((A/N: kinda a new thing I started while on vacation. It isn't really going newhere…. But I liked the intro, so I kept it. -shrugs- maybe it'll be good. Who knows. I'd like feedback on this, just to see if it's worth my time. So please RnR and enjoy!))
A girl known to the downtown population only as Enigma, or E, walks through the old streets. Rain pours hard on her black hooded trench coat and drenches the cement under her feet. She approaches a comic book store sitting in the middle of an old parking lot. The stench of cigarette smoke drifts to her nose and she sees a still lit butt discarded in a cigarette tray sitting by the door. Three signs hang in front of the door: No smoking, No weapons of any kind, and Pants and shoes required. Taped to the door's handle is a thick piece of cardboard with pull written in black sharpie.
She pulls on the door, eager to get away from the suffocating fumes of second hand smoke. The inside is dimply lit. Comic books line the walls and are filed in shelf after shelf of labeled crates. A mother and she child stand at the counter to E's left. The mom eyes her warily and places a protective hand on her son's shoulder. Tony, the owner's cousin, stands at the cash register behind the counter, ringing up the child's comic. He glances up and smiles at E. She gives him a small mile in return, but it can hardly be seen beyond the shadow her hood casts.
Without directions, E walks past the counter and into the tangle of comic books. She doesn't give a second glance to the books on the shelves, but continues on to the back of the store, where a circle of nerds and Goths sit, talking in hushed tones.
One glances up at I and his eyes, decorated with black, blotchy eyeliner, seem to brighten when they fall upon her, "Hey, beautiful, it's been a while. Welcome back."
"Well, if it ain't E. I was startin' to get worried about you," Another kid chimed in, his thickly rimmed glasses glinting in the light.
"So the feds didn't get you after all," a girl adorned in black said with a smile, "We have our Enigma back."
Enigma smiled and said in a velvet soft voice, "It's good to be back. I've missed you guys." She took down her hood and removed the black trench coat. She wore black leather pants with blue stitching and a black tank top, making her deathly white skin look even paler. The only thing to take attention away from her statuesque figure was her stunning face. She had bright clue eyes that were almost like crystals. Her blue tipped raven black hair tumbled past her shoulders. A few newcomers looked at her in awe. She noticed the stunned faces and smiled, "Newbies, huh? I guess I really have been gone too long. So let me introduce myself," She grabbed a chair and sat next to the boy that had first welcomed her before continuing, "I go by Enigma, but you all can call me E. I'm a mutant; what is commonly known as a shape shifter of metamorph."
There was a short silence before the whispered conversation was continued, with E included. Every person who sat in the back of that comic store was a mutant. Every one of them managed to hide themselves from the public. The only time they could talk about what they were was in that store. They stayed past closing hours, talking in the darkness. They talk about anything to keep their minds off of their suffering: Government people constantly patrolling the streets for mutants. If any are found, they are taken away. Nobody knows where the mutants are taken, unless they were one taken, too.
When it neared midnight, Tony closed the store for the night and the mutants went back onto the streets. Enigma walked out of the downtown area and back to her home. She climbed into her room through her window and lay down on her plush bed. Just before she fell asleep, E shapeshifted her body so it looked like the child her parents knew. Her eyes changed from crystalline blue to a foggy green-brown. Her black and blue hair changed to blond with brown highlights four months old. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, no longer Enigma the mutant, but an ordinary high school girl, seemingly human.
"Wake up, honey," her mom said, gently shaking her shoulder, "You're going to be late for school."
"I'm up," she assured her mother, sitting up and looking at the clock.
Why did Tony have to work Thursday nights? Why couldn't they meet on Fridays or Saturdays? She got up and put on jeans and a grey t-shirt. She shifted her hair into a tight pony tail, no need to brush it, and made her face look like it had a substantial amount of makeup on it. Once convinced she had done a good job on her appearance, she ran out the door to catch the bus. Just in time, she thought to herself as she climbed onto the bus and sat in a seat next to her friend. As far as she knew, everybody around her was human; not a mutant for miles. It was comforting for most of the students, but it made her uneasy.
The bus made its last stop, her friend was talking animatedly to her, and a kid got onto the bus. He got onto the bus every day. But today was different. She knew him. His bloodshot eyes slid over to her as she watched him intently. He had been at the comic store the night before. He was one of the newbies; a mutant. She would never have noticed him in any other situation. His hair was short and black, his eyes were brown, almost reddish, and he was slightly over weight. Just a normal kid… but a mutant.
Her friend stopped talking and looked over at her. She barely noticed as he passed, their eyes locked. Suddenly he stopped, his eyes brightened with recognition and he turned to fully face her.
"E?" he asked, voice shocked.
She was surprised he recognized her, and a little scared. But she covered it up quickly. "Excuse me?" she said quietly so only he and her friend could hear, "I think you have me mistaken."
He was about to object, but noticed the warning in her voice and the urgency in her eyes. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry." And he walked on. She turned back to her friend, motioning for her to continue with her story, and she did.
Everything else at school went normally. She only saw him one more time in the halls, and he said nothing to her. She went home and did her homework before leaving the house to wander downtown and go clubbing. It was Friday and as long as she was home by Saturday morning, her mom didn't mind.
The sun slowly set behind the mountain range beyond the streets of downtown. Luckily it wasn't raining that day, so Enigma didn't need her trench coat. She wore a black tube top with a green frog in the center and black baggy pants with green stitching. Her eyes were bright green with a tint of blue and her shoulder length black hair had lime green highlights. She loved being a shape shifter, she could change her hair and eyes to match her clothes. But she technically didn't wear clothes most of the time; she could just shift clothes on. It had felt weird at first, being naked but not all the time, and it took a lot of practice to keep the clothes the same the whole time. But it was a handy skill to have and a lot of fun to make up outfits for herself without having to actually buy anything.
The first place E went to was the comic book store to see Jonny and make sure Tony made it home alright. Jonny owned the store and was good friends with E. She knew the whole family, and knew they had a knack for getting in trouble.
When she asked, Jonny just laughed, "Yeah, Tony's fine. Just hung over. He's at the house now, sleeping it off. He should be okay for Linzay's tonight."
"So what do you know about the new kids? There are three or four of them. I've never seen them here till last night," E commented, flipping through a comic as they talked.
"Lucas is the one who brought 'em here," Jonny answered, heading back to the counter when he saw a customer standing there. E put down the comic and followed him. "One of the kids's his little brother. The other two 're friends o' the brother. Real high class kids, don'cha think?" He rung up the comics and bagged them, saying "have a nice day" as the customer left. "You can tell by how they act an' dress. Their parents 're high up on the social scale. Lucas is the drop out o' the family. Why do you ask?"
"I saw one of the kids at my school," E answered, her voice lowering, "He recognized me."
"Did he now?" Jonny asked, obviously shocked, "I coulda sworn you dropped out. And how the hell did 'e recognize ya? I've only seen your original form once, an' that was two years ago, when you asked for help." He shook his head, "This could be bad, E, I gotta admit it."
"I know," Enigma replied darkly, "That's why I asked you. What should I do?"
"Find Lucas an' talk to him about it," Jonny said resolutely, "He should be at the Club Cabana. It's still early, his brother could be with him. I'm closing in an hour, then I'll check on Tony an' head over ta Linzay's Place."
"Sounds good. I'll talk to Lucas and meet you at Linzay's." E said before leaving the store and heading down to the Club Cabana. It was a singles bar that played loud music nobody could dance to and served way too much alcohol. Lucas was a people watcher, not a desperate single. And what better place was there to watch people than Club Cabana?