The Many Faces of Tully

The old man, Calchas, leads me to an old, metal elevator. The kind where you have to shut the doors by yourself, man it by a lever, and it inches downward slowly. It takes us a full minute before we make it to the floor below the restaurant.

The room we are in now is dank and dimly lit. I wrinkle my nose in distaste, and let him lead me through a door. I am expecting another dank, dark place, but I am wrong. It is bright and open and colorful. There are colorful squishy chairs spaced evenly around the room, and a bright lime green loveseat. There is a large television on a wall and I see two men playing a war game on it.

One of them looks quickly to see who had walked in the door, but focuses back on the game. “Hey Calchas!” he calls in greeting. And then he does a double take. He stares at me and pauses the game with his controller.

“Hey!” the other man yells at him. “I was just about to kill you!” He sees him staring, so he looks at me too. His face is just as shocked as the first man.

“Edmund. Damon.” Calchas nods to them. They look at each other and then hop over the back of the couch. They are identical twins. They have shaggy black hair that flops in their eyes, which are a dark blue. They have crooked smiles that they both wore on their faces, looking at me.

I smile shyly back at them. They tower over me. They are tall and skinny, and look like they have been sitting in front of a screen their entire lives. They seem to be in their late teens, possibly twenties.

“Whatcha got here, Calchas?” one of them asks, eyeing me.

“Are you actually bringing a girl home?” the other one questions, throwing his arm around his brother’s shoulders.

“Aren’t you a little old for that?” the first one inquires, copying his brother and wrapping his arm around his shoulder.

“Aren’t you a little old for her?” the second one teases.

“Yes, I’m too old for her. No, I’m not too old to bring a woman home. And I am bringing her to her new home. This is Tully, our fifteenth member,” he answers their questions backwards.

His last response wipes the smiles off of their faces. Both of their heads whip towards me. They both thrust one of their hands into each of mine, and shake them enthusiastically.

“Welcome Tully,” the one on the right says.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” the other says.

“I’m Edmund, the protector,” the one on the right says.

“And I’m Damon, the controller,” the other says. They are still shaking my hands.

“The controller?” Edmund looks at his brother.

“Fine. One who tames, or subdues. But I control people,” Damon admits.

“Not very well,” Edmund says, finally letting go of my hand and facing his brother. Damon lets go of my other hand and turns to face him.

“I can make you slap yourself. Or I could if you couldn’t shield yourself.” He turns to Calchas then and opens his mouth.

“You cannot make me slap myself because I see it coming,” he tells him evenly. Damon faces me then.

“I can make you do stuff. What should I make you do? Explode?” he jokes.

“NO!” I hear Calchas yell, but someone else shouts with him. We all turn and a man, roughly in his forties is walking towards us.

“You don’t want her doing that anywhere near you,” the man says. He has long brown hair that is pulled into a ponytail at the back of his neck. His hair goes down to the middle of his back and he has plain, watery brown eyes. Everything about him is plain, almost like he is just a piece of paper.

He reaches forward to shake my hand, and I see that his arms are covered in tattoos. It takes me a second to realize that they are words, written around and around his arms. He is exactly like a piece of paper. I grab his hand and it’s calloused in a way a writer’s would be. Like all he does is hold a pen all day and write. I only catch a few words around his arms, like “now” “heaven” “great evil” and “power”.

“Hello Tully,” he says. “My name is Kato, the all-knowing. I know all that has been, all that is, and all that will be. I know that sounds like it came right out of a corny movie, but it’s actually the best way to describe it.” He laughs a deep laugh. “I knew you would come to join us, just like I knew everyone else would join me. I know everyone’s power. You are the last, and most important puzzle piece to the upcoming battle.”

I stare at him in shock. A battle? They want me? How am I important? All I do is cause destruction and kill people. How am I supposed to help them?

“Don’t worry Tully. I will explain it all and we will train you. You will be fine, so calm down. No accidents please,” Calchas says to me. I nod.

“You have a year,” Kato tells me, and he turns and leaves.

“Well that was ominous,” Damon jokes.

“Can we show her around the place?” Edmund asks Calchas.

“Will you two behave yourselves? She isn’t a little girl you play with. She can, and will hurt you if you push her. No, she won’t hurt you, she will kill you. She can’t control herself yet, so she’s dangerous,” he warns them.

I frown at the floor. I’m dangerous, even among other people who have powers. They’re like me, but different. I guess we are all the same, but all different. We bond together because we are different from other people, but we are not the same. I wonder what my place is among these people with powers.