Young Writers Society

Mutants Anonymous.

In the year 2014, humankind has become a collective of technological advancement. There is not one single person that does not breathe gadgetry every single hour of their lives, who is not controlled by those in power in some form or another. Survival is no longer a concern for most people, but for some, their very existence is more than enough for them to worry about.

These people are called mutants.

Driven to the streets by people they've known, threatened away by a society that fears them and hunted by a government that wants nothing more than to harvest their powers, these mutants live at the very limits of humanity. They are the strange ones, the ones who can trust none but themselves.

Some of them manage to survive amongst their family and friends, never revealing themselves to be be mutants, but slowly going insane because of keeping it all in. Others choose to give themselves up to the government and therefore death--or worse. Some manage to survive in the streets, stealing food and what-not and living each day as if it were their last. A few are lab-rats for people they know.

Are you a mutant or a normal? Are you one of those who chase them away or are you living in the streets, barely getting by, avoiding the government’s Enforcers by barely an inch? Perhaps you're a politician who believes in the idea of "killing a few for the good of the many". Maybe you're just the simple secretary who clocks into her work, day in and day out, all the while hiding that you could probably throw your boss out the window with ease, or you just might be one of those mutants who stick together with others of your kind, hoping to get by somehow.

In the end, everyone in the world has a role to play--and what role do you choose?


Rules:
-Usual YWS/SB rules.
-ALL posts must be readable, co-relate to previous posts and have correct spelling. That means no chat speak.
-800 characters minimum or about 165 words for those of you using MS Word or other writing programs. This wordcounttool might help.
-Swearing; it's allowed just don't overdo it. And keep it reasonable; No F-bombs!
-Romance is allowed but no sex scenes; No one needs to read about details.
- Can claim up to 3 characters and No Characters Under 15--without permission.
-Can have up to 3 powers, at least one must be minor/weak and all must have some kind of flaw or side-effect. Make up your own or visit here to find a power. Please don’t go overboard; try to be reasonable.
-Teens must be 15 or older, Gov Agents must be 20 or above.
-Fantasy creatures are not allowed. These are mutants, not elves...
-Don't God-mod. Please, it's not fair. And no Mary/Gary Sues either. They annoy me.
-Please don't double post unless there have been no new posts for at least 24 hours.
-Please have a name and place at the top of each post. Such as Name | Place OR, for example; Mia | Town.
- Please do not kill another person's character without permission; it's unfair, and not to forget mentioning, godmodding. We really don't like that. And besides, no one likes it when they're randomly killed.
-This SB is co-run by by ScarlettFire and Shadowlight. Listen to them or they’ll eat you.

Mutant:



A note about groups:



Character Slots:

Mutants:
- F - Ashley - ScarlettFire.
- M - Josiah - ScarlettFire.
- F - Evangeline - Shadowlight.
- M- Balthazar - Shadowlight.
- F - Wren - maleficent.
- M - reserved by Aquestioning.
- F - reserved by TheGoonerGirl.
- M - Jonathon - RedBird.
- F - Aria - Dante.


Government Agents:
- F - Allison - Scarlett.
- _ - reserved by Aquestioning.
- F - Marlyn - thewritersdream.
- M - Gordon - maleficent.
- F - Ezri - AriaAdams.

Other:
- M - Carter - maleficent.
- F - Layla - thewritersdream.

Character Slots may be added/removed as needed.

Character Profile template:

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b] (First and last name.)

[b]Gender:[/b] (...duh. Female/Male/Hermaphrodite ;D)

[b]Age:[/b] (15 and above, no less. And yes, you can play the straggly old guy who totters through the streets using a cane to beat people.)

[b]Race:[/b] (Well, are you a mutant or a normal? Or a mutant normal, with the power to be boringly normal? In short, this is glaringly obvious. :P)

[b]Powers:[/b] (Anything ranging from psychokinesis to turning the sidewalk into quicksand and sticking people in it. As long as you’re a mutant, of course.)

[b]Appearance:[/b] (Description is a must. Does your character have a scar on his cheek, does he have a sixth toe or rainbow-coloured hair that he looks ridiculous in but is proud of? A hundred words at least. Pictures are optional, but anime is allowed.)

[b]Personality:[/b] (Does he have obsessive-compulsive disorder and rub his doorknob clean with a handkerchief that’s been washed five times since the hour rang whenever he goes out? Maybe he’s a narcissist that insists people wash his feet with every step he takes. Or perhaps he’s the next-door neighbour that everyone dislikes because he likes to knock on the door of every single person living on the damn floor. Details, details! Give us a hundred words here, at least.)

[b]History:[/b] (Two paragraphs at least. Even if your character’s only defining trait during the entirety of his or her history is that he has always been obsessed with watermelons.)

[b]Up for love:[/b] (This is pretty obvious.)

[b]Other:[/b] (Anything we forgot.)


Yup, we're starting. And this be post number one~ Any OOC Posts are to go in the DT, especially posts requesting to join. For now, let's begin!

Dr. Allison Bishop | Outside/Inside Medi-Co Lab 5:

“And everything is prepared?” Bishop asked the lab assistant hovering nearby, completely ignoring her PA for the moment. “You have everything I asked for set out as I requested?” When the lab assistant nodded, showing that they understood, Allison turned towards Miss Grey, her PA and frowned, considering the girl’s overloaded arms and the PDA in her hands. “Coffee, two sugars, no diary. Make sure it’s soy milk and not too much, either. I like my coffee strong.”

Grey stared at her for a moment, as if wondering what Bishop was up to by sending her off to get coffee. Allison, of course, was more worried about the boy behind the lab’s closed door. He was barely visible through the frosted glass, but she could make out the table he was strapped to. If Grey said anything, Allison didn’t hear. She was focused on the lab assistant again, thinking over the experiment set out on the papers secured away in the file she held. MGT-575 was a drug one of her fellow scientists had created, and one Allison had modified. She’d made it stronger, turning it into MGT-576. The first one had been missing a few components. Allison had merely found the missing pieces and added to it. The current dosage she’d considered was on 500 mg, but she had a feeling she might need to up it. That could come later, when she was certain the 500 mg dose wasn’t working as planned. Hopefully they’d found a freak who could handle it.

With another glance spared in Grey’s general direction, Bishop indicated for the lab assistant to proceed her and entered the lab, making sure the door was secured behind her. She didn’t want Grey, or anyone, really, just wandering in. She didn’t know what kind of effect MGT-576 would have on someone who didn’t have the mutant gene. Perhaps she should find someone without the mutated genetic code and give them a dose? Bishop noted that down as she moved away from the now-locked door and towards the subject strapped to her table. It was worth looking into. If she could harness it correctly, the possibilities were endless. She just had to hope she wasn’t interrupted again like she had been last time. Daniels, the Vice-President of Medi-Co, hadn’t taken that too well.

“Now, where were we?” she asked thoughtfully as she lowered her file. The boy on the table stared blankly up at the ceiling and didn’t answer. This one was interesting. He could manipulate light and plants. She’d found this combination fascinating. As fascinating as the pictures and video of what he could create with enough light and plant material to work with. His vine-hounds had been the nastiest to deal with, though. Bishop’s hired goons had found them difficult to destroy, the boy had poured that much power into them. Separately, his abilities weren’t so strong, but together... She shook her head to clear her thoughts and focus on the project again. So far, he hadn’t reacted much either way. Hopefully, with the higher dosage, he’d do something. Bishop really just wanted a reaction, even if it was just screaming. “Ah, yes. Let’s try the 500 again, and if he doesn’t react, we’ll up the dosage.”

“But--that could kill him!”

Bishop shot the lab assistant a glare. “And I am supposed to care, why?”

The lab assistant’s mouth hung opened for a moment before it was snapped shut. “N-nevermind,” the assistant muttered. “Setting up for 500 mg.”

Bishop watched as the assistant set about getting the syringe ready with the dosage she’d requested and then administered it to the boy. He gave no reaction, other than a long, slow blink. Bishop scowled. “Up the dosage.”

The assistant hesitated, glancing from her to the heart and neurological monitors, which were showing steady signals, and back. Bishop’s gaze narrowed and the assistant muttered an apology before she set about preparing a new syringe with the increased dose.

“Now,” Bishop snapped, making the assistant jump and nearly drop her syringe. She snorted when the assistant managed to save it and slide the needle into the boy’s drip. Bishop noticed that the assistant hesitated, but eventually administered the higher dosage. The boy on the table began to thrash about, eyes gone wide and flickering about. He looked Bishop’s way and started screaming. Bishop and the assistant backed up a couple of steps while the boy screamed himself hoarse, only approaching him again once he’d fallen back against the table and began blinking up at the ceiling like before. “That’s the kind of reaction I was looking for.”

She waited several minutes before crossing over to the bench on the far side of the room and setting down her file, flicking it open and writing down a few notes on the experiment. When Bishop was done with that, she headed back over to the table and began to release the boy’s straps. The assistant muttered a curse and moved to help.

“He’ll be a good boy now,” Bishop commented, petting the boy’s hair with one hand while the other worked the strap free. “And he’s not going to misbehave. You’ll be good for my dear assistant, won’t you?” The boy, finally free of his restraints, sat up, guided by Bishop, and swung his legs over the edge of the table. Bishop glanced towards her assistant. “Ensure that he's properly contained and--"

"Doctor Bishop to the Boardroom, please. Doctor Bishop to the Boardroom."

"What the hell do they want now?" Allison snapped, turning and stalking towards her file of project notes. The assistant watched her as she retrieved it and came back. “Keep an eye on him. I’ll be in the boardroom--page me or Grey if I’m needed.” With that, she stalked over to the door, muttered to herself; “Grey better have my damn coffee.”

Balthazar/Walking the streets

Balthazar walked slowly up the sidewalk, converse making barely a sound on the hot pavement. Dark jeans and nondescript plaid button down over a white Tshirt made him blend in seamlessly into the crowds. Whistling tunelessly he crossed the street towards a small Grocery store and entered- the Air conditioned interior was a blessing compared to the blast furnace the outdoors was.

Walking the isles he scanned for the things on the hastily scrawled list he held- Ashley really needed to work on her handwriting. He squinted and made out;

“Milk- skim not whole. Eggs- because Jos wants them, Bread and cold cuts- because I want them, And coffee. ~Ash”

Balthazar chuckled then looked at Eva's carefully written list for the whole group and realized suddenly he would need a cart. Scurrying back he grabbed one then started off- he didn't mind grocery shopping, he found it nice being a normal member of society for even a few short hours. Quickly getting the supplies they needed- staple foods with some special treats thrown in here and there- then he came to the section of the list where Eva always wrote the hygiene items- like soap and toilet paper.

Neither were on the list- but something was there that froze Balthazar's heart- Tampons....

“Oh my God....” He slowly made his way to the wall with those items and prowled around- like a Lion on the Savannah stalking it's prey. The brightly colored boxes filled him with masculine dread- the choices were endless and he felt a pit in his stomach. “How the hell am I supposed to know what ones to get?!” He muttered and looked at the list- thankfully Eva and the other girls at the warehouse had learned that if they needed something they had to describe it in Detail.

Like a true marine he faced his enemy showing no fear- hunted down the enemy and snatching it up- shoved it into his car with his ears blushing brightly. Hurrying to the checkout he loaded everything onto the conveyer belt and waited for his items to be bagged.



Once he had paid he hefted the two paper bags under each arm and started towards home- or what was currently his home. The heat was almost unbearable- the sidewalk shimmered and sweat ran down the back of his neck before he was a quarter of the way back- but he kept walking.

“I got to patch that leak in Ashley's room when I get back, then try to rehang that light in the big room....” The work never ended for him- but he didn't mind, keeping himself busy kept him from getting depressed or focusing on all that was wrong with his life. Crossing over the bridge that spanned the river he got to his side of the town- the old abandoned docks from the time when the city had been a boom town. Now the many Warehouses stood empty- or were the homes of the many homeless. He nodded at the few he knew- called a greeting to those he knew by name but kept walking- they all were the unwanted here in this place.

The warehouse that he and the other lived in was the smallest- having belonged to a small dry-goods company. He pushed open the heavy iron door and walked in- down here by the river, and in the warehouses it was so much cooler then the outdoors. Up three flights of steps, then he was in the space they lived in.

“Hey! Someone come help me here-I got food.”

Aria Lazarus - Warehouse - "...if their aura didn't light up like a Christmas tree on the fourth of July..."

Aria was having a rotten day, the heat was a killer and she had seen no end of it. To bad her powers didn't include being able to chill the air out and help out everyone else, dumb warehouse didn't have air conditioning. What sucked even more was that her birthday was next month, and she would have no family to celebrate with, bah, family, good riddance to those people who called themselves her parents.

Aria yawned as she saw and heard the deep red, white aura that was Balthazar telling everyone he was back with the food, Aria couldn't help much because she was blind, well for the most part anyways. The only thing she wasn't blind about was seeing Aura of people. Balthazar quickly learned to trust Aria's judgement on a persons personality thanks to his sister Evangeline, who took Aria to a Library in town to do some studying on her power. She printed entire sheets of aura colors and there meanings and later read them off to her, Eva, as everyone liked to call her, was cool like that.

After extensive memorization and a lot of painful head banging to the fact she got a few wrong, Aria had her first chance to be useful for the group. A man with a lot of Black Aura came along, the same creepy aura that she saw the mob had when they came for her. Aria tried to warn Balthazar about the guy, but he wanted to give everybody a chance, it was later Aria stopped the guy from stealing all the supplies and left him to the cops. It was the first time she used her power in a way besides just seeing, Balthazar was thankful for it, from then on, if their Aura didn't light up like a Christmas tree on the fourth of July, then it was a no go for them.

Aria spotted the soft blue, blue, pink-bright and light aura that was Eva walking over to her, that was the thing about Aria's vision, she could see aura, just not physical detail.

"Need anything Aria?" she asked.

"A fan would be nice, the heat is a killer and maybe something to drink, I'm thirsty" Aria said.

"Hnag in there, I think we are going to be going to a new warehouse soon and hopefully one that has Air conditioning, and I'll get it for you right away," she said.

"Thank you," Aria said.

"Your welcome," she said.

Eva walked off back towards Balthazar to talk but who knows what as I sit there feeling useless as ever.

Marlyn | Her Home/Medi-Co

Marlyn opened her refrigerator and hoped she would see the only thing she wanted that morning, doughnuts. It was her guilty pleasure, she needed them whenever she was nervous or worried. Rummaging through her fridge she was about to give up when she found the package and brought it out with much delight. She bit into a doughnut and closed her eyes to it’s taste. “Mmm,” escaped from her lips as she used her foot to close the fridge. She heard footsteps on the stairs, and hurried towards to the dining table in the middle of the kitchen, pulled out a chair and sat. She didn't bother getting a plate.

“I should have hid them better,” she heard her daughter say while entering, as she tried not to laugh.

“Be quiet,” she replied, also hiding her own laughter. “You have your weakness too. And today’s the day of the official interview. I’m going to be introduced to the team,” her daughter did not reply. Instead she grabbed her own breakfast. Muesli cereal. She bent her head towards the bowl she had before her, and poured the cereal in it. Marlyn watched her carefully.

She sighed. It was getting harder and harder for them to communicate. She wasn't going to pry at the strangeness, but she definitely couldn't just sit and accept it. Not for long anyways. Her daughter needed to move past whatever was stopping her from her life.

“Are you doing anything today?” she asked her daughter quietly, carefully.

“Must I be doing something?” Lay said quickly, but nonchalant.

“Why not go to the park, or better yet, the beach,” she suggested. Layla shrugged.

“Maybe,” she said softly. And Marlyn knew that was as far as they were going to get. They finished their breakfasts in separate silence both thinking about different things. Marlyn had already started thinking about a Mutant whom she had seen one day. She watched it change the color of it’s shoes. She was amazed she was able to catch it, and was glad she was watching it carefully. She could tell there was something different about that creature, the way it looked. It was very separated from the crowd, quite collected. Since it was in a carnival she couldn't really approach it, people filled in between the space of her and the mutant. She was left thinking if maybe, just maybe that had been even a show for her to see. Was it mocking her?

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Layla eventually said, breaking into Marlyn’s thoughts as she finished up her last doughnut. Marlyn looked at her daughter directly, the two of them having eye contact.

“I know what I’m doing,” she said it firmly and slowly, pronouncing each single word with emphasis.



“Am I late?” she asked as she rushed in her black pencil skirt and matching jacket towards the receptionist.

“No, he’s waiting for you, here you go,” she saw she was handed the directions to a secret passage in the massive office building that she was in; it had to have at least more than twenty floors with the large skyscraper that had greeted her when she got out of the cab. She had just two weeks ago applied to the Medi-co company in order to be their head private investigator. She was to search out and find all of the mutants and bring them to the headquarters, secretly of course, there would be ways. She was also to confide with them any information she knew about them as a whole. She took a closer look at the paper in her hands and she noticed they were more than just directions, they gave her codes and signals. She stared helplessly at the receptionist. The woman looked back at her just as helplessly.

“I am not allowed to say anything. Read the directions and you’ll find where you need to be,” she said in her slight high-pitched tone. Marlyn gave her a small smile and hurriedly turned from her towards the elevators. She had only been there once before, and that was to submit her application. And then, she didn't even have to leave the first floor. She started at the paper after entering the elevator. Her first direction was to go to the top floor. While she was heading up she noticed that there was something weird about the elevator buttons, they were protected, protected by some kind of laser. She wondered why. As she went up she knew there had to be more than thirty floors, some shown, and some most likely hidden. She wondered how many mutants they had found, and how many they were expecting from her.

A bell sounded as she reached her destination causing her to jump slightly. She hurried off of the elevator to a floor with cubicles like any other type of office. She knew immediately it was just a decoy though. Following her directions through the maze like office she made it to another elevator that was nowhere near the one she had originally came out of. And this one was riddled with security. Again, direction from direction she broke the two codes, and then gave her thumbprint opening the elevator. Once it was opened, air blew towards her and she went through some kind of invisible pat down, she couldn't see it, but something was definitely checking to see if she had anything on her or possibly even if she had any power. Once she was thoroughly check as far as she knew, the force of air ceased, and she was able to walk into the elevator. She checked the paper, there was one direction left. Voice Recognition, say your name, and your security number as well as where you are going, which would be the Main Quarter. she read.

“My name is Marlyn, number four-eight-seven-seven-B,”

“My destination is the Main Quarter,” Instantly the elevator door shut. Then an inner, second door shut, and then the elevator arrived at her destination.

Josiah Campbell | Abandoned Warehouse:

Jos looked up from the magazine he was reading, watching as Eva wandered about the warehouse. She checked on Aria before wandering back over towards Bal and the groceries. Jos noted the eggs with a smile. It was bloody hot, though, so the smile soon disappeared, leaving him to wonder how Ash was doing in the back room. She had gone out again earlier, but he wasn't sure where. He had a feeling he might know why, though, and if it was what he was thinking...

"Hey Jos, you want to help us over here?"

He perked up at the sound of his name, saw Bal over near the stairs and nodded, closing the magazine with a snap and tossing it onto the old table in front of their slightly ratty lounge. There hadn't been much in the way of furniture in the warehouse when they'd first moved in. He cast a glance towards the back room before standing and heading to help. Jos couldn't help worrying about his sister, though. What had she been up to this morning? At six in the morning, too, considering she wasn't always up by midday most days.

Jos, cut it out. You're thinking too hard again. The groan that accompanied the words was equal parts tired and annoyed. Jos sighed as he began unloading one of the big paper bags. What the hell are you guys doing out there anyway?

Sorry, Ash, he thought, hoping she'd pick up on it. Bal went shopping. She was silent for a long moment, long enough for him to empty the bag and pause, frowning down at what was in his hand. It took a minute for the item to register before he dropped it like it was burning. Tampons. He shuddered and shot Bal and Eva a sheepish look. "Ash is awake... Sort of."

Do you have to be so loud?

The sun was beating down on the city like an incessant fist. Every new corner she took, Wren found her body attacked on a whole new level. Like many of the general public, she adored the sun but this was a joke. Idly waving her hand to fan herself, her eyes remained peeled for any suspicious movement. He's going to try and get me back, I know it...

The unpleasant memory of her time within the covert research facility trickled to the front of her mind. They were studying mutants, experimenting on them. Hell, she'd been tortured enough to know that if she was going back, she was going to end it. It troubled her to know that there were more of her kind there now, suffering in the name of evolution and science.

However there was only one face that utterly instilled fear into her, Dr. Gordon Benson. A seemingly ordinary man until he opened his mouth, then a string of unintelligent workings were spoken. It was very rare that he communicated in a civil way, especially when he'd fixated on something. Before their 'time together', Wren had definitely appreciated his masculinity. Chiselled jaw line, piercing eyes and biceps that tightened appreciatively beneath his lab coat. "Oh, how much of a mistake that was... She thought, her body cringing.

It was difficult for Wren to hate the man, because he didn't know what he was. Gordon had shown no awareness to the fact that his aura was fragmented, something that was unique to mutants. She had tried to reason with him, tried to coerce him into coming close enough so that she could touch him. Of course he hadn't fallen for it, he accused her of trying to trick him. While she had been trying to trick him into coming within touching distance, if really was for his own good.

Gordon hadn't used his abilities, so she hoped that beneath his illness was a man willing to redeem himself. That was the fun side to being a mutant, you were able to guess what the powers of the other mutants were. She could have definitely used somebody like that to help her, he had a wealth of knowledge and he wasn't bad to look at either.

Wren placed a lone strand of hair behind her ear and adjusted her knitted sock hat. Her hands sunk into the pockets of her Abercrombie hoodie and she rocked back and forth on the heels of her Chucks. She really had no idea where she was going.

Every so often she'd stop to assess the auras in the vicinity but most of the time she came up short. Mutants were smart enough to stay out of sight during the day, probably because many of them didn't have full control over their abilities yet.

Wren on the other hand seemed to have grasped a handle on her abilities from the onset. They had never disobeyed her and allowed her to walk freely amongst the general public.

Ever since she was little, Wren knew that there was something a little different about her. She was able to vibrate her molecules at varying speeds, allowing her to do more. She could pass through solid objects, render somebody paralysed with pain and even negate the abilities of another mutant through touch.

It was safe to say that these had gotten her out of many scrapes, especially when field agents had managed to find her. "Excuse me.." Wren turned at the sound of a voice, it was deep and pulled her from her thoughts.

"Yes?" Wren looked towards the man that was considerably taller than she was and smiled. As always, she vibrated her body and realised that he had an aura. It was a pulsating Orange, covering the length of his body. The colour in the sunlight was even brighter, flowing around his body like the Northern Lights.

He appeared to be very athletic and was wearing a leather jacket, which made him stick out like a sore thumb in this heat. His jaw and cheekbones were much defined and there appeared a gym bag slung over his shoulder.

"I'm Carter, I was wondering if you could help me, I'm looking for the hospital. There was a--" Wren looked past the shoulders of the stranger and noticed several men climbing out of SUV. They were all donning the same black suit and glasses. Inconspicuous as always...

Out of nowhere, Carter grabbed a hold of Wren's wrist and began running. She didn't attempt to disengage his grip but as they ran into the nearest alleyway, they glanced at one another. "Sorry about that, I think--"

Wren interrupted him. "Don't worry, I thought they were after me. I guess they're after both of us." He raised an eyebrow and turned his head slightly, a look of confusion plastering his face.

"You're a--"

"Yes, I am. But I think we should save this conversation for another time." Wren pulled him towards the eroded brick wall and took a deep breath. She felt her body begin to vibrate and then pulled herself and Carter through. They ended up in an empty storage room and they relaxed.

"That.. was.. awesome." Carter said through deep breaths, they were both out of breath after running. "Thanks." Wren muttered as she sat down and crossed her legs. "We better wait here until it's safe."

Layla Frankson | Her home

She watched her mom as she fled from the house after making sure she looked perfect.

Her words were replaying in Layla’s head ‘I know what I’m doing,’ she sounded so sure, so confident, too sure, too confident. Shaking her head Layla put her empty cereal bowl in the sink. ‘So sure of what?’ she wondered.

She wished she didn't have to think about these things, that she could break through all of this, well, nonsense. It was like gibberish to her what her mother was talking about. Mutants? In this world? Was that even possible? It seemed crazy, insane. But then her father--she slammed down the thought and hadn't realized she also had slammed down her hand. Scaring herself with the sound of her hand hitting the sink.

She moved away from her position there and walked towards the living room. ‘I just need to relax’ she thought. She was in one of those, well, uncomfortable moods, as she called them. Whenever she was like that she didn't want to think. She didn't want to go to anywhere, she just wanted to be alone.

Arriving in the living room she sat on their white couch and turned on the TV. “Good Morning, we have your news at the top of the hour, two people have been missing from Madison High...” she shut it off. “Why does mom always leave the news channel on?” she murmured feeling annoyed. She put the remote down and decided to go to her room and just sleep. She could sleep the day away. As she was heading up the stairs her home phone rang. She went back down to get it.

“Hey, Layla! Well, you know it’s still early summer, so do you wanna hang out?” Layla sighed, it was one of her old friends. She wouldn't ever agree to it in this situation but she was desperate. She had no other idea’s of how to spend her day.

“Where would we go?” her voice was slightly frustrated, but her friend knew she was considering.

“The boardwalk, near the beach! Janell’s coming and we’re thinking of taking a walk and getting food to eat,” Layla kept silent, not knowing what to say. She did like taking a walk, it kind of freed her. But taking a walk with two people her age, she wasn't sure she would enjoy it. “Come on Lay! Just this once break through it and do something fun!”

Layla laughed lightly. Fun. What was that? Everyone had their own definition of it, and for her it usually involved being free, and being free usually involved, just being. She liked walking, but just the act of it, the fact that her body was moving. The fact that she was able to be. It was a nice experience for her. She had always wanted to do something serious with movement such as climb mount Everest, or go bungee jumping, or even something as freeing as skydiving. “Layla, you’re wasting my money!” her friend complained.

“Okay, give me a moment, I’ll be there,” she told her, and then hung up. She immediately regretted it.

Jimmy Connors--The Circuit Breaker Electrical Repair Shop

He stared intently through the jeweler's lens, minutely examining the guts of the digital watch that lay dismembered on the desk in front of him. He sighed and brushed his hair back from his sweaty face. The infernal heat. The watch was obviously not well taken care of. The tiny circuits were badly corroded and there was rust on the outer casing. Jimmy pushed his chair back from the desk and regarded the watch. People were just so careless with their possessions. Leaning back towards the watch, a single drop of sweat slid off of his forehead and landed in the mess inside the device. Great.

Jimmy groaned and got to his feet, stretching. The Circuit Breaker was a tiny shop, with barely enough room for the work desk and the supply shelves. Truth be told, it didn't look much like an electrical repair shop, but it was his and everyone in the neighborhood knew that he was the best. Jimmy Connors could fix anything, so long as it had wires and circuits. He had to admit, though, this watch was troubling him. It wasn't that he couldn't fix it. That was never a question. He knew exactly how, but it would take a lot of energy moving in the wrong direction and it would exhaust him. Still, it had to be done, so he might as well get on with it.

Sighing again, Jimmy pushed past his uncomfortable wooden work chair and pulled a key from his back pocket. Walking to the nondescript door at the very back of the shop, he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. He flicked on the lights, illuminating an extremely small space. A few cardboard boxes were pushed against the right wall, and at the very back was a circuit box. It was open and the panel of switches was torn off, leaving an untamed nest of wires protruding from the box. Copper gleamed in the dim light from the overhead lightbulb. The box was on a separate system from the main circuit breaker of the building, mostly so that Jimmy wouldn't short out everyone's power when he did what he was about to do.

Taking a deep breath, Jimmy grasped a handful of wires in his right hand and held them tightly. Immediately he felt a surge of electrons entering his system, surging through his cells, nerves and skin. It felt as if he had just drunk twenty cups of coffee. He gripped the wires for a full fifteen seconds, until he could take no more. Then, feeling wide awake, he released them, and turned off the light, locking the door behind him. The power surge was still pulsing through his body, looking for anyway out. His left eye twitched.

Sitting back down at his desk, he examined the watch again. He'd done this once before, entirely by accident. Last year, another mutant, an uber-genius, had explained it to him: Jimmy was essentially a primitive (or, depending on how you looked at it, advanced) galvanic cell, a battery. There were extremely high concentrations of zinc and copper in his skin and high concentrations of copper and zinc sulfate in his blood, all of them exchanging electrons and anions, allowing him to essentially conduct electricity. To fix the corroded circuits in the watch, he would need to transfer electrons and anions to the zinc and copper in the watch, which would, in effect, "uncorrode" the device. The only problem was, that wasn't how such a reaction was supposed to go. The universe favored entropy, chaos, unbecoming, and so it would take a massive amount of energy to make the reaction go in the opposite direction.

Closing his eyes once more, Jimmy concentrated on accessing the electrical energy that was coursing through his body. A minuscule spark appeared on the tip of his right index finger, flickering in a blue-white light. Carefully, Jimmy lowered his finger to the watch, and the spark leapt from his skin and into the electronics. Soon, a flow of sparks were pouring into the watch, and the circuits and wires were reforming before his eyes. After about ten minutes, the watch suddenly turned on, it's internal workings now as good as new. Jimmy slumped in the chair. His whole body was drenched in sweat, his hands were shaking, he was voraciously hungry, and the old burn scar was throbbing. Jimmy rubbed a hand across his face. He was not going to be doing that again anytime soon. Shaking his hair out of his face, he quickly filled out a Work Finished slip for the watch and slid it into a little tray with the other finished devices and gadgets that clients still had to pick up. Then, pulling on his long leather coat, despite the heat, he put up the CLOSED sign on the door, and stepped out to get some lunch.

*****

Walking back from the small, beach-side cafe, hands deep in his pockets, Jimmy crossed the empty street. His shop was not in the best part of the city, but it was all that he could afford to rent right now. And anyway, as long as he was careful...

A figure stepped out from the shadows of a large dumpster in an alley and approached him. The man was wearing a large coat, and his hand was clutching something under it.

"Can I help you?" Jimmy muttered, stopping and raising an eyebrow. A sneering grin split the man's unshaven face.

"Hand over your wallet," he snarled, "And the coat. I'm in need of a replacement."

So saying, the man pulled out a thick steel bar and waved it under Jimmy's nose. He didn't move.

"And if I don't?" Jimmy said quietly. The man's grin widened.

"Then," he said, "Things get fun."

He raised the steel bar and brought it crashing into Jimmy's chest. But Jimmy had been ready. He grunted in pain, but did not fall back, did not move at all. The man looked at him, nonplussed.

"Bad move," Jimmy smiled and, his actions enhanced with the energy from the steel bar, punched the man in the stomach. The mugger was taken off of his feet, falling in a wheezing heap on the street. Jimmy picked up the steel bar and threw it into the dumpster before quickly looking around to see if anyone had seen what had just happened. It didn't look like it, but you never knew. Popping the collar up on his coat, Jimmy picked up his pace and continued to his shop.

Layla | At the beach/boardwalk

Layla tried not to roll her eyes at her two friends discussion on who had better shoes, or which guy was hotter than the next one. In truth they weren’t that shallow, Layla had seen even more shallow people in her lifetime. It was just summer, there was nothing to pull them down to earth, they could be free to talk about whatever they wanted, even if it didn’t really make sense. She was partially glad about it though considering the fact that she didn’t want to join in with them. And when they were like this she usually could escape joining the conversation.

She twirled her usually messy hair and tried to walk under building’s shadows on the boardwalk, trying her best to avoid the burning sun. She was sure it was just getting hotter and hotter each year; if it continued this way she would have to move, she thought brushing some hair from her mouth. The only positive of coming to this area near the beach was the healthy breeze that blew towards them. On this particular day there were a lot of people passing by, and going places, she watched them. Some of them were rushing like they had somewhere to be, while other’s like she was and her friends, were just walking and taking their time. She wondered suddenly what they were thinking. What was their purpose being there on the street. Did they even have one? She liked noticing the connections between different lives and why they happened.

She knew she was suppose to be friends with her friends, she was helping them to see life at a different angle, whenever she wasn’t too pissed to do so that is. She knew that she was suppose to have her mother as her mother. Even though she sometimes envied and hated her air and ways, she also knew that her mother often helped her break her shell, or fix her problems. She knew many things about her position in life, and what she thought about. She figured she was so interested in people because of her past, and how she wasn’t able to communicate with the world until she was ten. At that moment, in her current state, it frightened her to think she had spent that many years not sure of what she was doing, kind of in a still and empty state. But was that meant to be to? At times she longed to know what it would be like to be in that state again. Her mind completely cleared.

“Let’s go to Bell’s!” Janell suggested suddenly, bringing Layla into the conversation. Bell’s was a small cafe at the end of the street. They went there most often and so did most of those in that area, it was very popular. Macy, Layla’s other friend and the one who had called her, agreed that they should. Layla shrugged and was pulled towards the direction. The cafe was fortunately not filled to the brim with people like it so easily could be. Layla actually wondered where everyone was. They found a seat and ordered their food. The surrounding was cozy and nice. It helped Layla just be while her friends were eating and chatting. They attempted, even coly to bring her into their conversations but she rejected. She wasn’t comfortable talking and she didn’t want to blow up at them. But she enjoyed being where she was. Then the lights flickered above her a bit and she naturally looked up, there were some nats above them. She sighed, those poor insects she thought. Looking for the sun and going to a lightbulb, looking for freedom yet stuck in reality.

She wanted to leave. She noticed out of the corner of her eye someone leaving the cafe. She noticed the person because he was wearing a leather coat in the massive heat. She watched as he tried not to make any sound closing the door, he didn’t really want to be noticed. This interested her, why would someone go through such lengths not to be noticed. Well, in honesty there were many such reasons. They could be someone who didn’t like interacting with people, someone who had some kind of illness, someone who was a spy, and the list went on. The only problem was the list wouldn’t go on very much further for her; she had no idea why someone would do that to themselves. She stood. Her friends looked at her liked she was crazy.

“Hey, um, I’m going to get some fresh air. I need to breathe.” she gave them a small smile.

“Sure take as much time as you need, but come right back here! Oh, and promise us you won’t run away like last time,” Layla laughed, she shook her head.

“I won’t,” she told them. She was then officially allowed to leave. She hurried to the door and opened it, she was somewhat excited, but she had no idea what she was doing.



The streets were dimming around her, her throat was closing in. What had she just seen? What had she just seen?! Her mind was swirling. All she had doubted in her life, all the possibilities and all the wonders and all the stunning insanities. Was just then displayed before her eyes. She had seen, a person, a human being, get hit by a steel bar and not fall, not move back, and from her angle she didn't even see him wince. And still have the force to throw an abnormally strong punch towards a man, landing him on the floor. Her eyes had widened, her mouth parted slightly. All the possibilities she had shut down came flooding towards her in those few moments.

She had watched him then look around and pop his collar as he walked away. She stopped watching him after a few seconds. She was walking herself, nowhere in particular but just so that she wouldn't draw the person any attention. She was glad the streets were filled with people walking their own way, and not even bothering to look at the shadows of an alleyway. She didn't think anyone else witnessed what she did. For everyone else was going about their lives normally, while she was shocked to the bone.

Her mind went to all that her mother had been telling her, all that her father had asked if she could do. She didn't want to think on these things. For three years she’s been avoiding it, for three years she didn't want to think about anything regarding those topics, but the thoughts came, unwanted, and they flooded her system. They even questioned her, they dared to accuse her. ‘You could be one too,’

“No!” she found herself screaming out loud, surprising not only herself but those around her. She walked quickly away from the people, slowing down when she noticed she was more on her own. It couldn't be, she told herself. It was just all a joke. It was a play! They were probably one of those street actors practicing and she caught it. She tried to calm down. After breathing for a while, she straightened herself up and walked back to the cafe.

“Everything alright?” Macy asked when she rejoined them at the table. She smiled and nodded.

“Fine,” she lied, looking up at the light. It was still flickering.

So many things. S-So many things to do before she returns.. Gordon was swivelling around on his stall repeatedly. It helped him to think, the blur of his surroundings. Fast movement was almost as comforting to him as inflicting pain.

Gordon's lab was spotless. It was cleaned routinely, he didn't want Trouble returning home to a mess. The stall stopped turning and he rapidly looked through the pages of his clipboard. To the average person they wouldn't have made any sense, the lines, the half finished sentences. But to him, they meant everything.

His research was finally heading in the right direction, but he wished Bishop would stop hassling him. Doesn't she know that the insane are the worst enemies? He chuckled to himself and slid his glasses up his nose.

Gordon's eyes moved swiftly over his notes, so fast that it was impossible to read a full sentence before he turned the page. He already knew everything he'd written since he had a photographic memory. That wasn't the point, he wanted to appear normal. He wanted to be like everyone else, maybe then, Trouble would return his love.

There was nothing that bonded two people more than the essence of pain. Goosebumps forming underneath the cold metal of a knife. His whole body tensed at the delicious thought, he sighed and grinned.

"Yes, yes... She'll be back." Gordon reached for the only picture frame on his main work desk and brushed his fingers against the glass. It was a picture he'd taken of his Trouble, the magnificent centrepiece of his research.

He had been working for Medi. Co for at least a year now. 10 months of preparing everything and perfecting his experiments. Then two months ago, he'd received the perfect gift. Good things come to those who wait.. Wren Hope, a remarkable mutant was delivered to him in everything but a bow. Her DNA, her molecular structure and the look of fear in her eyes when he began the experiments. Gordon all but passed out when he'd analysed her molecules whilst she was using her ability, they moved at inhumane speeds and she could control it.

Gordon spent the majority of his day fantasising about Wren, she had been exquisite. That's why he was crushed when he'd learnt of her kidnap. There's no way she would love us.. me.. She belongs here.. He clapped his hands together briefly and then got to his feet.

He looked at the metallic clock on the far wall and realised that it was just past midday. This was his favourite part of everyday, the only thing stopping him from murdering every single person in the building.

He walked over to the operating table and ran his fingertips across the cold metal. He took a deep breath and then closed his eyes, imagining the contours of Wren's body. Every little detail he could remember he visualised. Then once he opened them, it was as if she was sitting there right in front of him.

"What's up?" Wren was sitting on the table, her knee-high socks tucked neatly into her motorcycle boots. They were more GQ than Dog the Bounty Hunter. She smiled brightly and edged forwards. There was the faint thud of leather hitting the tiled floor and Gordon smiled.

"Hello, Trouble." Gordon placed a hand on the side of her face and let out a sigh. That's when he saw Bishop's assistant running past the open door, splats of coffee following in her wake.

He walked to the open doorway and Wren followed him, skipping idly. "Let's look around." She whispered, bending down so that she stick her head under his arm to see. "I-I-I don't think that's a good idea. Bishop could see you."

Wren laughed and rolled her eyes, "Bishop can't see me, remember?" Gordon couldn't help but nod in reply, he was mesmerised. Stepping into the hallway and looking to his left and then right, he felt the small girl jump onto his back.

"Let's go.. this way." Wren pointed towards the right and Gordon obeyed. There didn't seem to be many people around but anyone would be a fool to believe they were alone. Every inch of the building was monitored by CCTV, step out of line even a little and somebody would know.

After an immeasurable amount of time, Wren suddenly started tapping his shoulders. "Stop!" Gordon abruptly stopped his quick pace and felt her slide off of him, it saddened him.

He watched intently as Wren walked up to a glass window and placed a hand on it. "What're they doing to him?" Gordon couldn't tell if she was crying or not, but her voice had gone quiet; there was no trace of the happy-go-lucky-girl he'd seen moments ago.

"Experiments. They're trying to discover what makes him tick, just like I did with you."

"But they aren't being nice." There were three men all dressed in lab coats circling him, they each had a clipboard and were assessing a different part of his body. The small girl winced as the teenager let out a scream, it was deep and ear splitting.

"Gordon." The scientist immediately looked over his shoulder and saw Bishop standing there, her hands on her hips. "Back to work." Gordon clenched his jaw and looked back into the operating room. See you tomorrow.. Wren's whisper faded quickly and he clenched his fists; she was gone. He'd get Bishop for this, either that or he'd get someone else to do it for him.

Ezri Grey | (mostly hallways of) Medi-Co
*

Coffee, two sugars, no diary. Make sure it’s soy milk and not too much, either. I like my coffee strong.

She kept repeating those words in her head, over and over again, hearing them in Mrs Bishop's voice, as she more or less ran from Lab Five. She didn't turn nor stop, knowing the Boss would glance after her and how she probably wouldn't be too happy to see Ezri seeming too interested in her work.

That's good, she reminded herself. That means that Bishop knows nothing.

Ezri stopped as she turned the corner, checking the cameras, reaching for her back pocket. She took out a piece of paper, with a small, more or less human figure drawn on it.

Lab Five, she said to it, glancing at the hallway she just came from. And then follow Mrs Bishop wherever she goes, even if she's with me. She watched the inkman creep away, keeping to shadows, and sighed before running off again.

She entered the cafeteria, that fairly small place which some employees actually used in their free time - Ezri could do nothing but wonder what free time even was - and put the papers she carried on a table, sighing as her phone buzzed. She only used that phone for one thing; to it, she's redirected the calls that arrived to the office, and she sometimes wondered if that was such a good idea.

"Mrs Bishop's office," she said, answering it, trying to ignore the feeling in her stomach as she noticed a group of people entering. The voice on the other side said something about appointments, and she checked a small notebook, running her finger down the long list of names. "I'm sorry, there's hardly time to breathe today.." she found an empty line. "I can write you down for tomorrow, before lunch break." She'll be thrilled. "Will that work?"

She hung up, running her fingers through her hair as she glanced over to the group that entered earlier. There was six of them, all in lab coats, most likely on a break, and Ezri winced as two more women walked through the door.

Breaks..why can't they spend those in their offices? She hoped none of them would come too close, as she signaled the woman by the coffee machine, and then licked her lips as the woman turned around. Alright.. As much as she knew, she had around three minutes - there was something admirable in how quickly coffee could be made in that place - so she dug out another notebook, smaller and with black covers, turning the pages until she reached the one with small drawings.

They were humans, more or less, though perhaps more resembled bugs if one didn't take a close enough look. Glancing around, watching for the cameras, Ezri slid her finger over the page, smiling a bit for herself as the drawings moved. The next second, ink separated from the paper, and tiny two-dimensional men walked to stand on the table and look up at her.

She considered sending another one after Bishop, just in case the first one decided to be a rebel or something happened to it, but then changed her mind, putting her palm over them all. Come up, I might need you later. For a moment, she felt tingling - the next moment, as she looked at her hand, she seemed to have a row of little figures tattooed on her forearm. She smiled, putting her sleeve down, as the woman brought her the coffee.

Ezri checked the clock. It's been nine minutes since she's been sent to get it. I wonder if she thinks I make that coffee myself..

She got up, rearranging the papers so she managed to keep them all in one hand, sticking the PDA in her pocket and balancing with the coffee for a second, then frowning as her gaze fell on the filled cafeteria and people chatting all around. Just worm your way out and breathe, Ez. They won't touch you.
*

Ezri did her best to pretend she payed no attention as she passed Doctor Benson's Lab, rushing to get that coffee to Boss. She didn't really care to do it - as far as she was concerned, Mrs Bishop was more than capable of getting her own coffee, and walking to the mere mortals in the cafeteria wouldn't kill her - but she needed to keep the job. Being Bishop's Personal Assistant, not only did she get to peek into every appointment and note she makes, and get to know her schedule better than Bishop knew it herself, but also to wander around the facility, knowing no one would really dare to ask her what's she doing wherever they'd catch her.

Like this place, she thought for a second, stopping as she heard the footsteps, taking the longer but less crowded way back to Lab Five as a pair of men debating of something passed next to her. For a moment, she let herself stop, breathing deeply in the empty hallway.
People. Medi-Co was hardly as crowded as she imagined it to be, she knew that well enough, yet she couldn't help imagining accidently brushing against someone as she walked, or someone in a hurry touching her shoulder to make her move, and she shivered. The last time someone did that, she lost control over her powers and appeared twenty miles farther, along with that person's arm still touching her shoulder. She remembered very well, just shrugging it off and letting it fall to the ground. Dead people, or parts of living people, they were nothing special - but she felt dizzy at a mere thought of feeling another person's warm skin against hers, someone's heartbeats mixing with her own..

Sudden passing of Dr Benson snapped Ezri from her thoughts, and she licked her lips to calm herself down, thinking about him instead of herself. She could hardly tell she knew much about him - just as herself, he was also rushed by Bishop to do whatever she happened to want him to do, and Ezri wouldn't feel like starting any kind of conversation anyway, but she couldn't deny he was interesting. From what she knew, from various spies she'd been planting in his laboratory and around it, perhaps more interesting than he wanted to admit. Several times, she tried to find out more about what exactly kinds of research was he doing - but he cleaned his Lab often enough to get rid of all her spies, and more than once she wondered if he had some kind of fear of any kind of dirt.
Who is even that tidy? The pages of his papers were clean, without a place for an inkdrop to walk on, his instruments had no blood, not even dust left on them, there wasn't even a place for a bug to hide and see anything - it was one of the challenges for her and her powers. She ended up making a paper crane, and sending it to fly in and then unfold itself, hiding as a paper in one of the notebooks. She hasn't yet heard of it, meaning it was either still spying or burnt and destroyed, but she knew it was only a matter of time before Dr Benson would find it. Just like Bishop, though in a whole different way, he was an interesting person, and Ezri found herself wondering if he'd ever talk about his experiments.

Don't, she warned herself, walking on. You don't want to see whatever kinds of experiments they're doing. You don't want to hear about them, not more than you need to pass the informations on, and you certainly don't want to get engaged in them. In any way. For a moment, she imagined herself in a labcoat, with a sublect on the table. I could do whatever I'd like, and not like I'd even have to touch them.. She shook her head slightly. No. Stop thinking like that.

She kept talking to herself until she she reached Lab Five, just to hear Mrs Bishop sending Dr Benson back where he came from. He didn't look happy.

Handing the coffee to her Boss, watching as Bishop tasted it to check if it was as requested, Ezri let one of the inkmen creep down her hand and her leg, and rush like a spider after the scientist. One more spy can't hurt..
***

Ashley Campbell | Abandoned Warehouse:

Jos didn’t reply to the question she sent him, but Ash wasn’t surprised. Bal was thinking about food before he was focused on the tampons Jos had picked up. She snickered. That’s what had Jos distracted, the embarrassment of picking those up and having been seen doing so. She was hardly surprised. Her brother did tend to do stupid things sometimes. And Eva. Eva was embarrassed, Ash noted as she rolled towards the edge of the mattress and climbed to her feet. She’d had a killer headache this morning, thanks to her stupid abilities, so she’d gone out to find something to block them out with for a few hours. It hadn’t quite worked. For some reason, she burned through it like crazy. It had barely lasted an hour once she got back. Thankfully, she’d fallen asleep before the emotions and the thoughts buzzing about her and in her head could distract her. Now it was back, full force with an edge of murkiness that always came with waking up after a high.

Ash bit her lip as she rummaged around the room for her boots. She was sure she’d kicked them off in her. While she was looking, Ash kept tabs on the other room. They were talking again, and she couldn’t quite make it out, but she did make out the fact that Bal was amused while Jos had backed away from Eva. Had Eva told him off? She tried to focus on Eva but couldn’t. The heat wasn’t helping either, even if it was cooler here than out in the other room. Finally, she found her boots and pulled them on, stumbling over towards the mirror leaning against the wall by the door and glancing in. She grimaced. Her hair was a mess and there was a bit of mascara smudged below her left eyes. She rubbed at it for a moment before giving up. At least it wasn’t all over her face like the last time she’d gotten high and passed out. She shook her head to try and tame her hair before heading out into the other room.

“--don’t know why she does it,” Jos was saying, or rather, muttering, before he turned towards her and noticed she was up. “Oh, hey Ash. I was just about to come in and drag you out.”

She glared at him, heading straight over to the shopping bags and groceries sitting on the bench. “Coffee?” she asked, not bothering to say hello. Bal’s somewhat cheerful emotions were setting her teeth on edge. Jos indicated a jar sitting on the bench near their one and only, mostly busted kettle. She nodded her thanks and shuffled over to it, digging through the pile of dishes nearby to find a reasonably clean cup and spoon before turned back to the kettle and the jar of coffee. While she set about getting her coffee sorted, she listened to the others more subdued conversation. Mostly Eva telling Jos to look at what he’s picking up if he doesn’t want to pick up tampons. Ash blinked and glanced about at them. “Tampons? Do I even want to know?”

Jos cut them off before they could reply. “Nope, not ever.”

Ash shook her head and turned back to the kettle, flipping the switch to turn it on. They were lucky to find this place, especially with the bench and sink and actual power. She was glad. If they’d had to spend one more night in the old place, she didn’t know what she might of done. It was far too close to a hospital and for Ash, hospitals were the worst for her. All those emotions, the fear, the death, the hope, the pain. It gave her headache, or worse. Ash hoped she’d never end up near so many emotions again. And that was just what she was picking up with her Empathy, nevermind the telepathy! She smiled when the conversation picked up again and Jos stammered something about going back to his magazine. Ash didn’t bother to look at him, leaning against the bench instead to wait on her coffee. She thanked Bal when he handed her the skim milk she had asked for earlier.

Ari Partridge | The Market

Ari licked her lips nervously as she peered out from the dirty and wet alleyway wall. She rubbed her hands together and felt a slight breeze comb through her dark brown hair and snagging through the knots. Ari’s hair fluttered in front of her eyes, blocking the view of the market for a few moments before she reached up to push it back again, stuffing it back into her baker cap once more.

Up ahead, a few metres away was the mile long market. The smells of fresh food wafted through the air towards Ari as the fingers of temptation slowly began to wrap themselves around her. Her stomach growled, sounding almost deafening above the calls from the stall holders.

Ari’s heart hammered in her chest, thudding painfully against her ribcage and her hands trembled from the fear of being caught. If she was caught, Ari knew that she would be captured by the government. She’d seen it before: a young boy who she’d become friendly with was caught after stealing from one of the stalls and had used his powers in an attempt to defend himself. Only God had known what had happened to him, if He was even there at all.

Ari dug her hand into one of her pockets and drew it out with a few cents in the palm of her hand. Still, it wasn’t enough to buy even a few small scraps for her to survive on. The coins clinked together as Ari started down at them, studying them. She’d never fully grasped the concept of American currency and missed the familiar British pounds and pennies.

Britain. Home.

She wiped away the tears with the back of her other hand before they even had the chance to roll down her grimy cheeks. The dirt came away on the back of Ari’s hand, leaving a smear of cleanliness on her face. A stronger gust of wind howled through the alleyway, almost blowing off Ari’s baker cap but leaving her untouched. Ari let out a string of curse words and closed her eyes, rubbing her eyelids with her fingertips as she concentrated. As quickly as it had begun, it finished.

Ari took a deep breath in and blew it out slowly though her mouth to reassure herself. Then she began to gradually shuffle towards the market, keeping one of her hands pressed against one of the alleyway’s grimy walls. With each step she took, Ari’s confidence grew in her chest like a blossoming flower.

Ari joined the constant flow of the crowd of the market, becoming just another one of the many street urchins that roamed near the food stalls. She was cautious to not stand near the food stalls, something that she had learned on one of her first days at this market. The owners would swipe at any urchins who looked as if they would nick any of their goods. The first time it’d happened, Ari had felt a stinging slap against the back of her head – delivered by one of the stallholders – before receiving a torrent of abuse. Ari had run after that, run as if her life had depended upon it. After that, Ari had learned to never stand near one of the food stalls again unless she wanted attention drawn towards her.

Stealing became easy after a good few years’ worth of practice. You had to have a deft and quick upper hand that could pinch the desired goods before you were caught red handed, and the ability to vanish into thin air easily and quickly. Ari could do both of these. But it was the pickpocketing that was the hardest. Unlike pinching goods from stalls, you had to be sly and cunning and the risk of being caught and shipped off to the government was far greater. Not only that, the victim had to be oblivious to the situation and distracted. You also had to be quick and clever, using a range of techniques so that the victim couldn’t feel your hand digging through their pocket.

Ari slowly walked along, her hands wedged firmly in her short pockets and her head down as to not draw attention to herself. She peeked out through the corners of her eyes, looking out for any opportunities to snatch food from one of the stalls. She spotted one of the stallholders - a fat little old lady who wore a greasy pink dress - standing behind her stall with a wooden spoon gripped firmly in one of her hands, a weapon to fend off any brave children who dared to pinch any of her goods. Her piggy eyes stared at any nearby people, regardless of their ages, her gaze hard and cold. Ari felt the sudden urge to steal one of this woman’s goods but she stamped it down. She knew it wasn’t worth risking her life for a small stunt that would involve the government and possibly her own death.

Then she saw her chance.

One of the stalls was unguarded by its owner who, although stood behind it, kept no eye upon his stock, instead chattering to his friend who stood beside him, laughing. Ari stopped in her tracks, her mouth watering and her stomach snarling like a starving lion. She stared at the food, taking in the variety: fruit, veg, meat and even hot pies! Ari glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then at the stallholder and his friend. She was good to go.

Ari’s hand shot out, grabbing one of the foods before she ran, blending into the crowd before the man could even scream “Thief!”

She ran as fast as she could, as far away from the stall as possible, hoping that no one had seen her. Ari ducked into one of the alleyways and found a good hiding place before she collapsed against a grimy wall, her breaths coming in short, ragged gasps.

Ari looked down at her hand and slowly opened it to find that she’d stolen an apple. Her eyes widened. Even though it wasn’t much it was better than nothing. She brought it to her mouth and bit into it, the sound of the apple crunching sharp in the alleyway. A crisp sweetness flooded through her mouth, a miraculous feeling after so many days of not eating. Ari closed her eyes as the juice ran down the sides of her mouth. Wind joyfully danced around her, teasing through her knotted hair, forever reminding her of her cursed gift.

Aria Lazarus - Outside of the warehouse - "Are you dead or something?"

I was outside in the cool night air finally happy to be free of the warehouse heat on the inside. I couldn't see anything, no one was around and I was as blind as a bat when no one else was around. I kept my hand along the, what I would guess is, hard concert wall and didn't dare to stray from it as I enjoyed the air.

"Wow it's nice out here once the sun finally goes down," I said to no one in particular.

"Yeah isn't it?" I heard a female voice.

I spun around giving a small yelp quickly looking for the person who had said that, until I finally saw a pulsating royal blue aura and a second orange aura. The orange aura was bigger than the royal blue aura, I would have to guess the Royal Blue was a woman, and the orange a guy.

"Don't scare me like that!" I nearly yelled.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to sneak up on you like that," said the masculine orange aura.

"Okay, so who are you two?" I asked.

I heard a gasp then, I saw a falter in her aura, it went dark, not dark is in black, but as if it wasn't there anymore. Then a second later, it began to flow again.

"Are you dead or something?" the woman asked.

"Dead? I'll have you know I am quiet alive," I said slightly annoyed by her comment.

"I can't see your Aura with my ability, it's as if your dead or something," she said.

I had no aura? that was weird, I looked at my hand, I could never see my own aura. But that's when I did see it. A bright yellow glow appeared around my hand, I looked at the rest of my body and saw I was covered in Gold aura. That, was neat.

"I think you should try again, cause I'm seeing my own aura now," I said.

Then it happened again, her aura disappears for a moment, then the next it reappears, her words were something of a shock and awe.

"I've never seen an aura like that before, your is aura is pure gold!" she said.

I nodded, "I read that Gold Aura means I am being guided by the highest good, with divine protection, honestly I'm surprised, I am not a good person," I said.

"If you weren't then your aura would be black and not gold," she said.

"Listen, I hate to interrupt your chat, but we need somewhere to stay for the night, you know anywhere we can?" the guy asked.

"Inside the warehouse to my right, a guy named Balthazar sort of runs a shelter, you could ask him if you could stay, tell him Aria sent you," I said.

"Thanks, see you later I guess?" the girl asked.

"Only if you tell me your name," I said.

"Oh, I'm Wren and this is Carter,"

"Nice to meet you," Carter said.

"Aria, nice to meet you," I said.

They walked past me and down the street until the auras disappeared into the doorway of the warehouse, and they would soon meet Balthazar.