“No, actually. I was having lunch.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know my sister has already brought you food.”

“She just left. You didn’t see her walk out?”

“No.”

Liar.

“I just wanted to tell you that we’ll be having a meeting and I would like for you to join us.”

“Why?”

“Because it would be in your interest.”

I hesitated to give him an answer, but I eventually accepted. Perhaps he uncovered something about my brother or a lead to his location, at least.

“Good. Tonight, you’ll officially meet the rest of the team. Please keep your temper in check, alright?”

“Of course.” I said with an angelic face, that I could have bet it didn’t fool him in the slightest.

Just as planned.

He watched me carefully, before sighing.

“I trust you, Mia. Don’t let me down this time, ok?”

“And I trust you to not emotionally blackmail me.”

“I would never do such a thing.”

“Oh, no? Really? Because it seems to me, like you just did.”

“Would be possible for you to stop being so hard-headed?”

“Look, if I’m going to be a good girl, I’ll do it because I want to. Not because you asked me. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to enjoy my lunch.”

“Ok, thank you. Bon appetite.” He said with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

“Mhm. Bye-bye.”

The food didn’t look so appetizing anymore, but I ate it anyway. Thinking about the meeting, I realized it gave me a heavy dose of anxiety. I didn’t want to meet Selena and her two asshole friends again. But I could see how it was necessary, since I was sure Alexander must have something important to tell us, regarding the current situation of our world.

It truly seemed like most of my problems started with Alexander and I couldn’t be any pissed off by that. One day, I will gain so much power, that no one will be able to make me behave, just because their version of politeness is different from mine.

The next few hours passed by slowly and I was bored enough to go on to the balcony and start counting the flowers and trees, from the garden. It didn’t help with the boredom. At all.

An eternity later, someone finally knocked on my door and I found myself hoping it was Andrea.

“Come in!”

“Hey. I came to bring you a dress, so you’d have something to wear at the meeting.” Andrea said.

Success!

Wait… what?

“What’s wrong with this dress?” I said, pointing to the dress I was currently wearing.

“Nothing. I just wanted to bring you a new one. Plus, this one is more suitable for your back.”

“…meaning?”

“Oh my God, Mia! It’s just a backless dress, which should give your wound better protection from perspiration, since the weather out there is hotter than being in an oven.” She started rambling.

“Ok, ok. Calm down. I will wear it. You want me to make a good impression, huh?” I said, switching from being paranoid to joking around.

She rolled her eyes, exasperated.

I put on the steamy white dress and found it was quite beautiful and cozy, actually. She brushed my hair, before making it all messy on purpose, draping all of it on my left side, letting it flow down on my shoulder, until it was close to my navel. I had to admit, I was looking… pretty! And summerish. I couldn’t remember when was the last time I looked into a mirror. Final sentence was, I liked it.

“Mia. You’re gorgeous! I’m damn serious, right now.”

“Thank you.” I managed a smile. “Now let’s go, I’m getting anxious.”

“You don’t have to. Just relax.”

The meeting room was on the ground floor and it was enormous. A table with what looked like twenty seats, a projector and a number laptops and documents sitting around on the table. I felt like Ken’s employee again, ready for a long-winded presentation and debate, about some new project. I missed my old and simple life. I really did.

I decided to behave flawlessly. Don’t swear, don’t be sarcastic and don’t offend anyone. Like a perfect young lady.

Yeah, good luck with that, Mia.

When Andrea and I entered the room, we found that everyone was already there, sitting in their chairs, except for Alexander. He was standing at the head of the table, talking to the others. He was even laughing. That was somewhat disconcerting to see.

When we entered, everyone’s heads turned to look at me. I tried to stay calm, with my face relaxed, yet serious. All the time this was happening, I was trying to think about what Turtle would do if, he was in my shoes and tried to apply it to myself.

It worked, somehow.

Alexander looked at me a tad longer than the others, before clearing his throat.

“Everyone, I’d like to officially introduce you to our new guest. It is my hope that she will one day become more than a guest.”

…what?!

Don’t tense, don’t swear, just keep it in!

I was sitting right next to Andrea and noticed everyone looking at us insistently.

“This is Mia. Some of you may have already met her. I’ve recently found out that she was Andrea’s best friend, in college. She’ll be staying with us, for a period of time. Mia, this is our team. You’ve already met Andrea and Andreas. Selena, Matt and Brian you’ve met in the forest, unfortunately not in the most favorable of circumstances. Turtle, you met today in the garden. As for Claude and Lauren, I believe you haven’t met them yet.”

“Hi!” Claude said.

“Hello!”

“Hi, Mia. Welcome to our team.” Lauren said smiling.

“Hi Lauren. Thank you! Nice to meet you.”

“You and Andrea are a real contrast, though very similar at the same time. Such a good painting.” She said in a trance.

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I looked at Andrea and only now noticed she was wearing a red dress, with her long red hair draped along her shoulder. In my state of anxiety, I hadn’t paid attention to this obvious detail.

Well.

“Ha-ha! Thanks, Lauren. A painting of me and Mia would make me more than happy.” Andrea said excited.

“Noted.” Lauren winked at her.

My head was already spinning from so much agitation, that I couldn’t say a word. Not that I would have, if I could.

…did I really want a painting?

“Hi! ...I’m Matt.” He said shyly. “And I’m sorry for your shoulder.”

“I’m sorry too! I kind of… helped him.” Brian said briskly, giving me a weak grin.

“Water under the bridge, guys.” I said.

The water under the bridge I’ll be drowning you in.

Selena just glanced at me, a bitchy look on her face, so I didn’t bother giving her any more attention. I just acted like she was invisible.

“Mia, would you like to meet in the garden after this meeting?” Turtle said gently.

“Oh, yes, of course.”

I looked at him in surprise. I was somewhat bewildered by his question, but also by the fact that it managed to lift my spirit high right away and made me feel better. This guy was formidable!

Alexander thoughtfully looked at us, before looking away.

“Thank you all, for the warm welcome you showed Mia. Now, let’s move on to more serious matters.” He said, turning to me.

“Mia, before we start, I would like to fill you in on some details. After the incident, the Mayor, together with a group of empowered people, created an alliance, which had the scope of investigating and revealing everything they could about Day Zero. Andreas and I are part of it. During this time, we managed to find out that a group of, what must be, highly influential people teamed up with the Minister of Defense, though the scope of it still eludes us. Judging them by their actions tells us that their purpose doesn’t seem to be a noble one, so we are trying to keep our alliance a secret.”

He stopped talking to check on me.

“I’m following you, carry on.”

“Good. These guys are hunting poor, sick and gifted people.”

I had the begging of a migraine starting to show, at hearing that.

Karl!

“In regards to the gifted people, we suspect they’re after the strongest among them. We suspect that one of their goals is to test their powers in a laboratory, learn from them and finally attempt to control them. We cannot know for sure, but creating an army, by duplicating the powers they have experimented on and injecting it in the powerless, looks like a goal they could be aiming for. As I have already told you a few days ago, the most likely final goal is the creation of their own army. So far, all the facts point to this.”

I knew I was pale and my eyes glistened over.

“My brother was kidnaped by them, wasn’t he?”

He hesitated.

“Yes, unfortunately.” He silently said.

I didn’t move, I didn’t blink. An enormous feeling of rage and hate was starting to grow, inside of me.

“Please continue.” I firmly said.

“After the incident, he was seen taken, by the soldiers from the group I had told you about. Your neighbors saw them in action.”

“…what? That’s not possible. I called them myself and they’ve told me that there was no sign of Karl. They said that only my aunt was found dead.”

“Yes, they did. This is what they do, Mia. They buy the silence of witnesses or coerce them into keeping their mouths shut. We sent our own agents in, for reconnaissance and they saw how people were roughed up, by these soldiers.”

I couldn’t believe it. All of our neighbors had been my family’s friends, since I was just a baby. My mother always helped them and treated them with kindness and respect.

Those fucking idiots!

My migraine evolved. My head was now pounding and I felt my entire body burning. My blood was boiling. The wound from my back was pulsing and I felt something wet running down on it. My muscles were clenching so hard that they made me gasp. I knew what was coming. And I also knew that, this time, the explosion of my power would be more intense and destructive than ever before.

“Mia! Calm down! Please! Please!!!” Andrea desperately screamed and begged.

“I can’t! It’s burning! I… can’t…”

I was screaming myself. I couldn’t see straight. All my being was caught up in one massive electrical flare, threatening to burst out of me.

“Everybody out!” Alexander roared. “Claude, you stay.”

My power was too strong and I knew I couldn’t control it anymore. I tried to think of my mother, of Karl and the beautiful garden, hoping that it would bring some measure of peace into my heart. I tried to focus on my breathing, but nothing was working. I could feel it. It wanted to be let out. To be free and wild, as only a storm could.

I held it in, even as it ‘begged’ me to let it out, for as much as I could. Eventually, it overpowered me and I gave in. I stopped fighting and let myself be absorbed by it.

The lightnings storm that was born around me was more intense, bright and frightening than anything I had seen in nature before. I felt like the eye of the storm.

“Claude, now!” Alexander commanded.

“Alex, her eyes-” Andrea said.

“I know! Step aside, Andrea. Claude, try to absorb as much of her power as you can. I’ll get near to her. I need contact.”

In that state, I saw someone approaching me and all my instincts were yelling at me that I was about to be attacked. They wanted to harm, to kill, to burn that person. I wasn’t thinking anymore. I was a force of nature, born to ravage endlessly.

“Claude!” Andrea screamed desperately. “Alex, she’ll kill him! Do something!”

“Claude, focus your power only on Mia. My shield will protect you. Don’t worry, I will not allow her to hurt you. Trust me and focus!” Andreas said.

My instincts, my core wanted nothing more than to evaporate that person from existence, yet I felt my power blocked by something. Something came before me and my target. I have never felt such an uncontrollable frustration before. It rose so high, that I felt my body wanting to explode. Whatever it was. Whoever it was. How DARE they!

Another part of me was screaming, losing its mind.

The person blocking my powers was now on his knees, with his nose bleeding.

“Claude, a little more. I just need a little more.” Alexander said, straining.

The resistance faded away, little by little and I was savoring it. Almost there. I was ready to kill all of them. Burn them, strike them away. With a final scream, I gathered all of my power in my fist and headed toward that annoyance on the ground.

I do not accept restraints.

Suddenly, someone gave out a scream so loud and piercing that it made even me lose my concentration.

Then everything went dark.

***

While regaining my consciousness, I felt the presence of someone in the room, with me. A room that was spinning, along with my mind. My stomach reacted to that instantly.

Ugh.

With my eyes half opened, I tried to identify the person from my room, but it was impossible. My body was placed in a very odd position. I was standing on my right side, half laying down on my face.

What happened to me? The nausea and the pain felt so much more intense than before. It was making me tremble.

Someone sat on the bed and touched my arm. The palm was light as a feather.

“You are safe. And you will be alright.”

I knew that voice. That gentle, soothing voice.

“Try to control your breathing and to focus on it. It will help you clear up your mind.”

I groaned.

He put his cold hands on my left cheek and the coldness felt good. I focused on that sensation, breathing in and out. After several repetitions, the shaking stopped and the nausea almost disappeared.

I opened my eyes and smiled to my well-doer.

“Turtle.”

“Hey. Are you feeling better?”

“Not sure. What happened?”

“During the meeting, you and Alexander were talking about your brother. As this is a sensitive subject, your emotions got the better of you and you lost your control. But Claude and Alexander managed to rein you in before anyone was hurt.”

That sounded like an over-simplification, but I’ll take what I can get.

“Oh My God! I remember. I… couldn’t control my power. I wanted to kill them. I wasn’t being a human anymore. I was… a monster. Some freak of nature. I felt the instinct to kill and the joy of it.” I said, ashamed and disappointed.

“Mia, this is simply not true. Look at me.”

He grabbed my chin and lifted my head.

“You are not a monster. You are powerful. Very powerful, in truth. So much so that your power cannot be controlled easily. Discipline and practice. These are the two elements that are vital in order for you to gain the control and knowledge of your powers and yourself necessary in preventing such an event from occurring.”

“Turtle, I’m sorry, but you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s not easy at all. It’s impossible to do that. I can’t and I don’t want to. I’m sick of this power and myself. I want it to stop, do you understand?” I said, tears in my eyes.

“I do. You may not believe me, but I truly do know what you’re talking about. As I’ve already told you, the old me was always angry and hurt. Just like you. But the fervor of being happy and pleased with myself is much more powerful than the rage within me. Find something that you deeply wish from yourself, then pave your way towards it.”

His words managed to calm me down, again. It made me think about myself, in a way I have never did before. With kindness. Over time, I tried to be more peaceful. I tried to stop being harsh on myself. Yet the angriness was always stronger, which made me think I am weak and so, the vicious circle of self-punishment continued.

“Something I wish from myself…” I said, thoughtfully.

What do I want from myself? Power? An evolution? Peace… or maybe just happiness. A family…?

“Mia, are you still there?” Turtle asked cautiously.

“What? Oh, yes, I’m here. I just… need to be alone, I think. Could you please…”

“Of course. I’m glad you feel that way. Meditate and seek answers.”

“Yeah…” I smiled.

Sort of.

He left and I tried to make myself comfortable in the bed. Well… as much as anyone could do so, in my condition. Thinking and trying to be honest with myself.

The first part was actually working out pretty well.

So. Bad guys were trying to monopolize the country, by kidnapping people and stealing powers from the ‘gifted’ ones. They have my brother. Did he get superpowers too or they are just using him as a vessel? That thought tightened my stomach and made me feel a dull pain in my chest. My God, Karl… Please be strong. I will find you. No matter what.

Next. How can I find him? I had some ideas… which I didn’t like at all. But I don’t have enough time on my hands to do it by myself. If I had to collaborate with that heartless, arrogant man, then so be it.

The end justifies the means.

I just realized that this is what Alexander must be thinking all this time. If he truly fights for the good of this world, any harsh methods can be applied, based on the circumstances.

Fuck.

No. There was still something fishy about this guy. And I felt he still wasn’t telling me everything about my brother. It couldn’t be that ‘easy’.

And why did he want me here so badly? Is he afraid that those guys will steal my powers and use them against him?

Huh. I wouldn’t mind. The last part, I mean.

So far, the government sent an armed team to hunt me and my friends. They also fired bullets at us, so there was no way they cared about our safety. All I have to do for now, is to choose the lesser evil. Which is Alexander.

I’ll get better and train beside them. I’ll observe their powers and weaknesses. I’ll get as much information as I can from Alexander, about my brother, this government conspiracy and anything else I can get my hands on. Then, I’ll get the hell out of here and go after Karl. For now, I don’t have anywhere else to go to, since I don’t know where Allaya and the rest are. Though… even if I did know, I wouldn’t go to them. I don’t want to put them in danger anymore.

I was on my own, as usual. Which was… actually good, since I didn’t have to be concerned about anyone else getting hurt. I had a plan. Unfortunately, it meant that I had to get to know the others and act like I tolerate them.

Oh, well. As I said. The lesser evil.

Turtle was right. Discipline was what I needed. Put it on ‘paper’ and stick with the plan.

I found a purpose and I had a plan.

No wonder I finally slept like a baby.