On The Run

Chapter Two

“You look beautiful!” Alice called out as she held her hand out. Slowly, Zoie walked towards the woman and placed her hand into hers. 

“Mom?” Zoie repeated. 

“It’s me, Z.” Alice answered. For the first time in months, Zoie cried. She couldn’t believe that she was seeing the woman who they buried 3 years ago but it bought her a sense of peace. Alice pulled Zoie into an embrace as she cried delicately with her girl.

"Come! You need to see Kira and Simone." Zoie muttered as she arranged to stand. 

"They can't see me, Zoie." Alice uncovered. 

"Why not?" Zoie inquired.

“I fear that I have done a terrible job at preparing you girls for the real world.” Alice started. “I tried so hard to protect you that I didn’t think to tell you the truth. I taught Kira how to control her powers but that’s it. I never told her the story about where you girls come from and how we ended up here.” 

“What are you saying?” Zoie mumbled.

“We come from a place called Runne. It was a beautiful planet located outside of the solar system. On that planet lived people known as Inhumans. It was genuinely a high level planet and it was more advanced than Earth. Although, they looked alike from the outside, they were nothing alike from the inside. At night, instead of seeing the moon, there was another planet. Everything was beautiful there. We looked like humans on Earth but we were far from being the same.” Alice started.

"Are you saying that we are aliens?" Zoie asked as she gradually gazed toward Alice in dismay.

“Goodness! You sound like a human!” Alice joked. “On Runne, humans were the aliens. There was a prophecy that mentioned that a child in the royal family would become too powerful that he or she could damage the universe, planets, and more.” 

“Like what?”

Alice sighed. “There was a title called the destroyer of worlds and many believed the Royal child would have that title and destroy Runne.” 

“But what does this have to do with us? Did the child destroy Runne?” Zoie asked.

Alice shook her head. “Most believed it to be a myth but a large group of people thought otherwise. As the Queen had her 3rd child, she fell ill and died a week after the birth. People began to suspect that the child was what the prophecy was all about and came together and attacked anyone who stood in their way of getting to the royal family. Across the planet, many of our kind died. That’s when most began to think that all 3 of those children would grow to damage or destroy Runne.”

“Wouldn’t everyone on the planet have powers?” Zoie asked. 

“Of course but some had powers much stronger than the others. Long story short, the people who were against the child stormed into the home of the royal family and killed all of the staff and the King in order to protect Runne.” Alice finished. 

“What happened to the children?” Zoie asked. There were still many questions left unanswered. Alice stared at Zoie with a sad smile on her face as Zoie stared at her awaiting an answer to her question. Suddenly, it dawned on her. 

“There was a book that the family had that spoke deeply about the prophecy. It talked about a child being known as The Great One, The Chosen One, and The Supreme One. The Queen was The Chosen One beforehand and it passes on to the eldest child of the next generation. The Great One would grow to be the one to fix the problems caused by The Chosen and Supreme One. The Supreme One would grow to become the destroyer of worlds.” Alice revealed.

"Mother." Zoie muttered. 

Overlooking Zoie, Alice proceeded. "The King requested that the caretaker take care of the children while he battled. He knew that he was going to die but he fought that crowd by himself despite the fact that his entire army was dead. He was the last man standing.”

“Mother!” Zoie sharply called out. Closing her eyes slowly, Zoie took deep breaths to calm herself down. She could feel her powers threatening to release but she knew that she had to keep it together before things were made worse.

“Yes?” Alice answered.

"We are the children referenced in the prophecy, aren't we?" Zoie inquired. Gradually, Alice took a full breath and shook her head in pity.

“Yes.” She revealed. 

Simone sat on the couch as she ate a bag of chips while Kira paced the room in panic. Shoving a chip into her mouth, Simone threw her arm up as a way to tell Kira to move out of the way of the television.

"Act like a lady!" Kira requested. 

"b***h, you sound like a man." Simone shot back. 

"I don't!" Kira shouted. 

"You do." Simone murmured.

“Listen, I’m starting to feel a little bad about the argument with Zoie earlier. She makes me so angry but it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know better and lost control. If she would’ve reached out for help then that would’ve probably helped us all out a bit more.” 

Simone rolled her eyes. “I won’t say that you were wrong but what’s done is done. Zoie did kill people.” 

“I should’ve handled it better.” Kira sighed. “I shouldn’t have raised my hand at her.” 

Simone chuckled. “Yeah, you’re lucky she didn’t have those powers of hers anymore or else there would’ve been serious damage to this house.” 

“Watch yourself! I’m still stronger than her.” Kira explained. 

“That’s debatable.”

“How?” 

“You couldn’t even bind her! How are you a telepath and cannot bind a single person?” Simone teased as she shoved a chip into her mouth. 

Kira gazed at her older sister out of frustration. Out of nowhere, Simone sat there frozen. She was unable to move her arms, legs, head, or mouth as Kira remained there with a wide grin all over. Unexpectedly, Kira's voice was in her mind.

“Who can’t bind a single person?” Kira’s voice teased. “Now you sit there and think about what you did.”

Zoie walked forward and backward as Alice sat on the bed peacefully. She was relieved to have come clean yet anxious at what her little girl's response would be. Zoie muttered to herself as though she was conversing with another person in the room. Clearing her throat, Alice spoke. 

“Z?” 

“You’re not even our real mother.” Zoie hissed in disgust.

Alice gasped. “I might not have conceived or gave birth to you girls but you are my daughters and I am your mother. I raised you both, you all changed me for the better, and I love you unconditionally and nothing will ever change that.” 

Alice watched as Zoie shook her head violently. As she prepared to say something else to her daughter, she was cut off by Zoie’s voice. 

“Shut the f**k up! I’m trying to talk.” Zoie growled. Slowly, Zoie looked over at her mom who watched her in shock. "I'm not talking to you, mother. I am sorry."

“What is wrong with you?” Alice asked. 

Walking over and sitting next to Alice, Zoie sighed. “I hear voices in my head. I can never understand what they’re saying but they are rarely ever silent.” 

Alice smiled softly before placing her cold hand onto Zoie’s. “Z, those voices aren’t just random voices in your head.” 

“Then what are they?” Zoie asked. 

“The voices that you hear are coming from the dead.” Alice revealed. “It also explains why only you can see me.” 

Zoie stared at Alice in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that the dead had been trying to communicate with her the entire time. She slowly removed her hand from Alice’s cold one and stood up. Alice quickly stood from the bed. 

“I know that you’re having a very hard time with your powers.” She announced. “I can help you, Zoie! I know how to fix it!”

Gradually, Zoie turned around and squinted at her mom in interest. "How?" 

"Not here." Alice answered.