October 6th, 2006
Kalie tugged at the hanging nylon, further securing the backpack she managed to swipe from her room at the Petrelli house. She was pleased that the incessant thumping the burgundy satchel had engaged in ceased. A brisk wind rushed around Kalie's form and she immediately covered her sandy hair with her hood. A cold front had managed to sneak in behind the rains from days before and had noticeably dropped the temperature.
She didn't bother to look back at the large house she was leaving behind, as the talk of "Saving the world" and other crazy speak rambled around in her head, trying to find a place to lodge amongst teenage angst. Kalie wasn't sure where the elder Petrelli had gone, and didn't want to care, although Angela had gotten her out of jail, and assured her that she was no longer in danger of being charged with a crime. A knight in Prada, how grand.
She probably did owe Angela something, if nothing else but for destroying their bathroom. She had done repairs and cleanup as best she could, but no one would ever accuse her of being a carpenter. Another wind tried to remove the grey hood from her head, but Kalie was quick to secure it down with a quick slap. As if angered by the gesture, the wind managed to free strands of hair from the hood's cavity and caressed Kalie's face as she tugged at them with her free hand.
"Come on… Come on" Kalie looked up and down the street in front of her, awaiting the roar of the diesel engine the bus would no doubt be utilizing. Kalie despised the smell of their exhaust, but she would have ridden a camel to get to Ashley's house. To have someone familiar and not dead in her life would be a big plus.
Kalie eyed the bench behind her in disgust, a single puddle of water managed to stretch far enough from one side to the other that it made sitting on the rustic pew a wet proposition. An idea quickly formed in the mind beneath Kalie's hood. While controlling this "ability" had not been something she had mastered, there was a yearning to understand it. Looking around, Kalie noticed people far up and on the opposite side of the street, too far for them to see.
Removing the hood from her head, Kalie stooped over the small puddle of water on the bench and cupped her right hand by forcing her fingers together. She placed the hand with the palm facing the slender puddle and then focused intently upon the water. Nothing happened.
Kalie then positioned herself comically next to the bench, as if she was a black belt about to break a block. She waved her hand intently over the water, but only saw a small ripple in response. Disgusted, she stood up and turned around, pacing in a semi-circle until she once again faced the bench. Kalie tried to remember the other times she had affected water, but couldn't put a finger on a trigger for her ability. Dammit, why can't I do this!?
Frustration built and Kalie slammed her hand down on the bench, causing an unexpected splash that doused her in the face with water. Great, just great. Kalie wiped her eyes and then looked at the bench, and noticed that the puddle was gone. Not only that, but the entire bench was bone dry, causing it to contrast with the wet but drying world around it.
Kalie was suddenly frozen in place as what sounded like a snicker garnered her attention. "Who's there?"
Spinning around, the young girl looked for someone to be there but there was only scenery. A nicely hedged bush separated her from a small playground that was still too wet to play on. A sidewalk with contrasting wet and dry spots stretched out to her left and right while the street was to her back. "Hello?" The hair on the back of her neck began to stand up as goose bumps welled up on her arms. Kalie couldn't decide if she was officially freaked out or simply cold.
A few moments passed as the young girl listened but did not hear anything but cars and birds in the background. Her nerves began to settle as she walked over and felt the newly dried bench with her hands. Confident she would not end up with a soaked bottom, Kalie took a seat.
So what, I've got to be pissed for this thing to work? Scared? What? Kalie briskly wiped her eyes and face once more. This time, however, she could feel a subtle lifting sensation tugging gently at her face and hair. As she opened her eyes, she saw small tendrils of water that ran like a liquid spider web from her face to her fingertips. Suddenly the strands let loose of her face and clung to her hands with multiple beads of water meeting up in the palms of her hands.
Well this is different. Kalie continued to marvel as a small ball of water sat in each of her hands, spinning from some unseen force. She began moving her hands from side to side while the balls continued to sit stationary on top of them. Kalie next flipped her hands over, and to her surprise the water spheres did not fall, but retained their distances from her palms.
Kalie turned with a start as she heard a familiar sound and turned to see a blue and white bus approaching. Realizing the bus would be there in a few seconds, Kalie began trying to shake the water from her hands, but was horrified to see that the spheres were not leaving their perches. The bus was getting closer and Kalie could see the large SAKS FIFTH AVENUE ad with a slender brunette in a suit Kalie could probably never afford getting clearer. Panic began to grip her being as she continued to shake her hands to no avail. Suddenly the bus was stopped and the SAKS lady was staring confidently at Kalie as if she knew her little secret.
Feeling it the only option she had left, Kalie stuck her hands into her pockets water and all as she climbed up the bus's steps. The driver seemed to grow quickly impatient as Kalie tried to figure out what to do about her little predicament. With a stroke of what the young girl considered genius, she wrapped her fingers around the small blob in her palm, concealing it as she dug two dollars out of her pocket pinched between her thumb and index finger.
"You OK there?" The bus driver scanned her over as if he suspected her of being some sort of terrorist.
"Yeah, fine."
"Well move on back, you ain't the only one with places to go."
Kalie ignored the comment as she quickly slid her hands into the oversized pocket on the front of her sweatshirt. The bus was sparsely seated but Kalie decided on an empty seat two rows from the back. The bus would get her into the city, then she figured on footing it on over to Ashley's. It was still early, so the redhead would probably still be in school. She looked down, expecting the water balls to burst at any moment and soak her hoodie. Great, all I need is for the people on this bus to think I peed myself.
Kalie didn't want remove her hands from her pockets, as she assumed the sight might give the elderly lady across the row a stroke. Still she managed to sneak a peak at the liquid orb in her right hand, shielding the sight with the rest of her body until she quickly stuck it back in her pocket.
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The incessant droning of the bus's engine slowed to a rhythmic hum as the behemoth came to a stop and the doors parted. Kalie sat patiently while everyone else began exiting to the front before getting up herself.
"Hey, chin up kid." Kalie turned to see the bus driver looking sullenly at her.
"It can't be that bad."
"Sometimes it is." Kalie turned and bounced down the steps and off the bus without the driver commenting further. The door closed behind her as the engine once more roared to life and forced the bus away. The young girl tightly gripped the water spheres in her hands, which acted more like squishy novelty toys than a liquid.
Kalie continued to keep her hands tightly against her stomach inside her hoodie's pocket. Try as she might, she couldn't come up with an idea of how to get the liquid orbs to leave her hands. At one point as the crowd thinned out, she quickly pulled her hands out and tried smacking them together in the hopes of combining the water to one hand to make things easier. The water resisted merging, however, making it seem as though she was trying to push like poles of two magnets together.
God, can't I do anything with these things? Kalie stuck her hands back in her pockets frustrated and feeling the onset of a headache.
Cars moved slowly in front of Kalie, honking and yelling in a futile attempt to actually get somewhere. The young girl seemed to ignore it all, instead staring at the bright red NO WALK sign across the street as she continued to try to manipulate the liquid in each hand. There were several people across the street waiting on the signal to change as well, and Kalie couldn't help but feel there was someone close to her. She swung her head left and peered over her shoulder at the sidewalk behind, and although there were people milling about, no one was as close as what her senses told her.
Ignoring her instincts, Kalie turned and noticed the WALK sign was illuminated and that the people on the other side had began crossing. Without explanation to herself, Kalie broke into a walk that bordered on jogging and crossed the street quickly, meeting the oncoming people before they had gotten halfway across. This didn't ease her feeling, however, as she still felt that something was there close to her. Following her.
The elevator dinged as the doors parted to reveal the 2nd floor of the Longwood apartments. Normally Kalie would have bounded up the stairs, but her feet and calves were telling her she had done enough walking. She walked quickly to room 104, the feeling of another presence still within her mind. Digging into her right pocket with a single finger, Kalie brandished a tarnished key and slipped it into the lock. The key had been a salvation tool many times, allowing her a place to go when she knew it was going to be a rough night at home.
Upon entering the room, Kalie slipped off her backpack and tossed it into a nearby chair. It seemed every activity was made difficult by her predicament, and made her wonder if she was ever going to get rid of her supernatural handicaps. Turning her palms face up, Kalie looked at the orbs as they continued to rotate, as if locked in some vacuum that kept them from evaporating or moving except to follow her hands.
Alright, let's figure out how to get you guys off me. Kalie walked briskly over to the stainless steel kitchen sink and turned the faucet on. She briefly looked at her right hand before sticking it into the stream of water. The single stream split in to and ran off to the left and right of her hand, never touching the sphere in her hand.
Dammit! Can I not do anything to get rid of these stupid things! Kalie shook her hands vigorously to try to dislodge the water and then slammed them down on a counter but the balls held solid. It was as if Kalie was trying to remove a piece of herself. An idea suddenly struck and her sandy hair hung around her face as she pulled a spoon from the silverware drawer to the right of the sink.
Ok you little bastards, I got you now. Kalie stuck the spoon between her hand and the orb and began to pry up, gradually increasing force until the spoon began to bend. Kalie brought the warped utensil to eye level and studied it before tossing it into the sink. She then plunked down at the white and maple kitchen table, planted her face on top of folded arms and began to cry.
"Always the problem with children, no problem solving skills."
The man's voice caused Kalie to stand up and back away from the table as she scanned the room in front of her. Nothing was there.
"Ah come on love, come have a seat and tell me why you're ready to give up."
"Who are you?" Kalie reached behind her and pulled out a knife from a wooden set. To her chagrin it had a short blade.
"Oh, are you going to attack me, or peel an orange? You shouldn't be so wound up, if I was going to hurt you I would have done it near the park, on the bus, or just pushed you into traffic. A little 'oops I'm a teenager that can't chew gum and walk' kind of mistake. Nope, not here to hurt you though."
"Wait, you've been following me? Who are you? Why are you here?"
"My what a busy little mouth. How about a little 'let's put the knife down so no one gets hurt and talk sensibly' approach first, yes? Sound good my dear?"
"Not really, I can't even see you."
With that a man in nice but aged clothes appeared leaning against the wall to Kalie's right. The man was older, with grey sneaking into his brown hair and beard. His green eyes looked cold, but not threatening, although he wasn't making Kalie comfortable.
"Better now? Or would you prefer I pour us a spot of tea first? Maybe tell you a lovely poem to appeal to your sensibilities?"
"Ok, so now you have more questions than I do." The statement seemed to make a smile creep across the man's face.
"Fair enough. Yes I have, my name is Claude Raines, and I am your trainer."
"Wait, what?"
"Your questions love, too much reading posh magazines crippled your memories has it?"
"No, I don't read 'posh' magazines, don't believe I even know what you are referring to. What are you training me for? I don't believe I have asked for help with anything."
"Is that so? Those little beauties there in your hands say you need help. Although, you could make quite a show trying to figure it out on your own. Everyone loves to see narcissistic teenagers self-destructing."
"So what, you can help me with these?" Kalie raised her palms up to give Claude a good look. She didn't know if it was the fact that he had some form of power like hers, or that she liked his accent, but Kalie's fear had left her, being replaced slowly with hope.
"Yes, we'll give it a go. You will have to not be a normal teenager though, as I won't be able to handle whining and nonsense while I am teaching you. I swear, whiny people need to be thrown off rooftops."
"Sounds like you would be a good candidate." Kalie was surprised the quip audibly escaped her lips.
Claude gave Kalie glare that made some of the fear return before shaking his head. "I can tell I am not going to like this."
