Orbs of Power

Chapter Two

The lady at the desk had a permanent glare fixed upon her face. This made it awkward for Sean when he walked up clutching his six year old brother's hand, unsure of what he was supposed to do.

The woman glanced up and scowled. "Oh. The kids with the dead parents," she sighed. "Next of kin?"

Sean jumped. "Oh, uh..." He ran his fingers through his hair, racking his brain. He had never really visited his relatives, being so poor. Oh!

"I have an aunt, on my mom's side."

The woman scrolled through the database on the computer in front of her. She stopped, then snorted. "Wow, will wonders never cease. She and her husband died three years ago." Sean choked a bit, clutching Max's hand a little tighter.

"Hm. Your cousin is old enough to be called your legal guardian. Do you want to stay with her?"

Sean started. "Oh, um, sure, I guess..."

The lady rolled her eyes. "Sir, I need a yes or no answer, it's protocol."

Sean looked around. "Yes."

She sighed in exasperation then gestured further down the room to an open doorway. "Go through there and to the platform on the right. Your train will arrive in," she glanced at the clock on the wall behind her, "two and a half minutes."

"...Don't I need a ticket?"

The lady scoffed. "No. Why would you need a ticket?"

"...Thank you."

"Whatever."

Sean dragged Max along behond him to the open doorway to find a staircase leading down, where they would both wait for the train to arrive to whisk them off to their cousin.

They could both remeber when the authorities showed up to get their statements. Sean told them that the lightbulb had exploded and set the table on fire, trapping his parents inside. The firemen had worked to try and find them, but even Max knew it was too late. He cried while his older brother remained numb, unable to get even the semblence of a tear to leave his eyes. All he could do was replay the moments leading up to it all, to remember his mother's screaming and the only thought that kept running through his head was this is all my fault. The police then sent them to the station to figure out where they would live until they were both old enough to live out on their own.

And so, they both spent the thirty minute ride in silence, staring out the window and wondering why this had to happen to them. Sean wondered what his cousin was like. He had never seen her, and he couldn't even remember her name. His mother had rarely talked about her sister, mainly because all she wanted to talk about was her childhood, and speaking about the time before the walls was forbidden.

They were the only ones on the train, so there were no other stops. They stepped off the train to see two women waiting for them. Two?

One looked to be in her twenties with shocking red hair and a cynical face. The other had plain brown hair and looked to be about forty, and she had a kind smile.

Again, two?

The older one approached Sean and Max. "I am Allison. This is Sapphire, your cousin."

Sapphire stalked up. "She has been apart of this family for the past twenty years, don't freak out." she explained. Apparently, ahe knew one of Sean's first questions would be about Allison. "I might be able to explain it better on the way. Welcome home, cousins."

--------

"This is a very, ah, shall we say, sensitive subject so if any word of this gets out, I will be the first to know and personally kick your butts."

Max raised his hand. "If its sensitive, why are you telling us?"

Sapphire gave Max a sidelong glance. "You're gonna be staying with us for a while now and I want everyone in the same page. Now, twenty years ago, Germany was open to all, and Allison here was a mormon missionary." She held up her hands to stem the outpour of questions. "Religion. Now, she was here when the walls went up, and the leaders were trying to round up people who had come from the outside. We knew they would probably get killed, and we didn't want that. So, we hid her. The end, fabulous story me. Now," she declared, rounding on the boys, "What happened to land you two in this mess?"

Sran narrowed his eyes, wondering if he could trust his cousin and her friend. However, the choice was made for him when Max spoke up.

"Sean set the table on fire and made the lightbulb explode with his lightning hand." Sean rubbed his face and groaned. There was a sharp intake of breath from both Allison and Sapphire. Max was glancing between them, confused. "What?"

Allison studied Sean and saw the guilt written all over his face. Sapphire saw it too, and the two girls shared a look; afterall, they could relate. Sapphire glanced uncomfortably out the window while Allison laid a hand on Sean's knee. "I'm sorry."

Sean looked at them angrily, tears finally coming to his eyes. They were all sitting around the table in his cousin's house, one that reminded him so painfully of his own.

"We really are sorry you know. The same thing happened to us, pretty much." She glanced at the table then and sighed.

"About three years ago, my parent died in a freak accident. One of the rich had gotten drunk and drove down here, fast as he pleased, and my parents got the worst of it. Dead instantly, or so I'm told. Of course, the rich guy got no punishment what so ever, and all we were left with were the bodies. We found them seconds after. It was right outside, can you believe that? You are not the only one with few secrets you don't want the government finding out though. Since we found them so quickly, we also found the two orbs as well. We had never believed that a traumatic death could produce and orb, but there they were, side by side, grey as the sky right now. What were we going to do? Give the last piece of my parents to the very people who had killed her? No. We both touched one before the authorities could arrive." she glanced at Allison, suddenly uncomfortable.

Allison swooped in and continued. "I got Life. She got Death."

Max looked up suddenly. "Wait, orbs? Like, really big bubbles?"

They all looked at him "Yeah, I guess so." Sean frowned at his younger brother. "Why?"

He shifted. "Last night, I saw this shiny, blue ball in a puddle and I thought it looked cool, and then I went to pick it up, but it must have popped or something. Is that bad?"

There was dead silence. Then Allison started laughing. Sapphire joined in, and then even Sean couldn't help it. Max took on a look of indignation, but soon he too was laughing joyously with the rest of them (even if he didn't quite know why).

The laughter died down after a bit and Allison wiped a tear, chuckling. "It seems this family is simply drawn to power. Watch out Croman!"

Ah, yes. Ty Croman.