What was happening to me?
This pain was… So unreal… My head was pounding. I heard everyone's voices at once… But no one was talking… My hands began to shake… I felt my phone in my pocket. Then I remembered what Marianne had told me.
Legacies.
I had to call Marianne. Right now. But I couldn't. I looked up. There were seven people focusing on the TV. They'd notice if I ran away and called my 'mommy'. Plus, I was sandwiched in between nudge and Iggy on a tiny couch. I couldn't really get up very easily. I had to do something and fast.
"Uh, Nudge?" I forced myself to say.
"Hmmm?" She said pulling her eyes away from the TV.
"Where's your bathroom? I forgot." I asked.
"C'mon." She replied getting up and leading me there. "Right here. " She said pointing to a door down the hall.
"Thanks." I said forcing myself to smile.
"Yep." She smiled back and walked away. My smile faded as I walked into the bathroom. I ripped my phone of my pocket and dialed Marianne's number. It rang twice.
"Jenna?" Marianne's hoarse voice said. "Jenna, where the hell are you?"
"Uh… A-at a friends house." I replied.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"Kind of…"
"Kind of?"
"Well, I-I… Think… My legacies developed…" I stammered.
"Jenna, That's grea-… Oh… Oh no… Jenna, you need to get out of there. Now." She sounded mortified.
"What should I do? My head hurts so bad!" I replied.
"Make something up and leave." She told me. "Hurry."
"I will." I said and hung up. I left the bathroom scheming. I plopped myself down on the couch. Pretend to be sick was all I could think to do. Maybe if-… Mayb-… May-… Dizzy… I was dizzy… I found myself leaning on Iggy. I tried to get off of him… But I couldn't… I couldn't move…
"Jenna? Jenna, are you okay? Jenna!" Iggy exclaimed. Iggy had moved to check if I was okay, but his moving caused me to tip off of the couch and crash to the floor below. I heard panic in everyone's voices as well as their heads. I tried to tell everyone I was okay but no sound came out of my mouth as well as my mouth wouldn't open in the first place. Then I began drifting to sleep… Before I knew it everything… turned… black…
I heard voices. Concerned voices. Marianne's voice… Where was I? I opened my eyes slowly. I was in a bed. Not my bed, but a bed. I saw Marianne in the corner talking to Ella's mom. Then it hit me: I was in the hospital. I saw Ella in the other corner. Were the others here too?
"Mom?" I said meaning Marianne. Everyone's head snapped in my direction.
"I'm right here, honey." Marianne said walking over to me and picking up my hand like a mother would do.
"W-where am I?" I stammered.
"The hospital. You passed out at Dr. Martinez's house." Marianne replied. Her expression was pained.
"Oh…" I replied. I looked over at Ella. She smiled at me. I probably scared the crap out of her. I smiled back.
'Thank God she's awake.' She thought. I could… Read minds? Whoa…
"When can we go home?" I asked Marianne.
"That depends." I heard a male's voice from behind her say.
"On?" Marianne asked. Her expression turned stone cold.
"We found some pretty serious scars on her right leg. We just need to ask you a couple of questions and you're free to go, as long as our suspicions are wrong. If not, you may be in a lot of trouble." He replied.
"What are your suspicions?" Marianne asked through clenched teeth. Hmmm… I wonder… Nah… I shouldn't read my 'mommy's' mind. That would be rude.
"We should probably talk about this in private." He said looking from Dr. Martinez to Ella.
"No. Just say it. They're probably not true anyway." Marianne replied. I could tell she wanted to do some not so nice stuff to this guy…
"Fine." He began. "We suspect child abuse." He said looking at me.
"What?" Marianne said stunned. Ella, Dr. Martinez's, and even my mouth dropped into perfect O shapes.
"Jenna, is this true?" The doctor asked me. Everyone turned and looked at me again. My eyes widened.
"Are you actually asking me if my mother abuses me?" I asked stunned. I began reading his mind.
'This kid is probably just going to cover for her mother.' I read.
"And I know you probably think I'm probably just going to cover for my mom, however, I just wouldn't. My mother does not abuse me. She loves me!" My voice was rising.
"How else could scars like this," He began as he walked over to the side of my bed and lifted the blanket off exposing my three scars of the symbols of the first three of the Garde that had died. "Happen to a person?" Ella and Dr. Martinez's eyes widened as they saw the scars. This was really, really bad.
"Because I was a stupid two year-old that fell into a fire. They're burns you idiot!" I practically screamed at him. My eyes were burning holes in his head. His thoughts were of questions, both good and bad. The kept opening his mouth as if to speak. But then it shut before any words could come out. He clearly did not know what to say next.
"I'll go get your discharge papers…" He said after about five minutes of opening and closing his mouth. He walked out of the room with his face turning as red as an apple.
"Well, that was awkward…" I said after he was gone. I was trying to lift the awkward blanket that was thrown upon us by that doctor.
"Yeah…" Ella replied.
After a few minutes, the doctor came back and I was free to go.
"I'm going to pull the car around." Marianne said and walked out.
"Me too." Dr. Martinez said and walked out after Marianne. "Ella, stay with Jenna." She added from the hallway.
"Hey… Uh… Sorry about all of this…" I said to Ella.
"Jenna, it's fine. We all get sick sometimes." Ella smiled at me.
"Yeah… But this… Was just… Weird…" I replied.
"The scars on your leg… How are those even possible?" She stammered.
"I wish I knew…" I lied looking down at my leg.
"When do you think you'll be back to school?" Ella asked changing the subject.
"As soon as I can." I smiled.
"Good!" She beamed back. Marianne's face appeared in the doorway with Dr. Martinez.
"Ready to go?" Dr. Martinez said to the both of us.
"Yeah!" Ella and I both said. I was ready to leave like the minute I woke up. Of course, I had to ride out of the hospital in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse. A male nurse… A murse. Strange planet, Earth…
We reached Marianne's car and the murse helped me out of the wheelchair and into the car. Then I said bye to Ella and her mother and we were on out way home. It was silent in the car. I could tell Marianne was not happy with me…
"Hey…" I said after like ten minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"Jenna… What happened?" She almost yelled back. Yelling was my way of knowing she was concerned.
"I don't even really know. One minute I was happy and the next I had this searing headache. And then I fainted… That's all I know." I replied. Her thoughts were still full of questions.
"Well, I got a call from Dr. Martinez saying she had to call 911 because you fainted on her living room floor." She replied keeping her eyes locked on the road.
"Oh… I'm sorry… It all happened so quick I guess I kind of just blacked out or something…" I said with my eyes locked on the floor. I could hear her thoughts.
'Was this really a Legacy?' She thought.
"Yes. This really was a Legacy, Marianne." I replied still looking at the ground. Her head snapped in my direction. "I can read minds." I said still not looking at her. "Watch the road. I can read the mind of the oncoming driver. You're half way in his lane! He's quite terrified!" I yelled as she swerved back into our lane.
We rode home in silence for the rest of the way. Her head was full of astonished questions. Some were concerning and some were flattering. We got home and she ordered me to sit on the couch and wait for her to get something from our shed in the backyard. I obeyed her without a word. I sank down into the couch. Moe jumped on me in the next second. She began licking my face. Marianne came in and ordered Moe down. She listened. Even the dog knew Marianne's harsh, acidic tone from her normal tone. I was either in deep shit or it was Lorien secret time. My guess is both.
"Jenna," She began setting a wrapped bundle on the coffee table. "As you know, your parents were members of the Loric Garde. Which would've made you a member if we were still on Lorien." For the record, Lorien was my former planet. "Before I go on, you know what your scars on your leg mean, correct?" I nodded. "Well, your necklace is your symbol."
"What necklace?" I asked.
"This one." She reached in the bundle and pulled something out and held it up. "I decided to keep it until you were old enough to take care of it. And now that your Legacies have developed, I know that you're ready." She handed it to me. I took it and put it around my neck and then studied it. Marianne pulled out a knife that glowed blue at her touch along with a gun that I recognized. It was from my planet. Number six, who was my biological, older sister, and her protector had given it to Marianne and I about four or five years ago. We ran into each other somehow in Japan. I've lived a lot of places…"We're going to start training tomorrow."
"Training?" I was puzzled.
"To control your Legacies and your other powers."
"Other powers? You're not making any sense…" I muttered.
"Super human abilities and telekinesis. Your super human senses developed early." She said as if this was just common knowledge and I should've already known this.
"When you say 'super human'," I put air quotes around 'super human' "Do you actually mean, like, super… Or just alien?" I asked.
"Don't get smart with me." She said.
"Never again." I said quickly looking at the floor. "Wait, tomorrow? What about school?" I asked snapping my gaze back to Marianne.
"You can't go back to school until you can control yourself. We do not want a repeat of what happened today at school, do we?" She said locking her eyes on mine.
"No." I replied ripping my gaze away and returning it to the floor.
"Jenna, look at me. Now." I slowly returned my gaze to her. "We're going to milk this 'sick' thing for a while, got it? " She hissed. I nodded sheepishly. "Jenna. This is serious. Do you understand?"
"Yes! I got it, all right? I'm under house arrest until I can control myself! I get it!" I practically screamed at her. Saying this probably wasn't a good idea… Marianne looked like she was about to explode.
"Bed. Go. Now." She hissed at me. She was pissed. Her mind said it all. I got off the couch and trudged to my room without another word. I slammed my door. I was pissed too. I finally made friends this year and now I can't go back. This was so unfair! I changed into my pajamas and lay down in my bed. I was exhausted. It only took a matter of minutes for me to slowly… drift… to sleep...
I awoke before daybreak. I glanced at my clock, 2:30 A.M. I still had at least four hours to sleep. I lay restless in my bed until 3:00 A.M. and the decided I was thirsty and got up to get a glass of water from the kitchen. I rose from my bed and left my room. I entered the kitchen and saw Marianne looking in the fridge.
"You too, huh?" She said still looking in the fridge.
"Yeah." I replied crossing the room to the sink.
"We never did have any dinner." She said. I heard the fridge door shut and looked up to see Marianne carrying this huge pile of food. She set it all down on the counter. I stuck my mouth under the faucet. I turned it on and held my face there for a few seconds.
"Jenna, use a glass." Marianne said. I looked up from drinking and saw her holding out a glass for me. I took it and filled it.
"Thanks." I murmured.
"Jenna, are you mad at me?" Marianne stopped everything that she was doing and just waited for my response.
"No." I sighed. "I wasn't ever mad. Just upset because I finally made friends. And stuff." I almost was whispering.
"Well Jenna, you know you need to be able to control yourself." She told me and began making food for us again.
"I know, I know." I said taking a sip of water. "I was just being stupid." I jumped up and sat on a section of the counter.
"Perhaps I wasn't being as mature as I should've been either…" Marianne admitted shyly.
"Let's just both agree to talk about our problems instead of just yelling at each other… Deal?" I said finishing my cup of water.
"Deal." She replied. She turned around holding a plate stacked high with sandwiches. "Now, get off my counter before I kick your scrawny, little ass." She said smiling. I rolled my eyes and snickered. I leaped of the counter then followed Marianne to the dining room. We ate and talked about things and actually had a nice night together for once.
Later that day, my training began. In the first few days, my telekinesis developed and Marianne thought it would be a good idea to try to levitate myself. Yeah… That became more of a tiring game of how long I could last before falling on my… butt. But I began to get the hang of things the third day. And on the fourth day, my super strength and speed kicked in, which was really fun. I could run a mile in thirty seconds and I could bench press our car! Marianne was proud of me. I caught on to everything so quick. Now I could fully control whose mind I read and when I read it. Then it was target practice time. I had to find and shoot at targets using the gun my sister had given me. Marianne placed the targets. It had been eight days since my accident at Dr. Martinez's house. I could go back to school soon.
Finally.
I was shooting targets. Marianne was watching from a tree. After I made some progress, she left me alone to work by myself. It had been almost an hour and then I began to hear strange noises approaching me. I heard flapping wings. Big wings. And footsteps. And now I heard voices.
"Guys, I heard a noise over here!" A boys voice boomed from overhead. The flapping got lower and lower to the ground until it stopped completely. And then I heard a lot of footsteps. The other footsteps I heard before joined the new ones. Then whoever this herd was, they were coming my way. I quickly threw my gun in a nearby bush, thinking that it would be safe there. Right as I threw my gun the people came within seeing distance of me.
"Jenna?" An astonished female voice exclaimed.
"Hey?" I said wiping my throwing arm behind my head and whirled around to see who was there. "Oh, hey!" It was Ella and her family.
"What are you doing out here? Do you live around here?" Ella asked.
"Yeah. I live over there a few… miles…" I said with a shaky voice. "What are you guys doing out here?" I redirected Ella's question back at them.
"Exercising." Max replied quickly.
"Yeah, me too…" I replied nervously. "Clearing my head… I'm coming back to school tomorrow."
"Really?" Nudge said with a smile. I decided not to read their minds… I could have though.
"Yeah. I'm all better now. A sickness was going around my old school right as I left. I must've caught it." I lied through my teeth.
"Oh! It's good you're better." Ella said. When I wasn't looking, Gazzy snuck over to the bush that I had thrown my gun into.
"Hey guys! Look what I found!" He exclaimed holding it up. Uh-oh…
"What's that Gaz?" Max asked. We all went and crowded around Gazzy.
"It looks like some kind of… alien gun thing..." Fang commented.
"Yeah." I replied. My shaky voice returned. They all took turns examining it then it got back to Gazzy.
"I wonder if it's loaded." He was excited. I saw his finger reaching for the trigger.
"Don't touch the trigger!" I screamed. Everyone looked at me like I was an alien along with the gun. "Because I mean… If it's loaded it could be really dangerous… Right?" I recovered.
"Jenna, we can handle danger." Max assured me.
"Can I see it first?" I said acting excited.
"Sure!" Gazzy exclaimed handing it to me.
"What is this?" I asked discretely turning the safety on so it wouldn't shoot. I shrugged and handed it back to Gazzy.
"Here goes!" He exclaimed and pulled the trigger. I flinched as nothing happened. "Bummer." Fang whispered looking disappointed. Yes! Nothing happened. I was so relieved!
"Let's bring it home with us." Iggy said. "We can examine it further."
"Good idea, Ig." Max said. "I want to figure out what it is." I wonder why… I began reading her mind. 'Is this from the School? What if they're back? This could be bad.' I read. I had to get it back. What's the School? Hmmm… I saw Angel looking at Max. I then realized they were having a mental conversation… How? I then remembered something Max had said my first day of school… Angel couldn't read my mind… Could she read minds too? This just got weird… I watched as Iggy took my gun from Gazzy and stuffed it in his backpack. Something was up with all of their backs… except Ella… Just the way their skin moved… It looked like something was under their shirts… Hmmm…
"Jenna, want to walk with us back to the road?" Iggy asked zipping up his backpack.
"Sure." I replied shoving my hands in my pockets. We all started walking. I was reading everyone's minds. All their thoughts were about the gun. My gun. The one Marianne was going to scream at me for if she found out it fell into the hands of humans… This was bad… They were talking amongst themselves and I was just walking behind them. Behind Iggy… Behind Iggy's backpack… The one with my gun in it… Idea alert… I began opening Iggy's backpack with my telekinesis. After it was open, I carefully lifted it out and floated it into my backpack. I then shut my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I got it back! Yes! Time to split. We reached the road and were about to part ways.
"See you all tomorrow." I said and smiled. They all took turns saying bye and then we left each other. I took off running shortly after. I was home in forty-five seconds.
Marianne was laying on the couch reading with Moe sleeping on her chest.
"Hey." I said taking off my black pleather jacket.
"How'd it go?" She replied looking up at me from her book.
"Fine." I said. I decided to hide what happened from her. "Can I go back to school tomorrow?" I asked sitting down at her feet.
"I guess. But after school you need to continue target practice." She replied looking back to her book.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed. I jumped up and sprinted to my room.
And then everything was back to normal... How long could this possibly last?