-SoulMama-: Thank you for your input. I'm glad that my story in interesting to you. It just kind of came to me and I knew I had to write it to get it out of my system. +smiles+

Jinx Author: Thank you too for your review! Hey that rhymed! I'm glad that you like the story that much so far. I hope I can keep up the feel of it for the remainder of the narration. As to proper grammar, can you really have a good story without it?

Chapter 4

"Ahhhhhhhhh……." I was startled awake by my own drawn out groan. Where am I? Slowly, my eyes opened a crack then I closed them with a sigh. I was safe and sound in my own room Last night must have been a horrible dream. I'm so glad it's over! A little smile cracked my lips at that though. I knew it was about time to wake up, or my aunt would come and get me, so I started to sit up.

Pain more horrible then you can imagine exploded over me. It was like every one of my nerve endings was being fried simultaneously, including the ones in my head. I let out a scream of agony and fell back down. That's when I realized two things. One, I was not in my bed, I was lying on the floor. Which helped lead my befuddled mind to (drum roll please)……Two, everything that had happened last night was not a dream, but a VERY frightening reality.

I gazed up at the ceiling, looking at the different textures that stood out. I thought about crying, but I was tired of that. I hate crying, always have. Well, except when my mom was alive. Whenever I had a problem, or something that bothered me, I could go to her and cry my eyes out without any shame. Like the time when I was a little kid and a boy at school I had a crush on kissed another girl. I had run all the way home afterward and had cried for an hour. Yeh, I know, corny and cheesy, but I was only 6 at the time. Mom had held me and told me everything would be all right, that I would find the perfect guy someday. The point was Mom had been my shoulder. I missed that. Right at this moment, I wished with all my heart that she would come back and just hold me. She and Dad would know how to make it all better.

Well that got me going, I'd been trying to NOT cry and here I was on the floor, filthy beyond measure, sobbing my heart out. I forced myself to stop it, nearly choking myself in the process. Not only because it did not help with my situation, but sobbing only made me hurt worse. So I lay there for a few more moments, thinking of the best way to handle things.

One thing that really bothered me was the fact that my aunt had not come up to see me. Judging by the glow outside my window, it was around noon. She never lets me stay in my room this late. Even when I was really sick, she had made me come downstairs so she could keep an eye on me. That fact had me worried.

Maybe something has happened to her; like she fell and broke her hip or she was in a car accident while she was out looking for me. I pushed those thoughts aside. I could not think like that. I had my own problems to deal with at the moment.

Experimentally, I gently lifted my right arm a bit. The pain was there, but not as bad as before. So slowly that it almost drove me crazy, I moved the rest of my body. As far as I could tell, nothing was broken or unresponsive. That gave me a little bit of relief. When I was sure that I was not going to fall apart, I slowly moved onto my knees. The sharp pains had subsided into a dull ach, and moving was tolerable.

It took me a while, but I managed to get off the floor and sat on the edge of my bed. There I stopped for a moment, again taking stock, and then I slowly stood up. Half of me expected to fall over right then and there, but I didn't. The other half was sure I would as soon as I moved. But I had to try. I put one foot in front of the other and tried taking a step. A grin lit my face when I didn't fall. I was careful not to get cocky as I made my way to the bathroom. I did not want to trip and fall down the stairs.

Getting out of my soiled clothing was a challenge, but after all I'd been through the night before, I knew I could handle it. But by the time I was undressed and standing in the cold shower stall I was exhausted. It took the last of my strength to turn the water faucet on. But when that warm water hit me, man, everything was worth it. It was SUCH A WONDERFUL FEELING! I could not remember a shower feeling this good.

And it got rid of my headache and most of the pain in my muscles too. I stood there under the water for I don't know how long, until I felt it start to go cold. I grinned again, thinking about how mad Aunty Gerty would be about that. She was a firm believer in 5-10 minute showers and no longer than that. But at this moment I did not care a bit.

I turned the water off and reached for a towel and wrapped it around myself. It was warm from the temperature in the bathroom and it felt wonderful. I went back into my room and looked around. I had figured on taking a shower and going back to bed, but now I was feeling much better. I decided to get dressed and go downstairs. At that thought, the worry over my aunt came back. I dressed as quickly as I could, throwing on a pair of warm pajamas. I did not want to lose that cozy feeling. I walked to the top of the stairs and looked down. It was still a strain to walk, and stairs would be tough, but I went anyway. One step, two steps, three steps, and slowly I made my way to the bottom. I had to fight back the urge to let out a triumphant yell, just for the fun of it. I felt like Columbus must have felt when the look-out called 'Land Ho!' Ok, maybe not that good but close, VERY close.

After that, I slowly moved through the rest of the house, calling softly to Aunt Gertrude. When there was no answer, and I could not find her in any of the rooms, my worry o'meter sky rocketed. Where could she be? Maybe she went to her friend Harriett's for moral support. She must be worried sick. I mean, I had just disappeared after school. I decided to call and find out.

I went into the kitchen, and started digging through the pile of phone numbers we have stuck in a drawer. I finally found the right one and went to the phone. Before I could dial, my foot kicked against something on the floor. I would have ignored it, but something about the shape caught my eye. I smile slightly and picked it up. It was the little chalk board my aunt kept on the fridge. It must have been what clobbered me last night. I went to stick it to the metal surface and then I noticed something written on it.

As my eyes scanned the scribbled message, my smile disappeared. I put the phone down with a sigh and returned the number to the drawer. The message was quick and to the point,

"I'm going over to Harriett's, she is feeling unwell. If I am not back by tonight, it means she wants company. There are cold sandwiches in the refrigerator. – Aunt Gertrude. "

My aunt was not out looking for me, and she was not hurt. She did not even know anything was the matter. I knew I should be happy, and in a way I was, she was ok and not hurt or anything. But a part of me had wanted her to be worried. To know she was out there looking for me, that she cared enough to be concerned.

I sighed again, pulling up a chair at the table. I rested my head in my hands, fighting back the emotions that rumbled under the surface. Then I decided something. I was going to make the best of this, and not feel sorry for myself. A smile flit across my face at that thought. I got up and went to the fridge. I had suddenly realized that I was starving.

I found those sandwiches Aunt Gertrude had said were there, and promptly commenced to eat them all. Now, for anyone who knows me, I am a very light eater. A normal breakfast for me consists of an apple or another piece of fruit. The fact that I sat down and ate three huge club sandwiches is unthinkable in my mind. Also the fact that I was still hungry is even more amazing. But at that moment I did not care. The only concern in my mind was what we had in the house that was edible.

I raided the cabinets and made myself some waffles with fried eggs. I mean a batch of waffles for like 3-4 people! Any sane person would have been horrified. I guess I was not sane at that time. On second thought, have I ever been?

When I could stuff nothing else into my over full stomach, I went into the living room and turned on the television. I watched a couple of different shows before I got bored. I turned off the set and just stared at the ceiling. It was then that I allowed myself to think about what had happened last night. I had been effectively blocking out those confusing images until now. But I knew I had to address them at some point. What if that started happening every day? I could not get away with collapsing in a mass of pain and pink on a regular basis.

What could be wrong? Then it kind of hit me. Just a one word thought. Mutant. I had been hearing a lot about them on the news lately. Most people wanted to kill or imprison them and some wanted to make them register in this huge database thing, a bit like criminals. Only they tried to make it sound like it was a good thing. There was a small percentage that just wanted to leave them alone, or even to try and live together in peace. But they were a very small percentage.

My aunt was one of the ones who believe they should all register, and if they refused they should be sent to prison immediately. Though I had pointed out that that is what Hitler had made the Jews do. Well, that was before he started killing them or putting them all in concentration camps. My aunt had gotten really mad at me for saying that, she tried to make it out like this was completely different. The Jews had not been dangerous. Mutants were very dangerous.

I thought about that. I didn't feel dangerous, but who knows? I might blow up a building by accident like that boy on the news a few weeks ago. I could cause the deaths of a lot of people. I had always hoped that we humans and mutants could all get along, but that seemed to be a far off wish. There seemed to be so much violence in line with the Mutant issue. I could not help noticing that it was the normal people who started most of it though. Not the Mutants, like they'd tried to make out.

I let out another sigh. What would happen to me? Would my aunt send me to one of those Mutant camps, that were mentioned on TV every once in a while? I hoped not. I did not think I could handle being caged up. No matter what anyone said, I could feel that those places were cages. Cages with nice, gentle names. That sent a shudder up my spine.

But maybe I was getting ahead of myself. Perhaps I was not a Mutant after all. Maybe I had hit my head last night, or maybe I was hallucinating like I'd thought at first. Yeh! I was probably blowing this way out of proportion. I jumped up from the couch, wincing at the pain in my muscles, and went to my room as quickly as I could.

I sat down, cross-legged, on my bed, thinking. How does one know if one's a Mutant? Maybe you just have to think about it really hard. Hopefully I would not blow the house up. But now was a good time to try because I was the only one home. I closed my eyes and thought about what last night had felt like. I thought about all the pain when I had woken up, but pushed that away. It was before that, that I needed to think about.

I had just been sitting there, relaxing in the cool of the woods. What had set off the pain? And how had everything turned pink? I thought about it. And then I remembered the noise. That tickling sensation had coved my whole body, and then I had started hearing things. As if people where talking near me, only there had been no one close by. I chewed on that for a while then I remembered the man's voice I'd heard.

He had been calming and sure, all the worry I had started feeling had disappeared when he started speaking. But what had happened? I remembered reaching out to him, trying to find out what all this was about. Then, I had felt that explosion of pain. My eyes opened in shock. It came from him! Why had he tried to hurt me? Had he meant to kill me? The second the thought crossed my mind, I discarded it. I had felt his sincerity; he was really trying to help me. And I had felt, for an instant before I passed out, that he was upset. He had not meant to do whatever he had done.

I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today. I was no closer to answers then I had been before.

I stayed there on my bed for a while, just enjoying the warm sunshine that filtered through my window. I wondered when my aunt would be coming home, and then I started listening for her car. That's when it started, again. That slight tingle over the surface of my skin, but this time, I was ready for it.

I braced myself incase the pain came back, but it didn't. Everything took on a slightly pinkish hue, like I was looking through colored saran wrap or something. Then I started hearing things. Only now I knew what they were. I heard the sounds of people talking, I recognized Mr. Henson, the old man who lives a street over. I could hear him talking to his cat Elmer. I focused in on him, and slowly the other sounds faded away. Ok. I thought I have super hearing. That is defiantly interesting. Then, if that wasn't cool enough, I saw them. I didn't know if I was imagining it or not, but I thought I could see him. Sort of in my minds eyeI grinned, saying jokingly

"Hi Mr. Henson, Hello Elmer."

He jumped a mile, a startled look on his kind, wrinkled face. That reaction caused me to jump out of my skin. It also caused me to lose my concentration on him. I felt like I was being pulled back, like I had actually gone off somewhere. Right before I was snapped back into reality, I heard his gentle voice saying,

"What? Who's there?"

Then it was gone, and I was back in my room, on my bed. Normal as you please. WOW! was about the only word to describe it.That was about the weirdest thing that could have happened.

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking rapidly at the change of light and color back to normal. I rubbed my face and eyes with my hands, trying to speed the adjusting process along. Then I saw my hands, and I freaked out totally. They where glowing pink! In fact, the entire surface of my skin was pink. Ok, this was not funny. I could handle the hearing things, even the talking with my mind (if that's what I'd been doing), but this was too much. I could hide those other things, but not this. This was really noticeable.

But I had to admit, it looked pretty cool. I mean I've never been a color pink fan, but they had an interesting appeal. Maybe having different colored skin was not that bad.

As that thought crossed my mind, I shook it off. What was I thinking! I couldn't have pink skin! I focused on it really hard, trying to think the color away. And to my surprise, it worked! Well, somewhat. The color slowly began to fade off me, receding until it was almost completely gone. Almost anyway. My fingernails were still glowing.

All right, I could handle glowing fingernails. I did not normally have any money to buy polish or nail gloss. So this was okay. Well, as okay as this COULD be.

Then I had a thought. The first time this had happened, when I was on my way to school, it had taken a long time. And out in the woods, I had passed out for at least five hours, maybe even more than that. But this time, judging by the clock on my wall, it had only been a few minutes. That fact bothered me. How could I do this again, if I could end up dead to the world for hours on end? Or maybe just dead.

While I pondered that thought, my stomach started growling. I looked at it in shock. I could not be hungry wasn't that like, physically impossible? I groaned, and got off my bed and headed for the kitchen. My aunt was going to kill me for the amount of food I'd been eating. But I guess, when you're hungry you're hungry.

Plus, I'd prefer hunger as a side effect to passing out in pain any day.

I'm getting excited about this story myself! smiles Anyway, I want to know what all of you thought.

Please review, and tell me what should happen next!

-Psylocke