ch 1 - beginning of the end

She had stepped on another dead body.

Rachel fastened her steps, but the stench of death looming behind her was threatening to suffocate her as she spat on the ground again. And by the time she felt the scattered and unburdened leaves beneath her stomping feet, she was teleporting to her house. Thankfully, her husband - Luke, wasn’t around. Knitting her brows, she rolled her eyes and slowed her pace as she walked around the house all the way to the back where the noise was coming from. And when she arrived at her backyard, it took everything in her to not walk to the gazebo and turn the music off. 

Squinting her eyes and looking around, she realized her daughter wasn’t in the small crowd that had gathered, dancing to the music. She looked distantly across from the gazebo where the lake was located to find Zara at it again next to the palm tree. She watched as Zara raised her two forefingers, and the waves began to rise and fall. Laughter erupted from Zara as she repeated the action to the smaller waves, and then teleporting, and doing it all over again. Her long black hair was as free as the waves, moving around her and spurring her on. Rachel smiled and shook her head at her freespirited daughter. But by the time Zara was getting ready to command more waves, her senses quickened and she quickly spun around to find her mother watching her with crossed arms.

“Mama, care to join me?” Zara asked as she danced her way to where her mother was.

But the look on the older woman’s face made her own brows furrow.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

Rachel was shaking her head, suddenly remembering why she was there in the first place. She sighed again. “You’re going to have to tell your friends to leave. Your father and brother should be home soon. And we’d need to talk.”

“Okay, but -”

“No buts, Zara, please.”

Zara could see the seriousness on her mother’s face before she finally nodded and walked around her to the gazebo where the others were. Rachel had already teleported back inside the house at that point.

As soon as Zara turned the music off, Melina, her best friend, spoke up.

“Come on!”

But Zara flashed her a weak smile, making her immediately understand what was going on.

The other friends were already coming around them.

“I’m sorry guys, but we’re going to have to continue this celebration later -” she began, but paused when she noticed one of the ladies moving her fingers and commanding the rest of the pizza slices to her plate.

“Tekena, could you please?”

“Oops, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was invited to the gathering.”

Rolling her eyes, Melina spoke to her before Zara could say anything. “If you were going to be such a baby about it then maybe you shouldn't have come.”

Tekena teleported to her. “You said what now?”

Melina, unwavering, met her height as she came and stood directly in front of her. “You don’t scare me, Tekena.”

Tekena slightly scoffed, her right hand tightened into a fist. Noticing this, Zara quickly stepped in. “Ladies, ladies, calm down. Let’s clean up and call it a night. Then I’ll see you guys on Monday.” 

Tekena stole one last look at Melina then before turning around. Melina, ignoring her, turned to Zara as the others began cleaning up.

“So you won’t be coming to the apartment tomorrow?”

Zara shook her head. Stealing a glance at the others, she lowered her voice. “Judging from the look on my mother’s face earlier, I’m sure it’s another body count. And you know what that means for all of us.”

Melina nodded in understanding. “I’ll see you on Monday then?”

“Yes, for sure,” Zara replied before the two went and joined the others.

~~

As soon as Zara heard footsteps coming into the kitchen, she immediately raised her finger, just at the same time that Zayn was making it into the kitchen. The moment she heard his voice, the teabag she’d been trying to get into her cup was laying flat on the counter. At that moment, she locked eyes with him, and his resounding laughter was enough to get her throwing the teabag at him.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. But why are you hiding in here?” Zayn asked when he rested against the counter, watching his younger sister with curious gaze.

Zara frowned, her lips curving to say something, but she shook her head instead. 

“Would it make me a bad Santzan if I said those meetings were boring?"

Zayn shook his head slowly and crossed his arms. “And excusing yourself to come get a cup of tea is your way of showing disinterest? You remember you don’t have to be at the meeting in the first place, right?” he asked, raising a brow. And Zara shrugged as she closed one eye. “Maybe? To both questions.”

Then she placed another teabag in the cup, getting it right this time.

“Yeah I know you, nosey and curious. But you know it doesn’t serve you because you end up leaving the meeting,” Zayn simply stated, and his sister gave him a knowing look as she made a face that said she knew she’d been caught again. She released a sigh.

“Just practice more,” Zayn continued, nodding in the direction of the cup of tea in her hands.

And when she heard his voice, she nodded. Zayn watched her take a sip of her tea as he waited for her. And when she continued to sip without a word, he shook his head.

“Come on, I know you have something in that head of yours. What is it?”

Zara placed the cup back on the counter top. “Do you really think the Ures are responsible for all the dead bodies? I thought they mostly kept to themselves around here.”

Zayn nodded slowly this time as he uncrossed his arms. “Honestly, the council thinks they are. I for one don’t completely agree with that theory.”

His sister raised a brow. “And did you tell them that?”

The moment she asked him that, Zayn met her gaze again. Nodding immediately, he turned around and raised his finger, and a cup began to make its way from the top cabinet. Zara watched him do what she’d attempted to do minutes before. It was only when he’d taken a sip of his own tea did he finally speak, “We just have to keep observing.”

~~

“Ha! That’s seven points for us!” Tyler shouted, but his best friend was already moving faster than their opponents. And by the time one of the opposing players was stopping to catch his breath, Kaiden had already hit the shuttlecock over the net to land another point.

Dropping the racket, he took off his shirt. 

“And that’s why you are unbeatable,” Tyler said as he shook Kaiden’s hand. 

Kaiden shook his head as he replied, “No. You’re a good team player, Ty.” He then went to the opposing players and shook their hands with a nod.

But before Tyler got a chance to say more, Terri was at the backyard yelling for them to come have lunch.

“And what do we have here,” Tyler said the moment his eyes found the large bowl in the center of the dining table. When he opened it, he was met with a smile from Terri.

“And I’m guessing the majority of this soup is for Kaiden?” he asked her, wriggling his brow in a way that caused Terri to roll her eyes.

“Shut up, it’s not. You know how he hates this soup.”

“Why? It’s delicious.” Tyler said as he began to help himself with a bowl at the same time that Kaiden and the others were making their way to the dining table.

“Duh! Because it reminds him of the sun.”

“What?” Tyler asked, pausing to turn to his best friend. “Now that’s something different. I thought you liked it when she cooked.”

“Who?” Kaiden asked as he turned his head towards the living room.

This time, Terri spoke up. “Me. Hello, Kai. You like my cooking, don’t you?”

Kaiden immediately turned back to meet her gaze. “I do.” His face suddenly turned serious, causing Terri to lower her gaze briefly as the pink hue began forming on her face.

“But you don’t like this soup, and that’s why -” she turned around with a smile. And both Kaiden and Tyler exchanged quick looks when she went to the oven. “- I made this just for you. I used some of the remaining seasonings in your cabinet.”

Tyler mouthed a ‘wow’ as he looked between Kaiden and the tray of freshly baked chicken pot pie. He crossed his arms before Kaiden got a chance to speak. “And how come you don't care about what I like as much as you care about what Kai likes?”

The moment he asked that, Terri grimaced. “Because you are a foodie. Everyone knows that.”

At that moment, Kaiden had sped to the living room and turned up the TV, leaving the two to go at it again as a frown found its way to his face. He turned the volume up.

“...so another body was found yesterday at the center…”

Both Terri, Tyler, and the two other guys left the dining table and stood in the living room.

“Do you think it’s the -” Terri began to ask when Kaiden sped to the front door key holder, grabbed his car keys, and was out the door.

And at that moment, both Terri and Tyler met each other’s gaze, their eyes holding a knowing question.

{To be continued…}

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