Disclaimer: I don't own the Midnighters, sadly, Scott Westerfield does.

A/N: Hey everyone, it's Sara from the SaraBrianne team, and this is my first attempt at a Midnighters fanfic. Let me know what you think!

Prologue: New Powers

James groaned as his alarm clock blared annoyingly, shattering his dreams and throwing him back into reality. He pounded it violently, hearing something crack as he sat up and yawned. If mornings stink, then Monday mornings were junkyards drenched in old fish.

"Wow, violent much," his twin brother Christian muttered as he rolled out of bed and stumbled to his closet. James glanced at the bright red numbers on his clock and squinted. He could barely make them out. "You have a headache? You're squinting."

"Must be the lack of sleep. Everything is so blurred," James muttered. "Hope I don't need glasses."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Move, freak," the high-school Barbie huffed as she pushed Carrie aside, knocking her into the side of the school. Carrie rubbed her head angrily and stared out at the cluster of cloned high-school goddesses. "I hear she's some sort of witch. Crazy."

Carrie grinned and made an exaggerated hand motion, chanting lightly, her bracelets clanking against each other ominously. Sometimes rumors were more fun to promote then fight. A few of the girls looked at each other nervously, but their leader simply stomped toward Carrie, her hands on her hips.

"Are you, like, making fun of me?" she demanded.

"No, like, why ever would I, like, do that?" Carrie mocked, twirling her red hair ditzily with her black-nail polished finger.

"Are you getting smart with me?!"

"No, I want you to follow my insults."

"Shut up," she insisted as she shoved Carrie backward.

Carrie tried to keep her balance, but her foot caught on her backpack and she fell toward the ground. Without even thinking, she shifted her weight and back-flipped back to her feet. She paused in shock. She was not the flexible kind. What had just happened?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey Garrett!" Allison called as she ran toward her best friend and hugged him tightly.

"Hey Ally," he remarked. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she muttered as she walked toward the front door. As she tromped across the school's lawn, however, an odd, metallic taste flicked across her tongue. "What the?"

She looked down and smiled. An old class ring sat in the grass, just next to her shoe.

"What's that?" Garrett wondered.

"Old ring. Cool, huh?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Mr. Keith, would you come here for a moment?" Mr. Barton announced.

Brett uneasily extricated himself from his friends and walked to Mr. Barton's desk. It had to be about the math test. If he failed this one too he wouldn't be able to play against Piedra Vista on Saturday.

"Mr. Keith, I'm afraid we have a problem."

"What?" he muttered.

"Here's your test from yesterday. Would you care to explain this?"

Brett peeked at the paper uneasily and then in shock. 106. Even the bonus questions. He had never gotten better then a "C" in math in his entire life. Sure, he had thought that he grasped the new topic way easier then any other time, but an A+?

"I guess I just got it this time, you know?" he shrugged, a smile coming unbidden to his lips.

"That's not your usual work, Brett. Who did you cheat off of?"

Brett stared back at his teacher uneasily. Cheating? He didn't cheat! If he got in trouble for cheating he'd be booted off the team.

"I swear I didn't, Mr. Barton. Math is just getting easier I guess."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"More energy. Smile, get into it!" the choir teacher called as the students grooved to the new gospel song they were practicing for an assembly. Nicole laughed and swayed with everyone else, her mezzo soprano voice backing up a tenor mid-improv. She felt the surge of the music build up inside of her until her voice suddenly rang out, out-distancing any first soprano in the class, shimmering atop the choir's voices like a bell. A particularly loud bell.

The choir fell silent and stared at her. She blushed a deep red and shrugged. She'd never been able to hit that high. She normally had an alto range and had to push to be a soprano. The teacher looked at her appraisingly.

"That was weird, huh?" she chuckled and the class laughed. She let out a breath of relief. What had just happened?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Madison sighed and laid her head on her desk. She'd had a migraine since the night before. It must have been all the candy on Halloween.

"Madison, could you look up, please?" her teacher called.

She winced and sat up, the light making her want to puke, her temples pounding.

"What a loon," someone muttered behind her.

She turned around, but no one was looking at her. There was an oddly bitter taste in her mouth. She let out a deep breath and picked her long hair up off her neck, hoping to ease the tension in her head.

"She's so hot."

Madison turned around again, but all she saw was a new kid ogling the girl next to him. The taste in her mouth turned warm and salty.

"This is so boring!"

"I can't wait till school is out."

"Why won't he notice me?"

Madison looked around the room and then to the teacher. She shuddered at the tastes and feelings rushing through her body. What was going on? Why wasn't the teacher stopping all the talking? Suddenly she realized that no one was talking at all. Their mouths weren't moving. Was she hearing voices?

"Madison, are you all right?" her teacher wondered.

"I feel sick," she muttered.

"All right then, go down to the principal's office," he remarked.

She didn't have to be asked twice. She stood up, grabbed her backpack, and left.

"I wonder how long I can stay out of class?"

"Maybe I should skip fourth..."

"Wait a minute, the report is due today?!"

"He is so hot!"

"No one understands... Everyone hates me."

"What a bod."

Madison stared at each person she passed, none of them were talking, but somehow she heard all of them in her head. Was she insane? What was going on?

She shook her head, ignoring the stab of pain it sent through her skull, and began running down the halls.

"Hey watch it!" someone shouted as she ran into him, and a sudden flash of pain ran through her mind, mixing with confusion frustration, and nerves.

She couldn't tell if the boy had said it aloud or not as she grabbed her head and catapulted down the stairs, knocking into people as she went. With each touch the voices seemed to shriek in her mind, thousands of thoughts, feelings, and emotions turning into a blur, a painful blast of sound that kept reverberating in her mind. She passed the nurse, fleeing for the door. The sound blared in her head, blocking out her other senses. She'd gone mad, she knew it.

She sped past the school, past blocks of houses, past the fire department, until she stopped in the park, doubled over and gasping for breath. She fell back against one of the trees, her knees against her chest, grabbing her head in an attempt to block everything out. People everywhere seemed to be calling to her, their emotions overwhelming her until all she could hear were the voices and her own labored breathing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Robert walked uneasily down his stairwell, looking about his house as if for the first time. It had been so long... He reached for a cup of tea with a shaking hand and sat at his table, feeling the familiar power buzz through his mind. He reached out tentatively at first, afraid it was some terrible dream. He could feel the others in town, most of them young. What was going on? This wasn't Bixby.

The phone rang, shattering the silence, and he jumped, his old joints protesting and his heart pounding in his chest. He picked it up carefully.

"Robert," a mature woman's voice began.

"I know, Mary. They're back. Somehow it's caught up with us."