The Vaticinator

by Namita Singh

bringing unexpected results, like resulting into some mutation disorders. Hell, even the mental and spiritual therians are considered mutation disorders as they are disparagingly different from normal physical therians. Also, there are lycanthropes that can only shift into a wolf form. There are werecats who can only shift into a feline form. But these are not in significant proportion. Physical therians dominate in population.”

  “That sounds technical.”

  “I told you, our species can be expertly explained on scientific basis. Biologically, we have an inbuilt store of energy, literal quantum energy in each of our body cells. That is what allows the free deformation and reformation of our body when we flux. That also grants us with better strength, again not insanely deviating from the strength of an average human. Our strength is comparable to an average wrestler. A very strong human is as much capable of defeating us as any other therian is. And our sense of smell and sight are normal. Not that we rely on it much anyways.”

  Neal grimaces, “If your…‘human form’ is this much capable then why do you even need to physically turn into an animal?”

  I sigh, “We feel…more at ease…more in our element when we are blended with our animalistic nature. Plus, we can flux into animals which are stronger than any human on this earth. We can adapt to certain characters too like fangs of a deadly snake or the night vision of an owl. Our body has enough capability to flux our body cells accordingly. It has its perks.” I shrug.

  Neal suspires, “Well...okay, it sounds cool, I admit. But your triple goddess and witch theory still doesn’t sound practical.”

  I shrug, “Even your ‘bending the future at my will’ hypothesis doesn’t sound practical.”

  Neal actually blushes at that, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He halts suddenly, looking up towards the ceiling, “He has stopped.” He murmurs.

  I notice that Rome has indeed gone absolutely quiet. No restless steps, no incessant growling. The house is eerily silent.

  “Thank the lords.” I breathe in relief.

  “Your mom said….that he was screaming because of…?” Neal says dubiously.

  I nod, “Yeah, he can sense your aura. All the mature therians can.”

  “Aura? I think your father used the same term…” Neal says, frowning, “What does it mean that you can ‘sense’ my aura? Like an intuition?”

  I sigh, “No. We can literally sense your aura. Not just yoursbut everybody’s aura.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “An aura is…. It’s like an energy field around your body. Your thoughts, the way your mind works, that is continuously emitting certain energy filled radiations. Those waves are exuded by your body and it can be felt by the therians. Therians…have…a certain mechanism in their body cells that allows them to absorb the aura of others.”

  “Absorb?”

  “Yup. We can absorb the aura and hence, deduce the form of the thoughts and feelings that resulted into that aura of the person in the first place. In short, we can ‘sense’ it.”

  “…Now that’s cool and weird all in one package.” Neal says, smirking.

  I grin, “Yes, it is. Except for the fact that the auras of all the therians coincide largely, making it absolutely impossible for us to secernate between the different auras.”

  “Ouch.”

  “The therians have a lot of quantum energy in their bodies, in their brains. So, their auras are usually filled with a lot of energy which upon absorption just makes us feel…’powerful’. ‘Stronger’. That’s why we say that the therians exude power in their auras. Their aura is so powerful that it overlaps the waves that generate due to their emotions. We can’t sense the general emotional disposition of a therian. Mind you, the auras of different therians are not exactly identical. They are similar but not same. The mechanics by which we absorb and sense the auras is not that much sensitive to differentiate between the therian auras.”

  “And…you can do that in humans?” Neal guesses

  I nod fleetingly, “Technically, yes…but there also it’s pretty useless. Because humans are not very ‘strong’ when compared to the energy levels of the therians. And their emotional disposition is also usually…vague. Humans are very unpredictable, most of the times. The end result is that their auras are very…diluted. The waves in their auras are not high energy waves and thus, upon absorption by us, we can’t significantly determine the feelings or thought process that results into it. We just sense very fleeting forms of the general emotions of a human. But it becomes cumbersome when there are too many humans around, like in our school. If there are fewer humans around then I can concentrate and sense their auras better. Like my mother. Her aura generally gives me a sense of happiness.”

  “Meaning that she is generally happy.” Neal mumbles.

  “Yup.”

  “How come she is a pure human?” Neal asks.

  I shrug, “Mating between a therian and a pure human can result into either of them. It’s the random fusion of gametes during reproduction, so…you can never be certain which genes have incorporated into the fetus. So the fact if it’s a therian or a human remains as much a mystery before birth as the gender of the baby. Except for when you want to make use of the technology, of course. I am a product of a therian and a human. I have turned out to be a normal therian.”

  Neal sighs, “I thought…” he clears his throat, “I didn’t expect a therian to mate with a human.”

  “I think, you mean that you didn’t expect a human to mate with a therian.” I sigh too, “There were humans in the past who accepted us for what we are. And even now there are humans who know of our existence and accept us as such.”

  Neal nods. “So….my aura is not…normal, I assume?” he asks after a moment.

  I smirk, “Far from it.”

  “It’s not like that of a human?” he asks, looking apprehensive.

  I chuckle, “It’s not like a therian’s either in case you’re worried.”

  Neal actually looks reprieved on hearing that, making me roll my eyes.

  “Your aura is…” I begin, my mind getting crowded by all the positivity I feel on sensing his aura. I shake the thoughts away. Neal requires a general explanation of his aura. He doesn’t need to hear how obsessively alluring his aura is to me. “Your aura is an odd combination of both a human’s and a therian’s.”

  Neal frowns, “And that means?”

  I scratch the side of my neck, “Your aura is as much ‘powerful’ as that of a therian, sometimes even more so. At the same time, your aura exudes your emotional disposition in quite a diluvian amount. That’s both a similarity and dissimilarity to a human’s aura. Because the aura of a human does exude the emotional disposition but those are not significant enough to be noticed.”

  “So…”

  “So, your aura is similar in expressing the emotional sensations but it is vastly prominent, making it hard to miss it. I don’t have to concentrate at all to notice your aura. It’s exceptionally noticeable. If we ignore the ‘power’ part of your aura then your aura is just an accentuated aura of a human. Too much prominent. It can’t go by unnoticed. But I sense power too. Which is an odd combination really, because power and emotions don’t usually mix as per theory.”

  “I don’t know if I am supposed to take that as a good thing or not.”

  I chuckle, “Neither do I, to be honest.”

  “What do you sense?”

  “I just told you.”

  “No, I mean…you said you can sense my emotional disposition…”

  “Oh.” I say, realizing what he means, “Uh, largely I sense apprehension…a positive kind of apprehension, as if you’re always looking forward to something and you’re pretty excited usually.”

  Neal doesn’t say anything after that, not even to comment on his own aura. I don’t start anything either, letting him revel in his thoughts. I am quite sure it must be too much for him to take in one night. I feel a yawn surfacing on me. Suppressing it, I turn sideways t
o look at the clock. 4.02 AM, it displays. I huff.

  “We should sleep now.” I say, making Neal snap out of his thoughts, “Rome has been silent.”

  Neal looks upwards once and sighs in relief, “Yeah, I should make the most of it.” He grumbles, his eyes drooping as if they are just now realizing how sleepy they are. Clumsily, he repositions himself so that he is lying down on the bed. Absentmindedly, he stretches his arm and grabs my duvet. Like a selfish bastard he pulls the duvet on himself, leaving me bare. He closes his eyes and turns around, facing the other way from me. I hear him sigh contently.

  I roll my eyes.

  I get up and walk to my cupboard. I take out a bed sheet, grumbling under my breath. The bed sheet is not nearly as warm enough as my duvet but I force myself to manage with it. With a final sigh of my own, I switch off the light of my room and settle on my side of the bed.

  “Josh?” I hear Neal mumble in the darkness after some time.

  “Hmm?”

  “What’s Rome to you?” he mumbles sleepily. From how distant he sounds, he is still facing away from me.

  “My uncle, sort of. He is Gwen aunt’s brother.”

  “Gwen aunt? The other blonde one?”

  “No, no. That’s Rufina aunt. She is my mother’s sister and Aakir’s mom. Gwen aunt is Terry uncle’s wife. She wasn’t there today. She doesn’t come out of her room much.”

  “Like her brother.” Neal chuckles darkly. He sighs, “You’ve a big family.” He whispers, his breath getting even as he succumbs to sleep.

  And you