A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Peter's eyes lit up slightly with interest. "Any Greek-looking ones?"

Hero stared at him incredulously. "How exactly does a monster look 'Greek'?" she asked.

Nikolas rolled his eyes to the ceiling and huffed loudly as if to say 'you see what I have to put up with?'

----

Caeden's expression suddenly shut down and he looked at Ana with an impassive look. "I never said he was a Jedi," he said nonchalantly, while frantically trying to figure out what he had said to make her think that. Then he remembered he had mentioned the lightsaber and groaned inwardly.

"He has a lot of different weapons," he added quickly, a little too quickly. "Lightsabers, blasters, spears, pain sticks, guns, phasers, swords. You name it, he's probably got it."

----

Katie jumped back, surprise registering on her face as the voice spoke from under the ground. She watched the grave warily as the disembodied voice and Miss Lucinda chatted. When the grave went silent she glanced sidelong at the old woman beside her.

"I 'ope they don't be meaning 'uman sacrifices," she said slowly. "Coz I ain't one fit to be eaten or noffink."

P.S."Brooklyn!"

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Pandora giggled at the three newcomers and then covered her mouth quickly, looking embarrassed.

"I can't say that I've seen anything that I recognized from Greek mythology lately. There's an urban legend that the town's statues were created by a rogue Gorgon, but that's probably not true," Malcolm replied.

Moira opened her mouth to comment and then froze, her face contorting in pain. Her eyes rolled up into her head and a sudden gust of cold wind rushed through the bakery, swirling around the banshee. One second Moira was dressed like an ordinary baker, the next she wore white trailing raggedy robes that billowed in the wind surrounding her. She lifted her right hand, pointing it rigidly at Malcolm and then screamed. The scream was so loud that the glass in the bakery windows and doors vibrated at the point of shattering.Pandora dove for cover under the counter and covered her ears. She'd never seen Moira predict someone's death before and was more than a little freaked out over it.

-----

Ana mentally swore rather viciously as she saw Caeden visibly closing down.
"Shame Jones doesn't like Jedi. I'd quite like to see that collection sometime. I'm a bit of a weapons enthusiast.

Right about then, a tall middle-aged man entered the pub. He was slightly greying and dressed in Jedi robes. His face was crinkled in what looked like a permanent expression of disdain. Ana glanced back at him and barely suppressed a groan. She sent up a desperate prayer to whatever deity might be paying attention and tried to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible.

"Master Dyar. I can see you at the bar, cowering like a disobedient Padawan. Would you care to explain your presence here, in this den of putrification? You were supposed to be leading a group of Younglings in training exercises two hours ago."

Ana looked at Caeden and rolled her eyes. "Silly twit is younger than I am, but he still acts like he's my father. One of these days, I'm going to kill him and there isn't a jury in the multiverse that would convict me."

Ana stood up and waved in a sarcastic manner at the other Jedi.

"I'm right here, Master Vendar. Thanks for announcing mine and your presence to the entire pub so eagerly. It's always good to have your quiet drink amongst the people interrupted so loudly."

Master Vendar sniffed haughtily and swept majestically up to the bar and demanded an non-alcoholic drink in a tone of voice that would have earned a non-Jedi a few special ingredients in their drink. He studiously ignored several obscene gestures made at him by patrons not particularly fond of Jedi and frowned at Ana.

Ana held up her ale and shook it at Master Vendar, indicating she wasn't done yet before turning her back on him to face Caeden again.

-----

Miss Lucinda clasped her hands to her chest, looking shocked and slightly faint at the suggestion that she might offer up human sacrifices to the barrow wights.

"I would never, ever do anything to hurt you, Katie. No, I only give them animal sacrifices. And nothing cuddly or cute either. Just nasty slimy lizards and things like that.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Peter jumped and instinctively drew out his pocketknife which turned into a celestial bronze sword the minute he opened it. He held it at the ready, his whole body tense. Glancing over he saw Hero had done the same. Only Nikolas remained completely still.

The scream got to be too much for the half-bloods however, and both Peter and Hero clutched at their ears, grimacing.

Nikolas frowned slightly in annoyance. "Okay, I get it. He's going to die. Can you stop screaming please? You're hurting my friends and I think the windows are going to shatter." He spoke loudly to be heard over the scream.

----

Caeden looked amused and he smiled slightly. "Wow, it's people like that that make people like me want to go jump off into the nearest Sarlacc pit. Obviously not all Jedi are like that, 'cause, I mean, there's you, but are there a lot of them like that?" He wrinkled his nose in distaste then sniffed cautiously at one of the drinks before taking a sip. It tasted different and did not make the room spin so he figured that one must be the Juma Juice.

----

"Just checkin'," Katie said, having the decency to look a bit sheepish. "I mean, you're a nice lady and all, but I ain't known ya for that long, 'ave I?"

She shrugged. "But iffen you say you ain't been feeding 'em 'umans and such, I guess I believe ya."

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Hidden Away

"Riiiight," said Stephanie, swinging in front on her own locker. "I knew that. Really, I did." She dumped her books into her ever-messy locker in answer to her sister's question. Mrs. Gibbons had those nifty little desks with the shelves inside, so she left her math books in the room when there wasn't homework. And... well... Mrs. Gibbons didn't exactly believe in homework. Not that Steph minded at all...

Restart

It was at times like these when Dotty turned off the television. Among many things, emotional drama was one thing that she would not put up with and the easiest thing to do to free herself from the patheticness of women nowadays was to turn off the TV. Her circle of female company was barely existent, so she was more than a little bit biased to claim that all women are weak to crying and bumbling when caught in the cross hairs of a crisis. However, Dotty took pride in excluding herself from that category; one shouldn't ask whether it be the group of women or tear-shedders.

Having the strength and will to work through a problem was what humans were intended to do anyways. Women crying, Dotty was of the opinion, was like a tradition: something that was done so many times throughout the ages that women forget that they were the ones taking over the world! One day she was going to write a book or something about this, and men will tremble at the revival she will start.

Another droplet forced its way out and made a river down Dotty's nose.

Yes . . . Dotty clenched her fists as she quaked under a muted whimper. She will give men a reason to have nightmares.

The sob erupted now and she lifted her face to the ceiling as she gave up trying to fight it.

~~~~~~

Nate's frustration could not be relieved in the simplest or brutish of ways. His hand stung with the ferocity of his efforts of trying to accomplish this, and instead of relief he found himself out in the hospital parking lot.

Apparently his outburst outside of Dotty's room was the last straw for security. They had dragged him outside before he even had a chance to pull his fist out of the dent he made in their wall.

"And good riddance to you, too!" he offered back in a loud voice at the officer who threw him out. The officer merely snorted back before he went back inside.

"I can't believe this!" Nate growled as he turned away from building and gripped his hair. Now his frustration was at a tenfold. "Why is she doing this? Why!" He looked at Alyson, as if she had the answer just because she was a woman.

~~~~~~

Dotty never knew that crying could be so painful. She could not remember a time when she cried, and if she ever did it was not to the extent as this. Everything muscle in her body ached with each wave that seemed to take over her.

Also, she did not know that under the spell of tears one could forget what they were doing. She did not know how long she had cried or even if she had stopped crying, and she did not know how Alyson's cell phone ended up in her soaked hands. She was of one trail of thought and even that was cloaked around the weak state that overpowered her.

She didn't what buttons she pushed, but she found herself listening to the dial tone. The monotonous sound brought another splash of moisture to her eyes.

"Hello?" A voice caught off the ringing and he was unaware. "This is Father Jacobson."

Hearing the priest's voice, the only person that Dotty could think of to turn to for help at this point, was enough to suddenly make her lose all sense of speech. Gripping the phone to her face, she let herself be torn apart by another wave.

"Hello? Are you alright? Hello?" The priest's voice suddenly turned to a tone of concern. "Do you need help? Can I help you with anything?"

"Help me," she finally managed to croak out.

"Dorothea! Is that you? Thank the Lord you're safe. I saw you were on the news--"

"Please, help me!"

"Alright, alright." The priest finally registered the sense of urgency. "I will. I told you I would help you with anything. Where are you? No, no, that's a dumb question. . . I'll be at the hospital in fifteen minutes."

~~~~~~

Mary Jane's feeling of guilt washed into helplessness as Chase all but begged her to stay. She looked up at Jenna in an almost pleading way for her help, but finding none as the other girl looked away at the disarray of their home, she exhaled a shallow breath of exasperation.

"I-I would really like to," she started to say all over again as she tried to think. "But would Layla mind?"

~~~~~~

John Luke was starting to nod off not even half way into watching Finding Nemo. It was hardly his nap time, but lately the little boy had not been acting normal. He was tired more than usual and not in his usual, curious spirits. Of course everyone noticed this strange behavior. Mother was certain that John Luke had picked something up at the hospital and blamed the new nanny with a passion for her inconsideration. (Shane smelled a lawsuit in the air.) Mary Jane was worried too, but in that quiet way that Shane always thought she looked like she would cry at any moment but couldn't in John Luke's presence.

It was at the part of the movie where the little fish was off to his first day of school when Shane's door squeaked open, as if on cue. Shane couldn't remember how many times his little brother watched this movie a day, and lately since John Luke started to act weird he knew exactly when it was safe for him to come out of his room.

Not entirely entering the living room, Shane leaned against the TV armoire and crossed his arms. Looking at his little brother asleep on the couch he almost felt sorry that John Luke wasn't feeling well. Not for the reason that it was not healthy for him, but that it was not healthy for everyone else. John Luke being sick had its way of throwing everyone out of proportion.

"You know you don't have to watch with him," he told Layla, turning his gaze a few inches away from John Luke towards the nanny, speaking to her as if she didn't know by now. "Or sit with him for that matter."

Hidden Away

Jackie waited patiently for her sister as she unceremoniously dumped her books into her locker. "You heading to class soon? I can walk with you if you are."

She watched the hallways as she waited. The colors of the hair, fur, and skin of the different species who walked the hallways made up ridiculously beautiful artwork. Someday Jackie thought that she'd paint a picture of this.

It was funny; at their old school there had only been humans. Species separation, they'd called it. Stupid was what Jackie called it. Some of the non-humans she knew were her best friends! Who's bright idea had it been that humans and aliens shouldn't mix? She shook her head to herself.

Restart

While Jenna hesitated, Chase shook his head with a grin. "Absolutely not!" he exclaimed. He tossed the trophy from hand to hand lightly. "Do you like sports?" he asked MJ suddenly. "I was watching some football, but if you don't like that we could do something else while Jenna makes dinner. I'll do whatever you want. I could . . . braid your hair or something if that's what girls do with friends." He wrinkled his nose slightly but looked determined to do whatever it is that MJ told him to do.

Jenna rolled her eyes and retreated into the kitchen to begin dinner preparations.

----

Layla looked up from the movie, her hand stroking John Luke's red hair gently.

"Yes, I do," she said quietly before turning her gaze back to the movie, looking at it but not really seeing it. "A child needs to know that he or she is loved. Playing with them, sitting with them, it helps."

Not entirely sure why she was explaining this to Shane, she chewed on her bottom lip gently and glanced down at the sleeping boy, his head on her lap. Gently she took his glasses off of his face and folded them up, setting them beside her before going back to stroking his hair.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

It was with a heavy heart and with blood-shot eyes that brought Father Jacobson to The Monstropolis Plaza very early the next morning. To be honest the priest didn't know what time it was, as he had fallen asleep during the taxi ride over. He only hoped that despite coming so early that he wouldn't be hurting his mission.

But this is what Dotty needed.

He remembered the number the clerk told him what room Tyler Waters was in (it took a lot of doing to get that information, too) but it took longer than he expected to find it. He didn't realize how tired he was . . .

He stifled a yawn as he approached the door. Usually the young priest was conscious of his appearance when making calls, he representing one of the oldest and renown church in the city after all, but after last night he was too tired to go home and change into his uniform. He supposed that circumstance would allow him fit to be seen in a wrinkled button down shirt and blue jeans.

Running a hand through his hair, though, he knocked heavily on Tyler's door.

~~~~~~

Mary Jane had half expected for either of them to call Layla to make sure, but when Chase started making suggestions of things for them to do she checked herself from asking them to call. Although she wanted to make sure she wasn't intruding on the household with the oldest of the family, she also didn't want to be rude.

Knowing she was going to have to shove down decorum while with the Sutcliffs, she turned her attention back to Chase and his ideas of amusement. And then she blinked. "Oh," she in a way sort of gasped at his final idea, "I wouldn't know about that," she said slowly, bashfully.

"I don't know what girls do . . . with friends." She ended with that, hoping that would be enough without saying that she did not have any friends.

~~~~~~

Shane frowned slightly at the way Layla was beating around the bush about John Luke's care. Although he knew it to be true that John Luke didn't get enough love or attention from his parents and advocated the nanny's very words to his parents many times, he didn't like being slapped with his family's faults by a stranger.

"And you know this from personal experience?" he asked, in a almost demanding way like a professor would question a student's sources to his research. He couldn't believe that what she said was original and not stolen from someone else. As much as he wanted to believe . . .

Restart

Ty dragged himself off his bed and crossed to the door, rubbing a cramp out of his neck and shoulder. He had crashed on his bed in only his jeans and his gelled hair had squashed into a strange bedhead. He attempted to flatten it some as he opened the door. Blinking wearily he stared at the priest and tried to remember why the guy looked familiar.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

----

"Oh," Chase said tilting his head and frowning thoughtfully. "That makes things difficult but we can work over it. Have you ever watched any football . . . at all?"

----

"Yes," Layla said simply, leaving it at that.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

"Uh, hello," Father Jacobson greeted, sounding just as drowsy as the teen did. It was a good thing he was exhausted or he would have done a double take at Tyler's apparel. "Um, I'm sorry to bother you so early. . ." He blinked in an conscious effort in trying to formulate his purpose of arrival into speech.

"But I just came from the hospital," he finally told Tyler.

~~~~~~

"A little," Mary Jane said, her right eye squeezing shut unconsciously, as if to show how much. "Shane likes to watch football, and sometimes I sit with him. Although I don't really understand the game," she admitted almost apologectically.

~~~~~~

Not at all satisfied with her answer, Shane started to question her more when the phone rang. It rang a few times before he pushed himself into movement to answer it himself, not at all accustomed to answering his own home phone. Normally he was never home to take phone calls, and he preferred using his cell.

He held the long corded phone to his face awkwardly, wondering why absently they owned an antique. "Hello?" He grimaced when he heard the voice on the other end. "Oh hey, Mother."

Restart

That woke Ty up instantly. He reached over to grab a shirt from the nearest piece of furniture. Pulling it on, he said hurriedly, "Is it Dotty? Is she okay?" He grabbed his shoes and tried to put them on while standing.

----

Chase grinned and grabbed the remote to turn the TV on back to the game. "You see, the team that has the ball tries to get it to the endzone for a touchdown. The team that doesn't have the ball tries to stop them. Got it?" He smirked faintly.

----

Layla glanced over at the phone and wondered what Mrs. MacShane wanted now.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

The priest blinked in surprise at how effective his words were in waking them both up. Stepping into the room, Father Jacobson held up his hands and shook his head.

"Woah, hold on there," he said, trying hold back the boy from running him over and calm him. "Yes, but Dorothea is fine. Really. I left her just when she fell asleep."

He smiled in reassurance. "Please," he said, lifting his hand to indicate to Tyler's hurried state, "I just came to talk to you."

~~~~~~

Mary Jane nodded slowly, unsure the game was as simple as that, but she tried to give him the benefit of a doubt. "I think so," she replied. She gave Chase a small smile, but inwardly she hoped this viewing would not get as violent as it did when she watched a game with Shane sometimes.

~~~~~~

A few minutes later Shane hung up and walked back into the living room. His brows were drawn into knots above his eyes, contemplating but also annoyed. He glanced Layla's way, but his eyes fell on John Luke.

Restart

Ty paused and slowly lowered his leg, his shoelaces half-tied.

"O-kay," he said slowly, sitting down on the bed and attempting to smooth his hair down again. "Talk."

----

"What's your favorite color?" Chase asked randomly after a moment, glancing sidelong at her.

----

Layla watched Shane closely. "What did she say?" she asked after a long, tense pause.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

The priest nodded and turned to close the door behind him before he went further in. The hotel room was darker with the door shut and the lamp at the bed only amplified the shadows.

There was a sort of awkwardness in the room as Father Jacobson tried to situate himself, not sure whether to stand or sit, but with nothing to sit on within his reach, he stood at the foot of the bed in front of Tyler. He ran his hand through his hair as well; it seemed to be both their vain efforts to appear decent.

"I have not been very honest with you," he stated suddenly, deciding to go right to the root of why he came. "When you came to me the other day looking for Dorothea, I lied to you. She did come to the church, but because I was in her confidence I was forced not to say anything. Especially to you."

He looked away, suddenly feeling awkward to be confessing to the teen. "I-I wish I could have. I may have been able to prevent all of this . . ."

~~~~~~

Mary Jane looked at Chase in surprise, not only because it came out random but because the question was unexpected. "Ummm," she looked thoughtful but then shrugged, "I don't know to be honest."

~~~~~~

"Mother wants us all up at her condo," Shane said absently, his gaze remaining on John Luke. His features softened somewhat when John Luke suddenly moved, shifting silently as he continued sleeping, and Shane looked up, sighing as he looked at the ceiling. "She wants to have a family dinner."

Hidden Away

"Okay." Steph looked at her sister with eyebrows raised. "Are you plotting something? You're being too nice today!"

But Jackie was looking at all the students flooding past them now. Stephanie blew out a small sigh and soon was a country and a top-secret spy mission away.