Braden ' Power of 3'

CHAPTER 2

  THE POWER OF THREE

  SATURDAY 13/3

  JAMIE

  Still shaking we ran through Liam's back gate anxious to check the party tent. It was empty...no one had returned. I looked at my watch, the hands said 12.14pm.

  I was freaking. We'd already received our powers so what was going to happen at the thirteenth hour?

  I looked at Liam he was white as a ghost. Was he thinking the same thing?

  "What will we do now Jamie?" Liam asked nervously. "Our parents must know that we've been gone."

  "We'll have to fess up Liam; we have to tell them what we witnessed. They have to know that underneath William Braden's mansion there is another world. We've seen for ourselves that the Crines and Tuloosa are not a figment of my dad's imagination."

  "What if they already know Jamie?" Katie said breathlessly.

  Jade looked stunned as she stared at Katie and I wondered what was going through her head.

  "Well I guess we'll soon find out, come on let's go" I said as I recovered my dad's diary from under the altar. Hastily I put it under my cloak and turned to walk out of the tent.

  "Wait Jamie", Katie called out anxiously. "What about those three teenagers in that incubator who looked like us. What if they come to life and nobody can tell us apart? And worse they might have supernatural powers like us?"

  I stopped in my tracks at the terror in Katie's voice. She was shaking uncontrollably.

  "Katie's right Jamie our parents have to know! What if they try to impersonate us?" Liam asked terrified by the prospect.

  "Look guys, promise you won't say anything. Those three weren't alive and maybe never will be. So let's keep it a secret for now otherwise our parents will freak.

  We are in enough trouble already I don't want them to know that we discovered William Braden's laboratory until we find Asa." I insisted forcefully.

  "Okay Jamie but we have to tell them that we know that we are the 'Power of Three' and have already received our powers." Katie asserted.

  "And what about me?" Jade despaired. "Why have I these powers too?"

  I didn't have time to answer, the tent flap was abruptly pulled back and there stood our parents.

  "Where are the others young man?" Liam's dad demanded glaring angrily at him.

  "I don't know dad, didn't they come back here?"

  "No. You better have some answers; you've got a lot of explaining to do. We had just discovered you all missing and were on our way back upstairs to ring their parents when we heard your voices. You better have a good explanation. You've had us all worried sick. Now get your butt upstairs!"

  Mum was looking at me strangely and I meekly followed her and the others back to the house shaking at the thought of what lay ahead.

  STACEY

  Sheepishly Jamie handed me Eric's diary as we entered the kitchen.

  "Sorry Mum I took it so that Katie and Liam could read what dad had discovered about us three. They had to know what was about to happen to us today."

  "What do you mean Jamie, what have you told Katie and Liam?" Sam demanded angrily before I had a chance to respond.

  "Dad we know we are the 'Power of Three' don't go blaming Jamie you should have been the one to tell me." Katie swiftly admonished her father as she stood firmly by Jamie's side.

  The shocked silence was only broken by the hall clock striking the half hour.

  "I'm sorry Katie," Sam said after a few agonizing minutes. "We couldn't risk you knowing until you received the powers that would protect you."

  "So it is true, we are the 'Power of Three'?" Liam exclaimed.

  "Yes..." Charlie affirmed as he looked inquisitively at Jade.

  Jade shrunk under Charlie's gaze and I wondered just how much she knew.

  "It's okay mum you can trust Jade, and yes, she knows everything." Stunned I looked at Jamie, how did he know what I was thinking?

  "Jade you must swear that you will not tell anyone and that means your family as well...agreed?" Charlie demanded harshly moving threateningly towards her.

  "Dad of course she will swear, won't you Jade?" Liam declared defensively as he pushed Jade out of his fathers reach.

  "Yes Liam I will." Jade replied assertively. "Mr. Powers I would never betray Liam and Katie, they are my best friends and that goes for Jamie as well."

  "You realize Jade the seriousness of the consequences if you don't live up to your promise?" Sam demanded glaring at her.

  "Yes Mr. Powers." Jade replied defiantly, "I've seen what the Crines can do."

  "What's this, what are you saying Jade?" Charlie demanded harshly.

  "Jamie!" Jade implored desperately as she slunk closer to him.

  "Jamie, you'd better tell us what you all have been up to right now!" I demanded. I was so angry with my son; he'd obviously been hiding so much from me.

  "Mum Jade is speaking the truth. Last night we saw for ourselves that the Crines exist. We followed them into an old abandoned graveyard where thousands of their followers joined them. They performed a strange ritual in front of a huge tomb and the mummy inside came to life and stood before them.

  The Crines have supernatural powers just like dad said. And when we went to the old Braden mansion this morning we saw the Crines unite with Tuloosa in the catacombs that run beneath it.

  Swasie was there and he had monsters chase us. We thought we'd be killed but some strange force saved us and transported us to the Ancient city.

  Sorry mum I had to find that old man, I think he's Asa!" Jamie blurted out breathlessly.

  I gasped and looked at the other parents, they too were horrified.

  I hugged Jamie close to me. I could feel him trembling and I could no longer be angry at his deceit. Instead I admonished myself for not realizing sooner that they'd been gone. I looked across at my new found family and could see by their faces that they too felt the same.

  At the most important time in our children's lives we'd failed them. We'd been so engrossed in discussing those documents Charlie had told me about on the phone last night that we had left them to party thinking they were safely nearby. Instead they'd been in unspeakable danger in the old Braden mansion without the protection of their powers.

  Their powers... oh my god it was nearly time!

  I looked down at my special son and tousled his hair lovingly, would I ever be able to reconcile myself to his destiny?

  I felt Jamie grow tense in my arms as Liam began asking his dad about his supernatural powers. Strangely Jade began to cry and Liam stopped mid sentence. Jamie pulled away from me and stood beside Jade exchanging knowing glances with Liam. Alarm bells rang in my head as Katie slipped her arm around Jade. They were hiding something, and by their reaction I knew it had to do with Jade.

  Jade looked up at me through her tears and I was struck by her uncanny resemblance to the young girl in the photo that Eric's solicitor had sent me. I gasped and looked over at Charlie and his wife who were speaking softly to Katie's parents. I couldn't hear what they were saying but they were all staring at Jade.

  Loud knocking on the kitchen door snapped me out of my dark thoughts. Liam's mum Joanne peeped through the curtains and Charlie quickly hid the documents spread across the kitchen table. Shushing everyone Joanne waited for Charlie to finish and then silently opened the door.

  Dismayed I watched as a stream of outraged parents filed into the kitchen demanding to know why their children had been allowed to go to the old Braden Estate.

  I hadn't realized until then how deep rooted the fears concerning William Braden were among the community.

  At the height of the fracas I noticed that Jade's mother Trina was among them. I watched her reaction closely as she listened to the parents admonishing Charlie. She seemed afraid as she rushed over to Jade and pulled her away from Katie.

  It was the first time I'd seen them together and I was stunned by Jade's likeness to her mother. However what was more disturbing was their resemblance to the mysterious girl in the photo taken long
ago in front of 'Apogee Mountain Orphanage'. How could the three look so alike?

  A cold chill passed through my body. I took a step toward them but hesitated, it was insane what I was thinking.

  Trina must have sensed my eyes on her as she made her way to the back door with Jade as she stopped momentarily to glare at me. The anger I saw in her eyes startled me and dumbfounded I watched Trina and Jade slip through the kitchen door without so much as a goodbye.

  The feeling of familiarity Trina stirred within me unnerved me. I knew that it was absurd. I'd only met Trina once before and the brief contact I'd had with her at her house had been less than friendly. I'd hoped by showing her Eric's diary she would have filled in the missing gaps but I'd been mistaken. I'd left with the suspicion that she'd had been the one who'd betrayed my husband.

  For now I decided to keep my suspicions to myself, the bond between Trina and the others was too strong for them to listen without proof.

  I looked up at the kitchen clock, my heart raced; it was nearing the thirteenth hour. I watched the last parent leave and Charlie lock the door.

  Silently he picked up Eric's briefcase and indicated to us to follow

  I took Jamie's hand and quietly walked behind the others into the hallway where Charlie proceeded to tap on one of the panels lining the wall.

  Immediately the panel slid open revealing a dimly lit staircase. Jamie muttered his delight and pulled me forward as Charlie disappeared into its depths.

  Filled with apprehension I looked at Natalie and Joanne's solemn faces as they silently nodded for me to follow down the creaking stairs.

  I heard the panel slide shut behind me. There was no turning back.

  Shadows leapt back and forth over the barren stone walls of this secret place as Joanne lit the lanterns hanging from the ancient beams. Its thick solid walls exuded secrecy and my senses reeled from all that had passed before. Here in this place lay my history. Finally all those years of searching could be put to rest, I was where I belonged

  An indescribable feeling of peace overcame me as I watched Charlie deftly stir the dying embers in the weathered stone fireplace back to life. Framed by the glow of the fire he reached for Eric's briefcase sitting on the old wooden desk beside him

  I heard Jamie gasp as glistening from the firelight the distinctive silver clasp of twisted snakes appeared to spring to life and untwine. I shook my head in disbelief. Had it been a trick of the eye, or had I just seen those snakes slither subserviently on Charlie's hand?

  Reverently Charlie took the old yellowed scrolls from the briefcase and carefully unrolled them. With a wave of his hand he bade the children sit on the rug in front of the fire.

  I heard the hall clock upstairs begin to chime the thirteenth hour and Jamie looked up at me a silent acknowledgement in his eyes. I looked desperately at Charlie it was too late to prepare our children for the powers that they were about to receive.

  Joanne walked over to me shushing me before I could speak. Taking me by the hand she led me to where Natalie stood with emerald green velvet robes in her outstretched hand.

  Imperiously Charlie began reading from the ancient scrolls in the tongue of the 'Ancients'. Incredulously his tall athletic body began to shrink; his curly red hair and green eyes disseminating as he mysteriously morphed into the slender humanlike form of the oldest known alien race in the Universe, the Aseekiens.

  Stunned I stared at his silky white skin as it stretched tightly over his now hairless pearly skull. The black pools of his saucer like eyes glistened in the firelight reflecting the souls of his ancestors as they receded deeply into his forehead.

  Before me now stood Tiago dressed in the deep purple regal robes of his status as the third father of the Power of Three'. His pale thin lips barely moved as he continued to recite the ancient parables.

  The hall clock chimed for the last time and suddenly a warm tingle coursed through my body. Light headed I turned to Joanne, who stared knowingly through black saucer like eyes searching for my acceptance.

  I nodded silently as I looked down at my humanlike form that mirrored hers. Gone was the short stocky body that I loathed replaced by the slender one that I had always aspired to. My skin was no longer freckled but pearly white and my once curly short red hair now long and straight.

  Donning my ceremonial robe I followed Natalie and Joanne as they glided toward Charlie and Sam who now stood beside him. I felt strangely calm as we stood there facing our children who I could see were having difficulty differentiating between our diminutive alien forms.

  The shocked look in our children's eyes turned to bewilderment as they looked down at their own bodies. Their green eyes sparkled with the intensity of the moment as Charlie began to explain that until their powers were matured they would remain in their human form.

  I couldn't help but smile at the look of relief on their faces.

  "Children of the Universe", Charlie continued imperiously. "My given name as the third father of the 'Power of Three' is Tiago and in future at our meetings you must address me as such.

  The sensation you just experienced at the thirteenth chime of the thirteenth hour was the awakening of your infantile powers that were bequeathed by the 'Great Universal Council' to those bred to be the 'Power of Three'. These powers are to be used in accordance with the Mandate passed down from its inception thousands of years ago. You will use these powers wisely and be advised by your Guides throughout your learning at the 'Universal Wizard Academy' in your homeland, the planet Aseeka."

  As Charlie placed the ancient scrolls aside I wanted to rush over to my son who, like Katie and Liam, looked overwhelmed by the realization that they would be transported to a distant planet to learn the complexity of their powers. However I knew that I had to maintain my pretense of composure even though every bit of my being was being torn in every direction. I, unlike the other parents of the 'Power of Three', hadn't had years of preparing for this moment of revelation and I was devastated by the thought of losing my son to a higher power.

  My slender body shook with emotion as I watched Charlie take from his robe three stones. Deftly he threw the stones into the burning fireplace. Instantly the flames ignited the stones powers releasing three ghostly alien forms from within. The stone guides Kria, Trias and Risa now hovered before our startled children

  I watched my son intently as his guide Kria spoke to him. Proudly I saw how quickly he grasped the complexity of what was being told to him, understanding instinctively the language of the 'Aseekiens'. And when his guide placed the emerald green stone of infinity in his hand I could see that Jamie immediately knew that his was a special power.

  Katie on the other hand was examining her crimson stone that her guide Trias had given her with deep analytical abilities which instinctively I knew enabled her to understand its complexities in a matter of seconds.

  Liam unlike Katie and Jamie was bursting with excitement as he stared at the black stone his guide Risa had given him. I could tell that he couldn't wait to use its magic, and filled with adventure was unable to sit still.

  Already it was becoming obvious to me how different each of the three were. My senses told me that Jamie drew his strengths from his instincts while Katie was able to analyze and explain the manner of all things instantly. Liam's strength was his natural curiosity, and his voracious thirst for answers would make him forever the adventurer.

  I sighed with relief, satisfied that their strengths complemented each other and would serve them well together as the 'Power of Three.' Today some of my questions had been answered and I was thankful to at last know the truth. However the mystery of my early years remained, as did the identity of my missing adoptive parents. More than ever I needed to know what had happened to them.

  With pride and sadness I gazed at my special son wishing his father could have been here to share this extraordinary day. He would have seen that his fears were in vain; his son was safe and had survived to take his place in the destiny of the Universe. r />