January 30th 2005

XAVIER’S MANSION

The school was still abuzz with what happened the day before last.

“Have you seen it?”

“Of course…”

“Do you think he will die?”

“Tyler is going to have it hard.”

“Here, here…” A student tossed his phone across the corridor. “Check out the picture. I saw someone trying to get into the hospital to beat Tyler again.”

“Xavier crazy chicks…”

“He always picks the crazy ones,” Another student commented.

“The best ones are often crazy.”

The conversation continued.

Dings rang from one phone to the next.

The picture of Xavier lying on a hospital bed had been posted and re-posted a dozen times on the school’s forum.

Each time adding more comments about his heroic deed.

Edward’s involvement in the incident had gone mostly unnoticed – admittedly, what he had accomplished was within the range of everyone’s expectations for the handsome, pale-skinned, and mysterious school heartthrob.

It helped that the stories made up of half a dozen girls were so exaggerated that the one kid who actually saw what happened was quickly drowned out by the excess.

Besides the six students who spent overnight in the hospital due to mild lacerations, Bella and Xavier bore the brunt of the entire incident.

There was more than a sizable bump and a concussion that followed Bella most of the next day, only subsiding on the second day.

As for Xavier… a mystery to everyone.

α

Jessie awakened to her vision blocked out.

She was reluctant to get up so she spent the better half of an hour simply lying in the bed, staring up at the tangled hair that covered her eyes.

Her hair was always a bit wilder in the mornings.

Though she could pass for a Caucasian, the mornings often brought out her lesser-known Hispanic origins.

And the blue eyes added to her Caucasian mystique… so much so in fact that she was able to avoid many of the earliest bullying the other Hispanic students received.

Admittedly, not something she was proud of.

As Jessie lay in bed, having swatted the rough, brown curls out of her face, she began to suspect that her mentality had shifted to more masculine around that time…

The time she first joined the gang.

Of course, what followed the gang was drugs, partying, and a couple of sex tapes pushed upon a desperate girl who had yet to fully grasp her sexual orientation.

Luckily, those tapes were with a psychological marvel of a man who was just as confused as she was, Xavier Ikaris Aionios.

One thing led to another and Jessie found herself out of the gang, possessed a better understanding of herself, and with a guardian angel who taught you how to avoid traps by tossing you in them.

‘I am lucky to be alive…’ Her mind processed.

Mornings were always for deep thoughts.

Jessie stretched her legs, trying to shake away the languidness of a good rest.

Needless to say, the vodka Xavier had stashed in the kitchen cabinets had a lot to do with the comfort of her steady sleeping.

When every part of her body was properly awake, Jessie stared down at her stomach… it was once as toned as an athlete’s but two days of binge eating had gifted her two pounds.

‘I need new panties…’ She thought.

She was forced to wear the stash at Xavier’s home – the ‘forever lovers’ panty series that held her forever regrets.

“Fuck XAVIER!” Jessie cursed.

Had it been anyone else, it would have been passed off as a joke but when it comes to Xavier, she knew everything was calculated to the thousandth decimal value.

‘He’s mocking me.’

Sliding out from under the sheets, the first thing Jessie reached for was her wolf-tooth necklace on the bedside counter.

It was something Xavier had personally ripped out of her mouth – it didn’t make much sense but since then, Jessie learned to not understand the mystery that is Xavier.

“Time to wake up,” She groaned.

Honestly, Jessie would have preferred spending all her time in the bed but most of the time, in the mornings; Angela required a little encouragement to stop whatever she was doing.

Similar to the case with Xavier, Jessie had come to learn not to ask Angela too much.

Every other second, Angela would stare into a mirror or glass surface – it took Jessie around a week to figure out what Angela was actually looking at.

Admittedly, it was only then she noted something important.

Jessie raised her hand toward the arched ceiling and as if a lie had been wiped away, an entire section of the ceiling faded into a warped sort of transparency.

Sunlight kissed her skin.

It was a particularly bright morning in Forks – very uncommon but doubly welcomed due to its rarity.

Once again, Jessie paused and took a moment to admire the room around her – the painting on the main wall was undoubtedly expensive to an unnatural degree.

Sometimes, one could look at a painting and regardless of a major deficit in knowledge; they would just know ‘This is the shit’.

Jessie had found herself being awakened to such a sensation every morning since she moved into the guest bedroom at Xavier’s mansion.

“Xavier probably made the painting himself.”

Groaning with the annoyance of being brought back to reality, Jessie selected loose-fit pants from the random assortment of clothing scattered on the ground.

It was messy but it was also a process… a process only she understood.

…

Sauntering her way down the stairs, Jessie was greeted by the rich scent of a balanced meal… there were distinctly sweet peppers, sesame oil, and of course, the rich smell of pork.

If Xavier had nothing else in his house, he always had meat.

Angela was busy in the open kitchen, stirring a bowl of eggs while reading the ingredients and tending to the red slab of meat frying in the centermost pan.

‘Experimenting again…’ Jessie noted. ‘At least she is keeping herself busy.’

For the briefest of moments, Angela tensed as Jessie sauntered down the stairs in what was essentially prime, seduction attire.

Somewhere deep inside, she was displeased, especially since she was aware that Jessie and Xavier started their legendary friendship in a creative video.

Of course, Jessie was long aware of Angela’s reservations.

‘It’s sad being the girlfriend…’ Jessie pondered.

Angela could wave a hand and access the houses’ every function but she still had to be vigilant of the guests who spent most days watching cartoons or binge eating.

Such was the burden of a prospective wife.

‘Glad I didn’t go that route…’ Jessie could imagine the headaches of a relationship with Xavier. ‘I would have already killed him and his wandering dick.’

“Morning~”

“Morning…” Angela responded, a glowing, albeit awkward, smile on her face. “Where is the cumin again?” She touched the bridge of her nose out of habit. “I fell on my glasses this morning.”

Jessie pushed her hand into the nearby cabinet – it took a bit of tiptoeing on her part. “You should just have Xavier buy you some contacts,” She voiced, handing over the bowl of cumin simultaneously.

Angela refused to comment on the suggestion, retrieving the cumin and carefully sprinkling the spice over the sizzling pan of pork.

The girls were accustomed to the silence.

Jessie knew the less conversation, the more comfortable Angela would feel in time, and Angela knew that speaking would just complicate the mystery of Xavier even more.

So…

Angela continued cooking, pausing only briefly to wave her hand and turn the living room window opaque.

The opaqueness quickly dissolved into thousands of quantum dots that displayed the morning news for Jessie’s convenience.

“Thanks!” She muttered.

“Welcome~” Angela replied in a singsong voice.

--This morning: The US Senate confirmed Condoleezza Rice as the new Secretary of State. Rice is the first African American Woman to hold the position—

“One for equal opportunities…” Angela cheered from the kitchen.

“Probably a sting,” Jessie snorted. “That woman will probably spend a year in office before she is forced out… and those white guys will say, at least she was there for five seconds.”

Angela groaned in agreement. “At least that’s some progress.”

They both shrugged from where they stood.

--YESTERDAY: A cougar kills a six-year-old boy in the rural area of Jackson County. This has been the third confirmed animal attack in as many days—

“Strange…” Angela muttered, recalling the local data she had parsed from Xavier’s computer – which is essentially the house. “There are no cougars currently near Jackson County…”

“And you know this how?”

“Xavier,” Angela shrugged as if that was the answer to the world’s questions; still, she explained further. “All the tag data passes through a hub that Xavier has access to. I should be able to see if any of the tagged mammals were nearby.”

Jessie sprawled on the couch. “Xavier’s not a god.”

‘I am not sure…’ Angela’s mind spun, almost mistakenly placing her hand in the frying pan.

--BREAKING NEWS: Massive seismic disturbance in the outskirts of Los Angeles has caused the collapse of a dozen miles worth of infrastructure. Witnesses recall seeing a golden—

It took a split-second for the synapses in Angela’s brain to fire twice as fast, sending pulses of static data through all possible means.

A mere split-second…

But a split-second was all it took for the image of Xavier to appear in her mind, directly interfacing with the Smart Mansion through the red bindi microcomputer embedded in the epidermal layer of her forehead.

A SPAZZZZZ…

Angela’s hand jerked, slapping the frying pan with the intensity of a hard slap, and then she tumbled to the ground with a warped face caused by the double pain of a burned hand and dubious headache.

“FUCK~”

Jessie was out of the couch and leaping over the kitchen counter in two seconds flat, meeting Angela an instant before a mild concussion could be added to her injuries.

Luckily, the pain came and went swiftly since Angela was not conscious for the last part of it.

………

Angela floated in the void…

She felt as if she was interfacing with something – something infinitely greater than herself; yet, with a mere thought, she felt the vast energy snuggling up to her.

Comforting her…

The void glowed a soft golden, becoming brighter as the feelings of warmth and home invaded every inch of Angela’s incorporeal form.

‘I know where I am but…’

It was confusing – to know but not to know at the same time.

Then, slowly, images appeared in the golden void, sometimes of Xavier, sometimes of others like him who bled golden blood thick with cosmic radiation.

‘Who are you….’

Who are you…

Who are you…

Who are you…

Who are you…

Her voice echoed endlessly, robbing her of the ability to speak – it was as if she was only given a certain quota of words and now, she had to wait for a response.

Still, Angela had the inkling that she had asked the wrong question; she felt as if she had lost a very precious opportunity without knowing why or how.

THE REPLY~

Images flickered in and out of existence, sometimes a primitive notion in the vast space – it held endless information that ripped through Angela’s incorporeal form as if attempting to attack her.

THE REPLY~

Buzzing, humming, screeching sounds…

If the images held endless information, then the sounds deafened that information, as if preventing Angela from understanding the things that she should not.

But it did not feel as if it was doing her a favor.

The reply~

This time, it was neither sounds nor incoherent, pushy images… it was a concentrated burst of words.

Angela felt as if she was pulled into an argument – she was arguing with all her might, yet her mind could only mutter incoherent nonsense and babbles.

She was arguing while fully aware she was making sense.

Alas, the pulsing void seemed to somehow understand her even when she could not understand herself… and Angela felt, by some mercy, her argument was based on appropriate logic.

THE REPLU~

What followed was slipping.

It was a similar sensation, though also different, from the times she would cling to Xavier at midnight, somehow sensing he would slip out of the bed and dart into the skies.

The subtle golden glow that he could not control during the nights also made Angela anxious – this interaction with the golden void was a similar sensation.

THE REPLY~

Then came the sense of victory.

An unknown victory but Angela felt her imaginary breath wheezing as if having survived a difficult ordeal.

‘I can touch it…’ Her mind reasoned.

If she was willing to extend a hand, Angela knew that she would become aware of everything happening in the golden void but every part of her innate instinct told her not to.

It was as if her mind and body were not qualified to participate in the conversation of her soul.

‘But to help Xavier, I need to know!’

She found the determination, extending her metaphorical hand to grasp the veil that protected her from the infinite truths.

Alas… a bit too late.

~WRT~

…………

Angela’s eyes snapped open and she felt a jolt run through her body.

For a couple of seconds, she felt herself acclimating… re-acclimating?

Adjusting…

Re-reasoning…

It was as if she was experiencing an out-of-body event.

Then…

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP

The optic technology of the nearby glass wall lightened, allowing a bit of the outside light to filter into the room.

It was an alarm.

The sounds of birds chirped excitedly in Angela’s ears – she had recorded the sound herself by returning to the lake near Sam’s house where she and Xavier had spent a night of lovemaking.

‘But…’

And Angela slowly came to the realization, sitting up in bed as the time and date were broadcast blatantly on the glass surface.

DATE: JANUARY 30th 2005

TIME: 5:30 AM

“That was…” She paused, searching for traces of confirmation – the same bird outside the window, the same wrinkles on her sheet, and most of all, the same smear of lipstick on her pillow. “…this was this morning when I woke up!”

Angela had returned to three hours before.