1. Frustration.

Sydney, Australia.

The day had begun, more or less, like any other, with the sun peeking through her blinds casting parallel lines of light across her purple bedroom walls.
She pulled her arm from her warm blankets and fumbled on her bed-side table, looking for any sort of apparatus that would tell her the time.
1 New Message, her phone read.
Hey Alice, we're still meeting up at 10 right? It was a message from Mina, Alice's best friend, or what could be considered a best friend.
"Crraaaaaap," Alice moaned, only just remembering that she was having a picnic with Mina and a few of her other friends. It was 10:10, and in no less than fifteen minutes she was dressed and ready to get out and about.

Alice hadn't put much thought into her outfit, but she hadn't needed to. She wasn't courageous enough to wear anything more than a pair of grey or blue jeans and a plain top, usually purple – her favourite colour. Truth was, she considered it more of a necessity to remain as non-descript as possible, especially with everything that had happened overseas with all those groups for and against mutants. It seemed as though in Australia, there was a sort of uneasy peace. The less noticeable anyone was, the better.
There were constant rumors floating around of new organizations being created to help mutants, and then rumors of those same places being destroyed. That there were small factions of mutant groups who plotted against non-mutants, and vice versa. All those groups terrified Alice – they were so vicious and so devoted to their cause, no sane mutant or non-mutant would ever consider crossing paths with the more fundamentalist groups.
Though, she had nothing to be worried about, the mutant gene hadn't appeared in her family, as far as she knew, she would rather be safe than sorry. She smiled to herself as she pulled out a pair of grey jeans and her favourite purple long sleeved top, the one with the holes that she could slip her thumbs into. She gathered her belongings and dumped them in her bag whilst attempting to put on a light red lipgloss and brush her brown hair – at the same time, before running out the front door.
"Do you need a lift?" her father called as she skidded down the driveway, past his car.
"Nah! I'll be right!" she yelled out waving goodbye.

The city was where her friends had decided to hold their picnic, which meant Alice had to succumb to a short ride in an old, derelict train full of odd smells and colorful graffiti with very colorful language.
She reached Central Station before she knew it, without little action too. There were only a few people in her carriage, but they like her, were busy listening to music in their own little worlds. Though, even if there were mutants on the train, with the recent law that was passed, it would be considered a crime for them to display their abilities. Even though the idea of being a mutant scared Alice slightly, she didn't agree with the alienation they were forced to experience by both friends and family.
The platform was practically empty so spotting her black-haired, tanned skinned friend.
"Alice! My God, you couldn't have taken any longer!" said an exasperated Mina as she approached her friend, "everyone's starving cos of you, you know!" Mina hit Alice playfully in the arm, not seeing the slight wince of pain that Alice felt. She wasn't very strong, or toned. Or even muscular.
"I'm sorry, uh, my alarm clock didn't go off," she lied, "we're heading to a park right?" Alice asked, honestly wondering where they were even going to consider having a picnic in the city.
"Of course… we've all just bought some take out, and we're going to eat there, duuh. I got you a kiddy meal, but Hannah took the toy thing and chucked it into a water feature," Mina smirked as Alice sighed; it wasn't an unknown fact that Hannah and Alice didn't get along very well.
"At least it wasn't my meal… But just to be safe, can we get there like, as fast as we can?" Alice urged, thinking of the fastest route to the park, already irritated at her friend's behavior. Now that she was out of school, Alice couldn't grasp why she was still hanging out with Hannah. She annoyed her throughout high school, and she would be a fool to think it would ever cease.

When they reached the park, two of Alice's friends were busy trying to ward Hannah away from everyone else's food. Alice rolled her eyes at her red-haired friend.
"Hey Alice, sleep in again?" asked Jess, playing with her blonde hair.
"No… alarm clock," she replied, hoping her lie would stick.
"Sure," Jess grinned as she gave up trying to braid her hair, "have a look at that!" she exclaimed, her eyes following a group of older students as they made their way under a tree.
"Haha! Hottie alert!" giggled Sally.
"Oh, dibs on the tall one, he looks cute," grinned Mina as she leant back, accidentally knocking over a bottle of soda.
"Who are you looking at Aaaallliiiiccceee?" chimed Hannah mischievously, who had obviously seen her glancing at one of the young guys.
"No one!" Alice blushed, anxious to end the conversation as Hannah had approached other guys the girls had thought were attractive.
"Was it that guy there?" Hannah pointed at the fellow under the tree.
"No. It was the tree. I was uh, looking at the tree he was leaning on…" Alice stumbled; Mina glanced over smiling and shaking her head.
They all knew where this was going.
Hannah stood up, Alice's face already red, and walked over to the guy.
Alice was furious.
All she could feel was totally resentment, anger, even hate. Why would a friend do something so stupid like that? At the back of her mind Alice knew it was a petty reason to be angry, but she shook that thought off. She wanted any reason to not have to talk to Hannah again, and this situation was close to perfect.
Hannah sat back down next to her and slid a piece of paper in front of Alice's face.
"What's that you have there?" asked Sally.
Jess tried to reach over and grab it from Hannah's hands, but missed and fell on top of Mina.
"I," Hannah began, beaming, "got his number!"

The guy looked up and Alice caught his eye, and in an awesome wave of light-headed-ness, everything went black.

Did I make myself so angry I passed out?

I can't be unconscious and still… talking, to myself at least.

My eyes… are open, right?

Oh god.

I'm blind.

Crap.

Crap.

Crap.

Bright lights hit Alice's eyes, but she didn't cringe. For a while she felt like she was coming in and out of some random dream filled with endless cities and landscapes. She was sure that at some point her mind had even conjured up an image of her family's kitchen!
Unsure of whether this was a continuation of a dream or not, she opened her eyes tentatively, and once she was sure she was awake she sat up and felt her stomach flop around inside her.
She was in a park, but not in the city.
In fact, this park seemed a lot like to the one near her place.
'How did I end up here?' she muttered to herself, standing up and trying to pat off the grass and dirt all over her clothes.
'Hannah must've knocked me out cold or something, and dumped me here… oh god, I hope nothing happened to me…' she was sure nothing did, she didn't feel violated or anything that could resemble coming down from a drug.
She knew herself enough not to think too deeply on it, she would annihilate Hannah tomorrow, or something.

Luckily home wasn't far, and she was at her front door trying to unlock it in no time. It was maybe 6 in the evening, but it was still light, and her parent's cars were in the driveway, but she didn't want to make a big fuss about coming home.
"Alice?" called her mother from the kitchen, "is that you?"
Her mother walked out and stopped some three meters from her daughter.
"Sam, it's Alice!" she called to her husband. Sam walked in and stood beside her, his hands holding her shoulders almost protectively.
"Um… sorry I'm late, Hannah must've hit me on the head today or something… I just need some rest," Alice explained to the best of her recollection.
"Alice… It's been two days," Sam told her, peering at her over his glasses.
"No it hasn't. I went out this morning at 10 or something. What are you talking about?"
"You've been missing for…two days…" Alice's mother stammered, she looked as if she was barely holding back tears.
"Oh…" Alice suddenly felt sick.
"Alice, is there something you want to tell us? Something that you might be… worried about?" asked her father.
She had no idea what he was talking about.
"Well… no. What are you talking about Dad? I'm worried about what happened in those two days… but nothing else… aren't you worried about those two days?" Alice tried to make sense of the situation. If she had indeed been missing for two whole days, why were her parents so cautious around her? Why weren't they running to greet and hug and kiss her?
"Alice," her mother started, "you… well, appeared in the middle of the kitchen with this… wild look in your eyes… and then you just… disappeared again."
Alice felt as if she was going to gag.
What?
No way.
Impossible.
"If you've been able to…do…this… why didn't you tell us? We could've gotten help. There are groups out there who know how to deal with people like… well…" her father demanded, looking a little angry.
"People like what? I'm not a mutant if that's what you're trying to say! I don't know what mum saw! She was probably just worried and hallucinated or something!" Alice tried to look into the eyes of both her parents, but they were determined to look away.
She knew that if she couldn't prove that she wasn't actually there, in their kitchen, she would lose her parents. They weren't very keen on the whole mutant thing.
"I saw you too," her father replied softly.
"Can I… just, go get some rest? Please…" Alice begged, eager to leave the room.
Her parents nodded and watched as she left the room with a look of nervousness, as if they were expecting her to set them on fire.
Or at least make them turn to ash.

It was quiet in her room, the way she liked it. She only really listened to music when she was painting, or on public transportation.
"What happened Alice Kaey? What's wrong with you?" she asked herself, pacing around.
A sudden thought of inspiration hit her, and she dove for her phone which she had thrown onto her bed. Quickly she dialed Mina's number and called.
And called.
Finally, on her third attempt to reach her, Mina picked up.
"Mina?" Alice asked.
"Yes?" replied a hushed tone.
"It's me… Alice. Um… can you possibly… tell me what happened to me uh, two days ago?" she asked, hoping she would get some answers.
"Alice, I can't talk to you. Your parents called mine, they spoke. I'm sorry," and Mina hung up.
Shocked, Alice threw her phone back on her bed and stood in the middle of the room sulking.
Maybe sheis a mutant. Maybe she can teleport.
Maybe she could teleport or something… right now, if she tried.
Any moment now.
Alice stood there, thinking as hard as she could about different locations, different areas and different places, but would not move.
'How queer…' she muttered to herself. Maybe it was all in her head.

She awoke the next morning wishing madly that what occurred was just a dream. A weird, twisted dream that she could easily forget.
From outside her bedroom, she could hear chatter, and not just her parents. Though they were muffled, she was sure there were other men there.
Alice walked out, weary of the extra company and set out to make breakfast, hoping that she had slipped from their view.
"Alice, please come in here," her mother called from the den, interrupting her thoughts.
Alice sauntered into the den and spied to grown men in sharp suits, sitting opposite her parents. They eyed her cautiously, the very same look her parents gave her last night.
Last night… so it wasn't a dream, she sighed.
"So, Alice, your parents said you are experiencing some changes that you would like some help with?" one of the suited men told her, as if she only had to listen.
"We discussed with your parents of a sort of facility that helps kids through times like these. It will be like going to a boarding school," the other added.
"I suppose I'm going then?" Alice said bluntly, knowing that they had made their decisions.
"Well, we would like you to, but it's up to you…" her father started.
She knew what that meant; they wanted her to go and get fixed.
"How do you know I'm even a mutant? Maybe that guy used his powers and made me do whatever I did? Did you ever think of that?" Alice stood up and crossed her arms defiantly. It was after all, a fair possibility.
One of the men turned his gaze to Alice and asked, "What exactly did happen, then? What do you remember?"
Alice hadn't really thought on that, she merely tried to comprehend how fast people seemed to be turning from her just for thinking she could possibly be a mutant.
"Um, well, I was with my friends and this guy looked at me, or I looked at him, either way I must've looked in his eyes and the next thing I know I blacked out… after that it was like I was dreaming that I was waking up in all these different places… I ended up in a park around the corner, and here I am. Apparently I was gone for two days!" she explained.
The men seemed to be talking under their breath to one another, and not even Alice's parents seemed to understand.
"Well," one began, "it is possible that these weren't her abilities, merely another planted them in her… nonetheless, we would like to test to see if these are her abilities. May I?" he directed the final question not at her, but at her mother and father. They nodded in response, and just before she could object her head began to ache. The dull pain began to grow and grow until her head felt as if it was going to explode.
My daughter is a mutant said a female voice, shrouded in sorrow. How can I love something that isn't even human? How could I have given life to such a being? It was her mother's voice, but Alice couldn't see her mouth move.
Then more voices came through her ears like a massive tidal wave, but no one appeared to be making a sound. She was beginning to feel immensely dizzy and before she knew it, everything went black.