Chapter 2 - Naturally
Morgan sat in the bus looking out at the changing scenery. New York wasn't as white as her hometown in Canada but at least there was some snow. It had been two nights since she had left home and to catch the bus to the Nationals. Jimmy was in tears when he was opening his present because he wanted his big sister to be there on Christmas day. She only smiled and gave him a hug and kiss.
She smiled to herself as the bus stopped right in front of the hotel that she was going to stay at. Her coach greeted her with a hug as she walked off the bus. He was very proud of her and he explained how things were going to work for the next three days of Nationals. To Morgan it was going to be her practicing her routine over and over until it was perfect.
The hotel room was very nice and pink. It was a private room for special quests only but she didn't think she was that special. She walked into the bathroom and noticed the huge bathtub in the corner. She was just about to turn on the water when someone knocked on the door. A few moments later her coach opened the door and smiled. He noticed she was a little busy but he pulled out her schedule.
"I think we should go over the routine tonight before tomorrow."
"Why's that?" she was standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
"You are the second one up tomorrow."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Nope. So grab your stuff we're heading to the gym."
Morgan and her coach spent hours at the gym working on her routine. First she just did her warm-up without the music. Then she did the routine a few times and then again with the music. It was around midnight before her coach called it a night. It wasn't the fact that he didn't want her to stay but she wanted to stay until she got it right. She only had one chance and she was going to make it count.
He congratulated her on the great practice and told her to head back to the hotel to get some sleep. They were walking back to the hotel when Morgan started to feel slight pains in her stomach again. She let is slide as a stretching cramp and continued to walk. When they reached her room the pains became worse and her legs gave way. She groaned in agony and her coach panicked to get the door open.
"Morgan is something wrong?"
"My stomach," she moaned. "It hurts."
"Is it your monthly?" he looked up at her.
"No… I've never had one before."
Her coach gave her a hot patch for her stomach and turned on the water for the bath. He thought the pain was because of the stress of the practice, he knew it couldn't be her monthly. Gymnasts develop in their late teens or early twenties since there's a lot of stress because of the training techniques. He told her to relax, take a bath and that the pains would be over by tomorrow. Morgan did as she was told and relaxed for the night.
She sat in the bath as the steam filled the room. The steam helped her breathe and the warm water felt nice against her skin. So many thoughts were going through her head at that moment. She didn't quite understand what was happening to her or she didn't want to know. The cramps weren't normal and they were getting worse. The water was cold when she finally got out of the bath to head to bed.
Morgan woke up by herself. It was early morning, birds could be heard from outside and the sun was pouring in through the window. She took her time getting out of bed and walking towards the bathroom. She flicked on the light and nearly jumped fifteen feet in the air. All her gorgeous red hair was jet black with some streak of silver at the tips.
"The hell is going on? Why is my hair black?"
Just to make sure she didn't dye her hair or anything she checked every hair on her body but it was like the hair on her head. She tried to calm herself but it was no use. The events seemed very familiar to her but yet like a far of memory that she didn't want to remember. She walked over to her bed to change into her clothes when she realized what time it was. She rushed to get ready and then ran out of the room.
Her coach called her over as she entered the gymnasium and commented on her hair. It was a drastic change but he tried not to question it. All the seats in the crowd were filled with family members, friends and people who came to watch. Morgan's heart sank as she realized that her family wasn't going to be in the crowd. But she didn't allow it to get to her because she wanted to concentrate more on the routine than anything else.
She was sitting in her chair watching the other girls perform. Their routines looked so much better than hers but some of them made a few mistakes on their landings or footwork. She didn't have a hope in hell of making it. Her performance was so simple compared to the other girls and the music wasn't that exciting.
Her coach tapped her on the shoulder to tell her to prepare since she was next. Morgan quickly got up and began to stretch. She was warmed up when the announcers called her to the floor. She breathed deeply as she walked to the center of the padded gymnast floor. The light dimmed and her music started. She closed her eyes and prayed as she began her performance.
Morgan breathed in deeply and held onto her sweater. She had just performed and her body was still shaking from her jumps. Waiting two hours to see if she made it to the Olympics was hard on her nerves. She sat in her chair for two hours playing with her hair and hoping she would make it. Her coach encouraged her to eat or drink something but she just starred off into the distance.
The announcement came and Morgan jumped out of her seat. She followed the other girls to the floor that was right in front of the judges. The main judge stood up and smiled at all the girls. Morgan's hands were shaking under her sweater as the man pulled out the list of scores. She took a deep breathe and exhaled as she heard her name echo through the whole room.
Her eyes grew wide and she was surprised to see all the judges coming over to congratulate her. Some of the others girl smiled but the others stormed off and started to yell at their coaches. The judges gave Morgan a medal and all the media was there taking pictures and filming her. She excused herself from the crowd to go look for someone.
Morgan was trying to conceal her happiness as she ran towards her coach to tell him the good news but she couldn't find him. She looked around the whole building but couldn't find him so she headed outside. She saw him talking on the phone and he seemed to be really worried. She waited for him to be done his call to tell him the good news. When he closed his phone he was surprised to see her by his side with a huge smile on her face.
"Guess what!" she almost yelled.
"What is it?"
"I made it to the Olympics! I am going to the summer Olympics!" she jumped up and down.
"That's great!" his said while smile slowly disappeared.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy?"
"I'm happy for you," he messed up her hair. "But I have bad news."
"What is it?"
"I just got a call from your father," he sighed and continued. "Your brother and mother were in a car accident and both died on impact."
"That's impossible."
"I'm sorry Morgan," he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Morgan couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was impossible that they could have died. She slowly backed away from her coach as tears started to form in her eyes. Everything came crashing down on her. She wouldn't be able to see her little brother again or hug her mother. Jimmy wouldn't be able to see her make it to the Olympics and she wouldn't be able to bother him again. He didn't even get to celebrate Christmas and he was about to turn thirteen in two weeks. She wanted to see him turn into a teenager and live his life.
Her legs gave way as the stomach cramps came back. This time it was even stronger than before. Tears started to stream down her cheeks and her coach was by her side until he backed away. The cramps spread through her body and she could hear screams all around her. She slowly opened her eyes to see her arms were full of hair and her hands weren't hands anymore. It was like a nightmare becoming reality.
"No…this can't be happening?"
Morgan looked up at her coach who seemed horrified. The only thing she wanted right now was someone to hold onto but he turned away and ran. Everyone around her began to scream and she stood up. A few people were yelling into their cellular phones but their voices were becoming blurred. Morgan looked down at her body and images flashed in her head from of eight years ago. She didn't know what to think anymore. She was just hoping to wake up and find out that this was all just a bad dream.
"Brother…" she whimpered.
Sirens could be heard in the distance and she had to make a decision. Either stand there and get killed by the police or run away and have the chance of living in fear. The police and government cars pulled up and armed men jumped out of them. She stood looking down at her forming claws for a few moments before looking up at the armed men.
"Give yourself up and we won't hurt you," yelled one of the men.
"Brother!" she whimpered. "Why?"
"Please give up!"
Morgan looked up at one of the men and he couldn't stand her gaze. Tears were streaming down her face and she was trying to catch her breathe. She just wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and make everything go away. It was happening all over again, the random pains in the lower stomach, the changing of the body image and now the growing hair.
She tried to put it behind her when the signs were clear but now it was clearer than ever. This is what happened to her brother all those years ago and now it was happening to her. She knew it would to and she tried not to think about it. Her bother had the same genetics as her and she was bound to mutate. Her life was over and just because she was different from everyone else.
A/N:
I had so much fun with this chapter. It may be short but the next one
will be longer.
Please review if you guys like it. I really want to know. Then I will try harder to make it better. Thanks!
