From Within and Without
Chapter Three: Ability

The subway traffic wasn’t so bad for a Saturday morning, though what Amy considered good was if she or Sergey could actually get a seat. As it was, Sergey insisted she take the seat; he was standing, swaying with the motion of the car. Amy was clutching a little gift, the metallic paper catching the lights above her.

“Is she going to have a party?”

Sergey glanced at her. “I don’t know.  She seemed stressed out about something when I talked to her.”

“Your parents?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think so. Someone would have gotten a hold of me too.”

The car rumbled to a stop, and the doors slid open. Sergey took the opportunity to snag a seat across the aisle from Amy, but that effectively ended the conversation. Blocked by the remaining few people and sheer distance, Amy sat there quietly until the car reached their stop. If Sergey didn’t seem too worried about it, she decided, then it was probably Yuliya being Yuliya. She never seemed to handle stress too well; from what Sergey said, even little things at work seemed to set her off.

She always wondered if Yuliya was doing something on the side as well; she lived in a fairly nice place for the section of Manhattan she was living in. She wasn’t rich, of course, but she seemed to have little trouble with money. Even as they ascended the stairs in her building, Amy could just see that her building looked absolutely dumpy in comparison. Not that she didn’t already know that, but it just served to heighten the difference.

“Her birthday’s...when, next week?” 

“The week after that, a little longer than a week from now,” he said, “No idea why she wanted us over today when we could be over then...”

“She might be gone then.”

“Then why didn’t she say that?” he said, looking baffled as he knocked on the door.

There was the sound of the lock scraping, the door opened a crack, and then shut again before opening fully.

“Hi, you two!” she said with a grin that Amy thought looked a touch strained, “Come on in.”

“Hi Yuliya,” Amy said. She thought the older woman liked being called that, for even then she thought she saw a pleased look to her face. Yuliya was always insisting Amy call her by the English equivalent ‘Julia’ just to make things easy, but Amy’s mother had the exact same name, so she stuck with her actual name.

Yuliya was a taller woman, with milky skin and golden hair. Although they had the same eyes, it was funny to see the difference between the two; if Sergey’s hair got any darker, it would be black. She looked like she was only a few steps away from platinum blonde. They stepped inside, shrugging their shoes off at the little mat by the door.

The apartment, while clean and elegant as it usually was, showed no signs of having a party set up. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t anyone else there. Yuliya was...being Yuliya again.

“Happy early birthday,” Amy said; Yuliya swooped down on her in her usual way and offered her a kiss on both cheeks. Amy was never quite comfortable with reciprocating – they weren’t that close – and so offered her an air kiss. She’d greeted her like that ever since she and Sergey had moved in together, as though that made her practically family. According to Sergey, this wasn’t just a Yuliya thing, which always made Amy a little apprehensive about ever going to Russia if a horde of Volkov women were going to descend upon her.

At least Irina never attempted that during her visits, she thought wryly.

Sergey said something in Russian and they exchanged cheek kisses as well.

“We got you something,” Amy said, offering her the present. Yuliya made as though to refuse it.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” she said, “I don’t need anything. Do you want anything to drink?”

“It’s just a little something,” Sergey said, while Amy still held out the gift, “Take it.”

Yuliya paused. “If it’s just a little thing...I don’t want to see that you’ve spent too much money on me.”

“You don’t have to do this around us,” he said, “It makes you look unappreciative.”

“It’s good manners to seem humble,” Yuliya sniffed, tugging at the ribbon on the top, “Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, we’re good,” Amy said. With the crackling and crunching of paper, she glanced at the box she held, before smiling. It really was just a little something, a book, that Sergey had picked out, and a CD from Amy.

“Thank you,” she said warmly, hugging them again; she smelled faintly of some perfume, “Sit down! Sit down!”

“How’s Mom and Dad?” Sergey said, while Yuliya left to get herself a drink.

“Honestly? Better than I thought,” she said from the kitchen, “I called Mom last week, after she got all worried? They ran some more tests; seems Dad’s still in remission so they’re all thankful about that. Can’t blame them.”

“Thank God.”

“Yeah, I talked to him too. He seemed...okay, all things considered. He was in good spirits. Not much news otherwise,” she said, “Elena’s due to have that baby of hers any day now – that’s Iosif’s wife – and I think she said it was going to be a boy...? I can’t remember. There’s a fifty percent chance I’m right.”

She came back with a glass of water, her fingers drumming almost nervously against the side.

“Fifty percent, yeah,” he said, “That’s it? Everything okay otherwise?”

“Oh,” she said, and her fingers temporarily stopped drumming as her face lit up, “Svetka’s going to take entrance exams to Vera Mukhina in July. I do hope she gets in; it’s very selective, but you should see some of the things she’s done, Amy...oh, that reminds me! She sent this over for my birthday!”

And she set the glass of water down on the coffee table so hard, water slopped over the edge, spilling onto the glass surface. Amy glanced at Sergey. She did seem unusually stressed about something, and she half wondered if she was holding something back because she was there. After all, it might have been about Sergey’s father.

She leaned over, trying to keep an ear out for Yuliya, and muttered, “Do you think I’m making her uncomfortable?”

“No,” Sergey said, “If something was wrong she’d just speak in Russian. She probably had a bad day at work yesterday and is having one of her crazy breakdowns again.”

Yuliya came back with a long, skinny set of cards that appeared to be laminated. They were bound with a thick pink ribbon that she deftly untied, spreading them out deftly onto the coffee table, carefully avoiding the spilt water. Amy looked them over; the writing was in careful cursive, and although she couldn’t read it, the numbers and drawings gave her an idea. The ink and watercolor drawings were all of the tarot – and, by the sheer number of cards, Svetlana had carefully done the whole deck.

“This must’ve taken months,” Amy said, her hands hovering over the cards but not quite touching them. Yuliya was right on some respects; the artwork was very well done. She picked up the nearest one to examine it; even the back had a geometric design printed on it.

“I know,” Yuliya said, looking a little emotional at the fruit of her sister’s labors, “She had to have started it ages ago.”

“Tarot, though? I didn’t think you liked that.”

“I dabble in it,” she said.

“Really?” Amy said, arching an eyebrow, but Yuliya suddenly looked rather uncomfortable. She sat more stiffly than before, her hands fluttering over the deck to sweep it back up, like she’d said too much.

“Please, do you think we’d say anything?” Sergey said, looking concerned, “What, you do readings?”

“For businessmen, mostly,” she finally said, “How their investments might turn out, how a business meeting might go, predictions for what direction their company should go...they pay much better than regular clients.”

They must have if she could afford a nice place, Amy thought. She kept this thought squarely to herself.  It was obviously an under-the-table sort of deal; her expression told Amy that much. Yuliya was still looking uncomfortable, as though worried Amy might say something and have the authorities swooping down on her place. She made a zipping motion across her lips to reassure her.

“You wouldn’t be the first person to do so,” she said.

“It’s not something I’d want becoming widely known,” Yuliya said delicately.

“Like I said, do you think we’d rat you out?” Sergey said, “Have you done any readings with those?”

“Why would I waste such a beautiful deck on businessmen?” she said, “They just arrived Thursday anyway.”

“You could break them in,” Sergey joked, “Do a reading for me. It can’t be bad if it’s within the family–”

Whatever Sergey had said had set Yuliya off, and, looking tense, she swept up the cards again, hastily retying the ribbon.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “Not a good day for that.”

Amy arched an eyebrow at Sergey, who shrugged, looking baffled. There was a tense silence, and Yuliya’s fingers had taken to drumming themselves against the deck, her hands trembling like she longed to do something with them but was holding herself back.

“Tarot,” Amy echoed, “What else do you dabble in that we don’t know about?”

Although Yuliya’s fingers still twitched, a wry smile came across her face, and she only responded with a cryptic, “You have no idea.”

***

Trinity took a deep, calming breath, shifting her overnight bag on her shoulder, and gripping her laundry bag tighter.  She probably looked a little bogged down, with everything she had to take with her to visit her parents, which was probably why everyone was giving her a cross between irritated and curious looks.  She had to bring her books and laptop with her, and of course, clothes for hr stay, and since she was here, she might as well do her laundry for free. 

She stared at the brownstone she had called home for the past eighteen years of her life, looking more warm and comfortable than the buildings around it.  She didn’t want to do this.  She didn’t want to step through those door, only to be disappointed in either outcome.  Either she was going to be disappointed her sister hadn’t shown up – again –, or she was going to be disappointed she had.

Trinity knew she was being unfair; after all, how many times had her mother told her the same thing.  She used to get along so well with her older sister, who had always looked out for her, and protected her from the bullies who just didn’t ‘understand’ those with Abilities.  But...things were different now.  Her sister had changed, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to like the person she had become.

Unfortunately, at the exact moment she had just decided to run away and not deal with this this weekend, her older brother and his wife Natalie walked up, and Trinity knew she was trapped.  “Hey, Tri,” Matthew said cheerfully.  “I see Mom roped you into this as well.”

“Yeah,” Trinity said through gritted teeth.

“You need some help there?” he asked, shoving his bag at Natalie, who looked a little surprised.  He grabbed her overnight bag, and Trinity was a little thankful for the weight off her shoulders. 

“Thanks,” she muttered.

They came up as a group, and Trinity was still tempted to just run, at least until her mother answer the door, greeting them with excitement, and giving each one a hug in return.  Trinity knew her was hugged the longest and hardest, being her mother’s ‘baby’, and she let her mother drag her in.

“Lester, Lester,” her mother called as she dragged Trinity upstairs to the living room.  “Lester, you’re children are here!”

Her father was sitting in the living room, looking like a magazine photo of what a father his age should look.  His reading glasses were perched precariously on the edge of his nose, his hair a salt and pepper color with more grey on his temples.  Her mother said he looked ‘distinguished’ this way, and wouldn’t let him dye his hair.  Her mother, by contrast, still had most of her youthful looks, and Trinity happened to know no hair dye had ever touched her bright, autumn colored hair.

Lester was glancing at them from behind the paper he was reading.  “Getting a late start, huh, Pop,” Matthew said as he clapped his father on his shoulder.

“I would have read it earlier, but you know your mother takes the whole damn paper just to read to obituaries.”

“Oh you,” her mother said, waving him off.  Lester just shook his head.  “You kids want something to eat?”

“We’re not kids anymore, Mom,” Matthew said as he joined Natalie on the couch.  “None of us have been since Tri turned eighteen last year.”

“I want something,” Trinity said helpfully.  “You bake any oatmeal cookies?”

“Oatmeal?” her mother said, pausing.  “Oh, dear, I forgot they were your favorite.  I made chocolate chip.”

Trinity rolled her eyes.  She wasn’t overly surprised.  Her mother was obsessing over her middle child for the past few years, so Trinity was slowly moving out of the ‘favorite child’ spot.  Which was one reason she didn’t want to come, because she didn’t want to hear about Danielle the whole time.  It got a little on her nerves the way it seemed even her mother was ignoring her now.

At least she still had her father, who had always treated each of his children equally.  Well, for the most part.  He might have been able to relate a little better to his son than his daughters, but Trinity never held that over him.  He at least tried with her and her sister.

They ate their snack while chatting about life in general while her mother constantly stared at the clock.  It was still rather early yet, but Trinity had to wonder exactly when her sister was supposed to get there.  Danielle was, after all, just as much a morning person as the rest of the family, and she sort of expected her to be there already.  She could sense yet another disappointing visit.

She barely knew why she even bothered sometimes.

The good part, though, was that she was going to be able to spend her weekend in relative silence.  Her family was used to her locking herself in her room and not coming out save for mealtimes, and she had a feeling this visit was going to be like all the others.  Her mother was going to be so depressed about Danielle’s failed visit that she wasn’t going to force her other children to really socialize, and Matthew and Natalie would probably go home after dinner.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lester said around ten.  “She’ll come down when she’s ready to.”

“Come down?” Trinity asked, shocked, while her brother stared.  “She’s here?”

“Yes,” her mother said proudly.  “She came over last night.  Like I told you three  to do.”

“I had a study group!” Trinity protested.

“And I was too tired from work,” Matthew said, glancing at his wife.  “She’s really here?”

“Why’s she still in bed?”

“She might not be,” Lester said, shrugging.  “Besides, she’s been living on her own for the past four years.  She probably picked up a few bad habits from that.”

Trinity glanced up at the ceiling, feeling a little unsure.  She hadn’t seen her sister for the past four years, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about seeing her now.  She had despised her for utterly disappearing off the face off the Earth without any warning whatsoever, and making her mother worry like she did.  And yet, their mother was always waiting to welcome her with open arms, while Trinity just knew her mother wouldn’t have cared less about where she was after a few months.

However, it was her sister, who she hadn’t seen in four years.  She was sort of curious about what she had been doing during that time, and why she had disappeared like she did.  All she knew was that it had better be a good reason. 

Trinity returned her gaze to usual level, frowning a little.  Sure, her mother probably didn’t want her to disturb her sister, just in case she was sleeping, but Trinity couldn’t wait.  She put down her cookie, and stood up, walking out of the room without a word. 

“What are you doing?” she heard her mother call out to her.

“Shh,” she heard her father respond.  “Let her go.”

The children’s bedrooms were all on the third floor of the brownstone, and Trinity took a deep breath outside her sister’s childhood room before reaching up and lightly tapping on the door.

***

“Your sister’s weird,” Amy proclaimed as they left the apartment.

Sergey could only shake his head. “I know. She was never this bad back home. Maybe New York fried her brains, who knows.”

“She needs a vacation.”

“A long vacation.”

She had kept them entertained, as best they could be entertained by someone who seemed like they were one bad day away from a nervous breakdown, and they had had lunch at her place. Still, she had continually told them to have a safe ride back, to the point where Amy wondered if there was some tarot spread that meant a subway car would derail. If there somehow was, Yuliya wasn’t a very good reader; they arrived back at their apartment with nary a scratch.

“’Stay safe’,” Sergey said, shaking his head, “You’d think the subway was going to crash with how she was going on.”

“We should have gotten her a gift certificate to a spa,” Amy said, grinning, “Bit pricey but it’d be worth it.”

“She never really liked being pampered.”

Amy snorted. “What woman doesn’t like to be pampered once in a while? Especially with whatever’s going on at work.”

Sergey could only shrug, sitting himself on the couch. “If it’s just work.”

Amy paused, a sinking feeling in her gut. “But you said that...”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, “She’s always been a little crazy protective. She could’ve been holding back information for all I know.”

“And why would she do that?” Amy said, sitting next to him.

“Because she’s Yuliya. For all I know, in Yuliya’s world withholding information is an excellent way to protect your younger siblings.”

“Yes, but is she expecting you to not find out if something’s wrong with your father...oh, damn it all.”

With a burst of mental activity that left Amy reeling, Irina was standing behind the coffee table. The mental image Amy had, emblazoned upon her mind for one split second, was of the woman standing with her arms crossed and her usual dour expression on her face. She winced, rubbing her temples as a burst of Cyrillic flooded her mind.

“What?” Sergey said, concerned, “What is it?”

“I forgot we promised your babushka we’d check up on your sister,” Amy winced. In her mind a stream of words were being shoved in there that Irina associated with Yuliya. It probably spelt her name. “She keeps saying her name over and over by the sounds of things.”

“Oh, right,” he said, seeming embarrassed. He said something in Russian. The letters slowed down. He said something else, and they stopped altogether. In her mind, Irina was making the manifesting motion again, and Amy didn’t even bother to fight it this time. She could just make her go away if she started getting belligerent.

Once the wisps had formed Irina she began babbling, making gestures as she spoke. She liked talking with her hands, and while Amy couldn’t understand a word of her speech, she contented herself with watching her hands flail about. She hoped Sergey’s mother wasn’t too much her mother’s daughter, if she ever met her. There was always talk of going over there, but never anything concrete, just ‘someday’.

“Well?” she prompted when it seemed they were done talking, “What does she want?”

“I keep telling her Yuliya’s fine, but she’s not listening,” Sergey complained.

Amy sighed. “What exactly is she saying?”

“Literally ‘is your sister okay?’ I told her what we did this morning and she seemed to be okay with that, but then she comes out with ‘But is your sister really okay?’ She’s getting angry that I don’t know.”

“Tell her Yuliya’s being Yuliya,” she said, even while Irina was heading over to Sergey. He said something back, and she winced as the tones started getting a little loud. She didn’t want the neighbors complaining again.

“Hey,” she said fruitlessly, “Hey! Stop it.”

She gestured, hoping that alone would give Irina the message – she could always make her go away, and just put up with the stream of mental Russian. It seemed to work; the woman glared at her, her eyes narrowed, but when she spoke next, it was in a quieter voice. She watched as she and Sergey talked at a rapid fire pace.

“I said I think Yuliya’s just having a bad week at work, and she asked me where she worked, as if she didn’t already know,” Sergey said. What he said next was half drowned out by a sharp, barking laugh from the woman, and Amy wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at. Yuliya worked as a translator for some local company, though by the sounds of things, confused businessmen were her biggest source of cash.

“If you can’t tell–”

“Yeah, she laughed when you said her job.”

Irina said something else, but Sergey blinked and didn’t say anything back.

“What’d she say?”

“That’s not the only place she works.”

“Course not. You saw the tarot cards.”

“Yeah, but she made it sound like it was in another building. I figured she did the tarot in her home.”

“She might have rented office space or something,” Amy said, hoping Irina would go away soon.

There was a little bit more conversation; Sergey’s tones were clipped, and Irina’s doubly so. The fact that her message wasn’t coming across however she intended was just making her more irritable. She shot another angry look at Amy. By that point Amy didn’t care. Irina was never a welcome visitor, not with that attitude.

Finally, with one final word – Irina liked having the final word – and a stiff-looking hug, Irina went away. Even as Amy watched her fade from physical sight into just a distortion, she could perceive the woman shaking her head in aggravation.

“And what did she say there?”

“‘You really don’t know much about your own sister, do you?’,” Sergey repeated, before an exasperated look came over him, “‘And tell that girl of yours to stay safe...you should stop dragging your feet and just marry her already.’”

Amy didn’t know how to respond to that.

***

Trinity heard something crash inside the room before she heard the footsteps that hurried over.  Her sister threw open the door, looking more annoyed that she had ever seen her.  “Dad,” Danielle started to say, “what did I...you’re not Dad.”

“I haven’t been for a while,” Trinity said dryly.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and Trinity felt extremely mixed emotions.  She wanted to be annoyed, be mad at her sister, but looking at how pathetic she looked, how...Danielleish she looked, she couldn’t help but feel a little pity for her sister.  But, then again, Danielle tended to elicit that response out of everyone.  It was the reason why their mother was so worried about her, when she knew Trinity would be fine on her own.

“So I see you finally decided to come home,” Trinity said after a moment.

Danielle dropped her gaze.  “Yes,” she said.  “I saw myself here this weekend, and I figure now was the time when I came back.”

Trinity rolled her eyes, shoving herself in the room.  “You saw yourself,” she said, annoyed.  “That is so like you.  Can’t make a decision until you see the outcome.”

“I’ve wanted to come back so many times.  But, I just...never saw myself here.  I always saw myself...somewhere else, and I knew it wasn’t the right time.”

“And now is the right time,” Trinity asked, cocking her head at her sister.  “And why is that?”

Danielle shrugged.  “I...I don’t know.  I’m hoping it’ll revel itself in due time.  But...I’m here now.”

“I see that.  What are you doing, anyway?  Another prophetic painting?”  She looked around her sister’s room, still set up from when she was suddenly disappeared.  Paint still covered the floor, permanently staining the hardwood.  Easels scattered the room, each with a canvas with a half painted picture on them.  Danielle left in such a hurry, she didn’t even bother to take her personal items with her.

The family had spent four years trying to interrupt the paintings with no avail.  Trinity suspected that Danielle herself didn’t even know anymore.

“No, no,” Danielle said, drifting to what she was working on.  “Mom suggested it.  Since I’m here, I might as well paint something for Matt and Natalie’s baby’s room.”

“You weren’t even there for the weeding,” Trinity said suddenly and accusingly.

“No, no,” Danielle said, turning to face her sister.  “I was, actually.  I was in the back.  Just like I was there for your graduation.”

Trinity was silent.  “You were?” she asked after a moment, a little stunned.

“Yes.  I couldn’t be with you guys, but I couldn’t very well miss the wedding of my brother, and my baby sister’s graduation.  I...I wanted to say something, but...really, I couldn’t.”

“Dani,” Trinity said, sitting slowly on her bed, careful not to knock over the suitcase sitting on it.  “What happened, anyway.”

Danielle glanced back at her, and sighed.  “I went on the run,” she said.  “I was on the lamb.”

“Um, okay,” Trinity said, giving her a funny look.

“There are...people out here, Tri.  People who want to be rid of us with Abilities all together.  To them, we are unnatural, and, of course, unnatural things have no place in this world.  They found out about my...Ability, and so I ran.  It was easy at first, since I could see where they were going to ambush me next.  But...”

“Why didn’t you say anything to us?  We could have helped you out.”

Danielle sighed, putting down her paintbrush and sitting beside Trinity.  “I’m protecting you,” she said, bumping her shoulder against her sister’s. 

“What?” Trinity asked surprised.  “We don’t need any protection, least of all from you.”

“Not the family, you.  To them, Dad and Matt are just...normal people, and they won’t go after innocent, normal people.  God knows everyone and their brother knows about Mom and her Ability, but she’s...protected somehow.  They won’t go after her.  But you, you’re unique.  Do you know how many telekinetics I’ve run into in my whole life?”

“No...”

“One.  Just one.  And it’s you.  Telekinetics are so rare that anyone interested in the slightest in Abilities will drop everything just to get a hold of one.  I don’t want you living my life, on the run constantly.  I’m unique as it is, with my accurate predictions, but you?  You are such a rarity I feel for what your future holds.”

“But...how can you fear the future?” Trinity asked.  “You’re a psychic.”

“Yes, and you know as well as I how hard it is for me to accurately see the future sometimes.  I...” she paused, frowning.

“What?” Trinity asked, scooting closer to Danielle.

Danielle shook her head, and glanced at Trinity.  “I don’t know, it was weird.  Just a flash of something, but I couldn’t figure out what it means.”

Trinity glanced at the painting Danielle had been working on.  “Have you seen it?” she asked, gesturing at it.  “What it’ll be, I mean.”

Danielle glanced at well.  “Yeah,” she said.  “I’m not supposed to tell anyone until Matt and Natalie decide to find out themselves, but...well, let’s just say I fear for their child as well.”

“It’s a girl, then?” Trinity asked, smiling. 

Danielle grinned back.  “I didn’t see the actual baby, but I saw them decorating the room, and it was all in pink.  And since I’m not allowed to tell them, it’s not another self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“I still got to get you back for that one.  Telling our parents you were so exciting to have another brother.  Everyone thought I was a boy with all the blue I wore my first few months.”

“Yes, well, I was four.  I didn’t know any better.”

“I suppose I was just lucky Mom and Dad weren’t creative enough at the time, and just named me Trinity because I happened to be the third child.  I could have been Robert!”

Danielle laughed, smiling at Trinity.  Trinity smiled back, remembering why it had been so easy to get along with her in the past.  It was so easy to forgive her sister, since she seemed to know her so well.

Danielle paused again, and Trinity rolled her eyes.  “What now?”

“Zoo.  You and me.  Next...no...wait...”

“You see us at the zoo, but can’t figure out when?”

“Yeah,” Danielle said, looking a little embarrassed.

Trinity considered the thought.  “Mom’ll be happy you’re doing something with family.  I think I can swing that.  I’ll see what’s on my schedule where I can go without any projects or tests to get in my way.”

“Or when you just need a break?  Believe me, I remember college.”

Trinity gave her a strange look, since she didn’t get to hear any college stories, since that was when Danielle was ‘on the lamb’.  She didn’t even know what school she went to, or what she majored it.

Trinity grinned before leaning into her sister.  “It’s good to have you back,” she admitted.  “I never would have realized it, but...it is.”

Danielle grinned as she wrapped her arms around her sister, and just pulled her in closer.
  

***

“Do you want to catch another movie tonight?” Sergey said, “It’s nice to have Saturdays off.”

“If anything’s playing,” she said, “I didn’t see the new releases.”

“I’ll go and check,” he said. He came back five minutes later with a list and times. Most of them started between six and eight at night, and she scanned them to see if one caught her eye.

“Anything you’d be interested in?”

“Yeah,” Sergey admitted.

“Then we’ll go to that,” she said, “I picked last time. What time...six? That should be okay. We’ll eat a little earlier than usual and I’ll just call Mom a little earlier.”

Amy called faithfully every Saturday night, never mind the fact that her mother lived less than an hour away. It was easier to call than it was to get in the car and drive there; that was reserved for special occasions. Not that a whole lot generally happened in one week, but it was always nice to stay in touch with family. She just wished that certain other family members did the same thing...though, in a sense, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. If Roxanne were to actually deign to call their parents it would likely result in such embarrassing family drama that Amy would start avoiding calls just to get away from it.

For some reason, Roxanne seemed to be infesting her thoughts far too often lately. Like a cockroach; she could just keep trying to think of other things, but the thoughts came back eventually.

“You all right?” Sergey said during dinner, “You’re starting to look like Yuliya.”

Amy looked mock offended at the comparison. “I’m fine,” she said, “Just thinking about family stuff.”

“Like what?” Sergey said; a note of hesitation came into his voice, “Did something happen?”

“Oh – no, no,” Amy laughed, spearing a piece of lettuce with her fork, “Nothing happened. Just thinking about certain family members.”

“Oh,” he said, with sudden understanding. He knew enough about Roxanne to understand, even if he’d only met her a handful of times in their first year. It was only right to let him know. “The Yuliya of your family,” he joked. There was still a hint of anxiety.

“Aw, come on, don’t insult your own sister like that,” Amy said with a grin, “You still get along with her.”

“We’ll see how long it lasts if she keeps up like she is,” he said, “She needs to take a visit home. My mother will screw her head back on for her.”

Amy grinned. “Like I said, Serge, you’re not making me eager to meet your family here.”

Sergey took it in stride, grinning right back.

After loading the dishwasher, Amy excused herself to dart away with the phone. It was always nice to have some privacy between her and her mother, even though she usually wound up passing the phone to Sergey so he could talk with her as well. The fact that they had taken to Sergey so well pleased her.

“Hi Amy,” Julia said as soon as she’d picked up the phone. She knew Amy’s schedule just as well as she did.

“Hi Mom. How’re things over there?”

“Oh, you haven’t missed much,” her mother said, “Your dad’s been fine, him and Mike Smithey went fishing today. I’d let you talk with him, but they’re still not back yet. They’d better bring back freezerfuls of fish if they’re staying out this late...” Amy felt disappointed that she couldn’t talk to her father, but there was always the following week, “...and Craig and Allison came over for a visit the other day.”

“Did he pop the question yet?” Amy said, grinning even though she knew her mother couldn’t see.

She could picture her mother grinning as well, just from the tone of her voice. “Not yet. She seems to be getting fed up waiting. Oh, I should have told you the conversation we had the other day. She was helping me make dinner and for some reason we got to talking about marriage – well, that should tell you loads right there...”

Amy listened throughout the whole little story, offering the occasional ‘hm’, ‘yeah’, and ‘uh-huh’ where appropriate. She’d met Allison a good number of times, and if she could have kicked Craig through the phone to get off his rear and marry her, she would have. It was too bad that she had to be there to manifest someone; Grandma June would have done just that if she knew. She grinned even broader at the thought, leaning against the wall.

“I should stop by and tell him to get off his ass,” she laughed, “I think I’m overdue for a visit.”

“I don’t expect you to come by when classes are on,” Julia said, “You have to stay there and get good grades. As long as you stop by during the summer. Sergey should come too. We don’t see him that often.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Amy said, “His visa requirements–”

“You should look into that,” Julia said, “He seems like a nice boy. I’d like to see him besides Christmastime.”

“I can’t make the immigration department change their rules to make you happy, Mom.”

“You could marry him,” Julia suggested slyly.

“A Green Card wedding – is that all you think I’m capable of?” Amy said, her tone light-hearted. She knew her mother wasn’t serious.

“Well you wouldn’t marry him just so he could stay in the country, you’d marry him because you want to marry him!”

“Okay, but you’ll have to make do with a courthouse wedding and me wearing the nicest white sundress I can find on sale–” her mother started laughing, “–because that’s all I can afford right now.”

“That won’t do!” Julia said between laughs.

“Well, you can’t just go around and tell me to get married when you know I’ve got bills to pay.”

“I had bills to pay too but I still married your father!” Julia laughed.

“It’ll just have to wait if you want a nice wedding,” Amy said, “Once we’re out of school and have some money saved up. We’re too young right now anyway.”

She supposed she should have seen the rebuttal coming a mile away: “If you’re old enough to move in together – well, I don’t want to hear about it but if I wind up becoming a grandmother I won’t be entirely surprised – you’re old enough to marry.”

“You sound like Sergey’s grandma,” Amy said, sighing, “Except you word it nicer. Do you really think I would wind up pregnant when I know I’m not exactly rolling in dough?”

“Oh please, Amy, these things happen even when you don’t plan for them. I know you’re...careful...but that doesn’t mean I don’t think of every possibility as being valid...” they both were silent for a moment, “...His grandmother came all the way from Russia? Or did she just call?” Julia said, distracted, “Does she speak English?”

“No, she doesn’t speak a word. It’s a pain manifesting her just so Sergey can translate whatever gibberish she’s shoving in my head.”

“Oh,” Julia said in realization, “Wait – there were a few people who stopped by the office earlier this week. One of them was Asian, and whatever language she was speaking translated over into English just fine.”

Julia was also a medium, one who specialized in collecting evidence from spirits for use in trials. It was no easy feat – the verification process alone could take months, as independent researchers scoured to find evidence that said that this person was who they said they were, and not a figment of the medium’s mind – not to mention Julia’s particular method of delivery. Amy had only seen her in action once, and that was a private request, not anything to do with court. Each medium had their own method of perceiving and communicating with spirits, and most of them couldn’t just manifest the spirit and chat with them that way.

“This is Irina we’re talking about,” Amy said, “She likes making life difficult. She doesn’t want me to understand, I don’t think. Or she’s trying to teach me Russian, but she’s doing a piss-poor job of it.”

“Speaking of spirits, there’s been an awful lot of them lately, hasn’t there?” she said, “I’ve been seeing them all over the past week. None of them have tried to talk to me, but it’s strange...”

“I know,” Amy said, “It’s the same over here. They’ve quieted down a bit, but still...weird...”

“Sometimes there’s a surge around the office when something’s happened but the police haven’t investigated yet...homicides, mostly...and sometimes a bunch of them come along to escort the newly dead home, but there can’t be that many, not all at once.”

“I had one tell me to stay safe,” Amy said, “Two if you count Irina.”

“You have it easy,” Julia said, laughing a bit, “There was this poor woman – well, woman, she didn’t look that old – who came in the same day as the Asian woman I mentioned, just after lunch. Just seeing the look on her face I thought she might’ve been a homicide herself...poor thing, she must have thought she was still alive for the longest time and was just cluing in now – she had that Farrah Fawcett hair, very seventies. I had hair like that too.”

“Uh-huh,” Amy said, “Then what?”

“Well she wasn’t having a lot of luck communicating the usual way so I asked Sylvie to make sure everything was okay and I sat down and tried to go into a trance. I thought she might instinctively try and just step inside and use me to talk, but that went over even worse. Sylvie said my body fell out of the chair in shock and couldn’t form any coherent words besides ‘what’ – well, except for a bit of swearing. Poor thing sounded very frustrated, according to her.”

“One of these days you’re going to let the wrong spirit possess you,” Amy sighed, “And something bad’s going to happen.”

“Oh, no, you know I have a very strict policy in place. Normally I don’t let them possess me outside of the courtroom but she looked so upset. Didn’t know what she was doing, and I suppose I didn’t help, most spirits need to be talked through my method – they have a whole briefing for that before we go into court, and I gave her the abbreviated version.”

“And then?” she said, unsure of where her mother was going with the story. Obviously nothing bad had happened if she was still sitting there, talking to her, but her mother’s method always made her uneasy. She claimed it was because people seemed to believe her more if she lets the spirits use her to talk rather than just translate, but she always thought it was a little dangerous. Even if the company had strict policies in place, Amy had no idea how they could regulate and govern spirits.

“Then she left,” Julia said, “Poor thing. Hopefully she’ll figure things out, but she ran off before I could say anything.”

“Someone stopped by on Wednesday morning,” Amy admitted, “They woke me up but I told them to go away so I could sleep.”

Julia laughed so hard Amy had to pull the phone away from her ear. “Amy, that’s terrible!” she giggled, “You sent them away...! I’d love to see that on TV!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said, “Whoever it was, they didn’t come back, so it must not have been important.”

Julia let out one last giggle. “That’s what my grandmother always said.”

“I take it you want to talk with Serge now?” Amy said.

“What, I can’t talk with my daughter?” Julia said, and she could see, in her mind’s eye, the mock pout she was putting on, “But if you want to put him on...”

Amy only grinned, shaking her head and standing to find Sergey.

***

“Mom,” Matthew said, “quite staring at Dani and pass the potatoes already.”

“What?  Oh, sorry, dear.”

“And you wonder why I was so eager to move out,” he said to Natalie.  “Between my two sisters, I don’t get any attention around here!”

Natalie laughed nervously, glancing around the table.  Trinity knew she was one of those people who had a...problem with people with Abilities, but that she at least made an effort now that she was married to Matthew.  Trinity and Natalie had a nice, long talk when they had started to get serious, and Trinity had to explain that they were just like everyone else, and Natalie decided then that she would try to get over her prejudices. 

Trinity had pointed out that all she had to do was try.  The Blanch girls compromised, toning down their Abilities so that Natalie would feel more comfortable in their presence.  It wasn’t that easy; between Autumn’s Ability to see spirits and Danielle randomly drifting off, Natalie only ever felt comfortable in Trinity’s presence, since she could control when she could manifest her Ability.

But, every now and then, she’d forget, like when she was eating dinner with her family.  Natalie let out a little squeak as Trinity unconsciously started to levitate the salt shaker in her direction, so used to her own family’s acceptance of the act that she would forget not to for Natalie’s sake, and it started Trinity.  The salt shaker landed on the table with a thud, tipping over and spilling salt.

“Whoops,” Trinity said.  “Um, could someone pass the salt?”

Natalie looked a little embarrassed.  “Sorry,” she muttered.

“You got to get used to it,” Matthew said as he handed his baby sister the salt, which she started shaking over her mashed potatoes.  “It’s not going to get any easier.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

Trinity waved her off.  “Don’t worry about it.  I...probably need to learn proper table manners, anyway.”

“We just ignore it,” Danielle pointed out.  “It was always easier for her to just...get it herself when we were younger, since she wouldn’t talk loud enough for anyone to hear her.  Besides, it is easier.”

“it just...surprises me still,” Natalie admitted.  “I mean, everything else I’m starting to get used to, because I have to deal with out in the real world now.  But...the levitating?  I’ve never seen anyone but Tri do anything like that.”

Trinity glanced at Danielle, and she gave her a significant look.

“Dani,” their mother called from her end of the table.  “Is you’re hair...shorter than last time.”

“Yeah,” Danielle said, running her hand nervously through her hair.  “It’s...easier this way.”

Trinity knew something was different about her sister, but she hadn’t realized it was her hair.  Danielle used to keep it as long as Trinity did now, but now it was cut just above her shoulders.  It made her look her age, for once, and it did look cute on her. 

“I like it,” Autumn admitted.

“I don’t,” Lester muttered.  “I liked the old hair.”

Autumn feigned throwing a roll at him.  “Oh, that reminds me.  I had a little chat with your Uncle Richard the other day.”

“Oh, really?” Danielle asked.  “How is he doing?”

“They are all doing great, but...”

“But?” Matthew asked.  Even Natalie looked interested.

“Well, Missy’s been having some trouble...with her Ability.”

“What sort of trouble?” Trinity asked, worried.

“It’s nothing serious,” Autumn said hastily.  “It’s mostly just that she has no one round to teach her control, and she’s been accidentally projecting her thoughts into people’s heads, and it’s scaring them.”

“So what are you going to do?” Trinity asked, looking confused as Danielle’s face lit up.

“She’s going to come here and live with us for a while,” their mother stated.  “It’ll be good for her, to be able to have access to me whenever she wanted,  plus we have this huge house all to ourselves now.”

Lester shuddered slightly.  Trinity knew her father had issues with her brother-in-law as well as his niece, so the fact that he even agreed to it was very...generous of him.  But it wasn’t her father’s reaction she was interested in.

“This is what you saw, isn’t it?  Missy coming to stay here?” she asked Danielle.

She looked a little sheepish.  “Yeah,” she admitted.  “It didn’t make any sense, since why would she come to stay in New York when Rhode Island was a far better place to raise a child.”

“It’s Providence,” Matthew pointed out.  “It’s not much better.”

“Still not as crowded as New York.  Ah, Matt...”

“No, we are not moving into the suburbs, woman,” he exclaimed.  “Mom and Dad did just fine with us, and we didn’t move into this house until Mom was pregnant with Tri, and we needed the space.”

Natalie just pouted, and Trinity could tell they had this argument before.

Trinity tried to think of the consequences of having her cousin Melissa that close to her.  For one thing, Melissa seemed to almost hero worship her, although no one was quite sure why.  The two had pretty opposite Abilities, telekinesis and telepathy.  Sure, Melissa’s Ability was so unique that it hadn’t even been heard of before, and Trinity had a rare Ability herself, but Trinity still didn’t understand her cousin’s fascination with her.  After all, Trinity didn’t quite know how to deal with children.

But, her mother was right in that Melissa would have better instruction here in New York, with her present.  Melissa would learn how to control her Ability, and then return home to, hopefully, have a normal life after she transferred schools.  Trinity knew what it was like growing up branded as a freak by her classmates.  The only way Melissa would have a ‘normal’ life now was if she went somewhere where no one knew she had an Ability.

It was while she was reflecting on this that Autumn cleared her throat.  She wasn’t getting anyone’s attention, as far as Trinity could see, but she was staring intently at Lester’s right shoulder.

He looked surprised.  “What?” he asked.

“Sorry, you have a...very persistent spirit hovering around you.  I can’t get a good sense on her, but she appears to be trying to get my attention.”

“Me?” Lester asked, glancing at his shoulder.  Spirits tended to avoid her father, mostly because they would much rather talk to her mother, so the fact that one was around him was unusual.  “It’s not your mother again, is it?”

“I told Mom to leave be, and she mostly just follows Richard and Missy around now, since Dad took up being Tri and Dani’s protector.”

Danielle rolled her eyes.  “Wish he would quit,” she muttered to Trinity.  “I mean, it’s not like either of us can communicate with him.”

“Yeah, but he finds other mediums.  He warned me the other day, to basically watch my back.”  She shrugged.  “It was sort of weird.”  

“What does she want?” Natalie asked, looking nervous.

“I’m not sure,” Autumn said as she rose from the table and moved to the other side.  Lester looked a little nervous, almost afraid to move.  He, of course, had witnessed his wife in action before, but, then again, most of the nation had at one point or another.  It was just that he never had her do it to him, or at least not that often.  Only other time Trinity could think of Autumn using her Ability on Lester was five years ago when her mother passed away, and she was trying to convince her daughter she still made a mistake by marrying him.

Autumn took Lester’s hands carefully, and closed her eyes for a moment.  She snapped them open and shoved herself back after a moment or two, looking annoyed.

“What?” Danielle asked.

“Rude little thing,” Autumn said, rubbing her temples.  “Suggested you should know something, then started to yell at me about something.  I couldn’t get a sense of what she wanted at all.”

“Is she...is she gone?” Lester asked.

“Yes, went off in a huff when I disconnected,” she told him.  He relaxed. 

“That was weird,” Trinity admitted.  “Usually they don’t come at dinnertime.”

“Yes, well,” Autumn said as she settled down again.  “Not the weirdest conversation I’ve had.  The spirits are in abundance lately, and they all seem to think something’s about to happen.  Or, at least the one’s I’ve talk to, since most of them are keen on warning family members about something.”

“Like Grandpa?”

“Yes, he’s come to me, too, but not with anything worrisome.”  Her father was the only spirit who could communicate with Autumn without her physically touching the person they attached themselves to, but that was mostly because the two of them had a very strong relationship when he was alive.  He was also a very slight medium himself, whereas her mother was a telepath, so the family always figured it was because they had similar Abilities that they were able to communicate as they did.

Danielle glanced at Trinity, looking a little frightened.  “This can’t be good,” she said, mostly to herself, and Trinity had to wonder if she agreed or not.