A/N: WRITE MORE is not an acceptable review. And I'm obsessing over Harry Potter this week, hence my dorky insperation.
Name: Ariel
Location: Alaska
Date: October 8th
"The Order of the Phoenix? You must be kidding me!" I yelled at Jeb. He had somehow managed to infuriate me yet again.
"So they formed a resistance group that is supposed to help Max remember her past. And Katrina recently joined…" I mumbled, pacing around. I came to a halt in front of Jeb.
"See? This is what happens when you give filthy mutants second chances. Chaos! Absolute anarchy! We should have starved her." I said, huffing.
"Angel," He said, shaking me. "Starving people isn't right. Physical punishment isn't the answer. Not to mention the modifications- even if she wants too, she can't be friendly to the subjects. We are perfectly safe." He said in a soothing tone.
'Can anyone kill Max?' I mused to myself. I decided that Katrina is more than capable. So what if she wants to save the lives of those pathetic creatures? She is programmed to sense their weaknesses, predict their actions, and strike when the circumstances are perfect. Not to mention how now that we gave her back her hearing, all her senses are working beautifully.
"Are you sure we can't just rid of them?" I asked while trying to penetrate deeper into Jeb's mind.
"They're being introduced to the specimen as we speak. We can't take them out of their lifeline now." He explained.
I let out a nasty snarl. "I'm going for a walk." I informed him, waving my hand dismissingly.
"Can I join?" He asked. "You've done enough." I answer, glaring.
I dramatically stomped out of the house. As I entered the mystical woods, my hands formed fists, attracting a small ball of water vapor. I unclenched my hands and the miniature cloud is blown away, the impact causing the golden leaves on the trail to fly out of my way. I smile to myself, creating more and more balls of vapor, shooting them forward to blow leaves out of my path. Enjoying myself, I raised my hand, calling forth a bit of thunder. The sound sends squirrels into hysterics, looking for a small hiding place. The echo of the thunder boomed throughout the forest. The loose leaves on trees were freed by the sound waves.
I laughed to myself, sensing how weak nature really is. In the middle of the fragile woods, I felt like a conductor, responsible for an orchestra of power. I raised my hands, drawing lightning out of the sky. I proceeded to lower my hands, allowing thunder to tumble through the air. To others, the sound is almost deafening, but to my own ears it's the most natural sound in the world- like music. I drew out rain and blew away wind. Standing there, commanding the elements, I felt powerful and unique. Grinning, I realized I was doing thinks Max never dreamt of doing.
Max. How does she manage to penetrate my purest moments? She's still alive, but not in that sense. She's alive in our subcosciousness. She's always there, lurking in the back of my mind, making snarky remarks and constantly critizing me.
She's in Jeb's mind as well. She tells him how much better than me she was, pointing out how I'm so unrelatable. She whispers to him how I'll never be as caring, or as responsible as she was. And she always reminds him that she was his favorite.
But one thing is for sure- she was never as powerful as I was. And she never will be- she's gone. Simply a shell, barely able to defeat weak humans. Not nearly as capable as even the simplest of the mutants. While she's responsible for merely one life, her own, I can tear apart the threads of fate in seconds. Her soul used to be a fire, powerful and beautiful. However, she barely has a single flame left.
Jeb will like me. He will be forced to, over time. All his other 'children' are dead, not to mention we live alone in the middle of Alaska. He has no choice- I will grow on him. How hard could it be to like me?
In my insecure moments, I compare myself with Maximum. Was she really so much better than me? Am I so intolerable? Do I truly repulse Jeb?
Maybe my power scares him. That must be it. But I can't help thinking- will anyone ever stop comparing me to Maximum ride?
Name: Amber
Location: Mt. Hood Meadows
Date: October 8th
"As I was saying, I'm Ben. I will be your trainer this year. I have already coached some of you, so it will be a pleasure to teach you how to coach yourselves. This is Katrina. She just moved here from Colorado. I assume the rest of you have already introduced yourselves. So, instead of doing a boring name round, I have a plan that's a bit more interesting. We're going to go cross country today, so leave your alpine skis here. Now, there's eight of you so we're going to divide into couples, and then we'll switch around. Each couple will go on a different trail. Ok?" He said. It surprised me that he jumped straight into the activity and didn't talk about why we were here, our yearly agenda, etc.
Kara and Lysander paired up, and Rena ditched her sister for Iason. Anastasia (who I must remember never to call Anna, because that name is evidentially saved for her friends) made her way to Katrina. I looked at Nick. "Partners?" he mouthed. I nodded, smiling. Only he could make this seem like a first grade task.
We got fitted with cross country skis and soon enough, Nick and I were on our trail. Cross country trails always loom the same- a few hills, a circular track that's about six feet wide, trees from each side. Ben said all the trail we were going to do today should only take around 10 minutes before we get back to the main circle, where all the other finished couples were waiting. However, there was something special about this trail. We were surrounded by a very lengthy, awkward silence.
"So…" I said, trying to break the ice. "Tell me about yourself" I ask, praying that he'll actually speak.
"Not much to tell…" he stalls. I raise an eyebrow. "I don't know myself that well.." He finally admits. Even though he lets out a short, dry laugh I can tell how serious those words are.
"Surprisingly enough, I think I can actually relate." I say. He shoots a confused look at me, before turning his head back to the trail.
"I had amnesia." I say, hoping that he won't be one of those people who think it's some sort of disorder.
He did the Nick equivalent of a gasp, which is an expression of minor shock that can only be detected if you look in his eyes. He then explains himself. "I had amnesia too."
Now, if he were a normal human, we would continue to discuss the details of our injuries and perhaps even trail off into other stories from our life creating what people often refer to as friendly conversations. However, Nick being the mysterious, unsocial guy he is- he left it at that. We finished our trail in silence.
After we finished, I was paired with Rena. She was a really sweet girl, and apparently, she enjoys talking about herself. A LOT. Here's what she told me:
She was a sophomore in college, and wanted a secure job. She always loved skiing and she decided that this would be the best job for her.
Meanwhile, her sister dropped out of college due to her eating disorder. She is now healthy and goes to counseling, but their mother is still skeptical. She constantly tries to get her out of the house, and upon hearing of Rena's new job, she was ecstatic. Being the overprotective mom she is, she sent Anna out to help her sister. However, Anna wasn't so thrilled with the fact that her mom was managing her life.
"Anna says that this whole disorder started because mom was too involved, always seeking perfection. And she has Dr. Levvit to prove it. He says that the whole thing was basically Anna trying to prove mom wrong. I mean, Anna was always pretty rebellious." She said.
"I heard that bulimia is trying to gain control over your own body, so you can feel like you own nature. Maybe Anna was trying to be more powerful than your mom, to prove that she has just as much influence." I added, feeling like a therapist.
"Control over nature… It's so dumb! No one should be able to do that." She said to herself. My mind froze on the words 'control' and 'nature'.
"I hate people who try to play god…" I mumbled to myself.
Soon enough, we were finished. We went back to the central circle and I paired up with Lysander.
We talked about average thing, like movies. Of course, he is a filming major, so he has more professional opinions than my own. We had a few heated debates about politics and a small argument about actors, but we agreed on most things (which is very unusual). He was really nice to be around, and every time I asked him something, he also mentioned Kara. If his favorite color was Red, he'd immediately comment that Kara's was orange. He was obviously in love, and they seemed like the perfect couple. I was even a bit jealous, seeing their perfect relationship blossoming. By the end of the trail he asked me to call him Ly.
Next, I skied with Iason. He was, to sum it up, epic. His life is band-oriented, but unlike many other college bands, he is actually good. As in, he knows good music and can actually provide some, too. The kid's got talent. More than that, he's fun to be around. He is witty and intelligent, and I can really see myself as his friend.
After Iason I endured the company of Kara. Not that Kara is bad, but she talks constantly. Usually, I am repulsed by this kind of person, but she reminded me of someone that left me with a positive feeling .She liked fashion but had a soft spot for cars. She too was head over heels for Lysander. Her comments oriented around 'Lys LOVES that' and 'Oh, you can't believe what happened when Ly and I…'. Overall, even though she ranted more often than any other human on this planet, I liked her.
I proceeded to do a trail with Anastasia. She's now 21, the oldest of the group. Midway through, she spoke her first words.
"I'm not crazy, you know." She said. It was so quiet, as if she said it merely to herself.
"I believe you." I whispered back. And I did.
"It's not what you think. I… I didn't do this to myself. Or maybe I did, indirectly. But it's not as it seems. I'm sure Rena told you the cover story… But do you really think that's what it is?" She said.
"Look around, Amber. Everyone here is covering their bruises, and we're all way beyond what would be considered thin. Just… Think about it, ok? What do you think it is?" She said, her gaze steadily holding mine, challenging.
"Punishment" I say immediately, not even thinking about my words.
"Exactly! Now, I can't give you any more clues, but try to figure it out. Who would starve us? Why? And why would all the prisoners end up here?" She said, a loose smile breaking on her striking face.
Her cryptic words remind me of Jeb, and my pace slows a bit. Jeb was like my father, and thinking of him made my ribcage ache.
We continued the trail in silence, and in the central circle I traded Anastasia with Katrina. As soon as we were out of sight, she tackled me. She pushed me down into the snow, her hands on my shoulders. I gasp in shock, and note that she's much heavier than she seems.
"I can't…" she whispers, looking into the trees.
She gets off me, not providing any explanation. She faces the trees and calls for help.
Katrina turns to me, an agonized look visible in her eyes, and looks back away.
"I just can't…" she whispers apologetically, and runs.
Not my best work, I know. Very raw and unedited. Lea, you're free to go ahead and take this little project upon your grammatically correct shoulders (see? that doesn't even make sense).Thoughs? Comments? Likes? Dislikes? Type it all up. It's review time!