Chapter One

Freak. That's what they call me. I never understood why—I am one of them; I always have been. I was born into their tribe; I have spent my entire life under their watchful eyes. Still, I do not belong.

I was born to Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots—two fine and respectable Jellicles, members of the Elder's Council, even! I have a twin brother, Coricopat. We came into this world in the usual way, but it wasn't long before my mother realized there was something different about us. Coricopat and I were blessed—or cursed—with the gift of the mystics. We could read minds and communicate telepathically. I could see the future, occasionally; Corico could do other tricks with his mind as well.

Immediately my mother was filled with fear. Jennyanydots is a very intelligent cat; she's read tons of human books. And she knew of the stigma against cats and mystics in the Dark Ages—a stigma that she feared would resurrect itself if anyone found out about our powers.

So, at a very young age, I was taught by my mother that my gift was very bad—something to be ashamed of, something to hide and lie about.

Of course, things like that never stay hidden.

~*~

"Tanto!" Dem cried out joyously. "I found you! You're it!"

The small kitten scampered away happily to hide herself. I smiled to myself, knowing I could always win the game simply by reading someone's mind. I chose Corico, whom I found rather quickly thanks to my telepathic abilities.

"No fair!" My brother wailed. "You cheated!"

"How could she cheat, Corico?" Asparagus, Dem's littermate, rolled his eyes. Corico defended himself, "She did! She read my mind and found my hiding place!"

"She read your mind?" Dem gave a giggle of disbelief. "C'mon, Coricopat—that's not possible!"

"Yes it is," I stepped forward. Despite being angry at Corico for giving away our secret, I felt the need to defend my brother's statement. Dem turned to me with wide eyes, "You can read minds?"

"Prove it," Asparagus challenged. I sat up a little straighter, "Fine. You're angry because Dem ate the last mouse this morning, and you didn't get breakfast. And Dem has a crush on Alonzo."

"I do not," Demeter turned fifty shades of red. Coricopat nodded, "Yes, you do."

Asparagus grinned wickedly at his sister, "Who else does she like?"

"Don't!" Demeter looked at us pleadingly. Corico stepped forward, "We won't read her mind against her will, Gus."

Asparagus shrugged. Demeter, eager to change to subject, pointed to Jellyorum, "What is my mom thinking?"

I tuned my brain into her inner thoughts, "She's just going through a to-do list in her head. Errands to run, boring adult stuff."

"What about your mom?" Dem motioned to Jennyanydots, who sat beside Jellyorum. I turned my attention to reading her thoughts. Then something strange happened.

My mother whirled around, shooting me an angry look. I felt the door to her mind close with force. How had she known? Corico and I had learned early on that no one could feel us reading their mind—that's what made it so fun.

But Mother had definitely felt us sifting through her thoughts. And she was not pleased.

~*~

"I cannot believe you!" Mother paced the kitchen floor. We were back at the human house—Mother had waited until we were away from everyone else to scold us. "How many times have I told you not to use your powers?"

"What's the point in having powers if you can't use them?" I complained. Corico just sat there quietly. I was by far the more vocal of the two. I did not fear my mother's wrath—even when it loomed so threateningly above me, like now.

"Tantomile!" My mother thundered. "You are never to use your powers—for any reason! Do you know what could happen to you if someone found out?"

"Dem and Gus know," I crossed my arms with a pout. "And they're still our friends."

"What?!" My mother practically shrieked. "You told them?"

I nodded. She shook me, "Why on earth did you tell them?"

"It was Corico's fault!" I cried out, pointing an accusing finger at my brother. "He let it slip when we were playing hide-and-seek."

"Only cuz Tanto cheated and used her powers to find me!" Corico's cheeks were hot with anger. Mother smacked both of us—not hard, but hard enough to get our attention, "Enough squabbling. You're both to blame. Oh, Bast, why did you give me such wayward kittens?"

She turned away dramatically. Mother always was a bit overdramatic about things. She turned back to us slowly, her face etched with worry. "Do you know what would happen if certain cats found out? Mystics are not looked upon favorably in this tribe—especially since Macavity went dark."

"But we're not like Macavity!" Corico cried out. Mother shook her head, "I know, darling, but some cats won't look far enough to realize that. As soon as they hear 'mystic', they'll come after you like a revolutionary mob in Paris."

I had no idea what a revolutionary mob in Paris was, but I wisely chose to keep my mouth shut. It was probably something horrible that Mother had discovered in her readings; either way it didn't sound good.

"Oh, my babies," she was smiling tenderly now, cupping each of our faces in one of her paws. "You just don't know how dark the world is. Cats who are different are not always treated nicely."

Different. My mother always called us that. Different. Never special.

~*~

The next few weeks passed with little change. One day, Demeter brought a gangly red kitten to our little group of rag-tag kits.

"This is Bombalurina, my bestest friend," she announced proudly as the strange kitten smiled nervously at us. Alonzo, of course, jumped forward and took charge, making the introductions. I looked at this kitten curiously. Already I had begun to feel the slow change of tide, the slow pull that would draw the other cats away from us instinctively. I just assumed that it was because the Jellicle Tribe could only accept so many—Corico and I had just gotten the short end of the deal, so to speak. The Tribe could not accept anyone else.

So I looked down on this newcomer with woeful eyes. Sorry, little one, but you'll never fit in here. They're already got all the pieces to the puzzles; they don't need anymore. No matter how hard you try, it won't work.

I assumed that was life—just as mothers and fathers only had so much love to give, so the Tribe only had so much love to share. Those born last, like Corico and I, were left on the fringes.

Then, something strange happened. They accepted Bombalurina.

And I suddenly I realized: it wasn't that there wasn't any room left in the Tribe. There simply wasn't any place for a freak. A freak like me.

~*~

As the time passed, our friendship with Demeter and Asparagus began to fade. Alonzo stopped asking us to join games. Other kittens stopped inviting us over to play. Older cats stopped greeting us whenever we passed. We soon became like ghosts.

I could see the pain in my mother's eyes, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to reverse the tide, to undo what had been done. Looking back, I could see that things had slowly been moving towards this all along, by varying degrees Corico and I had been removing ourselves from the rest of the tribe—or perhaps the tribe had been removing us, I'm not really sure. Either way, the effect was irreversible.

No one even noticed us anymore. But then it seems Fate intervened.

~*~

We were sitting quietly at a meeting of the Elders, listening to our mother drone on and on about education reform—she felt the need to teach kits to read human. Suddenly, I felt a slight wave of dizziness wash over me—momentarily at first, but returning with increasing intensity.

"Are you alright?" Corico turned to me. I swooned slightly. Suddenly, I felt my body jolt up, as if I were controlled by some unseen hand. A beam of white light shot through me; I heard myself speak, but in a voice that was not my own:

"Tonight a Jellicle shall lose its life.

Tonight will tip the balance between wrong and right.

On this night, many nights from tonight

A Jellicle will lose its flower

On this night, many nights from tonight

A great one will come into its power

Because of tonight, a mystic dies

Because of tonight, evil shall rise

An ancient shall come into being

A dead shall return to living

Tonight begins a tale of woe—

How dark its end, we may never know!

For the events set into motion on this darkest of nights,

will not reach their end til the eighth Jellicle Light."