Paranormal Twins: The New Beginning
Chapter 8: Jakki

I stared at the thick, red liquid sitting in the cup in my hands. I didn’t want to look at Sierra or Lauri. I couldn’t look at Rachelle. She probably thinks I’m a monster. A Fire Elemental was one thing, but a Vampire…?

“I know it’s a lot to take in, sweetie. I’ll let you think about it and get used to it before we discuss…” She hesitated. “What we are going to do with you.” Lauri said carefully, standing up.

I finally looked up from the drink in my hands. “What do you mean? Are we not able to stay? Are you going to kick us back out onto the streets again?”

Sierra shook her head. “No, no, no, absolutely not. We were thinking...” She looked at her mother. Lauri sighed and nodded, sitting back down.

“We were thinking about sending you two somewhere. Somewhere safe. Sierra has been there plenty of times-” Lauri was cut off by her daughter.

“Lived there, actually...” she muttered. Lauri rolled her eyes, but ignored her and kept on.

“So you will know somebody there. It’s for other people like you. We call them Supernaturals.” She waited for our responses.

Rachelle looked weary and crossed her legs. “Other people like… Us?” Her foot was tapping. I could tell she was nervously playing with the necklace she was wearing.

“Well… Like Jakki.” Lauri explained. “She’s a Vampire and a Fire Elemental. But you, Rachelle, you are… Mostly human.”

“Mostly?” I asked, slowly getting irritated at the lack of information we were receiving.

Lauri sighed. “She’s a Psychic, a human who has special abilities.” She looked at Rachelle. “They are a part of the Supernatural community, but they themselves are not counted as Supernatural.” Rachelle visibly relaxed, though I could see that she was a little pleased at being special.

“We need to send you two to a facility, preferably the Main Facility in Seattle.” Before Lauri could explain any further, Rachelle jumped out of her seat.

“What? No, no, no. We can’t leave New Mexico! It’s our home!” She crossed her arms, pouting.

Lauri shook her head and spoke quietly, and as she talked, I realized Rachelle was calming down rather quickly. Quicker than her usual hot-headedness let her calm down. “I’m not trying to be rude, but… Rachelle… You live on the streets. The only family you have is your sister. Your parents are gone and you’ve never met your extended family.” I remember telling her that when she asked if there was anywhere she could take us. Rachelle sat down, having calmed some. “Seattle is the safest place for you two. There’s a place where you can live, and where people work. You’ll be safe and have protection.” Rachelle and I looked at each other.

“Protection?” I asked worriedly. Sierra walked over and set another glass of blood next to me. I didn’t even realize she had left the room, or that I finished my glass of blood already.

“Yes. There are people that can help you train your powers. Vampires receive all the blood they need from the Red Cross and hospitals.” Lauri hesitated and mumbled. “I wonder how you went for so many years without blood…” She trailed off for a few moments before shaking her head and continuing. “You can learn how to control your fire and protect yourself with it.” Lauri bit her lip. “You also learn how to defend yourselves. There are Supernaturals who use what they have in a bad way. We call them Rogues. They attack and kill humans, and sometimes they will even kill Supernaturals. The facility protects us and teaches us how to kill them.”

I shook my head and help up my hands. “Stop, no, wait a minute. I don’t want to go somewhere and learn how to kill people.”

“You don’t have to,” Sierra said quickly. “There are other jobs. Hunters are technically the only people that should actually hunt and kill. Researchers just replace information and research things, as well as other little jobs. Spies replace traitors and people that go bad. There are many different jobs and every facility is different. Not everyone trains to kill Rogues.”

I bit my lip. On the one hand, it sounded interesting. And I did want to get off the streets. Rachelle didn’t deserve to live this way. On the other hand, it sounded way too good to be true. I thought for a few moments and looked at Rachelle deciding what to say next. “How many facilities are there?”

Lauri smiled a little. “There are three Organizations run by different parts of the world. There used to be four, but one of them, the Marcus Organization, was wiped out about ten years ago. The Grant Organization, previously only American, took over them, so they now own American and European countries, as well as Australia. It’s now the most worldwide because of it. The Kurosawa Organization, the Asian countries, is the most conservative. The third is the Osiris Organization, which is Africa and the Middle East. The facilities go down family lines, like dynasties used to do with royalty. Within each Organization are different facilities. Grant has eight worldwide. Kurosawa has three. Osiris has six. Each have a main facility where most people live and work. The rest are just buildings that people work in during the day. The Grant’s main facility is where we’re taking you, in Seattle, Washington.”

I looked at them both carefully. They didn’t seem to be lying. They didn’t seem like the type of people to kidnap kids off the streets. Then again, most kidnappers don’t. I looked at Rachelle, but she just stared back, trusting me to make the right decision for us. I looked back at Sierra and Lauri and hesitantly gave them an answer.

“Okay. We’ll go.”

I didn’t know if I was going to regret this or not, but it was too late to turn back now.