately, hating to feel of her old body. Amelia gasped, at the change, fainting from shock at the sight.

The sound of the phone ringing galvanised everyone's hearts at the condo. William got to it first, half fearing what he would hear on the other end.

The others gathered round, as he answered the caller. His instant, "where are you?" and "are you okay?" answered the question of who was calling. William's conversation to Julie gave the listeners enough information for them to relax. They went back to sit in the lounge, so that William could have some privacy as he poured out his feelings to Julie. He came back after a few minutes, asking for Kim.

"Julie wants to talk with you," he supplied.

Kim went to the phone to talk to Julie, as William informed the others of Julie's situation.

"She is at home. Her mom discovered her, so she had to reveal who she is. Her mom fainted, when Julie used the Krin, so Julie took the opportunity to ring us," explained William.

Kim came back in and sat down. She looked at William, before asking him if he was up for a long drive.

"Julie wanted to know if I could help her teleport back, as she doesn't know how she did it. I said I could help, but I'd have to use the glasses to put her in a trance. We don't want to use our craft to pick her up, as there's still a lot of activity in the region from the military forces. Plus, it's not exactly an emergency situation. I told her, that you would drive across and pick her up, giving her time to set things straight with her mom. You could be back here in three to four days, depending if you drive right through on the way back."

William made as if to leave right away, but Sara restrained him.

"Wait till morning, you'll be rested then, after you drive today. We don't want you falling asleep on the road," she insisted, looking concerned.

"Okay mother," he grinned wryly. "I'll leave first thing in the morning," he conceded, giving Sara a kiss on the cheek.

He left then, to go upstairs and shower before getting an early night.

Maggie tugged on Kevin’s leg, to get his attention, now the drama was over.

"Where's my tweat?" she asked imploringly.

Kevin chuckled, glad of the distraction.

"Come on trouble, let's go fishing," with that, Kevin took Maggie out to the kitchen, to get her promised treat. Maggie's eyes goggled when he handed her a chocolate-coated marshmallow sweet in the shape of a fish.

"Dis I wat awntie Prue always gibs me in the chat room," she whispered, looking reverently at the fish in her hand. She raced back to the others, holding the fish as if it was swimming along with her, as she went to show the others.

Amelia awoke to find herself lying on Daniel's bed; she thought for a moment that she had dreamed everything that had happened from when she heard the noise. She heard a voice talking in the lounge, and knew with a certainty, that it was no dream. Daniel had come back, but not as her son. She felt a tear run down her cheek, knowing that Daniel wasn't coming back. Instead, a girl had taken her son's place and was making herself at home in her house.

She got up, and walked out to the lounge, noting that the shotgun was gone, presumably back into the cupboard. She checked, before entering the lounge, where it sounded like the girl, who claimed to be her son, was talking on the phone. The gun was there in the cupboard when she checked. She closed the cupboard, leaving the gun there, trusting something inside her heart that the girl was no danger. She walked into the lounge and listened to the end of the girl's conversation with someone called Kim. She heard the words teleporting and wondered if she was stuck in a strange episode of twilight zone. The girl hung up the phone and turned to face Amelia, looking straight into her eyes, searching, as if looking for some sign of acceptance.

"Why don't we sit and talk," offered Amelia, gesturing at the seats.

Julie walked to the nearest seat and sat down, taking care to sweep her skirt out before sitting primly on the edge. Amelia noted the fluid way she moved, marvelling at how femininely she moved. Amelia realised that despite being impossible, this girl was indeed her son. The brief demonstration might have been a delusion, or some hypnotic suggestion, but the real convincer was the confession. This was her son. Somehow, she knew it beyond a doubt. Accepting it might take some time, but accept it she would. No child of hers would be loved any less for having gone from pants to skirts.

Amelia looked at her new daughter and opened her arms, the gesture, needing no explanation. With a wordless cry, Julie flung herself into her mother's welcoming arms.

To be continued.

  

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 © 2005 by Prudence Walker. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without the express written consent of the copyright holder.