Grey
Chapter Six: Portobello Road
The sky above us was a startling blue – not a cloud visible anywhere – but it was a little cool. A wild, crisp wind crept through the mountains and the big valley, dancing through tall grass and fields. Because Portobello Road was a valley, a valley in between the mighty mountains of ranges. The grass was a healthy, beautiful emerald green, and in one corner of the valley, a big forest continued up the side of one of the mountains. In another area I could see field upon field of corn, grain and wheat. I could also glimpse vegetable and fruit gardens where a few people were working. A big, dark blue lake made up space just out the forest – mouthing into the lake from a small river snaking through the midst of the woods. There were numerous buildings scattered over the entire area – and not just following a lone road from one end to the other as I had originally imagined. Instead, there had been laid out intricate paths that lead from the apartments onto bigger paths leading to the larger of the buildings. I was so transfixed on the panorama vision from where we stood; a sort of plateau of one of the surrounding mountains. I didn’t get the fact that we were leaving until Jeff lightly touched my arm and smiled at me when I looked up. ,,You’ll have lots of time to look around,” Jeff assured me and began walking after Raven, Mary and Norewood. Zeke had stayed behind to help Proctor with something regarding North America. The teleporter said he would join us in Portobello Road in a couple of days. While we walked down the slope to the valley, I tried to swallow everything up with my eyes. The atmosphere seemed light, safe and filled with happiness. The people walking around among the buildings had lightness to their steps that spoke of comfort, though for a few of them that was not the case. Leaning against one of the buildings nearest us as we descended I could see a boy no older than seventeen clad totally in black. His brown hair hung down in front of his face, and his arms were crossed over his chest protectively. The aura about him was dark and gloomy. Jeff, noticing where I was looking, grimaced slightly. ,,That’s Seth. He’s not really the smiling type. But he’s alone?” A confused frown appeared on his face. ,,Usually, Dalia is never far behind when he goes somewh- Oh, there she is!” A girl perhaps a year younger than the gloomy Seth came bouncing around one of the buildings. She wore a red summer dress with a black cardigan over her shoulders. Her blond wild curls danced in the air as she ran over to Seth and wrapped her arms around his slightly taller frame. As her hair settled down she looked up at him with a big smile and said something that made herself laugh. Seth merely shrugged his shoulder but I thought I saw the ghost of a smile appear on his lips, and though I would have guessed him to be the kind to push off such a hug, he didn’t. He didn’t hug her back either, but it seemed like the girl, Dalia, was making progress. Jeff smiled and nudged me in the small of my back to keep up with the others. ,,Dalia took a liking to Seth the instant he got here. Although she’s had a hard time with him pushing her away, I see they’re finally getting somewhere.” When we got nearer the foot of the mountain, people began noticing us and they ran over here while some ran to the biggest building. Already Raven, Mary and Norewood received claps on their backs, big smiles and questions about how their ‘mission’ went. It suddenly hit me hard that saving me from Ayers’ company had been their mission. It must have been Raven who had teleported them over to the forest behind the research facility. When Jeff and I finally reached the others there was a short pause where everyone looked me up and down, and then everyone was talking again. ,,Hello,” ,,Nice to meet you,” and ,,Welcome to Portobello Road,” was said as we made our way through the crowd and walked toward the biggest building. There was a huge porch surrounding the house and on it a man and two women stood straight, smiling warmly at the arrivals. Even before Jeff whispered the name of the man, I knew who he was. He looked like he was about his late thirties. He was tall, with long limbs and a swimmer’s build. Even though he wasn’t as broad as Jeff, he didn’t look anywhere near weak either. He wore a pair of denim pants snuggly showing off his muscles and a gray long sleeved shirt. His skin tone was very light, almost seemed translucent, and his hair was a wild mass of blond waves. His dark brown eyes shone with authority and fierceness, and I knew he was the leader of the tenants who lived in Portobello Road. ,,He’s Blake,” Jeff said as nudged me toward the stairs so we could join the man and the two women up there. ,,And they are Eliza and Jane, twin sisters.” He nodded toward the women standing on Blake’s left side. They looked exactly alike, the same long, lean build with all the best womanly curves, skin a bit tan and highlighted brown hair. The only difference between them was that Eliza had her hair reaching her hips, while Jane’s hair was cropped short, barely reaching her chin. They both had voluminous bangs almost covering their identical gray eyes. Blake stepped forward and clasped hands with Mary and Norewood before he turned to Jeff and pulled the big man into a bear hug. ,,Jeff! It’s good to see you!” Over Jeff’s shoulder he noticed me and drew a little back from his apparently very good friend. ,,I see the mission was accomplished. Welcome, Grey! Assuming you are Grey?” The last he added as we clasped hands, and I had to try really hard not to wince when it felt like his surprisingly big hand crushed mine in that fierce grip. I nodded while nursing my hand when the man finally let go. ,,And you’re Blake?” The man smiled and then gestured toward the twins. He introduced them and then invited us to get inside the big four-story building. He lead us directly to a sitting area consisting of large fluffy looking couches and arm chairs and gestured for us all to take a seat. Eliza said she and her sister would go and make sure that the rest heard of their return and that lunch would be taken together in the great hall. With a last few smiles they were gone, leaving us in the room with Blake. Blake leaned back in a chair with a gratified expression crossing over his features. ,,So, let me hear of your adventures. It’s been so long since I’ve been out of these mountains that I have a hard time feeling satisfied with television’s perspective of the land outside.” He closed his sentence with a big smile and waited for Jeff to begin. ,,I infiltrated Ayers’ building easily enough, pretending to be an assistant to a not-existing professor. I had only been there for about a week when I ‘met’ Grey in the cafeteria.” His dark gaze shifted to mine and he smirked. I just knew he was up to something by the mischievous look in his eyes. Without looking away from me, he continued, ,,Grey was just in the middle of breaking up with his boyfriend, Shawn was his name? and shortly after, I got your phone call, Blake. I’d managed to find a way into the security camera room and I saw Kelly and Quincy having a meeting with Ayers – apparently about Grey. When they began attacking the building, I figured it was Grey they were after, so I followed his scent, and found him already escaping.” At this, he looked at me almost proudly, as if he had any right to be proud about my attempt at escaping. ,,I got him safely to Mary and Norewood’s car, and then we were off.” Blake nodded and looked to the British woman to continue. Mary cleared her throat. ,,We only ran into hunters once on the car drive. We managed to escape with the help of Grey’s Talent.” The leader, eyes narrowing in what I thought was intrigue, shifted his gaze to me. ,,Really?” he asked, rhetorically. ,,We went to Chesting and found Hutton and Zeke,” Norewood cut in. ,,At Proctor’s house in Dansolle the hunters – Hunter Thayer none the less! – ran into us again and searched the house in the evening. Proctor managed to kick him out and hide us in a secret room. The next day Raven arrived and here we are!” He reached out both his hands palms up and smiled. Nodding and probably storing all the information for later dissection, Blake turned to me, and despite the feelings of gratitude I fought my body not to cringe at the intense look in his eyes. ,,Your Talent has something to do with electronics, am I correct? Electricity and… mechanics?” Clearing my throat, I nodded, determined not to avoid his gaze. ,,Yes.” ,,When is your birthday?” If I had been drinking anything at that moment, I would have coughed and spat the whole lot of it in his very face. My birthday? Why was he asking about my birthday? ,,The 14th of February.” At the gasps and frowns that went through the room, I once again felt left out of something that seemed to be common knowledge. I turned my eyes to Jeff’s, questioning. ,,Why’s that so weird? What’s this about?” Jeff opened his mouth to answer but Blake did so instead. ,,Because all paras are born at approximately the same time of year. In average, there is a difference of a week, but all paras that we know of was born during that week. Although some we are of different ages, we were all conceived the same day of year.” ,,And the 14th of February is three months after that week,” Jeff said, answering my question. I looked to and from the others in the room, confusion probably marring my features. Mary and Norewood looked as confused as me, Jeff seemed spaced out with a distant look to his face, and Blake glanced toward the wall farthest away; his eyes probably scanning over the many photographs that adorned the wooden wall. Feeling like I was swallowing a football, I coughed and got everyone’s attention again. ,,But what does that mean?” I asked. ,,If it even means anything.” Blake shrugged lightly. ,,I don’t know. Up until now I thought I had it figured out, but…” his eyes narrowed as he measured me with his eyes, ,,apparently not.” I straightened in the couch and felt how Jeff moved closer to me so that our thighs touched. For now, I let it be, but I had to remind myself to get some answers from him about his behavior. I refused to believe this was only connected to my scent. I turned toward Blake. ,,What do you mean, you figured it all out?” Again narrowing his eyes slightly, Blake gathered his hands in his lap and seemed to be contemplating whether he should answer me or not. ,,I just told you that I thought I had it all figured out. With this new revelation, I am not sure any longer.” And with that, he stood up from the armchair and gesture toward the exit. He turned to Jeff and avoided my gaze. ,,Jeff, we’ve made the room across from you ready for our new tenant. Could you show him the way? And, everyone, we’ll have lunch in an hour from now. I’ll see you then.” He smiled broadly and moved to a doorway leading further into the building when he stopped and turned around. ,,Oh, and Jeff, I think you should find Red and Denny; they have something to tell you.” Then he was gone. Jeff was openly scowling at the last tidbit of information as he led me out of the house again. We parted ways with Mary and Norewood – Mary demanding a hug from me, and Norewood simply nodding before he was on his way – and then Jeff pointed toward one of the apartments. ,,That’s where I – and now you, too – live. We have a room each with a little kitchen and a private bathroom. Usually all the tenants eat together every Friday and on special occasions, other than that you can eat by yourself or with who ever you want, actually.” ,,Special occasions? Such as today?” I asked. I realized that my entire body felt tense as I looked around and it really downed on me that I had no idea where I was or what to do now that I had successfully evaded the clutches of the Blood, the hunters and Ayers’ company. ,,Yeah, whenever someone comes home from a mission we eat together. Or when there’s a new face.” At the last he smiled at me and reached out to probably grab my arm again. I sighed and was ready to fight him off when his hand instead ruffled up my hair. ,,How many live here?” I asked after I had shaken off the Jeff-touching-my-hair incident. Jeff narrowed his eyes for a moment and bit his lower lip, thinking. ,,I’d say we are about 500 paras here, at this location-” ,,There are other locations? Other places like Portobello Road?” I lifted my eyebrows, somehow surprised that there would be more paras out there. I’d never thought the para community was so big and organized, though I had seen Proctor and his Union of Paras’ Equality – which also seemed quite grand. ,,Oh, yes.” Jeff nodded with emphasis. ,,We have one more in the States called Piccadilly Road, one located in France called Rue de l’Aubépine, one in Sweden called Svärd Gata, and one in India, Bhagavana Gali. Normally, you want to live in a place where others can understand you so we try to spread out. We’re setting up a place in Japan, too, but it’s still under way.” From the way he puffed up his chest and his smile broadened I concluded that Jeff was proud. I nodded and looked down on the ground. ,,Huh. I didn’t think there were so many paras in the world. I thought-” ,,-that you were alone?” Jeff asked, and nodded as if that thought was to be expected. ,,Many of the paras we find say the same. From the way every news channel is talking about us, it seems to others as if the paras are some unorganized minority of rogues who just want to slit humanity’s throats in their sleep.” Although he was still smiling, his voice had an edge to it, and his eyes hardened. Then it all slid away with the help of a small smile. His dark gaze turned to me, and in an instant all seriousness was gone, and he reached out with his hand. Before I could so anything or say anything about it Jeff took a hold of my arm, pulled me flush against his chest and buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling softly. When I finally gained some purchase I pushed away and managed to break free. I glared at him but only managed to get more irritated when all Jeff did in return was smiling that damned droopy smile and wink. ,,You bastard,” I hissed with faltering conviction as Jeff just brushed it off with a chuckle and began rummaging in his pocket for a key. We had reached a three-story apartment made of dark wood just as the rest of the buildings in this valley. There was a small garden following one of its sides with blooming, beautiful flowers and small bushes. While unlocking the door, Jeff nodded toward the little garden. ,,That’s Dalia’s work. Her Talent is with the earth. She and twenty others have the same gift, and they’re the ones responsible for the agriculture here.” Jeff got the door open. It revealed a small living room with two big couches, a television and a table with space – probably – for playing games or eating together or something. In the corner nearest to the front door was a staircase only leading up. ,,The private apartments are upstairs, and this is our living room. There are rooms for six people living together, and other than you, me and Dalia, there are two more; Red and Denny.” Jeff began leading the way up the stairs. We reached a small landing and I could see three doors. Jeff pointed to the lone one. ,,That is your room. The one across from yours is mine, and the one a little to the right is Dalia’s. Upstairs, Red and Denny have the rooms next to each other, though they usually share Denny’s.” At the last, I could easily hear the snarl entering his voice. ,,They share a room?” I asked, prompting him to explain, as Jeff moved off the stairs and toward my room. ,,Yeah, they’re… they’re engaged.” Ooh, the snarl spread to show a scowling and slightly pouting expression. ,,Red is my sister,” he finally said. ,,A healer. And Denny is good with water-” ,,Your sister?” I repeated. The surprise, though, quickly dissipated. Now that I knew, I could easily imagine Jeff finding an older sister annoying. Jeff nodded tersely. ,,My older sister by two years.” Swiftly trying to change the topic, he pushed open my door and went inside. ,,This is your room. There is already a key on the nightstand, and don’t worry, we’ll get you some clothes after lunch.” I walked inside slowly. The room was the same size as the one in Ayers’ company but that was where the similarities ended. Both the walls and the floors were made of the same dark wood, and there was a plush rug laid out in front of the door. The furniture was solid and also of wood, the upholstery a warm dark blue color. There was a bed with a nightstand, a dresser beside it and also a couple of armchairs with a small table between them. It was nice. Really nice. And I could easily imagine myself sitting in the armchairs with a book and just relax. What I kind of missed was a computer, but I hoped I could borrow one someplace. I noticed two doors beside the bed, and I guessed they led into the kitchen and the bathroom. When I was done checking everything out, I turned toward Jeff who I found studying my every move from the table between the armchairs. ,,So, do you like it?” Jeff asked, and I could see the hope lingering there in those dark depths of his eyes. I slowly nodded and let my eyes roam around the room again. ,,It’s nice,” I said. Suddenly remembering what he had said some minutes ago, I turned toward him again and moved a little closer. ,,You said there were Dalia and twenty others who also have a Talent with earth. Are there many who have the same Talent?” Jeff nodded, a smile gracing his lips. ,,Yep. And not only the wits. We’ve discovered that there are ten different kinds of changer beasts, mine being called a white striped mountain cat. Blake’s form is more alike a wolf, so we’ve called it a black river wolf as he gets almost obsessed with water – instead of the full moon, if you get what I’m saying.” He laughed and wiggled his eyebrows at me. My heart pounded a little harder as I was about to ask the question I had wanted answered for some time now. Was I truly alone or not? ,,Are there others… like me? With my Talent?” Understanding my tension about the question, Jeff’s smile dimmed at what he thought of, and I already knew the answer. ,,No. Not as far as we know.” I didn’t know how vulnerable I looked at the moment, but obviously it was enough for Jeff to wrap his arms around me and pull me closer to him again. I felt him resting his cheek against the top of my head. His chest rising and falling against me had me calm down. And that was when it hit me how close we stood and the fact that I let Jeff do this. Grasping this revelation, I slowly pulled myself free and took a couple of steps back. My stomach was fluttering strangely and all I wanted was to get back into that embrace. Fortunately, my stubbornness kicked in and I decided to drop it, ignore it. For now. ,,Okay,” I said, as breathy as a sigh. ,,When were we having lunch again?” Lame way of changing the subject, I know, but I couldn’t see other ways of doing so. A small, almost invisible smile tugged at Jeff’s lips as he thought on it. ,,There’s still some time left until everyone gather, but we could go there early and-” He was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and multiple persons walking in. ,,Jeffrey?” a young woman called from the living room. ,,Jeff? Are you back yet?” Jeff’s smile broadened and he nodded toward the door. ,,Come meet my sister, Grey.” To Red he shouted, ,,I’m coming down now!” and hurried out. I followed after him, glad that the subject was no longer about our strange interaction just before. When I reached the stairs, Jeff was already down on the story below, probably hugging his sister. I also heard a man’s voice and assumed that it belonged to Denny, Red’s fiancé. When I finally reached the bottom of the stairs I could easily see just how much Jeff’s sister’s name suited her. She wasn’t as tall as Jeff but had a lean, clean build. Her skin was as dark and exotic looking as her brother’s but her hair was a light red not exactly ginger. It reached all the way down to her waist and was braided so it hung down her back. And even though Jeff had verified that it was his sister standing in the living room, I would easily have been able to see the resemblance in their features and put together that they were siblings. Jeff and Red were standing between the two couches, hugging tightly despite Jeff’s scowl earlier. The other man, Denny, stood behind Red with a smile making his green eyes shine. He was about the same height as Jeff but with a broader and more sturdy build, and his skin was pale and freckled, his hair absolutely what you would call ginger. His features were and kind, and personally I’d qualify him as what people called a gentle giant-type. When the others noticed me, Red released her brother and sent a smile my way. ,,Well, hello,” she said, her voice warm and soothing. ,,You must be the one everyone’s talking about. Grey, right?” Though it made me uneasy that people were apparently talking about me, I pushed it aside and returned the smile. It was hard not to let it turn into a grimace. The familiarity and love surrounding the reunion in front of me felt like it was cutting its way through my mind. The dreams this night had revealed that I had a family, though I could not remember having ever been part of such an embrace as the one taking place just a few meters from me. I swallowed and tried to hold my feelings at bay. ,,You’re Jeff’s sister?” I asked, trying to engage in a conversation so they didn’t notice my state of mind. Red nodded and reached out her hand for a proper handshake. ,,Yes. Name’s Red. I’m head of the healers here. This is my fiancé, Denny.” With a playful smile she added, ,,He’s a bit of a water horse.” Denny moved up and wrapped his arms around Red from behind and nibbled at her jawline. ,,I heard you, darling.” Out the corner of my eye I could see Jeff cringe and fidget at the open display of affection between his sister and Denny. Now I could understand why he was scowling like that earlier. It must be a little weird being the younger sibling and watching such exhibitions all the time. Denny reached out his hand and I shook that as well. ,,Hello, Grey. Welcome to Portobello Road.” Jeff grunted, and Red unwrapped herself form Denny’s arms. Her smile got bigger and bigger by each step she made toward Jeff, looking quite scary. ,,Little brother,” she started, and I almost couldn’t keep the laughter from leaving my lips when I saw Jeff stiffen. I could imagine him in his changed form crunch down, flash his tail and have his ears laid back against his scalp. ,,What?” Jeff tried to sound gruff. It failed. ,,I have a surprise for you…” Now she just sounded mischievous. She reached out her hand, took Jeff’s and pressed it against her stomach. Her smile got even wider with the confusion marring Jeff’s face. ,,Uhm, yes, Red? What is-” Red sighed overdramatically and let go of her brother’s hand again. ,,Idiot! You’re just like Denny! He didn’t get it the first time either.” Jeff’s brows furrowed as he opened his mouth to probably argue about his alikeness to her fiancé but he was interrupted when Red took his hand again and pressed it to her belly once more. A sudden light flickered on, and the look of pure happiness drowned the confusion. ,,Red, don’t tell me you’re- you’re-” Obviously not the patient type, Red nodded vigorously. ,,I’m pregnant!” The sudden silence that embraced us all was breached just as suddenly as it had come. Jeff let out an almost triumphant whoop as he gathered up his sister and swung her around, while he laughed out. I felt numb. A part of me was grateful that I was deemed worthy enough of witnessing such a cast of incredibly good news, while another part of me wondered whether my own family had reacted like this to the news of my mother’s pregnancy. I knew that I had to find out. Red looked over at me when she was finally released from Jeff. I felt a genuine smile already tugging at my lips, and I returned her beaming one. ,,Congratulation.” Red walked over to me and hugged me. ,,Thank you, Grey,” she said before she pulled back. ,,I hope you’ll enjoy living together with us.” I could only let my smile get bigger. When it got darker and the moon’s shine won out the sinking sun’s frail light, the lake seemed magical, the forest mystical, and the apartments like the village in a fairy tale. Although the sun had set a little hour ago, the temperature was still rather warm so I didn’t shiver at all, sitting on the windowsill of my room and looking out over the valley.
This day – the last couple of them, actually – had been so hectic and not at all like I was used to that it was strange feeling safe. The mission was accomplished. We had escaped the hunters. We had escaped the Blood. We had reached Portobello Road. My mind prompted me to ask; what now? Both lunch and dinner had been good. I had been introduced to what felt like hundreds of people and I couldn’t remember half their names. Red had shown me around the apartments, pointing out the storage house where I got some clothes, the great hall, the entertainment house and ultimately what they all called The Office: The big building where I had met Blake earlier. She told me of the dynamics of the place; the agriculture, the computer lab where a select few had a good eye for the stock market, the fishers getting fish from the lake, etc. Portobello Road was an organized little civilization in itself. The last building of the tour was one of the smaller ones. Wires were connected to it from the apartments and I found out that it was here they had their source of electricity. ,,Jeff told me you have a knack with electronics and stuff,” she had said as she pushed the door open. ,,Could you take a look at the generator? It breaks down every two days, and it’ll take some time getting hold of a new one.” I had nodded and set to work. I realized that with some help from the big garage a couple of apartments away, the generator could easily be fixed. After I told her that Red lead me to the garage where I spoke to one of the engineers, Carl. He said he would be honored to help me repair the generator, and for the next couple of hours before dinner – also taken in the great hall – I spoke with him about everything I knew of mechanics. I knew that by the end of our discussion, I would surely get a friend in him. A small smile tugging at my lips, I let my eyes wander over to the big building of The Office. After meeting the guy face to face I wasn’t sure whether I should trust Blake or not. I knew he was doing a lot of good things, helping paras and all, but there was just something about him that made my skin crawl. One thing I knew, he held back information about paras. I was still bristling from his reluctance to discuss the mystery behind the birthdays, but I was determined that I would find out. Deeming it time to get to bed, I got down and closed the window. I’d have more than time enough to find out about the mysteries at hand, I thought. As I moved over to the bed, my stomach turned with dread. Would I be bombarded by the dreams again tonight? I thought and pulled up the covers. Closing my eyes I let sleep overtake me despite the appalling prospect of bad dreams.
Hi, there! Thanx for the rates and reviews a bunch ^^ I hope you liked this chapter as well! Please R&R - I rather enjoy reading your thoughts about the story ;D Smint45; thx for your review! ^^ I'm glad you like my story and find it intriguing! I'll cross my fingers for you and the internet! Good vacation and I hope you like this chapter as well :) FortunateM; I hope you liked the update! Poor Grey, misses having a family, but just you wait and see ^^ eroburn; Waaaa! Please don't steal my candy! I hope you liked this chapter, so please, please don't steal them! @_@
