It was Sunday morning. Nine o'clock to be exact. The alarm was going off again. She sunk deeper into the black abyss that was her bed. The darkness engulfed her, killing off any outside light. She fancied herself to be drowning in darkness, allowing it to stifle her, shutting off her air availability and filling her mouth with its dense, thick, aloneness. She snuggled in comfortably, waiting, wondering when her air supply would cease and she would suffocate. She smiled, imagining that she would thrash and struggle beautifully.

She sighed, slowly pulling the huge black quilt off of her head. The light in the room was blinding. She stumbled out of the bed, half covering her eyes with her hand. She opened the curtain on the hotel room window, letting the sunshine in. Damn that's fucking bright she cursed in her head, turning around and wandering to the bedside table to grab her hair scrunchie. She sighed again, pulling back her short black hair into a small ponytail. She blinked a few times, allowing her bright green eyes to adjust to the light. She looked around the room with a grim smile. Just another hotel room... I need to get out of here.

Ever since her parents had died, she had been on the run, terrified that someone would find her, find her secret and use it against her. She allowed a couple of tears to kiss her cheek before wiping them away. She turned on the television to a loud punk rock music station and headed to the shower. She gently peeled the black satin tank top off of her body and dropped it to the floor. She turned on the hot water and stepped into the tub, closing her eyes and letting her sadness fall away.

At least it only happens when my emotions hit their peak. She though bitterly. One person should never have to feel such a strong pain. One person should never have such anguish in one year. One person should not have this much power. She would never understand the strange things that happened to her. And she had a feeling that she had not yet seen all of her new powers...and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a thick, black towel around her. She smiled weakly, glad for once that she had such a vast fortune to have hotels accommodate her every whim. A room with almost everything black? She was in heaven.

She wiped the steam off the mirror and looked at her reflection. She picked up the hairbrush and ran it through her hair, then gently put it down. She needed to change her look again when she left this hotel. She couldn't be traced. She could never be found. Ever.


Once upon a time Thera Alcina McGinnis, a beautiful Irish-Greek-Italian-French-English girl from Georgia was just like any other 15 year old girl. Well, perhaps not any other girl. Her parents were incredibly rich and she was offered every luxury available. But she never wanted it. She wasn't spoiled, she wasn't a snob…she was into being her own person, making her own clothes, and sharing her wealth. She often spent her hefty allowance on clothes and food for homeless people living in the city near her home.

But that was before. Before the weird shit started. It began in the hallway of her private school. She was definitely a different kind of rich kid. She wore her uniform as she was supposed to, but her white Oxford shirt was never tucked in and she wore a black boys' tie, always a bit off center and loose. And she didn't wear the tight fitting girls' pants or short skirts that were expected. She wore slightly baggier but more comfortable boys' pants and Converse instead of the typical Mary Janes.

However, she didn't do her hair in the tomboy style that she seemed to be known for. She wore her long hair down, allowing her crimson and ebony curls to fall around her, reaching her waist. Her hair was the first sign that there was something unnatural about her, as far as the other girls in school were concerned. What kind of girl had naturally black and red hair? She usually shrugged and said, "Must be the Greek and Irish in me, fighting to be number one." And she would laugh just like a normal kid.

But she wasn't normal. In fact, she was far from it. In a time when anything out of the "norm" was considered evil, she worked to bring it out. Her best friend was a 17 year old gay boy who was getting expelled for "hitting on another student". Thera knew that it was bullshit. She knew Michael better than anyone else and she knew that he would never hit on anyone. He had a boyfriend. That's where her problems started. She had been standing outside of the Headmaster's office yelling at his door and trying to get him to let her in when one of the assholes she kept turning down walked up behind her, sliding his arm around her slender waist and kissing the top of her head, which she being 5'6" and him being 6'2", reached his chest, and said, "Come on, babe, why don't you leave this faggot and come out with me."

If there was one thing that Thera hated (and there were many) it was that word. That disgusting, rude word. She elbowed him in the stomach and spun around, her rage unmatched by any one the school had ever seen. And then it happened. Her eyes started to change color. The usual piercing green turned into a dark, angry red. Then they started to glow. The glowing grew and grew until it engulfed her entire body. Her hair changed from the beautiful black and crimson to a brighter, angrier red. Then there was a sound like thunder clapping and the air grew cold. The sun was covered by clouds and there was a harsh breeze in the hallway. Thera's hair flew around her, making it look like her head was on fire. The glowing never ceased.

"What did you say?" Her voice was different as well. It was as if someone was speaking at the same time as her, her flowing voice that was thick with a Georgian twang and then over that a deeper, raspier voice spoke with her.

Jason, that stupid, stupid jock boy looked at her with fear in his eyes. "N-nothing. I didn't say nothin'."

Her lip curled into a sneer. "You wish." Then she raised her arm and shot out a blast of pure anger at him, straight to his chest. He doubled over, screaming in pain. Suddenly, Thera's eyes lost their red glow. They widened with fright and she looked at her hands, the bright red glow around them starting to fade. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the glowing, breeze, and voice were gone. The sun was shining again and everyone was staring at that weird McGinnis kid. Her eyes snapped shut as people began to whisper and then…she disappeared.