Chapter 12

Once I finished my homework, I went and got Jax from his room. I had put it off long enough. I needed to tell my parents now. I kept drawing a blank whenever I tried to imagine what their reactions would be. Shock, anger for not telling them sooner, support? Who knows.

Since I don't care about my brother's privacy, I just walked right in. I found him doing something that I hadn't seen him doing in a long time. He was putting on his power-dampening bracelet. It was disguised to look like a normal rope braid bracelet, but it actually had a chip in the inside that dampened his powers. I have one, too. Our parents made them for us when we were young and still learning to control our powers. We haven't used them since seventh grade. Why was he using it again?

"What are you doing?" I asked him, rushing over and grabbing his wrist.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm putting on my power-dampener," he answered, yanking his wrist away from me.

"I know that, but why!?" I exclaimed.

"I don't want to be hearing everyone's thoughts all the time! That's why! It's enough to drive me crazy!" he told me.

"Why didn't you tell me? I've been so caught up in my problems that I forgot to check in on you, but I am now. So, why don't we help you control your new power rather than taking away all of them?" I suggested.

"Fine, but we can do that later. Right now, we have to tell mom and dad about your dreams," he said.

Right! I forgot what I had originally come in there to do. I needed to get him so we could tell our parents! I really needed to work on not getting so distracted all the time!

"Ok, let's get this done quickly. It's getting late, and we still need to deal with your power problem after," I said.

After that, we went downstairs and into the living room. I had texted my parents to meet us in the living room, so they were there waiting for us. When we walked in, they were mid-whisper fight. They immediately stopped once they noticed we had arrived. I was about to question them about it, but then remembered we had more important things to deal with.

"Why did you call us down here?" dad asked me.

Jax and I looked at each other, silently asking who should start. Neither of us wanting to do it, we kept fighting with our eyes. Finally, I gave in.

I sighed, "I've been having these dreams."

THAT was when my parents started to look worried. This meant they knew something we didn't. Maybe it had to do with their previous conversation we walked in on.

I started explaining everything that happened that they did not know about, with Jax cutting in occasionally during some parts. My parents just sat there, silent, the entire time. They were completely stoic, putting on their best poker faces ever. Once I finished, Jax and I both looked at them expectantly. We were waiting for their reactions. The suspense was killing me. I would rather them freak out that what was happening in the moment!

Finally, my mom spoke up, "This isn't the first time this has happened."

Of all things she could have said, she had to say THAT. I mean, come on, what about 'are you ok?' or 'what can we do to help?' But no! They have to drop a bomb like that on us!

"What?!" Jax exclaimed, "When?"

"When you were little, and we still lived in New York, you drew something odd. When we asked you about it, you said it was something you saw in your dreams. It was you ice blasting your entire pre-K classroom, Blair. We thought nothing of it at first, but then it actually happened. That was why we moved away. You must have forgotten about that picture, but we haven't," mom answered.

"I can see the future?" I quietly asked, unsure how to phrase it.

"Not exactly, Khione, your alter-ego, can sense when you might be in danger. That is why you are so good at fighting, Khione either warns you by talking or you sense what she senses. We figured this out over the years of training you guys," dad told me.

"So these nightmares will come true?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Maybe. We are treading in uncharted waters. The last thing you dreamt wasn't that bad, but this is way worse. I think we should just go about our normal lives for now, but Blair can never be alone. Jax, you stay by her side at all times. Even if it does come true, don't let yourselves get separated. Maybe we can change the future, who knows!" dad said to all of us.

How does he do that? Come up with plans on the spot. I've been kind of studying under him for my whole life, and it still takes some times to come up with a decent plan. It probably just comes with experience. By what my dad has been telling me, he wants me to be the sorta leader of Jax and I's little partnership when I get older. He thinks I am a natural leader. I don't see it.

"Ok, got it: stay together. But I still have another question: Can we keep our friends in the loop on all of the things that's bound to happen?" I asked.

My parents looked over at each other. Apparently this was an actual question. I thought they would just say yes with no hesitation because my friends already knew about our powers. Guess not.

"We don't want you tell them," mom told Jax and I.

"Ok," I said quickly and just walked out.

I was afraid I would get in another fight with them if I stayed any longer. I needed to punch something, so, like any normal teenager, I went to our fully-stocked training room. I walked right to the punching bag and started hitting it like it had just insulted my grandmother.

Jax followed me in a couple minutes later. I decided to ignore his entrance, and keep punching. With each hit, I imagined me letting one problem go. One less thing to be stressed about. I only do this when I'm REALLY having a moment.

"You ok?" Jax asked me, holding the bag for me.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I answered him, not even pausing once.

"Really?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows.

He knows me too well. I guess that's what I get for being close with my twin brother.

Before I could react, Jax took my arms in his hands and would not let go. He stared into my eyes, trying to find out what I was hiding from him. In hindsight, my issue with keeping a secret from my friends isn't the worst thing in the world, but in the moment, it felt like it.

Since I was so riled up, I twisted my arms out of his grip, grabbed his arm and judo-flipped him without a thought. It was just my instinct. I totally and completely blame my parents for it, by the way.

"Ow! Blair! What the hell was that for?!" Jax yelled as he hit to floor. At least it was padded.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't even realize what I was doing until it happened! But in my defense, you know not to test me when I'm pumped up!" I said.

"I was concerned for you! I still am! Now tell me what's going on or I'll spar it out of you!" Jax threatened.

I really did NOT feel like sparring Jax tonight. The only other option was telling him the truth. It seemed so petty, so I was worried what his reaction would be.

"I'm mad at mom and dad for making us keep secrets from our best friends," I confessed.

"You could have just told me. I'm not exactly happy about it either, you know. I don't see the need to keep anything more from him since they already know about our other life," he said.

"Right!? Like, what's the point? I feel like every time we tell our parents something important, they immediately get more over-protective!" I exclaimed, starting to calm down.

"Exactly. I can somewhat see where they are coming from, but it still seems a bit too extreme for my liking. They just need to start trusting us and our judgment more," Jax said.

"I agree. But it doesn't matter now. We should just go to bed. We'll have another long day tomorrow, trying to discretely stick to each other like glue without our friends noticing," I suggested.

"Yeah, good night. We need to go in early so we can get our schedules changed to being the exact same. Mom and dad gave me a note to give to the office," Jax said.

"Ok. Good night, Phoenix," I told Jax with a smirk, and walked upstairs and to my room.

When I got to my room, I got ready for bed. My nighttime routine was the exact same as always: change into pj's, brush teeth, wash face, moisturize, lay down in bed until I get tired. I am pretty basic that way. I guess one could say that it is one of the few normal parts of my life. It might not seem big to some, but it is to me. These are few and far apart, alright.

As I was driving off to sleep, I realized that I was still hungry. I hadn't had dinner! We all got so caught up in the living room conversation that we forgot to eat. I'm one of those people that need to eat before bed, so I got up and headed downstairs.

When I got there, I saw another person: Jax. He was sitting at the counter with toast and a glass of water.

"Nice dinner you got there," I commented.

"I know! I am such as foodie!," Jax said, sarcasm practically dripping off each word.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the fridge. I opened it to find a caesar salad. It was the best option. I quickly made it and sat down next to Jax. We pretty much sat in silence for the rest of our little dinner party. It wasn't on of those boring silences either, it was the peaceful one where you listen to the crickets outside. It was nice to be able to find moments like these occasionally. It brought us back to the real world, or at least our sad excuse for the real world.

Right as I was climbing back into bed, I was hit with a wave of vertigo. The room started spinning. My head felt like it might explode. It felt like it lasted years, but it was really just thirty seconds. When it was finished, I fell onto my bed with a sigh. That was terrible! When the room finally stopped spinning, I sat up. What came next, I would never have predicted.

"Hey," Khione said.

"Hey! HEY! You've go AWOL, and when you finally get back, all you have to say it HEY!" I screamed, not caring if anyone else heard me. I could tell my eyes were flashing, but I didn't care.

"Well, I was in a coma. I took a lot of strength to get me back through into your mind," She defended.

"I was scared! I was dealing with the fact that you saw me getting tortured and showed it to me while I was asleep! I wake up waiting for an explanation, and you are radio silent! I understand that you had some trouble getting yourself to wake up, but why did it take so long?" I questioned.

"What I saw took a lot our of me, showing it to you took even more. I have my limits, just like you do. I needed to recharge," Khione answered.

"Fine, but, don't leave me again, ok?" I realize I sounded weak, but I don't care.

I thought I had lost her. She was my other half, whether I liked it sometimes or not. I felt like I had lost a part of myself when she was gone.

"Deal," she said.

I heard a knock on my door, and my parents and Jax walked in. They were looking at me with concerned expressions. It must be concerning when you walk in on your daughter or sister talking to herself. I would expect them to be used to it by now, though.

"Khione back," I smiled.

"That's great! Took her long enough! Did she tell you anything important?" Jax asked.

"SHE can talk for herself, thank you very much," Khione said thought me, my eyes flashing icy-blue for the duration of her words.

Jax had a hilarious expression for a second, but then regained his composure, "Well, did you?"

"No. I don't know what those images meant any more than you do," she answered.

"Great, and you got me excited," he muttered.

Without a thought, Khione and I decided on an action simultaneously. We decided to shoot an ice blast at Jax. I smiled at his face after.

"Really Khione!?" he yelled.

"It wasn't just her. We chose to do this together," I informed him, still holding my smile.

"Really? That's amazing! Not the shooting Jax part, but the connected thinking! You decided on an action together, right on the spot! Super quickly! Fascinating!" my dad exclaimed.

"Ok, calm down mr. scientist. I'm excited too, but we can practice this later. I'm tired right now, so get out," I ordered.

"Fine, good night," dad said, leaving the room.

Jax and mom did the same, leaving to their rooms. I pulled my covers over my body and checked my phone. It was 10:00 PM. I needed to go to sleep. It was a school night. I guess this is my day to be a responsible teen. Worst timing ever, but I might be happy tomorrow since it's time change. Waking up on time will seem an hour earlier. Life is just the best, isn't it? Note the sarcasm.

It did not take me long to fall asleep. I just reminded Khione to wake me up for school, and I let myself fall into the land of Morpheus.