Chapter Two: Kayana

The moonlight fell across Kayana's delicate face, lighting up her two colored eyes. She turned her head to the moon, drinking in it's white rays. Her hand flew to the silver necklace at her throat: a star, with five small amethysts at each point and a larger purple gemstone in the middle. It had been given to her on her sixth birthday by her mother, and she had cherished it ever since.

Her mother, like her sixth birthday, was long gone: she had died of a stroke when Kayana was nine. After her mother died, her father had remarried within three months to a tall, blonde woman named Cherie Ellensa. Cherie was empty-headed, boring, and not good for much except modeling or posing with. Naturally, Kayana hated her.

The only thing that was good about Cherie was her lack of rules. There was only one: Stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours. Kayana took this rule to heart: she had little or no meals with the rest of her family, went out whenever she wanted, and in general, kept to herself. Cherie couldn't have cared less about her unruly stepdaughter.

Kayana, on the other hand, cared a lot about Cherie, or, more specifically, her seven year old daughter, Kayana's stepsister. Sarah was small, sweet, and loved Kayana like she was her own mother, most likely because her biological mother whisked her away and dressed her up in pink whenever possible. Sarah hated pink.

But right now, Sarah was being towed along behind Cherie towards the party of the decade, and Kayana was left to make her way on her own. Her father was holding a party on the back lawn of their summer mansion to celebrate Johnstonne Industries new invention. Now, Kayana hurried with the crowd towards the back lawn.

"Kayana! Over here!" She knew who it was without looking. She smoothed down her midnight blue dress, forced a smile on her face, and turned to face the paparazzi. The flash of camera bulbs almost blinded her, and after a few seconds she turned and ran towards the fountain in the middle of the patio.

She ran her hands along the smooth marble and looked up towards the statue that occupied the top of the fountain. A marble boy poured water into the central basin. When she was younger, her father used to tease her about him. "Is he cute?" he would ask. "You never know, maybe one day he will come to life and sweep you off your feet!" She had giggled and hugged her father.

Kayana sighed. Those were better times, before her father had become the solid, uncaring man he was today. It had all changed after her mother died, Kayana mused. If she hadn't died, we would be better off and I wouldn't have to go away to that boarding school.

The next day, she would pack her bags and be whisked away to an international school in Paris. It would be Kayana's last night in the house for a long time.

In fact, it would be longer than she expected.

Chapter One: Billy

Billy straightened the tie on his shirt, and looked out of the car window. In the driver's seat, Chrios stifled a yawn and accelerated the car. Flera and Tumi both gave a little shriek. What did you do that for? Flera sent.

Just to wake you two up, Chrios smiled. We're almost there. Billy ignored his fellows telepathic communication, and resumed staring. What's the matter? Tumi sent. Too high and mighty to listen to our boring conversation?

Or are there some spectacularly pretty girls out there? Chrios asked.

Oh, too above us to pay attention to the ones in your car? Tumi retorted.

Nothing, Billy sent. I was just daydreaming.

Besides, added Flera. You know the rules. No falling in love. It would mess up the timeline.

Whatev, Tumi yawned, then shot a look at Chrios. Billy shook his head almost imperceptably. It was old gossip that Chrios and Tumi were a couple. It had been that way even back in Watcher school. They had these inside jokes and little gestures that signaled a relationship between the two.

Billy looked out of the car. They were getting closer to the party. Partygoers dressed in suits or dresses flowed by like a school of pirahnas: propelled by the scents and sights of an attraction.

Chrios swore aloud. "No parking space! I can't see anything with these Randoms in the way!" Randoms were codename for random people: unimportant to the Watchers. Not part of the hitlist.

"No need to swear," Flera rebuked. Chrios swore again. "You know what, time for a little fun." Chrios honked the horn so loudly that the majority of the well-heeled audience jumped, several losing the aforementioned shoes in the process. The driveway cleared out, and Chrios edged the car down the road.

Billy was looking out the window in earnest now. Something, or rather, someone, had caught his eye. She looked to be about a couple years younger than him, and had long, dark brown hair that was pulled in a half up-half down fashion. Billy couldn't see the color of her eyes from this distance, but calculated them to be a brown color. She wore a midnight-blue dress, made darker by the dappled shadows that fell across her form.

She was pretty, Billy thought absentmindedly. At least, for this period of time. The girl looked around as if she had heard his thoughts. And smart too. She would have made a good Watcher: that is, if she had been born in his time.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Tumi grinned. So you've found her.

Found who? Billy asked.

Kayana Johnstonne. The daughter of the man we're supposed to Alter. Alter, or Altering, was the word that the Watchers used to mean altering the timeline: keeping humanity in it's place. In this case, Billy and his comrades were in for a night of fun and games: they were supposed to destroy one of Richard Johnstonne's finest creations.

He didn't stand a chance.

Intro

In the year 3004, a man named Aster Hawking discovered the secret of time travel. Using the collected works of several authors, including H. G. Wells, Madeleine L'Engle, and many books written by his direct ancestor, as well as his 198 IQ, Aster finally put together what he hoped was a time machine.

He was right.

After learning of this remarkable discovery, the government awarded Aster Hawking with all the usual array of awards and prizes, like to the fame of the woman who had discovered the cure for cancer in 2667, and the man who had fixed the hole in the ozone layer in 2079, blah blah blah.

But underneath the press conferences, screaming fans, flashing light bulbs, and extravagant parties, there was something far more sinister going on. The government had posed a question that was now being whispered in every underground meeting chamber, every place of institutional meeting, and in every high-ranking official’s heart.

What if this had been done before?

What if some deranged genius living in the Alps had come up with this idea? And proven it? What if their ancestors before them discovered this secret? What then? If they used this time machine to alter their future...the events would be disastrous-the orderly government as they knew it could fall apart, be divided once again.

So there was devised a plan. A decree. A warding off of anything from the shadowy past that would want to topple this wonderful future. An answer.

Watchers.

Any child under the age of six years showing remarkable IQ for their age was to be taken. The Wardens assured the families that their child was to “greatly benefit the course of human history”, and that the families “would see their child again if circumstances allowed”. They never did.

These children were trained for many long years, until at last they had reached the age of eighteen, and the hours and hours of rattling off quantum physics theories, complicated math problems, and assorted facts from “The Book of World History: 1800-2900” were over. Then their real purpose began.

They were sent back in time. Four Watchers in a Tesser, two male, two female. Each Tesser was deported to a different time: starting in 1850, in 5-year increments. Their job was to make sure no human succeeded in discovering an advancement in technology before their time.

And they did it well.

Until the year 2010.