Unique - A Story Collab
By: @The-Book-Worm & @TL1470

Main Characters font color removed
T: Purple font || see the past and freeze time (takes immense concentration)
Colson Edder: Blue || can see the future and freeze time (takes immense concentration)
Honora Emmerson: Amber || Telepathy and the ability to shift her conciseness to her dog
Topaz: Yellow || Necromancy and Death Sense
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T closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her face. She had to get out of this crowd. It was too overwhelming, and the flashbacks of Alexander the Great didn't help.
Honora twisted one of her teal highlights around her finger, squinting at the crowd from her perch on the top of the building. She didn’t trust crowds. They were unpredictable, vulnerable. She was getting a bad vibe from this crowd in particular.
T opened her eyes wide as she exerted her power. The strings of time flew around her, and then everything was still, frozen in time. She pushed her way through the crowd to the first open place she found. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as she released her hold on time.
Commotion in the mob caught Honora‘s eye. No! she thought in horror, It can’t be. She shimmied down the ladder on the side of the building, jumping when she still had ten feet to go. She rolled and landed lightly on her feet. Quickly, she sprinted toward the turbulent crowd.
T relaxed in relief. She hated freezing time. She was well aware that another unique could have the same powers, and find out who she was. Also, the strain of holding onto time wore her out. She much preferred her other and more controlled power.
Topaz squeezed through the crowd to see the center of attention. The more he couldn’t see, the more curious he got. He was sensing a lot of death. Most people in the crowd were going to die.
T turned to face the crowd once more. She could feel its exciting energy and knew history was happening. Gently, she reached her consciousness forward and watched the most recent history of what one of the people at the front of the crowd was seeing.
Topaz ran up to a girl with long silver hair and tapped her on the shoulder.
T opened her eyes with a start when she felt a tap on her arm. Her mind was temporarily distracted from the impending horror.
Topaz urgently whispered, “You’ve got to help me! We’re all going to die!”
Immediately she liked this boy. He got right to the point. She tried to stay in the present, “The only ones in danger are the uniques. They are slaughtering them.”
Topaz replied, “But I… I can sense deaths and most people in this crowd are going to die!”
T nodded, “I suppose some uniques are going to fight back, but it doesn’t matter. They have someone who is immune to all powers. He’s the one picking out the uniques from the crowds.”
“But we have to help them! The uniques AND normals!”
T nodded again, “I need you to free all the uniques you can. I’ll try to hold time.” She grabbed the boy’s hand and let loose her power.
Topaz ran and pulled the Uniques out of the crowd. He tried to cut the rope-bound ones, but he couldn’t.
Honora pushed through the crowd. Suddenly, a boy appeared in front of her.
T felt her hold on time slip, but all of a sudden, it became easier, like someone was helping her.
Colson hated using his powers, he hated being unique, but more than that he hated innocent people dying. This slaughter in the crowd… he had to stop it. Out of nowhere, time froze. He saw a red cap darting through the crowd, freeing uniques. Instantly he knew he had to help. Whoever was freezing time was slipping. He grabbed a close unique with teal highlights to help. Quickly he let his power flow through him and began to assist the other time freezer.
Even with the mysterious help, T was still under a great strain. She had never practiced holding time for this long. She had always been reluctant to use her powers but looking back, she regretted it.
Honora looked around her and realized time was frozen. She turned to the boy with jet black hair. “Just go help them!” he whispered as it hurt. She nodded and headed toward the source of the trouble, the man who was killing uniques.
Topaz pulled free his pocket knife free and cut off the binding ropes and carried little boys and girls safely away to their parents. He turned to T and she forced out through gritted teeth, “Hurry, I can’t hold it much longer.”
Honora ran up in front of it, the immune man, trying to distract him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked furiously. Honora recoiled when the piercing laugh came back in reply. The man dove at her, nails ready to dig into her skin, but she flung herself out of the way just in time. She aimed a kick at his leg, but he moved out of the way.
Colson’s concentration broke as he dove out of the way to escape the girl with teal highlights fighting another man. Why wasn’t he frozen in time?
As Topaz grabbed the last unique, T’s hold on time broke completely. The crowd surged with life, swallowing him up.
Colson disappeared into the crowd. He was normal. He needed to be normal. A normal person would have no clue what was going on.
Honora dived into the chaotic crowd narrowly escaping the stranger’s claws. She could hear faint cursing as she vanished in the mists of the mob.
T looked up and saw that the uniques were safe. Her vision began to dim, and she fainted.
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T slowly regained consciousness. She felt herself being carried. Instantly, she knew it was the same person who had helped her freeze time. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew there was some connection there. She didn’t feel like she was living in the past.
Colson sighed. He didn’t know what had compelled him the take the young unique home, but he felt like there was something there, something that wasn’t there before. He couldn’t see any of the silver-haired girl’s future though that could have been because his powers were drained from freezing time for so long. As he held her, he felt there, in the present, all thoughts of the future carried away.
T felt like it took forever before she could move. She wasn’t used to be this close to anyone. Gently, she moved, motioning that she could walk.
Colson set down the mysterious girl, “Uh, I’m Colson.”
T nodded and held up her hands in a T form.
“T?” he waited for her to continue.
She nodded and put her hand on his arm to signal she was done.
He was surprised by her lack of words. His parents never stopped talking. Speaking of his parents, they would not be happy if he brought a unique girl home, “Umm, my parent… they… uh… hate uniques like a ton. If it was up to them, every unique would be wiped off the face of this Earth.”
T blanched in horror. There was no way she could make it home in the state she was in. She had no choice but to go with Colson.
“But it’s okay. You have contacts, so they might not notice.” Colson said, gesturing to her eyes.
T pointed to her eyes and then at him. Did he have contacts too?
“Not quite. I’m not unique,” he said.
T rolled her eyes. He must think her stupid if he thought she would believe that lie.
“I’m not!” he insisted.
T spoke in a low whisper, “I know you are. I can feel it. There’s a connection there.”
The force of her words made him stumble back. “You talk!”
T shook her head no. Two could play at that game.
“You know how frustrating you are?”
They walked the rest of the way to his house in silence. T trailed behind, looking up at his jet black hair and feeling like something was missing.
“Well, I think we should be fine if you don’t say much,” Colson said after he stopped in front of a modest house.
T looked at him sideways. When did she talk?
“Good point. Just don’t do anything unique like freeze time.” With a light push, the blue door creaked open. “Hey Ma and Da, I’m home!” he yelled into the house.
“Oh, Coley! We were so worried! We saw the reports about that mob. Can you believe what those horrible uniques did? They could have injured an innocent person!” a woman in her mid-forties rushed in the front hall.
T kept her face neutral, knowing that this was what Colson had grown up hearing. It was in the history of the house. She could feel the walls still shaking from when his dad had slammed the door shut after Colson had stood up for uniques.
“Yeah, I’m alright. I was on the outskirts of the crowd when I saw this girl. I think one of the uniques drained her energy or something to get away.” Colson smoothly lied.
T pretended to shiver at the word unique.
“I think she has had some bad experiences with uniques. So bad that she doesn’t even talk, but her name is T.” Colson continued.
“Oh, welcome to our home, T. Any enemy of the uniques is a friend of our family. I’m Rebecca and Coley’s father is Johnson. Will you stay for dinner? We even have a guest room if you wish to spend the night.”
T nodded, wanting to smile at Colson’s nickname. She was starved. Quickly, Rebecca rushed Colson and her to the kitchen. She put them to work cutting fresh vegetables. T was surprised when she felt that the vegetables were grown by someone with heterochromia. Colson’s family must not have known; they seemed so against uniques.
“How are you doing?” Colson asked. T had gone straight to mechanically cutting the vegetables without looking at him. Now that he looked at her face, he saw it was white with strain.
T didn’t reply. She was to busy trying to stay upright.
“Oh Coley, she looks like she’s about to fall down. The poor thing. She must be so tired after what the uniques did to her.”
Colson helped T to a chair. He was silently berating himself for not noticing earlier. He himself was barely standing, and T had frozen time for even longer.
T allowed herself to smile in relief. Dinner was served shortly after. Colson’s father, Johnson came in. Even though she directly opposed his beliefs, he seemed like a good man who cared about his family more than anything in the world, and T was a pretty good judge of character because of her power.
Dinner went by even faster with T there. His parents couldn’t stop talking, but for once, he wasn’t thinking about what he would do after. He was there in the present, listening.
T was alert through dinner. For once, her mind didn’t wander to what she had done earlier in the day. She was there in the present, taking part in the conversation with nodding and gestures.
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Honora explained to her horrified mothers what happened at the crowd. They praised Topaz for saving the uniques, but they were frightened half to death at the thought of Honora fighting the monster of a man.
“Honora, now that your home, I need you to find something for me.” Narissa requested.
Honora's cute husky licked Topaz's open palm and he stopped listening to the conversation.
“His name is Atlas.”
Topaz jumped. He hadn't realized she was watching him. “He’s adorable!”
“Aw, he’s just a big suck-up, aren't you boy. Oh yes, you are, yes you are!” Honora exclaimed.
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“T, it was lovely having you for dinner. I insist you stay the night. It’s too dark out. You never know what uniques might be wandering the streets.” Rebecca said leading T to a bedroom on the first floor.
T reluctantly nodded, know that part of what Rebecca said was true. You never knew who could be in the streets at night, but uniques weren’t the worst thing out there.
Rebecca looked at T’s petite frame, “I doubt we have any clothes that would fit you. I can get you a t-shirt though it might be a bit large.”
T nodded with gratefulness. She was accustomed to sleeping in large shirts. It was often hard to find clothes in good condition that fit her. At Barters Way most of the clothes her size once belonged to kids and the state of the cloth was deplorable.
Rebecca hugged T goodnight, “I’m so glad that the uniques didn’t hurt you too badley. You seem like a really sweet girl. I’ll have Colson bring down one of his smaller t-shirts. He recently had a growth spurt so he should have some shirts closer to your size.”
T hugged her back in thanks. She liked Rebecca even though Rebecca would hate her if she found out the color of T’s eyes. Speaking of contacts, it was a pain to sleep in contacts. They dried out and made it almost impossible to open her eyes in the morning. She had run out of her extra supplies. She had been heading home to resupply before the attacks on the uniques.
A muffled voice came from behind the closed door, “Hey, T, I have a shirt for you.”
T opened the door to find Colson awkwardly holding out a shirt for her. She raised her hand to her mouth and signed “thank you”. She knew reading that book on sign language would come in handy.
“No problem,” Colson said, turning away almost before she grabbed the t-shirt, “Good night!” he yelled over his shoulder almost halfway up the stairs.
T shook her head ruefully. Why was he so jumpy? She locked the door and took off her hoodie. Underneath she only had a camisole. She hated wearing shirts underneath you hoodie because they were so big they always bunched up under her armpit. Sighing, she pulled on the shirt. It was a dress on her. Exhausted, she climbed into bed, ready for a dreamless sleep.
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Honora squeezed her way through the crawl space. Her mother Narissa handed her a flashlight. Her other mother Lilac had helped her put on the kneepads and hoisted her up the ladder.
Topaz had given her directions throughout the maze of a crawlspace. He had found Honora in the escaping from the crowd at the same time as him. He had quickly accepted her invitation to stay the night.
Honora found what she was looking for within seconds. As she slowly crawled out, she opened a dusty palm. She told Narissa through telepathy what it was, to see how long it would take Lilac to figure it out, but on the first guess, Lilac correctly answered, “It's a gem.” Honora’s family wasn’t rich nor were they poor, but the gem would definitely give them a helpful boost.
Topaz followed her gaze to the gem. Honora had given him the HONOR of staying there tonight.
“Topaz, we have an extra room. Do you mind sleeping there?” Narissa asked.
Topaz replied, “Not at all, ma'am.”
“Good. Honora, you sleep in ‘till 9 and let this sweetie pie get some rest.” replied Narissa.
“Mom!!!!” Honora yelled.
“Honey, you and I both know you are an early bird. Goodnight Topaz.”
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She woke up with a start. Something was off. Suddenly she realized it was Colson. He was freezing time. She didn’t know why he was, but she joined in to help him.
Colson rushed downstairs, feeling T supporting him. She was so strong to be able to help him after holding time for so long.
T heard footsteps on the stairs and grabbed her hoodie. She stood by the door, ready to wrap her hoodie around the man who was immune to any unique power. She wouldn’t let him kill her.
Colson slowly opened the door to T’s room. He knew she was awa-
T threw her hoodie of the intruder with glowing hair and pulled it tight around his neck and head.
He couldn't breathe. Out of nowhere came a black blanket, strangling him. He couldn’t scream or breathe. He reached for T and grabbed hold of a t-shirt.
T cried out with surprise. The assailant caught a fistfull of her large t-shirt. She had survived too long to be brought down now. She should have never trusted Colson’s parents. She slipped out of the t-shirt and tied the arms of the hoodie even tighter around the attacker.
Colson was left with a t-shirt in his hand while T strangled him even more. He had to let her know it was him. He freed time and froze it over and over again hoping she would catch on.
As time started and stop over again, she hurried to remove her makeshift weapon. She could feel the time freeze and unfreeze, the source clearly right in front of her.
With a tug, the hoodie finally was pulled off his head. Colson closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to get the black spots to fade.
T could only stare. Colson’s hair was glowing green and blue! She remembered looking at his hair earlier and thinking she wasn’t seeing everything, but nothing could have prepared her for this.
Colson turned to face T, realizing that now they were in the dark, his unique qualities would literally shine.
T looked into his eyes and once again was shocked. The colour in his eyes left no doubt in her mind that he was unique. His one glowing blue eye contrasted his glowing green one giving him a supernatural look. Together with his hair and eyes, Colson’s face became complete.
As Colson looked at T, his face heated up, and he blushed deeply.
T looked herself over and her face blushed to match Colson’s. She was only wearing a thin camisole.
Colson handed her the shirt he still held in his clenched fist and faced the wall to give her privacy.
She accepted it gratefully and put it on. She was struck by the thought that it smelled like Colson. Why did she know what Colson smelled like?
“I-uhh, came down to talk to you. I mean to have you talk.” Colson stuttered looking at his feet.
T smiled. For the first time in her life, she felt like she could participate in a conversation. It was like she wasn’t stuck in the past. The conversation felt like it was happening right now, “I can talk.”
He looked up in surprise, “Why don’t you?…umm if you feel comfortable telling me.”
“This is going to sound weird but when I’m with people, my mind isn’t really with them. It’s in the past… except for now with you.”
“Uh-I think I get it?”
“Well, maybe it would make more sense if I explained my power. You know I can freeze time, but I have another power. I have the ability to see the past in any object, plant, animal, and person. Well, almost any person. You are the first person I can't see the past which is surprising because I can even see the past of the dirt or a mountain.”
Colson looked at her in surprise, “I think I know the reason for both things. You see, I have a smaller problem taking part in conversations. I’m always focused on the future, not what’s happening now, but now with you, I’m in the present. I think it’s because of your power.”
“Well, that explains why you are feeling in the present. My powers might connect to yours, but that doesn’t explain what’s happening to me.”
“I haven’t finished. Like you, I have a side power besides freezing time. I can see the future, only glimpses of it, but it’s pretty reliable. I can call on people’s future. And everyone I have tried to use my powers on has worked, except for you.” Colson replied.
“Our powers balance each other out. You can’t see my future because I live in the past and, I can't see your past because you live in the future,” T concluded.
“When we are together, our powers work to keep us both in the present.” Colson finished.
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Topaz woke up with sweat covering his face after a nightmare. In it, he was bound against a pole and was watching the girl with the silver hair scream as the man hurt her. He slowly climbed up the spiral staircase to the kitchen. Since Honora’s door was ajar, he peeked in.
“Mhmm… Yes, yes. I suppose.” Honora sleep-said.
Topaz listened to her. The dream appeared to change.
“Nectar, when can I go to school? It's not fair that everyone else gets to go.”
She paused in her sleep, listening for Nectar’s response.
“I know we can't afford it, but if my fairy godmother was real and could grant any wish I'd wish I could go to school.” Honora sleep replied to “Nectar”.
Topaz felt terrible. Not knowing if Honora's family really could afford school or not was tearing him apart. Seeing that they were already buying food for him as an added cost, he made the decision to leave as soon as possible. He retreated back to the small guest room.
“Topaz how’d you sleep?” Lilac questioned.
“Nightmare.”
“Really? came Honora’s voice, “Same. It was about the crowd. I couldn't do anything, and he killed all the uniques except me until…” Honora’s tearful voice trailed off.
“Oh, honey, ”Lilac said and squeezed Honora tight.
Honora didn't refuse the hug.
“Um, Honora, can I talk to you for a minute?” Topaz asked uncomfortably after Lilac had released her.
“Okay?” Honora said, surprised.
Honora followed him into the guest room.
“Who-who is Nectar?” Topaz asked.
“How do you even-but you've never-nevermind. He was my- my brother. You see, I am adopted but I have a brother, who some other family adopted. Why do you ask?” She finished.
“Oh it's nothing. One other thing I wanted to ask you. Do you um… well I… do you go to school?” Topaz blurted out.
“Why? Looking for a prom date?” Honora joked.
“No. Do you go to school?” Topaz questioned rather seriously.
Honora wondered whether she should tell him or not. A small voice inside her head said, “You are willing to let him sleep in your house, and yet you can't tell him you don't go to school?”
Meanwhile for some strange reason Topaz could tell exactly what she was thinking. He broke the silence by saying, “You’re willing to let me sleep in your house and yet you can't tell me that you don't go to school?
Honora realized she accidentally told Topaz this through her power. He and Honora laughed for what seemed like ages before they joined Narissa and Lilac in the kitchen. They didn't discuss the conversation with Narissa or Lilac.
After a quick goodbye, Topaz left the house.
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“How did you sleep?” Rebecca asked.
T was distracted. Colson still hadn’t come down yet, and she was stuck thinking about last night. Even the delicious smell of breakfast and the rumbling in her stomach didn’t bring her to the present.
“How did you sleep?” Rebecca questioned again.
T looked up in surprise. She gave Rebecca a weak thumbs up.
Johnson, Colson’s father can in. He hugged Rebecca and greeted T with a smile before sitting down at the table.
T looked up. She knew Colson was awake and heading downstairs before she could even see him.
“Good morning Coley. Are you hungry?” Rebecca said bringing out four plates filled with eggs, sausage, and a slice of buttered bread.
“Starving. It smells great, Ma.” Colson replied, sitting down next to T, “And how are you doing T? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
T nodded vigorously. It was the best she had slept since- the memory she had tried to bury came unbidden. She pushed it down.
Rebecca looked at her worriedly. “Let’s get some more food into you,” she said as she placed a plate in front of T.
T gave the gesture for thank you before diving into the meal. Between yesterday at the attack on uniques and last night with Colson, T had frozen time longer than most of her previous attempts combined. She was famished. It seemed all her senses were more active with Colson present.
After breakfast was finished, Johnson pushed his chair back, “Why don’t you escort T home, Colson? I bet it would make her feel better to have some protection from a unique.
T almost laughed. Yes, send a unique with a unique to protect the unique from uniques. Not counterproductive at all.
“I’d be delighted to take the young lady home,” Colson said, pulling back T’s chair for her.
Just when she thought she had Colson all figured out, he did something surprising like acting like a perfect gentleman. It was hard not knowing his past. Gracefully she rose and hugged Rebecca goodbye. She shook Johnson’s hand, and Colson took her arm.
Colson had to bend down awkwardly to hold her arm, but it was worth it to see the surprised look on her face. He walked with her to the sidewalk outside of his house, “Do you want me to walk you home.”
T considered it. She nodded. It would be nice to be escorted home. She had been on her own ever since- well she didn’t want to think about that. She led the way to her house, weaving through alleyways and avoiding the general mass of the crowd. One thing she had learned in her years was that she really hated crowds.
Colson noticed, “Don’t like crowds? Too much history?”

T nodded again. He would know how the overwhelming feeling took over. She may have powers, but at times she regarded them as more of a curse. Before she realized it, they were home.
Colson gazed at T’s house. It certainly was bigger than his, but what might have been a beautiful house in the past was now falling to shambles.
T spread her arms wide, presenting her house. She could only imagine what Colson was thinking. The house was in danger of imploding on itself.
“Wow, what a beautiful house you have,” Colson politely said as he watched three brown-haired kids rush full speed at T.
T opened her arms wider and knelt to receive the joyful kids. She smiled blissfully as they hugged her. Tears pooled at her eyes, she wished she had come back sooner.
“Where were you, T? We were so worried,” the eldest said. The girl couldn’t have been more than 10, but she stood like an adult. Her face was creased with premature wrinkles from stress. Her face was so similar to T’s it was evident that this was T’s younger sister.
“I’m back now.” T whispered in her soft voice, “I’m sorry I had to go. How are you guys?” She closed her eyes and checked what they had been up to in the past week, “Wow you guys have been busy. Tally, thank you for taking care of Tye and Taigh.”
Colson almost wanted to laugh. “Your names all start with Ts.”
T smiled, “Meet Tally, Tye, and Taigh.”
Tally looked him over, “And he is?”
Tye and Taigh looked at Colson with wide eyes. They couldn’t have been older than 7 he thought.
“This is Colson. He’s like me.”
Colson flinched as Tye and Taigh’s eyes grew bigger. He had kept his powers a secret for so many years.
Tally shrugged, “Oh, glad to meet you. Do you make T talk more?”
Colson almost choked, “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know T doesn’t talk unless you slap her?”
Colson looked at T in surprise, “Um, I haven’t tried that yet.”
“Tally! Colson!” T said blushing.
Tally nodded approvingly, “He’s fine.” She turned to Tye and Taigh, “Come on, you guys need to change out of your PJs.” She led them back into the house like a mother hen looking over her chicks.
T looked fondly at them, “Tally is ten and takes care of the younger two. Tye and Taigh are both seven, and those twins get into trouble all the time. Tye’s the girl and Taigh is the boy if you didn’t realize.”
Colson stored this information away. He wanted to ask about her parents but was afraid of the answer.
“I know you probably wondering about my parents. They are still alive if you can call it living. Never mind them. I only visit once a week usually because I’m working.”
Colson nodded, “Before you go, well, I showed you my heterochromia. Can I see yours?
T thought about it, “I do need to change my contacts.” she started walking to the house.
Colson followed her.
“No, you wait here. I’ll be right out.” T said stopping him in his tracks. Lightly she ran into the house and washed her hands. After years of practice, she could take off her contacts without a mirror. She froze time before stepping out of the house. It was too dangerous for anyone to see her heterochromia. She couldn’t leave Tally alone to raise the twins.
Colson felt time freeze and decided to help. He let his power flow through him, grabbing the strings of time and holding it still. It was becoming easier he realized.
T practically flew out the door. The contacts were her disguise, her armor, and she was vulnerable without them.
Colson was breathless as he looked into T’s eyes. He lifted his right hand and rubbed below her purple eyes. His left hand landed underneath the silver one. “Beautiful.” he whispered and moved his head down to kiss her.
T stiffened. She never let anyone get this close. But when his lips touched hers, she saw everything. The past, the future, the present. It felt like her head was going to explode. She pulled back panting. “I’m sorry. That was… intense.”
Colson held his head, “So much info. To small of a brain.”
T laughed, “Let’s just hug goodbye instead.”
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When Topaz arrived at home, he asked his great uncle for advice about, well, everything. His great uncle told him, “Life is like a river. You don't know where it's gonna turn, or where it ends, you just have to trust it to take you through life.”
Even though Topaz didn't quite understand this yet, he had a feeling that one day he would. Exhausted from the night’s events, Topaz sat on the couch and quickly fell asleep.
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“T, it’s the end of the month. We need to pay our bills. Please tell me you brought home a paycheck.” Tally said shuffling through the papers on her desk.
T nodded and reached into her sweatshirt to pull out an envelope.
Tally deftly plucked it out of her hand and opened it. Her face went from elated to miserable, “T, you’re going to want to see this.”
T didn’t respond. She was going back to the past. She went to Rebecca and Johnson's home. They seemed remotely familiar but she hadn’t had a chance to look at their past.
“T, you need to look at this!” Tally said smacking T in the face with the envelope.
T struggled to bring herself to the present. She took the letter from Tally and knew it was bad at once. Her boss, Mr. Frankie, had cried while writing it. She looked down with apprehension.
“Tally! Taigh went poo poo in his pants!” Tye called from upstairs.
Tally sighed.
T was hit with a wave of sadness. Tally was only 10 yet she was taking on the duties of their mother. T was that age when she lost Micah. She read the letter as Tally went upstairs to clean Taigh. Tears began to well in her eyes. Mr. Frankie was so kind to give them money to pay the bills for the next two months. She understood why, after five years of work, he couldn’t keep her as an employee. Times were tough, and having a unique working for you was risky.
“T are everyting k?” Tye asked in her messed up seven-year-old speech.
T hugged Tye and kissed her on the cheek. She wanted Tye and Taigh to grow up without having to worry about money. They still had their innocence. They still believe that everyone was good.
“Don’t worry T! Taigh and I have a plan to get rich so you can pay the bills and take care of mommy and daddy.” Tye said comfortingly.
T put her head on Tye’s shoulder and sobbed. Someday, the looming fact that they would not be able to pay the bills and someone would figure out about her parents would be upon them. She just hoped it was after Tye and Taigh had grown up more. They deserved so much better than Tally and she could provide for them.
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Honora walked to Barters Way. She wished she wasn't going alone. The market was full of thieves and sketchy people who lied about their goods.
T had packed a week's worth of black contacts and kissed her siblings goodbye. She hated to leave but now more than ever, she needed to work. She would spend time looking for a new job after she did she regular shift at Anquites and History in Barters Way.
Honora walked into an interesting shop called Antiques and History. She had a feeling that they would honestly tell her the price of the gem.
T stood in the stall after greeting her boss Mrs. Mack. Her first customer was a girl about her age with a husky. T waved hello and reached to pet the husky. She couldn’t help but notice that the husy and the girl had the exact same heterochromia.
The cashier struck Honora as odd because she didn’t talk. “Umm, hi. I'm Honora and I was wondering if you could tell me the price of this”. She handed it to the girl.
T reached out her hand to take the gem, and their hands touched for a brief second. Enough for T to realize that this girl was in the mob yesterday with T, and Colson had asked her to help fight off the strange man killing the uniques.. She figured Honora would read her name tag.
“T. Cool name. I like it.” Honora responded to the silence.
T smiled. She had also seen this girl use her powers yesterday with the boy in the red hat that had helped her save the uniques. T tapped her head to get Honora to speak with her telepathically.
Hi. So can you tell me the price?
I was there yesterday. Remember the boy who grabbed you. He was helping me freeze time.
Oh. How do you have powers?! You look normal.
Some people choose to hide their heterochromia.
Ok. What's the price of the gem.
Let’s see the history of the gem. It all depends on what kind of gem it is.
Ok. Any ideas?
T let her power flow through her, vibrating her arms. She saw the stone form in Earth’s crust, she saw it undergo large amounts of pressure, she saw it being found, cut, and buried. She saw Honora find it and show the boy with the red hat it.
Hello? Are you there T?
Yes. The stone is a diamond. It looks like 1-1.5 carats though we’ll have to weigh it. It could cost up to 5 ½ di! T set down the stone in shock. That much money could pay the bills for two years!
Honora’s face went white at that sum of money. Thank you! Thank you!
Don’t thank me just yet. We don’t have the money to buy it from you. We can look for someone to buy it from you. I’ll go get my boss.
Honora’s face dropped a little, but the smile still stretched from ear to ear.
T went to the back room and brought Mrs. Mack.
“Hello, I’m Mrs. Mack.” she said.
“I’m Honora. T tells me if the stone is a 1-1.5 carat diamond, it could cost 5 ½ di!”
“T said all that?” Mrs. Mack asked in surprise.
Whoops! Honora thought to T.
Ehh… just ask if I’m right.
“Is she correct?” Honora asked.
“Oh yes! I’ll weigh it, but it looks like it has the four C’s.”
“What four C's? I uhh… don't go to school.”
“Nevermind. It’s hardly something you would learn in school. It's just something we use to determine the price of diamond.” Mrs. Mack said weighing. “1.3 carats. Wonderful! I think T was spot on. Unfortunately we can’t buy it outright. We can look around for a buyer though it will take a few months at best. Times are hard right now, and few people have the money to afford expensive jewelry and gems.”
“I understand. I as well will look for places to sell it at. Thank you so much for your time and help.”
“If you wish for us to find a buyer, we will have to keep the gem. Our buyers prefer proof. But don’t worry. We have slips you can sign that verifies the stone is yours. If the stone is lost or stolen, God help me then, we will pay you half of the price: 2 ½ dis and 1 ½ pez.”
That would still cover T’s financial problems for a year.
“Of course. I will sign.” Honora responded.
T pulled out a sheet of paper and filled out the details, signing it with flourish. She then handed it to Honora to sign.
Honora signed the document and bid them goodbye before leaving the gem in hopefully safe hands.
Bye Honora! Visit sometime soon. If the man ever comes again, I’ll be there to help save uniques!
Likewise, my fellow warrior.
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Topaz sat on an armchair deep in thought.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Hello? Topaz speaking through the door.”
“Ha ha ha.” came Honora's sarcastic voice.
Topaz let her in.
“Thanks.” She said gratefully. “It's cold out there.”
She was bundled up in a small, scratchy, torn, wool coat.
Topaz cringed. He'd never seen anyone wear anything this hideous. He called on a woman to fetch her some cocoa and a blanket. He ordered another servant to take off her coat, boots, scarf, and hat. “You must sit down.”
“Thank you.” She said, after all the servants stopped fussing over her.
“Why have you come?” Topaz asked after they had sat down.
“I was wondering if you wanted to buy a gem.”
“What kind?”
“A diamond.”
How much do you want for it?
Depends. How much are you willing to pay for it?
Wait. Am I inside your head or are you in mine?
Ugh that's way to confusing.
Umm how about 8 pez?
Huh? Oh, no. That's way too low. I couldn't help my family with that little.
You look so cute when you're concerned.
Good thing no one else can hear this or I would have smacked you for saying that out loud when everyone can hear.
We both know I'm not lying.
Stop being weird.
I'm not. I just think you're cute when you're concerned.
Thanks?
No problem. Now let's get down to business.
I went to a shop and asked T the value.
T? Who is T?
The girl with the silver hair who was at the crowd.
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Colson missed T like crazy. He missed how easy being in the present seemed. Now, flashes of the future overwhelmed him.
“Colson. We need to talk.” his dad said
Uh oh, it was never good when his dad used his real name. And worse, he hadn't seen this coming, so it must mean his dad had just decided to talk to him.
“Colson, we may seem like a normal family, but what I am about to show you will change everything.”
“Wait where are we going?” Colson asked.
“Don't worry. You'll be safe. It will be dark though for a little bit as we go down the stairs.”
Oh darn! He had made sure never to be in the dark with his parents ever since he figured out his uniqueness. “Uhhh, let me go grab something.” He turned to go back upstairs, but his dad grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“No Colson, you need to come with me now.” Johnson pulled Colson to the wall and placed both of their hands on the wall. The wall slid down to reveal an ominous, dark downward staircase.
“I'll go first,” Colson said, a plan forming in his mind. He put his hood on his hoodie up, carefully tucking each strand in. As long as his father didn't see his eyes, he would be fine.
“Be careful not to trip,” his father cautioned him.
Colson kept his head down as he went farther underground. His father didn’t say anything, so he figured he was safe. Still, he left out a huge sigh of relief when he saw a light at the bottom of the seemingly endless stairway.
“Turn right.”
“But the sign says turn left?” Colson said looking at the sign at the end of the stairway.
“If the signs were right, it would be to easy. As long as you listen to my instructions, you won’t end up a hallway that will kill you.”
Colson shuddered. And this had been under his house the entire time? They walked silently through the hallway. At the next sign, Colson did the opposite and turned right.
Johnson grabbed his hood, yanking him back, “Poisonous gas that way.”
Colson flinched as his hood came down but soon realized there was enough light to prevent his hair and eyes from glowing, “Wow, where are we going?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head off. Maybe I should lead the way now.”
“Good idea,” he said nervously as he peeked down a turn that had giant axes swinging from the ceiling. He fell in step behind his father, treading carefully down the low lit hallways. He almost walked into the rigid figure of Johnson who had pausing in front of a steel door. “Are we here?”
Johnson gave him an exasperated look, “No, I just stopped right in front of this door because I felt like it.”
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Oh, you mean the one who told me to help?
T was the one who told you to help????
Yeah. Silver hair, purple highlights, ya know?
Of course, right. Ummm… She said it could cost 5 di!
Nice! So, what’s the problem?
I need a buyer.
I think I can help you with that…
That’s exactly why I came.
Ok, so can I give you 2 and ½ di?
Sorry, but that’s not enough. 6 ½ di?
No. How about 5 di?
Ummm… 6 di?
I’ll settle for 5 ½…
Deal.
Honora left feeling satisfied. She couldn’t wait to meet T again and tell her. She remembered the kind shop owner and decided to take back the gem as soon as she could.
Honora happily walked to Barters Way. She couldn't wait to tell T the news. Honora enjoyed seeing T before and she’d love to see her again. As she neared Vivian's voodoo, she felt a muscular hand slip over her mouth and eyes and drag her into a thin alleyway.
Honora awoke tied to a table leg. A man was hunched over a thin table covered in blood and robotic limbs. He made a strange grunt as she felt the scene fade away. She could now see out of her dog's eyes. She thought over and over: Atlas, get help. Find someone and get help. Please…
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Colson shifted from foot to foot, awkwardly waiting for the door to open as Johnson scanned his fingerprint and eye, typed in a password, said a password for voice recognition, and finally spit into a small basin for a DNA sample.
“Step very carefully, don’t talk, and especially don’t tell anyone about this.”
Colson nodded tentatively, unsure of what he would see. He almost wanted to closed his eyes as the door slowly creaked open. Johnson quickly pulled him through right before the door slammed shut. Colson barely noticed how close he had been to being crushed by the door. He was too preoccupied by the room.
“Keep walking, and close your mouth.”
Colson complied, but he struggled to keep the horror off his face. He was surrounded by cages filled with people. Looking closely, he noticed they all had one thing in common. They all had a heterochromia.
“This is your mom and my life work. It’s incredible, isn’t it?” his father said proudly.
“It certainly is something,” Colson managed to choke out.
“We waited until you were older to show you. Just take a look around,” he said cheerfully, like they were at a zoo, not a prison for uniques.
Colson nearly cursed aloud when they walked past one cage. In it lay the girl who had helped them during the attack on the mob.
“And of course, we also have the ultimate weapon. A man who can detect those who are unique and are immune to the powers uniques possesses.” Johnson continued like a regular tour guide.
And that was all he could take. Doubly over, he lost all of his breakfast from this morning.
Johnson scowled, “I suppose you weren’t quite ready. Ugh, now I have to get someone to clear up. Well, I suppose you should head back up. Do you think you can find the way without killing yourself? I have to get to work.”
“W-wo-rk?” Colson stuttered, wiping the vomit from his chin.
“Oh, I won’t go into any details. I doubt your stomach could handle it.”
“I can go back on my own.” Even though that wasn’t strictly true, at this point, Colson would rather die a horrible death than stay in this appalling room for one more second.
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Honora watched as Atlas barked and pulled on a man's pants. He yelled as his pants tore around the side of his calf. Atlas jumped on him and laid both paws on his legs. The man said to him “I give up. Alright dog, wadda ya want? I ain't got no food for yeh.” Atlas tugged on his pants. And tried to backup into the alleyway. “Alright, Alright I'm coming! Yeesh.” The man followed Atlas into the alley as the scene fades. It became pitch black and then the metal room focused into view.
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1 Telp = 5 US dollar
½ Clinks = 10 US dollars
1 Clink =20 US dollars
½ Pez = 50 US dollars
1 Pez = 100 US dollars
½ Di = 500 US dollars
1 Di = 1,000 US dollars hey, that's the name of a country in my other story

I updated it so my part is WAY better than before, but I still hate Topaz and Honora……

hey weren't we gonna hook up T and Topaz and Colson and Honora? of if t marries another t im gonna go insane

The-Book-Worm wrote:

Unique - A Story Collab
By: @The-Book-Worm & @TL1470

Main Characters font color removed
T: Purple font || see the past and freeze time (takes immense concentration)
Colson Edder: Blue || can see the future and freeze time (takes immense concentration)
Honora Emmerson: Amber || Telepathy and the ability to shift her conciseness to her dog
Topaz: Yellow || Necromancy and Death Sense
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T closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her face. She had to get out of this crowd. It was too overwhelming, and the flashbacks of Alexander the Great didn't help.
Honora twisted one of her teal highlights around her finger, squinting at the crowd from her perch on the top of the building. She didn’t trust crowds. They were unpredictable, vulnerable. She was getting a bad vibe from this crowd in particular.
T opened her eyes wide as she exerted her power. The strings of time flew around her, and then everything was still, frozen in time. She pushed her way through the crowd to the first open place she found. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as she released her hold on time.
Commotion in the mob caught Honora‘s eye. No! she thought in horror, It can’t be. She shimmied down the ladder on the side of the building, jumping when she still had ten feet to go. She rolled and landed lightly on her feet. Quickly, she sprinted toward the turbulent crowd.
T relaxed in relief. She hated freezing time. She was well aware that another unique could have the same powers, and find out who she was. Also, the strain of holding onto time wore her out. She much preferred her other and more controlled power.
Topaz squeezed through the crowd to see the center of attention. The more he couldn’t see, the more curious he got. He was sensing a lot of death. Most people in the crowd were going to die.
T turned to face the crowd once more. She could feel its exciting energy and knew history was happening. Gently, she reached her consciousness forward and watched the most recent history of what one of the people at the front of the crowd was seeing.
Topaz ran up to a girl with long silver hair and tapped her on the shoulder.
T opened her eyes with a start when she felt a tap on her arm. Her mind was temporarily distracted from the impending horror.
Topaz urgently whispered, “You’ve got to help me! We’re all going to die!”
Immediately she liked this boy. He got right to the point. She tried to stay in the present, “The only ones in danger are the uniques. They are slaughtering them.”
Topaz replied, “But I… I can sense deaths and most people in this crowd are going to die!”
T nodded, “I suppose some uniques are going to fight back, but it doesn’t matter. They have someone who is immune to all powers. He’s the one picking out the uniques from the crowds.”
“But we have to help them! The uniques AND normals!”
T nodded again, “I need you to free all the uniques you can. I’ll try to hold time.” She grabbed the boy’s hand and let loose her power.
Topaz ran and pulled the Uniques out of the crowd. He tried to cut the rope-bound ones, but he couldn’t.
Honora pushed through the crowd. Suddenly, a boy appeared in front of her.
T felt her hold on time slip, but all of a sudden, it became easier, like someone was helping her.
Colson hated using his powers, he hated being unique, but more than that he hated innocent people dying. This slaughter in the crowd… he had to stop it. Out of nowhere, time froze. He saw a red cap darting through the crowd, freeing uniques. Instantly he knew he had to help. Whoever was freezing time was slipping. He grabbed a close unique with teal highlights to help. Quickly he let his power flow through him and began to assist the other time freezer.
Even with the mysterious help, T was still under a great strain. She had never practiced holding time for this long. She had always been reluctant to use her powers but looking back, she regretted it.
Honora looked around her and realized time was frozen. She turned to the boy with jet black hair. “Just go help them!” he whispered as it hurt. She nodded and headed toward the source of the trouble, the man who was killing uniques.
Topaz pulled free his pocket knife free and cut off the binding ropes and carried little boys and girls safely away to their parents. He turned to T and she forced out through gritted teeth, “Hurry, I can’t hold it much longer.”
Honora ran up in front of it, the immune man, trying to distract him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked furiously. Honora recoiled when the piercing laugh came back in reply. The man dove at her, nails ready to dig into her skin, but she flung herself out of the way just in time. She aimed a kick at his leg, but he moved out of the way.
Colson’s concentration broke as he dove out of the way to escape the girl with teal highlights fighting another man. Why wasn’t he frozen in time?
As Topaz grabbed the last unique, T’s hold on time broke completely. The crowd surged with life, swallowing him up.
Colson disappeared into the crowd. He was normal. He needed to be normal. A normal person would have no clue what was going on.
Honora dived into the chaotic crowd narrowly escaping the stranger’s claws. She could hear faint cursing as she vanished in the mists of the mob.
T looked up and saw that the uniques were safe. Her vision began to dim, and she fainted.
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T slowly regained consciousness. She felt herself being carried. Instantly, she knew it was the same person who had helped her freeze time. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew there was some connection there. She didn’t feel like she was living in the past.
Colson sighed. He didn’t know what had compelled him the take the young unique home, but he felt like there was something there, something that wasn’t there before. He couldn’t see any of the silver-haired girl’s future though that could have been because his powers were drained from freezing time for so long. As he held her, he felt there, in the present, all thoughts of the future carried away.
T felt like it took forever before she could move. She wasn’t used to be this close to anyone. Gently, she moved, motioning that she could walk.
Colson set down the mysterious girl, “Uh, I’m Colson.”
T nodded and held up her hands in a T form.
“T?” he waited for her to continue.
She nodded and put her hand on his arm to signal she was done.
He was surprised by her lack of words. His parents never stopped talking. Speaking of his parents, they would not be happy if he brought a unique girl home, “Umm, my parent… they… uh… hate uniques like a ton. If it was up to them, every unique would be wiped off the face of this Earth.”
T blanched in horror. There was no way she could make it home in the state she was in. She had no choice but to go with Colson.
“But it’s okay. You have contacts, so they might not notice.” Colson said, gesturing to her eyes.
T pointed to her eyes and then at him. Did he have contacts too?
“Not quite. I’m not unique,” he said.
T rolled her eyes. He must think her stupid if he thought she would believe that lie.
“I’m not!” he insisted.
T spoke in a low whisper, “I know you are. I can feel it. There’s a connection there.”
The force of her words made him stumble back. “You talk!”
T shook her head no. Two could play at that game.
“You know how frustrating you are?”
They walked the rest of the way to his house in silence. T trailed behind, looking up at his jet black hair and feeling like something was missing.
“Well, I think we should be fine if you don’t say much,” Colson said after he stopped in front of a modest house.
T looked at him sideways. When did she talk?
“Good point. Just don’t do anything unique like freeze time.” With a light push, the blue door creaked open. “Hey Ma and Da, I’m home!” he yelled into the house.
“Oh, Coley! We were so worried! We saw the reports about that mob. Can you believe what those horrible uniques did? They could have injured an innocent person!” a woman in her mid-forties rushed in the front hall.
T kept her face neutral, knowing that this was what Colson had grown up hearing. It was in the history of the house. She could feel the walls still shaking from when his dad had slammed the door shut after Colson had stood up for uniques.
“Yeah, I’m alright. I was on the outskirts of the crowd when I saw this girl. I think one of the uniques drained her energy or something to get away.” Colson smoothly lied.
T pretended to shiver at the word unique.
“I think she has had some bad experiences with uniques. So bad that she doesn’t even talk, but her name is T.” Colson continued.
“Oh, welcome to our home, T. Any enemy of the uniques is a friend of our family. I’m Rebecca and Coley’s father is Johnson. Will you stay for dinner? We even have a guest room if you wish to spend the night.”
T nodded, wanting to smile at Colson’s nickname. She was starved. Quickly, Rebecca rushed Colson and her to the kitchen. She put them to work cutting fresh vegetables. T was surprised when she felt that the vegetables were grown by someone with heterochromia. Colson’s family must not have known; they seemed so against uniques.
“How are you doing?” Colson asked. T had gone straight to mechanically cutting the vegetables without looking at him. Now that he looked at her face, he saw it was white with strain.
T didn’t reply. She was to busy trying to stay upright.
“Oh Coley, she looks like she’s about to fall down. The poor thing. She must be so tired after what the uniques did to her.”
Colson helped T to a chair. He was silently berating himself for not noticing earlier. He himself was barely standing, and T had frozen time for even longer.
T allowed herself to smile in relief. Dinner was served shortly after. Colson’s father, Johnson came in. Even though she directly opposed his beliefs, he seemed like a good man who cared about his family more than anything in the world, and T was a pretty good judge of character because of her power.
Dinner went by even faster with T there. His parents couldn’t stop talking, but for once, he wasn’t thinking about what he would do after. He was there in the present, listening.
T was alert through dinner. For once, her mind didn’t wander to what she had done earlier in the day. She was there in the present, taking part in the conversation with nodding and gestures.
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Honora explained to her horrified mothers what happened at the crowd. They praised Topaz for saving the uniques, but they were frightened half to death at the thought of Honora fighting the monster of a man.
“Honora, now that your home, I need you to find something for me.” Narissa requested.
Honora's cute husky licked Topaz's open palm and he stopped listening to the conversation.
“His name is Atlas.”
Topaz jumped. He hadn't realized she was watching him. “He’s adorable!”
“Aw, he’s just a big suck-up, aren't you boy. Oh yes, you are, yes you are!” Honora exclaimed.
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“T, it was lovely having you for dinner. I insist you stay the night. It’s too dark out. You never know what uniques might be wandering the streets.” Rebecca said leading T to a bedroom on the first floor.
T reluctantly nodded, know that part of what Rebecca said was true. You never knew who could be in the streets at night, but uniques weren’t the worst thing out there.
Rebecca looked at T’s petite frame, “I doubt we have any clothes that would fit you. I can get you a t-shirt though it might be a bit large.”
T nodded with gratefulness. She was accustomed to sleeping in large shirts. It was often hard to find clothes in good condition that fit her. At Barters Way most of the clothes her size once belonged to kids and the state of the cloth was deplorable.
Rebecca hugged T goodnight, “I’m so glad that the uniques didn’t hurt you too badley. You seem like a really sweet girl. I’ll have Colson bring down one of his smaller t-shirts. He recently had a growth spurt so he should have some shirts closer to your size.”
T hugged her back in thanks. She liked Rebecca even though Rebecca would hate her if she found out the color of T’s eyes. Speaking of contacts, it was a pain to sleep in contacts. They dried out and made it almost impossible to open her eyes in the morning. She had run out of her extra supplies. She had been heading home to resupply before the attacks on the uniques.
A muffled voice came from behind the closed door, “Hey, T, I have a shirt for you.”
T opened the door to find Colson awkwardly holding out a shirt for her. She raised her hand to her mouth and signed “thank you”. She knew reading that book on sign language would come in handy.
“No problem,” Colson said, turning away almost before she grabbed the t-shirt, “Good night!” he yelled over his shoulder almost halfway up the stairs.
T shook her head ruefully. Why was he so jumpy? She locked the door and took off her hoodie. Underneath she only had a camisole. She hated wearing shirts underneath you hoodie because they were so big they always bunched up under her armpit. Sighing, she pulled on the shirt. It was a dress on her. Exhausted, she climbed into bed, ready for a dreamless sleep.
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Honora squeezed her way through the crawl space. Her mother Narissa handed her a flashlight. Her other mother Lilac had helped her put on the kneepads and hoisted her up the ladder.
Topaz had given her directions throughout the maze of a crawlspace. He had found Honora in the escaping from the crowd at the same time as him. He had quickly accepted her invitation to stay the night.
Honora found what she was looking for within seconds. As she slowly crawled out, she opened a dusty palm. She told Narissa through telepathy what it was, to see how long it would take Lilac to figure it out, but on the first guess, Lilac correctly answered, “It's a gem.” Honora’s family wasn’t rich nor were they poor, but the gem would definitely give them a helpful boost.
Topaz followed her gaze to the gem. Honora had given him the HONOR of staying there tonight.
“Topaz, we have an extra room. Do you mind sleeping there?” Narissa asked.
Topaz replied, “Not at all, ma'am.”
“Good. Honora, you sleep in ‘till 9 and let this sweetie pie get some rest.” replied Narissa.
“Mom!!!!” Honora yelled.
“Honey, you and I both know you are an early bird. Goodnight Topaz.”
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She woke up with a start. Something was off. Suddenly she realized it was Colson. He was freezing time. She didn’t know why he was, but she joined in to help him.
Colson rushed downstairs, feeling T supporting him. She was so strong to be able to help him after holding time for so long.
T heard footsteps on the stairs and grabbed her hoodie. She stood by the door, ready to wrap her hoodie around the man who was immune to any unique power. She wouldn’t let him kill her.
Colson slowly opened the door to T’s room. He knew she was awa-
T threw her hoodie of the intruder with glowing hair and pulled it tight around his neck and head.
He couldn't breathe. Out of nowhere came a black blanket, strangling him. He couldn’t scream or breathe. He reached for T and grabbed hold of a t-shirt.
T cried out with surprise. The assailant caught a fistfull of her large t-shirt. She had survived too long to be brought down now. She should have never trusted Colson’s parents. She slipped out of the t-shirt and tied the arms of the hoodie even tighter around the attacker.
Colson was left with a t-shirt in his hand while T strangled him even more. He had to let her know it was him. He freed time and froze it over and over again hoping she would catch on.
As time started and stop over again, she hurried to remove her makeshift weapon. She could feel the time freeze and unfreeze, the source clearly right in front of her.
With a tug, the hoodie finally was pulled off his head. Colson closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to get the black spots to fade.
T could only stare. Colson’s hair was glowing green and blue! She remembered looking at his hair earlier and thinking she wasn’t seeing everything, but nothing could have prepared her for this.
Colson turned to face T, realizing that now they were in the dark, his unique qualities would literally shine.
T looked into his eyes and once again was shocked. The colour in his eyes left no doubt in her mind that he was unique. His one glowing blue eye contrasted his glowing green one giving him a supernatural look. Together with his hair and eyes, Colson’s face became complete.
As Colson looked at T, his face heated up, and he blushed deeply.
T looked herself over and her face blushed to match Colson’s. She was only wearing a thin camisole.
Colson handed her the shirt he still held in his clenched fist and faced the wall to give her privacy.
She accepted it gratefully and put it on. She was struck by the thought that it smelled like Colson. Why did she know what Colson smelled like?
“I-uhh, came down to talk to you. I mean to have you talk.” Colson stuttered looking at his feet.
T smiled. For the first time in her life, she felt like she could participate in a conversation. It was like she wasn’t stuck in the past. The conversation felt like it was happening right now, “I can talk.”
He looked up in surprise, “Why don’t you?…umm if you feel comfortable telling me.”
“This is going to sound weird but when I’m with people, my mind isn’t really with them. It’s in the past… except for now with you.”
“Uh-I think I get it?”
“Well, maybe it would make more sense if I explained my power. You know I can freeze time, but I have another power. I have the ability to see the past in any object, plant, animal, and person. Well, almost any person. You are the first person I can't see the past which is surprising because I can even see the past of the dirt or a mountain.”
Colson looked at her in surprise, “I think I know the reason for both things. You see, I have a smaller problem taking part in conversations. I’m always focused on the future, not what’s happening now, but now with you, I’m in the present. I think it’s because of your power.”
“Well, that explains why you are feeling in the present. My powers might connect to yours, but that doesn’t explain what’s happening to me.”
“I haven’t finished. Like you, I have a side power besides freezing time. I can see the future, only glimpses of it, but it’s pretty reliable. I can call on people’s future. And everyone I have tried to use my powers on has worked, except for you.” Colson replied.
“Our powers balance each other out. You can’t see my future because I live in the past and, I can't see your past because you live in the future,” T concluded.
“When we are together, our powers work to keep us both in the present.” Colson finished.
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Topaz woke up with sweat covering his face after a nightmare. In it, he was bound against a pole and was watching the girl with the silver hair scream as the man hurt her. He slowly climbed up the spiral staircase to the kitchen. Since Honora’s door was ajar, he peeked in.
“Mhmm… Yes, yes. I suppose.” Honora sleep-said.
Topaz listened to her. The dream appeared to change.
“Nectar, when can I go to school? It's not fair that everyone else gets to go.”
She paused in her sleep, listening for Nectar’s response.
“I know we can't afford it, but if my fairy godmother was real and could grant any wish I'd wish I could go to school.” Honora sleep replied to “Nectar”.
Topaz felt terrible. Not knowing if Honora's family really could afford school or not was tearing him apart. Seeing that they were already buying food for him as an added cost, he made the decision to leave as soon as possible. He retreated back to the small guest room.
“Topaz how’d you sleep?” Lilac questioned.
“Nightmare.”
“Really? came Honora’s voice, “Same. It was about the crowd. I couldn't do anything, and he killed all the uniques except me until…” Honora’s tearful voice trailed off.
“Oh, honey, ”Lilac said and squeezed Honora tight.
Honora didn't refuse the hug.
“Um, Honora, can I talk to you for a minute?” Topaz asked uncomfortably after Lilac had released her.
“Okay?” Honora said, surprised.
Honora followed him into the guest room.
“Who-who is Nectar?” Topaz asked.
“How do you even-but you've never-nevermind. He was my- my brother. You see, I am adopted but I have a brother, who some other family adopted. Why do you ask?” She finished.
“Oh it's nothing. One other thing I wanted to ask you. Do you um… well I… do you go to school?” Topaz blurted out.
“Why? Looking for a prom date?” Honora joked.
“No. Do you go to school?” Topaz questioned rather seriously.
Honora wondered whether she should tell him or not. A small voice inside her head said, “You are willing to let him sleep in your house, and yet you can't tell him you don't go to school?”
Meanwhile for some strange reason Topaz could tell exactly what she was thinking. He broke the silence by saying, “You’re willing to let me sleep in your house and yet you can't tell me that you don't go to school?
Honora realized she accidentally told Topaz this through her power. He and Honora laughed for what seemed like ages before they joined Narissa and Lilac in the kitchen. They didn't discuss the conversation with Narissa or Lilac.
After a quick goodbye, Topaz left the house.
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“How did you sleep?” Rebecca asked.
T was distracted. Colson still hadn’t come down yet, and she was stuck thinking about last night. Even the delicious smell of breakfast and the rumbling in her stomach didn’t bring her to the present.
“How did you sleep?” Rebecca questioned again.
T looked up in surprise. She gave Rebecca a weak thumbs up.
Johnson, Colson’s father can in. He hugged Rebecca and greeted T with a smile before sitting down at the table.
T looked up. She knew Colson was awake and heading downstairs before she could even see him.
“Good morning Coley. Are you hungry?” Rebecca said bringing out four plates filled with eggs, sausage, and a slice of buttered bread.
“Starving. It smells great, Ma.” Colson replied, sitting down next to T, “And how are you doing T? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
T nodded vigorously. It was the best she had slept since- the memory she had tried to bury came unbidden. She pushed it down.
Rebecca looked at her worriedly. “Let’s get some more food into you,” she said as she placed a plate in front of T.
T gave the gesture for thank you before diving into the meal. Between yesterday at the attack on uniques and last night with Colson, T had frozen time longer than most of her previous attempts combined. She was famished. It seemed all her senses were more active with Colson present.
After breakfast was finished, Johnson pushed his chair back, “Why don’t you escort T home, Colson? I bet it would make her feel better to have some protection from a unique.
T almost laughed. Yes, send a unique with a unique to protect the unique from uniques. Not counterproductive at all.
“I’d be delighted to take the young lady home,” Colson said, pulling back T’s chair for her.
Just when she thought she had Colson all figured out, he did something surprising like acting like a perfect gentleman. It was hard not knowing his past. Gracefully she rose and hugged Rebecca goodbye. She shook Johnson’s hand, and Colson took her arm.
Colson had to bend down awkwardly to hold her arm, but it was worth it to see the surprised look on her face. He walked with her to the sidewalk outside of his house, “Do you want me to walk you home.”
T considered it. She nodded. It would be nice to be escorted home. She had been on her own ever since- well she didn’t want to think about that. She led the way to her house, weaving through alleyways and avoiding the general mass of the crowd. One thing she had learned in her years was that she really hated crowds.
Colson noticed, “Don’t like crowds? Too much history?”

T nodded again. He would know how the overwhelming feeling took over. She may have powers, but at times she regarded them as more of a curse. Before she realized it, they were home.
Colson gazed at T’s house. It certainly was bigger than his, but what might have been a beautiful house in the past was now falling to shambles.
T spread her arms wide, presenting her house. She could only imagine what Colson was thinking. The house was in danger of imploding on itself.
“Wow, what a beautiful house you have,” Colson politely said as he watched three brown-haired kids rush full speed at T.
T opened her arms wider and knelt to receive the joyful kids. She smiled blissfully as they hugged her. Tears pooled at her eyes, she wished she had come back sooner.
“Where were you, T? We were so worried,” the eldest said. The girl couldn’t have been more than 10, but she stood like an adult. Her face was creased with premature wrinkles from stress. Her face was so similar to T’s it was evident that this was T’s younger sister.
“I’m back now.” T whispered in her soft voice, “I’m sorry I had to go. How are you guys?” She closed her eyes and checked what they had been up to in the past week, “Wow you guys have been busy. Tally, thank you for taking care of Tye and Taigh.”
Colson almost wanted to laugh. “Your names all start with Ts.”
T smiled, “Meet Tally, Tye, and Taigh.”
Tally looked him over, “And he is?”
Tye and Taigh looked at Colson with wide eyes. They couldn’t have been older than 7 he thought.
“This is Colson. He’s like me.”
Colson flinched as Tye and Taigh’s eyes grew bigger. He had kept his powers a secret for so many years.
Tally shrugged, “Oh, glad to meet you. Do you make T talk more?”
Colson almost choked, “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know T doesn’t talk unless you slap her?”
Colson looked at T in surprise, “Um, I haven’t tried that yet.”
“Tally! Colson!” T said blushing.
Tally nodded approvingly, “He’s fine.” She turned to Tye and Taigh, “Come on, you guys need to change out of your PJs.” She led them back into the house like a mother hen looking over her chicks.
T looked fondly at them, “Tally is ten and takes care of the younger two. Tye and Taigh are both seven, and those twins get into trouble all the time. Tye’s the girl and Taigh is the boy if you didn’t realize.”
Colson stored this information away. He wanted to ask about her parents but was afraid of the answer.
“I know you probably wondering about my parents. They are still alive if you can call it living. Never mind them. I only visit once a week usually because I’m working.”
Colson nodded, “Before you go, well, I showed you my heterochromia. Can I see yours?
T thought about it, “I do need to change my contacts.” she started walking to the house.
Colson followed her.
“No, you wait here. I’ll be right out.” T said stopping him in his tracks. Lightly she ran into the house and washed her hands. After years of practice, she could take off her contacts without a mirror. She froze time before stepping out of the house. It was too dangerous for anyone to see her heterochromia. She couldn’t leave Tally alone to raise the twins.
Colson felt time freeze and decided to help. He let his power flow through him, grabbing the strings of time and holding it still. It was becoming easier he realized.
T practically flew out the door. The contacts were her disguise, her armor, and she was vulnerable without them.
Colson was breathless as he looked into T’s eyes. He lifted his right hand and rubbed below her purple eyes. His left hand landed underneath the silver one. “Beautiful.” he whispered and moved his head down to kiss her.
T stiffened. She never let anyone get this close. But when his lips touched hers, she saw everything. The past, the future, the present. It felt like her head was going to explode. She pulled back panting. “I’m sorry. That was… intense.”
Colson held his head, “So much info. To small of a brain.”
T laughed, “Let’s just hug goodbye instead.”
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When Topaz arrived at home, he asked his great uncle for advice about, well, everything. His great uncle told him, “Life is like a river. You don't know where it's gonna turn, or where it ends, you just have to trust it to take you through life.”
Even though Topaz didn't quite understand this yet, he had a feeling that one day he would. Exhausted from the night’s events, Topaz sat on the couch and quickly fell asleep.
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“T, it’s the end of the month. We need to pay our bills. Please tell me you brought home a paycheck.” Tally said shuffling through the papers on her desk.
T nodded and reached into her sweatshirt to pull out an envelope.
Tally deftly plucked it out of her hand and opened it. Her face went from elated to miserable, “T, you’re going to want to see this.”
T didn’t respond. She was going back to the past. She went to Rebecca and Johnson's home. They seemed remotely familiar but she hadn’t had a chance to look at their past.
“T, you need to look at this!” Tally said smacking T in the face with the envelope.
T struggled to bring herself to the present. She took the letter from Tally and knew it was bad at once. Her boss, Mr. Frankie, had cried while writing it. She looked down with apprehension.
“Tally! Taigh went poo poo in his pants!” Tye called from upstairs.
Tally sighed.
T was hit with a wave of sadness. Tally was only 10 yet she was taking on the duties of their mother. T was that age when she lost Micah. She read the letter as Tally went upstairs to clean Taigh. Tears began to well in her eyes. Mr. Frankie was so kind to give them money to pay the bills for the next two months. She understood why, after five years of work, he couldn’t keep her as an employee. Times were tough, and having a unique working for you was risky.
“T are everyting k?” Tye asked in her messed up seven-year-old speech.
T hugged Tye and kissed her on the cheek. She wanted Tye and Taigh to grow up without having to worry about money. They still had their innocence. They still believe that everyone was good.
“Don’t worry T! Taigh and I have a plan to get rich so you can pay the bills and take care of mommy and daddy.” Tye said comfortingly.
T put her head on Tye’s shoulder and sobbed. Someday, the looming fact that they would not be able to pay the bills and someone would figure out about her parents would be upon them. She just hoped it was after Tye and Taigh had grown up more. They deserved so much better than Tally and she could provide for them.
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Honora walked to Barters Way. She wished she wasn't going alone. The market was full of thieves and sketchy people who lied about their goods.
T had packed a week's worth of black contacts and kissed her siblings goodbye. She hated to leave but now more than ever, she needed to work. She would spend time looking for a new job after she did she regular shift at Anquites and History in Barters Way.
Honora walked into an interesting shop called Antiques and History. She had a feeling that they would honestly tell her the price of the gem.
T stood in the stall after greeting her boss Mrs. Mack. Her first customer was a girl about her age with a husky. T waved hello and reached to pet the husky. She couldn’t help but notice that the husy and the girl had the exact same heterochromia.
The cashier struck Honora as odd because she didn’t talk. “Umm, hi. I'm Honora and I was wondering if you could tell me the price of this”. She handed it to the girl.
T reached out her hand to take the gem, and their hands touched for a brief second. Enough for T to realize that this girl was in the mob yesterday with T, and Colson had asked her to help fight off the strange man killing the uniques.. She figured Honora would read her name tag.
“T. Cool name. I like it.” Honora responded to the silence.
T smiled. She had also seen this girl use her powers yesterday with the boy in the red hat that had helped her save the uniques. T tapped her head to get Honora to speak with her telepathically.
Hi. So can you tell me the price?
I was there yesterday. Remember the boy who grabbed you. He was helping me freeze time.
Oh. How do you have powers?! You look normal.
Some people choose to hide their heterochromia.
Ok. What's the price of the gem.
Let’s see the history of the gem. It all depends on what kind of gem it is.
Ok. Any ideas?
T let her power flow through her, vibrating her arms. She saw the stone form in Earth’s crust, she saw it undergo large amounts of pressure, she saw it being found, cut, and buried. She saw Honora find it and show the boy with the red hat it.
Hello? Are you there T?
Yes. The stone is a diamond. It looks like 1-1.5 carats though we’ll have to weigh it. It could cost up to 5 ½ di! T set down the stone in shock. That much money could pay the bills for two years!
Honora’s face went white at that sum of money. Thank you! Thank you!
Don’t thank me just yet. We don’t have the money to buy it from you. We can look for someone to buy it from you. I’ll go get my boss.
Honora’s face dropped a little, but the smile still stretched from ear to ear.
T went to the back room and brought Mrs. Mack.
“Hello, I’m Mrs. Mack.” she said.
“I’m Honora. T tells me if the stone is a 1-1.5 carat diamond, it could cost 5 ½ di!”
“T said all that?” Mrs. Mack asked in surprise.
Whoops! Honora thought to T.
Ehh… just ask if I’m right.
“Is she correct?” Honora asked.
“Oh yes! I’ll weigh it, but it looks like it has the four C’s.”
“What four C's? I uhh… don't go to school.”
“Nevermind. It’s hardly something you would learn in school. It's just something we use to determine the price of diamond.” Mrs. Mack said weighing. “1.3 carats. Wonderful! I think T was spot on. Unfortunately we can’t buy it outright. We can look around for a buyer though it will take a few months at best. Times are hard right now, and few people have the money to afford expensive jewelry and gems.”
“I understand. I as well will look for places to sell it at. Thank you so much for your time and help.”
“If you wish for us to find a buyer, we will have to keep the gem. Our buyers prefer proof. But don’t worry. We have slips you can sign that verifies the stone is yours. If the stone is lost or stolen, God help me then, we will pay you half of the price: 2 ½ dis and 1 ½ pez.”
That would still cover T’s financial problems for a year.
“Of course. I will sign.” Honora responded.
T pulled out a sheet of paper and filled out the details, signing it with flourish. She then handed it to Honora to sign.
Honora signed the document and bid them goodbye before leaving the gem in hopefully safe hands.
Bye Honora! Visit sometime soon. If the man ever comes again, I’ll be there to help save uniques!
Likewise, my fellow warrior.
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Topaz sat on an armchair deep in thought.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Hello? Topaz speaking through the door.”
“Ha ha ha.” came Honora's sarcastic voice.
Topaz let her in.
“Thanks.” She said gratefully. “It's cold out there.”
She was bundled up in a small, scratchy, torn, wool coat.
Topaz cringed. He'd never seen anyone wear anything this hideous. He called on a woman to fetch her some cocoa and a blanket. He ordered another servant to take off her coat, boots, scarf, and hat. “You must sit down.”
“Thank you.” She said, after all the servants stopped fussing over her.
“Why have you come?” Topaz asked after they had sat down.
“I was wondering if you wanted to buy a gem.”
“What kind?”
“A diamond.”
How much do you want for it?
Depends. How much are you willing to pay for it?
Wait. Am I inside your head or are you in mine?
Ugh that's way to confusing.
Umm how about 8 pez?
Huh? Oh, no. That's way too low. I couldn't help my family with that little.
You look so cute when you're concerned.
Good thing no one else can hear this or I would have smacked you for saying that out loud when everyone can hear.
We both know I'm not lying.
Stop being weird.
I'm not. I just think you're cute when you're concerned.
Thanks?
No problem. Now let's get down to business.
I went to a shop and asked T the value.
T? Who is T?
The girl with the silver hair who was at the crowd.
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Colson missed T like crazy. He missed how easy being in the present seemed. Now, flashes of the future overwhelmed him.
“Colson. We need to talk.” his dad said
Uh oh, it was never good when his dad used his real name. And worse, he hadn't seen this coming, so it must mean his dad had just decided to talk to him.
“Colson, we may seem like a normal family, but what I am about to show you will change everything.”
“Wait where are we going?” Colson asked.
“Don't worry. You'll be safe. It will be dark though for a little bit as we go down the stairs.”
Oh darn! He had made sure never to be in the dark with his parents ever since he figured out his uniqueness. “Uhhh, let me go grab something.” He turned to go back upstairs, but his dad grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“No Colson, you need to come with me now.” Johnson pulled Colson to the wall and placed both of their hands on the wall. The wall slid down to reveal an ominous, dark downward staircase.
“I'll go first,” Colson said, a plan forming in his mind. He put his hood on his hoodie up, carefully tucking each strand in. As long as his father didn't see his eyes, he would be fine.
“Be careful not to trip,” his father cautioned him.
Colson kept his head down as he went farther underground. His father didn’t say anything, so he figured he was safe. Still, he left out a huge sigh of relief when he saw a light at the bottom of the seemingly endless stairway.
“Turn right.”
“But the sign says turn left?” Colson said looking at the sign at the end of the stairway.
“If the signs were right, it would be to easy. As long as you listen to my instructions, you won’t end up a hallway that will kill you.”
Colson shuddered. And this had been under his house the entire time? They walked silently through the hallway. At the next sign, Colson did the opposite and turned right.
Johnson grabbed his hood, yanking him back, “Poisonous gas that way.”
Colson flinched as his hood came down but soon realized there was enough light to prevent his hair and eyes from glowing, “Wow, where are we going?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head off. Maybe I should lead the way now.”
“Good idea,” he said nervously as he peeked down a turn that had giant axes swinging from the ceiling. He fell in step behind his father, treading carefully down the low lit hallways. He almost walked into the rigid figure of Johnson who had pausing in front of a steel door. “Are we here?”
Johnson gave him an exasperated look, “No, I just stopped right in front of this door because I felt like it.”
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Oh, you mean the one who told me to help?
T was the one who told you to help????
Yeah. Silver hair, purple highlights, ya know?
Of course, right. Ummm… She said it could cost 5 di!
Nice! So, what’s the problem?
I need a buyer.
I think I can help you with that…
That’s exactly why I came.
Ok, so can I give you 2 and ½ di?
Sorry, but that’s not enough. 6 ½ di?
No. How about 5 di?
Ummm… 6 di?
I’ll settle for 5 ½…
Deal.
Honora left feeling satisfied. She couldn’t wait to meet T again and tell her. She remembered the kind shop owner and decided to take back the gem as soon as she could.
Honora happily walked to Barters Way. She couldn't wait to tell T the news. Honora enjoyed seeing T before and she’d love to see her again. As she neared Vivian's voodoo, she felt a muscular hand slip over her mouth and eyes and drag her into a thin alleyway.
Honora awoke tied to a table leg. A man was hunched over a thin table covered in blood and robotic limbs. He made a strange grunt as she felt the scene fade away. She could now see out of her dog's eyes. She thought over and over: Atlas, get help. Find someone and get help. Please…
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Colson shifted from foot to foot, awkwardly waiting for the door to open as Johnson scanned his fingerprint and eye, typed in a password, said a password for voice recognition, and finally spit into a small basin for a DNA sample.
“Step very carefully, don’t talk, and especially don’t tell anyone about this.”
Colson nodded tentatively, unsure of what he would see. He almost wanted to closed his eyes as the door slowly creaked open. Johnson quickly pulled him through right before the door slammed shut. Colson barely noticed how close he had been to being crushed by the door. He was too preoccupied by the room.
“Keep walking, and close your mouth.”
Colson complied, but he struggled to keep the horror off his face. He was surrounded by cages filled with people. Looking closely, he noticed they all had one thing in common. They all had a heterochromia.
“This is your mom and my life work. It’s incredible, isn’t it?” his father said proudly.
“It certainly is something,” Colson managed to choke out.
“We waited until you were older to show you. Just take a look around,” he said cheerfully, like they were at a zoo, not a prison for uniques.
Colson nearly cursed aloud when they walked past one cage. In it lay the girl who had helped them during the attack on the mob.
“And of course, we also have the ultimate weapon. A man who can detect those who are unique and are immune to the powers uniques possesses.” Johnson continued like a regular tour guide.
And that was all he could take. Doubly over, he lost all of his breakfast from this morning.
Johnson scowled, “I suppose you weren’t quite ready. Ugh, now I have to get someone to clear up. Well, I suppose you should head back up. Do you think you can find the way without killing yourself? I have to get to work.”
“W-wo-rk?” Colson stuttered, wiping the vomit from his chin.
“Oh, I won’t go into any details. I doubt your stomach could handle it.”
“I can go back on my own.” Even though that wasn’t strictly true, at this point, Colson would rather die a horrible death than stay in this appalling room for one more second.
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Honora watched as Atlas barked and pulled on a man's pants. He yelled as his pants tore around the side of his calf. Atlas jumped on him and laid both paws on his legs. The man said to him “I give up. Alright dog, wadda ya want? I ain't got no food for yeh.” Atlas tugged on his pants. And tried to backup into the alleyway. “Alright, Alright I'm coming! Yeesh.” The man followed Atlas into the alley as the scene fades. It became pitch black and then the metal room focused into view.
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1 Telp = 5 US dollar
½ Clinks = 10 US dollars
1 Clink =20 US dollars
½ Pez = 50 US dollars
1 Pez = 100 US dollars
½ Di = 500 US dollars
1 Di = 1,000 US dollars hey, that's the name of a country in my other story

I love this story!

scratch3602 wrote:

The-Book-Worm wrote:

Unique - A Story Collab
By: @The-Book-Worm & @TL1470

Main Characters font color removed
T: Purple font || see the past and freeze time (takes immense concentration)
Colson Edder: Blue || can see the future and freeze time (takes immense concentration)
Honora Emmerson: Amber || Telepathy and the ability to shift her conciseness to her dog
Topaz: Yellow || Necromancy and Death Sense
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T closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her face. She had to get out of this crowd. It was too overwhelming, and the flashbacks of Alexander the Great didn't help.
Honora twisted one of her teal highlights around her finger, squinting at the crowd from her perch on the top of the building. She didn’t trust crowds. They were unpredictable, vulnerable. She was getting a bad vibe from this crowd in particular.
T opened her eyes wide as she exerted her power. The strings of time flew around her, and then everything was still, frozen in time. She pushed her way through the crowd to the first open place she found. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as she released her hold on time.
Commotion in the mob caught Honora‘s eye. No! she thought in horror, It can’t be. She shimmied down the ladder on the side of the building, jumping when she still had ten feet to go. She rolled and landed lightly on her feet. Quickly, she sprinted toward the turbulent crowd.
T relaxed in relief. She hated freezing time. She was well aware that another unique could have the same powers, and find out who she was. Also, the strain of holding onto time wore her out. She much preferred her other and more controlled power.
Topaz squeezed through the crowd to see the center of attention. The more he couldn’t see, the more curious he got. He was sensing a lot of death. Most people in the crowd were going to die.
T turned to face the crowd once more. She could feel its exciting energy and knew history was happening. Gently, she reached her consciousness forward and watched the most recent history of what one of the people at the front of the crowd was seeing.
Topaz ran up to a girl with long silver hair and tapped her on the shoulder.
T opened her eyes with a start when she felt a tap on her arm. Her mind was temporarily distracted from the impending horror.
Topaz urgently whispered, “You’ve got to help me! We’re all going to die!”
Immediately she liked this boy. He got right to the point. She tried to stay in the present, “The only ones in danger are the uniques. They are slaughtering them.”
Topaz replied, “But I… I can sense deaths and most people in this crowd are going to die!”
T nodded, “I suppose some uniques are going to fight back, but it doesn’t matter. They have someone who is immune to all powers. He’s the one picking out the uniques from the crowds.”
“But we have to help them! The uniques AND normals!”
T nodded again, “I need you to free all the uniques you can. I’ll try to hold time.” She grabbed the boy’s hand and let loose her power.
Topaz ran and pulled the Uniques out of the crowd. He tried to cut the rope-bound ones, but he couldn’t.
Honora pushed through the crowd. Suddenly, a boy appeared in front of her.
T felt her hold on time slip, but all of a sudden, it became easier, like someone was helping her.
Colson hated using his powers, he hated being unique, but more than that he hated innocent people dying. This slaughter in the crowd… he had to stop it. Out of nowhere, time froze. He saw a red cap darting through the crowd, freeing uniques. Instantly he knew he had to help. Whoever was freezing time was slipping. He grabbed a close unique with teal highlights to help. Quickly he let his power flow through him and began to assist the other time freezer.
Even with the mysterious help, T was still under a great strain. She had never practiced holding time for this long. She had always been reluctant to use her powers but looking back, she regretted it.
Honora looked around her and realized time was frozen. She turned to the boy with jet black hair. “Just go help them!” he whispered as it hurt. She nodded and headed toward the source of the trouble, the man who was killing uniques.
Topaz pulled free his pocket knife free and cut off the binding ropes and carried little boys and girls safely away to their parents. He turned to T and she forced out through gritted teeth, “Hurry, I can’t hold it much longer.”
Honora ran up in front of it, the immune man, trying to distract him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked furiously. Honora recoiled when the piercing laugh came back in reply. The man dove at her, nails ready to dig into her skin, but she flung herself out of the way just in time. She aimed a kick at his leg, but he moved out of the way.
Colson’s concentration broke as he dove out of the way to escape the girl with teal highlights fighting another man. Why wasn’t he frozen in time?
As Topaz grabbed the last unique, T’s hold on time broke completely. The crowd surged with life, swallowing him up.
Colson disappeared into the crowd. He was normal. He needed to be normal. A normal person would have no clue what was going on.
Honora dived into the chaotic crowd narrowly escaping the stranger’s claws. She could hear faint cursing as she vanished in the mists of the mob.
T looked up and saw that the uniques were safe. Her vision began to dim, and she fainted.
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T slowly regained consciousness. She felt herself being carried. Instantly, she knew it was the same person who had helped her freeze time. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew there was some connection there. She didn’t feel like she was living in the past.
Colson sighed. He didn’t know what had compelled him the take the young unique home, but he felt like there was something there, something that wasn’t there before. He couldn’t see any of the silver-haired girl’s future though that could have been because his powers were drained from freezing time for so long. As he held her, he felt there, in the present, all thoughts of the future carried away.
T felt like it took forever before she could move. She wasn’t used to be this close to anyone. Gently, she moved, motioning that she could walk.
Colson set down the mysterious girl, “Uh, I’m Colson.”
T nodded and held up her hands in a T form.
“T?” he waited for her to continue.
She nodded and put her hand on his arm to signal she was done.
He was surprised by her lack of words. His parents never stopped talking. Speaking of his parents, they would not be happy if he brought a unique girl home, “Umm, my parent… they… uh… hate uniques like a ton. If it was up to them, every unique would be wiped off the face of this Earth.”
T blanched in horror. There was no way she could make it home in the state she was in. She had no choice but to go with Colson.
“But it’s okay. You have contacts, so they might not notice.” Colson said, gesturing to her eyes.
T pointed to her eyes and then at him. Did he have contacts too?
“Not quite. I’m not unique,” he said.
T rolled her eyes. He must think her stupid if he thought she would believe that lie.
“I’m not!” he insisted.
T spoke in a low whisper, “I know you are. I can feel it. There’s a connection there.”
The force of her words made him stumble back. “You talk!”
T shook her head no. Two could play at that game.
“You know how frustrating you are?”
They walked the rest of the way to his house in silence. T trailed behind, looking up at his jet black hair and feeling like something was missing.
“Well, I think we should be fine if you don’t say much,” Colson said after he stopped in front of a modest house.
T looked at him sideways. When did she talk?
“Good point. Just don’t do anything unique like freeze time.” With a light push, the blue door creaked open. “Hey Ma and Da, I’m home!” he yelled into the house.
“Oh, Coley! We were so worried! We saw the reports about that mob. Can you believe what those horrible uniques did? They could have injured an innocent person!” a woman in her mid-forties rushed in the front hall.
T kept her face neutral, knowing that this was what Colson had grown up hearing. It was in the history of the house. She could feel the walls still shaking from when his dad had slammed the door shut after Colson had stood up for uniques.
“Yeah, I’m alright. I was on the outskirts of the crowd when I saw this girl. I think one of the uniques drained her energy or something to get away.” Colson smoothly lied.
T pretended to shiver at the word unique.
“I think she has had some bad experiences with uniques. So bad that she doesn’t even talk, but her name is T.” Colson continued.
“Oh, welcome to our home, T. Any enemy of the uniques is a friend of our family. I’m Rebecca and Coley’s father is Johnson. Will you stay for dinner? We even have a guest room if you wish to spend the night.”
T nodded, wanting to smile at Colson’s nickname. She was starved. Quickly, Rebecca rushed Colson and her to the kitchen. She put them to work cutting fresh vegetables. T was surprised when she felt that the vegetables were grown by someone with heterochromia. Colson’s family must not have known; they seemed so against uniques.
“How are you doing?” Colson asked. T had gone straight to mechanically cutting the vegetables without looking at him. Now that he looked at her face, he saw it was white with strain.
T didn’t reply. She was to busy trying to stay upright.
“Oh Coley, she looks like she’s about to fall down. The poor thing. She must be so tired after what the uniques did to her.”
Colson helped T to a chair. He was silently berating himself for not noticing earlier. He himself was barely standing, and T had frozen time for even longer.
T allowed herself to smile in relief. Dinner was served shortly after. Colson’s father, Johnson came in. Even though she directly opposed his beliefs, he seemed like a good man who cared about his family more than anything in the world, and T was a pretty good judge of character because of her power.
Dinner went by even faster with T there. His parents couldn’t stop talking, but for once, he wasn’t thinking about what he would do after. He was there in the present, listening.
T was alert through dinner. For once, her mind didn’t wander to what she had done earlier in the day. She was there in the present, taking part in the conversation with nodding and gestures.
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Honora explained to her horrified mothers what happened at the crowd. They praised Topaz for saving the uniques, but they were frightened half to death at the thought of Honora fighting the monster of a man.
“Honora, now that your home, I need you to find something for me.” Narissa requested.
Honora's cute husky licked Topaz's open palm and he stopped listening to the conversation.
“His name is Atlas.”
Topaz jumped. He hadn't realized she was watching him. “He’s adorable!”
“Aw, he’s just a big suck-up, aren't you boy. Oh yes, you are, yes you are!” Honora exclaimed.
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“T, it was lovely having you for dinner. I insist you stay the night. It’s too dark out. You never know what uniques might be wandering the streets.” Rebecca said leading T to a bedroom on the first floor.
T reluctantly nodded, know that part of what Rebecca said was true. You never knew who could be in the streets at night, but uniques weren’t the worst thing out there.
Rebecca looked at T’s petite frame, “I doubt we have any clothes that would fit you. I can get you a t-shirt though it might be a bit large.”
T nodded with gratefulness. She was accustomed to sleeping in large shirts. It was often hard to find clothes in good condition that fit her. At Barters Way most of the clothes her size once belonged to kids and the state of the cloth was deplorable.
Rebecca hugged T goodnight, “I’m so glad that the uniques didn’t hurt you too badley. You seem like a really sweet girl. I’ll have Colson bring down one of his smaller t-shirts. He recently had a growth spurt so he should have some shirts closer to your size.”
T hugged her back in thanks. She liked Rebecca even though Rebecca would hate her if she found out the color of T’s eyes. Speaking of contacts, it was a pain to sleep in contacts. They dried out and made it almost impossible to open her eyes in the morning. She had run out of her extra supplies. She had been heading home to resupply before the attacks on the uniques.
A muffled voice came from behind the closed door, “Hey, T, I have a shirt for you.”
T opened the door to find Colson awkwardly holding out a shirt for her. She raised her hand to her mouth and signed “thank you”. She knew reading that book on sign language would come in handy.
“No problem,” Colson said, turning away almost before she grabbed the t-shirt, “Good night!” he yelled over his shoulder almost halfway up the stairs.
T shook her head ruefully. Why was he so jumpy? She locked the door and took off her hoodie. Underneath she only had a camisole. She hated wearing shirts underneath you hoodie because they were so big they always bunched up under her armpit. Sighing, she pulled on the shirt. It was a dress on her. Exhausted, she climbed into bed, ready for a dreamless sleep.
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Honora squeezed her way through the crawl space. Her mother Narissa handed her a flashlight. Her other mother Lilac had helped her put on the kneepads and hoisted her up the ladder.
Topaz had given her directions throughout the maze of a crawlspace. He had found Honora in the escaping from the crowd at the same time as him. He had quickly accepted her invitation to stay the night.
Honora found what she was looking for within seconds. As she slowly crawled out, she opened a dusty palm. She told Narissa through telepathy what it was, to see how long it would take Lilac to figure it out, but on the first guess, Lilac correctly answered, “It's a gem.” Honora’s family wasn’t rich nor were they poor, but the gem would definitely give them a helpful boost.
Topaz followed her gaze to the gem. Honora had given him the HONOR of staying there tonight.
“Topaz, we have an extra room. Do you mind sleeping there?” Narissa asked.
Topaz replied, “Not at all, ma'am.”
“Good. Honora, you sleep in ‘till 9 and let this sweetie pie get some rest.” replied Narissa.
“Mom!!!!” Honora yelled.
“Honey, you and I both know you are an early bird. Goodnight Topaz.”
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She woke up with a start. Something was off. Suddenly she realized it was Colson. He was freezing time. She didn’t know why he was, but she joined in to help him.
Colson rushed downstairs, feeling T supporting him. She was so strong to be able to help him after holding time for so long.
T heard footsteps on the stairs and grabbed her hoodie. She stood by the door, ready to wrap her hoodie around the man who was immune to any unique power. She wouldn’t let him kill her.
Colson slowly opened the door to T’s room. He knew she was awa-
T threw her hoodie of the intruder with glowing hair and pulled it tight around his neck and head.
He couldn't breathe. Out of nowhere came a black blanket, strangling him. He couldn’t scream or breathe. He reached for T and grabbed hold of a t-shirt.
T cried out with surprise. The assailant caught a fistfull of her large t-shirt. She had survived too long to be brought down now. She should have never trusted Colson’s parents. She slipped out of the t-shirt and tied the arms of the hoodie even tighter around the attacker.
Colson was left with a t-shirt in his hand while T strangled him even more. He had to let her know it was him. He freed time and froze it over and over again hoping she would catch on.
As time started and stop over again, she hurried to remove her makeshift weapon. She could feel the time freeze and unfreeze, the source clearly right in front of her.
With a tug, the hoodie finally was pulled off his head. Colson closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to get the black spots to fade.
T could only stare. Colson’s hair was glowing green and blue! She remembered looking at his hair earlier and thinking she wasn’t seeing everything, but nothing could have prepared her for this.
Colson turned to face T, realizing that now they were in the dark, his unique qualities would literally shine.
T looked into his eyes and once again was shocked. The colour in his eyes left no doubt in her mind that he was unique. His one glowing blue eye contrasted his glowing green one giving him a supernatural look. Together with his hair and eyes, Colson’s face became complete.
As Colson looked at T, his face heated up, and he blushed deeply.
T looked herself over and her face blushed to match Colson’s. She was only wearing a thin camisole.
Colson handed her the shirt he still held in his clenched fist and faced the wall to give her privacy.
She accepted it gratefully and put it on. She was struck by the thought that it smelled like Colson. Why did she know what Colson smelled like?
“I-uhh, came down to talk to you. I mean to have you talk.” Colson stuttered looking at his feet.
T smiled. For the first time in her life, she felt like she could participate in a conversation. It was like she wasn’t stuck in the past. The conversation felt like it was happening right now, “I can talk.”
He looked up in surprise, “Why don’t you?…umm if you feel comfortable telling me.”
“This is going to sound weird but when I’m with people, my mind isn’t really with them. It’s in the past… except for now with you.”
“Uh-I think I get it?”
“Well, maybe it would make more sense if I explained my power. You know I can freeze time, but I have another power. I have the ability to see the past in any object, plant, animal, and person. Well, almost any person. You are the first person I can't see the past which is surprising because I can even see the past of the dirt or a mountain.”
Colson looked at her in surprise, “I think I know the reason for both things. You see, I have a smaller problem taking part in conversations. I’m always focused on the future, not what’s happening now, but now with you, I’m in the present. I think it’s because of your power.”
“Well, that explains why you are feeling in the present. My powers might connect to yours, but that doesn’t explain what’s happening to me.”
“I haven’t finished. Like you, I have a side power besides freezing time. I can see the future, only glimpses of it, but it’s pretty reliable. I can call on people’s future. And everyone I have tried to use my powers on has worked, except for you.” Colson replied.
“Our powers balance each other out. You can’t see my future because I live in the past and, I can't see your past because you live in the future,” T concluded.
“When we are together, our powers work to keep us both in the present.” Colson finished.
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Topaz woke up with sweat covering his face after a nightmare. In it, he was bound against a pole and was watching the girl with the silver hair scream as the man hurt her. He slowly climbed up the spiral staircase to the kitchen. Since Honora’s door was ajar, he peeked in.
“Mhmm… Yes, yes. I suppose.” Honora sleep-said.
Topaz listened to her. The dream appeared to change.
“Nectar, when can I go to school? It's not fair that everyone else gets to go.”
She paused in her sleep, listening for Nectar’s response.
“I know we can't afford it, but if my fairy godmother was real and could grant any wish I'd wish I could go to school.” Honora sleep replied to “Nectar”.
Topaz felt terrible. Not knowing if Honora's family really could afford school or not was tearing him apart. Seeing that they were already buying food for him as an added cost, he made the decision to leave as soon as possible. He retreated back to the small guest room.
“Topaz how’d you sleep?” Lilac questioned.
“Nightmare.”
“Really? came Honora’s voice, “Same. It was about the crowd. I couldn't do anything, and he killed all the uniques except me until…” Honora’s tearful voice trailed off.
“Oh, honey, ”Lilac said and squeezed Honora tight.
Honora didn't refuse the hug.
“Um, Honora, can I talk to you for a minute?” Topaz asked uncomfortably after Lilac had released her.
“Okay?” Honora said, surprised.
Honora followed him into the guest room.
“Who-who is Nectar?” Topaz asked.
“How do you even-but you've never-nevermind. He was my- my brother. You see, I am adopted but I have a brother, who some other family adopted. Why do you ask?” She finished.
“Oh it's nothing. One other thing I wanted to ask you. Do you um… well I… do you go to school?” Topaz blurted out.
“Why? Looking for a prom date?” Honora joked.
“No. Do you go to school?” Topaz questioned rather seriously.
Honora wondered whether she should tell him or not. A small voice inside her head said, “You are willing to let him sleep in your house, and yet you can't tell him you don't go to school?”
Meanwhile for some strange reason Topaz could tell exactly what she was thinking. He broke the silence by saying, “You’re willing to let me sleep in your house and yet you can't tell me that you don't go to school?
Honora realized she accidentally told Topaz this through her power. He and Honora laughed for what seemed like ages before they joined Narissa and Lilac in the kitchen. They didn't discuss the conversation with Narissa or Lilac.
After a quick goodbye, Topaz left the house.
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“How did you sleep?” Rebecca asked.
T was distracted. Colson still hadn’t come down yet, and she was stuck thinking about last night. Even the delicious smell of breakfast and the rumbling in her stomach didn’t bring her to the present.
“How did you sleep?” Rebecca questioned again.
T looked up in surprise. She gave Rebecca a weak thumbs up.
Johnson, Colson’s father can in. He hugged Rebecca and greeted T with a smile before sitting down at the table.
T looked up. She knew Colson was awake and heading downstairs before she could even see him.
“Good morning Coley. Are you hungry?” Rebecca said bringing out four plates filled with eggs, sausage, and a slice of buttered bread.
“Starving. It smells great, Ma.” Colson replied, sitting down next to T, “And how are you doing T? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
T nodded vigorously. It was the best she had slept since- the memory she had tried to bury came unbidden. She pushed it down.
Rebecca looked at her worriedly. “Let’s get some more food into you,” she said as she placed a plate in front of T.
T gave the gesture for thank you before diving into the meal. Between yesterday at the attack on uniques and last night with Colson, T had frozen time longer than most of her previous attempts combined. She was famished. It seemed all her senses were more active with Colson present.
After breakfast was finished, Johnson pushed his chair back, “Why don’t you escort T home, Colson? I bet it would make her feel better to have some protection from a unique.
T almost laughed. Yes, send a unique with a unique to protect the unique from uniques. Not counterproductive at all.
“I’d be delighted to take the young lady home,” Colson said, pulling back T’s chair for her.
Just when she thought she had Colson all figured out, he did something surprising like acting like a perfect gentleman. It was hard not knowing his past. Gracefully she rose and hugged Rebecca goodbye. She shook Johnson’s hand, and Colson took her arm.
Colson had to bend down awkwardly to hold her arm, but it was worth it to see the surprised look on her face. He walked with her to the sidewalk outside of his house, “Do you want me to walk you home.”
T considered it. She nodded. It would be nice to be escorted home. She had been on her own ever since- well she didn’t want to think about that. She led the way to her house, weaving through alleyways and avoiding the general mass of the crowd. One thing she had learned in her years was that she really hated crowds.
Colson noticed, “Don’t like crowds? Too much history?”

T nodded again. He would know how the overwhelming feeling took over. She may have powers, but at times she regarded them as more of a curse. Before she realized it, they were home.
Colson gazed at T’s house. It certainly was bigger than his, but what might have been a beautiful house in the past was now falling to shambles.
T spread her arms wide, presenting her house. She could only imagine what Colson was thinking. The house was in danger of imploding on itself.
“Wow, what a beautiful house you have,” Colson politely said as he watched three brown-haired kids rush full speed at T.
T opened her arms wider and knelt to receive the joyful kids. She smiled blissfully as they hugged her. Tears pooled at her eyes, she wished she had come back sooner.
“Where were you, T? We were so worried,” the eldest said. The girl couldn’t have been more than 10, but she stood like an adult. Her face was creased with premature wrinkles from stress. Her face was so similar to T’s it was evident that this was T’s younger sister.
“I’m back now.” T whispered in her soft voice, “I’m sorry I had to go. How are you guys?” She closed her eyes and checked what they had been up to in the past week, “Wow you guys have been busy. Tally, thank you for taking care of Tye and Taigh.”
Colson almost wanted to laugh. “Your names all start with Ts.”
T smiled, “Meet Tally, Tye, and Taigh.”
Tally looked him over, “And he is?”
Tye and Taigh looked at Colson with wide eyes. They couldn’t have been older than 7 he thought.
“This is Colson. He’s like me.”
Colson flinched as Tye and Taigh’s eyes grew bigger. He had kept his powers a secret for so many years.
Tally shrugged, “Oh, glad to meet you. Do you make T talk more?”
Colson almost choked, “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know T doesn’t talk unless you slap her?”
Colson looked at T in surprise, “Um, I haven’t tried that yet.”
“Tally! Colson!” T said blushing.
Tally nodded approvingly, “He’s fine.” She turned to Tye and Taigh, “Come on, you guys need to change out of your PJs.” She led them back into the house like a mother hen looking over her chicks.
T looked fondly at them, “Tally is ten and takes care of the younger two. Tye and Taigh are both seven, and those twins get into trouble all the time. Tye’s the girl and Taigh is the boy if you didn’t realize.”
Colson stored this information away. He wanted to ask about her parents but was afraid of the answer.
“I know you probably wondering about my parents. They are still alive if you can call it living. Never mind them. I only visit once a week usually because I’m working.”
Colson nodded, “Before you go, well, I showed you my heterochromia. Can I see yours?
T thought about it, “I do need to change my contacts.” she started walking to the house.
Colson followed her.
“No, you wait here. I’ll be right out.” T said stopping him in his tracks. Lightly she ran into the house and washed her hands. After years of practice, she could take off her contacts without a mirror. She froze time before stepping out of the house. It was too dangerous for anyone to see her heterochromia. She couldn’t leave Tally alone to raise the twins.
Colson felt time freeze and decided to help. He let his power flow through him, grabbing the strings of time and holding it still. It was becoming easier he realized.
T practically flew out the door. The contacts were her disguise, her armor, and she was vulnerable without them.
Colson was breathless as he looked into T’s eyes. He lifted his right hand and rubbed below her purple eyes. His left hand landed underneath the silver one. “Beautiful.” he whispered and moved his head down to kiss her.
T stiffened. She never let anyone get this close. But when his lips touched hers, she saw everything. The past, the future, the present. It felt like her head was going to explode. She pulled back panting. “I’m sorry. That was… intense.”
Colson held his head, “So much info. To small of a brain.”
T laughed, “Let’s just hug goodbye instead.”
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When Topaz arrived at home, he asked his great uncle for advice about, well, everything. His great uncle told him, “Life is like a river. You don't know where it's gonna turn, or where it ends, you just have to trust it to take you through life.”
Even though Topaz didn't quite understand this yet, he had a feeling that one day he would. Exhausted from the night’s events, Topaz sat on the couch and quickly fell asleep.
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“T, it’s the end of the month. We need to pay our bills. Please tell me you brought home a paycheck.” Tally said shuffling through the papers on her desk.
T nodded and reached into her sweatshirt to pull out an envelope.
Tally deftly plucked it out of her hand and opened it. Her face went from elated to miserable, “T, you’re going to want to see this.”
T didn’t respond. She was going back to the past. She went to Rebecca and Johnson's home. They seemed remotely familiar but she hadn’t had a chance to look at their past.
“T, you need to look at this!” Tally said smacking T in the face with the envelope.
T struggled to bring herself to the present. She took the letter from Tally and knew it was bad at once. Her boss, Mr. Frankie, had cried while writing it. She looked down with apprehension.
“Tally! Taigh went poo poo in his pants!” Tye called from upstairs.
Tally sighed.
T was hit with a wave of sadness. Tally was only 10 yet she was taking on the duties of their mother. T was that age when she lost Micah. She read the letter as Tally went upstairs to clean Taigh. Tears began to well in her eyes. Mr. Frankie was so kind to give them money to pay the bills for the next two months. She understood why, after five years of work, he couldn’t keep her as an employee. Times were tough, and having a unique working for you was risky.
“T are everyting k?” Tye asked in her messed up seven-year-old speech.
T hugged Tye and kissed her on the cheek. She wanted Tye and Taigh to grow up without having to worry about money. They still had their innocence. They still believe that everyone was good.
“Don’t worry T! Taigh and I have a plan to get rich so you can pay the bills and take care of mommy and daddy.” Tye said comfortingly.
T put her head on Tye’s shoulder and sobbed. Someday, the looming fact that they would not be able to pay the bills and someone would figure out about her parents would be upon them. She just hoped it was after Tye and Taigh had grown up more. They deserved so much better than Tally and she could provide for them.
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Honora walked to Barters Way. She wished she wasn't going alone. The market was full of thieves and sketchy people who lied about their goods.
T had packed a week's worth of black contacts and kissed her siblings goodbye. She hated to leave but now more than ever, she needed to work. She would spend time looking for a new job after she did she regular shift at Anquites and History in Barters Way.
Honora walked into an interesting shop called Antiques and History. She had a feeling that they would honestly tell her the price of the gem.
T stood in the stall after greeting her boss Mrs. Mack. Her first customer was a girl about her age with a husky. T waved hello and reached to pet the husky. She couldn’t help but notice that the husy and the girl had the exact same heterochromia.
The cashier struck Honora as odd because she didn’t talk. “Umm, hi. I'm Honora and I was wondering if you could tell me the price of this”. She handed it to the girl.
T reached out her hand to take the gem, and their hands touched for a brief second. Enough for T to realize that this girl was in the mob yesterday with T, and Colson had asked her to help fight off the strange man killing the uniques.. She figured Honora would read her name tag.
“T. Cool name. I like it.” Honora responded to the silence.
T smiled. She had also seen this girl use her powers yesterday with the boy in the red hat that had helped her save the uniques. T tapped her head to get Honora to speak with her telepathically.
Hi. So can you tell me the price?
I was there yesterday. Remember the boy who grabbed you. He was helping me freeze time.
Oh. How do you have powers?! You look normal.
Some people choose to hide their heterochromia.
Ok. What's the price of the gem.
Let’s see the history of the gem. It all depends on what kind of gem it is.
Ok. Any ideas?
T let her power flow through her, vibrating her arms. She saw the stone form in Earth’s crust, she saw it undergo large amounts of pressure, she saw it being found, cut, and buried. She saw Honora find it and show the boy with the red hat it.
Hello? Are you there T?
Yes. The stone is a diamond. It looks like 1-1.5 carats though we’ll have to weigh it. It could cost up to 5 ½ di! T set down the stone in shock. That much money could pay the bills for two years!
Honora’s face went white at that sum of money. Thank you! Thank you!
Don’t thank me just yet. We don’t have the money to buy it from you. We can look for someone to buy it from you. I’ll go get my boss.
Honora’s face dropped a little, but the smile still stretched from ear to ear.
T went to the back room and brought Mrs. Mack.
“Hello, I’m Mrs. Mack.” she said.
“I’m Honora. T tells me if the stone is a 1-1.5 carat diamond, it could cost 5 ½ di!”
“T said all that?” Mrs. Mack asked in surprise.
Whoops! Honora thought to T.
Ehh… just ask if I’m right.
“Is she correct?” Honora asked.
“Oh yes! I’ll weigh it, but it looks like it has the four C’s.”
“What four C's? I uhh… don't go to school.”
“Nevermind. It’s hardly something you would learn in school. It's just something we use to determine the price of diamond.” Mrs. Mack said weighing. “1.3 carats. Wonderful! I think T was spot on. Unfortunately we can’t buy it outright. We can look around for a buyer though it will take a few months at best. Times are hard right now, and few people have the money to afford expensive jewelry and gems.”
“I understand. I as well will look for places to sell it at. Thank you so much for your time and help.”
“If you wish for us to find a buyer, we will have to keep the gem. Our buyers prefer proof. But don’t worry. We have slips you can sign that verifies the stone is yours. If the stone is lost or stolen, God help me then, we will pay you half of the price: 2 ½ dis and 1 ½ pez.”
That would still cover T’s financial problems for a year.
“Of course. I will sign.” Honora responded.
T pulled out a sheet of paper and filled out the details, signing it with flourish. She then handed it to Honora to sign.
Honora signed the document and bid them goodbye before leaving the gem in hopefully safe hands.
Bye Honora! Visit sometime soon. If the man ever comes again, I’ll be there to help save uniques!
Likewise, my fellow warrior.
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Topaz sat on an armchair deep in thought.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Hello? Topaz speaking through the door.”
“Ha ha ha.” came Honora's sarcastic voice.
Topaz let her in.
“Thanks.” She said gratefully. “It's cold out there.”
She was bundled up in a small, scratchy, torn, wool coat.
Topaz cringed. He'd never seen anyone wear anything this hideous. He called on a woman to fetch her some cocoa and a blanket. He ordered another servant to take off her coat, boots, scarf, and hat. “You must sit down.”
“Thank you.” She said, after all the servants stopped fussing over her.
“Why have you come?” Topaz asked after they had sat down.
“I was wondering if you wanted to buy a gem.”
“What kind?”
“A diamond.”
How much do you want for it?
Depends. How much are you willing to pay for it?
Wait. Am I inside your head or are you in mine?
Ugh that's way to confusing.
Umm how about 8 pez?
Huh? Oh, no. That's way too low. I couldn't help my family with that little.
You look so cute when you're concerned.
Good thing no one else can hear this or I would have smacked you for saying that out loud when everyone can hear.
We both know I'm not lying.
Stop being weird.
I'm not. I just think you're cute when you're concerned.
Thanks?
No problem. Now let's get down to business.
I went to a shop and asked T the value.
T? Who is T?
The girl with the silver hair who was at the crowd.
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Colson missed T like crazy. He missed how easy being in the present seemed. Now, flashes of the future overwhelmed him.
“Colson. We need to talk.” his dad said
Uh oh, it was never good when his dad used his real name. And worse, he hadn't seen this coming, so it must mean his dad had just decided to talk to him.
“Colson, we may seem like a normal family, but what I am about to show you will change everything.”
“Wait where are we going?” Colson asked.
“Don't worry. You'll be safe. It will be dark though for a little bit as we go down the stairs.”
Oh darn! He had made sure never to be in the dark with his parents ever since he figured out his uniqueness. “Uhhh, let me go grab something.” He turned to go back upstairs, but his dad grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“No Colson, you need to come with me now.” Johnson pulled Colson to the wall and placed both of their hands on the wall. The wall slid down to reveal an ominous, dark downward staircase.
“I'll go first,” Colson said, a plan forming in his mind. He put his hood on his hoodie up, carefully tucking each strand in. As long as his father didn't see his eyes, he would be fine.
“Be careful not to trip,” his father cautioned him.
Colson kept his head down as he went farther underground. His father didn’t say anything, so he figured he was safe. Still, he left out a huge sigh of relief when he saw a light at the bottom of the seemingly endless stairway.
“Turn right.”
“But the sign says turn left?” Colson said looking at the sign at the end of the stairway.
“If the signs were right, it would be to easy. As long as you listen to my instructions, you won’t end up a hallway that will kill you.”
Colson shuddered. And this had been under his house the entire time? They walked silently through the hallway. At the next sign, Colson did the opposite and turned right.
Johnson grabbed his hood, yanking him back, “Poisonous gas that way.”
Colson flinched as his hood came down but soon realized there was enough light to prevent his hair and eyes from glowing, “Wow, where are we going?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head off. Maybe I should lead the way now.”
“Good idea,” he said nervously as he peeked down a turn that had giant axes swinging from the ceiling. He fell in step behind his father, treading carefully down the low lit hallways. He almost walked into the rigid figure of Johnson who had pausing in front of a steel door. “Are we here?”
Johnson gave him an exasperated look, “No, I just stopped right in front of this door because I felt like it.”
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Oh, you mean the one who told me to help?
T was the one who told you to help????
Yeah. Silver hair, purple highlights, ya know?
Of course, right. Ummm… She said it could cost 5 di!
Nice! So, what’s the problem?
I need a buyer.
I think I can help you with that…
That’s exactly why I came.
Ok, so can I give you 2 and ½ di?
Sorry, but that’s not enough. 6 ½ di?
No. How about 5 di?
Ummm… 6 di?
I’ll settle for 5 ½…
Deal.
Honora left feeling satisfied. She couldn’t wait to meet T again and tell her. She remembered the kind shop owner and decided to take back the gem as soon as she could.
Honora happily walked to Barters Way. She couldn't wait to tell T the news. Honora enjoyed seeing T before and she’d love to see her again. As she neared Vivian's voodoo, she felt a muscular hand slip over her mouth and eyes and drag her into a thin alleyway.
Honora awoke tied to a table leg. A man was hunched over a thin table covered in blood and robotic limbs. He made a strange grunt as she felt the scene fade away. She could now see out of her dog's eyes. She thought over and over: Atlas, get help. Find someone and get help. Please…
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Colson shifted from foot to foot, awkwardly waiting for the door to open as Johnson scanned his fingerprint and eye, typed in a password, said a password for voice recognition, and finally spit into a small basin for a DNA sample.
“Step very carefully, don’t talk, and especially don’t tell anyone about this.”
Colson nodded tentatively, unsure of what he would see. He almost wanted to closed his eyes as the door slowly creaked open. Johnson quickly pulled him through right before the door slammed shut. Colson barely noticed how close he had been to being crushed by the door. He was too preoccupied by the room.
“Keep walking, and close your mouth.”
Colson complied, but he struggled to keep the horror off his face. He was surrounded by cages filled with people. Looking closely, he noticed they all had one thing in common. They all had a heterochromia.
“This is your mom and my life work. It’s incredible, isn’t it?” his father said proudly.
“It certainly is something,” Colson managed to choke out.
“We waited until you were older to show you. Just take a look around,” he said cheerfully, like they were at a zoo, not a prison for uniques.
Colson nearly cursed aloud when they walked past one cage. In it lay the girl who had helped them during the attack on the mob.
“And of course, we also have the ultimate weapon. A man who can detect those who are unique and are immune to the powers uniques possesses.” Johnson continued like a regular tour guide.
And that was all he could take. Doubly over, he lost all of his breakfast from this morning.
Johnson scowled, “I suppose you weren’t quite ready. Ugh, now I have to get someone to clear up. Well, I suppose you should head back up. Do you think you can find the way without killing yourself? I have to get to work.”
“W-wo-rk?” Colson stuttered, wiping the vomit from his chin.
“Oh, I won’t go into any details. I doubt your stomach could handle it.”
“I can go back on my own.” Even though that wasn’t strictly true, at this point, Colson would rather die a horrible death than stay in this appalling room for one more second.
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Honora watched as Atlas barked and pulled on a man's pants. He yelled as his pants tore around the side of his calf. Atlas jumped on him and laid both paws on his legs. The man said to him “I give up. Alright dog, wadda ya want? I ain't got no food for yeh.” Atlas tugged on his pants. And tried to backup into the alleyway. “Alright, Alright I'm coming! Yeesh.” The man followed Atlas into the alley as the scene fades. It became pitch black and then the metal room focused into view.
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1 Telp = 5 US dollar
½ Clinks = 10 US dollars
1 Clink =20 US dollars
½ Pez = 50 US dollars
1 Pez = 100 US dollars
½ Di = 500 US dollars
1 Di = 1,000 US dollars hey, that's the name of a country in my other story

I love this story!

Thanks you!!!!

“Im just Cute and I can see the future.” Colson Smiles!

when green flag clicked
say [Meow!]
play sound [meow v] until done