This is my present from me to you. Happy Easter! Hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

Hey.

Before I start, let's get one thing straight, okay? I'm not normal. Never have been, never will be. Ever. I'm just a freakishly freaky freak living out my hopelessly freakish life with many freakish friends. Got that? Okay, let's continue.

My name is Alexa. Friends call me Lex. Enemies call me…well, you really don't want to know. I was eleven when I was caught, thirteen when I found out. I was sixteen when I saved the world. I could go on, but I choose not to.

Choose. Choose. To actually have a choice. That word sounds foreign to me, alien on my tongue. I never had that opportunity, at first. I never had a choice.

Because you probably don't know what the heck I'm talking about, I'll start at the beginning. When they captured me. You know, age eleven? Yeah, that.

So I was walking around minding my own buisnesss. Well, not really. I was looking for loaded people. Not that you'd see plenty of those downtown but hey, you gotta give me points for trying. Then all of a sudden a stretch limo pulled up almost in front of me. The chauffeur got out, went around the side and opened the door for some rich guy. You could tell just be looking at him that he used hundred-dollar bills to wipe sweat off his face. You could also tell that he was arrogant, boastful and wore clean underwear everyday.

I was so not going to feel guilty of stealing from him.

I hurried towards him and bumped into him head on just as he stepped away from the ATM. His wallet, which contained money and credit cards (I so believe in luck now) flew out of his hands and spilled unto the sidewalk.

"O my gosh!" I said "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." A s I spoke I gathered the various items from the floor. As his back was turned, I slipped one of the credit cards into my pocket.

"Next time watch where you go, girl" he said with a look of disgust, indicating clearly that he couldn't wait to get home and brush all my (nonexistent) germs from his designer suit. Jerk.

I handed him his cards (minus one) and as our fingers brushed, a slight current passed between us. Not an OMG, I'm in love! current but a OMG, I'm being shocked! current. He pulled back quickly, and with a final disgusted look at me, hurried back to the limo.

But whatever. I had the key to all the money in his bank account! Well, one of them, anyway.

I turned around, fully intending to gloat my butt off, when I saw something that made me stop dead and my blood run cold. The world came to a sudden halt and only one thing was focused. A Recruiter. He'd seen what had happened with the multi-millionaire. Everything. Translation? I was doomed.

Sure, he seemed casual enough. Just another ordinary guy. But I didn't miss the hardness in his eyes or the bulge under his jacket. And he was looking straight at me.

He raised his cell phone to his ear. Communicaton. He was calling for backup.

I looked around and found six more, all headed straight for me.

You know, this is a very ideal time to say, "Shit".

Recruiters are basically mean, lean, fighting machines. They are built to endure far more than most humans. They are trained to capture kids like me. Those who have demonstrated power surpassing mortal abilities. Even the slightest show- like what I did which the rich guy- would not escape their notice. Unfortunately for us freaks.

I run like a pack of rabid bratz were on my heels. They gave chase, catching up to me with each second that passed. That was bad. Way bad. You see, the Recs didn't like for their activities to be made public. They tried to keep a low profile at all times. Smart of them, since what they were doing wasn't really legal. If they chased me openly like this, the Institute must really want me back there. Bad.

Nooo…not here, not now….

My powers were at their lowest now. I hadn't recharged in two weeks; I hadn't been expecting trouble. After the brush with Mr. Million, I barely had enough juice to power up a remote control. If the Recs caught up to me, I'd be putty in their hands.

I rounded a corner and searched for openings. There was an alley coming up on my left. If I took it, I'd be able to escape them. I turned, continued up. A dumpster…then a dead end. I had to bite my lip to stop the expletives.

How could I be so stupid?

No seriously, this always happens in the movies. But in the movies, the hero always has some kind of escape. In real life, that doesn't happen. Too bad.

There was a small sound behind me. I whirled around to face all seven Recs. Their leader seemed to be the guy I'd spotted earlier. He stepped up close to me.

"Now, Alexa, I don't want to hurt you" he said, stepping closer. That was a mistake.

"How chivalrous" I said, then kicked out focusing all my spare energy into the ball of my foot as it slammed into his stomach. He flew back ,slammed into the dumpster and sank down.

The other Recs looked with surprise at him and then back to me. Their eyes hardened some more, if you can believe that. Like from rock-hard to steel-hard. They weren't going to spare me. They were taking me back, alive or dead.

It lasted the whole of five minutes. But it wasn't a fair fight. Not really. I was outnumbered and out classed. I mean, they had freaking tranquilizer guns. Tranquilizer guns ,people!

Needless to say, I lost. Badly.

The Recs had to drag me to their van. I spat and swore at them the whole way. The van was grey, and looked very much like the mode of transport evil henchmen would use. The ones holding me threw me into the back, where I bashed my head against the wall. I groaned.

"God, guys. You could give me a concussion or something" They ignored me. Three Recs, leader-man included, sat in front. The other four sat behind with me.

"Secure her" Leader-man said. Two produced a length of rope and tied it around my wrists and ankles. Then the van lurched forward and my head(again) hit the wall. I groaned again. The Recs sat there, silently, watching me as I watched them.

I glared at them with loathing. I hated Recruiters. They killed, kidnapped, destroyed, plundered…you get the idea. I had been running away from them, and the Institute. By pure luck, I'd managed to escape when they captured me at first.

Just thinking about the Institute sent shivers up and down my spine. Panic clouded my mind and I started breathing a little too fast. I had to find a way out. They couldn't take me back there. I searched wildly for an exit, but the van was locked tight. One of the Recs noticed my discomfort and said something to the leader. They had a whispered conference and the only words I caught were claustrophobic and tranquilizer. Leader-man nodded reluctantly. The Rec leaned forward and jabbed me with something. I stared at him,then at the object. It was a needle. As soon as I realized this, my sight began to get fuzzy. Suddenly, my world went black.

When I woke up, Two Recs were supporting me by my arms. We were in front of a gate. A big black gate. No way to see in, no way to see out. There were high concrete walls topped with barbed wires. Sentries patrolled the area inside. Cameras viewed the area outside.

My guess? We were at the Institute.

A/N: Get this: There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized Everybody wouldn't do it. Consequently, it wound up that Nobody told Anybody, so Everybody blamed Somebody. Understand? No? Good.

If you have anything to say, review now, please. I want honest opinions. Thank you for reading this chapter.