"Bugger," I whispered, glancing around. Not that there was any point in looking – the room was shrouded in darkness, and I was unable to see even my hand when I lifted it in front of my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward. "Austin!" I called, tongue licking my lips. God they were dry. Added to that, my chest felt tight. "I know you're around here somewhere, you bastard."

No reply.

Not that I was surprised.

Why hadn't I brought any of the others with me? At least then I wouldn't be alone.

I raised my hands, focusing on pushing heat into them. Seconds later and my hands were turned into my own personal torches. Grinning to myself, I wondered why I hadn't thought of that earlier. Pushing my palms out, I sent two small fireballs into the centre of the room. They hung in the air for a few seconds, and I took a quick glance around the room.

Instantly I knew something was wrong. This room was way too big for the building we were in, for the floor we were on. It was empty, just a huge white space. Not a spot of colour, or even black, was in this room. The walls, floor and ceiling were all white. My eyes started to ache from the brightness of it, and I felt thankful when the fire disappeared, leaving me once again in darkness.

I closed my eyes, focusing, knowing that if I used the fire again it would just make my eyes hurt even more.

So it was plan b.

Night-time vision.

I opened my eyes and smiled to myself. I could see, just about, and this time, the whiteness wasn't overbearing. Everything was dulled, more of a grey now.

I walked forward, towards the other end of the room, and reached a hand out, touching the wall.

It dissolved under my touch.

Swearing under my breath, I whirled around.

The door was gone.

"AUSTIN!"

I roared his name, anger bubbling up inside of me. He was playing with me, a cat with a freaking mouse.

"Fine!" I cried, turning around in a circle as the room began to disappear, replaced by nothingness. "You want to do this, Austen? You going to trap me in some freaky dream world? If you're trying to break me, it won't work!"

I wouldn't let it work.

I thought of my friends, of Peter and Hiro, Becky and Rin. Eddie, Sam, Matt, Molly, Mohinder...

All those people who were counting on me.

My greatest strength.

I exploded.

I allowed the fire to consume me, to fill every part of my body, of my being. I let it spring forth from every inch of me and take me over. Closing my eyes, I felt the heat.

Get out. I sent the message out. All of you, get the hell out.

Don't do anything stupid! Peter's voice filled my head, and from somewhere in the distance I heard him repeating my words, telling the others to run. Blinding red and white filled my vision when I opened my eyes; fire surrounded me, reaching out from where I stood to engulf anything and everything in my path. I knew he was here somewhere, he had to be.

"STOP IT!"

His voice rang out from a point just beyond the fire, and I grinned to myself as I heard him scream. Suddenly, the darkness was gone and I was standing in a small office space, windows behind me and the door right in front. Austin cowered in one corner as the flames receded, returning to my body. Streams of water came from my fingertips, drenching the rest of the fire. Panting, I turned to Austin. He was clutching his arm, tears of pain streaming down his face.

"Face it Austin," I growled, moving slowly towards him, "it's over."

"No," He lifted his head, grimacing through the pain he was clearly feeling. "No, Melinda. You really think I would have been that stupid?"

"What do you mean?"

I could feel sweat dripping down my neck as I realised he was smiling. His eyes were ablaze, shining and wide.

"My associate, while you were trying to track me down," he chuckled, "she was working, very hard, Melinda. She has the formula."

"Then we'll find her, whoever she is."

"If your friends still trust you," his smile widened. "You see...she's now outside, telling them about how you were working for me all along."

"They won't believe her."

I could feel my blood running cold, could feel my heart thumping wildly against my ribcage as he shook his head. "Poor, stupid girl. You should know you can't change the future."

I pushed my palms towards him as he laughed, sending two large fireballs his way. He winked, before diving out of the way. The fire smacked into the wall as I began to run towards the door, eager to get out of there and find the others before his associate, whoever she was, could convince my friends I was working for him.

All I could hear in my head as I broke into the corridor, as I whirled around and sent streams of fire back into the room, was Rin's voice in my head.

It's her fault they're dead.

Screw it, I thought. I was going to torch the place.

Fire sprung at my heels as I ran, speeding past confused henchmen as I made my way to the other side of the building. Moments later and I heard it; shouts and screams behind me as the fire began to grow and expand. I didn't stop running until I was in another office, the large windows looking out onto the street below. Even then I didn't allow myself to slow down.

I crashed through the glass, ignoring the searing pain as the glass cut my skin. Bugger it; it'd heal. In the air I whirled around, focusing every part of my being into sending fire back towards the building.

Watching, I hovered backwards as the flames exploded, as the building started to crumple. Satisfied that it was taken care of, I turned and began to dive towards the ground, focusing on finding Peter and the others.

It didn't take me long; within a few minutes I was a couple of blocks away from the building, heading towards them. Peter looked towards me as I landed, my knees crumpling beneath me. Panting, I only registered one thing before I blacked out.

Barbara was standing with her sisters.

I pulled the blanket over me through instinct. Still half asleep, I rolled over, eyes snapping open when I noticed I was in a bed. Rin and Becky stood in my line of sight, Rin against the wall with her arms crossed, Becky right beside my bed, a look of confusion on her pretty face.

"How long have I been out?"

"Hours," Becky mumbled, turning away from me. "We...we didn't know what else to do so we...we brought you here."

"Where are we?" I asked, realising how achy my body was. I still felt exhausted, drained.

"Barbara's," Rin replied, voice curt and cold.

"Barbara's?" I gasped, sitting up and looking around. "She's OK? She's alive?"

"No thanks to you."

My eyes snapped to the door as Barbara stepped in, arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.

"And you can drop the act. They know."

"Know what?" I replied, climbing out of the bed. The carpet was soft on my bare feet, soft and warm. For a second, I relished the feeling.

"Stop it!" Rin cried, and when I glanced at her it was to see her fists clenched and her eyes wide, anger and fury and sadness filling them. "Just stop it Mel! We know you were a bigger part of this than you ever told us! We know you were working for him!"

"Working for..." I shook my head, rubbing a hand on my temple. "Rin, what are you on about?"

"Your little fireworks show was just that, wasn't it Mel?" Barbara hissed, and I found myself cringing at the venom in her voice. "You put us all in danger."

"No!" I cried, realising with a startling clarity that this was what Austin had been on about. My friends had been fed lies, lies that they believed. "No, I wasn't working for him...I tried to stop you guys coming! I didn't want you there!"

"In case we blew your cover," Becky's voice was quiet, trembling, and I suddenly saw the same girl I'd seen in my vision of the future. "It wasn't to keep us safe. Just...please, Mel. Stop lying to us."

"I'm not lying!"

"We'd appreciate it if you just left, Mel." Rin placed a hand on Becky's shoulder, squeezing it.

"Left?" I shook my head. "Rin, how long have you known me? You know I wouldn't turn against you guys!"

"We have no idea what happened to you after you were taken," Rin drawled, glancing towards Barbara.

"We think it's safer if you leave," Barbara stepped further into the room, away from the door, the implication clear; that I should move past her and just go. "I know that Austen had men who could do...do terrible things to your mind. You've been brainwashed Mel, and you don't even realise it!"

"NO!" Shaking my head, I turned back to my friends. "Becky, Rin! Please...you've got to believe me...where's Peter? He was in the cell next to me!"

"He's not around," Barbara replied. "None of the boys could bear to see you. You really hurt him."

"I..." I started stammering, nothing else to say. It was clear they wouldn't believe me, no matter what I said. But there was one person I could go to. "Fine!" I cried, trying to force back the tears welling up in my eyes. "But I'll prove you wrong! I wasn't working for Austin; I wasn't working for anyone when I came to find your sisters. I guess...I'll see you around?" I looked at the two girls who had been closer to sisters to me than friends, the girls I had grown up with. I was hoping for a goodbye, at least.

None of them spoke.

I gave a curt nod before focusing on my destination and just disappearing.

On my own, standing on top of the Hollywood sign looking out over the bright lights I broke down. I knew I'd been lucky; I wasn't used to this power, and I could have ended up dropping into the sea or lost somewhere in the desert. But no, I'd hit the mark and landed at the only place I could think of.

My legs fell and I sat on top of the giant Y, eyes gazing out at a world that was going about its business as usual. Had Austin died in the fire? Had I really stopped him?

Judging from the way my friends were now treating me, I was scared that I hadn't fixed things; what if I had only made things worse? Would I wake up tomorrow in a completely different world?

No. The world had already changed; my world had already changed. My friends hated me. Peter couldn't even stand to see me. And there was, right then, nothing I could do about it.

"You're wrong."

I jumped up at the voice, whirling around to see Matt and Hiro standing on the W, staring hard at me.

"If you're here to kill me, just get it over with."

"As if we could," Matt scoffed, shaking his head as he glanced over towards shining lights. "There is something you can do about it Mel, you can fight like you have been since the start."

"We do not believe Barbara," Hiro spoke slowly, his hand on the sheath of his samurai sword.

"You may have a block around your mind," Matt chuckled. "But I can still read Barbara's mind. The others though...something happened in that building. Something we don't know about. I don't think I can convince them."

"You think they were brainwashed somehow?"

"It would make sense," Matt nodded. "But we've got to stay away from them, Mel. We can't risk anything right now."

"We need to talk to Angela Petrelli."

"Peter's mom?" Matt asked, frowning as he stared at me. "Why?"

"Long story. How did you guys find me anyway?"

Matt grinned. "Molly."

I found myself smiling back. I still had allies, friends who were willing to work with me, who were going to help me through this. A plan started to form in my head as I looked towards the lights of Hollywood. If only the world was ready for us, I thought, we could have had our own film.

"Hiro...think you can teleport us to England?"

Hiro frowned, shaking his head. "I do not know. I might miss; we may end up in Shakespearean England or something."

"Well," I took a deep breath. "Everything we do from now on is going to be a risk, right? Why not start here?"

I stepped forward, grabbed a hold of their shoulders and focused.

END VOLUME ONE