WHERE THE BREEZE ENDS AND WIND BEGINS

Prologue: The Ancient Future

2000 is now called the last year of our existence. Back then there were many religious people said that the apocalypse was going to happen at the end of 2000. It didn't...

Then 2001 came along, and even then the world still lived. However, passing by in the shadows, evolution pushed beyond it's limits. No one truly knows how this came to be. Whether it was an experiment to create the perfect being, alien interference, or even a simple mutation, no one is certain. But also no one can doubt the event, nor can anyone doubt the impact it had on our future...

1988: Jonathan Everai was born from a surrogate mother, his parents being a pair of gay men.

1995: Jonathan Everai began to hate homosexuality as he was treated terribly because his parents were gay. His fathers tried to get their son to understand, but he wouldn't listen.

2000: Jonathan Everai moves out, never wanting to see his parents again. He lives on his own for a year after that...

2001: Jonathan Everai discovers unnatural abilities, the ability to read minds. He had always wished things like this were real, but shrugged them off as science fiction. But now he knew every one else would too. Given this, he secretly honed his abilities. No one noticed, thus the breeze began to blow...

2007: 20 year old Jonathan, now secret owner of a multinational corporation meets Simon Riki and his sister Megan, Jonathan's future wife. They, like him were also test tube babies. And they, like him, also had telepathic abilities.

2012: Jonathan Everai runs for president, and wins the election by a land slide. He claimed America needed a younger leader, one who wouldn't stand for injustice, he claimed that nothing would go against America's glory! With Simon as his vice president and Megan as his first lady, there was nothing that could stop them. They never failed in getting a law passed nor did they fail at doing exactly the opposite of what they had promised.

2013: The Constitution is amended, to everyone's horror, to include martial law, there were no appeals at all. The supreme court found it completely constitutional, and congress voted on it 100%. Then the civil rights acts from the 60s and on were just about abolished. People lived in fear, their only hope the next election. Which many were afraid wouldn't happen at this rate. Tourism all but stopped, the other countries of the world watched. No one dared get involved... Neither to help nor to take advantage of the increasingly chaotic situation in the U.S.

2015: Jonathan's parents both die from inexplicable causes...

2016: Jonathan refuses to leave office, no one successfully made him leave. It was at this time that he, Simon and Megan showed the world their powers. Anyone who opposed them was put down. Some shot themselves with their own guns. Some simply fell into unconscious stupors, never to return. No one dared oppose them, for all who tried vanished or were killed. The breeze had ended and became the wind. An unstoppable storm that toppled all in it's path...

2050: New telepaths were found all over the place, apparently all test tube babies were showing these abilities. Jonathan's kids showed them too. So they knew it would be passed on. There was now a set a new order in the U.S. The telepathic order.

2090: The world was concurred by then, with an army of telepaths, all of them hungry for power. Jonathan died, at the age of 102. In his name, and at his last request. All homosexuals, whether male or female, were rounded up and scarred. The scar being a pink slash right to left, slightly angled, across the nose. This was essentially a death sentence, as there were no laws protecting such people.

2100: The thing with homosexuality worked so well that they began scaring other people. But in order to make it sound less rash, and not the same as what they had called it before, they called it a brand, at least for the majority of people it was for. You see, non telepaths were these people, so everyone would know who they were. The brand was a simple vertical cut, colored purple, slightly diagonal and across the nose and lips. Scars also continued although more people were targeted. Old religions, old governments, anyone of any former source of power. The clergies had no idea why they were being treated as the heathenous homosexuals were. Neither did the prominent brands (as non gifted or "defects" were starting to be called). But they were just the same. Their scar a green one, not as bad a pink, but a death sentence just the same. Society became less and less tolerant towards the ungifted. Save those few who managed, through luck or through family (gifted family mind you). Against all odds, to survive...

3000: 900 years later, the next millennium is at hand, and this is the start of this story... Whether this will be another apocalypse or simply another year is uncertain. But needless to say, people are preparing for anything... Brands had done something no gifted one ever expected. They figured out how to shield their thoughts from those who would try and read them. They were still not protected completely from the telepaths wrath, but their inner most secrets were safe. Many wonder why brands still exist, why they are born. And some wonder when they will all be exterminated... Chapter 1: The Ends...

"This is SO DULL!" Sheila exclaimed. Ian nodded in agreement. He knew this as much as he ever was going to. "Why do they keep teaching us this over and over again? I mean how many times do we need to learn that Lewis and Clark DIDN'T find the northwest passage!? I mean, it's not like they found what they were looking for! Besides that happened over a thousand years ago!" Ian nodded his head in agreement, along with five others. The seven brands in this current class, from a total of eleven at the school.

Ian, like so many days before this, got so bored that he started noting as much as he could about the kids in his class. First, there were the seven brands. Sheila was maybe five feet tall, although she seemed taller then that when Ian looked at her. She took big strides and generally tried to keep herself above everyone else. And it showed. Her bright red hair and green eyes made her stand out even more. Next came Nicole, but we all called him Nick, mainly to not confuse people, b8ut he prefers that. His parents were originally gonna name him Nicolas, but when he was a brand, his older brother suggested Nicole instead, mostly as a joke. His father was so disappointed that he named him that. The worst part was his next son was the Nicolas that they wanted. Nick never was really bothered, and other then his name he actually had a great family life. Sarah was a typical girl, dark hair dark eyes and dark skin. Ian remembered in this very class when they had told them that people were ostracized simply for the color of their skin. All of the normals there (for those that were gifted were the normal now, the brands the oddity) thought this was silly and many didn't believe this. It seemed silly to them. But he and the other seven around him understood. Their skin color was a simple purple line, ever so present and obvious.

After this train of thought, Ian continued looking around him. Next was Yuri, she had what in olden times would have been called an Asian look. Black flowing hair and dark piercing eyes over pretty fair skin. She was short for her age, about four foot three inches tall. But she never cared, in fact she never seemed to have a care in the world. More then can be said for the rest of the brands in the class, not to mention everyone else. Now Jill, he was the tricky one. You see Jill's actual name is Sextus Jillian Anchor, after the laugh at his expense because of his name. Ian called him Jill, and it stuck. Nick especially liked the change as he was glad to see another gender swap. He was called by a male name and Jill wasn't, a game to him. That's not the tricky part though... Jill was born an identical twin, not just an identical twin but a siamese twin. He was lucky, at least from his parents point of view. As they were only connected shoulder to shoulder. And furthermore they were only attacked through skin a few minor blood vessels. The separation left nothing but a scar on each of them. In Jill's case it was all along his biceps on his left side. Now the this would have been fine, except that neither he nor his brother were gifted. So he was chosen to be kept and his brother was sent off to wherever they put the extra brands that are born go... (It was, and still is, illegal for any family to raise more then one brand, and while rich and powerful families, meaning anyone who would be at Ian's school could get out of it. But Jill's parents were strong supporters of the law, at least that's what they claim...)

Oh yeah, you probably want to know what Ian looks like huh? Oh and more about him? Well Ian, as with all the other students here, was from a wealthy family or an important one in society. This was probably the main reason he was still alive as he was a brand after all. Ian was sixteen with really dirty blond hair, you might even call it really light brown. His eyes were an odd mix of colors. Green on the rim of his iris, changing to a hazelish color on the inside to a crystal blue color around his pupils. Many had told him his eyes were beautiful. He simply took it as flattery, but deep inside he still knew it was true. He had a runner, or dancers build. Take your pick, he had been told both and he excelled at both, when he even bothered trying. Oh, he also had a secret that could never get out. He was homosexual. He knew since he was little that he felt more attached to many of his male friends then they seemed to be to him. And when he was 10 he realized that these were feelings of attraction. He stifled them and has hidden it for a long time. Homosexuality was not taboo anymore, it was death. He never went through the period of self disgust. He was more worried about survival. Well, that's Ian Lipson for ya. A fairly normal teenage brand who is trying to survive...

After noting the brands who sat around him, and his friends by necessity. Ian looked at the norms in the class. He didn't know most of them very well but the one he did... Wasn't there. Alan Gilder was simply not in class at the moment. Ian thought this was odd, totally out of character for Alan. Alan was one of those people who wouldn't know haw to do something wrong if you were to show him. Not a goodie two shoes, nor a suck up. But certainly not one to cut class.

As Ian wondered where Alan could be, he saw a commotion outside in the courtyard. When he looked we couldn't believe his eyes. There, right in front of everybody was Alan, crying as two other kids were beating him up. Well, what was now referred to as beating. Really it was a bunch of telepathic blasts to pain centers in the brain. Much worse then the old ways actually. At least for the recipient. He knew, he had been the target of both, as a brand you had to live with such things so now it didn't phase him as much. After the pain was gone he simply continued his daily routine. However, for some reason, the sight of Alan being attacked made him feel apprehensive. Like it was an omen of bad things to come. Either that or he simply hated the fact that his best friend in the whole world, and the only other person who he had confided his secrets in. The only one he ever let into his head. Was being attacked. Of course, the question why still came to mind...

That question was answered when Alan walked into class. He had his eyes shut, and his face towards the floor. Half waiting for what was coming to him, half surprised that he was still alive, Ian surmised. As, branded across his face was the dreaded pink scar. After standing there for a bit and everyone simple staring at him for a moment. He quickly walked to his seat. The class got silent, obviously murmuring to each other telepathically about this surprise. Ian was really surprised by this. He had been hanging out with this guy for ages. And he never would have guessed. Of course, the scar doesn't actually mean it was true. Only that some one suspected him of it.

"Hmpf! I always knew there was something wrong with that boy!" Sheila's sneer and obviously spiteful voice snapped Ian out of his trance. "I only wonder why those kids didn't finish the job."

Ian started ignoring her. He felt Alan prodding him, trying to get him to open his mind to him. He wasn't sure he should. Ian's thoughts were focused on the pink scar at the moment and what it meant. To an extent having that pink scar would be liberating for him. At least for the short time that he'd have it before some random person killed him. At least then he couldn't hide it.

A tear came to Alan's eye as he looked strait at Ian. It was this that made him open his thoughts. It was this that made him make that leap of faith. For the first time in his life. Ian was going to share his dark dangerous secret. Thank you... He heard as he watched a small smile cross his friends face. Before he crashed his head down on the tale and silently cried...

Ian half expected to find Alan's body thrown somewhere at lunch but surprisingly enough he showed up in the cafeteria. But unlike he usually does, he didn't come sit at our table. He went and sat alone. Silently. He didn't even reach out to anyone with his thoughts. The gleam that Ian used to always see in his eyes was gone. Replaced with a darkness that seemed to force the light away from what once shined.

Nick and Jill were the first to stand. They surprised everyone in the room when they walked over to Alan's table and said, "Can we sit down?" Alan looked at them for a second. A mosaic of fear across his face. All he could do was stare for a moment. Gauging the two boys who had addressed him... Even in his scarred state.

They didn't walk away, nor did they make any move to hurt him, as Ian was sure Alan was expecting. "Thank you..." Was Alan's response ad the two boys sat down.

After a while of waiting. Ian couldn't stand it anymore. He had to go talk to his friend. He had to know the truth. Could this boy be like him. A boy who liked other boys, a boy who could actually love him. He got up and walked over to him.

"Hey, what's up..." Ian asked as he walked up to the table.

"Hey, I... I..." Alan stammered, Nick and Jill just sat there, not staring, but also not daring to blink lest they miss anything that might be said.

"I know, whatever the case. Your still you. My best friend. As if a simple brand would change that." With that, Ian took the biggest risk of his young life. Or at least what he thought would be. He sat down next to Alan. Nick and Jill had made sure to sit on the other side of the table. But Ian wasn't about to abandon his friend at his time of need.

Ian, Nick, Jill, and Alan talked about nothing much until the end of lunch. As they were walking out of the cafeteria, the principle stopped them. He looked at Alan, then he looked at the other three. A stern scary look crept over his face. One of disgust, and an even more terrifying undertone... One of satisfaction. He had caught three of his students with the gay kid. Not only that but three brands. A guard grabbed each of their arms. Everyone in the cafeteria watched as the four of them were carted off. Sheila's evil smirk was the last think Ian saw from his table before being carted off to where ever the guards were taking him. Jill and Nick had terrified looks on their faces. All three of them knew that life as they knew it was over. And possibly their lives were over as well...

To be Continued...

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