Talons (19 page)

Thinking of her former roommate made a
lump form in her throat, seeing her things adorning her now. These
things were a comfort to her now, but they were only things, like
Ms. Weston said when she called her. Things didn’t make up for the
person who once shared a place with her. Even as much as Dina
annoyed her, they were like bickering siblings.

Tears glimmered in her eyes as she
turned away from the mirror, looking at the clock as soon as she
heard Ty’s knock upon the door. He was early. It was six-thirty!
She smiled, took one last look and turned to answer the
door.

~~~~

Vivvie watched Ty out of the corner of
her eyes as they walked down the hallway to the media room. He
shaved and smelled so good she wanted to climb up his baby blue
work shirt and press her face to his neck. He was so good looking,
he made her self-conscious. She felt more than sure she developed a
big crush on Ty.

They arrived at the Media center and
many eyes turned their way. Some were just curious, others a bit
hostile until Ty frowned at them and they had the sense to look
away. Vivvie was grateful it wasn’t too crowded yet. Ty led her to
an oversized leather couch and smiled.

“
See what I mean about
getting here early?” he said and settled back against the back of
the couch.

Vivvie was sure they were the object of
everyone’s interest as the room began to fill up steadily. Movie
night was obviously looked forward to by everyone here. She
realized at once how much she took for granted. She looked at the
children, who looked like any other children, but weren’t. They'd
never been to a movie theatre before or a theme park.

Vivvie saw the clusters of young women
all sitting together and thought some things never changed. Clicks
ruled down here too, it seemed. An outsider in high school, this
didn’t bother her at all. She was used to being a loner. Dina had a
huge circle of girlfriends and for a while, Vivvie felt like she
belonged, if only through her.

Ty warned her that it would take time
to make friends. He seemed unconcerned by his people’s avoiding
her. Jericho took the open spot next to them, whistling as he saw
her appearance.

“
You clean up real nice,
Vivvie,” he said with a gleam in his yellow-green gaze and growled
under his breath.

Ty glowered at Jericho as a young girl
and boy came over to distribute popcorn. He grabbed one for him and
Vivvie and handed one to Jericho.

Vivvie was overwhelmed when both men
pressed Reese’s Pieces on her, licorice, and Goobers. She was
stuffed before the movie even started. Ty handed her a Nesquik box
and she sighed with pleasure as she sipped it, thinking it tasted
like pure heaven.

Ty slid his arm around the back of the
couch after the movie started. She watched the movement of that arm
with a bit of amusement, wondering if he was for real. She endured
Transformers in boredom, never caring for the high budget Sci-Fi
flicks.

She spent her time watching the
inhabitants of this underworld in curiosity. If the females were
standoffish, the males all tried to catch her eye, watching her
with something like hunger in their gazes. Vivvie felt
uncomfortable as they watched her.

Gideon and his current woman were
seated with several of his children and hers. Ty told her Gideon
fathered twenty-two children, had fifteen grandchildren, and six
great-grandchildren. Eli and he were in competition at one time,
but it was Jericho who surpassed them both. He had twenty-eight
children, seventeen grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
The rest of the population was their descendant’s
relations.

Vivvie was pleased none of these
children running about were Ty’s. Her feelings stunned her. They
had nothing between them and she felt possessive of him. He was
hardly hers. She saw the covetous glances he received from dozens
of women.

Ty was obviously popular with the women
here, and she could feel their jealousy as his arm finally came
full circle and drew her into his side, on the pretense of making
more room for Jericho.

Vivvie was stunned by the knowledge
everyone was related through Ty’s sister, the grandmother of the
whole group. Her feelings were mixed at that point knowing that
they were all interbred. She refused to judge, but found it all
very Jerry Springer-like.

Ty had his reasons to avoid the topic
of the indirect incest that was rampant here. She could well
understand his reasons for not breeding among them now. Derek, the
youngest elder, felt the same. He was Eli’s oldest son. He had yet
to have a litter.

The new law made it mandatory for those
who made a litter to marry. That seemed to discourage them from
breeding indiscriminately among their own bloodlines now. She knew
from Ty, the elders were an exception as their gifts were quite
coveted.

Still, it weirded Vivvie out to think
Ty’s sister gave birth to over a hundred children to start this
community. In doing so, Ty said she withdrew from them all, and
rarely came out of her apartments now.

Iron Man 2 was on and she could see
many of the children were now crashing off their sugar highs and
dozed in the many bean bags and pillow chairs strewn upon the
floor. She also noticed the couples who indiscriminately snuck away
from the group.

Ty leaned down to whisper in her ear,
his warm breath tickling her ear. “Are you tired?” he
said.

Vivvie shook her head and he drew her
closer into the curve of his arm. “I had a three hour
nap.”

“
Would you like to take a
walk?” he asked and something in his voice made her hesitate for a
moment. She wanted to go, even with the danger of being alone with
him.

They walked out of the media room and
every eye in the room followed them. Jericho and Gideon both
high-fived one another and conversations buzzed amongst them
all.

Ty took her to the farm, her favorite
place. It even smelled like a real farm though enclosed in glass
with false light. He didn’t turn on the fluorescent lighting, for
they could both see in the dark. He stepped into the barn and she
followed. He opened a stall and showed her the baby calf that was
born the night before her arrival.

She followed him to the next stalls,
petting the horse’s heads and feeding them oats from the treat
bucket. She wondered aloud why the animals didn’t shy away from
them like she saw in movies.

“
They know what we are,
Vivian,” he explained softly and shrugged as he rubbed the horse’s
nose. “We feed and care for them. We don’t eat them. I think
they’re uneasy of us, but they accept us.”

“
These are all experiments
of Jericho’s to see if you could blend into the human world without
drawing notice?”

“
Yes, and the children like
the farm, but the true test is them not eating the farm,” Ty
replied and chuckled at her disgusted expression.

“
Vivian, most of us do like
to hunt our own food, not have it prepared for us,” Ty said. “This
farm going unmolested all these years just shows how far we’ve
come.”

“
Why does your sister not
join the group?”

Ty stiffened and stepped away from the
horse’s stall. Vivvie thought it might be too personal but he
answered her.

“
My sister never planned to
be the mother of a new civilization, Vivian. She was to be married
before the massacre. Her intended died that day. The five of us are
all that survived out of thousands. We came here to begin anew. Her
being the only female made it her duty to bear the other’s
children. I couldn’t do it, even knowing she would have allowed it.
She is my twin, you see.”

“
Is it the inbreeding that
bothers you?” she asked.

Ty smiled and shook his head at her
question, grinning despite himself. “I wondered when you would get
around to that. You don’t miss much.”

“
You’re related to every
woman out there, Ty.”

“
I do try to stick with the
ones the farthest removed for that reason, but the lines do get
blurred after many years, Vivian.”

“
Does it bother you?” she
asked curiously.

“
Of course, but it’s our
nature. That makes me a bit of an oddity. My parents were brother
and half sister, you see. Our tribe had very few boundaries when it
came to such things. My sister understood that it was wrong too. I
think she feels more shame than pride now, and that is why she
hides,” he confided and his eyes avoided hers.

“
It must have been hard for
her to be the only woman among all of you.”

“
They all adored her,
Vivian,” Ty said with a gentle smile and a wistful look in his
eyes. “Eli loved her most of all. She refused to take any of them
as her mate and there were terrible fights. Jericho never got over
her. Gideon is still angry she refused him. Imagine having three
husbands, Vivian? It’s very complicated.”

Vivvie couldn’t imagine it at
all.

“
I think you coming here
appeals to Eli’s own idea of bringing new blood to the group,” Ty
said and chuckled at her disgusted expression.

“
I don’t know if I could
deliberately give this curse to another,” Vivvie said truthfully.
“That would only make me like Ryken in my mind.”

“
I told you the change would
make you question your decisions. It’s like that for all the
females.”

Vivvie was emphatic before of not ever
having children, but these new instincts were at play now, those of
survivals most basic. “I have only been here two days and ask
myself the obvious. It makes me ask why they didn’t just snatch
women in town rather than breed among themselves.”

“
We made a pact to leave the
humans alone when we came here, Vivian,” Ty told her. “Our
ancestors paid a hefty price for their arrogance. That is why Ryken
does this. Not just to breed his own army, but to thumb his nose at
us all for refusing to take over the weaker race when we
could.”

“
Will he succeed, do you
think?” she asked worriedly.

“
His goal is not a new one,
Vivian. Many of the young males feel subjugated by our authority.
Ryken has his supporters here among us who like to
plot.”

“
But would they not get more
of the same from Ryken and his men? They would still not have the
freedom he promises them.”

“
Yes, that is the only
reason they stay and didn’t join with him.”

“
This all sounds really
complicated,” she said with a confused look. “No different than
politics outside of here. Maybe if the people had more of a voice
in things there wouldn’t be such problems?”

“
Democracy does not work
with us, Vivian. Eli has to control the group or they would return
to the old ways. It’s their nature,” he explained and smiled sadly.
“And yours now too.”

“
But-” she began and he
shook his head, an angry look in his eyes now.

“
No, it’s the way it is,
Vivian,” he said coolly. “We know what we are and we know what we
would do with the freedoms you speak of. Without such control as
Eli; these creatures would run amok in your world. Eli should be
commended for his efforts.”

Vivvie didn’t want to hand Eli any
plaques. He just came off as heartless to her. She accepted Ty’s
explanation, but this was all new to her. She would have a tough
time with Eli running her life as he ran everyone’s
here.

“
Still, people should have
choices!”

“
We’re not people!” he said
roughly and shook his head at her wounded expression. “We act like
humans and we look like them, and we have all this around us to
maintain some form of a civilized appearance, but we’re savage
creatures, Vivian. You will see that when the change is complete.
When you begin to look at humans like food instead of friends, you
will see that finally.”

Vivvie looked sick at his words. Ty
smiled sadly, seeing her blanch at his words. “That is another part
you don’t see yet.”

“
We eat people?” she asked
weakly with a dismayed look.

“
Not usually, but in
previous years, when the winters were especially hard and hunting
was scarce, several hunters went missing who got too close to the
compound,” Ty admitted and saw her grow pale. “It’s not our way to
be man eaters, Vivian, but it does happen on occasion.”

“
Oh my God, I think I’m
going to be sick!”

Ty felt badly for shocking her, but
Vivian needed to know everything. They were animals. He couldn’t
sugarcoat it for her.

“
If it makes you feel
better; that’s happened only a few times since we came here,” Ty
said. “Humans are not our first choice for food.”

Vivvie didn’t know what to say. She was
overwhelmed with it all. The thought of eating a human being was
repugnant.

Ty realized all this talk put a damper
on the evening. Thoughts of seducing Vivian were gone now, seeing
her pale, taut features. It was too soon, he thought, or maybe he
did this to put it off.

“
I know you tell me all this
to help me, but I would have rather not known that,” she admitted
and felt sick.