Mists of Fate

Mists of Fate Chapter 8 -- Reawakening

In a society in which it is a moral offense to be different from your neighbor your only escape is never to let them find out. -- Robert Heinlein

...or you can just destroy the society. -- amendment by J'Stan to Robert Heinlein quote.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cindy's voice was cold and stern as Justin and Andy dragged Terrence through the door of the trailer. Both boys stopped dead in their tracks and stared at the woman looming above them, hands on her hips. Between them, Terrence was still crying fitfully, his nude form shaking as he sobbed. Cindy didn't even look at him as she locked gazes with the two older boys.

"Watching out for our friend." Andy said softly.

"What happened out there?" Cindy demanded, her voice still conveying anger.

"Um, mom, can we tell you after we take care of Terry?" Justin asked softly. Cindy stared at the younger boy between them for a moment.

"Who?" she asked softly, her voice at last registering some concern.

"Mr. Randall." Andy answered her.

"Get him in the bath. There's only cold water, but there's still wood on the stove. I'll heat some water up for him, maybe we can get it lukewarm." She said firmly.

"Yes, ma'am." Both boys said softly. They took the still weeping Terrence and guided him to the bathroom and started filling up the bathtub. The water was cold, but not freezing. Just as they were encouraging the now near-catatonic Terrence into the water, Cindy showed up with a large pot of steaming water. She gave it to Justin, who added it to the cold bathwater. Andy tested the water now and found it to be on the warmer side of lukewarm. Terrence slid the rest of the way into the tub with a small sigh.

"Get him clean." Cindy told them softly just as a banging sounded against the trailer door. She got a pensive look on her face and left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. The single lamp in the room was more than enough to show the fear on the faces of all three boys. Justin shook his head after a moment and began to scrub down Terrence's legs, cleaning the blood, and other gunk, off of them.

"What can I do for you?" Cindy's voice was loud enough to be heard in the quiet bathroom.

"Are your boys home?" the voice they recognized as being David's.

"Yes, but they're busy at the moment." Cindy said.

"Busy? Doing what?" the suspicion in David's voice was nearly palpable.

"Taking care of a patient." Cindy said firmly. "I heard an explosion, is there anyone else needing medical attention?"

"Patient? What patient?" David could be heard asking.

"No, no one living." Another male voice said at the same time.

"The boys found Terrence hurt on their way back from their bible study." Cindy said, her voice barely audible to the boys in the bathroom.

"That's right, they were there!" David said anxiously. "We need to see them, immediately!"

"No..." Cindy began, but the sounds of booted feet made it clear they had pushed their way through. The door to the bathroom banged open just in time to see Justin listening to Terrence's heart beat with a stethoscope, and Andy in the middle of wrapping the boy's right ankle, which had been removed from the bath water.

"What happened to him, boys?" David said gruffly. He was a solidly built man in his late thirties, and had once been an engineering major.

"Not sure, sir." Justin answered. "It looks like he hurt his ankle, sprained it real bad as near as I can tell. Cut it up too, since it was bleeding. The pain was probably bad enough that he went into shock. Andy's wrapping it now and we're going to get him out of the bath now since the water is getting cold."

"How long ago was this?" the second man asked, his voice was familiar, but neither boy recognized him.

"About 20 minutes or so, I think" Andy said quietly. "Long enough for the hot water to cool."

The second man pushed his way through the small bathroom and stuck his hand in the dirty water. He obviously found it on the cool side of warm now and frowned at the amount of muck in the water. His frown took in all three boys. Terrence was semi-awake now and looked up in fear at the stranger.

"The water's cool, alright. Why is it so dirty?" the man asked. Now the boys placed his voice, he was one of the two men in the secret meeting under the coaster!

"He must have been playing in the dirt or something." Andy said quickly.

"Where are his clothes?" the stranger asked.

"In the kitchen sink." Cindy said from the doorway. "I was rinsing them off to get them clean."

"Okay. I don't want you three going anywhere." David said from the doorway. "Mr. Randall's dead, and someone blew in the side of the school. We need to ask all three of you questions, and I'm sure the preachers or whoever the town sends up is going to want some answers too."

"Mr. Randall?" Justin said in a whisper, his voice quivering. "But...but...he can't be! We were just there! He was fine!"

"Calm down, boy." The stranger said. "You're just lucky you weren't there when it happened, or you'd be dead too. Don't worry about any other trouble too, you've been here long enough taking care of that boy there that it is pretty clear you couldn't have had anything to do with the explosion."

Justin seemed to slump against the tub at that statement, and Andy went white. Cindy pulled both men out of the bathroom, demanding they let the boys alone for a bit. The strange man could be heard getting a glass of water from the kitchen, where Terrence's clothes were sitting wet in the sink. After a few more minutes, the front door of the trailer closed.

"We did it." Justin said softly. Relaxing a little.

"Yeah, we might be able to get away with this." Andy said softly.

"Get away with what, boys?" Cindy said from the doorway. Both boys jumped and had looks of abject terror on their faces for a moment. Cindy's smile from the doorway helped them recover a bit. Behind them, Terrence groaned softly.

"It's a long story, mom." Justin said softly.

"You have all night to tell it, son." Cindy insisted.

"Okay, how about we get Terry to bed first?" Andy answered for his friend. Cindy's nod was enough for them to move into action, removing him from the dirty water and drying him off gently. Terrence was awake enough that he could stand on his own, but his eyes showed that he wasn't really `there'. Cindy stared at the boy's ankle long enough that Andy realized they needed to finish wrapping it if the story was to hold. That done, and the boy dried, they lifted him up and carried him to Justin's room. As soon as he was laid on the spare bed, Terrence's eyes closed and he was asleep.

"Now, tell me." Cindy said as the three went back to the dining area and sat at the table.

Justin and Andy took turns telling her everything from the moment they'd left for the bible study session, to the eavesdropping on the meeting under the coaster, to Terrence's rape by Mr. Randall. Cindy's face told her impression of the events, going from mildly amused, to concerned, to a savagely burning rage.

"It's a damn good thing that man is dead or I'd be skinning him alive right now!" Cindy shouted. "Andy, don't you feel any guilt over this, killing him was the right thing."

"But HOW?" Andy half-wailed. Justin wrapped his arms around him in an attempt to comfort him.

"I've heard some stories lately." Cindy said quietly, joining her arms to Justin's. "The Event that changed the oil changed some people too, gave them special abilities. The old government is trying to find people with these gifts, use them to help rebuild things."

"Am I one of them?" Andy asked.

`I would think so, love." She whispered softly. "They think Justin might be too, that's who the stranger was. Be sure to not mention him to the Preacher's men when they question you in the morning."

"What about Terrence? He won't hold up under their questioning." Justin asked.

"I'll give him a shot in the morning." Cindy said quietly. "He'll be out all day."

"But what do we do?" Justin asked his mother softly.

"Stick to the story you guys spun tonight. Very well done, by the way. Most of it was the truth, just enough falsehood to throw `em off the track. I'm going to have to watch you two in the future. You lie pretty damn well."

"Well, we learned it from the best." Andy said with an impish grin. He got a light smack from both Justin and Cindy on that one.

"Go to sleep you two." She said firmly. A few grins later, the two teenagers moved into the bedroom, slipping into the empty bed they always shared. Across from them, Terrence's labored breathing lulled them to sleep, Andy holding Justin in his arms.

His neck was wet. The back of it was definitely wet. The warmth along his front side was familiar, but the lump along his back was not. Confusion reigned as he struggled out of sleep, opening his eyes slowly. Blond hair in front, which meant Justin was still asleep in his arms. The lack of light from the only window meant that it was still early in the morning. That was good. But he could feel someone behind him as well.

Terrence. The name floated in his mind as the memories of last night flooded into Andy's awareness. He picked his head up a bit and saw that the extra bed where they'd put Terrence was now empty. He turned a little bit and realized that the younger boy was now curled up behind him, his face resting near the back of his neck. Turning some more, and wiggling out of his hold on Justin, he saw Terrence's brooding eyes staring at him.

"You must hate me." Terrence whispered when their eyes met.

"No." Andy answered honestly.

"You know what happened?" the boy asked, his eyes and face showing his terror at that knowledge.

"Yes, and I'm sorry we didn't know what the bastard was doing before. We would have stopped it." Andy said honestly. Horror mixed with disbelief on the younger boy's face.

"No!" his whisper was full of fear and vehemence. "You can't! God would punish us!"

"Who told you that?" Andy asked, still whispering although he could tell from the stiffening behind him that Justin was awake and listening.

"Pastor Lerner!" Terrence answered, his eyes wide with fear. "He...he told me last month, when he initiated me. It's the duty of...of initiates to serve the Elders."

"Don't they preach that it's wrong though?" Andy asked, trying to provoke Terrence into thinking. The kid was smart, if he just used his brain.

"But...but" Terrence stammered, Andy could see the thoughts racing through the kid's head through his eyes. Justin moved again behind him, but remained silent.

"Terrence, I know that you really like these people, and I know that it feels good to get attention from them. That doesn't mean you have to let yourself be hurt." Andy said, some of his anger venting.

"But, I deserve it!" Terrence wailed.

"No one ever deserves treatment like that." Justin said softly, speaking for the first time. Terrence stared at him a moment, then his face went white.

"You two! You're just like them!" he accused.

"No, we're not, Terry." Justin said softly. "We would never force someone to do stuff like they do. There's a big difference. Whatever we do, or don't do, both people involved have to be willing. Did you want to do it, or did they tell you that you had to?"

"But...but I enjoyed it! I deserved it." Terrence cried, tears streaming again.

"Oh, Terry" Andy murmured, wrapping his arms around the crying boy. There was some stiffening from Terrence, but it lasted only a second. "That was just your body reacting. Can you control it when you fall down and skin your knee and you feel pain?"

"Nnnnooo." Terrence stuttered.

"When Grady rubbed that feather against your feet, could you stop it from tickling?" Justin asked. Terrence shook his head.

"That's just your body reacting to physical stimulation. You don't have any control over it, and it doesn't mean you are responsible for it." Andy said softly.

"Hhow do you guys know this stuff?" Terrence asked, his tears nearly drying up.

"Cindy taught us a lot of it." Andy said softly.

"You still my friends?" Terrence asked after a few moments of silence.

"Always." Both Justin and Andy said at once, no hesitation at all.

"What are they going to do with me when they found out what happened?" Terrence asked aloud.

"They aren't going to find out." Justin said firmly.

"You can't lie to them! They'll find out!" Terrence said, horror in his voice.

"Don't worry about it, Andy." Justin said firmly. "Mom is going to give you a shot so you'll be asleep when they get here."

"But, but that's cheating!" Terrence nearly wailed.

"Do you want them to find out?" Justin asked.

"Nnnnooooo..." he was sobbing again.

"Then isn't the shot better?" Andy asked.

"If you say so." Terrence responded, someone despondent. "But they'll find out anyway."

"How will they find out?" Justin asked, curious.

"They've got...someone from town."

"So what?" Justin nearly sneered.

"He...he can read minds." Terrence said slowly, fear and awe evident in his voice. "They said he was gifted by God to make up for his..sins. I heard he was Pastor Lerner's nephew."

"Pahhh!" Justin reacted with disbelief. "Next you're going to tell me that God appears in the middle of a holy light from heaven and kisses their feet!"

"Or that walls magically blow up when someone gets pissed." Andy said pointedly. Terrence had a hurt look at Justin's comments, and a scared look at Andy's.

"Oh, yeah." Justin said slowly after a moment's thought on Andy's comment. "What are we going to do if they bring him."

"They will, Mr. Randall was a big Elder."

"He wasn't that big." Justin sneered, then apologized at the look of fear on Terrence's face.

"The only reason Jeremy helps them is they have this friend of his locked up." Terrence supplied.

"They threaten his friend, eh?" Andy asked, an idea germinating in his head.

"Yes." Terrence whispered. With a small corner of his mind, Andy noticed that there was a dim, gray light now seeping through the edges of the window curtains.

"Good. Let me worry about him, Justin, Ter." Andy said softly.

"What'd you call me?" Terrence asked.

"Um...meant Terry." Andy said softly, for some reason the shorter name felt...more right.

"Oh" Cindy's voice from the doorway startled all three of them. She looked at the three boys in bed together with a slight smile on her face. Her left hand had quickly disappeared behind her.

"It's okay mom, he knows" Justin said quietly.

"Really?" Cindy said softly, turning to Terrence. "Terry baby, you know this is for your own good?"

"Yes, ma'am." Terrence said, a slight smile on his face. Cindy crossed over to the bed and prepped his arm, bringing the needle up. Terrence winced as she poked the needle in, but sighed after she was done.

"Andy, will you hold me?" he whispered softly.

"Of course, Ter." Andy said softly, ignoring the glare he could feel on his back from Justin. It seemed like Terrence was asleep, either from the emotional exhaustion or the shot, within a few breaths. Behind him, Justin got out of bed and went to hug his mother. Andy followed soon after.

"I'm scared, mom." Justin said softly.

"Me too." Andy added.

"Oh, my precious boys." Cindy murmured as she wrapped her arms around them. "God, this is not what we hoped for when you boys were little."

"What do you mean?" Justin asked softly, tears streaking down his face, but feeling safe in her arms.

"We, your father Justin, and your parents, Andy, had such dreams for you kids when you were born. All parents have dreams for their kids, but you had such opportunities ahead of you. We lived in the most advanced country in the world, we all were educated, we had good money. We could provide you with such opportunities. But instead of all that, I'm the only one of the parents still alive, we live in the shadow of a damn roller coaster, and I have no idea what's going to happen to you two."

"We'll get by, mom." Justin said softly. Both boys were crying, feeling very young at the moment.

"Cindy, " Andy began after a moment. "Is there any hope?"

"Any hope of what?" Cindy said, the despair in her voice audible but refrained.

"Of us being happy, together." Andy stated.

"Not if you stay here." She answered honestly. That was something Andy had always appreciated about her. She never sugar-coated anything, or exaggerated the negatives. She simply told it like she saw it.

"What if we go with that government guy?" Justin asked.

"He might be interested in both of you if you both have this `gift' he talks about." She answered honestly.

"But what if only one of us has it?" Andy asked.

"Then only that person goes." She told him, her voice soft.

"Then I won't go." Andy said firmly.

"So it was you who made the explosion? Cindy asked.

"Yes." Andy's answer was short, but all that needed to be said.

"We'll all leave together if they won't take all of us. Find somewhere better" Justin said firmly.

"All of us?" Cindy asked, pushing her son to arms length and looking at him.

"Yeah, Andy, Terrence, you, and me." He said firmly.

"First off, there's likely not anyplace better in this day and age, secondly, what makes you think we have a right to take Terrence, and third, what makes you think we'll get away with it?"

"Terrence needs to go with us. He can't stay here." Andy said firmly. They explained what they had learned that morning. She took it well only muttering `bastards' a few times. Then she gave them her agreement that Terrence needed to leave, with or without his parents' permission.

"As to why I think we'll get away with it, well if Andy has these abilities, we'll use them." Justin continued.

"So you speak for what Andy will or won't do now?" Cindy asked.

"He knows me well enough, and we are a team." Andy answered.

"Okay, okay. Go on baby." Cindy said, shaking her head. She knew better than to question their commitment as a team.

"As to whether there is anyplace better," Justin continued. "There has to be. This can't be all there is to life. There has to be someplace better."

"Ahh, the optimism of youth." Cindy scolded her son lightly. He knew better than thinking like that.

"If there isn't, we can make one." Andy said softly.

"With what, your dreams?" Cindy scoffed. These boys knew better! Andy could see that thought in her eyes.

"Mom, those dreams you use have for us, were they just going to magically appear?" Justin asked after a moment.

"No, but they were within your reach, then."

"So, we would have had to work for them?" Andy asked. They were tag teaming her.

"Of course, dear." Cindy said, not sure where they were heading.

"Well then, what's wrong with leaving here to make our own dreams come true?" Justin finished.

"It's not possible. We escaped here years ago but it did no good. They still caught up to us." Cindy said quietly trying to explain it to them. She forgot they already knew this

"Did you keep going?" Justin asked.

"Or did you just quit?" Andy added harshly.

"We did our best! We were tired." Cindy was nearly crying now.

"But you still gave up, mom." Justin said softly.

"But we won't." Andy added his part.

"You have no idea how hard it can be."

"We're about to find out." Andy said softly. "And we need your experience to help guide us."

"Why won't you think about this government guy?" Cindy asked after a moment.

"We don't trust him." Andy said honestly. "Something doesn't feel right about him."

Before any more could be said, a knock on the trailer door demanded their attention. David was there, with Pastor Lerner. Neither of them looked happy, and they demanded that Justin and Andy follow them after Cindy explained Terrence was sedated due to his painful injuries.

As the two teenagers followed the older men towards the wrecked school building below the roller coaster, the sky lightened with the first touch of dawn. Justin walked with his head hanging down, but Andy looked upwards, towards the top ramparts of the old ride. The light illuminated the faded white boards of the wooden roller coaster, like a painting in a museum. A soft breeze blew over Andy's face, and the combination of the light on the roller coaster and the breeze brought a memory of to him. He was on a roller coaster, with his dad next to him. It was a roller coaster like this one, except he could see the surf of the ocean beyond them. The thrill, the excitement of it rushed through him and he stopped walking. Tears trickled down his face at the happy memory, and a soft smile made his own face light up.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Justin asked, having stopped next to him. The two adults stopped and turned at his voice.

"Man, I just remembered it." Andy said in a dreamy voice.

"Just remembered what?" Father Lerner asked sharply, his face full of anger already. Andy ignored it, the man was not going to spoil this memory.

"I remembered being on a roller coaster like that, except it was a beach somewhere. I was with dad. His brown hair was waving in the wind and he had this big old smile on his face." Andy said in voice matching the dreamy expression on his face. "Mom was there afterwards and she was laughing and smiling with my sister, April."

"What are you talking about, boy?" David asked him. "Your dad had blond hair, I knew him ever since you were born and you never went on a roller coaster near a beach. Your dad hated them. And you sure as hell don't have a sister named April!"

"Language!" Pastor Lerner snapped at David, then faced Andy who was staring in shock at David. "Boy, if you had something to do with events last night, don't think acting crazy is going to help you any."

"Andy, buddy, David's right." Justin whispered, staring at his friend.

For his part, Andy's head started swimming. He looked at Justin, and almost felt like he was staring in a mirror. Then he realized something about the memory. In the memory, when his dad and he got off the ride, there had been a shiny metal wall, and he could see their reflection in it. It wasn't his reflection he saw, it was Justin's. Not the Justin standing here before him, but another Justin.

Justin Ackeman.

That name made his head swirl some more, and he clasped both hands to his temples, crying out in pain. He drooped to his knees, trying to concentrate. Justin's last name was Silvers, not Ackeman! People didn't have last names, did they? Then more names floated in his head, faces coming with them.

Justin

J'Stan

D'vad -- This was David's face, but more hollow, with a haunted expression in his eyes that did spoke of such great loss he wanted to cry.

Cindy -- The face of the kind, loving mother of Justin became thinner, dryer looking as he could see her lying in a beautiful casket with pink silk lining and a beautiful pink suit on. A red rose lay on her chest and her cheek was cold as he kissed her goodbye forever.

April -- Just a name and image of a little girl in the memory, but now he saw her mature, clasping her children desperately, dead from a spray of bullets.

Ter -- Not the little boy sedated in the trailer behind him, but a man grown. A beautiful smile on his face as they lay next to each other in bed, whispering his name. "Andrei" the image of Ter whispered.

Andrei. That name resounded in the confines of his head like a bell. So loud it echoed, so great was the pain from the echoing, that he scrunched his eyes shut and did not see the stranger appear before them. Nor did he see how everyone froze at the man's appearance. He did hear the man's voice though.

"Just who the hell are you?" the stranger demanded.

The answer bloomed in Andrei as the persona of Andy was shattered forever, the bonds it had created on him gone. His head stopped swimming and his memories, as well as those of the Andy persona and J'Stan's all settled into their appropriate places. He smiled at the man standing there, and observed the frozen tableau around them.

"Really, B'rel. Do you have to be so forceful?" Andrei demanded, on his full guard now.

"Who the FUCK are you?" B'rel shouted.

"I am Andrei." Came the short answer, disdain in his voice.

"How do you know me?" B'rel asked next. Andrei could feel the man gathering in his will, preparing some attack.

"Easy, J'Stan shared all of his memories with me, B'rel. I know you" Andrei explained, preparing himself for the imminent attack.

"He mentioned you. I didn't think you were resourceful enough to break the molding." B'rel said, shifting slightly. Andrei noticed that everything about them was frozen, like some old motion picture that had been put on `pause'. Everyone was frozen except B'rel and himself.

"Molding?" Andrei asked, trying to keep B'rel talking.

"You ruined a trap that took me nearly a millennia to perfect." B'rel said, his tone sharp.

"Sorry." Andrei shrugged, taking a step towards the frozen figure he assumed to be J'Stan.

"Don't bother trying to wake him." B'rel said as Andrei took a step. "They can only break free from the inside, like you did."

"Why?" Andrei asked.

"Why what?" B'rel responded.

"Why did you do this?"

"I figured it out." B'rel's answer was short.

"Figured what out?"

"Why the world was destroyed. Why the Mists happened, why our civilization died."

"What? What was it?" Andrei asked, honestly intrigued.

"Please, you have all the answers inside of you already."

"You mean J'Stan?"

"YES!" B'rel's voice was full of rage. "It was HIS fault!"

"So how does this, trap, solve the problem? Andrei asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Easy, it has one purpose, and one purpose alone. J'Stan must die for the world to be put back to right. Three hundred years ago I was ready. I had gotten all the Shapers trapped here, where they wouldn't know who, what they are. Over and over again this place reset the story, always keeping them confined within the moldings I put on them. All I had to do was get J'Stan to cooperate."

"You started destroying the Havens?" Andrei asked, stunned. B'rel had always been one of the two rocks that supported J'Stan. Next to D'vad and J'Stan, he was the oldest of the Shapers.

"Except for a few mad ones here and there. Strausser, S'fon, a few others, I lured them here, same as you. To enter, they had to surrender to the molding, and they did. Once there, they were trapped. Except for you."

"Thanks to a memory from J'Stan." Andrei muttered.

"That must be it, anyway. J'Stan has to die, but he's too strong. Deep down he has this fear of death, and that fear is too strong for me to overcome. I figured out that if I could strip away his knowledge, his memories, make him a kid again that he'd die when either the Preachers or the military people ended up killing him."

"So that is why you chose this setting." Andrei stated.

"Yes, but it was suppose to happen three hundred years ago. I lured D'vad here when it was just the three of us left. Before we left, I instructed my priest to get the riot started. We'd worked for months to set things in place. I didn't expect J'Stan's reaction though. He went mad, locked himself in the Temple, and locked me out of Tylera. I couldn't get through, couldn't reach him. Until you."

"Until me." Andrei repeated.

"Yes, I felt things change in Tylera just when I despaired of anything ever happening. It was a blessing. I followed J'Stan to Europa where he sealed the rifts there. Then I met up with him and lured him here. He stopped in Tylera for you, but brought that other guy, Ter with him."

"Ter, is he alive?" Andrei asked, his voice breaking.

"Oh, care for him do you? Yes, he's alive, and here." B'rel said, a cocky smile on his face. "Andrei, listen to me. You have to understand, the Mists, if J'Stan dies, the threat is ended, they'll go away. It's him they want. Once they have him, we can rebuild this planet. We can start with Tylera, guide them, rebuild human civilization. Except with us as their gods, it will be better, a true heaven."

"Do you really believe that?" Andrei asked quietly. "You would kill your oldest friend?"

"Friend? He's a user! He's a megalomaniac!" B'rel roared. "All he does is use people and kill!"

"That's not the J'Stan I know, and I know him from the inside out." Andrei said simply.

"If you won't help me.." B'rel said, preparing to launch his attack. Andrei reacted faster though, launching an attack of his own.

Nothing splashy, nothing showy; a simple grip of his mind, his powers, around B'rel. The older Shaper struggled in that grasp, struggling to break free. Andrei was too strong, but he wasn't strong enough.

B'rel shared a trait with J'Stan, with D'vad, and with Andrei. They knew they could not be killed by another. Their deep understanding of the nature of their abilities, the nature of their power, left no room for unwanted death. Andrei's will was strong enough to keep the grip around B'rel's mind, preventing an attack, but it wasn't strong enough to convince B'rel he was going to die.

Another tact bubbled to the surface of Andrei's mind and he began to act. B'rel wasn't expecting it, and only saw what he thought was an opening in the grip Andrei had on him. He changed himself, his mindset just enough to try to slip through the crack Andrei had made.

Instead, he gave Andrei control of a facet of his mind. Instantly Andrei took advantage of that. B'rel's appearance began to change. He had looked to be in his thirties when he first appeared, now he was in his twenties. A few moments later, a teenager, then a small child. Finally the changes stopped, and an infant sat in a pile of fatigues, idly sucking its thumb. Andrei felt the surrounding environment start to change, and instantly took control of it with part of his mind. He stepped up to the baby, bending down as the baby looked up at him and giggled.

Andrei lifted the baby that had once been B'rel and probed its mind. Empty, like any other baby. Fleeting impressions of thing happening immediately before it, but little else. No memory of power, the gift was there, but was dormant. He juggled the baby a bit, and winced at the tiny baby giggles. He set his hands on the baby's head, closed his eyes, and twisted. The soft crackling sound was like the sound Creis use to make as he popped his knuckles. Andrei softly laid the corpse that had once been B'rel on the ground and concentrated for a moment.

The roller coaster disappeared, followed soon by the building and the trailer homes. The soft gray dirt he had come to expect of soil consumed by the Mists replaced the lush, fertile ground. As he looked around, he could see the figures of about twenty people, and one dead baby. Above them, a silver shield kept the Mists out.

First came the boy Justin. Andrei smiled, feeling the love he'd felt for the boy when he was Andy. It was still there. Well, it was time to set J'Stan free. Despite B'rel's claim that it had to be broken from the inside, Andrei was confident he could break the false personalities. He probed the edges of the frozen persona and found the crack he needed. A moment later, the fake persona was gone, and the true persona set free. The form of a fourteen year old Justin shimmered and changed into...Tyler.

"Who the fuck are you, mate, and where the hell is B'rel?" Tyler, the long-lost adoptive son of J'Stan asked. Andrei could only stand there and stare, his mouth open. He looked around at the frozen forms around him and wondered, which was J'Stan?

Would all these people be sane or would they fight him? How many would he have to risk awakening before he found J'Stan. Before he found Ter? He was so shocked that he didn't see Tyler looking at the dead form of a baby, then staring at him.

He was brought out of his reverie when Tyler's hand gripped his throat.

"You better explain yourself!" Tyler demanded of a stunned Andrei.

Okay...had to leave a cliffhanger!